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crankynewt · 3 years

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Chapter Two - Letting You Go

Another Love Series Masterlist

Pairing: Regulus Black x Fem!Reader, Remus Lupin x Fem!Reader

Song: Think of You - Christina Grimmie

Warnings: Fluff, angst, (past) major character death, a very altered timeline, and Snape being Snape (frightens all ;))!

Word Count: t o o l o n g

Masterlist

Author’s Note: Y’all asked so I delivered (instead of doing my uni classes lol)! This ones a lot longer than the first chapter cause I got a little too carried away writing it, so grab a snack and enjoy! Parts of this chapter were inspired by Think of You by Christina Grimmie, who was tragically killed about five years ago, but I highly recommend listening to her music as she truly had a voice like no other.

Had you told yourself fifteen years ago at your graduation that you would eventually return to Hogwarts as a professor, you would have laughed in your face. Don’t get me wrong, you adored your time at the school, but you could never see yourself leaving Regulus and the family you’d hoped to start one day for nine months at a time. You thought you had your life figured out on the train ride home following your seventh year, but that all fell apart within twelve months. And then it did again a year later.

Now you were gazing upon the Great Hall once more, this time alongside your former professors as not teachers but colleagues. The towering stone walls of the castle brought back more memories than you would like to admit, especially not to Remus. This is not the result of any lack of love towards your husband, but you don’t think he would necessarily approve of what you and your late then-boyfriend got up to. Holding Regulus as sobs wracked through his body in the early hours of the morning after he returned from doing unspeakable things with his fellow Death Eaters had become your typical Friday night routine. But now that burden no longer sat upon your shoulders, and hopefully the commencing year wouldn’t be quite so stressful. Grading and rowdy students you could handle; another war, not so much.

Sitting with Remus on your left and Professor McGon- Minerva, on your right, the beginning of the feast was nothing short of delightful.

“That one’s got to be a Gryffindor, he looks overly sure of himself!” You whispered to you husband, sure to keep your voice down so your colleagues could not hear your guesses as to where each of the first years would be sorted.

“What- no, Gryffindors are brave, not cocky! And besides, he’s clearly a Slytherin, they’re the overly-confident ones.” He replied, defensive of his own house. And, unfortunately for you, he was right, shooting you a smug smirk when the sorting hat roared Slytherin across the hall.

“See, cocky!” You pointed at him before taking a sip of the amber liquid in your goblet and focusing your attention towards your plate. What you didn’t see was the look of utter adoration that he focused on you, as if he was still in awe that you were by his side let alone married to him.

McGonagall couldn’t help but smile at both the childish-antics of the two newest professors but also the connection the two of you clearly shared. She remembered worrying about the both of you following the news of the youngest Black brother’s demise and downfall of the Marauders, however, she found her concerns eased seeing the solace the two of you found in each other.

“It’s Teddy’s turn!” He nudged your side, bringing you attention back to your youngest son who timidly made his way up the stone steps onto the stage at the front of the hall. He looked to Remus and yourself for reassurance, finding comfort in the slight nod his father gave to him and the look of pride in both sets of eyes. Rather than guessing his placement, the two of you sat in silent anticipation as you strained to hear what the hat was saying.

“Ah, a Lupin! I haven’t seen one of you since your father was here.” The enchanted garment began. “You certainly hold his courage and intelligence, yet I see a hint of something else in there - it must be your mother! I remember sorting her as well, she could have gone into any of the houses, and I think I sense her determination and kindness in you. Are you going to follow in your father’s footsteps and be daring in Gryffindor? Or will you take after your siblings and find greatness in Slytherin? Or, yes, that’s it. You belong in… Hufflepuff!”

Remus and yourself felt pride rise in you as you clapped harder than ever before. In the audience, you saw Archie and Cassie rise from their seats as they applauded as well, proud that their little brother had finally made it to Hogwarts regardless of what house he was in.

The rest of the ceremony went by in a blur, Dumbledore introducing Remus and yourself to the school as professors Lupin and Y/L/N. Not only did you and your husband intend to keep your marriage a secret to the students, but you agreed with the headmaster that hiring a Black to the staff would not sit well with parents following Sirius’ recent escape from Azkaban. Students would eventually realize that Remus and Teddy were related, but Archie and Cassie were a little reluctant to reveal that their parents would be teachers in fear of the inevitable teasing from their peers. But for now, you would all keep this secret close to your chest.

Keeping an eye on your children throughout the rest of the feast, you were pleased to see both Teddy and Cassie cheerily conversing with a number of their peers whilst they ate. What was startling, however, was how you never saw Archie speak to anyone other than the occasional comment in his twin’s ear. His face held Regulus’ signature look of bore with a hint of irritation, a far cry from the boy that you typically saw at home. You’d had to do a double take, not seeing your son but a vision of Regulus from years ago.

On the other side of the great hall you saw another child who looked the spitting image of their parents - Harry Potter. The boy was conversing with a ginger boy, probably a Weasley, and a girl you didn’t recognize. Everything down to his demeanour screamed ‘I’m James Potter’s son’ with the exception of his eyes - those were all Lily.

Tears formed in the corner of your own eyes as you thought about your lost love and friends, for it was almost as if many of you had been reunited in the Great Hall once more. Placing a hand upon your forehead to shield your eyes from wandering glances and placing your weight upon your elbow, you leaned on the table as if you were only extremely focused on your meal. Noticing this, Remus wished he could take you into his arms as he was feeling a similar gloom, but the hundreds of people around him prevented the man from holding you close. For now, a comforting hand on your knee underneath the table would have to suffice.

The rest of the evening was uneventful, and by the next morning you in such a rush to get to your first class that you were too distracted to think of anything else. Glancing down at your attendance sheet, your first class of the day was third-year Gryffindors and Slytherins just before lunch, and you searched for familiar names on the list. Both Archie and Cassie’s names were at the top of the sheet, and you were thankful that you would be starting each day with two-thirds of your children. Malfoy was not too far below it, and a physical groan left your lips. Of course Lucius’ son would be in your class, he’s probably just as delightful as his father. Even further down was Potter, and you quietly began to devise a plan that could hopefully resolve at least one of your problems.

Meanwhile, three Gryffindors made their way down the halls of the school towards their third class of the day. They were still in awe of Professor Lupin’s second period Defence Against the Dark Arts class as it seemed they would finally have a decent teacher in the subject.

“Do you know anything about the new astrology professor, Hermione?” Ron asked, clearly concerned about the coming period. Saying that this subject wasn’t the youngest Weasley boy’s strong suit was an understatement.

“Professor Y/L/N? I don’t know, but it sure looked like Professor Lupin liked her last night.” The girl began, the stack of books in her arms so tall that she could barely see where she was going over it. “I’m just excited to finally have another female professor!”

“Yeah, and she seemed pretty young, so let’s hope that means she’s more fun!” Harry said. “If Lupin’s friends with her, how bad can she be?”

“Yeah, do you think they’re, you know…” Ron said, trailing off unable to finish his sentence as he made an odd movement with his hands.

“What, if they’re together?!” Hermione exclaimed. “Seriously Ronald! Men and women can be friends with each other and not be in love! And besides, Lupin has a son in first year who would have probably mentioned if his mother was teaching here as well.”

The boys agreed with their friend as they approached the classroom, Harry stopping in his tracks as he noticed the eldest of the Black children leaning against the wall beside the door a couple feet away from other third-years waiting for class to begin. Noticing Harry’s hesitation, Ron and Hermione turned back to look at where their friend had stopped. Motioning for them to come back, he eventually dragged them to the wall before whispering.

“Do either of you know how Arcturus is related to Sirius… They’re both Blacks.” Harry began, warily glancing towards the boy who was too absorbed into his book to notice them staring at him.

“No… But Harry, you don’t honestly believe that Arcturus would help him get into the school, do you?” Hermione asked incredulously. As much as she didn’t want to believe that one of her classmates was plotting to help a madman set on killing one of her best friends, stranger things had happened.

“I mean, who knows?! Have you ever seen either of the Black twins with their father? That could be Sirius, for all we know!” Ron exclaimed. This time when the three students glanced towards the boy, he met their eyes with his own cold, green orbs.

Before anyone could react, their attention switched to the opening door where their newest professor stood with bright eyes and a warm smile.

“Well c’mon in, guys!” You beckoned as the children began filing into the classroom, both Archie and Cassie giving you small smiles as they made their way in. Before long, all your students had settled into their seats and your lesson could finally begin.

“I should probably start by introducing myself as I am a new face to most of you, my name is Professor Y/L/N and I am the new astrology professor here at Hogwarts.” You began, scanning the many small faces staring at you. “I was a student here not too long ago myself, so not only am I very excited to be back but I also know exactly how you guys are feeling. I’ll try to keep that in mind in my lessons so that we can all have a fun semester, yeah? If you guys have any questions real quick before we start, feel free to ask!”

A few hands shot up within the crowd and you picked one, a timid looking Gryffindor in the very front row.

“Yes, Mr…?” You began, trailing off unsure as to the boy’s name.

“Longbottom, ma’am. Neville Longbottom.” He shakily replied, and you suddenly saw traces of Frank and Alice in him. The thought saddened you, remembering the disgust that filled you when Regulus explained what your estranged cousin-in-law had done to the poor couple.

“Ah, yes! What is it, Mr.Longbottom?” You questioned, a smile working its way onto your lips as you encouraged the boy, hoping to give him a tad more confidence.

“I was just curious, cause you said you were a student here and I saw you two talking yesterday, how do you know Professor Lupin?” Neville said shakily.

“Uhm, I had meant questions about the course rather than about me…” You trailed off, hoping that the anxiousness filling you at your secret getting out would not show. You could see Archie and Cassie stifling their own giggles at the question, finding the speculation of your relationship with their adoptive father very amusing.

“It’s just cause some of the students have bets goin’ as to whether or not you guys are together. Like, in love, together.” Neville tried to explain, earning himself sharp glances and scoffs from the rest of the class.

“Professor Lupin and I were friends when we were both students here, that’s all. Strictly platonic friends.” You explained, feeling your face slightly flushing in embarrassment at the inquiry. “Now then, let’s begin!”

The rest of the class went by smoothly, no more incidents of any of your secrets being exposed as you went through your introduction lesson. As you concluded your lecture, you decided it was time to introduce the major project for the course.

“Now, I will be introducing your major project for the year and be giving you your partners.” You explained, grabbing the list of pairs you had created from your desk. “I’ve assigned both you and another student a constellation that the two of you will be compiling research on in order to ‘teach’ it to the class at the end of the year. You guys all good so far?”

“Uhm, Professor?” A hand raised accompanied by a voice in the back of the classroom.

“Yes, Mr. Weasley?’ You replied, the red hair being a dead giveaway as to the boy’s identity.

“How come we don’t get to choose our own partners?” The ginger-haired boy questioned, glancing towards the curly-haired girl beside him who was shooting him a warning glance.

“Good question! I have decided that you will be paired with one of your peers from the other house.” You said matter-of-factly, as if your words hadn’t just scandalized your students. A collection of gasps and protests arose, even from your own children, Cassie’s jaw dropping as Archie hid his head in his arms and laid upon the desk in exasperation.

One sharp clap from you was enough to regain their attention, the rowdier members of the group sunk into their seats in fear of the possible removal of house points before the first half of their day was even over.

“Now I know this is upsetting to many of you, especially considering your two houses’ complicated past, but your cooperation with each other will be a part of your grade in the assignment. Sometimes opposites are the best pairings.” You said. “Now, would you like to hear who you’ll be working with?”

A collection of nods was all it took before you began listing the combinations.

“Seamus Finnegan and Pansy Parkinson for Gemini, Neville Longbottom and Blaise Zabini for Taurus…” You began, listing off the partnerships before you reached your final three. “Ronald Weasley and Cassiopeia Black for Canis Major, Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy for Orion, and lastly, Harry Potter and Arcturus Black for Leo.”

The clock began ringing, signalling the end of class and beginning of the lunch period.

“There’s no homework for today, so enjoy it while you can and have a nice lunch everyone!” You dismissed your students, not giving them a second glance before you made your way through the door of your office at the back of the room and began going through a stack of papers. You hadn’t noticed the boy who had remained in your class, shyly following you to the back before hesitantly knocking on the already open door.

“Mr. Potter! Please, sit!” You said when you saw the source of the faint noise, beckoning him towards one of the chairs in front of your desk. “What can I do for you?”

The boy hesitated for a moment as he took in your office, the sandy-coloured stone walls having been decorated in a style that seemed to perfectly fit the personality you’d projected to his classmates the past hour.

“I was just wondering if it would be possible to switch partners for the assignment…” He trailed off, unsure of how to continue. His words were a shock to you, and as a mother, you worked hard to fight the defensive instincts threatening to consume you.

“What’s wrong with Mr.Black?” You question in as calm a tone you could muster, however, you were sure Harry had picked up on the unsteadiness of your voice. The boy’s mouth opened and closed, seemingly searching for the right words to say, when his anxiety made you realize that this was not really about Archie at all.

“Is this about Sirius Black?” You said, your voice much softer this time. Your suspicions were concerned when Harry began furiously nodding, clearly distressed at the mere mention of the man.

“Ah...” You replied, unsure of what exactly to do about the boy’s anxiety, when you realized that the truth may be the best solution. You stood and turned to one of the tables behind you and began searching through one of the drawers.“Harry… What do you know about the House of Black?”

“Uhm, not much?” Harry answered, clearly confused as to your response.

You eventually turned to face him again, this time with a box in hand. Although smaller in size, the black box was ornamentally covered in green and gold details. You sat back down across from the boy, placing the box in front of you and ignoring it for the time being.

“The Noble House of Black was a part of the Sacred 28 wizarding families and were a long line of Slytherin blood-purists. Orion Black was the patriarch of the house and, along with his wife Walburga, had two sons - Sirius and Regulus. Regulus is Arcturus and Cassiopeia’s father - have you heard of that name before?” Harry shook his head no, and that was all you needed to continue. “Regulus was two years younger than Sirius, and the pair were very close throughout childhood. However, when Sirius attended Hogwarts and was sorted into Gryffindor rather than Slytherin, he soon began rebelling against his parents and their values. He criticized their purist prejudices and wanted nothing to do with his little brother when he was sorted into Slytherin. This hurt Regulus deeply and he began to resent his brother and, although he slowly started to agree with the criticisms Sirius had gotten disowned over, he felt as if he couldn’t betray his family. So as Sirius grew closer to your father, Reg-”

“Wait, how did he know my father?!” Harry questioned, desperate to understand how his parents fit into all of this.

“They were best friends, you didn’t know?” You replied as horror began washing over the boy’s face. “Harry, Sirius is your godfather. I know it’s probably shocking and scary now, but if you keep listening, I think everything will make a lot more sense and you’ll feel better.” The boy nodded as tears welled in the corners of his eyes.

“So, while Sirius and Regulus drifted apart, the younger brother was forced by his parents to join He Must Who Not Be Named as a death eater when he was only sixteen. Regulus quickly became his right-hand man, but something didn’t sit right with him. It was only after he fell in love that he began to realize that this was not the path he wanted in life. So while Regulus continued to attend Death Eater-meetings, he fed information to the girl who he would eventually marry who then relayed the intelligence to a group called the Order of the Phoenix. This included your parents, Sirius, Professor Lupin, the Weasleys, Dumbledore, me - people who were dedicated to stopping him.”

“So you knew him… Sirius Black?” Harry questioned, eyes still glassy as some tears had stained his cheeks.

“Yes, Harry, I did…” You trailed off. “And if it’s any comfort, I don’t think he did it. The Sirius I knew wasn’t a madman, and although your other teachers would probably disagree with me, I really don’t think he’s out to get you.”

“What do you mean? Everybody keeps saying he’s looking for me!” Harry exclaimed, disbelieving the words leaving your mouth. “Even if he was innocent, doesn’t he blame my family for getting him locked up?”

“He is very likely looking for you, but not because he’s mad at you. Like I said, he was your godfather, and your father was like a brother to him. If anything, he’s looking for you because he believes you are each other’s only family left.”

“Why wouldn’t he go to his brother?” Harry inquired, slowly becoming curious about his relationship with Regulus.

“Because he figured out a way to stop Voldemort. Regulus discovered he’d made something called a horcrux, and that by destroying it, he could be killed.” You began, emotion beginning to build up in your throat, not having talked about losing your husband in quite some time. “Regulus found out where it was and set out to destroy it, but he died in the process. He left behind a wife who was pregnant with children he would never know he had: Arcturus and Cassiopeia. Regulus Black was a good man, Harry, a great one. The twins lost their father to the same man who killed yours, and I think you’re a lot more alike than you know.”

You finally opened the box in front of you and Harry watched you reach for a pile of pictures and began searching through them, finally finding the one you were looking for about six pictures in. You placed the extra pictures on your desk and handed one to Harry, and the contents of it made his eyes widen.

The image was of two men and three toddlers, the caption reading ‘Uncle Padfoot and Uncle Moony with Harry, Archie, and Cassie - September 1981.’ The children were very happily playing, and Harry recognized one of the men as being Professor Lupin while the other was the face who he’d seen in every newspaper the past week - Sirius Black.

“We were… Friends?” Harry questioned, shocked at the revelation that the Slytherin boy had been his first friend during his infancy. You simply smiled and nodded, Harry eventually tore his gaze away from the card in his hands moving to one upon your desk. “Is that… Regulus Black?”

Your eyes flickered to the picture he was talking about, only to meet one of Regulus from about six months before he died.

“Yeah, that’s him.” You said as a sad smile graced your lips. “Anyways, I’ve wasted enough of your lunch hour Harry, you should find your friends and eat something. You need to get some sugar into your stomach, so go grab some chocolate.”

The young boy stood and you began to walk him out of your classroom but just as he opened the door, he paused and turned around to face you.

“Professor, how did you know Regulus?” He said, yet something in his tone told you that he already knew.

“What do you mean, Harry? I told you, I worked for the Order.” You replied, even though you knew that showing him the pictures was a dead giveaway. But it was well worth it.

“You were married, weren’t you? You’re Arcturus and Cassiopeia’s mum?”

“Just don’t go telling the whole school,” you began. “I don’t think very many parents would approve of a Black teaching their children. It’ll be our little secret.”

Harry nodded before running off to join his friends, and you left the classroom not long after. Walking through the halls, memories came back in flashes as the tears became harder and harder to fight. You thankfully held your composure until you arrived at the office door, tears beginning to fall as you began frantically knocking upon the rough wooden surface.

When it eventually flung open to reveal your husband, his face immediately softened at your state as you rushed into his office room, Remus closing the door behind you. He opened his arms that you quickly flung yourself into, sobs wracking your body as he held you close. Remus didn’t ask what was wrong, he didn’t have to. He knew you hadn’t been back to the school since losing Regulus and, although he didn’t doubt your love for him, knew that there was the possibility of past emotions resurfacing and overwhelming you. He knew you too well.

As you calmed down in his arms, you couldn’t help but feel guilty for crying over your past love. Shouldn’t you have moved on? You had this wonderful man and a beautiful family now, that should be enough for you. But Hogwarts was where your love story with Regulus began, you wished on these stars, they were yours, and the halls would always bring back memories of him. You might have let him go, but at least for the next little while, he would consume your thoughts at the school.

The next few months progressed with little incident, and it became increasingly easier to control the strong emotions that had overtook you your first day. You watched Harry and Arcturus slowly become friends, and you watched as your son became the happy boy Remus and yourself had raised. While the uneventful year was a welcome tranquility, that peace came to an end when your husband came bursting into your quarters one evening.

“Honey, what’re you doing? Isn’t it-”

“Peter is alive! We have to go now!” He exclaimed, grabbing your wrist and dragging you through the dark halls of the castle and towards the shrieking shack.

While you were running, Harry, Hermione, and Archie approached a trembling Ron in the rotting house.

“Harry! It’s a trap! He’s the dog, he’s an animagus!” Ron exclaimed, pointing behind the trio. Turning around, they watched what was left of the door creak open to reveal the fugitive the entire wizarding world was searching for. Although Harry remembered your words, he couldn’t help but feel afraid as a pair of rabid eyes stared back at him.

“If you’re going to kill Harry, you’re going to have to kill us too!” Hermione shouted, jumping in front of Harry as Arcturus followed suit, pointing his wand at his estranged uncle.

“Only one will die tonight!” Sirius remarked, slowly walking towards the children. He hadn’t paid much attention to the boy standing in front of Harry but as he approached, he was shocked to see his dead brother protecting his godson. He didn’t have time to think, though, as Harry quickly shouted something he only heard the end of before wrestling him to the ground. Raising his wand, Sirius let out a sickening laugh.

“Are you going to kill me Harry?”

Nobody had time to respond as the doors burst open, Remus shouting expelliarmus as Harry’s wand went flying across the room. You followed closely behind him, yet stood in the doorway just out of your brother in-law’s sight. Harry stared at Lupin and you, his breathing heavy as your husband tilted his head quickly, and that was all the boy needed to run back towards his friends. You raised your wand as well, approaching your husband’s side as you stood slightly behind him.

“Well, well, Sirius, looking rather ragged, aren’t we?” Your husband began, continuing to approach his former friend. “Finally the flesh reflects the madness within.”

“Well you’d know all about the madness within, wouldn’t you Remus?” Sirius retorted, looking between you and your husband as he took in just how much the two of you have changed.

The comment brought a small smile to your face, one that eventually grew bigger as you dropped your arm to your side, Remus following suit. You both reached out your hands and helped Sirius to his feet, him taking you into a bone-crushing hug.

“I missed you, sister.” He breathed into your hair, you mumbling how you missed him as well only loud enough for the two men to hear.

“Mum, what’re you doing?!” Archie exclaimed from the other side of the room, clearly taken aback by you embracing the man who’d just threatened to kill them. All three of you look over to a bewildered Archie, you dropping one of your arms from Sirius while the other stayed around his middle.

“Is that Archie?” He asked, glancing between Remus and yourself, the pair of you nodding. Sirius took in the sight of his nephew, who he earlier had believed to be his reanimated brother, before turning his attention back to his dearest friend who embraced him.

“I found him,” Sirius gasped between laughs.

“I know,” Remus soothed.

“It’s him!”

“I understand.”

“Let’s kill him!”

“No!” Hermione interrupted, shouting at the group of adults. “I trusted you! And all this time… You’ve been his friends!”

She paused to catch her breath and regain her composure before continuing her rant.

“He’s a werewolf! That’s why he’s been missing classes.” Your body stiffened as your husbands secret was exposed to Harry and Ron, and you saw Archie suffer from the same reaction. Of course he knew of what happened to his father every full moon, however he also knew the discrimination that accompanies it. Remus’ eyes darkened as he began to approach the girl.

“How long have you known?” He spoke with a demeanor that was so unlike the kind and gentle man you had fallen in love with, sending chills down your spine.

“Since Professor Snape set the essay.”

“Well well well, Hermione, you really are the brightest witch of your age I’ve ever met.” Remus said as Sirius grew impatient.

“Enough talk, Remus! Come on, let’s kill him!” Sirius shouted as he began pacing.

“Wait!” You warned, but that only angered him.

“I did my waiting!” He shouted. “Twelve years of it! In Azkaban!”

Remus you glanced at each other before looking towards a petrified Harry, clearly weighing your options as your husband began fiddling with the strange wand in his hands. Looking towards the floor, Remus hesitated before handing Sirius’ wand back to him.

“Very well…”

“Dad! How could you?!” Archie yelled from across the room, too upset with his parents’ actions to care about keeping their secret any longer. This came as a shock to both Sirius and the other children, their heads snapping towards your son as he raised his wand towards the man he’d considered to be his father.

“Dad?!” Harry and Sirius exclaimed, almost comically in sync, as you put yourself between you son and your husband. You slowly grabbed the end of Archie’s wand and took it from his trembling hand, quickly wrapping your arms around the boy as you turned to face three shocked faces.

“We’re married, Sirius.” You explained, and Remus raised his left hand to show his friend the ring adorning his finger. Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s eyes flicked between you, your son, your husband, and your brother-in-law, at last putting your connection together as your betrayal stung them even deeper. Sirius’ face softened at the revelation, but Remus quickly picked up where they left off.

“Kill him,” he began, “but wait one more minute. Harry has the right to know why.”

“I know why!” Harry shouted. “You betrayed my parents! You’re the reason they’re dead!”

“No, Harry, it wasn’t him. Somebody did betray your parents but it was somebody who, until quite recently, I believed to be dead!” Remus exclaimed, and you finally felt Archie begin to relax enough that you could let go of your hold on him.

“Who was it then?!” Harry argued.

“Peter Pettigrew!” Sirius yelled matter-of-factly. “And he’s in this room! Right now! Come on, come on, Peter! Come out, come out and play!”

“Expelliarmus!” A new voice called, Snape having snuck up on the group and quickly disarmed Sirius as many horrified faces turned to look at him. You tightened your grip on your wand as you moved to stand in front of Archie protectively. “Ah… Vengeance is sweet. How I’d hoped I’d be the one to catch you.”

“Severus,” Remus moved towards his colleague before quickly flinching away as Snape moved his wand towards him.

“I told Dumbledore you were helping and old friend into the castle and now - here’s the proof!”

“Brilliant, Snape. Once again you’ve put your keen and penetrating mind to the task and as usual come to the wrong conclusion!” Sirius mocked. “Now if you’ll excuse us, Remus, (Y/N), and I have some unfinished business to attend to.”

Snape, having previously lowered his wand, quickly raised it again, this time right against Sirius’ neck.

“Give me a reason. I beg you.”

“Severus, don’t be a fool.” You said, attempting to diffuse the situation.

“He can’t help it, it’s happened by now!”

“Sirius be quiet!” Remus added.

“Go quiet yourself, Remus!” Your husband turned away and approached you, visibly annoyed at his friend’s sour attitude.

You stopped listening to their quarrel as you saw Harry reaching into Hermione’s pocket in the corner of your eye. Shifting your attention over to the teens, you saw him slowly pulling out her wand before you turned to Remus, who hadn’t noticed this subtle movement. Before long, Snape was knocked unconscious into the bed.

In the following minutes, the truth about Peter Pettigrew was revealed as you led the quivering traitor alongside your family and students through the tunnel.

“I must say,” Sirius began, glancing between you and Remus as he helped Harry carry an injured Ron. “I never expected the two of you winding up together. How long?”

“We’ve been married for ten years.” Remus replied with a shy smile, hoping his friend would approve of the match given that you are still Sirius’ brother’s widow.

“You still have to see Cassie, and you can meet Teddy! He’s our youngest, this was his first year here and he was sorted into Hufflepuff!” You explained, excitement lacing every word as you held your husband’s hand. To your students, this talk of a long-term relationship and PDA was a shock, as they were unaware of just how close the two of you really were. Sure, they’d had suspicions, but your talk with Harry led them to believe that you were still grieving Regulus.

Upon exiting the willow, Sirius finally had the opportunity to pull Archie aside for a moment, just a few feet away from the others.

“You look just like him, you know…” He began, not knowing exactly what to say to his nephew.

“I know.” Archie nodded, a sad smile forming as he looked towards his uncle.

“Y’know, I’d hated your father for years when your mother showed up at my door. I didn’t know just what he’d done until after he died, when she showed up at my door telling me what a hero he was.” Sirius recounted. “I felt awful, like he’d still be here if I’d just given him the chance. But then, y’know what she told me?” Archie shook his head. “She told me she was pregnant with you, well, you and your sister but we didn’t know that at the time, and that was when I knew. I promised myself that I would be there for you, that I would fill his shoes and protect you. And I did for a year, up until I was arrested, but you guys and Harry were all I thought about in that cell as I rotted. I’m sorry that I’ve failed you the past twelve years and although I’m so glad that Remus has become a father to you, I still want to be there for you. I want to be a part of your lives, whether it be every day or whenever you can spare a visit.”

“I’d like that too.” Archie simply stated, embracing his uncle as Harry began approaching them. He left the two of them to talk before gazing into the night sky. Admiring the moon as it began to move from behind the mountain, it took him a minute to fully register exactly what night it was.

“Dad?!” Archie exclaimed, bringing all of your attention to the full moon in the sky as the inevitable began.

Chaos ensued, a horror film of a night that you never want to experience again.

The following week, it was no surprise to Dumbledore when you and your husband resigned. Snivellus had let slip the truth about the two of you, him being a dangerous werewolf while yourself having aided the “madman” that was your brother-in-law, two things that don’t typically sit well with parents.

Packing up your office, Hermione made her way in, ginger cat in her arms as she watched you pile your belongings into boxes.

“Professor, what’re you doing?” She questioned, shocked to see you packing up your office. “Did Dumbledore fire you? He must know that-”

“No, no! Dumbledore has been nothing but supportive, but... He stuck his neck out hiring Remus and I, knowing who we are, and now that Snape has revealed the truth about us, it’ll be best for everyone if it looks like he let us go.” You explained, pausing your ministrations as you looked around at the now empty shelves.

“I’m sorry…” She began, unsure of what else there was to say. “I’m sorry for everything that happened that night, I feel as though we just made a mess of everything. Pettigrew escaped and now you and Professor Lupin are leaving…”

“Hermione, now you listen to me.” You sat her down in a chair and crouched before her. “Two innocent lives were saved because of you and Harry. Now that is something amazing, and something I would be willing to lose my job for all over again.” You gave her a smile, one that quickly became a tight-lipped wince as the cat on her lap began licking your face.

“Crookshanks!” She exclaimed while pulling the feline away from you, horrified at his actions.

“It’s fine, Hermione. He’s quite a cute cat.” You gave her a wide smile as you took Crookshanks from her arms and held him close to your chest. He gazed at you with an almost human-like intelligence upon his face, before shutting his eyes as he purred at your touch. “Is he part kneazle?”

“Yes, actually.” She began. “The man at the Menagerie said it was why he’d been there for so long. The kneazle part made him look a little odd, but I think it’s what makes him handsome.”

You handed the feline back to her, glancing at the clock upon the wall and realizing that you’d agreed to meet Remus at the entrance in five minutes.

“Can you please do me one last favour, Hermione?” You asked, heading towards the only item left on your desk, a small black box. Opening it, you pulled the top picture out and extended your arm to hand the girl the image. “Could you please give this to Harry next time you see him? Remind him that his family will only ever be a letter away.”

She nodded as her eyes scanned the paper before her, seeing that it was a picture of a younger Remus and Sirius playing with Harry, Archie, and Cassie while they were all still babies. She smiled, finding solace the fact that Harry’s family life will be getting better than how the Dursley’s have treated him the past twelve years. An orange paw upon the paper tore her attention away from the image, Crookshanks looking to be the center of attention once again.

“Well then,” you gathered all your possessions into one trunk with a final flick of your wand. “I must be off, but I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again very soon.” You turned to walk away, leaving your classroom far behind you as you eventually met up with your husband at the front of the school.

“Have you called the meeting yet?” You questioned, quiet enough so only Remus could hear.

“Yes, my dear. They should all be waiting at home when we get back to London.” He replied.

“Excellent.” You commented as you walked hand-in-hand away from the castle as you made your way back to 12 Grimmauld Place, the Black family slowly beginning to resurface in the both of your lives once more.

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cheri-translates · 3 years

Text

[CN] Gavin’s S2 R&S - Tempering (Eng Translation)

🍒 Warning: This post contains detailed spoilers from an R&S (淬炼) which has not been released in English servers!🍒

This R&S features S2 Gavin!

[ Chapter One ]

Eight-year old Tang Chao wrote in his homework: My aspiration is to be free and easy, and get to sleep after a full meal.

The teacher failed him.

Eighteen-year old Tang Chao wasn’t able to be free and easy, nor get sleep after a full meal. This is because he was recommended for admission into the police academy.

Everyone knows that he’s a “specially enrolled student”. When he entered the academy, he didn’t even have to go through the “Demon Test”. He wasn’t treated harshly by the officers during training. The first semester consisted of some foundational stamina training and a few superficial criminal investigation classes. In the first month, Tang Chao barely passed in every course. Yet, he remains unusually carefree.

Tang Chao’s roommate feels indignant. “It’s only because your Evol is special. Otherwise, you’d have been expelled from the academy a long time ago with such grades.”

“That’s right, my Evol is special.” Tang Chao arches his brows. “If the academy were to expel me, they’ll experience a great loss.”

Detecting lies is essentially an Evol meant for criminal investigation. And it’s precisely because of this ability that he was recommended for admission into this first-rate police academy despite his average physique.

“Hmph. Anyway, you only have a few more days of being carefree.” His roommate flips over on the iron bed, sticking out half his head from above. “I heard from the instructors that the first month after entering the academy merely counts as a warm up. Actual training will only begin next week. The higher-ups even sent a third year student to supervise us. Guess who our class got?”

“Who?”

His roommate pauses with each syllable. “Gav. In!”

“Who’s Gavin?”

His roommate almost falls down from the bed. “You don’t even know who Gavin is?”

“Why do I have to know him...” Tang Chao mutters. “Is this person very famous?”

“Famous! He’s so famous! He’s celebrated!”

The famous Senior Gavin had passed, with record-breaking marks, the admission exam, physical capabilities, shooting, Close Quarters Combat, simulated sand tables... His marks for various segments have never fallen below the top three places. In his second year, he was already heading out on missions with full-time Evol agents. Even before graduating, he was so popular that police departments from various districts were already falling over each other in their eagerness to snatch him up.

“...but I heard that mission was pretty tragic. It seems a comrade from the same squadron as him lost his life... Hey, are you listening to me?”

“I’m listening, I’m listening.” Despite Tang Chao’s perfunctory words, he has to admit that this Senior Gavin is indeed more of a special police officer than he is.

Or rather, Evol special police officers ought to be like Gavin.

“I should caution you. Apparently, he’s exceptionally haughty, and you might as well be a grain of sand in his eyes.” His roommate pats the edge of the bed. “You should be a little more serious next week.”

Tang Chao laughs. “What can he do to me? I’m someone with a special privilege.”

His roommate clicks his tongue, not advising him further. “Seeing that you have such virtuous conduct, you can ask for help after meeting him.

[ Chapter Two ]

After assembling in the field on Monday morning, Tang Chao realises that a young man in his twenties is standing next to their class leader. The other party looks fierce, his back even straighter than the Chinese fir trees along the field. At a glance, it’s evident that there’s a world of difference between him and this batch of newly enrolled students.

“This is Student Gavin from the Seventh Squadron. This semester, he will be a provisional supervisor and instructor. In the training from now onwards, I want all of you to be more spirited and driven, and prohibited from embarrassing our class.” The class leader exclaims. “Do you hear me!”

“Yes!”

Amid the uniform responses from the formation, Gavin’s line of sight sweeps across this batch of new students. Everyone holds their breaths and keep silent, thinking that this senior would be giving them a lecture. In the end, the other party simply nods. “In that case, we’ll officially begin. As a warm up, run 10km.”

How many kilometres?

Everyone looks at each other, thinking they must have misheard.

Tang Chao raises his hand. “Reporting to the instructor - We typically run 5km in the mornings...”

Gavin turns a deaf ear to him. “Turn to the right, get ready --- Run.”

[Note] I recorded the audio for his command because why not

At this point, everyone realises that Gavin is truly like what the rumours said, and is not to be trifled with. All they can do is gulp in resentment, running in formation. Tang Chao deliberately lags at the very end, then walks towards Gavin, giving him a salute. “Reporting to the instructor.”

Gavin looks at him.

“I can’t run 10km.” Tang Chao is straightforward. “I have a special situation. The class leader and the others know about it. If I were to run 10km, I’ll really die...”

“Since you’re enrolled in the police academy, there’s no special situation.” Gavin responds. “As for whether or not you’ll die, we’ll talk about that after you’ve finished running.”

“...”

In the end, Tang Chao finishes running. Or rather, he finishes crawling.

The other students in class have already finished running and have headed off for breakfast. He’s the only one who resembles a ghost, drifting on the field. Occasionally, some classmates would pass by. He usually laughs and jokes around while they’re still running, so seeing him - who entered through the back door - finishing last leaves them gloating a little.

Gavin, on the other hand, doesn’t gloat. When Tang Chao staggers to the end point, he speaks with a blank expression. “You’re late by 20 minutes. Have your breakfast. The class will assemble after 20 minutes, and we’ll start with the next training.

Initially, Tang Chao was already too tired to speak. After hearing this command, he can’t help but do so. “Brother... ah no, Instructor Gavin, even if you’re just showing your authority at the first encounter, it should be enough.”

Gavin furrows his brows.

“Just look at how cooperative I’ve been. Seeing how I've ended up, the others in class will definitely listen and obey you unquestioningly.” Tang Chao cracks his knuckles. “But my physical constitution is really like this. It isn’t my choice to rank at the bottom of the class. Could you just close an eye and let me off?”

Gavin looks at his unwillingness to change, and speaks plainly. “Since you’re so unwilling to undergo training, what are you doing here.”

Tang Chao shrugs. “There’s not much reason. Someone needs me to be here, undergo some simple training, go through the motions, then graduate as a matter of course, then help crack some cases and make a living.”

“What I'm asking is - why are you staying here.” Gavin’s voice turns stern. “If someone didn’t need it, you wouldn't be here? When you were running, I asked your class leader for the training results from your first month. Most of your marks hovered around the passing grade, and you had to re-take a few tests.”

Tang Chao releases an “mm” sound -- even though it’s very embarrassing to be told this in such a straightforward manner, the results are black and white, so he doesn’t hope to get anything higher.

Gavin continues. “From the numbers of your make-up examinations, you actually have quite a lot of potential.”

Tang Chao is left dumbfounded.

“Since you have potential, don’t waste it.” After Gavin finishes speaking, he leaves.

[ Chapter Three ]

Gavin’s demon-like training continues. On the second day, he adds weight training and 200 push-ups to the training regimen. At this point, it’s not just Tang Chao who can’t handle it - the other new students in the class can’t endure it midway through. On the third day, he adds an obstacle course and forty minutes of wrestling on top of the basic training.

“I think I understand now. Senior Gavin doesn’t want me to die. He wants everyone to die.” Tang Chao feebly concludes during wrestling training.

Finally, a week goes by. A simulation tactics manoeuvre is added to the training. This is a rare course in which Tang Chao can attain high marks. With an Evol which allows him to detect lies, he’s especially skilled in courses related to psychological warfare. He looks at the holographic sand table before him. Filled with inexplicable courage, he suddenly raises his hand. “Report.”

“What is it?” Gavin’s voice drifts over from the front.

"I wish to challenge Gavin to a round.” Tang Chao raises his voice.

At this moment, soft discussions fill the surroundings. Gavin arches his brows. Amid the discussions, he walks to the other side of the holographic sand table, not engaging in superfluous words. “Which one do you want to start?”

“Rescuing hostages in a factory. I’ll storm the fortification.”

“No problem.”

Tang Chao’s palms begin to sweat slightly, but he maintains the provocative smile on the corners of his lips. “Instructor, if I win, could I be exempted from the remaining training for today?”

Gavin pulls open the map. “We’ll talk about that after you’ve won.”

The holographic sand table simulation is an entirely new course introduced to students in recent years. The maps in the sand table, the personnel’s Evol abilities, the weather and weapons are entirely constructed by the system. Because this is meant to train a students’ adaptive and judgment skills, there’s no such thing as a party gaining an advantage over another through undergoing a similar experience.

Not even after ten minutes after the round begins, Tang Chao’s moves have already garnered him sixty more points than Gavin.

In the lead over Gavin for the first time, his heart finally feels slightly pleased. He can’t help but lift his eyes to cast Gavin a glance. However, the other party doesn’t look frantic at all. Gavin’s line of sight is focused on the sand table in front of him, fingers continuously moving and tapping. The originally three-way defense team is quickly split into nine teams, intercepting and attacking Tang Chao from all directions.

At this moment, students observing from the side burst into an uproar. Having to command nine groups at the same time - is he human?!

Tang Chao is also very shocked. But in the next second, he loses his ability to be shocked. The symbols on the map representing each other’s movements flicker continuously. Gradually, he can no longer keep up with Gavin’s movements - there is too much false information. The moment he calculates that one path can’t be taken, many more paths around him have already been blocked.

An increasing number of regions struck with red crosses appear on the map. When he finally grabs the hostage, the six teams he originally had have been reduced to a small four-person group by Gavin.

Gavin shuts the holographic sand table. “Any thoughts?”

Tang Chao remains stubborn. “At least I successfully rescued the hostage...”

“You think that’s called a success?” Gavin laughs coldly. “Do you know why the highest marks are awarded based on the number of people left in the simulation? Because every red dot on the map represents the life of a comrade in real life.”

Tang Chao feels as though something is lodged in his throat.

“In an actual operation, the situations you have to face are even more dangerous, and even more complicated than in the sand table.” Gavin looks around at all of the students. “The criminal will not give you as much time and opportunities to make judgement calls. Every wrong decision could result in the death of a comrade.”

His gaze returns to Tang Chao, his tone becoming more severe. “Give it proper thought.”

Tang Chao lowers his head. “Yes.”

“But you were courageous in bringing up the challenge, and it’s worth encouraging.” Gavin curls his forefinger and taps the sand table. “5km, go.”

For the first time, Tang Chao wholeheartedly finishes the 5km run. He pounds his aching and sore legs, preparing to return to the dormitory. Suddenly, he sees his opponent from half an hour ago at a corner not afar off.

Gavin is standing underneath a tree, holding a photograph in his hand.

Gavin doesn’t notice Tang Chao. All of his focus is channelled onto that photograph. In this moment, he seems to have unloaded all his defences, becoming a Gavin different from his usual self. Those perpetually stern eyes have grown dim, bringing with them a twinge of fatigue.

Tang Chao holds his breath, subconsciously squinting his eyes to identify the photograph. On it seems to be... a female? Could she be Instructor Gavin’s...

But why is there blood on the photograph?

Before he can let his imagination roam, someone suddenly pats him on the shoulder.

“Hey, Tang Chao, have you seen Instructor Gavin?” His roommate asks. “I need to look for him.”

Tang Chao turns slightly, blocking his roommate’s line of sight. He points in another direction. “Oh, I saw him. He walked towards the canteen.”

The lies of a person who can detect lies will never be discovered by someone else. His roommate doesn’t doubt him, and gives him another pat on the shoulder. “Thanks.”

After his roommate walks a distance away, he turns his head once again to look at Gavin, before leaving quietly.

He doesn’t know what that girl in the photograph means to Gavin, but his instincts told him that the tranquil image before him wasn’t one which someone should have disrupted.

[ Chapter Four ]

Amid torrential rain, one group continues training on the field of the police academy. The gloomy weather and gloomy atmosphere seem to make the weight on their shoulders much heavier than usual. But this time, no one complains, including Tang Chao.

--Because yesterday, another comrade in the police academy lost his life in a hostage rescue operation.

The pools of water beneath their feet are akin to pools of blood. The wooden piles on their shoulders seem to be alive and breathing, weighing down on them, and leaving them unable to catch their breath. Tang Chao grits his teeth. Even if he’s at the very end of the formation, he doesn’t give up on pressing forward.

“Late by four minutes.” Gavin clutches the watch at the end point as always. “There’s improvement.”

Only Tang Chao knows just how much effort he expended for the few words “there’s improvement”.

In this moment, he vaguely figure things out in his mind. Even though it’s very unclear, there’s a life goal in his heart which is more definite and firm than being “free and easy, and sleeping after a full meal”. Carefree days are definitely good. If he were to cast down the wooden piles and shout “I quit”, he can have them. But as long as he remains in the police academy for one more day, as long as the vow he made upon entering the academy still remains engraved in his heart, his future is destined to have no fate with being free and easy.

Tang Chao releases a muddy breath. He unloads the weight, laying directly on the field. “Instructor Gavin, how did you tell that I had potential back then?”

Gavin is silent for a while. “...actually, that was a lie.”

Tang Chao bursts out laughing.

Perhaps it was indeed a lie from Gavin. But he had followed through with this lie, and enabled Tang Chao to believe this lie too - he had never given up on Tang Chao, and Tang Chao had never given up on himself.

The rain continues pouring down. After laughing, Tang Chao’s voice mixes with the clear water. “Did you know? I suddenly had the ability to detect lies overnight.”

Gavin doesn’t say anything, and Tang Chao continues. “At first, I didn’t even know how to control my Evol. I was so confused, and the people around me were also very alarmed. Because those around me could no longer conceal anything. No matter what kind of masks they wore, I could remove them. Many people were afraid of talking to me. They didn’t even dare to come near to me. That period of time was... pretty depressing. It’s such an incredible ability.”

“Afterwards, I fumbled around and became clearer on how to use this ability. I more or less figured out how to live in such an environment.” Tang Chao points at his head. “The secret is in not caring.”

“It’s not that you really don’t care.” Gavin says.

“That’s right.” Tang Chao smiles wryly. “It’s just that after pretending not to care for such a long time, I’ve become confused too. Instructor Gavin, do you think I can still find the reason for staying here?”

Gavin ponders for a moment before responding. “I can’t imagine how it feels like to be surrounded by lies. But right now, you’re able to walk out from those days, and maintain an independent judgement. It shows that you’re actually much more tenacious than the average person.”

“I don’t think that I’m strong...”

“No one is born strong.”

Tang Chao wipes at the rainwater on his face. “Including yourself?”

“Including myself.” Gavin says solemnly. “I was at a loss before, but afterwards... I found a reason to persevere. I think it’s only a matter of time before you’ll also find a conviction belonging to yourself.”

When Gavin speaks, his intonation doesn’t fluctuate much. It’s as though he’s elaborating on an obvious fact. At this moment, Tang Chao doesn’t use his Evol, because he knows that these are Gavin’s genuine words.

There’s no need to use a lie detector to determine this.

The rain gradually lessens. Tang Chao observes the ash coloured sky for a very long time. His voice is very soft, as though he’s speaking to himself. “I can’t think of any high-sounding reasons. In that case, my goal is to become a person who can live up to this ability.”

Gavin laughs. With neither too much nor too little force, he kicks Tang Chao’s arm with his foot, then blows the assembly whistle in his hand. “All right. Get up and prepare for the next training.”

Tang Chao sits up. “Big Bro, you should at least give me a compliment!”

[ Chapter Five ]

Without realising it, the semester is drawing to a close, and Gavin’s task of being an assistant supervisor is ending soon. The class had originally planned to drag Gavin along to a small New Year’s Eve farewell party. In the end, Gavin was sent to participate in a special operation that day, so everyone just brought the farewell party forward, and wish Instructor Gavin a smooth and successful mission.

After the students have left the classroom, Gavin realises that Tang Chao is still standing at the doorway. “Why haven’t you left with the others?”

“I heard this mission is pretty dangerous.” Tang Chao suddenly speaks.

“Every mission is accompanied with danger.” Gavin says.

“Not that kind of danger...” Although Tang Chao isn’t a participant in this mission, he has heard about its contents. “The moment it isn’t handled properly, the dissent between civilians and Evolvers would be aggravated. If the time comes, I’m afraid it wouldn’t end with just a few clashes and bloodshed.”

Although he’s often careless and relaxed, it doesn’t mean that he’s stupid.

“I know.” Gavin nods. “Since you’ve already heard about some of its contents, your class should more or less know about it too - did they ask you to inquire about it?”

“Not really. I wanted to ask you about it myself.” Tang Chao hugs his elbows. “If... and I’m saying ‘if’. If this operation contradicts with the convictions you’ve always persevered in, what would you do?”

“There’s no need for such hypothesis.” Gavin looks at him. “I’ll just use my own eyes to look at it, use my own mind to make a judgement, and not doubt it before the operation even begins. If conviction can be so easily swayed, it means it isn’t yours. Instead, it’s what someone else has forcefully given to you.”

Gavin pauses, glancing at his own palm. Even if its development clashes with my convictions, I’ll use my own methods to handle it.”

When Tang Chao hears this, he’s left dumbfounded. Then, he immediately laughs. “Ah, this answer is truly in line with Instructor Gavin’s style.” He moves over and crinkles his eyes at Gavin. “No wonder the higher-ups purposely trained you to become a leader. With such words, who wouldn’t want to be Instructor Gavin’s subordinate?”

Gavin shakes his head. “I’m not interested in being a leader.”

“Why aren’t you interested in anything? You said you weren’t interested in the competition earlier either...” Tang Chao grins. “It looks to me that the only interest you have is the lady in that photograph, right? When will you introduce Sis-in-law to everyone- ack!”

He receives a blow from Gavin’s elbow.

Tang Chao covers his stomach and pouts, looking aggrieved. “If you don’t want to be a leader, what about being a captain? I heard that after I graduate, the Special Operations Team proposed by the higher-ups will be formed. When the time comes, I reckon there’ll be many interesting and strong comrades joining the team. You can be the boss.”

“Am I the one forming the Special Operations Team? Can I be the captain just because I want to?” Gavin glares at him. “Why not consider whether or not you can join it first.”

“I think if it’s you, I definitely can.” Tang Chao laughs, showing his teeth. “If Captain Gavin can do it, I definitely can do it too.”

A few days later, Gavin sets out. Students from the class send him into the vehicle at the entrance of the academy. Tang Chao gives him a salute and a smile. “Wishing Instructor Gavin an early New Year’s, and wishing you a safe and successful operation.”

Gavin nods, returning a salute to everyone. “I receive your good wishes. Happy New Year. In the future, we’ll definitely meet again.”

Everyone watches as the truck leaves their line of sight. For a very long time, nobody speaks. Finally, with a deep breath, the class leader asks. “Are we continuing with training?”

“Of course we are!”

#mlqc #mlqc cn #mlqc spoilers #mlqc gavin

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jalapeno-princess · 4 years

Text

Chapter 2: Bump in the Road

(Yo man all these Mark pre debut pics got me feeling some type of way) (Why did nobody at my high school look like that idgi???)

Mark Tuan X Reader

Part of the Crazy Little Thing Called Love Series

Genre: Fluff, angst and awkward, experimental and extremely adorable smut

Word Count: 13.7K (Daaaaamn I really thought it was longer) (Still long as hell though)

Summary: Falling in love with Mark had to be one of the easiest things you have ever done in your entire life. However, the trials that came with loving him were all the more challenging and you didn’t know how much of it you could possibly take.

A/N: Okay so this one is all over the place (I say that about all my imagines recently) but seriously this one is kind of complicated but please bare with me. I also am not particularly a fan of how I ended this chapter but oh well. Happy reading! (The smut scene in here is actually more humorous and meant to be clumsy and inexperienced lol but honestly it sucks hahahahaha)

“Y/n! This is the mile run, not the mile walk! You have exactly twelve minutes to run four laps around the field. This is only your second lap and you’ve wasted seven minutes just dragging your feet through the dirt. Pick up the pace or else I’m failing you for not putting in effort!”

You released a frustrated grunt at your p.e. teacher’s words, but did as you were told. Back in elementary school, p.e. was one of your favorite subjects. You loved taking a break from your studies and getting to play all kinds of different sports; dodgeball, sham battle, volleyball, basketball and even doing all kinds of relay races—but middle school ruined the class for you entirely when you realized that you were no longer allowed to play around and have fun.

No. Middle school was serious business now. You were being graded on whether you changed out in to your uniform, how many jumping jacks you could do in one minute, how many times you could kick a soccer ball in to one of the field goals and today, you had to run one mile which you and the rest of your classmates have been preparing for every single day in the last two weeks. It wasn’t like you weren’t physically active enough to run all four laps; you joined cross country only two months after transferring over to Middle school from Elementary.

Running long distances were something you were used to. What you weren’t used to, was the fact that your boyfriend had p.e. during the same period you did. It’s as if fate wanted you to fail miserably. Over the last two years, Mark only grew more and more attractive and your mind always drifted back to when you first saw him going through physical changes when you were in the fourth grade. What you thought back then to be his beginning stages of puberty or so you’ve been taught in health was nothing compared to the change he was currently going through as of right now.

His features became even more prominent; his jaw was more defined, his eyebrows were sharper, his chubby cheeks were slimming down immensely and his lips have grown fuller. His voice that was once squeaky and high pitch was now deeper and more “manlier” in his words. He was even excited to tell you that he was slowly but surely growing facial hair.

It was hard for you to prevent yourself from laughing when he pulled you to the side one day at recess and showed you the two strands of hair on his chin—but it was also very cute. From the time he entered middle school, Mark would always complain about being scrawny and not masculine enough for someone in middle school. Although you were still too young to really understand what was expected to happen to both girls and boys while puberty transformed their bodies entirely, you had a feeling Mark was taking this whole “growing up” and “maturing” too seriously.

You were only two months away from moving on to the seventh grade which also meant that Mark was going to become a high school freshman. Nothing much has changed since you graduated from Elementary school and settled in to Middle school other than being able to see and spend more time with your boyfriend. From what the older boy would describe over and over to be some of the best years in school he has experienced so far—well, educationally.

All those years in elementary that he spent with you; learning more about you, getting to see that contagious smile of yours and being the main reason behind it, falling in love—or what he claimed his parents called “puppy love” with you, those had to be some of the best years of his life. Unlike you, Mark enjoyed school. He loved learning about all kinds of things. Right now, his favorite subject was social studies specifically because he and the rest of his classmates got to watch all these documentaries about some of the most important events to go down in history.

Since he had every intention on being with you as much as he possibly could, Mark brought up the suggestion that you’d joining an after school activity together. You had yet to tell anybody other than your older sister and a couple of your closest friends about your relationship in fear of your parents finding out and forcing you to break up with him. Your family was well aware of your friendship though and they genuinely really liked Mark.

For someone who was right about to turn fourteen-years-old, it was evident that he had a excellent head on his shoulders. You would always think back to the first time he introduced himself to you and how he told you his mom said he was a good boy in order to get you to trust him. He always had your best interest at heart—he did whatever it was for you in order to help you in any way possible, or just to make you happy.

Your happiness was Mark’s sole priority. Almost every single day, he would walk you back home before walking back to school for practice. On the days he had nothing scheduled for after school, he’d be over at your house playing video games with your older brothers or watching a movie with you out in the living room. It always made you smile seeing how well he got along with your family and although you had yet to really get to know his, Mark told you he was confident that they would love you just as much as he did.

In his three years of middle school, he had built quite the reputation of being the campus’ all around student. Although he could be shy and introverted towards students he wasn’t all too familiar with, he was very kind and thoughtful to anyone who had entered his path. It was also known throughout the school that Mark had one of the highest g.p.a.s in his grade. There were a few occasions that his teachers would have him tutor other students for extra credit and being the polite person his mother made sure she raised him to be, he always said yes—even if he didn’t particularly want to.

He was also very involved in sports and extracurricular activities; soccer, football, baseball, water polo, cross-country, student council—you name it. Mark just really enjoyed making new friends and taking on new challenges. Since you were the only one out of your siblings that would return back home once school was over, your parents recommended that you’d look for some kind of activity that you would find interest in. It was actually your boyfriend’s idea to join cross country with him; it was pretty much the only sport that he knew you wouldn’t get hurt in and that helped keep his mind at ease.

The last thing he wanted was something bad to happen to his favorite girl under his supervision. On the first day of practice, you didn’t think it was all that bad. Your coach had the team run five laps around the tennis court before calling it a day. Unfortunately, you couldn’t say the same thing for the rest of that week when you found yourself running up and down an extremely steep hill ten times. By the end of it, you felt as if you were about to throw up your lungs—it was terrible and what was even worse was the mocking laughter that came from a few of your teammates since you were the last one to finish.

Mark tried to stifle back a laugh, but it wasn’t a laugh to insult you in any way. The word proud didn’t even describe half of what Mark felt watching you put in so much effort to finish your rounds, no matter how visibly exhausted you were. He found himself giggling because he thought you looked so adorable with your flustered, pink cheeks, hair sticking out all over the place and the fact that you flopped on to the grass without even worrying about getting dirty. He waited for your coach to inform you all what he had planned for the rest of the day and allowed you some well deserved rest before pulling you up. As soon as he noticed that everyone was out of sight, he all but gently yanked you against his chest and placed a reassuring kiss on your cheek.

“Hey, ignore them. You’ve tried your best y/n. You’re the only six grader here—everyone else, they’ve been running for years. You only joined a week ago. I’ve seen a lot of them having to stop in the middle of a race because they’d get side pains from eating right before a competition. Hell, some of them even walk when no ones watching. So don’t beat yourself up about it too much okay? You have me. I’m here. I’m always going to be here—nothing to worry about baby. Let’s go. If we have enough time, I’ll buy you some frozen yogurt before I take you home.”

You beamed up at him as your heart fluttered hearing his words. Sure, the idea of him treating you to your favorite dessert excited you—especially after all you had to suffer through, but hearing that you had nothing to worry about because Mark had your back was such an amazing feeling. Even after all these years, not once had he ever shown you otherwise. He was practically glued at your hip and you wouldn’t have it any other way. You placed a small peck on the corner of his mouth before intertwining your hands together and you grinned to yourself when you saw the blush rise upon his cheeks.

“Can I get extra toppings?” He playfully squeezed your hand before bringing it up to his lips and placing a sloppy kiss on the back of it.

“Of course you can babe. God—you’re so cute you know that?”

Although there were some days you felt as if you were still too young to be in love or to know what love actually was, you knew in your gut that what you felt for Mark was extremely intense. Hell, if what was going on between the two of you wasn’t love, you didn’t think you’d actually get to experience it because you had no intention on being with anybody else. You were overjoyed with what you had with Mark.

From what you’ve seen in movies and television shows, what you’d hear your sister go in to detail about over the phone with one of her friends and just witnessing your parents interacting with each other, you had an idea of what being in love was. You saw the way Mark would look at you; as if time stopped whenever the two of you were together and all he wanted to do was look at you in admiration—in awe of your beauty. It was in his actions; he made it a point to continue his overprotective habit he started in Elementary school—walking you home to make sure you got back safe and pushing you on the inside of the sidewalk to keep you away from the road. It was in the way he would leave his friends to go be with you.

Every single time you’d have a rough day, you would find a candy bar or a bag of skittles in your backpack as his attempt to cheer you up. He might have said it repeatedly on a daily basis—even if he didn’t understand just how powerful that four letter word was, but you’ve witnessed the love he harbored for you with his many sacrifices and sweet gestures. Nobody would do even half of what Mark does for you if they didn’t love you and honestly, Mark’s love and just Mark in general was all you could ever need.

Even if he were to be the only friend you’d have in your entire school career, he was the only friend that mattered. If the butterflies that would swarm in your tummy whenever you’d see him were any consolation, that breathtakingly beautiful boy was the rightful owner to your heart. You did whatever you could in order to even pretend that you were going to put more effort in to your movements, but you were too busy watching Mark swing his bat at the baseball.

Out of all the clothes he owned, why did he have to wear a muscle tank? You didn’t think biceps came with puberty but you weren’t complaining. Since all of your focus was on your boyfriend, you failed to notice the rock that was dead center on the track until you face planted right on the dirt. You heard a few people calling out for you; you assumed one of them had to be your teacher while the others were your classmates—but the voice that was quick to grab your attention belonged to none other than the person who was to blame for your accidental fall.

“Shit—y/n are you okay? You ate the ground pretty badly. Are you hurt? Does anything hurt?”

He brought his hand up to your face and squeezed both your cheeks. Immediately, your boyfriend began to scan your face for any cuts or bruises and his brows furrowed once his eyes landed on the huge gash in your arm. You were always so clumsy and sometimes you failed to pay attention to your surroundings—however, this was the first time you ended up practically face planting on to the floor. Before you could say or do anything, he was picking you up from right of the ground and briskly walked over to your teacher.

She was obviously worried for numerous reasons, but you had a feeling she saw that you were distracted. If so, you could only hope she didn’t know exactly why—but it didn’t matter. What now had your full attention was the throbbing pain in your right ankle. You were no doctor, but the pain was excruciating and it didn’t move when you tried to twist it a little bit.

“Would it be okay for me to take y/n to the health room?”

She had no choice but to say yes—not that she planned on saying otherwise. Mark had you pressed tightly against his chest as he carried you bridal style; your teacher wasn’t born yesterday. Anyone could see that Mark wasn’t only volunteering to help you out because he felt bad. Also, the way he was holding you; so tightly and protectively as if he were to lose you if he set you down led everyone to believe that the you both were well acquainted with one another. As the two of you began making your way to the office, Mark pressed a sweet kiss on your nose all the while giving you a concerned look.

“My clumsy girl—how did you even fall? I saw the custodians smoothing out the track yesterday. Were you not paying attention? Did your shoelaces get untied without you noticing—“

“Stupid muscle tank.”

You were currently hiding your face against his chest, so your sentence came out as a mumbled whisper. As much as you hated to admit that your boyfriend was the reason you were probably minutes away from heading to the hospital, it was the truth. You were surprised that only now you made a fool out of yourself and got in to an accident. It was currently three months in to the last semester and you found yourself ogling over Mark with every chance you got during p.e.

There was one time your class and his class had to share the basketball court and instead of teaming up with his classmates and playing games with them, he decided to teach you how to make a jump shot for that entire class period. You secretly thought it was his excuse to have his hands grip your waist, but you never said anything or questioned him about it—and you were quite a fan of his touch, so you weren’t really bothered knowing that he needed to always have his hands on you.

“I didn’t quite hear that, what did you say?”

You shook your head, hoping he would just drop the entire thing. Even if you were to lie and give him another excuse, Mark knew you like the back of his hand. You’d feel pathetic if he knew you lost your balance because your focus was directed on him and his ever-changing body. He could tell right off the bat when you weren’t being completely honest with him.

“I think my ankle is broken.”

He looked down at you and frowned. Mark has been playing sports long enough to know what a sprained ankle looked like. To his dismay, the area was bruised and swollen. Yeah—you definitely twisted your ankle. Good going y/n. You didn’t realize just how popular Mark was throughout the school until you heard almost all the staff currently in the office greet him. You were in a trance; completely mesmerized with how friendly and respectful the older boy was. It was one of the things you admired about him the most.

He had so much confidence in his personality and he had every right to—he was the actual sun in human form, radiating positive energy everywhere he went. The nurse smiled up at the two of you as soon as you both entered the room, but her smile was quickly replaced with a look of worry and concern when she saw the look of discomfort on your face.

“Hello Mark dear, what brings you two here today?” He gently placed you down on one of the beds and grazed your cheek with his thumb before turning back towards the elderly woman.

“Y/n tripped and fell in p.e. and she thinks she might have sprained her ankle. I also noticed a couple of cuts and bruises on her arms and her left knee.”

“Oh no—that’s not good, let me take a look.” She pulled a rolling chair over to where you were lying down and reached for your leg. “Do you mind if I take off your shoe?” You shook your head in disagreement and allowed her to examine your swollen foot. You looked up at Mark and gave him a sad smile when you saw that he was already looking at you.

If this was under different circumstances, your heart would’ve fluttered with the way he was looking at you, but the pain was unbearable. She had you prop your foot on a few pillows while she began inspecting just how much damaged your fall did to your leg. You couldn’t help but hiss at one particular lift of your leg—not once in your life would you have ever thought you’d twist your ankle—it was even harder to believe that your boyfriend was the reason.

Sure, you knew you were at fault; if you just did as you were told and completed your run, then there was a chance you wouldn’t be having to ice your ankle as you watched the nurse call your parents. However, you weren’t really all that upset and it was probably because deep down, you knew you’d do it again and again. All you ever wanted to do was take as much time as you could gazing at your boyfriend in adoration while mentally tracing out his charming features.

Whether or not he was there, you were sure that you’d get distracted by him one way or the other. Your mind would always drift off to him—sometimes even when you weren’t aware of it. Honestly, the hollow and empty feeling you would get when Mark wasn’t around and the indescribably warm and ardent feeling that built up in your chest as he held you in his arms was enough proof that he was your purpose; the reason why you’d wake up excited every single morning knowing that you’d get to see him later on that day.

Your mood for the entire day depended on whether or not you got to see or hear from him. If this was how you felt for the older boy as a pre-teen; still having yet to gain more knowledge about life and it’s many ups and downs, you were excited to see just how much better things would get for you and your boyfriend as the two of you got older. Mark motioned for you to sit up so that he could take his place behind you; he had you lay your head on top of his lap in the hopes of making you feel the least bit at ease. He began running his fingers gently through your hair; twirling some stands in between his fingers and smiled lovingly at you.

“Hey—I’m sure you don’t want to hear this right now, but can I be the first one to sign your cast? Ow—what? I’m being serious babe—with the amount of times you’ve hit me just now I find it hard to believe you’re in any pain at all. Fine, fine, fine. No jokes about your temporary disability. Although, I’m sure hopscotch would be all the more challenging now that you can only use one leg—you know what? I think it’s time for me to head back to class. It’s obvious that someone isn’t all that appreciative for carrying her all the way here—“

To his surprise, you made sure the nurse was still busy on the phone with your mom before you pulled at the collar of his shirt and smashed your lips all but innocently against his. However, right as he was about to deepen the kiss, you pulled your mouth away before things could escalate any further.

“I’m very thankful for all that you’ve done for me and continue to do for me. Not just today—for every day I’ve known you for. Thank you. I’m very grateful for you. You mean so much to me Mark, I don’t think I say it enough.”

You could tell your words visibly moved the older boy by the way he couldn’t stop the huge smile from occupying his entire face. While Mark was a boy of both words and actions, you didn’t think you were all that smart to actually form sentences to describe your feelings for him. Little did you know, on the rare occasions that you did express to Mark how happy you were being able to call him your boyfriend—each and every single word tug on his heartstrings.

God, he was so in love with you.

Just like how it always was when the two of you were together, you and Mark were too caught up in your own little worlds that you failed to hear what was going to happen to you. The nurse walked back over to you and your boyfriend from behind her desk and gave Mark a knowing look. You wouldn’t have been surprised if she caught you and Mark being affectionate—and honestly you were beginning to care less about your teachers and faculty members finding out that you and Mark were in a relationship.

If they weren’t too favorable towards the idea of middle school relationships, it wasn’t like they could really do anything about it anyway. Who were they—or anyone else for that matter able to tell you that your feelings were invalid because you were “still too young”? Love was valid for anyone and everyone of any age.

“Y/n, your mom is on her way to take you to the emergency room. I don’t want to scare you, but I think you might have to get surgery on your ankle or else that part of your foot will be permanently paralyzed. As for you Mr.Loverboy, I think your job here is done. Thank you for helping y/n out, but it’s time to head back to class.”

You quietly sighed to yourself at the thought of not having Mark with you while you went to the hospital. The thought of surgery didn’t worry you as much as it should have; needles, knives, blades and anything sharp never failed to make your skin crawl. However, you were too upset knowing that Mark wasn’t able to be there with you. You knew he’d be able to take away any feelings of anguish and despair just with his presence alone. He was quick to notice your sullen expression and brought his hand up to tenderly cup your cheek.

Other than your older brothers and hanging out with your boyfriend’s friends, Mark was the only boy you really got to learn about. You didn’t think teenage boys were capable of such compassion and tenderness, but Mark wasn’t a normal teenage boy. He put the feelings and well-being of others before himself. Sure, he loved playing video games, reading comic books and going to the park to practice his free throws, but none of that could compare to the sheer happiness you would bring him.

“You’re going to be just fine okay? It’ll be over before you know it. I’ll try my best to make it there to you, but if I can’t—please remind your mom to call me when it’s over? I hate the thought of you suffering. Forget froyo this time baby, I’ll buy you a whole gallon of ice cream. I’ll see you later, I love you.”

He felt extremely shy having to kiss you in front of any adult; even more so now that the nurse was aware of your relationship, but he wasn’t too sure when he was going to be able to see you next. Mark would lose all his sanity when it came to you. You just had that effect on him; but it was something he was very fond over.

He loved being in love with you.

“I—um—I’m sorry Mrs.Kim, do you think you could turn around?” His cheeks were red from having to ask such a question and he scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment. The older lady giggled softly at his request and nodded in agreement before giving you and Mark your privacy. While grazing his thumb over your forehead, he lowered himself so that his lips were barely touching yours and finally did both of you a favor by connecting your lips together. His lips were soft and his kisses were gentle; he kept his hands to himself because he knew he wouldn’t be able to leave if he were to touch you.

Not wanting to get either of you in any trouble, he stole a few more fleeting kisses from the corner of your mouth before wishing the kind woman a nice day. “That boy must really like you. I’ve never seen someone his age so starry-eyed over a girl before. I must admit, the two of you are very cute together. I’m just assuming by your age that your parents have no idea about your relationship so—I guess it’ll be our little secret.”

You gave her a tired smile before murmuring a quiet “thank you.” As kind as she was, you were grateful when she left the room to talk with one of the other staff members. It was nice having people around, but you do enjoy the moments you had to yourself, by yourself. The only person you didn’t think you could ever get tired of being around was Mark, but that was a given.

Even if on some days he could joke around during the times he was supposed to be serious, no matter how much he could get on your nerves, you could never stay mad at him for too long. Almost fifteen minutes later, your mom was frantically storming through the office asking around for you; but once one of the counselors led her to the health room and she saw that you were taking a nap, she immediately relaxed and the nurse began to inform her of what happened.

Although it was expected, you needed to get surgery to help with the swelling and the tension. This also meant that you had to stay out of school for the rest of the school year. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t enjoy getting to stay home and having your siblings wait on you hand and foot. The only thing that really upset you was not getting to experience all the festivities that came at the end of the year. Mark in more or less words was an absolute angel.

He came to visit you after school was finished almost every single day. There were days that he even asked his mom to call him out sick so that he could tend to you as much as he possibly could. Both the Tuan family and your family were understanding when it came to the older boy going over to your house in order to spend time with you. Your sister let out snarky remarks and a couple of eyebrow raises here and there since she had a feeling what went on between you and Mark behind closed doors, but it was all in good fun.

You weren’t going to lie; it was extremely frustrating not being able to move around as much, Mark did whatever he could to help uplift your spirits and take your mind off of your leg. Once you and your mom arrived home the day after your surgery, your brothers were quick to want to write on your cast as soon as they realized you had one, but you were adamant on having Mark be the first one in doing so—even if you playfully threw punches at him when he brought up the idea.

“I can’t believe you actually let me write on here. I hope you feel better soon princess.-Mark”

He told you he wanted to write something more romantic but he didn’t want your parents getting suspicious as to what your real relationship with Mark was. From what he’s told both your mom and your dad and what they witnessed, he was like an older brother to you—and because he got the chance to watch you grow from this tiny, adorable kindergartener who was a Picasso in the making to the upcoming seventh grader who only grew prettier and sassier as she got older, they understood why he was so protective and so fond over you.

Over the course of a month and a half, you continued to do your school work at home; you kept your leg elevated on a couple of pillows and hardly ever left your bed unless you really had to. You were upset at the idea of not being able to witness Mark’s graduation, but you were even more worried knowing that he was moving on to high school. It didn’t really occur to you that your boyfriend was going to be a high school freshman—nor did you think that things were going to change in your relationship.

Nothing happened when Mark transferred over from Elementary school to Middle school and honestly, the distance helped your relationship thrive. If he was willing to walk twenty minutes in order to visit you two years ago when you were just about to move on to the fifth grade, and how he was eager to ditch both school and practice to give you any assistance you needing during your healing process, then you were sure nothing was going to change—or so you could hope. Your parents surprised you with a pair of crutches and informed you that your doctor said it was okay to get up and start moving around if you were physically and mentally ready to do so.

As much as your family loved helping you out, you understood that they all had their own things to worry about and having to tend to you practically every fifteen minutes was a lot to handle. You decided to keep it a surprise from Mark that you were going to be there for his graduation; your mom already told him that she didn’t feel like it was a good idea seeing as how you weren’t really ready to be mobile and the look of disappointment on his face really made both your stomach and heart ache. You never wanted to see Mark anything but happy. All he ever did was put others before himself; and the happiness of the ones he loved—you especially was his main focus.

You remember hearing a conversation between your sister and her boyfriend and he told her she deserved the entire world. For the entirety of that day, you tried to think about what exactly that meant. Instead of asking your sister in fear of her getting mad at you for eavesdropping, you asked your mom out of curiosity. It means that person really adores you and wants nothing but the best for you. That’s exactly how you felt about your boyfriend. Mark Tuan deserved the entire world on a silver platter and you were going to take the time to learn what you had to do in order to give it to him.

You did particularly enjoy knowing that he wanted you there—you would be upset if your favorite person just so happened to get injured and wasn’t able to see you on one of the most important days in your educational career. But it proved to you how important you were in Mark’s life. It wasn’t like you weren’t aware of how much Mark adored and thought the world of you. The older boy practically had it tattooed on his forehead. You just loved being reminded of the love you had for one another.

On the day of Mark’s graduation, you and your family picked up some gifts for him and planned on sitting a few rows back from the stage so he didn’t see you just yet. Hearing your principal describe Mark as such a hardworking, dedicated student who was so caring and quick to lend a hand to whoever needed it made you feel proud of him. Today was supposed to be a happy day for him, yet his smile didn’t completely reach his eyes and his shoulders were slumped. Your sister playfully nudged you knowing that you were the reason for his sullen demeanor.

Once the graduation ceremony was over, everyone made their way towards the football field in order to congratulate the graduates. It was hard to describe the feeling that built up in your chest when Mark’s eyes landed on you. Although his entire family came out to congratulate him, it was obvious he wasn’t all that happy and honestly, he looked as if he couldn’t wait till the entire thing was over. However, as soon as you came in to view, his jaw dropped and he wasted no time in running toward you and picked you up as if you were as light as a feather.

Neither of you even seemed to care about your crutches falling to the ground; he was just feeling so many different emotions in that moment to even bother about anything or anyone. Mark was extremely grateful that his grandparents flew all the way from Taiwan to come and see their grandson shift over to high school—graduation of any sorts was a huge milestone in their family—but he was most excited for your appearance. He didn’t even give himself time to think before smashing his lips against yours out of pure happiness.

“You came—I can’t believe it, you don’t know how much this means to me—God, you’re so amazing. I love you so much—“ If you didn’t hear the cough that you assumed came from your mom, you would’ve continued to kiss him; but it was in that moment that you realized you and Mark weren’t alone and he just gave away your relationship.

“Oh—I—um—I—I’m in love with your daughter. I hope you’re not mad.”

You didn’t even want to look at either of your parents; you were sure they either had looks of anger or disappointment on their faces and the last thing you ever wanted to do was go against their wishes. However—your relationship with Mark was the only thing you had no problem breaking your parent’s trust for. He whispered a mumbled apology in your ear and was right about to say something else, but your mom was quick to respond to his sudden outburst of love for you and her next few words shocked you.

“I know. I’ve actually known for a while now. You’re not particularly as discreet as the two of you probably think you are. I wanted y/n to be honest with me instead of forcing it out of her. You’re a good kid Mark. Although I still feel as if you both are too young to be dating, I see how much you care for my daughter and as a mother, that’s all I could ever want for her. You make y/n extremely happy. Thank you for taking care of her. With that being said, there will be some ground rules for your relationship—but we’ll talk about it another time. Congratulations again sweetheart.”

Your family stuck around for a couple more minutes—allowing you enough time to celebrate Mark’s big accomplishment. When your parents did decide it was time to go, you said your goodbyes to Mark and his family before leaving a quick kiss on his cheek.

“Congratulations again baby.”

You got an earful in the car while the six of you made your way back home, but you were just so content that you no longer had to hide your relationship with Mark from your parents any longer. It took one more month for your ankle to completely heal and for the rest of that summer, you and Mark found yourselves going anywhere and pretty much everywhere your hearts desired—well, anywhere your parents allowed you to go. One of their rules was that you had to be under adult supervision, but it was expected.

Your sister and oldest brother got a kick out of having to take you to the arcade or to the movies. The love you held for Mark continued to grow the more time you spent together. You learned something new about him every single day. His favorite color was blue—specifically navy. He loves ketchup but hates tomatoes and his favorite tv show was Full House. Sure, any time spent with your boyfriend never failed to send you over the moon, even if the two of you were doing nothing at all.

You’d rather do nothing with him than to do something so exciting with anyone else. But it was in the moments where he’d tell you his dreams and worries for the future that you savored the most. Knowing how introverted Mark could be, it must’ve took him a lot of courage to tell you about his fears and doubts and to trust you with his deepest secrets. Your seventh and eighth grade years went by in the blink of an eye. If you were being honest, you didn’t particularly care of any of it.

There wasn’t much excitement that came with middle school and you couldn’t wait to move on to the next chapter of your education. Mark raved about how exciting high school was. He claimed it was the most fun he’s had in his eleven years of being in school. There was more freedom for High school students; they could eat lunch wherever they wanted, they no longer had to wear uniforms, there were more sports that Mark wanted to get involved in and there were a lot more places on campus that he could study at other than the library.

To your dismay, your fears of growing distant with Mark came true as soon as he started high school. Being the adventurous and athletic guy he has always been, it was only natural for him to join practically ever single sport his school had to offer. High school sports were a lot more different than middle school. The athletes were expected to give all their time and effort in to the sport that they played; this meant more of Mark’s time spent on the field and in the gym and less time with you.

You only really got to see him on the weekends and you tried your best to show that it didn’t bother you—but you did worry that he would one day forget about you completely. There was a point where you wondered if you and Mark should take a break; you were at that age where you understood how to manage someone’s priorities and what needed to come first. It took a while to accept it, but you were no longer Mark’s main priority and it did hurt you—but there was no way you’d allow yourself to interfere with that part of Mark’s life.

What really made you sad was that Mark didn’t think anything was wrong—but why would he? He was too busy experiencing the dream life; he became captain of the baseball team only a month after he joined. He was the first freshman to ever be captain and you were elated that he was having a good experience so far. However, you couldn’t stop the tiny voice in your head telling you that Mark was better off without you. It was something that began to plague you more and more each day.

The last thing you ever wanted to do was be a burden to your boyfriend. On the days you did get to hang out with him, all your worries seemed to disappear. Mark was extremely apologetic with not being able to see you as often and he did remind you that he hated not getting to spend time with you. That’s the reason why you allowed yourself to stay with him. With time, you knew things would get better.

It wasn’t like he was purposely ignoring you—when he did have free time, he always called you and sent you text messages to see how you were doing. The effort he put in, no matter how tired he probably was never failed to tug on your heartstrings. You loved Mark and you knew he loved you. That’s all you really needed. After what felt like forever, you finally completed middle school and made your way in to High school. Mark was more than happy to welcome you with open arms and to show you around the campus.

On your first day of school, he barely even gave you two seconds to take in your surroundings before introducing you to his group of friends. They all seemed to be very friendly and outgoing; they were quick to offer you help if ever you needed it. Your boyfriend was extremely excited now that he was going to see you more; and he began planning out so many things with you. He was quite the gentleman; seeing as how he got his license back in his sophomore year, he would pick you up from school every morning and if he had the time, he would drop you back home.

He would walk you to class and even waited outside so that he could go with you to lunch or to your next class. His friends would tease him about it, but he would even feed you out of habit. You were able to attend some of his practices and even a couple of his games and it didn’t take you long to understand why Mark enjoyed being in High school so much. There was just a lot to get involved in and be excited for. At least once a month, there were pep rallies held and it was always so much fun.

Your High school was also very supportive and involved when it came to sports. The seats would always fill up at a lot of Mark’s tournaments and you knew seeing all those people in the crowd gave him the motivation to do his best. His friend Jackson joked around about you wearing his jersey so that girls would know he was in a relationship and back off. You didn’t know that your boyfriend had girls chasing after him, but you weren’t surprised.

He was a sight to behold; plus, he was so gentle and sweet. He was soft spoken and just so happened to be the MVP for both the basketball and football teams. Every time you attended one of his games, your cheeks would get sore from how many times you would smile hearing all these people cheer him on. He was quite the popular guy, but he always was. Mark stood out from the crowd whereas you believed you blended in, but not in a good way.

It wasn’t until Jackson made that comment did you find yourself observing the way that other girls would look at him or interact with him. A lot of these girls were very pretty—prettier than you thought you were and you soon grew very insecure about being the lucky person who Mark was in love with. You felt as if you needed to change your look to impress him—you didn’t think skinny jeans, band tees and converse shoes were going to cut it anymore.

Most of these girls wore dresses, curled their hair and put on makeup. It was only a matter of time that Mark would come to the realization that he wanted someone more mature who actually took care of themselves. You were too focused on having to worry about other girls that you failed to notice Mark never batted an eye at any girl that would approach him. His heart has been yours since the day he approached you over ten years ago.

You were the most beautiful girl in his eyes and you’ve captivated him in ways that he never thought he was capable of experiencing. Mark believed he was one of the lucky ones. It’s rare to hear about couples who started dating when they were really young that were still together. Mark knew even at seven years old that you were going to be someone very special in his life.

Actually, he was growing irritated every time a girl would come up to him because he made it very clear with how he would always hold your hand or wrap his arm around your shoulder that he was in a relationship. At first, he did like the attention he was receiving for his athletic talents—but when it came to romantic feelings, you were the only person he wanted to receive attention from. He did feel bad letting girls down, but he was more afraid of you growing insecure if you were to see just how many girls had a crush on him.

There was nothing you had to be insecure about—nobody held a candle to you. There’s a saying, “nobody’s perfect”—Mark believed it was complete and utter bullshit. You were nothing less than perfect in his eyes. As soon as he received a team jacket with his last name and number on the back, he gave it to you and asked you to wear it so that everybody in school knew that he was yours and that you were his. You never gave him any reason to be jealous—you only made three friends and even then, they weren’t ones that you’d spend time with other than when you had class with them.

You were always with Mark and his friends and you’ve grown very close to them in a matter of days. Your freshman year was a great start to your high school experience and as excited as you were to become a sophomore, you weren’t excited knowing that this was Mark’s last year in High school. He never told you his exact plans once he were to graduate, but you did hear his mom talking on the phone with his grandmother one day when you were at his house and you heard her mention that he was looking at a University in Massachusetts that specialized in engineering. You asked him about it a few times; out of sheer curiosity but he always seemed to redirect the question as if he didn’t want to answer it.

A part of you felt as if you deserved to know—it was just as much your future as it was his, but you didn’t want him to get annoyed with your continuous pestering. In your first semester, health was your first class and to your delight, BamBam and Yugyeom had it during the same period. It was nice seeing familiar faces and Mark’s friends always make you feel so safe. However, you were soon regretting your excitement when your teacher began covering sex. You and Mark had yet to get intimate and honestly, sex wasn’t something you were all that interested in just yet.

In fact, from what you’ve learned in class so far, you were terrified. BamBam and Yugyeom always made dirty comments about you and Mark—they even had the audacity to ask if you guys did it yet. You ignored them because it wasn’t any of their business, but you couldn’t help to wonder if they asked Mark and what he said about it. Did he want to have sex? He had to at least thought about it once or twice; you learned in health that boys desire sex earlier than girls do.

There were a few instances where your make out sessions would get a little too heated and Mark would excuse himself to go use the bathroom. It didn’t make sense to you why he always seemed to have to pee whenever the two of you would kiss, but after taking health, you realized that he wasn’t in the bathroom for the reason you thought he was. The more you learned about sex, the more curiosity ate at your conscience. Was it as amazing as people claimed it out to be? Did it hurt as much as you felt it would? What happens after the first time a girl has sex? It didn’t take too long for your curiosity to get the best of you and you wanted to know your boyfriend’s outlook on it.

One night, you were sleeping over the Tuan’s residence in order to keep your boyfriend company. His family went to Taiwan for his cousin’s wedding but because he had a tournament, he wasn’t able to go. At first, your parents were hesitant to let you stay over because they didn’t like the thought of you and Mark being alone—but they trusted you and they trusted your boyfriend. Sometimes more than they trusted you.

The two of you were cuddling up on his bed, watching a movie; his thumb was gently grazing your thigh and you didn’t think much of it. Skin ship was something normal in your relationship and this wasn’t the first time he had his hand on your leg. However, there was a feeling in the pit of your stomach that you’ve never experienced before. You felt as though you wanted him to bring his fingers higher up to where there was now a warm and tingling sensation. Neither of you expected it, but a sex scene came on out of no where and it felt awkward watching the two characters naked and pressed up against one another.

You could tell it was also affecting Mark with the way he sat up and pulled his hand away from you. You decided that you would use this time to ask him the question that’s been on your mind the day your class was learning how to put a condom on a wooden penis.

“Hey Mark?”

He paused the movie before turning towards you—giving you his full attention. You quickly picked up on how red his ears were and it was something you’ve discovered would happen when he was either embarrassed or flustered. He hummed in curiosity before bringing his hand up to your cheek.

“Do you—have you ever—do you want to have sex?”

The fit of coughs that fell from his throat made you feel like a child; stupid BamBam and Yugyeom for telling you that sex was a natural way of life and that Mark told them that the two of you already had sex on multiple occasions. You’ve been with Mark long enough to know he wouldn’t do such a thing. Whatever went on with you and Mark stayed between the two of you. He was just as defensive when it came to his privacy. He looked at you in shock before taking his hand off of your cheek and bringing it up in to his hair.

“Wait—what? Sex? Are you asking me—I mean—right now? Wait—sex? You want to have sex—please correct me if I’m wrong babe—are you insinuating that you want to have sex or—where is this coming from—“

It was always a sight to see whenever Mark would get shy or flustered if you were the cause behind it. He was eighteen years old now and it made you laugh that even as an adult, he still had his childlike qualities to him. You could only hope he’d continue to be a child at heart because you’ve grown to learn that sometimes life isn’t all that kind to us and we tend to lose track of ourselves if we become too serious. Mark looked as if he was on the verge of a mental breakdown; so you crawled over to him and did the unthinkable—you sat on his lap and wrapped your legs about his back while you brought your hands around his neck.

You were well aware that you were stepping in to new territory. This was the closest you’ve ever been to your boyfriend and it was a closeness you were quickly growing to enjoy.

“I’m sorry—I didn’t mean for it to sound like I’m asking you straight out to fuck right now—“

“Woah, language missy—“

You playfully rolled your eyes before thumping his forehead for interrupting your confession. “I was just curious if you wanted to have sex—theoretically. We’re learning about sexual intercourse in class right now and I just—I don’t know. I’m sure you have your needs and desires or carnal urges as my teacher refers it to—you’ll be going off to college soon so I was just wondering if it ever crossed your mind that you wanted to have sex—and if you’d want to do it with me.”

Your last words caused him to look at you as if you grew another head. He couldn’t process the idea that you felt he would want to have sex with anyone else other than you. Once he finally decided to take a look at you and saw you biting your lip in anticipation of his response, he all but gently gripped at your chin and pulled you in to a searing kiss. He playfully licked a few stripes against your bottom lip and nibbled on the top teasingly before pulling away.

“Look at me.”

This all felt like deja vu. You were reminded of the day back in elementary when you confessed your feelings for Mark and refused to look up at him. You could feel your heart racing because of the proximity and because you knew he was probably going to be upset with the fact that you were questioning his future plans.

“Babe, you’re crazy to think there’s ever going to be anyone else in my life for me to do anything with other than you. I’ve loved you and I’ve been in love with you for over ten years now. You’re stuck with me y/n. I plan on loving you for the rest of my life. I’m not going anywhere and neither are you. You silly girl—why would you even think I’d want to do something so important with anyone else? You’re my person baby—my soulmate. Yes, I’ve been thinking about sex a lot these days—especially because I can never seem to take my hands or eyes off of you. You only get more and more beautiful as you get older and it’s getting harder for me to resist wanting to finally relish in our love together in that way. I just wanted to wait for when you were ready. I’m sure the idea of losing your virginity is scarier as a girl than it is for a guy—but just know that when that time comes, I’m going to take such good care of you okay? Wait—BamBam and Yugyeom didn’t set you up to this did they?”

It was your turn to look at him in confusion and he giggled softly at your expression. You wouldn’t have been surprised if they did talk to him about what they’ve been bugging you about for the last three weeks. They were all guys; you were sure they were all excited talking about their sexual lives amongst each other. It was something you assumed all guys did.

“Those assholes weren’t bothering you too much about were they? I’ll kick their asses if they ever made you feel uncomfortable. They told me they had class with you and then they began asking me all kinds of questions about our sex life and if we did it yet. I guess for guys, it’s a competition to see who does it the youngest or the most—it’s really stupid if you ask me. Sex is supposed to be romantic—making love to someone is more than just penetration and reaching an orgasm. It’s two people connecting on a spiritual and intimate level. Sex is just a body count to the guys; to me it’s something so special. To be honest with you, it doesn’t matter how old we are when we both agree to have sex—just know that I’ll wait however long you need me to baby.”

With the way he was looking at you so lovingly; holding so much tenderness in his eyes, you were just seconds away from saying fuck it and giving him what he’s been wanting for some time now. Like Mark said—sex was more meaningful than what a lot of people painted it out to be. You didn’t really look at it like that, but hearing him speak so passionately about it sent off a burning sensation in your chest. A part of you was very nervous, but it was expected. You were still learning about your lower region—hell, you were still getting used to menstruating. You didn’t think you were desiring sex as of right now but that was because you didn’t understand it completely. You didn’t know what took over your body in that moment, but you found yourself leaving sloppy kisses along Mark’s jaw while running both your hands through his soft, curly locks. He let out a soft sigh and his hands made their way down to your lower waist.

“Baby, what are you—“

“It’s time we get BamBam and Yugyeom off our backs. Let’s give them something to talk about shall we? I—I want to be one with you Mark. I don’t want you thinking I’m doing this for your sake; I’ve actually have grown curious to see what sex is actually like and I’ve always wanted to take things further in a sense with you. I trust you Mark—with my entire being. I’m safest with you. I’m yours if you’ll have me baby.” The noise that came from the back of his throat wasn’t one you’ve heard before. It was a mixture of a growl and what you assumed was a moan—it was extremely sexy.

“Fuck—I—you’re otherworldly you know that? I love you so much—so so much. I got you y/n. I’m gonna take really good care of you okay? Just tell me if it hurts or if you want to stop okay? I’m so fucking excited.”

The laugh that fell from your lips hearing how eager he was to finally make love to you was natural. He was so adorable—what did you do to deserve him? It was a question you always seemed to ask yourself even after a decade of knowing him for. You didn’t doubt that he was going to be gentle with you during the process of taking away your innocence. It was obvious that he was nervous—he had no idea what to do himself. This was going to be a learning experience for the both of you.

As he reconnected his lips with yours and tightened his grip on your waist, you could feel the adrenaline running through your bones. You were about to give yourself—your body, mind and soul to the breathtakingly beautiful boy in front of you. Your relationship was going to change but you knew it was in a good way. Goosebumps began to rise on your skin with every graze against your arm and every moan he hummed against your lips. There was a fire building up inside of you that you were dying to put out and you had yet to learn what it was exactly. Less than five minutes in to your steamy make out session, you felt something hard press up against your thigh and the feeling made you giggle. “Mmm—Mark—“

He pulled away gently in fear that he was doing something wrong. Your sudden mumbling made him worry; was he taking things too fast? “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I just—every single time we’ve made out in the past—you’d leave to use the bathroom. You never actually used the bathroom while you were in there—did you?” He shook his head in disagreement while a cheeky smirk rose on his face.

“I’m gonna tell you this right now; I get hard just by the thought of you alone baby. So anytime you touch me, hug me or kiss me—I get kind of excited, if you know what I mean.” The two of you laughed at how blunt he could be but the playful banter was quick to end as soon as he felt you palming him through his sweats.

“Shit y/n—“

You continued your movements while bringing your face in the crook of his neck. Everything about your boyfriend was so flawless; so pretty. His skin was so soft and milky—his neck was long and you wanted nothing more than to leave love bites along his nape, letting everyone know his bed was spoken for. You grazed your teeth right above his collar bone and absentmindedly began grinding your self against his hardened member. You must’ve been doing something right with how he was helping guide you along his girth and by the way he was growing vocal the longer you continued.

He brought his hands up in to your shirt and you shivered at how cold his fingertips felt against your skin. When he started to play with your bra, you had an idea of what he wanted to do and so you unclasped it in one swift movement—taking it off and flinging it somewhere in the room. You then brought his hands up from your lower back to your breasts and squeezed them all but lightly. It was your turn to let out a moan—the feelings of his hands gripping on your perky mounds only made the coil in your stomach tighten. You never really thought much about your boobs; they were a part of women bodies—you weren’t someone who necessarily obsessed over them.

There were girls in your p.e. class that would compare their bra sizes and some of them would grow excited if they noticed their boobs got bigger. You didn’t think you had the biggest breasts ever, but then again you were still going through puberty. What you had thought may not have been big in your eyes as a completely different story with your boyfriend.

He never had the guts to admit it to you, but there were times where he had to force his stare away from your chest. It was as if your breasts grew overnight and he wasn’t complaining at all. Every time you wore a tight shirt to school, he had to bite back his tongue. He loved every single thing about you; but your breasts were now one of his favorite body parts of yours. He began to show love to your mounds—massaging and kneading them while pinching and twisting your nipples. Right as you were going to make a comment to get him to continue his movements, he playfully jiggled both your breasts and earned himself a punch on the shoulder.

“Ow—what was that for? I’ve been dreaming about the day I got to play with these pretty titties of yours. They’re so big and bouncy—you know, I’ve heard from some of my friends that it’s normal for women to be rough during sex but I don’t think this is what they meant. Having you hit me isn’t the way I’d be getting bruises tonight. Fine, fine—I’ll stop. You’re no fun. I hope you know I plan on fondling and playing with these every time I get the chance so start getting use to it. Would it be okay if—I um—can I take off your shirt now?”

Did he really go from confidently playing with your breasts to shyly asking if he could take your shirt off? He was so whipped for you. As soon as you pulled your shirt off and tossed it to the side, his mouth widened in shock. It was one thing to cup and fondle your sensitive buds, but it was another thing to actually look at them. How were you so perfect? There was absolutely no flaw on you.

“Close your mouth Tuan, you’ll catch flies.” You knew he was about to retaliate so you decided to tug at his shirt with every intention of him discarding it.

“Someone’s eager.” He wiggled his brows contently.

“Shut up.” One by one, every piece of clothing was now scattered throughout his room. What you felt as you gazed at him with nothing but his underwear on was hard to fathom in to words—sure, you’ve seen him shirtless whenever the two of you would go to the pool, the beach or after practice but this was the first actual time you’d be seeing him naked and bare.

“You’re so hot.”

His cheeks grew pink at your compliment—anytime you were to tell him how handsome, intelligent, talented and hardworking he was never failed to fluster the older boy and you would purposely say or do whatever you could to see him so bashful.

“Well—then, that must make you fucking sexy. You’re so breathtakingly beautiful my love. God, your body is a wonderland. I can’t wait to be inside of you—ah, hold on. I’ll be right back.”

A smirk rose on your face watching him practically run out the door as your eyes fell to his cute little butt. It wasn’t really hitting you that you were just moments away from losing your virginity; you were now more excited and ready to give yourself completely to your boyfriend. What should have been some of the most nerve-wracking minutes of your life waiting for him to return and being alone with your thoughts were eerily calm. Less than a minute later, he came in with a tiny piece of foil in his hands and from your lessons in health, you were sure it was a condom. He held it up as if it was a trophy of some sort and the concept caused you to giggle.

“I had to dig in my parent’s drawer for this. It’s fucking gross thinking that they’re still doing it at their age—“

“Only you could ruin a sexual moment with such an unnecessary comment. Just hurry up, put the damn thing on and fuck me already. I’m going insane here.”

“Wow, never in all my years of knowing and loving you would I have ever thought you had such a naughty mouth on you. I love it. Your wish is my command baby.”

He made his way on to the bed, crawling towards where you were waiting for him up against the headboard. You kept your eyes on his—he held so much emotion in them. Lust, excitement, happiness, worry, nervousness—losing your virginity was a huge deal and he wanted to make sure you had an amazing experience. Right as he took his underwear off and you saw his hardened erection, you couldn’t help but stifle a laugh.

It wasn’t because of his size—no, definitely not. You didn’t have anything or anyone to compare him to, but he was extremely big in your opinion. His cock was long and pretty girthy; you didn’t know how it was supposed to fit inside of you but you were so ready to finally find out.

“Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy hearing that contagious laughter of yours—especially when I’m the reason behind it. But I don’t know how I feel hearing you laugh right after I pull out my dick.”

“It’s not—I’m not—it’s just—penises are really ugly.”

“Babe seriously?”

“What? I’m being honest. Yours is an exception though. I guess it’s attractive? M—Mark stop! Please—I’m—sorry—babe!!”

He was quick to pin you to the bed with one hand while tickling your sides with the other. You didn’t think sex—or what you were told was foreplay could be all that humorous, but it was your fault you were so ticklish. Thankfully, Mark seem to have read your mind and placed a sloppy kiss the corner of your mouth. Hearing him rip apart the conform wrapper brought your attention to his pelvis and you could physically feet your throat choke up.

He kept eye contact with you as he rolled the thin rubber on to his cock. You had a feeling he was more nervous than you were; his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down and his movements were shaky. Once it was finally on, he lined himself up against what he believed was your entrance. His lips were rough against yours—his tongue was needy; the need to kiss you with so much passion and fervor was all he could think about.

“Ready baby?” You gave him a gentle smile—hoping you weren’t underestimating him and what he was capable of.

“Remember, if it hurts or if you want to stop, just let me know.” Since you were well aware that he was right about to make his way inside of your soaking walls, you took in a deep breath to calm yourself down. However, the penetration you were expecting never came.

“Wait, what the hell? Where’s the hole?” This earned him a look of confusion and you had to cry out in laughter—honestly you were growing to believe that tonight wasn’t going to end the way you anticipated it would.

“Y/n, I’m gonna need you to help guide me, I have no idea where your vagina is.”

It took your boyfriend almost five minutes to finally line himself at your core—two of those minutes were filled with laughter and snarky comments; more so from you about how unprepared the two of you really were but it made tonight all the more memorable. He kissed you with all the passion and energy he had in his body and it wasn’t until you felt him finally make his way in to your pussy did you understand why he did that.

The stretch was exceedingly uncomfortable; more uncomfortable than it was painful, but still. It felt as though someone was pushing their hand down on your clit with so much pressure and it wasn’t a feeling you particularly cared for. Your boyfriend—just like he always seemed to in every single situation picked up on your uneasiness. He brought one hand up to cup your cheek as the other was placed in to your hair.

“You okay?”

“Mhm, just a little uncomfortable. How are you feeling?”

“Incredible. You’re so fucking tight and you’re practically soaking.”

“Is that a good thing?” He nodded adamantly and smiled at your innocence.

“Well, it feels fucking insane. You feel so amazing. I—uh—please tell me when I can move. You feel so good baby—but like I said, I’m not doing anything until you give me permission. Tonight is all about you.”

After you non-verbally gave him the okay to quicken his movements, he started to pump himself in and out of you. You weren’t going to lie; the first couple of thrusts felt like hell and you were worried that there was a chance he could have been doing something wrong since it was his first time also. But soon, the pain turned to pleasure—sweet, fervent pleasure. You both began to moan together in unison at how wonderful it felt.

There were so many kisses shared between the two of you—some rough and needy while others were sensual and feather-light. His thrusts only fastened and grew harder the longer you continued your love making session. Countless love confessions, sweet nothings and dirty fantasies were thrown back and forth to each other.

All-in-all, it had to be one of the best nights in your entire life. Albeit a little clumsy and hesitant at some points, Mark fulfilled his promise of allowing things to escalate at your pace and ultimately taking good care of you. You could tell he was holding back a lot of the time not wanting to harm you if he acted on his desires. Once you both reached your highs, Mark left you for a little while and came back with a wash cloth and a water bottle. You were too exhausted after spending almost two hours exploring the depths of one another.

Mark loved on your body like a man starved; he left multiple hickeys across of your chest and on your lower stomach. After cleaning you up, putting one of his shirts on you and giving you a pair of his underwear while he also got prepared for bed, he took his place right next to you. His arms were wrapped tightly around your waist while he placed his cheek against yours.

“So, is sex everything you could ever hope it out to be?” He beamed down at you while furiously nodding his head.

“It was so much better than I was already expecting it to be. You were perfect baby. That had to be one of the best experiences I’ve had ever. I’m gonna have to make love to you at least ten times a week from now on. God—I can’t even describe in to words how much I love feeling you wrapped around me and how beautiful you look right as you were about to come. How was it for you though? I didn’t hurt you too much did I?”

You shook your head and left a quick kiss right above his eyebrow. Less than twenty minutes ago, he was pounding his dick inside of you as if he had vengeance against you. Now he was treating you as though you were such a delicate flower. Mark Tuan—always the charmer.

“No, not at all. That was honestly so mind blowing and I know it’s because you were trying your best to make sure I was having a good time. You always put others before yourself and tonight was no exception. I’m also going to second that notion—I love how you stretch me out. It felt so good. I love loving you and being loved by you. Thank you baby.”

From that night on, you and Mark had a sexual awakening. Whenever you had the chance, the two of you would relish in your love no matter where it was. There were countless times where you’d find yourself sucking him off in a janitor’s closet or being pressed up against the lockers in the boys locker room; Mark took advantage as team captain having access to the keys and took you up against every surface the locker room had to offer.

Unfortunately the closer Mark got to graduating, the more time he took signing up for scholarships, applying to many different collages, taking up as much extra credit as he could and completing his senior project. He finally admitted to you that he had no plans on staying in your town for college. The only thing holding him back was the thought of leaving you.

All he really wanted was to stay with you and wait until you finished graduating so you could both attend the same college together, but you refused to let him give up on his dreams and being able to experience better opportunities that your small town didn’t have to offer. You knew there were so many colleges out there with better sports teams and even better choices of majors that he could choose from.

Mark always wanted to be either an architect or an engineer and you were very supportive of each and every one of his endeavors. However, you hated overthinking what would happen to your relationship if he did get accepted to a university in a different state. You knew the love you had for one another was undefeatable; indestructible.

Deep down in your heart you believed your relationship with Mark wouldn’t falter even with 5,000 miles in between the two of you. But the doubt that weighed heavy on your heart taunted you—what if he were to get frustrated with the distance? What if he didn’t want to be alone and found someone new at his university? What if he decided that your love didn’t mean as much to him anymore? You tried your best to stop the negative thoughts from taking over, but he was never around anymore to prove otherwise?

As dramatic as it sounds, if you were to lose Mark, you’d probably die of a broken heart. He loved you more than life itself; there was no doubt about it—but sometimes love just wasn’t enough. It was the last semester and you secretly wanted the days to go by slower to prolong Mark’s stay. You couldn’t help but feel selfish wanting him to change his mind about leaving you—but you wouldn’t be able to live with yourself knowing you were the one to prevent him from having a fun college experience.

You were currently in science class; everything your teacher was explaining about mixing carbon dioxide with hydrogen peroxide went through one ear and out the other. Thankfully, your lab station was in the far back, so she wasn’t able to catch you texting your boyfriend about your plans to hangout after school. You didn’t even realize she stopped speaking until you heard a different voice—one much deeper and obviously belonging to someone younger. This caught your attention; it wasn’t one of your classmates—you’ve been with them for five months now, you would have recognized them immediately.

When you looked up to see who it was, your eyebrows raised for reasons you didn’t quite understand. He had to be a new student; you don’t remember seeing him once on campus and although your school was enormous, he had a distinct look to him that stood out. His face was sharp and so were his eyes. There were two tiny freckles right below his left eyebrow, his hair was dark and just below his ears. His skin was pale and he had extremely broad shoulders.

You had to admit, he was very good-looking—but you’ve become desensitized to anyone other than your boyfriend. Something about Mark—well, many things about Mark drove you to the brink of insanity and you didn’t think there was anyone who could set your bones on fire like he did.

“Everyone, this is Im Jaebeom. He is a foreign exchange student from South Korea. He plans on staying with us for the next two years, so be nice to him, introduce yourselves to him and try to make him feel welcome. Jaebeom dear, you can take a seat at the empty chair next to y/n in the back.”

When his eyes landed on you, he sent a flirty smile your way and gave you a wink. He placed his bag on top of the table and took his seat next to you. Your eyes were quick to land on his hand that was now right in front of your face.

“Hey, it’s nice to meet you y/n. I look forward to having you in class.”

Yeah, you were screwed.

#got7 imagines #got7 #mark tuan #mark tuan imagines #got7 mark

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inkdheart17 · 3 years

Text

One thing I hate most is being judged, accused, and/or scolded without being confronted. I know the things I've done weren't always great, but i also know that I've never done anything so bad I would later regret it.

Yet, it seems that more and more people seem to think that my silence means I'm guilty. It definitely doesn't. If I decide not to speak of an event, then it's probably because I was the victim, and I'm still hurting.

The most recent big event that's causing a lot of issues for me is a falling out with a person I used to think of as a best friend. I had trusted this person with... Well, everything. I always went out of my way to help them feel comfortable about who they were and tried my best to boost their confidence. I felt that it was necessary, as a friend. I thought all friends did that to each other. Little did I know that very few did that to me.

I didn't need it as much, thankfully. I have my sister, who's my own personal hype man. My mom also supports me. We may be closer than most families i know, but my mom and I aren't close enough for me to come out to her. About anything, actually. Still, i trust her with most things. So, I never needed my friends to truly be there for me. Except once.

I had just broken up with my first and to this day only boyfriend. I had been extremely cautious on who I accepted to date because I was acutely aware of how toxic people could be. My own father and his family being a prime example of that. I had already given up on trying to date someone when I noticed my feelings for my ex. We went out and after the honeymoon phase, I began to notice how similar he was to my father. I became anxious. I tried to reach out and instead was cut off.

Many of the people around me don't know the details. Not sure if I want to share them anymore either. But I'm writing this to vent and hopefully help someone else that went through a similar experience.

You see, the break up didn't hurt so much because he left. It hurt because I lost so much because of him. I lost his family. Whom I had gotten very close with as he refused to ever visit my family. So, we only ever went to his place. I lost my friends, because some of them refused to interact with me after he left. And I lost my peace. My anxiety was once again in control and I was fighting hard to keep everything together once again.

This was the one time I begged for support from those around me, and I quickly found out who to cut off from my life.

At the time, I had moved in with friend A and coworker B, who was dating another guys friend of mine at the time, C. They all faked being supportive at first. Telling me I should just ignore my ex and forget everything. He was never worth my time. Things like that. I had actually called C the night my ex broke up with me. I thought of C as my brother and all I wanted was for my bro to come over and comfort me. He didn't. He had things to do early the next morning and was in bed with B. So, neither of them were going to be there for me. It was only A who kinda distracted me with a drive, but she was so quick to add venom into me. Almost as if she wanted me to hate my ex. Which I did for a while. But it wasn't until I spoke with my still best friend, J, that I found the support I needed.

While all this was happening, i was struggling to finish my final semester before graduated with two bachelor's degrees. You can imagine the kind of stress I was going through as I was also fighting with the University to keep my scholarships for one last semester so that I could graduate. The funny part is that J knew exactly how I behaved. He knew the difference between the times I kept our talks short because I was busy, and when I kept our talks short because I was in distress. He asked me to hang out with him for a day. A day he could've easily filled up with catching up on school work, or being with family, or even spending time with his girlfriend. I still feel very touched remembering how he decided to try and help me instead. All because I didn't react like usual.

He didn't push me to say anything, but my ex came up in conversation and I had to tell J that we weren't dating anymore. That then spiraled into how pressured I felt with school and how unsupportive my roommates and C were being. I told him how A would react aggressively when were alone. Straight up calling me a bitch for ignoring her when I had homework to finish, but would then cry and say I was the abuser as I had blocked her on everything whenever B and C were around.

I told him how I had turned to B in hopes of getting advice, as she shared a room with A and would probably know what was going on with A. Instead, B had told A about all the negative things I said in a fit of rage and never once mentioned how I did want to fix our relation, but A had really destroyed my trust in her and had (has) yet to apologize. I told him how my ex would ignore me on dates and would only pay attention when we were physical with each other. Which made me want more physical interactions despite my general apprehension due to past trauma. And how my ex unceremoniously texted me that he was done because I got mad he wouldn't pause his game for like 5 minutes just to hear me out during an anxiety attack.

J calmly took all this in and advised that I move out. Not back in with my parents, but that it may be inevitable for me at the time. Then he warned me not to bottle up my hatred for my ex cause it would make me hate men in general. And I tried not to, but that hatred started with my dad. So, when C blocked me out of the blue, with no confrontation what so ever, I lost all the trust I had left. I mean, if the guy I thought of as a brother would rather listen to two women who know nothing about me just cause he's dating one of them, then how low were my standards? Why was it so easy for me to get betrayed? It happened with A, it happened with B, it happened with C.... And now he's happening with another friend, D. Who has yet to respond to any of the text messages I've sent her and has now started to hang out with A.

I once again turned to J. Asking if it was normal to feel hurt when a friend was still friends with someone who hurt you. J agreed it was painful but that ultimately I had to remember that they were their own person and that they were going to make their own decisions on what relationships to keep.

I felt discouraged but knew he was right.

As I type this up, I've had to pause a few times to wipe away tears. I think they sting when you feel a bit if anger when crying. Not sure.

Anyways, all this is to say that you'll never be free of selfish assholes. You'll live with them, you'll work with them, you'll move in with them, you'll befriend them, and nothing I say will help prepare you for the pain you'll feel when they reveal their true colors and destroy some part of you. Still, you should never change because of them.

I've given up on dating and friends because of these new experiences topping old traumas. I've been groomed, molested, raped probably, psychologically and emotionally manipulated and abused, all before entering seventh grade. I can't remember my childhood thanks to dissociative amnesia. So, instinctively, I no longer trust humans. It's a lovely existence and despite having won this battle before, I'm looking at suicide once again and am having to remind myself that I've already been through hardships. That all will be fine again. It's just a matter of time now.

But, fighting suicide is almost impossible without help. Without support. So, if you find yourself stuck with toxic people, with selfish assholes, with treacherous friends, cut them out.

We don't need them. They're a cancer that feeds off your good intentions and then blame you when they've dried your soul. It'll hurt a lot at first, but eventually, all will feel better. You'll find peace again. Maybe you'll connect with an old friend who'll always be there for you, like I did with J. Perhaps your siblings will be your own hype man like mine is. Maybe your relationship with your parents will get better like mine is with my mom. You'll finally start feeling better about yourself and try things that cancer wanted to steal from you. I've just gotten through a job interview and hopefully I'll be working at the office I've been trying hard to get into some time next week. Perhaps you'll also take the next step in your career?

So, to by fellow disappointed-in-humanity victims, sometimes it takes swimming in shit before being able to relax in a healthy mind. Take off those rose tinted glasses. Harden your heart and cut out people you know are hurting you. Don't listen to them, and if they take others with them, know that they also aren't worth your effort.

I would much rather be alone than be with a friend who believes I abused another person without ever talking to be about it. That's a person who'd rather believe your abuser than try and figure out why you would ever dare hurt someone. You don't need them.

I probably should like a bitch. Trust me, I get it. I often feel like I'm too harsh and that I should just unblock people to settle things down again. But you know what? I was very complacent and unmotivated when I had the people I blocked on my life. And now that I cut them out? I'm taking my first steps to establishing a career here in my town. Which is arguably a very hard town to settle in as a non-retiree.

Free yourself. Cut them off before they bleed you out

#sad but true #you need to know #toxic people #victims #toxicity #personal crap #advice

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cherrybracelets · 5 years

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why [s. harrington x henderson!reader]

song inspo | steve playlist | masterlist

word count: 3.7k / warnings: none really, mostly fluff, alcohol mention

an: hi guys!!! i kinda went off on this one oops!!! please check out my masterlist for more fics if you like this one, and i always appreciate feedback and a reblog! ❤️

“God, Dustin, if you don’t get out of that bathroom in the next five minutes I’m literally going to kill you!” You screamed, slamming your fists on the wooden door for the thousandth time this morning.

“Relax, (Y/N), I’m almost finished! God you’re so annoying!” Your little brother, Dustin, yelled back. You groaned loudly and stomped back to your room, desperately needing to finish blow drying your hair before the party.

You heard the bathroom door open, and Dustin walking over to your room. He popped in your doorway with a devilish grin, his hair slicked back with hairspray.

“Bathrooms all yours, sis. Make sure you wear that one red lipstick, I think Steve will love it,” Dustin said, winking at you.

“Ew, Dustin. How many times do I have to tell you, me and Steve will never happen. Get over it. We’ve hated each other since middle school, and that’s not gonna change!” You stood up quickly and stomped to the bathroom, Dustin following behind you, frowning.

“C’mon! Give him a chance, (Y/N)! He’s a good kid!” Dustin has been pleading for you and Steve to date since the first time they fought Dart together. Dustin saw Steve as an older brother, and if you two ended up together, Steve would literally be his brother (in law). That was Dustin’s dream- and he reminded you of it every day.

“Jesus, you are so annoying. Why don’t you just shut up and make sure you have Wills’s gift ready!” You slammed the bathroom door in Dustin’s face, making sure to lock it so he wouldn’t barge in. You took a few deep breaths, trying to ground yourself from screaming out of frustration. You plugged your hair dryer on and began styling your hair, using the noise of the machine to drown out your frustration.

You had never really liked Steve, but it became especially frustrating when he decided to informally adopt your brother. Dustin thought the kid was a god, and that did not help Steve’s already overbearing confidence. You understood that Dustin only had you and his mom, and he needed a male role model, but you wished it was anyone but him.

You and Steve had a long- and very negative- history. You guys used to be friends, way back in the day, when life was simple. But that all came to a firey halt in seventh grade. You had a huge crush on one of Steve’s friends, Tommy, and you made the mistake of spilling that to Steve.

Steve took it upon himself to tell Tommy, and they apparently though it was hilarious. You hadn’t really developed yet, so you weren’t as ‘pretty’ as the other girls in your grade. Even though, let’s face it, it was seventh grade, and no one was attractive. But your self confidence was especially low, so when Steve apparently dared Tommy to fake ask you out in front of the whole school- you were crushed. And rightfully, you have never forgiven him.

It haunted you all the way up until you graduated. People never seemed to forget, and every one in a while you’d get reminded of the most humiliating day of your life. And it was even worse having to see the man who orchestrated the event around all the time. You never told Dustin about it, because you knew he looked up to Steve, and you didn’t want to take that away from him. But it was hard when you constantly had to hear how amazing he was.

You were feeling yourself get worked up just thinking about it, your breathing get quicker and your cheeks getting hot with stress. You tried to shake the memory out of your head, tousling your curls as you moved. You put a light lipstick on, double checked yourself in the mirror, and headed out of the bathroom. Dustin was waiting eagerly with a poorly wrapped gift in his bedroom.

“I got Will this super cool new edition of D&D! He’s gonna freak,” Dustin said excitedly, hoping up from his bed and following you down the stairs.

“Super happy for you nerds,” you groaned, grabbing your purse from the kitchen counter and rustling around for you keys.

“You’re gonna regret being so mean to me one day when I’m super rich.” Dustin raised his eyebrows at you, and you just rolled your eyes, walking out the front door to your car.

“You’re gonna regret being such a brat when I sacrifice you to the demodogs,” you said, laughing as you unlocked your car.

“That is not funny! Don’t joke about that!”

“Oh, relax Dustin, don’t go crying to Steve about it.” You hopped into your drivers seat and waited for Dustin to get buckled up before starting your car. He was excitedly fiddling with the bow on his gift, hoping that no one else got Will the same gift.

“I still don’t understand why you hate Steve so much, anyways,” Dustin mumbled, leaning his head against your car window.

“I’ve told you a million times, we just have a history, okay. It’s none of your business,” you snapped, raising your voice at him. “Besides, I’m going on another date with Andrew this weekend.”

“Ughhhhh,” Dustin groaned, rolling his eyes obnoxiously. “That guy is seriously the worst, (Y/N). He is super boring, his hair sucks, and he doesn’t know anything about the upside down. You can’t actually date a guy who doesn’t know what you’ve seen!”

“I don’t care about his hair, Dustin! That’s not a priority to me!”

“Well, it should be, okay? I don’t want my nieces and nephews having dweeb hair.”

“Don’t talk about my future children like that, idiot.” You punched Dustin lightly on the shoulder, and he screamed loudly, clearly faking pain to try and get on your nerves. You just pushed him again, and continued driving to Wills. The rest of your drive was spent listening to Dustin tell you about the new rules of his game, and you trying your best to pretend you were interested.

When you finally got to Wills, you recognized Steve’s car and instantly felt nauseous. You really did not want to spend time with him, but you also knew Joyce was excited to see you today, and you couldn’t let her down. You parked your car grudgingly and took a few moments before getting out. Dustin had already ran inside to his friends, showing off his wrapped gift.

You walked into the house quietly, not wanting to distract anyone from the birthday celebrations. Joyce ran to you, excitement on her face, and greeted you with a warm hug.

“(Y/N)! It’s so good to see you, you look beautiful,” she said, cupping your face in her hands and looking at your outfit.

“Sorry we’re late, Dustin is a brat and takes forever to get ready,” you responded, rolling your eyes and giggling a bit.

“There’s drinks and food in the kitchen, help yourself. Everyone else is scattered around somewhere, I’m sure you’ll find them!” She kissed you on the cheek before walking away and finding her son. You walked over to the kitchen, hoping to get a few seconds of peace and quiet. To your disdain, you were greeted by Steve, standing alone and pouring himself a drink.

“Hey, sorry if I’m in your way,” he mumbled, moving from the counter and spilling his drink on himself a bit.

“It’s fine, I’m just gonna grab a beer and go say hi to the kids, anyways,” you responded, pulling a cold bottle out of a cooler. You tried to twist it, but couldn’t manage to get the cap off.

“Can I help?” Steve asked, reaching out to take the bottle from you. You handed it to him without saying a word, and he took the bottle to his lips and bit the cap off with his teeth.

“Jesus,” you cringed, the thought of that against your teeth making you shiver.

“Little party trick I learned back in high school, I forgot some people get freaked out by it,” he laughed, handing you the bottle. You took a big swig, realizing Steve’s lips had just touched the mouth of your bottle. The thought made you a little uncomfortable, thinking about his lips on yours. He did have beautiful lips though, soft and pillowy. And he was always wearing this vanilla chapstick- you figured he kisses would taste like a milkshake.

Why the fuck are you thinking about kissing Steve? God, Dustin has really got in your head. You thanked Steve and walked out of the kitchen before your brain could dive any deeper into those thoughts.

The living room was packed with all the kids, eating chips and drinking soda. They were laughing over something Mike had said, and you smiled at Dustin, seeing him so happy made you warm inside. He had been through a lot- they all had- but seeing them all here, laughing and playing like kids are supposed to do, it made you feel good.

“(Y/N)!” Max yelled, running up to you and giving you a tight hug. El quickly followed her and hugged you as well.

“You two look absolutely gorgeous- new outfits?” You asked, tugging a bit on Max’s new shirt.

“We went to the mall this weekend!” El responded, putting her hands on her hips and posing for you. You laughed at the two girls, happy to see them enjoying things. You had felt a need to protect them, especially, knowing how hard it is for girls at that age.

“Could you teach me how to curl my hair later?” El asked, running her hand through your soft curls.

“Of course, lady. I think you’d look gorgeous!”

Mike had yelled at them to come see something, and they said they’d talk to you later, before running off back to their friends. Nancy and Jonathan were hanging on the couch, watching Will and the kids having the times of their life. You sat down next to her, making small talk with them for a few minutes before Joyce walked into the room.

“Alright, I have to run up to town and pick up the pizzas. Are you guys all good here for a bit?” She asked, keys in hand. She looked at you and Nancy, a look that said ‘If anything happens, I’m blaming you two, since you’re clearly the most responsible ones here besides myself.’

“We’ll take care of them, Joyce. No worries,” you responded, smiling kindly at her, letting her know you wouldn’t let anything happen to anyone. She smiled back, and headed out the door.

“Alright, now the real party starts!” Lucas yelled the minute Joyce closed and locked the door.

“Woah- woah. What are you talking about?” Nancy asked, standing up quickly and putting on her mom voice.

“Oh relax, Nance. Just a friendly game of truth or dare,” Mike responded, raising his eyebrows at the group around you. “And you all have to play, too,” he said, looking at you, Nancy, Jonathan, and Steve, who was now standing behind you.

“No, no. We’re just here to supervise, we’re not playing any games,” Jonathan responded in a stern voice.

“Please!! It’s my birthday!” Will whined, making a fake pouty face to try and get you all to feel bad for him.

“What’s the harm, right? They’re just kids,” Nancy said, putting a hand on Jonathan’s shoulder.

“You shouldn’t trust any of them- they’re evil geniuses. One of them even has super powers!” Steve said jokingly, eyeing El and making her laugh.

“Fine, we’ll play for a bit, but everything stays PG, got it?” You said, crossing your arms and the group and raising your eyebrows. They all nodded in agreement, smiling at each other, happy that you all agreed.

“Okay, first things first, everyone write your name down on a piece of paper and put it in this bowl,” Lucas instructed, pointing to a small blue bowl that was sitting in the center of the coffee table. You all did as you were told, passing around a pen and notepad until every name had been put in the bowl.

“Then, we’ll go around in a circle and pick a name, so it’s not biased. The person you picked gets to give you your truth or dare,” Mike quickly said, shaking the blue bowl around with his hand.

“Sounds easy enough,” Jonathan answered, sitting forward in the couch.

“And once everyone goes, you put the names back in the bowl and start again!”

Everyone nodded in understanding, the older group just wanting to get this over with. You sighed loudly, waiting for someone to start. Steve came and sat next to you, his knee slightly touching yours and you all squished on the couch together. You felt a heat growing as his skin touched yours, wanting so desperately to move away, but feeling physically unable too.

“I’ll start!” Max said, happily, pulling a name out of the hat. She giggled a little when she read the name of the piece of paper. “Lucas!”

“Alright, truth or dare?” He asked, jokingly making faces at her and making her laugh.

“Dare, obviously!”

“Alright...” he said, thinking intently on what to do. He looked over to the kitchen and smiled devilishly. “I dare you to eat a spoonful of mustard!”

“You know I hate mustard, you ass hole!” She crossed her arms and pouted at him.

“Exactly. And you have to do it- a dares a dare!” Lucas looked around for approval from the other guys, who were all nodding in agreement.

“Fine!” She responded angrily, standing up and walking towards the kitchen. She came back a few moments later with a spoon piled high with mustard. The though even made you a little queasy. She looked at Lucas with a smile, before shoving the spoon in her mouth and swallowing.

“Ewwww!” The kids all said in unison, looking away from her as she did it.

“Oh god, it’s so gross. Someone get me water!” She yelled, reaching out around her for a drink. Steve handed her his water bottle, and she chugged it with a disgusted look her face. The kids were laughing in hysterics as she struggled to get the taste out of her mouth.

“You guys are evil!” Steve said, laughing as he shook his head in shock.

“God, I am so going to get you back for that, Sinclair,” Max said, her face still scrunched in disgust.

“Steve, your turn,” Mike said, pushing the bowl towards him.

“Oh god. I am not letting any of you little shits make me eat anything gross, got it? I’m an adult!” He said, pulling a piece of paper out of the bowl. He looked at it and groaned, rolling his eyes. “I’m in for it now. I picked Dustin.”

“Hell yeah!” Dustin said, excitement glowing on his face.

“I’m picking truth, because I especially do not trust you, Henderson!” Steve laughed, sitting back and crossing his arms.

“Oh come on! Don’t be a pussy! It’s Wills birthday, have a little fun for his sake. Pick dare!” Dustin looked at Steve seriously, widening his eyes at him. Steve sighed and shook his head.

“Alright, fine. But be real careful with what you say next, kid,” he laughed.

“Easy. Seven minutes in heaven- you and my sister.”

You looked at Dustin, shock and embarrassment running through you. You felt your cheeks heat up, you knew you were turning a bright red. You looked over at Steve, who was also clearly uncomfortable.

“Absolutely not, we said to keep it PG!” You yelled, crossing your arms and shaking your head at Dustin.

“Yeah, for us! You guys are adults! Don’t act like you haven’t kissed before!” Dustin said back.

“I am not kissing Steve!” You yelled, floored with embarrassment.

“A dare is a dare!” El said, shrugging at you. You looked at her, disappointed that she wasn’t on your side.

“Cmon, lets just do it to please the kids. It doesn’t have to mean anything,” Steve whispered to you, the scent of vanilla chapstick flooding your senses.

“Fine. Dustin, I hope you know I am going to murder you later,” you said, standing up and walking down the hall to the bathroom. Steve followed suit, and you heard the kids giggling as the two of you went off to ‘Heaven’.

Steve came into the bathroom behind you, shutting the door as he did so. You wouldn’t look at him at first, too embarrassed to make eye contact. Finally, he put a hand on your shoulder, causing you to jump a little in shock.

“Sorry, just wanted to make sure you’re okay, you seem upset,” Steve said, quickly removing his hand.

“I am. This is ridiculous. I can’t go a day without Dustin shoving the idea of me and you together down my throat,” you muttered, sitting down on the sink counter and crossing your arms.

“I’m sorry. I know it sucks, but he’s just a kid. He doesn’t mean anything by it,” Steve said, pushing his hair out of his face.

“I know, but he doesn’t know about everything that happened between us, and I don’t want him to hate you so I won’t tell him.”

“What happened between us?” Steve asked, laughing a bit awkwardly. He looked genuinely confused, which offended you, because that meant he didn’t remember what he did.

“Are you serious? Seventh grade, you telling Tommy to ask me out in lunch as a joke? That ruined my whole life, Steve.”

“Woah, woah, woah. I didn’t tell Tommy to do anything like that. I didn’t even know about it until it was happening!” Steve responded, clearly upset about the accusations you were making.

“What do you mean Steve? Don’t lie to me! Mark told me it was all your idea!” You pouted at Steve, confused and upset, feeling yourself tearing up as you were recalling the event.

“Mark is a lying sack of shit, (Y/N)! He told you that to save his own ass! It was all him and Tommy- I swear to God!” Steve was defensive, pacing up and down the bathroom in frustration.

“But I told you about having a crush on Tommy, not Mark!”

“Okay, that part was my fault. The thing is, I sort of had a crush on you back then, and Mark knew... but when you told me about Tommy, I got upset and told Mark... but I swear, if I knew he was planning that I would’ve never told him! I didn’t mean to hurt you!” Steve was upset, his face red and his eyes watery as he pleaded for you to believe him.

“You really had a crush on me?” You asked, completely blown away by the fact that he even noticed you back then.

“I kind of always have... I always tried to talk to you in high school but you never gave me the time of day. Now I know why,” he said, sounding defeated and broken. He sat down on the edge of the bathtub, shaking his head and staring at the floor.

“Honestly, Steve... I had no idea. I thought... all this time...” you looked at the man sitting in front of you, falling apart in front of you. You sat down next to him, putting a hand on his, trying to comfort him.

“I’m so sorry... I never meant to hurt you... you didn’t deserve that...” Steve mumbled.

“I’m sorry too, I just believed him and I never let you explain... I’ve been such an ass to you for years for something that wasn’t even your fault!” You started laughing, an uncontrollable giggle that was just rolling through you. For years you had pushed away a sweet, funny, and handsome guy for a lie someone told you when you were 13. Unbelievable.

“Why are you laughing?” Steve said, also starting to laugh himself.

“Because, I just can’t believe this. And it took a dumb game of truth or dare to find this out... I’m just shocked, I guess.” You stood up, wiping tears from your face as you continued to giggle. Steve stood up too, quickly wrapping his arms around your waist and pulling you towards him. He kissed you, the kind of kiss that he had been waiting for all his life. A kiss that you felt everywhere in your body, his lips moving intricately with yours. And you were right, kissing him was like tasting a vanilla milkshake.

Steve’s hands were locked on your waist, pulling your body closer to him every second. You had wrapped your hands in his hair, the soft locks melting through your fingers. He finally let go of your waist and his hands trailed down to your butt, squeezing slightly. You giggled a bit at his touch, and felt him smile through your kisses.

“Times up- OH SHIT!” You heard your brother yell after he swung open the door. You and Steve quickly jumped away from each other and stared at Dustin. “IT WORKED!” He yelled, running down the hallway to the living room.

“Dustin!” You yelled, running after him. Steve followed close behind.

“They kissed! It worked!” He exclaimed to the group, a proud toothless smile plastered across his young face.

“Finally!” Max said, shaking her head and laughing.

“Was this.... did you guys do all of this just to get me and Steve to talk?” You asked in shock.

“You little shits are unbelievable!” Steve yelled, hands on his hips.

“It worked though... didn’t it? You like her, she likes you... I was right!” Dustin was ecstatic, and you felt yourself blushing again as you looked over to Steve.

“I mean... I guess I do kinda like you...” You avoided his eyes, but he took your hand in his and smiled at you.

“Yeah, I kinda like you, too.” He squeezed your hand tightly, his smile making you melt, thinking about kissing him again.

“But you’re still dead, Dusty, you understand that? I’m going to kill you for real this time!” You laughed, ruffling Dustin’s hair and shaking your head at the kids. As much as Dustin annoyed you, he really did want you to be happy. And he was right on this one.

#stranger things fanfic #stranger things 3 #stranger things #steve harrington fic #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington #stever harrington fluff

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cherryrogers · 4 years

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falling for you {ch. 2}

pairing: bucky barnes x reader | high school au

warnings: swearing, some angst, some fluff.

synopsis: Unlike most teenagers, you had your life completely mapped out. You’d graduate high school, go off to the university of your dreams, and live the life that your parents always wanted you to. That was the plan. Falling for Bucky Barnes, however, was never part of that plan.

a/n: so this is kind of a long one - once i start writing i just can’t stop oops. it was gonna be longer but i was just like girl,,, chill. not a lot of bucky, but things are gonna start happening in the next chapter :) this one’s just a bit of fun... sort of. enjoy!

Series Masterlist

“Seriously, guys?” You groaned, approaching your best friend and her boyfriend, your smile turning into grimace at the sight of them heavily making out outside of the school building.

Wanda pulled back, letting out a giggle through her slightly swollen lips. “Sorry, (Y/N). Didn’t see you there.”

Feeling his cheeks going red, Vis stepped back so he wasn’t standing so close to Wanda, running a hand through his blond hair. “Alright, I think I’m gonna get to class. See you at lunch?”

The strawberry blond nodded, sending a sweet smile to the boy before he walked away, finally turning her full attention to you. Her and Vis started dating at the beginning of sophomore year. They were both new students, and after they became each other’s first friend, they’d been attached at the hip ever since.

You were lucky Wanda’s brother tended to hang out with you as well, otherwise, you’d be doing some very hardcore third-wheeling.

“You do realise you’re at school, right? Can’t you guys keep it in your pants until you’re not in the middle of a place surrounded by people?”

The girl narrowed her eyes at you. “I’ve barely seen him all week. He’s been doing a bunch of work for this science course he wants to do — something to give him a better chance of getting a scholarship for college. You know, it’s really not fun when your best friend and your boyfriend are such geeks.”

If there was one thing you had in common with Vis, it was your work ethic. You didn’t really talk to Vis unless he was hanging out with Wanda and you, but when you had the odd conversation, it would usually revolve around the topic of school, which always made Wanda roll her eyes dramatically, insisting that you guys needed to learn what the word ‘fun’ meant.

“Well, I said you could come over one day if you wanted,” You shrugged. “But, I would’ve been-”

“Studying,” She finished your sentence, causing you to nod reluctantly. “(Y/N), sweetie. I love you, but studying is not fun, at all. I don’t count ‘watching you study’ as hanging out with you. God, I’ve just had the exact same conversation with Vis this morning.”

“You know, I was having a nice morning until I showed up here and you started attacking me,” You said sarcastically, making Wanda smirk and roll her eyes. “Where’s Pietro?”

“Athletics club,” The girl responded, pulling her backpack tighter around her shoulders. “The whole club has to run five miles every Friday morning before school. No thanks. I think I’d rather watch you study for an hour.”

You softly smacked her arm with the back of your hand. “Hey, that’s rude.”

“Take it as a compliment.” Her smirk widened.

“Anyway,” You continued, ignoring her teasing. “If you see him, could you please tell him that he still owes me the five dollars I lent him on Monday? I wouldn’t have asked for it back, but it’s my mom’s birthday soon and I need all the money I can get to buy her this bag-”

“Holy shit,” Wanda interrupted, shifting her focus from you to something that caught her eye behind you. Your mouth opened slightly, about to ask the girl what she was gaping at, when the roar of an engine from not so far away stopped you from doing so. Your friend clasped her hand around your arm and spun you around so that you were facing in the same direction as her. “Is that Bucky?”

As soon as his name fell from her lips and your eyes fell on the same sight as hers, you couldn’t help but let out a confused laugh.

It was Bucky. You could tell because he was wearing that damn leather jacket that he loved so much —you didn’t even have to see his face, which was covered by a black motorcycle helmet.

Wait, a motorcycle helmet?

Now you knew what Wanda was gaping at. Bucky had his ass sat on a motorcycle. Since when could Bucky ride a motorcycle? You knew he’d been taking driving lessons for a while, but the kid failed to mention he’d soon be driving that to school. The bike was a sheer black colour that glistened beneath the sun’s rays, and it evidently stood out amongst the cars surrounding it in the parking lot.

You watched as he pulled off his helmet, shaking the brown waves out of his face that naturally fell over his forehead. The helmet was placed over the mirrors of the bike, and he swiftly swung his right leg over to the left of it so that he was no longer sitting down.

At least half of the students surrounding the parking lot had stopped whatever they were doing to find the source of the loud engine. After finding their answer, the majority of them looked away and carried on walking into school. However, your eyes stayed on Bucky, seeing a smile had appeared on his face. Two of his friends, Steve and Sam, had made their way across the lot, and looked to be admiring their friend’s new wheels. They both fist-bumped Bucky as he leaned against his bike casually, and the three seemed to have gotten into conversation.

A loud ringing from the building behind you caused your gaze to snap away from Bucky and his motorcycle. You looked at Wanda, watching her tap away on her phone before shoving it into the pocket of her dress. After quickly stealing another glimpse at Bucky, you turned to the girl and spoke quickly.

“I’ll see you in class, okay? I’ve just gotta do something before I go inside.”

Wanda glanced back and forth between you and the three boys in the parking lot conversing next to the bike, before she shot you a knowing smile. Wanda wasn’t dumb. While you constantly told her that Bucky and you weren’t a thing, she wasn’t blind to... whatever there was between you and him.

“Alright, but don’t spend too long talking to your boyfriend.”

“Wanda...”

“I’m just saying,” Wanda ignored your annoyance. “Mr. Pierce gets way too much joy out of issuing detentions to anyone that arrives a second after nine. You know, I bet he’s one of those people who thinks it’s funny when babies cry...”

“Wanda.”

The girl chuckled. “Oh, right, sorry. See you in class.”

With a final wink, your friend turned around to walk into the school building while you paced in the opposite direction. It didn’t take long for Bucky to realise you were heading towards him, and you watched as he said something to Steve and Sam, who both nodded in response. You were close enough to hear them saying goodbye to him before they too headed towards the building.

Bucky turned his gaze back to you, smirking as you eventually reached him and his new ride. You eyed the bike for a couple of seconds, and then diverted your focus to him. He raised his brows, having the nerve to wait for you to speak up first. The expression on his face caused you to scoff.

“So, are you a part of some biker gang now?” You teased, earning yourself an unimpressed look from Bucky, before gesturing your hand towards the bike. “Seriously, I didn’t know you were learning to ride this.”

“You like it?” He asked, patting his hand against the leather of the seat he was leaning against.

“I mean, yeah. Makes you look pretty badass.”

The smirk on his lips only widened. “You think so, sweets?”

“Yeah, totally. Trust me, if I wasn’t with you when you cried at the dog dying in John Wick, I’d be a little intimidated.”

And his smirk was gone.

“You know, I think the fact that you didn’t cry just makes you heartless.” He fired back, pushing himself up from the bike and tucking the keys into the back pocket of his jeans.

You began walking side by side out of the parking lot, and you let yourself bask in a few seconds of silence before replying to him. You were the only two left outside of the building, but you were sure you’d be fine for time. It didn’t take too long for you to get to your class from the entrance of the school.

“You’re probably right.” You shrugged, shoving your hands further into the pockets of your jacket.

Being able to express your emotions wasn’t a common trait in your family, it seemed. Your parents were never good at helping you feel better when you were upset. When your elementary school homework was too hard to complete, or you didn’t want to go to school during seventh grade because there were a group of girls that made your life hell, they barely even batted an eyelash at you. Even at such a young age, you knew that the way you were treated wasn’t the way anyone should treat a child. It gradually became the norm for you to simply suppress anything negative that you began to feel.

Any sort of feeling that distracted you from being productive was buried deep in the back of your mind, and you eventually just became scarily good at controlling your emotions. There was once a time in middle school where you watched the guy you had a crush on kiss another girl during recess, and you didn’t even care. Well, you did, but you refused to let your eyes even glaze over with tears. Because if you did let yourself care, then you’d get sad about it. If you were sad, you couldn’t focus on your schoolwork. And if your schoolwork suffered because of your sadness over a stupid crush, you wouldn’t here the end of it from your parents until your grades were nothing but the best.

And as for movies, books, TV shows, and videos of couples reuniting at airports after not seeing each other for years - they got nothing out of you. God, you really were heartless.

What if Bucky truly thought that? Even if you were horrible at the whole ‘emotions’ thing, you didn’t want Bucky to know that. Not that you cared what he thought about you, because you didn’t like him — not like that. Well, maybe a little- nope. No. That’s another feeling you’re meant to be suppressing—

“Hey, you okay?” You whipped your head up to look at Bucky at the sound of his voice, noticing his furrowed brows and the concern laced in his tone.

You hadn’t even realised that you’d made it to the doors of the building, until Bucky reached around you to push one of them open for you. See, this is what happened when you started thinking about your damn feelings.

“Thanks,” You muttered, stepping inside and waiting for the door to shut behind you before you answered his question. “Yeah, I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I don’t know; you tell me.” His blue eyes searched yours for any sort of answer, but you quickly averted your gaze, pulling out your phone to check the time. There were two minutes until class started, and unless you wanted a twenty minute phone call from your mom scolding you for having ‘bad punctuality’, you had to depart from Bucky.

“I’ve gotta go.” You said hurriedly, pulling your bag tightly around your shoulders.

Your breath hitched slightly when Bucky placed a hand on your forearm. “Just... give me a text me at lunch, okay? So I know that you’re alright.”

Nodding quickly, you stepped out of his hold, letting his hand fall back to his side. “You don’t need to worry about me, Bucky. I’ll see you later.”

It only took a second for you to turn away from him and hurry off to class, just hearing the unconvinced ‘yeah, see you later’ that Bucky had mumbled back to you.

Once you reached the stairwell and you knew that you were alone, you let out a deep exhale. Hopefully, he didn’t take your odd change of behaviour personally. It wasn’t his fault that you got hit with the sudden realisation of your trouble with expressing emotions on a Friday morning.

You were never thinking about your feelings ever again. Period.

You’d give him that text at lunch, and after you’d reassured him that you were okay, the situation would hopefully be forgotten. The last thing you wanted to do was burden anyone with your emotions, especially Bucky.

When you got to class, it was seven seconds past nine. Seven fucking seconds. As you expected when you saw the time, Mr. Pierce wore a smug look on his face as he handed you a detention slip.

Your eyes landed on Wanda as you walked to your seat at the back of the class, and she gave you a sympathetic smile. After lazily returning a lopsided one, you crumpled the slip in your hand and shoved it into your bag. Slumping down in your seat, you rested your chin in your left hand and huffed quietly.

What a great start to your Friday.

* * *

“It’s just one detention, (Y/N), I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“You do know that my parents are horribly overdramatic, right? I haven’t had detention since the eighth grade. They’re gonna freak, I’m telling you.”

Wanda sighed, opening her box of sandwiches and handing one to Vis, who took it in his left hand while typing away on his laptop with his right. Lunch had finally came around, but that still meant you had two classes left, as well as a thirty minute detention to attend. Vis, Wanda and you were sat at your usual table on the far side of the cafeteria. Your back was pressed against the wall and your feet were resting on the empty seat next to yours, while the couple sat on the opposite two chairs.

“Please, don’t worry about your parents for now,” The girl said, swallowing a bite of her food. “You can cross that bridge when you get to it, okay?”

After nodding and sending her a hesitant smile, you watched as Wanda’s kind expression soon turned into a curious one, while a smirk played on her lips. “So, did your boyfriend let you let you sit on his bike?”

You saw Vis quirk an eyebrow at the mention of a boyfriend, and you shot both him and Wanda a glare. “Bucky is not my boyfriend,” You confirmed, more to Vis than Wanda. “And no, we didn’t get a lot of time to talk about it before class started, but I was late to the stupid thing anyway—”

“Oh my god, (Y/N) was late to a class? I never thought I’d see the day.”

The voice in front of you caused you to raise your head, and your eyes narrowed seeing the familiar silver-haired boy leaning his hands against the table.

“Pietro, I don’t need your sass right now.”

He chuckled loudly. “Well, what if my sass and I want to take you out for lunch?”

The annoyed expression fell from your face, turning into a confused one. “You wanna take me to lunch?”

“Sure,” He shrugged. “I don’t have any cash on me, but I have my card. I know you’re on my ass for not paying back your five dollars, so how about I buy you an exquisite box of noodles from the Chinese place down the street and we can call it even?”

“Sounds like a pretty good deal to me.” Wanda chimed in, noticing your hesitation.

Maybe getting lunch with Pietro would lift your spirits a little. You didn’t spend much time with the boy on your own, but you considered him a good friend. Probably your second best guy-friend, after Bucky, of course. Not that you’d ever give the kid the satisfaction of calling him your best friend, because he’d never let you live that down.

You’d texted Bucky before you met Wanda for lunch, assuring him that you were completely fine. He even offered to come and sit with you for lunch, but you didn’t want to take him away from his group of friends, who you assumed were probably excited to get a proper look at his motorcycle. You’d see Bucky on Saturday or Sunday anyway, because he knew if he didn’t persuade you to go out at the weekend, you’d be holed up in your bedroom writing up notes until your hands went numb.

“Sure, why not?” You finally decided, smiling at Pietro as you shuffled from your position against the wall to stand next to him. You turned to say goodbye to Wanda and Vis, and ended up scrunching your face in disgust for the second time that day at the couple. In the two seconds it took you to get up from your seat, Wanda was holding onto the boy’s arm and whispering in his ear, causing his lips to tug into an embarrassed smile.

You twisted back around to Pietro, seeing that he shared the same appalled expression. “You know what? Let’s just go.”

“Yup.” He nodded quickly, almost sprinting out of the cafeteria with you following behind.

Once you’d both made it out of the school building, you slowed your pace down, enjoying the cool air blowing against your skin and through your hair. You barely ever went out for lunch, usually because you were all too lazy to go anywhere further than the cafeteria. But this time, you were glad to get out for a while.

And because Pietro didn’t really know a lot about your personal life, your conversation never revolved around your parents, or Bucky, or anything that was complicated to talk about. It was refreshing, and that was very much what you needed that day.

“Your noodles, m’lady.” Pietro handed you the warm box along with a wooden fork.

“Thanks,” You smiled, immediately scooping up some of the noodles and bringing them to your mouth. Stress made you hungry, to say the least.

As soon as the flavour of the food reached your tastebuds, you couldn’t help but purse your lips in displeasure. Not that you were in any position to be a food critic, but damn, those noodles were not good.

Before you could make your own comment about the food, the boy next to you beat you to it. “Oh my god, you’re tasting this too, right?”

“Uh huh,” You stirred the noodles around with your fork in the box, simultaneously feeling your stomach rumble. “I am pretty hungry, though.”

“You’re gonna finish them?” Pietro looked at you as if you’d just proposed the craziest idea he’d ever heard of. Well, the noodles were rather unappetising.

“A girl’s gotta eat, Pietro,” You shrugged. “Plus, it’d be a waste of money and food if I just tossed them in the trash.”

“(Y/N), I’m not sure they could even pass for food.”

You chuckled, elbowing the boy lightly in his upper arm as you walked slowly back up the road to school. “Screw it, I’m eating them anyway.”

In the corner of your eye, you could see Pietro shaking his head as you scooped another fork full of noodles into your mouth. “I’ve never been more disgusted.”

“Shut up,” You rolled your eyes light-heartedly. “Now you’re just being rude. I honestly don’t know why I’m friends with you and Wanda — all you guys do is bully me.”

The boy scoffed. “That’s not true.”

“Oh, really?” You raised your brows questioningly. “I can’t talk about studying without your twin telling me I’m the most boring person alive, and now, I’m just trying to make the best out of the worst noodles I’ve ever tasted, and you can’t even respect me for it.”

“Well, I kinda lost all respect for you when you said that you were late to class this morning. I truly thought you were better than that, (Y/N).”

“God, don’t remind me,” You groaned, shoving your fork into your noodles again. “That asshat Mr. Pierce gave me detention. I was seven seconds late, Pietro. Seven!”

“Yeah, that guy gives me strange vibes. He seems like the type of guy that enjoys seeing babies cry, you know?” As the words left his mouth, you almost choked on your food.

Once you recovered, you couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s exactly what Wanda said! You guys are telepathic, I swear.”

Pietro let out a laugh, shrugging his shoulders innocently. “Maybe we are.”

“Really?”

“(Y/N), if I told you, it would take all the fun out of it.”

Rolling your eyes, you bumped your shoulder against his and talked with Pietro some more, eventually realising that you had already arrived back at school, and your next class was almost about to start. Time flies when you’re having fun, apparently.

While you and Pietro made your way through the school gates, Bucky, Steve and Sam were hanging out next to his bike in the parking lot. You didn’t notice them, but you happened to catch Bucky’s eye.

His eyes squinted, making sure it was actually you before making any assumptions, but because the person’s bag looked way too stuffed with textbooks, he could quite easily tell that it was you. With Pietro.

Huh.

The boy knew that you usually hung out with him, but he thought it was only because you were best friends with Wanda. Apparently, you and Pietro Maximoff were good enough friends to go out for lunch with each other. Alone, together.

Bucky wasn’t jealous, he was just... curious. That was all.

However, even though it was just curiosity that sparked his interest in the two of you, he couldn’t help but wish it was him walking back with you from lunch. Him that you were bumping shoulders with.

She doesn’t like you, Bucky said to himself internally, shaking his thoughts away. He couldn’t think about you like that. Not anymore.

Perhaps he could have lunch with you another day.

* * *

Series Taglist:

@americas-ass-assins

#bucky barnes #bucky #bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x fem!reader #bucky barnes reader insert #bucky reader insert #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky x you #bucky barnes x you

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redstarwriting · 5 years

Text

Two Of Us [Part 2]

Tony Stark x Daughter! Reader

Request: “I loved your story Two Of Us. Could you please, please write more? Please?! I wanna read about her training with the team, her first mission with the team, about how people see her fly by and wonder who that is or how when people see her fly by they smile, remembering Tony and immediately feel that everything will be ok. I just need more!! 😭”

Word Count: 2,129

Genre: Platonic, Angst-ish

Warnings: Swearing, fight scene, Endgame Tony feels

A/N: I just had the absolute worst writer’s block I’ve ever experienced. No matter what request I tried to work on, I just couldn’t. However, the requester of part two of this actually yanked my ass out of the rut I was in and helped me finally get back on track! @katsen13 is an ANGEL and I’m very grateful she helped me out. Now that I feel like I can actually form sentences again, I’m going to try to write as many requests as I can. I’m very sorry if you requested and I haven’t written it yet, but I’m going to try to go off and write EVERYTHING now! Also, if anyone would ever just want to talk or get to know more about me I’m so willing to talk! Anyways, I hope you enjoy this!

[Pt. 1]

───────────────────────────────────

After you showed the Avengers that you would be taking over the persona your dad had for so many years, you started training immediately. When you weren’t at school, you would be training. Lucky for you though, after three days of this train, school, train schedule, the seniors got out earlier than the rest of the student body. That includes you, so now it’s just training, training, training. After a week, it was evident that you were very skilled with the iron suit, but you weren’t Tony level just yet. Because of that, it became apparent to the rest of the team that you wouldn’t rest until you were. “(Y/N/N), isn’t it time for a break?” Rhodey asks as you fire repulsor beams from both of your hands, hitting targets as fast as you could. “Not a chance, Rhode Island.”

“Rhode Island? Come on, that’s not even clever.”

“Sorry, I can’t hear you over the sound of me being better than you.”

“Wow, you really are Tony’s daughter.”

“Damn, which one of us is the genius here? I never would have guessed I was Tony Stark’s daughter, good observation, Watson.”

Rhodey narrows his eyes in annoyance but can’t help the smile breaking out across his face. He missed this kind of scarcastic wit. Although the other Avengers can give him sass, no one compared to what Tony could do. Now he had a carbon copy of his late best friend. “Whatever you say, Stark.”

“How long has she been training?” Pepper’s voice rings out, but you’re too focused to hear. Rhodey looks at her and shrugs. “Well it’s one in the afternoon so… around seven hours. She never stops.”

“You don’t have to tell me that,” she says with a sigh, sitting down to observe you. Rhodey sits next to her, turning his attention to you as well. “She really acts like him, y’know?” Rhodey thinks out loud, and Pepper laughs. “Oh, you have no idea. I know you saw her grow up, but there are some parts you still didn’t see. She and Tony are basically the same person.” Rhodey shakes his head, a small laugh leaving his lips. “She started training at six in the morning.”

“Only six? she must have decided to actually sleep last night. That’s a rare occurrence,” Pepper informs him, and he snorts. “Yeah, that is a lot like Tony… doesn’t that worry you, though?”

“Of course it does… but I’ve come to realize she’s very set in her ways. She cares more about what she’s working on than she does her own health. I mean, she already has trouble sleeping, and ever since her dad has been gone it’s gotten even worse. But in this case, she won’t stop until she’s what she deems ready. Once she gets her mind set on something, nothing will stop her until she reaches her goal. A little like someone else we used to know.”

“Yeah, more like exactly like him. Is that one of the suits he made before? I’ve never seen it.” “Oh, no, (Y/N) made it. It even has some little perks that Tony’s suits didn’t even have. You might want to ask her to make you a new War Machine suit, she’d happily do it.”

“She made it? She can already make things like that?”

“Rhodey, she’s her father’s daughter. He got her hooked onto engineering in fifth grade. She made her first iron suit in seventh.”

Pepper smiles to herself, thinking back to the times she would wake up anywhere from midnight to 5 in the morning without Tony next to her. Even though he almost always did this, and she knew exactly where he was, she’d always get up to go find him. It was always just him until you were around ten years old. Then she would see you with Tony, staring at whatever he was doing, him explaining it to you. That was the beginning of your engineering knowledge, and, like she told Rhodey, by the time you were twelve, you were designing your own Iron Man suits. Spending time with Tony was your favorite thing, and you made sure it happened at any chance you could get. Tony loved it and although he never admitted it to you, but he bragged to everyone about how you were the smartest Stark. “She caught onto what I have a PhD in and went to college to study for when she was learning how to long divide. If you still think I’m the smartest after that information, I feel sorry for how delusional you are,” he’d always say. No one really believed him though. No one believed there was any way you could actually get the hang of these things at that age, Rhodey included. That is, until right now.

“She was getting that into this stuff at that age?” Rhodey was in disbelief, finally believing Tony’s claims at you being the smartest Stark. “Mhm. I always knew in the back of my mind that she would fill his shoes one day. I just expected it to happen later on in her life, after he retired from being Iron Man and we decided to finally just sit back and relax. Not now.”

Rhodey just sits in silence, unsure on what to say. He himself was missing Tony, so hearing Pepper say that just made him go silent. Rhodey and Pepper sit and watch as you start to finish up this rep on training before Pepper speaks up again. “I’m proud of her, though. She got his drive to constantly help other people. I’d hear them talking about it when they were working at night sometimes. She’ll do whatever it takes to protect the people she loves… just like him.”

“You two raised her well.”

“Yeah… yeah we did.”

This is the point when you finish, and finally realize your mom is there. “Oh, hi mom! What are you doing here?” you ask, walking over to her. “Making sure you ate.”

“Oh… uh…”

“I think it’s time you take a break and actually eat something, don’t you think?” she says, standing up and you sigh. “Yeah, yeah, I guess. But I’m coming right back here when we’re done.”

“I figured you would. But for now, let’s go get some lunch.” You begin taking off the suit, which happens in about 30 seconds, and grab the water bottle you had with you. “Where we going?”

“I was thinking we could go to your favorite restaurant.”

“Oh, I am so down.” You and your mom make your way through the compound, going to her car. You hop in the passenger’s seat, putting your seatbelt on while she gets in the driver’s seat. “Morgan at school?” you ask, and she nods. “Tomorrow is her last day. Then a week from tomorrow is your graduation. Is your valedictorian speech written yet?”

“It’s been written since the beginning of the year, mom,” you say matter-of-factly. She laughs a bit. “I should have figured it was already written.”

“Yeah, you should have. I mean, it’s gonna be a pretty small class. Over half of us were snapped out of existence. Now I’m awkwardly five years older than so many people I know, it’s so weird. I’m not a fan of this being old feeling. Not a fan at all.”

“You are so dramatic.”

“My dad was my dad of course I’m dramatic, have you talked to him?” you say, a small smile on your face. “You sound just like your father, you know?”

“Oh, I know. I’ve been told I’m Tony Stark but tiny, female, and many years in younger.”

Pepper opens her mouth to confirm that you are indeed tiny Tony Stark, but before she can answer a huge explosion causes her to immediately break and take a sharp turn. The car skidded to a stop, but you and your mom look at each other with wide eyes. “What was that?” you ask and Pepper shakes her head. “I don’t know-“

Another explosion cuts her off, and the glass in the car shatters due to the close proximity. You quickly get out of the car and see the same exact technology your dad faced before, but on a woman this time. Electrical whips were what were causing the explosions, as they were connecting with cars in front of you and overriding the electricity, ending in an explosion. She looked very similar to Ivan Vanko, the man your dad went up against and won against way back when. However, she looked a little younger. You’re pulled out of your thoughts by hearing your mom’s voice.

“(Y/N).” You glance at your mom, who is staring at this new female whiplash with a frightening glare. “Yeah, mom?”

“Kick her ass.”

You smirk, holding out your arm and feeling the familiar feeling of your very own iron suit encasing itself around you. Luckily, her back was to you, not noticing what was happening. “Friday, who is she?” you ask, and Friday answers immediately. “Her name is Tatyana Antonovna Vanko. Her father is Anton Vanko and her brother was-“

“Ivan, killed by my father.”

“Correct, (Y/N). She’s using what seems like an updated version of weapon of what her brother used. More electricity seems to be coursing through the whips.”

“Good to know, let’s stop her.”

“Yes, (Y/N). Let’s.”

You fly over to her, keeping some distance between you two so she doesn’t notice you yet. She’s about to raise her whip again, but freezes when she hears your voice. “Ma’am, I’m gonna need you to hand the electric whip thingies over, and just surrender since that would make this easier for both of us,” you yell at her, and she turns her head towards you with a scowl. “Stark? I thought you were dead.”

“You’re talking to the wrong Stark there, sis.”

“Then I will kill you myself,” she says, raising her whip and aiming it towards you. You quickly fly out of the way, dodging her attack, and fire a repulsor beam at her, but she dodges it. She shoots another whip out, and wraps around your one arm, pulling you to the ground. The volt of electricity makes your suit start to wig out, and you mentally curse. The other whip she has wraps around your other arm, and she laughs. “I’ve got you now!”

You look at the technology in your vision to observe the damage being done to your suit, but it actually looks like she’s charging it up. You smile to yourself, and grab the whip, much to Tatyana’s surprise. “What…?” you hear her mumble, and you just yank her closer to you, catching her off guard. You grab the other whip in the same hand the first whip you got a grip on, and pull her from the one side of your body to the next, causing her to sprawl out on the pavement. She groans, and you locate the power source on her suit. It’s exactly where the power source was on her brother’s suit, so you walk over to her, yanking it out. The electricity immediately disappears, and she’s left writhing in pain. Luckily, the police show up just as you finish, and you turn your head towards them. That’s when you notice the crowd of people who gathered on the road to observe you.

“Iron Man?”

“Is he back?”

“Is that really him?”

You smile at the mumbles throughout the crowd. The excited and hopeful looks on their faces make something warm spread throughout your whole body. “They think you’re him,” you hear your mom’s voice directly next to you and you turn to look at her. You shrug. “They can keep believing it for now. I’ll tell them I’m actually the better version when they’re ready to hear that news.” Pepper laughs, shaking her head and you clap your hands together. “So, this was fun and all, but I’m starving. I feel like it’s only reasonable for me to eat a cheeseburger after all this, so I’ll meet you at the restaurant, yeah? I’ll get your favorite because,” you motion to the destroyed cars in the path to where you two were going. “It seems like it may take a little while to get through that. I’ll just fly it back to the compound? Kay, cool. See ya, mom.” You look at the crowd of people, wave, and then take off. The crowd erupts into cheers after seeing you fly away and talking to Pepper, thoroughly believing Tony is back. Pepper smiles at the crowd and gets back in her car, ready to go back to the compound. She’s ridiculously proud of you in this moment, and she knows Tony would feel the same. Earth’s Best Defender is back.

#iron man x reader #avengers x reader #tony stark x reader #iron man imagine #avengers imagine #tony stark imagine #iron man #avengers #tony stark

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maddie-grove · 4 years

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Bi-Monthly Reading Round-Up (November/December)

Playlist

“Fallin’ for You” by Sheila Nicholls (The Perilous Gard)

“Come on Over to My Place” by the Drifters (A Gentleman Never Keeps Score)

“Bobby Jean” by Bruce Springsteen (Eleanor and Park)

“Seasons in the Sun” by Terry Jacks (One Perfect Rose)

“A Sailor’s Prayer” by Ann Price and Marilyn Maltzer (Broken Wing)

“Winter Lady” by Leonard Cohen (When a Duchess Says I Do)

“Dance Music” by the Mountain Goats (What Hearts)*

“Sweet Talkin’ Guy” by the Chiffons (Jean and Johnny)

“Know Your Onion!” by the Shins (Lost at Sea)

“The Snake and the Bookworm” by Cliff Richard (Tempting the Bride)

“Everybody Loves Me but You” by Brenda Lee (Someone to Remember)

*I also seriously considered both “I’ll Meet You Halfway” by the Partridge Family and “Sports Analogies” from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. It’s a complex book!

Best of the Bi-Month

The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope (1974): In the late 1550s, grave, awkward Kate Sutton is banished to a remote castle in the east of England. She’s greeted by superstitious locals, shady servants, an often-absent lord, and the lord’s guilt-ridden (and hot) younger brother. Bored and irritated by all the drama, Kate questions the circumstances of the tragedy that haunts the family. I didn’t have high expectations for this book, which I bought primarily for the gorgeous Richard Cuffari illustrations, but I was blown away. Pope creates a sublimely uncanny setting in a surprising way, and Kate is a wonderful protagonist: principled, rational, and compassionate beneath her no-nonsense exterior.

Worst of the Bi-Month

Someone to Remember by Mary Balogh (2019): In her youth, Lady Matilda Westcott rejected Charles Sawyer’s proposal at the urging of her parents, who thought him too wild. Now she’s fifty-six, loved by her extended family but stuck caring for an unappreciative elderly mother. The marriage of her niece and Charles’s estranged illegitimate son brings them together again, but she never expects anything to come of it...like a total fool. This is a cute novella with compelling family dynamics. I also appreciated the solidly middle-aged protagonists, although Balogh presents them a little too timidly, like a mom trying to get a picky eight-year-old to try asparagus.

Rest of the Bi-Month

A Gentleman Never Keeps Score by Cat Sebastian (2018): Once-popular Hartley Sedgwick is languishing in the huge townhouse his godfather left him, shunned by nearly everyone for his sexuality. Then Sam Fox, a black pugilist-turned-tavern-keeper, tries to sneak into the house to find a nude portrait of an embarrassed friend. Moved by Sam’s decency, Hartley offers his assistance in finding the portrait. As I explained in my post about my favorite Regency romance novels, I adore this book for the way Hartley and Sam’s love story is mirrored and enhanced by portrayals of many other kinds of love, between brothers and friends and parents and children and neighbors and also one very homely dog.

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell (2012): Park, a geeky half-Korean teenager in 1986, keeps his head down and barley avoids outright ostracism in his poor, mostly white Omaha neighborhood. Eleanor, the weird white girl who shares his bus seat, is tormented at school and at home. They have no interest in being friends, but they slowly bond and fall in love over music and comics. What I liked most about this bittersweet YA novel was the ways in which the protagonists improved each other’s lives. With Park and his loving family, Eleanor gets to let down her defenses, while Eleanor’s boldness inspires Park to embrace his differences. I do wish that Park’s side of things had been developed more, however.

One Perfect Rose by Mary Jo Putney (1997): Upon learning that he’s terminally ill, Stephen, the Duke of Ashburton, freaks out and goes on an incognito tour of the English countryside without telling his family. He ends up joining an acting troupe run by the boisterous Fitzgerald family and falling in love with their adopted daughter/stage manager, Rosalind, despite the many reasons they have no future together. (Or do they?) This is a good, old-fashioned weepy romance that’s elevated by Putney’s serious attention to the theme of reconciling with one’s mortality. There’s also some extremely late-1990s New-Age-ish stuff going on, which sometimes felt a little silly but was still charming.

Broken Wing by Judith James (2008): When unconventional countess Sarah finds her long-lost little brother at a Parisian brothel, she’s overjoyed, appalled, and relieved that he was protected by sex worker Gabriel St. Croix. Grateful, she offers Gabriel a reward and insists he come to live with her and her family. This is another tear-jerking, charmingly dated romance; I felt like a teenager again, reading top-shelf angsty fanfiction. It’s best in the slow-burn first half, during which Gabriel must adjust to a massive reversal of fortune after a lifetime of trauma. The more action-packed second half makes great use of the unusual late 1790s/early 1800s setting, but it does feel hurried.

When a Duchess Says I Do by Grace Burrowes (2019): Widowed Matilda Wakefield, the Duchess of Bosendorf, has been on the run since getting mixed up in her diplomat dad’s clandestine activities. An encounter with scholarly Duncan Wentworth lands her a live-in secretarial position at his rural estate. They connect with each other, but how can love grow when they’re the object of multiple sinister plots? While this entry in the Wentworth series is not as incandescently lovely as My One and Only Duke, I’m still a sucker for spooky country houses, responsible-household-management plots, and sad early-middle-aged heroes. Burrowes is also an excellent writer, and I’m glad that I discovered her.

What Hearts by Bruce Brooks (1992): Sensitive Asa excels at school but struggles at home, thanks to his mother’s severe mental illness and his stepfather Dave’s emotional abuse. Divided into four novella-like sections, the novel follows Asa from his parents’ divorce in first grade to his first love in seventh. I liked parts of this weird, sober book when I read it as a kid, and I felt the same this time. It’s got brilliant moments, most involving Asa and Dave’s relationship, but there’s a lot of telling-not-showing in between. Brooks also can’t seem to decide on the time period; it’s probably supposed to be set 1965-1971, but it always feels like 1963, and you can only blame so much of that on the North Carolina setting.

Jean and Johnny by Beverly Cleary (1959): Short, bespectacled, and working-class, fifteen-year-old Jean feels invisible at her high school until handsome upperclassman Johnny Chessler starts paying attention to her. She’s thrilled, but her parents and sister warn against chasing him. I didn’t like this book much in middle school, but I revisited it because it occurred to me that Jean was a lesbian. Having reread it, I know I was wrong on two counts: Jean is unfortunately not a lesbian (she clearly thinks Johnny’s hot), and the book’s not that depressing. Jean’s no sad sack who’s doomed to a life of grimly chaste square dancing; she’s a legit snack who becomes increasingly self-assured and assertive.

Lost at Sea by Bryan Lee O’Malley (2003): Raleigh, a Canadian eighteen-year-old, hitches a ride back home from California with some classmates she hardly knows after a meeting with her long-distance boyfriend ends in heartbreak. Lonely and a little disconnected from reality--she maintains the belief that her mom somehow sold her soul, which now resides in a stray cat--Raleigh slowly makes friends with her travelling companions and finds some piece of mind. Although nothing much happens in this short graphic novel, it’s one of the most authentically just-graduated-high-school stories I’ve ever read. I could relate to those feelings of fear and disappointment even in the face of exciting new possibilities.

Tempting the Bride by Sherry Thomas (2012): David Hillsborough, Lord Hastings, has desired Helena Fitzhugh, first-wave feminist and successful fiction editor, since they were kids together, but he’s always hidden behind insulting remarks. When Helena’s affair with a married man ends in scandal, though, she unhappily accepts David’s offer of marriage in order to cover it up. Then she gets hit by a carriage and loses every memory she formed after her mid-teens, which happens to be when she met David. Thomas always has an engaging style and deals with even outlandish plots in a sophisticated way, and her take on the 13 Going on 30 plot is enjoyable. However, it is rushed at the end.

#theme of the bi-month: oh no he's hot #books #reading

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agirlunderarock · 4 years

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Writing through the Decade: 15 years old (2012)

So this is actually a short story I wrote in a creative writing class I took in high school. I’ve got a couple of things that are going to come out of this period, only because I did A LOT of short and fast writing for this class. Some of it was good, some bad. I’m going to try to post a good mix of it all, but this one right here, is probably the most important story I wrote at the time. Its a personal story, one I don’t talk about often, but I think its really important to understand me as a person rather opposed to a writer.

Never give up

I stare out the windshield into the muggy early summer morning. My brother sleeps peacefully in the back with our stuff packed for the week. My stomach is full of butterflies and my head swims in all the terrifying possibilities that awaited us.

My mind drifted off to a time before. My seventh grade year, in athletics, finding out about the disability, and the fact that my brother had it so much worse.

I snapped back to the present when the car stopped. I was determined not to show how afraid I was, so I stepped out and grabbed both mine and my little brothers bags. I made him carry his sleeping bag and we went to go load up our bags onto one of three trucks loaded with sleeping bags. He looked up at me with sad sleepy eyes, I patted his shoulder reassuringly. I was his big sister, and I couldn’t show how afraid I was or how badly I wanted to go back to sleep. Then I heard it. The yelling for us to fall in formation. My brother looked at me on last time, we didn’t even get to say good-bye to our parents. We were in formation when there was another round of yelling. Boot-camp had begun.

The next few hours were filled with yelling, screaming, and countless push-ups. I had lost track of my brother, he was with us of course, but somewhere behind me, out of sight. As I was on my face doing push-ups my mind wondered off again.

I was talking to my middle school athletics couch, “Athletics is too dangerous for you, Sierra. I’m worried about you not being able to keep up with the other girls.” She said with false concern.

“I understand that, but athletics is actually helping me. This charcomarietooth, affects my muscles and nerves. It takes twice as long for me to build muscle and it deteriorates just as quickly and it takes longer for me to feel pain. It affects how I run and when I feel pain, but all it means is that I have to try harder than the other girls. With athletics it doesn’t effect me as much as it could. You can see the difference from the beginning of the year! I’m getting better!” I pleaded, not wanting to leave the program.

”On your feet!” the teen drill instructor yelled and I was brought back to the present. Yup all of our instructors were kids like us so it was sort of weird being yelled at by an 11 and 12 year old, while the 14 and17 year olds seemed pretty normal. The next few hours were spent marching doing numerous push-ups marching and still more yelling. When the time finally came for us to put our things in our barracks, I felt grateful. Unfortunately it was short lived because when I go my stuff I saw my brother red and puffy eyed, and tears streaming down his cheeks. I wanted to comfort him so I grabbed his bag and took it to the door of his barrack.

“Its okay the days almost over and today was the worst of it.” I said encouragingly as he walked inside out of sight. I breathed a short sigh of relief, because twenty minutes goes by very fast when you’re worrying about your only sibling.

Well I was partially right about the worst being over. That was how most of the week was, yelling push-ups, drill, yelling, sweat, and oh did I mention yelling? They went to so far as to wake us up with a blow horn at one point. Of course there were some fun things in between the seriousness of the drill instructors. We did the main obstacle course and another series of obstacles called the Leadership reaction course, where we were split into teams and while we did each task actual marine drill instructors watched us.

I don’t know how many times I felt like I wanted to quit. My arms burned from all the push ups, my legs were incredibly sore from running every morning at five in the morning. The physical pain was nothing, compared to what I felt emotionally. Seeing my brother stricken with the sorrow of missing home, the pain clear on his face as rocks dug into our hands when we did push ups, it was tearing me up inside. I had to stay strong for him; I couldn’t afford to let him see how much it hurt to see him like that. I was doing well for the most part, but a person can hold back so much.

Then came Thursday, the week was almost over, the day when I finally snapped. The day was almost over, the sky burning orange, and the South Texas heat had finally become bearable. Most of us were scrambling around getting our stuff ready for bed, but my friend Andrea, her friend Ryan, and I were out side helping the other kids. Then my brother came up to me sobbing, red cheeks and tears rapidly running down his face.

“What happened? What’s the matter?” I said hiding my breaking heart.

“I want to go home! I just want to go home! I need to go home! I need to go!” he sobbed. Keeping my emotions bottled was starting to take its toll, and my voice cracked when I when I spoke again.

“Calm down Austin. Its Thursday. We’re almost done, the weeks almost over. Don’t give up on me now…” I trailed off. I couldn’t keep it inside anymore and once the first tear squeezed its way out of my eyes there was no stopping the rest. Now we were starting to get peoples attention and my friends came over to see what was going on.

“Its okay Fuentes we’ll take care of him.” Andrea said and motioned to our senior drill instructor who now wanted to talk to me.

I reluctantly, yet gratefully left the scene. I hated my self for letting my brother see me like that. I was supposed to the strong one, my brother looked up to me and I let him down. By the time I reached the drill instructor the tears stung my cheeks with humiliation and defeat. I looked up to meet his eyes expecting to see someone indifferent, someone who didn’t really care. Instead I saw just another teenager, someone a little older than me, but still trying to hide the pain I felt. He looked at me with understanding eyes and said “You okay Fuentes?”

“Yeah I’m fine.” I said trying to sound in control. I looked over at my brother who was still crying, but not as bad as before. Seeing this sent me into another round of tears.

“Look I know how you feel. I have a little brother too. I live like ten minutes away and its killing me.” He said drawing my attention. “I know how it is.”

I didn’t know what to think. My big “scary” drill instructor actually knew how I felt. I was shocked, but relieved at the same time. Finally someone who understood and I didn’t really say a word. “He misses home. I mean I do too, but this is the longest he’s been away. He didn’t even want to come. He only came because I did….and gosh I hate my self right now…” I rambled just glad to get it out of my system.

“Hey its okay. I’ve been keeping an eye on him, the staff told me and the other D.I.s about you guys and well you know. Its okay to be home sick and stuff, trust me we all are.”

I finally stopped crying and I said still a little bit shaky, “Thank you. I’ve been so worried and I don’t know what to do, and its been driving me crazy. Thank you.” When I turned to see my brother, he had already gone inside his barrack and it was just the D.I. and I. I turned back to my instructor who gave me a reassuring grin. “I should probably get my stuff ready thanks again.” I said and went inside my barrack.

I felt so much better after that. I knew I wasn’t alone and in the morning the instructor from the day before came to check on me to see if I was doing okay. It meant a lot to me that the other kids here were looking out for and my brother and I, it was as if a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. Again throughout the rest of the week there were times I felt like giving up and the first thing that came to mind was my coach.

We were in the gym I and I was faced with the choice to fail and stay in athletics or switch the class and keep my good GPA. She dropped the grading scale for the timed mile in front of me. When I looked to see where my time fell it turned out that I was making 60s every single time. I made my decision. I needed to get out.

“Coach I won’t be in your class anymore, I already went to talk to the counselor.” I said in defeat.

“Okay sweetie. It’s better for you this way. You could do something else, something better for you.” She said full of fake sympathy.

“She was right.” I thought Friday morning while running the timed mile. “You did do better. This is nothing compared to athletics, and look you made it the entire week there’s only two more days. This is nothing now you’re going to finish this. Don’t give up.” I told myself.

I did finish it. I made it through the week. At our boot camp graduation three of us got promoted on the spot. I was one of them. My coach bringing me down was my motivation to keep moving to rise above what she thought of me. My friends encouraged me and we all encouraged my brother. I wanted to show him what he was capable of and what he could do if he stopped worrying. I was proud of him he graduated and we both made new friends.

Today we still see our friends from boot camp. We have all grown very close. My senior drill instructor turned out to be one of my best friends there. Andrea still helps me when I need her. Ryan stopped coming and we all miss him. My brother has been promoted and I am so proud of him. I have been promoted twice since then and keep a look out for all the kids there. All of us are like a family now. Yes sometimes we fight but hey, that’s what families do. We have all shared some crazy experiences and because of that we share a bond that can never be broken.

#Sierra speaks #Sierra writes #well 15 year old Sierra wrote #Writing through the decade #My writing #baby me as a writer

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serenlyss · 5 years

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The Night is the Hardest Time to be Alive (And 4am Knows All my Secrets) Chapter 1

Rating: T for violence and character death (only in nightmares, though, no real death!) Pairings: Ritshou Summary: Ritsu doesn't sleep much. He knows it probably isn't healthy, but he avoids sleeping anyway, because if he sleeps for too long he starts to dream, and those nights are seldom pleasant. Luckily, he isn't the only one with a habit of staying up far too late. Crossposted to AO3

Chapter 2

"The night is the hardest time to be alive, and 4am knows all my secrets." - Poppy Z. Brite

So I really love the headcanon I've seen pop up about Shou just sometimes appearing at Ritsu's window unannounced and letting himself in, and I also love the headcanon of Ritsu staying up late studying/dealing with insomnia. In this case, the insomnia is caused by Ritsu's nightmares stemming from the World Domination arc and other traumatic events he experiences after awakening to his psychic powers. It gets a bit dark at places but I just wanted to write these boys bonding over shared trauma and being there for each other to help them heal. It was really fun to write and ended up turning into a three-shot somehow, so more to come! Hope you like it!

Ritsu doesn’t sleep much.

His brother knows, in vague terms, how Ritsu tends to stay up later than him, studying and working on homework. In his head, he knows it’s probably not healthy for him to run off of as little sleep as he gets, but he likes the nighttime. It’s quiet, peaceful. At the early hours of the morning, it’s almost like time stops completely. No meetings, no plans, no school. No stress.

He hums, setting his pencil down on his desk and stretching his arms over his head. The pencil rolls a few times before catching on the edge of his open math notebook, and he watches it with boredom. He’s working on problems that are a chapter ahead, figuring that if he has time to waste, he should use it responsibly, but the motivation is quickly draining from his body. He glances at the clock. It’s half past midnight, which is still early as far as he’s concerned.

Ritsu doesn’t sleep much.

He knows it probably isn’t healthy, but he does it anyway, because if he sleeps for too long he starts to dream, and those nights are seldom pleasant. Bad memories haunt his dreaming hours, turning innocent images into nightmares of his own creation. Sometimes he finds himself in the alley by his school, facing down an evil esper while his brother lays, unconscious, on the shattered asphalt. Other times he’s deep in Claw’s seventh branch headquarters, trying to drown out the panicked thoughts that tell him he’ll never make it out again. On the really bad nights, he dreams that he’s standing in a post-apocalyptic Seasoning City, one where Suzuki Touichirou succeeds in his plans to conquer them. In these nightmares, he stands over his brother’s lifeless body, beaten and mangled. There’s no one else around, just Ritsu, forced to stare into his brother’s tear-filled, blank, dead eyes.

Then, once in a blue moon, he finds himself in the top of a radio tower he’s never been in, only seen from the outside. He’s supposed to be down on the pavement, fighting Shimazaki, but instead he’s glued to the cracked tower floor, watching powerlessly as Suzuki Shou confronts his father for the first time. These are the worst nights, the one where he has to watch Shou’s father beat him into submission, where Touichirou brutally grinds his own son into the dust beneath his foot as he cements himself as the world’s strongest human being. Ritsu has no way of knowing how the events of their fight had really gone down, and Shou doesn’t seem keen on revealing it, but the dream always ends the same way. Touichirou pins Shou up against the wall by his throat, squeezes him until he can’t breath anymore. He watches as Shou squirms and gasps for breath, digging his fingernails into his father’s hands until they draw blood, but Touichirou never flinches, and Shou never gets away.

Ritsu stands, his feet glued to the cracked tower floor, as Shou falls limp and the life drains from his eyes.

On his desk, Ritsu’s pencil snaps. He jumps, startled, and as he does half a dozen small objects that had been suspended in the air falls with a clatter to the ground. He winces, realizing that his powers has spilled out in his anxiousness. He hadn’t meant to let his thoughts wander. He sucks in a deep breath, threading his fingers into his hair and leaning his elbows on his desk, eyes fixed on the faux wood beneath him. It’s only a dream, it’s not real, he reminds himself, but he doesn’t feel any better for it. He never does, despite how much he knows it’s true. When his dreams bleed into his waking hours, it makes them feel all the more terrifying.

He lets out the breath he’s been holding in a long sigh, pushing himself to his feet. He picks up the cracked pencil, dropping it into the trash can by his desk. Bent spoons were one thing, but he never could find a way to fix what he’s broken. Then he moves around his room and replaces the little things that had fallen to the floor in his brief explosion: a few books from his shelf, his water bottle, the case for his retainer. Then he moves to the window and cracks it open. His room feels too stuffy, too cramped. The fresh air comforts him somewhat, and calms the erratic thudding of his heart and head. He leans his forehead on the thin sill, letting the cold of it chase away any drowsiness he might be feeling.

“Ah, you’re still awake after all!”

Ritsu’s head jerks up in surprise, and he feels his whole body go tense. It takes him half a second to place the voice as Shou’s, the same time it takes for his gaze to focus on the redhead now hovering half a foot away from his window. He’s wearing jeans and a graphic tee-shirt as though it isn’t past midnight, his legs crossed in midair and his hands clasped over each knee. “W-what are you doing here?” Ritsu sputters, mind rushing to find any explanation for Shou’s sudden presence at his house. “It’s late, you know, most of us are trying to sleep.”

Shou just grins in response. “Well, obviously you aren’t one of them,” he points out, gesturing to him with an open palm as though that proves his point.

Ritsu blinks, glancing down at himself, and realizes that he’s still wearing his school uniform, minus the button-up blazer. He has a plain black tee-shirt on underneath paired with his black uniform slacks. He’s barefoot, seeing as he isn’t allowed to wear shoes in the house, but Shou can’t see his feet from where he’s floating. “Er, I’ve been working on homework,” he says, “but you didn’t answer my question. Why’re you here as ass-o’clock in the morning?”

Shou laughs aloud in surprise. “Dude! I’ve never heard you swear before! That was awesome,” he exclaims, and the glee on his face makes Ritsu’s cheeks warm with embarrassment. He floats right up to the window, grasping the sill with his hands and straightening his legs out below him. “Mind if I come in for a bit?”

Ritsu frowns. Shou still hasn’t answered his question. Was something wrong? “Uh, I guess. Just… be quiet, my parents and brother are sleeping,” he answers with uncertainty, backing up a step from the window as Shou comes a bit too close. He usually doesn’t mind when people get close to him, never having been a very distant person, but Shou’s acting just a little strange, and Ritsu isn’t sure what to think. He makes enough room for his friend to slip in through the open window, watching Shou lower himself quietly onto his bedroom floor.

Shou shivers, tugging his jacket a bit tighter around him. “Thanks, man, it’s cold out,” he says, slipping his hands into the pockets. He looks around with a calm but interested expression on his face, taking in Ritsu’s tidy bedroom. “Nice place. It’s cozy in here.” His eyes drift from the bookcase on the wall to the doubt bed pushed into the corner, then to the desk beside the closet. He takes a few steps toward it. “What kinda homework are you doing?” he asks, as though showing up in the middle of the night at Ritsu’s window was a completely normal occurrence.

Instead of calling him out for it, Ritsu just replies, in a voice that sounds partly dumbfounded and partly amazed at Shou’s comfort, “Math.”

Shou wrinkles his nose, peering down at Ritsu’s notebook for a moment before turning away. “Booring,” he accuses. “Why don’t you try doing something fun instead?”

Because it’s almost one in the morning, Ritsu’s brain supplies, but he doesn’t say that. He has a feeling Shou won’t really acknowledge it, anyway. “It’s due tomorrow,” he says instead. It’s a lie, if an insignificant one, but it’s easier to say than “Every time I try to sleep, horrible nightmares make me wish I’d never closed my eyes.” He clears his throat, glancing away. “I just don’t want to get a zero on my assignment.”

Shou hums, raising an eyebrow at this, and Ritsu doesn’t meet his gaze. He’s fairly certain his friend can see through his white lies, but if he does, he doesn’t bring it up. “Hm, still lame. It’s not like math is gonna matter once we graduate high school, anyway, right? Maybe you should just go to sleep.”

Ritsu’s stomach clenches, and he tries not to let it show on his face how much he wants to do anything but that right now. Especially not after his near-panic attack not two minutes ago. “No, I really do need to finish it. I can’t let my grades slip,” he insists, sliding back into his desk chair stubbornly. He reaches for his pencil, but his fingers find nothing to grab. Oh, right. He sighs, pulling open his desk drawer and pulling out a second pencil. “You can hang around if you want, I guess, but you probably won’t find anything interesting to do.”

“Whatever you say, you try-hard,” Shou says flippantly, brushing off Ritsu’s fabricated concern for his grades. He does another lap around Ritsu’s bedroom while the older boy re-focuses on his math work, then sits down on Ritsu’s bed when he’s seen it all. Ritsu still can’t figure out why he’s here, and it’s stealing his focus away from what he actually wants to work on.

Despite this, he eventually falls back into an easy rhythm, mind filled with numbers and formulas. The monotonousness of the work takes his mind off his nightmares and diverts his stress from something he can’t face to something he can. Doing math is much easier than facing the source of his insomnia, after all. He relaxes slowly, the tension fading from his shoulders and the knot in his stomach unraveling so he can process his thoughts again. He goes over the PEMDAS order of expressions on his mind, as a refresher. Parenthesis first, then exponents. Multiplication and division are easy, addition and subtraction are even easier. The simplicity of it is charming. Math never changes. Math isn’t complicated. You can do math the same way every time, and it will always work. Ritsu wishes there was something like that that could chase away his bad memories.

“What kind of math is this, anyway? I don’t think we’re even working on stuff this advanced yet,” Shou says from over Ritsu’s shoulder, and with a start he realizes that Shou has slotted himself into his space, his hands gripping the back of Ritsu’s chair and his face hovering half an inch from his ear. “I mean, I’ve only been back in school for a few weeks,” he continues, oblivious to Ritsu’s surprise, “but I know we’re not this far in yet. Your teacher assigned this?”

“Christ, Shou, you scared me!” Ritsu accuses, feeling heat rush to his face. His shoulders are very tense again now, his grip on his pencil tight, and he has to visibly relax himself before he ends up snapping two pencils in one night.

Shou stifles a laugh at this, as though his distress is somehow funny. “Sorry, sorry. You got into the zone so fast, though, I didn’t think you would actually forget that I was here. I’m just curious.” Still, there’s a hint of guilt in Shou’s gaze, and he backs off in response to Ritsu’s tense posture.

Ritsu bites his lip. He hadn’t meant to make Shou feel unwelcome. “Sorry,” he mumbles, glancing down at his desk. His thoughts are overflowing. “I think… I might be a bit of a mess.”

The confession slips out of his mouth before he can stop it. He puts down his new pencil, running a hand through his hair and pushing it away from his face. I shouldn’t have said that, he laments, regret quickly replacing his guilt and then some. He leans back in his chair, gaze moving up and tracing the shapes on his popcorn ceiling. Eventually it tips all the way back, until he’s staring at Shou upside-down. He feels silly, but he doesn’t stop. It’s easier to look at Shou like this, when he feels like meeting his friend’s gaze will open the floodgates of things he isn’t sure he’s ready to put into words just yet.

Shou falls quiet for a moment, staring at Ritsu with an expression that isn’t easy to name. He looks somewhat surprised, eyebrows raised into tiny arches above eyes that are filled with the emotional weight of some sort of epiphany. His mouth is part way open, as though it frozen mid-word, but he quickly closes it, swallowing thickly. He breaks eye contact with Ritsu, suddenly very interested in the books on the opposite wall. “Yeah, me too,” he murmurs in the softest voice Ritsu has ever heard from the rambunctious teen.

The quiet empathy of Shou’s revelation is oddly comforting to Ritsu, reassuring him that he’s not the only one who feels like he’s barely keeping it together. He sits up, spinning around in his chair so that he’s facing Shou head-on. “Really?” he asks, leaning forward a bit too eagerly than he wants to come off. “I’m surprised. You always seemed so calm to me.”

“I could say the same for you,” Shou chuckles, tilting his head to the side as he looks at Ritsu. His light blue gaze is surprisingly soft, catching Ritsu off guard. He sits up a little straighter, sucking in a shocked breath, but as quickly as the moment starts, it’s over. Shou glances away, breaking the trance, and falls quiet.

Ritsu swallows, feeling as though his throat has gone dry. He blinks, taking a moment to let his stalled thoughts catch up again. What was that? His heart is beating noticeably again, but rather than feeling like he’s on the verge of panic, this feels… new. Exciting, almost.

“How’s school?” he asks, his voice coming out slightly breathless despite his best attempts as he tries to divert his own attention away from himself. “You’ve been going to Hanazawa’s school, since it’s close to your mom’s place, right?”

Shou nods with a thoughtful hum, leaning back on his palms from his seat on Ritsu’s bed. The odd moment is gone. “It’s alright, I guess. It’s, uh, kinda weird to be back in school after so long, though,” he admits. “My dad never really cared whether or not I ever went, but mom’s a different story. She makes sure I’m out the door in time.” He laughs softly at this, an easy smile coming to his face at the mention of his mother. Ritsu’s tries not to dwell on his mentions of his incarcerated father, focusing instead on the rest of his answer.

“Is it nice, living with your mom again?” he asks, curious.

Shou nods once more. “Yeah, it is nice. It’s hard, too, though. She’s always been really supportive of me, but I know she’s also kinda afraid of me, at the same time.” He leans forward, and doesn’t meet Ritsu’s gaze. “She gets uncomfortable when I use my powers around her, I’ve noticed. She never brings it up, but she gets this look on her face, like she’s scared I’m going to do… something bad.”

Ritsu frowns, leaning his chin on the back of his chair as he listens. “Why is she afraid?” he asks softly, hoping he’s not pushing farther than Shou’s willing to talk about.

Shou doesn’t seem annoyed or uncomfortable, though. “Probably for the same reasons why she left my dad,” he says. “She didn’t like the way he used his psychic powers to make other people listen to him. She was afraid he’d turn them on her, so she left before he could. I think she’s worried that I’ll turn out like him, even though she knows we’re not the same. I think it’s just going to take time for her to adjust to living with me again.”

Ritsu doesn’t answer right away, glancing down at the floor. He can’t relate to Shou’s dilemma, as much as he wants to understand what he’s feeling. “Is that why you came here?” he asks instead.

“I just… needed some space. Time to think, and figure out what I can do to assure my mom that I’m not the same as my dad is. Er, was.” He pauses for a moment, then reaches out a hand, sending tendrils of his aura snaking to Ritsu’s bookshelf. A book slides itself out of its nook and floats in Shou’s direction, hovering over his lap. “I inherited these powers from my old man, but there’s also plenty of stuff I got from mom, too.” The book opens by itself, pages flipping rapidly. “She wants me to grow up kind and gentle, with a good heart. So, even though I don’t really want to go to school, I’m going to go anyway, and I’m going to learn everything I can, so I can show my mom that I can be a good person.”

Ritsu cracks a smile, soft and sincere. It’s nice to see Shou have such earnest ambition again. “So you figured showing up at my house at one in the morning unannounced was the way to go, then?”

Shou laughs, to Ritsu’s relief, tipping his head back in amusement. “I didn’t think you’d be awake,” he admits. He runs a hand through his slicked-back hair, casting a sideways glance his way. “But, uh, I figured if anyone would be willing to put up with my nonsense, it would be you.” He swallows as he admits this out loud, breaking eye contact with Ritsu. His face flushes pink, for reasons Ritsu can’t determine, his fingers lingering in his hair for a moment before his hand drops back to his side.

Ritsu finds himself speechless, and not for the first time that night. Out of everyone Shou could have gone to, he decided to put his faith in him? “I dunno about all that,” he says after his swirling thoughts clear again, flipping back around in his seat to hide his own blush from Shou, “but I’m up late most nights, anyway. I don’t mind if you come keep me company sometimes.” His picks up his pencil and glues his eyes to his math textbook, as though if he stared at the numbers long enough it would dull the beating of his heart and cool the heat in his face. He hadn’t realized just how much trust Shou has in him, even after everything they’d gone through together to make it this far. It was simultaneously overwhelming and pleasing to Ritsu that there was someone who trusted him enough to confide in him about his struggles. Maybe if Shou could do it, Ritsu could too.

His thoughts are interrupted by the buzz of Shou’s cell phone in his jacket pocket, which Shou whips out and frowns quizzically at. Then his eyes widen in horror. “Uh oh, mom noticed I’m gone. This is gonna be trouble,” he groans, holding the phone up to his ear.

Ritsu doodles absentmindedly in the margins of his notebook, trying his best not to listen in as Shou explains where he’s at and promises to come home soon. Their conversation is short and to the point as Shou assures his mother that he’s quite alright and hasn’t been kidnapped, and it only takes a few minutes for Shou to hang up again. He quickly stands up, heading over to Ritsu’s open window. “Gotta go, pray for me as I face my mother’s wrath,” he says in goodbye, clapping his hands together in a universal gesture of prayer.

Ritsu suppresses a snort of amusement. “Good luck,” he calls, turning to offer Shou a parting smile, but he’s already gone, cold wind blowing in through the open window and replacing the warmth he’d left behind.

Ritsu sighs softly, standing up and making his way to the window. He pokes his head out briefly, but Shou is already nowhere to be seen, presumably making haste to soothe his mother’s frazzled nerves. He slides the window shut again, turning the lock shut. Maybe he’d leave it unlocked from now on, at least until he decides to go to sleep. Then he walks back to his desk, sits down, and gets back to work on his math practice.

The clock reads one-thirty.

Ritsu doesn’t sleep.

#mp100 #mob psycho 100 #ritshou #fanfic #insomnia #emotional hurt/comfort #nightmares #let these boys be there for each other and comfort each other #this is going to have like 2 more chapters probably #how did this become a series #oh well #enjoy #serendipitousfics

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hypnomule · 6 years

Text

THE BODYBUILDERS

Chapter 1

Sam walked into Michael’s room, he wasn't really good friends with his older stepbrother they were complete opposites. Sam was a small hunched nerd; he was a freshman this year and was struggling to make friends in his grade. His brother Michael, who had graduated last year, was a tall muscular bodybuilder who had no trouble getting anyone or anything he wanted. Michael looked up as Sam entered the room.

"What's up little bro?" Michael said as Sam shut the door behind him. Sam looked around nervously for a minute or two before softly saying.

” I want you to train me so I can become strong like you." Michael perked up he had been waiting for something like this to happen for years, but he was concerned at the sudden change of heart.

“Why what is the matter lil bro?” He asked sitting up in his bed. Sam looked down with a sad look on his face.

“These kids at school are bullying me.” He said starting to cry.Michael saw how bad his little brother was hurting, and couldn’t help, but to remember when he was bullied in elementary school.

"I can train you little bro, I can make you a whole new person if you want." He said grinning.

"That would be awesome!" Sam exclaimed wiping the tears out of his eyes.

"Good we will start next weekend after you get home from school." Michael replied.

Sam excited for tomorrow night ran out of the room, Michael waited a few minutes before going down to the basement. The basement was old and dark so his family never used it; he had converted half the basement into his private gym. He walked into his gym, and began to adjust the equipment so Sam would be able to use it, he couldn’t wait to have his brother like him.when he finished he grabbed a box out of his equipment storage, and smiled.

"So I finally get to use this." He thought to himself as he peered into the mysterious contents of the box.Putting the box away he began to lift some weights, feeling the need to workout again because of his excitement. Michael left his gym around midnight his body covered in sweat.Sam watched Michael sneak upstairs, he couldn’t wait for the next weekend to come. Michael noticed Sam staring as he went up the stairs.

“Hold on lil bro soon you will be just like me.” He thought to himself as he walked upstairs getting on his laptop.He still needed to buy a few things before he was ready for the next weekend, but he was sure that Sam would love the new him.

Chapter 2

Sam woke up marking off another day on his calendar. His big day was only a day away, but michael had already been making changes. His old room filled with action figures, and video games had been completely redone.The walls were covered in posters of sports teams, and famous bodybuilders. His gamecube had been replaced with a new Xbox One with call of duty games.

“it will get you in the mindset for your new self.” Michael had said when he was redecorating the room. Even though Sam had cried when his stuff was thrown away, he now understood what he was talking about, and each day he was looking more, and more to the weekend.

Sam walked into the school. This was the only part of the day he couldn’t stand. He walked into the school, and was surrounded by a group of kids.

“Heard you are gonna get it today freak!” One of the kids shouted.

“Yea Danny is gonna kick your ass!” Another one shouted.

Sam broke free of the group running to the bathroom to cry.He eventually went to homeroom, his teacher excusing his tardiness. He made it through most of the day perfectly fine, even lunch came with nothing bad happening.Seventh period, which was the last of the day, began.

“This is our new student Tyler.” His teacher said. Sam looked at the new kid, he had a light athletic build, his hair a mahogany color.

“Hi all.” He said a slight accent coming through “I’m tyler, my family just moved here from canada.”

“Everyone make sure to make him feel right at home.” His teacher said. “Now you can sit in that open desk over there.” She said pointing to the empty desk in front of Sam. He sat down as the teacher began the daily lesson.

“Hi, I’m Sam.” Sam whispered to Tyler.

“Nice to meet you.” He replied. The two spent the rest of the period getting to know each other. He learned that Tyler had moved from his old school because of a new job offer his dad had. He liked his school a lot, and was very popular. They made plans to meet after school on friday. School ended, and sam started to leave. He saw Danny sitting outside the school in front of Sam’s bus. He gulped knowing that if he went out the door he would be beaten into the ground. Sam turned around walking against the mass of students trying to leave the school.

He walked down the hallway to the old half of the school.This part of the school had been shut down years ago after the school got funding to built a new high-tech wing.He walked down the twisting hallways that the old half was famous for. He passed by a room filled with kids making art, and another with kids smoking.As he passed by a room filled with goths, he began to smell the odor of hard work, and dedication.He peered around the corner into a huge room filled with guys most of them lifting weights or doing some other sort of rigorous activity, of all the activities that took place in the old half this was seemingly the most innocent. Sam looked around at all the muscled jock guys, they came here every day, and worked out some of them graduated years ago but they didn't seem to care, they came every day just to work out. He watched them for a few minutes before walking in.He walked around trying to find his brother.Most of the people exercising didn’t notice him at all as he walked among them looking for his brother.

Sam stopped when he found Michael, he was benching weights in the weight room. Sam sat down on a bench he knew Michael would be unable to focus on him until he was done working out.

Chapter 3

Sam woke up as the engine started. He was in Michael's car in the parking lot behind the school.

“Hey lil bro glad you are up.” Michael said looking over. “You fell asleep when I was working out,”

“Oh, I don’t remember that.” Sam said as he yawned.

“Yea. Hey! bet your excited for tomorrow night” Michael exclaimed as he drove home.

“Yea about that.” Sam began seeing the sadness instantly fill his brothers eyes. “I am still doing going to do it don’t get me wrong, but I may be late.”

“Late?” Michael asked in confusion.

“Yea after school I am....” Sam started before he was cut off.

“Do you have a date? Does my little brother have a date?” Michael questioned in happy tone.

“No.” Sam started in a sad tone.”But I made a friend in class today, and we are going to eat.” He finished in an excited tone.Michael smiled, and nodded his head. Even though he was sad he was going to have to postpone helping his brother, he knew a friend is just what his brother needed.

“Thats fine, just let me know when you get home, and take this.” Michael said throwing a condom at Sam.”You never know what is going to happen.” Michael joked as the reached home.

“Very funny” Sam said as Michael left the car. Sam out the condom into the back pocket of his backpack not knowing what to do with it.

Chapter 4

Michael woke up yawning, he checked the clock it was 12:34 in the morning. He got out of bed slipping on a pair of briefs, and walked downstairs to the basement. He didn't have to worry about dressing appropriately or making a lot of noise, his parents went on a mission trip to Chile, and wouldn't be back for a few months.. Michael checked himself out in the mirror outside of his gym. His bronzed skin and muscled body only complimented the tight yellow briefs he was wearing. He never was fond of clothes other than underwear, and always worked out in his briefs. He brushed his hand down his chiseled abs, that seemed to glisten under the little light visible in this part of the basement. He sat there for a moment admiring his body before remembering he had work to do. Michael began to workout, his body becoming sweaty, and filled with endorphins.

He finished his nightly workout around 2:30, he walked up the stairs seeing a light coming from the tv room.Sam sat up watching ESPN. He smiled knowing his messages were beginning to work. He walked up to Sam’s room flipping on the lights. He walked over to his computer downloading a file to it. He began to play the file on a loop. Sam’s room was filled with a low barely audible sound. It was a special binaural beats file that encourage the brain to gain muscle, and workout. Michael went back to his room until he heard Sam coming back upstairs, and going to bed. Michael smiled heading to sleep.

Chapter 5

Sam went to school waiting for seventh period to roll around. When it finally did he, and Tyler began to talk, waiting for the teacher to arrive.

“So right after school at the cafe a few blocks over?” Tyler asked.

“Yea just meet up with me, and I will show you how to get there.” Sam replied excitedly, as the whole class groaned.He looked up to see the substitute walk into the room.

“Who is tyler?” Tyler whispered

“Mrs. Fichburn” Sam started as she sat down at the desk. “She does nothing at all, and makes students do things for her, unless she falls asleep first.” The pair looked over at the overweight sub as she took out a pillow, and closed her eyes.The class remained silent knowing when she fell asleep they could get away with anything.Within minutes she was dead asleep, and the class was alive with chatter. Tyler, and Sam chatted as Danny walked up to them.

“Hey loser you didn’t show up for your daily beating yesterday!” He shouted spraying his spit into Sam’s face.

“Whoa, say it don’t spray it.” Tyler shot back.

“Shut up you canuck hoser, how about you go back to canada, and we will consider making your pathetic excuse of a country a state.” Danny shot back smirking, proud of himself.

“Danny, stop it!” Sam shouted back in surprise to himself, and everyone around him. “Its me you want not him.” He said in a quieter less sure voice.

“Oh yea! You earned this you little nerd!”Danny exclaimed punching him the face. Danny wailed on Sam delivering punch after punch.Mrs. Fichburn woke up in her chair watching the sight.

“Don’t just sit there! Help him!” Tyler shouted. “You are a teacher, you are supposed to protect him!” Mrs. Fichburn slowly got up yawning.

“Danny stop punching him, and wait until after school.”She said “And go clean yourself up Sam.” She finished readjusting her seat, and sitting back down.

“This is over for now” Danny said looking at the sub. “But your dead after school. “ He walked back to his seat, and Sam ran out to the bathroom. Sam rubbed the blood off the face at the sink.

“Hey are you ok?” Tyler asked running up behind Sam.

“Yea, I just...” Sam stuttered through his tears. “It will be fine my brother is going to help me.” He finished as the bell rang. “Come on lets get out of here.” Sam said leading to Tyler to the old part of school.

“What is this place?” Tyler asked as they walked down the hallways.

“its an old wing of the school.” Sam said hurrying past the various rooms, and groups. Sam looked behind him, saw tyler was stopped at the art room. Sam walked back to get him looking into the room. They were painting based off a nude model, who he recognized as the star quarterback. Sam pulled Tyler forward reaching the gym.

“Wow.” Tyler said as they entered. “There are so many people here!”

“Yea it is one of my favorite places in the old wing.Now hurry up we have to get to cafe before my brother gets here.” Sam, and tyler ran out of the school past the football field. The two arrived at the Cafe quickly ate, and hung out for hours.

Chapter 6

It had become late at night, and the pair were still talking.

“So your brother works out there everyday?”Tyler asked as he sipped his third milkshake.

“Not everyday, but he is there most days.” Sam replied watching his friend. “I don’t want to sound rude, but what was up in the art room today?” He asked.Tyler looked down twirling his straw nervously.

“I...um....” He started. “I am gay.....” Tyler finished nervously fliniching.

“Oh ok” Sam said surprised. “thats cool.” His phone rang “Hey its my brother. I gotta take this real quick.” He told tyler running to take the phone call.

“Ok I will....” was all Tyler managed to get out before Sam ran off.

Sam paced in the parking lot, he had missed the phone call, but his brother had left a voicemail. He opened up his phone playing it.

“Hey lil bro, time is running out if you really want to this you need to get home soon.” He heard his brother say. The subliminal messaging programed into his brain activated, and he texted his brother that he was on his way. Sam ran down the streets towards his house leaving Tyler alone at the cafe.

Chapter 7

Michael saw the text arrive on his phone. He knew he only had a matter of minutes to set up everything he needed.He walked upstairs to Sams room grabbing a pair of under armour underwear their grandparents had bought for him. He wanted Sam to see how good he would look after his transformation.

He walked down to the basement opening the box he looked at earlier pulling out a jockstrap. He had bought a pair of jockstraps online years ago, and he was excited to finally get to use the second one. He sat down on the bench waiting for Sam to arrive, and his own experience.

Michael was fifteen when it happened.Every guy in school had become obsessed with bodybuilding, and he too had become obsessed with it.He wasn’t willing to put in the work for the muscles every other guy was starting to develop so he looked for quick ways online. After searching for hours an ad popped up from Daemonsports.com. He looked at the ad offering quick, and easy muscles for the price of $20. He bought the item without even seeing what it was, weeks later a package arrived at his door containing two jockstraps.

Michael was confused, and mad that he got ripped off.He sighed taking them into the basement. He walked into his man cave, a room for him to get away from his little brother, and parents. The room contained a television, a pool table, and a small workout bench.There was also a mirror on the wall, seeing it he decided to try on the jock strap. He looked at himself in the mirror he thought he looked good in the jockstrap, and felt good wearing it.

Michael was overcome with a serious need to workout. He felt his legs walk over to the bench, and felt his arms begin to lift the weight without his need to tell them to. Michael spent the night lifting in his jockstrap before he blacked out.He woke in the morning body sore, and filled with pain. He got up stretching, and saw himself in the mirror. His muscles had already grown quickly, and his abs were more defined. He also felt a need to workout more, and from that point forward the new michael existed, working out everyday and loving it.

Chapter 8

Sam ran into the door panting, he had ran all the way from the cafe to his house. He entered the basement walking to Michael's gym.

"Good you are here put these on." Michael said handing him a jockstrap, and under armour boxers. Sam looked around for a moment.

"Right here?" Sam asked uncertain. Michael rolled his eyes.

"I will leave the room, I guess." Michael said leaving the room. Sam undressed naked putting on the jockstrap. The room was surrounded with mirrors making it impossible for him to avoid looking at himself.He saw himself in the mirror surprised his he looked kinda good in the jockstrap. He put the underwear on over the jockstrap, and signalled for michael to come back in.

“You look great!” Michael said as he saw sam.

“I honestly feel good.” Sam said looking at himself in the mirror.Michael took him to a bench in the center of the room.

“Just left when you're ready. It will all come naturally.” he reassured stepping back. Sam began to lift, he was surprised he could even lift that much his muscles already in pain, and a tingle from the jockstrap. It wasn’t long before he blacked out.

Michael watched amazed he knew the process, but had never seen it.Sam’s body kept lifting, his muscles growing faster than any humans should possibly grow. His flat chest becoming ripped, with larges pecs and abs chiseled by gods. Michael sat up for almost an hour watching this take place, before finally drifting off to sleep.

Chapter 9

Michael woke up the next morning seeing Sam already awake.He was flexing in the mirror checking out his new body in just the jockstrap.

“Hey bro.” Sam said not able to take his eyes off the mirror.

“You look great little bro.” Michael said. “But why do you still have the jock strap on?” Sam looked down.

“Highlights my package.” He said continuing to flex.Michael remembered this phase, being completely obsessed with how you looked, and your fitness.

“Well come on it's time to workout again isn’t it?” Sam asked walking back over to the bench. Michael joined in working out with his brother feeling like they were truly brothers for the first time in a long while.

Monday came quickly again, and Sam went back to school.Everyone was whispering about him, half of them didn't even realize it was him. He smiled knowing he looked great. The school day went quickly, and soon it was seventh period. Tyler turned around ignoring Sam’s change in appearance.

“What the hell man!” Tyler screamed furiously. “You left me alone there! Is it because I came out to you?” Half the class was now staring at the two, half of them recording it on their phones. Sam looked up, he had been staring at his arm muscles.

“No, something just came up bro.” He said in a calm manner.

“Oh.” Tyler said silently realizing all the people watching. “well want to do something later?”

“Can’t really”Sam said. “unless you want to work out with me.”

“Sure that sounds good” Tyler said.

“Cool come to my house after school.” Sam said going back to staring at his muscles. The school day ended, and tyler got on the bus with Sam. They rode in silence to his house. Sam took Tyler down to the basement, where they began to work out, after twenty minutes Tyler stopped.

“This is boring.” Tyler said sitting up on the bench. Sam stopped working out annoyed by the interruption.”Can we do something else?” Tyler finished. Sam looked up annoyed, he wanted Tyler as a friend, but could not stand him like this. He thought sitting at the bench before reaching an idea.

“I can make it fun.” He said with a wicked smile. “But you have to trust me.”

“Sure I will do anything.” Tyler said flopping out of the bench.

Chapter 10

Tyler looked at the object sam held in front of him.

“That’s yours?” He questioned. “and you want me to put it on?” Sam held the jockstrap in front of Tyler, looking at it.

“Yea, pretty much.” He said without hesitation. “Trust me they work.” Tyler looked at them for a long minutes, before grabbing it out of Sam’s hand.

“Fine on one condition.” Tyler said looking at them. “While I wear them you will go naked.” Sam shrugged, and stripped off his clothes. His full naked body visible, Tyler couldn’t help staring.

“Your turn.” Sam said smiling. Tyler shook his head trying not to stare. he stripped down naked pulling the tight jockstrap onto his body. Sam stopped in place, Tyler suddenly looked attractive, sam naked could not hide his erection. He had to have him, but first he need to make sure Tyler was like him.

“Just left some on the bar now.” Sam said.

“o.........................k” Tyler said getting distracted by Sam’s erection. He began to lift on the bar feeling his body taking over. Sam watched from the other side knowing it could only be matter of time now.

Chapter 11

Michael returned late that night having been at his girlfriend’s house all day. He walked down to his basement ready to get in his daily workout. what he saw surprised him. Sam naked on the couch cuddling against a fairly muscular boy wearing Sam’s jockstrap. He smiled covering the two up. He knew he should be mad Sam used it on someone else, and they couldn’t be sure of the consequences, but was happy his little brother had someone he loved.

Day came around again, and Sam woke up. Tyler was staring into the mirror checking out his body. Even though he wasn’t as muscular as Sam he was pretty impressive for his size. Sam walked up behind him kissing his neck.

“Damn you look sexy.” He said feeling Tyler’s muscles.

“Thanks, bro.” Tyler said treating each touch like it was a gift. The two sat in the basement flexing all morning. After working out together, Tyler had to leave to go home.

“So working out together tomorrow bro?” He asked wearing normal clothes again.

“Yea, bro just hit me up in class.” Sam kissed Tyler, and watched, staring at his firm ass, as he walked away from the house.

“So it was a date lil bro.” Michael said from inside the living room.

“No bro.” Sam said disgruntled. “Wasn’t till I saw his sexy ass in that jockstrap last night.” He finished smirking at the thought. Sam highfived his brother, and laid on the couch watching ESPN. He couldn’t wait to work out with tyler again, maybe they could both work out nude next time.

Chapter 12

Several months had past when michael realized it was almost time for his parents to be back from their mission trip. He walked down to the basement where his old gym was. He had given it to Sam for him, and Tyler to use, while he worked out at the gym, or his girlfriends house who he was staying with more, and more. He knocked on the door before opening it to prevent seeing anything he didn’t want to see. Tyler, and Sam stood at the mirrors flexing both of them already being much bigger than the jockstrap had allowed to be. They still wore jockstraps each time they were in the basement, and never got completely out of the self obsessed phase.

“Sam I need to speak to you.” Michael said. his own obsession with muscles had decreased since Tyler became obsessed with them. He still worked out to maintain the muscles he had, and let Tyler have his old jockstrap to help him grow.

“What’s up bro?” Sam said staring at tylers muscles in the mirror.

“Mom, and dad will be back from Chile soon.” Michael said. Sam looked over with sadness filling his eyes, he knew once his parents were home he wouldn’t be able to maintain this new lifestyle the way he had for the past few months. He needed to find a way to keep them there.

“How long do we have?” Sam asked already trying to plot a way to keep them away.

“About a week.” Michael said sadly before leaving the room. Sam sat down on one of the benches. He needed things to be like this for him, and Tyler they worked so well together.

“We could run away.” Tyler said flexing in the mirror.

“Where?” Sam said interested in the idea.

“ I don’t know find a place.” Tyler said walking over to one of the benches to lift more. “ A place with people like us.” He finished as he lifted.

“People like us....” Sam said thinking hard. “What about the place where these jockstraps are made? I am sure there have to be people like us there!”

“Sounds cool bro.” Tyler said completing another set. “Where are they made at?” Sam walked over to Tyler pulling his jockstrap to look inside.

“Cedar Falls, and it has an address for the company.” He said sliding his hand down from the jockstrap to Tyler’s ass.A wicked grin covered Tyler’s face.

“Never heard if it. It will be perfect.” He said tackling Sam to the ground wrestling him.The pair wrestled for some time before Sam pinned tyler to the ground, and kissed him passionately.

Chapter 13

Sam woke up early in the morning leaving a note on the table. He met Tyler at a train station in a town a few miles over.

“Great morning for a jog.” Tyler joked as Sam arrived at the station.

“Very funny.” Sam said rolling his eyes. “So which train is ours?”

“This one Tyler said pointing to an oncoming train showing no signs of stopping. “Come on!” He said running down the platform into an empty cargo car. Sam followed behind jumping into the car.

“This will take us right outside of Cedar Falls.” Sam said putting his bag in a corner. “But its a long ride so get comfortable.”

Michael woke up late that day, bummed his parents were coming back.He went downstairs grabbing the jug of milk, and drinking what was left of it burping loudly. Noticing the note, he walked to the table picking it up. He opened the letter reading it aloud.

“Bro, me and Tyler have left to find cedar falls a place we believe is filled with people like us. Tell mom, and dad you have no idea where we are. We hope you join us one day- your lil bro”

Michael finished reading the letter when he heard the door open. His parents walked through the door, home earlier than they should have been.

“We are home!” They exclaimed running into the kitchen hugging him.

“Where is Sam at honey?” His mom asked with that worried look all mothers have.

“Not sure mom, he was staying at a friends last night.” He said crumpling the note in his hand. as the day passed by their mom became, more and more scared. Michael gave her Tyler’s family’s number hoping it would calm her down, and that she wouldn’t call it, but she did.

“They say they haven’t seen their kid either!” She said crying at the table as police took accounts from Tyler’s parents. They had filed a missing persons alert, and since they were kids they became a top priority.

“It will be fine mom, they will find them.” Michael comforted his mom. He felt him secretly wishing no one would find them, and they found the place they were looking for, but he couldn’t tell his mom that. His dad comforted his mom as he walked down to his gym.

Sitting in his gym in was a box labeled Daemon Co. He opened the box checking its contents. Inside was a note, and another jock strap this one a shiny golden color. Michael took the note out reading the words imprinted on it.

“For your years of service, and service to come-Daemon Co.” He shrugged off the note pulling on the jock strap. The cool fabric felt good on his body as he felt energized, and ready to work out. Before he could think he felt himself working out again, his muscle increasing, and thoughts about building muscles also increasing. He was back better than before ready to complete his new goal of being a bodybuilder.

Chapter 14

Sam , and tyler hopped off the train, following an old cracked road for miles when they reached a sign.

“Cedar Falls, one mile.” Tyler read out loud looking at Sam. “I’ll race you!” He screamed taking off down the road Sam following behind, and catching up quickly.It had been almost a week since they left their home, and tensions were running high between the two. A large manhunt had started across the nation from them labeling them as missing. At one point Tyler losing hope suggested they went back, but seeing the sign now he was filled with hope of a new life all over again.

The pair stopped in front of the sign welcoming them to the town.

“New record.” Tyler managed to cough out laughing. Neither one of took a step forward. Even though there was nothing in front of them they both knew there was line in front of them, and crossing it would change their lives forever. Sam grabbed Tyler's hand, and the pair the pair crossed the line together.

Epilogue

Almost a year has passed since they crossed that line, and much has changed. After crossing the line almost everyone who knew the boys forgot about them, everyone except Michael, and Danny. Michael has spent the last year traveling the country participating in bodybuilding contests. He is known as the golden boy for the golden jockstrap he always wears in contests.

Danny, who was insistent on convincing people the boys were real, is now seeing a therapist two times a week to help him get over his delusions. The parents of the two boys became great friends. They are vacationing in italy this summer.Mrs. Fichburn was fired after Tyler made a fake call to the school about her receiving a DUI.

Sam, and Tyler found it easy to live in this new town living in an house that was abandoned. They often stayed in the town gym everyday where the owner had given them free lifetime memberships. Their muscle building became the center of their lives as the two lived in harmony together, but their journey was just beginning.

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