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djunkiejunk · 21 days

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Behind the Scenes: The Secret Omega CHAPTER 3 - Moving In

AO3 Link SUMMARY: Kimi meets up with a friend before moving in with her new pack.

CHAPTER 3 - Moving In

The next morning Kimiko called the Society to let them know that she had been accepted into the pack from the alphas she had left with yesterday. Her advisor was super excited, shouting over the phone how happy they were and what her next steps were. They sent over some documents for her to sign and told her they’d be in touch with the alphas as well so they didn’t all have to come back in. There were some questions about the living situation which she tried her best to answer but most of it was regarding security protocols that she wasn’t aware of. The advisor said they would just ask the alphas when they called and would reach out if they needed anything additional.

Kimiko’s grandmother came out of her room shortly after she had hung up the phone and congratulated her on being accepted into the pack. She asked about how the dinner date went and Kimiko splurged details to her over tea and breakfast.

Wednesday morning, she went out to the local mall and waited for her friend, Naomi. When she called Naomi on Monday to tell her the news that she had been placed through the program successfully, Naomi insisted on a shopping spree to celebrate. She had also been placed in a pack through the program, so she knew that there weren’t many details Kimiko could give out, but she was still very excited to hear everything she could.

“Yoo hoo,” Naomi hollers from down the hallway. Kimiko turns around to find her, arms spread wide for a hug.

“Hey!” Kimi greets while walking over and hugging her.

“It is so good to see you! I am so excited for you!” Naomi bounces as she hugs her, making Kimiko giggle.

“It’s good to see you too. I’m so glad I could meet up with you before I move in.”

“Me too! We are going to have so much fun today!” She locks arms with Kimi and guides them further into the mall.

“You know, I really hope our alphas work together. That way we can meet up more often. Plus, I want to hear all the juicy details! It’s killing me not knowing who you’ve ended up with!”

“Oh my goodness, I know. I wish I could tell you everything. I guess now we know how we both felt when you got paired up.”

“Oh, this is torture,” she says dramatically. “But, I guess we’ll find out soon enough, and hey, if they don’t work together, we can at least find out at the next Society event.”

“Oh, that’s true. I didn’t even think of that! Regardless, we still need to meet up for coffee or lunch or something as often as we can.”

“Yes!” Naomi agrees. “Okay, so where to first? I have some ideas in mind.” They bounce ideas off one another before making a game plan about where to go and what to get.

They go from store to store, looking at different clothes and items. Kimiko ends up grabbing a couple of new skirts and dresses, knowing that’s what the boys liked. Naomi takes the opportunity to do the same. As they start finishing up their shopping route, Naomi gives Kimi a playful look.

“You know where we should go?”

“Where?”

“Midnight’s shop!”

“You know, that’s not a bad idea. Maybe I can find some cute lingerie for my mating night.” Naomi lets out a little squeal in response.

“That’s the spirit!” She says before practically ripping off Kimiko’s arm as they bolt towards the shop.

“Well, well, well, look who it is,” one of the workers greets them as we walk through the door.

“Hi Audrey,” Kimko says to the blonde girl behind the counter. “Good to see you.”

“Likewise, girlie,” she responds. “A little birdie told me that someone got accepted into a pack.” Her stomach sinks a little, concerned that her secret had gotten out. She looks to Naomi but she just shakes her head.

“Yeah, who told you?” she asks, concerned.

“Midnight, she said she’s friends with your pack mates and set some things aside for you in case you came in.”

“Oh, that’s awesome!” Naomi says, giving Kimkoi’s arm an encouraging little shake. “Let’s see what she picked out!”

“This piece here I think is going to be a winner,” Audrey says.

She hands Kimiko the package and she can immediately tell what she was implying. Inside is a lacey teddy bodysuit that had scalloped floral lace. The piece was crotchless and the back was completely open. The top could be tied around the neck but still gave plenty of space for any mating marks.

“Pair this one of the garter sets and some cute stockings and I think you’ve got yourself a good piece for your first night with them.”

Audrey starts laying out some of the other pieces for Naomi and her to look over. One of the things that catches her interest is a strappy set that has cuffs that attach to the thigh pieces.

“Ooh, this is really cute.”

“I’ll say!” Naomi agrees. “I want one of those!”

“There are some more over there if you want to grab one” Naomi gives an excited squeal and saunters over to the wall to grab herself a set of thigh cuffs. Kimiko giggles as she oohs and aahs over some of the other pieces.

“How much do I owe you for everything?” Kimiko asks Audrey.

“Nothing,” she says cooly. “Like I said, Midnight put these to the side for you. Said the only thing she wanted from you was to give them a good time or something like that.” Kimiko blushes and gives an embarrassed laugh in response.

“Ok, I can do that. Please tell her thank you for me.”

“Can do, girlie.” She hands her the bag across the counter and Kimiko takes it while Naomi places her items on the counter to be purchased. She opens the bag again, taking another look at some of the items.

There’s a variety of items, butt plugs, cat ears, some stockings, all of which keep a tinge of pink on Kimiko’s cheeks. While she knows what these things are and how to use them, the thought of using them with her new mates has her both nervous and excited.

Naomi’s transaction finishes and soon she’s adding her new bags to the collection she has around her arms.

“Ok you two, have a nice day and Ison,” Audrey pauses.

“Yes?”

“Enjoy,” she says with a wink. Kimiko’s blush deepens and she mutters a thank you as they leave.

“I’m getting so hungry! Do you want to grab some lunch?” Naomi asks.

“Yeah, I’m getting pretty hungry too. What are you in the mood for?”

“I’m down for anything, I just really need food and quick!” She practically flings herself onto Kimi, grabbing her arm. Laughing at her dramatics Kimi starts walking towards a restaurant nearby that she knows will have good food.

“Ok, I know just the place!”

Soon, they’re seated at a table, bags tucked next to them and under the table. Kimi feels a little bad buying so much, but knowing that it’s for her new packmates eases her worries.

“So,” Naomi prompts. “Now that we’re somewhere a bit more private, what can you tell me about your new pack?”

Kimi takes a second to think. Since she can’t talk specifics, she has to find a way to give some sort of information to appease Naomi while also not giving too much away. She can’t tell her how many members are in the pack, how old they are, their names, anything that she could normally tell a friend. After taking a few moments to think, she has an answer.

“There’s a cat.”

“A cat?!” Naomi responds, clearly happy she was able to get some bit of an answer. “Ohmigosh I am SO jealous! Do you have a picture or anything?”

“No, I wish, he’s a major cutie!”

“Awww, well next time I see you, you owe me double the cute cat photos!”

“Ha ha, ok,” she laughs. “That’s only fair.”

“Are you going to be moving in soon?”

“Yeah, fairly soon. It ended up working with my grandma’s moving schedule.”

“That’s right,” Naomi says. “I forgot. She’s moving in with your aunt, right?”

“Yeah! My aunt was kind enough to offer her a place when my grandfather passed. She’s got a spare room because her oldest moved away for college. It’ll be nice because Grandma doesn’t get a chance to see that side of the family much.”

“Oh, that is nice! Do you have a lot of younger nieces and nephews?”

“A couple. I think the youngest is about 8 or 9.”

“Oh, that’s nice. She’ll probably love that!”

“Oh, totally!” The waitress brings over food that they ordered earlier and Naomi gives a quick thank you before starting to ravenously devour her plate.

“Ah, this is so good!” she says through a mouthful of food. Kimi giggles as she starts to eat.

“Mmm, this is good,” she says after taking a particularly good mouthful.

“We should meet up here more often when you’re settled in.”

“That’s not a bad idea. This place isn’t super far from-,” She stops, realizes what she’s saying, and quickly adds more food into her mouth. Naomi gives her a knowing look from across the table and she gives her a smile.

“Sorry,” she starts. “I shouldn’t be pushing for info so hard. I just really want to make sure that you’re in good hands. After everything you’ve been through and all you’ve done to get here, you deserve a good pack.”

Touched by her words, tears start to form in Kimi’s eyes.

“Naomi,” she trails off.

“Oh, hun. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

Kimi looks at her, trying to stop her emotions from billowing out of her.

“It’s ok. It’s just. You’ve been there for me through all of this and I’m just so grateful. A lot of people were really harsh about me going through this but you understood and stood by me through everything. Gosh, I wish I could tell you everything right now, but just know that I’m in a very good pack and I’m going to be ok.”

Naomi sniffles and starts to tear up.

“Ok,” she tells her. “I’m so glad.” She grabs her hand across the table and they share a meaningful look before Kimi gives a small laugh and wipes away her tears. Naomi mirrors her actions and goes back to eating. They chat some more while finishing up their meals. As they pay their tabs, Naomi’s phone buzzes.

“Oh, that’s my alpha. Looks like I need to head back.”

“Ok, sounds good,” Kimi responds. “I needed to meet up with my alpha as well.” They embrace in a tight hug wishing each other behind before moving on with the rest of their days.

It’s Friday when Kimiko arrives back at her new home. Her things had been dropped off the day before, so she only carried a small duffel bag with some clothes and toiletries in it. Shouta had stopped by her grandmother’s house on Wednesday before his patrol, to drop off her new keys and papers with all the codes and info about her new home.

Kimiko’s grandmother had tried to get him to stay for tea but he politely declined, saying he had to get his patrol. When he left, Kimiko’s grandmother remarked she liked Shouta making Kimiko feel proud about her choice.

Throughout the week, she occasionally texted her new pack mates, getting updates on when movers would be by to pick up her stuff. They also chatted about how their days went and sent over some photos of Sushi. Kimiko couldn’t help but feel cheery about how well they were all getting along. The week seemed to move so slowly for her, but soon enough Friday comes and she’s trying to figure out how to input the codes into the security system correctly.

After having to put in the codes a couple of times, she was soon entering the home she had just so recently been upset about leaving. Sushi greets her at the door with a stretch and a curious meow. After rubbing all over her legs, he starts purring when she reaches down to pet him.

“Hi, Sushi,” she sing-songs. “How are you doing?” He doesn’t answer but does direct her toward the living room. A note is left on the coffee table in the middle of the room.

Kimiko, welcome home!

We took some time to put away all of the things that were delivered since it was just a few boxes. We’ll bring back dinner around 6. Please make yourself comfortable, there’s a surprise for you waiting on the bed.

Love,

Your Alphas. ♡

“Thanks, Sushi,” she says making her way to the bedroom. Her duffel bag gets onto the very large bed and she notices some folded-up shirts by the pillows. There were a couple of black shirts seemed to belong to Shouta and some graphic tees that were presumably Hizashi’s. Though her instincts wanted nothing more than to have her alphas near her, she picks up one of each shirts and takes in the scents that were pouring from them. It was good enough for now.

After a couple of moments of taking in their scent, she takes the opportunity to give herself another quick tour of the apartment, wondering if anything had changed since the last time she had been there. Sure enough, the plethora of blankets and pillows she owned had been dropped off in the living room and her other belongings were put away in the kitchen and bathroom. There was also a new dresser in the bedroom for her to put her clothes away in. She takes her time to empty the bag and put her things away nicely.

Skirts were a popular choice between the two, so she stocked up on a variety of those when she had gone shopping earlier in the week. Off-the-shoulder tops were another pick she thought the two of them would like, especially since they would show off the new markings she was hoping to get tonight. Her hand grazes over the area at the thought. She sends a text into their group chat saying that she made it into their home successfully. They respond back with positive messages and she decides to start getting ready for their arrival.

Pulling out one of the nice lingerie pieces she had gotten, she places it on the bed, excitement building. It was the lacey teddy bodysuit that Midnight had picked out for her. She planned on putting it on after a bath, wanting to hide it under one of Hizashi’s tees and one of the skirts she had gotten. After laying everything out on the bed, she headed toward the bathroom.

Hopping into the large bathtub in the master bathroom, Kimiko starts prepping herself for the evening. Every inch of her was scrubbed and she made sure to make everything smell pleasant. She dries off and gets dressed, doing her best to try and hide the lingerie underneath the clothes. Afterwards, she finishes primping herself and heads toward the kitchen. Taking stock of what was in the pantry, she finds that there are just enough ingredients to make some chocolate chip cookies and gets to work.

By the time the alphas get home, the cookies were being placed onto cooling racks, and the whole house was covered in their delicious aroma.

“Welcome home,” Kimiko greets the two as they walk into the kitchen. “Thought you two may want some dessert after dinner.”

“Wow. Those smell amazing!” Hizashi says, walking over to grab one. He’s stopped by Shouta who gives his hand a small slap.

“Don’t ruin your appetite. Plus, those look like they just got out, they probably need to cool.” He places the bags containing their dinner on the counter.

“Those do smell good though. Thank you for making them,” he says, before walking over and giving her forehead a small kiss. She blushes in response, happy for the show of affection. Shouta’s original stern demeanor had her concerned that it would take a while for them to get where they are right now. Happiness blooms in her chest at the realization that’s not the case. Shouta catches onto the sweet, happy scent leaving her and gives a small smile.

“Sorry, Kimiko. Hizashi just can’t control himself around sweets.”

“Oh, sorry,” she replies, nervous she did the wrong thing.

“I’m not!” Hizashi blurts out. “My cute little omega comes with cookies? I’m in heaven.” Shouta chuckles and starts taking out everyone’s dinner from the bags.

“I just realized! Is that my shirt, princess?” Hizashi asks, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

“Yes,” she says with a smile. “It smelt good so I just decided to put it on.”

“It looks good on you, huh, Shouta?” Hizashi says, standing back to admire the view.

“Nah,” Shouta says, taking in her appearance. “My shirts are better.”

She giggles as he winks at her and goes back to unloading the bags. Hizashi shakes his head and comes to hug her from behind. Happily, she accepts the hug and enjoys being encompassed by her alpha. She gives his arms a good squeeze and she’s met with an enthusiastic squeeze back.

“You are just too cute!” Hizashi exclaims. Shouta watches the two of them hug and catches Kimiko’s eyes. Releasing Hizashi, she moves over to Shouta and wraps her hands around his waist to hug him as well.

“I hope you guys had a good day.” The men give noncommitted shrugs and nods.

“Could’ve been worse,” remarks Shouta. Unsure of how to respond, Kimiko gives a small nod and smiles. Deciding to try and keep things positive, she responds,

“Well, I’m just glad it wasn’t bad then!”

She grabs some plates and quickly sets the table as Shouta brings the food over. Soon they’re all having dinner at the table next to the kitchen and talking more in-depth about their days.

“I think some of the kids are just still upset you expelled them all, Shouta.”

“You expelled all your students?”

“He did, but they were all brought back the next day.”

"So many of these kids are self-sacrificing,” Aizawa says, irritation flowing through his words. “Often, they confuse being self-sacrificing with being suicidal. So I gave them what they wanted, a 'death' so to speak. It refocuses them into working harder for their future," he explains to Kimiko.

“Yeah, but Nezu’s never going to let you pull that again,” Hizashi teases.

Shouta nods before taking a sip of his drink. A sense of joy flows through Kimiko as she learns more personal details about their lifestyles and work. She feels proud to know that they feel comfortable enough to share such information with her. Shouta finishes off his drink and locks eyes with Kimiko.

“So, little omega,” he starts. Her heart does a little backflip at the recognition. “How would you like this evening to go?”

“Oh,” she blushes a little, thinking about the lingerie set that’s hidden underneath her clothes. “Um, if it’s not too forward, I would really like to be marked by the both of you tonight, if you’re comfortable.”

“Eager, are we?” Shouta taunts, causing her face to start heating up. The two men sitting across from her share in one of their usual silent conversations before Shouta breaks the silence,

“I think we can arrange for that.” Kimiko slightly shuffles in her chair and smiles wide, eyes diverted towards her now-empty plate.

“Why don’t we take things easy though and start by getting comfy on the couch,” recommends Hizashi. “Plus, there are some cookies calling out my name that I just have to get my hands on.” With a giggle, Kimiko stands up and helps collect the plates before heading into the kitchen with Hizashi. He grabs the plate of cookies and offers his other arm out to her. Accepting it, she allows him to guide her into the living room onto the large couch. Shouta stays behind in the kitchen to take care of the dishes. She tries to protest but Hizashi remarks,

“You’ll have plenty of time to take care of chores later. Allow us to take care of things for tonight.” Reluctantly, she agrees as he takes a seat to her left.

“Thank you for being so welcoming, I really appreciate it.” Hizashi gives her a dramatic sigh in return which makes her concerned that she offended him.

“I think I’m just going to have to start calling you honey because you are too sweet,” he shoots his signature finger guns at her and she can’t help but to laugh and blush.

“You guys are too. I was worried that I would end up with some really old creepy guy. I’m glad that’s not the case.” She places her hand on his arm and Hizashi smiles.

“Me too, hon. Although, I’m dying to know who else you had to interview with. Who else we beat out, ” he whispers out the last part.

“Yeah?” she giggles. “Well, let’s see. First was Best Jeanist, which I only know because my grandmother is a huge fan and was practically fangirling the whole time he was in the room.”

“I can see why, he’s always so put together.”

“Right? She loves ‘dapper’ men, so she knew it was Best Jeanist right away,” she giggles, remembering how surprised her grandmother was.

“Then I believe Mr. Kamihara was next, very polite guy.”

Hizashi’s eyebrows lock together as he thinks of who that could be.

“Oh! Edgeshot!”

“Was it really? He looked nothing like he does in his hero costume. I guess I could see his whole face too so maybe that’s why I didn’t realize.” Hizashi smiles at her comment as she thinks of who was next.

“Oh,” her face scrunches up as she remembers. “They did have me interview with a very wealthy businessman. Don’t remember what his name was, but he gave me the creeps.”

“Oh yeah, how so?”

“I can’t really describe it. Not sure if it was his demeanor or the way he kept looking at me but something about him made me sick to my stomach.”

Hizashi nods and puts a comforting hand on her thigh. She tries to hide the fact that it has her instincts screaming with excitement.

“Then came Gang Orca and Shisido. Hard not to know who they are. They were usually in my district so it was interesting to be paired with them.”

Hizashi hums in acknowledgment.

“They were funny though, both wanting to know if the other was interested in picking me.” “That makes sense,” Hizashi comments. Kimiko looks at him a bit puzzled by the response. “They’re very competitive with one another. Makes sense it wouldn’t stop here.”

“Mmm,” she hums. “Yeah, that does make more sense now. And then the last one before you guys was Mr. Toyomitsu. He was very friendly and they brought in extra snacks for him which I super appreciated.”

“Did you not eat at all?” concern blasts from Hizashi’s question.

“No, no. I did. Just not a big meal. The little snacks they gave us were all I had throughout the day.”

“Oh, hun.”

“No, no. It’s ok. Like I said they gave extra snacks for this guy so I was able to get some food and then when you took me out for dinner it took everything in me not to stuff my face.”

Hizashi groans. “I can’t believe they didn’t feed you, that’s just wrong.”

Shouta walks into the living room, just slightly hearing the end of the conversation.

“Is everything okay? Did you not like dinner?” Kimiko slightly startles and spins around, not having heard the man approaching them.

“Oh, no. Sorry, it’s not that-” she rushes to assure him, but Hizashi cuts her off.

“She hardly ate during the interviews. Poor thing was chomping at the bits when we took her out.”

“No, really. It’s ok. I was expecting that, I promise.”

Aizawa makes a displeased noise which has her shrinking into herself.

“Ok, well don’t feel a need to wait for us to eat or anything like that. This is your house too, we want to make sure you’re comfortable.”

“Ok, I will, I swear.”

He gives her a small smile and takes the seat to her right. She adjusts herself so she can easily turn her head between the two of them. Hizashi takes the chance to grab a cookie from the tray and takes a bite.

“Oh my god , Kimiko. These are incredible.”

“I’m really glad you like them,” she says, giggling when he shoves two more in his mouth. Shouta sighs from behind them,

“You’re going to choke.”

“MoUG ImpH Ought,” Yamada jokingly responds. He swallows a large amount of cookie in his mouth and sticks out his tongue. Kimiko jokingly reels back in disgust and then notices chocolate on the side of his mouth,

“Um, you have a little chocolate right here.” She points at the corner of her mouth and giggles.

“Well, why don’t you come and take care of that?” he says suggestively while dramatically wiggling his eyebrows. She giggles again and leans forward. When she reaches out her hand to wipe off the chocolate, but he grabs it,

“Nuh-uh-uh. No hands,” he teases. A surge of confidence rushes through her at his challenge and she closes the rest of the distance to give a lick to the corner of his mouth. He takes the opportunity to sneak in a kiss. Giggles escape Kimiko’s mouth before she deepens the kiss. After a few moments, she pulls away for air.

Hizashi’s dopey grin greets her and she blushes.

“So beautiful,” Shouta says from behind her. Pride fills her chest at his comment. Her instincts claw at her mind, happy that her alpha thinks she’s pretty.

“Could I get a kiss as well?” he asks.

She nods and readjusts herself so she’s on her knees facing him. He grabs her chin and helps guide her toward his lips. She reaches her arms out to his chest to support herself better as the butterflies rush to her stomach. A small gasp escapes her, which he takes notice of, and smiles into the kiss more.

Her instincts claw at her chest as she savors the kiss from her alpha. Trying to soothe the feeling, she places a hand on her chest. Noticing the movement, Shouta pulls away.

“Too far?” he questions.

“Not at all,” she answers breathlessly.

“Good,” he responds, giving her a little peck on her forehead.

“Gosh, you both make me blush so much!” she jokingly complains and both her alphas laugh.

“Sorry,” Shouta says. “You just look very cute when you blush. Makes me want to do it more.”

“Gosh,” is the only response she can think of.

“Shouta, I must say, when we originally met, I thought you were just a very quiet person. Now, I know you were just waiting to speak until you could find the right words to melt me.” Both alphas laugh again at her comment.

“You got that right,” Hizashi agrees and she turns to face him.

“Just wait until he gets you in the bedroom. He’ll say things to me that I can’t get out of my head for weeks.” A rush of heat shoots to her core at his comment. Her instincts fill her mind with all of the things he wish she’d say to him.

“Oh, gosh,” she says, jokingly scared.

“Don’t be fooled,” Shouta says, “Hizashi’s got quite the mouth on him too.”

“I should probably just write my obituary now then,” she jests in response. The guys laugh and Hizashi starts staring at her lips again. Shouta notices and decides to take charge of the moment.

“Well, little omega. If you’re ready, we can get started with the events for this evening.” PREVIOUS | NEXT

#erasermic x oc #erasermic #ao3 #omegaverse #a/b/o #arranged marriage

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rommahh · 3 years

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Love On Tour…Actually

{Im sorry for how late this was. I went to the show Friday and honestly, it was the best day of my life. I had a little PCD which made me super unmotivated but I’m back. I love you all, R}

You woke up a little grumpy, you won’t lie. You didn’t like waking up alone especially on a show day. It made you uncomfortable to be left to your own devices without any structure or schedule. You understood that Harry was a busy man but it would’ve been nice to receive some text so you could plan your day accordingly.

Sitting on the couch in the lounge of your hotel room, you chowed down on leftover pasta while watching Netflix on your iPad. You had yet to receive a text from Harry even though you had texted him hours ago when you woke up. It was hard to tell if he was ignoring you out of anger or if he was simply just lost in track. Either way you felt dejected.

On the other hand, Harry hadn’t even noticed that he iced you. He was busy running around Nashville trying to get things ready for tonight’s show. He bought you a new dress and shoes, and got the ring fitted. It was hard to figure out your ring size but he end up measuring your finger when you were passed out asleep in bed last night. When you slept, you slept and he knew that would be the perfect time to measure your finger.

Harry was so busy that morning, that by the end of his errands he realized he didn’t even have time to go back to the hotel before rehearsals. He was sporting a small cough and his vocal chords felt overworked but that’s all apart of tour.

Pulling his phone out of his back pocket as he walked into the arena, he dialed your number quickly. He had people trying to talk to him but he paid them no mind.

“Oh? Would you look who’s here?” Harry’s head shot up to the sound of your voice. There you sat on his dressing room couch, arms crossed over one another as you glared at him. Your gaze burned through him and he could just tell he was in trouble.

“Hello lovie.” Harry rasped.

“Harry you sound like shit but here you are up and about running around. You should’ve slept in this morning.” Scolding as you stand up to walk in front of him. Harry could feel the anger radiate off of you but you hid it well. He melted into your hands that cupped his warm cheeks.

“I had a lot of errands to run and I didn’t want to wake you. Also it’s just a sore throat from singing and traveling- comes with being on tour.” He mumbles dropping his head into your neck. You caress the hairs on the back on his neck and massage the tense muscles.

“You’ve got to think about yourself more, Harry. You have a show to put on but you can’t put on your best show if you’re not at your best. I am not happy with you at all.” Even though your words were scolding him, you held him your arms in the most soothing way. That’s what Harry loved about you, you cared for him like no one else could (aside from his mom). You could tell him off with your harshest words but he’d always feel your love from miles away.

“You’re right love, sorry for not keeping in touch today.” You hum in acknowledgement. You both pulled away from each other when his driver walked in with Harry’s abundance of bags. “Thank you, sir.”

“What all did you buy?” You ask walking towards the bags. Harry’s arm shot out in front of you making you stop. You looked up at him in shock. “Fine be secretive.”

You huffed before making your way back to the couch. Harry rolled his eyes at you, making way to his shopping bags. Plucking the bag from Nordstrom he plopped it down on the table in front of you.

“I just didn’t want you snooping at some other stuff. I bought you this, for tonight.” He sat down beside you, thighs touching leaving no room between you two.

“Im not trying to be mean. Just a little peeved that you left this morning without telling me. You also have a cold and I wanna take care of you since you won’t do it.” A hand rubs his forehead luring his eyes shut.

“Sorry baby, I thank you for caring so much.” He whispers sleepily.

“Im always gonna care for my bubs.” Kissing him on the lips, your turn your attention to the bag. The small grey bag had light tissue paper covering the product within the bag. The tissue falls to the floor as you dig into the bag. A silky champagne dress, folded neatly to decrease wrinkles, sits in the bag. The dress was soft and you knew it was loose enough to give you the room to dance. Soft snores escaped the boy beside you- the exhaustion evident on his face.

You pull the dress out of the bag and walk over to where his outfit of the night hung. The dress was hung beside his to be steamed for later. Turning around, you smile at the sight of your curled up boyfriend. Your heart hurt knowing that in a few minutes he would have to go rehearse.

Harry sleepily went through rehearsals sitting in a chair the whole time. He knew his stage cues and performance, he only had one more thing to rehearse but it required for you to not be in the room. He gave one look to Jeff to signal him to get you out. Jeff made up some excuse saying that he needed help with some social media post for the show.

Before the show, there was a catered dinner from some local restaurant. Harry ate a light meal of fresh vegetables and a sweet iced tea which has grown on him having lived in the states for some years. You ate grilled chicken and fries enjoying the free food. The two of you ate alone in his dressing room- wanting a moment of piece before the crazy.

“How are you feeling?” You ask Harry. He shrugs, he was more nervous than anything but you wouldn’t understand why if he had told that to you. He felt floaty. Tonight would be a game changer, a step in a whole new direction. This is something he’s wanted to do for years now but it’s finally happening, and he’s scared.

"Im ok, a little tired but what else is new. I can't wait to sleep all night and cuddle with you." He grabs your hand from across the table. you squeeze it, frowning at his revelation.

"I don't like that you're so tired." You worry, his hand squeezes yours in reassurance.

“Im ok, it’s all apart if the job.” He looks down to your bare ring finger, thumb brushing over the empty spot. Your nails were done in your favorite way, some funky pattern you found from Pinterest all painted on short coffin nails.

“I love you Harry and I’m so proud of you. I know that these years put us both in a bad place mentally but I’m happy of where we are now.” Harry could almost tear up to your words. They settled into his mind, resonating. He was making the perfect decision and you solidified that ideal.

2014

Harry didn’t know how they did it. A show every night, a new state everyday, a new country every few months- he was burnt out. He was tired of shared tour buses and the lack of autonomy. Last nights LA show was amazing, the crowd was amazing, the energy was amazing- so why did he feel so horrid?

He walked around in The Grove, security guards walking in front and behind him. He wanted a peaceful day alone but here they were. Fans watched suspiciously trying to decipher if it was Harry or not. His hat and sunglasses were obviously not the disguise he thought they would be.

As the whispers got louder, his heart started to flurry more. Panic seeped into his veins as he looked for an escape. Bolting in the Barnes and Nobles- security guards close behind- Harry asked for the employees to close shop just for a moment. Harry only needed a moment to get a car near by to escape to. Feeling overwhelmed, Harry hid.

In between the historical fiction and romance aisle is where he sat. Head between his knees, trying to catch his breathe.

“Are you ok?” A voice asked from above him. His head whipped up in shock. Standing there was you, three books clutched between your arms. Adjusting your dress you dropped down to the floor in front of him.

“I-im fine, tired but fine.” He replied. He looked different than he did the night before, you thought. Last night, he was energetic and full of life and now, now you saw a boy whose exhaustion overpowered him.

“You here for any books?” You were just trying to change the subject, something you did with yourself when you had panic attacks.

“Oh no, I don’t-“ he stuttered shaking his head. You smiled at him before pulling a book from your stack. The fault In Our Stars, your new favorite.

“I love this book, one of my favorites. Heard a movie is coming out too so that’s fun.” You joke. Harry’s relaxed slightly, you nestled closer to him. Opening the book, you began reading, your gentle voice calming Harry.

At the start of chapter four, an interruption pulled you both away. Harry’s security guard told Harry that a car was waiting and the perimeter of the store was clear. Harry nodded telling the guard to give him five more minutes.

“I guess this is it.” You mumble closing your book. Harry nods but makes no move to leave. Something clicks in him as he looks at your face again.

“You were at the concert last night, meet and greet?” He muses.

“Yeah, One Direction is my favorite band. My friend bought our vip tickets for my birthday. Best night ever.” You say quietly, scared that he might think that you’re some obsessed fan.

“Oh, well I’m glad you enjoyed the show….so why didn’t you freak out today or- or expose where I was?”

“You’re a human being, just like me. You get nervous, frustrated, and sad just like me. You get panic attacks just like. Who am I to treat you differently?” Your words did so much for Harry. “Now don’t get me wrong, you’re my favorite in the band, but I don’t idolize you nor do I wish to be in your position cause I know it must be hard.”

“It is. Hard, I mean, really really hard. I love my job but I’m tired.” The silence you two shared burned a connection between you two. “This may be weird but could I have your number? I like talking to you and I wanna hear more of this book.”

Placing your hand made bookmark in the book, you closed in and gently placed it on Harry’s lap. “Have it. I have one at home and if you still want to talk about it- I’ll give you my number.”

Harry stills as the book sits in his lap. “I want to talk to you about the book.”

After exchanging numbers, Harry was urged by you to go. Walking side by side to the door, you were separated by his security.

“Harry, don’t let this keep hurting you. Find the joy and grasp on to it.”

You turned out to be his joy. Calls every night after shows and different books being read together, you both gravitated towards each other. Everyday was a new day to grow closer together. He invited you to more concerts, paying for every ticket because he just needed to be with you.

The show was going beautifully. Harry looked amazing in stage in all white and most fans were captivated by your outfit too. It worried you to see Harry so exhausted on stage but you knew he would stick it through like he always does. Proud was an understatement in your eyes. Harry made you more than proud.

You stood in the back of the watermelon pit at the end of the aisle where his stage stopped a few feet away. Jeff stood beside you like he normally did but he was acting suspicious. You two never stood on the side of Harry’s exit but this is where Jeff said you’d get the best view tonight.

Harry sang his final ‘we’ll be alright’ before doing his stage stroll and bows, but instead of finishing in the middle of the stage- he went down stage to the place he normally exits to at the end of the night. You watched in confusion, along with the crowd, as he walked down the steps to you. The crowd erupted in screams as the lights focused on where you were standing.

“What are you doing?” You asked with large eyes of shock. You felt your heart stop in your chest. The crowd getting louder by the moment. Harry walked closer to you, one hand digging into his pocket while his eyes focused on your face. You couldn’t place what was happening but you’re eyes welled with even more tears nonetheless. Jeff was to the side with a huge smile and his phone out to capture the moment.

“Y/N, my love, my light, the best thing that has happened to me,” he didn’t have his mic on so the crowd couldn’t hear him but you could hear him perfectly. As if you two were the only ones in the large arena, you could only see Harry. “From the moment I met you in the bookstore, I knew you were meant to be in my life. Somehow you took me from my darkest place and guided me to my lightest.

I know our lives have been hard but we’ve always found a way to be alright. I want that for the rest of my life. I want you to be by my side for the rest of my life, so will you please, my love, marry me?”

You gave him no time to answer as you yanked him up by his arm. You wept as you exclaimed loud yeses, yeses that could be heard by a few fans who screamed in excitement igniting the rest of the crowd to scream. Harry picked you up in his arms, throwing one arm out to wave at the crowd before bounding backstage.

“Oh my god Harry!” You exclaimed as he set you down. He only had a few minutes to talk so you kept it quick. You pulled his face down to your kissing his lips. This kiss pulled you both deeper into each other.

He pulled away making you whine. “I gotta go back but I promise you’ll get it all tonight. I can’t believe you said yes. I love you so much.”

Harry’s energy multiplied by 100 going back on stage. He even went as far as to explain what watermelon sugar was about. Remembering when the song was made, it made your legs clench together- a pulse overwhelming your lower regions.

Looking down at your hand, you could feel yourself tear up again at the ring he bought you. It fit perfectly in your hand, you remember him measuring your hand that night even though he thought you were asleep. The thought of your future made your heart swell. A future with new music, a wedding, a nice house, and babies made your heart swell. This was something you couldn’t wait for.

Harry found his joy in you but he never knew about the joy he was to your dark life.

#harry styles love on tour #harry styles x y/n #harry styles smut #harry styles imagine #harry styles fic #harry styles one shot #harry x reader #harry styles x reader #harry styles love on tour nashville

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miastideclock · 2 years

Text

kim taehyung, "the ringing of a library."

anon asked:

I'm craving some angsty rn so can I request you Taehyung fic of his crush who come to the same library and didn't know he kinda like you for a while is crying cuz she lost her job and he comes to you to console you and that's where you guys bcome Friend

hi sweetheart! i tried my best, but i don't know if it's as angsty as you'd like, as i fear i may not have completely understood your request. if you want me to redo it, please reach out and we can figure it out together. regardless, i hope you like it!

8:55am, sunday

sunday mornings had always been your favourite, especially in spring. your room was facing east, so you had the morning sun shining through your window and wake you. in addition to the gentle ascending, you also went to the library every sunday, it being your favourite part of the week. whether it was to work on your rapports for your job, or if it was just to read a good book, it was quite peaceful, allowing you to rejuvenate.

your local library was the cutest little thing, having the most comfortable seats you had ever experienced. the staff there was also very kind and helpful, giving you the brightest smiles they could muster when you entered the study.

walking in and having a seat in your regular spot, you greeted the staff quietly, they doing the same. your usual place was in the way back in a booth where you felt almost a bit sheltered from the world; and seeing as it was sunday after all, you weren’t the only regular. a man in his mid twenties was sat in the booth against the opposite wall from you, as he usually did. you had seen him quite a lot around, so much so that you were on greeting terms. as you sat down, he perked his head up from his book, giving you a nod and a smile, and you reciprocated, adding in a small wave.

he was well built, and stood a few inches over you, but always looked much taller form afar considering the way he carried himself. his black hair was styled more often than not, but today he wore it in its naturally fluffy state. it paired well with his comfortable, but put together style. you thought you had caught his name once when you had been behind him in line at the coffee-shop across the street, where you had both stopped to grab drinks before heading to the library. however, this had been quite a while ago, so your memory might have muddled it; but then again you were almost certain it was taehyung.

he turned back to his book, taking notes as he did so. you did the same, and grabbed your things out of your bag, pulling out your laptop and your bottle. taking a sip of the tea before you opened your email was not your best idea, but it was too late.

new emails (18)

[email protected] subject: a regretful decision hello y/n,...

[email protected] subject: new spring sale now! do you want to travel to hawa...

you were used to work mails, obviously, but never from the assistant managing director. she was way up in the system, and rarely had any reason to contact you. you heartbeat raised significantly as your cursor hovered over the email and a faint ringing sound erupted from your brain, scared of what her regretful decision might have been.

click.

hello y/n,

thank you so much for the rapport on the florence purchase, but i regret to inform you that your good work is not the only reason i am reaching out.

the management has decided to terminate your appointment with the firm, effective immediately. we have lost three major clients, and are currently on the verge of losing a fourth, in just one year. we recognize your strong personality and leadership skills. however, the financial stability of the entire firm is threatened because of these clients we have lost. we have been put in a situation where we are forced to let you go due to budgeting reasons.

we sincerely appreciate all the effort you have put into the firm and wish you nothing but the best in your entire future endeavor.

best regards, antonia ford assistant managing director

your heart sank into a deep pit in your stomach, unable to keep beating at a regular pace as well as the ringing in your ears growing louder. this could not be happening. losing your job? no. you refused. your eyes lingered on the words confirming your termination, and slowly but surely, the realization set in. you were fired; from your only job, only income. how were you going to keep paying rent? hot water? food?

with a shaky hand, you closed the window that displayed your emails, and opened a new tab. it might have seemed stupid, but you did the only thing you could think of, and you put in a quick google-search in hopes of finding a job that you liked equally as much, that paid the same amount. in reality you knew it wouldn’t be that easy as you had gotten a ridiculous salary at the firm, and you wouldn’t be able to match it anywhere else.

the weight of the world slowly started to rest upon your shoulders, bringing you further and further down, on the verge of spiralling with the ringing sound becoming almost deafening. for the first time in your life, you genuinely did not know what to do, and by god did it scare you. your eyes started burning, and your breath grew short and staggered as a lump grew in your throat. biting down as hard as you could only worked for a few seconds before the tears fully spilled over.

you quickly wiped away a few tears, snapping your head in all sorts of directions to make sure no one saw you break down. the only other person on that side of the library had been taehyung, but he seemed to have vanished. not too far thought as his things were still placed in the booth.

knowing no one could see you cry was actually a bit of a reassurance as you hated feeling weak, but in a situation like this, what else could you really do? placing your head in your hands felt instinctive, and you let your body run on autopilot at this point. your breaths were short, but had evened out, stopping the waterworks for now. the suppression of the tears however, made you shake slightly, but you shifted your focus away from that when you heard footsteps above the ringing sound. you picked up your head when the steps stopped next to you, seeing taehyung standing there with two plastic cups of water.

meeting his eyes did something to you, and before you knew it, the tears were back. however, this time, they were quiet, just peacefully streaming down your face and pooling at the neckline of your shirt.

“woah, hey, are you okay?” taehyung spoke, placing the two cups of water down on the table in front of you. “i just got you some water, i hope that’s fine. what’s going on?” he spoke softly, so no one but you could hear him, even in the only other people where in an entirely different wing of the library.

you had heard him perfectly clear, but you had difficulties replying, resulting in your response only being a short exhale. taehyung didn’t know what else to do, so he sat down next to you in the booth, once again trying to ask what was going on. seeing as it was impossible for you to talk at this time, you just lifted your hand to the mousepad of your laptop, and opened the window containing your emails, and clicked on the one from your firm. after doing so, you softly pushed it so it was facing him, allowing him to read it.

“let go? i’m so sorry-.. y/n.” he started, and paused when he realized he didn’t know your name, looking at the screen for answers. you took a deep breath and released it slowly, finally finding your voice.

“i just have no idea what i’m going to do.” you voice broke slightly, but not enough for you to stop talking. “i got that job fresh out of school. i have no other experience, no one is going to hire me.”

talking about it didn’t feel great, ergo the re-start of the crying. you let your head fall back onto the booth-sofa, staring at the ceiling as the tears fell, now down the sides of your face, wetting your hair.

“i’m so sorry, if there is anything i can do to help, please let me know.” he spoke, his voice barely above a whisper, but as the ringing had gone down significantly since taehyung had gotten there, you heard him fine. you lifted your head back up and dried your temples, not that it mattered. you didn’t know what to ask of him, as you didn’t even know what to do yourself, so you remained quiet. maybe that was what you needed, for the world to shut up for a moment, for the ringing to stop.

it almost seemed like taehyung could read your mind, cause he didn’t say anything after that, he just sat there with you, letting you be quiet. letting the world around you slow to a stop, and having it go dead silent.

i dont know if i completely love this piece.. anyways-

hope you liked it! feel free to request again! -bennie ♡

#kpop #kpop scenarios #kpop reactions #kpop one shot #kpop requests #bts #bts scenarios #bts reactions #bts one shots #bts requests #bts drabbles #v #dating v #what it would be like to date v #bts v #bts kim taehyung #bangtan v #kim taehyung drabbles #:)

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moons-and-stars-and-shit · 3 years

Note

Okayyyy so here’s what I’m Thinking. Bokuto was well known in Tokyo and everyone knew not to mess with him. He met reader at a book shop she worked at. He found her very interesting. The reader is a bit shy. They became friends and started liking each other. She didn’t know that he was in the maifa until she saw him kill someone. He then tired to tell her it’s not what it looked like but reader was afriad of him and ran home. She avoided him for weeks until he showed up at her door with flowers and a bunch of gifts and begged her to talk. - 🍒

𝙼𝚊𝚏𝚒𝚊! 𝙱𝚘𝚔𝚞𝚝𝚘 𝚡 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

𝙲𝚆: 𝙼𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙼𝚞𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛/𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑, 𝙶𝚞𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚍, 𝙺𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝙵𝚕𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚝𝚘 𝙰𝚗𝚐𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝙵𝚕𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝: 2.5

Oh god

It was moments like these where you wish you could just travel back in time...or at the very least erase your memory...but life won't give you those options, so the only option you have now is to run.

6 Months Ago…

"Ah yes there's nothing quite like this" you thought to yourself flipping to the next page of your favorite book. You really loved working in the local bookshop. Your friends would always joke around how it fitted your “aesthetic” so well. Not that you could disagree though, you couldn't deny that you loved evenings like these, where the rain was pouring outside while you were inside the building reading a book. The faint smell of coffee from the coffee shop next door being the cherry on top to this little vibe you had going on. “Y/n! Do you think you could close up shop for me? I gotta go pick up my brother from practice before this rain gets too crazy". You were brought back into reality by your co-workers request. “Oh for sure! Go ahead.i'll take care of it” you said putting down your book. She thanked you before grabbing her coat and heading outside. You looked up at the clock making a mental note to start closing up in about 20 minutes. Suddenly your train of thought was interrupted by the shop's door opening, causing the little bell on top to jingle. Thinking it was your co-worker you turned around to ask what she had forgotten only to be face to face with a man.

Uhm...Hey! Do you mind if i stay here until this storm dies down?” the male asked you. Giving him a quick look up and down you took notice just how drenched he was, from his grey and black hair dripping and sticking to his face, to his clothes that might as well have been dunked in water with how wet they have gotten. “O-Oh of course! Please come in'' you stuttered after realizing you had been staring at him just a second too long. You quickly ran to the back to grab the blanket you and your co-worker use whenever it gets too cold in the store. Running back to the front you hand the mystery man the blanket. “This won't do much for the clothes but maybe you can at least get your hair dry” you say as he takes the blanket. “Thank You so much!” he said beaming. There was a bit of awkward silence as he dried his hair off, but the silence was broken when he handed you back the blanket. “You're not much of a talker are you?” he said with a light chuckle. He made his way over to one of the reading chars and took a seat, motioning for you to do the same. “Yeah uh...sorry I'm a bit shy! Especially around strangers who just happen to walk into my bookshop” you said making your way to sit next to him. Once you had sat down he looked at you with shining eyes and a oh so bright smile “Well if that's the problem” he said holding his hand out to you ”I'm Bokuto Koutarou!”. You laughed a little at his enthusiasm before grabbing his hand “Well Bokuto, it's nice to meet you, I'm Y/n”

That night was the first of many that you'd be spending with Bokuto, in fact after that night he had become a frequent customer at the bookshop, always coming at the later hours, and always keeping you company whenever you started closing up. Hell he's even taken you out for drinks a couple times after your shift. You have never been one to trust strangers, let alone become good friends with them but shockingly enough, you felt rather comfortable around this strange man. Maybe it was his bright personality, or the way his eyes seemed to sparkle wherever he laid them on you, or even the way that his laugh caused a giggle or two to escape from your own lips. Either way you liked this Bokuto Koutarou, and if only you knew how much Bokuto liked you as well. Lucky both of your feelings would come to light on a night similar to the night Bokuto magically waltzed into your life...

Here you both were, sitting on the very same chairs you had introduced yourselves in. Only this time, you were both reading your respective books. However this peace was soon interrupted by a whiny Bokuto. “Y/nnnn I'm so boredddd” Bokuto said slamming his book shut. You put your bookmark in your book before closing it and looking at his puppy dog eyes ``Y'know for someone who comes into a bookshop so often, you're not that interested in books are you?” you told him with a smirk. “Hey! I'm smart enough without the help of your stinky books'' he said tapping the book against your head.. You grabbed the book from his hands and stuck your tongue out, watching as he plopped back on his self proclaimed “personal reading chair”. “Besides, I only ever really come to this shop to spend time with you”. You blushed at his small comment but not wanting your feelings to get the best of you quite yet, you decided to “test” these waters you were trending in. “What? You got a crush on me or something?” you said giving him a playful nudge. Now it was his turn to blush. It was silent for a beat to long and you were about to take back what you had just said, but you were quickly cut of when Bokuto took your hand, looked you dead in your eyes with a look that sent shivers down your spine “Would you hate me if I did?” he asked you in a soft tone, almost like a child admitting they broke something to their parent, a big contrast from his usual loud and confident voice. Instead of responding you simply squeezed his hand and cupped his face with the other “I would never hate you, especially if i feel the same way about you” Not being able to hold back anymore he simply grabbed your face and pulled you in for a soft but passionate kiss.pulling away he looked at you with all the love in the world “Y/n, I really want to be with you, but… there's a part of my life that you've never seen and I don't want to lose you over that” he told you, his eyes beginning to gloss over. Still pretty confused about what he was talking about you only took his face in your hand once more “Kou I will love you no matter what. Even your ugly parts”. Bokuto pulled you into a hug, trying to hide the tears that were falling freely from his eyes now. “Y-You promise?”

“I Promise”

Present Day

Thinking about that night still caused butterflies to flutter in your stomach. But now as you were running towards your apartment as if you were running from the grim reaper himself you couldn't ignore the feeling of dread that was sitting next to those butterflies. Had you really just seen that? Did you really just see your loving goofball of a boyfriend kill someone? It was supposed to be a normal night. You had closed the shop and were beginning to walk back home when you saw familiar spiky hair across the road. Curiosity had got the best of you, so… you decided to investigate. What you didn't expect to see was your boyfriend holding a gun to a man's head. It had all happened so fast first the crack of the gun, then your scream, then Bokuto's horrified expression as he turned and saw you standing there with your hand over your mouth. Before Bokuto could even try to explain what he had done, you ran. You ran away as if he was going to point the gun at you next.

Finally. Finally you were safe in your apartment. Your lungs felt like they were on fire, and your legs felt like absolute jelly. All you could do was collapse to the floor and break down crying. The scene from earlier replaying over and over in your head, causing you to get even more hysterical. Suddenly your phone started buzzing. You picked it up, as if you didn't already know who it was calling. The image of your boyfriend's face appeared on your screen, he looked nothing like the man who you had just seen commit that heinous deed. Suddenly anger took over your senses and you threw your phone across the room, returning to your fetal position to cry all your emotions out, eventually crying yourself to sleep

When you had finally awoken the sun was rising and the birds outside were singing their spring songs. You pulled yourself off of the floor before making your way to your phone across the room. "Damn it" you thought. Of course you had cracked your screen. Turning the phone on you was bombarded by hundreds of missed calls and text messages from your boyfriend. Could you even call him that any more? Would you really look at the man you saw kill and call him your boyfriend? Opting not to answer any of his messages or return any of his calls, you blocked him and went to go make you some tea, hoping to calm your still frazzled nerves”

The next few days were pretty quiet you hadn't even dared to leave your apartment, let alone even show up at work. You had called out telling your co-worker that you came down with a terrible cold and wouldn't be in for a couple of days. Sitting alone in your apartment during this time really gave you time to think about the events you had witnessed that night. Is this what Bokuto was talking about that night he confessed to you? Is this what he was afraid of losing you over? you couldn't really blame him if it was. But still, he could have at least warned you about this part of his life, or at the very least act like he was a cold blooded killer! You still couldn't bring yourself to think that the man you had cuddled in bed with, the man you had taken walks in the park with, the very man who opted to release a spider instead of killing it, would actually have it in him to kill an actual person. Suddenly your thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. Still a little on edge you jumped at the sudden sound before that familiar sense of dread flooded your stomach. “Well gotta face the music some time” you breathed out slowly walking towards the door.

When you had opened the door you were practically tackled into a hug by a very hysterical Bokuto. You froze at the sudden contact “How could a man hug you with the very same hands he took someone's life with?" You thought as you gently pushed him off you. “Y/n I know I'm probably the last person you want to see right now but-” he was interrupted when you raised your hand. “You have 10 minutes to explain yourself then you either need to leave, or I'm calling the cops” you told him motioning for him to come inside. Bokuto practically jumped at the opportunity to finally explain himself to you and hopefully make you understand why he did what he did.

Each of you took a seat at your dining table. It was time for you to get answers... “Ok for starters, why are you here?” you started staring at him coldly. “Well you weren't answering any of my calls or texts and whenever I stopped by the bookshop you were never there, so I got worried” he replied fiddling with his thumbs. You slowly nodded at his answer. “So are you gonna tell me what the hell happened that night or are you just gonna sit there” you spat at him almost angrily. He flinched at your words before taking a deep breath “Well what did you see?” he asked. That was it for you. You slammed your hands on the table, not able to control your anger any more. “WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN WHAT DID I SEE?!?!? I SAW YOU FUCKING KILL SOMEONE KOUTAROU!!” you screamed at him standing up from your seat.”I DID IT TO PROTECT YOU!” he shouted back at you, throwing his hands up in the air. You both stared at each other in teary silence. “Y/n please let me explain… then you can hate me or kick me out i don't care! Just please…” you huffed before sitting back down, doing your best to hold back your own tears. “Ok” he said, trying to find a way to tell you everything “My family has always been a part of the mafia” he started, “When I turned 18 it was time for me to “take over” the family business” your mouth fell open, since he was 18? He's been doing this since he was 18? “When I first met you, I never ever wanted to tell you how much you meant to me because I never wanted you to find out about this part of my life, or even worse...I never wanted this part of my life to find out about you” he continued. You scrunch your eyebrows in confusion. “What do you mean “find out about me”” you asked him. “I mean, that if my rivals found out about you and I, they would start to come after you”. Your eyes widened at this. “S-so that guy you shot-” “was trying to kill you” he said finishing off your sentence. He then looked up at you, visible tears in his eyes. “I'm so sorry Y/n I never wanted to put you in any sort of danger but-” you had cut him off when you smashed your lips against his. All this time you had thought he killed that man out of cold blood. Not once did you even consider he was doing it for you. He kissed you back before pulling you into the tightest hug. “Y-your not mad?” he blubbered out. “Not anymore,” you said, smiling at him. “ I just wish you would have told me,” you said. “But I didn't want to lose you…” he whispered in your ear. One last time, you took his face into both of your hands. “Bokuto Koutarou I love you” you said, letting the tears fall from your eyes. He laughed a soft laugh “even the ugly parts?” he asked you

“Even the ugly parts”

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sixeyesgojo · 3 years

Text

being their best friend hc

Summary: What’s it like to be their best friend?

Characters: Gojo Satoru, Fushiguro Megumi, Itadori Yuji, Kugisaki Nobara, Inumaki Toge

Word count: -

Content warning: -

A/N: -

Gojo Satoru

Gosh, the two of you were so chaotic as best friends. Both of you were up to no good at least half of the time and frankly, it pissed quite some people off but neither of you could give a flying fuck about others, just snickering at the mischief you've caused

As a troublemaker yourself, you obviously support Gojo wholeheartedly in... opposing the higher-ups, I guess? You actually wanted him to overthrow them, it was time for change.

Who cares about the higher-ups anyway? They didn't really like you either

It's widely known that Gojo has no sense of private space, so expect him to frequently come very close

Not that you mind anyway, at some point you even picked up that habit of his

Naturally, there will be a lot of PDA, like his arm around your shoulder or something like that

Outsiders always think the two of you are dating but

"Hah? Dating that idiot? As if!" (you can choose whoever says that, either you about him or vice versa)

The two of you actually sit down together to make plans on how to get on other people's nerves and nobody is really spared. Like that one time when you made a plan to mess with poor Megumi.

You're a formidable Jujutsu Sorcerer yourself, so there will be a lot of competitions between you and him

"Where's my reward? I've defeated that curse 0.01 seconds faster than you!"

"You will get your reward if you're at home faster than I am."

Fushiguro Megumi

He frequently has to get you out of trouble; be it because of some trouble or a curse, this boy always has to get you out of the mess and he's a little annoyed but does it regardless

Will roll his eyes a lot but he loves you just as much, so he puts up with your antics without complaining.... much

frequently asks "are you actually stupid?", which usually earns him a slap on the shoulder from you

He may be annoyed at you sometimes but he would never dare hurt you in any way, he even shows his appreciation in the most Megumi way possible

When he shows you appreciation, it's usually through simple gestures like offering massages, going grocery shopping with you or buying something you've mentioned you needed (as a casual remark, which you didn't expect him to remember), usually accompanied by him rubbing his neck and averting his eyes, saying, "I thought you'd need this."

takes pictures whenever you hang out but not of you or him

For example, if you were going to have a video game night, he'd take one of the controllers and the games

You have to convince him to appear on a selfie with you

claims "I'm not photogenic" but he totally is

Since he isn't much of a talker, hanging out in silence is fine for him too

is very good at keeping secrets, he will take them to his grave

doesn't show it a lot but he's almost as protective of you as a big brother would be

Itadori Yuuji

This boy would totally do any favor you asked of him - not that you would exploit this, but just know that he would

Yuuji is a very good listener and he knows when and what to comment when you tell him something, despite being a little dense.

His bright and cheery attitude never ceases to cheer you up too, no matter in which mood you were before seeing him

He's the kind of friend who would do anything with you. You don't even have to put in a lot of effort in order to convince him, just hit him up casually and he will agree. Bungee Jumping? Easy. Skydiving? No problem.

The two of you are regular customers at the local cinema.

And probably at some fastfood chain too.

Unlike Megumi, Yuuji takes a lot of selfies with you. Most of them are dorky ones where the two of you just grimace and then laugh about how ugly that picture turned out to be. One of them ends up being his homescreen picture.

You actually know him since (at least) middle school - you've become best friends quite quickly, mostly thanks to his easygoing personality. Who doesn't love this boy?

When he discloses that he will move to Tokyo, your first reaction is to be shocked but then that quickly transforms into happiness because it's what he chose to do

Due to personal reasons, you also move to Tokyo not too long after that. One would say it was coincidence when it actuality, it was fate that wasn't allowing you to let go of Yuuji. Not that you wanted to anyway.

He definitely didn't expect that. When you reunite, you just throw up two peace signs and say, "Seems like we're stuck together."

A smile graces his lips and he replies as follows: "Wouldn't have it any other way, if you ask me."

Kugisaki Nobara

You haven't known her for long... but it sure feels like it has been years because you just get along so well

You accidentally bumped into her, making her drop everything. You felt bad, so you invited her to a cup of tea. It clicked almost instantly.

Since you are originally from Tokyo, she insists that you are her personal guide

"If I got lost, that would be terrible, so I hereby appoint you as my personal Tokyo guide."

Nobara often calls you and invites you to hang out in downtown quite spontaneously

expect lots of shopping sprees, lots of laughter and lots of gossip

One thing you started to associate with her was bubble tea. You think of her whenever you drink it alone.

Oh yes, she also likes to call you in the evening to just talk, especially when she has not been able to see you a lot lately due to missions

Sometimes you get her little gifts, like earrings that you thought suited her, and deliver it directly to the students' dorm

There will always be a happy reaction coming from her. She is especially grateful when she sees a little gift after a tough mission.

Gradually, she starts to do the same for you.

"This hoodie was so cool and comfy, I thought I'd get one for both, me and you."

Inumaki Toge

You're a Jujutsu Sorcerer from the Jujutsu Highschool in Kyoto and met this peculiar boy at the Exchange Event, as a rival initially

However, you were impressed and approached him to befriend him. He was pretty hesitant at first but ultimately, didn't sense any hostility coming from you, so he just went with the flow. Who knew, maybe you ended up being a good friend?

At first it was chaos since you had no idea what the hell he meant by "Mustard leaf."

Hah, luck's on your side though because you managed to decode his speech after some time

Nobody knows how you did that but as a matter of fact, you did. Took you long enough, in your opinion.

Sometimes he would grab a paper and write on it to communicate with you nevertheless, he thinks it feels more personal to be able to accurately convey what someone wants to say themself - not that you really needed it after having decoded his speech

As mentioned, you're also a sorcerer but thanks to Toge, you branched out to the medical field simultaneously, just to be able to concoct throat medicine for him. It was an unspoken tradition for you to bring him a bottle of your own throat medicine and onigiri whenever you saw him. The way his eyes lit up was always worth the effort.

Your favorite way to hang out was making onigiris and sushi together, you can't convince me otherwise

Same as Megumi, he does not mind spending quieter evenings with you

He comes to visit you in Kyoto just as many times as you visit Tokyo.

"Bonito flakes." - "Yeah, Toge, I know. I agree with you."

#gojo x reader #megumi x reader #nobara x reader #yuji x reader #inumaki x reader #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jjk x reader #gojo satoru #fushiguro megumi #kugisaki nobara #itadori yuji #inumaki toge

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alisonsfics · 3 years

Text

reconnected

pairing: shawn mendes x reader

request: “hello. i was wondering if you could write where y/n and shawn met at school or on vine or idk at a coffee shop. both of us were young new artists and bonded over that. as both of us start getting popular we lose contact. a few years later we decide to collab on a song and that rescinds a spark of friendship and maybe something. but of course, I wanted to at a bit of drama. while you try to catch up on, you know life, the paparazzi are sure you two are together, shawn's ex is stringing up trouble and all your friends and family keep on bothering you two about each other” - @iwishiwasyuri

word count: 2.7k

It had been a peaceful day. You had woken up early and started a day of productivity. You were currently drinking a cup of tea and replying to a few business emails.

It was peaceful. Birds were singing outside. It was early, and it felt like the world was not awake yet. This moment of serenity almost felt like the calm before the storm.

Then, your phone buzzed and shook your desk in the process. You were taken out of your thoughts.

You glanced down at the lit screen. You noticed a text message had popped up on your screen.

Woah.

You hadn’t seen that name in years.

Shawn.

Shawn Mendes.

You and Shawn had known each other for years. You both bonded over being singers and the rest was history.

You two had a beautiful story, much like a fairytale. The way you both met felt like a page out of a novel.

You had been at your local coffee shop, way before you had become successful in the music industry world.

It was back when you uploaded videos of yourself singing covers on YouTube. It was simple and seemed mediocre now, but at the time you loved it. You were singing all the time and it was your dream, even though you made virtually no money. You still loved it.

You jumped up into the seat at the high table. You pulled out your laptop to edit your most recent video. You sipped on your warm latte. It made you feel warm and cozy, as opposed to the freezing weather outside.

You plopped your headphones over your ears and started to edit the video. Within seconds, you heard a voice talking over your shoulder.

“So you’re a singer?” The voice asked. You jumped, almost managing to fall out of the chair. You felt a pair of strong arms catch you and keep you from falling.

Finally, you got a chance to look at the source of the voice. You had been prepared for it to be some creepy guy, but you were wrong.

So wrong.

The guy was cute and had the most perfect smile. You were speechless. You froze, and your brain shut off.

“Hi, uh sorry about that. I’m Shawn. It’s just, your headphones are unplugged. I was going to tell you and I realized it was you singing. I’m sorry I scared you” he said, kindly. You had to pinch yourself to realize this was all real. “I...uh hi. I’m Y/N. I was just zoned out, it’s not your fault. But hi, I’m Y/N” you rambled.

His smile made your stomach do flips. You felt like you were on a rollercoaster.

“Yeah, you said that already” Shawn said, chuckling. It was endearing. He wasn’t laughing at you, he was just amused by the cute girl who was stuttering over her words.

You didn’t know it then, but he thought you were adorable.

You thought the exact same thing about him.

The story went on. You two became great friends. You never got the courage to mention your little crush on him, but time went on.

As you both got busier, you started to drift apart. Eventually you just stopped talking. Any time you heard his songs on the radio or saw an article about him, it just pulled on your heart strings.

But now he was texting you.

Hey, Y/N. I know it’s been a while, well maybe longer than a while. It feels like forever. Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to meet up and talk. I really miss you

You were stunned. You could barely comprehend what you were reading.

It felt like a crazy dream, and you were about to wake up any second now.

You picked up your phone and tried to come up with a reply. It was harder than you thought it would be. How did you put years worth of feelings into just a few sentences?

Hi! It has been forever, I miss our late night runs for ice cream. I would love to hang out and catch up. I want to hear about all that I’ve missed. I hope you’re doing well!!

You pressed send and your heart leaped out of your chest. You could hear your heart thumping in your ears.

As you sat there waiting for a reply, it felt like years. In reality, it was probably five minutes.

Then, your phone dinged.

Awesome! You want to come over to my place in like an hour?

You almost jumped out of your chair. You couldn’t believe you were finally going to see Shawn after all these years. You sent a quick reply and then headed to your closet to get dressed.

You grabbed some clothes to change into and then proceeded to change your outfit four more times. Finally, you had settled on the best option. You checked the clock and saw that it was time to go.

You grabbed your phone and your keys and then headed to Shawn’s apartment.

You found yourself outside his front door, unable to move. You wanted to pick up your hand and knock on the door, but you couldn’t. Every time that you got close, you chickened out.

It had been years since you had seen Shawn. What if he changed? What if he didn’t like you anymore? What if you embarrassed yourself?

Every time another one of thoughts popped in your head, it became harder to try to knock on that door.

You took a deep breath and tried to still your shaking hands. You felt a small moment of confidence. Before it went away, you quickly knocked on the door.

Your pulse quickened. You felt the extreme urge to just run away. Before you could do that, the door opened.

There he was.

He looked different in person. Magazines and social media had been the only place you saw him for years. Now, three feet in front of you, you were almost shocked that he was three dimensional.

“Hi” was all you get out.

You were absolutely frozen.

“Hey” he said, slowly. He seemed to also be at a loss for words.

You looked him up and down, taking in all of his features. His hair was longer now. His shoulders were broader and he was so much more muscular now.

You were almost drooling over his arms in the tight shirt. Your lingering gaze left his body and you met his eyes.

Small smiles appeared on both of your faces. He grabbed your hands and pulled you into a hug. His tight embrace was comforting. His strong arms around you made your heart swoon.

After a while, you both pulled away. Once again, you couldn’t get rid of the grin on your face. “So how have you been?” He asked, looking into your eyes.

You started to tell him about major changes in your life that he had missed. While you were talking, his hand naturally slipped into yours. He gave your hand a reassuring squeeze as you spoke.

Your heart was racing at the speed of sound. It felt like a dream. There was no way you could really be standing in front of Shawn after all these years.

“It’s so good to finally see you again. I’ve actually been wanting to ask you something” Shawn said, after you finished talking. You were immediately intrigued, but also worried.

“And what is that?” You asked, rocking back and forth on your feet. “I was wondering if you would want to collab on a song sometime. I really love your music, and it would awesome to work with you” he told you, honestly.

You were taken aback. “I would love to. Is that why you invited me? To use me for monetary gain?” You teased him, giggling. He chuckled and shook his head. “No, that’s not why I wanted to see you again” he said, with a certain sparkle in his eyes.

You started gazing into his eyes, and it became harder and harder to stop. You didn’t notice, but you both started to step closer together. What you did notice was Shawn carefully placing his hand on your waist. He did it so lightly that you almost thought you imagined the lingering touch.

Before you both started to lean in, there was a loud commotion outside the front door. You both quickly jumped away like teenagers caught doing something mischievous.

Shawn sighed and headed towards the door to check who it was. He looked through the peephole and then quickly backed up. You were confused by his urgency.

“Who is it?” You asked, curiously. He didn’t answer you right away. He walked over to a wall and quickly closed the curtains. “The paparazzi are here” he said, walking back over to you.

“Well then I guess you’re stuck with me until they leave” you said, smiling as you walked over to the couch. You plopped down on the couch, and Shawn joined you seconds later.

“So do you want to watch a movie because you’re going to be stuck here?” He asked you, grabbing the remote.

You nodded and leaned your head on his shoulder. He didn’t expect you to do it, but he leaned into your touch. He pressed play on a movie and then put his arm along the back of the couch.

Slowly, as the movie continued, his arm moved from the couch to your shoulders. The way he transitioned was so natural, like he was used to having his arm around you. It felt good, and was definitely something you could get used to.

The movie became dull, and you glanced up at Shawn. You found yourself admiring his features as he watched the screen.

Then he caught you.

He looked down into your eyes. You felt your cheeks heat up as you were caught. “Hi you” he said, sweetly. You just smiled and then cuddled further into his side.

“Hey wait. I wanted to ask you about something?” Shawn said, pausing the movie.

You looked back up at him. It was hard to not smile. You always felt happy when you were around Shawn.

“So, I know that we haven’t seen each other in years, but there’s been something I’ve always wanted to tell you. Since the day we first met, I have—” Shawn started to say before he was interrupted.

Your phone loudly started ringing. It distracted you from what he was saying. You glanced down at your phone. It was your mom calling.

“I’m so sorry. It’s my mom, I have to take this” you said, apologetically setting one of your hands on Shawn's. He nodded. He was always so understanding.

You quickly answered the phone. Before you could say hello, your mom started interrogating you.

“Are you and Shawn finally together?” She asked, very quickly. You were taken aback by the question and also how fast she had asked that. “Uhh...no. Why would you think that?” You asked her, confused.

“The pictures are everywhere. It’s you walking into his house, and there’s a picture of you two hugging. All the tabloids are saying you two are together. I know that I shouldn’t trust tabloids, but I’ve always wanted you two to date. You are both so great together. Plus, he’s very handsome. So, you have good taste” your mom rambled, only stopping when she ran out of breath.

“Woah woah woah. Slow down. I promise you, Shawn and I are not dating” you assured your mom. Only then, Shawn started to listen to what you were saying. He had been trying not to listen or eavesdrop, but you were right next to him.

He just smirked at you. You saw it and rolled your eyes at him, as you tried to hold back from laughing.

Eventually, your mom said she believed you and hung up the phone. “I’m sorry about that. She started listening to the tabloids” you explained to him. He chuckled as he looked at his own phone. “That’s okay. All my friends are texting me about it too” he told you, smiling.

“Well then I guess you’re stuck with me as your fake girlfriend” you said, sticking your tongue out at him. He put his arm around you and then you leaned your head on his shoulder. “I’ve missed you” he said, softly.

You started to trace shapes on the back of his hand. “I’ve missed you too” you said, at the same volume.

You felt Shawn kiss your temple and you felt the heat rush to your face.

“So what were you going to ask me before?” You asked him, giving him your full attention. Just as he was about to tell you, there was a loud knocking at the front door.

Shawn groaned and then stood up. He walked over to the door. He looked through the peephole and just sighed.

“Hang on a minute” he said to you. Then, he opened the door. You couldn’t see the door from where you were sitting. “Hey there sweetheart” you heard a girl say, and your blood ran cold.

Did Shawn have a girlfriend? You had never even brought it up. You felt so stupid. Of course he had a girlfriend. It had been years. You had been sitting here hoping he would make a move, but he was taken. He was gorgeous, any girl would be lucky to date him.

“Ashley. What do you want? We broke up. Stop acting like it didn’t happen” Shawn said, sternly. It threw you even farther off guard. You didn’t want to get your hopes up, but it seemed like Shawn was actually single.

“I just saw on Twitter that coffee shop girl was here before. If you are dating, I want you to know that you can do better. I’m still single and you know I’m hotter than her. Just come here and kiss me so all those paparazzis will know you’re mine again” you heard Ashley said.

You felt disgusted listening to her talk. She was being really rude to both you and Shawn. “Goodbye Ashley. Go ruin somebody else’s day” Shawn said, closing the door.

He walked back over to you. He looked defeated. “So that was...?” You asked. “My ex-girlfriend. I know, bad idea” he said. You didn’t know what to say.

Shawn cursed under his breath. He looked furious. You stood up and walked over to him. “Hey it’s okay. It’s no big deal. We’ll just move on. You don’t have to worry about it” you said, trying to console him. You didn’t know why he was so upset of all a sudden.

“No, it’s not okay, Y/N” he snapped at you. You jumped away from him. You visibly flinched. His eyes softened when he saw you back away. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have shouted, it’s not your fault” he said, hanging his head low.

“It’s just— I’ve tried to kiss you three times today, or at least just tell you how I feel. Every time that I try, something gets in the way. I haven’t seen you in years and I just want get this off my chest. I feel like we have something special. I don’t know if you feel it too, or I’m just crazy. I really just want to kiss you, but I’m afraid something will get in the way if I try” he confessed.

You were shocked. This was the last thing you expected him to say. You had always wished that your connection was more than just friends, but you had always second guessed it. You always assumed that you were just making it up.

“Well, there’s nothing stopping you now” you said, coyly. He quickly looked up to meet your eye contact. He looked unsure, so you made the first move.

You walked towards Shawn and placed your hands on his chest. “What are you waiting for?” You asked him. That was all the clarity he needed.

He instantly connected your lips and wrapped his arms around your waist. It felt perfect. That sounds cliche and unrealistic, but the mixture of years of feelings and yearning made the perfect combination.

You both pulled away and couldn’t look away from each other’s eyes. “I guess I should call my mom back and tell her I lied” you said, giggling.

taglist: @laurakirsten0502 @miraclesoflove @nathaliabakes @millipop18 @azghedaheda @shyinadarkplace @ashwarren32 @impossibleapricotlampbat @lukes-orange-beanie

Let me know if you want to be added to my taglist for all my imagines or for a specific character/fandom!!

Requests OPEN

#requested #shawn mendes x reader #shawn mendes #shawn Mendes imagines #shawn Mendes fanfiction #shawn Mendes reader insert #shawn mendes fic #shawn mendes request #requests open #taglist open #fanfiction requests #shawn mendes fluff

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embrassemoi · 3 years

Text

Surrounded by the Moon and Stars ✷ 31

Pairings: Sirius B, F!Reader, Remus L Warnings: Language, smoking weed, shitty parenting, mentions of death A/N: more of a filler but it helps establish stuff. *unbeta'd

【 Masterlist | Previous Chapter | ao3 】

Chapter 31: Drowning on Dry Land

━━━━━━━━━༻☽༺━━━━━━━━━

The week before her flight back, Matthew’s parents invited her over for dinner.

Waiting to greet them at the door was Mrs. and Mr. Gaplin. Matthew’s father, a Half-Maj, was a Potioneer while his mother, an Old-Maj, was a Court Scribe. They wore large, kind smiles as Mrs. Gaplin pulled her into a tight, crushing hug.

After pleasantries, she and Matthew kicked off their shoes while his parents ushered them to the dining room.

“How are you darling? '' Mrs. Gaplin asked, floating plates in their direction as everyone began helping themselves to food. “Matt wouldn’t stop talking about you since we knew y’were coming.”

She side-eyed Matthew who groaned loudly. “Did not!”

“Sure thing,” she added, which caused Matthew to slump in his chair as his parents laughed at him.

It was a nice, charming evening; filled with laughter and heartfelt conversations. His parents continued to gloat about Mathew’s achievements that he hadn’t told her. It caused him to almost get up and run out of the room from embarrassment before moving to boast about Y/N. Even Mr. Gaplin asked her regarding her OWLs which pleasantly surprised her.

A few times, Mr. Gaplin pressed a few cheeky kisses to his wife’s face as Matthew made loud retching noises.

“Disgusting!”

Mr. Gaplin laughed. “Ya sixteen. Suck it up.”

“But you’re still my baby!” Mrs. Gaplin cooed, getting up to collect the plates.

Matthew tried to look insulted but she could see the small smile that threatened his lips as jealousy nipped at her toes.

The next few days were spent staying at the Gaplin household. Matthew’s parents insisted constantly that she should stay over so they could utilize the little time they had left before leaving. At first, the idea made her feel intrusive. Although, her mother hadn’t returned to the brownstone house, preferring to sleep in the on-call rooms at the Brooklyn Memorial Hospital. It quickly got lonely and boring before Y/N finally agreed. Besides, Mrs. and Mr. Gaplin were only around for breakfast and dinner - working for the day but never failed to return; always wearing larger smiles than the previous night.

They made her feel welcomed and warm - even taking her and Matthew to the local pictures. They included her in everything, even their trivia and board games after dinner.

It was quite the change compared to her family life.

Then an identical routine ensued. She would wake up, get ready for the day; spend hours with Matthew; then twilight fell as they stayed awake into the early hours of the morning.

The day before she was due to leave, she and Matthew ran up to his room after dinner. He went to lean on top of the small coffee table, rolling up a joint as she collected her possessions scattered around his room; not wanting to leave it for the last minute.

“Fancy some grass?” He asked in a poor British accent.

“Nah,” she shook her head, “But thanks love.”

Mathew’s smile turned bashful as he stood, turning on the radio in the background. She moved to open his window which was just above the roof of his shed as she stepped out with steady feet. Perching herself down on the blankets and pillows they hauled outside the night prior, she stared at the glowing city splayed in front. From the window, The Velvet Underground flowed softly.

Matthew proceeded to hop out, sauntering over as he threw a flirtatious wink.

“Brough this,” he said, tossing the camera he’d taken from her bag. She caught it as he nestled beside her and lit the joint; placed in his mouth. Billows of smoke clouded around them while she snapped a few photos of the view.

“Ya sure you gotta leave?” Matthew whined, embers of the end of the joint sparking with another huff. “Maybe you can smuggle me. Shove me into that trunk.”

She pulled the camera away from her face, inhaling the earthy, pungent scent. Her head felt a bit lightheaded from it. “A hardcore criminal at sixteen?”

Matthew was mildly amused until a troublesome look passed through his features. “Um — name something ya miss most about home.”

Home. What a funny word — place — feeling. Home was supposed to be something that made your heart glow, feel warm and happy — by that definition, a year ago home would’ve been her little house back in Toronto with the beautiful maple trees swaying in the backyard. Or home would’ve been Ilvermorny and its tall ivory walls. But now, London, or maybe just Hogwarts, had become her home. The scrolls around the Herbology greenhouse, the library, sneaking around past curfew; the Black Lake, Hogsmeade — Lily, James, Marlene, Dorcas, Remus, Regulus…

Unsure of what to say, she opted for, “You?”

Matthew rolled his eyes, bringing the joint to his lips. “Real charmer.” Then, smoke surrounded them. “But really.”

“Why?”

“C’mon! I need an answer! — I don’t know… say somethin’ like… lobstah.”

She chuckled. “Lobster? Really?”

“Or coffee from ya regular cafe.”

Deliberating it for a second, lips tugged up. “Coffee Crisp.”

He snorted. “A candy bar? Really?”

“Or Ketchup chips. Haven’t seen them in London yet.”

“That’s fucking disgusting.”

And then the silence returns but it makes Matthew shuffle in his spot. He blurted out, “Go — more brit insight.”

Y/N felt a bit hazy from the secondhand smoke. “More? You’ll get bored.”

“I won’t,” Matthew replied quickly, sounding oddly sincere. “Please, just… go on. Tell me everything.”

“Um… a friend of mine says crikey a lot. I think it just means to be mildly surprised? — They don’t say bloody or blimey as much as you’d think… Oh! Tea — they really drink that much tea. Also —”

Continuing, Matthew shut off again, going completely silent — not once speaking up or adding funny commentary; only staring at her, simply watching.

“Okay,” she turned to take the joint from his hand, “You're freaking me out. Spill, what's up?”

“S’nuthing.”

Whack!

“Jeez! Would ya stop wiv that! Gonna kill me…”

“Spill.”

“Fine! It’s just that…'' Matthew shifted, obscuring his face. Maybe if she didn’t feel so fuzzy, or if there wasn’t the smoke coming from the blunt or her small headache forming, she would’ve picked up on all the little signs. “It’s just —” he sighed, “I wanna hear ya talk — commit it to memory.”

“Obsessed with me? Not new.”

But that seemed to trouble him more. “It’s just… I don’t know if or when I’ll hear it again…” He looks up to the city in front. “Ya my… best friend. Could never forget ‘bout ya, but s’hard — keepin’ in touch.”

She pats him, encouraging and smiling. Her voice was hopeful, so much so that it made Matthew’s lip quirk up. “We’ll find each other. Always.” She said simply. “You and me, we’re like… salt and pepper. Soap and water — Hansel and Gretel!”

“Fuckin’ Dr. Seuss,” he smiled, that worried look fading away.

━━━━━━━━━༻☽༺━━━━━━━━━

The warm summer breeze flowed around them, just as the sun peeked above the airport. Expanse, clear skies with blue mingled with deep purples and pinks shimmered against the metal from the building.

“Gonna miss ya,” Matthew muttered into the crown of her head. Her mother didn’t want him to come, but Y/N simply ignored that request as he came to send her off.

“Don’t get mushy on me now,” she joked but felt her throat become tight.

“Betta get goin’ — Doc’s lookin’ like she’s ‘bout to butcher me if ya don’t.”

She snickered, pushing Matthew’s shoulder as she picked up her bags, walking backwards while waving. “Write me!”

“Course I will! Until next time!”

“Till next time!”

Once the plane took off, awkwardness swelled among the two women. Not once had her mother said anything to her — not to apologize or see how she was doing — although they never really did talk much. Honestly, she half-expected her to leave her in New York with the Gaplins. Easy to dispose of her.

The next few days Y/N, poorly, attempted to fix her sleeping schedule. It was a miracle that she managed to get up before dinner as her head poked into the master bedroom.

She cleared her throat, feeling herself swaying in place. “Um — hi. I’m making dinner tonight.”

Her mother was dressed in a simple, yet sleek dress. She was bent over, putting on high heels as she looked up.

“The hospital is throwing a party for me — the surgery was a success.”

“That’s amazing! Er — will you be back for dinner though? It’s just that I leave soon and... two parties are better than one.”

She considered her for a long time, eyes mostly distracted by her hair slowly changing to a different colour.

“Sure. But I have to go now.”

“Right, sorry, have fun.”

Thudding down the stairs and the door clicking shut, she followed not too long after. Making her way to the kitchen, she picked up a dusty cooking book, blowing off the dust and cracked it open; flicking through the pages.

Deciding on the seemingly easy noodle dish, she rushed out of the house to the local grocery shop for ingredients. It would be the first time they would be spending any time together. It had to be perfect. But she overestimated that no matter how closely she stuck with the dishes’ instructions, the outcome was a disaster.

The noodles somehow were rock hard. The sauce she made looked grey and was chunky, similar to badly mixed concrete and it tasted horrid. At one point, even the stove exploded into flames as she had to grab her wand and use magic to extinguish the fire.

Potions... She could use a cauldron, use multiple ingredients, make some of the most complicated spells and even had tricks of her own to make the process easier but she couldn’t make a simple dish…

Her face screwed together as she glanced up to the clock; she was going to come home soon as the dinner she made was disastrous. She panicked, cleaning up everything in a rush and decided to order food.

Waiting patiently at the dinner table, her eyes fluttered up to the clock in anticipation. She felt giddy, a surge of excitement rattling throughout her bones at the prospect. Her mother wanted to spend time with her! And she should be home any minute.

But then a minute turned to two, then five, ten, twenty, thirty — then an hour ticked by.

And then another.

Y/N got up, her chair squeaking loudly. Losing all her appetite, she went to her room, sleeping in early.

━━━━━━━━━༻☽༺━━━━━━━━━

August 20th, 1976

Going through the potential NEWT courses she could take was the highlight of her day. The possibilities were endless.

Wanting to take Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfigurations and most of all, Potions, left her excited for the school year.

But the more she thought about the upcoming school year or potential courses, she was left to contemplate what ther5 future entailed.

Was she ready to give up magic? Something that fundamentally altered her life and moulded her into what she was? Magic was her essence, something she developed and nurtured — but to put her life in danger…

Rethinking that word again: home… Was London her home? Was she willing to leave, move again to be safer? But practicing magic around the world these days for New-Majs was dangerous. Or the potential danger she would put her mother in if she continued with it?

But magic… Maybe home wasn’t necessarily a place — but rather something she carried. In all sense, magic made her heart glow, feel warm, safe and happy — it felt like what home was supposed to feel like. And the idea of being ripped away from it, forcing herself to live a normal, Muggle life…

Magic was home.

So die, but have what she cared and loved most was by her side or live a dull life without magic — ensuring her life would be miserable.

There was a clicking of shoes in the hallway that snapped her out of her thoughts. Her mother came walking by.

Lips smushed shut into a tight line, still annoyed from the other night but was determined to spend some time with one another.

“I was planning to go to Diagon Alley for the first time — to get my textbooks... '' She stood awkwardly. “Do you want to come with me?”

“I can’t,” she replied, so quickly that it had Y/N almost scoff in disbelief. “Work. But have fun.”

She sighed but still waved her off and said a small, ‘I love you, stay safe.’ Her mother only gave her a look, something unreadable and left without a word. With a heavy heart, she grabbed her purse filled with gold and left for Diagon Alley.

Passing through the Leaky Cauldron was an adventure in itself. The shabby, tiny pub was jammed with wizards and witches zipping by.

Diagon Alley was bustling with so much magic she could feel it pumping through her blood. Students were hypnotized by the shiny new Firebolt on display; others were giggling, running around with shopping bags while older witches and wizards took a scroll. Her head turned in every direction; walking into the Apothecary, a potions ingredients and book shop.

Emmeline was there. She gave a tight-lipped smile which she returned.

Emmeline by every definition was nice, extremely kind and neither girl ever had a problem with the other. James was the problem and Y/N would gladly stay out of their feud.

Passing clamouring students, she managed to get all her supplies but stopped in front of the potion ingredients. She took a few minutes, flicking through the Advance Potions textbook and grabbed everything listed needed for most of the potions.

She made her way around Diagon Alley, going through many shops. The shelves were stacked high to the ceiling with books and materials. She spent more time than necessary there but it was beautiful.

As she was paying for her Herbology textbook, a large boom! rumbled the ground. Y/N took her bags, ready to sprint to the Leaky Cauldron but the shouts caught everyone’s attention.

“WE WILL NOT BURN WITH THEM!” A crowd of witches and wizards shouted. Their wands were transformed into microphones as a few shot fireballs up in the air.

“What’s happening?” A woman asked an old wizard. He only shook his head, grabbing a copy of the Daily Prophet, handing it to the witch.

On the front page, there were moving photos of people protesting, similar to the wizards and witches currently shouting.

‘Protests Break out in Light of Muggleborns and Halfbloods Burned Alive

Voldemort and his followers have been attacking Muggleborn and ‘blood traitor' families with the usage of fire. By burning them alive, or their houses. They bonded the witch or wizard with magic, making it impossible to apparate or leave their houses. Their broken wands were found at the scene.

Since then, protests all around Britain and Scotland have broken out. The Ministry of Magic —’

“WE WILL NOT BURN WITH THEM!” The crowd chanted.

Rage filled every inch of her body as she stomped out of Diagon Alley.

If she wanted to stay in the magical world, she had to be the greatest at whatever she did, because if she wasn’t, someone of her status was never going to get anywhere.

Magic was home, and she wasn’t going to let them take it from her. She didn’t want to surrender. They weren’t going to take that away from her.

━━━━━━━━━༻☽༺━━━━━━━━━

Immediately after Diagonal Alley, she began working; taking in her thoughts from earlier to heart.

Making sure to cover any windows from prying eyes, Y/N fiddle with first with new charms. Still unassured by her abilities in Charms, she considered taking another class before realizing all the different routes it led to. To become a Healer, Auror or Potioneer, she needed Charms.

Multiple charms backfired, causing them to ricochet off the walls, leaving a dent or chipping the wallpaper.

After trying out more than half the Charms in the book, there was one spell in particular that she attempted to cast many times, but without fail, was never able to properly cast it. Frustrated, her hand made a sharp flick and the spell spurted out instantly.

She tried again with the same hand gesture. To her astonishment, the charm produced easily. Quickly, she jotted down the note in her book.

Next, she glossed over her Transfigurations and Defense Against the Dark Arts book until her eyes caught onto the word: werewolf.

She learned briefly about werewolves, but that was in third year. And now that she knew a werewolf, it would be good to rehash it.

A werewolf, also known as a Lycanthrope, is a non-magical or magical being who transforms under the rising of the full moon. However, non-magical beings have a greater risk of dying rather than turning.

As the name suggests, werewolves are closely related to the non-magical animal, wolves. However, they have distinct characteristics that make them easily identifiable from wolves.

She flipped the page.

Wolfsbane flowers are poisonous to the non-magical world but it has been proven to have no effects on werewolves like they do on wolves. Werewolves are immune from the poison they emit and there are reports that Wolfsbane flowers help alleviate symptoms.

She underlined that section.

It’s a uniquely magical illness known to spread by saliva and blood. Werewolves are dangerous, blood-thirsty beasts — she flipped the page.

They cannot choose to transform and will no longer retain their human mind. Given the opportunity, they would slaughter their loved ones — flipped the page.

A mixture of powdered silver and dittany applied to bites help seal bite wounds. It’s also commonly put in liquid and digested in anticipation of full moons to help with the symptoms of transforming.

Y/N’s face scrunched as she continued to read.

There is no known cure Potion used to help treat lycanthropy.

She felt oddly intrusive knowing parts about Remus’ condition. But then questions arose. How were there no Potions of any kind there to help werewolves during their transformation?

Pushing the thought away, she turned to the cauldron, picking a potion to brew. They all were fairly easy, some she’d even done before just by playing around. But one potion that grabbed her attention was Draught of Living Death. Even at Ilvermorny, that potion was notoriously difficult.

Starting up the cauldron, she grabbed hold of the sopophorous bean. However, it kept jumping when she tried to cut it. She quickly resorted to another method, running down to her kitchen and grabbing the handheld garlic press, placing the bean inside, squishing it down as so much juice spurted out, even going all over her clothing.

The potion turned into the light lilac like suggested. But then as she stirred, her potion quickly became ruined as she restarted immediately.

Hours ticked by; several items in her room were Transfigured into cauldrons, as she poured the existing solution into the nine other cauldrons as she conducted her experiment.

Stirring counterclockwise was a sham, so she stirred clockwise. Nothing, the potion went bad. The next cauldron, she stirred counterclockwise and then clockwise, alternating between every stir. It showed promising progress before it turned a bright red after the seventh stir, bubbling over.

The next cauldron, she stirred counterclockwise, then clockwise after the seventh stir as the potion turned a pink pale. That’s what the book said would happen. She quickly cleared the rest of the cauldrons, pouring in the pink liquid just in case.

She continued to stir until it became a clear liquid. Surely, that was good enough but she could never be sure. After all, she didn’t know if this was what it was supposed to look like.

Deeply immersed, she hadn’t realized how late it got.

She laid on her bed, her light on as she read the scribbles on the margins of the books she'd penned. The textbook was outdated and everything she’s written down, there were easier ways to perform spells, create Potions and more. The other books must’ve been outdated too.

━━━━━━━━━༻☽༺━━━━━━━━━

August 22nd, 1976

Today, her attention was drawn to her Herbology textbook as she flipped right to the medicine section. Y/N had sneakily stolen a few of her mother’s medical journals as she scribbled down notes.

She flicked through the diagrams. Wizards and No-Majs were different when it came to their bodies and sickness, she knew that, but their anatomy was still the same.

An opera played in the background as she sat in front of the television. It filled the silence as her mother came from behind her, creeping her way closer to the door.

Y/N called out from where she sat. “Care to join me?”

“Can't, work.” She grunted out.

She placed the pen down, full attention drawn to her. “I only have a few days until school starts… you can’t spend some time?”

Her mom wasn’t looking at her, ostensibly staring at the floor, anywhere other than her face.

“It’s not that interesting, but um - I need help with medical terms and illnesses. You’re the best at that!”

“I can’t,” she said roughly. “Can't you see? You have to stop bothering me when I’m busy.” And then she left again, leaving her alone. Y/N would’ve been more bothered had she not been so focused on her studies.

There was a pattern.

In the Herbology textbook, in the werewolf section, there were a few ingredients used to help alleviate symptoms of Lycanthropy.

Dittany, Powered silver, Powdered Moonstone, Aconite…

━━━━━━━━━༻☽༺━━━━━━━━━

August 26th, 1976

“Do you want to —” “Work.”

“But you always have work… can’t you take some time off?”

“You know it’s important to me. Why do you keep trying to limit that?”

━━━━━━━━━༻☽༺━━━━━━━━━

August 29th, 1976

She was partially through her Potions and Charms textbook. It was all she could fixate on.

Deciding to take a break, Y/N went to stretch, getting up to talk to her mom who again, was getting ready to leave. She opened the honey-coloured wood draw close to the door. She pulled out a set of keys, fixing her appearance in a nearby mirror.

She had already opened the door.

“Hey mom, I was thinking of getting lunch… Will you be back soon?”

But, there was faint muffling outside the door.

“Ready for our date?”

Y/N, desperate, seized hold of her wrist, pleading. “Please, I leave in a day.”

“I'll make it up to you,” mom replied, “I promise.” And then, the door clicked shut.

Again.

She stared at the door, trying to regulate what she was thinking.

What made them worthy of her time when their’s were limited.

Robotically, Y/N turned to walk to her room, her hip bumped into the drawer which hadn’t been fully closed. Her eyes flew to it, about to push it in as she caught a flash of white.

Yanking it open, she swore her heart could’ve shattered. White envelopes filled the draw; her familiar handwriting scribbled on top of each letter. She picked one up, twisting it over to the flap.

It was unopened.

She picked up another. Unopened.

Then another. Unopened.

Unopened.

All of them were unopened, sealed. Hardly tampered with and there was hardly a wrinkle.

Was there something wrong with her? Something so disgraceful that made her so disgusting that people kept forgetting - pushing her away? Like an insidious disease.

Was she truly that unloveable? That much of a nuisance? What made someone else so much more important than her?

It was too much to process but if she had to describe the feeling, it was like drowning on dry land.

Whatever home was, it shouldn’t feel like this: cold, lonely, sad.

━━━━━━━━━༻☽༺━━━━━━━━━

【 Next Chapter 】

Slang dictionary (+ a bit of history bc i didn’t realize how many ppl didn’t actually understand what I was talking about in other chaps):

Coffee Crisp = a very popular chocolate bar sold in Canada. It was a variation of a treat made by a company from the UK. It was briefly introduced to the UK in the 60s but was pulled back because people thought it was too similar to Kit Kat. From what I know, Coffee Crisp is not commonly found in England (I've never seen it in stores) but it’s sold in Scotland.

Candy bar = US term for chocolate bar / chocolate

Grass = during the 60s - 70s, the term 'grass' was very popular slang for weed in New York bc it featured in vogue.

And yes, the British do drink that much tea.

83 notes · View notes

feliix · 4 years

Text

Crush Culture ✦ KTH (18+)

✦ Pairing: Taehyung x Reader

✦ Rating: M ✦ Word Count: 14k (screams)

✦ Genre: fluff, angst, smut, fake dating!au

✦ Summary: Once summer hits and you return to work at the local ice cream shop, you’re swarmed with couples coming in on lovey-dovey on dates. You’ve always hated the idea of relationships and love, but it’s Taehyung’s mission to make you reconsider by the end of the summer.

✦ Warnings: childhood friends 2 lovers, idiots 2 lovers unprotected sex, fingering, pining, soft sex, light mentions of marking, mentions of bad past relationships, Tae is kinda a player but he turns out alright

✦ A/N: a big big thank you to the lovely @hobiance for helping me plan yet another fic and @jinned for giving me the much needed support and hyping me up until I finished my first long boi ilysm ♡ also thank you to my lovely beta @jinterlude who I would be completely illiterate without! the most beautiful banner you’ve ever seen is made by none other than my baby @koophoriia ily bunbunbun

Written for the BHQ Bangtan Boardwalk Collaboration

Taglist: @krystle1990 @imluckybitches

“Gross”

Another couple. Probably the 50th overly lovey-dovey pair that you’ve seen this evening alone. The shop is packed full of them on warm nights like this.

To say ‘love’ isn’t really your thing isn’t far from the truth. Relationships suck. Been there, done that.

You always keep the same theory; relationships either end in heartbreak or marriage. And even still, marriage can still end in heartbreak, so what’s the point?

“Stop being dramatic,” Taehyung laughs after catching your snide remark from around the corner. He had just run to the back to get you a fresh package of cups after using up all the stock in the front.

Tonight is busy, to say the least. The sun is setting, and it’s the perfect time for families and couples alike to come in and get a cold and tasty treat, especially on a day as hot as this one. It’s over 100º, and the humidity is doing a real number to your hair.

“It’s not dramatic,” you sigh, leaning on the counter behind you as Taehyung maneuvers around you, placing the cups on the shelf underneath.

It’s just the two of you on the schedule tonight. Your boss is kind of an asshole, leaving 2 ‘kids’ in their early twenties to run the shop by themselves while he went off to do god knows what. Probably at the bar across the street, since his car is still parked in the back, but he’s nowhere to be found. That’s okay though, it's better than having him loom over your shoulder and critique your scooping texture the whole shift.

“Whatever you say,” Taehyung shakes his head.

Unlike yourself, Taehyung is a hopeless romantic, always looking for love in the wrong places. It always seems that his relationships never work out though, which has always confused you – Taehyung is a great guy.

So great that you have been best friends with him for as long as you could remember. It all started that time in pre-k, where you poured a shovel of sand on his head in the sandbox. Initially, it did make him cry, but he got over it eventually. Ever since, he’s been right by your side, sandy hair and all.

“How much longer,” your eyes roll back in your head, neglecting to look at the watch on your wrist in fear that your shift has a significant amount of time left.

“Just under an hour, we should start the closing checklist so we can get outta here,” Tae responds as he reaches for the rag and sanitation bucket.

Nodding your head, you follow his plan – beginning your mission to clean like a speed demon so you can leave at 8 o’clock on the dot. You’ll be damned if a customer comes in at 7:58, but there's always one Karen that comes as you’re about to lock the doors. You hate those Karens.

Lucky for you, closing tonight went as smoothly as it can go. You and Taehyung are ready to go at 8 on the dot, clocking out and locking up behind you.

“So what are we doing tonight?” Taehyung asks, his fingers adjusting the headband that sits just above his forehead.

“I was gonna go home and sleep…” you trail off, avoiding eye contact with him. You know his eyes are much too convincing to look into, and you are beyond exhausted from working a double today.

“Booooo you’re boring,” he teases, stopping in his tracks in the center of the parking lot, “it was an early night we should do something.”

With a deep sigh, you stop as well, turning around to meet his suggestive smirk. He knows he’s about to get his way before you have the chance to argue back with him. So you tilt your head, waiting for him to explain what he has in mind.

“I’ll be at your house by 9.”

And with that, you’re starting the ignition to your car and racing home, carefully, of course.

Taehyung is always spontaneous like this.

After making it home and rushing to get ready, Taehyung was there to pick you up, a few minutes late, but that’s just par for the course. When you end up at your favorite boba spot, you know Taehyung wants to talk about something. He never wants to sit down at a place like this just for small talk, you’ve picked up on his signs and can read him like a book.

But when you finally get your drink and sit at your favorite table in the back corner, he doesn’t say much. It’s almost like he’s waiting for you to speak up. His eyes staring down at his drink instead of sipping it, hands rested in his lap with his lip caught between his teeth. It’s puzzling, slightly, you thought he wanted to hang out tonight and do something adventurous…

The awkward silence and lack of gestures from Taehyung is starting to make you uncomfortable, so you decide to take matters into your own hands.

“How are things going with that girl,” you ask before bringing the straw of your tea to your lips, sipping nonchalantly.

“Oh yeah,” he sighs, his fingertips drumming along the surface of the table, “it didn’t really work out.”

When it comes to Taehyung, relationships never really seem to work out. To say it lightly, he is extremely picky. His last relationship ended because he thought the girl breathed too loudly. The girl before that had an annoying laugh, and then the one before that bit her nails.

Eventually, his pickiness has become a trend to the point that Taehyung will entertain a girl for a month or so. Then, he'll find something so minuscule within the said girl and turn it into a dealbreaker. The nit-picking things are way too much to move past for Taehyung. It’s clear that he is in search of the ‘perfect woman,’ like that even exists.

“You’re probably better off.”

You don’t think much of the words before they leave your lips. Relationships are a ton of work, is it really worth it to put all your effort into something like that? There is a way to just be happy on your own, you know.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He’s taken back by your statement, his eyebrows furrowing in response as he waits for your answer.

“You know what I think,” you tilt your heat matter-of-factly, “relationships are a waste of time.”

“What is with you and all this ‘anti-love’ stuff anyway?”

His question catches you off guard, a boba bubble almost catching in your throat leaving you a coughing mess. Taehyung chuckles at your discomfort, waiting patiently for you to get it all out and answer his question.

“I’ve wasted too much time with too many dead-beat guys to even think about love,” you sigh again, your coughing fit subsiding as you reach for your boba once again.

“Not all guys are dead-beats, you know.”

His words come out harsh, almost as if he finds your words offensive. Like you are meaning to group him in with all the guys you’ve dated in the past. Which is strange, Taehyung knows that he’s different. For one, you’ve never dated him before and two, if he was such a dead-beat you wouldn’t have kept him around for so long.

You can’t talk to guys, or most people like you talk to Taehyung. He’s the one you rant about the dead-beats to, along with everything else under the sun. He knows all the shit that you don’t tell anyone else, he’s like your own personal human diary. Secrets are always safe with him, it's not like he has anyone who would listen to the gossip even if he wanted to tell.

After a minute of silence Taehyung’s expression changes, his eyes squinting at you in that ‘I have a crazy idea’ type of way. It’s a look that you see often, and you couldn’t say that you would ever be used to it.

“Okay then I’ll make you a deal,” he proposes, a glimmering look in his eye that made you somewhat nervous. You never know what you are getting with Taehyung, but most of the time his ‘deals’ are on the crazier side.

“What is it?” You still ask although you’re a bit nervous to hear his answer. If his plan is to set you up with one of his delinquent friends or something–

“Be my girlfriend.”

Your eyes widen as the words leave his lips, confusion taking over your expression as a small chuckle leaves his lips. He can't be serious…

“Your what?”

“Two weeks is all I’m asking for. Be my girlfriend for just two weeks, and I’ll show you that love isn’t as shitty as you think it is.”

“You’re crazy,” you shake your head, a disbelieving smile stretching wide across your face.

“C’mon Y/N,” he challenges, “it’s two weeks of your life, what else do you have to do?”

The quirk of his eyebrow and quick squint of his eyes grabs your attention. He’s serious about this, scarily serious, and you aren’t quite sure how to react to that.

“What’s in it for you?” Your chin falls into your palm as you stare at him, waiting for his response.

“Well for one,” he starts, a sigh leaving his lips, “I won’t have to listen to you complain about how much relationships suck anymore.”

Just when you don't think you can roll your eyes any further into the back of your head, your own actions surprise you. If looks could kill, the one you’re giving him right now would surely take him out. He doesn’t pay much mind to it though, he’s used to your sass and just shrugs it off.

“This is an awful idea,” you glare at him as if it will change his mind. You’re certain this experiment of his would not change your own. Love sucked, and that was that.

“Two weeks,” his voice carries a taunting tone, his eyebrows wiggling to entice you into his plan. He isn’t going to give up on this easily, you know Taehyung. And Taehyung always gets his way.

“Fine,” you huff, “two weeks and that’s it. And if my mind isn’t changed you owe me 3 more of these,” you say, picking up your tea from the table and shaking it at eye-level for emphasis.

His bottom lip catches between his teeth, satisfied with your response. He isn’t exactly sure how he’ll manage to pull this off, but he’s definitely up for the challenge.

“We start tomorrow at 8, I’ll pick you up after work.”

Crossing your arms over the table, you bury your head in your arms. This is going to be the most interesting two weeks of your entire life.

“So you’re like dating dating?” Lainey’s jaw drops, excitement prevalent on her face as you spill about your night with Taehyung.

Lainey is the only person in your life that understood your hatred for relationships, other than Taehyung of course. Not that she shares the hatred herself, she just heard enough about how much you despise being in one to know how you felt.

Along with Taehyung, Lainey is your best friend. And she’s the only person in this world that you can bear to work a double with on a Saturday.

“That's the plan,” you sigh fiddling with the scoops behind you. It’s pretty slow for a Saturday afternoon, not many customers have come in since you opened up at 11.

That’s the thing about working at an ice cream shop – it sucks when it's slow, and it sucks when it's busy. Though it isn't a miserable job, you at least have Tae and Lainey to keep you company.

The smirk on Lainey’s face hasn’t disappeared since you told her about Taehyung’s deal. She’s shocked that you actually agreed to something like this, especially since it’s with Taehyung. The same Taehyung that ended a 3-month relationship last year because the girl ‘smelled like peaches.’ It’s only a matter of time until Taehyung finds your own deal-breaking trait.

“For the record,” you turn to look at Lainey, a grin still evident on her face, “I don’t think this is gonna change my mind.”

“Y/N,” Lainey whines as she draws out the last syllable of your name, plopping herself down in a chair to pout. “Stop being so…so…”

“So?”

Her face crinkles as she racks her brain for the word, rubbing her temples in hopes that it will come to her. Your eyebrow crooks in response, a slight chuckle leaving your lips as you wait.

“Pessimistic!” Lainey’s face lights up as it finally comes to her. She does have a point. It’s been a while since you actually let anyone in

“You know Taehyung, you never know, maybe something could happen,” her eyebrows lift at the end of her sentence, too suggestively for your own comfort.

“Okay no, that's exactly why this is only two weeks. I know Taehyung, he’ll be over it in 2 weeks.”

“Whatever you say,” the pitch of her voice is raised teasingly. She doesn’t believe this will be a two-week thing.

Lainey has been friends with you and Taehyung for 4 summers now. Once she started working at the ice cream shop with you two it was an automatic connection. Letting her into your little clique with no hesitation, you quickly became 3 peas in a pod.

But Lainey sees a lot of things that you aren’t able to see for yourself. You had grown up with Taehyung, grown accustomed to his unique mannerisms and behaviors without even noticing. Lainey, on the other hand, has a different point of view.

She sees the way Taehyung looks at you and how he hangs on each and every word that leaves your mouth. How he longs to make you laugh, watching you with a growing grin each time a chuckle passes through your lips. She notices every behavior that you see as nothing more than ‘friendly.’ But who is she to say? So, for now, the information remains tucked away and stored in her mind for a later date.

Your fingers drum on the glass cover of the freezer beneath you, leaning against it as you wait for a customer to come in. All this time with nothing to do is really doing wonders for your imagination; thinking about what Taehyung has planned for the two of you to do tonight. Nothing special, you hope, he really doesn’t need to go all out for this.

“He’s picking me up after work”

“Oooh he’s picking you up?”

“Shut up,” your eyes roll at her teasing nature, growing slightly embarrassed by how giddy it’s making you. It’s just Taehyung, and you are just hanging out like you do every other night.

The rest of you shift flies by – it always does when you work with Lainey. Before you know it, the closing checklist is coming to an end, only a few steps left before you can finally get out of here. The clock had just turned to 7:55 pm, but Taehyung still isn’t here. Not that you’re expecting him to be on time or anything, this is still the same Taehyung you have always known.

What you aren’t familiar with is the nervous butterflies fluttering around in your tummy as the clock approaches 8pm. What are you even nervous about? It isn’t a blind date, other than the fact that you have no idea what you’re doing. And it isn’t even a date. It’s Taehyung for crying out loud.

Speaking of the devil, the chimes in the front of the shop ring as Taehyung passes through the doorway. You don’t see who it is at first, your back turns to the door as you sweep behind the counter. The chimes ringing at this time of night do trigger your fight or flight instincts though, ready to turn to whoever is approaching and give them a dirty look for coming in this close to closing time.

But once you turn around and see Taehyung standing in the doorway with a bouquet of sunflowers, your tension quickly subsides. You swear that you can feel your heart skip a beat, heat rising to your cheeks as you try your hardest to form a manageable sentence. It's okay that you aren’t able to, though, the surprised look on your face is enough for his own to light up and beam across the room.

“I’m here to pick up the pretty girl with the coffee ice cream stain on her shirt,” he chuckles, his bottom lip catching between his teeth.

He dressed a lot nicer than usual attire; a dress shirt with a loose pair of slacks dressing his slim figure. His hair is light too, much different than the dark brown curls that frame his face. He’s really going all out for this – and you’re wearing a pair of running shorts and an ice cream stained t-shirt.

Lainey is just as stunned as you are, frozen in her spot with her jaw practically on the floor. She looks at you with wide eyes, her eyebrows raising as a smug expression crosses her face. You look in her direction, about to ask if she’s alright to finish closing on her own, but before you’re able to say anything she’s already shooing the two of you out the door.

With a goofy grin displayed across his face, he hands you the bundle of flowers, tied together with a delicate white ribbon. You mumble a thank you, still stunned that he showed up here looking like that to take you out tonight. So he is the romantic type, note taken.

“You like nice,” you gulp nervously. It already feels like a date and you haven’t even left the parking lot yet. If this is how things are going to start you had an exciting 13 more days ahead of you...

“As do you,” he smirks, his eyes wandering down to the small brown stains littering your shirt. Eyes narrowing, you read the expression crossing his face – of course, he’s joking. “I brought you some fresh clothes to change into don’t worry.”

Relief rushes through your body as the words leave his lips.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.”

An interesting yet on-brand response from Taehyung. He’s a big fan of surprises – as long as he’s not on the receiving end.

The drive to your destination seems long. You aren’t quite sure how long you’ve been on your way; between the agile back seat changing of clothes, which you are surprisingly skilled at, and the anticipation coursing through your veins, you’ve lost track of time All you know is that you’ve been driving through backroads for at least 15 minutes, and the destination doesn’t seem anywhere near.

“This is it.” The car pulls into a small dirt parking lot, dimly lit by some dingy street lights that aren’t doing such a great job illuminating things. Your eyebrow crooks unintentionally – this was it?

Your eyes wander outward as Taehyung parks the car, unable to see anything further than a 10-foot radius.

“Where are we?” The question leaves your lips in a worried fashion. Trees surround the parking lot on all three-sides, while the road you've pulled in from occupies the fourth-side. You’re hesitant to get out of the car, but as Taehyung rounds the front and opens the door for you, you’re on your way out. He motions for you to hold on as he pops the trunk – returning with a blanket and a reusable shopping bag filled with god knows what.

He still hasn’t given an answer to your question though, and you still aren’t quite sure where you are. If It was lighter out you assume it would be beautiful here, all the greenery dark and shadows hovering over you from the trees.

The bright light from his cell phone flashlight lights up the way, a path on your right

“Hell no,” your arms cross over your chest as you stand still in your place. He’s out of his mind if he thinks you’re going into the woods this late at night. You’ve seen enough horror films, stuff like this never ends well.

“C’mon, it’s not as bad as it looks,” Taehyung laughs at your pouting manner, amusement filling his system as you glue your feet to the ground of the parking lot. His puppy dog eyes plead for you to follow him, a hand outreaching in your direction for the taking. You contemplate it for a moment, your eyes narrowing as you ponder the possible outcomes of the situation before you.

“Fine,” you huff as you take his hand in yours.

His hand feels different in yours this time. His long fingers lacing between your smaller ones in the perfect fit that you’ve neglected to notice before. You’ve held his hand before, platonically though. This time it’s platonic too though, right? It’s just a date. A platonic date between two friends. Two friends who are dating on a two week trial period. So yes, it is strictly platonic. Right?

The dirt path doesn’t drag on for too long, but the sounds of bugs ticking and twigs breaking beneath your feet is enough to startle you. Every scared and breathy gasp that leaves your mouth is followed by a small fit of laughter from Taehyung. At least one of you is amused.

But the dirt path soon turns rocky, a clearing becoming more and more noticeable as Taehyung’s flashlight brightens the way ahead of you. The rows of trees come to an end as the ground flattens, a giant slab of rock lying beneath your feet. Out ahead of you is completely dark, and until you approach the darkness you don’t notice that you’re just a few yards away from the edge of a cliff. A river lies below the edge, the sound of water rushing fills your ears and calms your nerves. It is quiet out here, peaceful and without distraction.

Taehyung stands back as you admire the scenery around you – your own phone flashlight now out and panning around to look at the view. It’s beautiful out here, nothing to worry about but the sounds of the water and whatever Taehyung is doing behind you…

You couldn’t have zoned out for more than 2 minutes, but once you turn back around to face him a picnic blanket lies on the ground before you. Snacks scatter the extent of the fabric, a few candles placed in the center

“You really went all out for this, huh?” A nervous laugh leaves your lips before you swallow harshly. Never in your life has a guy ever gone all out like this for you. A late-night picnic at a secret location, fixed with all of your favorite snacks and some candles for ambiance.

“Had to,” he smiles, “it’s our first date.”

You join him on the blanket, grabbing for a bag of popcorn as you sit down. Maybe relationships wouldn’t suck so much if all men treated you like this…

Woah woah woah. It’s just Taehyung. Taehyung who already knows all your favorite things to eat. He’s just trying to be convincing – to prove to you that men take you on dates, do nice things. But stuff like this never lasts. Two weeks from now you’ll be going back to the same old Tae and Y/N friendship that you’ve always had.

The conversation goes on as normal tonight, he doesn’t make any moves (as expected, it’s Taehyung) and you enjoy the view and calm atmosphere with your fake but not so fake boyfriend. You stay out on the cliff for a few more hours before he takes you home. Taehyung put a lot of effort into making tonight special, and you appreciate him for that. But even after all his effort, you know that real relationships aren’t like this.

Every guy you’ve dated would try to woo you over in the beginning too. They call it the honeymoon stage for a reason. Things are always great in the beginning, lavish gifts and dates, loving gestures. That kind of thing never lasts. Soon the effort runs out, the guy gets bored of putting the work in, and they end up sleeping with your freshman year roommate. Well, at least that's how it is for you.

The bundle of sunflowers Taehyung gave to you earlier on in the night sits on the end table next to your bed. Each time you look at them all you can picture is the goofy grin he sported as he stood at the entrance of the ice cream shop. It replays in your mind like a movie. How he dressed up all spiffy just to take you out. How he took you to a spot only he knew about, somewhere so off-site and serene that he knew you’d remain uninterrupted. You can’t help but wonder if he’s using the same old tricks on you that he does to other girls though. If he only knew about that place because he’s taken someone there before.

Not that it matters though, you aren’t his real girlfriend. You’re just on a trial period. But for some reason the thought that he might have brought another girl to the same spot before doesn’t sit well with you.

“Sooooo,” Lainey teases, her chin falling into her palm as she leans on the freezer before her, “how was your date with Y/N?”

Taehyung chuckles at her nosiness, he’s sure you’ve already told her all about it. There are no secrets left between you two. Even sometimes Taehyung felt like the odd man out around you both.

“It was good.”

Taehyung keeps his answer short, leaving the rest up to her imagination. He isn’t one to kiss and tell or to not kiss and tell either. Things are better that way.

“Just good?” Lainey challenges, knowing there is much more that he’s leaving out. Her eyes narrow as she waits for his response. You haven’t told her anything about last night, not even where you went after he picked you up. Things are radio silent on your end.

Taehyung glances back at her, contemplating whether or not he should spill the beans.It would be nice to have someone else to confide in since it's always you on the receiving end of his secrets; however, this is the one secret that you can't know.

He chews on his bottom lip pensively, if anyone knows what’s on your mind, it would be Lainey. Not that Taehyung is looking to pry, he just has no indication to how you feel about last night, or about him.

Before Taehyung can even open his mouth to speak, a knowing smirk is spread wide across Lainey’s face. It’s that kind of look that makes him nervous – she knows something.

“You like her,” she muses, tossing her hair over her shoulder as the words catch in the air. It’s out there now, and it’s obvious. Well, maybe not obvious, but clear as day to Lainey – and that is more than enough to make Taehyung worry.

“I don’t,” He denies her claim, his willpower too strong to give into her.

“Oh yeah? Why do you self sabotage every one of your relationships then?”

Her words catch Taehyung off guard, his jaw clenching harshly as an annoyed breath is forced out of his nostrils. He wants to deny her claim once again, but he can’t bring himself to keep brushing off these feelings that have had a grip on him ever since he was young.

Lainey is right too. He does sabotage each relationship that comes his way. Taehyung goes out of his way to find something wrong with each girl he dates. He can never admit it to himself, but in the back of his mind, he knows that it's the fact that none of those girls are you.

“It’s written all over your face every time you look at her you know?”

Was he really that obvious? Did it show that much whenever he was around you?

“What do you mean?” Taehyung clarifies, the small once of hope bearing weight in his chest that Lainey is just joking around. That she doesn’t actually know the one thing he’s been holding onto for so long.

She doesn’t have to respond for him to know the answer. The quirk of her eyebrow and knowing expression on her face says enough.

“Well you can’t tell her,” he sighs, hand gripping harshly on the countertop as he stares down at the black and white checkered floors. Lainey turns to look at him staring down in distress, a sympathetic glance directed at him. He’s worried you’ll find out.

You can’t find out. If you do, then all bets will be off. Once you know Taehyung’s feelings for you there is no way that you’ll let your little arrangement continue. He knows you only agreed to this because there is nothing between you romantically, or at least as far as you know.

Lainey bears her weight on the cooler behind her, leaning comfortably on the cool glass. “I want her to be done with this ‘I hate love thing’ just as much as you do,” her fingers mock air quotes as she continues, “Want me to be honest?”

“Please.”

“I think you might be the only one who can change her mind.”

Taehyung’s heart skips a beat as the words leave her mouth. Blood rushes to his ears, pumping like a snare drum as he considers what she just said. He’s confused as to what she means. You agreed to fake-date him, but you still hate love.

A comfortable silence fills the air, Lainey watching him as his lips roll between his teeth as he’s deep in thought. Change your mind. The words repeat in his mind like a broken record. That’s what he’s trying to do, for the right reasons; so that you won’t be so miserable. But behind those selfless reasons come with smaller selfish ones. He gets to be with you as more than a friend now, and although it’s nothing more than some kind of test run, he can’t help but feel like this can be something more too.

“Like you think…” he gulps, clearing his throat as the words stutter out of his mouth, “I could get her to fall for me?”

The lack of response that Lainey gives is ominous, but the raise of her eyebrows and toothy grin forming on her face needs no words to tell. If anyone is to change your mind, it’ll be Taehyung.

That night Taehyung took you to the drive-in movies. To be quite honest, you couldn’t really recall what was playing, some Pixar film with bugs as the main character if you can recall it correctly. You were far too distracted laughing with Taehyung, watching as young kids played around on a grassy patch near his car. The giggles that left his lips each time the little girl waved to him were music to your ears. You never noticed how much he loved kids, how good he was with them.

The image of his hands clasped together as he fawned over the little girl, picking dandelions in the grass and racing to place them by your feet was burned into your memory. The boxy grin that graced his face all night long. The way his eyes squinted from his cheeks, pushing up as he smiled so big. The whispers of the word ‘cute’ each time her pigtails bounced while she toddled away.

Missing the movie doesn't disappoint you. If anything, the memories you've saved from tonight are more than enough.

The next night you were unable to go out, the shop was so busy that you were not able to leave until an hour and a half after your shift was supposed to end. Some punk kid dropped 2 cones on the floor on his way out and decided it would be best to leave them there without cleaning anything up. Maybe if it hadn’t been so busy then you would have noticed the spill before it dried up and stuck to the tile floors.

Naturally, you spent a good 15 minutes trying to mop up all the stickiness on the floor. But to your luck, Taehyung is working with you that night. Once all the customers left the shop he hooked his phone up to the speakers, grabbed your hands, and danced you around the shop. Well, it was supposed to be dancing but it probably looked more like Taehyung swinging your arms as you attempted to not trip over your own feet.

It makes up for not getting to go out though, and you’d take a night like that over a fancy dinner any chance you got.

It’s been 12 days since you became Taehyung‘s girlfriend, and as the remaining days decreased, so did your hatred for love. Each night he planned something special. The real kicker was the texts that you get once he makes it home from dropping you off every night. A simple ‘I had a great time tonight’ was enough to make your heart swell and heat rise to your cheeks.

And as you notice your hatred for love and relationships leaving you, you notice another feeling enter your system. Or several feelings…

Things are getting just as sticky as the night two when ice cream cones landed on the shop floor face down, sprinkles and all. Spending time with Taehyung like this is bringing some things to the surface you didn’t know were buried in the first place.

Every night that you spent with Taehyung over the past 12 days allowed you to see him in a new light. You got to see him on a different level than just friends. You got to see what every girl that fawns over Taehyung experiences.

Something about your friendship never let you jump past that barrier. You only see him as a dear friend of yours. Nothing more and nothing less. And now the issue is that...you aren’t sure how you’ll ever go back to see him as such.

You like Taehyung as more than a friend, that's for sure. And you know because of that things will never be able to go back to the way they once were.

Maybe you're reading too much into it, but your gut is telling you that you aren't the only one feeling this way.

The feeling of butterflies that pound in your stomach each time you meet eyes with him has to be reciprocated. There is just no way you can be feeling this way and he isn’t.

This isn’t like the feelings you’ve caught for any guy before, this is something else. Every night when you go home you lay in bed, staring at your ceiling with a dumb grin on your face as you think about your time together, about him. About the way his black curly hair falls in front of his eyes each time he looks down and how his smile lights up every room he was in.

These things that you were so blind to before can’t escape your thoughts, and it makes you wonder how many times or things you’ve looked over that make you melt, just like you are right now.

But in just 2 days, this trial-boyfriend period will be over, and you’ll have to go back to being just friends. Each day, each hour, each minute that approaches feels heavier and heavier. Anxiety floods your system each time you think about things being over, or that this arrangement you have isn’t even real.

When you think about the growing feelings you have for him, you honestly can't imagine what your life will be like any other way. What it would be like going back to just hanging out here and there. And what it would be like

You can’t even fathom thinking about what it would be like hearing him talk about another girl again. It makes you sick thinking that there's going to be someone after you, because in just 5 days this will be all over, and you’ll go back to being the girl best friend, nothing more.

Maybe it’s just wishful thinking that Taehyung has more feelings for you too. But the glimmer in his eyes as his bangs brush out of his eyes and they land on you tells a different story. When he looks at you it feels like you are the only two people on earth. He sees nothing else but you, and the way your eyes sparkle back at him.

Each day you spend with Taehyung after that feels like a wrench tightening the screws of your heart. 14 days is just not enough.

“Earth to Y/N” Lainey says waving a hand in your face. You must have zoned out, for god knows how long.

“Thinking about Tae?”

“What,” she catches you off guard, straightening your posture and brushing yourself off before responding to her, “no…just thinking.”

“Right,” the sarcasm drips from her lips, turning away from you as she wipes off a table in the front.

For personal reasons, you’ve kept Lainey out of the loop during this whole fake-boyfriend Taehyung thing. It’s better if you keep your feelings to yourself until you figure them out. And although it feels really really strange not giving Lainey the intel on what’s going on in your life, you know it’s for your own good.

Once you put what is in your head out into the world, you can’t take it back. What if you are just in the honeymoon-phase? If these feelings for Taehyung are only because he’s trying his best to woo you, and then they’ll just fade away as things return back to normal.

Something in you tells you that this isn't the case, but the small shadow of doubt in the back of your mind keeps you from talking to your best friend about it anyway.

The thing is, you don't have to tell Lainey for her to know. Every time Tae picks you up from work to take you out you shine. Your smile spreads so wide she’s afraid your cheeks will tear. The nervous shake of your fingers as you grab for your belongings as you head out the door doesn’t go unnoticed in Lainey’s eyes. She knows you too well to look over things like this, she just wanted to wait for you to say something first.

But now that you aren’t, Lainey has decided to take matters into her own hands, asking you about it herself.

“Lainey,” you start, waiting for her attention before you pull out a stool, sitting down and motioning for her to follow suit. She does, a questioning but knowing look evident on her face as she joins you. “You know how this thing between Taehyung and I is just an experiment or whatever?”

She nods in response, her hand quickly falling into her palm as she listens intently to your words.

“I think I messed up.” Your head is buried in your arms, laid over the tabletop in embarrassment.

“What do you mean?”

Her question is more for clarification, she wants to hear you say it herself. She knows that you’re gonna tell her you caught feelings. She sees it coming from a mile away, you confirming it is just the icing on the ice cream cake.

“Don’t make me say it,” you whine, neglecting to pick your head up and look at her. You can feel the grin on her face. You know she's smirking at you right now, doing her best to hold back a laugh. Finally, you got over your ‘I hate love and relationships suck’ thing.

“I have no clue what you’re talking about,” she sings, quite obviously teasing you while another deep sigh echoes from your chest. You manage to pick your head up, leaning onto your elbows with your chin caught between your palms as you face her.

“I like him.”

It comes out as a whisper, but Lainey hears it loud and clear. If you didn’t know better, you’d assume that the smile on her face can't grow any larger, but it does. She jumps up from her chair in victory, doing a funny dance with her arms whooping in the air to celebrate. You’re confused as to why, but you’re too far in your own thoughts to pay it any mind; your head just sinks back into your arms as your forehead presses against the cold metal table beneath you.

“I knew it,” Lainey smiles, her happy dance subsiding as she sits back down across from you. “I knew this fake dating thing was gonna work.

“Yeah well it really worked, because now I have feelings for a guy that’s never gonna reciprocate them for me.”

Your tone is laced with sarcasm, a disappointing ring outlining each of your words. You’re too embarrassed to look at the girl sitting before you, worried that if you do all the emotions you’ve been holding onto for so long will spill over and stain your stone-cold image; one you’ve maintained for far too long.

But Lainey’s your best friend. The only one that you should be comfortable being vulnerable about your feelings for Taehyung with; for some reason all you can’t bring yourself to be.

Before you can get a grip on your emotions tears are streaming down your face, falling onto the cold metal surface under you in small puddles.

A sympathetic sigh leaves Lainey’s lips as she tries to gain your attention, “Hey.”

Inhaling deeply, you face her – mascara strewn across your face in black streaks and eyes nearly bloodshot. You’ve held this in for far too long. Only a double would tire you out and exhaust you enough to cry on the clock. Thank God it’s a rainy day, no customers ever come in on rainy days.

Or at least, no customers usually come in on rainy days. It's not until you hear the bells on the front door ring that you’re wiping your eyes, whipping around to greet whoever was entering.

And then you see him, standing there as he shakes out his umbrella, a bouquet of sunflowers in his hand.

And he sees you; mascara running down your face and tears staining your cheeks. He’s early. Your stomach turns at the sight of him, emotions not stable enough to handle carry a normal conversation like

“Y/N,” his voice is quiet, worry dripping in his tone as your name leaves his lips. But you can’t face him right now, not like this.

Your feet move faster than you mind, standing up and rushing to the back to avoid him. Taehyung doesn’t follow you, just stands there and watches you walk away, solemn and worried that he’s done something.

It’s not until Lainey is rising from her seat and pacing over to him that he’s brought back to reality.

“Taehyung,” she starts, hands coming up slowly to console him, “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be here right now.”

“Wh-What’s wrong?” His lip worries between his teeth, eyes glossy as he stares at the door you just closed behind you. He’s looking at it intently, mind flooding with worry, wishing so badly that the door will just fly open, and you’ll tell him what was going on. In the back of his mind, he knows that you won’t, at least not for now. Talking about emotions has never been your strong suit, and chances of that changing at this moment are at an all-time low.

Lainey is unsure how to answer him, caught in between not wanting to lie and keeping your feelings private. She doesn’t want to speak for you; but she’s scared of saying something that can make this situation worse.

Her mouth gapes as she searches for a response to his question, lips opening and closing and she hums to find the right words. They don’t come.

The umbrella hanging from Taehyung’s hand drops with a crash, starling Lainey as she jumps at the sudden sound. But before she is even able to speak, the bell to the front door is ringing again, and Taehyung is walking away into the pouring rain.

The next day you wake up feeling numb. You’ve received several texts from Taehyung the night before, none of which you have the energy to reply to or even look at for that matter.

The guilt riddling your body has become too much for you to handle. You left work last night without even saying goodbye to Lainey. She’s a good enough friend and coworker to know that what you’re going through is more important than working the counter at an ice cream shop.

After Taehyung left she came back and let you know; she almost had to break down the door to the backroom in order for you to let her in. She told you to go home, get some rest and that you’d talk tomorrow.

But after waking up the last thing you want to do is talk about Taehyung; to think about him.

Every time you thought about how your arrangement was supposed to end in just a few days you felt sick. You have worked so hard to open up just to build your walls back up again. And now you’re back at square one.

When you agreed to be Taehyung’s girlfriend you did not expect to fall for him like this. He’s Taehyung. He’s your personal diary, the one who knows all the shit that nobody else knows and listens to all the shit that no one else cares about.

Feelings ruin everything. Love sucks, and you knew this before you agreed. You agreed under the circumstances that Taehyung could show you that relationships could be fun; not under the circumstances that he would make you fall in love with him,

And the more that you think about it, maybe you were always in love with him. Maybe you always had these feelings for him, but they were trapped in the tight bonds of friendship that your subconscious never let you out.

But none of that even mattered now. The deal had to be off, and you need to distance yourself from Taehyung before you are hurt any worse. The longer this goes on the worse that you are going to feel when it's all over.

How are you supposed to go back to normal after this? Like is Taehyung thinking that showing you how amazing relationships are, you won't fall for him or something? Or does his true plan consist of making you fall in love with him, just to string you along like every other girl he's dated?

You’re trapped in the never-ending spiraling thoughts, soiling your image of Taehyung with each new theory that crosses your mind. None of them are good. All of them paint him as a player, as someone who just used you.

But the little thump in your heart when you notice the sunflowers placed on your bedside table wants your mind to change. Your heart wants you to believe that Taehyung feels something too, that throughout this arrangement he has seen a different side to you too – that he’s fallen for you just like you have for him.

It's a knock at your door that guides you out of your thoughts. The repetitive tapping at your front door that drags you out of bed. And when you check your peephole and it's no one else, but your small blonde best friend standing on your doorstep that has relief rushing through your system.

The door cracks open, Lainey standing there with an umbrella in her hand – even though it was nearly 100º with clear skies.

“Why are you still in your pajamas? It's noon.”

She pushes past you and to your living room, plopping down on your couch and making herself comfortable as she waits for you to join. You spin on your heels, an exhausted breath leaving your mouth as you pace over to her, plopping down beside her.

“Why the umbrella?” Your brow furrows as she hands it over. You take it though, still confused behind the meaning of the object that you're holding and where it came from.

“It’s Taehyung’s.”

You nearly drop it as his name leaves her lips. The name causes your stomach to tighten, mouth-drying instantly as emotions well behind your eyes.

“Why?” Is all you can mutter out. Why was she giving it to you, why was she here, and why did she have it?

“You need to bring it back to him.” She says sternly, her eyes locked on you as she waits for you to look back at her. But you’re too focused on the umbrella placed gently in your hands, tracing your finger over every wire and the soft rubber handle.

“I can’t.” Your words come out in a whisper, breath light and airy as you sigh, sinking your body back into the couch cushions. Giving the umbrella back to Taehyung will mean that you have to go see him. And if you see him, he’s going to want to talk to you about last night, then question you about why you haven’t been returning his texts. No. You will not be giving Taehyung his umbrella back.

“Y/N,” your name leaves her mouth gently, a sigh following it before she reached for you, rubbing your arm comfortingly before continuing, “I think you need to talk to him.”

“Lainey,” you let out an annoyed sigh, “you know I can’t do that.”

You’re serious in your words. Not that you don’t want to talk to him. If you could, you would, but you can’t. There are too many emotions involved. The wound is fresh and seeing him would be rubbing salt right into it.

“Y/N,” she sighs, this time more forceful, she’s trying to get something across to you but it's going right over your head. “Talk to him. Please.”

“You know I’m going to end up hurt if I do.”

Tears well in your eyes as the words croak from your throat. It's dry and scratchy, full of fear and anxiety.

“I think you’d be surprised,” she mumbles, her eyes instantly widening on realizing the words that just escaped.

Eyes wide with confusion, they’re begging her to go on, but if she does then Taehyung won’t be the only one in deep shit right now. You can’t know what she knows.

“What do you mean I’ll be surprised?”

“I have to go,” she stands instantly, motioning to the umbrella, “and you need to bring this back.”

With a slight ruffle to your hair, Lainey is giving you a supporting smile and waving goodbye. And you’re left alone once again – just you and Taehyung’s blue umbrella.

It takes a lot of courage to get ready today. You make sure to take your sweet time rummaging through your closet, flipping through articles of clothing for the better half of an hour. At the end, you opt to go with a pair of sweatpants and an old t-shirt. There isn't enough energy in your body to put on anything else, and you know you’ll just want to curl back up in bed once you get home. Sweatpants are safe, and safe is just what you need.

No makeup today either. If things are anything like you’re expecting, your makeup will just end up ruined anyway. It's your better judgment to shower though, you’ve neglected to take one after work last night; opting to just bury yourself under your covers as soon as you got back. But today is a new day. And with a fresh shower and your comfiest pair of sweatpants, you are about as ready as you’ll ever be to get your heart broken into a billion pieces.

Umbrella in hand, you step out onto your front steps, relishing in your last few moments of ignorant bliss before making your way to Taehyung’s. You immediately regret your wardrobe decision as the sun beats down on your frame, the humidity making you feel sticky and gross – your favorite pants are no match for this heat.

But you’re on your way to your destination anyway, the drive feeling longer and more drawn out than normal. Taehyung didn’t live that far away from you, but the ride there still felt like an eternity with each theoretical scenario passing your mind.

Dragging your feet, you make your way to the front steps of his house. You’ve been here a million times, but today is different. From now on, every time you drive past this place all you’ll know is heartache.

You brush yourself off, taking a deep breath before bringing your hand up and pushing the doorbell. The sudden ringing sound startles you, even though you have every indication that it’s coming – you’re just too nervous and jumpy for your own good.

Footsteps approach the door, your stomach tightening more and more with the muffled pitter-patter of footsteps. You’re praying to God that it’s his mom, hoping that Taehyung just so happens to be out – even though his car is in plain sight parked just a few meters away from you. Wishful thinking, you suppose.

When the door to his house opens, you struggle to maintain your composure. He’s dressed similarly to you; a pair of sweats and an old sports t-shirt that has definitely seen better days.

“Hi.”

His eyes are sunken in, dark circles dragging underneath his eyes and his lips pulled downwards. He looks like a sad puppy, his dark hair all scruffy and sticking up in each direction – probably from him running his hands through it so many times.

“I came to give you this,” you extend the umbrella out before you. He nods before taking hold of it, his hand far at the opposite end making sure not to keep his distance. The more you look at him, the more sorry you feel for dodging his texts. He looks like he hasn’t slept a wink, and you’re afraid it’s all because of you.

“Oh...uh, thanks,” he struggles to make eye contact with you, looking down at the object in his hand.

It’s awkward, uncomfortable, and you can’t seem to find the words to say to break this strange tension between the two of you. He’s acting weird, shifting his weight back and forth but not moving away to close the door. His mind is racing once again – contemplating whether or not to just invite you in or leave it at that.

But with every aching bone in his body, he musters up the courage to lift his head, looking you directly in the eyes. Their dark like his, definitely from the lack of sleep you had the night before. Your mouth is turned downward too; hands fiddling together to try and distract yourself.

“D-Do you wanna come in?” He stutters, stepping aside slowly as he gestures towards his house. He suddenly worries when you don’t respond right away, taking a second to contemplate if this is a good idea or not. Ripping off the band-aid is never easy, but it needs to be done.

“Sure,” is the word that you decide on – hoping that it doesn’t make you seem disinterested or too desperate to talk. Maybe he’s just being kind though. Maybe it’s an empty offer, something that you say when you’re trying to be nice, but subconsciously hope that they won’t take you up on it. Like when you offer to share your food with someone, but you’re really hungry. You do it to be nice, not because you actually want to split the delicious looking burger and fries on your plate.

He leads you inside and to his bedroom. It looks the same as always, but it feels different. It still smells like him though, the comforting woodsy scent of pine and mahogany that he always reaches for. But that comforting scent is anything but comfortable. You’re frozen in place, unsure if you should sit on his bed and make yourself at home, much like every other time in the past. For now you just stand in the doorframe, waiting for him to tell you to take a seat, just like any polite guest would. A guest. You have never felt like a guest in his home before, or around Taehyung in general. But that imaginary wall between the two of you is standing tall and sturdy, and suddenly the two of you are reverted back to being strangers.

You watch as he toys with something on his desk, his fingers dancing from object to object and sifting through papers to look busy. The point of it – unknown to you but to him, he’s buying time. Trying to think of the first thing to say, what to ask, or if you even wanted to talk. Maybe you only agreed to come inside to be nice. Maybe you were too worried about hurting his feelings if you said no. But alas, here you are, standing awkwardly in his doorway as he shuffles around his room, his brain flooding with thoughts – but his mouth can not form them into audible words.

“I’m sorry for ignoring your texts.”

Your voice catches his attention, dropping whatever paper he’s looking at now and turning his gaze to you. You’re sunken into yourself, your chest thumping with anxiety as his eyes begin to wander your frame. Not in a ‘I’m checking you out’ manner though; more of a ‘you look so sad and I don’t know what to say to you right now’ kind of way.

It’s true though, he doesn’t know what to say – which is why he’s staring at you, hoping the right words would just pop up and he didn’t have to use any brain-power at all. He doesn’t want to say ‘it's okay,’ because it's not. You never ignore his texts, and that alone tells him enough about what's going on. You are upset at him.

“What did I do wrong, Y/N?”

His words sound accusatory but his tone is soft, gentle and full of worry. Eyes swollen and looking like they are about to fill to the brim with tears, his sight is focused on you; now not able to look away.

“I-I don’t know…”

Your answer is honest. You don’t know if his intentions are dirty. Yeah, that’s what you thought initially, but looking at him with such hurt written all over his face tells a different story.

Taehyung is silent, unsure of what more he can do or say to make you talk to him. He can’t force you to open up, he never has and he never will – that’s always been his rule. Everything you’ve shared with him has been on your own terms and conditions. Taehyung has always been here to be your listening ear, but he never pries.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

His voice is soft, eyes full of sympathy as he holds himself together. Those were the words he has been looking for. Now the ball is in your court and you’ll have to be the one leading the conversation. It’s just what he needed to figure this shit out.

“I-I don’t know.”

“Y/N,” he sighs as he drops himself down onto the mattress, “I shouldn’t have to say this for you to know it, but you know you can talk to me about anything, right?”

You do know that. You really, really do. But this time things are different. Is he expecting you to just come out and speak your truth like there won’t be consequences? No, he won’t push you to tell him anything you don’t want to. But the worry in his eyes and clammy hands are begging for you to just let it out so he can stop being in the dark.

You sigh out an ‘okay’ before sitting down beside him.

Rip the band-aid off Y/N. Quick and painless.

His eyes narrow, almost to a squint, staring right through you in hopes of reading your thoughts. Your expression is nothing but blank as you try your best to gain some sort of composure. Do you just speak up and spill your guts? The words replay in your mind over and over until your thoughts are beat down and misshapen.

You can picture his face when you say it; disgusted with a trace of disappointment and some confusion spread into the mix. Or maybe he’ll laugh at how pathetic you were, catching feelings for your fake boyfriend.

That’s it. There’s no way you can tell him. It would be much easier to just get up and leave. Tell him to pretend like none of this ever happened and that you needed some time to cool off. A few months maybe, or maybe you could just ghost him entirely.

“Y/N?”

The sound of his voice breaks you out of your toxic thoughts, and his chocolate brown eyes bring you back down to earth. You can’t just leave him in the dust. He’s looking at you like you’re the only thing that exists. Things will be okay, right?

“Sorry, sorry,” you exhale deeply as you calm your thoughts; shifting the nasty scenarios out and accepting that whatever happens after this conversation is your fate.

“Taehyung, I-I guess I wasn’t expecting this boyfriend-girlfriend thing we’re doing to go like this.”

His brow quirks at your words, confusion riddling his expression as his eyes narrow. With a tilt of his head, he’s pushing you to continue, visibly riddled with your choice of words.

“Swear you’ll be honest when I ask you this?” You question him, your hand moving closer to his as you lean in slightly. He’s like a magnet, you can’t help yourself from moving closer; even though the proximity of the two of you is clouding your thoughts and you can feel your heart beginning to swell.

He nods in response to your question, his eyes full of concern as he waits for you to continue, “Why did you ask me to do this thing?”

He knows that a question like this was coming, only if he could have prepared for it. But he didn’t, so his throat is left dry and scratchy as his mouth opens, only to stutter a bit before closing it back up. No coherent thoughts or words are able to escape his lips, just nonsense mumbling that caught himself off guard.

With a deep breath, he closes his eyes, regaining his composure before he can face you again. He agreed to be honest, and if honesty is what you want, honesty is that you’ll get.

“I’m sorry.” That’s all that he can say.

Oh no. This is exactly what you were expecting before you came here. He’s gonna tell you that he didn’t mean to mess with your emotions, that he felt you catching feelings and got carried away. That he’s sorry that he ruined your friendship and played you like a violin all at once.

“Me too.”

You don’t know why you’re apologizing, but you are. It feels wrong. Absolutely utterly, and undoubtedly wrong. Apologizing for your own feelings is not something that you are okay with. Especially when he made you fall for him like this. Okay so maybe thinking that is giving him too much power, but who the hell takes you out on dates for nearly 2 weeks straight just to laugh about it later. How can he expect you to not catch feelings for him? With his deep voice and fluffy hair that always hangs in front of his eyes, that little giggle he has when he finds something amusing. Everything about him was attractive. And you’ve fallen for it all. Hard.

“Wait, why are you sorry?”

A scoff escapes your mouth unintentionally, but it’s well deserved. “For being the idiot to fall for a guy that was playing her, I guess.”

You can’t look at him any longer, so your eyes fall to your lap, staring at your chipped nail polish and dirty fingernails instead of reading whatever dumb expression he has now. But if you just took a second to look up, you’d notice the widening of his eyes, how his fingers are beginning to shake and his mouth gape.

“Wh-What?”

“Don’t make me say it again Taehyung, I don’t feel like sounding stupid one more time.”

“No no I heard you, it's just,” his eyes slam shut, angry at himself that he let things get this far without keeping you in the loop.

You’ve been telling him that you hate love for years now. After hearing it so many times, he’d just given up on the thought of you. Maybe if he said something before you went through all those shitty guys things could have been different. But he’s let this go on for far too long, and now you’re the one that was paying the price.

“Y/N, I have feelings for you.”

Your neck nearly breaks with how fast your head snaps up. He’s the one looking away now, his cheeks a bit rosy as he tries to hide himself. He isn’t doing a very good job though, his hair is only shadowing his eyes and you can clearly see the way he’s nervously chewing on his lip; a cute habit you have grown fond of these past couple of weeks.

If he didn’t look like he does right now, you’d assume he was messing around. But you know Taehyung. You know his small little gestures and what they mean by now. You know when he’s being serious and when he’s telling a lie. He can look someone dead in the eye and lie to them, but when he tells the truth, he becomes shy and worried that he’s said the wrong thing.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” You ask softly, gently reaching for his hand. The subtle contact makes him flinch, reacting by pulling your hand away. But his eyes meet your sympathetic ones, sparkling just like they always do, and he knows what he wants.

Taehyung’s hand reaches back for yours, lacing his fingers through yours before giving your hand a light squeeze. “You hate relationships,” he chuckles lightly, the mood of the room instantly shifting as the laughter leaves his lips.

“I hated the ones that weren’t with you,” you correct him, but your voice comes across as just a whisper. He’s close enough to hear though, a blushing grin forming on his face as you shyly look away. His heart flutters when he hears it, a million butterflies erupting in his tummy all at once.

“I hated the ones that weren’t with you too,” he coos, his eyes wide and sparkling as he looks at you with such adoration.

Time moves in slow motion as his hand meets your cheek, your eyes look deeply into his chocolate ones as he moves in closer. As your eyelids flutter shut his tongue runs across his bottom lip, wetting the surface before closing the distance between you. Finally.

And in that moment you’re at peace. Everything you thought you’ve ever hated, love, relationships, and maybe Taehyung for a hot second, are the only things that you long for. The 14 days don’t have to be over, and your days no longer have to be counted. When you’re with Taehyung you’re happy, you’re comfortable, and you're confident that he can give you what you have always deserved – but have never gotten.

His lips move against yours in slow, languid motions, his large hands holding you close like he’s holding on for dear life. But you won’t leave even if you want to, not now, not after all this.

Slowly, Taehyung shifts his weight and you move in succession. He’s laying you down on his bed, gently climbing over you without breaking the kiss. Things are becoming more heated now, you can feel it as his hungry lips devour your own. Your chest heaves up to meet his, your back arching off the mattress as his hands begin to scour your body. The heat pooling in between your legs is growing, an aching sensation overwhelming your core as your own hands reach up to rake through his long, fluffy hair. And you can tell he wants you too, the thin fabric of his sweatpants doing little to conceal the growing erection pressing against your thigh.

You can’t help but let out a steep moan as his hips begin to grind into yours. Needy groans fall past his lips and onto yours as you roll your hips upwards to meet his small ruts.

In a leisurely motion, Taehyung’s body is moving upwards, his knee finding a place between your legs as he brings himself up to a kneeling position. You chase his lips the entire way there, sitting up straight to be sure the contact doesn’t vanish, too consumed by your need for him to leave his lips.

And then his needy hands are running along the waistband of your sweats, fiddling with the tie before breaking your heated kiss. “Is this okay?” His words come out in a whisper, his eyes searching yours for any signs of doubt, but all he sees is lust.

“Yes,” you confirm, out of breath from making-out for so long without coming up for air. The lightheaded feeling taking over you goes unnoticed though, and quite frankly you’re too caught up in Taehyung to care.

Quickly, he rids you of your pants, looking back up at you for confirmation about your underwear. With an affirmative nod he’s removing those too, leaving you completely bare from the waist down as he stands over you fully clothed.

But soon he’s ridding himself of his own clothing, his shirt being pulled at the nape of his neck as he discards it across the room. He’s leaning back down to you, hungry for the feeling of your lips. He misses it, even though it's been less than a minute since he’s last felt your smooth lips on his.

You won’t open your eyes to see, but with the shuffling movements and shaky connection between your mouths you can tell Taehyung is stripping himself of any remaining clothing he has on. He’s needy, unable to wait any longer to get down to business, he’s already waited long enough.

You’re the one who breaks the kiss this time, too curious to see what he’s sporting down below for your own good. But you are not disappointed once you see it – he’s long and girthy; the pigment a shade or two darker from his skin tone than the rest of his body. Your thoughts are wandering, wondering what it's like to have him inside of you; dreaming about what he feels like. Arousal pools at your core, mouth salivating as your daydreams linger.

“Like what you see?” Taehyung chuckles. You barely notice that you’ve been staring, eyes wide and focused on the hardened dick before you, which is probably a bit uncomfortable for him.

“Sorry!” You cringe at yourself lightly, covering your eyes in embarrassment in fear that you just ruined the mood you’ve worked too hard to create.

“Don’t apologize,” he smiles as he grabs your wrists, moving them away from your round eyes. Scrunching your nose in displeasure, you catch your lip in between your teeth, mentally face palming at how weird you’re being.

He couldn’t blame you though, it was taking everything in him not to gawk at you. It was the first time you’ve seen each other naked. Bathing suits did little for your imagination, not that you had even thought about Taehyung this way before.

But he eases your nerves by coming down face level with you, reaching for your shirt and pulling it up over your head. You look at him with wide eyes, taking in each part of him as he caresses your body gently. He’s in awe of you like this. So relieved that you’re finally his, that he has you like this.

Nimble fingers dance down your body, landing at your core as he runs one up your slit, collecting your arousal on his fingertip. An impressed smirk grows slowly on his face, “I can’t believe you’re this wet already,” he hums. “All for me.”

His eyes remain focused on your center, devouring it with his eyes as his hands hold steady on your thighs. You can’t help but grow slightly embarrassed, dripping with arousal so early on though he’s barely touched you. A lump forms in your throat causing you to swallow thickly – this doesn’t go unnoticed by Taehyung.

A concerned expression crosses his face, brow furrowing as he moves his hands upward to settle on your waist. “Hey,” his voice is soft, gentle and full of worry, “everything okay?”

“Just nervous,” you answer, a fake smile showing on your face to try and combat your own emotions.

It is no secret that Taehyung is a bit more experienced than you are in bed. He knows that, you know that, and that is enough to turn you into a nervous wreck. Leave it to your own thoughts to ruin the moment.

“We don’t have to…”

“No!” Your voice comes out a little too eager, a bit loud, shocking Taehyung. His eyes widen in response, body jolting from the impact of your tone. “No,” you say more gently this time, “I want to.”

You did want to – you just have to get over your own nerves first. Luckily, Taehyung didn’t mind and was willing to guide you through it.

With a reassuring smile plastered across his face, he laces his fingers through yours. As you lock eyes, you nod him onward, giving him the go-ahead to continue. He moves languidly, his fingers moving back down to trace your slit once more. The sensation makes you tense, the nerves tingling through your body making it difficult for you to calm down.

But with a reassuring squeeze of his hand to yours, you’re taking a deep breath. Closing your eyes as you lie your head backwards onto his pillowcase. The smell of him consumes you, relaxing you effectively as his fingers meet the entrance of your core.

Shivers run through your body as he dips one finger inside. Your arousal acts as a natural lube, letting his finger glide gracefully into you. You gasp at the sensation, eyes rolling back into your head as he begins caressing your walls. His finger moves swiftly in and out of your core, his other hand still locked with yours to guide you through.

With your body finally relaxing, Taehyung is able to add another finger into the mix. The extra pressure makes you shudder for a moment, taking a little to adjust to the greater size inside of you. Thankfully the mild discomfort subsides, and he’s able to pump his fingers in and out once more.

He’s making sure to watch each of your expressions, growing harder and harder just from watching your face contort in bliss. With each of his movements you bite down harder onto your lip, focusing on him and him only.

“You’re doing so well,” he praises as his thumb rubs circles over your hand soothing you. You can feel your heart swell at his words, heat beginning to rise to your cheeks.

In one swift motion, Taehyung begins to separate his fingers, stretching your walls as his digits move in scissor-like motions inside you. “Fuck,” you mumble, hips jutting forward in reaction.

A steep moan leaving your lips as he brings his fingers back together, just to extend them once more. Your body is quickly getting used to the pressure, begging for more as you roll your hips.

He can sense that you’re eager from your movements alone. With one final squeeze, his hand is leaving yours. The empty feeling in your palm is unpleasant. But once you open your eyes and notice he’s using it to palm himself, his fingers groping around his length and beginning to pump slowly, that empty feeling is replaced with something else.

Your mouth salivates with desire, hungry for the feeling of him inside of you. He’s aroused you enough, and you’re too eager to feel him for your own good.

“Taehyung,” you moan, “fuck me please.”

His cock jumps in reaction to your words, his chest heaving as his breath catches in his throat. Never in his life did he expect to hear those words come out of your mouth – but he wouldn't mind hearing it again.

“Hmm?” He hums, knowing damn well what you said but being greedy enough to pretend that he didn’t. You whine in response, your legs shaking on the bed in a mini temper-tantrum.

“Please,” you drag out, “please fuck me.”

Your words are music to his ears. He removes his fingers from your dripping cunt, grabbing the backs of your knees to pull you closer to him and hike your legs up over his hips.

“Anything for you.”

Complying to your wish, he lines the tip of his cock up with your entrance. The feeling of his smooth head against your core is enough to make you moan, your head thrown back to expose the soft skin of your neck.

Taehyung takes this as an opportunity to leave his own mark behind, leaning down to attach his lips to your skin. You gasp as his teeth graze your skin, his plump lips sucking harshly before his tongue is swiping over the area to soothe it.

But your eyes open once he’s beginning to pull away to look at you. His eyes are dark, full of lust mixed with adoration, a sigh of relief leaving his chest as he gazes down at you under him. There’s a lot going on in his head right now. Of all the emotions swirling around, the thing he’s most focused on is how lucky he is to have you.

And before you know it, he’s leaning down. Pressing a chaste kiss to your lips, making you smile. One more kiss is left on your forehead before he's pulling back, securing the position of your legs on his hips.

And then he’s realigning himself with your core, pushing past your entrance and slowly descending into the depths of your pussy. He’s moving slowly, taking his time as he thrusts into you. The delicious stretch is unfamiliar, but it's not uncomfortable – like you were made just for him. A simultaneous groan leaves your lips as he bottoms out, the tip of his cock pressing deep into you on a spot that’s gone untouched.

He hums a sigh of contempt before pulling back, only to rock his hips into you once again. Your velvety walls welcome him delightedly, soft whimpers leaving your lips once he bottoms out again.

“Y/N,” your name leaves his lips in a low grunt, the bones of his pelvis driving into your skin as he begins to pick up his pace. In reaction you clench down on him, orgasm beginning to loom overhead with each movement of his hips.

Desire fills your senses as you roll your hips over to meet his thrusts. His movements are slow and intentional, making sure to bottom out each time to watch you squirm over his dick. He loves how your jaw drops each time his tip presses against your g-spot, knowing just when he hits it each time.

Taehyung’s teeth are barred, sweat gathering at his brow as his dark fluffy hair sticks to his face. He’s trying to hold himself back, the overwhelming urge to finish just in reach, but he doesn’t want to stop. So his hands roam your body to try and distract him, his palms caressing up the sides of your torso as your back bridges into him. The feeling of hot breath fans over your face with each sigh he lets out.

But the tightening knot in your stomach is threatening to snap with every movement of his hips. It's getting harder and harder to hold on with the power of his thrusts growing stronger.

“Taehyung,” you whine, “so close” your hands find his back, fingernails dragging down his spine in attempts to ground yourself. Taehyung’s face contorts as your nails pierce his skin, leaving lines of red scratches down the length of his posterior.

The stretch from his length and his rhythmic motions sends your senses into overdrive. Squeezing your eyes shut and grasping onto the sheets underneath you, you can taste the brink of your orgasm. Taehyung is focused; his grip on your thighs strong and his face contorted with bliss. But all you can think about is how stupid you could have been if you had decided to just cut him out. What matters is that you’re here with him now, and the thought of that is enough to push you over the edge.

Your breath hitches in your throat, stomach twisting and turning as your pussy throbs repeatedly around his member. Emotions running high, three words almost slip past your lips, but with the small amount of strength you can muster up, you hold them back. Another time, some time that isn't so lust filled like this one.

Taehyung’s thrusts are growing sloppy. His grip on your legs tightening as his lip is caught between his teeth. And with just a few quick thrusts, he’s coming undone inside of you. White, hot spurts of cum paint your walls, filling you up and making you feel so unbelievably full.

You’ve always felt close to Taehyung – he knew everything about you and vice versa; but this time was different. The way his hands settled on your legs, bringing them down gently after finishing. How his eyes are becoming so soft as he looks at you, a lazy grin pulling at his lips. You’ve never felt closer to Taehyung as you do in the moment. As his body collapses next to yours, pulling you in and holding you close as you recover from your highs, you’re completely at peace.

“Sorry I got carried away, I guess I should have asked if you’re on birth control still,” he laughs, burying his face into the crook of your neck.

“I am,” you chuckle alongside him.

Your naked bodies tangle together, his leg weaving its way through yours to be as close to you as possible. He’s intoxicated by you, closing his eyes as he rests against your body in complete bliss. Now that he has you this close he never wants to let go; and neither do you.

“Can I tell you something?” His voice is soft, whisper like but still confident. His tone doesn’t falter.

“Anything.”

“I love you, Y/N.”

Butterflies erupt in your tummy, your heart thudding in your chest as heat rises to your cheeks. He loves you. It's not that friendship kind of love anymore; it's the relationship kind. The same kind that makes your heart skip a beat and body riddle with every emotion in the book. The kind that keeps you up all night thinking about – but also helps you fall asleep, knowing he’ll be there in the morning.

And all of a sudden it seems so stupid that you were fighting those words back in the heat of the moment just a few minutes ago. He felt it too, you always knew that.

“I love you, Taehyung.”

Crush culture once made you want to spill your guts. Every guy sucked, relationships were stupid and love was a social construct that you didn’t feel like conforming to. There was absolutely no one that you would waste your time on, until Taehyung came around. What you had been looking for your entire life has always been right in front of your eyes – you were just too dumb to see it.

Maybe love is alright, after all.

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writingwhimsey · 3 years

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Lady of Azuchi Ch. 1

A/N: My Nobunaga fanfic based off of the romantic ending (minus the epilogue).

Chapter One

I walked the streets of Azuchi carrying my last delivery for the day. When I arrived at the residence, I was greeted by a maid with a deep bow. "Welcome Lady Ava. Please come inside."

"Thank you." I replied taking the invitation and walking in. This was unusual. Most of the time when I made my kimono deliveries, the Lords and Ladies of manors preferred to have their maids greet me and accept the package on their behalf.

"My lord and lady wish to see your work right away and thank you in person Lady Ava." The maid said, confirming my thoughts. She then led me to a room where the lord and lady sat drinking tea.

"My Lord, My Lady, Lady Ava has arrived with your delivery." The maid said with a bow before leaving.

The couple smiled at me. "Welcome Lady Ava, please come in and sit with us." The lord greeted. He was a local daimyo who had come to stay in Azuchi for a few weeks.

"Thank you." I said with a bow and brought forward the package containing their kimonos. I opened the package and pulled out their custom orders, displaying the beautiful fabric. "Here are your pieces, I hope you like them."

The couple looked them over. "How beautiful...and such string stitching. These are the finest quality I have ever seen." The lady gushed.

"Very well made indeed." The Lord agreed.

"It appears the rumors are true." The Lady said. "If you want quality work come to Azuchi and request a piece by Lady Ava."

I felt the blush rising to my cheeks as a smile of pride spread across my face. "I am pleased you like my work, though I don't know if I am all that special."

"Oh my dear lady, you are." The lady gushed. "Not to mention what an honor it is to have you deliver them personally."

"Yes, a true honor." The lord agreed.

"And now when we return home, I shall be the only one to have a piece created and delivered to me personally by the Lady of Azuchi Castle. I'll be the envy of all my friends." She gushed further.

Now their treatment of me made more sense. Just a little over a month ago Nobunaga decided being my boyfriend wasn't enough and wanted me to marry him. And I loved him so much that I eagerly jumped at the idea. Especially since we already were living as if we were. It more or less just made things official being his wife.

I believed them though that they did love my work. I had many of the same compliments from customers before I even fell in love with Nobunaga. I gave them a smile. "I am so happy you are pleased. If you ever need any more pieces just place another order. I would be more than happy to make another."

"You really are as hard working as they say." The lord said.

"I only wish to do my part." I replied.

We spoke a little further before I finally was able to get away. Thankfully they had been my last delivery for the day. Looking at the sky I saw that the sun was beginning to set. I decided to stop and grab some dumplings as a treat to take back with me for an after dinner treat to share with my husband.

I grinned to myself as I thought the word husband. It felt both strange and completely right to think of him as such. We'd been together for around six months, which I know seems like a short time, but my heart was his.

As I stepped out of the shop I heard a familiar deep voice call to me. "There you are, Ava."

I turned to see Nobunaga walking up to me. My smile became even wider as he approached me and took my hand in his. "Did you come out all this way just to walk me home?"

"Of course, these streets can be dangerous at night. I can't allow any harm to come to my most precious wife." He replied bringing my hand to his lips and placing a kiss on the back.

We began walking back toward the castle, hands still clasped as he remembered my request from when we first declared our feelings for each other. He remembers everything I tell him.

"So, what is it that had you smiling when you stepped out of the dumpling shop?" He asked. "I take it your deliveries went well?"

"They did, but that wasn't what had me smiling." I replied.

"Then what was it?"

"Just thinking about getting home and sharing these dumplings with my husband."

Nobunaga smiled. "I don't think I shall ever tire of hearing you call me your husband."

"Nor I you calling me your wife." I replied.

We arrived home at the castle and made our way to the tenshu where dinner was delivered to us. "How did you deliveries go?" Nobunaga asked me as we ate our meal together.

"Really well." I answered. "I have a feeling that before they leave, Lord Yoshikai and his wife will be ordering more...especially his wife."

"You are the best seamstress...I mean fashion designer around." Nobunaga told me with a smile.

I smiled. His remembering everything I have told him about the modern day makes me so happy. It also makes me miss it less. Though just being with him I could never regret my decision to stay in the past. "I do think some of these orders come from people's curiosity over me though."

"Why do you say that?" He asked.

"I think many of them wonder why the wife of the powerful Nobunaga Oda chooses to work as a seamstress." I answered. "I believe when I first arrived here you even told me to spend my time on cards and makeup or whatever...which is what I think most other wives of these lords spend their time on."

"You are a unique woman." Nobunaga agreed. "One of the many reasons I love you." He was then leaning over and placing a kiss on my forehead.

"And I love you."

After dinner we changed into our night clothes and sat out on the balcony, overlooking the castle town. Nobunaga pulled me into his lap when I went to sit down beside him. I let out a giggle. "Beside you is not close enough?" I teased.

"Never." He answered. He was then pulling the collar of my night robes aside and playfully nipping at my neck.

A shiver of pleasure ran down my spine. His touch was always full of heat and electricity. "Mmn..ah!" I moaned as he continued up my neck and to my ear where I was so sensitive. His lips, teeth, and tongue all stimulating me as his hands slid beneath my robe to cup my breasts, his fingers tracing my nipples.

I let out another cry and arched my back as he continued to shower me with his touch. Soon we were back inside and he had me lying back on he futon. He captured my lips in a passionate kiss as he undid my robes and pushed them aside. I reached my own hands to remove his robes and run them over his string chest and back.

Nobunaga gave me a devilish grin when he broke the kiss. Then he kissed down my neck, showered my breasts in kisses and nips, over my ribs, down my stomach, before stopping to lavish my thighs with his lips and teeth. He worked his way back up my thighs and then went to the spot I was hottest for him and when he reached there, began to use his tongue to stimulate that most sensitive cluster of nerves.

"Nobu...naga!" I cried out as I reached my hands down to wrap my fingers in his hair. He continued to lap at me, making me come undone. I clenched my thighs around him as wave after wave of pleasure washed over me.

"You taste sweeter and more delicious than my most favorite sugar candies." He said upon finishing giving me yet another wave of pleasure. He smiled at me as he began to kiss back up my body.

I didn't even have the words to respond nor form a coherent thought. Before my mind had a chance to clear, he was capturing my lips in yet another passionate kiss. At the same moment I felt him enter me and fill me so completely.

I moaned into the kiss and clung to his back. My hips moved with his, our bodies one. Each thrust brought me over the brink and I moaned and cried out. Every time we made love it was just as amazing as the first time. Nobunaga had memorized the map of my body and always knew where and how to touch me.

We crested the final wave of pleasure together and then fell back into the futon. Nobunaga quickly pulled me back into his arms, holding me against his chest. He then kissed my forehead. "I will never tire of hearing you cry my name." He said, his lips at my ear.

I felt my face flush. "That's good considering how good you are at making me do it."

He chuckled. "And to think just nine months ago, you stubbornly refused to do so."

"Yes, well that's before I knew you." I replied, remembering our early days. "Though you did make me cry out several times then, too...I just refused to say your name."

"Or admit you enjoyed it."

"Well...I wasn't used to being conquered."

"And yet you are the one who conquered me." He replied. "The woman who could tame the devil."

I pulled back and eyed him. "You're saying you're tame now? I somehow don't believe that."

Nobunaga laughed. "Only for you."

We snuggled up together and soon fell asleep, still wrapped in each other's arms. I awoke he next morning rather late. Nobunaga was already up and gone to get started on his work for the day. I found a note on the bed beside me from him.

I am sorry for you to wake alone. But you looked so peaceful sleeping that I decided not to wake you. I know you have the day off. You should rest and enjoy it for I intend not to let you rest tonight once I am finished with my work for the day. I love you and I will see you tonight.

I smiled as I read the little love note. A thrill of anticipation shot through me at the promised pleasure of the night. Especially once I thought of last night's pleasure...and the night before that. Pretty much every night ended in Nobunaga making love to me and holy cats was it always amazing!

Deciding I should get up and get ready, I sat up, but almost fell back down immediately as a wave of dizziness hit me. "Woah...where did that come from?" I wondered aloud to myself.

I kept one hand back on the futon keeping myself propped up and the other on my head. Once the dizziness passed, I slowly turned to look at the room. I saw a tray nearby with my breakfast on it. Slowly I stood up and wrapped myself in my robe. I could tell that my breakfast had long ago grown cold. Yet the thought of food hot or cold seemed to make my stomach churn.

I looked out at the sky and took note of how high the sun was. Just then there was a knock on the door and my maid was poking her head in. "My lady...have you just now woken up?" She asked, looking at me.

"Yes...I must have been more tired than I realized." I said waving it off.

"I'll take your breakfast and be back with a new tray." She said. "Since this went cold. It appears it is a good thing you have the day off. Clearly you needed the rest."

"Yes, I guess so." I replied. "But don't worry about the breakfast...I'm not feeling very hungry."

"Are you feeling alright my lady?"

"I'm fine." I answered giving her a smile. "Just probably a little exhausted."

"You have been working very hard." She agreed. "I'll draw you a bath. That should help you feel a little better and more refreshed."

"A nice warm bath does sound nice. I think that will help. Thank you, Kinu."

Kinu bowed and took my breakfast tray. "I'll take this to the kitchen and then get your bath ready."

True to her word Kinu drew a bath for me and I was soon resting in the nice warm water. It felt nice to have the soak. Kinu grabbed a small wash basin and set it at the back of the tub. She grabbed a sponge and some soaps. "Allow me to wash your hair my lady."

"You don't have to do that." I replied.

"I know, but I want to. Just to make sure you are truly relaxed, alright?"

"When you ask like that, how can I say no to your kind offer?" I replied.

Kinu smiled. "Now, lie back and close your eyes."

I did as instructed and Kinu pulled my hair back over the edge of the tub. She poured the warm water over it until it was completely soaked. I sighed and relaxed as she began to comb the soap through my hair. It reminded me of getting my hair done at the salon in modern day.

There was a pause in her movements and then I felt fingers in my hair once again. Though these didn't feel quite like Kinu's fingers. They felt larger, but were somehow gentler. I opened my eyes and saw those familiar carnelian eyes I knew so well looking at me, full of warmth and love.

A smile spread across my face instantly. "I thought you had work to do?" I asked.

"Is there any work more important than tending to my lovely wife?" Nobunaga countered.

"I thought your plans for world domination were quite important." I teased.

"There is enough time I can take a break." He told me. "Besides, I missed seeing you this morning." He was then kissing my forehead.

"Sorry about that." I replied sheepishly.

"No need to apologize. You've been working rather hard. You deserve to sleep in." He told me. "Though I hear you slept in rather late today."

"More tired than I thought, I guess."

Nobunaga shook his head. "Do I need to speak to the head seamstress about reducing your work load?"

"Don't you dare." I replied.

Nobunaga chuckled. "Just remember to take care of yourself, my love."

I looked into his eyes, seeing that they looked somewhat sad and concerned. "What is it?" I asked. "There's another reason you've come here and not just to take a break, isn't there?"

"Sometimes I forget how well you see me." He said.

"Another battle?" I asked.

"One of the daimyo has come forward reporting some riots in his fief. I am going t have to go and help settle things. I will be taking Masamune and Ieyasu with me." He replied with a sigh. "And I was very much looking forward to not letting you rest this evening."

"We will have plenty of nights for you to keep me up." I replied with a smile. Though I would miss him and hated whenever he had to go off to battle, I didn't want him leaving with a heavy heart for my sake.

"You always know where to find the bright side." He was then kissing my forehead, my nose, and then my lips. "I'll finish washing your hair and then we can have lunch before I have to leave."

"You don't have to finish my hair. I can do it." I replied.

"I want to." He told me in a tone that left no room for arguments.

He finished scrubbing the soap into my hair, massaging my scalp with his long calloused fingers. Then he rinsed it out, scrubbing my scalp more to get the soap out. I sat up and let him wash my back as well before my bath was complete.

I stood up to climb out of the tub and nearly lost my balance once again as another wave of dizziness washed over me. Nobunaga caught me and steadied me as he wrapped a towel around me.

"Are you alright?" He asked, nothing but concern in those beautiful eyes.

"I'm fine. I just slipped a bit when I was standing up." I lied. I couldn't let him know about the dizziness. I knew he would worry and I couldn't let him worry about me when he had a battle he needed to focus on.

He looked into my eyes, as if he could pull the truth from their depths. "Are you sure?"

"I promise, I am totally fine. A bit clumsy, but you know that already."

"I shall have to tell Hideyoshi to keep a close eye on you while I am gone."

"As if he's not already enough of a mother hen." I teased.

After a few moments, Nobunaga finally set me back down on my feet. He helped me to finish drying off before I changed into a kimono and then we went back out to enjoy our lunch. It was a rather delicious looking meal of smoke salmon, rice, and roasted vegetables. One of my favorite meals, actually. But the sight of the salmon made my stomach churn just as the thought of breakfast had when I had first woken up.

However not wanting to worry my husband, I picked at the fish and made sure to eat the rice. "Is there something wrong with the meal?" He asked.

Damn, nothing escapes his notice. I thought to myself. "Nothing. It's just that I am not very hungry. I did eat breakfast not that long ago...since I slept in so late." I lied once again, hoping that no one had told him I hadn't eaten my breakfast.

"That would make sense." He agreed finally. "How long do you think you will be gone?" I asked, changing the subject from myself.

"It's hard to tell for sure. The fief is a three days journey from here. I imagine it shouldn't take long to quell the riots once we discover the problem. But that could take a while." He answered me. "Though I have already sent Mitsuhide ahead to start investigating."

"If anyone can find out what's going on it's definitely Mitsuhide." I replied.

"Exactly."

After finishing up the meal, Nobunaga prepared to for his journey. I helped with what I could and then walked with him to the gates, where Masamune and Ieyasu waited along with a portion of the Oda army.

"Come to see us off, lass?" Masamune greeted from astride his horse.

"Oh you guys are here too?" I replied, my tone teasing.

Masamune put a hand over his heart feigning taking a wound. "Oooh, Lass that one hurt a bit."

"This is pointless." Ieyasu said in his usual prickly tone. He then turned his horse around so that his back was to the rest of us.

"You still make aims at my wife?" Nobunaga said, eyeing Masamune.

"I lost that bet a long time ago." Masamune replied. "Course not as hard as Mitsuhide or the lass did." He then winked at me.

"What bet are you talking about?" Nobunaga asked.

Heat rose to my cheeks as I recalled the bet he was referring to. "It wasn't even a real bet."

"So, you're saying you only take bets over games, then?" Masamune teased.

"What are you two even talking about?" Nobunaga asked, clearly irritated that there was something that he didn't know. It was kind of cute how jealous he seemed over something so small.

"It wasn't long after you made your bet with her. She came to deliver a kimono I ordered. Mitsuhide bet she would fall madly in love wit you only to be left crying. I bet that I could swoop in and steal her before that could happen...oh and I believe her exact words were, I bet you both that the world will end before I ever fall in love with Nobunaga Oda."

Nobunaga looked at me. "You really said that?"

"In all fairness that was after suffering my first loss and I still thought you were a big scary ogre." I answered honestly as my face reddened further.

Nobunaga laughed and then pulled me into his arms. "And now?" He asked, his lips at my ear.

"You're a slightly less scary ogre." I teased.

He laughed. "You're the only one I will let get by with that." He was then pulling me closer and giving me a deep kiss.

I felt the kiss all the way down to my toes as I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling myself as close as I could. When we finally broke the kiss, Nobunaga looked into my eyes. "When I return we will continue this further...and I believe I will have to punish you for thinking me an ogre."

I felt a thrill of electricity through my entire body at that. "Just what will that be?" I asked, wanting desperately to know what he had in mind.

"You will just have to wait and find out...let your imagination come up with all sorts of ideas while you wait for my return." He then kissed me again before mounting his horse.

"Lord Nobunaga gets all the fun." Masamune laughed. He then winked at me.

I returned a playful glare at him. "Just shush you."

Nobunaga turned to his soldiers. "Men, we depart. We will finish this battle victorious and all return home. None of you are to die."

Cries of, "Yes, my lord." Sounded throughout the group and then I watched as my love left with the other war lords and the soldiers.

I sent up a silent prayer for them all to return safely and swiftly. I stood at the gate until they were well out of sight. Then I turned to head to the castle, a wave of dizziness hitting me once again.

I was about to fall when I felt someone catch me. "Are you tripping over thin air now?" A familiar voice asked me.

I turned and saw Hideyoshi standing beside me. He helped me to stand and steady myself. "Something like that." I answered with a smile.

Hideyoshi eyed me like a mother eyeing her child she knew was lying. "Are you alright, Ava? You do know Lord Nobunaga didn't just ask me to look after the castle, but after you as well."

"I know...and that's all something you would do without him having to ask, I know." I replied.

"Do you need a doctor?" Hideyoshi asked me.

"Nope. I am fine." I answered. "Just a little moment of clumsiness on my part."

Hideyoshi sighed. "Alright, but I think you should get back inside and rest for the rest of the day. Just take it easy. Then after that you Mitsunari and I will join you for dinner. You definitely need to eat."

"Alright." I agreed, although food still didn't sound appealing.

Hideyoshi released me and then walked me back inside, watching me the entire time. He was such a worrywart. He walked me all the way back mine and Nobunaga's room. Once he left me, I realized how tired I still felt, despite sleeping in so late.

I decided to take Hideyoshi's advice and rest. I laid down in the futon and quickly fell asleep, though I did ask Kinu to wake me before dinner so I wouldn't worry Hideyoshi and Mitsunari when they came with dinner.

Kinu managed to wake me with just enough time to make myself presentable before the pair were joining me for dinner. I managed to eat more of the food than I had earlier in the day and, though I was forcing myself to eat so that I did not worry either of them.

After dinner they stayed and we played a few card games and chatted. I found myself able to forget about my uneasy stomach and the loneliness I felt with Nobunaga gone for just a little while. It was indeed so nice of them to visit with me for so long as I knew they had work to do.

"I think we have imposed on you long enough Ava." Hideyoshi said, taking note of the time.

"Yes, we should be letting you rest." Mitsunari agreed.

"Thank you both for coming to share dinner with me and keep me company for a while." I replied. "It was nice."

"If you wish while Lord Nobunaga is gone we can come by every night. We can't have you getting lonely."

I smiled. I knew that's why he did it. "Thank you. I would like that, but if you two are busy then don't worry about it. I know when Nobunaga is gone there is even more work for you to do."

"You let us worry about that." Hideyoshi said.

"Yes, you have nothing to worry about Lady Ava." Mitsunari agreed.

Once they were gone, I really was alone in the tenshu. I looked over at the futon which seemed cold without Nobunaga there. I sighed as I readied myself for bed and then slipped beneath the covers. I usually had a hard time sleeping when he was gone, but this night I had no troubles easily falling into a deep and dreamless sleep.

I woke the next morning, but not of my own accord. Kinu was having to wake me. "My lady, you need to be getting up and eating your breakfast. The head seamstress said more orders have come in for you even while you were off for the day."

I sat up, my head pounding. I pushed through the headache though and got myself up out of the futon. I managed to eat some of my breakfast, my stomach roiling the entire time. I dressed myself for the day and headed down to join the rest of the seamstresses.

I managed to ignore my headache and the roiling in my stomach by focusing in my sewing. It was amazing how many orders were coming in specifically for me, though. I was honored by how many people loved my work.

"You're doing so well, Lady Ava." Ohatsu, the head seamstress said to me. "All of Azuchi and beyond knows that if they want quality clothes to come to you."

I smiled. "I just really enjoy the work." I replied.

"And it shows." She said with a smile. "In all my years, I have never seen anyone as passionate about sewing as you are. Nor anyone's eye for colors and patterns as trained as yours."

"Well...thank you. I am honored by your words." I replied. It was then at this very moment I was no longer able to ignore the roiling in my stomach.

"Lady Ava..."Ohatsu asked, noticing a change in my face.

"Uhm...if you'll excuse me for...a moment." I was then dashing out of the room and finding the most discrete place I could to empty the contents of my stomach.

"Maybe I am getting sick." I muttered to myself. "But I till have work to do...and I can't have anyone worrying about me."

I made my way to go get some cold water and then composed myself before returning to the seamstresses. "My lady, are you alright?" Ohatsu asked.

"Perfectly fine. I just needed to get some air for a moment."

The next week was spent in a similar fashion. I was having trouble waking up in the morning and easily falling asleep at night. My stomach did not like the sight or smell of most food. I found that rice and chicken were easy on my stomach and typically stayed down.

If I just stuck with those things, I could keep how I was feeling to myself. I was eating dinner with Hideyoshi and Mitsunari again when a messenger arrived with a letter from Nobunaga. They had managed to calm things down for the daimyo and would be heading back for Azuchi in the morning. Which meant that in three days he would be home.

"Thank heaven." I said once Hideyoshi had finished reading the letter.

"Oh my lady, I believe this letter is specifically for you." The messenger said, handing me another letter. "Lord Nobunaga said you should probably read this alone."

I smiled as I took the letter from him. "Thank you."

"Well, if that's the case, I believe we should leave you alone then so you can read your letter." Hideyoshi said.

"Yes, have a good night Lady Ava." Mitsunari said.

"Thanks, you guys too."

Once they were gone I opened the letter and read it.

Ava,

I will be home soon. This last week without you has been terrible. I miss you and your warmth. As soon as I am home we will continue where we left off...and don't forget I have to punish you for calling me an ogre. I hope you are ready. There are some...interesting things that the local daimyo we just helped gifted me for the assistance. I think you just might enjoy them. I will see you soon. I love you.

Yours eternally,

Nobunaga

My mind went so many different places as I read his letter. "What in the world could the daimyo have gifted him? I wonder." I pondered aloud to myself.

Just as I was beginning to imagine a number of BDSM scenarios, I felt my stomach roll and then I was retching. "I hope whatever this is is over by the time Nobunaga gets back." I spoke to myself.

I managed to drag myself to bed and kept a pot beside me just in case. I fell asleep with no troubles, thoughts of Nobunaga returning filling my head.

It was finally the day before Nobunaga would be returning. I was working with the maids to get the castle perfectly clean and ready for the banquet we would be having to celebrate his return and his victory.

"Lady Ava, are you sure you don't need to take a break?" One of the maids asked me. "You have been working very hard today."

"I am just fine." I answered, though I was still not feeling well. I had to push through.

"You really should take a break, my lady." Kinu said looking at me with concern.

Though I had been trying not to worry anyone, I had worried Kinu. She alone knew how little I was eating and that I had been getting sick. She was also the one who had to wake me in the mornings.

I gave her a smile. "I will finish cleaning this hall and then I will take a break if it will ease all of your worries?" I replied.

"Alright." Kinu said, though the worry did not quite leave her eyes.

"Maybe I can convince her to take a break." Hideyoshi said coming up behind Kinu.

"I'm just wanting to make sure everything looks good for tomorrow when Nobunaga gets back and we have the banquet." I replied. I was then turning to finish dusting when I suddenly felt dizzy. This dizziness was stronger than any of the previous waves I had experienced.

I felt myself falling back. "Ava!" I heard Hideyoshi and Kinu shout, but I couldn't stop myself from falling nor could I respond. I am certain I felt Hideyoshi catch me before the world went black.

I woke to the sound of Kinu's voice and a man's voice talking, but not a voice I was familiar with. "I knew I should have said something sooner." Kinu said on the verge of tears. "But she kept insisting she was fine...I was thinking that maybe she was just missing Lord Nobunaga. She always gets a little melancholy when he is gone."

"You did nothing wrong. You were only listening to what your lady and mistress was telling you." The unfamiliar male voice said.

"He is right." That was Hideyoshi. "Your loyalty to Ava is quite admirable."

"She just didn't want to worry anyone." Kinu said. "But she hasn't been eating very much and she's been incredibly difficult to wake in the mornings and she has been going to sleep almost as soon as you and Mitsunari leave after dinner...and then the retching."

"I am sorry." I found myself speaking up as the room came into focus. I was lying in the futon in the tenshu. Hideyoshi and Kinu were next to my bed and then there was a third man to my other side, looking me over. "I really didn't want to worry anyone."

"I knew something was wrong." Hideyoshi said. "You should have told us sooner. We could have brought the castle doctor to you sooner."

"Now that she is awake, will you two leave?" The third man who must have been the caste doctor spoke up. "I need to speak with the lady and also perform an exam."

"Right, of course." Hideyoshi said. "We will be right outside the door if you need anything, Ava."

"I'll go get you some rice porridge." Kinu said. "You've been able to keep that down."

"Alright...thank you, both of you."

They then left the room and I sat up and looked at the doctor. "What do you think is wrong?" I asked.

"Tell me how long have you been having these symptoms?" He asked.

"A little over a week. They started with some light dizziness and fatigue the day Nobunaga and the others left." I answered.

He nodded. "And you've had fatigue and retching as well?"

"Yes." I answered.

"Forgive me for this question, but when was your last bleeding?" He asked.

"My last bleeding?" I asked furrowing my brow.

"Yes, the one you experience monthly."

"Oh." My period. I thought as realization hit me. I then started to think about it. "It was...uhm...a month before the wedding, I think." Had it really been that long?

"Then I think you and I both know exactly what your illness is."

"Wait...you mean...I am..."

"With child yes." He answered. He was then reaching into his robes and pulling out something. "This herbal mixture will help with the uneasiness in your stomach until it subsides on it's own. Sprinkle a bit in with your meals twice a day and it will settle your stomach."

"Thank you." I said, not sure what else to say.

"Get plenty of rest as well. Your body needs it."

I nodded. "Right."

"I will leave instructions with your maid and with Lord Hideyoshi that you are to rest and eat." He said. "But don't worry I won't tell them the nature of your condition. I am sure you want to be the one to tell our lord upon his return and I am sure you want him to be the first to know."

"Yes...thank you." I said, though I admit I wasn't thinking that far ahead. I was still in shock.

The doctor bowed and then left. Hideyoshi and Kinu quickly returned soon after, Kinu with my rice porridge. "The doctor said you have a small stomach ailment and that it should clear up soon, but until then he gave you some medicine?" Hideyoshi asked.

"Yeah." I replied, still in shock.

Kinu was then taking the medicine from me and sprinkling some in the porridge. "You need to eat my lady." She said.

"Yes and neither of us is leaving until you do." Hideyoshi said.

Something about the way Hideyoshi spoke to me snapped me out of my trance and I nodded. "Right." I need to eat. I have more than just myself to worry about now. I thought as I took a bite of the warm porridge.

Both Hideyoshi and Kinu stayed until I finished the entire bowl. "You are not to lift a finger or move from that futon for the rest of the day." Hideyoshi said, sounding so much like a worried mother.

I'm going to need to take lessons. Thought to myself with a smile. "Alright, I will stay in bed and rest."

"Good." Hideyoshi said. "I think you should stay in bed tomorrow as well."

"If the medicine works though and I can eat, I should be fine to get back to things tomorrow." I protested. "Besides, Nobunaga will be back tomorrow...I need to be at the gate to greet him."

"We will see how you are feeling in the morning and then decide from there." Hideyoshi said. "I am sure Lord Nobunaga will understand if you are ill."

"I know he will understand." I replied. "But I just want to be there."

A soft smile lit Hideyoshi's features. "Sometimes I forget just how much you two love each other." He said. "But still you need your rest and you know as well as I do, Lord Nobunaga wants you to be happy and healthy. So, we'll just see how you are feeling tomorrow morning and go from there."

I let out a sigh. "Alright."

After a bit longer Hideyoshi and Kinu left to let me rest. I lay back in the futon, but there was no way I could rest. "How am I going to tell Nobunaga? And will he be happy with the news?" I whispered to myself.

I rested my hand over my stomach and smiled. "I am sure your father will be happy to hear about you." I spoke to our baby as I imagined Nobunaga's warm smile and loving gaze. As I pictured that, I knew he would be happy. I just had to find the right way to tell him.

See what happens next below!

https://writingwhimsey.tumblr.com/post/659723839623905280/lady-azuchi-ch-2

#ikesen nobunaga #ikesen #ikemen sengoku #ikemen series #fanfic #fanfiction #romance #chapter 1

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