#when i can understand why my parents would not want to call monday but it also has already felt like its been decided on doing it konday | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

nancys4gf · 2 years

Note

So I've been thinking about this idea for a long time and I hope you could write it. The party stays a week at Steve's house as like a sleepover but it's a week long, and the reader and steve are the mom and dad of the party,(the reader has been around a but longer than Steve because they're Jonathan's best friend ) and it's just Steve and the reader being like a married couple the whole week but instead of steve being in mom mode it's the reader and everyone it confused at the sudden change but they love it, especially steve. And the party is just gossiping and being totally confused why the reader and steve aren't dating. ( bonus points if I could get a scene where will lays on the readers chest and naps and steve gets all annoying because that's "his place")

longing glances | steve harrington

summary: the party has a week-long sleepover at steve's house.

pairing: steve harrington x female reader

warnings: mentions of nightmares

note: dear anon, i LOVED this. i loved it so much i went crazy with it and ended up writing 5k words. it's honestly one of my favorite things i've ever written and i've had so much fun doing it. i truly hope you enjoy it as well!! thank you so much for requesting ♡♡♡

̟ ̇.˚︵‿୨♡୧‿︵˚.✩

– monday.

when dustin proposed the idea of a week-long sleepover, you thought he was crazy.

but as you drove the kids, robin, nancy and jonathan to steve’s house, every passing second convinced you that you all deserved to spend some fun, relaxing time together, after everything you had gone through.

after you honked the horn to announce your arrival, steve opened the door theatrically, a huge grin adorning his face. “mi casa es su casa.”

the kids didn’t waste a second before rushing in, pushing past steve.

“dude, your pool is huge!” dustin exclaimed.

“why is this the first time you’ve invited me over?” robin gaped at the house.

“i don’t know.” steve shrugged. “just, don’t make me regret it.”

“race you to the pool!”

“oh, yeah,” you laughed, watching steve’s panicked expression as the kids ran to the pool, jumping in without even bothering to put on their swimsuits first. “this was definitely a good idea.”

– tuesday.

“um, steve?” you called out, peeking inside the fridge.

“yes?”

“where’s the food?”

“right there.” he gestured.

“there’s a carton of milk and a tomato. what kind of breakfast is that?”

“add in some granola and you’ve got a champion’s breakfast.”

“steve,” you closed the fridge and put your hands on the sides of your waist. “i’ve got six hungry kids. and you haven’t stocked up on food?”

steve opened his mouth only to close it again, and gave you a guilty smile, before turning away to look for his jacket.

“let’s go.”

“where?”

he jiggled his car keys. “grocery shopping.”

— ❀ —

“can you grab some pop tarts?”

steve nooded, disappearing further down the aisle. you had agreed to split up so it would take less time getting everything you needed, but you soon realized you couldn’t leave him alone.

“one box? do i need to remind you? six kids, and a week?”

steve looked confused. “uh. two boxes, then?”

you sighed, shaking your head. “alright. we’re teaming up, harrington.”

and so steve pushed the shopping cart, while you tossed the items in it.

“get those,” you pointed at the fridges, and steve obliged, coming back with a significant amount of eggo’s boxes. “oh, and some lucky charms. will loves them.”

“did you sleep well last night?” he asked while taking the cereal.

“i did, thanks.” you smiled, glancing at him. “your bed is comfy.”

“i even put on some clean sheets for you.”

“what a luxury.”

steve had arranged his house this way: the kids slept in sleeping bags in the living room, robin and nancy slept in the guest room, and steve and jonathan in steve parents’ room. you were the only one who had an entire room for herself, and you still didn’t really understand why.

“i felt a little alone, though.” you pouted. “i’m the only one that doesn’t have a roomie.”

“i can go and keep you company if you want.” he said quickly.

“steve harrington,” you gasped dramatically. “are you trying to get into my bed?”

“first of all, it’s my bed,” he turned the cart into another aisle. “and no, obviously. i’d sleep on the floor.”

“or i just could join robin and nancy. or the kids downstairs.”

“yeah, yeah, of course. i was just- i was just saying.”

you piled up some tubes of ice cream in the cart, but had a hard time picking the last flavor.

you held up two tubes and stared at steve. “which one?”

he looked as if you were asking a question with an impossible answer. you sighed.

“will, lucas and el prefer cookie dough. but dustin, max and mike like strawberry better.”

“well, what do you like?”

“strawberry.”

“strawberry it is.” he stated, grabbing the tube from your hands and putting it into the cart.

as you resumed walking together, you glanced at steve, but he was already looking at you, quickly averting his gaze. you couldn’t help the smile that crept across your face.

“so,” he played it cool, opening another fridge. “three frozen pizzas should be enough, right?”

“six kids, steve. six kids.”

– wednesday.

steve was trying to barbecue. it didn’t take long before everyone realized steve wasn’t great at barbecuing.

“you’re supposed to wait for it to heat up.” jonathan informed.

“says who?”

“everyone.”

“well, sometimes you gotta be different, you know,” steve shrugged, placing the raw burgers and steaks on the grill. “do things your own way.”

“remember to cook dustin’s well-done. he’s sensitive about meat.” you reminded from the recliner, sunbathing with nancy and robin as the kids played in the pool.

“ouch.” robin whined for the hundredth time.

“what’s wrong?” nancy asked with her eyes closed, finally giving in to robin’s antics.

“the sun’s too hot.”

“it’s noon, robin.” you said obviously. “did you put on some sunscreen?”

“no,” she said quietly. “it makes me look bad.”

“you’ll look even uglier when you’re walking around like a burnt tomato.”

“here,” nancy offered, while robin threw her sandal at steve. “turn around.”

for the first time in history, robin did as told, and nancy started applying sunscreen on her back. robin went quiet after that. considerably quiet.

“hey, no running!” steve called out.

“sorry!” mike shouted back.

“you know you’re supposed to check on the food, right?” jonathan told steve, who was walking towards the pool.

“i am!” he said, before doing a cannonball, splashing dustin in the face.

the boys fooled around for a while: dustin getting on steve’s shoulders and steve dropping him, dustin keeping steve’s head underwater, trying to see how much time he could go on without breathing.

at some point, the sound of your laugh caught steve’s attention. robin had taken off her sunglasses, and her face was completely red and sunburned, except for the mark of the glasses around her eyes. you burst into laughter, almost falling from your chair. steve didn’t notice he was smiling. but dustin did.

“you’ve got something on your face.”

steve immediately started touching his face. “where?”

“here,” dustin pointed at his own chin, right below his mouth, before breaking into a smirk. “drool.”

steve scoffed and slapped dustin on the back of his head, making the boy wince and touch the area. steve directed his gaze back at you, but instead, he caught sight of eleven stepping out of the house.

“what are you doing?” she stopped, the eggo midway between the air and her mouth. “no dessert before lunch, you know that.”

eleven stared as steve dismissively, and pointed at you. “she lets me.”

she proceeded to walk away and get into the water, ignoring steve’s orders not to eat inside the pool. he glared at you, and you shrugged, a playful smile on your lips.

“sorry. i’m the cool one.”

– thursday.

the kitchen was silent and dark as you poured yourself some water. you closed your eyes for a moment, enjoying the way it refreshed your dry mouth.

suddenly, you heard a noise, similar to a creak or a screech. your guard immediately went up, and before you realized, your hand was reaching for a knife. you stayed very still and very quiet as the noise got nearer, until finally, a figure appeared in the doorway.

“shit!”

“jesus!”

you and steve jumped at the same time as he turned on the light. you exhaled and set the knife down, steadying yourself on the counter, your entire body shaking uncontrollably.

“it’s just me,” steve whispered, slowly making his way towards you. “it’s just me. i’m sorry.”

you nodded as you felt a pair of arms around your shoulders, pulling you closer to him. you could feel his warmth through the fabric of the t-shirt, the smell of his cologne radiating from his skin, filling the air with recognition and safety.

“i was just…” you sighed. “i came to get some water.”

“couldn’t sleep?” he asked, caressing your arm. you shook your head. “why?”

“i’ve been-” you stopped. you hadn’t told this to anyone. but being in steve’s arms in the dead of night made you feel safe. you knew you could trust him. you knew he would understand. “having nightmares.”

“ever since…?” he didn’t even need to finish the sentence, you nodded your head.

he pulled you even closer, needing to protect you, even if you weren’t in any real danger.

“i’ll stay with you until you fall asleep, hm? how does that sound?” he said, moving his hand up and down on your back soothingly.

“sounds good.” you whispered, turning your head and giving him a smile.

you walked together, steve’s hand steady on your back. but when you got to the stairs, you stopped.

“what’s wrong?”

you glanced at the living room where six figures lay, curled up against one another, sleeping soundly. they looked so peaceful. like they were ordinary kids, ordinary friends who did normal things like having sleepovers. they didn’t look like kids that continuously found themselves in danger, seeing each other go through the worst imaginable evils.

“i…” you hesitated, almost ashamed of what you were going to say. “i want to keep an eye on them. but you go.”

steve followed your gaze, and you noticed the way his eyes softened.

“i’ll stay with you.” he said firmly.

“you don’t have to, steve.”

he stared at you, and this time it was you he was looking at with pure adoration.

“i want to.”

with one last reassuring smile from his part, you nodded, and you two walked back to where you had come from. you positioned yourself on the large couch in the living room, while steve looked for some blankets.

“is this okay? are you cold?” he whispered as he covered you up. the blanket was warm and fuzzy.

“it’s perfect.” you smiled at him, moved by the tenderness in his gesture. “it smells like your house.”

“like my house?” he asked confusedly.

“yeah. you know how people’s houses have different, particular smells? well, like that.”

“and what does my house smell like?”

you pondered. “like steve.”

“okay, you’re not making any sense right now,” he chuckled. “you should sleep.”

he moved closer to you, covering himself with the blanket as well. it felt nice, being close to him like this.

“he snores.” steve observed, pointing at dustin, who was indeed snoring quite loudly. “of course he snores.”

you laughed together, but you didn’t talk after that. you could hear the occasional ruffle of the sleeping bags as one of the kids moved, the ticking of the clock, and the wind swaying the trees. you could also hear steve’s steady breathing, and your own heartbeat against your ears.

“thank you.” you spoke quietly after a while, just in case steve had fallen asleep.

“what for?” he whispered back.

“staying with me,” you looked at him. you were so close you could see every detail of his face, even though it was dark. “for taking care of me, of them.” you glanced at the kids.

he found your hand under the blankets, and squeezed it, giving you a smile.

“always.”

“you’re a good guy, steve harrington.”

what you said wasn’t new to you. steve was your friend, and you thought the world of him. and he knew that, he didn’t need to hear it in order to feel it. but actually hearing those words coming out of your mouth with pure sincerity and conviction, made his heart skip a beat. he was glad it was dark, because involuntarily, his eyes watered.

“i try,” he whispered, not daring to say something else in case his voice would break. “i try.”

“i know you do.”

– friday.

“sh! you’ll wake them up.”

“good, it’s already ten and i’m hungry.”

“what are they doing here?”

“shut up!”

click!

the first thing you saw when you opened your eyes was a camera. behind it stood jonathan, and the rest of the party, staring at you with huge smiles on their faces.

“what’s going on?” you mumbled, starting to get up, but something prevented you from moving.

something heavy, pressing down on your chest. you looked down, only to find a mop of disheveled, brown hair.

“we could ask you the same question.”

“steve,” you whispered, slightly shaking him. “steve, wake up.”

he only whined in response, nuzzling up closer against you. everyone laughed at the sight, and jonathan took another picture. you glared at him.

“what? this is an adorable scene.” he defended himself, smirking.

“straight out of a christmas card.” robin chimed in.

“you’re only missing the golden retriever.” dustin said.

“steve is the golden retriever.” lucas proposed. everyone agreed.

– saturday.

after a long day of swimming and playing a very violent game of monopoly, everyone was sprawled on the couches watching a movie.

the exhaustion of the day seemed to dawn on the kids and robin, though, because they were all asleep by half of it.

will was lying on your chest, as you ran your fingers through his hair. robin always picked the best movies, and this was no exception. you were completely engrossed in it, but someone insisted on distracting you.

“hey, that’s my place.” steve whispered teasingly from the other side of the couch, max’s head laying on his lap, while he gestured to will sleeping on your chest.

you laughed, shaking your head. you would be lying if you said you didn’t think about that night on the couch.

“catch.” he whispered again, but when you ignored him, you felt something hit your cheek.

“are you throwing popcorn at me?”

“i told you to catch.”

and so a war started, with you and steve throwing pieces of popcorn at each other’s mouths. steve caught a good amount of it, but you didn’t, and when some popcorn hit will on the forehead making him whine, you couldn’t help it, both you and steve burst into laughter. robin woke up solely to tell you to shut up.

after a while, the movie ended. the kids got settled in their respective sleeping bags, and the grown-ups wished each other goodnight and headed upstairs. you and steve were the only ones left, when he suddenly said,

“shit. i forgot to clean the pool.”

“do it tomorrow.”

“no, they want to use it first thing in the morning. shit.” he groaned. “i’ll do it now.”

“i’ll help, then.”

“no, no. go to sleep. it’s late.”

“come on, we’ll be faster if we do it together.”

steve wanted to complain, but you were already opening the window, gesturing for him to follow you outside. and god knows he’d follow you anywhere.

— ❀ —

you and steve were on each end of the pool, removing leaves and eleven’s eggo crumbs. the air was sultry, the stars shining bright in the summer night’s sky.

“thank you for inviting us over.” you spoke. “we’re all having a great time.”

“sure. my house is facing some severe damage, but yeah.”

“i’ll buy you some new plates for the ones dustin broke.” you rolled your eyes. “but seriously, i haven’t had this much fun in a while.”

steve looked at you, nodding his head.

“yeah, me too.” he paused. “i think we needed this, you know?”

“yeah.”

after a while, the pool was cleaned. you stood together, admiring your work.

“see? teamwork makes the dream work.” you said, passing a hand through your sweaty forehead.

“it’s so hot.” steve commented, and you could see how drenched he was in the way his shirt stuck to his chest. oh, you could definitely see.

“i feel disgusting.”

“good thing we have an entire pool for ourselves then, right?”

“yeah, right.” you chuckled.

thing is, you didn’t think steve was being serious. but he was. his movements were so fast and sudden that you couldn’t even move out of the way, letting out a surprised yelp as you hit the water.

“steve!” you cried out from the pool.

“better, isn’t it?” he smirked, and you swam to the edge of the pool, getting hold of his ankles and pushing him inside with you.

after splashing each other for a while, you two swam in silence, going in separate directions but eventually finding your way back to each other.

“you know, i wasn’t so sure about you at first.” you confessed, floating on your back, staring at the stars above you.

“you weren’t?” he asked, and you hummed in response. “what changed?”

“dustin adopted you and i was forced to be in your presence.”

he laughed, but he didn’t say anything.

“you’re not going to ask me why i didn’t like you?”

“nah,” he threw a remaining leaf out of the water. “i can imagine why.”

you stood on your feet now, moving closer to him.

“but you’re better now. everybody loves you.”

“keep going,” he teased, and you nudged him. “seriously, it’s good for my ego.”

“remember when you used to call the byers’ every night, so you could make sure will had gotten home alright?” you asked, and steve laughed, a bit embarrassed. “i think that’s how you finally won me over.”

“you didn’t have to do anything to win me over.” he said. “i was sold from the very first moment.”

“yeah?” you asked, a big grin creeping across your face.

“don’t let it get to your head,” he warned, teasingly. “but yeah. you were so sure of yourself. you never thought twice before doing something to help others. i wanted to be like you, i guess.”

you stared into each other’s eyes, the only sounds that could be heard being the sounds of the water and the rustling of leaves.

you didn’t understand what the feeling in your chest was. you had been in this same pool earlier that day, with the same boy standing in front of you, and you hadn’t felt whatever strange sensation you were experiencing now. the clothes felt heavy on your body, but being alone with steve made you feel oddly light. maybe your mind was playing tricks on you. but it felt good.

“come on,” he said after a while. “let’s get some towels.”

after rummaging through his closet, steve handed you a shirt. he turned back, and you turned back as well. you heard his movements as he took off the wet clothes and put on the dry ones. a shiver went down your back, due to the act of intimacy you two were sharing.

when you were dressed, you turned back, and he did too.

“you know, i have clothes.” you grinned. “i have a bag full of them.”

“i know.” steve broke into a smile. “i just like seeing you in my clothes. that’s all.”

you averted your gaze as your cheeks warmed up, but you could still feel steve’s eyes on you.

– sunday.

jonathan was showing you some pictures outside, while the rest of the party sat around the table having breakfast.

“is that your shirt?” dustin suddenly asked steve, pointing at you through the window.

immediately, everyone directed their gazes towards where dustin was pointing.

“holy shit,” max said. “it so is.”

“so what?” steve asked, feigning indifference. nancy and robin shared a look.

“why is she wearing your shirt?” nancy inquired.

“yeah steve, why is she wearing your shirt? did she run out of clothes? did she lose them? did she manage to get them all dirty?” robin insisted, and steve waved her off.

“she liked the shirt. so i let her borrow it.”

“it looks big on her.” eleven commented.

steve looked down, smiling to himself. “i know.”

“you’ve never even kissed?” max asked very seriously and very incredulously. steve stared at her.

“i’m not answering that question.”

“that means they did!” lucas exclaimed, and max nodded frantically.

soon, the breakfast table was in uproar. max, lucas and robin were asking for details, dustin was screaming at mike that he owed him twenty dollars, and will, eleven and nancy watched the scene entertainingly.

“no, no! shut up, everyone! no, nothing’s happened. jeez. you’re like a group of possessed parrots.”

“i’m confused,” dustin started. “why aren’t you guys dating?”

“yeah!” max exclaimed, and steve was genuinely surprised at the girl’s interest in his (nonexistent) love life. “you guys already act like you’re dating.”

“they act like they’re married.” lucas corrected.

“you’re perfect for each other.” dustin went on. “you both like horror movies, you always laugh at her terrible jokes, she laughs at yours. not to mention you’re the ones who take care of us.”

“yeah, and she makes you decent.” robin remarked.

“and you make her happy.” eleven pointed out, and her profound, sincere comment managed to turn them all silent.

you and jonathan walked into the room, taken aback by the uncharacteristic quiet.

“what’s going on?”

to make matters even more suspicious, everyone shouted ‘nothing!’ at the same time. you raised an eyebrow, but decided not to engage, sitting down next to steve and stealing a piece of bacon from his plate.

“i like your shirt.” max told you.

“thanks. it’s steve’s.” you said casually.

you watched curiously as the rest of the kids tried to contain their laughter. you looked at steve, but he just shrugged, a faint flush on his cheeks.

— ❀ —

things were changing with you and steve. you noticed it in the way his gaze lingered on yours, making every moment of eye contact a breathtaking incident.

and now, at the bonfire the kids had insisted on having since it was the last night of the sleepover, you saw it in the way he looked at you first whenever he made a joke, or when he gave you the best s’mores.

“bonfires always get me so emotional.” robin expressed. “they remind me of the last nights at summer camp. i feel like we’re saying goodbye, or something.”

“no one’s saying goodbye,” steve rolled his eyes. “i’ll be seeing your little sunburnt face before i get the chance to miss you.”

robin glared at him.

“expect to see a lot of me this summer,” dustin added. “you won’t be able to get me away from that pool. or your nintendo.”

“great.” steve said sarcastically.

“you know,” you said, taking the s’mores steve was offering you. “even if we’re not saying goodbye, this is still our last night doing this. we can get emotional if we want.”

“no, don’t start!” will cried out. “you always cry when you make speeches.”

“i won’t make a speech.” you rolled your eyes. “i just want to say that… i never thought i’d have a friend group like this. that i’d ever feel this comfortable and happy. and, honestly, after all we’ve been through, i think we’re bonded for life.”

you gazed at your friends, suddenly feeling exposed and vulnerable. “don’t you think?”

“yeah.” mike agreed, and the rest followed, agreeing quietly.

“i don’t think i could ever forget you guys.” max said. “even if i wanted to.”

lucas wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and she smiled, resting her head in the crook of his neck.

“whatever happens in the future, let’s promise to protect each other.” nancy spoke.

everyone nodded, a silent promise hanging in the air as the friends leaned against the person sitting next to them, looking for comfort in the people they trusted the most in the world. their family.

— ❀ —

everyone had already gone to sleep, but you lingered by the stairs with steve. it was your last night here. if something was meant to happen, it was now or never.

“so, last night here.” you commented, playing with your feet.

“yeah.” he chuckled awkwardly. “i mean, not mine. i live here. but yours.”

he didn’t say anything else, and neither did you. you looked everywhere except at each other.

“it’s been a… very insightful week.”

“totally.” you agreed, even though you weren’t sure what he meant by ‘insightful’.

steve finally looked at you, and you hesitantly looked back. the look in his eyes made your breath catch in your throat: you were pretty certain it was now.

“we should get some sleep. it’s late.” he concluded after a moment, putting his hands in the back pockets of his jeans.

“oh.” you nodded your head, furrowing your eyebrows, doing your best to hide your disappointment. “yeah, sure. goodnight.”

“goodnight.”

you motioned to go up the stairs, but he had to go upstairs too, so you ended up bumping against each other. you both chuckled awkwardly, walking together.

when you finally got upstairs, both of you glanced at each other’s respective rooms, lingering. okay, maybe downstairs wasn’t now or never, you thought. now was now or never. if he wanted to make a move, this was the perfect moment.

“alright. goodnight, don’t let the bed bugs bite.” he said and quickly walked away, shaking his head and muttering a ‘what?’ under his breath.

“uh, yeah, thanks.” you mumbled, walking into his room.

you shut the door behind you and rested your head against it, letting out a groan.

you turned and turned on the bed, but sleep wouldn’t come. you kept going over this past week, wondering if you had imagined all the longing glances and touches and subtle flirting.

wondering if the night at the pool, or the night when you had slept on the couch, or the morning at the supermarket hadn’t meant anything to him. like it meant to you.

not knowing was driving you crazy. so you decided to give in to your curiosity and impulsivity and got out of the bed, going over the things you were going to say when you confronted him.

but when you walked out of the room, you were surprised to find steve already in the hallway, wide-awake, his hair messy and his clothes wrinkled.

“oh, hi.” he said, startled.

“hi.” you replied, all your bravado and courage fading away as soon as you looked into his eyes.

“is everything okay?”

“yes, yeah. i was just… it’s nothing,” you chuckled sheepishly. “where were you going?”

“i, uh,” he looked away. “i just wanted to make sure you didn’t have another one of those nightmares.”

“oh,” you nodded your head. “yeah, i’m okay. thank you.”

“good. great.”

“i should…” you took a step back. “yeah, goodnight.”

being in steve’s presence was dangerous. especially when you were so worked up and sleepless and confused and he was looking like that.

you practically ran back to steve’s room, not daring to cast him another glance.

throwing yourself on the bed, you put the pillow over your head, trying not to scream. what were you doing? were you insane? you had almost ruined your friendship with steve just because you were being stupid over things that didn’t mean anything. not only that, but messing things up with steve would have perpetual consequences on the entire group, and you couldn’t do that. not when all of you had just promised you’d always be there for each other, no matter what.

naturally, you convinced yourself you should apologize to steve in case you had made things weird. so you got on your feet again, and you opened the door.

only steve was already there, his hand raised, about to knock.

and you forgot whatever it was that you wanted to tell him. you forgot about your worries and your fears and your imagination. you didn’t know what you had imagined and what you hadn’t, you just knew what you were feeling right now, as steve stood in front of you, his eyes showing an urgency that resembled your own.

you had spent the last hour going over possible things you could say, but at that moment, words were the last thing on your mind. because he was cupping your face with his hands and he was kissing you.

he was kissing you, and you didn’t waste a second before kissing him back, your hands finding its way to his hair. his mouth was warm and your hands moved about his body, pulling him towards you. it was just him, him and him and him.

he kissed you with so much force you stumbled back into the room, and he followed, his hands not leaving the grip on your waist. in one swift movement, he put one hand on the back of your neck, and he shut the door with the other.

– monday.

everyone was already in the car, except for you. you were standing with steve on his doorstep.

“so...”

“so…”

“are you busy tonight?”

“i haven’t even left yet and you already miss me?” you teased.

“maybe.” he grinned, and you felt so lucky, so ridiculously lucky, that you were the one he was dedicating that beautiful smile to.

“i’m free.”

“can i… pick you up?” he asked, interlocking his fingers with yours. “at seven, maybe?”

“sounds good.” you nodded, breaking into a smile. his gaze fell to your lips for a moment, before finding your eyes again.

“great.”

he kept playing with your fingers, simply gazing at you. you realized that it wasn’t that the whole world disappeared when he was looking at you. the world was still there, but he made it better.

steve placed one hand on your cheek, pulling you closer to him. he planted a soft, short kiss on your lips, before pulling away and planting another one on your nose.

“i’ll see you tonight.”

you said your goodbyes, and as you walked to the car, you were greeted by a tumult of screams and shouts as the kids cried out “i knew it! i knew it!”.

“yeah, yeah,” you said, rolling your eyes but not being able to erase the smile from your face. “now, seatbelts.”

2K notes · View notes

heavyhitterheaux · 1 year

Text

My Sister's Keeper

First Babies of Private Garden Fic

AN: the triplets are always going to be protect each other like their parents told them to. They're around 16/17 in this. 💖

Synopsis: Axel gets suspended for fighting at school and you and Jack have to get to the bottom as to why

Pairing: Husband!Jack Harlow x Wife!Reader

First Babies of Private Garden Masterlist

Please Do Not Repost My Content Anywhere

Urban was simply eyeing his oldest godson as Axel quickly made eye contact with him and looked down.

"Please don't tell them, Uncle Urb."

"Are you serious right now? We're sitting in the principal's office because you decided to beat the absolute shit out of someone at 9 in the morning on a Monday. What the? Axel, what am I supposed to say when I show up with you at 11 am?"

"Well, maybe I got sick." Axel suggested and Urban immediately shook his head.

"And got suspended for three days? You are definitely your mother's child but don't tell her I told you that."

"I… didn't think that far. Maybe I have a contagious stomach bug and I need to stay home for a week."

"I-.... come on now. But why did you do it? Ax, you're quiet and keep to yourself."

"I don't like him."

"Okay? And that’s a reason to fight him?"

"Can we just go home so I can get yelled at by my parents and get it over with?"

"It'll be better if you actually told them why you did it."

"Simple. I don't like him."

"Who are you and what have you done with my godson?"

Axel simply shrugged in response without giving an explanation.

Once Urban brought Axel home, Axel used his key to open the door and walked in to see you and Jack having a movie marathon on the couch. All eyes immediately went to him and Urban.

“Umm? Someone want to tell us why our child isn’t in school right now?” Jack asked as Axel nervously scratched the back of his neck, a habit that he inherited from his father.

“Ax, if you don’t tell them, I will.” Urban said while looking over at him and he immediately sighed knowing that a shitstorm would soon follow.

“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” You immediately asked, concerned.

“I got suspended.”

“Oh shit.” Jack immediately said, but you were staring at your child in disbelief.

“FOR WHAT?” You exclaimed and immediately crossed your arms.

“For beating the shit out of someone at nine in the morning.” Urban tacked on and Axel wouldn’t even look at either of you and became more interested in the New Balances that graced his feet.

“AXEL WYATT HARLOW!”

“Oh, damn. Did you atleast win?” Jack muttered and simply shook his head.

“JACKMAN!”

“What? What I do?”

“Be serious for once in your life please. Ax, you better start explaining and you better start now.” You said while motioning for him to come and sit across from the two of you.

He quickly sat down while Urban sat next to him and motioned for him to go on.

“I don’t like him.”

“Oh, so that’s the reason?” Jack asked while trying to understand why the quietest child of this would simply snap.

“Yes.”

“Ax, that doesn’t make sense. I mean your mother used to do that all the time but…”

“Jackman, choose your next words carefully.”

“I… anyway that still isn’t an excuse so what are you hiding from us?”

“Nothing. I just don’t like him. He thinks he’s invincible and I got tired of it.”

“And told the principal to call me instead of you two because umm well you know…”

“Urban Henry, you also need to choose your next words carefully.” You said while eyeing your best friend who threw his hands up in defense.

“Because I know all three of you would be disappointed in me but I figured calling Uncle Urb would get me in less trouble?”

“What the? What kind of sense does that make?!” You asked while looking at your child in disbelief.

He simply shrugged in response.

“Okay, um, well since you don’t want to tell us the truth because I know you’re hiding something, you can be grounded for a month and I’m debating on whether you get to play in your soccer game this weekend.”

“BUT MOM!”

“Babe! A month?! That’s….” Jack said while looking at you, but you weren’t going to budge on your decision.

“No, because he wants to lie. You know better than to lie to us. So until you want to come clean, you go to school after your suspension is over and come straight home. Oh, and don’t expect to drive anywhere either.”

“What about…”

You immediately cut him off.

“I don’t care. You have five seconds to get out of my sight. Come talk to us when you want to tell us the truth.”

Axel got up and immediately rolled his eyes which you caught and it was taking everything in you not to yell at him, but that quickly went out the window.

“Axel, roll your eyes at me again and I promise that will be the very last time you do it.”

“I didn’t even…”

“Lie to my face, again. Go ahead, I dare you.”

Axel just sighed in defeat before getting up and heading to his room.

Once you heard the door slam, you immediately got up, but Jack held you back knowing that you were about to rip your middle child a new one.

“Babe, just let me talk to him, okay? Just calm down for a second.”

“Got some fucking nerve slamming doors in a house that he doesn’t pay for. Jack, get your child before I do.”

“I got it.” Jack responded before heading upstairs to talk to Axel.

He softly knocked before opening the door and came to sit next to him.

“Now, you know how your mother is so I volunteered to come up here and talk to you because um she was clearly about to rip you a new one. You know she’s little, but walks around here like she’s 6’3. Don’t tell her I told you that because I’ll be grounded for a month too. Now, what is it that you aren’t telling us?”

“Nothing. I told you why I did it.”

“But Ax, come on. There’s gotta be something more to it because this isn’t like you. Autumn, yes, but not you.”

“That was it. Was tired of him.”

Jack simply sighed.

“Ax, meet me halfway here. You have to give me something because I’m trying to get your mother to change you being grounded for an entire month.”

“Well, I don’t know what to tell you.”

“I swear you and Autumn have switched places today. Anyway um, so just stay out of your mom’s way until she can calm down. And you know better than to roll your eyes and slam doors in this house.”

“I know… just frustrated I guess. I’ll apologize to mom later.”

“Ehh, just wait until I tell you when to do it. Oh, and hand me your phone. I have to come back downstairs with something otherwise your mother is going to kill both of us.”

Axel simply smirked and shook his head while handing Jack his phone.

“And don’t do it again.”

“Is that what grandma told mom since she liked to fight all the time?”

“I… look… I’m not saying she didn’t but… your mom never listened.”

—

It was around 2 pm when Ivy and Autumn got back home and you were in the kitchen getting an early start on prepping dinner when both of them came into the kitchen.

“Mom! I’m hungry!”

“Well, hello to you too, Autumn. My day was fine, thanks for asking.” You responded while looking at her and she immediately laughed.

“Oh my bad. Hi mommy, I hope your day was good, now can you feed the youngest of the triplets, please?”

“I… I guess that’s better so I’ll take it. Go get daddy’s phone and order McDonald’s.”

“OOH, okay!” She ran out the room to go and track down Jack while Ivy sat down at the island and was simply looking at you.

“Ivy May, be honest with me.”

Her eyes immediately went wide at the sound of her full name and nervously looked at you.

“Who did Axel fight and why? Because he won’t tell us.”

“Uhhh…”

“Ivy, I’ll get you that new make-up set you wanted from Savage.”

Just then Jack came into the kitchen before she could answer with Autumn hot on his trail.

“DADDY, PLEASE?”

“No, you are not ordering 40 chicken mcnuggets.”

“I’M HUNGRY!”

“Why are you acting like me and your mother don’t feed you?”

“I haven’t eaten since this morning!”

“So your first option is to eat 40 nuggets?” He asked her in disbelief and she immediately pouted.

“No, cut it out with the pout. No.”

“It works when mommy does it!”

“Hey! Don’t drag me into this.” You immediately said while seasoning the fish that you were going to fry later.

All Jack did was sigh before handing her his phone and all she did was smirk.

“Ivy, I got you a burger and orange hi-c. I’ll get the same for Ax, too.”

“Okay.”

Once Autumn handed Jack his phone and left the kitchen, you turned back to her.

“Ivy….”

“Well, you didn’t hear it from me, but Ax fought Jaden Greene.”

Both you and Jack immediately stopped what the two of you were doing and looked at her in disbelief.

“Excuse me?” You said and she immediately nodded.

“Um, so… I told Autumn to tell you but uhh.. Her and Jaden have been dating for like three months and Ax overheard him talking and saying how he bagged Jack Harlow’s and First Lady’s daughter so Ax went up to him and beat his ass. Oops, sorry, but um yeah. He didn’t think Ax was going to do anything because you know he’s quiet and keeps to himself. But he’s popular and has all his friends but yeah…”

“After we told her to stay away from him?” Jack said and simply looked over at you and he could tell that you were trying your hardest not to go off.

“I told her, but she didn’t listen to me. And I also told her how you two were going to kill her.” Ivy said while shrugging.

“Babe, let me…” Jack started to say, but you weren’t having it.

“AXEL WYATT AND AUTUMN DANIELLE GET DOWN HERE NOW!”

“Well, I’m going to go do my homework now.” Ivy said while sliding out of the chair and making her way upstairs to her room.

Axel and Autumn came into the kitchen with both of them looking nervous.

You had to even your breathing because you didn’t know which child you wanted to address first.

“Now, I’m going to ask this one time and one time only. If you lie to us, no one in this house is going to prom except Ivy so think about your response carefully.”

“MOMMY, WHATEVER IT IS, I DIDN’T DO IT!” Autumn immediately said, but you held your hand up to stop her.

“Axel, who did you fight? And why?” You asked while looking over at him.

He quickly looked at Autumn and both of them stayed quiet.

“Autumn, do you have a boyfriend and is his name Jaden Greene who me and your mother told you to stay away from and you went behind our backs and did it anyway?” Jack asked with his arms crossed.

He was definitely the most easy going parent between the two of you, but this was something he couldn’t let slide.

“Wait….” She started to say but you immediately shook your head.

“Autumn, what did we tell you? So you’re lying to us now too?”

“Daddy…. I…”

“He disrespected my little sister and I wasn’t just going to stand there and watch it happen. That’s why I fought him. He said something about how he bagged Jack Harlow’s daughter like she’s an object or something. I didn’t like the way he was talking about her.”Axel finally said and breathed a sigh of relief now that everything was out in the open.

“And Ax, you couldn’t have said this earlier?” Jack asked him and you remained quiet because you were fuming on the inside at Autumn for going behind both of your backs and Axel trying to cover it up.

“I know I should have said something, but I just wanted to protect my sister. Both of you always told us to protect each other no matter what.”

You had now finished prepping dinner and placed it into the refrigerator, but still remained quiet which made not only your husband, but your kids nervous as well.

“Uh, mom?” Axel said and you turned around to look at him.

“I love that you protect each other, however, there was absolutely no reason to lie. Especially because of how understanding me and your father are. Now you might not be grounded for an entire month, but you’ll still be grounded for lying.”

“That’s fair.” He quietly said and then you turned to Autumn who looked like she was ready to disappear into thin air.

“Okay, boys out the kitchen. Me and Autumn need to talk.”

“Daddy, save me!” She whispered to Jack who shook his head no.

“Look, you made your bed, now you have to lie in it. Talk to your mother and then we’ll both talk to you after about what you did.”

Once the both of them were out of the kitchen, you sat at the island across from her and could see her eyes start to water.

“You’re disappointed in me.”

“Autumn…”

“I… really liked him, mom.”

“Okay, first let me tell you this. A boy who respects you is never going to speak to you or about you in that manner, okay? You have to understand your worth and that you are more than Jack Harlow’s and First Lady’s daughter.”

“I know.”

“You have your own identity and you are your own person who has their own thoughts, aspirations, dreams, and goals. Me and your dad do not want for you to be in our shadow and we want for you to always be yourself. Don’t try to be something that you’re not to impress people because at the end of the day, you will find your tribe and the people that value and love you for who you are without you having to change anything about yourself.”

She simply nodded her head indicating that she was listening.

“The fact that you went behind our backs should let you know that you were doing something that you shouldn’t have done in the first place.”

“I admit that I shouldn’t have. But I know you and daddy wouldn’t approve so I just….”

“Promise me from now on, no secrets? No matter what it is. I’m not here to judge you, but I always want for you to be honest with us so that if any problems arise that me and your dad can help you to the best of our ability. I want for all of our babies to come to us if you need us. Don’t forget we were once your age too.”

“Promise.” She said while getting down from her chair and coming over to hug you.

“But you know this still means you’re getting grounded right?” You asked her as she separated from you and she immediately sighed.

"Wait, how did you even find out?" She curiously asked.

"I never reveal my sources."

"It was Ivy, wasn't it?"

Taglist:

@harlowsbby

@babyharleezy

@hoodharlow

@stefansalvatoresgf

@jackiehollanderr

@primadxna-girl

@dessmxsworld

@cockslutslurper3000

@raelorns21

@variety-fangirl

@gbaabyyyy

@kamorsstuff

@harlowthot

@sinsandsuccubus

@curlyhairclub

@bootlegroach

@haylexo10

@thinkingaboutjharlow

@fluidsentiment

@charli123456789

@moody4world

@yourstrulymayah

@yana4life

@beanbagbitch

@alinaharlow

@carma-fanficaddict

@minaxcarter

@arination99

@xjup1t3r

@venusvinc

@jacksmoviestar

@jackharloww

@midnight-star47

@minkookie95

@inluvwithladybug

@exoticr0ses

@jharlowsangels

@jackierose902109

@jackmansbabymama

@cmalass

@megawhoree

@softtcurse

@sia2raw

@miniaturehideoutmentality

@hoya122

@nattinatalia

@jackslover12

@skyesthebomb

@jackharlows-world

@louisianalady

@fdl305

@automaticpeachsong

@harlowcomehome

@gassyandsassy1

@babygirlwilly

@amethyst09

@harrycanyonmoonn

@toocriticalharlow

@tattered-tales

@sisiking99

@dessxoxsworld

@gillybear17

@jacksdaycare

@iheartharlow

@disaster-rose

@babyvinnie

@evansxchalamet

@chtkmyharlow

@itsyagirljaz

@neon-lights-and-glitter

@awhore4moree

@a-moment-captured

@jackmans-poison

@valentinqee

@lightsoutstyles

#jack harlow #jack harlow fic #jack harlow fanfic #jack harlow x reader #jack harlow x black reader #jack harlow fluff #jack harlow imagine #jack harlow fanfiction #first babies of pg

259 notes · View notes

loveesiren · 4 months

Text

𝖲𝗍𝖺𝗋𝖽𝗎𝗌𝗍 - 𝖢.𝖲. (𝖯𝗍. 3)

Disclaimer: Hate hate hate this chapter but some of y'all were getting mean so here is chapter 3. I think it's trash. My motivation has been shit lately so we'll see where this story goes.

Synopsis: Y/n runs away from her problems

Warnings: Language, heroin use, angst, 18+

Word Count: 2.8k+

Chris’s POV

I swear I was going to lose my fucking my mind in this tiny concrete room. I hadn’t even been in here for two hours and the anxiety was taking over. The cop sat at his desk, sipping his coffee loudly while watching a football game on a small tv that faced away from me. I was going to have to sit here until Monday morning and all I had to do was think.

A million thoughts ran through my head. I’m sure Matt and Nick already called our parents and they were going to be pissed beyond belief. Luckily our podcast was pre-recorded but if I’m not out soon news is going to get around that I’m in here. But most of all, I thought about Y/n. She seemed so upset. I knew she was blaming herself for this and I prayed she wouldn’t do anything stupid. I know how vulnerable she can get when she’s down. But I know Matt and Nick will look out for her.

“Yo, don’t I get a phone call or something?” I asked the cop.

He responded with a long sigh, as if my question was making his entire job more difficult. I furrowed my brows at him, awaiting his response. “Fine.” He finally said. He got up and unlocked the cell door before leading me over to the phone. “You got two minutes, kid.”

I nodded and picked up the phone. I dialed Nick’s number, knowing he was most likely to answer.

“Hello?”

“Nick? Hey! It’s Chris!”

“Chris! Are you okay?!”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine.” I responded. I could hear Matt in the background and Nick switched his phone to speaker.

“Chris, we'll bond you out first thing after your hearing on Monday! Mom and dad already hired a lawyer.” Matt said.

I sighed, knowing how disappointed they were going to be. “Cool. Cool. Uhhh can I talk to Y/n?”

Matt and Nick were both silent for a few moments. “Uhm…she’s not here…”

“Well where is she?”

“I’m not sure…”

I could hear the change in Nicks voice. Something was wrong. “What’s going on? Why are you talking like that?”

“Well…She uhm…Her and Matt kind of-”

“I kicked her out!”

“You did what?!”

“She’s always gotten you into trouble, Chris. I’m sick of it. I don’t want to see you ruin your life over her. I know you’re like in love with her or whatever but-”

“Go find her. Now!” I spat. “You don’t fucking understand, Matt. You don’t fucking understand what you did! Go find her and make sure she is fucking safe!”

“Chris, what do you mean?”

“Now!” I slammed the phone down on the receiver.

“Watch it!” The cop said. I bit my tongue and followed him back to my cell.

I sat in the corner of the tiny bed and buried my head in my knees, trying to fight the tears threatening to spill from my eyes. I loved Y/n more than anything in the entire world and I knew her better than anyone. I was the only one who knew she experimented with opioids. I tried them with her but I noticed how she started using them to numb her pain and I quit. After having to Narcan her TWICE I made her promise to never touch them again. I threatened to tell her parents. I told her I would take her to rehab. She begged me not to. I know I should have but she swore to me she wouldn’t touch them again. I helped her through her withdrawals and over the last two years she’d been true to her word as far as I knew. I mean I was with her most of the time and never saw her use or act shady. But now I wasn’t there when she needed me and who knows what Matt said to her.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK! I couldn’t stop the tears from falling now. My whole body was shaking with anxiety.

Y/n’s POV

“Y/n! Y/N!” Danny yelled, kicking my foot. I jolted awake and struggled to see through blurred vision. I rubbed my eyes and slowly took in my surroundings as an overwhelming wave of nausea took over my body.

“Ugh, what?”

“Your phone’s been ringing non stop! Fucking answer it or turn it off. It’s annoying.”

I felt for my phone as previous events returned to my memory. Chris was arrested. I got in a fight with Matt. One thing led to the next and I somehow ended up at Danny’s house smacked out of my mind. I wasn’t proud of this. But remembering what Matt said to me, I felt like I was exactly where I needed to be.

My phone started ringing again and I was able to find it between the cushions of Danny’s old, cigarette stained couch. The screen lit up with Matt’s name and I could feel the bile rising in my stomach. I ran to the bathroom and shut the door quickly behind me. I sat on the floor, heaving over the toilet, but not much came out. I can’t remember the last time I ate. I didn’t even know what day it was. I sat back and pulled out my phone. 13 missed calls from Matt and Nick combined. 5 from my mother along with three texts asking where I was. A missed call from an unknown number. To top it all off, it was 6:23 pm on Sunday. What the hell had happened in the last day and a half?

I stood up and looked at myself in the mirror. My hair was a tangled mess, a stained crop top clung to my malnourished frame and a pair of baggy sweatpants (that didn’t belong to me) were tied tightly to my waist. I looked at the fresh track marks on my arm, a trail of dried blood leading halfway down my forearm. I was disappointed in myself. I promised Chris I would never go back to this. But it was too late now. I pulled my phone back out, ignoring all the messages from Matt and Nick and opening the text thread with my mom. I typed out a quick message.

Hey mom, I’m fine. Haven’t been feeling great this weekend so I’ve been sleeping. Didn’t mean to worry you.

Not three seconds after I sent it, she was calling me. I sighed, really not in any head space to talk to her but I knew I was already on her last nerve so I took a deep breath and answered.

“Hello?” I definitely sounded sick.

“Y/n! Honey! Where are you?! Are you okay?!”

“I-I’m fine, mom. I’m at home. I’m just a little sick.”

“Nick and Matt said you weren’t at your house! They were just there!”

Fuck. Why the fuck had they come by?

“I just stepped out to get some medicine. I just got back.” I lied.

The lie seemed to calm her down a bit. “MaryLou told us what happened to Chris. We just wanted to make sure you were doing okay.”

“Yeah, mom. I’m fine. Matt and Nick are going to bail him out tomorrow.” I felt nauseous again thinking about it. I didn’t know what to expect when Chris got out. I wasn’t great with confrontation and after the situation with Matt and relapsing with Danny, I didn’t really want to face Chris. “Uhm, mom, some friends asked me to go camping for a few days. So my service might be spotty.”

“I thought you were sick?”

“Yeah, I think it’s just like food poisoning or something. I should be better by tomorrow. But I’ll call you when I can, okay?”

“Y/n, are you sure you’re okay? If something is wrong you can tell us, we can come out there…”

“No, I’m fine mom. I promise. I’ll talk to you soon, okay? I love you!”

With that, I hung up on her and quickly exited the bathroom. “Danny, let’s go.”

“Go where?” He asked.

“I-I don’t know. San Diego or something? I just need to get out of here before Chris gets out tomorrow?”

“Why? I thought you looooved him.” Danny mocked. “You’ve been mumbling about him non stop.” He sighed and sat back.

Danny liked you. That wasn’t a secret. He wasn’t bad looking. But he was a “bad boy”. His main job was drug dealing. He hung around with shady people, did shady shit, and hated on people like the Sturniolo’s for being in the public eye. Even though you were getting into your modeling career, Danny didn’t seem to care. You didn’t believe Danny’s feelings were deep. You didn’t believe Danny was capable of deep feelings or love. But you were hot and you had him wrapped around your finger.

“I-I can’t face Chris like this. I just want to get away from here. Please?”

“My cousin has a condo down in Chula Vista. It’s right by the beach. I could call him.”

“Okay. I’m gonna run to my apartment and grab some things.”

I left Danny’s apartment, and ran up to mine. I grabbed a duffle bag from my closet and grabbed some clothes, a toothbrush, and some deodorant. The basic necessities. I was almost done packing when I heard a knock on my door.

“Coming!” I said, assuming it was Danny. I threw my bag over my shoulder and made my way to the door. I swung it open, ready to go but stopped in my tracks when I saw Matt standing in front of me.

“Going somewhere?” He asked.

It was hard to find my voice. My mind was a mess and my body was hurting. I needed a fix. “Uhm- Camping. With some friends.”

“Camping with friends. What friends?” Matt asked, stepping into my apartment now.

“Just some friends. You don’t know them.” It was somewhat true. Nick and Matt didn’t know Danny. Hence why they couldn’t find me earlier. But lying to my mom about camping with friends was one thing. She didn’t know my social circle out here. Chris, Nick, and Matt on the other hand, pretty much were my social circle. We shared the same friends. If I really was to go camping with friends, chances are they’d be coming too.

“Look, Y/n. I’m sorry for what I said yesterday…I was just upset and it was wrong of me to blame it on you.” I didn’t know how to respond so I just looked to the floor. “Chris is really going to want to see you tomorrow and-” He stopped, noticing my arms. He grabbed my wrist and yanked my arm into view. “Y/n, what the fuck happened to your arms?! Have you been shooting up?!”

“Ready to go, Princess? My cousin said-” Danny appeared in my doorway. “Well look what the cat dragged in.” Danny said with his skeezy smile.

Matt looked him up and down before looking back at me. Danny had on tight jeans with chains and a sleeveless band shirt. He reeked of cigarette smoke and I knew Matt was judging me.

“This is who you’re going camping with?” Matt asked.

“Look, I gotta go…” I said pushing past Matt and locking my door.

“So you’re just going to dip out on Chris?” Matt asks. “Come on Y/n. You’re better than this guy!”

“Excuse me?” Danny asks, turning to face Matt. I step in front of Danny, putting my hand on his chest.

“Matt. You said it yourself. I’m no good for Chris…”

“Y/n, I didn’t mean-”

“It’s fine. I gotta go. Take care of him, okay?”

With that, I grabbed Danny’s hand and pulled him along with me down to his car to avoid any further conversation with Matt. I noticed his van with Nick inside sitting in the parking lot. He looked confused. I looked away and climbed into Danny’s car, urging him to drive away.

Danny offered me a cigarette and I took it. Remaining quiet as I sparked it. He didn’t ask questions. But he did place his hand on my knee as he drove. “You don’t need them, Princess. I’ll take care of you.”

The words made my stomach twist into a knot. I wanted Chris. But Matt was right. I didn’t deserve him. I was exactly where I deserved to be. “You got any more dope?”

“Gonna pick some up on our way, don’t worry.” He smiled at me. I attempted a half ass smile as I bit back the urge to cry. I looked down at my phone, studying the photo of me and Chris I had set as my wallpaper. It was a silly photo of us in highschool. We were both laughing, I was on Chris’s back as he ran down the hall with me. It was a time in my life I was truly happy.

I shut my phone off and threw it in my bag, focusing on the world passing by through the window of Danny’s old BMW. I knew this wasn’t the right move but I was never good at confronting my problems and the promise of an escape and drugs was enough to leave LA and Chris behind me.

Chris’s POV

I sat silently while the judge went over my charges. Cameron Jacobs and his family sat and watched with smug looks on their faces. Matt and Nick sat on the opposite side of the courtroom, ready to bail me out. I was disappointed when they showed up without Y/n.

The judge set my bond to $5,000 and gave me another court date. By noon, I was gathering my things and climbing into the van. Nick was hounding me with questions while Matt remained relatively quiet.

“So where’s Y/n?” I asked, no longer wanting to think about the trouble I was in or the fact that I would have to call my parents when I got home and get my ass chewed out, or the fact that we were out five grand. “Why didn’t she come?” My voice cracked.

Nick looked at Matt, seeing if he would admit what happened. Matt remained silent. “Matt…”

“Where is she, Matt?” I asked.

“Look Chris-”

“No tell me the fucking truth! It’s your fault she fucking left in the first place. Where is she?!”

Matt sighed. “I went to her place last night. She left with some sleaze bag. Said she was going camping…”

“Dude with combat boots, covered in shitty tattoos, smelled like cigarettes?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“Danny.” I hissed. He was such a piece of shit. Always trying to get in Y/n’s pants. He was a slimy drug dealer and now she was God knows where with him.

“She had, uhm…she had track marks on her arms…” Matt said.

I tried to take a deep breath but I was beyond livid. “Pull over.” I said as calmly as I could.

“What? Why?” Nick asked.

“Pull the fucking car over!”

Matt did as I asked and I climbed out, slamming the door behind me before walking off down the street.

“Chris! Where are you going?!” Matt asked as him and Nick chased after me. I really didn’t want to be near him right now.

“Fuck off, Matt!”

“You have to fucking talk to me, man!” He said, grabbing my shoulder and forcing me to look at him. I pushed him off of me and Nick was quick to catch him before he fell.

“This is your fucking fault!” I yelled. “Why the fuck would you say those things to her, Matt? She’s been our best friend our whole lives! This is your fucking fault!”

“I was just looking out for you! It’s not my fault she’s a drug addict, man!”

I threw myself at Matt, punching him in the eye. He fought back but it didn’t last long before Nick was separating us.

“Stop it! What the hell is the matter with you guys?!” Nick yelled. “Chris, you just got out of jail for fucking assault. Beating up your own brother isn’t going to get you anywhere! And Matt, you were wrong for what you said to Y/n. But we aren’t going to find her if you end up back in jail and don’t work together. So both of you get in the fucking car and let’s go home and figure something out.”

As much as I hated Matt right now, Nick was right. All I really cared about was finding Y/n and I was going to need help doing that. I climbed back into the car silently and endured the ride home. I had tried texting and calling Y/n earlier but it went straight to voicemail. I typed out one more text.

Y/n, please be okay. I’m so worried about you. Fuck whatever Matt said. You mean everything to me. Please just text me back when you get this so I know you’re okay. I love you…

Tags:@strniohoeee@daisysturniolo.@justangelheree@flowerxbunnie@recklesssturniolo@lustfulslxt@mangosrar@bluesturniolo333@christinarowie332@kenzieiskoolaid@sturniolopepsi@mattenthusiast@ilovecrazymen@sturnphilia@poopydroopt@miaakenn

#sturniolo triplets #chris sturniolo #matt sturniolo #chris sturniolo x reader #nick sturniolo #sturniolo fanfic #matt sturniolo x reader #stardust #angst #sturniolo #chris sturniolo imagine #chris x reader #christopher sturniolo #effy stonem #jack o'connell

87 notes · View notes

dira333 · 7 months

Text

Passing Peonies - Post War Touya Todoroki - Part VI

When the war ended, Midoriya Izuku had proven one thing: That Villains did not need to be killed to be defeated. That you could make friends from enemies.

Touya Todoroki, formerly known as Dabi, had been one of those taken into the rehabilitation program. After one year of intense physical and psychological therapy, he's got the chance to prove himself. To prove that he can be a part of this world.

Complete fic length: 30.600 words - Masterlist

Warnings: poor mental health and resentment against past actions is mentioned, burn scars etc. as well. There is angst but this is mostly soft Touya coming back to his family...

Part 6: (2,5k words)

You’re in the kitchen, washing your hands and looking at the garden through the window when the door opens.

“We’re home!” Natsuo calls out.

“In the kitchen,” Touya calls back, drying his hands and sending you a comforting smile.

“My siblings.”

You nod.

“Oh, you’re here too.” Natsuo’s surprise is palpable until he spots the tree through the kitchen window.

“Sick! Fuyumi! Shouto! We’ve got a new tree.”

“What do you mean, a new tree?” Fuyumi steps in next, throwing you a polite smile before she spots the tree as well, racing after Natsuo on the way out.

Shouto’s the last to come by, staying close to the door instead of entering the kitchen properly, nodding a greeting.

“I’ll be in my room.” He tells them quietly.

“Don’t you want to see the tree?” Touya asks, hoping that his brother will like it. His reaction is the most important to him, after his parents.

“I don’t remember the first tree.” Shouto reminds him. Again, it feels personal.

Your hand’s suddenly on his arm.

Your eyes are still on Shouto like they always are when he’s around. But you’re touching him, voice soft and careful when you speak.

“To him, it is just a tree.” You tell him. “If you want him to understand, you’ll have to explain it. You can’t expect him to read your mind.”

“What’s it to you?” Shouto asks from the door and you push him, gently, towards his baby brother.

When they come back inside, you’re gone.

He wishes you had stayed.

“Your siblings,” You ask, late Monday afternoon, “How old are they?”

He’d been telling you about their reactions, how Natsuo and Fuyumi had been awed by your Quirk, how Shouto had been cautious at first and lost in thought the rest of the night.

How his mother had cried and his father had hugged him, awkwardly but tight, when they realized what their tree stump had become.

“Fuyumi is one year younger than me. I’m 26 by the way. Natsuo is four years younger and Shouto is eight years younger. Why?”

“Just curious. Shouto-kun looks a lot older than he is but when he mentioned that he did not remember the tree I felt my math not adding up.”

“How old are you?” He asks something he’s been wondering about for longer than he wants to admit.

“Guess.” You’re grinning and he’s groaning.

“Don’t do that to me. I’m awful at that.”

You shrug. “You don’t have to guess. You can just keep not knowing.”

“Twenty.” He blurts out the first number that comes to his mind. You laugh.

“Twenty-two?”

“Sill wrong.”

“Twenty-four?”

“Nope.”

He glares at you as you giggle.

“Eighteen.”

You’re full-on laughing now, enjoying his miserable guessing skills a little too much, when the bell chimes and his father enters the shop.

You fall quiet like the laughter has been sucked out of you.

“I’m sorry.” Enji looks as awkward as Touya feels. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“No worries.” Your smile is polite but distant. “I need to get more plant food for the roses. Call me if you need help.”

You move toward the back room but his father calls your name.

“No, please… Please stay. My wife sent me. We want to invite you over. For dinner. As a thank you for the tree.”

“I didn’t do much.”

“You did more than enough.”

Again it feels like you’re no longer talking about the tree.

“You don’t have to.” He tells you. “But it would be nice if you came.”

You look at him and Touya wonders, not for the first time, if you can read his mind.

Eventually, you nod. “But nothing fancy, please.”

Touya smiles. “Just grilled cheese.”

You smile too, but it doesn’t quite reach your eyes.

He’d begged and bribed and read through any recipe he could find to make it happen only to be the one stationed in the kitchen while you’re sitting at the table.

He’s filling Gyoza with cheese and can barely see anything through the door, just Shouto’s stiff back and half of his mother’s head. At least Fuyumi is there with him, bribed with two new plants for her room and one of his jackets she’s taken a liking to.

A year and a half might have passed since he’d survived the war, but Dinners at Todorokis are never a lively thing.

Which is why it’s not surprising that all he can hear is small talk with long breaks in between.

“The bouquets this week were quite nice.” He hears his father say as he folds yet another Gyoza, regretting - again - that they came here right after work. “My secretary says it’s the nicest we’ve had so far and asked if he could take it home on Saturday to his wife.”

“That was one of Touya-kun’s creations.” You answer softly and his ears burn under your praise.

“Does he have talent?” That’s Shouto. His question, as usual, is a little bit too direct. It speaks for his family that no one chides him and instead, waits for your answer.

“He has been my most talented employee so far.” You admit freely. “He has a fantastic eye and a good ear for the plants.”

“Why, are they talking?” Natsuo asks and Touya presses his thumb so hard into the Gyoza that the dough breaks.

“They can if you’re listening.” You answer simply and he knows, he just knows, that his brother thinks you’re a nutjob.

“Is that what you’re doing?” His mother asks when he plates the last Gyoza, now fried a little crispy on the edges, and takes them out with Fuyumi following him with the other dishes.

“Food’s ready.” He calls out and places the dish in front of you before taking a seat across from you.

He watches you smile when you take the first bite, sharing a look with him that only he understands. Suddenly, having to stand in the kitchen for a last-minute dish after work is worth it if just for that look on your face.

“Touya has told us that your Quirk allows you to grow things.” His mother starts again when the food is devoured.

“Well, yes. That is what I do.”

“Can you grow fruit or just plants that will eventually produce fruit?” Shouto asks, following it up with an explanation. “Momo can materialize anything as long as she knows the molecular structure behind it.”

He points at his girlfriend who’d been mostly quiet up until now. She shows her bare arm and with a glowing light, a plump apple falls from her skin. She catches it in her hand and offers it to you.

“I cannot grow fruit. But I can grow a cut flower instead of the bush that will eventually produce said flower.” You stretch out your hand as if you’re trying to pluck a crumble from Touya’s hair and when you pull it back, he recognizes the closed bulb of a peony in your hand, the stem as long as your arm.

“But they have a mind of their own. Especially peonies don’t like to come out blooming.”

“We are so grateful that you helped grow back our tree. It feels like old wounds can heal now.”

Touya tenses, feeling your eyes on him. It’s not that he dislikes talking about the tree, but he feels like they’ve done enough talking about the tree by now. Sure, they cannot yet see what the spring will bring with the flowers and plants that he placed, but they could ask about it for a chance.

“Have you had the chance to listen to what the rest of the garden will bring in the spring?” You ask at that moment as if you’d read his mind yet again.

“I understand that there will be tulips, but please, Touya, tell us again.”

After dinner, you relocate to the living room, where Rei pulls out a picture album.

“I redid this one after I’ve found some pictures I’d forgotten about.” She explains and opens it on the first page to Touya, naked, in the arms of his father.

He’s going to die.

“Oh, you were so cute back then.” Fuyumi coos.

“You peed on me,” Enji remembers fondly. “And couldn’t stay still for a second.”

“Do you feel comfortable with me seeing these pictures?” You ask, quietly, but somehow loud enough for the room to fall quiet.

Touya stills, focusing on your eyes, on your face, on everything he’s learned to trust, and nods.

“Yeah. It’s embarrassing but I trust that you’ll not go around advertising with my baby pictures.”

You shrug with a smile. “I might, if it would sell.”

He laughs, surprised at the joke.

The first year of his life is documented to the extreme.

He’d been born prematurely and the pictures of himself, tubes sticking out of every opening, inside a glowing cube of some kind, still seem to hurt his parents.

Fuyumi is almost double his size at birth, looking like a model baby on her father's arm.

“Did not pee on me,” Enji recalls just as fondly. “But you did poop on me once.”

By the time Natsuo is born, Touya’s fire quirk had already manifested. But the pictures are not organized chronologically, it seems, because after Natsuo’s baby picture’s, there are picture’s of baby Shouto.

Now, years later, and with a different mindset, he can tell that his baby brother has the cutest baby face of all of them. Maybe it’s the eyes, or his hair, or something else entirely, but when he looks at those pictures now, he feels no hatred, but a warm kind of curiosity.

Natsuo flips the page and there he is, Touya, hands aflame, a proud look on both his and his father’s face who’s standing next to him, equally aflame.

He’d forgotten about that picture but that’s not what pulls his attention. Instead it’s your brows, pinched together like you’re holding a thought. And you keep holding it, through all the pictures you’re shown.

He drives you home.

It’s his father’s car and he’s only allowed to take it every other day, but it doesn’t matter right now, because he’s driving you home and your brows are still pinched and he doesn’t know what’s wrong.

“Ever since you saw that picture of me,” he starts when he parks in front of the shop, “You’ve looked deep in thought.”

“I just never realized that you used to have orange flames.” You tell him. “I knew you had a fire quirk but when I looked it up once it was mentioned that your flames were blue.”

“I don’t really have a fire quirk.” He realizes he’s babbling but he can’t seem to stop. “Or at least my body can’t handle the fire. I’m not allowed to use it anymore. Haven’t figured out the ice thing though, so I’m kinda quirkless at the moment.”

“When did your blue flames appear?” You ask, completely disregarding his comment, something you’ve never done before.

“When I was about nine, I had it when I burned down the-” He halts, realizing what he was about to say, and finishes his sentence anyway. “Tree. When I burned down the tree.”

You don’t flinch at his admission. You just stare out the window, still deep in thought.

“Do you have a problem with fire quirks?” He asks, more a guess, really.

“Quite the contrary, actually.”

“You love fire quirks?” If only his heart wouldn’t beat this quick.

“When I was thirteen years old, the building I was in burned down. I only survived because someone with a fire quirk saved me at the last minute.”

“The scaring on your neck.” He blurts out before he can stop himself but you nod calmly.

“Yes. I do not try to hide it but I am aware that my hair covers most of it.”

“Did you think that Shouto or my father could have saved you?”

“I don’t know.” You say. “I just remember a burning figure coming through the fire and the next thing I knew was me waking up in the hospital.”

“It could be someone else with a fire quirk.” He points out before realizing that there are no other documented cases with a fire quirk like theirs. His own grandmother had a lava quirk after all.

But why are you so tense about it?

“Are you disappointed that my father might have saved you?”

You sigh and your brows relax as if you’re letting go of what bothers you. He wishes he could do the same.

“I don’t know if this is a universal thing or if it’s just me, but when I was saved, I felt like I had to make it count. To live a life worth saving. But I also just wanted a quiet life and wondered if that would be okay for my savior. Never knowing who it was made it easier until I met your father and now I cannot stop thinking about how my life must look through his eyes.”

“It could be someone with a fire resistance quirk.” He offers. “Not my father. And it’s not me, I’ve never been a hero.”

“You are, but not in the way you think.”

“What do you mean?”

You turn away from him and for a moment he thinks you’re going to get out and leave him with his question, but then you turn back with a black box in your hands.

“I thought about giving you this at the dinner but it felt out of place. Congratulations, Touya. You made it through six months of rehabilitation.”

He stares at you, in the dim light of a sole street lamp, his heart beating and breaking and folding itself together.

There’s a softness in your eyes he wants to mean something else and yet, isn’t he also happy with what he has?

He pulls the lid of the box to reveal another, smaller, box.

“I was wondering what you’d like.” You tell him, your voice a quiet mumble. “I hope it’s okay.”

He pulls the lid of the box to reveal yet another, smaller box and now he’s grinning and you’re smiling.

He pulls the lid off again, to reveal yet another black box, but this one’s different, the edges curved. It’s a ring box and he feels foolish when he opens it to reveal one single silver ring.

Engraved into the exterior is a single peony, it’s bud not open yet. He turns the ring to feel the inner circle, knowing somehow that it will be engraved as well.

Dabi, he finds, Touya, next to it. And bloom.

“Can I touch you?” You ask and he nods, his voice stuck in his throat.

You pull him into a hug, his chin fitting right above your shoulder, your cheek warm against his neck.

He can feel your heartbeat against his, can feel your breath ghost over his shoulder.

“You are doing great, Touya-kun.” You tell him softly. “I am proud of you.”

taglist: @misfit-megumi @shoulmate @pixiesavvy @the2ndl @neko-my-cat @chelseaquake @tiredslepz @frozen-phoenix17 @spltbtch

taglist is open, if you want to join, just mention it in a comment or send me a message.

My Kofi if you want to tip me

#my writing #Passing Peonies #Touya Todoroki #Dabi #Touya x reader #Dabi x reader #Todoroki family #Happy Todoroki #Soft Touya #Soft Dabi #Angst to Happy End

68 notes · View notes

seaoflove07 · 2 months

Text

Love Planted a Rose 🌹

~ Dark ~

• Artwork by The Drawables •

Full Art Cover and Story Description, Here.

OCXCanon. 🔪 Azusa & Christine’s Story. 🌹

Fan Fiction Written by Me.

Fandom: Diabolik Lovers.

- Thursday Night -

Ruki gave Christine an hour break. She took a few snacks from the kitchen, then went to her room to grab her journal quickly and headed outside to the Rose Garden. She doesn't write in her journal every day, only when she is lost in her thoughts and needs to get her feelings out. Once she arrived at the rose garden, she felt a bit relaxed. She needed the summer night fresh air. Christine always prefers the outdoors, especially in the summer. Being surrounded by nature, looking at the beautiful stars and the scent of the roses from the garden calms her.

She sat down on the grass and took out her journal, a blue pen, and a small book lamp from her bag. She began to write.

Dear Journal:

I made it to Japan. That was such a long flight from the United States. It's been six days since I've been staying with the Mukami brothers. Turns out all four of them are VAMPIRES! This was supposed to be a good opportunity for me, but it ended up being my nightmares becoming a reality. I stopped having those nightmares when I arrived in Japan. One of the brothers is Lavender Eyes. Azusa. That's his name. I don't understand him at all and he's the one I'm afraid of the most since he doesn't leave me alone. After Monday night, I've been avoiding him. He's dangerous, he cut me with rose thorns, he burned my mouth with all the spice that he put in that sandwich he made me try because he wanted me to feel pain, and on top of that he drank my blood whenever he pleased. Thankfully, I have managed to avoid him these days. Tonight when we were all at the kitchen table I didn't make eye contact with him and I didn't talk to him either. Though I have felt his gaze on me the entire time. But I'm glad he hasn't come looking for me these few days. I hope he gets that I'm not interested in him and his brothers. Tomorrow night, I'm gonna meet six more vampires. I still haven't come up with a good plan to escape, and my cell phone signal is still not working, I haven't been able to call my parents. Both of them must be worried sick not knowing anything from me at all since Friday. The last time I talked to them was when I arrived at the airport to let them know that I made it safe. I feel so lonely and homesick, and I miss my family so much. I've never been away from them. I've been lucky so far that the other brothers haven't sucked my blood, and I hope they never do. I feel hopeless and scared for my life.

- Christine hears footsteps -

Azusa: “Christine-san… I found you…”

Christine: “How did you know I was here?”

Azusa: “I can find you… anywhere easily… because of your scent…”

Christine: “Oh…”

(I forgot vampires have a strong sense of smell…)

- Azusa sits next to her -

Azusa: “You look sad… Christine-san…”

He cups her cheek.

“You can hit me… it will make you… feel better…”

She removes his hand from her cheek and stands up.

Christine: “Azusa, don't start with this… I'm leaving now…”

Azusa: “Wait…! I just want to be useful… to you… Ruki didn’t let me… see you these few days… I was getting anxious… because I wanted… to spend time with you…”

Christine: (No wonder he didn’t come looking for me these past two days…)

“Well, hitting you is not gonna make me feel better.”

(Why he is looking at me with sad eyes? And why am I feeling bad for him?…)

“Azusa, I remember on Monday you told me in the kitchen that you want to get to know me. Why don't we talk for a bit?”

Azusa: “Yes… I would love that…”

She sat back down.

Christine: (… I don't know what to say to him. So I'll just ask him a random question…)

“Are you enjoying your summer break so far?”

Azusa: “I don't like… the heat weather… so I spend most of my time… in my bedroom…”

Christine: “I love summer, it's my favorite season. You get to do so many fun things. Do you have any fun hobbies you like to do, Azusa?”

He smiles.

Azusa: “Yes… I would like to... show you...”

He stands up.

Christine: “Show me what?“

Azusa: “My precious treasure...”

He Extends his hand.

“Come with me... please...?”

Christine: … …

She hesitates.

Christine: (I don't want to go anywhere with him, but I know very well he won't accept a no for an answer, and I need to survive, so I have no choice but to obey…)

“Ok, Azusa. I'll go with you.”

She takes his hand and stands up.

Azusa smiles brightly, and he leads her to his room.

*TimeSkip*

Azusa: “This is my Bedroom… and over here is my treasure...”

He shows her the shelf near his bed with all his knife collection.

Christine: (Wow! His collection looks nice and well-organized…)

“You have a nice collection, I like it. Especially the ones with the jewels on them. When did you started collecting knives?”

Azusa: “A very… long time ago… polishing them… is my favorite hobby… I’m happy that you like them…”

Christine: “I do, and I like that you have them nicely organized… Anyway, thank you for showing me your collection, I'll take my leave now.”

Azusa: “Eh...? Already...? Why…?”

Christine: “Well you did say you were just showing me your collection and I saw it. So… there’s no other reason for me to be here and my break is over so I have to get back to work.”

Azusa: “I see...”

... ...

“Say, Christine do you... hate me...?”

Christine: “Huh? No… I don’t hate you, why do you think that?”

Azusa: “You keep... avoiding me… and trying to push me away... Is it... because… I'm a vampire...?”

Christine: (So he did notice…)

“I don't hate you. I am sorry if it came off like that. But I do admit, I am afraid of you...”

He moves closer to her.

Azusa: “There is no reason… to be afraid… of me… … Rose-san... I just want…to spend time with you…”

Christine: “Rose? Why are you calling me, “Rose”? When my name is Christine.”

He runs his fingers through her hair and strokes it. While caressing her arm with his other hand.

Azusa: “Your scent… is so good… like roses from the garden… and your skin… is so soft… like rose petals… you remind me of a beautiful red rose… The name suits you…”

She blushes.

Christine: “I do wear a rose perfume every day. I have to admit, I like the nickname...”

He smiles.

Azusa: “So nice... my own... little rose... I want you… near me… even if you end up… hating me… I will still want you… by my side…”

He Inhales the scent of her hair.

“Haah... Rose…”

He pulls out a knife from his pocket.

“Here… Cut me…”

Christine: “What!? I would not do that.”

He caresses her chin.

Azusa: “Please… Rose… I beg you… cut me with this knife… I want you to give me pain… and to mess me up...”

Christine: “A-Azusa… I can't, please don't ask me this again. I don't want to hurt you.”

He forces her to hold the knife.

Christine: “No! I don’t want to do this. Why do you want to feel pain?”

Azusa: “Because… physical pain allows me… to forget… the emotional ones…”

Christine: (Her heart aches at his words…)

“Azusa… there are other ways to help with emotional pain, I can help you...”

Azusa: “You can help me like this…”

He forced her hand to hold the knife tight and stabbed his arm.

“Haah…”

Christine: “Oh my gosh, Azusa! Are you okay!?”

(He’s lost in thought looking at his cut. Oh my goodness! Exactly like the nightmares I had before I came here! Her heart starts racing!!..)

Azusa: “Fufu… It’s lovely… this new wound… Justin is happy, he has a new friend… fufu... I may have to find… a name for it…”

Christine: “You are bleeding a lot! I'm gonna go get one of your brothers for help.”

She turned around and started walking towards the door but Azusa appeared in front of her. He lifted her up and pinned her down on his bed. Staring at her brown eyes.

Azusa: “Rose… please… Don't leave me alone… my arm will be fine…”

Christine: (A faint blush appeared on his cheeks, I can hear my heart beating. I can't stop staring back at him…)

Azusa: “Rose… can I suck your blood…?”

- Christine caressed his cheek -

Azusa: “Eh…?”

Christine: “I'm sorry…”

Removing her hand.

- Azusa grabbed her hand and placed it back on his cheek -

Azusa: “Nobody has ever… touched my cheek like this… It feels nice… please touch me more…”

Christine: “Really…?”

He nods.

Azusa: “Rose… I have become… addicted to you… so much… that sometimes… I don't know what to do with myself…”

Christine: “B-But… you just met me.”

Azusa: “It doesn't matter…”

- Azusa bites her wrist -

Christine felt the flick of pain. But this time she doesn't try to push him away. She averts her gaze, moving her head to the side.

*Slurp*

Azusa: “Haah… Look at me… Rose…”

He caressed her cheek.

“I want you to watch me… sucking your delicious blood…”

- He sinks his fangs deeper into her wrist again and doesn't take his eyes off hers -

She gasp.

*Gulp, Gulp*

Azusa: “Aah… your blood gives me comfort… it’s very sweet and warm… I'm enjoying the rosy color… that appeared on your cheeks… and… that dreamy look of yours…”

Christine: (I don't know what to say! I should push him away but I'm starting to feel lightheaded…)

He smells her neck.

“Your scent of roses…mixed with your blood scent… makes me go wild. Rose… I can't think straight…”

- He bites her neck -

*Slurp, Slurp*

*TimeSkip*

- Azusa is staring at her, blood dripping from his mouth -

• A commission artwork by @yuma-mukami-garden-god •

Azusa: (Rose-san fainted on me, I got carried away drinking too much of her delicious blood. I should take her back to her room. Tomorrow she's going with Ruki to the Sakamaki's mansion. Ruki will get upset if she happens to be in bad shape. If I'm lucky, I'll get a punch out of him. But I can't stop staring at her, it truly feels like she hypnotized me. I've never felt this way for anyone, right now I wanted to engrave every detail of her features, she was so beautiful, her face was flawless, her rose-colored cheeks were adorable and her rosy pink lips were shaped perfectly. A true rose and I want this rose to be only mine. Even if she hates me…)

“Rose-san… you and I… will be spending… lots of time together… I want you… by my side… and I want us to inflict lots of pain on each other…”

He leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead.

— TO BE CONTINUED —

Masterpost

~ Picrew ~

#diabolik lovers #diabolik lovers oc #azusa mukami #diabolik lovers fan fiction #diabolik lovers fandom #azusa & rose #his rose #mukami brothers #love planted a rose #diahell

35 notes · View notes

ljnsdump · 11 months

Text

What a Plot Twist You Were (Jisung x F!reader)

Jisung x F!reader

You can't force chemistry to exist where it doesn't, the same way you can't deny it when it does.

Genre: M/F, slight enemies to lovers, fluff, classmates, school setting no mature scenes because im not ready to imagine jisung in those scenes

Warnings: just a lot of bickering and probably cursing here and there, y/n is a spoiled brat

Word Count: 3,999

Hello! A Jisung oneshot because the man finally has an IG acc haha. As always, dont hesitate to give me feedbacks! Enjoy reading!

Read at your own risk.

------

"Y/N, don't make me let you pull out from that modelling." Her mom warns her sternly. "This is your final semester in high school. You'll be graduating soon and you will not be able to do that if you keep this up."

She rolls her eyes, knowing that her teacher is snitching on her again. As they should though. "Ma, it's fine. My grades are enough for me to be accepted in any university."

"No it's not!" She argues and puts the utensils down on the table that caused a loud sound. Y/N's dad holds her as if to calm her down. "Universities would prioritize those with higher grades and has better knowledge on the courses they want to take than you do."

"Whatever, you'll still get them to accept me anyway."

And that's the time both parents realized that they raised a spoiled brat.

It's monday and everybody is in their first class of the day.

"Okay class, as you may know this is your final semester. We will make sure that no one gets left behind so we came up with a way. We will do the buddy system. You guys will be paired up to your buddy and you will be responsible for each other for the rest of the semester. If one doesn't pass, the other will be questioned, so help each other out. If you have topics that are hard for you both, try to come up with ways so you both will be able to understand it. You can always come to me, other teachers and even students."

They all agreed and chose their buddy. Then Y/N and Jisung come into the room at the same time but from different doors. Y/N enters the front door with her ipad and coffee while Jisung comes in from the back with just his pen and a notebook.

Their teacher notices them both. "Oh good. You're both here." She says and looks at them back and forth. "You will be each other's buddy. You will be paired up for all school work for the entire semester. You will be responsible for each other's grades."

"What?" Y/N's eyebrows furrow. She heard what her teacher said perfectly but she just couldn't accept it. "He's not that smart! You're pairing me with someone who can't help me."

"You’re late, Miss Y/L/N. Both of you are. Everyone already chose who they wanted to be their pair. It's just the two of you remaining." She answers with stern voice. "And we tried pairing you up with Yunjin before." Pertaining to their top student in class. "But you ended up just letting her do everything."

Y/N looks at Jisung. "You're not saying anything about this?"

He just shrugs and goes to his seat. Y/N groans and does the same.

"Alright. Listen up. First task."

Jisung was the one who stood up first when class ended. He was about to exit the room when Y/N called him. "Park Jisung!"

He turns with an annoyed look on his face. "What?"

She walks to him. "Why did you not say anything earlier when she paired us? You know well both fail."

"I'm not that bad." He replies that she scoffs.

"Fine! Then what should we do about that stupid reporting?"

"I have to go. Just chat with me about your ideas and whatever." He starts to walk away.

And she follows his strides. "I don't have your number!"

"WhatsApp, Messenger, IG, Twitter." He lists down. "It's 2023."

Y/N scoffs in disbelief.

After class, she meets with her best friend who was with her boyfriend at a cafe nearby. They're both in 12th grade, Ningning is in a different class though.

"Hey, who's your pair?" Ningning, as soon as she sees Y/N.

Y/N groans and rolls her eyes. "Park Jisung."

"That sloppy, rugged soccer player?"

She nods. "Yup." Popping end of the word. "Hey, Jun." Y/N casually greets Ningning’s boyfriend who's playing on his phone.

"Oh, sup Y/N." And offers to bump fists.

She accepts with her fist as well. "Nothing much."

"Okay, let's order first." They all sit. "Love, what do you want?"

"A reuben would do, love." He replies.

They spent the remainder of the day talking about their lives and spilling teas.

When she got home, she decided to try out reading about the topic of their report but just minutes later, she plopped down on her bed because she got bored.

Y/N takes out her phone and decides to look for Jisung's account on messenger.

To: Park Jisung

Hey, what are we gonna do about this?

And she finished having dinner and even went to prepare for bed, he still hasn't replied yet.

To: Park Jisung

Park Jisung!

Still no reply. She runs her fingers over her hair in frustration. Jisung has two close friends, she remembered. Y/N looks up the name Zhong Chenle and the Chinese guy's photo pops up.

To: Zhong Chenle

Hey, just wondering if you're with Jisung. Please tell him to check his phone, we have to work on our project.

Just minutes later, a notification pops up saying she has a new message from Jisung.

From: Park Jisung

What?

Oh my god, he's unbearable, she thought.

To: Park Jisung

The project.

From: Park Jisung

Send me your thoughts and ideas about it.

To: Park Jisung

I have no thoughts nor any idea about it.

From: Park Jisung

Then what are we supposed to do?

To: Park Jisung

Idk, let's just meet up tomorrow after class to figure this out.

"Bro, what the hell." Jisung grunts as he puts his phone down and picks up the xbox controller. "She wants me to meet up with her after class. Why did we get paired up, we have no idea about these."

Jisung is currently in Sungchan's place with Chenle. They're playing video games like how they do every single day and not getting tired of it. "Finally you can get some." Chenle teases him.

"I heard she's double-jointed." Jisung's eyebrows furrow at Sungchan's joke, and looks at him with disgust on his face. While Sungchan and Chenle high five.

Jisung walked to Y/N's seat when their class ended. He watched her gather her things in a hurry and was surprised to see him.

"What?" She asks, forgetting that they planned to meet for their project today.

His eyebrows furrow, confused as well. "I thought we'll meet after class?"

"Oh yeah. About that, meet's cancelled. I have to go. Let's just pay someone to do that report." Then she takes off before he can say anything. Better for him though, he'll have the whole time to play his beloved games.

Y/N meets with her handler in a cafe after driving almost half an hour from the university.

"I'm here." She announces and gives a quick friendly hug from behind to her handler Joy. "Let's go?"

Joy turns to her as she stands up. "Okay, good. Let's go. Our client is very chic and very boss lady vibes, Y/N. She's picky and she definitely knows what she wants."

"That's cool. You know I'm here to impress."

"I do." Joy smiles as they walk fast towards the building across the cafe. "I've sent your file to them already. You've looked over the products that you'll be modelling for?"

"Yes, the jewelleries. I actually even own a couple of pieces from their brand. They're nice."

When they arrive, a tall lady in formal attire welcomes them.

"Hi, I'm Seulgi, Mrs. Laviste's assistant. She's waiting for you in her office."

The local company rents both the 3rd and 4th floors of the building for their offices and manufacturing facilities.

They arrive at the office, the woman stands up upon seeing them with a big smile to greet. "Welcome to Ligaya! I'm Flora Laviste, you can call me Mrs. Laviste." Offering her hand which Joy gladly took.

"This is my talent." Joy gestures to Y/N. "Y/N."

Y/N smiles and shakes hands with her as well. "Y/N Y/L/N."

"From what I heard, you're the youngest of Mr. And Mrs. Timothy Y/L/N, is that right?"

"Yes." She smiles. "Yes, I am."

They discuss for a few minutes in Flora's office then go to their in-house studio to shoot a few shots as a demo just for them to see how their products would look on her.

"We reviewed everything and we've decided to take you guys on your offer. She's very good." Nodding her head, applauding Y/N's skills. "We'll do the shoot on Saturday morning."

Friday came and it's time for them to present their report. Y/N came early to school to get the report she paid a college student for.

Holding the flashdrive in her hand, she thanks Yeri. "Thanks a lot Yeri! I really just can't do this on my own."

Yeri smiles. "No worries, Y/N. It was easier for me since we've been over the topic a couple of times already. I sent the file to you too through email."

Y/N sat beside Jisung when she arrived in their classroom. She specifically instructed him to come in early. "We just read what's on the presentation." She tells him.

His eyes shift, obviously in doubt. "Sure?"

"Yeah."

"Park and Y/N, you're up." Their teacher announces after the pair prior to them were done with theirs.

They set up on the computer and in no time, the first page of the slide flashes on the white board through the projector.

"Our topic, the three main classes of carbohydrates." Y/N starts. She then continues to casually read the passages on the PowerPoint presentation which raises a brow of their teacher.

She stands up from her desk and walks towards the center walkway. "Pause, Ms. Y/L/N." The teacher raises her index finger. "You can't just click continuously on those pages without discussing them."

Y/N immediately protests. "But Mrs. Lim, these are self-explanatory."

"Good, then please explain them." She crosses her arms. "And Mr. Park, don't just stand there. Help out your buddy."

The two groans silently upon hearing their teacher's statement. Then Y/N looks at Jisung. "Help me explain it."

"You said it's self-explanatory." He whispers.

"I didn't think she'd let us explain it still after I said that."

After a few minutes of waiting and just looking at the two infront murmuring at each other, Mrs. Lim figures out they got nothing. "Alright, you two. Something's making me think that you both did not make this. I'm gonna let you re-do it this weekend and when we come back on Monday, I want you both to be able to explain and discuss it properly or else this reflects on my record book. Understand?"

Y/N grunts and removes her things from the desk to go back to her seat.

"Let's meet tomorrow morning." Jisung tells her.

"Can't, I have something very important. Afternoon."

"I have something important to do in the afternoon."

Y/N throws her pen to the floor, stomping her feet like a little kid throwing tantrums. "Why did we ever agree to this?!"

Jisung stands tall in front of her with a serious look on his face. "Don't throw tantrums on me, Y/N." He warns with his deep ass voice. "I'm not one of your maids."

"I-I didn't think you were." She nervously replies, blinking and shying away from his eyes. "I was just upset."

"Let's meet tonight."

"Mine or yours?"

"Mine."

At 7pm, Y/N arrives at the convenience store near Jisung's apartment. She immediately texts him.

To: Park Jisung

I'm here.

Hey!

Dude!

Park Jisung!

It's very cold here.

I'm gonna kill you.

8 minutes later

From: Park Jisung

Just hang on.

To: Park Jisung

I've been hanging on you idiot.

3 minutes later

From: Park Jisung

I'm coming down.

He, in his black hoodie and sweatpants approaches her and she almost had a heart attack. He looks like a kidnapper on his fit, the only thing that made her realize it is him is his nose. Weird.

"You look scary." She tells him.

He shrugs. "Yeah? Well... let's go."

They start to walk, her, following him from behind.

"Walk slowly."

"This is my normal pace. Your legs are just short."

Y/N stops and crosses her arms while watching him walk away. He did not notice until he finally crossed the road. He looks back and Y/N is still on the other side, glaring at him. Jisung can't help but laugh and put his hands in the pockets of his hoodie as he waits for the lights to go red again.

From: Park Jisung

Stay there.

Although she's far, he can see clearly that she rolled her eyes after reading his text.

As soon as the red light appears, he runs to her and grabs her wrist lightly, and they cross the street.

"Dickhead." She mumbles.

The apartment is definitely Jisung's, Y/N thought upon getting in. Empty red bull cans, chips packets, everything is everywhere. Chenle and Sungchan are there too, yelling at each other as they play.

Y/N looks at Jisung, suggestively while crossing her arms again.

He sighs. "Come on, guys. You need to go." Telling his two friends.

"What?! I thought we were---" Sungchan stops when he sees Y/N and the look on her face. "Time to go."

Chenle removes the headphones from his head. "So what if she's here, it's not like she's staying long anyway. And besides, bros over hoes."

Jisung immediately smacks his head. "That's the red bull talking."

"Oh yeah, she's the first. I'll consider." Chenle adds and this time Y/N is the one glaring at him.

Once they're out, Jisung kicks things out of the way. "My room is clean." Then walk towards there. And indeed it is. Shoes all over, but not in a messy way but it's on the walls like he's collecting them. And they're not just any shoes, they're all or at least that's how Y/N sees it, Jordan 1s.

Her mouth hangs open when she sees the display. "You collect?"

"Kinda."

Just minutes later, they're set up on the floor with their gadgets on the center table.

Y/N scratches the back of her head, getting frustrated over what they're doing. "This is so stupid. Carbohydrates are carbohydrates, what the fuck are those main classes for?!" She whines.

"Come on, Y/L/N. All we gotta do is read and understand then make a report."

"I wish it's as easy as saying it."

Jisung gets his hand off his keyboard. "It seems like you hate these subjects that we're taking. Why enroll under them?"

"Because they want me to be a doctor. Like any fucking Asian parent wants their kids to be."

"I'm sorry."

"No need to be, it's not you."

They spent the night just talking about random things. She learned that Jisung prefers nights over days. He's got poop hands as what Chenle calls, meaning everything he touches just fails. He and his friends always play PUBG with Chenle's cousins from China. Random things.

But Jisung felt that Y/N is a good listener. She doesn't give her own opinions on his preferences, she finds everything he says cool, and she asks you about how you feel when you make that choice. It's like she's learning new things as they talk.

But they did not make any progress with their report.

It's almost 12 midnight. "I need to go home now." Y/N states after looking at her watch.

"Are you Cinderella or something?" He jokes.

"I have a shoot tomorrow morning. I can't look puffy." She replies. "You can come with me tomorrow morning. We'll work on this slowly."

Tomorrow came. They met at the cafè again. Y/N picked Jisung up from his place.

"Do you always bring other people aside from your own team to your gigs?"

"No. But it's fine. I can just introduce you as one of us."

They arrive and in no time, Y/N is all set. They also discusse sample shots for the campaign. Jisung just observes as he tries to work on their report.

"Your boyfriend's handsome." Mrs. Laviste says, giving her a teasing smile as they look over at him.

Y/N immediately shakes her head. "He's just my classmate. We got paired up for school work."

"He's been glancing and staring at you for the past few minutes."

"That's probably because he's doing everything and I'm here literally looking pretty."

They suit her up in a silk skin tone slip dress pointing focus on the jewelleries on her. A gold butterfly rests in between her clavicles, they take a shot of that. Her hands, her ears, they alternately put pieces of jewelries and take a few shots of it in all angles possible. Jisung couldn't help but stare. She's good. Great, actually. She gives what's needed from her.

"I just got off the phone with our male model. He won't be able to attend, he's suddenly having the flu." Says Mrs. Laviste's secretary.

Y/N lowkey raises her hand just enough to point at Jisung.

Joy tells Y/N, "You should talk to him."

Y/N nods. "Jisung-ah!" Jisung looks up at her. He sees her walking towards him. "We need a male model."

"And?"

"You'd be a great one. You're very tall, and your face is decent, you just need a little makeover."

He shakes his head. "I don't think I can. I just came here to work on our report."

"I'll help you. We have until tomorrow. Plus, the pay is good."

At the end, she was able to convince him to join the shoot. They set him in front of the mirror, Y/N helped out in picking up his fits. She laughs when she sees his eyes moving, afraid to move his body.

"You can move, idiot."

He looks at the makeup artist doing his face. "Really? I don't wanna mess up what they're doing."

"As long as you don't go crazy."

They do the shoot together first just so Jisung loosens up and then his solo shoot after. Y/N helps him a lot aside from the director.

"Jisung-ah, just a stoic face. This is a close up shot emphasizing the earring."

After several flashes, he's all done. Y/N claps her hands then everyone else follows. "Congrats on your first modeling gig!"

He grabs her hand and puts it on his chest. "Feel that? I'm so nervous."

Of course, she was taken aback, she didn't feel shit, just her own heart pounding when her hand landed on his hard chest. "T-That's normal." Then she walks away, face flushing, cleaning up her things.

"What's the plan?" He asks when they're finally out of the building.

"We're gonna get lunch and then go to your soccer practice?"

Jisung shakes his head. "I can just pass on that one. Let's just do the report in my apartment again." She looks him straight in the eye and before she can say anything, he says, "I cleaned up."

Y/N smiles a little. "Okay."

"What do you wanna eat? My treat today." He says, looking at her.

"I'm craving biryani."

"Let's go to Jamieson's then."

And somehow they're eating lunch together, Jisung is skipping practice to do their project together, talking casually unlike before where they just roll their eyes at each other.

Y/N asks while they eat. "So what do you think about the modelling thing?"

He shrugs. "It's cool for my first time. You and your team made it too easy for me."

"And you were pretty good too. You have potential." She puts her hand on her face, posing elegantly, mimicking his poses earlier.

Jisung laughs and immediately removes her hand from her face. "Stop it."

"Why? Wait until Chenle and Sungchan see those photos."

"Oh God." He cringes and ducks head under his hands while Y/N laughs.

They spend the whole afternoon discussing their topic, even arguing if one finds something different in their researches but at the end, they were able to finish up their presentation and are confident that they'll be able to discuss it in front of the class on Monday.

"Thanks, Ji."

And for some reason they found themselves arguing about what comes first, the egg or the chicken. They even did their research on their stands far more efficiently than how they did it first with their report about carbohydrates.

"If I'm right, you'll give me $50?" He taunts.

She pulls out her phone from her purse and counters with, "And if I'm right, I send this pic to your friends." Showing him photos of his shoot that she took without his knowing.

Jisung was about to snatch his phone when she immediately stands up and runs away from him. "Y/N, delete that!"

"No!" She yells back but falls onto the floor by the kitchen. "I can't feel my legs!"

He rushes to her with panic on his face. "What happened?!"

"I think we squatted on the floor for too long." Jisung sighs in relief. "But I still can't feel my legs, it's weird and ticklish."

"What do you want me to do?"

"I dunno, it's really weird. I hate it."

"I'll try to massage it." He looks at her waiting for her approval and she eventually nods, just desperate for the weird feeling on her legs to go away. His hands are huge, she notices. That's why it looked so good in the photos earlier.

"It's going away." Before they stand up, he attempts to steal her phone but she immediately holds it protectively with both her hands. "No, these are mine."

"That's literally me in those photos."

"Yes, I'm aware."

He traps her between both his arms and the kitchen counter. Jisung lowers himself to level with her. "Give me your phone." His voice drops an octave that gives her goosebumps. His voice has always been deep but it's different when it's this deep.

Their faces are almost touching and she blinks a couple of times as her nervousness gets the better of her. "Y-You're too close."

"I know."

"You look good." Out of the blue she says then covers her mouth with one hand.

Jisung chuckles. "You look good too. Really good." She tries to avoid his lingering eyes but she can't. "You like us like this, don't you? That's why you don't wanna give me your phone?"

"I thought I'm the first woman who ever got this close to you?"

"You are."

"It doesn't seem like it."

He gives a small smile. "That's because you make me do things I never knew I'm capable of doing." And her heart skipped a beat, she couldn't say anything. It's like her throat is blocked with something. "And I thought you're one of them strong girls? The type who nobody wants to mess with. You've always had that image but why are you refusing now?"

Y/N grabs him by the neck and crashes her lips with his. Jisung got surprised but started kissing her back until he snaps back to reality.

But she suddenly pushes him away, running to his bedroom to get her things and in no time, she's in her car driving home with her heart pounding in her ribcage. Meanwhile, Jisung remained speechless in the kitchen, no idea as to what exactly happened.

From: Park Jisung

People usually say something and don't just run after they do that, yk?

From: Park Jisung

Don't be a coward now.

To: Park Jisung

Forget that ever happened.

From: Park Jisung

Uh... no

From: Park Jisung

You kissed me first and now you just want me to forget abt it?

To: Park Jisung

Yes

From: Park Jisung

No, in fact, maybe I'll kiss you again tomorrow.

116 notes · View notes

darkbluekies · 1 year

Text

Hedwig asks #1

Next one Concept: I've put multiple asks into one post to avoid too much loose posts on my account! This way, you have more to read too<3

Warnings: a little suggestive, yandere, manipulation, blackmail

How would Hedwig react if s/o left on vacation without telling her?

...what has she done to you? Hedwig will 100% freak out. She'll be so anxious and scared that she faints and won't be able to go to school. She stays shaking under her sheets with tears running down her cheeks. She'll call you hundreds of times and leave a dozens of messages where she BEGS you to answer. She's nothing without you, so why can't you just answer?! When she gets to know what you've done and why you have left her alone, she'll be so mad at you that you regret everything. She'll book her own flight and go to you because you can not escape her. Wherever you go, she goes.

How would Hedwig deal with an escape artist s/o who doesn't leave, lets say her s/o rejects her she kidnaps them and ties them up only for her to turn around and their sitting down like it's a regular Monday morning and is just like "It's pretty nice here I think I'm gonna stay😀"

"W-What did you say?" she stutters.

She can't believe how you got out of the ropes so quickly or why you aren't screaming. She'll be white as a ghost trying to understand that you're staying voluntarily. Suddenly, she'll feel ashamed of kidnapping you.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I-I thought that ... you know ... that you didn't want to be with me. You rejected me ... remember? But I'm not mad! Not anymore! Not when you accepted to stay. I will make up for the bruises you got. I apologize for that. Should I get the first aid kit?"

would like to see a scenario where readers parents are protective and wary of rich people bc they think rich people look down on people and hedwig tries to get them to like her

You try to convince your parents that Hedwig is different, but they're not buying it. 'Every rich person is the same, only caring about themselves', they say.

Hedwig has invited them over for dinner to show how well mannered and down to earth she is. Or that's at least what she hopes she is. You're trying to calm her down, but winning your parents over means everything to her. She wants to be the perfect daughter in law.

When they come over, Hedwig is on her best behavior. You think she's acting silly, being too friendly, too well behaved. It's unnatural. Your parents are reserved and quiet. You can see their eyes light up slightly when Hedwig tells them that the chef has prepared their favorite meal. She adds on that you've helped her make this special.

During the dinner, Hedwig asks your parents questions and tries to hold back her usual talk about things she does. She doesn't want to seem unrelatable. She engages in conversations, just like she does when talking to you, and gives appropriate comments. It almost feels rehearsed.

Hedwig even gives them a gift. Nothing flashy, nothing expensive. Just a box of chocolate as a 'thanks for coming'. She gives you a hopeful look. Maybe your parents will start to change their attitudes about her.

Can you do Hedwig and her s/o who doesn’t know what to do with their life? Like any career doesn’t really interest them

You sigh, rolling over on your stomach to let the sun grace your back.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" Hedwig asks from the towel beside you.

"Nothing, I've just had time to think now that we're free from school and ... I realized that I don't know anything. I don't know what I want to be, i don't know myself and I don't know how the world works. I don't think school prepared me for anything."

Hedwig sighs and sits up to look at you. Her white bikini glows against her sunkissed skin. Hedwig thought that you and her could spend the first week of summer break at her house by the pool.

"You don't have to stress", she says. "It's not like you will become homeless. You have all the time in the world to figure out what you'd like to do ... but you could just be a stay at home partner. I wouldn't mind. I can always pay for the both of us. You could dive deeper into your hobbies instead of working!"

Hedwig won't admit out loud that she'd rather have you be a stay at home partner than go out into the big, scary world every day to work a heartless job. She doesn't want to share you with the world.

"Do you know what you want to be?" you ask her.

"I don't have to be something", Hedwig smiles back. "I have enough money to last a lifetime. But ... you're right. It's boring being able to do everything you want anytime you want it. Getting a job would make me a bit more occupied. Model, maybe?"

"You seem to have an idea at least."

"Darling ... you don't have to stress it. I have a wonderful future planned for us. We're going to go on a lot of vacations and just enjoy life. Doesn't that sound nice? Don't stress about it. Just stay with me and you won't have to worry."

Hedwig trying to explain to reader why they would make an amazing couple and family

If the laws of physics doesn't bend to her will, she'll force them to bend :)

If I may what is Hedwig's finger size??? Asking for research purposes obviously ☺️ (HEDWIG PLEASE MARRY ME IM SO GAY FOR YOUUUWUVVVWWBINFRRFCE💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💖💖💖)

Hm yeah, research purposes oBVIOUSLY. hedwig will marry you in a heartbeat.

How would Hedwig react to a teasing reader marking her neck. And then when things start to get even more passionate, they just completely stop and walk away like nothing happened

Her entire body will go weak with your touch. She'll start to use grabby hands to get you closer and whine. She's pudding in your hands. You pull her closer, making sure to put pressure points where you know she likes them only to let her go and walk away. She blinks in confusion.

"Y-Y/N, no, don't leave! You can't leave me like this! Y/N, come back! Please!"

Hey ! I love your fic about hedwig and the f-boy, and after reading it I wondered what would happen if he actually leaves her because she broke his trust ??Ps: your blog is so pretty <3

[thank you so much!!]

oneshot this is based off of

She won't let him. Hedwig's a fantastic manipulator, but if he can see through that ... she'll take drastic measures and keep him with her. She'll blackmail, kidnap and convince him.

"I'm sorry for everything, Y/N. You know I love you. A lot. That's why I'm doing this. You have to understand that what I'm doing is the right thing. Now, please open your mouth so I can feed you."

How do you think hedwig would react if her darling wasn't into women

Hedwig would be so sad. In her perfect world, you love her and she loves you, but if you're not into women, she'll try to act platonic with you. if she can't have you romantically, she'll at least have you as her friend. She can't imagine a life without you in it and will do her best to be the person you want her to be.

GOSHHH, I LOVE HEDWIG SO MUCH..I just wanna spend a day just purely spoiling her with attention. You write so well!! It made me developed a hunger for this type of writing. 😖

Oh my god thank you so much! i'm so glad you like both Hedwig and the writing <333

#yandere #yandere x reader #yandere drabbles #yandere x you #yandere imagines #yandere fics #yandere talks #yandere oc x you #yandere female #clingy yandere #obsessive yandere

189 notes · View notes

augustvandyne · 2 days

Note

Reader finds out that Lucy needs a fake girl/boyfriend to take to her family bbq, reader steps up and offers to go with her. After a great night, Reader walks Lucy to her apartment door, where Lucy finally admits to herself that she likes reader and invites her inside. (R, is a cop also.)

Lucy Chen x Reader.

family barbecue

“Please!”

A begging Lucy grabs your attention.

It isn’t really anything new, because she begs for a lot of things, but you couldn’t help but listen when you heard the words family barbeque come out of her mouth.

You turn your head to see who she was begging, and you see Tim Bradford, her T.O.

It didn’t make sense to you about how or why she would ask Mr. Grumpy Officer Cupcake, but to each their own, right?

Wrong. Because he shoots her down – for the fourth time this week, you learn after Tim shoots her a glare – and a pout comes onto her face.

You see her look at Nolan, who immediately shakes his head no.

You’d known how her parents were, as the two of you frequently hung out together, but you’ve never met them. And maybe that was for the best, because you might be in jail for 25 to life for murder.

Lucy turns her head the slightest bit to see you, and she just shrugs, officially giving up.

You step forward a few feet, coming to her side.

“What’s this I hear about a family barbecue?” You lift your brows curiously.

She huffs and looks at you from the side, seemingly tired of talking about it already, because family talk stressed her out, and presence there is mandatory.

“My cousin is having a barbecue,” She rolls her eyes and shakes her head. “It’s so stupid. Just— forget it.”

She turns to leave — most likely the break room so she can sit in misery for her lunch break — but you grab her by the arm to stop her.

“Hey, hey,” You look down at her. “Tell me about it. Please.”

You see her eyes shift to your lips from the close proximity, but think nothing of it.

She was just looking somewhere other than your eyes, and they just happened to land on your lips.. right?

“It’s a stupid family get together and a night or two ago my mom called me about it and so I said yeah I’ll come and for some reason I said I’d bring someone and I don’t have a— a someone,” She balls her fists up at her sides. “So now here I am, begging for someone to go with me and act as my boyfriend because I don’t want to look like a liar at this stupid barbecue that I don’t want to go to now because I’m single and I’ll be bullied and ridiculed the whole time if I show up without someone with me.”

“Lucy, Lucy, Lucy,” You put your hand on her shoulder at an attempt to calm her down. “Take a breath,” You breathe in and out with her.

“And Tim and John said no, so I’m out of options.”

“I’ll go with you.”

It was a simple statement. Four words. A promise.

And yet Lucy didn’t believe her ears.

“What?”

“I said I’ll go with you. I’ll act as your girlfriend.”

“No, I heard you. I just don’t understand why.”

“Because I know you, Luce,” You give a soft smile. “I know that you’ll end up going and hating yourself for it and I’ll end up running into you crying on Monday and I don’t think I’ll be able to handle it.”

Lucy wants to ask what you mean, but she doesn’t because you aren’t finished speaking.

“So I will go with you. I can’t let you go alone and be abused with questions from your parents. Especially since they already hate on you for your choice of job.”

“This means a lot to me,” She grabs your hand and squeezes softly, your heart skipping a beat. “You have no idea.”

“Just let me know what time. I’ll pick you up,” You smiled back at her and stepped a few feet back, going to find your TO.

She asked you to be there around twelve, and you were right on time. You even showed up with a bouquet of her favorite flowers.

You came to the door, which she insisted you didn’t need to do, but you did anyway, and proceeded to open the car door for her as well.

She attempts to hide her blush, and luckily you’re too busy trying to start the car that you don’t notice.

Lucy doesn’t really speak on the way to her cousins house, and you’re sure it’s due to nerves.

She only speaks once you get there, and it’s to warn you, once again, but you shut her down because you already know. You’re more than capable and more than willing to step in today and be whatever she needs to you to be.

You walk around your car and let Lucy out, already turning heads of her family members who were out front.

Once she was out of the car, her mother was on the two of you in an instant.

She must be a mind reader or something, because how did she know the two of you were there? Nobody had said anything.

“Hello. You must be Lucy’s..”

“Girlfriend,” The two of you say at the same time.

“Girlfriend,” She nods, her face unsure. “And how did you meet this.. girlfriend of yours?”

Her eyes are trained on your face, but her words are pointed at Lucy, and you can feel her shift beside you.

You move your hand to her back, giving her the confidence she needed.

She turns her head and sees you smiling at her with encouragement, and all of the sudden she’s able to tell her.

“We met at the station,” Lucy smiles giddily. “We’re in the same rookie group snd I liked her as soon as I met her. Really. Her eyes are gorgeous.. I could lost in them all day. And I know you hate when I talk about my work, but you asked, so.. when she was injured I rushed to the hospital and I just had to be there for her because I was in love with her and she needed me. I asked her out after that. And so.. here we are.”

You feel your breath leave your lungs because that was a true story. It’d happened only a few months ago, and although she didn’t ask you out, it still felt real because only now were you realizing the way she looked at you wasn’t in a friendship kind of way.

“That’s nice,” Vanessa cleared her throat, obviously uncomfortable with the fact that her daughter was not only a cop but was now dating a woman.

“Mom—“

“Come on, your father and Alexandra are waiting. She invited you and it’s not nice to be late,” She grabbed Lucy’s arm and you walked behind her.

She looked uncomfortable but there was nothing you could do now.

You made a mental note to take her for slushies later to make her feel better.

Her mother takes the lead and you walk up to stand beside Lucy.

“I wish I could say I’ll get you out of here in an hour, but I don’t think that’s possible.”

“Yeah, definitely not,” She looks down sadly, and all you want to do is hold her because you never want to see her upset.

“Hey,” You grab her hand. “We’re gonna have fun, okay?”

“Okay,” A small smile comes onto her lips, and you pull her in for a hug.

“Come on,” Vanessa snapped at both of you and you have to keep yourself from getting heated with her.

“Come on,” Lucy mocked once Vanessa was out of earshot.

You snort and Lucy looks at you with those eyes, and that’s when you knew you were done for.

“Walk me to the door,” She requested, and your eyes are drawn to her blue raspberry stained lips.

“I was already planning on it,” You shrug nonchalantly, but you can’t help but notice the blush on her cheeks.

You open the door for her once again and let her lead the way to the apartment door.

Once stopped in front of her door, she unlocks it slowly, dreading the moment she had to say goodbye.

Because although she hated family events, being there with you made it more bearable, and she didn’t want to say goodbye just yet.

She opens the door and turns to you, “Do you want to come in?”

You think for a second about what would happen if you said yes, because you’re realizing that maybe you do like her more than a friend, but then you’re accepting the invitation and you’re shutting the door behind you, not a care in the world.

#the rookie #the rookie x reader #wlw post #send asks #lucy chen #lucy chen x reader #lucy chen x u #lucy chen ask #lucy chen x you #lucy chen x y/n #lucy chen imagine

15 notes · View notes

tom-hunter-summah · 11 months

Text

Born in the Wrong Era| pt. 2

pairing: Wally ClarkxGN!Reader

summary: wally and reader finally get to talk. but is it such a good thing?

warnings: mentions of death, reader drives a jeep, one shout and one scream but neither caused the other, mention of hallucinations, use of Y/N.

word count: 906

a/n: hello,hello! i hope everyone is well 😊 sorry for the delay but good news is chapter three will be out at the end of this week! also this is mainly dialogue. hope yall enjoy!

also thank you to @moonchildicons for letting me use her wally icon for this aesthetic ❤️

pt. 1

“Wally?”

He holds his hand up to catch his breath.

“How do you know my name? More importantly; how can you see me?”

You’re too baffled to speak. This boy you’ve known through stories, pictures and tears is here.

Maybe, You’ve finally cracked under the pressure of life which has led to hallucinations. You squeeze your eyes closed hoping he’ll go away when they open.

He waves a hand in front of your face. “Can you still see me?”

So much for that theory.

“Unfortunately, yes.”

He lets out a sigh of relief before looking slightly offended. “Unfortunately?”

“Yes, Unfortunately.” The moment you check your phone, the bell for 6th period rings. “And I need to get to class.”

You start to walk out the gate but Wally runs in front of you, stopping you in your tracks, again.

He laughs. “So we’re just not gonna talk about this?”

“Look, Wally I don’t have time to figure out why my hallucinations chose to manifest in the form of someone I’ve never met, but I really need to get to class.”

You walk through him and that experience is one you don’t necessarily want to relive and it has you running to class.

You hear Wally yell out after you. “You’re not hallucinating!”

Further into the hurricane, you go.

Monday- 1:45 pm

You’ve never been happier that you have 8th period free. Stats is already hell to be in, but that thing you saw earlier didn’t make it any better. As soon as you could, you bolted from class to your car. You waited for the lot to clear from parents and students alike before you screamed (windows rolled up of course.) It felt good. It would have felt great if you weren’t started by Mr. Anderson knocking on your window.

You roll your window down, looking guilty.

“You alright?”

You shrug.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

You shake your head no.

“Understand. Well if you’re going to have a mental breakdown, please do so off school grounds, or at least in the theater room.” He gently taps the hood of your Jeep and briskly walks away.

You laugh to yourself at the ridiculousness of that interaction.

“What’s so funny?”

Or so you hoped.

“Jesus can’t a person decompress in peace?! What the hell Wally?”

He holds his hands up in defense. “Sorry. Look I’ve been trying to get your attention since you stomped off the field but you couldn’t hear me in your very complicated math class–”

You cut him off. “So you thought giving me a heart attack in my car would help me not ignore you?”

He shrugs. “Well at least if you die then we can–”

You give him a look. “Not helping your case dude. Get out of my car.”

“Wait Y/N–”

“How do you even know my name?”

“STOP CUTTING ME OFF AND LET ME TALK!”

In the beat of silence that filled the car, you shrink. “Sorry Walls, Please, talk.”

He sighs. “Thank you. And I’m sorry for yelling. Wait, did you just call me Walls?”

You shrug. “Yeah. Bea calls you that all the time so it’s second nature.”

His brows furrow. “Bea? Like my mom Bea?”

You nod your head. “Do you remember Ceceil James?”

Wally nods.

“She was my grandmother and you know how those two were.”

He laughs. “Wait, were? Did something happen?”

You can barely stop your voice from cracking. “Walls.”

His face falls and you see tears brim in his eyes. “How?”

“It was a car accident. S-She was alone when…”

Wally’s hands go to cover yours only for them to fall through and give you a chill.

“Sorry, force of habit. We don’t have to keep talking about Cece by the way. God I’m so stupid I should’ve realized it would hurt to talk about it. I mean she was your grandma for god’s sake and–”

You go to grab his face but you stop right before you would make contact.

“Sorry. Force of habit.”

He chuckles dryly. “I appreciate the thought. And thank you for getting me out of my head.”

You nod. “Don’t mention it.”

Wally clears his throat before talking.

“Well that was fun.”

You laugh. “Alright funny boy; what questions do you have?”

Wally thinks for a moment. “I guess my first question is; how’s my mom doing?”

You clear your throat. “Well, she’s Bea. Kind and understanding. Always supportive of her loved one’s dreams.”

You look back at Wally and he’s straight-faced for all of two seconds before he bursts out laughing.

You can’t help but laugh along. “What’s so funny?”

“I mean my mom is great but understanding isn’t exactly one of her more honed skills.”

Your brows furrow as you realize the dig Wally just made at Bea. “What is that supposed to mean?”

His laughter finally dies down as he notices you’re serious. “She’s a bit insistent is all.”

You give him a pointed look. “You mean stubborn.”

He shrugs. “I guess yeah.”

“Get out.”

“Wait Y/N, I have more questions.”

You send daggers his way. “You should have thought about that before you disrespected Bea.”

Wally goes to speak but you simply hold up your hand. You stay like that for a few moments and he finally leaves your jeep but not before leaving you something to chew on.

“The Bea you know now isn’t the Bea I knew.”

#wally clark x reader #wally clark #school spirits 2023 #wall clark x gender neutral reader #milo manheim #born in the wrong era

78 notes · View notes

fluentmoviequoter · 11 months

Text

The Freak and The Princess (III)

Summary: Eddie lets you walk by during his rant in the cafeteria, stumped by your quietness and manners toward the town freak. He then decides to be the perfect gentlemen. [Part 3/5] 1.7k Words

Warnings: implications of parental neglect and talks of emancipation as a minor (this could also be changed to parents that work a lot and aren't around; if anyone wants another version, let me know!), a fight?, Steve Harrington is a warning just because of who he is. I think that's all!

A/N: Here's part 3! I edited this and proofread it, but please point out any errors or things that you like! And please send requests; all the characters I write for are under my tag #characters! Hope you enjoy! :) Also, the movie I'm talking about at the end came out in 1983 and is actually based on my favorite book, so if you know what it is, we are friends now.

Part I. Part II.

The Freak and The Princess

Part Three: Best Served Cold (Revenge and Ice Cream)

I walked into school Monday with a new-found vigor for being silent. I didn’t want to talk to anyone, I didn’t want anyone to talk to me, and I wanted to be invisible. The night before, I had called Eddie and said I didn’t need a ride to school, avoiding subsequent questions when he asked why. I managed to go to my first four classes without seeing him. Walking toward the cafeteria after fourth period, I had to decide: go in and risk seeing Eddie and/or Jason or don’t go in and risk not seeing Jason and/or Eddie. I was at an impasse. Biting my lip and praying for courage, I pushed the door open, my eyes immediately finding the Hellfire table. Everyone seemed to be talking to Dustin and Lucas while Eddie wrote in his notebook.

“Oh, what the heck?” I thought and made my way toward the table. As I approached it, I saw Jason Carver walking toward them from the other direction.

“Oh no, what happened to you little freaks? Human sacrifice gone wrong?” he asked as he leaned over the empty seat by Eddie.

“Beat it, Carver,” Eddie said, sliding his notebook into his bag.

Jason looked back and forth between Eddie, Dustin, and Lucas. Realization struck, and he smiled wickedly.

“You didn’t tell him.” Jason smiled at Dustin and Lucas, who were suddenly very interested in the floor.

“No, but they told me,” I said, grabbing the back of Jason’s shirt and slamming him against the brick wall behind Eddie. I pushed my forearm against his throat – just hard enough to make it impossible to take a full breath - and leaned in. “Do you remember what I said I would do if you looked at or talked to them again?” He nodded. “And what did you do?” I growled, pushing against his throat. “What? Someone sell your tongue to the devil?” I asked, tilting my head as I released the pressure off his neck. “So? What did you do?”

“I talked to them,” he said, shrinking into the wall.

“That’s not true.”

“I hit them. Me and my buddies beat them up in the parking lot,” he said quickly.

“I’m going to be nice, and let me make this clear, all of this was very nice, and give you one more warning. Breathe in their direction again and you will find out just how mean I can be. Understand?”

He nodded and flinched when I slapped the brick beside him before raising my voice. “Understand?”

“Yes,” he said, tripping over his feet as he ran away.

The cafeteria was silent until Dustin started slow clapping. I walked out the same way I came in without looking at the Hellfire table. I scared Jason, that was the point, but if there was even a chance that I had scared Eddie, I would hate myself forever.

I walked straight through the school, across the field, and into the woods. I sat on one of the long-forgotten picnic benches and lay my head on my forearms. I laid there for a few minutes, enjoying the solitude. Someone was walking toward the table, and I groaned quietly, hoping they would see this table was taken and keep moving. The footsteps stopped by the table, and I debated lifting my head to see who it was. The bench shifted as they sat down on the other side, fingertips brushing my hair off my folded arms.

“How ya feelin’, princess?”

I jerked my head up, surprised to hear his voice. “What are you doing here?” I whispered.

He smiled before answering. “I wanted to check on you. Besides, these tables were my turf long before you arrived.”

“Are Dustin and Lucas ok?” I asked, still whispering.

“Ok? They’re ecstatic! Pretty sure they’re reenacting the scene and arguing over who gets to be you.” He laughed as he finished, and it was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever heard.

I smiled at the thought before looking down at my lap and playing with my fingers.

“When did they tell you?” he asked, more serious now.

“Thursday night in the parking lot. Steve went to see if we could get in the school, and they made me promise not to tell him.”

Eddie nodded, then stood up and stepped away. He’s probably mad I didn’t tell him and tried to handle it alone. The bench moved again, so I looked back up and saw Eddie sitting beside me, one of his hands sliding between mine, ceasing their fidgety actions.

“Let’s ditch. Go get ice cream or something.” He smiled, and I couldn’t say no.

I nodded, holding his hand as we walked back toward the school, turning into the parking lot and climbing into his van. He put a cassette in and twisted a dial, Metallica's newest album filling the van. I was mouthing the lyrics and looking out the window.

“You listen to Metallica?!” he asked, voice raised to speak over the music.

I nodded, smiling. Eddie smirked, turning it up as he pulled onto the main road. He parked in the small lot outside the homemade ice cream place, running around the front of the van to open my door. As usual, Eddie extended his hand and helped me out before walking beside me and opening the door. He refused to let me pay, turning away from me when I pouted. We sat at the back, eating our ice cream while I listened to Eddie’s one-sided conversation.

“So, Dustin tells me you agreed to come to Hellfire this week?” Eddie asked.

“I don’t know how to play, so I’ll just watch or something,” I responded quietly.

“Oh, we can certainly remedy that, Princess. I mean, you are talking to the dungeon master.”

He started explaining the basics of the game while I followed along, envisioning what he was saying in my head. He grabbed my hand, leading me back to the van and helping me in. After he climbed in and started the van, he turned to face me. “I say we go bother Harrington.”

I agreed, and Eddie backed out of the parking lot, pulling into Family Video a few minutes later. We walked in and started looking at movies since Steve wasn’t at the desk.

After a moment, we heard the back door open and Steve called, “Welcome to Family Video. Let me know if you need any help.”

“Got any good princess movies?” Eddie asked, making his voice deeper.

“Princess movies. Those would be in our children’s section on aisle-” He stopped talking as he rounded the corner and saw us trying not to laugh. “I should have known. Aren’t you two supposed to be at school?”

“We ditched for ice cream,” Eddie responded, placing an arm around my shoulders.

“You ditched?” Steve asked, obviously surprised as he looked at me.

I shrugged, failing to find the words to explain.

“What happened?” Steve asked, narrowing his eyes at us.

“She had a… conversation with Carver.”

“A conversation?”

“Of sorts, yeah.”

Steve looked at me with a hand on his hip, what I called his Steve Harrington Mom™ pose.

“Don’t do that look, man, she was standing up for Dustin and Lucas,” Eddie sighed. I dropped my jaw at his betrayal. “What?! He did the look, it makes people talk,” he defended quietly.

“It was him wasn’t it? I should’ve known. I’m going to kill that-”

Eddie cut him off. “Dude, it’s been handled. Trust me. And word to the wise? Stay on this one’s good side.”

I chuckled lightly, picking up my favorite movie and walking to the counter with Steve and Eddie as they bickered. Steve rented the tape under my name, and Eddie drove us to my house to watch it.

“This isn’t a chick flick is it?” Eddie asked as he collapsed on my couch with a bowl of popcorn.

“Nope,” I said, stealing a handful of the popcorn.

“Hey, make your own!”

“Technically it is mine, you just pulled it out of my pantry.”

“I have a question. It’s probably going to sound super rude, and I really don’t mean it to be.”

I nodded, urging him to continue.

“Is it voluntary? When you suddenly stop talking? Or is it a conscious decision? Because at first I thought you were really shy and would open up when I got to know you, but there are still days where you only say two words to me.”

“It’s not voluntary. Sometimes it just feels easier not to talk. I can’t explain why it happens but know that it’s never because I don’t want to talk to you, because I’ve wanted to talk to you since eighth grade, just could never get words out.”

“You’ve wanted to talk to me since eighth grade?”

“Yeah, that’s when I moved here and you were one of the first people I noticed, and the only one who made me want to talk. My parents just gave up on me, stopped trying to talk to me and didn’t listen even when I did. You and Steve are the only people who seem to make it worth talking.”

“I noticed you when you moved here, but thought a sweet, shy thing, like you would see me like everyone else here. There were kids in your grade who would talk about the ‘mute girl’, and I wanted to meet you, but didn’t know how.”

“Probably best we waited for it to happen on its own, there is no way I would’ve been able to talk to you back then.”

“Where are your parents now?”

“I got emancipated the summer between seventh and eighth grade. Then I found out that some second-cousin or someone left me this house and made the decision to move by myself.”

“You’ve been on your own since eight grade in a town where you knew no one and struggled to talk?”

“Pretty much.”

“Well now we have to add brave.”

“To what?”

“Your title. Beautiful, pretty, brave, kick-butt princess,” he smiled, pulling me into his side.

“This movie is based off my favorite book, and I love it, so if you don’t, keep it to yourself,” I said, attempting to shift his attention away from me.

“Yes, Princess,” he said with a goofy smile. I lay back against him and pressed play, perfectly content with my prince.

Taglist: @loonalockley @paleidiot @kimmi-kat

#eddie munson fic #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x y/n

106 notes · View notes

mariacallous · 9 months

Text

(JTA) — “We are immigrating to America.” It was 1989, and my parents had sat my sister and me down in our living room to break the news. In those years of economic and political instability, as well as the ethical injustice of apartheid, many Jewish South Africans had an exit plan. Our time had finally come, and I was devastated. I sobbed big ugly tears.

In my mind, I was leaving more than the comfort of my family and friends. I was leaving the only way of life that I understood. South Africans as a group are traditionally Orthodox but not necessarily observant; Shabbat dinners followed by TV was how I grew up. Immigrating to a vast new world made me petrified that I would lose my Jewish identity.

When I arrived in Florida, I got involved with a local theater group for teens. But as much as I loved performing, I became a drama dropout, in the name of Shabbat. I traded rehearsals for the sound of the chazan singing “L’cha Dodi.” I️ chose tasting challah and grape juice with my family over eating McDonald’s French fries with fellow thespians. Eager to remain rooted in a world that was familiar, observing Shabbat became my way to recreate home.

I think about this change every year at Rosh Hashanah, an opportunity to begin our lives anew. Our hearts are open, our books are open, the shofar cries out and we cry out with it. We reckon with ourselves and we reckon with God. Every year, the High Holy Days call upon us to pause, reflect and consider what changes we need to make to bring more justice to ourselves and the world around us. What part of our past must remain unchanged, and what do we have the power to change for the better? Yehuda Amichai, in his poem “My Parents’ Motel,” captures this very dichotomy as he describes his father’s dying words. After recalling his father’s softer and gentler version of the Ten Commandments, he says:

I want to add two to the Ten Commandments:

The eleventh commandment, “You will not change,” and the twelfth commandment, “Change, you will change.”

Amichai’s two invented commandments have guided me from my earliest days, constantly exploring how to hold onto change without changing too much, and how to balance tradition with modernity in a world that does not always value religion. For me, that liminal space between changing and not changing — and the desired pace at which change can or should occur — remains a constant undercurrent in my life and leadership.

In 2010, many people objected to Rabbi Avi Weiss for ordaining me as the first female Orthodox rabbi. The sudden media attention brought on an onslaught of criticism. Orthodox change is seen as an oxymoron at its worst and decidedly slow at best. My ordination and my taking the title “rabba” (the feminine form of “rabbi”) several months later was seen as too much too fast. This move, I was told, would destroy the Orthodox community.

The two rabbis who railed against me published an article called “Orthodox Women Rabbis?” and used a metaphor of orthodontics in expressing his views. Change, they said, quoting one of their teachers, must happen slowly, like the process of braces that methodically and slowly straighten teeth over time. Too much pressure, they accused, would cause the teeth to break.

It’s not that I don’t believe in patience. My patience has helped me slowly traverse many obstacles. Some of my colleagues, understandably, have accused me of being too patient! The metaphor I like for patience and the process of change is not orthodontics, but rather exercise. My trainer, with whom I have been working religiously, once a week every Monday afternoon, introduced me to the phrase “time under tension.” When you hold one position, be it a squat, plank or bicep curl, for a long period of time, it is called time under tension. Whenever I hear this phrase, usually while sweating, I always think about the process of change. I may be gasping for breath (and in pain), but I can’t help but imagine my muscles first being called to wake up, and then slowly, with lots of effort and energy (and did I mention some pain?) eventually changing, becoming better and stronger.

When we put in the work, with a healthy dose of righteous anger, change becomes inevitable. Yet many people, like the orthodontics rabbis, have a visceral fear of change and they end up imprisoned by their past, remaining exactly where they are.

When people ask why I continue to invest in women’s leadership in the Orthodox world after I experienced so much resistance and animosity, my answer is this: if we want the Jewish community to grow and thrive, we cannot ignore the wisdom, insights, moral courage and spiritual rigor that women contribute. Our community has always benefited from many voices, scholars and genders. When women are undermined in Orthodox communities — where we truly and deeply belong — everyone misses out.

Rabbeinu Yonah Gerondi, in his introduction to “Shaarei Teshuva,” or Gates of Repentance, a book that is often read on the days leading up to Rosh Hashanah, tells a story about a group of bandits that were imprisoned by the king. After a few days, the prisoners dug a tunnel, a route to escape. But there was one prisoner who was immobile. He could not crawl through the tunnel to freedom. He remained imprisoned, plagued by his past.

We are often stuck behind the walls we create for ourselves.

We have to know when to forge ahead and when to have the patience to wait. We have to know what to shift, what to transform and what to keep intact. We have to know which external fears inhibit our ability to change and what personal cages we erect for ourselves. I have come to realize that although the process of becoming ordained was slow and methodical for me, it opened up a pathway for hundreds of other women to actualize their dream of being halakhic and spiritual leaders. The accusations of “too fast” were just a front for some people’s resistance and discomfort to change.

Rosh Hashanah is the opportunity to ask ourselves, “Which changes are we seeking? What gets in the way of evolving in the ways we want?” Perhaps the shofar sounds are emblematic of the tensions, paces, and anxieties of change. On one hand, the fast, quick t’ruah — the tu-tu-tu-tu-tu — is like an alarm that awakens the soul to act. The slower drawn out sounds of the shevarim — tu, tu, tu — remind us of what should not change too fast, and of the deliberative slowness that sustains everlasting change.

Unlike my experience as an immigrant and as a rabbi, changes don’t always involve physically crossing an ocean or becoming more religious. But everyone has the capacity to traverse gulfs in their own lives — personally, communally and spiritually. We must embrace moments when we are called to change and when we are called to not change. We have to know when to hold onto the eleventh commandment, “You will not change,” and when to employ the twelfth commandment, “Change, you will change.”

May this year, 5784, bring deep cathartic awakenings, quick and necessary resolutions, and also the patience and fortitude to slowly and gradually relax ourselves into changes that can be everlasting.

28 notes · View notes

boxingcleverrr · 4 months

Text

I feel like more people need to understand what your average boomer conservative voter is actually like?

My mom and dad are 75 and 72, respectively. Both white, dad grew up poor, mom low-middle, didn't become upper middle class until my teens.

My parents are incredibly nice people. They'll accept anyone at face value, help anyone who asks, etc. They're Christian, and call themselves conservative, but believe in personal liberties, cause Murica. They think consenting adults should be allowed to marry any other consenting adult they want, practice any religion they want, do whatever they want to their bodies (with one big caveat). They've got a lot still to learn about institutionalized racism before I'd call them anti-racist, but they're certainly anti-racism, and raised us to never put up with racism if we saw it. They support common sense gun reform, even as far as saying "Oh, that could work here" when I explained Australia's gun laws. They're even favorable to the idea UBI.

They're super supportive of my lesbian aunt running for governor of California, and vacation with her and her wife once a year. They don't really understand what being nonbinary means yet, but they grasp the concept of respecting and believing someone when they tell you who they are and have been getting their grandkids' pronouns right!

All in all, knowing that 30 years ago they were in an evangelical cult, they're good people who have good core values, have come around from a lot of bad thinking, and can still learn, if at a glacial pace.

They're still gonna vote Red.

Probably not for Trump. But still.

Because their two big issues overshadow all others: They're anti-choice, and pro-militarism.

You can't even START a WHISPER of a conversation with my mom about reproductive rights: it's all murder, the end. We all know why - she regrets the abortion she was pressured into having as a young woman, firmly believes all women do, and that trauma shell is waaaaay too thick to crack. It would involve facing things she just can't, that's a whole other post. But yeah, no, that is one issue I do not see changing before she dies.

The militarism is easier to explain, they're cold war kids who think if the military lost even $50 today we'd all be speaking Russian by Monday.

And this whole post, I'm sure, describes MILLIONS of Republican voters. They're not all Trump-worshipping assholes who would like you dead.

My mother didn't even know who Marjorie Taylor Greene was, when I mentioned her in passing. Later that day she was like, "Oh wow I looked her up, she's annoying huh?" They BARELY watch the news, aside from big updates on Gaza and the local nightly news.

But they NEVER miss an election. Because they gotta keep the baby murdering down, and America big and strong, with the most bombs. They don't let themselves think deeply about who voting that way hurts, because they're not looking.

Just...please vote. Like that one post says, if you can't bring yourself to vote for the president, PLEASE fill the rest of that ballot with the people local to you who will be making a difference IMMEDIATELY. DO MORE THAN VOTE. But vote. Cause these very nice people who break my heart, and countless like them, definitely will.

#blathering

11 notes · View notes

foster-the-world · 2 months

Text

Hard

Things have been hard with baby boy. Three weeks ago he had a really bad week at school (3K) - after doing well all year. Amongst other really unregulated behaviors he scratched his friend - twice. One time at pickup and one time at daycare. The kids Dad called and screamed at me. All I could do was apologize over and over while he yelled at me. Baby boy plays rough but is not normally aggressive. Over a year ago (at 2.5) he bit his friend one time. We made a big deal out of it and he never did it again.

We pulled him out of school short term to figure out a plan. Also not sending him to daycare anymore. The boys parent said he could not go if baby boy was there. Daycare said they would not kick him out (we are close with them after many years) but we didn't want the boy to suffer when he was the one who got hurt. We will get after school care for the rest of the year. At this point its only two more months.

No idea why he was out of whack. Maybe daylight savings time but he was still sleeping a lot??? My Mom flew in to help - Thank God. He's an angel for her and she's a baby/kid whisperer. I had a really hard time with it - random crying. Spiraling with future worries in a really unhelpful way. I'm not generally much of a crier but I also went out of whack. I suspect there was some residual bad/helpless feelings left over from foster care mixed in there.

He seemed to understand scratching his friend was bad. He asked if he could write an I'm sorry card for his friend. His friend was over it within minutes. The Dad clearly was not.

Despite fighting all year for services this kicked my butt into further gear. Managed to get the SEIT (masters degree special ed teacher) that we've been pushing for all year. Ten hours a week one on one while in class. She seems good. I'm guessing she's a recent graduate - but that's fine. Right now we've only been sending him for the two hours she is with him. Next week we will add in another two hours. Then a full day. He's very happy at home with my Mom. She's staying for a month.

Keeping him home has all been our choice. His teacher never wanted him out of class. I just didn't want to risk him doing it again when we didn't know why he was acting like that. He's normally wild but not like this. At the time it felt like keeping him home was keeping him safe. Since going back he's been behaving fine at school. So fingers cross it was just a bad week. This all happened to coincide with his second development pediatrician appointment where he got a official ADHD diagnosis. Also coincided with the response to our special ed due process hearing. We won. We can now pay an enhanced rate to find providers and got over 100 hours of back pay hours. With his ADHD diagnosis came a recommendation for parent training. Got lucky and found someone who seems solid. Starting Monday night. Its virtual and after the kids are in bed. I'm excited for that. It gives me hope there is a "right" way to help him. Of course, its not covered by insurance even though its the recommended treatment for kids under six. Put him in a social skills class- also not covered by insurance (=blah). I don't think it will help but figure he may enjoy it. I believe (and research shows) kids this young can't learn how to act when they are upset at a time they are not upset. But also believe it can't hurt. At this point we are trying all of the things. He finally has OT, PT and speech - all outside of school hours but that's okay. As I suspected the speech person said she has not noticed any problems. We will probably stop that soon enough. His dev ped said we can medicate. She says research shows it helps but also higher chance of side effects when it starts at a young age. I'm very pro medication but not interested in starting until he is old enough to properly verbalize how the they make him feel. If he always acted how he was during his bad week that would be a different story. Right now meds aren't worth the risk.

Thinking we will put him in a integrated class next year. I was hesitant but this experience made me change my mind. We are touring two schools in May. One said they'd probably have a summer spot. They will bus him - which I heard is terrible and unreliable but will see how it goes.

I love him so much. I want a crystal ball that tells me how to help him. Anyone have one of those?

17 notes · View notes

ahundredtimesover · 2 years

Text

The Light of Dead Stars (02) | KSJ

Pairing: Seokjin x (f.) Reader; side Seokjin x (f.) OC; side Reader x Namjoon

Genre/Tags: arranged marriage, fake romance, boss/workmate aus; angst, drama, fluff, smut; slow burn

Chapter Warnings: Foul language (18+)

Chapter Word count: 9.7k

Series Masterlist | Muse Moodboard | Setting Moodboard

Status: Complete

Series summary: Your unconventional arranged marriage with your company’s President, Kim Seokjin, is necessary, practical, and simple - both your families benefit, and he minds his own business and so do you. But when a slip-up causes his parents to believe that you and he are in love, you have no choice but to pretend you are, especially with the trip to France for his brother’s wedding coming up. When you get back to Seoul, things start to change, and Seokjin is faced with the most difficult decision he has to make.

“Yes, Mr. Smith, that sounds great,” Seokjin says as he looks out the car window, seeming to notice the unusually dark sky this Monday morning. He continues to speak in what you’ve now confirmed is his business voice, low and serious and oozing with confidence. “Let me go check my schedule and see when we can meet. My secretary will let you know, thank you.”

He puts the phone down and like clockwork, calls for the man in the passenger seat.

“Yoong—”

“Yoongi, what’s my schedule like this week?” You interject in your low and supposedly confident voice, knowing it’s going to be Jin’s next sentence.

He turns to you with furrowed brows. “Are you making fun of me?”

“Oh, not at all,” you smile sweetly, trying to act innocent.

“She is, actually,” Yoongi says matter-of-factly. “She wonders why you ask that every time when you can easily check the tablet that you’re holding to see your schedule.”

“Gee, thanks for throwing me under the bus, Mr. Min,” you glare at him, but he merely sticks out the tip of his tongue to tease you while the rest of his face remains expressionless.

“So you were teasing,” Seokjin arches his eyebrow.

“It’s just funny that you ask Yoongi after every one of these morning calls when you literally could just tap once and your calendar would show up in the tablet you’re holding,” you say with a little laugh.

“Ah, it’s a habit,” your husband chuckles. “And I don’t know, something about his voice calms me down, like he��s not stressed about my schedule even if it’s pretty tight. Kinda need that one person sometimes, you know?”

You give him a comforting smile and he smiles back.

“But really, Yoongi, how’s it today?” Seokjin asks.

“You have a meeting with your father in the morning, a luncheon in Jeju, a press conference in the afternoon, and a business call with the Singapore office after,” Yoongi says without missing a beat.

“Ah, that’s quite a day you’ve got ahead,” you nudge your husband’s arm.

“And what about ___? How’s her schedule like today?” He asks his secretary.

“Mrs. Kim hasn’t given me access to her calendar yet,” the younger man replies.

The name is still something you’re getting used to, even if it’s what most people call you already, but you don’t correct Yoongi in front of Jin the way you normally would when your husband isn’t around. You don’t want him to feel like you’re the one who despises the situation.

“Why not?” He turns to you.

“Uh, why, though? Yoongi’s your secretary. He only needs to know your schedule,” you shrug, also still getting used to other people being in your business now. You’ve only been a Director for a year, yet even having an assistant who has to manage things for you is something you’re not fond of.

“There are conjugal events that Yoongi can only confirm our attendance to if he knows your schedule,” Seokjin explains. “I won’t ask you to drop what you’re doing for it, so he has to know, too. But I understand if it’s too intrusive, I won’t force it upon you, either.”

Right. You do have your wife duties, after all.

“Ah, it’s fine then,” you say, immediately giving access to the said man, who eventually states your schedule for the day.

“Product deliberations in the morning, lunch meeting with the chef for the collab project, farm visit in the afternoon,” Yoongi reads out, and you do agree - his calming voice reduces the stress somehow.

“That’s quite the day you’ve got ahead, too,” Jin turns to you. “You’re going to the farm? That’s a long trip.”

“Two hours is doable,” you shrug. “The team’s going to visit the production site and they need to submit the reports by the end of the week so I offered to go; I haven’t been there in a while, anyway.”

“Okay. Be careful, alright?”

“I will, don’t worry.”

You all exit the car and head inside the building, with you still not used to the company staff bowing to you as you walk side-by-side their President. You enter the elevator and savor the silence inside before the rest of your busy day starts. The doors open to your floor and you turn to him.

“Be careful too, okay? See you at home.”

He smiles brightly at you, something you don’t think you’ve seen much of with all the ste.

“See you at home.”

You will your tired body to get out of the car and walk to your house, and if it wasn’t so humiliating, you’d crawl. All your engagements today extended to the point that you were only able to start the trip back to Seoul at 7PM, and with the Tuesday night traffic, it’s no surprise that you’d just got home, and it’s already 11PM.

You wonder how Jin’s flight this afternoon was, and how the press conference went, and if he’d already eaten, and just as you’re about to call him, you hear a car stop and the door open.

“You just got home, too?” He asks, seemingly worried.

“Yeah. I’m exhausted. And hungry. Have you eaten?” You respond, keying in the security code of your door.

“No. I didn’t know what time I’d end so I didn’t have Mrs. Kang prepare anything. Let’s just order then,” he suggests, turning to you with a cheeky smile. “The usual?”

“The usual,” you nod, taking your phone to call for delivery.

Instead of heading to your rooms, Jin slumps himself on the kitchen bar stool while you grab his favorite red from the chiller and pour him a drink. You take your usual beer from the fridge and sit next to him.

“You think the President of my company would mind if I clock in late for work tomorrow?” You ask, gulping your drink.

“Nah, I think you’re good. Screw him if he expects you to go on time after slaving the whole day today,” he chuckles.

“Maybe he should take a bit of a rest, too. It’s been a long day,” you urge him, knowing he rarely takes breaks because it’s Jin and he has too many things going on to be afforded a break. And he likes it that way. He told you once it’s better that he has his feet in everything in the company; it helps him lead better.

“He’ll think about it,” he releases a long breath.

“Yeah, that’s code for he won’t,” you laugh. “But seriously, snoozing your alarm or at least extending it for another 30 minutes won’t hurt.”

“Yeah, that’s if I even get woken up by my alarm,” he says. “I wake up before it goes off.”

“That’s a sign of growing old, you know?”

“Shut up,” he nudges you, standing up to get the door for the delivery.

Jjajangmyeon and samgyupsal from a family restaurant not far away is your go-to at times like this. There was one time that you and Jin were up until 3AM working separately and got hungry but were too tired to cook, and this restaurant was still open and served the best noodles and pork belly that you’d had at that time of the day. They still tasted delicious the next evening, and you both knew it would be your staple when things are going tough.

You both sit on the living room floor with the TV on; you learned that Jin likes watching random sports on mute because it’s still as exciting but less stressful when there are no sounds.

You’re both eating quietly, savoring the peacefulness of a place you both try to feel like home everyday, and with the little routines you’ve both managed to have without outwardly talking about it, you feel like you’ve both succeeded. For how long this is gonna go, you’re not quite sure. But you’re enjoying it for now, and that’s really the kind of comfort you need at a time like this.

“How was your visit to your parents last weekend by the way?” He breaks the silence. “I forgot to ask. Is your dad doing better?”

It’s been a month since his surgery and 3 weeks since your parents found out about your arrangement with your husband. It’s safe to say that they’re not big fans of the whole thing - especially Seokjin, sadly - but they’ve taken to just accepting that you know what you’re doing, and that they’ll stay out of it as much as possible.

“He’s okay, and yeah, the trip was fine. The usual, really. We just talked about work, video-called with my siblings, bought groceries and medicines, nothing exciting.”

“Do they still hate me?” He asks, his voice falling.

“They don’t hate you,” you nudge his leg. “They just don’t get it.”

“A lot of people don’t.”

“Why, who else knows?” You turn to him curiously.

“My brother. And by extension, his fiance. And given my amazing social life, my secretary happens to also be my only friend so yeah, him, too. Taehyung called me dumb; Hyun-a thinks I’m making a terrible mistake, and Yoongi doesn’t smile when I mention Seri so I’m just assuming he’s not thrilled about it,” Jin chuckles to himself mockingly.

“Well, if it makes you feel better, my brother called me dumb, too. My best friends said I’m being stupid, and well, Yoongi only smiles on special occasions so he’s fine,” you respond.

“That doesn’t really make me feel better,” Jin shakes his head, but you do see the twinkle in his eyes, as if he’s trying his best to find the humor or the silver lining in all this right now.

“And Seri? Does she get it?”

“She says she does,” Jin shrugs. “That’s kind of her favorite line, actually. ‘Don’t worry, I get it.’ It used to make me feel good, you know? That she understood. But lately, I… Well, I know I haven’t been fair. To her, to you,” he trails.

“I’m the last person you should worry about, Jin,” you try to comfort him, though honestly, you weren’t expecting him to open up to you like this. “Seri’s been around for you for years. She’s the one who–”

“Is that enough, though? I mean, is that enough of a reason? Because she’s been around all this time?” He wonders out loud.

“She hasn’t given up on you, has she?” You ask. “I mean, that says a lot about what a person feels - hanging on, lingering, waiting… it’s as if there’s this certainty that they’re still gonna be there after all this time.”

You know it’s bullshit, what you’re saying, mostly because it’s what you want to believe. You’ve hung on, lingered, waited for the same person to come back for 5 years, as if that uncertainty is what makes everything so certain for you.

But Seri has been around for Jin just as long as he’s been around for her. Maybe that says something - whatever it is, there’s still meaning there.

“I used to think it was that simple,” Jin replies. “Our on-off secret thing has lasted all these years and we still can’t let the other go and months ago, I would’ve thought that it said a lot, like you said. But now I don’t know if it’s about her anymore or if it’s about me.”

“What about you? You mean, why can’t you let her go?”

“I mean, why can’t I fight for her to be more?”

There’s a brief moment of tense silence, and you try to act unsurprised by his sudden openness and honesty.

“Much as I like helping you figure things out, I’m afraid that’s one thing you have to figure out on your own,” you pat him on the shoulder. “I don’t know enough about Seri, or you, or your relationship, so I can’t really say much. But now you got me thinking, I should probably be asking myself the same thing.”

“About the guy you like?” He wonders.

You nod in response. “I still think there’s a reason why he hasn’t completely let me go, why he still holds onto his word that he’s going to come back for me. Maybe I should start wondering why I haven’t asked him to come back yet, or ever considered following him wherever he is. Why I’ve never - like you said - fought for him - for us - to be more?”

It’s quite ironic, talking about the people you love and are still holding onto with the man you’re married to. But there’s something oddly comforting about this moment, that even after a long day, you could sit at home with Jin and talk about the things that don’t make sense to you and feel like at some point in time, it will.

“Do we keep people because we want them or because we think there’s no one else to hold onto?” He wonders out loud again.

“Do we let people go because we think we’re better off without them, or they’re better off without us?” You say this time. “Or maybe because we love them?”

“That’s a good thought,” he says, sighing as he finishes his food and leans on the seat of the couch.

“It’s a sad thought,” you chuckle. “Too sad for 12:30AM on a weeknight, actually,” you turn to him.

“We should go to bed,” he stands and takes your hand to help you up. “It’s been a long day.”

“Uh-uh. I don’t know about you, though, but my boss allowed me to clock in to work late,” you smirk.

“Ah, what a kind boss you have,” he laughs. “He’s a good one, isn’t he?”

“He is. And I hope he never forgets that, too.”

Taehyung and Hyun-a’s wedding was dubbed the event of the year by the entertainment industry. She’s a well-loved actress who’s known for her serious roles on screen but off it, she’s a bubbly young woman who adores pretty things. Taehyung, aside from being the youngest of the well-known Kim family, is a model himself and loves luxury.

It’s a fact that they’re an incredibly good-looking couple, but beyond all the glitz and glamor are two people who truly love each other. You’ve seen it firsthand, as the banters and affection they display during the few family events that you’ve attended since marrying Seokjin don’t seem fabricated to you. They’re genuine, and even during your dinner and drink nights with the younger Kim, you’ve heard him endlessly talk about Hyun-a and the lovely babies they’re going to make.

It’s expected that they would have an extravagant celebration, and they will - in a grand ballroom with the view of the Seoul skyline against the Han River, with many from the entertainment and business industries attending. It’s public, too.

But before that, they’ll be having a private ceremony in France - which is where they met during a serendipitous trip - and only a handful of people are invited to the intimate but still lavish event in the Kim family’s holiday home in Montauroux.

That’s happening in a few weeks, but right now, what you’re focused on is this afternoon’s fitting that Seokjin’s mother insisted you have. She’d taken the measurements of your wedding gown and used it to have dresses made for both affairs.

It’s a Saturday and you’re heading over to a luxury boutique store to see the semi-final outfits after you’d chosen the designs not long ago.

“Hey, ready to go?” Seokjin calls out from outside your bedroom.

“Yeah, I’m coming,” you say, heading out the door and meeting him by the stairs. “I don’t know why I’m nervous.”

“They’re just dresses, ___. And you literally went through weeks of gown fitting with my mother and you were fine,” he reasons as you both exit the house then enter the car.

“Uh, I was losing my shit every time,” you admit. “You know I’m not… made for these things.”

“For what, exactly?”

“For glamor?”

You see the disappointment on his face when he asks, “since when did that matter?”

“It doesn’t, but it’s just… I’ve been accompanying you to social and business events with all these rich people, yes. But I can catch up with them,” you explain. “I work in the field. I’ve been trained to engage with those kinds of people but the people who are gonna be at this wedding? They’re celebrities, the most beautiful people in the world and I’m supposed to mingle with them? Beside you?”

“Hey, you’re not so bad,” he says, wincing when you pinch his arm. “I’m kidding! But honestly though, where is this coming from? Is someone making you feel bad about it or something?”

“No, not really. It just crossed my mind since there was an article about the guests at the wedding and I went from thinking that I’m probably gonna lose my mind from being starstruck, to wondering how I’m gonna keep up - looks-wise and others.”

“No one has to keep up with anyone, ___,” he tries to comfort. “You’re you and they’re them. There’s something that makes them stand out and there’s something that makes you stand out. It doesn’t always have to be about looks.”

“Gee, thanks for telling me I’m ugly.”

“Yah! That’s not what I meant!“ he yells, laughing now as you’ve started to repeatedly pinch him. “I’m just saying, you have nothing to worry about. You have your own charm and charisma about you - looks-wise and others,” he emphasizes. “You’re not being kind to yourself whenever you think you’re not pretty or good or glamorous enough.”

“Are you saying that your high regard for your looks is you being kind to yourself?” You tease.

Jin has never shied away from the compliments about his looks, and you don’t blame him. You have a pair of functioning eyes - he’s objectively handsome, like a classy gentleman with an angular face and perfectly placed and measured features.

You’d feel so immeasurably small and undeserving as his wife if only he isn’t as kind and assuring as he is. You still get a little overwhelmed sometimes, but you’re thankful that at least the worst that people have said about you when the news came out about your engagement is that you’re “too plain and forgettable” and that at least you’d now have money to get your face done. His family had been the one to hype you up by boasting of your academic and professional achievements and that seemed to shut people up, somehow.

“It’s part of it, yeah,” he chuckles. “But that’s also me just keeping up. This is such an embarrassing thing to admit but that was one of my concerns growing up - proving that I’m more than just my looks, that I’m actually competent and deserving of my achievements that I worked hard for.”

“Ugh, beautiful people problems. Can’t relate,” you laugh, but you can’t deny the way you soften at his confession. “Is that why you work as hard as you do? To show people that you actually do work and that you’re good at it?”

“Partly, yeah,” he nods. “But also, the company means a lot to my family. Sure, I have a role to play as the eldest son, but I like it. I love food, and the fact that I get to continue this legacy of making good food accessible to the general public, that makes me feel good; it makes me satisfied. At the end of the day, that’s what really matters to me.”

You hum, absorbing his words. You feel the same way. Your mom was raised by farmers and had such high regard for food, and she always made the best home cooked meals, no debate. And while you weren’t so privileged growing up, you were blessed to enjoy comforting food, and it’s something you’ve taken with you as you set out your career. Culinary school was too expensive, and working for the Kims, in a company that mass produces good food so that it could be available to the public, is another way you get to show your appreciation for it.

Your silence tells him that you’re thinking about what he’s said. You and Jin talk about food and work an equal amount of time, but not at this level, and he appreciates being able to relate with someone like this. It’s one of the things that caught his attention when you became Director - you had such love and appreciation for the craft, and that always earns his respect.

But he still enjoys teasing you sometimes, just because you’ve somewhat grown comfortable with each other these past months.

“But you know, if you want me to tell you you’re beautiful, just let me know. I’ll do the husband duty by doing that,” he smirks.

“You really have to ruin it, huh?” You scowl, but he doesn’t miss the small smile and satisfying sigh you make when you turn to the window and close your eyes.

You enter the chic boutique store in a fancy hotel and take in your surroundings. You don’t think you’re ever going to get used to it, though a part of you winces at the thought of having to let this all go at some point.

Seokjin’s mother greets you and introduces you to the designer, who was lovely enough to give you the cheapest price she could for the kind of dresses you would have. You insisted on paying for them, but Jin argued with you about it - perhaps the only time you ever did.

You were doing him a favor and you wouldn’t even be needing to spend if it wasn’t for his family, but you stood your ground. In the end, you agreed for him to pay for one dress - the one for the event in Seoul - while you paid for the other one, and even you were surprised it wasn’t as expensive as you thought. You suspect his mother had something to do with it but you didn’t want to question any further, afraid to cause some rift that’s unnecessary.

“Hello, darlings,” she chirps, giving you then Jin a hug. “I’ve seen the dresses and they look so stunning. You’re both going to love them,” she smirks.

You try to not think much of it. You’re not quite sure what his parents expect of you and him. Do they think you and Jin would end up falling in love and living happily ever after? Perhaps. She was arranged with Mr. Kim, too, but you wouldn’t have known - those two seem so affectionate with each other. You don’t know how much of it is for show, but you’ve seen them laugh together and sweetly look at each other and you think that’s not something that two people could easily fake.

You follow one of the staff who leads you to a changing room that’s as big as your apartment before you moved in with Jin, and you let her assist you.

It’s the magic of an expensive fabric and dazzling jewelry because you definitely didn’t look this good just moments ago.

You exit to find a sitting Seokjin, in his blue suit jacket and brown trousers, cross-legged with a cup of tea and conversing with his mother. He turns to you after his mother squeals in delight, and smiles. It’s a soft one, something you don’t see that often.

He stands as if to assess you, and with a hand on his chin, he nods. “You can definitely keep up,” he winks, and while you think it should make you flustered, somehow his compliment just made you feel warm and comforted.

“What about you? Are we going to see your suit?”

“Tae had it made in France,” Jin replies. “I tried it on when I went there for the food tasting and it looks nice - chic and summery like they wanted.”

“Hmm, looking forward to the surprise, then,” you smile.

You turn to head back to the changing room and wait to be surprised yourself. Since the gown for the celebration in Seoul was paid for by Jin, you don’t know what it looks like. All you said was that you wanted it to be simple, and that you’d just like to complement his outfit that you know is going to be breathtaking.

Your jaw almost drops to the floor. It’s simple, alright, but it’s so perfectly elegant that you couldn't have dreamed of a better gown for yourself. The champagne color is just the right shade you want, and the satin material is so soft, so luxurious, so classy. It hugs your figure just right, and the off-shoulder neckline and slit at the front show just enough skin to make you feel sexy and confident.

Seokjin sits on the couch, taking a sip from his cup of tea and browsing through the magazine. You’re taking longer this time, and he thinks you’re probably still marveling at the gown you’re wearing. His mother had shown him the design, and he just had a feeling you’re going to like it.

You’re not a flashy person. You do like to dress up at work - you’d said it adds to the respect you feel you need to keep earning as a young female director - but these types of events are particularly tricky for you. He doesn’t want you to think you have to overcompensate. Like he’d said, you have your own charm.

Sure, you’re not exactly his type looks-wise, not like Seri whose perfect mix of puppy-eyes and pale skin and feminine features captured his attention immediately; you’re a lot simpler and more natural than that. And that’s something he at least appreciates.

He hopes you cut yourself some slack, though, as he’d felt sometimes you feel more anxious than he’s used to when he takes you to events, something you’d voiced out earlier. He wishes he got to say more and made you feel more at ease, at least, and he tells himself he’s going to do that next time.

But as you walk down the hallway with an excited smile on your face, he’s just as satisfied as you are.

“Okay, I can definitely keep up,” you chirp, twirling around for him and giggling as you almost lose your balance in the heels you were asked to wear.

“Yeah, you definitely can.”

You slice the ravioli in half and munch on a piece, your eyes furrowed, hoping that you finally get the pasta right. You huff and aggressively eat the remaining half, scowling as you do.

“Aish, how do I get this right?” You wail to no one.

“You know that’s not your job anymore, right?” Seokjin’s voice echoes in the kitchen, your pouty face making him laugh. “You didn’t get promoted for you to still be doing product developer tasks,” he reminds you. “Get your people to do this. You’re sacrificing your weekends to perfect this recipe.”

“Says the man who does just that,” you arch an eyebrow. “You were literally mixing around with the packet broth recipe that your people should be doing. And that was just last week.”

“I was making us dinner,” he defends.

“You made 4 batches of the broth, Jin; 5 if I hadn’t stepped in and complained that I was starving.”

“Fine, you caught me,” he says, taking your fork and eating the other piece of ravioli, muttering that it’s good. “Your point is?”

“My point is that I have as much right to do this as you do. Also, it’s good but the pasta’s too thick.”

“Wasn’t this a project from last year? I thought one of your teams was working on it already,” he asks, opening cupboards and drawers and taking out ingredients and a pan.

“They were; research had begun but the other team working on the samgak kimbap were down some people and the ravioli team had to help, so this took a backseat. It picked up again but there are still issues with the ingredients and pricing so I decided to help, otherwise we’d be behind schedule.”

You watch Jin heat up the pan, take the remaining white kimchi from the jar, put it in a bowl, and cut it into smaller pieces. He slices bacon, canned spam, and sausages and boils some eggs.

“So the filling is okay, it’s just the pasta you need to figure out?” he asks, as he starts to fry the meat; the sizzling sound is music to your ears.

You hum, getting lost in how he works, as he now adds the white kimchi - with some chili paste and flakes - then the rice, mixing everything until they’re ready to go. He puts it in a serving plate then adds soft boiled eggs on top with some garnish.

When he’s stressed or wants to take his mind off things, he cooks. It’s one of the first things you learned about him after you got married.

You grew up in a humble home and watched your mother make stews from the vegetables in the garden - humble cooking for a family like yours. But you know Jin grew up traveling the world, being exposed to various cuisines and shopping for expensive ingredients like it’s a normal thing.

You’ve seen him make pasta from scratch, cook steak to perfection, and whip up interesting and complicated dishes, and it always astounds you. He works in the kitchen with so much grace and confidence, and he’d mentioned once that if he wasn’t the eldest who’s expected to run the company, he would’ve made a career as a chef or a food critic.

But of all the times that he’s made meals out of the fanciest ingredients, some of which you’ve never heard of before, it’s when he’s making food like this that you’re most impressed. Somehow it tells you that at the end of the day, this is still his comfort food, and this is his way of comforting and encouraging you. You’ve mentioned quite a few times that aside from pancakes, all-meat kimchi fried rice is something you also like to gorge on when you’re stressed.

He passes you bowls and spoons and motions for the living room. “Turn on any food channel, let’s have dinner.”

You follow, and soon after, he’s plopping down next to you on the floor with the plate and 2 bottles of beer.

And that’s how you spend the rest of the evening - watching culinary shows, from cooking contests to documentaries, and munching on chips and ice cream after your meal.

“I just watch when I’m stuck,” he says, after all the oohs and ahhs due to the delicious food on your screen and to the new things you learn. “For inspiration, yes, but mostly to remind myself that the perfect recipe is out there, and I’m going to find it.”

You softly smile at the thought.

It’s odd, being married to the President of your company and not being romantically involved with him. It’s almost like a learning experience, and if that’s something else you could take from this arrangement other than your family being safe, then you’d take it and make this decision over and over again.

“Hmm, there’s still a bunch of things in the pipeline. You want us to cater to the North and South American and European markets,” you remind him. “I’m gonna need more hours of inspiration and reminders that the perfect recipe is out there.”

“Good thing we live together, then,” he chuckles. “We’ve got all the time in the world.”

Watching food shows becomes a staple of your next 2 weeks. You’d usually spend your evenings after shared dinner on your own - you speak with your family, work on your finances, and do what little social engagement online that you can sneak in, while Jin does whatever he does in his room on the other side of the hallway.

But after that night when you started watching your cooking shows over whatever meal he’s cooked up or you bought on your way home, it’s become your only form of bonding.

You’ve been visiting your plantations and production sites out of town, so you’ve been leaving the house earlier than him. He’s busy, as usual, going wherever he needs to go and attending whatever he needs to attend, but whoever one of you gets home first, there’s always a dish ready and an empty seat on the living room floor for the one who arrives later.

It was after the fourth night that you got your inspiration and shared it with the team after, but the TV nights kept going, even if some of them had Jin falling asleep and you, having to wake him up to go to bed.

But you figure that he’s the one who’s stressed this time, given the upcoming presentation that he has to deliver for a leadership conference for young entrepreneurs. So you indulge him, letting him choose the show and answering his random questions as he hypes himself up for the big day.

It’s a Sunday afternoon and he’d just arrived from the tailor while you just woke up from a nap after an early morning flight from Singapore.

Your phone rings and you stare at it for a few seconds, too tired to pick it up, when you see Jin’s name on the screen.

“Hey, are you awake now?”

“Uh, yeah, thanks to you,” you huff. “How did you know I was asleep?”

“I was knocking on your door and calling your name but you weren’t responding.”

“Ah, yeah. The guy next to me in the plane was snoring so loud, I didn’t get to sleep.”

“I told you to take First Class, you never listen,” he groans.

“I don’t use my President’s wife perks for work, okay?” You remind him. “Business class was fine. The dude was just enjoying his sleep too much. Anyway, you okay? What’s up?”

“I need your help. Can you come to my room?”

“Be there in a sec,” you say, stretching a bit before walking across the hall.

You’re still in your clothes from this morning, not minding much. You call his name when you’re near the door so you don’t see something you’re not supposed to, and he tells you that you can enter.

“I got these 2 suits today and I’m not sure which one to wear for my presentation on Wednesday,” he says, lifting both up.

He puts each set against his body so you could get a better assessment, although objectively, either one would look good on him, something you voice out.

“But I cut my hair and lightened it a bit. That has a bearing. My suit needs to match my hairstyle so I look young.”

“Jin, you’re 35. You are young; you look even younger than your age,” you respond.

“I’m at least 10 years older than the people I’m going to be presenting to,” he says. “I need to look relatable.”

“Jin, you’re a fucking billionaire. You’re not gonna be any more relatable to those youngins regardless of which suit you decide to wear,” you chuckle, but you see the stress on his face and you give in. “Fine, go try them on and I’ll see.”

“Alright, go sit on the couch and I’ll change.”

You do as he’s asked, and it’s really the first time that you spend more than a few seconds in his room. It’s cleaner than you imagined, but it definitely has more photos than you expected.

You eye his shelf and see the sporty side of your husband. There’s a tennis trophy, the label a little faded so you assume he was probably in high school. There’s a photo of him snowboarding, another one golfing, and then on a horse. There’s even one with what you can tell is a yellowfin tuna. Ah, rich people hobbies, you chuckle to yourself.

But there are more photos - with his brother, his sister, his parents; not many with his friends, though, at least in his later years. You can only imagine what he had to give up just to be where he is now.

He exits his walk-in closet wearing a dark blue triple-breasted suit over a white polo and you admit that he looks pretty good in it. You let him turn and walk around and he follows, thinking you haven’t seen enough when you really just wanted to mess with him.

“Now do a 90-degree bow, please,” you laugh, but he throws you a sock and walks back to change while you yell in disgust.

He walks out in a charcoal suit, and he looks every bit of the President that he is. He just walks closer to you and turns around this time, and even you feel a bit intimidated.

“You look too professional and too rich,” you hum. “I like the blue one better, it’ll appeal to the young ones a bit more. Makes you look approachable, too. Can you change into that again and put on a beige or brown trench coat? It might be cold there.”

“Okay,” he says, following your suggestion and coming out with a beige coat.

“Can you remove your contacts and wear your glasses, too?”

“Why?”

“Just going for a certain vibe,” you shrug, and he does as you ask.

Well, you initially thought that his face might be too distracting because of how beautiful it is, but now you think having his glasses on makes him a little too good-looking, but you don’t say that, so you just nod and give him a thumbs up.

“Looks like you’ve found your outfit,” you say.

“Thanks,” he chirps, removing his suit, and you scold him for being too careless so you help him in hanging them properly. “Seri usually helps me with these things.”

“Why didn’t you ask her, then?” You ask, with no bitterness in your voice.

You assumed the same; you even half expected her to be here, given that you’d informed Jin also just this morning that you were going to be home early.

“I’ve just been busier than usual, haven’t had the time to speak with her,” he shrugs, going back to his closet to change.

“Is that normal?” You wonder out loud. “I mean, she’s your girlfriend, right?”

“Uh, yeah. But it’s not a normal relationship, or conventional for that matter.”

“It’s because of me, right?” You pout, something he catches.

“What? No!” He assures you, sitting next to you on the couch. “It’s always been like this, I think I told you that some time ago. It’s kinda just easier to say she’s my girlfriend and leave it at that but when it’s a secret, when I do what I do and don’t have as much time as I want for anything else other than work, that’s what happens,” he explains. “We see each other when I can, we text or call when I can’t. It just always worked like that.”

“You sure?”

“Now I’m the one who gets to tell you that yes, I’m sure; we’ve talked about this,” he adds, saying the line you always tell him. “And like I said, she gets it. I’ll try to see her this week.”

“Yeah, you should. We’re flying to France soon. That’s still 2 weeks without seeing her,” you remind him.

“That’s another thing to stress about,” he huffs, leaning his head against the wall and briefly closing his eyes. “I can’t believe that my dad and grandfather let us take that trip for 2 weeks, but I also can’t believe he let us take that trip for 2 weeks.”

“It’s your grandfather’s birthday a few days before the wedding,” you say. “I mean, isn’t that why Tae and Hyun-a scheduled it then? So it would align with your grandfather’s 85th? Which is great, really. Your entire family would already be there.”

“Yeah, it’s the first time that my sister’s kids are seeing the family home,” he smiles. “That would be fun. And you, too!”

“Well, it’s not like I’m actually part of the family,” you chuckle, looking at the floor and missing the way Seokjin’s face falls a little at the thought. “But it should be nice. I’m probably gonna be a nervous wreck because I haven’t seen your grandparents since the wedding.”

“What about it?”

“I don’t know, they might be expecting something?”

“They don’t really ask me much, actually. Or I kinda just dodge it when they’re heading there,” he laughs. “They just know we get along, and that seems to be enough for them.”

“Ah, well, it shouldn’t be much trouble, I would assume? It’s France, in a lovely house–”

“Chateau, actually,” he corrects, and he laughs at your widened eyes. “Restored, but yeah, it’s beautiful.”

“Okay, then, chateau,” you try to say it elegantly. “It should be fun, and stress-free… right?”

You turn to him for assurance. The hecticness of your last few weeks has blinded you to the reality of the wedding and all the possible things that could go wrong, which, if you think now, could be a lot.

Jin might miss Seri too much, he might slip, and you could both be in hot water. Or you both could act so comfortably, the way you both do anyway, and his family might think that something is indeed happening, and you wouldn’t know what to say, or at least how to say that you’re more platonic housemates than anything, and there’s really no chance of love or even attraction, given that he has a girlfriend and well, you’re not exactly keen on finding love, since the one you want is somewhere else in the world who may or may not want you, too.

But what keeps you hopeful and positive is that it’s Jin. Really, if there’s any rich and handsome man that you were to end up in this unconventional arranged marriage with, you’re glad it’s him. He makes you laugh, he annoys you sometimes, but more than anything, he makes you feel like yourself.

Seokjin sits on the couch of the holding room, legs and arms crossed and eyes closed as he waits for the start of his presentation which is in half an hour.

Donning the blue suit you’d chosen the other day, he takes in the quiet of the space, letting his mind work and relax at the same time. He’s glad you’d insisted that he bring his coat; it’s cold, like you said, and no amount of hot tea can make him warm up. He’s a little nervous, if he’s being honest; he’s human like that.

There’s a soft knock on the door and he instructs the person to come in, his eyes still closed.

“Are you… meditating?”

“___, it’s you,” he says, opening his eyes in surprise, having not heard the door open. “I thought it was Yoongi. I didn’t expect you to be here.”

More like, he didn’t think you would be. He’d voiced out his nervousness, too shy to ask you to come since he knows you’re also busy and well, you’re not exactly required to attend, even as his “wife.”

“Ah, well, I saw your father at the office and he seemed a little disappointed I'm not with you,” you narrate. “I didn’t want to seem like a neglectful partner so I came.”

He hums, not thinking much of your reason for showing up.

“I felt like you’re gonna do well, anyway,” you add, “so I didn’t think you’d need the luck of my presence. But I don’t mind, actually. I’ve seen you deliver presentations so many times and I know I’m gonna learn a thing or 2 from you today,” you say, earning you a faint smile.

You take your seat next to him and nudge his knee. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, just a little nervous,” he shrugs.

“Really?” You sound surprised. “You’re gonna do great, Jin. We’ve been practicing all week.”

You’re right, you both have. You’ve spent almost every night listening to him vocalize his presentation because that helps his flow. He wants it to sound natural but still practiced; you almost memorize it yourself.

“I have to speak as the President now, and to young people; that holds a lot of responsibility,” he says.

He hasn’t been President long, and he’s been delivering speeches in the past months, but a presentation in front of those who may look up to him as a role model - some have noted that he is - adds so much pressure. And because of that, he’s anxious and he’s glad you’re here before he takes the stage.

“Well, you already look the part. And I know you’re gonna smash it. If all else fails, just give them that brooding look of yours and they’ll just get hypnotized or something,” you comfort.

He laughs at your idea of a last resort and finally smiles.

“Anyway, I’ll only be here for your presentation. I have to head out right away since we have that directors’ meeting,” you say, standing up and he follows.

“Sure, no worries,” he says, removing his trench coat, wrinkling his suit a little because of it.

“Yah, careful.”

You mindlessly fix his collar, your fingers tracing down to fix the hem, too. With your eyes focused on what you’re doing, you don’t notice that his are focused on you, surprised at how you’d acted reflexively and being as close as you are.

You look up and meet his gaze, a millisecond of you getting hypnotized before you snap out of it.

“Sorry,” you chuckle. “You need to look perfect, and well, you do. I’ll see you after, alright?”

He doesn’t get a word in, as you’re turning around right away and heading out the door, questioning yourself why you’d done the wife thing and fixed his suit when you’d usually make him fix it himself. Perhaps the comfort of the last weeks have made it too easy, moving closer like that.

You sigh. It was a momentary slip up, and you wish he hadn’t felt awkward or even creeped out. You decide to act like it didn’t happen and head to your seat in the audience.

Back in the holding room, Seokjin is the one trying to snap out of it. Apart from your wedding where you’d held hands and kissed - for about a millisecond, he recalls - and during social events where he’d have his hand lightly on your back, you two don’t really get close in any way when you’re alone.

Neither of you initiates, and even if what you’d done was a mere tap on his chest, the proximity caught him off guard. And for the briefest moment, he hadn’t minded it at all.

Seokjin does his presentation with ease, exactly how he’d envisioned doing it. He had visual aids to show data and engaged with the audience - asking questions, looking them in the eyes when they responded, and even making jokes.

He’d impressed them, as he hoped, and many times, he found himself glancing at you, who looked just as engaged and impressed as well. You were even trying to discreetly take photos with your phone and he almost laughed at how much of a stage wife you were being.

After he said his ending line - “don’t try to be the next Kim Seokjin, be the next you” - you gave him a thumbs up sign - after rolling your eyes and chuckling, of course - and he knew he did well.

You met him at the conference hall entrance before you left, and he’d made his way back to the holding room to make a few work calls before he went back for a panel session.

He’s on the couch, having just responded to an email, when his phone rings, Seri’s name flashing on the screen. Caught off guard - since it feels so long since he’s spoken to her - he picks up after the third ring.

“Hey,” he says, standing up. “How are you?”

“I’m okay,” she replies cheerily. “Am I seeing you at the directors’ meeting later? Your brother will be attending and I was assigned to assist him.”

“I’m in Incheon for a presentation, actually,” Seokjin responds, realizing he’d forgotten to tell her about today. “I asked Taehyung to preside over that meeting since I won’t be there.”

He’s standing by the window now, looking out into the busy street, wondering how she’s doing, and wondering how he’d lost track of the days.

“Oh, that’s why,” she hums after a beat of silence but still sounding jovial. “I can imagine how busy you are. Am I gonna see you soon, though? I mean, I know I saw you this morning but it feels like I haven’t seen your face in so long.”

“I know. It was nice to see you, though,” he responds sincerely.

They’d passed by each other when he entered the building and were in the same elevator. But so was his father and Seokjin couldn’t really say anything, especially as the elder Mr. Kim was talking about the trip to France and how his parents couldn’t wait to welcome you to their holiday home.

“But yeah, I’ll find time. Maybe a nice dinner? We can get whatever you want,” he grins.

“Yes, that would be nice!” She chirps. “Even just to see you, really. I, uh, I miss you, Seokjin.”

It’s the sound of his name that gets to him. It’s how he knows she’s serious; it’s how he knows that’s all she wants.

“I miss you, too. I’ll see you, okay?”

“Okay. You should go now, I don’t want to take up your time.”

“Alright, bye.”

He hangs up and takes a deep breath, suddenly feeling bad, perhaps missing time with her because he’s been spending more time with you. Or is he?

But before he could doubt himself even more, he hears someone hum, and turning around, his heart drops to the ground.

“I didn’t think that you and ___ would fall for each other so soon, darling,” his mother chirps. “Of course, we hoped for it, but now it’s real.”

“Mother, uh, what are you doing here? And uh, how long have you been standing there?” He stutters. Damn that door and how quiet it is.

“Long enough to learn that you and your wife can’t get enough of each other, hmm? I just met her at the entrance after she’d watched your presentation,” She smiles, walking over to fix his collar and the wrinkles on his suit. “Get her that dinner, or better yet, make her dinner. That’s how I knew your father cared about me,” she winks. “And oh, I was at a nearby hotel for a meeting and he reminded me about your presentation today. I caught the second half of it.”

“Right, uh, thanks,” he feigns a smile, loosening his tie now as he feels like he’s suffocating.

“But it’s great to know that you two have become fond of each other,” she says dreamily. “I wasn’t sure how it was going to be because you didn’t seem interested in relationships after you hit 30 and now I’m just glad that you’ve come to like ___, like this marriage really could work out between you two.”

“Yeah, I mean, she’s great and easy to get along with.”

He knows he’s just dug himself a deeper hole, but it’s during these moments when Seokjin is convinced that he is, indeed, stupid. He wishes he had more common sense and could think quicker instead of freezing and letting his mother believe that what you both have has now become real.

“She is. I’ve become fond of her, too.” She fondly tucks his hair behind his ear. “I’m happy for you, Son. You deserve someone who cares about you, and someone you care about, too.”

“Yeah, I guess I do.”

“Okay, then. Well, I just wanted to drop by and tell you I’m proud of you,” she smiles again. “And just a bit of advice? Don’t say you’ll find time; you make time, okay honey?”

“Got it, I’ll keep that in mind,” he nods.

One of the event organizers peeps in and calls for Seokjin, as the panel discussion is about to start. He says he’ll be back out, sending you a text first to meet him in his office so you could go home together.

“Fuck,” he mumbles. “What are you gonna do now, Seokjin? You’re about to mess everything up.”

You walk towards Jin’s office as he’d asked you to do earlier in the afternoon, a spring in your step as the directors’ meeting that you thought was going to be a tough one turned out to be better than expected.

Taehyung presided over it and was a lot more jovial, a stark contrast to his older brother, your husband. You got things done, at least, agreeing on certain policies and immediate action points, with a few laughs in between. It’s how Taehyung’s always been, anyway.

“You’re deep in thought,” you hum, as you open the door. You’ve reached that level of no more needing to have Yoongi let you enter; you just knock and are allowed to go in as you please. “That chair could burn with how badly you’re staring at it.”

You look like you’re in a good mood, and he hates that he has to ruin it.

“We’re kind of in trouble, and it’s all my fault,” he looks at you apologetically. “I’m sorry, ___.”

“Hey, what are you saying?” you ask worriedly, walking towards him and nudging him to look at you. “Talk to me.”

So he tells you everything - the phone call, his mother overhearing, and then the text she’d just sent that your parents have booked you a few nights’ stay at a resort in Saint-Tropez during your trip to France as their honeymoon gift, among others.

“That’s uh, a lot to process,” you huff, feeling the spacious room suddenly get hot. “How are we— I mean, uh, I’d tell you to say you weren’t talking to me because we’re not romantically involved but like, who would you say you were talking to?”

“Exactly, it was too sweet to be a friend and I don’t even have friends,” he sighs. “I’m so stupid. I should’ve been more careful about taking her calls when I’m not at home or here in my office. And that fucking door, I swear it was—”

“Hey, just think… at least you didn’t say her name,” you comfort. “This is all terrible but I mean, it’s not the worst.”

You look at each other, mirroring each other’s pouts, and if it wasn’t a stressful moment, you’d laugh at each other’s faces.

“It’s just—”

“Hyung!” Taehyung’s voice echoes in the room, momentarily breaking the slight tension between you and Jin.

“Yah! What did I say about knocking?” Jin scowls.

“I did,” his brother argues.

“You didn’t,” Jin counters.

“Yeah, you’re right, I didn’t,” he smiles sweetly, one you’ve come to know as his boxy grin that’s all types of charming and screams I can get away with anything, and he does. “I was gonna ask for your advice on the bar food for the after party of the celebration here. But you two look like your world’s ending so my question can wait.”

Taehyung stands in between you and Jin, his eyes shifting between you and his brother. “Is this your first couple fight? How can I help?”

“No,” Jin growls, and you’ve never really seen him this frustrated.

But he narrates the story to his brother, the way he did with you, not missing or changing any detail. A short beat of silence follows, until Taehyung speaks out.

“Uh, just pretend to actually be in a loving marriage, then,” he says so casually, like it’s the most normal and obvious thing in the world. “I mean, you at least like each other as people, so no need to pretend about that. Just, up the romance thing, alright? And the sexual, too,” he winks.

“Tae, you know I have a girlfriend,”Jin says too fast yet somehow, too unsure.

“Whom you decided to still keep even when you agreed to this marriage,” the younger man points out. “And you may both act like he didn’t have a choice but he always does, and he chose you,” he turns to you. “But he also chose her.”

You feel like this isn’t the kind of conversation you should be present for, but Jin’s dejected face makes you want to comfort him. It’s your fault, too, somehow. You enabled him, in a way, by letting him stay with Seri. This is the only time you ever doubted your decision, always thinking that you were doing the right and sound thing.

“Look, I hate to be the selfish one, but I’m getting married in a few weeks,” Taehyung continues at your silence. “Sorry to be insensitive but Hyun-a is the woman of my dreams, and I would love for our wedding to be a happy event, with the most important people to us present, celebrating with us. Whether you both come out with the truth or cover it up, it’s up to you, but I hope you choose the one that doesn’t impact my wedding negatively. I… I would really appreciate that.”

He’s right, and though you don’t feel like you’re in the position to say something, you shoot him a smile, knowing that for someone as in love as he is, you know he’d want his wedding to be perfect. There’s no place for any of your and Jin’s drama on this trip.

“I don’t want Seri to feel—”

“I’ll talk to her,” Seokjin cuts you. “I’ll try to make her understand.”

He looks at you apologetically, but you look at him with assurance. You know more than anything that he wants his brother’s special day to be as beautiful as it could be.

“So, uh, that’s the plan, right?” Taehyung looks at you then at his brother again. “Pretend to be in a relationship with your spouse?”

It sounds silly, silly enough for you and Jin to laugh and shake your heads at the same time.

“I guess it is,” he breaks the silence.”

“It is,” you say. “But hey, at least we’ll be in France.”

Series Masterlist

Permanent Taglist: @sherlynxx @di0rgguk @thequeen-kat @mwitsmejk @fan-ati--c @cravingforhotchocolate @adoraminie @helenazbmrskai @weasleyswizarding-wheezes @preciouschimine @gukssunshine @nch327 @petalsofink @shatzkrinslinzki @kookxin @petuliii @yoursthv @libra04 @fancycollectormoon @twixxxpie @ignoretheskies @ohmydarlin-g @bids97 @minyoongiboongi @main-bangtansmauyeondan

Series Taglist: @iwishselena @neverthefirstchoice @cuteipat @jungoomoles @yoontaethings @scuzmunkie @aerastus

#seokjin fic #seokjin angst #seokjin fluff #seokjin smut #seokjin x reader #seokjin x you #seokjin series #arranged marriage au #boss au #the light of dead stars

310 notes · View notes