#whether it is asking me a question that is LITERALLY answered in my previous email | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

unfolded73 · 4 years

Text

Husbands: Two Years In (1/5) - schitt’s creek ff

Hi, remember me? I finally wrote something new. This fic is complete, and will be posted over the course of the next two weeks. While I'm including it as part of the "Labels" series, the preceding fics are not required reading. Previous fics in this series: Boyfriends; “I Love You”, Partners, Fiancés

Warning: This fic deals with depression as one of its major topics.

Rated Explicit, this chapter 5059 words. (ao3)

Thanks to @high-seas-swan for cheerleading and B13_MaybeThisTime for many valuable comments (and also cheerleading).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 1: Winter

Patrick stuck his head behind the beige curtain of the storeroom at Rose Apothecary. “Bethany, can you cover the register? I’ve got to get to my council meeting.”

“Sure,” she said, leaving off from the merchandise she’d been unpacking and joining him behind the counter.

“I should be back in an hour and a half,” he said, slipping his laptop into his messenger bag.

“No problem. Is David planning to come back to the store today?” she asked.

“I doubt it. He’s gone more than halfway to Thornbridge to meet with potential vendors, so I expect he’ll be late getting back.” Patrick’s thumb strayed to the smooth gold of his wedding ring and he gave it a turn, an ingrained habit now after a year and a half of marriage.

“Okay,” Bethany said to him before turning to the customer who had just approached the register. “Find everything you were looking for today?” she asked in a cheerful, retail clerk voice.

Patrick ducked into the back again to get his coat and gloves and hat, pulling them on and zipping his parka up to his neck before braving the icy temperatures outside. Not for the first time, he wished the store had a vestibule and another set of doors to keep the cold from rushing in every time people came and went during the winter months. He made a mental note to add that to their wish list for a second Rose Apothecary location, when and if that ever became a reality.

David was certainly invested in the idea, spending more time out on the road these days, wooing new vendors or shoring up renewal contracts with existing ones. Hiring Bethany meant they didn’t need to be in the store at the same time, and while the flexibility was more than worth it in terms of the time it gave them to work on growing the business, Patrick had to admit he missed the old days sometimes. When it was only him and David at the store together, sneaking into the back to make out when things were slow.

On the other hand, there was probably something to be said for not spending every hour of every day together, he told himself. Marriages thrived on a little bit of separation. But looking up at the grey sky while he walked through town, it was hard not to feel lonely, the oppressive winter weighing him down.

Patrick ducked into the town hall, always drafty in winter, and pulled his hat and gloves off as he made his way to the desk he used during council meetings and during the one afternoon a week that it was his turn to be on duty, handing out permits and answering questions. It was a good system in a town too small to pay for municipal employees, and helping his fellow townspeople was probably his favorite part of serving on town council.

“Patrick,” Ronnie muttered as he passed by her desk. “Kind of you to grace us with your presence.”

Patrick glanced at his phone. “I’m literally one minute late, Ronnie.”

“One minute late is late.”

“Also, Roland’s not here yet,” Patrick said as he dropped into his desk chair and set up his laptop to take the minutes of their meeting. Ronnie had been quick to inform him that taking minutes always fell to the newest member on town council, although when he expressed his surprise at the idea of Moira Rose doing that job, she’d had to admit that Moira had never actually taken any minutes. Patrick easily agreed to take over from Bob, whom everyone agreed had been terrible at it.

Ronnie just rolled her eyes and waved a hand dismissively at him. She had sort of supported Patrick when he ran unopposed for Moira’s vacated seat (although he also suspected she was behind the whisper campaign to write in Ted the Turtle, Alexis’s former pet who now belonged to Roland Junior — Ted got thirteen percent of the vote), but that didn’t stop her from continuing to needle him at every opportunity.

Roland finally arrived ten minutes later, and they began working their way through the agenda as Roland wolfed down a sizable sandwich at his desk with table manners that his three-year-old son would have looked askance at. They voted on whether to have a stop light installed outside the café (2-2; tabled for further discussion after the next public forum), whether to confer historic landmark status on the old Hockley barn (1-3 nay), and on whether to finalize the calendar for the “Clean up the Creek” days in the summer (4-0 yea).

“What’s next on the agenda, Ronnie?” Roland asked, his mouth full of his lunch, as if he didn’t have a copy of the agenda on his desk. Patrick looked over, and noticed that Roland had emptied a bag of potato chips onto his agenda.

“The annual blood drive,” she replied, consulting the paper in front of her. “Canadian Blood Services is requesting six volunteers, as we’ve provided in the past, to log people in and to hand out juice and cookies after. We need to have the promotional posters printed and get the word out, and then a volunteer meeting will need to be organized by the end of the month. Patrick, you wanna take the lead on this?”

He looked up from his laptop. “On the blood drive?” His stomach twisted, and he considered saying no. “Uh… sure. Sure.” He typed that into the minutes, his fingers tapping sharply on the keys.

The rest of the meeting passed uneventfully, and they disbanded after another twenty minutes. Ronnie made her way over to Patrick as he was emailing the completed minutes out to the other members of council, a task he liked to do right away before he forgot about it.

“You didn’t seem thrilled to be put in charge of the blood drive. If you’re squeamish around needles—”

“I’m not squeamish about giving blood.” He snapped his laptop closed and shoved it into his bag. “I earned a lapel pin in college for donating blood,” he muttered.

“Oh. Then what’s the problem?”

“There’s no problem. I said I’d do it.” He stood up and shouldered his bag. “Be in charge of it, I mean. I won’t be donating blood because I’m not allowed.”

Ronnie’s eyes turned sympathetic. “Right.” She sighed. “The blood donation rules about gay men are outdated and discriminatory; you don’t have to tell me.”

Patrick shrugged. “It is what it is. I really don’t mind being in charge of the blood drive.” He did, a little, but not enough to make a fuss about it. If this was the only way he could contribute now that he fell into the ‘men who have sex with men’ category, then so be it.

When he was halfway to the door, she called out, making him stop in his tracks. “If our community always just said ‘it is what it is,’ then we wouldn’t have made the progress we’ve made. You wouldn’t have been able to stand in this room and marry the person you love. If it’s wrong, then we fight.”

Patrick turned and looked at her. “I kind of missed the activism part of the queer experience,” he admitted. “Although, I used to buy cupcakes from the GSA bake sale in high school.”

Ronnie rolled her eyes, heading out the door and leaving Patrick to follow her. “You are truly a pillar of the queer community,” she drawled, but there wasn’t any heat in it. She even patted his shoulder and said “see you around” as they parted ways.

Still, he felt unsettled as he walked back to the store. The extent of the time that he’d been aware of his sexuality, he’d mostly spent in a homophobia-free bubble. The people of Schitt’s Creek accepted him, his family (with a couple of notable exceptions whom he no longer spoke to) accepted him. He wasn’t used to being confronted with discrimination, and so even this relatively minor thing in his life, that he couldn’t donate blood — as anonymous and bureaucratic as it was, it was still painful.

The rest of the afternoon did little to lift his mood, and he dragged through the motions of closing up the store with Bethany, then drove home alone. He didn’t want to text David in case he was driving, so when he got home he checked the location of David’s phone and saw that he was still at least two hours away, assuming he was even on his way yet. With a heavy sigh, Patrick let himself into their quiet house.

It was almost nine o’clock when David finally arrived, the familiar sound of him knocking snow off his boots rousing Patrick’s attention from his phone. He flipped off the television, the hockey game he wasn’t really paying attention to disappearing into blackness, and turned toward the door as it opened and David came in with a swirl of snowflakes.

“It’s starting to really come down out there,” David said breathlessly, unlooping his scarf from around his neck and hanging it on the coat rack by the front door. “I’m glad I wasn’t running any later.”

“Me too. It’s supposed to be ten centimeters by morning.” Patrick leaned up and kissed David’s cheek, cold against his lips.

David grimaced. “Just enough to be annoying, but not enough to close the store for the day.” He braced himself on the wall and lifted first one foot and then the other to pull off his boots.

“Yeah.” Their front door tended to stick, not quite latching, so Patrick leaned over and gave it a little push, listening for the click of the latch before he locked it. “Did you eat?”

“I grabbed a burger on the road.” His winter coat off, David pulled Patrick into a hug, his long arms moving into their usual place over Patrick’s shoulders and wrapping around him. “Aren’t you going to ask me how it went?”

“How did it go?”

“I got the clover honey contract.”

Patrick grinned. “I knew you would. And the others?”

“The woman who crochets those little animals is still mulling it over. She might be a no. Belinda Jensen signed on to provide the larger supply of soap we asked for. A couple of others — I left all the paperwork in the car.” He kissed Patrick quickly on the lips. “How was your day?”

Patrick struggled to remember through the fog in his brain what he’d done all day — work and his council meeting and the leftovers he’d reheated for dinner and the hockey game he hadn’t been watching. “Uneventful,” he finally replied.

He felt a surge of irrational anger that David had such a wildly productive day, a day that materially benefited their business, while Patrick had… treaded water. He pushed the anger away — he had no reason to be angry with David. He should be proud of David, of the way he continued to work to make their business thrive, of how good he was with the vendors.

The remainder of the evening was quiet, David on the sofa intermittently reading and texting with Alexis while Patrick made a grocery list, and then another list of tasks he wanted to accomplish over the weekend. It only served to remind him of all things he’d meant to do this winter that he hadn’t gotten around to yet. He just kept getting paralyzed lately; going over and over all the things he needed to do in his mind, but not actually starting any of them.

“I’m ready for spring,” he muttered to himself.

David looked up from his phone. “What are you talking about, you love winter! Winter has hockey, which you love.”

“Yeah.” Patrick sighed. “I’m not really feeling it this year. I’m exhausted.”

Reaching over to rub his shoulder, David gave him a look full of sympathy. “Anything I can do?”

Patrick shook his head and stood up. There wasn’t really anything wrong, so what could David do? “I’m gonna get ready for bed.”

“Okay, I’ll meet you up there in a minute,” David said, distracted by another text from Alexis that made him smile down at his phone.

Patrick had dozed off into a light sleep by the time David crawled into bed next to him, but the dip of the mattress woke him. He rolled over toward his husband, lips against the stubble of David’s jaw, inhaling the scent of his moisturizer. “Missed you today,” he murmured sleepily.

“Missed you too.” David turned his head, brushing his lips against Patrick’s. “Mm, you’re warm.” He wriggled his body, snuggling closer.

Patrick pressed another kiss against David’s mouth, and then another, with softer lips — a little bit longer, a little bit slower.

“Thought you were sleeping,” David said, his voice syrupy and mellow.

“I’m kissing you goodnight,” Patrick said. Another kiss — longer still, slower still.

“That’s how it starts,” David said with a smile, his hand burrowing down and finding the jut of Patrick’s hipbone.

He had a point. There were times when they went to bed with no particular intention to have sex, but the simple press of their mouths together would ignite a fire between them. Patrick wondered if that tendency would ever fade. He hoped not. Especially lately, the physical intimacy he shared with David was one of the only things that made him feel good. It was the only time that he didn’t feel like everything was sort of disappointing and foggy, when he could ignore all of life’s recent shortcomings and annoyances. He could turn off those thoughts and feel the pleasure that David was an expert in drawing out of him.

“Do you wanna have sex?” Patrick asked.

David gave him a crooked smile. “I thought I was too tired, but I might be coming around to the idea.”

Patrick scratched his blunt nails across the back of David’s neck, humming into his mouth as their kisses got deeper and messier. His heartbeat accelerating, that good, fizzy feeling suffusing his body, Patrick shifted closer, enjoying the sensation of their bodies together through their pajamas.

Long before they were married, they established a pattern where Patrick was more often than not the one to take charge in bed, but tonight he wanted it to be David. He felt like he needed to be taken, and used, and useful.

“Can you…” he started to ask, then paused as he tried to figure out how to put what he needed into words. He still struggled with the vulnerability of that, sometimes. Of asking for what he needed. He found it much easier to let David ask for things.

“Tell me what you need, honey,” David whispered as they pulled off their clothes.

Make me forget that I’ve been feeling so shitty, Patrick thought. Show me you still need me.

“Can you hold me down and… fuck my thighs?” Patrick asked instead. The sex act was easier to talk about than the feelings that were underneath it.

“Mm hmm, I can do that,” David said. In the dark, Patrick couldn’t make out David’s facial expression, didn’t know if David was reading any of his churning thoughts. Couldn’t tell if David thought it was odd that Patrick was asking for him to be the dominant one. Not that he’d never been submissive in bed, he had, but he’d done it because it was something David was in the mood for. He’d almost never asked for it.

“Turn over,” David said, the liquid tone of his voice making Patrick shiver as he followed the direction.

Patrick reached over for the lube from the bedside table, handing it back to David before he positioned his back against David’s chest. David didn’t do anything with it right away, though, his mouth wet and sure against Patrick’s shoulder, hand running up and down his hip and thigh over and over, then coming around to gently scrape his fingernails across Patrick’s balls before taking his dick in a loose fist, stroking with a teasing lack of pressure. Patrick moaned, pushing back against David’s erection. He almost changed his mind and asked David to fuck his ass instead — having David inside him really would get him out of his head; it always did. But both of them were tired and the preparation would take awhile, and his original instinct was fine. He didn’t say anything, tipping his head to give David more access to his neck.

After a few more minutes of foreplay, David finally grabbed the lube, getting the inside of Patrick’s thighs and his own cock slick before positioning himself. Patrick clenched his thighs together and David groaned at the friction, fingers clenching on Patick’s hip briefly before his hand moved around and took hold of Patrick’s cock again, matching the rhythm of his hips to the rhythm of his stroking. He wasn’t trying to draw things out now; he was working Patrick’s cock to get him off quickly, and the sensation of it, the way it demonstrated how perfectly David knew him, knew his body, allowed Patrick to stop thinking and sink into the pleasure. He had just enough presence of mind to cup his own palm over himself before spilling over David’s fist, coming with a gasp and a bitten off moan.

David let him pause long enough to grab one of the little towels they kept a stack of on the bedside table to clean himself up, to keep the sheets unscathed, before pushing Patrick down onto his stomach and fucking more vigorously, his cock sliding between Patrick’s thighs and against his balls. Patrick closed his eyes tight and gripped his pillow and let David take him, let him fuck against him, his weight bearing down on Patrick’s back, his pelvis slapping against Patrick’s ass.

“Fuck,” David whispered, and then he lifted up, pulling away from Patrick’s body. “I need to…” he said, and then Patrick heard the slick noise of David jacking himself, and then very quickly the warmth and wetness of David coming on his lower back.

“Sorry for the unnegotiated cumshot,” David said as soon as he caught his breath enough to speak.

Patrick held the towel he was still clutching up for David to take, laughing. “You’re good,” he said as David cleaned him up. “I only need warning if it’s gonna be on my face,” he continued as he flipped over, taking the towel from David and tossing it toward the laundry hamper. While David went to the bathroom to wash his hands and then pulled his pajamas back on, Patrick considered doing the same, but then David was curling around him under their heavy duvet and Patrick couldn’t bring himself to move. He closed his eyes and let the drowsiness from his orgasm pull him under.

~*~

His alarm went off early, and it took Patrick a few seconds to remember why he’d set it so early: the snow.

Mournfully extracting himself from the warmth of bed, Patrick pulled on yesterday’s jeans and a hoodie, then made his way downstairs to don all of his winter gear. Opening the front door, he took a second to admire the pure, untouched snow that blanketed the world before he perturbed it with his boot prints.

Everything seemed preternaturally quiet, the snow dampening what little noise there was. Patrick thought there would have been a time when he would have loved this quiet, would have loved being alone with his thoughts while he did some meditative manual labor. This morning, he shied away from the contents of his own brain, electing to put his earbuds in and to listen to a podcast instead. Patrick fell into a rhythm of snow shoveling in the winter pre-dawn light — push, lift, throw, repeat — so he didn’t notice David until he was almost down to the end of the driveway where Patrick was working.

“David!” Patrick pulled one of his earbuds out, letting it hang. The cold had made the wire stiff, the angle of it unnatural. “I didn’t think you’d be awake yet.”

David had jammed his feet into snow boots, the joggers he’d worn to bed bunching up around his calves. A hat was jammed down on his head, covering his ears, and he shivered as he struggled to zip his coat with gloved fingers. “You not being in bed wakes me up sometimes. And I felt bad that you were out here by yourself.”

“You don’t need to feel bad — you’re covering the store today.” They each had a day each week when they worked the store with Bethany while the other had the day off, and today was David’s day to work. “The least I can do is dig your car out for you.”

David huffed. “Let me help.”

Patrick tilted his head to the side, regarding his husband thoughtfully. “Okay, David. There’s another shovel in the shed.”

David tromped away as directed, and a minute later he was shoveling in a parallel track to where Patrick had been working. It wasn’t something that Patrick could have pictured David Rose doing a few years ago, but David had seemed determined to meet the challenge of homeownership in a lot of ways that Patrick couldn’t have pictured before they were married.

When they finished and went back inside, David groaned as he bent over to pull his boots off. “Ugh, my back,” he whined.

Patrick tried to put a hand on David’s lower back, but his puffy winter coat prevented any contact. “Go take a shower and I’ll make your coffee,” he said.

Patrick put on water to heat up, rubbing his hands together to warm himself, and began getting things set up for breakfast: he ground coffee beans for David’s French press and got out tea for himself and eggs for both of them. He moved automatically through the morning routine, ingrained habits from their year and a half of marriage and from all the mornings before that, when David spent the night at Patrick’s apartment.

After making David breakfast and seeing him out the door with a reminder to drive carefully, Patrick curled up on the sofa with his phone. He had a list of chores he wanted to tackle, and he had a book he wanted to read, but he spent over an hour switching between social media apps, dipping into the first few paragraphs of news articles before dipping back out, not focusing on any one thing for more than a few minutes. He opened a couple of game apps, but closed them again just as quickly without doing anything. These days he’d been mostly avoiding Facebook — he knew the ethical thing to do these days was to delete your Facebook account, but he was afraid of losing touch with all the people he didn’t communicate with any other way. He opened the app now, scrolling through the posts on his feed, most of them family members and friends from high school and college.

He paused briefly on a candid picture on his cousin Sara’s page of her son Justin. “Justin’s last performance in Newsies was last night!!! Great job to all!!!!” Wrinkling his nose at all the exclamation points, he took a good look at his cousin’s kid. They weren’t at the wedding, but he had seen Justin very briefly at the engagement barbecue his parents had thrown for him and David. He’d been a gawky fifteen-year-old at the time, quiet, ghosting along beside his parents with the disdain for attending a family function that only a teenager was capable of. The boy in the picture was older, and something about the way he looked in the picture, his arms slung over the shoulders of a couple of his castmates, made Patrick smile. Congrats to Justin!, he typed into the comments.

Finally, he dragged himself upstairs to shower and get dressed in some clean clothes, regretting that he’d already squandered part of his day off. He could have gone into the store with David if the alternative was this, a day at home feeling adrift and empty.

A hot shower helped, and afterward Patrick started a load of laundry, settling onto the sofa with a basket of towels from the dryer to fold. He unlocked his phone and started one of his history podcasts playing. Most of the rest of the day passed by as Patrick did the bare minimum of household chores, interrupted by long stretches of lost time when he was doing nothing in particular.

Stevie stopped by at a little past five o’clock, flopping down at the kitchen table while Patrick looked in the fridge and tried to decide what he was going to make for dinner.

“Do you want to hear something hilarious?” Stevie asked as Patrick took a packet of chicken breasts out and checked the date. They were still good, and he figured they would do for dinner. A serviceable, boring dinner — the Patrick Brewer of dinners, he thought uncharitably. He also took out some mushrooms, and grabbed an onion from the bowl on the counter.

“Sure,” he answered.

“I saw Gwen yesterday.”

“Bob’s Gwen?” He pulled a chef’s knife from the block and sliced the onion in half.

“Okay, she hasn’t been Bob’s Gwen for a few years.”

Patrick huffed. “No, I know, I was just asking if that’s who you meant. Because she moved to Elm… somewhere. Elm Valley?”

“She moved to Elm Ridge, actually, but she was in town for some reason, and I saw her.”

He squinted at Stevie. “And?”

“And she asked how it was working out among the three of us, and it was clear she meant… like, she thought we’re a throuple.”

Patrick laughed. “We do spend a lot of time together, you, me, and David.”

“I know, but you’re gay.”

“Sure, but I can’t say I’ve ever explained the particulars of my sexual orientation to Gwen. Maybe she assumes I’m pansexual like David.” He blinked up at her. “Are you worried that people will think you’re off the market?”

Stevie shrugged. “The kinds of people I tend to hook up with wouldn’t care.”

“Fair enough.” Patrick felt the old impulse to reassure Stevie that she’d find the right person eventually, and he had to remind himself that he needed to take her at her word, that romance and love weren’t necessarily what she was looking for.

“Are you okay?” she asked with narrowed eyes, watching him carefully as he put dinner together.

“I’m just tired. Had kind of a shitty day.” He couldn’t articulate what made it shitty, though. It was the vague ennui that had been plaguing him lately, the pregnant rain clouds in his brain that were casting a shadow over everything, washing the colour out. “ You staying for dinner?”

“Yeah, if it’s not too much trouble.”

“It’s always fine, Stevie. You know that.”

“Thanks.” She walked over and grabbed a beer out of the fridge, opening it with the magnetic bottle opener that Patrick kept on the door.

“Maybe I just haven’t been getting enough sunshine lately,” Patrick said.

“Do we need to get you one of those light therapy things?” Stevie asked, taking a swig of her beer.

Patrick chuckled. “I don’t know, maybe.” He bit his lip, unsure if he should share more. “It kind of reminds me of the way I used to feel before I ran away and moved here. But back then, I had a good reason to be sad. I’ve got no reason to be sad now.”

“Depression doesn’t have to have a reason. I mean, it doesn’t have to be because you’re… engaged to the wrong person, for example.”

He knew that, intellectually. But he wasn’t sure he really believed it, deep down. “I guess.” He didn’t want to talk about it anymore. “When’s your next trip?” he asked to divert the conversation onto another track.

Patrick cooked and the two of them gossiped for a bit longer until David got home from the store, planting a kiss on Patrick’s lips when he joined them in the kitchen. The easy banter among the three of them over dinner quelled some of Patrick’s unhappiness, and he found himself laughing through the familiar see-saw of their interactions, as they cycled through every combination of two-against-one. They finally settled on the sofa, David putting on the episode of Derry Girls that they had left off with the last time Stevie was over. Stevie sat between them, leaning against Patrick’s shoulder with her socked feet up on David’s lap.

“Can’t imagine why people think we’re a throuple,” Patrick said, lifting his shoulder and adjusting to a more comfortable position before gesturing for her to lean on him again.

Stevie snorted. “In your dreams, Brewer.”

“Nope.” Then he thought about it. “Well, there was that one time during Cabaret, but I’m not responsible for who turns up in my sex dreams.”

David turned and eyed him. “Who turned up in your sex dreams?”

“Me, apparently,” Stevie said as she poked David in the leg with her toe.

“Ew,” David said.

“Ted, a few times,” Patrick said, which got him an eye roll from his husband.

“I assume you mean the turtle,” David said, looking back at the television.

“Yeah, I’m so hot for turtles.”

Stevie started flipping through a dating app on her phone, her attention only half on the show they were watching.

“What do you think of this one?” she said, holding up the phone so that Patrick could see the blandly handsome shirtless guy on the screen.

“Meh.”

“He’s got nice arms,” Stevie said.

“He looks like an asshole.”

“Doesn’t mean he won’t be a good fuck.”

He supposed not, and it didn’t seem like Stevie really wanted his opinion anyway, even though she’d asked for it. He watched as she swiped right on Mr. Shirtless.

Patrick dozed off after a little while, existing in that place between wakefulness and sleep where he was still convinced he was following the story of the show they were watching even though his eyes were closed. He was distantly aware of the warmth of Stevie pressed up against his side and the smell of her hair, and of the safety of being with the two people who knew him best in the world.

(Chapter 2)

#schitt's creek fic #david x patrick #david x patrick fic #david x patrick ff #schitt's creek #my fic #schitt's creek ff

7 notes · View notes

softjeon · 5 years

Text

Home | Pt. 4

• Pairing: Namjoon x Hybrid!Yoongi (Platonic!) • Genre: Fluff | Hybrid!AU • Words: 6,5k | AO3 • Disclaimer: a tiny bit of anxiety and insomnia

written with @cassiavioletblue

↳ Namjoon watched Yoongi strutting after him over his shoulder and sighed. He couldn’t believe he’s really done it; paying too much money for a hybrid that would bite him if given the chance when all he had wanted was a cute, little - very much harmless - kitten to begin with.

« previous chapter | masterlist | next chapter »

Namjoon hummed in response, nodding as he was talking to Taehyung on the phone, smiling at Yoongi as he passed him. They were talking for a while now and Taehyung kept on switching between the topics and then kept asking him random questions about his hybrid again. He really needed to concentrate to follow him, closing his eyes to focus.

“Do you still want a kitten if he stays here? I think my neighbor’s cat had some offspring. It’s a bit too early now but in a few weeks maybe…,” Taehyung asked over the phone but Namjoon interrupted him right away. “No, I don’t think so. It saddens me enough already…I don’t need a cat right after, which probably doesn’t want to stay with me either. I’ll just sell the kitten stuff,” He quickly shrugged the conversation off, getting back on the topic to tell him about Yoongi and if they could meet up soon.

When Namjoon walked into the kitchen where Yoongi was eating his breakfast (Namjoon had urged him on to eat while he was still on the phone or else the other hadn’t touched it), he smiled. “So, I have good news and bad news.” Namjoon reached for one of the apple slices and took a bite from it, “Bad News: Taehyung won’t be here for a few days…so we can only meet him on Saturday. Which means you have to stay with me for a couple of days. I hope that’s okay? But to make up for the promise I gave you, I talked to another friend of mine…and I’d like to show you something.”

Yoongi - relaxed and fluffed up from his trip to the bathroom (he had almost fallen asleep from being so comfortable but then Namjoons pacing and talking on the phone had woken him back up and the smell of breakfast had drawn him into the kitchen) - paused mid eating. “I’ve been so long in capture that a few days won’t make a difference.” He answered, not really sure about it himself but there wasn’t really anything else he could do. Running around in circles and scratching the wall wouldn’t change anything. “Hm? Can it wait till after breakfast?” He had no idea what it was that Namjoon wanted to show him but it couldn’t be as amazing as scrambled eggs with bacon.

“Oh, you sure have to be well fed and have enough energy for this one.” Namjoon laughed and grabbed a slice of bread and some of the bacon, “Also I never skip on a meal.” He winked, before diving into his own food. It was nice like this, they were talking – not too much, but they were opening up to each other and Namjoon actually felt like Yoongi enjoyed it in a way. He was only hoping that his little surprise could ease him even more and make him see that Namjoon didn’t want to hurt him. He had promised him some freedom and if they couldn’t visit Taehyung, they could visit another friend of his: Jin.

They kept on eating in silence, not because they didn’t know what to say but because they were both so concentrated on their food. Yoongi ate until he was full again and Namjoon would have even offered him another serving. He would definitely miss Namjoon’s tasty food.

Namjoon opened a drawer in his hallway, keys already in hand and ready to go, when he pulled out a scarf. “I know you hate the collars, but we have to put something around your neck…so the people don’t freak.” Namjoon walked over to Yoongi, “Do you think that will be okay? I won’t put on a leash or anything. Just this.”

The response made him pause again, looking at Namjoon with skepsis in his face while trying to see if Namjoon was hiding something - but the human was smiling at him completely open, his dimples showing again. Yoongi found himself relaxing easily again. He trusted Namjoon in a way because it was pretty easy to read his body language and while at first he hadn’t been sure if the other wasn’t just putting on a show while hiding his true motifs away he was now pretty sure that Namjoon wasn’t even capable of hiding something big from him. And he also liked his dimples. He frowned nonetheless. “Give it to me, I can handle that.” He took the scarf and tried to tie a proper knot but without a mirror and with no expertise in scarf the thing hung loosely and ugly around his throat when he was finished. Namjoon only chuckled at that, way too excited and nervous at the same time.

In the car, he was bopping his head to the music as they drove further downtown trying not give away where they were headed to. “Jin is a good friend of mine. Actually, one of my oldest friends…,” Namjoon began explaining when he noticed how close they were, “But you don’t have to be afraid. Inside it will only be you and me. He only will open the doors for us.” He could literally see the confusion written on Yoongi’s face and how the expression changed when their car pulled up to a large parking lot. Yoongi was stiff and tense on the drive, he didn’t like the car and the other cars that drove past them and when Namjoon mentioned his friend his ears lowered. He didn’t know them and he would also be outnumbered - but apparently they wouldn’t even meet him? Yoongi was utterly confused until they arrived and his eyes widened.

“He owns this Snow Dome. It’s a skiing center but they are closed on Wednesdays… you will have it all to yourself. I packed some food for you, something to drink…and I brought my laptop.” He turned off the engine and opened the car door, “I promised that you could run around on a field today but since Taehyung isn’t here, I thought you’d like this instead?”

There were big signs advertising the snow dome with pictures of snowflakes and ice and snow and everything Yoongi could dream of. “There is... snow inside?” He asked, still not sure if he had gotten this right, “But it’s not winter! Is this like a giant freezer? Do people store their food here if they don’t have space at home?”

Namjoon chuckled, opening the trunk of his car to get out a thick jacket for himself and the bag he had packed, “It’s a place where people usually ski inside, you know. And apparently some people prefer the cold and there is a kids place, too where they always build snowmen and igloos. There is a skiing slope inside, but as I said there won’t be anything on but the lights so you can just run around and do whatever you want to do for a few hours. There’s a lot of snow inside.” Namjoon waved Jin from where they stood and turned to look at his arctic fox that suddenly seemed way smaller, his eyes big and looking up at the sign with a hopeful glint. “You ready?”

Yoongi still wasn’t sure what ‘skiing’ was but he didn’t dare to ask so he just nodded and followed Namjoon, the prospect of seeing actual snow winning even over his wariness when that other human joined them, apparently Jin. Yoongi stepped from one foot to the other, nerves and curiosity mixing until he felt like he was about to burst form the restless energy in his veins. He was so fixated on what was inside that his tail twitched a few times, stroking over Namjoon’s fingers in the process and making him jump a little.

Namjoon thanked Jin, taking the key from him and trying to avoid answering anymore questions on why he had a hybrid now when he wanted to get a kitten in the first place. He quickly closed the door behind them and then motioned for Yoongi to go along. “This way,” Namjoon pointed behind the counter and showed Yoongi the way through the changing rooms all the way into heart of the dome. He placed his bag onto one of the tables at the now-closed and very empty bistro and opened up his arms, turning around to proudly present his surprise. “You’re free to go and explore. If you need me I’ll be here working on some stuff…just call out if you need anything or want snacks.” But before Namjoon sat down, he hesitated, taking a step closer to his fox. “Let me…,” Namjoon said quietly and untied the scarf from him, “We can put it on later again. You should enjoy yourself now.”

Yoongi nodded enthusiastically and then turned towards the vast snowfield. It looked like everything he needed to be happy and he sniffed, furrowing his brows a little. “This smells different…,” He was more talking to himself than to Namjoon as he carefully took a tentative step into the snow. It crunched under his sole and with an over excited little hop the fox hybrid landed with both feet in the white stuff. He giggled when he felt the snow under both of his shoes. Then he crunched down and took up a hand full, licking it curiously. With a squeal he took a full bite of it, getting snow all over his face. “That’s... that‘s real snow!” Which was the last Namjoon heard from him for a while (except happy fox sounds) as he turned and started running as fast as he could.

Namjoon jerked a little when Yoongi first squealed thinking that something has been wrong, but then the fox had been running and looking so happy while doing so that it was enough reason for him to bare the cold. He got out his thermos and poured in some hot coffee, when he opened his browser to answer some emails. Namjoon had given his house viewing appointments over to his colleague, thinking that he had spent the day at Taehyung's.

Taking another sip from his coffee, he noticed it was already gone and after an hour even his thermos was completely empty. He frowned, looking over his shoulder to one of the vending machines debating whether or not he should get himself another coffee. The tired yawn that followed answered that question for him and he only regretted it again, when he drank the first sip of the hot coffee from the automat. “Ugh,” Namjoon shook himself from the bad taste and leaned his chin onto his hand, trying to find Yoongi in the snow. He yawned again, blinking his eyes tiredly, feeling how heavy his eyelids felt. Pulling his jacket a little closer around himself, Namjoon closed his eyes. “Just for a moment,” He mumbled to himself.

Yoongi completely lost track of time, running and jumping and rolling in the snow. Like a little pup. There was endless white, no cars, no dirt, no humans, just him and the snow and he loved it!

He started panting after a while, not caring about over exerting himself, he just wanted to enjoy it while it lasted though after a while the thought of what Namjoon might be doing had sneaked into his mind. Maybe they could do some snowball catching? When he caught sight of the human he realised with a tinge of disappointment that Namjoon didn’t have eyes for the crisp beauty that was this amazing snowfield, instead he apparently had eyes for nothing right now as it looked as if he was sleeping. Carefully Yoongi stalked closer, like a predator eyeing his prey.

It didn’t take long for Namjoon’s chin to slip from his hand, making him jerk up in a sudden realization that he had fallen asleep. He looked around, his breath quickened and then Namjoon saw Yoongi stalking him. Rubbing his hands together to get the warmth back into them, he chuckled softly at him. “You’re cute, Yoongi!” Namjoon pointed at him, “Your white fur looks perfect next to the snow. Are you hungry? How late is it?” He quickly pulled his bag closer, searching for his phone. They only had a limited amount of time in the dome before they needed to prepare it for tomorrow’s business.

Yoongi immediately tried to loosen his stance but Namjoon had already seen him - and worse he had called him ‘cute’! Yoongi couldn’t help the pout that was forming on his face.

He was a wild predator, damnit!

“I might take a bite of human, just for a snack,” He answered just because and crossed his arms. “And I have no idea what time it is. But you can leave me here all day!”

Namjoon couldn’t help but smile brightly at that, ignoring the first comment on purpose and just got out something to drink for Yoongi anyways. “I’d love to really…but when it’s open it’s full of people here and unfortunately they have to get the dome ready for tomorrow. Did you build something maybe? Want to show me before we go?” Namjoon asked and quickly added, “Oh and I already asked Jin if you can come here again and he said ‘yes’ as long as you don’t break something.”

“No I didn’t built something.” Of course he had buried himself under a heap of snow at some point but he definitely wouldn’t show Namjoon that. He pouted even harder at the thought of humans running all over the snow, trampling the crisp, untouched surface and ruining its beauty. He sighed deeply. At least he had been so lucky to have the full dome to himself today. He huffed offendly. “What exactly am I supposed to break here, hm? The snowflakes? The funny thing is if you look a little more closely it’s always humans who break things: they cut the trees and poison the lakes and asphalt streets without giving a damn of what was there before! But sure, ask me to be careful.” He walked off, grabbing a hand full of snow and putting it into his pocket in a desperate attempt to keep a little of this feeling with him.

“I didn’t want to anger you, Yoongi. I was just repeating what Jin said,” Namjoon said, hoping to calm the suddenly furious hybrid again. He chuckled at Yoongi’s behavior quietly enough for him not to hear and closed his laptop to stuff it back into his bag. Namjoon sighed in content, when he could feel the warm breeze on his cheeks again and he closed his eyes for a second. He quickly brought the keys back into Jin’s office and drove them back home.

Spending the day in the snow dome had made Namjoon feel even more tired, even though he hadn’t been moving all day but typing and calling customers while watching Yoongi run around.

“Is it okay for you, if I go to bed a little earlier… I have a house viewing tomorrow. It’s an important customer,” Namjoon asked as he untied the scarf around Yoongi’s neck again and putting it back into the drawer. “You can just go and eat whenever or watch TV if you want to. Read…or walk into the garden. Just don’t forget to close the door again.” Namjoon yawned, hiding it behind the palm of his hand.

Yoongi shook his head. Of course he didn’t have a problem with it if Namjoon went to bed early as it only meant that he had even more time for himself. Then his ears perked up. “The garden? You will let me go out alone?” If he was lucky then maybe he could even hunt himself something fresh. “Are there mice? Should I hunt us some?”

Namjoon just nodded, “I told you that I won’t force you to do anything. I just asked for you to look at Taehyung’s farm first, where you can be safe and free, before running away.” He was just about to turn, when he looked at Yoongi again. “That’s nice of you.” Namjoon was actually fond that Yoongi had thought about him, too, “But I’m not really into mice…but I bet you’ll find some…especially right by the garden house.” Once more, Namjoon had to fight the urge to ruffle through Yoongi’s hair.

Yoongi shrugged, "No mouse for you then." He had figured that Namjoon would like some extra meat but if you had some in store at home that was already ready to be eaten then you could be picky. It hit Yoongi like a little jolt when he realized that he didn't have to hunt as well, at least not for the next few days. Namjoon had said that he could eat when he was hungry… so maybe he would just pay the mice a little visit and stare at them.

...

They fell into a comfortable rhythm.

Namjoon trusted him completely and gave him as much freedom as he could so Yoongi didn’t feel the need to run away any longer. He had decided that he would believe Namjoon and give this Taehyung person a chance. If it turned out that it was just some version of a private hybrid zoo then he could still bolt, but until then he enjoyed the comforts that living with Namjoon brought: He had a bed that came as close to a den as human bedding could, he had food whenever he wanted and Namjoon let him choose freely what to eat (he didn’t turn up his nose at him when Yoongi chose to eat his eggs raw every once in a while - raw egg yolk made for a shiny fur - but also included him whenever he made food and this way Yoongi had found out that he enjoyed human food a lot. All the spices and fancy things that he had never tasted before were really fun to try. It had become a little game as Namjoon tried to come up with things Yoongi might enjoy but had never heard off before) and most important: Namjoon never ever treated him as a pet.

He didn’t punish him, he didn’t try to train him, he didn’t even use a collar on him after he had realized how much Yoongi hated to wear one. He also never used the leash on his neck. They clipped it onto Yoongi’s belt loop under the jacket so that it didn’t really show where it was coming from whenever they went out and had to walk through crowded spaces. If he was really honest it made him feel better not worse to have the leash on him like this because he could pull Namjoon closer to him him just as it was the other way round when he got overwhelmed by too many people. And with his leash he also didn’t need to be afraid of running into policemen and be hinted again. Though he preferred spending time with one human at maximum. Namjoon.

He had also found the mice in the garden house as Namjoon had told him and he had become fond of them. In a way they lived pretty similar; formerly wild animals who had become habitants of the city, living among humans and eating their food while still being a free spirit at heart. If Namjoon had noticed that there were a few extra slices of cheese missing then he hadn’t mentioned it.

There was just one thing that was really unpleasant: Namjoon’s nightmares.

Yoongi had gotten used to waking up in the middle of the night. Namjoon didn’t always scream. Sometimes he just whimpered or turned in his bed over and over because he couldn’t fall asleep for more than a few minutes. Some nights he gave up after a while, roaming around until they eventually meet in the kitchen. Those nights were often followed by lazy days filled with movies and snacks and lounging around. Yoongi had found out that kitten brushes were perfect for grooming sensitive parts like fox ears and he loved to brush his tail when he kept Namjoon company in the living room. Sadly he could practically see how Namjoon got worse. He became unconcentrated, started to forget things. From all the coffee he drank his smell became a little bitter and Yoongi didn’t like it. He could see the exhaustion in the shadows under the humans eyes, the paleness of his skin, the way his smile got a little strained. He wondered for how long Namjoon would be able to go on like this.

Rubbing his eyes again, Namjoon blinked them open staring at the bright screen of his laptop to decipher the words. But no matter how hard he was trying it felt like they were blurring into one. Yawning deeply, he stretched his tired limbs, getting interrupted by another phone call. “How can I help you, Miss Jung?” Namjoon answered, knowing the number by heart (an old lady that rented an apartment from him and always had something to complain about). He smiled at Yoongi as the hybrid jumped back into the living room, obviously happy about having the space of the garden, as he got up to get some more of the frozen fruits he had bought on his way home from a house viewing. Filling them up in a small bowl, Namjoon was putting the phone between his shoulders and ears, trying to hum in understandment. Honestly, the old lady was just as alone as he was...so he understood in a way, not really being mad that she would call him almost every other day. He placed the bowl in front of Yoongi, who had made himself comfortable on his pillows again.

“Here, I got you only the best forest fruits,” He whispered and then added a little louder into the speaker of the phone, “No, Miss Jung I was talking to a friend.” The phone call took even longer than he had expected and Namjoon was pacing a little, trying to get other things done while he was listening to her complaints about the neighbours. When he passed Yoongi though, who was eating so cutely his fruits, sitting on the floor, Namjoon couldn’t help himself but ruffle through his hair instinctively, scratching him lightly behind his ears for a second and then walked ahead, not realizing what he had done.

Yoongi’s eyes widened as the fruit fell out of his mouth and his spine straightened automatically. He blinked in confusion. Whenever a human had touched him before his first instinct had always been to recoil, disgust and nausea bubbling up. This time however he had perked up as if he wanted to lean into Namjoon’s touch. His scalp tingled from where Namjoon had scratched him at the spot behind his ears... it had felt way too good! He stared at Namjoon in confusion as if the other could explain this to him while wiping over his ear a few times. It didn’t help. Namjoon’s gentle scratches had felt way better than his own touch. He huffed indignantly and stuffed his mouth full of berries to have something other to do than stare at his human.

Namjoon came back, finally putting the phone back on the table and looked at Yoongi with furrowed brows. The other had red spots all over his white fur, his cheeks looking puffed as he stared back at him. “Don’t eat too much, Yoongi or else you get a stomach ache…or choke on it.” Namjoon chuckled, “You’ve got fruit juice all over yourself.”

Talking back wasn’t an option with his mouth stuffed so he just grumbled unintelligibly, clutching the bowl tighter to himself as if to say ‘they are still mine and I will eat them even if I have to do it slowly’. After chewing thoroughly (he would never just swallow something so deliciously down in own gulp), he shrugged his shoulders. “I have a fox stomach. We can practically eat anything.” He refused to mention the fruity spots on his fur but he tried to wipe them off without seeing them, using his tongue - which kinda made it worse.

Namjoon shook his head softly, chuckling at the way Yoongi was only making it worse. Pushing himself up from the couch, he got a towel from the smaller bathroom downstairs and moistened it with lukewarm water. Getting back to Yoongi, who showed off the empty bowl proudly to him, Namjoon smiled and kneeled in front of him. “Let me help you with that or else you get it everywhere else on your cheeks and paws. I don’t know how you did it but you have some red spots on your ears, too.” He couldn’t help but grin, showing off his dimples, as he reached out for Yoongi slowly. The hybrid didn’t hiss at him, nor did he growl, so Namjoon simply began to clean his cheeks softly, careful not to hurt him. He was cleaning him thoroughly though, making Yoongi tilt his chin up with a touch of his hand, knowing how much the hybrid loved his white fur to be spotless and absolutely perfect.

Yoongi didn't hiss or react because at first he simply had no idea what Namjoon wanted from him and when it dawned on him that the human was about to clean him it was too late.

"It's fine I can..." He was stunned into silence when Namjoon started to clean his face, so gently as if he was the kitten Namjoon had been prepared for. He just stared at the other, too overwhelmed to do anything else - until he was starting to go for his ears. They flattened immediately against his head, away from the humans hands. They were very sensitive and just the thought of Namjoon touching them roughly chased a shiver down his spine. He had been so gentle with him until now though and even at this moment he didn't just reach out further to get his ears back up, instead he just waited until the perked again, slowly and carefully. He kept eye contact with Yoongi the whole time which made it feel so intimate that Yoongi had to look away to hide his rosy cheeks. The touch on his ears had him shuddering again, but in a good way and without thinking he leaned his head in Namjoons direction to give the other better access.

Namjoon reacted on instinct, caressing the hybrids ears softly making a smile appear on his lips. He’d never thought that Yoongi would let him come this near, or even let him caress through his fur. A painful ache made him awfully aware of them parting soon, though and Namjoon pulled back. “There...all clean, now.” Yoongi was almost disappointed that Namjoon was so quick and efficient. He was really good at this, with a steady hand and gentle but firm touches… so good actually that Yoongi found himself thinking about how he could make Namjoon caress his ears again. Without making it too obvious how much he liked it of course, he had to keep his face.

Namjoon’s smile wavered a little, as he got the bowl and brought it back into the kitchen. Trying to occupy his mind, Namjoon started to clean the dishes, desperately avoiding the thought of being alone soon again when Yoongi decided that Taehyung would be the better solution...or being on his own again, if he deemed it not enough there, because Namjoon definitely wasn't the place he wanted to stay. Yoongi had made that clear a couple of times. A plate slipped from his hands and shattered on the floor and Namjoon cursed himself, quickly cleaning it up again so Yoongi wouldn’t hurt his paws or anything. Since the other had been living here, he’d always made sure to clean his floors thoroughly as the arctic fox loved to sit and lay on the floor whenever he wanted to. He finished his task quickly, ignoring the constant nagging at the back of his mind.

Although it had been a nice encounter for Yoongi, at the end Namjoon behaved strangely. Something was off and Yoongi didn’t know what it was, if it might have been something that he had done wrong or if Namjoon simply didn’t feel well. It worried him. And when Namjoon broke the plate he was on his feet right away, ready to help or make it better - but then he didn’t know what to do or what to say and so he sat back down, worrying his bottom lip and feeling helpless.

“Good night, Yoongi!” Namjoon called out before he made his way upstairs, the urge to just fall asleep and ignore everything else sounded better than to think about the reasons why no one wanted to stay with him, why he wasn’t good enough and always ended up alone. He was like a robot, as he got into the shower, did his usual night routine and then laid down in bed, staring up at the white ceiling. Biting down onto his bottom lip hard, Namjoon turned to curl in on himself. It was so stupid, all of it, the thoughts, the doubts. He knew that. Which made it even worse, because he felt childish, selfish and alone.

Yoongi didn’t go to bed right away when Namjoon had told him ‘good night’ instead he switched off the TV and listened, hoping that Namjoon would be able to sleep a little better this night.

Namjoon got up again and into the bathroom and then walked out only moments later because he couldn’t stand to see his own face right now. Then he took a book from his desk nearby, trying to get comfortable, pushing the cushions around but nothing wanted to stay like he wanted to. Nothing worked. Not even the cushions wanted to stay at their stupid, fucking, dumb place. Namjoon groaned in anger and let himself fall onto his back, finding himself staring back at the ceiling again. He sniffled quietly, wiping over his cheek angrily when he felt something wet on them.

Yoongi’s ears moved constantly, following every movement that his human did upstairs, getting up, laying down again... he felt dizzy just listening to this. How on earth wasn’t Namjoon so exhausted that he had no other choice than fall asleep? He half expected to see Namjoon get down the stairs to join him in the kitchen in a little midnight-talk when it suddenly got quiet. Apparently the sleep must have won over the human after all. Content Yoongi got up from his place in front of the TV and got himself ready for bed as well.

Namjoon reached for a cushion and hugged it tight, hiding his own face in the soft fabric to stifle his sobs that seemed to overwhelm him out of a sudden. He was tired and exhausted. Namjoon sobbed. One painful gasp, before he tried to hide himself while curling in and closing his eyes. If he just pressed his eyelids tightly enough he’d fall asleep – he was sure of it.

The fox was about to get comfortable in his den when a miserable sound made him still. He listened intently, trying to decipher if it had just been a little sleepy snuffle or if there was something wrong with Namjoon. He was just about to lay his head back down when he heard it again. And this time there was no doubt about it: Namjoon was crying. It surprised him, how much it hurt him to hear the human cry. He had tried to not let it get too close to him when hybrids were sad in the pet shop and when he couldn‘t be cold and detached he had figured that it was because they were so similar to him. But Namjoon was human, and yet here he was, heart aching just from listening to a few of his choked off sounds, knowing that he was up there, feeling lost and lonely and desperate enough to give into his tears. Yoongi tried to curl in on himself more tightly and ignore it, to let Namjoon have his privacy but there was no way that he could fall asleep like this. It weighed heavy on his conscious and after a short little while he gave up and got back on his feet. Asking Namjoon if he was okay couldn‘t hurt. It was dark and it was late so if Namjoon wanted to keep his feelings private then he could just tell him to leave and they could both pretend that none of this had happened. Yoongi quietly got up the stairs on bare feet (feeling a little too cold for his comfort) before he finally reached Namjoon‘s bedroom. He hadn‘t been in there before and now that he was right in front of it he hesitated, not sure if it would be overstepping his boundaries with Namjoon. “Can I come in?” His voice was barely a whisper and yet in the sudden silence it felt way too loud.

Namjoon jerked in surprise, sitting up quickly and wiped over his cheeks to get rid of any tears left. But his red, puffy eyes still gave him away. “Y-yeah, sure…,” He tried a smile when there was light coming in from where Yoongi stood in the doorway. “Do you need anything? Did the air cooler stop again? I-I can try and fix it.”

“No, it’s fine. I’m fine. But you’re not.” Carefully he slipped under the covers, pulling his tail along so every part of him stayed warm. Then he inched closer towards Namjoon, slow enough that the other could bolt if he wanted or tell him to stop (because that’s what Yoongi would have wanted if he had been in Namjoon’s situation) and when nothing came he stretched out right next to to him. The human looked still tense and uncomfortable so Yoongi turned the other’s face towards him and started cleaning him to make him feel at ease.

Namjoon completely stiffened up in surprise, his eyes wide and body froze when Yoongi simply licked over his cheeks. “Y-yoongi,” He gazed at his hybrid and couldn’t help but tear up even more pulling him away from his face to look at him thoroughly. He sniffled softly, as he couldn’t help but cry again, “What are you doing?”

“I’m helping you to clean up your tears,” He stated as if it was obvious and the most natural thing in the world to do. He leaned forward again to reach the others cheek and licked over the reddened skin, getting rid of all the salty tracks on it. His tongue was a little rough even though Yoongi was gentle and so Namjoon’s face reddened even more. The fox nosed along Namjoon’s jaw when he was finished, sniffing at where his skin was the most delicate and Namjoon’s smell the strongest. “Are you sad because you can’t sleep?”

Namjoon hesitated to answer and instead leaned against the bed frame, to get himself more time. “I’m sad about a lot of things. But sleep is one of them…but it’s kind of an endless circle. I can’t sleep because I’m sad, then that makes me even more sad, you know?” He shrugged his shoulders, “I tend to overthink everything and I’m very stressed out recently.” Namjoon bit his lip, not being able to hide how his eyes were tearing up again but he blinked against it trying not to cry. “And I am sad that you will go soon…but I am also very happy for you.” Reaching out for Yoongi, a faint smile played on his lips that only faltered when he realized what he was about to do. “Oh, I’m sorry.” Namjoon quickly pulled his hand back.

“Hmm..” Yoongi bit his lip. If he was getting overwhelmed then he just let his instincts take over knowing that they would help protect him and do what was best for the fox. But it wasn’t like he could tell that to Namjoon as the other was merely human. He had no idea how humans made themself feel better. “Well you can visit me there. You’ll always be welcome if you bring fruits,” He nodded encouragingly, not realizing that Namjon couldn’t see as good as he could in the dark. If Namjoon didn’t have a fox side that he could rely on - then Yoongi would just treat him like a fox and hope that it would help him too. “No overthinking tonight. We will get comfortable now and then you will sleep and tomorrow you feel better. Maybe you’re inside too much. I always feel restless when I’m without nature for too long. You should go for a run in the park. A forest would be best but I don’t think you have those here. And if this doesn’t help then I’ll clean you, just like you did with my ears. You’ll see it’s really nice for destressing.” Content Yoongi lied back down next to Namjoon. “Are you ready to try sleeping again?”

“I will,” Namjoon spoke softly, “I will visit you a lot if you want me to. And I’ll take you to the snow dome from time to time, okay?” He chuckled at Yoongi’s orders but just did as he said. Laying down beside him, Namjoon sighed deeply and pulled the blanket a little closer around the hybrid and gave him a cushion of his. “Yoongi?” His voice was only a whisper, “Do you mind if I…I’ll be gentle…”

Yoongi huffed, “I’m not made of glass, you don’t need to be gentle.” Seeing such a vulnerable side of Namjoon had him feeling more secure... and also strangely protective. “I sleep best when I‘m curled up but we can still share your bed. Maybe the extra warmth helps you sleep.” He turned around so that his back was towards Namjoon, inching closer until the other could reach for him easily and then curled in on himself so that his knees where up and he could bury his face into the fur of his own tail how he liked it. „I won‘t mind if you want put your face against my ears. I think it‘s most comfortable to sleep against fur. Maybe it makes you feel safe too.“

Namjoon only smiled at that, pulling the hybrid into his embrace and curled up around him, doing exactly what he had offered: nuzzling his face against his ears. It was unbelievable to Namjoon, how soft Yoongi was on the inside and the more he was opening up, the more he understood the fox and why he had been so scared in the beginning. Again, Namjoon wanted to cry – but out of different reasons. Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself and closed his eyes, hoping that no bad dream would wake him tonight. He didn’t want Yoongi to get hurt if he might roll around or get scared by him talking in his sleep. The hybrid got used to another body close to him pretty quickly and he sighed happily when Namjoons solid presence had warmth seeping through his skin. He could get used to sleeping comfortably like this…

Surprisingly he wasn’t the only one to enjoy this as he didn’t wake for quite a while until the sun was rising again. Only when his tail accidentally got in the way did he blink awake sleepily, only to find the human still asleep. He looked almost cute like this, relaxed and soft and Yoongi had to hold onto him to not lean forward and lick his face again.

A/N: Only one more chapter left! Thank you for all the nice comments we received on this story! Cat and I always are so happy ;; You guys make us so happy!!! Oh and if you haven’t yet then check out the new trailer that we just posted for the upcoming Geisha!AU!

Subscribed: @jeonsdear @starlightstae @p-ixelite @lissachan504 @wise-bts-collector@nochuukookie@daisy-jeon @h-e-l-p-m-e-p-l-e-a-s-e00 @hisheartsmile @absque-nocte @violetrose120 @fusselkuchen@gelsavitichi @minsugasnerd @yoonqiful @thenameoftherain @jjkscnery @tobi-love @banaani-mins@writeasifwordsarepaintbrushes @it-is-dana @nomimits7 @laur-zipan @mytokyos @vannilacake@ksjinandtonic @eenabannana-blog @ultmay @bangtan-s-bitch @cecechiro @runyoufool @2seokkyo@buralarinkralicesi @bangtan-s-bitch @nikkikenji

↳ If you want to be tagged in new updates you can now sign up in my subscription list here

157 notes · View notes

bigskydreaming · 4 years

Text

Like, the thing you guys gotta understand is my loud opinions are far more defense mechanism than they are “I think I am right and nobody else is ever and people should listen to me only.”

Nah. They’re literally just me being as loud and as visible with the stuff that matters the most to me as is possible....because that actually minimizes the flack I catch for y’know...stuff I’m truly passionate about believing.

For example, my online behavior and tendencies in fandom on tumblr specifically....were largely shaped by my experiences in Teen Wolf fandom. Where I started out being as civil as possible wherever possible, and gradually got louder and angrier over time because THAT DIDN’T MATTER. Its why tone policing is bullshit, through and through. Because the real issue was never HOW I was saying what I was saying, it was what I was saying at all.

See, I flat out don’t like the fandom fave Stiles, as he’s portrayed on the show, and never did. Not from day one. He bothered the fuck out of me from the pilot. And this is a very controversial opinion in TW fandom, and was far more so back when I was first becoming ‘known’ in fandom, whatever the fuck that means or is even worth (seriously, its not worth a lot. You guys, stop putting so much weight in the visibility of more ‘well known’ bloggers....that doesn’t directly translate into the influence you think it does, especially when those bloggers are still holding what the majority of a fandom deems ‘unpopular’ opinions).

But back in my early TW days, I wasn’t really ‘known’ at all, for my blog and my opinions on the show. I was better known for my fics, which at the beginning, I was writing and updating fairly quickly. I’ve published somewhere just shy of 100,000 words of TW fanfic....and the vast majority of that was all written in just the first year or two in fandom.

And the thing is, for people who just found me on Ao3 and not on my blog originally....they weren’t as immediately aware of my bias against Stiles. Because I hate bashing ANY characters in fic. Even ones I don’t like, because the point of fanfic for me, is to FIX my personal issues with the source material, improve on the things *I* especially dislike....so even though I dislike Stiles on the show, in my better known TW fics, he was still present, and I was still trying to be as true to his core characterization as possible, WHILE addressing what I considered his core problem areas.

The kicker being.....a LOT of Stiles-fans LIKED my fanfic depiction of Stiles. A lot of S/terek fans included. You look at my TW fics like Where Wild Things Are or Lightning Crashes in particular....you’re gonna find a LOT of comments from self-proclaimed S/terek fans and Stiles stans....and those are just the ones I didn’t delete when I was forced to aggressively moderate my comments when a lot of those same commenters got loud and angry at me.

Which they did see....once they started connecting my Ao3 account to my blog, and my opinions on the show in general, which were starting to be more widespread in fandom due to some better known mutuals. I mean, its not like it was a big secret. My Ao3 pen name for my Teen Wolf fic is bigskydreamin’. It....wasn’t really anything I felt I needed to clarify, lmao.

But once people realized that the very same writer they liked for his take on Stiles very vocally disliked the show’s Stiles because of behaviors and scenes that I quote unquote deemed abusive (which I do, and stand by to this day).....they went fucking APESHIT on me. Like.....I can not even TELL you the extent of the nasty comments, anons, emails and reviews I got from some of the very same people who previously were glowing in their praise of my fics, especially the Stiles scenes.

All because I didn’t like the show’s depiction of certain behaviors and toxic dynamics, and set out to improve these things in my fic while being true to the characterizations....and which they had LIKED....until they realized my take didn’t come from a place of “oh I think Stiles is just the best.”

And then the fateful day came when one of them flat out asked me why I didn’t ship S/terek and if I would ever write S/terek....

And I had the balls to answer honestly. LOL. I wasn’t even insulting or offensive...just blunt. I told the person that I have serious issues with S/terek because of the power dynamics and the way they’re romanticized within fandom and most fics rather than called out and addressed, and I said I would never have any interest in tackling these topics myself in any kind of S/terek fic because my own past with abuse makes the ship just inherently unappealing to me because of how I perceive it, and I feel zero desire to ‘fix’ a thing I wouldn’t want on any level to begin with.

And they went and told all their friends and lol, RIP the rest of my TW years - and this was probably back in like, Year Two of my time in TW fandom. For a more accurate estimate, look for when I lost the will to update my big fics, because like. What was the point? Any positive reaction I got from updates at the time was just drowned out by the hate I got for adding to a story many of them were still reading, judging by the way my hit counts were still pretty steady with what they’d been with previous updates.....but that at the same time, they were heaping all kinds of shit on me for just....having opinions they didn’t like at the same time as I wrote stuff they still DID like.

The juxtaposition of those two things....lol. Man. Its a trip, I’ll tell you that.

And to be honest, the same thing has been happening ever since I started being more involved in Batfandom. You guys know how I reblog a lot of my own posts? That’s not something I used to do like, ever in TW fandom...because all the content I was making then was fresh. But I’ve always been a fan of Dick Grayson even while I was knee deep in TW fandom, so my longtime followers can tell you....I’ve been making these posts about him all along. A lot of my more popular Dick Grayson posts were written years ago, before I started getting active in this fandom....which only really happened over last summer.

And the difference in TONE in a lot of my posts, is a lot of the ‘tamer’ posts.....which express the exact same viewpoints I have as in my more heated posts.....is because my ‘tamer’ posts were written as one-offs that I just wrote in passing while in a fandom that generally didn’t have any interest in my Batfamily musings....which did not at all stop me from still making those posts from time to time....because I don’t post ANYTHING for the sake of getting notes. Its literally just shit that’s on my mind, that I want to put out there for people to do whatever the hell they feel like doing with them.

And so most of the posts I reblog, that seem more ‘mild’....its because I wrote them years ago, they got like maybe ten notes at the time, lol, and I’m reblogging them now because I have more of a platform and think they’d still be of interest to fans of that content specifically....but the stark tone difference is because when I wrote THOSE....nobody was jumping on my back the second I hit post to tell me how obviously wrong and stupid I was for not getting this or that or that and having this opinion on this character or just “caring too much about fictional characters.”

Like, you get what you give, people. You throw shit at me, eventually, I’m gonna start throwing shit back, and no, you don’t get to be pissed about that when all the evidence is there that I’m MORE than capable AND willing to have a good time just by myself....and more than happy to have people join in....as long as nobody’s being a douchebag. But if you get your douchebaggery on and start making my life hell....I’m gonna start raising my voice, because that shit fucking sucks.

The sheer vitriol I got for simply stating that I have no interest in writing a S/terek dynamic I see as inherently toxic due to the inherent power imbalances, BECAUSE of my own history as an abuse and rape survivor, which I was frank about.....it blows my mind. People are literally OFFENDED that in response to questions THEY asked me, I said....I do not like this thing, because of how it affects my feelings about my own trauma.

Like, for years I have gotten monthly hatemail in my asks for spreading toxicity and hate through the TW fandom and ‘hurting real abuse/rape survivors by misleading people and calling S/terek pedophilic and misusing terms like that’....

And the utterly hilarious thing (in that not at all sort of way), is I have never ONCE called S/terek pedophilic, or anyone who ships it a pedophile. Never. Once!

You know why? Its not even because of my own personal view on whether or not that’s an accurate label for that ship....its because IT WASN’T EVEN RELEVANT TO THE SPECIFIC CRITICISMS I’VE ALWAYS FOCUSED ON MAKING.

Like, I literally never even got AROUND to expressing whether or not I thought that was a label that applies to that ship, because I’ve always had plenty of thoughts just purely on the specific power imbalances as I break them down in my view of that pairing....REGARDLESS of what you label those power imbalances. I don’t fucking CARE about the terminology. My concern has never once been what the fuck you call it, so I never made it ABOUT what anyone calls it, and purely focused on why I think it isn’t healthy just in specific terms.....and yes, pulled from my own personal experience and knowledge of abuse to back up why I feel that way, and to clarify why I feel so strongly about it.

But does any of this matter? Nope. Because all people cared about when directing hate my way for my oh so controversial opinions was not what was accurate to my views, but what was effective in discrediting them.

And the same shit is already happening in Batfandom, and its obnoxious, and tired, and yeah, its why I’m already kinda coming out of the gate hot and heavy, because within like....less than two months of me starting to post more regularly about Batfam specific content and getting some followers who have large fandom presences and boosted my posts to a pretty broad fandom circulation....

Its like, welcome to TW fandom, rinse and repeat.

Hardly any of the actual flack I’ve gotten in this fandom so far has anything whatsoever to do with my opinions on the Batfam....its almost all about the fact that I don’t like noncon/pedophilia/incest fics and am critical of the permissive attitude fandom spaces have cultivated around this stuff. And of the fact that I think the culture of false positivity fandom spaces try to enforce at the expense of marginalized fans who try to speak up about their experiences with racism and other forms of oppression and bigotry online, like, is similarly bullshit. Like, the thing people don’t like me for most of all, is that I’m LOUD and OPINIONATED about saying that these things specifically, fucking suck, and here are my own personal experiences that make me feel that way.

And notice the lack of actual argument with my actual posts. Notice how its all about ME....my volume....my ‘irrationality’....my obvious mental health issues (I’ve heard that one a couple times already, lol - no shit, I’m ADHD, have longterm PTSD, and a literal lifetime’s worth of trauma I’m still actively unpacking and sorting through, lol, what the fuck was the revelation in me having mental health issues? I’m not shy about it, and I don’t use it as an excuse for being an asshole.....guess what? I’m an asshole sometimes, and I can absolutely point to when and where I’ve been one. I’m not hiding it, and I’m not hiding behind mental illness).

Plus, y’know there’s my ‘fake wokeness’ because a white man can’t have any possible reasons or experiences that lead to him choosing to prioritize supporting people of color in fandom over other white people while still firmly being motivated by things that are born of his own life and his own lane, and just *gasp* happen to make me care more about certain shit than other white people do, like.....I’m as transparent as I am about my feelings and motivations for a REASON. I’m not UNAWARE of any of this or how I come across.....the thing so many of you don’t get is that none of this is a multiple choice test where you have to circle the right answer and you pass, you’re a good ally or a good influence or a good person.....all of this is just life. Its just us all making choices and everyone else reacting to those choices in whatever the hell way they choose.

I’m not trying to win any points with anybody.....if I DID care about cultivating my own influence in fandom, I MORE than have the communication skills to couch my most controversial opinions in language that would be more palatable to the MOST influential corners of fandom, draw more people in, be less alienating or distancing to people who have a kneejerk defensive reaction to a lot of the things I say....like, however influential I may or may not be in various fandoms and various fandom circles....I am perfectly aware of how I could say or do things differently to have MORE influence in broader reaching circles....I just fucking hate that kind of game playing.

I’m the opposite of trying to win points....I just want the people who are around me and who follow me to actually RESPECT me enough to fucking listen to me and what I have to say....because otherwise, how do either of us even benefit? What’s the point? Who’s gaining anything from any interaction?

So yeah. I’m loud, and vocal, and opinionated....I say exactly what’s on my mind and I don’t apologize for it. I’m an asshole to people who are an asshole to me first, and sometimes I fuck up and I’m an asshole to people who don’t deserve it. And if you call me on that and I pull my head out of my ass soon enough to notice in time that you’re right and I owe you an apology, I’ll do that! And if you don’t want to call me on it and choose to take the offense I caused as a reason not to follow me or interact with me any further....that’s perfect valid and understandable too, and absolutely your right! Do what you need to do for you!

But the one thing that will never ever ever win you any points with me and that I just despise more than anything....is the fundamental lack of awareness, and lack of respect for me and what I’ve lived through....that the S/terek readers of mine who started the chain of events that led to me settling on my current approach to interacting with fandoms.

That thing where some people in various fandoms think its perfectly acceptable and reasonable to like some of my fan content....but then get pissed and upset with me because I don’t like all of the same things you do, think all of the things you do, and am judgmental about various ships you might have or fics you might read or write......and then take this out on me.

Nuh uh. Not okay. Never okay. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, I DO NOT SIT THERE AND TAKE THAT SHIT.

Because the thing the people this describes seem incapable or unwilling to grasp is....

For all your talk of “don’t like/don’t read” and telling me and other survivors to take responsibility for curating our own fandom content and experiences and avoiding things that might trigger us....

Even when I TRY and do that to the absolute BEST of my ability.....some of you still get pissed at me and go on the offensive because I don’t want to interact or be around certain content or people who are inspired to create that content....because of what it brings up for me, because of my various past traumas.

Like, that’s what it boils down to, IN MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. People liking what I have to say, until I say I don’t like something they don’t like and here’s why....and then its open fucking season, because how dare I not want to associate with them because that association is likely to expose me to triggering things they also at the same time expect me to take responsibility for avoiding, so as not to blame anyone else for my exposure to such things.

Can you please maybe understand why that fundamentally DOES NOT FUCKING WORK??

And is not only utterly unreasonable, but offensive to ask of someone who’s just trying to participate in fandom and have a good time and simply STATE when and where relevant, that there are things that impact my ability to have a good time, just as there are things that impact the ability of other fans to enjoy themselves alongside you as well?

Or are we ever going to get around to some people admitting that their fandom experiences have absolutely nothing to do with caring about the ‘community’ people swear up and down exists, and solely prioritize their own personal enjoyment, and FUCK everyone else? (While meanwhile, also being all: but why aren’t they making more of the stuff that I at least was enjoying when they weren’t bitching about not having fun here?’ LOL. Can’t ever forget that part.)

Its just.

You all are fucking exhausting sometimes, I swear. And that doesn’t mean I’m going anywhere, because I have as much right to be here as anyone, and I DO still manage to have a good time a lot of the time in spite of this crap, but that’s never gonna stop me from saying I have a right to have more of a good time and less of a literally triggered time, if any of you might ever care to prioritize that for me as much as you ask me to prioritize your good times for you.

This isn’t me doing anything other than saying....you all are fucking exhausting sometimes, I swear. Because sometimes, I just want to say that. Sometimes, it feels good to say that. And at every time, I have every damn right to say that in any way, shape or form I want to say it, at any volume I want to say it at, because none of this is me yelling at anyone, it is every single one of us sitting safe and comfortable in front of a screen of some kind, reading someone else express themselves and deciding how we want to take that expression and what’s being expressed, and how we want to react or not react in turn.

Like....just...its that fucking simple. That is literally all so much of this fucking ‘discourse’ is. People experiencing life in different ways than other people, and some people wanting to improve their experiences, some people wanting their experiences to stay just the way they are, some people wanting to ignore every experience that doesn’t fit their expectations or desired interactions, and other people just.....idk, just being fucking high, let’s face it, half the shit on this site is just plain weird and I like to assume the best of humanity and just chalk it up to half this site’s user base being high as fuck most of the time they post, LOL.

*Shrugs* Congrats if you actually read all the way through to the end of this post....like....this is where I reiterate...I have ZERO expectations for this post. I have NO clue how people will react to it, how many or how few people will take it in the way I want it to be taken, especially because *I* don’t even know how I want it to be taken or what I would like to come of it. This is literally just me saying shit that is on my brain in response to my own personal experiences on this site and in this fandom. It is utterly, 100% up to you guys to decide what you do with it from here.

If I have one want for all fandoms, I guess it would just be.....for people to look to their own behavior and motivations and choices and take responsibility for their own shit before projecting onto other people and expecting them to do all of that while still refusing to do any of it themselves.

Too many people keep trying to drive one way on what are supposed to be two-way streets, and being shocked when that repeatedly results in collisions, pileups, accidents and blatant hit and runs.

We all live in a society.

Quit treating other members of that society like they only exist to cater to your existence alone.

17 notes · View notes

mostlywritersblock · 4 years

Text

Dracula 2019 fic

Part 2

****

“You seem nervous.”

Zoe glanced up from the email she’d been reading to lock eyes with him. It’d been a total of 11 days since he’d showed up in her life. To say things haven’t been snowballing since then would be an understatement.

“I’m meeting with the board tomorrow for one final review. It shouldn’t be awful but they’re going to ask a lot of questions.”

“About me.”

“About the organization...but yes about you too.”

Dracula smiled sweetly, “And what are you going to tell them about me?”

Zoe narrowed her eyes and effectively closed out of her email. “I’m going to tell them the truth.”

Dracula’s smile fell.

“That we have absolutely no idea how you survived drinking my blood. That we’ve come to numerous dead-ends and have zero leads.” Zoe finished with a frustrated grunt.

Dracula nodded slowly, a thought seeming to occur to him. “This board, they know of my existence?”

Zoe threw him a flat look. “Of course they know about you, they’re funding the organization!”

She suddenly moved to pace around the room, but Dracula stopped her, placing both hands on her shoulders to hold her in place.

“Essentially then they’re just another organization with information on me.”

Zoe peered at him quizzically.

“Maybe they know something we don’t, maybe they have the answer?” He wasn’t sure why he was feeling so giddy suddenly. Was he that desperate to find a lead, to finally have a means to scratch the metaphorical itch he’d been feeling since the moment he was conscious. In short.

Yes. Yes he was desperate.

Or maybe just hungry

Maybe both?

****

Zoe wouldn’t let him come to the board meeting, not with the staggering amount of people and guns at the ready. Not that he minded. It was more out of precaution for them than anything.

And with good reason, Dracula thought.

He could definitely go for another bloodbath.

****

Zoe returned with a sour look and stomp in her step. She relayed to him the days events. Apparently the board was satisfied with the foundation but when one of them had broached the subject of Dracula’s location, Zoe had to stay tight lipped, least they treat her like she’s harboring a fugitive.

Dracula should really track down his lawyer.

Eventually one of the board members pulled her aside and delivered a tantalizing bomb in disguise. They claimed they saw right through her her attempts at denial and demanded she bring Dracula back in. They suspected she was hiding him somewhere and that she was somehow under his control-

Dracula laughed loudly at this part because let’s face it. It was ridiculous. Agatha would never allow it.

-Anyway, Zoe used her quick thinking and decided to strike up a deal with the board representative and-

“What kind of deal.” Dracula asked crossing his arms.

“I was just about to get to that part if you’d stop interrupting me.”

“Well then by all means, please. Carry on.”

Zoe rolled her eyes but continued.

“Basically they said they’d keep you a secret from the rest of the board and organization if you agreed to meet with their exc and exchange information regarding all things Vampire. They might also want to run some more test.”

Dracula pursed his lips, “So basically just another foundation/organization, we’re just cutting out the middle man, middle man being the -“

“Jonathan Harker Foundation, yes, also meaning we lose a huge chunk of our sponsors if we go through with the deal. The foundation is struggling as it is, I don’t know if it’ll survive another pay cut like this.”

“Yes, terribly tragic. Oh well, I see no other option than to proceed forward with the deal.”

“Of course you would say that, does my work mean nothing to you?” She meant it in the rhetorical sense but Dracula didn’t seem to realize.

“Zoe, if I make this deal there will be no more work at the foundation to do. You can simply just do so at this other organization.”

Zoe was about to comment that that wasn’t the point, that is was the principle, that her family and the Murrays had put so much-

“Zoe, this could be our one chance to learn more about what happened. I-I need to understand Zoe. After.” Here he took a deep breath unnecessary as it was, “after you made me realize that it was my fears holding me back and once I became aware of my circumstance after the incident I have this-this desire to understand what happened, this need to know why. It’s, It’s driving me insane Zoe. I can’t explain it. Just, Please.”

Some very old voice inside of Zoe told her she was being manipulated, but for some reason she didn’t care.

They agreed to the deal and plans were set in motion to meet with the excs the following day.

*****

Zoe can count on both hands the amount of times she has legitimately been nervous in her life; the past year she’s known Dracula making up at least half of them.

Still she shouldn’t be feeling as nervous as she was now, sitting in the lobby of a very nice, very posh building in downtown London. Dracula was sitting beside her, dressed to the nines per usual looking as cool a fucking cucumber.

Zoe suspected it wasn’t possible for him to get nervous in the same sense as she was. No fast pace beating of the heart, sweaty palms, or feeling the blood rush to your ears.

No, she suspected he didn’t have any of those symptoms.

******

When they reached the offices of the executives, Zoe assumed it would be the top floor. It was not.

The excs immediate reaction upon meeting Dracula was surprise, followed shortly by awe, and then finally disgust as it registered that this being killed people for a living.

Literally.

At least they all seemed moderately ashamed with themselves.

‘You’re one to talk,’ the old voice quipped. Zoe chose to ignore it.

*****

Every second they wasted idly chattering was a second more Dracula felt his brain wasting away. Weren’t these people supposed to be experts on all things Vampire? Weren’t they supposed to help him? Not the other way around. They asked all manners of questions, some teetering on the edge of rude to obscene, to downright idiotic and foolhardy. It was as if all information regarding vampires was the swill found in, what was it? The media? The television? Either way it was similar to the books of old that always portrayed vampires poorly.

Dracula was half tempted to give them a live demonstration of his so called ‘powers’ just to get them to shut up, when he remembered he was in public, in a very public building in a very public city.

He decided he’d just have to show them another time.

Probably on their days off.

*****

Leaving the executive room was something close to fresh air, if he needed to breath. Zoe was walking a little quickly, rushing on her way to the elevator. When she paused mid step and rounded on him.

“Was that or was that not odd to you?”

“You mean because we just wasted thirty minutes of our time with a bunch of imbeciles who knew nothing of vampires whatsoever.”

“Oh good so we’re on the same page.”

Dracula held up his thumb and index finger. “I was this close Zoe, this close to ripping off one of their heads!”

“Calm down it wasn’t that awful.” Zoe turned back towards the elevator.

“You’re right, it was worse.” Dracula followed quickly in after her.

“Look. I’m not sure why but the whole situation just didn’t sit right with me, I mean they were our sponsors for Christ sake, how could they not be informed.”

“I don’t know Zoe and frankly I don’t care at the moment I just want to leave here as soon a-“

“Hold on, notice that.” Zoe pointed to the number of floors inside the elevator. “We’re not on the top floor.”

“I don’t understand.” And he meant it to.

“We’re not even on the excs floor, look you need clearance to go up further.”

“Zoe I don’t thi-“

“Shut up, somethings not right here.” Zoe looked around once before stepping back onto the previous floor. She motioned for him to follow. Reluctantly Dracula walked out of the lift.

Zoe glanced around for a few more seconds before deciding something.

“Do me a favor, see that mechanic over there.” She nodded to other side of the office. “Distract them for me will you.”

Dracula let out another small sigh before moving but turned back around briefly, “You know I expect something in return for all my trouble in helping you.”

“I’d expect nothing less. Now hurry up.” She whispered.

Dracula made his way over and grabbed the mechanics attention with soft words and gentle hands. Zoe rolled her eyes as she approached from behind. Ever the charmer. Silently she searched for the key card. Finally she spotted it on the tool kit off to the side, not even on their person. Too easy.

Zoe swiped it.

*****

Back in the elevator Zoe ran the card through a security reader and the lift gave a small jerk as it moved upward.

“My, my Zoe, I hadn’t had you pegged for a petty criminal.”

Zoe flashed him a grin. “Not a criminal, just a Helsing.”

Dracula let out a soft chuckle.

A loud buzzing filled up the space suddenly and Zoe once again tore around in search of her phone. She froze though when she looked at the screen.

Dracula didn’t need to be a vampire to see her tense. Instantly he was on alert.

“Zoe, what’s wrong?”

She glanced up at him briefly before looking back at the buzzing phone.

“It’s Jack.”

“...Lucy’s friend?”

At the mention of the girl’s name Zoe flinched slightly.

Dracula felt himself relax, Jack wasn’t a threat. No matter how much the kid wish’d to be.

The elevator doors suddenly slid open. Zoe seemed torn before placing her phone on silent and stowing it away.

“I’ll call him back later.” Whether she was telling him or herself that, Dracula wasn’t sure.

They stepped out and instantly Dracula wonder not for the first time if Zoe had some sort of sixth sense for uncanny situations. They were in another office, bigger, nicer and far more expensive than the one several floors down.

“I knew it, I knew something was off earlier, someone or ones is trying to keep us from something.”

“The missing puzzle pieces maybe?” Dracula questioned hopefully.

Zoe made a beeline to the largest office in the room.

“I don’t know why, but I feel like we’re really close to something, of discovering something big and - and it’s here in this office.” Zoe didn’t wait for him before stepping through the glass doors. Dracula, finding his curiosity piqued followed after her.

****

TBC

#part twooo #i hope you’re enjoying this so far #ik i am #dracula 2019 #dracula #zoe van helsing #agatha van helsing #johnathan harker #i gotta say while I adore johnny #zoe is really growing on me #shes a BA and I hope she puts dracula in his place

1 note · View note

thedreamvevo · 5 years

Text

Little Do You Know: September

a/n: grad student instructor!Shawn / student!reader. Feedback encouraged & appreciated.

She’s stuck. Absolutely stuck.

Her mind was a swirl of ideas, her thoughts bouncing from one end of the philosophical spectrum to the other and her fingers can’t type quick enough to get all the ideas out. Y/N's word document was a smatter of bullet points, full of half finished thoughts and random notes here and there and frankly, she can barely read it herself let alone have someone else read it.

The first part of the assignment due on Thursday isn’t necessarily a hard one, she just has to pick a specific pop culture artifact for her Persuasion class and write a proposal for how it persuades its audience (she decides that she actually likes the idea, contrary to her class’s disapproval, because, as a communications major, writing a persuasive paper has become boring and unoriginal). The assignment is preliminary, enough for her instructor (her stupidly cute instructor, mind you) to give the class individual feedback on their ideas before delving into their semester-long research paper. Four parts total, one parts due per month. Her head was spinning and though she knows there’s gotta be some intelligent ruminating going on up there, her thoughts won’t stop racing enough for her to collect them enough to form a coherent one.

This is how she finds herself begrudgingly opening the Communication Studies office door, the scowl on her face melting as she smiles at the receptionist. It’s not like he did anything deserving of a death glare, it was just her stupid head. “I’m here to see Shawn?” she answered his questioning gaze.

His eyebrows raised, giving her a smirk before responding. “He’s in room 2004.”

Y/N nodded, thanking him, and followed in the direction the guy pointed her to. She huffed to herself, situating her backpack on her shoulders nervously as she slowly passed the small offices one by one. The night before, she’d sent a quick email asking if she could come in during his office hours before class and he replied ten minutes after she sent it welcoming her. She had every right to be here, Y/N reasoned with herself, slowly coming to a halt in front of 2004.

The door was slightly ajar, a warm glow emitting through the crack, and the faint chords of what she immediately placed as something by Mozart leaked through what she assumed were tiny speakers. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door lightly, waiting for a few moments before knocking again with a little more force. After receiving no response after a few seconds, she gently pushed open the door and came face to face with the back of Shawn. His shoulders were hunched over his desk, his foot tapping the ground furiously, and music blaring through his headphones. She had half a mind to lecture him about the importance of not blowing out his eardrums but refrained, for obvious reasons.

Y/N bit her lip, her hand stretching out to tap his shoulder but drawing back after realizing that might be inappropriate. Shifting her weight from foot to foot, she decided that tapping the desk next to him would be the best way to go about the situation, since it seemed he didn’t have a clue she was there yet. Slowly, as to not spook him, she took two small steps so she was standing in close proximity to his desk and delicately knocked her knuckles against the wood in his direct eye line.

“What the f--” Shawn cursed, ripping his earbuds out of his ears and launching himself back on his desk chair, narrowly avoiding whacking Y/N with his forearm as he extended it outward in surprise. “Oh my jeez” he gulped, eyes comically wide as he took in the situation and realized he’d just scared the crap out of his student; her reaction to his reaction to her a chain effect. “Oh my gosh,” he started, running his hand through his hair while the other clutched his chest, “Sorry, you scared me.”

And Y/N giggled awkwardly, coughing a little in between, because she didn’t know how to react when his reaction was so funny and so cute (and an uncomfortable bout of fond made her hands feel a little fuzzy). “Sorry ‘bout that,” she explained as they both chuckled, the tension created by her unintentionally dramatic entrance easing. “Didn’t mean t’scare ya.”

“No worries,” Shawn replied, wrapping his headphones up and clearing his throat while scooting his chair back and nodding towards her. “So what’s up?”

The girl sighs, her shoulders rising and falling with the action as she ambles over to the chair he’s gestured towards, placed in front of the other desk perpendicular to his, since apparently his officemate was out at that moment’s time. With a thump, her backpack hit the ground as she settled into the seat. “I literally have no idea how to choose a topic for this paper.” Her as-of-late perpetual frown settled into her face again, her eyebrows furrowing as she crossed her arms. She looked like a little kid pouting after being told that no, they couldn’t have a third piece of candy (and he thinks it’s kinda adorable but he pushes that thought right back to where it came from).

“Do you have any general direction?” Shawn muses, mirroring her posture as he laced his arms and crossed his ankle over his knee, his foot lightly bouncing. He listened earnestly as Y/N launched off into a slew of ideas, her thoughts ranging from capitalistic infiltration in youtube videos to how criminally good ASPCA is at persuasion in their commercials to social media regulations on celebrity promotions. It had easily been five minutes of her rambling on before he realized he’d accidentally tuned out. Shawn couldn’t help it though, she was just so adorable and so passionate about her miscellaneous routes of ideas that he couldn’t help but get lost in her furrowed brows, her wild hand gestures, and the frustrated tugs of her hand in her hair when she couldn’t get the words out quite right.

“It’s just--” she sputtered, catching her breath and huffing out a sigh, “It’s ridiculous! The Kardashians get paid like $300,000 to post one stupid miracle hair-growth pill that they probably don’t even use and--” she stopped suddenly, her mouth gaping open. “I’m sorry! Did… Did you follow any of that?”

And Shawn tried, bless his heart, he really tried to not laugh but her sulky expression was just so intriguing and he can’t help that his cheeks are a little flushed from feeling like he was found out for staring (adoringly) at her instead of listening. A giggle rumbled in his chest, and he did (he really did) try to quell it but it’s only a moment before it’s bubbling out of his lips and pouring into the atmosphere around them. His laugh was sweet honey, sticking to her like glue. And though it’s irritating and Y/N wished to wash her hands of the sticky embarrassment she felt coursing through her veins, her pout slowly morphed into a bashful smile as she started to fidget in her seat.

“I’m sorry,” Shawn coughed, trying (and failing) to reign in his amusement.

“No, I’m sorry,” she muttered, suddenly finding the ugly pattern of the carpet very interesting. “My mind is literally everywhere right now.”

“No, no,” he fretted, sitting up in his chair and leaning his elbows on his knees, his body leaning in towards her. His heart squeezed and he immediately sobered from his outburst once he noticed that she avoided his gaze and couldn’t sit still. “It’s just… I’ve never heard you talk this much before.”

And she flushed because he’s right. Y/N thought back to his Interpersonal Communication class she’d taken the previous spring and how she barely spoke a word the entire semester. She really enjoyed the content of the class and the way he engaged his students, but she was never really much of a talker in any of her classes, let alone a section accompanied by a few girls who fawned over the instructor and had no shame in doing so. It kinda made her queasy to think back on, how oblivious it seemed Shawn was to how he’d had those girls completely wrapped around his finger.

Y/N had contemplated many times whether he was aware of his effect on them (on her, too, but she’d never admit that) and ultimately decided there was no way he’d intentionally partake in such attention since he’d never jeopardize his work towards earning a PhD. Shawn was genuine and he loved to teach and that much was obvious in the way he wanted his students to succeed so badly, even in the way he’d give harsh editing suggestions back on papers in hopes his students would revise. Shawn was too focused and too determined to engage in inappropriate behavior with a student, she reasoned.

“Not that it’s a bad thing!” Shawn added after a moment’s silence swept through the tiny office, his mouth pinched inwards as he regretted speaking without thinking. “I know you pay attention in class,” he conceded. “You take notes and you’re engaged and you nod when I make eye contact with you so I know you’re not a slacker but I’ve just never heard you talk this much.”

And the girl laughed, especially when he smiled at her reaction, slumping in his chair because he knew he hadn’t offended her. “No worries,” she responded. “I know I don’t talk in class.”

“Why though?” Shawn inquired, noting absentmindedly they were getting off topic. “I know from your papers and reflections that you’re incredibly intelligent and probably have a lot to add to discussions in class.” He paused a moment before adding, “Not that it’s bad. ’m just curious.”

Y/N shrugged before answering, trying to ignore the flush burning her cheeks and down her neck at his praise. “Dunno, just don’t like talking in class I guess.” And he was going to leave it at that but she continued musing after a beat of silence. “It actually weird to me because I feel like I do talk in class even though I know I don’t because you know, I don’t,” she tilted her head, clearly lost in thought, “But I’m always paying attention and I always think your jokes are funny.” She would’ve probably stopped talking (wouldn’t have even begun, if she were honest) had she not been completely strung out from the stress of the week and work so far, so she kept talking. “It’s funny because I actually think of you as like a friend? Like when you say something funny I’ll tell my roommate or my mom about it like ‘Oh Shawn said this yesterday it was hilarious’ even though I don’t... know you?” At that remark, she scrunched her face, a groan leaving her mouth before dropping her head into her hands. “Oh my gosh, I’m sorry, that’s like, totally weird.”

And Shawn’s glad that her face was buried in her hands because if she were looking at him at right that second, there’s no way he’d be able to mask the fond leaking all over his features; deep red cheeks, a grin almost too big for his face, and ruffled hair at the back of his neck gaining more moisture by the second as a light layer of sweat broke out over his body. He felt stupid for feeling this giddy but all he wanted to do was teach and it was so satisfying to know he’d had an effect on a student that seemed so hard to crack sometimes. (And maybe there was something a little deeper seeded there that made Y/N’s admission feel so… fulfilling, but he couldn’t delve into that. Couldn’t allow it to happen, couldn’t give into that feeling so he shoved the ticking thought down.)

Shawn cleared his throat and settled his face into a neutral, albeit still very friendly expression. “‘S not weird at all,” he remarked, crossing his arms again. (And she could’ve sworn his eyebrow raised teasingly when she unintentionally ogled his biceps that looked so good, stretched against the cotton blue t-shirt he was wearing, but maybe she just imagined it and it was all in her head.) (It wasn’t.)

“I think of my students as friends.”

And they laugh at that because they’re both not really sure of how to move on from there but then she’s whipping out her laptop and showing him the document she’d started the night before and the awkwardness that threatened to loom over them disappeared. Shawn has his bottom lip sucked into his mouth, his eyes set in deep concentration as they work out a few solid ideas, her fingers flying across the keyboard as they brainstormed. By the end, she has a clearer direction of where she wants her paper to go and Shawn is quite sure he’s actually fucked for this girl but he keeps that thought to himself. After talking through her ideas, they settle into casual conversation. Questions about Shawn’s journey through academia and what internships Y/N’d been looking into break the ice before his phone abruptly rings. Jumping, he quickly silences the alarm for his Persuasion class with flushed cheeks, explaining he had to set it because, “I’ve been late one too many times this semester already and it’s only the third week.”

And then, they were both shuffling their things into their backpacks and silently marveling at how they’d just spent an hour and a half together without even blinking an eye. Y/N made fun of him for the Harry Potter calendar Shawn had hanging on his wall as he searched for his keys, and he bit back with a quip about a paper she’d written about One Direction the semester before.

The banter and the conversation came so easily and instinctually that it felt natural for Shawn to place his hand on the small of her back as he led her out the door of his office. His eyes widened as he realized his mistake, quickly trying to ignore the blunder he’d made by mumbling a quick, “Sorry” under his breath and turning to lock the office door. An unmistakable awkwardness settled over them as they walked in silence to the classroom, only broken by a stumble over his own feet that had Y/N snickering. He was grateful for his clumsiness in that moment because her laugh is just so adorable and in that moment, it was for his ears only, and he didn’t have to share her with any one else in his class and--

Shawn needed to stop. She’s my student, he reminded himself as she rambled on about a show one of the other grad students wrote that was premiering the next weekend. He tried not to deflate too much as she resigned into herself in class, but duly notes that she seemed to give him bigger reactions than usual; smile a bit more when he joked around or nodding at him when the class gave him little reaction to the material he was presenting.

Baby steps.

Class passed by quickly and it’s not long before Y/N was shooting him a smile as she left that Shawn was letting out a giant sigh of relief.

It’s later that night when he’s writing out the lesson plan for the next class that Shawn looks up her age in the university database only available to instructors. Even though it’s kinda an abuse of his power, Shawn reasons it’s because he just... Needed to know the age of his students to help him figure out how to cater the lessons to them best. Not to like… reason out that it’s not weird at all that he’s attracted to one or anything… No. Nothing like that.

(I mean, really, he maintained, They were only a few years age difference. It’s not that weird.)

(And he was content with that thought until he realized, Holy fuck, I just reasoned with myself that it would be okay to date my student and nothing about that is okay.)

And so, Shawn’s not really sure how to act around Y/N. because it’s clear to him that while he may be attracted to her and the age difference is minimal, she’s his student. In the real world, no one would bat an eye at them but university protocol prohibited anything from happening. And, he supposes, it’s not like she even showed interest to begin with so he really had nothing to worry about. (Wrong. He had lots to worry about.)

September went as quickly as it came and it’s a little off-putting that it was mere days until October. Y/N is in the full swing of classes, having established a routine for the semester and so far, she’s maintaining her assignments well. She’s in the heart of her major classes now so there’s not really any classes she dreads. Her Persuasion section, however, she’s always a little bit more… giddy for, even if the revisement suggestions Shawn gave on her proposal were harsh.

Some suggestions he’d given her made sense, but as for his questioning of the theory she was planning to apply to her pop culture artifact… His direction was unclear which is why she found herself visiting his office hours again.

“I guess I’m just not really sure why you don’t think that the theory of semiotics would be the best,” Y/N says plainly. Her left foot was tucked underneath her right thigh in hopes to stop the nervous jiggling of her feet and her palms felt sweaty, tucked into the pocket of her hoodie. (Constructive) criticism was a hard pill to swallow already; adding to the fact that Y/N to receive it from Shawn only compounded the nerves thumping through her veins. She knew from taking his class the previous spring that he always grades the first draft submitted harshly in hopes students would take his suggestions on their papers and turn it in for a better grade.

Y/N respected him as her teacher and his expertise in the major she was pursuing, and she knew Shawn respected her enough to give her feedback on the work she submitted. She knew he only aimed to make her (and his students) a better writer, which is why she was okay with seeking out his explanation for his edits in the first place.

“Well,” Shawn started, leaning back in his desk chair and stretching his arms above his head, his bones cracking at the movement. “I didn’t necessarily say that it wasn’t best, I just asked if you’d looked into other options, like…” He pursed his lips for a moment, a frown settling into his features. He hummed recognition sparked in his eyes, “Like the agenda setting theory.”

Y/N sighed, ruffling her hair before propping her chin on her hand. “I’d thought about that theory and it makes sense since I’m analyzing Kardashian promotions, but to be honest,” She shrugged, “We didn’t learn about that theory until after I had already written the proposal up.”

Shawn laughed. “Fair enough.”

“So…” Y/N inquires. “Semiotics is good?”

“Yeah,” Shawn replied. “You’re good, just wanted to make sure you’d considered everything else before going forward.”

“Cool,” she said, before pulling her laptop out of her bag. “I have a couple other things I wanted to ask you about.”

And so they huddle over the screen together, her questions about some of Shawn’s notes here and there accompanied by the just-barely brushing of their shoulders against each other, Shawn’s warmth emanating from his t-shirt only just ticking her skin. There’s a little voice in Shawn’s head warning him that maybe they didn’t need to be sitting that close but he throws caution to the wind because they’re just sitting there together, nothing out of the ordinary. And there’s a little whisper in Y/N’s mind wondering if Shawn was aware of their proximity and if it was okay but ultimately decided they’re doing nothing wrong, only going over her paper. So what if she could feel Shawn’s gentle exhale on her shoulder as he wrestled internally with how to answer her questions and who cares that Shawn can almost feel the smoothness of her jeans against his own jean-clad thigh, right? It’s no big deal.

She was actually sad when they come to the end of the revision suggestions, but knew it was time to go as she needed to head to the library to write a paper (due at midnight) for another class.

“Feel free to stop by anytime,” Shawn said, a smile on his lips as he watched her pack up. He waited for Y/N to make eye contact before tilting his head forward and adding, “Seriously, no worries.”

And she smiled, sticking her hand out and grinning harder at Shawn’s scrunched up nose.

“Pretty sure we’re past the point of a formal handshake but whatever,” Shawn teased her, his eyes twinkling as he grasped her smaller hand in his, both of their palms sweaty and yet neither of them minded.

“See ya later,” Y/N quipped, throwing her backpack on her shoulders and shooting him another sweet smile before leaving his office.

Holy shit, Shawn thought as he shook his head, a small smile still present as he stared at the space that held Y/N only seconds before. I’m so fucked.

#my writing #shawn imagine #shawn mendes blurb #shawn mendes imagine #shawn mendes writing #shawn mendes drabble #shawn mendes #shawn mendes one shot #shawn mendes fanfiction #shawn mendes fanfic #shawn mendes x reader #well there it is. this damn fic. i want it to be over already.#smh this is gonna be entirely inspired by true events I KNOW I'M A TERRIBLE PERSON #IT'S STILL HAPPENING I SWEAR I'M LIVING A FIC RN. except no happy ending.#altho yall know me... i don't do happy endings often....... lolz peaceee #(i have oct nov & dec already mapped out i just need to write them) (get ready for a slow burn and almost kisses lol)#(it will hurt)

152 notes · View notes

ariellblogus · 5 years

Text

The Internet is a crowded place. I lately learn there are over 83,000 new weblog posts revealed each hour. Each hour!

So is it even potential to face out in a crowd anymore? Completely. It is in case you have a technique to publish and promote partaking content material.

Need to know what actually drives visitors? From brainstorming your material to scheduling your social media shares? Comply with these content material advertising ideas, and you’ll get observed. Huge time.

1. Begin By Asking Your Audience What They Want

There’s individuals out there who will inform you, “Just write 500 words a day about anything, and you’ll get traffic”. BS! Worst of all the content material advertising ideas on the market.

You might get some visitors, however at what value? A disjointed viewers who you’ll shortly lose in case you don’t work out what they actually need to study from you.

Let’s take a look at some methods you possibly can help clearly determine what your readers need.

Use Popup surveys:

That is the only method is to literally ask your readers what they need to study. I exploit a WordPress plugin referred to as Popup Surveys & Polls to ask questions like, “What are you struggling with in your business?” and “What do you want to learn more about?”.

Each visitor to my website will get surveyed with out me having to raise a finger.

Ask your e mail subscribers:

Use the email autoresponders that go out to your new subscribers to ask what they need extra of. Hey, they agreed to offer you one thing as sacred as their e mail tackle. Meaning they belief you.

Show them you trust their judgement, too, by asking your subscribers to reply with a few sentences explaining what would get them to maintain opening your emails. Information is power.

Analysis your competition

In the event you haven’t established an viewers but, research what’s working for different bloggers who are successfully reaching the viewers you’d wish to have. Google’s search results offers you a reasonably good concept of this.

Simply enter a key phrase phrase like “content marketing tips” to discover what is already rating on the primary web page for that material. Dig into some of these posts and you’ll start to see patterns.

2. Focus On Creating Evergreen Content

What’s evergreen content? It’s content that continues to realize search engine visitors long after it’s been revealed. That is a type of content advertising ideas I’m so glad I paid consideration to early on. For a extra detailed rationalization of evergreen content, take a look at this submit by Neil Patel.

To ensure the content material you publish is evergreen:

Does it stand the check of time?

Ask your self, “If someone reads this article 10 years from now, will it still be relevant? Or will they say, “Oh yeah, I remember when that was actually popular/true/in style/etc.”

Write content material that’s related all yr round.

For example, on my insurance website, I’ve obtained a submit referred to as 6 Secrets and techniques For Recruiting And Retaining Younger Brokers that gets visitors each single day of the yr. Distinction that with one other submit on my website referred to as Memorial Day Weekend Is The Most Harmful Weekend On The Roads. Are you able to guess which one is extra evergreen?

Think about removing publish dates from your posts.

There’s debate about whether this could even be filed beneath “Good Content Marketing Tips”. However I feel it’s value contemplating. Give it some thought. Ten years from now, when somebody finds your submit of their search engine outcomes, will they still click by way of if your publish date is previous and rancid?

three. Inform Stories & Be Your self

The artwork of storytelling seems to be popping up lots nowadays in numerous posts about content advertising ideas. And for good purpose. Individuals naturally need to connect with other individuals. So how are you going to do this with your personal on-line content?

Give actual life examples

For each primary idea you present to your viewers, give them an example. Inform a narrative. Convey up the time you have been goofing around and operating with the trash can from the road again to your home and tripped and fell inside. (My spouse still laughs her butt off retelling that one!)

Embrace the psychology of storytelling

Scientific studies and loads of other lists of content material advertising ideas have proven that we’re hardwired to recollect tales over details. Tales draw readers in. They help individuals make connections between what they already know and the new stuff you’re throwing at them.

Domesticate relationships

If this one appears misplaced in an inventory about content material advertising ideas, assume once more. Individuals need to develop a relationship with you, even when they’re just reading your phrases. Let your character present in what you write. For good instance of someone who writes in their very own voice, take a look at this blog submit creation guidelines from Sara Moss.

For example, my 4 years of school in Boston, after which marrying a Rhode Islander, tends to deliver the slang phrase “wicked [insert subject here]”. I don’t cover that in most of my blog posts. And the reason is that’s how I might speak if I have been having fun with a conversation with you in actual life.

4. Do (Sensible) Key phrase Analysis

Going the “publish and pray” technique isn’t the neatest of content material advertising ideas. It’s essential deliberately develop your content round keywords your ultimate viewers is looking. Luckily, there are tools out there to make key phrase analysis simpler than just guessing.

Google Keyword Planner

The Google Keyword Planner is an effective place to start out getting key phrase ideas. Just pop a couple of keywords or keyword phrases into the planner and…BOOM! Keyword ideas a a lot are ready for you. Just be mindful, these are the same keywords everybody else is seeing in the event that they used the identical search criteria.

To dig deeper for some keyword gems, copy and paste the web site tackle of considered one of your rivals into the “Your Landing Page” subject and then search. Right here’s what you may see in case you search the phrase “bakery shop”.

Buzz Sumo

When you’ve grabbed some key phrases from the Google Keyword Planner, bounce over to BuzzSumo and enter a couple of those keywords into their search subject. What you’ll get is an inventory of posts which are performing greatest for that key phrase phrase (ie: getting a ton of social media shares and web site visitors).

This can change the best way you get your content advertising ideas. Sift by means of the outcomes to get an excellent feel for the kinds of posts you may need to create. Here’s what popped up once I entered the phrase “content marketing tips”.

Google Advertisements

Seems like an unlikely place to do keyword analysis on your content material, doesn’t it? However just assume for a second. Whenever you Google one thing and see advertisements on the prime and sides of the web page, meaning you’ve searched for a keyword that marketers are paying good money for to target individuals identical to you.

Right here’s a few things to concentrate to:

Variety of advertisements on the page – The more you see, the extra in style the subject you just searched for. That’s good.

Advert copy – Refine your key phrase analysis by paying close attention to the language marketers are using to get individuals to click on on their advert.

Your personal Google Analytics results

Google used to point out you just about each key phrase visitors searched for to seek out your website. Gone are these days, my good friend. But they do nonetheless show you some keywords. Use your Google Analytics account to seek out the keyword phrases that slip via.

What you’re more likely to find are key phrases you’re not intentionally making an attempt to rank for. Use these to create new posts which might be unique variations of what you originally wrote on that matter. Look for a twist or a special approach.

In the event you’re seeing the key phrase phrase “content marketing tips” show up, attempt writing about “content marketing tips for small businesses”. The chances are infinite.

5. Create Engaging Titles

You possibly can write the shiniest, sexiest submit about constructing an effective buyer referral program. But when you’re title is “meh”, you possibly can overlook individuals truly studying it.

Writing engaging titles is crucial for content advertising success. It’s what will get readers to click on in your content material and then share it. Pay shut consideration to those next few content advertising ideas.

Lure them in.

Does your title pull the reader in? Does it beg for an answer or rationalization? An awesome example of an attractive weblog title (and an excellent submit on the subject itself) is: Easy methods to Write Killer Titles That Can Sell a Fur Coat to a Wookie. I still reference again to this submit right now when writing my titles.

Maintain it brief.

The cutoff point for what search engine outcomes display is round 60 characters. So maintain your titles brief and to the point.

Hold it relevant.

Nothing hurts your bounce price greater than utilizing a deceptive title. In the event you trick visitors into considering they’re about to get one thing they’re not, your submit gained’t present up close to the top of search outcomes for long.

Embrace your keyword phrase.

Absolutely embrace your keyword or keyword phrase in your title. For extra punch, put it at the start of your title

Make it an inventory.

By far the preferred blog posts on the internet are record posts, or “listicles”. These appear to stand the check of time more than some other sort of weblog publish. For those who take nothing else away from these content material advertising ideas, write an inventory publish.

And when applicable, use odd numbers in your listing. There’s plenty of studies that present readers are likely to view odd numbers as more reasonable.

6. Make Your Content Easier To Learn

This subsequent set of content material advertising ideas is crucial for maintaining visitors on your page longer. Longer “dwell time” is sweet in your Google rankings.

Based on CoSchedule, lower than half of your blog readers truly learn past 100 words. For probably the most half, this has to do with readability. So how do you repair this?

Write like Hemingway.

Ernest Hemingway was the grasp of writing brief sentences. You ought to be, too. ‘Nuff stated.

Hold your paragraphs brief.

I’m a former high school English instructor. It nonetheless makes me twitch once I see articles that drone on and on with no breaks. Maintain your paragraphs to no more than 3 or 4 sentences. It’s simply simpler on the eyes.

Guide your readers with headings.

Not solely do headings assist with web optimization (once you use h1 and h2 tags). Additionally they help readers who’re in a hurry scan your publish for the main points. Headings assist them shortly determine whether or not it’s what they have been on the lookout for or not. In case you information them along, they’ll stick around longer to dig deeper.

Use photographs, video and bullet points.

Utilizing rich media and bullet points additionally assist break up your content into more usable chunks. Not to mention, content with photographs and video get shared more ceaselessly than content material without.

7. Optimize Your search engine optimization

Search engine marketing (search engine optimization) is the stuff baked into your content material that gets it found when individuals put keywords into sites like Google. Loads of bloggers promoting content material advertising ideas say optimizing your search engine optimization is the primary approach to get long term visitors to your web site.

The simplest option to be sure to’re optimizing every publish is to make use of a WordPress plugin like Yoast web optimization. Here’s how it works.

Focus keyword

Start by getting into your keyword or key phrase phrase it into the Focus Key phrase section. Yoast will then guide you thru optimizing your submit round this key phrase.

search engine optimization title

Your search engine marketing title is what exhibits up in Google’s search results. It needs to look good if you’d like readers to click on. Yoast warns you when your title will get too lengthy or doesn’t include your keyword phrase.

Meta description

Your Meta Description exhibits up in Google’s search results right under your search engine optimisation Title. Should you don’t fill out this part, Google will pull in roughly the primary 160 characters of your blog publish.

So, in the event you’re following these content material advertising tips to the “T”, it’s to your advantage to make use of the Meta Description to make sure your key phrase phrase exhibits up in search results. It’s your commercial to lure searchers to learn your content material.

Page Evaluation

This part incorporates more advanced indicators of whether your submit is on monitor or not for being nicely optimized. Yoast makes it simple by shade coding every item purple, yellow or green. Principally, all you need to do is repair each merchandise until all (or most) are green.

Those I give attention to probably the most are: inner links, photographs, key phrase usage and readability score.

8. Make It Straightforward To Share

Should you’ve adopted these content advertising ideas and finished your job proper, your posts will begin seeing some visitors. It might solely trickle in at first. So ensure that your content is straightforward to share.

Use social sharing buttons

Each web site value their salt has eye-catching social sharing buttons to permit visitors to share your content material with one or two clicks. I exploit SumoMe on my websites. It’s extremely versatile and there are free versions of all their plugins.

The SumoMe Share plugin lets you:

select your most popular social buttons (even which buttons present up on desktop vs. cellular).

choose the place(s) on your page to show the buttons.

determine whether or not or to not display the variety of shares (per social community and complete for all networks).

handle which pages/posts on your website to show the share buttons.

Click on To Tweet

If you want to entice your readers to share your content material on Twitter, there’s no better WordPress plugin than Click To Tweet by TodayMade. Give it a shot by clicking the textual content under.

Make your pictures straightforward to share

The same folks that developed the Share plugin I mentioned above have additionally created a depraved easy strategy to make any picture in your website shareable. And it’s cleverly named Image Sharer.

Once installed, just choose which social sites you need to show when guests hover over photographs. That’s it!

Give it a shot by hovering on the image under and sharing it in your favourite social website. Notice how the whole title “10 Content Marketing Tips To Drive More Traffic” is about because the default share textual content. Fairly cool, huh?

Embed alt textual content in your pictures

Probably the most missed content material advertising ideas is using alt textual content in your pictures. Because serps can’t read what’s in your photographs, it is advisable to inform them what your picture represents. That’s where alt text is available in.

Whether you’re utilizing WordPress or another editor, you’ll be capable of enter alt textual content to describe your image. Ensure that to make use of your key phrase phrase the place relevant to offer your publish a bit of increase. For instance, I’ve included the phrase “content marketing tips” into several of my alt text tag for this publish.

Embrace your Twitter deal with in sharing plugins

Encouraging readers to share your content material on Twitter is a superb begin. Simply don’t overlook to attribute your arduous work to yourself.

A lot of the sharing plugins talked about here can help you embed your twitter deal with within the tweet that’s generated once they share it. Simply examine the settings for every of those plugins and you’ll discover something like this:

9. Enlist An Army Of Promoters To Unfold The Word

As with something in life, if you wish to spread the word, you want individuals’s help. With regards to advertising your content material, nothing is more necessary than creating a core group of influential associates to carry your message far and extensive.

Use the “buddy system”

As you share content, you’ll naturally develop a smaller core group of “buddies” who like what you’re throwing down. Most of my peeps are within the insurance coverage business, and most I’ve never met in individual. But we’ve turn into so intertwined, it’s like we’re all in class collectively.

If I’m writing a publish like this on content material advertising ideas, I simply ship my buddies a fast e mail to let them know I feel it’s proper up their ally. 9 occasions out of 10, they share it, without me asking them instantly. When you make somebody really feel particular by giving them one thing unconditionally, you’ll by no means need to ask for a favor.

Give first to get what you need

Be a giver. Not a taker. This works notably properly on Twitter and LinkedIn. Retweet. Retweet. Retweet.

On LinkedIn, develop relationships with different contributors by commenting on their posts and sharing them together with your community. Don’t overlook to tag them! And in case you hold the dialog happening their publish, they’ll discover you and certain return the favor the subsequent time you publish something.

Harness the facility of Twitter lists

Make an inventory in Twitter of people that persistently favorite or retweet your tweets. If they’re displaying you’re keen on, then placing them in an inventory will make it simpler so that you can:

frequently retweet their content, to keep the love practice shifting.

know who to tag in your future tweets which might be relevant to them.

10. Use Social Media Scheduling Instruments

The final and most powerful of those content material advertising ideas is to keep your content editorial calendar full. These instruments make it straightforward to constantly share your content material to drive extra visitors to your web site:

CoSchedule

In a current submit, I went into detail about why CoSchedule is my go-to content material advertising calendar. In a nutshell, it’s a drag-and-drop advertising calendar with straightforward social media scheduling.

Probably the most powerful function about CoSchedule is the power to simply re-schedule previous blog content. Plus, it integrates tightly with WordPress, allowing you to schedule social media shares earlier than you even publish your weblog.

I grew my Twitter following by 17% in the first week of using CoSchedule just by rescheduling previous content material.

On a aspect observe, CoSchedule also places out a whole lot of great content material advertising recommendations on their blog. You may need to verify them out.

HootSuite

Earlier than discovering CoSchedule, Hootsuite was my principal content advertising calendar. What I exploit it for now’s scheduling posts to LinkedIn Groups.

I can make the same publish to 30+ Groups in one go utilizing HootSuite. Their API nonetheless permits this, whereas CoSchedule’s doesn’t. It saves me hours of time every week. And my posts to LinkedIn Groups get clicks and shares for weeks after being revealed via HootSuite.

Buffer

The first two social media scheduling tools I discussed are nice for sharing your personal content material. However I exploit Buffer solely to schedule shares of different individuals’s posts (You down with OPP? Yeah, you realize me!)

I spend about 10 – 15 minutes each morning reading by means of my Twitter and LinkedIn feed. Anything that’s value sharing gets “buffered” using their Chrome plugin or my iPhone’s “Share Via” button.

What are your favorite content material advertising ideas?

I hope these content advertising ideas have impressed you to make some constructive modifications in your general content material advertising technique. By implementing just some of these, you need to see a big improve in visitors to your website.

Above all, write about one thing that interests you. You’re potential to persuade individuals you care about your subject is crucial to them clicking and reading your posts. In the event you’re not enthusiastic about what your writing, none of those content material advertising ideas matter.

I do love to hear from you. So let me know which content advertising ideas are driving probably the most visitors to your website in the feedback under.

The post 10 Content Marketing Tips To Drive More Traffic appeared first on Tech Amender.

#Blog #Content Marketing #content marketing ideas #content marketing strategy #content marketing success #content marketing tips #content marketing tips for small businesses

1 note · View note

moonlifesims4ccfinds · 5 years

Text

The Internet is a crowded place. I lately learn there are over 83,000 new weblog posts revealed each hour. Each hour!

So is it even potential to face out in a crowd anymore? Completely. It is in case you have a technique to publish and promote partaking content material.

1. Begin By Asking Your Audience What They Want

There’s individuals out there who will inform you, “Just write 500 words a day about anything, and you’ll get traffic”. BS! Worst of all the content material advertising ideas on the market.

You might get some visitors, however at what value? A disjointed viewers who you’ll shortly lose in case you don’t work out what they actually need to study from you.

Let’s take a look at some methods you possibly can help clearly determine what your readers need.

Use Popup surveys:

Each visitor to my website will get surveyed with out me having to raise a finger.

Ask your e mail subscribers:

Use the email autoresponders that go out to your new subscribers to ask what they need extra of. Hey, they agreed to offer you one thing as sacred as their e mail tackle. Meaning they belief you.

Show them you trust their judgement, too, by asking your subscribers to reply with a few sentences explaining what would get them to maintain opening your emails. Information is power.

Analysis your competition

2. Focus On Creating Evergreen Content

To ensure the content material you publish is evergreen:

Does it stand the check of time?

Ask your self, “If someone reads this article 10 years from now, will it still be relevant? Or will they say, “Oh yeah, I remember when that was actually popular/true/in style/etc.”

Write content material that’s related all yr round.

Think about removing publish dates from your posts.

three. Inform Stories & Be Your self

Give actual life examples

Embrace the psychology of storytelling

Domesticate relationships

4. Do (Sensible) Key phrase Analysis

Google Keyword Planner

Buzz Sumo

Google Advertisements

Right here’s a few things to concentrate to:

Variety of advertisements on the page – The more you see, the extra in style the subject you just searched for. That’s good.

Advert copy – Refine your key phrase analysis by paying close attention to the language marketers are using to get individuals to click on on their advert.

Your personal Google Analytics results

In the event you’re seeing the key phrase phrase “content marketing tips” show up, attempt writing about “content marketing tips for small businesses”. The chances are infinite.

5. Create Engaging Titles

Lure them in.

Maintain it brief.

The cutoff point for what search engine outcomes display is round 60 characters. So maintain your titles brief and to the point.

Hold it relevant.

Embrace your keyword phrase.

Absolutely embrace your keyword or keyword phrase in your title. For extra punch, put it at the start of your title

Make it an inventory.

And when applicable, use odd numbers in your listing. There’s plenty of studies that present readers are likely to view odd numbers as more reasonable.

6. Make Your Content Easier To Learn

This subsequent set of content material advertising ideas is crucial for maintaining visitors on your page longer. Longer “dwell time” is sweet in your Google rankings.

Based on CoSchedule, lower than half of your blog readers truly learn past 100 words. For probably the most half, this has to do with readability. So how do you repair this?

Write like Hemingway.

Ernest Hemingway was the grasp of writing brief sentences. You ought to be, too. ‘Nuff stated.

Hold your paragraphs brief.

Guide your readers with headings.

Use photographs, video and bullet points.

7. Optimize Your search engine optimization

The simplest option to be sure to’re optimizing every publish is to make use of a WordPress plugin like Yoast web optimization. Here’s how it works.

Focus keyword

Start by getting into your keyword or key phrase phrase it into the Focus Key phrase section. Yoast will then guide you thru optimizing your submit round this key phrase.

search engine optimization title

Meta description

Page Evaluation

Those I give attention to probably the most are: inner links, photographs, key phrase usage and readability score.

8. Make It Straightforward To Share

Use social sharing buttons

The SumoMe Share plugin lets you:

select your most popular social buttons (even which buttons present up on desktop vs. cellular).

choose the place(s) on your page to show the buttons.

determine whether or not or to not display the variety of shares (per social community and complete for all networks).

handle which pages/posts on your website to show the share buttons.

Click on To Tweet

Make your pictures straightforward to share

Once installed, just choose which social sites you need to show when guests hover over photographs. That’s it!

Embed alt textual content in your pictures

Embrace your Twitter deal with in sharing plugins

Encouraging readers to share your content material on Twitter is a superb begin. Simply don’t overlook to attribute your arduous work to yourself.

9. Enlist An Army Of Promoters To Unfold The Word

Use the “buddy system”

Give first to get what you need

Be a giver. Not a taker. This works notably properly on Twitter and LinkedIn. Retweet. Retweet. Retweet.

Harness the facility of Twitter lists

frequently retweet their content, to keep the love practice shifting.

know who to tag in your future tweets which might be relevant to them.

10. Use Social Media Scheduling Instruments

CoSchedule

I grew my Twitter following by 17% in the first week of using CoSchedule just by rescheduling previous content material.

On a aspect observe, CoSchedule also places out a whole lot of great content material advertising recommendations on their blog. You may need to verify them out.

HootSuite

Earlier than discovering CoSchedule, Hootsuite was my principal content advertising calendar. What I exploit it for now’s scheduling posts to LinkedIn Groups.

Buffer

What are your favorite content material advertising ideas?

I do love to hear from you. So let me know which content advertising ideas are driving probably the most visitors to your website in the feedback under.

The post 10 Content Marketing Tips To Drive More Traffic appeared first on Tech Amender.

#Blog #Content Marketing #content marketing ideas #content marketing strategy #content marketing success #content marketing tips #content marketing tips for small businesses

1 note · View note

itsdivercity1loveblog · 5 years

Text

The Internet is a crowded place. I lately learn there are over 83,000 new weblog posts revealed each hour. Each hour!

So is it even potential to face out in a crowd anymore? Completely. It is in case you have a technique to publish and promote partaking content material.

1. Begin By Asking Your Audience What They Want

There’s individuals out there who will inform you, “Just write 500 words a day about anything, and you’ll get traffic”. BS! Worst of all the content material advertising ideas on the market.

You might get some visitors, however at what value? A disjointed viewers who you’ll shortly lose in case you don’t work out what they actually need to study from you.

Let’s take a look at some methods you possibly can help clearly determine what your readers need.

Use Popup surveys:

Each visitor to my website will get surveyed with out me having to raise a finger.

Ask your e mail subscribers:

Use the email autoresponders that go out to your new subscribers to ask what they need extra of. Hey, they agreed to offer you one thing as sacred as their e mail tackle. Meaning they belief you.

Show them you trust their judgement, too, by asking your subscribers to reply with a few sentences explaining what would get them to maintain opening your emails. Information is power.

Analysis your competition

2. Focus On Creating Evergreen Content

To ensure the content material you publish is evergreen:

Does it stand the check of time?

Ask your self, “If someone reads this article 10 years from now, will it still be relevant? Or will they say, “Oh yeah, I remember when that was actually popular/true/in style/etc.”

Write content material that’s related all yr round.

Think about removing publish dates from your posts.

three. Inform Stories & Be Your self

Give actual life examples

Embrace the psychology of storytelling

Domesticate relationships

4. Do (Sensible) Key phrase Analysis

Google Keyword Planner

Buzz Sumo

Google Advertisements

Right here’s a few things to concentrate to:

Variety of advertisements on the page – The more you see, the extra in style the subject you just searched for. That’s good.

Advert copy – Refine your key phrase analysis by paying close attention to the language marketers are using to get individuals to click on on their advert.

Your personal Google Analytics results

In the event you’re seeing the key phrase phrase “content marketing tips” show up, attempt writing about “content marketing tips for small businesses”. The chances are infinite.

5. Create Engaging Titles

Lure them in.

Maintain it brief.

The cutoff point for what search engine outcomes display is round 60 characters. So maintain your titles brief and to the point.

Hold it relevant.

Embrace your keyword phrase.

Absolutely embrace your keyword or keyword phrase in your title. For extra punch, put it at the start of your title

Make it an inventory.

And when applicable, use odd numbers in your listing. There’s plenty of studies that present readers are likely to view odd numbers as more reasonable.

6. Make Your Content Easier To Learn

This subsequent set of content material advertising ideas is crucial for maintaining visitors on your page longer. Longer “dwell time” is sweet in your Google rankings.

Based on CoSchedule, lower than half of your blog readers truly learn past 100 words. For probably the most half, this has to do with readability. So how do you repair this?

Write like Hemingway.

Ernest Hemingway was the grasp of writing brief sentences. You ought to be, too. ‘Nuff stated.

Hold your paragraphs brief.

Guide your readers with headings.

Use photographs, video and bullet points.

7. Optimize Your search engine optimization

The simplest option to be sure to’re optimizing every publish is to make use of a WordPress plugin like Yoast web optimization. Here’s how it works.

Focus keyword

Start by getting into your keyword or key phrase phrase it into the Focus Key phrase section. Yoast will then guide you thru optimizing your submit round this key phrase.

search engine optimization title

Meta description

Page Evaluation

Those I give attention to probably the most are: inner links, photographs, key phrase usage and readability score.

8. Make It Straightforward To Share

Use social sharing buttons

The SumoMe Share plugin lets you:

select your most popular social buttons (even which buttons present up on desktop vs. cellular).

choose the place(s) on your page to show the buttons.

determine whether or not or to not display the variety of shares (per social community and complete for all networks).

handle which pages/posts on your website to show the share buttons.

Click on To Tweet

Make your pictures straightforward to share

Once installed, just choose which social sites you need to show when guests hover over photographs. That’s it!

Embed alt textual content in your pictures

Embrace your Twitter deal with in sharing plugins

Encouraging readers to share your content material on Twitter is a superb begin. Simply don’t overlook to attribute your arduous work to yourself.

9. Enlist An Army Of Promoters To Unfold The Word

Use the “buddy system”

Give first to get what you need

Be a giver. Not a taker. This works notably properly on Twitter and LinkedIn. Retweet. Retweet. Retweet.

Harness the facility of Twitter lists

frequently retweet their content, to keep the love practice shifting.

know who to tag in your future tweets which might be relevant to them.

10. Use Social Media Scheduling Instruments

CoSchedule

I grew my Twitter following by 17% in the first week of using CoSchedule just by rescheduling previous content material.

On a aspect observe, CoSchedule also places out a whole lot of great content material advertising recommendations on their blog. You may need to verify them out.

HootSuite

Earlier than discovering CoSchedule, Hootsuite was my principal content advertising calendar. What I exploit it for now’s scheduling posts to LinkedIn Groups.

Buffer

What are your favorite content material advertising ideas?

I do love to hear from you. So let me know which content advertising ideas are driving probably the most visitors to your website in the feedback under.

The post 10 Content Marketing Tips To Drive More Traffic appeared first on Tech Amender.

#Blog #Content Marketing #content marketing ideas #content marketing strategy #content marketing success #content marketing tips #content marketing tips for small businesses

1 note · View note

hellonerdybihippie · 5 years

Text

The Internet is a crowded place. I lately learn there are over 83,000 new weblog posts revealed each hour. Each hour!

So is it even potential to face out in a crowd anymore? Completely. It is in case you have a technique to publish and promote partaking content material.

1. Begin By Asking Your Audience What They Want

There’s individuals out there who will inform you, “Just write 500 words a day about anything, and you’ll get traffic”. BS! Worst of all the content material advertising ideas on the market.

You might get some visitors, however at what value? A disjointed viewers who you’ll shortly lose in case you don’t work out what they actually need to study from you.

Let’s take a look at some methods you possibly can help clearly determine what your readers need.

Use Popup surveys:

Each visitor to my website will get surveyed with out me having to raise a finger.

Ask your e mail subscribers:

Use the email autoresponders that go out to your new subscribers to ask what they need extra of. Hey, they agreed to offer you one thing as sacred as their e mail tackle. Meaning they belief you.

Show them you trust their judgement, too, by asking your subscribers to reply with a few sentences explaining what would get them to maintain opening your emails. Information is power.

Analysis your competition

2. Focus On Creating Evergreen Content

To ensure the content material you publish is evergreen:

Does it stand the check of time?

Ask your self, “If someone reads this article 10 years from now, will it still be relevant? Or will they say, “Oh yeah, I remember when that was actually popular/true/in style/etc.”

Write content material that’s related all yr round.

Think about removing publish dates from your posts.

three. Inform Stories & Be Your self

Give actual life examples

Embrace the psychology of storytelling

Domesticate relationships

4. Do (Sensible) Key phrase Analysis

Google Keyword Planner

Buzz Sumo

Google Advertisements

Right here’s a few things to concentrate to:

Variety of advertisements on the page – The more you see, the extra in style the subject you just searched for. That’s good.

Advert copy – Refine your key phrase analysis by paying close attention to the language marketers are using to get individuals to click on on their advert.

Your personal Google Analytics results

In the event you’re seeing the key phrase phrase “content marketing tips” show up, attempt writing about “content marketing tips for small businesses”. The chances are infinite.

5. Create Engaging Titles

Lure them in.

Maintain it brief.

The cutoff point for what search engine outcomes display is round 60 characters. So maintain your titles brief and to the point.

Hold it relevant.

Embrace your keyword phrase.

Absolutely embrace your keyword or keyword phrase in your title. For extra punch, put it at the start of your title

Make it an inventory.

And when applicable, use odd numbers in your listing. There’s plenty of studies that present readers are likely to view odd numbers as more reasonable.

6. Make Your Content Easier To Learn

This subsequent set of content material advertising ideas is crucial for maintaining visitors on your page longer. Longer “dwell time” is sweet in your Google rankings.

Based on CoSchedule, lower than half of your blog readers truly learn past 100 words. For probably the most half, this has to do with readability. So how do you repair this?

Write like Hemingway.

Ernest Hemingway was the grasp of writing brief sentences. You ought to be, too. ‘Nuff stated.

Hold your paragraphs brief.

Guide your readers with headings.

Use photographs, video and bullet points.

7. Optimize Your search engine optimization

The simplest option to be sure to’re optimizing every publish is to make use of a WordPress plugin like Yoast web optimization. Here’s how it works.

Focus keyword

Start by getting into your keyword or key phrase phrase it into the Focus Key phrase section. Yoast will then guide you thru optimizing your submit round this key phrase.

search engine optimization title

Meta description

Page Evaluation

Those I give attention to probably the most are: inner links, photographs, key phrase usage and readability score.

8. Make It Straightforward To Share

Use social sharing buttons

The SumoMe Share plugin lets you:

select your most popular social buttons (even which buttons present up on desktop vs. cellular).

choose the place(s) on your page to show the buttons.

determine whether or not or to not display the variety of shares (per social community and complete for all networks).

handle which pages/posts on your website to show the share buttons.

Click on To Tweet

Make your pictures straightforward to share

Once installed, just choose which social sites you need to show when guests hover over photographs. That’s it!

Embed alt textual content in your pictures

Embrace your Twitter deal with in sharing plugins

Encouraging readers to share your content material on Twitter is a superb begin. Simply don’t overlook to attribute your arduous work to yourself.

9. Enlist An Army Of Promoters To Unfold The Word

Use the “buddy system”

Give first to get what you need

Be a giver. Not a taker. This works notably properly on Twitter and LinkedIn. Retweet. Retweet. Retweet.

Harness the facility of Twitter lists

frequently retweet their content, to keep the love practice shifting.

know who to tag in your future tweets which might be relevant to them.

10. Use Social Media Scheduling Instruments

CoSchedule

I grew my Twitter following by 17% in the first week of using CoSchedule just by rescheduling previous content material.

On a aspect observe, CoSchedule also places out a whole lot of great content material advertising recommendations on their blog. You may need to verify them out.

HootSuite

Earlier than discovering CoSchedule, Hootsuite was my principal content advertising calendar. What I exploit it for now’s scheduling posts to LinkedIn Groups.

Buffer

What are your favorite content material advertising ideas?

I do love to hear from you. So let me know which content advertising ideas are driving probably the most visitors to your website in the feedback under.

The post 10 Content Marketing Tips To Drive More Traffic appeared first on Tech Amender.

#Blog #Content Marketing #content marketing ideas #content marketing strategy #content marketing success #content marketing tips #content marketing tips for small businesses

1 note · View note

autisticplumeriaartthings-blog · 5 years

Text

The Internet is a crowded place. I lately learn there are over 83,000 new weblog posts revealed each hour. Each hour!

So is it even potential to face out in a crowd anymore? Completely. It is in case you have a technique to publish and promote partaking content material.

1. Begin By Asking Your Audience What They Want

There’s individuals out there who will inform you, “Just write 500 words a day about anything, and you’ll get traffic”. BS! Worst of all the content material advertising ideas on the market.

You might get some visitors, however at what value? A disjointed viewers who you’ll shortly lose in case you don’t work out what they actually need to study from you.

Let’s take a look at some methods you possibly can help clearly determine what your readers need.

Use Popup surveys:

Each visitor to my website will get surveyed with out me having to raise a finger.

Ask your e mail subscribers:

Use the email autoresponders that go out to your new subscribers to ask what they need extra of. Hey, they agreed to offer you one thing as sacred as their e mail tackle. Meaning they belief you.

Show them you trust their judgement, too, by asking your subscribers to reply with a few sentences explaining what would get them to maintain opening your emails. Information is power.

Analysis your competition

2. Focus On Creating Evergreen Content

To ensure the content material you publish is evergreen:

Does it stand the check of time?

Ask your self, “If someone reads this article 10 years from now, will it still be relevant? Or will they say, “Oh yeah, I remember when that was actually popular/true/in style/etc.”

Write content material that’s related all yr round.

Think about removing publish dates from your posts.

three. Inform Stories & Be Your self

Give actual life examples

Embrace the psychology of storytelling

Domesticate relationships

4. Do (Sensible) Key phrase Analysis

Google Keyword Planner

Buzz Sumo

Google Advertisements

Right here’s a few things to concentrate to:

Variety of advertisements on the page – The more you see, the extra in style the subject you just searched for. That’s good.

Advert copy – Refine your key phrase analysis by paying close attention to the language marketers are using to get individuals to click on on their advert.

Your personal Google Analytics results

In the event you’re seeing the key phrase phrase “content marketing tips” show up, attempt writing about “content marketing tips for small businesses”. The chances are infinite.

5. Create Engaging Titles

Lure them in.

Maintain it brief.

The cutoff point for what search engine outcomes display is round 60 characters. So maintain your titles brief and to the point.

Hold it relevant.

Embrace your keyword phrase.

Absolutely embrace your keyword or keyword phrase in your title. For extra punch, put it at the start of your title

Make it an inventory.

And when applicable, use odd numbers in your listing. There’s plenty of studies that present readers are likely to view odd numbers as more reasonable.

6. Make Your Content Easier To Learn

This subsequent set of content material advertising ideas is crucial for maintaining visitors on your page longer. Longer “dwell time” is sweet in your Google rankings.

Based on CoSchedule, lower than half of your blog readers truly learn past 100 words. For probably the most half, this has to do with readability. So how do you repair this?

Write like Hemingway.

Ernest Hemingway was the grasp of writing brief sentences. You ought to be, too. ‘Nuff stated.

Hold your paragraphs brief.

Guide your readers with headings.

Use photographs, video and bullet points.

7. Optimize Your search engine optimization

The simplest option to be sure to’re optimizing every publish is to make use of a WordPress plugin like Yoast web optimization. Here’s how it works.

Focus keyword

Start by getting into your keyword or key phrase phrase it into the Focus Key phrase section. Yoast will then guide you thru optimizing your submit round this key phrase.

search engine optimization title

Meta description

Page Evaluation

Those I give attention to probably the most are: inner links, photographs, key phrase usage and readability score.

8. Make It Straightforward To Share

Use social sharing buttons

The SumoMe Share plugin lets you:

select your most popular social buttons (even which buttons present up on desktop vs. cellular).

choose the place(s) on your page to show the buttons.

determine whether or not or to not display the variety of shares (per social community and complete for all networks).

handle which pages/posts on your website to show the share buttons.

Click on To Tweet

Make your pictures straightforward to share

Once installed, just choose which social sites you need to show when guests hover over photographs. That’s it!

Embed alt textual content in your pictures

Embrace your Twitter deal with in sharing plugins

Encouraging readers to share your content material on Twitter is a superb begin. Simply don’t overlook to attribute your arduous work to yourself.

9. Enlist An Army Of Promoters To Unfold The Word

Use the “buddy system”

Give first to get what you need

Be a giver. Not a taker. This works notably properly on Twitter and LinkedIn. Retweet. Retweet. Retweet.

Harness the facility of Twitter lists

frequently retweet their content, to keep the love practice shifting.

know who to tag in your future tweets which might be relevant to them.

10. Use Social Media Scheduling Instruments

CoSchedule

I grew my Twitter following by 17% in the first week of using CoSchedule just by rescheduling previous content material.

On a aspect observe, CoSchedule also places out a whole lot of great content material advertising recommendations on their blog. You may need to verify them out.

HootSuite

Earlier than discovering CoSchedule, Hootsuite was my principal content advertising calendar. What I exploit it for now’s scheduling posts to LinkedIn Groups.

Buffer

What are your favorite content material advertising ideas?

I do love to hear from you. So let me know which content advertising ideas are driving probably the most visitors to your website in the feedback under.

The post 10 Content Marketing Tips To Drive More Traffic appeared first on Tech Amender.

#Blog #Content Marketing #content marketing ideas #content marketing strategy #content marketing success #content marketing tips #content marketing tips for small businesses

1 note · View note

itstakingtoolongtoload-blog · 5 years

Text

The Internet is a crowded place. I lately learn there are over 83,000 new weblog posts revealed each hour. Each hour!

So is it even potential to face out in a crowd anymore? Completely. It is in case you have a technique to publish and promote partaking content material.

1. Begin By Asking Your Audience What They Want

There’s individuals out there who will inform you, “Just write 500 words a day about anything, and you’ll get traffic”. BS! Worst of all the content material advertising ideas on the market.

You might get some visitors, however at what value? A disjointed viewers who you’ll shortly lose in case you don’t work out what they actually need to study from you.

Let’s take a look at some methods you possibly can help clearly determine what your readers need.

Use Popup surveys:

Each visitor to my website will get surveyed with out me having to raise a finger.

Ask your e mail subscribers:

Use the email autoresponders that go out to your new subscribers to ask what they need extra of. Hey, they agreed to offer you one thing as sacred as their e mail tackle. Meaning they belief you.

Show them you trust their judgement, too, by asking your subscribers to reply with a few sentences explaining what would get them to maintain opening your emails. Information is power.

Analysis your competition

2. Focus On Creating Evergreen Content

To ensure the content material you publish is evergreen:

Does it stand the check of time?

Ask your self, “If someone reads this article 10 years from now, will it still be relevant? Or will they say, “Oh yeah, I remember when that was actually popular/true/in style/etc.”

Write content material that’s related all yr round.

Think about removing publish dates from your posts.

three. Inform Stories & Be Your self

Give actual life examples

Embrace the psychology of storytelling

Domesticate relationships

4. Do (Sensible) Key phrase Analysis

Google Keyword Planner

Buzz Sumo

Google Advertisements

Right here’s a few things to concentrate to:

Variety of advertisements on the page – The more you see, the extra in style the subject you just searched for. That’s good.

Advert copy – Refine your key phrase analysis by paying close attention to the language marketers are using to get individuals to click on on their advert.

Your personal Google Analytics results

In the event you’re seeing the key phrase phrase “content marketing tips” show up, attempt writing about “content marketing tips for small businesses”. The chances are infinite.

5. Create Engaging Titles

Lure them in.

Maintain it brief.

The cutoff point for what search engine outcomes display is round 60 characters. So maintain your titles brief and to the point.

Hold it relevant.

Embrace your keyword phrase.

Absolutely embrace your keyword or keyword phrase in your title. For extra punch, put it at the start of your title

Make it an inventory.

And when applicable, use odd numbers in your listing. There’s plenty of studies that present readers are likely to view odd numbers as more reasonable.

6. Make Your Content Easier To Learn

This subsequent set of content material advertising ideas is crucial for maintaining visitors on your page longer. Longer “dwell time” is sweet in your Google rankings.

Based on CoSchedule, lower than half of your blog readers truly learn past 100 words. For probably the most half, this has to do with readability. So how do you repair this?

Write like Hemingway.

Ernest Hemingway was the grasp of writing brief sentences. You ought to be, too. ‘Nuff stated.

Hold your paragraphs brief.

Guide your readers with headings.

Use photographs, video and bullet points.

7. Optimize Your search engine optimization

The simplest option to be sure to’re optimizing every publish is to make use of a WordPress plugin like Yoast web optimization. Here’s how it works.

Focus keyword

Start by getting into your keyword or key phrase phrase it into the Focus Key phrase section. Yoast will then guide you thru optimizing your submit round this key phrase.

search engine optimization title

Meta description

Page Evaluation

Those I give attention to probably the most are: inner links, photographs, key phrase usage and readability score.

8. Make It Straightforward To Share

Use social sharing buttons

The SumoMe Share plugin lets you:

select your most popular social buttons (even which buttons present up on desktop vs. cellular).

choose the place(s) on your page to show the buttons.

determine whether or not or to not display the variety of shares (per social community and complete for all networks).

handle which pages/posts on your website to show the share buttons.

Click on To Tweet

Make your pictures straightforward to share

Once installed, just choose which social sites you need to show when guests hover over photographs. That’s it!

Embed alt textual content in your pictures

Embrace your Twitter deal with in sharing plugins

Encouraging readers to share your content material on Twitter is a superb begin. Simply don’t overlook to attribute your arduous work to yourself.

9. Enlist An Army Of Promoters To Unfold The Word

Use the “buddy system”

Give first to get what you need

Be a giver. Not a taker. This works notably properly on Twitter and LinkedIn. Retweet. Retweet. Retweet.

Harness the facility of Twitter lists

frequently retweet their content, to keep the love practice shifting.

know who to tag in your future tweets which might be relevant to them.

10. Use Social Media Scheduling Instruments

CoSchedule

I grew my Twitter following by 17% in the first week of using CoSchedule just by rescheduling previous content material.

On a aspect observe, CoSchedule also places out a whole lot of great content material advertising recommendations on their blog. You may need to verify them out.

HootSuite

Earlier than discovering CoSchedule, Hootsuite was my principal content advertising calendar. What I exploit it for now’s scheduling posts to LinkedIn Groups.

Buffer

What are your favorite content material advertising ideas?

I do love to hear from you. So let me know which content advertising ideas are driving probably the most visitors to your website in the feedback under.

The post 10 Content Marketing Tips To Drive More Traffic appeared first on Tech Amender.

#Blog #Content Marketing #content marketing ideas #content marketing strategy #content marketing success #content marketing tips #content marketing tips for small businesses

1 note · View note

sevenpabosandabunchoffans · 6 years

Text

The Meaning of Family | Chapter 15 (Final)

Characters: Kim Seokjin, Kim Namjoon, Min Yoongi, Jung Hoseok, Jeon Jungkook, Kim Taehyung, Park Jimin, Original Characters, Kim Yugyeom, Jennie Kim

Words: 10,803

Genre: Foster Dad!Jin, Preschool Teacher!Jin, Social Worker!Namjoon, Little Kid!Yoongi, Little Kid!Hoseok, Little Kid!Jimin, Little Kid!Taehyung, Little Kid!Jungkook, America!au, namjin but it’s more of a side thing

Warnings: recovery from an eating disorder, one character pressures another to have sex but nothing happens, mentions of past sexual abuse towards a child, mentions of child abuse (teenager), mentions of alcoholism, mentions of past child neglect, one character is basically just a cunt and says so many offensive things that it would take forever to type them all out, mild sexual harassment, jin is an emotional wreck

Summary: Jin is a preschool teacher at a small center and has an absolute adoration for younger children. During his time as a teacher, he sees an unfortunate percentage of his students placed in the foster system, so he decides to become a foster parent himself, forming an attachment with five children that get placed with him and their case worker.

A/N: The final chapter is here! Thank you to everyone that has followed this series. If you’ll stay after the chapter, there will be a detailed explanation of the surprise I mentioned at the end of this post.

Previous Chapter

“What are your thoughts on sex?” Hoseok was at his quarterly appointment with Dr. Pruitt to check up on his medication and coping strategies. As he did at the end of every meeting, the man had asked Hoseok if there was anything else he would like to talk about, and for once, Hoseok actually did have something.

“Well,” Dr. Pruitt pushed his glasses further up his face before clasping his hands together. “That is a very broad question, Hoseok. Do you mind elaborating a little?”

“It’s just…” Hoseok paused as he figured out how to word his question. “I know that a lot of people are against sex before marriage, or at least sex in high school, but I know a lot of people my age are having sex, and the media shows it as a normal thing for 16-year olds, so I was just wondering…should I be having sex already?”

“I can tell you that a lot of your peers are probably lying about having sex just to seem cool.” Dr. Pruitt answered. “But it does seem that you have some reservations about sex, and that is absolutely okay.” Hoseok bit his lip nervously, not sure how far the therapist would be attempting to dive into Hoseok’s problems. “This could be due to your parents’ views on sex, have you talked to them about it?”

Hoseok scoffed lightly. “My dad literally bought my older brother a box of condoms as part of his school supplies, I don’t think they’re too against sex.”

“Okay, so that’s not it.” Dr. Pruitt closed his notebook, signifying that their meeting was coming to an end. “I think you’re having an inner conflict because you have all these signs around you sending mixed signals about whether or not sex is okay at your age, and I believe you might have some repressed feelings towards sex. If you can figure out whatever it is that you are subconsciously feeling, it might be a little easier for you to navigate those mixed signals and figure out what you believe is best.”

At the soccer fields, Taehyung was getting in some summer practice before the school year, and the season, started. Taehyung kicked the ball towards the goal, just barely missing it. “If you shift to the right just half an inch, it’ll go in.”

Taehyung whirled around to see Kortni approaching him, her soccer bag over her shoulder. “What are you doing here, it’s off-season.”

“Then why are you here?” Kortni shot back as he retrieved his ball. “Mind if I join you?” Taehyung shrugged, and Kortni immediately set her own ball on the field and kicked it towards the goal.

Taehyung was just about to get back to practicing when he saw Hoseok’s car pull into the parking lot, meaning his appointment was over and it was time for the two of them to go home. “I gotta go, my brother’s here.” Kortni nodded and was about to kick again when Taehyung stopped her. “If you twist your core just a little more, your kick will be more powerful.”

Kortni turned to see him already halfway to Hoseok’s car. “Thanks!” She called after him, and he waved his hand in response as he opened the passenger door.

“Who’s that?” Hoseok asked as Taehyung put his seatbelt on.

The 14-year-old shrugged. “Just someone from the girls’ league.”

When they walked in their front door, they were greeted by a serious conversation between their older brother and their parents. “Yoongi, we told you that you don’t have to get a job, we just want you to focus on your schoolwork and preparing for college.”

“But I want to work.” Yoongi insisted, bending over to pick Holly up when she began pawing at his legs. “I wouldn’t have applied to work at the music store if I didn’t.”

Jin sighed. “And you think you’ll be okay? You won’t get overly stressed and anxious?”

“I’ll be fine, Dad.” Yoongi insisted.

“Yoongi got a job?” Taehyung asked, setting his bag on the couch.

“That’s not where that goes.” Namjoon stated, not even looking up from his laptop.

Taehyung picked his bag back up as Yoongi answered him. “I start working at Jack’s Music on Monday after school.”

“Congratulations~” Taehyung said before heading to his room. Yoongi left shortly after him, cuddling Holly close to his chest as he walked to his room.

“Wait, Yoongi, I gotta ask you something.” Hoseok chased after him, leaving Namjoon and Jin alone in the living room.

“What are you working so diligently on?” Jin asked as he opened his binder up to continue lesson planning for the coming week.

“A new case~” Namjoon started off vaguely, hitting send on his email before finishing his thought. “We have a girl in Greenbrier that just went into protective services, so I’m coordinating appointments for both her and her family. It’s not looking too good, though.”

“I hope everything works out okay.” Jin commented, and Namjoon nodded.

“Me too~” He said quietly before shutting his laptop, deciding he needed a little break from his depressing work. “What are you working on?”

“Community helpers week is coming up soon, so I’m trying to come up with various activities and decide who to call to come talk to the kids.” Jin answered, filling out part of his weekly lesson plan. “I’m going to call the fire department tomorrow to see if they can bring a truck over for the kids to look at, that’s always a favorite of the kids’.”

“Don’t let Jungkook know.” Namjoon teased. “You remember how much he loved that when he was in preschool.”

“Oh my god, I thought we would never get him out of the truck.” Jin thought back to the day that their youngest son bawled his eyes out at the thought of having to exit a firetruck. “Speaking of Jungkook, it’s probably time for me to go get him and Jimin.” Jungkook had joined the 7th grade football team and had morning summer practices starting at the end of July that coincided with Jimin’s dance camp.

“I’ll hold down the fort here.” Namjoon stated as Jin stood up from the couch, setting his binder on the coffee table. He leaned down to press a quick kiss to his husband’s lips before going to the kitchen to grab the snacks he had prepared for the two boys.

Jimin entered the car, skin glistening with sweat from his hard work that morning. “Hey, I brought you some peanut butter crackers.”

“But I ate all of my breakfast today.” Jimin commented as he put his seatbelt on.

“You did, and I am very proud of you, but your doctor said you’re still underweight and that you still need to have snacks between meals.” Jimin sighed and grabbed one of the packages from the cupholder between him and his dad. “You don’t have to finish it, just have at least two of the crackers and that’ll be fine.”

Jimin ate his snack in silence as Jin drove to the middle school to pick up Jungkook, finishing half the package before putting it away (which was only one more cracker than Jin had asked him to eat, but Jin was extremely proud of him anyway). Jungkook entered the car, much sweatier than Jimin was. “Hey, Kookie, I brought you a snack too in case you were hungry.”

“Thanks~” Jungkook reached up and grabbed the unopened package of crackers. “Yugyeom asked if it was okay if he could come over Friday after we get our schedules.” Jungkook was thankful that his face was already red from practice so that his heated cheeks wouldn’t raise any questions. “We want to get our school stuff together and make plans.”

“That’s fine~” Jin approved. “As long as his mom says it’s okay.”

They entered their house to see Hoseok on the couch next to Namjoon with an annoyed look on his face. “What’s up, Hobi?” Jin asked as Jungkook and Jimin started racing each other to the bathroom to shower. “One of you just use ours~” Jin called to them before turning back to Hoseok.

“Yoongi and Sophia kicked me out.” Hoseok grumbled, harshly hitting the guide button on the TV remote to see what was on.

“They did not kick you out, you chose to come in here.” Namjoon shared his input. “Sophia came over so she and Yoongi could start looking at college applications.”

“Oh, is that what they’re doing?” Hoseok muttered, crossing his arms over his chest as he finally decided on The Avengers.

“Leave them alone,” Jin softly scolded the 16-year-old. “Think about if it were you and Izzy.” Hoseok just turned the volume on the TV up slightly. “Alright, any ideas for what you want for lunch?” Jin asked as Taehyung entered the room, and Hoseok shook his head.

“I’m in the mood for a ham and cheese sandwich.” Taehyung supplied, rolling over the back of the loveseat to land on the cushion.

“I’m sure you’re capable of making that yourself, Taehyung.”

Taehyung dramatically pouted. “But it doesn’t taste as good as when you make it.”

“Dude, you just slap a slice of ham and a slice of cheese between two slices of bread.” Hoseok rolled his eyes.

“I don’t know what it is, but Dad just makes it better!” Taehyung insisted.

“Alright, come on,” Jin gestured for Taehyung to follow him into the kitchen. “I’ll show you how I make it.”

Soon enough, the family of seven, plus Sophia, were sitting down to dinner. “Jimin, you need some chicken on your plate.” Namjoon said when he noticed the 14-year-old trying to get by with a just a helping of side salad.

Since Jimin had eaten all of his breakfast that morning, an entire sandwich as opposed to half of one at lunch, and the two snacks Jin had him eat, he knew that it would be difficult for him to eat a substantial amount at dinner. He picked out the smallest grilled chicken breast and cut that in half, placing that amount on his plate. After seeing a slight nod from his dad saying that that was a good amount for that night, he began to take small bites of his salad.

“Is the preschool hiring?” Sophia suddenly asked.

“Oh, you’re looking for a job, too?” Jin inquired, and the 17-year-old girl nodded. “Well, unfortunately, you have to be 18 to work there…” Sophia’s face fell as she took a bite of chicken. “But if you’re still looking for a job in April after your birthday, then I can put in a good word for you with the director.”

She gave the man a small smile. “Thanks, Jin.” Underneath the table, Yoongi squeezed her hand before picking up his glass of coke.

“So, we have Math, Health, and Study Hall together this year.” Yugyeom commented after comparing his and Jungkook’s schedules. “This is gonna be awesome!”

“Yeah, awesome~” Jungkook agreed, trying to will his heart to slow down.

Yugyeom looked up from the paper and smiled at his best friend. “What class are you most excited about?” He asked as he handed Jungkook his schedule back, grabbing his backpack from the floor that he had packed with his school supplies, so they could get their binders together.

“I’m really excited about art this year.” Jungkook stated honestly.

“I can’t wait to see some of your projects!” Yugyeom exclaimed, making Jungkook pray to all the gods that he wouldn’t turn red at that moment. “I’m excited about health. I heard from some of the eighth-grade football players that we’ll get to watch a lot of movies.”

“That sounds fun…” Jungkook trailed off as he was mesmerized by Yugyeom’s fingers moving as he set his paper inside his binder. When he realized he had been staring, he quickly shook himself out of his trance and busied himself with his own school supplies.

“What’s your schedule look like?” Jimin asked Taehyung as he entered their room after taking a shower, flopping on his bed and grabbing his laptop.

“Why do I have to like girls?” Taehyung was obviously in his own world as he cuddled Soonshim to his chest, looking up at the ceiling.

“You could try liking both.” Jimin responded. “Both is fun.”

Taehyung ignored him as he continued his rambling. “I’ve only seen her twice and I’m in love.”

Jimin looked up from his laptop. “Why am I just now hearing about a girl in your life?”

Taehyung rolled onto his side. “I don’t like this feeling. Distract me.”

Jimin rolled his eyes as Lily jumped onto his lap. “Are you gonna tell me your schedule or not?”

“Oh, right!” Taehyung sat up, and Soonshim shot out of the room due to her newfound freedom. “What lunch do you have? I have second this year.”

“I have second, too. Dad’s gonna be extremely happy about that.”

“You’re doing good, Jimin.” Taehyung stated seriously. “We’re all just worried about a relapse.”

Jimin sighed. “I know, I am too.”

“Let’s not talk about this now.” Taehyung crossed the room to join Jimin on his bed. “Let’s see if we have any classes together.”

“I don’t get why you’re taking all of these computer classes still.” Izzy said from where she was lounging on Hoseok’s bed, Hoseok at his desk as he messed with some computer parts he managed to get from a garage sale.

“Because I like computers, you know this.”

“Yeah, but it’s like you don’t want us to have any classes together.”

Hoseok turned around in his desk chair to look at her. “You know that’s not true.” He got up to move to lay on his bed next to her. “I just want to take classes that I’m interested in.”

Izzy sighed. “At least we have oral com together.” She nuzzled into Hoseok’s chest before looking up at him. “Let’s do it now.”

Hoseok nearly choked on air. “Izzy, you know we can’t.”

Izzy scooted away from him and rolled her eyes. “It’s not like your dads don’t know that Yoongi and the cheerleader are fucking, I don’t get why they’re so strict about stuff like leaving your door open.”

“They haven’t given Jungkook the whole sex talk yet, and they said that they’ll change the rules once they have.”

“Great, so we’ll have to wait another year or two.” Izzy crossed her arms.

“Doesn’t waiting make it better?” Hoseok asked, but Izzy didn’t respond. He didn’t care, as he was happy to have put it off anyway.

Yoongi stood in Abuela Martinez’s kitchen, spooning some soup into a bowl for the elderly woman. He caught part of her and Sophia’s conversation as he carried the dish into the living room. “Yes, Abuela, I am okay with going to a community college.” Sophia had decided on going to the community college in Morrilton, which was 20 minutes away from where they lived now.

“Here you go, Abuela,” Yoongi handed her the bowl of soup.

“Thank you, Yoongi, you’ve always been such a nice boy.” Yoongi smiled at her as he moved to sit on the floor next to Sophia, where they had already begun filling out college applications in hopes of early acceptance. “Don’t you want to go to school with your boyfriend? Can’t you get that preschool degree at UCA?’’

“Yeah, but it’ll be way more expensive.” Sophia explained. “Plus, it’s not like I’ll never see Yoongi again. The school is only 20 minutes away, so I can still live in Conway and drive down there for class.”

“As long as you’re sure.” The older lady set her soup on the side table before slowly pushing herself up from her chair. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to go to the ladies’ room.”

Once the woman was out of sight and earshot, Yoongi looked at Sophia. “Have you told her or your mom yet?”

“No, have you told your dads yet?”

Yoongi shook his head. “If I had, they probably would have been even more against me getting a job.”

Sophia moved to sit on Yoongi’s lap, wrapping her arms around his neck as he wrapped his around her waist. “We have all school year to tell them. Until then, we can ease them into the idea.” Yoongi nodded and lightly pressed his lips to hers before turning his attention back to his laptop where the application for UCA was pulled up.

Taehyung sat in the desk he claimed as his for French class, scribbling on a random piece of paper out of boredom until a bag dropping onto the desk in front of him caught his attention. “Fancy seeing you here, stranger.”

“Kortni?” Taehyung asked, not fully believing the blonde girl that had been invading his thoughts was actually there.

“Wouldn’t expect some macho soccer player to be taking French.” Kortni sat in the seat, staying turned around to face him. “I would have pegged you as the type to take German or something.”

“A-actually I’m the type to take-take the same language as my genius brother so that I can, uh, I can copy his homework.” Taehyung was only partially joking, too busy cursing himself for allowing his stutter to slip out right then.

Kortni must have found it cute, though, because she giggled lightly at him. “Well, you’ve just made it that much easier for me.” Taehyung furrowed his eyebrows, and Kortni picked up on his confusion. “I hope you don’t think I kept seeking you out on the practice field in an attempt to form a friendship.” He tilted his head slightly, even more confused. “I was setting you up to obliterate you on the field. But then I saw you sitting in here and I decided why not obliterate you in the classroom? It’ll probably be much easier, because you actually are fairly skilled with a soccer ball.” Taehyung was at a loss for words as the bell rang, making Kortni turn to face the front.

Taehyung ran up to Jimin as he was walking into the cafeteria. “I was wrong, I am most certainly not in love!”

“Wait what?” Jimin asked as they walked up to the lunch line.

“Kortni! The girl I told you about the other day.” Jimin nodded in understanding as Taehyung handed him a tray. “I’m not in love with her. It turns out she’s actually my arch nemesis. I have to destroy her!” Taehyung took it upon himself to fill Jimin’s tray with a slice of pizza, a cup of pears, and a cup of baked beans.

“O…kay.” Jimin reached out to grab a bottle of water, but Taehyung smacked his hand out of the way and grabbed a milk.

“Meal plan says milk until you get your weight up.” Jimin rolled his eyes as he accepted the milk carton from his brother.

“Why don’t you start from the beginning with this Kortni girl?” Jimin asked as they sat down at a table together.

“Gladly~”

“My mom’s not home.” Izzy said as Hoseok began to pull out of the parking lot. “You wanna come over and have some fun?”

Hoseok’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. “Can’t~ I have to go pick Jimin up from school and take him to his ballet class.”

“I thought that was Yoongi’s job.” Izzy asked, obviously annoyed that her advances had been shot down again.

Hoseok shook his head as he approached the Jr. High. “Yoongi works at the music store now, so chauffeuring Jimin is my responsibility now.”

“Alright, well how about after you drop him off?” Izzy asked, reaching over to rest her hand on Hoseok’s thigh.

“I, uh, promised Jungkook I would help him with his homework today.” He hadn’t, as Yugyeom came over after school everyday after their football practice to help. Izzy removed her hand, and Hoseok let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding.

That Saturday night, Yoongi was out on a date with Sophia while Hoseok’s other three brothers had already holed themselves up in their rooms. Hoseok knocked on his dads’ bedroom door, waiting for them to say he could come in.

“What’s up, Hobi?” Jin looked up from his laptop, where he was downloading some activity sheets to print out for the following week, his glasses perched on his nose. Namjoon was sitting next to him on the phone, speaking quietly about a court meeting that was coming up.

“Can I ask you guys something?” Jin set his laptop to the side and Namjoon finished his call, letting both of their attentions be on their second oldest. “What do you think is the right age to be having sex?”

The question caught both of them off guard. “Well, Hobi,” Namjoon began, “I don’t really think it’s a matter of age so much as it is a matter of maturity.”

“What do you mean?” Hoseok asked as he sat on the foot of their bed.

“There’s a lot of stress that can come from being sexually active.” Jin explained. “From the possibility of getting a girl pregnant, to the risk of STDs, and even the emotional connections that can be formed from having sex with someone. And a person shouldn’t consider being sexually active until they are mature enough to handle any consequence that can come from having sex.”

“And you think Yoongi is mature enough for that?” Hoseok knew he was stalling now.

“Your brother’s sex life is not something we want to discuss with you, Hobi.” Namjoon said. “But we have already discussed this with him too.”

“What is this about?” Jin asked. “Are you wanting to have sex with Izzy? You don’t have to ask our permission, Hobi.”

“No, actually~” Hoseok took a deep breath. “Izzy has been talking about the possibility of us having sex, but I don’t particularly want to, and I was just wondering if that was weird for me to not want to have sex at 16.”

“It’s not weird.” Namjoon said. “I wasn’t interested in having sex when I was 16. There’s a lot of different reasons as to why one wouldn’t want to have sex.” Hoseok nodded, and Namjoon took that as a chance to ask his next question. “Are you thinking you might be asexual? It’s okay if you are.”

“No, I don’t think so.” Hoseok stayed quiet for a few seconds as he gathered his thoughts. “I mean, I know I want to have sex one day, preferably with Izzy, but whenever it comes up, it scares me. Like, I’m actually terrified.” Saying it out loud made Hoseok realize that Carter was the reason behind his reluctance.

“That’s completely understandable.” Jin said, willing away the tears he felt coming on. “You experienced something horrible as a child, and the repercussions of that are going to carry on through to adulthood. It’s completely normal for you to be scared to have sex, because you associate it with what you went through. No one can blame you for that.”

Hoseok wasn’t sure when the tears began to pour out of his eyes. He just knew that he needed his dads’ reassurance and love at that moment. He moved to lie between them, welcoming the both of their arms around him. “Will I ever be okay?”

“One day, Hobi.” Namjoon whispered into his hair.

“Have I ever mentioned how much I love breakfast for dinner?” Taehyung asked rhetorically as he loaded his plate up with hash browns. “Because I really do.”

Jimin had been struggling with eating properly over the past few weeks, which he and his dads agreed was probably due to football season starting and worrying about all of the people in the bleachers looking at and judging him (even though they wouldn’t be). Due to this, Jin had gone back to fixing Jimin’s plate up for him to make sure he had all the proper components on it while Jimin focused on eating at least five bites of each item on his plate (he was usually able to eat at least half of each item, sometimes more depending on what it was). After fixing Jimin’s plate up with a pancake, a piece of sausage, and a scoop of eggs, he sat down at his own spot and fixed himself a plate. “Tomorrow’s Sunday, meaning grocery day, so everyone needs to think about what they want or need from the store.” The boys all mumbled in acknowledgement, too busy enjoying the food in front of them. “Yoongi, do you need any more condoms?”

Yoongi dropped his fork on his plate and hid his face in his hands as he groaned in annoyance. “Dad, if I need condoms, I am perfectly capable of buying them myself.”

“I’m just making sure-“

“Yes, I know, thank you.” Yoongi waited until he was sure the conversation was over before picking his fork back up.

Jungkook snickered at the exchange until his phone began to ring. He pulled it out of his pocket but froze when Jin scolded him. “Jungkook, you know no phones allowed during mealtimes.” Jungkook had just received the phone as a gift for his 13th birthday two weeks prior and was still struggling a bit with the rules that came with it.

“But it’s Yugyeom!” Jungkook insisted.

“And you can call him back after dinner.” Jungkook whined, but put his phone up anyway, picking his fork back up as Namjoon’s phone began to ring. “How come dad can have his phone?”

“Because he needs it for work.” Jin explained as Namjoon answered the phone. Namjoon only stayed on the phone for a few seconds before hanging up and standing up from his chair. “What is it?”

“I gotta go, a case in Greenbrier. I’m not sure when I’ll be back.” He gave Jin a quick kiss before waving goodbye to their sons.

Namjoon arrived at the house at the same time as the police did, and they could hear glass breaking and muffled shouting from outside. As they approached the door, the yelling became clearer. “You little bitch!”

“Mom, stop!”

Entering the house was a blur to Namjoon, as all he was focused on was making sure the girl was safe. He registered the girl was huddled against the wall, protecting her head from the plates and glasses her mom was throwing in her direction. When the police restrained the intoxicated mother, the girl finally looked up and realized what was happening. “Jennie, we’re going to-“ Namjoon couldn’t finish the sentence before the girl was running after her mother, who was being escorted by the police to the squad car.

“That’s my mom!” Namjoon went after her, encasing her in his arms, not letting go no matter how much she struggled. “Let me go! They’re taking my mom away!”

“Jennie, calm down.” Namjoon guided her towards his car, at which point she started scratching at his arms to try to get away from him. He set the 14-year-old girl in the passenger seat of his car and crouched down to be eye level with her. “Can you calm down for me?” The girl just glared at him. “Jennie-“

“Are you happy, you bastard?” Namjoon stayed silent, allowing her to get her anger out. “You fucking ripped my family apart!”

“Jennie~” He said quietly, pausing to see if she was going to say anything else. “I didn’t want to take you away from your mom. That’s why you were under protective services because we wanted to keep you together.” Namjoon tried to make eye contact with her, but she just stared forward. “But tonight showed that you are not safe with your mother right now. So, I’m going to take you to a nice family who will take care of you while your mom gets the help she needs.”

Jennie stayed silent for a few seconds before turning her head to look at him. “Save your shitty fairytale for someone who’s gullible enough to believe it.”

Jimin and Taehyung exited their English class. “I have a quiz in French today and I am determined to finish it before Kortni.” Jimin rolled his eyes at his brother. “Wish me luck.”

“No~” Taehyung didn’t catch Jimin’s response as he was already walking towards the stairs to head to the second floor.

Jimin walked outside to cross over to the other building where his Health class was located. When he entered the building, he stopped at the sight of his dad speaking with one of the school counselors, his counselor. “Hi, Dad~” Namjoon looked up at Jimin’s voice. “Hi, Mrs. Duncan. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, Minnie, nothing you need to concern yourself with.” Namjoon assured him. “Just go on to class and I’ll see you at home.”

Jimin nodded and turned to walk down the hall. As he was turning, he caught a glimpse of long, dark brown hair in Mrs. Duncan’s office, but thought nothing of it as he entered his Health class. He ignored the boys behind him that were snickering over the fact that they were about to start the sex ed chapter (Jimin already knew what they would not be learning in class thanks to his dad and older brothers), instead opting to get a head start on the reading he had just been assigned in English. He was distracted from the words on the page when the boys behind them switched their attention to ‘that hot girl that just walked in’. He looked up to see a girl with slightly puffy eyes walking briskly across the room and sitting in the first seat she could find, using her hair to shield her face from the rest of the room. He looked over to the classroom door and saw his dad out in the hallway with Mrs. Duncan and Coach Worlow, the Health teacher, and he suddenly understood the puffiness of the girl’s eyes.

The teacher stayed out in the hallway for a few minutes still talking before she finally walked back in. “Alright, class, we have a new student with us today.” She gestured to where the girl was sitting. “Jennie, would you like to tell us a little about yourself.”

Jennie looked up and looked around the room. “Do I seem like I want to talk about myself? You were standing out their talking for a really fucking long time, did you ignore them or are you just a fucking idiot?” The new girl, Jennie, had shocked everyone in the classroom, but what shocked the class even more was the teacher’s response.

Coach Worlow sighed. “Jennie, I understand-”

Jennie scoffed, “Clearly~”

“We do not accept this sort of behavior or language at Conway Jr. High. Due to the circumstances, though, I will let you off with a warning this time.”

“What a blessing~” Jennie smiled sarcastically at the teacher, who turned to her computer to begin taking roll.

Jimin saw Jennie again that afternoon in his Biology class. Mrs. Duncan had, once again, escorted her to the class, but his father was nowhere to be seen. The class went without any episodes, completely uneventful until the bell rang to dismiss class. “Jimin, Jennie, can I speak to you two for a second?” Jimin was confused as to why Mr. Hill was asking him to stay behind, but still went up to the man’s desk. “Now, Jennie, I have no doubts that you will do well in our class here, however, after speaking with your teachers in Greenbrier, it seems that your class was slightly behind where our class stands now.” He gestured to Jimin. “Jimin here is the top student in the class, so I am pairing the two of you together as Biology Buddies, just to make sure that you stay on track with our class.”

Jennie glanced over at the 14-year-old before rolling her eyes. “Great~” She grabbed her backpack from her desk on her way out of the room to meet Mrs. Duncan who was waiting for her.

“You’re okay with this, right?” Jimin tore his gaze from the door Jennie had walked out of to look at his teacher.

“Of course, Mr. Hill. I’m happy to help.”

The next day, Jimin walked out of the lunch line with Taehyung after paying for their meals, gaze immediately falling on Jennie. She was sitting alone, pulling apart the bun from her pulled pork sandwich. “I’ll see you later~” Before Taehyung could ask any questions, Jimin was already walking in the girl’s direction. She looked up as he set his tray down on the table, raising her eyebrows when she saw who it was. “Hi, I’m Jimin~” He greeted cheerfully.

“I know.” She said, waiting for him to explain what he was doing there.

“I thought we could talk about times to get together to work on Biology.”

“Thanks, but no thanks. I got it.” Jennie flashed him a fake smile before going back to tearing her bun apart.

“Look,” Jimin said, smile gone from his face. “I know what you’re going through right now is hard, but it will get easier.”

Jennie looked back up at him. “Listen here, Jimin,” the way she said his name full of scorn, “I know all about you. Perfect family, perfect grades, first boy to make it onto the dance team, highly attractive, and nice to everyone.” Jimin just stared at her as she continued on. “Of course, you would say it’ll get better. What could you and your perfect life possibly know about what I’m going through?”

Jimin clenched his jaw as he reached into his pocket for the slip of paper he had put in there during health, slamming it on the table in front of her. “Here’s my number. Text me when you decide to stop being a bitch to people that are just trying to be nice.” He threw his backpack over his shoulder and picked up his tray, walking over to his and Taehyung’s normal table.

“Thank you, come again~” Yoongi said with fake enthusiasm as the customer walked out of the store. Sophia came in shortly after with her laptop.

“Look at this!” She opened her laptop and put in her password, setting the computer on the counter in front of Yoongi to show him what she had been looking at. “Nice, huh? And since I got that job at Purple Cow, the two of us should be able to afford it by the end of next summer! Just in time for college!”

“It’s perfect~” Yoongi commented, pushing the laptop back towards Sophia. “Now for the hard part of telling our parents.”

Sophia closed her laptop and placed it in her bag. “It’s only October, we still have a while.”

“Izzy~” Hoseok had agreed to go to Izzy’s house after school but was suddenly regretting it as she continued to trail kisses along his neck, her hand creeping ever higher. When her hand finally came in contact with his crotch, he pushed her away. “I can’t~”

“What do you mean you can’t? You’re not gay, are you?’

“No,” Hoseok assured her, pulling his legs into his chest as he subconsciously tried to protect himself. “I just can’t.”

“Well, why not?” Izzy sat up.

Hoseok took a deep breath. “You’re the first person outside of my family that I’m telling this to.” Izzy stared at him, waiting for him to continue. “As you know, I was three when I was placed with my dad.” She nodded, and he went on. “Well, when I was there, there was another guy there, named Carter. Carter used to…come into my room at night and…” he trailed off, knowing he would cry if he finished the sentence, but he’d said enough for Izzy to understand.

“Oh~” was all she said. “Well…” The two of them fell into an awkward silence until Hoseok’s phone buzzed.

“It’s my dad.” He said after looking at the text. “I need to get home for dinner.”

Izzy nodded. “Okay, yeah, go.” Hoseok went in to kiss her goodbye, but she pulled back slightly.

Yugyeom ran up to Jungkook as they walked to the football field for practice. “I’ve been meaning to ask,” is Yugyeom’s greeting. “Where do you go every day during Study Hall?”

“Uh, my art teacher writes passes for me to come and help her in her room since I get so bored in study hall.” Jungkook said, mentally patting himself on the back for being able to come up with an excuse so quickly.

“Even on the very first day of school?” Instead of coming up with another elaborate excuse, Jungkook decided it was time to come clean to his best friend.

“Alright, the truth is…” Jungkook pulled Yugyeom off to the side, away from where the other football players were congregating before practice. “I have a learning disorder, so I have to meet with a tutor during study hall.” Jungkook mentally braced himself for the teasing that never came.

“So that’s why you struggle with math so much. You could have just told me.” Yugyeom pat him on the shoulder before turning back towards the field. “You ready to go?” Jungkook took a second to calm his fluttering heart before following his best friend to practice.

“I just can’t believe it!” Jimin continued to hum as if he were paying attention to Taehyung’s ranting as they waited for Hoseok to pick them up from school. He wasn’t. “There I was, just about to set my test down on the table when her hand shoots out and sets her test paper down first! I can’t stand her!”

“Yep, that sucks.” Jimin said, turning a page in his book. Jimin felt a shadow fall over him, so he looked up.

“Hi, Jimin,” Jennie said shyly. It had been about a month since that day in the cafeteria. “I was gonna talk to you after Health, but you got checked out, and then I thought I lost my chance, but you were back in Biology, and you’re here now, so I’m having a lot of trouble with this photosynthesis stuff, and I don’t know if it’s because our student teacher sucks at teaching or what, but do you mind-“

“You don’t have to tell a whole novel’s worth of stories.” Jimin cut her off. “I’m happy to help.”

Taehyung silently watched their exchange, already plotting out his next embarrassing of his brother. “Do you mind if we do it today?” Jennie asked sheepishly. “The people I’m staying with work late on Fridays and then have date night, so…”

Jimin spotted Hoseok’s car pulling up. “Lucky for you, Fridays are the only afternoons I have completely free.” He stood up and shouldered his backpack, picking up his violin case. “Come on~” He gestured to the car with his head.

“Shouldn’t you ask-“ Taehyung was cut off by Jimin.

“Dad will be fine with it.” He looked at Hoseok’s car, noticing for the first time that Izzy wasn’t there. “Where’s Izzy?”

“Don’t know, don’t care, shotgun!” Taehyung practically dove into the passenger seat as Jimin opened the back door.

Jin arrived home between 5:30 and 6:00 with Jungkook, as he had walked to the preschool after his football practice, seeing Hoseok and Taehyung playing a video game in the living room. “What’s up, guys?”

“Jimin brought a girl home.” Taehyung’s words made Jin stop his path to the laundry room to throw his jacket in the wash due to having been drooled on by one of the new babies.

“Do what now?”

“Yeah~” Hoseok agreed, aggressively pressing buttons on his controller. “They’re in his and Tae’s room.”

Jin went straight to the hallway, grateful that the door was at least open. He paused in the doorway and saw Jimin sitting on the floor next to a girl, both of them with a textbook open across their lap. “Hey, Dad, I didn’t know you were home.”

“I just got here~” Jin answered. “Hi, I’m Jimin’s dad, you can call me Jin.” He greeted the girl.

“I’m Jennie~”

“Will you be joining us for dinner?”

Jennie looked over at Jimin. “If it’s okay. She’s not getting picked up until 9:00.”

“Okay, I’ll call your dad to let him know to pick up an extra pizza just in case.”

When Jin walked out of the room, Jennie spoke up. “So, you have two dads? That’s cool~”

“I thought you knew all about me~” Jimin said, not looking up from the homework sheet, and Jennie knew that he was still upset over their previous interaction.

Namjoon arrived home at the same time Yoongi had from work, Sophia with him. Yoongi and Sophia offered to carry the pizza boxes in for him, which he was very grateful for. “We’re home~” He called out, carrying his briefcase to his and Jin’s room. When he came back out, he was met by Jimin exiting his bedroom with a very familiar face. “Jennie?”

“Oh, hi, Namjoon~” Jennie obviously didn’t know how to react to realizing she was in her case worker’s house.

“Dad, our biology teacher asked me to help Jennie stay caught up in our class, so is it okay if she comes over on Fridays?”

“Yeah, that’s fine~” Namjoon said, gradually getting over his shock. “Jennie, if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.” The 14-year-old nodded before following Jimin into the living room where everyone was settling down for pizza and a movie.

Jin entered the room with a makeshift tray of drinks in his hands. “Alright, claim your drinks.” He took the glass of whole milk off the tray and handed it to Jimin before it could be spilled by all the grabbing hands. “Here’s your milk, Jimin. You can have a soda once you’ve drunk it all.” Jimin nodded and immediately took a sip before putting a slice of pizza on a plate.

After the movie, Jimin and Jennie went back to his room, Taehyung going into Jungkook’s room to help him with his math homework as he had offered during dinner. Since they had already finished their homework, they just sat on his bed in silence as they waited for her foster parents to come by to pick her up. Lily came into the room and jumped into Jimin’s lap, who immediately began scratching the top of her head. “Cute cat~” Jennie said.

“Thanks~” Jimin said, picking Lily up and nuzzling his nose into her fur.

“I’m sorry~” Jimin looked up at Jennie’s sudden apology. “I shouldn’t have judged you when I first met you, especially when you were just trying to be nice. I honestly know nothing about you.”

“You’re right, you don’t.” Jimin responded. “But what brought this on?”

“The milk~” Jimin tilted his head in curiosity. “I have a friend back in Greenbrier who’s recovering from an eating disorder and has to drink two glasses of whole milk with each meal as advised by her doctor.” Jennie confessed. “And now I know that your life isn’t perfect, so I’m sorry.”

Jimin stayed silent for a bit, watching Jennie stare down at her lap. After debating with himself, he finally decided to speak up. “I was three when I went into the system.” Jennie looked up at him in shock. “My dad was my case worker at the time. The only thing I remember from my old house is rummaging through discarded pizza boxes and McDonald’s bags trying to find even the smallest scrap of food.” He subconsciously cuddled Lily closer to him. “And I was extremely angry all the time, just like you are. But trust me when I say that it will get better. Whether it be from your parents putting themselves together or from you finding a better home with someone else.”

“Do you think my mom will get better?” Jennie asked, tears glistening in her eyes. “She blames me for my dad leaving her. Most of the time she’s okay, it’s just when she gets drunk that she’s not.” Jennie felt a sudden lightness to her chest about finally venting to someone. “Your dad started to come twice a week to check on us as what he called protective services, and she was doing better. And then she got drunk, started throwing things, and the police came with your dad and that’s when he took me away and left me with some random family.” She took a shaky breath. “And I just want my mom back.”

“He wouldn’t have taken you away if he didn’t feel that it was absolutely necessary.” Jimin told her. “We can always tell when it’s a day that he’s had to remove a child from their family. In fact, I remember the night he picked you up, he left in the middle of dinner.” Jimin sat up and scooted a little closer to the girl who was trying not to cry. “He hates taking kids from their families and only does it if the child is in danger in their own home.” Jimin waited for her to respond. When she didn’t, he continued. “As for your mom, I don’t know her personally. Maybe having you removed will knock some sense into her, maybe it won’t. All I know is that my dad will do everything he can to make sure you’re safe and taken care of, like he did for me and my brothers.”

“So, all of you were in the system?” Jimin nodded. “And Namjoon took all of you in when it turned out that you couldn’t go back to your families?”

“First of all, this is our family.” Jimin said, smiling lightly. “Second of all, it’s actually a cute story. My other dad, Jin, he was our foster parent, then he and dad started to fall for each other, so dad requested that our cases be transferred to a different worker so that his judgment on how well we were being taken care of wouldn’t be influenced by his feelings. They got together after Hoseok and Yoongi were officially adopted.”

Jennie gave Jimin a sad smile. “Well, I’m glad it worked out for you guys.”

Jimin reached out, hesitating slightly before taking hold of her hand. “It’ll work out for you, too.”

“Izzy!” Hoseok walked up to the girl standing at her locker. “You’ve been ignoring my texts.”

“Listen, Hoseok…I need time.”

“You need time?” Hoseok asked, confused as to what Izzy was talking about.

“Yeah, I just found out that you’ve been with a guy! I need time to process that!”

“Been with…you make it sound like it was willingly.”

Izzy shrugged. “Wasn’t it?”

Hoseok’s heart stopped as he finally began to realize the kind of person his girlfriend was. “Are you implying that, at the age of three, I asked for someone to come into my room almost every night and violate me?”

“What would you call it?”

Hoseok lowered his voice. “I and everyone that knows what happened call it rape.”

“You’re a guy, Hoseok!” Izzy exclaimed. “You can’t be raped.” Hoseok scoffed and turned to walk away. “And I thought you were the normal one of your family.”

“What do you mean ‘normal’ one?”

“I mean, one of your dads is a manwhore who will sleep with anyone, including your other dad, I mean, people say that’s the only reason Jin was able to adopt you guys in the first place-“

“Izzy-“

“And Yoongi is a depressed freak who will probably shoot up the school any day now-“

“Izzy-“

“Jimin is so queer, like, what guy would actually willingly want to be on a school dance team, and did anyone ever teach Taehyung how to speak properly, what is up with him-“

“Izzy-“

“Jungkook is a total retard-“

“Isabella!” Izzy was shocked into silence at Hoseok using her real name. “That’s my family you’re talking about!”

“Oh, Hobi, they’re not your family!” Izzy exclaimed. “They’re some freaks that you got stuck with because your mom abandoned you!”

Hoseok shook his head. “I’m done, I’m not doing this anymore!”

Izzy’s mouth dropped open in shock. “Are you breaking up with me?”

“I want my hoodies back~” was all Hoseok said before leaving.

Yoongi got home from work that night and immediately went to the kitchen to see what was for dinner. “Ooh, we’re having biscuits tonight.”

“Yes~’ Jin replied, standing up from where he had been bent over in front of the oven and giving Yoongi a hug. “How was work?”

“Good, my boss said I can have all of Thanksgiving Break off since I’ve been working so hard.”

“Well, that’s nice of him~” Jin turned to cut up some chicken to throw into the salad he was preparing. “Would you mind checking on Hoseok? He hasn’t come out of y’all’s room.”

Yoongi nodded, stealing a piece of chicken. He popped the grilled meat in his mouth as he walked back to his room, stopping when he saw Hoseok curled up in his bed facing the wall. “Hobi? Are you okay?”

“You were right~” Hoseok said quietly, but it was enough for Yoongi to be able to tell that he was crying, or at least had been.

“About what?” He took his shoes off before moving to sit on the edge of Hoseok’s bed.

“About Izzy~” Hoseok rolled over, and Yoongi could see his red eyes, tear stains on his face.

“I’m guessing you broke up?”

Hoseok nodded. “Why does it hurt so much? I broke up with her, so I shouldn’t be feeling like this.”

Yoongi sighed. “Because you loved her. And I’m guessing this wasn’t a planned break up, that it came seemingly out of nowhere.” Hoseok nodded again, and Yoongi ran his fingers through his younger brother’s hair. “It’ll be okay.” He stayed quiet for a few seconds before deciding to lighten the mood. “Are we too old for brother cuddles or…” Hoseok silently lifted his blanket up for Yoongi to climb under with him.

Jungkook glanced up periodically to see if Yugyeom had arrived for math class yet. The boy finally did, but Jungkook felt his heart drop when he saw him walking with a girl. He watched as the two laughed together and felt a pang in his chest when Yugyeom kissed the girl on the cheek before walking into the classroom. “Hey, Kookie,” Yugyeom greeted as he took his seat next to the other 13-year-old.

“Hi…who was that?” Jungkook asked, hoping that Yugyeom would deny his assumptions.

“Emily, my girlfriend. I asked her out this morning.”

Jungkook swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. “Oh…congratulations~” He bent his head down and made it look like he was busy working on the beginning of class problems, but really, he was trying not to cry.

He managed to do so until he arrived at the preschool, at which point he collapsed into Jin’s arms and let all of his feelings out. “Oh, Kookie, what happened?” His mind was jumping to the worst-case scenario: kids at school had found out about his disability and were now bullying him. It wasn’t until they went home, and he got Jungkook into his room that he realized how far off he was.

“Dad, I like boys,” Jungkook said once all of his tears were out.

“Well, Jungkook, that’s okay. I like boys, your dad likes boys, Minnie likes boys-“

“But I like a certain boy,” Jin suddenly realized where this was going. “And he doesn’t like me. He has a girlfriend.”

Jin wrapped his arm around the 13-year old’s shoulders and pulled him into his chest. “Well, sometimes you’re gonna like people who don’t or won’t like you back, and it’ll be okay. Because when you finally meet someone that does like you back, it’ll be that much better.”

“Like you and dad?” Jungkook inquired, looking up at Jin.

“Exactly like me and dad.” Jin assured him. “You know…I was gonna wait to give all five of you your valentine’s present after dinner tonight, but I think I’ll give you yours now.” Jin left the room for a few minutes, coming back with a framed picture. When he handed it to Jungkook, the boy could see that it was a picture of them at Universal Studios during Namjoon and Jin’s wedding. “I thought that since Yoongi is graduating in a few months that you guys might like a picture of the moment we truly became a family.”

Jungkook threw his arms around Jin’s neck in a bone-crushing hug. “Thanks, Dad.”

“My dad’s been extremely emotional.” Jimin spoke up as he and Jennie ate their lunch. After their heart to heart, they had become fairly close friends, meaning she started to come over more often, and not just for homework. Taehyung hadn’t joined them that day because he felt the need to mess with Kortni during lunch.

“Your brother’s graduating this weekend.” Jennie responded. “I don’t blame him.”

“Yeah, but he’s going to college in town, he’s probably going to be living at home, it’s not that big of a deal.”

Jennie observed him. “Is someone getting upset over their older brother graduating?”

“Shut up, I am not!”

“What is this? Jimin has a girlfriend?”

Jimin glared up at the boy that had just approached them. “Go away, Michael.”

“I’m surprised someone out of your family turned out normal and likes a nice pair of tits.”

“Excuse me?” Jennie moved to stand up, but Jimin did before she could.

“I already asked you once, go away, Michael.”

“Or maybe you’re just a slut like your father, going for anything and everything that’s breathing.”

“Shut the fuck up!” Jimin could feel himself getting angry, and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold on.

“Why? Am I wrong? Is that pretty little thing next to you the slut?” The laugh had barely left Michael’s mouth when Jimin tackled him to the floor.

Taehyung and Kortni looked over when they heard the chants of “FIGHT, FIGHT” and saw a group of people had swarmed to a certain area of the cafeteria. “What’s going on?” Kortni asked just as a teacher went over to break up whatever fight was going on, but he was unable to get through the crowd of people.

“Let’s go see.” Taehyung said, moving quickly across the cafeteria to the group of people. Unlike the teacher, Taehyung and Kortni were able to push their way through the crowd of students with their phones out, capturing the brawl to put on YouTube. As soon as they made their way to the front of the crowd, Taehyung jumped into action to break the fight apart. “Jimin, stop!” He pulled his brother off of the other guy just as the teacher finally made his way through the crowd.

“You two, come with me!” He grabbed Jimin and Michael both by the arm and tugged them off to the principal’s office.

“What happened?” Taehyung asked Jennie as the crowd began to disperse.

“I don’t know! It all happened so fast!” Jennie said, still shocked at seeing this new side of Jimin. “One second the dude was harassing us, and the next Jimin had him pinned on the ground and was throwing punches!”

An hour later, Jin was speaking with the principal. “Believe me, Jimin will be punished as soon as we get home, but don’t suspend him. He’s a good boy, and this will be a one-time thing!” Jin assured the principal.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Kim, we have witnesses stating that it was an act of self-defense.” The principal stated. “And since Jimin is a top student and has had no problems before, we will only be giving him a warning and sending him home for today. However, his coach might take other actions.” Jin nodded in understanding.

Jimin had his phone taken away for the weekend as punishment, so he was definitely shocked the next day when Jennie walked into his room. “Jennie? What are you doing here?” Jimin asked as he jumped up from his bed, disturbing Lily who was napping.

“You weren’t answering any of my texts.”

“Yeah, my dads took my phone away for the weekend.” He hissed as Jennie brushed her finger along the light bruise on his cheek.

“Michael looks much worse.” Jennie commented.

“As he should.” Jimin joked. “It’s not the first time I’ve kicked his ass.”

“Really?” Jennie asked. “Jimin Kim has a bad boy side to him?”

Jimin snorted out a laugh. “No, in kindergarten he was saying a lot of hateful things about my dads that he learned from his mom, so I took it upon myself to teach him a lesson.”

“Well, he apparently didn’t learn.” Jennie said. “And neither did his mom, she came up yesterday afternoon demanding that you be expelled.”

Jimin rolled his eyes. “Not the first time she’s done that.” Jimin cleared his throat. “So, did we have homework in Biology yesterday? Is that why you came here?”

Jennie’s eyes widened, “Oh, no, not at all! In fact, my foster parents are waiting outside in the car to take me to the mall. I asked them if we could run by here first.” Jimin furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “Michael was saying a lot of things about me, and you defended me, so I wanted to say thank you.”

“Oh, no problem.” Jimin waved off her thanks. “It was my pleasure.” They stood there in an awkward silence. “I guess if-“ Jimin was cut off by Jennie pressing her lips to his for a total of two seconds. They stared at each other wide-eyed until the clearing of a throat by the door caught their attention.

“Dad wants to know if you’re staying for dinner, Jennie.”

“Oh, no, my foster parents are waiting outside.” Jennie rushed out of the room but paused in the doorway. “Bye, Jimin,” she smiled shyly before leaving for good.

When she was gone, Taehyung waggled his eyebrows at Jimin. “Shut up~” Jimin flopped back on his bed, grabbing the book he was reading when Jennie had arrived.

When the seven of them sat down to dinner, they were all shocked by what Jin had prepared. “We’re having chicken nuggets and peas?” Jungkook asked, not fully believing it.

Jin nodded as he sat in his chair. “It was the first meal Yoongi and I had together when he was first placed with me.”

“Oh my god, Dad, if you start crying-“

“I won’t if you be quiet and eat this food I slaved over a hot oven to prepare for you.” The boys all rolled their eyes but laughed as they dug into their simple but meaningful meal.

Taehyung felt the table was too silent, so he decided to do what he did best: embarrass Jimin. “Dad, did you know that Jimin has a girlfriend?”

Jimin dropped his fork. “She’s not my girlfriend!”

“Well that sounds familiar.” Hoseok commented, shooting Yoongi a look.

“But she’s not!” Jimin insisted.

“She kissed you!” Taehyung shot back, at which point Namjoon dropped his own fork.

“Jimin, you had your first kiss?”

It was at this moment that Jimin decided to deploy the weapon he had been holding onto since the first day of the school year. “Tae, how’s Kortni?”

Jin looked up from his plate. “Who’s Kortni? Taehyung, do you have a girlfriend you didn’t tell us about?”

“She’s my sworn enemy!” Taehyung exclaimed as Jimin smiled smugly to himself, taking a bite of chicken nugget.

Jin rinsed his toothbrush and placed it back in the holder, leaning close to the mirror to make sure there were no stray remnants of his face mask stuck to his skin. He turned off the bathroom light, pausing in the doorway to his connected bedroom and chuckling at the sight of his husband sleeping while partially sitting up, his laptop still on his lap and a file open next to him. Jin quietly approached the man, closing the laptop and gathering up the papers into the file, taking care not to look at it in order to keep confidentiality. After setting them off to the side, he carefully removed his husband’s reading glasses, smiling as his eyes opened slightly. “What-“

“Shh,” Jin helped guide him to lay down under the comforter. “Go to sleep, Namjoon.” He lightly pressed his lips against Namjoon’s before leaving him to make his nightly rounds of checking on the children.

He passed the rooms closest to his bedroom, wanting to check on the oldest first. He slowly opened the door and smiled softly at Yoongi and Hoseok sleeping. Yoongi was lying in his bed peacefully with earbuds in, probably playing Mozart or Beethoven or some other composer that he found relaxing. Hoseok, on the other hand, was fairly restless, constantly tossing and turning as if trying to get comfortable. Jin tiptoed into the room, taking care not to step on any of the creaky floorboards on his way to Hoseok. Upon reaching him, he gently placed his hand on the boy’s head, softly combing his fingers through his hair until he calmed down and was still.

Next, he checked on who they referred to as the “twins”. He couldn’t help the warm feeling that filled his heart as he opened the door and saw that Taehyung had climbed into bed with Jimin, alerting Jin to the fact that his nightmares were back, but he pushed that thought to the side in order to enjoy the precious moment between his sons. He indulged himself a little longer before backing out of the room and closing the door, making a mental note to have a talk with Taehyung the next day.

He finally came back to the room right next to his and Namjoon’s room. He almost expected to find Jungkook to be sleeping on his stomach, his rear end sticking up in the air as his knees were propped under him, the way he did when he was a toddler, but instead found him sleeping curled in on himself, his blankets having been kicked fully off the bed at some point during the night. Jin smiled to himself as he entered the room and picked up the blanket, laying it over his baby and making sure he was covered properly, even making sure to tuck the blanket around his feet, so his toes wouldn’t be subjected to the cold air he knew the room would provide. He brushed Jungkook’s hair out of his eyes, taking the time to appreciate the innocence on his face as he slept before going back to his own room.

He climbed into bed next to Namjoon, reaching out to turn the lamp on his bedside table off. He jumped in shock as soon as the room was doused in darkness as Namjoon’s voice reached his ears. “They okay?”

Jin scooted closer to his husband, resting his head in the crook of his neck. “Just as perfect as they’ve always been.” He murmured into the tan skin, falling into a deep slumber.

The next afternoon, Jin took an excess of photos of Yoongi before the ceremony, Yoongi sitting during the ceremony, Yoongi walking across the stage, and of Yoongi and Sophia after the ceremony was over. After the graduation ceremony, the two families made their way back to the Kim house for a celebratory dinner. It was when everyone had finished eating and was sitting around the living room that Yoongi and Sophia stood up in front of their families. “There’s something we’d like to tell you.”

Both families stared up at them in confusion and curiosity. Sophia took the lead. “As you all know, we both got jobs this school year, and we’ve been saving up our money…and we’ve been looking at apartments.”

“We picked one out,” Yoongi picked up, “and at the end of the summer, we’re going to move in together.”

Jin put his hand to his chest. “My baby’s moving out…my heart…”

“Dad, don’t-“

Abuela broke through the sentimental moment, making laughter flow through everyone. “There better not be a baby until there’s a ring on that finger.”

Namjoon and Jin stood up as everyone laughed and walked up to Yoongi. Sophia moved over to her family to let them talk. “We are very proud of you for making this decision on your own and working to get there.” Namjoon told him as the two parents pulled him into a hug, which the rest of the family soon joined.

“Does this mean I get my own room?!” Hoseok suddenly asked, which made everyone start talking about what stuff of Yoongi’s they would get.

“I’m moving out, not dying!” Yoongi exclaimed as Jimin tried to claim his keyboard.

Jin watched on as his sons play argued with each other, sad that one was moving on, but glad to see how far all of them had come.

Okay, so I have actually planned out their entire life stories, ranging from Jin and Namjoon’s childhoods to years after this fic ends. Because of this, I will open requests for very special drabbles/short stories. Basically, if there’s a moment from this fic that you would like to see, for example if you would like to see the time where Jungkook didn’t want to get out of the firetruck, or if you want to see something from Namjoon’s past, or even if you’re just like “hey, I want an update on how Hoseok is doing”, then just shoot me an ask and I’ll add it to an already growing list. I’ve already written and posted a few to AO3, which will be posted on here very soon, so don’t be shy to request whatever you would like to see!!

Thank you for following the boys on this journey :)

45 notes · View notes