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sundaysundaes · 3 years

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Started With A Kiss

Lee Donghyuck/Haechan X Reader | Actor AU, Smut, Fluff, Humor | NC-17 | 10K

Summary: Rookie actor, Lee Haechan, desperately wants to get the lead role in the highly anticipated upcoming TV drama. He’s sure he has what it takes to fill the part. Acting as a hero? No problem. Pretending to overcome his traumatic experience? Consider it done. A bed scene? Easy—wait, no. That might be a problem. But he should be fine as long as he gets to rehearse, right?

Warnings: protected sex, oral sex, crude humor, swearing, literally 10k of sex with very little plot, a lot of playful banters between sassy!hyuck and equally sassy!Y/N

Wrote this for my love Kira @flopim who’s been having a tough time lately. I hope this will cheer you up bb! ❤️

“I want you to make love to me.”

Standing there, still dressed in your bright pink pajamas with your hair resembling a bird’s nest, you can only blink once, twice, and several times more because surely, your ears are playing tricks on you. There’s no way that your best friend, the cutely annoying and annoyingly cute, Lee Haechan—the one who’s been practically glued to your skin like a conjoined twin of yours for the last two years—is asking you to make love to him.

Surely, this is not what you’d expected to see when you opened the door to your apartment, ready to bark at whoever it was who dared to disturb your beauty sleep (since it is seven in the morning on a Sunday), only to see him standing in his blue ripped jeans and black Michael Jackson shirt with his cheeks flushed, his bag hanging loosely on his shoulder, brown eyes desperately begging for your attention.

And you’re most definitely sure that he’s not asking you to sleep with him when you still have drool on the corner of your mouth and a terrible morning breath (in your defense, you have brushed your teeth but that was, like, six hours ago).

But when seconds have passed and Haechan still looks like he badly needs to hear an answer, you have very little options but to ask, “You want me to do what to who now?”

Catching a sniff of your mighty dragon’s breath, he promptly takes a step back, scrunching his nose while frantically covering half of his face with the script he’s been holding. “Eew, God, what is that smell?” Ignoring your glare, he repeats his words, voice muffled by the papers. “I said, I want you to make love to me.”

“What—”

“Damn it, woman, just brush your teeth and let me in!”

When he’s stomping his feet while whining that loudly—loud enough for your fucking landlord to hear, along with everybody else in the building (including your cute neighbor, Jaehyun, oh dear God, no), he doesn’t give you any other choice but to invite him in, does he?

You step away from the door, flatly muttering, “Please, come in, why don’t you.” Haechan doesn’t waste any second waiting, making sure to run and stay as far away as possible from you so he won’t inhale the poisonous air that’s tainted with your breath again.

You roll your eyes. Dramatic little shit. But just to be on the safe side, you make your way to the bathroom.

***

The scalding hot shower you just took was comforting but not enough to wash your entire drowsiness away. You’re in dire need of your caffeine intake. “Would you like some coffee, my king?” You ask between a yawn, hands finding their way to the coffee jar on your kitchen counter.

Haechan throws his bag to the floor, body sinking into the comfort of your couch. “With milk, please.”

"I’m kidding.”

“Well, I’m not.” He throws one of those cheeky grins that you adore—no, wait, you hate—as he settles his legs on your coffee table. “Less sugar but more milk. I’m still growing.”

“Growing what, your balls?” You pour him a cup of coffee as requested, yes, because to balance his demonic behavior, you have to act like the perfect angel that you are. “Since you don’t have any?”

“You mean, like your boyfriend?” Haechan retorts before he gasps dramatically, his palm going to his mouth. “Oh, I’m sorry, you don’t have a boyfriend.”

You hover above him from behind the couch, bringing two mugs filled with sizzling hot coffee. “Want to repeat that?” You tip your mug just a little bit until it nearly spills on his forehead.

Haechan winces, attempting to grin. “I’m sorry, I love you, please don’t ruin my face. It’s the only thing that’s good about me.”

“It surely is.”

“Yah, what does that mean?”

“Take it as a compliment.”

Sitting next to him, you sip your coffee and curse silently when the liquid burns your tongue. “Okay, so what about this ‘make love to me’ thing you said earlier? Please tell me it’s just a figure of speech or something.”

“I wish.” He drags his legs away from the table so he can lay his cup down because apparently, he means business. “Okay, I know you’re gonna kill me after you hear—”

“After? I’m about to kill you now, actually.” You scoff. “Don’t you remember what we’ve agreed on? You cannot bother me when I’m still too sleepy to smack you in the head, Haechannie.”

“When did we ever—” He stops. “Why are you going to smack me in the head?”

“‘Cause you’ll say something stupid.”

“Who says I’m gonna say something stupid?”

“You always say something stupid. You’re saying something stupid now!”

“It’s not stupid.” He sighs exasperatedly but when your flat, degrading stare comes into view, it morphs into a groan. “Well, not that stupid. I’ve thought about this—really thought about it—and I can’t find anyone else to do this but you since you’re the only girl I’m friends with. I mean, I can pick random girls, I suppose—you know how popular I am. They just can’t stop talking about me. My hair, my eyes—”

“—your tiny dick.”

“But I don’t want to break any girl’s heart by doing something that’s gonna make them feel like I’m just using them to get a job, you know? I know I’m hot but these good looks aren’t meant to trample people’s hearts.”

“And you don’t care how I’m gonna feel?”

He has the decency to act like he’s thinking about it, but then, “No, not really.”

“Thanks.”

“Look, I really need your help.” He takes it as further as holding your hand between his, puckering his pouty lips, and blinking his eyes in a way that’s cute enough to leave you in daze so you pretend like you’re about to vomit your insides to cover it up.

Okay, so there’s one thing—one little thing that nobody knows—that you’re too ashamed to admit and that is the fact that you have a massive crush on this boy who sits in front of you with his socks unmatched. Well, no, not massive. It used to be massive during the first few weeks you knew him. How could you not? Haechan was so cute, you wanted to turn him into a doll so you could carry him around in your backpack and squish his cheeks whenever you feel like it. Sure, he’s not all jawlines and dimples like that neighbor of yours (Jung Jaehyun was probably sculpted by God himself ), but Haechan has his own charms. His devilish smirk, his loud, contagious laughter, his naughty eyebrow raise, and his lips—God, his beautiful plump lips, the way they look so pouty and soft. Honestly, you can write a whole essay about his attractive features (not that you haven’t already).

You knew you were crazy for him when the antics he did annoyed the hell out of his friends but to you, he was just plain adorable. And you realized you were pretty much fucked-up when Jeno said, “Fucking Lee Donghyuck said he forgot his wallet and robbed me this morning. Who the fuck orders a freakin’ wagyu steak for breakfast?!” and the only thing you could think of was how nice it was to go on a date with him and how your first kiss with him was going to be like (poor Jeno, though).

It’s not that you love him or anything. It’s mostly physical, nothing more—at least for now anyway. It’s not your fault that he’s so fucking pretty that he ends up showing every now and then in your fantasy, doing indescribable naughty things that will definitely make Mark splash some holy water on your face if he knew what was going on in your head.

Fortunately, now that you’ve been friends with him for two years, that massive crush you had has turned into something normal, something you can easily hide. And can be forgotten even, whenever another cute guy—like Na Jaemin, for example—takes you out on a date or two. It’s easier to breathe these days.

“Hello? Are you there?” Haechan snaps his fingers, waking you up from your reverie. “What’s your answer? Do you want to make love to me or not?”

‘It’s easier to breathe these days?’ More like fucking kill me.

“Can you stop saying that?” You pinch the bridge of your nose. “You’re giving me headaches.” Or a heart attack, more accurately. “Assume I said yes. Don’t you think it’s gonna get a little weird between us?”

“What is so weird about it?” He throws his hands in the air, exhausted and impatient. “It’s just gonna be two friends, pretending to be in love with each other, hugging, kissing, touching, and having sweet, tender sex.” Realization falls upon him and you resist the urge to exhale loudly. “Yeah, okay, so it is a little weird, but it should be fine, right? It’s just acting. It’s not like you have any feelings for me, do you?”

If by feelings you mean picturing you naked in my head with your mouth sucking on my neck, then yeah, I do have feelings for you. Plenty of that. But on the outside, you say, “Eew, God, no.”

Haechan squints his eyes at your response. “Can’t say I’m not hurt with the way you said it, but eew, God, no to you too. Well, if that’s the case then I’m sure we’ll be fine,” he says, sipping his coffee, and retracts his mouth as soon as the flavor hits his tongue. “What the hell is this?! Did you spit on my coffee or something?”

You didn’t but for your amusement, you throw him a sly grin. “A little.” It’s satisfying to see him looking like he’s about to pass out. “I’m still worried how it’s gonna affect our friendship later on though.”

He simply shrugs. “Meh. We’re not really that close to begin with anyway.” He takes another sip of his coffee by accident and nearly vomits for real. “Fucking hell—take this shit out of my face.”

“I'm still not sure about this, Haechannie.”

“Look, I don’t know why it’s such a big deal to you, we’re just going to pretend! Acting!” He exclaims as if that was the most normal thing a friend could ask another friend. “And you’re gonna be acting out a love scene with someone as hot as me. Consider yourself lucky.”

“Consider yourself dead.”

“Damn it, my audition is in two days and I really want to get this role!” He’s whining, tugging at your hand like a baby as he practically throws himself at your feet, graveling for your mercy. “You’re the only one who can help me with this. How can I act properly if I don’t have enough experience to perform a freaking bed scene?!”

“I don’t think actors who have to play dead have enough experience of, you know, being dead.”

“Excellent point.” Haechan stares at you blankly, unimpressed. “Do you hear yourself when you talk?”

“Do you?”

A few seconds passed by in silence with the two of you exchanging sinister glares until he finally surrenders with a prominent pout on his face. “Fine, if you don’t want to.” Haechan exhales dramatically, his shoulders sagging and when you don’t respond, he sighs again only louder this time. “I guess, I have to force Mark to make out with me. Again.” He sneaks a glance to see your reaction. “And have my face slapped with a Bible. Again.”

You wince at the thought. “How did you force him, exactly?”

“Just…” He timidly scratches his nose. “Kinda attacked him in his sleep.”

You nod in understanding even when it’s the most idiotic thing you’ve ever heard. “Well, maybe he would’ve been fine with it if you had taken him out for a nice dinner before that.”

Haechan smiles a little at your words, and even a little glimpse of it is contagious enough to make your own spread wider on your face. Small chuckles resonate through the air and he playfully bumps his shoulder against yours, his palm resting on your knuckles.

“On a more serious note,” Haechan says, “I know that asking you to rehearse a bed scene with me is too much and way out of line. But I swear, I’m not gonna touch you if you’re so uncomfortable with it. Won’t even hold your hand, I promise.” Then he notices he’s still holding your hand from earlier. He drops it immediately, clearing his throat. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” It’s more than fine. His hand seems to fit yours in a way that nobody ever does but there’s no way you’re gonna tell him that. “So, we’re just gonna be practicing lines?”

“Exactly.” He rubs his nape, suddenly a bit bashful. “Well, I was hoping to at least kiss you—just to, you know, know how it’d feel like.”

“You’ve never kissed before?”

“I have, obviously.” He rolls his eyes, disgusted at your question. “I’m not a fucking virgin if that’s what you’re assuming.”

“Chill, don’t get your panties in a twist. Nah, I know you’re not a virgin from how many times you’ve had sex with yourself.”

“Hey!”

“But then, why do you need to practice? Can’t you just go straight to your castmates, and kiss the bejeezus out of them?”

Donghyuck runs a hand through his face. “It’s… I’ve never done it for a role,” he professes, faint blush blooming on his cheeks, “And the scene is supposed to be intimate and I’ve never… You know…”

You gesture at him to clarify more with your hands. “You’ve never…?”

“You know…” The color on his face turns brighter. “T-the thing.”

“What thing? Never made-out in public? Never had sex outdoor?” You act clueless just because you’re liking his reaction. “Never had a finger stuck in your ass? What? Please do enlighten me.”

“I’ve never been in love, you witch!” Haechan is adorable when he’s fuming. Nostrils blaring, eyebrows knitting together in an angry frown, scarlet cheeks all puffed out. He looks like a terribly pissed Pomeranian.

Man, if I could just take a picture. “Oh, okay. So have you had your finger stuck in your ass?”

“I swear to God—”

“Kidding. I know you have.” But even when Haechan is nearly ripping your cheeks apart from your face, your giggles are never-ending. “So, you’re nervous?” You snort, raising an eyebrow. “You, the obnoxious, desperate-for-attention Lee Haechan, are nervous?”

“Will you help me out or not?!”

You pretend like you’re contemplating about it when truth is, every part of your body and mind is just screaming what the heck are you waiting for? He’s asking you to rehearse a bed scene—a. bed. scene! And he said he wanted to kiss you, for God’s sake! So, really, what else is there to say but “Okay.”

Haechan widens his eyes. “Okay?”

“Okay.” You try your best to appear nonchalant. “But you’ll owe me a favor. A huge one.”

“Anything,” he instantly agrees, “As long as I’m not dead, you have my words.”

You’re not yet sure what you’re planning to ask him but seeing his enthusiasm, you know it’s going to be good. “Great. So, umm, do you want to do it now or…?”

“Whenever you’re ready.”

“Here?”

“Wherever you want.”

“Man, you’re giving me too much power. I should’ve agreed to this way sooner.” You can practically feel your face splitting in half from how wide you’re grinning. “My room, then? I mean, a bed scene requires… a bed, right?”

Haechan laughs and even after two years, it still sounds like your most favorite thing in the world. “No, it doesn’t necessarily require a bed but sure.” He jumps out from the couch, taking you by the hand, and only by that, you can already feel your heart thumping a tad faster. But the second he walks into your room, he makes a face. “Why does it smell like something died in here?”

“Because something did die. Your dignity.”

The tickling fight doesn’t occur very often between you and Lee Haechan but once it starts, it means war.

***

“Okay, so…” Haechan hands you the script, already opened to show you a page filled with dialogues and short narratives. He scoots closer on the bed, his knee a few inches away from grazing yours as they dangle from the edge. “Just from the top of the page, here.” He points with his finger and you do a quick scan, trying to get a picture of the intimate scene you’re going to do. “So, a quick summary. Your character, Aeri, has been in love with my character, Donghyun. In the earlier scene, you’ve confessed your love to me but I rejected you because we’ve been friends for so long and I didn’t want to ruin what we have. But then, later on, some things happened and I ended up catching feelings for you and this is the part where I’m gonna be telling you how I really feel and then we start kissing and—”

“Then we have sex,” you utter in dismay, but butterflies are erupting from your stomach due to the anticipation.

“No,” Haechan corrects you, “We make love.”

“Is there any difference?”

“There are more feelings involved, not just out of sheer passion. It’s slower. Tender. Intimate.” And when he notices you raising a questioning brow at him, he sighs. “That thing you did with Jaemin? Fucking like bunnies? The opposite of that.”

You mock him by imitating his sigh exaggeratedly and receiving a flick on the nose in return. “Is it just me or is the script pretty lousy?”

He nods. “But they’ll pay you good money for this.”

“I thought the reason you became an actor was to create art not money.”

“When I’m rich, maybe. Right now, I gotta pay for my rent. And apparently, Jeno keeps chasing my ass, forcing me to pay him back. It was just a wagyu steak for fuck’s sake.” He grumbles to himself, momentarily distracted. “Anyway,” he cracks his neck, “I’ve memorized my lines. Wanna give it a go?”

“Okay, let’s try. I guess I’ll be fine if it’s just kissing. Even if it’s with you.” When in reality you’re only agreeing to this because it’s with him.

Haechan’s eyes gleam brighter, ears practically perking up like an excited puppy. “Really?”

“You’re that excited at the thought of kissing me?” You play smug but you could practically hear your heartbeat blasting through your ears. “What else have you been thinking about me?”

“I’m not excited at the thought of kissing you, dumbass,” he spits back, the spark in his eyes vanishes in an instant. “I’m excited that finally I can practice kissing scenes with someone who’s actually willing to do it, and not, you know, like with the back of my hand or something.”

“You…” Failing to hold back a grin, you burst out laughing. “You made out with your hand?”

It’s funny that even when his skin is golden as if it was kissed by the sun, it still shows vividly on his face whenever he blushes. “I didn’t mean it literally—”

“I can’t believe you made out with your hand.”

“Would you just—” He nearly suffocates you with your pillow but you quickly retaliate by kicking him in the stomach.

Tears are prickling at the corner of your eyes. “Man, that mental image of yours making out with your hand will live in my mind rent-free for as long as I live.” When you still can’t stop laughing, Haechan is practically baring his teeth. “Okay, I’m sorry. Let’s get this going. If it gets too uncomfortable for me, I’ll stop.”

“Of course.”

“At any time I want.”

“Your call.” He nods in agreement with the most serious expression you’ve ever seen him do; it almost doesn’t seem like him.

“Good,” you say. “Now, I’ve never acted once in my life so if you laugh at me, I will sneak into your room at night and pour hot coffee on your computer.”

There’s fear fleeting through his eyes but he gives another nod. “Deal.”

“All right…” You take a deep breath, willing your heart to stop hammering against your ribcages, and for once, focus more on the script instead of the shape of his pretty, pretty mouth. “What are you doing here?” You follow the script, voice a little bit shaky as you’re still embarrassed with everything you’re doing. Haechan closes his eyes and you’re about to throw a joke to tease him about actor Haechan coming alive but when he opens them and gazes at you, you sit still, frozen.

“I wanted to see you,” he says, voice so delicate, it startles you. He’s so serious about this that you don’t find the strength within you to tease him like how you usually do. Somehow, the little gestures he makes, the changes in his expression alter the air along with the tension in the room. Suddenly, it feels like you’re standing next to him under the spotlight, hundreds of pairs of eyes following your every movement.

“It’s—” You swallow your breath, tongue lays heavy in your mouth. “It's pouring outside, why are you—”

“I love you,” he vocalizes, his eyes gentle and heartbroken. His voice suddenly sounds a pitch lower, reverberating through the air until it sends goosebumps to the tiny hairs on your nape. He waits for your reply and you have to blink twice to slap yourself back to reality.

“W-what?”

“I’m sorry it took me this long to realize, but I do. I’m in love with you, hopelessly so.” He reaches out to cup your cheek, his thumb caressing your cheekbone. Though he has pretty hands, his fingertips are not as soft as you had imagined them to be, but they feel better, feel real. His warmth is unfamiliar to your skin but it feels more pleasant than anything that ever touches you. “Maybe you’re unaware of this, but it kills me to know that I’ve hurt you because I simply couldn’t be brave enough to accept my feelings. The reason why I didn’t want us to be together was because I didn’t want to ruin what we have, not knowing that we could be something more.”

Haechan’s lines fit your situation so much that you wish he wasn’t acting. It’s amazing how he’s changing into an entirely different persona and yet, it feels so natural as if he has been that person all along. Your breathing gets heavier as you take a brief look at the script, searching for your lines. “This feels unreal…”

“Do you still love me?” Haechan lifts your face by the chin, his touch is paper-thin.

You wet your lips, head swirling. “But Donghyun—”

“Do you still love me?” He repeats, emphasizing with his tone. His eyes are peering into yours and you wonder maybe the quote eyes deeper than the sea refers to his gaze. “Or is it too late for me?” His thumb drifts to your lip, caressing your bottom one, your lip balm sticking to his skin.

“I do,” you reply. He’s so pretty. You’ve never taken a glance longer than a few seconds at his close-up face, but now that you’re in this close proximity, you can finally witness the two tiny moles on his cheek, the beautiful shape of his dark eyes, the delicate curve of his lips… “I do love you, Donghyuck.”

A few seconds of silence hangs in the air when Haechan stops, his eyebrows furrowing. “Umm—it’s Donghyun, actually.”

Fuck! “Right!” You nearly leap out of your bed, face aflame. “Donghyun! Of course! I don’t know why I said that. Donghyuck is your name, I know that—” Fuck, fuck, fuck, just fucking kill me. “Sorry, umm—nervous.”

Fortunately for you, Haechan buys your bluff. “Rookie mistake,” he chuckles and you exaggeratedly roll your eyes to play along. “Okay, let’s start over. Do you still love me?”

“I do,” you respond too rigidly, making him glance away so he won’t break into laughter. “I do love you, Donghyun. Dong-Hyun.”

“Good,” he improvises, as it’s not written in the script. He has a tiny smile on his face and you like to think that it’s just him doing a terrible job at hiding his amusement. But when he swats your bangs out of your eyes, tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear, he seems like he’s seeing the most beautiful thing he has ever seen in his whole life. The adoration in his eyes, his loving gaze—they are so vivid, they nearly consume you. “Because I don’t think I can resist this any longer…”

You’re lost in his eyes, lost in his touch, lost in his warmth. It’s until Haechan nudges his head slightly, indicating you to wake up, you’ve got a line to say, that you jolt, eyes hurriedly going down to the script, seeking your lines. “Umm—“ You flinch. You sound so jittery, it’s terrible. “R-resist what…?”

But Haechan doesn’t pay a mind that you just stuttered from saying two words. He doesn’t ask you to start over. Instead, he presses his forehead against yours, his breath mingling in the air and you can taste the scent of sandalwood and summer. Combined with his soft breathing, you’re almost stuck in a haze, just reeling in the feeling of how this man is now closer to you than he has ever been in the past two years and it’s better than anything you’ve ever imagined.

“Resist this,” he whispers and before you can look down to check whether you have more lines to say, Haechan dips his head, his lips brushing against yours, ever so faintly at first but when you gasp, he presses harder, framing your cheeks with both hands before he moves one down to your waist. Unlike his fingertips, his lips are soft—softer than silk or the cotton candy he once bought you. But it’s not the way they feel or the way he tastes that distract you the most. It’s the way he moves them, parting his lips slightly so he can blend with yours, your lower lip fits perfectly between his plump ones. It’s the way he sighs, so contentedly, as if kissing you was everything he ever wanted.

You close your eyes, hands reaching up to his collar, wanting to feel him more, wanting to touch him—

Haechan breaks away, placing both hands on your shoulders. “How was it?”

You’ve never had someone splash cold water on your face but you figure it might feel something like this. Your voice grows hoarse when you speak. “How was what?”

“The kiss!” Haechan’s eyes are filled with concern, analyzing your expression. “Was it romantic enough? Tender enough? Did it properly convey the desperation and longing my character feels for yours?”

You knew this was a bad idea. You fucking knew it. So, why are you still hurt when he acts like he feels exactly nothing by that kiss? This is just an acting lesson for him. You should have been prepared.

“It’s good,” you answer, averting your gaze and hiding your eyes behind your bangs. Your heart is still running a thousand miles an hour but somehow, it doesn’t feel as pleasant as before. “So, next scene—”

“Wait, are you okay?” Haechan asks, bending slightly to catch a glimpse of your face. “Was it too much? Do you want to stop?”

Truth is, you’re conflicted. You’re going to catch feelings—you most likely already are. But Haechan only treats you as a friend and nothing more, and this is the only chance you have to be this close to him. The temptation of continuing the kiss, to just hold him close for one more time, stands stronger than anything else so you say, “No. I promised you I’d help.”

He’s still unsure, eyes glinting in concern. “It’s okay if you want to stop, I—”

“Let’s just do the damn scene, Donghyuck.”

Haechan freezes on his seat, eyes searching yours as you now have the bravery to look at his face. Knowing you came on too strong, you try to ease it off with a smile. “I’m fine, don’t worry. It’s just my first time doing this—acting, I mean. Can we try again?”

He spends another few seconds trying to decipher the true meaning behind your smile but eventually nods his head at your command. He drags his finger back to the script. “Then, umm… Let’s start from here?”

You don’t even look at the page when you give affirmation. “Go.”

Haechan takes a moment to prepare himself and when your eyes meet each other again, he’s a different person once more. “The reason why I didn’t want us to be together was because I didn’t want to ruin what we have, not knowing that we could be something more.” His voice is so soothing, you almost forget that deep down you’re immensely upset knowing that the kiss didn’t have the same effects on him.

This time, when he frames your face with his palm, you lean into his touch, eyes never leaving his. “This feels unreal,” you say and for a second—just for a split second—you notice Haechan breaking out of character, surprised by the gentle expression on your face. Because you’re not acting out his script, you’re acting out on your feelings. It’s your only chance to be honest with him without forcing him to respond. So you pour all these feelings you have for him out in the open—ones that started from a mere physical attraction to something more as his presence grew bigger in your life, you’re acting out each and every one of them.

“Do…” He inhales sharply, trying to focus. “Do you still love me?” He’s doing the same thing as before, placing his thumb and index finger on your chin but before he can say his lines, you see how his eyes fall on your lips.

And you kiss him. You kiss him with everything you have, hands going to his face, fingers slipping between his strands, and Haechan gasps against your mouth, his fingers curling around your wrist. You know he’s about to push you away so you quickly murmur, “I do,” against his lips, breath stuttering, “I do love you.”

When you take his bottom lip between yours, teeth grazing against his supple skin, Haechan lets out an involuntary moan at the back of his throat. The butterflies in your stomach come alive, pumping a rush of adrenaline through your veins and suddenly, you’re brave enough to glide your tongue across his lip. His hold tightens around your wrist but instead of pushing you away, he tugs you closer and you fall into his chest, hands breaking free from his grip to wind around his neck. Your fingertips are scraping against his nape before they move upward to yank at the roots of his hair. “Fuck,” he breathes out, almost inaudibly, as if he didn’t mean to let the word slip from his mouth and it makes your heart jumps straight out of your chest. The second he responds properly, Haechan kisses like fire, all passion and urgency, and you really don’t mind being consumed by his flames.

His hands are on your waist, pulling you closer and closer until you’re almost sitting on his lap before he jolts awake, pushing you away so abruptly, you almost fall from the bed.

“I’m—We—” he stammers, looking everywhere but your eyes. His cheeks are flushed, his lips bruised and red from your kisses. “I think we should—I gotta go—“

He stands up from the bed like the sheets are catching on fire, picking his script from the floor and gathering all his belongings at once before he runs toward the door. He turns on his heels, wanting to say something to fix the goddamn situation, but when his eyes land on yours, his words vanish without a trace.

“I—I’ll call you later,” he finally says and doesn’t wait for your response. The front door closes with a thud.

And then silence comes to answer.

What just happened?

Your heart is thundering inside your chest, you’re starting to feel nauseous. What have I done? You keep asking over and over. You thought everything was going to be fine. He responded to your kiss earlier, didn’t he? You were sure you didn’t imagine the whole thing. But now he’s gone and you’re not sure whether he’s gonna come back as the same Haechan—the old, bratty but caring Lee Haechan. The one who snickers loudly when you fall face-first on the ground but always steals secret glances at you to make sure you're not hurt. The one who makes jokes about your love life but never forgets to show up at your apartment with a thoughtful gift right at the minute you turn a year older.

Things are not just gonna get awkward, they’re ruined.

When nearly half an hour has passed by and you’re still left alone in your apartment with no signs of him coming back, you’re about to go insane. You can’t stay still, walking back and forth your living room with the tip of your thumb between your teeth.

Should I chase after him and explain that it was just me trying to improvise? You hesitate with your hand lingering on the doorknob. But with your knees nearly giving up under your weight, you decide to stay put. It will probably just gonna make it worse. He’ll see through my lies, he always does.

You’re straying away to the kitchen, hands placed on the counter. You can feel your head spinning, stomach somersaulting. Damn it, why did I have to do that?! Why couldn’t I just—

The front door slams opened and Haechan barges in with his hair messy, ruffled by the wind, and his bangs sticking to his temple. Stunned, you stand still on your ground. Your heart is the only one that’s moving beyond control. His eyes scan your apartment until they land on yours and for an instant, everything seems to fade away.

“Fuck it,” he says, dropping his bag to the ground and making his way towards you in such a hurry, he nearly trips over his feet. “You’re not that good of an actor to be faking it.” Before you have the chance to even take a breath, Haechan’s lips are smashing against yours.

“Hae—” Haechan’s kiss is insane. So forceful that you can barely keep up, taking every bit of air directly from your lungs. He has you backed against the kitchen counter, the marbled edge digging into your skin. His hands frame your face, sliding against your cheek until they cup the backsides of your neck, his thumbs resting against your ears. You curl your fingers around his wrist, gasping, “Wait—”

He pulls away, lifting your face so you can’t bring your gaze anywhere else. “You like me?” His eyes are just as intense, begging for answers. “Please tell me I’m not imagining this.”

But behind that passion, his confidence is wavering. You can tell by his quivering breath, the little tremble running through his fingertips, and at that, you’re drowning in relief. You don’t think he’s that good of an actor to be faking this too.

“I do,” you admit, heart pounding so loudly that you can barely hear your own voice. “I like—”

His mouth is on yours again and it feels like he’s kissing you in a hundred different places at once. “Jesus Christ, why have you kept quiet about this for so long?” he says, tasting your breath and skin at the same time. “Two fucking years. We wasted two fucking years.”

The words this isn’t happening endlessly run through your head but all your senses scream that Haechan is really here, in your arms, his nails clawing against your shirt and there’s nothing left you want from this world.

When you reciprocate to him properly, your palms sliding up his chest, over his shoulder, until your arms circle his neck, Haechan sighs in content. His kisses grow slower—more relaxed—but deeper, his tongue peeking out shyly at first but not for long. He still tastes faintly like the coffee you made and something else entirely different. Something pleasant that’s just exactly how you’ve fantasized him to be, if not more.

He pulls away to catch his breath with his eyes still focusing on your lips, thumb rubbing your lower one. “Does this feel weird to you?” He whispers, his temple pressing against yours.

You’re intoxicated by his sweet scent though you’re not sure whether it’s the smell of his shampoo, his cologne, or just him altogether. “No,” and as soon as the word comes out, his lips are chasing after yours once more.

“Good, ‘cause I don’t think I can stop.” He’s breathing heavily against your mouth as you are against his. With his fingers twisted in your hair, making a messy ponytail out of it, Haechan peppers open-mouthed kisses on your neck, tongue pressing against your pulsating vein and a whimper escapes your mouth.

Your dreams, your fantasies—they all fall pale in comparison to reality. When you vocalize his name, it almost sounds like a plead and Haechan slants his mouth back on yours again, giving you another taste as he is not satisfied with yours just yet. “Your lips taste amazing,” he breathes out and it’s so quiet, it seems like he’s intending to say the words in his head and not with his mouth. But as his words fall on your ears, they send tingles down your spine.

“So do yours,” you reply, attempting to make him blush in return but if he does, he doesn’t show much. “Never pegged you as a man who wears lip balm.”

You can feel his smirk directly with your skin. “I’m not wearing any.”

“You’re not?” You lightly giggle, swiping your tongue across his lower lip. “Then your lips do taste amazing.”

Haechan’s hand is slipping underneath your shirt, fingers hovering above your bra. “Guess there are still a lot of things you don’t know about me, huh?”

“I’ve got a hunch you’re about to teach me?”

“Only if you’re eager to learn.”

The kiss becomes heavier that you’re lost for words, entirely consumed by his passion, until he breaks away, muttering, “Off, off, off, off, off,” as he struggles to tear the fabric away from your body. You titter at his desperation, raising both hands to help him out of his misery. The second it’s off, he lifts you by the waist and places you down on the counter.

“I’m amazed you could lift me,” you coo, admiring the sight of his lean stomach as he pulls his shirt over his head. His silver necklace hangs loosely around his neck and you hook a finger around it to yank him back to you.

He doesn’t seem to be able to detach his lips from yours for too long, especially when you keep sneaking glances at his. So when he speaks again, his every word is painted directly to your skin. “It wasn’t easy.” He settles between your thighs, mouth latching against your collarbone. “You weigh a ton.”

“Yeah?” You bite your lip, holding back a moan as he sucks bruises on your neck, the edge of his fingers trailing over the seam of your bra. “Then you must be so strong.”

“I am, haven’t you noticed?” Haechan pulls away just to showcase a mischievous grin. “I work out, you know.”

You blurt out laughing. It’s not solely because of the mental image of Lee Haechan—a full-time gamer, Lee Haechan—doing push-ups seems so funny to you. It’s more about the way he wiggles his eyebrow, trying to be sexy about it when you know he’s the weakest one in your group. Flustered at your reaction, he flicks your nose. “What is so funny?”

“I’m sorry,” you apologize though it doesn’t seem that much sincere with the way you’re still giggling at him. “It’s just that an hour ago we were two friends making fun of each other and now we’re here, in this position. I don’t know, it just feels surreal to me.”

An adorable pout blooms on his face. “I thought you said this didn’t feel weird.”

“No, it’s perfect. I want this.” You wrap the end of his necklace twice around your index finger. “I want you. It’s just… I’ve been imagining this to happen for such a long time and now that it’s happening, I’m feeling a lot of things at once.” You place a reassuring kiss on his temple. “I’m nervous.” This time landing one on his cheek. “I’m relieved.” When your lips hover above his, you notice him parting his own slightly in anticipation. “And it feels so good, I don’t ever want to stop. Even if that means we can’t go back to being friends.”

Haechan can’t form a response as you don’t let him, your mouth swallowing the tiny moans he emits. “We’ll talk about that later,” he hastily replies, “I still haven’t had enough of you yet.”

Without warning, he lifts you off the counter, making you yelp and wrap your legs around his waist for support. “Haechannie!” With you holding onto him, he takes a step forward, ignoring your call. “Where are you taking me—"

“Wait, no, back pain, back pain.” Both of you nearly tumble down to the ground from how he’s harshly placing you back to your feet, wincing at the ache erupting from the strained muscles in his spine. He’s groaning in pain, massaging his back with both hands. “Fuck, you’re really heavy!”

“That’s no way to talk to a lady.” You throw your slipper at him, missing his head just a few inches, laughing all the way. “What exactly were you trying to do?”

“I was trying to move us to the couch.”

“All you had to do was ask.”

“I was trying to be sexy.” He juts out his lower lip, and it takes all control of your body to not squeeze his cheeks from how adorable he looks.

“Honey, you are sexy, believe me, but you’re also weak as fuck. Consider hitting the gym for real next time and then carry me.”

“Shut up,” he sighs, holding out a hand for you to take. “To the couch, please? And maybe a massage after this ‘cause my back is killing me.”

Shaking your head in amusement, you take his hand, intertwining your fingers with his and drag him over to the couch. He’s in the middle of asking, “Do you want me to be on top or—” when you push him down and straddle his lap without warning, legs tangling around his hips. “Oh, okay.”

You run a hand through his hair, pushing them back so you can witness the glow in his eyes. “You look sexier with your hair pushed back.” You love the way he stares at you, eyes half-lidded painted with lust and desire. And combined with your commentary, he now has his cheek tinted with red. “Do you have a problem with me being on top?”

His eyes quickly run down to the place where your denim shorts are riding up your thighs, your zipper pressing against his groin. With a noticeable gulp, he stutters out, “N-no.”

You smile, patting his cheek. “Good.”

The kiss starts slow as you focus more on moving your hands down his body. Haechan shivers a little when your palm is pressing against his bare chest, sliding down to his navel. When you pull back, raising a questioning brow at his reaction, he bashfully says, “Your hand’s cold,” looking like a nervous little boy who’s a stark contrast to how he usually behaves.

He’s so cute.

“Well, I know a way to warm you up.” You smirk, almost cringing when you hear your own words but Haechan seems to like it.

“Oooh,” he coos, grinning against your lips. “Are you offering what I think you’re offering?”

“I don’t know.” You kiss your way down from his jawline to his chest, pushing yourself off his lap so you can kneel on the floor, your fingers unbuckling his belt. “What do you think I’m offering?”

Haechan’s eyes are glowing with anticipation. He curves his fingers around the edge of his seat, wetting his lip nervously when you pull his zipper down. You release him from his boxer, stroking him to life and he sinks his nails further into the couch. A train of expletives breaks free from his mouth but he’s so quiet, you can only hear his ragged breathing.

But by the time you run your thumb over his slit, your hot breath hitting his sensitive skin, Haechan melts into a whimpering mess. “Please don’t tease,” he begs.

“I haven’t even started, Haechannie.” And he looks like he’s about to say something but it only turns into a mewl when you press a kiss to his tip. “You’re so cute,” you comment, and he shivers when the vibration of your voice meets his skin.

Haechan tries to act composed. “Of course I’m cute, it’s—”

You cut his line short by darting out your tongue, giving kitten licks at the side, smiling satisfyingly when his eyes meet yours. As you give him a little suck around his tip, he throws his head back, his lower lip between his teeth. “I—I said don’t tease.”

“I’m not teasing you.” But you are. How can you not? He looks so fucking cute. You’ve never really enjoyed giving head before, especially when your opponent gets rough and ends up pushing too deep until you gag. But with Haechan, you feel like you can do this for hours. He’s so nervous and shy, doesn’t even dare to place his hand on your hair, and his reaction to every bit of your action is honest even when his words aren’t.

“Here.” You take one of his hands, moving it to your head. “You can use me as much as you want.”

“Use—” he crumbles at your choice of words. When you suddenly envelop him with your mouth, moving from the tip to the base in one quick motion, Haechan instinctively grabs a handful of your hair, flinching. “Goddamn, why are you so fucking hot?”

You giggle, sliding his cock out of your mouth with an obscene pop. “Thanks.”

“No, I mean your mouth. It’s so fucking warm.”

“So, you’re saying,” you dip your tongue into his slit, eyes seductively peering into his. “I’m not hot?”

“You’re—Fuck, fuck—” Haechan seethes, hips buckling when you bob your head down again, tongue pressing against his veins. Shivers run through his fingertips when he slips them between your locks, pushing your fringe back to have a good look at your face. You catch a glimpse of him, his lips unconsciously moving to form words that you can’t hear. So pretty, he seems to say, and the thought of it makes your stomach lurch in delight. Taking him completely in your mouth, you hollow your cheeks, swallowing around him. He tightens his hold around your hair, cheeks flushed and you expect him to hold you in place so he can thrust against your mouth but what he does is pull you away. “Stop, stop, stop, stop.”

Wiping a string of saliva away with the back of your hand, you ask with a frown. “Something’s wrong?”

Haechan hides his reddening face behind his fingers, quietly answering, “I was about to come.”

You hold back a grin. With a nonchalant hum, you dip your head down again, this time engulfing him until he hits the back of your throat.

“Jesus Christ.” His sanity is deteriorating, he can feel it.

“Don’t bring Lord’s name when I have your dick in my mouth, Haechannie. Mark would kill you if he knew.”

“Fuck Mark. Come here.” He rushes forward, forcibly pulling you up with both hands clamping your arms. When you follow his order, settling back down on top of his lap, he confesses with his lips grazing against the shell of your ear. “I really won’t last long if you keep doing that.”

Despite your previous teasing and confidence, you squirm inside his arms, feeling warmth spreading from your chest to your cheek. “So I have these effects on you?”

He’s almost growling when he retorts, “You don’t even know.” Haechan pushes your bra strap until it falls off your shoulder, teeth marking your supple skin until you hiss in both pain and pleasure. He presses a softer kiss to soothe away the bruise. “Sorry, I… You’re gonna need to cover it up tomorrow.”

“It’s fine.” You stroke his cheek, tracing the tiny mole on his jawline. “Seems like you have a biting kink.”

He sheepishly chuckles, “I don’t know. But if you let me, I’d love to do that again.”

Something about him saying it in the most sincere way possible, almost too formal even, makes you crave more for him and everything he does. “You’re allowed to do whatever you want with me, Lee Donghyuck.”

Haechan swallows hard, barely has the bravery to look at you in the face after hearing your words and his real name tumbling out of your mouth. His fingers are now on the hem of your shorts, trembling a little bit. “Umm—may I?”

Helping him further, you stand on your knees, unclasping your bra first to his surprise and pulling your denim shorts and panties down to your thighs. Haechan watches with his eyes wide open, mouth parted in awe as he commits every bit of your curve and movement into memory. It feels so thrilling to be this wanted, to be ravished by his eyes, until you begin to struggle to push your clothing away from your legs.

“Need some help?” He asks, lips pursing as he tries to hide a grin.

You exhale loudly, detaching yourself from him. “Let me just—” You jump off his lap, standing back with your feet on the ground, and kicking the clothing away with annoyance—why in the world did you have to wear shorts this tight—and slap him in the chest when he’s chuckling at the sight.

“Maybe you should stop trying to be sexy too,” Haechan snickers.

“Shut up.” You crawl back into his lap. “Go back to staring dumbly at me like before. I’m naked.”

“I wasn’t staring like tha—oh,” he inhales sharply as you grind your heat against his cock, amazed at how warm you are despite your cold palms. The sensation of skin meeting skin feels much more different. There’s really no going back this time. Somehow, it feels dangerous, as if you’re doing something forbidden and it makes your skin crawl with excitement.

And by the look on his face, seems like he feels the same way.

“Lost for words?” You taunt him with a smirk, hands on his chest. “That’s new.” His glare is menacing but it falters away the second you rub your arousal against his.

His head falls to his shoulder, eyes tightly shut. “God, baby…”

There it is again. The funny feeling in your stomach. “Baby?” You simper though your heart is palpitating like crazy. “We’re moving on to giving each other pet names now?”

If he can blush any harder than this, he probably might but with the way you’re grinding shamelessly on his cock, letting him get a glimpse of how wet and warm you are, he’s all maxed-out.

His earlobe lays between your teeth when you whisper, “Shall we put it in?”

Haechan’s nails are sinking into the skin of your hips, both to hold you in place so you’ll stop torturing him and to press you down harder on his crotch. “I…” He’s so distracted, he can’t even think. The way the side of his length is pressing against your folds is pushing every little bit of self-control he has to the back of his head.

“Haechannie?” You giggle, moving your hips. “I kinda asked you a question here.”

“Yes, fuck, yes, please.” Haechan tries his very best to not sound that desperate for your touch but he is that desperate. “Wait—aren’t we—shouldn’t I wear a condom first?”

You blink, halting your movement. “You brought a condom with you?”

He nods as he leans forward, fingers searching frantically at the pocket of his jeans that hang low on his knees. “Here.”

“Why do you have a condom with you?”

“‘Cause I bought it downstairs just now.”

Your jaw grows slack at the realization. “Is that the reason why your hair was so messy and you were sweating when you barged in here? ‘Cause you ran downstairs, trying to find a condom?”

“I’m sorry, are you really complaining about this now?”

At the feeling of his member twitching underneath you, you sigh. “You’re right. Let’s discuss that later.”

It feels a bit awkward when you stand on your knees, giving him some space and wait until he finishes wrapping the rubber around himself. The silence that hangs between you is almost deafening that by the time he’s done and you fall back to his lap, sitting on his thighs, it feels like you have to start over again.

You diffidently smile. “Hey.”

Haechan is equally as embarrassed, mirroring your gesture. “Hi.”

“I guess we’re gonna have sex.”

“Guess so.”

Another few seconds pass by where you can only meet each other’s eyes, feeling your heartbeat racing louder and louder. It feels like you’re about to burst, honestly, but fortunately for you, Haechan leans in, his fingers tentatively caressing your cheek. “Can I kiss you?” He questions.

You melt under his gaze, his gentle touch, his honey-like voice. “Yes, please.”

Your lips start the connection and the rest of your body follows, fitting every curve of his perfectly like you were made for him. The way Haechan sighs against your mouth sends sparks of electricity all the way down to your toes and you don’t waste any more time. With his mouth latching on your breast, tongue flicking against your nipple, you lower yourself on him.

Haechan’s hold your waist tighter, eyebrows adjoined in the middle at the sensation, his moans muffled. He presses his spine back against the couch, admiring the sight of his member disappearing inch by inch into you. His eyes begin to droop when he’s completely sheathed inside, his bruised lips parted. He cups your cheek, kissing you softly on the corner of your mouth, making you shiver at the sudden tenderness. “I guess we are having sex,” he murmurs with a bashful smile.

You can’t help but laugh a little. “I guess so.”

It starts slow, with you placing both hands on his chest and him swallowing his breath at the sight of you moving up and down his length. You hiss slightly at the friction, adjusting to his size.

“Does it hurt?” He asks, tucking a few loose strands behind your ear.

“A little.” You reassure him with a grin. “Relax, you’re not gonna break me.”

You expect him to send back a snarky remark but what he does is press his forehead against yours. “You’re so warm,” he whispers, tasting the skin that connects your shoulder to your neck. Something about his words, his sensual kiss and his tender touch makes you squeeze your walls around him and he clutches harder around you. He glides his hands lower to your hips, silently urging you to pick up the pace and you follow.

Breathing heavily, Haechan has his thumb grazing your lower lip. “You have such a pretty mouth,” he professes as if he was in a trance.

You seductively bite his thumb, still working your hips. “You’re saying that ‘cause I just sucked your dick.”

“Yes, that too, but really.” It’s as if he’s staring at a work of art, eyes twinkling with admiration. Sometimes, when you’re hitting the right spot and quiver around him, a small moan escapes his lips and you feel him twitching inside you. “It’s—ah—It probably doesn’t sound sincere when I’m saying this now, but I’ve always thought you had a pretty mouth. And lips. I’ve thought about your lips a lot.”

“Yeah?” You mouth against the sensitive skin below his ear, sinking harder on his length. “What else do you like about me?”

“Y-your voice—” You can actually feel him shivering. “You have such a—fuck—I just—I really love your moans.”

You’re not sure whether he’s saying that because he’s so distracted with the way you’re breathing in his ear or he genuinely loves it. Either way, it’s a pleasure to know how much you’re affecting him with your actions. With a chuckle, you say, “You’re rambling, baby.”

“And your hair,” he adds, probably losing every bit of his self-control by this point. “I love your hair. Looks so soft.” Haechan cards his fingers through your strands. “Feels so soft.”

You hum in response, hoping that your flushed face doesn’t look as apparent as you think. “Anything else?”

“Your—” He shudders when you paint a mark under his collarbone. “Your ass.”

You stop, pulling away to give him a look and he whines at the loss. “My ass?”

“What—” The tips of his ears are turning red, steam practically coming out of them. “Why are you staring at me like that—you have a great ass!”

Teasing him is such a joy to you. “Then, let’s do it this way.” You part away from him, landing back on the carpeted floor so you can turn around, giving him the chance to ogle at your behind, before you ease yourself down onto his lap once more.

“Fuck—” Haechan’s hisses, his hands going down to your hips again. The new position doesn’t allow you to meet his eyes but with the way he’s whimpering behind you, fingers trailing over the curve of your ass, the sensation increases.

“You okay back there?” You taunt smugly, chuckling a bit because Haechan sounds like he’s losing it. His nails are sinking into your skin and you just know that’s gonna leave a nasty bruise tomorrow. “You seem like you’re enjoying this way too—“ You’re interrupted by your own moans when he suddenly has one hand massaging your breast and another one sliding down your stomach to find your clit. “W-wait, Haechannie—”

“You’re such a tease,” he breathily whispers into your ear, his chest pressing against your spine as he leans forward, pulling you into his embrace. “Isn’t that supposed to be my job?”

His fingers are rubbing you in circles, making your thighs tremble. “You’re right.” You move your hips harder, going out of rhythm with how fast you’re going and Haechan sinks his teeth to your shoulder again.

At the sound of his name departing your lips in the most sinful moan he’s ever heard, Haechan curses. “Shit, you’re not gonna let me enjoy this longer, are you?”

“There’s always a second round, Haechannie.” You smirk, raising your hips all the way up in intention to slam it back down again but Haechan catches you and pushes you forward until you land on the coffee table, stomach pressing flat against the wooden surface. “What—"

“There’s always a second round, right?” His lips are brushing against your ear as he positions himself behind you. “Then I’m going all out.”

When he slams his hips in one swift motion, hard and deep, he knocks all the air out of your lungs. “Wait—” You choke out, can barely keep up with his pace. “Oh God—”

“Now, now,” he coos, his hand finding its way to your throat, fingers pressing against your veins. He raises your face, his chest completing the dip of your spine. “Don’t bring God’s name when I’m fucking you like this, baby.”

You can’t even find the strength to retort, eyes shutting tightly until you see stars behind your eyelids. It almost feels unreal how fast he can go from being awkward and tentative about all of this to raw and wild within a few minutes but Haechan has always been fast adapting to new situations and you have been teasing him way too much. It’s about time that he snaps.

Haechan moves you down to the floor, forcing you to stand on all fours and you’re so glad you follow his lead. “Spread your knees. Bring your head down,” he instructs and you do as you’re told, extending your arms in front of you. Haechan has his hand on the dip of your shoulder blades, holding you still until you have no choice but to press your cheek against the carpeted floor, ass in the air. “Good girl,” he praises, kneeling behind you and rubbing his tip along your folds. “Ready, baby?”

He doesn’t wait for your answer.

With only a few minutes in, you know you’re getting close, you can feel it. He has switched from giving deep, hard thrusts to quick, shallow ones and it’s driving you insane. “H-Haechannie, I—” you whimper, “I’m close—”

And he knows it too, of course he does. He can tell by the way you’re clenching around him. But instead of going harder and driving you completely over the edge, Haechan suddenly laces his fingers with yours, his lips painting soft kisses from your nape down to your spine, his hips hitting another angle that feels just as amazing even when he slows down the pace. The intimacy surprises you as you don’t expect him to be this tender. Suddenly, it doesn’t feel like you’re doing this out of sheer passion. With his palm covering the back of your hand, fingers slipping between yours, somehow, everything feels more sentimental, stronger, crossing the lines.

With a moan of your name, Haechan flips you to your back, fingers framing your face, lips meeting lips as he thrusts back in, gasping against your mouth. “I want to see your face,” he says when he pulls away, his half-lidded eyes boring into yours, thumb slipping between your lips. “Not sure if I’ve told you this before but…” He snaps his hips, and you tangle your legs around them in response, fingernails digging into his upper arms. “You’re so beautiful.”

The knot in your stomach untangles without warning and your orgasm hits you so hard, you nearly sob at the sensation. With the way you’re quivering and squeezing around him, Haechan follows right after, his face sinking into the crook of your neck, hips stuttering as he rides out his own orgasm.

***

With his jeans back on and his used condom thrown away to the nearest trash bin, Haechan joins you back on the carpeted floor as you still haven’t found the strength to get up and get dressed after that. He shamelessly lays his body down on top of yours, his cheek pressing against the valley of your breasts. “I’m spent,” he mumbles, feeling drowsy.

“Haechannie?”

“Hmm?”

“You’re heavy.”

“I know.” But he doesn’t get up, only moving his head slightly to press a tiny kiss to your bare chest before he lies his head down over your heart again. You give up with a smile, wrapping your arms around him, fingertips stroking his hair. Haechan sighs contentedly under your touch. “Man, that was…”

“That was?”

“Amazing.” He props himself up on his elbows so he can meet your eyes. “You’re amazing.”

Your heart jolts at the sincerity in his words but you cooly smile back. “I know.”

“And I’m amazing too, I’m sure?”

“Meh,” you shrug. “Could be a little better but I’ll let you practice on me for free.”

“Jesus Christ.” He shakes his head, his strands tickling your nose. “I don’t even have the strength to join your banter. You know, I’ve always wondered since you’re pretty much shit at everything, there must be something you’re good at. But I never thought that something would turn out to be sex. I can’t even believe I’m saying this but you’re really, really amazing at it. I feel like I should give you a medal or something.”

“Thanks,” you flatly mutter. “Not sure if you’re praising me, though.”

“Oh, I am praising you, believe me. And you know me, I rarely praise.”

“Stop it,” you use your robotic voice. “You’re making me feel so special, I’m about to cry.”

Haechan playfully nips at your nose, forcing you to break off your act and laugh directly into his mouth. “Seriously,” he says, breaking off the kiss. “If I were to pay you for sex, I would give you everything I own. Even the clothes I’m wearing. Hell, I’d even sell my grandma but don’t tell her that.”

Your laughter has reduced into small giggles. “That’s comforting.”

“So…” The way Haechan is caressing your hair is so soft, almost like a mother to her sleeping child. “What should we do about this?” When you raise an eyebrow, he tensely adds, “Do you, umm… I mean, do you want to, like—”

“You’re rambling.”

“I know, God, I’m so nervous! I may look like a naughty, sexy bad boy—”

“No one is saying that—“

“But I actually suck at this—as in, I don’t really know how to date a girl.”

“You don’t even know how to talk to a girl, based on the conversations we’ve had,” you comment and you know it’s not helping but it’s worth seeing his adorable pout. “Then don’t date me. If it’s hard for you to date, then let’s just keep being friends—"

“But I want to continue this!” He says it so fast and firmly that you don’t even have time to feel hurt about your offer.

It’s not like you crave a relationship with him—you haven’t thought about it that far—even just holding him like this is enough for now, so the fact that he’s so excited to have this going makes your heart swells with joy. “Well then, we’ll be friends who have casual sex anytime we want,” you suggest.

He blinks twice, a bit amazed at your offer, but to your surprise, he seems rather… disappointed? “What happens if we start catching feelings?” He quietly asks.

“Then I guess we’ll start dating for real.”

“Then…” He runs a hand through his hair, nervous. “What happens if I already have feelings for you?”

He states it so quietly, it’s a miracle you can even hear him. “Do you want to date me, Haechannie?”

He looks away, hiding his face in the crook of your neck. “Do you want to date me?” He murmurs against your skin, unsure and flustered.

You heave the heaviest sigh you’ve ever done in your life. “You’re unbelievable. I’ll decide for us then. Starting now, we’re dating.”

He lifts his head, and if he were a puppy, he would’ve had his tail wagging behind him, even when his face doesn’t show much. “That easy?”

“That easy. What, you have something to complain about?”

“No.” He grins, pressing a chaste kiss on your lips. “Hey, girlfriend.”

“Ugh, get off me, you’re gross.”

But no matter how hard you push your palm against his face, Haechan only giggles and turns you around so this time, you’re lying on his chest. “So,” he pushes a few strands of your hair behind your ear. “You like me, huh?”

“No, what makes you think that way?”

“Says the girl who just slept with me.”

“I slept with you ‘cause I was just curious about your dick. Jeno said you had a dick that was the size of his thumb.”

“Excuse me?!”

“Didn’t you see his InstaStory last night?” You reach up to gather your phone from the coffee table. “I took a screenshot of it actually. Man, you should’ve seen the comments. They’re hilarious.”

Snatching your phone away, Haechan runs his eyes along the words written on the screen. “That son of a bitch!”

Simpering, you sneak a peek under his boxer. “Well, he’s not wrong.”

“Oh, it’s on,” he deadpans, throwing your phone away and pushes you back down on the floor. His eyes glinting mischievously.

“What are you doing?” You’re still half-laughing when he brings your hands over your head, holding your wrists together with one hand as he settles between your thighs, his fingers hovering dangerously close.

“I’m gonna make you take your words back.” He wets his lip, one corner of his mouth turning upward. “Time for the second round, baby.”

***

2K notes · View notes

20moonchild21 · 3 years

Text

𝗦𝗲𝗵𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵𝘁 [𝗯𝘁𝘀]

⇉ 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 3

[Pairing]

Jungkook x female!oc, bunny!JK x human!oc

[Warnings]

mentiones of abuse, abuse, traumatized JK, humiliating, breakdowns, past sexual harassment, mentiones of violence, violence

[Words]

4.6k

[author]

Here is the next chapter. I really hope you like it. It is so fun writing new chapters and creating a new story.

Check out my recommendation below this chapter! My personal favorite is Inferiority Complex by @starlightauroras-writes. It‘s well written and so exciting to read. Make sure to leave her a lot of likes and comments! She deserves it so much!

Also, leave a like or comment, if you like this story. This makes me happy!

Stay safe and healthy!

Mꨄ

[chapter 2 ||| chapter 4]

It had been six days, since the girl had found him inside the dark alley way. Six days since she had taken him in with her, and six days since his world had been turned upside down.

Everything he had ever learned in his life, from which he thought they were right and normal, suddenly seemed to be so wrong and cruel. He wasn’t stupid. Of course, in his past he also had wondered if there was a life for him, in which could just be him.

Bred in a laboratory near Seoul, the capital of South Korea, he was soon adopted by a rich couple from New York who were looking for a rare bunny Hybrid. His younger him was so excited to finally be adopted and have a family, instead of some scary people in white coats.

God, had he been wrong.

He was nothing more than a pet for their pleasure. In every way.

A shiver ran down his spine, when he thought about the times the man had run his hands over his sensitive ears, pressing and twisting them. Or when his hands had gone down over his back and into his pants, so he could pull the soft fur of the boy’s fluffy tail. Sometimes, his hands had gone even further down, pinching or slapping his butt cheeks.

The boy felt his cheeks redden at this memory.

At first, he had thought it was an accident. He had made sure to leave some space between the man and him, or wriggle himself out of the man’s grip. Little had he known that he had made things worse by that.

He had gotten many punishments. Some of them were okay for him. They would made him clean the house or the laundry, and sometimes they had would lock him up in the small chamber next to kitchen without some food or drinks for several hours.

This had been some of the harmless punishments.

If he had been really bad, they would made him take of all his clothes, serving either them or their friends as they were over. Other days, they would punched him with this heavy belt or with a bat.

His eyes swelled with tears at this memories. He had always thought that he deserved all of this. He thought it was normal for Hybrids to be subordinated to human. He thought that every time he got a punishment, it had been his fault because he was such a bad Hybrid.

How could he had been so wrong?

Since the girl had taken him in with her, there had been no point where he had felt the urged to hide himself from her. Not even when he accidently dropped the whole package of flour over himself and the floor, while trying to put it up into the top shelf.

The kitchen had stayed silence for a few seconds, before she broke out into the most beautiful laugher he had ever heard. It was not played or evil or meant to hurt him. It was a real, clear laugher, about a funny situation.

He felt himself warming more and more up with every day, getting more and more comfortable while being around the human girl. He also loved the apartment she lived in.

It definitely wasn’t as big as the former house he had lived in. The apartment was small, but he loved anything about it. He loved the soft sofa that was placed in the middle of the living room that was so soft and warms with all its cushions and blankets to wrap oneself in.

He loved the small kitchen that would send out the mouth-watering smell of food every evening.

He loved the white hallway with the photo framed wall that he loved to look at when he was bored, because every time he discovered a new detail of them. Like two day ago, when he looked at the picture of Hope and the older women and suddenly realized that they actually have exactly the same smile.

He loved his own room with the big, soft bed in the middle, on which he loved to lay and read a book when Hope was busy. He had often wondered when she knocked on the door, but she had told him that this room was his private territory, and no one was allowed to enter if he didn’t want to.

Together, him and Hope even had created some kind of a daily routine.

In the mornings after he would wake up around 7.30 am. he would wait for Hope to be done showering. When she was done, she would leave the bathroom for him to go his routine, while starting to prepare the breakfast.

In the bathroom, he would take a quick shower, brush his teeth and hair and change into some new clothes.

Then, he and Hope had some breakfast together, before they both made the dished and he helped her to clean the table. After the dishes were done, Hope would sit down on the same kitchen table, writing something into her laptop, which she said was very important for her university graduation.

He often was a little bit sad that they couldn’t talk to each other while she was working on her essay, but he still tried to be as quiet as possible.

He then would either try to read one of the books standing in her bookshelf, try to sleep or he would watch some TV with the minimum of volume. But yesterday, he had found something more interesting to occupy himself with.

In the corner of the living room, he had spotted Hope’s old guitar. He was so curious that he had carefully asked her about it, and she immediately showed him how to use it. She said that she hadn’t played it in years, because she was too busy with university. But when she had pulled some strings of the wooden instrument, she created such a beautiful melody and Jungkook thought that it sounded absolutely amazing.

She even said, that him practicing the guitar, would not be bothering her while she wrote her terms. So, he tried to play the instrument while she worked. She had showed him how to google for tutorials on YouTube. At first, he was sceptical when the human in the TV screen began to talk to him, but soon, he had realized that he wasn’t actually talking to him, but for everyone who clicked on the video.

Sometimes, he would catch himself how he watched the girl working at the table. He would just stare at how she cringed her nose while her fingers slide over the keyboard, how she chewed on her lips as she read through the thick book, or how her tongue would stick out of her mouth when she was concentration really hard.

Beside the wife of his owner, he had never seen a human girl before. He only had seen some visitors of his owner, with all their make-up, pushed up breasts, heavy perfume and fake laughers. He never had thought at one of them to be beautiful, but Hope was.

He found out that she actually was a year younger than him, but her personality seemed to be much older than his. She never wore too revealing clothes or heavy make-up, nor did she ever covered her scent with perfume.

When he noticed how creepy he would stare at her, deeply absorbed in his thoughts, he would turn his attention back to whatever he had been doing before spacing out.

Once she would be done, usually around noon, they would both go into the kitchen and bake a cake together, that would be eaten in the afternoon. While waiting for the cake to be done in the oven, they would sit on the soft couch and talk about random things.

Jungkook had to admit that talking to the girl was one of his favourite things to do each day. Not only because she was a really funny person, or because her voice was so smooth and soft, but also because she actually talked and listened to him.

In the beginning, he sometimes had hesitated, not wanting to speak too much. But by now, he wasn’t afraid of talking too much and being punished for it. He just could talk as much as he wanted without being stopped.

Hope had told him some stories from her childhood and live. He listened to every detail carefully, wanting to give her the same attention she giving him all the time. She would tell him stories about different items in the house, and she even explained him the photos on the wall next to his room when he had asked about them.

Now he knew that the older women was her mom, who had sadly died a few year ago during a car accident. He felt sorry for her when he saw a tear leaving her eye and for a short moment, he had thought about hugging her. But only for a second. The pain and fear were still bounded too deep onto his bones.

The younger people next to her were her best friend from High School. He didn’t miss the sad tone, as she told him that they hadn’t had talked recently, because every one of them was busy with university and their own lives.

She had also told him about her college life. From what she told him, he assumed that she must be really smart.

But he was even more amazed when she told him about her future plans. Hope wanted to be a lawyer for Hybrid rights, because she thought that they deserve more rights than they have now. She thought that they should be equal to human and that she wanted to give them a voice by standing up for their rights.

He couldn’t believe that she actually was fighting for Hybrids to have all the same rights than human have.

He imagined himself and how he would leave the house to go to work every morning, like every human did each day. He imagines himself and how he would go shopping all by himself, or how he would just walk around the park whenever he wanted to. It must be great to fell that free.

When they would be done eating their cake in the afternoon, Hope would always clean up the apartment a little bit. She said that she didn’t want the house to be sterile, but she wanted it to be tidy. She would use the vacuum to clean up the floor in every room, while Jungkook cleaned up the kitchen from when they had baked.

In the evenings, they would both prepare their diner, before eating it together, making the dishes and watch some more TV, until they both were tired. They would brush their teeth again, before changing into a pair of pyjamas and then go to sleep.

“Jungkoooook! Can you come here for a second, pleeeaaaasee!”

The Hybrid’s ears shot up high in the ear when he heard the girl’s voice coming from the living room. He quickly closed the book he was reading on his bed and laid it onto his nightstand. Slowly and a little bit scared that he had done something wrong, he walked out of his room. He carefully peeked his head around the corner, looking into the living room.

“Hey Jungkook.” The girl waved at him when she saw him standing in the hallway.

The boy gulped. Hope didn’t look mad or angry, so he assumed that he didn’t do anything wrong. Rather than mad, she looked really excited and happy as she made her way over to the couch where the boy suddenly spotted something big.

He curiously made a step further into the living room, slowly making his way up towards her. His mind was filled with questions when he saw the girl walking up to the big, brown box next to the sofa. It was much higher than the small girl, almost his hight, and printed with many different signs and…warnings?

Don’t shake. Caution, heavy package! Lift with care.

“Don’t look so scared, Jungkook.” The girl smiled at him when she saw how he hesitated to come near her. “I have a surprise for you.”

He watched as she pulled a small pocket knife out of the pocket of her jeans. She stepped closer to the package and quickly slide the sharp blade of the knife over the plastic strings that were wrapped around the big box.

“A Surprise?” He whispered in disbelieve. “For me?”

“Yes, for you, silly.” She smiled again, as she cut the last string, leaving only the tape wrapped around the box. “Now come over here. I need your help with this.”

He made two big steps until he had reached the girl and the package. Hope was already pulling at the tape trying to rip it off. He lifted his arms up to the top of the box, pulling the tape that was placed there.

His mind was still filled with questions. Never in his life had someone bought him a present, not even on his birthday. He wondered why she had decided to buy him something this big and heavy, after all, she already shared her apartment with him, and this was more than he could ever ask for. He wondered what was hiding inside the brown cardboard, but he knew that whatever it was, he would love it.

He ripped the last piece of tape off, throwing it onto the pile on the ground. The girl was already holding her knife, slicing open the brown cardboard of the box. When she was done, she laid the piece of metal onto the dining table, before turning around. Her eyes were flickering between the Hybrid and the still closed package.

“Come on. It’s for you.” She said after a few seconds of silence. “Open it.”

He was still looking at the girl with wide eyes, before he snapped out of his trance, and just pulled the brown cardboard away carefully.

He gasped and took a step back. Now standing in the middle of the living room, was a big, red sack. It was round and about his height, with a big metal chain on the top, along with some red, big gloves. He didn’t know what this was supposed to be. Never in his life had he seen something strange like this.

“Do you like it?” The girl squeaked excitedly while jumping up and down.

Did he like it? He didn’t even know what this things was used for. What was he supposed to answer? She looked so excited and happy, and the last things he wanted was to hurt her feelings.

“I – ehm…” He hesitated for a moment. “I like it?”

His answer sounded more like a question, and the girl didn’t miss that.

“You don’t know what this is, do you?” She pulled her left eyebrow up, while she watched in amusement as the boy struggled to find an answer. He was too adorable. “It’s okay, Jungkook. I will show you.”

She walked up to the red sack, standing onto her tippy-toes to reach the red gloves from the top. She pushed them into his arms and gestured for the boy to pull them over his hands.

“This is a punching bag.” She said as she walked behind the so called punching bag. “You can punch and kick it to get stronger, or when you are angry. I just thought – you once said that you think of yourself being too thin, and since you can’t go out, I thought that you would like something like that. We can hang it up in your room if you, but if you don’t want it it’s okay, then I will send it back. Come on, punch it.”

The boy stared at the red gloved that were now covering his hands, before looking up at the girl, checking whether she was serious or not. When their eyes met, she smiled and nodded at him to go on.

He carefully lifted his left hand in the air and pushed it forward. His punch was weakly, as if he was scared to hurt the bag.

The girl encouraged him to hit the bag harder this time. Insuring him that he was not hurting someone.

Jungkook lifted both of his hands this time, like he was actually preparing to fight someone. He threw another punch at the bag, which was much harder this time. Then he threw another one with the other hand.

Something inside him had just been woken up, and he was surprises by the power behind his punches. Before he had come to Hope, he was thin and weak, almost too weak to hold himself on his own legs.

Though he had gained some more weight over the last 7 days, he still was not happy with is body statue. He didn’t want to seem weak anymore. He wanted to be strong and powerful, so he could protect himself so he would never had to fear some human ever again in his life.

Being roommate with the small girl, he had recently developed the primal urge to also want to protect the female from all intruders and dangers coming from outside. So this punching bag could be a good chance to actually gain some muscles.

Over and over again, he punched the bag harder and harder, until the girl, who was still steadying the heavy sack, stooped him.

“Okay, okay!” She laughed, and immediately, Jungkook stopped. “I think it is better to hang it up in your room, or else you will punch me around the room. Come on, help me carrying it.”

Together, they carried the bag into the Hybrid’s room. The girl also brought a hammer and a hook for hanging up the punching bag onto the ceiling. The boy watched in amazement, as she climbed up onto a chair and bringing the hook into the ceiling all by herself.

When she was done, he helped her to lift up the bag and hang it up onto the hook. Proudly, she stepped off of the chair and rubbed her hands.

“Do you like it?” She asked again, this time more referring to the position they had hung up the red bag.

“Yes. I like it very much.” He just whispered, not knowing how to thank her appropriated. “Thank you…Hope. Thank you so much.”

They looked for another seconds at each other, before she said that she had to do some more work. She was about to leave, when she suddenly turned back.

“I forgot something.” She spoke more to herself, as she ran out of the room, leaving the confused boy behind. She came back a few minutes later, holding something black in her hands. “I actually have another surprise for you. Well…it’s not actually a surprise but more like a recommendation from me to you.”

She walked back inside the room, making her way up towards his bed. She asked him if she could sat down and he nodded, taking a seat next to her. Jungkook could sense her racing heartbeat and her nervousness. She lifted the black object and placed it on his lap carefully.

“This is a notebook. I – I know that you have been through some tough times, and it’s okay that you don’t want to talk about it with me. But if you ever feel like you need to get something off of you mind, you can just write it in here. Believe me, it helps very much to organized one’s mind into a notebook. I used one for myself when I was younger and didn’t want to talk to someone. So – here.”

Carefully, she lifted her hand and laid it on his for a moment. She knew that he was still afraid when it came to physical affection, but she just needed him to know that she cared.

Jungkook just stared at the notebook and then at her hand that was covering his. His cheeks blushed slightly when he realized that they were actually touching. But somehow, he didn’t feel the urge to pull away.

“The Simpsons, again?” The girl groaned and threw her head backwards, closing her eyes. “Don’t you ever get tired of it?”

When she opened her eyes again, she immediately was confronted with those big, brown orbs staring into hers. How could she say no? She sighed loudly, while pressing the right button onto the remote.

“Your play wasn’t fair.” She muttered, as she bent over and snatched the bowl of popcorn out of the Hybrid’s hands.

This day had been more then exhausting for the girl, but also a day of many happy occasion. First of all, she had finally finished the majority of her paper terms. It wasn’t perfect yet, but being done so early she had plenty of time for working on the details.

Jungkook wasn’t so pleased when she had worked twice as long for finishing her terms, meaning that he had to bridge twice as much time alone. He had tried a few times to convince her stop working for today, but when he realized that she wouldn’t go after his demand, he just pouted and went to his own room.

Hope had noticed the process Jungkook had made over the past two weeks which made her extremely proud.

Not only mentally, he became much more confident, but also physically. Since the day she bought him his punching back, he had been practicing almost every day. She would hear the dull tones of his gloves hitting the bag, while she would sit in front of her laptop in the dining room.

His skin and body looked much healthier, now. With his cheeks red and more plump, and with his shoulder and arms that seemed to get much and much broader every day, there was nothing left from the shy, injured boy from two weeks ago.

She had also noticed, that he actually wasn’t too averse to physical affection as she had thought. She thought that she had crossed a border when she touched his hands without his permission a few day before, but since then, he only seemed to trust her more.

He wouldn’t pull his hands away anymore, when their hands accidently touched. He also wouldn’t sit on the couch as far away from her as possible, instead, he even agreed to share the same blanket two nights ago.

He also had taken in her recommendation when she had given him the notebook. She sometimes watched him as he was bent over the small book, writing something in with fast and hectic movements. Sometimes, she wondered if he was actually writing, or if he was just sketching some pictures or signs. But then, he could read, so she assumed that he had learned how to write, too.

When he was done, he would just lay his pen aside, and stare at the book for several minutes, completely spaced out. She wanted to ask him what he was thinking about, but decided to not go for it. He should always have the chance to organize his thoughts without her bothering him.

The second exciting thing that had happened this day, was Jungkook accompanying her towards the grocery store. It wasn’t planned at all, but lately he had asked her more often if there was a chance that he could leave the apartment. At least one time.

Lucky for him, he had a short fluffy tail that was normal hidden by his shorts, and his ears could be easily covered by a beanie. He had looked like a normal, healthy and happy young man, when he had strolled behind her through the hallways of shelves.

It made her even more sat that he indeed was a normal boy. He had never asked to be bred in a laboratory. He had never asked to be threatened like a slave in his own home, and he especially deserved nothing mor than to feel normal. One day – One day he would get the chance to feel normal. She would to anything in her power to give him that chance.

“We can also watch something else if – if you want.” Jungkook ripped her out of her thoughts.

He had curled up under the blanket beside her, nudging his head into the soft pillow behind him. His ears were sprawled out to one side and all over the soft cushion, as well as his deep brown hair. The day in the supermarket had really worked him out.

The boy was so focused on the TV playing his favourite cartoon, that he didn’t notice how the girl took a quick picture of his being curled up on the couch. She looked at the taken picture for a few seconds, before closing her phone and throwing into onto the couch.

A sudden idea came into her head. The boy’s birthday was coming up soon, and she was still thinking of a nice surprise for. She knew he loved all of the photos that were placed all around the apartment. He loved to look at them every morning while she worked, and he loved even more when she told him the story behind every single photo, even if she had told them to him for several times.

What if he would wake up on his birthday, leaving his room and seeing a photo of him framed and hung up onto the wall? She actually like that idea.

She snapped out of her thoughts and looked for her phone. Why did she had to throw it away so far from her? She groaned. If she wanted to memo her idea, she needed to move now. She pushed the blanket away and bent over to reach her phone.

While doing so, she accidentally pushed her hand onto the remote, that laid next to her. The TV screen went black for a moment, before popping up with a new picture.

In the middle of the screen was now a news reporter talking. Hope didn’t pay him any attention. She was still occupied with her phone, when suddenly the Hybrid next to her shot up from his lying position.

He sat straight up, his mouth slightly open and his ears high up in the ear. Like paralyzed, his wide open eyes were fixed on the screen where the report was still talking about something the girl hadn’t caught yet.

“Jungkook?” She asked quietly, but he didn’t’ move an inch. “Jungkook, are you –“

“Shhhhh!” He didn’t even looked at her, as he shushed her shut, pointing his finger wildly onto the TV screen.

“…Unfortunately, the police had not been arriving in time. Witnessers though spotted some of the rarest breeds under the illegal participant Hybrids. Among them were Asiatic lions, some Azawakh dog and even an Amur Leopard. All of these Hybrids belong to the rarest breeds of the world. Dealing or participating them in illegal fighting clubs is highly is highly punished…”

Bullshit. None of those people will ever be arrested, and this guy in the TV knew it. If illegal dealers or ZCM’s, so called ‘Zoo Club Members’ or owners who send their Hybrids to illegal fighting clubs, were caught, there was neither someone who wanted to defend the Hybrids in front of the judge, nor no one even cared to actually bring the case in front of a judge.

She turned her head over to the hybrid sitting on her couch, but she wasn’t prepared for what she saw. When he had jumped up from the couch, she thought that he got scared because of the sudden change of the TV channel, but what she saw broke her heart.

The bunny Hybrid had laid his ears flat against his head, while big tears were spilling out of his eyes. Between short sobs and gasps he whispered two words all over again.

“Jin Hyung.”

[inspirations | recommendations] ⇉ 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀!

@wishesunderthestars

@agustdakasuga

@ditttiii

@angelicyoongie

@starlightauroras-writes

191 notes · View notes

justthehiddleswrites · 3 years

Text

Follow My Lead | Tom Hiddleston x OFC (Vivian Swann) | Chapter 5 | I bet you look so pretty when you beg.

A/N: This will update every Thursday. There are 13 chapters. There are all sorts of kinds of D/s relationships. This is the one I choose to write this time.

MASTERLIST HERE

Pairing: Tom Hiddleston x OFC (Vivian Swann)

Summary: Tom and Vivian have both been unlucky in love, searching for something outside of the bounds of a typical relationship. When the two of them connect via a dating app, Tom is introduced to the idea of being submissive to Vivian. Which is the one thing he never knew he needed. Under the firm hand of Vivian, Tom learns what it means to submit and Vivian learns what it means to be in a loving dominant relationship. But not everyone seems to understand what they have and the best intentions can destroy the strongest relationship.

This Chapter: Sophie and Vivian bond over shopping and Tom and Vivian finally have sex. But not before a little denial.

Warnings for story: Dominant/submissive relationship (sub!Tom), lots of smut including but not limited to: vaginal sex, oral sex (male and female receiving), edging, denial, teasing, use of restraints, spanking, multiple orgasm, anal play, use of toys.

Tag Lists Are Open! Let me know if you want to be added. Thank you for reading!

Vivian tossed on a pair of jeans and a blouse for lunch at Tom’s and then shopping with Sophie. She read and reread Tom’s essay that night. She may have even teared up a bit. Not that she would admit that to Tom just yet. Vivian eschewed heels that day, opting for a driving mocassin.

She texted Tom when she was already halfway to his house, knowing he was already pacing the length of his living room. His nervous energy reminded her of an overexcited puppy. So sweet and endearing. And that smile, that damn smile, melted Vivian’s heart in a way she never felt before.

“Come in.” Tom opened the door wide with a smile.

Tom wore a pair of beat up shorts, t-shirt and trainers. Vivian could see his abs through the thin fabric. She wanted nothing more than to rip off that shirt and lick them. But there was much to discuss. She grabbed the back of his head and kissed him, tongues exploring. They parted.

“God, I love kissing you, sunshine.” she commented, licking her lips.

“I love kissing you, too, ma’am.” Tom whispered back. He hoped for more, but Vivian stepped into the kitchen and sat down, gesturing for Tom to sit next to her. He sat, hands folded in front of him.

“So…” he started.

Vivian slid a folded piece of paper over towards Tom. He unfolded it. It was his essay. Vivian had underlined and circled portions of his writing.

“My essay?”

“Did you mean it?”

“Every word, ma’am.” Tom responded. He stared at her.

“You realize what you are wanting? You realize what it would mean?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Tom exhaled. “I have thought about it long before I even met you. To be honest, I think I have subconsciously been seeking this out in my relationships. Seeking out strong and independent women. And it ended in disaster. I think they assumed I would take control, ‘be the man’, make the decisions. I make decisions all day at my job. I play the role of the one in control. But what I want, what I need is surrender. To be strong by giving my control away. To trust someone with my heart and my life.”

“On a daily basis? To give total control to me? It’s okay if you don’t, we can play, keep things casual. It’s not unusual for submissive men to think they want this and then get intimidated or scared.”

“I won’t know if I don’t try. But what I can say is that I have never felt as happy and comfortable than I am with you.” Tom smirked. “Tied up to your bed in my underwear. Give me the chance.”

Vivian chewed on her lip. Tom never looked more like a puppy than he did in that moment. His short golden hair rumpled as though he had run his hands through it waiting for her. His blue eyes wide, hopeful, and on the precipice of spilling tears.

“You know you won’t always get what you want?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“That I will say no to you?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And you need to do as I say?”

“Of course, ma’am.”

Vivian smiled and pulled Tom over to her lap, smoothing his hair. He nuzzled into her neck, inhaling the scent of woodsy perfume. “Then we will do this, sunshine. If at any point you want to stop, tell me.”

“Yes, ma’am.” he muttered into her neck, his breath hot on the skin.

She lifted his head and kissed him tenderly. “Good boy.” She cupped his face. “My beautiful good boy.”

Tom glowed.

They stood and Vivian pulled out an envelope and handed it to Tom. It contained a list of various kinks and sexual acts with boxes for Tom to mark “yes”, “soft no” and “hard no.” “Fill this out and give it back to me today after I return from shopping.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“We will continue with the 9 p.m. phone call. I am busy this week so I won’t be able to meet until the weekend.”

Tom nodded, disappointed but understanding. He had a few meetings himself. “Yes, ma’am.” He fidgeted in his seat.

“The next time we get together, we will have sex.” She reached out to stroke Tom’s arm. He shivered. “Until then, no more masturbating.”

“Yes… what?” Tom’s brow furrowed.

She smirked. “No jerking off, no orgasms, no touching yourself, sunshine.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He shuffled his feet. That was going to be a difficult task to accomplish.

“And you are to take a photo of your cock, either in your underwear or pajamas in the morning, and send it to me.”

Tom’s mouth dropped open. His cheeks reddened. He stared at the floor. “Yes… yes ma’am.” he stuttered.

Vivian pulled him into a sweet kiss, her hand petting the back of his hand. “Don’t be embarrassed, sunshine. These photos will never see the light of day and I will delete them after I view them.”

He exhaled sharply. “Thank you, ma’am.”

“Now let’s eat.”

Tom rushed to the kitchen and grabbed the salad and sandwiches he made earlier from the fridge. He set them down on the table and then returned with a glass of water for both of them. Tom sat and waited for Vivian to eat before taking a bite.

“Did you make the sandwich?” She asked.

Tom finished chewing before answering. “Yes, ma’am.”

“It’s delicious. Perfect lunch for a warm day. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Can I ask a question?”

“Of course.” Vivian smiled.

Tom chewed on his lip. “Do you think I am ‘less of a man’ for wanting this?”

“Quite the contrary, sunshine. I find it strong, not to mention sexy that you are willing to give power to me. Your masculinity is not contingent on being in charge, on being the boss of the relationship. It is about mutual trust and respect.” Tom nodded but said nothing. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“You have been in several high profile relationships or rumoured relationships. And you have commented more than once that they ended in disaster. What happened?”

“That’s not just a question, but the question. I guess what happened was the same thing that happened in all failed relationships. We wanted different things.”

“What did they want?”

“They wanted the guy on the screen. The Jonathan Pine, the Loki. The man who shoves you against a wall and fucks you senseless. The man who pushes her to her knees and has her suck my cock. The one who calls the shots. The alpha male. It’s exhausting. Eventually there would be friction and then argument. I could never articulate properly what I wanted. And then they left. Sometimes loudly, sometimes with an apology. But they left.” Tom sniffled.

She caressed his cheek. “They didn’t deserve you, sunshine.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” He sniffed again and then cleared the plate. He checked the time. “I am due at Benedict’s.”

“Drive me, please. I am meeting Sophie there.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Tom gathered his keys, wallet and phone and led Vivian to his car. He opened her door before getting in himself. She scratched the nape of his neck. “Have I told you what a perfect gentleman you are?”

“No, ma’am.”

“You are. So polite and kind and generous. I can’t wait to make you beg for me to let you come.”

Tom jerked the car forward. “Yes, ma’am.”

She twirled his hair between her fingers, she noticed Tom’s shorts tenting. Vivian waited for the stoplight before continuing. “I bet you look so pretty when you beg. My pretty little sunshine.”

Beads of sweat popped out on Tom’s temples. “Yes. ma’am.” He didn’t know how else to respond. All the blood was rushing somewhere other than his brain.

“I guess we will see.” she mused before squeezing the back of his neck and then fiddling with the radio.

It took the rest of the drive for Tom to get his body back under control. He wiped the sweat from his brow as he rounded around the car to open Vivian’s door. Vivian knocked on the door, her hand on the small of Tom’s back. Sophie answered.

“You two came together!” She pulled Vivian into a hug. “And you are at a reasonable height!”

Vivian laughed. “I wore my shopping shoes.” She wiggled her feet.

“Smart woman.” Benedict poked his head around Sophie. She turned and kissed his cheek and rubbed his shoulder. “And the two of you are actually going to tear down that shed and not sit around and drink beer?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Benedict teased. She rubbed his shoulder. Tom stiffened at Ben’s words, but Vivian rubbed his neck and he relaxed.

“Have a good time, darling.” She kissed Tom’s cheek. “Sophie, shall we?”

The two women linked arms and stepped out. Tom’s eyes lingered on Vivian as she and Sophie laughed.

“Should I be worried, mate?” He asked Benedict, who handed him a hammer.

“Two strong independent women, one of whom knows several secrets about both of us? Yes, you should.”

Tom paled.

“You should buy it.” Vivian urged Sophie, who was holding up a gorgeous dress.

“But where would I wear it?”

“Red carpet. A gala. Around the house. Who cares?”

“Around the house?”

Vivian smirked. “Are you saying that your husband wouldn’t want to see you in that dress?”

Sophie eyed the short hemline and low neckline. “Good point, but…”

“If you don’t buy it, I will.” Vivian grabbed for the dress, but Sophie snatched it back.

“Find your own dress!” she giggled.

“Not a problem.” Vivian held up her other arm, ladened with clothes.

Vivian laughed more in the few hours with Sophie than she had in a long time. She had few female friends outside of Ashley, who was busy in starting up her own small boutique firm. Sophie was a delight, sharing stories about Tom and Benedict.

“Did he really streak into the pool?” Vivian asked.

Sophie nodded her head. “Both of them. Although I am certain copious amounts of alcohol bolstered their boldness. You have a bit of an exhibitionist on your hands.”

Vivian blushed. “I can’t say I blame him. Which reminds me…”

She wandered over to the men’s section of the store. Vivian selected a couple of t-shirts for Tom, in shades of blue and maroon. The cotton brushed and soft against her skin and the vee of the neckline cut deep. She also picked up a few pairs of black boxer briefs with bright contrasting elastic bands on the inside. They weren’t Calvin Klein, but Vivian was certain Tom would be delicious in them.

“Already buying Tom’s clothes? The two of you are progressing quickly.”

Vivian smiled, not wanting to betray Tom’s privacy, not even to Sophie. “He mentioned needing some new things. I thought I would help him out.” She shrugged. Not a complete lie. After all, she had made Tom throw out some portion of his underwear.

“Those are cute. I’m grabbing a pair for Ben.” Sophie snagged the underwear.

After they gave the boys enough time to tear down the shed, accounting for the time they would take talking and standing about. They found the two of them sitting on the couch, looking quite pleased with themselves, drinking a beer.

Vivian settled onto Tom’s lap while Sophie sat on the arm next to Ben. She wiggled her ass against Tom’s crotch and he shifted underneath her, pulling her tight against him, nuzzling into her neck. She grabbed the beer from his hand.

“No alcohol for you.” She took a sip. “You are driving.”

“Yes, darling.”

Sophie sighed and smacked Ben’s arm. “Why can’t you be romantic like that?”

“Because I’m married.” Benedict joked.

Sophie threw daggers with her eyes. Benedict grabbed her by the waist and pulled her down. “Ah!!” she screamed as Tom and Vivian giggled.

“How is this for romantic?” Benedict kissed her dramatically.

Sophie righted herself. “Sorry you two had to see that.” She playfully elbowed Benedict. “Sometimes he needs to know who’s the boss.”

“No apologies.” Vivian continued to rub Tom’s neck. “Sometimes you just need to establish your dominance.”

“You’re not going to back me up, mate?” Ben yelled, looking to Tom for support

“It’s okay, sunshine.” Vivian whispered so only Tom could hear, before kissing behind his ear.

“Of course, Ben.” Tom straightened up. “I think… all relationships should be based on mutual respect and trust.” His face breaking out into a smug grin.

“Good answer.” Vivian praised, smoothing down his hair.

“I agree.” Sophie piped in.

“Boo.” Benedict pouted with a smile.

“Would you two like to stay for dinner?” Sophie offered.

Tom looked to Vivian to answer. “I have a big week at work, unfortunately, so I must be headed home.” she stated. “Another time, though?”

Sophie and Ben nodded. Vivian stood and Tom tugged at his shorts to hide any potential arousal. “I’ll drive you home, darling.”

“Thank you.”

Vivian gathered up her bags, and they said goodbyes, Sophie promising to text Vivian later in the week. Tom drove away.

“That went well.” Vivian hummed. Tom didn’t say anything. “You did so well.”

The praise softened his mood. “Thank you. I wasn’t sure how to…”

“You did beautifully, my sunshine.” She ruffled his hair. “I will never embarrass you in front of others. Unless you ask me to.” Vivian wiggled her eyebrows.

“Thank you.” He smiled at her.

Tom walked Vivian all the way to her front door. She pulled him in for a kiss, dropping her bags on the floor to grab his ass, pinching lightly. Tom jumped.

“You do have a beautiful ass.” she purred, pulling away and grabbing one of the bags. “Here. For you.” She placed it into Tom’s hands.

“You bought me something?” His eyes wide with surprise. He pulled out some shirts and underwear. “You bought me underwear?!”

She ran her hand up his thigh before swatting his ass. “I expect to see those in my photo tomorrow morning, sunshine.” She kissed his cheek. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

Tom woke up in the morning on Monday, painfully hard. He touched the tip of his cock through his underwear, wishing he could jerk off. Tom grabbed his phone and snapped a photo so he could hop into a cold shower. Once he stepped out of the shower, he found Vivian’s text.

Oh my, sunshine. That looks painful. I can’t wait to feel you inside me.

Tom groaned and dug his nails into his thigh. It was going to be a long week.

Vivian enjoyed herself a bit too much that week, teasing Tom. But Thursday, Tom’s cock was leaking cum, soaking through his underwear. Vivian would text Tom each time praising him for sending the photo and then letting him know how much she was looking forward to fucking him. And indeed she was. So much so that she moved it up from Saturday to Friday.

She texted him early that morning even before he woke and sent his daily picture.

6 p.m. my place. Wear one of your new shirts and boxer briefs. Bring condoms and a change of clothes. You’re spending the night.

Tom snapped his photo and sent it before seeing Vivian’s text. He fisted the sheets as he read. He rolled onto his stomach, biting his pillow. The pressure of the mattress was comforting on his erection. He rolled his hips and felt some relief. He repeated the action three more times before stopping, not trusting himself to not cum.

The day was blurry and fuzzy on the edges for Tom. He could not concentrate on much more than the TV running in the background. While Vivian plowed through her to-do list at work, reaching a settlement for one of the firm’s biggest clients. She gave herself the rest of the afternoon off. Vivian hurried home to prepare.

She chilled a bottle of white wine in the fridge and pulled two glasses onto the counter. She grabbed a few bottles of water and some chocolate bars and granola bars to place on the nightstand before pulling out just the wrist cuffs. The bed linens were crisp white, and the straps prepared. She slipped into a simple black bra and panties before slipping on a dress, no shoes. Fifteen minutes before six and five minutes before Vivian expected Tom, she poured two glasses of wine, sipping from one. As predicted, five minutes later, there was a knock on the door.

“Sunshine.” she sighed as she opened the door.

Tom’s pupils were already large, and he fidgeted. He carried a small leather bag containing his clothes.

She pulled him into a deep kiss. Tom moaned against her mouth as she tugged on his hair.

“Put your bag in the bedroom. Condoms on the nightstand, please.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He hustled off to the bedroom while she grabbed the wrist cuffs with one finger.

Tom returned and his eyes went straight to the cuffs. He held out his wrists without having to be asked. “Good boy, sunshine.” She buckled them on. “Are they too tight?”

Tom twisted his wrists to test them out. “No, ma’am.”

She kissed his lips lightly and pressed her body against his, his cock already hard. “Some ground rules. No cumming until I say so. No touching my breasts or cunt until I tell you. If you need to stop, use your safe word.”

Tom nodded, licking his lips. “Yes, ma’am.”

She pulled him into the bedroom. “Strip.” Tom frantically pulled off his shirt and pants, folding them neatly. Vivian gestured to a chair, and he placed them there. “Underwear too, sunshine.”

Tom pulled them off and placed them on the chair with the rest of his clothes.

“Hands behind your head. Stand tall, my beautiful sunshine boy.” Tom complied, pulling himself to his full height, chest puffed out.

His cock bobbed as he rocked on his heels. Vivian stood behind him and ran her hands from his shoulders down his back to cup his ass and gave one cheek a playful slap. As she walked her way around him, she grabbed the back of his head and jerked him into a kiss. Tom’s hands waved in the air, not knowing what to do.

“Touch my breasts.”

Tom squeezed, moaning into Vivian’s mouth. “Yes, ma’am.”

She bit down on his lower lip before kissing his neck, sucking hard, leaving a mark.

“Kneel, my sunshine.” Tom lowered to the floor. His head pressed against her legs. She petted the top of his head. “Take off my panties, please.”

Tom’s hands slipped under her dress, finding the waist, and pulled them down Vivian’s legs. She stepped out of them and walked to the end of the bed, sitting down, legs splayed wide. She hooked her finger towards Tom.

“Come here.” He started to stand. “On your knees.”

Tom groaned and walked over on his knees, settling between her legs. His hands hung at his side. Vivian balanced her heels on the frame. “I like how you look between my legs. Use your mouth. Taste me. Make me come.”

“Yes, ma’am.” His excitement was palpable. He reached for her legs. She stopped him with her foot on his forehead.

“No hands.” She pushed her legs wider. Tom hummed as devoured Vivian’s thighs, leaving sloppy open mouth kisses as he traveled up. His nose nudged along her folds. She moaned.

“That’s it, sunshine.” He moved his lips down to her other thigh. Vivian whimpered. “Tease.”

“It will be worth it, ma’am.”

“It better be.”

Tom peeked up and smiled. He licked with the flat of his tongue before swirling it around her clit. Vivian grabbed the back of his head and yanked him forward. “Yes!” she hissed.

Tom continued to suck and lick at her, his cock dripping and hard against his thigh. Vivian’s hand tight like a vise in his hair, yanking his head where she wanted. Tom’s tongue darted inside her entrance, collecting every drop of her arousal, savoring it. When Vivian came, she screamed out, her head falling back, and she pulled hard on Tom’s hair. A shot of pain ran through his scalp. He moaned into her, continuing to lick and slurp. As she came down, Vivian pulled Tom away. His eyes glassy, pupils lust blown. His lips swollen and red, her arousal glistening on him.

“It was worth it, sunshine.”

“yes, ma’am.” Tom remained on his knees, his voice low.

“On the bed on your back, arms out.” She stood and allowed him to crawl into the bed, unable to resist smacking his ass.

“Ow.” he complained as he lied down. Vivian quickly hooked him into the restraints.

“Nice and tight, sunshine? I don’t want you running away.” she play pouted. Tom made a show of flexing and tugging until Vivian ran her nail along his shaft and he let loose a ragged gasp, his hips bucking into her touch. Vivian clicked her tongue. “If you can’t be a good boy, I’ll restrain your legs.”

Tom lowered his legs. “I’ll be good, ma’am. I promise.” he pleaded. “Please, I’ll be good.”

Vivian grabbed the box of condoms and pulled one out. She unwrapped it and rolled it down Tom’s cock. He fought against the restraints at her touch. She climbed back on the bed and Tom’s posture relaxed. Vivian straddled his hips, his cock twitched underneath her. She rocked against the tip, Tom jerked against the restraints and pressed his feet into the mattress. She leaned forward to press her breasts against him. Her hazel eyes staring into Tom’s soul. He whimpered and whined.

“I am going to ride you, sunshine. You are going to tell me when you get close to cumming. You are not to cum without my permission.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Tom nodded. “Please ride me, please.”

She lightly slapped his cheek, Tom groaned. “That’s a good boy.”

Vivian lowered herself onto his cock. He was larger than her previous partners, stretching her walls. She moaned and hissed. Tom’s chest heaved underneath her hand, breaths short and shallow as he struggled to control his release.

“Oh, sunshine. Your cock may be my new favorite part of you.” She rocked up and down on him.

“Please, please. Please.” Tom begged. Her walls tight around him. “I need to—”

“It’s not about you.” Vivian stopped. Tom growled. “It’s about me. And I want to ride you until I come on your cock and then, if you are a good boy, I might let you come.”

“Yes, ma’am. Please ma’am.” he breathed.

Vivian resumed twisting and rocking her hips. Tom’s cock hit all the right spots inside of her and soon she was ready to orgasm. Tom’s face was twisted in pain and exertion. He wanted to please and impress you so much.

“I’m close, sunshine. Are you close?”

“Yes… ma’am….” he gasped.

Vivian thrusted hard down on Tom’s cock and she rubbed her clit and came with a guttural moan. As her walls fluttered and warmth washed over her.

“Come for me, my boy. Come.”

Tom bucked his hips twice and yelled as he came. His vision turned black and then white as he came. Vivian squeezed around him. Tom collapsed underneath her, completely spent, the denial of the week having the desired effect of intensifying his orgasm. His face plastered with a smile, sweat glistening his skin. Tom’s eyes fluttered open and closed.

“Tom?” Vivian asked, soft and sweet. She rolled off of him and undid the restraints and then the cuffs, kissing his wrists. “Sunshine?”

“Hmmm…” Tom hummed. She rubbed his neck.

“Tom… are you okay?”

“Yes, ma’am….” His voice trailed off, dreamy. “How are you?”

“I’m fine. Sit up, sunshine.”

Tom sat up with a groan. Vivian handed him a water bottle and snack. “Here.”

Tom blinked and took a swig of water and a bit of chocolate. “Thank you, ma’am. That was incredible. I’ve never….”

She smoothed down his hair and kissed him soft. “You did beautifully, sunshine.”

His head snapped her. “Are you pleased, ma’am? Satisfied? I can… I can…”

“Shhh…” She kissed him again. “I am very pleased. No complaints. Let’s get you cleaned up.”

Tom unrolled the condom and discarded it in the garbage can in the room. He grabbed his leather bag.

“You won’t need that. Put it down, please.”

Tom dropped the bag. “But I… ma’am?”

“Come with me.” Vivian walked to the bathroom. “Shower or bath?”

Tom’s eyes darted between the tub and the glass shower enclosure. “Shower, ma’am.”

She flicked on the shower, waiting for the water to heat up. “If you are cold, you can put on your robe.” Vivian gestured at a hook. Tom’s eyes widened at the obscenely short blue satin robe.

“That’s for me, ma’am? It’s awfully short.” Tom’s hands fidgeted in front of him.

“I know the perfect way to show off that perfect ass.” Vivian grinned as she playfully smacked his ass before pulling him into the shower and a deep passionate kiss.

#tom hiddleston #tom hiddleston fanfiction #tom hiddleston fanfic #tom hiddleston x ofc #tom hiddleston fluff #tom hiddleston angst #tom hiddleston smut #tom hiddleston imagine #tom hiddleston series #follow my lead

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official-weasley · 3 years

Text

The Irreplaceable Charlie Weasley: Pt. 7, Ch. 4

PART 7: THE YEAR OF HIDING AND PASSION Chapter 4 - The Job Offers

Nova

“I am trying to focus, love.” Charlie said gently, sitting next to me in the Library. I was writing my Defense Against the Dark Arts essay. After staring at the blank piece of parchment for an hour the words finally came to me to describe the best way to approach a Kappa without using a wand.

“Huh?” I said without looking up. “Love.” I locked my eyes with Charlie's, he was pleading. I followed his gaze under the table where I was gently brushing my leg against his. “Are you do it on purpose?” He raised his eyebrow. “No.” I whispered and bit my lip. Of course, I was doing it on purpose I was almost done with my essay and I wanted to distract him. I knew that biting my lip was a huge turn-on for him. Actually, everything these days turned us on. “Nova, why are you doing this to me?” He said with a rather seductive voice pretending to be bothered by it. “I have been writing this essay for Care of Magical Creatures for 3 days now and I have to leave in the evening.” He begged. That's why I was trying to turn his attention to me. Ever since he was working part-time in Romania 2 to 3 times per week I had to get my fix of him before he left. “Then try and focus more.” I whispered very close to his ear. I saw goosebumps on his freckled arms and I knew I won. “That's it.” He put everything in his bag, sloppily, and stood up. He snatched my hand and pulled me after him.

“Forest or the Room of Requirement?” Those were our two options. Either a comfy bed in the Room or a blanket in the Forest. We still picked the Forest if we could, there was something exciting not doing it in a bed and a bit dangerous too.

We did it in a broom closet once after Tonks told me Barnaby showed it to her and we tried sneaking into the Gryffindor Common Room but we were so in the moment that we forgot to knock and walked in on Jae and Tulip and I don't ever want to see her naked on top of him ever again.

“Forest's too far. Let's try the Seventh Floor.” I said, my heart beating fast. We ran all the way up and the door was already there. “You're quick at work.” I smirked at him. “I think somebody else is inside.” He looked at me, disappointed. I walked to the door and tried opening it, it didn't budge. “Now what?” I breathed. “The Forest?” “It's too far, I can't wait that long.” He put his hands on my hips and pressed me against the wall. “I want you now.” He whispered in my ear.

My whole body shook at his words. At that moment I didn't care if we do it in the middle of the hallway. I looked around to find a solution. On our right, there was a statue next to a wall and an alcove behind it. I grabbed his hand and pulled him to it. We stopped and our eyes met. “Worth a try.” He shrugged his shoulders and helped me squeeze inside. Nobody ever visited the Seventh Floor anyway. He pressed me hard against the wall. One of his hands on my waist the other on the wall above my head. I pulled myself up and wrapped my legs around him so we were even closer together and stuck my tongue in his mouth. Our breaths got deeper and louder and my heart was beating as if I was running after a Niffler. I parted our hips just a little bit and started opening his pants. He moved his lips to my neck and started kissing it passionately. I slipped my hand down his boxers. “Fuck.” He breathed in my ear and I felt like I was about to explode from all the heat rushing through my body. He lifted my skirt, for which I now understood Tulip why she wore them so much, and hastily started pulling my underwear down, my hand still on his... “WHAT...ARE...YOU...DOING?” Our bodies froze and we lifted our heads towards the voice. It was Snape and I have never seen him so angry in my life. I tried seeing this scene from his perspective and wondered if there was any chance he didn't see I had my hand down my boyfriend's pants.

—

“100 points from Ravenclaw?!” I heard a voice getting nearer. Tulip, who sat next to me and Charlie, Tonks, and Penny sitting opposite us at the Gryffindor Table all looked in Andre's direction.

“Blackwood, what the fuck?” Andre took his Head Boy responsibilities as seriously as Penny did and I could see how this was a big deal. I didn't know what to say. “And I believe you had something to do with it?” He looked at Charlie. “The rubies on the Gryffindor scale almost disappeared. What did you do, kill someone?” Charlie and I exchanged looks. We were both so red in the face that there was no point in hiding it. The girls were beaming, waiting for our answer. “That would've been less embarrassing.” Charlie answered slowly. “What happened?” Tulip asked, with a grin on her face. “How do you lose 100 points at once, even I never managed to lose that many.” Tonks sounded a bit jealous but impressed. I looked at Charlie. “Might as well tell them.” He whispered. “Oh, you will tell!” Andre frowned. “Blackwood, are you trying to put us in the last place!” “Snape caught us...” My cheeks were burning when I looked at Tulip, smirking. She already knew what I was about to say. “Having sex on the Seventh Floor.” All but Andre burst out laughing. His face was mortified and I knew he regretted asking. “Why didn't you use the Room?” Tonks said, tears of laughter running down her face. “Someone was in it. We couldn't get inside.” Charlie answered trying not to laugh with them because Andre was still not having it. “When was this?” Tulip asked. “This morning.” I answered. “That would be our fault.” Penny said shyly, her cheeks turning pink as she looked at Andre. “Great, now I am an accomplice to losing 100 points.” He slapped his palm against his forehead. “Where were you that he saw you?” Tonks wanted to know more. “Do you know that statue on the Seventh Floor, the one with an alcove?” Charlie started. They all nodded. “Well, we sneaked behind it.” I finished. “But you were pretty well hidden, you could just be making out. What gave you away?” Penny thought out loud. “Nova's hand down my pants, I reckon.” Charlie said innocently, his face was as red as a tomato. Tonks spat out her pumpkin juice. Even Andre was laughing now. “Naughty girl!” I turned to Tulip and she winked at me. “I have never seen him so angry. Not even when he realized in the middle of a lesson that Penny used all his Flobberworm mucus.” Penny gasped. He was really mad then and she couldn't imagine how he could get madder than that. “He was shouting at us for solid five minutes and because of how he was standing we couldn't really turn around or do anything really so I just put my hands in the air and we waited for him to stop yelling.” I continued. They were laughing so hard that I couldn't help but do the same. “At least you took your hands out of his pants.” Tonks was slamming her fist against the table, trying to catch her breath. “And he gave us each a month's worth of detention. I have to clean toilets without magic and Nova has to do the trophies.” Charlie finally finished the story. “So what did you do after that?” Andre asked, now invested in the story. “We waited until he stormed off, got out, and went to the Forest to finish what we started.” I said casually. “That's my girl.” Tulip pulled me in a half hug and ruffled my hair.

“I did not expect that when I asked why you lost points.” Andre wiped a tear from his eyes. “But I am here to tell you that both of your Heads of House want to see you.” Charlie and I gulped. “I reckon nobody in the history of Hogwarts lost so many points at once.” His face screwed, saying he would not want to be in our shoes at that moment and when I locked eyes with Charlie, we knew that neither did we.

—

“Mr. Weasley, in there please!” Charlie and I turned around and saw Professor McGonagall rushing towards us down the corridor pointing at a door to our left. We were ready to say goodbye and wish each other good luck as we stopped in front of Charms Class.

“Professor Flitwick and I want to speak to both of you at once.” I didn't know what to make of her face as she got closer. She looked more worried than angry. She was my favorite professor and I dreaded having any sort of discussion about my love life with her.

“Ah, Minerva.” Professor Flitwick was just climbing on top of his books. “I see you've found them. Come in!” I didn't know if Flitwick was actually cheerful or did he always look like that no matter the circumstances.

McGonagall took out her wand and two chairs appeared in front of me and Charlie.

“Sit, please.” She said. We exchanged a look and sat down. My heart was beating so fast. I have lost a few points over the years but never 100. I don't think anybody has lost so many points to their House. Perhaps Tonks, but on several occasions during the year not in one morning.

“Well...” McGonagall started and I could see she was just as uncomfortable as we were. “I hope you both know why you are here.” She quickly glanced at Flitwick hoping he would speak.

“Ah, yes.” He was just as nervous. This was going to be the most awkward conversation any of us will ever have.

“We knew that with the friendship you two sparked over the years it was only a matter of time you come together...” Flitwick cleared his throat. “In another way.” My cheeks were burning so much that I thought they would erupt in flames.

“And we, just as much as the both of you, would be happier if Professor Snape wasn't the one who found you this morning.” McGonagall spoke now. “We know being in love is thrilling and we have nothing against that...” I could swear I could see her blush. “And we understand that being in different Houses isn't exactly easy to...well...sneak around.” She coughed.

“However, no matter how understanding we might be compared to Professor Snape about these...matters.” Flitwick said. “We have to urge you to be more careful.”

“Yes, Professor.” Charlie and I said together as if we were being punished back in our First Year.

“We hope we don't need to talk to you about...”

“No, please! We know everything!” I interrupted McGonagall. I really didn't want sex ed from my favorite professors. I could see Charlie sunk even more into his chair with the corner of my eye.

“Good!” Both Flitwick and McGonagall said relieved.

“As much as we don't want to and we tried our best to protect you, we can't avoid the fact that you lost 100 points to both Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.” McGonagall said, disappointed. “Professor Dumbledore permitted us to talk to you before we do what we were told as he is just as understanding as we are and this...incident...” McGonagall put her hand over her mouth. “Only happened once before in Hogwarts in all our teaching years.”

This was the first time Charlie and I looked at each other. I couldn't help but be relieved that we weren't the first one being caught having sex.

“Who...” Charlie's voice was coarse. I know he was just as curious as I was about who the other two idiots were but he changed his mind.

Professor Flitwick and McGonagall looked at each other and I could swear that I could see their lips curve.

“It was your parents, Mr. Weasley.” They both looked at Charlie.

If the situation wasn't as serious as it was, I would have burst out laughing. Charlie on the other hand looked like he was about to vomit. I couldn't imagine a sweet and affectionate couple such as Molly and Arthur being caught having sex around the Castle but Charlie apparently could and I knew the image in his mind scarred his eyes forever.

“Fortunately for them, they were found by Professor Sprout and not Professor Snape so they only got detention.” McGonagall seemed to be amused. Charlie placed his hands over his eyes and I knew he was trying to think of anything else but his parents sneaking around school.

“Now...” Flitwick spoke after giving Charlie a moment. “We have a rule about losing House points.” I swallowed hard, I knew we weren't here to make Charlie uncomfortable.

“If a student loses more than 50 points at once, we have to notify their parents.” McGonagall looked at me and then at Charlie.

“Oh, Professor, please don't!” I stood up at once. This was a nightmare. Out of all the scenarios Charlie and I went through how our parents could find out about us, this was never the one and it was the worst way of letting them know.

“Please, we didn't tell them yet.” Charlie stood up too and I relaxed as his hand found mine.

“We have feared as much.” McGonagall looked at Flitwick. “And I assume you are not planning on telling them in a letter?” I knew it was a rhetorical question.

After a long pause, McGonagall turned to Flitwick.

“What do you say, Filius?” She said gently. We all watched him think about it.

“Perhaps, we can try and make an exception.” He said slowly. “Talk to Dumbledore...” He turned to me and Charlie. “I am sure he will understand.”

“Our biggest concern is Professor Snape.” McGonagall explained to us. “He does not tolerate...well...you know...” She gestured with her hand towards us, her cheeks slightly pink.

“We will try to do something about it.” Flitwick turned to her and they both nodded.

“You are both such exceptional students, we wouldn't want to be the ones to tell your parents something like that.” She agreed with him.

“Thank you, Professor McGonagall.” Charlie said, looking up at them.

“Thank you, Professor Flitwick.” I followed his lead and looked at both of our teachers, who tried to look serious.

“Very well, you are excused.” We both stood up and started heading to the door without looking too obvious just how much we wanted to run out of the room.

“One more thing, Miss Blackwood, Mr. Weasley!” McGonagall stopped us right when Charlie tried to open the door. We both turned around to face them. “Please, try to be more careful, this has been as embarrassing for us as it has been for you.”

She looked at Flitwick and he nodded shyly but reassuringly. We tried to the best of our abilities to pull off a smile, nodded, and ran out as fast as we could!

We didn't say a word until we reached the Courtyard. One look at each other and we burst out laughing.

“No offense, love, but we are never having sex in school, again.” Charlie said still clutching his stomach.

“You mean on School Grounds?” I winked at him. “Or is the Forest forbidden as well.” I chuckled.

“Of course, not.” He melted me with his charming smile. “I couldn't bear to stay away from you for so long.” He said seductively, pulling me closer to him.

“So, your parents, huh!” I started laughing again.

“Please...” He put his fingers over his eyes and rubbed them. “Can we never mention that again? I won't be able to sleep and I am definitely not going home for Christmas!” He cried. I tried to contain my laughter.

“Look on the bright side...” I smirked and he eyed me suspiciously. “At least you know where you get your talent from.” I winked at him.

“Oh, shut it, Blackwood!” He pulled me into a half hug, his cheeks bright red and we hurried to the last class we would have together before we would have to go to the Station to say goodbye as he was leaving for Romania.

—

I had to take every opportunity that I got when Charlie was in Romania to study and catch up on my homework. We were doing better and were studying more and even though I love every single thing we do, I am happy that we can finally focus on something that isn't each other. For a month there I thought that we would fail our Seventh Year and to think that it's the N.E.W.T.s year just makes my stomach ache. I really am a Ravenclaw. I decided to write my Herbology essay while having breakfast. I knew the material as I read it in our Common Room yesterday, so it shouldn't be that difficult. I sat down at the Ravenclaw Table and took everything out. I was one paragraph in when I heard the twins and I knew they were coming my way. “Nova.” Fred said. “Blackwood.” George followed. They sat down in front of me with the biggest mischievous grin I have ever seen. I hope they didn't do anything to get themselves in trouble while Charlie is in Romania. “Can I help you two?” I said, uninterested, my eyes still on my essay. “Oh, nothing just dropped by.” Fred said in a voice that I knew wasn't nothing. “We thought we'd pay our favorite Weasley a visit.” My eyes widened. I lifted my head at them and I did not like the look on their faces. “Again, what do you want?” I tried to act unphased by what they said. “Oh, we just have a question for you.” George sang. “And that would be?” I gestured that they should speak faster. “How long have you been snogging our brother for?” Fred asked and they both winked at me. How did they know? “What?” I barked. Perhaps they were bluffing. “Stop pretending, Nova. We saw you kiss at the Station when Charlie left.” George was beaming. “At the...” I was lost for words for a second. "You two are Second Years how did you get to Hogsmeade?” I was as concerned as I was curious. No wonder Charlie never saw them. “So you're not denying it then?” Fred ignored my question. I didn't know what to do. They cornered me. “None of our business, but why are you hiding your relationship?” George spoke again after my uncomfortable silence. I don't think I have ever seen them be so serious. “Our family loves you, there's nothing to hide.” Fred's words made me blush. “We have our reasons for which you are too young to understand.” “We reckoned it would happen sooner or later. You were the only person who ever listened to Charlie speak so much about Dragons.” They both laughed and I threw my notebook at them. “I suppose there's no point in me convincing you not to tell your parents?” I rolled my eyes. I didn't know what to do and I didn't want Charlie to get a letter from his mum while in Romania. “When are you planning on telling them?” George asked. “I dunno. When the time is right.” I didn't know when we were going to tell them. We didn't talk about it now that we weren't at the Burrow and we were planning to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas so probably once we get to the Burrow in the Summer. “We can do it for you!” Fred whispered, now leaned over the table.

“What do you gain if you tell them? You said they love me.” I crossed my arms on my chest, my heart racing, and my mind fast at work. I was trying to think of anything that would make them keep our secret. “Mum would be sad that you didn't tell her.” Said George. “I reckon it would be a nice show to watch when you come to visit for the Summer.” Fred laughed and I rolled my eyes. “Charlie's going to kill you!” I pointed my quill at them. “Our teddy bear of a brother?” Smirked Fred. “And I...” I said with the biggest grin on my face as I thought of the only thing that could actually make them stay quiet. “Can persuade your brother, the Quidditch Team Captain, to kick you off the Team!” They gasped. “You wouldn't!” They said together. “Oh, I would!” I stuck my tongue out at them. They looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. “Good blackmailing skills, Blackwood.” They both offered me their hand to shake. I did so even though I wasn't sure why. “We won't tell. We promise.” Fred said, his hand on his heart. They began to leave. “We just wanted to have some fun with you.” He winked. I couldn't stop my lips from curving. No matter how much trouble those two were I still loved them so much. “And all jokes aside,” they turned back to me, “welcome to the family.” They grinned and walked away.

I couldn't believe they made me blush twice in a single conversation. Now I just have to hope they really won't tell and I need to make a mental note that when Charlie comes back we discuss when to tell his family or 4 members out of 8 at least.

I tried to stop thinking about it and went back to my essay. Not a minute later I heard someone jogging in my direction and Penny sat down opposite me. I looked up. She was shaking, her eyes were sparkling and she appeared to be holding a blue letter in her hands.

Before I could say a word, she handed me the opened envelope, her grin ever-growing. I put down my quill and opened it.

Dear Penelope Haywood,

with great honor, we are happy to announce that your application for the Assistant Potions Master at Beauxbatons Academy of Magic has been approved.

We have been very pleased with your letter of recommendation and the amount of sample work you have shared with us. We would like to invite you to join us on 1st July to make further arrangements and to prepare you for the school year of 1991-1992.

Attached to this letter is everything you will need to join us, along with all the paperwork that needs to be filled in.

We are looking forward to seeing you join our staff.

Yours sincerely,

Madame Olympe Maxime

Directice

My eyes started to sparkle almost as much as Penny's did. She has been talking about this job since June when she heard from a cousin that goes there that they had an opening.

“Penny! You got it!” I stood up and before I could reach her she was already in front of me. I hugged her tightly, the letter still in my hand.

“I got it, Nova! I got the job!” Tears started running down her face as she was jumping with me up and down. “It's not my dream position but it's a start and it's going to open so many possibilities!” Her voice was so high-pitched that if I didn't share her excitement with her I would lose my hearing, but I didn't care.

I knew how anxious she was to receive this letter as she sent it in August after she convinced Snape to write her a recommendation letter. She has given up all hope of ever getting a reply as they took so long but here it was. I didn't have a single doubt in my mind that she wouldn't get it.

“Did you tell Andre yet?” I asked when we finally sat down.

“No.” She frowned. I knew she dreaded talking about it. They were in a similar situation Charlie and I were in. Andre got a chance to play Quidditch Professionally for 3 different teams and none of them were in France.

“I'm sure you two are going to figure something out.” I reassured her.

“You're suddenly very optimistic.” She narrowed my eyes at me. “Did you finally talk to Charlie about America?”

“We talked, yes.” I cleared my throat. “And we decided we'll just have to make it work. We're too good together not to give long distance a try.” I couldn't stop my lips from curving.

“I told you to think about it! It's not going to be that bad!” She beamed. “Sure, you're going to miss each other but it's better than breaking up.”

“Says you who just frowned at me when I asked if you told Andre.” I raised my eyebrows. “You can do the same you know. At least you'll both be in Europe. You can apparate.”

“It's just so overwhelming thinking we are leaving this amazing place so soon.” She looked up at the enchanted ceiling. “So many memories, so many friendships, and relationships made.” She blinked quickly a few times and I knew she was holding in the tears.

“I know, but we still have a semester and a half to go and I am sure we are going to do our best to say goodbye.” I smiled at her gently. I don't know where all of those encouraging words came from as I was thinking the same thing as she did for weeks. But now that I was talking to her, I somehow knew that despite being wherever in the world, we are still going to stay friends and that everything will be okay.

—

“Wotcher, Nova.” Tonks sat down next to me not even 10 minutes after Penny left. I am a magnet for people today!

“Tonks, what brought you down?” She leaned on my shoulder, looking upset.

“Barnaby and I broke up.” She sighed.

“What?” I turned to her and hugged her. “Why?”

“He is moving to America, he got a job in New York, something to do with Kneazles.” She swung her hand as if she already forgot what exactly he was going to do there. “And I got a job in the Auror Department at the Ministry. I start my training in August and everything. Can you believe it?” She didn't sound at all excited.

“I am so sorry for you and Barnaby but Tonks congratulations on your job!” I shook her a little to get some excitement out of her. “That's great news! It's what you wanted!”

“I know. I just feel so down, you know.” She leaned back on my shoulder.

“Because of Barnaby?” I asked, understandingly.

“Nah. Not really. I knew it would happen sooner or later. We didn't mean to continue after we graduate and I want to date someone a bit older anyway, you know.” I didn't actually, as she never talked about having any interest in dating anyone but I was glad she was opening her mind to the possibility.

“Then what's bringing you down so much?” I failed to understand what seemed to be wrong.

“I got a job, Nova. It means I'm almost an adult.” I tried hard not to giggle. We were all struggling with the realization that this time next year we won't be students anymore.

“I know, Tonks. No more pranks.” I sighed and tried putting myself in her shoes.

“What will I do now, Nova?” She slammed her head into my shoulder twice.

“Well, you will be a badass and chase bad wizards and protect the Magic folk.” I encouraged her.

“I guess that's a nice upgrade from pranking.” She shrugged her shoulders.

“Anyways, I will leave you to your essay and go annoy Penny. She loves when I am miserable. She feels helpful.” She stood up. “You know where she is?”

“She came to see me before you but I think she said something about meeting Andre.” I answered.

“There goes my plan.” She sat back down.

“I don't mind if you stay here with me or you can go to Hagrid's. He always knows how to cheer Charlie up and he makes amazing tea.” I squeezed her shoulder.

“That's sounds nice, actually.” She scratched her nose, debating my idea. “I think I'll go do that.” She stood up, hugged me from behind, and left the Hall.

I thought that all I was going to do with my day would be to finish my essay. But so much has happened. Penny and Tonks both got amazing jobs and apparently so did Barnaby, which reminded me that I should speak to him about New York. Charlie was already in Dream-Dragonland and Tulip was already settled from last year as her research with her uncle was approved.

I couldn't stop having this weird feeling in my stomach that I was the only one who didn't have a job secured. I knew I still had time and I already wrote to some of the contacts Kettleburn gave me but for some reason, nothing really interested me. Every time I gave an idea a thought, Charlie came to mind and I couldn't help but secretly wish to work with him and I...

“Hi.” I put down my quill, closed my ink bottle, and started putting everything in my bag as Percy sat down next to me and I lost all hope that I would ever finish my essay.

“Hi, Perce.” I had no idea why he came to see me as we never talked at school and the only time he talked to me was to ask me which book I was reading, if I was doing so on the sofa at the Burrow.

“I have a problem.” He sighed. I didn't notice at first, but he looked really shy and kind of embarrassed. I felt uncomfortable as we weren't so close that I would be able to help him with anything but he is family now that I am with Charlie, so I have to try.

“Okay.” I said slowly. “What's on your mind?” I turned to him and leaned my head on my hand.

“I have a crush on this girl but I don't know what to do.” With his head down, he more mumbled into his robes than to me.

He had a crush and he came to me? I know Bill wasn't around anymore and Charlie, who was now the oldest at Hogwarts was in Romania, so I started to feel quite special to be the next best thing.

“Well, do you reckon she fancies you back?” I didn't know how to start this conversation. I wasn't exactly an expert when it comes to dating.

“How do you figure that out?” He looked up at me. He was adorable at how concerned he looked.

“I don't know. Did you ever talk to her? Is she your friend?” I tried to get as much information as I could.

“She's in my year.” Percy started. “She's a Ravenclaw like you.”

“Do you have any lessons together?” I asked.

“Yes, we did this project together last month. That was the first time we spoke.” His cheeks turned pink and I couldn't help but chuckle. I have never seen this side of him before and I found it so cute.

“What's her name, perhaps I can put in a good word for you?” I smiled.

“Penelope Clearwater.” He whispered, careful not to be heard by anyone.

“I know her. She's cute.” I exclaimed. “She is.” A broad grin painted his face and I felt as if he was going to melt. Percy wasn't just into books after all!

“You should talk to her.” I nudged him with my elbow.

“But what would I say?” He sighed.

“Invite her to eat lunch with you or perhaps you could study together.” I gave him some suggestions. He scratched his head, thinking hard.

“I reckon I could invite her to study with me!” His mood changed at once.

“See, there you go. Don't be shy, just ask her. It's better to do it sooner rather than later.” I patted his shoulder.

“Are you talking about you and Charlie?” He asked casually. My eyes widened.

“What do you mean?” I asked, disingenuously.

“Fred and George told me.” He gave out a weak smile. I will kill those two, I swear!

“I won't tell mum and dad. I really don't care about it that much.” He reassured me before I had a chance to speak. “You already felt like part of the family, so nothing changed for me.” He added. My cheeks turned red. That had to be the nicest thing Percy has ever said to me.

“T-thank you, Perce.” I didn't know what else to say.

“And don't keep it from our family. They like you, you know.” He stood up and dusted his robes. “Thank you for the advice. Bye.”

And just like that, I was alone again. I looked after him, my mouth open. I couldn't believe the conversation I just had with him or any of the conversations I had today. I decided to give my essay another go and was more than surprised that nobody else came to see me with a job announcement, telling me that they know about me and Charlie or having love problems. It was finally just me and my Herbology essay.

—

Ever since Charlie came back from Romania, he has been awfully cheerful and looked like he was hiding something from me all the time. He barely told me what he did in the Sanctuary and every time I tried to ask him about it, he had the biggest grin on his face but refused to tell me anything.

I was getting rather annoyed because I knew he wasn't telling me something so when I woke up on Thursday, knowing he would leave the next day again, I decided to confront him about it.

I woke Tulip up, surprised that she was even in our room and we went down for breakfast. We spotted Penny, Tonks, Andre, and Charlie sitting at the Hufflepuff Table and I sat down next to Charlie and gave him a kiss.

There was no point in hiding now since all of our friends and all of Charlie's brothers knew about us. I told him that they all knew and that Fred and George are somehow sneaking into Hogsmeade but he knew that if he told mum, they would tell her about us so he just stayed quiet and instead gave them a rough time during Quidditch practice.

Penny was helping Andre with an essay and Tonks was lazily eating her cereal, looking a bit better after a whole week of being miserable by the fact that she is growing up. Tulip tried cheering her up by listing all the things she can buy for her at Zonko's on our Saturday's Hogsmeade trip but Tonks didn't look that amused about it.

It was time for Owl Post and I saw Pip flying among other owls. I recognized the envelope in his beak at once. It was green with a red Dragon seal and without even thinking twice about it, I returned to my eggs and bacon.

“Since when is Pip delivering your Sanctuary letters?” I asked Charlie and turned to him. “It's addressed to you, love.” He took the letter from Pip and petted him. He had the exact same grin on his face as he did most of the time since he came back last week.

“To me?” I frowned, confused. “Why would they write to me?” I took the letter from his hands and read the addressee. He was right, the letter was for me.

I turned it around, broke the seal, and pulled out the parchment.

Dear Nova Io Blackwood,

our researchers have started working on a project to study how Dragons interact with other Magical creatures from infancy to adulthood and they are looking for a new Magizoologist to join their team.

One of our trainees, Charles Weasley, has told us that you are striving to become one after you graduate from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We have taken the liberty to look into how you are doing at school and we have to say we were impressed by your talents.

We would like to invite you to join our team in August when we launch our project. Attached to this letter, you will find all the requirements and paperwork you would need to fill out so we could prepare everything for you.

Please send us an owl with your answer as soon as possible so that we can arrange everything for your arrival next Summer.

All the best!

Andrei Todoran

Romanian Dragon Sanctuary

I stared at the letter for solid 5 minutes with an open mouth. THIS was what Charlie was hiding from me? He got me a job! I couldn't stop reading it.

“Nova, what is it?” Penny asked. I looked up and they were all staring at me, wanting to know what was going on.

“What did they send you?” Asked Tulip.

I looked at Charlie, who chuckled. I didn't know what to do or say, so I looked down and reread the letter for what seemed like the 10th time.

“Yeah, love, what did they send you?” Charlie winked at me.

“I can't believe you did this.” I said under my breath. I finally looked back up at my friends and gave them the letter.

Penny shrieked and I saw Tonks smile for the first time in a week.

“What do you say, love?” Charlie placed his hand on my cheek and turned my head to his. “Want to work with me in Romania?”

I didn't have the words to explain how I felt. My heart was beating fast and I was shaking. I jumped into his embrace and tears started running down my face. I felt the biggest burden lifted off my chest as I realized that I didn't care that I was the only one who didn't have a job yet. I didn't care where I would end up, I just wanted to be with Charlie.

We dreamt about this and talked about this more than we would like to admit as we wanted to not only stay together but work together as well. Charlie said that they were only employing Dragonologists as far as he knew and he never mentioned this before so it had to be a whole new project like they said.

“Are you kidding?” I sobbed into his shoulder. “When can I start!” I have never been so excited about anything in my life. No more bickering about the long-distance, no more worries about how we will miss each other and it was all thanks to Charlie.

“I was hoping you would like it.” He pressed his lips against mine.

“How could you keep this from me for a week!” I gently punched his shoulder.

“Trust me, it was hard!” He chuckled. “I knew they were going to send you the letter but I didn't know it was going to take this long.” He wiped my cheeks.

“I hope you don't mind that I told them about you. I just heard about the project on Sunday as I was leaving and I knew the job would fill in fast so I recommended you immediately.” His grin grew even larger.

“Mind?” I shook my head. “Charles, this is the best gift you have ever given me.” I kissed him again and it felt different. It felt better. It felt good knowing I wouldn't have to miss those lips and his homey smell once we both move to Romania.

15 notes · View notes

soyforramen · 3 years

Note

ooooo 17 and/or 28 for bughead

I am so terribly glad tumblr does not date these, because I have no idea how long I’ve been sitting on this draft. Regardless, here goes:

xxx

“Bite me, Jones,” Betty snapped. She screwed her eyes shut and breathed deeply as she counted to ten. No one in Riverdale could get under her skin like he could. And he knew it.

“Make me, Cooper.”

Betty curled her lip and turned away from Jughead Jones and his stupid smirk and his stupid hat. She knew from the start that this whole idea was inane. But because it was Archie’s last birthday in Riverdale, and because she and Jughead were Archie’s best friends, she’d said yes to Jones’ stupid idea to throw a surprise party.

For whatever reason, it hadn’t occurred to Betty that Archie might want a birthday party. Over the years they’d fallen into such a routine it almost felt too close to sacrilege to change. The day before Archie’s birthday, he and Jughead would disappear to spend all day gorging on junk food and video games until it came time for a midnight creature feature at the Bijou. The day of, Archie would spend his birthday with his parents as Mrs. Andrews always made a point to come back to Riverdale on his birthday. The next following was Betty’s, and it had become their tradition to find new trails to hike around Sweetwater River only to end their day at Pop’s with burgers and shakes.

It was a custody arrangement they’d all been more than happy with ever since Betty had proclaimed her hatred of Jughead Jones in the second grade for making Ethyl cry because he ran away from her the entire week of Valentine’s. And despite Archie’s numerous attempts over the years at a tentative truce, neither Betty nor Jughead could stand the sight of each other for too long.This year, however, Jughead decided to buck the system.

With a party.

For Archie.

Only one week to plan it.

Together.

When Jughead had first mentioned it, Betty assumed he’d do what everyone else did when it came to these things: tell Betty his vision and let her handle everything while still getting partial credit for having come up with the idea in the first place. But apparently she’d underestimated him. Not only had he come up with the idea for a party, he also wanted to help plan it.

Normally Betty would jump at the chance for any sort of event planning help. She’d had to beg, borrow, and blackmail to get any actual help to put together Homecoming and the Spring Formal . And now she had a ready, willing participant who came with his own ideas as to how this party should go.It was as if Fate itself were determined to prove the old adage, ‘Be careful what you wish for.’(Fate, too, could bite her.)The ultimate problem, though, was not the fact that it was Jones’ proposing and helping plan the party. It was not that they both wanted to outdo each other in a childish attempt to prove their superior friendship with Archie. The problem was she had to interact with Jones’ to get this done. It was the most she’d ever had to interact with him since they’d sat at the same square of tables in elementary school and it was a reminder why she’d avoided him ever since. Every idea she had was countered by his own; every suggestion was met with scepticism and budgeting concerns; every minute detail picked apart. Their tastes were too far apart on music, food, and decorations along with everything else it took to plan a party. He was far too sarcastic, too caustic for her. She was too nice, too blithe for his. It was mutual loathing that frustrated Betty every time she had to see him in the hallways. And now she’d agreed to spend most of her free time with him for a week.Archie better fucking love this damn party.

xxx

Monday Morning: 4 Days til B-Day

Today was not Betty Cooper’s day. She’d forgotten about the essay due in History class because she’d been consumed with scholarship applications and making decorations for Polly’s wedding. She’d dropped a beaker of acid on her shoes in lab class and now had to wander around in the ugliest, grossest pair of crocs the school’s lost and found had to offer. And to top it all off, her hair tie had snapped in gym class, leaving her hair in a tangle of waves that drew attention from everyone for just how messy it was.It took all she had not to skip school for the first time in her life. The only thing stopping her was the inevitable lecture she knew would be waiting at home. If Betty ruined her perfect attendance record three months before graduation, the fit her mother would throw would surely top the one when Polly told her she was unwed and pregnant.And when the tumbler on her locker stuck, it was all she could do not to scream. Finally the lock popped off and the door slammed into its neighbor.“Party planning going well?” Kevin asked from behind. He leaned against the locker bank and leveled all the magnets that had fallen to the bottom of the door.“Yes, actually. That’s the problem,” Betty snapped. She threw her textbooks into the locker, already digging through the three and a half years worth of junk for a hair tie. “I’d say that’s less of a problem, and more of a shoe in to finally free all that hair Jones’ has been hiding from us,” Kevin said with a Hello Kitty magnet suspended between his thumb and forefinger. When Betty rolled her eyes, he clicked his tongue. “Don’t pretend you haven’t thought about it. The UST between you two has been at peak level for at least two years.”Betty heaved out a sigh and reached for the top shelf. She tried to imagine herself someplace relaxing and far, far away from here. One of those Swedish spas Veronica was always gushing about. A sunny beach with no one around. An automotive shop that worked exclusively on muscle cars made by Corvette and Ford between 1958 and 1972 somewhere south of Paris, France.“Of course it’s a problem, Kev. It means that not only is he a complete and total asshole, he’s also a competent and capable asshole,” Betty huffed. She grabbed her history book out of her bag and threw it into the locker hard enough to rattle the mirror on the back. “At least you now won’t have to split all your free time between the paper, the party, and practice for the Vixens.”As much as Betty loved him, sometimes she hated how Kevin could always find a positive in every situation and how desperately she hated the fact that Veronica had decided to attend a prep school for her senior year.“We forgot about Veronica,” Betty gasped. Prior frustrations forgotten, Betty tapped away on the screen. Between event planning and the massive extracurricular load her mother insisted on, Betty hardly had any time to think about what she’d get for Archie. There was no way Veronica would forget something as important as Archie’s birthday, but if there was on thing that could throw a wrench into this plan it would be Veronica sweeping Archie off his feet to the Bahamas last minute.Veronica’s reply was almost instantaneous with a string of hearts, followed by several texts grilling Betty for more information about Archie’s relationship status, Riverdale gossip, and whether Betty had finally found herself a boyfriend.Absorbed by her phone, Betty closed her locker and walked to class, Kevin walking beside to her and telling Betty which was the best gossip to pass along to Veronica. As the bell rang, Betty tucked her phone into her jacket pocket and laid out everything she needed for class. Late as usual, Jughead slouched by her on his way to the corner of the room. “Nice hair, Cooper,” he muttered as he passed. “Very Diana Dors today.”Betty’s cheeks went red and her hands flew up to smooth down her hair. She’d been so focused on her conversation with Veronica that the hair tie had been completely forgotten.Kevin leaned across his desk and whispered, “Hashtag: Free the Beanie.”

Xxxxx

Tuesday Afternoon - Party Countdown: Day 3

Betty’s phone chimed on the couch beside her. When she saw who it was from, she groaned. They’d just talked after school about the decorations, and she thought they’d come to an agreement. Jughead, however, seemed to differ.“Beans for brains again?” Cheryl asked, eyes glued to her own phone. “Yes. Now decorations are too ‘childish’,” Betty whined. “Why does he have to make things so difficult.”“Because he has your undivided attention for once, baby cousin.”Betty stared at Cheryl. “What does that mean?”Cheryl rolled her eyes and set down her phone. “Read between the lines, it’s a total Castle and Bennet situation.”Even if she’d been offered the world, Betty still couldn’t figure out what Cheryl meant. With a sigh, Betty packed up her back and headed to Pop’s, figuring it would be easier to meet with him in person than spend three hours going back and forth in text.

Xxxxx

Tuesday Afternoon - Party Countdown: Day 3Betty slammed her lunch tray on the cafeteria table. “I hate him and that stupid grin of his. Like he knows everything. Why did I ever agree to this in the first place?”Kevin moved to the side as Betty swung her leg over the bench to sit down. “Because it’s Archie’s birthday and he’d do the same for you?”Betty snorted. “I doubt he’d work with his mortal enemy to plan me a party.”“True. Because I’d be the one doing the planning. If Archie was doing it there’d be cold pizza and hot ice cream. He’s not big on the planning thing.”Betty stabbed at a piece of fruit and let that sink in. It would be so much easier to let this go, to say she was done with the whole thing and let Jughead finish organizing it. But if she backed out now they’d both know he’d won in the ongoing feud they had. It was frustrating and unnerving and took every last bit of self-control to work with him. He was a constant distraction, taken to staring at her when she was talking and unnerving her by how close he was willing to get. Even stranger, as if he knew just how to get under her skin, he’d sat next to her in English this morning and attempted a semi-polite conversation.“Do I want to ask what’s got her so riled up now?” Toni asked as she sat down. “Jughead’s lips,” Kevin said with a smile.Toni leaned forward, his face eager for more information. “What? Did he kiss you? I thought you two were only supposed to be planning a party.”“Kevin,” Betty scolded. “And no. We can barely stand to be in the same room together. He’s insisted on doing the decorating himself.”Kevin and Toni shared a look. “And that’s bad, how?” Toni asked.“I know you’re used to being in charge of everything, but why is it a problem for him to decorate?” Kevin asked.“Because I was planning on using what we had leftover from Polly’s New Year’s Eve party. It would have been perfect.” Betty said.“What did he say about that?”Betty looked down at her salad and picked at it. “I didn’t exactly mention it.”Toni raised an eyebrow and Kevin let out a heavy sigh.“But obviously if I was pushing to do the decorations, I had a plan,” Betty said, her words sounding thin.“Last time I checked Jones wears several different hats, but mind reading is not one of them,” Toni said. “And being straightforward isn’t Betty’s,” Kevin said.Betty elbowed him in the ribs. “I thought you were supposed to be on my side?”He squirmed away from her. “I am. But you tend to have a take charge attitude and don’t always share the whole plan. Or let other people have much input when you’ve made up your mind.”“What’s that supposed to mean?”Kevin held up his hands defensively. “I’m just saying, maybe this thing isn’t all one-sided. You’re not used to people wanting to help plan something, and he’s -” Kevin faltered, not knowing Jughead enough to speak to his personality.Toni, though, was quick to step in. “Jughead is a snarky gloom and doom nerd. His people skills need some help too.”“Exactly. But maybe if you try to work with him.” He let the thought linger a moment before going into the latest gossip about the lacrosse team.

Xxxx

Thursday Afternoon - Party Countdown; 1

“I’m doing this for Archie, Jughead. If you don’t like that, then you don’t have to be involved,” Betty said after a few deep breaths.“This was my idea, Betty. Not some project you can step in and fix just because I’m involved. The door is right there if you change your mind,” Jughead snapped back. He turned away from her and focused his attention on his computer. Betty’s hands clenched and unclenched. A fire burned in her chest and she had to work to stay seated There was nothing she wanted more than to slap him. It annoyed her that he was right; they were doing this for Archie, not for some strange kudos for their own egos. “Fine.”Jughead’s head jerked up and he looked as if he were surprised she’d conceded so easily. “You’re right. I’m sorry,” she said her words clipped. Just because she was wrong didn’t mean she had to like it.His eyes narrowed and Betty waited it out. If he wanted to suspect her of ulterior motives, then so be it. She just wished he could bring the intensity down a little bit.Eventually, he waved to the seat across from him and, in a rare gesture of cordiality, waved Pop down for a round of shakes. While Betty was suspicious herself of his motives, she took the seat and pulled out her planner to go over their last minute plans.

xxxx

Friday Night - Party Countdown: 0

Betty leaned against the porch railing, a red solo cup full of something red and overly sweet in her hands. Veronica had sworn she’d like it, but Betty could barely stomach a sip of it. She’d never been one for parties or alcohol or general teenage mischief. Seeing what had happened to Polly had cured Betty of any desire of that.“Looks like we managed to pulled it off,” Jughead said. He lifted a can to his lips - a brazenly boring soda that stood out against their peers attempts to summon Dionysus into the Andrews’ living room.Betty turned towards him and watched him watch the party through the windows. “Surprisingly.”He raised an eyebrow, but didn’t turn towards her. Betty’s eye followed the movement only to trail down his profile. It was odd, she realized, to have never really thought about what he looked like without the permanent scowl and irritable persona he’d taken up as a defense mechanism.“It’ll be a bitch to clean up, though,” Jughead said.Betty snorted and poured her drink into the bushes beneath her. “I vote that’s Archie’s problem.”“And Veronica’s,” Jughead added, with a nod to the opening door.“There you two are,” Veronica said. She shot a sly grin to Jughead who rolled his eyes.Betty filed her questions away for later, particularly those about how close Veronica and Jughead seemed to have gotten over the past year. “This was a really great surprise,” Archie said, oblivious of the strange interaction going on next to him. He looked as tired as Betty felt, but somehow managed a level of energy even she couldn’t fake. She pulled him into a tight hug as the sudden realization that this was their last year of high school hit her. Tears threatened to spill at the corner of her eyes. In six months, Archie would no longer be her constant companion. It would be the first time ever that he wasn’t part of her life. Betty screwed her eyes shut and thought about the good times.“You’re welcome Archie. Happy birthday,” she said through a sniffle.They pulled apart and it was Jughead’s turn to pull Archie into a hug. Betty took a moment to wipe the tears from her cheeks.“Happy birthday, bud,” Jughead said with a grin. He nodded towards Veronica. “Enjoy it while you can.”Betty pulled Veronica into a hug, the pain of missing her not as severe. After all, they’d be roommates next fall, something they’d been planning since they were twelve. “I’m going to call it a night,” Betty said. Veronica kissed her on the cheek and, in a surprising move, pulled Jughead into a bear hug. She whispered something to him that made him flush before letting him go. “Walk her home,” Veronica ordered him. “I want nothing to happen to my girl. We have plans, after all.”“V, I live ten feet away,” Betty reminded her.Jughead rolled his eyes, but complied when Veronica shoed him after Betty. When they reached the sidewalk, Jughead cleared his throat.“Hey, Cooper.”Betty turned to face him. “Yes?”“Are we still in a truce?”She glanced at her watch. “I’ve got another ten minutes until curfew. So, I’d say we were.”Jughead took a step towards her, dropping his gaze to the ground. He swallowed hard, his hands fidgeting. “You’re not half bad, now that I think about it.”Betty smiled. It was probably the nicest thing she’d heard him say about anything in a while. “You’re not half bad yourself, Jones’.”“Also,” he paused, glancing behind them as if to check that they were alone.“What? What is it?” she asked, stepping towards him, worried he’d say or do something. Her fingers curled into a loose fist, but what she wouldn’t have ever expected was for him to pull her close and press his lips against hers.The world came to a startling halt as Betty’s brain went into overdrive. (They were kissing.) This was Jughead Jones her self-proclaimed high school rival in all things that mattered. (He was kissing her.) Before this week they’d never had a nice thing to say about each other. (And she liked it.) The only common ground they ever had was fighting over Archie (Worse, she was kissing him back) and snarking at each other over stupid little things.A car backfired a street over and the spell was broken. The world wrenched itself back into rightful place. Betty’s eyes fluttered open and everything looked the same as it had before. Only there was that look in his eyes, and there was that exhilarating feeling in her chest that could only mean the sky was the limit, and the ground beneath her was shaking. At some point her hand had come to rest on his cheek. It felt normal there, like a bird finally come home to roost. She rubbed her finger against his smooth skin and he turned his head to kiss her palm. “Pop’s tomorrow?” he asked.Betty answered him in another kiss.

#bughead fanfiction #yeah sorry for the long post before the readmore #since my internet is practically non existant at this point #D:

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be-ready-when-i-say-go · 3 years

Text

Becoming

Halloween is Bee’s favorite holiday and while for most people it’s focused on becoming something new, transforming into fantasies, it is for others about becoming who they really are.

Related to Silver Fox. Can be read alone. SingleDad!Cal+ Halloween + Cuteness.

Read Silver Fox Here.

Enjoy my masterlist.

Support me on Ko-Fi.

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

Anahera reads over the text several times, exits the text messaging app, reopens it and still shocks finds her when the text does not disappear. Halloween party on Saturday, 8pm You’re invited. Costume contest too! This isn’t a text message that she should’ve gotten--Anahera played on the school’s field hockey team but she wasn’t that popular to get a text message from Chelsea. Chelsea was on the school’s cheerleading team, up next for captain once the current senior graduated. They worked together once on a physics project and exchanged numbers only to talk about who would do what and to meet after school to run the lab. But that was pretty much the existent of their interactions, besides saying hi in passing in the hallways.

But here Chelsea was texting Anahera about a Halloween party. Looking up from her phone, Anahera risks a quick glance to her father. He stands outside the car, phone pressed to his ear. A call came in right as Anahera walked up to the car. He paused long enough to greet her and ask how she was doing but he had to return to the call pretty quickly after that. Her practice ran long--mostly because their coach was getting on their case about two girls that got into a physical fight in school and thus were benched for two games. Her dad’s not the type to be overly strict about her going out. But he was a small bit of a worrier and liked to know the parents or at least have their numbers.

Anahera turns back to her phone and pulled up Levi’s thread. Did you get an invite to a Halloween party on Saturday?

It’s only a couple of moments before Levi replies. Yeah. ‘rents already said yes. What about you?

Levi was the last child in a line of four, so it was never really a shock that their parents let them do pretty much anything as long as they could say who they were going with and what time they were going to be back home by. Anahera glances back out to the window and notices Calum nodding along to whatever is being said. When they catch eyes, Calum puffs up his cheeks and crosses his eyes just to get a laugh out of her. Anahera shakes her head with a small chuckle and sticks her tongue out in return before returning to her phone.

Haven’t asked yet. Afraid he’s going to say no.

Your dad’s not like that. Let him know you’re going with me. My curfew is midnight. Dan’s on dial too--just in case.

Dan was nice, and even though he was the oldest of their siblings, he wasn’t big on partying. He was quiet, played video games mostly and occasionally went out. But as the only one with a car, he became the go to one for rides to and from places or as a quick line of defense. Anahera normally had a curfew around eleven. However, if she led the question with Levi’s plans and Dan being their ride, then her dad might be more flexible about extending the curfew. Anahera would also have to promise that her homework would be done Friday night because if she didn’t, Calum would certainly use that as a way to be hesitant.

The only way to find out her answer is going to be just asking flat out. Leaning across the console, Anahera rolls down the window. The buzzing and whir catches Calum’s attention and he takes the phone from his ear. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’ll be off in five and get you some dinner. I know you’re probably starving after practice.”

“Thanks. Um, actually I wanted to ask you if I could go to this party on Saturday. It’s at Chelsea’s. Levi’s going and they have to be back home by 12.”

“Halloween party?” Calum asks.

Anahear nods. “I’ll have all my homework done on Friday. I’m already done with one essay and I think there’s a math set packet Mr. M is handing out on Thursday to help as extra study material for the test on Monday. And Bee’s already reading over my college essay so when I get the edits it’ll be like super quick.”

Calum sighs, hearing the voice on the line droning on. “Levi’s going? And their parents know Chelsea’s parents or have their number?”

“I-I don’t know. I just know Levi got the approval to go. Please, Dad. I can ask Chelsea tomorrow about the number thing. But please can I go? Dan’s on speed dial in case we need a ride.”

Calum holds her gaze, mouth twisting up. Bee had asked what Calum and Anahera had planned to do for Halloween. Normally, the two of them dressed up and handed out candy to the kids in the neighborhood that came by trick or treating on the day of Halloween and during the weekends, sometimes they went to haunted houses or Anahera hung out with Levi in her room, watching scary movies until ungodly hours in the morning. Anahera’s eagerness to go the party didn’t strick Calum was strange. She’s settled into her junior year, her birthday passing in September. However, Calum did start to miss things from before. Like the way Anahera always wanted to hang out with him and how they always had plans for Halloween. But things were changing. She was growing up and Calum was going to have to grow with that too.

He nods. “Yeah, you can go. But,” he starts interrupting the squeal from Anahera, “the edits your college admission essay need to be done before you leave on Saturday. You’re not struggling in math too much, and I trust you with whatever you need to make sure you get a good grade on that test on Monday.” Anahera wants to apply early decision to a couple schools and the rest are regular decisions. Bee advised that it would be easier for her to finish the essays early and that way the only thing to stress about come the summer and start of senior year were getting the letters of recommendations. Though the essays that Anahera were drafting for college apps right now were samples/examples. Anahera wanted to have a bank of a couple different kinds that wouldn’t need too much extra work to fit to the questions before being submitted.

Though Calum suggested that she not worry that not much closer until time, Anahera insisted that she wanted some practice and considering that the beginning of the semester wasn’t that congested with work, it worked out well.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Anahera exclaims crawling over the console and hugging Calum through the open window of the car.

“You’re welcome, sweetheart. Love you.” He knows he’s clinging a little too long but he doesn’t want to forget the way Anahera squeezed in her hugs. It was a trait she had since she was little and Calum’s not sure where she got it from. However, there was nothing like a hug from her--even when she was small and she sensed something was wrong, she would run up to him with her favorite toy at the time in her hand and squeeze him tight in a hug. She would always tell him not to be sad because she would always have hugs for him.

“Love you too!” Anahera replies easily.

Calum gets off the work call soon after that and climbs into the driver seat, or at least he attempts to. Anahera hasn’t left the driver side seat since getting the okay for her venture to the party. “Ma’am. I know you’re getting closer to that license but I think I’m still in charge of driving for just a little bit longer.”

Anahera laughs. “Oh c’mon, Pops. You know I can handle this no problem.” She over dramatizes taking a sharp turn, hands passing over each other and lightly brushing the cover of the steering wheel. She hasn’t tested yet but they get out early on the weekends for practice and Calum keeps encouraging her to test. It’s yet to happen, but he’s hopeful.

“Maybe on Sunday you go for a spin. But it ain’t Sunday yet.”

Anahera looks to Calum with her brows raised. “Promise?”

“Promise.” They hook pinkies and she climbs back into the passenger seat. “Subs?”

“Oh, you know exactly what I was thinking. But that might just be that you’re my dad.”

“Maybe,” Calum laughs, “maybe.”

Anahera relays the news to Levi about her approval to go to the party. Any costume ideas? I’m a giant nothing. Levi asks. Anahera thinks about usual superheroes, the sexy costumes. But those wouldn’t work out too well.

Couples costumes? Or too lame?

I love you, Ana. But I am not going in some dumb het. normative costume.

Anahera snickers at the text. I didn’t mean like couple couple costume. But like matching/same universe or something.

Oh, oh, hmm, that could work.

Stranger Things--Scoops Ahoy Steve and Robin? That message comes through at the same time that Levi suggest pirates. Oh, pirates could be cool? We’d have to get to the mall to shop possibly. but I promised to have homework done before Friday.

“Wanna eat inside or get it to go?”

Ana looks up and sees that the car is parked outside their favorite Italian place. Anahera shrugs and unbuckles. “It’s everyone else’s problem if I stink, not mine.”

Calum laughs. “That’s why there was the option to not kill everyone with your funk.” He locks the doors, taking a quick glance at the parking lot. He doesn’t spot Bee’s car. He know she doesn’t take too many hours at the restaurant during the week, but occasionally she takes a few or she comes in when they need more help. He wasn’t sure if she was working both jobs or not. But given the number of cars in the parking lot, he can’t really get a good look around.

Inside is crowded. Though most people seem to be getting orders to go, lined up at the counter as compared to the pretty empty dining area. Calum and Anahera stand the podium to be seated for a couple moments. Anahera is buried in her phone while Calum glances around. He spies Bee at the counter, handing over a stack of three pizza boxes to a man. The woman he’s with comes up and takes the bag Bee hands over. “Just two?” a voice close by cuts in. A younger guy who Calum hasn’t seen before stands in front of them.

Calum turns with a nod. “Yes, just two.”

“Booth or table?” the young man asks.

“Booth,” Anahera returns with a smile and follows behind as they’re escorted to the booth. Calum throws one last glance back to the counter. Bee happens to glance up and throws a small wave which Calum returns.

“Can I start you all out with something to drink?” the young man asks, pen in hand.

“Water,” Calum answers, slipping the sunglasses up into his hair and Anahera replies with the same.

The young man nods. “Lemon on the side okay?” With nods all the way around, he starts over to the drink mission.

Anahera turns directly to the sub and sandwiches section of the menu. “See your boo,” Ana teases glancing up for a moment.

Calum shakes his head, cheeks heating for a split second at the tease. He and Bee have been dating for a little seven months. Anahera wasn’t shocked after discovering the hickies that fated day but she never fails to say that she’s the thing that brought them together. “Yeah, I saw her,” Calum returns. “So about this party? You and Levi know what your costumes are going to be? Like going in something matching or separate?”

“We’re thinking about something matching. They suggested pirates or something but I don’t think I have anything in my closet that could work and I would ask to go shopping on Saturday before the party but I wasn’t sure how that was going to go over.”

“Hmm, if you needed to borrow anything from me, you could. Or if Levi wanted too, they could as well. And it comes down too, I could take y’all Friday after school.That would give you Saturday morning to work too and then get ready. Or whatever works better.”

“Thanks, Dad. I’ll let them know.” Anahera works her fingers over the screen, the keys highlighting for a second before dropping back down to their normal size. “And thanks. For offering to take Levi and offering your closet.”

Calum knows Levi’s parents haven’t super well to their coming out and using they/them pronouns. However, Levi’s siblings have defended them and Anahera too. He wishes he could do a lot more. He’s tried to help as much as he can, being there for Levi when they need someone but he knows it’s not always the same--it’s not like having their actual parents being supportive. “Of course. You two have been friends since elementary school. Almost feels like a second child at this point--Levi’s family at this point.”

“You’re pretty awesome, Dad.”

“I can only ever do my best, sweetheart. That’s it.”

“Yeah, but your best is still pretty great.” She’s quick to return to her phone no doubt relaying everything to Levi. The waiter returns with their waters and runs down the specials for the day. Anahera orders her turkey panini with salad and fries. Calum overs the Philly cheese steak with just fries.

“Hey guys,” Bee says as she stops by their table. The dinner rush has slowed for the time being.

Calum tugs on her wrist and she falls into the side of the booth, his bumping against his side. His arm slides around her waist in a quick hug. “Shocked to see you here. Not even a Thursday, so you can’t tell me close to the weekend.”

“Terence’s books were more expensive this semester--so I’m trying to play catch up right now.”

“More expensive?” Calum questions, twisting in the booth to look up at her. Bee gives Anahera a quick hug before turning to stand at the edge of the table. “Why don’t you sit?”

“Boss is here today. Don’t want him complaining. And Terence signed up for an extra class, said he was going to be a class short if he didn’t fully load up his schedule. And it’s cheaper to do it now than it is to take the one class during the summer. I budgeted for right around 250 for books but the extra class was in English and it ran just under an additional 200 dollars just for that class.”

“Another 200 hundred?” Calum gaps. “You’re telling me you spent over 400 dollars in textbooks?”

“Just about 400 dollars. He’s looking for scholarships to help with textbooks. But with basketball it’s not like he can pick up a job. I need him focusing on his grade to keep the scholarship that he does have. The refund should help recover costs some but most of that I’m giving right back to Terence in installments.”

Calum nods, knowing about how Bee likes to put money into Terrence’s account. She does it so that Terrence can take care of anything that comes up in case of emergency, but she know sometimes the team goes out for dinners and other things. He’s got to be a kid in college while still in college. What Calum didn’t realize is just how much Terrence didn’t know about what Bee did behind the scenes for him. Terrence came home for the summer, well before summer conditioning and they hung out, and Terrence knew Bee worked her ass off to help him but she hadn’t pulled the veil back to reveal just how much she busted ass to make his games, keep him afloat and never stressing about money.

Calum respected that and never discussed money in front of Terrence. But part of him did want Terrence to know just how much Bee was working so that textbooks were the least of his worries. “You know I’m here, for anything,” Calum offers, wrapping his fingers around hers.

Bee nods. “Thanks. I appreciate it. But get ready, you’re next,” she teases, laughing before glancing over to Anahera. “Once I get home I can send you my suggestions. They’re on my laptop and I didn’t bring it with me to this job.”

“Don’t worry, Bee. I appreciate you just taking the time to read over it.”

“Of course.” The bell above the door chimes and Bee turns, greeting the family that just entered letting them know she’ll be right over in a moment. “Alright, duty calls. Enjoy your dinner.”

Bee squeezes Calum’s hand and then turns on her heels to go to the podium. “How are we tonight? Besides just a smidge hungry?” Bee jokes, grabbing menus. The group laughs just a little bit before following Bee to a booth about three down from Calum and Anahera.

“You think Bee would take me and Levi shopping?”

Calum perks up at the question. Anahera and Bee get along well but Bee’s careful about suggesting that she and Anahera spend time together. As Calum knows and understands, Bee doesn’t want to come across as being pushing or trying too hard but she doesn’t want to seem like she doesn’t care. They’ve gotten manicures together or gone out just for ice cream--it’s always been small things. However, Anahera seems to enjoy that time together.

“Ask, can’t hurt. If her schedule allows, I think she’d be happy to take you and Levi,” Calum answers. He bites down on the corner of his lip to contain a small portion of his smile. Bee’s been the one to schedule most of their activities together or at least initiate them. But seeing Anahera take the lead on this one is a good sign.

“Oh, you’re right. She might be working. I don’t want to make her feel bad if she’s working?” Anahera enjoys the time she’s spent with Bee. When they got the gel manicures, it was fun. Bee picked out Anahera’s color and they were able to sit next to each other as they talked about watching True Crime documentaries and Ana told her all about the new music she had been listening too. Bee was cool about all the jokes Anahera made, and once their colors cured under the UV lights, Anahera spent nearly thirty minutes sitting outside the shop just showing Bee all the videos and memes that she had saved recently.

Bee felt like her dad’s girlfriend, but she also felt like someone that cared about Anahera too. It was a nice feeling to have another girl to talk about things that just got it. And whatever Anahera didn’t want to go back to Calum, didn’t get back to him. Anahera mentioned to Bee before Calum about Levi and what was happening at home for them. Anahera begged Bee not to say anything to her dad. Not that she thought Calum wouldn’t be understanding but because Anahera just didn’t want to out her best friend to someone they weren’t ready to be out too. However, when Anahera needed someone to talk to about Levi, Bee was gracious and patient and promised not to breathe a word to Calum. So when Levi came over for the first time to come out, while Bee and Calum were fixing dinner, Bee’s reaction was like she had heard the news for the first time. Calum was shocked but grateful to know and the change was immediate, though a little bumpy at first. Anahera called Bee later that night to thank her for being supportive of her best friend.

Also in terms of pirate costuming, as much as Anahera adores her dad, she knew only Bee would get her vision for her costume and be able to help her. Also Bee could also help Levi put together their costume so that the two of them matched but still kept a distinct air to the both of them.

Bee passes their table right after they get their orders with a tray full of drinks for the table that she has. However on the second pass by, Anahera manages to snag her attention. “Do you work Saturday morning?”

Bee ponders for a moment. “I work here starting at 2. What’s up?”

“I got invited to this Halloween party and Levi and I want to go as pirates. But we both need a few things to help with our outfits. Would you mind taking us and helping us out?”

The grin that breaks across Bee’s face is so big Calum’s sure her cheeks are going to split right there on the spot. “Yeah, I’d love to. Mall opens at 9. How does 10 sound? Would that time work for them as well?”

“I can ask.”

“Text me whatever works best, okay. I’ll pick you up first and then we’ll swing and get Levi.”

Anahera nods and turns back to her salad just as Bee turns back and continues down to the kitchen. “So I’m getting the boot I guess.”

“I guess you can come too. Do you and Bee have plans?”

“Bee asked if we had plans. I told her our normal plans are using dressing up and doing a little decorating to hand out candy or you watching movies with Levi but now that’s different. So I’m not even sure.”

“Just remember, I’m coming back home at midnight sharp.” Once or twice, Anahera’s caught the embarrassing glimpse of a kiss getting pretty heavy. That’s enough, she doesn’t want to see anything more than that.

Calum gapes for a moment around the sip of his water. “Missy, who’s the parent here?” Anahera goes quiet, shoveling the last bite of her salad into her mouth. “That’s what I thought.” With their dinner finish and check paid, Calum and Anahera slip out from the booth. They both say goodbye to Bee before leaving. Anahera promises to text Bee the second she gets a time that works well before 2.

It’s only later in the night, after Calum gets a text from Bee that she got home safely that he calls her. She doesn’t answer immediately. However about 20 minutes later, his phone rings from her. “Hey,” he says settling into the pillows. Tammy’s curled up on his lap. The click of paws outside the door alerts Calum that Anahera’s moving around the house and Jake’s following right behind her. “How was your day?”

“Pretty good. The restaurant was crazy when I walked in but the rest of the night calmed down. How was your day?”

“Nothing too grand until I surprisingly ran into you,” he chuckles softly into the receiver. “I just want to say thank you for agreeing to take Anahera and Levi shopping. That-that means a lot to me.”

“No need to thank you, Cal baby. But you’re so welcome. I love Ana and Levi. I’d do whatever I could for them.”

“No, I do need to thank you. I know you’re working hard to cover what you had to spend on Terrence’s books but you taking the time to spend with my daughter and her best friend--it says a lot more about your character than anything.”

“Thank you, Calum. That means a lot.”

“Of course.”

“With Anahera and Levi going to the party, are you just going to hang out on Halloween?”

“I guess. I don’t know. Unless of course you’d like to spend some time together after work if you’re not too tired of course.”

“I’m only working a 5 hours shift. I picked up part of someone else’s shift. So if you wanted to do something after 7, we can. Your neighborhood’s plenty active right? Like you hand out candy and what not?”

“Yeah, there’s enough kids that come out. Would you want to dress up? I totally get if you don’t want to, with work and everything.”

“I would love to dress up! Halloween’s my favorite. But once Terrence got too old to trick-or-treat, I kinda didn’t have much reason to do a lot. The apartment complex does like a small thing for the kids, but nothing like the neighborhood I was in before Terrence and I moved.”

“Might I crash the shopping party on Saturday? I know depending on how long it takes you might have to duck out before things finish but while they shop for their costumes you and I can plan something too.”

“Sure, you can crash the shopping party. Do you decorate?”

“Used to when Anahera was younger. Not a lot much inside. It’s more outside decoration for the kiddos as they come up to the door.”

“Well I look forward to a fairly spooped out house. Trick or treating starts around 6 so I’ll miss the first hour but after my shift ends, would it be okay if I just came directly to your place and changed? What time is the party for Anahera and Levi?”

“Yeah, sure you can come straight to my place. Their party starts at 8 and Levi’s brother Dan is dropping them off at the party and dropping them Ana back off afterwards. Or at least I need to make sure that’s the plan. Even if I have to drop her off, if you come to my place, trick or treaters can still get their candy fill while I drop her off.”

“Okay, cool. Thank you.” A yawn cuts off the last little bit of the sentence. “God, sorry.”

“It’s been a long day. I get it. Get some rest, babe.”

“Wait, I gotta email Anahera. Stay on the line with me until I finish that. Then I can go night-night.”

Calum chuckles at the repetitive phrase. It reminds of when Anahera was younger. He’t tuck her in at night with a kiss to her forehead and a sweet bid of “Night-night. Sweet dreams,” without fail. And it appears that even though children might grow out of the phrase, parents never do. “Okay, I’ll stay on until you do that. Do you have any costume ideas?”

“Something witchy. Or vampires. Or we can go with something with a bit more gore. I think I have some special effects makeup left in that kit.”

“I know you said Halloween is for favorite but for someone that doesn’t celebrate like before, I’m a little lost on why you have a kit.”

“Library holds some special readings every quarter. Theme was fairytales so we dressed up and used some special effects for some wrinkles for the old fairy godmother. And I just got the big kit because I figured it would last for more than reading. There’s some fake blood in it too. I like to have all my options.”

Calum hums, the pillows surrounding him starting to pull him into sleep as well. Just closing his eyes won’t hurt. It’s quiet for a moment, faintly he can hear the taps and clicks of Bee on her computer. “Oh, what about something with Bonnie and Clyde?”

“Like them dead? Because I think I could be down.” The sentence is a little slow to fall from Bee’s lips.

“Hmm yeah maybe.”

“Thanks for staying up with me even though we both about to pass out.”

“Anything for you.”

“Goodnight, Calum.”

“Hey, that’s a good night-night and sweet dreams to you, Bee.” She laughs softly into the receiver and it’s the only sound Calum distinctly remembers hearing too.

Friday night Anahera is sure to show Calum her changes to the essay and when he nods, kissing the top of her head, Ana tries to hold back her excitement. She and Levi have talked about their costumes. Though Levi’s unsure of if they should go with a vest or not. They don’t have one and buying one would be pointless just for the one costume. Anahera suggests if they find one cheap they could add it to the costume without fear of not necessarily wearing it out again.

Calum agrees to drive separately from Bee, Anahera, and Levi when Saturday rolls around. The second Bee showed up Anahera dove into the vision she and Levi had for the costumes and what they both already have in their closest. Calum catches wind of a skirt and he waits for a moment unsure if that’s a smart idea. However, Bee is quick to suggest fishnets in addition to the skirt. Fishnets isn’t the answer he would’ve given, but Calum knows this is not his time into the court and let’s Bee take the lead on how to best handle wearing a skirt to a party that Calum’s almost certain alcohol may sneak its way into the mix. He knows he can’t shield Anahera forever from the world but he definitely doesn’t want her introduction to be harsh. Amongst the glimpses of conversations that he catches about the skirt, he catches onto the addition of shorts underneath too and lets out a tiny sigh of relief.

Levi hangs back as Bee and Anahera enter the first store. Calum lingers back with them.“Skipping this one?” Calum asks. It’s an H&M and there’s no doubt in Calum’s mind that they can find something here. They mentioned wanting either a jacket or the vest and then needing a thick belt or fabric to help with their look. They already have the white button up, jeans and boots for the costume.

“I-It’s a lot easier to like look online at clothes.” The confession leaves Levi’s lips softly. Calum nods, understanding that online no one says anything if they switch between men or women’s. However, the physical stores has to be a whole different ballgame, the anxiety about looks that people might give tot hem.

“If you want, I’ll stick with you. Whichever section, I can be right there.”

“You-you don’t have too, Mr. Hood.”

“It’s Uncle Cal and you know that, Levi. Besides, you’re not Anahera’s best friend. You’re part of my family. So whatever you need me to do is out of love, not obligation.”

The tears collect on their lower lids. “You consider me family?”

“Always have, kid, and always will.” With an arm slung over their shoulder, Calum proposes a deal. “What if you help me with my costume and if we just happen to find something for you, then we just happen to find something for you? How does that sound?”

Levi gives Calum a quick hug before nodding. “Sounds-sounds good to me.”

“C’mon. I think I see a suit jacket that might be perfect for Clyde. But I need younger eyes because I forgot my glasses.”

As the pair walks towards the suit jackets, Bee slides over and slips a few tissues into the palm of Calum’s hand. He hands them over to Levi and there’s a silent nod of recognition between all of them. Bee zips back over to Anahera, knowing that she had to talk the young girl out of the platform boots that Anahera doesn’t need considering the pair that she just got for her birthday.

As Calum and Levi thumb through the blazers, Calum can see one particular red ornate blazer has caught their attention. So he plucks if off the rack, pulling the medium size one off the rack to start. He can’t quite gauge their size and he doesn’t want to ask someone to measure Levi. Holding the jacket open for Levi, Calum silently asks them to try it on. “I think it might look better on you than me. I think my days have passed. Besides the red blazer I have at home reads more captain than pirate. But it’s always a look you could go for.”

Levi slips their arms into the blazer. The sleeves swallow their arms and hits them too low on their legs. But the light is evident in their eyes as they look into the mirror on the wall. “Wow,” they breathe, turning to see what it looks like from the back.

“I say we try the small. This is a medium.” Levi nods, slipping out of the jacket and taking the small from Calum. “This isn’t a tailored cut. Meaning it doesn’t cut in or cinch at the waist. This is a standard fit.” He straightens the collar out for them and grins at their smile. “Arms out straight in front of you,” he directs looking to see if the sleeves come up just a little or not all. They rise just a smidge. “Okay, reach up for the ceiling.” Levi does so without seeming restricted. “Is it tight anywhere?”

“No,” they return, shrugging their shoulders. “Not tight. It’s a little loose but like a good loose.”

“Fitted jackets and blazers can be harder to get in smaller sizes sometimes. If you want this, we can get it today and then after the party to get fitted a bit better, go to a tailor.”

“My parents would not be happy though,” Levi counters.

Calum nods. “I know that’s rough. But what if for right now, we get this and if they ask, you tell your parents it’s mine and I let you borrow it for the costume. The next time you come for to visit Anahera, I can take you to get it properly fitted.”

“How would I get it back home? My parents don’t like spot check my room but they’d notice me with this kind of jacket.”

“You leave that to me. While it’s easy to say smuggle it in your backpack, they’ll wrinkle it. But trust, between Anahera and I, we’ll make sure you get it to your room undetected.”

“I don’t know Mr. Hood. Seems like a lot of trouble.”

The nerves are understandable and Calum does not want to push them to do anything they wouldn’t want to do. “Alternatively, you find a vest for the costume and Bee and I find some fabric that’s fancy and you use that to tie around your waist as as the glamour you and Ana want. The blazer’s a dream for when you feel safer.”

“Yeah, yeah I like that.” Levi slowly removes the blazer and puts it back onto the hanger. “There’s, uh, there’s this,” they state, lifting up a standard black denim like vest.

“Okay, so something along that vibe. Gotcha.” Calum thumbs through the rack and pulls out a similar vest but this one has silver buttons and embellishments that make it feel a bit more elevated, more pirate-y.

As Levi tries that one on, Calum texts Bee to grab the red blazer from off the end of the rack and add it to the pile that Anahera’s collecting. He promises to pay her back. Within a minute of the text sending, he watches Bee approach in the mirror and grab the blazer, quickly stashing it under the racks in her hand. There’s a yellow sweater on top and a few black items beneath it as well.

“Lookin’ good, Levi!” Bee calls out, leaning behind the racks to make sure the blazer is concealed.

Anahera isn’t far behind, dragging Levi over to the shoes. “You should get this vest,” she says before returning to her point about not knowing which sneakers to get.

“They didn’t go for the blazer? It looked good,” Bee ponders quietly.

“Worried about their parents blowing a fuse. But Christmas is coming up, so hopefully things are different then. If not, I think they’d still appreciate it. And I know if I wait, it’s going to be gone.”

“You’re right about that. Ana and I are done for Halloween. You might have to convince her she doesn’t need 80 pairs of the same shoe. But while you distract, I’ll check out.”

Calum nods, heading towards the clearance shoes where Anahera and Levi are huddled. “I’ll give you the money tonight.”

Bee nods and makes a straight shot for the registers. After a trip to the fabric store for Levi’s belt, and a dive into Bee’s favorite hair care store to get headwraps for the both of them, Anahera and Levi are set for their costumes. Calum knows buried in his closet is a white dress shirt that he can throw on along with a black suit jacket, so he’s not too worried that he’s walking out the store empty handed.

Bee looks down at her phone again, teeth capturing the skin of her lips--her boss at the restaurant texted if she can come in an hour earlier. She almost doesn’t take the extra hour but Calum assures that now the costumes are set, that if she needs to take the extra hour then she absolutely take it. None of them will be mad, or feeling like she’s dipping out just to get away. “You sure?” Bee asks Calum after relaying the predicament, watching as Levi and Anahera duck in line for pretzels. “Ana’s not going to feel like I’m being mean or dodgy?”

“Babe. No. I don’t think so.” He kisses her forehead. “I know things are tight after the textbook fiasco. If you need to take the extra hour, do it.”

“I’ll keep the blazer in my bag and then bring it back to your place after they leave for the party.”

“Okay.”

She gives her quick goodbyes with hugs to Anahera and Levi, before kissing Calum softly goodbye and backtracking to the opposite end of the mall, where they parked. The shopping continues for a little bit longer, but Calum doesn’t linger too much allowing them their space. They agree to reconvene outside the sporting goods store in an about hour.

It’s a dangerous game to duck into one of the jewelry stores. Calum’s not even looking for himself and it sounds crazy and too soon for thoughts of a ring cross his mind. But he tells himself he can just browse, just fantasy about what that might be like.

“Who you looking for?”

He turns to the voice and see Anahera saddled up beside him. “You two have another like half an hour to be free.”

“Not much else here,” she returns. “Looking for Bee? Is her birthday soon or something?”

“Just looking,” Calum returns with a shrug, trying not to draw too much suspicion.

“Ana, look!” Levi calls out, waving their hand to beckon her closer. “It’s an anklet like you were looking at in the other store.”

Anahera ducks over, just to look. Soon they leave the mall. Levi asks if they can just get changed at Calum’s place which is an easy yes. Calum takes Anahera and Levi for a quick lunch before Levi grabs their costume, an overnight bag and their backpack from their house. Tammy and Jake run up from the depths of the house to greet all of them. The pets and scratches are happily received. “So scary movies to pregame for the party tonight? What’s on the agenda?” Calum asks.

“I should do the World History homework before the party,” Levi starts, laughing a little.

“But we probably will watch scary movies,” Anahera finishes.

“Go figure,” Calum agrees. “So what time should I pick you both up tonight? Or is Dan still your main man?”

“Dan said he’d pick us up from the party and just drop us off here. He said he was going to be out at that time anyway,” Levi relays.

“He won’t be drinking?”

“Nah, Dan doesn’t drink. I think some friends of his are also throwing a party and he’s used to being the DD. He said it was something about a mixer? I don’t really know. But we’ll text him when we’re ready. Is midnight still okay?”

“Mixers are just different clubs, or whatever, getting together,” Anahera cuts in. “Girls field hockey has them with the guys division and other sports after school sometimes. I assume college mixers are way different than ones in the high school gym though.”

“Yeah, midnight is still fine,” Calum answers.

Once they return to the house, it’s fairly silent. Anahera and Levi go into her room and Calum takes the moment to decorate the outside of the house. He started yesterday, mostly with the hanging decorations and the lights. Today’s mostly putting on the certain yard decorations. There are some tombstones that he stakes into the ground and a few giant fake spiders that he sets out. The decor was more extravagant in years prior. But knowing Bee will be stopping by means that the lazy decorating won’t cut it.

With the outside done, Calum pulls down the bags of candy from the pantry and pour them into bowls. He’s sure to separate the chocolate from the non-chocolate stuff. He even has a separate bowl for any candies that are chocolate and have peanuts or other nuts in it knowing that some kids in the neighborhood may have allergies. A few parents put out an alert on the neighborhood watch app. There was a year, now as Calum recalls it must’ve been three years ago, where the majority of the houses had only chocolate candy making it impossible for one kid to get any candy that they could enjoy. Calum took the leftover non chocolate candy to the house after reading the heartbreaking plea from the parents.

“What’s for dinner y’all?” Calum asks after both Ana and Levi resurface in the kitchen rummaging through the snack pantry. “We got about an hour before trick-or-treaters start showing up. Pizza? There’s leftovers too, but I think I’ll be nice and order something.”

Both of them readily agree to pizza and Calum places the order without needing much more convincing. He’ll finish off the last of the spaghetti leftovers he fixed yesterday. The pizza will not last long between the two of them--never a shock anymore to Calum anymore. He changes first into his costume knowing it won’t be fully complete until Bee shows up from work however, he would rather be one half when kids start showing up.

Though Calum slips into an older black suit. It’s somewhat of a shock that it still fits. But it’s a testament to the personal trainer for sure. Calum does make sure to include the hat. The curls don’t cooperate off the bat, requiring a little bit of assistance from some hair gel Anahera suggested to him to help. Finally, he gets the curls tamed enough to slip the hat on. His dress shoes click over the hard floor and it is echoed by Tammy and Jake finding him and walking behind him.

“Uncle Cal did not come to play,” Levi jokes around a bite of pizza.

“Dad, who even are you? I don’t know this man,” Anahera laughs. Calum does a spin and laughs as the two of them whistle. Soon Thriller comes over the speakers. No doubt Anahera pairing her phone to the speakers downstairs. “Show ‘em, Dad. Show ‘em how you groove.”

“Miss Bee’s gonna faint when she sees you like this. I want a video,” Levi laughs.

“The old man’s still got it,” Calum returns and slides his fingers over the brim of the hat. The giggles are quick to subside after the song fades out. They toss out the pizza box and wash their plates before going back to Anahera’s room.

“I’m stealing your dad’s wardrobe,” Levi says as they pass through the living room. “Taking notes.”

“Oh, don’t make his ego even better.” The two of them laugh and the door closes before anything else can be said.

The first half hour of trick-or-treaters is a little slow and mostly toddlers or infants being carted around by their parents. However, Calum enjoys seeing the various pumpkin costumes on the babies as they walk up the driveway and porch. They don’t seem bothered by the night which he knows the parents are grateful for. Exactly at seven, his phone chimes and interrupts the Halloween Party playlist Calum turned on, playing on the speaker he normally uses for outdoor parties.

I’m headed out now. It’s from Bee and he replies in acknowledgement before setting the phone back down and grabbing a couple handful of candies for the group of sheet ghosts that waddle up the driveway. “Trick or treat,” they chorus.

Calum laughs. “Well, this is a predicament.” He looks over their hands. “I can hear some trick-or-treaters but I don’t see them.” He looks over his yards, hand above his brow to emphasize the point.

“Boo!” One child giggles.

Calum jumps, finally looking down at them. “Oh there they are.” The candle rustles in their bags as he drops off some for them and they reply with their thanks before going back to the parents waiting at the end of the driveway.

“I scared him, Momma!” The kid cheers and the parents laugh, with a nod. “I’m so scary!”

“Oh I know. The scariest,” the mother returns. They move down to the next house. Another fifteen minutes later, Calum notices headlights slowing down and turning into the driveway. Bee continues up and pulls right up to the garage door.

“Oh my god,” she gapes walking up on the porch. “Look at you.” Calum greets her with a hug and a kiss to her cheek. “By God, you look sharper than Sunday morning.”

The heat in his cheeks only increases. “Thanks. But I’m missing my other half.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere,” Bee teases, kissing him softly.

“I think it’ll get me plenty-where.”

“Be back in two shakes and a twist.” Calum nods, watching as Bee walks into the house. More children come up to the house. He drops off candy to some Cookie Monsters, witches, Captain America’s, and Spiderman’s. Ten minutes later, the front door opens and there are only a couple clicks of the heels. When Calum looks up, he nearly loses his breath. The sweater and skirt are fitted to her figure, hinting to what he’s always known is there, has witnessed more than once, but she keeps it hidden under jeans or skirts at work. Not that he’s upset about that, it all makes sense. He just wishes she showed it off a little bit more. The little beret and scarf really complete the look.

It’s Calum’s turn to be gobsmacked. “Holy shit, you look great.”

“Thanks. I’ve been told to remind you that the party starts in about ten minutes. And they’ll come to the front porch once they’re ready. I got stopped in the hallway,” Bee laughs, sitting in the seat next to Calum.

“Noted.”

Another group of children approaches, this time a group dressed in various costumes from Winnie the Pooh. One girl is Eeyore, there’s a Pooh, Tigger, and Piglet. The parents are dressed as Owl and Rabbit. “Twick oh tweet,” the one dressed as Tigger says quietly a shy smile on their face.

Bee gasps, chest clenching at the matching costumes. Terrence and his friends would do something similar, group costumes. His group costumes weren’t as cute as Winnie the Pooh but still memories come flooding back of superhero costume debates. God, sometimes she wishes she could make Terrence small again, cherish the moments where all he wanted to do was be up under her as she cooked or cleaned. It all just happens too fast.

Bee drops some candy into their buckets. “It’s the whole 100 Acre Woods. I won’t tell Christopher Robin that guys you dropped by.”

The kids laugh and say their thanks. “I miss dressing babies up,” Calum confesses. “Anahera and I used to always do matching outfits and she was so happy to bounce up to houses.”

“Terrence would go as athletics or power rangers. I wish my complex did more. I miss the decorating and having to hide the candy from Terrence.”

“High up in cabinets,” Calum laugh.

“He got too tall for that and too crafty. Hide it in my drawers. He didn’t mess too much in my room.”

Calum chuckles. “Smart. Did you hide Christmas presents in there too? Because I still struggle with that.”

Bee nods, watching more kids walk up and shouts “Trick-or-Treat!” The two of them drop off candy into their buckets and bags. “I leave it in the boxes, if I order online. With Terrence in college now, it’s easier now. Get crafty and hide it in the bathrooms.”

“Now that’s a thought.”

A family comes up, dressed up in leather and bling. “Oh, we got some rockstars,” Bee teases, nudging Calum.

The little girl is dressed in her leather jacket and her brother is in a jacket that matches and it melts his heart. Calum tries not to show it, tries not to gush too much at the costumes but they are adorable. He sneaks them a few extra pieces of candy. “Keep on rockin’ out,” he grins at them.

They smile in return, “Thank you!” in their excited squeals leaving both of them.

Calum clutches his chest as they leave and Bee laughs, “Don’t die on me. You gotta survive.”

“We did that one year,” he sighs, finally sitting up in the chair. “Anahera wanted to go as me and I bought her this silver blazer. I’ll show you the pictures.”

“Oh, that’s precious. I can’t wait to see them.”

The trick-or-treaters slow down and Calum knows the end is nearing for them. Things usually end right about 8 in the neighborhood, though the general unspoken rule it so linger until about 8:30 just to catch all those that might’ve gotten a later start. But he and Bee stay out on the porch. She stacks the empty buckets and sneaks an Almond Joy for herself. “The decorations look good. And I just realized we completely forgot the fake blood.”

Calum shrugs, grabbing a small Snickers. “It’s alright. Most of the parents got it regardless.” They received a few compliments throughout the night but not too many. Most of the time the older kids walked up by themselves but when parents did shadow behind, they were quick to gush at the couple’s costumes.

Anahera and Levi pop out onto the porch a little while later and Calum excuses himself to drop them off. Though, Bee snaps some photos for them and Anahera returns the favor by taking some photos of Bee and Calum together. The teases from the two are more than enough even when they don’t attempt to pose Bee and Calum in the standard high school prom pose. Calum and Bee go along with it mostly for the laughs.

Bee starts to clean up in Calum’s absence and puts things inside the house. By the time she starts to wrestle with the speaker, Calum’s returned and helps her get it back inside. She ducks back to her car to grab the blazer for Levi and takes it from the bag so it can straighten as much as it can. Calum’s quick to hang it up to help as well. “Do you work in the morning?” Calum asks, pulling the hat from his head as he reenters the living room from the back of the house where his bedroom is located.

“At the library, yeah. But I can hang for another hour or two. Unless of course I pass the fuck out.”

“I know that feeling. You hungry?”

Bee follows behind into the kitchen, her own beret and scarf removed as well. “I ate at work, but thanks.” She leans into the counter, eying the box of popcorn that seems to have been left out. Popcorn does sound good. She knows she shouldn’t. But just a little wouldn't hurt as they watch a movie. Sneakily, she pushes the box closer to Calum.

He giggles, noticing the green box moving closer to him. “So I’m going to assume you want popcorn.”

“Please?”

Calum nods, waving for her to come closer. She steps in close, resting against his chest. The microwaves beeps before whirring. Calum kisses the top of her head, wrapping his arms around her waist. “The hottest Bonnie to walk this Earth.”

Bee laughs, kissing along his jawline. “Thank you. I think you cleaned up well as Clyde. Almost cut me looking so sharp in this suit.”

They share a kiss and the beeps of the microwave interrupts them. “What’s on the movie menu tonight?” Calum asks, bumping the bag into a bowl. Bee’s not in love with horror films but can generally stomach more gore than straight up horror. Rather than dominating the conversation with suggestions, Calum lets her take charge. However, they settle on whatever is playing on the TV, after a good twenty minutes of failed decision making. Bee snuggles into his side, a blanket wrapped about the both of them.

“Where’s the picture of Anahera dressed up as you?” Bee asks during a commercial break. “I need to see this.”

Calum stretches forward to grab his phone and scrolls for the photo. “So this is the look she wanted to recreate,” he says showing her a picture of himself from so long along Calum’s shocked that he remembers it was actually him. But the picture of him in the silver jacket on stage instills a lot of memories.

“Oh look at you! How old were you in this photo?”

“Twenty-two, twenty-three. It feels like a lifetime ago. But,” he starts swiping through the pictures again and pulls up the one of them side by side, rocking the glittery blazer and slicked back hair. “Here’s my little girl matching her old man.”

“God, she looks so much like you. It’s insane. But this is so cute.”

“Thanks. I will say if you think Anahera and I look alike, it’s a family trait.”

“So you look like your parents, huh? Like you got spit out.”

Calum nods. “Yeah. My mum’s the culprit. My sister and I look like she sculpted us personally. Also speaking of blazers, I still have to pay you back. How much was it again?”

The movie continues on around them as they settle the payment. Stories filter on about their children’s past successful or failed costumes. There are some stories about their exploits in their younger years. Kisses are shared, soft and languid. Some are sweeter due the candy they snuck during the night too. Hands slips under dress shirts or sweaters but Calum and Be don’t go too far. Just kisses and exhales and intoxicating themselves with the other. During a commercial break, Bee excuses herself to the bathroom and it’s only then that Calum realizes that it’s closing in around 11 pm.

Calum cleans up their mess of kernels and wrappers. When Bee returns she finds Calum in the kitchen, hugging him from behind. “I’m gonna head home to get some sleep.”

“No, don’t leave me,” he whines.

“I know. I don’t wanna either. But out of respect, ya know. Can’t just be randomly spending the night.”

Calum kisses across her knuckles. “I appreciate it. Let me know when you get home safely okay.”

“Will do.” Calum walks Bee to her car and kisses her goodnight before watching her pull down the driveway. Not even before he can get to the porch, another pair of headlights cuts through the night. He watches it pull up into this driveway and notices the tag--it’s Dan.

Levi and Anahera step out of the car both of them giggling incessantly. “Oh fuck,” Ana says loudly upon seeing her dad. “Shit.”

Calum can already tell alcohol’s been involved. But there’s only amusement as both of them attempt to pass off like they’re sober. He takes Anahera while Dan helps Levi up the steps. “Seems like there was definitely been some fun tonight,” he teases, fixing both of them classes of water.

“We won the costume contest!” Levi declares. “And maybe had a shot or two.”

“We got third,” Ana corrects.

“Sstill placing.”

Calum tries his best not to laugh at their not sober antics. “Drink some water. Honestly, how many drinks?”

“Only like two, two and a half,” Ana confesses hiding behind the class.

“It’s clear sweetheart, so I can still see you.”

“Damn.”

Levi laughs, slipping down into the cushions. The headscarf slips off their head with the action but they don’t seem to notice. “Are we screwed, Uncle Cal? I really really can’t afford to get into trouble.”

“We’ll wait to see if you’re screwed when you wake up tomorrow. If you feel like ass in the morning, you’ll have to deal with that and there’s no reason for me to dish out any punishments.”

“If we don’t feel like ass?”

“The fear of getting caught coming home shamby from a paper is punishment enough,” Calum chuckles.

With a glass of water down each, he helps them to the room, mostly herding them from the walls to keep anyone from knocking their head on a picture frame. “Thanks, Dad,” Anahera sighs, leaning into the wall for a little bit of support.

“There was a reason why most of your homework had to be done before the party,” he grins. “Holler if you need me, okay?”

Calum texts Bee about their return, safe but not sober. Damn, should’ve stuck around to witness that. Need an extra pair of hands? Bee replies.

Seems like we’re all good. Thanks.

Also please send me the photos of us from tonight? Whenever you can of course. I think if we had gone to a costume contest we would’ve won too.

Of course. Definitely would’ve won with a woman like you on my arm.

Calum rises first the next morning, and doesn’t disturb them immediately. However, closer to late morning, he knocks softly on Anahera’s door. “Yeah?” Ana calls out and as he peeks inside he notices they’re still up. Levi is sitting on her bed and Ana at her desk.

“Oh, thought you two might’ve died at some point in the night. Glad to see I was wrong.”

“We didn’t drink that much.”

Levi snorts. “I had to get you Advil.”

“Shut up,” Anahera huffs, dropping her head in her hands. “I’m okay, Dad. Really. I’m fine. Just like a minor headache that’s all.”

He shakes his head. “You’ll learn eventually. Pancakes on me this morning, how does that sound?”

“I’m down,” Levi answers. Their attention is locked on the screen.

“I’ll let you know when food’s ready.” Calum states to the room and begins to shut the door but still can faintly catch Anahera asking Levi about the blazer. He leaves the door slightly ajar but walks back to his room the jacket hangs right where he left it. He wanted it to be a present, wanted to get it tailored. But he knows he can’t wait. Calum pulls it off the bar and shuffles back to Anahera’s room. Slipping his arm through, he hooks onto the knob on the inside and then closes the door. He waits for a moment.

“No way! No fucking way!”

The door swings open, Levi gripping the hanger and shaking the garment. “You totally didn’t?” Their voice cracks just a little as the emotion rocks them visibly.

“Maybe I did. Maybe I didn’t. But I mean you’re holding the jacket, so I’m pretty sure I did.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” they gush, tackling Calum into a hug.

“Anytime, kid, anytime.” While Halloween’s typically celebrated and seen as a way to become and dress up like someone else, it doesn’t mean Levi doesn’t deserve the chance to dress like themself. “If you have to keep it over here, I get it. And I had anticipated waiting on giving it to you, but felt like now was a good time.”

They dance up and down the hallway with the suit jacket and Anahera laughs, recording their excitement. She’s careful not to post it on anything public. Her socks cause her to nearly slip and fall as she rounds the corner to the kitchen. Calum’s at the stove, flipping over pancakes when she hugs his side. “Thanks for being awesome. About the drinking and getting Levi that blazer. They love it.”

“The drinking’s one thing because you embarrassed yourself. The blazer--well I couldn’t not get it.”

“I know it’s because you’re amazing and awesome and like the best person to walk the planet, but it really does mean a lot.”

“Anytime, sweetheart. I’d do just about anything for you and Levi.”

“Only just about anything?”

“Hey, that’s still a long list and included on it is making the two of you pancakes so you two can study because there’s still school on Monday.”

“Oh don’t remind me,” she laughs, popping to kiss his cheek and then scurrying back around the corner of the kitchen.

“That’s my job!” Calum shouts.

“You do it well!”

#calum hood #calum hood x oc #calum hood fic #calum hood fanfic #calum hood imagine #calum hood fluff #calum hood blurb #5sos #5sos fanfic #5sos fic #5sos imagine #5sos fluff #5 seconds of summer #5 seconds of summer fanfic #5 seconds of summer fic #5 seconds of summer imagine #5 seconds of summer fluff #h writes #calum 5sos

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thewebcomicsreview · 4 years

Photo

Normally I open up the Homestuck 2 liveblog with a tongue-in-cheek comment about how reading HS2 is pain, but I just watched the debate and HS2 looks incredible by comparison, so let’s see if this good mood carries over. Looks like we’re on Candyland, too, Candy updates tend to be better (or at least bad in a funny way) than the oft-boring Meat updates, and personally, I think “The Omega Kids fuck around” is the best part of HS2 by yards.

Man, that lamp is almost perfectly positioned to draw a line through the image separating the two scenes (the dialogue for which is on two separate columns), but it’s just the tiniest bit off-center. I wonder if that was intentional and mobile-responsiveness is just a cruel mistress. It’s a cute touch, if so. I suppose the door (and the photos, which are the same height as the door) also serves the same purpose of having the two scenes be sectioned off. I don’t really know a lot about “scene composition” so maybe I should stay in my wheelhouse, but I think it’s divided very nicely

HARRY: and some of us aren't gods and shit. JOHN: i'm detecting a hint of judgement in your voice, there, harry anderson JOHN: don't you enjoy being a part of all this? finally getting to be in the thick of it all?

John, always dense, has not picked up on Harry Anderson’s demotion to Harry. He’s also inserting a lot of his own desires onto Harry, here, too. Vrissy is the one who wanted to be in the thick of it all (thematic idea to stick a pin into to see if it plays out: John should be mentoring Vrissy and Vriska should be mentoring Harry. Some evidence that HS2 is building this idea, but not a lot yet)

HARRY: now YOU look like you're hiding some extra commentary. JOHN: oh, i don't need to burden you with all the bureaucratic stuff, it's boring.

You gotta subscribe to John’s $20/mo Patreon tier for that, Harry.

JOHN: because here i am, sitting in the dugout, same as you. HARRY: in the dugout? JOHN: oh, or, uh... JOHN: what's a metaphor you might like better... HARRY: no, JOHN: i'm like the uhh...understudy. HARRY: dad. no, jesus, you don't have to do this. JOHN: or i got cast in as babysitter number 2 when i had auditioned for, i dunno, HARRY: yeah, please, i got the baseball metaphor. HARRY: i'm not a complete fucking nerd.

John doesn’t really “get” theater kids, I get. It makes me think a little of how John’s dad thought John was massively into clowns. Also, this is a cute.

JOHN: it's been really nice to get to spend so much time with you. HARRY: um. yeah, it's not so bad. HARRY: anyway, before you ruffle my hair or anything, it looks like things are getting a bit heated between the vriskas over there. HARRY: maybe we should offer them a snack to bring the mood back down? JOHN: me, mess up your hair when you’ve worked so hard on that look? i do know you at least that well, harry anderson HARRY: thank god.

This is also cute. Harry maybe the only person in the entire cast of Homestuck or Homestuck 2 to have a semi-normal relationship with his parents.

Speaking of semi-symmetry, the line where Harry says how happy he is to stay home almost lines up perfectly with Vriska being furious that she has to stay home. I wonder again if that’s a coincidence of if someone had a really clever idea that didn’t make it fully intact through editing (or was considered not worth the effort).

VRISKA: How are you so calm right now? Your lusii were training you, right? And you’re a troll, you’re definitely five times stronger than a human! And if you’re my clone, you are way more 8adass than little miss Fussy Fangs.

Vriska is making several false assumptions here, but the most interesting one is that Vrissy is Vriska’s clone. She’s not. She’s descended from Vriska, and takes after Vriska very strongly, but it’s not a one-to-one thing.

VRISSY: 8ut I guess this Situation is Kind of Serious? VRISSY: There’s a whole Plan and Stuff Like that. VRISKA: Clearly not a good plan, 8ecause then I would 8e part of it!

Vriska.jpg

VRISKA: That’s just even more indication that they don’t know what they’re doing! Lalonde and Maryam have had however many sweeps to get older and stupider, 8ut from where I’m standing, it was literally only a few days ago that I was their commander! I am primed for the 8attlefield!

Okay, this line is across from John saying he’s in the dugout. There is absolutely an intentional, if not one-to-one strict, mirroring of these two conversations that’s actually really neat. I should go back to the other times HS2 has had conversations formatted like this to see if this mirroring has been happening all along. It’s a really good use of the format! I like this a lot!

JOHN: so anyway, as you can see, this would have worked just fine! HARRY: no i think karkat’s right. this looks like shit, dad. JOHN: you know, me letting your earlier use of the word "fuck" slide wasn't a blanket approval for all cursing in front of me. HARRY: sorry. HARRY: try not to make such a shit plan, and i won't call it that. JOHN: haha wow.

The other thing I like is the John/Harry dynamic.

HARRY: it's not like i think i'm any better! HARRY: i mean, i still can't believe i told vrissy and them to bring a dead celebrity to school. HARRY: what was i THINKING. JOHN: you were thinking it sounded hilarious! JOHN: but yeah, in hindsight, maybe not the best call. JOHN: maybe it’s genetic? HARRY: yeah. HARRY: i kinda can’t believe we’re all still alive, actually. HARRY: and how did YOU make it this far, being so bad at this? JOHN: i had my friends with me, i guess.

John your friends repeatedly tried to kill you and succeeded at least twice.

He’d spent so long seeing mostly the best parts of Roxy in Harry Anderson. He forgot, he guesses, to look for himself in there, too. And if what they have in common right now is a lack of strategic foresight, hey, he’ll take it.

I’m slowly developing a theory that John is subconsciously the narrator of Candy, given how everything suddenly started going John’s way after Calliope left (and how the narrator seemed to really hate Gamzee last chapter). Remember, John has spoken in narration before in HS1, but never seemed to realize he was doing it. I probably need to essay this theory out at some point, but not now.

Oh, hey! Jane does have goons! And they’ve slightly change the way they draw Rose’s hair, so her head isn’t a perfect circle with lines on it. This looks much better.

JANE: I haven't given a political speech in years, Ms. Lalonde. I don't know what you're referring to. I'm just a simple business woman. JADE: right with her own talk show JADE: and multi billion dollar merchant company and lobbying groups! JANE: That's what a business woman is, Jade, dear.

I know that this is supposed to be Capitalism Bad, but “You claim to be a businesswoman when you own a merchant company!”. Jade. Come on. This reads less as Jane going “Of course I’m evil, I’m a CEO” and more that Jade literally doesn’t know what a business woman is.

JANE: You are on my territory, in the presence of my secret police, laying your hand on my investment.

Jane you don’t own “territory” do you not know what a businesswoman is either?

JANE: Your ship is in contested airspace. You will land, whereby it will be confiscated by the Royal Human Guard. After that you will be taken into custody.

CONTESTED BY WHOM, JANE? WHO THE FUCK IS THE WAR BETWEEN?!

JADE: shut the fuck up for a minute and look up!

There’s a BIG-ASS spaceship like ten feet in front of you! Did you not notice until Jade pointed it out?

Also why does the Rebellion ship have the Crockercorp prongs on it?

JANE: Or have you forgotten who has been paying for her schooling and taking charge of her introduction into society? JADE: i never asked you to do that! JADE: you offered! JADE: so stop calling me ungrateful for not sucking your dick over things i never asked for!

Sorry again, Jade, are you implying that you wouldn’t have given your daughter an education had Jane not offered? “Rose and Jade entrusted their daughter to Jane, who they were at war with” is an enigma of a plot point.

The world is watching her be dressed down by a couple blood traitor rebels, one of which has very prominent dog ears. Jane wonders if either of them are even recognizable to the assembled as two of the old gods. One of her PR managers had recommended that she keep her look as static as possible, so that people can always recognize her as Jane Crocker, Captain of Industry, Creator of Earth C, Maintainer of Peace and Plenty.

Jade has always had dog ears what the fuck? I guess this is supposed to be Jane’s warped thinking.

So, anyway, Kanaya fake-holds Tavvy hostage, Jane buys the threat as real and they build up like Jane is going to sacrifice her own son for PR points but she ultimately stands down and lets everyone go. It’s left intentionally vague whether or not she was always going to do this, or if she didn’t want to do it in front of Jake, or if the presence of Jake stirred something in her that made her change her mind. I like the ambiguity.

This was a very “Homestuck 2″ update. The plot of kind of nonsense, but it’s carried by the character interactions and a bit of cleverness.

#Homestuck 2 #Homestuck 2 liveblog #Homestuck

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dracoignisworld · 4 years

Text

A little white (wine) lie

As Jon entered the shop, he caught sight of a small, silver-haired woman carefully studying a bottle of Merlot. Whilst she twisted and turned the wine between her hands, he casually walked up behind her, pretended to read the label, and drawled:

“Oh, that one - that’s an excellent one.”

A pair of violet eyes gazed back at him curiously. “Is that so?” she replied, smacking her apricot lips with a pop. “And what can you tell me about it?”

That it’s red, Jon thought though he retained a brilliant smile as he lied: “Whatever you want to know.”

Corked was perfectly placed in between two student accommodations. The owners knew how to make the best of their situation; though barely more than a narrow room, they’d managed to cover every wallspace with shelves stocked full of £5 bottles of chardonnay and prosecco, tinned gin and tonic, local ale sold by the litre, and, naturally, a barrel full of tequila.

Like the students, Jon had dragged his arse out of bed that Tuesday afternoon for some bargain booze. Having spent the last three years freelancing, he considered himself a bit of a connoisseur when it came to cheap alcohol - mostly because it was all he could afford. All the more reason he found his smile faltering a little when the woman popped the bottle back on the shelf and he noticed the price displayed below.

Who the fuck pays fifty-eight pounds for wine? Jon thought before sneaking another peek at the woman and, with a resigned sigh, realising: Someone like her.

Whoever she was, she was stunning; her hair was brightly silver and tied back into several elaborate braids which cascaded down her narrow shoulders like streams of water. Her small body was wrapped in a pale pink dress, the pleated hemline teasing just above her knees which were perfectly tanned from the sun. Yet it was the intense colour of her eyes which kept drawing Jon’s gaze back to her face.

Like a lavender field, Jon thought, and he felt an immediate urge to write it down in case he was to forget. At once, he sensed it was something he could use for his work. Some day, at least.

“Do you know a lot about wine?” the woman asked and cocked her head. Her braids slipped to her right shoulder, the movement causing the many golden beads in her locks to glimmer.

Jon licked his lips and sensed how dry they were. “I know something,” he said with confidence.

“I like a man who knows something,” she replied, but before Jon could tell whether she was mocking him or not, she continued: “I’m Daenerys.” She offered him her hand. Her nails were delicately manicured. Pale tangerine gel. Of course.

Jon shook it with his own rough hand, suddenly aware of how sweaty his palm was. “I’m Jon,” he said.

“Well, Jon,” Daenerys spoke, “perhaps you can help me. I am looking for a wine that will go well with my dinner.”

“Merlot goes well with everything,” Jon said.

“Maybe if it doesn’t have a lot of acidity, I am inclined to agree,” Daenerys said, and Jon found himself wondering:

Is wine acidic? - but he couldn’t linger on the thought because she spoke with cool haste:

“However, I am planning on serving a salmon dish, and I’m sure you’d agree that a full-bodied white wine would be more appropriate in this instance.”

“Of course,” Jon said without thinking, feeling a tad flushed. He pushed his fingertips into the collar of his shirt to let in some air. Despite the aircon whirring above them, he sensed the shop was heating up. Perhaps I’m finally feeling the sun, he decided.

Daenerys rested her hands on her lower back as she slowly walked alongside the back-shelf, her eyes scanning the many bottles on display. Jon found himself mimicking her posture as he too strolled alongside the wines, his eyes desperately searching for something he could recognise. Everything seemed to melt into one. From a distance, he could scarcely make out the small flag signalling ‘country of origin’.

“Now, I haven’t decided on how I’m going to prepare the salmon, and I know this will definitely have an impact on my choice.”

“Definitely,” Jon repeated.

“I thought of making glazed salmon, which naturally makes me keen on a dry Riesling.”

“Naturally,” Jon said. He was starting to feel like a parrot.

Daenerys was undeterred. “But,” she said, turning on her heels in the same and almost colliding with Jon on her way back toward the beginning of the shelf. She sent him a small apologetic smile as she brushed past him, the soft skin of her bare arms brushing to his knuckles and making him shiver. “But, I do also like a simple, plain salmon, because I enjoy a white Burgundy.”

Jon touched his knuckles where a warm feeling had started to spread and muttered: “Who doesn’t,” as it was the only reply he could come up with.

Daenerys turned on her heels again, and Jon paused as he waited for her to walk past him once more, sharing names of wines he’d never known to exist. But she remained standing, cocking her head to the other side as she said: “So, what do you suggest?”

Jon slowly dragged his tongue around his mouth, trying to wetten it, but he found himself completely parched. He wasn’t sure why, but the way she was looking at him made his heart skip a beat. He felt like he was back in school, and the teacher had just called on him, and he didn’t know the answer though he desperately wanted to impress. So he did the only thing he could - he avoided the question.

“Do you live around here?” he asked, and he felt smug when she blinked. He could tell he caught her off-guard.

“I do,” Daenerys replied. She narrowed her eyes as if she was trying to read him. “I moved back recently.”

“Where from?”

“I was living in Spain for a bit,” she said.

“Studying?” Jon asked. He popped his hands into the pockets of his jeans as he waited for her reply, but if he’d felt relief at moving away from the subject of wine, that sensation was soon squashed as she hummed:

“You ask a lot of questions and say little.” Daenerys’ eyes twinkled as she twirled a braided lock around her hand and rested her other arm over her waist. “Your turn - do you live around here, Jon?”

Jon liked the way his name sounded on her lips. She spoke it in the same way she referred to the wines - with confidence, as if she already knew everything it entailed. “I live down the road,” he said.

“Student?”

“Those discounts are sadly long gone,” he replied with a wry smile. “No, I graduated a while back. Been freelancing since.”

“Doing what?” she asked.

“My turn,” Jon deflected the question, and he enjoyed the pout that shaped on her lips. “Did you study in Spain?”

“I visited family, mostly. Ate and drank,” she said this with a light laugh, “what else would you do in Spain! Lived life, really.”

“Must do well for yourself to just travel,” Jon pointed out.

“Must do well for yourself,” Daenerys retorted, “being a freelancer and knowing so much about wine.” This time, he could definitely sense the mocking in her tone, so he stuck his nose up a little and said:

“You asked me what I’d suggest.”

“I did,” she agreed and raised her brows. “Have you decided?”

“I suggest eating out and letting the waiter choose the wine pairing. In that way, if it’s right, you feel smug, and if it’s wrong, you can blame it on bad service.”

Daenerys let go of a short laugh before covering her mouth. Her violet eyes sparkled. “You’re such a bad liar,” she spoke through her fingers, but even her hand could not hide her large smile. “You know nothing about wine, do you?”

“I’m actually a blogger,” Jon said with a slight blush to his cheeks. Before she could say else, he quickly clarified: “Not like a popular read-my-essay-to-see-my-stew-recipe kind of blogger. I blog for companies.”

Daenerys lowered her hand and looked amused. “What kind of companies?”

“Any that pay me,” he shrugged. “Right now, I’m helping a florist get off their feet, so I’m reading all about wedding bouquets. It is the season for marriage after all,” he said and gestured toward the windows at front. Outside, the sun shone sharply. Heat seemed to rise off the asphalt in waves. “I’m also doing some work for an IT start-up, and some hand-soap seller.”

“And it pays well?”

“Let me put it this way - I don’t normally shop here,” he gestured at the shelving unit beside them where the cheapest bottle he could spot was priced at thirty-five, “but there,” he pointed toward a barrel at front. It was full of plastic-flasks with store-branded whiskey.

Daenerys tapped her manicured nails to her lips as she looked the way he’d gestured. Her face was folded in thought, and Jon took the pause to take in the plump shape of her lips, her rounded chin, her slim neck.

When she looked back, he hurriedly looked down at his sneakers. “Well, anyway,” he said, “sorry for barging in on your shopping.”

“You said I must do well for myself,” Daenerys spoke, seemingly not hearing him, “and it’s true. I actually own a business.”

Jon stopped himself from gawking. “Oh,” he said, trying to remain cool, “that’s nice.”

“I used to do it on the side, but I want to really focus my attention on it and make it something great. That’s why I moved back from Spain. I need to be more involved.” As she spoke, her eyes narrowed and her fingers dragged from her lips to rest beneath her chin in thought. “I could actually need some help on the media front.”

“Oh, that’s nice,” Jon said again, though her words were slowly dawning on him.

“You know, I think you’re right,” she said at once.

Jon blinked. “About what?”

“The whole wine-pairing thing. Asking the waiter and all that? Not a bad idea.”

Jon chuckled: “It was a joke.” Still, when he met her gaze, he found her staring back at him mischievously.

“Would you like dinner? Purely business, of course. Then we can see if you’d be any help for me.”

Jon felt his ears redden. Is she asking me out? he wondered as he stared back at her, gleaming eyes and all. He popped his fingers back into the collar of his shirt. “Just business?” he said, before stuttering: “I mean, sure. Of course. Just business. Is all.”

“Is all,” Daenerys agreed. She grabbed a bottle off the shelf, to Jon seemingly at random, and handed it to him. “Take this,” she said as he eyed the label, “it’s a beautiful wine from Chile. Taste it, and then meet me outside this shop tonight and let me know what food will go well with it.”

“That’s nice,” Jon said, looking at the price out of the corners of his eyes. Fucking sixty-five pounds! “But I can’t afford it.”

“My gift,” Daenerys said and gestured for him to follow. They slowly walked through the room toward the till at the front. “To help you understand my business.”

“Right - what is it, anyway?” Jon asked, but he felt the words die on his lips. Because instead of waiting with him by the till, she slipped behind it, typed something into the laptop, and then handed him a receipt which stated the name of the wine and the final price of £0.

“This,” she said with a brilliant smile as she gestured around the shop.

Jon felt his heart drop. “You own the shop?” he mumbled and watched as Daenerys leaned in over the counter with a smirk. He felt his face go completely red. “Did I just-”

“-mansplain wine to me? Sure tried,” Daenerys laughed. She reached out, her fingertips brushing a curly black lock out of his face.

Jon looked down as he murmured: “Sorry.”

“Eight o’clock tonight okay?” Daenerys asked and, when Jon nodded, she sent him a customer-service smile and chirped: “Thanks for shopping at Corked!”

As soon as Jon had bowed out of the shop and back into the sunshine, his fingers grasped tightly around the bottle of wine, he walked with steady steps across the road, straight into the bookshop across from Corked, and requested: “Any and all books you have on wine, please.” It was going to be a long afternoon.

#jonerys #jonerys fanfic #writing #writings #just a small silly thing #trying to get back into writing again

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sugaabooga · 4 years

Text

A Familiar Hero | 2

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader

Genre: Fluff, Angst, spiderman!Jungkook, college!au, kinda f2l

Word Count: 4.7k

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: mentions of stitches, blood/wounds

Synopsis: With the occasional poor excuse of a girl, your best friend never seems to have time for you anymore. But maybe it’s related to the ever-increasing number of crimes and the reappearing superhero wearing the tacky red and blue suit, flying around the tall skyscrapers of Seoul.

“Y/N?”

Your face contorts in confusion, removing the phone away from your ear and looking at the caller ID which causes your eyes to nearly bulge out your sockets at the name.

“JUNGKOOK!?” you scream in surprise, fumbling with your phone and putting it up against your ear. “Jungkook!”

You hear a laugh on the other end that immediately makes you smile.

“Geez. I’ve never heard you call my name so excitedly,” Jungkook says, a smile obvious in his voice.

Your smile falls off your face, reminding yourself to calm down.

“I wonder why,” you say with an unintentional bite to your tone that makes Jungkook grimace.

After a brief second of silence, you regain a chirpier tone realizing that he might be drowning in guilt.

“I’m so-”

“Anyway, why’d you call?” you ask, unintentionally interrupting Jungkook’s apology.

After a brief pause, he continues. “Well. . . you’re done with classes for today, right?”

Your lips twitches, your mind jumping to conclusions at his simple question. You again remind yourself to not sound too enthusiastic before answering Jungkook.

“Hm. . . yeah, I am,” you try to say with little emotion, terribly failing and sounding way too excited.

You hear a slight laugh from Jungkook before he suppresses it. “Good. Let’s celebrate the end of the day with some food.”

“Pfft,” you laugh.

“Why are you laughing?” you can nearly hear Jungkook’s pout in his voice.

“Because,” you say. “It’s just another normal day. What’s there to celebrate?”

“Celebrate the fact that we’re alive another day,” he responds as if it were the most normal and obvious answer.

“I guess,” you mutter, mindlessly swinging your legs under the library table.

“Whatever,” he scoffs. “Should we go to Benny’s Place for dinner?”

You nod, then hum in response once you realize he couldn’t see you.

“See you at 6,” Jungkook says with a weirdly soft voice and hangs up.

“See you,” you whisper, despite the fact that he wouldn’t hear you.

Six o'clock. You hope he shows up.

“Why’s the food taking so long today?” you sigh with impatience.

To your surprise, Jungkook was the one who actually arrived earlier than you at Bennys. When you saw him scrolling through his phone while sipping on some water, you couldn’t help but grin and yell a greeting as you bust through the door.

“Right?” Jungkook agrees, briefly looking around the restaurant. “But. . . it doesn’t seem like anyone else got their food either.”

You squint your eyes suspiciously at the other people around you who were also impatiently waiting around. A family of four were getting up from their seats, the mom visibly frustrated, the dad indifferent, the younger boy whining and the older one with a deadly look on her face.

Interesting family dynamic, you note.

Over in the middle, there were two pairs of couples. The one by the corner looked quite sad. The woman was sighing, fiddling with her straw as the man in front of her was blatantly smiling down at his lit-up phone.

The other was much younger. They looked like high school students who were just beginning to date. You watch with a smile as they giggle at each other, obviously in their own little world, too infatuated with each other to have awareness of their surroundings.

Jungkook glances up at you as you observe the people sitting around. He can’t help but grin at how you looked as if you were drawing out each and every person’s life story in your brain.

Seeing a glimpse of Jungkook’s bunny teeth, you whip your head around and make startling eye contact with him.

Jungkook sputters out water, not expecting you to turn around so quickly.

You laugh as you reach for the napkin holder and pluck out the cheap, non-absorbant napkins.

“Are you okay?” you ask between laughs, unable to wipe the silly grin off your face.

Jungkook nods, letting out a breathy laugh. “Sorry. Your face scared me.”

You playfully scoff at his teasing smile. “Why? Too beautiful for you?”

Jungkook rolls his eyes despite the blush coming up his cheeks. “It’s blinding.”

You giggle as he plays along.

“Your ugliness,” he finishes with a short laugh.

“Hey!,” you softly shout in a scolding tone, grabbing your straw to flick some water at him.

You stick out your tongue as Jungkook yelps over dramatically.

At that moment, Jungkook’s phone lights up with a text message. You don’t mean to pry as your eyes automatically flit towards the light nearly finishing reading the caller ID, but it’s gone from your view.

Jungkook grabs his phone, almost frantically, shooting you an awkward smile before his eyes scan the text.

You grow slightly nervous at the exceedingly grim expression Jungkook’s smile was turning into.

“Is something wrong?” you ask, unable to hide the disappointment in your tone.

Jungkook winces at your voice, knowing that you knew and were expecting him to bail out. “Uh. . .”

You look at him expectantly as Jungkook gulps and heaves out a sigh.

You let out a laugh in disbelief. “Kook. Just go.”

Jungkook’s eyes widen in guilt. “What?”

“Go wherever you go whenever you bail during our hangouts.”

Jungkook face contorts with conflict. “Y/N. I’m-”

“I know you’re sorry,” you say sharply. “I don’t need your apologies anymore. I don’t need any excuses. Whatever’s going on with you, I don’t want to hear it because obviously I’m not worth it to know from the beginning.”

“No. Y/N,” Jungkook desperately tries to meet your eyes. “It’s not like that.”

You bury your head into your hands. “Just go, Jungkook. To Nari or to Tae, I don’t know. Just go.”

After a few moments of silence, you timidly look up, watching Jungkook’s eyes critically scan his phone and sigh with a deep frown.

Feeling your stare, he looks up, eyes immediately softening at the sight of you slightly slumped over in disappointment.

“Y/N, I’m so sorry,” Jungkook says with such sincerity that it takes you aback. “I promise I’ll make it up to you. Just. . . Stay here for like ten minutes?”

Yes. It was fine. He must have a good reason to leave. You recall the brief interaction you had with Spiderman about a week ago. Maybe Jungkook had a really good reason like Spiderman did that he couldn’t tell you.

“Okay,” you nod with a shaky exhale. “I’ll wait.”

Jungkook briefly smiles, feeling a rush of relief at your reply.

“Only ten minutes,” you state firmly, crossing your arms across your chest as Jungkook frantically nods, quickly rushing out the booth and stumbling out the door.

You sigh, ready to depressingly stuff your face with fries (if your order ever got to you), then get an idea.

Why not just follow him out?

Was it an invasion of privacy?

For your own sake, you shake that thought out of your head and decide quite recklessly that you were going to see what the hell Jeon Jungkook was up to for the past few months.

In fear of losing him, you whip out some bills to cover for the labor charge of the waiter getting water for the two of you, swinging your bag over your shoulder. You run out the doors of Benny’s and look around down the sidewalk. You quickly spot Jungkook as he turned a corner down the left sidewalk.

Good thing he hadn’t gone very far, you think with relief as you break into a run after his shadow.

You pant as you start to turn the corner and face a dead end.

Geez. You were completely out of shape.

You look around the short and narrow alleyway that’s blocked by a whole wall of bricks.

“Jungkook?” you call out, confused. There was no way he just disappeared. There was nowhere to go.

Swish.

You whip around at the noise to face the city’s superhero, once again.

Spiderman.

“AH!” you yelp, jolting back at the sudden sight of the contracting eyes on Spiderman’s suit.

“L-Lady,” Spiderman stammers, shocked. “What are you doing here?”

You stutter, trying to compose your figure by briefly combing through your hair and straightening your wrinkled shirt. “I thought. . . I thought I saw my friend running in here.”

You trail off, taking the short time to observe the man in front of you. He seemed to be similar to Jungkook’s height. No, he was Jungkook’s height. He had the same broad, built form, and the way he was standing was quite too similar to the kid you called your best friend.

A loud siren sounds from the distance, making Spiderman’s head whip around in alarm.

“Hey uh,” he states, starting to run out of the alley. “I’ll see you later, but for now, go back into Bennys. It’s not safe on the streets at this time.”

Your foot moves forward on instinct, hand reaching out as if you were about to stop him but as usual, Spiderman swings up into the air, webs shooting out of his suit and taking him off to save another damsel in distress.

Huh. Weird. His voice sounds so similar to Jungkook’s.

There was no way, you gulp, toying with the idea of Jungkook being Spiderman.

How? Why?

If he was Spiderman, that would explain the several times Jungkook had to abruptly leave during a hangout and why he was so tired all the time.

You groan, the complicated thoughts hurting your head and instead make a mental note to have a serious talk about this with either Jungkook or Spiderman.

Whomever you ran into first.

“Hello?” you say in a groggy voice, hand reaching up to your face to rub away the bleariness of your vision.

“Y/N?” a clear, way too bright voice answers.

You remove your phone from your ear and tap it to see the caller ID.

“Jungkook?” you squint. “It’s four am. What’s the matter?”

“I uh. . . Bennys was closed,” he rambles. “When. . . When I went back.”

You sigh, way too tired for this talk. “Don’t worry. I barely waited ten minutes. I forgot I had an essay due anyways.”

You guess it was a half-truth. You did barely wait ten minutes. I mean, you ran after him then ran into Spiderman and decided to just go home on the suspicion that Jungkook was Spiderman which meant that he would most likely not make it in time.

“Oh,” Jungkook responds, slightly relieved. “Well uh. . .It’s pretty late, huh.”

“What’s your point, Jungkook?” you bluntly ask, feeling your eyelids droop. “Why’d you call at 4 in the freaking morning?”

Jungkook hesitates before sighing into the speaker as if he were having an internal crisis. “I have to tell you something.”

Your eyes shoot open from their half-closed state at his words that sound weirdly determined. Was he going to tell you. . . Spiderman?

You push that assumption that was probably not at all true and instead nod. Whatever it was, it must be pretty important for him to call so late/early. Whichever way you saw it.

“Okay,” you say, trying to calm your rapidly beating heart that was going to fail if you didn’t stop thinking that Jungkook was the nation’s viral hero, Spiderman.

Jungkook takes in a breath, leaving you slightly confused before he breathes back out.

“I’m uh. . . actually in front of your apartment building.”

You slight gasp and willingly step out of the comfort of your mattress and fluffy blankets to walk over towards the window that had a street view to the entrance of your complex.

You spot Jungkook right away, taking in the image of him in a tattered white shirt that had an odd black blob on the side and the pair of sweats he always wore.

“I see you,” you state, despite the odd visual appearance. “Should I go down?”

You see Jungkook shake his head as he starts to limp over to the entrance. “No. Is it okay if I go up?”

He’s limping. You gulp, afraid of the pain Jungkook was in and if he really was the superhero.

“Hello?” Jungkook asks, pausing in his steps and taking your silence as an indication that he had overstepped boundaries. “Shoot. Sorry. I should’ve asked before just showing up.”

“No no,” you say, forgetting that he had asked you a question because of his limping form. “Sorry. Still kinda tired. You can come up right now.”

“Okay,” Jungkook states then hangs up the call. You gulp, watching as Jungkook seems to flinch as he gently presses his hand against the blob on his shirt.

Was that blood? Was he hurt?

Alarm bells ring in your head as your legs take off out of your room and out your apartment door and into the hallway.

You anxiously wait at the elevator, hearing it whirr to life, indicating that Jungkook was making his way up to your floor.

The elevator bell dings and the doors slide open to reveal Jungkook leaning against the wall, obviously in pain as he clutches his side and tiredly looks up.

“Y/N?” Jungkook slightly gasps in surprise, not expecting you to be outside waiting for him.

You sigh, a deep frown etched onto your face as you slowly step towards him.

“Why are you. . . bleeding?” you ask, heart literally breaking as you see the physical wounds on his body.

Was he really Spiderman?

“Oh, this,” Jungkook nervously laughs, earning a firm gaze to the side of his face.

You sigh, eyes flickering away from the gash on his cheek and bloodied corner of his lip. You hurriedly move beside him to grasp his arm, mind finally catching up to the current situation of him bleeding out in the public elevator. “Hold on to me. Let’s go in.”

The words in Jungkook’s mouth seem to disappear as you gently take hold of his arm, your warmth spreading to the side of Jungkook’s cold, pained body that makes him unconsciously lean into your touch.

After a moment of struggling to get your front door open, you help Jungkook over to your room, setting him down onto the bed.

“Wait here,” you state and run out of the room to grab a glass of water. You place it haphazardly on your nightstand for Jungkook to drink then head right back out to grab a wet washcloth and the first aid kit.

Once you get inside, you see Jungkook shifting to get more comfortable and a nearly empty glass propped up on the nightstand.

“Lean against the headboard,” you say, crouching down on your knees so you were eye level with his wounds.

You nervously chew on the dead skin of your lips and tentatively reach over to the end of Jungkook’s shirt.

You glance up. “Can I?”

Jungkook nods, breath slightly hitching as you lift up his shirt to reveal a gash running across his side.

“Oh my goodness,” you breath out, dropping the shirt and looking away.

You weren’t very good with blood.

“I hope you’re aware that I have no idea how to take care of wounds,” you inform him, fiddling with the dusty first aid kit that you’ve never opened before.

You see Jungkook nod from the corner of your eye.

“I can do it,” he states in a tiny voice, making you whip around in surprise.

“What?” you yelp.

Jungkook shrugs in response, starting to reach over for the kit before leaning back in pain.

You let out a small noise and quickly move the first aid kit next to him so he can look through it to find whatever he needed.

You reach over again, lifting up Jungkook’s shirt higher and gently press the wet washcloth around the gash to wipe away some blood while he continues to dig in the box.

“Ow ow ow,” Jungkook whines, leaning away from your touch. “Be gentle! You’re putting too much pressure on it!”

You roll your eyes. “Shut up you big baby. This wouldn’t be hurting if you hadn’t gotten this cut in the first place.”

A few beats of silence go by as you finish up cleaning it up a bit and grab a swab and pour some alcohol.

“After this, you can do whatever it is to treat the wound,” you mutter, as you timidly tap against the cut with the swab. “My knowledge is limited to disinfecting with alcohol swab.”

Jungkook’s abs that you’ve never seen before and definitely refuse to oogle at right now, clench at the sting of the disinfectant as he weakly breathes out an okay.

“Are you not going to ask?” he asks, eyes gazing at you curiously as you focus in on the cut.

“Will you able to answer all of my questions?” you sigh, hopelessly.

Jungkook eagerly nods as you glance up at him.

You let out a breathy laugh at his enthusiasm and shake your head.

“Well, first things first,” you state, ignoring the way Jungkook nervously chews his lower lip. “How’d you get hurt?”

Jungkook hesitates as if he were having an internal conflict then sighs. “Do you want the truth?”

You look up at him confused, retracting the cloth and gesture for him to start stitching himself up. “I mean. . . Yes? Why would I be asking if I’m expecting to hear a lie?”

Jungkook busies himself with the spool of thread and needle, looking away from your pointed gaze.

The curiosity eats you up and you decide that you can’t hold it in any longer. “Are you Spiderman?”

Jungkook whips his head over to you, eyes blown wide, not having expected any word of Spiderman to ever be leaving your mouth.

“Uh,” Jungkook’s eyes dart away as he seems to realize that there was no way you were going to believe him if he tried to deny it after limping in bloodied up in your apartment at four in the morning.

“Yeah. . . No point in denying it now,” Jungkook half-heartedly laughs with a sigh.

“That’s for sure,” you sigh, quietly watching as Jungkook grabs the stitching tools to patch himself up. You shudder as he goes through the movements as if they were second nature. How often did he bleed out like this?

“How’d you know?” he asks, trying to distract you from watching him suture the gash. He clamps down his teeth to make sure no sound of any pain leaks out through his lips. If he was alone in his dorm room, he wouldn’t hesitate to hiss, but now that you were right next to him, Jungkook fears to make a sound in case that would be the one trigger point that makes you crack.

You shrug, immersed back in your thoughts by Jungkook’s successful attempt. “How can I not? I mean, I didn’t have a clue in the beginning. But yesterday, you disappeared like every other time and it perfectly lined up with Spiderman’s appearance in the back alley. Then I realized all those times you ditched were followed by another Spiderman spotting at a crime scene. Also, it’s not like your onesie has some kind of voice changer or anything. You should probably consider adding that. What if someone finds out?”

“You found out,” Jungkook states, making you roll your eyes.

“I meant someone like. . . Taehyung,” you say for example. “He would blab it all out to the press.”

Jungkook nods considerably. “I. . . never really thought of that.”

“Wait a minute,” you mutter, recounting the times you’ve interacted with Spiderman. Or - just Jungkook in a red and blue spider suit.

“Hm?” Jungkook hums, patiently waiting for the rusty gears in your brain to turn as he finishes up his stitching.

“You met me as Spiderman a total of three times!? And you still didn’t tell me!?” you ask bewildered.

He lightly chuckles, shaking his head. “I couldn’t.”

You scrunch your nose at his simple response. “What do you mean?”

Jungkook finally snaps the end of the thread, carefully grabbing the damp towel to dab at the now completely stitched wound. “If any of the criminals I fight with find out that someone like you knows my identity, you’ll be in danger.”

“What do you mean ‘someone like me’?”

Jungkook’s hands pause, eyes slightly frantic when they glance over to meet your confused pupils.

“Someone. . . that’s important to me,” he states, trying to contain his emotions from peeking out between his words.

You still, heart slightly beating a bit rapidly.

Oh frick. I’m important to him? ALERT ALERT ALERT. I’M IMPORTANT TO HI-

“What else do you want to know?” Jungkook asks quickly in fear that you would read too much into his words and find out his actual meaning.

You look up in surprise from his sudden interruption of your thoughts and sigh, standing up to sit on the edge of the bed beside him. “Well. . . how’d you even become Spiderman?”

Jungkook sighs, slightly frowning. “Yetrim called me.”

“Professor Yetrim’s internship that you did?”

Jungkook nods. “That was when he explained all these superheroes he was creating in other planets and he wanted to start off with me on Earth.”

“And you agreed?” you ask with shock. The idea sounded quite absurd and never would you have expected Jungkook to willingly agree with the proposal.

Jungkook looks at you with a lopsided smile. “He offered money and a place to stay. You know my family.”

You grow quiet at that. Of course Jungkook would do it. He would do anything for his struggling parents and brother who lived back down in his hometown.

“He gave you the suit and all?” you ask, trying to move away from the sensitive topic of his family.

“Yeah,” Jungkook answers. “And some web-shooters.”

“Web shooters?” you repeat with skepticism.

Jungkook slightly smiles at your confused expression and decides to show you. He lifts up his right arm and presses down making a white, slightly moist substance to shoot out from the gadget strapped onto his wrist.

You gasp, head whipping around to the web that was now stuck onto the opposite side of the room.

“A-And you just fly around the whole city using those!?” you ask, pitch rising as you realize how dangerous it was.

Jungkook slightly winces at your tone. “Yes?”

Your posture slumps over as you sigh in defeat. “Jungkook. I’m. . .”

He looks down, focusing his gaze on the wet towel that now lays limp on the nightstand.

You sigh. “Did you know that you were going to be doing this?”

Jungkook’s brows form a crease in thought. “Yes and no. Yes, I knew it was going to involve some type of interaction with the law since it was the superhero type of thing. But no, I didn’t know it would become my everyday life.”

You hesitate, taking in the way your best friend and crush was weakly leaning against your headboard with eyes turned away from you, stitched up and still bloodied up in the face.

“But I can’t stop, Y/N,” Jungkook states firmly. “It’s hard. Both physically and mentally. But there’s so many people who need help and if I have that ability I can’t just leave them and hope that the police will get to them in time.”

You let silence fall in between the two of you and finally decide how to respond.

“Well, I’m here to help you,” you finally say after an inner debate of what you needed Jungkook to hear. Jungkook looks up in slight surprise, not having expected you to offer him support.

Geez, were you that downgrading?

You reach back over to the kit and grab the Neosporin and a Q-Tip. You quickly squeeze some of the medicine out onto the swab and shift closer to Jungkook.

Jungkook holds his breath, head slightly tilting back closer to the wall as you gently grab his chin and lean forward to dab the small cuts on his forehead, cheeks, and lips.

He takes in your tired but focused form: eyes on the verge of being unfocused and droopy, lips slightly pouted in fatigue, the slight grayness of your eye bags, and frizzled hair.

“I would say to not be that whole spiderman thing and take care of yourself, but,” you pause, looking up into Jungkook’s doe eyes that stare back at you with fondness and hope. “People do need you.”

Jungkook slightly grins as you look away slightly flustered and remove your hands from his face.

“Just. . .” you sigh, hands fiddling with the frayed edge of your bed sheet. “Make sure you’re getting enough sleep.”

“Okay,” Jungkook responds with more energy.

“And keep up with your studies.”

“Of course.”

“You can ask me for notes, or others in your class,” you add. “There’s so many people willing to help.”

Jungkook hums, eyes observing the way your brows are furrowed as your thoughts get deeper.

“Get home as quickly as you can after one of your. . . missions or whatever you call it,” you continue, turning to give Jungkook a look. “You’re still human. Be care-”

Jungkook cuts you off with his shoulder blade, muffling the last of your words as his strong arms firmly wrap around your waist in a hug. You hear him sigh, making a shiver run down your spine as he slightly adjusts himself so his chin rests comfortably on your shoulder.

You force the stiffness of your limbs to relax and let your body go nearly limp in his arms, your arms going around Jungkook’s body as well.

This was new.

“Thanks,” Jungkook says, barely over a whisper.

“For. . . For what?” you stammer, hoping that he couldn’t feel your rapidly increasing heartbeat.

Jungkook breathily laughs. “For everything. Thanks for letting me in your apartment and letting me get patched up. Thanks for not being furious with me. Thanks for caring.”

The edge of your lips quirk up into a smile as you pull back from the hug. You find it odd how Jungkook’s arms hesitate, pulling away with reluctance as if he didn’t want to let you go.

You push that idea out of your mind, convincing yourself that you were once again, overanalyzing every single movement.

You poke Jungkook’s cheek, making him pull the face he always pulled whenever you treated him like a kid. “Of course, Kook. What are friends for?”

Jungkook’s expression slightly falls, but before you can ask what’s wrong he hums, reaching up to ruffle your hair messily.

It suddenly triggers a memory of him in the red and blue suit, tucking a loose piece of hair behind your ear with a flirty laugh.

“You know you’re awfully confident when you’re Spiderman?” you blurt, eyes narrowing as Jungkook smile confusedly.

“Really? How so?”

You shrug. “You’re just flirty I guess.”

Jungkook pauses, a slight smirk gracing his lips that were slowly getting closer to you.

Wait what?

The sheets rustle as Jungkook completely leans forward towards you, making you instinctively lean backward, hands propping up behind yourself to support your leaning body.

“I mean it’s not like I can flirt with you without a mask,” he murmurs bluntly, shocking you by his sudden confession.

“What?”

Jungkook’s eyes slightly widen as if he just processed what he said. He decides to ignore it and instead rushes up onto his feet, only to groan and slightly hunch over in pain.

“Jungkook!” you gasp, scrambling off the bed to tentatively hold onto his arm to help him towards the door, the previous interaction pushed to the back of your mind.

He shakes his head, gently waving you off, trying to get you as far as possible so you don’t see his hot, red cheeks. “I’m okay. Just a sting. I’m gonna crash on the couch if that’s okay.”

“No!” you say in a scolding tone, forcibly dragging him back to your bed. “You’re literally in pain! Sleep here tonight. I’ll sleep on the sofa.”

Jungkook opens his mouth to protest but you rush out the room before he can breathe out a word.

You sigh as you head towards the cabinets near the bathroom where you kept the extra sheets and pillow. You throw them out onto the couch and plop down into the cushiness of the fluffy blankets, snuggling into the surprisingly comfy couch.

Shifting, you stare at the warm glow your nightstand that was still on in your bedroom, your mind recalling Jungkook’s words he blurted out just a minute ago.

You shake it off, turning away from the light and shutting your eyes closed, ignoring the hopeful fluttering sensation in your chest.

All you thought about as you drifted off to sleep was how Jungkook was Spiderman.

Your best friend and the man you think you may love was the city’s hero.

#networkbangtan #bangtanhq #bts #bts fanfic #bts x reader #mine #jungkook x reader #jungkook fanfic #superhero!au #this was so fun to write #spidey!jk gets me #actually planned this fic back when endgame came out #kinda late but yeesh #thank you for the support for this two-chaptered fic!

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thymeandlemons-blog · 5 years

Text

save the last dance for me (1/4)

TJ/Cyrus [fluff, light angst, miscommunication, school dances and cheesy songs]

Summary: With the school dance looming, TJ tries to keep his crush on Cyrus under wraps to avoid ruining their friendship. Jonah accidentally overhearing one of TJ's many lovesick rants makes that much easier said than done.

Read on AO3

TJ’s not worried.

Well, maybe he is slightly concerned.

The thing is, him and Cyrus have a routine. They meet up in front of the water fountain by the West hallway at exactly 12:03, stop by Cyrus’ locker to drop off his books, and head to the cafeteria to line up for lunch by 12:05.

And now, it’s 12:06, and Cyrus hasn’t shown up. Cyrus always shows up.

He’s nothing if not punctual, and if he’s going to be late for any reason, he texts TJ to give him a heads up. He sends him multiple texts actually, always far too apologetic, no matter how many times TJ assures him he doesn’t mind waiting.

Today, there have been no texts, and TJ has spent the past 3 minutes running through disaster scenarios in his head. What if something happened and Cyrus had to leave school? What if he was snacking during his designated 11 AM snacking window, and he ate something he didn’t know he was allergic to, and had to be rushed to the hospital? What if his biology class took a field trip and they went to the field behind the equipment shack that always has a ton of crickets, and while Cyrus loves most animals, he hates crickets, and he saw them and panicked and-

“Hey, TJ!”

TJ’s pretty sure he gives himself a mild concussion with the speed at which he whips around, but there he is.

He quickly runs his eyes over Cyrus; face - scar free and cute as always, arms - don’t seem to be scratched or bruised, legs - no cast in sight, eyes - brown and chocolatey and bright and warm, oh so warm, and-

“TJ?” Cyrus asks with a chuckle. TJ really needs to get better at this look-at-your-crush-without-getting-distracted-by-their-face-and-staring-blankly-at-them-for-several-seconds thing.

“Hey, sorry, I just... I just drifted off for a second” he admits, hoping his cheeks aren’t as red as they feel. “You worried me, is everything okay?”

Cyrus’ eyes light up as he starts walking towards his locker, TJ quickly following after him.

“I have the wildest story to tell you” he says, pausing for dramatic effect in his trademarked Cyrus Goodman way. “You know Ben Miller, right?”

All it takes is a nod for Cyrus to continue, handing over his books for TJ to hold while he opens his locker. As TJ is trying to balance Cyrus’ books, he sneaks a peak at the Tupperware container Mrs. Goodman always packs for the two of them. He’s pretty certain he sees lemon scones, TJ’s absolute favorite.

“Well, as it turns out, Ben hasn’t read any of the assigned books this year, and he has been paying Jenny Lemiski from 9th grade to write all of his papers. Can you hold this?” TJ hands him the books and takes the prized scones instead, watching Cyrus meticulously put his books back in their alphabetical order. “And this time, he was in a rush to catch the bus, so when he printed the essay, he also printed Jenny’s email about how she wants to up her price per page. He handed it to Mrs. Hussein just like that, e-mail included! Scandal.”

Closing his locker, Cyrus turns to TJ expecting a grand reaction. And to be fair, TJ’s not really surprised about Ben, and he has done far worse things in the past so he has no room to judge, but Cyrus looks so excited telling the story that TJ fashions his expression into a look of appropriate shock as they make their way to the cafeteria.

“No way! What did Mrs. Hussein do?”

“She suspended him! He can’t even attend the dance!”

The dance. TJ’s usually not one for dances, but TJ’s also usually not dealing with an enormous crush on the cutest boy in the world who is very much obsessed with school dances. He has been wanting to ask Cyrus about his plans ever since the theme was announced, he just couldn’t find a way to bring it up that didn’t make it pathetically obvious that TJ wants to go with Cyrus.

And he does. He really, really, really wants to go to the dance with Cyrus, but there are about a million reasons why that’s not a good idea. A million reasons why he can’t just ask Cyrus… As much as he wants to take the next step, he has been there before, and it didn’t end well. So instead of acting on it, his method of coping with his crush is talking to his sister for hours upon hours about how fluffy Cyrus’ hair looked on that one particular Tuesday they went to the mall.

Still, this might be his chance. Even if he can’t ask Cyrus on a date, he can ask him on a friend-date. A group hang? Being dance friends?

“So…” he starts, his voice coming out far too squeaky to be inconspicuous. “So,” he tries again, much steadier this time, “speaking of the dance… What are your plans? Are you going with Andi and Buffy?"

“Yes and no” says Cyrus, “Buffy asked Walker to be her date, but Andi and I are going to go together. Jonah might tag along if he can’t find a date, which, let’s be honest, he probably will. Do you… Do you have a date?”

“Don’t you think I would have told you if I had a date?” he asks with a smile. Cyrus should know by now that he’s the first person TJ goes to whenever something exciting happens in his life. Well, with the exception of crush-on-Cyrus-Goodman related developments, for obvious reasons.

He isn’t sure whether he’s imagining the blush on Cyrus’ cheeks, but his smile and the teasing spark in his eyes are definitely there.

“So no date?”

“No date.”

“Cool. That’s cool… Would you… Would you maybe want to go with me and Andi?”

TJ’s heart may or may not be beating out of his chest, but he needs to play this cool. “Wouldn’t Andi mind? I don’t want to bother her.”

“She wouldn’t mind” assures Cyrus with a smile, “it’ll be really fun. Please?”

“I guess I could turn down my many other admirers for you” he teases, laughing when he sees Cyrus scoff. “I’d love to… Thank you, for asking me.”

“It’s a date, then” says Cyrus, and TJ would probably find the way Cyrus’ eyes widen comical if only he could manage to breathe. “I mean, it’s... I- Not that… I just-“

“Is it going to be tots and fish sticks or tots and chicken fingers?”

It’s Betty, one of TJ’s three favorite lunch ladies, here to save the day. He looks away, pretending to weigh his lunch options as Cyrus orders, when in reality he’s just trying to calm his heartbeat.

It’s a date.

Clearly, Cyrus didn’t mean it the way it sounded, if the way he backtracked was any indication, but TJ probably would have reacted the same way if he had let something like that slip. What if Cyrus does feel the same way?

“TJ, for you?”

“Oh, just tots please” he orders, watching as Betty piles on extra tots on the plate, and sneaks a few chicken fingers in there. She has seen the remnants of Cyrus’ Tater Theater on their lunch trays, so she always gives TJ extra food for Cyrus to pick at.

He thanks Betty and turns around to follow Cyrus, smiling as he watches him stick his tongue out in concentration while looking for a table. How is TJ expected to survive lunch let alone the dance?

Cyrus finds an empty table and waves him over, TJ smiling as he makes his way there.

Date or not, TJ already knows the dance is going to be one of the best nights of his life.

#tyrus #tyrus fic #cyrus goodman #tj kippen #andi mack #my fics

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heryellowcup · 6 years

Note

Prompt: Chloe's a health-conscious med student and Beca's a chain-smoking art student who’s also a barista and Chloe leave her notes on smoking and lung health on her napkins and also a 20-page essay on lung cancer

okay i’m saying this a lot lately but this was so much fun to write, even though i didn’t have a lot of time so i hope it turned out okay!!

“She did it again, huh?” Stacie smirked as she took a look at the napkin that was sprawled out on the counter, causing Beca to jump in surprise and then roll her eyes at both her best friend and the note in front of her.

“A single cigarette contains over 4800 chemicals, 69 of which are known to cause cancer. Do you really want to die?” Beca read out loud, chuckling and shaking her head in amusement. The redhead’s notes had started off as informative facts about smoking, but had now turned into ones that began to be a lot more passive aggressive, probably thanks to Beca still smoking, though she, admittedly, sometimes tried to hide her cigarette when she crossed paths with Chloe on campus. Chloe. She only knew her name because of these notes, the other girl always making sure to finish them with her own name, one that Beca had started to grow fond of these past few weeks, in the strangest way. They never really talked except for the usual chit chat she unfortunately had to indulge in considering she worked behind the counter at a coffee shop and it was an understatement to say that Beca was tempted to shoot back some facts about the unhealthy side effects of coffee, though the redhead usually drank tea or a hot chocolate. Something that Beca found oddly adorable.

And while they barely ever talked, Chloe often smiled at her across the room while she studied with her blonde friend, sometimes glanced at her in such a friendly way that contradicted the angry messages Beca received from her every day.

The brunette had no doubt in mind that the other girl was a med student, if said messages and the amount of time she spent studying was anything to go by. And while Beca found the redhead’s antics more than just a little annoying, she couldn’t help but smile whenever there was a new note scribbled on a napkin directed to her, whenever Chloe glared at her through the window when she took a tiny break to smoke. It was fun, riling her up.

Beca wasn’t even surprised that Stacie had looked through her right away, smirk still not having left her lips. “She cares about you.”

“She’s annoying and she doesn’t know me,” Beca corrected, rolling her eyes once again. Neither of them commented on the fact that the tiny barista didn’t throw the napkin away, but instead tried to discretely slip it into her bag. “And I’m not going to stop smoking just because she’s-”

“Because she’s what? Cute?” Stacie teased, earning herself another angry glare and a playful nudge to her shoulder.

“Shut up.”

There was another napkin every single day, another fact that was supposed to make Beca feel bad, but instead just made her feel fuzzy and warm as she watched the redhead choose her words, thoughtful expression on her face, as she watched her scribble it down, tongue cutely poking out between her lips, as she watched her either leave it on her table and stride out of the shop or watched her slam it on the counter in an effort to look angry, her cheeks rosy, smile tugging on the corners of her lips.

She kept each and every one of them, thought they were endearing, thought they in itself revealed so much about the beautiful stranger that was making her life a lot more complicated, day by day.

It was a week later that, instead of a napkin, Beca found a 20-page essay on lung cancer on Chloe’s table, clearly addressed towards her.

“For the art student that spends her time smoking instead of drawing and is gonna die soon if she keeps this up.”

Beca couldn’t help but laugh out loud as she studied the whole thing, especially said sentence written on the first page, as well as the little notes and angry emoji faces that were spread over the pages, in the handwriting that the barista would recognize everywhere. The redhead had even highlighted some important parts and the color coordination impressed Beca and made her fall even harder at the same time.

“Well, someone’s done their research.” Of course Stacie hadn’t been able to stop a teasing comment escape her lips as she snatched the essay from Beca and looked through the pages. “She knows you’re an art student and god, she’s got it bad for you.”

“You’re not helping,” Beca mumbled as she took the essay again and slipped it into her bag. This was Chloe judging her, chastising her and trying to educate her, and usually Beca would’ve scoffed, would have thrown it into the trash. But no matter what it was, it was hers and Chloe’s and she didn’t even want Stacie to read it, wanted it all to herself.

“You’re a goner, Mitchell. I’m giving you a week, a week before you’re actually gonna try to quit.”

Beca actually did scoff, then.

It was a relatively slow day when Beca first sketched her, the coffee shop almost empty except for a few stressed students, one of them being Chloe, hair thrown into a messy bun, the rather dim light making the shadows play with her beautiful features as she sat in the corner of the shop, effortlessly beautiful.

While the brunette usually tried to forget about the things that Chloe made her read, the things that secretly made her feel pretty bad about herself and her health, she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about one certain observation the redhead had made.

“You’re an art student that doesn’t draw.”

And so she did. Using her free time between customers to capture the gorgeous girl in the back. The statement had spurred her on, had made her competitive side scream, just like the view in front of her was now making her feel all kinds of things.

She started out with a rough sketch to get back into the scheme of things, but Stacie immediately recognized the med-student when she discretely glanced at Beca’s notebook as she walked by. She didn’t say anything, just grinned to herself.

In just an hour Beca had gathered several drawings of the girl, some rough, some raw, some detailed and all of them perfectly capturing the bubbly and caring persona the other girl carried.

And Beca left one of them on the redhead’s table when she brought her another hot chocolate, all nervous and rosy cheeks and quickly running away so she wouldn’t actually have to talk to her, so she couldn’t make a fool out of herself.

Chloe’s bright smile as she studied the drawing almost made Beca want to quit smoking.

Beca hated working the early shift, hated getting up before the sun rose and just shortly after she had fallen asleep, busy working on her music and art and endless projects that tended to always keep her awake at night. She was still half asleep, even after having had her first coffee, as she stood in front of the shop, smoking a cigarette, jacket tightly wrapped around herself, the cold wind hitting her face. It was going to be stormy day, Beca thought as she inhaled the fresh morning air, smelling of rain already, before she did the same with the toxic smoke.

She almost chuckled to herself when she started reading the first page of the essay she was currently holding, the one she had promised herself not to read. And she actually jumped, actually squealed in surprise when a familiar redhead suddenly stood right in front of her.

“Jeez, give a girl a warning!” Beca chuckled, shaking her head as she exhaled some smoke, looking at the dark sky in an effort to avoid Chloe’s gaze.

“You’re…” the other girl started, frown on her lips that then turned into a bright smile as she spotted the essay in Beca’s hand, immediately recognizing what it was. “You’re reading it.”

“Looks like I am,” Beca shrugged, trying to be nonchalant even though the little smile clearly gave her away, one that had erupted upon seeing cute dimples that she was longing to trace with her fingertips.

“And you’re still smoking.” Chloe’s sigh almost made Beca feel bad and there was a little pause before the redhead kept talking, voice barely above a whisper, laced with admiration. “That drawing you did of me…wow…”

As soon as Beca felt the blush creep up her neck, she decided not to dwell on the subject. “I just started reading it.”

Chloe’s eyes widened at the statement, her smile broadening. “Does that mean there’s still a chance you might quit?”

Beca chuckled and shook her head in amusement as she put out the cigarette she had barely started smoking, throwing it into the trash and opening the door for Chloe. “Come on, let’s go get you a coffee.”

470 notes · View notes

levicastho · 6 years

Text

A Kiss For Good Luck

Prompt: High School Au

Partners: @envydean and @lemonsorbae

Word Count: 3789

Rating: T

Read on AO3

A loud thump startles Castiel out of the doze he was slipping in and out of. He jerks up with a start, looking around for the source of the noise blearily and finding it easily enough. Dean is standing right beside him, his physics textbook tossed onto the desk.

Castiel shoots him a half-hearted glare and leans back in his seat, blearily rubbing his eyes. “What do you want, Dean?”

“Well hello to you too, Sunshine,” Dean greets. “When was the last time you slept, man? You left drool on your textbook.”

A glance down reveals this to be true. Castiel winces and attempts to scrub it off with his sleeve. He only succeeds in wrinkling the paper. He gives up with a sigh, flipping the book closed before eyeing Dean wearily. “What do you want?” he repeats. He is far too tired for Dean’s antics at this moment.

Dean snorts at him and pulls out a chair to plop into, dropping his backpack carelessly to the ground at his feet. “I’ve got a physics test, remember? You wanted me to go over some review stuff with you before I took it, so here I am.”

Castiel blinks. He had completely forgotten about that. The only reason he had happened to be in the library at all is because he had wanted a quiet place to study for his precalculus exam.

Oh well. Dean’s here anyways, and Castiel can always study during his free hour. It’s not like he was getting much work done before Dean interrupted him anyways.

“Right, of course,” Castiel says, glancing at the clock behind the librarian’s desk. “You’re late. You were supposed to meet me here seventeen minutes ago.”

Dean’s mouth drops open. “Dude, are you kidding me? You were asleep, and you’re going to rail me for being a little late?”

Fair point. Castiel grumbles at him and slides a hand down his face. “Yeah, whatever. Let’s just get this over with.”

They work right up until the bell, going over everything from basic definitions to Ampère's circuital law. If he’s being honest, Castiel can admit that Dean probably doesn’t even need tutoring in this subject anymore. His main struggles are math-related, and he’s already mastered all the formulas he would need for this course. Despite the image Dean projects, he really is quite smart. Brilliant, even. The boy could rival Castiel’s spot for valedictorian if he just applied himself for once.

Still, Castiel knows how stressed-out Dean was for this test, even if Dean did his best to hide it behind his devil may care façade. Physics and Auto Shop are the only subjects Dean really cares about. It’s the other ones, like English and Algebra 3, that Castiel has to push Dean to work hard in.

“Seriously, man,” Dean starts as they pack up, “what’s got you so worn out? It’s not like you’re the type to stay up partying all night.”

Castiel shoots him a dry look. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I was up late studying for an exam.”

“Studying? Why? You’re a nerd, you don’t need to study.” Dean looks genuinely puzzled, and Castiel has to hide a fond smile at the expression.

“Dean, by that logic I could make the argument that since you’re a ‘jock,’ you don’t actually need football practice.”

Dean tips his head to the side. “Fair enough,” he concedes. “And how many times do I have to tell you not to do the air quotes thing? It’s lame as hell.” He pauses in zipping up his backpack, licking his lips nervously. Castiel does his best not to track the movement. “Okay, be honest. How do you think I’m gonna do on the test?”

Castiel’s demeanor softens, Dean’s insecurity eating away at him. “You’re going to do great. You are much smarter than you give yourself credit for.”

A brilliant flush spreads over Dean’s cheeks at the praise. He nods once and clears his throat awkwardly. “Right. Uh, thanks.” Castiel can pinpoint the moment the mask slides back up, Dean’s soft expression morphing into a cocky one. “So, you gonna give me a good luck kiss or what?”

It’s clearly one of Dean’s attempts to act like a dick, but once the thought enters Castiel’s mind, he can’t shake it. Castiel has, much to his dismay, developed somewhat of a crush on the other boy. To feel Dean’s lips pressed against his own, even just for a split second, would be… Besides, for all that Dean puts Castiel through, he deserves at least a little payback.

Castiel quickly leans forward to place a gentle peck on Dean’s lips. It barely lasts a second, but the slack jawed look Dean gives him when he pulls back is priceless. Castiel grins and gives him an exaggerated wink before hauling his bag onto his shoulders and taking off, Dean left sanding motionless behind him.

Definitely worth it.

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

“What’s up with your boyfriend?” Balthazar prods at lunch that same day, poking Castiel in the ribs.

Castiel grunts and rolls his eyes, taking another bite of his sandwich. The bread is stale and the lettuce is far from crisp, but it’s about as good as you can expect from cafeteria food, and Castiel would like to savor it in peace. “For the last time, he’s not my boyfriend. I’m just tutoring him,” he chides. “Besides, what are you even talking about?”

“He keeps looking your way every five seconds,” Balth explains. Castiel blinks and looks up at him in shock. Balthazar just wiggles his eyebrows and grins. “It’s like he can’t keep his eyes off you. How romantic.”

Castiel can feel a blush heating his face and Balthazar laughs at him. “Whatever,” he grumbles. There’s no way Dean is actually looking at him. Dean never pays him any attention outside of their spot in the library. Balthazar is probably just teasing him. As always.

Castiel should really find a better friend.

“I’m serious!” Balthazar protests. “Look for yourself if you don’t believe me.”

He unleashes a dramatic sigh when Castiel keeps his gaze firmly on his lunch tray. “Fine, be that way,” Balth huffs, but he does mercifully change the subject.

Castiel doesn’t risk it until several minutes later, once Balthazar has left to attempt to woo the lunch ladies into giving him seconds. Carefully, he glances up towards the tables where the football players sit, trying to be subtle about it.

Dean is looking straight at him. The moment he notices Castiel has caught him he blushes enough that Castiel can see it from across the room and quickly turns back around to focus his gaze on the table. From what Castiel can tell, Dean doesn’t risk looking his way again.

How utterly strange.

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

Castiel doesn’t really see Dean again, other than fleeting glimpses in the hallways, until two days later. It’s a Thursday, which means he and Dean have their biweekly afterschool tutoring session. The school library is usually just about deserted at this time of day, all of the other students having escaped back to their houses. The quiet atmosphere and access to computers makes it the ideal spot for his and Dean’s sessions.

Castiel, as always, arrives first. Dean, as always, arrives five minutes late. Dean is grinning as he approaches the table, and Castiel raises an eyebrow at him.

“Guess what?” Dean says once he’s directly in front of Castiel.

Castiel waits until he realizes Dean is expecting him to reply. “What?”

“I got a hundred percent on the test!”

Dean’s enthusiasm is rivaled by Castiel’s, who gives Dean a wide, gummy grin. “Dean, that’s amazing! I told you that you’d do fine.”

Dean smiles and rubs the back of his neck, glancing down at his feet before looking back up at Castiel. “Yeah,” he says gruffly. “I uh, I guess that good luck kiss worked.”

The pink flush on Dean’s cheeks makes Castiel smile. “Hmm,” he says teasingly, seizing the chance to torture Dean a bit more, “Maybe we’ll have to do that every time.”

Dean’s eyes widen, mouth opening and closing, and Castiel laughs at him before shaking his head. “Sit down, Dean. We’re doing English today.”

Dean’s answering pout only makes Castiel smile wider.

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

“You know,” Dean says a week later as they finish up another session, his voice a strange mix between teasing and nervous, “I’m turning in that English essay tomorrow.”

Castiel hums in acknowledgement, focusing on organizing his papers. “I hope you do well.”

“Yeah,” Dean says. “Yeah, me too. Only… I think some good luck could be pretty damn helpful.”

It takes Castiel a moment to process what Dean is implying, but once he does he sucks in a sharp breath and looks up, eyes wide. Dean’s expression is one of cautious hope, and it quickly falls at the look on Castiel’s face.

“I—never mind, I was just being stupid—”

“Dean,” Castiel interjects, halting the other boy’s nervous rambling. He steels himself and passes his tongue over his suddenly dry lips. “You’re going to have to lean forward a bit if you expect me to be able to reach you.”

This time, when their lips brush for the briefest of moments, Dean isn’t the only one blushing.

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

It becomes a sort of tradition after that. It’s not something either of them acknowledges or discusses, but without fail, every time Dean has some important assignment or test, he’ll request a good luck kiss.

And the thing is, they work. Dean’s grades go up across the board. Granted, logically speaking that’s probably a result of something else entirely, but still. It’s an excuse to keep going along with it.

The one thing Castiel can’t seem to piece together is why Dean’s choosing to go along with it. He’s straight. He likes beautiful girls with alluring curves and dainty giggles. Castiel knows this, he’s seen the girls Dean dates first hand. And even if that wasn’t the case, even if Dean was interested in men, he still wouldn’t be interested in someone like Castiel.

Now, Castiel isn’t insecure. He knows that he’s moderately attractive, that his brains and dry sense of humor have their own special appeal. But he’s also not so delusional as to think he’s any match for someone like Dean. He’s not charming or suave, he’s not drop-dead gorgeous, and he’s certainly not athletic. Not to mention the fact that he’s well near the bottom on the popularity chain. Other than a few acquaintances like Kevin or Hannah, he really only has one friend. And while that doesn’t bother him in the slightest, it certainly might bother Dean, or at the very least Dean’s friends.

So why on earth is Dean doing this? It could be a joke of some sort, but Castiel is certain that Dean isn’t that cruel. Sure, he puts on an arrogant act, but that’s all it is. An act.

Well, hopefully. Cas might just be biased towards Dean, after all.

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

“Balthazar,” Castiel intones, voice laced with warning, “enough.”

“Oh, come on, Cassie,” Balthazar whines. “I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s going on.”

Castiel slams his locker shut with a bang, only to look in his hands and realize he grabbed the wrong textbook. He growls in frustration and starts entering the code to open it again. “I don’t need your help.”

“Clearly, you do. You’ve been acting weird for weeks, and I’m willing to bet that it’s because of that Dean guy.”

Castiel ignores him in favor of finally swinging his locker open again. He throws his Chemistry textbook back in and grabs his English one with more force than necessary.

Yes, he can admit that he’s been acting more strangely than usual lately. He keeps switching between hoping that Dean feels something in return and beating himself up for even considering that to be a possibility. The kissing and the way Dean has been acting around him lately are enough to make him question his certainty, but everything else makes him think that he must just be projecting his feelings. This back and forth has affected his mood to the point that he’s been far more irritable than he typically is.

It certainly doesn’t help that Balthazar won’t stop pestering him about it.

“You know, the first step to solving a problem is admitting you have one,” Balthazar says in a sing song voice.

Castiel shakes his head and stalks away, weaving through the crowded halls. He reaches the refuge of the English classroom before Balth can catch up with him again.

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

“Jeez, man, glare at that table any harder and you’ll burn a hole straight through it.”

Castiel jerks his head up, surprised beyond belief that Dean is actually on time for once. On any other day he would make some fond yet sarcastic remark congratulating Dean on it, but today his can barely work up a strained smile and a “Hello, Dean.”

Dean eyes him strangely as he takes the seat across from Castiel. “You feeling okay? There’s nothing urgent I gotta study for, so you can just go home if you want.”

The thinly veiled concern in Dean’s eyes is enough to make Castiel’s smile just a bit more genuine. “I’m fine, Dean. It’s just… It’s been a very long week,” he explains with a sigh.

Dean doesn’t look entirely convinced, but he does pull out his math homework to go over some problems with Castiel.

Castiel doubled up on math classes sophomore year, so he already took Algebra 3 last year. Between that and the fact that math is one of his favorite subjects, helping Dean in this class is usually a breeze. But this time Castiel somehow manages to make three careless mistakes on the same problem, and it definitely doesn’t escape Dean’s notice.

“You sure you’re alright? You seem pretty distracted this week.” Dean leans back in his seat, twirling a pencil between his fingers with practiced ease. “Let me guess, girl troubles?”

It’s meant to be teasing, but Castiel just sighs. “You could say that.”

The pencil halts mid-twirl. “Seriously?”

Castiel gnaws on his bottom lip, debating how much to say. This is a horrible idea. A stupid, terrible idea, but something in Castiel just decides to hell with it. “Actually,” he says, avoiding Dean’s gaze, “It’s um, guy trouble.”

Dean freezes, an expression on his face not unlike the one he had when Castiel kissed him the first time. “I—really?” Dean chokes out.

Castiel just nods, already regretting his decision. Dean is probably homophobic, and now he’s probably going to start avoiding Castiel, or at the very least be uncomfortable around him, and—

Dean jolts him out of his thoughts by clearing his throat. “Um, alright. Cool.”

Castiel raises his eyebrows. “’Cool’?”

Dean just shrugs. “Well, yeah. Look, I admit I was surprised at first, but it’s not like I’m a homophobic dick or anything.”

A blush makes its way up Castiel’s neck. Admittedly, he does have the tendency to jump to conclusions, but still. He should have had more faith in Dean. “I… thanks. For not, you know…”

Dean just smiles at him and rolls his eyes. “Whatever man. Now, on number nine, how do did you say you solve for x?” ----------------------------

Castiel had reluctantly admitted his crush to Balthazar not long after his talk with Dean. Balthazar had simply claimed that he had “totally called it” and told Castiel to “stop being such a wuss and ask Dean out already.”

If only it were that easy. But the fact is that Dean is still uninterested and Castiel is simply not willing to set himself up for rejection. If that makes him a coward, then so be it, but that is not a risk he is willing to take. He would rather have Dean as a friend (if you can even call their strange companionship that) than not at all. Besides, Castiel is Dean’s assigned tutor and he’d really rather not mess things up for the rest of the year. Facing Dean twice a week for two hours with Dean knowing that Castiel likes him would be humiliating.

Even though Balthazar was utterly useless in actually helping Castiel, he has at least stopped nagging Castiel about Dean as often. Castiel considers himself lucky for that, because the last thing he needs at the moment is more stress.

Something, though Castiel couldn’t pinpoint exactly what, shifted between him and Dean after that talk. Dean seemed… off, somehow. And sometimes, when Castiel eats lunch with Balth, he’ll catch Dean looking over at him with an expression that’s almost sad. But that doesn’t make any sense. What could Dean possibly be sad about?

It’s not until three weeks later as Dean is turning to leave the library and go home that Castiel realizes something.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?”

Dean pauses and spins back around, eyes scanning the table before he scrunches his eyebrows at Castiel. “Um, no? What?”

Castiel grins at him and lifts an eyebrow. “You have a math test tomorrow.”

Dean frowns slightly, shifting the weight of his backpack on his shoulders. “Yeah,” he says, “I know.”

Castiel blinks. “Won’t you need some luck?”

“Oh.” Dean glances away from Castiel, looking uncertain. “I figured you… Look, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Castiel’s heart sinks in his chest. He should have seen this coming. Of course Dean wouldn’t be okay with that any more. Not after he’s found out that Castiel is gay. Especially not if he ever suspects that Castiel likes him.

He knew he should have just kept his mouth shut. Hell, he never should have even started this stupid thing in the first place. Castiel rearranges his expression until it is carefully blank. “I understand,” he says, quickly averting his attention to put away his books.

Dean runs a hand through his hair. Castiel doesn’t know why he won’t just leave already and let Castiel mope in peace. “Cas, look, it’s not that I—”

“It’s fine, Dean,” Castiel interrupts. He doesn’t want to hear excuses. Dean is perfectly justified in his discomfort, Castiel knows that. He doesn’t need any explanations. All he needs is to go home and sulk like the pathetic person he is and try to get rid of these stupid feelings. “I get it.”

“No, you don’t,” Dean stresses. “It’s not—I just—I don’t want to piss off your boyfriend.”

Castiel pauses, the book that was in his hands dropping to the table with a steady thunk. “Excuse me?”

Dean looks away, rubbing the back of his neck. “Look, I know this… thing we’ve been doing is just a stupid joke and all that, and that it doesn’t even mean anything. Hell, you’ve probably already told your boyfriend all about it, and he’s probably fine with it, but it just… I can’t.”

Castiel just stares at him. “My… boyfriend?”

“Uh, yeah,” Dean says, eyebrows raised. “Smarmy British dude, always wears V-necks, is constantly hanging around you? Ringing any bells?”

“Balthazar? You think I’m dating Balth?”

Dean opens and closes his mouth, suddenly looking unsure of himself. “Um. Yes?”

Castiel shakes his head, dumbstruck. “No. Heavens no. Balth? Really?” He scrunches up his nose at the thought. Yes, Balthazar is his best friend, and yes, Castiel can admit he’s somewhat attractive, but dating him?

“But, I mean, last month I kept seeing you guys arguing a lot, and then you said you were having guy troubles, and you’re always with him so I just thought…” Dean gives him a sheepish grin. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed…”

“No, you shouldn’t have,” Castiel agrees. “But I understand. It’s a reasonable assumption to make.”

Dean gives him a relieved smile. They both stand there awkwardly for a moment, unsure what to do now. Castiel picks up the textbook he had dropped, needing to busy his hands.

“So…” Dean says, shuffling his feet. “Ever figure out that guy trouble, then?”

Castiel snorts. Secretly, he’s pleased that Dean is making an effort to talk to him more. They never used to discuss anything outside of school work, unless you count Dean’s attempts to annoy Castiel or get him off-subject. Still, of all the topics Dean could choose, he has to ask Castiel about this? “Not really,” he admits, thumbing at the pages of the book nervously. “It doesn’t matter. It’s just a stupid crush. The guy is straight anyways, so it’s not like I ever had a chance in the first place.”

He almost swears he sees a relieved expression cross Dean’s face, but it’s gone before he can even blink. “Ah, well, in that case… I mean, are you thinking of dating anyone else?”

There’s an unmistakably hopefully undertone to Dean’s voice, and Castiel almost drops the book again. “What?” Surely Castiel must be misinterpreting this situation.

But the blush tinging Dean’s cheeks says otherwise. “I mean, I know I’m probably not your type or anything, but if you want maybe we can like, go out or something?”

“I—but—you’re straight,” Castiel sputters.

Dean blinks at him in surprise. “Bisexual. I thought… I mean, the whole football team knows, I figured word would have gotten out.”

Castiel shakes his head dazedly. Dean Winchester is not only not straight, but he is also apparently willing to go out with him. What on Earth…?

Dean grimaces and runs a hand through his hair, making it stick up every which way. “I take that as a no, then?” he says, and the resignation in his voice makes Castiel’s heart constrict.

“No! I mean, yes! Not no to you, but no to taking it as—you’re my guy thing,” Castiel blurts out. Dean looks utterly baffled and Castiel rushes to explain before he can mess up this situation even more. “You’re the straight guy I had—have—a crush on. At least, I thought you were straight, but I guess…”

The grin that erupts across Dean’s face is nearly blinding. “You know,” he says, taking a step closer to Castiel, “for being such a smart guy, you sure can be an idiot. All you had to do was ask.”

“Oh shut up,” Castiel grumbles. He is more than a little disgruntled to admit that Balthazar was right. Lord, when Balthazar catches wind of this he’ll never let Castiel hear the end of it. “Have you changed your mind about needing some luck?”

Dean nods enthusiastically. “Definitely. Actually, I might need a bit more luck than usual. Maybe it’ll transfer better if we do it open mouthed?”

Castiel hums and fists his hands in Dean’s t-shirt. “We can certainly try,” he murmurs, already leaning in.

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

FIN

#deancaswc #envydean #lemonsorbae #destiel fic #idiots in love #hs au #my attempts at writing

17 notes · View notes

munarlothhp · 6 years

Text

The Witching Hour

Also available on ao3

evanslilyy: jily headcannon that they both totally slept in the same bed “platonically” for a few months before they actually ended up getting together in seventh year because they were both suffering from nightmares/insomnia as a result of the oncoming war and slowly realised how much they actually cared about one another when they were lying in bed talking about the most random and ridiculous things at 3am in james’ four-poster

“Alright, Evans?”

Lily started, whipping around towards the boys’ stairs. There stood, of course, James Potter.

“Couldn’t sleep. What time is it?”

“Half gone three.”

“What’re you still doing up then?”

“Couldn’t sleep,” He shrugged. He crossed the common room to join her on the couch. They settled back into the cushions, shoulders barely touching, and stared into the dying embers in the fireplace. They had become friends again last year when term started new after that horrible thing with Snape. James really hadn’t been that bad before but he’d definitely shaped up over the last year, and Lily found herself seeking his company more and more as they neared the end of their time inside the castle’s safe walls.

“Bad dreams?”

She pulled on the end of the braid falling over her collarbone. “Sometimes.”

“Me too.” He curled onto his side, crossing his legs so his knees were pressing either end of her right thigh. He reached out and twisted the end of the braid around his finger. “I’ve never seen you wear braids before.”

“I only wear them to bed.” She shifted to face him more solidly, sweeping the braid back over her shoulder. “Petunia used to call me Pippi Longstocking.”

His brow furrowed, his hand falling into his lap. “What’s Pippi Longstocking?”

“Erm, a muggle book character. She has red braids and is super strong and some people in her stories think she’s very odd. Petunia said she must be a freak like me.”

“I don’t think you’re a freak.”

“You hang out with Sirius, your opinion doesn’t count.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

She grinned, looking down at his knees pressing close again. “Clearly you have no taste.”

“I won’t tell him you said that.”

“For my benefit, I suppose,” She snorted.

“Duh. If he knew how you really felt, he wouldn’t ask to copy your homework anymore.”

“Oh gee, then what reason would even I have to do it in the first place?”

“Exactly my point, I’m doing you a favor.”

She laughed once and settled deeper into the cushion, trying to press her shoulder until she could feel the back of the couch unyielding under her bones. “Do you come down at night a lot?”

He shook his head. “Nah. The house elves come ‘round at night - they don’t show up when anyone’s in here and I wouldn’t want to cause them to rush or anything.”

She shot up straight, looking around the room. Curling parchment ends, broken quills, and discarded books littered most surfaces, and more than a few cushions were upended. “Fuck, I hadn’t thought of that, I’m down here late all the time!”

“I’ve noticed.” Her eyebrows rose and he might’ve blushed, just a little bit. “Map.”

“Oh, right. I still can’t believe you all made that and still can’t beat me in Charms.”

“I prefer to focus my attention on worthwhile magic that I’ll actually use one day.

“You sound like a kid talking about algebra.”

“What’s algebra?”

“Nevermind - thanks for letting me use the map for rounds, by the way.”

“No problem, I know you won’t lose it. So...why do you come down here, anyway?”

“I don’t want to wake anybody else up.” She waved a hand towards the girls’ stairs. “They get grumpy if they get woken up. And when I can’t sleep I can’t just lay there, you know? It feels like such a waste of time.”

He nodded. “I know what you mean. I read a lot, when I can’t sleep.”

“That works for me sometimes. Sometimes, I just - I just really need a cig, you know? To help me settle down. But I open the window for the smoke and somebody always wakes up.”

“You know, you could come up to our dorm, if you want - when you can’t sleep. Usually somebody’s up if it’s before 3, and everybody sleeps like the dead anyway. You can get away with anything.”

She glanced away to the fireplace and back, reaching for her braid again. “I wouldn’t want to wake you up.”

“You wouldn’t. It’s ok.” He didn’t usually look that determined off the quidditch pitch, and she considered taking him seriously.

“Ok. Thanks.”

He nodded, then grinned and flicked her knee. “What are friends for?”

She smiled and they were silent, half leaning into the couch and maybe, possibly, leaning closer to each other. Their knees brushed and she let them settle for a moment, then stood up. “We should get up to bed. House elves, you know.”

“Right. See you at breakfast?”

“Yeah. Night, Potter.”

“G’night Evans.”

Less than a week later, Lily was again tossing and turning behind her scarlet bed hangings long after midnight. It had been a Double Potions day, and the looks she caught Snape throwing at her from across the dungeon made her skin crawl. It had been easy enough to ignore them when they were still friends but they seemed to have intensified since fifth year. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he was never without the company of his slimy Slytherin friends anymore and Lily just knew where they were all headed after school ended in June.

Someone started snoring across the dorm and she flopped onto her stomach, huffing into her pillow. That was it - she had to get up. She almost gave up when it took more than a few moments to disentangle her legs from the blankets but she was soon out the door, feet shoved into her trainers and a dressing gown tied tight around her middle.

Several loud pops echoed up from the common room as she scuffed down the stairs and a scrap piece of parchment was still floating down to the floor when she reached the bottom. She bit her lip and hurried across the room - the sooner she was up in the 7th year boys’ room, the sooner the elves could get back to work. Upstairs, she hadn’t even gotten close enough to knock when the door was wrenched open from the inside. James practically glowed, his hair sticking up in every direction and the quaffles on his pajama pants zooming around like mad.

“Couldn’t sleep?”

She stopped just short of running into him, grinning at his magical pajamas. “Nope. You?”

He shrugged. “I’ve been in and out.”

Her brows wrinkled in the middle and she reached for a braid. “Oh, no, did I wake you up? I’m sorry, I’ll go back --” She turned back to the stairs but he grabbed her hand.

“Evans. Stay.” He had that hard look again.

She blinked, nodded, and followed him into the room. That was how it started.

“Did you understand Transfiguration today?”

Lily felt James nod against the pillow. “Did you need help with something?”

“I’m not sure yet. I need to review the theory. I’ll let you know.”

“You know you can always come to me, Evans.”

She could hear the smug grin on his face and she rolled her eyes, smacking him in the ribs. “You’ve got something coming your way if you keep this up, that’s for sure.”

As if on cue, a pillow sailed across the room straight into James’s face. Lily curled into a ball and snickered as he flung it back into Remus’s bed and shoved her towards the edge of his own. “Fuck off, Moony.”

“Evans is right, you had it coming.”

“The only thing he’s got coming tonight,” Lily muttered, repositioning herself closer to the middle of the bed.

“Evans! Language!”

Lily stuck her tongue out at James and took his pillow, doubling up on the one behind her own head and lounging comfortably. He rolled his eyes and laid down, angling to take up the pillow space directly between her shoulder and ear while keeping their bodies separate from the shoulders down. They pulled up the covers and, somehow, were soon asleep.

She had been coming up to the boys’ dorm at least 3 nights a week for the last 3 weeks, and had gotten quite used to getting comfortable wherever she ended up. James wasn’t always awake when she showed up, but Sirius and Remus both proved good sports about sharing quilts. Lily had found that it was easier to fall asleep next to somebody else, anybody, really, and the boys seemed to understand that better than her own roommates.

“You’d better get in here quick, Evans, it’s still the witching hour.” It was Sirius answering the door tonight, Lily’s third night in a row. “Who knows what might happen to you out wandering the tower after midnight!”

“I’m literally a witch, Black.”

“I knew it!” She rolled her eyes and he ushered her into the room, grinning. “Prongs fell asleep on his Charms essay about half an hour ago.”

“I hope he wakes up with it printed back all over his cheek.”

Sure enough, James was fast asleep on his stomach with his head pillowed on his Charms book at the foot of the bed and his feet sprawled across his pillows at the head. His ink bottle was precariously close to tipping over on the quilt, and his glasses, still on his face, were almost definitely bent. He was drooling slightly, leaving a damp spot on the page underneath his chin.

“Oh God,” Lily snickered, covering her mouth with her fist. “I wish we had a camera!”

“Oh shit, wait! I have one here somewhere!” Sirius rummaged frantically through his trunk, eventually reappearing with a polaroid camera in hand. “We picked this up in muggle London over the summer, I completely forgot. Here, do you know how to work this thing?”

Lily took the camera, popped up the flash, and quickly snapped a picture. She snatched the photo as it spit out and handed it to Sirius. “Here, wave this around.” She set the camera down on the bed and eased James’s glasses off of his face, placing them and the ink bottle on the nightstand before he could roll over and do any real damage.

“Why am I doing this?” Sirius sat cross-legged on his bed, fanning himself with the photograph.

“Well, it’s - it’s supposed to help, isn’t it?”

“I dunno, you’re the muggle.”

Lily rolled her eyes. “It’s your camera, haven’t you ever used it before?”

He shook his head. “We got it to bring back to school and then forgot, I guess. Thanks for reminding me though.”

“Sure.” She joined him on the bed, kicking off her trainers and scooting towards the middle of the bed. He pulled out a carton of cigarettes, lit one with one hand, passed it to her, and lit his own from the glow near her chin.They were the only ones awake, and Remus and Peter both had their hangings pulled shut, and they kept their voices low. “Thanks. Have they been out long?”

“Since before midnight. Moony’s been tired and crabby lately, and Pete’s still got that cough. He put a silencing charm on his curtains when he shut them.”

“Nice of him.”

“Yeah, I thought so.” Sirius reclined, pillowing his head on the outside of Lily’s thigh and blowing a stream of smoke up into the canopy above. “How long am I supposed to wave this for?”

“Here, let me see it.” The square was almost clear, a perfectly still muggle photo of James sprawled over his covers like a newborn giraffe. Lily muffled a laugh behind her hand and showed Sirius the picture.

“That’s so weird. That it doesn’t move, you know?”

“I guess, if you’re not used to it. Imagine how I felt my first night in the castle when all of the paintings talked. I thought I was going mad!”

“Don’t blame the paintings.”

“Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” He grinned up at her and she rolled her eyes. He quieted and looked back at the photo for a few minutes. “I think we’re going to get a flat after school ends.”

“Can you afford that?”

“Neither of us are exactly hurting for money, Evans. Besides, my uncle left me a flat in London when he died.”

“So when you say you’re ‘getting a flat’, you mean that you’re just going to fuck about in London until Mrs. Potter puts up enough of a fight to make you both get jobs?” She stroked his hair, combing it out over her knee with her fingers.

“Basically. And anyway, there’s always the Order.”

“Do you think you’ll definitely join?”

“Won’t you?”

She shrugged. “I’m not sure yet. With my mum, you know--”

He sat up on one elbow, knocking her hand aside and spilling ash from his cigarette onto the quilt. “What do you mean? What else are you going to do?”

“I don’t know, that’s kind of the whole point, isn’t it? I mean, I wanted to go into spell development at the Ministry, but at this point is there even going to be a Ministry by the time we finish our N.E.W.T.s? And if that’s how things are going at that point, I have to make sure that I’m taking care of my family. That might mean going back to the Muggle world for a while.”

“You can’t do that, you’re a witch!”

“Not if you ask them. Mudblood, remember?”

His brow furrowed and she looked away, rolling her cigarette between her thumb and forefinger. “You shouldn’t call yourself that.”

“Why not? Everybody else does.”

“Evans.”

“It’s fine,” She shrugged.

“Is not.”

“Is too. I’m serious.”

“No, I’m Sirius.”

She snorted and looked up, relieved to see that he was grinning. “Anyway - yeah, I dunno what I’m doing after school yet. We’ll just have to see...how things are, then.”

“Well, you’re always welcome to come in with us. I’ve got spare bedrooms.” He laid back down across her knee and she took a long drag of her smoke.

“Thanks, Sirius.”

“You probably couldn’t sleep without us anymore, anyway.”

“You know, that might actually be true.”

They were quiet, her playing with his hair and him looking at the picture of his closest brother. She tried distracting him from the heaviness in the air with a smoke ring contest, and it almost worked.

“We should go to bed,” His voice vibrated through her leg. They stubbed out their smokes in an ashtray on his nightstand and climbed into bed, Sirius waving his wand to extinguish the last lamps.

When Lily woke with a start hours later, green flashes dancing behind her eyelids, Sirius pulled her down, cushioning her head as best he could on his bony shoulder. Snapping her hair tie around his own wrist, he slowly pulled her braid out and rubbed her back as she drifted back to sleep.

Lily was awake and ready when 3 of the 4 Marauders spilled into their dorm with barely enough time for a nap before breakfast. They didn’t look surprised to see her, but they looked so exhausted that she wasn’t sure if they were even capable of surprise at the moment. She, too, had been up all night, but she didn’t think that her evening had left her half as exhausted as theirs had them.

“I have Pepper Up potions.”

“Lily, you’re a goddess.” Peter accepted a flask gratefully before disappearing into the showers.

She smiled at him, then turned to see the other two boys already almost asleep on their own beds. “No! Get up! You have to bathe before breakfast, you’re all filthy!”

“Bugger off, Evans,” James barely got out through the pillow his face was pressed into, waving an arm half-heartedly in her direction.

She stomped to his bed and yanked the covers off before turning and doing the same to Sirius. “Up!”

“What the fuck !?”

“We have Double Transfiguration first thing this morning,” Lily crossed her arms and glared back and forth between the two boys. “I can’t cover for all of you if you don’t show up. Remus is the only one with an excuse, unless you want to explain to Professor McGonagall where you’ve been all night.”

They both only groaned in response, and Sirius was the first to rise, dropping a kiss to Lily’s temple as he passed. She pressed a flask into his hand and pushed him in the direction of the shower. James sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes and knocking his glasses askew. His hair was standing up in every direction and there were twigs and leaves tangled in the top. Lily sighed and pulled him to the edge of the bed, standing in front of him and slowly picking the bits out of his tangled mop.

“It wouldn’t be this bad if you would quit rubbing all over every tree you pass.”

“I can’t help it when they itch,” he grumbled.

“Is Remus in the hospital wing?”

He nodded, knocking a twig loose onto the floor. “We put him to bed and scampered before Pomfrey could say anything.”

“How is he?”

“Not too banged up. Tired, mostly.”

“I’ll duplicate my notes for him after class. I also left my Charms question set in your bag for you to copy before this afternoon, just make sure to get it back to me at lunch.”

“Oh shit, I forgot all about that.”

“I know.” She pulled the last leaf from his hair and waved her wand, Vanishing the small pile of rubbish. He smiled and reached out, touching her elbow softly.

“Thanks, Evans.”

“You’re welcome, Potter.” She ignored the warm feeling in her gut from his gratefulness and handed him a flask, waiting to make sure he drank all of it before gathering her things. “Shampoo twice. I’ll save you some coffee at breakfast.”

“I’m so fucking tired.”

“Me, too.”

Lily unwrapped another chocolate frog and flicked the Dumbledore card into James’s lap. “Do you think this will actually work?”

“Guess we’ll see.”

Lily had just read that morning in Witch Weekly that eating before bed, especially sweets, could induce some seriously weird dreams. She and James already both had regular nightmares that left them sweating and shaky, so they agreed that they’d take weird over realistic and terrifying any night of the week. At any rate it didn’t seem like it’d hurt to try, though Lily thought she might change her mind after the stomach ache set in.

“So, I have a question,” James got out around a mouthful of chocolate.

“Shoot.”

“What’s it like having a sibling? Like, a real one?”

“I dunno, I mean…” Lily pulled back the covers and squirmed into bed, twisting back and forth until she was in just the most comfortable position, her head pillowed on one arm. “It’s a built-in friend when you’re kids, but everyone changes when they get older, just look at Sirius and Regulus. I think Petunia feels some weird kind of pressure because I’m a witch and she isn’t, and she hasn’t exactly been nice for the last few years. We get along loads better since I’m not friends with Severus anymore, though.”

James Vanished their candy wrappers and got under the covers, laying on his side to face her. “Really?”

“She always thought he was creepy,” She nodded.

“He is creepy.”

She rolled her eyes. “Well, yeah, but that’s not the point. Anyway, we do get along a bit better now, and I try not to talk about school as much.”

“That doesn’t seem fair.”

“Yeah well, it’s not always about fair. It makes things easier. I’d still do anything for her, you know? And I think she would me too - to a point, anyway. I guess that’s kind of what it’s like to have a sibling. You might not get along but you’d still do anything for each other.”

“Makes sense.”

“What’s it like to be an only child?”

His response was immediate. “Lonely.”

“Coming to school was probably the best thing that ever happened to you, then.”

“Something like that.”

Lily blushed, James studying her face just a bit too hard then, and turned onto her back. “Hogwarts was the best for me, too. I can’t imagine living as a Muggle now.”

“That’s not what Sirius said.”

“Just because I can’t imagine it doesn’t mean it might not be my reality,” She sighed. “Can we not talk about that right now? I’m just...I’m so tired, you know?”

“I know.” He touched her elbow softly, then retreated back to his side of the bed. He set aside his glasses, extinguished the last lights, and they both tried to sleep.

It didn’t feel like much time had passed when Lily sat straight up in bed, gasping and warm. James started awake, sitting up and lightly touching her back. “Bad dream?” He rubbed the sleep from his eyes with his other hand and tried to fix his vision on her face. Lily flinched at his touch - the dream had felt so real, and it wasn’t her back he had been touching then. He pulled back and turned more fully to face her. “Lily, are you ok?”

“I - um - yes.”

He squinted, his head coming forward slightly. “Are you sure?”

She nodded, smoothing her hair back from her face. She seemed to have lost her hair tie and her braids were long undone. “Just a dream. The chocolate worked, I think.”

“Oh. Ok.” She stared at him, and she could’ve sworn he was blushing the longer she looked. “Evans…?”

Before she knew what she was doing she leaned in and pressed her mouth to his. Kissing James Potter for the first time wasn’t like it always was in those books that Mary kept under her bed - he definitely did not freeze up in shock, and she didn’t have a chance to doubt before he moved closer, hands already in her hair. Come to think of it, it was usually the girls who froze up or stepped back, wasn’t it? But Lily definitely did not want to move away, especially now that she finally had proof that it was even better to mess up James’s hair herself than to watch him do it. She didn’t have any trouble breathing like the girls in the books either, which was just as well because neither of them seemed to want to take a break for anything as silly as air.

It did occur to her, eventually, that she didn’t want to get anywhere approaching what they did in her dream while they were still in the dorm surrounded by the other boys sleeping in their beds. “James.” That was one thing Mary’s books got right - it was quite difficult to talk, and she had to try again. “James, we have to go to sleep.”

His voice was muffled against her neck, but she was pretty sure he said “Nope. Don’t need sleep.”

“We have Potions tomorrow, and there are other people in this room.”

He paused and seemed to deflate. “At least let me give you a hickey to wear to class.”

She snorted and he grinned in the dark. “I think you already did anyway.”

She straightened her pajamas and somehow even found her elastic, quickly bundling her hair up on top of her head. They tried to settle back to sleep, though they weren’t quite as careful as usual to keep from touching under the covers. Lily’s heart was still running a million miles a minute, and she had to force the grin off of her face or else she was sure her cheeks would actually crack off. A glance to her right proved that James wasn’t having any more luck than she was.

“So...this means…?”

“Oh come on Potter, what do you think it means?”

“I’m pretty sure you don’t hate me anymore.”

“Oh my God, I never hated you.”

“I just need to know for sure - am I a better snog than the giant squid?”

She paused just long enough to furrow his brow. “I’m going to have to do more research - I snogged the squid on the beach, not in a bed.”

“We have a free period tomorrow afternoon, I wouldn’t mind a walk down by the lake.”

“Oh, I meant I’ll have to get the squid into bed.”

“Well just let me know how many more experiments you need - all in the name of science, of course.”

“Naturally.”

“I can’t have you telling people that the squid’s a better snog than me, after all.”

“Go to sleep, Potter.”

The next morning came sooner than either of them would have liked, but the look on Snape’s face when she pushed her hair behind her ear in Potions was worth it. Until that point she still wasn’t fully convinced that the night before hadn’t just been a very extended fever dream, but Sirius’s passed note of ‘muffliato next time, would you?’ was more confirmation than she’d expected. At any rate, she found that she didn't seem to mind her sleeplessness as much as her usual insomnia, and as she looked ahead to that night she thought she might not mind a future in research, after all.

#I did it!!#this is about 4K words #and is fluffy as all hell #jily #james potter #lily evans #evanslilyy #sarah writes #fic recs

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