#apple fics 🍎 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

yenqa · 1 year

Text

APPLE CIDER!

thank u @soov for helping me pick the banner!

sypnosis : you haven’t experienced much love in your life. well reciprocated romantic love, your first “boyfriend”, was only with you because a bet. until you unexpectedly meet jay, a frat boy whose known for breaking hearts. you’d be a fool to give him a chance right? too bad you both like apple cider.

when a heartbroken girl meets a heart breaker and they bond over apple cider.

featuring : enhypen, chaewon of lsfm, eunbi, one member of txt (EL OH EL THERES LIKE NO ONE)

warnings : literally the most cliche story ever, swearing, underage drinking, food, parties, crying, kissing (not in detail), being drunk (not reader), crying, angsty, reader hates parties, mentions of hooking up/sex, mentions of weed, reader has bad habits, blood, i think thats it?

wc : 7.9k (only 900 words over the expected amount!!)

pairing : jay x fem!reader (uses she/her)

a/n : hey guys… this fic is the most cliche shit ever and idk how it happened,,, u would think this would be like original but its not 😂 🤣. heres the playlist i listened to while making it! and everyone thank @wonieleles and @redm4ri for proof reading it !! anyways,,, enjoy!

READ PART TWO HERE!

cut glitch pls spare me

001 THE INVITATION

“c’mon y/n! i know you’re not over hyun-woo but please! one party! it’s been like a month since you broke up, and yeonjun personally invited me to this party!”

“way to put it lightly chaewon,” you’re tempted to leave and sit somewhere else. can’t she just understand you don’t want to go?

“please! i’ll get you um- coffee for a week!”

you scoff at her suggestion, but after thinking about it, it does seem like a pretty good offer. i mean, it will be just one party right?

“when’s the party ?” you ask, almost persuaded.

“it’s this friday, i can pick you up, and we can get there at nine. the party starts at like eight, but everyone goes at nine.” she pauses for a moment before continuing.

“if you’re uncomfortable, we can leave right away! plus, your beloved chaewon would be right next to you the whole time! isn’t that tempting?” she elbows you softly, and you give her a disgusted look before changing back to your normal one.

“fine. but! you have to let me borrow a dress because i don’t really have any party dresses.”

“you have that one green one! that’s like a v-neck!” chaewon shapes the dress out with her hands, trying to prove her point.

“it’s too big,” you point out, taking a bite out of your forgotten lunch.

“okay fine… i’ll pick you up at seven, and we can get ready and stuff at my house! i’m not lending you any makeup though.” she picks back up her fork, stuffing her mouth with food.

“fine with me.” you shrug, taking a sip of water.

chaewon’s voice suddenly goes quiet, “y/n, you know those really popular guys? well one of them is looking at you!” she whisper-shouts, trying her best to hide her expression.

“so? you’re popular too, maybe he’s staring at you.” you brush it off, why would it even matter anyways?

“no y/n- that’s jay park. he’s like- he has some major beef with hyun-woo.”

“and what does that have to do with me?”

“jay is a heartbreaker, maybe you’re his next subject to get hyun-woo mad or some shit because i know sunghoon told him about you two.”

“so? hyun-woo didn’t even like me, nothing bad will happen,” you reassure her, patting her shoulder. okay, but who the hell is sunghoon? you wonder.

“whatever you say. but stay away from him okay?” she looks at you seriously.

“okay but what does he even look like-?” you whip your head around to see a group of guys laughing. one shamelessly staring at you. he smirks at you, a wink coming soon after. you look at him in disgust, turning around.

“why did you look y/n!” chaewon whisper-shouts again.

“what? i was curious. how am i supposed to stay away from him if i don’t know who he is?” you put your hands up in defense.

“okay fine…” she groans.

“you’re still going to the party right?”

“yeah sure, whatever.”

002 FIRST MEETING

you enter your last period of the day, which also happens to be your least favorite, math. you never really understood why it was necessary in the real world, when would you need to figure out what the integral of a function is? but it’s not like you want to retake math in your senior year. so you get your notebook, and mechanical pencil out, clicking the end a few times before writing the date at the top of the page.

as you’re writing the date down, you can hear the repeated taps on your shoulder from the person behind you, so you turn around to face eunbi.

“hey, are you going to yeonjun’s party?” eunbi asked curiously.

you don’t know why she asked considering you two weren’t the closest of friends, and honestly, you thought she trusted people too easily, which included you. but it wouldn’t hurt to answer right?

“yeah i’m going with chaewon, are you?”

“yeah, me and hyun-woo will be there,” she says almost teasingly. eunbi gives you a genuine smile like she had no clue that you and hyun-woo ever dated. but in reality, she didn’t.

you and hyun-woo kept it on the low, so no one really knew about you two unless they saw you on dates. maybe he did that so he could cheat on you at parties you didn’t go to without anyone knowing. but you tried not to think about him anymore. it’s not like he’s going to beg on his knees for you to take him back.

“oh, well i think class is starting soon, but i’ll make sure to say hi at the party.” you notice how your voice almost deflates after she mentioned him. and eunbi almost notices it too. until her train of thought is broken when your math teacher, mrs. lim, walks in.

one thing you had forgotten was that jay was in your math class. he seems to be having the time of his life on his phone, and sometimes during that period, it’s obvious that mrs. lim catches him, clearly typing away under his desk, but she never seems to point it out.

you never seemed to be mrs. lim favorite. but you definitely weren’t her least favorite. you participated sometimes, usually getting the answers right, and you never really talked or interrupted anything in that class. it was obvious to you at least, that jay was mrs. lim’s favorite. he never got detention for being late, didn’t even have his laptop charged a majority of the time, and he never seemed to look at the board. any of this would’ve easily gotten you detention with an email to your parents, but unless mrs. lim had been doing this on the down low (which she never does), then it’s obvious she favors him over the rest.

mrs. lim had this annoying thing where she would write three questions on the board, and would draw sticks with each person's name on it to see who would answer the question. and to your luck, you were the second person to be called.

you step up to the whiteboard, trying to solve the equation as efficiently as possible so you could quickly sit back down. she calls out the next person's name to which you didn’t really care, it’s not like it would change anything. well until you saw a familiar sharp jawline, standing right next to you. whatever side fate was on, it wasn’t on yours because just as you had suspected, he had no idea what to write.

“y/n right?” he whispers closely to your ear, making you scoot away, “can you help me solve this?”

“no i can’t” you smile sarcastically, “maybe if you’d pay attention you would know.” you finish writing the answer as you place the cap back onto the marker, walking back to your seat. he smirks at your interaction, writing his solution on the whiteboard. okay, so he did know how to solve the equation? he just asked me for fun i guess. you internally groan, realizing that chaewon was right, you truly were jay’s new target.

003 THE PARTY

friday rolled around more quickly than you would like. you told your parents previously that you were going to sleep over at chaewon’s house, and luckily they allowed it. so, you grabbed your makeup bag and everything you needed to stay the night, (including some medicine in case chaewon got a hangover). you wave goodbye to your parents when you see chaewon’s car parked outside your house. as you head to her house, you start to regret even agreeing to her deal. was a week’s worth of coffee really worth going to some stupid fuck-boys party? it was already too late when you started to put on your makeup, deciding to have some slightly brighter eyeshadow than your usual going-out look.

“no one will notice my eyeshadow, right? i feel like it’s kind of bright.” you turn to face chaewon, who’s picking an outfit out for the both of you.

she scans your eyes, stopping with an outfit in her hands.

“put more on your left eye, to balance it out.” she replies, laying out the clothes on her bed.

you touch up your eye, adding your eyeliner and some lip tint to your lips as you turn to see all the outfit options.

“ta-daa~ do you like these?” she gives you jazz hands, picking the clothes up and imagining they’re on you. in the end, you both chose the outfit with the skirt rather than the dresses. chaewon picked out her outfit, and you both left the house. luckily, chaewon’s parents were taking a vacation somewhere for a week. you two sang your hearts out, laughing at whatever joke you guys made, or every time one of your voices would crack or sing completely wrong. you thought you enjoyed the ride more than whatever the party had to offer, (which wasn’t much).

you could hear the music booming once you entered the small neighborhood. it played softly as you entered, soon becoming much louder as chaewon parked her car. when you finally exited the car and entered the house, you felt like you could go blind from the rainbow lights moving around as you and chaewon tried to navigate your way through the dancing crowd and to the kitchen where all the drinks are. you enter the kitchen, which happens to be much less crowded than the living room.

“it’s so loud in here, why would you bring me here?” you joke, projecting your voice as she shrugs.

“whatever! but i’m going to go find yeonjun, bye! don’t take drinks from anyone!” she yells much louder than you did, walking away and trying to spot her familiar ‘friend’.

you groan, she said she wasn’t going to leave me here. you decide to get a drink, looking at each bottle to find your favorite one. soon, you turn one to see the words “sparkling apple cider”; you smile, grabbing the drink and pouring it into your own.

“not a drinker?”

you turn to see the infamous jay park next to you again.

“not really no, someone has to drive home, and i just really like apple cider,” you take a small sip of the carbonated drink, feeling the fizzy feeling in your throat. jay pours himself some apple cider, looking up while drinking it.

“yeah, i enjoy sparkling apple cider a lot too, i don’t really like the taste of any alcoholic drinks too much, i only really take shots, unlike my friends.” he chuckles at his sentence, sneakily placing his hand on your waist, looking slightly down at you. you slightly flinch at the contact, taking another sip of the cider to cover your reddening cheeks.

you hum, acknowledging his sentence, he continues. “you look nice in that skirt, you should wear it more often.” he flashes you a wink, to which you roll your eyes.

“maybe i’ll wear them less then,” you answer, escaping from his grasp; you grab the bottle of apple cider again and pouring more for yourself. he smirks at the scene, leaving you confused.

“what’s so funny about me pouring apple cider?” you defend yourself, giving him a confused look.

“nothing, you just pour it weirdly, honey.” he flashes you a smile, pushing back his hair.

“don’t call me that, and i’m just pouring it? what’s the difference?” you ask, bewildered by what he said.

“i’ll show you, can you pour it for me?” he hands you his cup, gesturing you to give him some.

“is this a trick for me to pour your drink for you?”

“just do it apple,” he chuckles at your accusation. you place the cup down and pick up the bottle with both hands.

“apple? why that nickname?” you ask, pouring some cider into his plastic cup.

“isn’t it obvious? you love apple cider so much so why can’t it?”

jay notices how you didn’t exactly deny his request for a nickname. apple it is, he thinks as you roll your eyes and place the bottle down, turning to face him. “what is so wrong with how i pour the drink?”

“here let me show you.” he grabs your hand, guiding it with his hands on your own, tilting both items towards each other. letting the bottle spill out into the cup.

“that way, there are fewer bubbles on the top babe,” he continues, taking yet another gulp of his apple cider.

“i-i’ll make sure to wash my hands after this.” you try to make a rude remark back at him without sounding flustered.

he feels giggly at your flustered state. wait, what is wrong with him? he softly lifts your chin to face him, a teasing smile evident on his face.

“why so flustered apple?”

he stares at you, waiting for your answer.

“what?”

“i said,” he maintains eye contact with you, “why-”

“y/n!” you quickly push jay away from you, turning your head to see eunbi, waving at you. you wave back, smiling at her. next to her, was hyun-woo, you noticed he had been trying to keep eye contact with you, which you avoided.

“i love your skirt y/n! where’d you get it?” she checks you out, grabbing whatever clean cup was near to pour herself a drink. you give a knowing look to jay smiling at her.

“i actually have no idea,” you chuckle, “i’m wearing chaewon’s clothes because i had nothing to wear, but i can ask her for you! she might be a little busy with yeonjun though.”

she pats your shoulder, “it’s okay hun! i’ll ask her later, but it was nice talking to you! come on hyun-woo let’s go back to the dance floor.” she grabs his arm walking away. you let out a sigh of relief, forgetting jay was there.

“i told you that skirt looked good on you.” he confidently adds, putting your hair behind your ear.

“it’s different when it comes from the school's heartbreaker, you should know that with your reputation and all.” instead of being offended, he looks at you in a flirty manner.

“and what do you know about my reputation?”

“i know you’re probably toying with me right now like you’ve done with countless of girls, yet somehow you have a bunch of fangirls waiting in line for their chance,” you pick at your skin, watching as the skin turns a dark shade of red.

he’s almost stunned at your reply, sure he did have a pretty bad reputation with girls, but since when was he that easy to read?

you acknowledge his silence, nodding in acceptance. walking away from the conversation before it could get any worse. he's tempted to follow you before he sees you walking up to chaewon, begging to go home. however, yeonjun and chaewon insist that you two would stay, as the party hasn’t even started yet. you were stubborn as always, walking outside, sitting on the edge of the sidewalk, and waiting for chaewon to leave. jay almost thanks yeonjun, for making you stay longer. this way, it would be easier for hyun-woo to spot you two together again. making jay’s job even easier.

he starts thinking of what to say, to maybe change your view of him. so he stands in the doorway, he notices how you shiver in the cold, but you ignore it, putting all your focus on stopping your finger from bleeding more.

jay gracefully takes off his jacket, walks over to you, and places it on your shoulders, you pause the round you were playing, looking at him in annoyance. you take off his jacket, placing it back in his hands.

“i don’t need your jacket, i’m fine.”

jay continues your previous conversation, handing back his jacket and firmly placing his arm around your shoulder, so you wouldn’t take it off.

“what could i do to prove i’m not trying to break your heart?” jay asks, trying his best to look saddened at what you had said earlier.

this time you’re the one left stunned, however, you quickly pick yourself back up, “by leaving me alone,” you answer, continuing the game you had just paused.

he chuckles at your response, leaning towards you, “you know i can’t do that apple.” he flirtatiously replies. you for the nth time that day, roll your eyes at him. you scoot away from him, coming up with a bright idea.

“then can you take me to chaewon’s house then? i am so sick of this party.” jay smirks at your reply.

“are you sure i’m the one who wants to hook up with you so bad?” he gets up, grabbing his key, “but yeah, i’ll drive you to her house.”

you smile at him, texting chaewon that somebody offered to take you home and that she’d have fun. Then jay leads you to his car, making some small talk on the way. he opens your door for you, letting you in. “wow, what a gentleman.” you sarcastically say, stepping into the car. he just smiles.

“just trying to prove that i’m not trying to break your heart.”

in his car, he luckily had a bandage, which you gladly accepted.

while he was driving, jay almost felt bad he was playing you. i mean you had just broken up with hyun-woo weeks ago, or was it months ago? whatever, it’s not like i care. he thought as he stopped at the red light. he looked over at you, smiling while watching whatever was outside the window. he turned back to the road, ignoring the sinking feeling in his stomach as he listened to your directions.

“oh! take a left at the next light.”

he nods, and the lights turn green. his car blends in with the crowd by keeping up with the pace. jay places his right hand on your thigh. he notices how your legs tense at the feeling, slowly relaxing.

jay usually never made the first moves, usually, the girl made the first moves and he played along with it. he didn’t seem to realize why he was so consistent with you. usually, if the girl left, or played hard to get, he gave up on her. for the reason that he could always find another girl. this is to get back at hyun-woo. he thought. but did hyun-woo really deserve this? jay definitely thought he did.

he remembered how distraught he was when hyun-woo was chosen by the coach to be captain of the rugby team. not that he was a bad player or he was a sore loser, but jay thought that hyun-woo was such a stuck-up, which was probably why he was chosen to be captain. the whole team truly believed jay would get the role. he always knew how to pull the team together and get them to play their best. hyun-woo however, always seemed to bring the mood down. after hyun-woo started to continuously mock jay for not getting captain, he knew that his time with that team was over. so he left. even now, a majority of the team still talks to jay, the few who he was close to, told him that hyun-woo was always talking shit about him.

he didn’t care at first. it’s not like it’ll do anything to my reputation. he assured himself, continuing to ignore every time he was told hyun-woo said that stuff. but when sunoo told him hyun-woo felt guilty for breaking your heart and how he only dated you because of a bet. jay knew he had to take the opportunity and seize the girl. he didn’t think this would backfire on him feeling guilt. but here he was, driving you home from a party he desperately wanted to stay at.

you remember suddenly why you were so warm inside and outside the car, you quickly take his jacket off placing it in the middle of your seat.

“you can return it to me on monday, just in case you get cold over the weekend” he sends you a flirty smile, quickly turning back to the road.

“are you sure? i mean it looks pretty expensive, and it seems special since it had your initials on it.” you flip the jacket around, showcasing to him the large letters spelling P.J.

“yeah, i’m sure.”

“and if you’re fangirls see me with your jacket, they’ll go crazy and think we’re dating! i don’t want that, so please take it.” you almost beg, holding the jacket near his shoulder.

“why would they think we’re dating?”

“oh, i don’t know. maybe it’s because your initials are on the back of it? and you’re in the rugby team and it says decelis rugby team under it?” you sarcastically answer.

“well i’m not on the team anymore, but also it could stand for peanut butter and jelly for all they know. so who cares?” he chuckles at his own joke, as you look at him in disgust.

you wonder if hyun-woo would care, hopefully, he did. hyun-woo had always been a jealous man. well, he might’ve been faking it for all you know, he was faking it the whole relationship, why would that be different? you quickly pull yourself together, responding to jay’s joke. “very funny. take a right at the light then turn left on the first turn.” you almost forget your job, quickly directing him the right way and placing the jacket on your lap.

he nods, moving through the road until you spot chaewon’s familiar brown house. you point at it, “that’s hers,” you say, as he pulls into the driveway.

you exit the car and wave goodbye as he drives away. you look at your hand and realize, shit, you’re holding his jacket. you must’ve picked it up when getting out of the car. damn it! now you have to deal with jay, one more time.

004 TEARS

when you had gotten onto chaewon’s bed after washing up, you couldn’t but feel saddened by the deja vu you were experiencing.

every second you were talking to him, you were reminded of hyun-woo.

his flirty words, his smirk, his infamous charming smile, his party boy persona. all lead you back to hyun-woo.

all jay did was remind you of hyun-woo.

you don’t even know when you had fallen so deeply for hyun-woo. maybe it was because he noticed things nobody else did. maybe it was because of his stupid smile. his stupid smile that made you fall in love.

when you got to the party you two were meeting at and he drunkenly admitted to the bet he had made, you knew you should’ve listened to what everyone had said, to what chaewon said. chaewon was always right. and you should’ve known that.

so with tears slowly trickling down your face, you opened his contact. looking through old text messages since you didn’t dare to text him. you ignored the ones where you were arguing since they weren’t the most comforting. but the more you read, the more blurry your eyes got.

deciding it was time for you to go to sleep, you roll over plugging in your phone charger and staring at the ceiling of chaewon’s room.

005 CONFRONTATION

the monday of, you believed the math gods were testing you every day. who decided to make you take calculus and then put jay park in my class? if you could ask your homeroom teacher to change your schedule, you would do it in a heartbeat, if he wasn’t creepy. but that's beside the point, whatever curse was placed on you, it was working.

you sit down in your usual seat. doing your usual routine as eunbi sits behind you. you turn around, feeling bad she always started the conversations.

“hi eunbi! did you have fun at the party?” you ask, knowing she probably loved it much more than you.

“yeah i did!” she leans towards you, quieting down “you know the guy i was with? hyun-woo?” you nod, praying that they didn’t do much together. “i made out with him.” she giggles at her sentence, as your face falls, quickly changing it to a smile, “congrats girl!” you clap a little bit for her, “i thought you were already dating, to be honest.” you didn’t think that, but it wouldn’t hurt to be nice sometimes.

“i wish, i have such a huge crush on him. what about you? do you have a crush on anyone? i won’t tell anyone i promise!” she pulls out her pinky, you don’t bring yours, as you don’t have a secret to tell. you glance at jay walking in, and eunbi’s eyes follow yours.

“you have a crush on jay park?” she whispers shouts, looking at you in disbelief.

“no!” you quickly exclaim, earning the stares of classmates around you, you apologize, quickly immersing yourself back into the conversation.

“i literally don’t even like him-”

“who don’t you like apple?” of course, jay joins your conversations, moving the seat next to you to sit down. you glare at him, “why are you even here? go sit at your seat.” you signal him to move away, to which he doesn’t listen. “well you have my jacket don’t you, princess?” eunbi watches the scene in shock as you pull out his jacket from your bag, handing it to him. “don’t call me that, i barely even know you,” you add, zipping up your bag.

“it won’t be like that for long, i'm sure,” he replies, moving the chair back as he sits in his assigned seat. eunbi, still in shock from the scene, hits you on the shoulder.

“what was that y/n?” she covers her mouth with her hand, laying her other hand on your shoulder. you hear the bell ring, meaning your conversation is over, “i’ll tell you later,” you whisper to her, turning to face the front.

when you told eunbi you would be telling her later, you didn’t mean her and chaewon. chaewon was waiting for you outside your class like always, when eunbi asked what happened between you and jay as you passed by the doorway she knew she had to join in.

“wait so jay did what?” chaewon asks, almost disappointed.

“while you were busy dancing your ass off with yeonjun, i was talking to jay in the kitchen and he kept flirting with me so i told him i knew he was playing with me and left. then i went to you and ya know, asked to go home. you declined so i went outside and sat on the sidewalk. he followed me outside and was like what can i do to prove i’m not playing you,” eunbi snickers at your imitation of him, as chaewon nods, letting you keep talking.

“and i guess he noticed i was cold so he gave me his jacket. anyways, i was like leave me alone and he was like no! so i was like okay can you drive me to your house?” you point to chaewon, so they know whose house it was. “and he did, and i tried to return the jacket and he was like no keep it and i was like no! but i accidentally brought it out of the car so i returned it to him today.” you finally finish, taking a deep breath.

“also chaewon you forgot my coffee today.”

“y/n, i told you to stay away from him! not ask him to drive you home!” chaewon disappointedly mentions, as you roll your eyes.

“that wouldn't've happened if you drove me home!” you counter, as eunbi watches the scene unfold.

“hey why don’t you give jay a chance? he might’ve changed his ways.” eunbi suggests, shrugging at your little argument.

“eunbi, we’re talking about jay park here. he wouldn't randomly just change his ways because of one girl.” you mention, reminding yourself of hyun-woo.

“you never know! maybe he will!” eunbi argues.

“yeah right, eunbi” you almost scoff.

006 ONE CHANCE

when you finally lie down after getting home, you feel a little vibration coming from your phone. you look at the notification, thinking it was a text from chaewon or eunbi, you open it.

unknown

hi apple, this is jay. are you free this saturday?

read 3:24pm

you

how’d you get my number?

jay

i have my ways 😉

are you free?

you

i am,,, i think, why?

jay

because i want to take you out

you

jay

we can go to the drive in, watch the movie yk

you

what movie?

jay

spirited away

you

jay

cmon it’s just one date

you

whatever

jay

i’ll pick you up at 7 apple ;)

read 3:32

the fact you knew you were going on that date almost infuriated you. it’s like you were begging for another hyun-woo situation. you didn’t want to say this was different, but something about it was. you had heard that jay doesn’t make first moves, so why was he so keen on you? what was so different about you that he wanted?

you couldn’t think of anything, nothing really made you special from anyone else, and you were fine with that.

but maybe, you could give jay a chance, just one.

007 THE DATE

the week felt much quicker knowing your date was on saturday, not like that was a good thing. you weren’t sure how you felt about the ‘giving jay a chance’ thing, but if this date goes well, hopefully, you wouldn’t be as opposed to it as you are now.

you looked in the mirror, deciding on your outfit. which took a lot longer than necessary. after about ten minutes, you chose your outfit, sprayed on some perfume, and packed things in your purse. the familiar sound of your phone vibrating filled the room, as you checked your messages, seeing that jay was outside your house. you rushed to the front door, carefully putting on your shoes and locking the door. in your driveway, you spot jay inside his familiar black car. you stepped inside, placing your bag on your lap.

“hi apple,” he smiles at you, backing out of the driveway, “you look nice,” he says, looking through the back window.

“thank you.” you return his smile, picking at the skin on your fingernails. he quickly notices, grabbing your hands and encasing it in his.

your face turns warm, as jay keeps his eyes on the road. “stop picking at your hands, i don’t have enough bandages for you.”

you side-eye him, turning to the window, watching each tree and car as they pass by. “have you watched spirited away before?” you ask, keeping your head facing the window,

he brushes your hand with his thumb, “i have when i was younger, i haven’t watched it for a while though.” he replies, turning the steering wheel to the left.

“i’m so excited to watch it!” you squeal, letting your excitement out. he chuckles, slightly turning down the music he played.

he turns into an open field, with a huge screen at the end of it, he continues to drive forward to find a spot and parks as carefully as he can, to help others park near him too.

he glances at you, then your lips only for a second, and looks back to your eyes. he leans forward as you stay frozen. was he trying to kiss you? right now? you want to move but you can’t. almost like your waist is frozen as you look at him with wide eyes.

he quickly grabs a bag behind your seat, looking in the bag with his infamous smirk. you try to ignore that trick, looking in the bag which is filled with snacks. you look up at him, asking for permission to take one, he nods, a smirk turning into a smile as you look through the (many) options he brought. noticing he brought your favorite, you take it, open it, and pop one into your mouth.

“thank you,” you say, taking another one.

he opens his bag, looking at you “you’re welcome, the cashier thought i was buying snacks for a party.”

“well, you didn’t have to buy so many snacks! you would’ve saved money if you had just asked me what i wanted,” you argue, looking at the filled grocery bag.

“well, spending money isn’t a problem when it’s for you.”

“yeah okay,” you turn your head to the window, whatever car had driven in suddenly seeming more interesting than the conversation you guys were having.

he almost giggles at your fake obliviousness, a toothy smile spreading on his face as he glances at the screen, looking for the countdown.

“the movie starts in under a minute, hope you aren’t looking to your side the whole time.”

“why would i be looking at you?” you scoff, shuffling around to comfortably sit as a yawn comes out of you.

“that’s not what i meant,” he teasingly adds, placing his arm back onto your thigh, leaning towards you.

“okay then what did you-” you quickly get interrupted when the countdown on the screen ends, starting the movie (idk how drive in theaters work). “nevermind,” you give in, leaning your arm on the side of the car as you prop your hand up to keep your head up. around halfway into the movie, your drowsiness slowly takes hold of you putting you to sleep.

008 DROWSINESS

you didn’t think you were that tired once you got there to the drive-in, but something about jay must’ve put you to sleep like a baby because why had you woken up in front of your house, on jay’s shoulder?

“when did we get here?” you mumble, sitting up and stretching your arms.

his eyes soften at your slightly messed up hair, barely being able to keep yourself awake.

“i just parked, you missed the whole movie,” he replies, turning towards you.

“what!” you exclaim, “but i was so excited to watch spirited away!” you complain, a pout forming on your face.

“so excited to watch the movie you fell asleep yeah?”

“shut up, i was tired!” you argue, grabbing your purse and opening the door to leave, “thank you for taking me, i had fun.” you blurt out, a red tint appearing on your face.

“i did too,” he smiles warmly at you, waving goodbye as you close the door and enter your house.

009 JAY’S DILEMMA

jay wasn’t usually one to fall in love he wasn’t one at all. every girlfriend he had, every situationship he had. never even came close to what falling in love was. jay wasn’t one to worry too much about a lot of things. but one thing he did care a lot about was his reputation. if he wasn’t able to make you fall in love with him. then he would be claimed as a homewrecker even if he didn’t even like you. but that’s not the point jay was trying to make.

the point was he could never get you out of his head. whether it would be a math question he was having trouble solving or even some of sunghoon’s arrogant comments, everything reminded him of you. jay never had this problem before. he never really cared about his old relationships, until you came in. messing up jay’s whole heartbreaker persona, with only him knowing.

jay still didn’t know what he felt for you on the drive home after dropping you off.

jay still didn’t know what he felt for you when he was laying in bed thinking at ungodly hours.

jay still didn’t know what he felt for you when you waved at him the monday after your date, which he waved back.

jay still didn’t know what he felt for you when he walked into your shared math class, watching you excitedly talk to eunbi about whatever.

he had embarrassed himself during the period because he was too busy with the thought of dating you, would he like that? would he like you to kiss him on the cheek or maybe on the lips? jay thought his answer was no.

but deep down, he knew it was yes.

but he would never admit that at least not to you.

010 LOVE

by now, jay had taken you on several dates throughout december to january. whether it would be studying, ice cream dates, or even museum dates. whatever date idea there was, he probably had done it. but one date he was saving for the big question, was a walk. late at night, with the moon shining brightly above the both of you, and only you two.

you two had already decided to meet at the closest park to your house. which he said was fine since it was the closest to his. he parked his car in a hidden spot, and walked to the swings, sitting down and rocking his legs slightly.

when he saw you excitedly walking towards him, he smiled.

this time, jay knew what he felt for you.

he didn’t have a simple crush or attraction towards you.

love is what he felt towards you.

love.

this wasn’t supposed to happen, but deep down, he knew all along.

love is what he felt when you walked side by side, talking about whatever came to mind.

love is what he felt when you stopped to take a picture of the moon, as he stopped to secretly take a photo of you.

love is what he felt when he asked you to be his girlfriend, to which you had said yes.

love is what he felt when you cuddled into his arm when you were cold.

love is what he felt when you stopped to tie his shoe.

jay’s night was filled with love. and so was yours.

jay hoped it would be like that forever.

011 BUS STATION

it had been two months since he asked you out. and since then he was always asking you to go to parties with him. this time, he asked for you to go to jungwon’s birthday party the following saturday (which was tomorrow).

you hesitate as always, declining to go, opting for a cuddle session in your room.

“apple, please! just for one of my closest friends!” he sulks, as he walks you to the bus stop you share.

he knows you can’t say no to him. which he always uses to his benefit.

“they’ll be some sparkling apple cider there, i know you don’t get to drink that a lot.” he confidently raises his eyebrows, trying to get something out of you.

you look back at him, putting on your pretend thinking face, “hmmm, maybe, i’ll think about it.”

he gives you a quick peck on the lips, to which your hands suddenly become jittery. “fine.” you mumble, looking away. he giggles, wrapping his arm around your waist, keeping you close as you continue to walk towards the bus station.

when you finally got there you quickly ran to the convenience store right next to the stop with jay. buying snacks as quickly as you could before running back out, not wanting to miss the bus.

that was a routine you two always had, and never had you missing the bus. you two proudly ate your snacks as the bus started to move. another routine you two had was jay giving you one of his airpods, to which you accepted listening to the cheesy love songs he enjoyed.

when you had gotten to your stop you two had both gotten up, hands intertwined as you exited the bus, turning the way to your neighborhood. you had stopped in place when you noticed apple cider by beabadoobee was playing.

“this doesn’t sound like the kind of songs you listen to. how do you know about beabadoobee?” you ask curiously.

“i don’t,” he answers honestly, before continuing, “i was looking at your playlist and i saw this song. and since it was called apple cider i decided to play it since you know, apple cider is kind of your thing.”

your smile grows, as you look at him with soft eyes, “then i decided to look at the lyrics, and it reminded me of us.”

if you weren’t blushing before, you were a flaming tomato now, butterflies erupted in your stomach as you try to keep your cool and keep walking, to which he noticed (but he didn’t say anything.)

when you had finally made it yourself you had given him a quick kiss goodbye, as he drove off to his house.

later you decided to facetime him to pick an outfit for you. which he did and stayed on call until hours on end. the call ended when you fell asleep, and jay hung up, letting himself get some sleep too.

012 APPLE CIDER

when you two arrived at the party it seemed much more sweaty than you had expected, the smell of weed and alcohol filled the air as you navigated your way to wish the birthday boy a happy birthday,

jay had finally spotted him in the living room, squeezing your hand and walking towards him.

“happy birthday jungwon!” you exclaim, projecting your voice over the speakers.

jay gives jungwon a side hug wishing him a happy birthday too.

“thank you for coming!” he points to a hallway, “drinks are over there, and jay, do you wanna play beer pong? losers have to take a shot after each round.” he grins at him, as jay looks at you for approval. you nod, as he smiles back at you. jay turns back to jungwon with a smile on his face.

“yeah for sure! uh let me get a drink first with y/n,” he tells jungwon, jungwon nods sending you two off to the kitchen.

when you walk into the kitchen you both grab a cup, you fill yours with sparkling apple cider as always, filling jay’s cup too.

“guess you listened to my pouring advice didn’t you?” he asks as you hand him his drink.

“i listen to all your advice.”

“but that was before we started dating,” he adds, you roll your eyes, handing him his drink and heading back to the living room to watch them play.

the teams were revealed as jay and jungwon teamed up versus heeseung and sunoo, you weren’t paying attention to any other games.

heeseung and sunoo had lost miserably, taking 5/5 shots. which was definitely too much alcohol for sunoo’s system.

sunoo seemed to be blabbering nonsense, as you and jay tried to bring him up to jungwon’s bedroom, where he could get some rest.

“ya know what jay once saidd,'' his voice came out slurred, as he stumbled after each step he took. jay looks at him confused.

“what did jay say?” you asked amused, hoping you would get some kind of blackmail against him.

“he saidd that he waz going to make you fall in love with him-” he trips with jay barely catching him.

“so he could get back on hyun-woo,”

“what?” you ask, looking at jay’s face worriedly.

sunoo’s drunk, you assure yourself. not capable of thinking straight at all.

“come on, let’s get you to bed,” jay responds, opening the door to jungwon’s room and laying him down on the bed.

don’t do this to me jay, not again. you worry, exiting the room and letting him fall asleep. jay looks at you anxious about what to say.

silence fills the hallway. you try to analyze his face to see some sort of innocence in his expression.

he didn’t seem to start talking, so you did, “was what sunoo said true? was i just your girlfriend so you could get back at hyun-woo and that stupid grudge you had against him?” your fingers automatically start picking near the nail bed.

he sighs in defeat, “look, yes you were but let me explain-”

“no! you don’t get to explain because you’ve been playing me for two months! two fucking months i could’ve spent with someone who actually loved me.” you argue, as he looks at you with guilt.

“i do love you apple! i swear-”

“if you loved me why didn’t you tell me earlier? I'm sure we would’ve resolved it by now instead of keeping it from me and letting me run along all oblivious to your plan.” you scoff, trying to head back downstairs.

the wound on your finger just seems to grow with each step you take, the red liquid slowly covering the new injury.

“apple please let me explain-”

you face him again, “did you not feel any guilt keeping this from me? every date we went on, every kiss we shared, was that all because of a stupid revenge plan? were you faking it throughout this whole relationship?” your lips quiver, as you prayed and prayed he would say the right thing.

but for some reason, he's frozen. like his world has stopped and so has he.

he knows he loves you and he knows he wasn’t faking it. so why was he blanking now?

you nod, wiping your tears away, wincing at the soreness of your picked finger as you leave that cursed hallway, heading to the stairwell.

“i don’t even get a goodbye?” was he serious right now?

you turn around, “jay, i was just told you dated me to get back on hyun-woo, do you think you deserve fucking goodbye?” you scoff, “honestly, i don’t even know why i gave you a chance,” and with that, you walked down the stairs, your legs slumping after each step.

you should have known, was all you could think. you should have known at the first party when he was shamelessly flirting with you. you should’ve learned that when you cried because he reminded you of hyun-woo. you should’ve known when he confidently asked you on that date. you should’ve known because chaewon warned you.

you should’ve known because it was all the same.

the flirting, the dates, the guy, and the breakup.

you grab your forgotten drink, throwing it in the trash, as you ask eunbi to drive you home.

eunbi had always been by your side. and you were always by hers. you two got so close that when you told her about hyun-woo, she immediately blocked him, and continued supporting you for which you were ever so grateful.

eunbi hurriedly rushes you to her car after seeing your messed up mascara, helping you get in.

“what happened?” eunbi asks once you're both settled, handing you tissues from the glove compartment and rubbing your shoulder.

“he dated me because he had a grudge against hyun-woo.”

“he what?” she exclaims, mouth hanging open.

i know,” you sniffle, trying to wipe away the tears coming down.

“i’m so sorry honey,” she mutters.

you don’t even want to hear any nicknames again, you don’t want to hear any “sorrys”. all you wanted was to be home.

why was it always you? why did you always have to be played? what was so bad about you that people just needed to break your heart? maybe jay would know, or hyun-woo.

“isn’t it crazy?” you laugh through your blocked nose, “is what crazy?” eunbi asks.

“this all started because i chose some dumb apple cider as a drink.”

taglist : @bookishcalls @jwonsociety @byhees @trsrina @quokkas-leebit @captivq @felixsunshine28 @lojocas @yeniiverse @starikizs @hanniluvi @misojunghwan

sorry if i missed yours!

yenqa © please do not copy, steal or translate.

999 notes · View notes

bebepac · 1 year

Text

The Best Part

This is part two of the final installment of the Rotten Apple. I really have enjoyed this and I’m a little sad I’m close to finishing it. I decided to split the chapter again, As the “final chapter” would have been over 7000 words and I’m still not done with that part yet.

The Book: TRH and Beyond The Series: The Rotten Apple 🍎 The Parings: Eleanor x Nico (Eleanor x M!OC) Word Count: 4278 Warnings & Ratings: profanity, lemony, 🍋 18+ Song Inspiration: Meet Me At Our Spot by The Anxiety Summary: Elle settles into life with Nico and Ana in Greece.

Original Post: 11/15/22 at 11:45PM EST.

"Elle, I bought you some clothes, I saved the receipts in case you don't like what I picked out for you."

"I'm sure it's fine Nico. The last time you picked out a dress for me, I loved it."

Nico smiled at her sheepishly as he continued speaking.

"I just want you to be happy with all of it, with us."

"I will be. I already am. Don't worry about that.”

“Are you sure the air isn’t too much?”

“Nico, relax. It’s just fine. It actually feels great. Are we almost there?”

“Yes, a few more minutes. Are you nervous?”

“I’m nervous and excited. This is what we talked about for so long, when you and I…. were different people."

"Yes we were, but we still made it to this point."

“You’re right. I will get to tuck Ana into bed tonight… if she still likes that.”

“She does, and I’m sure she’ll want you to tuck her in tonight.”

“Nico…. You really think so?”

“Yes, Don’t worry Elle. It’s okay. You’re okay. We’re okay. This is a big change for all of us, so we will just take things slow, alright?”

“Okay.” Nico took her hand he was holding and softly kissed it.

“Look, we’re here.”

Nico opened her door so she could step out of the vehicle. The house she was staring at was literally out of her dreams; it was the perfect little house. It looked lived in, and full of love.

“It’s just like I wanted.”

“I know, I had it built with you in mind. It’s been the perfect place to raise Ana.”

The door opened, and Ana came running out of the house into Elle’s awaiting arms.

“Mommy!!!!! You’re finally home! You’re really here!!!”

“Yes, I’m home, Honeybee.”

“There’s so much to show you!!! We’ll start with my room first!!!”

She grabbed Elle’s hand, pulling her towards the house. Elle smiled as Ana talked nonstop taking her on an impromptu house tour of their house. She stopped at the mantle in the picture of her and Nico when they came to Greece for Christmas.

“That’s You, Papa, and me.”

“That’s always been in this house?”

“Since I can remember.” Ana said.

“Looks like it’s time to update this picture, because we can’t see you in that one.” Elle tickled Ana’s nose and she giggled.

“We should think about doing that soon. Even though we just recently shared what was truly in our hearts, we really thought a lot about you, Elle.”

Nico's mother lightly cleared her throat.

“Eleanor, might I have a word with you?”

“Mother…..”

“It’s alright…” Elle glanced at his mother’s face. Her expression gave away a lot.

“I think….”

They stepped out onto the patio together. The last time she had been with Nico’s mother, it was calming and peaceful, this time, there was uncomfortable silence between them. Elle decided to be first to break the silence.

“He told you everything, didn’t he?”

“Yes, of course he did. He is my son, and we have always had a very close relationship. In spite of all, he still carried you in his heart all this time, and lovingly took care of the child the two of you conceived together.”

“I know, and for that I feel almost undeserving, but at the same time, truly grateful.”

“Woman to Woman, I feel like I need to tell you this. I love my son and my granddaughter dearly. So….do NOT let them down Eleanor. If you don’t think you can really give them your all, you need to leave now, before Ana gets too attached to you.”

"That’s why I stayed in the hospital, I needed to stay there, because, if I hadn't, I would have let them down. I couldn't even control my temper; I don’t want to be that person anymore. I am here for them, I love them. They mean everything to me. I hope that in time you will begin to believe that and through my actions, believe in me. I want to be here with them, and finally I am healthy enough to.”

The look on Nico’s mother’s face changed as Elle continued speaking.

“This is the first time in my life I've felt truly wanted by everyone around me. This place was where I was supposed to always be. I know it because nothing feels like it. And I finally feel like I’m at home with my family, and they want me here. All I’ve ever wanted was to be wanted… and needed.”

That evening, Elle, Nico and Ana had a relaxing dinner together on the patio. It felt almost like that first day they were all together at the hospital. It felt new and exciting to Elle. After hours of talking and lightheartedness, Ana yawned, and Nico looked at the time.

“It’s way past someone’s bedtime. Mine too for that matter.”

They all filed back into the house.

“Mommy can help you get ready for bed while I handle the dishes.”

“Okay Papa.”

Ana reached out for Elle’s hand leading her back to her bedroom once more.

“This is my pj drawer.”

The drawer was full of different little pajama sets.

“Do you want to wear the ducks, teddy bears, or princesses?”

“Princess! I’m a princess like you Mommy. I have a crown and everything.”

Elle wanted to say, she wasn’t a princess anymore, and that wasn’t her life, but she felt like that would be the wrong thing to say trying to bond with her daughter, so instead she smiled.

“Yes you are Ana, and don’t you let anyone tell you otherwise. You will always be a princess.”

“And you’ll be here in the morning when I wake up?”

“Yes, I will.”

“Do you pinky swear promise me?” Ana held out her pinky finger. Elle clasped her pinky finger with hers.

“Yes, I pinky swear promise.”

“And Papa too?”

Nico walked into the room and stood by Elle's side, putting his hand over Elle and Ana’s linked hands, engulfing their hands with his.

“And Papa too, I promise. Both me and Mommy will be here in the morning when you wake up. We’re not going anywhere.”

“That’s good. Can you sing Kounia Bella to me?”

“I don’t think Mommy knows that one, how about Mommy sings one you do know, and tomorrow we’ll teach her Kounia Bella together?”

"Okay."

Elle gently tucked the covers around Ana, and sang the only lullabye she knew, which was the one her parents had sung to her, that her mother stopped, but her father continued.

“Papa sings that one to me too; I like it.”

Nico patted the covers gently.

“You're all tucked in. Time to spread your wings and fly to dreamland Honeybee.”

Nico kissed her forehead, and Elle kissed her cheek.

“Sweet dreams.”

Ana snuggled into the covers. Elle watched her for a few moments, then followed behind Nico, and gently closed the door. “She’ll be out for the count in a few minutes max.”

“You taught her my family’s lullabye?”

“I tried to incorporate pieces of you into her life Elle, even though it hurt.”

Elle took Nico’s hand. “That really means a lot to me.” Nico in turn stepped closer to her. Her heart was racing. He reached out to touch her face then he hesitated, clearing his throat and pulled away from her.

“I didn’t want to be presumptuous when it came to you, to us.. and what all this means, and I also wanted you to be comfortable, and not be pressured, by me, or even yourself Elle. I want us to take things slow. We are getting to know each other as the people we are now, so…..”

He opened the door to a bedroom.

“This is your room, for as long as you want it to be. It's your own personal space Elle. I’ll be right across the hall, if you need anything. Look through your closet, and if there is anything you don’t like, we can go to town tomorrow, and exchange it out for something else.”

“Thank you. I will.”

He started to walk out the room.

"Nico?"

He immediately turned around, approaching her.

"Yes Elle?"

"I……" She couldn't get the words out.

"What is it Elle? You can tell me anything."

He slowly lifted her chin so her eyes would meet his. He looked concerned.

"Talk to me….. For this to work…us to work, we have to be able to communicate with each other. You have to be able to trust me enough to tell me what you need from me."

Nico waited patiently for Elle to gather her words.

"I trust you Nico…. I just don't want you to go."

"Okay. I'll stay with you. I need a few things, and I'll let you change. There are some night clothes in the dresser."

Elle changed into the pajamas and braided her hair. She went through the closet admiring her new clothes. Nico probably had help, but she liked all the clothes, especially, one in particular, a sexy burgundy dress. Nico was back shortly while Elle happened to be holding up the dress to her body.

"Thought maybe we could go out for a nice dinner somewhere, if you wanted to. Do you like the dress?”

"A fancy dinner sounds wonderful. This dress has a retro feel, I love it. You did good."

"I asked for help, but that dress, I picked that one myself. I thought it would look nice on you. It's not designer…."

"That doesn't matter. You know that never mattered to me."

"I know….Do you mind if I read for a little while before bed?"

"Not at all."

Elle got into bed first. Nico followed, shrugging off his robe wearing a white beater and navy pajama pants. Last he slipped on a pair of glasses.

“The glasses are only for reading.”

She smiled. They made Nico look distinguished, sexy. The years had been very kind to Nico, he was still very attractive to her.

“Are you sure the lamp isn’t going to bother you?”

She shook her head, getting under the covers. She realized how much she had missed him being next to her.

Nico glanced over to Elle; her back was to him. He read for about thirty minutes, or at least he tried to, but his eyes kept drifting to Elle, laying in bed next to him. He had read the first line of the chapter at least twenty times. Finally realizing he wasn’t going to pay attention to it, he flicked off the lamp and settled into bed next to Elle.

“Are you sleeping?” he inquired softly.

“No, I’m still awake. I wasn't ready to sleep yet. Will you hold me, Nico?"

Almost immediately Nico pulled her closer to him, his arms tightening around her in a secure embrace.

"Better?"

"Much. Now I can rest."

Nico softly kissed her shoulder. “Me too. I think I told you this one, but I sleep better around you too.”

The next morning Elle woke up feeling like she was being watched. She startled herself awake.

“I’m sorry Mommy, I didn't mean to scare you. Good Morning.” Ana whispered.

“Good Morning Ana."

Ana climbed into the bed giving her a hug. Elle peppered her face with kisses.

"What are we going to do today? Can we go swimming?"

"I don't see why not, but we'll ask Papa later. He might have something planned for us."

“Papa is still sleeping."

"Papa is awake, and can hear you and Mommy talking."

“I’m hungry.”

“I know. I hear your tummy growling, Ana. Yours too Elle, so let’s start breakfast.”

Nico gathered ingredients and put them on the counter.

“May I help?” Elle inquired.

“Me too.” Ana chimed in.

Together, the little family made breakfast. Under Nico’s watchful eye, Elle made her very first dish of baked eggs

while Nico chopped up fruit, cheese, and bread to go along with it.

“Is there more? Mommy cooks good.”

“Well, Ana.” Nico gently corrected.

“Mommy cooks well.” Ana repeated.

“Yes she does.” Nico smiled at Elle who was beaming.

“Yes, there’s more, I'll get you some.” Elle smiled, taking Ana's empty plate.

Everything felt so relaxed there. Elle remembered even being at the palace never truly doing much but always being on a strict schedule. Even at the hospital, she had a schedule she had to follow strictly between appointments and therapy. She always had somewhere to be. Here, it was like time was limitless, and she could just for lack of a better word BE.

Later that morning they packed their bags for the beach. Nico had brought several swimsuits for Elle, one of which one was a sexy Mediterranean blue bikini. Elle had never been ashamed of her body, and she loved the color, so Elle slipped on the bikini with the coverup. When they stripped down to their bathing suits, they were all wearing the same color blue. She felt Nico’s eyes on her when she pulled off her coverup. His eyes longingly roamed her bare skin; he was still attracted to her. She found her eyes wandering over Nico’s body, he had kept himself in very decent shape. Not quite the physical level he was at when he was in the KingsGuard, but Nico was still very muscular.

They spend the day at the beach taking in the sun and water, only taking a minor break for a late lunch which was a short walk up the boardwalk a bit to a restaurant with outdoor seating where Nico picked a light meal with a huge helping of watermelon with feta and mint to finish.

When they headed back to the beach Ana was playing in the sand a little distance from them.

“Is this really our life here Nico? I feel like we’re on vacation.

Isn’t Ana in school? and I’m suspicious that ‘real life is going to come at me fast’.”

“Elle, I decided to keep Ana home for a few days, I thought it would be good for all of us. I told you, your father’s stipend he’s been sending us, has afforded us to have a different kind of life than what I could have provided for you. Before he began sending it, I lived with my mother and I worked on the fishing boats, just like I used to. Ana barely saw me. I’d be gone twelve hours a day at a time. My mother was caring for Ana more than I was. With the money your father started sending, I don’t have to work, and neither do you, and I’m glad as it allowed me to be so present in Ana’s life when you couldn’t. Now, that you’re here though, I do want to find a job somewhere. Not right away, because I know Ana is so used to me being around, but now, you’re here…..”

“So…. it’s my turn now?”

Nico grabbed her, shaking his head.

“I didn’t mean it in that way, Elle, not like it sounded. Ana needs to spend time with you. She wants to spend time with you. I’m also a man, and I don’t want to live off another man’s money.”

“We don’t have to take it anymore. We will be fine.”

“Your father shows up when he can, to visit with Ana. But I understand why he does it, it makes him feel connected to Ana, making sure she has every possible thing she could ever want or need in his absence.”

“That sounds a lot like my father.”

“And I miss working. I’ve been working some sort of job to financially contribute to a household since I was eight years old. I want to provide for my family. You and Ana are my family.”

“I understand, let’s wait a little bit longer, then you can start looking for work.”

Nico nodded in agreement. “Thank You Elle.”

Over the next several months Elle and Nico started getting closer. It was like they were dating. Elle was wearing the burgundy dress and Nico a suit, and they were having dinner on the dock decorated very similarly to that night Elle and Nico had shared that Christmas Eve night, years ago before their world unraveled.

Ana loved her parents getting closer; she loved watching them. They looked happy. They would hold hands, her Papa would bring home flowers for her mommy. He smiled so much more now, than Ana had ever seen. Her Papa looked so happy. Even though Ana wanted to always be with them, they started to want to be together sometimes, just them. Her parents were dating. Ana watched them that evening on the docks in awe. They first ate a candlelight dinner, all the time shyly smiling at each other, talking and laughing, then he reached out his hand to her. He pulled her close to him and they slow-danced on the dock.

She jumped when she felt someone grab her arm.

“Yiayiál!"

“I knew you would sneak out to follow them.”

“I wanted to see.”

“This is not for your eyes. We’re going home.”

Mama K stood for a moment watching the pair. Their movements slowed until they were at a standstill staring deeply into each other's eyes and they shared a tender kiss.

“Your parents are in love, that’s all you need to know. They love each other. We’re going home now.”

“Can we stay a little longer?”

“Now Eliana, we’re going now! Let them be.”

Mama K grabbed Ana’s hand giving Elle and Nico the true privacy they needed.

Elle pulled away from his deepened kiss.

“I’m sorry. I’m just not ready to do this with you.”

“It’s alright, our past has been difficult at times. You don’t have to explain.”

“Yes I do. That first time, a long time ago, when I gave myself to you, I was using my body as an object of lust to control you, and to manipulate you. Now, I understand how special that moment should have been between you and I, and it wasn’t, because I wasted it.”

“We were both different people then. It’s alright, we will wait then Elle, that’s all. Until the moment feels right for the both of us.”

“Looks like tonight the moment is right for you.”

“Whenever you are ready, as am I.” Nico smiled. So they decided to continue on at their pace.

Nico had gotten a job at a local museum. He was given a decent wage given his past of being a member of the KingsGuardsmen. His job allowed him to have all his meals with Elle, and have both breakfast and dinner with everyone. Elle always had lunch for him waiting when he came home for his break. Elle enjoyed being at home, taking care of the house, and the family, and had become quite the cook with Nico and Mama K’s help. It was a simple life, a life Elle didn’t know she wanted, but she loved.

That afternoon when he came home for his lunch break, Elle was nowhere in sight, and the air didn’t smell of a meal heating up for him; the table was empty.

“Elle?”

There was no response to his call, so Nico continued to investigate. Before he reached Elle’s room, he heard soft music coming from it, the door was slightly ajar. He pushed the door open calling her name.

He saw her reflection in the mirror first.

She was sitting at the vanity as her eyes met his. Nico couldn’t control the audible grunt that escaped his mouth.

When Elle stood and faced him, Nico immediately dropped his bag, walking into the room, his eyes traveling up and down Elle’s form.

Elle was wearing a very revealing sexy black lace dress? Robe? Lingerie? He had no idea what the hell it was that Elle was wearing exactly, but he did know one thing; she looked absolutely amazing in it. And the sensual outfit she was wearing didn’t leave much to the imagination.

Nico pushed the door closed locking it. A little smirk formed on Elle’s face.

“Hungry?” she asked him.

Nico slowly nodded in affirmation. “Starving.”

Elle’s hands went to the bow tied slightly above her hip.

“No, let me get that. I want to unwrap my present.” Elle repositioned herself, one hand laid at her side, the other rested on her hip. Her eyes had him entranced as he approached her.

Nico’s fingertips grazed the portions of her bare skin until he reached to bow, nimbly untying it, causing the garment to fall away from Elle’s body. She was still absolute perfection to him in every way.

“You’re even more beautiful than I remember.”

She smiled at him, as she helped him out of his clothes. His body trembled under her touch.

“No one has ever made me feel like you do Elle.”

The way he touched her was never rough but for some reason at that moment felt more gentle.

“I could say the same about you Nico.”

“This is our first time.” Nico whispered.

“We have a child together.”

“And I say we can still start over. So let’s start over. Let me show you what that night should have been like for the two of us."

"I have a question for you."

He loved the mischievous glint in Elle's eyes.

"Hmmmm?" He groaned softly.

"What would you like?"

"I would like you to open your legs for me so I can eat."

She complied to Nico’s request as he slid down her body.

Elle cried out in pleasure, which made Nico persist that much more to please her. She bucked her hips giving him more access to her. His grip tightened on her thighs holding her in place burying his face deep into her center.

How had she forgotten how good he was at doing that to her. She tightly pulled his hair as she began to experience a body trembling release. The first of several that afternoon.

He slid back up her body wedging his body between her thighs.

“Say yes to me Elle.”

“Yes.” she whispered.

Nico gently rolled his hips and slowly and passionately made love to Elle.

Elle woke up to Nico’s soft kisses to her skin.

“We need to get up, Ana will be home from school soon.”

“You stayed with me?”

“Of course. You think I was going back to work after that?”

“I hoped not.”

That afternoon Elle started moving her items into Nico’s room.

Christmas Preparations

“You know how big of a deal this is right?”

“What?”

“My mother asked you to help prepare the Christmas meal with my sisters.”

“I mean, I thought she was doing it to be nice to include me.”

“My mother lets no one into her kitchen unless she thinks they can cook. And being asked to assist with a holiday meal, is a really big deal Elle.”

“Really?”

“My sister Nia still only decorates the table.” He chuckled loudly.

“Wow. Mama K is savage.”

“She’s honest, if Nia was cooking Christmas dinner, we’d all starve.”

“I take that back, Mama K isn’t the only one that’s savage, so are you Nico.”

"The apple never falls far from the tree you know."

Christmas Dinner

Elle chuckled softly at Nia setting the table.

“Stop it!” Mama K swatted Elle’s arm.

“I’m just glad to be here. My second Christmas dinner with you all, with my family.”

“Yes and our family is going to get bigger.”

“Huh?”

“I keep having dreams about fish.”

All the women in the kitchen stopped preparing their dishes looking around at each other.

“What does that mean?”

Everyone turned to look at Elle like she had sprouted a second head.

“Mama’s dreams are always dead on.”

“But what does it mean to dream of fish?”

“One of you is pregnant, now or about to be soon.”

Elle laughed.

“You really don’t think that’s a real thing right?”

We’ll see who’s laughing in a few more weeks, Eleanor.”

Christmas dinner with the Karahalios family was just as she remembered it. Loud, full of laughter, celebrations, and food. Lots of food. Elle ate to her heart’s desire, and when she glanced down at her mini sitting next to her, her plate was filled as well.

“You’re just like your mama, you're a very healthy eater, and your Papa, never turned down a plate either.”

After dinner, Elle helped Mama K put away the food. She noticed Mama K watching her intently.

“What is it?”

“Nothing, considering your upbringing and the life you lived in the palace, it’s surprising you fit in so well here.”

“Well… I always felt like I never fit in there. This always felt like home to me, even from the first visit. Nico always tells me I have the heart of a Greek girl.”

“I see that.”

Three Weeks Later

Nico had come home on his lunch break.

“You’re not eating?”

“No, I’m not very hungry.”

“Something’s going on with you. What is it?”

Elle took a sip of her drink for her coffee cup.

“We’ve talked about a lot of things, different subjects since I came home.”

“Yes we have.”

“There’s one thing we didn’t talk about though.”

“Okay……” Nico put down his fork completely and stopped eating.

“We haven’t talked about the possibility of more children.”

Nico looked surprised. “Oh.”

“Just wondering what you think about that.”

He wiped his mouth with his napkin. “I’ve thought about it. We talked about it before, a long time ago.”

“Is it something you might still want…with me?”

“Yes it is.”

“So a few weeks ago I laughed at Mama K, because of a dream she said she had.”

“What was the dream about?”

“About fish.”

Nico sat up straight in his seat.

“Turns out she was right.”

Nico got up from his seat walking over to her. He picked up the cup she was drinking from, smelling its contents. It was the Apple Tea recipe his mother had given her all those years ago. A prideful smile slowly emerged onto his lips.

“Say it Elle.”

She took a deep breath.

“I’m pregnant.”

#bebepac writes #the rotten apple 🍎#elle x nico #evil ellie rys #choices fanfiction #play choices #trr fanfic #trr fandom #choices fandom #choices fic writers creations

81 notes · View notes

paradox-sys · 30 days

Text

reading fics about my source (amd me specifically) is difficult but i wanna!!!! they're so interesting !!!!!!!! but i also take everything said about my canon counterpart pretty personal....... oughhsjfjs the agony.........

#starr.txt #🍎 apple of the eye #character in a fic was telling how much they loved me and appreciated me and i almost began to cry. bawling my eyes out even #LIKE THAT WAS SO SWEET !!!!!!!!!! AUGH [[[[[!!!!!!#fictive stuff #plurality #endo safe

0 notes

evilsnowswan · 2 years

Note

Are you still friends with scribbles? Her last post scared me a lil and she isn't answering the asks I've sent, is she ok?

Hi there. Yes, she’s alright. Just give her some time, yeah? (And maybe some nice words wouldn’t hurt either) 😉

#anonymous #replies #being a fic writer is hard work #please remember we are humans #not content machines out in the hallway #not you nonny #you seem like good apple 🍎

0 notes

twst-rose-prisms · 12 days

Note

How do you think TWST boys (the ones below 170 cm like Riddle, Kalim, Epel etc.) would act like around s/o who's insanely tall? I keep reading fics that go like "he put your head on his shoulder" even though I'm almost a feet taller than him and I just end wondering how that's possible. (I'm 17 and is 6'5)

Hi hi~ First of all, thank you for your request anon! Sorry if you have to wait long enough cuz I was a bit busy with school 😭 Anyhow, I hope you like this because I put a lot of braincells into it hehe (also anon you're so tall, like literally a head taller than me-)

Twst boys with a partner that's a lot taller than them

Characters: Epel, Lilia, Riddle, Kalim x Reader Genre: Fluff Warnings: None!

🍎Epel

- I feel like he would be conscious of how he looks and his height but doesn't act too worked up over it, so if his partner is hella tall then he probably won't be bothered much unless they tease him about it. However if his partner is both tall and physically strong then he'll be very impressed at their strength instead! Probably asking things like what's their training methods or things like how to improve your muscles, etc. - He probably thinks it's a bit troublesome that he gotta look up to you every time you two are chatting, but as long as there's no teasing at him then he won't pay attention to that much, he won't admit he's secretly jealous of your height though... Okay, he will be, just a little bit, but afterward he just thinks about how cool you are when you always appear a head taller than most people in school and how it's so easy to spot you among the crowd. He seriously wants to be cool like you! - Don't treat him like he's a small, frail boy who needs help every time, that's the top thing on the "Absolute no" list for Epel. Even when you have an advantage in height, so what? He won't let that be a thing for you to make fun of him! In fact, it just gets him even more fired up to work himself better so he can catch up to you quickly! He has a lot of room to grow and he definitely won't give up either. - He definitely boasts about how cool his partner is or how tall they are to others with a proud look on his face. He is lucky for sure to have such an amazing partner like you, no one would ever be able to look down on you (in both ways) and that's what he loves to see! You're so strong and cool... sorry, did he already say that? Well he couldn't help it, you really are in his eyes! - He gonna insist on carrying you a lot of times even though you told him it's not necessary, but he would ask things like "Are you underestimating me?" with one of those "polite smiles" of his just to get you to give up or mess around, and he always success every time he did that. Much to your surprise, he actually might be able to lift you up! And that surprise looks on your face is exactly what he wants, just because you're a head taller doesn't mean he can't be a man around you! He would look super smug about it as he ended up teasing you a bit about this or bringing it up occasionally to see your reaction. He can be a bit of a prankster as a treat~

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

🦇 Lilia

- Despite being fairly short, I think Lilia never gets bothered in the slightest mainly because he can teleport or float in the air like a bat he is. So even if his partner is insanely tall, he can just float up to their eye level with ease and even use their shoulders for leaning support. (he's just being the silly he is yknow) - But he would be fairly impressed for sure with how tall you're as you easily stand out in the crowd with your head above others or how easily it is to spot you. He thinks it's cool how humans can be so tall but also so short, it's really fascinating for a fae like him! - He can easily take books from the highest shelf or reach out for that one apple hanging on the tree, but sometimes, this guy would start acting like the tease he is and ask you to get it for him. "But you can just float?" "Hoho, but I'm feeling like walking today though~" and just land on the ground so casually like the prankster he is... as you just sigh and get the thing he requested with ease while the fae chuckles in the background. - He loves surprises, so don't question it if he suddenly floats up and kisses you out of nowhere when you expect it the least. That look of pure shock on your face is just priceless for him, peace and quiet is not an option if you're Lilia's partner no matter how tall you're. He definitely lives long enough to seen and talk to people that are as tall or even taller than you, so he knows how to handle it perfectly or even startle them back. - He also loves messing around, so he'll just appears out of nowhere, his body upside down as you got so startled you nearly froze when your eyes meet each other, and he laughs, like a lot. He just loves it when he can throw you off with such remarks and randomness, just because you're a head taller doesn't mean he can't scare you~ - You can try and surprise him back, maybe when he was being a bit too absorbed into chatting with you about something and you lean in, face inches away from his as both of you just stare at each other for a good second before you lean away and ask him to continue. Believe it or not, Lilia was thrilled at that attempt he ended up laughing like an idiot for a good minute, oh silly you, do that again next time! He'll only end up fascinated by you even more if you act like that, so surprising yet so exciting~

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

🌹 Riddle

- He's very conscious of his height and could easily get angry or irritated at the slight mention of it, so I think he would feel even more conscious if his partner is a head taller than him. He always wanted to be the cool, reliable type of boyfriend in his partner's eyes, but to think now they're the taller one, a head taller even... He is not bothered at all. Not at all! - But that doesn't stop him from wanting his partner to depend on him too, considering he's still an honor student and a housewarden, he'll try to look past the height difference between you two and act like a reliable boyfriend and offer to help you out whether with your study or other things. He knows having a tall height has an advantage like be able to reach for high shelves easily, and whenever you do so, he just tries to not get flustered over it and thanks you properly... Don't worry, he's just being a bit shy~ - He hopes that his partner, being insanely tall, doesn't make fun of his height or mention it too often. He'll try to let it slide if you bring it up in a way that doesn't sound irritating to him, he might easily get upset but he always tries his best to not get unreasonably angry at you, that's the last thing he wants after all. - Whenever you two sit next to each other and when he can easily reach your face better, he will take it as a chance to appear more "boyfriend-like" to you... not that he already isn't one, but sometimes he can't help but wish he could reach your face easier so he can kiss them or cup your face better. Occasionally, he would even lend his shoulder for you to lean on too, not only does he feel like he's doing a good job being your partner but also feels taller too somewhat... That's a secret he'll never tell you though. If only he could be as tall as you... but rest assured, he still has more room to grow. (Or at least that's what he likes to believe) - You can be a bit of a tease by leaning down and randomly giving him a kiss, he'll be as red as his hair with those gray eyes looking all shocked! He probably scolds you to not do that so suddenly the next time but don't worry, he's not mad at all~

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

☀️Kalim

- He's probably the one that's the most unbothered in this list since he doesn't care for things like height or appearance in general, but he'll definitely be impressed at how tall his partner is and shows it outwardly, he never holds back when it comes to compliments! - Though I think he'll love having a tall partner too as he can ask them to help him reach high shelves or just be able to spot them so easily in the crowd is enough to make him happy! Just imagine a cheery and bright Kalim running towards you from miles away while waving at you with the way your head pops up in a crowd, that would definitely bring a smile to your face for sure!! - He also isn't too conscious of his height or think too much about it, he is pretty carefree overall so it won't be at the top of his head! However, due to your height difference it would be a bit troublesome when he wants to kiss you but he can't... so he came up with a solution to jump up for that! And don't underestimate him, he's good at jumping despite his short height! (As he bounces up the air and you just so happen to lean down, both of your heads collide... Jamil questioned why both of you got a bump with a worrying look but neither of you explained it truthfully which only raised his suspicion even further... Don't tell him okay?) - Piggyback ride? Piggyback ride! Because of your insanely tall height, you definitely can lift him up and he is excited to say the least! He loves being carried around! So whenever he can wrap his arms around you as you carry him and run around the campus, he'll have a really big, happy grin on his face. Either that or you two do a jump challenge of whoever can reach that tree branch better (even though you know it's a surefire win for you) and the winner gets a free coconut juice! Kalim definitely tried his best to win every time despite his short height, and even when he lost he never appeared sad and the total opposite instead, he just has so much fun being around someone cool like you! - He also loves carrying others too, and he would also do the same to you despite your insane height. Similar to Epel, although you keep telling him it's fine but how can you say no after he give you that cute grin full of sunshine... so you just so happen to say yes, and as enthusiastic as he is, he quickly swoops you up off the ground, see, he definitely can carry you with ease! ...And it doesn't last for long as you both fall over to the ground. He felt bad for dropping you like that and quickly apologize before giving you a big grin and a cheek kiss as an apology gift, so cheeky and adorable of him~

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

Fun fact: Did you know Ruggie escaped this post with a clutch? He's 171cm, just 1cm away from being in this list~

#twisted wonderland #twst #disney twst #twst wonderland #disney twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland imagines #twisted wonderland headcanons #twisted wonderland x you #twisted wonderland x reader #twst x reader #twst x you #twst x y/n #twst fluff #riddle rosehearts x reader #epel felmier x reader #lilia vanrouge x reader #kalim al asim x reader

164 notes · View notes

sipsteainanxiety · 10 months

Text

rotten to the core || bkg k.

pairing: bakugou katsuki x reader

word count: 4k

mentions: no pronouns i blv, pro hero bkg, aged-up chars (24+), meet cute(?), slight fear of heights, bkg being a dick but what else is new, ur kinda used as a scapegoat for him, part of the meet fruit collab hosted by @willowser !! check out the other fics posted!! & ty to my friends who helped me brainstorm a title LOL (kissa u will!)

🍎 in which you get stuck in an apple tree... and have to get help from a certain pro-hero to get down 🍎

In hindsight, maybe you shouldn’t have taken your walk today.

It was just—perfect weather, though. The first wink of sunshine that’d blessed the earth after a week of non stop rain. The air was cool and crisp with the gentle grip of Autumn, vibrant leaves colored in all shades of tangerine, burnt red, and daffodil yellow lining the trees and roads. You had to get out and stretch your legs after wallowing miserably at your window, confined to your little apartment for what felt like forever.

Your skin basked happily in the soft caress of the sun as you walked down a bricked path through one of the parks in your neighborhood. It was a delight to venture through since it was nice and tranquil—able to leave you to your thoughts as you watched the way light filtered happily through the canopies above you. Occasionally you’d see another pedestrian walking in the distance, but they hardly ever bothered you.

A sigh left your lips as you stretched your arm out and glanced at the watch on your wrist. You never brought your phone with you when you went on these little outings. You didn’t really need it, after all, and all the notifications you’d get would only serve as a distraction when you were supposed to be clearing your mind and enjoying the bumbling outside environment for once in your technology-infused life.

It was just after three in the afternoon. Nice. You stuffed your hands into the pockets of your jacket and continued on. Maybe you could stop by one of the café’s on your block for a warm drink later. A motivating thought.

As the path took you past a small, open field, you noticed a group of children loitering around one of the trees lining its perimeter. They were loud as they chattered and argued with each other, pointing up at the tree’s branches and making attempts to climb it to no avail. You’d fully intended to walk by, sparing them not much more than a curious glance, but one of the kids had spotted you and started loudly shouting and waving his arms.

“Hey! You!” he called across the field, and you paused for a moment and looked around before pointing at yourself in confusion. Was he talking to you? “Yeah! C’mere!” Apparently he was.

You slowly made your way over, wondering what the kid could possibly want with you. His friends all turned to look at you curiously as you approached. A few lingered at the base of the tree they’d been attempting to climb. Suddenly, you had a little audience and you weren’t quite sure what to do.

“...Yes?” you eventually asked to break the silence. “What’s up?”

“You’re tall,” the kid pointed out bluntly. You blinked down at him owlishly. To him maybe you were, but you weren’t going to say anything. “Can you get those apples for us?” He pointed up at the tree—your gaze following—and you realized they’d been attempting to pick the small, honey-crisp fruit that was way out of the reach of their tiny limbs.

There was only one problem. “I can’t reach those either. They’re too high up,” you told him with a frown.

He made a face at you, but before he could say anything, one of his friends piped up. “You can climb, can’t you? Please! We’re trying to fill this basket.” A weaved basket was held out in their arms, a few apples already rolling around in it. They all looked up at you in anticipation—nearly half a dozen little faces with hope glistening in their eyes.

You hesitated. This was not what you had expected to be doing on your little walk. “I dunno—”

“Please! Pretty please!” You were almost immediately interrupted as they all started begging you at once, a chorus echoing in your eyes. A few small hands reached out to tug at the bottom of your jacket. You were frozen, the weight of their tiny expectations weighing heavily on your shoulders. “Please! With a cherry on top?”

“Okay! Okay,” you acquiesced as you side-stepped towards the tree, your hands raised up as though in surrender. They were persistent, and you doubted they’d give up even if you’d said no. They all immediately started cheering as you trudged your way over to the apple tree, a grumble under your breath. This was fine. You would get them their apples and then continue on your path. Maybe you’ll get a drink and a pastry at that café later, you thought to yourself.

You stopped at the base of the tree and eyed the trunk for a second. A quick glance behind you showed that the kids had followed you, surrounding your figure in a half circle as they eagerly waited. You didn’t know why they thought you would be able to climb the tree to get the fruit when they’d obviously been failing at it before, but you supposed that was them placing you—an adult—on a more capable pedestal than them—little kids. You sighed again and started the arduous task of climbing your way up to the first thick branch you could see.

The tree’s bark was rough under the soft skin of your palms. Your feet braced themselves against the trunk as you used the strength of your legs to push yourself up. Your hands gripped onto the branch and you pulled yourself on top of it carefully, ensuring that it could hold your weight. It could. This branch—and the ones surrounding it—was bare of any apples, unfortunately, so you’d have to go higher. You huffed slightly as you stood on the branch—knees bent to help with your balance—and climbed your way to the next sturdy branch using the smaller ones around you.

It took you longer than you’d like to admit, but eventually you plopped yourself down on a higher branch and wiped the sweat from your forehead. You could hear the kids yelling encouragingly at you from below, telling you to Go higher! The good apples are higher! You rolled your eyes and looked around. They could make do with what you could get now.

It was kind of nice sitting in a tree. The leaves around you were mostly green, though you could see many of them starting to dip into a yellow color with the Autumn weather. There were a few ripe apples on a branch to your right that you could easily reach without having to move too much. You picked them easily and looked down so you could find the kid holding the weaved basket.

“Catch!” you called as you dropped the apples one by one. There was a flurry of motion from all the kids as they scrambled to move the basket up to catch the fruit before it could hit the ground. They sounded delighted and a small smile lingered on your lips as you watched them.

“More! More!” they chanted once you’d tossed down all the apples you could reach around you. Guess you really did need to go higher, then. Unfortunate.

Up and up and up you went, adhering to the whims of the children who watched you safely from the grassy ground. You picked more apples and dropped them carefully to the earth. Until finally, finally, their basket was full to the brim.

“Thanks stranger!” the original kid who’d caught your attention called up, his friends already rushing away as they giggled and laughed. He waved up at you, a bright smile on his face, and you thought to yourself that maybe helping them out had been worth it. “You’re the best!” And with that he ran off, hollering at his friends to wait for him.

You watched him go, then sighed wearily. At least you’d gotten some sort of workout in. Already your arms were starting to ache from hoisting yourself up the tree. You stretched them out, then moved so you could start to lower yourself to the hand holder branch below you.

The moment your foot placed weight on it, however, it let out a sharp snap!

Something in your gut dropped. You yelped and scrambled back on top of the branch you’d been sitting on, your foot having met nothing but air. Your heart pounded a steady beat in your ears as you sat solidly on the branch and looked down. The branch had broken and the next one for you to put your weight on was too far away. Shit. You swallowed heavily and found yourself looking at the ground. It seemed… awfully far away. And now that you were staring—realizing just how high up in the tree you were—you noticed there was this odd feeling in your stomach that only got stronger the longer you looked. Your jaw tensed and you forced yourself to bring your gaze to the tree trunk in front of you as you slowly moved to straddle the branch. A better position in case you… fell.

You took a moment to just calm yourself down. Damn it. Were you really stuck in a fucking apple tree? You chanced another look down and felt a bit lightheaded once more at the height. You guessed you were. You never should’ve taken that goddamn walk. You breathed in deeply, then exhaled it all in a loud sigh. No, no way you were going to be stuck here for who-knows-how-long. You needed to get it together and just climb down. Like a normal person.

You peeked around you, looking for any other branches you could use to climb down. But there were none—none that were within reach, that is, or that could hold your weight long enough for you to get to the next sturdy branch. Fuck, had that one branch really been the only one? Just your luck. Climbing up a tree was one thing, but climbing down? It was terrifying.

Maybe you could call someone for help? But no, you realized with a curse, that wouldn’t work. You didn’t have your fucking phone. You slapped a hand against your face in agony and mentally shook your fist at your past self. Well, you never would’ve expected something like this to happen, so maybe you should cut past-you some slack. Still, you think this is a sign to start bringing your phone with you on your walks, technology-cleansing be damned.

You slumped forward and resigned yourself to being stuck until you could call out to a passerby for help. There was bound to be someone walking the paths through the park—even though it was a rather… lonely place. It was only the afternoon, though. You could wait.

…

You were going to die up here.

Forget the café, you grumbled to yourself as you wearily held your head in your hands. An hour had gone by with no one in sight and you were slowly losing hope with each minute that ticked by. You were going to need a strong ass drink after this.

You sighed and reached above you to pick one of the honey-crisp apples innocently hanging from a branch. At least you wouldn’t go hungry while waiting. You glared down at the apple, its skin gleaming slightly with the golden sunlight that winked at you from the West. This is all your fault, you thought unhappily. You huffed and bit into the apple, the juicy sweetness of its flesh flooding your mouth and dribbling down your chin. You hoped those kids were enjoying their basket of apples.

Actually, it tasted rather good. Crisp and honeyed—fitting for its name. You reached up to grab another apple and stuffed it into the pocket of your jacket. Might as well take one home. At least you’d gain something out of this venture.

A movement caught your eye. You looked up from the apple in your hand and immediately spotted someone making their way down the path you’d been on not so long ago. It was a kid, from what you could see, holding a ball in her hand that she bounced occasionally. Your heart seemed to soar in hope. You swallowed the bite of the apple down so quickly that you nearly choked and raspily called out to her as loudly as you could. “Hey! Kid with the ball!” Your voice almost seemed to echo across the little field.

She paused and looked around curiously. You tried again. “Over here! By the trees!”

Once she’d turned in your general direction, you waved your hands and—after realizing she wasn’t looking up—shook the nearest branch to you so that the leaves would flutter around with a rustle. It worked. She slowly approached, clutching onto her ball, until she was standing at the base of the apple tree and looking right up at you. “...Whatcha doin’ up there, stranger?”

“I got stuck,” you confessed to her, the hand not holding onto your half-eaten apple gripping tightly onto the branch you were sitting on. You dared to feel just the brief twinges of relief. “Listen to me. Can you go get help? Any help, really. The fire department, a hero, a construction man with a ladder. I can’t get down and I’ve been up here for hours.”

The kid cocked her head at you and blinked, her weight shifting onto one leg like she was waiting impatiently at a bus stop. “And what’s in it for me if I do?”

What the— Were all kids like this? You tried not to let exasperation bleed into your voice. “Don’t you wanna be a hero or something? Please help me.” You were not above begging.

“I wanna be a doctor,” she told you smartly instead. Good, great. Could she hurry up and go already? You were starting to lose feeling in your legs.

Your teeth gritted together, but you let the frustration building up inside you fade away. She was just a kid; she didn’t truly know about your circumstances, though you’d practically spilled everything to her just a second ago. You licked at your lips and heaved a sigh. “Doctors are heroes too, you know,” you told her. She only looked expectantly up at you and you grumbled a little before reaching out to pick another apple. “Okay, fine. Catch.”

You dropped the apple down. She caught it in a small hand and looked closely at it for what felt like a long time. She held up a finger. “One more.”

This kid was really testing your patience. You rolled your eyes and grabbed another apple to drop down. She caught it again, and after a small nod to herself, started walking away. “Be back soon.”

Oh thank god. You felt like crying from sheer relief. You watched her disappear down the path and slumped forward, bringing your apple up to your mouth so you could take another bite. And now to wait some more. You tried swinging your legs around a bit to regain some feeling back in them. Hopefully she wouldn’t leave you out to dry. You grumbled to yourself as you finished off your apple and chucked the core as far as you could out into the field—an oddly satisfying action. It’ll decompose eventually.

You didn't know how much time passed as you waited for the kid to bring help. It was all a blur, honestly, broken up occasionally by you checking the watch on your wrist and not really processing the time on it. But eventually, as you found yourself boredly counting the number of fully green leaves on a branch to your left, you heard someone call up to you in a gruff voice.

“Hey! You the dumbass who got stuck in a tree?”

You looked down and made eye contact with what appeared to be a pro-hero. He had ruffled ash-blond hair that stuck up around the black mask over his eyes. Arms crossed over his chest as he glared up at you with glinting carmine eyes that reminded you of the apples surrounding you. A quick glance to the park’s path showed the kid with her ball, waving a hand at you before she disappeared out of your line of sight.

Aw hell, you thought as you recognized the hero’s costume of orange, black, and green. She’d brought fucking Dynamight—a hero known for his short temper. What were the chances of something like that happening? He must’ve been on patrol in the area.

“...What's it to ya?” you grumbled down at him, wishing you could conflagrate on the spot to avoid this embarrassing encounter. Just suck it up, you told yourself. You needed to get home, and the only way you were going to do that was by letting this hero get you down. Man, you’d really hit an all new low, hadn’t you?

“Right.” He scowled up at you and you wondered why he looked so angry. Maybe that was his default face. “I’ll jus’ leave, then, since ya don’t need my help—”

“Wait no! Nonono!” you called out only just a little bit desperately as he made a move as though to turn around. “I’ve been stuck here for hours, man! If I don’t get down I think I might die.”

Dynamight rolled his eyes and uncrossed his thick arms as he looked back up at you critically. “Yeah, yeah. Gimme a sec’.”

You watched as he seemed to grumble to himself for a moment, then positioned his arms with his palms pointing towards the ground and tensed his legs. You blinked at him. Was he going to—

‘BOOOOM’

You yelped and nearly toppled right off your branch at the sudden explosion that erupted below you like a miniature volcano. Dynamight shot up into the air, a plume of smoke in his wake, and grabbed onto a branch that could support his weight. Then he set off another smaller explosion to propel himself up further, jumping from branch to branch until he finally landed next to you. Or rather, behind you, with the way you were sitting on your own branch.

You twisted your head back to look at him. He hardly seemed out of breath, and you were a bit impressed at his parkour skills. “Uh. Hi.”

“Shut it,” he groused. Without even a warning, he grabbed you around your torso. You yelped as he tucked you close to his body—the warmth that radiated from him that was a comfort in the chilly Autumn air, not that you’d admit that out loud—and promptly leapt off the branch. You had to swallow down a scream, your hands holding onto the singular arm wrapped tightly around your body for dear life as he used his other one to set off an explosion to offset his fall.

You both landed on the ground with a gentle thump and he immediately let go of you so you could stumble forward. Sweet Earth, how I’ve missed you so. Your heart raced in your chest—from the jump or from his unrelenting grip, you would never know—your hands moving to brush your windswept hair away from your face. What the hell, he really didn’t hesitate. Could’ve grabbed you a bit gentler, though, you frowned as you rubbed your chest. You were probably going to bruise later.

You turned around to face him, fixing your rumpled clothes in the meanwhile. He was much taller than you now that you were both on the ground, all muscle and attitude as he glared at you like you’d just spat in his dinner. You paused. “...I was gonna say thanks, but you look like you wanna kill me.”

“Don’t get stuck in a fuckin’ tree, then,” he snapped. You recoiled slightly at his words, then frowned up at him in offense.

“Excuse me?” You placed your hands on your hips, incredulous with his behavior. “Like I had wanted to get stuck up there in the first place! For hours, might I add!”

His jaw tensed like he was going to retort, but he scoffed instead and turned around to start storming over to the bricked path. “Whatever.” You gaped at his back and jogged after him. He was going in the same direction as you anyways, might as well figure out why he was being such a dick. Weren’t heroes supposed to be, you know, nice?

Though, you supposed you were dealing with Dynamight, after all. You’re not sure if he had a single nice bone in his body.

“No! Not ‘Whatever’,” you mimicked his gruff voice as best as you could once you’d caught up to him and kept pace with his long strides. The thick soles of his boots stomped against the ground with each of his steps. He shot you an annoyed look out of the corner of his eyes, but didn’t say anything. “Who pissed in your bed? Huh?”

You could practically hear his teeth gritting together before he responded. “Nunya business.”

Maybe it wasn’t, but it really didn’t excuse him treating you like this. “No, tell me why you’re being such an asshole right now. Aren’t heroes supposed to be not-assholes?”

He turned his head to give you a withering glare with carmine eyes that appeared nearly aflame in the sun’s golden light. It almost made you regret pressing in the first place, but you had at least some self-respect, and you weren’t going to let this guy walk all over you like this.

“‘M a fuckin’ hero, yeah,” he eventually hissed. “Supposed to be fightin’ villains ‘nd not dealing with dumbass extras who’ve gotten stuck in trees.”

You huffed at his response. Okay, maybe—just maybe—you could see why he was so aggravated. Didn’t let him off the hook, though. “Okay, first of all, ouch. Second of all, you’re a hero because you’re supposed to help people.” He opened his mouth to snap back at you, but you were too quick and cut across him. “Whatever. Look. I’m sorry you didn’t expect to be spending your afternoon helping me out of a tree. I didn’t expect to spend it stuck up there either. I appreciate the help, for what it’s worth. You saved me from a very uncomfortable night.” Even if he was being the biggest dickhead on the planet right now. Maybe he had a rough day, who knew. You decided to be the bigger person about this whole… situation.

Dynamight stared at you for what felt like a long, long time. It made you realize that you’d both stopped by one of the entrances of the park, just outside of it along the desolate sidewalk. You shoved your hands in your jacket pockets as you waited for him to say something—anything, really—and almost startled when you felt the cool skin of the honey-crisp apple you’d picked come into contact with your fingers. You wrapped them around it.

Eventually, he closed his eyes and let out a deep, deep sigh. Tension that you hadn’t realized was present along his shoulders seemed to melt away as they slumped slightly down. He sniffed and jutted his head out to the side slightly, sunlight painting smooth planes across his face and turning his hair into a pale blond in a way that was honestly pretty gorgeous. You’d take that admission to your grave.

“...Yeah.” And then he added a mumbled “Sorry” under his breath that you figured was the best you were going to get at the moment. He didn’t seem like someone who apologized often, from what you knew about him. “Rough day.”

“I figured,” you said lightly. Then, you brought your hand out of your jacket and grabbed his own gloved one to place the apple you had within his palm. You patted it gently. “Here. As a thank you.” Then, after just a quick moment of hesitation, you added, “Hope all goes well for you.”

And with a small nod at him, you turned around and started to make your way back home, hands in your pockets and an eagerness to your steps at the prospect of getting to rest after what felt like a very long day.

Dynamight stood there, at the entrance of the park, and looked down at the small apple within his hand after he stared at your retreating back for a few moments. His lips twitched for a slight second and he turned to head down the street in the opposite direction as you, his hand bringing the apple up to his mouth so he could bite into it with a crisp, sweet crunch.

#wrpte this in a frenzy dunno if its good but bone apple teeth #HAHA bone apple teeth get it? bc its apples HAHAHAHAHA- /shot #bakugou katsuki x reader #bakugou x reader #katsuki x reader #bakugou x you #katsuki x you #katsuki bakugou x reader

409 notes · View notes

lov3m3darling · 1 year

Text

Apple of my Eye (Obsessed!Wally Darling x Short!Reader) Pt. 4

Another part! Idk how long this fic is gonna go on but I'm estimating maybe 10 parts? Not sure yet.

Anyway, on with the story!

!!!(TW: obsessive behaviors, jealousy, stalking, eye imagery)!!!

💙🍎💛🍎💙🍎💛🍎💙🍎💛🍎💙🍎💛🍎💙

Wally went home that night absolutely dazed and dizzy with love. Home even had to shove his chair underneath him before he fell a couple of times from not looking where he was walking.

He took off his jacket and loosened his tie before laying across the chair and sighing happily. Home creaked questioningly.

"Of course I'm alright, Home. I'm amazing, even..."

Home didn't say anything else, but Wally sat up in the chair and continued anyway.

"They're gorgeous, for starters! And they make just the most wonderful food...and their smile! Oh Home, I could stare at it all day..."

Home let out a long creak, sounding almost like a sigh. They were happy for Wally but jeez! You were all he talked about anymore!

"And did you know they like (fav hobby)? Doesn't that sound like fun? I wonder if they would show me how sometime..."

Wally laid there and talked about you all night, even long after Home had gone to sleep. What time he wasn't doing that, he was staring at the pictures you'd taken.

Later on, when you had kissed him goodnight, you tucked a copy of each photo into his jacket pocket. They were already up on the wall, in frames he had made himself from popsicle sticks and glue, painted to be your favorite colors.

But...that wasn't enough. No, the wall should be full of you! A whole wall of your marvelous self! His biggest art project yet!

And so, because Wally did not require sleep anyway, he stayed up to paint you.

Meanwhile, you were looking at the pictures too. You planned to go pick up some frames tomorrow, but in the meantime, they sat on your kitchen table next to the vase of flowers he'd brought.

You couldn't remember the last time you'd felt so important and loved. Wally looked at you like you were some kind of divine being. An angel, perhaps.

And in his eyes, you very much were.

Wally hadn't realized it before, but prior to you moving in, he had been...well, depressed. Every day was the same old routine. Sure, his friends helped, but ultimately he couldn't seem to get out of the rut he'd found himself in.

Oh, but with you...he felt alive. He could never get bored of you. Life was exciting again!

In all his pondering, he realized he had painted himself into the picture with you. You sat on his lap smiling, much how you did in the picnic pictures. His arms were around your waist, and your face was slightly red.

He grinned.

"They're so cute when they're flustered~" he chuckled, taking the canvas off the easel and immediately replacing it with a fresh one.

Needmorepictures

Yes...he would paint more...he had to...

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

In your own house, you could not sleep. You were still just about floating from the afterglow of the date, yes, but there was something else as well. You felt like you were being...watched.

Every time you closed your eyes, you could feel someone looking at you, and you'd just end up sitting up in a panic and turning on the light.

Eventually, you were more frustrated than scared, and threw back the covers with an irritated groan.

Bedroom door shut? Check.

Nothing under the bed? Check.

Nothing in the closet? Check.

Curtains closed? Check.

"Okay...let's try this again, I guess"

You got cozy again and managed to close your eyes for all of five seconds before they sprang open yet again. You grabbed a pillow and screamed into it before standing up and going to the window. The curtains were closed, but that was the only way anyone could be looking at you, so you had to check.

Out of your frustration and tiredness, you threw the curtains open, only to find Home staring directly at you from across the way. You jumped a little and opened the window cautiously.

"Home? Can you hear me over there?" you called as quietly as you could manage.

Home's shutters waved at you.

"Why on earth are you staring at my house? Is something wrong?"

Suddenly, Wally appeared in the window and you quickly ducked under yours. You weren't sure why you were scared of Wally seeing you, but you did as instincts told you and stayed hidden; listening.

"Hoooome~? Who are you talking to, hm~?"

Home didn't respond, and Wally peered outside to see your window open.

"Oh~? Sleeping with the window open~? I bet they look adorable~ Maybe I should sneak over and check in on them~"

You started to panic. Wally didn't sound like his usual chipper self...and he was planning to come watch you sleep?? Creepy...

...

Wait...

You managed to jump up and dive into bed just before Wally made it to your window, and pretended to be asleep.

Wally sighed, hearts in his eyes as he watched you.

"Absolutely stunning~" he whispered to himself.

You heard a soft thud as Wally climbed in and made his way over to your bed. Your heart was racing but you tried to just focus on keeping your eyes closed and your breathing even.

Suddenly, there was soft felt on your cheek.

He caressed your face gently as he admired your sleeping form, and for some reason, you were immediately calm.

"You're perfect, (y/n). I've made up my mind...I'm going to marry you. Then you can be around all the time! You can move in!"

Marriage? He wanted to get married right away?

You...you didn't want...

...to wait either! Married life with Wally sounded marvelous!

You began to blissfully daydream about it all, until he withdrew his hand and left, making his way back Home.

His...you were his...

...hang on...

...MARRIAGE?!

You sat straight up in bed, staring wide-eyed at the window he had left from. What just happened? You felt like you were in some lovey-dovey trance that disappeared as soon as he was far enough away.

Of course you didn't want to get married so soon! What were you thinking?!

You realized now why Home was looking at you. They were trying to warn you that something wasn't right with Wally. He wasn't acting like himself anymore and he was messing with your head to make you love him more and more.

But...the trance was oddly calming, wasn't it..?

Without it, alone in your bedroom, you felt...lonely.

Somehow, despite being slightly afraid of him now, you wanted Wally to come back...

💙🍎💛🍎💙🍎💛🍎💙🍎💛🍎💙🍎💛🍎💙

SO.. that was kinda short and to be totally honest, it was not my best work. Not exactly my favorite chapter of this story tbh...

Also I'm sorry it took so long! I've been feeling kind of uninspired lately and I've also been pretty busy so I haven't had time to sit down and work on this. I may be a little slower from now on than I was when I first started but I do fully plan to keep writing this and probably other stuff too!

Aaaaanyway! Have a lovely day (or night...actually, it's night time here right now)

✨️☮️🔁⬆️✨️

#welcome home #wally darling #welcome home fanfic #wally darling x reader #wally darling fanfic #obsessive wally darling #yandere wally darling #yandere welcome home

459 notes · View notes

morallyinept · 7 months

Text

Happy Kinktober Lovelies! 🖤

I've got some delicious Kinktober recommendations for you if you're interested in reading some kinky fics this month... 👇🏻

First Kinktober Masterlist - It's @palioom 's first Kinktober and I am so excited for this! 🎉 Can't wait to see what spicy surprises await us! I just know this is going to be amazing and all kinds of 🥵.

Haunted Hoedown - @psychedelic-ink made a shorter Kinktober called Haunted Hoedown this year (their previous Kinktober's have been 👌🏻) and there are some incredible stories on this spooky, smutty list that you simply MUST read. 👻

Kinktober Masterlist 2023 - @lincolndjarin is dropping Kinktober this year too, and I'm excited to read each day all these little stories that are guaranteed to make you drool into your candied apples. 🤤🍎

Cowboytober - @anabdaniels has created an Agent Whiskey specific Kinktober and I am here for it, sugar! I love this concept of just focusing on one Pedro Boy for the whole month. Can't wait to see what our favourite cowboy will get up to this smutty season. 🤠

Kinktober Masterlist 2023 - @absurdthirst 's Kinktober stories never fail to whet the appetite and theirs have been some of my favourites from last year, so I am chomping at the bit to read a new kinky tale each day from them this month! 🥲

Adding @ghostofaboy 's Kinktober Masterlist here too. I particularly love the way he writes Frankie in his Rock Bottom series, and day one of his Kinktober is a Frankie delight! Looking forward to all he has in store for us this month. 🥵

Check out @odetodilfs for their absolutely delicious M!Reader Kinktober fics, starting off with Javier Peña. Love the way he writes. 🥵

Although I won't personally be writing for Kinktober this year, I will be posting a spooky/smutty story on the 31st for Halloween, featuring not one, but THREE of our Pedro Boys.

Have a guess in the comments as to which three you think it might be... 😏

Please check out the writers mentioned for their Kinktober Masterlists. Don't forget to re-blog their work to show them all the love.

If you're a writer taking part in Kinktober this year, lemme know. Would love to read your work!

🖤

151 notes · View notes

twistedappletree · 8 months

Text

TYPE: One-shot

JURISDICTION: It’s extra fluffy with a dash of awkward angst, your honor.

PAIRING: Jin Ling/Lan Sizhui

SIDE CHARACTERS: Lan Jingyi, Jiang Cheng, Nie Huaisang

ELEMENTS: Lanling setting, canon universe, first kiss, implied SangCheng, Lan Jingyi salivating over chicken (literally), gift-giving, Jin Ling trying to make the first move (emphasis on trying) and Lan Sizhui fixing everything as usual~

•

Beautiful as their surroundings were, Jin Ling’s eyes were hopelessly transfixed on the boy in front of him—his starlight skin in the pastel light, the wonder and joy sparkling in his amethyst eyes, the way each gentle breeze danced through his dark hair and waltzed with the ends of his forehead ribbon.

Jin Ling stared at him intensely and walked further into the grove, the thick layer of petals on the ground cushioning his steps and making him feel weightless.

Every nerve in his body screamed and ached as he walked. Then jogged. Then ran.

•

In which Lan Sizhui keeps disappearing during a visit to Jinlintai, a worried Jin Ling goes looking for him in all the wrong places and an embarrassing run-in with his uncle and Nie Huaisang finally points him in the obvious direction, leading to an unforgettable night.

{AO3}

🌸

The gilded city of Lanling pleasantly echoed with quiet chatter and subtle serenades of bright chimes as Lan Jingyi groaned over his meal. “That’s the third time you’ve asked me in the past hour! I didn’t know where he was thirty minutes ago and I still don’t know where he is now.”

Jin Ling sat across from him at their table outside of the restaurant and crossed his arms. “I just think it’s weird that he hasn’t spent a single day with us since he got here.”

Lan Jingyi listlessly swirled his food around with his chopsticks, the contents of the bowl looking less appetizing each time the other disciple opened his mouth. “Are you his mother or something? It’s really not that weird, he does this all the time when we’re in Caiyi Town.”

A swift foot kicked Lan Jingyi’s shin under the table, causing him to yelp. “I’m just curious, is that a crime?!” Jin Ling slumped back in his seat and looked off to the side. “Figured I’d ask you, since you two are so inseparable.”

Lan Jingyi caught a hint of jealousy in the other boy’s tone and raised a suspicious brow. He finally shoved a piece of chicken into his mouth and chewed with an annoyed rhythm. “First of all, we’re not inseparable. Second of all, I don’t wonder where he is every moment like a paranoid wife—“

Jin Ling suddenly slapped his hand down on the table so hard, Lan Jingyi’s bowl clattered. The young Jin disciple stood and turned his back to him, looking both angry and flustered.

“Leaving so soon, Mistress Jin?” Lan Jingyi teased.

Jin Ling placed a hand on his hip and glared over his shoulder, amber eyes burning a fierce gold in the sunlight. “I’ve hit my limit of Lan nonsense for the day. Run around and do whatever you want, I’m going home.”

Lan Jingyi chewed on another piece of chicken as he watched him leave. “Home? Sure,” he snorted, “See you in thirty minutes.”

Jin Ling was too far to hear him and he definitely wasn’t heading in the direction of Koi Tower. Instead, he walked further into the heart of Lanling and thought about all of the places Lan Sizhui could possibly be.

He didn’t even know why he wanted to find him so badly but there was an unmistakable feeling of dejection and worry festering in the pit of his stomach. Dejection because he felt like Lan Sizhui might be ignoring him and worry because Jin Ling wanted to know if he was okay.

He stopped in the middle of a bustling market street decorated with colorful paper lanterns, hanging ribbons fluttering in the cool breeze and golden chimes beckoning patrons to shop with their gentle song.

Sizhui likes animals, he thought. Maybe…

For some ludicrous reason, this thought compelled him to walk towards the local butcher shop, even though Lan Sizhui’s love for animals would certainly make him writhe at the sight of them being chopped to bits.

Before Jin Ling could turn away, the butcher lit up at the sight of his Jin sect robes, high quality weapons and golden accessories, knowing there was the possibility of a generous sale.

“Young Master Jin!” the butcher called, waving a large bloody knife above his head in greeting.

Jin Ling sneered at the sight and wondered if the man had any idea how insane he looked.

“In the market for some fresh meat? I’ll give you the best cuts!”

“Not interested,” Jin Ling said curtly, waving his hand. “Have you seen a cultivator of the GusuLan clan walking around anywhere?”

The butcher raised his brows, “Ah, I have!”

Jin Ling’s face brightened as he prepared to ask him another question but his face immediately flattened into annoyance as the butcher continued.

“He was practically drooling all over my chickens, making other customers uncomfortable. Had to chase him off before he drove away all my business!”

Jingyi, you idiot.

“I see,” Jin Ling muttered, “Never mind then.” He turned on his heel and began walking off as the butcher called after him.

“W-Wait, Young Master Jin! I’ll discount the cuts just for you!”

Jin Ling ignored him and kept walking, thinking of other places to search for Lan Sizhui.

A group of giggling children suddenly zipped past him towards a vibrant stall of various toys. Jin Ling followed them and browsed the items discreetly, attempting to look as uninterested as possible until one item caught his eye.

A sky blue notebook delicately engraved with silver-leaf clouds and several playful rabbits glimmered in the sun. He picked it up and examined its quality, wondering why it was being sold at a toy stand.

“Do you like it, Young Master?”

The shopkeeper, a tiny old woman with a gentle voice, noticed his interest in the notebook and smiled.

“Is this even for kids?” Jin Ling asked.

“Not necessarily, though I suppose the older tykes would appreciate it more than the little ones,” she explained. “But I’m sure it’ll eventually fall into the hands of a child who’ll treat it as a toy. You’re the first to take such an interest in it.”

Jin Ling blushed at the reason why he was so interested, then frowned at the thought of such beautiful craftsmanship being chewed and slobbered on by some random brat. “I’ll take it.”

The shopkeeper’s eyes widened with awe and delight. “Truly? It’s a bit pricey—“

Jin Ling shot her an annoyed glare, insulted that she’d even question his wealth.

She passively waved her hands in the air. “My apologies, Young Master—let me wrap this for you!”

The shopkeeper folded a cloth around the notebook to protect it and graciously exchanged it for Jin Ling’s money.

Jin Ling now had a peace offering in case he actually did do something to make Lan Sizhui ignore him, which was what his anxiety genuinely made him believe. He safely tucked the notebook into a leather pouch on his belt and continued through the market.

He likes tea, he thought, rubbing the bridge of his nose while realizing he might not know Lan Sizhui as well as he thought he did.

The local tea house greeted him with the calming scents of jasmine, mint and ginger as he stepped inside. An enthusiastic waiter immediately ushered him to a free table and served a fresh pot of tea that remained untouched as Jin Ling scanned every inch of the tea house for Lan Sizhui.

Just then, two very familiar voices sounded from the table next to his. Both tables were separated by a dividing screen but the voices were unmistakable.

He immediately stood and whipped his head around the screen. “Uncle?!”

Jiang Cheng jumped to his feet so fast his hair ribbon came untied, thanks to a stunned Nie Huaisang who was still seated with one end of the ribbon clutched in his hand.

Nie Huaisang promptly shoved the ribbon behind him and snapped open his fan, trying to hide the blush on his face.

Jin Ling glared at him, then narrowed his eyes at his uncle. “You’re with him again? Why?”

Jiang Cheng glowered dangerously. “I fail to see how that’s any of your business. Why aren’t you training?”

Jin Ling pointed his chin and crossed his arms. “I already trained today—“

“Then go train some more—!”

“I’m looking for someone!”

Nie Huaisang’s eyes glittered with interest as he peeked over his fan. “Oh? I might be able to help with that.”

Jiang Cheng scowled. “Shut up, Huaisang.”

“So meeeaaan, Jiang-xiong!” Nie Huaisang whined and stared up at him with the eyes of a kicked puppy.

Jin Ling scrunched his nose at the ridiculous sight, legitimately wondering if he entered a tea house or the circus. “I’m looking for Sizhui.”

Jiang Cheng raised a brow. “Who?”

“One of the little Lan boys, Jiang-xiong,” Nie Huaisang clarified.

Jiang Cheng’s jaw twitched at the mention of the Lans. “We saw one earlier getting kicked out of the butcher shop—“

“The funny one,” Nie Huaisang chimed.

Jin Ling narrowed his eyes. “He’s not funny—“

“A-Ling is talking about the boring one.”

“He’s not boring!” Jin Ling snapped. “And don’t call me A-Ling!”

Nie Huaisang waved his fan in front of his face, not expecting such an impassioned response. “Okay, okay! Truce, Young Master Jin!”

“Have you seen him or not?” Jin Ling barked, clearly losing his patience.

Nie Huaisang thought for a moment then lowered his fan. “No.”

“Great!” Jin Ling shouted, voice dripping in sarcasm as he threw his hands up and turned away.

“Jin Ling!”

The young Jin disciple turned to stone at the sound of his uncle’s voice and slowly pivoted back around to face Jiang Cheng’s intense, electrified glare.

“Stop acting like a child,” Jiang Cheng scolded. “You will show your seniors respect.”

Jin Ling still wanted to protest but he frowned at the floor and slumped with defeat. “Yes, uncle.”

Nie Huaisang stared up at Jiang Cheng and fluttered his fan like a swooning maiden before looking back at Jin Ling. “Just because I haven’t seen him doesn’t mean I don’t know where he is.”

Jin Ling furrowed his brow. “What does that even mean?”

“It means,” Nie Huaisang started, pausing to take a sip of his tea, “That in order to find a Lan, you must think like a Lan.”

His cryptic sentences were driving Jin Ling up the wall. Even Jiang Cheng slid back down to his seat and closed his eyes, seemingly meditating to drown out Nie Huaisang’s nonsense.

“Just think about it,” Nie Huaisang chirped. “What do the Lan’s love to do more than anything else?”

“Get kicked out of butcher shops, apparently,” Jiang Cheng muttered.

Jin Ling snorted and Nie Huaisang tapped his fan on Jiang Cheng’s head who batted it away like a vexed cat.

“I’m not talking about that Lan, I’m talking about the normal ones,” Nie Huaisang corrected.

A dismissive sound hissed through Jiang Cheng’s teeth. “Are any of them normal?”

“They like to study,” Jin Ling interrupted, ignoring their banter. “And—“ His face suddenly blanched and he mentally kicked himself for being so dense.

Nie Huaisang brightened and passed him a knowing look while Jiang Cheng’s eyes flicked between them, utterly confused.

“I have to go.” Jin Ling hastily bowed to them both and scampered off towards the entrance.

“You better be training when I get back to Koi Tower!” Jiang Cheng shouted after him.

Nie Huaisang noticed the vein on Jiang Cheng’s forehead and fanned some cool air in his direction. “Let him be, Jiang-xiong.”

Jiang Cheng grumbled and leaned back with crossed arms. “The hell was that about, anyway?”

Nie Huaisang grinned and refilled their tea cups. “Something you wouldn’t understand—not yet, at least.” He retrieved Jiang Cheng’s hair ribbon and wound it playfully around his own wrist. “How about we continue our… conversation.”

Outside of the tea house, several people moved away and watched as Jin Ling raced through the market and skidded to a stop in front of Lanling’s bookshop. He swung open the door and marched inside.

“Welcome, Young Master—“ the shopkeeper’s greeting was cut short as Jin Ling planted both of his hands on the counter and stared at him intensely.

“Lan disciple. Tall, quiet, too nice for his own good. Where is he?”

The aggressive tone of Jin Ling’s voice made the shopkeeper go rigid with hesitation. “Y-Young Master, if you’ve a quarrel with him, may I ask that you settle it outside? These books are quite fragile and—“

Jin Ling furrowed his brow. “Huh? I’m not here to fight him, I just need to talk to him.”

The shopkeeper exhaled with relief and nodded. “Right, thank you… he’s in the back of the shop, I believe.”

Jin Ling headed further into the bookshop, passing several shelves filled with scrolls, ink pots and brushes until he reached the back.

Lan Sizhui was sitting on the floor hunched over several books that were fanned out in front of him as neatly as possible. He dipped a brush into an ink pot and scribbled something on a piece of parchment, so immersed that he failed to notice he wasn’t alone.

Jin Ling crossed his arms and arched a brow. “You got enough books?”

Lan Sizhui whipped his head up in surprise, his amethyst eyes sparkling in the warm lantern light. “Young Master Jin…? What are you doing here?” His face suddenly paled and morphed into pure worry. “Is Jingyi okay? He didn’t break anything again, did he?!”

Jin Ling’s face twisted and he rolled his eyes. “He’s fine and I’m pretty sure the town is still intact.”

Lan Sizhui sighed with relief, tension leaving his shoulders. “Did Hanguang-Jun send you?”

“Nobody sent me,” Jin Ling muttered, sounding slightly annoyed. “I came here because—“ He stopped and bit the inside of his cheek, forcing himself to finish his sentence. “Because I wanted to see you.”

Lan Sizhui blinked at him before whispering a small, “Oh…” He folded his hands in his lap and gave him a concerned look. “Are you okay? Did you need help with something?”

Jin Ling shook his head and looked off to the side to avoid eye contact. “It’s just… we haven’t really talked since you got here and I thought maybe… maybe I did something to make you ignore me.” He mentally cursed at himself and dug the toe of his boot into the floor. “Never mind, forget I said anything, it’s stupid—“

“No,” Lan Sizhui interjected, looking up at him with a softness in his eyes and a frown on his lips. “It’s not stupid. I apologize for making you feel that way, Young Master Jin—I haven’t been ignoring you, I promise.”

Jin Ling’s eyes remained crestfallen as he peered at Lan Sizhui through his bangs.

His solemn expression didn’t go unnoticed by the Lan boy, who nodded at his books and smiled. “I know it sounds crazy but I’ve been studying. When I find something I really want to learn, I get a bit obsessed with it.”

Jin Ling surveyed the open books and lifted a brow. “So that’s what all this stuff is?”

Lan Sizhui nodded and patted the empty space next to him. “Come sit, I’ll show you what I’ve been working on. Maybe you can help me.”

The sudden invitation to join him sent Jin Ling’s heart racing but he quickly realized there was no graceful way to get to him. Lan Sizhui’s impressively large barricade of books made sure of that.

“Careful not to step on the books,” Lan Sizhui mentioned, “I haven’t paid for any of them yet.”

Jin Ling knelt down and grabbed one of the covers. “Why don’t I just close some of the—“

“NO!”

Jin Ling froze and stared at Lan Sizhui in bewilderment, not used to hearing him shout like that.

“Sorry,” said Lan Sizhui, “I’m still taking notes from that one.” He scanned the other books and pondered. “Maybe this one? No… oh! How about—eh, no…”

Jin Ling let out an exasperated sigh and awkwardly tiptoed between the small spaces, wobbling a bit off balance as he finally made it over. Lan Sizhui grabbed Jin Ling’s arm to steady him and gently guided him down to sit.

They were close enough that their shoulders pressed together and Lan Sizhui’s scent of orange blossom and cedar wood flooded Jin Ling’s senses, making him feel warm and lightheaded.

The aroma of ink and old books mixed in as Lan Sizhui dipped his brush and wrote a few notes. Jin Ling leaned over to read them and made a funny face. “Herbology?”

Lan Sizhui nodded. “I’ve been studying herbal remedies to use during night hunts in case anyone gets injured.” He pointed at one of the open books. “There’s also ways to use certain herbs for coating weapons and making them toxic to your enemies. We’d… have to use those carefully though, especially with Jingyi around. You know how he likes to touch things he shouldn’t be touching.”

Lan Sizhui laughed quietly and Jin Ling took a moment to get lost in the sound of the Lan boy’s voice, listening to him passionately go over what he’d learned.

Neither of them realized how close their faces were until Lan Sizhui turned to look at Jin Ling and accidentally brushed his nose against the other boy’s cheek.

Both of them jolted back and Lan Sizhui lifted his hand to his face, entirely forgetting about the brush he was holding. Jin Ling stared at him for a moment, then slowly broke into a fit of quiet laughter.

Lan Sizhui frowned and tilted his head. “What is it?”

“You—“ Jin Ling paused and swallowed another laugh, “You have ink on your face.”

“Oh!” Lan Sizhui reached his hand up to wipe it off. “Here?”

“Other side,” Jin Ling corrected.

Lan Sizhui wiped the other side of his face. “Did I get it?”

“No, it’s lower. By your nose—“ Jin Ling frowned as Lan Sizhui managed to miss it every single time. “L-Look, I’ll just… hold still.”

Lan Sizhui watched him curiously then blushed wildly as the young Jin disciple licked his thumb and leaned in close to clean the ink from his skin.

Something ignited in Lan Sizhui’s chest, molten and sparkling like drunken stars. All he could do was sit there and lose himself in every detail of Jin Ling’s captivating face, his amber eyes undeniably striking in the lantern light.

Jin Ling, on the other hand, noticed what he’d done and ripped himself away. He clutched at his robes above the knees and shook his bangs into his face, mortified by his own actions. “I-I’m sorry, that was—I don’t… I don’t know why I did that—“

“Is it gone?”

Jin Ling lifted his head to see Lan Sizhui smiling and pressing his fingertips to the flushed skin where Jin Ling had touched him, a dreamy glimmer in his amethyst eyes.

“It’s… it’s gone,” Jin Ling managed to mutter. He felt awkward, embarrassed and anxious but seeing Lan Sizhui’s smile settled his nerves a bit.

“Thank you, A-Ling.”

The heat invading Jin Ling’s cheeks was almost unbearable and he quickly filled the looming silence with whatever came to mind. “So… is this really all you’ve been doing all day?”

Lan Sizhui’s mind was still replaying Jin Ling’s hand on his face. The question confused him until he saw Jin Ling poking at one of the books. “Oh, um… well, not all day.” He rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled. “The bookshop has to close eventually.”

Jin Ling gave him a suspicious look. “But you’re always gone until nightfall. Last time, you barely made it back by nine.” He lifted his chin and glared down his nose. “And don’t lie, I saw you running.”

Lan Sizhui blinked at him and laughed. “You’ve been watching me?”

“Wha—No!” Jin Ling crossed his arms and blew his bangs out of his face. “Don’t be ridiculous! I just happened to see you coming back a few times. I have more important stuff to do, you know.”

Lan Sizhui smiled fondly, unable to find the flustered Jin disciple anything less than adorable. “Of course, A-Ling.”

Suddenly, Lan Sizhui began closing all of the books and stacking them together. Jin Ling watched as the barrier of herbology that gave them an excuse to be so close gradually disappeared. He felt a pang of sadness in the pit of his stomach but did his best to ignore it.

“What are you doing?” Jin Ling asked.

“The shop closes soon,” Lan Sizhui explained. “I’ll have to put some of these back before we leave.”

Jin Ling frowned. “I thought you wanted to buy them?”

Lan Sizhui packed his notes and ink into his qiankun pouch and smiled sheepishly. “I can’t buy all of them, they’re far too expensive. But that’s okay, I don’t need them—“

“Which ones do you want?” Jin Ling interjected, picking up one of the stacks as he got up from the floor.

Lan Sizhui grabbed the other stack and stood up with him. “That’s like asking me which rabbits I’d pick out of a litter.” He laughed and shook his head. “It really is fine, I can just come back and take more notes—“

“Sizhui,” Jin Ling said, his tone resolute. “Take them to the front. I’ll get them for you.”

“But…” As much as he wanted to object, he couldn’t find the right words without sounding ungrateful. “A-Ling, I really can’t afford to pay you back—“

“I’m not doing it so you’ll owe me,” Jin Ling interrupted, sounding a bit insulted. “I want to get them for you. They’re obviously important to you, so I want you to have them.”

Lan Sizhui’s eyes softened and his entire body deflated with defeat, always knowing better than to argue with a determined Jin. “Okay.”

Jin Ling immediately lit up at his acceptance. He adjusted the books in his arms and proudly marched to the front of the store with Lan Sizhui trailing modestly behind.

The shopkeeper’s eyes went wide as the two of them placed the stacks of books on the counter, followed by a large sum of money from Jin Ling’s wallet that Lan Sizhui was actively trying not to look at.

“Have these wrapped and sent to Koi Tower, to the Lan disciples’ guest rooms,” Jin Ling ordered. “Make sure they get there by tonight.”

The shopkeeper slowly nodded, staring at the money with a dumbfounded look. “Right away, Young Master! Thank you!”

Jin Ling and Lan Sizhui exited the shop together and stepped out into the now peaceful and quiet market street as the evening sun painted Lanling in warm gold.

The fresh air helped calm Lan Sizhui, especially after being holed up in the bookshop all day. He turned to the young Jin disciple beside him and smiled. “Thank you, A-Ling. I’m not sure if this would be repayment enough but would you like to see what’s been keeping me out so long? I think you’ll like it.”

Jin Ling eyed him curiously. “We’re… we’re not gonna go talk to ghosts, are we?”

Lan Sizhui laughed and shook his head. “No ghosts, I promise. This is something special.”

An electric feeling spiked Jin Ling’s heart rate. He wasn’t sure what Lan Sizhui meant by ‘special’ but it both excited and terrified him.

“I thought about keeping it to myself but I’d like to share it with you,” Lan Sizhui added. “We should leave before the sun sets. It’s best when there’s still daylight.”

“Let’s go,” Jin Ling blurted, almost prematurely. Lan Sizhui beamed at his instant response and gestured for him to follow.

They passed through the market streets, residential districts and eventually into Lanling’s farmlands. Lan Sizhui veered off of the main road, leading Jin Ling past a large pond and through the weeping leaves of an old willow.

As they emerged from the leaves, they were greeted by a seemingly endless grove of cherry blossom trees. Sunlight filtered through the canopies and colored the grove in ethereal shades of soft pink as a rain of loose petals delicately fluttered to the ground around them.

Lan Sizhui had already gone further ahead, his white robes a striking contrast against the backdrop of deep, rich bark and blushing blossoms. A few falling petals clung to his raven hair as he spun around with a bright smile on his face.

Jin Ling stared at him intensely and walked further into the grove, the thick layer of petals on the ground cushioning his steps and making him feel weightless.

Every nerve in his body screamed and ached as he walked. Then jogged. Then ran.

Lan Sizhui barely had time to react before Jin Ling’s body crashed into his. He would’ve been knocked backwards if Jin Ling’s arms hadn’t wrapped around his waist and grounded him.

The Lan boy’s eyes went wide and his heart skipped a beat before racing uncontrollably, small flurries of pink petals flying off of his robes from the impact. He looked down to find Jin Ling’s face buried against his chest, a subtle bouquet of scarlet peach and clove melding with his own scent of orange blossom and cedar wood.

For a moment, Lan Sizhui worried if Jin Ling was okay but the other disciple didn’t seem upset in the slightest. He was just holding him, as though he’d been waiting to hold him his entire life.

Without another thought, Lan Sizhui embraced Jin Ling, pressing their bodies even closer together. He sunk his fingers into the other boy’s long hair, cool and soft as burnt umber silk.

The world was quiet around them, save for a gentle breeze whispering through the cherry blossoms and matching the now peaceful rhythm of their heartbeats.

As if stirring from a dream, Jin Ling lazily lifted his head but kept his eyes downcast, still too nervous to look Lan Sizhui in the eyes in case everything happening really was his imagination.

But Lan Sizhui had an immaculate talent for making things feel both dreamlike and real. It was his low, gentle voice saying his name that finally gave Jin Ling the courage to look at him.

Lan Sizhui smiled one of his impossibly charming, lopsided smiles that made Jin Ling’s heart flutter and his head spin. The Lan boy’s head was covered in petals and Jin Ling instinctively reached up to dust them off as though he’d done so a million times before.

“You’re gonna turn into a cherry blossom tree,” Jin Ling muttered, fussing over every petal while knowing it was just an excuse to keep touching him.

Lan Sizhui chuckled and tilted his head. “If I do, will you come and visit me?”

Jin Ling narrowed his eyes, exactly as Lan Sizhui expected he would. He then mumbled a quick shut up—also expected.

What Lan Sizhui didn’t expect was Jin Ling’s hands abruptly cupping his face and pulling him down into a spontaneous yet timid kiss. He froze with shock, eyes wide as Jin Ling’s lips trembled against his.

After realizing Lan Sizhui didn’t kiss him back, Jin Ling’s hands slipped from the other boy’s face. Anxiety and mortification wracked his body as he stumbled backwards and clenched his shaking fists at his side. “I… I’m—“

Just as he was about to turn and run, Lan Sizhui lunged forward and grabbed his hand. “A-Ling, don’t—“

“I’m sorry,” Jin Ling choked, eyes glossed and burning. I ruined everything, he thought. “Sizhui, I’m—“

He wasn’t given the chance to repeat his apology as Lan Sizhui tugged him into another embrace. “Don’t go,” he whispered. “There’s nothing to be sorry for.”

The second Jin Ling’s strained posture relaxed in his arms, Lan Sizhui felt tears soaking into the lapels of his robes. He barely pulled away to smile down at the young Jin disciple, lifting a hand to brush his hair out of his face and wipe the tears from his cheeks.

“You really know how to make someone speechless, A-Ling,” Lan Sizhui jested. “Can we try that again?”

Jin Ling nodded up at him, shivering when Lan Sizhui’s fingertips brushed along his jaw and tilted his chin. The Lan boy’s thumb gently passed over Jin Ling’s bottom lip before he leaned in close and…

The kiss was nothing like Jin Ling’s impulsive, hesitant crashing of lips.

Lan Sizhui’s kiss was soft, slow and confident, giving Jin Ling the overwhelming assurance that both of them wanted this. He stood on the tips of his toes, launching himself deeper into the kiss as he wrapped his arms around Lan Sizhui’s neck and carded his fingers through his raven hair.

The blush on both boy’s cheeks had never burned so bright as they explored and experimented with angles, movements, holding each other’s face, neck, waist. Neither of them had the slightest idea what they were doing, having never kissed anyone before but they quickly found a steady rhythm with each other’s guidance.

Jin Ling let his guard fall entirely, feeling dizzy and wanted and safe in Lan Sizhui’s arms. His surrender emboldened Lan Sizhui to hold him tighter, kiss him deeper, anything to let him know how elated he was that his feelings for him were requited.

They slowly broke the kiss but stayed close, warm breaths tickling each other's skin as they exhaled. Lan Sizhui surprised Jin Ling by pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. He smiled against his skin and Jin Ling stared at him in a trance, unable to look away.

A few cherry blossom petals fluttered between their faces, bringing the world around them back into focus. Lan Sizhui looked up to find that the bright evening light was now a deep orange, blanketing the grove in hazy twilight. “It’ll be dark soon,” he said, looking back at Jin Ling. “There’s one more thing I wanted to show you but I’d hate to get you in trouble with Sect Leader Jiang.”

Jin Ling recalled finding his uncle with Nie Huaisang at the tea house, knowing all too well that Jin Ling was the last thing on their minds. “Trust me, he’s occupied.” He absentmindedly played with a lock of Lan Sizhui’s hair as he continued. “Besides, he’ll only come here if I use a flare, so unless you plan on murdering me or something…”

Lan Sizhui blinked at him and laughed, shaking his head. “I don’t make a habit of murdering people I lo—“He stopped himself and nervously glanced at his feet.

“People you…?” Jin Ling raised a curious brow and waited for him to finish, his heart beating quicker.

“P-People I care about,” Lan Sizhui sputtered.

Jin Ling knew that wasn’t what he originally meant to say but it was still painfully sweet and the Lan boy was hopelessly adorable when he was flustered. “Well, good,” Jin Ling asserted, eyes narrowing mischievously. “Don’t think I wouldn’t fight back just because I like you.”

Lan Sizhui grinned admiringly, the young Jin disciple’s playfulness easing his nerves. “I’d expect nothing less. But you’ll never have to worry about that, A-Ling.”

Hearing his name in the low, dulcet tone of Lan Sizhui’s voice made the tips of Jin Ling’s ears redden and his chest flood with light. He looked down and fidgeted with one of his bracers. “So… what else did you want to show me?”

“Oh!” Lan Sizhui’s face illuminated with recollection as he broke himself out of the amorous spell they’d both been under. He glanced up at the darkening sky and smiled. “Perfect timing.”

Lan Sizhui held his hand out to Jin Ling who took it without hesitation, his mind immediately obsessing over the comforting sensation of the Lan boy’s strong, slender fingers wrapping around his own.

They moved further into the grove until they came upon a large cherry blossom tree that caved into an alcove at the base of its trunk. The two disciples sat down together and nestled into the space, Jin Ling quickly realizing the tree was giving him another chance to cozy up with the handsome boy beside him.

The wind seemed to approve of this scenario as a cold gust of night air whipped past and made him shiver against Lan Sizhui who was quick to act, shrugging off his outer robe and chivalrously draping it over Jin Ling’s shoulders. He wrapped his arm around him and held him closer as he nodded towards the grove. “Ready?”

Jin Ling mentally thanked the night for masking the blush on his face and leaned against Lan Sizhui, soaking up the warmth of his embrace.

Just then, something in the grove caught his eye. Little glowing balls of green light began flickering to life all around them—clinging to the grass, floating in the air, dappling the cherry blossoms’ canopies with ethereal fluorescence.

Jin Ling’s eyes lit up and darted everywhere, an excited smile spreading across his face. “Fireflies!”

Lan Sizhui grinned at his reaction and nodded. “They seem to like it here, probably because it’s so close to the pond—Ah! Hold on.”

He removed his arm from around Jin Ling, who frowned and huddled closer as Lan Sizhui rummaged through his qiankun pouch and sighed.

“What’s wrong?” Jin Ling asked.

“I think I left my extra parchment at the bookshop,” Lan Sizhui explained. “I usually continue studying out here, but…” He glanced at Jin Ling then closed his qiankun pouch and smiled. “It’s not important, especially right now.”

Jin Ling suddenly straightened, remembering the notebook he’d bought for him at the market. A warm expression verging on bashful washed over his face as he fiddled with the leather pouch at his waist. “Um… A-Yuan?”

Lan Sizhui raised his brows in surprise, making sure he heard him right.

“Don’t get mad at me,” Jin Ling started, “But I got you something else from the market.”

The Lan boy watched curiously as Jin Ling removed something wrapped in cloth from the pouch on his belt and handed it to him. Lan Sizhui carefully unwrapped it while Jin Ling rambled nervously.

“If… if you don’t like it, it’s okay. I can take it back or you can give it to someone else or—“

Lan Sizhui’s mouth fell open upon seeing the magical cover of the notebook that emerged from the fabric—rich sky blue decorated with silver clouds and rabbits glimmering brilliantly in the moonlight. Occasional flashes of green reflected in the silver from the fireflies flitting above.

He gingerly ran his fingers along the cover and smiled, shaking his head. “How could I be mad at you? This is beautiful, A-Ling. But…”

Jin Ling’s heart sank for a moment before Lan Sizhui finished his sentence.

“It looks expensive. I hope you didn’t have to pay too much for it.”

The young Jin disciple exhaled a breath he didn’t know he was holding and narrowed his eyes. “You—what did I say earlier?! Don’t worry about that.” He pulled Lan Sizhui’s robe tighter around his shoulders and mumbled, “It’s… it’s just something I thought you’d like.”

Lan Sizhui gently nudged his shoulder against Jin Ling’s and beamed. “I love it. Thank you.”

Jin Ling huffed and leaned into him, watching the fireflies as the Lan boy fished his brush and ink pot from his qiankun pouch and began writing in the notebook.

Curiosity eventually took hold of Jin Ling and he looked down at the page to see a drawing of a flower he didn’t recognize, followed by a brief description:

Golden petals like velvet sun. Thorns are deceptive, soft to the touch. Defiantly grows alone but flourishes with others when given the chance. Unparalleled beauty. Inspires an overwhelming sense of euphoria when seen or touched.

He furrowed his brow after reading. “What kind of flower is that?”

Lan Sizhui looked up from the notebook with a smile. “A very special one.”

Jin Ling glanced around the grove and frowned. “I don’t see any flowers like that here.” He looked up at Lan Sizhui with a pout. “You’ll have to show it to me sometime.”

Lan Sizhui responded by leaning down and pressing a kiss to his forehead, making Jin Ling’s cheeks redden. “I will.”

The young Jin disciple rested his head against the Lan boy’s shoulder and watched the fireflies waltz with falling blossoms in the tranquil grove. Lan Sizhui sighed contentedly and continued writing, eyes frequently wandering to Jin Ling as he added more notes about the ‘flower.’

Sweet to taste, heaven to hold, a privilege to love—

Someday, he’ll see what I see.

{ 🖤 }

42 notes · View notes

yenqa · 9 months

Text

APPLE CIDER (bedroom sessions)

Sparkling apple cider. Once a sweet, refreshing drink you could easily enjoy. Now everytime you’re reminded of that cursed drink all you get is the sour memories that came with it. One memory including the fallout of yours and (now ex) boyfriend, Jay's relationship. But, it just so happens Jay is determined to win your heart back once again. Will he be able to restore the sweet taste? Or will apple cider ruin your life once again?

read part one here!

genre : exes to lovers, written fic, angst, fluff, dual pov (but more y/n, highschool au

featuring : enhypen, chaewon of lsfm, kwon eunbi, ocs : hyun-woo, mrs. lim

warnings : swearing (lots), ignorant parents (only mentioned), crying, food, parties, groveling??? idk, reader has the same bad habits, blood/injuries

wc : 7k

pairing : jay x fem!reader

YENQA : i worked really hard on this and im really happy with the outcome!! i hope you guys like it as much as i do :) also!! everyone thank @yeokii and @redm4ri for proof reading this!!

000 FIRST HEARTBREAK (prologue)

It was junior year when you first met him. Just last year (2022), Hyun-woo walked up to you in the library with a charming but sweet smile, he sat next to you and introduced himself. At first you were skeptical, unsure of your new friendship. But his stupid cute smile and his enchanting eyes lured you right in.

That night you had left with his number and a smile on your face.

The next few weeks he barely ever talked to you, sufficing with a small wave in the hallways or small talk about classwork. But when spring was just around the corner, that had immediately changed.

Hundreds of messages came through in the span of two months. You two would talk for hours and hours on end about anything really. His sweet smile would stay throughout all those facetimes, sometimes you wondered if his face would fall off if he smiled any longer.

After months of talking, you figured out you were hopelessly falling for him. And there was no way out. But you also figured he must’ve liked you back—I mean those hundreds of calls weren’t for nothing were they?

At first, they weren’t. He eventually asked you out in May and you dated happily for three months.

Since he was your first you didn’t know how a relationship should work, or how one should act in it. You thought him ghosting you for weeks on end was normal, and that everyone went through it. Even if it wasn’t normal, he came back to you, showering you in gifts such as stuffed animals and gold jewelry. So, you continued on with the relationship, knowing he would come back to you anyways.

But then, he didn’t come back. It was September and you hadn’t talked to him all August—to say the least you were confused. Where had he been all this time?

The first day of school you had immediately ran up to him, you remembered you had said, “What’s wrong? Why have you been ignoring me all last month?”

And he laughed.

He laughed straight at your worried expression.

And you want to cry.

It was all a bet, he said. One that involved completely playing with you to win some money.

You couldn’t cry in front of him, nor could you run away from him like a fucking loser (which you really wanted to do but you wouldn’t want to see the pleasure on his face). All you could do was say “Okay,” and walk away. That’s all you did—So hopefully to him you seemed unfazed. But that facade didn’t last long.

You almost tripped over things or even people on the way to the bathroom, sobbing your eyes out until they had wrung dry.

You were sad—Yes, but you were also frustrated by how stupid you were.

He didn’t even talk to you half the time, he barely even knew what you liked or disliked, he didn’t even pay attention to the kind of jewelry you wore—he bought a gold necklace for you as a loyal silver wearer, and overall you were just stupid. Stupid to fall for the role he put on.

Crying usually didn’t take long for you, usually an half an hour at most. But that day you had sobbed and sobbed in that stupid toilet stall for one hour and you didn’t feel like going back to class with your crusty eyes, so you accidentally skipped your first three periods.

You remember that day as vividly as possible. Your parents were furious that you skipped three classes—So angry they didn’t even look twice at the dark circles under your puffy eyes or the red tint that had covered your face.

One thing you knew was that you never told them, the only thing telling them would get you was a scolding because you skipped three classes over a boy. A boy who was your “first love”. And as stupid as it sounds, they wouldn’t understand. Honestly you wouldn’t be surprised if they told you that they thought your feelings were just little pranks you were playing on them.

If your parents thought that, everyone probably thought that. So, you put on a happy face for Chaewon, even if she knew you were sad she probably didn’t even care. I mean if Hyun-woo didn’t even like you, who would?

001 REALIZING THE OBVIOUS

Jay never thought he was stupid. Actually, he found much pride in how smart he was. He was always the kind of person to think before they say something. He was never impulsive—Well until he met you that is. But that didn’t really end well did it?

It made it even worse that nobody seemed to care. Sunoo didn’t even send a sad look his way (which by the way—Was totally deserved even if he did mess up).

“Why the long face, Jay? You lose another cute girl?” Jake teases, a grin appearing on his face.

“Who was it again? Hyun-woo’s ex-girlfriend?" Sunghoon's smile grows, “Finally played her?”

Jay groans, “Yeah, i did, but i messed up, bad.”

“What- did Hyun-woo threaten to jump you again?” Jungwon's eyebrows furrow, almost worried that Jay would lose in a fight with him—which he definitely wouldn’t.

“God, you guys are so ignorant, think about the poor girl for once.” Sunoo sighs, rolling his eyes at his friend's fuckboy-ness.

Jay almost rolls his eyes at Sunoo's comment. Were you thinking about Y/n when you blurted his secret out? But he knew he had to take accountability, whether he liked it or not.

“No way. Does the Park Jay feel bad about a girl? The Heartbreaker Park Jay?" Jake asks. And Jay wonders why he’s even friends with them. “Okay, I do feel bad. How do you apologize to a girl? Also Sunoo?"

He tilts his head.

“Never get drunk again.” Jay warns.

He scoffs, “Weren’t you planning on telling her anyways? I just ripped the bandage off for you.”

The group of boys burst into laughter but Jay couldn’t seem to figure out what was funny. “I didn’t come here for you guys to laugh at my misery.”

Niki gasps, “Jay, you’re actually serious about this one? This is a first.”

This time Jay actually rolls his eyes, “No dumbass- I’m just mad I can’t play around with her anymore.” The group seems fully convinced, some nodding their heads in expectancy. Jay’s eyebrows furrow seeing them be so blind to his problem, “I was kidding.” He deadpans, “I’m serious about her.”

His nose scrunches ever so slightly, “Oh. Well then you’re in huge trouble.”

“I know.”

“Okay—But seriously,” Jay asked, “How should I apologize?” A sudden wave of silence washed over them, looking at each other and shrugging.

Apologies, apologies, apologies was what went through his brain that night. What could he do that could fix the mess he had made?

People say real apologies came from the heart, but what even came from the heart? It’s an organ.

Jay’s mind felt like it was about to explode. It’s been an hour but his mind was empty, completely hollow. How could he fix this situation? Well first he could say sorry—Not that you would forgive him easily but it was a crucial part to his fix.

Until it finally clicked.

002 JAY’S “MASTER” PLAN

Last week you couldn’t bear the thought of coming back to school after the party, but here you were, driving yourself to school after a very sad three week mid winter break. A band aid now covering the tip of your finger that you had picked off. And—Of course. You forgot your water bottle again.

You sigh, fixing your silver necklace, you brush your hair behind your hair and open the car to—Oh fuck.

Why did Jay just happen to look like a fucking angel fallen from heaven at 7am in the morning?

And why was Jay here so early at school? You usually arrive much earlier than him.

You compose yourself, walking past him. Holding yourself to not even slightly slow down or look back.

Finally arriving at your locker you open it, looking at the light pink bag in it, one that you never put in it. Your eyebrows furrow as you pick it up, opening the mysterious bag.

You smile at the small snacks inside. A small bag of your favorite chips and a few of your favorite candies. That smile drops when you see an apple shaped sticky note with familiar handwriting inside.

Some gasps behind you, you jump, quickly turning around to see your beloved friends. “Someone’s got a secret admirer?” Eunbi teases, both Chaewon and her walking up to you.

You sigh, “It’s from Jay, do you want it?” You offer to both of them. They both grab it, sharing whatever snacks are in there.

“Oh!” Chaewon lights up, “Here’s your coffee.” She smiles with guilt. You smile back, gladly taking a sip of the slightly bitter drink to quench your thirst.

“Did the note say anything?” Eunbi pulls out the slightly crumpled sticky note in there. You glance at it, noticing Jay’s very asymmetrical heart.

You unconsciously laugh, quickly covering it up before grabbing the small note, reading it.

To My Apple,

I was stupid to use you to get back at him. Honestly the most stupid thing I would ever do and I deeply regret it. I’m sorry. I know you probably don’t want to see me right now and I understand that you want your space from me. I just want to make it clear, I really do love you and I would never ever do something that horrible to you again. And I'm willing to do whatever it takes to be on good terms even if you don’t fully forgive me for what I did to you. I truly am in love with and honestly I can’t live without you. Fuck I just miss you, you don’t have to respond or anything I just want to make it clear that I’m sorry, and I love you so much.

Jay

And your lips tug up just a bit.

“Y/n are you okay? You’ve been quiet since you’ve read that. What’s on there?” Chaewon asks, moving next to you to read from the flimsy paper.

Your eyes widen slightly, “Oh—It’s nothing.” you fumble with the paper a bit, “Nothing important.”

Eunbi laughs, “You’re such a bad liar, Y/n. But if it’s from Jay then you have to tell us.” Chaewon nods.

“No! I mean, it’s not from Jay. Let’s just go to class?” You smile at them shoving the sticky note into whatever pants pocket you have.

“You’re lucky you have your first period alone Missy.”

Throwing them a cheeky smile, you quickly walk to the nearest trash can, quickly tossing it in before looking around. You make eye contact with Jay and quickly look away again.

God—Why was the universe never on your side?

Though you try to ignore the small frown on his face, it runs through your head all day. Until, suddenly you're walking to your math seat again.

“Y/n you’re lucky that this is the only period I have with you, and that we spend all of lunch with our mouths stuffed” Eunbi groans, unpacking her notebook. She places it down neatly on her desk, before leaning forward to you.

“So, was it from Jay? Weren’t- like apples your thing?”

You let out a sigh, turning around “Apple cider was our thing. And maybe.”

She frowns, “Maybe? Y/n tell me, yes or no.”

You shrug again, turning back to the front making eye contact with the man himself again.

Does this man ever stop looking at you? Because you were almost certain his eyes were glued onto you. You look down at your notebook, trying to act as unbothered as possible—Which doesn’t really work since you hear Eunbi snickers..

You roll your eyes even though Eunbi can’t see it, she can read you like a book, whispering “If you keep rolling your eyes they’ll fall to the back of your head.”

Leaning back, you whisper, “I don’t think that’s how it works, stay in school Eunbi.”

003 PLAN IN MOTION

Getting out of the car the next day you hope and pray to every fucking god you know that you won’t see his familiar face again. But nothing ever seems to go well for you, because you see his sad smile through the window of his car.

You repeat what you did yesterday, walk away as quickly as you can without looking weird. But your legs quickly pick up because of your nervousness, speed walking to the entrance doors instead. You lean on the door, pushing to open it before walking in the same pace to your locker.

Then you finally slow your pace, opening your locker to see another light pink bag.

This time, the same snacks but with a plastic water bottle inside, with a little note saying “Make sure to drink lots of water <3”. You subconsciously smile, fishing out the piece of paper neatly tucked in.

Unfolding the paper, your jaw drops at the pencil writing that manages to cover the whole page.

Apple, my love, I might not be the best at words but I think seeing your lips tug up at my other small note motivated me to write this. Did I ever tell you that your smile brightens up my day? As cheesy as it sounds at night I used (I still do btw) to think about whatever stupid joke I made when we were on a date and how you would laugh happily at it, even if it was the worst joke ever known to mankind. And as embarrassing as it is to admit it I would giggle about it. Before and after we started dating. But you always cover your mouth when you laugh. but you shouldn’t. Your smile makes me feel like everything going wrong in my life will fix itself. When I was with you I had no worries, you made me feel free. But I’ve only brought you worries. I’m sorry.

Recently, I’ve been noticing you’ve been smiling less and yesterday you forgot to bring your water bottle to school. Please stay healthy and eat well, okay? Even if you hate me, I still care for your health. Don’t skip meals and drink lots of water, please. I’d do anything just to have a five minute conversation with you. I understand that what I did was unforgivable and that you shouldn't trust me again but please, put your trust in me one more time and please come to Azalea park at 3pm tomorrow and I’ll explain everything. I know you're angry but I beg that you be angrier at a closer distance. I’m sorry for the mess I’ve made, and I promise I’ll fix it.

Jay

Your eyebrows furrow. Was he serious? Was he trying to publicly embarrass you? Why did you want to go so bad?

Opening your phone to quickly text up Eunbi and Chaewon, who mysteriously hadn’t shown up yet.

You

bitch jay just wrote me a long last letter abt how hes sorry and how he truly loves me and wants to meet up and make things right????

where tf are yall btw

eunbi mlll

SHUT THE FUCK UP.

ARE YOU SERIOUS??

YOU HAVE TO GO

also chae cant drive me so bus it is…

chaechae

sorry ill be late to school 2day bc doctors lolsies

but r u sure eunbi????

y/n i love u but idk if this is a good idea

wait what did he say

eunbi mlll

NO U HAVE TO GO

but let us see the letter to confirm if hes sincere

You

im not about to show U guys the letter

Omfg guys i almost giggled reading it. this is Bad.

he said that he would do anything for a five minute talk with me and that he knows im mad at him but to be mad at a close distance???

now… i am Nawt your strongest soldier.

chaechae

shit if he wrote me that i wouldve folded too

changed my mind i say do it

You

so…. 2/2 votes yes?

thats kinda nerve racking idk if im ready to face him

eunbi mlll

y/n i am ready to get down on my knees and beg for u to go

you got this girl!

worst case scenario u slap him and embarrass him

chaechae

or maybe slap him when you get there, saves you the time

Just Kidding!!! Hahaha

You

Not funny at all.

hate u all

FUCKK now i have to text him and say im going

eunbi mlll

why not let him suffer???????

You

ill feel bad

chaechae

i mean did jay do that when you guys met??

You

fuck u

You exit your group chat, looking several spots down and spotting Jay contact, wincing at your last messages.

You

i’ll be at the park by 3. don’t fuck this up park

jay

wouldn’t even think about it

004 THE MEETING

Why did I agree to this again?

You glance at the clock, 2:58, I should head out now.

Sighing you open your door, walking to—From what you can distinguish from his back, Jay. you walk around the bench, brushing whatever dirt was on it and taking a seat.

Jay gives you a relieved smile, glasses framing his face perfectly-

“Glasses?” You blurt, studying the frame of them.

He coughs awkwardly, “Yeah- I um—I got them yesterday, forgot to wear them to school.”

Awkward silence washes over you two. Well was he going to say something or not?

And it’s almost like he can read your thoughts, because he starts, “Look—Apple. I just wanted to apologize in real life. It was a shitty move of me to use you-”

“Yeah- very shitty.” You interrupt, “Sorry, go on.”

“Oh okay, um- it was a terrible decision I made and I totally messed with you at the beginning, and never told you, I’m sorry.”

He pauses, choosing his words carefully.

“And—I regret it so much. I mean, you were the best thing that ever happened to me and I didn’t want to fuck it up, which would’ve happened anyways. I should’ve told you earlier on before I asked you out but I was afraid. Afraid that the only good thing in my fucked up life would vanish. So I ran away from the problem instead of talking to you about it like I should’ve. I’m sorry for running away and I swear, I would never hurt you—ever again. You don’t have to give me an answer yet, but just know that I still love you with all my heart.”

You take a deep breath, Fuck—what do I say? Should I ask him what he had against Hyun-woo?

Deciding to ask, you look at him with a hint of disappointment, “So why? What do you have against him that made you play with me?”

His eyebrows raise slightly, surprised you didn’t slap him and leave.

“Oh— it’s kind of stupid.” He says, pushing up his glasses slightly.

“I mean he both kinda fucked us over, right? I won’t judge, I hate his guts anyways.”

Jay lets out a breathy smile. “I used to be on the rugby team, remember?”

“Of course I do.”

“Well—I sound like such an egotistical jerk when I say this, but he took the captain position from me by sweet talking his way to the top. It wasn’t mine to begin with, but everyone thought that I deserved it the most, but of course, he took it from me. I wasn’t super mad or anything, I actually thought I was too cocky for um—thinking I deserved the position. It didn’t really help that he also kind of made fun of me any chance he got for not being captain. Blaming me for every loss we had then I just- snapped I guess? I quit then and there and here I am now. Even after I quit he still talked shit about me and I couldn’t really do anything. And I saw you and…” he trails off, “You know what happened.”

You swallow hard, trying to take it all in. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”

You nervously start picking at whatever skin on your ring finger you could find, looking down so you wouldn’t have to look at his expression.

“It’s not your fault, don’t apologize, Apple. Plus I’m over it.”

He suddenly scowls, grabbing the now bleeding hand.

“Stop doing this. It’s not good” He pulls out a bandaid from his pocket, carefully placing it around your finger.

You laugh at the sight, “You carry around band aids now?”

“Ever since I met you, yeah.” He slips out and you both go silent.

Was that true? He noticed it?

You clear your throat awkwardly, yanking your hand away after he finishes. “Thank you for the band aid—uh, about your apology, I appreciate it, but I need some time to think about it, if that's okay?”

“Yeah, take your time, I understand.” He gives you a soft smile, which you return. Waving at him while walking to your car.

You sit in the driver’s seat, calling the group chat while backing out.

Chaewon joins first, “So…. How’d it go? Did you slap him? Or did you forgive him?”

Eunbi joins just after, waiting for your answer.

“I don’t know how to feel.” You answer, sighing.

“Hey, you’ll figure it out Y/n! Don’t worry, everything will be fine.” Eunbi gives you a thumbs up with a soft smile.

You nod, returning her smile, and you try to believe it too.

005 THE CALL

As soon as you were out of view Jay pulled his phone out, noticing the ten text messages from the man himself.

sunoo

jayyy

hello

where r u

wait r u two meeting today

OK IK U WONT SEE THIS

so i just want to say sorry for… kinda ruining ur relationship.

IM SO SORRY I WAS DRUNKK PLEASE FORGIVE MEEE

anyways.. text me back whenever u can!!

have fun with y/n

hope it goes well

A smile grows on Jay’s face, he presses his contact photo, bringing his phone to his ear.

“Jay! I didn’t think you would answer so soon?”

“It’s been fifteen minutes? I feel like that's a good amount of time to have a conversation.” Did you just want to leave him as soon as possible? Fuck maybe he didn’t have a chance to win you ba-

“Oh! It’s been fifteen minutes? I guess time flies when you’re on your phone right?” Nevermind.

“So! Did you and Y/n kiss and make up? Or was she angry?”

“No, we just talked? Like I said we would?”

“Are you sure?” Sunoo says in a teasing tone. With that simple sentence, Jay could tell Sunoo was probably giggling to himself about you two meeting up.

“Yes I’m sure? Why would I be lying?” Jay feels the wind pick up some speed, an indication he should go home. He walks himself to the car while talking to Sunoo.

“So you’re telling me, all you did was apologize and she left?”

“Yeah.”

Sunoo groans, “That’s so boring! Totally thought you would have a movie moment then.”

“I mean the only thing unexpected I told her was what happened with Hyun-woo and me.”

He dramatically gasps, “But you never tell anyone? Why does she get to know and not me?”

“She asked.” Jay shrugs, starting the car.

“But you never told me, I only know that you two hate each other! This is straight favoritism. Can’t believe you.” Sunoo angrily exclaims, deciding to hang up the call.

Jay sighs, driving back home.

006 DAY RUINER

Today, you smile as you leave your car. Instead of walking as fast as you can to the doors, you even wave at Jay’s car pulling in. He waves back, a big smile on his face that catches onto yours. You happily walk to the entrance, pushing open the entrance door and walking to your locker.

Getting your first period textbook, and closing your locker, you quickly spot Eunbi and Chaewon walking towards you.

“Someones happy, did you get a good morning message from your lover?” Eunbi teases.

You take a sip of the coffee Chaewon gave you. “No? Can’t a girl just have a good day?” You twirl around.

“Okay you’re acting really weird. Is something wrong?” They exchange glances, waiting for your answer.

“Yeah, somethings wrong.” A male voice comes up to you. Your smile immediately drops. Hyun-woo looks at you, standing between you and Eunbi, he grabs your hand dragging you away.

“What the fuck? Get off me!” You exclaim, trying your best to yank your hand away from him. But apparently his rugby muscles could keep you in his hold, but definitely way too tight for comfort. Hopefully you won't get a big ass bruise there.. He leads you to a hallway which is surprisingly empty.

“Can we talk? Y/n?”

You scoff, “Are you crazy? You drag me here and expect me to want to have a civil conversation with you?’ huffing, you turn back around.

“I want to get back together, Y/n!”

You stop in your tracks, turning around at his conflicted face before bursting out laughing. You only laugh more looking at his hurt face.

“Y/n are you laughing? I’m serious! I want you back! And I know you want me back too!”

You finally stop laughing, taking a deep breath “Gosh you’re funny Hyun-woo. Okay, I’m leaving.” He grabs you again. Does this guy think he’s in a kdrama or something?

“Y/n. I didn’t mean to hurt you, and I miss you. Can we get back together?”

“So… you played me, and you want to get back together?”

“I wouldn’t say played-”

“Oh but I would. And can you get your hand off me? I can feel your odor latching on to me.” Yanking your hand away, you look at him in disgust.

“Y/n please. Can we-”

“You’re insane Hyun-woo. If you haven’t gotten the hint yet—Which I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t, I’m not interested in dating someone who’s a lookalike to the hunchback of Notre Dame. Actually, maybe that would be an improvement to you.” You shrug, walking away. Shivering in disgust at the thought of him grabbing your arm.

How did I even like this guy? Also what is it with men these days? A scowl is very obvious on your face as you walk back to your lockers. Before you get back to Chaewon and Eunbi, someone taps you from behind.

You turn, “I swear to god Hyun-woo if you-”

“Not Hyun-woo, just me.”

You turn to see Jay, a frown present on his face. Your mouth widens slightly and you close it right away. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize for that, but are you okay? Why did he do that?” He checks your wrist for any forming bruises. Tsking at the slight red tint on your arm. “I’m fine, Jay. It was for something stupid anyways.” you answer, grabbing at his hands to stop.

“What’d he do?” You can hear the genuine concern in his voice and you know you’ll feel horrible if you don’t tell him.

“He just,” you cough awkwardly, “asked to get back together.”

His face changes slightly, but you can’t tell how, “Did you agree?”

“Oh god no—oh my god I wouldn’t even spare a single thought thinking about it.” You laugh, squeezing his hand slightly. A wave of relief washes over his face, “I’m glad. Call me if he does it again, okay?”

“Am I supposed to be your damsel in distress?”

“I was thinking we could kick his ass together.”

You let out a giggle, “I’ll make sure to let you know then,” waving goodbye, you walking back to your beloved trio.

“Oh my god, I didn’t know the talk went that well, you guys were flirting so hard!” Chaewon whisper-yells.

“We were not flirting.”

“Oh you so were. You literally giggled while talking to him” Eunbi agrees.

“I did?”

“See it was so natural you didn’t even notice! I wasn’t really a fan of Jay but he clearly makes you happy.” Chaewon admits, putting her hands up in surrender from Eunbi’s offended look.

“I don’t know. I mean he did kinda use me. So who says he won’t do it again?”

“Me, I do. If he does I’ll literally punch him to oblivion” Eunbi and Chaewon start pretend boxing, the bell interrupting their match. They both groan, giving up mid match.

“I’m glad I’m friends with the next Muhammad Ali, but I’m going to go to class now.” You laugh, waving goodbye and walking to your first period.

007 CALLS AT MIDNIGHT

Your math class gave you time to think about everything going wrong in your life, because who was actually listening to Mrs. Lim’s blabbering? You doodle little hearts in your notebook, now noticing that you hadn’t written a single note and the whole page was just covered in your drawings.

Does this class never end or something? You wonder, checking the clock.

Twenty minutes left, you internally groan, how is it that time moves so slow during times like these? You bring your hand to your mouth, biting the nail off your ring finger. Feeling a vibration coming from your phone, you quickly take a look at the board, making sure the teacher was still writing before checking it.

jay

stop

You

whatd i do???

jay

stop biting your nails

i can see you doing it yk

You

thats none of your business

jay

it’s not

but i still care ya know

You

oh really?

jay

really.

You

fine whatever 🙄🙄

The smile that had grown on your face quickly fades the moment you even notice it was there. Why are you folding so easily Y/n? You have to give him a hard time! You sigh louder than you realize, quickly feeling embarrassment when Mrs. Lim stares right at you.

“Is something wrong, Y/n?” Mrs. Lim asks, a cruel eyebrow raised.

Oh, fuck me. “No Mrs. Lim, nothing is wrong.” You smile as sweetly as you can.

“Then I guess you won’t mind answering one of these questions?” She showcases three equations on the board.

Your smile falls slightly, not this shit again, you complain, walking up to the first equation staring at it blankly while she picks the next two students. Holding the marker up and pretending to think, knowing damn well that you hadn’t listened to a single thing she said that day.

Looking over to the person next to you, Jay, seems to already be looking in your direction, a small smile on his face.

“Looks like you need help this time, Apple? What a twist.”

You roll your eyes, “You didn’t even need help last time. But yes, I do. Could you please—like give me the answer or something?”

“X equals four point five seven.”

You finally return his smile, a small thank you coming out as you write it on the board.

After another long twenty minutes the bell finally rings, indicating that school is finally over. Your usual after school routine was, 1. walk to your car with Chaewon and Eunbi (sometimes you hung out, but today you weren’t) 2. Go home (duh), and start your homework, 3. Eat dinner, and 4. Go on your phone until you fall asleep. You didn’t mind this arrangement, it kept you comfortable knowing that you had some free time later in the day. But today, you were dreading it more than ever.

Why? you ask?

Every couple of days, whenever your phone wasn’t doing your boredom justice you put it down for a good three minutes. And those three minutes entirely made up of you staring at the ceiling and thinking. That was the problem. You didn’t want to think about a single thing that happened today. You didn’t want to think about your upcoming tests that only got you nervous before you were about to go to bed or your love life (which it sometimes went to but you always dreaded even bringing up the topic to yourself).

Tonight was one of those nights you would stare at the ceiling.

The topic you always first thought of was what you did earlier that day. But unfortunately for you, half of the day you had thought about you and Jay basically holding each other's hands. And the other half was thinking about if you forgave Jay yet.

You wanted to say you didn’t. That you would have to take at least two weeks after the apology to even think about the apology. But two days after the apology, here you were. Staring into space about how you think he would react to you forgiving him.

I mean you had basically already forgave him, I mean you wouldn’t have squeezed someone's hand you hated, right? And you definitely don’t miss the voice of someone you hate.

Staring at the ceiling clearly wasn’t a good idea. Because you were already grabbing your phone, looking at his contact. Just above it is your group chat with Eunbi and Chaewon. Maybe you should get a greenlight before you decide to call him.

You glance at the clock, making sure it wasn’t too late to text your friends. The clock hits 11:52 as you look at it. Typing out the texts, you wait until the message sends before closing out of the app.

You

hey guys lawl

r u awake

pls say Yes!

Luckily, Chaewon answers just a few seconds after you close the app.

chaechae

hi im awake

is eunbi awake around this time???

You

no shes never awake past 10 LMFAO

shouldve messaged u privately

chaechae

HELPP FR

wait so what did u want to talk abt

You

Uhmm

so uh

do u think its weird that i’ve forgiven jay so easily and should i call him.. lowkey miss him

chaechae

BITCH U FORGAVE HIM??

WHEN

ok but no??

i mean anyone could literally see how hard he tried to make it up to you

and call him!! Yolo

You

ok Thx!!!!

chaechae

yw 😘😘

Closing the chat, you look at his caller i.d, noticing how big his smile was in the contact photo you never deleted. Smiling, you look down at the call button, wondering if this was a good idea or not. You hesitantly lift your finger, hovering over the rectangle before clicking it.

The phone rings twice, before he answers.

“Y/n, is everything okay? Why are you calling at midnight?”

“Everything’s fine, don't worry, but sorry, did I wake you up?”

You can hear shuffling on his side of the call, before he answers, “No no, I was awake. Why did you call?”

“Honestly? I just wanted to hear your voice.”

He lets out a low chuckle, “Really? That’s it?”

“I also think I forgive you and I want to be your girlfriend again.”

A wave of silence washes over you two. Not a single sound comes through your phone, not a single shuffling or anything. Maybe you shouldn’t have called him, this was a stupid idea. Who let you make important decisions past ten o’clock?

Until he starts up again. “Wait, really?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“You don’t have to answer that right now if you’re not ready to, I can wait eternity for you.”

“No it’s okay, That’s my answer. Let’s give this thing another try.”

“Thank you, Apple. I’ve missed you a lot, you know?”

You smile, “I’ve missed you a lot too.”

008 FOREVER

“Jay, it’s a Saturday.”

He has a huge grin on his face, he very proudly presents what’s in his hands. A bouquet of white and purple roses with a mix of some unknown flower sit in his hands, the brown paper wrapped by twine making him loudly announce every move he’s about to make.

“So? I missed my girl.”

You sigh, rubbing your pried open eyes. “At nine in the morning? I wake up at like eleven.” His smile never falters, not a single bit, “I got you flowers.” Jay says, handing them to you.

“Thank you, Jay. But these are so bright they could literally blind me.”

“I put a lot of thought into this, you know? ‘Made sure to pick the prettiest one for you.” He points to the unknown purple flower. “This is called a Heliotrope.”

“Is there a meaning to it?”

“You’ll figure it out.” He smirks. Rolling your eyes, you invite him into your house. placing the bouquet carefully on your desk before inviting him to sit on your bed.

You lay back in the spot you were before you had opened the door. About to tuck yourself back in when you realize you have a guest with you, you toss the blanket open, gesturing for him to lay next to you. Jay gladly accepts, laying next to you. Closing your eyes you feel the dip in the bed right next to you.

You two both move to get comfortable, finding it best when you’re facing each other, arms lazily thrown over each other.

“Did you just come here to cuddle?” You ask, the words barely coming out of your throat. A soft chuckle comes out of him, you can feel the vibrations of his chest when he says, “Would you mind if I said yes?”

You shake your head no, pulling him impossibly closer. He wraps his arm around your head, softly caressing it until you fall asleep.

Later, you wake up to Jay still sleeping soundly. Checking the time you realize you’ve been sleeping for at least an hour. You grab your phone from the bedside table checking your notifications and social media apps.

In your peripheral view, the bright purple flowers stand out brightly to you. You quickly switch apps to look up the meaning of the flower.

Pressing enter you read the first box you see.

“In the language of flowers, Heliotrope symbolizes devotion and eternal love.”

A smile grows on your face, Eternal love, I could get used to that.

009 TO DRINK SOME APPLE CIDER (extra timeskip)

Sitting down at your vanity, you look over at Jay to see his familiar dyed silver hair, and a nice dress shirt. You turn back to the mirror.

“Can you believe 2024 is over?” You ask Jay, blending out the eyeshadow you’re putting on. He walks next to you, wrapping his arms around your body, laying down on you. “I’m glad I’ll be spending it with my girl.”

You cover your face feeling the warmth grow on it, slapping his arm, and he quickly pulls away, hissing at the contact.

“Hey! What was that for?”

“For not letting me get ready.” You jokingly roll your eyes, he quickly kisses your cheek before going back to fix his shirt.

Once you finish you showcase your look, you decide to wear a satin green dress, matching Jay’s dark green shirt. You both look at your full length mirror admiring how you look.

“You look so pretty, Apple.” He says, pressing a soft kiss on your forehead.

You smile when he does that, “You don’t look too bad yourself, Park.”

He frowns, “Don’t call me Park.” he says. You smirk mischievously, “I’m sorry, my big baby.” You tease, pinching both his cheeks. A knock to your apartment door sets you apart. You quickly let his cheeks go, a red tint fills them as you run to open the door. Chaewon and Eunbi greet you two, both holding food of some sort.

Later everyone arrives and the sound of the room grows. Laughter and banter fills the air as the clock continues to click to midnight.

You stand off to the side, wanting a break from everyone for a little bit, taking a sip of the sparkling apple cider you’ve had in your hands the whole night. You look back up to see Jay approaching you with a smile, showcasing his matching cup.

“We both have apple cider!” He exclaims, gesturing to the amber colored drinks in both of your hands.

“What a coincidence.” You laugh, enveloping him in a hug. “Where have you been all night? I haven’t seen you since Jungwon arrived.”

“Sorry, I was just talking with them. Got caught up and then suddenly it’s minutes to midnight! Couldn’t miss my new year’s kiss with my girl could I?”

The seconds count down as the crowd of friends all join to count down from ten.

“Ten!” They exclaim.

“Who said you were getting one?”

“Nine! Eight! Seven!”

“I’ve been hoping for one. Would you like to be my New Year’s kiss?”

“Five! Four! Three!”

“I’d love to.” You respond, he barely hears it before the friends scream in excitement.

“Two!”

You close your eyes, smash your lips into his, tasting the sweet apple cider from both of your lips. He smiles into the kiss as the whole apartment celebrates. He wraps his unoccupied hand around your waist, as you wrap yours around his neck, being careful to not spill.

You finally pull away and he looks at you with a love sick gaze. You let out a breathy smile, “Happy New Year, My love.”

“Happy New Year, Apple.”

Giving him a huge hug, you look at everyone chug down their champagne drinks, laughing when Sunghoon spills on his shirt.

“I love you.” Jay whispers.

“I love you too, Jay. I hope we spend the rest of the year together.”

“Maybe even forever.” He replies.

You look back at him, tilting your head slightly. A huge smile still plastered on your face. “Forever and always.”

taglist : @jwnghyuns @ja4hyvn @trsrina @redm4ri @badmuni @yeokii @enhastolemyheart @softpia @s00buwu @ox1-lovesick @flwoie @kjrcrz @hsgworld @boyfhee

313 notes · View notes

bebepac · 2 years

Text

The Good Part

Series: The Rotten Apple 🍎 The Book: TRH and Beyond! The Pairings: Eleanor x Nico / Eleanor x M!OC) / Liam x Riley Word Count: 4940 Warnings and Ratings: Teen: Mentions of mental illness, mention of character deaths Song Inspiration: The Good Part by AJR Summary: Nico comes to visit Eleanor and unknowingly brings a stowaway. Eleanor leaves the hospital to begin a new life in Greece.

Original Post: 08/21/22 at 10:50PM EST.

A/N: We are finally here at the first installment of the finale of this series. Again, I am really content with the story I’ve presented to you all so far, and I hope that you have enjoyed it too, and look forward to the conclusion for this little family I have created for Eleanor.

“Eleanor you’re beaming.”

“I’ve never felt quite like this before.”

“Tell me about what you’re feeling. Is it Nicolas? I heard he had visited."

Ellie’s smile widened.

“Nico wants me to come home to him and our daughter, Doctor Stanley. I didn’t think I had a home anywhere anymore.”

“How does that make you feel, Eleanor?”

“Incredibly happy.” Her smile faded. “Also sad at the same time.”

“Why sad?”

“Because I wonder, why does he love me? Why do they love me?”

“Why shouldn’t he? Why wouldn't they?”

"My own mother doesn't even love me, and she was supposed to be that person I was supposed to have an unbreakable bond with. She was supposed to unconditionally love me and she doesn’t. My father loves me now, only because he got to know me, but if he had known I wasn't his genetic child, he wouldn't have wanted me either. Do you know how hard it has been for me to find my own path in the world, when I know my parents would have ended my life before it began, because of my true lineage? I wasn't supposed to be in this world at all, Doctor Stanley."

"But you are Eleanor, so what are you going to do with that?"

“Try to change, because I’ve done horrible things that I’m sure you’re aware of. I am a bad person. I want to be the person they deserve.”

“Eleanor, look at me.”

Elle’s downcast eyes slowly drifted up to meet the eyes of her therapist.

“You are the person they deserve. But, you’ve also had horrible things happen to you. You were fractured long before you committed those crimes, and that was not your fault. It wasn’t. Being fractured does not make you bad, evil, or unworthy of love. It just makes you… a person. People fracture in a lot of ways, some are just not as clear as what happened to you. You said you were ready?”

“Yes."

"Then let's continue on this path talking about this, you’re doing great. This is exactly what I want you to do, you need to address these thoughts and feelings you have. You have to understand and acknowledge them, all of it! Grieve for it if you must, and move past them, to get to a healthier place. I believe you can get to a healthier place. One of the things we have to do which I know that really upsets you, is we have to talk more about your mother; A lot more. It’s not going to be easy, but it’s something we have to do. You have to forgive her, and yourself.”

“I don’t know how….”

“It’s going to take time Eleanor.”

Doctor Stanley increased Elle’s therapy sessions as Elle was finally benefitting from them, and talking during her sessions. After a month they were really beginning to make headway. Doctor Stanley thought it would be a very positive thing for Elle’s recovery for Nico to come back and visit, but also bring Ana with him. Elle refused. Doctor Stanley had already spoken to Nico and when he called her that evening, he tried to convince Elle as well.

“Elle please.”

“No Nico.”

“Don’t make me tell her no.”

“It’s out of the question. NO.”

“Doctor Stanley promised me they can make a nice little area for us to visit. We could even have a little picnic together, by the lake. Why don’t you let them show you what they can do for us, and then you can make your decision?”

“Because I don’t want our daughter to ever be near a building like this. Not even if she is coming to see me. This is not the place where I want her to meet me for the first time.”

“Elle, she’s not meeting you for the first time.”

“Birth doesn’t count Nico. Those first three months of her life don’t count because she doesn’t remember me from that. I am the only one with memories of her.”

“Elle, she knows I’m coming to see you. She’s going to be so hurt when I tell her no.”

“It’s for the best. You understand why, right?"

"I do Elle, but you're not the one who has to tell her no and see the look on her face. She doesn't care where we are Elle, just so long as we're all together. She just wants to see you, Elle. You're all she talks about now."

"I care Nico, and she will see me, when I…."

"Come home. You can say it Elle. It's going to happen. You have to believe it too."

"When I come home."

"I don't agree with you doing this Elle, but I understand why you feel this way. I'll see you on Saturday."

After hanging up with Elle he walked into Ana's room where she was reading a book. Nico sat on the edge of her bed.

Since he didn't speak, Ana ignored him and continued reading. But Nico was trying to find the right words to gently break the news to Ana.

"Ana?"

With a little sigh first, Ana looked up from her book as if she had been interrupted. Nico was getting sass from both the main women in his life.

"Yes Papa?"

"I want to talk to you about Saturday."

Ana's face immediately brightened and excitement completely illuminated her face.

"We're going to see Mommy! I can't wait! Can I wear my pink dress with the green flowers?"

"Honeybee, Mommy thinks it's best for you to wait until she's able to come home so she can see you."

The look on Ana's face broke his heart, when her eyes filled with tears.

"Mommy doesn't want to see me?"

"No! That's not it at all. Mommy just wants to wait so we can all have fun together and eat ice cream, and swim in the ocean. Stuff we can do here together, that we can't do there. Mommy can't wait to see you."

"Then you don't want me to go?"

"Ana, I want you to see Mommy. I know you want to go with me."

"Then let me go with you Papa, and we can surprise Mommy."

"Not this time Honeybee, I'm sorry."

He went to gently rub Ana's arm, she pushed him away.

"Ana, please don't be like that with me."

Ana turned away from him, cuddling one of her teddy bears. Nico gently rubbed her back.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!" Ana screamed. Nico pulled his hand away and abruptly stood, walking towards the door, but he paused when he heard Ana's little sniffles.

"Honeybee…" He whispered softly.

"Go away Papa."

Nico softly closed the door behind him, leaning against it.

When Saturday morning rolled around, Ana didn't even want to eat breakfast with him before he left; Ana had plans of her own.

Elle

"Thank you for this, it's beautiful, Dr. Stanley."

"We had some clothes here for family visits, and this one looked like it would fit you. It's not much, I know you are used to garments made from finer materials than this.”

“That was a lifetime ago, it feels like, and to be honest a lot of it is overrated. Trust me when I say, I will never wear a corseted ball gown ever again. To be honest, I never felt very comfortable in that type of clothing anyway.”

Dr. Stanley smiled.

“We still want to give you access to the lake area for the afternoon, Since you and Nicolas look to be rekindling your relationship. It could be a nice little romantic afternoon for the two of you.”

Elle smiled. “I was thinking so too.”

“As long as you keep it PG.”

“Duly noted.”

Elle felt nervous getting ready. It was the first time she had seen Nico since his declaration of love…their declaration of love.

In the weeks that followed, she had been showered with calls from him and letters from both him, and Ana.

Ana.

Her little girl. The last time saw her in the flesh she could cradle her in her arms, and was dependent on her, for her very survival.

Now she was an independent child that could walk, talk, feed herself; she had grown up. Elle had missed so much.

She had spoken to Ana multiple occasions. When Nico gave Ana the phone to let her talk to Elle, he could barely get the phone back. Ana became a chatterbox and would recount for Elle everything she could remember from the last time they spoke. Elle loved every second of it, learning about Ana’s school, her cousins, the family, and every little thing her daughter thought was important enough to tell her. It was almost overwhelming for her to be showered with so much affection, but Nico and Ana were her family.

Staff had given Elle a little makeup which she used sparingly on her skin. It had been quite some time since Elle had worn her hair loose, she thought Nico might like that. Once Elle was ready she grabbed the little pink teddy bear before she left her room. It made her think of Ana, and she knew they would be talking about her a lot. She felt she needed that little extra comfort today.

Ana

Papa thought he was smart but so was she. Ana had an idea and she wasn’t taking no for an answer.

Ana had packed her little overnight bag the night before. She went to the closet and picked up her dress she wanted to wear for Mommy. She slipped it on and tied a little green ribbon in her hair the way her father had taught her to. She had one chance to get this right.

Ana waited until she heard the boat whistle to hop out of the window, to land on the porch, her foot falls masked by the loud whistle, and she ran as fast as her feet could carry her for her father's vehicle, using the spare key fob to unlock the vehicle. Papa always had a blanket in back, the perfect thing for her to hide under. She was great at hiding, and Papa wouldn't find her until it was too late. She was going to see Mommy today and nobody could stop her. Ana curled up into a tiny ball under the blanket, waiting for her father to leave.

Nico and Mama K

"Where is Ana? She's usually an early riser like you."

"She's still angry with me Mama. She wants to see Elle, but Elle doesn't want her to come to see her at the hospital."

"Children have funny memories sometimes. There are memories that you have of your father where you only remember the good parts. Or parts you remember of our family you remember the good parts. Do you remember that camping trip we had in the backyard? When we had flashlights and ate food we cooked by the fire?"

Nico smiled recollecting that time with his mother and sisters.

"Yes, it was one of my favorite weekends that we ever spent as a family."

"Nico, we had no electricity and barely any food. That's why we 'camped' outside. The temperature was cooler outside than it was in the house. You don't remember that part do you?"

"No…"

"I really don't think Ana would mind where she was or remember what you and Elle think are the big details if it was just you, Elle, and her, and she is spending time with her family."

Nico glanced at Ana's closed door.

"Are you going to say goodbye to her?"

Nico went up to her door and sheepishly knocked.

"Ana? I'm getting ready to leave. May I have a hug?"

There was silence on the other end.

"I know you're sad, and mad at me, and I'm sorry for that. I love you Honeybee."

There was still no response from Ana; He turned to face his mother.

"She's never been this angry with me that she just won't speak to me before. I'm just going to let her be. Give her a little space Mama. She was so upset. Can you make her favorite meal for me, and give her a kiss and a hug?"

"Of course Nico. She'll be fine. Talk to Elle. Tell her about your childhood. She will understand."

She glanced at the door, laughing softly.

"Wait until she's a teenager. All those emotions! And when she wants to start dating."

Mama K's laughter increased with the absolutely mortified look on Nico's face.

"She's not dating until she's thirty."

"But Elle will be there to help you with that part."

"I hope so, Mama."

Nico walked up to the vehicle, using his key fob to unlock the door.

The doors were already unlocked, which wasn't odd, but he was pretty sure the last time he had gotten out of his vehicle he locked it. Nico decided since his bag was small he decided to put it on the back seat, instead of in the trunk. In a few moments he was on his way.

The soft music and her father's singing lulled Ana to sleep in the back of the vehicle where she was hiding.

When Ana woke again, it was because her tummy was growling.

She had packed a snack and her favorite juice, eating silently as possible under the covers.

Nico's phone started ringing.

Nico slammed on the brakes, causing Ana to spill her juice.

"Mama, what do you mean Ana isn't there?!?" She has to be." Nico’s voice was panicked.

"She's not here, I have looked everywhere for her."

"Did you check her hiding place she likes to go and read?"

"Yes Nico, she's not there."

Nico cursed under his breath and sighed.

"I'm going to turn around and come back home. Elle will have to understand this is an emergency."

Nico smelled the strong scent of pineapple juice throughout the vehicle, Ana’s favorite juice that she loved to drink.

"Mama hold on a moment."

Nico had pulled his SUV over and got out walking back to the vehicle's trunk. Ana tried to stay as still as she could under the blanket.

"Ana?"

She didn't respond, but he noticed the blanket move a little. Nico yanked the blanket away.

"Ana!"

“Papa.”

"Mama! She's fine, she hid in my trunk! I'll call you back."

He looked down at Ana. His voice was stern when he spoke, but he truly wasn't angry with her, only angry for the fact she disobeyed him.

“Ana, I told you, it was for the best that you not come with me this time around.”

"I’m sorry, I just wanted to see her Papa, and I spilled my drink on my dress. I wanted to look pretty for Mommy, but I messed up.”

Ana burst into tears.

“Oh, Honeybee….”

Nico didn't hesitate for a moment and picked Ana up from the trunk, hugging her close to him, gently rubbing her back.

“Shhhh… it’s alright. We’ll get you cleaned up okay? It's not the dress that makes you pretty Honeybee. Mommy will think you're beautiful just as you are, just like I do. I promise.”

“Is Mommy going to be mad at me?”

“No Honeybee, she won't.”

If anything, Nico was pretty sure that she would be upset with him. He wiped Ana’s tears carrying her around to the back seat.

“Sit in your seat, I need to make a quick call.”

He stepped away from the vehicle, making a call to Elle’s doctor explaining the situation to Doctor Stanley.

“Nico, I believe Eleanor can handle it. She really wants to see Ana, but she is so afraid of Ana being close to the hospital. It’s almost like she has an irrational fear that the hospital is going to infect Ana with mental illness.”

“I know it’s short notice, but can you make up the area the way you all had planned for us?”

“Yes, and we'll add a few special things for Ana as well.”

“Thank you. I am so incredibly grateful for the things you are doing for us.”

“You’re welcome Nicolas. All these years, all the patients I’ve had, no one has made quite the impression on me that Eleanor has. I’ve met the deplorable that aren’t worth redemption, that shouldn’t be given a second chance in society. That’s never been Eleanor from the moment I met her, even though she tried to hide her true self all this time. I’ll be on standby just in case you all need me, but I don’t think you will. Eleanor wants to see her daughter desperately. I think it’s a good thing you had a little stowaway. This might be the push Eleanor needs to drive her over the threshold, seeing what she could truly have with the two of you, what it could be like, to really push herself that much harder towards healing herself.”

“Thank you again."

He went back to check on Ana. They stopped so that he could help Ana get cleaned up, and they drove to the ferry that would take them into Portavira. Both were nervous and excited, they were going to see Elle.

Elle

Elle sat at the small decorated picnic table facing the gate, waiting patiently for Nico to arrive, so she could see him the moment he walked through. She glanced around the area, there was an adorable little spot that was set up for a picnic, even a swing, and some games. She didn’t think she would be playing the games with Nico, but she remembered he liked to play chess. Elle was horrible at it.

Elle stood when she saw him walk through the gate, she smiled and waved when his eyes met hers. Nico smiled back at her. The gate remained open and Nico reached out his hand. Ana walked through the gate, taking his hand, and they proceeded towards Elle. The smile had faded from Elle’s face, replaced with a look of shock.

Nico’s heart was racing, Elle’s eyes were fixed on Ana.

“That’s my Mommy?” Ana asked him. Nico paused, kneeling down to her smiling in Elle’s direction.

“Yes, that’s your Mommy. She's beautiful isn't she?”

Ana nodded.

“She looks like a goddess Papa.”

Elle was beautiful in her simplicity. She was wearing a long flowing off the shoulder flower printed dress, and tan colored sandals. Her hair pinned up on one side by flowers and the rest cascaded over her shoulders and down her back.

“I always thought so too. Let's go say hi to her. She's waiting on us for once. Are you ready?”

Ana patted down her hair, and straightened her dress.

"I'm ready Papa."

They walked over to where Elle was standing.

"Nico…"

"Elle.."

"Please don't be mad at Papa. I didn't obey, because I wanted to see you."

"You wanted to see me?" Elle asked, her eyes filled with tears.

Ana nodded. "May I hug you Mommy?"

"I would really like that."

Ana let go of Nico's hand to throw her arms around Elle.

Finally the tears that filled her eyes rolled down her cheeks in rivers, as she hugged Ana. Nico stepped forward to wipe Elle's tears.

"I'm sorry… this is what I really wanted." She whispered to him. Ana’s grip around her tightened.

"Well good thing, your daughter is just as stubborn as you."

"Good thing." Elle directed her attention to Ana. “What would you like to do first? I don’t have much here, but we could eat lunch, we could play games, maybe swing for a little bit.”

“You can pick Honeybee, whatever you want us to do first.”

“Can we eat? I’m hungry.”

“I knew you’d say that. She didn’t eat breakfast.”

“I’m glad you said that, I’m hungry too. I didn’t eat breakfast either. And you’ll have to tell me how you got into your Papa’s car without him seeing you.”

Nico sat at the table thinking Ana would sit next to him, instead she sat close to Elle.

“Is she allergic to anything Nico?”

“No she isn’t, and she’s not a picky eater at all.”

“Giagiá is the best cook. Papa cooks okay.”

“Papa cooks just okay?!?!?! You always clean your plate when I cook for you!!!”

Elle laughed.

“Can you cook?” Ana asked her.

“Ana.” Nico’s voice was slightly stern when he saw the embarrassed blush on Elle’s cheeks.

“It’s okay, Nico. No Ana, I don’t know how, but I can learn.”

“That’s okay, I can help, so can Papa, and Giagiá won’t let us be hungry.”

Elle smiled and eyes widened as Ana told the story of how she had sneaked out of the house early that morning and hid in the back of Nico’s car.

Nico smiled as Ana continued talking to Elle.

He had never seen Ana open up so much to someone almost so immediately, or Elle for that manner.

She chuckled harder at Nico’s surprised face, and his slack jaw.

“You are quite the escape artist.”

Elle smiled. “The apple didn’t fall far from the tree. That sounds like your Papa.”

Ana rested her head on Elle. Elle seemed surprised at first but embraced her.

“I’m so glad you’re here right now Ana.”

After they ate, they played checkers, then with the frisbee. Both Elle and Ana took off their sandals to run and play in the grass. As much as Nico had wanted to spend some time with Elle to figure out what all this was truly going to mean for them, he knew this time with them together rebonding was more important. He had Ana for years, Elle only had the afternoon getting to know their daughter. So Nico let go of the little twinges of jealousy he had with Ana choosing to be close to Elle, and he hung back and let Ana and Elle have that special time together.

“I have something for you. If you don’t like it, that's okay; I’ll understand. You might not even like them anymore.”

“Like what?” Ana inquired.

Elle held out the little pink teddy bear for Ana to take.

“It used to be yours when you were a baby, but you left it. So I kept it for you. It used to smell like you.”

“I love it! Thank you!” Ana hugged Elle again, then afterwards hugged the bear close breathing in the bear’s fur.

“Now it smells like you Mommy.”

Ana was the very best parts of the two of them. Nico had been a wonderful father to her. Elle could not be sad or upset that though her daughter had missed her, she had really flourished in Nico’s care. Nico had surrounded her with family and love.

“I think there’s a hammock swing calling our name.”

“Yes, that sounds perfect.”

They all got into the hammock, getting comfortable in the warm afternoon air. Ana cuddled closer to Elle, resting her head on Elle’s chest.

Ana in turn pulled Nico's arm to drape over her, and Elle, causing him to pull the two of them closer to him in an embrace. Ana was quite the little match maker. She always had been. Elle thought back to that night Nico held them both in his arms, so she could get some rest. Elle closed her eyes for a moment. They were her little family. They were hers. Elle felt safe, and content.

“Papa, tell me our story.”

“You’ve heard it a thousand times Honeybee.”

“Then we can hear it a thousand plus one times!”

“Fine fine fine. I’ll tell it only if you help me tell it. Will you help me, Honeybee?”

“Yes Papa I will!!!”

“Okay, we’ll take turns. I’ll start us off. Once upon a time there was a very beautiful princess, who lived in a castle, and she was the fairest of them all.”

“That’s you Mommy.”

Elle listened to both Nico and Ana take turns telling parts of the story, the story of the two of them, in a way that Ana could understand; He had even told her about Nicolai. He had been so very honest with Ana, over the years about everything.

"What happens next?” Elle asked during the pause.

“It’s your turn Honeybee.”

Ana was silent.

"Honeybee?" Nico whispered.

“I think she fell asleep, Nico, with her ear to my heart like she used to do when she was a baby. It’s like she remembers that.”

“Honestly, I think deep down she does. She’s shy around people, Elle and seeing the way she just opened up to you so immediately is very uncharacteristic of her. I know my daughter. I watch her very closely. She is only that open with people she knows. That part of her is you, Elle. She is very similar to you, and it runs deeper than just her features. I used to read a lot, and wondered what she would remember, if she could remember you. Everything I read said she would forget. But for the longest time, before she could talk, and even after she began speaking, she would just look around the room, almost frantic at times, like she was looking for something, for someone, and I firmly believe in my soul, she was looking for you Elle, and she looked heartbroken that she couldn’t find you.”

“Nico…”

“So, on her first birthday, I started telling her about you, in the form of a bedtime story.”

“Thank you for being the father to her that I knew you would be. I heard my father visits her.”

“He does.”

“Alone?”

“Yes.”

“I figured as much.”

“Elle… Queen Riley….”

Elle’s body tensed in his arms.

“I don’t want to talk about her, not here, not now.”

Ana woke up a little while later, and Elle knew they would be coming out soon to take her back inside. She made the best of the remaining time they had together, now that Ana was awake again. When the sun was starting to set, two orderlies headed in their direction. It was time. Elle glanced at Nico.

“Ana, it’s time for us to go.”

“But I don’t want to. I want to stay.”

Elle kneeled. “I know. I don’t want either of you to go. But we’ll be together again soon, I promise. Until then, Lady Cupcake can keep you company.”

“Lady Cupcake?”

“Yes, I gave Lady Cupcake lots of hugs, so when you hug her, she’ll give one of my hugs back to you. So it will be like you’re hugging me while you’re away. But for now, can I have one more hug before you go, one that I can hold on to?”

Nico stood back letting the two hug each other. When it was his turn, he embraced Elle once more.

“We’ll be back in a few weeks.”

“Alright.”

“Aren’t you going to kiss her Papa?”

“She’s a little matchmaker like her Aunt Liberty.”

“That’s not necessarily a bad thing.” Nico whispered.

Both laughed for a moment before their eyes met.

Nico slipped his arms around her. “I mean look where we are right now.”

“You’re exactly right.”

Elle closed her eyes when Nico closed in for a kiss, setting her whole body on fire.

Elle didn’t want to let go of him when the kiss deepened, but was compelled to after a few moments when she heard one of the orderlies lightly clear their throat. Elle pulled away from him.

“I have to go.” She whispered.

Nico pulled her close, kissing her again for a few moments. He pulled away when he heard them call her name.

“We’ll see you in a few weeks.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

Elle watched Nico and Ana until they were at the gate, before she headed inside.

Doctor Stanley was correct in her assumption, Elle seeing Ana and Nico and having that time together and subsequent times afterwards had emotionally propelled Elle to push herself in ways leading her towards a healthy lifestyle outside of the hospital.

“What if I can’t do it?”

“But what if you can, why are you afraid of that Eleanor?”

“Because she needs me, and I don’t want to disappoint her. I don’t want her to hate me, because I can’t give her what she needs. I don’t want to lose her. Lose them again.”

“You won’t. You are not your mother Eleanor. Do you realize, from the moment Ana was born, actually before she was born, you have put her first? You have been selfless, and you chose to be here when this was not where you wanted to be, because you wanted a life with your daughter someday. You can do this Eleanor. Greece is where you need to be, with your family. You said the happiest time of your life was when you spent time with Nico in Greece, and when the two of you were caring for Ana.”

“Yes.”

“You can have it all Eleanor, you’ll be home before your daughter’s eighth birthday.”

“I could make her a cake. I don’t know how, but I know I could do it.”

“You can do it. Nico will be here in the morning to pick you up.”

“He’s in Portavira already?”

“Yes he’s here. Here is the name of a therapist locally to you, that you will start weekly check ins with.”

“This is really happening isn’t it?”

“Yes it is, Eleanor you’re going home.”

Since Elle was leaving this part of her life behind, she decided to donate most of her clothes. She had come to the hospital with the clothes on her back, now she was leaving the same way.

“Ready to go home?” Nico asked.

“Yes. Let’s go home.”

#bebepac writes #the rotten apple 🍎#elle x nico #evil ellie rys #evil drake #choices fanfiction #fic of the week #choices fic writers creations #choices fanfic #choices fandon #crown princess ellie

79 notes · View notes