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#so I decided to come back to Tumblr instead! since I used to post my thoughts here pretty often
emmettworld · 1 month
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hello, my beloved whump community. this is Emmett. but you probably know me better as this blog:
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or you may remember the blog before that:
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you may have even been here since this blog:
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...i'm not taking you farther than that. xD
my account was terminated without any warning today. March 25, 2024. all of my blogs are gone and i have lost everything i have on them. you won't even be able to see any comments or reblogs for me on any of your posts.
if you have commissioned me over Tumblr DMs and not Discord, please contact me here. i did not have a copy of my commission list saved. i do not know who hasn't paid and who already has. i do not remember who was on the list. i do not want anyone to be cheated out of their money.
i have no idea why this happened. i was not doing anything that could justify my account being terminated with no warning or explanation. i'm so paranoid about it that i won't even type the blog names; that's why they're images instead.
but at this point, most of you know the type of whump creator i am. one who creates whatever he wants, no matter how disturbing or explicit it may be. one who loves creating whump and content in general of the Not Safe For This Website kind.
getting one of my blogs flagged, and now losing everything, is not going to stop me. i'm not going anywhere. but i am going to be changing my approach to posting content.
this is my Language Key. i will be using a system of emojis for tagging instead of words, so please read this before you go on my blog and know which tags you need to block.
if you need to block my blog for any reason, go ahead. i don't want to disturb anyone by showing up in the tags.
all of my artwork that is Not Safe For This Website will be linked to an external storage website, MEGA. it is completely free to view and you do not need an account. there will be no cropped previews unless they are 100% Safe For This Website.
all of my writing that is Not Safe For This Website will be linked directly to where i post it on my AO3. it is completely free to view and you do not need an account. there will be no writing put under a read more unless it is 100% Safe For This Website.
trust me, i'll have a better pinned post up at some point explaining who i am and my multiverse of AUs, series, and OCs, and links to my commission page, and my Ko-Fi...and i'll do my best to finish the masterlists and, once again, build myself up from the ground up...
but i'm exhausted. i never saw this coming, and it's made me realize just how unsafe i am. i lost so much content that was only posted on Tumblr and not saved anywhere else.
believe me when i say that i am fucking devastated.
but i'm not going anywhere. i will die with this site when it eventually goes down, and not because it tried to kill me.
that being said, you can find me here on Cohost, which is where i'll migrate to when this place dies or where i'll communicate if i happen to get IP address banned (probably without warning) or something that prevents me from coming back.
if you don't want to refollow me here, i totally understand. i can't say how grateful i am to everyone who does, but like...i get it. it's tedious having to refollow me all the time, never knowing when a blog (or full ass account) is going to suddenly disappear. if you want to get off this crazy, unpredictable ride now, i don't blame you.
and if you decide to stick around, for however long, thank you. this day has been one of my worst nightmares and i don't think i would be handling this with nearly as much grace if it were not for my friends and everyone on my Discord server (which, by the way, is the only safe place where i share everything uncensored).
they were my first line of communication. they helped me get the word out. they rallied for me and kept me from having one massive breakdown over this, so my heartfelt thanks go out to them.
i'm using the whump community tags in hopes that more people will see this. i had hundreds of followers on my last blog, more than a thousand on the blog before that...i know this isn't going to reach everyone, but i hope it will reach some people.
thank you so much for reblogging this to help spread the word if you do. and thank you for reading. ❤️
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thelastofhyde · 5 months
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you cut your hair, and take some space.
pairing. narcos!javier peña x fem!reader
synopsis. an anthology of events that precede and procede the termination of you and your father's best friend's sexual relationship. this is part 1 of 2 !
warnings. no use of y/n, age gap , student!reader, dbf!javi, post-s3!javi, officer!javi bc i said so, break up au, mutual pining, forbidden lovers kind of vibes, reader has a healthy relationship with her parents, so much crying ( reader spends half her time crying over javi p which is honestly a mood ), violence, undetailed depictions of sa ( not javi ), smut ( creampie, breeding kink through the roof, domesticity kink?? javi just wants to love and be loved and start a family, dacryphilia, indecent use of a credit card, spanking, dirty talk, prostitution kink?? i feel like i'm making these up at this point, + a hell of a lot more ) this fic is based on bsc by maisie peters except this has a happy ending bc im a sucker for mr. peña :( not all warnings listed here appear in this part, these are warnings for the fic as a whole !
word count. 15k
hyde’s input. this was written over the course of four months and could easily be used in court to prove i am, in fact, unequivocally in love with one mr. javier peña. if you take the time to read it, just know i appreciate it so much. i really poured my heart and soul into this and, as someone who's been writing for years, it's been so long since i've written something so self-indulgent that's brought me nothing but joy to write. as the fic has surpassed 30k words, meaning it would likely crash the tumblr site for anyone trying to read it, i've decided to post it in two parts. part two will be posted within the following weeks.
(it'a nearly 4 am as i post this, please look the other way at any typos or editing errors.)
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“i told you, corazón mia (my heart),” he can't meet your eyes. “made it clear from the start i wasn't looking for anything serious.” “i know,” you heave in a breath, hold back a sob. “but if it wasn't serious, why'd you treat me like it was?”
I cut my nose to save some face You cut your hair and take some space.
The mirror is not clean enough to see yourself.
Where there are usually your eyes, there’s a discoloured splotch of brown. A crack runs down the left of what should be your face. Someone’s taken it upon themselves to draw a cartoon penis just where your mouth is. But in your drunken haze and laser focus, you don’t care enough to notice. All you see is the spot where your nose is, a tiny ball of silver nestled just above your right nostril.
It’s something new to fidget with.
On the flip side, it stings like a bitch. Or, more appropriately, like the tequila shots that led you to this run-down tattoo parlour.
You wonder if, come the morning and mental clarity, you’ll regret it.
If you do, you’ll blame him.
Your night was going fine. Good, even. And, with a lack of good nights in the recent week, that was an accomplishment.
You’d dressed up, let loose, had fun. A friend on either arm and a drink close at hand, you’d giggled and gossiped your way through this impromptu girls’ night.
They’d ambushed you, in a way, forced their way through the barricade of tissues and take-out boxes into your apartment. A skimpy dress tossed at your head and four hands dragging you, limb by limb, into the shower.
Get some dinner, hit the town, get fucked up. That was the plan they set out for you.
You skipped dinner, dove head-first into the town.
You were careful all night to never speak of him.
One part fearful it would summon him, another part embarrassed to admit just who you’d gotten tangled up in. A third part, tucked away in a locked closet, ready to do it all over again.
And then it happened.
You didn’t say his name, no.
Not aloud.
You thought it, for just a second, hearing the person beside you at the bar order the same drink you’d watched him nurse time after time. It wasn’t him but, instead, a man far too short and a clean-cut kind of handsome to even begin to compare to the ex-agent.
But it was enough to make you want to leave.
Giving up your space, you’d made your way back to your girls and made up some little white lie, surprised neither of them called you out on it- what kind of bar doesn’t have white wine?
They left to find someplace with wine, you left to find some peace of mind.
The bar they dragged you into was familiar, the setting of many of your father’s stories. It only took you walking through the door, tugging down the dress-too-short, to hear your name called across the floor.
“Hey kiddo!” Your dad’s a tell-tale kind of drunk, his eyes giving away even the smallest sip of alcohol he has. He was just tipsy, scooting his way out of a tattered booth to wrap you up in his arms. It felt as nice as it did guilt-inducing, knowing you’d been avoiding his calls all week since The Incident. A punishment to yourself more than one aimed at him. “You here yourself? Could join us for the night, if you like. Ain’t that right, boys?”
It was only then that you’d realised two men were sat within the booth, collars undone and ties loosened after a week’s work.
There were usually three of them.
"We’re just waiting on Peña." Oh god, it makes you feel sick. Heart in your throat, stomach at your feet. His name no longer feels real, not when spoken by anyone but you.
“And raising bets on his tardiness,” one of your father’s friends said. You recognised him from a few of the barbecues and Christmas parties your dad's thrown. He's nice, responsible. Married, to a woman his own age. “I’m saying he’s chasing some tail. God knows he could use some stress relief. Boy’s been wound up all week, nearly bit my head off for asking him about some files."
It’s a wonder none of the three men- one a retired lawyer, the other two members of the force- noticed the blood drain from your face.
“My guess is he’s pulled some muscle in his back and can’t get himself out of bed,” a nudge from your father’s elbow, delivered straight to your ribs. “Whatcha think, kiddo?”
You didn’t have an answer.
You didn’t get to give an answer.
“You need to quit speaking ‘bout me like you’re not a whole decade my senior, viejo (old man),” it came from behind you and threatened you to look. Like the foolish final-girl in a slasher, you ignored your basic instincts and glanced over your shoulder.
You’re not sure what you were expecting, but you know what you were hoping for.
Tired eyes, chewed lips, unkempt facial hair. A twitch of sadness drawn between his brows and the stains of cigarette ash on a worn-out suit.
Javier Peña was none of that.
The suit, grey. One that fit him all too well and had you wishing you could stain it with your drink.
The signature moustache, perfectly groomed, sitting perched above the bow of his pouty lips, rosy-red and fresh for picking.
His eyes have always given him away but, staring down at you in that moment, they read only as passive, unaffected.
It was like, nothing.
And, yes, that’s what you’d asked for- from now on, whenever you see me, can you at least pretend that none of this happened?
But he's smart enough to know you didn't mean it, right?
“Hey officers, sorry to interrupt but,” a hand curled around your arm. It tugged and you let yourself be inched away from heavy brown eyes and your father’s smile. “She’s ours for the night. We’re going clubbing!”
That was never part of the plan.
Neither was skipping dinner, though.
You caught the back of him as you were dragged away, some pleading from your father to take it easy and call me in the morning, and noticed it only then.
His hair, freshly cut.
“‘S getting too long,” a mumbled sort of thing, hidden in your neck, spoken against your pulse. A kiss placed upon it, and then another for extra measure. Fingers dragging through his hair, ridding him of the knots your very same hands had worked into them an hour of passionate touching ago. “Lo sé (I know).”
A pause of silence. The blissful moan birthed from nails on his scalp. And, then, “no. It’s nice, I like it.”
That puppy-dog stare, so particular to the cool-down moments between you, meets your own, chin propped up on your sternum. He’s sweet like this, honeyed skin and pleasant smiles.
“Yeah?” He asks, like he even needs to. “You like it, corazón (sweetheart)?” You opt for a hummed confirmation, finger tracing over the arch of his nose. “Guess I better keep it this way, then.”
Now he’s gone and chopped the overgrown curls off.
In a way, it feels like he’s cut you off with them.
We don’t speak cause it’s too tricky But if I’m tricky, why’d you kiss me?
The next time you see him, a wedding is taking place.
He sits on the groom’s side, you sit on the bride’s.
It feels unreasonable to be surprised by his presence. Why wouldn’t he be here, sitting four rows from the back, at his cousin’s brother-in-law’s wedding?
The bride is gorgeous, the groom is in tears. The priest drones on a little too long.
Somewhere between the exchanging of vows, and the ceremonial kissing, and the cheering of guests, your instincts get the better of you and you glance back at him.
He’s already staring right back, eyes ignited with something that weakens your knees and shakes your confidence. The newlyweds walk down the aisle, cut through your line of sight. He’s still staring at you when they’ve passed.
The reception takes place in the events room of some glammed-up hotel, the kind you can barely afford the one night you’re booked in for.
An open bar, a local band. The catering is tasteful, handpicked by the couple, and the table you feast at is so far away from his that you don’t get that chance to see if he chose the chicken or the beef.
You find a friend behind the bar, in the shape of a bottle and toothpick-impaled olives.
You dance till your feet hurt, slip away to your table, take off your heels. You’re back on the dance floor in time to catch the bouquet, too busy basking in the envy of the other women to notice his eyes burning a hole in the back of your head.
If it weren’t for the dent in your bank account made by the room you booked, you’d gladly dance away the whole night. But if a bed with a view costs double your rent, you’ll be damned if you don’t get to sleep in it.
So you stumble to the elevator.
Clutch your heels and flowers to your chest, struggle to remember your floor number. The fifth floor seems to ring a bell, but it might’ve been the eighth floor. Your room key! Maybe, you hope, that’ll have your floor number on it. You struggle with your purse’s zipper, trying your best to pry it open.
You succeed, but at what cost? Heels and bouquet tumble to the floor, thumping and clunking as they knock against it, flower petals falling loose.
You try to bend down, stretch your fingers out to grasp the clasps, seize the stems. A wave of exhaustion mixed with too much alcohol washes over you and you stand up straight again. Take a calming breath, do a little song and dance before reaching down again.
“Déjame. (Let me.)”
Scuffed shoes come into view as you’re halfway down, bent at the waist and holding your balance with one arm against a wall. You stand up straight, too fast, lose your balance and stumble forward.
He catches you.
For a moment, it feels like you’ve never left his arms.
“C’mon, let’s get you to your room.” You hate the way he ends his sentence, no term of endearment and no impure intentions.
He asks for your floor, you give him your key. He punches the number into the elevator and it shakes to life.
Neither one of you makes an attempt to part. There’s a chance he pulls you closer to him. You let yourself melt, regardless, muscles relaxing and sinking into his arms.
He’s still warm. He’s still steady. but his cologne’s different and it makes your eyes sting.
You’d warned him he was about to run out of his signature bottle, made a note to buy him another one for his birthday or Christmas, whichever came first.
“You look like you had fun,” he rasps out, eventually, as the elevator slips past the fifth floor.
“I did,” you tell a partial truth. You would have had more fun, if he’d stood at your side, ate at your table, danced in your arms. But you can’t say that, because he doesn’t want that.
“I’m glad.”
It turns out your floor is the ninth. He’s careful to guide you out the mobile-box, hand on your hip, pressing you to his side. Your heels dangling from one of his fingers and the bouquet gripped in his palm, smacking against his thigh every other step. A little down the hall and there you find it, your precious and expensive home for the night.
It’s easier to let him open the door, he tells you.
It’s easier to let him guide you to bed, you tell yourself.
Dropping the heels on the floor, he disappears out of your line of sight and you stare motionless at the ceiling above, buzzing in your brain and pain in your heart.
You’ve never shared a space like this with him, one that’s hollow and decayed. The shell of a creature that’s long abandoned it, grown too big for its home.
Your eyes sting all over again, this time enough to brim with unfallen tears.
A thud against the nightstand.
You roll onto your side and find he’s still here, a glass of water and some painkillers lay to rest at your bedside. The first tear gives way, running down your cheek and dropping to the crisp white sheets below. Even more fall as he raises a damp cloth to your face, wiping away smudged mascara and bringing your lips back to their natural colour.
The undressing is gentle and so unlike his usual impatience.
Fingertips drag down each inch of skin released as he unzips the back of your dress, tugging it down and folding it by your heels. The weight off your chest helps you breathe as he unhooks your bra. Left only in your underwear, the sheets ruffle as he drags them up your tired limbs and tucks them under your chin.
“Get in bed, please,” you plead like you have any right to ask that of him. “Javi.”
It’s the first time you’ve said his name since that night in May. His shoulders tense and release, his fingers smooth down his moustache. He looks like he’s going to fulfil your request, slip in behind you and wrap you up in his soft but steady embrace.
He looks like he wants to.
His back cracks as he bends down and presses a kiss.
Against your forehead, lips that linger.
Then, he stands up straight and walks out the door.
On the forehead, way up north Pressed the scar and found the source
Vermont, ‘98.
That’s where it all began.
Your dad, turning fifty.
Javi just hit forty.
It was someone in the station who had the wild idea they celebrate it together. The sheriff and the station’s rookie- really, a hardened, inching-out-of-a-fresh-retirement former DEA agent your father manipulated back into the force, some promise of a light workload and a hefty pension. With no need for money, you wonder why he ever accepted the offer.
Plans were set, money was put in a pot, and a wheel of fortune was spun. It landed on the northern state, a downpayment to rent a ski lodge placed within a matter of twenty-four hours.
Somewhere along the way, you’d been roped into joining this boys-only trip. Your dad argued you needed a break from studying. Your mother argued there needed to be a responsible adult to supervise your dad. and, well, a free holiday never hurt nobody, right?
Wrong.
The final evening, with a constant pounding of a hangover never-quite-nursed, a litter of bruises down your back from falling and a firmly closed chapter on any possible career as a ski prodigy you may have had, you trailed your way down to the only bar in the tiny ski town.
Textbooks on the table, glasses on your face.
A half-drank glass of cabernet, an empty plate.
Peaceful and quaint, until it wasn’t.
The cheer of a frat-boy out in the wild warrants the same response as hearing a lion’s roar in the dark of the Saharan night.
The kind you hear them before you see them, spilling through the door in their obnoxious jerseys and their face-painted cheeks. one wore the badge of honour, a giant Soon To Be shackled Married printed poorly onto the back of his jersey.
You put your head down, breathed more subtly.
The pride stormed their way over to the bar, pounding their fists onto the surface and gnashing their teeth, spit spilling down their mouth as they brutally tore into the bartender, demanding pints of beer and rounds of shots.
The key was to avoid eye contact, keep low and out of sight.
They dispersed through the area, sniffing out free booths and the occasional local to irritate out of their seats.
One of them found the jukebox and wasted his coin on blasting Pour Some Sugar On Me. The group of older women playing bingo scowled and made their way out of the joint, calling it for the night.
You got up to follow suit, hands slowly packing up your belongings and slinging your bag over your back.
Inching towards the exit, footsteps light as a feather.
“Woo! Look at you,” just as you were close to slipping out the door, a single member of the pack spotted you, prowling his way over. He already had his chest puffed out by the time you turned around. “Ain’t seen an ass like that since we left the city!”
Hardly charming. Tame, compared to other things frat boys have said to you.
“Why don’cha come join me and my buddies over there?” He nodded back at them, like they weren’t the obnoxious centres of everyone’s attention.
You were not scared of him, exactly. But you’ve seen where things can go. Heard about it, countless times, from your own father.
So you spoke with caution, gripping your bag a little tighter, “thanks, but I’ve got an early flight. Have a nice night-” He told you his name, like you cared. “Yeah, thanks, bye.”
And then you were stepping out into the quiet of the night.
Fresh air, cold enough to sting your lungs. You breathed it in like it was going out of fashion.
You barely got a moment to compose yourself before that grating voice was back in your ears.
“Oh don’t be a buzzkill!” He whined, you cringed. Took a step back, watched him move an inch. “It’s early, stay. Have a drink.”
“I’m not in the mood.”
“To have fun?! C’mon, it’s too cold to be out here by yourself.”
“I have an early flight.”
“It’s just one drink, sweetheart. I ain’t asking you to sign your life away.”
A couple bumped past you both, weaved their way between you. His eyes trailed after them, your feet twisted around, carrying you away from him slowly, carefully. Best not to make yourself look like prey, not to this predator.
“Hey!” He called after you. Your steps sped up. “Where you going, sweetheart?”
It didn’t even matter that you were walking in the opposite direction of the ski lodge. You told yourself you would find your way back, once this lion was off your back.
“I ain’t done talkin’ to you!”
The lion pounced, sank his claws into your back and ripped through you.
Your hand flew out to break your fall, the contents of your bag spilling out onto the sidewalk.
Pain, the kind that stings. It nipped at your knees, and your hands, and your eyes. Pushed it down, pulled yourself up.
He froze, maybe surprised at his own actions, maybe waiting on the chance to pounce once more, this time with his fangs instead of his claws.
You wouldn’t give him the chance. Filled your bag, collected your senses and ran.
It was tricky on frozen ground, trying so hard to not look back.
He followed and you knew it, heard it. Roaring and growling, chasing you down streets you’d never walked.
You slipped, momentarily, slammed into a wall. A crossroads, go right or go left.
You don’t remember which direction you turned.
“Quit running, you bitch!”
He was still following, how was he still following?
Caving in, you glanced over your shoulder and saw the blurry figure of him running after you.
He was getting faster. Maybe you were getting slower.
You came to a screeching halt, body smacking into something solid. Eyes shut, mind alive. You feared the worst, hoped for the best, expected to open your eyes and find yourself trapped in a dead-end, nowhere to run from this predator.
Instead, you heard your name. Called softly, at first. Gentle, coaxing you to pay attention. The second time it was more urgent, worried and aggressive. You sank deeper into the wall, felt your feet shuffle on the gravel below.
“...Gotta let me know, nena,” the wall pulled you back from it, a firm grasp on your forearms. Your eyes opened and met his. “Fucking Christ, look at the state of you.”
You’d not known much about Javier Peña at the start of the trip.
Your dad had mentioned something about a family ranch. Your mom let it slip that he’d enjoyed the pumpkin pie she’d brought to the station’s Thanksgiving feast.
There’d been one time you’d caught the end of a conversation between him and your dad. Nothing concrete, just some shameful mutterings about Colombia and Los Pepes. You’d left once you heard your dad start to comfort the man, deciding your intruding on the moment had already gone too far.
You now knew he liked his whiskey, no ice. His coffee, no milk. His bread, no butter.
He didn’t like the mess of mixing things, and you had to wonder if it had always been this way. Or had he learned his lesson, the hard way? Mixed the wrong things, burnt his own blessings?
“You’re bleeding,” he announced it, fresh news for you.
A pleasant warmth thrummed through your veins as he took hold of your hand, inspecting it under his scrutiny.
His thumb swiped over your palm.
Your mouth winced, your arm pulled back.
He held you in place.
Something visceral shifted in him, enough to coax you to glance at him.
He was looking past you, eyes a deadly killer stalking their prey. You followed their line of sight and found the lion at the end of the street. Standing still, arms at his side, eyes a little wider than you remembered them. You’d not really been looking, in the first place.
The former agent twisted you behind him, an effortless shield. Took an urgent step toward the frat boy, and then another three.
You grasped at his sleeve and tugged him back, didn’t let him stray too far.
“I’m fine,” you lied. He didn’t believe you, furrowing his brow. “I’m just cold.”
He seemed to hesitate, softened by a tremble in your voice.
He glanced back to see the lion was retreating, staggering his way back to the pride of frat boys. A perfect opportunity for him to attack, from behind and unexpectedly.
“Leave it, he’s not-” The sting in your eye got the best of you and a tear tracked itself down your cheek. You wiped it away with your scraped hand, leaving behind a smear of gravel and blood. “It’s not worth it.”
You said it not for the agent’s sake, but the boy’s.
The agent puffed out a breath of frustration, then followed your plea. Turned back to you, licked his thumb and swiped off the dirt on your cheek. Pulled you in, against him once more, and pressed a deliberate kiss against your forehead.
It was instinctual, no thought placed behind his action.
He did it because that seemed to be in his nature: to nurture.
“C’mon, the lodge is this way,” he pointed in some direction.
You didn’t bother paying attention, more than willing to follow wherever he led.
“Put this on.” It was not posed as an option, not when the agent tugged off his coat and draped it over your shoulders.
Somewhere along the path, you realised you’d lost your key to your cabin. Your dad carried the other.
Officer Peña offered to take you to him, drinking down in the ski lodge’s bar with the rest of the men.
You shook your head, told him your dad couldn’t see you in that state.
He took you back to his own cabin instead.
Cleaned up your hands, put on the fire, poured you a drink.
Then fucked you into his bed, till you clawed and sobbed around him.
If you don’t love me, Why’d you act it?
Late june brings nothing but gloom.
You get bored quick, no college to fill your days. Pick up extra shifts, hope to combat the empty feeling in your chest with the rush hour traffic that torpedoes it’s way through the cafe.
Friends invite you out, you rarely go. They tease you’re becoming a recluse, and that just makes you want to shut yourself in even more.
Tonight, you’re appeasing them.
Some line dance event, downtown in a bar that’s only gimmick seems to be a worn-down mechanical bull. It’s missing a horn and no one seems to know why.
Truth be told, you don’t want to go.
You want to stuff your face with take-out while you melt into your couch, watching reruns of the first season of Friends and drooling over Joey till you forget about another smooth-talking, raven haired man.
Here you are instead, fighting against the cheesy cowgirl hat till it sits on your head correctly.
In the mirror, it’s still lopsided.
The clock sits at eight forty-seven.
They’re 2 minutes late.
You give up, decide to pretend you want the hat this way. Slip on your jacket, do a sweep around your apartment: windows locked, flat iron off, fridge closed. Grabbing your purse, you unzip it and wrestle around in it’s contents, searching for your keys.
You pull on something and- it’s a pack a gum.
Dive back in, search again.
An empty tube of lipbalm.
Third time’s a charm, you think, and try once more. Something scratches your fingers, coaxes you to tug it out and inspect it.
A broken earring.
A familiar car honk’s outside, you stay frozen in place, staring at the broken hoop and counting one, two, three.
Bile burns the back of your throat.
He opens on the fifth knock.
Any other night, he practically rips the door off it’s hinges and tugs you in, before you can so much as raise your fist for a second knock.
Maybe he was busy, on the toilet or on the phone. You don’t think too much into it.
He steps aside, lets you in. Stands so far away, it’s hard to read his eyes.
The air’s uncomfortably quiet.
You think’s it’s all in your head, self-doubt at an all time high after a bad day.
“My earring snapped today,” there’s a growing pit in your stomach, just from staring at him. He looks so distant, not present. Mind a galaxy away. "Your favourite ones, too. You know, the little hoops with-”
“The hearts dangling from them.” He finishes, on your behalf, and it’s the first green flag you see. Green enough to lull yourself into a faux calm.
The silence returns.
You rock backwards on your heels, glance around the apartment. Try to find what has changed, because this no longer feels like the place you’ve grown so familiar with. And neither does the man observing you from a distance, hands glued to his sides.
He should be touching you by now, in any way he could: his foot bumping against yours under his dining table, his hand trailing patterns over your shoulders as you settle into his side on the couch, his tongue delving between your folds as you lay splayed out on his sheets.
You notice his bedroom door is shut.
It’s never been shut before.
“Is- Am I-” You don’t have to find the words, but the courage to speak them. “Do you have someone over?”
He blinks, slowly.
It’s hard to tell if it’s from guilt.
“Because if you do, that’s fine!” It’s not. “I understand,” You don’t.
He doesn’t answer.
You keep talking.
“Totally chill, I’ll comeback some other night. Or, you can just come by mine! Yeah, actually, that sounds better. Won’t risk interrupting again-”
“This needs to stop.”
You don’t have to question it.
You do, anyway.
“What?”
“Us. This-” He’s pointing between you both, a little haphazardly. It’s like he’s rushing to get the words out, get it over with. Get you out his apartment. “Thing we’re doing. It’s done.”
“I don’t underst-”
He cuts you off with your name. “Why’d you come here tonight?”
He’s stern.
Not in the way that makes you want to bend to his will and indulge in all his sins. But in a way that makes you feel dirty, wrong. A child scorned for touching fire and getting themselves burnt.
“I,” you’re beginning to wish there was someone else in his bed, so she could stroll out of his room in one of his stupidly soft shirts and interrupt this conversation. “Uh, I had a bad day.”
“Okay,” he nods. Smooths a hands over his chin, pops out his hip. “What’s that got anything to do with me?”
Everything, you want to tell him.
For every single thing that went wrong throughout your day, seeing Javi gave you something to look forward to.
“I just thought-”
“You thought, what?” His face twists up, just like your insides. He’s angry and you’re the one to blame. “This isn’t a- I’m not your boyfriend.”
I know, you mouth.
Because you do know. Repeat it to yourself all the time.
When he calls to make sure you got home safe.
When you sneak off to pee in the middle of the night and are welcomed back to bed with a forceful tug into his chest, a sleepy, gruffed out ‘where’d you go?’ whispered into your neck.
When he picks up on the things you say, remembers silly things like your favourite toilet paper brand and the exact milk to cereal ratio you enjoy.
Javier Peña is not your boyfriend.
So why does he act like it?
“Look, kid, you’re young, and I know-”
Kid.
That makes you angry.
He wasn’t calling you kid when he bent you over your parents’ bathroom counter.
“Don’t call me kid.”
“And I know,” he pushes through your protest, keeps up the distance. “This can be a lot at your age. Don’t blame you for getting caught up. But whatever you think you’re feeling for me, it’s not-”
“Is this about the p-” The word won’t come out of you, so your change the verbiage. “The hospital? Because I told you, Javi. We’ve been safe. Safer than a pair of purity-ring wearing teenagers-”
“No, this is about me needing to do the right-”
At this point, you’re just interrupting one another.
Fighting to get in the next word, frowning at what you do hear.
He tilts his head back and pinches the bridge of his nose, a groan leaving his cracked lips. You’d imagined him doing that tonight, but not like this.
Eventually, the back-and-forth stops.
Silence.
You take the lead.
“So, what? That’s it just... over?”
“I told you, corazón mía (my heart),” he can’t meet your eyes. “Made it clear from the start I wasn’t looking for anything serious.”
“I know,” you heave in a breath, hold back a sob. “But if it wasn’t serious, why’d you treat me like it was?”
It takes him a few minutes to answer. There’s a twitch, in his hand, reaching up only to drop back down at his side.
Usually, he wipes your tears before they get chance to fall.
The rug at your feet turns darker with each wet spot that drops.
“I got caught up,” his eyes seem so sad, so lost. Staring across the ocean of his living room, searching for a lighthouse to pull him safe to shore. But he won’t let you be that. “In the way you deserve to be treated, instead of some sleazy secret.”
He breathes out your name, the most painful melody you’ve ever heard.
“This has to end,” you’re unsure if it’s only you he’s attempting to convince. “Before someone gets hurt.”
Too late, you want to say.
You’re already being torn apart by his hands, and he’s standing ten feet away.
“Corazón, I’m so sor-”
The car honks, again.
You breathe in, and find it’s hard, snot piling up in your nose and tears splashing down your cheers.
Another honk.
You never make it to the line dance.
You curl in on yourself, instead, and fall asleep to the sound of Joey and Chandler’s bickering.
Love’s a verb And not a bandage
In retrospect, it’s hard to tell where the lines begin to blur.
A promise of casual, turned into something fragile.
Whenever you think about it, for too long, your mind carries you back to the same night. A few months after Vermont, you don’t recall the exact date.
All you remember is a pounding at your front door.
1 am. Too late to be causing ruckus.
You nearly trip over discarded shoes, curse earlier-you for assuming you would remember their existence. Undo the bolt, grab the key and then-
Pause.
This could be anyone, anything.
You check the peephole, find exactly who you were hoping for.
He’s on you like a moth to a flame, pressing you flush against him the instant he can fit through the crack in your doorway. Mouth on mouth, hands on waist. The door thuds as he closes it behind you both, you’re too distracted to notice.
You let him invade your senses.
Smell his aged leather and nicotine thrill. Feel his strong arms and bulging crotch. Hear his laboured breaths and muttered pleasantries. Taste his whiskey tongue and metallic lips-
You pull back. He follows.
It’s flattering, his inability to get enough of you, but you halt him nonetheless.
Cup his cheeks, pull down his face, and stare.
“My dad finally figure out who those panties in your glove-box belong to, Peña?” It’s meant to be a joke.
There’s nothing funny about his bleeding lip and split eyebrow.
He graces no response, dives back into you and submerses himself in your touch. Kisses you slow, with deliverance, his final mission to arrest all your sense of self till you turn yourself in to his embrace.
Only as you pass by those discarded shoes do you realise he’s inching you both deeper into the dark of your apartment.
This time, you do trip over them.
It’s okay though, Javi’s there to catch you.
He finds refuge in your neck, burrowing in deep, mouthing at the skin like a dog does a wound. Your arm shoots out to find a light-switch. A warm glow fills the apartment, bathing you both in an orange hue.
The gold of his skin shines brighter.
The red on his skin appears darker.
“What happened to you?” You don’t need to worry about him. And, yet, doing so comes naturally.
“S’not important,” it’s spoken against your skin, as if he intends to seep his gravelled tone into your pores and have it grow a new life for itself within you. A gentle scraping of his teeth sends a shiver down your spine. “I’ll tell you later.”
Later with Javi never seems to come.
‘If you’re not busy, I’ll make you dinner later.’
‘Keep it up and I’ll be fucking that attitude out of you later.’
‘I’ll get these back to you later.’
He’d never made you that dinner.
He’d dragged you into the station’s bathrooms and fucked the attitude out of you only seconds after.
You’d never gotten those panties back.
You decide to grant him no time for later. Shove him down into a seat at your dining table-for-two. Roll your eyes as he asks if you’re “gonna put on a show for me, corazón?”
The makeshift first-aid kit put together by your mother resides at the back of a cupboard, hidden by mugs and cups. It takes several minutes and a smashed glass to manoeuvre it out. You step over the pieces of glass and head straight back to the table, dumping out the contents.
You click your tongue, point your finger. He scoots the chair back from the table and you slip between the space. Press back against the surface, stand between his parted knees and do your best to not look down at the jeans that grant him no modesty.
Distractions are not welcomed, your patient needs tending to.
He’s insisting he’s okay, yet he’s hissing when you dab at the tears in his flesh with betadine. His hands find a place upon your hips and give a tight squeeze as you press butterfly stitches to his no-longer bleeding brow.
“I,” he starts up, an indefinite time of silence passing between you both. He shakes his head.“It’s stupid.”
“Javi,” you stroke your finger over his jaw, tilt his head back to meet your eyes. “The less you tell me, the more I’ll worry.”
It does the trick, unlocks his tongue.
“I was just wanting one drink, was gonna head home... Or to you, after. I had a shitty day at work and... You probably don’t care about that,” he has no idea you’ll hang onto those words for the weeks to come, wondering how to lighten his workload, ease his tension. “Heard some loud-mouth kid beside me at the bar, he was talking to this girl. She gets up to leave, he follows. I was just gonna go back to nursing my drink but-”
He hisses.
You’re pressing too hard on his fragile lip.
There’s no malice in his eyes as you pull your hand back, only soft and tender. He must sense your remorse for hurting him, chasing after your fingers and grazing a gentle kiss upon them.
A splotch of red stains your skin.
“Corazón,” he croons, shifts himself closer to you. His hands grip the backs of your exposed thighs, his chin presses into your lower stomach. A few movie-strand hairs cover the molten brown eyes that stare up at you. “You’re exhausted. Vamos, basta de preocuparte (C'mon, stop worrying), I’m fine. I just wanna crawl into your tiny bed so I can wake up to your bedhead and more back pains.”
It’s a tempting offer, and one you’ve given into far too many times acceptable for the casual agreement you both share.
A deep breath. Your hand lands on his cheek, his eyes flutter shut.
There’s bags under them. Heavy, dark. Bearing the exhaustion he hides behind charming winks and dashing smiles. Your thumb grazes over one and you ache to give him the rest he deserves, the rest his body craves.
“But, what?” You persist, pleading for him to continue his story.
Javi sighs, gives in.
He always gives in, to you, eventually.
“I just- I don’t know, it’s crazy, but I kept thinking of you,” his eyes reopen, sorrow buried deep in his soul and a worry-line etched into his brow. “In that bar. Alone, in Vermont, when you...”
He doesn’t finish his sentence.
He doesn’t need to.
“So what did you do?” It’s best to keep him talking, drag his mind away from whatever dark thoughts those memories bring up.
“I followed them outside,” he admits with a tinge of shame. “Tried to be subtle about it. Lit a cigarette, took a few drags, scoped out the street. Neither of them were around,” you’ve long abandoned the first aid kit, transfixed by the tight grip he holds you in, his hands smoothing up and down the backs of your thighs in an attempt to soothe himself. “I thought I’d maybe read into it wrong. Maybe she was into him, and they’d got a cab back to her place. Or his.”
He’s rambling.
Stumbling through words he deems unimportant, rushing to push out the thoughts that clog up his brain pipes.
You listen closely, swallow up every morsel he offers.
“It was just as I turned to go back inside that I heard something,” his hands no longer dance over your skin. They sit stagnant, halfway up your thigh, fingers flexed and nails digging into flesh. He’s burying himself into any part of you he can, rooting himself in your solid figure. “Rustling, or something. Coming from the alley. And I just... I felt my stomach drop. Followed after it. Found them, him-”
He chokes.
On his words, on his breath, on his failure.
You run a hand through his curls, soothe the lines off his face.
Bend down, drag him up, press your lips to the arc of his nose.
“Didn’t think, I just dragged him off. Punched him, a few times. Felt his nose crack under my fist.” He’s still pushing through, his earlier unwillingness to talk now a streaming fountain you can’t switch off. “I must’ve tripped on some glass, lost my balance. Gave him the space to get a few hits in, and-”
“Did you arrest him?” You cut him off.
He nods.
“Did you help her?”
Another nod.
“Did you get her someplace safe?”
This time, a reply.
“An officer checked her in at the hospital, stayed till her friend arrived.”
“Then Javi,” you make a point of saying his name, remind him of who he is when he’s not on duty. Not parading around with a badge and a gun, and answering to Officer Peña. The shift in his stare tells you it helps. “You did enough.”
A weight slips off his shoulders and he slumps further into you, eyes squeezing shut.
“I didn’t,” frustration steals the show, coursing through his voice.
“What more could you have done?”
“I don’t know... I could’ve-” He groans, like something pains him, and purses his lips. “I should’ve helped her sooner. Followed them, the minute they left. Shouldn’t have let...” A whiff of whiskey reaches your nostrils. Javi pulls you in tighter, breathes in the mixture of sleep-sweat and lingering cologne on the shirt you wear- Pink, the top buttons undone, left behind by him. “Shouldn’t have let you go out alone.”
You whine out his name.
The air is miserable, dragging through your lungs and staining them.
The chair creeks at the loss of his weight, knees straightening him up to his full height. Instinctually, you lean back into the table, head tilting to meet his broken eyes.
He’s searching for comfort, in the only way he knows how.
Slap a bandage over a bullet-hole, place a kiss upon his gaping-heart.
“Not everything about that night was so bad,” you play into his game, splay a hand upon his shirt. Trace a finger over a stained blood spot. “If I hadn’t gone out, then maybe we wouldn’t be...”
The words catch in your throat.
Partially because you don’t know what you are anymore. Boundaries crossed, lines blurring. Hands that hold and eyes that linger. Too close to be nothing, too reckless to be something.
But mostly because he kisses you.
Desperate, hungry. Groaning into your willing mouth.
He’s a man on a mission, to consume your soul right out your willing body. Unravelling you where you stand, he takes pleasure in peeling his shirt off you.
Hot mouth to hot skin, the tip of his tongue meeting the peak of your breasts. Your hands pull at his hair and he grips at your waist.
The descent into madness is quick, bodies melting together in a dance that’s unique, improvised, and yet always in sync.
He tugs at your panties and you undo his belt. He hooks your thigh over his hip and you anchor yourself to his chest. He teases you with a pinch to your clit and you torture him as you cup his heavy balls.
When Javi fucks you, he fucks with purpose.
The table thuds and scrapes along the floor with each punctuated thrust he gives, driving his cock deeper and deeper into your welcoming cunt, the coarse hairs at its base gifting you the occasional thrill of friction on your aching clit.
He’s slurring out curses and pet-names, lavishing you with delightful proclaims of what a pretty girl you are when you 'shut up and take my cock'.
When he does manage a full sentence of logical wording, his forehead’s pressed to your shoulder, his cum coats your thighs and the sweat between your frantic bodies holds you both together.
“There’s not a universe where this doesn’t happen, corazón,” you feel him softening against your thigh, yet you still delight as he drags a finger coated in his own spend up your folds. “Want you too damn much to miss out on you.”
Curling up into your bed that feels too big these days, you grip at the pink shirt and wonder when that changed.
When did Javier Peña stop wanting you?
And I’m spiritual cleansing (but the truth) Is I’m good at pretending (oh and you)
By July, things change.
The stud in your nose is traded out for a silver ring.
The lonely nights in your apartment turn into stumbling back home from some nameless club in the early hours.
Boredom leads to hobbies.
At first, you try pottery.
Four plates broken and a crumbled mug later, you put on your dance shoes.
Slip. Almost break your arm. Wrestle with the doom placed on your budding dance career. Throw out the dancing shoes, bring home running shoes.
You hate it, running.
You sweat, you ache, you exhaust.
But when you’re gasping for a breath and your feet pound into concrete ground, you don’t think about it.
The heartache.
The headache.
The agent.
You drop a few pounds, tone up your muscles. Watch your body’s shape outgrow your wardrobe, investing in a new one while clinging onto the items you love too much to lose.
Like the dress that now rests just below your ass, instead of it’s usual place mid-thigh. Or the sweater that once hung loose, that now hugs new curves and creases. The jeans that were tight now sliding off your hips.
The pink shirt still lives on one of your hangers.
But you’re not thinking about it, or it’s previous owner.
Not right now.
Now, you’re balling your fists and counting your breaths. Music blasting through your headphones, sweat dancing on your forehead.
The sun is warm on your back, even as it makes way for night to begin. This is the best time to run, dusk, you’ve discovered.
No kids loitering on park grounds, no threat brought on by the dark, no slow-walking pedestrians crossing your path.
You run your self-made circuit with freedom, switching off all your senses and emptying your mind.
Today, however, it’s more challenging.
The thought of him creeps through, no matter the effort you put in to fight it. Your father’s the one to blame.
You have to come, kiddo.
The phone-call still echos through your thoughts.
Because it wouldn’t be the same without you there.
You’d wanted a better explanation than that.
Then, you tried some lame excuse of already having plans.
You had no plans.
Bring your friends then! The more the merrier!
You nearly groaned out loud at his enthusiasm, but held back. Your father’s light didn’t deserve to be dampened by your shadow.
C’mon, kiddo! I’ve not hosted the annual barbecue since you were still wearing your braces!
You bit your tongue. Fought against telling him that, back then, there were no pretty-eyed, heart-breaking agents for you to worry about.
The whole station’s gonna be there, you have to come!
He said it, like that would persuade you.
Keep asking about ya, the whole lot of them.
The more he spoke, the less you wanted to go.
Just last night Javi was asking how you’re doing!
You’d hung up.
Immediately.
Called back, 3 minutes later. Mumbled an apology and an excuse- I lost signal!- and ultimately agreed to going to the damn barbecue.
Now, you run from the phone call, from the impending doom it brings.
All this heartache and pain, it’s not good for the soul.
Of course, being dumped is a lot easier when the person isn’t your dad’s closest confidant.
It gets hard to breath. Each pound against concrete shakes the cassette player glued to your hip. There’s a sting of tears in your eyes.
Until you come to a screeching halt.
Double over.
Place your hands on your knees.
Dry heave.
You pay no mind to the figure sitting a few feet away on a bench.
Nor to the dog that’s chasing it’s ball back forth between it’s owner’s throws.
You let the sadness flood your soul, deflate you like some discarded party-balloon.
You’ll have to see him.
Spend time near him.
Watch him laugh, and smile, and share beers with your father.
It’s unfair, and you hate him for putting you through this.
For not quitting the force.
For being your dad’s friend.
For not wanting you the same you wanted him.
Want him.
You wipe your face with the back of your hand. Try to stand up straight, get lost in the knots you’d tied into your laces. Sloppy and uneven.
You’re usually more careful.
You catch, in your peripheral, the figure on the bench move. Take it as your sign to compose yourself, get over yourself.
You pick your pace back up.
Manage only a handful-or-two steps.
Your feet fly out in front of you.
Land ass-first on the gravel below.
Beneath the sounds of Olivia Newton-John demanding you get physical, you hear a muffled sorry! yelled out. Spot as the dog rushes to grab it’s ball, halfway down the path thanks to your kick.
You groan and prepare to get back on your feet.
You’re met with a hand in your face, palm open and waiting for you to accept the open offer. You take it, no hesitation.
Big mistake.
The hand tugs you.
You glance up.
And meet the eyes of Javier Peña.
“Easy, tiger,” he coughs up a laugh, like you don’t wind him as you slam into him, full-body force, nerves on fire and all systems shutting down. “You trying to break my ribs?”
It’s no less than you deserves, you think.
And instantly regret it, heart turning blue at the thought of him hurt at your hand.
You take a few steps back, create a safe distance where you can’t smell the remnants of his last cigarette or count the eyelashes that line his eyes.
He asks you how you’ve been, and tries his best to smile.
It comes off as awkward. A crooked line across his lips.
You try to remember the last time he smiled at you and meant it.
You come up empty handed.
Maybe it was back in April. A hospital hallway, one hand clasping yours, the other peeling through the leafs of some medical pamphlet.
Or, was it after, on the drive home, back to his apartment, hand still holding yours while the other spun the wheel?
There’s a vague memory that toils in the depth of your mind.
Sharing an elevator, your heels in his hand, his lips on your forehead.
Wedding attire, a post-party glow.
It’s toyed with you since you woke up in that hotel room, driven half-mad by an image you can’t quite form of him tucking you into bed.
Had he smiled, then?
Had he even been there?
Or was he merely a product of martinis and negronnis-
His fingers grasp your chin, no warning, and tilt your face.
His eyes don’t greet your own. Instead, they’re focused on the centre of your face, inspecting you like a piece of evidence.
“Hmm,” he’s so close, you smell the mint of freshly bitten gum on his breath. Dart your eyes down, catch the glint of his badge poking out his pocket.
He’s still on duty, a tailored uniform contrasting the hair roused by stress. Maybe at his desk, in the office next to your father’s, hands running through his tresses to express frustrations, tensions.
Were they his own hands, or someone with longer, brightly painted nails? Your stomach turns at the thought, your loins warm at the memory of writhing in his desk chair, legs thrown over his shoulders whilst his own dug into the ground below, eager to please mouth and a happy to taste tongue working you to a orgasm muffled by your own hand.
He’d slapped your ass, kissed your cheek and sent you out his office door, wiping your own wetness off your cheek just in time to greet your father.
“You suit the ring,” his voice and a gentle breeze bring you back to the present. To the park. To the heavy feeling that hangs between you both. “I prefer it to that stud.”
“I- What?” Confussion.
You furrow your brow, wipe your sweaty palms over your thighs.
He just smiles, still crookedly, and brings his hand up to your nose.
Adjusts your piercing, swipes his thumb over your cheek.
It’s hard to breath, but you do it anyway.
Thank him, in a struggle to find your voice, with a whisper.
His eyes bore into your own, chase them as you look off to the side, watch the dog still chasing it’s ball and failing to catch it.
You wonder if it’s a cruel metaphor sent by the universe, a symbol of you and Javi.
And then you wonder if you’re the dog or the ball.
Or both.
“You never answered me,” his voice, honey, sweet on your ears. It melts away your other senses, turns you blind to anything other than him. “I want to hear how you’ve be-”
“Peña, if you don’t report your skinny ass to my office in 5 minutes and share a celebratory drink with me, I’m putting you on cleaning duties at our next poker night.”
A static-filled voice blares out his walkie-talkie.
Your father’s voice.
It’s enough to set things right, force your body to retreat from his.
He’s not your Javi anymore, desperate to hear about your day and kiss any aches away.
He’s Peña, your dad’s best friend, meant for nothing more than to be a passing figure in your life.
His eyes are heavy with emotion as he fishes out the device.
Maybe it’s sadness you see.
There’s definitely remorse.
Guilt, too.
“We... Your dad caught the guy that’s been breaking into college girls’ apartments.” He tells you, shares information that should help you sleep better at night. You’ve not done that since the last time he lay next to you. You watch him press down on the call button, hold the speaker up to his mouth. “Do that and I’ll shit in your shower, pendejo (asshole).”
It wouldn’t be the first time he’d commit an indecency within your parent’s bathroom.
But none of that matter, anymore.
You’re already walking away.
Wringing your hands and hoping the tension in your limbs falls out.
He calls out your name, loudly.
Attracts the nosy eyes of people around.
People who know fine well who your father is, who Javier is.
You turn in time to see him half-jog, half-pace his way over to you.
He reaches out for your hand.
And quickly gives up on the thought of holding it.
“I’ll, um,” his adam’s apple bobs as he swallows, grinds his teeth in an attempt to say something. “I’ll see you at the barbecue, right?”
He knows the answer.
You still give him it, “yes.”
Smile, uncomfortably brightly, before you turn and walk away once more.
You feel his eyes on you.
And pray he takes no notice of the sob that shakes your shoulders.
Broke me big time It’s funny and I’m laughing baby You think I’m alright
You’re laughing but it’s mostly fake.
A courtesy, a polite gesture. A signal that you’re still listening, despite tuning out her voice five minutes ago.
She’s a nice lady, someone who works alongside your father. Specialised in forensics, she balances the darkness of her job with the brightness of her wardrobe.
Today, she’s paired a lemon-yellow skirt with a vibrantly orange camisole. She looks like a walking cheese cube.
You’ve known her since you were a kid, even if you can’t remember. She claims you used to stand on her desk, make a big spectacle out of nearly matching your dad’s height.
You’d got to talking to her after she helped you wipe ketchup off your chin.
That was half an hour ago, and the discomfort of wanting to be anywhere but here is finally settling in.
It’s not her fault. You know.
She’s not the one who roped you into going to this barbecue.
Your dad is.
And right now he’s stood on the other side of his backyard, half-drunken beer bottle in one hand and Javier Peña’s shoulder clapped under the other.
Even from here, you can hear him bragging.
So then Peña’s on his ass.
Chases this guy, whilst he’s driving down the street!
Catches him at an intersection, physically rips him out the car.
All while the man in question shrugs, sheepish. Dismisses your father’s praising.
He’s exaggerating.
The guy was barely going 5 miles an hour!
He stepped out the vehicle at his own will.
Sweat lines his forehead, shirt-sleeves hug his biceps, joy wrinkles his eyes.
He’s happy, at ease. Enjoying himself, in a way he was always meant to.
Something about him fits so perfectly in this picture: laughing with your father, complimenting your mother, playing fetch with your dog.
If you step inside the frame, it cracks.
Shatters.
And maybe he knows that.
Knew it all along.
Broke things off before you could try find a frame large enough to fit you all in.
And, though it hurts, you see why things had to end between you and feel relieved it happened before it was too late.
The feeling lasts all but four seconds.
“Kiddo!”
Your father’s voice is obnoxiously loud. Several of the party-goers turn their heads, follow his line of sight. Spot you, frozen in place, glass full of watered down lemonade and a belly full of dread.
It takes a moment, but you wave.
“Come over ‘ere!”
Not the response you were hoping for.
Still, you do as he asks. Smile at your mother, shuffle your feet, make your way across the yard. Do everything in your power to not look at Javi.
Even if the weight of his stare threatens to crumble you.
“You having a good time?” Your dad’s got this smile, big and dopy and oh so caring, that you can’t bring yourself to ruin with the truth.
“I’m having a great time,” you barely manage out before he’s squeezing you into his side.
The condensation on his bottle of beer seeps through the shoulder of your top, his arm secured safely around you.
He must be tipsy already, a buzz in his veins making him more affectionate than normal.
“I can’t believe it,” he laments, speaking to no one in particular.
In your peripheral, you fail to ignore tight jeans and a loose-fitting shirt.
It’s hardly buttoned, the top three undone and leaving a golden plain on display.
Perhaps you’re going crazy but he seems thinner, skin drawn a little tighter against his ribcage.
It’s not a sight you want to see.
It fills you with dread.
Pulling you out of your own head, you father continues to drone on.
“My little girl’s spreading her wings soon, going on her first adult holiday to-”
“London.”
Javi’s voice, interrupting your father, finishing his sentence.
All eyes snap to him.
Your own, wide and panicked. Scared. Trying so hard to dismiss how intensely he’s staring back you.
Your mother’s, amused and curious. Flicking back and forth between his face and her husband’s.
Your father, confused and perplexed, “I- Yeah...” He speaks slow and the arm on your shoulder slips down. “How’d you know?”
“I’ve been, you know?” Two hands dance in front of you, somewhere in the dark, intwining and unwinding. It’s a nervous habit, of Javi’s. You welcome the contact of soothing touches. “To London.”
That peaks your interest.
Enough to shift positions. Rip your hand out his own, roll onto your side and rest a hand under your propped up head. Your other, inevitably, finds its way upon his warm chest, rests over his no-longer-racing heartbeat.
“Really?”
“Yeah. I’ve been a few times, actually. I’ve got some friends out there.”
With Javi, friends could mean anything.
A fellow agent, a government official, a moonlight lover.
For all you know, this friend could be the Queen of England.
So it’s best you don’t inquire on it.
“Where do you recommend I visit then, Mr. Bond?”
“Mr... Bond?”
The room is dark, but you still notice the furrow in his brow.
You can practically hear it, in his voice.
“You know, like James Bond.” That’s the thing about jokes, explaining them makes you realise how dumb they are. “‘Cause you were an agent and you like London, and he’s an agent in Lon-”
He cuts you off in the way you like best: his mouth against yours.
The kiss is brief, and leads no place further than the simple act of wanting to silence you.
And, though it goes unaddressed, because it’s been too long since he’d last done it.
Even if he’d done so less than an hour ago, naked bodies intertwined on ruffled bedsheets.
“That was the worst pun I’ve ever heard, corazón,” somehow, the words don’t bruise your ego.
Instead, they make you giggle and burrow your heated face into the crook of his neck.
His lips press against your hairline before speaking again.
“I’d need to write you a list of places to go, too many for me to pick one.”
“Maybe I need a tour guide,” a hand of his greets your back, strokes soothing motions back and forth. It’s lulling you to sleep, at last. “Y’know, show me all the places a real Londoner goes.”
“I could,” he pauses. Clears his throat. Pulls you a little tighter against him, till your limbs are tangled and it’s hard to tell where he stops and you start. “I could check my calendar. See how many holiday days I’ve got left. Could come with you, to London, if you want me there.”
It’s too late though.
You’re already snoring against his skin.
“How does he know?” Your mother shatters the silence, tone incredulous. “I mean, seriously, are you blind!?”
For a minute, it feels like she knows.
She knows why Javi knows.
You should be panicking.
Both of you should.
Should look away from one another, should wipe the guilt off your faces, should already be working on some excuse for when your mother exposes what once was between you.
But you aren’t. Neither of you are.
You’re just staring at each other, as if you’re working to commit each other’s face to memory.
“He knows because you won’t shut up about it!”
Your dad gives an unceremonious oh.
Your mom rolls her eyes.
Javi takes a sip of beer and looks off to the side, eyes breaking contact from your own at last.
“Ok but,” your father’s back to talking before you can fully work up the courage to leave. At least that’s the excuse you try give yourself, anything to distract from Javi. “I bet I’ve not told you what she’s decided to do on her travels!”
“You have,” your mother’s tone is pointed.
Javi laughs, sputters up a little beer back into the bottle. Tilts his head back, accepts his own backwash.
There’s a worn-out cigarette box squeezed tight inside the front pocket of his jeans.
You try ignore the fact he’d promised you he was working on quitting.
“Shh,” your father waves a hand in your mother’s face, dismisses her teasing with a playful wink.
Pulls her close, kisses her shoulder.
Gives both you and Javi a display of what a relationship is.
Open, celebrated, acknowledged.
Not secretive, dirty, scandalous.
Javi cuts the tension with a chuckle and a gentle shove to your father’s arm.
As his hand retreats back to his side, his knuckles brush your skin.
“She’s gonna get herself a christmas-tree decoration every holiday,” your father reveals. You’re frozen at the fact he even remembers you mentioning it. “What was it you said again, kiddo? So in the future, when you’re decorating the tree with your kids, you’ll think of the places you’ve been and tell them all about it?”
Your heart drops.
Javi’s seems to do the same.
For a moment, you worry he’s stopped breathing.
Till his chest rises and falls, no thanks to your father’s stupid rambling about you, and the future, and kids.
“Uh, yeah,” the ground can’t swallow you sooner. You’re already planning your exit, from this conversation and, hopefully, this party as a whole. Your dad’ll understand. You just need to tell him something came up. Or came out. Tell him you’ve got food poison. Blame it on some dodgy take-out the night before. “Something like that.”
But I’m actually bloody Motherfucking batshit crazy
There are moments in one’s life where they must question their own sanity.
You’ve lived plenty of such moments.
But none quite like right now, half-crouched in the middle of a grocery store aisle, peeping into the next one through a gap between two cereal boxes on the shelf.
And all because you heard his voice.
“This is what you’re craving?” Through the crack, you see him wave about something in his hand. It’s hard to see what exactly he’s holding, though.
He’s facing a woman.
She’s pretty.
With dirty blonde hair, piercing blue eyes that not even the shelves and produce between you both can block the shine of.
And a well-rounded belly.
“No, Javi, this,” she doesn’t say his name the same way you do- did. There’s a jovial tone, but there’s no awe, no seduction. Maybe that’s just what your bias hears. “Is what the baby is craving.”
You’ve never seen her before.
Not on the mantel of photos that line Javier’s television. Not at any of the station thrown parties. Not in his wallet, tucked behind the picture of his mom.
She’s a total stranger, to you.
But that doesn’t mean she’s a stranger to him.
A very pregnant, non-stranger.
“We gotta get this kid some better taste.”
His hand rests on her bump.
She welcomes it, placing her own against it to hold him in place.
The image of the American dream, a beautiful woman and a handsome man. The promise of a child, soon, half her and half him.
The blood drains from your face. There’s a lump in your throat and a sting in your eyes.
You won’t let it fester.
Take deep breaths, pretend there’s no shake in your exhales.
It’s not enough to stop the vicious thoughts that sink their jagged ends into the soft tissues of your brain.
Was she the reason things between you and him ended?
Had he got her pregnant, decided to stand by her, and found love along the way?
Was he with her, all along, while he was with...
Surely, he couldn’t have.
But, then, why couldn’t he have?
You were never exclusive.
You were never anything.
“Did-” Somewhere, between the aisles, Javi speaks in amazement. The smile is practically dripping off his words. “Did it just kick?”
Your heart’s palpitating.
Your hands are sweating so badly, they threaten to drop the box of Cap'n Crunch in their grasp.
Jealousy turns to misplaced anger, irrational in every form but impossible to conform.
Because, how could he do this to you?
Make a mockery of you, turn you into the other woman?
Love you so deeply and leave you so easily?
Settle down with this woman and her baby, yet run from you at the first scare of a-
“He’s a real kicker, ain’t he?”
At first, you think it’s spoken to you.
But, no, it’s too distant. Too far.
A third person enters your view through the window in the shelf.
He’s handsome, in the typical sense.
Blonde haired, a nice smile.
There’s a little girl in his arms, resting on his hip, half asleep and clinging to a worn-out giraffe doll.
“He?” It’s Javi who echoes.
“Don’t get him started,” the woman seems to beg, rolling her eyes.
The man nods, pride on his face, “I’m telling ya, Peña, it’s gonna be a boy. It needs to be a boy, ‘else I’m gonna be overrun by little girls.”
The woman must give him a pointed look, or a gentle nudge, for not two seconds later he’s following his words up with a tickle to the sleepy girl’s side and “little girls who I love very much.” Pause. He leans closer to Javier, hand covering one side of his mouth as if to block the woman and the child from hearing him. “I still want a son, though.”
“Olivia,” the pregnant woman strokes a hand over the little girl's head, coxing her to keep her eyes open. It’s hard to tell if there’s a drool mark on the man’s shoulder. “Why don’t you show uncle Javi your favourite toy?”
The bile in your throat burns more than ever before.
The misplaced anger bleeds into sadness, shame, embarrassment.
Here you are, going stir-crazy over a man who never wanted much of you in the first place, raising your heart-rate at the thought of him moving on from something that never even existed.
And there he is, fine as can be- in every sense of the word-, sharing laughs and exchanging smiles with old friends in the grocery store.
Friends his own age.
Worlds apart, yet nothing but a shelf between you.
Through the gap, you watch him lean down to the little girl’s eye-level. A twinkle in his eye, he happily tugs at the stuffed giraffe’s tail.
“Glad you liked it, Olive,” curse him, and his soft voice, and his gentle touch and his everything, for still forcing you to swoon over him, knees weak and ovaries treacherously screaming. “I had to go all the way to Africa to find him.”
The little girl perks right up at that.
Eyes widened, head off her father’s shoulder.
“Really?!” She’s amazed, and how could she not be? Javier Peña is beaming at her, ear to ear.
“Mhmm,” he nods, feeds into his own lie, ignoring the disapproving looks from the other man. “If you’re lucky, maybe I’ll go back next year and get you a zebra.”
“Quit lying to my kid, Peña.”
Javi, undeterred from keeping the little girl’s smile, rolls his eyes and pokes his tongue out at her father, huffing under his breath “Your dad’s a right grump, Olive.”
You begin to wonder how long Javi’s known this couple, how he knows this couple.
“Just wait till you’ve got your own kid and I’m feeding it lies.” The man punctuates his empty threat with a dull punch to Javi’s forearm. Javi barely flinches, unfazed. “Speaking of, when are you making me uncle Steve?”
In sync and apart, you and him both physically freeze.
Your breathing stops.
Javier stands up straight. Rolls his shoulders, scratches at the back of his neck, clears his throat and, “not any time soon.”
“Really? What about that girl you’ve been seeing, the-”
“That- We- It didn’t work out, we wanted,” you begin to see cracks in his facade. Fake laugh, solemn eyes. “Different things... I want, wanted to settle down but, yeah, no it was for her best that we-”
“Sorry, can I just,” your heart jumps in your chest, flying back so quickly from your peep-hole that you nearly knock over the person behind you. “Grab one of those?”
You nod, gain composure, watch the stranger pick up a box of cereal off the shelf.
They walk away and you’re left alone, again.
Your eyes flicker up to the shelf and-
He’s no longer standing on the other side.
You turn on your heel, ignoring your half-filled cart and book it out of the store before you fall apart.
Try as you might, you can’t shake off the weight of his stare as you pass by the check-out.
I kept it in, but it wrecked my organs So pour the gin and call Graham Norton
You wake up early.
You tell yourself it’s because you’re seizing the day.
Making the most out of your time upon foreign land.
The early bird gets the worm, and all that proverbial bullshit.
The truth lies in that you can not sleep.
Jetlag. Your body clock is at odds with the timezone.
Which lands you here: strolling upon the cobbled streets of Notting Hill.
A quarter past six.
Its barely light out, the sun still fighting to rise over the horizon and the streetlights still shadow your every step.
Colourful houses, cosy shops, a melodic thud each time your feet meet the ground.
It’s picturesque, straight out of a romantic comedy.
Yet, somehow, you’ve never felt more gloom.
In the silent bustle of a city awakening to a new day, you’re startled.
Trip over a cobble, nearly meet the floor, and just about save yourself from rolling your ankle.
Your ringtone is the culprit.
Loud, imposing. It scares a flock of birds off a wire and gains you a stare from a man stepping out his home.
Scrambling to get the clunky cellphone out your bag, you spare the screen a fleeting glance.
You question if it’s one of your friends, awakened back in your shared hotel room to find you’re not there, and press the green button.
“Corazón.”
It’s funny how one word can drain the blood from your face.
You swallow the lump in your throat, made of equal parts anger and sadness.
Anger that this is the first time you’ve heard Javier Peña’s voice in nearly two months.
Sadness that it sounds so broken down the line.
“I- Shit, I can’t tell if I’ve even dialled the right number...” He’s muttering in your ear, confused and at odds with himself, mouth a fountain his thoughts pour out of. “... Probably changed it or- Can she even receive calls all the way in-”
“I’m here,” it’s only a whisper.
It’s enough to shut him up.
Silence rings down the line, a static buzz that reminds you of the distance between you.
“You’re in London,” he states.
“I am,” you affirm.
He hums, sips something.
Ice clinks against glass, and you feel a little sick.
“How have-” His voice sounds strange. Muffled. Different. Maybe it’s the poor connection. “Was your flight okay?”
“Yeah,” you spare him the details.
The truth.
The boredom, the turbulence. The fact you’re dreading the flight home.
“I’m glad,” he sighs the words out, worry going with them. “Know you’re not the biggest fan of planes, kept thinking of you alone and afraid on it.”
“I wasn’t alone,” it’s defensive, and ironic.
You sure felt alone.
“That’s right, corazón, you weren’t,” something slips, rolls, smashes. Glass shatters and is met with cursing anger, an oh, shit! followed up by hollow laughter. “You’re never alone.”
“Are you...” The street’s a little brighter, a few cars have begun to back out of driveways and you’re still there, frozen in the middle of the street, phone pressed to your ear. “Drunk?”
“No, I’m javi.” If his laughter is anything to go by, he thinks himself the comic of the century. “Had a few drinks with your dad, sweetheart, that’s all.”
For a moment, it feels like you shouldn’t be here, in London.
You should be home, in Laredo, dragging a drunken Javi to bed.
Stripping him of his clothes, kissing his rosied cheeks, urging him to go to sleep. Leaving him a pair of painkillers and a glass of water for his breakfast before curling yourself into his soft arms.
You blink, and feel the familiar weight of a tear on your lashes.
“Why’d you call me, Javi?” It’s a desperate plea.
For answers, for clarity, for closure
“I wanted to hear your voice,” that’s too vague of an answer, too unfair of an answer. Your heart swells nonetheless. “Wanted to go to London, with you. I should be there.”
“It’s your fault,” that’s as cruel as you can bring yourself to be towards him.
Even then, it kills you to do so.
“’S half my fault. Joder (fuck),” you can picture him, leaned back in his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose, eyes closed. You wonder how much he’s drank, and if he spoke to any women. Maybe he took one home, fucked her nice and good before dialling your number. “Wanted to give you my answer, too.”
Someone bumps your shoulder on the street, walking past you.
You pay them no mind, vision blurred to the world around you.
“What answer?”
“Where you should visit, Mrs. Bond,” he says it, like it doesn’t send you into cardiac arrest.
You miss the nights like that one, tangled in your bed, smelling him on your sheets and feeling him against your skin.
He’d woken up first the next day, coaxed you out of bed with the promise of homemade pancakes and his head between your legs.
“There’s this little bar in Inslington, called the Distillery Club. The owner, he makes his own gin. You like gin, don’t you, corazón?” You nod, and it’s almost like he feels it. “It doesn’t look like much from the outside. Or the inside, either. But it’s some of the best gin I’ve ever had, in the greatest company.”
You try to picture him, sat amongst friends you’ve never met. Friends who don’t know your dad.
You try to picture yourself, next to him, scooting your bar stool closer to his.
The image doesn’t quite form.
“Want you to go there, get yourself a drink. Tell him Javier Peña sent you, and that you’ve not to pay.”
It’s like he’s given you a piece of his soul. A piece of his history, someplace he’s sought out refuge in his lowest moments.
Refuge he’s willing to share with you.
That tear finally gives way, dropping off your lash and rolling down your cheek.
You wipe it off with the sleeve of your sweater, before anyone can see.
“Promise me you’ll go, corazón.”
Your reply is instant, “I promise.”
“Ok, I’ll let you go,” it’s solemn, regretful, devoid of truth. You almost beg him not to, but that didn’t work last time. “Enjoy yourself, okay? Come home, safe.”
“Javi, I-” the line cuts off, disconnecting before you even finish. “Miss you.”
I’m gonna throw you down the river Your mum can watch it over dinner
“How you feeling, kiddo?”
You startle awake at your father’s voice, eyes heavy with exhaustion.
Before you can give him an answer, you erupt into a fit of coughs.
“Not good,” he grimaces and slowly steps into your room. “Got it.”
Stepping off the plane, you’d managed only one night back in your own bed before the fever had taken over.
All it took was hearing your nasally voice over the phone for your mother to demand you come stay with them.
Just till you’re back on your feet, she’d said, like she ever needed an excuse to have you over.
She’s not quite adjusted to being an empty-nester.
Neither of them have, really.
“Actually,” your tone is matter-of-factly. “I almost smelt something earlier.”
“That’s great, kid!” And he means it, you know he does. Even if his shoulders slump at any sign of you feeling better and returning to your apartment. “Now we just gotta figure out if it’s your sinuses unclogging or your stench just growing more rancid.”
Try as you might to aim the pillow right at his head, he still manages to catch it inches from his face.
“Hey, I’m just saying! You’ve got the flu, you ain’t dying! Could be a little courteous to those who’ve gotta be around you and take a shower.”
“You’re literally in my room!”
“Which is literally in my house!”
Downstairs, your mother yells something unintelligible.
Likely, she’s telling you both to shut up and to quit behaving like children.
Making eye contact, you both can’t help the roll of laughter that comes out.
He steps a little closer, and that’s when you spot it.
Tupperware, clasped in his hand.
The contents are hard to decipher.
Luckily, your father spots you eyeing it.
“Your mom said ya wouldn’t be up for eating much but, if you’re hungry,” he pauses, at the foot of your bed. Tugs a little on the homemade-blanket you’ve had since you were in grade school. You wonder if he remembers making it with you. “One of the guys down at the station made you some stew.”
Your stomach growls, hungry and unfed.
The prospect of a hot, boiling bowl of brothy stew suddenly peaks your interest.
In fact, you can’t think of anything better.
“It’s a family recipe, he said it would cure ya right up.”
He’s popping the lid open, presenting the delicacy before your eyes. 
Immediately, you spot chicken.
Some corn cob, a couple lumps of potato, flakes of chilli.
You wish you could smell it, ingest it through your nasal canal and get a taste of it before you even put it in your mouth.
Your father continues, practically talking to himself.
“What’d he say it was called again, ga-sue-lay day ah-vay?”
“Cazuela de ave.”
A change into warmer, drier clothes.
Your hair still sits wet upon your head, but it no longer drips puddles onto his floor.
Thirty minutes it took him to drive from where he’d spotted you, walking soaked upon the sidewalk.
It would’ve only taken him seventeen minutes if he’d dropped you at your apartment.
And that fact is partly what warms your insides.
You watch him, tie discarded and the top buttons of his shirt undone, strutting around his kitchen.
Objectively, you think, he’s gorgeous.
Yet the word somehow doesn’t seem like it’s enough to summarise him, when he’s making his way round to you, two ceramic bowls in his hands and a look of pride in his eyes.
He put his own bowl down first. Sloppy, uncaring, spilling a little of it’s contents over it’s edge.
And then yours. More careful, slowly, both hands guiding it down.
The scent alone is enough to have you salivating. 
Warmth and care, all encased in a bowl of brothy goodness.
“It smells delicious,” you inhale deeply, for dramatic effect.
And to get more of that meaty, comfort-food goodness.
Javi sits on the opposite side of the dining table, and you try hard to stop your mind from wandering off to visions of you both sat like this, out in public, in a restaurant.
A real date.
Only, this isn’t even a fake date.
You guys don’t do that.
“It’s- It was my mom’s recipe.”
Frozen in place, you wonder if the shock spills over your face.
He’s never mentioned his mother.
Or much about his family, really.
There’s the occasional comment about projects he takes on at his dad’s ranch, and tid-bits of information you hear across a dinner table that's set by your mother and seated by your father.
But you’re no fool blind enough to not realise the obvious.
A worn-out polaroid in his wallet, his mother smiles brightly in permanent ink each time he opens it. It contrasts her impermanence in the real world, dead and gone long before you became so much as a ripple in the lake of Javier’s existence.
Across the table, he’s relaxed. At ease.
Open.
His eyes, his mind, his heart.
And so you try venturing inwards, test his waters with a dip of your toe.
“Was she a good cook?”
Lukewarm, they appear, when he favours you with a tiny smile, his eyes staring somewhere off in the distance.
“No,” and he laughs at his own admission.
Not just a scoffed out chuckle, or a gesture meant to feign joy.
A full, hearty laugh, that shakes his shoulders and splits his cheeks.
It’s disturbingly beautiful.
You wonder if there’s a life where it could be like this, always.
Javier laughing at his own jokes, you smiling at his visceral joy, plates of homemade food filling the space between you.
“No, she, uh,” he restarts, relaxing a little bit. He wipes under one of his eyes with the back of his palm, a rogue tear breaching his waterline. “She was awful. She burnt every slice of toast she made, and even served an unbaked cake at one of my birthday parties. This dish is actually one of the few she knew how to nail.”
You can picture it, a young Javi, party hat on his head and a cheesy grin topped by rosy cheeks, eating away at gooey batter mix sprinkled in icing. 
It’s hard to imagine him complaining, or getting angry at her.
In spite of his reputation, and the career he’s undertaken, Javier Peña is a gentle soul, who nurtures and protects anyone he can.
A modern-day hero, a knight who’s exchanged his shinny armour for form fitting jeans and unbuttened shirts.
“Tell me more about her,” the words are out before you can reel them back in.
Because you like this feeling, and you like this Javi, reminiscing on his late-mother.
“She not only was awful at cooking, but she had the worst coordination too.” It’s like he’s been waiting to tell you this, with how easy he slips into doing so. “She was forever falling and tripping over herself. And her driving, god! Pops used to dig out his rosary each time she’d be out on the field, driving the tractor.”
There’s something intimate about him recalling details so many would see as flaws, whilst he sports the most earnest, heart-wrenching smile.
Like nothing about her was wrong, all of her perfect and angelic.
“She was brave, too. I’d like to think I’m just like her in that respect. She didn’t let anything stop her from doing things she set her heart on, and she never let her inabilities hinder her,” he’s getting a little emotional now, you can hear it in his voice, see it in the lump he swallows back. You stretch a hand across the table and watch as he leans on you for support, fingers interlocking with your own. “There was this one time when I was a kid, I was swimming in a river and got stuck in a current. She dived right in to save me... She didn’t even know how to swim!”
You don’t know what to say.
You opt for saying nothing, silence speaking more than a thousand words.
Give his hand a reassuring squeeze, feel him squeeze back harder.
Your stomach rumbles, but it doesn’t ruin the moment in the way you feared it would.
“Listen to me being a sap and starving my poor lady to death,” still, he tugs your hand closer and plants a kiss on your knuckles. You’re still trying to process the possessive adjective he’d used to address you. My. His. “Eat up.”
Both of you settle back in your seats.
You pick up your spoon, scoop up a piece of chicken out the steaming bowl and-
“Asi no, corazón (not like that, sweetheart),” he spews out, panicking to pry the cutlery out your hand. He ignores the questioning looks you give him. “You drink the soup first, eat the filling after. Like this.”
Leaning over the table, he scoops your bowl up in his careful hands and guides it up to your lips.
When your lips part and rest against the bowl’s edge, he tilts it and you feel it’s warmth invade your mouth.
And then your chest, branching out over your heart, your lungs, your stomach.
Horned-up bias you so often show towards Javier aside, it’s one of the best things you’ve ever tasted.
Like a hug on a gloomy, wet day, all wrapped up inside a ceramic bowl.
You hum, hands taking over his own to allow him back into his own seat, focusing his attention on drinking his own soup.
“Javi, this is...” You trail off, eyeing the small ring of liquid pooling at the bottom of the bowl. One more mouthful and you’ll get your taste of the stew’s fillings. “Amazing. Your mum would be proud.”
Instead of modesty, instead of 'thank yous', instead of bashfulness, Javier smiles, takes another sip from his bowl.
“She would have liked you.”
You stare across at him and find no jest in his eyes.
They’re as open as before.
“Really?”
“Mhmm. She always liked pretty girls smart enough to put me in my place.”
“Kiddo?”
You’re ripped out your own head by your father’s voice and his hand, waved repeatedly in front of your face.
“Hmm?” 
“You okay there? I was talkin’ to you but you seemed lost in thought.” There’s a little excitement in you father’s voice as he presses his cold hand to your sweated forehead, the prospect of you still being ill, still needing taking care of, filling him with the relief of keeping you in your parents' home a little longer.
“I’m- Yeah, just tired, s’all.”
“Ok, let me know when you’ve finished your food,” he presses a kiss atop the crown of your head, and you hold back the pointless comment of not risking getting himself or your mother sick. “Need to get the tupperware clean ‘fore I give it back to Javi.”
Your stomach twists and longs for the meal before you, while your heart shatters into pieces you doubt will ever be repaired.
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ghostofthemost141 · 5 months
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Pt. 1 Pt.2 Pt.3
Pairing: Ghost x F!Reader, First POV, no use of (Y/N)
Word Count: 2,488
Themes: Angst, Self Loathing
About: After the end of the zombie apocalypse, the world may be back to normal, but your life is at a standstill as Task Force 141 works to try and find a reverse cure for your boyfriend Ghost.
Notes: This was inspired by a little drabble someone wrote here on Tumblr and when I went to try and find it, I couldn't find it so if someone finds it please let me know so I can give credit to them since this short is based off of that post. I also decided not to use (Y/N) for this one and instead everyone calls you Dolly, which means a gift of God that Simon gave you. Hope you enjoy!
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How long does this have to go on for? I feel as if this is torture to keep him in here. I just want to reach in there and hold his hand, but it wouldn’t do me any good. It would hurt more, much, more. 
“‘Ou in here, Dolly?” A thick, accented voice came through, calling me by my nickname. 
“Hm.” I respond back, not taking my eyes off of him. 
It was Johnny, coming to check on me for the millionth time. It’s going to be the same old, same old so I don’t know why he even bothers at this point. Johnny stopped next to me, him standing and me sitting on the ground, as he stared into the incubator containment thing that was across the room. Every once in a while, he will make a groaning or growling noise at me, but that was it. 
“Dinner is ready. Price sent me to fetch ya.” Johnny told me. 
“Just do it without me.” I mumbled, not moving my eye contact. 
Johnny sighed in slight annoyance, but I ignored it. 
“You gotta come eat with us, Dolly. He wouldn’t want you to do that to yourself.” 
I tightly shut my eyes together, hearing what he used to sound like in my head, as if he was scolding me. But that voice would never come, for his husky, deep voice was replaced by deep gutter growls that don’t mean nothing but the fact that I am his next meal. 
You need to eat, love. S’not good for you to not eat.
I could almost hear him saying it, but it was just my mind playing tricks on me. 
“I just want to be alone, McTavish.” I strongly said. 
Johnny sighed, but remained where he was at. I wanted to yell at him, but I didn’t have the strength nor energy to do it. 
“We are still lookin’ and tryin’, you know that righ’?” 
I nodded in response, knowing what he was going to say. He says it every time he catches me in here. 
“I’ll save ya a plate.” 
Johnny finally turned and exited the room. It’s not that I didn’t mind the company, it’s just that I am tired of hearing the same old shit. 
“We are still lookin’ and tryin’, you know that righ’?” 
“It’s hard to find a cure, kid.” 
“We are doing our best.” 
“He will be cured soon.” 
Soon. Soon. I feel like they are just lying to me at this point. I know they are just trying to keep my spirits afloat, but how can you when the person you love the most is kept in solitude in order to prevent him from turning you? His eyes were a cloudy white instead of his normal bright, blue azure eyes. They’ve managed to keep his organs and body alive so when we do, or if we find a cure his body will be normal, as if he was never turned in the first place. It wasn’t the fact that he turned that scared me the most, it was the fact that as soon as Simon realized he was bitten, he tried to break his own jaw to prevent him from hurting us. In retrospect, he was doing it to protect us, but he only stopped when I was basically wrestling him to not do it, in case we found a cure. That was the last time his beautiful, piercing eyes looked into mine with so much emotion. Simon is stubborn and always wants to do things his way, but for once in his life, he listened to me. It wasn’t long after that he turned. I watched him turn and before he did, Simon made me promise that if he tried to hurt me, that I would stop him, by any means necessary. Ironically enough, and kind of funny, but Simon as a zombie is nothing compared to how slick and quick he is in real life. The rest of the task force was able to apprehend him before he could even come close to me and stick him in the incubator, where he has been staying in for the past month. I miss him so much. I never thought I would miss our miserable times out in the field or us sitting outside in the miserable freezing cold because it was the only time we could get some alone time together or even us sparring together. I just want Simon back. A deep grumble in my stomach brought me back to reality. Johnny is right. For once he is right. I stretched my arms and legs out, stood up on my feet, and began to walk out of the room. 
“Rrrrrrr..” 
A deep growl came from the incubator. I turned to find Simon leaning onto the glass, those clouded eyes piercing through my soul. 
“I’ll be back, Simon, I promise.” 
A deep hiss came from his throat, his arm reaching out as if he was trying to reach for me. I can’t watch this, it hurts me so much. I immediately walked out of the room, and shut the door behind me, hearing his growls grow louder. I don’t know if that is his way of trying to communicate with us or he is truly… I shook my thoughts away and made my way to the dining hall. 
I almost envy the guys. They can just pretend that everything is normal and there’s nothing going on, meanwhile my partner, the love of my life, is stuck in his own hell prison. They always try to uplift my spirits and sometimes it works, but on days like today, I’d rather be left alone than try and pretend that everything is okay. As soon as I was done eating, I just went into my room to go to sleep. I didn’t have the heart to go back into the incubator room. Whether or not he was still conscious in his mind, it still hurt me to see him like that. I like to think he is, but that honestly makes me feel worse knowing he is trapped in his own mind and body, while we aren’t even close to finding a cure. 
“Oh Si..” I grumbled, trying to contain my tears, “I’m so sorry.” 
The tears escaped my eyes, running rapidly down my face, as the memories of him and I came flooding back, from when he was human, before this apocalypse happened. I came to the task force two years ago and it is kind of embarrassing to say but I was head over heels for Simon as soon as I saw him. The more missions we did together, the harder I fell for him. Maybe it was his attitude, or the mask, or his accent, but I was falling hard. It wasn’t until one night were the entire task force had been drinking more than they should and Simon ended up following me back to my room that night. It was as if we had been together for years prior to that, we just clicked so much. We started dating in secret and it wasn’t until right before the apocalypse happened, that we were busted by Price. Of course he wasn’t happy about it, but by the time everything went down, he didn’t care at that point. Simon was protecting me when he got bit and it was my own damn fault. I wasn’t paying attention and Simon took the bite for me. He shouldn’t have. I should be dead right now and he should be alive. Not me, no, not me. I deserve it after all because Simon is the reason why he is trapped in his own body. We are never going to find a cure. And it is all because of-
*KnockKnock*
“Hey Doll?” 
Price. 
“Come in..” I mumbled. 
The door swung open, emitting the hallway light into my pitch black room. 
“Oh, blimey. You’re gonna ruin your eyesight in ‘ere.” Price commented. 
I just shrugged my shoulders in response. 
“Just came to check in on ya. I managed to get a hold of a base that's a bit of a drive, but it could be our chance.” 
“Are you for real this time?” I ask urgently. 
“As real as shiet, Dolly.” Price confirmed, earning a chuckle out of me. 
I sighed, with some relief in mind. 
“We will get ‘im back. I promised yous that a long time ago and I damn well intend to keep that promise. You hear?” 
“I hear ya, Captain.” I said. 
“Alright, goodnight, Dolly.” 
“Goodnight.” I softly said as Price shut my door, and walked off. 
There is some good in this life. I will soon have my Simon back and we will be back in each other's arms, cuddling, fucking, drinking tea, watching shitty rom-com movies, and much more. He will be back. He will be..
~
..rrrrr
What? What the fuck was that? 
.rrrrrrrr.
I wanted to move but for some reason that noise paralyzed me into being still. It sounded familiar and that is what scared me the most. 
Rrrrrrrrrrr. 
It was louder and closer this time. Please don’t tell me-
Rahhhhhhhhh
I jolted out of bed, grabbing the hidden knife I have in my mattress and cornered it into my room. 
Rah..rah..
What the hell was this? Or who the hell was it? Keeping my eye on what it was, I slowly tip-toed backwards to my room light and flicked it on, my heart dropping. 
“What?” 
“How?” 
I mumbled out loud, seeing Simon standing there, staring at me with those hideous clouded eyes. 
“How did you get out?” I tearfully pleaded, knowing he can’t respond. 
Simon just stared, slowly stepping towards me, groaning in the process. I kept my knife in front of me, just in case. 
“Listen to me love. If I try to bite you, you end me no matter what? Do ‘ou understand?” 
Simon’s words echoed in my head, remembering what he told me. I didn’t want to do this, no, please don’t make me do this. 
“S-Stay away, please.” I croaked. 
Simon kept sauntering towards me, slowly and surely, his growls and moans getting louder the closer he got to me. Everytime he stepped forward, I stepped back. I needed to obey his words, but I couldn't. I can’t do it. 
“Simon. Please.” 
“Dahhhhh….” 
I could feel my whole body start to shake as I realized Simon pinned me into a corner. The closer he got, the more my heart raced. This is it. This was it. I am going to die. But I’d rather die than kill the love of my life. 
“Si..” 
I sunk down, dropped the knife, and held my face as he got up as close as he humanely could. 
“D-Don’t..p-please.” 
I sobbed, holding myself. 
“Doll..” 
What? Did he just.. No he didn’t, it’s all in my head. I am dead now, I just haven’t felt the pain yet of his teeth sinking into my-
“Dolllllyyyyy…” 
That time I heard it. That was real. Getting some kind of courage, I stopped hiding my face and looked up at him. Simon was leaning down, looking at me, but his face was different. The same clouded eyes were there, but it was as if he was marveling at me. 
“Simon?” 
“Dooolllllyyyyyy…” 
Dolly. He was calling me Dolly. My nickname he had given me when we first started seeing each other. I never knew Simon Riley would be expected to give someone a nickname but he did. His voice was deep and guttural, but I could hear his accent peeking out. 
“Simon, are you there?” I asked, standing up on my feet. 
“Rrrrrr….preeetttyyyy Dolllllyyyyy.” 
“Oh Si..” I leaned in, holding his cheeks. 
He still had most of his gear on, except he had his balenciaga mask on instead of his skull mask. I wanted to take it off so bad to really see his beautiful face, but it scared me to do so. Even though he was consciously still there, there was no telling what he would do out of his control. Tears ran rapid down my face, knowing that this confirmed my worst fear, that he was trapped within his own mind. 
“Dolllyyyyyyy..cryyyinnngggggg…” Simon growled out. 
I quickly wiped away my tears to not worry him. 
“No, no I am fine, Simon, I promise.” I reassured him. 
*BANG* 
“GET HIM!!” 
“RAAHHHHHHHHH” 
“NO DON’T-” 
In two seconds flat, Price and them busted in, angered Simon, and subdued him. The growls that came from Simon were so animalistic, as if he was no longer Simon. 
“He could’ve bit you!!” Soap shouted at me. 
“No, he recognized me! He called me Dolly!” I swore as Price, Gaz, and Soap were struggling to keep Simon contained. 
“This’ll do.” Price mumbled as he took out a serum that would knock his ass out. 
Simon saw it and cried out in animalistic rage, but the three of them managed to keep him on the ground. 
“Wait, wait, please!!” I screamed. 
The three men turned to me, waiting for what I was going to do next, but kept their arms and body weight on top of Simon. I got on my knees and approached Simon, who was thrashing around and growling at the three of them. 
“Si.” I call him, his cloudy eyes immediately locking with me. 
“We need to travel to get a cure, but we are almost there. I promise you.” I croaked, feeling the same tears and sadness returning. 
“Rr..rrr. Dolllyyyyy.” 
“Yes, I am Dolly. Your Dolly, Simon.” I comforted him, holding his cheek and running my thumb over the free skin that was on his face. 
The tears fell down my face, as Simon relaxed into my touch. 
“Pretttyyyyy..Dolllllyyyyyy.” 
Before I could even react, Price injected the serum into Simon, who didn’t even react and only kept his focus on me. 
“Dolll…yyyyy.” 
Simon’s cloudy eyes then shut and remained still. I could feel the three men look at me. 
“Fuck..” Gaz mumbled as he, Soap, and Price got off of the almost lifeless Simon. 
I had cried out all of the tears that were left in me. 
“Sweetie..” Price approached me. 
I raised my head up and looked at him, in which he had a very genuine smile on his face. 
“We gotta pack up now so we can head up ‘Orth and save your hubby.” Price told me. 
I chuckled hearing him call Simon my hubby, despite us not being married. 
“Yes, Captain.” I said, getting my composure together. 
Price grabbed my hand and helped me to my feet. I stared at the still Simon, who was breathing normally as if he was not what he was right now. But the thought of it being so close to him being back to normal, makes me so happy. We are nearly there, Simon, we are nearly there. 
“Alright, let’s load up gang.” 
END
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ltleflrt · 1 year
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This whole backlash against printing fics irks the fuck out of me, and I got some shit to say about it. Mostly "Fuck You" but here's some nuance:
On the surface, I understand where the naysayers are coming from. It's a legitimate fear that making a profit from fanworks will bring down the C&D Hammer on fandom. I get that. Do not put on the One Ring, or you'll risk the Eye of Sauron.
But here's the thing. Fuck capitalism. Fuck digital only. We're living in the digital dark ages, and 100 years from now huge swathes of our history, fact and fiction, will be lost to our descendants because there will be no physical copies of our lives for them to find in old libraries and boxes in the attic, etc.
Creators deserve physical copies of their creations, and so do the other people in the world who love them.
I don't want to profit from letting people print my fics. That's why I use Lulu, since they have an option to set zero profit and make the links hidden so only fans in the know can get a copy. Other printing sites I've looked at in the past don't have those options. In fact, the first time I ever even thought about printing one of my stories was when I won NaNo for the first time and one of the prizes was a coupon for 3 free printings of your story. HELL YEAH, that's a copy for me, a copy for my beta, and a copy for the artist who made the cover for me. Perfect! But I ended up not using that coupon, because the site required I set a profit margin, and did not have an option to make it private. Ummm, no thanks. Not worth the risk. And even though the profit margin could be set as low as ten cents, I did not want to make ANY money from my fic, because I know that would be breaking Fair Use rules. I found Lulu instead, and decided to let other people get copies too, because I'm nice. And if I don't, it's not like I can stop them from doing it themselves, no matter how much I'd rather they not do that.
But that's not good enough for the Reporting Trolls. Their argument is that it's not possible for it to be completely profit free, since Lulu makes a profit on the printing costs and the shipping carriers make a profit off the shipping costs. Someone is making a profit, and that's unacceptable, even if that someone is not Me, The Person Who Made The Printing and Shipping Worth Paying For.
I would like anyone who thinks that to delete your accounts where you read fanfiction. AO3, Wattpad, FFNet, LJ, Dreamwidth, hell even Tumblr for the short ficlet stuff that only gets posted here. Because even if the website it self isn't profiting, (AO3 for example), the companies that sold them their server hardware made a profit. Since utilities are privatized, the electric company that runs those servers are making a profit. IF YOU PRINT IT ON YOUR PRINTER AND PUT IT IN A 3 RING BINDER, the paper, printer, and ink manufacturers made a profit from your dinky little print out. The companies that build all the parts for your computer or your smartphone made a profit on your portal to the internet, who profits from your monthly subscription, just like your electric company profits from the power it takes to run your pc or charge your phone battery. IT'S A SLIPPERY FUCKING SLOPE, AND YOU NEED TO LEARN WHEN TO BACK AWAY FROM THE LEDGE.
We live in a Capitalist Hellscape, and if a company could figure out how to charge you to breathe and for every single beat of your heart, they'd fucking do it. So get off your goddamn high horses with this "wELL SoMEonE iS makINg PrOFit" bullshit. Or if you truly believe that, shut off every account you own, turn off your utilities, and go live in the woods and make up your own goddamn stories, which you can only share orally to the local wildlife. They give kudos by biting you and giving you rabies.
(not to mention; these assholes don't go after fanartists who are ABSOLUTELY making a profit off their work. but noooo, Flirty can't format a fic for print and allow other people to pay for the printing service and shipping, while never seeing a penny of that herself, despite all of the GODDAMN WORK I HAVE PUT INTO IT, WRITING IT IN THE FIRST PLACE INCLUDED FUCK YOU VERY MUCH. fuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufucky--)
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imagine-that-100 · 5 months
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Chicken Shop Date | Part 9 |
By @imagine-that-100​​ and @alovesreading​​
Description: Matty Healy x Reader (Female) | You and your best friend Amelia came up with a very simple idea of taking celebrities on awkward chicken shop dates, and somehow, it’s managed to become both of your jobs. In the past, you’ve found sitting across from some of the biggest stars on the planet and eating chicken nuggets easy. But then Amelia manages to score you a date with the man who you’ve been obsessed with since you were nineteen; Matty Healy.
Word Count: 38.8k
A/N: SURPRISEEEE!!!! We are so very sorry it's been so long but this is a long chapter so we hope you forgive us! You would have gotten this yesterday but turns out there is a limit on tumblr and we went over it and I wasn't going to post it elsewhere and leave us tumblr lot behind. So sorry for the delay but we're here! This is going to be so so so much fun, we really hope you enjoy it. We adore this chapter and we hope you like it as much as we do. Please let us know what you think, we won't keep you any longer, go enjoy! Thanks so much for reading x
| Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 |
| N’s Masterlist | A’s Masterlist |
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After the Belfast show, you felt like you were on cloud nine. Matty and you could finally let yourselves be seen together without any worries, and despite not being huge on PDA, it felt so good knowing that you can just be hand in hand with your boyfriend without worrying about being seen by people outside your inner circle. 
The only downside to it all was the fact that the tour was over and you had to go home, only to leave it an hour later. You were not going home with your boyfriend this time, Matty was going back to Manchester with the lads for their Gorilla gig which you were unfortunately missing since your Copenhagen trip was stealing you away for the first three days of the month.
Knowing that you were an hour ahead of him, you made sure to be back from dinner early so that you were in bed and ready to indulge in the madness and properly let yourself react. There was no way you weren’t crying watching the videos people would post. And if you managed to find a livestream like you had for a handful of shows in the US, you knew you’d be an utter mess. 
Seeing the mess of tweets on your timeline had you getting nervous, and instead of letting it all out in the form of multiple distressed tweets, you decided to let it out in the form of a desperate message to your boyfriend: I think you should cancel Gorilla since I won’t be able to attend x
Unfortunately, he didn’t give you the answer you wanted because your phone vibrates less than half a minute later and you can almost hear him giggling as you read his message saying, I’m five minutes away from going on stage baby little bit late for that xx
You can’t stop yourself from scoffing and you know he definitely can picture your reaction when all you reply with is, Don’t care xxx
Matty knows how to get you though, because you bite your tongue when his text comes through and it says, Oh but you do and it’s very cute of you to pretend xxx
The only way you can think of getting him to pity you for missing this is by being entirely honest, so you quickly send, I would have cancelled this trip if I knew when you posted that insta story that it was gonna be a self titled show 😭 xxx
Reading him saying, Don’t worry I’ll play them again for you xxx makes you pout because you want to be in that crowd experiencing it for the first time like everyone else.
It’s not the same but thank you x is your first answer, in instinct, but then you give it a quick thought and your fingers quickly type, But since you so kindly offered I expect to be serenaded, I want candles, I want eye contact, I want my own acoustic set of self titled x
You laugh at yourself like a fool at just the image of that actually happening and so you finish your string of texts by adding, No pressure or anything though xxx
His answer is just, I’ll make a note x and you know exactly the way his face is contorted at his phone, with that smirk that’s almost mocking and his wide eyes framed by lifted brows. 
Thank you xxx you reply, biting your bottom lip, you miss him pathetically so and you wish even harder you were there, not only to experience what’s about to happen but to have him next to you again. After being joined at the hip for a month, it came as a heavy weight on your chest to be away from each other.
That weight gets heavier when you read he’s sent, About to go out baby, hope you’re having a great time with Dimz. Miss you lots, you’re here in spirit xx
Before he goes, you quickly reply, Miss you too!! I suppose I hope it goes amazing 🥺 Don’t fuck the lyrics up you grandad xx
Of course, his response to that is a, I make no promises xx that has you rolling your eyes and chuckling. He follows that with a sweet, I’ll text you after xxx 
Melting further into the bed, you send back a wholehearted, Stop texting me and play the album that made me love your music xx before you go back to Twitter to become part of the collective meltdown.
That last text made it almost impossible for Matty to stop smiling for the whole of the gig. It was an hour and a half of pure joy for him to be playing his first album again in Manchester of all places and he knew that he could come straight back off stage and you would be there for him to talk to about just how much he loved it. 
But the lovely surprise that he got was that his phone had been bombarded with texts already and seeing that they were all from you made him grin like a fool. Even when he opened your messages and he saw the first you send after you bid him goodbye made him laugh out loud. 
I’ve just found a link to a livestream and I can wholeheartedly say: I hate you.
You didn’t tell me you were putting a fucking box out from the self titled era. I hate you.
No. No. No. 
Something inside him aches when he reads another of your first spamming of messages. 
It’s like I’ve travelled back in time to your 2014 show but I’m not there to see it in person like I was back then, what the fuck Matty?!?!?!!!? 
It makes him wish that he found you back then. That you could have been together for so much longer than you currently have been. All he wants is more time with you and he already can’t wait to see you again. Even though you might be a little upset with him after how you’ve described his show. 
This is a cruel form of torture. 
Matty finds himself snorting when he reads one that came in just moments after the last, Why wouldn’t you professionally stream this you twat.
It’s a good idea from you to be fair. It makes him think that he should have actually done it to raise more money for War Child, especially since the whole show was being professionally recorded for the band's sake anyway. 
Before he can scold himself too much he reads your next text which again has the curly haired singer laughing out loud when he sees: I’m crying to fucking MONEY. The hold you have over me is insane. 
He can picture you crying to that song, probably as you try to sing along as well, and the scene he’s got in his head just makes it harder for him to stop laughing. In between giggles and half lidded eyes, he continues reading the following texts.
Did you really just get the lyrics wrong to talk you fucking muppet. It’s the easiest song you have. WHY DO YOU TALK SO LOUD!!! 
He knows for a fact he will hear shit from you on that front because he knows that tonight he was bad with the lyrics. But he will argue that he can’t be expected to remember them all when he’s getting older and he has more banging tunes in his repertoire to remember these days. And he hasn’t listened to self titled properly in full since the album listening party on twitter back in 2020 weeks before Notes came out. 
There must have been a small gap where you actually watched the stream you found, as you don’t send anything about Sex or Chocolate despite them being absolute bangers (if he does say so himself). He has no doubt you were either grinning like a fool as you sang along or probably crying and singing along if your earlier messages were anything to go by. 
Heart Out is still a fuckin bop, it’s awful it’s not on the setlist permanently.
That one has him smiling, but he’s grinning like a fucking moron in response to the next song on the setlist. He can practically hear you saying the following messages he received like you are in the room with him. 
Settle fucking Down. Holy shit Matthew! 
Still remember being so confused when the video to this first came out, I had no fucking clue what was going on but christ it’s such a good song I don’t care. 
Matty can’t help but find that one funny because there was definitely a vision for it that not everyone got but it made sense to him so he just ran with it. But it’s your next few messages that have him shaking his head trying not to grin at his phone like a fool.
You better do that high note!!
Do that fucking high note you slut!!!!
YASSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m crying again. Over a fucking high note. I need mental help. 
If you don’t wanna be with me after this I understand but you needed to know at some point how deep this obsession for your music ran. 
No I can’t handle Robbers right now you dick why would you do this to me?!!!???!
As endearing as he finds the warning of your obsession and his get out of jail free card, it wasn’t as if he didn’t already know what he was in for. You have a tattoo already showcasing that love for his music and he’d seen the way you lit up even during his soundchecks when it was practically just you in the audience and even then you looked like you were having the time of your life listening to his music. 
And it wasn't as if you don’t tell each other you’re obsessed with each other anyway. Matty knows what he’s in for and he’s certain nothing could scare him off at this point. 
Not when all his chest can do is ache with longing to speak to you when he reads your next chunk of messages.
I’m at she way out and I’m still crying 
Play this song more often!
Menswear goddddd!!! 
Did you know I’ve had an amaretto at every wedding I’ve attended in the last ten years because of this song? 
You’ve cost me so much money. And that’s not including your tickets and your merch. 
Matty chuckles at those but even more so when he realises the album must have finished and in response to that you decided to inform him.
I’m depressed now. What are you going to do about it??? 
But clearly you’re cured by the time he starts playing the next song because you’re even virtually singing along and he can practically feel the way you screamed it at your phone as you pressed send. 
SELLING PETROLLLLLLLLL
But then you clearly have a giggle with yourself as immediately after you were scolding him.
Your fave essential oil lmfao 
You’re an idiot for not knowing what an essential oil is.
The singer vaguely remembers the interview you're referencing. The miscommunication with an American somehow got him in the shit with fans at the time and clearly now with you which is almost unfair when the woman interviewing him didn’t even know what petrol was… So much for being a fan of his band when petrol is a literal lyric.
Your next few messages make him smile and his heart skip a beat. He really should have asked you to film yourself reacting to the whole gig because imagining your face when reading each message wasn’t enough.
Happiness slaps every damn time, you put something in that song I swear. 
And he can’t help but smirk at the compliment, and his smirk only gets bigger when he reads the next text. 
Definitely like you better when you take off your clothes 😜 
The heat that rushes through him is exchanged for amusement when his gaze falls on your next text and the laugh that escapes his lips is uncontrollable. 
BE MY MISTAKE AFTER ALL OF THIS ARE YOU FUCKING JOKING!!!!!!!!!
Prepare for a slap the next time I see you. I’m crying again. 
He imagines the slap will be even harder when he reads what you’ve spammed him with barely 15 minutes ago.
NOT ABOUT YOU 
MATTHEW TIMOTHY HEALY 
WHAT THE FUCKKKKK
Well the tears are streaming now well done. Hope you're happy.
You can’t leave it there. 
Are you kidding?????? 
Ending on about you?!??!?!?!!! After self-titled in full??!?!?! You’ve murdered a nation.
Hate you x
Matty snorts at that one. He knows you don’t mean it though because your next message is too kind and he can’t stop smiling at his phone.
Christ I hope you left your phone backstage lollll sorryyyyy xxxx 
Message me when you can xx Really proud of you xxx
Reading that makes his heart swell an embarrassing amount. It’s certain he goes all gooey inside, the buzz from getting off stage sweetened by the rush of joy that hearing from you causes him. 
Of course he thanks you and he apologises for upsetting you, and when you tell him not to he just apologises again to get a rise out of you, loving that you’re so easy to wind up. You tell him how much you loved it but you’re more keen to know if he enjoyed it.
He tells you that he did, but it doesn’t put a patch on the banquet records gig where he spotted you in the crowd and he told you that he missed having you there. 
Matty texts you on and off for the next hour, starting off with you telling him that you’d enjoyed the set but obviously he wanted to leave you to your fun with Amelia, so he tried not to bother you too much. And knowing that you were an hour ahead of him in Copenhagen meant that he knew you needed to get some sleep soon. 
That being said he couldn’t deny himself a bit longer talking to you whilst you were still coherent. He wishes he could ring you and hear your voice but people weren’t even leaving him alone to text you. He asked you how your night had been knowing you had your first brand event to be at this evening. 
You tell him how fun it was, and admit that you felt imposter syndrome takeover again but somehow managed to not let that become too unmanageable so it didn’t ruin your night. He could practically picture everything as you explained about how they had everyone congregate for a sit down meal, all of you wearing some of the brands new line of clothes so you could help them promote it, and how it was a lot of fun having free cocktails and food with your best friend and your stylist before coming back a bit early so you could catch the livestream. 
As Matty was chatting to you, he got another text from a number that was yet to be saved to his phone. It was curiosity alone by the image he could see that was attached to it that led him to click on it. And thank Christ he did. 
It turns out Amelia had acquired his phone number, probably from you at some point. But this was the first he was hearing from her and he’s glad he did because she was giving him such glorious content. Opening the text, Matty chuckles when he reads, 
I think I deserve compensation for you and your silly box band for having my best friend like this for the 7474526273743rd time!!!!!!!!!!
And yes she’s drunk
The picture of you that she’s sent makes him giggle. You’re sitting cross-legged on the bed with your laptop just in front of you, in one hand you’re holding an almost empty glass of red wine and the other is wiping away your evident tears from your cheeks. 
Matty giggles seeing that, but his heart goes out to you simultaneously because he of course doesn’t ever want to make you upset. However, Amelia is clearly the one that needs the next text.
I can arrange compensation for you 
Her reply doesn’t even take 10 seconds to come through.
Does that compensation have a first and last name??? Thinking beginning with R and M?????
The singer genuinely has to pause for a second there. That’s again another time someone has started pining for Ross and the maths isn’t quite mathsing in his head. People really like Ross this much?
Regardless, Matty quickly types back, Okay stop thirsting, your best friend is drunk
Her reply is again fast, but this time instead of confusing him it makes him grin like a lunatic, 🙄 Yeah I’m well aware, she can’t stop yapping about you
He feels all fuzzy inside at the mere thought of making you happy when you talk to each other. And the fact you tell your best friend about him just makes him think that he’s doing everything right. He feels like he definitely is, because he’s certain he would have heard from Amelia before now if he hadn’t.
Matty ends up responding cockily, Thought you’d be used to that by now?, before he adds your best friend as a contact and names her Dimz. 
It somehow has gotten worse, Matty reads her reply come through as he’s searching for the chicken emoji to put next to her name.
He can’t help but snort, Who would’ve thought????
After going back to chat to you for a little longer, Matty realises the car that's dropping him off is close to home now, not even two minutes away and when he tells you this, you decide that it’s time to bid each other goodnight. You tell him to send his family your love and you both promise to phone each other when you get up the following morning to properly catch up. 
It’s difficult not to carry on texting you when he makes it inside his childhood home. He’s so used to chatting to you before you go to sleep after the last month of being on tour together that it's a little strange for him. 
He stays awake chatting to his Mum and Lincoln for a little while before he heads upstairs knackered now after a long day of socialising and entertaining. He briefly sends some memes off to the group chat as he gets himself ready for bed before he sees in his notifications centre that he’s missed another text.
It’s from Amelia again and she only sent it 15 minutes ago, so the singer quickly taps on it as he gets himself into bed. 
Had to take her out to console her with her favourite coffee… 
Seeing the photo that she’s sent, Matty genuinely thinks his heart may burst out of his chest. He sends off a gooey response of love heart emojis back but after that he’s transfixed at the sight of you. 
In the picture you're laughing holding your coffee but you’ve managed to somehow get the whipped cream on your nose. The sight is adorable, you’re so cute and you easily have Matty’s heart longing for you, his pulse racing at the thought of being close to you again and making you laugh like that in person. 
It’s probably not good for his heart, getting into a relationship again when he’s due out on such a big world tour. Missing you is going to hurt him more than he could probably cope, but the moments with you are so worth the brief pain of not being with you for a bit. 
Looking at this picture of you, he can’t help but let his imagination run wild. Making you laugh and giggle like this in person on all the dates he’ll take you on in the future. He can picture you holding your drink with a diamond adorning your left ring finger too as you hold up your cup, and he’d take pride in knowing one day soon he’d get to marry the girl he loves.
He loves you.
God, he loves you so damn much. 
And it only dawns on him just how much as he stares at this picture of you giggling with whipped cream smeared on your nose. Obsessed truly isn’t the word anymore, he’s well and truly head over heels for you. 
Matty saves the picture in a heartbeat and quickly makes the picture his lockscreen so he can be reminded just how in love he is everytime he looks at his phone. And Matty falls asleep grinning like an absolute fool at the picture of his girlfriend knowing he’s deeply and madly in love with her. 
~*~*~*~
Your phone rings alive and startles you out of the conversation you were having with Amelia as you waited right by your gate. When you check the screen to see who’s calling, you smile and feel your insides be coated with the familiar warmth that your boyfriend brings to you whenever he’s mentioned, or when something reminds you of him, or he calls or texts you.
“Hey Matty.” You answer quickly, a big grin on your face that he can picture just from the pitch of your voice. 
He matches it, and his smile reaches his eyes as he greets you softly, “Heya baby, how are you doing? Hope you’ve had a nice last morning.” Amelia rolls her eyes and fakes a muted gag before going to her phone when she hears it’s your boyfriend calling you, it makes you snort.
“I’m okay, thank you. And yesss, it’s been good.” Remembering the lovely time you’ve had in Copenhagen makes your smile the tiniest bit bigger but then you remember the time difference and you’re frowning, “But why are you awake so early?” 
It’s merely an hour behind that he’s at but you know he appreciates sleeping in in the morning, just as you do, so you thought he’d still be asleep hence why you’d sent him a quick text that read, At our gate waiting to board! See you soon baby xx which he had yet to reply. 
Your frown dissipates and you’re left smiling like a fool again when his words, laced with sweetness, come to the admission of, “I get to see you in a few hours. I couldn’t sleep.”
“Stop it.” You let out automatically, your cheeks starting to heat up and hurt from how big you’re smiling. 
Matty doesn’t help your case trying to seem cool when he chats back with a smooth, “It’s the truth.” He’d seen your message come through and suddenly the day was perfect already.
You can see him shrugging and offering you one of his nonchalant smiles, and your heart squeezes in your chest picturing him with his face puffy from sleep and his curls messy, tired eyes trying to stay open and that loopy smile he gives you whenever you wake up beside him. 
“I hope you went to sleep early then.” You bargain for that, trying to feel less bad about him being up this early to check on you, or worse woken up by your text.
He hums softly in confirmation, “Accidentally did actually, weed knocked me out.” 
“Well I’m glad you got some sleep at least, but don’t wake up on my account.” He’s your boyfriend and all but you were still going to text him when you were boarding and when you landed so that he wouldn’t worry, he really didn’t need to cut his sleep short for you.
“Hush now,” He waves you off lightheartedly, “What’s your flight number and what time are you due back?”
“Due in at Heathrow at 11:25am,” You reply easily but a thought sparks in your mind and you giggle to yourself before you correct your actions, “One sec, let me actually send you a pic of the board because I know you’ll forget.”
“Okay, thank you baby.” He finds himself stupidly swooning over how easy it has been for you to pick up on his habits, the good and the bad. “I’ll pick you and Dimz up - and if it’s okay with you after we’ve dropped Dimz off we can head back to yours?”
His suggestion warms your heart but you really don’t want to be a burden so you easily reply, “You don’t have to get us, Matty, it’s okay. We can get a taxi.”
“No, I want to and I want to see you.” It’s not like he was asking if he should pick you up, he already was going to do that. He was just trying to suggest you two go back to your flat considering how much comfort that would bring compared to going back to his house after a month away from home. “Dimz too, obviously, but I wanna see you and I bet you are dying to sleep in your own bed again after a month away.”
“God, I really am.” Just picturing falling back into your own bed sounds so heavenly, your words come out in a softened moan that amuses him, and it’s when you add, “Might be more excited for that than to see you.” that he actually giggles.
“Oh, I see how it is.” 
“I’m joking, I’m joking.” You quickly say to take it back but Matty knows you actually meant it and he finds it so endearing. 
“You’re not and that’s fine.” He corrects you and the giggle that accompanies it soothes you that he can read you so easily.
With a sigh, you let out, “You know me scarily well.”
And it has him proudly adding, “Well you are my girlfriend. I intend to find every last detail about you, and you loving your sleep seems like a big part of your day.”
“Yep, now you know why your date was at two o’clock.” It’s probably the time of the day that has you admitting that, even though you know it might’ve been embarrassing to admit that before, it feels right to just share your train of thought back then. 
He hums softly, taking a few seconds to do a bit of maths in his head about how your day must’ve been leading up to the date, “Still must have got up pretty early if you got up and did your make up and trekked it all the way from Brixton to over my way and to set up and everything by two.” His brows raised when he reached his conclusion, knowing the effort it must’ve taken for you to wake up that early for it all, “You must’ve got up at like ten, maybe nine and that’s early for you.”
“I actually couldn’t sleep properly the night before our date so I think I got up around six.” It's almost like in a whisper that you admit that, and you giggle at the soft gasp he lets out.
“Six o’clock?! Wow baby you really must’ve been tired that day.” 
He hears you hesitate when you think back to that day, only being able to remember how it all started and your heart grows in size in your chest, “Nothing you didn’t wake me up from when you asked for that fucking kiss.”
“Hey, if I hadn't asked for that kiss then we wouldn’t be talking right now.” He quips back in a heartbeat, and he takes a moment to think back to that day with pride and so much appreciation for everything you’ve shared of yourself with him since then.
“Never said I didn’t appreciate the kiss.” It’s the first thing you say, just to clear up because there’s not one kiss of his that you’d never appreciate. And then you continue, “I just preferred the one outside where there weren’t any cameras or anyone else watching me kiss the guy who was my lockscreen for almost five years.”
Matty smirks when he hears that, but he plays on the past tense of your statement to tease you, “I best be your lockscreen again.” 
“My lockscreen is actually a picture of Ross from the gorilla gig.” You quickly reply, lying with ease to taunt him back.
And you have to bite your bottom lip to swallow a laugh when his voice drops to an unimpressed tone when he says, “You better be joking.”
You don’t relent in your effort to give him a taste of his own medicine and, nonchalantly, continue adding to your bluff, “Nope, he looked so good.” 
The only answer your boyfriend can give you is an ultimatum that makes you laugh, “You have until you get home to change it.”
But you play into his petition by asking him, “What would you prefer it to be?”
“I don’t know, a picture of us maybe or just one of me.” You shake your head and roll your eyes to yourself when he says that, knowing that if he was beside you and he’d seen Ross as your lockscreen, he would’ve taken multiple selfies in that very moment and chosen his favourite to replace his best friend.
You hum as if you’re deliberating whether or not that being a good call, eventually you come back to him with, “Ames will call me a simp.”
To which he wastes no time to answer, firm conviction when he says, “And you are one. You’re obsessed with me, remember?” 
“Mmm yeah, I guess I am.” You give into him, this game that you always get in with him giving you an endless rumble of butterflies in your belly that makes you wanna giggle. “Guess I’ll change it.” You end up giving in, a tone in your voice that tells him you’re being kind making that decision.
He overlooks the sassiness in your voice to comment, “Good because you’ve been my home and lockscreen for a while.” knowing that it would bring you out of your jokey state. 
Though, you still are in it because you chuckle and reply to that with a mocking, “Lucky you getting to see my ugly mug every time you’re on your phone.”
“Shut up.” He calls you out almost hissing under his breath, “You’re gorgeous. You’re everything.” There’s something laced around the last word he lets out and Amelia finally lifts her head up when she sees you dramatically letting your head fall back on the seat and you clearly flustered at whatever your boyfriend has just said. She squints when she sees the glimmering of your eyes being a product of the tears starting to pool in your eyes. 
Matty hears you sigh heavily and he’s the one to melt completely when you say, “Don’t make me cry this early in the morning, Matty.” A call for him to have mercy on your heart. You can’t believe he has you acting like this in the morning in the middle of the airport.
Amelia takes the chance to chip into the conversation, even though she can’t hear Matty, and she leans into your side so she can loudly say into the speakers of your phone, “Please don’t. You know what she’s like when she’s overtired.”
You roll your eyes at your best friend but she flips you off as she sits back straight, not managing to listen to Matty replying with a, “I do, indeed.” followed by him talking to you directly afterwards, “You best sleep on the plane, baby.” 
“I’ll try.” You halfheartedly promise. It’s only a 2 hour flight back so you don’t know if you’ll be able to catch sleep that quickly after boarding, and if you do, you’re afraid you’ll wake up all grumpy from only getting a fleeting rest.
“Okay, I’ll let you go now then.” Matty offers you softly, and knowing then that you’re so soon due back beside him makes his heart squeeze in his chest, “Can’t wait to see you soon baby, I’ve missed you.”
This time, you just can’t hold in your stupid little giggles and they slip through as you reciprocate, “Me too. See you soon, baby.”
Every minute that passed after the call ended felt infinite to Matty. It was like the seconds elongated cruelly and he couldn’t stop fidgeting around his house whilst he waited for the clock to strike a time that was logical for him to set off to get you and Amelia. 
It got even worse when he got there and he waited outside with a cigarette between his lips, hoping that every drag would soothe him while he eagerly waited for you to walk out. Hoodie up to hide his curls and sunglasses on the bridge of his nose to not garner any attention. Thank god it worked because everyone seemed to pass by completely ignoring him and he could peacefully settle where he was standing for a bit. The relief Matty felt when he watched your plane land on the tracker though was like nothing else, it would only be a short while before he got to be with you again. 
The feeling that washes over you when you walk out of the arrivals doors and Matty sees you is indescribable. The smirk he offers you makes the feeling increase tenfold inside you and fills you with warmth when he walks closer to you and Amelia and you hear him greet you with a cheeky, “Hello you.” over the noise of your cases rolling on the pavement beside you.
“Hiya baby.” You greet back with a loopy smile on your face, you feel your face heat up and the tips of your fingers tingle with the need to trap him in a tight hug.
“Dimz.” Matty says to your best friend who’s smiling beside you, a tilt of his chin in acknowledgement.
“Hello Matthew.” Amelia replies and she comically and dramatically runs to hug your boyfriend before you can.
You watch her case roll away slightly as she lets go of it and you hear the soft ‘oof’ Matty lets out when Amelia crashes on his chest but he still wraps his arms around her shoulders and sweetly clutches her to him. He keeps his eyes open and his smirk is still stuck on his face as he embraces your best friend so you slowly finish walking up to them and say, “Alright then, I see how it is.”
A giggle escapes you when he reaches one of his arms out and grabs your wrist to pull you in and includes you in the hug with a breathy “Get in here.” that he says in between a chuckle. You find yourself letting go of your case too and wrapping your arms around the two people in front of you.
Being so close to him, you can smell his scent again and you’ve never been more relieved to be drowning in the smell of cigarettes mixed with a hint of weed and his aftershave. It lights up your face, your grin only getting bigger when you’re met with his face merely inches away from yours, “Hi.” 
“Hi.” Matty says back and he leans over Amelia’s shoulder to close the distance and trap your lips in a quick kiss. 
You only get to relish in the feeling of his lips on yours again for a split second because when you lean back and your lips separate with a soft smack, Amelia is pushing herself away from you both and dramatically gagging. 
She scowls jokingly at you two, and acts like she’s fed up with the PDA, “You’re sickly cute, it’s annoying.” You know she’s joking and it makes you snort in laughter, Matty only smirks harder beside you as he snakes his arm around your waist and pulls you in close to his side.
Welcoming the feeling of his body melting against yours, you let your head fall on his shoulder and pucker your lips to drop a chaste kiss on his jaw just before he says, “Lucky I’m dropping you off at home Dimz, because it’s only gonna get worse.”
Amelia sighs but she sees on your face how hard you’re trying not to actually throw yourself on your boyfriend, so she calls Matty out to taunt you, “Hug your girlfriend properly, she’s missed you.”
Matty coos and, pressing his lips to your forehead, his lips brush against your skin when he asks, “You missed me baby?”
You feel your face heat up thanks to Amelia so easily exposing you but you know you can’t play it cool and try to hide it from your boyfriend so you pathetically mumble, “Always.” in response.
Just hearing the subtle despair seeping through your voice makes him quickly turn on his heels to properly crush you in a hug that you two so desperately had been needing. Your arms wrap around his neck and his go around your waist, fingers digging into your flesh as if he was preventing anyone coming and snatching you away from him. 
It’s clear what it is and you feel it just the same, your fingers coming up the back of his neck and you feel the goosebumps rising on his skin before your fingers get lost in his curls and you hum in bliss when having that feeling back. Barely a few days had gone by since you last saw him but god did you miss him. Your nose brushes the stubble growing on his face, and you feel his lips brushing the skin of your neck almost teasingly before he leaves a trail of pecks up your neck until he reaches your ear. You inhale deeply at the tingles that rush down your spine, thinking about how you don’t want to be anywhere else but here. In his arms. For as long as you can.
“Did you sleep on the plane?” He whispers in your ear and you have no idea if you want to laugh or cry at the fact that he knows just what to ask.
Sheepishly, you shake your head and mumble, “Nope…” 
And with that answer, Matty slowly pulls back to look at you and, as if it is the only important thing in the world, he brushes a strand of hair behind your ear and says, “God, let’s get you home to bed.”
~*~*~*~
Dropping your best friend off was quick and easy, and it left you and Matty to enjoy the rest of the trip back to yours. He left your heart warm even in the quiet moments when he did nothing but hum along to the tunes the radio was playing and rest his warm hand on your thigh. It’s silly how such small details could make you so happy but by god you really are.
The second your flat's door is unlocked, you come in followed by Matty and you all but run to your room. Dropping your stuff by the threshold of your room, you go straight to the bathroom and take a much needed shower. It feels so nice being back home and feeling the warm water rain down on you in the comfort of your own space is so soothing.  
When you come out, you find your boyfriend already waiting for you to get in bed so you quickly change into an oversized top (which is definitely Matty’s) and a pair of joggers (which you also stole from him), and blow dry your hair in a hurry to finally throw yourself in bed with him five minutes later. 
The moan of pleasure you let out at the comfort of your own mattress and being wrapped in your boyfriend's arms makes Matty chuckle. 
“This is heavenly.” You mumble against his chest, which is bare since he shed himself of it as well as his hoodie, and he clutches you even tighter to him.
“I know.” Matty agrees, letting his head rest atop of yours and he leaves a kiss there before whispering, “Finally.”
The breath of relief he lets out matches yours, and you let your eyes flutter close as a smile breaks out on your face. It just feels so right and you feel the way you just melt into the bed and his hold. The heat he exudes so familiar and just what you’d been craving all along. 
You’ve got no grasp on time or reality when you peel your eyes open again. The only thing you know is that you had squirmed in your place and subconsciously wanted to nuzzle into your boyfriend’s neck only to find your cheek squished against your pillow and the other half of the bed empty. 
Blinking your eyes repeatedly, it takes you about half a minute to come to your senses and sit up to look around your room. It’s when you’re squinting to see if his hoodie is still on the floor where he dropped it earlier that you hear a sound coming from your kitchen and you spring up quickly to head over there. Of course, not before snatching his hoodie from the floor and putting it on you, letting the fabric swallow you comfortably. 
Your bare feet softly and quietly pad through the hallway until you get to the kitchen and there you find him, with his shirt back on (unfortunately) and his back to you as he stirs something in a pot. The smell of cooked chicken fills the room and when you walk up to him and snake your arms around his waist from behind, you can see he’s made chicken alfredo. 
He tenses up for a second before he relaxes again and it makes you giggle before you compliment, “Oooo… Looks delicious, baby.” It also smells delicious and you’re bathed in this warm feeling that makes you wanna kiss him all over, so you leave a trail of kisses from his shoulder going up his neck until you go on your tiptoes to smack the last one on his cheek. “Thank you.”
Matty hums in response, that smile of his tugging at the corners of his mouth and it makes you smile just as big. He lets his head tilt to the side so it knocks into yours and he can’t help but feel all gooey inside when you hug him that bit tighter.
He turns off the hob and allows himself to glance at you as you walk over to the fridge. When you open it, you let out a soft gasp seeing it far different from how you left it back at the start of the year when he convinced you to join him on tour. It’s full, you giggle like an idiot when you see the cans of Tango lined up on one of the shelves and in the freezer you can see he’s gotten you a few tubs of your favourite ice cream.
“Thought I’d go to the shops for you whilst you rested.” Matty comments sweetly and a bit shyly. 
In an instant, you’re almost leaping towards him and crushing him in a hug. A hug that lasts a mere few seconds because you pull back and cup his face with your hands to trap him in a dizzying kiss that he welcomes gracefully. His hands coming to cup your arse and squeezing it makes you laugh so you break the kiss, and he takes advantage of the way you throw your head back in laughter to drop a bunch of kisses up your exposed throat. 
One last peck is left on your lips before your boyfriend pats your arse and instructs, “Take a seat for me, baby. Food is ready.”
The grin on your face grows even more and the apples of your cheeks start to hurt when you occupy one of the chairs in your kitchen. You watch attentively as he walks around the place so smoothly. He gets a pair of plates and then walks over to the fridge to get you a can of Tango, cracking it open before setting it in front of you and he doesn’t pass the opportunity of getting another kiss from you after you thank him for the drink.
His tongue sticks out slightly as he plates his creation and you bite your bottom lip as to not giggle when you see him puff his chest out at the sight of what he’s made for you. Matty gets cutlery for the both of you and brings the two plates over to the table. 
“Thank you baby.” You say sweetly when he places the plate in front of you, carefully getting the fork and knife from him and you wait until he settles on his own seat before digging in. 
Your eyes roll back and you let out a moan at the taste of the first forkful of pasta you get, and the pride in his face makes him look absolutely stunning. With a hand over your mouth, you swallow and let him know just how delicious it is, “This is so fucking good.”
Matty hums proudly and he digs in himself. He feels your gaze on him, waiting for him to agree on how good he’s done and when he swallows the bite he’s taken, he matches your smile, “I did pretty fucking good, didn’t I?”
The laugh that elicits from you is music to your boyfriend’s ears and he’s beaming at you as you say, “You really did.”
After that, you fall into conversation and, despite being at yours and the setting being so mundane, you find yourself thinking about how much this feels like a date and you fucking love it. 
You love being like this with him and finding the different aspects of him, and getting a taste of the sweet things he does for you makes your heart swell in your chest. Especially when he tells you just what he got you from the shops and you want to throw yourself at him and kiss every inch of his face when he tells you that you’d yet to see he’d gotten your favourite snacks. 
Time continues to pass as you talk about everything and nothing, gossiping and laughing and just enjoying each other’s company. The more the clock ticks, the more you find yourself thinking about how you could get used to having this forever. And it’s not as terrifying as it might’ve been before, now it’s exciting and it’s almost like you’re impatient for the rest that’s to come. 
It's warm and tender talking to him, and the both of you seem to not be able to stray too far from physical contact either because your legs are hooked around each other underneath the table and you're holding each other's hand across the table. At one point you can’t not take a picture of his hand beside his drink that he was clearly finished with because he put his fag dimp in it. You can’t really believe that the man with dad tattooed on his wrist is actually your boyfriend now, it still shocks you when you think about how long you’ve admired this man from afar and now he’s all yours. 
When you’re done eating, Matty suggests going out for a walk, thinking you might want some fresh air and maybe let out some of the energy you might now have after the rest you got. But it’s cold outside and, despite him mentioning that he has a spliff to share, you don’t wanna leave this bubble that you’re in with him. So you shrug it off and instead mention how you don’t mind smoking weed inside and it becomes a plan then, going back to your room and getting high together in bed. 
Considering he’s cooked for you and done your shopping, you offer to take care of the dishes and he reluctantly lets you while he cleans the table and gets you two the snacks you want to take with you. Once you do your bit and put everything in the dishwasher, you and Matty head back into your room. You’re both just feeling overly affectionate and cuddly with each other so it’s no surprise when you end up in each other's arms again. This time though, you don’t end up falling asleep, no instead you end up chatting each other's ears off. 
At some point, you’re not really sure how long passed before you got up and took the both of you a drink. But when you come back, instead of lying down beside him again, you lie across your bed and rest your head at the bottom of his stomach. 
“Tell me something I don’t know about you yet?” His words are just as delicate as his touch, his right hand, with which he’d just lit the spliff alive a minute ago, threaded through your hair and softly brushed it back and over his stomach. 
You let the drag you’d taken relax you even further by letting your eyes flutter close but you still enthusiastically try to get more of what he’s saying, “Oooo… like what?”
His sharp inhale reaches your ears and you smell the smoke lingering in the air as he throws a bunch of questions out, “Anything? What was your first pet called? Your first job? What crazy stuff did you and Amelia get up to in high school?” 
Pinning each question inside your mind, you open your eyes and reach up your hand for the joint, bringing it to your lips leisurely and taking a slow drag. You let it swirl inside your mouth and down the back of your throat for a few seconds before exhaling the smoke upwards, a blanket of bliss brought by the weed enveloping you nicely and it makes you smile as you answer, “First pets were goldfish I proudly won at a fair when I was little and I called them both Tom and Jerry.”
A short, but amused, “Nice.” is what you get from Matty and it makes you giggle, you pass him the spliff back and let your hands clasp together over your stomach.
You still show your pride at the chosen names for your (now very dead) goldfish, being smug when adding, “I know right. I loved that programme as a kid.” 
Matty hums in agreement, “It was a gooden.”
And then you remember the rest of the questions so you continue answering with ease, “My first job was in a cafe. Worked way too young.” He feels you shake your head on his stomach, your hair tickling his skin that’s showing as his shirt ridden up. “I worked cash in hand at fifteen so not even allowed to legally work. I stayed there for a while until I was eighteen then I went and worked in a bar but I hated it and I quit after three weeks by handing my boss a post it note that read ‘I quit’ with a little smiley face on it.”
A soft gasp comes from your boyfriend and it makes your smirk bigger, “No you didn’t…”
“I did.” You assure, proudly. You’d never been prouder of yourself than back then, and it had been so relieving to gain the courage and finally make that decision because that job made you absolutely miserable.
Matty chortles at the joy on your face when recounting the story but he’s still curious, “You’re so funny, what did your boss say? What did they do?” 
You shrug nonchalantly, much different to how you felt back then, and answered his questions, “They knew I hated it but they were very kind to me and took it and let me leave without giving notice.”
“That’s nice of them.” He points out, elated for your past self having had an easy time with that situation.
With a nod, you agree, “Yeah they were really nice.” You watch as he takes another drag of the joint, and after flicking the ashes on the ashtray he had placed on your bedside table, he hands it to you just as you’re trying to think of the answer to his last question.
“As far as crazy shit me and Ames got up to, it wasn’t interesting.” There’s no insanely crazy and out of hand story that comes to your mind, and you have to remain in silence and think about it really hard to remember something slightly crazy in your boyfriend’s standards. Inhaling a bit of smoke clears your memories up and you smile thinking about a memory that was now incredibly funny to you, “There was a house party once that ended up with flashing blue lights and everyone had to run home before we got caught underaged drinking.”
Curiosity shines on his face, he perks up atop of your pillows and rushes you to continue with an eager, “Do tell.”
You chuckle at his impatience and get right into your story, “We were at our friends house, I’d say we were fifteen, maybe sixteen, and it was a really good party, I think it was just for the girl’s birthday or whatever but that doesn’t really matter. It ended in disaster though when one of the girls who clearly couldn’t handle her alcohol tripped and went head first through the glass sliding doors.”
His loud gasp and the quick, “No.” that he let out in response makes you laugh even harder, squirming on his stomach and making him smile at the way your hair tickles his sides.
With a nod and taunting wide eyes, you continue after taking another drag before handing the spliff back to him, “Yes, and it was all Amelia's fault. Because this lightweight had spotted Ames having her first kiss outside and she ran to tell us and as she was running back to the back door she tripped and went straight through it. Turns out Amelia and this lad obviously closed the door so they could have some privacy but that turned into a scene from Casualty and I had to deal with a fuming best friend because she had her first kiss ruined and we all had to run home.”
“How selfish of the girl to purposely ruinthat for her.” Matty chuckles sarcastically, your head rising and falling a little as he laughs picturing your best friend being selfishly fuming.
You play along, holding your giggle but Matty can see and hear just how big your smile is, “I know right.”
“What were you doing as she was kissing her man?” Your boyfriend asks curiously, spliff held right by his parted lips but not closing around the filter just yet because his inquiries were more important to let out than taking a puff, “Who were you kissing?”
“Oh no I was inside talking to our friend’s Mum eating pizza.” You snort out in laughter faintly remembering that happening, but despite the weed making everything feel light and feathery, your amusement is still brief and the corners of your lips fall to turn your smile into a flat line, “I didn’t have my first kiss until I was nineteen.”
“Nineteen?” Matty’s eyes go a little wide in surprise, “Really?” He’s just a little confused because you’re so beautiful, and Amelia has shown him pictures of you when you were younger and you were just as pretty back then. How no one would have snapped you up he really doesn’t understand. Anyone would be lucky to be with you. 
“Yep,” You sigh, thinking back to it, “Perks of spending most of my teens struggling to figure out if I really liked boys and girls, and worrying that if I was ever caught kissing a girl someone would tell on me and I’d have to come out before I even truly figured it out myself.”
He has to take a few seconds to process what you’ve just said and his heart squeezes in his chest when thinking about you feeling trapped in such a dilemma when being your true self should’ve been always the obvious choice. He gets it though, it’s all easier said than done so he nods with a soft smile on his face as he looks down at you, “Completely fair enough baby.”
It wasn’t your intention to make things serious all of the sudden, though you know it is a piece of information that your boyfriend should know to know you even better, but you find yourself coming back around to what had come up before your bisexual trauma piece and you smirk as you carefully pick your words to get his curiosity rising once more, “Funny story, my first kiss was your fault.”
He frowns a little, “My fault?”
“Yep, it happened at your show.” You explain and chuckle seeing Matty looks absolutely dumbfounded. He makes you chuckle as you continue, “Yeah so there was a cute guy as I was in the pit for your show and we were chatting and flirting a little as we were waiting for you to come on.”
You make sure to turn your head to the side to look him straight in the eye when you get to the interesting part, wanting to perfectly see his reaction to the story, “Then you came out and everything was fine, I was loving it. And I think it was before you performed Sex you said ‘if you wanna get off with someone whilst you're here, this is your moment’ and once you’d started we sorta looked at each other all coyly before he kissed me. Was amazing, so yeah thank you for that.”
There’s a long few beats of silence that go by and you're left holding your breath and pressing your lips together not to burst out laughing. The only noise you hear is the burning of the spliff as he takes a long drag, his cheeks hollowing and a frown on his face when he holds the smoke in the back of his throat for a few seconds before exhaling. He then breaks the silence by letting out a mumbled, “I have no words.” that let his disbelief shine through pretty obviously.
“Shut up.” You say in between giggles, you shake from the laughter over him and your cheek is left pressed over his We Are Kings tattoo, which is peeking from the bottom of his shirt, the hair that adorns his lower stomach tickling your skin.
It’s almost like your boyfriend can’t stop himself when he quickly follows up with an important question, “Did you get with him?”
To his relief, you shake your head and shrug nonchalantly, clearly showing how little you actually cared about it other than the experience having been fun and very on brand for you. “Nope, never saw him again after that night. Never even caught his name.”
Almost like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders, Matty sighs, but he still frowns as he admits the burning feeling scorching his insides and leaving a slight bitter taste in his mouth, “I feel like I shouldn’t be jealous, but I am?”
You can’t take him seriously though, so you cackle loudly, letting your head turn back so you lie there facing up to the ceiling. Only once you managed to control your laughter, you poke him on his side and call out a mocking, “Oh shut up.” before plucking the joint from his fingers and bringing it to your lips. 
The next few minutes are spent leisurely smoking after having fallen in a comfortable silence. The smoke lingering in the air over you like a warm fog that only had you two sinking further into the mattress, the warmth that your skin touching exudes is heightened under the influence of the weed, and the feeling of his fingers carefully brushing through your hair makes you hum in utter bliss. 
Like a film reel, you watch the day back and when you come back around to the stories you’ve just shared with him, your eyes go wide as your curiosity shocks you back to life like a bolt of electricity.
“What about you? What was your craziest house party? Did Denise ever tell you off for any?” The words come from your mouth in a hurry, stumbling behind the other and he flinches at the way you quickly shift in your place, startling him as he had his eyes closed and was relishing in the quiet that had drowned the room.
Matty blinks a few times before managing to realise what you’ve just asked, and he clears his throat before he can mindlessly say, “She was okay when it came to parties to be honest-” He cut himself off when a memory came rushing to the forefront of his mind and his eyes go wide when remembering what had happened, “Oh my god…” He mutters first and then he’s carefully recounting, “There was a time I got caught when she went on holiday.”
You’re definitely intrigued by his reaction, but you expect a wild story if it comes from Matty. You knew how much of a little shit he had been in his teenage years from interviews and stories you’d heard so far but getting to hear a new story excited you almost childishly, “Oh yeah?”
What you weren’t expecting was for him to follow up with, “Yeah, but I got caught two years after it happened.”
Matty sees your mouth open agape at the detail, your brain a mush trying to sort out the chances of that happening but you can’t so you quickly ask, “What? How?”
“It’s the stupidest story. Doesn’t even sound real but I swear it is.” He says as a preface and you become more intrigued by the second.
A loopy smile shows on his face, his eyes crinkling at the edges and his voice sounds amused like he’s holding back a laugh as he narrates, “I threw a party when I was seventeen when my Mum and Dad had gone away on holiday and they had this jeep they would never let me drive because I didn’t have a licence. So this party I decided, you know what imma drive this fucker while they can’t stop me.”
You can’t help but cackle at the way he talks about his defiance, it’s contagious as he chuckles along with you before he continues, “There were a few of us at this party right, they were all cheering me on except for Hann.” 
You almost want to coo at the mention of Adam being the only one to properly use his brain, “Of course, because he’s sensible.”
But your boyfriend scoffs loudly and refutes your point, “He was a fucking bore and a cock block.”
Another loud cackle slips past your lips, a smile appearing on his face despite his efforts to appear serious about the matter. He has to press his lips together not to giggle at the mischievous smirk that shows on your face before you say, “Matty, you shagged his cousin. He can't be that good at cockblocking.” 
Matty snorts at that, knowing Adam’s blessing meant nothing to him at one point in time when he was horrendously head over heels for his cousin. Matty just laughs, “Flo just couldn’t resist in the end, okay?” 
“Yeah,” You roll your eyes, knowing exactly what happened between him and Flo and that was certainly not the case. Sarcasm and disbelief is thick in your voice when you add, “I’m sure.” 
“Hey!” Matty frowns down at you, offended that you don’t think he’s irresistible. 
“I’m kidding,” You chuckle, taking the blunt off him and taking a puff before you prompt him to, “Carry on.”
“Right so, Adam was the only one to be like ‘no, don’t do it’ but of course I went and did it anyway.” Matty explains twirling a strand of your hair around his fingers, “Me, George, Ross and our mate Pete in the Jeep. Hann stayed at the house because he was a boring prick.”
You scoff at that, shaking your head as you declare under your breath, “So nasty.” 
Electing to ignore that comment, your boyfriend continues, “And we drove to the field just across from mine, opened the gate and started leathering it around this field doing skids and stuff. Then we got to the gate for the next field across and George got out and opened it for us and we went about in there too. But then we realised our mistake.”
For some reason you find yourself smiling in anticipation at that comment since you know it means that’s when the trouble started, and you look at him as you take another drag as he carries on to tell you the full story.
“There were horses in that field, so after we realised we headed back to the first field but George didn’t get back out and shut the gate and we spooked them too, so after we’d done more skids and turned back to close the gate, the horses had come into that field.”
As you laugh, the smoke comes out of your mouth too, making Matty watch you as you declare, “You idiots.” 
“No, what made us idiots was thinking we could on our feet herd up the horses getting them back into the other field.” The beginning of an embarrassed smile makes its way onto his lips now. He almost doesn't want to tell you, but he knows it’ll be worth it when he hears you laugh again if he does. 
Matty takes your offer of having the blunt back and he explains before he has another puff, “We did that for about half an hour and it was raining at that point and we were getting muddy. We went back to the car defeated but then because of the skids and the rain the Jeep got stuck in the mud and we were stuck.”
You can’t help the gasp that leaves you, “Nooo, what did you do?”
“We had to walk back over to the house and had to get Hann to help us.” Matty sighs remembering just how much shit Adam gave him that day, how he told him multiple times it would be a bad idea and he wouldn’t let him forget he was right.  
“Long story short, Hann made me call the farmer the next day and he towed it out. Then Hann, being the only one old enough to drive, had to take it to the car wash for us and we had it deep cleaned and he drove it back to its spot on the drive. And thankfully when Mum and Dad came back they never noticed.”
You laugh practically being able to hear in your head the way Adam had told him off for his silly activities. After being on tour with them and getting such a better insight to their whole dynamic you just know Adam wouldn’t have let Matty get away with random shit he pulled as a teenager, and that’s hilarious to you, the thought of Matty being scared of cute little Adam Hann. 
Matty can’t help but smile at the way you're giggling. God he actually loves you so much he thinks his heart just beats for you, his heart racing getting faster at the sight of you all happy and hearing your loud laugh. 
Your giggles die down but you can’t keep the smile from your face. You’re too happy right now, everything about this evening has been the best and you’ve loved this story so much. Hearing even the tiniest thing about his past makes you so happy, like you’ve got to know him even better and on a deeper level. It warms your heart massively. 
“Wait,” You pause for a second, remembering how the conversation started out, “You said she caught you two years after it happened? How? Did the farmer tell your Mum and Dad?” 
“No, it's worse.” Matty signs, not believing he’s about to admit, “A fucking areal photographer knocked on our door two years later and showed Mum the pictures he took years ago and the fucking Jeep was in the middle of the field with horses around it. I got bollocked. Me and Flo were upstairs in my room and we just heard a booming ‘Matthew!’ from downstairs.”
You let out a little giggle, unable to help yourself, and it warms Matty’s heart as he plays with your hair. You have to ask him, “Did you shit yourself?”
“Big time.” Matty smiles, “No clue what it was about until I saw the pictures and then I just had to accept my fate.”
“I bet Flo was pissing herself.” You look at him as you say that and you already know the answer from the look on his face. 
“She was. She bullied me relentlessly after it happened, especially since we never told her about that one.” He tells you as he stubs out the last of the blunt and waits for the drug to take full effect. 
You hum, “She wasn’t at the party?”
“No, she only came over from Sheffield in the summer and it was maybe like March when we did that.” Matty tells you, “She wouldn’t have condoned it anyway she’d have stopped us like her cousin tried to do.”
You accidentally cackle once more, entirely amused at the fact that he got caught the way he did. It’s so fucking funny to you, your uncontrollable laughter starts again, “I can’t believe you got caught two years later.”
Matty can’t help but join your giggles, “Me neither.”
A sigh comes from you when you manage to calm back down, and then you’re calling him out further, “And you all thinking you were cowboys and could get the horses back.”
He scoffs, offended, before he’s correcting you, “Hey, I look good in cowboy gear.” 
You make a hesitant noise, letting the seconds drag and making a show of acting like you’re really weighing his words. His mouth hangs open as he watches you and you have to bite your tongue not to laugh again before you conclude, “Now, maybe.”
Both of you end up quietly giggling, but then Matty tries to tickle you and you plead for him to stop, absolutely hating being tickled. Before you’ve let it slide but this time you fight back, managing to get enough distance between you so you can try and pin him down but as you know you’re going to fail you end up just leaning down to gently bite his bicep. 
With that, Matty stops in a little bit of shock. You look up at him, trying not to smile but failing miserably. Your boyfriend is struggling to keep his smile away as he asks, “Did you just bite me?” 
You completely fail not to grin, it being too funny to not, and you just shrug, “Maybe.” before letting him go and falling to the mattress just beside him. 
You turn on your side so you’re facing him and your boyfriend mirrors you, both of your heads sharing a pillow and you’re hopelessly grinning at each other. 
“Hey.” You start by saying, stupidly really, just as much as the grin on your face while you take in every little detail on his pretty face.
“Hi.” Matty says back, flashing you that crooked smile you adore so much.
Your heart swells in your chest as you grow nervous at what you’re about to ask, “I have a question for you.”
He nods and then prompts you to, “Go on.”
It’s stupid how you have to take a deep breath before you can ask him, “Will you be my date to our Valentine’s party?” 
Matty is your boyfriend and you don't need to be worried about him turning you down but you still grow even more nervous when he frowns in confusion and says, “Valentine's party?”
“Yeah we’ve done one for the last few years but this year it’s all about Amelia because I’m not single anymore.” You explain easily, wanting to hide your face behind your hands by the end though, because his smile turned into a smirk that made your cheeks heat up.
His hand reaches out for yours, intertwining your fingers and bringing your joint hands up to his mouth. He drops a peck on the back of your hand and his lips brush against your skin when he replies, “I would love to come, when is it?”
“The evening of the ninth?” Your answer sounds more like a question since you know he’s due to go to New York tomorrow, unsure of when exactly he’s coming back.
But to your relief, he clears it up for you, “I get home early on the ninth so yes, I’d love to come. I could come straight here so I could get ready with you?”
“Sounds perfect.” You state with a loopy smile coming back to your face now that you’ve got that sorted out. 
Matty can see you getting lost in your thoughts and he would let you so he can admire every bit of you as you do, but he has an inquiry of his own so he drops a few kisses on the back of your hand to catch your attention and when he sees your eyes widening slightly and focus back on him, he starts, “I have a question for you now.”
“Go on.” You say with a cheeky smile, copying his same words.
“Will you come to the Brits with me?” Your boyfriend asks, breathy words like he’s doing it just as a joke. 
He was so sure you’d say yes so it’s a complete and utter shock when you mutter a quick, “No.”
His brows shoot up and his eyes widen, he actually retracts and there’s a distance between you to accentuate his shock at your reply. His words come out filled with despair and confusion, “No? Why not?”
You want to laugh but manage to hold it back as you explain, “Because I’m already attending and interviewing.” 
Once you clear that up, relief washes over him and you feel him go from tense to letting his shoulders relax and melt back down on the mattress. It’s like a flip has been switched, his eyes grow a little dark and mischief is written all over his face, “Are you now?”
“Don’t get excited, you will be getting ignored.” Is your warning to him since you can almost see inside his mind and know that he’s planning to pull a number on you on that red carpet.
His answer is a simple, “No.” that you have to fight against yourself not to giggle about. 
You clear your throat, willing your amusement away before getting serious again and chatting back, “Yes. You’ll be treated like any other regular attendee.”
His exaggerated offended face is back on, jaw dropped and a frown to accentuate the way he says, “You could never. I’m your boyfriend.”
It’s your time to play with him, so you smirk and challenge with a cheeky, “Watch me.”
At this point, Matty knows you don’t play about when it comes to your job so he sighs, dropping his facade to actually find a way to work out how to have you with him that award night. “Well can you at the very least sit with me? Be my date at the table?”
You want to agree to at least that, but you have to ask, “What about Ames?” because you’re not leaving your best friend to fend for herself. 
“Dimz is more than welcome to join.” Matty smiles, not thinking for a second that Amelia wouldn’t be joining you, “There'll be plenty of room.”
Your smile is huge knowing you’re going to accept his offer, but you hum for a few seconds as if you’re weighing your options. But of course you end up accepting, “Okay then.”
Matty chuckles at your fake deliberation, and he leans in to quickly kiss you sweetly. After he does, he stays close and mumbles against your lips, his grin still huge, “Can’t wait for you to interview me again and for your facade to fail.”
“I will not break.” You pull back just enough so he can tell you’re serious when you demand, “You’re not allowed to flirt with me. I’m only allowed to awkwardly flirt with you.”
It’s Matty’s turn now to hum as if he’s thinking about it, but then leaving you with a rather threatening, “We shall see.”
“Matthew.” You raise your eyebrows, warning him.
But he just comes back with a playful, “Y/N.” that matches your demanding tone.
Leaving you no time to argue, Matty leans the short distance forward and attaches his lips to your own again. 
It’s slow and delicate, soft inhales coming from the both of you as your lips move in sync like you’ve got all the time in the world. The weed has lulled your senses and you find yourselves giggling in between kisses, lips smacking and smiling against each other’s mouth before going back in. 
His hand, which had been resting on your waist, easily trails a steady path up your body as his mouth continues moving against yours. The warm touch leaves goosebumps in its wake until he cups your jaw, wanting to keep you in place whilst he props himself up on his elbow and starts lifting himself up to hover over you. 
Once he’s on top of you, the curls you adore so much brush against your forehead once and your hands quickly move to the back of his neck and up into the locks so you can dig your fingers in and pull them however you please. 
Your fingers buzz with this energy like just brushing his skin erupts a sizzling electricity in between you two that has you feeling elated. He moans when you pull harder on his hair and your mouth parts wider to let out a whimper that he swallows. He tastes like the smoke you just shared, and it’s so inherently him it just makes you even dizzier. 
You love it so much, you start mumbling your sweet thoughts against his mouth. It’s a struggle to understand but it’s an even bigger struggle to stop kissing, the desperate urge to say what you’re thinking makes you pull harder so you can break the kiss. He groans at the sting of it but his heart soars in his chest when you let out a breathy, “Obsessed with you.” 
Matty barely manages to reciprocate with a rushed, “Me too.” before he dives back onto your mouth. It’s desperate when your lips crash together again but he melts into the same deliberate pace he’d set before when your tongues meet. 
At this very moment, you’re entirely his. Every single one of your senses are completely captivated by Matty, your sight, smell, hearing and taste bleeds into one and it’s all him. The man you adore so much, who makes you feel like you’re the most important person in the world and feel like you’re being worshipped. 
Everything about him consumes you, and you’re almost too busy realising how lucky you are to notice that his knee has come to rest between your legs until you roll your hips and the sudden friction against your clit makes you gasp. Pleasure overtakes you and your hips start grinding against him without you really thinking about it, the feeling so good that you’re whimpering and moaning into the kiss. Matty groans, feeling himself getting hard just from the sweet sounds you’re making and the way your pace picks up as you try to get off on his thigh.
“Fuck.” He curses under his breath, looking down and catching the erratic movements of your hips. His mouth dips down to your neck, starting to kiss and suck on your sensitive skin, only making your mouth hang open even wider and your throat drying as you continuously gasp.
Your hands fall down his neck and onto his shoulders, wanting to pull him closer to you, but when you dig your nails onto them and you feel the fabric of his shirt covering it, you’re whining out your instructions, “Take your clothes off.”
He chuckles, playfully digging his teeth on the side of your neck before lifting his head up to chat back, “You’ve got too many clothes on.” You’re the one wearing a hoodie over your shirt after all, so you win him over by a piece of clothing.
“Take them off me then.” You challenge him and the look on your face is enough to have him smirking. 
Your pupils are blown out in lust, chest heaving as you try to regain composure but he still takes the chance to taunt you by simply calling you, “Lazy.”
“I’m sleepy.” Is what you counter with, partially true since the spliff has made you sleepy but it’s mostly his presence and touch which has you dizzy and loopy out of your mind. Matty has you dazed and you’ve got no problem giving yourself up to his mercy at the moment, you just want him in any way he’d allow.
But of course, when Matty hears this he has to stop, his expression softening when your words reach his ears, his lips falling in a sweet pout of understanding, “Are you? Should we just go to sleep then, baby?”
A stern, “No.” quickly leaves your lips, and you add a shake of your head just in case. 
He’s still wary, his hand coming up to softly brush the skin of your cheek, “You sure?”
There is no doubt in your mind and you nod gently, a dopey smile on your lips as you tell him, “I want you.”
The smirk that pulls at the corners of his mouth makes you wanna roll your eyes and groan in pleasure, he looks so fucking good above you with unruly curls falling around his face like a halo, his eyes darkened by need and his lips pink, swollen and wet from all the kisses you’ve shared.
Mischievously, he dips down until your noses brush and his lips move tauntingly against yours in a ghostly but deadly touch when he asks, “Do you now?”
It’s easy to say, “I always do.” in admission when you’re wet and throbbing for him already. 
“Simp.” He quips, pushing himself up the bed so he can kneel on the mattress as he takes his top off. He comes back down with a smirk growing on his face, and when he’s merely an inch away from your face, he lets out a chuckle that hits your parted mouth.
Raising a brow, you take the chance to tease him back, playfully correcting his word choice, “Horny, more like.” Emphasising it by letting your eyes shamelessly go down his naked chest and taking in every inch of his skin, the sight just makes your mouth water and your brain fill with the most sinful thoughts so you catch your bottom lip between your teeth to muffle a moan.
With a shake of his head, your boyfriend resumes his attack on your lips, both of you giggling as he does. Soon the giggles die though when his fingers become more intent with their hold on your jaw, making you moan in response but when you go to continue relishing on that delicious friction you’ve created by rolling your hips on his thigh, you find he’s purposely moved his leg away. 
You whimper at the loss, almost like the start of a tantrum and he knows exactly why that is. The smirk that breaks on his face makes it impossible to continue kissing, yet you’re still desperately leaving wet kisses on his lips, before guiding them down his jaw and neck.
Your focus has been entirely taken by wanting to mark him up, to hear those addictive moans of his, to feel him shudder when you get to that sweet spot at the bottom of his throat; but you’re completely distracted from your task when his hand snakes down your body, into your joggers and he feels how wet he’s already made you. 
Mewling against his lips as he starts drawing circles on your clit through your soaked underwear, your small begs are thankfully heard. Your boyfriend moves the material that's separating him from you to the side and teases your clit again. 
You choke on your breath, the pleasure feeling more intense with your muscles relaxed and mind numbed from the weed combined with you not having been with him in a week. It’s all a little much, yet you need more.  
And you’re glad you’ve reached the point where you don’t even have to ask for what you want, he already knows. It’s sweet relief when after a minute Matty drops his hand and sinks two fingers inside you, euphoria taking over, the stretch so sweet you roll your hips trying to get more.
A loud moan gets stuck in your throat, your head thrown back and your mouth agape, your eyes rolling back into your head and your back arching when he curls his fingers inside you, hitting that spot perfectly, “F-fuckkk, Matty.”
“Right there baby?” He asks breathlessly, his own mouth opening agape just watching as you begin to crumble beneath him.
You hum, your eyes shutting tight and biting your lip as he starts picking up the pace. Your voice all pleasure stricken and raspy, “Oh fuck- Yes. Feels so good, baby.” 
Your arm wraps around his neck, nails digging in the flesh of his shoulder to keep him right there, not that he was going to move when he had you becoming a mess for him like that.
Matty leaves a trail of open mouthed kisses down the side of your neck, wishing he had taken off your hoodie to bite and suck and lick your tits, he could see your chest heaving and sweat coating your forehead, hair sticking to it as you gasp in pleasure.
“So fucking pretty, sound so sweet for me baby.” He mumbles in your ear, his hot breath making you shiver and clench around his skilled fingers. His voice still low as he praises,  “You like that? My sweet, gorgeous girl.”
There’s no shame in you that could have you denying that, you nod and it’s almost missable if it wasn’t for your soft hum of confirmation. Matty smiles, kissing you sweetly again as he presses the heel of his palm against your clit, sparking the pleasure that runs up your spine.
You’re drenching his hand already, the coil in your lower stomach tightening with each stroke of his calloused fingers. It’s not long that you've been together, but he already knows you so well, easily having you falling apart for him in just a few minutes. 
Stretching you out further, he adds a third finger and this time, your loud cries of pleasure come out of you with ease. It makes kissing him impossible, when so overcome with the euphoria running through your body, making you buzz with ecstasy, all you can do is whine for him.
Matty’s hot breath mixes with yours, your parted mouths right next to each other, your half lidded eyes trying to stay open so you can hold his gaze as you grow closer to your orgasm. A buildup that only gets more intense when he starts rubbing circles on your clit with his thumb as he continues pumping his fingers in and out of your cunt. 
“Baby you’re so wet for me. Makes me wanna taste you.” He whines, sharing his lustful thoughts with you, his lips pressing kisses at the edge of your parted mouth. You whimper in response, almost drooling in pleasure at the thought of that tongue of his dipping into your cunt and flicking your clit until you cum all over his face. “Gonna make you cum on my fingers first though. You’re so fucking good to me, you deserve to cum on them, no?”
“Yes.” You pant out desperately, licking your lips and nodding your head to agree with him. Tugging on his curls harder, you quietly plead, “Please baby. Feels so good.”
He hums and smiles to himself, his hips grinding softly against your thigh in an attempt to relieve himself as you’ve made him so hard. He finds his search for relief through you though, needing to make you feel every ounce of pleasure before he gets any. He kisses down your jaw, and hums into your ear, “I know, baby. You’re gonna cum, yeah? Gonna be a good girl and cum for me?”
Your walls clench around him as he continues with his filthy words, nodding to say that you will, silently promising to do nothing but be good for him. He can feel you so close to the edge and he will not stop until he has you convulsing beneath him, he whispers, “Drench my hand baby.”
You mewl as you start rocking your hips more intently, meeting him in the middle, fucking yourself on his fingers and your legs begin shaking as you near your climax. The filthy whispers coming from your boyfriend only pushing you closer and closer to your inevitable release. 
It’s not long before you’re letting yourself fall over the edge and fall apart beneath him entirely. Your brows furrow and your lips part to let out the prettiest moans he swears he’s ever heard, your back arching and making your chest press flush with his so he can feel your pebbled nipples through the fabric of your hoodie. Your legs shake and close to trap his hand there, but he uses his legs to keep you spread apart so he can ride your orgasm out. 
Blood rushes down to Matty’s cock, as if getting harder was even possible, but he moans back at the feeling and the sight and the way you entirely come to take over his senses. A warmth coats his insides and he can so easily pinpoint the feeling as it contrasts yet compliments the hunger and the need for you that burns within him.
When you fall limp on the mattress after properly coming down from your high, your boyfriend brings his slick coated fingers up to his mouth and lets out a low, pornographic moan when he tastes you. He does his best to clean his fingers up with his tongue, not wanting to waste a drop of your arousal and all he can think about is how he wants more. He needs more.
But first, he takes on the task of ridding you of your clothes. You’re sweating and there’s a hint of discomfort in your face that he attributes to feeling too hot so he takes your hoodie off first, throwing it somewhere behind him and then he moves back to peel your joggers from you.
The sight of your ruined underwear makes his mouth water, wanting nothing more than to taste you properly again. He dips down and starts kissing up your thighs, drinking in the way your legs continue to shake with his ghostly touch. Every exhale that hits your skin makes you shiver and the tingles that run up your spine from his proximity now that you’re so sensitive makes him want to push yourself over the edge again. 
So much so that when Matty gets closer to your cunt, he asks, “Can I have a taste, baby?” 
He’s almost hurt when you shake your head no and pull his hair to bring him back up to your face. Moving back up, you see he’s frowning like he’s despaired over the denied opportunity to eat you out and have more of your taste on his tongue. 
It makes you giggle, in return breaking his pout, and you cup his face carefully and you pull him in for a kiss that just screams thank you before you demand, “I need you to fuck me.”
The tone in which you say it makes it sound like a plea and Matty groans longingly hearing your wishes. There’s nothing he’d ever deny you, ever. And if you’re to ask for anything, he’d give you only the best. 
And so he’s intent with the way he kisses you. His tongue meets yours instantly and makes you loudly mewl when you taste yourself on it. His fingers digging in the flesh of your waist whilst his other hand comes to wrap around your neck, keeping you in place and eliciting more moans out of your when he presses on the sides so he’s deliciously choking you. 
You’re so sensitive though, you don’t think you can take any more without him being buried deep inside you so the moment he breaks the kiss and pulls back for oxygen, you beg, “Baby please, I need you.” Your hands cup his face with desperation that seeps through your pores, you whine, “Need you please, baby please.”
The guttural groan that rumbles from his chest and up his throat makes you clench around nothing. His lips come back on yours with force, it just screams passion and need, desperation to translate every feeling rushing through him in a way that you can understand without having to say those words he so badly wants to utter.
“My baby’s so fucking good, she says please.” He praises, his hand falling from your neck to join the other one on your waist and lifting your top up and off you so he can have you on show for him. “My baby’s so fucking beautiful and she’s all mine.”
His hot mouth instantly catches one of your nipples, your back arches in pleasure. One of your hands cradles the back of his head to keep him there as he sucks and flicks on your nipple, biting it before moving onto the next one, leaving you a moaning mess beneath him. Your other hand has a white knuckle grip on the sheets beside you, as you writhe under him becoming wetter than you already were after your orgasm and sending you into a frenzy as you feel your oversensitive self start going in the direction of another orgasm. 
It isn’t only his mouth and his touch that’s ruining you, it’s those words of his leaving you dizzy. You had no idea it could get better than before but right now it’s proving that wrong and you don’t know how to gather your bearings when it comes to it. So you let yourself go, of your fears and any inhibitions. 
“Baby, I need you.” You beg in between pants, “Please. You.” You don’t think you’d ever need anybody else. It’s him, and it’ll always be. You’re sure of it.
In a haste to prove that your wish is his command, Matty lets go of the skin he was attacking with a pop, licking it as if to soothe the abuse that is probably going to end up in a bruise. He starts a wake of kisses up your chest and neck until he finds your lips again and he kisses you with a sense of devotion that could make you shed tears. It’s reciprocated and he knows, in the way you hold him and how your body responds to him, the way you take your time and indulge in the feeling, the way your eyes flutter close and you sigh in utter bliss when he holds you. 
When Matty breaks the kiss so he can shed himself of his last piece of clothing, he watches as your eyes shine with adoration and he swears his heart explodes in his chest. His heartbeat is erratic and a mess, entirely out of control under your spell, just like he is as you’ve bewitched him, body and soul. All he can see, hear, breathe or feel is you and he finds that being entirely drunk on you is nothing but a dream. A dream he wishes to never wake up from. He loves you so so much. 
“Gonna make you feel so good, baby.” He promises as he hovers over you again, his joggers now discarded somewhere in the room. He’s propped himself up with his forearm pressed on the mattress and his other hand comes to wrap around his length, bringing it to meet your core and rubbing the tip of his cock up and down your folds. “My baby deserves it, yeah? Always so good to me.”
He watches as the precum on the tip of his cock mixes with your arousal and the sight is so lewd he could bust right then and there. But you snap him out of his trance, feeling like he’s doing this to taunt you, “Matty- Baby, please.”
There’s no actual worded answer, since he just captures you in another kiss but it is brief for when he lines himself up and starts sinking into you, your mouths go slack and you can’t do much more than moan into each other’s mouths. Matty goes slowly until he bottoms out and when you’re filled to the brim of him, you let out a shaky breath. 
Brushing the curls that are sticking to his sweaty forehead with a loopy smile, “Move baby, please. Need you.”
You’re still so sensitive and he can see it from the way your legs tremble around his hips, and he can feel it from the way you’re clenching around him. He doesn’t know if he’s gonna last if you keep talking like that, definitely not if you’re squeezing him like that and if you start drowning the room with those pretty sounds of yours. But god does he want to give it to you nice and slow, so you can feel every bit of each other, so you can savour every second and engrave it in your minds to never leave your memories. 
“Perfect for me.” Matty mumbles as he draws his hips back slowly, until it’s only the tip that’s inside you, just to fill you to the hilt steadily again. “Like you were fucking made for me baby.” He sets the pace, slow but delicious and your moans mix in the most gorgeously pornographic harmony. 
You can feel every vein and ridge, how he stretches you out and drags in and out is heavenly. He groans and moans with every thrust and when you start meeting him in the middle with the roll of your own hips, you both melt into absolute messes. 
“Fuck, Matty.” A mewl leaves you, eyes rolling back in pleasure when he picks up the pace just slightly and hits that spot over and over, “Don’t stop baby. Just like that.”
“Right there?” He asks thrusting deliberately again and when you loudly moan in response, he sighs in bliss, “My girl. All mine. My perfect girl.”
The room is charged with this sense of worship that speaks for the both of you, bringing you closer without a need to use words. In the air, a hint of smoke still lingers but it’s lost and faint in between the aroma of sex, the sounds you’re making and the creak of the springs of your bed. 
Your bodies stick together thanks to the sweat that coats them, the warmth that exudes out of your pores enveloping you together in the most staggering way, almost on the brink of being entirely overwhelming but not being suffocating, more like captivating in the way you’d only dreamed of finding. 
You feel complete, as if you two were meant to fit together and there’s nothing that has ever felt more right. The way his hips snap against yours, the sound of the faint slap of your skin when they meet, your fingers tangled in his curls, him hiding in the crook of your neck, being so close to each other you feel the beating of your hearts and knowing it’s just right when they sync. 
“Baby, I-.” You try to warn in between moans, your ankles wrapping around his lower back to keep him right there where he is.
Your boyfriend has no intention of moving though, being so close to the edge himself, “Me too baby. Fuck.” 
“Need you.” You beg. It’s all you want, all you need. You have to feel him all over you, within you in every sense, just like he already is.
He shudders at your petition, not knowing how much longer he can last with that image in his head. His brows scrunch up as he tries to hold out for longer. His slow but hard pace doesn’t falter for a second, to give you what you want, to make your wishes come true and to have you cum with him because he can’t hold out any longer. 
He groans, sweet nothings being drowned by the sound of your hips meeting, “Gonna give you all you ask for. Always.”
Matty’s hand moves under your thigh, moving it higher, opening you up more to him so his pelvis hits your clit and you jolt at the friction, and it only adds to make your approaching orgasm come faster and harder. Your back arches and you loudly moan in his ear as you cum, all you see is white and you can hear his moans far away like your soul has just exited your body. 
“Oh fuck, baby!” His hips stutter as he cums, but he makes himself continue as he spills inside you, needing to give you all he can so you can ride out your orgasms. He wants to give you his all, his absolute best. 
It hits him again all at once when he opens his eyes and sees you blissed out below him. He loves you so much, his heart beats entirely for you. Selfishly he wishes that all your smiles belong to him like this one does when you open your eyes and see him grinning at you. 
He can’t stop himself from leaning down to kiss you sweetly, hoping that you can somehow understand the I love you he’s trying to say without actually telling you. He’s half sure you somehow understand and he’s happy with that for now so after another peck he lets himself fall limp over you, hiding himself into you when you start blinking your eyes open again.
Nothing is said afterwards, everything being spoken through with actions. His lips leaving sweet kisses on your chest and his fingers drawing faint circles on the sides of your waist. Your fingers brushing his hair back and off his forehead, nails scratching softly at his scalp and making him sigh in content.
It feels like every piece has fallen into place then and you know in your heart what that means. Your brain is fuzzy and you feel the best you’ve ever have, so the smile on your face is inevitable. You wish you could just bottle up the feeling in this very moment and cherish it forever, take a sip of it whenever you’re away from Matty because you know you’ll need it in the future. 
However, you push those thoughts away, focusing on how perfect it feels to be held and cherished by him right now. Enjoying every second of this feeling that you know so well which you’ve finally uncovered with him.
A few minutes of silence go by, the only thing you hear is your settling heartbeat in your ears and you know Matty can hear it too, but you don’t mind. You hope he hears what he’s made of you, a fool for him and only him and you know you’d proudly admit it if anyone were to ask.
The feeling becomes even more prominent when he picks his head up and looks up at you with a loopy smile, one that you mirror before you even get a chance to hear him ask, “How does a shower and facemasks sound?”
“Sounds perfect.” You giggle, god this man knows the way to your heart, “Deal.”
~*~*~*~*~*~
There’s a chill in the air when you wake up, one that makes you want to sink back into your bed and never re-emerge. Half asleep, you turn over and pull your blanket and duvet further up so it covers your shoulders hoping to find refuge in the warmth you’ve created, but as you move, you’re pleasantly reminded you’re not the only one occupying your bed. 
Even in his sleep Matty adjusts himself to have you next to him, needing you as close as possible. And it’s when you feel his arm wrap around your waist and pull you that bit closer that you blink your eyes open just to see if he’s woken up yet, not wanting to miss a second with him remembering he was going away today. 
But he’s right there, next to you in bed with no intention of leaving anytime soon. His fingers digging into your waist as he holds you closer even in his sleep; not even deep in his slumber does he risk you getting away from his hold. 
Seeing him so peaceful, lying beside you with his mouth parted as he softly exhales and his curls spilled over the cotton of the pillow case, you feel your heart squeeze in your chest. In the silence of the room, you find yourself holding your breath like your shaky exhales could disrupt the notion that just became crystal clear: you love him. 
You deeply do, and it’s a love so easy that it just adds to the things that complete you. The way you love an iced coffee regardless of the weather, even if you scold yourself when your fingers go numb as you walk back home or to the office but your heart feels full at the taste of the cold bitterness running down your throat. The way you love listening to rain hit your windows when you’re hiding under your blankets in the warmth of your home. 
He’s become home. Possibly the most important part of it. Somebody you can be entirely yourself with, who seems to cherish you the way you dreamed of someone doing as a kid. Matty’s the one who’s made you believe that love is possible again, something you don’t have to be so scared of anymore. 
It’s strange, recognising the feeling you’d previously lost all hope of experiencing again after making peace with the fact that love was never destined for you. But now it’s resurfaced, and this time it's more intense, so much more overwhelmingly strong than it ever was years ago.  
It’s so relieving knowing that you can have it back and with him but it also terrifies you when the feeling is a bitter reminder of how it had escaped your grasp so long ago, entirely against your will, by someone else’s hand. It’s not like you’re expecting Matty to be reckless with your heart, but experience has led you to be wary and despite wanting so badly to freefall into it all blindly and just driven by the fact that you know you love him, you owe it to yourself to tread these waters carefully. 
You promise yourself that you’ll keep it to yourself for a while, make sure that this isn’t just a honeymoon phase with someone you really like and that you’re not just getting ahead of yourself. It’s difficult since after last night you know it all meant something more, maybe you just want that confirmation from Matty first. 
So you’ll let yourself feel it, protecting your heart a little by keeping silent, but you hope you can tell him in every way other than verbally. You love him so much. You haven’t been this happy in a long time. 
You know it’s a little selfish of you, but after realising you don’t want to waste another second of your time with him or not. You want to see his gorgeous brown eyes again, see that goofy smile you love so much and have him hold you like he never wants to let you go. 
So you don’t give it a second thought when you lean in to him and peck his lips a few times. And because that’s nowhere near enough, you start pecking his whole face in an attempt to wake him up and it takes no time at all. 
Not even a minute goes by until he’s tiredly blinking his eyes open, but even then you don’t stop your small attack. Not until that adorable grin takes over his face and he starts lowly chuckling, gently stroking the skin he’s found available to him on your waist. 
He looks as happy as you feel, your heart so full that seeing him like this makes you think you could melt. Something that you practically do when Matty puckers his lips and you give into the desire to have your lips against his again. 
It's slow and drawn out, but you would have him no other way. Kissing the man you love in bed fairly early on a Sunday morning, it’s everything you could ever want. If you’d have told your past self last year that this would be your future you’d have called yourself crazy, but you’re so beyond glad it’s real. 
You’re in love. And the man who owns your heart pulls you closer into his body where you bury yourself into his neck and wrap your arms around him. Both of you lie there quietly for a while longer pretending there’s no rush at all and you have all the time in the world to stay cosied up to the person you love more than anything. 
~*~*~*~
When you eventually get up, you both decide it’s a cereal in bed sort of morning, both of you opting for coco pops and a long cuddle after you finish. It feels bittersweet for both of you knowing he’s going which is quite sad of you both considering he’s only spending three full days away. 
As you’re both dressing for the day, you offer to drive him to the airport but despite wanting you with him until the last possible second, he planned on leaving his car there until his early arrival to get him back home faster on Thursday, and eventually back to you in time to get ready for your party. This gives you some time to think about something, which ends up with you pathetically overthinking about a little thing that you really shouldn’t be worried about. 
Yes it was too soon to tell him that you loved him, but giving him keys to your flat you thought was a small gesture to let him know that you trusted him enough that you want him to come and go as he pleases. Of course you would want that, you just didn’t know how to bring it up, so you put it off until the last possible second. 
“Matty, before you go…” You stop him before he has a chance to collect his bag. 
“Yeah?” He smiles, definitely glad that you’ve stopped him from leaving. He’ll take anything to stay around you for a little while longer. 
“Last night you said that you were due in early on the ninth?” You double check, your anxiety peaking making you not quite believe your memory. 
“Yeah,” He nods, “I think at like 3am.”
“I- I just wanted to,” You stumble on your words, before you take a deep breath and bite the bullet, “Well I wanted you to have these.” At that you dig into your pocket and pull out your spare set of keys and hold between the both of you. You can’t quite decipher the look on Matty’s face so you drop your gaze and play with the keys as you ramble.
“So you can let yourself in and, you know, come and go as you please. If you want them anyway.” Overthinking, you panic a little thinking he may believe you’re being selfish, “And I’m not giving you them so I don’t have to wake up to come and let you in- I just-” Pausing, you close your eyes for a second and after a deep breath you relax enough to say your simple truth, “Yeah, I just wanted you to have them.”
That was just about the cutest thing Matty has ever seen. Still avoiding his eye contact you don’t see how he’s started grinning like a fool. God he loves you so damn much, he wishes he could tell you already. 
Your boyfriend steps forward and gently grabs both sides of your face tilting your head up so he can see your pretty eyes again. When he does, his thumbs caress your cheeks as he grins, “You’re so damn cute, baby.” 
“I’m not,” You press your palm against your forehead, close your eyes and whisper, “That was so awkward, I’m sorry.”
“You're not awkward.” He giggles, wrapping his arms around your waist, trapping you in a hug, “You're adorable being all nervous.”
“Don’t embarrass me before you leave.” You mumble as you hide yourself into his neck, your arms wrapping around his waist and holding him tightly. 
“I’m not,” He grins, kissing the side of your head, “I just love it.” I love you. It’s all he wants to tell you. 
That statement has you chuckling, knowing just how much he likes to make you feel all flustered. But you can’t help but whine a little, “I feel like we've done things so backwards.”
Matty’s eyebrows pinch together a little, pulling back from the hug just enough to look at you curiously, “How'd you mean?”
“We’ve lived together for almost a month and now I'm nervous to give you a key to my flat,” Not to mention I’m in love with you is on the tip of your tongue, “It's weird.”
“We’re weird.” Matty grins, pulling you against him a little more and kissing you sweetly after he says, “Doesn’t mean I don’t love what we have any less.”
Your heart thuds twice as fast hearing him say that. It makes you want to tell him that your heart is well and truly in the palm of his hands. That you’re his, that he’s it for you. That you love him. 
But it's far too soon. Far too risky.
Matty graciously accepts the keys you once again offer him, and he quickly adds them to his own keyring as he teases, “Thank you for giving me them, baby. I promise I won’t sell them on the black market and leak your address.”
That has you giggling but you play along and nod sincerely, “Thank you. Appreciate that.”
Matty chuckles again, pocketing the keys again and wrapping you in another big hug. He squeezes you tight as he declares, “I’m going to miss you.”
“I’ll miss you more.” You mumble into his shoulder, holding him even tighter not wanting him to go.
It's pathetic of you considering these goodbyes will probably be the easiest you face. Him only being gone for a few days instead of a few months at a time which you’re aware you’ll one day have to face. Today just feels that little bit more challenging because you’ve realised just how much he means to you and you’re scared to let him go. All you want is to wrap yourself up in bed with him again. 
“Doubt it.” Matty hums, knowing there’s certainly no way that’s possible. 
“We’re so soppy.” You giggle a little before scorning yourself, “Who have I become?” 
“A simp.” Matty declares, looking at you with a cheeky knowing grin, “But you've always been one of those for me, haven’t you?” 
Gasping, you grab his hands to try and pry him off your waist as you scorn him, “You know too much, get outttt!”
“But I don’t want to.” Matty whines, tightening his grip so you can’t get away and he’s pleased when you relent and let him keep ahold of you. He buries his head into your neck as he says, “I’ll cancel on Jack and stay right here.”
As much as you would absolutely love for him to stay here and kiss your neck until he’s bruised your skin, you don’t let him cancel his plans. Your fingers wind up in his curls and you tug a little on them so he shows his face as you try and make him feel better about his trip, “You’ll be back before you know it, and I’m only ever on the other end of the phone.”
“Promise you’ll answer?” Matty puts his best puppy dog eyes on for that question. 
You grin, “Always.” As if you’d ever ignore him. 
“Unless you’re asleep.” Matty adds, knowing you far too well.
But even so, you’d give up sleep to talk to the man you love. But of course you need to keep his ego under control so you don’t let him know that just yet. 
“Unless I’m asleep.” You grin, happily playing with the curls at the nape of his neck as you grin, “I’ve trained you so well. Such a good boy.”
Matty squeezes you tighter hearing that, a physical and verbal warning, “Don’t say that or we'll be going right back into your room.”
And as much as you would absolutely love to have him begging for you to praise him back in your bedroom, you’re all too aware he has to be on a plane in the next few hours. 
“Let’s not think about that before you're racing to catch your flight.” You chuckle, trying your best now to get him excited, “Come on, you've not seen Jack in ages, you'll love it once you're out there.”
“I suppose.” Matty sighs, but he has to stop himself from carrying on to sincerely say but not as much as I love being with you.
You hum and smile knowing you’re right and you adore the way Matty doesn’t seem to be able to stop himself from stealing a kiss and then planting so many more all over your face until you’re giggling like a schoolgirl. Hearing your laugh is one of his favourite sounds on the planet, and he’s glad he’s got to experience it one more time before he goes. 
Once the attack of kisses ceased, you go on your tiptoes to trap him in a proper one. A kiss to express what you can’t quite let yourself say yet but you hope he feels regardless. It’s sweet, certainly loving, and you adore the way you both melt into each other and drag it out not really wanting it to ever be over with. 
Unfortunately, it does end with Matty saying a bittersweet, “I’ll see you soon.” 
“Have a safe flight.” You smile, reluctantly slipping out of his grasp to get one of his bags for him, “Please text me when you’re boarding and when you get there.” 
“As soon as I’m downstairs I’ll be texting you, baby.” Matty smiles, “Don’t have to worry about that.”
For a minute you say that you’ll come down to see him off but he makes you stay put, not wanting you to get cold. That and he’s sure it’ll be easier to drive away from you if you’re not actually waving him off. 
After collecting his bags, and both stand at your open door, you whisper, “See you soon.” not wanting to actually say goodbye at all. Thankfully, you manage to steal one last kiss which your boyfriend is more than pleased about, despite it being that little bit harder to go. 
“See you soon baby.” He just about whispers against your lips before he pulls away and he heads out of your flat towards the stairs. 
Of course, you play the lovesick housewife for a second, watching as he leaves at your door. It’s simpy of you, yes, but you’re in love and you don’t even feel a little shy about it when he catches you. Matty glances back just before he’s out of your line of sight, and he blows a kiss at you which you catch and blow one right back to him with a little wave. 
The I love you’s stuck in each of your throats, neither daring to utter the words as you disappear from the other’s view.
~*~*~*~ 9th February 2023 ~*~*~*~
In the short time you were away from each other, rarely did you feel out of contact considering there was an ocean and a five hour time difference between you. Truthfully, you felt closer to Matty than ever. 
With nothing to do at home other than prep for the Brits, which at this point you’ve met most of the attendees at various events now, making your research light work, you’ve spent most of your time messaging or Facetiming your boyfriend. 
Daily pictures were sent of you both in your various get ups, Matty demanding ones from you even if it was the same joggers as the day before just because he wanted to see you. And when he sent you the multiple options he had to wear, asking you to please help him choose, you were more helpful about taking the piss about him packing so many clothes for a three day trip to New York. 
Matty would surprise you with pictures of random places around New York, ones he stumbled upon on his walks around the city, which were always accompanied by some text along the lines of Doesn’t this place look sick?! Saving it so we can come here next time we’re in New York xxxx
He was making it so hard for you not to call him just to yell I love you!!! 
Before you knew it, the days had passed by and he was at the airport waiting for his plane home. Something which you pretended not to be too excited about despite knowing you were about to get the man you love back. 
Sleep didn’t come easily to you that night, like it did most other nights. No, instead you were restless, tossing and turning all night, probably a little too excited that you were getting your man back. You thought sleep would help pass the time faster but instead it dragged it out, made the wait so much more antagonising. 
You think it might have been around 2am when you eventually got to sleep, which is painfully close to the time he was due to land which in the morning you would scold yourself for not managing to stay up for. But it would not matter soon, when he’d open your door with that key you gave him before leaving and he’d come to be the best interruption to your sleep.
Matty didn’t hesitate for a second to drive to your flat from the airport, wanting nothing more than to curl up next to you in bed and stay there for as long as possible. The drive felt longer with how tired he was, despite sleeping on the plane, but thankfully the 50 minute drive he managed to do in 35 thanks to the lack of traffic and breaking a few speed limits. 
A massive smile made its way onto his face as he pulled his keys from the ignition and saw the ones that would allow him into your home. He felt so lucky, it made him want to get you a key cut to his at the earliest opportunity. He’s a little disappointed in himself that he didn’t think of exchanging keys before you did. 
Despite practically running up the stairs to your floor when he opens the building with the fob, he’s extremely quiet when he opens your front door. He’s not surprised when everything is dark and silent in your living room, he expects nothing less than you being fast asleep in bed which when he finds is true, his heart soars.
Matty finds you all cosy in bed, entirely passed out, your heated blanket that he got you for Christmas wrapped up around you and he can’t help but grin at the sight of you. He’s so happy to be back but he can’t help but quickly and gently brush the few strands of hair that are over your forehead away so he can place a kiss there. 
He’s thankful when he doesn’t wake you up, knowing too well what you’re like without proper sleep. Not wasting more time, Matty strips himself down to his boxers and gently pulls the covers back and slowly eases himself down onto the bed in hopes of not waking you. 
However, the cold air hitting your skin must have made you stir because before Matty even has the chance to pull the covers up over him or turn towards you, he hears a tired but heartfelt, “You came.”
He could cry hearing how surprised you sounded, as if he wouldn’t come when he’d already promised. Matty grins as he shuffles closer to you, raising his arm as he sees you moving to him so he can cuddle you properly, saying, “Of course I did baby, you asked me to.”
Of course you come and steal a kiss, finding his lips surprisingly easily considering your eyes are closed and you’re still half asleep, and Matty would chuckle if he didn’t find you so damn adorable. Even more so when you practically lie on top of him, hiding yourself into his neck and declaring a mumbled, “Missed you.”
“Missed you so much more.” He whispers, pulling the covers up for you more so you don’t get cold, “Go back to sleep.”
He feels you hum against his neck, entirely satisfied with that instruction, and he’s sure there’s a faint smile on your lips as you mumble, “I’m so glad you’re back.”
Matty’s sure his heart leaps from his chest hearing that. It certainly beats faster and he can’t help but hug you closer and kiss the top of your head, “Me too baby, so much.”
It’s about 20 minutes before your boyfriend’s eyes start closing, but by then you’re long gone, back into the deep sleep he disturbed you from. So Matty thinks it’s safe enough for him to whisper, “I love you.” to the girl of his dreams. 
~*~*~*~
“You’re so pretty.” It falls from Matty’s lips for at least the third time in the past hour as he sits on the toilet seat lid and watches as you do your make up. 
His words never fail to make you smile like a fool, so you stop doing your eyebrows to grin at him through the mirror, “You’re too cute.” 
“No, I’m being serious, you're so stunning.” He insists, his curls bounce softly as he shakes his head in disbelief of your beauty.
Rolling your eyes, you sigh. It’s unfair how much of an effect he has on you, your stomach flips and your chest tightens at the amount of love you feel for him. “Stop making me flustered.” Is what you mumble before going back to stare at yourself to continue your makeup.
Matty is ready to go after he had taken a shower and put on a suit that had you biting your bottom lip when he walked back into the bathroom as you did your hair. So he’s patiently waiting for you to finish getting ready, just staring at you in awe and completely in love. 
At first, he had been on his phone as you loosely curled the ends of your hair but when you started doing your makeup, he quickly forgot about the device to gawk at you. After audibly voicing just how gorgeous you were and you jokingly asked for him to stop making you flush, he kept quiet and stuck to just drinking in every little thing you did. Like the way you softly and precisely apply your eyeshadow, how you hold your breath and lean in closer to the mirror as you apply eyeliner to your waterline, how you cock your head to the side to make sure you’ve done a good job with your highlighter. 
But soon a soft frown appears on your face and before he can ask about it, you’re the one to say, “Can you help me please?”
“With what baby?” Matty replies softly, quickly rising from his place to walk towards you.
Your boyfriend walks up until his chest is pressed against your back and he drops a little kiss on your shoulder, attentively listening as you explain, “You used to do really good smudged smokey eyeliner and I want a bit of that but I can’t do it.”
Another peck is pressed on the skin of your shoulder and then you feel the vibration of his understanding hum. He straightens up to look at you through the mirror and asks, “Do you have any vaseline?”
You break eye contact to drop your gaze on the mess you’ve made by the sink, “I think so… here.” 
Handing him the small container, he takes a short step back and wraps his hand around your waist to turn you around to face him. He’s so smooth with his actions and he knows it, a smirk plastered on his face when you come face to face with him, one that you kiss away with a short peck before hurrying him to work his magic. You’ve already put the eyeliner on but trying to smudge it out with your brush like you thought was the way to do it hadn’t worked so you’re just waiting for your boyfriend to do what he used to do for his own eyeliner back in the day.
Matty opens the lid and dips his finger slowly to gather enough for both of your eyes. Your eyes flutter close when his finger comes up to coat your eyelids with a bit of vaseline to rub on your eyeliner. He smiles feeling your hands clutching softly onto his waist, your fingers tapping his clothed skin in a rhythm that he can’t recognise. 
It takes about a minute or two for him to be satisfied with his work, and you smile when hearing him mumble to himself as he rubs delicately but precisely, trying his best to make both eyes look as similar as possible. 
At the loss of his touch on your eyelids and the silence that envelops you, you open your eyes slowly and meet with your boyfriend flashing you the sweetest of smiles. 
“Bit too much, here,” Matty uses the excess on his finger to run it along your lips, smoothing them for you and he smiles when they have a pretty shine to them and his job is done. 
It takes everything in you not to smile as he does it. But he can see the smile in your eyes as he watches you press your lips together to make sure they’re evenly coated. Your boyfriend grins, “Gorgeous.” before quickly dipping down and pecking your lips. 
“Thank you, baby.” You say before turning around to see yourself again, and to say you’re amazed with how well he did was an understatement.
Your mouth falls open in awe of how good it looks, and the giddiness inside you translates into a loud gasp as you smooth a few strands of hair off your face, “It looks so good!” 
Matty smiles bright and proud behind you, his hands on your waist squeeze there a little before he reiterates, “Look stunning baby.”
With the heat that rushes up to your cheeks, you’re not sure you’d need to apply any blush but you still do, and after applying mascara on, you’re ready to put on your party clothes.
Amelia and you had planned your outfits to be entirely Valentine’s day related, so while she was wearing a dress with hearts that looked like little balloons, you had decided to go for a little red number which consisted of a red corset and mini skirt. You had little white wings to go with it and knee high stockings that would be clipped to some garter belt suspenders to make your cupid look sexy.
Looking at your reflection in the full body length mirror in the corner of your room, you know you look hot but your boyfriend is staring at you like you’ve handed him the moon and the stars. Matty is shamelessly letting his gaze run up and down your figure, biting his bottom lip as if containing every sinful thought he’s having about you. 
You’re fully expecting some lewd comment to come from him with the way he’s looking at you, eyes dark with lust and hunger that make your insides melt in a familiar heat that has you excited to come back home already. Yet, what he says is a generous, “Want me to clip these for you?” pointing at the suspenders still unclipped over your thighs.
“Please.” Your nod is eager, matching the desperation underlying his words.
You have to suppress a laugh at the speed in which he leans forward as he’s sitting on the edge of your bed and starts clipping the suspenders to the top of your stockings. 
He does the leg closest to him first, keeping his touch slow and ghostly, making goosebumps erupt in your skin and tingles to run up your inner thighs and almost causing you to shiver. But to clip the ones on your other leg, he gets up from his seat only to kneel in front of you, making a show of looking up at you through his lashes as he blindly clips the one on the back of your thigh. 
Raising your brows at him, your tongue pokes out to lick at your lips and when the first clasp is done, he moves his hands slowly towards the front of your thighs earning a smirk from you. This time he has to look down to clip it, but when he’s done, his fingers dig harshly into your skin for a quick second before he groans, “God, you’re so hot.”
Before you can even register his words, which almost sounded like a moan, he dips his head into your leg and bites the flesh of your thigh. His teeth sink into your skin with a force that makes pleasure rush up your spine and you choke out a gasp. Matty hears you and you feel him chuckle against your skin, your words have completely died on your tongue so he drops a kiss over the bite mark he left and slowly lifts himself up to stand up in front of you. 
The corners of his mouth are lifted into a devilish grin that you know is only promising of trouble. The way he raises his brows expectantly is enough to snap you out of your trance and that’s when you scorn him, “What did I say about not making me flustered?”
If you had known what he’s about to say, you wouldn’t have asked. “I’ll stop as long as you’re fully aware I’m fucking you in these when we get home.”
Your jaw clenches in an attempt to stop it from dropping at his words, “You’re no help.”
Your boyfriend doesn’t say a thing, his hands go from your waist to the bottom of your skirt to adjust it merely an inch, but when he says “Turn around.” you still obediently listen.
Matty does the same when your back is to him, pulling your skirt in perfect place before dropping a trail of kisses from your shoulder up your neck until he reaches your ear and whispers, “All done.”
“Thank you.” You shiver against his chest, actually thinking about fully missing the party just to indulge in his touch and his kisses and that promise (more like a statement) he made just a few seconds ago.
“Anytime baby.” Matty grins at you, and just as you’re about to move to look into the mirror again, a hard slap to your arse stops you in your tracks. You gasp and look back at your boyfriend who’s grin has only got bigger.  
Before you can even get any words out, he defends himself, “You can scold me all you want, but you enjoyed it.” 
His teasing words have you speechless, and after not having a single comeback to throw his way you bite your tongue and carry on getting ready. Your stylist, Chloe, Facetime’s you at one point when you tell her that you’re ready once you have your ‘solemate’ Lamoda heels on which you adore because the base of them is a red love heart.
Thankfully Chloe approves of how both you and Matty look together and she even applauds Matty’s handy work with your smudged eyeliner. So much you know he’s going to give her a hug later to thank her, and now you’re just waiting for the chicken nuggets you put in the oven (yes, you’re self aware that that’s predictable and cheesy of you - Matty has already laughed at you for it) to be cooked before you book yourselves a taxi so you get there earlier than everyone else. 
As you wait, you make some final touches to yourselves before you ask Matty to take some pictures of you. He happily does and makes you giggle as he turns it into a full photoshoot. 
He makes you lie down on your bed, standing on your stool to get a good angle and he has an absolute ball directing you into positions he wants. At one point you get a little too into it trying to tease him and he tells you to stop before he ruins your makeup, which with his skills you have no doubt he would do. 
After that threat you end up taking cute couple pictures, a few with your Polaroid and film camera before you get as many as you like on your phones. Your selfies are adorable, you’re being unable to stop yourself from changing your lock screen immediately to the picture of you both smiling at your phone but Matty’s chin is resting on your shoulder, his grin is all gooey, and his mop of curls is messy and unruly just the way you love it. 
You adore the picture just as much as you love the man in it. Even a quick glance at it reminds you of the way he squeezed you so tightly from behind as you took the picture. He melts your heart entirely. 
As you’re thinking about which picture to post on your story, your boyfriend is being vain for a moment and taking his own mirror selfies to send to the boys. But once he sends it off and gets bullied for being a simp for you he pockets his phone and focuses on himself in the mirror. 
You don’t mind your view at all, you watch as your boyfriend moves his curls a few times trying to get it into the place he deems fit. He sighs, settling for what he thinks is mediocre, and he glances at you as he tells you, “I know your thoughts already but I really wanna gel my hair back right now.”
“No,” Your face falls entirely, not wanting to see that mop of curls scraped back, “Definitely not.”
“But why?” He whines, coming back up to you, pulling you into him in hopes proximity will persuade you, “Don’t you think I look good?”
“Matthew,” You sigh, fixing his tie so it’s a little more in line with his top button, “In that suit you’d look like Patrick Bateman if you gelled your hair.”
You were hoping that your statement would deter him from that cursed hair gel, but you watch as his eyes light up, and immediately you know you’ve said the wrong thing. The smile that grows on Matty’s lips is almost like he’s been told he’s won the Euro Millions, and although you adore it when he smiles, you hate that Patrick Bateman of all people has brought that to his face.
At the same time you say, “No.” Matty excitedly nods, “Yes.”
“Matty, no.” You say louder, as he practically vibrates in your arms. 
He excitedly grins, “I would look so fucking good as Patrick Bateman.”
“Yeah you would,” You admit, raising your eyebrows as you say, “But not at my fucking Valentine’s party.” 
Matty chuckles, pulling you firmly against him by his hand on the small of your back, and he smirks as he says in a low tone, “Halloween this year is sorted.”
You tut at that, narrowing your eyes slightly, sarcasm thick in your voice, “Oh, such a great couples costume.”
Your boyfriend grins now, cooing, “Awhhhh, you wanna do a couples costume.”
And it’s not just because you want to dress up together as a couple that makes him feel all gooey inside, it's the fact that Halloween is months from now and you still picture yourself with him. It makes him feel all tingly inside, and he’s so happy that by the time the both of you get to October 31st he will definitely be allowing himself to declare that he loves you openly and proudly. 
“Yeah well,” You sigh, grinning though as you say, “Guess I’ll have to ask Ross to do a couples costume now.”
Matty’s jaw falls at that, eyes narrowing in an instant as he tells you, “No.”
“Well then,” You chuckle, “No Bateman for you.”
“We shall see.” Your boyfriend smiles, looking into your gorgeous eyes that stand out even more now he’s done your eyeliner. 
He can’t help but lean in to kiss you, loving nothing more than you being in his arms and his lips against your own. He hopes he can feel how much he loves you, how content he is with you having his heart in the palm of your hands. 
And seeing your goofy smile when you both pull away from the kiss hits him like he’s just realised his feelings all over again. God, he loves you so fucking much.
Matty watches as you press your lips together for a second before you inevitably ask, “Can I please put some eyeliner on you?”
“So it’s a no to Bateman but a yes to emo me at your party?” Matty can’t help but teasingly ask.
It’s somewhere between embarrassment and shame that you find yourself hating to admit, “You looked fit as fuck with it on back in the day.”
It takes everything in him not to laugh, knowing that you still can’t quite stop getting too in your head about it when he reminds you of your obsession with him. He goes easy on you, just grinning at you before he kisses you once more. 
“Yeah come on then baby,” Matty chuckles, pulling you back into the bathroom so you can do his makeup in better lighting, “Lets make your dreams come true.”
You follow obediently, but not before half heartedly saying under your breath, “Arsehole.”
~*~*~*~
The moment you step foot in the venue, you’re blown away seeing your and Amelia’s vision come to life perfectly. Heart balloons take over every inch of the ceiling by the main entrance to the cafe, the strings attached to them come draping down like a curtain that you have to walk through to get to the main event. A few mirrorballs hiding in between the balloons, glistening in the lights and bathing the place with shimmer.
To your left you see the big red letterbox that you hoped your guests would actually interact with like Amelia and you had envisioned when you came up with the idea of having it at the party.
The bar is filled with spirits and mixers and you can see the coasters you’d made for the party all waiting to be used right by the endless amounts of Ciroc vodka bottles that you’d been sent after the brand had wanted to be part of your little soiree, all of them decorated with red, white and pink hearts and the name of your event on the side. 
There is a big square table with a blue velvet cloth where the big ice sculpture resides: it’s a giant heart with an arrow going through it, with ‘Amelia’s Valentines Affair’ written on it. That was the name of the event as you had thought, since you were no longer single, it would be only appropriate to make this party along with the holiday all about Amelia and play onto the fact that she was still looking for the one as she did when she went on your chicken shop dates. 
Naturally, your best friend had loved the idea of being the main focus of it all so even the photobooth that you had at the back of the cafe, hidden away in a corner, had been branded as ‘Amelia’s Valentines Affair’. 
It had been so much fun coming up with the names of the drinks for the party, and choosing the catering menu, as well as cake tasting for the triple tier cake that was hidden away in the kitchen of the cafe but for which you were so excited to bring out and share with everyone who would attend.
When Amelia comes out of the kitchen and sees you two, she runs to envelope the both of you in a hug. Instantly, you and your best friend start screeching like schoolgirls just because of how excited you are for the evening, and thankfully you don’t have to wait long because it’s merely fifteen minutes later that the first bunch of guests walk through the doors of the cafe. 
With the DJ playing good tunes that had everyone dancing as they sipped on their themed cocktails, sneaking away to the photobooth, taking shots of vodka out of the ice sculpture and taking loads of pictures and videos on your phone, the night slipped away. 
Before you know it, the gorgeous cake is being brought out by your best friend and she gets a microphone that she taps three times before she speaks into it. 
“Hello everyone! Thank you so much for coming and celebrating Valentine’s day with us!” Claps and cheers erupt in the room, wolf whistles that Amelia entertained by flipping her hair and fanning herself like the attention was making her flustered, “Thank you, thank you. I hope you’ve had a lovely time! I was hoping to find the one for me here, but it seems I’m still stuck third wheeling for this hot Cupid that was rudely stolen from me.” Your best friend rolls her eyes playfully while pointing at you and Matty. A chorus of laughter comes from the crowd, your own giggles getting lost in the sea of chuckles. 
Your boyfriend’s hand comes to squeeze your waist and you get all flustered at the attention you’ve got on you two after your best friend’s words. So many people had come up to you and Matty tonight, completely surprised to see you kissing and dancing, admitting that they thought it was a joke for the sake of the date you’d put out with him or something like Aitch and Amelia’s situation.
It would be an understatement to say it hadn’t filled you with a sense of pride to admit that you were in fact together and not for show, your heart bursting at its seams when Matty would smirk and look at you for a second before looking back at whoever was in front of you and saying, “Got incredibly lucky, didn’t I? Can’t believe she’s mine.”
Amelia’s hand waving in the air, as if dismissing your poor job as Cupid, and continuing her speech is what brings you out of your trance. “It’s okay, this just means I can keep taking hot dates to the chicken shops and it’s good that’s my favourite thing! Erm, yeah, that’s all. Thank you all for coming and, what did Marie Antoinette say? Let them eat cake!” 
The music resumes right after that, but a crowd gathers around the table as you and Amelia do the honours of cutting the cake. You two feed each other the first piece and end up laughing uncontrollably when you smudge a bit of frosting on each other’s faces. Soon after, you start handing out pieces for everyone to enjoy the delicious dessert and end the night in the best way. 
When you finally get home and take your heels off, your shoulders hang in relief. Matty scoops you up in his arms the second his own shoes are off, and he all but runs into your room, dropping you on top of your bed softly only to pounce on your lips with a delicious desperation that you welcome eagerly and match with ease.
The second the kiss breaks for you to take a breath, you quickly mumble, “Wait.” making him get off you and going back out your room to get your bag. 
Ever since you’d gone into the photobooth for the first time tonight, you’d wanted to go back home and put up the strips of pictures you took beside the pictures you already have littered around your room. 
Matty watches from your bed as you put the photobooth pictures up, and a huge smile breaks on his face when he sees you take a step back after you’re pleased with the set up and sigh in content at the moments captured in the printed strips. He pushes himself off your bed, taking two short steps towards you until he’s pressed flush against your back, dipping his head to attack your neck with kisses that you encourage as you tilt your head to the opposite side to allow him more space to burn with those lips of his.
A day celebrating love with you couldn’t be complete without properly worshipping you, hoping the kisses he leaves all over you skin as he sinks down to his knees in front of you are enough for you to know he loves you, he adores you, he would do anything for you. 
His mouth is tantalising as it roams your body, as well as his touch and the force in which his fingers dig into your waist when he guides you back on the bed where he makes you lie on your back for him. 
It doesn’t take long for your legs to be thrown over his shoulders, for his lips to leave a fiery trail of kisses up your inner thighs and make you a mess of desire, throbbing and aching just for him. 
Those three words itch on his tongue, begging to be left out, to let you hear them loud and proud but he swallows them the same way he swallows your moans when he traps you in yet another hungry kiss after he’s run up your body with his lips.
And you surely almost let the words slip when he brings you the most delicious pleasure and release over and over again, so intent and attentive to every one of your needs. Every sound you make only pushes him to get more out of you until tears run down your cheeks from overstimulation, ones that he kisses away so delicately your mind is spinning from the combination of it all.
There’s passion and hunger, desperation and lust; but there’s softness and intention, an attentiveness that could make you cry just by thinking about it all over again, and love, so much of it that has you drunker than any alcohol could ever have you.  
The smiles on your faces don’t leave you when you fall asleep in each other’s arms, your holds so tight as if there was any way of being snatched away from each other, your legs tangled too just in case. 
And you dream of each other because there’s not enough time in the day to spend together, your subconscious incapable of more, replete with each other. And you wouldn’t dare ask to have it another way ever again, not in this lifetime or the ones to come next.
~*~*~*~ 11th February 2023 ~*~*~*~
“Hi.” Charli says once she’s in front of you both with a microphone in hand.
You and Amelia wear the biggest smiles seeing the singer, she looks absolutely stunning and you know you’ll gush about it once the interview is over. The white sheer dress she wears hides nothing and you can only be in absolute awe of her confidence because you would never. A true legend and icon is Miss Charli XCX. 
“How are you?” Amelia beats you to ask.
“I’m good. I’m so excited because I'm here to win an EGOT tonight.” Charli smiles brightly and you have to bite your tongue not to giggle. She continues with her EGOT talk saying,  “I’ve won none…” 
It takes everything in you and your best friend to not burst out laughing when she says that.
“Yet.” The three of you say at the same time and smile at each other. 
You’re quick to put in your two cents about it, “But that’s- because there's a conspiracy against you!”
And you’re glad Charli agrees with ease, “I’m- There is! That’s actually true.”
But you wave her off like she has nothing to worry about, “And it's fine because I've brought my sledgehammer because I know you love… blood.”
Amelia can’t help the cackle she lets out after the second of silence passes after your words, laughter in which Charli joins with the same enthusiasm and you end up giggling like an idiot too. You love the popstar possibly too much, and after spending downtime with her on the boy’s UK tour you’ve never felt so close to her, it is truly no hardship at all to have this interview, after all it's more of a fun conversation.
Once you’ve gained back your composure, Amelia, looking lovely in her Union Jack dress, is the one to get things back on track, “Do you think an award show is a good place to fall in love?”
“Yes!” Charli doesn’t waste a second to answer and there’s a hint of a smirk on her face when she looks at your best friend and states, “And actually I think there is a real chance with you and Andrew Garfield.”
You hum and nod, completely on Charli’s side about it and so the singer adds, “It’s real, like I'm just like shipping it.” 
Before you can audibly agree and tease your best friend for the camera, Amelia looks at it and clarifies with that awkward look on her face she plays off so well, “I just wanna say that Andrew Garfield is not nominated for a Brit Award.” You see members of your crew laughing at that, and it takes everything in you to maintain your little persona. 
“Well, you should’ve brought him as your date.” Charli raises her brows as if scolding Amelia for that.
Amelia scrambles for an answer, mouth opening and closing as she struggles to find her words and the only excuse she can eventually find is, “I don’t have his number.”
The popstar gasps at the information but you’re quick to put your best friend on full blast, “We do have his manager’s number…”
That earns a scoff from Charli, she rolls her eyes and shakes her head, “Girl, you need to lock. That. Down. Immediately.”
“I agree.” You nod with a ‘told you so’ expression on your face that your best friend sighs about.
There isn’t another chance to continue teasing your best friend for she resumes the interview, introducing one of the things you’d planned for when it was Charli’s turn to show up on the red carpet with you two, “We actually got you a present.”
“Really?” The singer asks, puzzled by what of all the things you’ve got behind you on the shelves could it be.
“Yeah.” You nod as Amelia goes to retrieve the canned cocktail you’d picked out for her, a passion fruit martini sounded very Charli to you two.
“This is very me.” Charli says as she cracks the can open, holding it out, away from her gorgeous dress, you and Amelia grin at each other before flashing your smiles at the singer.
“Oooo, it’s fizzy that, isn’t it?” Charli says at the same time Amelia deadpans, “Oh my god.”
Taking a sip, both of you watch her intently to get her reaction and as Amelia hands her the mic back so that Charli can tell you, “Well, it's very warm.”
You press your lips together not to laugh, and Amelia stays silent for a split second before just offering her a meek, “Sorry.”
Charli still takes another sip of the drink, because it tastes really good despite it very much not being the ideal temperature. But then her eyes fall behind you to the trinkets you have lined up which somehow make sense to bring to the Brits’ red carpet, and that’s when she sees them.
Pointing behind you, Charli grins, “I love this! ‘I hate Matty Healy’ but I love him, but it’s like quite-”
Amelia reaches behind you to grab one for the pop icon, and she holds it out for her to reveal the full top. “That’s something I made.” Amelia announces, awkwardly smiling between Charli and the camera. 
“Did you?” The singer asks with a smirk, she stares at you as soon as Amelia nods and confirms with a quick and proud, “Yeah.”
“You seen him yet?” Charli is so amused by the way you’re avoiding eye contact by staring at the display of ‘I Hate Matty Healy’ tops.
To your left you hear your best friend reply, “No, he’s avoiding me.” and the soft, “Ahhh.” that Charli lets out, like she understands the situation.
But of course the singer wasn’t going to let the opportunity to tease you pass too easily, “I’m sure with your best mate around he’s bound to find a way to get over here.” A big smirk tugs at the corners of her lips, “Didn’t leave her alone for two seconds on tour.”
That’s enough to have you turning your head back to face her, a scoff escaping your lips before you quip back, “You act like you weren’t attached to George’s hip.”
“Oh yes, I was.” She says back as she flips her long hair behind her shoulder, “I’m a proud groupie, I will admit that.” 
Fortunately, she gets distracted by taking the top from Amelia and admiring the printed hate message on the front of the white top. She chuckles, “I might have to put this on if my nipples aren’t allowed on the cameras.”
You still shouldn’t have let your guard down that easily, because when she cheekily adds, “Do you sleep in one of these Y/N/N?” you’re fully taken by surprise.
Your jaw falls and Amelia snorts in laughter, which turns into a cackle when all you manage to answer is an out of character, “Get fucked.”
You know you should’ve been more careful when choosing your words when Charli turns them against you by quipping back with, “You keep one on when you’re doing that too?”
The loud gasp that comes from you is enough to send the two girls beside you into a fit of loud laughter. They’re so amused by it all that they completely ignore you as you scold the singer, “Charlotte!” 
Even your crew is laughing at you, so you have no backup from anyone. Jokes on them though, this will be getting taken out of the final edit. 
“Oh you’re going to fucking die when he comes over, he’s not going to play along.” The singer warns you when she stops laughing, patting under her eyes softly to make sure the tears that lined her eyes from laughter haven’t messed anything up.
You roll your eyes, “He’s getting no interaction.” And you really have to hold back from crossing your arms and stomping your feet like a child so she knows you’re serious when you say, “Can we get back to our interview please, bitch?”
She’s insufferable though, your tone only amusing her further so she plays on it by calling you out, “Oh, she's getting feisty.” 
With another sigh, you put on a bright smile again, ignoring the way Amelia and Charli snigger as you go up to the display behind you and grab something. “And to leave, I’ve just got some poppers.” You show it to Charli and the camera, an awkward but oddly proud smile on your face at the pun you know the singer and her fans will get when they watch the interview.
“Oh, oh fun. Fun.” Charli says with faux excitement, seeing the party popper in your hand. 
It gets even more awkward when you announce, “Which I will pop.” as you stare right into the camera, Amelia grabs the party popper you’re handing her and she does the same as you with her own awkward smile stuck on her face.
Charli nods and mirrors you and Amelia, “Okay.”
Your last frame with Charli is of the three of you smiling at camera as you and Amelia pop the party poppers, while Charli holds up her new top. It’s so underwhelming and the silence around you makes it so much funnier, you really try hard not to break character and ruin the shot. 
When the tiny confetti hits the floor, you and Amelia break the scene, turning to Charli and hugging her while thanking her for coming over. The two of you shower her in compliments which she gives back to you, she even makes you and Amelia twirl in your places to show her every bit of your dresses and you blush when she says she’ll be stealing you from Matty later. 
Sadly, her team tells her she needs to go, and after a promise of seeing the two of you inside when you eventually get to the table you’re all sharing, she sing-songs, “I love youuuu!”
You wave at her as she starts walking away, matching the tone she used to reciprocate the farewell, “Mmm love you too!”
A soft frown appears on her face as she points a warning finger, “Don’t flirt too hard with my boyfriend, I’ll cut you both!”
And as payback for all the teasing she put you through earlier, you sing-song back with the fakest smile, “No promises!”   
Charli flips you off behind her back and the last she hears before disappearing to the next media section of the carpet is your loud laughter. And your night continues on. 
This red carpet is particularly tricky, your little set being in the corner after the actual carpet where the celebs were getting photographed and where Roman Kemp and the other presenters were doing their bit for the livestream, but before the attendees made their way into the O2. So by the time people were passing you, it felt like they were mostly in a rush to get inside.
You got lucky with Charli, she knew you were going to be there because Matty had told her as she was getting ready with the boys. And you’re glad she came over because you truly felt at ease in your job for the night now. 
Before the queen of pop, you had the lovely band Flo and the girls were troopers, playing up to yours and Amelia's antics with shitty karaoke microphones you brought along. Kim Petras came over and showed you both some of her dance moves that she’ll be doing in her performance later on that you and your best friend embarrassingly mimicked.
In a weird and unexpected turn, Declan Rice made an appearance which was confusing at the music awards ceremony to have a footballer there. But you made the most of it and kindly offered the West Ham player a Manchester United mug which he unsurprisingly turned down but you got the best kick out of it. You might even offer it to Matty later to get him scowling at you. 
And after you interviewed the lovely Greg James, that was when Charli wondered over and you got bullied. Alas, the rest of the night must go on and now you are feeling fabulous. 
Aitch came next and you really don't know how you and Amelia kept it together when she offered him his fake box of belongings back. But despite the jokes that fired between the three of you there was a genuine sincerity there when you wished him luck this evening, and you had a little giggle with him after he handed the microphone back to your crew. 
Some guests tonight weren’t doing press, which was a little upsetting, but you both took it on the chin when you were denied interviews. However, a moment tonight that melted both yours and Amelia’s heart was when Ed Sheeran caught your line of sight and you waved at him. Despite his team telling you that he was strictly not doing press, he came over anyway, not for a recorded interview but for a friendly chat where he hugged you upon greeting you and chatted with you for at least five minutes. 
It was really nice, it made the both of you feel like you belong here a little more, and that you’re not fish out of water. You deserve to be here just as much as the journalists on the other carpet. 
Afterwards, comes people like Stormzy, Shania Twain, Jessie J, David Guetta, and you just interviewed Wet Leg when you spot a few familiar faces, but because you’d class one of them as your friend now you shout her name as she walks past. “Flo!” You shout across to her.
You smile when you see her head whip to the side in search of who shouted her name, and a second later when you move from yours and Amelia's little spot over to the edge of your area and wave does she spot you. And when she does she gasps and waves, which melts your heart entirely. The artist makes her way over to you, looking just as stunning as she always does. As soon as she’s close enough, she has a bright grin on her face as she says an excited, “Hey!” 
“Oh my,” She gasps as she stops in front of you and Amelia joins you at your side, “You two look gorgeous!”
You blush because a compliment from her means the world to you, but seeing her dress you can’t help but coo, “No, oh my god! You look amazing!” And she really does. Tonight, Flo is wearing a gorgeous lavender dress that flows gorgeously down to the ground and pools at her feet.
It’s a beautifully made dress, such a stunning shade of lavender that compliments her skin tone well, made from either chiffon or organza with ruching on the bust and thick ruched straps that hold the dress on her shoulders. The detailing just below her breasts makes the rest of the fabric drape down her body in the way you’d expect a disney princess’ too, and you also note that it cleverly hides her growing baby bump.
As she smiles, thanking you for your compliment, before you asks quietly, “How’s baby Turner doing?”
“They’re doing fineee…” Flo grins, running a hand over her stomach so the flowy material will reveal her bump outline to you and you can’t help but pull her in for a hug when you see how big she's getting.
“Don’t suppose,” You start once you let her go, grinning as you cheekily push your luck, “We can pull you for an interview…?”
“No,” She laughs, shaking her head slightly, “You don’t want me, but I’ll make the Monkeys come on for you.”
“They’re actually coming?” Your eyes go a little wide, Amelia’s too because you both knew they were invited but you never for a second thought they would actually show themselves, “I thought you were coming to sit with The 1975 boys.”
“No, believe me,” She laughs, shaking her head, “I wouldn’t have come to another of these if I wasn’t married to someone up for an award. Not after the last time.”
You’re smirking, about to respond with something witty about that night you remember so fondly watching at home on TV back in 2017. However, your friend's name rings out across the room. 
“Flo!” You all hear a male voice shout from not too far away.
Turning the three of you see none other than Harry Styles walking his way over. And you’re half sure your heart falls into your stomach, Amelia’s probably too, but thankfully his eyes are mostly focused on Flo.  
“Hey Florence,” You and Amelia watch as Harry reaches for the artist, “How are you?”
“Harry, hey!” Flo grins up at him, with a hint of something in her eyes that you can’t quite pinpoint. But you’re too focused on the conversation to dwell on that at the moment. The artist grins and hugs him, “I’m good, thank you. How are you?” 
“Great, thank you.” Harry grins, the black suit doing the man such justice, he almost looks like a god despite the huge flower adorning his chest. He pulls her into a massive hug as if they’re been friends for years, “It’s so good to see you.”  
Am I missing something? You can’t help but ask yourself. You’re more than certain though that Matty has never mentioned Flo being aquaintances or better yet friends with Harry fucking Styles. You’ll be having words with him for that later.  
“God, how long has it been?” Harry thinks out loud, still looking as charming as ever, his eyes never leaving hers. It really makes you feel like you’re intruding on something you shouldn’t be. He wonders, “Five years?”
“Six, wasn’t it?” Flo corrects him, still asking despite her clearly knowing, “2016?”
“Right.” You spot the singer almost smirking down at the artist, “The last I saw you was Jamaica, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, Jamaica.” She nods confirming and you’re almost sure you see a little embarrassed blush creep onto her cheeks. Flo continues, “Lots has happened since then. Congratulations on your albums, they’ve been amazing. I’m excited for the new one.”
As are you and Amelia. Never in your life have you screamed as hard as when you got your tickets to Love On Tour for one of the nights at Wembley. Except when you got your At Their Very Best tickets… of course. 
“Thank you, but I believe you deserve the congratulations, you’re married to Alex now, right?” The singer asks and the artist happily nods, her love for her husband shining through her eyes as she confirms Harry's thoughts. When she does, his smile is huge, “That’s amazing! I'm so happy for you both.”
“Thank you, got a little more to celebrate now too.” Flo holds her hand subtly against her stomach to tell him without actually having to explain aloud. “If you know what I mean.”
And of course he does. The genuine joy for her that seeps onto his face makes you want to melt when he pulls her into another hug. You and your best friend hear him say, “Congratulations. I’m so happy for you both.”
“Thank you Harry.” Flo grins, as she pulls away from the hug, but she then turns to you and your best friend, introducing you with ease, “Have you met Y/N and Amelia before? They’re trying to get me to a chicken shop but I think you’d be more who they’re trying to recruit.”
“Hey,” You chuckle, raising your eyebrows at her, “You promised me that date!”
“You’ll get it, my love. I’m going to send Alex and the lads over to you and I’ll see you in there.” She promises, quickly hugging the both of you before she embraces the popstar once again, “It was lovely to see you again Harry.”
“The pleasure’s been all mine, Flo.” He kisses her cheek, lucky bitch. “See you soon.” He waves her off as she wanders back over to where you now see the Monkeys' other wives are standing waiting for her before they head inside. 
But who really cares about them when you have Harry fucking Styles standing in front of you, looking you dead in the eye. You’re sure you could pass out at a moment's notice. You’d already been told that he wasn’t doing press, that pretty much no one would get any interaction from him as he would be surrounded by security when he wasn’t on the carpet for pictures. And he was, until he spotted Flo as a familiar face, and now he’s here talking to you and your best friend. And your inner 16 year old self might just pass out. 
“Nice to meet the both of you.” Harry smiles at Amelia and then yourself before he leans forward to kiss each of your cheeks. Immediately, the subtle hints of vanilla, ginger, and woody scent fills your senses, Christ he smells so nice. You’re also never washing your cheek again. And you’re sure your eyes go wide when he says, “I'm a huge fan of the show.”
“You’ve seen the show?” Amelia beats you to ask. And it’s funny, you glance at her and her eyes are just as wide as yours were. Pull yourself together Y/N/N. You weren’t this bad meeting the man you're in love with.
“Of course. I love what you do so much.” Harry makes both of your days when he says, “I think you’re both the best people doing interviews right now.” 
Amelia’s a little lost for words so she’s happy when you manage to get out, “Thank you so much.”
“It’s so impressive and you’re both so funny.” His smile is just as charming as he is, “I love watching your dates.”
Harry Styles loves watching your dates AHHHHHHHHHH!
“Funny you should say that,” Amelia gets her barings back and charismatically chips back in, “Because we love your music and think you should come on a Chicken Shop Date with us.”
Harry smiles at that, expecting nothing less from you gorgeous, talented women, “When the time is right, I’m all yours.”
You smile, appreciating that a lot, but you promise him, “We’ll hold you to that.”
This time he grins at you, “I don’t doubt you will.”
“We’re seeing you at Wembley in June.” Amelia tells him, letting her excitement shine through a little, which you don’t entirely blame her for. His music means a lot to the both of you. 
“Oh,” He smiles brightly, “It’ll be lovely to have you there.” 
You tell him truthfully, “We’re really excited.” But you won’t forgive yourself if you don’t casually plead, “Please play Only Angel again.” needing to hear that song live.
“I’ll see what I can do.” Harry grins before he gets ushered on by his security. 
Instead of following their orders blindly though, he turns back to the both of you with an apologetic look before grasping both yours and your best friend's hand and giving it a tight squeeze as he sincerely says, “Thank you both so much. Sorry I can’t chat for longer, but I’ll see you in there.”
And he takes your breath away when he kisses the top of both of your hands like prince charming, “It was lovely to meet you both.”
You and your best friend just about get your good lucks and goodbyes out as Harry starts being lead through into the main arena, and as soon as he’s out of sight you turn to each other, wide eyed and say, “What the fuck just happened?!” and, “Oh my fucking god!!” at the same time. 
Even when you turn back to your crew, they’re shocked by the encounter too, all not quite believing their eyes. It takes you all a good 5 minutes to recover before you get back into the swing of things. 
A few more celebs make their way over to you, but nothing sparked joy like catching the eyes of Alex Turner, who despite being on a red carpet, smiled at you and looked like he was (dare you say) excited for an interview. 
“Hello, hello, hello.” You greet the band as they walk up to you, all of them slowly walking into your little corner. Matt and Alex are the ones who have a microphone in hand while Nick and Jamie have their arms behind their backs but kind smiles on their faces.
Amelia beams at them all and greets the drummer, who she’d interviewed when you both were at Reading Fest, “Matt, lovely to see you again.”
“And you Amelia, Y/N.” Matt acknowledges the both of you with a smile and a nod of his head.
“How’ve you been boys?” You ask first to get them all talking, making them feel comfortable with you and Amelia before actually heavily putting on your characters for the interview.
It’s no surprise that you end up bringing up their new album The Car and you’re lucky you and Amelia are good at improvising because you hadn’t planned for these men to be here at all. Thankfully it paid off quite well and you both start rounding off their interview after a few minutes of you both making them laugh.
“Careful when you go inside, Charli XCX is in there.” Amelia begins and after a brief second adds, “She’s got a thing for cars.”
There’s a dazed look from the Monkeys so you deliver another punchline, “Yeah, if she gets her hands on your car she’ll crash it.”
Alex snorts at that, clearly understanding the reference to her album, no doubt thanks to Flo’s influence. The others laugh along, you hope understanding but you remember you have one more trick up your sleeve that will make the band, and you’re sure anyone who knows the history, giggle too. 
“Oh Al,” You turn to grab one of the t-shirts from the display behind you and hand it over to Alex with a subtle smirk, “Think this top is right up your street.”
He takes it and unrolls it, a chuckle making him shake when he reads, ‘I Hate Matty Healy’ printed on the front and he holds it up over his chest, looks at you two, hand on his hip as if modelling it. 
Amelia nods, “Suits you actually.” as you try to keep a straight face.
“Very fitting.” The singer nods as he mumbles into the microphone, before perking up when seeing there’s more of them displayed behind you. “Can I take one for Flo too? I think she’ll like it.” 
“Course.” You smile brightly, turning back around to get another. 
But when you hand Alex the top, Matt brings the mic up to his lips to ask, “You got any more?” 
Amelia raises her brows and asks rather amused, “You all want one?” and when the rest of the band nods, you can’t help but chuckle to yourself.
“Makes sense because they’re up for the same award as you.” You quip back, giving them a perfect idea for when to wear them, “If they win we will put the tops on for you. Rep the brand.”
Alex hums into the mic softly and nods before mumbling, “Shall hold you up to that.” 
You take that as a sign to end your segment with the band there and you bid them farewell with smiles and keeping up your awkward facades, asking them for a date when they leave your sight and making it an underwhelming moment for the sake of the interview. Amelia giggles as she lets her mic fall away from her lips and you giggle with her, a rush of joy running through your veins as you know the carpet is drawing to a close and the awards ceremony is nearing meaning that you’re so close to have accomplished yet another insane goal in your careers once this is over. You quickly reset your set with new ‘I Hate Matty Healy’ tops knowing it can’t be long now until your boys are due over.
You get a few more guests before the band you’ve dedicated so many years of your life to and who hold your heart (now even more so) in their hands appears in your peripherals, and you try not to look startled as you watch the four men walking your way. 
“Oh god…” You hold your breath knowing this is where things are going to get tricky for you. 
Amelia smirks, “This is gonna be good.” knowing that your boyfriend will have nothing good in mind once he gets to see you.
And he already has.
“Fucking hell.” Matty curses under his breath when you come into his view.
During your FaceTime earlier as you were both getting ready in your respective hotel rooms, you didn’t show him your dress, he only saw you getting your makeup done and he told you that you looked beautiful but then you told him he could wait to see your dress. And fucking hell, he wishes that someone would have forewarned him, his dick is already twitching just looking at you. 
You’re wearing a black dress that starts as a tight corset which dramatically emphasises your boobs. But the long skirt that runs down and reaches your heels only covers one of your legs, leaving the other on show, letting everyone see the stockings and suspenders you’re wearing.
Matty’s chest flares with want and need as he can’t take his eyes from you as your team hand him and George the microphones before all of them make their way in shot. And their order ends up being Ross, George, Adam, and then Matty, which you’re thankful for because your boyfriend is furthest away from you with his wandering eyes. 
As the other boys take in your set, Amelia can’t get the grin off her face as she notices Matty can’t take his eyes off you. She grabs the rest of their attention as she knowingly smiles, “Well, hello.” 
“Fancy seeing you here.” You chip in, looking at the stunning men in front of you.
Ross, Adam, and Matty all wear black suits with white shirts, bowties adorning their necks, while George with his freshly bleached hair looks amazing with his black silk shirt open, showing more of his chest and a stunning chain around his neck. Even yellow tinted glasses make him look like the star of the band, something that you’ll make sure you tell him in front of your boyfriend later.
In fact, what's stopping you right now? 
“If I didn’t know better,” You grin, “I’d think you’re the frontman, George. You’re looking very dapper.”
“Really?” The drummer smirks as he asks, catching the look on Matty’s face when he quickly glances around to the rest of them.
“Thinking I should’ve asked you on a date back then.” You clearly flirt but your awkward persona comes into play like the guys had been expecting since they walked over to you and Amelia.
Matty scoffs, “You’re all chat, you said the same thing about Ross.”
With a roll of your eyes, you continue playing into your joke, “Well, maybe I want them both.”
“No double date?” Amelia asks, trying to hide her smirk behind a puzzled look like the possibility of her joining you on a date with Ross and George was more important than wanting to laugh over the clear taunting aimed at your boyfriend.
When Amelia sees you shrugging, she scoffs and turns to the camera to call you out in the meekest tone, “She’s so selfish.”
“Three nominations boys, how are you feeling?” You ask, completely changing the topic of conversation in hopes that if you continue flirting here and there as the interview continues, you’d get some good reactions for the video from your boyfriend. You already can’t wait to edit all of this together.
“Very grateful.” Adam says humbly after George puts the mic close to his mouth as he sees him nod and mumble beside him.
Amelia is the one to turn to them and let them know of the plan you’d played about with the band that had just been in their places a few minutes before, “Just gotta warn you that if you win, we’ve started a new movement with Arctic Monkeys.”
“With the Monkeys?” Ross asks with a half grin on his face, like he’s suspicious of what you’ve been plotting with the band.
Almost immediately after, Matty asks, “And what would that be?”
But he gets no sign of an answer when you shrug nonchalantly, keeping your face blank and making them even more curious with a tantalising, “If I tell, the surprise would be ruined, no?” 
Matty goes to ask but you tut, “You’ll just have to win and see what happens.”
“Are you feeling lucky? I brought my lucky egg, you can rub it so you can find out.” Amelia says, always comically eager to have people rubbing on the lucky egg she brings to red carpets. She turns to grab it from the shelf just behind the bassist, and you really have to stop yourself from giggling at the way she proudly holds the egg up. It’s genuinely like watching someone care for a baby the way your best friend coos over this egg.
“How many people have rubbed this egg?” Ross asks, an eyebrow raised and his dimples showing faintly beneath his beard due to the smirk that breaks on his face. God, you wish Ross would look at you the way he’s looking at Amelia right now.
And you wish you could be as cool about it as she is, keeping her smirk soft and her shrug indifferent as she replies factually, “Most of Hollywood’s walk of fame.”
“So we’re the best?” Matty asks rhetorically, grinning, “I see.”
“If you do say so yourself.” You say with the hint of a smile on your lips, looking your boyfriend in the eye properly for the first time tonight. 
He looks so fucking good, and the lust in his eyes is so easy for you to spot. It makes you want to clench your thighs together, so you look away from him, back to Adam to maintain your on screen persona. You can do this Y/N. You can do this.
As difficult as it is ignoring the man you love, you push on for the sake of the bit. Amelia puts her egg down as you take the lead on your next question.
“You've been coming to the Brits since 2016 and you’ve won at least one award every year you’ve been.” You state the fact, giving way to the beginning of a bit that you hope gives you the reactions you were anticipating when you wrote it down with your best friend.
“Yes.” George and Adam confirm proudly.
Ross teases with a playful, “You’ve done your homework.”
To that Matty smirks, finding the perfect opportunity to pick on you, “With how obsessed she is with us, I doubt she even had to google that.”
You have to bite your tongue to backchat, sticking to finishing your joke as originally planned, putting on a pout as you fake pity for them when you say, “Be a bit embarrassing if you don't win something tonight, wouldn't it?”
A loud scoff comes from your boyfriend, whilst Adam and Ross giggle and George clicks his tongue softly before scolding you, “We won’t win with that attitude.”
“Ah, true forgot you were up against Harry Styles, sorry.” You wince sarcastically and deem it, “No chance there now.” before you give them whiplash again by randomly asking, “So who was your favourite member of One Direction?” 
They chuckle at the sudden ridiculous question, and you have to press your lips together not to cackle at the sound of George’s laughter mixing with the giggles coming from the rest of the boys. Amelia is the one who continues on the topic by warning them, “You better say Harry or I’ll tell on you when we go inside.”
Comically, they play on the joke and all of them start nodding feigning honesty when they start saying, “Oh yes, definitely Harry.” at different times, repeating their words as they look into the camera so it sounds and looks chaotic. 
“That’s right.” Amelia hums in approval, looking at the camera for a split second before turning back to the band with a new question, “Do you guys have any award show rituals? That you do to bring you luck?”
“Other than rubbing your egg?” Ross asks with an incredulous look on his face, it’s almost as if he’s holding back from laughing.
You sigh like the lack of answers is annoying you and roll your eyes to say, “Yes, other than rubbing Amelia's egg.”
To your dismay they shake their heads and all you do is give the camera a look of exasperation, Amelia is the one who makes you look back at them for she looks straight into Ross’ eyes and firmly replies, “Then I think you really should rub my egg.” She grabs it again and without hesitation offers it up to Ross with hopeful eyes. Something which you all end up laughing at.
Matty sees the way Amelia is looking at Ross and he makes a mental note to keep an eye out about it inside the venue. He knows you’re flirting with the bassist for the bit, and though he’s not the biggest fan of that, it’s keeping him the slightest bit amused; but Amelia is fully gawking at him and it almost seems like she keeps scooting closer to him as you all laugh. 
So instead of keeping the teasing for later, Matty starts taunting your best friend right then, “Sounding a little desperate there, Amelia.”
Your best friend surprises him when she goes from eye fucking Ross to glaring at him in a split second, spouting a stern, “Not more than you look.” towards him because she’s seen just how badly your boyfriend can’t keep his eyes away from your figure and how everything he wants to do to you is written all over his face.
Matty’s jaw drops at her words as the other three boys loudly snort at her publicly outing him, but before they can start bickering, you tut and call them out, “Okay pipe down, no cat fights on the red carpet please.” 
George and Ross can’t help their chuckles, Adam’s head hangs as he shakes his head trying to hide the amused grin on his face but his shoulders shake in silent laughter. Matty’s eyes flick from the fake little stare down with Amelia to you where he loses his breath all over again and he can’t help but look you up and down again. You’re so fucking hot.
Before you can break character, you bring up another question you had prepared, “Any collabs you’re looking to secure tonight?”
A chorus of thinking hum sounds come from your left and as Amelia abandons her lucky egg again, George is the first to break the silence as he honestly replies, “Not that we’ve thought of…”
Ross turns to you and Amelia to genuinely try to answer your question by asking first, “Who’s here tonight?”
But before anyone can give a genuine answer, your boyfriend is back to taunting Amelia by saying, “Maybe Aitch, you know. Just to get the group back together.”
You have to give your best friend props for she easily avoids Matty’s comment and acts entirely unaffected. She puts on a pout and there’s fake pity in her voice when she counters with, “Oh no, I’ve literally just given him his stuff back, that’d be awkward.” 
Turning to look at your best friend, you give her a look that you hope she reads because this could be fucking hilarious. You tap your chin with your finger and hum loudly for a few seconds, an exaggeration of thinking of something, before you start talking again, “You need someone that fits your vibes, you know. Someone that compliments you perfectly.”
“Oh, I know,” Amelia grins, offering, “Yungblud.”
It takes everything in you not to burst out laughing when you see your boyfriend’s face drop into an unimpressed look before he rubs his temple like he’s getting a headache from the mere mention of the name and curses under his breath, “Fucks sakes.”
Your blood rushes with excitement when you know exactly what to add to make this even funnier, “If my opinion counts for anything… I reckon it’d be the morally obvious thing to do.”
Knowing exactly what you’re referring to, George and Ross burst out laughing and they turn to see a smirking Matty that’s holding back his own laughter at what he admits was a good joke. You and Amelia, just like Adam, are trying not to laugh but the amused smirks on your faces give you away. It’s so hard not to laugh when George keeps giggling. 
Amelia manages to compose herself before you, but she completely makes your breath hitch when she turns to your boyfriend and asks, “Planning on kissing any fans at the after party?”
“Just the one.” Matty cheekily replies, a smirk on his face when his gaze falls on you with a hungry look on his face that threatens you to lose your composure. He shrugs nonchalantly as he adds, “Might take her to a chicken shop on the way home…”
You purse your lips as you hum, taking in what he’s saying but acting a fool, pretending not to get the hint and stating, “Lucky one.” with your brows raised in challenge. But Matty notes the hint of jealousy in your voice.
Of course, he wasn’t gonna give it to you easily, not when you’ve been teasing him and flirting with his best mates when you look like that tonight. “Wish I was taking you?” He asks, a challenging look of his own on his face. It only encourages you to play dirtier. 
“Wish Ross was taking me.” You quip back, biting your bottom lip when you see him clenching his jaw at the ease of your answer.
And thank god for Ross knowing exactly what you’re trying to do because he adds more fuel to the fire, asking with a raised eyebrow and a sultry tone, “In more ways than one?”
Even knowing that it’s just a joke, the bassist’s voice manages to get you flustered and Matty seethes seeing the effect Ross has on you even though it’s not that noticeable as you confidently reply, “Many more.”
For the sake of the bit (definitely not driven by the need to stop this and have Ross’ attention back on her), your best friend adds her two cents into the conversation, “But you gotta go on a chicken shop date first.”
“Is that a requirement?” Ross questions her with a brow raised.
“Yes.” Amelia says at the same time as you say, “No.”
Ross presses his lips together when the two of you frown at each other, trying not to laugh as he asks again, “So yes or no?”
“Yes.” Amelia says again and you gasp at her response, almost whining when you go against her words again, “No, she’s trying to sabotage me.”
“She’s dramatic.” Amelia sighs and rolls her eyes at the camera, another gasp coming from you when Matty mumbles a, “Yes.” into the mic.
Narrowing your eyes at your boyfriend for a few seconds, you turn to Amelia and say, “You wanna know drama? There’s drama?” You point an accusing finger Matty’s way and he of course feigns innocence. 
“Me?” He asks in a gasp, “Not me.” But Adam, George and Ross easily agree with you, nodding and concurring that your boyfriend is indeed a drama queen. 
“Without me your lives would be so boring.” The curly headed singer at the edge of the group says, an offended frown on his face that makes you want to laugh.
Ross rolls his eyes and scoffs, “Sure, what would we do without you?” Matty’s mouth falls open at his sarcastic words and Ross puffs his chest out like he’s not taking back what he’s just said. It’s so funny seeing them bicker like children. 
But before you entirely lose grasp on the dynamics of the interviews you usually conduct with Amelia here, you’re the one to ask yet another question. One that was completely improvised but that you hope you can steer into a funny bit. 
“Ross, will you be letting your hair down tonight?” You ask, silently hoping and praying the answer is yes. 
“Depends if we win,” Ross smiles and shrugs, “Could be on the cards.”
“You should, it looks very lucious.” Amelia proudly flirts, “Best hair in the band award would definitely go to you.”
You don’t miss the way the bassists cheeks turn to a hint of pink, and you’re half jealous that Amelia's gotten that reaction out of him. You can’t help but watch them like a TV show as you hear Matty scoff under his breath, “I don't think.” and God you hope the microphone picked it up.
“Speaking of,” To add fuel to the fire, you continue to ask the rest of the band with a smirk on your lips, “Quickfire questions for you… Matty’s worst hairstyle, go!”
The way Matty’s face falls is comical. He looks so offended you’ve even asked that, he’s never even heard you talk about his hair in a negative way except for your clear distaste for when he gels it back, hence why he’d left his curls alone tonight, all he’s done is style them a bit. 
“Easy.” George comes in straight off the bat, “When he looked like a mushroom.”
It takes everything in you not to burst out laughing at the comment and the way you see your boyfriend's head snap towards his best friend. The look of betrayal just gets more intense as your bit continues. 
“Ha, yes mushroom and microphone head over here.” Amelia agrees with George in a split second and you nod too, a wicked smirk on your face when you catch the look on your boyfriend’s face as you wish for this to continue.
“No come on, it was when he looked like a pot noodle for a few months. That was dire.” Ross groans at the memory of his blond long curls, shaking his head in disapproval as he makes eye contact with a very offended Matty.
Matty frowns looking at you and Amelia like you’ve just killed his dog as he complains, “This just turned into a slag Matty off fest or…?”
Holding back your smile, you’re thankful that it doesn’t deter the rest of the band from carrying on bullying their friend. In fact, Adam, the absolute legend, goes straight for Matty’s throat. 
“If we’re being real, that mohawk made him look like a brush,” The guitarist tells you, pulling no punches when he adds, “Was ready to sweep the floor with his head.”
The laugh that bubbles through you then is something you can’t hold back, and everyone but Matty joins in with loud cackles that make the scene feel so familiar, you almost forget that you’re at the Brits red carpet and not on the tour bus on the way to some city in the UK.
“Careful he’ll lock you back up in his basement Adam.” Amelia jokes and it makes the guitarist snort at the mention of a joke he’s seen around twitter so often.
Everyone’s attention is back on you when you tut loudly as you shake your head, “These are all very good answers but I'm afraid you’re all wrong. The right answer is clearly that rat tail back in 2020.” You fake a shiver that definitely would’ve ran down your spine if you were to see a picture of that hairstyle again.
Groans break out around the group, everyone nodding and siding with you but what you’re not expecting is for your boyfriend to narrow his eyes at you and threaten, “Carry on and it’ll come back.”
You don’t leave room for that to even become a possibility as you sternly state, “No it won't.”
Matty challenges you with a smirk on his face,“Wanna bet?” 
One that you match when you challenge him back, folding your arms, “Wanna lose a girlfriend?”
“You wouldn’t.” He says breathily, shocked at the way you just threw that out there.
Eyes narrowing again, you nonchalantly shrug and let him know he’s on, “Thin ice tonight.” and he feels the blood rushing through his veins heating up at the way you’re looking him up and down as if sizing him up.
“Why?” He frowns, questioning your words.
You shrug and your tone makes it sound like it’s obvious, “Your hair is styled.”
He scoffs entirely amused and his cheeks heat as he’s fully aware of everyone’s gazes going from him to you like a tennis match, “You expect me to win an award with my hair looking like I’ve just rolled out of bed?”
This is the only time you struggle to find your words, and your answer is so weak that it makes everyone hold back their laughter, “The fans would appreciate it more.”
It’s so transparent, Matty is the one to tease you for everyone with the most sarcastic tone he could muster, “Yeahhhh, the fans.” 
He knows damn well all that’s going through your head is how badly you want to pull on his hair, and he wants that too; for you to pull on his hair as he disappears beneath your skirt and you make a mess of his pretty face as you cum on it.
“Domesticsss.” Amelia sing-songs in the middle of it all, looking into the camera with an expression that will definitely make you burst out laughing when you’re editing this video.
As a joke of wanting to protect her from the bickering between you and your boyfriend, Ross hooks his arm with Amelia’s and pulls her away as they start shuffling towards the side of your interview area so they can escape, “Dimz, come with us.”
Your staring battle with Matty is cut short when you see them walking her past you, you wrap your fingers around her wrist and pull her back towards you, “She’s staying with me.”
Amelia giggles in the middle of the predicament she’s in, but of course Ross lets her go with an exaggerated sigh for the camera and mumbles something into the mic that you don’t catch before he lets Amelia free from his grasp and she happily scoots back closer to you. 
“Okay, that’s it I guess.” Amelia says with an awkward smile on her face, “Off you go.” 
She shoos them away and you wave at them with the same blank expression which makes them all laugh as they start walking in front of you towards your crew.And there’s a bit of relief that floods you when you know their interview is over. 
As you say a very flat, “Byeeeeee…” all you can think of is how glad you are that you didn’t break character and that it wasn’t as bad as you thought it would be to ignore your boyfriend as much as you tried to.
It’s a relief it ended up being quite funny too and you’re so happy you got all that on camera despite definitely knowing that not everything was going to be in the final cut of the video. You can’t wait to edit all this tomorrow, it’s going to be so much fun. 
“What's all that then?” Ross asks as they’re walking away, finally getting to see the display of tops which slander his best mate that has been hiding behind you the whole time.
You turn slightly and showcase it by extending your hand beside it, “Our display, do you like it?”
Ross laughs and nods his head as he starts being ushered away, “Brilliant,” Is what you hear him say before he walks further behind the cameras. George hands someone beside your camera man his microphone and follows the bassist, not before giggling about the display and Adam does the same before following George’s path.
But of course, once he sees it, Matty can’t leave it looking like that. 
“Here, thank you.” He hurriedly says as he hands the mic back, before turning to you and Amelia and come back in shot to correct your set. He doesn’t hesitate to go behind you to your display while stating confidently, “I’ll fix this for you.”
With a speed that makes you want to laugh, he plucks the top that’s folded to show the ‘Hate’ so that it shows ‘Healy’ instead and places it under the one that says ‘Matty’, leaving your display to just say ‘I (blank) Matty Healy’. 
You and Amelia watch expectantly as he reaches for another place on the shelves, grabbing something you don’t really notice before going back behind you and it’s when he places it in the empty spot that you realise what he’s done. 
Matty has put a pair of heart shaped sunglasses in between the ‘I’ and ‘Matty’, leaving your display to say ‘I heart Matty Healy’ in an improvised attempt.
He gives himself a second to look at his creation proudly, turning to the camera and giving it a thumbs up before dashing away from the place you and Amelia take on the red carpet. 
“Of course.” You scoff into the microphone, both you and your best friend shaking your head as if disapproving the whole thing.  
Amelia makes her joke audible by saying, “He can keep lying to himself.” right after. 
But you can’t go along with the joke at your boyfriend’s expense because he comes back in a hurry.
“Now what?” You quickly ask, sighing like you’re exasperated by his return.
But you’re not expecting what he’s about to do when he snatches the microphone from your hands and breathily says, “Forgot this.” into it before handing it blindly to Amelia. 
In a split second he’s wrapping an arm around your waist and cupping your face with his other hand, catching your lips in a hungry kiss and he dips forward so your arms fly around his neck, he swallows the small shriek that falls from your lips.
Everything escapes you when his lips are on yours. Suddenly, the only thing that you know is that your boyfriend has you clutched tight against him and his mouth is moving eagerly with yours, his tongue teasing your bottom lip and you part your mouth to welcome him without even thinking that this is all happening in front of the cameras which are still rolling.
You don’t even hear the surprised, “Oh!” that Amelia lets out as your kiss grows hotter in a matter of seconds, but before it can all come back to you, Matty lifts and twists you to stand back up straight and pulls back. The smack of your mouths separating pierces the silence that has fallen around you, and he drops one last peck on your lips before he runs away once again, leaving you no time to even question what’s happened. 
Amelia pushes the mic into your hands, seeing that you’re too busy being dumbstruck after that steamy kiss to continue your job for the night. The feel of the mic between your fingers brings you back halfway, your gaze moving slowly from your smirking best friend to the camera where your cameraman behind it can’t help but laugh when you’re just blinking at the lenses like a fool for a good minute.
“Ermm… I think we can say tonight has left us speechless.” Amelia quips to the camera before elbowing you to snap out of your trance. 
Jesus Christ, your boyfriend is gonna be the death of you.
~*~*~*~
“Hey baby.” Matty greets you with a smirk, he can’t help but gawk at you all over again and his teeth sink on his bottom lip when he sees those stockings and garters you have under your stunning dress. He can’t wait to go home, after party be damned. 
“How’d it go?” He asks wholeheartedly when you take a seat beside him, his hand instantly coming over your exposed thigh to rub circles on your skin.
You scoff when he acts as if he hadn’t ruined your facade when he pulled that little stunt on you earlier, “Went great other than you embarrassing me.” 
“You loved it.” Your boyfriend rolls his eyes and refutes you with ease, smirking as he states, “The romantic in you wanted to be swept off your feet tonight.” He leans in closer to you and starts kissing from your cheek down your jaw until he reaches your neck and there he nuzzles his face into it, his curls tickling you and making you inevitably erupt in giggles. 
Proud of his effect on you, he leans back slightly and steals a kiss that you just can’t deny because you’ve been thinking of that mouth since he shocked you with that kiss as he was leaving the red carpet.
He’s got you dizzy even before you take a sip of alcohol, and your skin lights up in flames from his fingers tightly clutching your neck. You can’t help but be the one to deepen the kiss, to let him know you feel just the same need as him and even considering skipping the after party entirely just to have him the way you want all night and at the earliest convenience.
But when you pull back and he catches your bottom lip between his teeth, you know that he’s got no issues trying to have you even earlier. Right now. His hand slowly falls from your neck, down your shoulder and arm until he can intertwine your fingers together.
You clench your thighs taking in the lust that has blown his pupils, the way his tongue licks at his lips like he’s indulging in the taste of your mouth even after your lips have separated. He’s eating you up with his eyes and you know him so well, you can almost hear him saying all that he wants to do with you, especially in this dress.  
“Don’t even think about it Healy, I gotta give this dress back when the event is over.” You rest your finger over his lips and warn him with a smirk that you can’t hold back. 
“But-” He fights immediately, his hand squeezing yours like it can help convince you otherwise.
You tut, “No. This is archive Vivienne Westwood and so is Amelia’s. Imagine how much I’d have to pay if I even spill a drink on it.” You tell him as you move your hand away from his lips.
“I don’t care, I can pay.” Matty says easily, rolling his eyes and smirking like he finds your concern over its cost funny or even endearing.
“Sure you can.” You sarcastically reply, a chuckle falling from your lips.
Your amusement dies when he leans back in and his lips brush yours when he starts saying, “There’s no amount of money I wouldn’t be willing to spend on you, baby.” He only leans back a few inches to look you up and down, his eyes almost rolling back in pleasure and a groan rumbling through his chest when he has an eyeful of your cleavage. “Especially not if it means I get to taste you under the skirt of this pretty dress when you look like this.”
Before your boyfriend has a chance to laugh at the way you choke on your breath when he says that, his attention is taken by a familiar face. And you must admit, you're thankful for the distraction, because you think you’d be willing to let him take you somewhere in this huge venue and have his way with you after that comment. 
Alex Turner says hello to the table and eventually stops beside Matty where they hug again and just like you, Matty was surprised to see him here. He asks about where they’re seated and of course about Flo, and when he points out the table, not too far from your own at all, your previous interaction with the artist comes back to the forefront of your mind.
Matty waves over at Flo when Alex points out their table which is diagonal and just a table further in front of yours. You smile brightly back over to her, but then you remember who she introduced you to and you immediately go serious again when you turn to your curly haired brunette.
“You didn’t tell me that Flo knew Harry Styles.” You halfheartedly punch your boyfriend's arm.
“She doesn’t really…” Matty trails off, rubbing his arm and looks at Alex for confirmation of that and he nods, which confuses you even more.
You have to ask, “She met him here with you, right?”
You remember those Brits very well. It’s hard to forget the ‘that rock n’ roll ey’ speech and the shock of seeing who you thought was Matty's girlfriend kiss Alex Turner on TV.
“Yeah, 2014 Brits and I think that’s it.” Alex nods, entirely sure of himself as he has never recalled his wife mentioning that she’d met the popstar after then. 
But you’re not having it. 
Just as George comes up and says hello to Alex too, you think back to the encounter that you witnessed not long ago and tell them what happened. That’s not something you’d blush because of one previous interaction. 
“No, she blushed when he spoke to her. They definitely know each other.” Your eyes are wide and your tone entirely confident when you tell them. Perplexed and confused is the only way you’re able to describe their faces. You continue to tell the three men, “They talked to each other like they actually knew each other. Said that they last saw each other in 2016. In Jamaica.”
At that you watch both lead singers' faces fall entirely, and for a split second you're left wondering what you said wrong as they both gormlessly look at you.
The drummer tunes into the conversation, his eyes wide and shocked, “Did you just say Jamaica?”
You nod, confirming what you heard of the earlier conversation and the three men all look between each other and a few scoffs manage to escape from their lips. What the fuck is going on? You can’t help but think. George, Matty, and Alex all look at each other with their mouths wide and Matty says a quiet, “Surely not.” before Alex’s gaze falls back on you to double check, “Are you sure she said Jamaica?”
“He said Jamaica and she agreed.” You promise them, entirely confident in your response. 
 Alex looks at Matty and almost scoffs,“I can’t fucking believe it.”
Your boyfriend is entirely just lost for words, while George is the one who laughs in disbelief, “I can’t believe we finally know who Jamaica was.” 
“Woah, what?” Your voice raises a little now, a look in your eye that Matty knows means you need to know what's happening. 
Your curly haired brunette finds his voice again, and he’s the one who tells you, “Way back when, Wheels told us all that she signed an NDA on her holiday to Jamaica because she had fun with a celebrity she couldn’t name. And she’s never once told us who it was and now you’ve spilled the beans.”
No. Fucking. Way.
“You mean that Flo and Harry Styles have…?” You trail off, keeping your voice low, not quite believing what you’re actually alluding to. 
Surely not. Surely there’s not a woman alive who can be that fucking lucky. But all three men nod, still looking dazed. Your jaw falls and all you can think is, that woman is living her best fucking life. 
“You’re kidding.” You say, hoping you’re misunderstanding because you’re about to lose your shit.
“We’re not.” Alex tells you and it’s only then that you fully believe and process what you’re hearing. You hand flies over your mouth, “Fuck off.”
And you don’t even hesitate to start walking over to her, and you do so like you’re on a mission. Which you guess you are, a recon mission most definitely. 
“Florence. Turner.” You say in what you can only describe as a teacher's voice, and you sit beside her in Alex’s seat as you scorn her as quietly as you can, “You lucky little bitch, I want to be you. You lucky cow!”
She looks appropriately confused considering you’ve given her no context for your outburst. She chuckles, “What’s all this?”
“Alex Turner. Matty Healy. Harry fucking Styles!” You hold up a finger for each of the men she’s had sex with.“Florence, how do you get these men?!”
“Shhhhh!” Her eyes go wide, and panic is clear to see in her eyes as she whisper shouts at you, “How do you know about that?!”
“I asked the guys how you knew Harry so well and they were confused saying you didn’t. But you were blushing so hard back there so I-”
“I didn’t blush.” She interrupts, entirely adamant that she didn’t but you know better. 
And you don’t blame her for blushing. If you’d fucked Harry Styles years ago and the first time you were seeing him since was at an awards show, married, and pregnant, you’d be blushing too.
“Hun,” You give her a look of disbelief, telling her honestly, “You went as red as a tomato when Jamaica was mentioned.”
“Oh god,” Her hands fly to her temples, eyes wide and then she looks at you dead in the eye. She glances over at the 1975 table where her husband also is, but she turns back to look at you before she even gets to see them. Flo has to ask, “They all know?”
You press your lips together, feeling bad you accidentally split her secret to some of her closest friends, her ex, and her husband/baby daddy. “I’m sorry,” You apologise, but she waves you off, not offended that you’ve let it slip, she’s just mortified that something else related to who she's slept with has come to light at yet another Brit Awards. 
Flo can’t help but think, At least I’ll have the baby as my excuse never to come to another.
Interrupting her thought process though, you can’t help but ask, “On a serious note, is Watermelon Sugar about you?”
“Y/N/N,” Her eyes soften and she sounds as if she's trying not to laugh when she grabs a hold of your hand and starts, “I love you but-”
“No buts!” You stop her, this is serious and there’s no way you’ll be able to function for the rest of the night without getting some clarity. “It’s about you, isn’t it?”
“I’m fairly certain I’m not the only person he’s gone down on in the last six years.” She explains slowly like she was trying to make a child understand how time works.
But you’re far too gone in shock and you can’t help but chat back, “The song came out in 2019. That's enough time to have a song written about you.” A few beats of silence pass since she doesn’t answer and you’re left trying to get a grasp of what you’ve just discovered, “Can’t believe Harry fucking Styles has gone down on you.” 
Flo blushes again, but instead of turning into a stuttering mess, she owns it and coyly smirks at you, “He did more than that.”
Your jaw falls again, “I’m so jealous!”
She can’t help but laugh at that, but she shakes her head and rests her hand on your thigh, “Love, you don’t have to be jealous, Matty's tongue is just as good.”
“Yeah, but-”
“Ah, no buts.” Flo interrupts, not letting you go down that route when she knows just how lucky you are. But she can understand the shock and the need to know, so she promises you, “I’ll tell you all about Jamaica when we’re not about to be on TV, okay?”
You hold out your little finger, wanting her to pinky swear, and it may be childish of you but you think your blossoming friendship can handle it. The gesture seems to light up the artist's eyes because she doesn’t hesitate to hook her pinky around yours, a silent promise confirmed between you. Your little moment ends up being interrupted by a husband with a knowing look in his eye. Alex shakes his head at his wife in fake disappointment, “I can’t believe you.” He looks down and takes his wife’s free hand, “All this time and it was that obvious.”
Clearly past the point of being embarrassed, Flo just shrugs and smirks at her husband, “Sorry Shakespeare.” 
“Is that the reason why you wanted to come back this year, Angel?” You watch as Alex teases her when she stands up and wraps her arms around his neck as his wrap around her waist. His smirk is huge as he presses on, “Being that your fling is up for four awards.”
“You’re up for two.” She reminds him, her fingers deftly brushing his hair from his face. 
“Two that we won't win.” Alex hums, and you can’t help but see just how enamoured he is by her. 
He looks at her as if she’s the only person in the room. As if her smile lights up the entire universe and they’re the only two that matter. She’s his entire world, and it’s so clear to see. 
“Love you all the same.” Flo grins, her fingers routing into her husband's hair. 
His whole face lights up as if it’s the first time he’s hearing her tell him. And he doesn’t hesitate for a second to tell her, “Love you more Angel.” And he leans in to kiss his stunning wife. 
They are somehow cuter than Adam and Carly, and George and Charli. They are the epitome of couple goals and it’s making you long for your boyfriend. 
So before they have a chance to fully immerse themselves into their kiss, you quickly stand and ruin their moment. 
“You’re both disgustingly cute,” You tell them and they don’t for a second look like they mind the halfhearted insult. All Flo does is hug her husband closer and melt into his arms when he kisses her temple as she looks to you. 
You bid the couple farewell when you say, “I’ll see you at the afterparty,” but you look at the artist as you remind her of her promise, “Where we will be having a conversation.”
You turn to start heading back until you hear Flo tease you, “If Matty doesn’t take you straight home to get you out of that dress.”
“He’s already been told no.” You chuckle but you’re getting flustered all over again when remembering his words from just before this whole Jamaica thing had been brought to light.
Flo notices the way you take a deep breath and how it hitches in your throat, and she can’t help but find it funny. She can see it wouldn’t take much to persuade you, so she teases you further, “It’s never stopped him beforeeee.”
Knowing she’s talking from past experience has you losing your mind. Clearly, you’re going to be in for a night to remember when you get back home. But before you give her the chance to catch you flushing over your boyfriend and his horniness, you note that Alex is frowning at his wife after that comment which you can’t help but find funny considering the long history. 
You point at her and playfully sing-song, “I think you’re on thin ice.” as you nod to her husband. You hear her laughing as you turn back and retreat back to your table, where your boyfriend is waiting for you eagerly with a huge grin and his arm over the back of your chair. 
The night grows more and more entertaining as time goes on. The performances are amazing and the speeches make you giggle, as well as the interviews around the place that are fucking hilarious thanks to the Brits feeding alcohol to celebrities all night without being frugal with it. The absolute chaos the Brits bring is just so refreshing compared to American awards. 
All of which Charli has been capturing on her digital camera, the one you have been handed multiple times tonight to capture pictures of everyone around the table. Charli has taken so many of you and Matty, you and Amelia and many selfies that have had the boys creasing all night. You cannot wait to post them on your Instagram when Charli sends them to you next week. 
It was sad seeing both the 1975 and the Monkeys not taking the trophies home but you definitely gasped and yelled when Wet Leg won and they recited Alex’s infamous rock and roll speech from 2014. You started cackling more at it when you saw Flo cry laughing at it and cheering them on all while taking the piss out of her husband even more.
By the time Selin Hizli and Daisy May Cooper made it up on the stage and presented the nominees for Best Rock / Alternative Act, you’re messing about with everyone on the table. You, of course, cheer loudly when the nominees are shown and the two bands you’re rooting for flash on the screen but you’re not expecting either of them to win solely from how the night has gone so far. 
So when the envelope is opened and the winner is announced and you hear a loud, “The 1975!” you rise from your seat like the whole table does and throw yourself into your boyfriend’s arms. It’s a quick embrace as the room erupts in cheers, but you can’t help but cup Matty’s face softly and pull him in for a short sweet kiss followed by, “Congratulations, baby.” before you hug George and Adam. 
Ross is the furthest away so you manage to just blow him a kiss, but your boyfriend steals one more from you before he and the boys head to the stage to accept their award.
You can’t help but grin watching Flo stand up to hug the boys as they walk past. But you let out a loud cackle when Matty pulls back from the hug and cups her face and pretends to go in for a proper kiss, making Flo squeal and slap your boyfriend’s arm playfully. 
Adding to taunting Flo’s Brit experiences makes everyone laugh and when Matty waves the joke off and kisses her cheek instead she accepts it and moves him on so she can hug Ross. Despite that though you see Matty lean down and whisper into Alex’s ear, and when the singer laughs at whatever your boyfriend says it makes their table burst out laughing when Matty kisses Alex’s cheek with as much emphasis as he did Flo’s. 
As you turn to hold Charli while you watch the boys hug the actresses on stage, you glance back at Flo and Alex and cackle when Florence unfolds the top and puts it over her chest and sticks her tongue out at you. ‘I hate Matty Healy’ proudly being waved for all to see. 
Charli turns to see it too and laughs with you, catching Amelia and Carly’s attention who also join in the giggles. You, Charli, and Amelia grab yours from where you put them near the centre of the table and hold yours up to your chests too so you stand in alliance with the Monkeys like you promised. 
People around you laugh, and Carly takes a picture of the three of you like that, reminding you that you have to get a picture of the three of you and Florence in your tops before you leave. Looking back at the Monkeys table, you blow Flo a kiss that she reciprocates and Alex laughs as he shakes his head at his wife. 
Your attention goes back to the stage when you hear your boyfriend start talking and you put the top back on the table as tears well up in your eyes at the sight. You’re so fucking proud of him and the boys, all of them incredibly talented gifting everyone their art wholeheartedly every time without fail, their passion for what they do seeping through every song they make and that’s what you’ve always adored about them.
Your chest swells with pride and your eyes are teary, you manage to grab your phone and start recording as they get off stage and come back to the table. 
Matty hadn’t been able to tear his gaze off you when he was up there and he still isn’t able to stop looking at you, beaming at him with those eyes of yours gleaming under the lights. 
Oxygen escapes him all over again when all of you come back into view, and he’s so glad you’re still recording because he knows you’ll have captured the way you turn him entirely stupid at the mere sight of you. That gorgeous face of yours that he wants to kiss until you push him away, that neck that he’s dying to mark up, that body that makes him lose control of any logic, those arms and hands that hold him the way he’s been craving his whole life. 
He loves you so fucking much, his chest tightens at the thought of telling you right now. 
But before he can even open his mouth, you’re throwing yourself on his arms again and pouncing on his lips without a second to doubt your actions.
Your arms wrap around his neck and his wrap around your waist, the kiss tastes salty from the stray tears that have finally managed to run down your cheek and sweet like all the wine you’ve drank tonight. 
Despite the very large crowd you’ve got around you, you haven’t got it in you to hide away from the PDA this time. You kiss each other slowly and tenderly, like you have all the time in the world. 
And well, you do because Matty can’t think of anywhere else he’d rather than with you. Holding you like this, kissing you like this, sharing his proudest moments with you just like he has shared his struggles with you. 
He fucking loves you, adores you with all he has and nothing’s ever felt so right.
“I adore you.” He mumbles into your lips when he breaks the kiss, your chests rising and falling in rhythm as you take deep breaths.
“Adore you too.” You say back with a massive smile before catching his lips again.  Matty’s heart feels like it’s about to burst at its seams, and it’s nothing to do with the award that he won only two minutes ago. He’s got you and he knows that having you by his side will forever be more than enough. Nothing and no one can compare and he’s certain not a single thing could make him happier. He loves you so so much, all he can do is hope that when he says it, you will make his dreams come true by saying those three words back.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: We really hope you enjoyed this one! So sorry it took so long, we promise that it won't take that long for the next one. Can't believe we're coming to the end of this fic, we'll be getting emotional over it soon ahaha. Thank you so much for baring with us and for reading. Please let us know what you thought and we hope you loved it xx
P.S: NRIACC girlies, hope you enjoyed this one too xoxoxoxox 
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genshinluvr · 2 years
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Crave 4
Pairings: Various Genshin Men x Isekai'd!Reader, Kamisato Ayato x Isekai'd!Reader, Thoma x Isekai'd!Reader, Kamisato Ayato x Isekai'd!Reader x Thoma
Summary: Ayato and Thoma have decided to take you to the Kamisato Estate to show you what they do in their day-to-day lives! At first, the other men did not agree to let you stay at the Kamisato Estate for two or three days just to see what the two men do on a daily basis but soon gave in. Instead of learning what Ayato and Thoma do, you find yourself being stuffed with their cocks instead.
Note: The longer this little mini Crave series goes, the more I'm going to be changing up the chapter index for each chapter instead of having to put "Read part [insert number here] - [here]!" It'll change the more I continue to add more parts. Speaking of adding more things; I am officially at my limit when it comes to tagging the story itself 💀 so the more characters are released in Genshin and are added to the harem, the more I won't be able to tag them since there's a tagging limit on Tumblr and AO3 🥲 As previously stated in the previous parts of Crave, I tried to keep the smut as gender-neutral as possible. Still, this smut (and every other smut I have written on this blog so far) will lean more towards AFAB!Reader/female-bodied reader. As usual, minors DO NOT INTERACT! I don't post anywhere else but on Tumblr (Genshinluvr) and on AO3 (Aaliah_exo).
Warnings: Horribly written smut (as usual), threesome, cockwarming, creampie, hairpulling, sex in a pantry, sex on a desk, semi-public sex, dacryphilia, cervix fucking, double penetration, agoraphilia
Word Count: 15k
Crave "Chapters": [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7]
The entrance of the abode slams open, startling the men in the estate. They looked up from what they were doing, and their heads turned towards the direction of the entrance, alarmed and confused. There by the door, stood Ayato and Thoma. Thoma was carrying you in his arms bridal style while Ayato was holding onto the back of your shirt collar like a mother cat grabbing her kitten by the scruff of their neck. You stared at the men in front of you, deadpanned while not saying a single thing. 
Diluc raised his eyebrows at the two men beside you, “What are you two doing with [Y/N]?” 
“And why is Ayato holding [Y/N] like that?” Kaeya leans on the table behind him, his head tilted to the side while looking at the three of you with a questioning gaze.
Gorou chuckles, “He’s holding [Y/N] like how a mother cat would hold her kittens.” He shakes his head, looking up at you, Ayato, and Thoma with an amused smile on his face.
“That’s what I said!” You exclaimed, struggling to get out of Thoma and Ayato’s grasp with a small scowl on your face. “Unhand me, you oafs!” You groused, kicking your feet in the air. Ayato and Thoma ignore your comment and thrash, continuing to look at the other men in the room with straight faces. “We will be taking [Y/N] to the Kamisato Estate for the next two days. They will be keeping the both of us company as we tend to our duties at the Kamisato Estate.” Ayato says.
Childe immediately speaks up, “Hold on now! If [Y/N] is going to be at the Kamisato Estate to spend some time with the two of you while both of you are doing your duties, wouldn’t they be a distraction?” Childe narrows his eyes at the Kamisato heir and the Kamisato Clan’s housekeeper.
“A distraction? How so? I believe that [Y/N] learning and seeing how Lord Ayato and I work around the estate would be a great educational purpose!” Thoma says innocently, finally releasing you from his grasp. Ayato releases your shirt collar and helps you fix your clothes while you grumble under your breath about being manhandled.
“Educational purposes?! Do you guys want to bore [Y/N] to death by talking about political affairs and cleaning the estate?” Itto exclaims, looking at the two men incredulously. 
You laugh softly, “Other than me keeping Ayato and Thoma company; I will also be finally meeting Kamisato Ayaka!” You said, clapping your hands happily. “I’ve always wanted to meet her, but she’s either busy with her duties, or Ayato and Thoma would be against it!” You frowned, playfully glaring at the two men beside you from the corner of your eyes.
Zhongli quirks an eyebrow at your comment, “And why would the two be against you being able to meet Miss Kamisato?” Zhongli crosses his arms while looking over at Ayato and Thoma.
You shrugged your shoulders, “I don’t know! They never gave me a reason as to why they don’t want me to meet Ayaka!” You tap on your chin before thinking it over. “Perhaps they don’t want me to distract Ayaka from her duties as the Daughter of the Kamisato Clan!” You said.
Scaramouche makes a face, “Yes, that’s one of the reasons why they don’t want you meeting Kamisato Ayaka.” He looks away from you three before reaching over to Childe, shocking the ginger male in the ribs, causing him to jolt in his seat. Childe scowls at Scaramouche before throwing bread at Scaramouche’s head.
“Wait a minute, if Thoma and Ayato were against you meeting Ayaka, then why are they suddenly bringing you to the Kamisato Estate?” Dainsleif inquires, crossing his arms over his chest while giving Thoma and Ayato a skeptical look.
“Right, why are they bringing you back to the Kamisato Estate if they don’t want you to meet Ayato’s sister?” Venti narrows his eyes at Ayato and Thoma while stroking his chin. You shrugged your shoulders in response.
Albedo hums thoughtfully, “If those two can bring [Y/N] back to the Kamisato Estate for two days, then does that mean I can bring [Y/N] to Dragonspine with me to let them see how my experiments work?” Albedo raises his eyebrows at Ayato and Thoma before looking at the other men in the room.
“Dragonspine? Yeah, not going to happen! It’s freezing up there, and it’s dangerous for them to go up there unsupervised.” Xiao retorts, glaring at the chief alchemist sitting across from him. Xiao didn’t want you to go up to Dragonspine with Albedo, not because he doesn’t trust Albedo, but because he worries about your safety, and he knows that you’re not fond of Dragonspine or the sheer cold.
Kazuha chuckles while shaking his head, “Oh, Xiao. [Y/N] won’t be going up there unsupervised! I’m sure Albedo will keep a close eye out on [Y/N] and make sure that they wear plenty of layers while visiting Albedo’s lab.” 
Baizhu nods his head in agreement, “Plus, I believe that [Y/N] will be happy to assist the chief alchemist with his experiments! After all, they’ve always wanted to assist Albedo with his scientific procedures.” 
You nodded your head excitedly, “I also want to learn alchemy! I’ve always wanted to learn more about alchemy, but I never got the chance to learn the basics of alchemy.” You said. “I think going up to Dragonspine would be fun! I also want to experience Dragonspine in person. While it’s freezing and have a gloomy ambiance, I believe that being in a new environment would be a nice change of scenery for the day!” You explained, smiling at the men happily. 
Aether makes a face at you, “I like your optimism, [Y/N]. It’s adorable and too pure for this world! But Dragonspine is also teeming with hilichurls and Fatui Skirmishers.” 
You give Aether a look, “But not in Albedo’s campsite! I’m also sure that Albedo has a route up to his campsite that avoids the hilichurls and Fatui Skirmishers.” You reply, looking over at the chief alchemist, who nods his head at your comment.
Heizou lets out a dramatic sigh before getting up from his seat and approaching where you stood, “Alright, if you two want to take [Y/N] back to the Kamisato Estate for two days, at least return back to the abode when the day ends! I’m going to miss seeing their cute face.” Heizou pouts over at you; he reaches towards you and pinches your cheeks lightly.
“Not going to happen! [Y/N] won’t get to experience the Kamisato Estate if they don’t spend the night in a traditional Inazuman household.” Ayato huffed, crossing his arms over his chest, and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Experience the Kamisato Estate?” Tighnari mutters to himself, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. How does one experience a residence by spending the night— or two nights— at said residence? Wouldn’t you be getting the experience while you’re keeping them company at the estate? Whatever Ayato was implying, it wasn’t adding up to Tighnari and the other men.
Al Haitham crossed leans on the armrest of the couch, “If the two of you want to be selfish and have [Y/N] for yourselves for two days, then I will get to take them for myself too to the Akademiya in Sumeru.”
Pantalone lets out a soft laugh, “If these men don’t let our precious [Y/N] visit the mansion where I, Pierro, Dottore, and Capitano reside, then they surely will not let any of you take [Y/N] for yourselves in another region of Teyvat for more than a day.” He clasped his hands together in his lap and shot a pointed look at the nineteen men. Pantalone wasn’t wrong at all; you have never visited the mansion where the four Harbingers reside, only because you weren’t allowed to for your “safety” and because Itto suggested that their mansion wouldn’t be as fun and lively as the main estate.
Diluc rolls his eyes, “We have plenty of reasons as to why we don’t want [Y/N] to be visiting your little estate.”
Dottore smirks, “Oh? And what would one of those reasons be? Pray tell; I am intrigued.” Dottore rests his chin on the palm of his hand, his elbow propped up on the table. Dottore and Diluc stared at one another for an extended period of time before Diluc looked away from Dottore, causing the man to smirk and lean back in his seat.
Capitano grumbles, “Of course, they wouldn’t say what their reasons are because they don’t have one! They don’t want us in the same room as [Y/N], quite simple to understand.” 
Pierro shakes his head, “If these two gentlemen want to take [Y/N] back to the Kamisato Estate to show them what usually goes on in that estate, then let them! After all, [Y/N] does need a change of scenery for a day or two; it’s not good to keep them cooped up like an animal in the abode.” 
Ayato and Thoma quietly cheered, giving each other a high-five before looking over at Pierro with a thankful smile. Ayato and Thoma linked their arms with yours before looking at the rest of the men in the abode with big triumphant smiles on their faces. You look over at Ayato and Thoma suspiciously; they look at you with sweet, charming, and innocent smiles on their faces as if they didn’t attempt to kidnap you moments ago before going to the abode. 
“Looks like you’ll be staying at the Kamisato Estate for the next two or three days starting tomorrow!” Thoma smiles widely, throwing his arms around your shoulders.
Itto’s eyes widen at Thoma’s comment. “Two or three days!? Both of you said two days, not three days! Where did the third day come from!?” Itto exclaims, throwing his hands in the air while looking at Thoma in disbelief.
Ayato huffs, “Business at the Kamisato Estate can vary. Some take a week-long, and some businesses take less than five days to complete.” Ayato crosses his arms over his chest before giving Itto a small glare.
Gorou’s ears twitch, “Well, since the teapot will be outside of the Kamisato Estate, then that means we can hang out with the three of you for lunch!” The men around him nod their heads in agreement with Gorou’s comment.
You perked up, “Oooh! That would be fun! Let’s definitely do that!” You said, nodding your head. Ayato and Thoma made a face before looking at one another from the corner of their eyes. As fun as it sounds to have the men have lunch at the Kamisato Estate with you, Ayato, and Thoma…. It sort of beats the purpose of what both Ayato and Thoma had in mind. Meaning they want to be selfish and have you for themselves without the other men hogging you or trying to steal you and your attention. Hence why they chose to snatch you up from the others for the next two or three days.
“Why did the two of you make that face?” Scaramouche asks, staring at the two men beside you with a glare.
Childe lets out a humorless laugh, “Isn’t it obvious, Scaramouche? These two don’t want us to show up at the Kamisato Estate to have lunch with the three of them! They want to be selfish and keep [Y/N] for themselves for the next two or three days.” Childe says, crossing his arms over his chest before glaring at the blonde and light blue-haired male. Ayato and Thoma feigned an innocent look before wrapping their arms over your shoulder and around your waist.
You let out a huff, “All of you seem possessive for the last few days. It’s strange.” You said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ears.
Al Haitham snorts, “Can you blame them? I heard these men have been releasing their frustrations and desires out on you.” Al Haitham shoots you a look, the corner of his lips quirking up slightly. 
You feel your face heat up before immediately attaching yourself to the closest person you could reach out to. Since Ayato and Thoma have their arms wrapped around you, you backed up and used the two men as a shield to cover you from Al Haitham’s gaze and comment. Since Al Haitham had brought that up, you definitely do not want to see the other’s reaction because you know they will agree with Al Haitham’s comment while grumbling over not getting a turn yet (aside from the ones that did get a turn with you).
Kaeya looks at Al Haitham with his eyebrows raised, “And how would the eight of you know about the thing that has been going on?” He pointed at Al Haitham, Tighnari, Aether, Heizou, and the four Fatui Harbingers that had been away for a few weeks.
Tighnari chuckles, “Did you know that gossip circulates around the abode quite regularly? With these ears, I am able to hear everything that happens within the abode.” Tighnari says, scratching his ears while Gorou’s eyes widen, and he nods his head rapidly in agreement with Tighnari’s comment. 
“Can I pet your ears?” Heizo asks, raising his hands up to reach for Tighnari’s ears. Heizou’s hands were immediately slapped away from Tighnari’s ears by both Aether and Tighnari. Aether gave Heizou a look before whispering into Heizou’s ears about how it’s rude to pet someone’s ears and that he was lucky that all Tighnari did was smack his hands away.
Aether sighs softly, “Other than Ayato and Thoma stealing [Y/N] from us, what is [Y/N] going to do there for the next two or three days?” Aether asks, crossing his arms over his stomach with narrowed eyes.
“Well, Ayato does have a sister! So maybe [Y/N] will be spending some time with Ayaka and getting to know the Kamisato daughter.” Venti commented, shrugging his shoulders.
Kazuha hums, “That is a possibility, but again, she also has responsibilities as the daughter of the Kamisato Clan.” You nodded your head in agreement. Even if you were to visit the Kamisato Estate, it seems like you’re more likely to be alone than keeping Ayato and Thoma (and maybe Ayaka) company. Perhaps instead of being alone at the Kamisato Estate, you’ll be at Komore Teahouse instead! But who knows?
“Don’t think about exploring Inazuma alone,” Albedo says, interrupting you from your thoughts. You blinked at Albedo before sighing and walking around Ayato and Thoma. 
“As much as it sounds fun to explore Inazuma alone, I was thinking that I can maybe hang out at Komore Teahouse while Ayato and Thoma are tending to their businesses at the estate.” You said, scratching the back of your neck.
“All alone?” Xiao asks, raising his eyebrows at you. 
You stuttered, “Not alone! They can drop me off at the nearest waypoint, and I will walk to Komore Teahouse until one of them come and pick me up!” You said, puckering your lips.
“It sounds like you’ll be alone instead. If that’s the case, then you might as well stay back at the abode, and Ayato and Thoma can return to the Kamisato Estate to tend to their duties.” Baizhu says, shaking his head.
Dainsleif hums, “I agree with Baizhu on this one. If you three were to go to the Kamisato Estate and [Y/N] is left to do nothing and is alone, they might as well just remain at the abode with the rest of us.” Dainsleif gives the two men a look.
You gasp, “But I wanna see Ayaka!” You whined, pouting dramatically and almost stomping your feet on the ground like a petulant child. You made eye contact with Ayato and Thoma, who looked at you as if you’d offended all of their ancestors just by letting those words come out of your mouth. “Listen, I love the both of you, but I also want to meet my future sister-in-law too.” You said.
“Dearest, are you sure you’d be okay with going to the Kamisato Estate? What if Lord Ayato has a meeting to attend with one of the Yashiro Commissioners while Thoma is helping the other servants of the Kamisato household?” Zhongli asks softly.
“Ah, ah, ah! You didn’t mention Ayaka! I can hang out with Ayaka if she’s not busy while Thoma and Ayato are busy!” You said, pointing your fingers at Zhongli.
“Either way, there’s a slight chance that you might be alone at the Kamisato Estate.” A voice interrupts. You slowly turned your head towards the staircase to see Cyno leaning on the railing with his arms over his chest. “Or should I say Aether way?” Cyno snorts, walking down the steps with a smile on his face.
“Cyno, that is the lamest joke I have ever heard!” Tighnari sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose while shaking his head in disapproval. Just when Tighnari thought he could get away from Cyno’s lame jokes, he was wrong.
Al Haitham sighs; his head falls back on the top cushion of the couch, his eyes closed and eyebrows furrowing. “Cyno, what a lovely surprise to see you here at the abode.” Al Haitham lifts his head up and gives the man a tired glare.
“Aw! Not happy to see the one and only? I knew this was going to happen!” Cyno pouted, plopping down on the couch beside Al Haitham before looking over in your direction and wiggling his eyebrows at you. You let out a huff and looked away from Cyno, feeling your face turning hot just from a small look from him. “Or…. should I say… Anubis was going to happen.” Cyno cackles and slaps his knees; the others around him groan in unison after hearing another one of Cyno’s pun jokes.
“May I please have permission to smack him?” Scaramouche asks, raising his hands before giving the electro user a slight glare; Cyno snorts and waves Scaramouche off. 
Pierro sighs, “No, you cannot smack him, Balladeer.” Pierro pinches the bridge of his nose before rubbing his temples.
Pantalone laughs lightly, “What, you want to smack the newest member of the group just because he was cracking a small joke or two? Lighten up, Balladeer!” Pantalone says, giving Scaramouche a look before leaning in his seat with an amused smile on his face.
“It’s getting late! I believe that we should all go to bed.” Gorou says, clapping his hands to grab everyone’s attention.
Your eyes widen before you turn to look at the other men, “Wait, it’s late already!? I thought it was early in the morning!” You said, peeking from between Ayato and Thoma to get a glimpse of the sky in the abode. Indeed the night has fallen in the teapot, but somehow you (and the others aside from Gorou) didn’t seem to notice that night has fallen at all. You turned around and scratched your head, “Huh, that’s strange. Last time I checked, the sun was still out.” You grumbled.
“Aw! If we go to bed now, that means we won’t be seeing [Y/N] tomorrow because they’ll be at the Kamisato Estate with Lord Ayato and Thoma!” Venti whines. He pushes through the crowd of men before jumping into your arms with his arms wrapped around your waist.
Thoma chuckles and pats Venti on the shoulders, “Don’t worry, Venti! The teapot will be outside of the Kamisato Estate! [Y/N] can visit any time they desire to while keeping us company at the Kamisato Estate!” 
Aether snorted, “Except, we know the two of you won’t let that happen because the both of you want to have [Y/N] for yourselves for the next two or three days away from the abode!” Aether points an accusing finger at the Kamisato heir and the Kamisato housekeeper.
“I mean, I would do it too. Maybe the both of us should do that next time!” Heizou whispers to Aether, nudging the blond male. Aether’s eyes widen at Heizou’s plan before thinking about it for a moment. He looks at the others from the corner of his eyes before nodding his head in agreement.
You shook your head, “I’m going to bed now. Goodnight, everyone!” You said, giving each person a hug and a kiss on the cheeks (which took a while because some would hold onto you while the others would shower you with affection and kisses in front of the other men out of spite) before walking up the stairs to your bedroom. You closed your bedroom door and collapsed onto your bed with a tired groan. Your eyes snap open after realizing that you still need to brush your teeth and take a shower. You begrudgingly got up from your bed and pulled your clean clothes and undergarments out from the dresser before sluggishly walking to the bathroom.
After taking a quick shower and brushing your teeth, you finally collapsed on your bed and bundled yourself up in the mountain of blankets on your bed. You snuggled against your pillow and plushies before drifting off to sleep. You woke up to movements, and you weren’t sure of what was causing said movements.
“Wow, the two of you must be desperate to snatch [Y/N] away from the abode.” You hear Kaeya chuckle. Someone suddenly bounces you lightly, making you come to a realization that you are being carried on someone’s back. You cracked your eyes open and looked around tiredly.
“What’s going on?” You mumble, rubbing the sleep out of your eyes before sitting up.
“Thoma and Ayato are kidnapping you to the Kamisato Estate,” Itto says, pouting at you with his arms crossed over his chest.
You blinked at Itto before laying back down on Ayato’s back, arms thrown over his shoulders. “I thought we were leaving in the morning, not in the middle of the night. I would appreciate it if you two woke me up instead of sneaking me out of the abode.” You grumbled, pressing your cheek against Ayato’s back with a small sigh.
“Oh, my! How deep asleep were you? Ayato and Thoma did try to wake you up, but you continued to sleep.” You hear Baizhu chuckle, fingers combing through your hair.
You grumbled and snuggled up against Ayato’s back, “It’s because it’s still in the middle of the night. Why would we go to the Kamisato Estate in the middle of the night?” You let out a dramatic sigh.
“It may be a shock to you, but it’s nine in the morning.” Albedo commented; your eyelids flew open, and you sat up and looked over at the nearest window. You squinted your eyes before burying your face into Ayato’s back.
“How in the world did the sun rise so fast? I was not informed of this at all.” You mumbled, peeking up from Ayato’s back, blinking at the brightness. “How long was I asleep for?” You ask, blinking at the men tiredly.
“You’ve been asleep for almost ten hours,” Xiao says, pressing his back up against the wall with his arms over his chest.
Diluc nods his head, “You must have been really exhausted because you did wake up when Lord Ayato and Thoma woke you up to get ready, but you were out like a light within two minutes of being woken up from your sleep.” 
“And you were mumbling about how much you love me more than you love the others! Isn’t that right, snookums? You love me more than the others!” Childe says, trotting up to you with a big smile on his face.
Dainsleif sighs, “Don’t start this now, Childe.” Dainsleif rolls his eyes and shakes his head with an annoyed look on his face. If Dainsleif could smack Childe with no consequences, he would do it in a heartbeat.
“We packed you some spare clothes to wear while you’re staying at the Kamisato Estate,” Zhongli says, holding up a small suitcase that contained your clothes, undergarments, and bathroom essentials.
You puckered your lips before giving the former archon a thankful smile, “Aw! Thank you, Zhongli! I really appreciate it!” You said, reaching out to the man before squeezing his hand lightly.
“Make sure to get plenty of rest while staying at the Kamisato Estate. If I can recall, you once told me that you have issues with sleeping in a foreign place. Do get some plenty of rest while away from the abode for the next two or three days,” Kazuha says, brushing his thumb over the apples of your cheeks.
“I’ll try.” You hum softly, giving Kazuha a small smile. Kazuha smiles back at you before leaning in to kiss your forehead. After that, each man began to bid you, Thoma, and Ayato a temporary goodbye while giving you a hug and a kiss. After leaving the teapot, the three of you are now standing in front of the Kamisato Estate. You leaned against Thoma with your arms linked with their arms, still trying to wake yourself.
“Big brother! Thoma! You’re home!” You three hear. You, Thoma, and Ayato look up, only to see the daughter of the Kamisato Clan run down the steps with a smile on her face. You and Ayaka made eye contact, her eyes lit up, and she stopped in front of you. “You must be the famous [Y/N]! My brother and Thoma talk about you all the time!” She says, grabbing onto your hands with a big smile on her face.
“Milady, it’s nice to finally meet you! I have wanted to meet you for ages, but for some reason, Ayato and Thoma wouldn’t let me!” You said, turning around to give the two men a look. Ayato and Thoma look away, acting like they didn’t hear what you just said.
“Please, just call me Ayaka! It’s great to meet you after hearing these two talk about you!” Ayaka says, squeezing your hands lightly. “Please, come on in! I bet the three of you are hungry!” Ayaka says, pulling you into the estate with Ayato and Thoma following behind.
“That’s nice of you, milady! But Lord Ayato and I have already had breakfast! It’s just [Y/N] that hasn’t eaten anything today. After all, we did rouse them from their sleep to bring them to the Kamisato Estate.” Said Thoma, waving to the other servants of the Kamisato Estate.
Ayaka’s eyes widen, “Is that so? No worries! The servants have prepared plenty of food for you to eat!” Ayaka says. 
“While the food is getting ready, Thoma and I will be showing you around the Kamisato Estate and where you will be staying,” Ayato says. Ayato wraps his right arm around your waist before guiding you deeper into the Kamisato Estate with Thoma walking beside you. While you were analyzing the interior decor of the Kamisato Estate, you failed to sense the tension that was rising within the mansion.
“Here is where you will be staying for the next two or three days! Please make yourself at home and get comfortable!” Ayato says, lightly squeezing your waist while Thoma places your luggage down beside the dresser.
You sit on the bed and feel yourself wanting to lay on the bed and sleep, “This bed is really comfortable.” You hummed. You stretched your limbs before laying on the bed, looking up at the ceiling before yawning. “After breakfast, I am going back to sleep.” You said, rubbing the tears that pooled around your eyes from yawning. You didn’t get a response from the two men; you lifted your head up to check why they weren’t responding, only to see that they were staring at you with a strange expression on their faces. Right when you were about to open your mouth to ask them what was wrong, the three of you heard one of the Kamisato Estate servants announcing that food was ready.
“Oh! It looks like breakfast and lunch are ready.” Thoma says; he held his hand out for you to take. 
You sat up and reached out to Thoma’s hand, letting him pull you up from the bed. The three of you approached the dining area, only to see all sorts of food placed on the table. You closed your eyes and breathed in the delicious aroma of food on the table. You feel your stomach beginning to growl. Breakfast and lunch consisted of Ayaka getting to know you more while Ayato and Thoma sat across from the both of you.
Ayato was only a few bites into his lunch (which was interesting because he and Thoma had eaten before leaving the abode); one of the Kamisato servants approached Ayato before whispering something into his ears. 
Ayato places his chopsticks down on the cloth napkin before letting out a quiet sigh, “It seems my attention is needed elsewhere. Duty calls.” Ayato says, getting up from his seat. Before he walks off, he stops in his tracks before turning to look at you, “I expect to see you in my office after you’re done with your food.”
Your eyes widen before nodding your head, “Alright! I’ll come to your office after I’m done eating.” You said. Ayato gives you a small smile before walking to where his office is located within the Kamisato Estate. 
“[Y/N], what do you think about the Kamisato Estate so far?” Ayaka asks, taking a sip from her teacup elegantly.
You hum softly, reaching for the cloth napkin before dabbing your lips lightly. “It’s pretty busy! Everyone in the estate has a responsibility that keeps them occupied throughout the entire day.” You said, reaching over to the plate of the tri-flavored skewer. “I’m curious what each individual’s day-to-day life is like at the Kamisato Estate.” You took a bite from the tri-flavored skewer and hummed in delight. The food that is presented on the table is delicious, and you would love to learn how to cook each dish for the men when you return to the abode. But knowing Thoma, he would much rather be the one to cook. Perhaps he wouldn’t mind teaching you how to cook some of the Inazuma dishes if you help him out with his duties.
“Well, since Lord Ayato is currently in his office filling out paperwork, you’ll be able to see what his day-to-day life is like! After that, I will show you what my day-to-day life is like as the housekeeper of the Kamisato Estate.” Thoma says, reaching over to wipe the corner of your lips with his thumb.
Ayaka perks up, “Before you go to visit my brother, I have ordered you a custom-made kimono to wear while you stay here! I hope you don’t mind.” She tucks a loose piece of hair behind her ears.
Your eyes widen, “O-Oh! Ayaka! You didn’t have to order me a custom-made kimono!” You said, grabbing onto Ayaka’s hands gently. “Also, how do you know my size?” You look at Ayaka curiously.
She giggles, “With the help of my brother and Thoma, of course! And I insisted!” Ayaka looks over at Thoma, who looks away from the both of you while taking a sip of his Dango milk. 
You shrugged your shoulders before continuing to eat your meal while conversing with Ayaka and Thoma. As breakfast and lunch came to an end, Thoma was called to help out the other servants at the Kamisato Estate. Thoma gives you and Ayaka a small smile before getting up to aid the other servants. A servant approaches you and Ayaka with a small gift box in their hands, bowing to the Kamisato daughter before handing the package to her.
“Here is your kimono! If you need any assistance, please don’t hesitate to ask me!” Ayaka says, giving you the package with a smile on her face. 
You thanked Ayaka with a bow before taking the box from her hands and turning around to walk to your temporary bedroom. You slid the door closed behind you and unboxed the kimono; the patterns are beautiful, the fabric feels luxurious, and the color is breathtaking. You couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty over the fact that Ayaka had spent a lot of mora on the kimonos for you to wear while you were staying at the Kamisato Estate.
You stripped off your clothes and changed into the beautiful kimono that Ayaka had graciously gifted to you. You managed to get the kimono on after what felt like ten minutes. The kimono was not too long, not too short; it was the perfect length and fitted you like a glove. You walked to the mirror that was hung up on the wall before examining your reflection. While you were looking at your reflection, you heard a faint knock coming from outside of the guest bedroom.
“[Y/N], it’s Ayaka! May I come in?” Her voice was muffled behind the shōji.
Forgetting that Ayaka couldn’t see you, you nodded your head. You smacked your forehead lightly before responding, “Yes, you may enter, Ayaka!” You hear the door slide open. A soft gasp came from behind you; you looked in the mirror and made eye contact with Ayaka. She had both of her hands covering her mouth while she analyzed you from head to toe.
“[Y/N]! You look beautiful in the kimono!” Ayaka says, slowly walking up to you while admiring you from head to toe. “I’m happy to see that I got the correct measurements for your kimono!” Ayaka smiles happily.
“The kimono fits like a glove! Thank you so much, Ayaka!” You said, bowing to the girl in front of you.
Ayaka laughs while shaking her head, “Don’t thank me! Thank my brother and Thoma! After all, they did help me get your measurements for the kimono ahead of time before your arrival!” Ayaka says.
You looked at her with surprise, “Ahead of time!? So what you’re implying is that both Thoma and Ayato have been planning on taking me to the Kamisato Estate for quite some time now?” You ask. 
Ayaka nods her head, “That is correct, [Y/N]! Now, let me help you get ready to meet my big brother in this office! We want you to look not only beautiful, but we want you to look breathtaking as well that’ll leave both Ayato and Thoma breathless!” Ayaka says, gesturing you to sit down at the vanity before pulling out a hairbrush with two other Kamisato servants entering the room.
The first servant, named Yuri, brushed and styled your hair while the other Kamisato servant, named Kyoko, put on light makeup on your face. While both Yuri and Kyoko were styling you, Ayaka was telling you embarrassing stories about Thoma and Ayato. Most of the stories caught you off guard because Ayato is a very refined man and doesn’t seem to be the type that has been put through many embarrassing situations.
“And you are done!” Kyoko says, taking a step away from you with a satisfied smile on her face. “What do you think, Milady?” Kyoko turns to the young girl beside her.
Ayaka’s eyes lit up, “[Y/N] looks lovely! You did an amazing job, Kyoko!” Ayaka praises the woman, who smiles and bows at Ayaka. Kyoko hands over the small hand mirror to you; you look in the mirror and are in awe of what you are seeing. 
“Wow! You did an amazing job, Kyoko! I look like a different person!” You said, looking up at the woman with wide eyes in awe.
Kyoko smiles pridefully, “Now you are ready to see the young master!” She claps her hands. You smile at Ayaka, Kyoko, and Yuri before getting up from the bed and adjusting the kimono. Yuri goes to open the door, revealing Ayato and Thoma standing at the door, waiting for you.
“Oh, Ayato and Thoma! Did I make you wait too long?” You ask, looking at the two men worriedly.
“We just wanted to see you,” Thoma says, shrugging his shoulders. “Might I say, you look lovely in that kimono, [Y/N]! Ayaka, Yuri, and Kyoko did a magnificent job.” Thoma says, admiring you from head to toe.
Ayato nods his head, “Indeed, [Y/N] does look magnificent in the elegant kimono and all dolled up for us.” Ayato says, giving you a soft smile before holding his arm out for you to take. “Shall we go to my office now? I want to show you what my day looks like as the head of the Kamisato Clan and the responsibilities that come with it.” 
You smiled and linked your arms with his, “We shall, Mister Kamisato. Or should I say, my Lord?” You said, quirking up an eyebrow at Ayato. Ayato gives you a look before escorting you out of your temporary bedroom.
Standing in front of Ayato’s office, Thoma presses a quick kiss on your cheeks before being dragged away by the other Kamisato servants that needed his assistance. Ayato slides the office door open and guides you into his office before sliding the door closed behind the two of you. 
You let go of Ayato’s arms and walked around the office, eyes scanning the room in awe. It was pretty spacious with beautiful Inazuman furniture. For someone that has a lot of paperwork to fill out, along with documents, his desk was quite neat. Ayato walks over to his desk and sits down on the cushioned chair before gesturing for you to come over. You walked over to where Ayato sat and stood beside his desk, looking down at him curiously. After a few seconds of standing there, you realize that there aren’t any extra chairs in the room for you to sit on.
“Where will I be sitting, Ayato? There aren’t any spare seats in your office.” You said, lacing your fingers together while trying not to feel out of place.
Ayato pushes his chair back from his desk and pats his lap, “You’ll be sitting on my lap as I fill out some documents.” Ayato stated. You stared at Ayato for a moment, assuming that he was just joking, only to realize that he wasn’t joking at all. 
“If that’s okay with you, then alright! As long as I’m not distracting you from your work.” You said, sitting down on his lap. 
Ayato chuckles and wraps his arms around your waist before scooting the chair closer to the wooden desk. “No need to worry. You won’t be a distraction at all, my love.” He says, pressing a delicate kiss on your cheeks. You feel your face become hot at the affection; you lean back against Ayato’s chest, examining the paperwork that he was filling out.
“How many things do you have to fill out?” You murmured, your eyes trailing over to the stack of documents on the right side of the table. “And do any of these have deadlines?” You added, taking a peek up at Ayato, only to see that he was already staring down at you.
He hums softly, “Most of the documents that I fill out are due within five to seven business days. Although, it does depend on how fast it’ll be delivered and how urgent the Clan needs the document.” Ayato replies, placing his pen down on the table.
“Ayato, you’re getting distracted.” You pointed out, poking his cheeks lightly with your index finger. “Don’t let me distract you from your important business.” You murmur. Ayato chuckles and cups your face in his right hand before peppering kisses on your neck.
“How could I focus on my paperwork when you’re a sight to behold?” Ayato murmurs against your neck. “Plus, the majority of my paperwork is just me signing approval of what the Kamisato Clan and other clans in Inazuma have gone over. It’s not as important as you.” Ayato says, wrapping his arms around your waist.
“I don’t want you to get into trouble, but at the same time, I don’t want you to stop.” You whisper, laying your head on Ayato’s shoulders, letting out a small gasp when you feel Ayato’s hands trailing up your bare legs inside of the kimono.
Ayato chuckles against your neck, lightly nibbling at it before squeezing the plush of your thighs. “You needn’t worry about anything, my love. No one will dare to walk into the office unless it is an emergency or another document has been delivered.” Ayato says, adjusting you on his lap. You let out a shaky gasp when you feel Ayato grind his now hardened cock up against your ass. “Do you want me to stop?” Ayato murmurs, his hands rubbing your hips as he buries his face into your neck.
You shake your head in response, “Please don’t stop.” You whisper, turning to look at Ayato.
Ayato looks up at you through his thick lashes with a smile; he leans forward and presses his lips against yours. Ayato grabs you by your waist before laying you down on his desk.
“I’m not sure if I should rush it or take my time with you.” Ayato hums, stroking his chin as he stares down at you. Ayato rubs his gloved hands on your bare legs and thighs, inching closer to your crotch. “Hmmm…. I guess we shall wait and see how it goes.” Ayato shrugged his shoulders before leaning over you to press his lips against yours. You immediately wrapped your arms around Ayato’s shoulders, pulling him close to your body and tangling your fingers in his soft, light blue hair. You feel Ayato’s hands creep further into your kimono, his slim index and middle fingers looping around the band of your underwear before slipping them down your legs. You lift your waist for him to slide your underwear off, not breaking the kiss that is shared between you two. 
After successfully taking your underwear off, Ayato reaches down and starts unzipping his pants, freeing his stiff cock out from the confinements of his underwear and pants. Ayato breaks the kiss between you two before biting the fingertip of his right glove, promptly taking the glove off. Ayato leans down and presses his lips against your neck, lightly nibbling on your neck. Ayato strokes his erect member, his breath beginning to quicken.
“Try not to be loud,” Ayato murmurs into your ears, his warm breath fanning your neck. You swallowed the lump in your throat when you felt the tip of his dick prodding and rubbing up against your heat. You gripped Ayato’s shoulders tightly, bracing yourself. Ayato slowly enters your warm entrance, his eyes nearly rolling to the back of his head when his cock is engulfed by the velvety walls of your hole.
“Oh, fuck.” You whispered, your head resting on the desk, feeling your body accommodate his size. You grit your teeth together, eyebrows furrowing, a small hiss coming from your mouth. A strained groan comes from Ayato’s throat, sinking further into your cavern.
“You’re so tight.” Ayato pants into your ears, lightly gripping onto your hair. “You would think that an oni like Itto would stretch you out, but it seems like he’s not as big as he claimed to be.” Ayato mused, sending a sharp thrust. A loud wail leaves your mouth; your eyes widen before you slap both of your hands over your mouth, your walls quivering around Ayato’s hot cock. Ayato sighs, a shiver shooting up his body when he feels you clench around his stiff member.
“I told you to try to keep it down,” Ayato murmurs, pulling his cock out of you, only leaving the tip of his dick inside of you.
You whimpered, “I-I’m sorry! It was so sudden! I didn’t have enough time to react.” You squeaked, gazing up at Ayato with tears in your eyes. Ayato feels something in him stir when he sees tears gathered in your eyes. Maybe he’s sadistic, but he wants to see you cry as he impales you with his fat cock.
“Don’t cry now; you’ll ruin your cute little makeup.” He coos, wiping the tear from the corner of your eyes with his thumb. Ayato lifts his thumb up to his lips before sucking on the teardrop. You look up at Ayato, thighs shaking. Ayato grabs onto your waist before plunging his cock back into your entrance. You dug your nails into his back, attempting to muffle your cries and yelps with your right hand. “Has anyone ever told you that you look cute whenever you cry?” Ayato groans into your ears, nibbling on your earlobe while languidly thrusting into your heat.
“Faster, you’re going too slow!” You whined, tugging at his coat. Ayato pauses his thrust before raising an eyebrow at your demand. 
Ayato chuckles, “Too slow, you say? Alright, you asked for it.” Ayato shrugs his shoulders. 
Ayato tightens his grip around your waist before pistoning his cock in and out of your entrance. You nearly shot up to the edge of the desk if it weren’t for the firm grip Ayato had on your waist. Your eyes are shut, your legs are wrapped tightly around his waist, nails digging into his wrist. Stars danced behind your eyelids; your legs were trembling with pleasure, your walls clenching around Ayato’s cock. You let out a quiet string of whimpers and gasps with each thrust Ayato was sending your way, pleasure shooting up your spine. You bite down on your lips, eyes rolling to the back of your head when you feel the bulbous tip of Ayato’s member repeatedly hit your cervix. Ayato grinds his pubic bone against your engorged bulb-shaped organ, causing you to let out a loud gasp; your back arches, walls squeezing around his cock. The sounds of skin slapping, labored breathing, an occasional whine, gasp, and moan fill the office air.
“It seems I found the cute little nerve of yours.” Ayato teases you, reaching down to pinch and roll between his fingertips. Your jaws drop, your tongue rolls out of your mouth, and a quiet squeal leaves your mouth while Ayato plunges his cock in and out of your entrance, squeezing and rolling the bundle of nerves between his thumb and index finger. A tight coil starts to form at the lower part of your stomach, causing your eyes to widen; you grab onto his wrist tightly, looking up at him, panicked.
“A-Ayato! I’m going to cum!” You whimpered softly, rolling your hips against his hips.
Ayato chuckles and leans down, sucking below your jaws, “Oh yeah? Do you want to cum on my cock?” Ayato teases, continuing to hammer his dick deep inside of your entrance. You squealed when Ayato lifted your right leg up, throwing it over his shoulders, his member striking the deepest part of your heat.
“Yes, please! Please let me cum on your cock.” You whined into his ears. Ayato chuckles and bites down on your shoulders, ramming his cock into your hole. Just when you were about to cum, the sound of knocking interrupted you two. Ayato pauses his thrusts and looks up at the door, his chest heaving with each breath.
Ayato reaches up and wipes the sweat from his forehead, “State your business.” Ayato says, trying to even out his breathing.
Both you and Ayato hear Thoma’s voice coming from behind the closed door, “My Lord, you have a visitor from the Kujou Clan.”
You and Ayato looked over at one another with wide eyes. You begin to push at Ayato’s chest, trying to get him off of you and out of your guts, but Ayato remains still. Ayato tightens his grip around your waist, pressing his cock deeper inside of you.
“Give me a moment to organize the desk. [Y/N] and I have been aimlessly flipping through documents and sorting them.” Ayato says, standing up.
“Alright, let me know when you’re ready, My Lord!” Thoma says, his voice still muffled behind the door. Ayato wraps his arms around your waist and pulls you up; his dick remains buried deep inside of your hole.
“What are you doing?!” You hissed as Ayato sat back down on his cushioned chair with you on his lap, his cock tucked inside of your quivering heat. Ayato turns you around to have your back pressed up against his chest; he helps you adjust your kimono and appearance, making sure that the both of you don’t look out of place or suspicious.
Ayato shrugs his shoulders, “Making sure that you and I don’t look suspicious to our visitor. What else does it look like?” Ayato asks, adjusting himself in his seat. Ayato’s sudden movement caused his cock to bury further into your heat. You bite your lips; your head falls back on Ayato’s shoulders. “Try to act like you don’t have my cock buried in the deepest part of your organs,” Ayato instructs, giving you a teasing smile.
You huffed, “As long as you don’t make it hard for me, then I got this.” You said, fixing your hair. Ayato smiles devilishly before thrusting up, the mushroom tip of his cock hitting your cervix. You let out a choked groan and slowly looked up at him with a small glare.
“Thoma, you may let the member of the Kujou Clan enter,” Ayato casually announces, reaching over to his right glove and putting it on. You silently gulped when the door slid open; the member of the Kujou Clan walked into the room with Thoma accompanying him.
“Oh! It seems you have a guest here with you too.” The man says, looking at you in surprise.
Ayato smiles, “Yes, I was showing my lover what I usually do in my office whenever I work. They were curious to see how busy I could get when it came to documents and paperwork to fill out. Not only that, but I am also teaching them what to look out for when signing documents if I am ever away.” Ayato explains, smiling at the man that stood before you and Ayato.
You nod your head with a fake smile on your face, “I’ve always wanted to know what Lord Ayato deals with when filling out paperwork. While I understand that these documents are confidential between the Kamisato Clan and the other clans, I only kept my eyes on Lord Ayato as he explained what to look for when signing documents.” You said, your nails digging into the palm of your hands beneath the desk.
“Interesting.” The man murmurs, stroking his chin. “I wasn’t aware that the Kamisato heir has a lover, but nonetheless, I am happy for the two of you! Shall we get started?” The man asks; Ayato nods his head at the man with a small smile while you give the man a stiff smile, trying your best to ignore the cock that is buried deep inside of you.
Needless to say, the meeting with the member of the Kujou Clan was tortuous for you. Frequently, Ayato would shift in his seat, making his dick drag in and out of your sopping wet hole. You would have to hold onto the desk really tightly while trying to keep a straight face as if you didn’t have the Kamisato heir’s cock buried deep inside of your cavern. 
Thoma would give you and Ayato a weird look each time either one of you shifted in your seats. What Thoma doesn’t know, or at least you hope he doesn’t, is the only reason why both you and Ayato would shift in your spots a lot is to find a way to relieve the tension where the both of you are connected. 
“And will that be all?” Ayato asks, looking at the member of the Kujou Clan curiously, placing his pen down on the desk next to the signed document.
The man smiles and shakes his head, “That will be it for today, Mister Kamisato!” The man gets up from the seat that Thoma had brought into the office. He bows to you and Ayato (you assumed that the man is mainly bowing at Ayato, but in order not to make it seem awkward, he ends up bowing to both you and Ayato) before leaving the room with Thoma following behind. The door slides shut, and the two of you wait for the footsteps to fade away.
After the footsteps are gone, you find yourself pinned to the desk with your chest on the table and Ayato towering over you from behind. When you open your mouth to speak, Ayato pulls his stiff member out from inside of you before plunging deep inside of you. You let out a choked gasp; your hands gripped the edge of the desk in front of you until your knuckles turned white.
Ayato presses his chest against your back, continuously ramming his fat cock deep inside of you. “You have no idea how much I have to hold myself back from fucking you on this desk in front of the member of the Kujou Clan and Thoma.” Ayato groans, picking up the pace of his thrust. “You drive me crazy.” He hisses, feeling his orgasm approaching.
“Ayato! Don’t stop! I’m about to cum.” You whined softly, tugging at his sleeves. 
The tight coil in your lower abdomen starts to form and tighten the more Ayato pistons his member inside of you. Ayato clenches his jaws together; his grip around your waist is so tight that you are sure that it will leave a mark the next day. Ayato’s thrust gets sloppier each thrust the more he gets closer to his high. Ayato threw his head back, sending one last sharp jab into your heat before thick ropes of hot cum spilled inside of you. You clenched around Ayato’s cock, milking his cock and cumming around him. You go limp on the desk, chest heaving, body covered in sweat. The kimono was sticking to your skin, and it was making you feel even hotter than you already were from your and Ayato’s activities.
“How are you feeling?” Ayato breathes, slowly pulling his now soft cock out from inside of you, putting his cock back into his underwear, pulling his pants up, and zipping up his pants. 
You sighed and glanced up at Ayato from over your shoulders, “I feel much better now that Thoma and the member of the Kujou Clan have left the office.” You said, slowly getting up from the desk, almost wincing when you feel your and Ayato’s mixed cum spilling out from your soiled entrance. “I’m going to need to clean that up.” You murmured, leaning over to grab your underwear from the ground behind the desk. It was a good thing that your underwear wasn’t lying out in the open for Thoma and the Kujou Clan member to see. That would have been a very awkward situation, and it’ll be hard for the both of you to come up with some sort of an excuse as to why your underwear is on the floor of Ayato’s office. 
“Ah, ah, ah!” Ayato says, walking over to where you stood. “I will be taking that as a souvenir for myself,” Ayato says, plucking your underwear from your grasp. 
You stared at Ayato with wide eyes, “If you wanted to keep one of my underwear as a souvenir, you could’ve chosen a clean one.” You pouted at Ayato, reaching up to grab the underwear in his grasp, only for Ayato to dodge from your grasp.
“No need, I am fine with these,” Ayato says, pocketing your underwear. You stared at Ayato with wide eyes before looking away from the man.
You mumble, “Well, how in the world am I going to be walking out of your office without looking suspicious? I’m leaking.” You said, gesturing to your lower half.
“Maybe I want other people to know our little activities behind closed doors,” Ayato says nonchalantly, wrapping his arms around your waist, pulling you to his chest with a sly grin on his face. You grumbled and pressed your face against his chest, letting out a soft sigh. How can you be mad at that sweet smile of his? That dang cute ass mole and endearing smile of his was making it hard for you to be upset with him.
You sighed dramatically, “You’re lucky I love you, Ayato. And that you’re cute.” You grumbled, glaring at the Kamisato heir playfully, who smiled down at you before pressing a kiss on your head.
The next day, you woke up to the window blinds in your temporary bedroom open—the sunlight shining in your eyes. You groaned and threw your blanket over your head, blocking out the sunlight that was shining through the window blinds. You hear someone approach where your lay. The bed beside you dipped, and before you knew it, someone ripped the blankets right off of your body. 
“Morning, [Y/N]! Are you ready for the day?” Thoma asks, peering down at you with the sweetest smile on his face.
You pouted up at Thoma, “As you can see, I am not ready for the day at all.” You grumbled, attempting to reach down and grab the blanket at the edge of the bed, only for Thoma to push it away from you further. You started at Thoma blankly, who stared back at you, his smile never faltering. “What are you doing?” You ask, staring up at the blond male quizzically.
Thoma chuckles, “Well, since you spent time with Ayato yesterday and got to see what he does in his daily life as the Kamisato Heir and the head of the Kamisato Clan! Today is the day where you get to see what I usually do as the housekeeper of the Kamisato Estate!” Thoma explains, combing his fingers through your bedhead, his fingers occasionally getting stuck in your tangled hair.
“What time is it?” You grumbled, slowly sitting up on the bed, rubbing your eyes to adjust to the brightness in your room.
“It is currently seven in the morning!” Thoma chirps; your head snaps in Thoma’s direction, eyes wide. You look out the window, and even though the sun is rising, it doesn’t look like it is seven in the morning at all. Heck, it seems like it could be eight or nine in the morning instead! Speaking of seven in the morning, does Thoma usually get up around this time to get ready for the day and start his duties as the housekeeper of the Kamisato Estate?
You pursed your lips for a moment, looking at Thoma with your hands in your lap. “Do you usually get up this early in the morning at the Kamisato Estate?” You inquired, tilting your head to the side while scratching your head.
Thoma nods his head, “I also usually get up around this time back at the abode as well.” Thoma replies. “Now, let's get up, shall we? We need to start the day and prepare some breakfast to eat!” Thoma says, reaching for your hand.
“Alright, but let me change into the other kimono that Ayaka got for me.” You said, getting up from the bed and walking over to the wooden dresser where the kimono was hung.
Thoma makes an uncertain noise, “Since you’re spending time with me and are seeing what I am doing in my day-to-day life at the Kamisato Estate, you won’t need to wear the kimono that Ayaka has gotten for you. After all, you will be helping me with some of my duties as well.” Thoma speaks up, walking up to where you stood.
“Oh! Then that makes things easier for me.” You said, walking over to your luggage and pulling out the clothes that Zhongli had packed for you. You’re very thankful that Zhongli had packed you comfortable yet cute clothes; he knows you so well. Depending on how tired you are, you could take a while in the bathroom. But since you know that Thoma is on a time crunch as the housekeeper of the Kamisato Estate, you knew you couldn’t and shouldn’t waste Thoma’s time.
You walked out of your bedroom, teeth brushed, dressed, and ready to go. You slowly walked around the estate, searching for the blond male.
“Thoma?” You call out softly, making sure to keep your voice at a minimum volume just in case someone is still sleeping. Your vision suddenly turns black when someone places their hands over your eyes, your back pressed up against someone’s chest.
“Guess who.” The person whispers, their breath tickling your neck, causing goosebumps to form on your arms.
You placed your hands over the person’s hand and began feeling their gloves. They were wearing fingerless gloves, and you could feel the intricate designs on the fingerless gloves. Ayato doesn’t wear fingerless gloves, and you’re not even sure if Ayaka wears any sort of gloves. Plus, you recognize these gloves.
You hum softly, “Thoma! I didn’t know you had time for a joke like this?” You said, grabbing onto the person’s hands and pulling them away from your face. You turned around to face Thoma, only to come face to face with Ayato, who was smiling down at you with one eyebrow raised. “Ayato!” You squeaked, eyes widening in surprise. You looked at Ayato’s hands, only to see that he was indeed wearing Thoma’s gloves. You narrowed your eyes at the Kamisato heir, who laughed at your reaction. He pulls his hands out from your grasp and pinches your cheeks while you continue to glare holes into his person.
“Ah! So that’s where my gloves went!” Thoma says, walking over to you and Ayato with his arms crossed over his chest. “I see that you have decided to wear my gloves to trick [Y/N].” Thoma mused, the corner of his lips quirking up as Ayato took Thoma’s gloves off before handing them over to the blond male. Thoma chuckled softly and began to slip his fingerless gloves into his hands.
“I wanted to see if [Y/N] was able to differentiate between the both of us if we swapped gloves,” Ayato says cooly, putting his gloves back on. 
You sputtered, “I was correct, but I was bamboozled!” You said, lightly hitting Ayato’s chest before walking over to Thoma’s side, linking your arms around his. “I believe that you and I have something to do.” You said, looking up at Thoma.
Thoma smiles and nods his head, “That is correct! If you’ll excuse us, My Lord, [Y/N] and I will be starting the day off!” Thoma says, giving the head of the Kamisato Clan a smile.
Ayato nods his head, “Alright! I will see you two at breakfast.” Ayato says, nodding to both you and Thoma before turning to walk in the direction of where his office is located. Ayato stops in his tracks for a moment before turning over to you; you give Ayato a questioning gaze as he approaches you. Ayato caresses your face in his hands before pressing his lips on your forehead before pulling away, giving you one last smile before walking off.
Thoma squeezes your hand. You look up at Thoma, who has a strange expression on his face. “Shall we begin the day together as the housekeeper of the Kamisato Estate?” Thoma asks, flashing you a fake smile.
“We shall!” You said, smiling at Thoma as he pulled you towards the direction of the kitchen and dining area of the estate. Ingredients were laid out on the kitchen island, ranging from salt, pepper, lavender melons, sakura blooms, seagrass, potatoes, tomatoes, flour, and eggs. Your eyes widened as you looked over at Thoma, who looked almost satisfied with your reaction. “How many things are we going to cook for breakfast?!” You ask.
Thoma shrugs his shoulders, “It depends on what we’re cooking! Each of these ingredients can make up about ten to fifteen dishes, depending on what we’re cooking and what ingredients are needed.” Thoma replies, reaching over to a bright red tomato, frowning before letting out a soft ‘huh.’
You look at Thoma curiously, walking over to where he stood. “What’s wrong, Thoma? Did something seem off about that tomato?” You ask, peeking over his shoulders to get a better look at the tomato.
“This tomato has mold on it,” Thoma murmurs. “Can you go look in the pantry for fresh tomatoes? It should be on the middle shelf with the other produce.” Thoma points over at the moderate-sized pantry room where the ingredients are held in. 
You nodded your head and walked to the pantry to look for the best fresh tomato. When you walked into the pantry, you flicked on the light switch of the pantry and walked into the deepest part of the pantry where the produce is located. You stopped in front of the produce and picked up the tomato that you think is perfect enough to be used as an ingredient. You hear footsteps following you to the pantry but ignore them.
“Hey, Thoma, are these tomatoes good? They seem to be perfectly fine to me, but I’m no expert.” You said, holding up the tomato to show Thoma the tomato that you’ve chosen. After not hearing a response from Thoma, you turned to look at Thoma. You almost bumped into Thoma’s chest; you backed up and looked at him with wide eyes.
“Ah, can you check to see if this is good enough?” You ask, holding up the red tomato. Thoma grabs your wrists and pulls you to his chest, causing you to stumble and drop the tomato, causing it to smash on the wooden floor of the pantry. You looked up at Thoma with wide eyes, blinking at him owlishly. 
“Was the tomato not good enough?” You ask, your gaze landing on the smashed tomato on the ground.
Thoma backs you up against the shelf, caging you in with his arms as he gazes down at you intently. He grabs your face with his right hand and tilts your head up so you can look into his eyes as he stares down at you. You couldn’t help but feel both intimidated and turned on by what he had done.
“I heard,” Thoma states, staring down at you.
You blinked at Thoma, “You heard what?” You ask, furrowing your eyebrows in confusion.
The corner of his lips quirked up, “I heard you and Ayato in his office yesterday.” Thoma replies. Your eyes widened in horror; your face felt like it was immediately engulfed in flames. 
“You knew?!” You squeaked; Thoma grabbed the end of your hair and twirled it in his fingers, slowly nodding his head.
Thoma leans his face close to yours before whispering, “I heard everything from start to finish.” You felt like you were going to faint; your knees wobbling, face hot and flustered, heart racing against your chest. “Since Ayato had his turn with you, it’s only fair that I get to have my turn with you,” Thoma says, pressing his lips against your neck. 
You gulped and pressed your hands against Thoma’s muscular chest, gripping onto his black shirt. You let your head fall back against the wooden shelf, giving some room for Thoma to lick and suck on your neck.
“So, are you okay with me having my way with you?” Thoma asks, pulling away from your neck, his thumb swiping over your lower lip while he bit down on his lips. “If not, I’ll stop, and we’ll continue to cook breakfast—” You cut Thoma off by pulling him by the collar of his shirt, pressing your lips against his. Thoma’s hands immediately reach up to the back of your head, deepening the kiss between the two of you. Your hands slowly trail down to his hips, wrapping both of your arms around his waist, the two of you stumbling back to the shelves, knocking over some of the vegetables off the shelf.
“We need to make this quick before Ayato and Ayaka start to question where we’re at and why breakfast isn’t at the table yet,” Thoma murmurs against your lips before breaking the kiss between the two of you.
You snorted and ran your fingers through Thoma’s hair, “Ayato said almost the same thing yesterday.” You said, tilting your head to the side.
Thoma sighs dramatically, “Unfortunately, if either of us wanted to take our time with you, we would have to go somewhere that isn’t the Kamisato Estate.” He ran his fingers through his blond hair.
You pat his head lightly, “Next time.” You said, giving the man a small smile. “Let’s make this quick because having both of the Kamisato siblings walk in on us having sex in the pantry is something I do not want to deal with.” You said, tugging on Thoma’s shirt.
Thoma chuckles and presses his lips against yours, pulling you to his chest by the waist before murmuring, “jump” against your lips. You jump, and Thoma wraps your legs around his waist, struggling to loosen his pants. Seeing that he was having a hard time with taking his pants off, you unwrapped your legs around his waist and helped him with slipping his pants and underwear down to his midthigh. You were glad that you chose to wear flowy loose shorts; you wouldn’t have to take your shorts off entirely for Thoma to rail you against the produce shelves in the pantry of the Kamisato Estate.
“Okay, you can jump now,” Thoma says; he places both of his hands on your hips, lifting you in the air as you jump and wrap your legs around his slim waist. 
You wrap both of your arms around his shoulders, fingers tangling in his soft, blond hair as he peppers your face and neck with kisses. Thoma reaches down and strokes his hardened cock, aligning it up to your entrance after pushing your underwear and shorts to the side, lubricating the tip of his member with your slick. You press your lips against Thoma’s lips, letting out a quiet gasp when his penis breaches your walls. Thoma digs his nails into your waist, letting his cock sink further into your heat until he was balls deep inside of your hole.
Thoma slowly pulls out your entrance, leaving only the tip of his cock inside of you before ramming it deep inside of you. You bite down on Thoma’s shoulders to muffle your cries, Thoma groans and begins to hammer his cock in and out of you repeatedly. The tip of Thoma’s cock was ramming your cervix with each thrust; you could see fireworks and stars dance behind your closed eyelids. 
Your head rolls back, your tongue lolls out of your mouth, your walls clenching around his cock with each thrust. Every time Thoma plunges his cock right back into your sopping wet hole, the walls of your entrance would squeeze around Thoma. Your inner thighs and Thoma’s pubic bone and lower abdomen would be coated in your slick each time he thrusts upwards into your awaiting cavern.
A deep groan comes from Thoma, “Fuck, baby. You’re so tight, and you feel so good around my cock.” Thoma pants; he leans down and nibbles on your bottom lip. “If I can spend the rest of my life buried deep inside of you, I would do it in a heartbeat.” Thoma grunts, thrusting deep into your entrance while rubbing his pubic bone against yours, making you jolt and shudder in Thoma’s grasp. You can feel your orgasm approaching by the feeling of the silky walls of your hole clenching and unclenching around Thoma’s thick cock.
You bite down on your lips, letting out a weak whine as you lightly pull at his blond hair, “Thoma, please, please. I want to cum.” You whispered, tugging at his black shirt as you rubbed your hips against his, trying to find relief. The already forming coil in your lower abdomen was beginning to feel unbearable. 
“Cum on my cock, baby.” Thoma groans; he has an iron grip on your waist as he forces you up and down on his cock, pistoning his throbbing member in and out of your entrance at a brutal pace. 
You let out a shaky sob, feeling your orgasm hit you like an angry boar. Your vision went white for a brief second before you came to your senses, feeling your hole convulse around Thoma’s cock, coating his cock with your slick. Thoma quickly pulls his cock out of you, turns you around, and bends you over on the shelf before shoving his cock deep inside your entrance. You let out a choked gasp and cry; you cover your mouth with your hands, your eyes rolling to the back of your head from the massive wave of pleasure washing over you as Thoma continues to thrust inside of you.
“I’m going to breed this pretty little hole of yours. Do you want that?” Thoma breathes, his chest pressed up against your back as he thrusts forward. 
You let out a squeal and nod your head, your head falling back on Thoma’s shoulders. Thoma tightens his grip around your waist and snakes his right hand up to your neck, sending one last thrust before cumming deep inside your entrance. Both you and Thoma panted, going limp against one another. Thoma pulls his now flaccid cock out from your heat, sighing in relief. You shuddered when you felt the mixture of your and Thoma’s cum drip out of your hole and onto your underwear.
You pouted and leaned against Thoma, trying to calm your racing heart. “I wish we could go on a bit longer.” You mumbled, playing with the accessories on Thoma’s person.
Thoma presses a kiss on your head, “I do too, sweetheart. But unfortunately, since both of us are preparing breakfast for everyone, we don’t have much time. But don’t worry, we can take our time next time, I promise.” He said, wiping the bead of sweat from your forehead with a small smile on his face.
You sigh, “You better keep that promise of yours, Thoma!” You said, tugging him down by his shirt collar, kissing his lips. 
Thoma smiles and kisses you back, “Don’t worry, [Y/N]. I always keep my promises.” Thoma states, deepening the kiss between the two of you. 
You and Thoma were able to clean the pantry up along with the smushed tomato off the floor of the pantry. Both you and Thoma opted to cook a mixture of breakfast from four different nations. You prepared the dining table, placing cutlery on the cloth napkins and filling teacups with tea. Thoma placed breakfast down in the middle of the table before calling both of the siblings to come to the dining table for breakfast. 
The four of you sat at the table, peacefully eating your breakfast. Your legs are still trembling from what you and Thoma have done in the pantry, and you’re just hoping that neither of the Kamisato siblings notices the way your legs would shake when you walk or stand in one place. You sat next to Ayaka while the two men sat across from you and Ayaka, silently eating their breakfast while occasionally trading small talk with each other.
“So!” Ayaka speaks up, looking over at you. “What are your thoughts on being in Thoma’s shoes for today so far?” Ayaka asks, lifting her teacup to her lips and blowing on the hot liquid before taking a small sip from it.
You sighed, “I don’t know how Thoma does it! I could barely get up this morning, and I’m still feeling tired.” You said, looking over at Thoma.
Thoma shrugs his shoulders, “You’d get used to it! I have been a housekeeper for the Kamisato Estate for quite a while now! It takes some time to get used to it.” Thoma says, scooping up the rice with his spoon.
“[Y/N]....” Ayato says slowly. You look over at Ayato before tilting your head to the side with curiosity. “You’re glowing today; have you noticed that?” Ayato asks, gazing at you curiously. 
Your eyes widen slightly, “Oh? I am?” You pressed both of your hands up against your face, eyebrows narrowing with puzzlement. You look over at Ayaka, whose eyes light up, and she nods her head in response. She places her teacup down before turning over to you; she cups your face in both of her hands while analyzing your face closely. Sometimes she would turn your head to the side to get a closer look.
“I always knew that you are beautiful, [Y/N], but today is different! It’s like your beauty is shining through even more!” Ayaka says.
You brushed her off and laughed shyly, “Oh, please, Ayaka! You’re stroking my ego there.” You said, feeling your face grow hot under Ayaka, Ayato, and Thoma’s gaze. “I think the amount of sleep I got last night is what’s causing me to glow.” You cleared your throat, hoping that they— mainly Ayaka, would believe your little lie.
“I’m thinking about taking a break from the paperwork for today and choosing to relax for the day,” Ayato speaks up, leaning back in his seat, his arms crossed over his chest. “The amount of documents I have to sign is a bit overwhelming, so I have chosen to take a break from them. Although I was able to complete the majority of them, unfortunately, the more I complete them, the more documents will show up out of thin air.” Ayato sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“As long as you give yourself a break, relaxing is a great way to destress and not overwork yourself!” You said, lifting the teacup to your lips and blowing on the steaming hot tea. “I remember I overworked myself so much to complete four different university assignments that I burned myself out. I could barely get myself to focus; all I wanted to do was to cry because of the amount of stress I was feeling.” 
“Sounds like you need to take a trip to the bathhouse down in Inazuma City!” Thoma says, giving you a small smile.
You sighed and nodded your head in agreement, “I do! But we have a bathhouse back at the abode.” You said, sipping the warm tea.
Ayaka looks at you curiously, “What is your university like?”
You placed the teacup down, “It’s huge and beautiful! But the amount of stress that I have garnered over the last two years has driven me insane.” You scratched your head, face pinching up when the realization hits you. “Oh dear archons, I’m going to be in debt once I complete university. Can you believe it? I’ll be almost forty thousand dollars— er, I meant forty million mora in debt, and I’m only in my twenties.” You chuckled while Ayaka looked at you in horror, almost dropping her teacup.
“You sound stressed out. I believe that after breakfast, we should all go down to the bathhouse to relax.” Ayato says.
Ayaka sighs in defeat, “As much as I would love to go, I have a meeting with Guuji Yae at Yae’s Publishing House about the upcoming festival in Inazuma.” Ayaka frowns, her shoulders slumping with disappointment.
You placed a gentle hand on Ayaka’s shoulders, “It’s okay, Ayaka! Hopefully, the next time we hang out, it’ll be at the upcoming festival you mentioned!” You said, giving the light-blue-haired girl a small smile.
Ayaka’s eyes lit up, “I would love that! Let’s go to a festival together in the future!” Ayaka chimes, giving you a wide smile.
After breakfast, you and Thoma cleaned up the table, washed the dishes, and placed them back in the cabinets. Ayaka left the estate with one of the servants, leaving you, Ayato, and Thoma almost alone at the Kamisato Estate. Since everyone was technically dressed for the day, the three of you went to the waypoint outside of the Kamisato Estate. You three teleported to Inazuma City, where the famous bathhouse, named Aisa Bathhouse, is located. You three stepped into the bathhouse, satisfied to see that it was empty. Great! Not only are you alone with your two boyfriends, but you won’t have to worry about seeing strangers roaming around the bathhouse in their birthday suits.
You couldn’t help but feel anxious about going to the bathhouse with Ayato and Thoma, mainly because you know that both Ayato and Thoma are dangerous when they’re together. It’s like they are always scheming something when they’re in the same room as each other. You, Ayato, and Thoma end up parting ways to go to your designated changing room close to the entrance of the bathhouse.
After stripping off your clothes, you put on the silky black robe and fluffy slippers and placed your clothes and shoes in a small locker before walking out of the changing room. You stepped into the main lobby of Aisa Bathhouse and almost automatically spotted Ayato and Thoma standing in the middle of the hall, waiting for you to show up. Both of them had white and blue towels wrapped around their waist, which you noticed were dangerously low at their hips.
“And there they are!” Thoma says as you approach where the two stand. “Are you ready to take a nice dip in the bathhouse to cool off some steam? I know you need it with all the stress you’ve accumulated over the last two years at your university.” Thoma says, wrapping his arms around your shoulders.
You nod your head, “I am! It’s very much needed since my time at the bathhouse back at the abode has been interrupted many times.” You said, narrowing your eyes slightly as you thought back to the time when the men interrupted your time at the bathhouse.
“How rude of them to interrupt you and your time at the bathhouse back at the abode!” Ayato says, fighting the urge to smile after knowing that he was one of the people that interrupted your peaceful dip back at the teapot. You grumbled and let the duo guide you to where the hotspring was located.
“Don’t bathhouses usually separate the patrons by gender?” You murmured, scratching the back of your head when you three stepped into the men’s section of the bathhouse.
“Oh, they do! But they let us have special access for today.” Thoma says, patting the top of your head as he continues to lead you toward the hotspring. “Now, we can all relax in the same room without people interrupting us and without any responsibility looming over our heads!” Thoma chirps happily.
“If we get into the hotspring, everyone better have their backs turned because I don’t want anyone to see me naked, nor do I want to see any of you naked!” You huffed.
Ayato laughs, “Whatever makes you happy.” He pinches your cheeks lightly.
The last thing you remembered was stripping off your robe, putting them on the hanger, and dipping your feet into the hotspring while Ayato and Thoma were waiting for you with their hands covering their eyes. You thought you were going to be able to finally relax in the hotspring, releasing your stress and letting the tension in your body melt away.
But instead, here you are: two cocks buried deep inside of your entrance while Ayato had his hands covering your mouth to prevent the sound of your whines and moans from echoing in the bathhouse. Thoma’s face was buried into the crook of your neck, sucking and leaving marks on your neck and chest while Ayato fondled your chest. You are sitting on Ayato’s lap, your back pressed against his chest, while Thoma stands in front of the two of you, pinning you against Ayato’s chest. The burning stretch you’re feeling in between your legs was almost unbearable; you knew that the human body could do unthinkable things, but you didn’t think that you would be able to withstand having two different dicks stuffing the same hole at once. You flinched when Ayato moved, causing Thoma to move, both of their cocks rubbing against each other inside of your heat.
“Take it easy! I’m still trying to adjust to the both of you!” You whined, lightly hitting both Ayato and Thoma’s shoulders, head resting on Ayato’s shoulders.
“We’ll be gentle; no need to fret,” Ayato says, turning your head to the side before connecting his lips with yours. Thoma rolls his eyes before sending a sharp thrust, causing you to break the kiss with Ayato and writhe in your spot.
“Thoma! I thought you were going to take it easy!” You whined, pulling at his damp blond hair.
“I’m sorry, baby. I’ll be gentle next time.” Thoma coos, leaning down to kiss your pouty lips before cupping your face in his hands.
Ayato huffs, “I believe that now is a good time to start moving. We don’t have all day, and quite frankly, I believe that the owner of Aisa Bathhouse wouldn’t like it if we stayed past our intended time.” Ayato says, reaching down and beginning to rib at the tiny pearl of nerves between your legs. You jolted and dug your nails into Ayato and Thoma’s biceps, trying your best to keep the noises down.
“Yes, please, just fuck me already! We don’t have all day.” You whined, biting down on your lips while keeping your eyes shut.
“It’s unfortunate how we always have to rush our activities, trying not to get caught in the act.” Ayato sighs in defeat, Thoma nodding his head in agreement.
Ayato and Thoma simultaneously pulled their cocks out from inside of you before ramming their cocks inside of you at once. The hot water in the hotspring provided extra lubricant, making it easy for the two to plunge their dicks inside of you at a different pace. While Ayato was rubbing the tiny nerve between your legs, Thoma kept your legs spread wide open while he and Ayato piston their pulsing, stiff member in and out of your entrance.
You clawed Thoma’s back and gasped out loud when Thoma hit your cervix; Thoma smiled in satisfaction. Ayato glares at Thoma before repeating Thoma’s actions, the bulbous tip of his cock striking your cervix. You squealed loudly; both Thoma and Ayato immediately reached up and covered your mouth with their hands, their eyes wide.
“Be quiet! We’ll get caught if you continue to moan, squeal, whine, and whimper out loud!” Thoma whispers, burying his face into the crook of your neck.
“H-How can I be quiet when the both of you are fucking my cervix!?” You hissed behind their hands, glaring at the two men that are balls deep inside of you. 
“Hey, Ayato.” Thoma says thoughtfully, rubbing his pubic bone between your legs.
Ayato raised an eyebrow at Thoma, “What is it, Thoma?” He sighs, continuing to thrust upward.
“Between you and me, who do you think will be the first one to get [Y/N] to cum?” Thoma asks innocently. “I believe that it’ll be me,” Thoma adds.
Ayato narrows his eyes at Thoma, “I believe that you’re wrong, Thoma. I will be the first one to get [Y/N] to cum, not you!” Ayato huffs, picking up the pace of his thrusts.
“Oh? It sounds like a competition, My Lord!” Thoma chuckles, giving Ayato an amused look. Ayato and Thoma locked gazes with each other for a moment, their thrusts coming to a stop. As if they were mentally communicating, they nod their heads at each other. You didn’t have much time to react when Thoma and Ayato began to ram their penises into you simultaneously. You let out a loud wail, writing in their grasp. At this point, Ayato and Thoma could barely give a shit about you letting out loud cries with each thrust. They were mainly focused on being the first ones to get you to cum around their cocks.
“Guys! Slow down! I’m going to cum!” You whine, your face scrunching up in pleasure when your impending release is fast approaching. Ayato and Thoma smirked at one another, continuing to drive their cocks deep inside of your heat. The tight coil in your stomach suddenly snaps, you clench down around both Ayato and Thoma’s dicks, your vision goes white, and you let out a loud cry. Ayato and Thoma groan in unison, filling your entrance to the brim with their thick ropes of cum. You lay in Ayato’s arms, limp and exhausted.
“So, who won?” Thoma breathes, looking up at you and Ayato. “I believe that I came out as the victor in the end!” Thoma boasted, his and Ayato’s cock still stuffed inside of you.
“You? The victor? How absurd! It is I that came out as the victor in the end, not you, Thoma.” Ayato huffs, tightening his grip around your waist.
“Do I hear a challenge for round two?” Thoma asks, narrowing his eyes at the head of the Kamisato Clan.
Ayato chuckles, “It seems so.” Ayato stated.
“Wait!” You perked up in Ayato’s arms. “There’s no way we’re going for another round in the bathhouse! Surely we have already spent our time here too long!” You exclaimed.
Before Ayato and Thoma could speak up, the doors of the hotspring opened up, revealing the owner of Aisa Bathhouse. When the door fully opened, the man’s jaws dropped to the ground at the sight in front of him. He was white as a ghost and pointed at the three of you in horror.
“Oh no.” You, Ayato, and Thoma said, looking at the man in fear and embarrassment. It seems like the three of you did end up getting caught in the act, and it seems like you, Ayato, and Thoma are most likely banned from Aisa Bathhouse for life.
Note: Goddamn, I'm pretty sure this part will be the only part in the Crave "series" that will be over 10k words long. I didn't plan for Crave 4 to be 15k words in total, to be honest. I'm just hoping that my skills in smut will improve because I'm just staring at it like 🧍🏻‍♀️ because most of the time, I don't know how to feel about the smuts that I type out 💀 Idk how long this overall "series" is going to go on for, to be honest 🤔 Anyway! As I have said in my past posts, I ONLY post on my Tumblr (Genshinluvr) and my AO3 (Aaliah_exo)! Nowhere else except Tumblr and AO3!
Taglist for "Various Genshin Men x Isekai'd!Reader" and my overall taglist (will be making a new taglist form very soon): @xxkatsusjinsux, @huboi, @plumpkie, @crazyrichdaughter, @sucker-for-angst-and-fluff, @patata52, @honeybedo, @thedivinepriestress, @pencil-of-ashes, @samarill, @bakuhve, @yukima, @chaosinanutshell, @emperatris-rinaka, @neilify, @ksjjkthpjm, @jaisithebird, @mouchie, @emerald-smile, @jixlem, @bananazzzen, @thelost-in-time, @kryloxen, @ayolk, @tomansimp, @lordbugs, @c-camellias, @chihawari, @lilliansstuff, @zhongloml, @sweethcnvy, @wolf-chan2134, @simp4-fictional-men, @dai-tsukki-desu, @trash-queen-af, @tamayakii, @spo0k-mxchii, @hispasian-otaku, @stygianoir, @crispynutduck (if you have not been tagged, it's because you have your settings turned off for people to tag you in posts)
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mageknight14 · 7 months
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The Dangers and Flaws of Idolization: A NEO TWEWY analysis post
Transplanting and expanding on a thread I made on Twitter to fit within a Tumblr format.
One of the most interesting aspects I see in NEO TWEWY that I don’t see many people touch upon is the commonality between Rindo, Fret, and Shoka in how they look up to others as role models while simultaneously being blind to their flaws/who they actually are up to the end and how the game's themes are reflected in those relationships and today, I'd like to showcase why.
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First, we have Rindo and Motoi. With that relationship, the game makes it pretty clear that Rindo looked up to Motoi as An0ther and used his words as encouragement to get through his own daily life and anxiety. The kid could barely decide what he could even eat for dinner before he had come across the account, so if you thought his current indecisiveness nature was bad, he was even worse before the events of the game.
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However, what I find interesting is that even though he constantly spouts An0ther's sayings in an attempt to try and steel himself for the challenges he faces, he thoughtlessly does so and only lives by the sayings half-heartedly, since his indecisive nature and fear of responsibility prevent him from committing all the way. I think it's telling that despite claiming that "don't miss your chance to make a friend" is one of his favorite quotes, he's constantly at odds with the idea of bringing potentially new players on board the team even before he gets the chance to properly know/meet them and grimaces at the thought of the structure of the old Reaper's Game in the original.
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Keep in mind that Beat saved Rindo's life at the hands of Susukichi at least two whole days ago before this occurrence.
Nagi’s Dive into his head on W1D3 actually does a LOT to reveal aspects of his character: he puts other people at arm’s length (besides Swallow due to their online anonymity) because he’s afraid of the fallout of what would to happen if he got involved with them.
"What if I end up taking on more than I can handle? What if other people end up dragging me down with them? If I just stay at the sidelines and shift the blame onto others, I won’t get into trouble for this."
"I'm in a group project; everybody is contributing and making decisions about how we should go about doing things. I keep my mouth shut and refrain from pitching in despite maybe thinking some of their ideas misses the point of the assignment, because God forbid my ideas could be helpful (or maybe they won't; that's life, but I won't know unless i speak up). We end up handing in our project and whoops, we got a C-. I guess I'm not responsible for receiving that grade because I never made a decision, therefore I shouldn't be accountable for my lack of contribution. It just makes sense."
If you've known/are a person that have had similar thoughts to this mindset, then congrats; you know/are a Rindo Kanade in real life.
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This culminates into him latching onto others he finds capable and taking the relationships around him for granted, tying other people's worth to their prowess in might or influence. After all, why bother relying on yourself and others when you can just rely on someone else for you to solve your problems? Especially since it means that if everything goes south, YOU won’t take the fallout for it. After all, they’re clearly much more capable than you are.
To get back to his dynamic with Motoi, Rindo looks up to him immensely after finding out that he was his idol an0ther and came to value his input regarding matters within the Game. So when he eventually finds out the truth and is forced to confront the fact that his hero was nothing more than a content thief and a schemer who would trample over others just to survive, he’s understandably heartbroken.
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However, instead of just leaving it there, the game decides to flip the script and have Motoi legitimately apologize to Rindo for his actions, leading to the lad in question learning to recognize that Motoi is ultimately an incredibly flawed human being instead of just writing him off entirely, (even giving him another chance!) and is, in many ways, a mirror to Rindo. Like Rindo, Motoi was deathly afraid of responsibility and the fallout of letting other people down, leading to him copying and pasting other people's quotes so that he wouldn't have to face that possibility. This aspect of himself only got worse when he got trapped in the Reaper's Game for multiple loops on end, forcing him to become a worse version of himself, lying, cheating, and backstabbing just to survive and even looking towards becoming part of the Reapers, the same group that trapped him there in the first place, just so he wouldn't have to be Erased, un a manner that's eerily reminiscent to how Rindo would took towards overly relying on others so that he would make it out okay. In that sense, Motoi is a look at what a grown-up Rindo would look like if he didn't take the lessons he learned within the Game to heart, which is part of why the latter decides to take Motoi’s copypasted quotes and apply them to his life in a positive way, deriving his own meaning from them so that in a way that contrasts him following them in a shallow manner from before.
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Next up, we have Fret and Kanon, who form a interesting parallel to Rindo and Motoi's dynamic. Whereas Motoi is a look at one of the worst possible paths that Rindo could take if he didn't learn how to properly deal with his flaws, Kanon actually tries to coach Fret into becoming more true to and genuine with his actual self. She also shows herself to be a genuinely affable and honorable person even in spite of the bad first impression that she had given at the beginning of the game by stealing Rindo and Fret's pin for herself.
However, that's only the surface level stuff, as the game actually goes deeper with her character. While Kanon at first seems to be true to herself and genuine at her core in a way that Fret isn’t, we can see from the Dive into her head on W3D3 that she’s holding back a LOT underneath the surface.
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"You always did have a way of destroying things" tends to get glossed over by some and for those who do look at the words, they seemingly come out of nowhere and can be seemingly brushed off as her just being under the influence of the Plague Noise. However , when you look back at some of Kanon’s actions and her words towards the Twisters (accusing the Twisters of sabotaging Fuya and making Motoi drop out of the Scramble Slam against his will, her mood changing when she finds out about Fuya challenging the Ruinbringers in one timeline as opposed to her more cheerful attitude towards Fret when she didn't find that out just yet, her acting suspicious towards the Twisters regarding their prowess as a team, etc), the implication is that she doesn’t just resent the game as a whole but also secretly the Twisters as well.
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The thing about the Player teams is that they have formed an unspoken agreement where the top 3 teams (sans Ruinbringers of course) keep their footing by sending new players and other teams to last place, which the Wicked Twisters screw up just by existing. Their synergy and impressive Imagination powers (well, Fret, Nagi, and Sho’s at least) threaten the balance the teams have struggled to keep up for so long, hence why Kanon initially just sees them as another team to point snipe before she changes her mind on them. And while the Twisters do almost bring about change by beating the Ruinbringers, it ultimately doesn’t even matter in the long-run due to how incredibly rigged the Shinjuku game is and as a result, the DRS are eliminated, getting rid of Kanon’s and Motoi’s safety net.
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Imagine this from the players’ perspective: you’re stuck in essentially what is a never-ending death game but you’ve got a system going where you can at least stave off your deaths for a bit longer. Then a couple of kids come around and throw that whole system entirely out of whack. And you think, "well, at least they can take out the top team and give us a fighting chance, right?" Only for those hopes to also get dashed because the rules are just that rigged. Like Kubo said, life ain’t fair and the afterlife sure as hell ain’t either. W1D5 and W2D4 are excellent explorations of this kind of mindset as it showcases the player teams falling victim to their desires and abusing their powers as a result of being stuck in an endless loop of playing the Game over and over again with no hope of escaping, as well as highlights paints certain comments made by the leaders in an even darker light.
With all of this in mind, it’s honestly no wonder that Kanon resents the Twisters but what’s interesting is that she tries to keep this resentment under wraps because she knows that it isn’t fair to them. They’re just kids after all who would have no idea about all of that. Hence why she admonishes herself in her Dive for wishing that they had just wipe out the Reapers altogether and why Fret is shown to be hurt hearing her inner thoughts about the Twisters in a way that’s pretty reminiscent of Rindo’s reaction when he found out about Motoi.
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And finally, we have Shoka and Ayano. While it’s pretty clear that the two do genuinely care for one another, it’s a relationship that’s been tragically scarred by the events surrounding Shinjuku and the Reapers in general, resulting in a mutually unhealthy dynamic. 
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What I find interesting about the relationship is that while Shoka gets pissed whenever Rindo insinuates that Ayano must’ve treated her badly, she sadly realizes in another convo that she doesn’t know much about Ayano on a personal level or what her interests even are.
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In spite of how close they are and how much they mean to each other, Ayano still put up emotional walls and closed herself off, never allowing herself to be on equal footing to Shoka and instead just be someone who guides and mentors her over the 4 years they were together.
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This is due to her feeling betrayed by Shiba/others while simultaneously using Shoka as her one stable point in life regardless because everything is going up into chaos surrounding the Shinjuku Reapers and she finds herself unable to trust anyone around her anymore. And Shoka herself doesn't even realize this until the end when it’s too late because she was just happy to simply have Ayano by her side without thinking deeper about her and their relationship as a whole due to her own emotional issues and troubled past.
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When it comes to children from broken homes, they are prone to imprinting on any adult figure that interacts positively with them and in Shoka's case, this is exactly what she did with the Shinjuku Reapers, especially Ayano.
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A running theme throughout all of these instances is how they all involve the younger generation looking up to the adults in their lives as idols as opposed to just role models and thus fail to see them for who they are as actual human beings. And by the time they that finally do, it's too late for the adults.
You also see nods towards this theme via the Shinjuku Reapers and their relationship with Shiba or Shiba’s (who himself is parallel to Rindo if his tendency to subconsciously take on the values of others and mistake his as his own was twisted into the worst possible outcome) relationship with Kubo, with Hishima even flat out stating as such. "You fell at the feet of an idol like an utter fool", indeed.
And this all fits, as well, into NEO's larger theme that even as a 'follower', you have to question the 'leader'. Role models aren't bad -- but idols and failing to recognize their limits/flaws/toxicity are and will end up screwing you over in the long run if you aren’t careful. And I think NEO did an excellent job at exploring the little nuances that come with that, from Kanon’s internal resentment she knew wasn’t fair to the unseen distance between Ayano and Shoka to Motoi being a complete deconstruction of it all. It shows the good and the bad of idolizing someone too much. It shows how you can see the real them and turn the image you liked into something more with Rindo, or how to hold them in your heart while moving on like Shoka. It's okay to acknowledge the flaws and shortcomings of the people you look up to. Hell, it’s probably healthy to do that in some ways. As long as they’re still a good person or even helped you grow, you can still celebrate the good they brought
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glitch-karma · 1 month
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Hello there ᕦ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)ᕤ
I saw your requests were open and I hopped at the chance! 😩🙏
I saw your iura shuu x reader valentines post and I was wondering maybe if you could do an iura x reader with the cliche academic enemies to lovers trope.
So reader and shuu are rivals because readers very headstrong academically and part of the student council and shuus kinda very laid back and bubbly and he has his head in the clouds usually. So reader gets fed up one day and just rants about him (but really it's to hide she has a fat crush on him) but he over hhear, so then their pared up for a project and they decide that they'll do it at his place where he then confronts her with his personality he has around his family and readers just like😃 where reader then confesses.
I KNOW IT'S A LOT I'M SO SORRY PLZ DON'T FEEL PRESSURE BIT JUST THE THOUGHT OF SHUU AND CLICHE TROPES MAKES ME BRAIN GO FUZZY 😩😩😩😩🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
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✧Tldr: You've had a crush on the annoying slacker Shuu Iura since first year, although no one would be able to guess by the way you rant on and on about him. One day after he overheard you going on about him he decides to confront you.
✧One Shot
✧Cw/Content: Academic rivals, Student council reader, f! Reader, Fluffish, confession
✧I. LOVE. ACADEMIC RIVALS TO LOVERS. ITS LITERALLY MY FAVORITE TROPE.
Also I'm hopefully gonna be making a comeback to Tumblr and get through requests, plus my Horimiya/Shuu hyperfixation is also back full swing so this is a formal request for any and all Shuu requests (⁠.⁠ ⁠❛⁠ ⁠ᴗ⁠ ⁠❛⁠.⁠)
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"Ugh, I hate getting here so early but I'd rather die then replace my study time for club number reports." You sigh, using your student ID to slide through the door with Sengoku by your side. "I feel ya. The suns barely even out." He sighed out as you both made your way to the council room.
You stood patiently as Sengoku unlocked the door, swinging it open. You both let out a sigh-mixed with a groan as the two of you plopped down in opposite chairs. After a bit of discussion about how to separate everything, you both got to work.
After an hour you set your pile of paperwork between you two, standing up and slipping your blazer back on. "Everyone should be arriving for their first classes soon, I'm gonna go make sure they're all in uniform. Even if it's freezing outside." You said, walking to the door. "You sure are extra strict, L/n." Sengoku chuckled as you walked out.
As you stood at the door watching everyone come in. You corrected a few people as they tried to walk in with their coats still on. "Other than a few straggler coats and scarfs, everyone's looking good. It's nice to see everyone following the rule—" your thoughts were abruptly stopped as you heard a familiar, ear shattering voice.
"Hey Toru! Did you hear that new album yet?" Your neck immediately snapped over to the bright green haired man. And as expected, instead of the proper uniform he wore a bright orange hoodie underneath his blazer with his nonchalant disregard for the school's dress code. Your teeth grinded against each other, causing a few fellow students around you to anxiously scoot away.
You roughly opened your school bag, stomping over to him. As soon as Ishikawa saw you hurdling over he stepped away with a sigh. "Iura!! How many times do I have to tell you to wear the proper uniform!?" You screamed, shoving the back of his head. Shuu let out a cry as he held the back of his head. You then shoved the button up and a vest into his arms. "The next time I see you in class you better have that on!" You lastly called stomping your way back over to the entrance.
"Jeez man, you should have known that was gonna happen. That girl is all over you about rules." Ishikawa sighed as Shuu whimpered, patting his head, watching you walk away with your hands on your hips angrily. "Yeah, I guess.."
After a while you made your way to your actual class with a sigh. Scanning around until your eyes met Shuu, who was shoving his hoodie into his bag. You huffed out a nod as you took your seat. Taking out your books for the class one by one.
You sighed as you made your way to the council room at the end of the day, opening the door to find not only the rest of the council but also some of the regular group who always loitered there. You plopped down in a chair as the group continued. Sengoku watched the life drain your eyes as you moaned in "pain".
"What's up with you? You look like you died and came back to life— Twice." He questioned. "It's just that Iura managed to ruin my morning again. With a freaking hoodie. Unbelievable." Your face contoured into one of rage as you stared at the wall. "Where are you looking even..?" Hori piped up quietly.
"you could give the guy a break y'know? It's not like he's gunning to annoy solely you." Sengoku sweat dropped. You growled quietly in the back of your throat as you looked away from him. "Come on L/n, he's not that bad.." Miyamura nervously chuckled. "Shut it Miyamura, you're on my list after you wore a hoodie too along with him." Miyamura anxiously chuckled as he backed away from you.
You sighed as you rested your head in your arms. "It's not like his grades are terrible. In fact he's not even a bad guy or anything. I just wish he'd take everything a bit more seriously." You groaned out with a sigh.
Yoshikawa's eyes narrowed with a smile as she chuckled at you quietly. "What's with the face?" Hori questioned. "I just have a funny feeling." Yoshikawa looked away smugly.
"Whatever, I'm gonna go to the school store to hang out if you all are just gonna bother me about this." You sighed with a groan as you stood up.
You reach down at your choice of vending machine, pulling out the drink you'd bought. You snapped open the top, taking a big gulp followed by a sigh. "Uhm, L/n?" You turned around to see a small group of girls. You recognized the main one as the leader of the calligraphy club. "Oh, hey Arakawa. What's up?"
"I was just making sure you got the club's reports for this week since you were here." She smiled. "Yeah, I just filed it this morning actually. You should probably get the funding you requested by this week." You nodded at her as she thanked you. "Hey and Uhm," one of the other girls spoke up. "Was that you this morning, yelling at Iura?"
Your face became cold again as you looked away from the group. "Can't seem to recall.." "it was definitely her." Another spoke up. You sigh as you looked back at the group. "He was wearing a hoodie under his blazer like a damn punk. Again." You glared at the wall. "Sengoku might have given up trying but I refuse to let the dress code be ignored like that."
One of them chuckled as the others smiled lightly at you. "You really don't like Iura-kun, huh?" You looked away, your cheeks slowly turning red. You could correct them.. but that would be way too embarrassing. "I-I mean he's just loud. Annoying.. doesn't take anything serious even if it's important."
"I mean, he's always so carefree, like nothing in the world fazes him. Always drifting off into la-la land with that dopey smile on his face, It's like he's in his own little bubble, completely oblivious to everything around him." you continued, gripping your drink harshly trying to bury the blush that threatened to creep into your face as you continue. "And don't even get me started on his grades! It's like he doesn't even try, yet he manages to scrape by effortlessly. It's infuriating to those of us who do study!" you exclaimed. You paused, realizing You spewed into a rant without even thinking about it. And it had dragged on for far too long. The three in front of you stared at you nervously.
With a sheepish smile, you tried to regain your composure. "Sorry, I didn't mean to go off like that.." you mumbled as you raised your hand as an apology. The group chuckled lightly as you stood there embarrassed. "I feel for you a bit there L/n." Arakawa said, lightly patting your back.
Unbeknownst to you, Shuu had been lingering nearby, sent to get everyone in the council room drinks. He stood, listening to every word of your passionate rant. His usually carefree expression had morphed into one of contemplation, his thoughts consumed by the conversation he'd unexpectedly walked into.
As you awkwardly shifted under the girls' gaze, Shuu remained hidden from view. His mind racing. After a while you exited the store, luckily from the opposite door he was hidden behind. Iura stubbled into the store, getting the drinks quietly for once.
"I guess.. I'll just pretend I didn't hear."
You slid open the council door, everyone looking up at you before looking away in disappointment. Your face contoured into anger at them all. "Thanks a lot for making me feel welcome guys. Not like this is the council room or anything.!." You said through grated teeth. "Shuu lost rock paper scissors and went to get us all drinks. We all thought you were him finally coming back." Ishikawa explained. You grunted quietly with a light blush, falling back into your chair from before. "Whatever then."
Suddenly Shuu bursted into the room with a big smile. "Heyoo~! I got the drinks!" He yelled. You groaned, looking away as he looked over at you. "Oh hey what's up Y/n." He smiled, pretending to not have seen you earlier. "Hello Iura." You slightly groaned.
"Awe man I didn't know you were gonna be in here today! I would have gotten you a drink you like!" He said putting a hand behind his head. "No need, I actually just got one. Also I again mention that this is my club room." You groan lightly.
Shuu chuckled, seemingly unaffected by your response. "Ah, right, right. My bad. Guess I'll just have to make it up to you some other time, huh?" He flashed you a smile before distributing the drinks to the rest of the group. "I guess I can hold you to that. As long as you pay for it." You looked away with a light blush.
"Alright, pairs are already pre decided and posted on the bulletin board. Make sure the assignment is done by the end of the week. You're dismissed for the rest of class to do whatever."
After the teacher had finished talking you stood up, tidying your desk before making your way to the front. You glanced around before you finally found your name, looking beside it only to see- "Seriously.!?" You quietly whispered.
Y/n L/n — Shuu Iura
"Look at that! We're paired up!" Shuu magically appeared beside you, startling you a tad. As you regained your composer you nodded. "Seems so. When do you have time to work on it? As long as it's not in council hours I can probably make it work. Sooner than later please." You said, making your way back over to your desk with him following.
"if you want, after school tomorrow I could come over!" He says pointing to himself. You grimaced a bit. "Uhm.. I'd rather not have a guy over at my house. Nothing against you, I'm just not sure my Mom would approve." You waved your hands in front of you.
"Oh I see, I guess you could come over to mine. My little sister will be there though." Shuu suggested. "That's fine, I don't mind as long as we actually stay on task." You nod. "Alright then! We got it all set up now." Shuu nodded. You lightly blushed with embarrassment as you nodded back. You couldn't help but wonder if this was actually going to work out..
You sighed as you finished your club work the next day, standing up and sliding your bag over your shoulder. "Sengoku, Kouno, are you two good to lock up later? I have to go to Iura's for a project." "Huh?" The two looked at you confused.
"You paired up with Iura? On purpose?" Sengoku questioned. "No, they were preassigned for some reason." You breathed out annoyed. "Don't worry about it then, we've got it." Kouno smiled with a nod. "Thanks Kouno. I'll see you guys tomorrow." You waved as you shut the door.
As you walked over to Shuu's house, you couldn't help but let your mind wander. "Being at Iura's house.. I'm sure it'll be alright. But I'm still worried. Maybe he'll be chill, focused, level headed? No. Those things don't describe him at all." You thought.
Arriving at the door, you took a breath before ringing the bell. After a couple seconds the door opened, revealing a small girl who looked eerily similar to Shuu. "O-Oh. Hi." You waved lightly. The girl stared at you in shock before retreating back into the house, leaving you confused. After a second you opened the door yourself.
"You didn't tell me this person was a girl! So you actually have female classmates that don't hate you!?" The girl yelled. You stood there awkwardly. "What?! Why is that so surprising huh?" Shuu yelled back lightly, you noticed that his tone wasn't as hype as it was in school.
"Uhm, Iur- or.. Shuu?" You spoke, saying his first name felt so weird. Shuu looked over at you, pushing away his sister. "Ah L/n, you can come on in." He waved you in casually, confusing you slightly, a red tint slightly adorning your face. Him saying your last name was also weird. "T-Thanks." You nodded.
You looked over at his sister again who was staring at you like a mystical creature. You were sweating as you started down at her. "Ignore her, she's the sister I mentioned. Motoko." Shuu pointed to her. Motoko glared lightly at him. "You could introduce her too y'know."
"Right, she's Y/n L/n, part of the student council and my classmate." Shuu groaned at her. You stared confused at him. Was this.. actually Shuu? "A student council member? And she deals with you.?"
"Yes. And now if you'll excuse us, we have a project to actually work on Moto." Shuu walked away from her opening presumably the door to his room. You finally snapped out of it, removing your shoes quickly. "It was nice meeting you." You lightly bowed at Motoko before following Shuu into his room.
"Ugh sorry about her." Shuu groaned as he shut his door, sitting down after. You sat down across from him as you set your school bag down. "No it's alright. She seems nice."
"Nice is sure a word." He sighed as he took out the assignment. As you both got comfortable, you began working. Oddly, you worked mostly in silence. The atmosphere felt different from what you were used to. Shuu seemed more composed, his usual hyper demeanor replaced by a calm and focused one. It was as if he had left behind the carefree facade he wore at school and stepped into a more serious role. And it was.. scary.
You couldn't help but steal glances at him. It was weird but.. you kind of missed his smile. Your face heated up at the thought before you shook it off lightly.
After awhile, Shuu stretched up with a light sigh. You continued to work, until you felt his gaze stuck on you. You glanced up to find him staring right at you with a neutral expression. It was startling.. "Uhm.. What's up Iura?" You questioned quietly. Shuu looked away and was silent for awhile.
"I heard what you said to the calligraphy club leader. In the school store." Shuu bluntly said. Your heart skipped a beat for a second as your eyes widened. Panic set in as you stared at him shocked. He had heard everything – your rant about him and everything you "despised" about him that dragged on for way too long.
"I-I didn't..." you started, but Shuu held up a hand, cutting you off. "No, it's cool. I get it," he said softly, his tone surprisingly gentle. "I know I can be a bit much sometimes. Especially at school."
Who was this person in front of you. What was he saying even. it was so.. confusing.
"I guess I just didn't realize how strongly you felt about me. Especially enough to talk to basically strangers. It just surprised me is all, I mean if you really hate me-"
"You're wrong!" You yelled as you sat up quickly. You stopped, blushing as Shuu looked at you in shock. "Wrong?" he repeated, his voice soft.
"I wasn't... I mean, it's not.. Look, I was just frustrated!" you blurted out, feeling exposed under Shuu's unwavering gaze. "I-I didn't mean all those things I said. They all were asking about you and I was just trying to cover up, uh..." Your voice trailed off as you struggled to actually say what you were thinking. Shuu leaned in slightly, "Cover up?" he prompted.
"Cover up the fact that I admire almost everything about you, okay!?" You yelled lightly. Shuu stared at you in shock while his cheeks heated up.
"You're everything I wish I could be. You're always just having fun. You don't really care what others say about you, or about studying or anything like that. You always manage to make everyone around you laugh, and you don't care if it's at you either. And no matter what you still just smile all wide at everything. You're freely yourself. And you say whatever's on your mind." You poor your heart out. Shuu stared in shock, blushing at your foolish rant.
"So, yeah! I was trying to cover up! Trying to cover up how much I like—" suddenly you found your logic, shutting up before you could finish. You stared at the table for a bit before slowly looking up at Shuu. He stared in shock, his cheeks basically on fire. it was a rare sight.
You both stared at one another for a few seconds before you sat up quickly. "U-Uhm, I'm sorry. I should leave now." You stuttered out, grabbing your text books. Shuu blinked a few times as he watched you pack up before coming back to earth. "Y/n-" "I can finish the rest of this up, I'll turn it in after its done as well," "Wait, please just—"
You stood up quickly, pulling your bag roughly over your shoulder and turning towards the door. "Good bye, thanks for having me. S-See you at—"
Shuu quickly grabbed your wrist as you tried to pull open his bedroom door. You stood in shock before turning around to face him. "Will you stay long enough for me to actually tell you how I feel!?" Shuu whisper yelled. Your face was red, everything in the room seemed to stop. You both stood there silently for a bit before you finally let go of the door.
Shuu sighed as he let go of your wrist, sitting back down with a hard plop. You continued to stare at the ground. Your chest felt tight, the grip on the strap of your school bag was so strong you swore your fingernails were digging into your palm. Your heart raced so hard you were worried he could hear it. The air thick with tension as you stood frozen in place. Slowly, you made your way back to your seat opposite of Shuu.
As you finally raised your head to look at him, you noticed that Shuu looked almost exactly the same as you had just had a few seconds ago. He stared intensely at the ground, his cheeks a deep crimson as he tried to find his breath.
Taking a deep breath, Shuu began to speak, his words stumbling out in a rush of emotion. "Y/n, I... I've admired you for a long time. Your dedication to being apart of the student council, your intelligence, your passion.. it's all so inspiring. You're always so focused and driven. You're amazing, even without those gorgeous eyes that I could get lost in.." he looked up at you slowly as he spoke.
You listened intently, your heart swelling with disbelief and... Happiness. Shuu's words echoed in your mind, each one sinking deeper as he poured out his feelings.
"I know my personality can be frustrating at times but.." He looked away for a second before beginning again. "But I love you. I have for a while. And if there's even a chance that you feel the same way about me... well, I can't let it go without telling you how I feel."
You stared in shock, your mouth slightly agape as you couldn't find the words in your head. Shuu looked back up at you, chuckling slightly at your expression. His laugh brought you back to earth as you grabbed his hand that had been resting on the table between you two. He gasped a bit as he looked down, then back up at you.
"I- I Uhm.." you stuttered before finally speaking properly. "I love you, Shuu. Or- I love you too." Your face was embarrassed, your hands trembling on top of his.
After a few seconds Shuu smiled. It wasn't a smile you were used to seeing— it was smaller than usual. It was like he was looking at something irreplaceable. It made your heart flutter. Shuu's hand pulled away from yours, you panicked lightly until you felt his fingers intertwine with yours.
"Alright then." He spoke softly. Your face turned bashfully as you smiled lightly at him. "A-Alright." You nodded at him. You two stayed like that for a few seconds before you pulled away with a cough.
"W-We should finish up that project now." You bashfully looked away from him as you pulled everything back out. He let out a laugh, one that you were actually used to hearing, which relaxed you.
"Thank you for having me," you lightly bowed at both Shuu and his sister as you put your bag back around your shoulder. "Thank you for not hating my brother, I know it must be hard." Motoko waved at you lightly as Shuu pushed her away. "Are you sure you can get home alone?" Shuu questioned in a neutral tone that you were still getting used to hearing.
You nodded at him with a bashful smile. "I'll be alright, but thank you." You chuckled slightly. "Alright then." Shuu nodded back. "See you at school tomorrow, please wear the proper uniform." You teased as you opened the door. The two waved you off as you exited.
You couldn't help the big smile you wore as you slowly made your way down Shuu's street. Your cheeks burning so much you couldn't even notice the cool breeze. He actually felt the same way.. so, were you two dating now? I guess you hadn't really officially asked. But just knowing was enough for now..
"Y/n!!" Your thoughts were interrupted as you looked behind you to see Shuu running up to you. He panted lightly in front of you as you chuckled lightly. He finally stood up straight.
"I didn't get to officially ask.." he mumbled before looking into your eyes, "Will you actually go out with me?" He smiled brightly at you. You stifled a laugh as you looked away from him for a second. when you looked back he was pouting lightly, but the blush on his cheeks was evident.
He tensed lightly as he felt your cold hands meet his face. He stared back up into your eyes as you smiled at him. "Of course." You nodded at him.
He smiled softly as he grabbed your hands in his. "Even if I wear the wrong uniform for the rest of my school days?" You chuckled lightly. "There's a reason I keep so many spare ones Y'know."
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"Wait.. WHAT?!?" Toru screamed as he read the text from Shuu. The text in question read:
"Guess who's finally not single anymore!! This guy right here!! (⁠。⁠•̀⁠ᴗ⁠-⁠)⁠✧"
"Shuu's actually dating someone?! Who would be crazy enough to actually go for him.. I didn't even know he was talking to anyone." Yoshikawa questioned. The group was sitting in the student council room during some free time, and everyone was staring at Toru as he explained the text.
"I didn't either. I'm honestly just confused. Like what the heck?" Toru said as he stared down at the text. "Maybe it's someone from a different school?" Miyamura questioned. "Mhm, I don't really see Shuu ever talking to people from other schools. It's a theory though." Sengoku thought out loud.
"is it really a big deal though.?" Yanagi questioned the group. "Yes!!" Toru, Hori and Yoshikawa all yelled, startling the boy.
You opened the door as they continued talking, a grin adorning your face as you sat down. "What's got you so giddy today L/n?" Sengoku questioned as everyone briefly looked at you. "Oh nothing~!" You spoke with a happy tone that slightly confused everyone around you. Toru sighed as he looked at you. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about who Shuu's dating, would you Y/n?" He questioned as he showed you the text. You smiled at it as you leaned back in your chair. "I actually do know something."
Everyone immediately looked to you in anticipation. "So you do know! Did you two talk about it during the project?" Sengoku questioned. "Yeah, actually." You nodded with a smile. "So spill! Does she go to our school?" Hori questioned.
"Yeah, the girl Shuu is dating does go here." You nodded at her. "That's weird that none of us have heard of her then." Miyamura thought. "Especially from Iura.." Hori thought.
You couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the group. Suddenly Hori looked straight at you, pointing accusatory. "Come on! You obviously know who it is Y/n!!" You looked away with a smirk. "Hm? Me? Not a clue."
"Come on woman you have to spill!!" Sengoku yelled as the door opened up. "Heyo!!" Everyone's heads turned at the hyper voice of the very man they were talking about. Shuu stood there confused as everyone was surrounding you.
"Uhm— why are we interrogating Y/n?" He questioned with a tilt of his head. "Shuu!! Come on man you have got to tell us who you're dating!" Toru yelled as he shook his shoulders quickly. "Wh-What that's what you're all after?!" Shuu said as he continued to be shook by Toru.
You chuckled lightly, until you finally noticed the yellow hoodie underneath Shuu's blazer. You stood up quickly startling Sengoku who was right beside you. "Shuu!" You ran up to him after Toru had released him, grabbing onto the collar of his Hood. "What did I just say yesterday after I left!?" You groaned, moving your hands to pinch his cheeks.
"owch- you awlso swaid you had spawes!!" He tried to say as you continued to pull at his cheeks. "That doesn't mean you can just go through all of them!" You yelled. Shuu laughed as he pulled your hands away from his face. "N/n, you're gonna make my cheeks all sore.." he smiled down at you.
You smiled up at him lightly with a sigh. "I guess it's not that big of a deal for today." You gave in. "Yayyyy," he expressed as he pulled you in his chest for a hug. You "begrudgingly" hugged him back with a huff.
As you two released each other you looked back to your friends, who were all staring at you with shocked expressions. "Wait.. whaaaat ?!" Hori yelled, Yoshikawa was jumping with excitement and the rest of them all stared in shell shock. You grinned mischievously at their reactions, tricking them even if it was just for a moment was entertaining to say the least. "Since when!?" Hori yelled, her eyes wide with disbelief.
"Since yesterday, technically," Shuu chimed in, his arm casually draped around your shoulders. "But we've been dancing around it for a while now." You chuckled a bit.
"Seriously!? Shuu, how did you manage to land someone like Y/n!?" Toru exclaimed, still in disbelief. You chuckled with a nod at him. Shuu shrugged with a grin. "Guess I just got lucky," he replied, his gaze fondly drifting to you.
Yoshikawa squealed with delight, unable to contain her excitement. "I knew it! You two always seemed to have some kind of chemistry," she exclaimed, earning nods of agreement from a few others.
Sengoku spoke up with a light smirk. "Well, well, looks like all the complaining about him I had to endure was just some weird cover up, talk about lame." he jokingly sighed. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," you retorted, but the smile on your face betraying the annoyance in your voice.
As the school day finished and all your usual student council duties were through, you said your goodbyes to Sengoku Kouno and Remi. Shuu who had actually stayed behind with you for your usual club activities walked you home, his hand intertwined with yours. The wind blew lightly with the cold weather, but you surprisingly felt warm for once.
As you reached your doorstep, you turned to Shuu with a smile. "Thanks Shuu. For walking me home." You nodded at him.
Shuu's eyes sparkled with happiness as he smiled brightly back at you. He squeezed your hand a bit. "Not a problem." He leaned down, planting a small kiss to your forehead before turning away with a wave. "I'll see you at school tomorrow, wearing the correct uniform!"
You chuckled as your cheeks heated up. "You better!" You yelled after him as he ran off.
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hey so i’m new to the community fandom and i really love trobed. i was wondering what was your trobed centric episode masterlist like? or if it’s possible, is there a way to send me the post? sorry i’m new to tumblr so i’m still learning how this app works. if you see this, thanks :)
hi, welcome! I've found that community tumblr is probably my favorite fandom space I've ever been involved in, and I hope you've had a good experience so far. I totally get the New App Learning Curve thing, I'm historically very shit at learning how to use new apps, even though I'm "young" (20), but I eventually got it and you will too, Trust 👍👍👍
anyway, Yes one of the first things I did on here after joining was make a trobed-centric episode masterlist for someone who was asking lmfao. since it was one of the First things I did there's some formatting and other things I'd do differently now, and I've actually been looking for an excuse to go ahead and get that done, so. here we go.
the trobed-centric episode masterlist (revamped)
1x05: advanced criminal law
plot B
abed takes the "friends mess with each other" rule too far; he creates a whole fake language and spends a lot of money on trying to convince troy that he is an alien
"from now on, abed, friends don't mess with each other"
(this is the first time they do their signature handshake)
1/5 gayness, pretty platonic
1x10: environmental science
plot B
it's the "somewhere out there" episode what more do I need to say
3/5 gayness, something's happening fs
1x11: the politics of human sexuality
plot C
abed keeps beating troy in athletic competitions, making troy feel threatened. he eventually admits that abed is the better athlete and they make up
2/5 gayness, pretty platonic but it has its moments
1x22: the art of discourse
plot C
troy and abed work to complete abed's list of quintessential freshman year of college experiences list
2/5 gayness, they repeatedly put completing the list above looking cool in front of women
1x25: pascal's triangle revisited
plot C
troy is moving out of his dad's house and wants to move in with abed, but abed says no because he's afraid being that close and spending that much time together will result in constant annoyance, and will destroy their friendship
troy realizes that "too much of a good thing can be bad" and instead agrees to move in with pierce
1/5 gayness
2x02: accounting for lawyers
part of plot A
jeff gets sucked back into his old life as he reconnects with alan, a coworker from his old law firm. troy, abed, and annie try to gather proof that jeff's friend is the one who got him fired in the first place
more trobedison centric, and is actually the first episode where the three of them are established as a Trio™
"all I heard was suck" "YOU CHLOROFORMED THE JANITOR" "I usually have one foot out of reality and even I'm freaking out right now"
1/5 gayness, pretty platonic. they're the sillies ever I love trobedison
2x06: epidemiology
part of plot A
it's the zombie episode, come ON
trobed have coordinating costumes but troy bails during the party because he doesn't want to look lame and nerdy in front of women, which hurts abed's feelings
abed sacrifices himself to save troy once they are the last two standing during the "rabies pathogen" breakout
"I love you" "I know" (oh my GODDD sedate me)
5/5 gayness. you get it.
2x09: conspiracy theories and interior design
plot B
the original blanket fort 💯💯💯
2/5 gayness, just guys bein silly (and in love???)
2x15: early 21st century romanticism
plot B
troy and abed fall for the same girl and decide to take her to the valentine's dance together, after which she can decide which one of them she wants to date
she picks troy, but troy gets upset that she didn't pick abed (because why wouldn't she pick abed, he's so cool) and breaks it off almost immediately
I"happy valentine's day" "it is now"
5/5 gayness jesus christ this one is INSANE
2x18: custody law and eastern european diplomacy
plot B
britta likes troy and abed's new friend, lukka, who she finds out is a literal war criminal. she keeps this information from troy and abed because she doesn't want to ruin their friendship with him, but they find out eventually
2/5 gayness they're attached at the hip in this one
2x19: critical film studies
random moments
this episode is more focused on jeff and abed, but there's a lot of classic Troy Gets Jealous™ moments so I decided to include it. plus the end tag is them randomly having dinner together at the fancy restaurant (a date 😔)
basically troy is afraid that jeff is a cooler friend to abed than him
3/5 gayness even though they barely interact, troy is so silly
2x20: competitive wine tasting
part of plot B
I almost didn't include this one, and it's not even on my original list, but whatever
troy pretends to be traumatized, originally to seem less shallow in his acting class, but he keeps it going in order to attract britta. he tells abed about it and abed Does Not Like That At All
"troy. nothing good can come of this"
I wouldn't call abed being jealous a Rare Occurrence but he generally conceals it way better than troy does
2/5 gayness, could be interpreted as abed just worried about relationships forming under false pretense, but to Me he's jealous
2x22: applied anthropology and culinary arts
plot C
pierce buys the rights to troy and abed's handshake (a la Indecent Proposal) which "corrupts" it
"pierce tainted our special handshake with his blood money and now we can't get the magic baaaack :((((("
eventually they do indeed get the magic back
3/5 gayness idk there's something about the way they interact in this one that is inexplicably gay to me lmao
3x01: biology 101
plot C plus random moments
"speaking of figuring things out, me and abed have an announcement" "..." "troy and I are living together :D"
cougartown gets moved to midseason, then cougarton abbey ends after 6 episodes, abed's routine keeps getting thrown off, and troy is just extremely supportive and protective throughout
4/5 gayness troy loves him a lot!!!!!!
3x03: remedial chaos theory
random moments
(I know this ep is listed as 3x04 on streaming services but in canon it takes place here and on the dvds it's listed as 3x03. there's a joke about it in the episode too if you didn't know. anyway)
"troy and abed's new apartment!!!" "bienvenido a la casa chez trobed!" "wanna stay up all night talking in our bunk beds?"
all their pictures on the wall and their matching suits lol
the end tag "evil troy and evil abed" & troy's soft "what's wrong :("
3/5 gayness they're lowkey married your honor
3x05: horror fiction in seven spooky steps
random moments
troy's whole story he tells where they Literally become attached at the hip
"my partner"
troy dancing while abed's humming daybreak
2/5 gayness
3x06: advanced gay
plot B
troy deciding whether he wants to do plumbing or air conditioning and deciding all he really wants to do is watch tv with abed
gay symbolism? gay symbolism? gay symbolism?
4/5 gayness mostly for the conversation at the hawthorne wipes gathering. I could write an essay on just that
3x07: studies in modern movement
plot A
annie moves in with troy and abed. very trobedison centric
"kiss me woodsman troy!"
3/5 gayness once again casually in love they're soulmates your honor
3x09: foosball and nocturnal vigilantism
plot B
annie breaks abed's $200 special edition dark knight dvd set on accident, trobedison shenanigans ensue yippee!!!
"awww is that the grappling hook I got you for christmas???"
3/5 gayness for the same reasons as before
3x10: regional holiday music
part of plot A
literally putting this on here just because of the christmas infiltration rap (and baby boomer santa)
3/5 gayness it's glee club what can you do
3x11: contemporary impressionists
plot A
(once again, I know this episode is listed as 3x12 on streaming services, but in canon it's supposed to chronologically be here, and is listed as 3x11 on the dvds)
the study group helps abed pay off his debts to a celebrity impersonator website by playing characters at a bar mitzvah (after troy scolds them for trying to ground abed in reality)
they have an argument at the end ugh
3/5 gayness troy loves abed a lot and abed doesn't realize that he's doing something wrong
3x12: urban matrimony and the sandwich arts
plot C
(see the above disclaimer about episode order)
troy and abed decide to be normal for shirley's wedding rehearsal
troy and abed being normal 🤝
4/5 gayness they blow off a girl to be weird again
3x13: digital exploration of interior design
plot C
blanket fort: redux (oh god)
vice dean laybourne escalates what started as a minor disagreement in order to drive a wedge between troy and abed. it works
5/5 gayness, if a sitcom doesn't have the two codependent fanonical gays go through an unnecessarily dramatic "break up" then I don’t want it
3x14: pillows and blankets
plot A
🎶troy and abed are in conflict🎶 *cries*
pillow fort vs. blanket fort
they eventually make up but not before they hurt each others' feelings a Lot
5/5 gayness the dramatics jesus christ
3x16: virtual systems analysis
random moments
so this episode is more focused on abed and annie, and troy and abed actually don't Technically interact with each other very much at all, but. you know
abed kinda freaks out when troy and britta go on a date because it "messes with the fabric of the group" (🤨 I know what you are)
troy calls annie to "check on abed" boy you are on a date with a woman
4/5 gayness just from subtext you get it
3x17: basic lupine urology
random moments
troy and abed play detective as they try to figure out who sabotaged the group's biology project
"we can't both do the zinger"
4/5 gayness no explanation
3x19: curriculum unavailable
random moments
the study group is expelled from greendale and abed gets arrested for spying on campus, so he's supposed to have a psychological evaluation
troy is just very protective of him in this episode, plus the flashback clip where he and Annie are comforting him as he's freaking out about daylight savings
"our adventures are VERY manly"
4/5 gayness
3x21: the first chang dynasty
random moments
oof baboof with you two! (all the plumber shenanigans are hilarious)
mostly putting this one on here for the goodbye scene at the end of the episode, though. god
"he said, 'I know you hate when people do this in movies.' sorry I got emotional"
3x22: introduction to finality
plot B
abed "goes crazy" without troy (who's off at a/c repair school)
when troy comes back he prioritizes abed over britta (who he supposedly has romantic feelings for)
"I miss abed so much" "you're afraid you'll go crazy without troy"
4/5 gayness one could say they're a little codependent
4x03: conventions of space and time
plot A
troy gets jealous of (read: goes "psycho girlfriend on") abed's new inspector spacetime superfan friend toby
britta, even as troy's literal girlfriend, calls abed troy's boyfriend and supports troy through the whole thing
"for the first time in my long history of being locked inside things, I knew someone would come" let me just put my head through my wall really quick
5/5 gayness even though troy has a whole gf. that's how gay this episode is
4x11: basic human anatomy
plot A
troy and abed pretend to switch bodies, like in freaky friday, in order to help troy process his feelings about his relationship with britta
5/5 gayness holy SHIT y'all. I could write thousands of words on this episode. it is so hard to justify troy's actions in this one without reading him as a closeted gay person not lying
5x03: basic intergluteal numismatics
random moments
including this one because of how abed comforts troy and pushes him around in a wheelchair for the entire episode
3/5 gayness it's the casual married-ness again smh
5x04: cooperative polygraphy
random moments
this is another one I didn't include on my original list but I decided fuck it
the bit uncovering the actual origin of their patented handshake is so funny "I can't even look at you right now" "then you should know I'm crying"
also just the. look on abed's face when troy agrees to go on the trip at the end. "cool. cool cool cool." "that's a lie" UGHHHHH
4/5 gayness again. so typical
5x05: geothermal escapism
plot A
do I need to say a word
ouch ouch ouch OUCH
5/5 gayness especially the deleted dialogue from the last scene (I've posted it before but lmk if you don't know what I'm talking about. disclaimer it makes me want to launch myself off the empire state building)
alright. there it is folks. I was going to make another subsection of other random iconic trobed moments and cite the episodes they're from but basically every single episode has at least one, so that list would be Way too long to qualify as a supplement to this one lmao. however! if you have a Trobed Moment™ stuck in your head (or any Moment for that matter) and you can't remember which episode it's from feel free to ask me, I'm confident that my internal community database will be able to Remind You. anyway. hope this was helpful. bye
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eetherealgoddess · 3 months
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ꨄOur Beta 2ꨄ
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Yandere Omegaverse Au
Sano Manjiro, Sanzu Haruchiyo, & Haitani Brothers x Reader
Read the first one for context!!
Part One
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Not fully proofread!
MY TR FANDOM WORKS ARE ONLY ON TUMBLR, AO3, AND WATTPAD UNDER EETHEREALGODDESS! REPORT IF YOU SEE IT POSTED UNDER ANYONE ELSE BUT ME!!!
Japanese language is red
I apologize if I get any Japanese etiquette or culture wrong, I literally have to research the culture for some of my fandom stories so if anything is wrong, please excuse my ignorance.
Notice:
✩Y/n is 18+. I picture her as a black female but you can see her however.
✩Some parts of the story may not be realistic or factual. After all, this is a work of fiction.
✩Although it's a dark 'romance,' I do not condone any of the behavior displayed.
✩Dark content such as: gore, violence, triggering topics, graphic scenes, vulgar language, explicit sexual content, etc.
✩There will be scenes that involve non con and/ or dubcon so don’t read if that makes you uncomfortable
✩That being said, this story is for 18+ only.
Enjoy!
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Our Beta 2
“Koko, I… I didn’t sign up to be a sex slave or a cuddle buddy. I c-can’t take this anymore!”
Y/n sat on the bed with her back leaned against the headboard, eyeing the executive in front of her with a pleading gaze as he could only stare back with pity and crossed arms. It had been two months since the additional heat and former executive Y/n has been entangled with a web of arms almost daily.
“I understand, but there’s nothing I can do. Trust me, I do feel sympathetic towards your situation, as this was an unexpected circumstance, but you know as well as I do that no one can go against the Boss's orders.” He sighs. Her head falls on her hands before she glares at him once more.
“I’ve been locked up in this room for, I don’t even know how long without a phone, and with stupid journals and board games as a means of entertainment. I’ve seen all channels and have streamed hella shows on the tv. Koko, just please help me escape. They-!”
“Stop right there. You know that either one of us could get killed if I help you. Just hang in there and be patient. I-I’ll try to find a way to at least talk you out of being stuck in this room. You can’t try anything, Y/n. It’ll only get worse.” He states as he begins to walk to the doorway.
“When are they coming back?”
“They’re on a mission right now. I don’t know when they’ll be back.”
She nods in response as he leaves and shuts the door.
I’ve gotta get out of here. I can’t be here if I’m not going to be an executive. This is torture. I’m not even an alpha.
Y/n might’ve more inclined to have accepted the terms if she would’ve been told about it before becoming an executive, having had a crush or two at the beginning, though her beta instincts not being affected as much as an alpha would to their attraction. Keyword, ‘might.’ She’s not really the type for that kind of job anyway, but it would have been nice to have had the option instead of being forced to do this. Especially with the lack of freedom.
Not to mention, she never consented to any of that, embarrassment still lingering as she thinks back on the events as she rubs the scar caused by one of the Haitanis biting her shoulder. It’s been a while so it’s fading but it was inflicted enough to last this long.
Finally deciding to make a move, she thinks of a plan to escape. Koko is probably in his designated room, face planted on his laptop screen so she shouldn’t have to worry about him, nor the alphas and omegas who are on a mission. Yes the security cameras will capture her leaving, but if she’s gone it won’t matter anyway. They’ll see the empty room. That leaves the guards. Fortunately, she gained some physical skills from her time as an executive so she wasn’t worried about fighting them off. She can find a hotel to stay in and get a new card from the bank. She’ll figure out her phone later.
She hops from the bed as she makes her way to the door. When she knocks on the door, she moves a step back to get ready for her attack. Once she hears the door click she takes a deep breath before blowing it out, jumping on the first guard that opens the door, both of them falling with her landing on top.
She punches him until he’s knocked out just in time for the second one to come behind, her standing up to grab his wrist near the shoulder that his hand was planted on, and swings him over, his body landing on the floor before she knocks him out as well. When that was over, she took a breath once more, eyeing her shaky hands as she headed to the exit. Adrenaline pumps as she runs, anticipating her freedom as she gets closer.
Once she makes it, she grabs the door and snatches it open, expecting guards to attack but only being met with icy blue eyes glaring at her.
“Fuck!” She tries pushing past him, only to be snatched painfully from the wrist as he drags her in, shutting the door behind them.
“S-Sanzu! Wait, please!” When they make it in front of the designated bedroom, he crosses over the bodies with a look of disgust.
“Pathetic. You can’t even do your job.”
He shoves her into the room. She turns back to him and grabs his arm before he can leave.
“Sanzu! P-please don’t tell Mikey! I just…!” He holds his hand up with narrowed eyes. She releases him and steps back. Pulling out his phone, begins dialing a number. Putting the phone to his ear, he begins speaking in his language. Y/n could only stare wide eyed in fear as to what could be planned for her. The only word she recognized was ‘traitor’ and that didn’t make her feel any better. When the call ended, he placed his phone back in his pocket before pulling out his gun and pointing at her. She froze as he walked closer to her. Before she could process anything, he pulled it back before landing a blow on her head with the butt of the gun, knocking her out. He catches her body before it falls and places her on the bed, leaving the room once he is done.
When she awakens, an excruciating pain in her abdomen catches her attention as her face scrunches and grunts leave her mouth. She attempted to move her arm to wrap around the pressure but she looked over to see that a cuff was connected from the chain hanging from the post. Her arm failing to budge caused her to move her leg which is also restrained against the bed tightly.
A wet liquid gushes out of her uncontrollably causing her to squirm in discomfort, the sensation of it dripping down her bare ass making her sick as she’s never been used to this kind of slick forming from her own body. Finally, she’s aware of her surroundings when she hears a loud scream in the room.
“P-PLEASE…!” The sound of an object making contact with flesh caused her worse pain as she recognized the word, meaning someone’s demise had been completed.
“Boss! I won’t let it happen again! Sp-spare me for my fam-!”
“Shut up.” Mikey hissed. The same sound made an impact once more, interrupting the victim causing her to flinch as tears built.
That must be the guards. I’m really going to die like this.
“Ah Beta, you’re finally awake.” Ran says as he walks over with the bloody baton on his shoulder, smirking as he looks down at her.
“Hey, you’re looking a little warm. Let’s fix that” Rin says before snatching the blanket that’s covering her naked body away. She gasps as she tries to use her legs to cover herself in reflex, failing miserably. It doesn’t matter how many times they have seen her naked, she will always feel humiliation considering they were her partners in quite a few missions. Also to be in such a vulnerable state, sweaty, hot, her own aroma filling up the air, and in straight agony, bare in front of the psychopaths she used to look up to, her being the newest executive after all.
She groans when another shot of pain surges through her body after another gush of slick falls out, gritting her teeth as her hands turn to fists. She breathes heavily as she tries to contain the new urges, her body surviving through an experience she has never had to deal with before. A hand grabs her chin, forcing her to look towards the opposite side of the bed, Mikey standing above her, his hair hovering over as he leans over.
“This is your fault.” He states with a stoic expression before releasing his grip and walking away from the bed, towards the exit. On the same side, Sanzu gets closer with a smirk on his face.
“Enjoy your heat, Beta.” They all walk towards the exit, shutting the door behind them as they leave Y/n and the dead bodies in the room.
After a while of suffering through the process with tears, slick, and agony, the door clicks open as a few footsteps make their way in. Koko came into view with a concerned look on his face, shaking his head.
“Y/n, I told you not to try anything.” He groans, palms rubbing down his face. She could only respond with whimpers and sniffs as she couldn’t form the words to express her distress.
“They’re planning to keep you here for the entire duration of your induced heat. I’m sorry, Y/n but it’s unknown as to when it will be over.” He resists the urge to cover her with the blanket, not wanting to deal with the repercussions that would come.
“K-koko please…! Unchain me f-for just a m-minute… I need t-to…t-take care of myself!”
“I cannot risk my own safety, Y/n. You will have to endure.” He sighs in pity. He looks over as the employees drag the bodies out and clean the evidence.
“Next time, please don’t let this happen again. For your own sake.”
Y/n’s heat lasted for a week and a half before she finally ended with no release or anyone to help her through. The omegan urges haunted her throughout the process of trying to survive. Nobody was allowed to check on her after the cleaners came. She wasn’t given food or water and had to endure with an empty stomach and dry throat, not that she would’ve been able to eat or drink anything anyway with her discomfort.
When it was over, she was too weak to speak or move, her eyes hollow as she could only take breaths and lay there. Finally, employees cleaned and fed her, a slow process before they left after chaining one of her ankles to the bed. She spent the next week becoming healthier, only allowed to get up for the bathroom. There were no signs of any executives until Mikey slept in the same bed one of the nights after it was over, holding her. The other omegan executives getting their own time with her when their boss allows it.
When Y/n was completely healthy, she was used once again as a heat guide for them as they shared the bed, bundled up in different nests made of clothes and blankets. She reluctantly accepts her fate, having no choice but to comply and survive.
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Hello Questies!!
This post has been a long time coming, and here it finally is. Willow, and more importantly, the Willow Fandom, changed my life, so, thank you all for everything!
Now Presenting…
How to Get a Girlfriend by Watching Willow 2022:
Step 1. See gif of Kit on top of Jade when she was saying goodbye like on Pinterest.
Step 2. Figure out the name of the show with the hot girls.
Step 3. Rewatch the original Willow.
Step 4. Watch Willow 2022
Step 5. Realize that the feelings about other women that you have been suppressing since you were 17 are coming back to bite you in the ass.
Step 6. Reject compulsory heterosexuality.
Step 7. Call your best friend in a panic.
Step 8. Try for weeks to try to get anyone you know to watch Willow. Fail.
Step 9. Sign back into an old tumblr account and start following people just as obsessed as you are.
Step 10. Read horny fanfic. A LOT of hot horny fanfic.
Step 11. Get your best friend so fed up with you that she invited you to an LGBTQIA+ friendly community event more than an hour away just so she doesn’t have to be the only person hearing about Willow anymore.
Step 12. Make lifelong friends!!
Step 13. After several months of trying to convince people to watch Willow literally steal the TV hookup and force people to watch it.
Step 14. Share the link to the Free Willow website in the Facebook group chat so everyone can watch more episodes.
Step 15. Get private Facebook message from girl wanting to talk about Willow.
Step 16. Make friends with said girl and get a huge crush.
Step 17. Start hanging out outside of group events.
Step 18. Be awkward.
Step 19. Continue to be awkward for several months until one half of the friend group pulls you aside, and one half pulls her aside and endure an intervention.
Step 20. Ask girl on date. (She says yes!!)
Step 21. Go on date and realize that despite the fact that there are over 12 years of university between the two of you, that you both read dozens of the same articles on Reddit and Quora about how to act on a first date, since neither of you have had one before.
Step 22. Get mutually pissed off at the lack of official peer reviewed research on how to have a healthy relationship. Decide to work on writing and publishing together. (So far, the only thing actually peer reviewed is our relationship, which only started due to peer review.)
Step 23. Make plans for more dates.
Step 24. Be happy!!!
Step 25. Realize that communication is hard and misunderstandings suck after reading more horny Willow fanfic.
Step 26. Write 5 page love letter in proper MLA Epistle format and give to girl.
Step 27. Become official girlfriends!
Step 28. Receive photos of her extensive collection of swords and blades.
Step 28b. Implode. (Like seriously. It was SO hot.)
Step 29. After being girlfriends for two months, bring up Willow again and find out that she doesn’t actually care that much about Willow?!?!?!!!! She likes it but was mostly using it as an excuse to talk to you?!?
Step 30. Consider breaking up with girl (not really!!) because she isn’t actually as obsessed with Willow as you are.
Step 31. Decide to share your gratitude with the ongoing Willow fandom for changing your life instead of worrying about making everyone in your life love it as much as you do. 😂
————
Thanks to the creators who helped me work through the emotions of steps 5 and 6 and those who helped with steps 10 and 25. @ksfreckles @geek-and-nina @ourlonelymoon @commanderbuffy @acre-of-wheat @wigster07 @vetiverriver @barmaid-anon @swashbucklery @spybrarian @isabrella @lowkeyed1 @savewillow2022 and so many others!
While I’m at it: Thanks to @ourlonelymoon for reminding me I don’t have to earn help, @acre-of-wheat for helping me remember that being on the spectrum doesn’t make me unloveable (and for reminding me that letter writing is valid communication) @commanderbuffy for proving that love isn’t just for teenagers, @wigster07 for showing second chances and that character growth requires tons of hard work @geek-and-nina for perfectly portraying the emotions and joy of falling in love, and @ksfreckles for being the first person I talked to online and for writing the story that means everything to me.
Thank you Willow Fandom and Willow Creators! I do not know where I would be today if it wasn’t for my lovely, Willow-obsessed online community. 💕 ⚔️ 😉
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notfreetoday · 7 months
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MPW Ep 3 Subtitle Corrections
EP 1 || EP 2 Cultural/Language Tidbits: EP 2
Same translation disclaimer applies. Thanks again for indulging my crazy long t/n, please keep geeking out with me in the notes!
We've got a change of director this episode - to Funabiki Shinju (twitter linked here) who was the scriptwriter for Jack Frost. This date is also a drama-only episode and does not appear in the manga. So, we have quite a few ad-libs here! I'll point out these out, as well as any interesting comments by the director and the producer from the Ep 3 twitter space as we go on. (Due to tumblr's image space limitations, some of these scenes will have no pics, just a description)
Ep 3, let's go! (If you read nothing in this post, please just read Yoh's monologue)
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Since this is the theme of this episode, and Yoh's favourite word, let's talk a little more about it. I've mentioned it previously, but both "嫌い (kirai)" and "大嫌い (dai kirai)" are often translated as "hate/really hate", when they really function more as the opposite of "(suki)", ie "to like". That said, the amount of emotional weight this word carries depends on the context. It can accurately convey the pain/anger of hating someone, but it can also be used very mildly. For eg, it's often used by kids in the "I hate homework/vegetables/the rain/etc" form, or by teens/young adults in the "I don't want everyone to hate me" form, as opposed to other synonyms. When introducing yourself/getting to know someone, it's not uncommon to be asked "what are your suki/kirai?"
In other words, overuse of this word can actually come off as slightly childish, because kids/young people are usually the ones using this word to reject small things/express themselves. Yoh's constant insistence that he hates Segasaki pretty much sounds like this - which is why Man-san expresses doubt about it, and why when Segasaki repeats this line back to Yoh, Yoh understands that Segasaki is teasing him. (The word "love" is considered too heavy and precious of a concept to be thrown around easily, so "suki" is the default go to even in committed relationships.)
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Y: 相変わらずすごいよ、この人の外面モード。 Y: As always, this person's "public mode" is amazing.
"外面 (soto zura)" literally refers to the "outside face", and when used to describe a person means someone who puts up a certain personality/attitude depending on who they're speaking to/the situation.
The reason Yoh's saying this is because Segasaki is speaking to him in a much nicer way than he usually does at home 🤣He's using plain forms yes, but he's also praising him and smiling at him and actually saying a whole, proper sentence as opposed to the one-word sickness he has at home🤣 This is most obvious right before Segasaki leaves, when he warns Yoh to be careful when drawing other people - he says "気をつけてね~ (ki o tsukete ne~)", ending with a ne~ which is sweet and cute and which he almost never does with Yoh at home 🤣🤣
Twitter Space Note (TSN): They decided that since they finally got to shoot an "outdoor scene" for Yoh, they'd try to make him look a little more fashionable with a shirt instead of a hoodie 🤣
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Y: いってらっしゃい Y: Itterasshai - this is a standard greeting that you say when someone is leaving the house (or the office, if they're going out on a business errand). Basically, the one leaving says "ittekimasu" and the one staying behind says "itterasshai". They mean "(I'll) go and come back/Go safely and return well" When returning, you say "tadaima" and the one welcoming you back says "okaerinasai" meaning: "(I have) just now (returned)/ (you have) returned safely". Unlike Yoh, Segasaki does none of these standard greetings (which Yoh complained about in Ep 1 whilst chopping onions).
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Y: だからね、気持ちが通じ合った*っていう描写が必要だと思うんだよおれは Y: だからこそ、体が盛り上がる**、的な? M: はーん。中高生処女みたいなこといってろ Original: Y: That's why I think it's necessary to depict the feeling of "mutual understanding" Y: That's how the physical aspect also gets exciting... or something like that? M: Hmm.. talking about it like a high school virgin, huh? Mine: Y: So that's why, I think it's important - showing that (the characters') have this unspoken understanding* of each other's feelings. Y: It's precisely because of that, that you get physically excited** - something like that? M: Mm.... you're saying things a high-school virgin would say **体が盛り上がる - literally, "the body gets excited/heated up/lively etc" - given that they are talking about erotica, he probably means physically aroused here, but this term also works to explain the feeling of excitement or emotion just swelling in your chest for eg *通じ合った - is not just "mutual understanding" - it specifically refers to a situation in which both parties understand each other without having to say a word - like when you look at someone and just get them, or like in sports, you just look at your team mate and you know.
This is an important distinction because in this line, Yoh again emphasizes "I" - at the end of the sentence he ends off with the pronoun "俺 (ore)" marked by the subject particle "は (wa)" - which means that in this sentence Yoh is emphasizing that this is his opinion - that he himself thinks it's important to show that 2 people simply get each other, because that's exactly what translates to that sensation you feel in your body. This is what Yoh wants - he wants to understand Segasaki, and he wants Segasaki to understand him, without them having to actually say anything. Which at the moment, only Segasaki is achieving, ironically.
[ Man-san's dialogue, where she says "a sex scene follows]
TSN: Man-san actually only says “se-“ here, and then mutes herself (because they’re in public). In the script, it was supposed to be the full “sex” word, but they weren't sure whether it would be ok (it's not clear whether they mean ok for the actress to say this or ok for the show in general) so in the end it became "se-". Yes it's an odd place to be concerned about given the whole Ep2 but #Japan
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Again, the word here used is “kirai” but translated as “dislike” instead of hate 😉
TSN: Between this scene and the start of the next scene, they praised how Acchan uses his eyes to convey Yoh's dejection and how he expresses Yoh's emotions very sensitively through his gaze (and I agree!)
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TSN: The director mentioned that she had thought it would look good if Segasaki to put his hand up like this on the ceiling partition, but the moment Kouhei walked in, he just did it naturally without her having to say anything, and so she was really amazed.
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S: じゃ、出かけるぞ (Jya, dekakeru zo) S: Then, we’re going out.
“Let’s go out” would be more of "じゃ、でかけましょう (Jya, dekakemashou)" – by using the ending form “(-ma)shou”, the listener is included in the action of going out as an equal to the speaker, the same way “let’s” is used in English. It is by far the most common way Japanese people make a statement without trying to sound too overbearing. But here, Segasaki once again demonstrates his habit of simply stating what they’re going to do, and speaking for Yoh. The sentence-final particle “zo” at the end of his sentence is an assertive one that doesn’t leave much room for argument.
TSN: Again they talked about how they emphasised to Acchan to do the housework improperly, since Yoh isn't supposed to be good at it. Also, when Yoh thinks, "what's with this, all of a sudden?", the director asked that he move his hands "more" as he folded the clothes, like he was still happy to be asked out.
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Y: デート自体ないんだよ Y: I’ve never even been on a date.
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Y: 俺、いま一体何してんだろう Y: What am I even doing right now?
Yoh’s not wondering what they’re doing, he’s questioning his own actions, like "why am I even here, doing this, what am I supposed to do" etc, because you know, he's never even been on a date before and he has no clue whether this actually is one.
[The scene with the 2 of them on the bench, and Segasaki asks Yoh what he'd like to eat]
TSN: The script only went up to Yoh answering that he wanted to eat “Chinese food”, and this whole bit afterward just happened naturally when they let the camera run.
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Yoh says “たっか(taka)!” which is short for “高い(takai)” aka “expensive!” but his voice is so cute here I’m dying. (It really is bloody expensive, these things are usually anywhere between 180 yen – 300 yen pre-pandemic. Even with the big one they have here, I don’t think anyone would sell this above 500 yen)
TSN: They said they searched for a 1200 yen steamed pork bun but couldn’t find one, and in actuality the store sells them at a really reasonable price, so to please go give it a try 🤣🤣
[The scene of them walking and sharing the chicken cutlet]
TSN: This scene, as well as them walking along they alley way looking at the shops, was mostly ad-libbed (which is probably why we see Acchan smiling so much here hahaha I’m guessing the question about which he liked better was probably an adlib, which surprised Acchan). For the alleyway, they were told that their conversation was not going to be used, so they were quite relaxed (and that explains the audio fade out lol)
[The scene of them drinking Boba/Bubble Tea]
About Gyaru - when Boba/Bubble Tea first came to Japan, it became pretty popular amongst Gyaru, and quickly became associated with Gyaru culture - hence why they both felt it was something only Gyaru drank. It's similar to the idea that only ladies eat sweets/desserts that was briefly mentioned in OFC (which makes Nozue feel awkward about 2 men eating cake in a dessert cafe) - here they mean they both felt too embarrassed to try Boba out before due to the idea that it's a "Gyaru" drink (and I love how Yoh looks at Segasaki then, like he only just realises that even Segasaki might get embarrassed/feel awkward sometimes).
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S: 乗るぞ (noru zo)
Again, this is “we’re riding it” instead of “let’s”.
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Y: 思ったよりすごく透明で Y: (The cabin) is more transparent than I thought
The floor of the cabin is actually clear, so you can see right down through to the bottom, which is why Yoh is a little freaked out here. Not because he thought glass wasn’t transparent.
TSN: Acchan is also afraid of heights, so the stiffness you see here is real, he really didn’t like it, but they went 4 rounds in total to finish this scene. (Kouhei apparently was fine and enjoyed looking right through the glass, though I can’t remember which interview this was mentioned in, sorry!)
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S: ほら S: See?
ほら (hora) is commonly used to draw the listener’s attention to something, so here Segasaki really just means “look (I was right)”
TSN: They apparently redid the scene where Segasaki dismisses the store attendant many times so they could make sure it was done in a way that looked natural and wouldn’t be off-putting.
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We’re back to one of Segasaki’s humming sounds – the “hmm…?” here again conveys the “oh, really/is that so?” sort of lazy drawl that can easily be mistaken as Segasaki being bored – which is why Yoh immediately suggests they go do their own thing.
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Y: そっちも、好きなところいっていいから Y: You too, it’s okay (if you go) to the places you like so…
Yoh uses “そっち” here to refer to Segasaki - which literally means “your/that side” and is another way in which Yoh avoids addressing Segasaki directly (remember, in Japan we don’t like being direct, and “you” is sometimes too direct).
Fun fact: Depending on which part of Japan you’re in, this can either be seen as a totally normal way of speaking, or it might annoy you a little to be referred to as if you were an object/place, or you might feel like the speaker was treating you a little like an “outsider”. The divide in opinion seems to be somewhere between the northeast regions, and the western regions. Tokyo and the rest of the Kantou region (where the show is based, judging by the lack of an obvious accent) are sort of 50-50.
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Y: もしあれ*だったら、あ、あの、こっちはこっちで、好きにやってるし Original: Y: Ah, if you want to. Well… we’re both doing our own things… Mine: Y: If (you feel) that way*, then, ah, umm, I can… do as I like, by myself too...
*that way - this refers to that sort of awkward, uncomfortable feeling you get that is hard to describe when you’ve been put on the spot. So, this makes it clear that Yoh is offering Segasaki an “out” from this uncomfortable, weird position he thinks Segasaki is in.
Similar to his earlier sentence, Yoh refers to himself as “こっち (this side)”, and the phrase he uses pretty much means “I can entertain myself”. This is an example of kizukai – or at least, what Yoh thinks is kizukai - which is a concept where you do your best to think of the other person’s needs and wants, so you can anticipate what help they might need and so you don’t inadvertently inconvenience them. Ok, now get ready for some mental gymnastics:
From Yoh's POV, Segasaki wants to buy clothes, and has brought Yoh along to carry the bags. Therefore, Segasaki’s offer to buy him a shirt, and asking him if he is having fun, is Segasaki’s kizukai – Segasaki is going out of his way to make sure Yoh is taken care of. But! Yoh doesn’t want Segasaki to feel inconvenienced (similar to how in EP 2, Yoh said he doesn’t want Segasaki to dislike him), so he instead almost reflexively rejects Segasaki’s offer, then encourages Segasaki to go enjoy himself, and in response to Segasaki’s “Ha!?”, doubles down and says he’s totally ok by himself - This is Yoh’s kizukai.
Tired yet? This is a normal consideration in daily interactions! You can see why the phrase “yokei na kizukai (excessive/unwanted kizukai)” also exists in Japanese lolol 🤣
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S: ああ。せっかくの休日に、大嫌いな俺*と一緒にいてのはたのしくない? Original: S: Ah. So spending a day with someone you hate on your precious day off isn’t enjoyable? Mine: S: Ah. On your precious day off, being together with me – who you hate* – isn’t fun?
*“大嫌いな俺 (dai kirai na ore)” is literally “the ‘me’ that you hate”, or “me who is hated by you” - emphasis on "me", the person standing right in front of you.
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Y: いや、それは…違。。。あ、その。。。 Y: No, that’s…not-…- ah.. um…
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“A, so” again.
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S: 五時にここ集合*な (goji ni koko shuugou *na) S: We’ll meet here at 5, *yea?
*Ending with “na” is softer than “zo” – this statement is still pretty much an order, as with his other statements that ended with “zo”, but it’s gentler, and softens the fact that he’s walking away from Yoh here.
TSN: Pretty much everyone was just going on and on about “oh, poor thing!” in response to Segasaki getting rejected and chased away, and how even though he’s sad here he’s still sweet and gentle with Yoh. Yes, that’s right, everyone loves Segasaki.
[The scene of Yoh spilling water on his shirt]
TSN: This was apparently pretty difficult to shoot in a way the camera could see the water spilling, but the wardrobe team came to the rescue with hairdryers so they could keep reshooting 🤣🤣
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S: じゃ、帰んぞ  (Jya, kaen zo) S: Then, we’re going back
“zo” is back! Sorry for being so pedantic about tiny things like this, but I do think it gives us insight into Segasaki's character and how he may be feeling.
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This line is the most important correction in this post.
Y: 本当はさ、ずっと、ささいな表情とか、しぐさとか、 俺が言うこと聞くとちょっと嬉しそうにするのとか、 晴れの予報を告げる優しい声とか、 全部バカみたいに俺ばっかり。 毎日俺ばっかり心臓大暴れさせてるみたいで  嫌だった Y: むかつくとこ拾い集めて 大嫌いだって思ってないと  その気持ちの不釣り合いに 息ができなくなってしまいそうで 嫌だった Y: 嫌いじゃない 嫌いじゃないよ Original: Y: Actually, all these times, your expressions, gestures, the way you look kind of happy when you listen to me, and your gentle voice forecasting good weather. All of them, make my heart beat as if it’s coming out. I don’t like it. Y: I gathered everything that annoyed me, thinking that if I didn’t, the imbalance of my feelings would suffocate me. I don’t like it. Y: I don’t hate you. I really don’t. Mine: Y: In truth, all this while, the little expressions you make, the gestures you do, the way you seem just that little bit happier when I listen to you, and the gentle voice with which you announce the sunny weather… All of that - like an idiot, it's just me who… It feels like it's just me whose heart has been made to pound and race wildly and - I didn't like that. Y: If I didn't gather up all the things that frustrated me and told myself "I hate this" then, the disparity (between us) in those feelings would suffocate me, making me feel like I could hardly breathe and - I didn't like that. Y: I don't hate you. I really don't hate you.
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TSN: This was ad-libbed too. It just happened that the metal post was coming up in between them as they walked, and Acchan saw it and planned to go around it, because he felt that emotionally there was a gap forming between Yoh and Segasaki at this point. But right as he was about to do that, Kouhei grabbed him by the sleeve and pulled him over, which Acchan was really surprised by, because they both had the same thought to ad-lib something about that post, and they both did it as their characters would do it, but it was the exact opposite action. The director said that when the 2 were walking back towards the start point they were both smiling a little, and then asked the director “how was that?” to which she replied “It’s really great!”, and then Acchan looked a little frustrated (in a sorta arrgh I got it wrong sort of way) whereas Kouhei was all “I was definitely right” (Acchan mentioned he was abit worried about the ad-lib, so I’m guessing they both were discussing as they walked back and finally decided to settle it by asking the director hahaha)
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Y: すいません S: なにが Y: その。。。いろいろ S: だからなにが Original: Y: I’m sorry S: For what? Y: Well, for everything S: What do you mean? Mine: Y: I’m sorry S: About what? Y: That… for many things S: And (I said,), about what?
Yoh uses the formal "すいません (suimasen)" here, as opposed to his usual and more casual "gomen" or "gomen nasai", because this line is important to him, and he means it. "Sorry" in Japanese does not always carry the meaning of regret/remorse - it can be used to express gratitude as well. You''ll often here people say "Sorry that you had to (go through the trouble)" after they've accepted a gift, or "Sorry, I've caused you much trouble" as a way of thanking someone for their care. So, Yoh says "sorry" here after accepting Segasaki's gift, which could be seen as a thank you, but he also means he's sorry that he's like this, that he can't be honest/straightforward about his feelings (a theme that is brought up in Ep 4), that Segasaki has to care for him like this etc. "For many things" is a common way to encompass all of these mixed feelings, and yet not say them out directly.
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Y: どうせ口じゃ、うまく言えないから Original: No matter what, I don’t dare say it Mine: Since I can't get the words out of my mouth properly anyway
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S: よくできました (yoku dekimashita)
This is a formal way of saying “well done”, and if you did well in your work/test in elementary school you’d get a stamp that says just this, or your teacher would draw you a flower. The more elaborate the flower, the better you did. This is the only time thus far that Segasaki has said anything formal to Yoh at all. The sudden shift, and the imagery this phrase evokes – a literal stamp of approval – emphasises not just Segasaki’s approval, but also his role in Yoh’s life (ie, his role as Yoh’s provider, or well, maybe keeper is more accurate. Honestly Dom makes the most sense, but I’m not qualified to talk about that so see @lutawolf posts for more!). We’ll talk more about how both Segasaki and Yoh acknowledge the power dynamic between them in the way the speak in the language analysis post (that will come after this, before Ep 4's).
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Y: この人、もしかして本当はめっちゃ俺のこと。。。? Y: This person… could it be that he actually…really is… …me?
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Y: 信じていい? Y: Is it ok if I believe? sue me, I think believe and trust carry different nuances.
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S: よかったな* (yokatta *na) S: シーツ買ったからいっぱいできんじゃん、大好きなセックス S: まあ 残念ながら 相手は大嫌いな俺**ですけど Original: S: Great, S: with more sheets, we can do it more often. Your beloved sex S: Well, unfortunately the other person is someone you hate Mine: S: Isn't this nice* S: Since you bought more sheets, we can do it a lot - the sex that you love so much S: Well, unfortunately, your partner is me - who you hate **so much
*The use of "na" here is slightly different from the one earlier - here it is used more for emphasis, and the downward tone carries a hint of mockery.
Again, Segasaki uses the same "the me who you hate" phrasing as he did earlier, emphasizing to Yoh once again that Segasaki is the one Yoh hates. Except here, he also ends off the sentence with "ですけど (desukedo)", and the whole phrasing of this line too, from the word "unfortunately" onwards, just feels business-like. As before, the shift in style gives the statement more weight- Segasaki is really not letting Yoh get away with this line here, and Yoh feels this acutely. The sharpness of the line makes him turn away abruptly in shock and even some anger.
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S: お前が好きにしていいって言うんだから S: 好きにさせてもらうけど *な (na)? S: お前 本当バーカ Original: S: You told me to do as I like, S: then I’ll do what I want. Okay? S: You really are… an idiot Mine: S: You said I could do as I wish so, S: I'll gratefully do as I please... *yea? S: You're...really an idiot
*The "na" used here is similar to the one Segasaki used when telling Yoh to meet back at 5, in that it assumes the listener will agree with the speaker. This time it's not so much used to soften an imperative, but rather, to soften the teasing of the preceeding line - "I'll gratefully do as I please".
The phrase used here is "~させてもらう (~sasete morau)". "Sasete" means "to do" something, with the permission of the other person, and "morau" means "to receive (with thanks/gratefulness)" so together this phrase means that you're going to "do something (with the permission of the other person)", and you are thankful to have received that permission. It's usually used for things like asking your boss "May I please go home early with your kind permission" sorta thing, or telling someone that you "ate a meal someone provided for you that you are grateful for".
So here, Segasaki is pretty much saying "I'll do as I please since you so kindly told me I could, didn't you?" which is why he smirks as he says it.
/////
And we're finally done with EP 3!! Finally! Now I can finally talk about their general speech styles and what it means when they choose to switch between them. Thanks for joining me! Also, shout out to @eralkfang for tagging me in their meta post - I'm really glad these posts are helpful that way!!
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steamberrystudio · 5 months
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19/11/2023
Hey everyone! Time for the bi-weekly tumblr update for Steamberry stuffs!
Summary
Finished writing all routes up through the end of chapter 9
Started working on editing for now
Added in-game achievements
Received some new BG art
Ramble
Okay, so writing-wise, I wrote Yren's content up through the end of chapter 9. Also revamped my end-route summaries for Yren and Raif.
The current word count is 426,000 words.
But I decided to hold off on finishing the endings for the four remaining routes. The main reason for this is that I have planned a lot of early-story changes that are going to shift the trajectory of the route endings. And I was really struggling with how to construct the route endings with those planned changes in a more nebulous state.
I usually try to avoid working out of order because I find it is not conducive to forward progress. But there are some points when you have to break the rules and go back to make important edits because you need them there in order to be able to move forward.
I'm kind of at that point.
So I decided I would fully edit Asher's route, which will allow me to inject all those planned changes into the story which will make it much easier to construct endings that call back to that earlier foreshadowing.
So writing-wise, that's what I've been doing this week. I am currently up to Chapter 6 in the edit (which means I'm a little less than half through the route).
Other Stuff:
I have received new BGs of course. Those are coming in at a fairly steady rate of 1.5 - 2 weeks each.
I also have decided to add in-game achievements to WSC. I've been thinking about it for a while but putting it off since I know that one more screen (like an achievements gallery) means more tweaks to the UI. But I finally sucked it up and did it anyway.
I've also been playing with a colour slider for Wil's sprite. I'm not going to go into detail about it here because I've talked about it more in depth on Patreon and will continue to post most of the details there.
But the idea is that instead of choosing from 3 skin tones and 2 hair colours, there would be colour sliders allowing for a much greater range of selection. One of the big concerns with colour sliders is whether or not the recolours can be made to look as good as recolouring manually - which has always been why I've stayed away from them. 
The more complex shading styles have always struggled with colour sliders. But a developer friend - Feniks - has made a really cool and dynamic shader that actually can recreate even painterly or non-outlined art styles with incredible accuracy.
Using a slider is really useful because it increases the variations the player gets while *reducing* my work load. Instead of having to recolour manually, I would actually only need to colour everything once in grey scale.
Of course, it's not as easy as just dumping in the code and art. It requires some experimentation and learning but right now it is looking like I will be able to make it work. So I may be able to show off some examples in the future.
Screenshots:
None this time...
Upcoming Weeks:
I am currently editing Chapter 6 of asher/common routes and there are some pretty substantial edits I have to make.
It's always tricky to estimate what I will get done editing wise because editing does not flow at a more or less even pace like writing. Chapter 5, 6, and 7 had (and will have) major updates and changes so it may take a while to get through them. Though I'm already through with Ch 5. So...that's one of three.
Anyway.
And I'm also working on the GS lore book, still (LoL. 🙃). Someone today reminded me that I still need to go through all the deleted content to see if anything is salvageable for the lore book too.
😭
Thank you so much to that person (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE. And you need to answer for your crimes, my friend.) 👀
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