Tumgik
#i already hate that a teacher's work is never over after working hours
01zfan · 3 months
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
not mine | j. sc
taken!sungchan x fem. reader | 5.9k words
i hope you guys like this! this is definitely the most angsty thing i’ve ever written.
contains: infidelity, reader is sungchan’s girlfriend’s friend, sungchan is in a toxic relationship, both of them know it’s wrong, unprotected sex (DONT BE LIKE THEM)
Tumblr media
you were a terrible friend. 
sungchan was an even worse boyfriend.
it had started out as something so innocent. you had a class with sungchan, ironically it was intro to chemistry. he wasn’t someone you could picture yourself getting close with. it wasn’t necessarily that he was out of your league or that you were out of his, it was just that you seemed like you two had nothing in common. you secretly dreaded going to class after seeing the partner assignments posted on the online classroom. your teacher said that it was ”completely randomized”, but it seemed like the god’s had it out for you. you were going to class knowing you had to spend the next hour and a half talking to sungchan. you hoped that chemistry would fill up the awkward gaps in the conversation and that time would go by quickly. it seemed like sungchan thought the same thing, already having everything ready to start the assignment by the time you sat at the table. when you set down your stuff he looked up and smiled at you.
“you’re my partner for this project, right?” sungchan said.
you nodded your head while bringing out your own things. the awkward atmosphere was unavoidable after you had finished setting up your things. sungchan was looking at you over the screen of your computer and you cleared your throat.
“should we take the time to introduce ourselves properly?” sungchan asked.
it was a fair question to say the least. you had been in the same class all semester, but you never got the chance to actually talk one on one. the closest you got to an. interaction with sungchan was an awkward socratic seminar where you both just nodded along to good arguments that were made.
when you both introduced eachother you found out you actually had alot in common. you both had common interests and filled your time in between classes doing the same things. you still remember the shock on sungchan’s face when he found out you two shared a niche interest. you’re sure you looked the same way as he did, wide eyed with raised eyebrows. you two spent a majority of the class just talking, having to be put back on track by the teachers aide.
you and sungchan walked to the library after class to work on the project. you still look back on this moment with such regret. maybe if you had taken the initiative to go to a place more secretive your friend would’ve never met sungchan. you were in the middle of discussing possible research topics when your friend called your name. it was so loud even sungchan turned around. you saw her walking towards you, but her eyes were only on sungchan. even though he didn’t belong to you in any sense of the word, you still felt something akin to jealousy run through your body. the feeling was amplified when your friend introduced herself to sungchan without giving you a second glance.
“i’ve never seen you around before.” your friend said.
sungchan looked to you and you looked off into the distance. he adjusted the backpack on his shoulder and gave your friend a smile.
“it is a big campus after all.” sungchan said with a smile.
your friend laughed a little too hard, and you were a little disgusted to see how much sungchan ate it up. 
before you could even get into the library your friend got sungchan’s number and had set up plans to hang out with him. jealousy flashed across your mind and you had to push it away. although you hated it more than anything, sungchan was not yours in any sense of the word. so you had no choice but to watch the scene unfold in front of you. 
your friend only acknowledged you while she was leaving, saying she will see you later. she had a pep in her step as she looked at her phone, texting something. seconds later you could feel your phone buzz in your hand. the message was short and sweet, the seven letters fitting in the message preview.
he’s mine.
“your friend is nice.” sungchan said.
you look at the text notification on your phone and scoff before putting it back into your pocket.
“yup.” you say curtly.
after you and sungchan were done with the project, you barely saw him. you were able to hear about him all the time, courtesy of your friend. she tells you about all the problems they are already having so early in the relationship. she tells you sungchan doesn’t know how to listen, that he’s a flirt, and too nice to other girls. you stopped trying to offer advice on their fights when your friend blew up at you for not taking her side. so you stuck to the role of the listener, nodding your head and giving half assed sounds to show you were paying attention. 
it wasn’t until a couple months later that you saw sungchan again. he came as your friend’s plus one to a gathering of your clique. they had broken up recently, something about your friend’s ex reaching out to her. every man in her life was a placeholder for her stupid ex, so you thought sungchan was free from her clutches. you don’t know why it was hard for you to pretend like you were unfazed seeing them together. there was a pang in your chest seeing sungchan go through the crowd following your friend. 
when sungchan saw you he had the biggest smile you had ever seen on him. you couldn’t help but smile back, waving at the person you missed seeing in class. you weren’t to sure why sungchan never came to your class anymore, but you were almost certain it had to do with your friend.
for the whole night you were stealing glances and sharing eye contact with him. your friend was stuck to his side the whole night, showing off her arm candy to everyone at the party. you assumed this was her way of launching the relationship, posting him on her story for the first time. you regretfully look back at the time you spent with sungchan and how you never made a move. you tried to comfort yourself by thinking he was a terrible boyfriend, something your friend had told you.
you didn’t get any time alone with sungchan until he came to you while you were making yourself a drink. he approached you with a big smile on his face, almost like he was happy to see you.
“long time no see.” sungchan said.
you looked up from the bar and you couldn’t help but smile at him too.
“you’re the one that never comes to class,” you said. “we did really good on our project, by the way.”
“i know. i moved to a different class so i can—it doesn’t really matter actually.” sungchan said.
you both sat there awkwardly, waiting for the conversation to flow the same way it did all those months ago. you weren’t sure if your friend told sungchan about you, if you knew about their tumultuous relationship. sungchan seemed to know something, because he suddenly leaned to whisper into your ear asking if he could talk to you in private.
when sungchan got you alone in the tiny bathroom, he said nothing. he looked everywhere but at you, trying to find out what he wanted to say. you thought about your friend outside, how upset she would be if she found you so close to sungchan. she left your mind as you looked at sungchan. you hated that he didn’t come to class anymore, depriving you of you favorite thing to look at in class. you would be lying if you wouldn’t look at sungchan’s back while the teacher droned on about chemical bonds and imagine what he looked like without his shirt off. it was juvenile, but it got you through the day. 
it only got worse after your project and sungchan’s absence in class made you miss him even more. without something to focus on your mind began to wander to filthier things, like what sounds he made or words he word say. being so close to him made you recall moments underneath your sheets where you pretended your fingers were his.
“i need to ask you something.” sungchan said.
you nodded your head towards sungchan, encouraging him to go on.
“why didn’t you tell me about her?” sungchan asked.
he looked sad as he explained to you how awful your friend was. all of the missing holes in her story suddenly made sense. you hated to admit you didn’t believe your friend, seeing how she acted in previous relationships. but now you saw how her toxicity effected sungchan directly. sungchan talked about her ex, how she cheated on him. you bit your tongue to stop yourself from asking why he went back. you knew that he didn’t have the answer and you knew your friend to be very charming when she had to be. 
“i’m sorry.” is all you could say after sungchan told you everything. 
i would never treat you that way threatened to slip past your lips but you stood your ground. sungchan looked at you expectantly, like he was wanting more before he got a text asking where he was. he snuck out of the bathroom and you downed the drink in your hand.
the rest of the gathering you spent drinking. you felt a deep regret for not being able to comfort sungchan, to say something more than sorry. there was no reason for you to be sorry. he had the chance to leave, it was his choice to stay. you ignored him for the rest of the party, watching your friend constantly leave the room to talk to someone on her phone. by then end of the night your friend had left to god knows where. you had assumed sungchaan had left with her until you left. you found sungchan sitting outside on the stoop of the apartment building. 
when he saw you he got up suddenly, stumbling a little bit. he must’ve been drinking too.
“she had an early morning tomorrow, so she left.” sungchan said.
“she left you at this party where you don’t know anybody?” you asked.
“i know you. she told me you live in the same building as me so maybe we could catch a ride together?” sungchan asked.
“let’s do it.” you say.
you stand beside sungchan waiting for him to finish booking the ride on the phone. if he was waiting outside and was going to pay for it completely by himself he could’ve left a long time ago. you were never good at reading people, but sungchan was like an open book. you knew he was craving something tender and loving, intimacy that was lacking in his relationship. the alcohol in your system buzzed and receptors in your brain fired off when sungchan opened the car door for you.
you were in the backseat of the car together for only a moment before you scooted to the middle seat. you let your thighs touch sungchan’s before fully leaning into him. he stiffened beside you but didn’t move. when the car exited the parking he brought a hand to rest on your thigh.  you put your hand over his and looked at him. you found that sungchan was already looking at you, his eyes staring directly into yours. when the car got on the highway you took a gentle hand to his face and pulled him in for a kiss. the rest of the journey to the building his lips were on yours, sucking on your bottom lip as his hands pulled your face closer.
you two didn’t break apart until the driver stopped in front of your apartment building. you watched sungchan tip the driver extra and he followed behind you closely as you got into the elevator. 
you pressed the button to take you to the seventh floor. sungchan’s hand hesitated before pressing the number five. you couldn’t stop your heart from dropping.
“we shouldn’t.” sungchan whispered as the door closed.
“we really shouldn’t.” you agreed.
as the elevator took you up, you noticed sungchan getting closer to you. you slowly let him back you into a corner of the tiny space, your body leaned against the elevator walls. you looked up at the man in front of you, aware of how he towered over you. in any other situation you would’ve been scared, but there was something so soft about the way sungchan looked at you. 
the same hand that pulled you closer to him in the car came to rest on your face. sungchan swiped a thumb across your lip, still glossy from his spit.
“i’m a bad boyfriend.” sungchan whispered. 
the elevator door opened to the fifth floor. you and sungchan both watched the door to the elevator close before lifting both of you to the seventh floor.
that night sugnchan didn’t go to his room. he fucked you in the entry way of your room up against the wall, not even giving you a chance to make it to the bedroom. he moaned and bit your skin, telling you he wished it was you he ended up with. how he wished what he was doing didn’t feel so good. you let sungchan mark you and touch you the way he wanted, moaning in agreement to his words. you wished being a terrible friend felt bad, but all you felt was euphoria as sungchan had you pinned against the wall.
sungchan was strong but he was gentle, pressing kisses to your face as he slid in. he carried you to your bedroom and you rode him, telling him that he deserved good things in life too. when sungchan pulled you to the crook of his neck he let out a broken whine as he came inside of you. you clenched around him and he rubbed your clit until you did the same.
that night set the dynamic for your relationship. you had to set up rules and sungchan followed them with no complaints. he would do anything you told him as long as he got to come and see you. it became a part of your routine, getting a text from sungchan late in the night asking if he could come over. it got easier with time, lying to your friend. you saw it as karma for how terrible she was towards sungchan and towards you. you stopped thinking about her after a month, no longer trying to have revenge on your toxic friend. it became more about sungchan, trying to mend him back together with kisses and sex.
it was raining this time when sungchan came to you. he was soaking wet, caught in the torrential rain outside. you wanted to believe that he came here to see you, but the downcast look on his face and flower in his hand told you a different story. 
“can i come in?” sungchan asked you.
you don’t know why he continued to ask you questions like this, as if you could ever bring yourself to say no to him. you nodded your head and opened your door all the way, letting the man through.
he got water on your carpet as he took off his outer layer of clothes. sungchan stood in the entry way, waiting for you to tell him what to do. you remembered the clothes he left over at your place last time he visited.
“wait here i’ll get you a towel and clothes.” you said before walking away.
when your arrangement first started, you would always interrogate sungchan on what transpired when he’d show up at your door. sungchan would just shrug his shoulders and mutter the situation under his breath shamefully.
she’s seeing her ex again.
i was locked out.
we had a big argument.
she needed time to cool off.
after awhile you stopped asking sungchan for the details. the curiosity and worry used to eat away at you, seeing someone usually so happy close to tears. you thought you’d never see sungchan the way you saw him every late night he came to your door. you always wondered if she ever thought she was in the wrong. 
you stopped asking sungchan because you could see it physically pain him to talk about something with the wound so fresh. he would normally just tell you what happened while he had you bent over a table, or when he had your chest pressed against his. 
you knew that leading up to the sex, sungchan needed the tenderness that was absent in his real relationship. so you would wordlessly let him into your apartment, warm him up leftovers, and hand him clothes to change into. after everything, you two would snuggle on your couch together watching television. he would hold you so close and thank you profusely, gratitude you would wave off with a hand. you could tell that the moments you spent together healed him just enough to go back. you could also tell that sungchan was very grateful for everything, and he always made sure to give it back to you in bed. the night would always end with both of you just looking to the other and silently pleading. you would open the door for sungchan and he would kiss you deeply. it was the type of kiss that you thought was reserved for girlfriends only, the type of kiss that made you believe he didn’t want to leave you.
doing acts of service for sungchan always made you feel conflicted. when he was with you, couldn’t help but feel responsible for him in ways you couldn’t really comprehend. it started off with just sex. you were always determined to make him feel good like continuing to ride him even if your legs were burning from the exertion or taking in all of him even when you felt like you were being split open. maybe you looked at his face when he was in a state of bliss too much, maybe that’s what got you attached. since you and sungchan started your arrangement you found yourself thinking about him more and more. when he wasn’t around you hoped he was doing well, at night before you slept you would be thinking about him.
thinking about him so often made it hard to remember that he wasn’t yours. sungchan had you wanting to hold his hand at friend gatherings. you always came to your senses right at the last second. reaching out a hand to him you had to pull away quickly when your friend came from the other room. leaning against the wall instead of leaning against sungchan when she wasn’t looking. looking for sungchan’s face in the crowd while he followed closely behind his girlfriend. as time passed you got used to it. you knew that he was looking for your face in the crowd too. 
sungchan had his hand on the back of the couch, letting you curl into him and he traced patterns on your clothed shoulder. you two had found your own domestic routine, shrouded in infidelity. it’s all too much when you think about it for too long, that’s why you’re grateful when sungchan slightly squeezes your thigh. you look away from the tv show to him.
“i missed you.” sungchan says.
he pinches your cheek and you smile at the affection. he looked so handsome like this, with his hair slightly wet form the rain. before you knew it you were running your hands through his strands, turning your body to face him better.
“i missed you too.” you said.
sungchan leaned his head back as you continued to play with his hair. he smiled and he felt like his heart leaped out of his chest hearing that you missed him.
“how much did you miss me?” sungchan asks, eying you.
you are still playing with his hair trying to think of a quantity. you could tell him then and there that you wish he could be with you the same way he was with his girlfriend, and that you could treat him better. a million things rush through your mind, all of them being admissions of love. so instead of talking, you use your hands to hold sungchan’s face.
“you know i’m not good with words,” you look into his eyes before looking at his lips. “i can show you, though.”
a second doesn’t even pass before sungchan picks you up from the couch bridal style. you always laugh when he carries you like this, holding you like you’re nothing. 
he always took the time to set you gently on the bed, standing in front of you to take off his shirt. sungchan always made sure to show you how grateful he was, giving you a little show while he undressed himself. he knew you loved to gawk at his body. you dragged him to the edge of the bed by the waistband of his pants. you ran. a hand over his abs, hard underneath his soft skin. he was mesmerizing, you couldn’t understand how anybody could be mean to someone so beautiful.
“your body…” you said.
sungchan said nothing in response as his hands to the end of your shirt, helping you out of it. he threw it somewhere else in the room as he gently pushed your shoulders down until your back was on the bed. he helped you out of your pajama pants, leaving you only in your underwear. you move more to the center of the bed, giving sungchan the space to come lay next to you as he took his pants off. you lift the sheets and settle underneath them, lifting up the end for sungchand to slide in next to you.
sungchan liked taking off underwear underneath the sheets. you imagined he liked it because it was the most intimate that way, revealing all of yourself underneath the sheets. this wasn’t the way it was all the time though. sometimes sungchan would be extra pent up, desperate to the point that he would eat you out over your panties, or only push them to the side before fucking you. sometimes he would be a little mean, fucking into you while you grabbed onto anything for support. it was hard to decide what you preferred, the vanilla sungchan or the desperate kinky sungchan. no matter what you got, you were always satisfied.
after he got into the sheets next to you, sungchan’s hands immediately went to your hips. he guided you out of your panties and to rest above his body, dragging your heat against his clothed dick. he twitched and strained in his boxers feeling you, and you were sure you were getting slick on his boxers. you start grinding your hips into his as sungnchan lets his hands roam your body.
“i want you so bad.” sungchan says.
“you got me.” you say.
his hands go to the back of your bra to undo the clasp. you let your bra fall off of you, and sungchan’s hand goes to your breast. you try to raise your body from sungchan’s to get a better angle to grind on him, but a hand keeps you two chest to chest.
“want you close.” sungchan whines.
you keep grinding on him at a slow and grueling pace. you were getting impatient with want filling your brain. sungchan was a masochist in this way, making himself wait to fuck you until he couldn’t take it anymore. you’re sure it had something to do with the guilt of cheating on his girlfriend. you figured that when sungchan screwed his eyes shut as he dragged your hips against his that he was trying to convince himself to leave your apartment. maybe he was pretending that you were his girlfriend. these were the things you only wanted to think about when he wasn’t there, not wen his dick was pressed against you like this.
“sungchan.” you whimpered.
he opened his large doe eyes to look at you. you leaned into him closely, until your lips touched his ear.
“please fuck me.” you whispered.
sungchan lifted his hips to take off his underwear and you helped him push it off with your feet.
sungchan takes his dick in his hand and you grab it too. he has to close his eyes again to let out a content sigh. something about the way you touched him just felt so nice, something he wasn’t sure he deserved to experience. but every night you let him in, so he must have earned it somehow.
“i love when you hold it.” sungchan said. 
his voice was barely above a whisper, having to use all his effort to hold the moans back.
“you like it alot?” you said, giving his dick short pumps for emphasis.
sungchan nodded. he should really stop using the word love around you.
“i like it alot.” sungchan moaned.
“can i put it in baby?” you ask. 
your voice has become whiny too. sungchan uses his hand to quickly guide himself inside of you and pushes your hips down to take all of him. you are moaning into the crook of his neck as you slowly take all of him.
“you’re so tight.” sungchan says. ”should’ve fingered you first. i’m sorry.”
“don’t apologize. it feels so good.” you whimper.
knowing that you feel good goads sungchan on. he lets you adjust only for a moment before rocking his hips back into you, pulling his face away from yours to see your reaction. he can feel himself throbbing at the way you clench around him, the way your eyes close from the pleasure.
“just wanna make you feel good.” sungchan says. 
“you always make me feel good.” you say. 
you start moving your hips the same way sungchan moves his, meeting him in the middle. you bring a hand to rest on his and sungchan’s and. he holds it.
sungchan can hear your bed creak under the weight and movement of your bodies. there were times sungchan would have your bed screaming for mercy, threatening to break underneath his harsh thrusts as he fucked you. he loved the sound of the harsh creaking, wearing it like a badge of honor. but he loved this sound move—light and constant like rain. 
sugnchan couldn’t comprehend why he felt so at peace rocking into you. he brought your head from his neck to rest your forehead against his. you opened your eyes to look at him and sungchan could see his reflection in your blown out pupils. the sight makes him desperate, it brings him closer to his euphoria.
“she doesn’t treat me like you do.” sungchan said. 
your eyes didn’t change as you processed what he said.
“i know.” you said simply. “harder. please.”
sungchan lets himself thrust into you a little harder, throwing off the tempo you both had fallen into. the soft creak of the bed changes to something a little harsher. sungchan’s large hand is placed over yours on his hip and he digs the pads of his fingers into your hip bone. sungchan hold your eye contact as your hips still.
“i wish you were mine.” sungchan moans between his thrusts.
you clench around him and you cry out. you don’t know if it’s from his confession, the spot he hit, or a mixtue of both. regardless, it has you digging your nails into sungchan’s skin as a tear falls on his face.
“i wish you were, too.” you confess.
you start moving your hips again
“i would leave her if it meant i could have you.”
you shake your head at his words. you’re too close, too emotional to hear things sungchan might just be saying because he’s horny and lonely. you know that this ends with him going back until next time. so you grab a handful of his hair and tug lightly. you know sungchan loves the pain by the way he pulses inside of you.
“don’t think about her, just me.” you say breathlessly into his ear. you wished that what you said came off as jealousy. but both you and sungchan know that you are the one who occupies his mind. “cum for me, sungchan.” 
you swear you hear sungchan say i love you as he releases inside of you. he holds you tight. as he takes the lead fucking into you, his teeth biting into your sweaty skin. you have to grip the sheets beside sungchan’s head to steady yourself as he fucks you deep and hard. his thrusts and whines of your name has you cumming too. sungchan fucks you well after his orgasm, making sure you can feel the same pleasure he felt. you can’t stop yourself from kissing his forehead after breaking apart from his lips. you kiss the hair that sticks to his forehead from the sweat and the apple of his cheeks. you kiss his teeth as his pulls of of you, and he brings you into a passionate kiss as you feel him seeping out of you. 
sungchan keeps you on top of him, loving how he feels underneath your weight. you’re comforting and warm surrounding him completely. he doesn’t have any regrets about telling you he loves you, only that he wishes he said it louder so you could’ve heard it. maybe next time he will say it to you while you still have your clothes on. maybe he would tell you after taking you out on a proper date. sungchan wants to hold you there forever, he wants to cry when you slide your sticky body off of his to lay in the bed beside him.
laying there in silence with sungchan was too comforting. although your breath had settled back to its normal pace your heart was hammering in your chest. you thought it would burst if you continued to think about his offer just as you started thinking about sungchan’s offer snd how warm his hand was when he grabbed yours. you had to constantly tell yourself that you held sungchan’s hand for his benefit alone. you told yourself that he needed the innocent contact and the intimacy that came with it. you told yourself that he needed you to grip his hand a little tighter, that he needed you to turn to your side to look him in the eyes. you told yourself these lies to rationalize why you delicately brush his hair out of his face and why you scoot closer to him. 
you think about his offer again, how this could be your view every night. you would never put him through the emotional turmoil your friend put him through. maybe sungchan could be the thing that finally pushed you to cut her off completely. you could only imagine the rumors she would spread about you. it was hard to think it wouldn’t be worth it when sungchan brought you into his chest.
sungchan’s phone went off and you instinctively freed yourself from his embrace. as you sat up on the bed letting your legs dangle over the side you could feel sungchan’s eyes bore holes into your skin. the phone continued to ring. you put on your most comforting voice before looking over your shoulder at him.
“you can answer it. i don’t mind.”
sungchan doesn’t do anything but sigh before reaching to the bedside table.
“hey.” sungchan says quietly into the phone. 
the happiness in his voice was completely gone and the tender atmosphere in your room vanished. it suddenly felt so cold and sungchan felt so far away from you. 
you could hear the dull murmur of your friend on the other end of the line. you weren’t sure what she was saying exactly, but you could get the gist through sungchan’s responses.
where are you?
sungchan looked at you before turning away to focus on the phone call.
“i’m at eunseok’s.” sungchan said.
you got up from the bed to put on the rest of your clothes. you were as quiet as you possibly could be, trying not to make any sounds that would be picked up by the phone.
why is your location off?
“where else would i go?” sungchan asked. 
he looked at you as he asked the question. you held eye contact for a split second before pulling your pants up your legs.
are you ready to apologize yet?
“we aren’t going to talk about what happened first?”
you aren’t sure what your friend said next. all you know is that sungchan pulled the phone away from his ear to grimace. you could hear your friend got louder over the phone, the speakers peaking from the yelling. 
you couldn’t stand to see sungchan so distressed so you left the room. you walked into the living room, picking up clothes that were strewn around in the heat of the moment. you took sungchan’s clothes out of the dryer, gathering his shirt and pants in your hands to bring it back to him. 
you don’t know what was said after you left your bedroom, but you came back to sungchan gathering his things. you handed him his clothes, trying to seem as indifferent as possible. 
“we are going to talk it out.” sungchan said.
“that’s good.” you said.
the notion that sungchan would inevitably go back always made moments like these awkward. where he would change out of his clothes and you had to think up a question to make it seem like your friend was being rational. you started choosing silence, just telling sungchan what he needed to hear to go back to her.
sungchan got dressed and left your bedroom. you followed behind him, staring at his back as you two went through your routine. he gathered the remainder of his things, slipping his phone into his back pocket and taking his keys off your command center. he would look at you with his puppy dog eyes, silently begging you to tell him to stay. you looked at him back the same way, silently begging him to out himself first for once.
something felt different when you opened the door for sungchan this time. sungchan lingered a little longer in your door way, looking at your ball up fists at your side. you looked at him too, wondering what was going to happen next. you thought you were going to draw blood from your nails digging into your palms. the tension was undecipherable and thick, making your mind hazy. 
you mind was cleared when sungchan closed the distance between the two of you. he kissed you desperately, and you reciprocated. your movements were even hastier than his, fisting the fabric of his white tee and leaning back so he was towering over you. sungchan wrapped his arms around your back and brought you closer.
you still had your lips puckered when sungchan pulled away from you. he looked down at you, adoration all over his face. his hands that wrapped around were moved to enclose your hands. he brought them to his face before kissing the back of your hands. sungchan looked scared, going over something in his mind a million times.
“can i stay here with you tonight?” sungchan asked.
you couldn’t stop your eyes from widening. his grip on his hands only tightened and you understood how nervous he felt. that’s why you immediately squeezed his hands back and nodded. sungchan pulled you into another kiss, this time slow and passionate. you closed the door and smiled into the kiss.
you were a bad friend.
sungchan was an even worse ex-boyfriend.
644 notes · View notes
awfcspencer · 4 months
Text
A Step Behind || awfc x reader
Tumblr media
awfc x teen!reader
prompt: School is not your cup of tea.
warnings: self-doubt, crying, fluff at the end though
a/n: isn’t it crazy i wrote this while procrastinating my homework, crazy huh. enjoy!
School was never your strong suit, instead of being locked inside a classroom for hours and hours to listen to your teachers ramble on and on, you would rather spend your time outside on the football pitch. It’s not a lack of effort, because you sure tried to excel on your homework and exams, you would stay up late to try to study and focus, but your brain would get jumbled up and you could not retain information to save your life. It just felt you were always behind a step from your peers and it felt like they were all smarter than you, so why try? Always trying to even begin to grasp a concept and the teacher has already moved on to the next lesson. You had completely stopped doing your assignments and on some days, even stopped showing up.
Unfortunately, signing an Arsenal contract at a young age, the club forced to you to complete your studies and graduate. This felt like an impossible accolade, you hated school and apparently, school hated you too. The classroom felt like a prison and you were a felon. Luckily, you were able to transfer to an online school, but your inability to focus mixed with insecurities of stupidness and failure, you still were not doing well in your classes. Even though you spent every waking second that you weren’t on the pitch trying to submit work.
Right after training today, you set up a work station in the lounge, hoping to have some peace and quiet as exam week was coming up and you had to pass to finish school, finally. Headphones on, computer and notes out, you were ready to start knocking out your growing to-do list for the day. Until you heard an irish accent that was all too familiar.
“Y/N!!!” Come out to the pitch, Caitlin and Kyra are going to teach us some Australian rugby” Katie pleaded with you as she came into the lounge. It sounded like she was not going to be taking ‘no’ as an answer. You had yet to make a single dent in your coursework, but how could you pass up the opportunity to escape school?
“Oh I am so in.” you tell her, throwing your headphones out and shutting your computer. Right before you could make it outside the door, you hear your name being called.
“Y/N” you turn to see it is Leah calling your name, using her finger for you to come to her.
“Leah lay off, let her come playyyyy” Katie whined like a two year old that was denied a snack before dinner.
“Yeah listen to Katie!” you said as you tried to convince her to let you have some fun, knowing whatever she was about to say to probably wasn’t about to be fun.
“Katie, run out. Y/N needs to complete her coursework” Leah sternly stated. Once the words left her mouth, the smile that was previously on your face left in an instant. Once again, school coming around to ruin not only your mood but also your day.
Leah pulled your arm back into the lounge where Beth and Viv were standing in. Upon seeing your teammates, you knew they weren’t here to just lounge around. Leah ushered you two sit back at your designated school spot. The girls all took a seat, great now an intervention.
“Y/N, your online professors contacted the club and mentioned how you are behind on every single one of your classes. Some said you haven’t even submitted some of the assignments.” Leah said out, a tone of anger and disappointment in her voice.
They just didn’t get it, not everyone is good at school. You tried, tried, and tried to be someone who was ‘smart’ and did their work on time and always received the best marks, but that wasn’t you. Lessons were far from easy and the work you submitted, that you would spend days groveling over, would receive low marks and your teachers would write comments that shot down your confidence. It seemed like you could never catch up and you hit a point where you were so far behind that it felt physically impossible and overwhelming to catch up. The thoughts forming in your head caused tears to begin to well into your eyes.
“Im trying. I am trying to hard. But I am just stupid I guess.” you choked out to the girls who were now staring wide eyes at you. You were never a crier, usually keeping your emotions at bay, and you were typically always smiling and laughing.
“Liefde, please don’t say that about yourself.” Viv immediately cooed out, meeting you at you chair and holding you in for a hug.
You didn’t want to be in her arms, they all knew you were dumb and they were all disappointed in you, just like your teachers. “No Viv, it’s true. Everything takes me longer to understand. I can’t manage to focus through a 60 minute lesson, I turn my homework in late because it takes me so long. Everyone in the class is so much smarter than me. They deserve to graduate, not me.” you cried out. Your emotions had taken over you, everything you had been feeling in the last few months was coming to the surface.
“Y/N baby, why didn’t you come to us? We could have helped you when you were struggling.” Beth emphasized.
“I didn’t want you guys to know, it’s embarrassing that I can’t even finish secondary school!” you choked out. This is exactly what you didn’t want to happen. You thought they would all look at you differently now, if you were bad at school, maybe they thought you would be bad on the pitch too.
“Y/N it is not embarrassing to ask for help! Never, ever, be embarrassed to ask for help. That is what we are here for as your teammates and as your family.” Leah explained to you. Her voice was now laced with understanding and compassion. A group hug was had after as you had settled down and you started to now try to begin working on your work, the girls close by when you had questions.
Throughout the next few days, there would always be a teammate in the lounge, ready to answer any questions you had and proofread anything you were ready to submit. Alessia and Lotte were particularly helpful as they had graduated from university and always had the proper answers. Beth would always bring you a coffee on particularly hard days when she noticed the work was getting slightly difficult for you. Leah was on the tougher side, wanting you to explain why the answer was the answer rather than just giving you the answer.
After a few short weeks where you were now starting to hit your strides in your coursework, you had completely finished. All of the Arsenal girls gathered around you as you clicked submit on your final essay.
Beth quickly blindfolded you as she basically picked you up and lead you to what you assumed was a different room. When she removed your blindfold, you are met with a massive party. Balloons and streamers spread across the room and a cake that said ‘You did it’. The girls had thrown you a party to celebrate. Tears begin to brim in your eyes. Completing school was not an easy task for you, but alongside your teammates, you finally did it. You were simply the luckiest girl in the world.
“Thank you guys! This really means a lot” you smiled and happily said.
“We knew you could do it!” Leah added, pulling you in for a long, warm hug.
507 notes · View notes
faefictions · 4 months
Text
Snow in Indiana
Eddie Munson x Reader
5.7k words
Eddie has spent the past decade thinking about the pen pal he lost touch with, but fate has a funny way of bringing people back together when they need it most
Warnings: family death (unedited bc it is 3am and I have been working on this for hours)
Tumblr media
“Dear Eddie, 
Does it Snow in Indiana?” 
He had read the beginning of the note hundreds of times by now. He had memorized how each individual letter had been written and slightly smudged. He knew the entire contents of the letter by heart, but that never stopped him from coming back to it from time to time. 
“My grandma hasn’t told me much about Hawkins, just that it’s just like home. Except it’s on the other side of the country. Grandma likes the snow, so I hope you say yes.” 
Something about the innocent nature of your writing calmed him down when things got rough. He had received the note in the middle of August at the beginning of 6th grade. Your grandmother had just moved across the country, and she just so happened to be the Librarian at Eddie’s new middle school. She had told both of you that the other could use a friend, even if you were thousands of miles apart. She also insisted that being pen pals would improve both of your lackluster reading and writing skills. She meant well. 
“Can I tell you the truth? I didn’t want to write you a letter when grandma called and told me I should. My teachers say I’m not good at writing anyway. But Grandma also said maybe you and I could be friends. And I think I would like that.” 
Some of your words had been crossed out with pen, either from misspellings or second thoughts on phrasing. Eddie had stared at the paper for so long that he even knew what was underneath those scribbles. 
When the snow started coming down each winter, it was hard for him to not want to keep the letter on him at all times. The opening line of your first letter to him always floated into his head with the first snowflakes. 
He had written you back to assure you that it does snow in Indiana, that he too had troubles with pleasing his teachers with his school work, and of course, that he too would like to be friends. 
That was over 10 years ago now. He had never met you, never heard your voice, never learned what you looked like (besides the poorly drawn picture you had included for him one time) but you had been a part of him for his middle school years. 
The letters started slowing down in the 8th grade. You had told him you were nervous for high school, that you’d heard that kids were meaner there. The last letter he had sent you was in the summer before both of your freshman years. He hated that he couldn’t remember what he had said, what his last words to you were. All he knew was that he wished you luck for your first day. 
Then the letters stopped completely. After months of checking mailboxes impatiently, he got the hint and gave up. 
At the age of 24, he wishes he sent another letter. He wishes he got some closure on why you stopped writing. He had always wondered if it had been something he had said, or maybe you had just found new friends in high school and decided you didn’t need him anymore. 
He was embarrassed to admit that it was his first heartbreak. So he refused to admit it even happened to anyone he knew now. 
He tucked the old letter in his pocket as another patron entered the diner. He had picked up a second job as the night cook in hopes of saving up enough to to move out of the trailer with Wayne. It had been months of helping Wayne with bills now, and he was just barely starting to see the hard work pay off in his savings account. 
He peeked out the pass through window to get a glimpse of the first customer they’d had in the last hour and a half. The snow had been coming down hard, and it was preventing the already few people who would be coming in to the diner at this hour from showing up. He wasn’t surprised to see the young woman, somewhere around his age, follow the waitress quickly to the booth in the corner and sit down. He was, however, surprised to see no new car in the small lot outside. He hadn’t seen headlights arrive or depart to drop her off. The snow that has accumulated on her hair, even thought it has been covered with a hood, was making him think she had walked a distance to get here. If the counter hadn’t been blocking his view, he would have seen the bottom of her pants completely soaked through from the snow piled outside to confirm his suspicion. 
“Can you start on a stack of pancakes, Ed?”
He nodded at the waitress, Judy, who wasn’t usually one to whisper like she was now. She rushed off to the phone in the back office, which did nothing but pique the interest in Eddie’s under stimulated brain. 
Curiosity got the best of him, so he made his way out of the kitchen quickly, grabbed a mug from the counter and the full coffee pot, and made his way over the girl in the corner. 
You had been staring out the window, and Eddie recognized the look as he approached. You were doing your best to hold yourself together. He was used to this kind of customer at this time of night. People who really needed the company, who had nowhere else to go, often found their way here after midnight. But there was something different about you, and it wasn’t just that he had never seen you around town. No matter how hurt he could tell you were inside, you did your best to keep up a facade when you saw him approaching. 
“Coffee?” he offered, less poised than he had intended.
“Please,” you smiled up at him as he set down the mug and poured. He allowed himself to take you in, and that’s when he saw the snow still caked on to your sneakers, and the damp cloth stretching from the hem above your ankle nearly up to your knees. There was snow yet to melt from head to toe, and you were trying your best not to shake from the cold. 
“You walk here?” He tried to make light conversation as he chuckled, but you weren’t as chipper. 
“My car broke down about a mile up the road. Walking was my only option,” You tried to keep the smile on your face, but Eddie saw the look, almost like a shunned child. As if you were embarrassed by what you had done, preparing for the lecture or consequence coming your way. 
Before he could say anything, Judy returned from the back office. 
“Tow truck won’t be running ’til morning, darlin’. But I left a message telling them you’d call first thing,” Judy gave you a halfhearted smile, before turning to Eddie, “Where’s that stack I told you to start on?” 
“Right, sorry,” he quickly excused himself back to the kitchen, but did his best to listen for the conversation you were having on the other side of the room. 
“Where are you staying tonight? I can try to get you a ride there.” 
“My grandma’s house, well it used to be I guess. I think it’s just a few more miles into town, I’m not a hundred percent sure though, I’ve never been out here.” 
“Used to be your grandma’s house?”
“Yeah, she, uhm… passed away not long ago. Hard to own something six feet under,” you tried to joke, but failed to make either of you laugh, “Funeral service is next week, I came early to pack up her things. Guess I chose the wrong day to drive in though.” 
“I’d say. Well let me see what I can do, do you have the address?” 
“Yeah, it’s right…” you trailed off as you checked your pocket, slowly coming to realize that you had left the torn piece of paper with the address written on it on your passenger seat, right on top of the map you were struggling to follow in the heavy snow. “Guess I left it in the car.” 
Just as the realization was threatening to break you, Eddie came and set a fresh stack of 3 pancakes in front of you. 
“You eat up, it’s on the house. And let me know if you remember any of that address,” Judy smiled at you and walked into the back before you could refuse the free pancakes.
Eddie watched you for the next hour through the pass through window. No other customers came in, so he didn’t exactly have anything better to do. It was nearing 4 am, the end of Eddie’s shift. He had cleaned his station in the kitchen faster than he ever had and made his way out to your table to check on your before he left. 
“Any luck with that address?”
“Don’t think I’d remember it with a gun to my head. I might as well walk back and grab it.” 
“Not a chance. My shift is over in a few minutes. Why don’t I drive you back to your car, you can grab it, and I can get you there.”
“I couldn’t possibly-“
“No need to be polite. You’ve had a rough enough night, let’s just get you home.”
You didn’t correct his phrasing. This was the furthest you had ever been from home, and you were sure as hell feeling that in this strange diner with barely a concept of where you were. The snow falling outside only exacerbated your feeling of being out of place. 
Eddie rushed to the back to grab his belongings and wish Judy a good night, letting her know he was going to get you out of there, before he made his way back out to you. You had brought the hood of your sweatshirt back up, and were staring out at the snow silently. He approached cautiously and gently spoke, “Let’s get out of here,” before guiding you through the door. 
“I’m Eddie, by the way. Sorry I didn’t properly introduce myself earlier.” 
You paused at his name, but he was too busy trying to find his van through the wall of snow to notice. 
“I’m y/n, thanks again for helping. You and Judy are both angels.” 
He smiled at your name for a moment, but kicked the idea from his mind. 
Both of you thought of the letters you had sent all those years ago, unaware that the person climbing into the same car as you was in fact the person you were reminiscing on. 
Eddie shook the snow out of his hair like a wet dog before starting the van. 
“Left out of the lot?” 
“Yeah,” you smiled. 
“You know, I’ve helped fix up a few cars in my day. I could take a look under the hood for you when we get there if you’d like.”
“You’re already helping enough, thank you though.”
“I really don’t mind. Can’t hurt just to take a look.” 
The glance and smile he shot you made your stomach do flips. In the low light of the passing, sparse streetlights, he looked incredibly handsome. Your mind wandered back to what you thought your Eddie looked like back in middle school. You had sent him a drawing of yourself, mostly as a joke since your drawing skills as a 12 year old weren’t amazing, but you were also trying to send him the message that you desperately wanted to know him better. Of course, when your grandmother had insisted you become pen pals with a strange boy, you weren’t too happy about the idea, but as time went on, the sound of a friend sounded too nice. You hadn’t had many of them in elementary school, and it concerned your family. But as your friendship with Eddie grew with each letter, you found yourself hoping for something, anything, more. Now, as an adult, you blame your adolescent brain for the silly crush. But that didn’t stop you from thinking about him from time to time, still wondering what he might be doing in that moment, or if he is happy. But most of all, you wondered if he missed you as much as you missed him. 
“You doing alright over there?” he asked you over the quiet metal playing over the speakers. He was playing it at about 1% of the volume he usually listened at, in an attempt to not scare you off just yet. 
“Yeah, just a long night,” you smiled back at him. He nearly assured you that you could be real with him, that he could tell that something more was bothering you, but he worried that would be coming on too strong. And before he could find a way to say it without sounding creepy, you pointed out your car on the side of the road with a sigh. 
It had only been a couple hours since you had left it, but it was nearly buried in the snow. 
“That’s a little more difficult to check out,” He chuckled as he pulled to the side of the road, lighting up your car with his headlights. 
“It’s fine, I’ll just go grab the address and we can get going,” you tried not to sigh as you opened the passenger door. 
“Wait a second,” Eddie reached for your hand before you could make it out of the car, “I’m fine with taking a look, and I can grab the address too. No need for you to get cold again.” 
“I already walked a mile in the snow earlier, I don't think a minute out there will kill me.”
“All the more reason for you to stay in here if you ask me.”
“Fine, but skip looking under the hood. I can call the tow truck when I wake up, it should be fine until then. Even if you could fix it with nothing, I don’t think I should be driving any more today.”
“Long trip?”
“Since 8 am. I really just want to get to sleep.”
“Deal,” he smiled again before stretching his hand out to you, “Keys?”
You reluctantly let him have the keys to go grab the paper, but not before trying to assure him you were capable of grabbing it yourself. You watched him as he rushed as fast as he could through the near foot of snow, grabbed the address, and rushed back to the van. 
“You didn’t lock it,” you stated, nervous to not to sound nagging. 
“I know, do you have a bag or something I can grab for you?”
“Oh, yeah, I’m sorry.” 
“Don’t be, where is it?”
“It’s in the back seat on the passenger side. It’s a small black suitcase.”
“You got it, here, take this,” he handed you the torn paper with your grandmother’s previous address written on it in a handwriting that would have been familiar to him, had he glanced down at it. 
He ran back to grab your suitcase, and made sure to double check that the doors had locked after he shut them before he rushed back to the van. He threw your suitcase in the backseat before jumping back into the drivers seat. 
“I don’t know how you lasted a mile in that, I’m already freezing,” he complained, but his smile still refused to leave his face. 
“I’m sorry,” you tried yet again to apologize. 
“Don’t be,” he paused to look you in the eye to assure you that he wasn’t upset in the slightest, “Now let’s see that address. Hopefully I actually know where it is.”
You handed him the paper, and even in the low light, you couldn’t miss the way his face fell, even for a millisecond. He hadn’t seemed to stop smiling all night, but the second he saw the paper, it faltered for just a moment. 
“Everything ok?” 
He looked up at you, and you could tell he wanted to say something, but thought better of it. 
“Yeah, uhm, this is on the other side of town though. It’s a bit of a drive, is that ok?”
“I’d rather drive a little further than stay in my car tonight. So yeah, it’s fine,” you giggled, relieved that he didn’t seem angry or annoyed with you like you thought. 
But he had seen the handwriting. He would know it anywhere, yet he still wouldn’t let himself get caught up in the coincidences. You were just a girl with similar handwriting, and the same name. You weren’t his y/n. He could never be so lucky. 
“So, what brings you to town?” he asked after a moment of driving. 
“It isn’t the happiest story, and I don’t want to be a bummer.” 
“I’m nosey, and that does nothing to curb my interest,” he joked. He just needed to prod, he needed to know if he was being crazy. 
“My grandma passed… about a week ago now. Her funeral is next week, but someone needed to clean up her house for the service, and no one else wanted to make the drive out.” 
“Do you have any other family in the area to help out?”
“No, she only had 2 sons. My dad and my uncle, and they’re both back west. She moved here, like, 12 years ago now I think. Maybe 13.” 
Just another coincidence. He’s not this lucky. 
“I’m sorry for your loss.”
You looked at him out of the corner of your eyes. You hadn’t heard that yet. Just stressed adults complaining about how traveling in the winter was too much of a hassle. Hearing those words, from a near stranger no less, was enough to make you tear up. And Eddie could hear that in your voice when you thanked him, but he chose not to comment on it. 
“So,” you began after a moment of awkward silence, “How long have you lived in Hawkins?”
“My whole life.”
“Do you like it here?”
“Uh… It has its moments,” he tried his best to hide his discontent with the town. If it weren’t for his uncle, his band, and his small group of friends, he would have ran for the hills by now. He was too attached to them to run… and also lacking the funds to do so. 
“That good huh?” you laughed. 
“Hate to sound like an ass, but there are definitely plenty of cons that outweigh the pros for me half the time. But that’s not everyone’s experience.”
“Grandma seemed to like it, but she also liked it back home, and it’s no cake walk back there.” 
You almost spat the end of your sentence, and although it wasn’t spoken explicitly, Eddie understood. 
“Sorry, I don’t mean to keep bringing the conversation down. It’s just been a really long week.”
“I believe it,” He paused, “So how long are you going to be staying in town then?”
“I have no idea. Rumor is Grandma left me the house. And even if she did…. I’m sorry, I’ve been awake for almost 24 hours now, and driving for over 15 of them. I know you really don’t need to hear any of this.” 
You started to make your body as small as possible, hyper aware of how loudly you had been speaking, and how riled up you were getting. Your father would have hated to see it. But not Eddie. 
“No, keep going. Like I said, I’m nosey, and it sounds like you could use someone to talk to about this.” 
“You sure?”
“Yeah,” he agreed nonchalantly, unaware how much it meant to you. 
“My grandma and I were really close before she moved. She didn’t get along with either of her sons, but she was the world to me as a kid. And my dad put up no effort to even reach out to her in the past decade, but he expects all of her stuff to be left to him, and my uncle wants the same. But my mom told me that one of them had reason to believe that she left it all to me. I don’t even know where they heard it, and don’t get me wrong, I’m not ungrateful, I promise. I just don’t know what to do about the two grown men that she apparently left out of the will if that’s true, and how mad they’re going to be at me.” 
“They wouldn’t be mad at you.” 
“You don’t know my dad,” you scoffed. You knew damn well that the man wasn’t afraid of throwing a tantrum, especially if it came to money. And he wouldn’t care if you were the one getting hurt in the process. 
“What would they have to be mad at you for though? For your Grandma loving you enough to leave you something to start your life on? How is that your fault?”
“It doesn’t matter if it��s my fault, they just care that they get their share. If it’s left to me, I might as well just divvy it up before they say anything.”
“But that’s not what you want, is it?”
“I just don’t want to have any issue with them.” 
“I’m sorry, that’s not fair to you.” 
“You really need to stop being so nice, you’re going to make me cry,” you chuckled, genuinely fighting back the tears as you spoke. 
“Sorry,” he chuckled back. He took a subject before continuing. “Have you seen the house? Like have you ever visited?”
“No, actually. Who knows, maybe it’s a real fixer upper and I’d be better off passing it on to my uncle,” you giggled, and that put the smile back on Eddie’s face. 
“If I didn’t mess up the address, it should just be in this next neighborhood.”
You kept saying that all you wanted was to get some rest after your long day, but now that you were talking to Eddie, you didn’t want the drive to end. The disappointment hit you like a rock as he pulled into the driveway of your grandmothers old house, but the feeling quickly turned to something else as you looked out the window to see the beautiful 2 story house with large trees on either side. 
“So much for the fixer upper theory,” Eddie said with a whistle, but you were speechless. This was much more than you had been anticipating, much nicer than you had spent your younger years picturing every time you missed your grandma. 
“You ok?” he asked after a moment of silence. 
“Oh, yeah. Sorry, I was just taking it in,” you chuckled nervously, still staring at the house. 
“Why don’t we get you inside?” He said, reaching in the back for your suitcase. You put a hand gently on his arm to stop him, and he looked up to see your nearly empty stare, still on the building in front of you. 
“Can you give me just a minute? I’m sorry, I know it’s late.” 
“No, it’s fine… Are you ok?”
“Yeah…Yeah, It just,” you trailed off for a moment, “I hadn’t seen her in years. Had no idea what her house looked like, or what she looked like anymore. I got letters, I got calls, but… Part of all this didn’t feel as real. Going in there, that’s real.” 
“Want me to come in with you?”
“No, that’s fine. I just need a second.” 
“Have you ever lost anyone before?”
You didn’t answer, just shook your head as you moved your eyes from the house to him. 
“Let me walk you in. You shouldn’t be alone for that.” 
You looked back at the house for a moment, took a deep breath, and nodded your head. 
Eddie carried your suitcase through the front door, and you both kicked off your shoes before stepping on the carpet. You took a deep breath before reaching for the light switch. Eddie sensed your hesitation as your fingers hovered. He took the opportunity to grab the fingers of your other hand. It gave you enough courage to turn on the light in the entry way. 
The furniture was mostly unfamiliar. You could see a few pieces in the living room that you had remembered from your childhood, and the sense of nostalgia calmed you. Eddie let you walk ahead of him, letting go of your hand as you ventured further into the room. Slowly but surely, you made your way to a wall on the other side of the room. It was covered in pictures, new and old, of your grandma with family and friends. You recognized yourself in plenty of them, but the newer ones were the ones that you couldn’t stop looking at. She looked so much older that you had remembered, but still had the youthful glow to her that you had attributed to her mischievousness. No matter how old she got, how wrinkled her face grew, or how gray her had and gotten, you still recognized her. Part of your heart began to ache for not knowing her as she was before she passed. It had been so long. 
You felt Eddie approach you from behind, and you expect him to say something nice, or encouraging. But he didn’t. He was surprisingly quiet. You turned to make sure he was alright, but he didn’t seem fine. He was staring at one of the photos on the wall, and he looked like he was about to be sick.
“Are you ok, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Uh, yeah,” he replied, still white as a sheet as he tore his eyes from the photo to look at you. He barely shot you a half smile before looking back up at the pictures. You took a step back to stand next to him. 
“I just remembered that she worked at the middle school when she moved here. Did you know her?”
“Yeah.”
“…Did you like her?” you tried asking after waiting for him to say anything more. 
“Yeah, she introduced me to my best friend.”
“Me too,” you smiled at the memory of your old pen pal. 
“Someone back home?”
“No, actually. I probably shouldn’t refer to him as that still. We haven’t spoken in… years actually.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said, finally peeling his eyes away from the photos on the wall. 
He should have said more, but he didn’t know what else to say. This was her. He was in shock. The girl he had spent the last decade wondering about had wandered into his diner. His thoughts were moving a mile a minute, he felt like he could physically hear them, and it was hard to focus on anything you had possibly said. But luckily, you weren’t saying much. 
He followed you like a ghost as you explored the first floor of the house. You were happy you had arrived before anyone else. You had the chance to see the house how she had left it, how she had lived in it. It gave you a sense of closure you weren’t going to get otherwise, it felt as if you were getting a sense of knowing her once again. You were caught up in it until you saw a clock on the wall, reading nearly 5 am. Realization hit you that you were keeping Eddie, and a sense of guilt washed over you. You turned to find him, with a bit of color returned to his face. 
“It’s really late, I’m sorry I’ve kept you. You can go home if you’d like. I’m sure you want to get some rest too after your shift.” 
He took a second, before asking, “Are you sure you’ll be alright?” And you hesitated before nodding. 
“Honestly, the roads are pretty bad out there. I could stay on the couch, help you figure out your car in the morning. How does that sound?”
He way have been a complete stranger just hours ago, but you really did feel like you could trust him. So you smiled and nodded. 
“I’ll go find some blankets for you,” you smiled before disappearing up the stairs. Eddie didn’t expect you to come back for a while. You were bound to find your grandmothers bedroom and need to look around for a while. He made his way back to the living room while he waited. He stared at the wall again, but not in shock this time. Now that he knew was 24 year old you looked like, he desperately want to see what 12 year old you looked like. He found a picture near the middle of the wall, of a young girl smiling at the camera. It was the only photo on the wall without your grandmother in it. She had your eyes, had your smile, but most importantly, she actually looked like the drawing he had received all those years ago. You weren’t as bad of an artist as you’d thought. Eddie tried not to grow emotional staring at the photo. He only tore his eyes away from the picture of younger you when he heard you making your way back down the stairs.
Before you could reach Eddie, you paused by the window next to the back door, blankets in hand. The snow coated the back yard, reflecting the light from the back porch into the sky. You began to tear up, just as Eddie approached to take the blankets from you. He saw one of the first tears fall down your cheek, and quickly, but gently put an arm around you. 
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing, just… Is this what it looks like every winter?” you asked, looking up at him with misty eyes. 
“For parts of it, yeah. Why?”
“Grandma loved the snow,” was all you could reply before looking back out at the yard. 
He contemplated it for a second, fought himself on whether or not this was the right moment to say it, but he couldn’t help himself. 
“I told you she’d like it here” 
A moment passed as you processed what he had said. You gasped quietly, quickly turning your head to face him. He looked nervous, as if he had just handed his heart to you on a platter, waiting to see if you would reject it. 
“Eddie?” you asked cautiously, and you both knew what the question really was. 
“Yeah,” he nodded, still nervous and unable to read what you were thinking. 
“You stopped writing,” was all you could get out before another tear dropped. 
“What?”
“Y-you stopped writing,” you repeated, beginning to choke on your breathes as you spoke. 
He nearly panicked as he tried to reply. 
“Y/n, w-what do you mean? I only stopped writing when you stopped replying.”
“Oh my god, it’s really you,” you couldn’t stop looking at him, another tear dropping down your cheek. Your exhaustion was exaggerating your emotions, but you may have felt the same regardless. You had waited 12 years for this moment. 
“Yeah. Why don’t we go sit down,” he smiled at you, before herding you towards the couch. 
“Y/n,” he spoke softly as he crouch in front of you, one hand resting on each of your knees as you sat on the couch, “What do you mean I stopped writing?”
“I sent you a letter, you never replied.”
“That’s impossible, I waiting for months to hear back from you. There’s no way I missed a letter from you.”
“No, I sent one, and I waited, but you never replied. You broke my heart Eds,” you quietly began to sob, filled with too many mixed emotions. 
Eddie quickly sat next to you on the couch and pulled you to his chest to comfort you the best he could, but he was still confused. He had checked his own mailbox, his neighbors mailboxes, other houses in town with the same street number as his trailer. This didn’t add up. He quietly shushed you as he thought. 
“What did the last letter say?” he asked as you began to calm down just slightly. He had half the collection of your letters memorized, but especially the first and last. He would know if he had read it if you described it. 
“It was before Freshman year, I told you how scared I was that all the kids were going to be mean. I was so afraid that I was going to get singled out for still having no friends, and I waited for months to hear back from you. But you never wrote back. You were my only friend, and you stopped writing.”
“No, sweetheart, I would never,” he sighed as his heart dropped. He got that letter, he replied to it. Which meant that she never got his last letter. Neither of them had stopped writing on purpose, they had both assumed the other had given up. But he had sent out one last letter that was unaccounted for.
“Sweetheart, can you look at me,” he gently guided you to look up at him, “I promise you, I wrote back. I don’t know what happened to it, but I never would have stopped writing like that. I thought you had just ignored my last letter.”
“You wrote,” you said quietly, and Eddie couldn’t tell if it was a question, or if you were trying to reassure yourself. 
“I did, I promise,” he whispered as he swept a tear off your cheek with his thumb. 
And though you still needed to know what happened to his letter, and you had had one of the longest days of your life, nothing mattered more to you in that moment than leaning in, slowly. You took a second, pausing right before reaching his lips so he could pull away if he wanted, but he didn’t. It was a quick kiss, but it was gentle and sweet. Eddie didn’t try to pull you in for another, but he didn’t want to part as you pulled away. 
It took him a second to open his eyes again, but when he did, he was smiling just as big as you. 
“You ok?” he asked for what must have been the hundredth time that night. But unlike every other time you had answered, this time you told him the truth. 
“I am now.”
(may or may not be already trying to figure out a part 2 for this, depending on if people like it <3 )
@embrace-themagic @fanficparker  @heartbeats-wildly @saturn-aka-six @calum-hoodwinked-me @peterplanet @mischiefmanaged49 @nicotine-sunshine820 @itsjusttor @emistrash @thenoddingbunny-blog @sovereignparker @raajali3 @eddielives1986 @eddieswifu @chickpeadumpsterfire @fluffybunnyu @panagiasikelia @canthavetoomuchchaos @whenshelanded @starlitlakes @witchwolflea @ali-r3n @g0thdraculaura @celestcies
318 notes · View notes
awearywritersworld · 8 months
Text
late nights and possibilities
gojo satoru x reader summary: a late night run in with the man you thought you hated changes your perception of him entirely w/c: 1.4k tags/warnings: smidge of angst to fluff, smoochin, mentions of trouble sleeping, it's implied that you're a teacher too, gn!reader, platonic!nanami, no use of y/n a/n: no manga spoilers, but all the angst floating around threatened to crush my barely beating heart, so i have crawled out of my hole to write this. masterlist check out my latest work for gojo here
Tumblr media
"i can't stand him, ken," you groan at your friend for what is probably the thousandth time.
he's situated in the arm chair in your apartment, while you're sprawled across the couch.
"mhm," he hums along, his eyes never leaving the book in his lap.
"i'm serious. the next smart ass comment he makes, i'm going to grab him by the neck and-" you make a violent gesture in the space in front of you, huffing frustratedly.
nanami snorts, equally amused and bewildered. they were obvious to him, the repressed feelings shared between you and gojo satoru. in fact, everyone at jujutsu tech was privy to it, save for the pair of you.
it's only when you continue complaining that he finally closes his book, leaning forward to regard you with raised eyebrows.
"are you alright? you only gripe like this if something is really bothering you."
your mouth falls open. "i'm not griping. it's a simple matter of truthful observation."
"yeah, yeah. whatever you say. you're still avoiding the question."
you sigh. "i'm fine. haven't slept well the past few nights is all."
he settles back into the chair, and if you knew him any less, you would have missed the concern that flickers across his features. "any reason why?"
you wave your hand dismissively. "not really, just kinda happens sometimes. it'll pass soon enough." a stifled yawn marks your apparent disinterest in the matter.
he accepts your answer, though not without mumbling something about your habit of drinking caffeine in the evening, then returns to his book.
Tumblr media
as you lay in bed that night, you roll your eyes while thinking back on the conversation. you hadn't one bit of caffeine since the morning, yet you're still condemned to consciousness as the hours grow late.
no matter how tightly you pull the blankets around yourself, you can't get warm enough. and no matter how frequently you adjust your pillows, you can't get comfortable enough.
with a defeated sigh, you eventually throw the covers back, crawling out of bed with the hope that a warm cup of tea and the fireplace in the staff lounge might be able to lull you to sleep.
your feet drag with each step you take and you find yourself thankful it's not too far from your room. rubbing at your eyes, you slide the door open and though you sense another presence, your bleary vision keeps you from seeing them clearly.
once he calls out your name, however, you consider sliding the door shut and resigning yourself to yet another sleepless night. "what are you doing awake? it's two in the morning."
you don't process the uncharacteristic softness of his tone, your response tumbling out of your mouth without much thought. "thanks, big ben. i hadn't noticed."
by now your vision had returned to normal and you see him standing a few meters away, eyeing your obvious hesitation as you stand in the doorway.
you're caught off guard by his worn out appearance, as it's seldom he's anything less than irritatingly chipper.
"sorry," you begin. "i should go back to my room."
"you can stay, if you want." he scratches the back of his neck, his eyes flickering toward the kettle whirring off to the side, apparently sharing in your desire for some tea. "there's enough water for two cups."
"okay," you agree after a moment, though it comes out so quietly you're unsure if he could even hear it.
padding over to the couch in front of the fireplace, you're pleased to find that it's already lit, the soft light from the flames flickering across the walls in a soothing way.
it's not long before he joins you, sitting just a foot or two away and passing you the tea he'd prepared. you can't help but notice how small his cup looks in his hands.
"thanks," you murmur.
it's silent after that, the only sound in the room coming from the crackling of the wood. you briefly entertain a vague notion about how odd it is for the man to be so subdued.
gojo keeps glancing at you from the corner of his eye, observing how the flames dance in your own. you fail to notice.
"i haven't poisoned it, you know," he eventually says.
you jump a little, having spaced out, and look to him before your gaze shifts to your tea. the reassurance makes you narrow your eyes in (mostly) feigned suspicion.
"oh for gods sake." he pulls it from your grasp, taking a sip of it before shoving it back into your hands.
you're not sure what possesses you, but you let out a small giggle at the action. he follows suit, a breathy chuckle passing his lips.
maybe it's the lateness of the hour, or perhaps a touch of sleepy glibness, but easy conversation falls between the two of you after that. he asks you about your latest mission with yuuji, then tells you about a new mochi shop he recently discovered, suggesting that you tag along next time he goes.
the fire isn't nearly as lively now and your tea is long gone, so you reach for a blanket, unfolding it before situating yourself beneath it.
"are you just going to leave me out here all alone in the cold? c'mon now, that's just cruel."
a furious warmth creeps across your cheeks, a small smile tugging at your lips. god, you really are sleep deprived.
"careful," you warn, spreading the blanket over his lap as well. "some people might interpret that as flirting."
"hm, only some? i'll have to work on being less subtle, then." his arm moves to the back of the couch, resting behind your head.
you turn to face him despite the fact that your face now feels even hotter than the dying fire, and for once, you can't seem to think up a witty comeback for the shameless sorcerer.
he thinks the look on your face is just too cute.
then, without any deliberation— as if he had meant to do it all along— he leans forward and kisses you. it's fleeting. so quick, in fact, that if it weren't for the shit eating grin on his face, you'd be questioning whether it happened at all.
ohhhh. you must have fallen asleep at some point and while you're happy to finally get some rest, you could have done without this very strange dream.
"it's not often i see you speechless, sweetheart."
however, when his hand brushes your hair behind your ear, then rests comfortably against your cheek, the goosebumps that spread down your limbs feel very real, indeed. it's the sound of your name falling from his lips that finally grounds you in reality.
the grin is gone from his face, replaced now by a soft, lazy smile. "can i kiss you again?"
you glance down at his lips before nodding almost imperceptibly. "yes."
his mouth finds yours once more and this time, you're struck by how gently his lips press against your own. you hardly notice his hand moving to the back of your neck, the other toward your hip hoping to pull you closer. you're too caught up in how sweet he tastes.
it's a miserable sort of ecstasy, really. the way he feels against you isn't like anything you've ever experienced and it forces you to come to terms with feelings you've spent the last few years trying to deny.
when he pulls away, his expression is one of warm contentment. "can't tell you how long i've been wanting to do that."
"me too," you admit, feeling less shy.
and just like that, you're both back to your easy conversation. you don't know who finds sleep first, or what time it finally happens, but it's a deep and dreamless slumber you fall into...
nanami (who spends a considerable amount of time in the staff lounge for someone who insists he isn't a teacher, but that's beside the point) stumbles upon the two of you the next morning. your head is resting against gojo's chest, your hand on his stomach. his arm is wrapped around you securely and you're both still sleeping soundly beneath the blanket.
the blonde turns around, shutting the door behind him quietly, before venturing off to collect a well earned fifty yen from utahime.
806 notes · View notes
honeypiehotchner · 1 year
Text
gold star (Hotch x Teacher!Reader) -- one shot
Been working on this one for a hot minute oops. Just wanted to say thank y’all for being patient with me always (and we literally hit 5.7k followers even while I’ve been so inactive???? what????). Here’s a longgg dose of fluffy angst <33
Edit: I’m a dumbass and queued this for the wrong day
Summary: You’re Jack’s teacher and Aaron is basically your nemesis. Until he’s not. (Kinda enemies to lovers?)
Warnings: angst! talks of parent death, therapy, bad parenting/emotional neglect, y’know the works. Lots of fluff tho to make up for it. And a happy ending!
WC: ...5.7k-ish
Tumblr media
I love my job. I love my job. If you say it enough, you’ll believe it. I love my job. You glance at the clock and see your next parent is late. I love my job.
You do love your job, you really do. What you hate are parent-teacher conferences that you’re required to do. Especially when the parent is late. After having to reschedule at the last minute. Twice.
If you didn’t have a genuine concern to discuss with Jack’s father, then you wouldn’t be here still. But alas, you care for Jack more than your annoyance at his father.
Jack Hotchner is a sweet kid. Genuinely wonderful. After his mom’s sudden death a few years ago, everyone worried about him. You’re friends with Julia, who was his kindergarten teacher just a few months after it occurred. Despite being a teacher for almost a decade that year, Julia had never encountered this situation, so she looked to you for help. You lost your mom when you were in first grade, so you were able to give her more helpful tips that actually work.
Now, you have the pleasure of having Jack in your second grade classroom and he truly is an amazing student. You only wish you could share this information with his father who seems to be on another plane of existence every goddamn--
A knock on your classroom door frame makes you jump.
“I’m sorry,” Aaron Hotchner rushes out, quickly dropping his hand. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“It’s fine, Mr. Hotchner,” you say, standing up from your desk chair, putting on a smile. “Come on in.”
“Thanks, and please, it’s Aaron,” he smiles sheepishly, walking over. He towers over the tiny desks as he maneuvers past them to yours. He sticks out his hand for you to shake. He has a firm grip, but his hands are soft. “I’m sorry I’m so late. I got caught up at work--”
“I figured,” you reply, sitting back down. You pull up your laptop and begin typing in your password. “Unfortunately, I’ll have to make this quick. I should’ve left an hour ago.”
“Oh, sorry, am I that late?” he flicks his arm to look at his watch. He sighs. “I apologize.”
You hum. “Our conference was scheduled for 4:15.” You glance down at the clock on your screen. “It’s almost six.”
“I’m so sorry,” he says again. “Would it be better to reschedule?”
“Nope,” you shake your head. “You’re already here.” And if you reschedule, then this might happen again, so you’d rather do this now while you’ve got him here. “Fortunately, Jack is doing really well. He’s struggling a little with math, but he’s not the only one, and we’re working on it. He’s made a few friends, I know we discussed that last time. He’s breaking out of his shell, I think.”
“That’s good,” Aaron says, smiling a little. “That’s really good to hear.”
“Is he doing any extracurriculars?” you ask. Last time, when you voiced your concerns to Aaron about his son being a little too quiet and shy, you suggested asking if he’d like to do a sport, or play an instrument.
“He’s doing soccer,” Aaron says.
Your eyes widen. “Oh!”
“You look surprised,” he presses.
“I guess I didn’t expect Jack to…want to do a sport,” you shrug, checking your notes for the conference to stall.
What you really wanted to say is that you didn’t expect Aaron to listen to you. Given his track record, it seemed highly unlikely that he’d follow through and actually ask his son about trying a sport, let alone go through with signing him up for one.
“Do you have any questions for me?” you ask, closing your laptop lid. Aaron has been studying your face in this lull of silence, and it’s unnerving.
“I don’t think so,” he finally says.
“Okay,” you nod, not surprised. “I did have one more thing. I know I said Jack is breaking out of his shell, and he is, but he seems…down. Is something going on at home?”
Aaron sighs. “It’s getting closer to the anniversary of his mom’s death.”
That tugs on your heart. “Oh, I see. Alright.” You pause. “Uh-- If you don’t mind me asking, is he seeing a counselor or a therapist or anything?”
“He’s not, not currently,” Aaron says.
You blink. You shouldn’t really be surprised, but you are. “Has he at all since his mom’s death?”
“Briefly, right after she died.”
“Okay.” You clear your throat. You cannot yell at a parent. That’s unprofessional. “I know it’s not my place, but I’d highly suggest finding him someone. Especially right now as the anniversary is getting closer, and as Jack gets older. I would suggest our school counselor, but I think Jack would do better with someone better equipped for his situation.”
Aaron stares at you, nodding slowly. “Alright.”
You lean over and open a drawer, grabbing the handout specifically for times like these. Given the area the school is in, parents are typically able to pay for services like these, and are more willing. You know it’s because they don’t have the time to deal with their children’s emotions, so they pawn them off on someone else, and claim it as a good deed.
In a way, you’re grateful the children are able to receive help that you didn’t because your dad couldn’t afford it. You just wish the kids also received support from their family, not just from doctors.
“Here’s a list of great pediatric psychiatrists and therapists in the area.” You hand Aaron the packet and he takes it gently, his expression unreadable. Parents are always so weirdly defensive about this. “Many of our students see someone from that list, so I trust that one will be a good fit for Jack. If you want some help narrowing it down, I can help.”
“Thank you,” he says quietly. “I’ll look into this.”
I hope so, you want to say, but he doesn’t sound too sincere. “Okay,” you smile softly instead. “That’s all I have, unless you have any other questions?”
He shakes his head. “No, I think-- I think this is good.”
“Alright, well,” you pause, opening Jack’s folder. “I just need you to sign here, so the school knows we met.” You slide the form and a pen across the table.
Aaron signs swiftly, a signature born from frequent piles of paperwork. You know he does something in the government, you’re just not sure what. Nearly every parent here works in the government, though, so that’s not a remarkable conclusion to have made.
“Thank you,” you say, taking the signed form and sliding it back into Jack’s folder. “I hope you have a good rest of your day.”
“You too,” Aaron says, standing up to shake your hand again. He’s so formal, you almost forget. He clutches the packet in his free hand, and you wonder if it’ll end up in the recycling bin at the end of the hall.
After shaking your hand, Aaron apologizes again for his tardiness, and then leaves your classroom. The clock on the wall says it’s just past six. A record for one of the latest nights you’ve been here.
Gathering your things, you do some last minute checks around the classroom before heading out, locking the door behind you.
As you reach the exit doors at the end of the hall, you peer into the trash and recycling bins. Both are empty, no signs of your pediatric psychiatrists packet.
At least that’s a win.
+++
A month or so later, you’re waking up early to go to a soccer game. If it weren’t for your kids asking you (loudly and enthusiastically) to come to their game, then you wouldn’t be awake right now on a Saturday.
Julia, at least, is coming with you, and so is Kate, a fellow second grade teacher whose classroom is across from yours. Julia is coming to see Jack, and Kate also has a few students who asked her to come.
The three of you stop for coffee before going to the park where the soccer games are held. Walking across the field, you find an empty space on the bleachers and sit down, looking around for your kiddos.
To your complete and utter surprise, you spot Aaron Hotchner -- of all parents.
You quickly avert your eyes, looking around some more. You haven’t seen or spoken to Aaron since the parent-teacher conference as Jack is usually picked up and dropped off by his Aunt Jessica. Jack has seemed a little more present and happy, but you have no idea if that means that Aaron actually sought help for his son.
Even more embarrassing, you’ve worried about your job since that conference. It’s always a gamble, offering parents advice. You never know what will cross a line and equal an angry phone call to the principal followed by a swift withdrawal of their child from your class. Not every parent has always been so keen on your attention to your students’ emotional wellbeing.
“Don’t look, but one of the dads cannot keep his eyes off of you,” Julia whispers.
“Which one?” Kate asks, then she spots him. “Oh, him-- He’s tall. Wait, is he…?”
You glance over and sure enough, the one in question is Aaron. He can’t tell that you’ve looked at him, though, thanks to your sunglasses. “That’s Jack’s dad,” you say, looking away again.
“I knew he looked familiar,” Julia murmurs. “I’m not used to him out of the suit. His hair is longer too, isn’t it?”
“Why would I know?” you counter, taking a sip of your coffee.
“Is he the one you mouthed off to?” Kate asks, nudging your arm.
You scoff defensively, “I didn’t mouth off--”
“She told him to put his son in therapy,” Julia explains with a prideful smirk. “Rightfully so, too. I would’ve done the same if I ever saw him.”
“Damn,” Kate chuckles. “Let’s hope that he took your advice.”
“And that he isn’t pissed at me for it,” you mutter. “I haven’t heard anything since.”
Kate and Julia share a look before Julia says, “He’s definitely not mad.”
Finally, you give yourself the chance to look over at him, and to let him see you looking.
You’ll admit, it is weird seeing him out of the suit, let alone in short sleeves. You’ve never seen his arms. They’re…nice. Muscular, more than you expected. Not that you’ve wondered about his arms, though. Or any part of him. Because he’s Jack’s dad, so you should not be thinking about him this way.
Still, you indulge, just for this moment. He keeps your eyes only for a minute before his attention is drawn elsewhere to the screaming kids practicing their warmups (if that’s what those can be called). He’s smiling from ear to ear, something you’ve never seen. The tiny smiles you managed out of him during conferences hardly ever looked genuine. This, though, this one is.
“You should talk to him,” Julia whispers, nearly scaring you shitless. You completely forgot where you were for a minute.
“No,” you shake your head, tearing your eyes away. “That’s practically asking for him to yell at me.”
“He won’t do that,” Julia chides.
“Well, I don’t know,” Kate grimaces. “Parents are finicky. I got yelled at last year by one who I thought was the sweetest ever. Until her kid didn’t pass a science test.”
“See?” you say, gesturing to Kate. “We have no idea what he’ll be like.”
“Besides that he’s looking at you again,” Julia says. “So he’s clearly interested in talking to you.”
“Then he can walk over here himself.”
Julia raises her eyebrows, shrugging. “Be careful what you wish for.”
You roll your eyes. Aaron is too busy with the kids and their game is about to start, so there’s no way he’ll walk over. Even if you speak after, Jack will be with him, so nothing will be said. It’s fine.
+++
Aaron’s mouth is dry. He feels like he forgot how to breathe properly.
He didn’t know you’d be here, and here you are. Beautiful. Except he shouldn’t think that, because you’re his son’s teacher. It’s inappropriate. But the way the sun hits your skin…beautiful. You’re beautiful.
He needs to focus. He’s supposed to be coaching the kids, not gawking at a teacher like some idiot.
To make matters worse, Rossi notices, and only silently raises his eyebrows.
Aaron told Rossi about your parent-teacher conference, and how he should’ve put Jack in therapy sooner -- along with himself. Rossi asked him if he thanked you for your advice, but Aaron never found the right time. He half-heartedly thanked you at the conference, but it wasn’t as genuine as it should’ve been.
He meant to call you, or send an email, but he never did. Truthfully, he’s been terrified. He feels incredibly stupid to have not gotten Jack help sooner, and even more stupid that he finds you as attractive as he does. Can he be any worse of a person, seriously?
And now, you’re here. At Jack’s soccer game. Which, he guesses he should’ve realized sooner that a lot of Jack’s classmates are on this team, too. And others from different classes, but still in his grade. It was only a matter of time before one of the kids asked a teacher to come. It would only take one, and clearly it did, and he’s unprepared.
Wildly unprepared. And wishing he put on a better shirt.
+++
The soccer game is a disaster, but a wonderful one.
The kids are too young for points to be counted, so it’s just a game of fun chaos. Teams are blurred and never really followed. But they looked like they had a blast out there, so that’s all that mattered.
You, Julia, and Kate split up to see your kids and give out as many high-fives as you possibly can. You listen to their rambles and congratulate them on playing so well. The parents stand by with smiles, occasionally one piping up to thank you for coming.
Aaron is there, too, surprisingly. He’s still smiling bigger than ever.
There’s a man with him, too, who Jack calls Uncle Dave. Jack has mentioned him in class before, and he’s actually Aaron’s coworker. He’s smiling, too, just not as wide, and he keeps glancing between you and Aaron.
Just when you think you’re in the clear, Aaron tells Jack to go with Uncle Dave because he needs to talk to you about something.
You catch Julia and Kate’s eyes when Aaron is left alone with you, and your stomach turns. He doesn’t look angry, but then again, the parents never look angry at first.
“I just wanted to thank you,” Aaron begins, turning so the sun isn’t in his eyes as much. He’s still squinting, and it’s adorable. You wonder why he didn’t wear sunglasses. “I picked a therapist from the list you gave me for Jack, and it’s really been helping him. A lot, so, I just wanted to thank you for giving that to me.”
You blink, stunned. “You’re welcome,” you say slowly before you gain your composure. “I’m very glad that it’s been helping. And to see him playing soccer,” you gesture to the field with a smile. “He seems to really enjoy it.”
“Oh, he does,” Aaron chuckles. “He can’t get enough of it. He talks about it all the time.”
All the time. So maybe he’s spending more time with Jack, then. “Good, I’m really glad to hear that.”
You pause, waiting for him to say something else. The awkward silence lingers for a little too long, and you know what’s coming next.
“I was wondering,” he starts, and lowers his voice a little. “I was wondering if you’d like to get dinner sometime.”
As much as you’d love to say yes, you can’t let yourself. “I’m sorry, Mr. Hotchner, that would just be inappropriate.”
“No, no, not as a date,” he backtracks, confusing you. “Just to thank you for-- For helping me get Jack in to see a therapist.”
You raise an eyebrow. “To thank me…for telling you what you should’ve done in the first place?”
He sputters for a moment, clearly losing his bearings. “No, I mean--”
“Listen, Mr. Hotchner,” you smile sweetly, trying to contain yourself. “What would you like? A gold star? For getting your son a therapist after he went through an incredibly traumatic event?”
He doesn’t say anything, and somehow that makes your anger and annoyance worse.
“Listen. The fact of the matter is that you should’ve kept your son in therapy since he lost his mother. And continue to keep him in therapy until he’s old enough to decide if he wants to continue seeing one or not. Because when my mom died, I didn’t get to have a therapist. We couldn’t afford it, and my dad was too out of his mind to even care. It nearly killed me, and my siblings. So don’t tell me that you want to thank me for something that I never should’ve had to do in the first place. You should’ve paid more attention to your son’s needs. Especially since you can afford services to genuinely help him.”
Your voice stayed quiet, thankfully, because you didn’t need everyone to hear you mouthing off to Aaron once again. You realize only halfway through that maybe you shouldn’t be saying these things in a setting such as this, but you’re too into it to stop.
Julia and Kate heard all of it, though. You can see their jaws open, eyes wide. Did you go too far? You don’t know and part of you doesn’t care. It’s the truth, and it hits far too close to home for you to say nothing at all.
Still, to cover your bases, you add one last thing. “I apologize if that was harsh, but it needed to be said. I want what’s best for my kids. And sometimes, that means getting their parents to see that they need to do better.”
You pause, and he nods, and says another quiet “thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” you murmur. And to keep things from stinging any more, you walk away.
Julia and Kate catch up with you on the way back to your car, both too stunned to say a word until you’re inside.
“Damn,” Julia whispers. “Damn.”
“Holy shit,” Kate says with a small laugh. “Tell ‘em.”
“Yeah,” you exhale loudly. “Let’s just hope I still have a job by Monday.”
+++
You do still have a job come Monday, with surprisingly no meeting with the principal, either. Or a phone call.
You’re suspicious, but trying not to be. Maybe it’s all fine.
You convince yourself that it’s completely fine until it really is. Until you start seeing Aaron occasionally, picking Jack up from school. You aren’t sure how often he’s been doing it, because the only reason you saw him is that you were forced into car rider duty. You’ve always been on the bus lane, but they needed another teacher out front, and that’s where you saw him first.
It caught you off guard the first time, honestly. It had been three weeks since the soccer game, since you told him off in front of everyone. And what did he do this time when he saw you?
He waved. He smiled. And then he scooped Jack up into his arms.
She won’t own up to it, but you’re positive Julia saw the interaction because you haven’t worked the bus lane since. Because Julia suddenly volunteered for it, taking your place.
Now, it’s a bit of a routine. Aaron picks Jack up almost every day, although sometimes there are a few stretches of three to four days where he isn’t present. Those days, you see Jessica, and she smiles at you as well, but it’s different. You got so used to seeing Aaron those days, that when you see Jessica, it feels strange. It begins to feel the way it used to feel when you saw Aaron picking Jack up.
It makes you smile. You’re glad to see Aaron taking the time to see Jack, to put in the time — finally — knowing he has the means to be able to do this.
+++
For the rest of the school year, this is how you see Aaron Hotchner.
Neither of you say a word to each other, except for the final parent-teacher conference — which he arrives early for. The conference is entirely professional, and he doesn’t mention the past. Neither do you.
The final week of school fast approaches, and you’re looking for decorations to put up in the classroom. You try to make the last week special because you know they’re just as ready for summer break as you are.
Part of your “decorations” consists of candy that you’ll put on their desk every morning, which means you’re in the grocery store, in desperate need of candy to entertain your kids. Five different kinds. Something extra special on the last day, though. They’ll get out two hours earlier, but they don’t know that yet (the parents do).
Right as you turn down the candy aisle, you stop dead in your tracks, your cart nearly smacking into someone else’s. When you look up, you realize who it is.
“Mr. Hotchner!” you blurt.
He smiles that soft smile. “Please, call me Aaron.”
You’re not used to calling parents by their first name. You know he’s tried to get you to call him Aaron a few times, but you can’t ever bring yourself to. Instead, you change subjects, peering into his cart.
“Grocery shopping? For…” You raise an eyebrow. “I don’t even have a good joke. Why do you have so many marshmallows?” He has like…six big bags. Of varying sizes, too.
“Long story,” he says, sheepish. “Jack wants to build something out of marshmallows.”
“Does he want to build a whole country?” you chuckle.
“Sort of, yeah,” Aaron laughs. “He said he wants to build a whole city, then eat it. His words.”
“Wonderful,” you grin. “Sounds like a blast.” And a good idea. You might steal that for next year.
“What are you here for?” Aaron asks, nodding toward your empty cart.
“Candy, for the kids,” you reply. “I want to give them a different kind every day for the last week, just to make it more fun.”
Aaron smiles wider this time. “They’ll love that.”
“Thanks,” you say, mirroring his smile.
You don’t know what’s gotten into you. Or him, quite frankly. Building marshmallow sculptures with Jack? Unheard of. But you leave it alone, just glad he’s spending more time with his son.
“Well, I’ll let you get back to shopping,” Aaron says, gesturing down the aisle. “See you on Monday.”
Baffled, you blink, then nod. “Yeah. See you Monday.”
You see Aaron every day of next week to pick Jack up, and you get to see Jack’s smile grow every day.
On Friday, you head back inside to your classroom, ready to pack things up. Thankfully, you’re returning to this room next year, so you don’t need to pack everything up.
As a tradition, you, Julia, and Kate go out to celebrate the end of the year, so you have to go home and get ready for the night ahead.
+++
Aaron doesn’t know why he let Rossi convince him to come out tonight. Jack’s at a sleepover at a friend’s house, so Aaron has nothing to do — theoretically. Until Rossi decided to drag him out.
Now, he’s sitting in a booth at a bar with a jazz band playing, and he’s wondering how many people Rossi can possibly know. Four people have already stopped to say hi, and they’ve barely been here for half an hour.
As Rossi talks with another friend, Aaron lets his eyes wander around the place, spotting the door when it opens. And you walk in.
He quickly averts his eyes, shifting in his seat. It’s enough to catch Rossi’s attention, and he gives Aaron a strange look, until he sees you at the bar with your two friends from Jack’s soccer game.
Aaron keeps his eyes trained on his whiskey, nodding absently when Rossi says he’s heading to the restroom.
What Rossi is actually doing is heading to the bar to intercept you and your friends, putting all three of your drinks on his tab.
“Thanks,” you chuckle, never one to argue with a free drink.
“You look familiar,” Julia blurts out.
“Dave,” Rossi introduces himself. “I’m a friend of Aaron Hotchner’s. I went with him to a few of Jack’s soccer games last season.”
“That’s where I’ve seen you,” you say.
Dave smiles. His back is turned to Aaron, so he can’t see Aaron glaring at him, wondering what the hell he’s doing up there talking to you.
“Aaron’s here with me, actually,” Dave says casually. “He’s at the booth just behind us if you’d like to see him.”
Kate nudges your arm harshly. “She would.”
“Actually, I don’t know if that’s—”
“Go,” Julia urges. “Why not?”
You give them both a look. “Fine,” you cave. “I’ll be right back.”
Kicking yourself for caving so easily (because you really would like to see him), you walk over to the booth where Aaron sits. Thankfully, his back is toward you, so he doesn’t see you coming.
He beams a smile when he sees you though, standing up to greet you. “Hey, what are you doing in here?”
“Kate and Julia drug me out,” you confess, idling for a moment as you both try to decide if you should shake hands, hug, or just stand here. “You?”
“Dave,” Aaron nods, chuckling. Just standing here it is. “Did he send you?”
“They all did,” you nod toward the bar, where they’re all watching like hawks, no doubt. “Mind if I sit?”
“Not at all,” he gestures to the empty space. “How are you?”
“Good, we’re out celebrating the end of the year,” you reply, walking around the table and sitting down on the plush booth cushion. This place is fancier than you would’ve chosen, but Julia heard good things about it from a friend, so you ended up here anyway. “How are you doing?”
“Good, although Dave drug me out for drinks because apparently,” he lifts his drink, “I don’t get out enough.”
“Y’know, that’s funny, my friends tell me the exact same thing,” you laugh. “Dave bought our drinks.”
“I knew he was doing something suspicious,” Aaron jokes, glancing back toward the bar. Dave and your friends have taken over three stools, clearly set on giving you and Aaron some time alone. “Sorry again if he forced you over here.”
“No, he definitely didn’t. My friends did,” you assure him, rolling your eyes. “Oh, I have to ask, how did Jack’s marshmallow city building go?”
Immediately, Aaron digs his phone out of his pocket. “I have a lot of pictures, I’ll just show you.” He unlocks his phone and goes to his camera roll, already smiling at the thought of them. “He had a blast. We went through so many toothpicks. We both had stomachaches by the end of it from eating so many marshmallows.”
He turns his phone to show you the pictures, and without thinking, you scoot closer to him. To get a better look at the pictures, you tell yourself, but you know that isn’t the full truth.
“Oh my god,” you laugh, grinning from ear to ear. “This so huge!”
“It covered our entire kitchen!” Aaron laughs with you, a sweet sound you wish you heard more often. “I didn’t tell Jessica about it, so she had a heart attack when she came over the next day.”
“I bet,” you nod seriously, swiping on his phone as he holds it toward you. “Goodness.” You look up at Aaron. “Did you guys eat all of them?”
“We’ve had a lot of hot chocolate.”
“It’s May.”
“I know,” he deadpans, feigning annoyance, but then he breaks into a smile. “I’ll admit, I’ve been snacking on them maybe a little more than I should every time I go into the kitchen.”
“I would do the same,” you chuckle. “No judgment here.”
He smiles at you and tucks his phone away back in his pocket, and neither of you move from how close you’ve gotten.
“How are you planning to spend your summer break?” he asks, taking a sip of his whiskey. You try not to stare at him too much.
“Lots of getting ready for next year,” you reply, rotating your glass in your hand, focusing on it instead. “Mostly reading for fun, I don’t get to do that a lot during the school year when I’m reading for my kids and grading and such. I plan to do a lot of nothing, basically,” you laugh. “What about you?”
“The same, hopefully,” he says, which surprises you. And he can tell, because he elaborates. “I took a lot of time off from work. I work from home now, essentially. If I absolutely need to go in, then I do, but so far, Dave’s been able to handle it.”
You knew a big change had been made, especially since he’s been picking Jack up from school everyday. But hearing the confirmation makes your heart warm. “I’m really glad to hear that.”
“Me too,” he says. “I know we’ve been over this, but I wanted to thank you for what you said, at Jack’s game—”
Mortified, you interrupt him. “Oh god, I hoped you had forgotten about that.”
“I didn’t forget—”
“I was rude.”
“What you said needed to be said and I’m glad you did,” he protests sincerely. “You shouldn’t have had to say anything, but you did, and I appreciate that.”
His sincerity stuns you. You blink, no words able to come out.
“We can move on from it now,” he says, noticing your hesitation. “I just wanted to be clear that I’m not angry with you for what you said, I’ve actually been the complete opposite.”
“Well,” you chuckle, trying to make light of this. “You didn’t call the school demanding I be suspended, so I knew you couldn’t be that upset with me.”
He stares at you, eyes widening. “Do parents do that?”
“Some, yeah,” you nod. “They don’t exactly like being told by a single teacher with no kids of her own that their parenting skills are shit.”
He laughs, taking a sip of his whiskey. You watch him raise the glass to his lips, but look away before he can catch you. You smile down at your own drink. This is embarrassing.
You thought this little crush -- or whatever it is -- had gone away since you hadn’t spoken to him since the soccer game. Sure, you started to look specifically for him in the pickup area, but that was for Jack. That wasn’t for you. Or, at least, that’s the story you spun for yourself.
“What’s on your list to read this summer?” Aaron asks, bringing your eyes back to his. He’s smiling. “I’ve been meaning to read more -- outside of the books Jack and I read.”
You remember Jack telling you about The Magic Treehouse series that Uncle Dave got him for Christmas, and how his dad was reading them with him.
“What, The Magic Treehouse isn’t enough for you?” you tease Aaron, and he laughs, that sweet sound you can’t get enough of.
You tell him about the books on your shelf at home, the ones you got years ago and have yet to read, and the others that you got this year because you couldn’t resist. He listens to each one, never once taking his eyes off of you.
“I am not going to remember all of these names,” he chuckles.
“I can text them to you,” you offer, a grin creeping up your cheeks.
He mirrors your expression. “You stole my line.”
“Oh, that was your line?” you ask, laughing as you pull out your phone. “Fine, fine, you can have it back.”
“No, you said it first,” he says, still grinning. He hands you his phone as you give him yours. “I’m bad at this anyway.”
“I don’t know,” you shrug, typing in your contact information before handing his phone back. “I’ve had a pretty good time.”
He waits a moment, just basking in your smile, the feel of your fingertips brushing against his when he returns your phone. “Me too.”
The night doesn’t end there, as the two of you continue talking. Another round of drinks is sent to your table by Dave and your friends who wave enthusiastically when you and Aaron look over at them.
“Free drinks, at least,” you shrug. “How much money does Dave have?”
“Don’t ask,” Aaron shakes his head. “He’ll never tell.”
As you both finish your first drink and head into the second, you scoot even closer. You bring your legs underneath you on the booth, getting comfortable as you and Aaron start to talk about your favorite movies. He tries to be sneaky and put his arm around you, but you notice and can’t help the giggle that escapes you.
“I told you I’m bad at this.”
“No, it’s sweet!” you protest, leaning into his chest. “It’s very nice, I don’t mind.”
He moves his arm from the back of the booth to your shoulders then, his hand resting on your arm. “This okay?”
“It’s perfect,” you smile softly, turning your head to look up at him. “What movie were we on?”
He stares so intently, searching your face. You watch as his eyes gaze over every inch, dropping to your lips, then back to your pupils. “I have no idea.”
“Me either,” you murmur, silently hoping for a kiss. Silently hoping that he’s hoping, too.
And he is. “I know our friends are watching us,” he whispers. “But can I kiss you right now?”
“Yeah,” you grin. “I was about to ask.”
“Well now we’re even,” he says, leaning closer as he smiles. You tilt your head, meeting his lips halfway, not wanting to wait any longer. You’ve quieted these feelings for far too long.
He kisses you long and sweet, his free hand coming to cup your face as yours search for stability in his shoulders. He knocks the breath out of your lungs, literally, but you wouldn’t have it any other way.
Aaron pulls back for just a moment, just far enough to say, “Was that worth a gold star?”
You laugh, playfully swatting his chest. “Yeah, Aaron,” you say, looking up at him. “It was.”
2K notes · View notes
janeyseymour · 2 months
Text
Love Thy Neighbor- pt 5
Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4
Summary: Melissa helps you out. It's not helping the feelings that you have for her.
WC: ~2.15k
Tumblr media
You’ve been teaching for a few weeks at Abbott a this point now, and you are eternally grateful for this job. You get to take Ellie with you to school, you don’t have to race around to pick her up after. The staff is nice enough, and your kids are wonderful. They absolutely adore you more than anything. Receiving drawings and cards is an almost daily occurrence, and it melts your heart- your students out in Utah never did things like this. 
You work closely with Melissa during your preps to make sure that your room is going well, and any questions that you have you’re able to ask her. She’s so willing to help you with both big problems (realizing that you have no teacher’s manual for the science unit that you’re set to start the next week) and the small (standing in between your classrooms when you have to use the bathroom so desperately you’re afraid you’re going to get a UTI).
( “Fuck,” you curse softly during your prep while you’re ripping every drawer and cabinet open in your room.
“What’s going on, hun?” She magically appears in your doorway. “You look frazzled, and I can hear the cabinets opening and closing over in my room.”
“Shoot, sorry,” you turn and sigh softly. “I can’t find the science manual that I’m supposed to be basing these science lessons off of.”
“That may be my fault,” the redhead admits with a smirk. “I hated it, so I burnt it and made up my own lessons. You have all the materials for what you have to get done, and I can help you out at home tonight if you bring your planner home.”
“I’ll make dinner.”
You’re squirming in your chair, desperate for the bathroom. But your kids are taking a test, and every time you pop your head out the door, there is no one there for you to pull into your room for a quick three minutes while you rush down the hall to relieve yourself.
Melissa appears in your door though to ask you a quick question, and she can immediately see the discomfort written into your face.
“Are you okay?” she asks softly as she makes her way over to your desk.
You shake your head. “I really have to-”
“Go,” is all she has to say for you to take off in the direction of the bathroom.
You come back a few minutes later, much more relaxed now. “Thank you. What’s up?”
“Just came to see if you needed any copies made- I’m sending Ashley to do some… woman’s driving me nuts lately.”
You roll your eyes fondly. “There’s a stack of papers there to be copied and filed if you want to send her in… and I can always come up with other ways to keep her occupied and out of your hair.”
“That would be great,” the redhead smiles at you softly. “Thanks.” )
All of these situations at school, combined with the ones at home are not helping the feelings that you have developed for the fiery redheaded second grade teacher.
At school, she’s sweet enough, but outside of school hours… it’s even worse.
You have your car now, but she still insists on carpooling with you.
( “It’s more cost efficient, and Jacob isn’t on my ass about burning too many fossil fuels now that we come in together,” she rolls her eyes.
“At least let me drive,” you sigh.
“Her booster is already in my car,” Melissa retaliates. “Just get in.” )
Ellie insists on spending time with her whenever she can, and when you think that it’s getting to be too much for Melissa, she’s waving you off and telling you that having the two of you around is the best thing that’s happened to her. She helps Ellie with homework while you’re lesson planning, she insists on making dinner at least twice a week, your little girl is on her hip at dismissal everyday and falls asleep- only for the redhead to shush everyone around her before she carries her out to the car, the two watch cartoons together and snuggle… she’s really stepped up and stepped in for your daughter when she needed some extra love and care.
And with doting on Ellie the way that she does, she’s also doting on you.
( “You eating enough?” she asks you one day when she sees that you’ve hardly touched your meal. You’re instead pouring over your kids’ essays and grading them frantically.
“I’ll eat after I finish grading these and putting them in,” you wave her off. “You and Ellie eat.”
“We already did, Momma,” your daughter says from the couch, reaching for the television remote. How’d she get there?
Before you can respond, there’s a forkful of gnocchi being held up to your mouth, and Melissa is sitting there giving you a look that says not to argue.
“Thank you,” you sigh softly as you open your mouth. She feeds you the rest of your dinner, despite your daughter begging for attention from the redhead.
Only when you’re finished eating does the woman go and pull the little girl on the couch into her lap.
You continue to grade until you have both of them standing at your side. Or, Melissa is standing at your side while Ellie is clinging to her, settled on her hip.
“Momma, you have to come tuck me,” your little girl yawns out. “Miss Mel said it’s bedtime.”
You glance up at the clock to see that it is indeed Ellie’s bedtime. Your heart melts at the thought that the redhead has so seamlessly integrated herself into your life that she not only knows your daughter’s bedtime, but is able to implement it without your daughter making a fuss over it.
The two of you get the little girl into bed and read with her before flicking off the light. You make your way back to the kitchen table to continue grading, and when you expect her to leave, she instead sits down and takes a hefty portion of the grading that you still have to do. Her glasses are on her face, and her eyes are trained on the work in front of her. She grabs one of the pens that you have sitting on the table and opens it to mark a few things.
You’re so busy watching her that you forget to continue grading yourself. She nudges you gently.
“I’m tryin’ to help you, hun,” she chuckles. “You gotta do some work though too.”
You take the graded papers are start entering them into grade book with a sigh. With the two of you working together, grades get put in rather quickly. You can’t help but grin at her sleepily as she grades the last one for you, and you enter the number. 
“I think you just saved my life,” you sigh softly. You lay a gentle hand over hers and squeeze it gently.
“I think you need some sleep, hun,” she tells you gently. “Get to bed, and I’ll see myself out.”
“Or we could just hang out on the couch?” you suggest. “I like when you’re here with me… and I love when it’s me, you, and El, but having some adult time is nice.”
She chuckles but nods and leads you to the couch. She settles into the corner of it, and you slide in next to her, grabbing a blanket.
It’s warm, it’s domestic, it’s cozy. Her arm is draped around you lazily, your head nuzzled into the crook of her neck as you curl up and find a program to watch.
You doze off, and you’re not quite sure for how long because the next thing you know Ellie is climbing on top of you with tears in her eyes. Melissa is still there with you, eyes opening blearily.
“Momma,” the little girl whines and settles herself, half in your lap and half in Melissa’s. “Miss Mel.”
“What’s wrong, sweetness?” you ask her gently, teasing the little wisps at the base of her neck. You press a delicate kiss to her temple, and you see Melissa also move the arm not wrapped around you to soothingly rub your daughter’s back.
“Bad dream,” she mumbles as she lays against the two of you.
You sigh softly. “Do you want to talk about it, or try to head back off to dreamland?”
“Dreamland,” she yawns as she rubs her eyes. “But I want you and Miss Mel with me.”
At the mention of her, the redhead’s eyes widen just slightly.
“Please,” Ellie mumbles as she curls into your neighbor’s side. “Please.”
“Momma will come lay with you,” you try to placate softly. You attempt to pull her into your arms, but she desperately reaches for the woman next to you. “We won’t all fit in your bed, sweet girl,” you tell her.
“Momma’s bed,” she mumbles as she wiggles out of your hold and into Melissa’s. The redhead glances at you, and you shrug.
Knowing that if you deny Ellie right now, she will have a meltdown, and you just don’t have it in you to deal with that. You nod, praying to God that your room is clean.
“Mel can stay for a little bit,” Melissa tells the little girl in her arms. “Until you fall asleep.”
The three of you make your way to your bedroom, Ellie sandwiched between the two of you in bed. Ellie clings to the redhead as she starts to fall back asleep. Melissa hums a sweet little tune before she quietly starts to sing a lullaby in a different language. You realize that it’s Italian quickly, and her voice is so gentle and smooth- even at the soft volume. While it lulls your daughter to sleep, it also lulls you to sleep. 
When you wake up again to your alarm, Ellie’s little head pops up from Melissa’s chest before flopping back down gently. If the redhead wasn’t already awake, she is now. “Oof.”
“You stayed,” Ellie whispers.
“I didn’t really have a choice when you decided to use me as your body pillow,” the woman chuckles softly.
You look over at your girl, who is in fact fully on top of Melissa the way that she usually lays on you after a nightmare.
“Oopsies,” Ellie grins. She doesn’t look sorry in the slightest. Then she jumps up. “Time to see Mrs. Howard?”
“Yeah, sweetness,” you chuckle. You love that she adores her kindergarten teacher. “After we get ready, and you have to let Miss Melissa up.”
She uses the two of you as launchpads to sprint into her bedroom, and the two of you fall back into the pillows gently. You turn your head to look at her.
“Thank you,” you say softly, a smile on your face.
“For?”
“Being here for El and me,” you sigh. “It’s made this adjustment to this new life a lot easier.”
Her eyes are so warm as they stare into your own, and she flits her gaze down to your lips.
As much as you want to kiss her right now, you know you shouldn’t. It would be unprofessional… and you have morning breath. Instead, you throw the blankets back on your side and roll out of bed.
She watches you. She’s thought you were gorgeous for quite some time now, but in the morning when you’re just you and not ‘Miss Y/N’ may be her favorite look of yours.
“Stop,” you laugh awkwardly as you feel her gaze while you try to pick out your outfit. “I look like a mess right now, and you should be getting ready for work too.”
“You’re stunning,” she tells you honestly. “But yes… I should probably head over to my apartment to get ready.” She rolls out of bed and starts to make her way out when you catch her arm gently.
“Thank you,” you say softly as you squeeze her arm.
“Of course.”
She heads for the front door, and you can hear Ellie yelling her goodbyes from her bedroom.
“I’ll be back in a little bit,” the redhead promises. “And then we’ll go to school together. I think your momma’s driving too.” The door closes after that, and as you get ready, you let your mind wander about what would change if you decided to just say fuck it and kiss her again. The two of you would probably end up together… 
But really, with her across the hall and practically being a part of your family already, what more would change? Not much. But if you were to date and then split? That would be… hell.
Maybe she’s worth the risk though. You shrug in the mirror and shake your head as you try to focus on what has to be done today.
Maybe with time… only time will tell. 
271 notes · View notes
erooca · 9 months
Text
daycare
ellie williams x reader
description: ellie williams is forced to take a shift at a daycare. she knows she’s gonna hate it, that is, until she sees you. 1.9k words
this is very self indulgent cuz i work at a daycare. i’d be so down to continue this storyline if it gets any interactions :)
part 2: https://www.tumblr.com/erooca/725335248989208576/daycare-pt-2
Tumblr media
why the fuck am i here? is exactly what ellie was thinking, pulling into the small, but cheery daycare. it was 9:30 in the fucking morning. she should still be asleep, not getting prepared to run around with little kids for the next eight hours.
after feeling sorry for herself a bit longer, she turned off the ignition and headed into the double doors.
“good morning, ellie!” maria said with a bright smile. ellie almost rolled her eyes at the enthusiasm. maria was sitting behind the front desk, clicking away on the computer in front of her.
“morning,” ellie responded back, a complete opposite from the way maria had greeted her.
“i know i’ve already thanked you a million times, but seriously. thank you for coming in,” maria thanked.
right. the reason ellie was here in the first place. maria had mentioned how the daycare she owned was extremely understaffed recently and needed all the help she could get. of course, joel offered up ellie as help. he said it would be good for her. ellie would have shut them both down, but maria mentioned how much she’d pay ellie. ellie was sold.
“yeah,” ellie responded, still not happy about the experience.
“listen, ellie, as soon as i get some more workers you’ll be free to go,” maria comforted.
“i know. so what am i gonna be doing?” ellie asked, praying to whatever’s out there that she won’t have to change any diapers.
“i think i’m going to put you in the big three’s. it’s a good group of kids, so don’t stress. it’s just down that hallway. second door on the right.”
ellie nodded her head and set off to the room. she already knew she was about to have the most frustrating and long shift of her entire life.
as she walked down the hallway, she admired the kids’ art that was strung on the walls. she noticed more of it around the big three’s door. she took a deep breath, and then entered through the door.
and then she saw you. you were kneeled down, ground level with a little girl who was crying. she watched as you gave the little girl a big hug, and how you helped her focus on the tower she was building with the colorful blocks.
when you finished calmed down the kid, you spotted ellie. maria told you that you’d be having another teacher today, but she never mentioned that teacher would be fine as fuck.
“hey. ellie, right?” you asked.
“um.. yeah,” she answered.
you introduced yourself to her and the room.
“they’re doing centers right now. you should go around and try to get to know some of the kids. once we have circle time, we can do proper introductions. that sound okay?” you suggested.
“sure..” ellie said. you could sense the nervousness radiating off of her.
“don’t stress. these kids are fun to be around. at least most of the time. let me know if you need anything,” you encouraged.
she nodded her head and looked around the room. from what she could see, the centers included music, blocks, art, math, science, and a play kitchen.
of course, she felt inclined to visit the art table first. there was only about three kids over there, and it was a topic she knew pretty well. was she overthinking this? probably.
she took a seat on the uncomfortably small chair in front of the table. immediately, the three kids looked up at her.
“hi! what’s your name?” a girl with short brown hair asked her.
“ellie,” she answered, then realized she should probably talk a bit more, “um what’s yours?”
“pippa,” she answered, putting away the green crayon in exchange for a red one.
“what are you drawing?” ellie asked, looking at the mound of colors on the girl’s paper.
“my family!” pippa smiled, “that’s my mommy, and that’s my kitty kat, and that’s daddy!”
to ellie, it looked more like scribbles of different colors, but nonetheless she praised the girl for her creativity.
she felt a light tap on her arm and when she turned she was met with a shy looking boy. he had black braids in his hair and wore a toy story themed shirt.
“hi.” ellie said to the boy.
“can you draw me something?” he asked, handing her his blank sheet of paper.
“okay..” she said, taking the paper from him, “what should i draw?”
the boy thought for a minute, “ooo, i know! a dinosaur!!” he said, excitedly.
this request made ellie’s smile grow. of course she could draw him a motherfucking dinosaur.
“what’s your name?” she asked him.
“king!” he replied, awaiting his dinosaur.
as she drew, king watched intently, and once pippa noticed ellie was drawing, she started watching too.
when ellie was finished, she gave it back to king.
“woah!!! it’s a t-rex! i’m gonna color him green!” he said.
“ellie. can you draw me a mermaid?” pippa asked her.
ellie obliged and soon she had a good line of kids asking her to draw things for them.
as she was working on her third princess drawing, she heard you singing the clean up song.
she didn’t have chance to admire how beautiful your voice was before the kids started singing along. the three year olds started cleaning up their messes and ellie helped them out.
you had them gather on the carpet, where you finally introduced ellie as their new teacher (for the time being). you watched as ellie awkwardly smiled and you had to hold in a laugh.
after doing a couple songs and shit with the kids, they all went outside and played on the playground.
you took this opportunity to talk to ellie.
“hey, so, how you liking it so far?” you asked her, curiously.
“i thought i’d hate it, but it’s actually not too bad,” she said, glancing over at you with a smile. you swear you almost passed out right there.
“haha, yeah. it can take a second to get used to. you’re lucky they didn’t put you with the two year olds. those children make me want to quit my job,” you laughed, “so you know maria?”
“yeah. she’s sort of my- aunt-in-law - i guess?” ellie said, trying to find the right words.
“really? tommy must be your uncle then. gonna be honest, maria scares me,” you admitted.
ellie laughed, and your heart skipped a beat.
“pretty sure tommy feels the same way. she’s not bad once you get passed the cold exterior. how long you been working here?” ellie asked, intrigued to know more about you.
“about a year. its just a steady job while i’m in college,” you answered.
“you’re in college. where do you go?” she asked.
“jackson state!”
“no way, me too. you on campus?”
“yeah, campbell north.”
“no fucking way-“ ellie said, but caught herself, “shit-SHOOT, no freaking way. i dorm there too.”
after you laughed at her slip up, you continued your sweet conversation with her. you felt like you’re falling in love with her by the second, and little to your knowledge, she’s was feeling the same way.
“do you have any favorites yet?” you asked.
“um.. i like king. he’s sweet,” ellie answered, thinking back to the dinosaur drawing.
“yeah. he’s really smart too. he’s actually in the foster care system and can be a bit sensitive about it. try not to mention moms or dads around him,” you told her.
this struck a chord in ellie. she had been in foster care a long time before joel came along. she knew exactly what it was like for king. she hopes he will be as fortunate as her in the future.
when the time came, you and ellie corralled all the kids back into the room. there was a cart at the front of their door that had lunch on it. you explained to ellie that you guys will have to make the plates and then hand them out, same with the milk.
you passed out the plates to each kid who was sitting down at the small tables, while ellie came behind with the bowls of food, placing a nice scoop on each child’s paper plate.
you went to start pouring the milk but soon got distracted. you couldn’t help but watch ellie as her lean figure slid around the room. you liked the way she kneeled down when a child was asking her a question, acting as if that child were her equal. you studied how her hair was sticking up a bit on the sides, probably from being outside and running around with the three year olds. most of all, you loved how she was smiling. how it seemed that she was enjoying herself. the beautiful curve up of her lips was enough for your heart to beat at a rapid pace.
you snapped out of your trance when you saw ellie look up at you. you flicked your head away before she could catch you staring (even though she definitely did and you knew it too). you started actually doing your job and pouring the milk for your children.
as the day went on, ellie was very fond of learning more about you. you both spent nap time learning new things. when ellie told you how much she loved space, you told her how you thought you could be the first person to pluto as a kid, since it was your favorite planet. you guys talked about your favorite constellations and which ones you spot first. you told her how much you liked to read and shared your favorite stories with her. you asked what maria was like at thanksgiving dinner.
you were sat together against the wall, just chatting. the lullaby music played on the tv. the lights were off and curtains were closed. the three year olds were all asleep. ellie was all to yourself right now. you were so starstruck with how easily your conversation flowed. she sat with her knees up, resting ur arms on them as she looked at you. you could see glint in her eyes, even in the dark room. it made you like her even more.
once the kids woke up, it was less talking and more working, much to your disappointment. the rest of the day went by smoothly. you did a fun craft with the children that they enjoyed, and ended the day with tv time. once the number of kids got lower, maria came in to let ellie know she could go home.
“well. i hope all these kids didn’t scare you off. will you- be here tomorrow?” you asked with a hopeful look on her face.
ellie chuckled, “some of them are a bit scary, but they didn’t. i think i will be here tomorrow, but only so i can see you again though,” ellie smirked.
once her words sunk in, your cheeks turned a blushy color. no way the new, hot teacher just flirted with you. you stammered a bit but regained your ground.
“looking forward to it, ellie. have a good night,” you smiled brightly.
ellie have you a slight smile and a wave before walking out the door. you let out a breath you hadn’t realized you were holding. holy shit were you in deep.
ellie joyfully said bye to maria, earning her a weird look. she felt on cloud nine as she walked to her car. the day went better than she could’ve ever expected. she was already making a mental list on ways she could win you over.
maybe this daycare job won’t be so bad. is exactly what ellie was thinking as she drove away.
452 notes · View notes
athenasgotu · 2 months
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
title: you're all i need.
pairings: teenage!ellie williams x female!reader
summary: after so many things happening in your life. a break up, sister passing away, and then losing half of your friends. only one person stuck with you and it was ellie. she never left your side, and overtime you grew feelings for her. but you can get your hopes up.
warning: mentions of suicide, swearing, and lots of angst. (minors dni!)
authors note: part 1 is more on y/n story and how she feels. ellie will be there to comfort her.
MEN DNI❗❗
part 2
╔══ஓ๑♡๑ஓ══╗
one more month. one more month and no more school, no more stress, no more fake friends. how could someone possibly be this sad? mom is over it, why aren't you? your boyfriend calling you a slut? no biggie. just act like you don't care then no one will notice.
you walk out of your room to brush your teeth. numb. that's all you felt. you have no one. no friends. no love. no sister. wait.. ellie. how could you forget the one person who hasn't done one thing wrong? god, she's an angel. she hasn't left me, yet. you can't even dress nice for school, just sweats. your mom tries to get you to be happier. therapy, not working. quality time, making it worse. talking to her.
communication was never good with her, will it ever be? how can you tell her how you've been craving death? wanting to be with your sister. she was your light. she made you smile on days you couldn't. i mean sure, you had your rough times. but that's how siblings are, right?
or did she secretly hate you?
faked it all?
faked her love?
no. she couldn't have, hah. its funny to think i even thought of that.
suddenly, the time changed late. twenty minutes in the bathroom? jesus. time passes, you're in school.
you see your old friends, teachers, then her. she smiles at you and waves.
"hey! you feeling ok?" ellie asks.
am i? i spent twenty minutes in my own thoughts earlier.
"i'm good." you smile. great acting.
ellie nudges your shoulder and hands you a plastic bag with a cookie, she baked every once in a while even though it wasn't the best. she knew i like sugar cookies. she's so sweet..
"thanks els." you smile, but it was real.
ellie was the only one who could get you to smile. not even your own mom could make you really smile. ellie was special. really special.
as you two walked in the crowded halls, she makes it to her class.
"see you later?" ellie smiles at you again.
gosh, that smile..
you nod and smile back at her "mhm." you mumbled.
you walked to your class, attempting not to be late again. but it was math, you were already failing horribly in math. school makes everything worse for you. tears your soul down. not always though, your sister made those long eight hours fun and exciting. too bad she's gone. you groan under your breath. these thoughts weren't helping. you take your earbuds out and put on a song.
Tumblr media
you sigh in relief. finally, you can relieve some stress.
╭──╯ . . . . . hours later . . . . . ╰──╮
you were finally at home, alone. your mom was still at work, she wasn't coming back until midnight.
long shift, as usual.
you laid down in bed sighing. everything is going to be ok. you kept telling yourself. was it though? your life was already fucked up enough. how could it possibly get better?
⇢˗ˏˋ beep beep !! 📞
you pick up your phone to see a message from ellie. you smile, she always messages you.
Tumblr media
she worried so much.
she's so nice.
you put your phone down and turn off your light. hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day.
╰┈➤ end of part 1
181 notes · View notes
upat4amwiththemoon · 1 year
Text
Cheer you on
Summary: Even the cheerleader needs someone to cheer them on.
Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x female!reader
Warnings: Wanda is kind of mean, i don’t know how cheer or football works
Word count: 4213
a/n: how do you write enemies to lovers trope without instantly making them friends?? This was supposed to be a series, but that obviously didn’t work out
Tags: @thought-of-you-and-me @rafecameronswhore @sayah13 @wandsmxmff @emsmultiverse @natashamaximoff69
masterlists | guidelines
Tumblr media
“Maximoff, stay behind after class, please.” Ms Harkness, the chemistry teacher, stops Wanda as she steps inside the classroom. “I have something important to ask you.”
“Yes, Ms Harkness.” Wanda gives her a quick smile, walking over to her desk and takes out her textbook. It wasn’t uncommon for teachers to have a chat with her after class, she is one of the top students after all and pretty much adored amongst all the teachers. Although, she can’t help but feel nervous whenever they do so.
The class goes by quickly, they all do. Wanda has always liked school. She likes to learn nee things and considers herself to be quite good at it. She wouldn’t say she wasn’t like everyone else. Sure, she has never been the most popular kid in school, but she is happy with the friends she has. Being Pietro’s sister, who is on the football team, gives her a lot of opportunities to go to parties. And sometimes Wanda does go, but it’s not her main form of having fun.
“Maximoff!” Ms Harkness’ voice snaps her out if her thoughts. “Were you listening?”
“I am so sorry, Miss, just got lost in my mind. Could you repeat what you said?”
“Would you mind tutoring a student in chemistry? She’s a little behind and failed the last course, so, I suggested getting a tutor and she agreed.”
“Of course! I’d love to help out.” Wanda assures, it’ll look great on her college applications. “Can I ask who am I tutoring?”
“Y/N L/N.” Wanda’s smile drops at the mention of the girl’s name. “You know her, correct? You two have had some classes together.”
“Ah, hm.” Wanda clears her throat. “I know her.”
“Great! That’s settled then, can you start today?”
“Yeah.”
“Good, I’ll let her know and you two can meet up at the library after school. Thank you, Wanda.” Ms Harkness nods in gratitude and goodbye before going back to her stack of papers to work on.
Wanda blows air out of her mouth, silently cursing to herself for accepting the task before knowing who needed tutoring. She didn’t per se, hate her, she’d rather call it heavily disliking her.
Y/N is a rather popular cheerleader, pretty much everyone around school knows her. And Wanda isn’t a fan of popular people, except her brother. They didn’t necessarily do anything bad to her, but she doesn’t like fake people and she is 100% sure all the popular students are fake. Y/N being the fakest of them all.
Every time Wanda walks past her in the hallways, she is smiling and laughing while greeting practically everyone. No one can be that…good.
Wanda groans, she only has two more classes before the tutoring starts. She tries to remind herself that it’s for her own good as she goes to her next class.
The library is silent, more silent than normal, it doesn’t have a big use on after school hours, which makes it one of Wanda’s favorite places to spend her time.
She taps her pen against the table as she waits for Y/N to arrive. She already has her chemistry books and notebooks ready, wanting to get this over as soon as possible.
Finally she hears a pair of boots enter the room. Sighing, Wanda sits up straighter just before Y/N walks over to the table. “Hi, Wanda!” She smiles brightly and sits opposite of her. “Sorry for being late, cheer practice ran a little long.”
“It’s okay.” Wanda mumbles. “Do you have your books?”
“Yeah.” Y/N takes out a few books, setting them to the table. “Thank you so much for agreeing to help me, I can’t afford to fail another class.”
“Maybe you should focus on them then.” Wanda comments, mostly to herself, not really intending for Y/N to hear, but she does.
“What?” Y/N giggles quietly, sounding quite uncomfortable. “I do focus, I’m just very busy.”
“Mhm.” Wanda opens her book. “Lets start from page ten. Which parts do you have problems with?”
“Uhm, I’m pretty aware of chapters from 11 to 16, others are mostly a blur.” Y/N
“Six chapters from a 25 chapter book?” Wanda cringes. “Can I ask you why did you take an advanced chemistry class if you weren’t going to put some effort to it?”
Y/N frowns, staring at Wanda. “If you don’t want to tutor me, you can say so.” She mumbles. Wanda sighs, rolling her eyes. “I only need a little help and if you aren’t willing to help me, I can find someone else.”
Wanda scoffs quite loudly. “I am very willing. I just don’t appreciate people who take partying and nonsense hobbies more seriously than studying. Advanced classes are hard to get into, if you weren’t going to actually do it, someone more deserving would’ve gotten the spot.” She throws her arms into the air as she ends her rant.
“Right.” Y/N whispers, closing her book. “I stayed behind because of personal emergencies. I was very unwell and couldn’t get out of bed in the mornings. Ms Harkness was understanding enough to give me an opportunity to retake the test and ask someone to tutor me.” She shoves the books to her bag. “But I suppose some people don’t have the same empathy skills as her.”
Wanda stares at Y/N wide eyed. “I-“
“I’ll tell Ms Harkness we had some schedule problems because of my nonsense hobbies and continuous partying, so you don’t have to continue tutoring me.” Y/N stands up. “Bye then, I guess.”
“Wait!” Wanda stands up, but Y/N takes her bag and walks out of the library, leaving very conflicted Wanda behind.
Wanda uses the fork on her hand to repeatedly stab the very dry looking food on the plate, leaning her head on her palm. After using all of her morning and afternoon breaks to look for Y/N with no luck, she decided to give up and head to the canteen to eat with Natasha.
“Wanda.” The redhead pushes her shoulder so she’d pay attention to her. “Where’s your mind at?”
“Y/N.” She mumbles quietly.
Natasha sighs. “Listen, yes, you were unfairly mean to her, but I doubt she’s mad at you. You just have to apologize.”
“I would if I could find her.” Wanda slams her fork to the tray. “And I’m not upset because I got her mad, I’m upset because she looked so hurt when she left.” She turns to face Natasha. “And I don’t want to be the reason why she didn’t come to school.”
“I know. If you want to, I can ask Yelena for her number so you could text her.”
“No! Absolutely not, I don’t want to be a creep.”
“You wouldn’t be a creep, it’s normal to ask for someone’s number.” Natasha shoves food inside her mouth. “Besides, she’s my sister.”
“I want to apologize face to face.” Wanda comments. “Anyways,” she changes the subject, “talking about your sister, she has been glaring at me the whole day.”
“She’s just very protective of her friends, no need to worry.”
“I feel like she’ll murder me when I’m the least prepared.”
Natasha snorts at the comment. Truth to be told, she wouldn’t be surprised if her sister decided to kill someone for disrespecting her loved ones. Yelena and Y/N have been best friends since diapers as they were born close to each other. Just like Wanda and Natasha, who were born a year before the two.
Wanda gasps. “There she is!” She whisper yells, nudging Natasha harshly. She points towards Y/N walking towards a full table of people in her cheer suit.
“Well, go on then.”
“She’s leaving.”
“I think she has cheer practice.” Natasha watches Y/N and Yelena walk outside together. “You should talk to her before it starts.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m going.” Wanda stands up, jogging to the hallway after the two friends. “Y/N! Wait up.” Y/N and Yelena stop, turning around to see Wanda right behind them. “Can I talk to you? Alone?” She glances at Yelena.
“Uhh, sure.” Y/N smiles to Yelena who looks rather annoyed. “I’ll see you outside, don’t start practice without me.” Yelena nods as Y/N and Wanda walk inside an empty classroom. “What’s up?”
“I just really wanted to apologize, for yesterday. It wasn’t nice of me to assume why you failed the class or what you do on your free time.”
“It really wasn’t.” Y/N comments. “But it’s okay, I forgive you.”
“Great!” Wanda smiles widely. “So, we’ll continue the tutoring?”
“Ah, no. I already got Tony to help me.”
“Tony Stark?” Wanda frowns. Sure, Stark is smart, but nowhere near Wanda’s level. “Isn’t he like a really big douche.”
“Okay then.” Mumbling, Y/N purses her lips together. “Bye, Wanda.”
“No! Wait-“ Y/N ignores her calls after her and walks outside to her cheer practice. Wanda groans, dragging herself back to the table where Natasha is waiting for her. “Is Y/N friends with Tony Stark?”
“I think they’re like family friends.”
“Fuck.” Wanda slams her forehead to the table. “I just called him a douche in front of her.”
Natasha laughs. “You really just want her to hate you, huh?”
“Obviously not!” She doesn’t know why Y/N’s disappointed face is making her feel so bad, but she doesn’t like it at all. The feeling is gnawing her insides. “Do you think she’ll forgive me a second time?”
Natasha shrugs her shoulders, shoving food to her mouth. “I’m sure she isn’t that offended.”
“She looked like it.”
“Why do you care, Wanda?” Natasha furrows her brows together. She has never been one to worry about how others see her, so this kind of excessive overthinking was very unusual for her.
“I don’t want her to think badly of me.”
“But you can think badly about her.”
Wanda raises her head. “No! I don’t- it’s not like that.” Natasha stares at her with a questioning look. “I don’t think badly about her.”
“Within a day, you’ve entirely turned around what you think of her?” Wanda nods slowly, making Natasha sigh. “Did you ever even dislike her? It always seemed like you like liked her, but didn’t think she’d like you back.”
“What?” Wanda laughs. “No.” Natasha mumbles a quiet okay and goes back to her lunch, but Wanda continues staring at her, not getting the thought out of her head. She didn’t like Y/N. Sure, she doesn’t dislike her anymore, but she’d never like someone like her.
Right?
“What happened with Wanda Maximoff?” Yelena asks as Y/N is stretching and getting ready for cheer.
“She apologized and then she called Tony a douche.”
“Isn’t he?”
“I mean, yeah.” Y/N changes her position. “But it just made it look like she wasn’t really apologetic, you know.”
“Yea.” Yelena sits on the benches. She doesn’t cheer, but she’s always watching Y/N. She likes supporting her best friend, and they’re dorm mates, so they always walk back to their dorm together. “She’s weird.”
Humming, Y/N jogs small circles. “I don’t know. I think she just doesn’t like people. Or me, specifically.”
“The offer to beat her up still stands.”
“No, Lena.” Y/N giggles. “You aren’t beating anyone up, though I appreciate the offer.” Yelena mumbles something incoherent, she was really hoping to beat someone up. “You don’t have to wait for me every time, you know?”
“I know, but I want to. I like watching you cheer.”
Y/N grins at her. “You’re going soft.”
“Only for you.”
With a laugh, Y/N goes to the field as the captain arrives and calls them around her. They have been practicing a cheer routine for the football game for a while now, but it still needs time to be perfect.
Y/N, a flyer, gets ready to be lifted off the ground. Her hands are waiting steadily on two people’s shoulders. When the time comes, she jumps onto their hands and gets lifted to the air. There she does her tricks along with the other flyers of her group. At the final flip, one of the bases looses their footing, causing Y/N to come crashing to the ground.
The music stops and the group gathers around her. Yelena runs to her through the other cheerleaders, kneeling down next to her. “You okay? Where does it hurt?”
Y/N coughs, gathering the oxygen back to her lungs. She groans. “I’m fine.” Mumbling, she takes Yelena’s hand and gets up. Her leg is unable to take any weight and she’s leaning to Yelena heavily.
“I’m gonna take you to the nurse’s office.” Slowly but surely they make their way towards the office. Yelena is keeping her arm around Y/N’s waist, holding most of her weight so she wouldn’t have to use the hurt leg. “I’m gonna beat up the base.”
Y/N lets out an airy laugh. “It was an accident. These kind of things happen in cheer.”
“They shouldn’t happen to you.” Yelena mumbles as she knocks on the door. The two hobble in when the nurse comes to open the door.
Yelena helps Y/N to sit down. “What happened?” The nurse sits down to a chair of her own.
“Cheer accident.” Y/N moves her leg slightly, cringing at the pain shooting up her body. “My leg hurts a bit.”
“She can’t put any weight on it, and her back hurts.” Yelena comments. She’s standing right next to Y/N.
Rolling her eyes, Y/N lets the nurse examine her leg and back. Yelena has been overbearingly protective ever since they became friends, but Y/N is okay with that. That’s how she shows her love, by caring and protecting.
“It’s not broken, so that’s good.” The nurse writes something on the computer. “But you definitely can’t cheer for a while.”
“What? For how long?”
“Lets start with three to six weeks and see where we go from there.”
Y/N sighs, not happy with the news. The football game isn’t too far away, so she really needs to be practicing the routine for it. “I really can’t wait that long. Isn’t there any way we could speed the healing?”
“Not really.” The nurse sighs, taking out an ice pack and a pair of crutches. “Hold this to your leg. You two can go home.”
With a frown on her face, Y/N takes the ice pack and crutches, leaving the office with Yelena’s help.
The next day, to Y/N’s luck, Yelena became sick. Which meant walking, or limping would be more describing, through the school halls alone. Even though she has a lot of friends, she mostly spends her days with Yelena, that’s her best friend since diapers after all.
With a quiet grunt, she opens the cafeteria door, holding both of her crutches in one hand. After getting through them, she starts moving towards the line, trying to come up with a way how she’s going to carry her tray.
While waiting in line, she feels someone tap her shoulder. She turns around and sees Wanda. “What happened?” Wanda nods towards the crutches.
“Cheer accident.”
“Do you need help? Where’s Yelena? You could sit with me and Natasha if you want.”
Y/N’s eyes widen from the word vomit that just came out of Wanda’s mouth. It was almost too quick to understand. “Yelena is sick, so yes, I might need a bit of help.”
“Great,” Wanda steps next to Y/N in line. “I’ll help. I already got my food.” Y/N nods with a tight lipped smile. “I’m really sorry, again. For yesterday, saying Tony is a douche, I’m sure he actually isn’t.”
“Oh, he is.” Y/N comments and leaves it at that.
Wanda hums, staying quiet. Their turn comes quickly. Wanda picks up a tray, plate, glass and cutleries for Y/N, moving the tray as they do. She puts the food Y/N wants on the plate and fills the glass with water. After that, they start walking towards the table Natasha is sitting at. It’s quite slow, as Wanda follows Y/N’s speed.
“Hi.” Natasha grins at the two. “Did you get enough of cheering yet?”
“Of course not.” Y/N sits down carefully, setting the crutches to lay against an empty chair. “It’s still my biggest love.”
“Seems like a toxic relationship you two got going in.”
Y/N laughs. She’s fairly close with Natasha too, as she is Yelena’s sister and she has spent a great amount of time at their house. “I’m sure you already know Yelena is sick.”
“Oh, yeah.” Natasha scoffs with a shake of her head. “I have gotten so many whiny texts about it.”
Wanda tries to laugh along the two, feeling bit like an outsider at the moment. She wants to be closer to Y/N, though she isn’t sure where this sudden want came from. Or she just doesn’t want to accept it yet.
“Are you allowed to cheer at the football game?” She asks, wanting to be a part of the conversation.
“Uhm, I hope so. It depends on how fast I’ll heal.”
“Well, I really hope you get to cheer.” Wanda smiles widely.
Natasha smirks at the interaction. It’s so obvious to her, but she doesn’t want to pressure Wanda about anything she’s not ready to accept yet.
The conversation steers back to Natasha and Y/N talking about their shared things, while Wanda decides to spend the rest of lunch staring at Y/N.
After four weeks, Y/N can finally stop using the crutches and get back into practicing their cheer routine, which she needs to learn very quickly, as the big game is in a week. It’s Y/N’s school versus their biggest rival school. The schools have fought each other since the beginning of time, and they still haven’t quiet figured out which school is the best one. And neither one is happy with a tie, so they have to put their best game face on. And the pressure isn’t only on the football players, it’s also on the cheerleaders.
During those weeks, especially the time Yelena was sick, Y/N and Wanda grew closer. Wanda decided to throw out all of her previous impressions of Y/N and just get to know her, just like Natasha asked her to do many times before. She realized Y/N isn’t actually anything like she thought, which opened the feelings she had hidden a long time ago.
“Have you done this every night after you got your crutches taken off?” Wanda asks as she sits on the bleachers, watching Y/N practice the cheer routine on her own.
“Yes.” Y/N pants slightly. She has gone through the routine four times now. “I have to do it perfectly on the game night.”
Wanda rubs her hands together, starting to feel chilly. “I’m sure you’ll be great.”
“You don’t have to wait, you know? Even Yelena refuses to stay here so late.” She does a few tricks on the ground that she’s supposed to do in the air.
“I want to stay.”
A small smile grows on Y/N’s lips, but she hides it by continuing the routine. For a while, the music, coming from Y/N’s phone, for the routine is the only noise. No other student is out this late on school grounds, they’re either partying or in their dorms.
“Are you sure you aren’t getting too cold? You shouldn’t risk getting sick before the game.”
“I’m alright, Wanda.” Y/N takes a break, drinking some water. “I’m moving constantly.”
“Yeah, but when you move, you start to sweat and when you’re sweaty, you get cold easier.”
Giggling, Y/N drops the water bottle back to the ground, starting the music over again. “I know how it works, Wanda.” She goes back to her spot and starts the routine all over before Wanda can answer. “I’ll stop after this one.”
The routine is two minutes and 30 seconds long, but it feels shorter from both of their points of view. Y/N loves performing and Wanda likes to watch her perform.
Doing the final step, Wanda starts clapping at her. “Amazing!” She smiles, making Y/N laugh.
Y/N stops the music and picks up her things before walking over to Wanda. “Thanks for staying, you didn’t have to.” She starts shivering as the cold wind picks up.
“I told you, you would get cold.” Wanda mumbles, taking off of her jacket and putting it over Y/N’s shoulders, ignoring her protests. “I have a hoodie on, you have a small cheer uniform.” At the word small, Wanda’s eyes drop down to go over the whole outfit. Her cheeks flush the minute she realizes, but she lets out a breath of relief when she notices Y/N isn’t looking her way.
“Yeah, yeah.” They start walking towards the dorm buildings. Their dorms aren’t in the same building, but they’re close by, so it’s easy to walk there together.
“Hey, I’m glad you gave me a chance by the way.” Wanda huffs a breath of air out of her nose. “And I’m glad we’re friends now.”
“So am I.” Y/N bumps her side against Wanda’s, giving her a cheery smile.
The closer they get to their building, the more nervous Wanda gets. She waits until the moment they have to split up to speak up. “Would you, maybe, go out with me?”
“Like, on a date?” Y/N and Wanda stop walking.
“Yeah.”
Y/N gives her a small smile. “Ask me again after the game, yeah?” When Wanda nods, Y/N starts taking off the jacket, but Wanda stops her.
“Keep it until then.”
“Okay.” Y/N giggles, kisses Wanda’s cheek and starts walking towards her dorm building.
Y/N cheers the football team on with the other cheerleaders. They’re standing on the side, jumping up and down while waving their pom poms around. Half time is starting any second now, so her nerves are through the roof. She has performed in front of people many times before, but she has never been injured right before a show.
She glances at the clock. Three.. Two.. One. The loud buzzer sounds the half time is now. The group cheers loudly, getting the viewers spirits high, before running to the middle of the field. They go straight into formation, waiting for the music.
The music starts and they go straight into the routine. Y/N has a wide smile on her face as she get to occasionally glance the bleachers more clearly. If possible, her smiles widens even more when she hear and sees Wanda, Yelena and Natasha cheering her on.
She goes to her place, grabs the bases’ shoulders and gets into the air smoothly. Everything goes through perfectly and no one gets injured.
After the routine stops, Y/N runs back to the sidelines with a victorious smile on her face. She waves at her friends before turning back to supporting the football team on their second half of the game.
As the last seconds ti k away on the clock, everyone is on the edge of their seat. The score is tied, but there’s still time to score. One of the players on Y/N’s school is kicking the ball forward while running full speed ahead and trying to dodge the opponents.
Seeing there’s only under ten seconds left on the clock, the player kicks the ball with all their might and it goals just before the buzzer goes off. Everyone jumps up and shouts in happiness. Another win for their school.
Y/N runs towards Wanda, Yelena and Natasha, who already got away from the bleachers. None of them were really that interested in football, they mostly came to support Y/N. They cheer when they see her coming their way.
“Great job! You did so well!” Yelena yells as Y/N smashes herself into her.
“Thank you!” Her voice comes out muffled because of Yelena’s puffy jacket. “Thank you for coming, you guys.” She grins, hugging Natasha next.
“We wouldn’t have missed it.”
She laughs and turns to Wanda, hugging her just a bit longer than the other two. “Wait for me to get my things? Then we can leave.” Y/N runs off to get her bag and Wanda’s jacket, which she decides to put on. It is autumn after all.
The four of them start walking away from the celebration, they’ll have one of their own in a diner. Although, they will join the other students at a house party later in the evening.
Wanda grabs Y/N’s hand into her own as they’re walking towards the diner. She leans in closer. “Go out with me?” She whispers so the sister duo wouldn’t hear.
“Like a date?” Y/N asks with a grin.
“Yeah.”
“Okay, I’ll go out with you.”
Wanda’s cheeks turn red and her smile grows from the answer. “Thank you.” Y/N giggles at her shyness, leaning against Wanda’s side, she tunes into whatever conversation Yelena and Natasha are having, while Wanda continues smiling.
773 notes · View notes
dollveis · 1 year
Note
Tumblr media
⠀⠀⠀𐚁 ͏͏ ᳝˚ ͏͏𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞!𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬. ׁ ׂ ✦
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
✿ 𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 : college!ellie x fem!reader.
✿ 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 : kind of enemies to lovers trope, vaguely anxiety mention.
⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀✿ ﹙ 𝐕𝐈𝐕𝐈 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐒﹚: i took two whole weeks to make this request because im literally blocked and i entered in a crisis after uploading it by accident (i also have serious problems with verbs tenses), kinda hate this tbh. @evanpetersluver obligated me to give her credits because she was the one who gimme the idea of alpha and omega, ily. dialogues and narrative are written on italics.
Tumblr media
⠀⠀⠀
Thinking about college!ellie as your girlfriend...
You met her by accident on your first day of college, it wasn't the best first impression.
"Fuck, watch where you're going," a female voice said, with upset tone and cursing a little bit more under her breath. A girl with a half-up half-down hairstyle, a helmet hanging on her right hand and furrowed eyebrows looking at you, her green eyes piercing you like blades.
"Excuse you? you should too, damn," you were having a bad day because of that stupid teacher who humiliated you in front of your class and as cherry on top, now this stupid girl thinks she can talk to you like that? you bumped into her by accident.
The day after you bumped into her again, this time when you were entering on your dorm. She was one of Dina's, your roommate, closest friends.
You couldn't stand Ellie and her mocking attitude, and it seemed like the feeling was mutual.
"Why's this dumbass here again, Dina?" your hand rubbing the bridge of your nose, already fed up of that annoying and cocky smirk of hers, "you don't have a dorm? you're always here, god".
"I can't believe you're at college, you act like a baby," she mocked, leaning against Dina's headboard, "get over it".
It's almost insane to think you became lovers at the end. One day you entered your room with watery eyes, stressed and anxious about your exams and works, tired to the point you didn't cared about Ellie's presence in Dina's desk. She ran to you surprisingly fast, expecting her usual bullshit she acted caring towards you for the first time, with concern in her voice and worry adorning her features as Ellie kneeled down.
Without realizing you cried on her arms for the next two hours, being comforted by her warm hug and her hands caressing your back, making your heart race fast on your chest.
"You don't hate me?" with your voice broken and shaky complimenting your swollen reddish eyes you pulled away your face from the curve of her neck to look at her eyes, this time a soft stare in them.
Ellie didn't answered, instead she kissed you. The sweetest kiss you ever felt, with both of her hands on your cheeks as her fingers traced messy figures.
"That seems like hate to you?" a fond smile in her lips and without waiting for you to think and answer, she pressed her lips gently against yours.
After that, without words needed, you and Ellie already knew you were girlfriends.
A few weeks after starting dating, Ellie already learned you classes schedule and she started walking you to class and wait for you once they end if she was free, sometimes bringing you your favorite snacks and drink.
The times you forget about your money Ellie won't stop insisting to share her lunch and even if you always reject her, unluckily for you Ellie is persistent as hell.
"I'm okay, Ellie, i said no," you stroked and squeezed Ellie's thigh under the table of the cafeteria, her slightly larger hand trying to reach yours to interlock your fingers.
"Yeah, i don't care, you need to eat and take care of yourself, now eat or i'll feed you," she threatened even if you kinda liked that idea.
Sometimes you surrender and eat or intentionally refuse to tease and embarrass Ellie by making her feed you, thing that she did few times and later told you she hated you and never did it again.
Every time you tease her she takes revenge in front of your friends, making your cheeks red and something awakening inside you.
"You look so pretty and so mine today, sweet girl," she whispered in your ear, her arms wrapping around your waist and her lips softly skimming your neck, giving you a kiss to immediately break the contact with you. Her lips forming a smirk when she looked at your nervous expression.
"Hey, are you okay? You are really red," Jesse asked you with a worry, approaching his hand to your forehead, "you have fever?".
She loves to pick you up with her motorcycle from everywhere. She doesn't care if it's an hour away from where she is, if you call her she's picking you.
Actually, before you she didn't let anyone get on her motorcycle like it was her child. Now she even bought you a helmet so you can always go with her without any danger.
Ellie memorized what you like and what you don't, giving as result her waiting for you at your dorm with a wrapped gift in her hands after you told her you passed that test that was driving you crazy or similar situations.
If she used to spent the whole time on your dorm, now she almost lives with you and Dina, having multiple clothes and dinosaurs pyjamas on your closet along with yours.
She's a film lover but her favorite genre to watch with you are the kids ones, she loves those and thrillers too. I said movie nights almost every Friday and Saturday?
The type of girlfriend who invites you to everything even if you didn't care if she went alone, she just wants you there because loves your presence and your silly comments, she loves how you make her feel warm.
"I got invited to this party, wanna go? Dina's probably going with Jesse," she asked, looking at through her instagram's messages while she was layed on your bed.
You turned your head from your desk and notes to look at her, her hair messy and some hair strands invading her freckled face, "Not a big fan of parties, but you can go, baby," you hummed already knowing her answer because you knew Ellie Williams like your hand's palm.
"Then i prefer stay with you watching Alpha and Omega," her eyes lighting up with excitement, showing how much of a kids movie lover she was.
"Again?" a dumb smile in your lips, mesmerized by your own girlfriend.
Tumblr media
657 notes · View notes
meow-town · 2 years
Text
Dee x Fem! Very Girly! Reader
Requested by @grape-flavored-lipgloss !! Took me a while because I wanted to mass-post a bunch of requests, but I really hope you enjoy this! (Pretty long because I adore this idea and went a little bit off of the rails)
Summary : Dee with very girly s/o who wears a lot of pink. The Shvagenbagens don’t necessarily like her at first but she gets them to warm up to her.
-You definitely weren’t the person he expected to fall for. He expected to start liking someone with his style, his taste in music, similar interests. Someone like Lif, to be honest.
-Obviously, you weren’t the person he’d want to date the least. Diana easily takes that spot.
-He recognized your sweetness, and how kind you were. You knew how to dress, and you obvious took care of yourself.
-The science fair was coming up, and teams were assigned for projects. His teacher forgot to sort him into a team, and when they found out, they were both pissed.
-The teacher, cause Dee hadn’t told him anything. And Dee, because now he couldn’t work alone like he wanted to. (Not me basing this off of my dee x reader story)
-Anyways, he got paired up with you and some other kid who didn’t do jack shit to contribute to the project.
-You we’re constantly nice and kind, and never got very aggressive with the other student, despite his laziness. You would give great ideas, constantly be giving words of encouragement to Dee when going through experiments, offer to hold equipment, etc, etc…
-You were a team, which means you all shared a group chat, which means he had your number. (Thankfully he already had it before he started crushing, otherwise he never would’ve worked up the courage to ask you for it).
-Because Dee’s petty as hell, he put credits in the science project so the teacher would know that you and him were the only ones who did work. He deleted the group chat, as well.
-After that, you spent the rest of the science fair with each other. People would crowd around your project stand, amazed. Because, lets be real, it’s Dee. He would explain how it worked, and you shared the thought process behind it.  -After that, he invited you to a drink at the vending machines, his treat. What a gentleman.
-You two had a conversation over fizzy sodas (or something else, if you don’t like those) and mostly complained about peers or teachers you hated. It brought you together, to say the least.
-He began to text you more, talk to you more and even choose to spend time with you over Lif! Lif!
-mf didn’t even notice he was crushing on you. He was just looking at you during lunch and it clicked.
-Dee’s internal monologue:
‘Are those new earrings? They look great. I should buy some jewelry for her, I know she likes that one brand. They match perfectly with her makeup. … She looks pretty in that makeup. …Prettier than… anyone else.  …
I don’t like her, thought. That’d be weird. She’s just my friend…. A very good friend….A very sweet friend who I can rely on… A very kind friend who just so happens to be the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen, sweet little thing. I don’t like  her though, soft as her hair might look and as badly I might want to run my hands through it. Caring as she may be. I don’t like (f/n).
….
HOLY FUCK I LIKE (F/N)’
-The man was too stunned to speak 😦
-When I tell you he turned his head away SO FAST
-His face and neck were as red as a fire truck, and he was starting to sweat bullets.
-He choked on his food.
“Dee? Are you ok?”
-Can’t even face you. His coughing fit was interrupted by small, broken syllables.
“YE *COUGH* YEAH, IM *COUGH* FINE. DONT *COUGH,COUGH* WORRY”
-He went a whole other level of flustered when you started to pat his back. Heart beating at a thousand miles per hour. Palms growing sweatier.
-He couldn’t look at you for a straight WEEK. He avoided you everywhere he went, otherwise the whole blushy routine would start all over again. A part of him wanted to be by your side at all times though, so it was hard for him.
-When he started to hang out with you again, he had to mentally prepare himself for it. Just imagine Dee shouting to himself while he did his makeup every morning.
“Okay, Dee! You will go out there and you will be charming! And handsome! And she will fall for you!”
 -Heavy doesn’t have the heart to tell him that he can hear him from his room.
-Heavy already knew you from around school, and wasn’t judgmental of your style or friendship with Dee whatsoever! He though you looked very pretty, too!
-And back onto that, he gave away his brother.
-You were chatting, waiting for Dee to leave his final period. And out of the blue, Heavy went :
“Yeah, he was planning how to ask you out for months now! Never gets it right either.”
“He what?”
“Wait, he hasn’t told you yet?”
“Noooooo..?”
-Of course, you kind of figured and told him you also liked him. He’s really obvious. But the second Dee heard his brother had told you he liked you, he was seconds away from choking Heavy the way he did in the 2nd episode.
-He was really grateful once you reciprocated though.
-He asked for a kiss so shyly, too.
-His hands trembled as they cupped your cheeks 💓💥
-Meeting the folks was… interesting -Glam was very polite, he just didn’t expect a person so different from his son would win over his heart. -And I love Victoria, but she was straight up judgemental 😭
-She’s had a bad experience with girly girls, so she’s initially quite defensive. Thankfully, once you’re gone, the kids confront her about it.
“Ma, what is your problem with (f/n)?”
“Yeah! You keep giving her the stink-eye! She’s nice!”
-She gets super nervous and over sensitive. Glam knows about her past problems with girly girls and talks her through it. She’s on much better terms the next time you meet :)
-It gets awkward with the parents, but once you’ve proven to them you won’t hurt their son and that you’re very sweet, they treat you as a child of their own.
-Ches just full-on didn’t believe you were dating. You passed by his shop with Dee and Heavy and he cackled when Heavy told him you were dating. Once things got cleared up, he was very supportive although surprised.”
“Wow, you actually got a girlfriend. And here I thought you were going to be one of those guys who stays a virgin until 40…”
“UNCLE CHES-”
-Lif through your dynamic was super cute and she drew you two together! (Also she’s very glad Dee likes you because she was scared of rejecting the guy)
1K notes · View notes
mrsquill · 8 months
Text
Alone and Forsaken
Summary: Joel is on his way to bail Tommy out of Travis County jail, having left Sarah behind sleeping. He soon realises something has gone terribly wrong with the world, and he and Tommy are desperate to save her. Basically: my interpretation of the truck journey back to the Millers to rescue Sarah, on the night of the outbreak in the HBO version. Based on this piece I wrote.
Notes: This took it out of me: I rewatched both the HBO series and the game scenes leading up to/after this to get into the right headspace, and it really did a number on me. This follows the events of the show, however feel free to interpret it however you wish! Please don’t hate me - this fic is quite sad, so please don’t continue if you feel it’ll upset you. Special thanks to @mandrillusphinx for the idea.
Warnings: Angst, swearing, mentions of violence and blood, potentially distressing content.
Tumblr media
Slamming the truck door harder than he meant to, Joel cursed his little brother under his breath. Fuckin’ Tommy. Couldn’t even keep his shit together on his birthday. He knew it’d been a bad idea as he’d watched Tommy go earlier that night; they’d had a shitty day at work, the hours dragging on, more and more problems cropping up on site. His brother’s solution? Head into the city when they were done, hit a couple bars and drink till his back didn’t hurt anymore. Tommy knew better than to invite Joel. He’d never had that kind of freedom; becoming a father unexpectedly at 22 would do that to anyone - not that Joel resented it for a moment.
He thought of his daughter, now, as he headed along the highway towards Travis County jail to bail his shithead brother out, ready for Tommy’s lazy excuses. Guilt pooled in his stomach. The fuckin’ cake. The fuckin’ watch. Sarah was his blessing; his biggest achievement, and more often than not he felt he was letting her down as another year of fatherhood passed him by. She was growing up, blossoming into a young woman, as beautiful as her mother had been before her. He knew he ought to treasure the twilight years of just the two of them. Joel was seeing his baby through college and beyond, no doubt about that.
He couldn’t forget Sarah’s words, eating away at him as they had been for the last hour or so as he struggled to concentrate on Curtis & Viper 2, her other birthday gift. You were never gonna do it for yourself. Joel tried to escape the notion that his kid was doing a better job of parenting than he was. His baby was polite, popular; Joel swelled with pride at parent teacher conferences and at school pickups, overhearing comments from some of the other parents. She’d had to grow up quicker than her peers, and she’d taken it in her stride.
He resolved to take a couple days off that weekend; head out hiking with Sarah like they did every year for his birthday. It was their favourite thing to do together, and he hadn’t made enough effort so far this year. Joel needed to make the most of it before he lost her entirely to soccer practice and sleepovers, or when she inevitably thought she was too cool to hang out with her old man. Tommy already did a good enough job of making him feel like a fuckin’ dinosaur. Small steps first, though: don’t forget the fuckin’ cake. Again.
Joel sighed; scrubbing a hand over his face, weary to the bone as he tried to concentrate on his driving. It was only then, pulled from his reverie, that he noticed the stream of traffic flooding past. Cop car lights dazzled him; he counted a dozen in less than a minute, speeding erratically on the highway. He felt the smallest frisson of fear. What the fuck? An accident? A bomb? Police activity in Austin on a Friday night was not unusual, but the numbers were unnerving. He was driving into in the city now; a journey he knew like the back of his hand. But as he travelled further; Joel began to feel a strange sort sickness, unimaginable chaos unfolding before him.
It all happened so fast. It flashed by as he headed for the jail on autopilot: cops scuffling with bystanders on the sidewalk, smashed glass and smeared blood, and people running - sprinting - seemingly for their lives. In every direction, with no thought for the road or whatever may be on it, any sense of human instinct totally abandoned. Bodies on the floor as helicopters thundered loudly overhead; white beams casting a horrifying light on the scene playing out before him. Joel turned the radio up, chasing an explanation; terror sliding down his spine like sweat in the summertime. A monotonous voice filled the cab of the truck: “This is a National Security Alert. Return to your homes, and stay there. Further instructions will be announced in due course. This is a National-“ he switched it off, heart leaping into his mouth. Sarah.
Joel rounded the corner much too fast; headlights miraculously landing on Tommy, eyes wild as he sprinted toward the truck, people fleeing into the darkness around him. “Move the fuck over, Joel! Let me drive!” his brother was yelling, and Joel slid across the bench, half in shock. “How’d you get out-“ Joel began, but Tommy was firm, temporarily more composed than his older brother. The military man in him. “Doesn’t fuckin’ matter, Joel. We gotta get outta here, away from all these people,” he said darkly, pulling off the sidewalk. “Where’s Sarah?” he asked, wiping sweat off his brow. “At home, asleep,” Joel whispered, feeling bile rise in his throat.
Tommy cursed loudly, foot to the floor as he navigated out of the city; Joel tried to center his breathing, anxiety washing over him in an endless tide. He couldn’t drag his eyes from the windows. People hunched over bodies.. Robbing them? Murdering them? Was it some kind of poisoning in the water supply? Psychedelic drugs gone wrong? Protesting taken too far? Civil unrest? Cars were rammed into one another, power lines were faltering and storefronts were on fire. “Tommy, what the fuck is happenin’? What do you know?” Joel demanded. He hated the loss of control; the world was falling apart around him and he’d left his daughter at home. Alone. Defenceless. In the one place she should be safe.
“I overheard a nurse, sayin’ it could be some sorta new virus, people attackin’ each other and shit like that,” Tommy rambled nervously, “You remember that stuff goin’ on in Jakarta? On the radio this mornin’? Well, looks like it’s happenin’ here.” Joel did remember his birthday breakfast that morning. It felt like a different life, a million miles away, a normalcy that had been torn to shreds. Reprimanding Sarah for the egg shells, hustling her out the door for school. Sarah. His baby. “I left her, Tommy. I fuckin’… I just left her, in her bed,” Joel muttered, anger at himself curled in his chest.
“You lock the door?” his brother asked, knuckles white on the steering wheel. “Of course I did,” Joel spat, watching - waiting - for each street sign and junction, counting down the minutes. “She’ll be fine,” Tommy tried to quietly reassure him, “bet ya she won’t’ve moved an inch.” Joel ran a hand through his hair in exasperation, dripping in sweat, praying his brother was right. She’d be there, sure she would. Curled up with her sneakers on still. Right where he’d left her. Nobody could get into the house, he knew that much. Not unless they tried very fucking hard.
The disorder seemed to dissipate a little as they headed away from the city center; a tiny comfort. “Joel, this guy at the bar? The reason they called the fuckin’ cops?” Tommy started, “I ain’t ever seen shit like that in my life. I couldn’t stand there and let it happen. Dude was fuckin’ crazy, tryin’ to bite this waitress. Like he had a disease or some shit. He was twitchin’ all over, too. Maybe it’s a parasite,” he shrugged.
The blood in Joel’s veins had long since turned to ice, his brother’s story solidifying it. “Tommy, you fuckin’ get us home, and you get us there now,” Joel urged, feeling his heartbeat accelerating. His daughter’s name was a mantra in his head, repeating with each frantic thrum of his pulse. He was taking charge; Sarah needed him, and so did his brother. He hadn’t failed them yet, and he sure wasn’t gonna start now. “Rifle in the back?” he asked, Tommy nodding solemnly. Joel leaned over, grateful for something to do. Five minutes till home.
Equipping himself with a wrench, Joel urged Tommy on. Images flicked over and over in his brain like a sickening picture show: Sarah, her dark eyes - his eyes - wide with fear, her breath quickening, screaming for him, her father, who’d abandoned her in the darkness. No. He shook his head, physically, ridding himself of the nightmare. “What about the neighbours, Joel?” Tommy asked. “The Adlers? Denise, and the kids? Should we warn ‘em? Take ‘em with us?” Joel shook his head; again, more furiously this time. “Like hell, Tommy. We don’t even have a fuckin’ plan. Best we can do is tell them to stay inside,” he said irritably, guilt ever-present and swirling in his guts.
“So, what do we do?” Tommy asked plainly, earlier bravado deserting him. It always worked this way. Whatever Joel said, Tommy did. “I don’t.. I don’t know,” Joel mumbled, voice cracking. “We grab Sarah and we get the fuck out. No time for anythin’ else.” Tommy was nodding; orders received and heard. “Get a fuckin’ move on, Tommy!” Joel slammed a hand on the dash.
The cul-de-sac loomed into view: it was eerily, deathly quiet, besides a car alarm in the distance. “Come on, come on,” Joel pleaded, adrenaline coursing through him, homing in on his daughter. His purpose, all that mattered in the world. “There, Joel. I can see her!” Tommy pointed up ahead, outside the Adlers. Sarah was running. Fleeing, like he’d seen everybody do in the city. From the unknown, from danger, from death. But she was alive: her face caught in the glow of the headlights. Terrified and alone. But Joel was here now. He’d save her. Because he didn’t know what he would do if he couldn’t.
182 notes · View notes
ohmyamor · 1 year
Text
Richkid!Jongho
a:/n definitely not inspired by the long expensive coats the stylists put Jongho in...
today is not your day 
first, you woke up incredibly late due to your alarm failing to go off 
then, there was no breakfast in your house, your parents’ note on the fridge saying that they were planning a grocery run this weekend 
it’s tuesday 
meaning you had to leave for school on an empty stomach
which would’ve been fine had you not skipped dinner last night for the sake of finishing your project 
which, might you add, was a group project that none of your group mates participated in
fucking rich kids
long story short, you ended up arriving at school on an empty stomach, leading you to be very, very hangry 
at least until your break, where you grabbed something from the vending machines 
then, when it came time to present the group project, none of your group mates provided anything of substance to the presentation 
they literally just stood there like morons while you presented everything 
you stayed after class to talk to the teacher about possibly getting more credit for doing, you know, all the work
only for him to cut you off, saying that if you had problems, it should’ve either been brought up at the beginning of the assignment 
or you could’ve talked to them yourself 
 but you know the only reason the teacher won’t lower the students grades is because of the hefty donation their parents make to the school every year 
the perks of attending a school full of rich kids
except your family isn’t rich
they’re not poor either, your parents income settling nicely somewhere in the middle 
which you should be grateful for 
because it means that, for the most part, the rich students leave you alone
yeah you’re attending the school on a scholarship, but besides a few snide remarks here and there, you get left alone for the most part
but going back to your horrible day
the icing on the cake has to be right now, at this current moment 
school was let out around 3, but you stayed after for a little bit to help tutor an underclassman who was struggling in a literature class you had already taken 
it was pretty easy to tutor the kid, he seemed like he was really trying to do better, which always made your life much easier 
but still, you can’t deny the relief you felt once the tutoring hour came to an end and you were allowed to leave
opening your car door, you haphazardly tossed your backpack into the passenger seat and buckled yourself in
you place the key in the ignition, turning it and waiting for the rumble of the engine to start up
except it never came 
staring at your steering wheel, you attempt once, twice, three more times to turn the key, praying to whatever gods that were laughing at you to please just let your car start so you could get home
it seems no one answered your prayers 
letting out a loud swear, you throw open your car door and step out before slamming the door behind you. 
you pull out your phone to try and call your parents, but before you can even pull up your contacts, your phone’s screen turns black
it died 
you think incredulously 
letting out a small laugh of disbelief you toss your phone onto the hood of your car
rubbing your face over your hands, you begin to think of a plan 
I think I still have some cash, I might be able to catch the bus home 
I just have to ask the security guards to not tow my car, or else I’ll have to go and pay to get it back with money I certainly don’t have right now-
“Hey” 
you startle, looking to your side
where a sleek, black car has now pulled up next to you
the passenger side window is rolled down, and through it, you see a familiar face
Choi Jongho 
son of the people who literally own the school
You close your eyes
my day cannot get any fucking worse you think
not that you hate Jongho or anything
he’s actually quite nice
a little out of touch with reality sometimes, but pleasant enough
in the beginning of the semester, the two of you were paired up for a short project 
while you initially dreaded it, as every other kid you had ever been paired up with sat back and let you do all the work
you were pleasantly surprised when Jongho insisted on splitting the work evenly with you
he even went as far dropping off assignments you missed when you had unexpectedly fallen sick 
of course, once the project was finished, the two of you went your separate ways 
save for the small nod of acknowledgement the two of you shared when you passed each other in the halls
you guys didn’t talk to each other 
that doesn’t mean you didn’t notice how good he always looked though
with his long coats and perfectly done hair 
and on occasion, the thick round glasses that nicely framed his face-
“(Y/n)?”
Blinking harshly, you’re shaken out of your thoughts when Jongho calls your name 
He quirks an eyebrow
“Are you okay?”
You let out a sigh and shake your head
“My car decided today would be the best day to take a shit on me”
Jongho makes a small o shape with his mouth before reaching over to pop open the passenger door 
“C’mon, I’ll take you home” 
Your eyes widen and you begin shaking your head 
“Nononono, it’s fine. I have money to take the bus anyways, I’ll just come back later for my car. Plus, I don’t want you to waste your gas driving me around-”
your rambling is cut short when Jongho lets out a small chuckle 
“You really think I care about gas?”
You shut your mouth before shrugging 
“I don’t know what you rich kids worry about in the first place,” you tease
Jongho rolls his eyes
“Just get in the car (Y/N), you shouldn’t take the bus right now anyways.”
Thinking it over for a split second, you nod your head and reach back inside your car to grab your backpack, phone and keys
quickly locking your car, you sling your backpack over your shoulder and walk over to Jongho’s car 
sliding in, you can’t help but notice how nice the interior is
there’s not a speck of dust in the whole thing and it smells so good
I wonder if it’s his cologne you muse
“Same address?” Jongho asks, looking at you expectantly 
god, it feels so weird to have his full gaze pinned on you 
even after working with him, you don’t think you’ll ever get over the giddy feeling in your stomach you experience when Jongho rests his full attention on you
“Yup,” you swallow, nodding your head
Jongho is quick to put his car in drive and the two of you take off in a comfortable silence 
“So,” Jongho starts, “what happened with your car?” 
you groan, your head falling back against the headrest 
“Honestly, I have no idea. It’s rarely given me any problems before this, but today, it just decided to stop turning on altogether.” 
Jongho hums
“I have a close friend who’s really good with cars,” he says. 
“I can ask him to take a look at yours, if you want.”
You frown slightly 
If he knows Jongho then it might cost me an arm and a leg just for him to even look at my car
“It’s okay-” you start, trying to figure out how to nicely turn him down
As if reading your mind, Jongho cuts you off 
“You don’t have to worry about money, if that’s what you’re thinking about,” he glances at you from the corner of his eye
“I’ll just say it’s for a friend and he won’t charge me.” 
a friend?
“Plus, he owes me anyway from the last time I helped him out with his girlfriend,” Jongho rolls his eyes, but you can still hear the fondness seeping into his tone
You turn to face him
“Are you sure?” you ask hesitantly 
you don’t like feeling like you owe people things 
not that Jongho is one of those people
but still
his car probably costs more than your house
and you’d rather not have to experience paying him back, whatever way it may be
Jongho shrugs
“Of course. I’d rather help you with car and not worry about you getting around safely than letting you take it elsewhere.” 
You feel your face warm and you have no idea what to say
meanwhile, Jongho is internally freaking the fuck out over letting his thoughts slip 
yeah, okay, maybe he thinks you’re a little cute, and he really admires your work ethic, and how you treat him like a normal human being rather than just another rich kid 
and maybe he thinks your nervous habit of chewing on your lip is a little bit cute and the way you confidently raise your hand to speak up in class is, like, really hot 
but still
he’s supposed to be cool and collected 
not whatever the fuck just happened
there’s an awkward silence while the two of you sit with those words
thankfully, Jongho turns onto your street before the silence can stretch on 
“I’m surprised you still remember where I live,” you admit
Jongho tries to ignore the way his neck feels hot 
“What can I say, I have a great memory” 
slowly, the car pulls up to a smooth stop in front of your driveway
grabbing your backpack, you reach for the door handle 
“Thank you again Jongho, I really appreciate it,”
now it’s his turn to feel flustered at your honest gaze 
“anytime” is all he manages to get out 
nodding slightly, you open the car door and step out, making sure to gently shut the door behind you 
before you’re able to take a few steps forward, a voice stops you in your tracks
“What time should I be here tomorrow?” 
You make a confused noise
“Huh?”
“Well, since you still don’t have a car and I won’t be able to have my friend look at it for another week, I’ll pick you up and drop you off.”
you shake your head 
“No it’s fine! Seriously, this was more than enough, and you’re already doing so much for me-”
Jongho cuts you off again
“But I want to,” he says simply
well shit 
what are you supposed to say to that? 
biting your lip nervously, you eventually nod your head 
“Okay fine, but I’m going to do something to return the favor,” you threaten 
a beautiful gummy smile breaks out on Jongho’s face 
“I can’t wait”
                                               ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚
i love jongho so much
406 notes · View notes
bugboysgf · 1 year
Text
Hate + Love
Chapter 2
series masterlist
Tumblr media
Previous chapter
Summary: There is a thin line between love and hate but what if it's way thinner than you thought?
“Hi, im suppose to be tutoring somebody.” you told the lady at the front desk. The last 2 weeks had been stressful but out of extreme luck you managed to get all A’s but that also meant you had to tutor the people that were not doing so well in school.
“Oh yes, you must be Y/n.”
“I am.” you confirmed.
“Min Ho.” The lady calls his name and he jumps out of his seat.
“You gotta be kidding me.” you look at Min ho and he seems just as surprised as you are. “There has to be some sort of mistake, I can't tutor him.” the lady looks at her computer for a second and looks back at you.
“Sorry but there is a specific note from the teacher saying you can't switch.”
“What? Who wrote that.” you asked.
“It was your math teacher. Take a seat and get started.”
“I can't believe this.” you said sitting down.
“Do you think I want to do this? I have no choice.” Min ho rolled his eyes.
“Whatever can we just get started.”
After two hours tutoring you were done but to you i feel like 5 hours because every 10 minutes you and Min ho were arguing about something different.
“Thank you.” Min Ho says. You look at him in shock, you were never expecting those words to come out of his mouth.
“You have manners, I see. Can I get an apology too?” you asked hopefully.
“It happened almost 3 weeks ago, get over it.”
“God you're such a bitch.”
“Takes one to know one.”
—-
“We have Alex next.” Kitty said. “Oh my god we still have to walk up the stairs.” you said, you were tired already and it was only your 2 period.
“Do you want to go to a ramen place after the 5th period?” Kitty asked.
“Im Pretty sure I don't have to tutor today, so yes.”
“How is it? By the way, you are still not getting along.”
“Nope now i have to sit with him in alex class, because he wont let me change seats.” you rolled your eyes.
“Dude you have 4 months left until winter break, at least try to stop hating each other.”
“He's the problem, not me, he won't apologize. He said thank you yesterday when i tutored him but that's it.” you explained to Kitty. You honestly don't think that you and Minho would get along every chance he gets to make fun of you. He's gonna take it and you're tired of it.
“The problem is that you are both stubborn.” Kitty grabs the handle of the door and lets you into the class, she gives you a ‘be nice look’ and takes a seat.
You walked over to your seat and to your surprise Min Ho was already sitting down, he was always late. You take a seat and don't say a word to him.
“No greeting?” he asked
“What do you want?” you say in a cold tone.
“Woah, somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed today.” he smirks.
“I just don't have time for your bullshit today.”
Lucky Alex didn't have you guys do anything with your partner work today you didnt think you could handle it anyways.
You grabbed your things and stuffed them into your backpack.
“y/n?” you stopped in your tracks and looked at the guy that called your name. Minho also stopped and looks at him.
“Yes?” you look at him confused. You've never seen this guy in your life and you had no idea why he was talking to you.
“I'm Derek, I was just trying to see if i can get your number.” you look around to see if anybody was watching and behind him were his friends waiting to see your next move. You didn't want to seem stuck up or anything, so you just smiled and typed your number into his phone.
“Great, I'll text you.”
“Cool” you watch him walk away and turn to Min ho. “And why did you stay?”
“What does he want with you?” “What do you mean?”you asked, confused.
“His dad is literally a millionaire.”
“I honestly dont give two fuck about that.” you said.
“It had to be a dare.” Min ho shook his head.
“Oh really? Just because an attractive guy asked for my number that means it has to be a dare?” you said offended. Min ho knew he messed up, he always jokes around but he knew that what he said really affected you.
“That's not-”
“Save it.” you walked away.
For the next few weeks you continue talking to Derek, you thought he would be a jerk but turns out he wasn't. He was really nice and listened.
“Where are you going?” Min ho asked Q. “Oh the nature club is having a hike today.” Q said, putting on his shoes.
“Great i'll come” Min ho got up from the couch. “You can't.” Q said.
“Why?” “Club members only.” “Dude i went last time.” Q stayed silent and didn't say anything. “Unless you don't want me to go for some reason?” “It's not that I don't want you to go, it's just that y/n and Derek are going to be there and I don't want you messing it up for her. She told me what you said when he asked for her number.” Q confessed.
“That's not what I meant, I tried to tell her that.”
“You should have said it in the first place, are you jealous or something?” Q asked.
“What no… no”
“Yup that sounds so convincing.”
“I don't like her, I hate her.”
“You know, you can hate and love somebody at the same time.” Q said shutting the door.
Min ho stood there thinking there's no way that he loves y/n? He hates her too much.
361 notes · View notes
Text
Lyle being your flirty gym buddy headcanons
inspired by @xandy-toady17 and their HC on Lyle being the type to flex his muscles during sex 🫣
Tumblr media
* Lyle is a total gym rat, the man loves his muscles and he knows the ladies do too
* Definitely one to focus on muscle building and cardio to feel the burn, no pain no gains and all that
* 100% drinks protein shakes every day, which is what he has instead of coffee in the morning
* Lyle probably got fit before he got into the marines so when he joined he was already a pretty stacked guy and it made him feel above the other newbies
* Loves his gym buddies and pushes them toward their goals via encouragement and tough love
* Will swap someone’s weights out without them knowing so they finally get to that next step in their workout plan
* This man’s mental health is influenced by how much he works out so he’s pretty adamant about working out as much as possible (without over doing it) because when he doesn’t work out he feels weird
* After getting his first time card punched and being reloaded into a new, bigger, stronger body he’s even more determined to work out
* You catch him shirtless and flexing quite often and whenever you see him looking so seriously at himself in the mirror you can’t help but snort
* “Falling in love with ourselves in the mirror are we big guy?” You call out as he turns around and flashes a toothy grin
* “Well Short Stack, I’m on the menu if you’d like a taste for yourself.” He smiles suggestively and follows with a “You know my mama told me not to cross anything off until I’ve tried it. Just so happens I have a free evening tonight.”
* You pause for a minute and bring your hand up to your mouth while making a point to check him out. You catch a glimpse of his tail swaying from side to side (which is what he does subconsciously when he’s anticipating something)
* You let a small flirty smile dance on your lips and you lower your voice to sound sexier and his tail picks up it’s pace. “I’m gonna have to pass on that one Champ, as tempting as those biceps are”
* His lips form a quick frown but he plays it off “Whatever, you’re missing out!” You let out a laugh and walk around him, tugging his tail as you step away. “Missing out on what? Protein powder?” You give a sharp pull on his tail before dropping it and walking away. He lets out a deep groan and tsks to your back.
* Calls after you smugly “Hate to see you leave but damn do I love to watch you go.” Which causes you to let out another laugh.
* Lyle is pretty adventurous when it comes to fitness so when he catches you doing some yoga poses after sitting at your desk for a few hours he asks if he can join you. You stop in the middle of a stretch and look at him confused. “Yeah I guess if you want to?”
* Lyle takes it surprisingly serious and follows your movements exactly. Lyle joining you for yoga/ stretching becomes a common occurrence during your day to day operations in the shack.
* This ends up turning into a way for the both of you to bond and he always comes back each morning with new poses he found from old databases. You always expect him to say “Syke! Can’t believe you thought I’d do pussy shit like yoga” but he never does. Instead he looks forward to it, and not just because your ass looks amazing in your poses.
* Eventually he gets you involved in more physical activities like cardio and some light weightlifting, which you didn’t have much experience with.
* He was an awesome teacher though, patient and always reassuring you that you didn’t have to push through the discomfort if it got to be too much. He made sure you always did your stretches and even snuck away a foam roller from the gym for you to keep at the shack.
* The moment that his attractiveness hit you the most was when you were on the foam roller rolling it down your upper back when he put his hands on your waist and guided you back up as you almost slipped off. His hands were huge compared to the size of your body and you did your best to hide your flustered expression
* If he could smell your arousal he certainly didn’t show it and you were thankful not to have any smart ass comments about how sexy he was. In fact he helped you up and said “You did a really good job today, I’m really impressed with how much progress you’ve made!”
* Of course your muscles would ache after each session and you’d be a little shaky in the legs but Lyle was always there to support you (literally). He make sure you’d stay hydrated, give you massages to the most painful muscles, and always encourage you to take it slow and cool down after each workout.
* After one particularly hard workout with you lifting a new record for yourself he starts hyping you up. “Hell yeah Short Stack! Show them how it’s done! One more, you can do it! Oorah!” You let the weights fall to the floor and give him a big smile, proud of yourself for accomplishing your latest goal.
* “You did awesome, pretty soon you’ll be able to kick my ass if I’m not careful.” He starts picking up the equipment and putting it back into it’s temporary home. “Why don’t you hit the shower, a hot soak will probably make you feel pretty good. I’ll make us up some grub”
* You bit your lip and stare at his muscles back. Damn he really was handsome and that avatar body was doing him all the favors. You had grown so close and you’ve seen a completely different side to him over the past few months that you finally give in.
* “Why don’t you come join me instead?” You see him pause and his ears twitch a bit at the tips. He stands up and turns toward you. “Uhh you wanna pass that by me again?” Now is your moment to either put up or shut up and you make the leap.
* “I said, why don’t you” you point at him, “come take a shower with me” you move your finger so you’re pointing at yourself. He seems unnaturally stoic for a minute but then he bring a hand up to his face and laughs as he drags his palm across his cheek. “If I would have known that getting you to work out with me was all it took to see you naked I would have done that from the start!”
* He strides over and picks you up and throws you over his shoulder, his huge hand resting on your ass. Your face was flushed not only from the work out but the sudden proximity you found yourself in. What did I get myself into you think as Lyle opens the bathroom door.
474 notes · View notes
dellalyra · 11 months
Text
Family Formation - T W E N T Y
Tumblr media
A/N: To the nonnie who requested this I just wanna say ily sm. count this as a stand alone and a sequel to primal !!
CW: blood, anxiety, swearing, fluff, canon typical violence, author taking creative liberties bc I can
Summary: memories, clouded by sleep.
Words: 5k oops
Tumblr media
The car pulled into the driveway of the school as Gojo, Geto and Shoko were sitting outside eating lunch, awaiting their classmate’s return from what was meant to be a standard, in-and-out mission. You were already an hour late, but that didn’t concern any of them. You were almost as strong as the boys, and it was only a Grade 3.
However, when the car pulled up, screeching into the parking bay and skidding to a stop with the driver lurching out of the seat and pulling open the back door – shouting for Shoko, three hearts climbed into three throats.
They all stood and raced over to the open car door, expecting the sight of blood, broken limbs and a mangled you – and what they found shocked them even more. Satoru’s face had paled and his speed to the car could have won a record. Now would have been a great time to tease Satoru about his obvious feelings for you, but the other two were just as worried.
You, curled up, sleeping peacefully. Satoru noticed you had your hand tucked under your chin with your jacket acting as a blanket, the exact way you usually slept.
“Ieiri-san! Please! Help!” The driver said, flustered.
“All this fuss to wake her up? Jesus, I know she’s bitchy in the morning, but this seems –” Shoko begins, rolling her eyes as she ducks in to shake her best friend awake.
“She won’t! I can’t! She will not wake up! I’ve tried everything.” The man was shaking.
Sure enough, as Shoko poked your face and tried to rouse you, you didn’t move a muscle. There was no blood, no visible injuries – the driver said you hadn’t reported any injuries to him as you got into the car, you just fell asleep. However, he did mention, in between mumbles, the words ‘special grade’, which made Geto spin on his heel.
“What do you mean special grade? This mission was Y/N’s solo mission to exorcise a grade 3?” His eyes narrowed.
“It was a special grade, exceptionally powerful – it was meant to be grade 3. The information must have been wrong.” He babbled.
Even Satoru and Suguru weren’t sent on solo missions for special grades yet – they were only second years. Satoru’s brain was spinning and spinning like a spinning top, and he couldn’t hear any more words.
“We need to get her into the med bay, Goj – Geto, can you carry her in?” Shoko says.
“I’ll take her.” Satoru pushes past but is quickly stopped by Shoko.
“No - you’re shaking like a leaf, Geto will carry her.” Shoko knew that Satoru’s feelings for you were sending him into a panic, Geto at least had some physical stability.
So Suguru swoops you into his arms (Satoru hates the sight) and begins following Shoko to the infirmary – Satoru beside him, eyes never leaving your frame.
As he leaves you on Shoko’s medical bed, Geto grabs Gojo’s shoulder and ushers him outside.
“C’mon, man, let’s let Shoko work. She’ll be okay for a minute.” The curse manipulator wraps an arm around his best friend’s shoulders and guides him outside.
Or attempts to.
“I’m not leaving her.” He says, with such finality in his usually jovial voice that his classmates don’t question him.
“You can stay, Gojo.” Shoko nods, secretly finding this all sweet.
After about 20 minutes of tests, vitals and physical checks. Shoko concludes that you are, truly, just fast asleep.
However, there is not an ounce of cursed energy left in your body.
At that moment, Yaga steps in.
“I knew you’d all be here. Joined at the hip, all four of you. Shoko, how is she?” He questions.
“She’s – literally sleeping.” She starts and fills in their teacher.
“Yaga – the driver said it was a Special Grade.” Geto asks.
“Yes. It was. What I’m about to say does not leave this room, is that understood?” His dark eyes serious as he leans on the desk near him.
They all nod.
“The mission was assigned to Y/N specially, saying that the curse was well suited to be exorcised by her with the nature, no pun intended, of her cursed technique. She was dispatched this morning, and according to what I’ve found it – it quickly became apparent that the curse was a special grade. The curse trapped her to prevent escape or contacting us for back up. She fought and fought, and eventually managed to defeat the curse, but only while using an extremely powerful Technique inherent to her bloodline. Sunburst, they call it. It takes the remainder of a sorcerer’s cursed energy and expels it from their body in a blast of golden light – evaporating whatever is in their path.” Yaga explains.
“Why was she there alone?” Gojo asks, through gritted teeth. It should have been him; he could have done it – or at least been there to take the brunt for you.
“I believe it was deliberate.” Yaga replies and three heads whip to look at him.
Geto seems to be the one it clicks with first.
“The higher ups.” Geto concludes.
Yaga just nods.
“I suspect this was a ploy from them to find out whether or not Y/N does indeed possess the Sunburst technique, it hasn’t been seen in 300 years, the last wielder was the same woman who wielded her nature spirit conjuring technique.”
Satoru doesn’t think he’s ever felt rage quite like this. An ugly, bubbling, white hot sensation snaking its way through his body, making his hands curl into fists at his sides. His silence is what alerts his teacher and classmates. Satoru is never silent.
The crazed look of murderous intent in his eyes sends a wave of fright into the hearts of the other three, they’ve never seen Satoru look like that.
He moves to stalk out the door, like a wolf hunting its prey. He’s the Gojo clan head, he’s got influence – maybe he can get them to lay off you, stop sending you to your death just because they’re scared of what you could be. Maybe, if he bides his time – if he grows and gets even stronger – he can kill them all. Him, Suguru, you – all of them.
A body gets in his way.
Suguru.
“You’ll only make it worse for her, Satoru. She needs you here, stay with her.”
And he listens. He’ll stay. He’ll always stay.
He’ll always stay for you.
He collapses into a chair beside you and completely gives up caring that there are others in the room as he takes your tiny hand in his and just lays his head beside you on the bed.
The hours blend into one another like paints on a palette as Satoru drifts in and out of sleep, maintaining his position beside you. He’s woken out of his daze by a flick on the forehead, courtesy of one Shoko Ieiri.
“I’ve figured out what’s going on. I rang her mom, who rang her grandma – and I talked to them and went over all of her charts. First of all, good luck to the higher ups because every single member of Y/N’s clan is on the warpath now. Second, it’s actually painfully simple what’s going on - I’m shocked I didn’t see it sooner.” She says, as she softly tucks a strand of hair behind your ear.
“You gonna tell us or just keep blabbering?” Suguru says.
“Fuck off Geto. But yes, I’ll tell you, but only if Satoru admits it.” She smirks.
“Admits what?” The boy in question retaliates.
“That you’re in love with her.”
Satoru blinks.
He’s – what?
A moment passes.
“Holy shit.” He screeches.
“Dude - didn’t you not know? Seriously?” Suguru laughs.
“No, I always react like this to everything! Of course, I didn’t know, Suguru!” Satoru hisses, blue eyes wide.
There’s a beat of silence.
“Whelp. No hiding it now. Yep - I’m in love with her and I’m gonna marry her and we’re gonna have a whole army of babies. Thanks guys!” Satoru smiles, shooting two thumbs up at his friends.
“You’re a fucking idiot, Satoru. What’s up with her, Sho?” Suguru rolls his eyes.
“She’s hibernating,” Shoko shrugs.
“What? Like – a bear?” Suguru asks.
“Shoko, I hate to break it to you, but I don’t know if you’ve noticed but Y/N isn’t a bear.” Satoru adds.
“Jesus you’re both idiots. But yeah – like a bear. Her sunburst technique uses the remainder of her cursed energy. Now Suguru, you’re a curse manipulator, Satoru you have the six eyes and limitless – what do people call Y/N?” She explains, as if explaining math to a 6-year-old.
“The Dryad.” Suguru says, with his hand up like he’s in class.
“Yeah – her clan are meant to be descendants of nature spirits, really ancient ones. Her whole technique is based around nature, yeah? So, when she’s out of cursed energy or her body or spirit is completely exhausted – her body turns to a recharging state.” The brunette girl says as she combs your long H/C hair and settles it into a loose braid.
“So… like a phone? When you use all the battery and then plug it in to charge and it takes a few minutes to turn back on?” Satoru puzzles, head cocked to the side like a curious puppy.
“N- actually, yeah. Good job, Gojo – you said something smart.” She pats his head, and he smiles, Suguru just laughing at the scene.
They all just sit as Shoko finishes your hair, then takes out a small pink bag from beside her – one the boys recognise as yours. A small tin is opened, and she dabs a finger into the creamy gel inside it and applies it to your lips, then takes out a tube and squirts some onto your face, rubbing it in gently.
“This bitch would kill me if she wakes up without her skincare done I swear.” Shoko giggles.
There’s a beat.
“How long?” Gojo asks, shoulders slumped. It had only been hours and he missed you already, your silly jokes and your enthusiasm for everything – his partner in chaos. Fuck, he really was in love with you.
“A few days, probably.” Shoko shrugs, she doesn’t seem worried – but Shoko never seems worried.
They sit and chat for a while, and then Shoko checks you one final time as her and Geto prepare to leave. Satoru stays put.
“C’mon, Satoru. It’s late.” Geto squeezes his best friend's shoulder.
“What? No. I’m staying with her. I’ll stay in the other hospital bed.” His eyes were steely. The other two knew there was no dissuading him, not when he decided he was doing something. Spoiled, maybe – In love with you, definitely.
The days went like that, Satoru would only leave to eat or bathe or train. Then he’d be with you, Suguru would be there 70% of the time too – his honorary baby sister wasn’t gonna wake up alone. Shoko would fuss over you, in a very Shoko-esque fashion of pretending to be calm.
Then on day three, you stirred – lips curving into a smile as you saw both of your hands were occupied on either side – Satoru’s fingers entwined with yours on your left and Suguru’s hands encasing yours on the other side. They were both asleep. Suguru had his head on the bed beside your legs and Satoru was snoozing on your shoulder. You let out a small laugh.
“Good morning, sleeping beauties.” You sang.
They both jolted up.
“You’re awake!”
“Don’t ever do that again, you had us worried sick!”
Satoru basically flung himself at you while Suguru pressed a kiss to the crown of your head, before grabbing Shoko.
When he left and it was just you and Satoru, you thought for a second maybe you’d died and gone to heaven because of this angel beside you – hair alight in the fluorescent gleam of the infirmary and a look in your eyes that you would have seen reflected in your own had their been a mirror. Pure, true love.
Still sleepy, you squeezed his hand.
“Hi, ‘toru.”
Your words were slurred with sleep but his heard had never swelled more than hearing this new nickname.
“Say that again.” He smirked.
“Hi Satoru?”
“No, say it how you said it first.”
“Hi, ‘toru.” You smiled, realising the smile on his face was from your impromptu nickname.
“There we go. If we’re doing new names, then you need one too.” His eyes lit up.
“What’s it gonna be then? Suguru already calls me lil’ lady.” You smile, rubbing your eyes free of sleep.
“Only thing it could be. So, how you feelin’, Princess?” His smile as he christens your new name would make your knees weak if you weren’t laying down. His princess. You liked that. It fed into your delusions that maybe, just maybe, he might be as in love with you as you are with him.
You let out a giggle and the flush of your cheeks send Satoru spiralling.
At that moment, the other two come back into the room.
“There’s my girl, how you feeling?” Shoko asks.
“Kinda stiff, but not too bad. What happened?” You ask, stretching your limbs which are heavy with sleep.
“After the special grade – a whole other issue, which Yaga and your mom are dealing with –” she rolls her eyes.
“Oh no.” You interject, your mom is gonna be pissed. You nearly pity the higher ups.
“That’s what I said. Your use of your trump card caused you to lose all cursed energy – and given the root of your technique, your body decided to hibernate.” She said, checking your vitals as she spoke.
“Oh – so like, a phone recharging?” You ask, and the other three descend into howls of laughter that your brain immediately saw the same correlation as Satoru.
12 Y E A R S L A T E R
The strong arms clad in white still held onto you with a vice like grip – the smaller hands, smelling of smoke were acting as the comfort, petting your head and shielding your eyes.
The sons shaking your body were enough to cause an earthquake if you hadn’t been so utterly exhausted already, nothing was registering.
There was only word thought, one word, one feeling circulating your body right now.
Satoru Satoru Satoru Satoru Satoru Satoru Satoru
You vaguely felt cold hands cup your cheeks and guiding your head to look at the so far nameless and faceless person.
Dark brown eyes stared back at you.
Shoko.
“He’s okay. Satoru is okay, Y/N. He’s fine. He’s alive. Don’t look at the screen, but I saw him heal - he’s alive.” Her own usually steady voice sounded breathless.
Satoru Satoru Satoru sa-
Alive.
You registered the words. You tried to turn your head to where the screens are but a larger hand keeps your head facing away. Big hands, soft, warm.
Kento?
No.
Dead.
Suguru?
No.
Dead.
You try to look up, and a face you know looks down at you.
Choso. Yuuji’s brother Choso. Safe.
You trust him. You trust Shoko. You sit there, you can’t move, imprisoned and most of your fight was gone. You couldn’t look. One of them would die.
Nobody wanted you to see that.
Your empty eyes and shallow breathing and shivering form would terrify onlookers, if they weren’t busy facing the screen.
Just as your body began to come down from its fight or flight reaction, it happened.
A gut wrenching, deep, blood curdling scream that shook the very foundations of the building once more.
The arms around you slackened and left altogether and you collapsed to the floor, your head following the bodies movement. It stopped and scooped a crumbled heap of pink into its arms.
Pink. Pink.
Yuuji?
No. No no no no no no no.
Your body knew first before your brain did, and the chorus of the incessant song began again with different lyrics.
Megumi megumi megumi megumi megumi my baby megumi megumi my baby meg
You scrambled to your feet and physical intuition took over and you just about made it to the door before your body froze and wouldn’t move no matter how much you fought.
‘Stop.’ That voice.
You could turn around, and what you saw felt like betrayal.
Inumaki.
Just as your body slackened as his words effect faded another pair of arms caught you. You knew this time who it was, Yuuta held you close to him. You fought and screamed and kicked and scratched to try and push your way out.
“Yuuta let me fucking go! Let me go! I have to – I have to get out! I have to get to them! Fuck Yuuta let me go, now!” You roared, but the figure didn’t budge. He could hold you himself, he’d gotten stronger over the last year, not that he needed it – your fights seemed fierce in your head but all ferocity had been expended in your earlier attempt to get to your husband. Hakari, Maki, Kusakabe and Choso were all trying (and failing) to restrain Yuuji.
Megumi Satoru megumi Satoru megumi Satoru megumi Satoru megumi my love my baby my love my baby megumi Satoru
Please
The world was getting fuzzy.
You kept going, and struggling until he felt you slacken. Broken sobs. That’s all you had now. Just empty, hollow sobs.
It was haunting. He tried to comfort you, but what comfort could he be when he himself had no idea what happened.
That was, until the opposite door swung open.
Through the ringing of your ears, you didn’t hear the cacophony.
But you felt the hands.
The hands.
Your eyes dart up the arms, scars, scars?
Pale skin, trailing up to bloodied black fabric – shredded.
Pale neck, also bloodied.
Eyes. Crystal blue eyes. Those eyes.
Your whisper, unsure if this was a hallucination.
“‘Toru?” You reach fingers to his cheek.
“It’s me, Princess.” He smiles.
“Are you real, ‘toru?” Comes out in a breath.
“I’m real, ‘Princess. I’m here.” He presses his hands to your face, kneeling on the ground beside you.
You let out a wail, because he was here, and he was alive. Your beautiful boy. You run your hands all over his face, his blood mingling on your skin, and his neck and his arms – torn flesh freshly scarring. Scarred, bloodied, alive. You wail into his skin as your glassy eyes reach to meet his, and his smile is the last thing you see before it all goes dark.
Satoru feels you go limp in his arms, he doesn’t panic, your eyes are closed – he knows what’s happened. His pretty girl, so tired.
A dark-haired body is cradled across the room by his pink haired love, with his oldest surviving friend providing the best medical attention that can be found.
He lifted you into his arms, your tiny form nestled against his chest. He motioned for the other boy – another one reunited with his love, to do the same. You all needed rest.
The warmth of your temporary home enveloped the people who entered it. Touches of you, everywhere. Even a vase of what he know to be Tsumiki’s favourite flowers (daffodils) on the windowsill.
He separated from Yuuji and Shoko, and their bundle of limbs and blood and took you into one of the bedrooms, carefully laying your sleeping form into the bath, stripping your bloody clothes, covered in ashes away from your scratched skin. He hissed as the water touched some freshly healed wounds, as sat with your back between his legs, against his chest. He could have just wiped you down. It would have been easier. But he needed your closeness, even in your sleep. Your comfort, your heat, your scent – he needed it. Fighting your adopted son to kill the demon inside him would never be easy. He thinks how far you’ve come together, from your first hibernation when he refused to leave your side, to now.
The door swings open, and shameless as ever, Shoko walks in and without care for water or any of her usual exterior, wraps both him and you into her arms.
“Thank you, Satoru. Thank you for coming home.” She whispers. She then helps him clean your wounds, and assesses his scars as you both continue to soak. Shoko had delivered your son, there was no worry of lack of clothing here.
She then excused herself to return to the spare room, the other couple also resting there’s a mirror image. Both exhausted, one awake, one unconscious.
Satoru lays you in bed, wraps you in blankets and then kisses your head before leaving to go to the next room over. He had duties to attend to now, he needed to check on our boy.
You felt a crack of sunshine creeping through your eyelids and groaned a little at the brightness, you turn in your half-asleep state and your arm meets a solid plane. You jolt, remembering where you are, why you’re here and who this is.
He’s already looking at you.
Crystal blue eyes smiling down at you, and you are jolted twelve years into the past.
No words need to be said between you.
“Hi ‘toru.” You whisper.
“Hi princess.” He replies.
You lunge at him and wrap your arms around his neck, feeling every flex of every muscle and huff of every breath as you capture his lips in yours.
“I thought I’d lost you.” You croak, through fresh tears.
“Impossible, did you forget? I’m the strongest.” He winks, which makes you let out a breathy laugh.
You kiss and when you pull away you look him in the eyes.
“‘Toru. I’m scared to ask. Just please know, if – if you had to do it. I don’t blame you. Just, tell me the truth.” You whisper, voice broken.
He smiles at you; glad he’d sent the text to the other bedroom as he felt you stir.
“Come with me, Princess.” He says, guiding you to your feet.
You follow him along, coming to a stop at the next door over the hallway.
He puts his hand on the handle, and as he pushes, he leans down to you.
“Now, try not to smother the kid, sweet girl.” He lets out a laugh at this.
The door opens.
You nearly collapse again.
On the bed, awake with a book in his hand and almost a mummy with bandages around him, free hand entwined with the boy beside him – is your son.
You let out a sob and just sprint across the room, tossing yourself onto the bed with complete abandon, all cognitive thought flying out the window because your boy, you little boy was alive and well and Satoru fucking did it.
Arms wrap around you as a book fall to the floor and two baritone laughs echo out, one from the bed beside you and your son and the other from the doorway.
You pull away, tears cascading like Niagara Falls down your face, you clutch the boys' cheeks in your hands around examine him, still sobbing.
“I’m okay, mama.” Megumi’s hands grab your wrists to reassure you.
“Oh my baby boy, I didn’t know – oh god. My sweet boy. I should’ve never let you out of my sight. I’m so proud of you. My strong, amazing boy.” His head is pulled into you chest, and for once he doesn’t argue, just breathes in the scent of his mother, and the feel of her sweater on his battered skin.
“Thank you, mama. You and dad. You kept your promise. You came for me.” You suck in a breath, you’ve no idea how he heard your promise you and your love had made that night on the balcony to get your boy – but he did.
Yuuji goes to stand up to leave you two alone, but your hand reaches out like a cobra and with unnerving strength for someone your size you pull him down to join the cuddle pile.
“Satoru get your ass and all of them eyes over here.” You manage a laugh as you pull him to you.
He lets out a booming laugh and joins you all on the bed.
Recommended Listening:
Softcore - The Neighbourhood
Goner - Twenty One Pilots
Don’t Blame Me - Taylor Swift
TV - Billie Eilish
Home - Edith Whiskers
191 notes · View notes