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hercleverboy · 3 years

Text

the waiting room

spencer reid x fem!reader

summary ↠ the three times Y/N waited for spencer, and the one time he waited for her. (based off of this blurb)

category ↠ angst

warnings/includes ↠ mentions of death as a result of potential illness, spencer’s headaches, mri scans, swearing, indefinite ending.

word count ↠ 2.9k

dedicating this one to two of the literal loves of my life, @voidsfilm + @ellesgreenaway ♡

“What is stronger than the human heart, which shatters over and over and still lives.” — Rupi Kaur

Spencer had always hated hospitals.

He found it so conflicting, how a place could hold so much hope for life and promise for the future, and yet also hold so much heartbreak and despair and agony.

The strong disinfectant smell wasn’t his favourite thing, either. He hated how the bright lights always irritated his eyes, and how the hallways all just looked the same, so bleak and lifeless.

Most of all, he hated the waiting room.

The navy-blue carpet that lined the floors, wooden chairs that were always, without fail, extremely uncomfortable to sit in. The way that nurses and doctors would walk past the room, eyes full of pity and sorrow. With his job, he’d seen more waiting rooms than he would’ve liked. He spent more time than he wanted to in hospitals, talking to victims’ families, and even sometimes having to witness them receive such heartbreaking news. On one or two occasions, he’d even had to be the bearer of bad news himself, the one who had to tell expectant family that their loved one was gone. It only added to the list of reasons why he despised hospitals.

Then there was the other side of the coin. He took frequent trips to the hospital, but unfortunately more oftenly as a patient than an FBI agent. He wouldn’t say he was reckless, but he didn’t exactly put much value on his life. Or at least, he never used to. He figured it was because he was the only one on the team without a family to come home to, without people who were dependent on him. And so, if it came down to it, he would willing take off his Kevlar vest and put down his weapon while talking down a gun-wielding unsub. Of course, he’d get the third degree from Hotch later, but he could live with that. And then he met Y/N, and he realised that now he had someone counting on him, someone waiting for him to come back home to them, he couldn’t afford to be so careless in the field.

Though sometimes, despite Spencer’s best attempts, things still went wrong. Y/N had seen the inside of the hospital waiting room more than most, often because she’d get called by one of his team mates to alert her that he’d been injured in the field. And without him ever asking, she’d drop everything to be there for him, even if it was his own stupidity that had landed him in those situations.

The first time was after he’d been shot in the knee. Y/N had been midway through her workday when she’d received a call from JJ telling her that Spencer had been injured. She knew that it was only a leg wound, that he would be absolutely fine, but that didn’t stop her from being worried. She’d been sat in the waiting room, waiting anxiously for a nurse to come by and update her.

As soon as she got the all clear to see him, she’d breathed out a sigh of relief and made her way to his room, catching his attention as soon as she entered.

He gave her a tight-lipped smile, grimacing slightly at the pain shooting through his leg. “Hi.”

She chuckled at that, moving to stand at his bedside. “Hi baby, how are you feeling?”

“I’m ok.” He smiled, reaching up to tightly grasp one of her hands in his. “You didn’t have to come all the way down here, you know.”

“Oh, stop.” She mumbled with a smile. “You know how much I worry about you.”

He grinned at that, the warm feeling that he always got when he was with her spreading through him. He used the grip he had on her hand to pull her down to him, so his lips could meet hers in a sweet kiss. “Hotch has demanded I take some time off to rest, or whatever.” He murmured against her lips. “So, I’m all yours.”

“Hmm, and what you mean by that is that you need someone to take care of you at home for a few days?”

“Well, I did get shot in the leg, you know. Taking down the bad guy...” He gestured to his bandaged-up knee, a pout on his pretty pink lips.

She let out a laugh at that, amused. “Alright, Superman. Let’s get you home, shall we?”

The next time Y/N found herself in the hospital waiting room was a year later, when Spencer had been suffering from painful, unexplainable headaches.

Initially, Spencer hadn’t wanted her to attend his MRI scan appointment, but it didn’t take much convincing for her to assure him that she wanted to be there for him. He’d held her hand in a vice-like grip on the drive to the hospital, only letting go when the nurse called his name to tell him they were ready for him. She’d kissed the back of his hand before he’d left, a whispered promise leaving her lips before he went, “I’ll be right here waiting.”

She looked around the empty waiting room, took note of its greying walls and stained carpet, and how awfully uncomfortable the chairs were. She thought of anything and everything that could distract her from the way she was feeling at that moment- knowing how scared her boyfriend was that there was something was wrong with him.

Spencer came back to the waiting room an hour later, both relieved to see that his girl was indeed still waiting for him but frustrated with what little the doctor had told him.

“Hey!” Y/N sat up straighter, putting on a smile for the sake of her boyfriend. “How’d it go?”

Spencer just shook his head. “He says there’s nothing physically wrong with me. He suggested I should consider that it’s something more mental, but he’s wrong- he’s wrong, Y/N.” He sat down in the chair next to her, seeking comfort in her arms as he whimpered into the crook of her neck. “I’m not- I’m not crazy, am I?”

And the truth was, she didn’t know. She was so afraid for him, worried that he was sick, dying, perhaps of something that the doctors hadn’t detected yet. It terrified her. Her hands ran up and down the expanse of his back, attempting to soothe his weeps the best that she could. Spencer grabbed fistfuls of the back of her shirt and breathed in the scent of her hair as deeply as he could to try and ground himself.

“I’m scared, Y/N.”

That broke her heart to hear, but all she could do was nod in understanding, hoping her words would offer him some form of comfort. “I know, I know. We’ll figure this out, ok? Everything is going to be alright.”

The next time Y/N inside of a waiting room was on what she could only refer to as the worst night of her life.

There were no words that could encompass the plethora of emotions she went through when she’d received a phone call from JJ, “Spencer has been shot. It’s- It’s pretty bad, Y/N. You need to come quickly.”

When she got to the waiting room, she saw JJ and Alex sat opposite one another, a worry that made Y/N’s stomach sink on both their faces. She hurried towards them, tears blurring her vision. “Have you had any updates? Is he ok?”

JJ looked up, shaking her head sadly.

“What happened?” Y/N asked, her voice wavering.

“He got shot in the neck. He pushed me out of the way.” Alex sighed, as though she was still in disbelief that he’d done that to save her.

Y/N stared ahead in shock, dropping down into the seat beside Alex. Of course, of course, Spencer would risk his life to protect Alex. Y/N knew how fond he was of his colleague, how he idolised her, saw her as a sort of mother figure, even.

Eventually JJ got called back to work, with Alex insisting that she’d stay with Y/N and wait for Spencer to wake.

Y/N was so sick and fucking tired of the waiting room. Before, she hadn’t minded it, it had even bought a sense of comfort to her- because she was in a hospital, where they saved lives. But now? The familiar walls and dull navy-blue carpet made her feel nauseous. Not knowing whether her boyfriend was going to live or die was incomparable to any other time she’d found herself waiting in the same four walls. She was feeling everything and nothing all at once, she wanted to cry and scream, curse the universe for once again hurting a man that had done nothing in his life but protect others. Hell, part of her even wanted to laugh- laugh at the absurdity of the situation. If he died, - god, if he died - the world would’ve robbed him of a lifetime with her, the chance to live the life that he deserved.

She barely registered that Alex had left her side to bring her a coffee until she sat back down beside her. Y/N looked over at her, giving her a small smile as she gratefully accepted the coffee.

Y/N brought the cup to her lips, relishing in how the hot liquid brought her a sense of warmth, and she wondered if she’d ever feel Spencer’s warmth again. She sucked in a shaky breath, speaking the first words she’d said in all the hours they’d been waiting. “You know he wants kids?”

Alex looked over at her, sad smile tugging at her lips. “I do.”

Y/N nodded, sniffing. “He’d be a phenomenal father.”

“He would.”

Y/N let out a small cry, trying desperately to hold herself together. “What if I never get the chance to give him that, Alex?” She cried, body finally giving in to the painful ache that consumed her entire being.

Alex placed an arm around her, allowing the younger woman to lean on her shoulder for support. “You’ll get the chance. Spencer is strong, he’ll pull through.”

And sure enough, Alex had been right. When Y/N had been told he was awake, she couldn’t describe the relief that flooded her. After meeting Penelope in the hallway and being given a much-needed hug, she took a few deep breaths before walking into Spencer’s room. When her eyes landed on him, she felt the tears start to well again. She had to remind herself that despite the bandage on his neck and the numerous machines hooked up to him, he was there, and he was alive.

She came towards him with the best smile she could muster, and he looked up at her with a drowsy smile.

“Hi.” She whispered, standing beside his bed.

He grinned up at her, reaching out for her hand just like he always did. “Hi.”

She squeezed his hand gently, reminding herself again that he was ok, though she couldn’t prevent the tears that began to tremble down her cheeks.

Spencer’s heart throbbed at the sight, and he allowed himself to imagine the pain she must’ve been through, having to wait for hours to see if he was alive. He wouldn’t wish that on anyone, especially not the woman he loved more than anything else. “It’s alright, sweet girl. I’m alright.” He promised, wishing more than anything that he could pull her into his arms and soothe her, though the pain in his neck prevented him from doing so.

“I could’ve lost you.” She whimpered, her other hand coming out to delicately trace the side of his face.

“I’m right here.” He gave her hand three squeezes just to emphasise his point.

She leaned forward, pressing a light kiss to his forehead. “You can’t ever scare me like that again.”

Spencer chuckled lowly, nodding. “Yes ma’am.”

“Promise me?”

And though it was a promise they both knew he couldn’t keep, he granted her the reassurance that she craved.

“I promise.”

Y/N knew that wasn’t the last time she’d be sat in the waiting room, scared and anxious and hoping that the love of her life was ok. She knew there would always be a ‘next time’, no matter how many self-serving promises she asked Spencer to make. What she didn’t plan for, was that the next time she saw the inside of a hospital, it would be her fighting for her life.

It had been a slow day at work for Spencer, with him managing to complete a majority of his withstanding paperwork. He sat at his desk, focused on how he twirled his pen between his fingertips, willing the clock to move faster so he could go back home when his phone rang, Y/N’s name flashing across the screen.

He answered eagerly, though all eagerness was wiped away when it wasn’t her voice on the other end of the line.

“Hi there, I’m looking for a Dr Spencer Reid?”

Spencer’s mind raced, and he swallowed thickly before squeaking out an answer. “That’s me.”

“I’m calling on behalf of Y/N Y/L/N, you’re registered as her emergency contact.”

“Is she ok?” He croaked out, begging and pleading internally that all the worst-case scenario’s running through his head wouldn’t come to fruition.

“She was involved in a severe road collision. You’re going to want to come down here-”

Everything past that was drowned out by the sound of Spencer’s heart beating quicker, so loudly he could hear it. He hung up, gathering his things together as quickly as he could and rushing toward the doors of the bullpen- running directly into one Derek Morgan.

“Woah, easy there, kid. You got somewhere to be?” He joked at first, but erased all hints of a smile from his face when he saw the tears filling the younger man’s eyes. “What’s going on? Talk to me.”

Spencer couldn’t form a sentence, only managing to splutter out a few barely strung together words. “It’s Y/N, she’s- she’s been in an a-accident and I need, I have to get to her.”

Morgan’s eyes widened, nodding in understanding. “Alright, ok. You’re in no condition to be driving, let me take you.”

Spencer wasn’t about to argue, already making his way toward the elevator.

Spencer had always hated hospitals.

But he’d also decided that he really fucking hated the waiting room.

The doctors didn’t have any updates for him, no matter how many times he asked. So, he’d been forced to sit in that damned room and wait.

He thought of how cruel the concept of the waiting room was. Waiting for either good or bad news, waiting to hear the words that would either fill him with relief or dread, signify the start of his life or the end. How cruel was it that people had to sit and wait, with the weight of the world on their shoulders and just hope their loved one was ok?

With the first hour brought Spencer’s upset, tears trembling down rosy cheeks and whimpered words of disbelief that he could lose the woman he loved. He’d sat in the uncomfortable blue chair with his head in his hands as sobs wrecked through his body, with Morgan sat next to him, a comforting hand on his shoulder.

The second hour brought with it a slither of hope, as a doctor came out to update them. Though it wasn’t good nor bad news, just that Y/N was still in surgery and was expected to be so for the next few hours. Spencer had again buried his head in his hands, his thoughts racing. The rest of the team arrived, joining the sombre atmosphere of the waiting room.

The third hour saw Spencer grow agitated, angry with himself for not being with her, for not protecting her, despite how many times the team attempted to reassure him that there was nothing he could’ve done differently. They brought him cups of coffee with gentle reassurances, empty promises that Y/N would be fine, that she would pull through, but how could they possibly know that?

In the fourth hour, Spencer sat staring blankly at the wall. He reminded himself of the future he’d dreamt of time and time again, and how he couldn’t imagine himself having that life with anyone else but her. He recalled the location of the velvet purple box he’d bought just a few months prior, hidden amongst pairs of his mismatched socks in the second drawer of his nightstand. What if he never got the chance to propose? To give her the life that he’d promised her time and time again when it was 3am and he was holding the love his life as close to his chest as he could get her. After all he’d done, the years of his life he’d given to helping to protect those who couldn’t protect themselves, this was the thanks he got? What a sick twist of fate that was.

By the fifth hour, he was exhausted. His eyes drooped but he fought to keep them open, choosing to ignore the pitiful looks JJ shot him when she saw him fighting sleep. He would wait for her, just like all the times she had waited for him. He recognised how the way that he felt must’ve been how Y/N had felt after he’d been shot the year before, and the thought almost made him sick. He ran over all the possible outcomes in his head, allowing his eyes to close for a single moment as he mentally calculated the statistical probabilities of each outcome. He despised how helpless he felt. For a man whose job was to help others in need, he’d never been a position before where he didn’t have the answer, where he couldn’t come up with a solution. His heart ached as the realisation that he could very well lose her settled over him, the statistic he’d calculated of her survival being a number that was way too low for Spencer’s liking.

For the moment, he had no choice but to wait.

It was all he could do.

permanent taglist: @beyonces-breastmilk @pinkdiamond1016 @itsmyblogandillreblogifiwantto @thelovelyrose @averyhotchner @cynbx @calm-and-doctor @reidyoulikeabook @katexrichardson @jemimah-b99 @muffin-cup @shadyladyperfection @rigatonireid @amoeebaa @mggsprettygirl @alltooreid @s1utformgg @awritingtree

spencer reid taglist: @reidtome

#spencer reid x reader #spencer reid #spencer reid one shot #spencer x fem!reader #spencer x y/n #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid x fem!reader #matthew gray gubler x reader #matthew gray gubler #mgg x reader #mgg #criminal minds

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saturngrqy · 3 years

Note

Hello!! I hope you’re well💓 could i request a blurb of reader getting surprised by Grayson’s love confession because they thought he had a type and would never date them? thank you in advance!!💓

this is hella long and took a turn, sorry if it’s not exactly what u want i got a little off track LMAO

Grayson was universally known or being the type to sleep with many girls. This included mainly white, skinny models. You were friends with him and Ethan for a while, and you definitely had feelings for him that were more than friendly.

You comforted him through every nasty breakup, and you quickly became best friends. You were always there for him, and was for you as well.

Although all you wanted was for him to be happy, every time he told you about his new girlfriend or hookup, a piece of your heart broke. Nearly always they were another social media influencer, and they were all beyond gorgeous.

You hated feeling insecure, but every time you compared yourself to those girls, the self-consciousness overwhelmed you.

You had little experience with dating compared to him, but you had your fair share of boyfriends here and there. Every time you got into a new relationship, Grayson always tried to interject. He was oddly possessive over you, and after a while you just stopped telling him if you were going on a date to prevent his endless lectures about why you were to good for the men you were seeing.

It pissed you off deeply, considering you always supported him in his dating life no matter how problematic the girl seemed.

The girls he dated were typically somewhat rude to you; you understood that it was probably suspicious that you two were so close, but you knew the chances of Grayson ever liking you like that were slim to none.

Part of that was due to how different you were than his ‘type’. You were middle- eastern, short, and more curvy. Any time you said anything self- depricating towards your appearance, Grayson assured you you were nothing short of beautiful. Sometimes, it was just really hard for you to believe him when he said that.

You were about to head out to go to lunch with a guy you met online. You had been messaging back and forth when he finally asked you out. You agreed excitedly, hoping that you would finally find the right person for you.

Of course, Grayson was oblivious to your plans, and you were planning to keep it that way.

However, fate had other ideas when you left your phone on the counter to quickly run to bathroom.

Grayson walked to sit down in the chairs at the kitchen island. When he pushed the chair out, your phone screen lit up with a new message. He hesitated before reaching for it. He immediately frowned, reading the text.

Alex

Excited for tonight! Can’t wait to finally meet you :)

Grayson stared at the screen confused, wondering who Alex was. Just then, you sighed, rushing back into the kitchen to grab your phone, stopping when you saw him holding it.

“Who’s Alex?” He asked, laughing.

“Uh.” you began, “He’s a guy that I met, we’re going out to lunch. I must have forgotten to tell you,” you chuckled awkwardly, trying to cover up the fact that you did not forget to tell him, and rather that you were trying to hide it from him.

“Oh,” he said solemnly. You rolled your eyes.

“Save it, Grayson, I’m going,” you spoke, snatching your phone from his hands.

“Wait,” he interrupted, using his forearm to block the door, preventing you from exiting. You glared at him and inhaled sharply.

“Grayson, please, I really have to go, okay?”

“At least let me pick you up,” he tried to negotiate.

“Gray, how do you think it would look if he saw you picking me up from my date,” you laughed.

“Just say it’s an uber,” he reasoned.

“No. I’m leaving, I’ll see you later,” you demanded, finally leaving the house.

You shivered, rubbing your arms up and down to create warmth. You checked your phone.

2:45 p.m.

Alex was supposed to arrive at 1:45. You exhaled, going to your contacts to call Grayson, grimacing as you pressed on his number. You knew he was going to use this as an example in the future as to why you should listen to him when he tells you not to go on dates.

“Hello?” He answered, and his tone was surprisingly apologetic, completely opposite of the smug voice you expected him to have.

“Um, he never came,” you whispered.

“Are you kidding me?” He groaned. “What a fucking asshole,”

“Uh- yeah. Can you just pick me up please?” You said on the verge of tears. It was silent for a moment.

“Yeah, I got you Y/n,” he said sternly.

“Thank you,” you said.

“You know I always will be here for you. I’m already on the way, text me the location. I’ll get there as soon as possible,”

“Ok. Bye,” you gulped, hitting decline. You sent him the address of the restaurant, sitting down at a bench nearby on the sidewalk.

He arrived no later than five minutes, immediately jumping out and rushing towards you. He had his Kid Cudi sweatshirt in his hand, throwing it to you as he stood, waiting for you to put it on and gather your stuff. You got up and walked to the passenger door, getting in and shutting it behind you.

You both sat in silence, waiting for each other to say something.

You choked. “God, I feel so pathetic.” The tears started to freely stream down your face.

Grayson scoffed. “You need to stop feeling bad for yourself. He’s a piece of shit. I hate when you let yourself get walked all over by these stupid guys. You’re an amazing girl, I don’t know how they can’t see that.”

The last line struck a nerve, and your crying worsened, now graduating to full on sobs.

“If I’m so amazing, why don’t you ever choose me,” you spoke quietly.

“What?” He looked up, shocked.

“You always say that I’m a great girl and any guy would be lucky to have me but the only guy I want is you. I only ever talk to guys because I’m trying to get over you,” you explained. “I mean, do you even understand how exhausting it is to sit back and watch you fall in love over and over again? While I sit on the sidelines and comfort you when you get fucked over? I’m sick of it, Grayson. I’m sick of always being the second choice. I don’t even know why I keep waiting, you’ll never choose me. Look at me,” you cried, gesturing to your body.

Grayson stared at you with his mouth open. He gulped, looking out the window to his left. He turned back to you, grabbing your hand.

“Listen to me, Y/n,” he began. “You have no idea how unbelievably in love with you I am. If I knew that was how you felt you absolutely would have been my first choice, and I am so fucking sorry for making you feel any less than that. I talked to all those girls to get over you as well,”

“Really?” You said, gazing back up at him. “You really like me like that?

He looked at you puzzlingly. “Of course. You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on,”

You smiled softly, squeezing his hand. You two remained eye contact until he finally leaned in, softly pressing his lips to yours. You kissed back gently, and he pulled away after.

He grasped your arm, bringing it into him as he engulfed you into a firm hug.

“I choose you, Y/n Y/l/n.”

#grayson fic #grayson dolan #grayson and ethan #grayson dolan imagine #grayson dolan fanfic #ethan dolan #dolan twins #g blurb #my writing

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thegremlincrowsnest · 3 years

Text

This is my addition to the Coming This Summer Collab by Tteokdoroki

All reader inserts are poc, chubby and ftm! All reader inserts will use he/him and they/them pronouns unlessed specified!

CW: pussy, vaginal sex, very vanilla in all honesty

Desire to us

Was like a double death

Swift dying

Kento Nanami does not want to go to the beach. He would love to stay inside and bake his bread in peace. But he can never say no to Yuji, and he wanted to make sure Gojo doesn’t corrupt the young pink-haired boy. Now here he is, standing with Gojo and his three students looking for some acquaintance of Gojo’s. Suddenly, as his eyes scan across the semi crowded beach, he sees...

You.

Radiating like fresh amber in the summer sun, skin so warm and inviting. Kento watches you climb out of the ocean, resembling the birth of Aphrodite with how your braids draped over your chest. He watches the beads of water travel over the valley of your buxom form and disappear into your swimsuit. Oh, how he wants to taste the salt off your skin and the sweetness of your-

“Nanamin!” A voice yelled.

The voice shakes Kento of his growing erotic thoughts and he jumps, turning to Yuji and Gojo. The former wears a concerned look while the latter has the most devilish of grins.

“I see you found him, Kento~,” Gojo says as he drapes an arm over Kento’s shoulder.

“He’s a pretty little thing, ain’t he,” Gojo whispers, “lucky man, Kento, I can’t imagine how tight that pussy must be”

Before he can threaten the snow haired pervert, he’s being pushed towards a cabana. Inside, he can finally take in the Adonis that has captured him. There standing in the shade - you, his partner of years that he hasn’t seen in months.

Of our mingled breath,

Evaporation

Of an unknown strange perfume

Your smile rivals the beauty of the harvest moon. He can’t hear anything as Gojo and the teenagers speak to you; he is still absorbed in how you look. It has been so long, he now worries if his last memories of you two together have faded in accuracy.

His body is on fire with how you drink him in. Umber eyes - that he swore could hold the secrets to the universe in them - rake over his body. You’re just as parched from the time apart; your thighs press together as you remember the last time.

“Oh Kento, you look like you’re burning up!” you exclaim as you take a cold water bottle from a cooler and bring it to his face. Kento is suddenly very aware of how close you are and of the snitch that exposed his current thoughts. Cock strained against his swim trunks, he silently thanks you for the save. The smell of shea butter and frankincense fills his senses as he looks down at you. Your breasts are barely contained in your suit, and he admires the swell of your hips and thighs. He wants to sink his fingers into them, feel the warmth of your freshly sun kissed skin as he devours you.

Yuji is about to walk over before Gojo steps in.

“Let’s go, children! Nanamin will be in good hands,” he rambles as he pushes the students out of the cabana before sending a wink your way.

You both let out a small laugh before hugging each other. You bury your faces in each other, just happy to be in each other’s arms. Pulling back, he holds your face in his hands, rubbing the apples of your cheeks. He can’t help the small smile that graces his features. Your brows furrow as you look up at him.

“Kento...is everything ok?”

“I’m sorry, I just keep getting lost in your eyes. They hold the universe in them,” he mutters to himself, forgetting he isn’t just saying it in his head. Your face heats, you press your thighs together as you feel the smooth baritone of his voice strike through you. You chuckle and pull him over to lay down, placing a cold towel on his forehead.

“I think you’re overheating, Kento”

You pat another cold cloth on his cheeks, neck, and chest, and you both relax into a comfortable silence.

“You don’t have to stay, I’ll be fine.”

“So you can get another eye full of me soaking wet.”

By nightfall, Kento had pulled together enough courage to ask you to take a walk with him. The moon is full, shining bright against the ocean and illuminating the beach just enough, framing you as you enjoy each other’s company in light of the moon and stars. Eventually you decide to try and push the limits gently.

“Have you ever gone skinny dipping?”

Before he can get a word out, you strip yourself of your bathing suit, and you smile up at him before walking towards the water.

“Come on Kento~ Play with me,” you coo as you walk about waist deep. Watching as Kento also strips of his clothing, you giggle as he gently folds them before turning to you. Your breath catches in your throat as you see him bare. With his fair skin illuminated by the moonlight, you try to calm yourself at the sight of scars and muscle. As he walks closer to you, you move back, giggling as you dive into the ocean, teasing him to catch you. This only lasts for a moment before his large, scared hands grab your waist. Pulling your back against his chest, he whispers; “I’ve got you”

Deep baritone vibrations fill your ears, causing you to whimper softly.

He chuckles as he lets his hands roam your front gently.

“May I?” he asks. You quickly nod, whining a soft “yes” as he grips your breast. He massages them gently before pinching and pulling on your nipples. He lets one hand travel down, groping your thick thighs and love handles before reaching forward to between your legs. He licks his lips as he feels your wetness.

“Naughty boy, teasing me all day and now you’re all wet?”

You giggle before spreading your legs further for him, “you had every opportunity to grab~”

He only chuckles as he lifts you out of the water, hauling you over his shoulder as he struts out of the water. Setting you down on your feet, he unfolds his button up floral shirt before covering you with it.

“Let’s get you to the hotel room. I don’t wish to share you with anyone, not the ocean, the moon, or their many stars,” he murmurs before kissing you gently on the lips. Your face heats up and you can’t stop the flurry of giggles that erupt from your throat.

“You can’t say something so poetic after groping me”

Kento smirks before kissing you again.

You stand in front of the mirror, freshly out of the shower and gently drying your braids with an old shirt. Kento walks up and stands behind you, kissing your shoulder as he lets his hands roam your body. He kisses under your ear.

“You bewitch me every moment I lay my eyes on you. I’ve missed you so much,” he mumbles.

You melt into his touch, whimpering as his coarse hands grasp at your soft flesh. He bends you over, kissing the back of your neck before he presses a finger to your entrance, using his thumb to rub your clit he slides two fingers in, and relishes in your soft gasps and moans and he gently begins to stretch you apart.

He’s hypnotized at the sight of his fingers entering you. Why should you miss out on such a sight? He moves you over to the bed, pushes your thighs back, and he dives his fingers in again. Quickly thrusting, he can’t help the growl that escapes him. His cock throbs against his stomach as he watches you come undone beneath him. Hair strewn about, drool escaping plump lips as your thighs shiver and twitch. Your voice is like ambrosia, your skin like warm milk and honey.

He is intoxicated by you and wants more.

He leans over you and pets your head gently as he lifts your face to his. You can’t help but cum on his fingers again, so skilled and confident as they play with your most sensitive of spaces. It’s been so long that it feels like the first time all over again. After some time, Kento reaches his limit; he stands up between your legs, cock hard and dripping precum onto your thigh.

“May I?” he asks as he spreads your legs more. You nod as you spread your lips apart for him.

“Please Kento, I need you so bad,” you whimper.

Ever so slowly, he enters you, gritting his teeth as he feels your tight walls constrict around his cock. Your thighs shiver as he pushes inch by inch inside until his balls press against your ass. You wrap your arms and legs around him, desperate to be as close as you can as you feel him start to pull out. He kisses your neck, beginning a slow pace, grinding against you when he’s all the way.

The room fills with a melody of moans, whimpers, and soft slapping of heavy balls. Your body shivers as orgasm after orgasm is milked from you with no remorse. His soft baritone coaxes you to let go, to embrace the abyss of pleasure that only he can send you to.

“Such a good boy, so sweet and tight for me. I love you. I love you so much,” he repeats like a mantra. Your nails dig into his shoulders, desperately trying to hold onto something, anything as he pounds you into oblivion.

Kento’s cock throbs as he nears his end. Pulling back, he cups your face, looking you in the eye. You try to keep your eyes open, leaning into his touch.

“Let go with me, fall apart for me, my song, I’m right here to catch you,” he pants as his grip on your hip tightens. Your legs tighten around him as you pull him closer. Foreheads pressed together, panting and breathing in each other, your eyes roll back as you finally let go. Clenching around him tightly, you moan to the heavens, gripping his body like a vice.

As he cums inside of you with a growl, he holds you close to him. Shaking as he feels his balls clench, he pulls back to give you air, petting your face and helping you come down.

Between us quickly

In a naked

Room.

(Poem by Langston Hughs)

#cernunnos thoughts #cernunnos writing #ftm!reader #poc!reader #jjba smut #jjk #jjk x reader #jjk nanami #jjk fanfic #nanami x reader #jujutsu kaisen nanami #nanami smut #nanami kento #tteokdoroki

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zephyoongist · 3 years

Text

Jeon Jeongguk was just an acquaintance. The child of a family friend.

That is, until our parents decide to get us engaged.

One night, and a few glasses of champagne too many, Mr. Jeon made a slip of tongue. Something about “telling you two when you’re older” and “but they’ve been getting along so well, haven’t they?” and finally, “we didn’t need to worry about the breaking the news of the engagement.”

Powerless as we were, only at the age of barely 18, we decided we’d go along with it.

If only to part ways somewhere along the line after we’ve got enough recognition. Enough power to go on without the other’s support and without clinging onto our parents’ influence.

Now, at the age of 25, one succeeded the family business and the other flying from one country to another in chase of strengthening her connections.

Yet at the age of 25, we still couldn’t shake off our family’s influence.

“Should we just get married?” Jeongguk suggests, twirling the glass of deep red wine in his hand - he looks absolutely handsome with the first two buttons of his shirt undone, sleeves rolled up to his elbows and disheveled hair that telltales a run of fingers over them one too many times before he arrived here.

At our supposed matrimonial home.

Our parents gifted us a penthouse when they found out we were dating. It was for show but this house has become our safe haven. A place for only him and I. A space where we can just be.

“At this point, it doesn’t sound half bad - getting married to you,” I pull on the shawl wrapped around my nightgown adorned body, lifting the glass of whiskey and clinking it with his when he raised it to me, “I’ve given up on the notion of love after my parents screamed divorce for like, the hundredth time.”

“We won’t be like them,” it’s so easy for Jeongguk to proclaim those words.

A surety that we wouldn’t turn out like our progenitors.

“At least, we’re friends,” which is to say we never had such strong feelings for each other in the first place.

Passion breeds love and love leads to hate once all the excitement and fire shimmers down. Our parents’ only known the high life - we’re different, Jeongguk and I, we’ve adamant about hiding our family backgrounds. Choosing to go to public schools and university - of course at the expanse of promising to go together.

“Alright then, let’s get married,” he sets the glass down, its contents barely touched before he pushes himself up, hand outstretched to me.

“Wha-” I’m sure I look like a fool, staring at him with round eyes and slacked jaw but it’s not a face Jeongguk’s never seen. If I were in love with him, I’d be a little more concerned about my appearance.

But I’m not.

And once I recover from that shocking proposal, I take his hand.

By the age of 26, we’re pressured for a child. An heir to the family that will carry on the legacy on his back like we did our whole lives.

To say Jeongguk and I have never consummated our marriage would be a lie. Attraction shouldn’t be equated to romantic feelings. We know that and we fucked knowing that this means nothing more than a way to relief our stresses.

But lately, Jeongguk’s been rather... odd.

I find his hand on my waist or grasping mine even when we’ve stepped out of the crowded hall where the main event was held. Those forehead kisses whenever he comes home and I’m around - aren’t so bad. If at all. He tells me to stay in bed while he makes us breakfast but we end up going out for brunch with empty stomachs and suit cases in the car - the renovation to fix the burned walls will take about 3 months.

We use that as an excuse to drop off the face of the earth and spend it in a private island gifted to us by our parents upon the news of our elopement.

So to say we didn’t love each other would be a lie. But to say we have romantic feelings for each other would be as ambiguous.

It’s too easy.

Far too effortless to be together compared to the relationships I’ve seen lifted up and burned to ashes.

Our friends and family asks how we keep from ripping our hair out for whatever reason at certain points of our relationship.

We say it’s because we adore each other so much.

Truth is, we’re just not as romantically involved to feel such frustrations.

“Do you want to have sex on the beach?” Jeongguk suggests one fine evening as we’re having steak on the balcony with the curtains swaying with the coming wind.

It’s so sudden - just like our impromptus marriage, I almost choked.

“Wh-what-” and just like that night, I must have looked like a bigger fool to be flustered and embarrassed at his uncannily direct proposition.

I don’t know what’s going on - these days, I get flustered too easily.

Jeongguk shoulder line shifts as he shrugs, my embarrassment causing his cheeks to redden too, “just thought we should try it. It’s okay if you’re not com-”

“I- I wouldn’t mind that,” I say, eyes casted down, cheeks growing hotter when I hear the silence and the ‘o-oh’ a second later, as if he didn’t expect me to agree.

As if he knew me like the back of his hand.

I thought I knew him too.

The next day, accompanied with the breeze of the ocean and feeling of sand on my skin as Jeongguk groans into my shoulder - I thought I’d go insane.

And insane I went, for ever since then, I couldn’t even look at him in the eye without having my heart race and the cheeks heat up. And yet, he keeps coming home with flowers every two weeks until my room smells like spring. He keeps kissing me on the forehead when he hands me the bouquet.

At the age of 27, I throw the bouquet he brought back. It hits his chest and crashes against the ground in between his feet.

“How long has it been going on?!” I don’t know why my heart feels like it’s being crushed into a million pieces.

It’s not as if Jeongguk’s line of work saves him from all the stunningly beautiful women - it’s just that I didn’t care back then.

So why - why did it break me so when I see him with his hand around another woman’s waist as they walk to his car in broad daylight.

“What do you mean-” his rich brown eyes are clouded with confusion, those pink lips parted without a sound, hands freeze in the air as if he’s trying to reach for me but stops halfway.

Perhaps because he knows his faults.

That night, I climb into bed with tear stained face after crying my eyes out in the bathtub.

But that night, Jeongguk came to me, a knock on the door and a “can I come in?” I didn’t answer but I feel the dip of the bed a second later before familiar, strong arms wrap around me from behind. A warm breath on my shoulder as he mumbles into my skin, “she’s the wife of the CEO whose company we’re negotiating with. She was feeling sick so I helped her to the car. Doesn’t excuse what I did but I called and broke off the deal.”

We fall asleep in each other’s for the first time since that night at the private island.

And at the age of 28, as I watch him play with my cousin’s toddler, I realize that I want a family with him. Not because we’re obligated to continue the bloodline at some point.

But because, perhaps, all this time -

“I may have loved you all along,” I murmur as I share my feelings with him that night, cuddled up in my bed - he’s been coming to sleep with me, his own room now feeling scarce of life as his belongings begin to fill up the spots in my space.

And for the first time since I’ve known Jeon Jeongguk, he hiccups - pressing his hand to his lips as his eyes brim with tears.

“Fuck,” he laughs, wiping the tears away with the back of his hand, “this is so uncool - come on, close your eyes - I’ll tell you when I stop bawling like an idiot.”

“I don’t want to - I’m done running away from the things that I fear would happen if I fall in love,” my hands frame around his face, “I want to face you with my whole heart - I... I want to be your wife, your lover, your support... your everything, Jeongguk as you are mine.”

The waterworks comes in full force, Jeongguk’s hiccupping and sniffling as his eyes bore into mine, my hands are damp from wiping his tears so he wouldn’t rub his eyes red in his fervor.

That night, we fall asleep in each other’s arms, knowing tomorrow will be a different, much brighter day.

note. ok so ionno what i did lol but hope it’s enjoyable.

#bts fic #jungkook fic #jungkook fanfic #bts smut #jungkook smut #jungkook fanfiction #bts fanfic #bts fanfiction #jungkook x reader #bts x reader #bts scenarios #jungkook scenarios #jungkook scenario #bts scenario #bts imagines #jungkook imagines #shortings

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3pirouette · 3 years

Text

Fic: The Good Doctor: Learning Curve (1/1)

Title: The Good Doctor: Learning Curve

By: TriplePirouette/3Pirouette

Disclaimer: They're not mine.

The Good Doctor Series on AO3

Learning Curve on AO3

Story Summary: Peggy didn’t realize that she’d put her foot in her mouth when she’d asked Barton if he was a father.

Satisfies the Clint Barton Square for my Steggy Bingo Bash and Day 5 of Steggy Week: Favorite Trope/Genre. Usually the “getting used to the future” trope is saved for Steve, but I thought we’d turn it on its head a little.

A/N: Clint is… a mystery to me. He’s one of the characters I rarely write because I don’t feel like I have a good hold on who he is internally. As a square for my SBB, this is a challenge, but I really liked this idea, and I love this universe, so… Also, I now really like this soft, Daddy!Clint.

~*~

Peggy hated crying.

She hated showing anyone any kind of weakness.

She especially hated crying in the shared kitchen where anyone could come in and just see her standing in the middle of the kitchen, crying. Even though she knew she was alone, that didn’t make it feel any less public or exposed.

But she didn’t really have much of a choice, not when every single thing she’d tried to accomplish today had felt like a struggle and just out of her grasp and Steve was off somewhere and she was here, alone, trying to figure out just when to give up and try to talk to the disembodied voice in the ceiling or call Tony’s girlfriend who was currently all the way across the country.

She reached out to the counter, sniffling, eyes filled with tears from both the smoke of her burnt chicken and the emotional release she was having. She pulled at the slip of paper, trying to make out the number.

“You could just call her, you know.”

She jumped at the voice, warm and soft and male and very much not the AI she’d been expecting. She swiped at her eyes, sniffing away the tears. “I’m sorry?”

“Pepper. She wouldn’t mind.” The man gestured at the paper. “She’s pretty nice, once you get past that outer shell of cold-hearted CEO. She’s actually pretty down to earth.” He shrugged and moved past Peggy into the kitchen. “I mean, you could ask Friday for help, too, but she’s not as good as Jarvis was.”

Peggy watched as he moved around her, seemingly glued to the spot as he pulled her ruined chicken from what she thought had been an oven. “I mean, it’s not your fault everything around here is suped up to eleven.” He shrugged and tossed the chicken in the trash before he ran water in the tray and set it in the sink to soak.

“Who…”

Peggy didn’t even get out the whole sentence before he held his hand out to her. “Clint Barton.” He smiled, but it faded when she didn’t take his hand. He let it drop and moved back to the cabinets. “Picking up some tech and meeting the team in Hungry in the morning. Steve said you’d be here.” He started opening cabinets and picking through the cupboard. “Figured I’d see if there was anything worth scavenging here before we’re on freeze dried protein bars for the next few days.” He turned to her, face scrunching up. “They’re so dry.”

Peggy watched as he walked past the oven and flicked a switch, the overhead fan turning on and pulling the residual smoke from the air.

“Looks like there isn’t much… Wanda make any of that Pepper-stuff?”

“Paprikash?” Peggy stuttered out, still shocked at the ease he was moving around.

“Yeah!” He smiled and pointed at her, moving to the refrigerator. “I have no idea what’s in it, but it’s good.” He pulled out a glass container and smiled. “Bingo! Want some?”

Peggy nodded, shaking herself out of her stupor. “I’m afraid I’ll be of little use lest I burn down the kitchen.”

“Nah,” Clint moved around swiftly, barely looking as he pulled pots and spoons and bowls and set the stew to warm on the stove. “Friday’d activate the fire suppressants first.”

Clint leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms, looking her over. “Please tell me you weren’t crying over just a burnt piece of chicken?”

She cleared her throat, feeling suddenly caught. “Well, I…” she let the sentence drift off, not sure if she could get it all out without falling apart again.

He let the silence hang for a moment before he softened his face as he busied himself but getting the leftovers on the stove. “Steve asked me to check on you. Said he’s been calling and calling and you weren’t answering.”

Tears welled in her eyes. “I… I…” Her hands flailed at her sides and the emotional release that had been so rudely interrupted by Barton’s appearance returned in full force.

He immediately moved forward, eyes soft, voice softer. “Hey, hey. Now it can’t be that bad.”

“I broke the phone!” She cried out, hands flailing in front of her and miming her frustrations out. “The little metal piece that goes in to charge it broke off and then I couldn’t charge it and none of the other ones would fit in it because I’d broke off the little piece inside and I tried to get it out but then I ended up making it worse because it wouldn’t turn on and I didn’t know how to fix it and then I was talking to Friday and I don’t know who Jarvis is but that woman in the ceiling knows nothing about phone and kept telling me to charge it and I couldn’t and…” She took a deep breath and dissolved into more tears.

“Woah, woah, woah,” Clint cooed, moving her over to one of the kitchen stools. “Sit. Take a deep breath,” he maneuvered away, filling a glass of water while he kept his eyes on her, “In for five, out for five, come on.” He modeled the breathing in front of her, waiting until she’d managed to even hers out before handing her the glass. “Little sips, ok?”

Peggy nodded, and he watched her as she caught her breath. When he seemed satisfied she wasn’t going to hyperventilate, he stepped back around and stirred the simmering paprikash.

She was quiet until she was no more than breathing heavy, swiping at the tears still falling down her cheeks. “I’m sorry. That was… I’m sorry.”

“You know,” he started, almost ignoring her apology, “If I’d been pulled out of green goop and found out it was seventy years later in an entirely new world and my clone had ruined everything I’d try to build, I’d be a little upset, too.” He looked up at her, a half-smile on his face. “No one expects you to understand everything right away.”

She didn’t even have to think about her response. “I do.”

“Yeah, well,” he ladled out the stew into two steaming bowls, “Maybe you should give yourself some slack, too.”

She watched as he slid the bowls over than moved around the counter, gesturing to the seat next to her. “You mind? I won’t get much company the next few days.”

“Not at all,” she whispered, taking the warm bowl in her hands. She breathed in the warm, spicy steam but didn’t move to taste it, instead watching cautiously as Clint started taking heaping mouthfuls.

“You should eat,” he murmured around another spoonful. “You’ll feel better.”

Feeling like a chided child, she took the spoon and dipped it in. She hated to admit that he was right: after a few mouthfuls, she started to feel more like herself. “You must have children,” she said softly. “You were really quite good at stopping that tantrum.”

She noticed immediately the way he stiffened up, the way he carefully didn’t look at her and the way he deliberately took another mouthful of the stew. Peggy didn’t realize that she’d put her foot in her mouth when she’d asked Barton if he was a father. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “It’s none of my business.”

“No,” he replied softly, setting his spoon in the bowl and wiping his mouth off with a napkin. “It’s just….” He turned in his chair, leaning on the counter as he looked at her. “I’ve worked with these people for so long, and not one has ever picked up on that. Five minutes and you’re pinning me down.” He smiled and laughed through his nose, turning back to his stew. “What do ya know.”

Peggy kept her eyes glued to him. “What do you mean?”

He laughed for real this time and turned back to her, smiling. “They used to say that Peggy Carter was sharp as a tack. That she could look at you and know everything about you. But when Shield fell and everything with Zola came to light…” Barton shrugged. “People didn’t seem to tell the war stories anymore. Just kinda, phased Director Carter out of Shield’s history. But here you are, in the flesh, and in less than five minutes you’ve got me pegged.” He laughed lightly again, playing with the spoon in his bowl. “You really are that much larger than life, aren’t you?”

Peggy didn’t really know what to make of all he’d said, she was still catching up with all she’d missed, and had steadfastly stayed away from information on the other her. She shrugged. “I’m just an agent, Mr. Barton. A spy. One that takes pride in her craft.” She pointed at him. “You stayed calm in the face of a crying woman, something that not many men can do, I assure you. But not only that, you moved about and settled the situation without any muss or fuss. You’re kind. And Intuitive. And have clearly dealt with toddlers before.” She laughed a little at the last part. “It’s not a hard jump.”

“Three kids. Two boys and a girl,” he whispered, pride exuding from him. “And I do everything I can to make sure as many people know as little about them as possible so they can stay safe.”

“I’d say that’s a smart move in your line of work,” she replied softly.

“Yeah,” he said, daydreaming as if he could see his children before him. It was a long moment before he turned back to her, his melancholy gone and the confident, nearly hyper man she’d first met back. “Let’s get this cleaned up and I’ll help you get set up with a new phone, ok?” He pulled his out of his pocket and started pressing the glass screen before handing it to her, the rings loud in the quiet space. “But first…”

“Barton?” Steve’s voice carried between them loud and clear.

“Here with Peg, Cap.” He smiled at Peggy. “All is well except for a few technology mishaps and a burnt chicken. I’ll get her all squared away before I head out.” He handed her the phone. “You two chat for a bit while I get all this cleaned up.” He hit another button and Steve’s voice was smaller, coming from the earpiece at the top of the square.

Peggy mouthed a thank you as she pulled the phone up to her ear, stepping away and out of the kitchen, watching as the man moved with a lithe grace to clean up as Steve rambled away in her ear.

She placated him quickly, telling him what had happened and feeling no real comfort at his reassurances that it was okay. She hadn’t been lying when talking to Barton: she expected more of herself. The pace she was moving at seemed far too slow compared to the life she’d led, and she wanted out of the invisible boundaries that constantly popped up and surprised her.

Steve was saying his goodbyes before she knew it, and all too soon she was left with a dark cell phone in her hand the faint noise of Barton moving about the small kitchen. With a deep breath she moved forward, holding his phone out to him. “Thank you.”

His smile was small but sincere. “You’re welcome.” He turned, waving his hand over his shoulder for her to follow him. “There’s always an extra phone or two down in storage, between me and Friday we’ll get it all set up for you.”

She followed him wordlessly to the elevator and slipped in next to him, shoving her hands in her pockets to keep from fidgeting. “I won’t tell,” she blurted out somewhere between floors 28 and 22.

Clint smiled, but didn’t turn his head to look at her. “They all know now, anyway. But I appreciate that.”

“I know how hard it can be,” she nearly whispered, turning her eyes to the numbers instead of his profile, “to find people you can trust. To feel like you’re safe. To feel like you have something of your own.” She nodded. “I won’t tell. Ever.”

The door opened with a soft chime, but he didn’t move to exit, just turned at her and smiled a little. “You really are that good, aren’t you?” He extended his arm and tipped his head, waiting for her to step out of the elevator before he did, quickly moving next to her to lead the way. He stopped at the first storage room and let his fingers fly over the keypad. “You know, I’m glad he has someone.” The door slid open and he disappeared, Peggy rushed to follow as he moved down the shelf lined room. “I’m glad you have someone, too, for that matter. This does get lonely.” He stopped, scanned a shelf, and picked up a box, flipping it in the air theatrically before turning and presenting it to her. “We’re a bit of a mish-mash of misfits. The weird kids.” He shrugged, but didn’t seem all that bothered by his own description, “But if you need a friend? Back-up? There’s no one else I’d want to have my back than these people.”

Clint smiled at her as she took the box. “You’re a part of that now, like it or not. You call, we’ll come running. And once you’re ready, I have no doubts you’d do the same for any of us.”

Peggy looked down at the box then back up at Clint, still standing there smiling at her. She couldn’t help it if her eyes watered a little. “Well, that’s quite the tall order to fill.”

He didn’t answer, just smirked and patted her on the shoulder as he passed her. She watched as he walked back down the hall for a long moment before she ran to catch up, quickly realizing she neither knew how to get back upstairs through the labyrinth of the tower nor how to set up the new phone.

She also had the distinct feeling that somehow, she’d made her first real friend since being in the tower. Someone that saw her, not what she’d been through.

“We’ll start with using a cell phone,” he let his voice ring out in the space, “then we’ll work on being an Avenger.”

Peggy smiled, feeling like that was a feat she might actually be able to accomplish one day now that she knew she had more than just Steve on her side.

#steggyweek21 #steggy bingo bash #3P's Fic

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goldenlaquer · 4 years

Note

Hey, can I ask for some headcanons, please? For Gin, Toshi, Sougo and Kamui. About how they were in a fight, separated from their so and something happened like an exposion or whatever, anyway the main point is that they thought that their so have died but later they see her alive and relatively unharmed. So the headcanons of them when they thought they lost their so and when they see that she is ok. Sorry, this is so specific and long, I'm just a slut for some angst and I love your writings

Thank you for the support and sorry for the wait! I don’t know if I’m that much good at conveying angst but let’s bring on the feels!

Gintama Headcanons:

Hijikata Toushirou:

Hijikata stands on top of a pile of rubble, and surveys the destruction around him.

His hands don’t shake. His feet are firm against the ground. His shoulders are straight and rigid against the fleeting wind. Smoke escapes him in steady stream, and when he inhales in, the dust and fire of the air sticks to the walls of his lungs like sludge.

To the men who stop to look at their vice-commander with their ugly concerns plastered on their ugly mugs: He’s fine.

To the Gorilla who can’t stop asking him the question every ten minutes and that, he really should take a break or else at this rate, he’ll collapse: He’s fine.

To the brat who stubbornly stays by his side like spit-up gum on the sole of his shoe: He’s fine, damn it, so go do your job and leave him alone.

For once, Sougo doesn’t have anything clever to quip back at him. He doesn’t need to-- the silence between them speaks better than words. And Hijikata hates what it says, so he turns back to the grey landscape, eyes darting and sifting through the mangled and charred parts to see something, anything that is you.

Nothing.

He reaches for a cigarette, pulls it out of his pocket like second nature. The lighter is the trickier to work. The blasted thing refuses to flicker on. Oh, the cigarette falls down. Hijikata bends to pick it up. He tries again. The cigarette falls down. He stares at it. His shoe crushes it. He’s stomping down hard. Sougo is still silent, watching. Hijikata doesn’t care.

The facade of normalcy is gone. Here he is: Taking his frustrations out on a sad little cig, like it’s the cause of all his fucking problems, like it’s going to bring you back. Harsh pants come out of his mouth, and in another series, they’d sound like something akin to sobs, but his face is dry.

“Hijikata.” He ignores Sougo. The cigarette is reduced to paper and dry leaves scuffed against concrete. “Hijikata.” He doesn’t answer.

Okita, with an eye-roll, kicks Hijikata square in the back and knocks him off the pile.

Sougo, what the fuck? He. Is. Mourning. Hijikata has always known Sougo to be insensitive, but this is blatantly crossing several lines and he clearly doesn’t have the emotional capacity to deal with.

But if it’s a fight that bastard wants, Hijikata will give it to him. He leaps up from the ground, ready to hand Sougo an express ticket to hell, misty eyes narrowing in anger as he looks up

and the breath is knocked out of him in a way that years of chain-smoking had miraculously failed to do

Standing before him, white particles clinging to your clothes, hair, and eyebrows, is the damn most beautiful sight he’s ever seen. The feet move faster than he can process, and by the time his arms are around you and he’s breathing in the scent he thought he’d lost forever

“Fuck.” Because that’s the only appropriate response he can say without his voice cracking. “Don’t do that again.”

Kamui:

Loss is not a new thing. It was in the labored rise and fall of his mother’s chest, the pallidness of her white skin. The feel of his sister’s small hands, fisting in his clothes and pleadingly tugging back, her blue eyes wide and wet. It was in the looming shape of his father’s retreating back.

But there were other, worthier things to focus on. The pain in his knuckles slamming against bone and muscle. The taut stretch of his lips as he licks his wounds, tasting metal and victory. The title of ‘Universe’s Strongest’ nearly within his grasp. He didn’t have time for the weak. Didn’t have time to be weak.

Loss is not new, and yet there is something about this loss. Now, Loss is a sentient being, latching to his throat and squeezing as he grapples through the mud.

Abuto’s face is too blank and too careful. His voice is low and calm and reasoning, and he is saying things, but Kamui doesn’t listen. The words ‘she’ and ‘gone’ don’t mix, they don’t make any sense, so why should he listen? He digs and digs and digs, not hearing, he can’t, his ears and eyes are filled with the same muddy brown that must also be filling yours. Kamui works even faster, his nails splintering against the rocks embedded in the wet ground.

Hair released from its braid, trussed and caked in dirt. Pupils dilated, black swallowing blue. His face abnormally slack as he claws in frenzy, in desperation at the ground like a wild animal.

There are few things in this world Kamui can’t fight. No matter his strength, one cannot simply beat Mother Nature into submission. But there is no excuse. If he cannot save one woman from something as stupid as dirt, then what is the point? What use is his strength? He didn’t leave that tiny, rainy planet, ignoring all the things left behind with it, to become this weakling who couldn’t even manage to keep you by his side like he promised.

He’s a young brat again, helplessness coloring every pore. A damsel in distress. Someone who can’t save, but needs saving. He is no different than the baldy. Unable to keep promises. Unable to protect. Unable to do anything. Was he always this fragile? Pathetic.

Pathetic. Pathetic. Pathetic. The word is a punishing mantra in his mind.

Something crashes into him. It’s not near enough to make him pause in his digging, but the something is tugging on his clothes. Incoherent, muffled shouting in his ears. He doesn’t pay it any mind because mud keeps slipping back in place despite all his useless strength and you’re still trapped, waiting for him--

“KAMUI!”

He blinks in surprise, snapping from the heavy cloud covering his mind. He’s flat on the ground, staring up at you. How he got there, he doesn’t know, but you are here in front of him, covered head-to-toe in mud and crying.

He is silent, watching as you blubber concerns and curses. A curious hand reaches out to your face in wonder, carefully tracing the path that a salty tear had made down your cheek. The familiarity of your soft skin warms his numb body and a small smile emerges from his lips.

As you sit on top of him, crying not because you are scared but because he’s such a stupid idiot, he realizes that that he isn’t all alone just yet, that there’s one thing that refuses to leave him.

Okita Sougo:

It’s happening again. And it honestly makes him want to laugh.

He doesn’t believe in it, karma, but when you think that you’ve gotten used to the pain of losing someone you love, his rotten, black heart has to go and get ripped out for the second time as if he forgot, as if he needed reminding that there’s no way someone like him deserves something as good as happiness. There’s no other explanation to this shit luck other than that, for the accumulation of every filthy deed he’s done with his filthy hands and every fucking sin he has committed once and twice and will most definitely commit thrice, someone has to pay for it.

And because Karma is two bitches and a half, that someone wasn’t him.

There it is. The laughter finally comes out as he looks at the torn fabric in his clenched fist. It comes out harsh and hollow and, if you listened hard enough, choked, but who’s checking? Not him. Not Mitsuba. And certainly not you.

He reported it to the vice-commander himself, voice robotic, telling how he was walking front of you when it happened, how the enemy somehow managed to predict your movements and ambushed the both of you on a bridge, how he had been unable to react in time to stop the silver flash of a knife and how the world tilted, too fast and too slow, and that there was a piece of hanging rope that he managed to snag on to with one hand and when he blindly flashed out the other to grasp at you, reaching through free air and snatching at cloth, it ripped from his fingers, and you fell to the chasm below. Deep enough, Okita said as he looked straight into Hijikata’s eyes, that death would be quick and painless.

If nothing else could go right for him, then at least for this, he hoped, even fucking prayed, that it was painless.

Hijikata doesn’t react to the report with anything unnecessary, just a stiff upper lip and an “okay” before he walks off to stand somewhere far enough, yet close enough. For all their differences, Hijikata knows. He understands losing youthful love, and that the pity that comes with it is nothing more than steaming trash. In this way and other ways that he’d sooner eat shit than to admit aloud, Okita is grateful for him.

He stops mid mirthless chuckle to shove the hand holding what’s left of you up to his eyes, slanting his head downwards so his bangs cover what he doesn’t want the world to know what he’s somehow still capable of. Hijikata is tactfully looking away. Over the distance, Kondo is bellowing orders to his men who keep a wide berth from the spot where their 1st Division Captain stands. This is the only opportunity he can afford to be an eighteen year old again. Sougo swallows thickly, feeling the roughness of fabric dampen against his eyelids.

Acutely, he hears the sound of footsteps. It is slow and steady and he thinks that they belong Kondo at first but the weight of them is too light for a gorilla. Before he can process this information further, the steps halt for several long seconds before starting again, this time faster and more urgent, lurching in his direction. Hijikata mutters an astounded “shit” but for whatever reason doesn’t move to intercept. Okita really isn’t in the mood to deal with dumbasses but the sword by his side is already unsheathed and he’s aiming his red eyes to glare at whoever the fuck--

Arms wrap around his waist. A face burrows into his chest. His knees almost give out, but his name is Okita Sougo and he has already maxed out his whiny bitch points for the next decade. Instead, he drops his sword to cup the back of your very-much-alive head, caressing the wet silk of it before threading his trembling fingers through the strands to

sharply tug you from his chest and grasp your cheeks with one hand, squeezing your expression to that of a startled fish.

“Now,” Okita murmers, the smirk on his lips at odds with how fucking great it feels to see you again. “What should I do with you?”

Sakata Gintoki:

Before they say anything, he knows.

He has seen that type of expression too many times to ever forget the set jaw, the horrible attempt at stilling a trembling bottom lip, the unshed tears of eyes that can’t seem to stop roving, unable to face the recipient of bad news for more than half a second, and the pallidness of knuckles straining against skin, holding onto their clothes like a lifeline.

He knows this expression so well he can gaze down at Shinpachi and Kagura with well-placed apathy, perfectly appearing as if his lungs aren’t threatening to collapse on itself when he notices who is not there with them, and tell them in his same old way to stop sucking on their teeth and finish what they can’t seem to get out because he has an appointment at the pachinko parlor at four and if they don’t finish up this job by three-thirty he is going to dock their nonexistent pay by 80%. It hides the rising nausea and stone weight of the stomach well.

This time, however, his casual rudeness doesn’t make them react the way he wants them to, it only makes them fold into themselves even further.

The thing is, no matter how many times you see it and know better than to entertain it, there’s always this one glimmer of hope, so ridiculously strong that you’d gladly pray to anyone and everyone, even if you don’t really believe, because if anything is possible then it better be possible that this isn’t bad news, or that even if it is bad news then the worst of the pinched expression is just a by-product of eating food gone bad or the pain of an ingrown toenail, that it isn’t about someone dying or dead.

But life rarely goes like that, and Gintoki lives in an extra-shittier life compared to most people.

When you stumble across them, hair singed and smelling of gunpowder and smoke, there is something so thick and so wrong with the air, something that makes you stop from crying out in elation at seeing the people you love most. Shinpachi is fastidiously rubbing his eyes and Kagura has her face buried against Sadaharu’s fur and Gintoki

Gintoki looks alone. And you don’t think you have ever seen him look like that, so withdrawn into himself that even if he is surrounded by people, there’s nothing that can come close to him, nothing that can ease the dull bleakness of his eyes and the defeated hunch of his shoulders. He looks like a single thread worn too thin, on the verge of snapping. He looks like nothing matters anymore. Nothing.

You dislike it. You hate it. You hate it so much, to see this man turn into something so unfamiliar and terrifying and gut out. You don’t know this Gintoki. You want the other one back, the one who wouldn’t hesitate to smear dog shit and boogers on the back of your jacket and the one who doesn’t really mind it when you take a sip of his spoiled strawberry milk.

So when you shout out loudly, so loud that vibrates the space, that you’re here and alive and that you didn’t, couldn’t die because how could such a measly explosion off you when there were idiots waiting back home for you, to see Kagura and Shinpachi fly to you, screaming and whooping as they open their arms wide for your hug, snot running down their noses, and Gintoki snap his head up, disbelieving at first, yet searching your form with a speck of hope that brings life back to his dead eyes, and when he finds whatever he was searching for, he goes to you on steady feet, folding his arms around the group, gaze still drinking your form up as he leans across Shinpachi’s and Kagura’s heads to bump his forehead against yours, his breath sighing out something like relief-- it almost makes you cry, or maybe it does because you can feel something wet trailing down your face.

Gintoki is silent for the most part, because Kagura and Shinpachi are doing most of the talking for him, but when he does speak, it is to say:

“Damn, there goes the life insurance money.”

#gintama #gintama headcanons #gintama x reader #gintama imagine #sakata gintoki #kamui yato #hijikata toushirou #okita sougo #answered ask #asks closed

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lsobelevans · 3 years

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Horror tropes? In my Roswell, New mexico? It’s more likely than you think!

In this essay I will...

...be mentioning a few horror/thriller movies and while nothing explicitly gory or scary will be shown in this post, those movies definitely contain scenes and themes that can be disturbing/scary/triggering, do your researches if you’ve got doubts!

...be focusing on the Maria and Alex road-trip, from the moment the car breaks down to the last scene with Travis’ twin. I’m probably going to be led to briefly mention the other scenes that are intertwined with this arc (the echo date and the Planet 7 Kyle and Isobel scene, as well as the marlex car drive when I feel like it is relevant).

...be approaching specific themes that are used in the scenes that compose this little arc and also more general ones like sound, editing, cinematography and color.

... be reaching a lot. I do not think everything I will be mentioning is 100% thought-out and voluntary (although you never know). But I’m a firm believer that in filmmaking, yes even inside a CW show, the symbolism comes through subconsciously. So like, maybe they didn’t mean to use corn field as a mark for transition, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that this symbolism works with the story they’re telling and for the journey the characters are in that moment. Additionally, lighting, decor and costumes are always a choice, just like the camera doesn’t position itself randomly, someone’s behind and thinking of the composition of shots that, even if it’s in a basic way, has meaning.

... be starting chronologically but I’ll also make jumps backward and forward, grasping on themes when they come up. Ok, then, let’s dive in!

This episode references and uses a lot of the iconic mechanisms of the horror movie genre. Alex and Maria’s comfortable road trip atmosphere, open hearted conversation in the car, breaks at the same time as the car itself breaks. The camera, steady so far, the shots following a well known pattern of shot/counter-shot, becomes more unpredictable and shakier and suddenly we’re out of the car, and bam, large shot.

From the moment they’re out of the car, you won’t be able to see the horizon. Maria and Alex are stuck in a corn field, and they’re stuck in the frame.

Then poof, Travis appears out of nowhere, accompanied with a pang of music, frightening us and them. Well, more exactly, it cuts on a shot that we’ve seen before without Travis, now with Travis, which gives us the appearing out of nowhere effect.

Alex says it best.

Well now they’re stuck with a strange guy with an axe, and in a corn field 😬

Hey, have you seen he’s got an axe??? or do you need a close-up???

Okay, this scene ends there. So, let’s take a break and talk about cornfields. There’s many examples of horror movies making use of a field of corn as a location, famously Children of the Corn (1984), Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1995) Signs (2002), that last one also involving, you guessed it, aliens.

Screenshots from the Signs trailer.

Corn fields are strongly associated with rurality, especially rural America. More largely, they can represent renewal, fertility or abundance. In the contrary, they can be seen as a very ominous location due to their immensity, a labyrinth in which you can’t see very far away and from which you’ll have trouble coming out.

Although I’m pretty sure Maria’s chase in the cornfield is more of a reference to The Shining (1980) it reminded me of one of my favorite scenes from one of my favorite movies Tom à la ferme (2013), in which Tom is basically held hostage in rural Canada. The corn field chase is a turning point, the last of Tom's attempts to escape.

Cornfields apparently also often imply scarecrows, which are inherently scary in my opinion but we’ll talk about it more later.

The next scene takes place inside of Travis' cabin.

The lighting here is pretty low, the light coming from a few small sources, creating a lot of shadows. The main color is a greenish/yellow which can be associated with nature and earth, rurality, dirty, suffocating. If we look at it, the color scheme of the entire road trip is very much following this pattern of browns/yellows/greens because of the cornfield and the color of the characters costumes (the exception being Maria’s truck which is a bright red). In opposition, the scenes that are intertwined are either blue and orange for Max and Liz or a lot of pink/blues/purples for Isobel and Kyle in planet 7 (bi bi bi).

The cabin is messy, supposedly reflecting the state of the owner’s mind. We get a nice close-up on meat + a knife and all of the creepy skins on the walls. Also, it’s noticeable that from this moment on, the camera is shakier, we experience different angles too.

We are given many visual clues that something is wrong.

I’m gonna pass on the sound of the sound of the cow parodying a werewolf + the vampire diaries inside joke.

Btw, if the fact that Travis names his cows -- that he skins for a living -- like human women isn’t enough for you to think mmmm. we are in danger. Well, don’t worry. The cw spells it out for you!!

We know Alex! We got contextual clues!

Right after this, Alex and Maria make another direct reference to being in a horror movie situation.

ALEX: This is why I don’t like horror films. The gay guy always dies first.

MARIA: ????

ALEX: Or... second. Okay, that’s fair. That look, that’s fair.

I think this bit is interesting, because not only does it denounce an horror movie cliché (the black person of the cast dies first, the queer person is second) but also in this situation I believe it can be see as kind of a callout on the fandom’s behavior that i’m not gonna spell out for you but yeah. Fellow queer people, don’t forget you’re not the only one who is sometimes badly/unfairly represented.

Moving on. In the next scene, Alex is searching the cabin for clues, and we are also given some about Travis.

Either he has a twin brother or he’s got a framed picture of himself on his wall. Oh, and he’s military.

Then Travis startles Alex and plays a little bit of banjo, which is a good excuse to stop and talk about music. The show uses a lot of diegetic music aka music that is present in the universe of the story, that the characters can also hear. It justify the use of said music and it ties the audio with the picture.

The banjo already is heard at the very beginning of the arc during a cut from the planet 7 scene to the road trip scene. We get a few notes that indicate a change of scenery and that helps smooth up the transition, and I’m pretty sure it was also supposed to be diegetic music coming from Maria’s radio. The banjo, like the corn field, is super linked with rurality and rural America (again!)

Another reference of the banjo in horror/thriller would be Deliverance (1972).

youtube

I can’t not think of this movie when I hear banjo unfortunately.

The way Travis plays, aggressively bad, and while singing I Think We’re Alone Now, is supposed to make you think about that scene in The Umbrella Academy be quite unsettling, another point for isolation horror.

So sweet of Travis to attack Alex with a guitar, and then a smol knife, and not with the axe <3.

Then we’ve got a traveling zoom-in (or equivalent I’m not sure it isn’t a steady-cam here but the effect is the same) on Maria. This kind of effect can feel a little bit over-the-top and dramatic, in a old genre movie kind of way. It is usually used to bring the audience in, make it feel like you’re evolving in the same universe as the characters (here you’re walking toward Maria). In a scene where you should feel scared, it can be a mean to make you feel more engaged, as well as underlining Maria’s expression, her fear. In my opinion, this is also a way to tell you that from now on, Maria is the main character of this arc, the one that you will be following after the commercial break (that occurs right after) and making it more suspenseful.

The scene after the break is the start of the corn-field chase. Travis steps out of the cabin, the cuts are faster, many close-shots, some even out of focus, that accelerate the rhythm, and a long fade-in of a new song: a modern, electronic song (Kim Petra’s Close You Eyes) completely in opposition with the acoustic banjo and with the atmosphere of the scene, which makes it strange and makes you think oh, what a weird choice! (at least it did for me lol). The lyrics, however, go very well with the scene.

I feel it coming on You've got nowhere to run There's no way you'll make it out alive

Yep.

We find out right after that the music is in fact diegetic but for Isobel and Kyle, it’s another use of music to ease a transition between 2 scenes that are different in every possible way.

Now, the corn-field chase. As I mentioned before, I believe it’s a direct reference to The Shining’s ending chase scene where Jack Torrance chases his son Danny through a vegetal labyrinth with an axe.

From the shots to the lighting (from behind or on the side, making the characters look like silhouettes) both scenes are very similar. Also, Travis is styled like Jack Nicholson ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Oh look, Michael’s here to save the day!

Oh well, guess not.

Yeah, in this scene, and like we’ve been shown before, Maria is going to be the one that saves everyone. The racist cliché of the black character dying first in a horror movie is reversed, Maria is the last one standing. The scarecrow (that looked conveniently a lot like Maria) is supposed to play in favor of the bad guy, it’s a scary element, creating confusion and unease, but here the character decides to basically take it into her own hands and bend the rules. This character says i’m not that archetype, and she’s going to be using the horror movie tools against itself.

Lastly, the final horror movie recurring theme that I’m going to talk about is the twin/the double.

Yes, twins is a spooky tool used in horror movie because their similarities make them unsettling, uncanny.

There’s also the idea that if one were to replace the other, you wouldn’t be able to tell. The impostor is a very scary concept that Roswell has also dealt with before.

I can’t be the only one that has been traumatized by that halloween special of the Simpsons where Bart has an evil twin...

It’s the last twist of the arc, there is a bad!Travis and a good!Travis. The bad one kept the other locked-up somewhere and had taken his place.

It’s particularly interesting for Roswell that has a history with twins/doppelgänger, and that since the original show. It is a clear instance of in-world foreshadowing here! (howdy)

My conclusion about all this is that the people who worked on 2x06 had a great time building the episode and it shows, while also making it enjoyable to watch and yeah, we love to see it!

#roswellmarchformeta2021 #rnmmarchformeta2021 #meta #or whatever this is ahah #tw violence #i'm so sorry i'm late for this ;___;#mine*

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chichirichick · 3 years

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SoMa Week Day 3: Protect

I may have gone a little crazy with this one... it's sort of a lyric fic inspired by @macabremermaid sending me awesome playlists for my other fics.

Check out my @soulxmakaweek entry for Day 3 on ff.net, ao3, or after the cut! Also, feel free to listen to the playlist on repeat 😘

"What the hell is this?"

There were never more dreadful words strung together, but the fact that Maka was shouting them as she was unceremoniously plopping onto his stomach while he was lying on the couch added a blistering wave of anxiety to them. As Soul realized it was in fact his laptop in her hands, the utter panic was compounded as his heart threatened to entirely spew from his chest.

Had he perhaps left a porn tab open?

Had she opened his email and saw how much money he actually spent on the new sound system that he bought for the living room?

Had she found the chat logs between him and Liz where she dogged him day in and day out about the uncomfortable reality of his feelings for his meister?

"Soul, seriously- KPop?"

I wish it was the porn, he cursed out at the universe.

"Because I go to YouTube to find a video on how to fix-"

"Why are you on my laptop though?" He finally managed to squeak, even though that was most definitely not even close to raging; it was just the poor, pathetic squeal of a man entirely metaphorically stripped.

"Mine needs to charge," she spat back as if that was a stupid question in the first place. "Going back to my point- I open it up and on the top of your playlists is this one: Mix0903. Which is filled with Korean boy bands." She leveled her eyes at him with the playful accusation. "Does that mean you have nine hundred and two other mixes of Korean pop music or are the others at least filled with the snooty music you've led us all to believe you actually like? I think Miles Davis would be rolling over in his grave-"

"Give me that!" Soul finally let some of his panic feed action rather than frozen fear as he sat up and grabbed for the laptop. Regardless of the implications, part of him wished for it to take a skyrocketing, crashing fall, shattering to bits just as his coolness had moments prior, but Maka had an iron grip on the machine. The only thing his movements earned him was Maka settling in his lap, leaning as far forward as she could manage with arms outstretched to keep the laptop from his grasp.

Yes, this position was in no way, shape, or form comfortable as her ass ground into his crotch, but at least Soul's body was more involved with the hysterics of her hitting play, of that stupid first song starting the emotional rollercoaster that he sat on at least once a week.

"BTS, Soul, seriously," Maka teased through twittering giggles. "Dimple? Do you know the dance for this? Please, please, tell me you do!"

"There's no dance," he groaned as he attempted to wrap an arm around her waist, hugging her closer so that his other hand could hopefully stretch far enough to the spacebar to at least stop the torture. Instead, he was left cursing Maka's flexibility, the tuck of her waist still leaving it out of his grasp.

"OK, OK, next!" Maka clicked a button. "Who's WOODZ?"

"You wouldn't know 'im," Soul grumbled.

"Ugh, even with K-Pop you're an insufferable hipster. You wouldn't know him, he's so underground," she added as she put on her best Soul impression.

He sucked his teeth as he heard the click again.

"OK, Shinee's a classic, Soul," Maka interrupted herself for laughter again. "But this one's a little creepy, isn't it? With all my body baby- I'll crash into you- So that I can feel- Every little thing with you."

Soul huffed.

Another click.

"VIXX?" Peels of laughter left her again. "Oh, and look at the collars, Soul! Are you serious? Is that going to be a new fashion look for you?"

As if I need more jokes from Black Star about bein' on a leash, Soul sighed.

Another click. "Worship U?"

This was spiraling out of control and Soul's only hope with the insufferable length of her reach was to let his head fall in defeat between her shoulder blades.

"If you think giving up already is going to save you from teasing…" Maka started but the words trailed off, overwhelmed by the song.

"I won't stop, never

Until the end of my life

Don't stop forever

Without wavering like this

Now don't worry, worry, worry

I will protect you-"

The line cut off quickly as Maka clicked again.

Soul's hand tensed around her wrist.

"BTS again." She was trying to laugh but it came out a little too breathy.

"Why is it so dark when you're not here

It's dangerous how wrecked I am

Save me because I can't get a grip on myself"

The arm around her waist pulled, and Maka allowed her back to curl into his chest, the laptop now well within his reach. He moved his head to hover just over her shoulder, eyes on the screen. Instead of grasping for it, his hands were busy on her skin, trying to hold her as much as he was holding the words he'd listened to a million times.

Another click.

"Even though I like you, nobody knows

Even when I see other girls, nobody's like you

I'm sorry for having no courage

You can laugh at me all you want

I'm a loser who loves you

Yes, I'm a misery

To you, I'm a nuisance, I'm an outsider

But in this world, I only need you"

"Don't know why you'd listen to that," Maka murmured. "You're such a cool guy, right?"

Soul couldn't help but feel the sting of it, even if her voice was warbly and barely above a breath.

Another click.

"I won't ever let you go again

I'll hold you, we'll be together forever

I'll cover your beautiful eyes so you won't go anywhere

I'll trap you inside of me"

Say it, Soul wanted to spit out the venom from between his teeth. It's possessive. It's awful. It's too much. That's what it feels like sometimes. Too much. It's selfish.

Instead, in the silence that came with the song cutting off, he got one more click.

"It's the last one."

"After that," he barely squeezed out the words as he pressed his face into her hair, "you gonna leave me alone?"

"If a shadow covers your light

I can't see

I get confused again

It's not like me

But you still smile for me

It's you

Will I be able to protect you?

I'm afraid"

"That was…" Maka forced a long, slow breath. "Soul, it wasn't your nine-hundred-and-third playlist, was it?"

He let out a weak laugh as he started to loosen his hold on her, his hand trying to slip away.

"September third." Maka grabbed his hand on retreat, tangling his fingers with hers. "The day we met, right?"

"Yeah," he muttered.

"And I- I actually have a dimple?"

Soul cleared his throat. "Sorta."

"Sorta," Maka echoed. Suddenly her fingers were clacking on the keyboard, hitting the enter with extra vigor. "I don't have a list, but listen."

"How much time

are you gonna spend worrying? question

I'm preparing to go to war

with the things that bother you, yes sir

My mood changes according to yours

I get so mad when I see you sad

Like a wave crashing on sand, erase it all

Your worries are no more, now only happy days are left"

Maka pushed the laptop forward and out of her hands, the song still trickling along to the chorus as she turned her head over her shoulder. "So, are you going to look at me?"

Soul leaned, letting his eyes meet hers with a searching stare.

"You always protect me." She shook her head softly, tossing his ridiculous worry aside. "And I doubt GOT7 had the kind of protection you offer in mind when they wrote that song." Maka tapped her knuckle below his shoulder where his shirt hid that blaring white scar. "You shouldn't listen to some playlist of boy bands mourning how they can't have the girl they love or they're afraid about treating her right when you do." Green eyes hit his, a plea from them, her soul, and her mouth hitting him in the face, "Tell me you do."

"That I…?"

"Stop worrying, and tell me," Maka murmured, saturated in her own fears even as she was asking him to throw away his.

"It's not just…" He sighed as he flexed his fingers in hers. "It's not just because we're meister and weapon, Maka, it's not-"

"I know," she pressed. "Can you just channel their energy for just one second and be cute and romantic?"

Soul's eyebrows shot up. "But, I-"

"Am bad at this," Maka sighed. "Fine. Soul Evans, if you can't put it into words can you at least-?"

He quickly pressed his lips to her cheek, derailing the rest of her thought entirely. Before his lips had even disengaged, Soul was squeezing his eyes shut, ready for the standard Maka-chop to clobber him into next week. When it didn't come, he knocked his forehead against her shoulder, turning his face to rest it against the warmth of her neck.

Maka reached up awkwardly to run her fingers over his hair, letting out a sweet sigh in the process. "That'll work." She giggled to herself as she reached for the laptop again. "But I want a new playlist. It's better when we make music together, right?"

#soulxmakaweek #SoMaweek2021 #SoMa #Soul Eater #KPop

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creativia10 · 3 years

Text

First Wip: Dukeceit Vs

Summary: Vigilante Janus has to deal with the chaos that is the newest villain wreaking havoc. Yet they both find themselves drawn to one another.

Notes: I decided to go ahead and try posting some of these unfinished wips. This was actually one of the first fics I attempted to write after deciding I wanted to try and participate in Dukeceit week. I actually really liked this one. I think my original intention was for this to be for the Free day (although I ended up getting a lot of Dukeceit ideas that didn't fit into the prompts). I can see myself getting back to it eventually. Sorry for the abrupt cutoff it ends with at the moment.

Pairing: Janus x Remus

Word count: 2014

Warnings: implied background violence? , innuendos (implied kink), sexual tension

Janus nearly had to swerve as he felt his weight shifted into the wall of the building he was next to.

Well this was new.

Once he got his bearings, he carefully righted himself, testing that the ground was no longer shifting underneath him, and carefully made his way out of the alley he had changed in, still using the wall as a railing in case some other natural shift occurred. He peered out of the alley carefully, working into the natural suaveness his vigilante costume normally gave him.

The city…looked like a mess. He almost couldn’t begin to describe it. Roadways were shifted about, all sorts of objects were around in a disarray as though blown there. There were simultaneous evidence of flooding and fires. Janus had never before seen such a catastrophic mess left around. He wouldn’t have believed such a thing was there if he weren’t seeing it with his own eyes.

He sighed, and carefully stepped about to find the source of all this chaos. It didn’t take long for him to hear a maniacal cackle.

“Oh what fun!”

A man dressed in all black with accents in various outlandish neon colors was floating in the middle of the city, over what looked like swirling ground debris?

He was looking about, seeming to laugh at people’s reactions to the mess he had made. Attention at things such as people trying to fix wind ruined hair, and turning around as though dizzy in disbelief. He didn’t even seem to notice Janus at first.

Janus stepped up to him and cleared his throat.

“I’m not sure why I expected anything else, “ Janus said dryly. Of all things to say first to the new chaos.

The source of chaos turned to face Janus, and tilted his head, an unhinged twinkle to his eye before suddenly his earth twister collapsed and he landed right on the ground. There was an unpleasant sound as he landed, but the man didn’t seem phased as he looked over Janus. He had strange vibrant eyes, that gave Janus a radioactive feel.

“Hmm, you the goodie here to kill my buzz?”

Janus scoffed. “Gosh no. Do I look like a bright colored government ken doll? I clearly have way more class than them. I’m just someone who wants to make sure my life doesn’t get swept up in whatever craziness this is, and have the means to do so. I’d liked to see the end of the day, and I surely expected the road being twisted into a column is not going to be helpful to getting me to work tomorrow.”

The other just stared at him for a moment before he snorted.

“Ah, that’s a good one. See…I’m not done so,” He shrugged and went back to pointing around and zapping strange bouts of nature around the city.

“Are you even putting thought into what you’re doing?” Janus asked as he slyly brought himself closer.

“Or are you just doing your best to be an annoying menace to me?”

“Hmm,” he tapped his fingers to his lips, weird bits floating around.

“I mean, I didn’t have a particular plan, but I guess annoying you is a bonus.”

Just before Janus could pull out one of his weapons, a water tentacle slunk up from out of nowhere, and pulled him towards the black clad menace, wrapping him up and restraining him. The other laughed.

“Ah, now let’s have a looksy here.”

He walked around and seemed to be taking in Janus. Janus struggled and tried to get out of the hold, surprised there was such a firm pressure and that it was hard to break hold off. He wrinkled his nose when he got a whiff that suggested this water was not the cleanest.

“Hmm,” the villain was much closer now. Janus continued to struggle, glaring at the other, who simply smiled at him.

“Ok, “

Janus rolled his eyes. He concentrated, and Remus jumped at the unexpected slithering sensation around his ankle, which helped release Janus from the water hold.

Remus looked down to see the yellow and green snake there.

“Ah, you can summon snakes. Neato.” He then reached backward and got hold of Janus’ wrists before he could use the other snake like fanged object and surprisingly brought Janus up against his back, but he held the strength.

“Oh, snakey, if you wanted to wrap me up to bind me so badly, you only needed to ask.”

Janus grimaced and tried to break out of Menace’s hold, who in turn spun him around and pressed Janus back to his front this time. Menace made a sound somewhere between a growl and a purr.

“I say, I rather like you against me.”

Janus’ eyes widened, suddenly very aware of just how warm Menace’s body was against his. He tried to get ahold of his breath, struggling for a comeback.

“What, no quip back?” Menace asked, sounding far too pleased with himself.

Janus huffed out a breath and tried his other trick again.

“Oh, that’s not going to work on me, dear.” Menace said, even when snakes wrapped around his ankles.

“You’re not concerned about them being venomous?”

“You would kill me?”

“I’m a vigilante, I play by my own rules.”

“That wasn’t an answer~,” Menace sang. “And I’m sure this would be less fun if I died.”

“Who said anything about fun? That’s your thing.”

“Mhmm~. Sure.”

He leaned in some to whisper into Janus’ ear,

“Isn’t there a thrill to being close to a rival whose intentions you don’t know?”

For some reason, the way he said that gave Janus shivers. He quickly tried to think of something else he could summon to get him out of this position before he completely lost his composure.

“Aha!” A familiar voice cried.

“Release the snakey villain, you new fiend.”

However, the obnoxious ‘hero’s’ entrance gave Janus the distraction he needed. Janus stamped on Menace’s foot and elbowed him enough to be able to get out of his grasp. He turned to face him, eyes flashing.

Menace simply laughed.

“Oh.”

“Your villainous deeds have now come to an end now that I-“

Janus shot a gag at him.

Menace cackled.

“Didn’t expect you to do that.”

“He’s annoying.”

The hero wrestled the gag out and stamped his foot.

“Hey! I am trying to save the day!”

“Mhm, and I’m trying to cut down a pest, so out of my way.”

“As if I would let the sly likes of you determine your own moral law on how we retain the bads of this city!”

“Oh blah blah blah, gosh, does he always blather on like this?”

“Indeed.”

The hero gasped in offense.

“Anyways, I really did not come here to fight two people today. So if you’re determined, I’m gonna head out. “

“Aww, but you’re probably more fun to fight!”

Janus just stated at Menace for a moment.

“What?”

Menace laughed, and then zoomed away on another earth twister.

“Aren’t you gonna go after him?” Janus asked the hero.

“But first-“ the hero started.

Janus rolled his eyes. “Whatever.” He threw a smoke bomb and left before the hero could turn that into another needless battle, like he tended to do.

Janus wasn’t sure what he expected to come of that, but it wasn’t what ended up happening. For one, apparently Menace, as Janus had mentally dubbed him, was better at getting away than he thought. Janus wouldn’t put it past the hero’s incompetence either though, but it really wasn’t his business as long as the pest was done. Recurring villains, unless they were really powerful, were actually not a common thing where they were. Usually the villain would end up in jail. The hero, despite being annoying and over the top, was powerful, like a more dramatic superman. It was annoying often, say when Janus clearly had it against a villain, or the hero suddenly decided to fight him since his deeds were not always the most legal. Nevertheless, a villain being a child about who they wanted to fight was not common. For one thing, usually it was just the hero who fought the bad guys. Janus didn’t always go out of his way since he didn’t consider himself to be a universal do-gooder or anything like that.

Yet, this ‘Menace’ would show up at different parts of the city, bringing about his usual chaos, and almost actively ignored the hero. It was strange. Janus, begrudgingly, felt he needed to step in. The hero didn’t work well with others, or maybe he was just a nightmare to ‘work’ with.

Janus had barely gotten his costume on in the alleyway when he felt a strong wind pulling him out.

Gosh. That was too close.

Menace was standing in front of him, on the ground this time, with his earthy twister behind him.

“Heyy there, snakey. I’ve been waiting~.”

Janus raised an eyebrow at him, despite it likely being covered by his mask.

“Is that so?”

“Mhmm!” The villain leaned forward on his toes, unnaturally keeping his balance, probably from wind powers or something. Janus couldn’t help but lean back some.

“I was getting bored~.”

“That seems to be your whole ordeal, hm? You get bored. I get tired, yet I’m still here.”

Menace snorted.

“See, this is what I mean. You’re fun to talk to.”

“Yes, because snarky rival banter totally counts as talking.”

“Well, it is for me. “

Remus then spun around in his twister that seemed to stretch away.

“Come and catch me!” His voice rang off.

Janus groaned and started to trudge in that direction, trying to decide what he could summon to assist himself. He hadn’t summoned many large objects of transportation, but maybe he could find something to up his speed.

“You! He-“

“Yeah, I know, sir super hero. He seems to want to play with me, I will have to deal with it.”

The hero paused for a moment. “Is there anything I can do?” He asked hesitantly.

Janus smirked at him. “Not that I can think of. You seem the type to care about protecting the people so” Janus waved his hand, and went back to his task. He didn’t get very far before he was thrust into his next obstacle, a sink hole suddenly sucking him into the ground. Janus quickly summoned a grappling hook and hooked it onto the surface so he was dangling, but no longer falling. There was an echo of Menace’s cackle. Janus sighed as he swung himself up and landed smoothly. He looked around and saw he was in a different part of the city.

“Oo.”

Janus heard little clapping.

“That was a neat trick. I got to see you in many different angles. Very fun for me.”

Janus gave him an unimpressed look, before carefully looking around.

“Where is everybody?”

“Oh, probably deserted. I’m not very quiet.”

He slid up to Janus, on some sort of sliding ground formation.

“I think I’d rather have you all to myself anyways~” He said with a whole body wiggle.

Janus made a face.

“Why do you keep doing that?”

“Hmm?”

Menace suddenly got closer.

Janus took a step back, hand curling for something, but he struggled to wrack his mind of something that he could actually use against the walking natural disasters.

“Th-the comments, to me.”

Janus cursed to himself at the stutter.

‘“Hmmm” Menace tilted his head until there was an unpleasant creak.

“Cause. It’s fun, and I like you.”

Janus paused and stared at him in bewilderment.

“What?”

Menace giggled at that and then suddenly they were against a wall. Janus let out an oof, as his back hit a bit roughly. It didn’t help that the other man was against him.

“Ya know, I gotta say, I’m not the type who’s into pain,” Janus croaked before he could stop himself.

Menace frowned and took a small step back.

“Er, sorry…I got ahead of myself. I didn’t actually hurt you did I?”

Janus narrowed his eyes at the other, a bit

#sanders side fic #dukeceit #ts janus

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friendship-ended-with-pokespe · 4 years

Text

Kirby: Rescue the Friend in the Great Labyrinth! Chapter 4

Looking around the workshop, Waddle Dee was wide-eyed in amazement. “Wow......amazing!” Several works of art that Claycia has made up to this point were lined up on the shelfs along the wall. You cannot understand what any of their motifs are.

Works resembling an animal, a plant, a rock, a furniture, a trash......at any rate, it’s jam-packed with puzzling works. Kirby gazed at a certain sculpture and said. “What’s this? It looks like a milk bottle, melon bread, and Chef Kawasaki combined......” “That’s a touching sculpture expressing eternal love! Doesn’t your heart tremble from looking at it?” “Hmm, it doesn’t look very yummy.” “What’s this one?” King Dedede stepped before a work of art. “It looks like a birthday cake turned upside down and trampled with katsuobushi sprinkled on top.” “It’s a magnum opus expressing the beginning and the end of the universe! Eek, don’t touch it!” Meta Knight spoke. “I don’t understand what is what......” “That’s because you’re an average person.” “Hm. In any case, these are the works of art? Doesn’t seem like we could help.” “I was saying that from the start. You should leave if you get it now......” “It’s ok-ay!” Shouts Kirby, hopping up. His eyes are sparkling like a star. “I can help! This looks really fun!” “......Huh?” “I didn’t know that an art would be this fun! I feel like I realized my own artistic talent! Yay!” Shouting Kirby in joy, and ran to the corner of the room. What she uses as materials for her work were piled up there. Clays, wires, blocks of wood, nails, strings, scraps of cloth, and whatnot. “These are all I need to make an art every now and then, huh! Alrighty, I’ll do my best!” “H......Hang on a sec......” She tried to stop him, but she pondered suddenly and muttered. “But...... a blank mind that’s never been exposed to art might be able to pull off a miracle. A child like Kirby is too preposterous for me to anticipate what he would make. True art could be in him!” Clay sat on a chair. “Alright Kirby, why don’t you show me what you’ve got? I can’t wait to see what art your absurd heart will bring forth!” “You can count on me!” Kirby began kneading a clay with much excitement. Needless to say, King Dedede was the one to see him and lose control of his temper. “Hmph! You think he has any clue about art!? I’m the true artist!” Claycia looked at the king with vacant eyes. “Hmmm, your absurdity may not lose to Kirby, but I can’t sense any pureness in you like Kirby. Your heart is like a sock that hasn’t been washed for a week, where I don’t think it can produce a beautiful art.” “You ninny, you don’t seem to grasp my overflowing talent!” “So cool, Your Majesty! Please give it your all!” Clapped Waddle Dee, cheering for him. Meta Knight and flops down right on the spot. Magolor grumbled. “Gosh......Kirby and King Dedede are both forgetting our goal! We aren’t on a journey for art. It’s to rescue my friend!” “It won’t take long.” Said Meta Knight. “They’re both equally matched in their lack of perseverance. They’ll get tired of it soon enough.” “But......I’m worried about my friend......” “You didn’t seem to mind it until now, but you're suddenly worried for him like you just thought of it, huh, Magolor? Where is your heart really at......?” “......” With no response, Magolor plopped close to the wall and watched the work of Kirby and his friends.

It was just as Meta Knight had expected. Before long, Kirby and King Dedede lost interest in art. Sticking a chopstop in the object that he made by kneading the clay, Kirby shouts “I’m done!” “What a fantastic art this is! Am I a genius or what!?” “......I’ll hear from you for now. What is it expressing?” To Claycia’s offhand question, Kirby answered boldly. “The tastiest dango in the universe! I expressed my love for dangos!” “I see, and as for Mr. King Dedede?” “Haha! Don’t be surprised!” King Dedede exaggeratedly lifted up a lump of clay wrapped in cloth in display. “My work is in a different league from Kirby’s. Built up in a universal scale, it’s a mind-blowingly Dededeish, Dedede-style, Dedede......” “That’s great and all, but what’s the theme?” “I expressed the magnificent feeling of all the foods that exist in this universe being offered to my stomach. So to speak, that’s where all my ambitions are!” “Your ambitions, sure.”

Claycia turned away and sighed. “Phew......I’m in tears from my stupidity of expecting anything from you guys. An average person is really an average person. “......Hmm? What do you mean?” “Don’t worry about it. Sigh......that was a complete waste of time. I need to get it together and focus on my artistic work......” Clacia stood up and stared at Kirby and King Dedede’s work. Her countenance showed her regret of time spent in waste, but...... Her dull eyes sparkled suddenly like a star. “Mm......? Hmm......? Wait a minute! Just now, an miraculous insight came into my artistic mind!” “Huh?” “T-This is......!” Kneeling before the work of Kirby and King Dedede, Claycia said in a voice trembling in passion. “Ohhh......the miraculous images are flowing out one after another!” “Claycia......?” “This the first time. What an ingenious flash of inspiration! I’ll create the greatest masterpiece up until now......!” Clasping both her hands, Claycia looks up at the sky as she weeps. Exchanging glances, Kirby and King Dedede both exclaimed at the same time. “It looks like we were of help to her!” “Wahahaha! It seems my superb work of art gave her a hint. She’ll have to give me plenty in return!” “Elline and Claycia will be able to patch things up with this. What a relief!” Kirby and Dedede jumped about, hands together in unusual friendliness. “Strange things could always happen, I suppose.” Said Meta Knight quietly. “To all appearances, the pair’s work only looks like garbage, but......how did it shook her heart? I can’t comprehend it.” “That’s because you don’t have any artistic taste!” “He’s right, Meta Knight!” “An artist will understand the brilliance in my work from just a glance!” “He’s right, Meta Knight!” Kirby and King Dedede started laughing in good humor. Claycia rose up quickly and said while kicking away the work of Kirby and King Dedede. “I mustn’t let eyesores like these run rampant all over the world! This world should only be filled with beautiful things!” “......Eh?” “I should create something that’s beautiful, sublime, and heart-trembling! That is the duty of an artist: to save this unsightly world!” Claycia shouts with rapt attention. “My eyes were opened thanks to the stuff from the ordinary people. I can’t stop here. I’ll make the most beautiful work!” While shedding tears, Claycia squeezed Kirby and King Dedede’s hands. “Thank you, ordinary folks! I came to realize my duty from you guys’ awful works! Only a true genius can send beauty to this world. That is to say, only I, Claycia!” “E......Ehh......?” “This world will be filled with eyesores if not for me. I will make it! The finest work that’ll beautify this world......!” Claycia got her skates on. “Please leave, would you? Before this ingenious inspiration disappears!” “I-Inspiration......?” “I said get out! I’ll give shape to all my overflowing imagination-!!!” Kirby was chased out from the workshop. Kirby didn’t have the slightest clue as to what Claycia was saying. He said in a daze. “What happened? She was overdoing the compliments on me, wasn’t she?” “Nggghhh......looks like that wench sees me as a rival. Darn it all, even my talent means trouble.” “That’s great. Her artistic taste doesn’t seem to be too different from mine.” Said Meta Knight. “Hm? What do you mean by that?” “Nothing really. At any rate, we made her come through her slump. All we need to do now is to wait for her work to be completed.”

Kirby and his friends didn’t have to wait for very long. For Claycia, having gained an artistic insight, completed her work in only a few hours. Coming out of the workshop, Claycia had a bright face. Her stiff attitude is gone, with a friendly look instead. And finally, a very small work was on the palm of her hand. Together with Kirby and his friends, Elline was waiting for Claycia, where she fluttered her pale wings and rushed at her. “You’re done with your work, Claycia!?” “Yeah, I’m done. It’s my magnum opus. Please look, Elline.” Kirby and the others couldn’t understand what it was from their eyes. Kirby said in a low voice. “What’s that. It looks like a snail tossed and turned in its sleep and kicked away its blanket......” “Huhu, you chump has no taste. That’s displaying a wonton noodle soup blown away by a hurricane.” “......I don’t really get it, but it's a fascinating work somehow.” That is the impression of Meta Knight. Waddle Dee nodded in agreement. “I think so too, sir. My heart is getting warm for some reason.” “Aye. It’s far better than any work from Clacia up to now.” Their whispers fortunately didn’t reach Elline and Claycia. “So pretty......how lovely this is, Claycia! An image of the morning sky......an image of a garden grass......and the harmony of the sky and the land......are all being conveyed.” Said Elline, her voice trembling from all the emotion.

”......” Kirby and his friends exchanged whispers once again. “The morning sky.” “The garden grass, she says.” “The sky and the land......uhh.” “I didn’t get any of it.” Elline continued. “I love all of your works, but this is the best. It’s a really lovely work......tears come out when I keep looking at it.” “I made this for you, Elline.” Elline felt a little embarrassed and talked fast. “Huh? For me......?” “It’ll be your birthday soon, right? I was desperate to make it in time no matter what.” Elline was shocked and blinked her eyes. “Claycia......” “I was so desperate that I ended up in a slump, huh. How I could make you happy, the more I thought about it, the more I didn’t know......I was pretty awful to you, wasn’t I? I’m sorry......I don’t remember it very well myself.” “Geez, Claycia!” Elline started laughing with a voice like that of a jingling bell. “You’re always like that. You focus on your creation and forget everything around you.” “I’m really sorry, Elline......” “No problem! I love that side of you!” Closing her eyes gently, Elline embraced the gift from Claycia dearly. For Claycia, the work was small enough to be placed on her hand, but it was big enough to be an armful for the tiny Elline. “......I’m really happy. Thanks, Claycia. Sorry for getting the wrong idea even when you were making the work for me.” “It’s not actually complete yet you see.” “Huh?” “I want you to add something to it. Since it’s your duty to paint my work!” Elline’s face glowed. “Gotcha! I’m all pumped up now. Let’s make the very best work, Claycia.” “I’m leaving it to you, Elline.” Exchanging looks, the pair began laughing cheerfully. Having been caught up in them, Kirby’s face was beaming as well. “What a relief! Elline and Claycia were able to make up.” “It was all thanks to me. I'll be taking the reward in plenty!” “That is very tasteless, King Dedede.” Meta Knight chided him. “It’s not all peaches and cream just because the pair regained their smiles. We still have something left to do.” “Right he is!” Having been facing the back in tedium, Magolor turned around and agreed with both his hands raised. “We’ve got to go and find my friend! Let’s make haste and go back to the Great Labyrinth of the Mirror!” “The Great Labyrinth......of the Mirror?” Claycia overhears and cuts in on them. “You guys are going into the Great Labyrinth of the Mirror?” “Uh-huh! It’s to rescue Magolor’s friend!” Kirby jumps up and answers. “We strayed up to Elline’s room on the way. But it’s all okay now! We’ll go back to the Mirror World soon enough!” “Hold on” Claycia said quickly. “I heard that the Great Labyrinth of the Mirror is quite challenging. I haven’t lost my way there before, but I do know of some rumors. They say that it’s very complex, spacious, and can never get out once you lose your way.” “Yup, we got lost.” “I see then......” Claycia pondered and said. “I might be of some use to you guys.” “Huh?” “Elline, bring “that.”” “Gotcha!” The two are in perfect harmony. Even without Claycia saying in detail, Elline nods and flies off to somewhere. What she came back with were some drawing paper and crayons. Claycia received it and said. “Kirby, do you remember our battle in Seventopia?” “Yeah, of course!” “I don’t have any memory of when I was controlled, but I did hear from Elline afterward. I heard that I was saved thanks to your great efforts.” “Ehe!” Kirby spun once in delight. “She used a canvas at that time, didn’t she?” “A canvas......?” Elline expanded on it. “I drew a picture and transformed you into a tank or a submarine, right?” “Uh-huh!” Nodded Kirby, thinking back to the days of adventure spent with Elline. “That was really fun. It was the first time that I transformed into a tank or a submarine!” “Using that power, you might be able to proceed through the labyrinth without getting lost.” “Huh?” “I’ll try it out.” Claycia drew a picture on the drawing paper. It’s a drawing of a cute pink and white rocket. Claycia raised the drawing that she drew high. With it, the sketch of a rocket flew out of the paper. The rocket combined with Kirby, as though it was wrapping his body.

Waddle Dee jumped up in surprise. “Whoa, amazing! Kirby turned into a rocket!” Having transformed into a rocket, Kirby said. “It’s Kirby Rocket. It can blow enemies easily away. It’s really powerful!” “That’s not all.” Said Elline. “This rocket has a high-performance rader. It can automatically head to its destination.” “That means......” “You’ll proceed through even the Great Labyrinth without getting lost. It’s a beeline to the destination.” “Wow!” Kirby tried to jump about in delight, but Waddle Dee stopped in in a panic. “You can’t! You’re different from your usual self right now. You’ll tear down the ceiling like that.” “Ah, okay.” Kirby looked down at Claycia.” “Thanks, Claycia.” “I’m the one that should thank you, Kirby. I was saved twice, from when we fought and right now. I’m really thankful.” Claycia held out the drawing paper and the crayons. “I’ll give this to you as a gift. This drawing paper is made of the same materials as the one that Elline used in that battle. You’ll be able to transform into the vehicle that you draw.” Waddle Dee accepted it, in place of Kirby who couldn’t use his hands. “The transformation ability has a time limit. If the transformation wears off before you reach the destination, you can draw the Kirby Rocket in that drawing paper again.” “Thanks a bunch!” Kirby turned to face his friends. “Off we go at last! Let’s go to rescue Magolor’s friends. Cheerio, Claycia, Elline. Come to visit us in Dream Land.” “Sure. We’ll come over as a pair someday.” “Be careful out there, Kirby.”

Passing through the mirror in Elline’s room, Kirby and his friends head to the Great Labyrinth of the Mirror a second time:

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Table of contents

#kirby novels #kirby of the stars #light novel #translation #kirby rocket #waddle dee #king dedede #meta knight #magolor #elline #claycia

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emotionally-imbruised · 5 years

Text

Sink or Swim

In which Harry and Y/N work together as lifeguards.

A/N: here’s (a little late but) day 17 for my bby @always-jackedup’s 25 days of summer. Make sure to go check out the pieces by all the other authors if you want some fun summer things to read. Also wow, this turned out longer than I was expecting; you all can blame Sarah.

Word Count: 15.8k

As much as she wanted this summer to be one for the record books, just like it had been in recent years, Y/N didn’t have too high of expectations. It sucked a lot, but finally after three years of being away, she was spending her first summer back home in California and to say she wasn’t all that excited about it at all, would have been an understatement.

Once she graduated high school, Y/N stayed in San Jose with her family for a year and a half. She didn’t go to university because frankly, she didn’t know what she wanted to do in life so instead, she worked her ass off while taking a few online classes to save up some money and go see the world. Which is precisely what she did.

She spent the last three years traveling through different countries, gaining new experiences, meeting the greatest people, eating the best food, and working wherever she could to keep doing so. It was an incredible experience, and she’d do it all again if she could, but it did make her feel very alone times, so at the beginning of the year, Y/N started longing for something more permanent. Somewhere she could stay that would allow her to decide what it was she wanted to do, whether that included school or not. After considering all of her options, she decided on heading back to California with plans of moving to LA at the beginning of September and embark on some new journeys in the land of opportunity... Even though the thought of doing that terrified her.

In preparation for her move, Y/N applied to various summer jobs as a way to save up more money until she was able to find a stable job in Los Angeles; and much to her surprise, a lot of those places were very interested in hiring her as a seasonal employee. Amongst those places expressing interest in her was Oceanside Resort and Spa on the outskirts of Bodega Bay. This fancy, membership-only resort that had been in the middle of hiring their summer staff, needed someone to fill one of the open lifeguard positions. The resort provided all training that was required, as well as staff accommodations for the entire summer (which was needed, seeing how far it was from home) and after considering all of her other options, was the one Y/N ultimately decided on. She did all her preliminary training in the weeks leading up to the beginning weeks of summer, and before she knew it, her family was dropping her off at the shuttle bus station in San Francisco to start her new adventure.

Despite its name, Oceanside was not actually located beside the ocean. Yes it was close, and the coast was only a few short minutes away, but Y/N found it somewhat ironic and couldn’t help but chuckle at the pictures of the resort printed in her welcome pamphlet; none of which included snaps of the Pacific. She knew it was stupid to be amused by such a little thing, but as she read the overly extra and dramatic explanation of how great this place was, her laughing increased and wouldn’t stop as she continued reading it over.

Maybe it was because of how she thought whoever decided to make Oceanside’s slogan “A Shell Of A Good Time” should never be allowed to make a slogan ever again, or maybe it was due to the lack of sleep she had the night before. But regardless, Y/N’s laughing didn’t subside and started gaining attention from others on the bus with her.

“Are you done?” A voice hissed from the seat in front of her, causing Y/N to snap her gaze up to be met with Aimee, her best friend from high school, staring back at her. The two of them had kept in touch for the years Y/N was away and decided to apply for jobs together. Lucky for them, Aimee was hired at Oceanside too but as a bartender at the poolside cabana rather than being a lifeguard like Y/N. The two of them applied to be roommates in the cabin that would act as their home for the summer, and as if their luck couldn’t have gotten any better already, they were approved for that too. “We’re not even there yet, and you’re already going to start annoying the shit out of our coworkers.”

“Sorry,” Y/N replied sheepishly, lowering herself into her seat more as her chuckles reduced to snickering. “Ok, but for real... have you read this thing?”

“Yes, I have,” Aimee stated as she reached over to snatch the pamphlet from her best friends grasp, turning back around so Y/N wouldn’t see the broad grin plastered on her face as well. “And yes I know it all sounds ridiculous but, a job is a job.”

“Got that right. And this place seems to have its perks, won’t be the worst job ever.”

Aimee just nodded before turning around to face Y/N again and tossing the now crumpled up pamphlet between the ugly blue patterned seats at her head. “Exactly, and we’ll be together. It’ll be a summer to remember.”

“I don’t know about that,” Y/N grumbled with a shrug, not paying any attention to the skeptical look Aimee was giving her as she tried to uncrumple the piece of paper on her lap. “I’m not here to have fun, you know? Sure if it happens, great, but I really need this job Aims… or LA just won’t be happening. I need to do good here and not mess it up.”

“I know,” Aimee responded and waited for her friend to make eye contact again. “But you can’t be having that mindset, ok? Obviously, work hard and everything, but also let yourself have fun, Y/N. We’re adults now and won’t have many more chances to do things like this. May as well make it count.”

There was no point in arguing against Aimee’s statement because Y/N knew she was right. Although her main focus of the summer was to make as much money as she could and save it, that thought alone made her fear about wasting away one of her favorite times of the year; which was the last thing she wanted to do. She thought about how maybe she could put herself out there a little bit and see what would happen, but for the time being, she decided on just biting down on her lip and nodding in agreement.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“I know I’m right, you don’t gotta tell me.”

“Oh, whatever,” Y/N scoffed as Aimee laughed and faced forward again, preparing to put her headphones on and just zone out for the remainder of the drive. However, before she had the chance to do that in peace, Y/N leaned forward and lowered her voice just so that only Aimee could hear. “Hey Aims, do you know what we’re going to have?”

“Don’t say it.”

“A shell of a good time,” Y/N blurted out, trying so hard to keep a straight face. The audible groan that left Aimee’s mouth was enough to feed on Y/N’s ego and caused her to fall into another laughing fit. This went on for a few minutes, and as she was starting to recollect herself, Y/N noticed how Aimee was now slinging her duffle bag over her shoulder and standing up, all while giving her a pointed glare. “Come on, it was funny.”

“Sick of you already,” she mumbled in response before moving to sit in the seats a few rows behind Y/N in silence and remaining there for the rest of the trip.

Once they arrived at Oceanside, Y/N and Aimee were given a quick, half-assed tour of the resort before being shown where they’d be living for the summer. There was no need for them to get an entire lay of the land just yet seeing as their first day of work was still a few days away, and both girls were rather thankful they’d have the weekend off before diving right in.

Y/N took this time to really let it all sink in and appreciate how she actually got to call this place home for the next two and a half months. There was no doubting that Oceanside was absolutely stunning and genuinely seemed liked its own little private oasis. It had a very serene atmosphere and didn’t seem to be lacking in anything whatsoever. However, Y/N knew it may take her a little while to get used to everything.

The resort was huge. When the bus made way up the long winding driveway that starts at Oceanside’s gated entrance, the first thing that could be seen was the clubhouse; the place Y/N figured she’d probably be spending most of her time while clocked in for work when she wasn’t at the pool. The large cream-colored building was sat on top of a hill and stood out amongst the greenery surrounding it. Y/N was told this place was what made every other part of the resort accessible, and was the first stop on hers and Aimee’s little tour.

Once inside the sliding doors of the clubhouse, they found themselves standing in the middle of the lobby; the area that acted as the place everyone needed to go to first regardless of who they were. It was where the resort guests would check-in for their stay as well as to book any extra classes/activities they wanted to do, spa services, tee time on the golf course, or to simply get any information they needed. It was also where all the staff would have any meetings after hours and go to punch in and out for each of their shifts, seeing as it was connected to basically everything. The spa and gym were to the left of the front desk, the dining room where all the guests would eat their meals was to the right and had the kitchen attached to it at the back. The kitchen itself was unnecessarily large and staffed many people, but its size made sense seeing as there were apparently a lot of guests that came here throughout the summer.

To the back of the kitchen was a door that led to another large room, one that none of the guests had access to. It was not as fancy as the rest of the clubhouse by any means and was actually kind of run down, but to Y/N, it had the most character. To put it simply, it was a mess hall for all of the staff working at the resort. There were two long wooden tables with benches that took up most of the space in the room, matching very well with the old, cracked wooden flooring and beams that crossed above on the high ceiling. Sat at the tables were her new co-workers talking, laughing, gossiping, and eating with one another. Many of them sent friendly smiles Y/N’s way, but the odd person eyed her and Aimee up a little bit -- clearly aware of how the newbies have arrived.

Once Y/N and Aimee made it through the mess hall, they exited through a side door that entered out onto a beautiful stone and marble courtyard. There was a large fountain in the middle of it with four flower gardens that take up each corner of the space. Nothing covered it from above which left it to be filled entirely with natural light and just gave Y/N the best feeling. It was her favorite spot by far.

Just past the courtyard was the pool, and it exceeded all expectations as well. It too was quite large, having a shallow section for kids and a deeper end for adults only. There was little potted plants and succulents around the entire area and no shortage of lounge chairs whatsoever. One of the first things Y/N noticed was how two lifeguards were monitoring the pool as opposed to only one. There was one sitting on the lifeguard stand that was positioned on top of the natural-looking stone waterfall on the other side of the pool, while the additional lifeguard patrolled on the same side she was standing; watching for any out of the ordinary behavior with a rescue buoy in hand. She was quick in noting how her shifts would more than likely be with someone else and that alone gave her some peace of mind. After scoping out the rest of the pool area, the two girls made way to the poolside bar where Aimee would be working and alas, their tour ended.

Upon arrival to Oceanside, the first person, Y/N and Aimee, met was Mr. Andrew Slack, the manager of the resort and well, their boss. He was kind enough and was the one to give them the tour, however, he came across as a very busy man, and just as he was finishing showing them around, he got a phone call and had to leave the girls to fend for themselves. Andrew briefly explained where they had to go to get to where the staff housing was located, before muttering a quick goodbye and heading back towards the clubhouse and answered the phone. After a moment of silently watching him go, Y/N and Aimee glanced at each other and shrugged before heading down the path he pointed out to them so they could finally put their bags down and get settled in.

“Are you sure we’re even going the right way?” Aimee groaned from a few feet behind Y/N as they came to a fork in the road, looking at the various paths they could venture down. They were maybe two minutes from the clubhouse, the sounds of people chatting and splashing around in the pool could still be heard, but she was exhausted.

“Not particularly,” Y/N responded, letting one of her duffle bags fall to the ground as she approached a tall wooden sign that listed various places they could get to and which path they’d need to take, one of them labeled staff cabins. She looked down the trail to her left, and sure enough, more laughter and chatter could be heard from what she assumed was others moving in as well. “This way, I think.“

The two girls walked down the path Y/N suggested, and soon enough, they came into a large clearing where fifteen different cabins resided. Five of the cottages were a bit smaller than the others, which only allowed two people to stay in them rather than the four that would remain in any of the others. According to one of the people on the bus there, only returning staff were able to apply for the two-person cabins, but both Y/N and Aimee were already aware that they’d be sharing a living space with two other girls, so that fact didn’t really phase them. Not every staff member needed accommodations because many were locals to the area, but nonetheless, Y/N was thankful that she did indeed have a place to stay.

Aimee inched ahead in search of their cabin and didn’t realize Y/N had fallen back a bit while she was taking in their surroundings. With a small smirk forming on her lips, Aimee decided to snap her best friend out of the little daze she was in. “Watch out for that root.”

“What root-,” Y/N started and snapped her gaze to Aimee, before staggering a bit as she took a step forward and tripped over a thick tree root that was sticking up from the ground. She quickly regained her balance and played it off as if nothing had happened, earning a loud chuckle from Aimee. “Ah, that root.”

“And they want you to be a lifeguard? Those poor people.”

Y/N just glared at her friend instead of responding as they continued forward in search of cabin 4.

It didn’t take long for them to reach their new summer home and just upon the sight of the slightly rundown looking cabin, Aimee was full-on sprinting up the steps in hopes she could claim the first bed. Y/N trudged after her, slowly making her way up the rickety wooden steps, but halting when a loud crack and some shouting sounded from behind her.

“Oi! Now, look what you’ve done.”

She raised her eyebrow skeptically at the sudden commotion before gradually spinning around on her heel to see what the hell was going on. On the other side of the trail, at the cabin directly across from hers, Y/N observed as two boys stood outside of their tiny lodge that was almost identical to her own. One of them had his back to her, and she couldn’t help but stare as his body rippled with laughter, letting her eyes roam more than she intended. He wore a pair of dark pants and a simple white t-shirt. Multiple tattoos littered his left arm, while his right arm almost seemed bare. She couldn’t see much else but noticed how he had a pair of black sunglasses on is head as a way to keep his mob of brown, shaggy, curls away from his face. There was no way of knowing how long she stood there gawking at the man, but as soon as the guy he was with spoke up, she was brought back to reality.

“You know, the least you could do is help me.”

It was then Y/N noticed that the other boy was standing with one foot stuck in the staircase. Somehow one of the wooden planks snapped and resulted in him falling through the step. Y/N immediately thought about all the first aid training she’d endured just to be ready for this job and found herself dropping all of her things on the porch before rushing down the stairs and over to the two men.

She didn’t waste any time in brushing past the guy in the white shirt to get to his friend, because truthfully, he could have gotten really hurt and the other guy was not being any help. “Hey, are you alright?”

“Oh, just dandy,” the guy stuck in the stairs muttered before placing a hand on the railing and using it to keep himself balanced as he stepped out from the broken wood and up onto the deck. “Thanks for your concern, though. Nice to know someone’s watching out for me when my so-called friend isn’t.”

“Oh, get off it,” the other man spoke up from behind Y/N again, sparking her interest with how the words came from his mouth in with a distinctly British accent. Slowly, she turned around to actually get a look at them, and when she did, she felt as if the air had been knocked right out of her chest.

As soon as she locked eye contact with the man, his familiar green eyes widened in surprise as they both gawked at each other in complete and utter shock. He recognized her too.

“You-.”

“I know you!” His voice boomed and caused a blush to immediately burn across her cheeks. “We went to high school together, yeah?”

The man in front of her was none other than Harry Styles. A kind British lad who was two grades ahead of Y/N, all through high school. They had some mutual friends, and Y/N was aware of how Harry had moved from a small town in Cheshire to San Jose during her freshman year. The two were never really that close, but they knew of each other and had met a few times in passing, which left Y/N to be more than surprised at the fact that he’d even recognize her.

“It’s Y/N, innit?”

“Uh yeah,” she replied and shook her head free of any lurking thoughts, fully aware of how he’s aged very nicely over the years. “It is. And you’re Harry, right?”

“The one and only.”

“Pretty sure there’s other Harry’s in the world, dumbass,” the other guy spoke up from behind her again, causing Y/N to chuckle.

“You’re not funny, mate,” Harry snapped before making eye contact with Y/N and letting out a huff. “That there is my irrelevant and incompetent roommate, Nick. Guess he’s m’friend and all too, but that’s just a minor detail.”

“The greatest detail actually, seeing as I’m the only one that’ll put up with you.”

“Ok, anyway,” Harry cut his friend off with a glare, a small smile forming on his lips as he watched Y/N giggling at their antics. “What brings you to Oceanside?”

“I needed a summer job,” Y/N explained with a shrug, looking between the two boys as they nodded in understanding. “I went away for a while and am now trying to make ends meet. What better way to do that than being a lifeguard at some fancy resort? Man, I feel like I’m in High School Musical 2 just being here.”

“It gives me more Dirty Dancing vibes, but I can see why’d you think that,” Harry responded with a warm smile, causing a swarm of butterflies to form in the pit of Y/N’s stomach.

“Yeah we’re basically living in a cliche summer romance movie, aren’t we?” Nick piped up before nodding towards Harry. “But hey, at least now you know who the new lifeguard is.”

“You’re a lifeguard too?” Y/N asked surprised, feeling caught off guard by just how small the world was seeming to be.

“Yeah, s’my what, third summer working here now? That sounds about right.”

“Oh, wow,” Y/N replied, making no attempt in masking her shock. “Must be an alright job.”

“Pays the bills at least,” he told her with a shrug. “It’s a good way to make money when you’re not in school for the summer, m’assuming that’s what you’re doing .”

“Kind of. I uh, I didn’t go to university once I graduated high school and traveled instead. Reality caught up with me eventually, and now I need to work so I can start figuring what I’m going to do with my life. I’m moving to LA in September, so hopefully, I’ll figure something out there.”

“Weird, so is Harry,” Nick added.

“Really?”

“I am,” Harry answered. “Got an internship with a record label there, gonna try to amount to something I guess.”

Y/N watched as his gaze fell from hers to the ground, where he awkwardly shifted his weight from one foot to another. He didn’t seem too confident talking about this specific subject, so Y/N took it as a hint to move on from it. “Well, I’m sure you’ll do great. Anyways, my roommate is probably wondering where I went, I uh, I’ll see you guys around. And maybe you should get someone to fix that step before someone actually does get hurt.”

The three of them laughed before Y/N slowly started backing away and headed towards her cabin. Nick waved her goodbye, but Harry didn’t say anything. It made her wonder if she had said something wrong, but regardless, she shook her head and made her way up the steps to gather her bags again and head inside; utterly oblivious to how Harry’s eyes didn’t leave her once as he watched her walk away.

The next four weeks went by rather quickly, and Y/N was already having much more fun than she had anticipated. In her short time working at Oceanside, she had already managed to develop quite a few friends from the people she’d met, and it made the whole experience better, just like Aimee had said. Her and Aimee both made fast friends with their two other roommates Dana and Maya, who were twin sisters but couldn’t be more different from one another. Dana worked as a waitress in the dining hall for the guests, while Maya worked out on the golf course providing beginner lessons to those who signed up for them. The two sisters butt heads a lot, so it was smart to not have them working together in Y/N’s opinion, but she really did enjoy spending time with both of them nonetheless.

Another person she clicked with really well, was Nick. When he wasn’t busy sassing Harry or organizing activities and events for the guests to do during their stay, Nick was Y/N’s go-to person (other than Aimee) for anything really. He was her helping hand when she needed it, and the best person to rant or gossip to when something had irked her. She was the same type of friend to him, and it didn’t take her long to realize he’d be one of the people she knew she’d miss the most come to the end of summer.

Every guest Y/N had encountered who stayed at the resort, was very kind, and treated her with respect. She was quick in figuring out who the regular families were, the ones that came to Oceanside every summer as their vacation and got the lowdown on how long each of them had been doing so from Mr. Slack (or Mr. Whack as Harry and Nick would call him behind his back.) Amongst those families was the Huntington family. Mr. Huntington, a successful business mogul, had brought his family to and donated a lot of money to this specific resort for about eight years now, or at least that was what Mrs. Huntington had told Y/N. They were a very reserved family, but actually very friendly. Mrs. Huntington was a regular to the Tuesday morning water workout classes Y/N would teach and was a joy to be around while her husband would poke fun of her from where he lounged on a chair nearby. They had a son, Tyler, who was assumedly Y/N’s age and had many friends from other families that stayed there as well. When he wasn’t with those friends, he was spending time with his family or striking up a conversation with Y/N when she had some downtime during her shifts.

Last, and certainly not least, the final and the arguably most significant relationship she had developed so far, was with Harry. The two of them had almost exact work schedules, which naturally led to them spending a lot of time together. He was the one to show her the ropes of lifeguarding in general, as well as what to do in certain situations and was always there to have her back if needed. When both working, Y/N usually sat on the lifeguard stand while Harry patrolled the edge of the pool. They’d tease each other from a distance, sticking their tongues out at each other when no one was looking, or mouthing the words “don’t slip” when they switched their spots so Y/N could teach some of her workout classes.

The first thing that really warmed them up to one another was actually on Y/N’s first day. She had cut through the kitchen to get to the lobby to punch in on time and almost ran directly into Harry. She hadn’t seen him since she moved in those few short days before, but the way he just stared at her and started chuckling struck something within her.

“Do you have a problem?” She asked and grew slightly aggravated when his laughing increased. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing,” he said firmly and tried to regain his composure, but failed miserably. “It’s just that I didn’t know management was going for matching uniforms this year.”

Y/N scowled at him before slowly glancing down at her outfit to see what he was talking about, only to become even more confused. Her uniform was simple enough, just a red full-piece bathing suit that had to be paired with white shorts and if she so decided, the white terry cloth sweater she was given with Oceanside’s emblem on it. She paired the outfit with the metal whistle she had to wear, some sunglasses to keep her hair out of her face, and a pair of black Adidas slides because there was no way she was walking around the pool without proper footwear.

To her, there was nothing wrong with the outfit, but once she was finished taking in her own appearance, Y/N moved her gaze to Harry and finally realized what he was going on about. He too was wearing a pair of red swim trunks, with a kind of tight looking white tank top that also had the emblem stitched into it as well. His outfit was almost identical to her own, but what got her the most was how he too had a pair of sunglasses pushing his mob of curls back and a matching pair of Adidas sandals. The two of them looked ridiculous standing side by side.

“Oh god,” Y/N groaned, which only caused Harry to burst out into laughter again. She was about to make another comment, but before she could, her phone started buzzing with the reminder that her shift started in five minutes. “Crap, we should go.”

“Lead the way,” Harry responded and dramatically bowed as a way to tell her to go first. She shook her head and proceeded, only making it a few steps before he spoke up again. “Hey Y/N?”

“Yeah?”

“Hate to break it to you, love, but I wear it better.”

Y/N scoffed and froze, turning to send him a glare but couldn’t help but laugh too as he just chuckled again and rushed forward to avoid her wrath. Their shifts together after that were just the same harmless and fun routine, and it really didn’t take Y/N long to realize just how much she enjoyed being around Harry, and that feeling only grew as the weeks went on.

One Friday afternoon, when Y/N and Harry were both finishing up their shift together by folding towels in the clubhouse laundry room so the lifeguards on the evening shift would have less to do, Harry decided to throw Y/N off guard with a question.

It was one he’d meant to ask her all week but couldn’t figure out how to bring it up in conversation. As he stood there watching her fold each towel with as much focus and precision as the last, he knew their shift was coming to an end soon and how he may not get to ask her if he didn’t do it right then. So, with a deep breath and a subtle clearing of his throat, he asked her.

“Are you going to the staff party tonight?”

“Hmm?” She replied, surprised, having to take a second to process the unexpected question. “Like the one that is thrown in the mess hall every weekend?”

“That’d be the one.”

“I uh, I don’t know,” she murmured and set down the last towel she had just finished folding. “Aimee, Dana, and Maya have been telling me I need to go to at least one. Apparently, they’re fun.”

“They are. S’nice hanging out with everyone in a non-work setting,” he explained, but avoided eye contact; suddenly feeling as if he might get turned down even though he has not built up enough courage to actually ask her out just yet. They’d become rather close, and there was this certain spark he felt whenever she was around, but again, was too chicken to actually do anything about.

“Are you going’?”

This time it was her question that caught him off guard because realistically he was expecting her to simply just say no. “Yeah I am, promised Nick I’d go with him.”

“Oh well if Nick is going then maybe I’ll consider it,” Y/N teased, unsure if this was his attempted way in saying he’d like her to go or not -- completely oblivious to just how bad he wanted her to be there with how well he masked it. He just chuckled in response as Y/N felt a sudden wave awkwardness consume the comfortable feeling she usually had whenever he was around. She glanced at the clock to see their shift had ended and decided to use that as an excuse to remove herself from the situation. “Looks like we’re done for the day. Maybe I’ll see you around this weekend?”

“Oh, yeah, see yeh Y/N.”

And with that, he watched her leave yet again.

After her conversation with Harry, it didn’t take much for Y/N’s roommates to convince her into going to the part, even going to the extent of her letting them pick out her outfit for the night. They decided on a simple black dress that Dana owned, one that just so happened to hug Y/N’s body in all the right places. The outfit was paired with a few of Aimee’s accessories while Maya styled her hair and if Y/N didn’t know any better, she’d assume those three were plotting something with how much effort they put into her appearance that night.

Once they were all dressed up, the four girls left the cabin and made way to the mess hall.

Y/N didn’t really know what to expect from this party, but upon stepping foot into the hall, she couldn’t help but let her eyes widen in surprise as she took in the scene around her. The two long wooden tables that regularly took up most of the space in the room were pushed against the walls and made a makeshift space that acted like a dancefloor. Couples danced together to the music playing, grinding and holding onto each other like a bunch of horny teenagers, while others exited from the kitchen with drinks in hand. It all looked like a scene from a movie, and Y/N had to shake her head at it all. Harry was right, this place really was much more like Dirty Dancing than High School Musical.

As if on cue, a familiar voice sounded from her right, and Y/N was soon faced to face with Nick. He wasted no time engulfing her in a tight hug before he moved on to greet the other girls. Y/N said hi to the people that had come over with Nick before moving her gaze to meet with an oh so familiar pair of stunning green eyes and smiling.

Harry had a wide grin on his face as he stepped towards her and pulled her into his chest for a quick hug as well. The gesture surprised Y/N, but she also found a sense of genuine warmth in his embrace before slowly moving away to look up at him again.

“You made it!” He exclaimed and just couldn’t stop smiling at the fact of her being there.

The way he grinned at Y/N made the butterflies in her stomach swarm, and she found herself having to break eye contact with him before her blush got too noticeable. She took that time to give him a once over and couldn’t keep herself from feeling some type of way. He was wearing a simple grey buttoned-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, shamelessly displaying his arm tattoos that just so happened to capture Y/N’s attention more than usual as the strobe lights danced across them. His hair was messy, but a good kind of messy Y/N decided; the entire look was just very, Harry and that thought alone made her smile.

“You look great by the way,” his voice snapped Y/N from her trance as looked around to see all of her friends have scattered and it was just her and Harry now.

“Thanks,” she continued to blush. “You look good too.”

A moment of awkward silence washed over them as neither really knew what else to say. Harry knew he could just end the conversation right there, but that wasn’t really something he wanted to do, so he began racking his brain for ideas on how to keep the conversation going. As if someone had heard him trying to think up something, the song that was playing changed and the upbeat intro of Right Back by Khalid started booming from the nearby speakers; causing him to grin all over again.

“Would you like to dance?”

“Me?” Y/N squeaked and glanced around because surely he wasn’t talking to her.

“Yes, you,” he chuckled. “I mean, I could ask Nick but who knows where he went off to.”

Y/N bit down on her bottom lip nervously, her heart fluttering at what felt like a million miles a second as she slowly nodded her head. “I’d like that.”

If it wasn’t for the few drinks she downed with her friends while getting ready for this thing, Y/N was sure she would not have been in this situation whatsoever. But alas, the alcohol gave her the liquid courage she needed to let Harry grab her hand and lead her out to the middle of the dancefloor. When they came to a small clearing, Harry dramatically spun around to face her again, causing her to laugh out loud as he dorkily pointed at her with finger guns. He had a goofy smirk plastered on his mouth as he started moving to the music and Y/N soon found herself swaying her hips to the beat too. She glanced at the people around her dancing very close to one another for this particular song and suddenly felt very out of place. They were entirely surrounded by couples.

As if sensing Y/N’s sudden discomfort at their setting, Harry mindlessly moved towards her until there were only a few inches between them. She looked up at him with wide eyes, but with him merely just being there, she didn’t feel as anxious. The two of them remained like that for a moment, lost in each other before Harry went to wrap his right arm around her waist; but stopped himself before he could.

“Uh, would you mind if I-?”

Y/N smiled at how he became so flustered, and simply could not find it in her to deny him. “You don’t have to ask.”

Harry didn’t know what to expect Y/N’s answer to be, but a massive wave of relief washed over him as he returned her smile and continued his movements. He snaked his arms around her waist just as the chorus started playing again and pulled her close, before shifting to rest his hands on her waist as they started moving to the music together.

Hesitantly, Y/N placed her hands on his chest before slowly moving them up to wrap around the back of his neck. Harry loved witnessing her gradually become more comfortable with what they were doing because with how much time he’d spent with her so far this summer, he knew this whole thing wasn’t exactly her scene. She seemed to actually be having fun, though. Throughout the song, she had already let him in more than she had over the last month, looking so content and at peace. It was at that moment Harry realized how he was going to do whatever he could in his power to make her feel that way as often as possible.

Y/N liked being this close to Harry more than she wanted to admit. There was something about him that drew her in and made her want to stay. Sure she considered him to be a friend and all already, but tonight felt different, a good different. She would never dance or act like this with just anybody, but with Harry, it felt natural.

Harry slowly leaned his forehead against Y/N’s as she started twisting the smalls curls at the nape of his neck and felt himself fall into a state of contentment as well. They danced with each other for the remainder of the song, along with the next two before Harry slowly started moving away.

A look of confusion washed over Y/N’s features, but it soon faded as Harry linked his hand with hers and started leading them away from the dancefloor. “Follow me.”

Y/N had no idea where he was taking her, but she didn’t question it either as she let him guide them towards the side door that led them out into the courtyard. There was no one else out there, which was a pleasant change from the crowded area they were just in.

As they walked hand in hand together, the two remained silent, and Y/N tried to keep her breathing steady as Harry gently rubbed his thumb over her knuckles and lead them towards the fountain. They started off talking about the night’s festivities along with not really knowing where all of their friends had gone off to, however, that casual conversation quickly turned deep when they started asking questions about each other, but in a very gradual, comfortable way that surprised both of them.

Y/N was the first to open up. She wasn’t really one to layout her entire life story just for someone to judge it and point out where things could have been changed, but with Harry, she didn’t feel that way once. He expressed genuine interest in what she was saying and soon enough, she was telling him everything. She explained why she thought she needed to leave California for a while after high school and her experiences abroad. With that, she talked about how she felt that time could significantly change people and as much as it sucks to admit, there’s nothing anyone can really do about it either. Her primary example being how Aimee is the only person she kept in contact with from high school because she had grown apart from everyone else. Y/N even went on to explain how she wasn’t able to form very close bonds with people she met during her travels, due to her fear of letting people in just enough so that she’s comfortable before leaving her high and dry.

Harry hung on to her every word, providing a comforting squeeze to her hand when she’d bring up things that were a bit tougher to talk about, and just nodding as she went on to let her know that he really did want to be there, listening to what she had to say. Once she was done, he could tell how relieved she was by simply being able to share all of that with someone she trusted enough to know the things that made her, her. Harry knew how much Y/N appreciated him for letting her vent, and in return, let him know that she would do the same for him if he ever wanted to, and so he did.

The two talked for hours, although it only seemed like mere minutes to them. Once Harry finished his back story of everything that had happened since he graduated high school, he expressed his want to return to England soon and that his money from this job was going to allow him to do so. He went off about how excited he was for his move to LA and his dreams of making it big in the music industry one day, but for now, Harry was rather content with where he was (specifically in that moment with Y/N).

As the night went on, it was Y/N that noticed the party had died down, seeing as no music could be heard anymore and that it was getting rather late.

Y/N was fully aware of how neither she or Harry worked the next day but still felt a little anxious at the thought of her friends giving her an earful for not having a clue as to where she had gone or who she was with. Luckily for her, the conversation she was having with Harry was much more lighthearted than it was before and she didn’t feel as bad for interrupting it.

“Hey, H?” She spoke up, smiling inwardly to herself at the little nickname she’d mindlessly decided to call him. “I think everyone’s gone back to the cabins, think we should go too?”

There was no doubting that Harry didn’t want the night to end just yet and couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed at the thought itself. So, being the quick thinker he was, he glanced around at their surroundings and tried to think of a way to keep her around; a mischievous grin dancing on his lips when his gaze falls on the pool and an idea sprang to his mind. “We could do that, or we could do something completely different. Something fun.”

“Oh, well, what did you have in mind?”

“Something that I’m going to do regardless of if you join or not, even though I’d much prefer if you did,” he smirked and observed as her eyebrows started to furrow.

“Harry…”

A tiny, heartfelt laugh left Harry’s mouth at the small pout that was forming on her lips as she spoke. She had no idea what he was planning, and it made him that much more excited to mess with her a little bit. He watched as she bit down on her lip in anticipation, and waited for him to say something and after a moment of keeping her on her toes, he leaned forward to whisper lowly in her ear.

“I’m going to go swimming.”

With that, Harry stood up from his spot on the edge of the fountain and jogged his way over to the pool. As much as Harry wished he could see the look of disapproval, he knew Y/N would be looking at him with, he didn’t stop to glance back at her. Instead, he approached the pool gate and glanced around to make sure no security guards were out on patrol, before quietly lifting the latch to unlock it and slowly pushing it open.

Once inside the gate, he walked over to one of the poolside lounge chairs and set his phone and wallet on it before unashamedly starting to strip down to his boxers. Just as he tossed his shirt on the chair and moved to begin unbuttoning his pants, he heard the pool gate creak open again and was already smiling at what was about to come.

“Are you insane?” Y/N’s voice hissed as she followed after him scowling. “Harry, you’re going to get us in so much trouble.”

“Can’t get in trouble if we don’t get caught,” he shrugged as he stepped out of his pants and set them on the chair too. Goosebumps raised on his torso as the cold night air came in contact with his newly exposed skin, but he ignored it as he turned around to face Y/N again. He could tell she was cold by the way she had her arms tightly wrapped her body as a breeze wisped her hair around, and decided to use that factor to his advantage. “The pool is heated.”

“I know it’s heated, I work here too, you know.”

“I do,” he responded smugly and tilted his head to the side. “Well, are you coming in or are you too chicken?”

There was a glint in her eyes that he recognized to be the competitive streak in her coming out. He’s managed to see this side of her a handful of times while he was pressing her buttons at work and seeing her look back at him that way made him think that he may have her convinced, however, the glint faltered as she nervously looked around to see if anyone was nearby. “I don’t know H-.”

Harry could tell that deep down she wanted to join him, she really did. However, he also knew damn well that doing anything that could possibly jeopardize her job here cause Y/N a lot of anxiety. But maybe, just maybe, he’d be able to crack through that wall she keeps putting up that prevents her from doing something fun and reckless for once.

Slowly, Harry walked towards her with a mission. As soon as he was close enough to do so, he reached out and linked their hands together; giving that little bit of reassurance she wanted so badly.

“I’m not going to make you do it if you don’t want to love, but if for whatever reason something did happen, I’ll make sure nothing happens to you.” He paused and watched as her features slowly softened, her hand squeezing his a little tighter all at the same time. “Do you trust me?”

“You already know I do,” she whispered and earned herself a small smile from Harry as she let go of his hand and stepped towards the pool. This time it was Y/N’s turn to shamelessly strip down to her underwear with her back turned to Harry.

Harry was surprised by her sudden burst of confidence as she casually kicked her shoes off and pulled the dress she was wearing up over her head -- letting it fall to the ground in such a simple, yet unknowingly sexy way that had Harry growing more frustrated with each passing second.

Y/N kept her back to him, not wanting him to see just how badly she was blushing. Once she was left in only her mismatched grey/black cotton bra and undies, she stepped towards the edge of the pool and waited for Harry. She smiled to herself as soon as he was standing beside her again and pondered her movements for a minute before making the executive decision to try and push Harry into the pool.

However, her plan backfired, seeing as she did not account for just how buff Harry was and that the likelihood of him actually falling in was slim to none. To make matters worse, Y/N stumbled slightly when she tried pushing him to which Harry instinctively wrapped his arms around her waist so that she wouldn’t fall in instead. Once she was steady, Y/N finally looked up to Harry and internally groaned.

“You just tried to push me in!” He exclaimed dramatically.

“And stupid me thought it’d actually work,” Y/N grumbled as she tried to squirm out of Harry’s grasp. She almost broke free, but before she knew it, Harry was pulling her back against his chest and began tickling her at her sides. She burst into laughter as she began squirming even more and tried to push him away. “H-Harry, stop!”

“You’re wrong if you thought I was letting you get away with that. I’m hurt, Y/N.”

“You’ll get over it,” she replied in a huff as she continued trying to escape Harry’s hold. This continued for another minute as Harry slowly but surely moved them back towards the pool’s edge, and Y/N’s wriggling intensified. She knew what he was about to do and without thinking, blurted out the first thing that came to mind to prevent him from doing so. “No, don’t! I can’t swim!”

Harry’s movements halted as soon as those words left her mouth, leaving Y/N to cover her mouth to stifle another laugh. She hadn’t considered how ridiculous her statement was until after she said it, and couldn’t help but laugh at how far from the truth it actually was. Harry didn’t move his hands from her waist, and although she really didn’t want to turn to face him, she eventually did and prepared for his reaction.

He stayed silent for a split second before narrowing her eyes and tightening his grip on her waist. “You’re so full of shit.”

Before she could respond again, Harry was lifting her up and jumping into the pool with her in his hold; finally putting the entire argument to rest. As soon as she was surrounded by water, Y/N swam away from Harry and used her feet to push off the bottom of the pool so that she could get back up to the surface and catch her breath.

Harry resurfaced shortly after and they both broke into another laughing fit. The two of them stayed there, treading water for a few minutes before Harry decided to splash Y/N out of nowhere, causing her to gasp dramatically.

She splashed him back but gave up the fight when he returned the gesture with a much larger wave that crashed right into her face. “Ok, I guess I deserved that.”

“Damn right you did,” he replied sassily and treaded and little closer to her. They watched each other for a minute before Harry started lowering the bottom half of his head into the water, just enough that only his eyes were still above the water. Y/N watched him curiously and couldn't help but roll her eyes when he exhaled deeply out of his mouth so that a series of bubbles would rise to the surface and pop around him as he kept eye contact with Y/N.

“God, you are such a child!” She squealed and started swimming away from the shallow end of the pool.

“You love it,” he before shaking his wet, matted curls and swimming after her.

The next half an hour or so is spent with Y/N and Harry goofing off together, and really just having the time of their lives. They had a race to see who could swim from one end of the pool to the other and back the fastest, to which Harry won only by a little bit. However, he soon lost his title when Y/N challenged him to see who could remain in and underwater handstand the longest without falling over or having to swim up for air.

Neither of them had a care in the world, but that quickly changed when the sound of jingling keys and heavy footsteps could be heard in the distance but were undoubtedly getting closer to the pool area. Y/N froze in place, and her face went white, the previous panic she had before of getting caught returning and causing her to be on the verge of hyperventilation.

“Harry, what do we do?!” She asked in a hushed tone, knowing that if they were to just jump out of the pool and make a run for it, they would most definitely get caught. “Y-y-you said-.”

“I know Y/N,” Harry hissed as he stood up and looked towards the courtyard, only to see the beam of a flashlight coming their way. “Ok, ok, I need you to do as I say and not argue with me, alright?”

Y/N nodded frantically but kept her mouth shut as she let Harry gently push her against the side of the pool. His hands never left her body, and to be honest, it’d stress her out even more if he weren’t there. Harry was keeping her calm. She observed as he intently watched the direction the noises of the person approaching came from, not being able to keep her eyes from the way the elegant butterfly and sparrows tattooed on his stomach and chest moved with each breath. Part of her wanted to reach out and trach along with the ink, but she knew now wasn’t the time and kept her hands to herself while she waited for Harry to tell her what to do next.

“Ok, when I say, I want you to go under the water as quietly as you can and swim behind the waterfall. Stay low when you come back up, I don’t think security will see you that way.” His plan was simple enough and actually seemed as though it could work, so with a silent nod, Y/N got in position and waited for him to give her the ok to go. “Alright…. Now.”

Y/N did as Harry said and quietly went back under the water. She kicked off the wall and smoothly glided under the water and didn’t come back up until she reached the wall she knew was behind the waterfall and beneath where her lifeguard chair was resting up top. Once she came up for air, she pressed her back against the wall to remain unseen and waited patiently for Harry.

Before Y/N could really start getting worried, she was able to make out Harry’s figure swimming beneath the waterfall just as she watched a flashlight beam over the part of the pool that she and Harry had only been. She unknowingly pressed her back harder to the wall and held her breath, keeping her eyes closed as she waited for someone to demand that they come out from the waterfall.

A few agonizing moments go by as Y/N prepared for the worst, but the worst never happens. She peeked one eye open just as Harry disappeared under the water again and swam back out into the regular part of the pool. A portion of her wanted to wait for his confirmation, but when it took him a bit longer than she was expecting for him to come back, she knew the coast must’ve been clear; so she followed after him.

Sure enough, when she resurfaced again, there was no security standing at the edge of the pool, waiting to give them shit; but instead, it was just Harry standing with his back to her, with his muscles tense. Cautiously, she approached him.

“We should get going,” he finally spoke up when there was no longer too much of a space between them. He turned around to face Y/N, but couldn’t seem to actually look at her. “Tha’ was closer than I’d like it to be, and we may not have time before he’s back.”

“H-.”

“And you probably don’t want anything to do with me after putting you in a stressful situation like that, this is all my fault,” he continued to ramble as she kept approaching him.

“Harry…”

“God, I swear I didn’t think anyone would actually come by but-.” This time it was Y/N who cut Harry off as she made one final step towards him and placed a hand behind his neck. She pulled him towards her at the same time she stood up onto her tippy toes and waited for the sparks she knew would go off once their lips came in contact with one another.

To say it felt like magic would have been an understatement because how it felt for Y/N and Harry to be at that moment, after spending such a great night together was simply indescribable. They both really liked the feeling of being there, together, making out, even though it was in the pool they both were lifeguards for, and soon found themselves getting lost in the kiss.

Harry quickly pulled her closer to him, wanting to have as little space between them as possible as his hands tangled into her hair so that the kiss could deepen. Y/N reacted by moaning slightly into his mouth and parting her lips more so that she could allow him more access.

They continued making out as Harry placed his hands under Y/N’s thighs so that she could wrap her legs around his waist. They kept going at it when Y/N’s back gently collided with the pool wall again, and she placed her hands on either side of his face just so that she could keep him near. The only thing that was going to make them break away from one another was going to be the need for air, and even that took a few minutes to happen, but eventually, it did.

The two of them slowly pulled away from each other, lips swollen, and panting for air as Y/N glanced up at Harry and smiled lightly. “You were putting words into my mouth.”

“Clearly I need to do that more often,” he chuckled before leaning down and catching her lips in another quick, yet sweet, kiss. Once he was done, he leaned back away from her again, his thumbs twiddling with the material of her underwear as they made no indication of wanting to move from one another. Eventually, it was Harry that broke the silence again. “Think we should get out here?”

“Not the worst idea I don't think,” Y/N responded with a nod.

The two of them untangled themselves from one another and climbed out of the pool before gathering their things and heading back to the cabins.

Y/N stayed with Harry that night and into the early morning of the next day. She woke up tangled in his bedsheets alone but had no need to worry seeing as she could hear him humming along to a tune from the shower in the washroom nearby. A loud yawn left her mouth as she stretched and squinted at the bright sunlight streaming in through the windows and finally took in her surroundings.

Harry’s cabin was smaller than Y/N’s but was much more spacious because it was only him and Nick that stayed there. And luckily for Y/N, Nick was nowhere to be found. She did, however, have this nagging thought of how he could literally burst through the door and see her so obviously trying to keep her naked body covered beneath the sheets at any given moment. There was not a single part of her that wanted to deal with that, so she sat up in the bed and looked out the window for any sign of him coming before booking it into the washroom so that she could join Harry in the shower.

The two of them spent the entire day together. It was ridiculously convenient that Nick, Aimee, Dana, and Maya all had work today because they were able to postpone any of their friends bugging them. Seeing as Y/N only had the outfit she wore last night, she gave Harry her key so that he could run over to her empty cabin and grab some fresh clothes. Much to her dismay, he came back with only a pair of terrycloth shorts that belonged to Maya and some clean underwear (but no bra).

“Harry, do you expect me to walk around topless all day?” Y/N asked and quirked an eyebrow at him. It was evident that he didn’t intentionally forget to grab her a top by the way his eyes widened slightly at her question, but with Harry being Harry, he played it off with ease.

“Well, I wouldn’t exactly be opposed to the idea…”

“Harry.”

“Kidding,” he groaned as he rolled off the bed again and made way to his dresser so that he could give her a shirt to wear. “But not really. Here.”

Y/N caught the shirt Harry tossed towards her with ease and quickly threw it on, knowing she’d gone without a top for long enough. After that, Harry climbed onto the bed again and stretched himself across the bed next to her. He was hesitant in doing so, but after getting stiff from leaning on his elbow for a few minutes, he laid down flat with his head resting softly on Y/N’s lap as she stayed sat up and leaned against the wall.

The two of them talked for hours on end, again. Not once getting bored of each other's company and loving hearing what they each had to say, Y/N started to think about how long it had been since she was this comfortable with someone. They talked about everything from their favorite foods, to their what genre of a story they liked best after Y/N had eyed up the stack of books that were on Harry’s bedside table. Harry started going off, and Y/N mindlessly pushed her hand through his curls as he reached over to grab one of them so that he could tell her some of his favorite lines in it.

As the late afternoon crept around, Harry proposed that they actually leave the cabin and go out to do something, to which Y/N agreed. So, they gathered up the laundry hamper they had tossed Harry’s dirty bedding into that morning and made way to the clubhouse to start washing them while they went off and did something else. As they made way to the laundry room, they had to come to a stop when someone started calling out after them. Sure enough, it was Aimee standing behind them with a bemused and knowing look. She didn’t give them a hard time though seeing as she was just finishing her break and needed to get back to work, but Y/N knew she would get an earful when she got home that night.

Once they loaded up one of the washing machines and convinced one of the older ladies working in the laundry room, folding up clean bedsheets for the guests, to put move their wash over to a dryer so that they wouldn’t have to come back as soon; they embarked on a little journey. After sending a quick text to Maya a quick text to make sure it was alright, Y/N led Harry to one of the many golf carts that weren’t being used to take on their own little excursion.

They drove around the resort’s perimeter, taking the whole place in as if they were the ones staying there rather than being employees. After they finished doing that, Y/N drove them back to the clubhouse and tried thinking of something else to do before Harry suggested they go on the hiking trails the resort had.

The two of them walked back down the path that led towards the cabins and took a different turn that led them down a winding trail and eventually to the base of a large hill. Other people were nearby putting the multiple trail options to good use, but Harry and Y/N couldn’t decide which one they wanted to go on. They settled on the longest trail, the one that took them up the hill to a supposed lookout spot that was there.

It took them roughly forty-five minutes to reach the top, mainly because Harry kept dramatically pausing, saying he needed a break although Y/N was totally aware of it being a facade so that she’d stay near him and not keep going too far ahead... but she didn’t mind as they continued going.

Once they reached the end of the path, Y/N didn’t know what she was expecting to see, but she definitely wasn’t prepared to have her breath taken away

The top of the hill was a large clearing with the most incredible view. There was no one else up there so she didn’t waste any time walking around the entire area so she could take it all in. When she looked down the hill to the east, she had an incredible aerial view of the whole resort. The massive golf course seemed to go on forever, disappearing in the distance behind some trees and smaller hills, and everything else seemed so much smaller. She could see the entirety of the clubhouse letting her eyes move to the pool and then over to the trails behind it as well as all the big fancy lodges the resort guests rented out during their stay. Her gaze fell on the row of cabins, watching as her co-workers walked home after their shifts had come to an end; even seeing who she thought was Dana trudging her way up the steps of their shared cabin, and Nick making his way towards his and Harry’s.

Y/N then moved to look to the west, and that was when her jaw dropped open in awe. In the distance, she could see the coastline. Where the greenery from the trees ended, the deep blue of the Pacific Ocean started and seemed to go on forever; causing her to become quickly enraptured by its beauty. So this was why Oceanside was a fitting name.

“S’pretty, innit?” Harry’s voice asked from behind her. When she didn’t respond, he moved towards her so that they were standing side by side. It wasn’t his first time seeing the view, which Y/N knew, but what she didn’t realize was how with the way the sun was just beginning to set, everything stood out. The pink and purple sky surrounding them and the way the breeze wisped her hair around made it seem as though she was the center of the most beautiful painting. Harry couldn’t take his eyes off of her, not that he’d want to anyway, and wanted to this exact image engraved into his memory forever. “Y/N?”

“Hmm?” She asked and glanced over at him briefly before looking back to the ocean. “The view? Yes, it’s incredible.”

“Not just the view,” Harry whispered to himself as he watched her. Silence fell over them for a few minutes after that, and neither made a move to change that. However, as the sun kept getting lower in the sky, Harry knew that this moment couldn’t last forever. “Think we should head back down there, it’s going to be dark soon.”

“Oh, yeah, not a bad idea. The laundry is probably done by now too.”

It didn’t take them as long to get down the hill as it was going up, so soon enough they were back at the clubhouse gathering Harry’s bedding and heading back to the cabins to call it a night.

On their way there, they heard laughter and chatter coming from people walking down a different path. Neither Harry or Y/N thought anything of it as they started down the trail towards the cabins until someone was calling after Y/N.

“Hey Y/N, wait up!”

Slowly, both Y/N and Harry turned around to see Tyler Huntington approaching them with one of his friends.

“Hi Tyler, how’s it going?” Y/N greeted as Harry remained silent; not noticing the way he glared at the other boy.

“Good,” Tyler responded. “Just finished up a round of golf. Didn’t see you at the pool today.”

“Yeah, Harry and I have this weekend off so you won’t see me around there tomorrow either.”

“I see,” he replied and moved his gaze to Harry, sending him somewhat of a dirty look. “Styles. Well anyways Y/N, seeing as you have the day off tomorrow, Chris here’s parents went to San Francisco for the weekend, so a bunch of us are going to party in his family’s lodge. You should come.”

His invitation surprised her a little bit because frankly not once had she given the impression that she wanted to hang out with Tyler or his obnoxious friends apart from being around them during her shift. There was a fine line between employee and guest’s relationships being professional, and she did not want to cross it, so she politely turned him down.

“Thank you for the offer, but no thanks. I’m actually so exhausted and am ready to call it a night.”

“I see,” Tyler responded disappointedly. “Maybe another time then?”

“Maybe,” Y/N responded with a small nod and looked up to Harry. “Well, I guess we’ll be going then, have a good night guys.”

“Night,” Tyler and Chris responded in unison.

Y/N and Harry turned and started walking towards the cabin’s again, and Tyler watched with gritted teeth as Harry wrapped an arm around Y/N’s waist and pulled her close. Feeling the jealousy within him reach an all-time high as she leaned into Harry’s touch as they continued walking and eventually disappeared out of sight.

The next couple of weeks or so went on like usual. Y/N and Harry spent most of it together at work as usual but also spent a lot of evenings together as well. While at work together, the two of them would go on as they usually would -- teasing each other and making snarky comments, but this time around, there was a lot more subtle flirting. They always kept it professional around guests, but when they had any time that was just the two of them, they were all over each other.

One evening, after Y/N and Harry finished their shift together, they helped the kitchen staff set up tables in the dining room for a fancy gala dinner that was being put on for the resort guests. They stuck out like sore thumbs working alongside the servers who were dressed in their fancy uniforms in preparation for the dinner, to which their co-workers teased them about, but expressed appreciation for the help nonetheless.

Once they were done helping wherever they could, Dana told them her, and the rest of the team should be alright and that Y/N and Harry should get out of there before the guests started showing up. As they were headed towards the lobby, Harry snuck up behind Y/N and covered his hand over her mouth so that no one would hear her. A muffled yelp left her mouth as Harry pulled her behind one of the large planters and pillar so that he could gently push her up against the wall; a seductive grin tugging at his lips as he did so.

“Been waiting to have you to myself all day,” Harry said as he moved his hand from her mouth and replaced it with his lips. Y/N moaned against his mouth and responded by pulling him even closer than he already was so that the kiss would deepen. They stood there making out for at least a solid two minutes before footsteps and voices could be heard coming towards them.

Y/N and Harry quickly broke away from each other and tried to straighten out their appearances before stepping out from behind the pillar, coming face to face with the Huntington family. Both Mr. and Mrs. Huntington greeted the pair happily while Tyler stayed quiet; silently fuming as he took in Y/N’s swollen lips and Harry’s disheveled curls.

“Aren’t you kids done for the day? Get out of here already,” Mr. Huntington teased as he patted Harry on the back.

“We are,” Harry told him. “Just thought we’d help with setting everything up for you guys. It looks great in there, I’m sure you’ll have lots of fun.”

“Anyways we should get going,” Y/N spoke up with a smile and looked to each member of the family, pausing when she locked eye contact with Mrs. Huntington. “They’ve got your favorite wine in there Carol, it should be a good night.”

“Oh, wonderful!” The older woman exclaimed and clapped her hands together, earning a groan from her husband. “You two have a good night as well, don’t get into too much trouble.”

“We won’t,” Y/N and Harry answered together before nodding goodbye and walking away from them. Both Mr. and Mrs. Huntington smiled and watched them go for a second before continuing on down the hallway, but Tyler stood there watching, no glaring at the two of them until they disappeared around the corner.

A few days later, when Y/N was in Harry’s cabin watching a movie with him and Nick, her phone buzzed with a new notification. She reached over to grab her phone, Harry shifting so that she’d have easier access to his bedside table, but not moving his arm from where it was wrapped lazily around her waist. As soon as she had the device, Y/N returned to her spot, nestled up against Harry and turned the screen on only to see she had an email from Mr. Slack. Assuming it was necessary, she unlocked her phone and opened the email; her eyebrows furrowing as she read through it.

“Everything alright?” Harry asked after a moment of seeing her just stare at the phone screen.

“Yeah, I guess,” she started. “It’s just that Mr. Slack changed my work schedule completely.”

“For next week?” Nick questioned and sat up, curiously from his bed across the room.

“No… for the rest of the summer.”

This caught Harry’s attention as his eyebrows furrowed in confusion as well. “Mind if I see?”

“Not at all,” Y/N responded and handed him the phone.

Harry took the device and scrolled through the entire email, noting the changes in her schedule. “Our shifts are completely opposite now.”

“Really? All of them?”

“Yeah, all of them,” he replied and handed the phone back. “We don’t have any more days off together.”

“So they’re splitting us up and pairing us with different lifeguards for the next three weeks?” Y/N questioned, and Harry nodded. “Why now all of a sudden?”

“Whack caught on to you two messing around with each other, huh?” Nick asked and wriggled his eyebrows.

“I don’t think it was him actually,” Harry shrugged in response. “Think it was the Huntington kid.”

“Tyler?” Y/N asked and leaned onto her elbow so she could get a better look at Harry as he nodded. “What makes you think that?”

“Oh come on, you can’t tell me you haven’t noticed how pissed he gets whenever he sees us together. He’s jealous Y/N. Probably pulled some strings with management so that he could attempt to move in on you before the end of summer.”

His tone became rather hostile, and Y/N quickly decided that she did not like it one bit and started moving away from him. “I have noticed actually, but it’s wrong to assume someone could be so malicious. We can’t prove that he actually did do that, maybe Slack just wanted to switch up the lifeguard rotation.”

“Three weeks before the summer ends? Y/N, do you hear yourself right now? All the hints and clues of Tyler wanting to mess with us are right in front of you, but you’re too damn gullible and naive to open your eyes and see!”

Harry’s outburst surprised Y/N, and she made no effort to hide it. “That was uncalled for, Harry.”

“But true,” he finished and looked away, not noticing the hurt that flashed through her eyes.

The next thing Y/N knew, she was scrambling to get out of Harry’s grasp to get as far away from him as she possibly could. “You know what? I’m just gonna go.”

“What, no, Y/N, I didn’t mean that rudely,” Harry pleaded as he stood up too, realizing that he’d really upset her.

“How did you mean to say that I’m too gullible and naive for my own good in a nice way, Harry?” She snapped and brought her hand up to her chest when she saw him reaching out for it. “I’m sorry that I tend to see the good in people and not make rash assumptions about them just because I feel like it! You know, I thought you weren’t one to do that too actually, but I guess I was wrong.”

Harry couldn’t find it in himself to say anything else because just seeing how much his words had hurt her, crippled him. During one of their many talks, she told him how growing up she was told that her niceness would get her in trouble one day, that she was too accepting of everyone and it really rubbed her the wrong way. Y/N viewed her kindness towards others as a weakness because of that, and although it was one of her traits that Harry admired most, he still managed to make her feel bad about it. To make her feel weak.

Y/N gave him a second to respond, and although she was greatly disappointed when he didn’t, she just swallowed her pride and walked towards the door. Muttering a quick goodbye to Nick, she swung the screen door open and walked out, letting it slam shut as she rushed down the stairs and over to her cabin before the tears started streaming down her face.

There was an invisible weight resting on Harry’s chest as he watched her go, feeling absolutely terrible as Nick walked up beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “You just royally fucked up my friend.”

A week went by, but Y/N and Harry had yet to speak to one another. She was upset, which he knew, but fucked, he missed her. He just wanted the chance to apologize, but even then, that opportunity never came because they never actually saw each other. The only time he’d get to see her was in passing when one of their shifts came to an end, and the other was there to take over.

On the nights he knew he didn’t work the next day, Harry would stay up late reading on his front porch, coming to a stop only when he’d hear someone dragging their feet on the gravel and watched as they trudged their way past his cabin on route to their own. One of those nights, over a week since he and Y/N, had last spoken outside of work, he heard two sets of footsteps walking down the path, so he set the book down to see if it was anyone he knew. As soon as he looked up, her gaze fell onto Y/N, but she wasn’t alone.

She had just finished the night shift at the pool and was yawning and rubbing at her eyes as she nodded to what Tyler was going on about besides her, clearly uninterested. When Y/N and Tyler reached the space between her and Harry’s cabins, she looked at Harry tiredly and sent him the smallest smile. Y/N then turned to Tyler and thanked him for walking her home and turned him down again for hanging out before saying goodbye and going up to her cabin stairs. Just as she reached the door, she paused and looked over to Harry, nodding towards him. “Night, Harry.”

And with that, she was gone.

The days after that, Harry observed how Tyler followed Y/N around like a lost puppy and started to become annoyed because he’d still not gotten the chance to apologize. One night, as they were going into the last week and a half of summer, Harry decided he was done sulking and knew that he needed to talk to Y/N because he’d gotten to the point where he just felt empty without her.

He first went over to her cabin to see if she was there. Knocking on the door, he felt his heart rate increase with each passing second until the door swung open to reveal Aimee.

“Get off my porch,” she spat. Harry took a deep breath, feeling even more nervous than before because if looks could kill, he’d be dead by now.

“I-is Y/N home?” He stammered and shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

She continued glaring at him, exhaling deeply through her nose to express just how much him being there made her fume. “You’re right fucked if you think I’m letting you talk to her after what you did.”

“Aimee I-.”

“You messed up Harry, massively.” Aimee finished for him. “Do you know how hard it is for that girl to open up? To feel such a significant bond with someone that she can genuinely be herself without fear of being judged for it. You somehow managed to crack through that wall. She let you in, and you threw it in her face. So, like I said before, get the fuck off my porch.”

“I know I messed up ok?” Harry argued before she could slam the door shut, his voice cracking slightly. “I know that I gained her trust, became someone she was comfortable with, and then fucked everything up. I know you think I’m a terrible human being because of what I said, and honestly, I can agree with you. What I said was uncalled for and completely unnecessary, and I know that I’d take it all back if I could. I was jealous, fuck, I was jealous of Tyler Huntington because he kept moving in on her and to be honest, I was afraid. Not because she ever seemed interested, but because I knew that he could give her the world if she let him and that I can’t. I’m a lifeguard for fuck's sake, not the son of some rich businessman. I don’t know where I’m going from here, or what LA will hold, but I’d really like for her to be there for it, and I hate myself for possibly messing that up.”

Once his rant came to an end, and he finally decided to look up again, he half expected for Aimee to just proceed with slamming the door in his face but was actually surprised to see that he’d gained an audience. Both Dana and Maya were now standing behind Aimee shaking their heads.

“God, boys, they really are stupid,” Maya groaned.

“Y/N doesn’t care about any of that you dingus,” Dana stated.

“Honestly though,” Aimee agreed, her features softening. “Glad you can see how good of thing you almost lost there, Harry, because as much as I want to say you don’t deserve to even associate with my best friend… You’re an alright dude. She’s on the night shift at the pool, you may be able to catch her before she finishes up and comes home for the night. Just don’t mess it up again.”

“I won’t, thank you,” Harry replied as he turned around and bolted down the stairs and started off in the direction of the pool. He checked the time on his phone and sped up a little more as he knew Y/N would be getting ready to leave soon.

Y/N finished gathering the last of the pool towels left by guests and put them in the hamper for housekeeping to deal with tomorrow. She hated the night shift. Although the pool closed at 10pm, she was alone from 8pm on, but the pool was always dead by then and the time would just drag. She knew her shift was almost over, so she wandered back to the lifeguard stand and grabbed her belongings so she could go punch out.

Before she could get too far though, the pool gate creaked open, and someone walked in. She turned around to tell the person that the pool had closed, but stopped herself when she saw Tyler standing there. “Oh, hey.”

“Hey,” he responded and walked towards her. “Was wondering if you wanted some company for the walk home again.”

“Thanks, that’s really sweet of you, but I’m meeting up with Nick so I’ll be fine,” she told him honestly.

“I see,” he replied and looked down to his feet. “Well, I know that you have the day off tomorrow. Maybe I want to do something… with me?”

Y/N could tell he was a little nervous asking her this, but there was something he said that she was not expecting to hear. “How did you know I had tomorrow off?”

“I uh, you told me, remember?” Tyler stammered, internally cursing himself.

“No, I didn’t,” Y/N trailed off. “So how did you actually know?”

“Ok, you caught me,” he tried to play it off. “I asked Mr. Slack to tell me because I really wanted to ask you out, seeing as you turned me down all summer.”

“I turned you down because I’m not interested, Tyler.”

As the conversation started going down, Harry was nearing the pool gate. He heard what Y/N had just said, but stopped so that he wouldn’t interfere.

Y/N watched Tyler, watched as his eyes snapped to hers once the words left her mouth, and saw them darken. Y/N held her ground, though. She didn’t falter or let him intimidate her regardless of how part of her wanted too because deep down, she already knew this was going to tie into what she and Harry had fought about.

“See that’s the thing I don’t get,” Tyler started, chuckling slightly. “Why wouldn’t you be interested? I’ve got money, looks, charm-.”

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far,” she cut him off, and Harry had to cover his mouth so that he didn’t laugh out loud.

“Right. Not like you’d notice it anyways with how busy you’ve been off fucking Styles every chance you got. Quite the slut move, Y/N.”

Harry was ready to throw hands at that point and was about to start going off, but Y/N beat him to it.

“You do not get to say that about me, or anyone for that matter,” she fumed. “And frankly, it is not your concern, or anyone else’s who I sleep with, so I’ll sum this up real quick. I like Harry, he is a kind and decent being, something you wouldn’t know, and is someone I will gladly admit to falling for and will continue falling for because he is actually worth my time.”

“Whatever-.”

“Oh, I’m not done yet. Harry is someone who holds more character in his pinky finger than you do in your entire body, and is also someone who would never, in a million years, pay money to try and interfere with someone’s life.” Tyler fell silent at that. “I know you paid Slack to change my work schedule around.”

“I, well, I-.”

“You aren’t worth it,” she finished and had no intention of speaking another word to him. Tyler stood there shocked as she brushed past him and started walking towards the gate.

“I can have you fired, you know?” He finally spoke up, noticing that Harry was standing nearby. “Both of you.”

“No, you can’t,” Y/N laughed, sending a quick glance to Harry before turning back around. “Slack already told me he wants both me and Harry to come back next summer with a pay raise. I think he was saying something about how he didn’t want to get rid of the guest's two favorite lifeguards, including your parents. So maybe I’ll see you next summer, Tyler, but for now, fuck you.”

The man was left speechless and couldn’t find any other words to say as he watched her walk out the gate and towards Harry.

Once the gate shut behind her, Y/N turned to face Harry and tried so hard to not just lunge herself towards him. “Did you hear that?”

“I did,” Harry said, and Y/N started stepping towards him.

“All of it?”

“Yes, all of it.”

“Ok, good,” she answered just as she reached him and wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him in so she could crush her lips against his. The kiss was sweet but turned hungry as each of them realized how much they’d been craving to be near one another again. However, it didn’t last long until Y/N was pulling away to look back up at Harry. “I missed you, H.”

“God, and I missed you,” he replied, softly pecking her lips once again. “And I am so so sorry, Y/N. I’m sorry for being such a prick, and I don’t expect you to forgive me any time soon, but-.”

“I already have,” Y/N told him and moved to wrap her arms around his waist in a hug. “Besides, Nick told me how sulky you were because I wasn’t talking to you.”

“Of course he did,” Harry groaned and pulled away from the hug. He leaned down to kiss her once again before leaning his forehead against hers. “Let’s go home.”

Y/N’s last week at Oceanside was spent packing, working her final shifts, and saying goodbye to all the friends she had made throughout the summer. On her last day there, she gave her cabin one final look over to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything and let out a sad sigh. Dana and Maya had left the day before, so it was just her in Aimee left. Once she was sure she had everything, she went outside to where Aimee and Nick were waiting, and the three of them started walking towards the clubhouse.

“You know you’re both going to have to Facetime me at least once a week, right?” Nick asked as they walked around to where the different buses were waiting to drive them home.

“I’d expect nothing less,” Y/N answered and let out a heavy breath once they reached their destination.

The three of them pulled each other into a group hug and muttered their teary goodbye’s. Eventually, Nick had to pull away so that he could board his bus and made sure to wave like crazy as it began pulling away.

“I can’t believe you’re going to LA already, I feel like I just got you back,” Aimee started as she loaded her luggage onto the bottom of the bus.

“I know,” Y/N told her as she helped with the large suitcase. “The summer flew by. Sorry that I'm sending you on the bus back to San Jose alone.”

“I’ll be fine, you’ll just have to make it up to me with drinks when I come to visit. Which will be very soon might I add.”

They both chuckled before slowly frowning, tears stinging at their eyes. In a split second, they were engulfing each other into a tight hug and trying not to cry.

“I’m going to miss you so much, Aims.”

“I’m going to miss you more,” Aimee replied and pulled away to wipe at the tears streaming down her face. “I’m so proud of you Y/N. You’re going out there and doing whatever it is you want to do, and I got to see you grow as a person so much this summer. God, I feel like a proud mom.”

“It’s because of you, you know,” Y/N responded as she reached up to wipe away some of her friend's tears. “If it weren’t for you sassing me, I would have been a hermit all summer. You gave me that extra push I didn’t know I needed.”

“Well, in that case, then I’m happy that I did.”

Y/N pulled her best friend in for another hug, staying like that until the bus driver called out for final boarding. “I guess that’s your cue to leave.”

“I guess it is,” Aimee sniffled as she moved from Y/N’s embrace and started walking to the bus. “You better call me the minute you get to LA.”

“You know I will,” Y/N answered with a smile.

Once Aimee was sat on the bus, the doors closed and she waved at Y/N as it drove away. Y/N didn’t leave her spot nor stop waving until the bus disappeared over the hill, and she let out another sigh. She then turned around and was met by her special someone standing there looking back at her with his goofy grin.

“Ready?” Harry asked as he lifted his right arm so that he could rest it on Y/N’s shoulders as they walked towards his car, waiting in the parking lot.

“More than ready,” Y/N answered before moving away from him so that she could climb into the passenger side; her luggage already packed in the trunk thanks to Harry going out of his way to put it there as she said goodbye to Aimee.

“Perfect.”

With one final glance around at the resort that had been their home for the last two and a half months, Y/N and Harry began their long drive to Los Angeles and their future, together.

#harry styles #harry styles imagine #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles one shot #harry styles fluff #harry styles smut #harry styles fanfic #harry styles writing #harry styles preferences #1dff #harry styles x reader

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snortyport · 4 years

Text

(Un)Broken Happily Ever After Chapter 3

Summary- Four years ago, you thought you were just going to another party. Little did you know you’d meet the man who would change your life.

Word Count- 3436

Pairing- Taehyung x reader

Warning- some swearing, nothing major

A/N- Thanks for reading! This is a flashback chapter if you didn’t figure that out. Each flashback chapter will be in Italics for future reference.

Previous | Masterlist | Next

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Four years ago…

“Come one, don’t be such a drag!” Jungkook says pulling on your arm as he pulls you towards the house party you definitely don’t want to go to. You, and your two friends for the record, have midterms to study for and a party isn’t going to help you remember anything on the study list.

“Yeah, come on Y/N! You haven’t been out in forever!” Hoseok yells from behind you, already in the party spirit after pregaming at your apartment for the past hour. “Plus, this is our last year of university and then we start the real world. We deserve to have a little fun after working our asses off for the past four years! So, I want you to turn that frown upside down and let’s go!” Hoseok pinches your butt which makes you jump and yelp in surprise, making the boys laugh at your outburst.

“It’s time to have fun before we graduate and you go off to some country doing God’s work or whatever,” Jungkook says, slinging and arm around your shoulders.

You’ve known Jungkook since childhood, you two were literally diaper buddies. Your moms were best friends and got pregnant a couple weeks apart from each other. You and Jungkook have often wondered if it was just coincidence that they got pregnant around the same time or if it was planned. Either way, the two of you grew up more like siblings instead of friends.

You spent every weekend growing up at either his house or him at yours. You know every secret of his and vice versa. Every crush brought teasing and every heartbreak brought hugs and a movie night. When your high school boyfriend dumped you right before graduation, Jungkook dropped his grad date to take you instead. Jungkook was always the shy one in your duo and you knew how much courage it had taken him to ask the girl out, so you had refused at first. But he had always pictured the two of you going together so you agreed. The other girl wasn’t graduating that year, so you didn’t feel too bad stealing him away.

People always wondered if there was more going on between you two. Did she like him? Did he like her? But there was never anything like that with him. You knew too much about each other for there to be any romance. Yeah, as the two of you got older, Jungkook sprouted from being a wide eyed adorable little boy to a chiseled, sporty muscle man from long hours spent at the gym. And you grew into your curves, your face cleared up and smoothed out. People are always wondering if there’s something going on.

“It’s not God’s work, you doofus, I just want to go and help children who lost their parents due to war or sickness. That way when I come back home, I’ll be able to use the knowledge I got from there to spread awareness and help from here,”

“Please, Mother Teresa, don’t bring down the mood when we’re about to go walk into the most hyped party of the year,” Hobi says, nudging your side with his elbow. “I don’t want to think about sad parentless children right now. I’m too far gone right now and I might start crying.”

You met Hobi on your very first day of orientation in your first year. You and Jungkook had decided to go to the same university, so you were sitting together at a table when Hoseok came over and asked if he could sit in the extra chair at your table. It didn’t take long for Hobi to secure a spot in your friend group, making your lifelong duo into a trio.

Hobi is more extroverted like yourself so you always had someone to go to parties with when JK would need to recharge his social battery. Hobi was the missing piece you didn’t know was missing. Mostly the three of you did everything together; parties, classes, even going to each others’ hometowns for holidays. The three of you were best friends through and through.

And then in your second year, you met Seokjin and your trio became a foursome. He was graduating that year and decided one night at a party to share his university wisdom and hacks on you and your friends. For some reason he took a liking to the three of you and sought you out a few days after the party and you became actual friends.

You didn’t think you needed someone new in your group, but you couldn’t help warming to this older man who acted the same age as you. it was hard not accept him and his weirdly iconic laugh that was well known around the university grounds and his bad dad jokes. You thought he would bring a sense of maturity to your friend group but when the three of you were all together, you acted more like school children instead of adults.

When he graduated, you were scared things were going to change, that he wouldn’t have as much time to hang out with you anymore but Jin made it a mission to hang out with you at least once a week. And for the past two years, he’s kept that promise. Even when all of you were super busy with school or work. You always made sure to make time for your windshield wiper laughing friend.

“Sorry, sorry,” you say before clearing your throat, “Woo! It’s party time! I’m gonna get so wasted, and dance, and probably hook up with someone if the night goes how I want it,” you proclaim in a high pitched voice, mimicking what Hobi said back at your place.

“Har har,” he glares at you, but a smile graces his features a second later. “Seriously though, I’m going balls to the wall tonight so if I don’t remember who you are at the end of the night then you can be happy for me.”

“You can go balls to the wall but I’m hoping to go balls to pussy tonight,” Jungkook laughs and hold his fist to Hobi to bump.

You and Hoseok groan and you roll you eyes.

“Keep that hetero talk to yourself please. I’m not drunk enough to listen to that,” Hobi shivers in disgust.

“Seriously do you have to be so gro—” you start to say before someone bumps into you hard which makes you lose your footing and trip into Jungkook’s side.

“I’m so sorry!” the tall boy who knocked into you exclaims, grabbing your arms to steady you and you grab onto his. “My friend nudged me, and I wasn’t expecting it and I kinda fell, and I fell into you, and I’m so sorry!”

“Uh, yeah, it’s ok,” you say straightening up, “I didn’t get hurt so no harm done,” you smile. When his dark eyes reach yours after checking you out to make sure you really aren’t hurt, his jaw goes slack. “Ar-are you ok?” you ask, concern flooding your features. He stands, staring at you while still holding onto your arms until one of his friends pushes at his shoulder from behind.

“Oh, uh, I’m fine!” he says, shaking his head and throwing you a boxy smile. Your pulse quickens at this seriously attractive, flustered man, who’s still holding onto you with his big warm hands. His dark, slightly wavey hair falls into his eyes and you’re glad that he’s holding your arms because you think you would have run your fingers through it to get it off his forehead. His cologne tickles your nose and has you wanting to do some crazy things right here in the middle of the party thrower’s lawn.

“Well now that we know everyone is all good, we’re going to get going,” Jungkook says from behind you, grabbing your bicep and pulling you from the guy’s grasp.

The guy flicks his eye to Jungkook and instantly drops his hands from you and takes a step back, bursting the bubble the two of you were in. He sends you a small smile before dropping it to stare at his feet. You let Jungkook pull you away, the stranger’s cologne still lingering in your nose, making your head feel thick and dizzy with desire.

“— could have let her get his name before pulling her away,” you catch the last bit of what Hobi says, the delicious smell finally leaving your system.

“He was eye fucking her so much that I knew he didn’t care about her name,” Jungkook huffs, and you’re now realizing his arm is back around your shoulders.

“Excuse me?” you ask incredulously, craning your neck to stare up at him.

“Don’t worry, I saved you. I could tell that all he wanted was in your pants,” he smiles triumphantly at you.

“Maybe I wanted him in my pants. Did you see him?” you glare at him.

“That boy was blessed by every god. He was just,” hobi brings his hand up to do a chef’s kiss, “perfect.”

“Exactly,” you sigh dreamily. “And who are you to dictate who I can or can’t date or fuck? My body, my choice,” you stop right before the door to shove Jungkook’s arm off your shoulders and to turn and glare at him. “If I want to get my brains fucked out of me with someone who you don’t deem good enough,” you say, air quoting good enough, “then I will. It’s not up to you, ok?”

“Preach,” Hobi says, clicking his tongue at Jungkook.

“Ok, I’m sorry. I know it’s your choice and everything, but I just didn’t get a good feeling about him ok?” he gives you his puppy dog eyes pout which always makes you forgive him.

“Because you won’t be the hottest of our group if she dates him?” Hobi offers, smiling mockingly at Jungkook.

“I just didn’t ok? Can we drop it now and go in?” he asks, looking towards the door.

“Yess!” Hobi screams. “Let’s go second best!” he grabs Jungkook’s arm and opens the door, pulling the big lug through the door. You giggle at them as you watch them get swallowed up by the huge crowd of people littering every available space in the house. You turn to look back at the stranger only to find him already staring at you. Your body erupts in tingles and goosebumps and your heart starts pounding. You smile shyly before walking into the booming house.

~~~~~~

A couple hours, and many drinks later, you’re happily dancing with Hoseok in the middle of the makeshift dancefloor. Your sweaty bodies mingling and sharing space with the other dancers. Jungkook disappeared almost immediately after entering the party but Hoseok, your party buddy, hasn’t left your side, except the few times to get more drinks.

Which now that you’re thinking about it, you could use a refill.

You shimmy closer to your friend, bringing your lips close to his ear. “I need another drink! Do you want anything?” you shout to be heard over the music pumping through your veins. He shakes his head and continues dancing by himself before some cute, petite guy twirls into his arms and starts grinding into him.

You push your way through the throng of bodies, wanting to get away from that scene quickly. You’re glad he has someone to dance with but you really don’t want to see your best friend getting some. The floor is so packed you get hips and elbows connecting to your body with every step. You’re having troubles navigating around everyone when suddenly a hand reaches out and grabs your wrist. The mystery person manages to pull you past everyone and out of the raving crowd.

You don’t know who grabbed you, you don’t recognize the back that’s in front of you, but you’re thankful they got you out of there so quicky. The heat was starting to make you dizzy and your stomach twist. Mystery man pulls you to a quieter part of the room, against the wall farthest from the dance floor. He turns around and to your excitement it’s the same guy who bumped into you outside.

His dark eyes are now glassy and bloodshot from a night of drinking and you’re sure your eyes look the exact same. His mouth moves in such a nice way that you can’t tear your eyes away from it. The things you want that mouth to do to you has the blood running through your veins turning to fire. His cologne which is now mixed with alcohol and the faintest traces of cigarette smoke. Not what you’d usually go for but for some reason you find it so sexy and intoxicating. Your already drunk mind feels ten times more fuzzy standing this close to him. You’ve never wanted someone so badly before. His perfect mouth is still moving when you realize he’s trying to talk to you.

“Sorry, what?” you yell, tearing your gaze away from his mouth and to his eyes. He smirks and leans closer. You take a deep breath in, drinking in as much of him as you can.

“Do you want to get out of here? Find somewhere quiet where we can… talk?” he asks, his eyes moving to your lips. He ignites something so ferocious in you that you don’t even recognize who you are right now as you nod your head.

This isn’t like you. You don’t drunkenly hook up with random people, that’s Jungkook’s thing. He’s so shy but once that alcohol hits, he becomes a sex maniac and anyone with a vagina between their legs will do. But that’s never been you. You’re always careful and you at least like to know the person you are sleeping with. You’ve always preferred knowing the name you’ll be moaning out.

But maybe you’ve been missing out on the anonymity. You’ve never seen this guy before on campus so there won’t be any of those awkward smiles and forced small talk when you run into each other. You’re kind of looking forward to it as he pulls you by the hand again towards the stairs.

But when he turns to the door instead of the stairs, alarm bells start ringing in your head. Maybe Jungkook was right and there is something wrong with him? He pulls you outside but before you get too far, you plant your feet on the ground, trying not to sway too much. What if he goes around to university campuses and lures girls in with his incredible smile and hopes of hooking up and then murders them? He stops and turns to look at you in confusion.

“Where are we going?” you ask cautiously, reaching your hand down to your jeans pocket to feel for your phone.

“To the diner just down the road. I asked if you wanted to go and you said yes. Did you change your mind? We can go back in if you want? I just don’t really like parties and thought talking over a burger and fries sounded like a better way to get to know you. But if you don’t want to go with me, that’s ok,” he drops your hand and takes a step away from you. “You don’t even know my name, of course you don’t want to go with me. I’m so sorry, I’ve probably scared you,” he runs his hand over his face and through his hair while grimacing. “Let’s just go back inside. I’m such an idiot,” he whispers and starts to walk past you, but you grab his hand to stop him. He’s either a really good actor or he’s being sincere. It might be the alcohol, but you feel like you can trust him.

“Let me just text my friends where we’re going and then we can go, ok? I didn’t hear you properly inside so when we went outside, I didn’t understand what was happening,” you say, giving him a reassuring smile. He lets out a relieved sigh as you pull you phone out. But then his smile drops, and he looks back at the house.

“I, uh, don’t know how to say this, or if I should be the one saying this. I mean, I don’t know your relationship, but if it was me, I’d want to know, so I should just tell you, right?” he says quickly, almost to himself.

“What are you talking about?” you ask. Your relationship? What is he talking about?

“I, um, saw your boyfriend making out with another girl,” he winces as he looks into your eyes and squeezes his hands together.

“My boyfriend? I’m not dating anyone?” you shake your head in confusion. And maybe if you weren’t so drunk you would have realized instantly that he was talking about your best friend.

“But… earlier… he…?” he stumbles over his words. “When I almost knocked you over? That big guy? Isn’t he your boyfriend?” he scratches his nose, and you notice for the first time that he has a small mole on the end of his nose and now how you definitely want to kiss it.

“The big guy?”

It takes you a painfully long time to understand who he is talking about but when you finally do, you burst out laughing at the absurdity of it. You and Jungkook? Never in a million years. The bewildered look on the guys face is too much for you and it makes you laugh harder. Tears prick at your eyes and you don’t even know why you find it so funny, but you do, and you can’t stop the giggles.

“Me and Jungkook? No!” your head falls backward and the tears streak down your face. “I’m sorry for laughing so much! But he’s like my brother! I’d never date him!” you wipe at your eyes with one hand and hold your stomach with the other.

“Oh… yeah?” he says, his face brightening.

“Yeah. We’ve known each other since we were babies. We’re basically siblings so the thought of us dating is just hilarious but also so gross,” you say before taking a deep breath. “Oh, you’re so cute. That was the best. Thank you for that!” you giggle again while unlocking your phone. You miss the blush the covers his cheeks as he smiles shyly and looks away. You quickly send a message to your group chat letting them know you left and where you’re going.

“I’m Taehyung by the way, but my friends call me Tae,” he says sheepishly. You add his name to the text before sending it.

“I’m Y/N,” you hold your hand out for him to shake. “It’s very nice to meet you, Tae.” His big hand engulfs yours and he shakes your hand. You really want those hands on you but right now this will do. “So, this diner, they have desserts?”

“Yeah, I think so,” he nods his head, smiling.

“Then let’s go!” you take his hand and pull him down the walkway.

It’s a little chilly out with the sun down which you didn’t think about when you agreed to walk, but Tae senses you’re cold and pulls you closer. He puts his hands, with your one hand still clasped tightly together, in his jacket pockets. The warmth you get from him and the lingering heat from the alcohol in enough to keep you toasty.

The two of you talk the whole way to the diner, never once falling into an awkward silence. Because both of you are inebriated, the conversation isn’t too serious. You mostly talk about your dreams and crazy things on your bucket lists. Laughs and giggles fill the night air as you stroll along the sidewalk, a few cars passing you by and illuminating your close figures. Everyone driving by probably thinking you’re dating, and you honestly don’t mind the mix up.

As a pretty outgoing person, you’re used to talking to people easily, but something feels different with Tae. There hasn’t been any awkwardness between you despite the fact that you’ve just met ten minutes ago and you’re huddled together so close that once your icy breath reaches his, they mingle together before disappearing into the night. You normally make friends easily with your cheerful disposition, so you’re not sure why this feels different, but it does and you’re not complaining. It feels like you’ve known Tae for years.

It’s just a hunch you have, and maybe it’s so strong because you’re so drunk, but you feel good things coming your way with Tae. And you really can’t wait.

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I hope you enjoyed that chapter and how they met. I can’t wait to show you the rest of the flashbacks I have planned!

Tagged: @anatron9000, @sugalarity

If you’d like to be tagged, let me know!

#bts imagine #bts fanfic #bts taehyung #bts namjoon #break up imagine #taehyung #namjoon

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