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#two whole people liked the announcement so here we gooo
secretwhumplair · 3 years
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The Sink - Intro/Reference/Timeline
So. Since I stumbled back into this universe, I figured I’d finally write up a quick intro post because otherwise it’ll be horribly confusing and/or I’ll have to explain the context every time I post something out of chronological order, which we all here know will be often. Especially for the whole Xerxes/Nor/Rega mess lol.
This setting features: Xerxes & Nor/Pet (& Rega), Leigh & the shapeshifter, and I might also throw the angel in. More characters pending :D
Content warnings: Pet whump, dehumanisation, the works.
Worldbuilding
Government is corrupt capitalism is running amok not much thought was put into this line because why
Poor and especially homeless are at risk of being snatched up by pet traders. Is this legal? No one cares. If you don’t have friends/family who are either very determined or rich, say goodbye to your chances of rescue. Most pet snatchers know better than to snatch someone from the latter categories (Leigh was a mistake, we’ll get there)
Most importantly! The Sink (TM) was an event that occurred two or three generations back, with two main consequences:
Mythological-esque creatures appearing, some humanoid in appaearance and/or intelligence, some not
Children (rarely) being born with superpowers, such as shapeshifting and healing factors
Needless to say these are considered extra valuable in the pet trade
To be clear, a filthy rich upper class exists and is the main market for pets
(Not really a worldbuilding aspect but this ‘verse is also trans character central, Nor is the only cis main character so far lol. Me experimenting with gender via my characters? Nooo what are you talking about)
Leigh & the shapeshifter
Leigh grows up on his uncle’s horse farm, otherwise known as the House by the Hill
At 18yo, he runs away for mostly just bratty reasons with a friend
Gets snatched up by pet traders, who think he’s just your average runaway teen with a broken family who won’t come looking
(They’re wrong, and Leigh’s family desperately looks for him for years, but they still get away with it)
Leigh is broken and bought by a sadistic master, the works
Said master later captures a shapeshifter
The two don’t have much opportunity to interact at first but during a trip to a nice little place in the countryside their master takes them to, that changes
Both of them are pretty messed up at this point. Leigh has been captive for six years.
When an opportunity arises, Leigh urges the shapeshifter to escape - he can’t because he’s got a GPS chip or whatever - but the shapeshifter insists he come along, claws the chip out, and they escape together
Somehow or other, they make it back to the House by the Hill half-dead
Cue everyone - the pair of them as well as Leigh’s family - dealing with their recovery
The shapeshifter and Leigh fall in love, you know how it is
Xerxes & Nor
Features a redemption arc of uncertain quality, including a whumper/whumpee reconciliation. I’ll tag the pieces this concerns “ex-whumper x whumpee” (unless someone has a better, similarly concise idea. It’s mostly if not fully non-romantic so the x doesn’t really do it justice lol.)
Xerxes grew up poor, therefore at high risk from pet snatchers, therefore decided early on if it was eat or be eaten, they would do the eating thank you very much
They start training pets in their late teens, quickly refining their crude methods and building a loyal string of clients, a reputation, and a fortune
They capture Nor - a small-time criminal just getting by, without family or friends to speak of - to train and keep as their personal pet
At some point they buy the House on the Hill as their home and training facility. Yes it’s the same hill. They’re now next door neighbours to Leigh’s family (next door here still means like. Half a hill apart.) This occurs before Leigh’s disappearance
Over time, they find themself growing genuine affection towards Nor, and satrt questioning their entire life. Eventually, they set Nor free to have an existential crisis by themself
Nor, with nowhere else to go, asks for a job at the House by the Hill, and they take him in (this is after Leigh’s escape and return)
(Xerxes does offer to host him as long as he needs but obviously Nor wants to leave as soon as he wraps his mind around his freedom)
(Which doesn’t take as long as it could, Xerxes never broke him fully because they enjoyed watching him struggle with his conflicting feelings about them)
Meanwhile Xerxes takes a trip to figure out what to do with their life. Comes across one of the pets they trained, a harpy-type bird creature, now utterly ruined, and buys them back more or less on a whim to help them recover
They make up their mind that this is what they’ll do moving forward, to try and make up for some of the damage they’ve done. They ask for help at the House by the Hill. The shapeshifter goes to help so Nor, who feels he should, doesn’t have to
Xerxes’ ex-clients are not thrilled with the development. One of them winds up kidnapping Xerxes to whump the living shit out of them
They’ve always had a difficult relationship with their clients due to their background, à la “we’ll tolerate you as long as you’re useful”
Oh did we mention they have a healing factor? Because they sure didn’t, knowing full well what it will mean to their clients. But of course, their captor figures it out
Xerxes thinks no one will care to save them. But of course Nor does and manages to strike a deal with their captor
Cue Nor caretaking an utterly shattered Xerxes because he knows they need someone they can trust around them which includes exactly one (1) person (barely) especially after what just happened to them
As Xerxes recovers, they carefully negotiate what their relationship will now be. Nor moves up the hill to help with the recued pets
Rega
Rega is trapped in a heavily abusive relationship, as good as a pet, but of course he doesn’t admit that to himself, manages, despite his own doubts, to ask Xerxes for help, and moves into the House on the Hill, where he ends up falling in love with Nor.
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wincore · 3 years
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act iii, incomplete | ten
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pairing: ten x reader
summary: it’s the same vivid dream every time — you, a feline constellation that keeps smiling at you and a boy who won’t ever forgive you. autumn, spring and everything in between come to save part of that but the truth is this: no amount of time spent at your small town theatre with your once best friend is going to speak the words for you.
alternatively, 
best friends aren’t meant to be lovers and ten, despite the millions of roles he’s played, keeps trying for the one role he won’t ever get.
genre: childhood best friends to lovers, slight theatre au, reincarnation themes, fluff, angst
warnings: alcohol consumption, mentions of injuries, mentions of death
words: 23.9k
a/n: hello i’m so glad i actually completed this !!!!! i’ve never written something like this before !!! also longest fic let’s gooo ahaha special thank you to miss cat for reading this and making it at least infinity times better i am in indebted to u <3. playlist here.
part of the almost collab by @hyucksie !! (thank you for hosting this, it was lovely to be a part!!)
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ACT I: HOMESICK
act i scene i. 
For the first time in years, you hold your breath at the local theatre, the walls more and more debilitated each year. It’s the only place, perhaps, that is so vibrant in its dull shades. The key is memories. Memories keep you alive in a way death and life and sickness cannot interfere. 
A single drum beat resounds through the theatre. A second one follows before a tune from a flute sets the mood. A voice speaks out, that of a woman, and it strikes you as somewhat sad. In that moment, you believe Ten would have pointed out to you that she is meant to do that, she is meant to play the part of someone sad. The curtains stare at you as undulating as a calm sea of red and you hold your breath. 
This is a modern play and you’ve only kept up with them for the sake of watching Ten play a part in them. As for other plays, high school Shakespeare was the most formidable text you’ve ever read and you’d rather not fight for your life again.
“Has the world ever seen a woman’s love unrivalled?”
A projector displays a flower, peonies, on the curtains.
“She once fell sick, dreaming of a lover; and once sick, she grew worse. Love is not love at its fullest if one is not willing to die for it.”
You don’t think that’s quite right. The curtains are drawn right then, their velvet sheen accentuated under the bright theatre lights and two characters appear on stage. 
Your first thought is that he’s grown far too much. The second is that he hasn’t changed much. Ten stands in the character of a play you haven’t finished reading yet, in clothes that accentuate his dancer’s figure and with the look of someone that isn’t him. You had tried to read  the play earlier but you might have gotten a little too excited to complete it. 
You bounce your legs in anticipation, the music and his voice fading out—it’s not like you can focus much with the high school kids giggling and making out in the seats right behind yours. You could always make a scene but it’s not like you to steal the spotlight away from your dearest friend. Besides, you need to reiterate through the list of things you have to help him catch up on since he’s been gone. Ten wouldn’t want to miss out on some spicy gossip. You chuckle to yourself, pressing your palms to your cheeks to cool yourself. 
Ten likes overwhelming responses. You like to be overwhelming. You’re the perfect pair. 
The play ends in a way you can’t tell if it was a tragedy or a comedy. You could have if you paid more attention but this isn’t literature class. You can do whatever you want now and you’re a little preoccupied with your own thoughts. Ten. Your best friend is back from Broadway after a year of barely talking. You can’t wait to hear the stories.
You get up as soon as the lights are on but when no one else does, you sit back down. The curtains part now and the cast comes on for their final bow. You shift around to see if Ten is looking at you, the older people beside you grunting in annoyance and muttering something about the youth. He’s not but Sicheng is and when you send a wink his way, he shakes his head.
You pout at the lack of attention but it’s time to make your way backstage now. The crowd is exiting and you need to get there before Ten leaves. 
Once outside, you make a beeline to the back of the theatre building and mess up Sicheng’s hair as he leaves for home. 
“He’s inside,” he informs curtly and makes as much distance possible between the two of you.
“Oh, don’t be shy, Sicheng,” you coo to annoy him. “You performed so well. Not as good as Ten though.”
Sicheng rolls his eyes. “Were you even paying attention?”
You cross your arms and push him onto his track. He shrugs and you watch his figure disappear behind the corner before taking a deep breath. With anticipation, comes a little unrestrained droplet of anxiety. You shouldn’t be worried, you tell yourself. This is Ten, after all.
The crows sing a song to themselves under the purple evening sun and you feel annoyed at the sound. It’s a song for ghosts. You hate the sound of it. 
You rub your temples, trying to hush away the headache. You can’t wait to see Ten.
You swing the door open in an attempt to sneak up on him. However, you take a few moments to see him barefaced, the stage makeup washed off and a red undertone running through his nose and cheeks. That dark mop of hair sticks out every which way, and no attempt has been made to rectify it. It was once your job, actually. He rubs at his sleepy eyes, a yawn escaping his lips as he stuff his belongings into a worn-out satchel bag. You gave it to him when you skipped prom night. You smile. 
“Ten!” you yell at the top of your lungs. You’ve missed him so much—an old greeting should warm him up. This town started feeling more like home once you heard the news Ten’s back.
He looks at you so cold that you stop dead in your tracks. You freeze up, the words suddenly collapsing into themselves like wilting flowers. You don’t recognize Ten all of a sudden. He wears a deep frown and empty eyes, something you cannot understand no matter what angle you look from. Everything’s changed now, hasn’t it? You truly understand what that means when you meet his eyes.
“Ten,” you repeat at a more respectable volume. “Hey. I… I missed—”
“Hey,” he responds a little too quickly. Eyes less sharp than usual, he averts his gaze. “I- I need to get home early.”
Ten grabs his bag and leaves the room, his shoulder brushing against yours. You stand there for a few extra moments, breaths shallow and quiet. When you regain the sound of your heartbeat, you leave the practice room, throat dry and a frustrated sigh on your lips. Consequences, every time it’s the consequences biting back.
The crows’ song goes unheard.
act i scene ii.
“So… you want me to get Ten to talk to you?” 
Sicheng looks at you in disbelief, the ice cream in his hand starting to melt. You’ve never met anyone who enjoys ice cream in mid-autumn as much as he does. Sore throats are foreign to him.
You nod, crossing your arms. “I don’t know why he’s avoiding me.”
Sicheng scoffs, choking on the ice cream and taking a few moments to regain his composure. 
“Thanks,” he says when you rub his back in pity. “But… you really don’t know why he’s avoiding you?”
You shake your head. It’s a lie. But the only thing you can think of is the summer he left, when he confessed his feelings and you rejected him after a few seconds of contemplation. You had good reason. You just can’t tell him that. You’re still young and there’s so much to look forward to.
"You obviously have feelings for him!"
"Yeah, anger! Why would he just ignore me like that? We've been friends for, uh…"
"Stop counting, you suck at math."
You punch his shoulder and his ice cream almost falls off. He looks at you with a glare so strong, you have to take a step back.
“Sorry,” you mumble. “I thought we were like any other pair of best friends.”
Sicheng snorts. “Yeah, best friends in love with each other. Didn't you suggest getting married once?”
“As a joke,” you interject, feeling heat on your cheeks. “Actually, do you know how useful a marriage of convenience is? It's got convenience in the name. Think of all the tax benefits.”
Sicheng rolls his eyes. “The way you looked at each other wasn’t a joke—you know what? I’m not going to be the supporting act to your whole romance charade. You figure this out.”
You pout. “So you’re saying you won’t help?”
He shrugs. “Maybe. You won’t know if I did.”
You furrow your eyebrows, groaning in exasperation. This was supposed to be a happy reunion and yet, you’re here moping to a theatre kid, hoping he helps you. You expected Ten to not take it well but right now, you wish you weren’t so blunt. You could have said it nicer.
You’re joking, right? Haha, nice one. Best friends don't fall in love.
Oh, this is all your fault. You knew him better than anyone else. You should’ve known the consequences too—you could scream right now. In your defense, you thought college made him lose a few brain cells. You still have to make it right. 
“Fine. Whatever you might do, better do it soon.”
Sicheng shrugs, turning back to his ice cream and browsing lazily through one of the magazines. He’s supposed to be watching the store—he gets paid for it but he couldn’t care less about this place. Sicheng is something of a theatrical actor too, traveling around and performing with his theatre group. He never cared for Broadway as much as Ten did.
However, you’re all here now. This autumn is going to be spent with your best friends no matter the cost. You smile as you think of the time you and Ten surprised Sicheng with a whole bag of ice cream and he cried although most of it ended up melting. Sicheng raises an eyebrow at your expression but doesn't question.
“There’s a reunion party by the woods,” he announces. “Next week. Saturday. You have to make up before that. You know they’re going to be brutal.”
You shudder. Your classmates certainly won’t let go of the idea of your relationship with Ten. Teasing aside, they’re going to be making either one of you uncomfortable. All your excitement drains itself. Your shoulders slump and you think that perhaps, asking for forgiveness would be a better out. You recover quickly though. This has to work out, Ten has to be your best friend again—what choice do you have? You missed him and you’re going to let him know.
//
The first attempt begins right in the evening. Sicheng texts Ten after his shift, asking him to get some snacks. Lucky for you, you work at the local snack store, also called the convenience store. There’s nowhere better to get snacks. There’s also nowhere else to get snacks.
You stand behind the counter, fiddling with the drawstrings of your hoodie while your eyes trail to the hands of the clock on the wall. Sicheng texted him half an hour ago. Ten might not be the most punctual but you know he listens to Sicheng, even if it’s reluctantly.
Your impatience gets the better of you and you leave the counter to peer out the glass door. Unfortunately, someone pushes open the door right then and you clutch your nose, eyes watering at the painful impact. 
Ten looks petrified for a moment before turning around and leaving. You furrow your eyebrows, tears brimming from the pain in your nose and mixing into the exasperation from getting so bluntly ignored. Come on, Ten. You curse on your way back to the lonely counter. There goes the only thing you were looking forward to this evening. Sicheng walks in a while later, a sour look on his face.
“He actually gave me a mouthful,” he mutters angrily. “Can you believe that? Me. Who’s listened to all his lovesick ramblings about y—theatre.” 
You slump onto the counter further, the bright orange background of the store more headache-inducing than optimistic. 
“God, this is so much more difficult than I expected.”
“What happened between the two of you anyway? I thought you promised to call him every day.”
“I tried, okay? He wouldn’t pick up.”
Sicheng raises an eyebrow. “Woah. Haven’t heard about that one.”
He places the single pack of Lays onto the counter. You get up to pull the chocolate ice cream from the cooler.
“Don’t bother. It’s so depressing getting shut out like this.”
Sicheng mutters something under his breath you don’t quite catch. It’s his complaining voice though, so you don’t question him. 
“He’s going to be at the Bridge tomorrow,” Sicheng notifies. “Something about getting fresh early morning air. Now, there’s no way you can run into him and call it coincidence. So don’t do that.”
You cross your arms. “So what do you suggest I do?”
“I mean, if you’re accompanying Mr. Yang to the dahlia fields for flower shop business… that’s a different story.”
Your eyes brighten and you sit up. “You’re a genius!”
“I’ve been telling you guys since—”
You hug him and he chokes, almost dropping the Lays pack. The door opens and you hurriedly wave at Yangyang, who’s here for the next shift before running out the door in a hurricane of bad decisions and good intentions.
“I hate being the middleman,” Sicheng mutters to Yangyang who offers him a pitiful look. The evening returns to its pink skies and you race your feelings to your destination.
//
“Mr. Yang,” you whine. “You don’t need a single dahlia? I’m offering to help.”
The older man scratches his spotless white beard and looks at you in confusion. “I gathered a whole cartload just three days ago. There’s no way I need more. You know this place—no one buys flowers anymore.”
“I’ll buy them! A whole cartload.”
“And where will you get the money, child?”
“Uh.”
Mr. Yang shakes his head at your immaturity. “If you’re so eager, get me some chrysanthemums from Mrs. Leong’s sh—”
“No. It has to be from the other side of the Bridge,” you interject. 
Mr. Yang is further perplexed but you’re glad he doesn’t ask further. Having to explain your love and friendship troubles to a senior citizen has never been an ideal situation. You make a face at the thought.
“Alright,” he says and takes a few moments to ponder. “You want an errand to run, right? Could you get me some sunflower seeds from Goodwin Park?”
“That far?”
He sighs. “Do you want to go or not?”
You nod reluctantly, checking your phone to see the time. It’s early as fuck and the only person you’d wake up this early for doesn’t even know you’re doing all this.
“It’s to feed the birds, isn’t it?” You raise an eyebrow. 
Mr Yang nods.
“You know, you don’t have to do all that to get Mrs. Leong to notice you.” You offer him a cheeky grin.
“I’m assuming it’s also a person you’re doing all of this for,” he hums in reply.  
You drop your grin and take the errand money, heat rising in your cheeks. Exiting quickly, you check the time again. Ten better not have left early.
Shortcuts are better when there’s someone with you, you decide. You have gained around five long scratches at five different places on your body trying to best the hill beside Maple Street in order to get to the Bridge faster. If Ten were here, he'd laugh at you for being so graceless. 
The Bridge is empty when you arrive and you sigh deeply. You’re not sure if you’re early or he’s late or you’re astronomically late. The grass is still a golden green in colour, for autumn never truly comes in when you’re expecting it. The little stream below the Bridge is almost dried up but the wooden structure stays. You remember Sicheng broke his leg once, trying to catch Ten’s family cat pawing at fish in the stream when it used to be fuller.
You greet Mr. Santello at his garden and buy the sunflower seeds. Your errand is complete but the rising agitation in your chest makes you kick a rock on the way back to the Bridge. This side of the town is bleak except for the garden and the only fun you’ve had here is when a beehive dropped on Yukhei’s head (he poked at it himself with no provocation from your side whatsoever). The scenery is much prettier with someone to appreciate it. You, on the other hand, cannot wait to leave this town. You walk back with certain memories playing in your head, the smell of nostalgia rising with the sun. You’ve always hated early mornings; but you did have fun in them when you had to wake up for school trips. You hold your breath, stopping right before the beginning of the Bridge.
Ten leans against the wooden rails of the Bridge, Starmill Bridge, with eyes gently closed and white earphones plugged in. You smile to yourself. When the sunlight draws across his cheeks, he seems brighter than golden skies and softer than late afternoon clouds. You see the boy from your childhood, messy unbrushed hair and his favourite grey sweater. He’s so full of colour. You wouldn’t mind staring at him for as long as you can.
You take a step and your hoodie catches onto a stray nail, making you stumble onto the wooden floor of the Bridge. You look at your scattered boxes of sunflower seeds with horror but not before finding Ten plucking out his earphone to look at you. He’s so pretty even in a daze.
“Hi?” you offer. “I was on an errand, promise. Not stalking you and trying to get you to talk to me or anything. Hah.”
Ten shakes his head at you and quietly stares for a few more moments.
“I don’t want to talk to you right now,” he answers finally. “Stop trying.”
You look at him with a flickering guilt though you’re not sure why. He sighs and walks toward you, frowning. He takes out the cloth of your hoodie stuck in the nail with tentative care. Gathering the boxes of sunflower seeds scattered on the floor, he glances at you once before getting up.
You grab his hand before he can walk away again. 
“Ten,” you say, your voice coming off more pitiful than you would like. 
He turns back at you with lips pursed and a sorrowful look in his eyes. 
“Sorry,” he whispers. “I need to work some things out.”
Ten leaves you hanging for a third time in your life and you pull yourself together enough to stand up. You can’t imagine—you don’t want to imagine how much longer this’ll go on. Ten used to be an amenable boy; it shouldn’t be taking this long.
Somewhere the wind comes tumbling in, whispering the words that everything has changed and everything is still changing.
//
The third and last attempt is outside his house. Ten’s mother is bound to notice you at some point, right? Considering you’re camping out like a homeless man from the nearby gas station, that is. You hope she’s out for grocery shopping and you can just pretend you were on your way home and ‘accidentally’ bumped into her. Being the kind soul she is, she’s going to invite you to dinner since it’s late already. And where else can you spend your time while she cooks but in Ten’s room? It’s perfect and there’s no way he can avoid this.
“(name)!” Ten’s sister yells in glee. 
“Tern!” You smile at her.
“Mom’s sending me for grocery shopping. Do you wanna come help?”
You want to go inside the house but patience is quite possibly a virtue. You haven’t tried it out yet. 
“Sure.” You grin. “I’ve got time to kill.”
So, you are aware that Ten’s sister tends to shoot off at the mouth with the right person but you somehow cannot get her to talk about Ten. Apart from his life in New York, that is, which you had hoped to hear from him. 
“So… how come you’re not in our house already? No offense, it’s just you and Ten… you know.” She looks at you with an inquisitive quirk of her eyebrow. 
Ten must be a really good actor. Not like you ever doubted him but for his sister to be so blissfully unaware, he must have put on quite the show. Either that, or he really has forgotten you. You try not to feed fire to that thought.
“Uh, you know, been busy with the snack shack. We’re redecorating. Mr. Kim is going to boil me alive if I slack off.”
She giggles at your expression. “I heard it from Yangyang. He said the redecorations are ugly though.”
You raise your eyebrows. “Ten let you talk to Yangyang? A boy?”
She crosses her arms with a disbelieving laugh. “He can’t tell me how to live. Besides, he doesn’t care.”
You laugh. “Right. You have no idea how overprotective he can actually be. Older brother instincts or whatever.”
She suppresses a laugh. “And you must be facing the boyfriend instincts.”
You stammer out a response but it doesn’t make any sense. It’s alright to get laughed at, you suppose, if Tern is in fits beside you.
The rest of the conversation is about things less important. It would be rude to not engage though so you talk with enthusiasm all the way back. Part of you sees Ten in his sister. How terrible of you to see someone else in a person right beside you.
“(name)!” 
Ten’s mother looks pleasantly surprised. 
“Good evening, ma’am!” You curtsy in an exaggerated manner, and she laughs, patting your arm. 
“How come it took you so long to visit? You hardly ever came over these few years, and I’m a little upset about that by the way, but I thought for sure, you’d be in the house the day Ten came back.”
You scratch the back of your head sheepishly. “You know. Work and stuff. Mr Kim is redecorating the store.”
She exhales in annoyance. “Is that man exploiting you children again?”
“I’m—uh… I’m an adult—”
“Hush,” she instructs, voice strict and you zip your mouth immediately. Never question a mother’s statement.
“Ten’s in his room, by the way. Should I call him?” she asks, after a minute of complaining about Mr. Kim, which you would have loved to join but there are other matters at hand. She has all the gossip in town and yet, she’s somehow blissfully unaware of the silence between her son and his best friend. Are you not as important? It makes you pout but you quickly neutralize your expression.
“Ten!” she shouts when you don’t respond, a little lost in your own thoughts.
“Uh—oh no, you don’t have to do that!” you say quickly. “I’ll just go to his room.”
You hurry up the stairs, just in time for Ten to open his bedroom door and jump back in fright.
“Oh my fucking god,” he mutters, like the soul has been kicked straight out of his body. In any other situation, you would’ve loved to give him a scare.
You walk into the bedroom and lock the door behind you. 
“Ten. We need to talk.”
“I don’t wanna talk,” he says, furrowing his eyebrows. You notice the change in his features—his hair has grown out, his face is more chiseled and he has an angry quirk to his brows. “I told you I need some space. You never know how to listen, fuck.”
His voice is a low whisper, in the short space between you. You don’t move from your spot, with your back against the wall and feet nervous. You shift from foot to foot and look him in the eye before looking away. You’ve never felt this way around him. You’ve never actually pissed him off this bad. You don’t know what to do.
“Just leave. God. I can’t believe you think you can just walk in!”
You frown at his words. “Ten. I just wanted to talk to you again. We’re friends—”
“How does it matter if we are? Everything’s changed. This whole place has changed. I’ve changed.” 
“But… that doesn’t mean we have to pretend we’re strangers—”
“Leave. Please.”
His voice is so low and odd that you don’t recognize it anymore. You sigh. You can’t convince him when he’s so defensive. You open the door to his bedroom to find Ten’s mom and sister in the hallway trying very hard to pretend they weren’t eavesdropping. You offer them a sad smile and thank his mother for the dinner before taking your leave. You feel too ridiculous to cry.
How do people put in all that effort in romantic comedies? You don't even know where to start. Maybe you should follow the King's advice from Alice in Wonderland. 
Begin at the beginning and go on until you come to the end; then stop.
No. No, you can't be thinking of ending scenes right now. There's a much bigger problem at hand. Saturday. You better brace yourself for the unpredictability of former prom queens and class presidents, and the predictability of this small town that never changes. 
act i scene iii.
High school reunion parties here aren’t exactly mawkish affairs. There’s alcohol, people who are meant to be adults but haven’t quite grown into it yet, the looming woods, and more alcohol. There's no room for sentimentalism when your former classmates, seniors and juniors—those who could be here, at least—are back together and it feels like nothing has changed at all. However, college-age boys always pose problems. 
“Look, if Johnny can do it, so can I,” Yukhei tells you. 
Johnny smacks his shoulder encouragingly, and a few of your friends giggle at the two lanky men, looking like they’ve discovered something priceless beside the campfire light.
“This beer tastes like crap,” you mutter before returning to a regular volume. “But go ahead and try chugging two bottles in under a minute if you want.”
Your backhanded statement backfires almost immediately because he does exactly as you said. Pinching the bridge of your nose, you try not to peek at Ten, sitting beside Johnny and looking rather sleepy. It’s the bedhead, you think to yourself. It’s cute.
“Alright, who’s next?” Yukhei asks, voice booming enthusiastically. 
Yeri sighs beside you, tired from the late night and not so much from the alcohol. Speaking of which, the alcohol table is somehow still stocked and Sicheng stands beside it, looking sour from being forced into guard duty. 
“Tell him to pipe down,” Yeri mutters, pressing her forehead against your shoulder and you look at her apologetically. 
“(name) hasn’t answered anything yet!” Sooyoung pipes up and you shoot her a look she ignores. “Neither has Ten, by the way.”
A bunch of “ooh”s pass through the crowd of roughly twenty people, and you would bury your face in your hands were it not for that stubborn pride of yours. 
Truth or dare is quite possibly the worst game in the history of mankind. Ten looks somewhat flustered under the attention but he just sighs. 
“Get it over with.” He looks at Yukhei expectantly.
“Kiss (name)!”
Your heart drops and you glare at Yukhei. You should have expected it. There is no one more unimaginative than drunk boys. His cheeks are flushed when he grins at you, encouraging you with a thumbs up gesture. 
“He doesn’t have to do that.” You cross your arms. “Consent is important even in fun and games.”
The sentence is so didactic of you but you hope the seriousness in your voice makes him back off.
“But you guys are, like, in love with each other,” Yangyang blurts before covering mouth as if he said something scandalous.
A bunch of chuckles follow, though Johnny shows some concern towards Ten. You remember why you hate high school reunions now. Apart from the fact that almost everyone gets to tell their stories of big cities and big dreams they get to live in, everyone turns into a child again when at a reunion. Perhaps it’s the burst of memories or the vivid glow of old connections returning but you can’t stand childishness. Even if you’re the one to act like a child sometimes.
“I’m gonna go drink,” you say. “That’s the punishment, right? I’m not playing anymore.”
Yukhei groans. “Come on, (name). You wouldn’t be such a bore.”
“I would,” you snap and get up from your seat, Yeri muttering in annoyance before leaning onto Sooyoung’s shoulder.
Ten is glowing in the cheeks, you find when you look at him. He meets your eyes once and looks away, playing with his fingers. 
You pour yourself some beer into a cup and lift it up to show to Yukhei before striding off to a place farther than the warmth of people and the campfire. The giant log is a nice enough seat by the edge of the woods. It is cold and mossy though, and you hug yourself, sticking your hands into the pockets of your cardigan.
The sound of footsteps over dried leaves catch your attention and you look up. Ten takes a seat beside you in silence. You move the cup of beer so that it doesn’t spill from any sudden movement. It’s quiet for even longer, your pulse the only rhythm to follow.
"Ten." You smile, looking away from him and into the ceaseless stretch of woods. He hums in response, as though a habit yet to get rid of. It makes you bite down your lip to prevent the smile from turning into something sadder.
You miss him. You miss the years you spent with him. You're drawn into him, into something old, familiar and safe. 
No one can save you when you’re homesick. 
However, you do not give up easily. What is broken can be mended with enough love and care.
Ten sighs, taking the cup from you right before it touches your lips. "Don't drink that. You hate the taste and it makes you go crazy."
You pout, but can't really find something snarky enough to say. Not when he looks like that—with dry, still-red lips and tired, apologetic eyes.
“Your forehead is so oily,” you mutter.
Ten looks at you, furrowing his eyebrows. He proceeds to hesitantly wipe at his forehead with the sleeve of his sweatshirt before shaking himself out of it. Instead he just glares at you.
“It’s not oilier than your nose,” he shoots, annoyed. 
“At least my nose isn’t titan-sized.”
“My nose is perfect. Do you- do you know how many people fall in love with my perfect nose every day?”
You laugh, covering your face. His features soften and he returns his gaze to the comfort of the endless forest. It does have an end, at the fences by the railway tracks but in believing that something can be infinite, you find comfort. 
"New York treated you well. Too well. But then again, you were always a narcissist."
You smile smugly at him and he gives you an unamused look.
"I'm… I'm glad we're talking," you offer after a few moments of unacknowledged silence.
He tenses ever so slightly, running a hand through his already messy hair and looks at you. He looks away again as if in an internal debate.
“You rejected me, (name),” he says, exasperated. “How do I recover from that? Don’t answer. It was so embarrassing.”
You close your mouth. If only you could tell him the truth. You had to reject him or your sentimental boy would never leave for acting opportunities. He doesn’t have to know that. You’re fine with loving him quietly. You’re fine with loving him quietly.
But the truth is, it’s too scary to think about. You’ve been refusing to look at your feelings for a long time now. It’s only a cliche; it doesn't happen in real life. You’re too good of friends to be in love. Isn’t that right? It certainly couldn't have been you to fall in love with Ten. There were a million other people to do that in your stead. You feel shy all of a sudden.
“That was pretty embarrassing,” you mumble, pressing down your smile and he rolls his eyes.
After a few moments in silence, a sigh escapes his lips. “I’ve had enough time for closure though. I can’t believe I actually said that. Oh, the over-sentimentalism. Yikes.”
He makes a disgusted face.
You giggle. “I can’t believe it either. You do look cute blushing, by the way. You find any lover in the big, scary city? Any rebound?” 
Ten rolls his eyes. “Too busy. And are you going to tease me forever about this thing?”
You laugh. “That’s the Ten I know. You’re always working. Sometimes you should have fun.” 
“I have plenty of fun. You’re the one that used to cry at birthday parties.”
“I was six years old and it was one time, holy shit.”
The two of you break into laughter. The cold makes you draw nearer to him.
“Hey, wanna go to the mall this weekend?” you suggest.
“Wait, it’s still there? Wasn’t it supposed to get knocked down?”
“Yeah but the townsfolk didn’t want that so they delayed it. There’s, like, barely any employees though. It’s like a ghost mansion at night.”
Ten makes a face. “The afternoons there were so bright, like, there was so much sunlight, remember? I remember you always drinking my banana milk at the food plaza.”
You laugh. “I miss skipping class to go there. Now there aren’t any classes to skip.”
“Oh my god, remember when Mr. Wilson actually caught us?”
You laugh louder. “We had to pretend we weren’t his students. Which was futile acting because he knows every student.” 
Ten sighs. 
“I missed you. God, I’m so fucking sorry—I was in over my head. I thought I ruined everything.”
“Hey.” You scoot closer, wrapping your arms around him. “I missed you too. Besides, it’s not you if you’re not being a bit of a drama queen.”
Ten elbows you in the side at the comment and you yelp, moving away and glaring at him in response. 
“Just because I’m in theatre doesn’t mean I’m a drama queen.” He mocks the tone of your voice and you giggle.
“So any special Broadway stories you have in mind? I wanna hear something funny.” You rest your head on his shoulder comfortably.
"Well, one time this actress' dress caught on fire—"
"That's not funny, that's horrifying."
Ten purses his lips. “Okay. Uh… I got told to fuck off by an eighty year old man in drag after I threw raw steak at his window?”
You snort, eyes widening and Ten throws up his hands in exasperation. "How is that remotely funny?"
"I'm pretty sure that's as funny as it gets with you."
"I can't believe you're pretending I didn't carry our sense of humour on my back for all of middle school and high school."
“I missed you," you say quietly, and he flusters, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.
"Really? You're not just saying that?"
You sigh, inching closer. "Yes. I did miss you, you know? I called."
"And I didn't pick up. I know. I'm sorry."
"I think you've apologized to me more times now than you have in our first twenty years of friendship."
Ten rolls his eyes. "And I mean it. It's not the 'sorry I ate your cookies' apology."
"I fucking knew you were the one eating stuff from my bag back in high school."
Ten presses his lips, making a zipping motion and you push him in exasperation. The two of you laugh, loud and clear, before Johnny's voice comes in, telling the two of you to "stop fooling around near the woods" and that it's "unhygienic".
Seasons change but people don't. You walk home with Ten for the first time in a year and suddenly, you’re in love with the idea that things can just lie in complete peace once they fall back into what was always meant to be. Perhaps it’s the writer’s utopia, but you think it’s much more meaningful this way. Ten's hoodie smells just like home.
prologue.
It was a sunlit morning when you first met Ten, but it was only a sunlit morning. There were no birds chirping or faceless adults on that sidewalk or even your friends because you don’t recall them. You recall a child with two very important teeth missing and your sudden urge to run to his side. You’d pulled his cheek with a huge grin on your face because, and you still stand by this, they were too cute and plump and red to resist.
You were three and a half years old when you met Ten and you parted when you were twenty. One year later, you're back to linking arms, joking about each other and talking about life as though it's a passing stream. 
You were six years old when you cried at Ten's birthday party because no one was talking to him. It gave you an evening's worth of attention and a huge smile on Ten's face. You still think kids are mean as hell but they care for things like they have never cared before. 
You were eleven years old when you started to lose a little bit of touch with yourself. You talked less, you looked at people more. Ten's face was still the most comforting out of all. He said he liked to listen no matter how annoying you sound. Somehow, by the time sixth grade was over, when you were almost twelve—you talked at least twice as much. 
You were fourteen years old when you dated a boy out of curiosity and left on an awkward note when he moved away. You weren't sad for some reason. The idea of life passing meaninglessly by was engraved into you, like the waves that carve the beach. Ten was distant the whole time, with a scowl and more sarcastic remarks than usual, only warming up when you showed up at his door with a homemade cake. It tasted horrible and had the texture of a mossy pebble but you laughed over it anyway. Suddenly, life wasn't meandering but a river full of vigor in spring, beside a garden of fresh crested irises. 
You were sixteen when you were pushed to audition in a play by your best friend. The play was about life and death and love, and it didn’t make sense to you the way it did to him. You had good fun backstage with the costumes and the makeup, and it was all that mattered to you. However, some part of you didn't like it, hated it even when he kissed the female lead of the play with eyes full of adoration. You looked on as Villager B and you hated every part of it.
When you were eighteen turning nineteen, you decided to save up for college. It would take time—years perhaps but you would get there. You would get an apartment with Ten in New York City or any city full of bustling, busy life and you would tend to your rooftop garden. Small town dreams, however, die and they die and they’re buried in unloved, unplanted soil. 
You finally understood what your tenth grade English teacher meant when she said everything is theatre. 
The night he left, you had a nightmare. It was a play and you were the protagonist. You couldn’t make it in time for the night of the performance, anxious and afraid as you arrived. You’d been replaced. You hated to see him on stage with someone else. You hated it. You hated it. You hated it so much. 
Of course, you knew it would be a showstopper the moment that fight broke out between you and your replacement. You were cruel in that dream—almost as if you were someone else. But you felt comfortable in that skin, like you were meant to play that part after all. As if you were the villain all along and not the sweetheart of the show. You felt comfortable and it scared you so much that you woke in cold sweat and cried for an hour straight.
It hurt how lonely you felt. It hurt without Ten and you hate that you let him go. Something took shape inside the cavity of your chest, the shape of a weed sprouting in the pulsing garden of life—you won’t make the same mistake again. You’re going to hold on with all your might, till your hands ache and till your heart has had enough. 
ACT II: YOUTH 
 act ii scene i.
“Have you ever actually shoplifted in your life?”
“Oh, shut up.”
Ten tries to suppress his smile and fails, moving so that his back covers you from view instead. A conversation about New York subways led to a conversation about anarchy which led to… this. You’ve been trying to swipe the butterfly pin from the display for the past half an hour. You weren’t actually going to steal it—you just need to prove you can.
The mall is always eerily empty. It shouldn’t be this big of a hassle. Ah yes, apart from the fact that the souvenir shop has stationed the most number of employees for some goddamn reason. You’re not even sure why it’s there; a souvenir shop for your town might as well be a forgotten relic.
“What? No,” he says quickly. “I’m not doing that. Causing trouble is your thing.”
You snort. “Right. Because everything we got into trouble for was done completely by me.”
“That’s actually true.”
You elbow him, giving him your most offended look.
“You can’t be serious about never causing trouble. You broke Mrs. Leung’s famous ruler, remember? And you always stole your mom’s Halloween cupcakes. Those were for all of the theatre crew, by the way.”
“That doesn’t sound right, darling.”
When you look up at him with eyebrows furrowed in annoyance, you find him smiling in somewhat tranquil thought. It has been rather long. 
“Yeah, I helped you way too much,” you respond, distastefully. 
The two of you straighten at the cashier’s call. Responding that everything’s fine, Ten turns to you with a pointed look.
“If you’re going to do it, better do it before she gets suspicious.”
The hint in his eyes reminds you that he is indeed the devil you know, and you quickly pocket the little butterfly hairpin. This is not ethical in any way and even so, you feel the childish exhilaration. This is to prove a point to your dear friend.
“See?” you whisper to him, exiting the shop. “I could totally pull this off.”
“Not if I start screaming ‘thief!’”
“Did you ever get to play a villain at Broadway? It’s closest to your personality,” you jab.
He sends you a sardonic smile before sticking his tongue out. You should always beware a childish man and his childish smile. You never know if he’ll take you seriously. Ten is the absolute worst and you love him all the more for it.
“Are you actually not gonna pay for it?” he asks, tilting his head. 
“And let all those proceeds go to our corrupt overlord mayor? Nuh-uh.”
Ten laughs. “We should go vandalize his campaign posters again.”
The mayor has had, you don’t know how many, little scandals accusing him of embezzlement and every time, he’s escaped easy as pie. All the things you can do with money and you decide to hoard more money; you will never understand people like him. Besides, you won’t have to worry about that any time soon.
“See? You’re the troublemaker. I can’t even vandalize good enough.”
“It’s not my fault you have zero artistic talent.”
You place your hands on your hips. “I’m sorry? I’m pretty sure I taught you how to paint.”
Ten rolls his eyes, a sneaky smile on his lips. “Yeah. You taught the whole class how to paint when you smacked Mr. Cheng with that paintbrush.”
You can’t help the laugh that comes to you, despite trying your best to hold a serious expression.
“You’re a disaster,” he adds, staring incredulously at your fit of laughter. 
You look at him and start laughing again.
“Oh my god, what’s so funny? I wasn’t even trying to be funny.”
“Okay, emo boy,” you say, finally straightening and messing his hair.
“I was going to get a haircut.”
“Don’t. You look pretty.”
Ten hums, raising an eyebrow. “But I wanna look hot.”
“That’s going to take a lot of effort.”
Ten grabs you in a chokehold, messing your hair with his hands in the most obnoxious way possible. Finally able to loosen his grip on you, you look at him with your most fearsome glare. He has to stop treating you so gracelessly.
It’s not unusual for him to behave this way; in fact, you welcome it when he’s warm and much lovelier than the usual. But something feels amiss, something dangerous like the passage of time. 
“Ten?”
“Yes?”
“I thought you’d be talking much more about New York instead of our boring old town.”
He hums, eyes scanning the vicinity of the mall’s first floor. There’s an ice cream shop opposite to the souvenir shop, unvisited due its lack of variety in flavours, and a spacious marble floor with most of the shops closed for renovation. The other two floors are closed off completely but you’re sure that with enough effort, you could sneak in. The glass ceiling at the centre allows for sunlight to wash in as gentle waves, settling on your heads like golden crowns. There are little potted plants lining the walls to make the mall space look less dilapidated but it gives off the same effect as that of something abandoned, left alone and waiting. 
“You want me to brag about it?” He addresses you with a slightly cocky grin.
You roll your eyes. “Never mind.”
The mayor wanted to turn this place into some sort of religious campus but you detest the idea of that man getting his way. He’s the very same man to reprimand little girls for their outfits and to say “dancing is not manly” so you do owe his nauseating sexism for your distaste for him. That, and he has absolutely no sense of aesthetics. You would die before you let him remove the gardens or the livelier buildings blessed with the only colours you can bear to look at. 
“Hey, (name)?”
“Yeah?”
“I think Angry Cashier is making her way towards you.”
You snap your head to the souvenir shop and the cashier is indeed eyeing you suspiciously. You reach to pat your pocket but you’re stopped by Ten.
“You are, by far, the stupidest thief I’ve ever known.”
You puff your cheeks in annoyance, crossing your arms instead. Just when you think the cashier is going to call you out, the two of you sprint over to the mall exit with a plausible enough speed.
“We didn’t have to run, you know?” Ten complains as soon as you’re out and a street or two away. 
“What’s the fun in committing a crime if we don’t get to run?”
“I don’t know, it could be a brain exercise—oh wait. You don’t have one.”
You stick your tongue out at him, walking faster to get away from him.
“Hey!”
He jogs up to you, eyebrows furrowed and ready to spit some sass at you, no doubt.
“I thought you’d be more athletic. Dancing and all.”
“Yeah, no.”
You fix the hair in front of his eyes as he leans over on his knees, a look in his eyes as though caught off guard. They’re a lovely shade of honey, his eyes. They look at you with emotions you can't quite fathom and with the innocence of a love borne between friends who have been forced to endure the mediocrity of this town together. It’s a good reason, you believe, to be friends. Friends are meant to help each other, to save each other and to be there at the lowest. You can check all the boxes. It might have been a while but you’re friends and friends that grow up together stay together. The idea is naive but you cannot possibly look into a future without Ten. There must be a reason behind everything that is given to you. Even right now, as the silence starts to nip at you, you believe you were meant to make full circle. Fate is a funny thing and you wouldn’t believe in it ever, even for a surprise twenty dollar bill vending machine miracle, but it’s comforting enough to let settle on the two of you. 
The lead actors go hand in hand.
“Are you going to keep staring at me? I know I’m tragically beautiful—”
“No, you’re beautifully tragic. Your face, that is.”
“I stopped listening after beautiful, so I believe you agreed with me there.”
You roll your eyes. 
“You and your unyielding confidence can go fuck itself. I’ve seen you cry over a cat movie.”
Ten sputters out a response. “But- but Garfield saved that dog despite every fiber of his being telling him not to. He could’ve lived a happy, peaceful life but he saved him. How is that not incredibly touching?”
“You’re weird. Garfield’s cute though.”
“Like me.”
You wrinkle your nose. “What are we, twelve?”
“I was having my rebellious punk phase then, so no. I would never have said that when I was twelve.”
You laugh. “God, you looked so funny back then.”
“I thought we agreed to not bring up stuff from our teenage years.”
You press your lips together in an attempt to stop the laugh but a tiny giggle comes out anyway. The sun is going to set in an hour. You better make use of your time.
“Ready to go vandalize some posters?” you ask, grinning.
“You know what? I have a better idea. We should go pick some flowers.”
You blink at him. “That’s not remotely punk or rebellious.”
“Shh. You like picking flowers. Remember how we used to joke you should be hired at weddings instead of the flower girls?”
You make a face. “Why on earth would I fling flowers in the air at weddings? That’s not even a respectable job.”
“It suits you.”
“We should be kinder to our arboreal friends.” You cross your arms. “I’d rather tend to a garden than pick flowers for stupid occasions.”
“Tree-hugger.”
You pull up your middle finger and he laughs, fixing his hair right back into the messy waves.
“Why do you hate weddings?” he asks all of a sudden.
“Oh, you know. Icky stuff.”
“No one’s having sex at the wedding.”
“That’s not what I meant by icky stuff. It’s that gross feeling in the air. What’s it called?”
“Love?”
“Please, there’s hardly any love at weddings. It’s all pretend.”
Ten rolls his eyes, chuckling. “You think all the brides and bridegrooms in the world are pretending at their own weddings?”
“If you say it like that…” You grumble. “I don’t believe you need to celebrate love, that’s all. It’s always there, you know?”
You look up to see Ten pressing his fist to his mouth to keep himself from laughing and scoff in disbelief.
“What’s so funny? Seriously, stop laughing—oh for fuck’s sake.”
Soon enough, Ten is crouching by the sidewalk in a fit of laughter which causes a hot flush rising over your neck. You weren’t trying to be cheesy. Now, your best friend is hellbent on making you feel embarrassed. 
“It wasn’t that cringe. Come on. Get up, asshole.”
“You were- you were just so—” He takes a moment to catch his breath, a few short laughs erupting from him nonetheless. “You looked so serious when you said that.”
Your face is hot enough for you to look away now. “Whatever,” you mumble.
“It was cute. You looked really cute,” he continues, somewhat sobered up. “And brave. You always say things with so much confidence that it’s brave. I’m glad you are the way you are.”
You look at him, slightly dazed before your cheeks puff up to prevent yourself from laughing.
“I regret saying that. You are the big, hideous regret of my life.”
“I thought I was cute?” Your snickers turn into laughter again.
“Fuck off.”
“Thanks, Ten. You’re really good to me.”
Ten shakes his head before walking away, leaving you to call after him in phrases of ‘wait up!’ and ‘when did you get so fast?’ as you try to catch up. You sometimes wonder if he likes being chased. You reach the busiest crossing in this town, with about four cars waiting at the stop sign. You’re not sure why anyone follows the traffic rules if there isn’t even any traffic.
Looking up, you gasp at the moon peeking over a still young sky. You're suddenly reminded of those afternoon naps you had in Ten’s room, the both of you fascinated by the idea of waking up and seeing the sky a whole different colour. The idea that time changes everything was still fresh in your minds then, the impact gentle if not loving. It’s quite late you found that time can steal just as much as it gives.
“Remember when we dyed your hair red?”
“I will, and I shit you not, physically assault you for saying anything about that.”
You laugh at the memory of his awkward hairdo. “No, the other time. When we were seventeen.”
“Oh yeah, I received like eight love letters for that.”
“No, you didn’t.”
He did look pretty, and just in time for Valentine’s day’s theme of red roses and nauseating pink hearts.
“I have proof.” Ten leans his elbow against the street lamp, missing it completely and stumbling backwards till he regains his balance. He gives you an impish smile, running a hand through his hair and breathing out. 
You roll your eyes, ignoring his words. “I think we never took pictures of that.”
“So… what are you suggesting?”
“One good picture,” you answer, pulling out your phone and taking a picture of him off guard. Looking at it, you pout. It’s so unfair that he gets to look nice even in a hazy evening picture. 
Ten rolls his eyes, snatching your phone. “Let me show you how to take good pictures. Not whatever crap you have going on.”
You cross your arms, huffing but agree nonetheless when he forces you to pose by the street light. He blabbers on something about composition and colours that goes straight over your head but you can’t deny that the picture came out ridiculously well. You might have to change all your socials with a new profile picture.
“See? You can thank me with a kiss,” he says, a cheeky smile across his face.
You press your lips to his cheek in a swift motion, a smack sound resounding from it. It was uncalled for, you think, because Ten freezes for a few seconds in an uncharacteristic manner. He shakes his head, a scream dying in his throat before turning to you with the most scandalized look.
“Oh my god, what did you do that for?” he says, rubbing at his cheek in a teasing manner.
You wrap your arms around him, furthering his protests although he ends up smiling wide. “You asked for it, honey.”
“Nicknames are my thing. Stop trying to copy me, it’s embarrassing.”
"Okay, now let's take a picture together," you suggest pulling him closer.
He clicks his tongue and takes the phone from you, and when his hand rests upon the small of your back, you try to freeze up. His face is near yours, not unlike the usual but you feel your heartbeat hike up. It's a strange feeling.
"Now, can we go home?" Ten asks, handing you your phone. "I can't believe your background is rilakkuma."
"I'll change it," you respond, voice strangely quiet. You're only half smiling but Ten's smile is full and bright, eyes honey-pure. "To us."
Ten hums in satisfaction and offers his hand like a gentleman from another century, something you tend to exaggerate and you take it with a laugh. The two of you walk with entangled arms and playful skips over the pavement, getting the same old looks from passersby as you did as children and teenagers. The traffic lights glow a gentle hue below the mature blue evening sky, fading easily. You realize as gently as waves lapping at the shore that you missed Ten so bad it still hurts in the hole he left. 
act ii scene ii.
Any weekend in a boring little town of flowers starts with the news of parties. It used to be Johnny sending invites but now it’s mostly just Yukhei calling people for impromptu college parties. Now, you are aware that college parties are horrendous in every shape and form; you are also aware that the two hour car ride to the city college isn’t safe. But it’s easy to ignore hackneyed advice to stay away from parties and alcohol and weed when you’re young and have a ridiculously large group of friends.
The drive isn’t the worst part. At least the drive to the party isn’t; the drive back is usually too hazed to be memorable. Sicheng’s driving this time and with a lot of grumbling but he gets enough pitiful pats to the back and cheek to stop it. Ten has his feet up on the dashboard, having called shotgun before you by one fucking second. You’re stuck with Sooyoung and Johnny in the backseat, sandwiched uncomfortably at that, but you lean forward enough to nag Ten the whole time.
“(name),” Sooyoung calls in a sing-song voice. “Your overly affectionate looks for Ten are showing and it’s not even eleven yet.”
You furrow your eyebrows, stammering out a response and regretting it immediately. “You’re- You’ve been teasing me about this forever.”
“No, she’s right,” Johnny joins in. “Come on, there isn’t even alcohol involved. Yet.”
You roll your eyes, shrinking into yourself as the two of them laugh on either side of you. Sicheng says something along the lines of ‘nauseating’ and ‘idiotic’ but he gets an elbow jab from Ten.
“I’m driving,” he hisses.
“Into every sidewalk we come across?” Ten shoots back.
Another bout of laughter rings through, and this time you can smile too. It’s not that you’re particularly bothered by the teasing; it’s just uncharted territories you have no desire to chart. You always thought you’d meet Prince Charming on a balcony in a summer evening, and this is optional, but it should happen with ‘Love Story’ by Taylor Swift playing in the background. It’s quite inane to assume it would be your best friend, whom you have spent countless summer evenings listening to old Taylor Swift songs with.
Before you were aware of college house parties, you thought things like these would be more of a less-people-more-booze sort of situation. Turns out, the alcohol to people ratio is nearly the same. Stumbling out of the entrance to the frat house, Yukhei greets the lot of you with a dazed smile before promptly throwing up into the bushes. Rolling your eyes, you pat his back while Sooyoung gets some water from her purse.
“How many drinks was it this time, Yukhei?” Ten teases. “Half? Three-quarters? No wait, that’s a stretch.”
“Very funny,” Yukhei mutters, somehow still upbeat despite his continuous retching. “I bet you’d be drunk after a shot of whatever the hell I had too.”
Adjusting his jacket, Ten narrows his eyes at Yukhei with an incredulous look. “Okay, you’re on. Let’s go.”
Sicheng raises his hands alarmed, but Ten has disappeared into the swarms of people before any sound can leave him.
“He was supposed to drive on the way back,” Sicheng complains. He opens his mouth in sudden realization and then turns to you. You look from him to Johnny and Sooyoung who share a look and walk briskly into the party with a thumbs-up gesture.
“Oh. Oh no,” you say.
“No, yes,” Sicheng responds.
You shake your head and laugh before sprinting inside, Sicheng’s yells of protest fading out.
Yukhei wasn’t kidding when he said his frat hosts the craziest parties. There’s far too many people here, at least far too many for Ten to have fun. You like the energy of the crowd though, all in their own zones and dancing to old party pop songs. The smell of alcohol hits you so strong at first that you have to take a breather in the little garden space they have. It’s more of an overgrown shrubbery instead of a garden but any green will do. Walking back in, you feel much more comfortable when you take a shot of vodka from a girl passed out on the couch. Laughing, you look around for familiar faces. Parties, however, are not the place to look for faces at all. You think you just spotted a fur neck warmer tied around a dude’s waist while he performs some Neanderthal variant of belly dancing.
You bump into a guy of fairly tall stature, a polite apology tumbling from his lips.
Furrowing your eyebrows, you chuckle in amusement. “You’re not a party kind of guy, are you?”
He stares at you with a placid expression, intrigued. “And how would you know?”
“First, you’re not drunk. Two, you look grossed out by those dudes on the bar table. Three, you’re making conversation with me instead of dancing.”
“So you’re saying I can’t make conversation and dance at the same time.”
“I’m sorry, Mister, but you look like you’d rather not dance at all.”
He laughs. “That’s your way of saying I have a stick up my ass, isn’t it?”
You shrug, giving him your friendliest smile. “I prefer talking to drinking too. What’s your name? I need to know the name of the only sober guy in here.”
“Doyoung,” he answers. “Something tells me you’re not going to give me the same pleasure of knowing your name.”
You smile, pressing your index finger to your lips. “Names at parties are better left unknown.”
Something about him is inherently attractive, and you find yourself drawing nearer. Perhaps you could have a more fun night this way. “It’s much more fun to guess. Now, I’m guessing your party-loving best friend dragged you in here so you could get laid.”
He sighs, smiling at you. “I’m actually part of the frat.”
You gasp, hand covering your mouth. “No way.”
“Someone sober has to oversee whatever the hell’s going on here.” He shrugs. “Now, and this isn’t a guess, but you’re not from our college.”
“Nope. I’m from that little flower town nearby.” 
“Ah, I heard there’s a lovely dahlia field there.”
You nod. “And me. Just as lovely.”
You bite your tongue. That was certainly not sexy enough flirting. Ten has been rubbing off on you with his lame comebacks. Doyoung, however, laughs really loud at that. He must have a worse sense of humour than you thought.
You turn sharply at the sound of your name. Ten seems to be waving at you from a table of beer pong, looking rather distressed. You wave back with a bothered look on your face, aggressively signaling for him to handle his shit alone. He pouts and signals more desperately for you to come. Sighing, you turn to Doyoung.
“Sorry,” you say. “My friend seems to be in a pinch. Either that or he’s attention starved again in a record time of eight minutes.”
Doyoung laughs. “I liked talking to you.”
“I liked talking to you too, plot twist.”
“Is that what you’re calling me now?” Doyoung smiles at you. "Ah, I tend to forget but someone always comes along and shows me how friendships are made."
With one last smile, you leave him and walk halfway through to Ten before realizing you forgot to ask for Doyoung’s number. It’s too late to turn back now for the crowd blocks your version and you begrudgingly make your way to Ten. So much for your fun night.
“What was so important that you had to pull me away from the only attractive dude in this party?” you say, crossing your arms.
“Who, Doyoung?” he asks. “I’m at least six times hotter. And anyway, help me win this.”
You roll your eyes. If Ten knows Doyoung, you can somehow finagle your way into getting his number.
“I suck at this game,” Ten mutters. “How the hell is it supposed to hit its mark when the cup is so far away?”
“You have shitty aim,” you say, taking the ping pong ball and throwing it right into the cup. Smirking at the dude who’s already wasted on the other side, you turn back to Ten.
“That’s how you play.”
“Maybe you just have magic hands. Kiss my balls for good luck—wait, fuck, I didn’t mean that.”
You throw your head back and laugh at the disgusted look on his face. Sometimes Ten forgets to think before he opens his mouth and it might be surprising, but he does think before most things he says. He’s always been careful in the subtlest ways.
“I hate this game,” Ten says after missing the cup again. 
“Let me teach you,” you say, moving behind him and taking his hand holding the ball. He stiffens before letting you guide the angle of projection as you throw. It lands right in despite the wobbly beginning and you grin at him.
“I’m so done with this party,” he whispers, hands on his hips and stretching much like a cat after a nap.
You giggle. “I didn’t drink enough to forget everything that’s ever hurt me though.”
“You’re hurt?” he asks, before clearing his throat. “If you wanna stay, I’ll stay too.”
“I’m not a child, you know?” you say, smiling incredulously. “I don’t need you babysitting me.”
“I don’t need you talking to any more Doyoungs. You know his body count?”
“That guy?” you ask, jaw dropping.
“It’s not that much actually,” Ten continues, smiling deviously. “More than what you expect from a guy in law though. You can shut your jaw.”
You huff. “How do you know though? Did you sleep with him?”
Ten wrinkles his nose. “I would rather eat your baking than sleep with him.”
“Hey.”
Right then, the two of you are approached by a now-sober Yukhei. He must have vomited enough alcohol out of his system by now. Johnny stays beside him with mild worry across his features. Sicheng on the other hand looks like his social battery has drained out already.
“It’s time for a drinking game!” Yukhei tells the two of you. “With the… uh… not so drunk people.”
“So just the five of us? Where’s Sooyoung?”
“Doting over Yeri,” Johnny answers.
“Ah.”
“Let’s play something if you guys actually want me to stay and not die of boredom,” Sicheng mumbles in annoyance.
"Truth or drink?" Yukhei suggests. 
"Hell no," you mutter. "I've had enough of that."
"What, no dare this time," he insists with a wide smile and arms outstretched.
You hum. "What are you curious about anyway? I know you wanna know something."
Yukhei scratches the back of his head before glancing at Ten. "Well… have you two ever… I don't know, experimented with each other? Like you're best friends, right, so no hard feelings."
Ten furrows his brows, a gaze that's somewhere between a glare and a confused look.
"Experiment…?" He asks, almost afraid to.
"In bed," says Yukhei bluntly.
Ten turns a few shades darker in the face, noticeable even under the multi-colored party lights. You, on the other hand, pray your stunned expression isn't mistaken for the embarrassment you feel. You're not sure why the feeling arises.
"(Name) wishes," Ten jokes, playing it off.
You roll your eyes. "You wish, asshole."
Yukhei pulls a face and raises a hand to interrupt. "Please don't start another lover's quarrel."
Sicheng snickers at the side, although you thought he wasn't listening. How on earth does this joke not get old to them?
"Anyway, my question is answered," Yukhei says. "Best friends who are in love with each other cannot sleep together but friends who are not… they can right?"
Sicheng hums in response, a teasing smile already on his lips. Ten groans and places his hand to the back of Sicheng's neck, almost threatening.
"What would you know about sex, Sicheng?" He bickers. "You're like virgin supreme."
You narrow your eyes. "And what would you know?"
Ten opens his mouth then closes it promptly. Sicheng and Yukhei on the other hand break into laughter, mentioning something about digging graves before taking their leave from the two of you. You really don't think either of them should be drinking—considering Yukhei's a lightweight and Sicheng is supposed to drive.
Ten smacks the back of your head and you yelp, smacking his shoulder as hard as you can.
"I was trying to help us there," he complains. "You're so unfun."
You mimic his statement and he tries to pinch you in the cheeks, which you expertly avoid.
"So tell me," you say. "Have you or have you not had sex?"
Ten sighs. "Okay, yeah fine. Guilty. Whatever."
"What happened to no flings in New York?"
"Didn't feel like telling you."
"Oh, I'm so hurt."
The two of you look at each other and burst into laughter, easy to forget the scores of people around you in the moment. 
“So you definitely had a few flings in New York,” you say, crossing your arms with a smug smile.
“Like three, yeah,” he answers, shaking his head. “What does it matter?”
Some part of you is satisfied with the way he doesn’t look too interested. It’s the ridiculous part of you. The clementine light over his features make them seem even gentler than usual and you smile, pressing the back of your hand to his cheek.
“Wha—”
“Mhm. Your cheeks are so warm.”
“Oh, so now I’m your personal heater.”
Ten places his hand over yours and your heartbeat hikes, and so easily too when he looks at you with his honey eyes.
“You know what, you’re right. This party’s getting boring.” You look around, as though pretending will help you any better. But then again if Shakespeare was onto something and all the world's a stage, then you never stop pretending, right?
Ten looks at you for a suggestion and the moment pauses, contemplation on both of your faces. 
“Let’s just get Sicheng to drive us back,” you say finally. It’s not like you can stray too far for fear of Sicheng leaving behind the two of you (he’s done that before).
Sicheng jumps at the idea of going back and all of you have to participate in dragging drunk Sooyoung into the car and away from a slightly worn out Yeri. Thanking you and fixing her disheveled hair, she walks back into her own corner to what seems to be aggressively coding on her laptop and flipping the finger to any dude who approaches her. When work calls, you simply cannot hang up.
You and Ten are forced to sit together in the backseat now for Johnny sits shotgun, massaging his forehead from whatever hellsent concoction he made for himself and his friends. The drive is mostly quiet and you lay your head on Ten’s shoulder while Sooyoung snores beside you. It’s quiet like the laps of water between ripples. It feels so secure to stay like this, like the world cannot interrupt. You’ve missed your best friend. You’ve missed him so much.
You and Ten part ways with the others at the crossing and you don’t skip over the path as you used to, with the jovial youth you contained then. No, your steps are slower and perhaps more mature but still in pace with Ten’s just as ever. A cat waits by the entrance to your door, the same calico that has won over your mother’s heart and now waits patiently for treats. In a way, you kept feeding it because you thought of Ten whenever you did.
It seems these days, the only way to get kisses from Ten is to be a cat. He pets the cat with tender strokes and presses his face to its forehead with no fear of cat-borne diseases. 
“Hey, Ten. What about me?” You pucker your lips at him and he presses his palm to your lips instead, snickering.
In these short moments, moments that barely last, do you feel the three years he’s been gone. It’s funny how people change and never realize they do. It’s funny how you’re in awe of every person he becomes.
“I missed your rooftop the most in New York,” Ten says. 
You chuckle. “You hid there when your mom was mad at you.”
“Do you know how many slippers your rooftop has saved me from? I think your rooftop is more of a best friend to me than you are.”
You place your hand over your heart in mock hurt and he shakes his head, grinning.
“Well, let’s prove I’m more worthy of the best friend title then,” you say, grabbing his hand, the skin so soft to you, and dragging him into your house in quiet tiptoes. You remember coming up here back when you pretended to be pirates, when you acted out Shakespeare and when you wanted to forget the world, the terrible, cruel world you found yourself hating often. This is your hiding spot, a safe place. Ten makes it more so. 
Lying down against the rooftop, you trace the sky from star to star. The good thing about small, dimly lit towns is the clear view of the stars. So far from troubles, it must be easy to play the audience. 
“That looks a little like Felis,” Ten says, taking your hand and tracing a particular arrangement of the stars.
“Is that a… cat?”
“Yeah. It’s not a constellation anymore,” he tells you. “But I like to think it is.”
“I wish things never end too,” you mumble. “Like Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Or that new Taylor Swift song. I wish some things went on forever.”
Ten laughs airily. “I wish too.”
You turn to look at him. The curve of his nose is pretty as ever, eyelashes hanging close to the skin of his cheeks as he breathes with eyes closed. There’s a significant number of words you haven’t exchanged yet. There’s so many words you’re holding back.
“You seem tired,” you note.
He hums in response.
“Was New York that hard?”
He opens his eyes to look at you. “A little… tiring, yes.”
“Well, I’m glad you can rest now.” You smile and he returns it. 
“I’ve been running for so long and telling myself I’m still dancing,” he says, a sigh escaping afterwards. “I don’t even know where I am anymore.”
“You’re with me,” you respond. “Right here. On my rooftop.”
“Watching the stars again,” he completes, laughing aloud. “God, I wish we were kids again. All I cared about were the flavour of my cereal and how many constellations I could memorize.”
“The stars don’t give a shit about you, Ten,” you tease, repeating the line you used to tell him.
“The stars might not give a shit about us,” he agrees, “But that’s why I’d like to watch them a little longer.” 
“Me too,” you say softly.
You take a deep breath and let it out. These are the moments between the bloom of a flower and when it is picked. These moments are serene and warm and gentle, however ephemeral they may be. These are the moments between the flapping of a butterfly's wings—times when you and Ten fell asleep in detention in fifth grade for something that was very much your fault, or when he pets your head with the biggest grin after pissing you off on purpose or the proximity of the baby blue sky after your latest shopping mall mischief. But the flower will be picked someday. To live is to live in fear, and no matter how you try to buzz out the idea of it, it will come and it will prove itself.
“Sometimes I wish I were an angrier person,” you say quietly.
“What for?”
“They just seem so much more driven.”
“You’re driven enough. I think you do everything right already.”
“Working at plant nurseries, maybe. I’m not even a good enough cashier.”
“Flowers suit you.”
“You know, I could spend my life picking flowers and arranging them if I could,” you say, sitting up. “Everything moves so fast that the garden’s gone by the time I get to smell the flowers. You get me?”
“Yeah,” he replies. “I wish time could stop. Sometimes it does. When I’m on stage.”
“What’s that like?”
“It’s very beautiful,” he whispers, eyes fixed on you.
It's quiet, the sounds of the night filling the space between you and him.
"You know, in dance," he starts, "the most powerful thing you can be is still. It's also the most difficult."
You hum in response. "I find it easy to be still with you though. It's like I don't have to perform anymore, you know?"
Ten laughs. "I know. I wish I could say that about my ambitions."
You place your palms against his cheeks, holding his face gently. You're not sure if it's because you're a little tipsy or Ten's lips that are driving you crazy, but you smile wide.
"You are like a flower," you begin rather wisely. "And spring hasn't arrived yet."
Ten blinks before snorting and then laughing like you just said the stupidest thing ever. 
The downside to getting along like a house on fire is that the house is still on fire and you don’t know what to do about it. Your heart is burning and you want to tell him the words you’re holding back. But if they escape your mouth, the wind might carry it away and leave you with a heavy response. You can’t say anything yet. Not until you’ve mustered enough courage to leave this town behind with him. Not until you have enough financial confidence to fall in love.
“Hey, Ten.”
“Hm? Don’t ask me something stupid and ruin the night.”
You giggle. “Will you stay with me wherever I am?”
“A little overdue but yes, until death do us part.” 
The two of you laugh, shoulders shaking and eyes brimming with an unsaid emotion. This is how you fall in love. You fall in love like flowers blossoming and withering, like you have only each other to withstand the test of time. 
“Should we dance?” Ten offers. “This time, maybe you’ll finally learn to not step on my feet.”
“That just makes me want to step on your feet more.”
It's so easy to fall in love that you fall asleep to the feeling—like the nights after you watched cartoons well past bedtime and thought that Ten was the prettiest boy you'd ever seen, after reading illicit internet horror stories in seventh grade that only made you huddle closer, after creating a pillow fort in the name of memories the night of your graduation when you couldn't say out loud that Ten really is the prettiest boy you know. The feeling slips in like you slip on your night clothes and you forget they were ever off at all. Comfort is a fleeting thing but in that moment, it felt forever.
act ii scene iii.
Halloween is undoubtedly the greatest time to spend with friends. There’s spooky stories shared, an abundance of favourite candies and if you happen to be friends with theatre kids, there’s most certainly a fun play going on. The crisp autumn air is vaguely nostalgic, brimming with memories in this town. 
Evening creeps in and once you’re done with the day’s chores, you get dressed with such speed that your mother has to convince you to slow down. It’s like you’re a kid again, and you'd like to enjoy this morsel of your childhood before you're forced to grow up.
Greeting Ten’s mother as you rush into the house, you run up the stairs and into Ten’s room, opening the door with a loud bang. Somehow, Ten’s scream is louder than that. He’s wearing a towel around his waist (only a towel), hands covering his chest with a horrified look on his face.
"Stop screaming," you say, hands on your hips. "We've seen each other naked, what's the big deal? Actually, do that pitch again, you sound like Meryl Streep from Mamma Mia."
Ten chokes, covering his mouth with his knuckles while he coughs.
"We were like four and a half! How does that count?"
You giggle, turning around. "Change. Quick."
"I mean, you can see if you like, darling," he calls, liltingly. "I know you can't resist me. Ugh. Can't stand all this pining from a friend."
You make a gagging sound and he laughs. It seems like he’s gotten over the initial shock of you barging in. The sound of the wardrobe opening and Ten shuffling through clothes follows. You are glad, however, that he can't see the look on your face. You must be looking ridiculous. You wonder if he can see how tense your shoulders and torso are. This is not the way you wanted to start the evening. Can he tell apart the distinct nervousness in your voice? It's suddenly difficult to play it cool. And isn't playing it cool something you do in front of a crush?
You catch a glimpse of his naked back and it makes you shake your head violently to get rid of the thought. How ridiculous. You can’t be lovers yet.
“Alright, you can turn around. What the fuck are you even supposed to be?”
"Say hello to the wicked witch of the West!" You exclaim, grinning ear to ear when you jump around.
"Oh, you don't have to dress up for that."
Your smile turns into a pout and you pull hard at his still-soft cheeks. He lets out a pained whine, grabbing your wrists and gently tugging them off. His skin turns red easily, however, and you're left with an image of rosy-cheeked Ten just like when you first met.
“You’re a demon spawn,” he hisses, rubbing his sore cheek. 
“No, that’s definitely your thing. Can’t borrow that,” you say, crossing your arms and smiling smugly. “Why aren’t you dressed as one? Actually, why aren’t you dressed as anything?”
Ten shrugs. “I have to wear some ridiculous ghost outfit for the play so I decided I’d rather play the part of a sexy pirate ghost.”
You snort, looking at the half-buttoned white shirt tucked neatly into black trousers. “You? A ghost? A poltergeist is the word you’re looking for.”
Ten rolls his eyes. “If I were a ghost, I’d definitely haunt you for the rest of your life.”
“Okay, ghost boy, let’s get going.” You loop your arms through his and pull him out, leaving in just as much a whirlwind as you walked in. You do walk back in though—to stuff a few of the cookies Ten’s mom baked in your mouth and walk right out with a muffled ‘thank you’ and your hand still around Ten’s wrist.
Arriving at the theatre, Ten catches his breath though he tries to not look worn out before squinting and making a show of searching for something.
“What are you looking for?” You ask, furrowing your eyebrows.
“The train you thought we were going to miss.”
You stick your tongue out and finally let go of his hand. He pulls it to himself, rubbing at his wrist with an exaggerated look of pain. 
“Oh, it’s still intact. Thought I’d have to bid farewell to my dreams of being a professional calligrapher.”
“Eat ink, Ten.”
“Ooh, it’s the rare PG-13 (name). Nice.”
A loud bang emanates from the back entrance, Sicheng looking like a rather mortified Count Dracula (which is strange because Dracula is immortal, right?) with fake blood splattered across his jaw and two little fangs poking out. Ten no wastes no time in complimenting them, making Sicheng rather flustered.
“It was bad enough having to listen to your flirting through the door,” Sicheng mutters. “Get in. Quick. Sooyoung pulled out and we need someone to fill in.”
Your eyes light up and Sicheng is about to deny your wishes when Ten intervenes.
“(name). You get to play a slightly deranged witch with a most definitely existing bloodlust. You in?”
“You bet I am! I was born ready. Except in sixth grade when I had that meh phase and I wasn’t born ready. Then I was born ready again!”
Sicheng makes a face. “Yeah sure, just get in.”
“Aren’t you glad I’m dressed for the occasion?”
“Not really, no.”
Ten whistles when he walks in. “How much fake blood did you guys get?”
“Enough to re-enact Red Wedding from Game of Thrones,” Johnny answers from a corner, in a costume which you can’t tell if it’s a werewolf or just a fursuit. You can never seem to guess when it comes to Johnny.
Ten laughs before turning to you, the sound tuning out. “I have never watched Game of Thrones.”
You pat his shoulder, laughing. In the next moment, Sicheng pushes a script towards you, expecting you to actually read.
“Sicheng, you know I’m going to improvise.”
Sicheng groans. “Shakespeare was right. Hell is empty and all the demons are here.”
Throwing a pointed glare at you when he says the word ‘demons’, he crosses his arms. It’s easy to convince him though—he’s quite amenable when he’s stressed out about details and both you and Ten know he just needs some reassurance and good, gentle shove.
You and Ten sit on either side of him on a really, really worn out couch that you’re not sure can hold the weight of the three of you.
Sicheng holds up his hands in both of your faces before you can open your mouth.
“I feel like the child of a really immature couple who is forced to grow up at a tender age because his parents are so immature.”
“Uh,” Ten starts. “That’s very specific.”
“The character I’m playing has daddy issues,” Sicheng responds casually, and a little out of it. “Actually he’s got mommy issues too. Why am I playing an eight year old?”
“Because children are crap at acting,” Ten answers and you reach your arm to smack the back of his head.
“What? Ow, that hurt.”
“Sicheng, it’s our stupid Halloween play. We do it to have fun,” you say, placing your hand 
“You going all motherly is freaking me out,” Sicheng says, wide eyes staring at you.
“You’re right,” you say, dramatically sighing. “Motherhood changed me. I can’t do evil black magic anymore. Aha! That’s a good dialogue, isn’t it?”
“Harrowing, actually, but I guess that’s what you’re going for.”
You and Ten share a fond smile, laughing to yourselves till Joohyun calls you and gives you basic stage direction. She’s almost never home except for Halloween and it makes the holiday even more exceptional.
“Ready, Wicked Witch of the West?” Ten nudges you before he has to go on stage. 
“Wait, is that actually my character?”
“No. No, it isn’t. For the love of cats—the animal, not the musical—please just keep speaking and make it worse on stage. I need a recording to laugh at.”
You roll your eyes and push him on. He looks so at peace there, the conversation from that night coursing in remembrance. It’s like everything is still, the lack of motion driving him to move. 
You never understand it yourself, however, when you’re on stage. You blabber like an idiot, as Ten says, and the audience laughs and that is it. You don’t experience what he does and it sometimes drives you a little crazy. Of course, you adding a pregnancy narrative to your witch does throw the rest of the cast for a loop but they handle it well. You just have to make sure you run as fast as you can from Joohyun after the play is done.
“Good job there,” Ten snickers after you duck behind a curtain as Joohyun passes by with furrowed brows and a frown. 
“I know right? I’m literally Oscar-worthy,” you whisper-yell and Ten shakes his head.
“Come on.” This time his hand grips your wrist. “I know the best way to sneak out of this theatre.”
Taking a flight of stairs that you were previously unaware of, you plunge into the darkness of what seems to be an attic. Ten turns on the flashlight of his phone and you yelp, the lighting not helping his already spooky makeup. He laughs before navigating through a bunch of boxes. 
“I heard they used to use this room as an execution chamber,” Ten whispers.
“They did not. Get the fuck out of here.”
“Okay fine. I did cry here though after reading an internet article about ill-fated lovers in ancient Asia.”
“Ugh. Truly horrifying.”
“Yeah, yeah. Emotions terrify you.”
“They do not.”
Ten stops walking.
“Oh yeah? Got any proof?”
You stop yourself before you can do something embarrassing. The first thought that came to you was to kiss the smug look off his face and it does terrify you. The bastard is right. 
“I… cried at your birthday party.”
“You were six. Everyone cries when they’re six.”
“Alright, fine. I cried after you left.”
The silence makes you look up and for once, you don’t really want Ten to be so speechless. You punch his shoulder lightly.
“I missed you a lot,” you say quietly. “Is that so surprising?”
He opens his mouth but no sound comes out. 
“Hello? Anyone inside?” You knock at his forehead before holding his face between your face. “You’re shivering. It’s pretty cold here.”
“I’m not cold,” he says quickly, the red rising in his face.
“Of course, you’re cold. Your cheeks are aflame, that’s how cold it is.”
Ten shuts off the flashlight and you scream at the abrupt darkness.
“It’s not from the cold,” he mumbles.
Now left with only Ten’s warm hand around your wrist, you let him guide through wherever the hell it is you are before emerging onto the second floor of 1075 Building. 
“What the hell?” You gasp. “Why wasn’t I aware there was a secret passage here? Is this what archaeologists feel like? ”
Ten smiles, in some sort of victory. “You don’t know a lot of things.”
You walk into the empty room, or rather wiggle in through the window—this building used to be some sort of housing apartment before being torn down halfway for renovation. Some ghost stories spooked the workers too much to continue. However, having been here long enough, you know that the only thing haunting this place is the abundance of cats. In fact, you can see a few eyeing the two of you from the other windowsills. The room is fairly well-lit and maintained so you guess the renovation will start again soon.
“You got us pizza?” you exclaim at the pizza boxes and cans of cola resting over a little picnic blanket.
“Yes, I did. Wait, crap, I forgot the candy.”
“Nah, that’s okay.” You show him the Reese’s peanut butter cups and Snickers you had pocketed from some unsuspecting children. They get way too many anyway. This is completely morally justified—you’re doing this to save them from cavities and poor health.
“I can’t believe you’d ever want to escape a theatre,” you say before humming at how good the pizza tastes. Pizza is always better when you’re having it someplace you’re not supposed to be in.
“Sometimes, it’s suffocating.” He finally bites into his pizza, an unreadable look over him. You don’t like it. Shifting closer so that your knees touch, you lean in a little.
“Oh, really? After all that talk about how beautiful it is.”
“It is. It just wears me out sometimes. Like you.”
Ten flushes red immediately. “I didn’t mean it—I, I… uh.”
“Aw, you think I’m beautiful.”
“Gah, I knew you’d say that.”
There’s a pause. 
“I got kicked out, actually,” he says quietly.
“What?”
“I had some disagreements with the writers and… and here I am.”
You look at him in stunned silence. “They did fucking what? I’m going to kill them.”
“No, (name). I was at fault. I overstepped. I guess city air made me a little greedy.”
“You were always greedy though.”
“If that’s your example of sympathy, you are horrible at it. Never try again.”
“Well.” You smile reassuringly. “You’re quite beautiful on stage. Too. Like me, as you said.”
“I’m a performer,” he says, a hint of satisfaction in his voice when he leans in. “You can’t beat me at that.” 
“Then put on a show for me, darling.” You raise an eyebrow, a cocky smile over your lips.
Ten’s cheeks colour. It’s silent for a few moments and you take notice of the lack of distance between your noses, your lips. He seems to lose touch with reality when he gently cups your cheeks and presses his lips to yours. A soft gasp escapes you, not quite ready for the contact.
Ten pulls apart immediately, a look of horror in his eyes.
“I- I’m sorry… I got caught in the—I’m sorry.”
He gets up abruptly and you still sit there in shock. When your senses are back, the room is empty and you hug yourself, feeling colder. God, you’re an idiot. For the first time in your life, you’ve come to your senses and you decide to let the only person you’ve loved walk out the door.
Your texts to him that night aren’t even left on read but you know he’s read the notifications. He always does when he’s avoiding someone. You feel the weight slithering in, pinning you down and making it hard to sleep that night. You have so many things you want to say to him and this time, you’re ready. Even if fate doesn’t let you, you will speak the lines you should have chosen much earlier.
act ii scene iv.
You don’t have anyone to show it to but the news broke you.
The idea of him keeping it all to himself, bearing burdens that are better shared makes your heart collapse its walls into itself. You’re supposed to be there. You were supposed to be there from every pitfall to the top of the world. You were supposed to be at every stage, at every afterparty and for every bout of performance high. You didn’t mean to leave the seat empty.
You were supposed to be there at every rejection and every failure, making fun of all the troubles. 
You get a text from Ten two mornings later to meet up at the new cafe everyone’s been talking about. It takes you the rest of the morning to practise what you’ll say, what you won’t and how you’ll say it. You’ve never done this much for actual plays. But you’re not acting—you just need the words to come out right.
The wall of the cafe is covered in ivy, but you cannot waste time admiring it. Your nerves have the best of you. You stop at the entrance, backtracking to say your entire speech in your head once again. The most important friendship of your life depends on this stupid monologue you came up with a night before in front of the mirror.
“(name).” 
You jump, finding Ten behind you. His nose is a little red from the cold but he looks fine apart from that. You can’t believe you’re early. This might be the first time in your life and you breathe out, slightly more confident.
“Can you… uh, not block the door?”
“Right. Sorry.”
The two of you walk in, a nervous tremble over your fingers but you clasp your hands together tight. He still remembers your favourite drink and you take a moment to try and understand why it’s surprising at all. You wish he never left.
“Ten,” you begin. “If you want to talk about that kiss—”
“Stop. I’m sorry. That was so out of line.” He lets out a distressed sigh, leaning back in the chair. 
“It’s not as bad as you’re making it out to be,” you say quickly. That was not in the speech.
He sits up. “I… Am I taking things too seriously? You’ve been my longest friend, (name). You should tell me.”
You frown. “I didn’t mean it in a harsh way. You just think it’s bad because you kissed your best friend and—”
“No. What do you think?”
You gulp.
“See, (name)? I lied because it fucking hurts right now. I don’t want to play this part.”
“No, Ten. I wanted to tell you. I wanted to tell you so many things but there’s the city, your job—oh. I- I don’t mean to bring it up if the wound is still fresh. Ten—”
“You don’t understand,” he cuts. “You’ve always been happy here. You’re happy wherever.  I’m not… like… that.”
There’s a pause. You pull your jacket closer, the temperature dropping despite the smell of warm baked goods and hit coffee.
“I thought you knew me,” you whisper coldly. 
Ten looks away. “I don’t. I don’t know. I don’t know anything about you. I don’t know anything about anything.” 
You breathe sharply. “Ten, I know the city was tough but it’s all you ever wanted.”
“I don’t know what I want,” he whispers. “I don’t know where I belong and- and it just keeps getting harder.”
Your eyes soften. “At least, you were there at Broadway. You took the first step and maybe… maybe you can make a priority list, you know? Work things out.”
“(name), stop. You keep trying to cheer me up in the wrong way.” He dips his face into his palms, rubbing at it and sighing.
You purse your lips. This conversation is going nowhere and you’re holding onto the last shred of your empathy. You just want him back with you.
“You got to go out there, Ten. You went to college, you went to New York. You got to go out there and live your dreams, for whatever it was worth, while I’m stuck in this nothing town. Forever.”
“That’s… that’s not true,” he says, voice breaking. “You were saving up for college. We would live in the same city, in the same apartment with the cats and the hot pink curtains and a coffee maker—oh god, I’ve ruined it.”
It’s painful. You don’t know what to say. If this were a movie, the beautiful, romantic kind, you’d be confessing your long-kept feelings. But you don’t know. You don’t know anything about anything. It’s been a year and he’s changed in a way you don’t know and you can’t throw it onto him like this. This isn’t a movie, and you don’t have a script. Your practised words are forgotten as soon as they reach the tip of your tongue. 
People change, and you’re holding onto someone he’s already buried. He’s not in love with you; teenage love is shaky, wobbly at the foundation. He misses the years, not you. You’ve known him your whole life and yet a year’s difference makes you see things differently. You were lonely without him. You were lonely when you had to keep yourself from calling him, when you finally decided to stop sending daily texts, when you couldn’t find the same comfort in any of your other friends. You hurt him and now, you have to face it.
You pick wilting flowers at an overgrown garden. 
No, even if it isn’t you, you want him. You want him and him only, the years be damned. The past pales in comparison to what is now.
“I’m in love with you,” you blurt. “I was just shocked last night because I didn’t think you were in love with me.”
“You’re not in love with me,” he counters. “You’ve been in love with so many people but none of them were me.”
“You. It’s you—oh my god, it was always you.”
Ten glances at his untouched cup, yet undecided on what to do with his fingers when they stop tapping against the bright red plastic table abruptly.
“So what? So what if it was me? I don’t know what it’s like to play that part.”
You breathe out. There’s a silence between the two of you, one which you remember hanging stars upon. Now it's quiet in a way that has nothing to do with astronomy, or art, or music or anything, really. It’s empty. Like every other silence.
“I loved you,” you whisper in an attempt that is more delirious than for closure. “Do you really not know what that’s like?”
Ten shakes his head. “I… I don’t.”
The memories of him smiling under the sun, only memories keep your tears from brimming up. There was meant to be closure. There was meant to be an explanation. You were supposed to be closing that door you opened into each other. Ten looks at your shaking hands and for a moment, you think he might even reach out and warm them up with his sunlit ones. You press them to your face and breathe into them.
“You brought me all the way here to lie to me?”
Ten furrows his eyebrows.
“I’m not lying—I can’t care about you. You know that, right? I’ll ruin your life. Like I’ve ruined mine.”
You laugh, partly in exasperation and partly as an attempt to alleviate the pain in your chest. 
“You’re my boy. I know you better than anything else I know.”
“Don’t- Don’t do that. Don’t make me want something more.”
"Why would you kiss me?" You bite down your lip to stop yourself from crying.
Ten seems at a loss for words, looking at you with parted lips and guilty eyes. 
"I love you. I'm sorry."
With your eyes downcast, you take a shaky breath. It's now or never. Never, never, never. The word chimes like wedding bells and you think for a moment, to lie. If you pretend, if you act, you'll live it out. He cannot stay and you cannot leave. What a ridiculous pair you are.
You squeeze your eyes shut, get up and lean over the table to place a kiss against Ten's mouth. You pull away with reluctance, looking at the quiet surprise in his eyes.
"I'm sorry," you whisper. "I got… I got caught in the moment."
Ten stares at you soundlessly, mouth moving and yet no words come out. Instead, he runs his fingers through your hair before placing his hand on your cheek and leans in again. There's a red flush over his cheeks and it makes you feel at ease.
"I didn't want to hold you back," you say after parting. "Or at least, that's what I told myself. But this year without you has been so painful."
Ten doesn't say anything.
"I… I didn't know what I felt and- and I was so scared… I didn't mean to hurt you. I hate that I did."
“I was afraid,” he says, breathing out like he was holding it in. “I was so afraid you wouldn’t care if I came back.” 
Time treats everything poorly. This time, you’ll try your best to win against it. Ten breaks into a wide, relieved smile and you laugh, rubbing at the tears that collected. God, you were so afraid you wouldn't ever be able to talk to each other anymore. Every room you’ve been in without Ten has been so empty that you had stopped opening doors at all. The coffee is hot and tastes better than ever.
//
You dream of something as ridiculous as the love you feel for Ten. 
There's a cat in the sky, made of stars and with a booming, deep voice—and you, you are little and insignificant on a forgotten rooftop. It is serene, in quiet contemplation, and you are looking at it like a neglected child at its mother. You ask something without words and it responds without words. 
All of sudden, the image disappears and you find yourself in a garden, picking flowers. The clothes you wear are not yours, the face you wear is not yours. But Ten, you'd recognise him anywhere, any time, in another lifetime.
You could see the clear distinction between the two of you however. You wore robes of royalty, the auspicious gold embroidery glistening, and he, that of a performing artist in quiet sage green. The blue irises that grew around you paid no heed to your colours and you had the thought that you should be like them. Vivid, smiling and never alone.
Ten greets you with a smile first and then stretches out his arms. You run to him, with enough force to knock the two of you onto the soft, grassy ground. No one will find the two of you here, in this flower bed. You remember thinking that royalty puts on just as much a show as theatre actors.
You didn't have to remember all of it to know that the story was a tragedy, carefully crafted by divine writers and painters. It was cruel, as is every writer's hand. You see him last under a beautiful sunset before an execution, the words ‘please’ on his lips and no hint of resentment in his smile. It was unlike him. It was so unlike him. 
You hug yourself. He shouldn’t have forgiven you so easily. It takes you a few moments to come back to your senses; this is not you. That person in your dreams wasn’t you—why did you have to feel all that pain? That person in your dream watched their lover die—no, let their lover die as though discarding a messed up sketch. Cruel. It was so cruel. 
The burning idea sprouts in your mind that it was the original script. That perhaps you were cruel and he was not and it’s been that way since forever. That if you don’t do something about it, you’ll be the villain once more. It's as scary to be young as it is lively—and not for once, did you ever think that villains were children too.
ACT III: HAPPINESS 
 act iii scene i.
If the world were to end tomorrow, Ten would spend tonight dancing with you. He says it so easily that you forget to tease him about it.
“Not like that,” he instructs, eyebrows furrowed. “Do this.”
“I am doing this.” You huff, crossing your arms.
“No, you’re not—holy shit, your arms are made of lead.”
You punch him in the shoulder and he stumbles, losing his balance. He sits down on his bed, leaning back on his arms and laughs. You join him and sit down on the fuzzy rug. He gets off immediately to sit beside you.
“I mean, you’re not that bad,” he says with a shrug.
You mimic his statement, rolling your eyes and he attacks your side with an unannounced bout of tickling. The last time you did this, you were a foot shorter and no high school dating rumours were flying around. The last time you did this, you didn’t end up kissing, limbs entangled with each other. December feels like June.
Ten pulls away from you, hovering over to kiss you once again before kissing turns into giggling which turns into laughter.
“I like this," you say quietly.
"Kissing me?" He asks with a sly grin.
"It's actually a little disappointing. Thought you'd be a ten at kissing."
"Atrocious. Disgusting. Vile. Never say that to me again."
You stick your tongue out at him and he does the same, the afternoon torpor settling in heavy as you cuddle into each other. It’s nostalgic almost but at the same time, so very new. You want to talk to him for hours and hours but when the hours end, it never feels enough. An ending is what you despise. Your thoughts meander.
“I had a nightmare,” you confess suddenly.
There’s a very brief pause. Before Ten even says anything, his arms reach out, pulling you into him. It’s warm and you smile.
“Was it your own face you saw?”
“Fuck you. You ruined the moment.”
“We were having a moment?”
You elbow him in the gut and he lets out a grunt of pain, the two of you moving away from each other just to glare. Ten caves first, sliding closer to you and placing his palm against your cheek.
“Can we resume our moment?” he asks, eyes crinkling when he smiles.
You press your forehead to his, your breathing in perfect coordination. This feels easy. This feels right. You pull away and look at him, the silence encasing your moment with him.
“I saw you in it. I… I lost you in it.” You bite your lower lip, avoiding his gaze.
“Hey. It was just a bad dream. I’m right here.” Ten draws closer, his breath mingling with yours and the warmth seeps into you just enough to forget the cold night. 
“You know what would cheer me up from a nightmare?” You nudge him.
“If you say visiting the graveyard—god, fuck, you’re gonna say visiting the graveyard. My suggestion is that you see a therapist.”
“I would if I had the money,” you retort.
Ten shrugs before furrowing his eyebrows. “Are we actually going to the graveyard? You know there are like graves there.”
“That’s… why it’s called a graveyard.”
“Don’t get smart with me, you failed seventh grade English.”
“You failed sixth grade math, Ten. Sixth grade. They teach you like fractions and shit then.”
“Do I look like I need to add three-fourths and one-eighths ever in my life?”
You shake your head before getting up with a burst of energy, and pick up your jacket from his bed. 
“Let’s go! Let’s go!” You start to chant at Ten until he reluctantly gets up. The sun is quite far from setting down yet and everyone knows the perfect time to visit a grave is twilight. Maybe the stone will give your life enough perspective to ease your anxious thoughts.
//
The town cemetery is located by the bed of dahlias which have withered in the seasonal cycle of life and death. There’s a light breeze and your jacket is just enough to withstand it. The sky is orange and pink and the graveyard doesn’t seem as looming as it does in the dead of night (which you know because you’ve visited at two in the morning on a stupid bet with Johnny and somehow Ten was the one scared shitless). You’ve heard stories of the soldiers who were buried here, the women who led the first revolution and everyone else who never got to grace history books. You’ve never enjoyed history much but you can’t gainsay that it puts everything into perspective.
Nothing else matters at the wedding altar and at the grave. 
Ten makes a face at the iron gates of the cemetery. “Okay. We’ve had our adventure. Can we please go get our evening snacks?”
“I love it when you’re antsy, Ten.”
He gives you a sardonic smile. “And I like it better when we’re in my bedroom.”
You gasp dramatically, placing your hand in front of your mouth lightly. “That’s quite scandalous of you, good sir.”
He smiles, eyes crinkling. “I consider myself something of a modern man, you see?”
You skip over the steps to the gates and do a curtsy before gesturing to the entrance. He complies with a sigh of reluctance and lets you take his hand as you pull him in. 
A loud voice startles the two of you and Ten smacks his mouth before he can scream and embarrass himself.
“What business do you have here, trespassers?” The voice echoes through the graveyard.
You look around at the trees and squint at what seems to be some children wearing masks and giggling to themselves. You roll your eyes. Johnny told you some of the town kids were mucking about near the graveyard to spook passersby. 
“You really should get back home for dinner, kids,” you say, crossing your arms.
“Silence, trespasser! You will answer our questions to pass.”
Ten bites back a laugh. “Alright, kids. Shoot.”
“Are the two of you criminals married?”
Ten wrinkles his nose. “Do we look that old?”
“Okay! Next question. Did the two of you ever… do it?”
“What?” you ask, tilting your head. 
Ten groans. “You can say sex, you know? Don’t be pussies.”
You elbow him in the side and he yelps. 
“Those are kids,” you whisper.
“I think they’re old enough if they’re asking,” he whispers back.
“No,” you answer the same time he answers “Yes”.
“What?” You look at him in surprise. 
He shrugs, somewhat guilty. “New York,” he responds in a meek voice. “You know?”
You snicker before it turns to laughter. “Why do you look like that? It’s not a crime to have sex—how the fuck did you even get some though?”
“It’s called having sex appeal. Ever heard of it?”
You roll your eyes, opening your mouth to say something when one of the kids clears his throat.
“Okay! You may pass.”
You furrow your eyebrows. “You really just the wanted to ask us about sex, didn’t you?”
“Let’s go, boys!” The kid declares before stopping abruptly. “And girl.”
A group of kids emerges from behind the trees and flock to a hole in the stone wall, laughing amongst themselves as they run out.
“Wow. Kids these days, huh?” Ten says.
“When we were their age, we convinced Yukhei to poke a beehive.”
“Okay, we were asshole kids but no one ever really told us bees were deadly.”
You walk further into the graveyard, beelining towards the same graves you visit often. They’re unnamed but they died sometime in the nineteenth century. Time passes in a way that is hard to comprehend—all these people and stories are never remembered and time is the only witness. Perspective is a luxury to those who have the time to look.
“Why do you like coming here?” Ten asks quietly, eyeing the gravestones with an unreadable look in his eyes.
“For perspective,” you answer truthfully.
He hums, a somewhat understanding note in his voice.
“They only lived for twenty-four years,” you note.
“The world ends too soon sometimes.”
“Kind of sucks.”
“Really sucks.”
The wind is cold when it passes the two of you by. Ten shivers and zips his jacket before checking up on you, fixing your jacket to cover you better.
“When I leave this place, I hope I have a nice farewell,” you whisper.
Ten raises his eyebrow. “Don’t you want it to be an awful, everyone’s-crying sort of affair?”
“No,” you respond, giving him a confused look.
“I want at least one person to be crying,” he replies, shoving his hands into his pockets. 
“That’s kind of—wait a minute.” You glare at him. “You don’t have to use that against me. I wasn’t crying crying.”
“I’m not! I mean it. Like, I want to mean something to someone.”
You draw near enough to link your arms, sighing at the warmth emanating.
“And you’re lying. I know you sobbed right into the pillow like a dramatic ass Disney princess.”
“You’re the one with a flair for drama.” You chuckle.
Ten makes a reluctant sound of agreement, crossing his arms. As he looks at the graves, there’s an expression on his face you can’t quite fathom. It could be mourning—but the graves are nameless, or it could be pity—but he believes that pity is not a positive emotion to feel. You want to ask but something keeps you from it. Something tells you that the answer won’t be pleasant for either of you.
“I hope I cry too,” he whispers. “When I leave and the curtain falls and the world ends.”
You look at him, pondering.
“When I leave,” he begins again, “I want it to hurt. When everything changes, I want it to hurt bad. Then I know it meant something.”
You slip your hand into his and squeeze. “If it means anything, you know I’ll cry if you leave.”
Ten laughs. “Yeah. So when you cried, was it the ugly snot cry or the silently sobbing kind of cry?”
“Fuck off.”
He opens his mouth to retort but gets a full kiss on the mouth instead, good enough to make him forget it. It’s a nice thing to get used to. If time permits, you could do everything together forever.
You return at twilight, grabbing some snacks and arguing whose Netflix account to use and the sun sets before you come to an agreement but it’s not winter anymore inside his room. In fact, it doesn’t feel like winter at all till you look outside and see the naked trees and darker skies, and you remember when you decided last year that you don’t like winter. 
Before you can have a change of heart, you turn to him with sparkling eyes.
He smiles before you even say anything, reading your face as easily as the back of his hand. “You have good news? Or, like, a gift?” Chuckling in breaks, he runs his fingers through your hair.
“I just wanted to talk about our future.”
“Hm?” He seems a little surprised.
“I’m sure we’ll work something out for the both of us. I have faith in you. And in us.”
Ten’s smile falters but he doesn’t let it fall. “I’m glad you do.”
His ringtone startles the two of you just as you lean in, Ten muttering curses at the device. Pausing for a bit when he takes out his phone, he signals you that he needs a minute and leaves you alone in his room. 
Nothing much has changed. There's his cluttered ash wood desk with sketchbooks of varying sizes and colours, shelves with small plushies and, you notice carefully, the butterfly pin you stole. Beside it is the panda soft toy you had found at the side of the road walking back from school and felt so bad, you had "adopted" it. You let out a chuckle.
“Ten?” you call, holding the little panda soft toy.
Ten paces outside his room, speaking in a hush. His features are tense, shoulders stiff and eyes focused when he talks to the caller. Noticing you, his eyes soften for a bit and he makes his way towards you.
“I’ll- I’ll talk to you later,” he speaks sharply into the phone.
“Who’s that?” you ask, walking up to him.
“Sicheng,” he replies briskly.
“Oh.” You remember the doll in your hand and pick it up to show him. “Remember how we got this?”
He smiles but something is amiss in his eyes. “Of course I remember.”
Whatever it is, it must not be important. After all, he’s your best friend and best friends tell each other everything. Morning will come and everything will be alright.
//
The night is cold and the moon is missing. The clothes you wear are not your own once again. This dream begins when the sun has just set and you can taste bitter defeat, but of what battle you don’t know yet. 
All you know is that there is a war and you are caught in the crossfire. It hurts; you can’t feel your limbs anymore and another injury won’t matter anymore. Maybe this is the only life you won in.
No one dies in a way that matters. No one dies for anything at all. It just happens and that is a truth lying within the reach of the universe. Yet then again, when you find your last breath escaping you as you hold hands with the love of your life, you think there must be some meaning to it. You’re only twenty-four and you will be buried in a nameless grave for a war that was the fault of neither of you. 
It dawns on you the moment you wake up, brushing away the tears on your cheeks. The universe is forgetting you, and the universe is being forgotten, until there is nothing left to be remembered.
All you can think then is that you will miss Ten in the next life, and in the next and the next. 
act iii scene ii.
Ten has to tell you. He knows. He knows how the story ends. 
But he’s afraid. He didn’t know how long he’d been walking facing forward till he’d turned around just to find you gone. New York was fun and he made new friends but it’s difficult to be anywhere without you. You’ve been attached at the hip for so long, it’s become strange to be apart.
Ten thinks about the call. The director was very particular about his role and chances come by as rare as diamonds. Ten breathes out heavy in annoyance, covering his eyes with his forearm. He loves sunny winter mornings and this is the worst one he’s ever experienced. He can hear his mom cooking downstairs, the sound soothing and he groans, running his fingers through his hair. 
He should tell you. He knows he should tell you. But fear never walks in on stage with full gusto, it creeps in, slithers in till he feels a shadow behind him on stage and suddenly, he can’t see the lights anymore. Ten is afraid. He is afraid of losing his sense of self to the millions of people he’s played, and to your vibrant world of flowers and colours. You are always front stage centre. You are at the bottom of everything and he can’t let himself fall deep enough. He’s not enough.
Ten turns to face the collection of DVDs on his shelf, untouched since he'd left. What did he start performing for again? Was it the time you and him pretended to be pirates in his room, his bed your gallant ship, or the time he watched his first movie on a sweltering hot summer day, or the time he sang to you the first time (it was a birthday song remix, made by Ten himself). Surely, it was for something beautiful and not for something like greed. At that time, he thought that maybe if he stole enough lives and stuffed it into the gaping hole, it would sate his envy of the people around him. The bright vibrant colours, he made his own and yet still, he feels like a thief with his nimble feet and a stash of paint bottles in his arms. He's not satisfied at all.
It was a sunlit morning and Ten thought to himself, wouldn’t it be nice if he could paint with all the colours of the rainbow? You, who are so full of vibrance, couldn’t understand this epiphany of his.
"You keep getting on my nerves," he mutters in this empty room of his. "Everything you do gets on my nerves."
Ten decides that he’ll tell you this evening. After all, best friends tell each other everything. The theatre means the world to him but the whole world is out there, ready to be his stage. Eventually, this loneliness will turn into a performance and he’ll be grasping at identities trying to find familiarity. He will take his masks off over and over again, and he knows he’ll still be wearing one. He wants to greet you with his real face.
The world spins at the rate of a thousand miles an hour. It never stops, and that must mean everyone on it can’t stop either. 
//
The crows are singing a song, or talking amongst themselves. You can never know. The song is dyed red as the evening, and with a splash of purple. It’s the season to miss flowers and warm hands and the sweet taste of ice cream. You don't know why but the "let's go to the gardens" text from Ten gave you the most awful feeling, much like the morning after your nightmares.
“I have to go back to New York.”
You look up at Ten from the park bench beside the dahlia fields. The flowers are asleep, not in bloom until next autumn. 
“What?”
“I got a call… from someone I know.”
Your first reaction is to smile wide and jump up. “That’s great! You’re not jobless anymore.” You laugh.
But then the corner of your lips twitch and your smile drops. The word ‘goodbye’ hangs at the tip of your tongue and you look at him, slightly perplexed. Ten, who looks at you with so much kindness, will never understand this envy of yours.
“When… when do you come back?”
“I don’t- I don’t know. It depends on how well I do.”
You laugh despite the heavy feeling settling in your chest. “That- Let’s hope your acting is shitty then, hm?”
Ten frowns. “This isn't a joke. For once in your life, can you look at me with sincerity?”
You grit your teeth at his words. 
“I’m trying to lighten the mood, god dammit,” you murmur bitterly.
“And I’m saying you don’t have to.”
There’s something looming over the top of your heads, something eerie like a clock that never stops ticking or a clock that never ticks.
“Can I kiss you?” you ask, surrender in your voice already. 
If you kiss him where you hurt him, will everything be alright? Can you grow the flowers he likes over his scars? Flowers… flowers—which were his favourite again? Irises or daisies? It must have been the prior; you’ve glanced over a hundred times at the endless fields of sleeping blue irises in his sketchbook. And yet, you doubt. Were those flowers chrysanthemums? You’re grasping onto memories and your knuckles are starting to hurt.
Ten looks at you with a gaze that is of the past. He looks at you like he’s mourning, like he’s keeping something grave from you. So you lean in, your lips brushing against his before you can kiss him fully. You want to feel him and for him to feel you, the idea of a relationship foreign and close to you as ever. Even so, you feel like a ghost as you run your fingertips over his skin and through his hair. He knows how to kiss you, how to hold you—and he’s known you for years.
Ten pulls apart for a few moments, breaths weaving into each other. It’s only five centimeters between your lips but it’s still five centimetres. You don’t know if you were meant to be apart or if you were not. The show must go on.
You brush the hair from his face, a lingering smile on your face from the kiss and the way his features align so perfectly. It’s easier to avoid his gaze that way. 
“I’m tired,” he whispers. “I’m so tired. I feel like my skin is losing its grip on my bones. Everything’s falling apart.”
You hum, choking up at the sound of his voice. Soft and yet, so heavy.
He takes a sharp, shaky breath. “I don’t want to go.” 
Forever is the sweetest lie you’ve told each other. 
“You’re going to go,” you pronounce the words into realization. “You’re going to go away again. And I’m going to be right here.”
Your broken heart is making it much more difficult than it should be.
“Don’t go,” you whisper hoarsely. Maybe if this time you didn’t lie. Maybe you’ll be his number one, his lead finally. 
His breathing gets erratic, and he takes a step back to cover his face with his flushed hands. It’s painful to watch him this way and you want to take your words back. But you knew. You knew what the words would result in, what the words would grow into. You feel cruel.
“I… I can’t give up,” he says finally, “I can’t- I can’t. I’m sorry, oh god. Why can’t you come with me? Why do I have to go back alone?”
You swallow, your eyes downcast. 
“I’m not going to wait,” you say finally. “We should… we should stop now. It’s been long enough for us to go our own ways.”
Ten doesn’t move, at a loss for words.
“You… I'm sorry,” he says, choking on his own words. 
Your lips tremble and you wipe at your eyes. He cups your face, thumbs swiping away the tears before you can muster enough strength to push him away. You’re a complete mess, in a way you haven’t been before. Even now, he’s the only one you can face.
“We’re not,” you say, regaining some control over your tongue, “We’re not supposed to be like this. Do you think we would even be friends if we didn’t grow up here together?”
“What- What does that matter?” He furrows his eyebrows, drawing nearer.
“I’m saying that everything could just be a coincidence and maybe… maybe things should just end sometimes.”
You just want to kiss him, in the way a romantic story ends in a sweet kiss and it’s a happy ending.
“You don’t mean that,” he whispers. “But if you want distance, I’m giving you thousands of miles of it.”
You clench your jaw. “Don’t blame me for pushing you away.”
Ten throws up his arms in exasperation. “I’m not blaming—why are you so defensive all of a sudden?”
“You made me that way,” you answer, pitch low. Your throat hurts. 
Ten looks at you with disappointment in his eyes, baby pink lips in a frown you hate. "I'm sorry. I have to leave."
You nod and let the words 'see you tomorrow' slip the same time 'goodbye' slips his. He turns his back and walks forwards as he always has, and you look in from the same place as you always have. 
Eventually, you get the energy to go home. You greet your colourful room with the same look you always have before something catches your eye. The colour of your room mostly comes from the polaroids stuck to your wall—you and Ten at your high school graduation dancing to Nicki Minaj, Yukhei and you looking done holding the caricatures Ten painted of you, Sicheng and Ten and you after your first theatre performance together. There are so many smiles that you end laughing, a little crazy with the sound. Perhaps spring isn't as far as you think it is. Perhaps you will be okay.
Everything has an end. You know that. It hurts so fucking bad.
Ten was right. Because it hurts this bad, you know it meant something now. It meant the whole world to you. Winter tumbles upon you at full force even as you hold autumn dearly in your arms.
//
This time, you close your eyes to find yourself in a field of dahlias. The dream is meandering with colours and sounds so quiet that you feel like you’re stuck in time. Then a loud vibration resounds throughout the field; it is not a field at all. 
You are sitting atop a bed of stars, in the belly of something much larger than you are. There is a place in the universe for everyone but you cannot find yourself in it. 
So you sit at the places you’ve always known, at gardens and children’s parks, waiting till your hair turns grey and your skin starts to wrinkle. Time flows around you, faster with each second but you sit so still that you're not breathing anymore. You're so jealous of those who move, dance and play. Does it have to be this painful? You don't want to be all these people in your dreams. You want to paint your own mask.
The world is so busy and you are completely still. You think of sunshine in New York and how he must be loving it and for a moment, your plastered lips quirk upward. 
When you wake up, Ten is on a flight to New York with a text that reads: "I'll come back. I promise." The sunset after a farewell—even you understand the beauty of it and so, you watch him chase his dreams into the sunset.
act iii scene iii.
You know an ending scene when you see one. It’s the only scene you didn’t end up sleeping through. But this doesn’t feel like one, no matter how deep the despair runs through you. This third act love was never supposed to work out and yet, something is amiss.
Ten doesn’t come back even when the billboards proudly show his face and he’s the star of the show. In your opinion, he always has been. But people get comfortable in the present, sink their feet into it, and when they do, they forget the past. 
The world spins at a thousand miles per hour but nothing seems to move for you. Everything stops and life goes on.
epilogue.
Your youth starts to run out.
Sorrow grows into anger, then into resentment. You’re not sure what you hate so desperately but you hate it nonetheless. You’re pissed and you don’t know what to do with yourself except wake up shaking and wanting to shout and cry at the world. You were supposed to have Ten by your side even then. Even when you’re against the world, he was supposed to be there. Now you’re all alone in a world that’s crashing and burning, in a world of your own making and in a world that is no longer in the palm of your hand.
You wish you were an angrier person, you wish you could curse and scream and fight as easily as they do in movies. At least he didn't make a villain out of you when he left first. 
You don’t really have nightmares anymore though. When you have nothing to lose, you start to fear less. You tend to a little garden of your own making after Mr. Yang passes away. There’s a quiet funeral and a will written with your name on it. You did spend most of your time there after Ten left. It’s your flower shop now and you can tend to whichever flowers you want to keep alive.
Sometime in your late twenties, you get a call from an old friend. You meet Doyoung at a coffee shop near the college he went to, and he tells you he got your number from Yukhei that night you met. He says he’s glad your number hasn’t changed in all these years—he found it going through his contacts. You find it cute the way he becomes flustered when trying to explain himself. He’s a lawyer now, finished all those tough years to complete his dreams.
It makes you smile. You think that dreams shouldn’t be kept in a bottle but your shelves are full.
You go on dates at the cutest new cafes and the most ambient restaurants, sometimes to amusement parks so you can laugh at his fear of scary rides. It feels like having a friend once again and you cheer up for the better. 
But Doyoung doesn’t understand history the way you do. He doesn’t understand a lot of things—but it’s not something you expect anyway. He’s rich and he doesn’t know what small towns are like. You think you can be in love again. He proposes to you on a yacht and you nod, paralyzed from your fear of the ocean. Your parents are so happy for you that for a brief time, you feel happy too in the shadow of their joy.
You don’t visit your hometown anymore after the wedding. You don’t visit theatres at all.
Sometimes you remember the night at the rooftop after the party with Ten and smile. But it was one night, one thing you did in a lifetime of nights and things you did. It dawns on you just then that loneliness makes you fragile, fragile enough to push people away instead.
Every time you close your eyes, you’re still dancing with him on the rooftop below the stars that are yet to fade from your memory. You now pick wilting flowers at a wilted garden.
“A play?” you ask, confounded. Doyoung has never been one for theatre.
"Your mom said you liked theatre," Doyoung answers, eyes inquisitive.
"Did she now?"
He smiles. "If you've grown out of it—"
"No. No, I've always wanted to watch a show on Broadway."
"That's settled then."
You start to understand the meaning of this place to Ten. You haven't called him in years and you didn't keep in touch after the first year. Life was as busy for him as it was still for you and you understand some of it now. After all, who would ever want to leave this place?
Being a part of the audience runs a chill up your back, with certain memories drawing to the surface of your thoughts as you sink into the seat. It's a popular musical but you can't say you've ever heard of it. Time runs differently in your little bubble. 
It hurts just about as much as you expect it to. Watching Ten on stage hurts so bad you almost look away. The nostalgia scratches at your throat, filling your head with memories you shouldn't be entertaining anymore. You should've kept in touch. You should've done something. You were friends before everything else.
All you want from him now is forgiveness. You’re fine with loving him quietly. You’re fine with loving him quietly. You’re fine with—
You start to cry before you can do anything about it. Doyoung doesn’t notice beside you, dozed off already to the soft orchestral music.
You must seem delirious, mourning as though you’ve buried a loved one. With a shaky breath, you force yourself to look. It is the tombstone of your childhood love that stands on stage. You were rash. You were so, so young and rash. Your lips tremble again and you cry, chest rising and falling as you remember something so forgotten that it seems a dream, something so warm that’s now six feet under in the cold ground. You mourn.
But he seems happy—and that's all you ever really cared about. That's all you should have cared about.
The play ends on a wonderful musical note and you find yourself in better composure. Shaking Doyoung awake by the shoulder, you look at him expectantly. He seems partly embarrassed to have dozed off and partly apologetic.
"You want to meet Ten?" Doyoung asks quietly.
You blink in surprise.
"You grew up in the same town, right?"
"Yeah… Yeah, we did."
Doyoung smiles. "We went to college at the same place."
"Oh, I know. Most everyone from my town goes to college there actually."
Doyoung hums. 
"He invited me, actually," he says after a while.
"Oh."
It hurts only a little that he didn't invite you first. Did all those years mean nothing beyond a little romance? If you were years younger, you could be chiding him for it. If he were years younger, he would greet you with a Cheshire cat smile.
Backstage smells of sweat. A little perfume and powder but mostly sweat. You know that already. It's just that even the backstage here is grand. 
Ten looks as pretty as ever, even with half the makeup off his face. He looks as pretty as billboard posters, where he was meant to be, and in smiling Instagram posts and articles about how perfect his smile is. He's pretty but in a different sort of way.
Ten doesn't seem surprised. In fact, he greets the two of you with a poster smile. 
"Doyoung," he says first. "(Name). I hope, no wait. You guys better have liked that."
Doyoung laughs. "You'll bully me into liking it even if I didn't."
Ten rolls his eyes. "Law makes you so boring. Or maybe you were always boring."
Doyoung sighs, shaking his head. "Not everyone wants to be the life of the party. There's quite a bunch of wild stories about you on the internet."
Ten snorts. "I don't know why but you saying 'the internet' makes you sound thirty years older."
"There's no arguing with you, is there?"
"Learnt from the best."
You clear your throat. "If the two of you are done with your homoerotic banter…"
Doyoung chokes the same time Ten makes a gagging sound. What the two of them have in common is that they easily become flustered around you.
"I'm going to go wash my face." Doyoung excuses himself, exiting the backstage. 
In any other time or place, it would be fine being just the two of you.
"Ten," you acknowledge. "You look good."
"I always do."
You roll your eyes. "You don't have to mask everything with humour."
"Like you did?"
You fall silent.
“Does it hurt?” you ask.
“It does,” he whispers before raising his voice something more audible. “When I look at your—our old pictures, it does.”
"You've kept them?"
"Of course."
You look at your feet. The reality settles. You’re not going back to the way things were. You’re married to another man. Ten’s not in love with you anymore. If you had taken the step forward back then, if you had kissed him before he took that step back—would things have turned out differently? 
The stars will now gaze at lonely rooftops and empty flower gardens—an audience you never wished to entertain. But now, you're glad to have been part of his play, part of the play you made together.
“Are you happy these days?” he asks. There is no malice, no resentment in his voice.
“Almost,” you answer. “There’s just one thing missing.”
To ask for forgiveness does not mean erasure. You can't move on by letting it go and pretending it was never in the palm of your hand.
“I’m sorry it wasn’t me,” you say quietly, rubbing your forearm.
Ten smiles. “We were a little confused, I think. We wanted to be loved, appreciated and found the easiest way.”
You smile back. “Yeah. It was always easiest with you.”
Ten pauses, looking around with a familiar feline look in his eyes before whispering, “So, Doyoung? Really?”
You straighten, crossing your arms. “He’s really nice. And he’s always asking me how I am, what I ate, and he buys me all the soft toys I want. And he’s a better kisser, by the way.”
Ten places a hand over his heart in mock indignation. “Now, we both know that’s not true.”
You roll your eyes before a short giggle turns into chuckling into laughter, and the two of you find yourself with smiling eyes, the look of childhood on your faces and memories unkempt. 
It is better to grieve than to never have loved anyone enough to. 
It doesn’t hurt anymore but maybe it stopped hurting a long time ago. But it meant something to you, meant so much to you and that's all that makes sense now.
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notes.
the words to the play at the beginning of act i scene i is taken from tang xianzu’s preface to his own play, the peony pavilion, however they are not exact quotations. the graveyard scene and the “when everything is gone, i want it to hurt” dialogue are inspired by indie game night in the woods by infinite fall studio and i love that game pls check it out if you have the time and money!!
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Delicate. — Part 2.
word count: 2.8k
a/n: Part 2, let’s gooo. as always, feedback is very much appreciated! Let me know what you think or what you would like to see next. thank you for reading!
catch up here!
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"Stupid cheesecake recipe."
"Over baking wasn't exactly on the recipe, J." 
"Oh, shut up. Yours is dry as fuck."
Y/n opened her mouth, pretending to be offended. The pair was currently having a little baking competition that clearly went wrong since none of them can bake. Now, Y/n was pretty good at cooking in general, but for some reason baking just wasn't her thing. And obviously, it wasn't Jensen's thing either. 
"I hope you clean this mess after you're done." The truth was, Louise wasn't surprised by the mess her children had made and didn't mind it either. The age difference between both of them was big, so growing up there wasn't much they could do to bond. Right now, however, they were so much closer than they were before, and Jensen and Y/n had more things in common and more options of activities they could do together, like baking. 
Even if they were bad at it. 
"I invited Harry and Sarah tonight. They're having dinner with us." Louise spoke again, grabbing a rag and starting to wipe off the flour on the kitchen island. 
"Who's Sarah?" Y/n asked, cleaning the flour on her left cheek. She tried to ignore the growing butterflies in her stomach at the mention of Harry. She'd be lying if she said she hasn't thought about him since their last encounter, even went as far as trying to look for him on the internet but she got nothing. But the mention of another woman made her feel confused. Was he married or something? Don't blame her, the guy wears a lot of rings.  
"The owner of that cat café I took you to the other day. She's great, don't worry." 
Jensen nudged her playfully, and she rolled her eyes in return. "I'll take a shower." She announced before marching out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her old room. She wanted to clean herself up before Harry arrived, although she didn't know why. Looking through the clothes she kept at her mother's house, she settled in a plain, long blue dress with spaghetti straps and a pair of sandals. She didn't want to look overdressed but also didn't want to just wear a pair of sweatpants like she's been wearing all afternoon. 
"Do you remember when mom tried to set me up with that girl who worked at the restaurant on the other side of town?" Jensen entered the room without knocking, running his fingers through his hair. He was also fresh out of the shower. 
"Madison?" Jensen hummed in response. "She was nice. Why did you stop going out with her?"
"Because mom only did it because she thought I was lonely.?"
"What's your point?" She looked at him after grabbing a hairbrush from the vanity. 
"That she's doing the same now with Harry? Duh."
"Woah, I've met the man once. And I've tried going out with people she sets me up with, and we never click."
//
Y/n tried to play it cool when she heard the gates open, busying herself with whatever as the doorbell rang and Louise hurried towards the door. Harry and a gorgeous brunette stepped into the house, smiling widely at the middle-aged woman. 
"Come on in! I'm so glad you could make it."
"You have a lovely home, Louise." Harry's deep voice along with that accent of his sent shivers down Y/n's spine. She had a weak spot for British people and she didn't know why. 
"I'm sorry Mitch couldn't make it." The woman beside Harry said. 
"Oh, it's okay. There's always next time."
The three of them walked into the living room where everyone else was sitting. Jensen stood up and high-fived Harry before giving Sarah a side hug. A smirk appeared on Harry's face as Y/n came into his view. "Hello again, love."
"Hi, Harry." Y/n returned his little salute. "Azaleas are doing great, by the way." She jokingly said. 
"Knew you would keep them alive." He gave her a little wink before giving her a quick hug. 
Sarah introduced herself and Y/n did the same, accepting her hand to shake. Y/n had to admit, she was really pretty. Along with her brown hair, she had a pair of blue eyes and an inviting smile. If Harry was really dating Sarah, then he was a lucky man. 
Throughout the dinner, Y/n didn't say much. She'd occasionally steal little glazes at Harry and admired how gorgeous he looked tonight. It was funny, Y/n had this feeling in her tummy every time she's seen him, which by the way has only been twice, and she grew nervous out of nowhere. It was almost like she was too shy to speak to him, which was weird considering she was a pro at holding conversations as she's been trained to do so. Sometimes she'd stare for too long and Harry would notice and smile her way. Y/n felt like a teenager with a highschool crush. She tried to convince herself she didn't like him that way and she was just taken back at how pretty he was. 
Dinner was over and Harry insisted on helping with the dishes despite Louise's protests. So now it was just Y/n and Harry in the kitchen putting everything in the dishwasher while sipping on white wine. 
"How can you put ice on it?" Harry asked, nodding at her glass filled with wine and ice. "When the ice melts it just tastes like water."
"I like it really cold but I don't like keeping the bottles in the freezer." She explained, taking a sip from her glass. "So how do you know Sarah?" 
"She was the first friend I made when I came here. She's also British so we became fast friends. Plus, he's dating my best friend and co-worker."
"Oh." She said, processing the information. Perhaps that Mitch guy Sarah mentioned was her boyfriend and not Harry. Suddenly, she felt a wave of relief but then again, why?
"Can I say something without sounding creepy?"
"S-sure?" 
"My sister is a massive fan of yours. When we still lived with my mum, you were all she listened to."
"I'm sorry." She joked and he breathed a laugh. "Well, tell her I say hi, please."
"Will do."
"So..." She dragged the word. "You knew who I was?"
"Obviously I don't live under a rock." He rolled his eyes playfully. "I'm just not invested in that whole world as other people, you know? I don't even own an Instagram account or anything." Harry shrugged.
So that's why she couldn't find him anywhere, she thought. A feeling of excitement ran through her veins. Harry knew who she was, but he didn't care. Being treated like a normal person was a luxury Y/n didn't have anymore, so it was safe to say she felt happy knowing he'd treat her like one. 
They finished the task in silence, but Y/n couldn't contain the little smile forming on her face and honestly, Harry couldn't either. 
She was curious about him. What was he doing in her hometown if he was from the other side of the world? What did he do in his free time? Where did he get so many cool rings? Did he always want to be a florist? Why was he a florist? She had a million questions she wanted to ask, feeling genuinely intrigued by him. Harry could easily come off as an intimidating man, but what she has noticed from him was completely different. 
Harry was shy, incredibly so. But he was also cheeky, and silly and had a boyish smile that he could change into an intense look in a matter of seconds if he wanted to. His green eyes were always shiny, like stars in a black sky. He also appeared to be always happy, although she couldn't be certain on that one. 
The things she was feeling right now were things she's never experienced before and that was both exciting and terrifying. 
//
"I never trust a narcissist." Y/n tasted the new lyrics she's been thinking about with a random melody on the piano. She sat in front of the instrument in her living room and this time she didn't have to squeeze her brain for one decent melody, because this time she was able to come up with one smoothly. 
Pandora was casually laying down on the floor close to Y/n while Lizzie was chilling around the house as she didn't like the sound of the piano that much. This was one of those nights when inspiration came to Y/n from nowhere, having to drag herself out of the comfiness of her bed before she forgot what her brain had come up with. She continued adding lyrics, making sure her phone was still recording everything she was doing. 
It had been a few days since she's seen her family or had any kind of human interaction and now that she was thinking about it, she kind of missed it. Now, she loved her family to pieces and would do absolutely anything for them but she missed her friends, her real friends who were thousands of miles away from her right now. She was craving that more than anything right now and that's probably why she found herself in front of The Blossom House the morning after, debating whether or not entering the shop. 
Deciding to suck it up, she opened the door of the building and stepped in, feeling the overwhelming smell of flowers hit her nostrils immediately. There were a few people in the shop, a young boy buying a bouquet of red roses and two middle-aged women that looked like they came together. Y/n tried to go unnoticed as she stepped deeper into the store. The truth was, she didn't know what she was doing there. She didn't need more flowers, that's for sure. 
She looked through her sunglasses a bouquet of daisies her mother would absolutely die for, so she decided to grab it for her. 
"Oop, sorry. That one's not done yet." Someone said from behind. She turned around and saw a man with long hair tied in a low bun and a mustache on his face. "It's a commission, actually. But I can make another one for you."
"Oh, it's fine. I'll just pick something else." She gave him a polite smile. The name on the tag read Mitch, so he must be Sarah's boyfriend. "Uh... weird question but, is Harry around?"
"Yeah, he's in the back. Want me to get him for you?" He offered but she declined. 
"It's okay. Thank you." Giving him one last smile she walked away to the other side of the room, this time looking at the roses. The white ones were her favorites and she loved looking at them. 
"Hey, stranger."  Taking advantage of the fact he couldn't see her, she smiled widely at the sound of his voice. "Fancy seeing you here." As soon as she turned around she saw the goofy dimpled smile on his face. 
"Likewise, do you work here by any means?" She smirked as he giggled, deciding to play along. 
"Darling, I own the place."
"An entrepreneur, oh my god." She pretended to fan herself with the palm of her hand and Harry let out a big laugh. 
"What brings you here? More flowers?" Something tells her he knew she wasn't here for the flowers, and it was true, as much as she wanted to tell herself she wanted a new bouquet for her mom. In reality, she wanted to see him. "Has something caught your eye so far?"
"There was this bouquet of daisies but a man told me it was for a commission?" Her words came off more like a question. 
"Oh, yes. Mitch's been working on that for a few hours now. I can tell him to make you one like that if you want. Could be done in a couple of hours."
"That would be great. I could swing by in a while to get it."
"Orrrrr, we could wait for it over a cup of coffee?"
She observed him for a while and how the dimples never disappeared from his face as he waited for her answer. He seemed confident and she really liked that. "Sounds fun." She shrugged before a smile appeared on her face, matching his. 
"Let me tell Mitch and we'll go." He said before rushing to the back of the store and returning shortly after without his apron. "Would you prefer to go to Sarah's? Because there's this one, half block away that serves good coffee."
"Let's try that one." Honestly, she'd walk whatever blocks if that meant they'd spend more time together. "As much as I loved going to Sarah's, seeing all those kittens at once makes me cry."
"I feel the same. I always take my mum there when she comes to visit, last time she came she adopted one." He mentioned. A car passed at low speed, making Y/n nervous. She tried to cover her face as much as she could with her hair and fixing her sunglasses. "Is everything okay?" Harry asked, noticing her change of behavior. 
"Uh? Oh, yes. I thought someone was watching from that car." She said in a low voice. What happened next, she would've never expected. Harry pushed her gently to the other side of the sidewalk, changing places with her so his much taller frame would cover hers.
She blushed, looking up at him but he acted like it wasn't a big deal, like it was a natural thing to do although they didn't even know each other that well. She thought he'd tell her she was being paranoid or something but instead, he chose to do something he thought would make her feel more at ease. And it worked. 
Harry held the door open for her when they arrived, guiding her to a table away from the windows and pulled out the chair for her to sit, being an absolute gentleman with her. And although Y/n insisted, Harry went for their coffees and paid for them as well, saying he was the one who invited her hence he'd be the one who pays. 
Once they were settled with their own cups of coffee, they started talking. Mostly about Harry, Y/n still didn't feel comfortable enough to talk about herself and he understood so he let her ask him anything she desired. 
"Do you go to England often?"
"Not as much as I'd like to. I try to go during summer and for the holidays, of course. Although for birthdays and such, I'm not always able to fly there." 
"You must miss your family a lot." From what she's gathered about him, he was a family guy, so being away from his must be tough. She knew it was for her. 
"I do. But I also love it here."
"Do you see yourself going back?"
"To London? Probably not. I have gotten used to being in the states so if I ever move back there full time I'd feel out of place."
She nodded along, listening to him carefully. Harry had a beautiful voice and he spoke slowly so it made it even more soothing than it already was. She swore this man could read her a bedtime story and she'd be out in the first minutes. 
They talked for some more and bought another cup of coffee for the walk back to the flower shop. They were having a great time, and although they wouldn't say it out loud, none of them wanted it to end. So it was safe to say they both felt a little sad once they arrived at The Blossom House. 
"Let me get the bouquet for you." Harry told her after they entered. He came back with a replica of the bouquet of daisies she saw earlier and she smiled. "It's on the house, tell Louise I say hi."
"You don't have to gift me flowers every time I come, you know that right?" She chuckled but grabbed the bouquet regardless. 
"I know I don't have to but who says I don't want to?" He wiggled his eyebrows playfully, grinning at her. 
"Thank you, Harry. For the coffee and the flowers."
"You're very welcome. I, uh, I had a great time today." He said, blushing a little.
"Me too."
"Do you think we could do it again some other time?" He asked hesitantly. 
"I'd love to, honestly." Y/n admitted, starting to blush as well. 
"So can I have your number or I'd have to wait until you come again?" He asked teasingly. "Swear I'll not sell it on e-bay."
"Can you even sell a telephone number on e-bay?" She asked, laughing as she took her phone out of her bag, handing it to him. "Feel free to text yourself so you could have mine too."
"I'll use it wisely, I promise."
"What do you mean?"
"Perhaps not only for coffee but for a nice dinner."
Yeah, she definitely hoped he'd do that.
//
Tag list: @reverse-hxlland​ @cronias13
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thenotetoselfpod-hq · 3 years
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“The answer is yes if you were wondering if y’all were spoiled. Whew, Chile. Don’t ask me for NOTHIN’ else.” Zion chuckled sweetly as she dramatically cleared her throat. “Lets get into it. Welcome back to another episode of the Note to Self podcast where we talk all things self care of the body, spirit, mind, work ethic, sprinkled in with a whole lot of motivation to carry us into a new day. I am your host Zion Taylor and with me in my makeshift studio is my lil baby who listens to all of my problems, my boss friend THEEEEE Brilliant O’neal.” Zion air claps as she smiles over at Brilliant. “How are you on this lovely day, mama?”
“Hey, hey, hey! I’m so excited to speak to the note to self listeners all over, it’s been fun listening in and making my own input here and there but wheww being here feels so rewarding.” She said warmly before playfully exhaling. “I’m doing good, managing like I usually do but good nonetheless. How are you?! What jewels do you plan on dropping for the people today?”
“I’m probably doin’ a little less good than you since you’re managing but girl .. I cannot complain at all. So thankful to have you here for this episode and to just catch up. We’ll get into the tea of it all a little later. We start every episode with a brief recap and I wanted to thank everyone, again, for all of the love. I hope you all were inspired to really keep killing shit in the industry that you’re in and watch the doors open up for you. Last weeks top listeners were the beauty that is known as @royalnike who spoke about her Black Owned Mechanic business and the short term goals that she has for herself in that business. Of course you, Mrs. Brilli Dis, founder and owner of The Glamour Parlor, and the beautiful @syxrai, who I’m obsessed with on IG by the way, but who also is a film producer ALL shared your short term goals which inspired me tremendously. If you missed out on that go give it a listen and drop your own goals in the comment section.
Music is the only thing that gets me through my week sometimes. This week is on you because Channing is still pressed about Good Days so that shit rings in my head every day because of her.” Zion laughed, “What have you been listening to this week? Any new music you wanna share? Put us on.
Brilliant cracked up in laughter at the mention of Channing. “That baby got taste, because that’s my jam! But this week I’ve been on my Gangsta Brilli, I’ve been playing A Gangsta’s Pain by MoneyBagg on repeat. I think his track with Jhené is the perfect vibe, so if y’all need something to vibe to, with a nice little glass of wine, One of Dem Nights, but the whole album bops.”
“Okaaaay. Now see I haven’t always been a MoneyBaggYo fan up until his songs started getting airtime on the radio. I’ma definitely have to give that a listen once Channing is done boppin’ to her fave.
And that brings us right into the TEA for the day. I’ve known Brilliant for several years now and I feel like I’ve only known her as this amazing business women, wife and mother. We both know how crazy it can be going from Hashtag Living Single to Mommy Duties real quick once you’re married and have wifely duties, etc. How long did you know your Husband before you two decided to make it official AND tie the knot? Was marrying young something that you were open to or did it not matter? What’s that young love story you can’t wait to share with your kids?” Zion smiled as she looked over at Brilliant.
“So I always tell people that me and my husband’s love story is literally crazy, and I don’t think it could’ve happened any other way. Because were short on time, for the real how we met tea, watch our YouTube video! But..I think we dated for about a year before I got pregnant and just because of the type of man he is and how in love we were, and how happy we were when our son Justice was born, we got married when he was about 3 months. I honestly didn’t see myself marrying that young or having children..and my life did a whole 180. I just thought damn I’ll probably hate it here but when you have that person to make those defining moments with..it was a breeze and I found myself being happier with my little family than when I ran the streets. I don’t think marrying young is for everyone but when you make the right decision..man the moments you’ll create..priceless. Still a hot girl though, don’t get that twisted.” She said with a playful laugh.
“EXACTLYYY. I have to remind Lex all the time when he sees me playing dress up in my boots and coochie cutters that mama BEEN a stallion, okay?! Hot Girl Summer me, please!” She laughed, “No but seriously the feeeeels. I’m obsessed with the love you two have for each other. It’s infectious. But I’m sure it hasn’t always been cupcakes and rainbows, right. Y’all, shit gets real after the wedding and the vows and even after that honeymoon phase. I know for me and Carmelo, I’m more of the opinionated one and I really had to learn to step down and let my man LEAD our home. We were pregnant before the wedding ... liiike ya girl had her dress taken OUT 4 times before I was satisfied with how my hips looked in it.” She chuckled, “You said something so special, when you have that person to make memories with you will DEFINITELY not want to live a single day without them and expanding that love into children only makes it better. Melo was trying to get me pregnant BEFORE he proposed to me and I wasn’t having it because at the time I was dealing with fertility issues and having a baby seemed damn near impossible. I always say that he spoke the life of our son, Lexington, into existence because I didn’t think that I could physically carry.” She stated, smiling again at the thought.
“I remember you alls last video where you announced the pregnancy of my other child, Jewel” She chuckled, “Um, what was the experience like for you? Having to go through all that you did for the blessing that is currently your literal shadow. She looks like her Daddy but has your everything else. What was that like?”
“That’s your child for sure.” She said with a laugh. “It was actually on the difficult side, she’s my rainbow baby. I suffered a miscarriage and some issues with fertility so I actually got pregnant with Jewel through IVF. I adore her, it’s scary having a mini version of myself. Someone who’s with all my hair, makeup and nail antics because my son Justice is not with it at all! He won’t even let me take his picture half the time.” She laughed momentarily. “I know it’s the same way with you and my baby Channing”
“I can imagine it being extremely difficult. When God’s mind is made up we can only pray that He’s included us in His plans and when he made Channing? He definitely had me in mind.” She laughed. “I still don’t know how we got so lucky but I don’t question anything. She’s obsessed with all of my clothes and hair and everything in between.”
“The last thing I wanted to talk to you about is what’s been going on in the media with Porsha, Falynn, and the Husband who I don’t even know his name yet. So Porsha Williams brought onto the Real Housewives of Atlanta show her friend Falynn a few years ago. Maybe like two seasons ago. This is someone who was also featured on this last season of the RHOA show that was filmed in 2020. Apparently the two are no longer friends and Porsha is now ENGAGED to Falynns’ Husband because they haven’t even gotten a divorce yet. I wan’t to know your thoughts on the whole situation. What type of friendship dynamic do you think they had for Porsha to be comfortable MARRYING this man?”
“Engaged. To. A. Former. Friend’s. Husband.” She said slowly before letting out a low sigh. “Now, the first mistake she made was being engaged or dating a man who is still married. I don’t care what the circumstances are, he is legally married! It is literally code and decency not to date or marry after your friends. If y’all are friends or have ever called each other friends, that’s just unacceptable. I would beat the breaks off anyone I called a friend for going after my husband if we ever were to divorce. That’s just grimy and I don’t think Falynn is mad enough. I do know though, one of my followers who is a hair stylist said how she married one of her old client’s ex husband and child’s father. Do you think that’s acceptable? Say I did a woman’s hair for years and nothing besides that and I went on to date her ex?”
“Absolutely not. Unacceptable and I’m the type of crazy that belongs in jail so you already know how that’s gone gooo. It’ll forever be up until they give me life.” Zion laughed and shook her head, “Period. Porsha is most definitey a fucked up individual but I would LOVE to hear y’alls thoughts on the matter so leave alll comments in the comment section below.” 
“Thank you all so much for listening to me and Brilliant catch up. Brilliant please tell my listeners where they can follow you and how they can support The Glamour Parlour. Alsooo, when’s the next brunch or giveaway?”
“It has been sooo fun talking with you! I’m glad I got the opportunity to talk with to boss friend Zion! I get this question a lot..so often.” She let out a low laugh. “All I’ll say is to stay tuned, we’ll be turning up soon and the giveaways won’t stop!”
“Ayyyy so there it is people, the beautiful Brilliant O’neal. Be sure to check her out across all social media platforms at @brillixdis​ and I’ll talk to you in the next episode. Byyyyyyyye.”
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itsadamcole · 3 years
Text
under the mistletoe
fem!reader x nick jackson
reader and Nick have had feelings for each other for years, and neither have admitted it. Until the two find themselves under the mistletoe ... “did you just kiss me?”
Tumblr media
word count: 3k+
warnings: fluffy, nick being cute. a little bit of drinking
— day 5. let’s gooo —
masterlist || request an imagine here
***
You're on the phone with your best friend as you get dressed to go to his house for the annual Jackson Christmas party.
It's a party that Matt and Nick Jackson throw every year, and you've gone every year since they started throwing the party. Their family is invited. Both their families, their blood family and their wrestling family.
You've known Matt and Nick Jackson since June 2016, when the three of you were in Ring of Honor together. You signed with ROH and the first people you met were Matt, Nick, Kenny Omega, Adam Cole, Adam Page, and Cody Rhodes while they were backstage waiting for their segment to start. Kenny wasn't in Bullet Club yet but he was good friends with everyone in the group. Nick was the first person in the group to talk to you.
"Hey, I've never seen you around here," Nick said to you. "You new?"
You smiled and teased him saying, "Maybe. Who's asking? I'm not talking to someone important, am I?"
"You're only talking to a member of the greatest faction in ROH history," Nick said, teasing you back. "Nick Jackson, former ROH World Tag Team Champion." He held out his hand and you shook it.
Smiling, you said, "Y/N L/N, former NWA World Women's Champion."
And that was the beginning of a friendship that's lasted almost five years. You've become close to Nick, Matt, Kenny, Cole, Page, and Cody. You were thinking about forming a new faction with them before Cole left ROH in 2017 to go to NXT. Then the Young Bucks, Kenny, Adam Page, and Cody all signed to AEW. You joined them in AEW, where you're the number one contender for Hikaru Shida's AEW Women's World Championship.
Nick, who's on the phone with you now, asks, "What color are you wearing tonight? It's for science class."
Laughing, you say, "You haven't had a science class in years. Silver, by the way." You're tying the halter top of your dress behind your neck.
The dress you're wearing is silver, obviously. From the waist up is tight, hugging your muscular figure. There's a sparkly design on the top and the neck dips down, revealing the smallest amount of cleavage. The ties to tie the halter top are made of sheer silver fabric. The skirt flares out and ends right above your knees. The whole dress is satin.
"Gotcha," Nick says. "So I'll wear a black suit with a silver tie."
Since you've been invited to the annual Jackson Christmas party, you and Nick have always found some way to match each other while matching that year's theme. This year is formal attire, meaning the women wear dresses and the men wear suits or at least a tie. Last year was ugly sweaters, so you and Nick wore matching ugly Christmas sweaters.
You do your makeup at your desk. Your phone sits on speaker as you do a silver smokey eye look with a dark red lip.
A door opens on the other line and Matt, Nick's older brother, says, "Let me guess. Y/N is wearing something silver."
Nick laughs and says, "Maybe. She's on the phone."
Matt says, "Hi, Y/N. You on your way yet?"
"I'm finishing up my makeup then I am leaving," you giggle. "You two won't have to go much longer without seeing me."
Nick says, "Hurry up, Y/N.
"Makeup is art, Mr. Jackson. It takes more than a few minutes to do," you say, smiling. "I'll be there in a few minutes."
Your best friend laughs and says, "Well, you're only like five minutes away so I expect to see you in about ten."
Finally finishing your makeup, you say, "Make that seven. I'm leaving in two minutes. See you soon."
"Bye, Y/N," Nick says, hanging up the phone.
Just the thought of seeing Nick in a suit makes the butterflies flutter in your stomach. Nick has always looked handsome in a suit and it's honestly making you very excited that you get to see him in a suit tonight, especially in a suit with a tie that matches your dress.
After putting on a pair of three-inch heels, you take your phone and clutch before leaving your penthouse apartment just outside of Jacksonville. The Young Bucks don't live that far away. They don't live together because they have their own families but they live close together too. Within a block or two of each other. You live about three miles away. It's a five-minute drive so you get in your 2-year-old Toyota Corolla and drive to Nick's house.
The drive is extremely short as you try and calm your nerves. You're excited to see Nick but you're nervous about what he'll think of the dress.
You've had feelings for Nick for years. You've never told him. You know he doesn't feel the same way about you. He's had girlfriends, quite a few over the past four years, so if he had any feelings for you then he'd have told you by now.
After you get out of the car, after parking it in the driveway of Nick's house, you walk up to his front door. You knock and wait for someone to open the door.
Matt answers the door. He wears a crazy Christmas suit. You laugh. "Look at you," you say. "Does Dana mind the crazy outfit?"
"She offered to take care of the kids this year at our place," he says. "So she has no idea until someone posts a picture on Instagram or any other social media."
Laughing again, you walk inside.
Matt closes the door behind you and yells, "Nick! Your girlfriend is here!"
Nick calls, "Mel's here?"
You raise your eyebrows at Nick's brother and ask, "Who's Mel?"
"This girl that Nick's talking to," Matt says. "Don't tell Dana but she's kinda hot."
You feel your heart sink into your stomach and all you can say is, "Oh."
Nick walks into the living room and Matt's eyes widen. You blink at Matt as Nick says, "I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long, Y/N. Cole and his boys are on their way. Kenny, Page, and Cody are already drinking all my alcohol in the kitchen. Everyone else will be here shortly."
You look over at Nick and smile. He looks really hot in that suit. He smiles at you. "You look good in the silver tie," you say, trying not to let what Matt said affect you. "Matches me."
Nick laughs and says, "That is kind of the point. We always match."
He hugs you and presses a kiss to the top of your head. Matt looks between the two of you before he says, "I'm gonna make sure that Kenny, Page, and Cody are doing okay." He leaves.
You watch Matt walk away and Nick asks, "What's up with him? He always stays and talks.
"Don't know," you say. "Anyway, I was told that you were talking to someone. Who is she? Tell me!"
Nick laughs and says, "Her name is Mel. She's nice, and hot. I just don't know how I feel about her."
"I should meet her," you say. "The best friend always meets the new girlfriend first."
Nick laughs again and says, "Yeah, that's true."
Matt calls from the kitchen, "Y/N! Come here!"
"I'll be right back," you say to Nick before walking off to the kitchen.
In the kitchen are Matt, Kenny, Adam Page, Cody, and Brandi Rhodes. You approach the group and ask, "Yes?"
The older Jackson says, "So, tell me something, Y/N. How long have you had some kind of feelings for my brother?"
You blink at Matt and say, "I don't."
"That's such bull," Kenny says. "I see it. The rest of us see it."
Matt says, "When I told you about Mel, all you said was 'oh' and your face just completely fell, Y/N."
You cross your arms over your chest and say, "That doesn't mean that I have feelings for him, Matt."
Cody asks, "You haven't told him, have you?"
You shake your head, defeated. Everyone already knows so you say, "Any time I try or I get the chance to, he tells me he's talking to someone new. He has no idea."
Matt says, "Tonight's the night. I know it is."
You start to walk away, wanting to be done with this conversation, and say, "Yeah, right."
You approach Nick in the living room talking to Adam Cole and his Undisputed Era boys. Nick looks over at you and smiles. "Hey," he says. "What did Matt want?"
"He wanted my opinion on the gift he got you for tonight," you lie.
Cole says, "I hope you gave a good opinion on what Matt got his brother." The group kind of laughs.
You smile and say, "I definitely did." There's a knock on the door. "I'll go get that. You guys keep this conversation going."
Nick goes back to talking to the boys and you go answer the door.
When you answer the door, you're greeted by a beautiful girl with long brown hair and hazel eyes. She's wearing a red satin strapless dress. It's short. The skirt ends about halfway down her thighs.
"Hi," she says cheerfully. "I'm Mel. Is Nick Jackson here?"
You give her a kind smile and say, "Yeah. He's in the living room. Silver tie."
She thanks you and walks inside. You shut the door and watch as she embraces Nick, hugging him and kissing him.
After watching that, you walk into the kitchen, rejoining Matt, Kenny, Page, Cody, and Brandi. "I need a drink," you announce. "Like pronto."
Page says, "I can help with that."
More and more people make their way into the house. The lights all come on and Christmas music is being played from a stereo in the living room.
Wrestlers from AEW, WWE, ROH, and other promotions all attend the party. Members of Nick and Matt's family attend as well.
It's about nine, and the party has been going for about two hours now. You're standing in the doorway of the kitchen from the dining room. People are scattered all throughout the house but these two rooms are the least crowded.
You watch Nick and his new girlfriend as they laugh and talk in the kitchen. You sip your drink and can't help but be a little jealous.
While you've been distancing yourself from Nick, he's also made no efforts to talk to you.
Matt walks up and stands beside you as you take a sip of your class of whiskey. "I hope you realize that you're standing under the mistletoe," he says. You glance up and take another sip.
"Well, look at that," you say. "I'm under the mistletoe with no one to kiss."
Both of you laugh and Matt says, "Well, there's one person we both know you'd rather be standing under the mistletoe with. I think he name starts with N and ends with a K."
You sigh at the mention of Nick and say, "He hasn't even tried to talk to me. Like, I might be keeping my distance a bit but he hasn't even checked in on me like he usually does. And we're matching." You pout.
An idea pops into Matt's mind and he says, "I'll be right back." He walks into the kitchen. You watch as he says something to Nick and Mel then leads Mel away. Nick approaches you.
"Hey," he says, leaning against the doorframe opposite you. "You doing okay? I know we haven't been talking as much as we normally do at these thing."
You force a smile and say, "I'm doing fine. I've just been kind of hanging around with Brandi, Britt, and Marina."
Nick smiles and says, "Well, Mel's been wanting for formally meet you. I've been telling her stories about our promos and the they wanted us to be in rival factions in ROH. Plus, I've been kind of introducing her to a lot of people here since she doesn't really know a lot of people. I hope you understand that since you know a lot of people."
That's true and a very valid excuse. You can't complain about that. That thought never even crossed your mind. Mel isn't a wrestler like the other girls that Nick has dated. She may know names but has never met anyone here.
"Yeah," you say. "Of course I understand. I know a lot of people and I'm friends with a lot of people here."
Your best friend says, "I knew you'd understand. Now, how about we go meet Mel. How does that sound?"
You nod, glancing above you at the mistletoe.
Nick starts to walk away. The alcohol you've been drinking gives you enough courage to say, "Hey, Nick? Wait a second."
He turns and looks back at you. You grab his hand and pull him back under the mistletoe. "What's up?" he asks.
Before you can talk yourself out of it, you get on your toes and kiss Nick. Your lips brush against his, unsure of the kiss. You gain some courage and kiss him harder.
The kiss lasts for about two seconds before Nick pulls back. Your eyes search his for any emotion as he asks, "Did you just kiss me?"
"Mistletoe," is all you say. "Look up."
Your best friend looks up and spots the mistletoe. He smiles and says, "Oh."
Anxiety starts to rise within you as you meet Nick's eyes. He leans down and his lips meet yours. You're confused but you kiss him back.
Nick's hands move so they're on your cheeks, cupping your face. You grab a fistful of Nick's suit jacket and he presses you against the doorframe.
Your lips move slowly against Nick's, enjoying the moment. Your heart races in your chest as you realize that this is actually happening. This is a real thing now. Everything you've felt for Nick coming out into the open.
There's a whistle and you look into the kitchen, seeing Kenny, Adam Page, Cody, Brandi, and Britt looking at you and Nick.
"I, um," you stammer. "I need to go get some fresh air." You leave the house from the back door. You step out onto the back deck, which is lit up by a few string of lights above the deck.
You lean against the railing and look out over the backyard. There's a pool and a wrestling ring. A forrest sits beyond the backyard.
You kissed Nick and he kissed you. He kissed back. He's talking to someone and he kissed you while Mel was in the other room.
The door opens behind you and you look back to see Nick. You sigh and say, "I overstepped my boundaries. I know that. I'm sorry."
It's quiet until Nick says, "She left. Mel, I mean. I told her that it was nice to know her and that she's a nice girl, but I also told her that I think I have feelings for someone else."
You raise your eyebrows and you turn around. Nick's about five feet away from you. "So you gave her the speech," you say, teasing Nick.
He laughs and says, "I gave her the speech, yeah." You smile. "Now, here I am. Finally telling you how I feel about you. I like you, Y/N. I have for years. All those girls, I was with them to maybe distract myself from you because you're too damn good for me and I know you don't have feelings for me."
You smile and get flustered as you say, "I never said that I don't have feelings for you, Nick. Actually, it's the opposite. I've liked you since pretty much the day we met. I was almost jealous of all those girls you were talking to or dated. Scratch that, I was jealous of all those girls you talked to or dated because I wish I was them."
A wide smile forms on Nick's lips and he says, "All this time, I could have asked you out and been with you but instead I dated around."
You giggle, "You should have talked to me."
Nick walks up to you and says, "I really should have."
His hands cup your face and he pulls you into a passionate kiss. You smile into the kiss and put your hands on Nick's chest. He smiles against your lips as he slowly pulls back from the kiss.
Your eyes meet Nick's and he asks, "What does this mean for us? We'll never be the same after tonight."
"I want you," you say, staring up at Nick. "Do you want me?"
Nick smiles and nods. "Yeah, I do," he says. "I really want you."
Smiling, you say, "Then I'm yours. All yours. I've always been yours, Nick."
He leans down and kisses you again. His arms wrap around your waist and he lifts you up, spinning you around with your lips on his. You giggle into the kiss.
"Holy shit," you hear from the sliding back door. "It looks like it finally happened."
Nick pulls back and looks behind you. You turn around, standing beside Nick. His left arm is around your shoulder.
Matt, Kenny, Adam Page, Cody, Brandi, Adam Cole, and Britt all stand at the door. Matt has a huge smile on his face. "It did finally happen, didn't it?" the older Jackson asks.
You look up at Nick and he nods. "It finally happened," he says, looking down at you.
"Thank God," Kenny says. "It's about time. We all knew this would happen eventually and it finally freaking happened."
Nick's cheeks get red and you smile. "Guys, stop," you giggle. "Nick's getting all flustered."
Matt smiles and says, "Aw. Nicky's blushing."
You look up at Nick and you say, "It's kind of cute."
His cheeks get even more red and he tries to hide. You reach up and wrap your arms around his neck, and he hides his face in yours. The group laughs and you walk inside, rejoining the party.
84 notes · View notes
mish-tique · 3 years
Note
hii i’m loving your fics and looking forward to reading more! i’ve started to get into abo thanks to you so i thought i’d request an abo fic with pierre/max (alpha pierre and omega max preferred) kind of a didn’t know they were dating kind of situation where everyone assumes they are together because of how much they smell of each other and them eventually realizing they like each other, would love to also see people’s reaction when they realize they weren’t dating before
hi sweetie!
Thank you for your kind words! I'm really happy you like my fics and that I have made you enjoy omegaverse a bit more. Your prompt sounded really cute so here we go! I made it a college au so I apologise if you wanted a grid au, don't be afraid to message me if you want something else!
Might not be perfect but it was really cute to write so....
Here we gooo, hit "read more" to read the whole thing or follow this link to my ao3 account.
“Pierre, what are we eating tonight?”
“The better question would be if you have done the groceries today.”
“….I can go right now.”
“I’ll look up something for tonight as long as you get me the stuff I need. We need to cook properly more often, you like to order in way too much.”
Max just raises an eyebrow at Pierre because while technically his flatmate isn’t wrong, it’s not his fault that he can’t cook. The alpha opens his laptop and Max already knows he’s going through his bookmarks. Pierre liked reading those food blogs while Max never understood what could be so enjoyable about reading recipes. He has no right to complain though, Pierre’s cooking abilities most likely is the only thing keeping them alive.
Two years ago they both started the same college course. Since secondary genders were mixed the teachers wanted to stimulate intergender communication and work by always pairing an omega and an alpha. More often than not Max was stuck with alpha’s who thought they didn’t need to do anything. That Max would just do everything like they asked and that those assholes would just get good grades. But he wasn’t like that. During his life he had been surrounded by quite a few older and strong-willed omega’s that showed him that he didn’t need to listen to anyone’s commands. So when his partner was too much of an asshole he’d just turn in his project with only his name on it.
Pierre though, he had been the first alpha that threated him with complete respect. It made the progress on the projects way easier and Max enjoyed having someone he could work together nicely with. Teachers must have noticed that both their names were always on the project and paired them together more often. After that they started to sit together during classes, breaks and even plan stuff outside of school. Their friendship developed quite fast and they soon went from discussing project plans to looking for flats they could rent together.
Renting houses was quite expensive in this area was way too expensive to go without a flatmate for long. That had been the sole reason for moving in, but Max definitely didn’t mind being able to spend more time with Pierre. Traveling home alone as an omega after a night of projects, movies or even drinking became annoying quite fast. Pierre did offer to walk him home for safety but they soon developed a rhythm in which they just stayed over, sometimes even sleeping in the same bed. It felt safe, not that Max wanted to admit that to anyone.
“Found it,” Pierre announces and Max observes how he notes down all the ingredients on their grocery list, making it even longer than it already was. It slightly annoys him because grocery shopping isn’t his favorite thing to do.
“I’ll back in an hour,” he tells the alpha with a pout, getting a roll of his eyes and a smile in return. “You’re going to get food, not present the results of your research to Ms. Grocher. Stop acting like you’re going to die, you idiot.”
“It’s close enough,” Max argues and he leaves their apartment with a laugh. Grocery shopping isn’t even that hard, Pierre actually notes down the stuff in order of how you walk through the shop. That way he doesn’t have to search for everything individually, because Pierre soon found out that sometimes left the omega in the shop for half a day, or coming home with only half of the stuff they needed.
It’s not too busy, which is a relief. Being stifled by scents, hormones and have bodies pressing against him that aren’t Pierre’s isn’t something Max was looking forward to. That one song the alpha had on repeat this week is stuck in his head so he hums it and he starts planning what they could do this weekend.
Lando said he needed an omega night this weekend so he’s going to be gone on Friday night. But maybe he could watch a movie with Pierre on Saturday night? And the weather was supposed to be amazing on Sunday so they could go shopping first before visiting the park.
And Pierre had been talking about getting a cat too so maybe they could call the shelter so they could visit on Sunday? He hadn’t been completely convinced at first but the more he saw Pierre’s eyes sparkle when talking about it, the more he was willing to incline. The image of them sitting in the sun on their balcony with the little feline playing around their feet doesn’t stop it either.
“Yo, Verstappen! Are you going to keep ignoring me?
A mad French accent stops his planning and he’s suddenly faced with Charles. “What no,” he replies, “I wasn’t ignoring you at all.”
Charles gives him an unimpressed look, the familiar scent of the omega softly interacting with his. “You’ve been staring at that shrimp for 5 minutes now. Unless it reminds you of Pierre I can’t imagine it’s that interesting.”
Why would it remind him of Pierre?
Wait. He really has been slow today so he shakes his head. “No of course it doesn’t you pervert, stop thinking about his dick please. I’ve just been thinking about our plans for this weekend.”
A grin appears on Charles’ face and Max really feels like he’s missing something. “Anything special? Pierre doesn’t tell me anything lately.”
“Well, Friday night is going to be with you guys. I’m going to look for a movie for Saturday to make up for it and we’re probably going to go shopping and visit the shelter on Sunday. You know how Pierre has been talking about getting a cat,” he explains.
“Wait, you’re getting a kid together?” Max can literally smell how surprised the other omega is, but honestly has Charles hit his head?
“No, we’re getting a cat. Like I just told you.”
“Man Max, how are you a top student when you’re this slow? One day there is going to be an alpha who tricks you into being his. Getting pets together is like starting a family, those little rats are going to be part of you two. Lord knows how the two of you got together, both of you can be so oblivious.”
Should he start worrying about Charles? “Pierre and I aren’t-“
But before he could fully explain that Charles misunderstood, he’s getting called away. “I’ll come to visit after the two of you get your kid, I want to see the little rat!”
“Who says I’m going to let you?!”
Max is still grumbling about it when he gets home. How is it that Charles is that confused about the two of them? He doesn’t pay Pierre much mind, walking past him to the kitchen without saying much. This has never been something Max had to overthink but now it feels like he’s years too late.
Suddenly there are two warm hands on his hips and he feels Pierre stand behind him. He gets pulled back into somewhat of a hug and he’s being scented. It’s strange because Pierre normally doesn’t do it like this, so out of nowhere. They live together so of course they smell like each other, sometimes scenting each other after a bad day, after news or just on the couch while watching a movie. But he doesn’t resist it because it smells like home, it’s warm and relaxing and it stops Max from stressing over Charles’ words.
Because as much as he couldn’t explain it to Charles, he can’t explain it to himself either. They live together, always have plays together and he really enjoys Pierre’s company. He really hopes it’s the other way around too because he wouldn’t mind staying like this, together, for a long time. He wouldn’t mind staying like this forever, his mind corrects him, because he really doesn’t know how he would cope if he would have to do everything without Pierre.
And that realization scares him as much as it settles him down. Because it’s new, risky and it could have him loose everything but at the same time it explains so much. Even Charles’ words make sense now. Together with Pierre, Max feels like he could take on the world. And having a little kitten with them would feel like the first extension of their family.
Yet it’s scary that he could lose everything that is this because he doesn’t truly know if Pierre feels the same.
“Max, love, what’s wrong? Can you tell me what happened, sweetheart?”
Pierre’s scent is concerned, his hug from behind even stronger and Max never realized just how much the alpha seemed to care about him too. “Why aren’t we one yet?”
He doesn’t specify anything because they could be so much. They could be boyfriends, lovers, mates, each other’s and so much more. Hell, even family could be used to describe it but he’s so unsure of what Pierre would want them to be that he doesn’t dare to label it.
Max feels Pierre still and he stops breathing for a second. This could go so wrong. “Would you be willing?”
The question is soft and sweet and everything Max would want to hear but something in him breaks because he has never heard Pierre so insecure. It triggers something in him because how can Pierre not see that he would give up the world if the alpha asked. He breaks free from the alpha’s grip, turns around and faces Pierre. “I would be more than willing,” he promises.
He can smell their scents spiking and he looses himself in the feeling of Pierre kissing him, scenting him, marking him. He has never felt this whole before and he has absolutely no regrets. It’s like he found that last thing he didn’t know yet his heart was missing.
“Please, please,” he begs, not even quite sure what he’s truly asking for. He just knows that after so long he wants to be Pierre’s, completely his. And have the alpha as his to have, to share his life with.
“Are you sure? Max, I want you to be completely sure, I can’t have you regret this,” Pierre asks him and the alpha’s voice grounds him, breaks him free from the desperation and the want for a few seconds. Just long enough.
“I’ve never been so sure of something,” he replies and lets himself be lead into the bedroom they’ve been sharing most nights, too lazy to go to their own. Anything else is forgotten, he only feels the love he holds for Pierre.
It’s omega night and he’s jittery for some reason. Like he wants to go home to Pierre but he doesn’t have to be, so why? It’s strange because he has never been overly dependent on someone and he doesn’t like to be. But something in him longs for his alpha and he doesn’t completely hate it. Pierre told him that he should just enjoy tonight, they still had the whole weekend so he let himself enjoy the presence of the other omega’s. Or at least, he’s trying.
He’s in the middle of the omega pile, surrounded by calm and loving scents as he listens to the others give Lando advice on how to finally confess to Carlos. Hell, Max always thought the kid was hopeless about love but after last week he realized he was just as bad.
The conversation dies and Max finds himself hesitating, still somewhat scared to let himself be so vulnerable. “Did anyone else become really clingy after the first time together with their alpha?”
It’s silent for a second before Lando groans and mumbles, “Does this mean I have to wait more than a year before Carlos is going to fuck me?”
Seb sighs and apparently decides to interfere to calm the younger omega down. “No Lando, you don’t need to wait a year. You can wait if you want to, both are totally fine. It’s different for everyone. I’m sure Max just got reminded of the early stages of his relationship because of your talk.”
Well. Max doesn’t want to be the one to tell Seb that he’s wrong but he is, so it seems he has to. “We only got together a few days ago.”
Lando squeaks, “Does that mean I can get fucked that fast?”
Charles slaps Lando before sassing him. “You could’ve long been fucked already if you had just gotten your shit together and confessed. Carlos always gives you heart eyes,” before he turned to Max, “So you’re telling me you weren’t actually together when you told me about your little family plans?”
He shakes his head.
“How did you manage to live together with him so long before confessing your love to him? We could all see how smitten you guys were, hell we could even smell it. You two were disgustingly cute.”
Max thought about it for a bit. “Sometimes you don’t need to declare something for it to be. It just felt so right that I never really thought about it, it didn’t feel necessary. Now I know that maybe I should’ve because it made me even happier.”
“You smell disgustingly in love,” Charles tells him, “but for your information, I went into heat immediately after my first time. You might want to tell Pierre to prepare for that.”
Oh.
Oh.
Help.
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openheart12 · 4 years
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Hi, yes, hello beautiful! Can you write a fic where MC accidentally sends Ethan her entire fanfic folder by mistake 😂🤣
How To Get Away With Fanfiction
I’m reliving my embarrassment 😭 but it is done and idk wtf happened with this lmao. This is also to make up for earlier kmjhygfd
Only tagging @ao719 @oofchoices @loveellamae @burnsoslow because no one else should have to read this unless they click on the read more and if they do... god bless. And thank you to Maroe for helping me come up with some of these ideas!
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It had been a long day at work when Dr. Gertrude-Sue Claws made her way home to do the one thing that relaxed her; writing fanfiction.
She had thought of the perfect idea for Spirit and Rainbow Dash and her fingers flew across the keyboard.
There was something about the multi colors in his mane and tail that drew him to her. He lived by the phrase, “hump ‘em and dump ‘em,” which he planned on doing with Rainbow Dash, but not without consent because horse jail wasn’t fun. He had heard the horror stories from his human friends, Kurns and Bryce.
“Rainbow Dash,” he neighed.
“Spirit…” She neighed back in response, she knew all about his...extracurricular activities. He was the biggest fuck horse out of the herd. Ever since Rain had died from drowning, god bless, he hadn’t been the same. It was also why he paid more attention to Rainbow Dash because she had Rain in the first part of her name.
“Let’s do this,” he smirked with his horse mouth.
“Fine…” She turned her back to him as he reared on his hind legs and mounted her, letting out a series of neighs.
She laughed silently to herself before moving on her Owen Hunt fic and she knew how much she was going to enjoy this one especially.
Owen was walking through the halls when he saw five women stalking towards him like cats, one even had whiskers drawn on her face. “Anitah with the h, get him!” He heard one of them command and watched as she came up to him, kicking him in no man's land. He felt them drag him into an empty exam room.
“MAROE! You got the chainsaw?”
“Nah bruh, Bears and Rams were in charge of that,” she explained.
Anything but Krista, cocked her half shaved eyebrow at Burns and Ella. “Y’all got the chainsaw?”
“No, but I have the cream for the burn I’m about to inflict,” Burns snickered to herself at her own joke, the others joining in before getting back to business.
“Burns, Ella, go scope out the cafeteria for some good food because I can’t kill in good faith on an empty stomach and as me and Ella say, we always get food first,” Anything but Krista said, turning her attention to the two people left, throwing them both a knife. Then proceeded to stab Owen numerous times, but making sure not to hit any major organs yet.
“We need a blender,” Anitah with the h announced.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Anything but Krista and MAROE said at the same time, looking at each other and bursting into laughter at the jinx.
“If that was making a human smoothie, then yes. We’ll show him that no one messes with Derek Christopher Shepherd,” Anitah with the h said smugly, pulling a blender out from behind her back and plugging it into the wall.
“You...you pulled that out of your jacket?” MAROE asked in a surprising tone.
“Y’all don’t keep blenders in yours?” Anitah with the h asked as if that wasn’t common, but it was good to know that she was always prepared.
Suddenly, the walkie talkie came to life, “Team Bears/Rams to Team CA, what y’all want from here? Over and out.”
“Team CA to Team Bears/Rams, we want CookOut. Over and out.” Anything but Krista responded. “It’s about time y’all tried a little piece of heaven,” she looked at Anitah with the h and MAROE.
“That’s a negative ghost rider, the closest CookOut is on the other side of the country. Over and out.”
“Well you better get on your way because you two also need to try a little piece of heaven, we’ll save the good stuff for when you get back. Over and out.” The trio resumed their slice and dice game, taking a short break to play Choices because the latest chapter of The Nanny Affair had just been released and even Owen wasn’t going to keep them away from Sam Dalton.
A couple hours later, Burns and Ella arrived with the food, handing out their respective trays to their respective orderers, they were able to keep the milkshakes from melting by their cold hearts.
“Ahhh gimme my milkshake,” Anything but Krista snatched it from Burns’ hand, earning a slap on her hand from her adoptive mother and a threat of taking away her pony...again.
“Yooo this shake hits different,” Ella exclaimed.
“You could even say that it slaps,” MAROE added making her squeak.
“It’s the one good thing North Carolina has to offer for me,” Anything but Krista chimed in, fist bumping Anitah with the h because the struggle was real. The cows really did outnumber the people, they just hoped that there wouldn’t be a cow revolution because that would be awful except the yeehaw folk would probably survive since they did have a song called “A Country Boy Can Survive.” 
“Burns, we left you the honor of picking the perfect weather for us to dispose of the body which is more like liquid at this point. We need rain, thunder, and lightning to erase all of the evidence. Watching “Forensic Files” has finally come in handy. And Ella, we need you to pretend to be a nurse or something to help us get out of here. I’ll be honest, I haven’t thought that far ahead…” Anything but Krista admitted, but they expected that from her so they already had a plan in place.
“If anyone happens to see Derek Shepherd, I ask that you tell me,” MAROE added.
“Not if I find him first,” Anything but Krista said.
“He’s like fifty four years old…” Burns said being ever the good adoptive mother.
“Then I call Spencer Reid!” Anything but Krista exclaimed.
“I have Lucifer then,” MAROE challenged knowing that would get under her skin. 
“Children, calm yourselves.” Burns shook her head.
“Hey, I’ll be eighteen in like a number amount of months,” Anything but Krista said.
“I’ll be eighteen before you,” MAROE said, sticking out her tongue.
“I’Ll Be EiGhTeEn BeFoRe YoU,” she repeated, placing her hands on her hips and doing that Spongebob meme. After thinking of a better comeback, she grabbed her knife she used on Owen earlier and plunged it into MAROE’s back.
“Et tu, Brute?” MAROE said with shock in her voice before her body crumpled on the ground.
“Yes, bye bitch.”
The other three just stared as the blood drained from her body before turning their attention to Anything but Krista. They were the epitome of 👁👄👁.
“What? She wanted to “due” anyway. And at her funeral we can play “To Be So Lonely” because well she will be lol.”
“Anywaysss, we gonna get food or what?” Ella asked as she covered Owen’s body with a sheet.
“Wings?” Burns suggested and they all agreed. After arriving at the restaurant, they were very shocked to see MAROE sitting at a table waiting for them.
“It’s the trying to kill me for me,” she said upon taking their seats, glaring at Anything But Krista specifically.
“It’s the stealing my fictional husbands for me,” she retaliated.
“It’s the acting like children for me,” Burns' authoritative voice came.
“Sorry,” they both murmured as they looked over the menus to order their food. The rest of their lunch going smoothly, their victims already forgotten about. Don’t mess with hangry chicks who hate Owent Cunt.
“So who’s next?” Anitah with the h asked.
“Ahh you’ve gotten the first taste of blood and now you’re addicted,” Burns observed. She would make for a good profiler for the FBI at Quantico. She would have a cool nickname; Cunt Punter.
“Why not just kill everyone we hate?” Ella questioned.
“That’s a great idea! I say we kill Guy and Vanessa,” Anything but Krista suggested.
“And Landrat!” MAROE added, the whole group agreeing, finishing their lunch before getting to their killing spree.
Gertrude-Sue was laughing at her made up characters and story when she received an email from Ethonk Remy to send him a folder that she had. Goggle Drive was acting stupid so she didn’t realize that she had shared her fanfiction folder with her boss before it was too late. She saw a little giraffe pop up in the right hand corner telling her that he was already viewing what was inside the folder.
“Holy donkey claws,” she cried out loud, smacking her hands against her face.
Meanwhile, Ethonk was going through her folder when he came across a document and his eyes went wide. “What are they doing with the dog?” He said to himself.
Wonder pets, wonder pets
We're on our way
To help a friend and save the day
We're not too big
And we're not too tough
But when we work together, we've got the right stuff
Gooo wonder pets yaaaaay!
The phone
The phone is ringing
The phone
We'll be right there
The phone
The phone is ringing
There's an animal in trouble
There's an animal in trouble
There's an animal in trouble somewhere
“What the hell are Wonder Pets?” He continued inspecting the different documents ranging from murder of one Owen Cunt, horses having sexual intercourse, Wonder Pets stuff, four kids and a dog where they did questionable things with each other, a sponge and a starfish were high on marijuana, a game where Gertrude-Sue had made him and her a family that looked way too realistic for his liking, two bunnies who kept hopping around with one of their little brothers, and multiple documents about Matthew Gray Gubler, Tom Holland, Tom Ellis, Patrick Dempsey, and Harry Styles which were all quite disturbing.
He took out his phone to call her. “Hey uh, Gert, what is this?”
“Oh well you see, the funny thing is that I accidentally sent you the wrong folder so if you could just pretend like this never happened, that would be fantastic. Okay thanks bye. I’m sending you the right one this time.” And she hung up, ready to throw herself off a cliff at her stupidity.
One thing was for sure, she would never make this mistake again.
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kyotakumrau · 5 years
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2018.12.19 Zepp Nagoya -a knot & mobile only-
My experience with Nagoya in winter is always awesome, but a pretty cold one 😂
This time the venue didn't offer goods sale tickets so fans had to queue. And this time actually a lot of people came early, when I arrived the line end was at the main road (other side of the train tracks). Despite the number of fans nothing got sold out until after the show (random key chains).
At the entry we received a small puzzle, I don't know how many pieces there are in total and what kind of picture they will create but just one thing - don't lose it! There will be some use for those!
The wait inside was the usual - when the 'big push' came many fans shifted to the front of the second barrier, who wasn't a fan of crazy squeeze stayed behind that barrier.
SE video was new but using some bits from the previous tour SE. But this time they focused on gladiators and games. The main colour scheme was red and black. There was a figure of an archer, Roman Empire-ish eagle statue, Babel tower, games. The tour title came last in red font.
Fans cheered when band members were coming on stage, but when the members were all ready to start, they went quiet. The tension, the wait for them to start, for the first song! The air was thick!
The red light continued as the band started with Keigaku no yoku, first notes belonging to Die together with a red spotlight on him. Kaoru joined next, Kyo, then Shinya and Toshiya. This song is so magical live. I mean when dir performs every song is magical, but Keigaku felt absolutely perfect as an opening song. The venue belonged to the band as we were listening quietly, only joining through hands in the air and dancing. The scene was soaked in red like a pool of blood.
There was silence when the song finished. But then, with Ningen wo kaburu the audience roared and joined in, hard. Kyo had us join any way we could, with 誰のために生きるのだろう? parts and more.
Kaoru's hair was very straight and shiny. He still has half/half hair style, but it looks different with the sleek look. To me the light part looked light pink-ish? He wore a b&w jacket.
Toshiya had a 'fairytale prince' navy shirt. It had frilly bits and very loose sleeves. Plus skinny black denim.
I think Die had the outfit from the album shoot or something similar, shawl and shorts? Shinya... had something white. He dissapeared behind the drums too soon 😂
I hope parts of Kyo's outfit are next Madara collection, I'd kill for the skirt he wore. He wore all black, cropped shirt with loose sleeves, a fitted shirt underneath with suspenders or harness; pleated over the knee skirt with skinny denim underneath and tabi boots. On his left hand he wore Doll Face and 666 rings, two finger ring (was it Gucci?) on his right hand; Hamsa earring. A leather choker. He had smudgy eye make up and purple-ish lips. Smoky pink hair.
During Keibetsu I really missed the space I had in Europe 😂 there was no way I could jump the same way in the audience in Nagoya, but I could definitely still go crazy together with the people around me. Kyo was pointing at the fans while singing going from one side of his box to other. The audience joined screaming bits like 'Parasite!' but the new side of the song was Kyo having us to sing the last 俺さえ死ねばいい.
Next block of songs continued the fast pace and the rapport between the band and the audience. Kyo had us join a lot with もっと and かかってこい.
Before The Final started Kyo raised his hand and waited as we joined him. I've heard this song over 50 times live and it continues to stay powerful.
Devote my Life had us screaming 残酷な and after few times Kyo only encouraged us to continue.
When the main part finished fans started calling for encore as usual.
When the band came back for encore Kyo changed into a long sleeve white shirt but kept the bottom the same as during the main part, he also kept the choker.
Besides Kyo everyone wore tour t-shirts, Kaoru and Die with cut off sleeves, respectively black and white.Toshiya and Shinya wore black shirts with sleeves intact 😂
Followers had a simple video with phrases from the English translation of the lyrics on the screen.
No matter how cruel the world is
That is me / / this is me
The layered memories
The audience quietly listened. With this tour title it'd be strange if they didn't play this song, but it's not like you can prepare for it. It will gently crush you and then remake you.
The rest of encore went fast, hard and loud.
If they play Zomboid again in Osaka - I think Kyo changed the lyrics?
All band members started to travel on the stage, while they kept looking at fans in the audience.
Deeper or Lie had the live video of members on the screen?
Interaction before the last song
Kyo: Naaaaaa~gooooo~yaaaa!
Fans: Aaaa!!!!!
Kyo [silently looks at us with unimpressed face, then]: NAAAAAA~GOOO~YAAAAAA!
Fans: AAAA!!!!!!
Kyo [looks at us silently again then he raised his eyebrow looking askance]
Fans: 😶→🤣→ [went mad] AAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!
Kyo: Can you still go on?
Fans: AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!
Then Kyo seemed a bit more satisfied and he asked to become one and announced the last song.
Saku had all members walking up and down the stage. There was a moment when Toshiya stood with one foot on the drum stand facing Shinya. Die came to the middle, next Kaoru. Kyo finished standing on his stand. It was a very energetic end!
After that Kyo came to the edge of the scene and looked at fans faces and started pointing at each fan. He continued that for a bit and then started clapping and we clapped for him. He then waved and called 'bye-bye' without the mic, waved again and left.
The rest of the band continued with their picks and towels. Toshiya after walking alongside the stage edge and throwing a pick here and there, next threw a whole bunch of pics in the middle area (thank you for that! 😁)
When Die was leaving, fans started to call his name 'DieDieDieDieDieDieDie!!!!', many were hoping he would say something with his birthday the following day, but he waved to us smiling and left ;)
Kaoru was the last one left, he threw few more picks and left as well.
The lights came back but the audience started to shout for a second encore despite the announcements about the end of the show.
This time the band didn't come back, but we hope that the message and fans' feelings reached the band.
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vacantgestures · 5 years
Text
Ascendant Recollection :CH 03:
Franchise: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama
Love Interest: Riku
Rating: Teen
The gang makes their way to a new world, filled with ups and downs. Still that’s the least of their problems, as the aforementioned underlying force from Yukari’s dreams, posses a new threat.
 I quietly slinked into the cockpit and took a seat, in the fourth empty chair, next to an unmanned console labeled "Teeny Fighter Controls." The boys hadn't immediately noticed when I came in as, they chattered away. Although Sora seemed to be more or less, listening then having been fully involved in their conversation. He was mostly looking about, taking in all the buttons and switches, and the view of space that hung over our heads, as the cock pit allowed a full 360 view. Amidst his ogling, he seemed to catch me sulking in my seat as when I looked up, he was there on his haunches, resting his chin on the arm rest.
 "You okay?" He asked with big, eyes.
 "Uh huh..." I responded half-heartedly, as I pulled my knees into my chest on the chair.
 "Well... How was your ten minute nap?" Sora supplied. "I thought you were tired."
 It was very clear I was in a mood. It was even more clear that Sora was trying get me to talk. In all Honesty, I truly wanted to say something-- to everyone, but I still wasn't... confident, I guess, about how factual the dreams were. I mean, yes, they seemed incredibly detrimental to share at this point, but how was I supposed to say to a bunch of strangers, and Sora, that I could see things while I slept? I mean, I'd been having these dreams for the length of several months, and only now was the crazy stuff coming to life.
 Maybe I should wait.
 "You think... Riku and Kairi are together, like we are?" I asked. I wanted so badly to talk about the point in my dream about where I'd seen Riku, but I held back. Besides, I wasn't even sure if everything was legit yet. And if they were... there where was Kairi?
 "Hmm..." For a moment, Sora hummed in thought. His half lidded eyes contemplated endless possibilities in a matter of seconds. "Maybe." He finally said. "I mean, it's hard to say for sure at this point. We've ran into some pretty crazy things, but we also met nice people."
 "More or less..." I said, recounting the fact, that Leon thought it was a good idea to beat up kids over holding a civil chat.
 "And you and me turned out to be Keyblade wielders!"
 "Sworn protectors of the world with endless opportunities of death at every turn." I remarked sarcastically.
 "They're bound to be just as well off as we are! Who knows, maybe even better."
 I looked down in to his deep blue eyes the sparkled with excitement. For a moment, we shared a small grin, delighting in the fact that we could still hope that our friends were in good health where ever they may be.
 Yet still... I couldn't help but feel guilty about not sharing what I'd managed to learn.
 I bit my lip as I prepared myself to speak. "Sora... I've been meaning to tell you that I-"
 "We've come across a new world!!" I little voices boomed from all around it. It took a minute for me to gather that it had been chip's voice coming from the intercom that was connected throughout the ship.
 "Convenient..." I grumbled.
 "Great!" Donald exclaimed, as I watched him hit a series of buttons before realizing he'd thrown the ship into a state of rest. "Let's head out immediately."
 I watched as he and Goofy made their way out of the cock pit, confident we'd follow.
 "Sweet!" Sora exclaimed, rising from his spot next to me.
 I frowned, yet still felt a bit of relief as I stood up and hesitantly followed the boys down to the air lock.
 The four of us huddled together around the exit. Donald felt the need to wait until this moment, to lay down a few ground rules.
 "Alright." He announced. "Before we head out-- something the two of you need to be aware, of, as Keyblade wielders. Protecting the balance and fighting monsters is a pretty big job. But, one thing to make absolutely clear is that you-- under no circumstances, tell anyone you are from off world."
 "Why not?" Sora asked.
 "To protect the borders of the world!" Goofy stated confidently, grinning as he stuck a finger in the air.
 "That's 'Oders' of the world, you dimwit!" Donald corrected
 "But that very order is being disrupted by the Heartless, isn't it?" I asked thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure the whatever world we go to, has already run the risk of having its whole state of peace of coherence pretty much thrown out the windows."
 "Which is why, stating the fact of us being off worlders, will make an even bigger mess of things." Donald, agreed. I watched as he moved to unlock the hatch. "It's pertinent that we keep business on a need to know basis."
 As he swung the door open, we were met by and impressive light show of energy the swarmed around the outside of the ship. A force field maybe? I watched as Donald and Goofy neared the exit, peering carefully outside.
 "Now, we're about to set foot on new ground." Donald informed turning back to look at us. "One thing to note is that you, under no circumstances, jump the air lock. Once we get down there, let's make sure to stick together, got it?."
 Sora and I nodded, wordlessly.
 "Alright. Let's get to it." Donald said, as he and Goofy step foot outside the ship.
 For a terrifying moment, I was led to believe, that these two were completely nuts as they had leaped to their deaths.
 Sora and I rushed to the exit to catch a glimpse of our new friends, go plummeting to their doom. Yet, once there we found no sight of them. They'd completely vanished.
 For a moment, we stood with expressions mixed with awe, horror and confusion-- completely unsure of what to think.
 "Do you think..." I finally asked.
 "Only one way to find out!" Sora shouted, taking a few steps back.
 "Wait a minute, you aren't thinking of-- Sora, no!" I tried to stop him.
 "Here I gooo!! Augh!"
 As Sora got off to a bit of a running start, he'd accidently shoved me half way through the exit, sending me dangling over the side. Noticing his mistake, he tried to somehow stop himself, as he reached out to make a grab at me. But he'd been much too late, as he'd sunk into the light that buzzed around the ship.
 Breathless, I found myself, once again gripped by fear, as I fumbled to try and keep myself from falling in, as well. But I was hardly holding on by the pads of my fingertips as I slipped and fell away from air lock and into the bright light, screaming for my life.
 Kingdom Hearts: Ascendant Recollection
Chapter 03
A Wonderland Deception
On top of the weird tingling and the slight dizziness from light travel, it was a weird experience to say the least. Getting zapped down to a new world, would have actually been quite exhilarating had it not included falling through an thicket of trees, and smashing my face into just about every single one. When I hit the ground, the loud thud of my head against the thick trunk, almost dulled out the sound of a little girl screaming in fright.
 I was starting to have a real bad relationship with trees at this point.
 Sitting up, I rubbed the back of my head, and blinked the black dots out of my eyes. Slowly my vision began to clear and the image of a blond girl, in a plain blue dress around maybe... eight to ten years old fazed into being. She looked at me with big black eyes. Her body language was apprehensive. She seemed just about ready to run.
 But... and you know I was probably losing my mind at this point from all the concussions I was getting and what not-- but this girl... actually seemed incredibly... small!
 She stood near the sole of my sneaker, blinking fearfully up at me. I wasn't able to really tell, but in comparison to her, I was at a height much larger than the clock tower back at Traverse Town. She was probably no bigger than my pinky.
 "Oh! I had no idea you--- How--? You’re so tiny! I didn't even see you! "I stammered over my words apologetically, feeling frantic about not having seen her. I could have squished the little girl, and never have known!
 "It's not that I'm small, but perhaps, that you still seem to be quite tall."
 "Still?" I asked. "You mean I should have shrunk before I got here?"
 The girl nodded. "Was that not clear? That door knob specially stated to, sip the drink so you could shrink."
 "Ah..." I paused for a moment, rubbing my head once again. Bad enough I had to keep up with this girl's rhymes, but I had no idea what door she was talking about.
 Coming to think of it, I'd landed in some thicket, alone, without my team. I'm supposing, Sora's fancy summersault out the airlock, left nasty effects for me and my crash landing, alone in the new world.
 "Well how do I get to your size?" I asked.
 "The shrooms, that around here, loom. Tall they are, but bland tasting treats. They'll help you shrink if you attempt to eat."
 I glanced around once again and realized that the trees, I'd come crashing through were indeed not trees, but mushrooms in which the girl had pointed out. In fact, this hadn't been the oddest, thing as I began to truly survey my surroundings. I sat in what I could only assume was more like great expanse of a possible field. Along with mushrooms, enormous blades of grass shot hundreds of thousands of feet in the air. The base of a giant tree trunk loomed so high in up, that it faded out of existence-- or at least just so, that I couldn't make any part of it out from where I sat with my size. I almost got tunnel vision when a gargantuan butterfly swooped down and picked up such a great wind that It tussled my hair.
 Turns out, that I wasn't the biggest thing here. Great...
 I looked back down at Alice, nearly shaking from the sheer disbelief of this world's capacity. I don't think I'd have too much trouble keeping the world order intact, here.
 I turned to find a mushroom, at my height. Gripping it in my hand, I ran a thumb over it, feeling for the texture. It was a boring, unexpecting looking mushroom. It was almost impossible to believe that it would make me shrink.
 "One bite?" I asked, looking down at the girl.
 "That's right!" The girl nodded
 Hesitantly, I pulled a small piece from the thing just to test its flavor. I wasn't keen on putting foreign plants into my mouth. Mushrooms were fine, but magical ones from other worlds??
 Carefully setting the small piece on my tongue I, bit down and met a chewy texture I really had no tolerance for. I would have spat it out had I not felt obligated to grow smaller. Continuing to process the chewy plant in my teeth, I swallowed and quickly began to feel the effects.
 At first my stomach bubbled before bursting into a fit of Butterflies. And before I knew it, the world around me increased in size and I went plummeting, once against, towards the dirt, right at the girl's feet.
 I groaned, sick of the falling.
 "Are you alright?" The girl asked.
 "Quite..." I said with a bit of a cheeky grin, standing and brushing the dirt from my clothes. "So... I'm sorry to bother you but, I'm a bit lost. I was kind of here with my friends, but I've gotten separated from them somehow. Have you by any chance seen a boy with brown hair, dressed in red, come through here-- or anyone for that matter?"
 "I wish I could say but, I've been alone this whole day." The girl said, with a droopy frown. "In fact, a little white rabbit is what I'm in search for. But the Cheshire cat failed to give a proper tour. So, now I'm quite lost in this maze. It feels less like hours and more like days. And worst still... the creatures with their odd features. I've been out running them for a while. Although, I haven't seen them in the last mile."
 Quickly deciphering her poetry speak, I noted that this girl had been thrown into a pretty odd predicament herself. She was in a place she wasn't familiar with and was searching for white rabbit, she'd most likely lost multiple times. Some... cat gave her bad directions and now she was here in this ticket, alone. I had to presume that the creatures she referred to were Heartless.
 "Well... I don't mind tagging along to keep you safe from the creatures. We can search together to we find who we're both looking for."
 "Sure!" The girl cheered, clapping her hands and twirling about, excitedly. "Oh! By the way, how do you do? My name is Alice, and you?"
 "I'm Yukari." I nodded, glancing about the path. "Ah...Which way do we... "
 "Follow me."
 On recommendation, I followed Alice diaper into the thicket of enormous shrooms and towering blades of grass. The expansive dirt, crunched softly beneath our feet as we walked. For a good while, the walk had been far from eventful so, I supplemented the silence for a bit of chatter. I asked plenty of questions, allowing Alice to do the majority of talking. At the same time, my mind began to drift away.
 I wondered where my party could have turned up and if we'd meet at any point during this visit. I was so... small in the world, it was almost mind shattering. I tried not to think too deeply about it when we passed enormous insects and a bed of rude and pretentious flowers, that hung over our heads, and prodded over our appearances.
 The wandering came to an end, when our surroundings began to shift from lush vegetation, to a manicured hedge maze. The sound of men, singing a light hearted tune, hung in the air, and I couldn’t help but notice a strange shift in the artificial sky that boxed in over my head. Sure it was bright and blue, but there was something incredibly off about the place.
 "This way, perhaps!" Alice shouted excitedly as she made a sharp turn around a wall of hedge.
 "Hey, wait!" I called, chasing after her. "It could be danger...ous..."
 My words trailed off as I ogled at what lay before me.
 "I... must have completely lost my mind..." I said under my breath as I watched Alice, merrily joined in with what appeared to be a group of... card men.
 When I say, card men, I actually mean, they were literally people made of playing cards. Their bodies were a tall length of Bristol paper, decorated with spades, respective to their number. They heads, hands, and feet were all spades as well. I marvel with confused amazement at their incredible articulation, as they bent and jumped and danced around. All the while I noticed they been holding paint brushes, dripping wet with red paint. I watched as they messily slapped the paint onto what appeared to be white paper roses that sat, elegantly folded within the beautifully treated, trees that had been forced to grow into the appearance of spades.
 The faint, musical number floated about the small clearing, bringing life to the artificial beauty around me. I almost settled into the mood when loud yelled, tore into my ears.
 "WHO'S BEEN PAITING MY ROSES RED!?!?"
 My soul nearly left my body, I had been so scared.
 The three card men, leapt from their tree and scrambled about the placed until they had the neat idea of stacking themselves together, to hide their presence. Alice, afraid of the disembodied voice, just like the rest of us, had run to my side and cowered behind me.
 I did say I'd keep her safe, didn’t I?
 The world began to shake as, aggravated stomping came from the exit, opposite of the way Alice and I came in. An enormous, menacing shadow, creeped slowly into view from over the hedge's height. I could feel Alice's grip on my arm tighten. My breath got stuck in my throat as I stood there. I was somehow more afraid of whatever the consequence of painting roses red, than the actual... thing... that was advancing.
 "WHHOOOO WAS IT!!??" The voice demanded once more.
 From the darkness, the figure emerge and stared wide eyed as a plump, round woman dressed in a regal red and black umbrella dress loomed above us. She had puffy sleeves and a raised collar, that seemed particularly pointed. Her big pudgy face was red with rage. Her hair was a tangled mess that seem more aggravated by her mood than anything. Atop her had sat an itty bitty crown that was barely holding its own.
 A legion of card men, came trucking into the scene on either side of this women. Seemingly very aware of the culprits, they surrounded the three card men who'd made a poor attempt to hide. Ripping them a part, they were dragged over towards the angry woman and thrown down in front of her.
 "YOU THREE!!" The woman, exclaimed, loudly, pointing her small, chubby finger in the direction of the guilty party. "WHO!! Painted My Roses Red??!"
 I watched, completely paralyzed as the cards tried their hardest to hide amongst each other, shifting the blame and pointing fingers before finally giving up and admitting to their actions. "W-we did Your Highness." One of them said. "We thought you might... like them r-red."
 "Oh? So you did, did you?" The queen asked. Suddenly her beast like features vanished, as she reverted into a friendlier version of herself. But this was short lived as she immediately resumed shouting. "Who Told You, You Could Don't Such A Thing!? OOOF WITH THEIR HEADS!!!"
 On que, red card soldiers emerged to take away the perpetrators, who were dragged away sobbing and begging for mercy, perhaps, never to be seen again. I clamped my molars tightly against each other when the angry peach of a women, stepped in front of me. Her face was serene, almost as if she was enjoying a cool summer breeze.
 "And Who... might you two be?" She asked. She had that gentle tone in her voice that heavily hinted on apprehensive.
 "Alice..."/"Yukari"
 Both of us spoke together, afraid that hesitation would get us killed.
 The woman... or I supposed I should call her the Queen, eyed us as though we were mere, ugly looking ants. I could feel Alice shaking as she gripped my arm tighter. I would have been too if I hadn't been trying to figure out where to look, out of the lady's royal respect. So I kept my eyes strained on  the perfectly trimmed grass beneath my feet.
 "Perhaps you already know this, but in case you might need a refresher, I am The Queen of Hearts. And I hereby dub you two guilty of treason."
 My stomach lurched from where it had been lodged in my throat. "Tr-treason??" I blurted out.
 "Cards!" The Queen shouted. "Take them away!!"
 Panic filled me, as my eyes darted frantically about at the card soldiers that closed in on me. I turned, looking for Alice who'd already been grabbed up. She screamed and pleaded while struggling to get free.
 "No, no, no! Let me go!!" Alice squealed over the hollering and thrashing.
 "Alice!" I shouted. I would have rushed to her aid but, I was grabbed up by a few of the card soldiers. Surprisingly, they were stronger than I presumed, and their grip on we was uncomfortably tight.
 I turned my head to search for the Queen who'd put us in this predicament.
 "Please!!" I shouted. "We haven't done anything! Let alone commit treason!! Let us go so we can explain ourselves."
 "SILENCE!!" The Queen shouted, exploding int a fit of red rage!! "The two of you appear, suspect, as those who've attempt the theft upon my heart!!"
 "What?!-- Augh!" I was yanked back by one of the card soldiers, that was trying to now bind my wrist. “No!" I shouted. "I-isn't there a sort of trial or something!?! To prove our innocence."
 I watched, as the Queen stared over me, her anger slowly dissipating. Her expression was quickly replaced with that of contemplation.
 "STOOPPP!!" She yelled, suddenly.
 And everything ceased.
 The cards that succeeded in binding my hands, held me by my arms, and shoulders so I wouldn’t escape. I looked for Alice who looking up at the queen with a horror stricken face.
 "Indeed." The woman, said as a devious grin slowly grew onto her face. "A trial, of course. It's only way. I'll hear your plea, but then it's OOOOOOOOOOF WITH YOU HEADS!!!"
 Seemingly used to this sort of behavior, the cards knew exactly what to do. They took no time in shoveling Alice and I out of the clearing, past the maze. It didn't take long before we were roughly ushered into an "open air" court room, existing within the hidden recesses of the hedge garden.
 Even as artificial as the hedge maze was, there still managed to be something regal in the appearance of the "room." An enormous long, red rug with gold trim laid, through the center of the area. It looked like a normal court room with jury and judge panel. There was the witness and defendant stands and everything. The only issue was, no one was around.
 As Alice and I stood at our spread podiums near each other, I could already feel that this was going to go horribly for the two of us. The Queen sat as the judge, reclining happily in her chair. What we were waiting for, I had no clue at the time, but soon found out when a nervous looking rabbit came running into the scene.
 "It's him!" Alice whispered to me, almost excitedly.
I watched as a white rabbit dressed in an a red outfit of puffed sleeves and fancy frilled collar darted up the spiral of stairs that wrapped up around tall pedestal, likely made just for him. Once at the top, the rabbit drew out a horn, and inhaled sharply before blowing out a sort of commencement tune, that settled over the court room.
 "Court... is now in session..."The rabbit said, in between labored breaths. I watched as he wiped his brow with a handkerchief and stood silently at the ready.
 "These two are the culprits!" Accused the queen, promptly starting the meeting, cutting straight to the chase. She aimed her little gavel at the two of us, waving it back and forth, from me to Alice. "There's no doubt about it. And the reason why? Because I say so, That's Why?"
 "Why, this meeting is absolutely flawed!!" Alice cried out, stamping her little foot in protest. "Neither she nor I have done anything wrong!! I don't know whether or not, you're truly Queen. But, I've never seen someone so self and... and so mean!"
 The Queen let go a very exaggerated gasp, placing a hand at her chest. I glanced about me as the card soldiers all around came undone and started to low-key panic from where they stood. I could only assume what was about to unfold as I turned back to the Queen of Hearts, now ready to fight my way out of the situation if I had to.
 "You dare defy me?!?! Both of you are guilty!!! Guilty of the theft upon the heart of Queen of Hearts!! OOOOFFFF WITH THEIR HEADS!!"
 The card soldiers leapt into action, moving faster than I could think. They yanked and pulled at my hair and arms, struggling to force me into submission.
 "No, No!! Oh, Please!" Alice squealed, as they closed in around her.
 "Hold it right there!!" A voice bolted through the air, like a rooster breaking the silence of dawn.
 Raking my head free from the grip of one of the card soldiers, I found Sora barging into the court yard, with Donald and Goofy immediately behind him.
 "You Dare Interfere With The Proceeding Of This Court!?" The Queen hollered. Her temper completely dissipated at this point. "Manner less! The Lot of You!!"
 "Just wait a minute. We know who the culprits really are!" Sora declared.
 "Yeah!! It was the Heartle--" Goofy began to speak, but quickly covered his mouth, realizing he'd almost said too much.
 "Hogwash!!" The Queen spat. "You couldn't possibly know what you're talking of, lad. Have you, any proof?"
 "Well... uh..." This was where Sora's 'planning' went south. I assumed he brashly rushed in to save the two of us, but with no forethought.
 "Very well." The Queen hissed, as she glared infernos in the party's direction. Her nostrils flared aggressively and, it almost looked like steam was spewing out of her ears. "I shall humor your claim. Bring me evidence of these girls' innocence. Fail and it's Off With All Your Heads!!"
 At this, the card soldiers, roughly picked both Alice and I off of the ground and shoved us into a cage.
 "Until your investigations are through, the Court is adjourned!"
 The slam of the gavel marked the definitive end of the session. I could truly feel the harrowing sensation of our predicament, when the boys approached Alice and my, engagement.
 "Yukari, where on earth have you been this entire time??" Sora asked, keeping his voice level.
 "I'm going to assume it has something to do with my... erm... rough exit." I said, eluding to the events prior without dropping any hints of our being aliens to this world. "I've been here probably just as long as you but, got... 'turned around' a bit." I punctuated my statement with air quotes.
 "Well this is a fine mess." Donald said rubbing his temples. "This is what happens when you meddle in the affairs of other worlds. Now what are we supposed to do about... all of this?"
 "Hey, I hardly did anything." I snapped a bit, keeping my voice low. "But Queenie up there is impulsive. She does what she pleases, and I for one can't be so sure, that even if you find your evidence, she'll let us go."
 "Indeed." Alice whispered, standing next to me at the bars. "It would be a far cry to believe she'd hear it if you plead."
 "Oh--" Sora seemed a bit thrown. "I know it seems a bit hapless, but we're definitely going to get you guys out of here. Don't you fret."
 "Not at all. With Yukari here, I feel I've got a lot of gall." Alice smiled.
 Her faith in me was shocking, considering I couldn't help her escape the Queen's wrath. I suppose it's more to do with my keeping her company than anything else.
 "We've just got one problem.” Goofy interjected. “We don't even know where to start looking for any proof."
 "There does in yonder woods, reside the Cheshire Cat." Alice suggested. "Do seek him out and ask him where this proof is at."
 I realized, Alice had spoken of him before. But, the way she did so made me think he might have been a bit misleading. I would have debated if that were a good idea or not. But before I could speak, the Card that stood guard next to the cage seemed to grow irritated, at our discussion.
 "Enough talking already! Get a move on.
 Sora gave me one last, worrisome glance before the party strode away.
 I sighed as I plopped myself down near the back of the cage. Pulling my knees into my chest, I wrapped my arms around them and tried to keep my through from souring. I watched as Alice took a seat as well, elegantly sitting mermaid style as she clasped her hands into her laps. The look on her face was troubled, which made me feel worse.
 "I'm sorry about this mess." I said. "But those guys were my friends. I trust they'll definitely help us out of here."
 Alice shook her head. I took it she didn't blame me, considering how we got here. "Of course you aren't to blame. Yet even with your friends help, I'm worried all the same. Without you here, I'm sure I'd have much more to fear..."
 I nodded, resting my chin against my knees as the two of us patiently waited for the boys to returned. We settled into the quiet, not wanting to draw more attention to our situation. It wasn't even long, before Heartless exploded into the room, with the boys bounding after them.
 "Oh no..." I grumbled, as I neared to bars of the cage.
 "Here's the evidence your Queen-liness!" Sora shouted, taking down the Heartless as they surged towards the Queen of Hearts. Right as one was about to drive its claws into the Queen's chest, Sora leapt onto the judge panel and destroyed it, sending it bursting in a fit of darkness.
 "How Dare You!?" The Queen exploded, probably more shaken at the fact that she'd almost been attacked. "The proof is nothing but a farse!! This is all the evidence I needed to confirm that you are the ones attempting to steel my heart. Off With Their Heads, All of them!! SIEZE THEM!!"
 Suddenly, the cage lurched upwards, shoot up towards the sky before locking in place, raised above the court yard.
 "Sora!" I shouted to him.
 "Don't worry abou-- Augh!!" But his words were cut through as he was cut off when the legion of card soldiers, leapt onto him. To my great dismay, a curtain suddenly wrapped around the circumference of our prison, obscuring our view of the outside.
 "No. Nope!" I said, getting up shakily, trying to maintain balance. Carefully I made it to the latch and tried to rip the door open with force. Of course, this thing was high grade, thick metal or whatever so it didn't budge. I attempted kicking it in, but this only managed to rock the cage. Alice yelped in terror, trying to keep her balance.
 "Sorry." I told her. "I'm just trying to get us out of here, so I can hel--"
 And then it struck me. The Keyblade.
 I mean, it was a Key, maybe I could somehow get it to--
 "Yukari!!" Alice screamed.
 My head shot towards her, wondering what the problem could be. But when I looked upon her, I found, a pool of what looked to be inky darkness, culminating at the bottom of the cage. What was more alarming was that it wasn't just latched on to Alice, but myself as well.
 "Oh Goodness! What is this?!" She cried out, trying to pull herself free, yanking her leg out with her hands. But no matter how much she managed to free herself, the stuff latched back on to her.
 What was more frightening was that it began to suck her in.
 For a second, panic whipped over my senses and I was frozen in place. My mind raced with frightening possibilities of what would happen if she was completely consumed. Where on earth was this coming from? A dark tendril, latched onto my wrist and yanked my down, into the pool. I fought against it as much as I was able, but when I wouldn't come to Darkness, it came to me.
 Where I thought I was panicking before, I was truly freaking out now. Somehow I was tumbling through an expanse of dark fluid that curled and tightened around my body. I shouted, silent cries that were stolen away by the Darkness around me. I tried to call out to Alice, but it was fruitless. I fought against a tugging sensation that occurred all over my body, like a swarm of evil hands pulling me deeper into the darkness. I fought until I felt another pull, one much more pure, yank me in the opposite direction.
 Suddenly light erupted from my chest and everything came to a halt.
 "Sleeeeepp~" A hiss sounded in my ears.
 I found it almost startling. But not as startling as another voice that loudly buzzed though my head.
 "Get up."
 My eyes, shot open.
 Slowly I sat up, with great confusion. The two voices that chased each other in my head, sounded nothing alike. One raspy and evil, while the other was warm and inviting. At first, I wondered if I'd imagined it, before I noticed a body, of pure white, standing near me.
 "Stand." The voice of a women spoke. But even as such, I saw no indication of lips or eyes. Whoever this had been, was a complete silhouette of light.
 "Who.... are you?" I asked, a bit apprehensively.
 Last time I even looked upon a creature completely eclipsed in black, I was always almost eaten. Who's to say this lady didn't have the same intentions.
 "We must hurry, if you want to help you friends." She said, completely dodging my question.
 "My... friends?" I asked. "Wait... where am I? What happened to Alice, is she--"
 "You are in the Darkness between." The woman, voiced beginning to walk away. Her steps were so light in comparison to my own, against the wet, dark ground. "Your enemies pulled your through it, in order to capture you. Perhaps they intended, to use or destroy you... But in the end, their intentions are not pure, either way. As for Alice, she has lost the battle with the darkness and was captured. She's already within the enemies grip."
 For a moment, I considered her words. "Well... Well we've got to go and save her!" I suggested.
 "You are not ready." The woman said. "To face the enemies alone, would be suicide."
 I pressed my lips together, knowing any further suggestions, would be met with disapproving responses. I wanted to suggest taking Sora and the others, but I had no idea what was going on, how I ended up here, or even how I'd get back.
 "Due to my deep connection with you... I only managed to pull you away from their grasp."
 "Deep connection..." I echoed. "Then... who are you? You seem a lot like that screeched thing. But somehow... different at the same time."
 The woman, stopped, to do what I could only assume was ponder. "I suppose one could call us the Ladies of Light and Dark respectively. While I reside within your heart to protect you... she seems only intent on your destruction."
 "D-destruction??" I stuttered. "Wait! Do I even get a reason as to why??"
 But the woman let go a yelp, clasping her fingers to what I had to assume was her forehead. "I... cannot fully recall." She said. "For whatever reason... those memories are sealed off. I cannot even remember how I came to be here."
 "Wait... your memories are--"
 "But this is not important. You enemies have sent a heartless out to destroy your friends. You must hurry to their aid, as they cannot defeat it without you."
 "Flattering." I grumbled. "But Sora's got a Key too. I'm pretty sure that--"
 "Now..." The woman, dubbed as the Lady of Light, threw up her hand and created a sort of... portal made of bright, shimmering, golden light.
 "Wait... Seriously?! You can't just throw all of this on me and not even explain!"
 "SCREEEEEEEEEEUUUGH!!" A loud hissing sort of cry, sounded from behind us.
 I filched, turning back to pear into the infinite Darkness to see what I knew was approaching.
 "You must leave, now." The woman's voice was urgent. "You will get your answers, when we meet again."
 "But I don't even know--"
 "SCRAAAAAAAAAGH!!!"
 "Now!!" The Lady of Light grabbed me by the shoulder, and shoved my through the portal. The greatest inconvenience of my days was being tossed through the air twice now. Sadly, where I thought those would be my last times, I couldn't have been more incorrect as I went hurdling through the air, screaming my lungs out as I fell through an enormous room of pinks and whites. The place around me seemed full of three dimensional objects, put upon passing them, they all turned out to be false, drawn surfaces. I screamed harder when I noticed a large, round table below me, that I couldn't decipher as a real one or a flat 2D plain as I went rocketing towards it.
 But I did manage to make out three little figures stood upon the tables top, scrambled about.
 I plummeted, right into the arms of Sora who'd ended up crumpling, unable to support the weight of a girl who'd fallen from the sky.
 "What the heck!?" Sora shouted, picking himself up.
 "What is that???" I responded frantically, ignoring Sora's mild curses.
 Erupting from below the edges of table was an enormous... Heartless. For lack of better terms, the thing was odd-- sporting doubled limbed, double jointed legs, that looked good for jumping. It was a mass of folded paper like arms that that did nothing more but absent mindedly juggled batons of fire about while stomping around the room.
 The table beneath my butt, had suddenly vanished. My party happily went slamming right into the floor below.
 I yelped in pain as I massaged the side of my face. Glancing around at my team mates, they looked a lot worse for wear. How long that they been dukin' it out with... whatever this guy was. I turned to look for the Heartless only find an enormous black shoe coming down upon the four of us.
 "SCRAAAAM!!!" Donald shouted.
 The four of us all leapt in opposite directions, narrowly missing getting squashed likes ants. I rolled to a halt and quickly got to my feet and summoned my Keyblade. I glanced about me, taking a mental note of where the boys all landed, before gazing up at the towering Heartless above.
 "Can I ask?" I shouted. "What in the world is happening!?"
 "Talk later." An unfamiliar voice sung. My eyes darted all around the expansive room in search of the one possessing the voice. It didn't take long to find a disembodied, floating cat head spinning around on the ledge of the gigantic fire place. Slowly, it came to a stop, looking directly at me before it's body, of deep purple and pink stripes came into existence before reclining in his spot-- a big grin spread long across his face. "Fight! For now that the gang is all here, the Heartless can be defeated."
 "This was all a trick!" Sora shouted, as he rolled beneath an attack from the papery arms of the Giant Heartless boss.
 "A trick??" The cat, who I quickly began to gather was the Cheshire, tutted. "Nothing of the sort. The Cheshire Cat is always here to help those in need."
 Upon those words, the Giant Heartless rose it's firey buttons over its head. Spinning them in its hands, fire quickly began to manifest before he plunged his twirling weapons down upon our party as a wave of fire came surging directly at our quartet.
 "Some assistance?" I could barely hear the cat's words as the four us screamed for our lives.
 I almost hadn't realized the twinkling, magical aura that fluttered brightly around Sora and I. Too panicked to think I shoved my Keyblade out before me to block the oncoming attack. To my great surprise, a flurry of a blizzard shot from the tip of my Keyblade and swamped half of the Giant Heartless in ice and snow.
 "Wak!!" Donald voiced. "You just did magic!!"
 No kidding. I could really feel it too, as I suddenly felt completely drained. Much like the Heartless, half of my body from the right arm up and bit down to my waist was frosted over. I shivered aggressively with teeth chattering as I tried to find warmth, drawing back my key. Looking up, I watched as the Heartless shivered and twitched trying to recover from my spell.
 "That was amazing, Yukari!!" Sora shouted, throwing a fist in the air.
 "But incredibly dangerous!" Donald added. "If you're gonna use magic, you'll have to focus it. Channel it through your Keyblade. Don't just throw it around recklessly, or you'll burn yourself out."
 "Yeah.." I nodded, shaking the cold away. Slicing my Key through the air, I could see it glitter with little flecks of frost. "Sora. We've gotta rely on magic to take it down." I said.
 "I mean... I'll try." He said, ready his blade, looking determines regardless.
 The Heartless, now somewhat recovered, groaned as he weekly took a step in our direction.
 "Looks like that really did a number on it. Sora, follow my lead." I ordered. "Donald, can you back me up with some stronger ranged spells? We're gonna try and freeze it for good, but I think I used up most of my magic already...."
 Donald nodded.
 "Goofy, we're gonna need you in front to block his fire. Together we can take him down!"
 "Yeah!!" The boys all shouted before we broke huddle and rushed into action.
 Sora, Donald and Goofy and I rushed the big boss, with Goofy holding up the front. He bravely blocked fireball after fire ball, while we all ducked numerous oncoming swipes of his baton. I could tell it was getting annoyed with us by the way it started stomping around.
 Donald held up the rear, casting spells that did more area damage than, to the Heartless-- which was outright perfect as Sora and I hit him with little blizzard spells as we darted around the thing’s ankles.
 The Heartless began to slow, stopping in its tracks and, bending it's odd legs to their fullest as it crouched down low.
 "It's gonna jump!!" Goofy shouted, breaking formation as he ran for any possible cover.
 The four of us completely dispersed as it leapt high into the air, nearly hitting the ceiling of the room. It was then that a bright idea formed.
 "Donald!!" I shouted. "Watch it's trajectory!! Aim you magic at where it lands. Sora!! Focus on the enemy, keeping firing your ice!!"
 The boys did just as I'd ordered, casting magical cold spells all over the place. It was only when the thing came back down, that I had grown increasingly worried. Now completely frozen, the Heartless would only be good for a frosty explosion!!
 "Duck and cover!!" I shouted, turning to run. Instantly I slammed into Sora and together we'd plopped into a heap on the floor, only to attempt to scramble back to our feet to get to safety.
 "Firaga!!" I heard Donald shout as he and Goofy appeared ahead of us.
 A big, blazing fire exploded from the tip of Donald's staff, right at the moment where the Heartless hit the floor and erupted into a explosion of snow and ice that, had it not been for Goofy’s shield, would have impaled us all.
 For a good while, the frost hung in the air, obscuring our vision. But whence it cleared we found the heartless, frozen and in pieces. While no longer functioning, it had still not completely disappeared. Sora and I quickly disposed of the thing, sending off yet another one of those large, pink crystalline hearts that floated up into the air, before vanishing out of sight.
 "Phew!" Goofy exclaimed, wiping his brow. "Glad that's over."
 "Good, lord... What is all that racket?!" A voiced whined. I looked to find a talking door knob yawning sleepily. It's baggy eyes looking our party over with great distaste. "Do humor me a bit and tone down the brawl, could you? A door knob isn't to get any rest around here, he can't..."
 The thing, finished off its sentence with a grand yawn, opening it's maw perfectly wide, and holding it just right for us to notice something beyond the depths of his... esophagus.
 Suddenly both Sora's and my Key lurched towards the door, as if being controlled by some guided hand. Promptly, a beam of bright light shot from the tips of out blades and right into the door knobs mouth before dying away. A loud clunking noises sounded before the door knob could, conveniently close its mouth.
 "What... was that?" Sora inquired.
 "Sounded like something... locked." I suggested.
 The four of us continued to gaze on as something fell from the door, and rolled onto the floor at Goofy's feet. To which he picked it up to inspect what looked like a sort of bright green rock.
 "Ahyuck, it's a Gummi black!" Goofy explained.
 "It's doesn't look like a normal piece tough. Let's have it here." Donald urged, as he took it from Goofy to look over himself. As he turned it in his hand, he hummed in thought, furrowing his brows. "Haven't seen one like this before..."
 Clapping suddenly filled the air, cutting through our revelation. We all turned back to the newly appeared table that sat in the middle of the room to find the Cheshire cat, once more.
 "Superb performance! You're powers certainly do bloom true, if I do say!! Keep it up and someday you'll be florist! I can't wait to see what you'll do next."
 I frowned at such a poorly placed pun.
 "Who are you, really, Cheshire cat?" Sora asked. The tone in his voice informed me that he'd met with this cat more than he'd liked to.
 "Alice is neither here, nore there-- or available for any occasion." The cat echoed. It was only then that I realized that his body had phased out of existence, while his voice reverberated impressively around the great room. "She's past from this world to where I cannot speak... Borne off by the shadows, she has fallen to the darkness of obscurity. Perhaps, your feminine friend could shed some light upon your situation. Tip toeing around the truth will only get you thrown into deeper Darkness."
 All of the boys' eyes landed on me as, I became the new subject of interest.
 "Yukari... what's he talking about?" Sora asked. "Does this have something to do with why, Alice... didn't come back with you?"
 He Donald and Goofy traded worried expressions. I bit my lip, now fearing what I'd been putting off. But if what they Lady of Light had said, about our enemies was true... then I suppose it was indeed time to tell the boys about the dreams.
 "We should get back to the ship." I sighed. "There's... something I've been meaning to tell you."
To Be Continued
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