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#i love this piece because it took me 4 hours

yourlocalabomination · 3 months

Note

Just wanted to say your art is absolutely stunning, & I’m downright amazed by that one Grace picture! Saw your tags & wanted to let you know just how amazing it is!

Aww thank you!

Honestly I’m so glad everyone is loving the Grace art because it was taking forever to finish (I was doing it in-between multiple uni assignments and finishing a dissertation). It was really frustrating me during multiple points but reading everybody’s tags I’m glad I pushed on through.

#abomy talks #asks #I love reading everybody’s tags on the Grace artwork and people going insane for all the small details and religious symbolism #and people are indeed appreciating the ruffles 😔#The Grace art isn’t the longest iv spend on a artwork (74 hours went into the homeless Ted piece while Grace was 69hrs)#but she took me 3/4 weeks to do because I was very busy so she’s took the longest in that sense

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lordcrumps · 5 months

Text

The Sims 2 For Rent - CC EXPANSION PACK

Sul Sul!

~ More photos under the under the cut ~

Last week the Sims 4 got a new pack, this week Sims 2 players get that same pack! In a collaboration with @platinumaspiration and @tvickiesims and a HUGE assist from @episims, we bring you "The Sims 2 For Rent CC Expansion Pack!"

This is a large set, and advisable that it does not get merged even further than it already is! - I ran into some issues when trying to do this!

When you explore this pack, please take a look at the marble ring rug, it has some surprisingly cute rug swatches! I put a swatch in it to remove the marbles themselves, so you have a cute small rug! - I only mention this as I was going to bin the rug off once uploaded, but then I found it had some lovely swatches!

FUNCTIONALITY

So most of the items will function as they should and intended as. Its just not just deco items.

There is two collection files included, separated into build buy! Please note that fences and stairs and spandrels cant be but into a collection!

The squatty toilet that took me over 12 hours to make, yeah they squat, animation can be a bit bouncy but such is life. This toilet also can be flushed, get dirty and is cleanable!

Outdoor plants are seasonal!

Counters are animated with insides built, there is no drawer on the counter, I did not want to change the shape of the unit, and saw EA did the same - ignore the fact they grab something from a non existent drawer

Wardrobes have interiors elements, and have working doors!

Each Kettle have two versions, choose only one, one for the colour traits mod / one 'normal'. They function as Tea makers! Huazzah!

Spandrels in build mode are classified as fences. I made a variant with fence / no fence.

Several of the larger deco pieces such as the Arch Gate, or umbrella are actually lights!

Radiators act like radiators!

The Aircon Unit is completely functional, doesn't lower bills, but it does lower sims temperatures!

"Water Heaters" act like solar panels, they get money off your bills!

The Electrical Fuse box has 2 versions, I kept them both in, one wall deco and one functions as a burglar alarm - I wanted more alarms.

Most Sofas / Chairs have morphs!

Slots added to the Vanity and Bathroom Cabinet!

FENCES / SPANDRELS / STAIRS OH MY!

I have included swatch images of each of the spandrels, fences and stairs and labelled them to match, this is so that you can go in and take out any of the swatches you do not want. This is because there are lot of new fences and the menu can feel cluttered with them in for some people.

DOWNLOAD

ALT - SFS

~ Credits / Thanks / List of items not converted under the cut ~

MORE PHOTOS

CREDITS

Mini fridge is cloned from Targa over at MTS - so now it works just like a regular fridge barring a few animations (get baby bottle and juggle)

Kettles were cloned from @pforestsims's kettle, link here.

@jacky93sims for the base of the squat toilet! Epi for the code edits!

THANKS

@tvickiesims, @platinumaspiration thank you soo much for helping with the objects, really couldn't do it myself!! Your amazing, awesome, and some of the best creators out there! Thank you again!

@episims - YOU ARE DA BOMB! Thank you for all your help in getting those toilets working with me, and everything else you do when you answer my little annoying questions! Appreciated like you wouldn't believe!

LIST OF ITEMS NOT CONVERTED - @sims4t2bb

Due to the sizing / functionality of these objects, they will not be included in this pack!

All Yer Fixins Untenable Food Stand

Mali's Moonlight Market Craft Stall

Vegan Vittles Night Market

Late Night Snack Dessert Stall

Rice to Meet You Night Market

The Unrestroom

Fisherman's Slats Window - Tall

The Secret Maze Window - Very Tall

The Secret Maze Window - Super Duper Tall

Stained Glass Tomarani Shutters - Tall

Stained Glass Tomarani Shutters - Tall and Open Wide

The Save Us From Ruin Tallest Cinched Wall Curtain

The How Many Times Do We Need To Tell You It's Not Silk Taller Wall Curtain

The We Are Going To Jail< Tallest Wall Curtain So You Know the Truth Curtain

#4t2 #lordcrumpscc #thesims2 #4t2 conversion #4t2 cc #sims2 #sims2cc #For Rent #Ep15 #Sims 2 Does it Better

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pshcomforts · 2 months

Text

➳ love wins all | yjw.

idol!jungwon x fem!reader

“is it a bad ending?”

synopsis: jungwon, once again, forgot an important date for your guys’ relationship, and you’re tired of it.

warnings/content: written in third pov. angst to fluff. argument! toxic if you squint really hard. mentions of breakup. poor boy’s stressed out :( cursing (i think) and not proofread.

comments, likes, and reposts are appreciated :)

word count: 1.8k

༘˚⋆𐙚｡masterlist⋆.✧˚

current song playing: love wins all by iu

↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺

1:05 ─────|────────────── -3:22

the time was ticking.

y/n constantly looked at the clock, noticing the minutes go by faster than she thought. she sighed, “he didn’t really forget did he..?” the soft mumble leaving her lips as she didn’t want to believe it.

[ 1:24 am ] — the phone beamed.

she was beginning to give up on him. “just a few more minutes…,” the girl murmured, pushing back the tears that threatened to fall.

[ 1:40 am ] — time turned.

her heart sank at how long it’s been. she then decided to clean up the big surprise she had for her boyfriend, putting things away messily while letting tears dropping atlas as she felt useless.

suddenly, the door was being struggled to get unlocked. y/n waited, knowing that it was finally him but had no hopes anymore.

the doorknob was soon unlocked and in came her dimpled boyfriend, still in his practice outfit and seemingly fighting the urge to sleep.

no words were said. she only looked at him with disappointment. jungwon made eye contact with her once he took off his shoes and gave out a long sigh.

“oh hey baby,” he whispered, breaking the long silence that felt like torture

y/n didn’t answer right away. she waited for her throat to clear from the tears she let out.

“won, do you know what today was…?”

the tired male sighed in defeat, giving a clear hint to her that he had forgotten. “um…,” his one word changed y/n’s mood.

“i know you’re tired from practice, but i waited… for 4 hours.., you gave no message whatsoever, and i even told you how important this dinner was for us. did you even know it was our anniversary?”

y/n finally broke loose, letting out what she had been holding in for the past few hours in his absence. she looked at him, seeing if there was any mercy in his eyes but he only looked tired.

finally, he hoarsely spoke, “i know… i’m sorry i forgot.”

the girl scoffed at his words, tears falling constantly down from her eyes that had become red.

“that’s all you have to say??”

jungwon sighed again, his arm falling over his eyes as he said, “what do you want me to say?” in a tiring voice.

y/n stayed quiet in disbelief that her boyfriend of two years was really acting like this. “wonie, you don’t even remember our anniversary and now you’re not even being sincere with me?”

“look babe, we got heavily yelled at today and-“

“and that’s supposed to affect how we are at home?”

“why are you making it a bigger deal than it should be?” he quickly shot back.

jungwon sat up, finally making eye contact with his girl after a while. his eyes stayed firm and serious, no longer looking like the adorable boba eyes she once knew throughout the years.

“won, for the last few months, i’ve been feeling like i’m the only one in a relationship and it’s been getting tiring. i understand you have a busy schedule but-“

“if you understand then why are you even bringing this up?” the boy exasperated with a groan.

she huffed. he wasn’t understanding her point, and it was getting to her.

“because i feel like you don’t even understand me,” y/n’s voice trembled. quite suddenly, won stopped and finally took focus into her after he heard it.

“for so long, i feel like i’ve been putting effort only.” she added on, heart crumbling apart piece by piece.

jungwon sighed as his fluttering eyes stayed glued to the ground while mumbling, “you know how important it is to me to be in enhypen. you know that it’s what i’ve wanted for so long.”

the girl sniffled and wiped her tears away. “i know.. i do, but lately, you’ve been so distant. every mistake you’ve done in this relationship, i’ve excused but now.., you forgetting our anniversary is something i can’t look past on.”

he rolled his eyes, getting tired of going back and forth on this argument.

y/n took notice. of course she did. that little gesture was something unusual from her boyfriend. “you’re not even listening to what i’m saying won-“

“because! what you’re saying is nonsense. i’ve been going through so much as the leader for our comeback — keeping everything in order, making sure all the members are prepared..,” he sighed in exhaustion before continuing.

“i’m tired, and the last thing i want is to come home to an argument waiting to happen, which has been going on for a while, for absolutely no reason at all.”

the long awaited argument was now out.

jungwon had finally exploded, raising his voice in frustration whilst cutting her off in the process.

she was taken back by it of course, not knowing what to say as she stayed silent to what he said. he still wasn’t listening to her.

the male put his hands over his face and rubbed his eyes, almost feeling guilty of his explosion.

y/n took notice, sighing with a heartache inside as she huffed, “if it’s always going to be like this then.. maybe it’s best if we’re not together anymore.”

the sudden suggestion jolted jungwon from his half-asleep state. he stood and walked to her.

“you can’t be serious, y/n??”

his voice rose again, causing the girl to close her eyes from it. he sighed, half in regret and half in frustration.

“you really think your solution to this is breaking up?” he questioned.

the two were letting tears fall now, breakdowns happening left and right.

his hand touched her gentle cheek, subtly wiping away her tears as he slightly pushed her cheeks up so she can look at him. a small smile attempted to display on his lips for reassurance but y/n only turned away from the skinship.

she knew that most of their fights always ended like this, and she couldn’t have it like that anymore.

it was quiet.

nobody wanted to say anything that could ruin the mood even more. it remained like that before the girl suddenly heard the ruffles of his clothing and keys, knowing he was about to head out of the door.

she dreaded to ask the question but she had to. “did you ever really love me?”

the question stopped jungwon from walking any further. they both swiftly turned to each other, locking their watery eyes with betrayal and hurt emerged on their faces.

“that’s too much!” his voice broke in the sudden yell, causing the two to tremble down into more crying tears.

y/n felt everything crashing down, pain entering through her body all at once.

“i used to never question that until now, won.” she uttered in a shaky tone.

finally, he approached her after what she said. his eyes were filled with just as much pain as hers as they sparkled.

the boy wanted to apologize but he didn’t know how with how far they had gotten into it. none of their arguments had ever been this bad.

“you know i love you y/n…, you’re my girl. i can’t even imagine a life without you. you’re the only thing that matters in my life right now. i enjoy being an idol but you? you come first. you always will.”

a few voice cracks happened in his message that showed his raw emotion.

he locked eye contact with her, showing her his tears that he couldn’t control through it all.

✩ ‘i carefully hold you in my eyes’ ✩

y/n didn’t respond. she still felt hurt that he forgot the big and small events he used to know.

the girl only hugged him, squeezing him in her embrace that made the two only cry harder in each others arms.

she still said nothing.

the two stayed like that for a few minutes as she let jungwon cry it out.

only soft sobs and quiet sniffles were heard throughout the apartment. he was going through so much as the leader and this hug was what he needed.

✩ ‘hold me tight until i can’t breathe’ ✩

y/n needed more though. she wanted to hear his usual whispers of sweet nothings, his unique voice that always tingled in her ear, his warm hugs that felt like home.

✩ ‘i want to be sad with you my lover’ ✩

so she let him continue to sob until he felt better, and it was then that she left his embrace.

his favorite girl placed her hand on his tear-stained cheek in the process, only giving a half smile and leaving to their bedroom.

there were still no words said after that.

jungwon stayed out in the living room, sitting on the sofa as he continuously rubbed his eyes in frustration.

he was tired, and he just wanted the night to end.

after sitting with his thoughts for a few minutes longer, he finally decided to look at the clock.

[ 3:16 am ] — it read.

won sighed, believing that it was finally time to head into the bedroom as well.

as he stepped further to their room, he saw y/n on the very edge of her side of the bed. his heart ached, knowing he messed up big time.

“are you awake?” his soft voice spoke, standing where the door frame was in hesitation.

his adorable lips pressed into a thin line, showing his dimples as he contemplated on whether or not he should be in the same bed as her after the argument.

‘please… stay with me..,’ his favorite person thought, wide awake as she pretended to sleep.

truth be told, she didn’t know what his choice would be. it felt like she didn’t know who jungwon was anymore.

y/n stayed on her side of the bed, heart trembling in fear of how things would turn when suddenly feeling a huge dip on her opposite side.

he stayed.

a relief sighed out of her, though remaining sound asleep in his eyes.

he laid down on his side, abruptly pulling his girlfriend closer to him.

she felt the pull and complied. his body ghosted over hers as she turned around to come face to face with him.

the girl’s eyes slowly opened to meet his, and all he could do was display his subtle surprise that she was awake.

but they quickly softened at her reddened eyes that cried for comfort.

tears welled up in the two again.

their pillows became wet with them as jungwon softly mumbled — “i love you, baby.”

y/n sniffled her snot back in before replying, “i love you too.”

he sniffled as well, moving to kiss her forehead and pull her closer to him.

the tall male wrapped himself around his girlfriend, holding her near to let her know that he wouldn’t let her go that easily.

jungwon and y/n let the last of their tears leave their tired eyes for the night as her hand rested on his broad chest, and his arms confirmed the reassurance she needed.

they were okay again.

✩ ‘our love wins all, love wins all’ ✩

★・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・★

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loveydovey-leviathan · 5 days

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can i request the Obey me brothers and/or the datables reaction to you being jealous ☺️

mc gets jealous

obey me x gn!reader

🍉 from the river to the sea, palestine will be free 🇵🇸. this account stands with palestine, and so— i require everyone who interacts to educate themselves, and/or support/donate. READ THESE; 1 and 2, HELP HERE, BOYCOTT. | credit 🍉

a/n: the intro is so long in comparison to what i wrote for the characters lmao

cw: the gender of the person flirting with the characters is not mentioned. they don’t leave even after he’s told them to [belphie’s part]

The two of you have been spending less time together lately, your personal responsibilities keeping you apart longer than they usually would. But when you realised the both of you hadn’t gone on a date in weeks, you decided to surprise them with one at a popular cafe in the human world.

Once seated at a comfortable corner, you kiss them on the cheek and tell them you’ll be right back with your orders. The trip from the counter to your seats couldn’t have taken more than 4 minutes but when you walk back, there’s a stranger at your spot next to them. By their body language, it’s clear they’re trying to snatch up your obviously irritated significant other.

Maybe it’s because today was finally a free day for the two of you, combined with not seeing them as much as you would’ve liked– but when you finally arrived at your table, you set down your orders with a little more force than necessary.

With eyes as cold as a storm as you possessively inserted yourself by your lover’s side, you asked the stranger in your seat, “Do you need something from us?”

lucifer

A smug little smirk makes its way to his handsome face when the stranger decides not to start anything and walks away.

And while a part of him doesn’t even want to wait until they’re out of earshot– the same part of him that wants to kiss you senseless in front of the many suitors you have– he refrains from doing anything too rash in public.

If he was in his demon form, his wings would ruffle from how you pridefully claimed him to be your lover in front of this “threat”. Not that anyone has the potential to be one when you’re all he ever thinks about in the late hours of the night.

When you sit down next to him once more, still obviously slightly angry after the ordeal, he gently holds your hand and presses it to his lips.

Just in case it wasn’t clear to anyone else in the cafe that the two of you are together.

“There’s no need to be jealous, my dear. I’m all yours.”

mammon

He gets a little flustered when you’re at his side but he soon gets over it and pulls you closer.

“In case it wasn’t obvious, I’m taken. Now, scram.”

Unlike Lucifer, he doesn’t even wait until the person leaves before he gets up to kiss you (on the cheek, he can only handle so much PDA).

“Took ya long enough! Seemed like you were takin’ forever.” “I was gone 5 minutes, Mams.” “Same thing.”

He’s sweet. And needy– but that’s why you love him. Another kiss on the cheek and it seems like he’s already forgotten what happened.

He hasn’t obviously. He’s going to daydream about this for the next 4 months every night before he goes to sleep because it proves you’re just as greedy for him as he is for you.

He’ll tease you about it, of course. “You must really love me if that got ya jealous.” He’ll stop if you ask him too but he’s still going to be giddy about it.

leviathan

He’s so relieved once you’re here because he had no idea what to do. He doesn’t even realise that he’s leaning towards you.

It isn’t until the stranger leaves that he realises that he’s still extremely close to you while in a public cafe.

He instantly gets so embarrassed and wants to leave.

It doesn’t take you long to put the pieces together– so you take your orders to go and pull him outside the cafe and into a nearby park.

“S-Sorry… I know you really like that place.” Now he’s worried that you might hate him for getting embarrassed and potentially ruining the date for the two of you.

When you reassure him that it’s fine and that you can always go to some other place, he calms down enough and the situation completely dawns on him– you got jealous because you thought someone else wanted his affections (which he still isn’t completely sure of btw).

His face is flushed pink when he thinks about it. You love him enough to fight for him.

“What? Oh- uhm.. it’s nothing– just thinking about how cool you looked back in the cafe when you got jealous, hehe.” < is imagining scenarios in his head and totally planning on telling Henry 2.0 about this exciting development in your relationship.

satan

He was about to commit a crime right before you came along.

Usually, he would be better at keeping his anger in check but this is your first date in a while and he’s not about to have some rando ruin it for the two of you.

“Leave.” is all he says to them with a glare sharper than Asmo’s heels.

He calms down as soon as he sees you seated next to him once more.

“They’re lucky you came when you did. The absolute nerve of some people–” he shuts up once you kiss him on the cheek.

While the two of you eat your food, he realises that your actions may have been caused by a spur of jealousy. He’s quick to tease you about it.

“Was somebody jealous? Well, now you know how I feel whenever one of my brothers take you away.”

He thinks you’re so cute when you’re jealous, but he refrains from teasing too much lest you lightly make fun of him when he’s green with envy.

asmodeus

Don’t get him wrong, he absolutely loves attention– but not at the expense of the two of you spending time together.

As soon as you’re next to him, he stands up and pulls you even closer than you already were.

“Ugh, MC~ where were you? I was so bored.”

He’s acting all whiny and needy, pressing his face into the crook of your neck and completely ignoring the other person.

It’s not long before they turn red in the face and storm out of the cafe.

“Finally, they’re gone,” he complains, checking underneath his nails like he was afraid some of their filth might have latched itself to him.

“You’re adorable when you’re jealous, have I told you that?”

He’s so quick to tease, even though he’s 100x worse when he’s jealous.

Somehow, he’s even more clingy the rest of the date. He's holding your hand, kissing your cheek, pulling you close to him the entire time– his own way of telling you and everyone else that he’s yours and you’re his.

beelzebub

He’s pretty clueless as to what’s happening and what the stranger’s intentions are– but when you come along, his passive face instantly lights up with a smile.

He is so in love with you, that you’d have to be blind to not see the way he looks at you, like your presence alone makes his heart full.

The stranger realises that they didn’t have a chance from the beginning, and Beel doesn’t even notice them leaving.

He notices that you seem angry at something, so he gently takes your hand and seats you beside him again– handing the slightly ruined food to you.

“You look angry. You should eat, it’ll make you feel better.”

He was right, it did make you feel better. Along with him happily eating all the orders you got him.

He won’t bring up the stranger unless you bring it up, but if you do, he’ll just shrug.

“Them? I don’t know, they just came up to me and sat on our table. I don’t mind when people do that but they were interrupting our date. I didn’t want to get angry and make a scene.”

belphegor

Belphie is spoiled. And he is tired.

When someone comes and sits on your seat, trying to flirt when the two of you came in together– he is instantly pissed off.

He wants nothing more than to “make” them leave, but he can’t (at least not in the way he wants to). So he just decides to be upfront instead.

“Do you mind? That seat is taken by my s/o– the one who walked in with me, in case I need to remind you.”

When they still don’t leave, he’s very seriously considering putting a curse on them.

But before he starts the incantation, you arrive in an equally bad mood.

Recognising that it’s two against one, they roll their eyes and leave, muttering something under their breath all the way.

“That was so tiring…” < (he spoke three sentences)

If you offer to go home, he refuses, saying that you both planned this already.

“I’ll try my best to stay awake but I can’t guarantee it. When we get back home, you owe me a nap.”

The sly little bitch managed to turn the whole thing in his favour.

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holdmytesseract · 1 year

Note

If you are seeking soon to be dad Daryl, what about a fic where Y/n gets pregnant but she's scared to tell Daryl because what happened to Lori? Maybe she is finally able to tell him when they get reunited after the prison falls and by then she's already showing? Idk I know it says requests are closed but I saw your post!

Blessing in Disguise

Daryl Dixon x fem!Reader

Summary: After discovering that you are pregnant, you don't know what to do; being utterly afraid after what happened to Lori. You don't even have the chance to tell it your boyfriend, Daryl, because after the prison fell, you and Daryl get separated. Can you find him again and finally be brave enough to tell him?

Warnings: the usual TWD stuff, walkers, weapons, angst, mentions of birth and pregnancy, fluff!

Set in Season 4/5!

Word Count: 4,6k (Whopsies...)

a/n: I promised y'all a new Daryl fic and here it is! ☺️ Thank you for this wonderful request @starfirette ! ☺️ I loved, loved, loved to write this! 🥰 I hope you like it. ☺️ I changed the timeline a little bit - and I uh, may have ignored the existence of Mika and Lizzie, because I somehow struggled a lot to write them. I hope that's okay. 🙈

Tagging: @in-this-minute @thefemininemystiquee @hotgirlsshareaccounts @azanoni @lokisgoodgirl @goobysgoobers @fuseburner @fictive-sl0th @alexreadz07 @sweetpeapod

Masterlist

Biting your lip nervously, you watched your friend from afar, loading stuff in a car. He was alone, so your only opportunity to ask was probably now - or never. Taking a deep breath, you bit the bullet and walked over to him. "Hey, uh, Glenn?" The black-haired man turned to face you. "Oh, hey Y/N. What's up?" He asked you, smiling. "Can... Can you please get me something from the drugstore you're going to?" "Sure thing, no problem. What is it?" You bit your lip again; shaky fingers handed over a small piece of paper. Glenn took it and slowly unfolded it. His gaze scanned the written words, eyes widening. "Y-Y/N this... This is-" "I know, Glenn, I know. Please, keep this to yourself, okay?" "Of course, but... You know that everyone says I'm bad at keeping secrets?" You sighed, rubbing the heels of your hands in your eyes. "Yes, but you're my best friend. I trust you." The Korean nodded, "You got a point there..." and stuffed the note inside his jeans pocket. "Don't forget it, please." "I won't, promise."

You spent the time walking from one place to the next. Your mind was restless, and so was your body. A billion 'What if...' questions were running through your head on lighting speed. It felt like your skull was going to burst any second. The wait for Glenn to return was almost unbearable. "Y/N? You alright?" Maggie's voice cut through the loud noises in your head. Blinking, you stopped in your motions; looking up to face her. "Y-Yeah, of course." The woman looked at you quite a bit sceptically. "Are you sure? You seem really... uneasy and nervous. Something wrong between you and Daryl?" You quickly shook your head at your friend's words. "No, no! Everything's perfectly fine! We're good. I'm good!" Maggie eyed you a second time doubtfully, "Alright." before she turned around to leave again. You breathed out relieved, closing your eyes. Gods... That was hell.

About two hours later, Glenn and a few Woodbury people came back from the run. Subtly, your best friend handed you the small bag. "You got it?" He nodded. "Yeah. Brought three different brands." You stared at the bag, taking it into your hands. "Thank you." "Of course." You gave Glenn a small smile, which he returned. "You can talk to me about... You know. I-I'm always here for you." "I know - and I appreciate it so much." Before the Korean could even answer, you had pulled him into a big hug.

Now you sat in the cell you shared with Daryl - who was on a hunt at the moment, on the bed, staring at the bag in your hands. You had to do it. You just had to. You needed to know. So, you grabbed all three packages and sneaked into the prison 'bathroom'. Taking the tests were easy. Waiting five minutes for them to show a result was excruciating. Once again you found yourself walking up and down the room, hoping for once time would pass faster. At some point you couldn't take it anymore. You had to look; waited clearly long enough. Closing your eyes for a moment and taking a deep breath, you stepped over to one of the sinks - where you had placed all three tests, and taking a look at them. The first one. Positive. The second test. Positive. And the third result. Positive. "Fuck..." You were pregnant – without a doubt.

Shock wasn't the right word to describe your emotions right now. It wasn't really a shock, since you had the assumption; showing the typical signs for over a week now. Fear and panic were better words. In another world, you would've been happy. Having a baby with the man you loved was everything you ever wanted. Daryl was that man. The rotten, destroyed and dangerous world was a big problem, sure. Not just the walkers were a big threat. The disease, which roamed the prison had been a problem, but also other people out there. People like the Governor, for example. But now that you had the prison back and successfully defended your home against that psychopath, you weren't that concerned about the circumstances and surroundings. The prison was safe. What was a bigger problem and the cause for your main fear and panic, was what had happened only a few months ago... Judith's birth, and Lori's death. She died, birthing a child - and that was what gave you the chills. What if the same fate befell you? What if you were going to die as well, bringing yours and Daryl's baby into this world? Like Lori already once said… This wasn't a hospital. Sure, you had medical supplies - but not enough for a c-section or worse. If there would be complications, you were sure going to die - and you didn't want that. Despite that, it was already kinda hard enough to provide for one baby, but two? You didn't know. You really didn't know. What were you going to do now?

Driven by the panic coursing through your system, you went on search for Glenn. You needed to talk - and your best friend was your safe haven right now. Telling Daryl wasn't an option. Not just because he wasn't here at the moment anyway - which had left you worried sick enough, but also because you just were too afraid. You didn't want to do this to him. If you were really going to die during childbirth, you would put even more weight on his shoulders. He already had to carry enough.

"Glenn?!" You shouted up the guard tower, knowing that he was on watch at the moment. Seconds later, the door sprung open and his head appeared. "Y/N?" He shouted back. "Can... Can I come up?" You choked out; the tears on the brink of falling. "Uh, sure!" Quickly, you made your way up the stairs and through the doors. "T-Thanks." "Sure thing. Did you take the- You did." Glenn said, turning to face you and noticing the tears in your eyes immediately. "Is it... positive?" You nodded. Glenn's eyes widened. "You are... pregnant?" Once again you nodded; having lost the ability to form words. Without another sentence, Glenn bridged the distance between you and him and hugged you close. A big hug - exactly what you needed right now.

The two of you just stood there for a while, embracing each other. The only thing which could be heard, were your quiet sobs of desperation.

"W-What am I doing now, Glenn?" He pulled back from the hug, looking at you a bit confused. "What, uh, do you mean?" You blinked, staring at your best friend. Was he serious right now? He didn't get it? "Glenn, I... I can't have that baby!" And again the black-haired man's eyes widened. "Wait, what? You want to...?" Shrugging your shoulders, more tears started to fall. "N-No, but... I'm afraid of being pregnant; of birthing that baby. You know what happened to Lori! What if this happens to me, too!" Glenn immediately shook his head. "It won't, Y/N. Judith's birth went wrong, because Hershel wasn't with her. Lori was at the wrong place on the wrong time, unfortunately. It won't happen to you." You scoffed, not seeing this as easy as him. "That may be true, but what if Hershel can't be with me as well, huh? For any reason? And nevertheless, this ain't a hospital... It's a goddamn prison." The Korean sighed, tried to reassure you further, but it was no use. "I'm going to take you to Hershel now." He said, grabbing gently your arm and pulling you with him. "W-Why?" "Because maybe he can reassure you; and especially prevent you from having a panic attack." You said nothing; knew that he was actually right, so you didn't protest.

Passing by a lot of familiar faces on the way - due to the people from Woodbury your group had taken in in the prison, Glenn brought you to the small infirmary, where he was surely working.

"Hershel?" Glenn called out, trespassing the big doors with you. "I'm here." You heard the elder man call out, before he stepped out of one of the cells turned hospital rooms. "Glenn, what can I- Oh, hello Y/N." Neither of you said a thing, causing Hershel to look confused at the both of you and get closer. "Is everything alright?" Glenn turned to face you, squeezing your shoulder gently. "I'll leave you to it." With those words and a smile, he disappeared through the doors again, leaving you alone with Hershel. "Are you not feeling well, dear?" "Y-Yes." What were you saying? "N-No, I-" Even more overwhelmed now, you took a deep breath, trying to get yourself together. Hershel could see how you struggled; that you were rattled and of course, that something was bothering you. "Come, Y/N, let's sit down." The older man gave you a soft smile and gestured for you to follow him. He guided you into an empty room, in which he told you to sit on the small bed. "I'll be right back." You nodded, still too shaken up to form words.

A few minutes later, Hershel came back with a water bottle, handing it over to you. "Drink." You nodded once again, twisted the cap open and took a few big sips. "Good. Now take a few deep breaths and tell me what's wrong - if you feel up to it." You did what Hershel instructed you to do; took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down. You needed that. You didn't know it, but you needed that. "Thank you." The man nodded at you, giving you another small smile. "O-Okay, so... Um, I... I wasn't feeling that well for the last few days. Always tired, no matter how much I slept. Sometimes, I had a bit nausea and mood swings... A-And I had to pee more often." You paused for a moment, fiddling nervously with your hands. A look into Hershel's face told you that he already knew what you were trying to say. After all, he was a doctor, but he didn't interrupt you; let you speak on. "W-Well, I counted one and one together and... Glenn brought me three tests. I just took them and..." "They're positive?" You nodded, clenching your jaw in order to suppress the upcoming tears. "W-What do I do now, Hershel?" The older man reached his hand over to gently place it on yours. "Be happy about it. This is a gift. A wonder." You scoffed, controlled by your fear once again. "It wasn't a gift for Lori, was it?" Hershel sighed, knowing exactly what you meant. "What happened to Lori was an accident. It was the wrong place and the wrong situation." "That may be true, but what if I'm going to die, too? What if this baby decides to come in the wrong place and the wrong situation as well?" "That won't happen." "Why are you so sure of that? This just isn't a world to have children anymore." It was a back and forth and throwing arguments - until Hershel shook his head and gave your hand a squeeze. "Now listen to me, Y/N. I know very well that this must be not easy for you. I can understand; given what happened to Lori. But Lori had Carl through a c-section, so the chances were pretty high she needed to have Judith with a c-section as well. You on the other hand have very good chances for a natural birth." He said calmly, pausing for a moment to let his words sink in. "Despite, you are such a strong woman. You've got Daryl by your side. You've got all of us by your side. A safe place with the prison..." He gave you a smile. "We're going to make this."

Hershel's words managed to calm you down a bit and take away some of your anxiety - quite to your surprise. "Y-You think?" "Yes." You nodded and stayed quiet for a moment, before the next thought hit you. "B-But what if Daryl doesn't want this?" A low, hearty chuckle rumbled through the elder man's chest, causing you to look at him confused. "Y/N... That man would do anything for you and that baby. You know just like me how adamant he was to keep Judith alive and healthy. He was the first one who reacted, went immediately out on a run to get her formula. Daryl would never reject that baby, trust me. He is going to be a great father." He squeezed your hand again, giving you another smile, which you couldn't help but return. "Now let's get you checked up and make sure to start on the prenatal vitamins."

And for a short moment, everything was perfectly fine. Sure, you still had your doubts and fears, but the voices in your heads became quieter, due to Hershel. Unfortunately, your happy phase didn't last even three days. Suddenly everything turned sour, when Hershel and Michonne vanished, the Governor returned to take the prison by brutal force with the two missing people in tow as hostages, murdering Hershel in front of yours and everyone's eyes – and the fall of the prison in the end. It happened so fast. Within minutes, everything was heading south with walkers flooding the place and a war breaking loose. Suddenly everybody around you was crying and yelling, while you just tried to hold on to Daryl - but it was no use... In the end, you lost him, got separated from him and ended up with Tyreese, who had saved baby Judith - and who absolutely wasn't bad at all, but Tyreese wasn't Daryl. The prison was destroyed, your family split up, not knowing who survived and who didn't. Your boyfriend and still unbeknownst to him, father of your child was probably dead and you had absolutely nothing left. Within a blink of an eye, you had a mess on your hands.

"We have to go back!" You shouted after Tyreese, as he walked on through the woods, further away from the prison. "We have to go back and look for him!" Your friend gave you no answer, just continued to walk on. With a cocktail of anger, hurt, frustration and sadness coursing through your veins, you quickly caught up to him. "Tyreese!" He stopped suddenly abruptly in his tracks. "We can't, Y/N! We can't! Don't you see? Our home is destroyed, overrun with walkers! Going back there would be suicide!" "I don't care! I have to find him!" Tyreese sighed, bouncing Judith in his arms to keep her asleep and quiet. "I know this is hard for you and I am truly so, so sorry, but we have to look after Judith now. Make sure she survives." A part of you knew that the man was more than right, but your heart just couldn't accept this. You had to made sure that the man you loved was alright. So the emotions inside you exploded, causing you to reveal your 'secret' to your friend. "And I have to make sure that the father of my baby is alive!" Your eyes widened immediately after the words had left your lips, realisation dawning on you. Tyreese's eyes widened as well; his jaw dropping. "You... You are pregnant?" You nodded; tears threatening to fall. "Please, Tyreese, please..." Your voice was quieter and softer now, on the verge of begging. The man sighed once again, before placing a free hand on your upper arm, squeezing reassuringly. "No. It's too late." You wanted to speak up again, but Tyreese was quick to cut you off. "It won't change a thing if we are going back there." "Fine. Then I'm going alone." You wanted to turn on your heels and go, but Tyreese stopped you; grabbed your arm gently. "I can't and won't let you, Y/N. You are pregnant! I'd never forgive myself if something would happen to you. We stay together. Maybe we find Daryl somewhere around here. He is a survivor, you know that." Those words seemed to finally do the trick and convince you to not go back. Instead, you fell into Tyreese's arm, hugging his side and crying against his shoulder.

"Y/N!" Daryl looked around frantically, scanning his surroundings, while taking out several walkers on his way. "Y/N!" He couldn't see you. He just couldn't see you. "Y/N!" The tank, standing in the yard distracted his search for a moment, as he made sure to push a grenade down the gun, causing the man inside to jump out, before the tank exploded. Daryl was quick in driving an arrow through the enemy's chest; looking once again around. "Y/N!" The archer was on the edge of despair, so afraid to lose you. He had held your hand so tight and nevertheless, you were just suddenly gone, vanished into thin air, just because he had to use the hand which was clasping yours to kill an approaching walker. It was a mistake. He should've never let you go and rather just waste an arrow. Feeling the tears coming up in his eyes and witnessing more walkers storming the destroyed home they had built up, he screamed out your name from the top of his lungs for one last time. No response. No you. "Fuck!" He cursed, throwing his weapons to the ground and rubbing the heels of his hands in his eyes - until a familiar voice spoke up behind him.

"Daryl!" The archer spun around. His gaze landed on a young woman with blonde hair. Beth. "I was trying to find the kinds to get them on the bus." Daryl shook his head. "I lost Y/N. I can't find 'er. I can't find 'er." Beth looked at him compassionately, taking his hand. "I'm so sorry, Daryl." The man was quiet for a moment, until he ripped his hand loose from the teenager's soft grip. "You gotta Beth, you gotta go. Get yourself to safety." The young woman's eyes widened. "No! I-I... What about you?" "I can't leave. I need ta find Y/N. I can't lose her." Beth frantically shook her head. "You can't, Daryl. If you stay, you're going to get yourself killed! There are too many walkers!" "Don care. Gotta find 'er." He wanted to walk past Beth, but she held him back with a hand pressed against his chest. "No! Y/N wasn't inside the prison. I didn't see her. You couldn't find her outside. What if she was inside the bus, or left already with someone else?" Daryl's eyes flickered, the gears in his head turning. "Please... If you go in there now and get yourself killed, Y/N is the one who is going to suffer. You don't want that, do you?" Daryl swallowed, shaking his head. "No." "See? Now come on. We have to go. We'll look for her, I promise!" He nodded and followed Beth, still not sure if this was the right decision.

Time passed. Day after day went by. While you, Tyreese and Judith found Carol on your way, Daryl lost Beth to god knows who and found Rick, Carl and Michonne somewhere on the way. They weren't you, but he was relieved to see that other members of his family had survived. Unfortunately, they didn't know what happened to you as well, leaving the archer still in the dark. It was torturous. But so it was for you.

At some point, you lost track of time, couldn't tell if the weeks had already turned to months or not. What you knew was, that the baby living inside you, must be there already for at least three months, since you lately started to show, having a small baby bump now. Carol quickly counted one and one together as well, making sure together with Tyreese that you were safe and protected.

Well... And then Terminus happened. While Daryl tried to stay alive with the others, Carol went on a rescue mission. You wanted to accompany her at all costs, but of course she didn't let you. She didn't want to risk your life and with that the baby's life as well. So, you stayed behind in that little hut with Tyreese and Judith, making sure that this strange man you took hostage didn't escape. Let's put it this way... Not every part of it went according to plan, but in the end everything turned out to be fine. More than fine, actually...

"I'm not digging around with this crap. We just made it out." "The fences are down. They'll run or die." Daryl listened in silence to the group and Rick's arguing, biting his lower lip - until he heard the leaves of the forest ground crunch, alerting him that someone - or most likely rather something must be there. He was right. But it wasn't something. It was someone. Carol. Daryl couldn't believe his eyes, seeing his best friend standing there, only a few feet away. He didn't think he would ever see her again. Not after she had been banished by Rick. But there she was. Daryl didn't hesitate, ran over to her and pulled her into a big hug. That attracted the others attention as well. Everyone was exhausted to the core, but undeniably happy to see Carol. Rick as well. He approached the two friends. "Did you do that?" Carol nodded meekly, on the verge of tears. Rick went immediately to hug her, wrapping both his arms tightly around his friend. "Thank you." The grey-haired woman retreated from the hug, smiling softly. "You have to come with me."

That was exactly what they all did. They followed Carol to the little hut… "They're back! Y/N they're back!" Tyreese exclaimed, watching their family approach the hut through one of the windows. "Really?!" You literally jumped up from where you sat on the ground beside Judith's makeshift crib. "Yes!" "Daryl! Can you see Daryl?!" Tyreese turned to face you, smiling. "Look for yourself." You sprinted to the window, seeing familiar and also a few unfamiliar faces. Among them, was Daryl. Seeing him kickstarted your heart, sending waves of pure happiness through your veins. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh," you splattered out, before moving over to run out of the hut. "Daryl! Daryl!" The archer's eyes shot up, landing directly on you. For the second time within minutes, he couldn't believe his eyes. He had already lost hope, thinking he was never ever going to see you again. "Y/N..." He breathed out, letting his crossbow fall to the ground and running towards you, meeting you halfway in a hug. You literally jumped into his arms, wrapping both your arms and legs around him. "Daryl..." You sobbed, burying your face in his neck. "Y/N..." You could tell that Daryl was crying as well. His voice quivering and unsteady. The world around you faded. Just you and Daryl existed in that very moment. "I-I thought I lost you. I thought I was never going to see you again." You stammered, still clinging to him. "Me too. I couldn't find ya. I searched for ya, but I just couldn't find ya." "I'm here now." You whispered with a smile, peppering the skin on his neck with small kisses. "I am never going let ya out of my sight again, I promise. 'M gonna protect you better, I swear." You shook your head. "You always protect me as best as you can. This wasn't your fault. Stop blaming yourself, please. It was the Governor's fault. Nobody else's." Daryl just nodded against your shoulder, relieved that he had you back in his arms. That was everything what mattered in that moment. You held him for another while, before you untangled yourself from around your boyfriend and backed up a bit, just enough to look into his blue, greyish eyes. Though, one eye was slightly swollen and red. All in all, he looked quite battered and bruised, causing your heart to ache. Gently, you cupped his scruffy cheeks, looking at him with furrowed brows, worried. He noticed that of course, "M fine. Don worry." and started immediately to rub reassuring circles in the clothed skin of your hips with his thumbs. "You don't look fine, Daryl." The archer shook his head. "M fine, really. Jus' a black eye and a few cuts and bruises... How are you? You alright?" His question reminded you suddenly of the baby, growing in your womb. His baby. You swallowed. Now was the time to tell him, wasn't it?

"Y-Yes, I am, b-but there's something I need to tell you, I-" "We need to go." Rick's voice suddenly cut through the air, loud enough to catch both, yours and Daryl's attention. The archer looked at his brother, an arm still protectively wrapped around you. He hadn't noticed your small baby bump yet. "Yeah, but where?" He asked. "Somewhere far away from there," answered Rick, everybody shuffling around to get ready for moving along. Daryl nodded, thinking the same as Rick. "You two coming?" "Yes, just give us a minute. We'll catch up." You jumped to answer your friend, before Daryl could. You had to tell him. Now. "Alright. Just don't stay behind. We'll make sure to look out for you." You nodded, giving him a smile. "Thanks." The others went to follow Rick, leaving you and Daryl on your own - for now. The archer's gaze met yours again, fear and worry clouding his blue-grey orbs. "What is it?" Daryl asked, eyes suddenly widening. "You didn't get bit, did ya?!" You quickly shook your head. "No, no! It's not that! I didn't get bit!" He closed his eyes for a moment, breathing out relieved. "Thank fuck. What is it then?" You took a deep breath. Now or never. "I-I'm pregnant." Daryl blinked, looking at you incredulously. "W-What?" You bit your lip, gently reaching for his hand and placing it on your small baby bump for him to feel. "I-I'm pregnant." An audible gasp left his lips; emotions getting stuck in his throat and tears blurring his vision. "P-Pregnant? Y-Yer pregnant?" You nodded, having to fight the tears once again as well. "Oh Y/N..." Daryl sobbed, engulfing you in another hug.

"Since when do you know?" You swallowed hard, knowing that this question would come. "A few days before the prison fell..." "W-What?" He was shocked. "Why didn't you tell me?" "I'm sorry. I-I wanted to, but I was so afraid because of what happened to Lori a-a-and I dunno... Before I could tell you, everything went south. I'm so sorry." "Damnit, Y/N... Jus' imagine what could've happen if you ended up alone out there? Ya could've died!" "But I didn't! I found Tyreese and Carol. They took care of me. They always made sure I was okay." Daryl scoffed, but took your hands into his. "Don scare the shit outta me again, woman, I swear…" You had to smile softly at his words, shaking your head, "Promise." and stood on your tiptoes to kiss him lovingly. "Let's catch up to the others. You stay close ta me. I don't want ya out of my sight, understood?" You nodded. "Yes, Sir." "Good." The archer intertwined your fingers with his, grabbed his crossbow and gently pulled you with him, in order to catch up to the others - what you did in the end. "So, you're not mad at me, that I'm, well... Pregnant?" Once again, he shook his head. "Why should I? This is wonderful, actually. Maybe not the best time, but we're gonna make this. Judith made it, too." You smiled up at him, your heart full and content with love. "I love you." "I love ya too, sunshine - and I promise I'm goin' to look after you and that kid."

#daryl dixon x you #daryl dixon x y/n #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon x female reader #daryl dixon #daryl x you #daryl imagines #daryl dixon imagine #twd fanfic #twd imagine #twd oneshot #the walking dead daryl #the walking dead fanfic #daryl dixon x pregnant!reader

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ellecdc · 2 months

Text

The Drink Snob (part 4)

mafia au!Remus Lupin x fem!reader - 3k

p1 // p2 // p3 // p4

You stood on the sidewalk staring dumbly at the sign that hung above the door of the restaurant - La Luna – with a list of references under your arm.

You’d thought long and hard about showing up today, and you weren’t sure which part of you was the part that won. Was it the part of you who saw things through? The part of you who had a lovely conversation with a motherly sounding woman on the phone and had promised her you’d be here? Was it the part of you who sort of wanted to see The Man™ again? Or was it the part of you who didn’t like being told what to do?

You supposed it didn’t much matter now which part of you won, seeing as it found you here.

Now you just had to make it inside the restaurant...which should be easy...seeing as you had two functioning legs...so why the hell aren’t they moving?

Maybe this was a bad idea, maybe you shouldn’t have come. Who voluntarily works for a criminal? Or at least for a criminal’s mother. He’s proven to you that he’s nothing but trouble.

What if it was the good kind of trouble? The kind that led to fun banter and teasing remarks. The kind that made life more exciting and adventurous. The kind that made him really fun in bed.

Stop it.

He wasn’t the good kind of trouble. He was a criminal. Just because he stopped one guy from drugging you doesn’t mean he’s any better than him. Just because he spent hours with you at a bar listening to you lament about your life. Just because he took the opportunity to warn you about his mother’s restaurant. Just because he seemed to give a damn about you...

No, that was wishful thinking.

You shouldn’t be here.

Your option to leave was taken from you, however, when a man exciting the restaurant paused to hold the door open for you.

Fuck it.

You thanked the man and squared your shoulders as you entered the restaurant.

It was fairly quiet inside, which you supposed made sense seeing as it didn’t open until 4pm. There were some serving staff behind the bar readying glassware and silverware for the evening, and a few men moving a large piece of furniture covered with a moving blanket to the corner of the restaurant.

“No fucking way. You came!” A voice called. You turned to see the same curly haired man from the restaurant the night that The Man™ saved you from Tan. He was smiling widely at you as if the two of you were old friends that hadn’t seen each other in years.

“Uhm...me?” you asked dumbly. Kill me now.

The man just laughed as he approached you and gave you a bone crushing hug. “Yeah you! You’re The Girl.”

“The girl?” You muttered as you stepped away from the overly affectionate man.

“James, step away from the girl; she doesn’t even know you.” A shorter man with black hair and silver eyes said as he smiled politely at you. “Sorry about him. He’s mostly harmless, just an idiot.”

The man...James...beamed at you as if his friend hadn’t just insulted him.

“I’m James, this is my boyfriend Regulus.” James introduced finally.

“It’s nice to meet you.” You said as you gave him your name in turn.

“Oh, we know.” Another man said as he entered the dining area. He looked startlingly similar to Regulus, though his hair was quite a bit longer and he was littered with tattoos and silver jewelry. He was also accompanied by The Man™.

“Don’t be fucking weird.” The Man™ muttered to his companion.

“Sorry Moons, no can do.” He said salaciously as he waltzed his way over to you extending his hand. “The names Sirius, doll. So glad I finally get to meet you.” He said with a wink.

You choked on a laugh.

“Fucking hell. You’re unbelievable.” You said instead of hello.

“Thank you!” He beamed, puffing his chest not unlike a peacock.

“That wasn’t a compliment...”

James barked a laugh. “Oh Moony, can we keep her?” He said as he wiped a fake tear from under his eye.

“You’re name’s Moony?” You asked incredulously.

The Man’s murderous glare softened as he looked from James to you. “One of them.”

“The sods name is Remus, dollface. Don’t mind him, he’s emotionally constipated.” Sirius interjected.

“Sirius!” Remus chastised from across the room.

“What is goi-oh! You must be Y/N!” A lovely woman exclaimed as she made her way into the dining hall. “I was wondering what had my boys so rowdy.”

You flushed under the insinuation and extended your hand quickly.

“You must be Hope. It’s nice to meet you; I’m terribly sorry if you’ve been waiting on me.”

The woman waved you off and threw a sarcastic glance over her shoulder. “Oh, I’m not fussed. It’s hard to get almost anything done with this lot ‘round. Come, leave the boys to their folly.” She said as she ushered you down the hall.

“Those are your boys?” You asked as the two of you made your way to what looked to be Hope’s office.

“Yes! Well, technically just Remus. But they’re a package deal, those boys.” She said with the fondness only a mother could manage. It made your heart hurt.

“I suppose that’s an important quality...in his line of work.” You offered. You chose to attend the interview regardless, but it was important for you to understand exactly what was expected of you here.

Hope looked at you with a knowing glint in her eye as she sat at her desk, seeming to size you up. “Yes, I suppose so.”

She pulled out some papers and you placed your references in front of you.

“So, what kind of questions do you have for me?” She asked casually.

You felt your eyebrows furrow as you calculated her question; you’d never been asked that at the beginning of an interview before.

“Erm, I... well I guess I’d like to know a little more about what the job entails.”

Hope smiled widely at you – you could see now where Remus got his dimples from.

“Well, we were looking for someone who had a license to serve liquor, perhaps to help with serving and bussing tables. But really what I’m most excited about is your music.”

“My music?” You asked quietly.

“Oh yes.” Hope offered enthusiastically. “I’ve always wanted live music here, but we’ve never had anyone to do that! I must admit, I looked you up after I received your CV – you’re very talented.”

“Oh, god.” You murmured as you felt you face heat in embarrassment. “I’ve really only played with orchestra’s – I’m not sure that’s an example of any talent.”

“Hm, and modest too. Tell me, do you make it a habit of downplaying your worth?”

You felt like you’d been slapped.

“Because you shouldn’t. You ought to be proud; I sure am.” She carried on like she hadn’t just rocked your world. You cleared your throat and tried to fight against the tears clamoring their way to the surface.

“As for...this line of work.” Hope carried on, emphasizing your phrasing regarding Remus’ job. “This is indeed a restaurant. We deal with mostly restaurant matters. Some of our patrons may be...more colourful than average, and we may see the boys come and go from time-to-time, but there’s nothing you’d need to be concerned about.”

You nodded, a little stunned by the speed of this conversation, but feeling like you got the gist.

Restaurant. Shady business behind the scenes. Nothing for you to worry about.

Good enough.

“Look. You’ve worked at bars in some of the largest cities in North America – that tells me you work well under pressure and in a fast-paced environment. You’ve worked with orchestras across the continent as well, which tells me you work well in a team environment. You’re working towards your doctorate which tells me you’re dedicated and hard working. You’re an ideal candidate, Y/N.”

Remus was right – how does one say no to Hope Lupin?

“Do you work well in a team?” She asked plainly.

“Yes.”

“Do you work well under pressure?”

“Sure.”

“How’s your right hook?”

You laughed. “Not bad? I guess...I’ve not had to use it much if I’m being honest.”

Hope shrugged her shoulders. “We can work on that.”

You laughed again before taking a deep breath. “Okay. Alright, well...whatever you need then.”

Hope smiled. “You’ll play for us?”

You grimaced but shifted it to a smile. “There’s no saying no to you, is there?”

Hope beamed. “And you’re a quick learned. Excellent! Come with me.” She called as she stood and marched out of her office.

You followed her obediently back out to the dining hall where James, Remus, Sirius, and Regulus were still loitering – each having taken a seat at a different table. And that large piece of furniture they’d been moving in when you arrived? It was a piano.

It was a Concert A 192 Bechstein grand piano.

It was a brand-new Concert A 192 Bechstein grand piano.

You thought you were going to faint. These pianos were not cheap.

“Think this will work for you? I’m sure we could swap it for something else if needed.” Hope commented as she moved towards the piano.

“You got this...for me?” You murmured. Hope smiled at you but bit it back when she saw the emotion on your face.

“Well, we got it for the restaurant. If you need something else though, we can likely exchange it.”

She was interrupted by a scoff from Sirius. “I am not breaking my back dragging that thing back out of here again, mummykins.”

“You’ll damn well do whatever the hell I tell you too, bubs.” She shot back.

Sirius conceded immediately. “Absolutely. Whatever you want mum.”

“So, are you gonna play us something?” James interjected.

“Now?” You asked apprehensively.

“Well, someone’s gotta test it out.” He shrugged. “They tuned it at the store but said it might shift slightly during the move.”

You hummed in acknowledgement but made no move to sit at the piano. James sighed dramatically and stood from his seat.

“Fine. I’ll do it myself.”

Regulus groaned and brought his hands up to his ears as his boyfriend sat at the piano with a flourish, cracking his knuckles, and began pressing keys at random.

Sirius bobbed his head in encouragement as if what James was currently producing could be considered music. Regulus banged his head against the table with his ears still covered, and Remus shook his head with a grimace.

“Okay, okay! Oh, you poor thing what has he done to you?” You cooed at the piano as you swatted James’ hands away.

“Uhm, I was playing it. Duh.” He muttered as he stood from the bench.

“That was a crime, is what it was. This piano is a work of art – it costs as much as a bungalow in America.” You said as you sat at the bench, staring at the keys in awe.

You’ve played some pretty spectacular instruments throughout your life; the New York Philharmonic certainly provided for their pianist, no holds barred. But those were instruments you had to give back once you finished playing with them. Granted, this belonged to the restaurant, but...it was here for you to play.

“What are you going to play us?” Remus asked quietly.

You turned your head to him, surprised out of your musings, to find him looking at you softly.

“Any requests?” You asked the room.

“James’ knowledge of music that one can play on a piano expands no further than heart and soul, dollface. Don’t ask us.” Sirius smirked as he dodged a swat that James sent his way with an indignant squawk.

“You’re the expert.” Hope encouraged you from the side of the room.

You took a deep breath and turned back to the piano. You felt horribly exposed; no orchestra to hide behind, all eyes on you. Make it count.

You opted for a piece you’ve played an unholy amount of times.

It was your mother’s favourite.

It wasn’t anything particularly difficult or challenging; it was not a technical piece in the slightest. But something about it spoke to you.

It felt like sitting in a sunroom on a rainy day and watching beads of raindrops race down the panes of glass. It felt like the sun peeking out from behind the clouds after days of overcast skies. It felt like a hug from your mom.

Turns out, it sounded even more beautiful on a Bechstein.

The last few notes echoed through the predominantly quiet restaurant as you stared down at the keys.

“What’s that called?” Remus asked quietly.

You looked over at him to find that same soft look on his face.

“It’s called Sorrisi.”

“What language is that?” James asked.

“Italian, I believe.”

“What does it mean?” Sirius interjected.

You smirked before responding. “I believe it translates to I smiled.”

Remus watched as you seemed to shake yourself out of some sort of reverie. The piece was simple, but it was deep. Remus swore he could see years of memories and feelings oozing out of your shoulders as your hands danced across the keys.

And he wasn’t the only one. He could tell his mum was crying – most people wouldn’t have likely noticed, thinking she was just farsighted - but he knew that she only ever removed her glasses from her face if she was tearing up.

And then you had to go and act all bashful like you hadn’t just moved the room to tears with a few simple notes. Like you had no idea how wonderful you were. How beautiful you were.

Remus was fucked.

Here's the song you played for (Remus) the boys and Hope 🥰

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fluff-n-cookies · 5 months

Note

Hey, love! I’m new to this, so sorry if I’m doing this wrong :) You can call me Moon btw. I love your writing and appreciate how it’s all platonic!!!! I was wondering if you could do Aizawa (and maybe Mic or whoever else you want) with an introverted teen he took in asking to braid his hair, and getting lost in thought and humming while listening to him complain about work or something. It’s fine if not <3333

Hi Moon! It's nice to meet you! I am so so so so sorry for replying so late. I was feeling burnt out and just really needed a break. I hope you understand. I was also hoping I could use this prompt for other characters so if you’ll give me permission I’d love to use your idea again for different characters. :)

Aizawa never liked coming home. He never liked the blinding white light bulbs that came with his crappy apartment and was too lazy to change, he didn’t like the smell of coffee and dirty dishes he felt were too overwhelming to do. He used to only have the energy to eat some soggy cereal and pass out on the couch before getting up to do hero work in the morning, or 2 am, or come home at 11 pm but that didn’t matter, it was just the same thing every day.

But now, he had you. Being the sole survivor of a strange house fire at 1 am and having no memories whatsoever and having been considered shy and introverted. You were one with no guidance, no past and a future unknown and uncharted. And while you had been proven to have the intelligence of a child your age and then some, you had little to no knowledge of much else. You were a young girl in need of love and protection. (at least to him.)

So he took you in, begrudgingly, at first, but he soon felt a sense of comfort in your presence, a sense of happiness even.

He even decided to pick up a parenting book or two, and found some mommy bloggers as well. I mean, what else is a man to do except try and be a good parent to a child he loves ever so dearly?

He learned he needed to make food for said child, instead of living off take out and what he can find at the convenience store next door. Children also need to live in a clean environment, so that is what he did, he tries to at least do the dishes and laundry regularly now.

Guess he needs to listen too, because he often finds himself listening to your rants about school and homework, as well as the rants of your hobbies, about what you did today, how you felt today, so many things. And I guess, just a hunch, that his life was finally falling into rhythm.

But it remained mostly the same.

Tonight was no different.

It goes;come home, take off shoes and coat, check if you’re awake, make some ramen (and some for you too if you are awake.) complain, go to bed.

So here he is, tiptoeing to your room at the end of the hallway, careful not to wake you if you are asleep. Only to find that you are, in fact, awake. The warm light bulbs he installed in your room peaked through the crack in the door you had left for the cat to come at the ungodly hours of the night. You could also see the various trinkets and hobbies you had picked up over your 4 years of living together and made your room the heart of the whole apartment. Lively and bright. And there you were, hunched over your desk watching a video on your computer, fiddling with a piece of origami paper, attentively following the instructions from the video to try and make an origami frog.

It took about 10 seconds to recognize he was there, smiling, happily at your antics. You smiled a little, but that smile made it all worth it to do what he does, be a hero and a single parent both at the same time, a smile that could light up even the darkest of nights. You did a little run too, you ran a little run to get to him but still tried to be light on your feet so as not to bother the neighbors.

Always so considerate. He thought.

It was a regular routine really, for him to get you from your room and make some ramen, but as you two sat on the couch, TV was buzzing with the latest new stories (who needs a dining room table? Just use the couch! Why waste the space? It is the perfect space for your plants so for your plants it will be!) Something different happened today.

For in the smallest little voice, he heard you squeak out,

“c-can I braid your hair.” a slight tremble in your voice

Now that was a surprise,

“What do you mean?”

“I’m sorry, I meant it as in can I do your hair, I’m sorry I shou-”

“Sure.” he replied nonchalantly.

“What?”

“You can braid my hair. Go on, the hair ties are in the bathroom.”

“Oh.” there was a pause. “Okay.”

Here he was, out in the dead of night at 12 in the morning, a young girl braiding his black locks of hair while he complained about PresentMic’s antics while eating convenience store ramen. For once in his life he felt at peace, as the world slowed down he felt himself slowly understanding. Understanding that it may be over, the repetitive nights of the never ending loneliness. It’s over.

And it starts here, with you, with tonight where you braid his hair and listen to him rant about the outside world. But here it’s safe, in this crappy apartment with the cool light bulbs and the distant stench of dirty dishes and the coffee he had this morning. It's okay. Life is okay.

Maybe he wasn’t doomed to have the same routine every day over and over again.

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justlemmeadoreyou · 8 months

Note

love, love, love your work.

could you maybe write a piece where it's harry that's a bit insecure because the reader wants to keep their relationship very private and not tell people about it?

and i love love love you!! thank you for reading my work and sending this request! ❤️

Insecure

pairing: boyfriend!harry x reader

word count: 2.1k

warnings: kissing, fluff, a bit of dirty talk

my masterlist! | ask box

"Just 10 more minutes, please, H?" you pouted, snaking your arms tightly around his chest, to try and keep him in bed. Unfortunately, he had an interview to go to.

"Y/n, baby, you know I have to leave soon. And I haven't even taken a bath."

"So leave without taking a bath. You smell so good anyways" you slid up and kissed his pecs, looking up at him with doe eyes.

"That's it. I'm getting out." he gently picked up your arms and kept it on the bedding beneath, and quickly jumped off the bed.

"Nooo" you whined, and crossed your arms over your chest.

"Okay. If I hadn't gotten out, you would've found another way to make me stay." He bent over and picked up his clothes, strewn across the floor from the night before.

"Nice ass" you remarked, making one last attempt at making him stay.

"Not gonna work" he replied, and finally picking up his clothes. He made his way to the bathroom, and closed the door.

You sighed, and slumped back on the bed, pulling the blanket to cover your body, you closed your eyes, waiting for him to come back.

He came back about half an hour later, and you'd already fallen back to sleep. With a towel wrapped around his waist, he slowly made his way over to your sleeping form, and climbed on the bed. He leaned over, and shook his wet hair over your face.

The tiny water droplets showered on your face, and you immediately pushed him away, and he fell on the bed. He started to laugh hysterically, holding his stomach.

"Not funny" you said, wiping off the water. Giving him an angry look, you turned to the other side.

"Hey, I was just playing."

"Sure you were"

"So listen, how about we go to dinner after I come back? You be ready and I'll pick you up?"

"Oh…"

"Think about it, text me before 4. We'll go to that fancy italian place y’like.”

“But-there'll be paparazzi, right?”

“Yeah. Obviously” he chuckled “So?”

“I don’t know, Harry, it’s just–I don’t want people to know yet, like, officially.”

He frowned, his heart sinking a bit.”But there's already pictures of us outside the gym from last week-and that actually means something, right? And, we both wear promise rings. One close up and they’ll figure it out” he said, pulling up his pants he had laid out the night before.

“Yeah, but that’s kinda–different? I don't know. Going to gym together dosen’t really do what going to dinner together does. Please, Harry?”

“Mmm, okay.” he buttoned up his shirt, and pulled on a loose cardigan, and went into the closet to choose footwear.

“So, that would mean I have to say I’m single when they ask me that today?”

You thought, and felt a bit sad. You wanted to go to the tallest building in the world and yell, “I’m dating Harry Styles, bitches!”. But, you couldn’t. At least, not yet.

“Yes?” you murmured, hoping Harry would hear. You also hoped he wouldn’t be sad, or feel bad.

“Yeah, alright.” He walked out wearing white vans, that complemented his blue jeans.

“How do I look?”

“Great” you replied.

“Quick, give me a hug and a kiss before I leave” he walked to the corner of the bed, while you peeled yourself off, and walked on your knees to the edge, the blanket still draped over your body.

He leaned down and kissed you, and you snaked his arms around his neck. He pulled away quickly, and put your back down. He smiled, turning back and waving at you as he left.

As soon as he got out of the room, his sile turned into a frown. He sighed, as the guilt and sadness took over him. Why did you not want anyone to know? Like, both of your friends knew, and people would find out eventually, but still.

Why?

He respected your decision, and would never go against it. He wouldn’t tell people till you were ready. But, what if you won’t be ready? Ever?

Taking his shades and keys, he left the house.

. . .

The interview went great, as he had expected. Better, actually. Whenever he was asked a question about a significant other, he brushed it off charmingly, and thankfully, they didn’t ask any more nosy or follow up questions. He loved interviewers like that.

On his drive back to his shared home with his “girlfriend”, his mind was clouded with thoughts. Why did you not want anyone to know? Were you ashamed? Did you not want your family to know, so they wouldn’t judge you? Maybe your parents didn’t approve you dating a famous person? Maybe you didn’t want to be seen with him like that? Was he that bad?

These things, and some much worse clouded his mind, against his better judgement. Harry wasn’t perfect per-se, but he tried. He knew he could be a bit too much at times, but he worked on that.

Turning over to the last turn towards your house, he took deep breaths, and wiped a few tears off his cheek with the back of his cardigan. He stayed in the car for a few minutes, to let the rednes in his eyes and sadness on his face fade away.

Walking up the path to the main door, he didn’t want to go inside. If you didn’t want to be seen with him, why were you even with him in the first place?

He rung the doorbell, and felt the patter of feet of you making your way to the dor. The door clicked open, and then there you were, with a the soft, glowy face and a lovely smile, holding a spatula. he took a step in, and leaned in to kiss you. You held his neck with the other hand and kissed him back. He snuck an arm around your waist, as the other one closed the door shut behind him.

The kiss wan’t just a quick peck, and you wanted more. Your hand travelled up from his neck to his hair, gently tugging at it. Harry released a filthy moan into your hot mouth, and that was it for both of you. You dropped the spatula on the floor and held onto his shoulders, as he gripped your hips and lifted your up. Your legs wrapped around his waist, he made his way to your bedroom.

“You smell so fucking good” you said, peppering kisses over his cheek. Travelling down to his neck, where you bit his earlobe and kissed his neck. Harry was getting impatient, and he quickly jogged the last few steps, finally reaching your bedroom.

He went straight to your shared bed, throwing you into the centre. You fell with a soft thud, your hair bouncing and framing your little face perfectly. He climbed on the bed too, hovering over your body. Your lips intertwined again, but this time, it was hot tongues and moans into each other's mouths.

Harry wrapped his hand around your throat, and pushed you down. His tongue made its way into your mouth, tasting you. You moaned, as his tongue glided with yours. You had been impatient since the morning, and he was finally giving you what you wanted,

His hand travelled down, pulling the loose string of your sweats. You lifted your hips up, and he slid them off your legs, throwing them away. He was still so much fully dressed, and you wanted to get him naked. Touch his chest and pepper kisses all over it.

You pushed him off to the side, and quickly climbed on him, perching your hips on his waist. You could see his jeans thickening, and you pulled off the cardigan, throwing it on the bed.

Harry wanted to do this. To have sex with you. Eat you out. But, his mind wasn’t letting him. He still kept thinking everything he was while driving, and if he didn’t talk to you about it soon, he would go mad.

He grabbed your wrists when you tried to unbutton his shirt. He sat up, holding your waist so you wouldn’t topple over. Your eyes widened at the sudden halt, and you gave him a confused look.

“H-what–?”

“Can we talk?”

“Right now?” you saw the look on his face. He looked desperate, and…sad. “Okay. What happened? Tell me.” you held his hand in yours, gently kissing his knuckles.

“It’s just–I keep thinking about why you-you don’t want to tell everyone we are dating. It’s driving me mad. Is it me? Am I not worth telling everybody? Is there something wrong with me?”

Your heart broke into a million pieces when he said that. He looked so sad and broken, because of you.

“What? No! Jesus! Harry, why would you even think tha?”

“I’m sorry. This-nobody has ever asked me to keep our relationship a secret and I–I can’t just stomach it. I need to know why?”

“Hey, don’t apologise. Alright? It’s not your fault. “

“Then why?”

“Ok. Here it goes. The reason why I don’t want to tell everyone yet is because-It’s probably stupid.” you slumped, now feeling embarrassed at your reason for all this.

“No, it’s not. Tell me.”

“It’s me. I just think that I can’t compare to anyone–literally anyone you’ve dated before, and it makes me really sad. And when everyone–your fans, your family–they find out, they will think low of me, and that you are probably doing me a favour by dating me. And I know it’s hella stupid, but I am not ready for all the judgement and comments and paps and–”

“Hey! It’s okay. Don’t panic. And I get you, okay. Dating someone like me can be a bit…overwhelming? at times. I am so used to everything that I just don’t realise that you could feel burdened by everthing. And I know how my fans can get sometimes. I love them, more than anything in the world. It’s just–they get defensive and often judge-y of the person I date.”

“I know! And I’m sorry if I made you feel bad about yourself.”

“No, it’s okay. I just wished you could’ve talked to me about it sooner. And hey, don’t ever feel like you’re not enough. There’s a reason why I’m not dating anyone else but you. I love you and I want to be with you. And don’t worry about my family. They are great people. They don’t judge the people I date. They are really, really good people.” he lifted your hands with his, kissing your hand and knuckles, like you had kissed his.

Your eyes were wide, and your mouth fell open. It was the first time he had said I love you.

“What–happened?” he asked, a bit concerned.

“You–you love me?” you replied, eyes welling up with tears.

Now, his face mirrored yours.

“I–I don’t-I didn’t–You don’t have to say it back.”

“Of course I do. I love you too, H.” a tear rolled down your eyes, and you quickly got up and kissed him.

He kissed you back, wiping the tear off your cheek.

“I love you so much. So, so much.” you told him, kissing both his cheeks.

“I love you too, baby. And we don’t have to tell people if you don’t want to. We will, whenever you are ready.”

“Thank you. You are the best. I don’t deserve you” you turned, sitting down on his lap.

“Sure you do. Now, what are we eating tonight? I’m hungry.”

“I made pasta. The spatula—I threw it on the door” you laughed, and he started to laugh with you.

“God.” he shook his head, and you looked up at him.

“C’mon, get up. I need to freshen up.”

“But this–” you looked down between your thighs, where your panties had soaked through from your activities earlier.

“What? Oh! My baby got wet, didn’t she?” you nodded, looking at him with doe eyes, hoping he’ll do something.

“Well, you’ll have to wait till after dinner. Then, I’ll carry you back here like I did before. Lay you down sweetly on the bed. Then spread those pretty thighs of yours, and eat your pretty pussy out. Till you’re begging me to stop. The, I’ll fuck you, and make you look into my eyes, while I tell you how perfect you are. And I that I love you, every time you come around my cock.”

You pressed your thighs together, while he described everything he was going to do to you.

“You’re not helping”

“Wasn’t planning on, love”

. . .

might do a part 2!! 😚

if you like it, please like and reblog!! any feedback is much, much appreciated!!

taglist:

@freedomfireflies @gurugirl @thechaoticjoy @styleslover-1994 @gem1712 @ellaorchard @bxbyysstuff @opheliaofficial07 @rafaaoli @tchlamqtsgf @the-mouse27 @indierockgirrlrl @vrittivsanghavi @walkingintheheartbreaksatellite @drewrry

let me know if you wanna be added or removed!!!

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sincerestlove · 2 months

Text

Sunshine - R.R.

'tis a sad, angsty and emotional night for me, girlies. thus, i have produced this sad piece of work. do y'all ever get cripplingly depressed because you love reneé so much and you realize that she doesn't know that you exist? yeah, me too. that's where i'm at tonight. have i been sulking and on the brink of tears for the last 4 hours...perhaps. womp womp.

Pairing: Reneé Rapp x Reader

Warnings: talks of depression, negative thoughts, self-doubt. reneé being caring, sweet and supportive of mental health struggles. please read at your own discretion.

The room was dark.

It had been dark for hours. You weren’t sure how many, but knew it was more than enough. The sunshine was long gone, you were almost certain. You had shut the blinds some hours before crawling into the bed, unmoving since then.

You were hungry, but didn’t have it in you to get up and eat. You were tired, but your mind was too hyperactive to sleep.

You were mentally exhausted.

The weight of an internal battle kept you glued to the mattress, a dull ache settling between your temples. Your stomach felt heavy, though it had been empty for much too long.

Some days, like today, everything felt like too much. You felt alone, you felt lonely, and just wanted everything to go away and leave you to rot.

Right now, it seemed like there was no light at the end of the tunnel.

You had just decided to close your eyes when you heard a soft knock on your bedroom door, the wood creaking as it opened slowly. “Y/N?”

You laid still, wondering if she wouldn’t notice you under the mountain of pillows and blankets and just leave.

She didn’t.

“Are you okay?” The soft voice of the woman you were in love with filled your ears, feeling your chest tighten the slightest bit at the concern in it. You still didn’t respond though, couldn't, and after a moment, the bed dipped beside you. A warm hand sat on your back atop the comforter. “Y/N, can you sit up for me, please?”

You debated the request silently, wondering if you even had the energy.

After another long pause of silence, she spoke again. “Please, baby, for me?”

Another pause.

Then, you slowly sat up, thankful for the darkness engulfing the room, so that she couldn’t clearly see what you looked like. You knew you looked like an absolute train wreck. Taking care of yourself was too difficult right now, on your own. You blinked a few times, attempting to get your bearings.

You felt warm hands come up to cup your cheeks, her thumb pads wiping back and forth. Just then, you noticed your face was wet, and she was wiping tears away.

When did you start crying?

“Hey, love. I’m here, it’s Reneé.” She spoke softly, as if talking too loudly would scare you away. “What happened?”

You blinked a few times more, meeting the gaze of her soft, pretty blue eyes. They looked at you with such love and understanding, it made your tears flow harder. A sliver of moonlight poured through the blinds, casting a gentle glow on her face. She looked so pretty, was all you could think, bangs brushing against her long eyelashes.

Your bottom lip quivered, the familiar feeling of sharpness piercing your throat. “I don’t know. I just think you deserve better than this. Than me.”

You paused, swallowing the lump in your throat, breaking eye contact. “You can be with whoever you want, Reneé. Should be, with whoever you want. You are literally famous. I’m nothing, a nobody.” You felt hollow pang in your chest, eyes glazing over as each insult passed your lips. You truly believed the words you were saying about yourself and she could see that.

The blonde took you into her arms, burrowing her face into your neck. You felt her tears falling on your skin, her hands balling into the back of your shirt. “No, baby, don’t ever say that about yourself.” She pulled back, taking your face into her hands again. The coldness of her rings focused your attention, meeting her gaze again.

Her eyes steeled, boring into yours with pure intention. “None of that is true, Y/N. None of it. You are so beautiful, kind, smart, ambitious and perfect for me. I want you. I need you.”

She spoke sincerely, and you felt an ache watching tears rush down her face. “I never want to hear you say those things about yourself again. Baby, I love you so much. I would give you every single star in the sky, if I could. Hell, you want the moon, too? I'll bring it to you on a silver platter. You mean everything to me, absolutely everything. I couldn’t do life without you, don’t you get that?” She sighed, brushing her slender fingers along your face, tracing your jawline, eyebrows, nose, ears, lips. “You are my heart and soul. Fuck, I wouldn’t be here without you.”

She paused for a moment, coming closer to rest her forehead against yours. You instinctively moved out of your blankets to rest your hands on her sides, feeling her skin on yours. She was warm and pliant. Real. “I know things get hard, baby. Trust me, I do. But you have to talk to me. That’s what I’m here for.” Her nose bumped yours, sweet breath fanning against your lips as she spoke. “You can’t get rid of me, I’m here for the long haul.” That comment got a soft laugh out of you, one that Reneé took as a small victory.

She took your hands into hers, running smooth shapes into your palms. Leaning back to look into your eyes again, she took a deep breath. “You have to talk to me, Y/N. You can’t just run and hide. I’ve been texting you for hours, I was worried sick, so I came home.” You felt a bubble of guilt in your stomach, knowing you should’ve checked your phone at least once. “I am always a phone call or text away, you know that. I will drop anything and everything for you. That’s how much you mean to me.” You nodded slowly, feeling more like yourself again as she spoke to you.

"I’m sorry, Ne.” The blonde sighed again, shaking her head. She pressed a soft, gentle kiss on your forehead, wrapping you up into her embrace. She smelled good, sweet, like vanilla. You deeply inhaled, settling into her lap and nuzzling into the warm skin of her neck.

“Don’t be sorry, Y/N. Just promise me that you’ll talk to me next time, okay? I’m here for you. And if you want to talk to a therapist or need anything more to help you, talk to me, and we will get you whatever you need. I promise. Do you promise?”

You nodded, feeling the dark thoughts and emotions pour out of your body and mind with the tears that were finally coming to a stop. You exhaled deeply, moving yourself impossibly closer to her. “Yes, Ne. I promise. I will talk to you.”

Her body physically relaxed at your assurance - you didn’t realize how tensed up she was. “Good. Thank you, Y/N.” She let you both sit in silence for a while, her whispering affirmations and reassurance into your ear, while you clung to her and calmed down. “What do you need now, sweetheart?”

“Shower. Food. Kisses.” You mumbled, your stomach growling on queue. Reneé laughed, pressing one last lingering kiss to your chapped lips. She didn’t care, she would kiss you every second of every day, chapped lips and all.

“Shower, food and kisses it is.”

You looked up and into her eyes, which were filled with love.

Yeah. No matter how dark your mind could get, she was it. She was the sunshine that would always light your way and bring you back to her.

i hope you enjoyed!

as always, please leave a request :)

i hope you all are doing well and taking care of yourselves. each and every one of you is so loved and cared for. if you ever need to talk about anything, my dm's are always open.

#reneé rapp #renee rapp x reader #renee rapp #reneé rapp x reader

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charlieslowartsies · 4 months

Text

FINISHED MY TOOTHLESS PLUSH!!

Materials, info and some comments under the RM!

Toothless' Pattern I purchased

Materials: 6 yards of black minky 1 yard red minky 5 yards of Poly-Fil extra loft medium quilt batting 18 oz of poly pellets (4 oz in each foot) 2 Mainstay firm bed pillows for stuffing 1 spool of purple thread for the top stitching details on his tail, hip and main wings 2.5 spools of black thread Dark green, lime green, goldenrod and light yellow embroidery floss black acrylic paint white fabric paint Velcro one very old, small and cranky sewing machine who somehow survived this ordeal several comfort shows, podcasts, and music to listen to

This was my winter break project! Granted I started bits and pieces of the process in early December, but once my two weeks off hit he really started getting worked on lol.

I know it's hard to tell from photos, but he is A BIG CHONGUS. Toothless is 5.5 feet from head to tail tip, and has a 9 foot wingspan. He weighs about 8 lbs.

He took about 60ish hours and was very complex. My budget was $200 and he came in at $202! That includes things like the bulldog clips that I bought when he was being pinned because the minky was so slippery! This cost EXcludes a sewing machine, or things like an embroidery ring which my mom had, so I was very lucky in several areas—but he still was not cheap, either by expense or by time and sweat/tears!

Of course, the minky was by far the most of the cost, coming in at $122. I’d say the batting would be next, but I waited and snagged a good deal at my local craft store and got the batting for $18. I HIGHLY recommend buying bed pillows. The original maker of the pattern used IKEA pillows I believe.

I increased his size by 20%, so I printed him at 120% and guesstimated on the minky amount. My WORST mistake was forgetting to mirror the WINGS, which meant I had to recut two of the four pieces of fabric. (I should have marked it on the pattern, which I did mark well for things like number count.) Had I not done this, I would have used a lot less minky. I bought 7 yards and only needed 5.5 before my error.

(Now I’ve got scraps and a whole yard left sitting there whispering that it wants to be made into a Krobus plushie…who seems much less of a hurdle than Toothless.)

I stuffed Toothy’s hip fins and tail fins with one layer of quilt batting. His wings however, are double layered with the batting for extra plush, warmth, and durability. His eyes are hand embroidered (my first time!) but stitched on with the machine. Toothless has poly pellets in his feet to help support his bulk, but most of his weight is in his body, hips and start of his tail so he actually sits up really well.

He was a huge labor of love for sure! The pattern was great, the instructions were…less great. But my mom helped me figure out a lot of the troubling bits. Some parts were easy to follow and others were basically "bing bong fuck ya life." Despite that, I do suggest this pattern. But this is definitely an intermediate or advanced pattern. They also sell the eyes for those that have access to an embroidery machine.

I followed the pattern closely as I desired. I did omit the back spikes on his rear legs, and I couldn’t embroider his lil nose by hand ^^; I also did not make his blue alpha fins because of expense and mistrust in my own skills...also, I kinda wanted HTTYD1 Toothless haha. I love the series as a whole but the og movie is literally one of the reasons I went to college, and it went into my thesis as well.

I want to remake his prosthetic at some point when I have time and energy, but for now I’m pleased with 99% of him, especially since this is my first plushie I’ve ever made. I do not regret any of my personal changes and I’m totally in love with him.

#toothless #httyd #plush #plush making #arts and crafts #how to train your dragon #httyd2 #httyd3

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jennaissantes · 1 year

Text

1 4 3 POINTER — n.rk

pairing: fem!reader x sports captain!riki

synopsis: after forcing yourself to stop playing basketball due to peer pressure, you meet nishimura riki – who reminds you of past you ; and you hate it. you hate him. So why do you find yourself wanting to help him when he's going through tough times?

genre: comfort fluff, sports au, angst, enemies to lovers

warnings: profanity, injuries, mentions of food, theyre also very young and emotionally very unstable. peer pressure is bad. some trauma dumping, mentions of reader getting bullied. please dont stay quiet if you know someone whos going through something bad!

featuring: enhypen + hanni pham and danielle from newjeans!

WC: 19k ( yeah so when I said 10k i meant 19k pffft obviously)

playlist: if youd like to listen to it!!

FIC TAGLIST: @prdxinvade @hafsa-hoofsa-heefs @catseong @winteringdream @ahnneyong @dimplewonie @flower0930 @officiallyjaehyuns @kualdie @pagesofmiracles @j-wyoung @grey-gteam @dudufodd @operawritesthings @roseyrays @iirene304 @mimisamisasa @channoticedmeuwu @nicholasluvbot @kimsohn @dazed-hee @amakumos @chiyuv @dearhee @yyunari @beomsbeanie @soobnny @soov @luvhyun3 @tnyhees @xiaoderrrr @kimipxl @1-800shutthefuckup @taegyuul @yjck121 @w3bqrl @gyuwrites @enhacolor @sjyuniverse @jaeyunverse @wonyofanclub @atrirose @goldenhypen @flrthwang @nokacchan @shionmarryme @ddeonudepressions @luvistqrzz

authors note: ITS HERE!!! FINALLY. I’ve given every piece of me to this fic. i love it so much. i hope you guys do too. im so so excited to post it and i would absolutely LOVE, LOVE to get feedback on it. thank you @soobnny @jaeyunverse @chiyuv and @amakumos for proofreading this oml you guys are the best ily i hope this meets everyones expectations haha.

Its easy to ignore the world. It always has been.

You weren't a stranger to pretending that people's comments didn't affect you as much as they did. Masking your feelings was something you were good at. While that was a skill, it also proved to be a factor leading to your downfall.

You, Y/N L/N, were the star player of Hybe Academy’s women's basketball team.

Were.

Your parents first realised that you had a special talent for basketball when you were just 4 years old.

It wasn't very often you saw a 4-year-old score a clean goal, the swish of the net echoing through the silence in the room as your parents stood there stunned. While most parents would've cheered, caught the moment on camera and laughed it off as luck, yours took it as a message from the universe to sign you up for basketball lessons.

You loved basketball.

You loved the adrenaline. You loved being a part of a team.

Turns out, your teammates didn't like being one with you. It could've been jealousy, it could've been something else, but none of your teammates in your old school fancied playing with you. Neither did your coach.

You tried your best, you put in one too many hours trying to perfect your skills. Yet, nothing seemed to make your coach content. Your parents, however, were beyond proud of you.

You never told them about your teammates because you didn't want to worry them. They weren’t putting in so much value into your sport for you to just complain about your bad teammates and a pushing coach. No, you'd rather stay silent about it.

But your mother found out. She was enraged—not at you, but at your school. Your parents immediately sent in a withdrawal letter to the school effective as soon as possible. They wanted the best environment for you to grow your talent in.

Except you didn't.

All the bullying, the pushing, the constant not-good-enough looks from your coach demotivated you. You began to hate the sport. The same sport you would have given your life for became a tiresome chore.

It felt monotonous. The same practice routines, the same drills, the same swish of the net. It no longer excited you.

You were a child-prodigy. But maybe that was all you'd ever be.

To say that you were looking forward to joining a new school was a lie. You weren't really excited.

Talking to new people and making new friends wasn’t your thing. You preferred being in your own little space—just you and your orange striped ball.

“Honey, I’m sure you're going to love it at Decelis! I've heard they have a really good team too. If you want you can try out,” your mother spoke to you at dinner before your first day.

At the mention of a basketball team, you began fiddling with your food, chewing on the skin inside your mouth. It was a sensitive topic, but your mother was always careful not to talk about it too much.

She sounded so hopeful that you didn't want to disappoint her.

“Sure, mom. I'll check it out, maybe.” You sent her a small smile, feeling a bit guilty when her eyes lit up and she made eye contact with your father, smiling.

Who knew? Maybe you would go and check out the school court sometime.

The next day, you woke up way ahead of time. The anxiety of going to a new school was finally getting to you.

You were ready by 6:45 am. Too early. You didn’t have to be in school until 8 am.

Why were you this nervous? Joining new crowds was never a problem for you earlier. So what was the matter now?

Maybe it was the thought of people judging you that scared you, or maybe it was the fact that the team here might be exactly like the one back in your old school.

Brushing off your negative thoughts, you put a smile on your face for the sake of your parents and headed down to get breakfast. Your mom chirped a ‘good morning, honey!’ and set down your breakfast on your table.

You knew how much these moments mattered to her. When you were on the team, you barely had any time to spend with your family. Going early to practice and coming home late, tired but not hungry. worried her. You were stuck in an unhealthy cycle of exercising but not nourishing yourself enough to make up for it.

You were glad to have such loving parents who took care of you.

Your dad dropped you off at school, hugging you tight by the carpark so you didn’t need to worry about getting embarrassed in front of the other students.

“Good luck, kiddo. Have a great day.”

You found the administration office easily. You were glad the school campus wasn’t very confusing.

“Hi! I'm Y/N. It's my first day and I think I'm supposed to come here, right?” You smiled warmly at the admin, who clapped in glee at your arrival.

“Ah! Y/N! I've heard so much about you. We’re so glad to have you here. I'm Mrs. Taeyeon. I hope you find this school welcoming.”

You thought Mrs Taeyeon was a kind lady and returned her smile.

She handed you a paper, which you assumed was your class schedule. “Not surprisingly, you'll have a guide for a few days.”

She chuckled upon seeing the slight discomfort on your face.. “Don't worry. Danielle is a very nice girl. You have most of your classes with her too!”

You nodded, finding some comfort in her words.

Before you left the office, Taeyeon called your name.

“Don’t worry too much, yeah? You'll fit right in.”

ii.

You took a liking to Danielle.

She was more than happy to show you around. Her cheerful personality almost immediately brought you happiness. As the admin had said, the two of you shared most of your classes, leading to you hanging out with her the most.

Your first day of school started off much better than you had thought it would. Your locker was pretty spacious and you were able to paste your small Seth Curry poster easily.

You never saw who had the locker next to yours though.

Maybe they're not present today, you thought to yourself.

You liked the idea of having a friend whose locker was next to yours. You made a mental note to try and keep a close circle of friends.

In your second period, which was AP calc, you found yourself wondering that maybe shifting schools wasn't so bad. Maybe it would all be okay.

Your seatmate, Hanni, seemed to click with you really well. She knew Danielle and asked you to sit with her during lunch and you couldn't say no to her.

“So.. what’s your hobby?”

Ah. Now, how to answer.

You smiled at her sheepishly, “I don't really know…”

Should you tell her?

“I mean… I used to play basketball.”

She gasped.

“Oh, what position?”

“Shooting Guard.”

“That is so cool. Sorry if I'm bothering you with too many questions. We don't really have any good players in our school. Unless you count Nishimura Riki, but he's just tiresome.”

You laughed at her enthusiasm, “It's alright.”

Hanni nodded. “Don't worry, most of us are nice. Present company included,” she added, playfully nudging your shoulder with hers.

It felt almost strange, not having to think about basketball all the time. Now that you thought about it, you had no idea how you managed to spend so much time on sports and manage your studies along with it.

Not having to worry about so many things felt nice, but there was always a void in your heart—one that could only be filled by basketball. You kept telling yourself that thinking about the game wouldn't help you in any way.

After all, it was in the past right?

The rest of the day went by in a whir. You enjoyed Hanni’s company. She didn't leave your side, and you were thankful for her. It was nice to have a couple of good friends.

For the first time in years, you walked back home with a smile.

Your mother was overjoyed to hear about your day. She was happy that you seemed to finally be able to enjoy life as a teenage girl. Your parents often wondered if they had done the wrong thing by making you sign up for basketball all those years ago. They didn’t mean for it to take a toll on you like it did.

Over the next few days, you walked into school and walked to class with Hanni. She would wait for you, excited to spend the day with her new friend. Danielle came along with you guys, gushing about some guy she found cute in the previous days.

“— and Oh, my god, I swear he is to die for.”

You and Hanni giggled at her words. “Yeah, yeah. I bet he's a dreamboat alright.”

Walking to class, Hanni pivoted towards you and smirked. “Say… did any of the guys catch your attention yet, Y/N?”

Danielle turned as well, waiting expectantly for your answer. Truth be told, you hadn't really considered checking out any of the boys. You'd been far too busy being nervous about having a good first day.

When you didn’t answer immediately, Hanni started naming some people you might have seen the previous day. “What about Jungwon? He's our class president, remember? He's really cute.”

You remembered the face of the cat-like boy. He had welcomed you into class with a kind smile and some small talk. He was cute but he wasn’t your type.

“I mean, I guess he's nice.”

Hanni stopped. “You guess? Oh, come on, the guy’s got everything! Good grades, pretty face and a great personality—what's not to like?”

You smirked at the way your friend talked about him. “Do you like Jungwon, Hanni? You seem to be very interested in him.”

Hanni’s eyes widened and she shook her head in denial, but her red cheeks said otherwise. “No, I don't! What makes you say that?”

You and Danielle shared a knowing look before walking into your class, leaving Hanni confused about her own feelings.

During lunch break, you remembered your mothers words. Should you go and check out the court? If your mother said it's really nice, then it must be, right? But what if it brought back unwanted memories? And what if the team was just like the one back in your old school?

The constant worry was always going to be there.

Danielle noticed you playing around with your food and realised you'd zoned out. She waved her hand in front of you to bring you out of your reverie.

“You okay? You're not eating anything,” she asked, concern evident in her tone. Hanni also looked worried.

You quickly smiled at them and let out an awkward chuckle. “Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking about something.”

Hanni and Danielle seemed sceptical, but they didn’t say or ask you anything more.

After school ended, you decided to go and check out the court. Just walking around won't hurt anybody, right?

Sending a quick text to your mother, you told her you'd be back home a little late.

You half expected the court to be empty since you’d assumed most people would have gone home by now.

You didn't expect to see a tall individual being scolded by a comparatively shorter one. The former's head was hanging low.

You didn’t mean to pry, but you couldn’t help but eavesdrop.

“What's really going on, Riki? This isn't your usual performance. Your layups were messy, and that assist? Really? Is that the best you can do?”

You assumed the taller man to be the coach, and the slightly shorter boy to be Riki. Said boy mumbled something along the lines of ‘I'm sorry. I promise I'll do better.’

The scene seemed all too familiar to you.

You didn’t notice a water bottle in your way, causing you to trip over it. The sound made by your stumble echoed through the room, catching the attention of the two men. Riki looked up to see you struggling to steady yourself from tripping again. He scowled, walking toward your figure.

“Who are you and why are you here?”

Oh boy.

iii.

You stood there awkwardly in the middle of the bleachers, trying to form a response in which you didn’t end up embarrassing yourself.

Why was it so hard to form words? You weren't even doing anything wrong.

Maybe it was the tall guy’s sharp gaze that was making you have a hard time replying.

“Oh. I uh—”

“Save it. You're probably some loser fangirl who's here to watch Heeseung hyung or something. Piss off, seriously. He's not here today.”

You prayed to whatever god was out there to not lose your cool.

“Excuse you. I'm not here to fangirl over anyone. I simply wanted to walk around and check out the court.” you scoffed.

“Yeah right. Now buzz off, kid.”

It took every ounce of patience in you to not snap at the boy. You weren't even short, for him to call you a kid. Seriously, what was with this boy?

Now, if only you could remember his name. You had just heard his coach call his name, so why were you not able to recall the boy's name?

Huffing and walking out of the gym, you realised that you had forgotten your phone on one of the bleachers. You walked back in to grab it and get out of there quickly, not wanting to have another row with the unnamed tall boy.

You walked in, trying to be quiet so you didn't bother him. Your eyes don't bother looking at the boy from earlier, who was now shooting the ball into the hoop effortlessly.

You found your phone pretty quickly, sitting neatly on one of the bleachers. Just as you were about to leave, your eyes flitted towards the court again, wanting to see what the player was doing all by himself.

You watched as he dribbled the ball towards the hoop from just beyond the three point line, increasing in speed just a bit before slowing down to do his layup. The ball only just almost made it in.

“You should angle your hand a bit more to the left. That way when you jump up, it'll stay more balanced so you can hoop it easily. Your hand is a bit stiff.”

Your voice echoed through the almost empty room. Only after a few seconds of no response from the basketball player did you realise that it was probably a bad idea to interrupt him.

Great. Now he probably hated you even more. So much for a first impression.

Although you were standing pretty far from where he was, you could see the expression on his face. He looked startled when you spoke, which quickly turned into a displeased emotion.

Who were you to tell him what to do and how to do it?

“Yeah, as if I'm listening to you. You probably don't even know what you're saying. Now, get out before I call someone.”

You rolled your eyes at him. If only he knew.

“Take my advice if you want to. If not, then it's your loss. Doesn't affect me in any way after all. Have fun by yourself.” Saying so, you walked out of the gym, not wanting to deal with the boys' very annoying, know-it-all attitude.

You didn't think much about the boy on the way back home.

At dinner, your mom asked you if you had maybe gone to see what the court looked like. You nodded, telling her that it was a really nice court. You don't mention the mysterious but arrogant boy you had met, choosing not to bring in unwanted reactions of your parents making fun of you and asking if it meant you'd be getting a boyfriend soon.

While you lay down on your bed, your mind kept reeling back to the events of the day.

You remembered how you walked in on the boy and his coach talking. His coach wasn't harsh. He had sounded genuinely worried for the boy. It made you think of your old coach and how harsh she used to be with you.

You don't think she had ever asked you why you were feeling down on your bad days. You could've been tired, or maybe something bad might have happened which affected your practice, but your coach never made time to sit and actually talk to you ; ask you if you were okay.

How come he had it better than you? Jealousy began to seep through your veins.

You decided to keep these thoughts of yours locked up far away in your brain, telling yourself that you shouldn't be jealous of someone just because you didn't have it as well as they did.

The following day, you decided to leave for school a bit earlier than usual, wanting to go sit by the court again.

Although you told yourself you'd never play basketball again, being near the court gave you some comfort.

You were glad to see that there wasn't anyone in the hallways. You weren't really expecting anyone to be in school at 6:30 in the morning anyway.

As you walked nearer to the gym, you were sure you could hear the squeaking of shoes and the bouncing of a ball. You were way too accustomed to knowing the sound.

Who was in school this early?, you thought to yourself. You were sure that you were the only person crazy enough to be in school at the crack of dawn.

When you opened the door to the gym, you were surprised to see the same face from yesterday. What was he doing here at this hour?

At the sound of your coming, the boy looked up from the floor of the court, his expression morphing into something of annoyance once he recognised your face from the previous day. You were sure your face held the same emotion as his.

“What are you doing here… again?” The boy didn't stop dribbling the ball around as he questioned your presence.

You walked into the court and placed your bag on one of the bleachers, ignoring his question. Sitting down, you crossed your legs and raised an eyebrow at him. “Where I choose to be is none of your concern. Now, continue whatever it is that you were doing.”

Scoffing at your words, the unnamed boy continued his practice. You found yourself watching his movements, analysing out of habit.

“You really should try using my advice from yesterday. You're still too stiff.” your voice bounced off the walls of the court. You were only trying to be helpful. It wasn't like you were praying for his downfall. You barely knew the guy.

However, your advice seemed to be the last thing he wanted. Smacking the ball on the ground, he walked up to you, almost seething in anger.

“Look, I don't know who you are–”

“I'm Y/N. What's your name?” you interrupt him, smirking. You were sure that people like him probably hated being interrupted.

And based on his reaction, you were right.

iv.

Ever since that incident, you swore to yourself that you would try and avoid the cocky basketball player. You really didn't want to deal with him anymore.

Looked like luck wasn't on your side.

A few days later, as you were walking towards your locker, you noticed a familiar figure standing near your locker.

Oh god, no.

Why was he standing next to your locker? And why was he opening the locker next to yours?

You slowly walked towards him, but decided to ignore him to avoid any weird conversation. Oh but of course he just had to start one.

“Don't tell me the locker next to mine is yours?”

You glare at the boy. “Boo-hoo, oh what will you do now?”, mock pity heavy in your tone.

Just as he opened his mouth to say something, you heard Hanni calling your name.

Thank god.

“Y/N! Here you are, oh god. Dani saved us a table. Lets g— wait, why are you talking to Nishimura Riki?” she stops midway her sentence when she notices the boy next to you.

Nishimura Riki? This was him?

Walking away from your locker after grabbing your books, you begged Hanni to stop bombarding you with her questions of why you were acquainted with the boy.

“You talk to Riki? Why didn't you tell us?” Hanni asked you on the way to the cafeteria where Danielle was waiting.

Before you could answer her, she turned to Danielle, who had no clue what the two of you were talking about.

“You hear this Dani? Y/N knows Riki. And she never told us.” she slumped down on the chair as the girl beside her gasps.

“Oh My God? Why didn't you tell us?”

They were not accusing you, they were just curious and slightly bemused. You opened your lunchbox, telling them the whole story of how you had stumbled across him in the court a few days ago.

You didn't forget to tell them how much you hated his attitude.

“I swear to god. He and his high and mighty attitude can go fuck themselves. He's so infuriating, oh god. I was just trying to give him some tips to help him. And he had the nerve to be so rude about it—”

You thought your friends would agree with you, even hum in agreement. But all they did was look at each other, a smug guise masking their face along with a few knowing gazes shared in between, a look that threw you in shallow pits of confusion, but you continued to complain about the said boy.

“—and now I just found out that his locker is right next to mine. Just great. Wait, why are you guys smiling when I'm telling you how much I hate his guts?”

Hanni smiled, “Okay first of all, that's the most I've heard you speak and it's about a boy you're weirdly attracted to at school. Second of all, Nishimura Riki doesn't just talk to people at our school, you know that?”

You're confused. “What do you mean? Also, I am not weirdly attracted to him. I mean… I guess he looks nice but that doesn’t make him any less bearable.”

Danielle only smiled, and it wasn't the usual bubbly one that she carried. It was one of those ‘I-know-something-you-don't’ smiles. And you didn't like it one bit.

“Look, I don't know what you're thinking. But whatever it is, it's not true, okay?” you say with finality.

“What do you think we’re thinking Y/nnie?” Hanni teases you.

“Please, shut up.”

Riki couldn’t stop thinking about you.

It was as if you had plagued his mind—the way you had so confidently stood up to him. Most other girls would have probably shied away, or tried to hit on him. But you didn't.

Riki was used to having girls crushing on him and trying to get his attention. He would tune them out constantly, not speaking to any of them or paying heed to any of them.

How come he had never seen you around before too? Were you a new student?

“Yo Riki. You're early for lunch, what happened?” Jungwon’s voice echoed through his thoughts, breaking him out of his reverie.

Riki looked up to see his two best friends, Jungwon and Sunoo.

“Hey guys. Dunno, I felt like eating with you guys today.” he said, opening his lunch and smiling at them. Sunoo raised an eyebrow at his statement.

“You literally never eat with us anymore.” the older boy scowls as the younger sends him an embarrassed smile.

“I want to, but I need to put in more practice. Our match against Riverwoods is just weeks away, and I haven't been improving at all.”

Jungwon sighs, “You're being too hard on yourself again, ‘Ki. I'm sure you're gonna do great. You need to start attending classes too. Mrs Lee asked about you today.”

Sunoo nods in agreement. “Look, we know you can catch up on studies easily, that's not the main issue here. You really need to start taking more care of yourself.”

Riki knew he had been neglecting everything and everyone around him for basketball, but he couldn't help it. He needed to be the best.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar figure walking into the canteen.

“Hey Jungwon. Who's that girl? Is she new?” he asks his friend.

Jungwon looked toward where Riki had pointed and saw you giggling with your friends as you sat down to eat.

He turned back to Riki. “That's Y/N. She's a new student in our grade. I think she's been here for a week? Ten days maybe.”

Riki nodded, trying not to act bothered by the girl. He didn't know why, but just looking at you was enough to make his blood boil.

“Why’d you ask though?” Jungwon questions the younger boy. “Oh, nothing.”

Sunoo smirks, “Yeah, right.”

“Okay, I need you to sign here, here and here.”

The lady at the counter, Mina, as you read her name tag, handed you a pen to sign your form. You were signing up to volunteer at a basketball training centre for kids over the weekend.

If you couldn't play professionally, you might as well do this, you thought.

After signing the form and waving goodbye to the lady, you decided to stroll around for a bit by the court.

You came across a seemingly empty court. You saw a bag by the bleachers but you couldn't see anyone around.

Picking up the stray basketball, you decided to try and shoot some hoops. For old times sake, you said to yourself.

Checking your form, you started on one of your old drills—the figure 8 over to a dribble layup. You were glad no one was around to see you. You didn't want any unnecessary questions.

You started with your feet spread apart and the ball in your right hand. Then you dribbled the ball through your legs to your left hand, and immediately dribbled it back to your right hand.

You moved forward, increasing your speed a bit and performing a beautiful layup.

You were glad you hadn’t lost your touch. All those hours of practice had done you some good.

“Not you again.”

There was no way.

You turned back to be faced with Nishimura Riki, who was now walking towards you. You wore an unimpressed look on your face.

“Oh look, it's a dickhead.”

“I hope you trip over yourself.”

You stuck your tongue out at him. Immature, you knew, but you needed some satisfaction.

He holds his hand out, asking for the ball in your hand. You reluctantly pass the ball to him. The tall boy begins to walk around, the sound of the ball bouncing echoing through the four walled court.

“So, you play huh? Not bad.”

His voice cut through the silence between the two of you.

You choose between wanting to humour him or just ignoring him. Deciding on the former, you say,

“No, I begged the school admin to magically make me a basketball player”

“You know for someone with average skills, you've got a big mouth on you.” You felt yourself getting ticked at his antics.

“Do you ever shut the fuck up? And just so you know, my skills are so much better than yours. You couldn't even do a proper layup the other day.” you fired back. Riki stopped in his tracks, faltering at your words.

Glaring at you, he walked away, grabbing his bag from the bleachers and walking out of the court.

Had you gone too far?

No, you convinced yourself, he deserved it.

Riki walked out of the court, thinking about what you had said.

You were right, he couldn't even do a proper layup. How pathetic.

How would he even play during the upcoming match? He was totally out of shape.

“I need to practise more,” he thought. Your words had hurt him. He had seen how you had rendered the drill so effortlessly. How come you did it so well?

As much as he hated to admit it, your advice proved to be true. A few days after your first meeting with him, he had been thinking about what you had said to him.

He tried it out, angling his hand a bit more so he could shoot it directly into the hoop, and it worked, which made him even more frustrated.

You, an almost complete stranger to him, knew how to play it out in the court better than he did, and that enraged him.

Walking back home, you realised that Riki was a lot similar to you. He kept pushing himself. Every time you had come across the boy, he was practising.

It didn't take you much long to realise that the boy was losing hope in his passion, just like you had.

He was doing well, but was frustrated that he wasn't able to do any better. The same frustration was the reason he was so distracted, why he couldn't push himself to do any better.

You didn't like that he reminded you of yourself. He was hard on himself, you saw it on the first day. The way he muttered under his breath, ‘not good enough’, the way he was at the court so early in the morning, just like you used to.

You didn't want to witness someone losing something they loved either. Looking at him reminded you of the way you had slowly stopped loving the sport. Although his reason differed from yours, the result was the same.

Telling yourself that it didn't change that he was an asshole, you went to sleep.

Hanni had invited you over to her house.

You had never had the time to make proper friends at your old school, after your ex best friend had left, and because of basketball.

So when Hanni asked you if you wanted to go over to her house one day, you found yourself saying yes. Your mother was over the moon. You had told her about Hanni and Danielle and she was ecstatic that the two girls were by your side always.

“Hey mom! We’re home!” Hanni’s voice echoed through the walls of her house. Not long after, a kind face popped out of the kitchen.

“Oh my! You must be Hanni’s friends! Nice to meet you. She talks about you a lot.”

You smiled at Lilian’s warm-heartedness. “Thank you Mrs Pham!”

“Mom, this is Y/N, my best friend.”

Best friend. You liked the sound of that.

You and Hanni headed upstairs to her room to get comfortable. Once the two of you had seated yourself on her bed and grabbed some snacks, she turned to you.

“So what's going on between you and this Riki? Tell me everything.” she said with an impish grin. You let out a sigh in annoyance.

“Oh don't even get me started. He is the absolute worst. Did I tell you I met him again? Like yesterday?”

The girl beside you gasped comically, eyes widening. “No, tell me everything.”

You shifted around on the bed, ready to rant about the mentioned boy.

“Okay so I was at the community centre. I wanted to sign up to volunteer to help some kids out with basketball. After I finished that I was just walking around and I ran into him. Again! Can you believe my luck?”

“I can't actually. Must be destiny or fate or whatever you call it.” Hanni said, popping a piece of popcorn into her mouth. You look at her in disgust.

“No way you actually think that me and … him, would ever become anything close to friends.”

She rolled over to you,, “I actually think you guys might become more than friends.”

“Like… best friends you mean?”

Hanni rolled her eyes, “No dumbass. I meant boyfriend and girlfriend. A walking enemies to lovers cliche.”

You laughed it off, changing the topic.

“So, what do you wanna watch?”

The next day in school, you watched as Danielle ran up to you, grabbing your hand and taking you with her.

She brought you to the noticeboard, pointing to one of the notices.

“Look! There's tryouts for the girls basketball team! You have to try out. Hanni and I will cheer you on!”

Oh.

Smile fading, you shuffle in your place awkwardly, not making eye contact with your friend.

“Ah … I'm not so sure I wanna try out, Dani.” she looks at you, puzzled. “What? Why not?”

How do you tell her without telling her?

“Nothing, I just…don't know if I have the time to manage both sports and studies anymore. Yeah…”

She doesn't buy it, but doesnt ask you any further.

Over the next few days, you didn't see Riki at school much, and you assumed that he was practising for his game. You were almost glad you don't see him as often anymore. Although you would've never admitted it, you secretly wondered if he was doing okay.

He had definitely rubbed you in the wrong way, but that didn't mean you were a monster. You had half a heart to strike up a conversation with him and ask him how it was going, but decided against it once you remembered how much you hated each other.

Why was it so hard to just ignore and forget him?

Riki was blinking back tears.

Today's drill had gone particularly bad, but the coach had not even scolded him, which made him feel worse. Why wasn't he scolding him?

“Riki? Is everything alright? You seem out of it today. Do you need a break?” was what he had asked.

Shaking his head, he faced his mentor. “No. I'm fine. I don't know why I'm so distracted these days. I'm sorry, coach.”

Mingyu smiled at Riki, taking pity on the boy. “Don't apologise. I want you to do something. Get off early today, I think you need a break.” He thinks I'm not doing well.

“Go and rest a bit.” You're distracted.

Riki tried not to show how disappointed he was. Grabbing his bag in a huff, he packed his things up, thanking his coach once again before walking towards the door of the court. Mingyu sighed as he watched the younger boy walk away.

“He's taking it too hard on himself again.” he shakes his head, hoping that his star player would get better soon.

Mingyu had seen Riki at both his worst and his best.

He knew that Riki was talented, with a burning passion to keep improving. The only thing he didn't like was how negative he was.

Riki would constantly take positive criticism in a negative manner. He closed off to everyone, not wanting any advice. Anybody who questioned his actions, or tried to help him improve, Riki would scowl at them and tell them to go away.

He tried to act like he wasn't affected by it, but Mingyu knew that deep down, the boy was hurting.

It had taken him years to get Riki to where he was today. He had been patient enough with him to have brought him to this level. Riki had always been pretty reserved, even as a child. He was cautious, not wanting to associate with anyone he found intimidating, although he looked intimidating himself.

Mingyu watched as Riki walked towards the door. Just as he was about to open the door, it was opened from the other side, by you.

You expected him to scowl or glare at you, maybe throw in a few spiteful words too. But he just walked right past you, not even making any eye contact. Watching the boy walk away, you entered the court to see his coach, Mingyu, walking around.

“Um, hello.” you said, not wanting to be rude to him. The school coach returns your greeting with a smile.

“Are you the same girl from the other day? I think I recognize you.” Mingyu's voice startles you as you chuckle awkwardly, not knowing how to respond to his question.

“Yeah. Sorry for interrupting.”

The older man waves it off with a smile.

It takes every cell in your body to stay still. You want to just grab the stray ball lying on the floor of the court and play. But you bit back the feeling.

“You're the new kid right? Do you play?” Mingyu didn't really need an answer to his question. He knew a good shooting guard when he saw one.

You fiddled with the sleeve of your shirt. “I um… I used to play but I stopped.”

“Ah, I see. Why did you stop?”

His question made you hesitate. “You don't have to answer me. It's okay.”

“No, no. It's okay. Uh it was because I wasn't really comfortable playing in my old school. I just… kinda stopped after that, I guess.”

Mingyu nodded to your answer, thinking of how to respond without causing you any more discomfort.

“Well then, I hope you find your spark again. And if you ever feel like you want to play again, even just a little bit, you know where to find me.” saying so, Mingyu got up, heading towards the exit.

Just before he left, he turned to you. “Oh, by the way, we’ve got tryouts in a month. Think about it, maybe.”

vi.

Riki didn't expect to see you again at the community centre again.

He had walked into the court, to see you helping out with some of the kids. You were fixing their form, making them do a few drills, and so on.

“Hana, you need to be a bit faster, yeah? Just a bit. But you're doing great!” he watched as you smiled at one of the girls, giving her a high five. He found his lips turning at the corners.

What?

He caught himself quickly, walking away and wondering why the sight he had just seen had made him smile. He rarely smiled. It only appeared during games, after he won. Or after he beat his friends at Mario Kart.

Shaking away his thoughts, Riki began his practice.

His stances were getting better. He had been able to do his usual drills flawlessly. All that was left was to nail the layup.

The one he always managed to mess up.

It was so easy, an intermediate basketball player could most probably do it much better than him.

He took a deep breath, dribbling the ball on the hard surface of the floor, advancing closer to his goal.

Increasing his speed, he took one, two and three steps forward, jumping on the third one and letting go of the ball into the hoop. Holding his breath, he watched as the ball went straight into the hoop, not even touching it at the rim.

He had done it.

Finally.

“I see you've got it. Must feel good huh?”

He couldn't say he was surprised to hear your voice. It was only inevitable he’d meet you in the same community centre.

He turned back, a stoic expression on his face. “What do you want?”

You made a small noise of disapproval at his tone. “Keep your tone in check, boy.” he gave you a pointed look.

After a few moments of silence, you turn to him. “Oh, right. I came here to tell you that Mina wanted an extra volunteer to help with the kids. Just for today.”

“I don't have the time for that. I need to practice.”

You roll your eyes. “You're always practising. I'm sure you can spare some time.”

The black haired boy glares at you, walking closer. “Oh, yeah. Like I don't have anything better to do. Unlike you, I actually play basketball. And I don't spend time on anything unnecessary. Now leave me alone.”

His words were straight venom to your heart. You bite back an insult, turning on your heel and walking away from him.

If only he knew of the countless hours you had sacrificed, never paying any heed to any distraction that came your way. If only he knew how much hard work you had put in, for it to all have gone to waste.

You walked back to the kids, smiling as some of the kids came up to you, asking for your help.

Unbeknownst to you, Riki felt bad.

He knew he had not been very amiable with you, from the beginning. He was having a bad week, and he was sure that everyone and their mother knew that.

He saw how you gulped at his comment. And when you turned back to go, he had half a mind to call you and apologise, but the other half scoffed at him, telling him that you were just another annoying girl who was trying to get his attention. Plus, it wasn't like you had been very nice with him either.

After about an hour of trying to perfect a few of his moves, Riki decided he was done for the day, which surprised him. He would practise for hours on end with no breaks.

Maybe his coach was right, he needed to slow down a bit.

While passing the second court on his way out, Riki tried to catch a glimpse of you, but much to his disappointment, you weren’t there helping the kids out. He frowned.

“What? Looking for me?” He turned his head, to see you coming his way, with a few bottles of water in hand. You looked like you were struggling to hold all of them by yourself.

“Yeah, right. I was um.. I was just—“

“Save it, asshole. I'll be on my way now.” saying so, you walked past him and into the court, smiling when you saw the tired little kids run up to you, pleading for some water.

Riki stood there, debating with himself on whether or not he should wait until you’re free and say sorry. Deciding against it, he walked back home.

The following day, much to your dismay, Riki joined your class for Lab. You were almost positive he wouldn't be there since he would usually be at the court training during this time. Danielle often asked you how and why you could remember his schedule, teasing you for it.

The only free seat was right next to yours, so Riki had no choice but to sit next to you.

God why was he sitting so close to you? It was as if he was invading your personal space. And there wasn't much space between the chairs anyway.

Shifting slightly, you pushed his feet away from you, trying to make some area around you. Riki looked up at the sudden contact and scowled at you, pushing his feet right back at you under the table.

You glared right back, rolling your eyes. Pushing him away from you one final time, you stepped on his feet for good measure, watching him wince in pain silently. He remained mum after that, but would send you dirty looks from time to time, which you reciprocated.

Hanni and Jungwon could only look between each other and laugh at the two of you in whispers.

vii.

You and your friends walked into the cafeteria, spotting an empty table for the three of you to sit in. But just as you guys reached it, someone else had sat down there.

You guys looked around in dismay, wondering how you'd find a table in the crowd.

“Hey Hanni! Over here!” a familiar voice called out to your friend.

It was Jungwon. He motioned with his hand towards the table he was sitting at. The three of you smiled, walking towards him.

You sat opposite Jungwon, Hanni and Danielle. “You sit alone for lunch?” you asked the class president.

“No, I usually sit with—“

“What's she doing here?”, a deep voice echoes through your conversation.

“—Riki.”

Great. Of course he did. You should’ve known they were close friends.

“Riki, meet my friends; Hanni, Danielle and Y/N.” Your friends waved at him, making eye contact with you and smirking.

“Yeah, I know Y/N.” he set his food down on the table, clearly not wanting to sit with you again.

“Bravo! Do you want me to give you an award for it?” You smirked at him, knowing just how to push his buttons.

“You’re insufferable.”

“Likewise, asshole.”

Over the next two weeks, your small friend circle expanded. You became well acquainted with Jungwon and Sunoo. (And Riki but it's mostly just snide remarks and teasing from your side.)

Danielle often tried to subtly remind you about the tryouts, but you pretended to not understand what she was hinting.

As much as you wanted to try out, the fear of not being liked by the team, or failing to do well since you were so out of practice, scared you. Your past trauma just wouldn't let you go for it.

A few days later, you were at Danielle's house for a sleepover. Hanni had come too. The two of you were picking your snacks while Hanni picked out a movie on the couch.

After grabbing a bunch of snacks that was commonly liked, the two of you made your way back to the couch, to see that Hanni had picked out a movie.

Hustle.

You froze.

“We’re watching… Hustle?” You asked as you sat down between your two friends

Hanni smiled, “Yeah, it's a good movie isn't it?”

Hustle used to be your favourite movie. Obviously it involved basketball in it. You used to watch it whenever you were feeling a bit down. Had they picked this movie on purpose?

Yes, they had.

Your friends were a bit concerned about you. They noticed how you alway backed away from talking about the sport. It was always a sensitive topic to bring up, as they noticed.

Danielle had talked to Hanni, telling her how you had said you didn't want to try out for the team, but she noticed how you'd often glance at the people training by the court, as if you wished to be part of it too.

They decided they'd somehow try to get you to tell them why you didn't want to try out, but not by forcing you to tell them. They didn't want to make you uncomfortable either.

“Y-yeah it is a good movie. It used to be my favourite movie, actually.” you said.

The two girls looked at each other. “Oh really?”

You nodded. “Yeah… but not anymore.”

“Why not?” Hanni moves closer to you and holds your arm as a way of showing you that you could trust them and open up to them.

You still hesitate.

“I just.. I don't know.”

Your friends looked at each other and smiled in understanding. You weren't ready to tell them yet, and they were okay with that.

You couldn't have been more glad to have found such amazing friends who were patient with you.

You didn't feel the need to have to keep it from them anymore.

“I stopped basketball because I got bullied in my old team.” You spoke suddenly, startling both of your friends. But when they caught hold of what you had said, they turned to you.

“Bullied? What?” Hanni couldn’t believe it.

“In my old school, I used to be the team captain. But no one treated me that way. They'd take me for granted and do whatever they liked. They used to make rude comments when I tried so hard to play well on the court.”

You felt the tears brimming your eyes.

“Even my coach was hard on me. I tried so hard to be what she wanted me to be. She was never happy. I don't remember even one time where she smiled at me and told me I did well.”

Cue the waterworks.

You couldn't stop your tears now. Your friends took pity on you, hugging you from both sides.

“I used to practise from early in the morning until late in the night, but she was never satisfied. My teammates would often not pass the ball to me during our games, even when I was nearby. We’d often lose because of that. I tried to talk to them about it too, but they'd just laugh at me and walk away, calling me a pathetic team captain. I stopped playing ever since.”

You wiped your tears away, sniffing.

Hanni and Danielle couldn't believe it. You had been so silent about it for so long. They wanted you to play again, especially after hearing what you had said.

“Oh honey, you weren’t a pathetic captain okay? The pathetic ones were your teammates. They were probably way too intimidated by how good you are.”

Hanni nodded, agreeing with Danielle. “Yeah. You love basketball. I know it's hard, it's been hard. But you've got us now. And we love you. And we’ll always cheer you on.”

You had probably saved a nation in your past life to get so much love and such amazing friends like them now.

It truly does get better.

You had decided you would go for the tryouts.

After you had opened up to your friends, the three of you had talked for hours about how you should go back to playing basketball, since you still loved it so much. Your friends convinced you to go for the tryouts.

Now you just need to practise a few times. You still had the game in you, all you had to do was give it a kickstart.

Your mum was overjoyed when you told her you wanted to start playing again. she made a mental note to herself to pay a visit to your friends, to let them know how grateful she was.

Your dad had hugged you tight, telling you how proud he was of you to have overcome your past and start again.

You slept like a baby that night, finally feeling some sense of wholeness.

Basketball was your only love, something that kept you going. When you had stopped, it was like a part of you had been ripped away. You felt empty, the void in you pure black.

You didnt know what to do, when your past teammates would pick on you so much. You thought it was your fault, that you had done something wrong. But you learnt that you werent at fault, later on. And by then, it was too late.

But it was going to be okay now. You were going to be okay.

Smiling to yourself, you went to sleep.

viii.

The next day, you woke up happier than you had ever been for a while.

You ate breakfast and gave each of your parents a kiss on the cheek before running out the door, excited to meet your friends at school.

What you weren't excited for was to see Nishimura Riki’s face staring at you at the bus stop.

At first, you pretended not to notice him, but it was hard to, with him towering over you in the crowded bus.

The smell of his perfume was dizzying. The scent of vanilla with a hint of coffee cream. It wasnt too much, it was just right.

“Quit sniffing me, weirdo.”

Oh shit.

You looked up at the boys’ face, underestimating how close your faces were. Your breath hitched in your throat.

“I wasn't sniffing you. The bus moved forward so I accidentally moved closer to you and you know I had to breathe so I ended up accidentally-“

“Okay okay, jeez. I didn't ask for a whole explanation.”

“But you— nevermind.” You frowned, feeling a bit embarrassed that he had caught you.

Just as the bus was taking a turn, it suddenly increased its speed, jerking you forward, and you stumbled onto the chest of the boy in front of you, holding onto his shoulders for support.

Fuck, you were practically hugging him at this point. Why did it have to be this crowded?

You felt his hand grab you by the waist, holding you steady so you didn't fall.

Looking up, you saw that Riki was already looking down at you, his eyes displaying a worried expression. That quickly disappeared once you cleared your throat. He let go of you as quickly as he had held you.

The mole on his chin was so pretty.

“Ahem, sorry.”

You hated how awkward it was. There was so much tension in the air, and you were so close to screaming because of it.

Just as you thought you couldn't handle one more second in the crowded bus, you arrived at your school.

Getting down, you almost sprinted away as quickly as you could, wanting to get away from him.

Riki, on the other hand, was finally able to breathe after stepping out of the bus.

It was almost suffocating, having you so close to him. But not in a bad way. Riki found himself not hating being in such close proximity with you.

And that thought confused him.

You were undeniably beautiful. Having your face so close to him could only make his heart beat at many miles per hour.

He hoped you didn't notice how his eyes flickered to your lips for a second.

Shaking his thoughts away, he ran to his locker.

You were there too. Of course you were.

Walking up to your side, he took his things from his locker, noticing how you suddenly fiddled with your things when you noticed his presence.

Riki almost wanted to chuckle at you.

Cute, he thought to himself.

‘Wait what? No you're not supposed to think shes cute, Riki’ he made a face to himself.

“What, is it that bad having to stand near me, Nishimura?” your voice echoed through his thoughts.

You were leaning against the locker in an incredibly attractive manner.

He gulped, “ N-no I-“

Chuckling at his flustered state, you walked away, which made him realise you weren't waiting for an answer. You just wanted to make fun of him.

Riki frowned. God you were so annoying.

Yet he couldn't find a way to stop thinking about you.

“Oh my god? He held you by the waist?!”

Hanni and Danielle were squealing over the piece of information you had just told them. You rolled your eyes, “Come on, it was just to hold me steady so I wouldn't fall.”

“Puh-lease, Y/N. If he hates you as much as you tell us he does, he wouldn't have caught you.”

Hanni had a point. It gave you something to think about the whole day. Thoughts of the tall boy filled your mind, distracting you.

You were sure that if it wasn't for his negative attitude towards things, you would've had a crush on him by now. But then again, bad attitude or not, he was just your type. Goddamn him and his nice hair and nice eyes.

You knew he was being harsh on himself. It was like seeing yourself through a different pair of eyes, a different perspective.

You wanted to help him, now that you had recovered from your past. But would he let you help him?

ix.

Riki was having a bad day.

No scratch that. He was having a mother of bad days.

It was one of those days where he woke up grumpy, so his entire day went bad. Or at least that's what his mindset was.

He was running late. He missed the bus by a minute, tripped over his shoelaces, almost forgot to get out at the right stop, and had to wait for the staff to finish cleaning the court.

And he wasn't playing well either.

Running a hand through his hair, he took in a deep breath, and tried to score a 3 pointer.

He couldn't.

Riki felt the tears brimming at his eyes threatening to fall. He tried to blink them back, but failed to do so.

He let out one, two, three tears, before he finally gave up, letting the tears flow freely onto his cheeks.

He hadn't cried like this in a while. While it felt good to let go for once, he was terrified.

The match against the other school was only days away. What would he do? If he was going to play like this, how would he make Mingyu happy? How would his teammates look at him?

Overwhelmed with negative thoughts, he felt his tears continuously falling.

“Riki? Is that you?” your voice echoed through the court.

Oh god no. He couldn't let anyone see him in this state.

“N-no. You've got the wrong person.” Of course his voice had to come out weakly.

You couldn't help but worry seeing the boy crouched down, covering his face. You could hear his broken sobs through the room.

You approached him slowly, not wanting to scare him. He was in a vulnerable situation and you didn't want to do anything to make it worse.

You sat down beside him quietly, not sure if you could comfort him.

After hesitating, you raised your hand and rubbed it down his back, trying to calm him down. Once you saw that he isn't telling you to back off, you faced him properly.

“Do you want me to get you some water?” You whispered. Riki nodded, still not looking up.

You came back with a bottle of chilled water. Giving it to him, you watched as he gulped down some of the water, his breaths becoming more steady.

After a few moments of silence, he caught his breath and wiped his tears away.

“Do you… want to tell me what happened?” You asked him slowly. You didnt want to force him to tell you why he was crying.

“It's okay if you don't want to tell me. I know we aren't on the best terms right now. I can just leave—“

“I'm having a bad day.” Riki interrupts you. You go silent, wanting to listen to what he had to say.

He took in a shallow breath before continuing. “Our game against Riverwoods is in a few days and I dont think I'm doing well enough.”

“Why do you think like that? You've been practising a lot haven't you?” you made eye contact with him, to let him know he could trust you.

Riki nodded slowly.

“Then you'll be fine. Don't stress yourself too much. You’re doing good.” You reassured him. He didn't look completely convinced.

Just like you used to be.

“Hey, look at me. You’re good. You’re doing good. Can you repeat after me? Tell yourself you’re doing well.” You told him. He glanced at you and took a deep breath.

“I'm doing good.”

You smiled on hearing him. “See? That's good. Do you feel better now?”

Riki nodded silently.

You didn't want to make him feel any more uncomfortable than he might have been feeling, so you got up.

“Okay then. Youre fine right? Do you want me to call someone?” He shook his head. “No thank you. I'm good.” He smiled a little and you felt your heart leap.

“I'll leave you to it then. Uh.. I hope you feel better soon.” You walked away from him, waving. He didn't wave back.

Just before you left the court, you heard a deep voice call out your name, making you stop in your tracks and turn to look back.

“I uh.. Thank you. You know… for this.” Riki rubbed the back of his neck.

You couldn't help but smile. “Anytime. I know we didn't have the best first impressions, but I'm not completely evil you know.” saying so, you walked out, grinning.

Riki couldn't wrap his head around you. Why were you helping him? He had been nothing but mean and arrogant to you.

Your voice was gentle. It was… comforting. He found himself leaning into your touch when you tried to calm him down.

Why was he feeling like this?

It was silent in the court.

Other than the sound of your shoes squeaking against the hardboard and the bouncing of the basketball from your hands, of course.

You were training for the tryouts.

Your friends had been there to watch you for a while before they had to leave.

(“So this is the talent you had been hiding from everyone? You're so good!”)

(“You should go pro, Y/N.”)

They had bought you a few bottles of water and juices even though you refused. They wanted you to stay hydrated and take care of yourself even if they weren't there to tend to your needs.

You were pretty confident that you would do well. You were just a bit out of shape, but you were able to fix that easily.

Not one shot out of place.

Satisfied, you decided that you were done for the day. You had done a good few hours of practice and you were content with yourself. Packing up your things, you left the court, walking to the bus stop.

A tiny sound caught your attention. Turning your head to the direction of the source, you saw that the adorable noise was from a small kitten walking by the side of the road.

Cooing, you gently approached it. It took a liking to you, letting you rub its fur lovingly as it purred. You smiled, unable to hold your excitement.

Unknown to you, Riki happened to be passing by the same place. He froze on seeing your figure. He didn't know how to face you after you had seen him breakdown.

He watched as you played with the kitten for a while, unconsciously smiling to himself. You looked so happy. Something so small made you so happy.

Why couldn't he be happy?

Turning away, he quickly boarded the bus that had arrived at the bus stop.

You turned back to see that the bus was already moving. You sighed, deciding to wait for the next one.

Riki watched through the moving window as you sat down on the bench of the bus stop before you disappeared from his view completely.

xi.

“I see you've changed your mind?”

Mingyu smiles as he watches you walk in on the day of the tryouts.

You smiled back, “A few friends helped me see what I was missing out on.” The coach nodded, happy to see you there.

He told you to go sit by the benches and wait until it was time to start. You saw as your friends arrived, keeping their promise to cheer you on. You giggled to yourself on seeing Sunoo and Danielle hold up a banner that said ‘Y/N FTW GO GET EM TIGER!’

Soon, it was time for the tryouts to begin.

You were part of the first group. Taking a deep breath, you got up, walking towards the floor of the court.

There were about 5 of you in each team. You were free to play whatever position you wanted to.

Just before the game began, you saw Nishimura Riki walk up to Mingyu with a clipboard in his hands.

Great, he was going to be assisting Coach.

You took your place, watching as Riki stood in the middle of the court, ball in his hand.

On the whistle, he threw the ball up, and you jumped up to catch it as fast as you could. Once you had the ball in your possession, you observed the position of your teammates and the other team.

Deciding not to hold the ball for long, you passed it to the teammate who was on your right, Minji.

Minji was a good player.

She dribbled the ball skillfully, running towards the hoop. Once she noticed your teammate standing near the hoop, she threw the ball to them, but they failed to catch it. The ball was now in the opposite team’s possession.

Wanting to get the ball back to your team as soon as you could, you ran to the other team's hoop, knowing their first priority would be to score a quick point.

Noticing a weak moment between the opposing teams members, you used the time to grab the ball back to yourself, and passed it to Yunjin who was on your team.

Yunjin passed it back to you when you had reached an optimal spot.

This was your chance.

Spinning around on your feet, you shot the ball from around the 2 point line, watching as the ball went into the hoop effortlessly.

The room erupted in scattered cheers. You heard Hanni whooping in the air, and smiled.

Glancing at Mingyu, you watched as he nodded. Riki was writing something down onto the clipboard, but looked back up and gave you a thumbs up.

The game continued for another five minutes, with Hana from the opposite team scoring a point.

You ran towards your friends as they surrounded you, telling you how well you had done.

You couldn't stop smiling.

It felt so good to be back in the game. The adrenaline, the excitement of the game, it was all coming back to you.

From the corner of your eye, you saw Riki looking at you.

You walked up to him, a triumphant look on your face as if you had proved him wrong.

“Remember when we first met, you said I didn't know what I was talking about when I gave you advice? Yeah, I think I definitely know what I was talking about.”

Riki was stunned. How could someone look so attractive while making fun of him?

Coming back to his senses, he rolled his eyes. “Sure, whatever.”

You giggled at his words. Nothing could make you unhappy today.

“Oh and by the way, Coach wanted to speak with you before he announced the results.” Riki told you, watching as you nodded, walking towards Mingyu.

What could Mingyu have wanted to speak to you about?

You walked up to the taller man, greeting him politely.

“Ah, Y/N! I wanted to ask you something.”

“Yes Coach? Is something wrong?”, You asked.

Mingyu rubbed his chin, “No, no. Nothing’s wrong. I just wanted to ask you how you’d feel about being the captain of the girls’ team this year.”

Did you hear him right?

“W-what?”

He smiled. “You’re selected, quite obviously, and I think you'd make a great Captain. What do you say?”

What do you say?

You say yes.

xii.

To you, being the captain of a team meant being responsible enough to be in charge of the members of the team.

When you were in Decelis, you didn't think you were responsible enough. Why else did your ex teammates hate you?

You knew now that they hated you for a different reason, but being asked to be the team captain again, brought back many memories.

What if you were a lousy captain this time? What if nobody took you seriously?

You voiced out these concerns to your parents, and they helped you forget your worries with words of affirmation and good food.

You had been chosen to be a part of the team as the captain. You were on shooting guard. You were introduced to your new teammates on the same day.

Minji and Yunjin were the point guard and small forward. Your other teammates were Tzuyu (center) and Haseul (power forward). Yeojin and Yeji were the subs.

You quickly became closely acquainted with Minji and Yunjin since they were with you during most of the tryouts.

Your teammates were lovely. You found yourself enjoying your time with them. None of them seemed to be having any problems with you being the Captain. In fact, they were happy you were the one to lead them.

Your parents were right, you just needed a change of environment.

Over the next few days, you and Riki saw each other more often.

The boys team had been spending a lot of time preparing for their match. It was an important match, which you understood after seeing Riki the other day.

You would often walk in on them playing in the court. Although the two of you weren’t on bad terms, Riki couldn’t find the courage to talk to you; not after you had seen him cry.

Only Jungwon and Sunoo had ever seen him cry before, you being the only other person. He felt comfortable around you.

He didnt know why he did. Maybe it was your voice, the way you spoke so softly to him, the way you didnt make fun of him for crying, the way you were there to help him, even after the two of you bickered often.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Jungwon’s voice broke him out of his train of thoughts. He smiled at his friend.

“Nothing. I was just thinking about the girls team.” Jungwon raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you thinking about the girls team or the girl’s team captain?” He smirked, watching his best friend's ears turn red.

“Stop it, Won.”

The older boy crossed his arms. “Why do you think about her so often?”

Riki didn’t know how to answer. “I- I don't know. Just probably because I see her sometimes.”

“You see her almost all the time, Riki.”

“Right.”

xiii.

“What's this for?”

Riki had just placed a juice box beside you, and sat next to you on the bench. Looking anywhere else but at you, he said, “Just a.. thank you gift. Y’know, for helping me out the other day.”

You smiled, feeling warm all over. “Wow, this might just be the nicest thing you've ever said to me, Nishimura.” He cleared his throat, nodding awkwardly.

“How’s practice going on? The match is in a few days right?” you were trying to make conversation.

Riki looked at you, surprised that you were continuing the conversation. He ran a hand through his hair.

“Yeah.. yeah it's going pretty good.”

“And you? How are… you doing?” you didn't want to make him uncomfortable with your question. Riki noticed your hesitant tone, immediately wanting to make you not feel awkward about asking him. He shifted closer to you.

Your shoulders were almost touching now.

“I'm good! Good…I’ve been taking more care of myself recently, and not stressing too much. Sorry you had to see me in that state the other day. It was embarrassing.”

You shook your head. “That wasn’t embarrassing, Riki. You were being too hard on yourself, and you were having a bad day. It's normal for men to cry too, y'know.” You said, smiling, nudging your shoulder with his. Riki chuckled, and your heart leapt on seeing his smile.

“I'm just glad you didn't push me away. I was fully convinced you hated me.”, you continued.

“Hate is a strong word, you know. I think I was just intimidated by you.” You raised your eyebrows at him.

“Intimidated? By me? What for?”

‘Because you were so pretty’, he wanted to say.

“I dont know you just seemed so… intimidate-y.” You threw your head back in laughter and Riki felt like his whole body was about to combust.

After a few moments of silence, you spoke up again.

“You used to remind me of myself.” Riki looked at you.

“Oh? How come?” You twisted in your seat to sit facing him.

“Funny thing, really. When I saw you, it was like I was looking at my past self through a different pair of eyes.” Riki couldn't comprehend what you meant, so he stayed silent hoping you'd tell him without him having to ask.

“I used to be the captain of my team at my previous school too.”

Riki gasped.

“No wonder you’re so good.”

“Gee thanks. I'm flattered, Riki.” you say playfully.

“Anyways, I stopped playing after a while though.” Riki furrowed his eyebrows. “What? Why?”

“Because I was never good enough; for my coach or my teammates .”

What? Riki didn’t know how you thought that you weren’t good enough. Before he could open his mouth to tell you that he thought you were amazing, you continued.

“I uh… used to get bullied by my team and my coach.”

Riki didn't know what to say.

Now he understood why you got so sensitive at his comments.

“My previous coach was never happy with me. So I used to train extra hard. Too much even.”

“I'm sorry, I didn't know.” was all Riki could say.

You flashed him a genuine smile. “That's alright. There's no need to be sorry. Happens to the best of us.”

“I used to overwork myself too much, because I thought I wasn't up to everyone’s expectations. But I think… I think I ended up losing myself in trying to find validation from others. I lost all my passion towards my favourite game.”

Riki felt anger bubbling up inside him at the thought of your ex-coach overworking you and making you think you weren't good enough.

“I was just like you— I’d wake up at the crack of dawn to go and practice, stay late after school to practise again. It was unhealthy. I wasn't taking care of myself at all.”

You sighed, thinking about your past self. “I was always unhappy. My parents were constantly worried about me.”

“So I stopped for a while. I don't know if you could tell, but every time I saw you play, I was itching to grab the ball from you and challenge you to a one on one.” You said, earning a chuckle from the boy beside you.

He smirked, “I mean, you could still do that y’know.”

“Maybe after your game, when you're free.” You smiled at him.

“Sure, but I think we both know I'm going to win.” He challenged.

“Oh you're on, Nishimura.”

After laughing, Riki clears his throat and faces you.

“I'm sorry for all the comments I made to you. I didn't know about all this.”

You smiled at him. “That's okay. It's not like I was all nice to you either. Seeing you reminded me of myself and it wasn't that great, so I resorted to being mean to you as well. We’re both in the wrong.”

“But when I saw you break down the other day… I couldn't just leave you alone. I had no one to help me at that time, but I didn't want the same for you.”

Riki winced. “I know. But honestly, I have a great team, I have a great coach, and nothings wrong. It's just… me.”

It was your turn to listen now.

“As a child, my parents always told me to beware of the world. They told me how harsh it was. Probably too much for a kid to understand. So I closed off to anyone who tried to get close to me.”

You nodded, showing that you were listening.

“They scared me, my parents. I know they meant well, but it was too much when I was just a child. I used to think that people always wanted to take advantage of me.”

Riki chuckled dryly. “I remember giving Coach Mingyu such a hard time. Took me quite a while to open up to him. But he never said anything bad to me, which again, I thought of it as pity. So I started overworking myself, to prove to … I don't know… that I don't need anyone's pity.”

You gave him a bittersweet smile. The two of you were so similar in completely different ways and situations.

You placed your hand above his, and Riki took in a sharp breath.

“You don't need anyone's pity, Riki. You're amazing on the court. The youngest of the team being the Captain is so cool. You really need to believe in yourself more. And if you don't, I'll be here to remind you.”

Riki intertwined his fingers with yours in a silent thanks.

“You too. You seem so happy on the court. As if you're in your element, y’know?”

You smiled widely. “I'm glad.”

“Why don't we just… let this let whatever this pointless rivalry is go?”

“That…that sounds nice, I guess. I could live with not going at each other's throats everyday.” You smiled at him.

“So, friends?”

You suck in a deep breath.

“Friends.”

You didn't know how much time had passed with just you and Riki looking at each other, conveying through your eyes what words couldn't.

Just as you were going to open your mouth to ask him something, the doors of the court opened suddenly, revealing your entire friend group.

You quickly let go of Riki’s hand, jumping apart to create some more space between the two of you.

Your friends raised an eyebrow.

“Riki..? Y/N..?” Sunoo looked between the two of you as Jungwon and Hanni giggled.

“Were we interrupting something? Should we leave?” Danielle teased.

Eyes widening, you got up hurriedly, packing all your things and running towards your friends, not glancing back at Riki even once.

“No, not at all! Um.. I was just packing up guys. Let's go.”

You grabbed your two friends, dragging them away with you, rolling your eyes at their teasing.

“Ooh~ Were you guys getting all smoochy in there?”

“Shut up, oh god. I'll tell Jungwon you like him if you don't stop.”

“Oh Christ no.”

xiv.

“You like him don't you? You're thinking about him right now, don't even lie.”

You groaned. Your friends knew you too well.

“What gave it away this time?”

Hanni sighed. “You were staring off into space, and you had this lovesick grin on your face. Yuck!”

You glowered at your best friend. “As if! Not like you're any better when I call you out for daydreaming about Jungwon.”

Hanni’s cheeks turned a crimson hue as she told you to stop.

“So are you guys… dating now?” Dani asked you and you almost choked on your rice.

“Please, we’re just friends..”

She could only smirk and shrug.

“Sure. Don't blame me when I'll be saying ‘I told you so!’ at your wedding.”

“Whose wedding are we talking about?”

Sunoos' voice interrupted your conversation and the three of you widened your eyes.

Turning behind, you saw Riki, Sunoo and Jungwon standing together, mildly amused at your reactions.

“NO ONE’S!” You panicked, spluttering out any response you could think of, watching your friends giggle at you.

“Well, mind if we sit here then?” Jungwon asked sweetly.

“Yeah my hands are in pain from holding the tray for too long so move over.” Riki shooed you over to the side, making some space next to you.

You stared at him with your mouth open. “You have plenty of space on the other side. Why are you sitting here?”

“Are you like, blind? Can you not see that Jungwon wants to sit with Hanni?” He deadpanned and you smirked at your two friends who were now blushing.

“So, are you guys like dating now? You like each other right?” Sunoo asked, only making your best friend and her crush turn even more of a crimson hue.

You and your friends made fun of them, before Sunoo turned to you and Riki.

“Oh no, you guys don't get to laugh either. Last time I checked, you guys were eating each other's heads. How come you’re sending her heart eyes everytime you see her now, Riki?” your friend raised an eyebrow at his best friend.

It was your turn to flush red.

“Stop it, Sunoo. I swear if you don't, I'll tell your mum how you snuck out to go to Sunghoon’s party last week.”

He gasped.

“Oh you wouldn't.”

“Try me.”

You and Riki had gotten closer over the next few weeks.

His game against Riverwoods High had gone amazingly well. They had won the match by a stunning 17 points and Riki was declared the best player of the match.

You were proud of him, and you had let him know that you were. You knew how stressed he was since it was an important match.

You and your friends had gone to watch him play. (“A good girlfriend always supports her boyfriend during his matches, Y/N!”)

As if teasing you for going to his game wasn't enough, your friends went crazy when they saw the two of you hugging after the game, when you had gone to congratulate him.

You smiled to yourself as you remembered the way he hugged you tightly. His arms felt safe.

Sweaty, but safe.

“You look so stupid right now.”

Riki’s voice broke you out of your line of thoughts. You watched as he sat next to you on the bus, despite there being plenty of other seats for him to be seated on.

When you didn't respond immediately, he smirked. “Were you daydreaming? What the hell, Y/N that's so dumb.”

Scoffing, you hit his shoulder and watch him wince in slight pain. “Shut your mouth, pretty boy.”

“You think I’m pretty?” Although you weren't looking at his face, you knew he was smirking ever so slightly at your words.

“Don't get ahead of yourself, yeah? We wouldn't want that big head of yours to explode now.” You lightly patted his cheeks as you got up to get down, Riki following behind you.

“Well for the record, I think you're very pretty too.”

God, he wasn't going to make this whole friendship thing a lot easy, was he?

Unbeknownst to you, it was only going to get a whole lot worse from there.

While the two of you maintained a good friendship, you equally had your playful moments too. You would often play harmless pranks on him (and his team members), resulting in a prank war that would sometimes put you in detention, giggling as you both tried to keep a straight face when the teacher lectured you against your ‘unruly behaviours’.

“Sometimes I wish the two of them would just go back to being enemies.” Danielle complained one day, after seeing how sickeningly cute you and Riki looked, reading a book together in the library.

“Not me. I'm just glad I don't have to listen to Riki admire her from afar and keep denying it.” Jungwon sighed as he thought about the two of you.

xv.

Basketball was going well for you.

Word had soon spread in the school about how good you were, and soon enough, you had guys chasing after you and their girlfriends hating on you.

Although you couldn't be bothered, sometimes you wished they would leave you alone.

“Okay team! I’ve got exciting news for you today.” Mingyu’s voice echoed through the court as you and your teammates stood in a line in front of the older man.

“We’ve gotten our first match of the season.”

As soon as the words had left his lips, multiple reactions were given.

Yeji and Tzuyu gasped, along with some excited whispers from Yeojin. Minji and Yunjin stayed silent along with you, but smiled, happy to finally be able to play a match.

Your first match of the season.

Naturally, you were nervous. Being the Team Captain, your responsibilities would increase only more from then on. You wanted to do well.

You wanted your team to do well.

“First game of the season? That's amazing! I'm so excited for you, oh my gosh!” Your friends squealed in excitement.

“We’ll be there to cheer you on the whole time, okay?” Hanni hugged you.

Although it wasn't a very important game, it was your first game.

Your first game after you had stopped.

Your first game with a new team, a new coach and new friends.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Riki walked over to where you were seated. You grinned at the boy. Somehow his presence always made you feel a lot more at ease.

“I was just…thinking about our upcoming match.”

Riki’s eyes lit up at the mention of your match. “Oh yeah! I was gonna ask you about it. How do you feel?”

You took a deep breath. “Honestly, I don’t know. It's pretty weird. I'm excited, but at the same time, I'm also extremely worried.”

The boy beside you nodded, urging you to continue.

“It's my second first game. You know what I mean right- And I'm the captain. I…sometimes I doubt myself. I wonder if Coach made the right decision in making captain. I keep wondering how long it'll take for my teammates, and my friends, and…you, to be disappointed in me.”

Riki frowned at your words. “You're not disappointing anyone here, Y/N. You're doing such a great job.”

You let out a long sigh at his words, not sure whether you could trust yourself to believe him.

You felt a hand on top of yours and your eyes widened, looking at the boy who was smiling at you.

Badump. Badump.

Why was your breath hitching in your throat? Why did he make you feel like you were burning all over but safe, just by taking your hand in his?

“I’m proud of you, I really am. I know you’re still recovering from what those assholes have done, but trust me when I say that you're doing so well.”

You felt your eyes brimming up with tears, and tried to blink them back.

“And I promise to come watch your game, okay? I’ll be there to cheer you on, along with our friends.”

Our friends.

You smiled at him, intertwining your fingers with his.

Riki felt his heartbeat increase at your action. He noticed the tears threatening to fall down your face and brought up his other hand to wipe it away, moving closer to you to do so. Placing a stray hair behind your eyes, Nishimura Riki looked into your eyes.

Your eyes which were filled with fear, worry, hope…and another emotion which he quite couldn't name.

Riki watched as you took your hand out of his, and wrapped your arms around his neck. The smell of your perfume took over his senses, almost putting him in a daze. Coming back to his senses, he hugged you back, wrapping his arms around your waist.

You let out a deep breath when you felt him hugging you back, smiling when you felt him nudge his nose into your shoulder.

‘I've got you…I’ve got you.’

He hoped you had fallen for him just as bad as he had.

xvi.

“We need to do something about Y/N and Riki ASAP.”

Hanni, Jungwon, Sunoo and Danielle were sick of seeing the two of you being oblivious to each other.

Jungwon had known all along that you would become someone important to Riki.

The moment Riki had asked him about you, he was curious as to why his best friend had suddenly taken an interest in a new girl.

“You’re right. I can’t stand watching them like this.” Dani nodded along with the rest of them.

Sunoo suddenly gasped. “What if we set them up together? Me and Jungwon can tell Riki that Y/N has something to tell him at the rooftop and you guys tell Y/N that he has something to tell her. Make it seem like they're going to confess to each other, you get what I'm saying right?”

Hanni grinned, “That sounds like a good plan. I'll text Y/N right now. She's probably gotten out of class just now.”

Taking her phone out of her pocket, Hanni sent you a message.

hanney: Y/N!!

hanney: Y/NNNNNNNNNNNN

hanney: GIRL

hanney: CAN YOU ONLINE

yn: YES OMG WHAT IS IT

hanney: omg u will not believe what i heard

yn: ????

hanney: i overheard riki telling jungwon he wants to confess to you today

Your heart began to pace.

yn: what

yn: dont play w me rn

hanney: i swear i'm not!!! Jungwon even told me later on to tell u to meet him at the rooftop in 15 mins.

yn: fine i'll go. but istg if this is some sort of joke I WILL KILL U.

hanney: u got this baby (pls trust me i'm not joking)

yn: im omw to the rooftop rn

hanney: yayayayayayaya i'm excited 4 u

yn: ok im here

yn: why is he with another girl um

hanney: WHAT

Hanni looked up from her phone, panicking. “Jungwon you told Riki to meet Y/N at the rooftop right?”

Jungwon furrowed his brows, checking his texts. “Yeah. He’s already there.”

“Why is he with another girl who isnt Y/N then?” Jungwon’s eyes widened.

“Oh shit.”

You watched as Riki kindly smiled at the girl who was trying to conversate with him. You noticed he was trying to look around like he was trying to look for someone, but since you were hiding behind one of the panels, he couldn't see you.

You were used to seeing Riki being approached by girls before, but why did it bother you only now?

Maybe it was because you saw him smile at her, the same way he smiled at you.

Maybe it was because you thought he was only like that with you and no one else.

You took a deep breath. What were you even thinking? He probably didn't like you back anyway. Hanni must've misheard. Why would he choose you over so many girls who wanted him?

You quietly went back down, trying not to be disappointed. You were glad school was over, you weren't in the mood to talk to anyone

The bus ride home was sour. As if the sky knew what had happened, drops of rain started falling down, as if matching your mood. The pitter patter of the raindrops was oddly comforting.

Your mum had noticed how you were feeling. It didn't take her much to understand that something was bothering you.

“Boy problems?”

Her voice startled you. You were sitting against the windowsill, watching the water create puddles on the street.

You sat up straight.

“Um… yeah, I guess. How’d you know?”

She chuckled at you, taking a seat on your bed. “I've been your age too, honey. Doesnt take a genius for someone to know their daughters having boy problems. So… who's the lad who has the honour of being liked by you?”

You giggled at your moms words, and began fiddling with your fingers at the thought of Riki. “He’s uh… His name is Riki. He’s a basketball player, just like me.” You watched your mum’s eyes light up as you told her every small detail you could remember about the boy.

You told her how you thought he liked you back and had promised to come watch your game.

And about what had happened earlier today.

“I think he likes you a lot, Y/N.”

You looked at your mom, not sure what to say. A part of you wanted to believe her, but what if he was just playing with your feelings?

“Honey, you helped him when he was having a rough time, and he made sure to be there for you when you weren't feeling alright. If he really didn't like you, he wouldn't have bothered to even look back when he saw you doubting yourself.”

“And what you saw today was probably just a misunderstanding. You do realise that him just talking to other girls doesn't necessarily mean he's interested in them right?” You nodded, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“It's nothing to be embarrassed about, okay? I'm always here if you want to talk about your boyfriend” She teased you and you whined telling her to stop.

The following few days went by in a haze.

You had so much going on. Your match was in a week, you were confused about Riki (did he actually like you back or was everyone just feeding into your delusions?).

Placing your thoughts about Riki locked away in your brain, you decided to focus on what was important.

Your match.

You had been going back to your old ways, waking up early to practice for unhealthy hours. You knew it was bad, but you needed to be perfect.

Your friends were worried about you. You had not been responding to their messages or calls, and you weren't being yourself.

Overwhelmed by your thoughts and worries about it, you fell asleep, not realising Riki had sent you a bunch of texts asking what had happened to you and whether you were alright.

xvii.

The next morning, you left for the community centre. You were going to practice for a while before you volunteered with the kids.

You were in good shape, but you needed to be the best.

You shot a 3 pointer, it barely made it into the hoop. Fuck.

What if this happened during the game? What if it didn't go in and your team lost, all because of you?

What if you embarrassed yourself in front of everyone and your teammates hated you?

You crumbled to the ground, succumbing to your anxiety.

“So… is this why you've been ignoring my texts?” Riki’s voice filled your ears.

Though it would've been a comfort to you on other days, today was not any other day. Hearing his voice didn't make you feel warm all over like it usually did. Instead, you didn't want to hear it at all.

You chose to ignore what he said, head still in your hands. You stiffened, feeling a figure crouching in front of you. You were afraid to open your eyes and look at him

“Leave me alone, Riki.” You hated how weak your voice sounded.

Riki looked at you, worried. He knew you were anxious about the upcoming match, but he didnt know it was this bad.

He reached out for your arm, gently, only to have it smacked away by you.

“Hey..is everything okay? I'm here for you.”

You wanted to believe him, you really did.

But he was probably just lying to you, just lying to make you feel better. You felt your worry being replaced by anger.

“You’re lying.”

Riki looked shocked. Your tone had changed.

“Wh-what?”

You slowly got up. “You're lying to me. You couldn't care less about me. You're just saying it to make me feel better.”

Riki didn't know what to say. He tried reaching out for your hand for you to once again move away from him.

“Y/N, I do care about you, so much that-”

“Save it, Nishimura.”

Riki felt hurt. He was worried about you. When Jungwon had told him to go up to the rooftop because you wanted to tell him something, he couldn't help but feel giddy.

He had thought maybe you were going to say that you felt the same way about him as he felt about you.

But you never showed up.

“Y/N, I know you're worried about the match but don't push yourself away from me– us, please. We’re all here for you. Danielle told me you weren't responding to anyones texts.”

You felt guilty. But you didn't want him to know that.

“It's none of your business, really. Now just leave me alone.”

Riki wanted to be patient with you, he really did. But he couldn't help but start to get annoyed with you. He wasn't very good with staying calm but he wanted to try for you.

“Look, I came here because you didnt show up the other day at the rooftop, essentially ditching me and I was worried about you and your mom told me you would be here.”

Oh great. Of course she did.

“I'm trying to help you, but you're not making it very easy–”

“Oh so it's my problem now?” You found yourself raising your voice at him.

Riki’s eyes widened. “NO! No, I– That came out wrong.”

“Seriously, just leave.” You glared at him.

You couldn't bring yourself to make eye contact with him. He was clearly hurt. Giving you one last look, he walked out of the court, deciding to leave you alone.

After you had calmed down, you realised what you had done.

‘He was only trying to help.’

Burying your head in your hands again, you felt overwhelmed with guilt. You didn't know why you had gotten so defensive and closed off.

You wanted to run up to him and say sorry. Would he even forgive you?

You felt terrible the whole day. A part of you wanted to check on him and ask him if he was still mad at you for lashing out on him.

You didn't mean to lash out on him. Remembering the way Riki looked hurt when you raised your voice at him, you groaned.

Just as you were about to get out of your bed to go and grab a glass of water, you heard the bell ring.

Opening it, you saw your two best friends standing outside, a bright smile on their faces and a bag of what looked like snacks.

“Hey. We wanted to check up on you since you weren’t responding to any of us.”

You waited one, two, three seconds before letting the exhaustion, frustration and guilt take over you and fall into both of their arms, crying.

Hanni and Danielle were understanding.

They understood what you were going through and let you let everything out.

“Oh honey, we’re so sorry if you felt like you couldnt tell us.” Danielle hugged you tight and you reciprocated the hug, mumbling thank yous into the air.

“Riki had texted us, telling us to check on you. We were planning on doing it anyway but he seemed really worried about you.” You straightened up the moment Hanni mentioned Riki.

“He…asked about me?”

Your friends looked bewildered. “Yeah he did. Why are you surprised?”

You hung your head, guilt creeping back in. “I sort of…lashed out on him a few days ago. He came to check on me but I was not feeling it and I took out all my anger and stress on him. I really thought he’d be mad at me forever now.”

Hanni looked at Danielle, as if putting together two pieces of a puzzle. “Oh no wonder he’s been rather…disturbed lately. We thought it was because he just missed you or something.”

Danielle sat next to you on the bed. “And… we’ve missed you too y’know. We know the game is important to you but you're important to us. And we’ve been worried about you.”

You looked at your friends and mumbled a ‘sorry’. Hanni and Dani both hugged you. “You've got us, okay? It's okay, just breathe.”

You were grateful for your friends a lot of the time, and now was another one of those times. Hugging them back tight, you took in a deep breath.

“Thank you.”

xviii.

You hadn’t seen Riki for the next two days.

You thought you had probably missed him during classes since you were so busy with preparing for your game, but Jungwon told you that he had not come to school. He hadn't even texted.

It worried you. Was he alright? Could something have happened to him?

Was he even going to come to your game? You weren't even sure he would come after you had lashed out at him.

The thought of Riki not being at your game made you feel uneasy.

The next day, you walked into the court to see all your teammates ready and waiting. You looked at them, a bit confused.

“Oh, am I late? I thought we were going to meet here at 11? Or did I miss any messages?” You kept your bag down and took out your shoes, tying the laces.

“Nope. We just wanted to be early to surprise our captain and show her we’re more than ready for today's game.” Yunjin smiled.

Haseul came up behind her and offered you a bottle of water.

“We already warmed up, Cap. Thought we’d save you the trouble.” She chirped and you smiled at them, taking a few sips of the water.

“Okay then, let’s wait for everyone to start coming in.”

After you did a slight warm up, Mingyu walked in and gave everyone a pep talk and instructed everyone about the game. You listened with attention, not wanting to miss out any points.

Around 1pm, everyone had started to fill in the seats. You saw your friends crowd around the front of the seats. They wanted the best seats to see you.

Hanni had yet another banner in her hand and you giggled when you saw it, sending a heart to your friends as Jungwon and Sunoo cheered for you.

You scanned the room, hoping to catch a glimpse of the tall, black haired boy you had been hoping so dearly to see, only in vain. You told yourself that he would probably show up once the game was about to start.

xix.

He did not show up even after the game started.

The seats were mostly filled up, but the one person you wanted so badly to be there wasnt to be seen anywhere.

A shrill whistle broke you out of your thoughts.

The game was about to start.

Glancing at your teammates, you all took your positions, nodding at each other in a silent ‘good luck’.

You looked at your opposing team. They looked pretty confident, but you were more confident that you could beat them. You believe in yourself and in your team.

Another whistle and the ball was now up in the air.

You had forty minutes to prove your worth to everyone watching.

You leaped forward and jumped to grab the ball, watching the other team captain copy your movements in an attempt to grab the ball from you.

But you were quicker in catching it mid-air.

Now your team had the upper hand.

Your teammates quickly rushed to try to surround you to make it easier for you to get to your position.

Finding an opportunity to pass it to Tzuyu, you dribbled closer to her and passed the ball to her. She made her way towards the hoop, passing it to Haseul on the way.

You took your place near the two point box and signalled that you were open and ready. Haseul tried passing the ball to Minji but the ball was taken mid throw by the other team. You frowned. They were really quick to dribble the ball around the court to their hoop.

You signalled for your teammates to surround the opposing team and try to get the ball back in your possession. Right as they tried to score a point, Minji leaped forward to grab the ball and succeeded.

Your team scored first with a clean shot by Yunjin, who scored a two pointer. The room erupted in cheers as you gave her a thumbs up and Haseul patted her on the back.

The game continued with your team leading. You had scored 18 points so far with the scoreboard reading 26-20. The opposing team was closing in on you guys. It wouldn't be far before they caught up. You needed to step up your game.

Your team walked to where Mingyu was standing. He looked pleased with the outcome so far, but he was still very strict with his rules. He needed you guys to win that trophy. Although it was just the first game of the season, he wanted both his teams to start out well.

As Mingyu instructed your teammates on what to improve and how to identify more weak spots of the other team, you looked towards where your friends were sitting, smiling at them when they sent you signs of cheer and love.

Your eyes flickered towards the entrance door as you saw it open. Your breath hitched when you saw the person you had been longing to see for so long.

He had come after all.

Not wanting to get distracted by him, you quickly look away to avoid eye contact, deciding to talk to him after you had won the game.

Soon, the game had begun again.

The second half of the game went smoother than the first half.

Until the opposing team suddenly started getting so much better. It was almost like you guys didnt have the ball in possession anymore. They were scoring points after points after points and it was stressing you out, making you miss shots.

You were down to the last 5 minutes of the game with the score being 63-65 with your team leading. The ball was in the opposing team's possession.

You had been observing their strategy. They would try to play rough and make quick movements to steal the ball from your hands. And the sequence was always the same. Most of the shots were made by their shooting guard, Seeun, who was assisted by their power forward, Asa.

Realising that they had only one strategy, you quickly motioned Minji and Yunjin to block those two players, smirking when you saw them look at each other, confidence clearly crumbling now that their strategy was uncovered.

Yunjin noticed one of their teammates trying to pass it to Asa and jumped in and caught the ball in her hands. You let out a small cheer and ran towards your position near your hoop, watching as Haseul and Yunjin took turns passing the ball to each other and finally passed it to you.

You glanced at the clock, which showed that you only had a few seconds left before the game ended.

It was now or never.

From where you stood behind the arc, you jumped up, praying to whatever god was out there and letting the ball go from your hands.

It was as if time slowed down as you watched the ball fly to the hoop. The whole court watched in silence as the ball hit the box on the board and fell into the hoop, scoring a perfect 3-pointer.

The room erupted in cheers. Your teammates screamed in joy as you stood there, not fully processing that you had just won the game.

The girls ran to you and lifted you up in the air on their shoulders and you came back to reality, laughing out loud.

You had won. You had actually done it.

As your teammates dropped you back onto the ground, you hugged them tightly. They had all played so well and you wouldn't have won if it wasn't for them.

After celebrating with your team, you ran towards your coach and smiled when he gave you the biggest smile along with a hug, congratulating you on your first win of many more to come.

You ran to where your friends were and gave all of them the biggest hug you could. If it wasn't for their support, you wouldn't have even been able to reach this. You saw Hanni and Danielle tearing up a bit and you felt yourself tearing up too.

“I love you guys so much.”

“We love you too honey, but I think you've got someone else to say that to.” Your friends pointed towards someone behind you and you didn't need them to tell you who it was as you saw Riki walking towards where you were standing with your friends.

“Okay, we’ll leave you two alone then.”

Riki smiled at you, clearly thrilled at the outcome of your first match. You could only smile back even wider, running towards him and wrapping your arms around his shoulder as he wrapped his around your waist, giving you a bear hug.

“I'm so proud of you, Y/N.”

You tore away from the hug and looked at him with teary eyes. You couldn't believe he had shown up to your game.

“I- I thought you werent gonna come watch.” You sniffed, his arms still holding you close.

“Why? What made you think that way? Did you really think I was going to miss my most favourite girl’s match?” He said, and your heart leapt.

“You were absent for days and I thought you would be mad at me for lashing out on you the other day and you didnt show up for the first half of the game so I kind of…thought you werent going to show up.” You frowned.

Riki brought up a hand to remove some of the hair that was sticking to your forehead. “Sorry about that by the way,” He sighed. “My grandma fell sick so I had to stay home to take care of her. She’s much better now, which is why I am currently standing in front of you.”

You grinned at him, before remembering you had to apologise for shouting at him.

“Riki, I'm so sorry about the other day. I was stressed but I know that was no reason to lash out at you. And Im sorry I ditched you that day on the rooftop. I did come there but you were with another girl so I got...jealous and ran away. I understand if you're mad at m-”

You couldn't finish what you were saying because Riki had had enough of your rambling. His lips were pressed against yours in the most gentle way possible and you felt your heart beating out of its cage.

He pulled back after a few seconds and placed his forehead on yours. “I know. It's okay, you weren't feeling your best, and I'm not mad at you at all, okay?”

You were incapable of saying anything to him because you were so dazed from feeling his lips on yours.

“You didnt let me kiss you back.” You murmured, too quietly for the boy in front of you to hear properly.

“What?”

You looked into his eyes, occasionally flickering back to his lips and feeling your breath hitching in your throat as you saw him reciprocate your actions.

“I said, let me kiss you back, doofus.” And your lips were on his again, which he gladly welcomed, smiling into the kiss.

It was as if everything fell into place when your lips met. His lips moulded with yours so softly which contrasted the way he held you close to him. He held you to him as if he was scared that if he let go, you would disappear.

You couldn't have asked for a better first kiss. Although it was a bit awkward at first, it melted into something so pure and full of the love that you held for each other. Riki rubbed small circles on your hip, making you feel dizzy from all the attention he was giving you.

Pulling away to breathe, you kept your faces close as the two of you broke out into wide grins.

“Oh and by the way, that girl you saw at the rooftop was asking for Sunoo hyung’s number, not mine. So youve got nothing to worry about, Im all yours.” He clarified.

All yours. You liked the sound of that.

“So…I read all the signals correctly right? You like me back?” He asked you and you could only nod, still feeling high from the kiss and your win.

“Yes I do, dumbass.” You giggled and gave him another peck for good measure.

He pulled away a bit so he could see your face properly. “So then you'll be my amazing, talented, basketball girlfriend?”

“If you say so.”

Riki couldn't help but let out another wide smile at your response, hugging you again before leaving a kiss on your forehead.

Unbeknownst to the two of you, your friends had been watching the two of you from afar, squealing as they saw the two of you kiss.

“Ugh, finally. Took them months to do this.” Sunoo laughed, the rest of them nodding in agreement. Danielle smirked, looking at Jungwon and Hanni.

xx.

“Now it's your turn.”

AND THATS THE END!!! If youve made it till here, thank you. Thank you for taking the time to read this and I rlly hope you liked it :)

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stormberry-12 · 10 months

Note

Hellooo how are you this fine evening..

I wanted the ask if you could make one for jj where he does something that upsets the reader and she’s crying and sad and jj gets the silent treatment the whole week but he starts to cry hard and beg for her to talk to him and reader can’t help but comfort and hug him and give him all the love that she has and jj is all pouty and sad in the end

It’s fine if not <3 :)

didn't mean to ~ jj maybank x reader

pairing: JJ Maybank x Kook!Fem!Reader

warnings: language, angst, arguing, silent treatment.

notes: thxs for the request! Sorry I haven't posted in forever guys, im doing final exams at school rn and stuff. Also, sorry this is so short. But anyway, I loved this concept and also hated the way they solved JJ and Kie's fight in Season 4 so I tried to recreate it here with a better ending. Sorry, this took so long lol, much love!

~<>~<>~<>~<>~

"I mean, it would all blow up anyway. You know? Like... Look at you. You got your new threads on!" JJ exclaimed. "Look at me. What do I got? This? This piece of shit?" He threw something out of frustration, panting. You looked back at his run-down house, the eviction notice nailed to the front door with bright yellow police tape crossing over it.

"Getting kicked out of this place in three weeks anyway. shit, I don't even got parents right now. Why would you care? Why would you care? I'm just some loser that..."

"JJ..."

"You don't care. No, you don't!"

"I do care!" you shouted, getting frustrated with his attitude.

"No, you got parents that live in Figure Eight, you know?"

"That's not my fault."

"That's your future." he countered walking towards the water, hand running through his hair in frustration.

"Look, if you need us, we're gonna help you. I'm... I'll help."

"No- It's that right there! Okay? Like... It's so easy for you to say that." he whirled around to face you, yelling, "You know why? Because you're a Kook. You're a Kook, Y/n!"

"Yeah... I'm a Kook. I was such a Kook when I was living in a cave with you for a month! Soaking in the Kook life!"

"That's not what I'm talking about. GOD!" he exclaimed, reaching for his bike, he swung his leg over the seat.

"Jayj, don't leave." you pleaded, the engine of his bike revved and he started to drive away,

"JJ, WHAT THE HELL?" You screamed after him, tears rolling down your face, "MAYBANK!"

~<>~<>~<>~<>~

You were pissed the fuck off.

The first day after your fight you hadn't seen JJ, you cried for a couple hours, indulging in your favorite ice cream watching a sad rom-com, really getting in your feels.

Kie texted you to ask you what was up, the pogues had gone fishing that day but you never showed, to angry and sad to show your face to the world.

'Ask the blond kid,' was all you responded. you watched as her three typing bubbles flashed beneath your text.

'shit head's not here either,' she responded. 'wtf is going on,'

'fight. he called me a kook.'

'oh shit,' was all she said.

~<>~<>~<>~<>~

A few days later you walked around the chateau and dug through John B's fridge, you were fully aware of JJ's presence on the couch but still continued to ignore him. It was closing in on a week since you had last uttered a word to him.

Grabbing a chilled beer you walked past JJ and to the front door.

"Y/n," he said, voice cracking.

It wasn't the first time JJ had tried to talk to you this week and once again you ignored him. You slipped your shoes on and walked out onto the porch, slamming the door behind you. You flinched at how harsh it was but brushed the feeling away as you took a sip of your drink.

You sat at the edge of JJ's hot tub, the disco lights twinkled in the water, and the beer started to make you feel nauseous. You set it down and let out a shaky breath, blinking away tears that made the colorful lights spur in all different directions.

'Oh stop it Y/n' you told yourself, you would not cry anymore over this boy, if he didn't want to date a 'kook' that was his problem.

~<>~<>~<>~<>~

A long time must have passed, you had slid down fully into the hot tub finishing off your drink and basking in your own thoughts. The sun had set and the tides changed across the water.

"Go!" You heard someone on the deck grunt, you looked up to see John B pushing JJ out the door towards you locking him outside. JJ made his way down the stairs awkwardly and stood at the edge of the hot tub across from you, not getting in like he was looking for your permission.

"What do you want Maybank?" you asked quietly.

"I-uh," he sniffled and you focused closer in the dim light to see tears streaming down his face. "I made you a bracelet,"

He mumbled in the softest voice that made your heart clench and reached out to hand it to you. You looked at it closely, intricate little hearts knotted into the design, made with your favorite colors. And of course, the sea blue strings that you had told him reminded you of his eyes countless times. You didn't know what to say. Until you heard the soft sobbing coming from his lips, he thought you didn't like it.

"No, JJ..." you cooed, wrapping the bracelet around your wrist and tieing it in a crisp knot. You slid yourself through the water and stood in front of him taking in his state. He looked at you with pleading eyes and you wrapped your arms around him. He collapsed into you, wrapping his arms around your waist and burying his face in your shoulder. You felt butterflies in your stomach at his touch and lifted a hand to stroke his hair. God you loved this boy so much.

"I-i'm sorry," he cried, "I called you a kook, I'm such a dick, It's all my fault..."

"No, Jayj-" you whispered.

"Yes,"

"No, I am in the wrong too, shouldn't have ignored you like that," you whispered.

"But I called you a kook," he said again.

"And then I was acting like one, it was wrong,"

You stood there in silence hugging each other, you you feel his breathing slow and he recovered to look up at you.

"Please forgive me," he said.

"Always, as long as you forgive me," he nodded frantically at you causing you to giggle.

"Thank god that's over," you heard Pope say in the distance.

"Yeah, pass me one of those?" Kie said, taking a beer out of the cooler, the rest of the pogues walking toward the hot tub.

You all settle down in the warm water, JJ snuggling into your side, looking at your bracelet sweetly for the rest of the night. You kissed the top of his head, knowing what ever happed in the future you could always get through it with him.

~<>~<>~<>~<>~

Tag list: @sarahskywalker-amadala @sunasro @idli-dosa @aslanvez @somerandos-world @vivian-555 @loverofdrewstarkey @totallynotkaibiased @jjmaybankisbae @fishingirl12 @antagonize-me-motherfucker @princessbl0ss0m @pank0w @callsigndiamond @brynley-a-xoxo @plk-18 @fallingwallsh @hemogloban @valentineshiftz @taintedxkisses

#jj maybank #obx #angst #jj maybank x reader #outerbaks #fluff #jj maybank imagine #jj maybank blurb

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romanoffsbish · 1 year

Text

In a Summer Haze

CEO!Natasha Romanoff x Fem!R

Happy 4/20, 🥰 (belated by a few hours because I passed out 😏 yesterday before finishing the fic)

Warnings: Drugs (Weed): Shotgunning

Smut: Mommy(N), Oral (R), Fingering (R), Overstimulation, Double Sided Strap (R/N).

18+ | Minors DNI

Natasha truly loved everything about you.

Like the way your nose scrunched up when she'd tell you a silly joke, or how you'd pull the car over to guide ducks through traffic, but her favorite thing was how you smiled when you settled into her embrace after every long day.

What she especially loved though, was how pliant you were for her. If she wanted to try something new, you were always on board.

——

Marijuana wasn't new to the redhead, but it is for you, and with how long it's been for her it'll likely have the same sort of effect on her. It's something she hadn't dabbled with since she graduated college all those years ago. Starting a company took too much time and energy, she hadn't the time for such frivolities as the CEO.

Until now that is, she was waiting for you to return from the kitchen in your Summer beach house as she rolled a fat joint. This was the first time she'd been on vacation in over a decade, she hadn't gone off since she started working. Natasha was a workaholic to her core, and if not for you she'd never stop and smell the bud.

"One scotch on the rocks for the hottie in my bed," you sang as you entered the room, "and a virgin Shirley Temple for me of course."

"Your bed?"

"If I didn't make you buy this place, it wouldn't be either of ours," you affirmed with a glare, "Plus, what's yours is mine, remember?" you flashed your ring at her as you slipped her the drink, and softly pecked her lips, pulling back with a refined grimace at the way she tasted.

Natasha chuckled, "It might not taste the best, but trust me detka, best orgasm of your life."

"How would you know?" You huffed, sending her a warning glare as you settled down on your side of the bed, she only smirked, "I lived many a life before you Y/N," she paused her talking to seal the joint, holding steady eye contact with you as she licked across the paper, then she used her fingers to seal it seamlessly.

"Which comes with experience," she finally continued on, she placed the joint between her fingers and slowly crawled across the mattress until she was straddling your lap. With her free hand she cupped your face, slowly running her thumb over the apple of your cheek with clear affection, "This life is my favorite though."

"Natty," you softly aired your insecurities with only a whisper of her nickname, "Shh, don't overthink it moya lyubov', just relax for me."

Natasha lit the tip of the pristinely rolled joint, she allowed the embers to burn until the smell of the ganja flitted between the both of you.

"Watch me," she lifted the joint to her lips, her eyes stayed locked in on yours as she inhaled with careful precision. You nearly killed her with just how adorable you looked, as if you were still that bright young intern at her company learning the ropes. Your brows were deeply furrowed, and your nose was scrunched as your eyes drank her in. "Your turn detka."

Natasha flipped the joint, she held it up to your lips, and after a moment of intense staring you took the wetted piece between your lips and sucked hesitantly. For a second it was going well, but you overdid the pull before Nat could take the joint from you, and now you were spluttering as smoke billowed from your lips.

"Gotta pace yourself detka," she mused, and you looked to her through your bleary eyes to see as she took yet another hit without a hitch.

"How are you so good?" You whined, and she chuckled softly as an idea came to her, "Here," she gripped your chin, nails softly digging into the thin skin as she did, you watched her take another slow drag off the joint, the embers at the end a bright orange as they crackled loud enough to fill the deafening silence. Natasha used her free thumb to part your lips, and before you knew it she was transferring the clouds of smoke to you through a soft kiss.

Something about focusing on her pillow soft lips made the process much easier. She softly whispered for you to inhale, and this time you did so without a need to break the kiss apart. Natasha used that to her advantage as she slid her tongue over yours, and was rewarded with a desperate moan that even she unexpected.

Everything was on a new level, you'd never felt anything like this in your life, and you were still deciding if you wanted to again. This sort of heaviness had settled into your limbs, it felt like if you tried to stand they'd be like cement blocks stationing you in place. Then in direct contrast every nerve in your body was alit, the callouses of Natasha's fingers normally were unnoticeable as they trailed over your skin, but as she runs them over your arms you shivered.

"How you feeling detka?" Natasha was amused, she could see the haze in your eyes had set in within mere minutes. She's sure you didn't even realize it, but you'd been sat there with your lips parted ever since the kiss ended.

Mindlessly waiting for more she hopes...

"Like a caterpillar," you noted seriously, and she nearly chocked on the heavy cloud of smoke she was holding in her lungs, "How so?"

"I, hm," you paused to think, it was your truth, but as is the case for most you couldn't fathom how to explain it, "Colorful," you tried, and then you pouted as she giggled in your face.

"I'm not going to tell you if you're being mean!"

Natasha set the burning joint down carefully on the bedside table, then she cupped your cheeks, "I'm not being mean, now go on."

You sighed, "You know how they scrunch their bodies to move?" she nodded with a practiced straight face, "Well, it kinda feels like my brain is doing that just to think. Like it's squeezing tight, then it's just flopping down as if we ran a marathon. Up. Down. Up. Down. It's strange."

Natasha nodded with a smirk, she went to lean in for a kiss but apparently you weren't done, "Also, they eat leaves, and now I smoke them."

Natasha snorted, "Yeah, you do," she reached over to the table to put the joint out for now, "My sweet little lightweight," she teased.

Before you could protest her very true to form statement she captured your lips with hers.

Never in your life did you imagine anything could be better than kissing your wife, but in this moment you realized the only thing better than kissing her, is doing it while being high.

There was a dull ache steadily increasing in between your legs the more she kissed you. Her tongue simply devoured your mouth as you put up no fight, and her hips ground into yours in a calculated motion, building you up unbearably.

"Please..." You begged, and the woman was grinning from ear to ear, "What is it detka?"

A whimper left you as she'd stopped touching you so intimately, you desired having her close. Natasha's pupils were blown, and you weren't sure if your eyes were deceiving you or not, but it appeared like the light green hue darkened.

"I need you mommy," you canted your hips up, pulling a surprised groan from your lover as she too was overly sensitive, "Wanna be your last best orgasm, please, make us the best!"

"You're already my best detka," she attempted to peck your worries away, and in a move to speed the previously tedious process along she trailed her lips over the taut skin of your jaw, her hands slid beneath the hem of your shirt and in one fluid motion the fabric was gone.

"Mommy's going to take such good care of you detka," she whispered hotly against the column of your throat, the hot air she expelled had you squirming as it fanned across your skin. Nat giggled as she felt the way your throat shivered beneath her lips, you'd moaned when her teeth scraped over your skin, "Such a sensitive girl."

The journey to between the apex of your thighs was provocatively slow, her focus on your breasts had you writhing, but you held no real complaints. Every mark she sucked into your skin only brought you closer to your release. Natasha had barely touched you but you felt like you were on the verge of combusting.

"Fuck, you taste so good detka," Natasha lost the need to tease you as soon as her tongue slid over the plush skin of your thigh. Your essence was intoxicating in taste and smell, she inhaled deeply, as if she could hold onto your scent forever this way, her chest was now heaving with such an intense need. A need for you.

Natasha buried her face between your thighs. There was an unlocked carnality to the way her tongue moved through your folds. She's always been a passionate lover, but this went deeper. The woman wasn't even coming up for air, and that willingness of hers to suffocate just to taste you brought you crashing over a blissful edge.

That success didn't stop her either, your bodies writhing and your screaming only encouraged her as she fucked you straight through your orgasm. Natasha was honestly drunk on you, like you were the finest Bordeaux and she was savoring every last drop. Through countless orgasms she continued to eat you out like a fiend, the way tremors of your thighs rippled against her face blew her massive ego up.

Once you reached a point of overstimulation, your legs having tightened around her head in a way that made her dizzy beyond belief, she decided it was best she showed your cunt some momentary mercy. She slowly curled her tongue while buried deep inside you, and as more of your essence spilled from within you she greedily lapped it all up for a final time.

When she finally pried your legs open she was lifting her head up to look at your expression. Your face was a picturesque reflection of bliss. There was a glaze to your bloodshot eyes that gradually tipped over the edge, the tears of satisfaction enhanced your beauty really. After your gasping had tempered you wore a smile, and Natasha mirrored it as she hovered above.

“How you feeling now?” Natasha chuckled when you rolled your eyes, “Like a happy caterpillar, maybe soon I’ll be a butterfly.”

“Oh, I can help you fly baby,” you quirked a brow, and the redhead winked before giving you a nonverbal answer, her fingers entered you and that had your back flying off the bed.

"Oh God," you cried out as she thrusted her fingers into you with little regard to your increased sensitivity, “Oh fuck,” if anything she was exploiting this limited timed response.

Natasha found your inability to speak amusing, the profanities you were just screaming faded out into incoherent babbling interrupted only by involuntary growls from deep within you. There had never been a moment like this for you two before, Natasha was a premium lover, but this experience was clearly next level.

Natasha swiveled her thumb over your clit, "There you go detka," Natasha husked hotly against your lips as you shrieked against hers, "Scream for me Y/N, scream for mommy."

Natasha watched you coming undone, propped up on her elbow she watched with rapt eyes as your mouth flew open, and eyes screwed shut.

"Open your eyes," she tapped your temple, and you hazily obliged, "Such pretty eyes detka," she smiled at you with relative ease, as if she didn't even have to focus on her hand that was jackhammering into you. Holding eye contact with her as she fucked you was dizzying, add on the way she dripped onto your thigh, and it launched you into the best orgasm of your life.

Successfully topping herself as the title holder. She’s long since ruined you for anyone else.

There was nothing more beautiful than seeing you with your lips parted, a melody of moans leaving your lips via your throat as your eyes rolled back into your head so far she was sure you could see your brain. As you worked on coming down from such a glorious high your lover sweetly peppered your face with kisses.

Once your were relatively cognizant she met your lips for a sweet, sensual kiss. There wasn’t much of a rush for either of you to part, you were quite enjoying this moment of reprieve. Because as great as she made you feel just now, you honestly needed a break, and tasting your essence on her tongue was helping to build your dying arousal back up. Something you weren’t used to either, usually after about five big O’s you were ready to tap out, but the drugs coursing in your system surged your libido on.

“Mommy wants to fuck you with her cock,” Natasha growled out her desires as you’d just separated to breathe, she felt you tense a bit, “Come on detka,” Natasha pleaded with a pout, “Just one more, please, mommy needs this.”

You meekly nodded, you could never deny the woman such relief. Not when she worked as hard as she did to provide a life for the both of you, and it’s not like it came at your expense. Her pleasure came with promises of your own.

Natasha slid the strap inside of herself, she nearly buckled at the knees due to the large intrusion, but she managed to hobble back over to the bed where she slid your end into you slowly, with a care you could feel in your chest.

“Can I move?” You could hear the strain in her voice, she was desperate, that much you knew as her slick cunt was pressed atop of yours. She was also considerate, so even if she wanted to fuck you both into a state of bliss, she would wait until you’d adjusted to your longer side.

“Go ahead mommy,” you sighed, “I’m ready.”

Natasha pecked your lips, a silent thank you, before she pulled out, walls clenching around her end to keep it more sturdy as she rammed her hips back into yours. With every thrust her ability to hold her end dwindled, instead she began to let it remain anchored in your cunt while she chased her overdue orgasm down.

Seeing Natasha in such a state only drove you crazier, her hands held your hips in a bruising manner as she chased down what was owed to her without holding back. In an attempt to help you clenched hard and rutted up to meet her thrust down, and that seemed to do the trick. Natasha bit into your neck to conceal her screams of pleasure, and as her walls held the strap tight in their fluttering state she was able to throw you over as she was calming down.

The two of you moved together, helping to prolong the both of your euphoric states until you were whining due to sensitivity. Natasha nuzzled her face against the side of your neck, her tongue prodded at the drops of blood that were dribbling from the mark she’d just left. A soft wince came from you as she lathed her warm tongue over the marred skin to soothe it.

“You did so good for mommy,” she coo’d as her lips kissed a line up your neck until the slotted perfectly against yours. The taste of your arousal mixed with undertones of copper laced your tastebuds as she explored your mouth. It was a slow kiss until it wasn’t, a momentum picked up as her nipples brushed over yours, you could feel your walls fluttering around the strap again, but when her hips moved you felt more pain than pleasure, so you whimpered.

“Shh, it’s okay love,” she pressed a kiss to your cheek before nuzzling her face back into your neck, “Get some rest, you’ll need your strength for round two where mommy plans to ride your pretty little face, my precious built in throne.”

Natasha’s heart fluttered alongside your soft giggles, they were her favorite sound to elicit. While laying atop of you she can’t help but feel grateful that she gave you a chance, that she let herself love something more than her career. Because you’ve now opened her life up to a joy she never would’ve imagined possible, and one she couldn’t fathom living without anymore.

“Mommy,” you called out to her after a few minutes and she hummed tiredly, “Yes detka?”

“I feel like a pretty butterfly now,” you admit, your high clearly still lingering, “You are a very beautiful butterfly, now close your eyes detka.”

“I love you very much,” you whispered, and the redhead smiled, “I love you most Y/N.”

“Nuh uh,” you denied with a shake of your body that jostled the tired woman, “Go to sleep Y/N!” Natasha groaned, and you giggled wildly beneath her, “Oh God, you’re a total giggler.”

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