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#anyways she made me cry before my maths exams
lyraelizabethfay · 4 months
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Hello there! Can you do a comfort fic were Vanessa helps the reader who is scared of the dark during a power outage?
<3!
Power Outage.
Vanessa Shelly x reader
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Summary: Whole trying to fix one of the animatronics who’d broken down, the power goes out. Vanessa takes this time to sneak up on you.
Warnings: N/A
Word count: 870
A/N: HIII, ok so I’m getting around to doing the requests, I absolutely love them all. I’m totally not writing this in English after my math exam today, but anyway here’s the one shot I hope you enjoy<3. Sorry it’s not proof read I’m gonna write this really quick in school and post it later tonight.
Updated A/N: ok so this took a few extra days to do because I’m sick, but hopefully you all finally loke this and I’ll start working on the other request ASSP! Keep sending them in because I love your ideas
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‘Nessssss’ you whined with your head in your hands and elbows propped up on your knees, you had been sat in front of Bonnie for about 2 hours now trying to fix this damn robot. It was roughly 4Am and the stupid thing had broken down, lucky Vanessa was with you.
‘Just a few more minutes baby’ Vanessa said kissing the top of your head and grabbing one of Bonnie’s wires, you smiled to yourself from the nickname. It was nice having someone care about you as much as Vanessa did she made you happy and you made her happy to. ‘But you said that 20 minuets ago’ you pouted up at her trying to give her the best puppy dog eyes you could, which only made Vanessa burst into laughter.
‘Your so cute when your pouty’ she laughed ruffling your hair.
‘HEY!’ You started to protest, all thought the blush on your face and your massive smile gave it away that you weren’t mad at all, when suddenly there was a loud humming noise and the electricity gave out.
‘What the-‘ you said to yourself as you looked around, your heart rate slowly became more prominent and you noticed how fast it was beating, you looked around panicked your eyes slightly widen. It was almost like a deer in headlights but before you could say anything Vanessa kissed your cheek and murdered something before walking away. You presumed it was something like ‘I’ll go see if I can turn it back on’ or ‘let me go check the office’.
You didn’t want me to left alone in the dark, it’s creepy and to say the least it was terrifying, I mean who would want to be sat in the dark with animatronics that were well…interesting I guess you could say, having them being able to move on their own. You stared at Bonnie hoping he wouldn’t move I mean, his stomach hatch was open as he’d malfunctioned but you never know. You whipped your head around at the sudden noise but nothing was there.
‘God when will Vanessa be back’ you mumbled to yourself, anxiety starting to settle in now, you were terrified of the dark, damn even Vanessa knew this so why did she leave you alone?!
‘Ness?..NESS?’ You searched around panicking as anxiety set in. ‘NESSA?!’ You shouted, god why would she leave you like this? Deciding you didn’t want to wait around for her until you got attack and she didn’t come back in time. You dropped your hand that was on Bonnie’s shoulder to your side and start walking over to the hallway that lead down to the office.
Moving your feet slowly as the world felt heavy beneath you, your heart jumping in your chest and the silence of the pizzeria deafening as you made it to the hallway, the darkness so thick it was like fog.
‘Vanessa.. VANESSA!’ You could out your voice wobbly, you felt like you were about to start crying. Suddenly out of nowhere you felt something on your waist and Vanessa jumped out screaming ‘BOO! Gotcha’ laughing her head off.
‘N-N-Ness?’ You stare at her wide eye as the power slowly turns back on, your lips are trembling and you burst out into tears causing her to stare at you on alarm.
‘Hey hey, baby come her’ She says embracing you into her arms, rubbing her hand up and down your back in a soothing way, your tears soaking her uniform but in all honest she couldn’t give two fucks. She was just glad you were ok, she didn’t think twice before jumping out at you. Moving her hands off your back and moving to the hallway floor bringing you with her, you settle into her lap as her soft fingers move to your hair making small braids or just rubbing her hands through your hair. Your breathing calmed down and you moved your body slightly to look up at her.
‘I’m so sorry baby’ she mutters looking guilty, her hand rubbing circles on your cheek now and drying the rest of your tears. You moved your hand on top of hers and she looked down at you as you smiled at you.
‘ ‘s ok ness, I promise’ You smile at her, god why does she always have to look so pretty, no, gorgeous.
‘You know you look gorgeous Nessa’ you smiled lovingly at your girlfriend, you could see the light blush creep to her face and she lent down to kiss your forehead. Having a great idea you moved to sit up and sit in her lap where your head just was, and kissed her on her nose which made her laugh. God she was perfect, she was pretty, smart, her laugh sounded like music to your ears.
'your stunning then' Ness replied her arms wrapping around your waist when suddenly you both heard a noise, you moved your heads to see Freddy who was trying to sneak away from what looked like the power generator (lucky the backup one was in the office). You both start laughing at the giant bear, maybe he did you both a favour needing a break away from fixing his friend Bonnie.
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lovestaysblogs · 2 months
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another cinderella story
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pairing: college au!jeongin x reader word count: 2121 genre: college au, fluff warnings: none network: @skzstarnet
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Jeongin frowned at his friend’s bad joke. To be fair it was finals week. They had to find some humor somewhere because if they didn’t laugh, they would most definitely cry. He reached over to flick Jisung’s forehead,
“Go back to studying,�� He deadpanned.
Jisung rubbed his forehead with a pout. “I’m trying, bro”. He groaned, “I don’t know why the hell I took this class in the first place.”
Jeongin chuckled, “It’s a required class Sung, you didn’t have a choice,”
“I know, I know but I’m a –”
“Creative writing major” They said in unison.
“We all know. You say it all the time,” Jeongin groaned and leaned back. “It’s college math bro, we all have to do it whether we like it or not,”
It was currently nearing dinner time and they both have been cooped up in the library from the day has started and they have yet barely reached anywhere.
“I give up. I don’t know why I even attempted to study,” Jeongin placed his head on his hands. “And I’m hungry,”
“We need to pass the class,” Jisung said trying to convince himself, “And I do not want to go through this hell again,”
Jeongin looked around, the library was full of tired and stressed out students. “If we leave and come back we’re probably not going to get our spot back.”
“Or, I could leave and you watch our spot?” Jisung looked over at him with a sly smile. “I could bring you back a coffee, please! Innie-ah please!”
Jeongin sighed, running his hand through his hair, “Fine, just go. You need it more than me anyways.”
Jisung barely took notice of his comment before packing up and leaving immediately. “I’ll find the best coffee on campus I promise!”
Jeongin would describe himself as an okay student. The university he attends now wasn’t his first pick. In fact, it’s more quaint than the others. But seeing that he still hasn’t declared a major, he can’t really be too judgy. 
He looked down at the foreign formulas in his book. Studying was not something that was on his mind at the moment. So with the lack of motivation and food in his stomach, he starts to scroll on his phone, praying that Jisung comes back soon.
The table he was sitting at shifted. He looked beside him to see a girl unpacking her books, basically setting up camp for studying beside him.
“Hi, uh that’s someone’s seat,” Jeongin said.
She turned to him and he noticed how put together she looked. Her twists pulled into a neat bun, wearing a sweater vest and dress pants paired off with the cliche black glasses frame. She was also wearing a mask but the way she frowned at him with her eyes in despair, when he told her she was in Jisung’s seat, tugged at his heart strings. He could tell she was a nerd, but at least, she was a cute nerd.
“Really? Oh no, the exam is tomorrow and my laptop is dying and this was the only open spot with an outlet right next to it.” Her soft voice brought back some life into Jeongin.
He suddenly felt re-energized. And who was he to turn down a study partner, especially one with such pretty brown eyes.
“Well, I’m sure he’s not coming back for now.” 
That was the half-truth, Jeongin prayed that Jisung wouldn’t come back for now. 
“You can stay here until he’s back,”
The bright eye smile you gave him as you pushed your glasses up, made him smile as well.
“Thank you so much!”
“No problem.”
After a shared silence, he glanced over to see you clicking away on your calculator. Your brows were knitted together as you punched in numbers and quickly wrote down answers, softly mumbling to yourself. 
“Is that college math?” He asked.
“Yeah, the exam is tomorrow and I’m so nervous,” You barely even glanced at him.
But he smiled again. “Yeah, I have it too. But you seem to know what you’re doing. I’m sure you’ll be fine.”
You paused what you were doing and looked up at him. He felt the gratefulness from your eyes.
“Thank you. But I don’t. And it’s no thanks to Professor Cho,”
“Wait, we're in the same class?”
“Yeah, we are”
“How come I haven’t seen you before?”
You looked back down at your notebook, and pressed your lips together, “Oh, you probably just didn’t take notice,” You said softly.
He scratched the back of head, feeling embarrassed.  “Well I should have. I can’t believe I’m only getting to know I had such a pretty and smart classmate all along.”
You laughed softly through your mask, “I’m wearing a mask, you can’t even see me.”
“I don’t need to when I know how gorgeous your eyes are already,”
There’s a certain warmth from you that’s pulling you towards him and he wants to find out more. 
You rolled your eyes, hoping the mask hid your smile beneath it, but Jeongin saw straight through it. Before he even got a chance to comment you changed the topic,
“How do you think you’re going to do on the exam?”
His shoulders slouched, “Honestly,” He chuckled, “It’s in God’s hands at this point,”
Your head fell back slightly as you laughed at him. It was to the point of people starting to shush you. You covered your mouth, trying to soften your laughter, even though you already had on the mask.
He liked that he made you laugh.
“It can’t be that bad?” You tried to offer little hope, before shaking your head, “No, it’s that bad. Professor Cho did nothing but yell all semester,”
“Or complain about –”
“No one wants to work these days,” You both said simultaneously.
You giggled looking over at him. His jet black hair slightly ruffled, most likely due to stressfully running his hand through it. His dimples really shine through, even when he barely laughs. His eyes glanced over at you and you both made eye contact. 
“You’ll do fine though,” You said softly. “I see you and your friend in class and you always have the long ass worksheets he sets for us done,”
“You saw that?” His eyes widened, “Damn, how come I’ve never seen you before?”
He truly cannot believe that you two have not crossed paths before. He was almost mad at himself for not taking notice of you. It’s amazing how in such a short time, he managed to feel so comfortable with a complete stranger. He really wanted to get to know you more. He can’t imagine how much more beautiful you were unmasked. 
You laughed, “Maybe it’s the mask. You just didn’t notice me” 
But his eyes narrowed at you, “Maybe it is,” 
His hand slowly reached out towards your face, “Can I?”
You nodded. 
As his hand gently touched the face covering, you both jumped apart at the sound of someone clearing their throat.
Jeongin looked up to see Jisung and cursed in his head. Of course he picked the worst possible time to come back.
“Uh hey, that’s kinda my seat,”
And apparently Jisung was set on cockblocking him too.
“Oh! Sorry, yeah. My laptop’s done charging anyways.” You said quickly packing up your stuff. 
“I’ll see you around Yang Jeongin,” You said, “Good luck,”
Jeongin looked at Jisung out of the corner of his eyes. “You couldn’t stay away for five more minutes,”
“Bro, I don’t know why you’re attacking me. You’re the one that gave up my seat to a random girl. Why were y’all so close anyways? Do we know her?” He said handing the coffee over to Joengin.
Jeongin rolled his eyes as he took a sip, “No. But she knows me. And I was getting to know her.” He sighed leaning back into his chair, “The only good thing to happen to me tonight was her and I didn’t even get her name bro,”
Jisung shrugged, “She left her calculator here though,”
Jeongin sat straight back up, “Wait what,”
He grabbed the calculator and examined it, realizing there’s no name on it. Instinctively he stood and rushed out of the library, but he didn’t see you around.
“Damn it, the exam is tomorrow and she doesn’t have a calculator,” He mumbled to himself.
Dejectedly walking back into the library, he saw Jisung packing up. 
“Did you find her?”
Jeongin shook his head. 
“Maybe you’ll find her tomorrow man. But let’s call it a night because I have a feeling we’re not getting anything else done tonight.”
He shook his head again, “Nah, you go ahead. I wanna stay back,”
Jisung shrugged and left him behind.
The sun was blaring down on Jeongin at the exam center. He woke up early and went there just so he could see the girl with the mask again, in hopes of giving her the calculator before the exam.
It was now five minutes before the exam and still no sign of her. He looked down at the pink calculator with a frown. Before one last hopeful look he turned around with a sigh about to enter the room.
“Yang Jeongin!”
A girl screamed running towards him. As she got closer Jeongin realized it was her. 
She came to a halt breathing heavily, “You have my calculator? Please tell me that you do?”
Her pretty brown eyes furrowed once again, reminding him of their first encounter. Her twists were no longer neatly pulled back but a bit more messy resting her on shoulders. Yet, wearing just a simple t-shirt with sweatpants he still found her beautiful. His eyes scanned the features of her face, the mask so rudely covered. Her full lips fixed into a frown and her round cheeks added to her cuteness. 
“I do. When I realized you left it, I ran out after you but you were gone.”
“God, I’m so stupid. I didn’t realize I left it until I reached back to my dorm and I had to study using my phone calculator. If you know anything about phone calculators and how inconvenient they are, you can imagine how stressed I was. Not to mention I thought it was gone for good and calculators are so damn expensive nowadays and I got that ages ago and –” Your hands flew up to her face in despair as her breathing got worse. 
He gently reached out to your hand and placed your calculator in it. “Breathe.”
And so she did. 
Their eyes locked together once again as Jeongin smiled at you, “I’m sure you studied well and you’ll do well. Now let’s go so we never have to go through Professor Cho again,” 
You laughed. He really liked that he could make you laugh. “You’re right,”
When Jeongin left the exam room, he saw you outside waiting for him. 
“So how was it?” You asked with a smile.
He shrugged, “It was okay. But I think it’s because I saw you again as to why,”
You laughed and shoved him slightly, “You play too much,”
“How was it for you?” He said.
“It was good. Thanks again for bringing my calculator,”
“Of course. I had to find you again,”
“Why?”
“Because I want to get to know you,”
You looked down, suddenly feeling insecurities rise upon you. Why would he want to get to know you? 
“I forgot to wear my mask today,”
“So?”
“I…I was just saying that’s why I look different. You’re probably not really interested. It was probably the illusion of the mask,”
He placed a finger under your chin, raising your face up, forcing you to take eye contact with him. “I mean what I say, I want to get to know you. And without the mask, I think you’re beautiful the same,”
You felt your face warm up and if you were a bit lighter, you’re sure you would have been caught blushing.
“Let me take you out,” He said boldly. “After finals. It’ll be worth your time I promise,”
“You don’t even know my name,”
He used his other hand and tucked a twist behind your ear, “What’s your name pretty?”
“Y/N. My name is Y/N,” You said with a soft smile.
He smiled at you back. Your name was beautiful as you were. “Would you go on a date with me Y/N?”
“Yeah, I would,” You said with a giggle. 
“You know, I’m actually really glad you left your calculator,”
You gasped and hit him playfully, “You play too much,”
He laughed as he gently took your hand and walked with you. He knew that you were glad too, you just didn’t want to admit it as yet.
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a/n:
reblogs help other people see my fics and it lets me know that you liked it that much to reblog 🥹🫶 so please reblog! i appreciate it.
omg this is the longest fic i've written! i hope you enjoy it T.T please please let me know.
i take feedback and criticisms as long as you're nice. i tried to play with the point of view here. if you notice it hopped between third person omniscient and second person. i tried my best to switch it when it was appropriate. let me know if it was good or not. also!! i'm trying my best to not write the same character (both the boys and y/n) in each fic. i really want to diversify it and really make them feel real and raw. with each post is me practicing so i'm really trying my best here. i hope to get better :')
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khodorkovskaya · 9 months
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embarrassing storytime
21.06.23
i embarrassed myself big time and now i can't think straight because i want to disappear off the face of the earth like arghdhhghgh
so i had an exam on monday. it was differential geometry which is one of the easier subjects. the prof is very chill, he's not a very good teacher but he's a good guy, you know the type.
and i uhhh... had a panic attack 5 minutes after walking into the exam room. i was shaking uncontrollably, asked to get some air and ran to the bathroom to throw up. like i was literally shaking and crying and throwing up.
so anyway, after throwing up i went back into the exam room and tried to write the exam anyway, all while shaking and still feeling super nauseous. there were lots of calculations and i kept getting things wrong like id write that 2*3 is equal to 5 and stuff like that. so yeah, i wrote god knows what.
and important context, this exam is eliminatory! so if i didn't pass, i would be kicked out of the faculty. and i would have to write an opposition letter to ask them to not kick me out. and get a doctor's note and everything. that's why i was also super stressed. because failing thing exam would possibly mean 4 years of studying down the drain.
so i finish the exam, hand in the paper, cry a little and rush to the maths counselor's office. i break down crying in front of him, saying that it's all over. he consoles me by saying they'll definitely accept the opposition letter if im kicked out, everything will be okay, ive been a good student so far, it's not that bad, etc. and he says that i should see the science faculty counselor and tell him about my situation.
so i call my parents like shit shit shit, im getting kicked out of uni. they freak out obviously. cos that means im gonna have to restart everything and graduate when im in my 30s. and basically not get a job, be a failure, etc. etc. they don't sleep the whole night, they're super worried, my stepdad and my mum get into a fight over all of this. the family is falling apart.
the next day i go see the faculty counselor and he says that if i give a doctor's note saying i suffer from anxiety before getting the grade, i have a 50/50 chance of being allowed to retake the exam. but it has to be done before they announce the grades.
i don't have a gp, i don't know any doctors, especially those who'd be okay giving me a note that says that i suffer from anxiety. my stepdad suggests that i call the therapist i used to go to back in 2020 and say that it's an emergency and that i need to see her asap.
i call the therapist, she doesn't reply so i leave a voice message, sobbing like "this is life or death, please can we schedule a session, this is urgent". thinking about this voice message makes my skin crawl like ughhh it was so bad.
then im like shit shit shit, if i can't get a note from her today, what if they announce the grades tomorrow and im getting kicked out ahhhhhhhhhh
so i message the geometry professor and the two assistants like "guys, i was shaking and crying and throwing up during the exam. im trying to get a doctor's note from my therapist before the grades drop. when are you gonna announce the grades i need to know??? i vomited everywhere, just fyi". again, very embarrassing impulsively written email.
and 10 seconds later the assistant replies like "everyone passed the exam, no worries".
and im like what.
then about an hour later the professor replies and says "i looked at your copy, your work looks pretty solid, you'll get a 4.5 and we'll announce the grades tomorrow, is that okay with you?". and im likeeeee bro
4.5
passing grade is a 4. a 4.5 is like really good. like reeeally good.
so im like shit.
what was all of this for??? why was i so dramatic for no reason?????
i made my poor parents panic for nothing.
i feel so bad.
and the therapist replied yesterday evening like "we can do a session tomorrow at 9am exceptionally". and like for what. what am i gonna say to her now??? that i was being a drama queen????
like i literally want to disappear like i feel so embarrassed. all of this drama for an easy exam. brb im gonna self isolate for a year. like i wanna kms.
and what do i say to the therapist?? like oopsie, i was just kidding. adjhdjjhdjfh i hate that i have to face the consequences of my actions.
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chaeryybomb · 3 years
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BRUTAL
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pairings: female reader x best friend!jungwon
summary: they told you that these were the golden years, but to you "golden" was a rusting metal spray painted yellow. the story of a seventeen year old trying to survive high school when all you do is try your best. but your best friend jungwon makes it worth the while. 
genre: high school au, friends to lovers, fluff, tiny bits of angst if you squint, attempt at humour
featuring: jang wonyoung, kim sunoo & nishimura riki 
word count: 4.5k 
warnings: reader having a existential crisis most of the time, strong language, mentions of insecurity
the sour series masterlist
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You slumped forward the moment the bell rang, letting your head hit the table. You could care less if a bruise would form on your forehead, you had much bigger things to worry about. Your teacher left the class wordlessly as the class was busy doing their own thing. And by that, everyone was buried nose deep in studying. You lifted your head to see the different books of the same topic scattered on your desk, a yellow highlighter balancing on the edge of your table.
Reaching over to grab the highlighter, you turned your head over to the side to look at your desk mate. Wonyoung sat there looking straight out from a k-drama, with her hair flowing down her back perfectly and her slender nimble fingers moving as she continuously wrote in her notebook. She was smart too, fluent in English and Korean, great at maths and science. And on top of that she was kind and friendly, everyone loved her. You did too, you had the honour of calling her your best friend. But sometimes you felt insecure around her, everything she did looked flawless and there you were just trying your best.
"Ack!" You yelped as you sat up straight, holding your forehead. Wonyoung rolled her eyes at you with a small smile on her lips, she had flicked your forehead to get you out of your thoughts.
Without taking her eyes off the textbook, she tapped your own workbook with her pen. Silently telling you to stop procrastinating. You pouted at her and looked at the clock, 10 minutes before lunch. Maybe a walk to the girl's bathroom would do you some good.
"I'm gonna go to the bathroom," you whispered to Wonyoung. She nodded and smiled at you before you walked out.
As you strolled towards the girl's bathroom, you passed by the bulletin board outside your class. A bright blue poster stood out with the words "ENJOY YOUR YOUTH" in white. Scoffing at the message, you continued on your way.
"I'm seventeen now, where's my fucking teenage dream?" You muttered to yourself. You were tired of waiting for your life to end up like a coming of age movie. Everyone told you that these were the golden years and you should enjoy your youth, but you swear to god if you hear another one of those cheesy sayings, you might just cry on the spot.
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Reaching over to open the stall door, you halt in your actions when you heard familiar voices talking.
"I'm so worried for finals, my parents are gonna kill me if I fail English again," a girl complained. You hear the sound of tap water running. "How are you so calm during this time, Mirae?'
"What's the use of studying hard anyways," the second girl, Mirae, said. "We all know the top spots are gonna be taken by Jang Wonyoung and Yang Jungwon, I just study enough to pass."
The other girl snorted at her reply. "Imagine if those two got together, the power couple of the year," she suddenly said.
"Poor Y/N then, she's gonna be over shadowed by them."
"As if she already isn't. I almost forgot they were a trio until you mentioned Y/N," the girl laughed.
"What can I say? They're out of her league," Mirae joined in with her laughter.
The two voices faded away as you heard the door closed. Finally pushing the door open, you looked at your reflection. Your eyebrows knitted in annoyance and your face was morphed in a scowl. You washed your hands aggressively and poked the inside of your cheek. What bugged you was that they were right. You were the black sheep between Wonyoung and Jungwon. Both of them were smart and amazing, and you're just…you.
You love your best friends, you truly do. But you were constantly compared to them and you hated it. Everyone wanted them, you watched as guys tripped over to confess to Wonyoung and girls squealing when Jungwon smiled at them. The two of them always reassured you that you weren't beneath them but you were sick of their sympathy. You're so caught up in the news of who likes you and who hates them. You just wished people liked you more.
Storming out of the bathroom, someone accidentally ran into you and caused you to fell onto your butt. The student immediately stood up and scurried off, not bothering to even a mutter an apology. All I did was try my best and this is the thanks I get, you thought bitterly.
They said that these were the golden years, but you wished you could just disappear. God, it's brutal out here.
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"Y/N, wait up!" Jungwon called after you.
You stopped in your tracks as you watched Jungwon waved goodbye to some students before jogging towards you.
"You heading to cram school today?" He asked you as the both of you fell into the same walking rhythm.
You shook your head, clasping your hands behind. "I moved it to Thursday instead, Wonyoung said I had to many things on Tuesday," you told him. Originally, you would be heading to the library to study before heading over to the cram school. But Wonyoung took one look at your schedule and decided that you did not had enough breaks, so she managed to convince you to take the Thursday slot instead. Thursdays are one of the days where you would not go to the library.
Jungwon seemed to be disappointed to find out that you had switched slots. Maybe he should changed slots too, but does he have any empty spots open for Thursday though? He'd have to check later. Instead, he coughed and stuffed his hands into his pockets.
"Do you wanna come over later? The new Demon Slayer movie is out," he offered, hoping that you'd accept.
Unfortunately, you once again shook your head. "Sorry Jungwon, I'd want to cram even more later. Finals are really creeping in and I can't afford to waste any time," you told him with a sad smile. As much as you would like to ditch the books and watch Demon Slayer, the glaring C on your last history paper was telling you otherwise.
You stopped walking when you had reached your doorstep. "Thanks for walking me home, Jungwon. See you tomorrow!" and with that you disappeared behind the door.
Jungwon waved goodbye as he watched the door closed. The smile on his face dropped and his shoulder sagged. Jungwon you idiot, of course she would want to study, he scolded himself. With disappointment on his face, he trudged home with a heavy heart.
"Change of plans, guys," he announced as he swung the front door open, unfazed by the fact that Riki and Sunoo were lounging on his coach. He accepted the fact that Sunoo had somehow gotten the keys to his house (suspecting that his mother probably gave it to him due to favouritism or maybe Riki had sneakily made a copy).
Riki's head poked out from the couch. "She rejected you, didn't she," the younger boy said with a smirk.
Jungwon's face ears turned red as he glared at the boy. "No she did not!" He immediately told him. "She rejected the offer to watch the movie, that's different!"
"That's basically rejection, hyung," Riki laughed.
The other boy just glared at him. "Shut up!" he sputtered out before hiking up the stairs.
Sunoo gave Riki a look, to which the Japanese boy just shrugged his shoulders innocently.
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Jungwon walked out from the shower, a towel around his neck with one hand running through his damp hair. Sunoo and Riki had left earlier, finally giving him some peace and quiet. His phone screen was flashing from his study table, initiating that someone was spamming him (quite aggressively) with text message. With a raised eyebrow, he picked up his phone
[7:09 pm] wonyoung: JUNGWON
[7:09 pm] wonyoung: JUNGWON
[7:09 pm] wonyoung: JUNGWON
[7:10 pm] wonyoung: WHY DID Y/N JUST MESSAGED ME ABOUT HOMEWORK
[7:10 pm] wonyoung: ISNT SHE WITH YOU
[7:11 pm] wonyoung: I THOUGHT YOU SAID U WERE GONNA WATCH A MOVIE
[7:11 pm] wonyoung: DEMON HUNTER OR SMTG
[7:12 pm] wonyoung: WHY IS SHE ASKING ME FOR HW
[7:12 pm] wonyoung: DID U CHICKEN OUT???
[7:13 pm] wonyoung: omg u chickened out didnt u
[7:14 pm] jungwon: jfc wonyoung
[7:15 pm] jungwon: and no i did not chicken out okay
[7:15 pm] jungwon: she declined
[7:16 pm] jungwon: she said she had to study ;-;
[7:17 pm] wonyoung: omg u suck
[7:17 pm] wonyoung: i told u the movie idea was dumb
[7:18 pm] wonyoung: but do u ever listen to me
[7:18 pm] wonyoung: no
[7:19 pm] wonyoung: and now u suffer the consequences
[7:20 pm] jungwon: yea yea i get it im dumb
[7:20 pm] jungwon: now what's ur solution the great jang wonyoung
[7:21 pm] wonyoung: i am so glad u asked :)
[7:21 pm] jungwon: oh no
[7:21 pm] wonyoung: stfu im giving u a better idea
[7:22 pm] wonyoung: a n y w a y s
[7:22 pm] wonyoung: my ynradar is going off and she's s a d
[7:23 pm] jungwon: how would u know
[7:23 pm] jungwon: she seemed fine today
[7:23 pm] wonyoung: stfu jungwon its best friend things u wont understand
[7:24 pm] jungwon: i-
[7:25 pm] wonyoung: and as her future bf u SHOULD start to train ur ynradar
[7:25 pm] wonyoung: anw its exam season stoopid
[7:26 pm] wonyoung: and its when those kids start to talk abt how the both of us are gonna get top scores
[7:26 pm] wonyoung: and they talk down on y/n while doing so
[7:26 pm] wonyoung: assholes
[7:27 pm] wonyoung: so i propose to u
[7:27 pm] wonyoung: a ✨ study date ✨
[7:28 pm] jungwon: i
[7:29 pm] jungwon: that's
[7:29 pm] jungwon: actually not a bad idea
[7:30 pm] wonyoung: obv i came up with it
[7:31 pm] jungwon: can u not
[7:31 pm] wonyoung: anw a study date
[7:32 pm] wonyoung: she's struggling in maths
[7:33 pm] wonyoung: specifically taxes because she said and i quote
[7:34 pm] wonyoung: "why do we have to do taxes when we pay people to do it for us"
[7:34 pm] wonyoung: so pls help her and try to cheer her up
[7:35 pm] wonyoung: and confess coward
[7:36 pm] jungwon: i make no promises for the last one
[7:36 pm] wonyoung: aFTER EVERYTHING I JUST SAID
[7:37 pm] jungwon: what if she rejects me wonyoung
[7:38 pm] wonyoung: WE'VE HAD THIS CONVERSATION A LOT OF TIMES JUNGWON
[7:38 pm] wonyoung: SHE LIKES U BUT SHES TOO DUMB TO REALISE
[7:39 pm] jungwon: sigh
[7:40 pm] jungwon: fine i'll try thanks wonyoung
[7:41 pm] wonyoung: np i expect y'all to be a couple by next monday <3
[7:41 pm] jungwon: i-
Sighing for the nth time of the night, Jungwon sat on his bed. He allowed the towel to slipped off his shoulders as his thumb hovered over your chat icon. Truth be told, he always thought his crush on you was unrequited love. You never showed any signs of returning of feelings so he thought he would just ignore the feeling until it was gone.
But oh boy was he wrong, because he didn't knew that he would be spending his high school years by your side. And now you occupy his mind 24/7. Wonyoung could literally tell that he was in love with you, but somehow you never caught on. He allowed Sunoo and Riki to convince him to do the whole "movie date idea", but that failed. So Wonyoung's suggestion was his only option left.
He typed out the message, ready to send it out. If only he could just press the button. Come on Yang Jungwon, you can do this. Just press the damn button Jungwon. Suddenly his phone pinged loudly, scaring the lights out of the poor boy as he yelped and his phone landed with a thud on the ground. He peered over his bed, as if his phone was a ticking bomb.
Oh, it was a message from you.
[8:01 pm] y/n: hey do u know where wonyoung is
[8:01 pm] y/n: she isn't answering my texts
Oh no. He realised that your chat was open, the two ticks indicated that he had (unintentionally) read the message. He couldn't just leave you on read. That's just evil. Scrambling to get his phone, he immediately typed a reply to cover for the other girl.
[8:02 pm] jungwon: sorry i don't :/
[8:02 pm] jungwon: what do u need her for
[8:03 pm] y/n: mf was supposed to teach me a maths question but she left me on rEAD
This was his chance! It was the perfect opportunity for him to score a date with you. Okay, breathe in breath out Jungwon. Don't mess it up and just ask her, he mentally prepared himself.
[8:04 pm] jungwon: oh i could help you if you want
[8:04 pm] jungwon: yk with finals coming up and everything, i can help you study
[8:05 pm] jungwon: if you want of course
[8:05 pm] y/n: omg srsly??
[8:06 pm] jungwon: pls help me study my braincells are literally dying
[8:07 pm] jungwon: jdsjkda okay how about this saturday at your place?
[8:08 pm] y/n: yeah sure
[8:08 pm] jungwon: cool its a date then!
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You blinked at Jungwon's message. A date? Wait, did Yang Jungwon just indirectly asked you out? Nah, nah. You were overthinking it. Yes, definitely overthinking. Don't kid yourself, why would Jungwon ask you out on a date? Jungwon is just a friend, you tried to convince yourself.
Keyword: tried.
If he really was just a friend, then why did it felt like butterflies were in your stomach when he said "it was a date"? Then why did you frowned when those girls said that Wonyoung and Jungwon would make a good couple?
Oh god, do you have feelings for your best friend?
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Saturday came faster than you would have liked it to. Ever since that last chat with Jungwon, it gave you the sudden realisation that you did in fact had feelings for your best friend. You tried so hard to avoid him in school because you don't want the butterflies back in your stomach. It was basically confirming the fact that you like him. Well, avoiding him also confirmed the fact but you choose to be in denial about it.
You didn't tell Wonyoung about your study date but lately she's been sending you outfit ideas on Pinterest. Specifically, date outftis. And whenever you tried to ask her a question about school, she brushed you off with a random excuse. So it left you no choice but to save those questions for Jungwon.
Speaking of Jungwon, he had texted you 10 minutes ago that he was on the way. You were standing in the middle of your room with your hands on your hips. Both of your parents were out for the day, which left you alone at home. You had taken out the low table to be used later and it was currently in front of you. Colourful workbooks were neatly stacked on top of it.
You did a 360 turn around your room. Was it messy? You cleaned it this morning when you woke up. Did you had any clothes out? No, doesn't look like it. For some reason, you were a nervous wreck. You blamed Jungwon. He just had to call this a date, didn't he.
Should you change? Maybe you should finally look through all those pins Wonyoung sent. Wait, no, why would you have to change into something nice. Jungwon was here to help you study, just that.
Yeah, a study date, your mind emphasised on the word.
The sound of the doorbell pulled you out from your thoughts. You immediately went to open the door. Yang Jungwon stood there on the other side, with his signature smile. Had he always resembled a sheep? He just looked so fluffy.
"Hey!" You greeted him with a smile, internally wincing at your way-too-enthusiastic voice.
But Jungwon didn't seem to mind it. "Hey!" he greeted back.
You moved to the side to let him in. "Thank you for having me," he said as he bowed then proceeded to remove his shoes.
"Uh, do you want anything? Water?" You asked him.
He shook his head.
"Ah, cool. Let's head to my room," you started to walk back to your room.
"Where are your parents?" He asked.
"Out," you simply replied.
That was when it dawned upon you, that your parents were not home. Leaving you and Jungwon, alone. Together. In your room. Alone. With the boy you potentially have a crush on.
"Y/N?" Jungwon tapped on your shoulder. You had stopped walking when you were suddenly washed over by your thoughts. Snapping out of it, you sent him a small smile before opening the room to your door.
The both of you shuffled into your bedroom, you sat down in front of the low table while Jungwon settled down next to you. He moved to take out his books then turned to you. "How about we do some studying and if you have any questions, you can ask me okay?" He said.
You nodded and flipped your own workbook open, immediately starting to work on the first question. Jungwon copied your action and a comfortable silence engulfed the both of you. As the time passed, you found yourself stuck on a certain maths question.
You slightly turned your head to the side to look at Jungwon. He was concentrated at doing his work, you felt a sense of deja vu while looking at him. He resembled Wonyoung when she was studying. At the thought of Wonyoung, you suddenly thought of what those girls said at the bathroom.
They would make a good couple, wouldn't they, you thought. The power couple of the year.
The butterflies in your stomach faded away into an uncomfortable feeling. Just the idea of them getting together already made you sick. You bit the inside of your cheek, you really did had feelings for him. And now it scared you because what if he doesn't feel the same. You made a mental note to consult with Wonyoung later, at least you hope that you'll allow yourself to tell her.
Jungwon must've noticed you staring and gently tapped your head with his pencil. A contrast to when Wonyoung painfully flicked your forehead.
"What's wrong? Are you stuck on a question?" He asked.
You leaned back a bit at the sudden action. You were so deep in your insecurities that you had totally forgotten about the literal problem sitting in front of you. Yet you couldn't even bother to ask him so you just shook your head. "I'm gonna get something to drink," you said instead.
Jungwon watched as you stood up, then decided to follow you as well. "I'll come along."
The boy joined you in the kitchen, perched on one of the island stools as you grabbed a can of soda from the fridge. He studied your movement as you worked around the kitchen. Your features were neutral, you weren't smiling nor frowning. But he could tell that your shoulders were tensed. Wonyoung was right, you did seem down. And he cursed himself for not noticing earlier.
"You okay?" His question made you stopped in a mid-pour stance, the can of soda was tilted but not enough for the contents to be poured out.
You brushed his question off and poured the drink into the cup. "Yeah," you hummed.
Unconvinced by your answer, he pried more. "You know you shouldn't care about what they say, right?"
You furrowed your eyebrows at him, pretending like you didn't understand where he was coming from.
"You're not below us, you know that right?"
You couldn't help but scoffed at his words. Jungwon's lips tugged downwards "I'm being serious here, Y/N," his tone was stern. "You shouldn't listen to what they say. You're more than just-"
The sound of the can being slammed down shuts him up. Your fingers tightened around the can as you looked at him. You didn't had the energy to hear him preach the same old "Don't Listen To Them" speech. You don't need his pity.
"I don't want to hear it, Yang Jungwon," you said through gritted teeth. Not sparing him another glance, you threw the empty can into the trash as you grabbed your glass.
As you walked past Jungwon, he suddenly reached out and held onto your forearm. "Y/N," he said softly. "Please tell me what's wrong."
You sighed and slowly turn around to face him, placing the glass back on the counter. You took in a deep breath before you opened your mouth. "I feel like I'm not enough," you finally said. "Everything I do just doesn't seem enough. All I'm doing is my best but it's just crushing my ego because everyone is telling me that you're better than me."
"I feel like no one wants me and I hate the way I'm perceived. It's always poor Y/N this and poor Y/N that's because everyone just sees me as your shadow and I fucking hate it. I only have two real friends," you gestured wildly. "And lately I'm a nervous wreck cause I keep comparing myself to the two of you. I'm not cool and I'm not smart, and I can't even parallel park!" You threw your hands up in frustration, the feelings you kept inside were pouring out like a waterfall.
Jungwon just stood there as he listened tentatively to every word. He didn't knew that you felt this way, bottling up all your emotions like that.
"And I'm so tired of people telling me to enjoy my youth and that these are the golden years. I might just fucking cry if I hear those words again," you finished ranting. It felt good, it felt like a weight on your heart has been lifted. Then you remembered that you just dumped all of it on Jungwon.
You opened your mouth to apologise to him but he surprised you by pulling him into his arms. At first you were standing stiffly at the sudden contact, but it took a millisecond for you to melt in his embrace. His arms were gently around your back and you returned the hug by wrapping your arms around his torso. The two of you stay in that position for awhile, relishing in each other's embrace. You definitely needed this hug.
Tightening your hold on Jungwon, you realised how important he was to you. He was your best friend and he was always there for you. It was stupid of you to compare yourself to him, when all he did was tried his best for you. The taller boy chuckled when he felt you rubbed your face into his shoulder, he involuntarily released a contented sigh. You felt one of his hands stroked your hair, it felt comforting. That action itself was enough for the butterflies to slowly settled back in you.
After a while, both of you finally (unwillingly) released each other. He pushed a strand of hair behind your ears and said, "You're wrong by the way." Which made you tilt your head in genuine confusion.
"You are cool and you are smart. You're like the coolest person I know. And no one thinks of you as our shadow, you don't hear it but I've always hear the juniors praising you for helping them and how enthusiastic you are," the way he delivered his words was filled with pure awe for you.
"And who cares if you can't parallel park. You didn't hear it from but Jay hyung failed his drivers test three times just because he couldn't parallel park," and that got a laugh out from you. Jungwon smiled proudly that he managed to make you laugh. "And you're wrong when you said no one wants you. I want you."
You blinked once, twice and thrice. He wanted you? "You're just saying that cause you're my best friend," you replied.
"No," he firmly said. "I like you, Y/N."
(Jungwon doesn't know where he got this sudden surge of confidence, but the mood was the perfect time for him to confess. It was a one time chance and he had to take it.)
You chuckled. "I like you too, Jungwon. We are friends aren't we?"
"No, Y/N. I like you. More than friends."
"Oh." Oh.
"Yeah," he scratched the back of neck awkwardly. Oh no, did you not feel the same way?
While you on the other hand, were malfunctioning on the inside. Your best friend just confessed to you and you were frozen on the spot. Why couldn't he had done it over text instead. If he had done it over text, then you could've left the message unread and you could've spammed Wonyoung for help. But the thing is that it wasn't over text and you couldn't just tell him to wait here while you panicked to Wonyoung in your bathroom.
Yang Jungwon likes you. And you like him too, right? Because if you didn't, your cheeks won't be heating up right now and your heart would have not be beating rapidly like it was going to break your rib cage any second. If you didn't like him, there would have never been butterflies in your stomach. Yeah. You like Yang Jungwon, you like him a lot.
"Me too," you whispered, it was soft but it was enough for him to pick it up. Jungwon eyes snapped to you, doe eyed filled with hope. "I like you, too," you said, this time louder. And you made sure you looked him in the eye when you confessed.
You watched as Jungwon's mouth morphed into a big grin. He let out a sigh of relief and dropped to his knees, surprising you. "Jungwon!" you squeaked, bending down to help him.
"I'm fine! I'm fine," he assured you as he stood up with your help. The grin on his face was still there. "It's just that … you like me," he breathed out. "You like me back, wow. I-I can't believe it."
Your face was definitely burning with embarrassment. You punched him lightly on the shoulder, turning away to hide your face. "Believe it, you dork. I like you, okay!" Somehow his grin was able to grew wider at your words, Gently, he took your hand in his.
"How about we stop this study date, and I'll take you out on real date?"
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© chaeryybomb 2021
a/n: thank you so much for reading this <3
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meher-sumedha · 3 years
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Gwynriel Headcanon : Demons
Writing this at midnight even though I have a maths exam tomorrow. Slight TW of maybe a mental disorder. Also I feel like we don't talk enough about Gwyn's trauma, cause in this I mentioned it, a lot. But fluff too.
Gwyn was mad. Gwyn was made and furious with Azriel. But most of all, she was sad. Not angry, just sad. Sad to be rejected once more. Sad to be just a person who was a 'side girl'. Upset with the fact that she didn't work hard enough to nurture their friendship.
Sad with the fact that she wasn't enough. She spent an hour crying in her room. Her heart felt like it had been broken into a million more pieces after finally being broken. Being rejected by your mate, hell the one person you loved the most, hurt like hell.
Why wasn't I enough? Why wasn't I enough? Could I have done something to prevent him leaving me? Why not me and her? What's the difference between us? And a sad and lonely voice in her answered, because no one can fall in love with you.
You have too much baggage, which no one wants to bear. You came into this world alone, you're going to live alone, and you're going to die alone. You are nothing, you are just an illusion. Your sisters don't love you, only the illusion you put up for them-
And Gwyn ran out of her room and down the 10000 stairs of the house leading to Velaris. Illusion. Illusion. Illusion. The word kept repeating itself in her mind.
Illusion of being the perfect girl. Illusion of being the girl next door. Illusion of being the sweet girl. Illusion. Illusion. ILLUSION! And the next thing she knew, was that the dark side of her mind took over.
It laughed. She heard the laugh in her mind. She knew it was taking over now. She continued down the steps of the house. Stop! Stop! Please, just please, please stop, she begged her thoughts. But it looked like her thoughts weren't hers anymore, they were demons.
Demons she thought that she had buried a long time ago. The voice laughed, and started, and that's when Gwyn knew, she was not in control anymore. She tried to prevent it from taking over her mind, yet she was too weak now. And then the horror began.
You think your sisters love you? They only love the girl who has no demons. They think you're perfect. You've not exactly told them what happened that night in Sangravah, what do you think will happen when you do?
They'll leave you, finally seeing the pathetic girl you are. Everyone will leave. Like your mate has. You know it's ironic that you let your sister die in front of you, that you chose someone else before your own blood sister-
but they were-were gonna kill the children, I- I didn't have a choice-, Gwyn tried speak but the voice was faster. Oh we both know that's not true Gwyneth. And anyways, karma's a bitch.
Azriel left you when you needed him the most, just like you left your sister to die when she needed you the most. You're a traitor, a half breed, a slut who couldn't save herself or her sister, you're nothing, you don't deserve anyone or anything-
And that voice stopped only when Gwyn opened the door and ventured into Velaris. It was raining. Endless tears were running from Gwyn's eyes, that voice had stopped, but it's effect, it was still there, rippling like water when a stone is thrown in it.
Suddenly breathing was tough. Gwyn kept walking, trying to breathe, trying to get a grip but it wasn't working, it wasn't working. Panic attack, Gwyn realized. No no no no no, not now please please no.
It felt like the world was suffocating her, that it was trying to drown her in endless darkness. She didn't even realize when she ran into Azriel's back and kept walking. "I- I'm sorry, " She said and tried to move away but then Azriel turned around.
No no no no, it couldn't be him it couldn't be him. He- he's gonna see her broken and run, he'd run and never come back, and she'd never be able to catch up to him. It again felt like the world was enveloping her, cause it was.
Please, please just stop STOP! She begged her mind, her heart, anyone that would listen. And she could've heard that evil voice in her head feel sad, before it said I'm sorry Gwyneth.
And then someone was shaking her. Azriel, she realized. Their voice started growing louder and louder and "GWYN, GWYN! ARE YOU OKAY? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING AT 4AM IN THE MORNING HERE!" And suddenly it all came back to Gwyn, she was in Velaris, with her mate in front of her.
She then looked up to meet his gaze, gaze full of worry. Once she'd think that he actually cared, not now, not ever.
"I- I'm ok" She said and try to move but Azriel kept his grip firm on her forearm and forced her to meet his gaze. She could see his eyes worried, pitying her, she realized.
Gwyn tried to move again but Azriel held firm. She could hear the rain, could hear the little steps of everyone, could hear his racing heartbeat matching her own.
"Are you okay?" He asked, his voice now firm. Gwyn darkly chuckled, and said, "Oh of course I am. You refuse to give me my memories. My mate rejected the bond, and my demons love to take over without any invitation. Well why does that matter, how are you Azriel? Enjoying your life with Elain?
If yes, then please let me leave for I am too busy having a panic attack to engage in small chitchat." And sarcasm dripped like venom from her voice. She was mad, and she didn't give a damn now.
"Gwyn I- I didn't reject the bond" And Gwyn laughed again, and again said sarcastically, "Oh is that supposed to be a prize? Why thank you shadowsinger for not rejecting the bond. Would you like me to do that for you too?"
And the pain was seen clearly on Azriel's face, she knew he was shocked and upset by her words, good, he deserved it.
He let her go then, but Gwyn didn't leave. She was about to when Azriel said, "I lied" And Gwyn would have laughed this time too, if she had not seen the seriousness in his face. "Lied about what? Wanting to be my friend-", "I lied about me and Elain. She's happily living in the day court with her mate, Lucien."
Oh. Oh. "You knew she had a mate and yet you still tried to persue her?" And Azriel looked away when Gwyn said those words.
She then noticed a nearby bench, and sat on it. He knew what it felt like, to be rejected, she realized. And so she patted the space beside her, inviting him to sit.
He came towards her, but warningly. And when he sat down beside her, she put her elbows on her knees, bended a bit forward and looked at him. "So you know what it's like to be rejected." She said, as a statement not a question.
Azriel mirrored her position and said, "I do know what it's like to be rejected." And Gwyn wanted to smack his face for that. She contemplated saying the next line, but thought, fuck it, he's a liar and he hurt me and said, "So you rejected me knowing how painful it feels to be rejected?"
And Azriel shifted in his seat, and then said, "I didn't reject you because of you Gwyneth, I rejected you because of me. I- I-" And he didn't complete the sentence. But Gwyn understood, so she completed it for me, "You didn't think you deserved me."
And Azriel looked at her with an unrecognizable emotion in his eyed and said, "Yes, I don't think I deserve you." And Gwyn actually chuckled at that. And when she saw the confused expression on Azriel's face, she explained further, "Well you know it's ironic. Even I feel I don't deserve you-", "Oh" Was all Azriel said.
And after a few minutes, she said, "We're both complete dumbasses aren't we?" And Azriel chuckled, "I- I agree, we're both complete idiots."
And after a few moments of silence and simply looking at each other's grinning faces, Azriel said, "I'm sorry for ignoring you and rejecting you." Gwyn chuckled and replied, "It's okay, as long as you don't do it again."
And then suddenly out of the blue, Azriel asked with sudden seriousness, "Are you seeing someone?" And Gwyn smiled and asked, "What if I was?", "Well are you?" Azriel asked urgently and Gwyn laughed. "Okayyy calm down lover boy, I'm not" And she saw a deep pink blush creep up on his cheeks.
And just to play with him a little more, she started playing with his hair, and his blush deepened even more. "I love making you blush" Gwyn said she could've sworn his cheeks became even pinker. And then she removed her hand from his hair and said, "I'll make a deal with you. We don't ignore each other. We date each other and we live happily ever after."
And Azriel laughed at that. Gwyn then put out her hand, "Deal?" and Azriel raised an eyebrow, "Are you really the daring shadowsinger everyone calls you, or are you just a pussy?" Gwyn daringly asked, and Azriel said, "I am no pussy" And shook her hand, "Deal" And suddenly an invisible bind passed through them. They'd struck a bargain, and Gwyn laughed while Azriel cursed beautifully under his breath.
And then Azriel asked, "Wait What about our friendship?", "Oh please, we're barely friends. I totally look at your ass all the time and you look st mine. So I'm pretty sure our "friendship" Is pretty fucked up."
Azriel just smiled at her, his mate, his best friend. A person whom he loved dearly, and would do anything for. They then got up, hand in hand, and then took off for flight. They kept looking at each other, Gwyn because she was too competitive to back down from a challenge, and Azriel because he was mezmerized by her beauty.
And one day, Gwyn thought, she'd actually tell him, that she was not staring at him because of a competition, but because she knew she was genuinely falling in love with him.
Azriel walked Gwyn to her room in the House of Wind, and they'd just stood there, looking at each other. Until Gwyn spoke up and asked, "tomorrow 8pm?" And Azriel smiled and repeated it, confirming their first date, "tomorrow 8pm". He was just about to walk away when Gwyn threw her hands around his neck.
He didn't understand what she was doing until she started to move away, she was hugging him, he realized and immediately put his arms around her waist, his head in her hair, smelling it, he realized, and memorizing the scent.
And before moving away, she kissed him slightly on his cheeks and went in her room and closed her door. Gwyn leant against the inside of her door and sighed happily.
Azriel just stood in front of the door for an hour, replaying the scene over and over again. Replaying their night over and over again. He then walked back to his room, grinning like a little boy in love.
He would never wash that cheek again, for Gwyn had kissed him. Gods, that woman was going to be the death of him.
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The "Better Half" ; A Poly KiriBaku x Reader Fanfic
Enjoy the series | one two three four five
You walked into the room, flustered from Kirishima, and excited to check out your name that was all over social media. You even had your own Facebook Fan Club Group. Quickly, your mom gave you juice and sat you down, wanting to talk about everything. 
She sat by your side on the 2-person-couch, scrolling through fan art, fan group stuff, video footage, and such. I was already on famous birthdays, and had fan accounts on twitter.
You had gained thousands of people who had found and leaked your social media accounts, and had gotten hundreds of dms from classmates, teammates, and family friends. Everyone wanted a piece of the action.
“My baby!! With popularity like this, UA is bound to hear about you!! Gosh, my baby is going to go off and become the World’s Greatest Superhero!! The next All Might!” Inko excitedly fangirled over you, something rare in fact.
Over the years, with all your academic and physical accomplishments, the three of you had gotten so used to Inko ignoring you to give praise to Izuku, since he got none from others while you were practically worshipped for everything you did.
Yet now, as Izuku stared at you two from the kitchen, he saw how happy Inko truly was about you. How her eyes lit up, and her smile was bright. She was practically glowing. As a mother, this was how you were supposed to act.
But with Izuku, this never happened, no matter the act his mom put on. The highest grade he got was A-‘s, and never got all-A-honor-roll like you. 
He never had won a science fair like you, entered a states-level championship like you, gotten 1st place at a swim meet, or been voted Class President every year in middle school.
Izuku realized now how much his mother truly wanted to celebrate everyone of your milestones. How she wanted to be that mom with the perfect child, and shout it to the world. The only reason she didn’t was because of Izuku’s feelings.
Because Izuku didn’t do anything remotely close to you. Izuku was the reason his mother couldn’t be happy with her perfect daughter. It was because Izuku was so useless that neither of you had ever become close to one another.
When Inko was finally done, she sent you up the stairs to bed, saying to get rest for your big day of training tomorrow. “Hey mom, is-“ Izuku poked his head out to talk, only to get interrupted by Inko.
“One second sweetie. Yuno’s mom Michi is calling me. She’s one of the cool moms!” Inko smiled, quickly bringing the phone to her ear and racing out of the room. Izuku sighed sadly before turning and going upstairs to you. He walked into your room and leaned against the doorway.
“Soooo… What did you do while you were out?” Izuku asked, grinning as you continued to text on your phone. You brought it away from your face, fake-thought, and shook your head. 
“Just rode around for awhile. Why?” You asked, looking up at your brother. Izuku was taken back, surprised by your secrecy. Since birth, you two had told each other almost everything, but now… “Come on, I know something happened.”
Izuku began to walk over and sit on your bed when you looked up at him angrily. “Izuku, nothing happened! Stop being such a creep!” You harshly yelled, very annoyed by him prying. You did not want to talk to Izuku about boys, especially now.
Izuku stopped, shocked and hurt by your angry words. “I… okay then. Hey, I was thinking that maybe after school we could-“ He was interrupted by you looking up from your phone again, very agitated.
“I’m sorry, my schedule is packed tomorrow. I have training with my new coach and then I’m hanging out with a friend. Can it wait?” You asked as he felt his heart shatter, the wind being knocked out of him.
“Y-Yep.” Izuku whispered as he began to walk out. “Wait, Izuku!” You yelled, jumping up and running to him in the doorway. Izuku turned, happy to get your attention. Now would be when you would either apologize or want to reschedule plans for another time.
“Did you get my homework from Math and Science?” You asked, fidgeting with a pen while you stood there. “No, I’m sorry. I was just so shaken. up and I-“ You nudged Izuku angrily.
“Baka!! You were shook up? Gosh Izuku, I ruin my favorite relationship for you and you can’t even help me out?” You slammed the door in front of him and locked it. Izuku could hear you return to your bed, plop down, and eat another Pocky stick.
Snap! Crunch.
Izuku stood there, unable to believe what had just happened. Did you just… No. You were just having a mood swing again. It was no big deal… right?
Izuku stood there, listening to you talk to your friends on the phone. You giggled, laughed, and gossiped like normal. It was as if your twin brother hadn’t even gone to the hospital that day.
Izuku began to walk downstairs, only to hear his mother on the phone as well. Nobody cared, and nobody wanted to talk to him. Izuku began to waddle back to his bedroom and open his phone.
0 new messages. 0 new notifications. Just like usual, of course. Izuku began scrolling through the News, looking at all the articles about his sister, when a different article came up.
Teen suicide rate rises to all time high of 19%
Immediately, Izuku began sobbing as he brought a pillow to his face. Izuku had always had tendencies to not want to live, but had also always been scared of death. He had nothing to protect himself with after all.
He wanted to die, but the very thought of it scared him. About to fall asleep, Izuku heard a ping on his phone. How unusual… Izuku brought it to his face, happy to see it was a text from you. ‘Need 2 talk’.
Seconds later, you walked in silently and laid on the rug at his feet. “The first time… when I was attacked, ya know? I ran into the city and got lost. I was terrified. So, since I like high places, I climbed a rusty iron ladder up over 20 stories to the roof.” 
You explained, closing your eyes and reimagining the breathtaking view. 
“It was the red brick office building, the one with the faded Insurance logo on the front, and the rusty ladder on the right side. Gosh, you should have been there Izu. The wind was in my hair, and I was taller than the birds. I felt so connected to it…”
You trailed off, once again getting lost in your thoughts of the view.
 “An-An-Anyways, back to what I was saying!! After I got attacked, I ran all over. And then I met All Might! H-He talked to me about becoming a hero, and then tonight, he offered to train me!!” You smiled at Izuku as he gave you his best fake-grin.
“I’m going to start training with him everyday until the UA entrance exam, and then I’ll get in!!” You jumped up excitedly as Izuku finally let his smile break apart. “But… what about Mom and I?” He asked you as your grin softened.
“Well, I know I’ll miss you, but I need to learn about going on my own. We’re going to be adults very soon, and I need to separate now. Plus, it’ll only be four years, and I’ll be living at home. We won’t be strangers.” You explained, but he wasn’t convinced.
“So… you really want to go to UA?” He asked, staring you right in the eye, hoping you’d deny. Izuku hoped more than anything that you would say no, and that you wouldn’t leave him. You wouldn’t abandon him, all alone while you pursue your dreams.
“Yes Izuku, I really do. I really think it’ll be good for me. I know you don’t think it’s good but I do.” You began to protest as Izuku stood up. “It might be good for you but what about us? What about you and me?!” Izuku cried out as you turned to him.
“To hell with that! I have dreams Izuku! My dream is to go to UA and become a hero! I was always going to do that with my life!” You fought back, growing defensive. “That was my dream too!” Izuku yelled as you suddenly realized what this was about.
“It’s not my fault you’re quirkless Izu.” You murmured as Izuku began crying. “It’s not my fault either! I don’t want this Ichiko! You can’t leave! You’re all I have!” Izuku began sobbing as you became cold. “Then find something else Izuku. We’re not children anymore.”
You stormed out, slamming your bedroom door behind you. Izuku stood there, frozen with emotion. How had a simple talk gone so bad? He just needed you to know how he felt. You just wanted to talk to him about the future.
Most importantly, you twol had argued. You two never argued. It just wasn’t like you to fight, especially in such a screaming sensation like that. 
Izuku’s mind kept replaying the last sentence you had told him before storming out. ‘Then find something else Izuku.’ That had obviously been you telling him to stop being so attached to you.
You had said something about not being children anymore, and now that Izuku thought about it, it all made sense. The way you and Bakugo had become romantic, the way the childhood bullying had intensified, and the way you were slowly drifting away from him.
You were growing up, while Izuku was staying in his childhood. He was still pretending like he could become a hero with his stupid future notebook, and trying to exchange secrets like kids while you went on dates with boys and were training with All Might.
Deku just felt abandoned, sad, and lonely. The people he had put his love in had left him sad and heartbroken. He shut his door and covered himself in blankets, trying to fall asleep when he got visions.
“It was the red brick office building, the one with the faded Insurance logo on the front, and the rusty ladder on the right side.” Izuku got up, frazzled and horrified. Why… Why did he remember those words specifically?
Down the road from the town square, just look for it. Oh god, Izuku had to get out and get some air. He needed to get these horrible thoughts out of his head. He quickly got up, put on his sandals, and ran out. 
“I need to get some air Mom!” He yelled at her, but as he looked back to the living room, he saw her sitting at the table, talking away on the phone. Nobody will even notice… Nobody will ever care if I’m gone.
The night passed when you woke up to your alarm clock, like every other day. This day was different, in fact, today was exciting. Over 1000 notifications shown on your phone, you had your first training session with All Might, and tonight, you would get to see Kirishima. You were ecstatic to say the least.
You put on a new uniform that wasn’t coated in slime, brushed your curls, and did your light makeup of mascara, blush, and tinted chapstick. You quickly ran downstairs, bag in hand, to see your tired brother sitting on the couch. 
You grabbed him and yourself a protein bar and ran out, waving to your mom. On the walk there, Izuku seemed tired and sluggish, as if he hadn’t slept well. You choose not to ask, not wanting him to grow anymore agitated after your fight the night before. 
So you didn’t talk, simply walking the short 3 minute stroll to the gates of your junior high. As soon as you walked through the gates, you were bombarded with your friends, and other classmates crowding around you. In the mix of it, Izuku disappeared from your side.
The topics varied, from your best friends wanting to talk about Bakugou and your safety from the attack, to your admirers wanting to talk about how you defeated a villain, and then of course how it was to meet All Might. Behind a corner, you could see Bakugo glaring at you, watching.
You almost lost your voice throughout the day, talking up a storm with everyone who wanted to talk to you. You were a hero, popular in the media, and someone who radiated girl-power after yelling at Bakugou, the most feared student in the school.
Off in the corner of your eye, you saw Bakugo in the lunch line, ignoring his “friends” and staring off at you once again. Did he feel sorry? Did he miss you? Had he heard about everything? This had been the longest you had gone far without talking.
Lunch time was the first time you got some peace to yourself. You sat at the table with 10 of your good friends, finally able to talk about something good. Bakugo would have been there, but like usual, he was serving detention in the office. 
You began eating your bento when Izuku came around the corner from a hallway. “Hey Ichiko, I’m not feeling well. I think I'm going to go home for the day.” You gave him a confused look as he smiled, as if trying to hide something.
“I’m just so tired, and shook up.” You nodded, understanding as Izuku went to leave, but turned back to you. “Just know that whatever happens isn’t your fault. I love you Ichi.” He waved and left, not giving you time to speak. Weird...
Your friends quickly joined you, and you were finally able to go back to normal conversation about teachers, boys, and of course your friend’s drama with their boyfriends or girlfriends. Life was simple, but unfortunately, lunch ended as soon as it started.
You began walking in the hall with one of your friends, going to class, when she began talking about boys. “Kano and I tried but we just didn’t work out. And then Hikaru, the one I told you about with the longer hair, told me that he has a boyfriend which just makes no sense. Like, he’s gay??”
You laughed at your friend's story as you began walking to class. “What about you? Now that Bakugo is out of the picture, who do you have your eye on?” She asked as you giggled, instantly being reminded of Kiri.
“Well, there’s this-“ Before you could say his name, Bakugo slammed the door from the detention room in front of you. “I fucking knew it! Who is it?! Who the fuck has black hair and it still just soooo attractive?!” He screamed, earning everyone’s attention.
“You like him enough to kiss him on the cheek! Huh?! Who the fuck is it?! I swear I’ll rip them to pieces!” Bakugo screamed as you looked at him, unable to comprehend how he knew about Kiri.
“How do you- You’re such a stalker! Were you following me last night?” You asked as Bakugo’s eyes widened. “Tell me who it is!” He screamed as you shook your head. “No! Stay away from me you creep!” You felt your friend put her arm around you and walk you away from him.
Bakugo sighed angrily, watching you walk away without him. With all the eyes in the hallway on him, he stormed off to his next class. You couldn’t help but feel confused. Was he jealous? Was he hurt? Why did you care so much? You missed him…
You walked through the rest of your classes, all eyes on you after being called out for having a mysterious guy friend. It felt strange and weird, yet at the same time you couldn’t wait to see Kiri tonight.
When you walked into your final class, a sense of emotion walked over you. The last day of junior high before high school… it felt so surreal and fake at the same time. You were excited for the future, but scared.
You gave flowers to your favorite teachers, hugged all your friends and classmates, and took many photos. You were just so excited and sad, it was very bittersweet to leave a place you had gone every day for 3 years.
The worst part was the memories. Here, you have become your own person. You had found your own style, your own clique of friends, and your identity. Here, you had realized that you would become a hero.
Yet again, everyday here had been spent with Katsuki by your side. Six school dances, three school festivals, 4 class field trips, and many times when you would hang out behind the school together.
Finally, the day was over, and you were able to walk out into your first second of Summer. Of course, all the thoughts of relaxation were interrupted by a friendly blonde man by the entrance. 
You were walking out with your friends when one of them looked at something behind you. “Ichi… Do you know that man?” He asked as you turned to see All Might in his weak form, smiling and waving ecstatically. 
You smiled, relieved, and nodded. “Yep, that’s my… uncle. Anyways, I’ll call you guys later. We have training to do.” You explained as a girl to your left smiled. “Ahh yes, you are a hero in the making according to Channel 5 News after all.”
You waved to your group before running over to All Might who leaned against the school gate. “Young Ichiko, you’re looking well after last night.” He grinned warmly as you nodded. “Yea, I’ve had a pretty… eventful day.” You smiled back as you began walking.
He explained to you how he would train you to the max in hopes of making you as powerful as possible for the entrance exam, and would even train you past that until you succeeded him. He also told you about how he was going to be a UA teacher, and would keep a close eye on you always.
You two walked to the quiet beach, and began. He made you move rocks with him standing on it, threw things at you with speed and made you stop them, and of course made you go underwater and control the oxygen to keep you from getting wet.
It was hard, eventful, and left you dramatically breathing, almost gasping for air. And yet, after, you weren’t done. He made you throw rocks into the air and sent them as far as possible. He made you manipulate the ground, and use it to make you faster. 
You also began running miles on the road, All Might flying above you to shout empty commands and uplifting remarks. It was all hard, and you were so tired, but you would do anything to become a hero like him.
Finally, when it was over three hours after school, you fell to your knees, feeling your heartbeat in your eyes and like you were about to throw up. “Well, I guess we can stop here. That was a very good first day, I'm excited to see how you improve tomorrow.”
He grinned, sitting on a rock nearby. All Might stood and helped you back to your feet. “You look just pitiful. Come now, let me buy you some food.” All Might held onto your arm to keep you up as you both began to walk to a nearby café in town.
He bought you a sandwich and a smoothie, tipping the cashier a 20$ bill. Being the 1# hero in the world had its perks financially of course, and All Might was rolling in the dough.
You two walked to a park bench, and sat down happily. You had a lot of fun with All Might, and he enjoyed his time with you. He likes hearing about your life, and your crazy stories. He liked it when you talked about your friends, and your brother.
You were just talking about the one time your friend and you jumped off waterfalls in Hawaii and then had to run from a water snake when you got a text message from Izuku. Your face froze, and your heart rate accelerated.
“Young Ichiko, are you alright?” All Might asked, noticing your happy demeanor turn dark. You stared at your phone as you began shaking. “Oh god, Ichiko?! Are you hurt?” All Might asked as he turned to look at your phone screen. “Oh dear.”
“I’ll miss you.”
“Tell mom I love her.”
“Goodbye.”
Instantly, you quickly went to your tracking app that you had with Izuku and your mom, and looked at Izuku’s location. “He’s… just down the street from the town square. In the Kyoko Insurance Firm?” All Might asked, confused and worried like you. “No… he’s on the building I told him about.”
You jumped up and turned to All Might. “Can you fly?” You asked him as she shook his head. “I used up all my time for the day.” He explained as you began running into town. 
“I just have to run.” You sighed and began running into town, ignoring the burning in your legs and keeping your eyes on your phone. Through the town square, deep into two alleyways, and then down the street. You could already see a small group forming at the base of the building, looking up.
You threw yourself onto the ladder and climbed as fast as possible to the top. It only took a minute before you were staring at your brother who stood on the edge. “You shouldn’t have come here Ichi. I already said goodbye.”
You began to step forward as he turned around to face you. “Izuku, don’t do this. I promise you, you don’t want to kill yourself.” You pleaded as he stared bullets. “My life is useless Ichiko. I’m not athletic. I’m not smart. I’m not powerful.”
You began crying, shaking your head as you heard All Might come up behind you. “Izuku, if you jump off this building I’ll jump too.” You threatened as he shook his head and laughed. “No you won’t. You’re not stupid. Your life is meaningful. You have a bright future Ichiko.” 
The tears kept coming as you shook your head, pleading with him. “Izuku, how can I live the life we dreamed of without you?” You asked as he smiled warmly. “Live life to the fullest, and have no regrets. Live it for the both of us.” Before you could speak, Izuku leaned back off the building.
Like time was slowing down, you ran as fast as you could towards the edge of the building and reached for his hand. The look in his face showed peace as he closed his eyes. You let your arm reach for his, but we’re unable to reach.
As All Might watched this, he felt a rush in his blood as he grew to his hero-form and ran to you. Flying off the building, he was able to use his last ounce of energy to reach his hand around your waist and keep both him and you in the air.
Unfortunately for them both, it gave you a front row seat as you watched her twin brother fall to his death. You cupped your hands around your mouth, your eyes glued to his limp body that laid on the sidewalk.
Screams of horror and worry could be heard below as everyone ran to Izuku. Slowly, All Might lowered you to the sidewalk in the middle of the group. Instantly, you all were recognized. You dropped to your knees, unable to speak or move.
You lightly poked his arm, begging for a response. “I-Izu?” You gasped as blood began to fill uniform shirt. “No! Someone call an ambulance! Somebody, please!” You screamed as loud as you could, fighting against All Might who began to hold you back.
“Young Ichiko, there’s no use.” He whispered as you shook your head, trying your best to fight your way out of his grip. “No! No! He’s not dead! I need to help him, let me go!”
All Might finally twisted you around to face him and spoke to you. “He’s dead Ichiko! He’s dead, and I’m so sorry.” You began crying as you hugged him tightly. “Come now, let’s get you home. You shouldn’t have to see this.” 
All Might began flying you home in his hero form, finally reaching your driveway. You could see that by then, your mother had run out, even leaving the door open on her way to the car.
With the sun setting in the background, All Might sat you on the front porch with him, and let you two sit in silence. Just as All Might was about to say something, dozens of cars pulled up to the street in front, allowing camera men and reporters to spill out.
Obviously, you should have known that the 1# hero and a media sensation in the same place would bring attention. 
“Miss Midoryia, is it true that you witnessed your brother’s suicide?” One asked, not passing the curb to the house but filming you two. “All Might, how do you feel about not being able to save her brother?” Another man asked, trying to get his microphone as close to them as possible.
“I’ll get them out, do not-“ All Might was interrupted by someone rushing through the crowd. “Ichiko?! Ichiko?! Oh my god!” Kirishima pushed through the crowd and ran to you in a hurry. “Are you okay? Why are all these people here? Oh… All Might?”
When he and All Might made eye contact, All Might smiled warmly at you. “I can tell you’re in good hands. I’m going to get these reporters away from here. See you later Young Ichiko.” 
He patted your head and smiled sadly before flying off. Sure enough, more than half the cars followed along. “Shh…Shh.” Kirishima wipes the tears from under your eyes lovingly.
He brought a blanket from your living room and held your hand. “I’m supposing you saw.” You whispered weakly, your voice shaking harshly as Kirishima nodded slowly. “Y-Yea. Oh Ichiko, I’m so sorry.” He wrapped his arms around you as you cuddled on the outdoor porch swing.
“You want to go inside?” Kirishima asked as you shook your head. “I can’t. It reminds me of him too much.” You explained as he sadly held you in his arms. You watched the sun set over the hills, and cuddled deeper into Kirishima.
It was until it grew dark, and you got a call from Mitsuki. Kirishima picked it up and held it to your ear. “Hey Baby. Your mom and I are going to be out for a while, but your mom ordered something pizza for the house for you to eat while we’re gone.”
Mitsuki explained as you nodded. “Okay. W-Wait, can you ask Mom if I can have a friend spend the night?” You asked as Kirishima’s eyes lit up. “She’s not here right now, but I’ll give you permission. It’s not safe for you to be alone right now sweetie.”
And with that, Mitsuki hung up. “D-Do you want to go inside?” Kirishima asked nervously with a blush, noticing you shivering. You nodded, and without even trying, Kirishima picked you up bridal style and brought you inside. 
He sat you on the bar stool, and got you a glass of water from the kitchen. You smiled in a comfortable silence as small tears kept streaming down your face. “D-Do you want a tour?” You tried to smile as Kirishima leaned against the counter. “Of course.”
You got up and grabbed onto his arm as you walked around. “This is the kitchen, and living room. That small room over there is the plant room where all the sunlight is.” You showed him the smaller room with a music speaker and lots of windows.
Upstairs, you began to walk down the hallway. “Here’s my mom’s room, here’s the bathroom, here’s…” You turned to look into the All Might filled, grey room with a welcome sign on the front of the door.
Just thinking of it, you remembered just that morning when you had gone to talk to him. You had told him about your plans for UA, and he had gotten upset. He had been fearful about you two leaving each other. Did that have anything to do with him killing himself?
Seeing you were about to cry, Kirishima put his arm around your waist and pulled you close. You snapped out of it and began walking again. “This is the bathroom. You can shower whenever.” You both blushed as you got to your bedroom.
“Here’s my room.” You began to walk in, causing him to follow you. Your room was a large light painted room with a queen bed next to your huge window with a desk, a full-body mirror, and led lights. You had a big closet, and you had a lot of plants all around.
“Super cute.” Kirishima looked around your room before peering out the window. “There’s… a big tree right there.” He commented as you turned and smiled at him. “Good t know.” He played it off like it was nothing but you knew what he was talking about.
You sat on the bed together, resting your head on his shoulder. “It hurts…” You whispered, feeling the tears building up again. Everything you looked at seemed to remind you of him again and again.
“I know. And it will for a while, but it’s going to be okay. Things have a way of having a good ending, even if it’s bittersweet.” Kirishima tried his best to make you feel better, and in some way, it worked.
You grabbed a blanket and threw it over you two before laying back onto the bed. Kirishima slowly followed, embarrassed yet wanting to lay down with you. You cuddled against him with his back to the window, facing him and cuddling against him. 
You two decided to turn on the tv in your room and give the airless tension with background noise. He wiped your tears, told you funny stories, and made you feel better. He was good at comforting you when you felt at your worst moment.
From the street, Katsuki stared up at the window as he sat on the street curb. He had tried to come by early when the driveway had been filled with reporters, but yet again, the black-haired douche was right there with you.
Now, he had tried to come check on you, cake in hand, when he saw you cuddling with Mr.-I-have-long-black-shiny-hair. Not only that, but in bed. At night. WITHOUT INKO THERE. Katsuki refused to be replaced for his girl by some extra.
Comment if you liked it!!
@drbumpkin @bleachbetch @toobsessedsstuff @turtle-deku @1madxson1 @badb1hh @lilacskyura @thesuitelifeofafangirl
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julemmaes · 3 years
Text
Let Me In - October 2nd
Nesta Archeron x Cassian
Prompt sent by @noorismee (I’m sorry Tumblr kinda sucks and deleted the ask, I hope it’s just a one-time thing cause I could go insane)
“I didn’t get soaked wet through walking to your house for you to say no to pizza. I have beer too. I know you’re sad, so let me in.”
A/N: This was so cute to write and I really really miss my friends right now, cause I’ve just started uni and I don’t understand how many things works so I haven’t seen them in a very long time and writing about them is always kinda emotional. I hope y’all enjoy!
p.s. yesterday I made a mistake, cause I put the acotar general tag list instead of the tog one, so, sorry for the ones who found themselves there eheh
Word count: 2,587
Nesta wanted to cry. She wanted to cry so bad.
She had tried to take this exam four times in the last year. Twice in the winter session and twice in the summer one. Everyone had reassured her that the fifth time would be the good one, that this time she would be able to pass it with full marks.
"I'm sure you'll be the best in the class." Elain had told her only the day before.
So when she had arrived home, today, and had opened the email with the rankings and saw that she had failed again, she had screamed in frustration.
She grunted and dropped her head on the table, banging her forehead hard enough on the wood to make a loud thump. She rubbed her hands over her eyes, yawning and jerking when a flash of lightning lit the room as if it were daytime. She put her hands over her ears, waiting for the thunder and staring at the raindrops racing on the window glass, and when the noise stopped, she started reading one of the billions of theorems she had been studying for months.
She turned the pages until she found the chapter on the Fourier series and started to rewrite everything she needed to assimilate every little connotation of the theory so that she could apply it in practice.
She had been flipping through the book for hours, writing things and doing calculations that she knew by heart now. How was it possible that she knew everything so perfectly when she was at home and when she found herself in front of the test sheet, she forgot the logic behind it?
She picked up the phone to see the time and saw that it was ten forty-nine. She would not go to sleep until she had solved all the problems in the book.
A message appeared on the screen just as she was about to turn it off and she raised an eyebrow seeing who the sender was.
She had immediately informed him when she knew that she had failed the exam again, but then she hadn't waited for an answer and had put her phone aside.
Scrolling through the dozens of notifications - most of them from her best friend - she saw messages from her classmates asking her if she had passed.
When she got to the bottom of the list, she grimaced.
‘Did you eat?’
And a few minutes later, ‘Nesta?’
‘If you don't answer me within an hour and a half, I'm coming to your place.’
And then, exactly ninety minutes later, he had sent another message saying: ‘You asked for it. I'll be at your's in twenty minutes, half an hour max.’ followed by a strangely threatening text, ‘I'm pissed.’
Nesta grinned, muttering to herself, "Joke's on you, I won't open the door." and returned without too much thought to her math book.
Five minutes passed before she heard someone aggressively knocking on the door. She sighed, lifting her eyes from the numbers and pondering whether it was better to let him in or let him die outside in the cold and frost. She was about to get up, tell him that he should leave, when Cassian knocked harder on the door. She frowned.
"Arche! Open the fucking door, I'm freezing out here!" shouted the boy. Nesta laughed, looking at him through the peephole and leaning her hip against the wall.
She spoke loudly enough so that Cassian could hear her through the door, "And don't you think you should have asked my permission before coming here and busting my balls?"
She heard him snort and could imagine him closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose, "Nesta, please," he seemed exasperated, "open this door and let me feed you."
Nesta raised an eyebrow, chuckling, "Feed me? What am I? A dog?"
"No, you idiot." he laughed on the other side, then, in a more serious tone he asked, "Have you eaten something?"
Nesta hesitated, "Sure."
"I can hear the bullshit from here." a little pause, "Come on, open up."
She opened the door slightly, watching him step forward and Nesta closed the door ajar, shaking her head, "Cassian I have to study." if she had let him in she wouldn't have been able to do anything.
His hair was damp and his usually dark-grey jacket was now black.
"Cassian," he repeated in a mocking tone and making a disgusted face, "what? Are you mad?"
She shook her head puffing, tapping her foot on the ground repeatedly. He followed the movement with his eyes. Looking back at her face, he said, "Even if you were, you wouldn't have the right to. I'm not the one who ignored his best friend all day." he put one hand on the door and pushed it, holding the pizza with the other.
When Nesta struggled to keep it closed again, Cassian laughed. They both knew very well that if he wanted to force his way into her apartment, he would have no problem doing so.
He took one look at her and made what she called whipped-dog-eyes, "I didn't get soaked wet through walking to your house for you to say no to pizza. I have beer too. I know you're sad, so let me in." She noticed only in that moment the bag hanging from his fingers. She leaned forward to help him hold it. She hated plastic bags so much, they always stretched out to cut off her hands when she had to carry them around.
Then she metabolized his words and opened her eyes wide, "Did you come on foot?"
She opened the door, stepped aside and let him in. Cassian trotted into the apartment, shaking his jacket off and passing the pizza to her, who moved so as not to get wet, "Are you crazy? It's four degrees outside and it's pouring."
He looked so pleased to finally be inside the house that he didn't seem to hear her.
Nesta placed the food and beer on the kitchen table, careful not to wet the books. She hurried to put everything aside and when Cassian came in and saw what she was doing she tightened her jaw. Nesta noticed.
"What?" she asked abruptly, "Everyone has their problems. You are a fool for leaving the house at ten o'clock without an umbrella and walking for half an hour in the middle of a storm and I am trying to make sure I have a future by studying, and if I have to do it in the evening, that's not going to stop me".
Cassian shrugged, "Az stole my umbrella and my mom needed the car."
A twinge of pain tightened her heart.
She shook her head, "Wait here, I'll go get you a dry sweatshirt, I should have one of yours."
He nodded and Nesta saw him as he started cutting the pizza, taking what necessary and setting the table. When he came back he was shirtless and was rattling his hair, squeezing it into the sink.
She froze on the kitchen door, admiring how the muscles on his back tensed with every slightest movement. It was not the first time she saw him without clothes, there had been many occasions, but it was rare for him to undress in front of her in such intimate surroundings. She cleared her voice, drawing Cassian's attention.
He turned towards her, smiling at her and Nesta thought she was going to die. It wasn't the usual cocky smile he usually gave everyone, it was sweet and sincere. She handed him the sweatshirt without saying anything and sat down.
The first bite of pizza - although it was gummy and cold - was an explosion of happiness in her stomach. She closed his eyes, moaning and took another bite out of the slice. Cassian sniggered, watching her as she finished her first slice.
"Geez, it's so good," said Nesta, with her mouth full of food. Cassian had an amused expression on his face. He nodded his head to the cartoon, "Have some more."
Nesta didn't hesitate and threw herself on the pizza, filling her plate. They ate in silence, enjoying each other's company. She thanked him only when she had cleaned the plate with the last crumb. He had belittled the whole thing by waving his hand mid-air, just saying that she didn't need to thank him, that it was his job to make sure she survived through this exam session.
When Cassian leaned forward on the table to grab a bottle of beer, Nesta stood up, grabbed the bottle opener and handed it to him. He was about to open the second one, when Nesta stopped him, "I'm not going to drink Cass, as soon as you leave I'll go back to studying and you know what alcohol does to me."
Cassian laughed and opened it anyway, pushing it towards her, "Come on Arche," she did not move and looked him in the eyes more serious than ever, "if you put it like that," he took back the beer and the smile died on his lips. He moved his gaze toward the window, "But I'm not leaving".
She moaned, "What the fuck, Cass." she put her hand in her hair, raising one leg and putting her foot on the chair, leaning her chin against her knee.
"I'm not leaving and I don't want to hear your lame excuses about why I can't stay" he looked at her and the worry in his features made Nesta stand at attention.
His tone became more gentle, "What happened today?"
She wiggled her head for the millionth time, frowning, "What do you mean? Nothing happened," and before he could answer her, she added, "except that I failed the mathematical analysis exam for the fifth time."
"Nes..." he passed his hand through his hair, unwinding it and dropping little water left and right. His eyes never left her face, looking for any sign that would give away her apparent calm.
"Cass." she repeated with the same tone. How could he be so good at reading through the lines? Lines that she hadn't even written, considering how good she had been at ignoring him all day long. She figured, that was also a clear sign that something was wrong.
Not even Tomas, her boyfriend, could understand that something was wrong and she had explicitly texted him "I don't feel very well, I'd rather be alone for today" to which he replied with a simple "Ok, talk to you tomorrow".
Maybe he didn't even care what was bothering his girlfriend so much. Surely he would have been angry, though, when he found out that Cassian had spent the night on her couch.
Cassian sighed, also putting down his beer, "You know, you need to talk about anything, I'm always here."
Nesta felt a lump forming in her throat, so she nodded weakly, not trusting her voice.
He looked into her eyes for a few more seconds and when she could no longer hold his gaze, she turned to her books, staring at the sheets of paper that came out of the pages.
"So," said Cassian, changing the subject for her sake, "what don't you understand about mathematical analysis?
She turned to him in surprise, "These aren't things you would understand."
She wasn't trying to insult him or make him feel less intelligent than she were, but the subjects that were studied in the third year of a math degree course required a broad knowledge of previous subjects. Subjects that Cassian would never have even approached while studying foreign languages and literatures.
"Oh, I know, I don't have a sufficiently developed brain for those things, but you need to be distracted and since you want to study so much, maybe you could repeat it to me." he smiled at her, getting up and standing in front of her, pointing to the living room with a nod of his chin, "Couch?
Nesta stared at him, wondering how it was possible that Cassian was her friend. She nodded, following him into the living room and sitting in front of him, her legs bent under her.
The second she opened the book, the black letters on the white pages seemed to cross over. They seemed to dance, not allowing her to read. She would have been able to explain it without reading, but fatigue was taking over. She closed the book, staring at the cover.
"Everything okay?" he asked with a hint of concern in his tone.
Nesta closed her eyes, carrying a hand over her eyes. Her breath started to tremble. She did not want to cry.
She felt Cassian move on the couch and then he hugged her, "Sweetheart?" he stroked her hair, while Nesta took the book out from among them and dropped it on the floor. She clutched to his chest and took a deep breath. The warmth of him seemed to relax her little or nothing and Nesta only wanted to stop feeling this icy cold that seemed to have been poured into her bones.
"I miss my mom," she whispered.
She heard Cassian swallowing, "I figured," he said in an equally silent tone, holding her tighter, "It's normal Arche, her anniversary is approaching."
Right. The anniversary of Amanda Archeron's death would be in a couple of weeks.
Nesta was convinced that Tomas couldn't even remember the month of her mother's death.
"She was so good. She graduated on time. She did everything perfectly. And I'm here and I can't pass this stupid exam," she said against his chest. Her mother went to the same university, she attended classes in the same halls. She had graduated with the highest grades.
Cassian moved slightly, placing his hand on one of her cheeks, caressing her just under the eye. He had a determined look in his eyes and when he spoke, Nesta knew she wouldn't be able to talk back.
"You managed to get this far for a reason. You are not stupid and the test you are trying to take is not easy. Your mother was a genius, it's true, and I understand that you think you are expected to do the same, but no one is going to use such a thing against you," he reassured her. "We are all on your side. The only one who doesn't believe in you, it seems, is also the only one who should." he smiled sweetly at her.
Nesta moved, fleeing that touch so familiar, so comforting.
"I'm sorry." she murmured.
Cassian was still hugging her, "For what?"
"For making you worry, I should have called you and told you right away. You wouldn't have had to come all the way here." she looked him in the face and found an amused expression there.
"I would have come anyway, Nes. Only sooner."
She smiled at him and hugged him again.
They watched an action movie until two in the morning, hugging on her couch. They didn't go to class the next day, staying locked in the house, eating all the junk they had managed to buy on their little trip to the mini market down the street.
Cassian had also managed to convince her not to touch the books for the day and it had taken a while for her to accept.
She just needed her person.
Looking to her right, she stretched her feet over his lap and he smiled at her.
She was kinda screwed.
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maybeimamuppet · 3 years
Text
just a farewell
It’s very hot.
It’s the middle of July, and Janis is boiling even with her window open and a fan running full blast. She’s always hated summer. Cady, on the other hand, doesn’t seem bothered by the heat.
She does, however, seem very bothered by the other thing that the middle of July is bringing them. Janis is leaving for college in New York, and Cady is staying for her own in Illinois.
In September, when they first started applying for colleges, they weren’t even together. They were crushing hard on each other, but not dating. They didn’t even know what schools the other had applied to. By the time they started hearing things back, it was February and they had finally started dating.
They’d had a long discussion about how much they wanted their relationship to affect their decisions. They’d come to the mutual but rather upsetting agreement that, no matter how much they loathe the idea, there’s always a chance their relationship won’t last forever. Their educations would, and they both deserve the one that would be best for them.
So, Janis decided on an arts school in New York. Damian had actually chosen the same one, so they decided to rent an apartment in the city together. Damian is a performing arts major, and Janis decided to study art history and drawing, wanting to leave painting as her sacred art medium.
Cady’s application process was rather more involved, since she had been homeschooled for all but two years and her parents had never done any kind of credit system. She’d had to take placement exams instead of basing things off of her transcript. She’d chosen to go to the University of Illinois, and had managed to get herself in as a junior in credits as a mathematics major. Regina is majoring in psychology there as well, and they had recently learned they’re going to be roommates.
“I’m gonna take this down,” Cady says quietly as she grabs a box by the door, sneakily before it can be taped shut.
“Sure thing, Peanut. Thanks,” Janis says as she folds another shirt for the box she’s packing.
Cady carries her box down the stairs and out to Janis’ truck. She had snuck her Mathletes jacket over and hidden it from Janis. Cady tucks it safely in the box with a little love note and tapes it shut, then slides the box into the back of Janis’ truck bed. She can live without it for a few months.
-
Janis is worried.
Cady has been acting oddly all month. She barely speaks, and when she does her voice is soft and monotone. She’s been extra clingy, always needing some form of physical contact with Janis whenever they’re together and seeming to panic slightly when she’s not able to. And, Cady’s been having more nightmares, regularly waking up either screaming or sobbing in Janis’ arms.
But the worst part by far, the part that worries Janis the most: Cady hasn’t smiled in almost a week. No matter what Janis does, she won’t smile. Janis does understand. She’s dreading the idea of leaving her girlfriend, but she’s still worried about her.
She pushes the last box containing her bedsheets over by the door to be carried down later and flops down on her bare mattress. Cady comes back and scoots in next to her. It’s too hot to cuddle no matter how badly they both want to, so Cady settles for hooking their pinkies together.
“Hi, Kitkat,” Janis says, turning onto her side to see her.
“Hi.” Cady replies in a voice so sad that Janis wants to unpack everything and stay behind.
“What’s wrong?” Janis asks sadly. Cady turns to look at her as well, heaving a sigh as she does. Janis runs a hand through Cady’s newly chin-length curls. “You haven’t smiled in so long. What’s the matter?”
“You’re leaving,” Cady says quietly.
“I gathered that,” Janis chuckles weakly. “I get it. I don’t want to leave you either. But I’m worried about you. You barely even speak anymore, and you keep waking up crying. I miss your smile.”
“It’s stupid,” Cady mumbles. Janis sees her eyes watering and switches their grip to hold her whole hand, giving a gentle squeeze.
“Baby, no it’s not,” she chides. “If you’re this upset, nothing could be stupid. Just tell me what’s wrong, I don’t want to leave knowing you’re this sad.”
Cady takes a deep breath and inches herself a bit closer. “I’m... I’m scared,” she chokes. “When-when Aaron left for his school we didn’t even make it two months. I thought I was so in love with him, and then it all ended. And with Rhys, he left and he... he never came back. I’m scared I’ll never see you again.”
She dissolves into broken sobs by the time she finishes. Janis gives up on trying to keep cool and pulls her into a tight cuddle, desperately hushing her and trying to comfort her as best she can. She supposes she should have known Cady would have some sort of issue with abandonment. Two of the people she loved most in the world left her. One broke up with her and the other died. It all makes a bit more sense now.
“Oh, baby,” Janis hushes. “It’s not like that for us. Aaron was so far away, and you weren’t with him nearly as long. And Butterfly, Rhys was going to war when he had to leave you. I’m going to New York, I’ll be okay.”
“You don’t know that,” Cady sobs. “New York is dangerous! What if you get mugged?”
“If I get mugged then you’ll be the first to know since you’ll have to bail me out of jail for killing whoever tried me,” Janis says. “I know how to defend myself. I have pepper spray and a knife, and my mom made me take all those self defense classes with her, remember? I’m gonna be safe. Our apartment is in a good neighborhood and I’m not gonna go anywhere alone.”
Cady knows she’s being slightly irrational. Nobody would mess with Janis after looking twice at her, but she’s still scared. “What if you meet someone else? And like them more than me?”
Janis rolls over and pulls Cady to lie on top of her. “I don’t think that’s possible, Peanut. I love you so much. I’m more worried about you meeting some hot math dork and ditching me. Someone with, like, elbow patches on a turtleneck, you know?”
Cady doesn’t quite laugh, but Janis feels the slightest hint of a grin against her neck. Progress is progress. “I’m sorry.”
“Baby, no, you don’t need to be sorry. I’m... devastated, I don’t want to leave you here,” Janis says, choking back her own tears. “But we’re gonna be okay.”
Cady nods against her shoulder. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Butterfly. Come on, I have an idea,” Janis says, prying her girlfriend off her lap gently and tugging on the pair of shoes she left unpacked to wear on her drive to New York.
“Oh god,” Cady groans as she hauls herself upright and wipes the tears from her face. Janis’ ideas tend to be a little out there. Her last one involved stealing Damian’s old trombone and using it to piss off a bunch of local cows. She’d nearly gotten herself trampled and the trombone had not survived the incident.
“Not like the cows. Or the chickens,” Janis says quickly. “This one’s safe, I promise. Come on.”
Cady inches her feet back into her flip flops and takes Janis’ hand, following her to her mom’s car since her truck is full of all her stuff. Janis has truly mastered the art of driving one handed now, since Cady always asks to hold one.
Cady is confused when they pull up to a convenience store, but follows Janis in anyway. She’s even more confused when Janis makes a beeline for the stationary section, since they usually only stop by for snacks.
Janis looks carefully at all the calendars, before she grabs one with pictures of kittens for each month. “Pick one for me to have.” Cady looks too, picking one with different famous paintings for each month.  “Perfect.”
Janis takes both and heads to check out, leading a puzzled Cady behind her. Why are they buying calendars they can only use for a few more months?
“Do you want to go get frozen yogurt, baby?” Janis asks once they’re in the car again. Cady nods happily, excited at the idea of her favorite treat. Finally got her to smile.
—————-
Cady insists on paying for their yogurt, since she knows hers will be very expensive. She’s piled loads of popping boba, gummy worms, strawberries, and Oreos on top of her watermelon flavored frozen yogurt. Janis kept it simple with salted caramel yogurt topped with mini M&Ms.
Janis finds a bench nearby with an umbrella so they’re not in the sun. Cady sits and pulls Janis into her lap, resting her head on Janis’ shoulder as they both dig in.
“Do you want to try some of mine?” Cady asks after a few minutes, offering a spoonful to her girlfriend.
“Are you just offering because you want some of mine and you’re trying to make it fair?” Janis asks knowingly, but does take the offered bite.
“No,” Cady says sheepishly. “I’m just trying to be a good girlfriend.”
Janis chuckles around the strange mess of flavors in her mouth. “You don’t have to try to do that, Peanut. Here.” She offers Cady a bite of her own.
“Yours is good,” Cady says, finishing off her own. She winces a little at the tart flavor of the watermelon immediately after the sweetness of the caramel.
“Wanna taste it again?” Janis asks as she takes the last bite of her own.
“But you finished it,” Cady says in confusion.
“And?” Janis purrs, leaning in to kiss her and flicking her tongue against the seam of her lips. Cady gasps in understanding, so Janis takes the opportunity to brush their tongues together. After a few minutes, she breaks away. “Tastes even better this way.”
“You’re so smooth,” Cady jokes. “And sweaty, get off.”
Janis laughs and stands up, offering a hand to help Cady back up. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Jay.” Cady says. The sadness is starting to come back.
“Come on, let’s go do my idea.”
————-
A few minutes later they’re back at Janis’ house, sitting on the bare floor of her bedroom. “What is this idea?”
Janis pulls out the calendars and her mom’s fancy felt-tip pens in all sorts of fun colors. She hands the paintings one to Cady and keeps the kitten one in front of her.
“You do better with visual reminders of stuff, right?” Janis asks as she picks out a dark yellow pen. Cady nods. “So, we’ll go through these and mark off when everything starts and when our breaks are, and when we’ll call each other. Then you can count off all the days until we’re together again.”
“Oh,” Cady says. “That is good.”
“I told you,” Janis teases, poking her knee with her foot. “Are you thinking of joining any clubs or anything that would meet on Saturday nights?”
“I don’t think so,” Cady says confusedly. “Why?”
“We could have video dates those days. My art club only meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I’d be free if you are,” Janis says. “We’ll still call and stuff during the week, obviously, but I think it would be good to have something scheduled.”
“That sounds good too,” Cady says. “You’re so thoughtful.”
“I try really hard,” Janis jokes, marking off every Saturday for the remaining weeks of July, along with all of August, September, and October. Janis had already made the tough decision not to come back during her fall break, so they wouldn’t be able to see each other until Thanksgiving.
Cady does the same to hers. “Now what?”
“Look up when your fall break is and mark that, and do Thanksgiving too. We’ll do something fun over Facetime on my fall break since I can’t come back,” Janis says. “And then when I’m back for Thanksgiving we’ll do this again for the next semester.”
Cady marks off her first day of classes, her fall break in October, and the start of her Thanksgiving break. Janis does the same, and makes a special mark on the day she’s flying home for Thanksgiving in November.
Cady adds cute little doodles on random days, with random ‘I love you’ reminders scattered throughout as well. Just to make Janis smile. Once they finish marking everything, they switch calendars. Janis tucks hers safely into the backpack she would be bringing on her road trip.
Cady reaches for her once they finish. Janis is leaving in just a few hours, she wants to squeeze in as many cuddles as she can before she has to go. Janis obliges, cuddling into her side and burying her face into her neck. Cady turns to face her and nuzzles her nose into her hair.
They cling to one another desperately until they both get too hot and uncomfortable to continue. Janis inches back and holds her hand instead, checking the time on her phone with the other.
“We should get to Damian’s soon,” she says quietly. “We need time to load up all of his stuff too.”
Cady pouts. Janis and Damian would be leaving directly from his house. She’d get her last kisses, hugs, and cuddles for several months there. “Okay. Let’s go.”
Janis switches out her keys, grabbing the ones for her truck and leaving the ones for her mom’s car behind. Her mom and sister would meet them at Damian’s house later to see them off, but she takes a second to look wistfully around at the house itself.
Cady clings to her hand as they walk through the yard, and snatches it back as soon as Janis gets into the driver’s seat. The smiles and getting her voice back seems to have been a temporary thing. Quiet Cady is back now, playing sadly with Janis’ rings.
-
Janis has a key to Damian’s house and can tell by the lack of car in the driveway that his mom isn’t home, so she unlocks it and throws the door open with a loud, “What’s up, fuckers?!”
Pippa, who was waiting behind the door at the sound of a key, scrambles to run to her owner in the living room for protection. Janis and Cady follow, Cady shaking her head in exasperation.
Pippa gets very excited when she sees Cady and runs back over, popping up on her hind legs to show she wants attention. Cady can barely smile even at the adorable antics of the puppy, but does bend down to pet her like always.
She carries Pippa down the hall to Damian’s bedroom, following her girlfriend and best friend. Damian has everything packed already, they just need to get the boxes into Janis’ truck.
Cady’s glad that Janis and Damian are going to the same place. As hard as it is for Janis to leave Cady, she knows having to leave Damian would have been much harder for her. She’s glad Janis and Damian have always had each other to lean on, and still get to be together.
Eventually the puppy cuddles have to take a temporary break, so she rests Pippa on Damian’s bed and grabs a box to carry out.
With the three of them working, the boxes are all where they need to be pretty quickly. Now they have about two and a half hours to kill before Janis and Damian have to hit the road.
“Should we have one last movie night?” Damian asks. Cady almost bursts into tears then, she had forgotten she’d be losing him for a while too. She nods, knowing that if she tries to speak she’s going to be completely inconsolable for the next several hours.
She sits in between both of them, trying to focus on Lilo and Stitch instead of the coming events. It just about works.
Unfortunately, the movie has to come to an end, along with their time together. Nobody speaks, but they all squish a little bit closer together.
“I love you guys,” Cady whispers, finally prompting the tears from all of them. “I’m gonna miss you.”
“We’re gonna miss you too, Little Slice,” Damian says.
Janis doesn’t say anything, just leans her head onto her girlfriend’s shoulder. She stays there for a second before she seems to remember something and leaves.
“Where are you going?” Cady asks through her tears.
“I have something for you, hold on,” Janis replies through her own. Cady cuddles more with Damian while she’s gone.
Janis comes back carrying a strangely shaped... something. “Here.”
Cady takes it and nearly drops it on her toes. “What is it?”
“It’s a weighted thing, I made it from one of my jackets,” Janis sniffs. “To help you when you get overloaded. Or just when you want cuddles.”
Upon closer inspection, it is made out of one of Janis’ decorated jackets. “This was your favorite one, why would you do that?”
“It had a rip in it anyway, there was no way I could get it back,” Janis says.
Cady squeezes it close. It smells like Janis, and her girlfriend left the sleeves on and filled them with whatever she used to weigh the body down, to simulate a hug. “I love it. Thank you, Jayjay.”
“Of course,” Janis says quietly. Damian leaves then as well, and returns with his own signature blue jacket.
“Here, you can have this too,” he chokes. Cady takes it gratefully and hugs both her new gifts close.
“Thanks, D,” she says.
Janis and Damian’s families show up in the midst of a very long, tearful goodbye hug. It’s time to go.
Cady squeezes them quickly and lets them go to their families, knowing she’ll get one last chance to say goodbye before they actually have to go. The tears keep streaming down her face as she watches Janis and Juliana say their goodbyes. Janis’ mom even brought Pancakes, and that goodbye is even more sad.
Eventually, they all head out into the yard. Janis and Cady have a moment to themselves as Damian says goodbye to his mom and Janis’ family.
Cady throws herself at her girlfriend and refuses to let go as Janis picks her up. She locks her legs around her waist and arms around her neck as they both sob quietly into each other’s shoulders.
“I don’t want you to go,” Cady weeps quietly.
“I know,” Janis murmurs back. “I don’t want to go either.”
“I love you so much,” Cady sobs. “I’m so proud of you. You’re gonna do great.”
“So are you,” Janis says, resting her back on her feet and cupping her face. “I love you so much.”
“We’re gonna be fine,” Cady says, seemingly more to comfort herself than Janis. “You’ll come back.”
“Always. I’ll always come back to you. In November,” Janis chokes in response. “I promise.”
“Will you text me or call me when you’re not driving?” Cady asks, cuddling into her shoulder again.
“Of course,” Janis sniffs. “I’ll keep you updated.”
“Okay,” Cady sobs in reply. “This is the worst, I hate goodbyes.”
“I know, I hate this too,” Janis sobs. “Come here.”
They both lean in for a kiss, trying to convey all their love and sorrow through it. Their tears mingle on their cheeks, and they can both taste the salt on one another’s lips. Every once in a while one pulls back to choke out another sob, but the other pulls them back in quickly.
Eventually they do have to break apart to breathe again. Cady murmurs ‘I love you’ in every language she knows. Damian calls Janis over then, they really do have to get going.
“I love you, Bluejay,” Cady says, kissing her one last time.
“I love you too, Butterfly,” Janis says back. “Good-“
“No. Don’t-don’t say that,” Cady insists. “This time it really isn’t a goodbye. You’re coming back. This is a farewell.”
“Okay. Farewell, Cady Heron,” Janis says as she climbs into the passenger side. She and Damian had decided that he would drive first. Janis knew she would probably be crying too hard to drive safely.
“Farewell, Janis Sarkisian,” Cady says, kissing her cheek through the window before she steps back to stand by their families.
Juliana clings to Cady as Damian and Janis drive off. Cady clings to her just as tightly, both of them crying into each other. Everyone waves at the truck until it’s out of sight.
-
Cady spends the rest of the day with their families, wanting their company to distract herself from her feelings. She plays Just Dance and a few card games with Juliana to keep them both busy.
A few hours after they’ve left, Cady’s phone pings with a text from Janis. It’s a very blurry picture of the sign marking the border to Indiana.
“Is that them?” Julie asks.
“Mmhmm. They’re in Indiana now,” Cady says, turning the phone so she can see the picture. “Janis says she’s taking over driving, but she’ll let us know when they stop again.”
“How far away is your school?” Julie asks quietly.
“Only about two hours, it’s in Champaign,” Cady answers, replying to Janis’ message before she deals a new hand for their game. “Why?”
“You can come back more often,” Julie says. “I don’t want to be alone, now that Janny’s gone.”
Cady almost starts crying again. “Of course. Your mom got you a phone, right?”
“Uhhuh,” Julie says, digging into her pocket and pulling it out. Cady takes it and enters her contact information.
“There. If something happens or you get lonely just tell me and I’ll come back,” Cady promises. “Do you have Janis and Damian’s numbers too?”
Julie nods. “Thanks, Cady.”
Cady grins at her. “No problem, kiddo.”
————-
Cady stays with their families until sunset, when her parents tell her she needs to come home. Janis has continually texted her throughout the day, sending pictures of cute birds she finds at rest stops or strange things she sees out the windows.
Cady is about to turn in for the night when her phone pings one last time.
bluejay: caddy caddy
butterfly: What what?
bluejay: oh we made it to my family’s place btw we’re about halfway thru ohio
bluejay: but vera and her friends took us around to see stuff and there’s a massive field of fucking concrete corn
butterfly: What?
bluejay: Sent a picture: ive never been more afraid in my life
butterfly: That’s so weird, why couldn’t they just have actual corn there?
bluejay: i don’t know!!!! i’m scared i’m gonna get murked here but vera says ppl take prom pics with them and shit
butterfly: How tall are they?
bluejay: i think they’re about six feet they’re not that much taller than me
butterfly: Huh. How weird.
bluejay: ikr
bluejay: what are you up to babes ?
butterfly: Sent a picture: Sleepy 📷️
bluejay: aww. i miss you so much already baby
butterfly: I miss you so much, love. I have my cuddle thing you made me and I just crossed off my calendar for the day 📷📷
bluejay: oh i’ll go do that once vera finds her gfs
bluejay: goodnight peanut i love you
butterfly: Goodnight, Jayjay, I love you too
Cady shuts off her phone and plugs it in, turning onto her side and staring at the calendar she pinned to the wall. She tries to look at the cute kittens in party hats and not the word ‘JULY’ in large letters, taunting her just below it. She buries her face into the cushion, inhaling Janis’ lingering scent, and gently cries herself to sleep.
————-
Very late the next evening, she gets a text from Janis letting her know they’ve made it safely to their apartment in New York, and they’re going to get to work unpacking everything the next morning.
With the new time difference, Janis is an hour ahead of her, so they wake up at roughly the same time, now. Janis texts her around ten Cady’s time to ask if she wants to Facetime while she gets started unpacking.
Cady, obviously, agrees immediately. A call from Janis comes through, and Cady hits the green button to accept it.
“Hey, love,” she greets. “How’s the big apple?”
“Big,” Janis responds. “Here, look.” Cady can see her shuffle out of her new bed and over to the window, and then the camera flips around to show off Janis’ view.
“Wow,” Cady says. “That’s beautiful.”
“I think my view is more beautiful,” Janis flirts. “I miss you.”
“I miss you,” Cady responds sadly. “But hey, we’re already two and a half days down until we’re back together!”
“Look at you, little miss optimist,” Janis chuckles. “What are you up to?”
“Art, kind of, actually,” Cady says happily. “I got all my stuff for school yesterday, I’m decorating my notebooks.”
“Lemme see,” Janis says excitedly, sitting on her floor and opening a box. Cady flips around her own camera to show the lion she’s painting onto the cover of her yellow notebook. “Cute! I like it.”
They continue to chat lightly as they both work, and it almost feels like they’re back together again. Maybe this won’t be so bad. Cady hears a quiet gasp as Janis opens another box.
“Baby,” she says quietly. “You gave me your jacket?”
“Yeah,” Cady says shyly. “I wanted you to have something physical of mine. Turns out we had similar ideas.” She watches Janis read the little note she hid inside and the smile grow on her face.
“Thank you, Butterfly,” Janis says. She wraps the soft blue and yellow fabric around her shoulders and continues unpacking the rest of her clothes.
“You’re welcome, Bluejay,” Cady replies. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Peanut,” Janis says.
—————
About a month later, Cady is officially moved into her dorm and ready for her first day of classes. Janis doesn’t start her own until Wednesday, so she still has time to get everything ready.
On Monday morning, Cady wakes up to a text from her girlfriend. It’s eight in the morning her time, so Janis must have woken up extra early just to say hi.
bluejay: good luck at class butterfly. have a great first day 📷📷
butterfly: Thanks, Jellybean. I love you 📷️📷️
bluejay: i love you more. tell me all about it when you get back go be smart
Cady sends back a thumbs up and kissy emoji, then shuts her phone off and heads down to the bathrooms to get ready.
-
On Wednesday, she does the same for Janis. Janis’ classes are all in the afternoon, but Cady sends her a sweet text at around eleven to wish her luck.
butterfly: Good luck today, my love. You’re gonna do brilliant things and I can’t wait to see them 📷
Janis sends back a picture of her making a peace sign but with her eyes brimming with tears. Cady replies to that with a picture of her making a kissy face and an apology for making her cry, and they text back and forth while Janis gets ready and Cady has her lunch.
-
On Saturday, they have their first date over video chat. Cady puts on a nicer outfit even though she’s just sitting at her desk in her dorm. Regina is away at a party for the night, so she’s got privacy to talk to her love.
At the agreed time (which Cady had spent a very long time confirming Janis knew, even with the time difference), she opens her laptop and brings up Facetime, shuffling her short hair as she sends the call through. Her eyebrows shoot up as her girlfriend comes into view. The formerly blonde ends of her hair are…
“Blue! I mean, hi!” She says, pointing to the screen before she remembers that Janis can’t see what she’s pointing to.
Janis laughs at her reaction. “Hey, Peanut. I got bored and bought a bunch of colors of temporary dye, Damian helped me do it. What do you think?”
“It looks really good,” Cady says. Janis notices her brow furrowing and her lips going into a thin line.
“You wanna touch it, don’t you?” She asks. Cady nods crankily. “Soon. I’ll dye it blue again when I come back.”
“How long does it last?” Cady asks. “It really suits you.”
“Only about a week, it’s kind of like paint. I’m glad you like it,” Janis replies. “Anyway, how was your first week?”
“Good! My classes are actually a bit easier than I was expecting,” Cady chirps happily. “And my professors are really nice. It’s just kind of hard to remember where everything is, still. How has yours been?”
“Not bad,” Janis shrugs. “School is fine, but I miss you. Damian and I have been walking around to get used to the city, and I keep finding places you’d love and then I remember you’re so far away and I can’t actually take you there.”
Cady frowns. “Maybe I’ll have to come to you a few times, then you can show me around.”
Janis grins back. “Yeah, that would be great. Honestly, I think you’d really like it in the city. It’s big and kind of overwhelming, but once you’re used to it it’s just like you’re in your own little pocket. And then you travel to other pockets.”
“It does sound fun,” Cady giggles. “Has your art club started yet?”
“No, it’s not ‘til next week,” Janis says. “But a bunch of people in it are in my classes too, so I got to meet some of them. They all seem chill, I’m excited.”
“Good,” Cady smiles. “I’m glad.”
“How’s having Reginald for a roommate been treating you?” Janis asks. “I see a lot of pink already.”
“Yeah, trying to mesh us is a little tricky,” Cady giggles. “A lot of pink and then a lot of my tribal patterns from Africa. But really, she’s actually been a good roommate so far. She doesn’t even complain about my nightlight thingy you got me.”
“Good,” Janis grins. “God, I miss you so much. I want snuggles.”
“I miss you too,” Cady says. “But it’s August now! We made it a whole month already, now we just have… a few more to get through.”
“I’m really glad you’re an optimist, babe,” Janis chuckles. “I love you.”
Cady leans in to kiss her laptop camera, and once Janis catches on she does the same. “I love you too.”
————-
In October, Cady makes special plans for Janis’ birthday. She switched her location to the city to order some sushi for Janis’ dinner to their apartment, and sent a bit of money to Damian for streamers. It’s a Thursday, so Janis has her art club and won’t be home until late.
She gets to talk to Damian while he sets everything up, happy to catch up with her best friend. He’s just blowing up the final balloon when Janis enters. Cady quickly dons the party hat she purchased and grabs her party popper.
“Aww, Dame,” Janis says happily, not having noticed Cady on the screen yet. “Cute.”
“Wasn’t me,” Damian shrugs, slightly out of breath from blowing up all the balloons himself.
“You’re the only one here,” Janis says confusedly. “Ooh, sushi, yay!”
“That definitely wasn’t me,” Damian says. “For fucks sake, get over here.”
“What?” Janis asks around a mouthful of salmon maki roll, coming to sit by him on their crappy little couch. “Oh!”
Cady pulls the string on her party popper, making a louder bang than she was expecting and causing her to yelp as the confetti all rains down on her. “Happy birthday, love!”
Janis laughs. “Thanks, Peanut! Did you do all this?”
“Uhhuh! I hope that sushi place is good, it had the best reviews,” Cady says. “Thanks for the help, D.”
“Anytime,” Damian says. “Cads, do you have your stuff?”
“Yep!” Cady chirps, grabbing her favorite blanket and a bowl of popcorn, climbing up to her top bunk in her bed.
“What’s going on?” Janis asks in confusion, around yet another mouthful of sushi.
“We’re having a movie night! Damian and I figured out how to do it,” Cady says happily. “You get to pick the movie, birthday girl.”
“Can I pick a horror movie?” Janis asks. It’s already a bit late, and Cady typically needs a minimum of one happy movie after any scary one to be able to sleep. Janis usually has to cuddle her, too, but she can’t exactly do that from a different state.
“Sure,” Cady replies anxiously. Maybe Regina will let her sleep in her bunk. Almost definitely not, but maybe. “I’ll deal with it.”
“Compromise, I wanna watch Coraline,” Janis says. “That’s… almost a horror movie but not quite.”
“Okay,” Damian chuckles. He pulls it up and shares the screen with Cady. It’s nowhere near as good as their real movie nights, but it’s better than nothing. They still get to stay up way too late on a school night and eat more popcorn than should ever be consumed in one sitting.
Cady is thoroughly spooked by the time they all have to hang up, but Regina offers a mug of her favorite calming tea to help her sleep and begrudgingly agrees to tuck her in. Cady drifts off clinging to her homemade cuddle buddy and wrapped tightly in her blankets.
————-
Two weeks before Thanksgiving, Cady gets a very late night text from Janis.
bluejay: peanut
bluejay: i’m really sorry
Cady instantly replies, trying not to panic.
butterfly: What’s the matter?
bluejay: i can’t come home for thanksgiving
bluejay: the airline just canceled our tickets out of nowhere and they don’t have any other replacements. everywhere else is booked too
butterfly: No
butterfly: You said Thanksgiving. You have to come back
bluejay: i know
bluejay: i can’t change it i’m sorry. dame and i looked everywhere
butterfly: Look again
butterfly: Please Jay
bluejay: okay i’ll check one more time
Janis checks every single airline for any available ticket. Everywhere is booked until after her break.
bluejay: i’m sorry baby there’s literally nothing
bluejay: i miss you so much i want to come back and see you
bluejay: baby ??
Cady’s been crying too hard to see her keyboard.
butterfly: You promosed
Cady never makes typos. Janis brings up her contact and calls her immediately, frowning when Cady declines.
bluejay: baby please
bluejay: i don’t have any control over this
bluejay: you know i’d walk back if i could
bluejay: baby please at least answer me
Janis suddenly gets a text from Regina, of all people.
reginald: What the hell have you done?
reginald: Cady’s, like, losing it. I think she’s having a shutdown.
snarkisian: my flight home got cancelled
snarkisian: is she okay ??? she won’t answer me
reginald: I think she’s too upset to notice you’re trying to get ahold of her. She’s crying really hard. And she won’t come out from under her blanket.
snarkisian: god caddy
snarkisian: can you ask her quietly if she’d be able to talk to me if you answered the phone ?? she’s probably too upset to move but i might be able to help her calm down
reginald: She said yes. Or nodded, at least. I would help but I don’t know what to do, I’ve never seen her like this.
snarkisian: i haven’t either but she told me what helps her. i’ve only seen her have a meltdown
snarkisian: just watch what i do ig
She pulls up Cady’s contact again, and this time there’s an answer. It’s Regina’s concerned face, but she quickly sticks the phone into Cady’s little blanket cave so Janis can see her instead.
“Hey, Butterfly,” Janis says sadly when she sees Cady’s face. She’s stimming aggressively but very slowly, and even in the darkness Janis can see the tear tracks on her face. “Baby, I’m so sorry, I want to come back. So bad, I miss you. I want to hold you and kiss you and never let go.”
Cady sobs a few times, hard. She gasps for breath in between each. Janis notices she’s getting more upset and stimming harder, wringing her hands back and forth. Her skin is turning white with each twist.
“Do you have your weighted blanket?” Janis asks. Cady manages to shake her head. “Would it help?” She nods. “Okay. Reggie?”
“Yeah?” Regina calls from outside their little cocoon.
“There should be a weighted blanket wherever she keeps her clothes. It’s blue and has little flowers on it, can you give that to her?” Janis asks. Cady flinches at the volume of their voices and covers her ears.
“I’ll try,” Regina says. It might mean sleeping on a heating pad due to an aggravated back, but if it helps her friend, it’s worth it. Huh, maybe I really am a decent person now.
She finds a blanket that matches the description tucked in the bottom drawer of Cady’s dresser. With a good deal of effort, she hauls it out and hefts it up onto Cady’s bunk. Cady pokes her red, teary face out from her other blanket and grabs the weighted one, wrapping it around herself like a cloak. Janis can see her breathe a little sigh of relief at the pressure.
“Where’s your thing I made you?” Janis asks quietly again. Cady pokes an arm out to grab her cuddle buddy, resting it on her lap. The extra weight helps even more. “Deep breaths, Peanut.”
Cady nods and listens, taking some deep breaths in and out between her sobs. Regina helps by dimming the lights in their room and turning on Cady’s nightlight that paints colorful stars on the ceiling. Cady said that she just kind of has to wait shutdowns out, and that she almost never gets them anymore. Janis feels terrible that she caused one, even inadvertently.
She stays on the phone and Regina waits nearby anxiously until Cady sort of recovers nearly an hour later. She’s stopped crying and her stimming has picked up speed again.
“Are you okay, baby?” Janis asks quietly. Cady shakes her head. “I know. Are you feeling a little better, at least?” Cady nods. “Good. I’m so sorry, Butterfly.”
“‘S not your fault,” Cady chokes. “‘’M sorry.”
“No, Peanut, don’t be sorry,” Janis says. “I’m sorry this happened. Reggie, she has a calendar on her desk, can you grab that?”
Regina does, passing it and a pen to Cady in silence and climbing back into her own bed. She’s still within earshot, but she would very much like to go back to bed now that her roommate is okay.
Cady flips to November and aggressively scratches out the week of Thanksgiving. Stupid airlines.
“I’ll book my tickets home for Christmas now, you can mark those off instead,” Janis says. Cady watches her eyes shift as she browses the available flights home. “There. I’ll be back on the fifteenth.”
Janis actually booked a flight for the tenth. Her break is remarkably long, luckily for her. Maybe she’ll surprise Cady. She watches Cady take her pen and mark off December fifteenth with a sad grin.
“Okay. I love you,” Cady says quietly once it’s been done.
“I love you too, Peanut,” Janis says. She leans in for a camera kiss, and Cady does the same. “Call me every day of your break so we can still talk, okay? I can’t wait to see you.”
Cady nods slowly, lethargic from her shutdown. “It’s late, go to bed.”
“You go to bed,” Janis retaliates childishly.
“I’m in bed,” Cady replies, holding the phone to show her nest on her bunk.
“Ugh, you know what I mean,” Janis groans with a chuckle. “Goodnight, Butterfly.”
“Night, love. Sleep well,” Cady says, nestling into bed and leaning in for one more camera kiss.
“You too,” Janis replies, returning it. One more month.
————-
The next morning, Janis texts Regina. Her help will be vital if she wants to make Cady’s surprise actually good.
snarkisian: reggieeeeeeeeeeeeeee
reginald: Christ. What do you want, Jan?
snarkisian: for u to stop using proper punctuation and capitalization in text first of all
snarkisian: but i lied to caddy i’m actually coming back on the tenth
snarkisian: can u help me surprise her ????
reginald: Lord, it never ends with you two.
snarkisian: stahp
snarkisian: just try. end ur next one without a period. i bet u can’t
reginald: I hate you
snarkisian: eyyy
reginald: Are we surprising your girlfriend or not?
snarkisian: oh yeah oops
snarkisian: all i should need is a way into ur dorm. i can get an uber there from the airport
reginald: I’ll pay for it. What time are you coming in?
snarkisian: OWO reggie being nice ???
snarkisian: i should land around one your time so i’ll be there a bit after that
reginald: I do actually care about you two, against my better judgement. I’ll come back between classes and let you in. Her last class that day ends at three.
snarkisian: tits thanks reggie
snarkisian: love u
reginald: Ugh.
Janis grins at her phone as Regina ends their conversation. She never thought she’d have banter like that with her again. Time to plan.
—————-
Janis writes out a note as she sits next to Damian on the plane. He fell asleep almost immediately after they took off, but Janis knows he’s also very excited to see Cady and their families.
Janis picks her pen back up and continues writing after a quick glance at his snoring face.
Dear Butterfly,
Hi, baby. I miss you so much, I can’t wait to see you again. I’ve missed holding you and getting all your kisses and cuddles. I miss trying to count your freckles and seeing your beautiful eyes up close. Cameras and jackets can only do so much, I guess.
I’ll be back before you know it and won’t have to let you go until January. I can’t wait. I’ll see you soon, Peanut.
Love, Jayjay
P.S. Turn around ;)
That should do it. A bit short, but it’ll get her message across well enough. She only has a couple more hours until she’s reunited with her love.
——————-
She bids Damian a farewell as they get their bags. He’s going directly back to Evanston, but Janis is sneakily staying in Cady and Regina’s room until their own break begins and then heading back with the two of them. They’re breaking a few campus rules, but nobody should have to know.
Regina meets her outside their dorm, which had taken Janis absolutely forever to find. She’d eventually had to stop and ask someone after Googling the name of it no fewer than seven times.
“Hey, art freak,” Regina greets, swiping her ID card to get into the building. Janis comes shuffling up in all her snow gear and lugging her suitcase behind her.
“Hey, Reginald,” Janis replies.
“Is that seriously still your contact name for me? You’ve had that since sixth grade,” Regina grumbles.
“You know it,” Janis says as they get into the rickety elevator. “I don’t like this.”
“It’s a little scary the first few times. You get used to it,” Regina shrugs. “Hasn’t fallen yet.”
“Oh, that fills me with so much confidence,” Janis grumbles under her breath.
“See? You survived,” Regina says. “This is it.” She pulls out a key and sticks it in the door, opening to a small room. Bunk beds, two desks, two dressers. That’s about it, but it’s been personalized with Cady and Regina’s own styles. It’s cute.
“Aww. Cute,” Janis grins. Cady has a bulletin board hung up over her desk, with her calendar and so many photos of all her friends and family pinned to it. The fifteenth has been decorated with several tiny hearts and exclamation points. Janis is also on the bulletin board most frequently, with Damian as a close second.
“Can I trust you alone here? I have a late class,” Regina says, grabbing her backpack and heading back towards the door. “Cady’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“Yes, I can be trusted,” Janis groans. “Thanks, Reggie.”
“Stop calling me that!” Regina yells, already down the hall.
“Never!” Janis calls back. The door clicks shut after Regina, so Janis sets herself up for the surprise. She takes off her coat, sticking it and her suitcase under the bed and out of sight. It takes a bit of pushing, but eventually she makes it fit.
Then, she folds up the note she wrote and writes ‘Caddy’ on it with a heart and puts it on Cady’s desk for her to find, before deciding to hide in the nearby tiny storage closet. Regina said it would only be a few minutes, she can make it that long.
-
Janis grins widely as she hears her girlfriend in the hallway, trying not to make any noise from her hiding spot.
She peeks through the gap as Cady enters and takes off her coat. Cady suddenly notices the note on her desk. While she’s occupied reading it, Janis takes the time to step out and stand behind her. Cady reads the end and whirls around.
“Janis!” She yells, running to her and pitching herself into her arms. Janis stumbles back when her girlfriend rockets into her, but recovers quickly and holds her close. “What are you doing here? I thought you couldn’t come back until next week!”
“I wanted to surprise you,” Janis chuckles. She hears Cady sniffle and feels tears soak into her shoulder. “Why are you crying?”
“I missed you so much,” Cady sobs. “You’re so much better than a pillow.”
“Aww, Peanut,” Janis coos. Her arms are getting a little tired, so she goes to sit on the bed. Regina technically has the bottom bunk, but she doesn’t have to know. Cady refuses to let her go, actually locking tighter around her now that they’re seated. “I missed you so, so much.”
Cady pulls back but doesn’t unlock herself, wiping her tears away and cupping Janis’ face. She stares intently at her and brushes her thumbs over her cheeks so softly.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” she whispers. Suddenly she whacks Janis’ arm gently. “You stinker! You tricked me!”
“To surprise you, ow!” Janis laughs. “You seemed so sad, I figured this might cheer you up.”
“I haven’t seen you in five months, of course I’ve been sad,” Cady says quietly. “You’ve been here for so long and haven’t kissed me yet.”
Janis grins and pulls her in, tangling a hand in Cady’s hair and gripping her waist with the other. Cady runs her hands up and down Janis’ back before eventually settling on her shoulders. They both sigh in relief at the warmth of each other, finally feeling each other’s grip and the soft texture of one another’s lips.
“So much better than kissing a camera,” Janis mumbles happily.
“Definitely,” Cady giggles. “How long are you here?”
“I have to go back on the fourth, my classes start again on the sixth,” Janis shrugs. “We have almost a full month together.”
“Yay,” Cady says happily. “Does your family know you’re back?”
“No, I’m staying here until you guys go back. But they might find out before then, Dame already went back,” Janis shrugs.
“You criminal,” Cady gasps jokingly. “Staying here against the rules, how dare.”
“I know, it’s terribly scandalous,” Janis chuckles. She starts poking random places on Cady’s face gently, then follows them with kisses.
“What are you doing?” Cady giggles.
“Your freckles,” Janis says between little pecks. “I’m trying to memorize where they are, they don’t show up as well on camera.”
“Mm,” Cady hums in understanding. “Tickles.”
“Sorry,” Janis breathes. “What should we do?”
Cady pulls back and hauls Janis up with her, then crawls up onto her own bed. Janis comes up after her, having to be careful of bonking her head against the ceiling.
“Snuggles. Right now,” Cady demands, getting comfy on her side and reaching for her.
“Bossy,” Janis snorts, but obliges without complaint. She tucks herself against Cady’s chest and pulls herself closer. “This is a nice sweater.”
“Thanks, I just bought it the other day,” Cady chuckles in response. “Your hair is blue again.”
“I know, what do you think?” Janis asks, shaking it out gently so Cady can feel. “I had it green last week, I had to dye it back for you.”
Cady sticks her hands into it and fiddles with the ends happily. “It’s so soft!”
“Thanks,” Janis giggles at her reaction. “It’s basically colored conditioner, so it’s been doing me a lot of favors.”
Cady cuddles back in, but doesn’t take her hands out of her hair. “Do you have purple?”
“Yeah, I do,” Janis replies. “I’ll do that one next week, you wanna help?” Cady nods eagerly. “And your hair grew, you look cute.”
“Thanks!” Cady chirps happily. Her hair has grown out to her shoulders now, and is still as curly as ever. “God, I’m so happy you’re here.”
“I am too,” Janis grins. Cady squeals in surprise as she rolls over onto her back and pulls Cady on top of her. “How’s my math genius been doing here?”
Cady smiles against her neck. “As good as I can without you. I think I’m most of my professors’ favorite student. Oh, and I had a meeting with my advisor the other day, and they said I’m still on track to graduate after next year.”
“I’m so proud of you,” Janis grins happily, running her fingers through Cady’s curls. She still uses the cherry shampoo. “I’m surprised your head hasn’t exploded yet. How do you have room for all those brains?”
Cady chuckles again and leans up on her elbows. “You’re one to talk. So many art techniques rattling around in there.”
“And very little else,” Janis replies. Cady flicks her ear gently.
“You’re brilliant, shush your face,” she frowns.
“Make me,” Janis teases.
“Happily,” Cady smirks, leaning down to press their lips together again.
————-
On Christmas Eve, Cady sneaks out of her house and over to Janis’. She left her parents a note and sets an alarm so she can be back in time for presents anyway.
Janis doesn’t have a tree she can climb, so she picks up all the little pebbles she finds on the way to pitch at her window instead. Cady could just text to wake her up, but this is more romantic.
It only takes four rocks for Janis’ face to appear in the window, bleary eyes looking out into the yard to see who’s out there. She grins happily when she sees Cady and disappears suddenly to go let her in.
“What are you doing here?” She murmurs when she has her back in her arms.
“It’s Christmas,” Cady shrugs. “Or nearly, anyway. All I want is to be with you, and you’re close enough now that I can.”
“No, I appreciate that,” Janis replies, scooping her up and carrying her inside. “But it’s, like, ten degrees outside and you’re just in your pajamas and you also walked over here alone at night.”
“You don’t live that far,” Cady shrugs, but now that Janis brings it up she is absolutely freezing.
“It’s a ten minute walk, Butterfly,” Janis chuckles. “Come on.”
“Where are we going?” Cady yawns when Janis carries her past the stairs and down the hall.
“I can feel you shivering, let’s go have hot chocolate,” Janis responds, shifting her grip and then resting her on the counter.
“Oh,” Cady says happily. “Okay.”
Janis pours some milk into mugs and puts them in the microwave, then returns to her girlfriend. Cady grins as Janis cups her face and leans in, wrapping her legs around Janis’ waist and pulling her closer. They lose themselves in the bliss of one another, in kiss after kiss.
Until the microwave beeps and Janis has to scramble to stop it before it wakes up her family. She manages after just two beeps, Cady giggling quietly from her perch on the counter as she removes the warm mugs and adds in the cocoa, then a touch of cinnamon and some marshmallows. She puts crushed candy canes in her own, leaving Cady’s plain since she hates mint.
“Thank you, my love,” Cady says when Janis passes hers over, cradling the toasty drink in both hands and taking a small sip. It almost burns her tongue, but she’s so cold from her journey over that it actually feels nice. Janis pops up on the counter next to her and leans her head on her shoulder.
Cady laces their fingers together and leans her head against Janis’ with a few gentle kisses to her hair. They both take small sips of their tasty drinks, feeling the peace of the holiday as they’re alone together in a dark kitchen in the middle of the night.
“Merry Christmas, Peanut,” Janis murmurs when the clock on the stove hits midnight.
“Merry Christmas, Jayjay,” Cady mutters back. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” Janis says, finishing off her cocoa. Cady downs the rest of hers and hands her mug over, then clings to Janis as she comes to scoop her back off the counter.
“Surprised you made it up this late,” Janis murmurs. “Midnight’s impressive for you.”
“I know,” Cady yawns. “You make good hot chocolate. ‘M sleepy.”
“Thank you,” Janis chuckles. She rests Cady on her bed and crawls in after her, grinning happily when her girlfriend latches back onto her like an adorable octopus. “Goodnight, Butterfly.”
“Night night, Bluejay,” Cady mumbles back, drifting off almost immediately in her girlfriend’s warm embrace.
————-
The next afternoon, they meet at Cady’s house to do their gift exchange with Damian. Janis had driven Cady back home in the wee hours of the morning, so their families were none the wiser that they had spent the night together.
Damian opens his presents first, getting a signed Cabaret playbill from Janis and several new pairs of fun socks for his collection from Cady.
Janis goes next. Damian got her some new jackets to customize (to make up for the one sacrificed to make Cady’s special cuddle cushion). Cady’s gift is smaller, and Janis opens a fancy box to reveal a charm bracelet.
It’s mostly empty, but there’s one fancy-looking gem and one half of a heart, similar to the split necklaces she has with Damian.
“I know it’s not really your style,” Cady says nervously. “But I figured you could fill it up however you want. And you don’t have to wear it. I have the other heart charm, I just have to find something to put it on.”
“I’ll wear it forever, back off,” Janis says protectively, fastening it around her wrist. “I love it.”
“Oh, good,” Cady breathes. It’s finally her turn to open her own presents. Damian surprises her with her plane ticket to New York to stay with them for spring break. “No way!”
“You said you wanted to come see New York,” Janis responds with a giggle as Cady tackles Damian in a hug. He hugs her tightly for a while before letting her go to open her present from Janis.
Once again, it seems that Janis and Cady have had similar ideas. “Chains?” Cady asks confusedly.
“For your necklace,” Janis replies. “For Rhys. You can try them all and figure out which ones you can handle, there’s a bunch of different ones. And if none of them work then I’ll take you to the shop when you come visit us and you can pick some to try.”
Cady has two very important necklaces that she can’t wear due to the chains. One is a locket containing some of her brother’s ashes, and the other is a charm with his thumbprint etched into it. Janis figured she can move both charms to one chain once they figure out which one she can use.
Janis frowns in concern when she sees her girlfriend’s eyes brimming with tears, but Cady just rockets herself into her arms and kisses her neck a few times.
“Thank you,” she chokes softly. “So much.”
“Of course, baby. I know how bad you want to wear them, we’ll figure out a way for you to,” Janis murmurs in reply, holding her close.
Cady reaches for Damian too, so he comes over and squishes both of them in a tight hug.
“Merry Christmas,” Cady says quietly.
“Merry Christmas!” Damian cheers. “I love you guys.”
“Oh! That reminds me!” Cady says suddenly, wiggling her way out of the cuddle and running to turn the lights off. They’re illuminated only by the lights on the tree until Cady grabs her phone and turns on the flashlight. “Gimme your wrist, Jay.”
Janis reaches the one with the bracelet over to her in confusion. Cady spins it until the charm with the gem is found, then presses the light to the underside.
“Whoa,” Janis whispers. The dark walls are now illuminated with writing in several languages. She looks around until she finds one she recognizes.
“It says ‘I love you’ in a bunch of different languages,” Cady says just as she finds English. “Here, hold it.”
Janis takes the light and continues holding it to the gem, and Cady runs to the wall to point out all the languages. “It’s technically from China, so they might not be perfect. But this is Spanish, ‘Te quiero’, and this is Swahili,” she says excitedly, having to stand on her tippy toes to reach it. “‘Nakupenda’, and over here is Swedish, ‘Jag älskar dig’.”
She continues running around and pointing to them all excitedly, having to jump to reach certain ones or stand on her tippy toes for others. Janis is amazed that she can recognize and pronounce them all, even the languages she doesn’t speak.
Cady turns the lights back on and sits back down once all of them have been pointed out. Damian and Janis had just let her have at it. It’s quite entertaining, watching her run around and chatter about one of her interests.
“Thanks, babe,” Janis chuckles as a panting Cady plops down in between them. “That’s really sweet. And your explanation was very informative.”
“Thank you,” Cady puffs. “Now, what Christmas movies are you going to introduce me to this year?”
Damian’s eyes suddenly light up and he gasps dramatically. “We never did Elf!”
“Fuck!” Janis says when she remembers that unfortunate fact. “Cads, come on, we have to do this now. This is vital.”
“Okay,” Cady giggles, moving them to the couch. She hands Damian the remote and Janis the blankets so they can get everything ready, then heads into the kitchen herself to get their munchies.
She comes back to a full-on blanket fort and a movie waiting for them, handing over the towering plate of cookies and mugs of hot chocolate. Janis pulls her in close and cuddles Cady between herself and Damian.
Best Christmas yet, Cady thinks to herself as the movie begins.
————-
In January, Janis and Damian are officially returned to New York and Cady heads back to school.
Two weeks in, she catches a miserable cold. Apparently it circulates every year, known as the college plague. Regina let her have the dorm room and was spending the nights with friends so she could avoid it as much as possible.
Cady doesn’t want to let Janis know she’s sick, so she hauls herself out of her bed and down to the desk for their weekly Facetime date. Seeing Janis will make her feel better anyway.
“Hey, Peanut,” Janis says happily as soon as her girlfriend comes into view on screen, but it quickly turns into a frown. Cady is bundled in Damian’s blue hoodie, and already wearing her glasses instead of contacts. Janis can also see her bed is unmade and covered with tissues, and spies a bottle of medicine off to the side.
“Hi, Jay,” Cady says, trying to keep the slight croak out of her pained voice. “How are you?”
“Absolutely not,” Janis says. “Go get in bed.”
“What?” Cady says confusedly. “Why?”
“Baby, I can tell you’re miserable, go get in bed,” Janis insists. “Talk to me there, you should be lying down.”
“I’m fine,” Cady says. Janis raises an eyebrow. “Ugh, okay.”
Cady unplugs the computer rests it on her bed, plugging it back into the other outlet before she crawls back into bed. Janis was right, being in bed is much better. She props herself up on her pillows and covers herself with her blanket, then rests the computer with Janis still watching in concern on her lap.
“Much better,” Janis smiles. “What did you catch, Butterfly?”
“It’s just a cold,” Cady says with a sniffle. “I’ll be fine in a couple days.”
Janis pouts. “Poor Peanut. Have you eaten? And are you drinking water?”
Cady holds up her water bottle. “Yes, of course. I haven’t eaten dinner yet, but it’s fine. I’m not that hungry anyway.”
“Okay,” Janis says. “I miss you.”
“I miss you too, love,” Cady says. Suddenly, she sneezes violently a couple times. Janis chuckles, she’s always found Cady’s sneezes adorable. Cady pouts as she blows her nose. “Don’ laugh a’ me.”
“Sorry, Butterfly,” Janis says. “You should rest, baby.”
“No,” Cady frowns. “Don’t hang up, I’m fine.”
“I won’t,” Janis says. “If you’re sure you’re okay.”
Cady nods. “How has your week been?”
“Good, actually,” Janis says a bit quieter. She has a sneaky plan to get Cady to rest. Cady loves her voice, so if she just keeps talking, maybe she’ll go to sleep. “My new portrait professor is really funny, and he makes everything so easy to understand.”
“Good,” Cady grins.
“Yeah, he’s really nice,” Janis says. “And he’s gay, he’s got a husband and kids. He always draws one of them whenever he has to do a model or give an example, it’s really cute.”
“Aww,” Cady says, trying to hide a yawn. Janis has noticed she’s sliding down her pillows slightly and definitely noticed the stifled yawn. Cady rests the laptop next to her and turns onto her side, taking her glasses off and cuddling in with her blankets. Nearly there.
“And I got a new assignment to draw more natural stuff from one of my other classes, so Damian and I have been going to Central Park a lot,” Janis continues, grinning as Cady’s eyes start to flutter shut. “It’s cold, but it’s really pretty all covered in snow and stuff. Hopefully everything will be green by the time you’re here, though.”
Cady grins a little at the reminder that they’ll be back together in March, and that she gets to see New York for the first time ever. She doesn’t say anything, just continues letting Janis talk and lull her to sleep.
Janis continues rambling about all her art and what she and Damian have been up to until she sees Cady’s eyes flutter shut and her chest begin to rise and fall evenly. She’s snoring ever so gently, since she’s so congested from her cold.
Janis did promise not to hang up, so she reaches to grab her sketchbook. Cady snoozes and Janis sketches her, penciling in all her freckles and stroking out her long eyelashes as they rest on her cheeks.
Cady still hasn’t woken up after a rather long time, even when Janis finishes drawing her messy curls and shading her red nose. Janis sends a text to Regina asking her to drop some food off for Cady, and then unfortunately has to hang up.
“Sleep well, Peanut,” she whispers. “I love you.”
She shoots Cady a text for her to find when she wakes up and closes the screen.
————-
In February, Cady’s birthday comes around. All she really wants is some cuddles from Janis and Damian, but it’s just unreasonable to expect them to come back for one day.
Instead, she’s surprised to open the door to her dorm room and find it completely covered in balloons and streamers. Regina fires off a rather large confetti cannon as soon as she enters, making them both shriek in surprise at the loud bang and entirely too much confetti rain down from the ceiling. A few pieces actually get stuck hanging from it, or lost in lampshades.
“Happy birthday, bitch!” Regina calls once they’ve both recovered. “Shit.”
“Regina, oh my god,” Cady laughs, pointing to a completely busted ceiling lamp. “This is… wow.”
“Janis did it,” Regina shrugs. “I blame her.”
“Sorry!” A voice rings out from the desk. “I didn’t read the measurements right. Turns out that size is for outdoor use only.”
“Hey, love!” Cady laughs, coming to greet her girlfriend on Facetime. “Thanks for the rest of it! But now we have to pay for that light.”
“I’ll get that too, it’s my bad,” Janis winces. “Happy birthday, baby!”
“Thanks,” Cady says. “Oh, hi Damian!”
“Hey, Caddy,” Damian greets, leaning in next to Janis. There’s a bowl of what looks suspiciously like popcorn on his lap. “Happy birthday, I miss you!”
“I miss you too, D,” Cady says. “One more month!”
“Yeah!” He cheers, leaning back over to his spot.
“Okay, go get comfy,” Regina demands, pointing to her bed.
“What’s happening?” Cady asks confusedly, but listens, going to grab her blanket and a pillow and getting into Regina’s bunk.
“Movie night, duh,” Regina says. “Here.” She hands the laptop over to Cady and grabs a bowl of snacks Cady hadn’t seen before, then crawls into the bed next to her.
Cady rests the laptop between them so they can both see the movie and their friends. Suddenly, another call comes in. “Oh, yay!” Cady answers it and smiles as Karen comes onto the screen. She’s still in Evanston, attending the local community college and working part time.
“Happy birthday, Cady! Cake emoji!” Karen says happily.
“Thanks, Karen!” Cady responds. Then, yet another call comes in. “No way.”
Gretchen is all the way in France, studying fashion at one of the most elite schools there.
“Oh my god, Gretch, hi!” Cady says. Gretchen looks very tired, but smiles when she sees her friends and girlfriend. Janis is only a few states away from Cady, she can’t imagine what it must be like for Gretchen and Karen trying to do long-distance from different continents.
“Hey, Cady lady! Happy birthday,” Gretchen says softly so she doesn’t wake up her roommates.
“This is crazy,” Cady says happily. Janis really went all out setting it up.
“Happy birthday, baby. What movie do you want to watch?” Janis asks, grinning at her girlfriend’s happy smile.
Cady looks sheepish. “The Lion King?”
Everyone laughs, knowing her well. Janis pulls it up on the shared screen so they can all watch at the same time. “Of course you do. Here we go.”
Cady cuddles in with her blanket and munches happily on her snacks. It’s a perfect evening, and she can’t wait to see all her friends in person again soon.
—————
Juliana’s birthday is the day before Cady flies to New York. Julie has kept her updated on how school has been going and what life is like in Evanston, but they haven’t seen each other in person since January.
So, Cady drives home to surprise her. Turning twelve is a very important occasion. She talks with Janis on the phone as she makes the rather long drive back to her hometown.
She switches to Facetime Janis as she pulls onto the correct street and puts the car in park. Julie deserves to see her sister’s face, even if they can’t be together in person.
Damian pops up as well. He might as well be their brother anyway, he’s so close with both of them. Cady grins as she knocks on the door. It’s different, knowing Janis isn’t going to be there, but she’s still excited to see Juliana.
“Cady!” Julie yells happily as she opens the door. Cady grunts slightly as she hugs her. Julie is officially taller than her now at 5’4”, much to Cady‘s chagrin.
“Hey, kiddo! Happy birthday,” Cady greets as Julie squeezes her tightly. “Oh, here, I forgot your present in the car.”
She hands over her phone so Janis can talk to her sister, smiling as she hears Janis yell a very loud happy birthday over the speakers. Julie laughs and continues talking to Janis and Damian while Cady grabs a gift bag from the car.
“Okay, this is technically from all three of us, Janis and Damian sent me their parts of it,” Cady says, handing the bag over and taking her phone back so Janis and Damian can see Julie open it.
Julie tears into it quickly, removing the tissue paper and pulling out a jacket like Janis’, a few starter paints, and some patches. She’s always wanted to be like Janis, so they all got her a jacket of her own to decorate however she wants. Janis bought the jacket itself, Damian got the patches, and Cady bought the paint set.
Julie gasps excitedly when she sees everything all together. “Thankyouthankyouthankyou!”
Cady laughs as she runs to hug her again, and hears similar reactions from Janis and Damian through the speakers. “You’re welcome, Jules. What do you want to do now?”
“Cake,” Julie says instantly. She and Janis are remarkably similar sometimes. “Janny, it’s chocolate, should I save you some?”
Cady watches Janis process that and try to hide the tears pricking her eyes. She won’t be back in Illinois to see her sister until May, even if they freeze the cake it’ll be nearly inedible by the time she could.
“Nah, Jules, it’s fine,” Janis replies as Julie leads Cady into the house. “You eat my piece too and then we’ll buy another one when I come back.”
“Okay,” Julie giggles.
Everyone sings her happy birthday after their mom lights the candles, and Julie blows them out happily. Cady hears Janis sing extra loudly, both to beat out Damian and to make sure Juliana could still hear her.
Janis stays on the phone with them for the rest of the day, there in spirit to help Julie decide what to put on her jacket and where, and also when Cady takes her out for ice cream for dinner. As the sun sets Juliana remarks that she had even more fun today than when she got to go bowling with her friends the evening before.
Cady does eventually have to both hang up on her girlfriend and get back to her own house so she can prepare for her trip the next day. Julie hugs her tightly before she can leave.
“Thank you for coming,” she says quietly.
“Of course,” Cady replies. “I think of you as my sister too. I’ll always come for your birthdays.”
Juliana clings to her a little tighter at that, and Cady squeezes her back before she does actually have to let go and leave. Cady is glad to have a sibling in some form again.
—————
Cady wakes up entirely too early the next morning, excited to see her girlfriend again for the first time since January. Her flight doesn’t leave for another six hours or so, so she has some time to kill.
She double checks she has everything packed in her suitcase and that all her tickets are in order, makes her bed extra carefully, and then heads to find some breakfast downstairs.
Cady can barely focus enough to make cereal, she’s so excited at the prospect of seeing both Janis and New York City. Her parents come down as she’s cleaning up after herself, so she decides to catch up with them for a while.
-
After several rounds of Guitar Hero, her dad reminds her of her flight and she rushes back upstairs to get ready.
Cady flies through taking a shower, brushing her hair and teeth, and putting on some comfy travel clothes before she grabs her bags and runs back downstairs. Her parents chuckle at her eagerness and lead her to the car to drop her off.
She hugs them goodbye before she has to pass through security, and then she’s off on her little adventure.
-
Janis texts her as she waits at the gate for her flight to be called to board. It’s a video of her trying to haul Damian out of bed and him moaning that it’s a ‘holy day’ and demanding more sleep.
She giggles quietly at her friends’ antics and smiles when she remembers she’ll be able to hug them in just a few hours. Cady sends back a message telling Janis to leave Damian alone to sleep and another excited message telling her she can’t wait to hug and kiss her again.
Janis texts back the same and tells her she’ll be waiting (hopefully with Damian, but that remains to be seen) at the airport with all the cuddles and kisses they’ve been lacking for the last two months.
-
Three hours later she’s officially in a different state, and in a different time zone, and in her girlfriend’s arms. Cady’s bags wait on the carousel as she clings tightly to Janis and kisses all over her face. They get a few strange looks, but neither of them really care.
Damian did end up coming, so Cady hugs him tightly as well. He kindly takes her suitcase out to their Uber so Cady can hold hands with both of them instead.
Janis smiles when she sees the necklace Cady has on, containing both her charms for her brother. She’d tried all the chains for a week, and found one with smaller links that was the least aggravating. After a bit of practice, she can wear it all day now. Her goal now is to find a bracelet she can wear to put her half-heart charm on to match Janis’.
—————-
Janis unlocks the door to their apartment for them and leads Cady in to show her around. It’s rather small, but has an impressive two bedrooms. Cady likes it, it’s very cozy.
She especially likes Janis’ bedroom, which has been personalized wall to wall. She put paper on the walls and painted over that, intricate murals of all sorts of patterns and colors and textures. Her familiar black bedsheets don the bed, and Cady smiles when she sees her Mathletes jacket covering a pillow that Janis cuddles.
Janis flops down onto it and reaches for her actual girlfriend, so Cady cuddles into her happily.
“I love it here already,” she says quietly, nuzzling into Janis’ neck and fiddling with her pink-tipped hair. “You look good with pink hair.”
“You think?” Janis responds. “I was kind of scared to try it, actually. Damian made me do it.”
“Yes! You look good in pink, I keep trying to tell you,” Cady giggles. “Maybe I should dye mine.”
“No,” Janis whines, fiddling with Cady’s curls. “I love your hair.”
Cady grins at her. “Not even like you do? Don’t you think I’d look fun with, like, purple hair for a couple days?”
Janis ponders that, looking at her girlfriend to analyze. “Maybe. If you really want to. I do think you’d look good, I just love you as a redhead.”
“Thank you,” Cady smiles. “I love you in every color.”
“You’re so sappy,” Janis groans, but she’s smiling happily too. “I missed you.”
“I missed you so much,” Cady replies quietly. “I can’t wait for summer.”
“Two more months,” Janis agrees. “Then we have so many movie nights and cuddle sessions to make up for.”
Cady smiles again and cuddles back into Janis’ shoulder. “I can’t wait. I’ve missed in-person movie nights.”
“I have too. It’s not the same without you attached to my arm like an octopus when we watch scary movies,” Janis teases. “Or without you trying to steal my popcorn.”
“Our popcorn, excuse you,” Cady retaliates. “I get girlfriend privileges. If we’re watching scary movies it’s our arm and our popcorn.”
Janis laughs at that and rolls onto her side so they can face each other. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too,” Cady replies, inching closer and leaning in for kisses. Janis rests a hand on her cheek and responds in kind, running her tongue gently over her bottom lip and pulling her closer when Cady gasps quietly.
After a while, neither of them is sure how long exactly, Cady pulls back abruptly with a gasp.
“What happened?” Janis asks in concern.
“Our anniversary,” Cady says. “It’s been a year, on my birthday.”
“Oh, yeah,” Janis says. “I was more focused on the birthday, I totally forgot.”
“So did I,” Cady chuckles. “Well, we can celebrate now.”
“Yeah we can,” Janis purrs, rolling to pin Cady underneath her and pressing their lips together again. She hopes Damian took a hint and went out somewhere.
—————-
The next day, Janis and Damian show Cady around the city. Janis shows her the local jewelry store and helps Cady pick a charm bracelet chain to try, and then Damian takes them to the Broadway area to look around.
“Wow,” Cady says in awe at all the bright colors and big signs. It’s strange to think that all the bootlegs she’s watched with Damian over the years were filmed in these buildings. “It’s beautiful.”
“Isn’t it just?” Damian sighs dramatically. “Oh, that reminds me. I have a very, very late birthday present for you, Cads.”
“Aww, really?” Cady asks. Janis raises a suspicious eyebrow. A present this late is almost sure to have some sort of selfish motivation behind it.
“Um… I might have impulse bought three tickets to Wicked,” he says sheepishly. “Surprise!”
“No way!” Cady calls and leaps into his arms. She’s aware of its reputation as one of the more ‘basic’ musicals out there, but it is still one of her favorites. Janis seems kind of excited as well, though she loathes musicals. “When is it?”
“A few hours, we have a little bit of time to kill,” Damian responds. “We should eat first, anyway.”
Cady refuses to let him go, so Damian carries her piggyback to their favorite sandwich place that he and Janis had discovered while they were lost one night. Neither of them are still totally sure how it happened since the streets are numbered, but Janis wasn’t particularly surprised, knowing their math skills, even combined, are rather sub-par.
—————-
Several hours later, they’re in the theater and ready to watch the show. Cady is shaking with excitement, looking around in awe at the set and all the lights. Their seats aren’t very close to the stage, but Cady is excited that she can see the whole thing at once.
Janis squeezes her hand and smiles affectionately at her girlfriend’s joy. Damian grabs Janis’ bag and passes out the snacks he’d managed to smuggle in. Cady offers Janis some of her Sour Patch Kids, which Janis takes. In return, Cady gets a few Milk Duds.
Cady leans onto her shoulder as the opening music starts, and stays there for the whole first act. Janis can feel every smile and hear every gasp or reaction to the events on stage. Janis is rather shocked herself, having somehow never seen the show. She’s quite frightened when they finally get to Defying Gravity and Elphaba is suddenly at their eye level.
-
Cady buys them all matching t-shirts from the merch area after the show, still vibrating with the adrenaline. Janis is pouting, making Cady frown.
“What’s the matter? Didn’t you have fun?” She asks sadly, wrapping her arms around Janis’ neck. Janis holds onto her waist while Damian heads off to take pictures of everything.
“I did,” Janis responds. “I just really thought Elphaba and Glinda would end up together.”
“Oh,” Cady laughs. “I did too, honestly. Fiyero isn’t bad, though. He’s cute.”
“You’d make a good Galinda,” Janis murmurs, leaning down for a quick kiss.
“And you would make a great Elphie,” Cady says, kissing her back.
“You really think I could sing like that?” Janis chuckles. “I don’t think I could handle being up so high.”
“You have a beautiful voice, of course you could,” Cady says. “And she’s fastened in, you wouldn’t fall.”
“Still, did you see how high they go? And you’d be in the bubble,” Janis mumbles with an anxious shudder. “Maybe for Halloween.”
Cady grins back. “Yeah, that’d be better. Then you can stay on the ground.”
“Humans aren’t supposed to be up that high!” Janis insists. “I’m the normal one here for once.”
“I never said you weren’t,” Cady giggles at her reaction. “Come on, let’s go find Damian.”
Janis pouts but follows as Cady hauls her around by the hand.
—————-
Janis and Damian drop Cady off at the airport again at the end of the week. Cady has an extra suitcase now, to carry all of her treasures she’s acquired in the city.
They all cling to one another desperately before Cady has to pass through security. Damian heads to a vending machine to give Cady and Janis some alone time.
They’re both already crying slightly, sniffling into each other’s shoulders. A single week together isn’t nearly enough time.
“It’s just two more months,” Cady whispers. “We’ve made it this far, we can do it again.”
“But I don’t want to do it again,” Janis whimpers. “I want to be with you.”
“I know, love. So do I,” Cady sniffles. “We’ll have the whole summer together. We can do it.”
“Summer,” Janis repeats to comfort herself. It feels years away. “God, I thought this was supposed to get easier.”
“I don’t think it ever will,” Cady chuckles sardonically. “Kiss me.”
Janis obliges, tugging Cady in by the waist as Cady cups her cheeks. She tries to memorize the cherry scent of her hair, and the artificial watermelon taste of her chapstick that still lingers. Neither of them care that they’re making out in an incredibly crowded airport, or that they’re getting strange looks. They need this moment.
“Two months,” Janis whispers when they break apart.
“Two months,” Cady repeats. They’ve already done their calendars for the next few months, and heavily decorated the day Janis and Damian would be flying back for the summer. “I love you.”
“I love you more,” Janis sniffs.
“I love you most,” Cady murmurs, tipping her face back up for more kisses.
Damian comes back after another couple minutes and gives a cough to announce his return, so they break apart regretfully. Cady heads to cling to him, and he holds her just as tight.
“Bye, Little Slice,” he says sadly. Cady squishes her face against his chest to hide her tears.
“Bye, D,” she whispers back. “I’ll see you in May.”
Janis presses against her back so Cady is totally pinned between her art freaks. They stay like that until the last possible minute, but Cady does still have a flight home to catch.
She heads through security and blows them kisses from the other side, which they return before they head to leave.
Two months.
——————
Cady and Janis talk every day, and still have their weekly Facetime dates. They text in between classes and call to chat as they study for finals.
Until Cady doesn’t answer the phone one day.
Janis tries not to worry. She knows that it’s Cady’s last week to prepare, and that she has good reason to be stressed. But Cady’s never ignored her calls or messages before.
Janis tries not to bother her, only leaving one voicemail and trying to limit the amount of texts she sends.
She smiles when a call from Cady finally comes through, but it quickly fades when she picks up. Apparently she hadn’t been restrained enough for Cady’s taste.
“Janis, what do you want? My exams are next week, I have to study,” Cady huffs.
Janis is confused, she just wanted to check in. “I just… wanted to talk to you. I miss you.”
“Janis, these are important,” Cady growls in retaliation. “I miss you too, but god.”
“If that’s how it is,” Janis replies quietly. “Then I’ll leave you alone.” She hangs up and turns her phone to silent, plopping it into her nightstand drawer before turning away from it and crying into her pillow.
-
Damian wakes her up a few hours later, she must have drifted off. “I made dinner.”
“I’m not hungry,” Janis whispers back, not even turning to look at him. “I’ll eat later.”
“No you fucking will not, what happened?” Damian demands, flicking on her light and coming into her bed with her.
“Nothing happened, I’m just not hungry,” Janis insists, turning to squish her face into her pillow so he can’t see the tear tracks. He isn’t fooled, hauling her up by the back of her shirt like a mama cat grabs a kitten. “Hey!”
He rests her down once she’s upright and looks at her face. “You’ve been crying. What happened?”
Janis falls apart with one look into his eyes, bursting into heartbroken tears again. Damian pulls her in for a hug and waits for an explanation.
She’s crying too hard and doesn’t want to give details, so she just sobs out a “Cady.” and hopes he can piece together what he needs to.
“Did you have a fight?” He asks gently. Janis nods and cries harder into his chest. “Okay, shh. We’ll work it out.”
Janis cries herself to sleep again, somehow, so Damian tucks her in and heads back to the kitchen. He can’t believe he’s even considering the possibility, but maybe Regina can help.
damecupboard: Hey Reggie
georgewashington: Hey, Damian. What’s up?
damecupboard: Has Caddy said anything about Janis? Or been acting weird?
georgewashington: Janis, no. Acting weird, definitely. She’s been super on edge the last couple days. She yelled at me for breathing too loud while she was trying to study.
damecupboard: Jesus
damecupboard: She and Janis had a fight, Janis is messed up. She’s cried herself to sleep twice today already
georgewashington: I’m not surprised they fought. I don’t think Cady’s slept in three days. Poor Janis.
damecupboard: This isn’t like her, can you try to talk to her?
georgewashington: Uh. I can try, but it’s kind of like volunteering to enter a cage with a hungry lion.
damecupboard: Just try to ask her what’s going on but don’t make it obvious
georgewashington: Got it.
Damian bites his thumbnail anxiously while he waits for Regina to answer again. It’s not until nearly ten minutes later that his text tone pings off again.
georgewashington: Well. I think our whole building knows she’s on edge now, but in between yelling things I couldn’t understand she kept talking about getting into a good grad school and mentioning Janis.
damecupboard: Huh. She can totally get into a good school on her own, these aren’t that important
georgewashington: I’m worried about her, she really hasn’t slept in a few days. And she barely eats. All she does is study.
damecupboard: Yeah, yelling at you guys really isn’t like her. If I get Janis to, can you try to get her into a “movie night”? I think if they can see each other and talk it’ll help
georgewashington: You’re really just gonna sacrifice me like that huh.
georgewashington: I’ll try. Six your time, get Janis and call. If we don’t pick up she has actually murdered me for even asking.
damecupboard: Got it. Sorry, Reggie
damecupboard: I’ll make them buy you flowers
georgewashington: I like poppies.
Damian chuckles at her response and goes to wake up Janis again. He frowns when he finds her clinging to her pillow with Cady’s mathletes jacket covering it.
“Janjan, come on, your food is getting cold,” he says quietly, shaking her awake again. “You gotta come eat and then you can go back to bed.”
Janis just groans and turns to lie on her belly.
“You know full well I will haul your ass out of bed myself, come eat,” Damian insists, clapping his hands to try and get her to move.
“Can’t I just eat in here? And be sad?” Janis asks pitifully, poking out one chocolate brown eye to blink at him sadly.
“No.”
“Why?” Janis groans.
“Because I’m lonely, you have to keep me company,” Damian lies. “It’s your legal obligation as my roommate. It was in the papers we had to sign.”
Not even a chuckle. “Entertain yourself.”
Damian grabs her ankle and starts dragging her out of bed. Janis doesn’t resist but also doesn’t get up. “Come on.”
“No,” she whines, reaching for her blanket. She gives an “Oof!” as she thuds to the ground, but lets him continue to drag her out of the room and into the kitchen.
Damian allows her to stay on the ground, resting her plate of food on her chest and dragging her over to the couch. Janis pouts at him from the ground, so he removes the plate and helps her up, then hands it back.
She eats slowly, and leans on his shoulder with a sad sigh once her last bite is gone. He pulls her close and looks to the clock, it’s nearly six.
“What are you doing?” Janis asks confusedly when he reaches for his laptop and rests it on the coffee table in front of them.
“Nothing,” Damian replies quickly, but she can see him open Facetime and click through to Regina’s contact.
“Damian, no, I don’t wanna see them,” Janis whines. The call goes through regardless and catches Cady mid-very loud sentence.
“I told you, I don’t have time for a movie! God, what is with you people? First Janis, now you?!” She yells, presumably at Regina who’s just offscreen. Janis is suddenly confronted with the memory of their very short phone call, and some more unpleasant ones from their high school days. She feels herself sniffle and let out a sob into Damian’s shoulder, making Cady suddenly snap her head to look at the screen.
“Hey,” Damian greets with a wave, as if he hasn’t just witnessed the terrifying display of Cady-rage on screen and doesn’t have a very upset Janis weeping into his shoulder. “How’s it going?”
Cady suddenly looks very sheepish. She frowns when she sees Janis crying quietly.
“Cady. Talk to them.” Regina demands. Cady’s bottom lip starts trembling and she suddenly bursts into tears as well.
“God, I’m so sorry,” she sobs. “I’ve… I’ve been such a bitch, I’m so sorry. Janis.”
Janis looks up when she hears her girlfriend start crying, still instinctively wanting to comfort her even though she’s distraught herself. Damian pats her shoulder comfortingly to try and get her to talk.
“What is going on with you?” Janis asks. It sounds more rude than she wants it to, but  it’ll do.
“Jay, I’m so sorry,” Cady sobs. “I’ve been… I’m trying to study as much as I can. If I don’t pass then I might-I might get bumped back a semester, or I won’t get into grad school. I-I have to pass, I have to do well enough. I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean what I said.”
“Why are you so worried about this?” Janis asks quietly with a shaky sniffle. “You’ll pass.”
Cady starts crying harder at the question. “Because if I don’t I might never see you again,” she wails rapidly.
“Whoa, what?” Janis says. “What are you talking about?”
“If I don’t pass I won’t get into grad school and then I won’t be smart enough for you and-and I’m trying to get into schools in New York so I can be close to you but if I don’t then we have to keep doing this and I don’t want you to leave me,” Cady sobs. “But now I fucked everything up and got mad at you and you might anyway!”
Janis suddenly realizes this goes a lot deeper than she thought, and Janis didn’t actually have anything to do with her outburst at all. Damian leaves suddenly to give them some privacy, and she hears the door to Cady’s dorm click shut through the speakers, signaling Regina has done the same.
“Caddy, hey,” Janis says as Cady has her face buried in her arms at her desk. “When was the last time you slept?”
Cady peeks up at her and chokes out more sobs. “I don’t know. I think Tuesday.”
“And when was the last time you ate?” Janis asks quietly.
“Lunch, a while ago,” Cady sobs again.
“Baby, this isn’t healthy,” Janis says. “You can’t do this to yourself.”
“But I have to study, Jay, I have so much to-“
“No,” Janis insists. “You don’t. You’re burning yourself out. You haven’t slept in four days, and Regina just told me that ‘lunch’ you ate was yesterday. You’re gonna kill yourself if you keep going like this.”
“No, I have to-“
“Cady Jane Heron, listen to me,” Janis demands loudly. Cady snaps her head up and looks at the screen almost in fear. “I love you. I love you more than anything in this fucking world put together. I’m not going to break up with you because you don’t get into a grad school. I don’t care how smart you are. I love that you’re brilliant because it’s part of who you are, but if that changes it doesn’t change you. Or how much I love you. And we’ve made it this long being apart, I can handle a little bit longer for you to try again or figure out what else you want to do. All I care about right now is you being okay and still loving me at the end of the day.”
Cady dissolves into heavy sobs, burying her face in her arms again. “I’m not okay, Jay.”
“I know, baby. I know,” Janis says. “We’ll work on it. For now, go get in bed. I’ll have Regina bring you something to eat.”
Cady nods and unplugs the computer, climbing up into her unmade bed and crying gently against her pillows. Janis texts Regina and asks her to grab something quick for Cady to eat and letting her know Cady is sure to give a very long and tearful apology for her behavior.
“I’m sorry I yelled at you, Jay,” Cady mumbles in the meantime. “I’m so sorry.”
“I’m not gonna say it’s okay,” Janis replies. “But I understand. But you can’t do this again. You have to tell someone if you’re feeling like this, and I’m gonna get Reggie to watch you a little closer for a while. I love you.”
“Okay,” Cady sniffles. “I love you too.”
She perks up when Regina comes back with some soup from the dining hall, and starts sobbing again. Janis lets her apologize to Regina and waits for her to come back on screen.
Cady says her apologies several times over, and Janis can see Regina hug her begrudgingly from the edge of the screen. Now that she’s gotten her apologies in order, Cady gradually calms down, taking some deep breaths in between spoonfuls of her soup. It’s warm and filling, and she drifts off just after the last bite passes her lips.
Regina grabs the laptop and empty tray from her lap. Cady turns onto her side, deeply asleep.
“Fucking hell,” Regina murmurs under her breath. “I’ve never seen her like that, that was scary.”
“You’re telling me,” Janis jokes weakly. “Can you make sure she showers and eats again whenever she wakes up? And don’t let her study for a while?”
“Sure, I’ll hide her books,” Regina says, marking Cady’s pages and places with bookmarks before she carefully stashes them all in one of her own dresser drawers.
“Thanks,” Janis chuckles. “Let me know if anything happens.”
“Got it,” Regina replies. “Later, art freak.”
“Bye, Barbie.”
Janis closes the screen with a heavy sigh and leans her head into her hands as Damian enters again. “Everything sorted?”
“For now,” Janis sighs. “Fuck, D.”
“I know,” Damian comforts. “She’ll be okay. And now you know you can handle conflict from different states, that’s a plus.”
Janis is very glad she still has a girlfriend by the end of this day. “Can I sleep in your bed?”
“And you say you’re not clingy,” Damian teases. “Come on, loser, chop chop.”
————-
Cady is much more rational after a night of sleep, and texts both Janis and Damian one more apology. They Facetime Cady and Regina every day until the end of their term. Cady takes much better care of herself throughout, and only studies in short bursts. She passes all her exams with flying colors, as everyone knew she would.
Janis and Damian’s finals are the following week, and then they’re packing up their apartment and flying home for the summer. They decided to leave Janis’ truck there and not drive home for the sake of simplicity.
Cady texted them and said she couldn’t be at the airport to meet them due to a last math club meeting, but would be able to meet them at Janis’ house once they arrived there.
She, of course, was lying. She’s waiting by baggage claim and smiles when she sees her two favorite people (looking frankly exhausted) grab their suitcases. Cady quickly texts Janis before they can order themselves an Uber, telling her to turn around.
Janis does, and Cady jumps up and down and waves so she can see her. Janis smiles widely and runs to meet her. Cady runs to her too, and they meet each other halfway.
“I thought you couldn’t come,” Janis says as she picks Cady up to spin her around.
“I lied!” Cady says happily. “Payback for Christmas.”
“Ah,” Janis giggles, pulling her close again and wrapping her up tightly. “How are you, Peanut?”
“A lot better,” Cady replies quietly. “My parents put me in therapy to help, too.”
“Good,” Janis says. “Now take me home, I have girlfriend cuddles to catch up on.”
“Okay, come on,” Cady chuckles, lacing their fingers together and grabbing Damian as they leave the building for the last time until fall. Good riddance.
—————-
Juliana comes flying out the door when she sees them pull up, running full tilt towards her sister and pitching herself into her arms. Janis shrieks as her sister suddenly collides with her, but wraps her arms around her tightly.
“You’re weird, Jules,” she teases quietly into her sister’s hair. “You’re not supposed to like me.”
“I don’t, you’re gross,” Julie retaliates, but doesn’t leave. Janis suddenly hears an indignant meow, and looks down to find Pancakes sitting and waiting for his turn.
“How did you get out?” Janis asks, scooping up her chunky cat and stroking his ears. “And how did you get fatter since Christmas?”
“Oh, oops,” Julie says quietly, realizing she left the door open. “Come on.”
Damian and Janis’ moms come out to hug them, and Janis is confused to find Cady’s parents there as well. Cady grabs their suitcases while they make their greetings and carries them in for them.
Janis follows after her a few minutes later, still carrying Pancakes who is refusing to be set down. “What’s happening?”
“Just a little get together,” Cady teases, resting Janis’ suitcase on her bed to be unpacked later. “To celebrate you coming back.”
“Oh,” Janis replies. “What… what sort of get together?”
“You don’t have to be scared, it’s just a barbecue,” Cady giggles. “And nobody else is coming, we just have a lot of food. And Jules got you another cake.”
Janis grins affectionately. “Cute.”
Cady comes up and scritches Pancakes behind his ears, making him purr happily. “I know, Janis is home for three whole months!” Cady agrees excitedly. “And she’s been with me for two hours and hasn’t kissed me yet!”
Janis rolls her eyes lovingly and cups the back of her neck, pulling her in for a sweet kiss. Pancakes meows crankily when he’s squished between them, so they pull back.
“You’re a real cockblocker sometimes, you know that?” Janis asks him quietly. “Let’s go see if we can steal you some food.”
Pancakes is stuffed into his cat carrier so he can spend the evening in the backyard with them, and given a piece of a cheeseburger patty to appease him.
Janis, Cady, Damian and Juliana play tag while the adults cook, and then have a contest to see who can jump off the swings and land the furthest away.
Cady laughs delightedly as Janis pushes her swing higher, and shrieks in surprise as she comes rushing up behind her upon her landing to pick her up and carry her around. Janis slips after a few steps and they both tumble to the ground, but nobody is hurt.
“Jay, oh my god,” Cady laughs, clutching her stomach. Janis laughs with her and rolls off to the side, lying on her back next to her. “You’re such a dork.”
“Are you okay?” Janis laughs breathlessly. Cady had kind of taken the brunt of their impact with the ground.
“Yeah,” Cady chuckles, her laughter finally slowing. “Are you?”
Janis rolls on top of her again and leans down for a kiss. “I have you back with me, of course I’m okay.”
“You’re such a flirt, oh my god,” Cady giggles. Janis leans down again, but is suddenly beaned in the head with a foam football.
“Ow!” She yells, looking over to where Damian is standing with Juliana on his back.
“Horny police,” Damian calls. “Stop it.”
“Ugh!” Janis grumbles, but does roll off of her girlfriend. “You guys are no fun.”
“You literally just tossed your girlfriend on the ground and then fell on top of her, don’t talk to us about fun,” Julie retaliates. “We just don’t want to see you fuck in public.”
“Hey!” Janis calls, whacking her on the back of the head. “You’re not allowed to swear.”
“But you do it all the time!” Julie says.
“Yeah, do you really want to end up like me?” Janis asks.
“Fair point,” Julie shrugs, shrieking as Janis suddenly lunges for her. She slides off of Damian’s back and runs away from her sister’s wrath, with Janis running full speed after her.
“You little brat, get back here!” Janis yells, increasing her speed.
Cady and Damian watch in a mixture of hilarity and concern, laughing as Julie streaks by them. Janis is gaining on her, however.
Juliana makes it to the adults first, shielded by their mother. “Girls, behave.”
“Yeah, Janny,” Julie teases. “Behave.”
Janis sticks her tongue out at her, and Julie does it back. “Sleep with one eye open tonight.”
Julie dissolves into giggles at the threat, and Janis does too. Cady grins at their interactions, reminded of her brother. She still has the necklace, and touches the charms without thinking of it.
The sisters return to Cady and Damian then, both slightly out of breath. Janis kisses Cady in greeting and smiles as she nuzzles into her shoulder. Julie and Damian both make fake gagging sounds, but they ignore them this time.
Eventually they’re called to eat, and Cady sits on Janis’ lap as they all sit around a picnic blanket and munch happily on their hot dogs and burgers. Janis feels more at peace than she has since July.
Maybe summer is okay.
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Chapter three! I already skimmed through it and just. Holy fuck I’m falling in love with this series all over again, and this is just the opening arc, how the hell is this so good??? I’m genuinely just in awe and fuck is it making it hard to decide where to have a cut-off point for this chapter. I suppose we’ll just have to see what fate decides.
(Also, the temptation to just paste in all of the last three pages of the chapter is so incredibly strong, you don’t understand.)
[No. 3 - Entrance Exam]
We start off with some exposition: UA’s hero course is designed to give students all they need to go pro, and is the toughest and most popular hero course in the country, with only a 1 in 300 acceptance rate. Discounting the four slots that are recommendation students, that’s 36 slots a year, which is about…
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Yeah. That’s a lotta applications, and that’s just for the hero course! 
Several alumni are mentioned: All Might, who declined the people’s choice award; Endeavor, who’s stopped more crimes than anyone else in recorded history; and Best Jeanist, who’s won the Best Jeanist award eight years running. (One of these things is not like the other~ One of these things just doesn’t belong~) The exposition suggests that graduating from UA is basically a requirement for becoming a great hero - something which we’ll learn soon enough isn’t quite true.
But yeah, Endeavor with the record for crime handling, even above All Might. Quite the impressive hero, though that face…
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Not precisely reassuring.
So yeah, Izuku here mentions the date of the exam - February 26th. I figure that this has to be a Sunday, for the simple fact that Japan has a slightly different school schedule than us. Most notably: Japanese schools (some of them, anyways) have 5.5 day school weeks. Yes, that means the first half of Saturday can still be a school day. 
While I couldn’t confirm for sure whether this is more common among the higher end schools, I feel like a school like UA, with its ‘Plus Ultra’ motto, would definitely be a school to have a half-day (or even a full day) on Saturdays, and since they also have to accomodate for middle schools that have Saturday morning classes, I figure that it would make the most sense for UA to schedule this exam on a Sunday. 
The benefits of this, as we’ve already seen, is that we can then narrow down the timeline for the rest of the series, just based on that single, confirmed date. We know from the last chapter that the Sludge Villain had to happen on a Thursday or Friday of the first week of school (April 14th/15th), with the first training session two days later (the 16th/17th). But what this also gives us is when Izuku’s first year of UA starts, AND the possible years it could start on. 
Since we see the glowing baby is in a modern hospital, we can assume that’s correlated to about our times. Give it a few generations, and we can guess that we’re in the 2200s or 2300s for the current era. Based on that assumption, we get the following years that have February 26th on a Sunday:
23rd century potential years: 2204, 2209, 2215, 2226, 2232, 2237, 2243, 2254, 2260, 2265, 2271, 2282, 2288, 2293, 2299
24th century potential years: 2310, 2316, 2321, 2327, 2338, 2344, 2349, 2355, 2366, 2372, 2377, 2383, 2394, 2400
As a side note, when I got into the series, my brain weirdly latched onto the idea that this had to all be happening in the year 2317. I don’t know why I decided on that number, but that’s what I rolled with, and hilariously I could be RIGHT about the year the current manga arc is happening in, provided Izuku’s first year is in 2316. Sometimes you just know, ya know? I know at least one other friend made these calcs independently of me and chose to run with 2237, which is totally valid! Probably makes more sense to be in the 2200s, but there’s room depending on how much time one thinks has passed.
As for when Izuku’s high school school year starts, we know that Japanese schools start on the second Monday of April. Since we don’t know if this is a leap year or not, we’ll end up with two dates, but that’s fine!
Feb 26 (Sun) -> Feb 27 (Mon) -> March (6/5, 13/12, 20/19, 27/26) -> April (3/2, 10/9)
Therefore, Izuku’s first day of classes (not counting the orientation, which I’ve seen a few other timelines assume is on the Sunday before classes start) is April 10th (or the 9th if a leap year)! I know this is all in the future from this chapter, but still, I wanted to share this at some point and figured now was as good a time as always.
Math!
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Sorry, I’ve just wanted to share this math I did for a while now, I put a lot of work into it and I am very proud of it. Let’s get back to the chapter.
So Izuku lives a 40 minute train ride away from UA, and has made it just in time for the exam. Apparently, this is only the practical portion? Or well, that’s the part that gets focused on in this chapter, with no mention of the paper exam. I would imagine they’d be the same day, though? But I suppose one can do whatever they like with it.
He’s standing there looking at the school, thinking about how he didn’t have a chance to test the power, while the other students head in-
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Excuse me, Toga?? I know that hairstyle is just a bit off, but… ???
...right, anyways. Izuku is wondering whether the hair really did anything (also, it was apparently sour, which, ew.) Katsuki comes up behind him and tells him to move aside.
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Truly a flattering image. Izuku panics a bit and greets him, but Katsuki just walks by without another word or gesture, leaving Izuku confused as he watches him head on into the building. The narrative notes that since the villain incident, Katsuki hadn’t bothered Izuku, while the unnamed characters in the background apparently recognize Katsuki from the ‘sludge’ incident (well, not shocked how the fandom held onto that name). 
Izuku notes that he’s gotta stop flinching instinctively, and then tries to hype himself up, noting that it’s not like before, and think about the past ten months while taking a wobbly step forward- and then tripping over himself.
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I’m sorry Izuku just has so many fantastic faces in this chapter I am crying trying to limit myself to just a few. But yeah, that little derp as he realizes what’s happening is adorable, especially while Ochako gently sets him back on his feet. She mentions that it’s her quirk, and apologizes for using it, but that it’s a bad omen to trip and fall. (I wonder if that gets played with again during later parts of the series… will have to check to see.)
While Izuku freaks out over talking to a girl, Ochako notes that the exam is nerve-wracking, and then heads off while wishing both of them luck as Izuku stares after. 
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This fucking kid. I love him so much. His flustered excitement gets him some weird looks from the others still outside.
We transition to a new character (Present Mic) who immediately shows off his performative side by calling for a ‘hey!’ which… is met with silence from the crowd. He doesn’t let this throw him off, instead letting them know that he’ll present the guidelines for the practical, followed with a ‘YEAH!’ that gets met with an even heavier silence.
Izuku and Katsuki are seated next to each other, with Izuku descending right into excited muttering over Present Mic and how he listens to his radio show every week. Also with the assumption that all the UA teachers are pro heroes, which I mean, true, but still. Katsuki tells Izuku to shut up.
Present Mic explains the test: ten minute long ‘mock cityscape maneuvers’, with the applicants split among seven arenas, labelled ‘A’ through ‘G’. With more than 10k applicants total, that’s about…
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Yeah, more than 1500 per arena. Fucking hell, no wonder the robots deplete so quickly in only a few minutes. Also of interest:
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“Bring along whatever you want.” So technically, if Izuku were able to procure the tech and training to handle the robots, there would be nothing keeping him from getting into UA quirkless… though I imagine any kid who gets in mostly on tech probably gets side-eyed… though if said kid made their OWN tech, they might also get an offer from the Support department.
(AU where Mei accidentally took the heroics exam and got a shitload of points, but she ended up taking the offer for Support instead despite setting the record for most points in said exam. Katsuki forever wants to fight her. Izuku and her are good friends.)
Also, another thing I love is how Katsuki just told Izuku to shut up a moment ago, and then:
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He’s the one to initiate conversation on the details of the test, basically agreeing on the reasoning behind dividing up the students between arenas. Katsuki is annoyed at not being able to crush Izuku, which has Izuku awkwardly silent. 
Also mini-Mic.
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Poor, poor Mic. He just wants audience participation. Anyways, he continues on to explain the points system, with the help of cute little Mario-themed silhouettes. There are three kinds of faux villains, with different points awarded for defeating each based on their difficulty levels. Also, attacking other examinees is prohibited!
A student (cough Tenya) raises their hand to ask a question, going on to note that the handout sheet appears to have four varieties of villain, and that such a blatant error (if it is one) reflects poorly on Japan’s top academy. He then spins around and points at Izuku, calling him out for his muttering and how distracting he’s been, and that ‘if this is some sort of game to you, then please leave immediately!’ 
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Is that… Mineta seated behind Izuku? I can’t find another panel that disproves that theory, so. Whelp. If you ever for some reason want to have Izuku accidentally deal with the grape early, he’s right there. 
Anyways, Present Mic brings the convo back to the initial question/comment, noting that the fourth villain is worth zero points, and is more of an obstacle. He then brings up Super Mario Brothers, the old retro game, and compares the Zero Pointer to a thwomp. There’s one per site, serving as a gimmick that’ll rampage in close quarters. Tenya thanks Mic and apologizes for the interruption. 
And so we get our final words from Present Mic:
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??? either he's referencing the original guy (which I think would be a misquote because I doubt OG Nap ever noted anything like that) or some French hero or the like who took on the name.
Discord offered this to me while putting together the post:
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So there you have it. Tentatively confirmed.
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Those EYES man, dude’s got the Rinnegan going on.
Honestly, I have to end on this panel just because of that last line from Present Mic. Like, look me in the eyes and tell me this isn’t the exact point to end on. 
The discord’s takeaway from this:
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cinnamoonsworld · 4 years
Text
Two Worlds Collide - Chapter 6 [Aizawa x fem!reader]
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Hello everyone! Sorry if the chapter came out late this week, but my boyfriend had to study for some important exams and I didn't bother him during the week!  Enjoy the chapter <3 
-----------------------------------------------------------  Previous chapters: ch1 | ch2 | ch3 | ch4 | ch 5 You can also find me on Ao3! Warnings: mention of depression  Word count: 1,453 ------------------------------------------------------------ "Shouta can we know what you did to her?" Asked Present Mic to his friend while gulping down the last drops of beer he had. "Absolutely Nothing." Stated Aizawa feeling Nemuri's eyes on him. "Something must have been happened." She said in a serious tone. "She can not just change his behaviour like this." The three friends/colleagues were out for a quiet Friday night in a club to drink, as sometimes happened to him. Aizawa didn’t have to go on patrol that night, and once in a while he liked having his noisy friends around. Although he hoped you would be there that night, but you had declined the invitation hastily without giving any explanation the afternoon before when Hizashi asked you if you would join a Friday night of drinking with him, Nemuri and Aizawa .All three of them were clear that something had happened to you, but none of them knew anything. For two weeks now, you had become very coy and reserved with the teachers. Usually you would spend your lunch breaks or other moments of freedom during the day chatting happily with Midnight and Present Mic, but by now you had become nowhere to be found. Aizawa also tried to talk to you in some way, but every time you had a chance to be alone, you ran away without saying anything. He didn’t even understand when you were in your room, from which nothing but silence came. No one saw you running from all sides anymore. You acted as usual with the students, supporting them and listening to their doubts and problems." Did I told you about two weeks ago, when I met her out of the dorms with her quirk out of control?" Asked Aizawa while drinking a glass of Whiskey. "Sure." Said Nemuri with her cocktail. "And that she talked about more people, so that day something else must have happened after what you told her in class... you at least talked to her?" "I was not able to. " Replied the raven. "After that day I never had the opportunity to talk to her for real..." "And you should be a supervisor!" Shouted Hizashi while asking to the waiter for another beer. "She is your subordinate, if you want to talk to her, you can -Order her to.-" Actually, Aizawa didn’t want to force you. He still had in mind the angry look you gave him that afternoon, it’s as if it was burned into his mind. He also hated being forced to talk to someone when he didn’t want to, so he preferred to leave you alone and give you all the time you wanted to come and talk to him. Even though he knew you didn’t have a good relationship, he hoped that anyway, as the person you worked with every day, you would open up to him for what was happening to you. Instead, you created a wall you didn’t want to break down, and not just with him. The thing he felt the most about was not apologizing for his behavior. For once, he could let it pass, but his rigid nature had prevailed even before listening to your motivations. Nemuri changed the subject by starting to talk about his favorite thing: the last rumors about their colleagues, and Hizashi was immediately very interested in the thing. Aizawa, on the other hand, pretended to listen when he thought what you were doing at that time.
It was dark in your room, and the only light in the whole room was from the TV next to your bed. You were watching a play, trying to distract yourself. But even that night, like a couple of nights, you’d find yourself curled up in bed with a knot in your stomach. You still felt bad about what happened, even though you felt something more now: terror. Your manager has always been a very vengeful person, and you knew that very well, because you had felt what he was capable of. All you had to do was do something that didn’t suit him, and his revenge turned into extra training hours or interminable signatures, getting you home exhausted both mentally and physically. You didn’t understand why he behaved like that, but only too late did you realize that he wanted you to be a puppet at his command. You were his money-making machine, and you had to do everything he said without having to complain or anything. You felt awfully stupid for letting him treat you like this, but having only him as your manager, you never wondered if these behaviors were normal or not, and so you accepted everything. Every day, from when you got up to when you went to bed, you felt nervous and anxious. You didn’t feel like talking to anyone, and as soon as you could, you’d go somewhere to eat or spend some time alone listening to music to calm down. Sometimes you were so overwhelmed by your thoughts that you would cry whatever you were doing, and music was the only thing that could calm you down. One of the things you were most afraid of during the day was having to interact with Aizawa or be alone with him. You were always trying to do your job quickly so you could end up when the bell rang so you could go away with the kids, and spend as little time as possible in the teachers' room so you could not interact with him or other teachers. With Ereserhead you only spoke when he wanted to know something about one of his boys or to give you some job, but even there you limited the conversation to a minimum. You could talk even less about him. When you finished work, you’d lock yourself in the room and not go out until the next morning. You’d stopped checking your cell phone, and by now it was all about notifications from Rumi and the record company’s top brass. You didn’t have the mental strength to respond or visualize anything. When you were on your computer writing reports about the 1-A kids, you didn’t go on the Internet because you didn’t want to go check your PO box or the latest news about you on the Internet. You were literally out of this world. It also became complicated to do the simplest job, because all the tears you repressed during the day came out in droves when you were in your room. Sometimes it took you hours to finish something, which usually took you about 20 minutes. You hated being like this. And you were also thinking that when you watched that play under layers of blankets in bed on Friday nights. The Saturday morning arrived, with the clear sky and the fresh air that now made the few leaves that remained on the trees fly away. Inside the 1-A dormitory, the students had gathered in small groups in the large living room. There were people who did homework, who read manga or did internet research for all sorts of things. You were helping Mina, Kirishima, and Sero with their math homework, and you promised them after you noticed how hard all three of them were working on that subject and also to distract you a little from your thoughts. The atmosphere was quiet until the alarm sounded. The students all looked at each other worried, couldn’t figure out what was going on. "I'm asking to all students to stay in their dorms, there is nothing to worry about." Echoed the calm voice of Principal Nezu in the area's speakers. "I request to all teachers to come immediately to the main entrance." As soon as he finished the sentence, Aizawa came out of his room with a clearly irritated expression. "(Y/S/N) stay here and keep an eye on them." Said the teacher wearing his scarf. "Do not try to come out for any reason or you'll have chores for three months. Understood?" "Yes, Teacher!" Shouted the kids at unison with a slight blink of panic in their voices. You looked Aizawa in a worry face while he bolted out of the dorm, you were hoping nothing bad will happen to him.As Aizawa made his way to the main entrance, he noticed, first of all, that there was no sound that foreshadowed a fight or an assault. So they probably shouldn’t have fought. As he approached the entrance, he noticed a great rumour and the lights that looked like photographic flashes. It was too late when he realized that all the teachers were called to the entrance to face one of the things he hated most in the world: the journalists.
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castleofclouds · 3 years
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7 Days A Week.
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Genre ; Fluff, Slice of Life, Humor
Warning ; I'm writing this in the middle of midnight and I'm trying my best to used my last brain cells.
Summary ; A Story About you (fm reader), and your 7 dorks!
Part 1 ; Nostalgia.
Today is a normal day, nothing too different than the yesterday, except the way you started isn't by cliche way in which another character would wake up at exactly 7 AM in the morning to go to class.
Nope, you weren't doing that!
In fact, you are on your bed lying down, actually not really on top of your bed, kinda like a tent that was make with a blanket and pillows build just for the eight of you.
Yup! It's a slumber party! Surprise! How is it? Isn't it great to start it with a slumber party?
Anyway that...
"Can you stop talking?" Jeno said, currently getting irritated by how the narrator never stop telling things.
"Yeah! Like we don't need to hear it just get the spotlight down here!" Renjun remarks.
Those bastard! Anyway since the narrator felt attack I will leave it to you, take care of it.
"This is much more better!" Haechan exclaimed, feeling relief after the narrator leave.
The story telling was just too much for him.
"Anyway, how's you guys been doing?" You asked trying to change the topic.
"We been doing things that you do, except we are doing it our own way." Jisung said, being sarcastic as he should, Jaemin gasped.
"Did this baby just insulted someone?!" He overreacted, trying to tease Jisung.
"Can we stop with the baby joke? It's becoming to boring." Jisung said, even though he doesn't want that to stop, he love getting attention.
Tsundere.
"Shut it!" He shouted to the narrator at the corner of the room.
"We've been playing things like jenga and even that penguin escape." Renjun explains showing all the jenga and the penguin escape game being left alone in the corner of the tent.
"We should play something to take care of our boredom.." Mark sighed, he gets bored sometimes, but sometimes he doesn't understand how he is already 20 still love to make a tent and playing a card game, pretty sure he's just childish.
Seeing his child, Jaemin come up with a solution, it's sound like there's a lamp effect going around on top of his head.
"Aha! I got an idea!" He chirped happily, the 7 pair of eyes are lit by it.
"What is it?" You ask excitement going around your eye, you can't help it.
"Yeah yeah what is it?" Chenle said as excited as you, he hold your hands the both of you waiting for the great idea that Jaemin has.
"How about we talk about our high school life?" He said, thinking that it was the best idea he ever had.
Renjun sparkling eyes losses it's spark, now he's ready to throw some hands.
Poor boy was so happy, and either Chenle, he just want some fun, what should he hope for? It's Jaemin, Jeno best friend pretty sure Jeno teach him how to be a boomer like him.
"Seriously?! Are you being serious now?" Renjun said, getting annoyed.
Jaemin tilted his head, he thought it was a great idea, sadly not much people in here understand his efforts.
"Fine! Then come up with something nice!" He exclaimed, then Haechan start to act as if he's Sherlock from Sherlock's Holmes books series.
"Hmm... How about we talked about embarrassment that we had back in high school!" He shouted, giving his almost the same kinda idea that Jaemin just gave.
Jaemin was ready to complain how his idea sounds just like him but then he heard a lot of agreement going around.
"Not you to Jeno!" He said disbelieved how Jeno was quick to betray him.
He should have thought much before he make a deal with all of this dumbass.
"I'm sorry Jaemin, but Haechan Idea seems very interesting!" Jeno said, Jaemin felt the urge to choked his friend but he try to calm.
He isn't Renjun who are always thirst by blood and will always be the one who ready to pick a fight, he had an image and he need to keep doing it, because it's his Ninja Way! As in Naruto.
"Jaemin everyone can hear you thoughts." Renjun said, which made the boy flustered.
"Sorry, my bad." He said, excusing himself to the toilet feel ashamed.
"You don't need to go, we just start the story." You said, didn't want Jaemin to miss any of the great story that are waiting to unfold.
Jaemin who found out that you cared a lot about him, move pass Haechan who previously sit next to you.
"Hmm.. YN finally give me the attention that I deserved!" He exclaimed exclusively, while cling onto your arm like there's no tomorrow.
You pushed his head a little bit, you don't really like skinship, you are fine with some of them, but sometimes Jaemin way of affection is too much, let alone Jisung who had to endure it everytime he met Jaemin.
"How is it feel?" Jisung asked you, more like a whisper.
"Not fun, thank you." You stated calmly, while still trying to get away from Jaemin, the boy tightens his hold to your arm, his other arm are already at your waist.
Well, you gave up in the end.
"You can't get out mwaahaha!" He shouted while laughing evilly.
"Anyway let me start!" You said, taking all of the attention you get inside the room, even the narrator going closer.
What could be the interesting story you has?
"So.. I knew how all of you were very sensitive about this topic, well not really if you aren't Jaemin." You explained, Jaemin ears perked hearing his name.
"Oohhh.. What is it?" Haechan who heard the summary of your story is very excited.
"Remember how, back when we were an elementary students there are a new substitute teacher for our class?" You continue, everyone nodded their head.
But then by the power of Mark brain cell, he discovered it way faster than the other, when it comes to elementary school there's a lot of embarrassment going around the 8 of you.
And that thing is one them.
"Don't tell me.." He mumble.
"Yup! How can I forgot Miss Kang? That one teacher who made Mark, Jeno and Haechan going berserk, or you can say first love?" You smiling evilly seeing how the three mentioned boy getting shy, their ears turn to red.
"Miss Kang? Ohh yeah yeah! I remember!" Chenle chirped happily, of course he remembered.
"Yeah I knew.." Jisung whispered.
"Wait I forgot how Jisung falling for Miss Kang, it's very cute I swear!" This time you went overboard.
How back in the day, Jisung would always smiling everytime Miss Kang give him a compliment, even Mark who hated math learn it just to get noticed by Miss Kang.
Haechan would always try to point his hand toward the air, just to asked a question, and acting like he doesn't know anything when he's always the first one who knows how to finish math homework, Jeno the typical nerd he is always try to be the best students, just so he can see how Miss Kang proudly talking about him in front of the class.
And Renjun, the one who are being oblivious, that guy would always prepared an apple just for Miss Kang exclusively from his uncle farm.
Chenle in the other hand, doesn't understand a thing back in the day, he just follow everything that his friends doing, pretending like he do have a crush to while in fact he wasn't.
"Omg! Really? they did that?!" Jaemin gasped, and while getting second hand embarrassment when he heard about the story.
"Yeah, sadly you have can't join us to see how cute and naive they were, Jisung is the cutest one, poor boy was so happy because he got 97 in Math Exam to impress Miss Kang, but doesn't know that she's already married at that time." You said, ruffled Jisung hair who looked very gloomy.
"It's not my fault, I don't know that, Mark didn't tell me about it." He protests, Mark eyes turn big.
"What?! It's not my fault, Miss Kang was so beautiful I can't help to fell for her." He said taken aback.
"Anyway that was pretty fun, seeing how naive you guys were." You said finishing your story.
"Wait wait, you guys remember how Jisung literally almost burned down the laboratory?
"Omg yes!" Haechan shout happily, he remember every part of it.
"Yeah, we almost burned it if it weren't because of Jaemin smartass we would already getting sued."
That time, in a chemistry class, Jisung, Renjun, You and Jaemin were partnered to do some experiments but because of Jisung clumsy hands.
The laboratory almost burned to the ground, thankfully Jaemin who are fortunately know how to stop the fire before it become out of hands.
"Yeah yeah, I remember how literally Renjun just watching it while shouting about how he's afraid of the fire, Jisung already crying and Yn is the only one who help Jisung calmed down." Jaemin explains about the situation.
Probably that's why the 8 of you always labeled as the trouble maker back when you were still in elementary school, you know how basically every teacher hope the 8 of you ever getting transferred to another school.
Even how Mr. Ben always try to make you guys got expelled because the man are too tired to babysit, how Mark always chewed a gum on his class, even Jeno who are very obedient sometimes get out of his comfort zone because of how the 7 of you always whispering evil plan to his ears.
Anyway there's still a lot of story being told that night, you stayed up late as always other than Jisung who already falling asleep on top of Jeno shoulder.
"Well I guess we should be sleeping at this hour, Jisung seems very tired." Jeno said, while looking at his left side of shoulder.
"Yeah we should, I want to sleep next to YN jinx!" Chenle exclaimed, you nodded your head, he bopping his head excited.
Not even an hour later, the eight of you are already falling asleep, being in the most comfortable position ever.
Good night!
The narrator leave the room.
Previous / Next.
A/N ;
Okey I found this being one of the cutest thing I ever wrote, anyway, it's already morning.. Actually afternoon but you don't hear it from me, I always love this type of story actually.
Btw this story has a concept of like how the tv series showed? Like episode 1 might not be the same like how episode 2 will be so yeah, there's a whole new story everytime, and I take request.
This has something to do with NTC story, the difference is based on how this is basically a spin off, how they are best friend with you and that's is the main focus of the story.
Prepare for more fluff and humor I try my best to include it, but yeah anyway not everyday is a happy story.
See you next time! 😃 ps. I probably will upload more of 7DAW than NTC because of how I got a little bit confused on NTC.
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ravenbrenna09 · 4 years
Text
hold me close - comfort
Title: hold me close
Square Filled: comfort
Ship: Sander Driesen and Robbe IJzermans
Trigger Warnings (if applicable):
Created for @skamevents
...
This is my work for the comfort square of the BINGO card. I know it’s been a while since I’ve managed to complete one of these (the Friends with Benefit prompt in my drafts is screaming), but my recent battle with my own stress in terms of my math test(s) managed to manifest itself into Robbe being stressed about a math test so *shrugs*. But, I hope you guys enjoy!
(don’t worry, it’s only 2k words)
AO3
...
Robbe had been eerily quiet all day. He hadn’t even responded to Sander’s message about how his test had gone today. 
Sander knew that his boyfriend was studying for his upcoming finals. When he focused on schoolwork and especially on studying, he always tended to be silent anyway. But, Sander had a feeling that crawled beneath his skin and made his stomach sink. With every short text back, his stomach only continued to sink further in the pit of his stomach and his brain was focused on Robbe, not on the piece in front of him. By the time that lunch had hit and Robbe had only responded to him briefly, Sander was worried. Robbe always threw himself too far into his studying tactics and Sander knew the toll that it took on him.
Pulling out his phone, sitting across from Noor in the café, he saw that Robbe hadn’t responded and his fingers moved to his chat with Jens, the one that he rarely used, and he sent him a text.
Sander: Is Robbe okay?
It didn’t take long to respond. 
Jens: He’s definitely stressed. He went home after today’s test to study some more.
Jens: He’s got his math test tomorrow, I think.
Sander: Okay, I just haven’t heard from him.
Sander: How did your tests go?
Jens: Mine went okay. And, don’t worry. I’m sure he’s just studying.
But, he was worried. 
Especially since his math test was tomorrow. 
In their late-night calls, in which Sander would spend the majority of the time either drawing Robbe or trying to convince him to sleep, Robbe had mentioned that this math exam was on Thursday and how nervous he was for it. Even between all of his other studying, he would stop working on whatever subject and switch to math. When the problem wasn’t behaving like he wanted to, he would get frustrated and upset and all Sander could do was watch from another side of the screen, try to calm him down and remind him that he needed to take a step back. 
Sander: Are we still meeting for a little bit after class?
When Sander had checked his phone, before the start of his final class for the day, he saw that his message hadn’t been read. As soon as his final class had dismissed them, Sander was already half-packed up, portfolio under his arm, and out of the room without hesitation. Normally, he hung around and talked to his professor or the model, sometimes until Robbe would come in and pull him out. But, Robbe wasn’t standing out in the hallway and his bike wasn’t locked up in their place. 
Without thinking, just worried about him, his feet took him in the direction of Robbe’s apartment. It wasn’t far from his school, maybe a little out of his way to his house, and he was halfway up the stairs to the building when he nearly ran over Robbe’s mom, who was headed out of the building and ruffling through her purse, in his haste to make sure Robbe wasn’t pushing himself. The woman was dressed for work, or maybe she had just gotten home from work, her long brown curls pulled up in a ponytail, and she beamed up with him in a smile that Robbe had inherited.   
“Sander!” the woman spoke cheerily. “Robbe’s up in his room. He’s studying for his test. Are you staying long? I’m going to the store and then I’ll make us all dinner!”
“I don’t know,” Sander admitted, feeling anxious and restless to get to Robbe. “But, dinner sounds wonderful.” 
“Okay, well, you know where the spare key is. I’ll be back soon.”
Then, the woman was gone, turning the bend to the store, and Sander was racing across the lobby to the stairs, taking them two-at-a-time. The IJzermans apartment was on the second floor, right by the stairs. As soon as Sander reached the door, the brass 26 shining on the front, he fished out the spare key from the garden pot outside the door, where he had put it the last time he was over, and opened the front door with ease.
His eyes lingered on the familiar surroundings of Robbe’s brown jacket on the hook, his tennis shoes on the floor beneath it, and his keys on the table. Sander toed off his black converse, his eyes darting down the hallway to Robbe’s open room, and placed his portfolio on the floor beside it. As he shrugged off the lightweight jacket that he had worn in place of his leather jacket, moving to hang it beside Robbe’s, he heard the floorboards creak beneath his weight and Robbe say, “Mama? Did you forget something?” 
Robbe stepped out into the hallway, running a hand through his messy hair, and Sander felt his heart break a little. 
His boyfriend’s eyes were tired and worn. Even beneath the green hoodie that hung on his shoulders and the sweats that he was wearing, he could see that Robbe’s shoulders were slumped and stiff. His entire body seemed on edge and his eyes darted across Sander’s entire face and form as he questioned, his voice displaying the tiredness that he felt, “Sander? What are you doing here?” Before Sander could say anything or move to wrap his arms around him, he saw the realization in Robbe’s brown eyes and he let out a string of curses, running his hands over his face, “We were supposed to meet up.” 
“Robbe,” Sander spoke, stepping forward. 
“I’m sorry,” Robbe continued hurriedly, his words partially slurring together as he made a beeline into his bedroom. Like a moth drawn to a flame, Sander followed him, trying to reach out to touch him but Robbe was a step ahead, moving in the direction of his desk where his phone was. “I’ve been studying and I didn’t check the time and-”
“Robbe, you don’t have to apologize,” Sander cut off, stepping forward to hold him in his arms. He wrapped his arms around Robbe’s shoulders, pulling him back against his chest. Robbe let out a sigh, leaning back into his embrace as his head tilted down to look at his phone. From his spot over his shoulder, Sander could see the names of the texts that he had missed and he could feel Robbe get tense beneath his arms. “Baby,” Sander spoke, leaning his cheek against Robbe’s shoulder.
“Hmm?” 
“You need to take a break.” 
“I can’t,” Robbe spoke, dropping his phone down on the desk. It landed on a binder, sliding down until it hit the floor (and thankfully didn’t shatter), but neither one of them moved to pick it up. Robbe moved to his desk, his right hand moving through his notes at a frantic pace, but his other hand moved to overlap with Sander’s hand on his shoulder, gripping onto Sander’s long fingers tightly. “I still have so many notes to look through. Plus, I still need to do the practice problems from three sections and that’s not even counting the review problems I should look back over.”
“Robbe.” 
“And, I have to at least look over the midterms at some point,” Robbe continued, his eyes darting all over the desk in front of him. Sander stepped forward, so their bodies were flushed together, and he could feel Robbe’s body momentarily relax. “He tends to repeat problems so looking over the midterms will help me when he pulls a problem similar to that on the final.” 
“Robbe,” Sander whispered. “How long have you been studying?”
“Since I got home.”
“Which was?”
“Uh, around 11, I think,” Robbe admitted. 
“Baby, it’s past 16:00,” Sander spoke. “You need to take a break or you’re going to overwork that beautiful brain of yours.” 
“But, I can’t stop, Sander!” Robbe spoke, his voice louder. He flinched out of Sander’s arms, his shoulders shaking as he leaned over the desk. His hands gripped tightly onto the edge of the desk, his knuckles turning bone white. Trying to give Robbe the space that he needed, he took a step back but he ran a hand across Robbe’s back, trying to soothe him, trying to offer him some method of comfort. “I can’t stop. I feel like I haven’t learned anything and I can’t remember what to do so I need to study.”
“No,” Sander whispered, running a hand across his back. “You need to take a break.”
“Sander,” Robbe spoke, turning towards him. There were tears prickling the corners of his eyes, tears of frustration, and Sander nearly started weeping at the sight. Robbe was one of the smartest people that Sander had ever known, but to see him doubting himself so drastically, to see him pushing himself so hard that his brain was shutting down, hurt his heart. Robbe continued, his words streaming together, broken and wet, “I can’t stop studying because I don’t understand what’s going on. Every time I look at the page, I feel like I’m finding something else that I don’t understand. It’s like I haven’t seen it before! And, I have a test tomorrow morning and I need to do good or I’m not going to pass. At the very least, I need to memorize the formulas so I can use them-”
Robbe cut himself off, a sob ripping through his body. The tears slipped past the rim of his eyes, slipping across his cheekbones and down his jaw. Robbe squeezed his eyes shut, trying to hold the rest of them back, to stop himself from crying completely, but Sander stepped forward again, cupping the back of his head and pulling the smaller boy flush against him. 
As soon as Sander’s arms were wrapped tightly around him, another sob was ripped from Robbe’s mouth, his tears starting fresh again, soaking the fabric of his t-shirt. Robbe buried his face into Sander’s shoulder, trying to muffle the sound of his own cries and sputters as Sander tried to soothe him, clinging to the back of Robbe’s head. Robbe’s hands moved to the back of Sander’s t-shirt, gripping it tightly in his hands. He rubbed patterns against the fabric of Robbe’s hoodie, pressed soothing kisses against his jaw and neck, wiped away the tear streaks he could reach, and held him tighter. 
“Get it all out,” Sander whispered, pressing a kiss against his ear.
“I feel like an idiot,” Robbe cried. 
“You’re not an idiot, Robbe,” Sander spoke, his voice a little too firm. He leaned back, taking Robbe’s face in his hands, wiping his thumbs across his cheeks to catch the remaining tears that fell from his cheeks. His boyfriend stared up at him with eyes that were half-closed in tears, his bottom lip trembling. “Your brain is just screaming at you that it’s tired and that you need to give it a break. You’re the most beautiful and smartest man that I’ve ever seen.”
“I bet not like this,” Robbe mumbled, reaching up to rub his eyes. 
“Always,” Sander whispered. “You’re so smart, Robbe. And you know the material. But, if you overload your brain while you’re so tired, you are going to forget important stuff tomorrow. Your body is screaming at you that it needs a break and you need to listen to it.” 
“You’re right,” the smaller boy whispered, leaning forward to press their foreheads together and his brown eyes shutting automatically. Sander wrapped his arms tighter around Robbe, running his hands down his back before tilting them in the direction of the bed. Robbe followed his directions willingly, his arms reaching up to wrap around Sander’s shoulders. Then, the back of his knees hit the bed and they both went tumbling onto the mattress, a light laugh knocked out of Robbe. “What’s your plan?” the brunet whispered, his lips turning up in a grin.
Sander grinned down at him, rolling off of him. Robbe shifted to him, scooting closer to him and grabbing onto his waist to pull Sander’s form closer. Sander chuckled at him, leaning back against one of Robbe’s pillows before turning to him. “We’re going to take a break,” he answered, reaching up to run a hand through Robbe’s hair, freshly cut and short again. Robbe tilted his head back before leaning into Sander’s touch. “For the next hour, until your mom comes back from the grocery store, we’re just going to lie here and not think about homework, okay?”
“Okay,” Robbe mumbled, his eyelids already closing. “And if I go to sleep?”
“Then, you go to sleep,” Sander whispered. “You’ve got this, Robbe. I know you do.” Robbe’s eyes opened again to stare up at him. “You’ve done so much studying over the past few weeks and your body is screaming at you for a break. If you go to sleep, it’s because your brain needs to recharge. When you wake up, you’ll be refreshed and have a little more energy and if you think that you need to study some more, you can study some more.” 
“Can you stay the night?” Robbe whispered.
“Yes,” Sander replied, smiling down at him. “If you want me to, I’ll always stay the night.” 
Robbe smiled up at him before tilting his chin up, a silent message that Sander knew by heart. The blond ducked his head down, pressing their lips together in a slow kiss. Robbe tilted his head to the side so their lips flushed together more smoothly, pulling him closer by his waist. Sander pushed his mouth open with his lips, slipping his tongue into his mouth, cupping the back of his head. Robbe let out a content sigh, pulling back and burying his face in the crook of Sander’s neck. 
“Get some sleep,” Sander whispered, running a hand through his hair. Robbe let out a content sigh against his next. “You can always study more when you wake up, but you need to stop overloading yourself, baby.”
“Alright,” Robbe whispered, his lips ghosting across Sander’s skin. His boyfriend snaked his arms around his torso, bringing them closer together, their bodies and legs intertwined. Sander pulled him closer, one arm wrapped around his shoulders, his hand dropping to Robbe’s thigh to hold him there. 
By the time that Marine IJzermans had returned home, peering around the corner with two bags around her wrist, Robbe had snuggled further into Sander’s chest, still holding onto the black-fabric of his t-shirt. There was a small smile that appeared on his mother’s face as she placed the bag outside of Robbe’s door and stepped inside to check. She smiled down at Sander, who was absentmindedly running a hand through Robbe’s tangled curls, and whispered to him, “Dinner will be ready in about an hour if you want to sleep as well.”
“Thank you,” Sander replied. 
“I assume that you’ll be spending the night as well.”
“Yeah,” Sander spoke, “but only if that’s alright with you.”
“Of course,” Marine spoke, reaching down to rub Robbe’s shoulder. “He always seems to be more relaxed with you around. But, the door remains open, okay?” Sander grinned, nodding his head, feeling the blush begin to move to his cheeks. The woman bent down, placing a kiss against Robbe’s head before moving out of the room, collecting the bag and headed into the kitchen, leaving the two of them alone.
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byakuyasdarling · 3 years
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I have a fat talk about school and have an obnoxious gush.
I have Exam Block in 15 days. I’ve made study plans for Biology, in which is my hardest exam due to the massive amount of knowledge we need to recall. I’m really stressed and probably going to cry about it again; I’ve planned most of my study. I always do this before bio exams and then end up with 95% like the dumbass I am JSJSJSJSJS. I’ll be fine <3 I just wish I had the overconfidence I did last year — which is now very faked on my part.
Maths and Visual Arts are easy — I just have to keep track of my key weak points over the next few days.
English and Literature are interesting. They’re unseen question. I’m not the most confident — but I’m gaining a really good understanding of evidence to use for my thesis and what arguments I’ll be using over the course of the 2 hour exam. I’m just worried about the time limit (as usual, ahahaha). I need time to think about my sentences when I’m structuring PETAL paragraphs — so I’m very worried. I’m getting my English marks back from the last assessment next week. If I don’t get a 20/25 at the least I will probably break down, my family (well. My dad) wouldn’t be happy. My teachers think that’s ridiculous but to me it always made sense, I deserve that for not working hard enough. I am confident in what I wrote, I’m just second-guessing myself.
Anyway, I have a Biology Final due Monday. She said my draft was really good, I just have to find 1 more case study and cut out and rearrange some sections :) she said it was very thorough and insightful, which makes me happy. I also have a Visual Arts draft due Tuesday, that’ll be fine (I hope).
N e way,,. I always feel the need to be really productive. From what I’ve read people call it toxic productivity. I do it with work at times, but it’s usually when I write here. I’m trying to be productive with something I like to bring me joy — I’m finding it progressively harder to focus on work recently because I keep getting too anxious about making mistakes. Making mistakes makes me feel awful. So I write here a lot about my ship so I’ll feel productive. If I don’t, I feel like I’m nothing; it must sound really silly. I’m loosing interest in everything I love because of it; it’s making me really sad (for lack of a better term, my vocabulary refuses to be used when I’m like this).
I’m not too bad, don’t worry. I don’t want anyone to feel bad for me or worry, that was not my intention. I told my friends earlier and they’re just getting even more worried — I feel like pulling my hair out, I want to be a good friend. I think I should hydrate.
Look after yourselves :) Oh, I promised a gush!!!
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I have a thesis of my own: He is very handsome :) that’s it, not like my stupid “Throughout Steven Carleton’s play, Constance Drinkwater and the Final Days of Somerset, Carleton positions audiences to view Australia, particularly its past, as a place susceptible to racism and misogyny despite the guise of multiculturalism it attempts to uphold.” Which, even if it’s my practice thesis I made, its still a bit lengthy and clunky. “He is handsome” is a way better thesis. Like the evidence is right there!! He’s just handsome!!! Essay over!!!
I love him <33 he makes me happy ^//v//^ Also look at his hair in his back view <333 hnnggg I know I said S/I ran her hands through his hair when it’s getting longer, but now I think she always does it. Must make that dumb post later <333 Hope he loves me too!!
But I know who loves you all! Me (/p) and your F/O’s (platonic OR romantic OR familial)!! Take care 💙💙
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satsuki2406 · 4 years
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OPEN SKY  Bakugou Katsuki x Reader
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"...And never, ever forget that, your dreams are the wings that'll help you fly."
(L/N)(Y/N) has always been forced to live according to others' expectations. As a member of the powerful and influential (L/N) Family, she has had to live with the heavy weight of seeing others write her destiny with no choice but just obey. But when (Y/N) finally decides to risk it all to take the only opportunity to regain the control of her own life, everything ends up going horribly wrong. Surrendered and disappointed, she receives one last chance to prove to herself and to U.A, along with some unexpected help that this was not a crazy and meaningless waste of time.
Maybe this plan could work after all...
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PAIRING: (Bakugou Katsuki x Reader)
GENRE/WARNINGS: Romance, Fluff, Angst, Mentions of sex, My poor attempt of comedy, family dysfunctionality, Strong language (Courtesy of Lord Explosion Murder 💥), Manga Spoilers.
STATUS: On going
Chapter 1: Failure
Chapter 3: Her Start
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2-Sometimes the Greatest Hero of All is a Good Friend
“The person you’ve called is unavailable, please leave a-”
“Still no answering…. You said you’ll call me right after the exam (Y/N), I hope everything is ok. What should I do now? Oh! I got it!” Swiftly, slender fingers moved over the tactile screen of her phone, anxious eyes looking for a specific contact. “Found it!” After a few rings, the other end of the line was answered.
“Good afternoon,Mizaki talking. How may I help you today?”
“Hello, may I please speak to (L/N) Xiù-san?”
“I’m sorry. (L/N)-san is busy right now. Would you like to leave a message?”
“Sure, please let her know I’m calling in regard of (Y/N), I would like to know about her.”
“Alright miss, and your name please?”
 “Yaoyorozu Momo.”
Three days have passed since the whole U.A fiasco, you were of course grounded, with no phone, no internet and completely insolated in your room. Your fever was already gone, just leaving behind a really mild sore throat. Although your body didn’t hurt anymore, your heart did, over and over again you replayed the whole thing in your mind beating your head to find out what you could have changed, what you could have done differently. It was eating you inside out. You felt like a failure and so unfortunate. How could you fail over something so silly?!
You’ve been in your bed since you arrived home that day, already numbed by all the crying you did that night, your mom’s complains, and had barely eaten. You knew that in a couple of days the response from U.A will arrive to already tell you what you knew. And after that, you’ll have no choice but go to class again for the last week of school. Thankfully there’s surely nothing you’ll have to catch up with.
But before you could sail deeper in your personal sea of self-petty, a knock on your door took you out of your rambling thoughts.
“Come in,” you said boringly.
“Sorry to disturb you (Y/N)-sama but Yaoyorozu-sama had come to visit you, do you want me to let her in or you prefer to rest a little-”
“Momo?! Oh, yes please, tell her to come in!”
“As you wish, (Y/N)-sama”
A couple of minutes later Momo entered your room escorted by the same maid. She was wearing your school uniform, by her side were two of her bodyguards, on her left, one was caring several paper grocery bags full of what looked like tons of snacks and junk food, on her right another tall and bulky man held a white cake box and some pastel-colored paper bags. You threw yourself to her and hugged her fondly. She gasped surprised by your sudden show of affection, but she immediately returned it with one of her own, melting with you in a tight embrace. “Momoo! *SNIFF* I missed you so much! I’m sorry for not answering your texts and calls but my mom took my phone away.”
“Oh, (Y/N) don’t worry I imagined something like that, I’m so sorry I couldn’t come before, but when I tried to come visit, one of the maids said your mother had prohibited it.”
“Of course she did, she feeds on my suffering” you mumbled sourly.
“Oh, don’t be like that, I know she can be-uhm…”
“Harsh? Insufferable? Unreasonable? A hag-?”
*AHEM! * Strict, she can be strict-yes! But I’m sure that she is doing it all with your best interest in mind, or I hope so…”
“Aha… not even you believe that, by the way, what’s up with all the shopping bags?” At the mention of them, she beamed, star-eyed, cheeks flushed with excitement, recalling her little adventure of the day.  
“Today I went to one of these really incredible, advantageous little stores where you can find anything, anywhere and have a wide variety of products for a fair price.
“You mean a konbini?”
“Yes! They are great, aren’t they? So convenient!”
“I bet they are.”
“They really are! To think that all of this only cost me ¥10 000!*”
“You spent how much?!”
“Oh, it’s nothing! I made sure to get an ample array of different products to enjoy together and, I thought some yummy snacks would cheer you up.”
You felt your heart clench at such sweet declaration from your dearest and oldest friend, she really was the most selfless and caring being you’ve ever met.
“Momo~! Have I ever told you that I’ll be nothing without you~?”
“Yes, and is nice to hear that you value my efforts, even if I can’t do anything to revert the past and change what happened, I can act now, in the present and do as best as I can to make you feel better and let you know that anything that occurred is not your fault, so please don’t think less of you. Sometimes life acts in mysterious ways that maybe we don’t understand, but someday it will make sense and we will know, comprehend and accept why our plans do not always go as we wish. 
And even if it’s hard to accept at first, there are better things waiting for us than we even expected or asked for since the beginning. What I’m trying to say is, please don’t let this unpleasant ordeal take you down, I know that you’re more than capable to be a hero, even more than me, so keep fighting no matter how many times they knock you down, I’m sure you’ll still rise every time. Don’t give up.” Your friend looked at you while she held both of her hands over her chest, her eyes bright, sweet and sincere made her words hit you with more intensity.
“Momo…” you said moved.
“Oh, don’t mind me, I think I got a little sentimental, but anyway! I hope you like what I brought for this occasion-Oh! Kaji-san, Sasaki-san please leave the bags here.” Momo instructed the bodyguards to put them over the center table of the seating area inside your spacious room. After that, they were dismissed and exited the room alongside the same maid that let them in.
Immediately after they left, another one entered your room with a golden vintage-looking bar cart full of all the musts for a proper tea party. A shiny silver tea set was put in the center of the cart, besides it a couple of white golden rimmed China teacups seated cutely surrounded by all kinds of sweet and savory goodies. Under the same cart, a large collection of the most exquisite teas and coffees could be found, most of them brought by your mother herself from her several trips around the globe. As an enthusiast of these drinks, she always made sure to visit the most renowned tea crafter countries to bring the best of the best with her.
“Good afternoon ladies, what would you like to drink?”
“I’ll have tea, that new black tea my mother got last month,” You said.
“Sure! And for you Yaoyorozu-sama?”
“I’ll drink the same, you talked to me about this tea before, right? It sounded so good that I’ve been wanted to try it since then.”
“I’m positive you’ll enjoy it as much as I did! It has a fruity undertone; it goes really well with everything.” You said excitedly.
Once the hot drinks were set and served the maid left the room with the snacks Momo brought to place them in the kitchen for later consuming. Once alone, you could talk more comfortably and privately.
“So… what in heaven you did or said to make my flexible as a rock mother to let you enter into my fortress of loneliness?”
“That’s easy…”
“School Work”
“That’s it?! And what school work?! Next week is the last week of classes, and we already had our final tests. What else could you do that we haven’t already done last week?”
“A lot actually, we still had to receive our final lessons and they gave back our tests’ results and you mother specify clearly and I quote: ‘Although (Y/N) is sick it doesn’t mean I’ll allow her under any circumstances to get delayed on her studies even if the school year is basically over, she must learn discipline and obedience, put in practice what she’s been taught all this time, she evidently hasn’t been taught properly.’
“Why it doesn’t surprise me she said that? Do you-”
“-Have your tests with me right now? Of course, they are part of the reason your mother let me trespass your ‘fortress of loneliness’ Pretty impressive as always, but I guess you couldn’t beat me in math, again.” She smiled.
“Aw! I studied really hard for that exact reason!”
“Don’t worry it was only 5 points-Wow! you were pretty right! This tea is delectable!” Momo said after taking a sip of her cup.
“But still!-I know! Right?”
“Don’t worry though, you’ll have plenty of times in high school”
After Momo’s comment everything came back to your mind, it really felt like a distant memory, at some point you question yourself if it was real, to begin with, it was hard to believe that one single person could have such bad luck in less than 12 hours, every single thing that could go possibly wrong went horrible. And now it was over, you once in a lifetime opportunity slipped from your fingers as soon as it came. And now with your mother aware of your intentions it could be nearly impossible to escape the path that was already set for you.
It's useless now, isn’t it?’
“(Y/N)?”
“Huh?”
Without you knowing, countless tears started rolling down your cheeks, the sadness and frustration scaping out of your body against your will.
“I’m sorry for touching that topic so aggressively, it was so tactless of me to don’t have your feelings on the account.” Said Momo a bit dejected.
“Don’t worry about that Momo, you are already doing so much to make me feel better and I’m so grateful you are here with me right now and, I’ll have to get over it eventually.” Momo frowned, she knew you really well and although she knew your words to her were genuine, you were not ok or dealing well with it at all, maybe if you…
“Do you want to talk about it? You know, vent your frustrations with me? You know you can trust me.” She said while she took your hand reassuringly.
“I know I can trust in you Mocchan, you are my best friend…”
“But?”
“I don’t even know how to put into words how I feel, it’s overwhelming at so many levels! Everything crumbled down so fast than before I could understand what was going on, I blacked out in the middle of battle center trying to save some guy form a 3 pointer, at the end I was the one who needed to be saved. I lost my only chance to make my dreams come true in such a foolish way and I couldn’t do anything about it! I went through so much! I had to wake up at 4:30 every day to train without my mother noticing, I stayed up until 2 am to study and be prepared for the exam, and all of that for nothing! I don’t even know what to do Momo, I feel I going crazy! I’m losing my mind inside these four walls! I feel trapped, hopeless, I just, I just want to disappear…”
An ominous silence invaded the room, you finally could say all that you have been bottling in out all this time. Momo debated what she could say in a situation like this, you really were screwed. But even having knowledge of your situation and its implications, something told her that, even if it was small there is still some hope. Trying to collect her thoughts she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, after a few seconds she opened them again and looked at you with a mix of confidence and faith.
“You know, since we met, I always thought you were the most courageous and aspiring person I’ve ever known. You never gave up, never let the limitations given by your family stopped you from being who you truly were, like a bird who didn’t know about frontiers or bounds, always focused at the horizon, what laid ahead, in the future, your future. Although you knew it was risky, you did it anyway, you took a leap of faith, and even though things didn’t come out as you wanted, you did it, you dared. Failure means that you’ve tried, don’t let failures and errors stop you, but make you stronger. So please, raise your head, stand proudly because a hero can always-”
“-break out of a tough spot, I know. Thank you, Momo.” You looked at your spread palm and closed your eyes for a moment. “It’s true that there’s nothing I can do, It already happened, is in the past and I can’t change it, but, as you said I have the present, the one that matters, the one that’ll help me shape my future, there’s no point on sulking over something that already happened, but I do have control over what’s happening and will happen. The only thing I can do now is wait for my letter, get over it, get a closure. And after that happens, I’ll just try it again, I learned my lesson, if I want to be a strong hero, I have to think in my wellbeing first, If I can’t save myself, I won’t be able to save anybody. I’ll do it at my own pace.” You closed your fist and opened your eyes full of renewed energy and conviction, you looked up at your always trusty friend and gave her your most sincere smile.“I don’t know how but I’ll keep trying, I’ll definitely do it.” Momo smiled back at you sharing your same emotions, grateful to see the same flame invade your eyes and spirit. 
“I know you will.”  
 “…But first, we’ll have some melon pan.*”
“…” 
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*¥10,000 are approximately $91,35.
*Melon pan [ メロンパン ] (meronpan): They are sweet buns made with an enriched dough covered in a thin layer of crisp cookie dough. Their appearance resembles a melon (cantaloupe). Ironically they are not usually melon flavored but it can vary from caramel, maple syrup, chocolate, sometimes with syrup, whipped cream, flavored cream or custard as a filling. In the case of such variations, the name may drop the word 'melon' (maple pan) or may keep it despite the lack of melon favor (chocolate melon pan).
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miioouu · 4 years
Text
Single Father Bakugo (3) Birthday Dad
More cute single pa Baku!! Honestly idk i just got this idea randomly sooo. Also idk if i said I'll update you guys on Single Father bakugou once a week, buuuut i don't think that's true, I'll post a part anytime an idea comes to my mind. Anyway HAPPY BIRTHDAY BAKUBOO❤️
Ten months…. 
It's been almost a year since Bakugo was taking care of his little baby. Ever since, his life seemed a little brighter, a little more colorful. Even behind his tired, sleep deprived eyes, happiness and joy can be seen. Life has changed drastically, but he wouldn't have it any other way. And to say he wanted to put the little girl up for adoption! So pathetic Katsuki. 
Even though it's his birthday, things were going on normally, being a dad meant that he wasn't able to go out and party, enjoy his special day like every other young person his age. He could still ask his mom to keep an eye on the child, but honestly he'd rather spend the day with her than surrounded by drunk sweaty bodies, annoying music filling his ears. He'd much rather listen to his baby girl babble and babble incoherent words and him pretending to understand and have a conversation with her. What he didn't expect was that this year, he'd have the most wonderful gift of all time. 
Holding her on his hips as he was making himself a birthday dinner, the little girl always looking up to him, hand gripping his thin sweatshirt, incoherent sounds would come out of her mouth every now and then making the young father look at her and reply with a "yes, you're right" and "I know right?! Unbelievable!". Bouncing her to the rhythm of whatever song that was stuck in his head, focusing on the task at hands, he almost missed the sound coming out of her little lips, if it weren't for her hand tugging harder at his top and other one patting his strong arm, a gesture that she learned would get his attention anytime. Dropping the wooden spoon to the side, seeing her mouth open and close, trying to get out something. "Come on baby! What do you have to say? Dad's listening!" He didn't want to get his hopes too high, knowing that it's still a bit early for her to say her first word, but maybe it's his dad instinct telling him to listen closely, or maybe it's just the little bit of hope that she'd say her first word on his birthday that told him to focus on whatever that was about to come out of her. "Ba… BaBa". That's it! That was it! Wide smile stretching on his face, tears threatening to fall, since when did he become so soft? Well it doesn't matter now... He couldn't believe how lucky he was, to have his daughter's first words be "baba" and on his birthday! He was on cloud nine! Hugging his baby tightly, telling her how much he loves her and treasures her, he couldn't wipe the smile off of his face for the rest of the evening. 
He spent his first birthday as a dad calling up his beloved ones, telling them about the most amazing gift he's ever gotten. 
5 years….
Growing up and growing older together, was everything Bakugou ever wants. His little baby now five, how did time pass by so quickly? It felt like just yesterday he was teaching her how to walk, and now he's begging her to stop running around the house, afraid she'd knock her head on things. It happened before, hearing his angel cry, making his heart drop, he never again wants to hear her in pain again….
His birthday wasn't his special day anymore, it was their special day. Making it a ritual to always spend it together, they'd either go out and celebrate it over ice cream, or they'd stay at home, playing and cuddling watching movies as she drifted to sleep in his arms. He never asked for gifts, she's a child, and even later in life he wouldn't. He never liked his birthday, until he became a dad, the first year she gifted him with her precious first words. The second with a hug, the third with a kiss, and the fourth with morning snuggles. His little bundle of joy completely changed his perspective of his birthday. What will she do this year? 
Apparently, something really special, as she was hiding from him all day, running away from him everytime he tried to get a hug or a kiss. Making him a little angry as he just wanted some affection from the little girl, but he's not getting any of it. Well at least he didn't have to wait that long, lunch was approaching and so did his baby, well not so baby anymore, hiding something behind her back as she was making her way to him. Giving her a little smile as she finally, for the first time today, showed some interest in her father. Pressing her head on his leg as she couldn't reach higher to get his attention, like he wasn't already waiting for her. Bending down to get to her eye level, he gave her a little cheek kiss as she revealed what she was keeping a secret from him all day long. It must've been something on a paper or something like that, but he couldn't quite tell as glitter was covering all of it, looking behind her to see the trail of orange and pink shimmers that would definitely be a hassle to clean. Though he didn't care right now, the only thing that matters was his gift, as narcissistic as it sounds. Taking the present from her hands only to open the envelope to reveal a folded paper. Shaking his hand in a sort of way to get rid of the sparkles, gently unfolding the paper. Eyes wide, then softening as a grin made its way to his lips. It was a family drawing. There she was holding hand with what he assumed to be him, wearing his hero costume, and their little cat to the side. Not forgetting to add her uncle Kirishima but it seemed as she crossed him, writing a small no to his side, making the blond giggle. And on the top of her paper, in bold multi-colored pencil a big "Happy birzday Baba" with a crooked heart next to it. It was nothing amazing, but he can see the thought she put into it, the love and passion she dedicated in the drawing, making him ever so proud of his girl. Giving her the biggest hug, lifting her up in the air as he thanked her. He was honestly having the time of his life, always, with his little bundle of joy…. 
14 years….
Rituals are bound to fade one day. And considering spending his birthday together as a ritual, he wasn't that surprised when it broke. But it still hurts. It's the first birthday in 14 years he spends alone, without her by his side. With her laughs to fill the air, with her hugs to warm his heart, with her "I love you dad"s. Instead she decided to spend the night with her friends. And the worse thing about all of it, she hadn't even acknowledged him all day long. Teenagers… 
Bored out of his mind, and too sad to do anything, even spending the night with Kirishima. He couldn't bring himself to move from the couch, laying under his blankets. Pathetic Katsuki, you've been limping around all day long like a heartbroken teenager! Man up it's just a night away. At this point he had no idea if he was sad that he's not spending the night with his daughter or if he was just worried about her. It's not the end of the world! He can still get out, have fun on his birthday like everyone. He still can….. But he doesn't want to. He wants her. He wants to hug her, mess her hair, listen to her drag his names as he teases her about her crush. He wants to cuddle up with her as they watch their favorite show for the fifteenth time. And fuck, is he crying right now? It's just…. It feels like just yesterday he was teaching her how to lace up her shoes, warning her about boys. It felt like just yesterday, she took her first steps, yelled her first swear, she gave him the middle finger for the first time. She just grew up so fast, how can he not be sad? And his tears didn't stop rolling as he looked at the fridge, family drawings she made, the highest score on a maths exam…. He was just so proud of her. He was just so proud to call this little daredevil with a soft heart his daughter. And he was so proud of the woman she grew up to be. 
Thinking so much about her, it seemed like she sensed it. Right before midnight, a special ringtone shook him awake. It was her! Is she ok?! What if something happened to her?! Shooting out from under the blankets to answer the call, mind drowning in fear, until he heard her gentle voice, slightly above a whisper so her friends don't listen to her. "Happy birthday dad, I love you so much!"
18 years…. 
Sadness, it was all he was feeling lately. The thought of her being already so grown up, he didn't want his baby to leave him. He didn't want his baby to fly away from him. He didn't want his daughter to forget about him…. But there's some things in life that you can't stop. And one of them was the departure of his girl to college, leaving him alone, with their old cat, just to stare at all her childhood photos, relive all the memories, and when he gets her occasional texts, it never fails to make him smile and tug at his heart as tears threaten to fall. 
Though on his birthday, she made sure to make it as special as possible, even if she wasn't near him. Going out to get his mail like every morning, he noticed a special letter. One decorated with glitter, orange and pink. Excitement flowing in his vain as he knew exactly where that special gift came from, or to be exact from who. Running inside and gently opening up the letter, wanting to keep it intact to save it. He couldn't help but sob at the words in front of him, the love they expressed…. 
    "Dear baba… 
     It's your special day! So I thought I'd make it even more special and write to you how I truly feel. 
    I know it's been hard, and I haven't been the easiest to raise. But can you blame me for the temper I inherited from you? Can you blame me for the loud voice I got from you? Can you blame me for the love and care and sweetness I offer the word that I learned from you? 
    I know what you're thinking, cause I thought about it too. Do you ever wonder, like me, about what would've happened if I was never a part of your life? Do you ever wonder, like me, what it would've been like if I had a mother, to braid my hair and caress my cheeks? To lull me to sleep with angelic voice and the smile that would appear everytime I do something right? Do you ever wonder, like me, if I never were a mistake? But I don't blame dad, it's not your fault. I'm not asking you to change anything, there's nothing you can do. And I understand. 
    Do you want to know what though? All of these are just what if's… In reality I wouldn't change a thing, and I know you won't either. In reality I don't need that motherly love, I only need yours. I need your rough hands to pinch my cheeks, I need your loud voice to praise me up, I need your evil smirk to boost me up. 
     I've seen your tears dad, I heard your cries. I've shed those tears too dad, and I bet you heard my cries. You wish you had someone, I wish that too. You wish you were better, I wish I was that too. But now I know, life might be us two. And I'm so ok with that. All I need in life is you. My angel and devil, my father and so much more, my number one hero…..
      Happy birthday to the most wonderful hero, to my best friend, to my one and only! Happy birthday baba! I love you!
                           From your daughter xoxo"
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(@babybakuu )
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crumburoo · 4 years
Text
It came in 3 unassuming moments in his life. If asked, Pro hero Ground Zero will deny the possibility of a guardian angel until his dying breath, but the 3 letters he so carefully stored away in a shoebox inside his cabinet beg to differ.
The first letter he received was way back in middle school. It came the morning their homeroom teacher was due to discuss their selection for high school choices. Katsuki woke up as usual, had breakfast with his dad and his usual screaming match with his mom. After his bath, he went upstairs to prepare for the day. There, sitting unassuming in his desk, was a letter addressed to him. A girl did give him a letter yesterday. Probably another confession letter, he thought smugly, but then he remembered that he exploded that thing yesterday, causing the girl to cry and run away from him. Curiosity now piqued, he opens the letter and on it were written the words "Don't be an ass. Don't let them tell him that he can't make it."
"The fuck!?" was Katsuki's first thought, but he was quickly taken out of it when his mom yelled for him to hurry up, otherwise he will be late. Tossing the letter inside his drawer, he quickly gets himself ready for school. "That shit can wait" he mutters to himself.
In school and to no one's surprise, Izuku raises his hand and says he plans on applying to UA as well. Immediately, his classmates start snickering and makes fun of the "quirkless wonder." Katsuki used to bully Izuku in the past, and still does on occasion, but him taunting Izuku has since lost it's appeal. He doesn't start them anymore, but when prompted, he always gives out a little insult here and there.
Izuku stammers and nearly shakes, but he doesn't back down even when his homeroom teacher tells him to select a more "realistic" school of choice. It was then that Katsuki remembered the mysterious letter he received that morning. "Don't be an ass" the words kept repeating itself in his head.
-- "atsuki, what do you think!?" One of his classmates bumps his shoulder, likely trying to get him to make fun of Izuku. Izuku, who was crying silently but hasn't made a move to concede his dream of going to U.A. Izuku, who used to be his childhood bestfriend. Izuku, who was since diagnosed quirkless and has since been the subject of ridicule at his school.
In a strange mix of pity and reluctant awe, Katsuki opened his mouth and said "Tsk, leave the loser alone. If he wants to get killed that badly, then let him apply for U.A. As if he'll get in anyway." Izuku looks at him slackjawed, but as an impromptu leader within the classroom, all of his classmates decide to drop the subject.
After school, Katsuki goes straight home and takes a nap. When dinner time came, his mom casually mentions that she and her friend, Midoriya Inko will meet tomorrow night for some spa date. Katsuki just dismisses his mom's rant, but then Mitsuki casually says " Oi brat, Izu-chan called too, says he wants to say thank you. I didn't wake you up cause I know you'll be pissy. The hell did you do?"
"I didn't do shit, old hag! He said thank you to me, why are you assuming I did something wrong!?"
"Because you're you" is his mom's retort. After dinner, Katsuki locks himself in his room and thought back on Izuku's phone call, getting a weird sense of accomplishment all the while.
The second letter came during his 2nd year as a high school student. Katsuki and Izuku both got into U.A. It was a surprise to everyone when Izuku somehow passed the entrance exam. Still quirkless, Izuku did poorly on the physical part of the exam, but aced the written part, barely scraping enough points to get into the hero support courses. Katsuki and Izuku have since developed a tentative sort of understanding regarding their "friendship." If asked, yes they knew each other, but other than that, they never sought each other out. It was a weird thing, being apathetic to the existance of your once childhood bestfriend, but Katsuki and Izuku make it work. Even though Katsuki hears Izuku's name in passing, he never seeks out the nerd.
At U.A., Izuku's penchant for anything hero-related was considered endearing and not a total nerd-alert, so much so that Izuku has grown comfortable in his own skin. Before long, he started having friends of his own. Izuku has long since accepted the fact that he has no quirk, but still wants to do work in the pro hero circuit, so he decided to enroll in the hero support program at U.A.
During their second year, Katsuki's homeroom teacher mentioned that in preparation for their future pro hero careers, they need to get acquinted with other works related to their chosen field, which means that tomorrow, they will be working with the hero support students to work on possible support items they can use.
Katsuki trudges to his room at Heights Alliance and decides to do his homework before hitting the gym. There, stuck between his math and hero history notebooks, was a letter with his name on it. Immediately remembering the note he got in middle school, Katsuki hurriedly opens the letter and reads it. It was a lot longer than the first, with notes on always being careful and not being complacent about his own goals. What caught his attention though, was the footnote. Written in red ink were the words "it's okay to be confused at times. You're still young, so you got time to figure it out."
Katsuki hurriedly calls his homeroom teacher and asks permission to leave the dorm and go home for the weekend. Aizawa doesn't see any harm in it, and quickly agrees (if only to get Katsuki off the phone).
Morning comes and Katsuki is bored out of his skull. When Aizawa-sensei faced the class and started introducing the support course students, Katsuki was casually listening but felt himself bummed when Izuku wasn't with the class. Perhaps he was doing this shit with class 2-B, Katsuki wasn't sure. "Well, I can just make fun of Deku's scrawny little ass next time", Katsuki thinks. Aizawa then starts assigning their class with their support course partners, when a mop of hair pops inside their classroom and asks if this is the 2-A class. Katsuki looks up just in time to see Aizawa use his capture weapon to shush the mumbling support course student who was spouting excuses as to why he was late. Aizawa then releases his capture weapon and loudly exclaims "and just for that, you will be assigned to my problem child. Row 4 aisle 3, you'll be working with Bakugou Katsuki."
This is it, Katsuki thought to himself. He's screwed. As Aizawa lowers his capture weapon, Katsuki is immediately assaulted by Izuku's blushing face, likely embarrased from being called out by a pro hero for his clumsiness. What he was not prepared for, was the sight of his childhood friend. No longer a scrawny kid, Izuku has hit a growth spurt and has since learned to do basic toning exercises by the looks of it. Somehow, he's also developed a sense of style cause his hair is no longer an unruly mess of green hair, but it was shaved a bit at the edges and is parted, accentuating his dimples and the freckles on his cheeks.
Izuku hesitantly walks up to him and gives him a tentative smile. "H..hi Kacchan" Izuku stammers. Katsuki was not prepared for Izuku's smile. Not wanting to show his internal freakout, Katsuki says "you got tall, but I'm still taller, nerd" and then Izuku full on laughs at him. It was then that Katsuki realized that Izuku's laugh maybe has a nice ring to it. It was literal years since he heard that laugh, and he was not assaulted with good childhood memories. Nope, not at all.
The thing was, Katsuki has since come to terms with his sexuality. Sure, he dated men and women before, but he somehow leaned more on the masculine side when choosing his dates, and he is starting to realize that his once scrawny childhood bestfriend's smile makes him feel prickly but in a good kind of way.
Katsuki was brought out of his musings when Aizawa began to drone off on what they should do for the next hour of class before zipping himself up in his sleeping bag. Izuku then picks up Aizawa's queue and starts asking Katsuki questions about his quirk. It was then that Katsuki started to notice the little things, like how Izuku's drawings and note taking have gotten more meticulous over time. How his line of questioning about the intricacies of his quirk were more profound. No longer was Izuku always rambling about how cool and powerful his quirk is, he's now able to spout information on how he thinks Katsuki's present hero costume can be altered, so that he can get rid of his bulky gauntlets while still maintaining the same level of firepower he always had. Katsuki was left with nothing, but to answer the questions thrown his way. Before he knew it, the one hour mark was up, and Aizawa-sensei was emerging from his sleeping bag on the floor.
"Uhm, thanks for not exploding me there Kacchan" Izuku rambles. Wide-eyed at how the (not) nerd looks, Katsuki just grunts and says "whatever." Izuku takes it as some sort of sign and just smiles and says "So I'll need your number so we can meet up next week." That got Katsuki's mind reeling and immediately tries to think of reasons why Izuku of all people will ask for his number. He's taken out of his internal monologue when Izuku says "Oh wait, it's probably better if I email you using your school email handle, atleast I can send you progress reports on your costume upgrades. Well, I'll talk to you next week. See ya!"
With that, Izuku and his entire class all bow their heads and Aizawa sheperds them outside the classroom, probably to talk to them for a bit.
After class ends, Katsuki decides to forgo his training and holes up in his dorm room, just staring at the anonymous letter in his grasp. He's kinda screwed. He knows, but he grins despite himself. He's looking forward to the weekend, when he can keep the second letter he received together with the first.
The third letter came that morning. Fast forward 7 years, with lots of problems, misunderstandings, and a whole lot of crying (on Izuku's part, Katsuki swears), he and Izuku have managed to repair their ruined friendship and has since learned to exist together in the same room and even work together on occasion. Katsuki graduated as one of the Big 3 at U.A. and Izuku was scouted by a support company during his third year internship, and has since been working with a reputable support item company right after graduation.
Katsuki has come to terms with the idea that yes, his longing for his childhood bestfriend was not as platonic as he used to think (I'm just making up for lost time), but rather because he may or may not have developed romantic feelings for the (not) nerd. After finding out from class 3-A that Katsuki was bi, Izuku has been smiling at him more, and has even invited him out several times, always in the guise of "Kacchan, I want to discuss some possible costume upgrades, are you free?" And if they just so happen to meet up at some chic coffee shop or a cute cake shop, then it is what it is.
7 years into their tentative "friendship", Katsuki was hit with the realization that he really likes Izuku, and wants to ask him to be his boyfriend. So last week, he casually invited Izuku to their favorite izakaya that's situated in between his hero agency and Izuku's company. After arriving at his apartment to prepare for his "not date", he notices a letter in his mailbox. Seeing the same envelope and lettering, he quickly runs inside his room and opens his cabinet. Underneath his spare boots, he takes out the shoebox containing the first 2 letters he got. All the same envelope, same handwriting, and Katsuki has yet to figure out who sends these to him. Not wanting to jinx it, Katsuki sits on his bed and opens the new letter. The only words written inside was today's date, the restaurant he was supposed to meet Izuku in, and the words "Go to the other place" in bold black letters. Katsuki snickers and calls Izuku and tells him to meet him at that restaurant that serves Katsudon instead.
Later that night, while Izuku snuggles with Katsuki on his couch, Izuku jumps up and says "Oh yeah Kacchan, I forgot to tell you, but that izakaya we were supposed to go to got attacked by a villain earlier! Good thing Red Riot and Uravity were on patrol so they got everything under control! Can we drop by tomorrow? Check things out" Katsuki just snuggles into Izuku more. "Sure nerd, whatever you want."
-- end
PS: Now if only I can work out some details as to who is Katsuki's mysterious letter sender. A Katsuki from an alternate universe? Katsuki from the future sending his past self some dating tips? I'll leave it to your imagination 💚🧡
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