#so i just stay in bed all day and its summer vacation and like i probably wont have friends for a lot of next year since | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ysrjune · 24 days

Text

Tell Me What You Want

pairing - scott monroe, sam monroe 🍒

summary - sam and scott are twins, both have a crush on you.

The day started with you waking up at 9am on weekend. Its summer, your favorite time of year because your parents always go for a vacation the whole 3 months, leaving you all alone since you're old enough to take care of yourself.. kinda. Your older brother is there, too, but most of the time he's hanging out with Sam Monroe. You lay in your bed for a while more, thinking about anything you want to do today. Maybe visit the old woman next door to help her out? Go shopping? Walk around? You thought of so many possible things except for visiting Scott, your next door neighbor. You two have been friends for so long, but you still get shy about knocking on the Monroe's door even though they made it very sure that they're there for you to come to anytime. You think about it for a while before making up your mind and bring yourself to do it.

Now that you've made up your mind, you decide to make yourself some breakfast. Going down the stairs, you're greeted by your annoying big brother. “You're up early,” He says while eating a piece of toast with nutella spread over it. “I'm always up this early. You're just never here to witness it cause you're always free-loading at Sam's house.” You replied on your way to the kitchen which he so happened to follow you to. “It's not free-loading if his parents dont mind me over.” He shrugged, taking another bite of his toast. “Plus, I'm not always there. Sometimes I bring Sam over instead.”

“Yeah, and he's the only person you bring over. Could consider him as your little boyfriend or something.” You insulted him while giggling and opening the fridge to get the orange juice. “Oh, you wanna talk about boyfriends? How about Scott, he has like a huge crush on you, and you definitely like him back. ‘S not hard to notice all that tension going on between you two.” He shot right back, making a fair point..

You closed the fridge door, blushing and walked over to one of the cabinets that hold the cups. “I don't know what you're talking about, Chris.” You replied to your brother who laughed and left right after, leaving you alone to go to his room. Of course you really knew what he was talking about. Scott himself confessed his feelings to you a while back and seemed pretty chill when you told him you weren't ready for a relationship. “Well, as long as we can still be friends, I'm okay with that.” He told you softly with a little smirk tugging his lip. Oh, that smirk of his. It was so cute. Let's be real, you liked him back, but the real reason you held yourself back is because you kinda liked Sam, too, even though he didn't talk to you much. When he did talk to you, he was pretty nice. Usually calling you by the nickname “princess.” Jeez he made you so wet with just that. Scott had his own name, too. It was “Angel.” That one made you feel things too.

Let's not even talk about the time you made out with Scott once and he said “You're so pretty, Angel.” Against your lips before going in for another kiss. He would wonder why you even made out with him that night and then say you don't wanna date him. It hurt his feelings. He felt a little used, but it was kinda his fault for starting the whole moment. Either way—you two stayed friends and that's what mattered to him.

You had waffles with orange juice for your breakfast. After you finished, you went back into your room and decided to take a shower before getting yourself all pretty. Sure, you basically rejected Scott, but you still wanted to look pretty for him. It was weird but you didn't think much of it. An hour passed by while you showered, and once you were finished and opened the curtain there was a bunch of steam around the bathroom and covering your mirror. Oops.

You put on a cute outfit, do your hair, skin care, and however much makeup you thought was appropriate for today. It was 12 by the time you finished, so you headed next door, knocking on the door. Sam answered it since he thought it was Chris, but it was you. God, Sam looked so good right now. He was hot with his eyeliner, sure, but seeing him without it was probably even better. His pretty blue eyes were more noticeable without the eye makeup taking away the attention. His messy, dyed hair was so cute and the way his pjs clung onto his hips was so.. ohmy

“Hey, princess. What're you doin’ here so early? Thought you were Chris.” He speaks to you. “Um, I came to visit Scott.” You answer him after checking him out for a split second. Sam chuckled at that. “What about me? Not even gonna say hi?” He complained playfully. “Hi, Sammy.” You reply with a chuckle and a friendly hug which he returns.

“Hi,” He gave a half smile and let you come in. “Scotty’s in his room. Caught him at a good time, too. He just finished cleaning his room and showering.” He says while leading you upstairs to his brother. You smile at what Sam said and continue the conversation until you reach Scott’s door. “See you later, Sammy.” You tell him and open the door. Sam nods his head and stays there until you close the door after you disappeared into it.

“Lucky bastard.” He mumbled, getting a little jealous that you chose Scott over him. But that's his own fault. It's not like he talks to you enough to really hangout.

Scott looked over to you after you entered. “What’re you doing here?” He asked with a small smile tugging at his lips. No nickname? What the fuck? You thought. It'd be too good a day if you had that interaction with Sam and Scott calling you by “Angel” not even 5 seconds into seeing him. “Was bored. Wanted to see you today.” You explain, walking over to his nicely done bed and sitting on it. “Aw, Angel. That's sweet. Missed me?” Nevermind, there's that nickname! Hallelujah!

“You can put it that way, I guess.” You rolled your eyes playfully and he swoops in for a tight hug. You didn't stop him, though. His hugs were always so comforting. “Missed you too.” It made sense since you went to different schools. “So what do you wanna do?” He asked, letting you go. “Wanna go for a walk?” You suggest. He agreed and yay! you guys went. You walked the neighborhood at first, laughing and telling each other about stuff going on at school, but then you wandered off and started walking around other neighborhoods as well.

Returning to his house around 2, you both went back to his room where your conversations continued. “Yeah, and so she's pregnant now and he wants nothing to do with her, I guess.” Scott shrugged, telling you about one of his bestfriends’ scandalous life. “And that's all you have to say?! ‘I guess’” You mocked his tone. “Well, it sucks, but, like, s’not my problem..” He responded, picking at his fingers.

“So if I wind up p-”“That's different.” He cut you off, quickly. He seemed a little mad, too. “That's my best friend's girlfriend. I don't talk to her. You're my best friend who lives next door and who I've known for years. If some guy knocked you up and tried to leave you, I'd kick his ass.” He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

Him cutting you off to say all that was real sweet but kinda intimidating since his whole demeanor changed so quickly. “Oh, okay..” you replied, not knowing what else to say. It stayed quiet for a few minutes before Sam opened the door. “Dad wants everyone outside, he's making barbecue.” He said and left right away like he always did. You looked over to Scott. He still looked really mad. Why, though? You thought. It was just a dumb question. But you didn't wanna bother him, you already knew how he got when you tried to talk to him while he's mad.

When you closed the door behind you, he groaned and rubbed his eyes. The thought of you with someone else really set him off. So, you can probably imagine how mad he is now that you put the thought of you getting pregnant by some loser in his head.While he was in his room, Sam, Chris, Mr. & Mrs. Monroe kept you company. Robin, Sam's mom was distracting you while the 3 other boys talked about whatever. Suddenly, Scott came down, still looking a little mad but not as bad as earlier. He joined in on the conversation with you and his mom, occasionally switching to the other guys.

An hour and a half passed by, and the food was done. Everyone chatted with each other. Sam even spoke to you a couple of times! Poor you, fantasizing about him when he wouldn't speak to you. Your eyes were on his fingers for a few seconds, and were cautious to not stare for so long because you did not need anyone noticing that. Scott finally came around and had a conversation with you about random things Everyone finished eating, so the twins’ parents cleaned up and sent everyone off to inside the house. Sam and your brother go to his room, you and Scott go to his. He closed the door behind you two and sighed. “Angel, ‘m sorry about earlier.” He started off softly while you lay on his bed, listening. “Just got a little mad.. and kinda jealous, I guess.” Ugh, there was that thing he always says that always bothered you. “I guess” make up your mind! but you stayed quiet.

“Look, I understand that we're just friends, but you have to understand I still have feelings for you. And when you put stuff like that into my head—like, about getting pregnant by some guy and then he leaves you, it just pisses me off.” He explained how he felt earlier while walking towards you to sit next to you. “You just.. you don't deserve that, Angel. You deserve a guy that'll never ever do you like that.” He sighed.Him explaining this to you made you feel warm inside. Wow. This guy really does like you. He's so sweet.. and you rejected him?! girl! you're so stupid!You hold his hand, looking at his pretty face. “Scotty, I'm sorry. I didn't think you'd take it so seriously. Won't do it again, I promise.” He looked at you, with those cute doe eyes of his. “Thanks,” He mumbled, looking at your conjoined hands.

“You're really sweet, Scott. Seriously.” You continue, standing up and settling yourself to stand in between his legs. This action makes him look down to his legs that separated when you stood between them—and to be completely honest, it kinda turned him on. “Oh—um..” He blushed, settling his hands down on the sheets, not knowing what to do with them since he didn't wanna make you uncomfortable. “It's nothing if you really think about it..” He looked away. You did something real bold. You grabbed his face, making him face you. This made him blush even worse.. and harder.“Scott, seriously. Not many guys would say that.” You replied to his shy demeanor, coming closer to his face. This made him a little nervous. Scared, even. He was thinking that you were just teasing him.“Angel, stop.. let me go if you're not gonna do anything else. Don't get my hopes up.” He swallowed. This makes you smirk, now knowing how much power you really have over him. How weak in the knees you make him. “Anything else? Like what?”

“Y/n.”

You chuckle at his state of nervousness. “No, I'm not playin’ with you, pretty.” You say and lean in more to kiss his neck softly. Scott jolted a little at this, but didnt stop you. “Fuck, angel..” He mumbled with his hand sliding up your back. You sucked on his smooth neck, making sure to leave a dark hickey. Well, you ended up leaving a couple before moving to his lips and making out with him. Just like last time.

His hand moved down to your ass, pushing you on top of him. He took control of the kiss, making you really wet. He made it slow and sensual.. really passionate and romantic. Letting out a couple of soft moans while kissing you which turned you on. You never heard him make any noise before. Not even the last time you made out. He was so hard by now. He was so horny.

So bad that he started rubbing his bulge up into you. It made your pussy throb. Jeez, you never imagined how hot Scott is when he's horny.. He had to break the kiss a couple times just to let out those pretty moans. He even whimpered. Just once, but it was so hot. Most of the noises he made were moans and groans.

To tease him, you rolled your hips deliciously onto him, earning another moan. “Angel, stop.. My door isn't locked. What someone walks in..” He softly whined.“No one's gonna walk in.” You told him, hoping he'd believe you. “Please, baby..” oh. my. god. that really sets you off. your pussy was even wetter now that he was practically begging for you to stop. but you didn't want to, so you stayed quiet. He seemed to forget all about the open door when you didn't respond for the next couple of minutes.

“Fuck, angel. Keep doin’ that and i'm gonna cum in my boxers..” he said in that whiny tone of his. It sounded even better when he was close. He knew he was hopelessly in love with you when you stopped to tease him.

“Gotta jerk yourself off to cum, then, I guess.” You tell him, and he groans. That somehow was really attractive to him. He didnt even know he was into orgasm denial. You got off of him and kissed his cheek.

“Where are you going?” He asked, still sounding super whiny. You look at his boner that showed through his jeans, then back up to his eyes. “Home,” You replied like you had just done nothing. “Wh—??” He didnt even finish the whole word because he was so confused. And with that, you left for your house.

When his door closed, he lay on his elbows and threw his head back, groaning. He still wanted to cum so bad.. so he got up from his position to lock his door and close the blinds on his window, along with the light. He went to his bathroom to brush his teeth and change into some blue and black checkered pjs that hung off his hips, just like Sams’ would. He wore no shirt since he was just so eager to rub one out right now.

He lay in his bed and took his still erect cock, twitching at just the slightest touch to the base. He then got an idea. He reached for his phone, opening up the camera to hit record after turning the flash on. He recorded himself masturbating, pretending it was you jerking him off and fucking him. The video was 4 and a half minutes long, filled with pathetic, soft whimpers and moans.. you could hear the wet noises. Once he came, he stopped recording and lay the phone on his chest, away from the sticky mess left on his abdomen. It took him a couple minutes to pull himself back together, but once he did, he unlocked his phone and sent you the video. Then he put his phone on to not disturb after that, scared of the risk he just took. He cleaned himself after that and went to sleep.

ping! “Scotty” sent 1 attachment.

You open the video and the first thing you saw was his dick. You've never seen his dick before, but if you were being honest with yourself.. it was definitely the prettiest one you've ever seen. It looked about 6 inches in his jeans, but damn. Was he really big when he was hard? A whole 7 inches. You watch for 4 seconds before you hear a whimper and feel yourself blush, looking for your headphones and connecting them, hearing his cute noises and the wet sounds his fist made when it hit the base of his cock.

Yeah, this is definitely something you're keeping for when you masturbate. His whimpers and moans were just too cute not to pleasure yourself to!

You react to his message with a heart and send him a photo of your tits. Not without your bra, though. Lets see what he responds with in the morning.

YAYYAYA DONE! PLS LMK UR THOUGHTS ON THIS AND LMK IF YOU WANNA START BEING TAGGED IN THIS FIC 🍒💞

295 notes · View notes

wave2tyun · 2 months

Text

cool hot sweet love | ☆

pairing: barista!beomgyu x fem!reader, surfer!yeonjun x fem!reader

genre: summer!au, lovetriangle!au, fluff, romance, a tiny bit of angst?

summary: embarking on a journey towards self-discovery, you didn’t expect to also have your heart tangled in an alluring summer romance. but, who’s gonna be the first to win your heart? the sweet barista, beomgyu, or the charming surfer boy, yeonjun? let the love games begin!

warnings : alcohol consumption, a few swear words, minor injury, (almost) drowning

word count: almost 10k + the endings are like 1k each

a/n: i've been feeling super nostalgic about this fic recently (it's one of the very first i've written!! :0), so here it is back again in all it's glory!!!! this is too long for me to search through for any mistakes i'm sorry asbjdha for all my summer enthusiasts, let's hang in there just a little bit more, this one goes out to y'all!!!!😼😼💞

☆ = repost from my old blog!!

at the end of your final year of high school, you found yourself chasing a dream, a dream that was never truly yours to begin with. competitions and grades never seemed to bring you any satisfaction anymore. your parents’ praises didn’t seem enthusiastic either, but rather an automatic response. you felt completely lost. the one thing that seemed to give you the drive to keep on going, suddenly lost its spark. you were living in a greyed out world, having the same exhausting routine over and over again. you wanted a break from it all. for once, you didn’t long for the pressure or the big goals, but simply for living life just as it was. you wanted an escape from the clutches of mundane life, which is why you chose to swallow your pride and opt for a gap year after graduation. you knew your parents well, and you weren’t expecting them to be happy about your decision. they didn’t want to let their “dream daughter” fall down from the top and watch as everybody else around her were working on their way to success. but what they failed to consider was that success is in no way linear, and that your break was in the end substantial for your wellness. you were very lucky to have a friend like yeji in your life though. she did have her own struggles with academic validation as well, yet she never had any pressure coming from her parents. she wanted to be there for you, and made her parents persuade yours about letting you have a gap year with her. to raise the ball even higher, her parents added one condition: should you have a gap year, you weren’t allowed to remain in the city. instead, you were going to stay at their vacation home, at least for the summer, to let you experience the thrill of the unknown, as well as to help you get a breath of fresh air.

you didn’t know what kind of black magic yeji’s family used, but whatever they did, somehow managed to convince your parents to agree to your proposal. finally, you felt like you had found some motivation to keep on pushing through, making your heart fill up with excitement.

as the number of days leading up to your departure shortened, you were meeting up more and more with yeji for your final preparations. your sleepovers consisted of the two of you giggling while packing and making lists, as well as making up scenarios deep into the night about things that could finally “bring some spice” into your lives. even though it was her own family’s house, yeji hasn’t been there in years. she was living under the impression that a holiday there would just be “a distraction from her studies” or “a waste of time”. however, now that you were both free from that brainwashing hell called school, you realised how much you’ve actually been missing out on.

“do you really think that this “project” will finally bring that change we want in our lives?” you asked yeji, breaking the silence after some long moments of tossing and turning in your bed. you found it almost impossible to fall asleep. it was the last night before you were going to leave behind everything in your life so far. the excitement was still there, but you couldn’t deny the fact that there were all sorts of worries and doubts clouding your mind, and you found yourself wondering more and more often whether you were truly making a good decision.

“y/n, are you letting your worries take over your mind again?” she let out a soft laugh, then turned around to face you “i understand though, i’ve been getting that too. but- are those thoughts really worth it? i mean- we’ll never know unless we try, so i think it’s definitely worth a shot.”

you sighed “still- i don’t think i’d be able to face my parents again if i fail this.”

“y/n...this is not a test. there’s nothing to fail here. personally, i would rather try and regret than live my whole life wondering “what if”.”

you hummed. yeji was right. you hugged her tightly, trying to show her how much you appreciated her comforting words. and just like this, you were finally able to let your body drift off into a deep slumber. it was now or never, and you weren’t just gonna sit there and wait forever.

───⋆☆─────────────

the ride to the vacation house turned out to be a challenge in itself. yeji was the only one with a driver’s license, so you had no choice but to stay in the passenger’s seat with both a gps and a map in hand. unfortunately for yeji, you had one flaw: you were absolutely terrible with directions, meaning that the trip that was supposed to be 6 hours long, ended up taking you 9 hours instead. you got lost in some strange forests twice; yeji pulled over the side of the road multiple times, trying to make sense of the directions you were telling her, occasionally getting out to buy a piece of fresh fruit whenever she spotted a merchant. she said that it was helping her brain think, and that she was also helping to keep a business going. you didn’t need any excuses for fresh fruit though. fresh fruit is good food after all.

when you somehow made it to the house, you felt your body refilling with energy, despite having that whole trip take 10 years off your lifespan. sitting right in front of you was a 2-story house with pale blue walls and a white wooden porch.

“i can’t believe we made it out alive” you said after getting out of the car. you weren’t sure how much more you could endure the constant buzzing of the air conditioner, and yeji’s one and only cd playing on replay.

“you can’t believe we made it? what about me, i was the one having to endure all those truck drivers swearing at me for taking wrong turns, because someone, not telling who, is incapable of using any kind of maps”

“whew- i wonder who that is.” you gasped dramatically “must be tough dealing with them. bet they are a lovely person though”

“they sure are” she giggled “now come on, let’s get our luggage out of the trunk before the heat melts everything away.”

“need a hand with that?” you heard an unfamiliar voice shouting from the distance. you turned around and saw a group of 3 young men coming your way. you and yeji looked at each other dumbfounded, unsure what to answer. you nudged her with your elbow.

“do you know them?”

“no idea who they are...” she whispered back.

“you must be yeji and y/n- right? i’m hueningkai, yeji’s parents let us know that you were coming today, so we stopped by to see if you needed any help” the boy with a brown mullet said. “that’s soobin and this is taehyun” he pointed at the other two, both of them giving you a warm smile and a small wave in return. you were almost too stunned to speak. luckily for you, yeji replied while you were busy staring at them with big eyes.

“i think i recall them mentioning you briefly before leaving. actually, weren’t there supposed to be two more people or am i not remembering well?”

“you must be talking about beomgyu and yeonjun.” soobin answered “their shifts haven’t ended yet so they’re still busy at the beach. we can go over there if you want to after you settle in.”

“sounds great.” you said picking up the first luggage.

“that looks heavy- let me handle that” taehyun replaced the luggage in your hand with a bag. “t-thanks.” you were taken aback by their kindness. boys at your school never even spare a glance in your direction, let alone help you carry something. if it weren’t for the boys, you and yeji would have probably passed out on the floor after moving everything inside.

───⋆☆─────────────

the house was only a 5-minute walk away from the beach, during which you got to learn a tiny bit more about each other. hueningkai told you that he’s the one in charge for making playlists and playing music; soobin worked along with beomgyu at the bar, meanwhile taehyun got a small job as a kitchen assistant because of his newly-found passion for cooking. they were all around your age and yet they seemed to have already found their passions, living life without much worry in mind. you wished you could live like that too, and maybe, just maybe, this was your chance to find that out.

“welcome-“ “-to paradise!” soobin exclaimed spreading his arms in the air.

“woah-” both you and yeji said in unison, making everybody else laugh.

“welcome to paradise indeed” you said, placing your feet on the warm golden sand. there was music playing around you, not too loud so that you could still hear the sound of the waves softly crashing against the shore. it was breath-taking.

“and you haven’t seen everything yet” taehyun chuckled, leading you towards the beach bar. “beomgyu- we’re here!” he shouted.

you squinted your eyes trying to see who this “beomgyu” was from afar, but your vision simply failed you. and when you got closer, you were simply not mentally prepared to face the person in front of you.

“guys i told you not to-“ he started off, seemingly irritated “oh- hi.” he scratched his neck, giving you a shy smile. at that very moment, you swore you felt your heart skip a beat.

“y/n, yeji- this is beomgyu. our one and only barista.”

“the best one in town!” beomgyu added cheerfully.

“ah- so humble too.” taehyun teased him, sighing dramatically.

“hey- what are you implying?” beomgyu sulked, but you couldn’t even pay attention to their bickering. your eyes were way too busy going over beomgyu’s features. ripe, cherry red locks of hair framed his eyes, those eyes that resembled two pearls of boba from a brown sugar milk tea, with long, beautiful eyelashes adoring them. you thought he looked just like a honey bear.

“i’m yeji- it’s nice to meet you” she shook his hand “this is y/n.”

beomgyu smiled and you reached your hand out for him to shake it. his soft hands enveloped yours, and you couldn’t help but notice how bigger they were than yours. you felt his hand lingering for just a few seconds more, and you were already missing his warm touch once he let go.

“so- want to have a look over our menu? it’s on the house” beomgyu offered.

“oh cool i’ll have the-“ soobin started talking, instantly getting cut off by beomgyu “not you- the girls!” he jokingly gave him a death stare “you’ve all been profiting too much off my generosity lately, you don’t deserve any free drinks today.”

you and yeji snickered, they all looked really close to each other, like brothers. it was like you were witnessing a petty fight between siblings.

“one strawberry lemonade for me please!” yeji said.

your eyes were still scanning the menu, hands continuously flipping the pages back and forth as you chewed on your bottom lip. beomgyu leaned over to you, the sweet scent of his citrus perfume invading your senses.

“want me to recommend anything?”

“ah- yes please. there are too many drinks here that sound good.” you replied “nothing with alcohol though, the trip here already gave me a headache.” you glared at yeji, who lifted one eyebrow at you.

he chuckled “people usually enjoy the peach smoothie, myself included. does that sound good?” his deep brown eyes peered into yours, never breaking eye contact- not even for one second. “sounds perfect.” you replied, almost completely absorbed by his gaze.

“until that’s done-” hueningkai chimed in “we should go ahead and meet up with yeonjun too.”

“don’t take too long though” beomgyu said “my shift is ending soon.”

“we’ll be fast- have you seen him around by chance?”

“last time i talked to him he was at the surfing board shop. maybe check that out first?” beomgyu replied, before going to the drinks station to get started on your orders.

“oh- i haven’t seen you around here before?”

you almost jumped out of your seat, startled by the new voice that interrupted your conversation.

“yeonjun! perfect timing.” hueningkai said “we were planning to go looking for you.”

“is that so?” he playfully asked, plopping down on the seat between you and yeji. his voice turned out to be much more attractive than you had anticipated, it was smooth, yet slightly husky and deep. you turned your head to look at him for the first time.

“i’m yeji- and this is...” her voice trailed down, expecting you to answer again. you were frozen, being too immersed to take in yeonjun’s appearance. you could notice his muscular form, not hidden away from the tight-fitted swimming shirt he was wearing. his sharp eyes game him a fox-like charm, making you feel inexplicably drawn to him. in contrast, his plump lips make him look adorable, like a sulky duck. what was a man like him even doing on a secluded beach-? yeji coughed, giving you a small nudge.

“y/n.” you managed to blurt out, a stupid smile plastered on your face.

“ah- huening, why didn’t you mention that such pretty girls were coming here today?” you almost dropped the drink’s coaster you had in your hand as he said that.

“it hasn’t even been 5 minutes and he’s already flirting” taehyun groaned, covering his face with his hands.

beomgyu rolled his eyes at his friend’s antics, setting down the drinks for you and yeji on the counter before finding a seat on the bar stools to join you.

“like i’ve said-“ hueningkai intervened “we were about to look for you. are you done with lessons for today?”

“yup. some kid had a sunstroke so i got off work early”

“what kind of lessons do you teach?” you asked curiosity taking over.

“i’m a surfing teacher for kids.” he answered “it’s a small job to make some money. for you, however- i could do it for free, since you’re cute” he winked at you, making your cheeks flush instantly.

“i’m sure y/n would love to try something new” yeji butted in, answering before you could open your mouth to speak. “that’s what we’re here for, after all. right?”

“right...” you squinted your eyes at her, giving her a light kick with your foot.

“it’s decided then.” he chuckled “i’ll be waiting.”

this is how all the conversations during the first day went like; your mind going blank, with yeji either saving you from embarrassment or only digging your hole deeper. still, you enjoyed it, you ended up staying at the beach long after the sun started to set. the chilly breeze coming from around the sea was made you get up from your seats, at long last.

───⋆☆─────────────

the next day, you found yourself back at the beach sometime in the afternoon. you did everything you could to wake up yeji, but to no avail. the drive here must have completely tired her out, as she was sleeping soundly as a rock. in the end, you let her continue to rest, choosing to go out by yourself.

“so, what’s it gonna be for today?” beomgyu asked, leaning his head on the palm of his head. “may i interest you in one of my signature cocktails, perhaps?”

“i’d love that” you smiled.

this time, you watched as beomgyu prepared your drink. he lifted the sleeves of his dress shirt up, revealing the way his forearm muscles tensed up as he picked up the glass bottles full of alcohol. his precise movements could tell you that he must have had plenty of experience as a barista. your eyes wandered off further, focusing on the way his long slender fingers, still slightly dripping with water from having washed fruits earlier, handled the knife with such skill and care. you remembered the moment you held his hands yesterday, how soft his skin was to your touch- you shook your head, trying to get that thought away.

“all done” beomgyu brought you a tall glass, ripe cherry sitting proudly on top, floating on the ice. “it’s a cherry daiquiri.”

you pushed the straw past your lips, a sweet yet tangy taste filling up your mouth. beomgyu looked at you, eyes gleaming with curiosity and anticipation. feeling a bit mischievous, you put on a serious expression.

“well uh-“ you paused, pursing your lips “this was quite-“

beomgyu gulped, the content look on his face fading away.

“-quite possibly the best cocktail i’ve ever had” you couldn’t help but burst into laughter upon seeing the cute expression he had on his face. he closed his eyes, tilting his head back and breaking into a smile.

“you had me seriously questioning my bartender skills for a moment there”

“sorry- i had to” you giggled “i really mean it though, i’ve never had something that tasted this good before” beomgyu’s dimple appeared as he tried to conceal the big smile taking over his face.

“y/n!” yeji shouted, jogging to reach the bar.

“look who’s finally up”

“i slept through my alarm- sorry” she sighed, sitting down beside you.

‘not just through your alarm’

you hummed as you continued to sip on your drink, admiring the scenery in front of you. it was a peaceful atmosphere, the catchy beats of the music being sometimes interrupted by the squawking of the seagulls in the distance. right at the shore was a small group of kids, with yeonjun in the middle of them, standing on a surfing board. they all seemed to be bursting with energy, like bottles of soda that were about to explode. yeonjun knew how to match their energy well, while still keeping everything under control.

“instead of staring at him so intensely, why don’t you go and take up his offer?”

you snorted, crinkling your nose “me? surfing? no thanks- i’m saving myself from that embarrassment”

“and? if you only worry about embarrassing yourself then you won’t ever end up making a change with your life” yeji wrapped her arms around her body “-and this exactly what we’re here for, something new. don’t just let this opportunity go to waste.”

you frowned, chewing on your straw. even though your brain didn’t like to admit it, she was right. you were so caught up in your own comfort bubble, that it was holding you back.

“looks like he’s getting a break now” yeji muttered “come on- this is your chance!”

“alright- i’m going” you agreed at last, gulping down the rest of the drink before heading towards yeonjun’s spot. you walked with a determined look on your face- and shaky hands.

you tapped yeonjun on the shoulder, breath hitching in your throat. yeji watched your interaction from her seat, wishing she could be closer to hear it.

“who-” he turned around “y/n- everything good?”

“yeah.” you answered shortly, playing with your earrings. you weren’t particularly bad at small talk, but this time your mind went blank the moment he started facing you. you couldn’t even meet his eyes, which were staring back directly at you.

“actually- i’ve been thinking about it and, you know those surfing lessons you talked about? i kinda want to give that a shot” you trailed down, your voice becoming higher in pitch towards the end of your sentence.

yeonjun’s face instantly lit up, his smile reaching his eyes “really? when do you want to start then?”

“well, when is your schedule free?” you scratched your neck “i’ve heard you’re pretty busy, i wouldn’t want to be a burden.”

“don’t worry about it, i was the one who asked after all.” he chuckled “i can give you a text later on after checking.” you tilted your head in confusion

“but you don’t have my phone nu-“

oh. he was smooth.

“you got me.” he said sheepishly “i was hoping to get your phone number” there was a sharp constrast to the way he was behaving before. the cool and flirty persona he had been putting on was starting to crumble “if that’s okay with you as well i mean-“

“yeah i’m okay with that” you reassured him “maybe i wanted yours too” you mumbled, heart almost giving out after getting those words out. he laughed again, handing you his phone. you quickly typed your phone number in, saving the contact as “y/n :)”, then you handed him yours.

“i’ll make sure to let you know by tonight”

“great, i’ll be waiting then” you replied playfully, making your way back to the bar.

yeji kept on pressuring you to spill all the details, but you brushed her off, wanting to save the conversation in private. you didn’t even get a chance to breathe properly once you returned home. after locking the door, yeji dragged you by the arm and sat you down on the couch along with her, forcing you to let it all out.

“see? that wasn’t so bad, was it? i’m sure you’re gonna thank me later-“ yeji’s voice was interrupted by a notification coming from your phone. you sat there, frozen, a million thoughts rushing through your mind.

“are you gonna answer that?”

“i- i guess i should” you took your phone, a river bubbling through your veins and flushing your face at the sight of the new message:

(yeonjun<3)

[10:30 pm]: hi cutie ;) are you free tomorrow at 11 am for our first surfing lesson?

“what are you smiling at?”

“nothing” you giggled, hiding the screen of your phone with your hands.

“you’re definitely not giggling because of nothing- let me see.” yeji got on top of you, trying to pry the phone away from your hands. however, her attempt was unsuccessful, as your grip was way too strong.

“you’re leaving me with no choice” she whispered mischievously. you felt your whole life flash before your eyes. you had one great weakness- and yeji knew that. you couldn’t even stand 3 seconds of tickling, so she was going to use it against you. her fingers inched closer to your stomach and attacked you quickly.

“YEJI- stop please-“ you tried to shout between giggles “i surrender- i promise.” she stopped for a brief moment “you promise?” “yeah- now get off me and i’ll give you my phone.” she squinted her eyes, going back to her place on the couch reluctantly. her eyes widened in disbelief when you revealed the new message.

“no fucking way- after two days?? y/n. this guy’s definitely into you”

“i don’t want to jump to conclusions- what if that’s his way of being friendly?” you argued back, realising how foolish your reason sounded only after you finished your sentence.

“y/n- darling, there’s no way a guy who just wants to become friends would save his name with a heart symbol.” she shook you by the shoulders “he. is. into. you.”

“what if-“ you were about to argue again, but the sound of another notification made you stop midway through your sentence. you unlocked your phone, completely unprepared. you and yeji glanced at the screen, then looked back at each other in disbelief, struggling to contain the urge to scream your lungs out.

(unknown number)

[10:50 pm]: hi, y/n! this is beomgyu :)

[10:51 pm]: i got your phone number from yeonjun, hope you don’t mind ;)

───⋆☆─────────────

from the moment you woke up you could feel your heart hammering in your chest. it was hard to tell whether it was from excitement or anxiety. maybe it was a mix of both. still, you were proud of yourself for choosing to do something out of your comfort zone for once. yeji was probably even more excited than you were. she wasn’t a morning person, but she insisted on coming along to watch your lesson and to ‘check your chemistry’.

“which swimsuit should i take? i packed two with me.” you held up a black one-piece swimsuit and a pale blue two-piece one for yeji to see.

“get the two-piece. you look hotter in it.” she playfully winked at you. you reluctantly looked at the swimsuit she chose, cursing yourself in your head for asking. you opened your mouth to voice out your worries, but yeji got up from the bed and put a finger over your mouth “shush, i don’t want to hear any complaints. just trust me on this one- okay?” you silently put the black one back in the drawer and went to the bathroom to get changed, deciding to go with yeji’s pick. “yeonjun’s heart is gonna melt once he sees you.”

you tried to ignore her “let’s go, i don’t want to be late.”

“can’t leave yeonjun hanging?” yeji joked, faking a pout. you lightly slap her arm. “i’m gonna leave without you if you’re not ready.”

“you wouldn’t do that to me- you love me.”

“i sure do...” you tilted your head back, a laugh escaping your lips.

yeonjun was waiting for you at the exact same spot you watched him teach yesterday, nobody else around him this time. for some reason, the thought of being completely alone with him didn’t cross your mind. you could feel a rush of adrenaline flowing through your body, but it was way too late to back down now.

“ready for-“ yeonjun’s words stopped abruptly as soon as he looked at you. he seemed distressed, eyes rapidly going over between you and the warm sand beneath his feet, the tips of his ears flaming red. was this what yeji meant by his heart melting? he cleared his throat before speaking again “ready for our first lesson?”

“i’m a bit nervous” you admitted “but overall excited i think” you didn’t sound very sure of yourself.

“you’ll be fine with me” he flashed you a gentle smile.

yeonjun clasped his hands together “we’ll go over the basics first”

“you need to catch waves in order to start surfing, and how do you do that? you paddle.” yeonjun put down a surfing board onto the sand. “to paddle, you need to lie and balance on your surfboard. let me demonstrate it for you” yeonjun laid his body on the board, his back now facing you.

“when you do this, make sure that the angle of the board’s nose doesn’t change. it should remain the same as when you weren’t on top of the board, not higher, not lower.”

“got it.”

“you shouldn’t paddle with both arms simultaneously, as this won’t help you maintain a constant speed. alternate between both arms at a steady pace”

you were in awe at yeonjun’s professional aura, he explained things calmy, while still maintaining a firm voice.

“let’s get this board into the water so you can give that a try.”

you looked at yeonjun with wide eyes, your nerves had just started to settle down a bit and now they were going off like fireworks again.

he laughed lightly “no need to worry, i’ll be right beside you.” yeonjun pushed the board into the sea, not too far away from the shore so that the water level wouldn’t be too high. he held on to it so that you could get lie down with ease. “when paddling keep your chin up so that you can look around.”

you tried to do just as he said, mimicking his movements from earlier. you didn’t want to know how goofy you looked from another person’s point of view.

“just like that” yeonjun whispered “see? you’re a natural! i think we can move on to the next step- getting up. we won’t be riding any waves today, we need to make sure you get this technique right”

you turned your head towards his direction, a petrified look on your face.

“come on, i’ll help you” yeonjun held out his hand for you to take, moving the other on your waist to help you maintain your balance as you moved up with shaky feet. his touch made you feel flustered and you lost your focus, accidentally slipping on the board. luckily, yeonjun was there to catch you before you could face-plant into the water.

“easy does it. don’t worry, it’s tricky to get it right on the first try” he held you again, his grip on your hand tighter than the first time. you held your breath as you made your second attempt, this time ending successful.

“no way- i did it” you exclaimed.

yeji’s and beomgyu’s cheers could be heard all the way from the bar, making you burst into laughter. your cheeks turned rosy as you noticed your hand still holding yeonjun’s.

“you’re doing amazing, cutie” your face felt even hotter at the sound of the nickname.

“let’s try that a few more times”

and so you did. again, and again, and again. yeonjun didn’t let you go until you had at least 3 successful attempts in a row. the both of you settled down on a sunbed, munching on some ice cream as a reward for your success.

“do you like it here so far?” yeonjun asked.

“we haven’t had the chance to do much yet but- i think i do. the beach alone is enough for me to enjoy my time here.” you took a bite of the ice cream cone “by the way- i was wondering, how come you started surfing?”

“i fell in love with the beach after my uncle taught me how to surf.” you looked up to meet his eyes. you could see the way they lit up as he explained everything further. “the gentle breeze, the adrenaline, the warm sun touching my skin- i felt like i couldn’t get enough of it.” he tilted his head back and stretched out his arms “i tried to go back to the city, but i couldn’t resist being away from all of this, so now- i get to do exactly what i love.” he smiled.

you stared at the ice cream in your hand, watching it melt from the heat. his words tugged at your heart; in a way, you were feeling jealous of how content he seemed to be with his life.

“sounds really nice” you smiled back, biting your lips. you could almost feel your stomach turning, your previous worries were coming on at lightning speed. the sound of yeonjun’s voice out of it.

“i’m glad you took up on my offer, it’s nice to share something i enjoy with a lovely person like you.” your worries dissipated, being replaced by butterflies in your stomach instead.

───⋆☆─────────────

you continued your lessons with yeonjun up until the middle of the summer. it was clear by now that you were definitely not a surfing prodigy, but you didn’t want to stop. you didn’t know when it would be the next time you got to do something like this. besides, having yeonjun’s attention all on you was nice. or at least, until little kids started stealing him away from you.

“teacher yeonjun- can you help me find my rubber duck? i lost it in the water.” the kid sobbed, tugging on yeonjun’s swimming shorts. yeonjun looked at the kid then at you, conflicted.

“go on-“ you reassured him with a smile “i got it.”

“i’ll be quick.” yeonjun grabbed the kids hand, sprinting towards the area of the “lost duck”.

you lifted your body on the surfing board, closing your eyes for a brief moment and taking a deep breath of the cool beach air. you were all alone now. this was your chance to get away from your thoughts, your worries; to simply shift your focus on all your other senses. somehow, you were feeling nostalgic- nostalgic for a moment that hasn’t even fully passed yet. if only it was possible to keep those feelings locked away, so you could revisit them whenever you wanted to.

yet, your happiness was cut short. you let your guard down too much, and were completely unaware of the danger right in front of you. beomgyu’s shout snapped you out of it. you opened your eyes, only to see an enormous wave centimeters away from you. you froze, not knowing what to do. a million thoughts ran through your mind; before you could even make a decision, the wave crashed into you, sending your body flying down into the water, your head hitting the surfing board in the process. the glass that beomgyu was holding slipped from his hand, shattering to the ground. he swiftly jumped over the counter, then took his shirt off, his eyes frantically searching around the water for you. instead, he saw yeonjun diving in the water, already 2 steps ahead from him. it was childish to race with yeonjun to save you. beomgyu ran back to the bar, hands shaking as he searched for a first med kit and a towel.

you couldn’t keep your eyes open as the salty water gave you a burning sensation almost instantly. you flailed your arms around, in an attempt to save yourself, but the more you moved, the more it felt like you were sinking down. you were almost ready to stop when you felt a pair of arms wrapping around your waist, bringing you back up towards the surface.

“i got you, don’t worry” yeonjun breathed out, hooking one of his arms under your legs and holding your shoulders with the other. your hands hanged loosely around his neck, desperately coughing up the water that entered your system.

“try to stand on your side if you can”

yeonjun laid you down on the nearest sunbed, and you did just as he said, bringing your knees to your chest as your coughing fit continued. “don’t panic, just let it all out” he said softly as he rubbed his hands down your back to soothe you.

yeonjun called out yeji’s name, gesturing for the others to remain in their place for now, as a group of people surrounding you could have been overwhelming. still, beomgyu chose to trail down behind yeji as she walked towards you. he covered you with the towel he found and left a cold bottle of water on the ground next to you before going up to yeonjun.

“can we talk for a sec?” he said, grabbing yeonjun’s arm to bring him further down the beach, without waiting for an answer from him.

“hey- how are you feeling now?” yeji crouched down, holding your hand and gently rubbing her thumb against it.

“better, i think” you answered, trying to put on a smile for her, even though you were still shaken up from what happened earlier.

“where did the others go? i didn’t even get to thank yeonjun-” you raised your body a little bit, looking around the beach.

“don’t even worry about that right now.” yeji was quick to push your shoulders back down. yeji knew why beomgyu was so quick to take yeonjun away. she knew how angry he was with him for leaving you alone so carelessly, and she knew how he was also angry with himself for not acting faster earlier. witnessing them arguing wouldn’t have done you any good. “just rest a little bit more so we can go back home. i’m sure you’ll have another opportunity to thank him soon.”

you looked down. you felt guilty for what happened, even though what happened was outside of your control. you let out a groan and brought a hand to your head, a pounding ache taking over.

“does it hurt?“ yeji asked. you removed your head from its place, only to see a small trail of blood dripping down your fingers.

“everything okay?” you heard yeonjun shout, jogging towards you. he was out of breath, bringing his hands to rest on his knees, cheeks flushed a deep shade of red; it seemed like he ran all the way back. beomgyu, however, was nowhere in sight. “let me see” his eyebrows furrowed as he came closer. he moved your hair behind your ear to inspect your injury. “it’s nothing serious. it’s just a surface level wound, but we need to clean it up.”

“here, beomgyu gave this to me earlier” yeonjun took the med kit from yeji and placed it beside you on the sunbed.

“please tell me if it hurts”

you nodded and he grabbed your chin, then started to gently dab your head with a wet cloth. your eyes shily glanced over at his face. you didn’t realise until then just how close he was sitting next to you. his eyes were only focused on your wound and he was biting his lips in concentration. his hands were shaking a little bit, too afraid to cause you any type of pain. unknowingly, you were holding your breath, heart beating out of control. you couldn’t understand why it was that your body was reacting this way, even in a situation like this, how he still had you wrapped around his finger, melting under his feathery touches.

“this should make it heal faster” yeonjun said, putting some ointment on the wound before covering it with a bandaid. “-and this too” he whispered, leaving a small kiss on that same spot. “i’m so sorry y/n. you are still a beginner and i shouldn’t have left you all alone like that, it was stupid-“ you stopped his rambling by pulling him in for a hug. “hey- don’t blame yourself so harshly. what happened was outside of your control. if you were there maybe you would have gotten injured too.” you hugged him tighter “i wouldn’t have wanted to see you hurt either.”

“you’re right...” yeonjun sighed, combing his fingers through your hair “still- i’ll find a way to make it up to you, i promise.”

“hey- i know you’re having a sweet moment and all, but it’s getting late and we should really get going” yeji interrupted. you slowly moved away from yeonjun, whispering a ‘thank you’ against his ear before finally letting go and getting up.

once at home, you hopped into the shower to wash off the salt off your body. you changed into more comfortable clothes, slumping into your bed, your body melting into the mattress. you were mindlessly scrolling through social media, your eyes feeling heavier with each minute that passed. you were on the point of dozing off when you saw a notification appear on your screen.

(gyu :) )

[beomgyu, 9:17 pm] y/n! how are you feeling now? :(

[y/n, 9:17 pm] definitely better now, especially because of your help :)

[beomgyu, 9:17 pm] i’m glad

[beomgyu, 9:18 pm] are you busy rn?

[y/n, 9:18 pm] no, why?

[beomgyu, 9:18 pm] look outside the window ;)

confused, you got up from the bed and peeked through the window blinds, spotting a smiling beomgyu waving his hand at you from the sidewalk. you couldn’t help but return his smile as you looked at him, already in his pyjamas with a jacket over his shirt and a small basket in his hand. you opened the window and shouted “wait- i’ll be down in a sec.” stumbling as you rushed to climb down the stairs and put on your shoes. you quickly ran your fingers through your hair and took a deep breath to regain your composure. you were taken aback when you saw beomgyu right in front of you, hand raised up to knock on the door just as you opened it.

“hi.” he spoke softly.

“hi-” you breathed out “want to come in?”

“ah-“ he cleared his throat, his eyes meeting the floor instead of your face “i just wanted to bring you this.” he brought the hand holding the basket in front of you, its contents hidden away with the help of a pink wrapping paper. you pushed it to the side, careful so as not to rip it too much. your eyes widened once you discover small boxes with fresh assorted fruits like strawberries, cherries, grapes...and a tiny bear plush placed in the middle of everything.

“thought these might cheer you up a bit. i snuck those away from the bar once my shift ended. don’t tell on me though, soobin might kick my ass if he finds out”

“beomgyu-“ you stammered “thank you, but you didn’t have to-” you were pushing the basket back towards him, overwhelmed by his sweet gestures. he caught your wrists with his hands, moving them towards your chest.

“but i did have to” he leaned down, bringing his face to the same level as your own “if i saw you smile, then that means it was worth it, even if i do get in trouble” his words rolled off his tongue slowly, with a low rasp. you noticed the way beomgyu’s eyes moved away from yours to glance at your lips, then going back to the floor, stopping for a second, hesitating, before deciding to quickly steal away a kiss from your cheek.

“go back inside now, you should get some rest.”

without even realising it, you brought a hand up to your face, touching the same spot he just caressed with his lips. he tilted his head, chuckling after seeing your flustered expression. “good night, y/n” he put his hands in his pockets, turning his back to walk towards the alleyway.

what you weren’t aware of though, was just how loudly beomgyu’s heart was beating against his chest.

───⋆☆─────────────

the end of august, also known as the start of the party season at the beach. with tourists ending their trips and leaving soon, as well as with the weather on the cusp of changing, the workers at the beach started preparing for their annual series of events (which was actually more of an excuse to make people purchase more alcohol)

“we’re doing what tonight?” you asked yeji, resisting the urge to throw the pillow in your lap at her.

“listen- i know you’re finding out about this late, but-“

“but?” you pressed your lips together, lifting an eyebrow.

“but you would have declined the invitation right away-“ yeji sighed “now it’s too late to tell them that we’re not going. remember our promise? to take up on new opportunities?”

you remained silent, crossing your arms and glaring at yeji.

“come on, it’s the first party. if you don’t like it then i won’t pressure you to go to the rest. let’s just try it and see how it goes” yeji got on her knees, holding your hand and looking at you with pleading eyes.

“fine.” you gave in, yeji’s words managed to persuade you yet again. she squealed, capturing you in a tight hug. she wasted no time to drag you into her room and help you get ready. her face was basically radiating as she showed you all the makeup and outfit choices, there was just no way you could refuse her anymore. you just let her do her thing, putting all your trust into her tastes.

the more you walked towards the beach, the louder the music was becoming. you were tempted to do a full 180 and make a run for it, but your conscience didn’t allow you. plus, you truly believed that yeji would simply take her heels off to go after you and drag you back. you felt out of place in the big crowd of people, overwhelmed by the loud beats combining with people shouting in a poor attempt to communicate with each other. you were busy frantically scanning the area for a familiar figure, but you somehow missed yeonjun coming right in your direction. you were taken aback when you noticed him standing in front of you.

“hi, cutie. glad to see you here” yeonjun greeted you.

“hi-“ your eyes trailed down over his body. his white button-up shirt wasn’t closed all the way, giving you a peek at his exposed chest and the delicate silver necklace sitting on top of it. you bit your lip trying to shift your focus from the pretty man in front of you back to the conversation. he winked at you when you tried to make eye contact with him again. shit. your cheeks flushed a deep shade of red; he definitely noticed you staring at him. you quickly turned around and took a shot from the drinks table close to you. you grimaced as the alcohol sent a dash of fire down your throat, yet you still extended your hand for more.

yeji grabbed your arm “hey- hey, take it easy. we only just arrived.”

“and i’ve already embarrassed myself” you whispered back, covering your face with your hands.

“i’m sure whatever you did isn’t that bad. you’re gonna embarrass yourself more if you get wasted within the first hour anyway.”

you pressed your lips together. she was right- you just didn’t want to admit it out loud. “come on, i want to check out the dessert table. i heard soobin did a pretty good job with that” yeji said, grabbing your wrist and dragging you along with her.

yeji tested out almost every single dessert at the party. each time she took a bite of something new, she insisted that you tried it too because “this one was really the best”. you found it amusing but in some way, she was right, soobin really outdid himself this time. the cupcakes in particular were your favorite. the cake was so soft and moist, and the frosting was soft like velvet, immediately melting down on your tongue. they were seriously addicting. you were about to dive into another vanilla cupcake when you felt a tap on your shoulder. it was yeonjun who came up to you again.

“y/n- join me for a dance?”

your eyes glanced back at yeji, then at the cupcake in your hand. you were very tempted to say yes, but you didn’t want to leave her alone either. the idea of abandoning your cupcake didn’t sound that good either.

“go ahead” yeji said, snatching the cupcake you were holding. “i was about to go to hueningkai anyway- i wanted to have a look at his playlist. have fun you two” she sent a wink your way before quickly leaving, not even sparing you a chance to argue.

“shall we?” yeonjun stretched out his hand for you to take, which you nervously took. he led you to the middle of the dance floor, making you internally panic. having not gone to many parties in your lifetime, you weren’t confident in showing off your dance moves, especially right in front of yeonjun.

yeonjun must have sensed your worries, dipping down to whisper in your ear, his deep voice sending shivers down your spine. “just focus on me- don’t mind everyone else.” you were still holding his hand, so he took this chance to lift his arm up and playfully spin you around. you couldn’t help but giggle, slowly starting to ease up. you tried to ignore everyone else invading your vision, focusing on him and only him as you swayed your body along the rhythm of the music. you couldn’t help yourself but grab two more shots, one for you and one for yeonjun, when you saw one of the baristas coming down your way with a silver platter full of alcoholic drinks. ‘it’s for a little confidence boost’ you told yourself. for tonight, you were finally allowing yourself to be free from any worries, and to simply enjoy the moment.

you weren’t aware of how much time had passed since you stepped foot on the dance floor, and you were very tempted to take a break and let your legs rest for a while. but it seemed like the dj wasn’t going to let that happen anytime soon. the up-beat music that had been playing for the past hour was suddenly changed to a slow, jazzy song. you looked up at yeonjun with wide eyes, and he bit his lips, looking as surprised as you did. yet, he didn’t pull away. his hands dropped down from their position on your shoulders, trailing down your arms and then moving to your waist, leaving hot trails everywhere he touched your body. your body unconsciously moved closer to his, a bright red blush adoring your cheeks. your mind couldn’t focus on anything else but his hands on you. the sound of the music combining with your loud heartbeat made you feel light-headed.

“i want to kiss you” he whispered, resting his forehead on yours, his grip on your waist tightening “but if i do then i might not be able to contain myself.” he breathed out. your hand moved up to the nape of his neck, about to give in to the sweet temptation, when all of a sudden taehyun lightly tugged yeonjun by the collar of his shirt, creating distance between the two of you.

“loverboy, go check up on soobin, he’s having trouble setting up the fog machine”

“right now?”

“yes, now. come on” taehyun grabbed yeonjun, not letting him argue. ‘strange’ you remembered that the fog machine was already on when you arrived.

yeji and beomgyu appeared by your side just a few seconds later “where’s yeonjun?”

“ah- soobin was searching for him. guess i was kind of abandonded” you tried to laugh it off “can we go somewhere quieter?” the music is starting to mess with my brain.

“i’ll grab some drinks and i’ll meet you near the shore, there’s some log benches there.”

you nodded, holding onto yeji’s sleeve so as not to lose her. you felt like you could finally breathe again once you stepped foot on the sand. you couldn’t lie, parties did seem fun, but those where you’re almost completely surrounded by strangers? not so much. you held on until most people left, enjoying yeji’s and beomgyu’s company, cracking silly jokes as you kept on drinking. it was only after midnight when the rest of the boys joined you, with a few of the other people lingering around.

“anybody up for a few rounds of truth or dare?” yeji shouted.

“i’m in” beomgyu replied, raising his hand.

“i guess i’m in too” you sighed. truth or dare wasn’t really your cup of tea, but you didn’t want to ruin the other’s mood.

“everybody gather around the fire then” yeonjun said “and remember- no buts, no maybes” he snickered.

you noticed how beomgyu looked at you and opened his mouth, then closed it back again after yeonjun said down next to him. his body seemed to slump down after that; you wondered whether it was you who he wanted to sit close to.

“i’ll be the one to get this started” yeonjun stated, looking at every person over the hot flames of the fire, only for his eyes to land back on the person to his right. “beomgyu, truth or dare?”

beomgyu paused for a moment, then answered simply “truth.”

“you’re starting off easy?” he asked, the words rolling off his tongue with a playful, yet mischievous tone “well then- beomgyu, do you have a crush?”

“yes.” he answered shortly. beomgyu was sitting right across from you, and you could notice his body slowly tensing up as his arms hugged his waist tighter.

“and is your crush by any chance here with us?” yeonjun probed on further.

“that’s 2 questions” beomgyu frowned, looking at him.

“you didn’t let me finish.” yeonjun raised his hands defensively.

“yes- they are.” he answered then took a sip of his beer. however, what you failed to notice was him sneaking a glance in your direction as he said that.

everybody around you let out an “ooo” at beomgyu’s answer; people were giggling and nudging beomgyu, teasing him to reveal the name of the person. for some reason, the fact that he had a crush was tugging at your heartstrings. you were secretly hoping that the person he was talking about was you, but you weren’t ready to admit that to yourself.

“my turn now-“ beomgyu took another sip, his eyes scanned the room, then stopped on your figure. “y/n, truth or dare?”

you pondered for a moment. “truth.” you didn’t want to be the first one to try a dare, even if it was from beomgyu. he smiled “have you ever been in a relationship?” he asked, eyes sparkling from the light of the fire.

“no, actually.” you sighed “i was always too busy stressing over school- and look where that got me” you looked down and chuckled drily.

beomgyu nodded, seemingly getting a bit lost in thought. he wanted to continue, to talk to you more, but he restrained himself from doing so. he knew that this wasn’t the right moment to discuss your private life, not with everyone else around.

“let’s see- who should be the next victim?” you clicked your tongue “soobin- what do you prefer?”

───⋆☆─────────────

two hours of truth or dare later, soobin’s last shot was the one that tipped him off, and yeonjun offered to guide him back home before he had the chance to throw up on the beach. a few people stated that they were going to the bathroom, but in fact never returned; you didn’t want to know why. yeji was too tired to stay there any longer, so she left you behind. meaning, it was only you and beomgyu left on the now quiet beach. the fire was dying down, and beomgyu scooted closer to you, offering to share a blanket.

“how does one more round sound?” he asked you.

“i wouldn’t mind that” you laughed, feeling a bit nervous all of a sudden.

“truth or dare?” beomgyu whispered.

“dare.”

“dare, huh...?” he muttered “i dare you to dive into the water.” beomgyu smirked, playfully tilting his head to the side.

you were taken aback by his words, but your stubbornness didn’t allow you to back down.“okay.” you said, looking into his eyes. “turn around then. i don’t want my dress to get wet.”beomgyu’s eyes widened, clearly not expecting you to accept his dare. still, he did just like you asked.

you slid your dress off, then carefully placed it on one of the seats. you inhaled air deeply into your lungs as you approached the water, then jumped straight in, trying to get this over with as quickly as possible.

“truth or dare?” you shouted.

“dare.” beomgyu shouted back.

“i dare you to join me.”

beomgyu wasted no time taking off his shirt then quickly diving into the water, splashing you in the process. you immediately returned the favour when he got back up to the surface.

“hey- you’re gonna pay for that” he jokingly threatened you.

“make me.”

you both attacked each other with water, only the sound of your laughter filling up the quietness of the now peaceful night. “okay- i surrender.” beomgyu shouted again, catching your wrists with his hands to finally make you stop. he got closer to you, your laughter dying down as his close proximity made you feel nervous.

“you look so beautiful in the moonlight” he said as he hooked his finger around yours, guiding you around in the water. and you followed him mindlessly, as if you as if he’s got you right under his spell. his hands detached themselves from your own, moving to your waist. and you were so close to him, nose to nose, his breath combining his yours, his eyelashes tickling your lids- and yet, you still couldn’t allow yourself. you couldn’t allow yourself to be victim of your foolish desires.

you looked over your shoulder, worried that someone might have come back and noticed what was happening. what if someone saw you two? saw the two of you fooling around in the blue waves of the sea, what if someone saw his fingers trailing your back or how your own nested at his nape? your brain kept thinking of all the possible ways you might get in trouble, fighting to remain in power as his hot breath gathered itself at your neck, distracting yourself from any rational thoughts.

“y/n! are you still here?” you suddenly heard a voice shouting, which you recognised was yeji’s.

“yeah-“ you shouted back “don’t worry, i’ll be back soon no need to wait for me”

“send me a text when you leave!” she shouted again before walking away.

you looked at beomgyu with apologetic eyes.

“guess i can’t have you all for myself tonight.” he looked at you with a soft smile, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear “yeji’s stealing you away from me again.” he laughed.

“i’m sorry...” you whispered, lowering your head.

"there's no need to apologise", he said, a beat of heart and a pause following his words, "it's getting late anyway, you should rest, especially after such a night." the wind picked up your sigh before it could reach him, before it could whisper to him to come closer again, to take a step towards you, warm hands to envelop your waist and soft hair locks to tickle your skin again. you took a step back. "what an eventful night" you said under your breath. "what an eventful night", he picks up your words just as they roll off your tongue, giving you a smile. the air between you kept getting thicker and thicker, unspoken words and wishes weighing the both of you further into the soft shore. “wait just a second- i’ll be right back.” he rushed to get out of the water and sprinted to the bar. as he was coming back you could see him holding a small towel, which he handed to you.

“here, it’s nothing much, but i thought it might help you dry off- at least a little bit” he said rubbing the nape of his neck.

“it’s great” you smiled “thank you, beomgyu.”

he was also holding something behind his back, which he only revealed after you were done using the towel and putting your dress back on.

“have this too...” he looked away, the tips of his ears turning a pretty shade of pink. “i don’t want you to feel cold” he was holding out his white button up shirt for you to wear. you could feel your body reacting the same way as you thanked him and slided your arms into the sleeves. the faint scent of his cologne lingering on the soft material setting your heart on fire.

the walk back home was quiet, spent with the both of you sneaking a few shy glances at each other, his hand brushing against your ever so often, itching to hold yours again. for the first time during your stay you were disappointed that your house was so close to the beach, because it meant that you and beomgyu had to part ways so quickly.

“oh! your shirt- i almost forgot. let me take it off-“

his hands reacted fast, stopping you before you could do that “no- keep it, please. it looks good on you”

“o-oh. thank you” you stuttered. the both of you hesitated to part ways once again, too enticed by each other’s presence.

───⋆☆─────────────

beomgyu's ending | yeonjun's ending

taglist: @huekalover3000 @maybabe00 @sunoooism

#wave2tyun #txt #txt fluff #txt x reader #txt fic #txt imagines #txt scenarios #txt smau #txt headcanons #txt yeonjun #txt beomgyu #yeonjun fluff #beomgyu fluff #yeonjun scenarios #beomgyu scenarios #yeonjun fic #beomgyu fic #yeonjun x reader #beomgyu x reader

242 notes · View notes

bedsyandco · 9 months

Text

second chances ʚɞ M.Barzal

summary: in which you and Mat broke up two months ago, and you go back to your once shared apartment in New York to pick up your things. happy ending <3

You had always been enamored with New York City, with its bright lights, bustling streets, and endless possibilities. Even now, making your way to the familiar apartment building you had lived in only a few months ago, you could feel the buzz of the city. You always heard New York was the place of endless opportunities, where dreams came true, you never thought it was going to be the place where all your dreams came to die.

You sigh as you unlock the door of the apartment and walk in. You knew Mat wouldn't be here, you planned it that way. As you looked around the apartment your heart felt heavy. This had been your home with Mat for the past three years, the place where you had shared so many happy memories, and so many milestones. Your first Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays. All celebrated here, filled with laughter and love. But now it felt cold and empty, and it looked exactly the same as the day you had left. As if Mat couldn't bear to change anything.

As you walked around the apartment, memories flooded back to you. The way Mat used to cook breakfast for you on lazy Sunday mornings, the way he would playfully tickle you until you couldn't breathe, the way he would hold you close and whisper sweet nothings in your ear. For a moment a strong sense of longing hits you and you just want to curl up in the bed and pretend everything is fine. Like you're just waiting for Mat to come home from practice, like you always did.

Your lips curl into a soft smile seeing the thermostat is still the same temperature. You would have thought Mat would change it, he always complained you liked it too hot and it felt like he was living in a sauna. You hauled the big suitcase out of the closet, opened it and began emptying your closet.

An hour later most of your clothes were packed and you decided to empty your bedside table. Taking a seat on your side of the bed, a picture catches your attention and you gently pick it up. It was a photo of you and Mat on vacation about a year ago. Mat was standing in the shallow waters of the Hawaiian sea, the biggest grin on his face, with you on his back, laying a kiss on his cheek. You smile remembering the fun time you had with not only Mat, but his family as well on that trip. You hadn't spoken to them since you and Mat broke up.

The realization hits you hard, and you feel a pang of sadness in your chest. Mat's family had always been so welcoming and kind to you, treating you like one of their own. You had so many happy memories with them, from family dinners to holiday celebrations to summer vacations. But now, with your relationship with Mat over, it felt like you were losing them too. You wondered if they knew about the breakup, and what they thought about it. Would they take sides, or try to stay neutral? Would they miss you, or forget about you altogether?

You take a deep breath, trying to help you clear your head and calm down, but it doesn't really help and soon the tears are falling faster than you can catch them. You lay down on the bed and hug Mat's pillow to your chest, crying even harder when you realize it smells just like him. You only wanted to allow yourself a moment to come to terms with everything that's happened but you feel your eyes flutter shut, exhaustion taking over and your body finally feels home enough to shut down and go to sleep.

A few hours later you wake up to Mat gently shaking you awake.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep. I was just here to pick up a few of my things," you say softly

"It's okay. I'm glad you got some rest. Your mom says you haven't been sleeping well," he says and brushes his thumb over the dark circles under your eyes.

"You talk to my mom?" you ask

"Twice a week," he replies

"How long have you been home?"

"A few hours. I woke you up cause I made dinner, thought you might be hungry," he says

As Mat plates up the food, you go to the bathroom and splash some cold water on your face, hoping it would make your eyes less puffy.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming home?" Mat asks as you enter the kitchen.

"I emailed you I was coming by this week, to pick up my things" you reply

"You know I never check my email," Mat says.

You did know, which is why you didn't text.

"You didn't wanna see me," Mat accuses when you don't answer.

"I thought it might be easier to this if you weren't here," you concede

"Easier? What part of this is easy? The part where I can't focus because I miss you so much I can't breathe, never mind play up to the standard I'm supposed to.... or the fact that you look like you haven't slept in months..." Mat says facing you.

"I just didn't know if you would want to see me Mat, the way we left things weren't exactly civil," you say

"I didn't mean the things I said that day, and I know you didn't mean the things you said either. We were tired and emotional and it wasn't the right time to discuss everything that had been bothering us. I'm sorry," Mat apologizes and steps closer to you.

"I'm sorry too," you say

"Can you honestly tell me that this break up has been better for either one of us?" Mat whispers taking your face between the palm of his hands.

"Just because we didn't discuss the problems in the right way, doesn't mean the problems weren't there Mat," you say.

"I'm not saying the problems weren't there...I'm saying these last two months have been hell for me. And it put some things into perspective. I know most of our problems stem from hockey, and I'm telling you that if you asked me to I would give it up for you," Mat says

"I would never ask you to do that," you whisper

"I know, because you understand how much it means to me, and you love me for it. And you understanding that is one of the things I love about you. But I also accept that I took advantage of that understanding and neglected you and our relationship at times. I take responsibility for that...I'm gonna make mistakes, we both are. And I know I'm probably gonna make a lot more mistakes than you and I'm sorry, but I'm asking you to love me anyway." Mat says and you tear up hearing his voice crack at the end.

"I missed you," you say and he smiles

"I missed you more," Mat says and presses his lips to yours.

You melt into the kiss, feeling all the love and longing you had been holding back for the past few months wash over you. It feels like coming home, like everything is finally falling into place.

The two of you spend the rest of the night talking and cuddling, catching up on everything that has happened since you last saw each other. It feels like no time has passed at all, and yet so much has changed. But you are both committed to making things work, rebuilding your relationship, and finding a way to move forward together. As you fall asleep in Mat's arms that night, you feel a sense of peace and contentment that you haven't felt in months. Maybe New York could be the city of second chances as well.

#⇢ ˗ˏˋ 📂 bedsyandco works!#⇢ ˗ˏˋ 📜 cam's fics #hockey fic #nhl fic #hockey imagine #hockey blurb #nhl fanfiction #nhl blurb #nhl imagine #mat barzal fic rec #mat barzal fanfiction #mat barzal fic #mat barzal x reader #mat barzal fluff #mat barzal x yn #hockey x reader

610 notes · View notes

pinkcherryblossom18 · 5 months

Text

I Bet On Losing (You)

Aegon ii Targaryen/Reader

Summary: Another trip, another month of nothing but grueling time spent with a family that neither you nor Aegon truly wish to be part of. A family that pushes you both, to anger and to tears.

I almost cried while writing the ending...take that as you will.

TW: Modern AU, Chubby!Aegon, Angst, Mild fluff, Hints of smut, Miscarriage mention/refrenced, Descriptions of a miscarriage, Past suicidal thoughts, Forced abortion mention, Aegons childhood, Referenced alcoholism, Otto Hightower, Viserys Targaryen. This is some heavy shit.

Word Count: 7.7k

The backseat is full of blankets that Sunfyre has easily taken over with a quick leep from the back where his dog bed is along with his food bowl and water bowl but you knew that Aegon was already going to feed him whatever you two picked up in the five hour drive. Along with Sunfyre and the blankets is a cooler, it’s small and painted red, inside it holds a pack and a half of hard seltzers for both you and Aegon when you two get to the Targaryen summer home. A bottle of rum is also within it but you two have promised not to touch it until you got there as it was your only bottle of actual alcohol for the month. Something that you two had started with in three months of dating and a tip from the fifth AA meeting that you both went to before you both got involved.

Its a vacation that neither of you wanted but one that you two have no choice in as Aemond had threatened Aegon over text and Alicent had made sure to call you every day over the past week, asking for speciality items the two of you may want or wondering if she should perhaps visit, just to help you pack. You had kept the peace and politely turned her down, instead you asked if she was alright and how everything was going and if she had finally gotten some kitchen staff to come to the summer home to help. She hadn’t.

She had been quite certain that you were the only one packing, it wasn’t entirely true but not exactly wrong either. More so it was you having to fold everything when Aegon just tossed his clothes into his suitcase.

A sigh comes from beside you and the hand that you hold in your own squeezes with a strength that most wouldn’t think that the plump frat boy that was Aegon would possess. It doesn’t matter as you squeeze back. Both of you have reserves for this trip; neither one of you wants to go. Both for the same reasons but also your own.

It wasn’t an option though, that was abundantly clear to everyone who attended. Aegon’s father only made it mandatory so that they could all be together for once, so that they actually looked like a family and not a clumped together mess of lies, vices, insults and piercing glares that started physical fights. The only way out was if someone had a life threatening cause that made them stay away or if you were Daeron, you had already been invited somewhere else. The boy had used that excuse since he started high school, always having a reason to be away and you couldn’t blame him.

Two hard seltzers were already opened, they both rested in the cup holders with you both separating hands every once in a while to take a sip, then your hand conjoined once more with ferocity that only came from the clingness that was adopted by anxiety and dread.

Aegon sighed again but you kept staring out of the window. Cars flew past, those in them ranged from color to gender to what they were doing. Some had white skin, others bronze; some were women and some were men and most of them were on their phones or talking to another that was in their car. You wondered what people would think if they looked into Aegon’s car, they would probably see two people who were both frowning with one gripping the wheel so tight that the sound of the leather against flesh was audible and the other looking out the window with sad looking expressions, watching as the cars passed.

It was probably a horrid sight, they most likely thought you two to be displeased with each other, two people going through a rough breakup but forced into a space so small that it was bound to be suffocating. It wasn’t the truth and you both knew it so that was truly all that mattered, it was the upcoming couple of months that was weighing on the both of you like bags of bricks that was close to breaking your backs each time this reunion was set.

Aegon sighed again and you breathed deeply, trying to push off the questions until later when the roads weren’t filled with cars all too close to experience the type of anger that can come from the both of you. But it all seemed inevitable when he sighed once more, again.

You didn’t even move your head off of the window when you asked him: “If you want to say something just say it.”

“I want to say absolutely nothing,” he replied quickly and you rolled your eyes and looked at him. A small quirk of a smile was on his face and you fought to keep one off of yours.

“Oh?” His smile widens more and you lean your head back onto the seat, staring at him as he stares out into the road. “So you're just suddenly having breathing problems?”

He nods. “Which is a good reason to go back home,” he says, eyeing an exit that leads to the opposite direction of your intended location.

You laugh and shake your head at him as he starts to move toward the exit. “Aegon, we’re literally thirty minutes away from the house. Plus your mom would want to visit us if we told her that was the reason,” you state and he sighs.

Shaking his head, Aegon flashes you a small pout that only grows bigger when he faces away from you again. “You have to spoil my plans?” He whines childishly.

You only shrug. “Make up a better plan,” you say and he only scoffs.

Silence takes over the car once more but with an atmosphere that shrouds that tension that had once been there. Small smiles stay on both of your lips and only leave when you both sing along to a song that plays on the radio.

The tension returns when Aegon turns onto the exit and the car approaches the small grove which leads to the house. In any other circumstances, you would have been delighted to visit the God’s Eye, the Riverlands provided beautiful spaces of untouched land surrounding it and it was a popular place for tourists and people on vacation. Houses close to it were expensive and those who held as much wealth as the Targaryens did could secure one.

“How much do you want to bet that mom is going to ambush you with marriage questions an hour after we show up?” He suddenly asks as soon as he turns on the gravel road leading to the house.

You shake your head. “I’m not playing this game.” It always leads to losing at least a hundred and only gaining very little.

“And why not?” He asks, playing innocent too well for who he was.

“Because you cheat,” you shoot at him and Aegon only chuckles.

Aegon never lost at this game, even in the last few years that you two had been playing it you’ve never won. Had never even come close to winning.

Groaning, Aegon gently slaps at your leg in some type of encouragement. “Oh, come on. It’s just a bit of fun,” he says, trying to coax you into his asinine idea of a fun game that only he can win. He knows it too but it’s never stopped him from trying to persuade you.

“Not for my wallet.”

He shoots you an unimpressed look. “Come on, how much?”

You sigh and pull out your phone, ready to record your bets and the money that you’ll probably lose. “I’ll bet ten she’ll wait until tomorrow during lunch to ask me.” Last time she had asked you not even an hour after you two arrived. “How much do you wanna bet that your dad won’t even remember my name?”

Aegon snorts. “That’s unfair, he never remembers.” He pauses before tapping your phone. “Twenty. I bet thirty that Aemond will only speak to us a total of nine times for the entire two months.”

“That’s too easy,” you say, typing down the bet. “How much do you want to bet how long it’s going to take for Otto to mention class structure?”

It had happened as soon as he sat down that first night last year, the year before that he mentioned it before you two had even shown up at the house.

“Forty that he mentions it as soon as he sees you,” he says confidently.

You think about it for a moment. “Fifty that he’ll do it during dinner,” Aegon nods at your words and you add “and Daemon makes fun of him for it.”

“He didn’t last time,” Aegon points out.

“That was because he was too busy staring down your sister's shirt.”

“So?” Aegon shrugs and then a smirk comes onto his face. “I said something and I was staring down your shirt.”

A chuckle comes from you when Aegon glances at your breasts. “That’s because it’s a natural state for you at this point,” you quip and he only shrugs.

“I don’t hear you complaining.”

You shake your head and move his head so that he’s looking at the road, his headlights starting to reflect meaning that you were close to the gates. “Look at the road before you make us crash into a tree.”

“It would at least get us out of this.”

Like every year, you and Aegon are—surprisingly—the first ones out of the rest of his siblings to show up, pardon for Rhaenyra. It’s only her, Daemon and their three youngest children, the eldest three had opted for driving in a less crowded vehicle but forgot that Jace was now living in the North for college so it was taking longer than normal. Rheana and Baela were still in Driftmark with their grandparents but had said that they would be there in a week or two.

The meetings have gone smoothly so far, Rhaenrya was kind and welcoming as usual and Daemon had kept his distance but still made his normal quick quips. Alicent had been the one to greet you two, with a big hug and a smile as she led you inside with Sunfyre following you and leaving Aegon behind with the luggage. She had shown you the new additions to the house, mostly in the kitchen which included more counter space, like it wasn’t already a vast block of wood.

Thankfully, she hadn’t mentioned marriage yet.

Later, you heard the sound of Dreamfyre through the house, then Vermax, Arrax and Tyraxes when the boys finally showed up. The only indication that Aemond was here was Vhagar hopping onto your and Aegon’s bed and curling up in a ball right on his pillow. She hissed and scratched at him when he attempted to take her off of his pillow but allowed for you to pull her into your lap, petting languidly at her graying pelt with soft purrs.

Vhagar hissed when Aegon’s hand went near her and you laughed, continuing to stroke the cat’s fur. “That’s unfair,” he pouts.

You shake your head at him and look down at the old cat in your arms. She was old but you never knew how old, all Aemond had told you was that she went through two previous owners in his family before ending up with him. And that Rheana was still upset about the fact that Aemond got her mother’s cat. “She would probably like you more if you didn’t kick her all of the time.”

A snort comes from Aegon and he plops down beside you, making Vhagar grumble before settling down again. “In my defense, I was eight,” he said in self-defense.

“No, you act like you’re eight,” you quip.

A small shriek comes from your lips when Aegon pokes your side. “That’s rude,” he murmurs, his head settling on your shoulder.

“You love it,” you say and he hums in agreement.

His pale hair spreads over your shoulder like a waterfall, you remember when it was longer before he cut it and sometimes you found yourself missing it. Your hand starts to play with the ends of his hair and chuckle when some strands tickle you under your chin. His eyes open a few seconds later, never truly able to handle silences for too long unless it was in the morning, with you both still dreary from sleep and finding comfort in each other's arms basking in it like you would die without it.

Sometimes his hand would travel downward and trace over your stomach, bringing in a certain sadness to your mornings that not even the greatest of warmths could fix. No other warmth than Aegon’s, who ran hot and held you during nights when the sadness from three years ago settled back in like a tidal wave.

You two could try again, truly you two could. It wouldn’t be difficult considering that you both fucked like rabbits anyways but you couldn’t do it.

Fear lingered heavily on your shoulders everytime Aegon would bring it up, even as something to get you more worked up during sex or it just slipped out. It always ended there and the ruined orgasm was nothing more than a small hindrance to what you felt. To the fear that clung to you like glue; that hovered over you and would shadow you for the rest of your life.

It didn’t matter if it wasn’t your fault.

The anguish followed you everywhere, on every piece of happiness that resembled what you felt when you heard the news. Even with Aegon and him recovering reminded you of your loss, how he was more focused on stopping, wanting to be present, wanting to be there unlike how his father had been. How you both had fallen back into that old routine when it happened, how you both cried all night with a bottle of whiskey in your hands and your arms wrapped around each other.

Those bright blue eyes look up at you, full of stars and adoration. You were sure that if anyone else saw him like this, they would believe that this was Aegon Targaryen, the party clown, the alcoholic, the druggie and man whore. You were sure the same could be said about you. “Yes I do.” He let in for a kiss but then yelped and pulled back with a pained groan. Vhagar growled at him and went to strike him again. “Fucking—Aemond!” He yells and a few seconds later you hear soft steps coming toward your room, Aemond’s was only a few rooms down as he refused to be any closer. “Get your cat before she rips my balls off!”

Aemond glides in with quick strides and scoops Vhagar off of your lap. “That would be an improvement.”

“Hey Aemond,” you greet him and he flashes you a small smile.

“How was the trip?” He asks. “I imagine it was difficult having to deal with two dogs.”

You stifle a laugh behind your hand as you feel Aegon nestling further against your neck, only pulling away for a second to say: “That was actually funny, brother,” with a mocking smile before shoving his face back into the crook of your neck.

In his arms, Vhagar glares at Aegon and then jumps out of Aemond’s arms and leaves. “Not as taxing as usual, one of them was more behaved than usual.” You giggled when Aegon nipped at you with his teeth before relaxing once more. “How was the trip? I heard about that hurricane in the Stormlands, I was meaning to call but never got the time.”

He only shrugs and leans on the door frame. “It was nowhere near me.”

“What grave news for all of us,” Aegon mumbles, hot breath raising hairs on the back of your neck.

You swat Aegon’s back and smile at Aemond. “I’ll talk to you later Aemond,” you say, voice sweet and cautious unlike how Aegon is being.

He nods. “I’ll see you then,” he says and then leaves.

A loud thud echoes throughout the room when you push Aegon off of you and he accidentally falls to the floor, not expecting to be shoved. “Can you not be civil with him?” You ask, exasperated. “Especially with everything that went down a few months ago.”

Aegon pushes himself off of the floor ad lays down on the bed before shrugging. You turn toward him, seeing him propped up against the pillows, your eyes darting to the exposed skin of his stomach for a second before looking back at him. The only indication that he knows is a small smirk on his lips. “He would despise it if I treated him like you and mom do,” he states simply.

“Kindly?”

“Like glass.” Aegon shifts and grabs your ankle, and you scoot closer to him on the bed. “It didn’t work on me, it doesn’t work on him.”

You huff. “Well I can’t comfort him the way I comfort you.”

That smirk on Aegon’s face widens and he moves his face closer to yours, hand finding the back of your thigh and throwing it over his legs. You stumble and fall onto his chest before righting yourself up. “I might be needing some of the comfort now,” he breathes, his eyes catching themselves on your breasts.

“Not going to wait until midnight?” You ask him.

Aegon groans, his head falling back against the pillows. “We always wait until midnight,” he whines.

You shake your head at him. “There’s a reason for that,” you say pointedly.

His head emerges from the pillows, a mischievous smile on his face. “Perhaps if my grandfather hears how I fuck you, he will leave you alone,” he says, his hands starting to push up your shirt.

You push his hands down with difficulty. “Maybe he will say that I am corrupting you,” you counter.

His eyebrow quirks. “Maybe then I can convince father to send him back to Oldtown for retirement as his memory is deteriorating, rapidly.”

A giggle comes from your lips and you lean down, pecking his lips. You go to pull away and almost fail at such a task when Aegon’s hand threads through your hair, wanting to keep you where you are. “Merry Christmas to me then,” you mumble against his lips.

“No one in this family has ever resented early presents,” he says, “this would be put into the photo album as the best one yet.”

You laugh and sit up straight. “That would be your favorite present?”

A lewd smile comes onto his face. “Second to that blowjob you gave me last year,” he says, his smile widening at what you presume to be at the memory of you sucking his brain out of his balls.

You poke his chest. “Your turn this year,” you remind him.

Once more his hands go under your shirt, one going up and the other playing with the top of your pants, waiting to be invited in. “Another early Christmas present,” he hums, his fingers grazing underneath your bra.

Humming, you bend down and kiss his lips once more. “Sure…at midnight,” you say and jump off of him, laughing at the pout on his face.

“Tease,” he shoots at you, hatefully but his lips are upturned.

You blow a kiss at him. “Love you too,” you say before leaving the room.

The dinner table is filled with individual whispers. Awkward glances are exchanged every now and then when one thinks that they have spoken too loudly but despite that, everyone keeps to their own.

Jace, Luke and Joffrey are talking to each other, though it’s mostly only the oldest two and the six years old seems content on listening but not understanding what his older brothers were saying.

Aemond and Helaena are immersed in their own world of bugs, college and whatever else they liked to converse about.

Rhaenyra and Daemon are busy with little Aegon, Viserys, and Visenya but Rhaenyra is exchanging small talk with Alicent.

You and Aegon are talking only to each other, still taking bets and wondering who was going to win the first one. Small quips are made about his family, about what they were doing when they weren’t all together that he somehow knows and what he is sure is going on with his own family. You put little faith into his words but are sure that he’s most likely right about most of it.

All of you are waiting for Otto and Viserys to show up and pretend to be one big happy family for the rest of the dinners that are on their way. The fabrication of feelings was only made for the older man as he was growing only sicker as the days went on, Alicent had spoken to about it during her monthly calls to check up on the both of you.

You’re sure that she’s only calling to make sure that you’re both sober still and not passed out in an alley somewhere like you two would have been four years ago.

Soon enough the door opens and you can hear the sound of a cane tapping against the ground and a scratchy voice followed by another one that sounded more refined and arrogant. Now came the part that everyone despised the most, now card the need to act like you all loved each other to some degree other than mild tepid disinterest that you all held for each other.

The sound stops and in the threshold of the dining room stands Viserys Targaryen. His face was wrinkled and pallid; his structure was seeming to be on the verge of becoming bone thin and even with the cane, he still needed the assistance of Otto Hightower to walk.

A shaky smile was spread over his lips as he looked at the viewage in front of him, finding nothing wrong at all. “Ah, what a joyous sight! All of my family together again,” he says joyfully.

The dinner went downhill from there.

Stories were exchanged. Happenings that were not given to others in the family were talked about and only a few jabs here and there were thrown but not enough to elevate the underground tension that lingered underneath everyone’s skins. The wine flowed freely, everyone besides Alicent, Otto and Helaena were already on their fourth or fifth cup of the red liquid. You and Aegon went through it as slowly as you both could, only refilling your glasses when the other was done with theirs; the two of you were only on your second glasses and still regretfully sober.

You could feel Otto’s eyes on you the entire time, judging and calculating, rounding up whatever he had in his arsenal to eventually fire at you. Alicent was also watching you but was also keeping her eyes on Aegon, watching and perhaps waiting for one of you to slip back into your old habits.

Otto cleared his throat, tearing you away from Helaena who had been telling you of some drama that was happening at her work. “I wasn’t aware that the rabble was still with us this year,” he says smoothly, taking a sip out of his glass.

Aegon’s hand nudged yours, twenty five added to your wallet already. Now Daemon just needed to butt in like usual.

The smile on your face fell and was replaced by a fake one. “Well I’m surprised that you’re here as well Otto, especially eating dinner for the early bird special was only two hours ago,” you say innocently. Chuckles disperse across the table by those who are listening.

A sardonic smile copied your own. “I don’t have a big enough appetite to eat twice,” he remarked.

You nodded. “Many don’t when they get older.”

“And how is college?” He asks. “Still studying…English?”

Your eyes narrowed into slits. “Yes, you say and nod toward the top of his head. “Your hair looks great tonight, but I would recommend trying to master the comb over.”

A wicked look comes into his eyes. “How is college?” He asks, taking a sip from his cup.

You shrug. “It’s alright, the classes were different toward the end but I came out on top.”

“Not a common occurrence,” Aegon mutters beside you.

Alicent gasps. “Aegon!” She chides.

Aegon only raises his hands up in surrender. “Simply stating a fact mother, you have always told me not to lie,” he says cheekily.

She only sighs, a changrine look on her normally perfectly molded face as she looks away from her eldest son.

Under the table, Aegon passes you twenty five dollars and you grin in satisfaction.

It’s a few minutes later when you are halfway through your meal that Alicent turns back toward the both of you. A look is in her eyes that helps to remind you that she is Otto’s daughter.

With her hands clasped in front of her, she peers at the both of you thoughtfully and you reach into your pocket, ready to hand Aegon his bet money. “Have you two considered…moving along in your relationship?” She asks, sounding hopeful for the news that she has pestered you both about for two years now.

Aegon shakes his head and plucks the ten out of your fingers from under the table. “No mother, we still aren’t ready yet,” he says calmly.

A disappointed look is on her face, all of the hope and yearn draining out quickly. “After four years?” She asks, her voice slick with confusion. “I married your father after a year.”

“Months,” Aegon whispers to you.

At the same time you tell her: “We just aren’t ready yet, Mrs. Targaryen. With college and work, life is just too busy at the moment,” you explain, hoping that this will be the last she will bring it up.

“The AA meetings must take much of your time as well,” Otto says slyly.

Agitation nips at your heels with barbed teeth, making them bleed and hoping that you will soon see nothing but red. “They do but we only go on Wednesdays and Saturdays,” you explain to him, trying to keep your voice even.

Otto opens his mouth once more but Jace intervenes with a gliding grace. “I met someone,” he announces and everyone’s attention goes toward him.

“Really?” Aegon asks in disbelief.

“Who is it?” You ask, hitting Aegon on the arm.

“What is she like?” Rhaenyra asks, a bright smile on her face.

Jace breathes deeply. “His name is Cregan, he’s on the hockey team,” he says and everyone stops in their tracks for a moment.

“He?” Alicent asks and a quick glance toward the end of the table, you see Otto’s lips curl up in disgust.

Jace nods. “Yes, he.”

The smile on Rhaenyra’s face is still bright when she asks: “When can we meet him?”

A smile is on Jace’s face, relief is in it. “He’s in Winterfell right now with his family but he should be free soon.”

Alicent nods. “Well we have more than enough room Jace, it would be nice to meet your…friend,” she says slowly.

“I had a male friend once,” Aegon pipes up, “the memories still make me—

“Aegon!” Alicent shouts, her eyes darting toward you.

You sink into your seat as Aegon places his arm on the back of it. “Oh she doesn’t mind, we’ve had our own play dates with our male friends before,” he says and you feel an overcoming heat on your cheeks from both embarrassment and the memory.

A groan comes from the chair from the end of the table as Viserys leans forward, looking toward his second son. “Ah Aemond, how is Alys?” He asks.

The air grows stiff as everyone stills, even Aegon stops in his laughing tracks and stares at his brother. Worry paints his eyes and you're sure that he would be ready to assist his brother should he need it. “I wouldn’t know,” Aemond states, his face an absent canvas of burdening pain.

Viserys only looks disappointed, seemingly not noticing the breath that the rest of the table holds. “Well that’s unfortunate, she was quite lovely,” he remarks.

At that, Aegon pushes away from the table and stands before reaching down to grab your hand. “Excuse us,” he says, his voice uncharacteristically choleric.

Alicent’s eyebrows furrow as Aegon pulls you out of your seat. “Where are you going?” She asks, concern lining her voice.

Aegon only brushes that concern away and starts to leave, bringing you with him. “Somewhere where I don’t want to pull my brains out of my ears. Come on,” he whispers to you.

“It was nice seeing you again,” you say to the table before turning toward Helaena. “I’ll talk to you later, Hel.”

Aegon pulls you out of the room and down the hall toward the stairs. His jaw is set tightly, anger toward his father plain in every muscle of his body as you two go up the stairs.

He pulls open the door into your room and pushes you up against the door once it is closed. “You are one of the rudest men that I know,” you joke.

A grin comes onto his face but his fury is still evident. “Must not know many men then,” he remarks.

“Aegon—”

He cuts you off by mashing his lips with your own, stopping your words as he releases all of his anger that he possibly can into one kiss. Your arms go around his neck and pull him closer and you two only part if it is entirely necessary.

Pulling you toward the bed, you pull away from his lips with heavy hesitance. “It’s not midnight yet,” you tell him.

He only shrugs and pushes you down on the bed before glancing at the clock on the bedside table. “It’s seven, close enough,” he remarks before grabbing your jaw in his hand and kissing you hard.

Sunfyre has made his home in your lap despite being too big to fit. Not that he cares. The golden only tries to snuggle in further whenever you try to push him off of your lap and you know exactly who he learned that from.

The sound of the shower is starting to lull you into a daze and a yawn falls out of your lips, a sudden tiredness starting to cling to your bones. You settle against the pillows and close your eyes, water hitting porcelain, the weight on your lap along with the slight nip in the air combined with the heat the Sunfyre is giving you; a light sleep comes to you easily.

It’s the sound of the door to the bathroom hitting the wall that makes you jolt awake and Sunfyre finally gets off of your lap. You look toward the direction of the noise and see Aegon staring at you sheepishly.

You shake your head at him and then let your eyes drift down toward the wet landscape of his torso. Droplets of water cling to his pale skin and drip down every now and then, making your eyes follow them. They fall over his shoulders and down between his chest and over his stomach, traveling over the slight bulge and finally being taken by the towel wrapped around his waist, something that you’re surprised that he’s even wearing.

Aegon looks at you, amused. “Do you have no shame?” He asks, striding toward the bed with a smirk on his face. His hand plays with the towel around his waist, looking ready to drop it at any second; no matter if you tell him to or not.

You roll your eyes at him. “Do you?” You ask, leaning up on your elbows, jostling Sunfyre who only grumbles unhappily before settling down again.

He places his hand on his heart, looking at you with mock offense. “Of course I do, I’m a proper gentleman after all,” he says, kneeling on the bed, moving closer to you with every beat of your heart.

A small snort comes from you and your arms wrap around his neck when he props himself above you slightly. “Yeah and I’m queen of the seven kingdoms.” He hums softly as his lips meet yours,digging into you with everything that he has. Grasping onto your sides and pushing a grumpy Sunfyre out of your lap so that he could take the dog's place. You pull away, hand massaging the back of his neck and the back of his scalp. “How bad do you think this is going to be?” You ask.

He raises an eyebrow. “On a scale of one to ten?” He laughs and kisses you once more before sliding off of the bed. “Twenty six.”

You flop back down on the pillows, letting out a long sigh. “That’s not reassuring,” you whine before turning your head to watch as Aegon changes. The clothes he takes out are fairly simple, he doesn’t truly care to dress up for his family much. Only for galas or certain restaurants does he care to dress up to the nines, always tempting you throughout the night.

As you watch him, your fingers start to intertwine and trepidation builds up in your very core. Nervous for the dinner and the looks that Otto has given you for the past month that you two had been at the vacation house. All of them were slimy and cruelly calculating. It was only a matter of time until he mentioned what happened. He had last year and you both had left early, that was the second year you two couldn’t make it through an entire month alone with Aegon’s family.

“Do you think he’ll bring it up again?” You ask Aegon.

Aegon huffs and you watch as red starts to color his pale cheeks, his fists clenching around a freshly pressed shirt, no doubt wrinkling it. “I hope not.” He shakes his head and scoffs. “He better not or I’ll bash his already flat face in.”

Pushing off of the bed, you walk toward him before wrapping your arms around his thick waist. You press a kiss against his shoulder blade and he looks over at you. “My hero,” you whisper, smiling into his skin.

The dinner goes as it always does, separate chatter among chosen groups with very little intermingling. Jace talks to you every now and then or even Baela who had only shown up with Rheana two nights ago. Helaena makes an effort to speak to you as well and a few sentences are exchanged between you and Aemond but not enough to win you that bet.

You don’t converse with Rhaenrya or Daemon, not even to Alicent who wasn’t speaking with anyone. Otto was even talking, seldom only to Helaena and Viserys but that still weighed something. Her shoulders were sagged, the pressure of cooking, cleaning and managing getting to her more over the last week now that the rush of conforming to a new schedule and making sure that everyone was settled was over. She had even taken your request for help when she was cooking dinner, truly showing that she was starting to get into the stressed stages of the trip.

It's a few minutes later when you all start dessert that Viserys clinks his spoon against his glass and stands. Daemon and Otto sit up in alert, ready to catch the older man should he fall away from his wobbly legs.

With a groan of pain, Viserys raises up his glass, ready to do a toast that always marks the first month of the trip.

Alicent stares at Aegon, waiting for something to happen as you both rarely ever stay this long. Normally, you two would have left last week, over all of the bullshit that circles around the family. The bullshit that Aegon says had started his whole drinking problem.

Viserys clears his throat and a weak smile forms on his lips. “It brings me unattainable comfort to see you all here for these two months. All together again as friends, family, cousins, uncles, fathers and mothers. It’s a sight that I do not get to see often,” he says and you smile warily.

A quick glance around the table shows that everyone is doing much the same.

And Alicent is still staring at Aegon.

Viserys seems to not notice it and his smile only grows bigger, warmer even. No matter if the words that he says are nothing but spit in everyone else's food. “To my family, it is always a joy and pleasure to be around you all.”

He goes to take a sip from his drink and the rest of you go to follow but a whisper makes it to your ears.

“That’s bullshit,” the whisper snaps.

The table goes silent, all of you stopping in your very tracks.

Alicent glares at her son. “Aegon,” she whispers harshly at him but Aegon isn’t looking at her.

His eyes remained focused on his father, narrowed and of poisoned hate that you almost wonder if Aegon had ever even loved his father. If he had at any point in time, it doesn’t show.

Stopping his action, Viserys looks at his eldest son. The son that he had killed his first wife for, only to have one with another woman. The son he sought for but never ever truly wanted when it came to competition with his eldest daughter. “What did you say?” He asks, his voice a cold that you had never heard come from him. It didn’t match him; his face, his body, his very demeanor but it sent chills down your back anyways.

Slowly, Aegon stands up and blue meets blue in a harsh battle of dominance and emotions padded with soft fluff that's finally deteriorated and grown into a poisonous black mold. “I said that’s bullshit. Family,” he scoffs and then shakes his head, “we don’t even know what that word means.”

You reach up and grab his hand, those harsh eyes meet yours and watch blankly as you shake your own head. Not here, you hope he can see. Not here, not now. Not like this.

He doesn’t seem to understand your meaning and faces his father again.

“Aegon, sit down,” Alicent says harshly, backing down when Aegon settles a glare on her.

A dark look painted his features as he shook his head, the jerking motion making you grip tighter on his hand. “No, you might all pretend that this is nothing more than a slight inconvenience but we all know the truth: this is the worst two months of our lives every year.” A cruel laugh passes his lips and he runs a hand through his hair. “Why do you think Daeron never shows up? If you remember him.”

Viserys looks at Aegon, offended. “Of course I do,” he defends quickly, unconvincingly.

“You liar!” Aego shouts and Viserys flinches. “You know you can have all of the speeches you want but we all know who they’re really for. You’re perfect Rhaenyra.” You glance at the woman, she only looks at the table and Daemon looks at Aegon murderously. “Rhaenyra who has never done anything wrong in her life. The perfect heir, the perfect child. The perfect whore.”

Daemon jerks out of his seat and Jace follows him with a large crashing sound from his fists hitting the table. “That’s enough,” Jace warns.

Aegon is still only looking at his father. “Come on, those are no Velaryons but they look quite similar to her old bodyguard. What was his name again sister?” He asks, turning toward Rhaenyra. “Harwin? I think that’s it.”

The next to stand is Alicent, fire in her eyes as she leans across the table to look at her son. “Aegon, you have said quite enough. Make your peace and be done with it,” she snaps at him.

Aegon only nods but it is not submissive, he is far from done. “Yes mother, I have made my peace with Rhaenyra but can you say the same?” He asks her and Alicent doesn’t respond but doesn’t sit down either. Aegon ignores that and looks back at his father. “My perfect wife and my perfect kids, that was what you would say to your clients during galas but it isn’t true is it?”

He points as he talks, starting with his second brother. “Aemond fucked a woman twenty years older than him and got her knocked up. Helaena is so high all of the time that she can barely walk in a straight line. Daeron is never here, he would rather be anywhere but here!” He shouts.

It is now that he looks at his mother again, a cruel smirk on his face. “Mother—oh mother,” he leans closer to his mother and it is then that you can see just how much they look alike, “you still crave that realm's delight don’t you?”

Viserys bangs his fists on the table. “Sit down Aegon or I swear—

“Swear what?” Aegon snaps. “I always knew I was going to get disowned at some point, so that doesn’t scare me. Perhaps you’ll swear that you’ll make sure my girlfriend has a miscarriage again. Well you and Otto.”

The table goes quiet and tears start to prick at your eyes, phantom pain caused by the tea that Viserys had handed to you that day causing you to taste bile on your tongue.

The pain comes back tenfold, as does the feeling of blood running down your legs and the screams that tore your throat open as you laid there on the bathroom floor in Rhaenyra’s arms, sobbing profusely as Alicent went out searching for her son.

The ride to the hospital is fresh and clear in your mind. The fact that you could have died is a whisper in your brain, fresh and still cutting jagged lines into you. The doctor had only meant to soothe you but all you had wanted was to join your child in a similar fashion.

A similar fate.

The hangover from when you were released from the hospital and went straight toward the bottle is still loud and clear to you. The jackhammer against your skull when you woke up on the couch, curled into Aegon and wanting nothing more than to go home still throbs whenever you look at a bottle of whiskey.

The funeral had been fast, you didn’t want to be there longer than you had to be. The small, dead baby lying in the even smaller casket had you throwing up.

Little Aenar Targaryen, a little boy who had never had the chance to take a single breath of air, never got to even meet his parents who loved him like no other.

Little Aenar Targaryen who never got his little stuffed dragon that his grandmother had made for him—the stuffed dragon that you threw away in a sobbing rage a few months after the funeral—or the room in his new home that you and Aegon had made so meticulously with the help from Helaena, Aemond, Daeron, Alicent and Rhaenyra. Who had never got to see the handmade butterflies Helaena had made him or lie in the crib that took his father and two uncles to build. Never got to see the walls that you, Alicent and Rhaenyra hand painted a wonderful light blue color—the color was no longer there, neither was the crib or the butterflies.

All because of your blood. Your status.

Otto would have rather seen you and his great grandchild dead than alive and full of blood not tainted by the blue that he and the rest of his family carried. He hadn’t failed to remind you of such a thing in the years since, only managing to make you and Aegon leave early and not come back until it was necessary.

Though it wasn’t Otto this time. It was Aegon.

In all of his pent up rage and padded room full of wrath that were straightjacketed to the walls, the miscarriage had been the biggest and burliest of them all. More likely to burst out of its confinement and it was only second to Aegon’s childhood, full of neglect and mental abuse that had started his drinking problem at the ripe age of twelve.

A small sniffle and a squeeze of your hand made Aegon look at you and all of the rage went away in a flash. Regret replacing it. “Aegon, stop,” you whispered to him, your voice raspy with the straining effort not to cry. “Please.”

He nods and faces the rest of his family. “Goodnight family, it was a true joy and pleasure to see you again,” he says curtly before storming off, the sound of the dining room doors slamming sounding his departure.

Pity is all that you see when you look around you after Aegon leaves. Alicent is reaching towards you when you stand up. “Excuse me,” you say before leaving the room swiftly.

Aegon is throwing clothes into your suitcases when you get to your room. Every single item is piled on top of each other but you can't bring yourself to care like normal. “We’re leaving,” Aegon says harshly, clearly expecting it to be someone else.

“Yeah I kinda figured that,” you whisper and Aegon whips around.

He quickly gathers you in his arms, squeezing you against his body, like he's trying to protect you from his own words. His hand is a soothing and clutching presence as it grips your hair, fingers scratching in the same rhythm as your tears. “I’m sorry. I just—I couldn’t do it anymore,” he whispers to you before placing a kiss on the top of your head.

You pull back and smile slightly when Aegon’s thumbs start to wipe away your tears. “I know but Aegon, do you know what could happen?”

He shrugs. “I get kicked out of the family Christmas picture, that’s the most that he’ll do. The rest of them…I’d leave now just in case Aemond decides to slash my tires,” he jokes and you chuckle at him.

“That would keep you here,” you quip.

“Of course, perhaps he’ll do it when he passes by Kings Landing on his way back to the Stormlands.”

A laugh bursts out of you. “You’re awful.”

“I know.” He grabs your hand and the suitcase, the rest could be left here, none of it was truly important and Alicent would more than likely send it to you during their second month in this hellscape. “Come on, it’s time to go.”

#aegon targaryen x reader #aegon ii targaryen x reader #aegon ii targaryen

203 notes · View notes

nylwnder · 3 months

Text

lake house

a/n: HELLO SWEETIES!!!!! welcome to my first 2024 fic n series! i started it off with ryan cause if you know me, you know he was everything to me for the 4 months we had him. also, HUGE SHOUTOUT to @shoot-the-puck for in a way co-writing this and the others with me i love you so much scoob thank you for being my asylum roomie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! anyways, enjoy and dont forget to tune in to the other drops <3 mwah!

pairing: ryan o’reilly x fem!reader

warnings: SMUT, its giving soft sex (unprotected), lowkey body worship, lowkey exhibitionism, childhood friends to lovers, use of “snook” and ryan being such husband material. gawdamn.

word count: 1.9k

taglist: @11livpangburn , @domi-max , @boqvistsbabe , @sweetiet , @p1tstop , @occasionallyaurora , @laurenairay, @fallinallincurls

series masterpost

the drive to the lake house was as calming as ever. although it was a couple hours, it was a trip you knew all too well. one you were dying to take every june the minute the last bell rang for summer break.

sometimes it was just you, your parents and your brother. most times, it was you and the o’reilly family. a lot of kids shared between two vans, snacking on chips and freezies from the coolers at the back of the cars.

the tradition never stopped when the lot grew older. you escaped to the house every time your winter term ended, then after your internship finished, and then when you could use up all your saved vacation time from your new job. ryan always followed when his nhl duties came to an end. both respective families coming in to stay in between.

that being said, this was the first time you drove to the lake house with ryan in the driver's seat and with you in the passenger's seat. it was the first summer since he came back home to toronto. but more so, to you. officially.

he was sick of waiting until your usual shared break, and you were very much sick of coming home to a cold bed.

before any headline could find you, ryan called you that night. and it was as if the 100 ton weight was being lifted off of your desperate shoulders. because it was. after ten years of long and needy facetimes, one-night lustful visits, and the best stanley cup celebration you two could possibly have imagined, you were going to have him, at your full disposal, “whenever you fucking want” as ryan had told you.

ryan put the car in park and you couldn’t help but smile about the fact that this would be the first time you’d be stepping into that house, as a proud pair. the “finally” ’s already shed by your parents who were following in behind the two of you.

—

the first night was spent with take out, laughs, pjs and movies and it always makes you grateful for growing up with a group with such a tight knit bond. your heart was full when you heard inside jokes from circa. 2006 running through the house — which are still ever so applicable, presently.

the next day, you didn’t wake until you heard the cars drive off in the late afternoon. it had been a while since you had the time to sleep in, so it seemed your body pranced at the chance. after heading to the bathroom, you couldn’t find ryan in the rooms or common areas. he always made sure you get as much sleep as you need, not only because he knows how grumpy you get if you don’t, but also because he always wants the best for you.

as you made your way to the kitchen, you looked out the windows casing the large lake. you saw the large figure of the man sitting at the edge of the dock and didn’t do anything else but make the walk over to him.

you sat beside him as he turned to face you with a toothless smile. you smiled at it, you always told him he looked cute like that, and he started listening to you. “sleep good, sweetheart?” he asks as he looks down to cut the leaf caps off the pack of strawberries between his legs. “wonderful” you emphasised before you reached for the strawberry he handed you. “i’m glad. you deserve it.”

you took a bite out of the soft strawberry, the juices from the flesh spilling into your mouth. you couldn’t help but let out a little innocent moan. the first time you tried these, they were immediately the best strawberries you have ever had in your entire life. and they just so happen to be locally farmed near the lakehouse.

ryan giggled, “had to stop by the market and buy you a few packs during my run. wouldn’t be a lake house summer without these guys right here.”

“this is why i love you. thank you.”

he only responded by handing you the bigger piece between the two in his hand. you put your head on his shoulder as you two looked out in front of you. the sun was bright but not exhausting, as the wind from the water dismissed the heat.

“the folks went to gather some things for this week's meal plan.”

you hummed a response. but it got you thinking. and so you didn't waste time.

you turned yourself around in order to lay your upper body on ryan’s lap. he placed the knife and strawberries safely aside as he smiled. you gave him a small smile before shutting your eyes for a bit.

you reached for ryan’s hands from his sides. you played with his big and thick fingers for a bit, before taking his hand and placing it on top of your shirt. then you moved his hand under the hem. as you began to move it further up, the material of your shirt wrinkled with your movements and began to expose your skin.

ryan kept his hand in your grip and his eyes firm on you. you kept moving it up, reaching the curves of your boobs. “take it off” you mumbled as he obliged. taking off the tshirt and throwing it on top of the other items he had set aside.

you didn't reach for his hands again. he knows what to do. he always knows, ever since your first kiss.

the sun shined on your supple flesh. his calloused hands moved back to your curves. pushing down your pants a tad, in order to squeeze your love handles. later, his fingers lightly trace up the soft line marks found upon your hips, and the ones on the sides of your breasts.

your cheeks begin to mimic the berry blush as you open your eyes to look at ryan. you loved how comfortable you are to be vulnerable around him. you always felt adored, and safe.

he pulled you up swiftly, allowing your legs to straddle him. your arms naturally wrap around his broad shoulders. you look into his gentle eyes, “i love you, snook.” you lean in for a tender kiss but his hands push your body tight into his. “i love you more, sweetness.” his lips finally meet yours and he envelopes you perfectly. “always have. always will.” he whispers.

his lips meet your cheek as he leaves wet kisses on your jaw and neck. you let soft moans escape your parted lips, your body melting into his figure. ryan often joked that his body was made for you specifically, with the way you fit against him so perfectly.

“gorgeous.” he whispers into your ear as his beard scrapes against you. you bite your lip at his words. one he's been telling you since you grew butterflies in your stomach every time you saw him. “want you snook” you plead, your pussy twitching as his hands squeeze your bust. you grind down on him, and he huffs outs. “just had you yesterday morning, honey.”

“dont play with me, ry. you know i always need you.”

he hums in response. “thats true. i can never say no to my girl.”

he lifts you once again, getting to lay you down on the thin throw ryan had brought out with him. your eyes close again as the sun hits your face, but you feel kisses pressed all over your skin. ryan’s lips trace from your lips to your cheeks down along your jaw, and onto your neck once more. he sheds a few soft nips while he makes sure your panties and shorts are discarded.

its not long before he nips on your nipples, noises escaping your exposed body. your fingers pull down his own shorts and you feel his cock against your skin.

two digits slip smoothly into your damp cunt as ryan cups your face. you bite up a cry. but before you know it, he’s lined up at your entrance and you're pleading for him to move.

you let out a lewd moan as he pushes in. ryan followed with a low groan and you clenched around him immediately, “that’s my sweet girl. so divine.” he says as he gives kisses on the edges of your collarbone.

his thrusts are a blend of slow, long and quick, hard movements. his hands held your hips as he didn't let his lips leave your body. his hair tickles your chin as he gives your breasts some love once again. you felt yourself reaching the goal closer and closer. the all too familiar feeling of your wet walls stretching around ryan’s thick length driving him crazy.

your effect on him was always so strong. right from when you both were young. the minute you got hurt, it broke ryan to see you cry. it was his dire mission to help clean you up or provide you with the necessary pick me up. oftentimes that was bringing you your favourite snack or sometimes a kiss on your cheek was all you needed. when you laughed, ryan laughed. and even when it seemed like ryan and your brother were picking on you, he always made sure to give you a hug later on. he would never hurt you. and he'd never let anyone hurt you. that was for sure.

you were pleased that there were laughs, screams and talk from the surrounding residents that can help drown out your shared sounds. at the same time you couldn't possibly care if they heard either. your mind was far too fuzzy.

“make me cum snook. make me cum all over your cock” you were desperate and needy, i think that was already established. ry smiled at your words, pulling your body up into him once again.

your arms were so tight around him, you stuck to his body like gum on a shoe. he pumped into you as you also began riding his length. the way your body swayed with your hips helped bring ryan even closer to his climax.

your head fell back as you felt the wave of pleasure overcome you. ryan continued your movements for you until your whines dyed down. once you both finished you kept yourself on his lap “don't move, ry. still need you there.” you mumbled.

“till they come back?”

“please.”

a smile appeared on both of your faces. droplets of sweat trickled down his chest and you crushed them with your finger as your head laid on his shoulder. his hands rubbed the sides of your body as his face was cuddled on top of your head. his nose tucked into your thick hair. your smell, your weight, your breathing and your warmth calmed him. his mind never wandered off. he was the most present, the most grounded with you, like this.

“why is it that every time we have sex you’re so quiet?” you asked ryan as you looked up at him. it was a thought you had often so you figured you’d ask. “sometimes you used to make me feel as if i did something wrong…” you said with a little titter.

he scoffed, “no honey, you could never.” you smiled. “you just take the breath out of my lungs”

you both start laughing. “you’re a pro hockey player and i’m the one who can kill you? i’ll take it.”

ryan lets out a chuckle again. “all i know is words cannot express how i feel when i’m with you, but i want to experience it till my dying days.”

your heart warmed. you grab his face and eagerly kiss him. “and so you will.”

[ enjoyed reading? join my taglist! : click here <3 ]

100 notes · View notes

i-cant-sing · 11 months

Text

Just thinking about domestic vibes for different fandoms/AUs. So, let's begin with Todoroki Clan:

I'm thinking about yandere parents Enji and Rei, and their teen reader (who they definitely kidnapped as a baby). It's summer break, which means Rei won't have the urge to burn down your school so that you stay at home. No, now she has you all to herself! And despite Rei being Suffocating and smothering, reader does love her mom. Rei is just so soft and kind and sweet, it doesn't sit right with reader to break her heart by saying "no, mom. I just wanna be alone than watch you cook." At least Rei let's you be her little helper, taste the frosting for her, will you?

And summer also means that Rei gets to take you for shopping without you bringing up excuses like "sorry mom, I can't go. I need to study for a test." Now she gets to drag you along to as many shops as she wants, you can literally beg her to stop because you're tired but she'll just give you some homemade onigiris and off you go and change into the clothes she chose for you. Luckily for you, there aren't many luxury shops near you, and they take a lot of time to make Rei's custom orders because your mom never buys off the rack. (Yes girl, you dressed in Chanel and Louis Vuitton because daddy Enji's credit cards buy everything)

Summer vacations means time off from school to reward yourself for all of your hardwork. That's why Rei is making you take daily afternoon naps with her. And you can't say no, mostly because Rei has been mixing melatonin in your food so you tire out easy.

Enji won't lie, but he definitely enjoys your time off from school as well. He gets to see you more often, especially after exam season is over. He gets to take you out on a lot of daddy-daughter dates, which you absolutely enjoy because you get to eat a lot of food without your mom reminding you that she can make so-and-so dish at home and better than Michelin starred chef.

But now that you have holidays, instead of Enji just going around the world on missions and bringing you souvenirs, you now get to go with him and Rei to anywhere you want! Rei is happy because she gets to dress you up in more clothes and do your hair and APPLY SUNSCREEN ON YOU (DO NOT TAKE THIS AWAY FROM HER). Loads and loads of pictures are taken and memories are made, and it's good that Enji's there to hold Rei back from doing normal teenager stuff that she deemed "too dangerous" for you.

Also, Enji and Rei feeding reader together, no matter how old you are. Rei makes the food and serves it to you, Enji keeps on picking out all the good stuff from his plate (sausages, sashimi, eggs, etc) and using his chopsticks to feed it to you🥺🥺🥺

Or or when Rei is doing your hair and you're doing dad Enji's hair, maybe you're just applying a hair mask and massaging it in because Enji works so hard for all of you🥺🥺 of course, he returns the favour by painting your nails (he has gotten better over the years with practice, but it's still funny to see how small the nail polish brush looks in his gigantic hands.

Also thinking about Dad Enji and reader waking up early to make breakfast in bed for Rei for mothers day and Enji's soul leaving his body when a little bit of oil splatters on your hand. And no matter how much you convince hum that you're fine, Enji thinks you're not and now he has you sitting in the corner far away from the stove while he finishes off cooking. And when you two go and surprise Rei, she is so touched and is almost moved to tears until her eyes land on the smallest splatter on your hand (its a surprise she was even able to see it) and now you're wrestled into bed next to her as she ices your hand while scolding Enji for risking your life because "You're the adult Enji. You should know better!" And poor dad Enji is just nodding along🥺🥺🥺🥺

#yandere bnha #bnha headcanons #yandere mha #bnha imagines #yandere endeavor #yandere rei todoroki #yandere rei #yandere enji todoroki #yandere enji

381 notes · View notes

ckret2 · 10 months

Text

The latest installment of "literally nobody is happy about Bill being the Mystery Shack's prisoner," chapter 8: Bill attempts to manipulate the humans with the only weapon he still has at his disposal: grossing them out. Also featuring: dramatic arguments with Ford, a surprise bath, and me trying my level best to convince you all that hair is the most disgusting substance in the universe, let me know how I do at that. Chapters one, two, three, four, five, six, and seven if you missed them.

A few days into summer vacation, just before dawn, Dipper and Mabel were woken by a series of thunderous crashes and pained screams, followed by Bill's piercing, maniacal laughter. They were armed and out the bedroom door in seconds.

Mabel said, "Who did he kill?!"

"I think he blew up a wall to escape—"

They skidded to a stop at the top of the attic stairs. Bill had tumbled halfway down, crashed into the wall where the stairs made a ninety degree turn, and was now sprawled upside-down on the steps, giggling.

Dipper lowered his weapon. "What."

"I ff—" Bill was interrupted by a wheeze of laughter. "I forgot how stairs work."

He spotted the kids—Dipper holding a metal claw hammer, Mabel holding a kitchen knife longer than her forearm—and abruptly stopped laughing. "Wow, you kids came ready to commit murder! Just waiting for the first excuse, huh?"

"Shut up." Dipper looked at Mabel. "Wanna go back to bed?"

"I think my blood is all adrenaline now."

Dipper sighed. "Yeah. Let's get breakfast, I guess."

They trudged down the stairs, shoulders pressed to the wall to stay as far from Bill as possible. As they passed Bill, Dipper muttered, "You could at least get out of the way."

Bill—who'd been about to gingerly sit up—lay back down and spread out across the landing. "Think I'd rather mildly inconvenience you!"

Mabel threw in, "And take a shower! You smell like an outhouse."

"That's my human-repellant forcefield."

The twins headed for the kitchen for a snack they could take out of the shack—and were blocked by Stan in the doorway. "Hold on. Don't go in there. You smell that?"

Dipper and Mabel sniffed the air, and grimaced. Mabel stuck out her tongue. Dipper said, "Ugh. We thought that was Bill, but it's worse down here."

"One of two things happened here," Stan said. "Either a squirrel and a raccoon fought to death under the fridge and started rotting; or the space demon cast some kind of stink curse. Personally, I'm hoping for dead wildlife. But until I find out, you two stay out of the kitchen."

There were several more crashes as Bill tumbled down the second half of the stairs, a groan, and a muttered, "What am I getting wrong?"

Stan rounded on Bill. "Hey! Demon. Don't suppose you happen to know why the kitchen smells..." He gestured vaguely, "like that."

Seated on the floor, Bill had been absorbed in prodding his limp left arm; but at the question, he looked up with a worryingly bright smile. "It just so happens I do!"

"Explain."

He twisted his left arm with his right, jammed it back into its proper position with a pop, and straightened himself up. "Funny thing—you know how I can't open doors? Because of the curse your brother put on me? Of course you do. Well—darnedest little quirk of human architecture—I don't know if you noticed, but it just so happens that all of the toilets in this house are behind doors!"

Stan's face blanched. "Oh no."

"At any given time, this body I'm in is freely secreting about half a dozen different bodily fluids—snot, spit, sweat, I could go on—and you humans are perfectly comfortable with that. But you think one bodily fluid is special and can only go in the special white bowl. Me, on the other hand—I'm an energy being that doesn't leak all day! Your fluids are all equal to me! I don't care about your special white bowls!"

Hotly, Stan said, "You're in my house—"

Immediately twice as angry and twice as loud as Stan, Bill said, "So if you think I'm going to lower myself to asking three times a day for permission to use a STUPID TOILET for YOUR COMFORT—"

And that was when they started screaming.

Dipper looked at Mabel. "Let's eat out."

Mabel nodded. "You know that burger place where Wendy gets breakfast—?"

"If we hurry, we can probably meet her there."

By the time they'd changed and come back downstairs, Ford had joined in the argument, Abuelita had set up a folding chair to watch it like a wrestling match, and the volume had doubled. (Bill: "BE GRATEFUL I USED THE SINK INSTEAD OF YOUR CEREAL BOXES! NEXT TIME I WON'T BE SO MERCIFUL!" Stan: "I'M GONNA INSTALL A DOOR KNOB ON THE KITCHEN FAUCET AND THEN YOU'LL NEED MY PERMISSION TO DRINK, YOU LITTLE—") Dipper and Mabel squeezed around the crowd, slid out the door, and biked into town.

They decided they'd just stay out the rest of the day.

They'd been doing that a lot lately.

####

When they made it home that evening, the first person they ran into was Soos, relocating a detached door. "Oh, hey dudes! Okay so, update on the Bill situation." Soos leaned the door against the wall. "We removed the door on the downstairs half bath and nailed up a curtain instead, so, now it's curse-accessible, but Bill can't lock himself in and do—" he wiggled his fingers, "secret Bill things. So. If you wanna use a bathroom with a real door, you've gotta go upstairs now."

Mabel considered that. "The bathroom with the tub still has a real door, right?"

"Yeah dudes, it's fine!"

Dipper said, "So... do we have a way to get him to shower...?"

Mabel said, "Yeah, whatever Bill's been doing in the kitchen sink—"

(Soos said, "And the trash can, it turns out.")

"—it hasn't included sponge baths, and it's getting obvious."

"And I'm not really comforted by his 'human-repellant forcefield' comment," Dipper added.

Mabel nodded. "I'd kinda like Bill to clean up before he gets as bad as Dipper last July."

"Hey."

Soos pointed toward the attic. "Ford's working on that right now." He whispered, "He's got a theory that Bill's just just too proud to ask for permission to use the facilities? So maybe if we ask him to take a shower, he'll go, 'oh, okay, I'm doing you guys a favor,' and then he'll agree to be let in and out of the bathroom."

Dipper grimaced. "I don't like the idea of begging him to shower."

"Uh... I'm fine with it." Soos shrugged. "Better smug than smelly."

####

"All right, Cipher."

Every time Ford came upstairs, Bill was curled up in the window seat, one side pressed against the glass. If it weren't for the crumpled jerky and granola bags and the empty energy drinks scattered beneath Bill's window seat—or the occasional downstairs argument—Ford would have suspected Bill hasn't budged in days. It made him nervous. There was an ice pack on Bill's left shoulder that had sat there so long it was completely melted.

"You got the bathroom you wanted. Now, would you take a shower?" Ford mustered up all his willpower as he prepared to mortify himself, and added, "Please."

It was important to note that Ford had spent his youth as the golden child; Stan had been disowned before his desire to please his parents had a chance to wilt and die; and Ford had barely seen Shermie's teen years. He'd spent his own adolescence isolated from his peers, and hadn't gotten to know any youths except Dipper and Mabel since then.

All of which was to say, the look Bill Cipher gave Ford, shocking in its ferocity, was utterly alien to him; but would have been familiar to millions of humans around the world.

It was the same look received by authoritarian parents whose tyranny had squeezed a little too tight, and whose offspring had realized they were grounded so severely they no longer had anything left to lose. It was the wrath of the defiant teenager.

And then the most pleasant smile snapped on Bill's face, quick as flicking a light switch. "What's in it for me?"

Ford blinked in disbelief. What needed to be in it for Bill? It was a shower. "Being... clean?"

"Eh."

Ford's shoulders sagged. "At least use deodorant?" he pled. "Change clothes? Brush your hair? Something?"

"No, no, absolutely not, aaand no. What's the matter, Stanford? I've been staying out of your way! You don't even see me up here. The stench can't be getting to you that much, so what do you care what I do to this body?" Bill's grin widened. "Guilt starting to set in? Must be hard to pretend you're a hospitable host rather than a kidnapper when your 'guest' is living in squalor—"

"Enough," Ford snapped. "So this is what, your way of protesting your own captivity? You have to realize how stupid this is."

"Buuut it's wooork-iiing," Bill said, a singsong lilt to his voice. "It's getting on your neee-eeerves."

"You're going to cause yourself problems in the long run! Diseases, infections—don't tell me I have to explain germ theory to you, you're smarter than that."

Bill scoffed. "I'm flattered you're so concerned about my health, but you can relax. I've been washing my hands and brushing my teeth like a good little potential disease vector. But you humans are so safe inside your modern fortresses with minimal carnivorous bugs and flesh-eating fungi—most of your hygiene expectations are cosmetic! I'm more willing to put up with itchy dandruff than you are to put up with the smell."

"Are you listening to yourself? This is—" Ford paused. "You've been brushing your teeth? Where did you get a toothbrush?"

"I've been using the dish brush and liquid dish soap in the kitchen." Bill laughed. "Wow, look at you—lecturing your prisoner on poor hygiene when you didn't give him any way to clean up! That's not a good look, pal."

Ford made a mental note to find a spare toothbrush for Bill. He flung his hands out in exasperation. "But—why put up with itchy dandruff at all? Why refuse to shower, of all things? And don't say to be annoying—you're cutting off your nose to spite your face!"

"Because cutting off my nose is the only bargaining chip I've got, and you know it."

Seeing expressions on Bill's face—smiles and scowls and smirks and sneers, mouth and tongue and cheeks and eyebrows—still felt wrong. No matter what expression Bill put on, it always felt to Ford like he was using his face to tell some sort of lie. But his eyes—Ford was familiar with Bill's eye, and doubling them didn't banish that familiarity. He knew this heavy, hard, emotionless look. It was the same look he'd seen just before Bill had shown him, through his own eye, the sight of his home dimension burning. Of all the looks he'd seen in Bill's eye—curved crescent with sadistic glee, literally red with fury—something about this heavy look chilled Ford the most. It was, somehow, the cruelest he'd ever seen Bill.

Bill got to his feet, wincing as he uncurled his hunched back. He stretched, spine cracking, as he sauntered lazily toward Ford. "Can I speak frankly with you, Sixer? I can't do a lot of tricks in this body. Heck, I'd try to tell you I don't have any tricks right now—but I'm sure you'd just say I'm lying to get your guard down, blah blah; so let's agree that, at least, I don't have the power to escape or kill you all, or I would have by now! This body—" he gestured grandly down at himself, "—as far as I'm concerned, is a dirty sticker stuck on the bottom of my shoe. It's trash. It's disposable. It's worth less than nothing to me. But it's all I've got at my disposal. So I'm going to be disgusting, until you start doing me favors to make me stop."

"Favors," Ford said. "And if we don't?"

Bill shrugged, hands raised. "Then I guess I'll keep being gross! But I cannot overemphasize just how little I care about your species's ideas about minimum hygiene standards, or how far I'm willing to go to irritate you all. This morning's hazmat crisis in the kitchen was just a warning shot. You will cave first."

As unnerving as that heavy look in Bill's eyes was, simply seeing it wasn't what rattled Ford. It was knowing that Bill could wear that cruel look while talking about committing quiet, passive violence on himself.

Bill stared Ford down for a moment; then apparently took Ford's silence for a small victory. "I want a drink strong enough to rot a bootlegger's guts, a hot meal that hasn't been cooked by Grandma Guilia Tofana down there, or—" Bill pointed toward the attic window that his curse prevented him from opening, "a breeze and some fresh air. I'm flexible. Let me know when you're ready to negotiate." He returned to his seat in the window. "I won't be far."

Giving Bill "a breeze" would obviously give him an escape route, and Bill was no doubt angling to accumulate tiny, "harmless" favors until he tricked the humans into doing something that would let him escape; but... Ford eyed the empty junk food bags on the floor. He tried to remember whether he'd seen Bill eat anything except for unrefrigerated factory-sealed snacks he could forage from the open kitchen shelves—or if the last fresh food Bill had tasted had been Abuelita's cyanide cooking.

Bill wanted Ford to pity him. That was what this whole charade was about. Ford hated that it was working. Not because of Bill's performative filthiness—but because Ford knew, too well, what it was like to be trapped, powerless, and hungry in an alien dimension; and because even when Bill was all but confessing he was trying to exploit Ford's pity, he was still trying so hard to pretend he wasn't afraid.

"I'll let you know what Stanley says."

Bill didn't turn away quite fast enough to hide his smile of triumph. "I'll be waiting." He settled back down into the same position he'd held for half a day and stared out at the night sky.

####

After several days in this body, Bill could definitively conclude that sleep was the worst part of being human.

Repeatedly blacking out and coming to, only to realize he couldn't remember anything for the past several hours. Usually he didn't even remember dreaming, even though he knew he must have dreamt for at least a couple hours. He hated not knowing what had been happening around his physical body for all that time, and he hated not knowing what he'd been doing in his dreams. Anything could have happened to him during those missing hours in the mindscape.

The few dreams he remembered were little comfort. Nightmares about dying, about faces and places he was galled to find out had been lodged in this human brain's subconscious—but the subject matter wasn't the important part. What mattered was that, while he was dreaming, he didn't know he was dreaming.

He didn't know how that was possible. He couldn't remember how the dreams started, what trick they must have pulled to persuade him that this was reality even though he couldn't remember what had happened five minutes earlier, or how they hypnotized him into unquestioningly playing along with their bizarre impossible Wonderland plot lines. Waking up was more terrifying than his nightmares, as he reoriented himself to reality and he had to grapple with how helplessly delusional he'd just been—and the knowledge that it would happen again, and again, and again.

Bill knew how human minds worked. He knew how humans dreamed. He'd been swimming through their dreams for millennia. This was normal for humans, and the knowledge that it was normal was the only thing keeping him from going mad with terror.

But the fact that it was normal for humans didn't mean it was normal for him. Because he was not human, and he hated blacking out for hours at a time, and he hated being so foggy-minded and vulnerable in the mindscape.

Most of his diet of the past few days consisted of energy drinks. His throat constantly blazed with heartburn. He needed a better solution—and maybe he could think of one once he got a decent meal or a drink that could help him sleep without dreaming.

He was hungry, he was tired, and he was weak.

####

But in spite of the caffeine, at some point Bill must have fallen asleep—because he woke up.

For once, he didn't wake from the searing heat of psychic fires.

He woke from the deadly chill of ice cold bath water.

"HELP!" Bill flailed, bashed both elbows and a heel against porcelain, and went under. He came up spluttering. "Mayday! Charybdis! Carpathia!"

The bathroom door slammed shut. From the other side, Stan shouted, "We considered your terms, and uh—we decided we're rejecting your demands, you get nothing, aaand you've gotta bathe."

Bill heaved himself out of the tub, flopped on the floor, and lay there wetly. Like a fish out of water, if the fish had given up the will to live. "Texq exmmbkba?"

"We dropped you in the tub," Ford said. "And we're going to do that every time your stench becomes intolerable, unless you bathe voluntarily. Is that clear?"

("What the heck language is he speaking now?" "Not a language. Caesar cipher." "You're tellin' me Cipher was Caesar, too?")

Bill coughed out a mouthful of water. "I'll drown myself."

"No you won't."

"I'd enjoy it. It'll be fun."

Ford hesitated. "Knowing you, you probably would. But you could only do it once."

"I'll slaughter you both."

Stan laughed. "Sure, if you ever reach us!" He jiggled the doorknob tauntingly.

Bill dragged himself across the floor and pounded on the door. He hollered, "I'll make meat linguine out of your skins with an orange peeler! I'll cook it in bone broth made by boiling your teeth!"

There was an awkward pause. Stan said, "I don't have teeth."

"You two are a loser who was only ever likable when you were pretending to be your brother and a puffed-up self-pitying nerd who never learned that no one's impressed by a child prodigy after age twenty-two! The biggest impact you'll ever have on each other is derailing each other's life dreams, and all your friends are worse off for knowing you! Your father died ashamed of you both and if he knew the truth about your lives he'd have been even more ashamed! Sherman has no positive memories of you, your obituaries will spell both your names wrong, and I'm going to feed your souls to an ouroboros that will repeatedly digest and defecate you for ten thousand years!"

After a couple more minutes of threats and insults, when Bill had to slow down to catch his breath, Ford calmly said, "Have you got that out of your system?"

A pause. "Think I'm good now." Bill slumped back to the floor, his cheek pressed to the cool, damp floorboards. "Okay. You win. Name your terms."

"You're not coming out of there until you've bathed," Ford said. "We'll let you out when you tell us you're clean. If you're not clean, we close the door again. If you want to sit there and sulk, then we'll leave, and once you're clean you'll have to wait until somebody feels like checking on you. Is that clear."

"Clear as crystal."

"Good. On the cabinet by the tub, you'll find a towel, washcloth, brush, comb, bar of soap, and shampoo. Are you familiar with how to use all of them."

"Sure! Course I am." Bill picked up the bar of soap, dipped it in the water, and experimentally rubbed it on his forearm. He pursed his lips dubiously at the results of this experiment. In a flash of brilliant inspiration, he peeled the cardboard box off of the soap bar. "How hard can it be?"

"Fine. There's a clean change of clothes next to the supplies. If you can get this over with in a timely manner, without wrecking the bathroom or wasting all the toiletries, we can talk about letting you choose a shampoo brand for next time."

Bill considered pointing out that that was a pretty stupid bribe to offer a creature who didn't have the slightest emotional attachment to organic toiletries; but then he remembered one of the cults he was affiliated with in New England made a shampoo line using its traumatized worshippers' tears, and he grudgingly decided he'd like to support them if he could. "You're enjoying this, aren't you."

"No." Ford was enjoying this.

"Gimme an hour. I've never done this start to finish before."

"Fine. We'll be back in sixty minutes."

Bill could hear the creak of the floorboards as the Pines left, and the fading sound of Stan's voice as he quietly asked, "Do you think what he said about Shermie..."

Yeah, Bill hoped that haunted him. He reached for the towel, and then jerked back his hand, startled, at the sight of another person in the bathroom.

"Oh." Bill experimentally waved a hand at the human, confirming that the strange alien staring at him was a mirror. "Hey, there." He stared glumly at the face he was trapped inside.

He'd never seen it before.

He was sure there used to be more mirrors in Ford's shack, but they must have been among the "potential weapons" the Pines had hidden away. Up until now, he'd kept imagining himself as a triangle. Some half-dead shape fraying golden curls around the edges, fused atop the rib cage of a humanoid puppet. Seeing the reality felt wrong, disorienting, like staring at an optical illusion but not being able to pick out how it worked.

He searched for any sign of himself in the face staring back at him. It was like trying to find something reminiscent of Chopin's piano Nocturnes in the shape of a lawnmower: a task so impossible it was unintelligible.

The only thing at all familiar was the color of the hair; not quite as bright as the dazzling electric gold of his true form, but still achingly similar.

Gold formed into lines—gold lines that bent and curled with acrobatic, contortionist flexibility.

"Well, whaddaya know," Bill sighed. "It only took a few dozen eons—but you finally grew up to look like your mother. Ha. Ha ha." The joke left a bitter taste behind his eye. (Eyes.) "Ekoj kcis a fo aedi ruoy siht si, Ltoloxa?"

The Axolotl didn't answer. Bill didn't expect him to.

He tossed the clean shirt over the mirror, discovered the bathroom had a second mirror, and took off the shirt he'd been wearing for almost a week to cover that one, too. He unpeeled the rest of his clothes, trying to avoid looking too close at the human body as he did—it seemed worse now than it had when he'd first gotten this body, with the image of that alien face seared into his memory, knowing he wasn't on this body but dissolved inside it.

Once he'd cleaned this body to the humans' satisfaction and gotten out of here, he could handle future hygiene issues by scrubbing off in the sink in his curtained bathroom downstairs. He'd only have to go through this indignity once.

So just get it over with. And use the time to think up new ways to irritate the humans into doing what he wanted.

####

He tried first bathing in the filled tub, until the cold water had him shivering so hard he couldn't properly coordinate his hands; then drained it and tried showering; and then filled it with warm water and attempted bathing again.

Most of him, he supposed, was clean enough for a human's tastes—any signs of peeling dead skin scrubbed off, no visible dirt, no noticeable smell but the smell of soap—but he doubted the hair would pass muster. It still had asphalt dust in it from almost a week ago, not to mention whatever his scalp had been shedding since then.

But, unfortunately, the hair was the worst part. He could scrub skin with no trouble; but when he was bathing, sunk down to his chin, trying to feel weightless again, the hair floated around him like a grotesque ghost, closing in. When he was showering, it dangled on his face, clinging to his skin, like it was trying to creep under his eyelid and down his throat and choke him. Just knowing it was there made his stomach turn; touching it made his throat burn as energy drink bile tried to escape his stomach.

Maybe if Bill brushed the tangles out first. That would knock out some of the dirt without him having to touch it himself. He sat on the edge of the tub, letting the growing tingling pain in his legs as his circulation was cut off distract him from the feeling of hair sticking to his cheeks and shoulders.

He tried to brush it out with his eyes shut, and his knuckles accidentally dragged across the filaments, wet, clammy, clingy. He yanked the brush free and felt hundreds of hairs jerking against their follicles. He forced himself to try again with his eyes open, holding the brush by the very tip of the handle. The bristles sank into the lumpen tangled mass of dead curling skin, and, as he tugged it down, slowly peeled the soggy strands of flesh apart—

His stomach hurt with the force of his retch. He clapped a hand over his mouth, dropped to his knees, and barely managed to get his dinner on the floor instead of on himself.

Voice a shaky, plaintive whine, he said, "Stop doing that to me." He shut his eyes, pressing his sweaty forehead to the cool rim of the bath tub. (Should he have aimed for the tub? Maybe the toilet? Were the humans going to get on his case for getting sick?) "It doesn't help," he hissed. "If I'm already neauseous, purging a load of bile does not help. It makes—it—worse. Why are humans built like this."

The Pines were tyrants. If he begged to be let out with his hair still grimy, the best he could hope for was mockery. Any pleas for mercy would cost him dearly. He wasn't getting out of here until he'd dealt with the hair.

He pulled the makeshift curtain aside on one of the mirrors. His vision was bleary from soap; the soggy hair draped in a loose, disheveled triangle shape around his head, like a mangled corpse. He shuddered and let the fabric drop.

A knock on the door. "It's been an hour, Cipher."

Ford. Bill rubbed his throat and hoped he didn't sound like he'd just been sick. "Gimme another hour."

"That's ridiculous. It takes less than ten minutes to shower, how could you possibly need two hours?"

"So I haven't had the practice at scrubbing skin folds that you have! Give me a break! How many hundreds of showers do you take a year? Do you know how hard it is to hold a bar of soap for more than half a second, or are you so used to it that you've forgotten these things are slippery?"

There was a pause. "You can't hold soap."

"My hands are small, Stanford."

"Fine. One more hour, but that's all you get."

"Fine, I don't care! If I'm not done in an hour, kick down the door and call the hygiene police on me." Bill was pretty sure you couldn't even get a call through to the hygiene police from this dimension. "Go away. I'm focusing."

Why had the Axolotl given him hair. Why hadn't he dumped Bill on Earth bald and balloon-smooth, let the patchy human fur patterns grow in over time? Why hadn't he at least given Bill less hair—why did it need to be so long—

But his hair didn't need to be long, did it? Bill didn't need to have hair at all. Hair was the easiest human body part to self-amputate, easier even than fingernails or ears. Inspired, Bill started searching the bathroom cabinet drawers—et voila. The Pines had no doubt removed any razors or scissors before leaving Bill in this bathroom, but he managed to find a bottle of hair removal cream. Probably courtesy of Question Mark's girlfriend. Cosmetic acid: one of humanity's many endearing little quirks. This would liquefy the roots of the hair, and Bill could get out of here.

It was easier to touch the hair when he was powered by rage, sliding his cream-coated fingers through the clingy filaments in service of burning it all away. The tingle on his scalp was a welcome distraction from the feeling of the hair itself, and feeling the tingle gradually blossom into a full blaze was a relief. Chemical burn. That was a luxurious pain—it tightened his lungs and squeezed rapturous tears from his eyes, so good he almost forgot there was another goal to this pain.

Maybe it would damage some of his follicles enough to prevent the hair from regrowing. Maybe he could wring some pity out of his captors—see this damage, isn't it hideous, look what you made me do—how long could he milk that? A few weeks?

He tolerated the burn as long as he thought he could get away with it without requiring hospitalization, then turned the shower on again. The ice cold water didn't wash the dead hair off fast enough. Some of it stuck to his skin; some was brittle, but not quite fully dissolved.

And that one, last, tiny inconvenience was more than he could stand.

The hair stuck to his chest, his arms, his hands as he ripped it off. Dead flesh, peeling apart and rotting, dead flesh all over him. He ran his hands over his head, fingers trembling with disgust, and tore out clumps of hair to fling to the ground. His eardrums boomed with his heartbeat. If there had been anyone else in the room he would have murdered them with his bare hands just to purge some rage. Over and over, desperate, obsessed, get it off get it off—

Until his head was so smooth that the pain of the chemical burns masked what few fibers were left. Until the icy shower left his skin so cold it hurt. He stepped out of the shower, triumphantly tore the shirt down from the mirror to see the results—and froze in horror.

When a cloud of gold hair had dangled down from his scalp, he'd looked like a triangle rotting apart—the corpse of Bill Cipher.

Now, he looked at his face, and he didn't see Bill Cipher at all. He'd destroyed the last of himself.

At his feet was a murder scene, all mangled golden gore.

####

#bill cipher #human bill cipher #gravity falls #gravity falls fic #my writing #my art #bill goldilocks cipher

156 notes · View notes

wooahaes · 11 months

Text

before i know it, the me of today hopes for the you of tomorrow

pairing: non-idol!wonwoo x fem!reader

genre: fluff

word count: ~0.7k

warnings: one mention that pins down readers birthday as being a summer birthday. but mostly its just sappy, loving wonwoo.

daisy’s notes: he is boyfie shaped fr........ i will b thinking abt him forever

Wonwoo had a soft spot for the nights where you fell asleep in his lap while he was gaming.

Most of the time, it was because you hated going to bed alone unless you had to. You’d always been the more openly affectionate one in your relationship, and you’d told him outright one day (long after moving in together) that it felt weird to not fall asleep snuggled up close to him. So you’d come into the living room to where he was playing online with his friends on a game system rather than his PC, and you’d lay your head in his lap and watch... until you inevitably fell asleep every single time. He’d asked about it once, and you did have to confess that you didn’t intend to fall asleep. You just wanted to stay close with him until he was done, but the sound of his breathing was calming (even if the occasional things he said weren’t), and usually you ended up dozing off by accident.

Tonight was no different. He had his headset on, controller in hand, and your head using his lap as a pillow. Seungcheol was saying something about his plans to get in and play later this week when Wonwoo starting keeping an eye on the time. The clock ticked over to midnight, and he let out a quiet sigh as he waited for Seungcheol to finish speaking. The moment he did, he spoke up and said he was going to get off for the night.

“I‘ll see you tomorrow,” he said as he started to disconnect.

Only to hear Seungcheol’s quiet ‘tch.’ “We all know you took off today for her. You don’t have to hide it.”

Wonwoo smiled to himself. “That’s why I said I’d see you tomorrow.” Before he bid his farewell and disconnected from the game.

It was only light teasing, and it left him with a lovestruck smile on his face as he looked down at you. He reached out, fingers grazing the side of your face for a moment before he turned off the console. He’d plug in his controller in a few minutes. For now, he was going to admire you for a little longer...

Only for you to stir, finally looking up at him after glancing back at the TV. “You’re done?” Then you sat up, stifling a small yawn. “You didn’t play long...”

“That’s okay,” he said, reaching for the remote. He clicked the TV off, before turning to you. “I’m all yours for the next twenty-four hours.”

The way your brows had drawn together in slight confusion only made him smile. Being able to vex your brain and surprise you like this always made him happy, and maybe he had taken advantage of your sleepy state to be able to do it. He nodded toward the clock, and watched as you put the puzzle pieces together mentally before realization struck.

“Wonwoo--”

He had already slid a little closer to you, pulling you in for a soft kiss. “Happy birthday, my love,” he said as he leaned back, casually dropping the term of endearment just to see you smile. “Whatever you want to do today, I’ll do it.”

You didn’t have plans. Wonwoo knew you didn’t have plans, too. But the fact that he had cleared everything today in order to give you his full attention was sweet, considering he knew that you were used to people being too busy (or on vacation--the pains of a summer birthday) around your birthday. And of course it would be Wonwoo who knew that and found a way to say, without saying it, that he was there for you. That he’d always find time for you.

Maybe the sentiment would make you cry later... but for now you just leaned in to kiss him one more time before going to bed. The two of you could figure out plans when you woke up later. For now, you just wanted to cuddle with him and think vaguely about how you would spend the day with your beloved.

taglist: @twancingyunhao @wonuziex @synthetickitsune @cinnamoroxie

#wooahaes.fic #seventeen x reader #seventeen imagine #svt x reader #svt imagine #seventeen x you #svt x you #wonwoo fluff #wonwoo x reader #jeon wonwoo x reader #jeon wonwoo x you #wonwoo x y/n #wooahaes.23

337 notes · View notes

kindly-whisper-norbury · 2 years

Text

I love AO3. I really, truly do. But at the same time, it reminds me that fanfic had a very different feel back in the day… in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

We didn't so much promote our stories as we traded them like literary contraband, handing them out in the back alleys of newsboards and forums and LiveJournal to be gobbled up by the desperate, starving masses. Sometimes you wouldn't post them, you would simply mention that you had written them; and when someone asked to see your story you would send them an email with the creation copy-pasted within. Those of us who had our own Geocities or Angelfire websites would make elaborate pages for each story, setting the background and font color to match what we felt the fic evoked, and of course adding pictures that we had slapped together in Photoshop for flavor.

When FFnet came along, we eagerly thrust our creations into its algorithm, like birds shoving their babies out of the nest; then we held our breath and waited to see if anyone cared enough to make a comment before our stories slipped into the depths of the pit, never to be seen or read again. And the tingle we felt in our chests when someone did finally comment left us on a high for hours or even days.

There were annual fanfiction awards for some fandoms, and if you won any category at all you would wear that award proudly... a badge of honor to be displayed in your forum signature or FFnet profile. But really, the ultimate honor was when someone did fan art of your stories and posted it on DeviantArt or LJ, and you would hold on to that picture like a child clinging to a favorite teddy bear.

More often than not, the people you knew in real life weren't aware of what you did with your spare time, and you would have died of embarrassment if they ever found out. In general, you stayed in your lane, keeping other fandoms out of your business, except for the occasional crossover (which came with the added complication of having to choose which fandom to post them under on FFnet). We didn't have beta readers... hell, sometimes we didn't edit at all. Grammar and spelling mattered less than your passion for the subject, and research was conducted somewhat haphazardly, to the point where any anachronisms were shrugged off. Still, OOC characters were raked thoroughly across the coals; questioned and poked until the author explained why they had written them that way.

The tropes and cliches that people now cringe at were created then, embraced wholeheartedly. Mary Sues and self-inserts and songfics were everywhere… and we loved it. Authors would interrupt their own stories in the middle to add notes, sometimes presented as the characters themselves giving you information about what was going on in the story or what led the author to add this or that small detail.

We were afraid of being copyright claimed, we were afraid of being ridiculed, we were afraid of being sued by Anne Rice (even if we didn't write anything that took place in her universe). We felt rebellious, accomplished, and maybe a little guilty about what we wrote; but we wrote it because we loved it, and that was enough.

As I said, I really do love AO3… but there was just such a culture surrounding fanfic back then… a kinship and a sisterhood. I wish that those who have never gotten to experience it could have the chance to go back for a while, feel the way it felt… same as I wish my own kids could have experienced the freedom of summer vacation back when summer vacation meant freedom.

The world is just too fast now, the internet too loud; you have to run to catch up, scream to be heard... when sometimes all you want to do is whisper, "Hey… I wrote something… does anyone want to take a look?" and to have someone whisper back, "Yes! Send it to me and I'll print it out to read in bed tonight!"

#writing #writers #fanfiction #writers on tumblr #writeblr #ao3 #fanfic #the 1990s

607 notes · View notes

beplerblurbs · 1 year

Note

Hi! can I request number 1 but can you make it Gunwook .thank you

coffee stains p.g.

a/n: hii thank u for requesting @lovehoa !! i’ll do my best. someone request taerae please 😭

pairing: gunwook x gn!reader

warnings: none! just fluffy stuff,, well not proofread

w/c: idk! will find out tmr

gunwook's parents had gone on vacation for the summer while you and him were working part time to save up for university. since you and gunwook had been dating for so long, his parents let you have the house key for those days when their son slept through his alarm…

instead, you usually make breakfast for him in the morning before you both go to work while he makes dinner or gets takeout for you after work.

you unlock his front door and slip off your shoes, admiring all of his cute family photos in the foyer, you can tell how much he loves his mom in them.

you start off in the kitchen by brewing up coffees for yourself and gunwook, and then going on to create a chocolate chip pancake batter, pouring them into heart shapes.

gunwook complained about his manager making him stay overtime last night, so you knew he was tired and decided to let him sleep in a bit. you tried to be as quiet as you could be with cooking, tip toeing around and gently closing the fridge and such.

you finished the pancakes stacks and made a side of eggs and bacon to get you guys energized for the day. you iced the coffees and added condensed milk, just like how gunwook likes it.

after setting down breakfast onto the dinner table, you think of waking up gunwook with his ice coffee. so you walk up to his door and slowly open his door to see an empty, dishevelled bed.

his washroom was outside his bedroom and it was empty, you didn’t know where he was. “hm? gunwook?” you say confused.

the moment after you suddenly saw gunwook jump from the other side of the door with his hands up and yelling to scare you.

you yelp and stumble backwards, causing the ice coffee to spill all over your clothes. gunwook catches you in time to stop you from falling, letting the plastic cup fall to the ground. he goes from a smiley, laughing mood to a solemn, worried expression.

“y/n! are you okay?” he’s checking your body to check for any injuries, you ignore him, “hhhh you’re so annoying, how can i go to work with this?!”you look at your coffee soaked hoodie and pants.

you walk to the washroom to wipe off the coffee before it gets sticky. “i’m sorry y/n i didn’t know you were bringing me coffee.” you sigh, you understand where hes coming from but you were annoyed.

“babe how am i supposed to go to work like this,” you work at the convenience store near gunwook’s but too far from your place to get a new shirt.

as if a lightbulb flashed above your boyfriend’s head, he made a small ‘o’ face while walking back into his room and back out.

“here wear my clothes,” a warm, apologetic smile grows on gunwook’s face as he hands you a clean black hoodie and sweatpants.

you take a sniff and it still smells like him even being freshly washed. you melt a little and give in, “thank you gunwook, i can’t stay mad,” you giggle, closing the bathroom door to change.

leaving the bathroom you find an empty hallway, so you go back to the kitchen to see gunwook with a new iced coffee, smiling while scrolling on his phone.

gunwook turns his head to see you, “oh…” he stands up and walks closer to you

“why do i look stupid? its a little big on me” you blush looking at yourself.

“no not at all. you look really good in my clothes that’s all” gunwook bites his lip, surprised at his confession. he found clothes engulfing you whole as very endearing and cute.

your cheeks somehow turn more beet red because of his compliment. you hug him and hide your face in his chest, “you’re so embarrassing.”

gunwook simply laughs and hugs you back, patting your head.

“let’s eat breakfast now.”

as you guys eat gunwook explains that he overheard you come in and cook breakfast which is why he waited to scare you.

“i mean, you should’ve seen the look on your face!” gunwook imitates your spooked expression, making you slap his shoulder.

“i had a whole cup of coffee in my hand! of course i’d be scared.”

gunwook taps his closed lips with his index, “mmm sounds like a you issue.” he laughs and immediately expects the worse, getting up from his seat and leaning away from you.

“you-!” you grab your half full iced coffee and get up and chase after him around the house, “i’m not afraid to throw it on you!”

mornings like these were always gunwook’s favourites.

#boys planet #mnet boys planet #kpop #zb1 #zb1 drabbles #zb1 imagines #zerobaseone #park gunwook #zb1 gunwook #zerobase1 #zerobaseone imagines #zerobaseone fics #gunwook imagines #zerobaseone gunwook

138 notes · View notes

mendessi · 1 year

Text

speak now | part three

pairing: fem!reader x joel miller

summary: joel saves you from the biggest mistake of your life

word count: 2.3K

warnings: smut probably, pre-outbreak, mentions of marriage, based off speak now by taylor swift, mentions of domestic abuse, joel is 26 & reader is 21, mentions of cheating, kind of slow burn, brief mention of death, angst, will add more as i think of them, not proofread

this chapter: unprotected piv (this is the 90s, please wrap it up irl), fingering (f receiving), v soft v tender sex, soft joel, biting, praise, "good girl"

part one | part two | part three | part four | part five

minors dni

Joel had been staying at your place for the past few days because your fiance had gone out of town on his bachelor trip. You liked the idea of having your own bachelorette trip but one problem stood: you had no friends and really no family either. The last week of freedom would be spent doing nothing in El Paso. Luckily there was no need for you to call out anyways because you had a minimal amount of shifts leading up to your wedding day and then were off two weeks after for your honeymoon.

Over the last week you had managed to see your fiance a minimal amount of times due to his busy work schedule before his trip and your pretending to work at the bar while you spent time with Joel.

The two of you were sat on the hood of his truck watching as the sun went down behind the lake, leaving a beautiful orange pink and purple sky behind.

"I don't want you to leave." You said to Joel pulling your knees to your chest as you bit into the peanut butter and jelly you packed.

"I don't want you to get married." Joel replied. His tone was cold out of nowhere and you didn't know where the sudden hostility came from.

"I'm not getting married." You said to him after a brief silence. "I'm calling off the engagement once he gets back and he might just kill me for it but that might be better than a lifetime with him."

"You are?" He asked, glancing at over at you. Maybe this was the moment he should ask you if you'd move to Austin with him. He loved you after all and if you weren't going to marry your idiot fiance, then maybe you'd marry him.

"I have you to thank." You rested your cheek against your knee as you looked over at him. God, he looked simply mesmerizing with the way the sky shed its light on his skin. "I don't know what's gonna happen after but... you made me realize I deserve more."

"You deserve to be taken care of. And I don't have a lot of money by any means, but I'd take care of you. Always." Joel cupped your cheek, brushing his thumb against your skin.

You believed every word he said, but you also believed that when he left on Saturday it would be the last time you ever saw him. You'd call off the engagement and still be stuck in El Paso while he went home to his daughter in Austin. In the meantime while he was here, you'd soak up in his company and enjoy it while it could.

It broke your heart to think that later in life you'd think back to this short time in your life and he'd just be remembered as the summer love that saved you before you parted ways. He was such a small part but you'd remember him forever. He'd go on and find someone to be a mother to Sarah, maybe even get married himself and maybe you'd do the same, but nobody would compare to what Joel showed you and taught you about yourself in the three weeks you've known him.

The tales of your grandparents and all their friends getting married after only knowing each other for a few days used to seem so bizzare to you, "it was a different time" they'd say, but how quickly you had fallen in love with Joel had proven their stories true that when you know, you know. With Joel, you knew.

The two of you were in the bed of the truck now that the sun had completely set and staring up at the stars. This little routine that you two had created reminded you of one that you had seen in a movie. Two kids meeting on their family vacations and falling into a summer romance, just for them to part ways at the end. Every second with Joel Miller felt like that of a movie.

"Do you see those five stars right there?" Joel asked and you hummed in response. "And then those two kind of next to it? That's The Big Dipper."

You sat up almost instantly, looking down at him, tears brimming your eyes. "What?"

"And if you look a little bit further down, you'll see The Little Dipper." He pulled you back down into his side, a smile on his face as he pointed towards the sky. "Over that way is Andromeda."

"Where did you learn that?" You stared into the sky, piecing together the constellations that he pointed out. The first time the two of lay in the bed of this truck, you couldn't even point out the North Star.

"I looked in a book, like you said." He rubbed your arm but you sat up enough to rest your body weight on your elbow to look down at him.

"That's really sweet, Joel." You didn't bother hiding the smile as you rested your hand against his cheek. Nobody had ever done something so thoughtful for you, let alone study the constellations so he could show you like your dad used to. Your heart was fluttering nonstop as a million emotions swarmed you at once.

"Do I get brownie points?" He asked, cheekily. Oh, Joel, you get more than brownie points.

"I love you." You blurted it out. You didn't mean to, but you didn't care that the words had accidentally slipped out of your mouth. Joel's heart literally skipped a beat when he heard the words leave your lips and he had never felt happier in any moment in his life other than when Sarah was born of course.

"I love you too, baby." Joel smiled and a weight lifted off your chest at the returned sentiment and you leaned down to kiss him, smiling against his lips.

The kiss deepened almost instantly as his hands trailed up and down your side, threatening to go further but he wouldn't unless you asked. He never would push any boundaries unless you asked.

You wrapped your hand around his as he kissed a line from your chin up your jawline, biting at your skin playfully. You moved his hand slowly down from your torso to the hem of your bathing suit bottoms. His breath nearly caught in his throat as he continued kissing you, sliding his hand underneath the fabric. This was one thing he was good at and he hoped that he'd get the chance to pleasure you just once before he left.

"It's okay." You whispered against his lips. You spread your legs for him and he slid his finger between your lips, gathering your slick to your clit, rubbing circles into the sensitive bud slowly. Your lips parted, breathing heavily into his mouth, your hand still wrapped around his wrist.

His lips trailed kisses along the exposed skin of your neck, biting gently every once in a while and eventually choosing a spot to suck on tenderly, leaving a hickey in its wake. He slid two fingers into your heat, slowly thrusting them to give you time to adjust. Your grip on his wrist tightened and your hips bucked forward causing his fingers to move deeper, emitting a moan from your lips.

"Fuck," You said as your back arched off the truck bed.

"Is that good, baby?" He asked you, biting at your collarbone. He smirked against your skin as your only response was another soft moan, so he began thrusting his fingers faster, using his thumb to continue rubbing your clit.

"Fuck," You repeated, this time forced through a moan, letting go of his wrist to tangle your fingers into his hair. "Fuck."

"You're so fuckin pretty under me, baby." Joel's cock pressed against your thigh as he continued pumping his fingers in and out of you, and nothing mattered more to him in the moment. You looked fucking gorgeous, pressed against him as his fingers stretched you out, the most beautiful sounding moans all for him, all because of him.

"Joel, please. Please, I'm close." Your legs were slightly shaking as he picked up the pace of his skillful fingers, in and out of you making sure to simultaneously stimulating your clit. It was too much, your orgasm coming over you like you had never experienced.

"Good, baby. Good job. Look at you, so fuckin beautiful." He said into your ear as you shook under his touch, moaning his name over and over, cumming around his thick fingers. He pulled his fingers from your pussy and brought them to his lips, sucking your cum off of them.

He leaned down and pressed his lips to yours, the taste of yourself very much present but there was something so fucking sexy about it. "I want you, Joel. All of you. Please."

"Whatever you want, sweet girl. Of course." He nodded and sat up on his knees, tugging your bathing suit bottoms down. He was tempted to remove his shirt from your body, but the idea of fucking you while wearing it made his cock twitch. You looked stunning laying there, spread open for him. He pulled his own bathing suit bottoms down, revealing his cock that you were almost sure wouldn't fit inside you.

"Promise me." You said as he leaned back down, lining himself up with your entrance. "You love me."

"On my life." He said, looking into your eyes. "I swear it. I love you."

He grabbed your hand and took your ring finger into his mouth by surprise. It took a moment for you to realize that he was pulling your engagement ring off your finger with his teeth. He took it from in between his teeth and set it somewhere beside you.

"I'll buy you a better one." He said to you.

You rested your hands on his cheeks as he slowly slid into you, a whimper leaving your lips as you pulled his face towards yours to kiss him. He paused for a moment once he was fully inside to let you adjust.

"I'm good. Move." You reassured him.

He nodded, burying his head in your neck as he whispered sweet nothings, thrusting in and out of you at a steady pace. "I love you." "I'll take care of you." "So fucking beautiful." "Mine."

Your legs instinctively wrapped around his waist, your hands traveling to his back, nails digging into his shoulder blades as you moaned loudly into the darkness.

"Fuck, Joel." He loved nothing more than hearing his name followed by whimpers and moans, surrounded by the sound of his hips hitting yours.

"Fucking angel." He said before he kissed you, moaning against your lips his thrusts getting faster and faster. Despite it all, it somehow remained tender and full of love, this wasn't just sex to either of you.

He rolled his hips into yours, your legs starting to shake again as he hit your g-spot with each thrust, you clenching around him each time. "You feel so fuckin good."

"Where do you want me?" He asked through heavy breaths and you guessed that meant he was close.

"Inside, I don't care. Wherever you want." You replied, gripping onto his arms. "I'm gonna- fuck." Tears brimmed your eyes at the sheer pleasure radiating through your body as he bit into your shoulder again. Your eyes squeezed shut from the pain of the bite but you loved it. His thrusts staggered and he shuddered, moaning into your ear as his cum filled inside you. You loved the feeling of it. You never let your fiance do it, but you'd lt Joel do anything to you.

"I'm almost there." You said under your breath. "Harder. Please. Please."

Joel's thrusts staggered but he thrusted into you harder just as you asked, deeper as you asked and faster just like you asked. He loved it, the sound of your whimpers echoing around the lake. The idea of him being the one to have you shaking like this, whimpering like this under him, brought him more pleasure than anything. Your bodies so close together, so intimate.

The pleasure clouded your senses and he could tell by your breathing and scattered moans told him you were seconds for coming so he got in two or three more good thrusts and you fell apart under him. You barely could hold your legs open under him with how bad they were shaking.

"Cum for me, baby." He said into your ear and you did as told, coming around his cock as his thrusts slowed. "Good girl. Good fuckin girl." He said through a shaky breath.

Your legs continued shaking as he pulled out and lay next to you, pulling you into his chest. He rested his hand on your thigh, squeezing it gently, giving you a teasing smile as your legs finally stilled.

"Are we insane?" You asked as he pulled you into his chest, tugging the blanket tighter around you. "I'm still technically in a relationship."

"Come with me to Austin." Joel said.

"So the answer is yes, we are insane." Your laugh filled the air and even though he loved the sound, he was being serious.

"I'm being serious. Come with me to Austin. Run away with me."

"Joel, that's not funny." You sat up and looked down at him resting your hand on his chest.

"I'm not bein funny. Come with me. Please. I don't want to leave you here. I want to be with you." Joel said and he sat up to match your level so that maybe you'd understand how truthful he was being in his request.

How crazy would it be for you to uproot your entire life and move to a different city with a man you just met to live with him and his daughter. Your dad wanted you to be taken care of when he passed away and Joel was offering that. Joel would take care of you emotionally. He didn't have all the money in the world but that didn't matter. You'd be a team, you would both bring in income and take care of each other. Joel would take care of you, actually take care of you in a way that your current fiance would never take care of you. Joel wouldn't even think about laying a finger on you, something that occurred far too often in your current relationship. But it didn't matter. Once he got back into town you were calling off the engagement and you were going to run away to Austin with Joel.

"Okay."

PREV | NEXT

let me be clear i hate writing smut its why i dont do it that often bc quite frankly its just not my strongsuit lmao.

#joel miller #joel miller x you #joel miller x reader #joel miller imagine #joel miller fanfiction #joel miller fanfic #tlou #the last of us #pedro pascal #tlou hbo #joel miller x fem!reader

100 notes · View notes

chicgeekgirl89 · 8 months

Text

Fandom: 911 Lone Star Characters: T.K. Strand, Carlos Reyes, Iris Blake, Nancy Gillian, Tommy Vega, Judd Ryder, Marjan Marwani, Paul Strickland, Mateo Chavez Summary: When the crew of the super yacht Firebug finds themselves in need of a new chef, stew Iris Blake is quick to provide them with a solution: her ex, Carlos Reyes. Second stew T.K. Strand is prepared to share his cabin with their new chef, but he is not prepared for how quickly Carlos Reyes heats things up in the galley. Will their boatmance set sail? Or will it sink to the bottom of the Caribbean Sea? A/N: I have loved Below Deck in all its iterations since the day it first aired, so as I was thinking about a fun summer fic, a yachting au came to mind. This is my first (technically, sort of, mostly *cough cough*) au, and it was a HUGE challenge. I'm not sure I've gotten every detail of yachting life correct, but hopefully it's close enough for a good time! Read on AO3

Chapter 1: On Top

“T.K., T.K. Nancy. What is your location?”

“Busted,” Mateo says from where he’s laid out, one arm thrown up over his eyes to block out the sun.

“What do you mean busted? My shit is cleaned and polished and ready for charter,” T.K. says, kicking him in the leg. “You’re the one who’s slacking off.”

He reaches for his radio without getting up from his reclined position in his lounger. “Nancy, Nancy, T.K. I’m on the sundeck.”

“Copy that. On my way.”

“You’d better leave before she gets here,” T.K. tells him. “She’ll rat you out to Judd.”

“Nah,” Mateo says, wiggling a little bit so he’s more comfortable. “I think she likes me.”

T.K. wrinkles his nose. “Doesn’t she have a girlfriend at home?”

“Maybe.” Mateo shrugs. “But the heart wants what it wants. And what happens on charter stays on charter.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s not how it works,” T.K. tells him. “Please don’t go having a boatmance with my chief stew. That’s going to make things all kinds of awkward when she dumps your ass.”

“Ain’t nobody gonna be dumping my ass,” Mateo says, clearly offended. “She’s gonna get one taste of the Chavez and—“

“I would’t finish that sentence if I were you,” Nancy says as she strides onto the sundeck, clipboard in hand.

“Hey Nance,” Mateo says, trying to cover up how flustered he is.

“I just passed by Judd. He mentioned you had a jet ski to clean,” she says pointedly.

“Oh um, yeah, yes. I’ll just go do that…right now,” Mateo says, scrambling to his feet and heading back to work as T.K. chuckles.

The new deckhand likes to talk big and it’s pretty hilarious. He’s as green as they come, but he’s a quick learner and T.K. knows Judd has been pleased with his progress.

“I vacuumed the main salon, did the beds and the bath in the master, and cleaned and restocked the bar,” T.K. says. “Iris is finishing up in laundry and then she’ll be done.”

“What did I do to deserve having the most perfect co-second stews in the world?” Nancy says, feigning tears as she plops down into the chair Mateo’s just vacated. “I didn’t come to ask about that though. Are you cool if the new chef bunks with you?”

“Oh we got someone?” T.K. asks. That last he’d heard Captain Tommy had still been calling around.

“Yeah Iris’ friend that she mentioned during our tip meeting,” Nancy says.

Right. The tip meeting.

He’d been sandwiched between Judd and Nancy on the sofa in the main salon, a glass of sparkling cider in his hand as they all toasted the massive tip their previous charter had left for them. It was their biggest so far of the season and for good reason. They’d worked their asses off.

“Okay so as you know, unfortunately Chef Pearce is no longer able to finish the charter season with us,” Tommy had said as she passed out fat envelopes of cash to each of them.

“And good riddance,” Nancy mumbled under her breath.

Pearce had made all their lives a living hell with his fastidiousness and inability to be flexible with their charter guests’ whims. When Nancy had brought back a steak that their primary guest had deemed too rare it had been the last straw for him and he’d immediately packed all his things and left the next morning without a goodbye to anyone.

“So,” Tommy said, giving Nancy a look that said she agreed with her but wasn’t going to badmouth any former staff, “we are currently looking. It’s a pretty big vacancy to fill and we need someone asap.”

“I have a friend who could probably do it,” Iris had immediately piped up. “Well, technically he’s my ex, but he’s also a friend. I’ve known him since elementary school. One time in third grade, I punched Jimmy Echolls in the face and he—“

“Iris,” Tommy said gently, guiding her back to the moment at hand.

“Right, sorry. His name is Carlos and he’s a chef. A really good one.”

“Give me his contact information and I’ll reach out,” Tommy said.

That had been two days ago and the last T.K. had heard about it. Thank god they’d had an extra day in between groups so they hadn’t had to explain to any guests that their dinner choices were boxed mac and cheese or Chinese take-out. The crew had been taking it in turns to make dinner for themselves so they wouldn’t starve, but nobody had the skills necessary to serve five star meals to guests shelling out over a hundred thousand dollars for a vacation.

“Seriously, you’re going to make me bunk with another temperamental chef?” T.K. sighs. “Pearce made me clean the grout in our bathroom with a toothbrush.”

“Judd and Mateo are bunked together,” Nancy says. “I don’t want to move them because Judd’s a good influence on the greenie. Marjan and Paul refuse to be separated from what they have started referring to as their “bestie cave.” And I’m certainly not giving up Iris. She doesn’t snore or leave the toilet seat up. So that leaves you.”

“This is really unfair,” T.K. grumbles. “I feel like you’re taking advantage of my easy going nature.”

“Oh I for sure am.” She gives him a pat on the leg as she gets up. “Gotta go. Next guests want an 80’s themed dance party so I gotta call the provisioner. Get ready for some glow in the dark body paint. New chef’ll be here in like an hour so if you have any weird sex stuff lying around go take care of it now.”

“I want a new chief stew!” T.K. yells as she heads back inside.

She turns around and flips him the bird before the sliding doors close behind her.

He’d known he’d end up being the one sharing and he doesn’t really begrudge Nancy’s decision. It doesn’t make sense to move everyone around when they’re already comfortably settled in their rooms. Plus it’s not like he’s going to force Iris to shack up with her ex. It’s just been nice to have the room to himself after dealing with Pearce for a month.

He groans and hoists himself up from the chair, grabbing his towel to carefully wipe away the ring of condensation his sparkling water has left on the side table. Judd is a pretty kind and understanding bosun, but he’ll rip you a new one if he catches you dirtying up the boat after the deck crew has already cleaned things off for a new charter.

He takes the stairs carefully down to the galley and swings by laundry on his way to his cabin. Iris is in there with her headphones on, bopping away to something he can’t hear as she irons one of Tommy’s white shirts. He taps her on the shoulder and instinctively ducks out of the way as she whips around, arms flailing defensively. “You scared the shit out of me!” she says loudly as she rips out one ear bud.

“Sorry. I came to see if you need any help.”

“Nah, just finishing up Captain’s stuff and then I’m done,” she tells him.

“I heard your ex is going to be my new roommate,” T.K. says. “Anything I should know?”

“About Carlos?” Iris shrugs. “He’s a guy. He’s nice. Good chef.”

T.K. waits but Iris doesn’t say more. “That’s it?” he says.

She looks at him with her big, wide eyes. “What more do you want? He’ll be good at the job. Oh and he likes his room really clean. So maybe like, pick up your towels and stuff.”

She gives him a smile and then sticks the earbud back in, a clear dismissal.

T.K. rolls his eyes and trudges to his cabin saying hello to their lead deck hand, Paul, as he passes by.

He spends some time making sure the place looks decent. He’d switched to the bottom bunk and started using the top as extra storage the minute Pearce walked out, so he takes all the clean clothes he left up there and shoves them into drawers or under his bed, and then checks to make sure he hasn’t left out anything sensitive in the bathroom.

His phone buzzes with a text from his dad, and he sits down for a few minutes to answer it. Yes, he’s doing fine. Yes, Tommy’s a great captain. No, he doesn’t need a meeting right now. Yes, he’ll be around if his dad flies in to see him for a weekend next month. It’s standard father/son stuff, but it’s a little suffocating, and not for the first time T.K. feels glad that he’s finally out from under his dad’s shadow a little bit.

Owen Strand had been the captain of the FireBug until about six months ago, when he’d been offered the chance to captain a much bigger boat out in the Mediterranean. He’d wanted T.K. to come with him, had basically assumed it was happening until T.K. had informed him that he wasn’t ready to leave the Bahamas or the FireBug or the family he’d made onboard. Crews like this one don’t come along every day. Judd is a competent and kind bosun. Paul, Marjan, and Mateo are hard working deckies, and fun to be around. Nancy is the chillest chief stew he’s ever worked with. Iris is a sweetheart, if a little blunt, and Tommy has turned out to be a skilled captain, rounding out the team in a way that just seems to work.

T.K. loves it here. He feels free. Safe. Loved. Which is a pretty big change from how his life used to be.

Another glance at his phone shows him the time. He needs to get back to work, there’s only an hour or so until the guests arrive. He takes a few minutes to change out of his sweat stained red t-shirt, the Firebug’s name emblazoned in white on the chest and the sleeve along with a distinctive curl of flame, into his more fancy looking white shirt and black shorts, before heading to the main salon to check it over one more time. Heaven only knows somebody has probably tracked something across the carpet by now.

He’s walking past the galley when he hears a softly startled, “Oh fuck,” and then a loud crash.

Figuring Paul has gotten into another fight with the juicer, he stops and enters the galley doorway, a sassy bit of teasing ready on his tongue. Only he doesn’t find Paul or anyone else from onboard the boat.

Instead he comes face to face with the most gorgeous ass he’s ever seen in his entire life. Literally, this ass is a thing of beauty. It looks like it’s been sculpted out of marble by a master craftsman. This ass is life changing.

And then the rest of the human it’s connected to stands up and T.K. feels like he’s been hit by a rogue wave. If he thought the ass was life-changing, he doesn’t even have words for the full man who stands before him.

Eyes, dark and soft, and hair so curly that T.K.’s fingers immediately itch to run through it. Even through the man’s dark blue button down and chinos T.K. can tell that he’s got a great body. The kind of body that has, in the past, caused T.K. to make some very stupid, but very fun, decisions.

His gaydar is practically screaming at him and it takes him too long to realize that he’s staring and that this strange god of a man is talking to him. “Hey.”

“Hey,” T.K. says quickly.

“Sorry about that,” the man says. “I didn’t realize the shelf was loose.”

“Yeah. Yeah that one’s a little faulty. Judd keeps fixing it and it just keeps coming out again,” T.K. says automatically. “Are you…you must be the new chef?”

“Yes, hi, sorry, Carlos. Carlos Reyes,” the man says, holding out a hand.

T.K. shakes it and feels like his knees might give out. Holy hell he can’t remember the last time he felt this instantly attracted to someone. “I’m T.K. Strand,” he manages. “Second stew. Well, co-second stew. Iris is the other one. Which, you already know because you and Iris are…well you…”

He is blowing this so freaking bad right now. He spots a large rolling suitcase in front of the fridge and clears his throat to try again. “Did you come straight here before unpacking your stuff?”

“Yeah I went up and met the captain and I was on my way to the cabin, but I saw the galley and got distracted,” Carlos says sheepishly.

Kind of like how T.K. had been on his way to the main salon and now can’t find a single reason to care about whether or not the throw pillows have been karate chopped into perfection. “I get that. Professional hazard.”

“Yeah something like that,” Carlos says, flashing him a smile that threatens to bowl him over.

He’s Iris’ ex, he’s Iris’ ex, he’s Iris’ ex. T.K repeats it to himself sternly. That makes him off limits. Completely. Nothing more than a fantasy for T.K. to have when he’s alone.

And he will be having that fantasy.

Probably a lot.

He realizes he’s gone awkwardly silent again and searches for something to say that won’t sound weird or horny. “We’re sharing a cabin. I can show you.”

“Oh yeah, thanks, that would be great,” Carlos says, grabbing his suitcase and following T.K. down the hall.

The cabin is tiny. Just two bunks, a teeny wardrobe and a couple drawers each, and their bathroom with an awkwardly small shower. T.K. takes a quick glance at Carlos and wonders how such a large man is going to fit, and then quickly shoves it away. He can’t be thinking about his new roommate naked, soapy, water sluicing down his body…

“I left you the top bunk. Is that okay?” T.K. asks, hoping to god his voice sounds normal.

If it was anybody else he wouldn’t even ask, he’d just pull the longevity card because like hell is he undoing his whole bed, but something about this man has grabbed hold of him and he finds he would literally go dive into the ocean if it would make Carlos happy.

“That’s fine,” Carlos says. “I like it on top.”

T.K.’s knees go weak and he immediately breaks out in a sweat even though the A/C is on full blast. Thank god Carlos has turned around is starting to pull things out of his suitcase, so he doesn’t see T.K.’s complete loss of motor function.

“When you’re ready I can introduce you to everyone else,” T.K. says when he finally recovers.

“Yeah give me like ten minutes, I just need to change,” Carlos says.

T.K. makes a hasty exit and goes down the hall to sit at the table in the crew mess while he waits. The last thing he needs is to see Carlos naked. His brain is already on overdrive, if he gets any more input he’s going to need an extremely cold shower, and there’s no time for that.

Carlos emerges almost exactly ten minutes later, now dressed in his chef’s coat. Somehow it makes him look even hotter, all professional and buttoned up and T.K. nearly swallows his own tongue trying not to say something stupid. They head up the stairs and through the main salon to the aft deck where Paul, Marjan, Mateo, and Judd are doing some last minute polishing of the railings so they gleam beneath the Caribbean sunlight.

“Well, well, well, look who’s finally back. Grab a bucket and start scrubbing,” Paul teases as they walk out through the automatic doors.

“You think I want a cushy job like this? Please. Interior is where the fun is. Vomit. People’s dirty underwear. It’s like an unending hazardous situation,” T.K. teases right back.

He sees the look of curiosity on Carlos’ face and fills him in. “I used to be a deckie,” he says. “Made the change to interior about a year ago. It’s a better fit.”

“What he means is that it’s easier for him to charm all the guests,” Marjan says, wiping a hand across her forehead. Her makeup is impeccable and she looks like a movie star even in the deck crew’s bright red shirts.

“I didn’t see you complaining when our tips were almost double last charter,” T.K. tells her.

“Pretty sure that was because of the good time I showed them on the water toys,” Mateo says.

“Mateo you couldn’t even get the jet ski started this morning,” Judd says with a roll of his eyes. “I don’t think you were the reason we got a good tip.”

“Anyway,” T.K. says, breaking up the teasing, “This is Carlos. The new chef.”

“Hey Carlos. I’m Judd. Bosun,” Judd says, sticking out a massive hand to shake Carlos’.

“Paul.”

“Marjan.”

“Mateo.”

The rest of the team chimes in and shakes hands as well. “Nice to meet you all,” Carlos says. “I’m excited to be here.”

“We’re glad to have you,” Paul says. “These people have been making me pull double duty on the deck and in the kitchen so we don’t starve.”

“You made one meal,” Marjan says, smacking at him with her towel.

“I made chili!” Paul says. “That’s so much work it’s basically three meals!”

“Wow, thanks for rolling out the red carpet and making a good first impression guys,” T.K. says, glancing at Carlos to gauge his reaction to the team shenanigans.

Carlos chuckles. “Chili is a lot of work, and I’m sure it was delicious.” He looks down at his watch. “I’m really sorry to cut it short, but I think I’ve got my work cut out for me in the galley.”

“Yeah yeah, don’t let us keep you,” Judd says, waving them off.

“They seem nice,” Carlos observes once they’re back in the cool air conditioning of the interior.

“This team is solid,” T.K. tells him, feeling himself puff up with pride. “Judd has been with the boat since day one. The rest of us have been here at least a couple years. It’s family.”

He’s about to open his mouth to ask Carlos a little more about himself when there’s a yelp and a body comes hurtling toward them at light speed. Iris throws herself at Carlos, wrapping him up in an aggressive hug that almost takes them both to the floor. “You’re here!” she yells, glee evident in every line of her body.

Despite his initial shock Carlos immediately softens, his face going tender and warm. His hand cradles the back of Iris’ head and he practically cuddles her right there in the salon, making T.K. feel like he’s awkwardly intruded on a private moment. “Hey chica,” Carlos says, his voice full of something so tender that it sends a jolt of jealousy through T.K. Whatever happened between him and Iris, it doesn’t seem like Carlos is over it.

He pulls back after a minute, cupping Iris’ face in his hands as he studies it closely. “How are you? You’re good?”

“Oh my god, you’re such a worrier. Yes. I’m good,” she says with a laugh.

“And Michelle?”

T.K.’s memory vaguely supplies that Michelle is Iris’ older sister. “Yeah she’s good too. Chief stew on a boat in Italy right now,” Iris says. She sends a glance at T.K., her eyes sparkling. “I see you met T.K. already. He’s your roommate you know.”

Something odd flashes across Carlos’ face. “Yeah I know,” he says, looking almost embarrassed.

T.K. desperately wants to know what’s going on. He feels like he’s missed out on a private joke, but at that moment Nancy strides into the salon. “Okay enough chatting people we have guests coming onboard in—” she checks her watch, “—less than half an hour.” She stops when she sees Carlos. “Oh hi. You the new chef?”

He shakes her hand. “Yeah, Carlos.”

“Thank god. Nancy. Chief stew. We should talk.”

“Yes,” Carlos says. “I didn’t see the preference sheets for the guests in the galley. Do you have them?”

She holds up a stack of papers. “On my way to post them now. Want to come with and we’ll figure out what kind of fancy ass food these people want?”

“Definitely,” Carlos says.

“And you two can start making drinks and getting cold towels ready,” Nancy calls over her shoulder.

“Already done!” T.K. and Iris chime together.

Nancy turns and walks the last few steps to the doorway backward, pointing at them and then clasping her hands over her heart. “And that’s why you two are my favorites.”

“So?” Iris says as she and T.K. step behind the bar to finish setting up the cocktails. “He’s hot right? I told you.”

“Actually you didn’t,” T.K. says mildly. She could not have said less about it in fact.

“I didn’t?” She scrunches up her nose and thinks for a second, then shrugs like it doesn’t matter. “Whatever. He is though, right? Very hot?”

“I’m going to be honest here and say I think it’s kind of weird that you talk about your ex like this,” T.K. says, pouring champagne carefully into glasses.

“What does him being my ex have to do with it?” she scoffs. “He’s objectively hot. You have to see it.”

T.K. is going to admit to no such thing. And he knows if stalls long enough Iris will move on. Her attention span tends to be on the short side.

“God, why do they make these fucking skorts so short?” she asks seconds later, yanking at the black fabric covering her thighs. “It’s sexist. And misogynistic.”

“Aren’t those kind of the same thing?”

She glares at him. “You can mansplain sexism to me when you have a skirt the size of a postage stamp riding up your ass. Okay? Okay.”

She grabs the tray of champagne glasses from him and whisks them away without another word. He huffs out a laugh and opens the fridge to take out the towels and stack them up on a second tray as Tommy’s voice comes over the radio announcing that the guests will be arriving in less than five minutes and to please get to the aft deck.

Everyone looks fresh and ready in their whites and Tommy gives him a nod as he joins the line-up, tucking in at the end next to Iris. Seconds later another body slides into the open space on his left and he looks up to find Carlos. The other man gives him a quick smile, a trace of nerves hiding behind it. T.K. feels the overwhelming urge to reach over and squeeze his hand in reassurance. Thank god he’s occupied with holding the towel tray because he’s not sure he could stop himself otherwise.

And then he’d have to throw himself overboard, swim to a deserted island, and start a new life with nothing but a volleyball for company.

“There they are,” Judd says half a second later, nodding toward the dock where a group of impeccably dressed men and women are walking toward the Firebug.

“They look rich,” Mateo says.

“They always look rich,” Marjan tells him with a roll of her eyes. “Only rich people can afford chartered yacht vacations.”

“Yeah but there’s a difference between looking rich and being rich,” Mateo says.

T.K. has to agree with him. People who are rich tend to have high expectations, but are usually pretty nice and leave big tips. People who look rich…that’s a crapshoot. And they usually end up being assholes.

T.K. hopes it’s the former this time.

There are greetings and handshakes all around and then Nancy takes them off to tour the boat as T.K. and Iris wash the champagne glasses and throw the towels in the laundry before heading down to help put away the luggage the deck crew has hauled onboard.

Then it’s a whirlwind of drinks and snacks and cleaning (there’s always something to be cleaned) as they set sail away from the dock, the white prow of the Firebug gleaming as it cuts through the cerulean blue of the ocean.

T.K. doesn’t get more than a glimpse of Carlos again until dinner. When Nancy calls him over the radio to come for service he walks into the galley and stops dead in his tracks. The guests asked for a sushi spread but what he sees is…unbelievable. It should have been physically impossible for Carlos to produce this much food at this level of quality in the few hours he’s been on board.

“Holy shit. This is gorgeous.” The words are out of T.K.’s mouth before he means them to be.

“Thanks,” Carlos says, slightly flushed from the heat of his work. He’s pouring heavy cream into a bowl, probably working on dessert already.

“No seriously this is…how did you do all of this so fast?” T.K. asks.

He’s worked on boats for years. He’s seen impressive food before. Michelin star worthy meals. But this tops all of it.

Carlos shrugs and starts whisking, the muscles of his upper arm flexing back forth in an impressive display. “It’s my job,” he says simply. “I put the crew dinner out too. Make sure you get some.”

Nancy and Iris still haven’t arrived, so T.K. sneaks over to the crew mess and finds Paul devouring an equally impressive spread of sushi. “Save some for the rest of us,” T.K. says, snagging a California roll and shoving it whole into his mouth.

“It’s so good though,” Paul groans. “I thought Pearce was good, even if he was a son of a bitch, but damn. This new guy….”

T.K. agrees. The California roll is the best he’s ever had in his life and he stands there at the table devouring a few more mouthfuls before Nancy and Iris sweep in and force him back to work.

Dinner service goes shockingly smoothly. No one yells. No one sulks in passive aggressive silence. Carlos and Nancy communicate perfectly, food goes out on time, the wine flows, the guests are thrilled, it’s literally the best night they’ve had on the boat in weeks.

Tommy comes down halfway through, a soft smile on her face when she sees how easily Carlos has slipped into the role of chef. He smiles and laughs as he cooks, chatting away easily with the captain as if they’re old friends. There’s a sense of relief flooding through the boat. Carlos is a good fit. Thank god.

T.K. and Iris run down in between courses to turndown the cabins (thank god these guests seem pretty neat and tidy) and then Iris heads to bed as soon as dinner service is done so she can get up early to run breakfast. The meal has created about a thousand dishes and Nancy starts to help, but T.K. shoos her away. He’s on lates tonight, staying up to make sure the guests have any late night drinks or snacks they need, but she should get some sleep.

Carlos is wiping down counters. His chef’s coat is partially unbuttoned, the sleeves rolled up to expose his incredibly muscular forearms. The second T.K. sees them he repeats his mantra from earlier: He’s Iris’ ex, He’s Iris ex, He’s Iris’ ex…

Maybe if T.K. keeps reminding himself of that, his stupid heart will stop trying to leap out of his chest at the sight of this beautiful man.

“Oh thanks,” Carlos says, relief on his face when he sees T.K. roll up his own sleeves and start scrubbing away at the rest of the dishes. “I thought I was going to be here all night.”

“Happy to help,” T.K. says lightly.

“So how long have you been on the Firebug?” Carlos asks.

“Like, three years now?” T.K. says as he carefully sets some glassware to the side. “My dad used to be captain.”

“Oh cool,” Carlos replies. “Where is he now?”

“Boat in the Mediterranean. It’s a bigger vessel. They have good wine over there.”

“Sounds nice.”

“Yeah.” T.K. hesitates and then asks because he has to know. “So you’re from Austin? You and Iris grew up together?”

“Yeah the Blakes lived down the street,” Carlos says. “My sisters and I were always over at their house. They had a dog and a trampoline. We did not.”

“I see the appeal.”

“So three years here, where before that?”

T.K.’s stomach lurches. Before is hard to talk about. Before was full of pills and booze and shame and it’s something the crew all knows about, but it’s not a story that everyone can accept. The thought of this perfect looking man getting weird over it forces T.K. to hold back. “New York,” he says softly. “Manhattan. I lived there with my mom when I was a kid.”

“I’ve always wanted to go to New York.” Carlos sets a pan back into its place. “I have to know. Are the bagels actually that good? I mean…they’re really just regular bagels, right? Bagels aren’t even that great to begin with.”

“I’ll have you know that New York bagels are legendary,” T.K. tells him immediately. “There will be no bagel slander on this boat.”

“Okay, okay, sorry,” Carlos says with a laugh, holding up his hands. “I take it back.”

“You’d better,” T.K. says, also laughing. This guy is fun. Why the hell did Iris break up with him?

Carlos finishes what he’s doing and comes to dry the dishes T.K. has washed, but T.K. waves him off. “Head to bed,” he advises. “I know how much travel days suck and you’ve got to be up early for breakfast.”

“Thanks,” Carlos says, fatigue creeping in at the edges of him. “See you in the morning.”

T.K. puts away the last of the dishes and then heads up to check on the guests. He’s shocked to find Mateo hosing down the teak and not another person in sight. “They went to bed like ten minutes ago,” he says with a shrug. “Easiest night ever right?”

“Yeah seriously,” T.K. says. “You on anchor watch?”

“Yep,” Mateo pops the “p.” “All night long baby.”

“Don’t let us blow into a rock.”

“Ha ha.”

T.K. bids him goodnight and then heads toward his cabin. Maybe it’s exhaustion. Maybe it’s that Carlos brought up New York and now T.K.’s memories of that time are swirling around in his head. Maybe he’s distracted by the fact that these are the easiest guests he’s ever had in his entire life. Whatever the reason is, he forgets that Chef Carlos Reyes is his new roommate until he opens the door and sees him standing there.

In nothing but a pair of black boxer briefs.

Holy.

Fuck.

It’s just a reality of boat life that you see people naked or nearly naked on a regular basis. Quarters are tight and honestly, after so much time together, it literally doesn’t even matter. T.K.’s seen pretty much everyone’s butts and boobs and dicks onboard at this point and it doesn’t even phase him anymore.

But the sight of Carlos, hair still wet, the entire room damp from the steam of his shower and smelling like sandalwood and pine, feels so intimate that it nearly sends T.K. to his knees.

And he’s pretty sure he would do just about anything Carlos wanted once he was down there.

T.K. was right. The man has muscles. So. Many. Muscles. He’s an Adonis. A god. He can’t possibly be real.

He’s like T.K.’s dream guy wrapped up in neon yellow caution tape that screams OFF LIMITS.

Oh god.

He’s not going to make it through this charter season.

Hell.

He’s not going to make it through tonight.

“Sorry, am I in your way?” Carlos asks as he continues threading his chef’s coat onto a hanger.

Something flashes across his face. If T.K. didn’t know better he’d almost think it was something smug. Like he’s seen T.K. ogling him and possibly, maybe, is standing in their room mostly naked on purpose.

“No,” T.K. says quickly, squeezing in and shutting the door behind him.

Bad idea. Oh god. This space is so small. He’s practically chest to naked chest with Carlos and he can’t breathe or think and if he doesn’t do something right now he’s not going to be able to stop himself from reaching out and touching those washboard abs…

“Are you done in the bathroom?” he manages to squeak out.

“Yes,” Carlos says, that smug-ish look still on his face. “All yours.”

“Thanks.”

T.K. practically runs inside and locks the door behind him, collapsing onto the toilet lid.

Shit.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

#Tarlos #911 Lone Star #911lsfic #Tarlos Fic #T.K. Strand #Carlos Reyes #Yachting AU #Come Sail Away #Fluff #Meet Cute

32 notes · View notes