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cowboyb1ues · 2 years

Note

would you feel comfortable to do a fluff or/and nsfw alphabet with kt?? i love your writing and your ideas!! keep it like that ❤️❤️

Fluff Alphabet with Kieran Tierney

Thank you so much sweet anon! Sorry this took a while but I hope the amount of tooth aching fluff in this makes a bit up for it <3 It’s also quite long because it’s basically just me going off on tangents 26 times in a row 🤠

Also, i had to find a way to talk about Taylor Swift sue me.

I used this template if anyone else wanna use it, but made some changes and used some of @tommyspeakycap’s prompts from her fluff alphabet with Jordan Henderson <3

Kieran Tierney x fem!reader (3.8k)

My masterlist :)

A = Admiration (what do they absolutely adore about you?)

Everything. To put it simply. There isn’t much that that man doesn’t love about you, but if he had to choose one it would be your independence. From the moment he met you, he fell in love with how you had always been assured that you would pave your own way through life. You love Kieran with every atom of your being and support him in everything he does, but you’re determined to never give up your own life. You have your own goals, your own aspirations and dreams that extend beyond your relationship and he will happily be your number one cheerleader through everything.

B = Body (what is their favourite part of your body?)

It’s between your lips and your eyes if we’re keeping it sfw. Your lips because they’re always so soft when they’re pressing kisses against his own lips or to his cheek. He loves to trace the gentle slope with his finger when you’re asleep and dead to the world while lying on the pillow next to him. And he just absolutely adores your eyes. They always gleam in a way just for him that makes him fall even deeper in love with you every time he sees them. There’s so much emotion in your eyes, he can see right through you by looking at them. And there’s nothing prettier in his mind than when they are slightly glassy with tears while you look at him after he wins an important game.

C = Cuddling (how do they like to cuddle?)

He honestly doesn’t really have a preference. As long as you’re near with your body and soul pressed against him then he would never dare to complain. But he does like lying in the bed or on the couch with your head resting on his shoulder with your nimble fingers tracing invisible patterns over his chest. And he will admit that there is nothing that quite gives him comfort than feeling you completely encompass him with your arms wrapped tightly around him.

D = Dates (what does their ideal date with you look like?)

He has never been one for extravaganza and neither have you, so you keep it rather simple. BUT he does like to treat you since he has the money to do so. So when date night comes around he convinces you to put on your prettiest dress and he will put on the tie you got him that you insist makes his eyes pop. Then he takes you to one of the more upscale restaurants in London and you just spend the evening laughing and smiling. The candlelight would be the perfect setting for the sweet knuckle kisses he gives you over the white cloth while his lips are stained from red wine.

E = Effort (how much effort do they put into the relationship)

A good deal. He knows that a flourishing relationship depends on both parties actively making an effort and he also knows that with his job he sometimes needs to do a bit more than he normally would. He’s ultimate goal in life is to make you feel loved and happy and if that means he has to go a bit overboard from time to time he has no objection whatsoever. He sees and feels all the things you do for him, whether it’s sacrifices and compromises in your own life to make his life better so he understands that he has to repay them. So there isn’t anything that that man wouldn’t do just for the sake of you feeling safe and secure in your relationship.

F = Family (do they want one? If they do, when?)

He most certainly does, but he knows that neither of you are ready yet. He is incredibly busy with football and he’s determined to dedicate as much time as he can to training and he just doesn’t feel like he would be able to bring a baby into it right now. You’re also busy with your own career and a pregnancy would hinder that right now so you have both agreed to wait. But he can’t help but think about having a little one sharing the big house with the two of you. He catches himself dreaming about it when he can’t sleep at night and the only sound filling the bedroom is your deep breaths. A little boy first, with his eyes but would for sure have your smile and who is just the best parts of both of you, And if you’re up for it then a little girl who would be you but in lower case font and he would love them both just as much as he loves you.

G = Gifts (how do they feel about gift giving? What are their habits when it comes to this?)

He loves giving you gifts. He feels like it’s one of the things he can do to properly show you just how much you mean to him, but he knows that you don’t like it when he spends heaps of money on you. But that doesn’t necessarily stop him. He tones it down a bit on Christmas and on birthdays because you get upset because you can’t splurge as much on his gifts, not that he would ever complain. He settles for just getting you small gifts instead, like a bouquet of flowers every week or dropping a book you have been talking about in your lap. He loves seeing the flush paint itself on your cheeks

H = Holding Hands (when/how do they like to hold hands?)

Kieran isn’t big on a lot of affection in public, but oh boy does he love to hold your hand. He will intertwine your fingers at every chance he gets, whether it’s walking down the street or standing in line. He loves the feeling of your smaller hand wrapped up in his, the soft skin of your palm a contrast to his rough one. If he’s feeling extra loved up he will not hesitate to lift your hand up to his lips and press a small and quick kiss to the back of it. He also loves holding your hand when you’re out driving. One of your playlists will be playing softly over the speakers, his eyes will be focused on the road while his left hand is interlocked with yours while resting on your thigh and he will smile every time he feels your soft thumb run over the back of his hand.

I = Injury (how would they act if you got hurt?)

He would be very level headed I think. As a footballer he is no stranger to injuries so he’s familiar with the amount of rest you will need and how to slowly start getting you back on your feet. However, he still feels his heart break when he sees tears of pain and hears poorly concealed whimpers. If it’s something small like a scrap or a bruise or something he will always make sure to press a kiss to the mark everytime he spies it until it has disappeared from your skin.

J = Jokes (do they like to joke around with or prank you? how?)

He LOVES joking around with you. He found out very early on in your relationship that it didn’t take much on his end to get a giggle out of you. He’ll throw in witty one liners if you’re telling a story and just bask in the way your entire face just lights up as you let out a giggle as pretty as a string of pearls. And he also just happens to think that you’re one of the funniest people he has ever met, so his tummy gets all fluttery when he feels his face split in a smile when you make a stupid joke and can’t help himself from leaning forwards and rewarding you with a sweet kiss.

K = Kisses (how do they like to kiss you?)

He likes kissing you anyway he can, but his all time favourite kiss is when he gets to hold your cheeks in his hands and feel your arms wrap around his waist. It’s the kiss that he usually gets when he has been away for some time and it’s the sweetest welcome home gift he could ever imagine. Especially when he feels you start to break into a smile which makes his lips break into one as well. But if the need imposes on him when you’re in public he isn’t a stranger to pressing a small kiss on your cheek. While doing so, he can usually feel the smile break out on your face and the heat flowing to your cheeks. And it only urges him on even more.

L = Love (how do they show you they love you?)

He sometimes feels like he struggles to express himself as fluently as you do, so he finds it difficult for him to tell you just how much he loves you just using his words, no matter how hard he attempts to string together poetic sentiments. So he likes to show you instead. And you can feel the love seep through his actions every time he returns from the grocery store and brings back a bouquet of flowers he knows is your favourite, every time he saves you the last piece of chocolate, every time he shares an orange with you or when he proofreads your essays for any spelling errors. He’s determined to let you know he loves you with his entire being, so it spills over into his every action.

M = Memory (favourite memory together?)

It would be the first time you went with him home to Scotland to visit his family for the first time. You had been incredibly nervous to meet the love of your life’s family but he had done absolutely everything in his power to calm your nerves. He had held your hand for most of the drive down from London and he had let you pick the music in hopes that it would help settle you a bit. He had given you a quick kiss in the car before you made your way into his childhood home where his family was waiting in anticipation. It turned out that you had nothing to worry about, his family is just as loving and funny as Kieran is and you fitted right in with Kieran’s arm laying over your shoulder.

N = Nightmare (what is their worst fear?)

As cliché as it probably is, it’s you breaking up with him. You’re this incredibly smart, talented, beautiful, funny and independent woman and he often can wrap his head around the fact that you agreed to go on a date with him in the first place. So he lives in silent fear that you’ll one day come to the same realisation as him; that you’re way out of his league. No matter how often you reassure him that you love him and that you will never find anyone better than him and that he most certainly deserves to be loved by you he will always have a small fear hidden within that you will one day leave for someone who has more and better things to offer you - even though there never will be.

O = Oddity (what is one quirk they have?)

He talks in his sleep and it’s one of your favourite things in the world. He always insists that he doesn’t and that you’re just messing with him but once you recorded him when you woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of him talking mindlessly to himself. Sometimes it’s just nonsensical mumbles that you can’t make out the meaning of in your sleepy mind and other times he’s having crystal clear conversations consisting of outlandish sentences. Either way it always draws a smile to your lips when you lay next to him, especially when you hear your name being in the jumbled mix of words.

P = Pet Names (what do they like to call you?)

For the most part it’s simply baby or love. During the relationship it has become practically second nature to him to address you with either of those. Baby is more of an everyday occurrence, the term of endearment being mumbled out when he rushes out of the door to head to training or when he tries to coax you to stop working so you could spend time together. Love is still common, but he prefers to use it in his more romantic and poetic moments; when he gets overwhelmed by your beauty, when he comes back after a long stretch away or when he simply can’t do anything else with the love he has for you other than to declare it to you with his entire chest.

Q = Quality Time (how do they like to spend time with you?)

Kieran honestly prefers to just stay at home with you. His life can be a whirlwind sometimes, so the time he treasures most is when he gets to relax and spend time with you. He loves it when you can just coexist together, when the sense of domesticity consumes every action between you. When he can just sit and watch a football game on the TV while you sit and study on the couch next to him. When he can play with his friends and you read your book in the armchair in the corner of the room. When he cooks dinner in the kitchen, he can hear you talking with your mum on the phone while sitting at the dining table.

R = Rhythm (what song reminds you of them?)

As absolute cliché and cheesy it is, You Are In Love by Taylor Swift will always remind you of your sweet gentle boyfriend. It was still in the relationship when he was driving you back to your apartment after dinner at your place. He had tried to persuade you to stay over but you had an early class in the morning and you had left your books at your place. So he had connected your phone to his car and had let you dictate the music. And as you drove through the dark streets of London with the headlights paving the way in front of you this song played softly through the speakers. You had glanced over at him and felt your heart swell with how soft he looked in an old battered hoodie, the streetlights caressing his cheekbones and his fingers tapping on the steering wheel. He had glanced over at you at a red light and gave you a small smile. He reached over for your hand and pressed a gentle kiss to your knuckles, keeping your fingers intertwined in your lap for the rest on the drive. And ever since then, any time you hear the first chords of the songs you will always think of how sweet and wonderful he looked that night. And just how in love with him you have been since then.

That may have also been the night you first said i love you

S = Secrets (how open are they with you?)

He’s very open with you in the sense that he doesn’t keep any big serious secrets from you. And if he does have a secret, it’s always for the sake of surprising you. But he doesn’t keep any secrets from you that could in any shape or form harm you or the relationship you have created together. He sees you very much as his equal and thinks that you have every right to be aware of anything major that might in any way affect anything between you.

T = Time (how long did it take you to get together?)

Not that long tbh. You met on a night out as trivial as it is. And he’s not the biggest party person in the world but when the other lads from the team had suggested going out to get a beer at a pub he couldn’t really deny the invitation. And it just happened, by fate or luck he’s not quite sure, that you were sitting at another table with some of your friends. He had noticed you but didn’t want to interrupt the obvious party you were all having in your own small little booth. But that changed when he caught your eye and you gave him a wide smile with flushed cheeks and blurry eyes. You then came over to invite the ones that hadn’t left yet to join your table and you made sure that Kieran would be sat right next to you. You spent the whole night talking, big laughs and whispered words shared between the two of you. And when you woke up the next morning with the lingering feeling of a kiss to your cheek and a text from an unknown number on your phone, everything just started to flourish.

U = Upset (how do they act when you’re upset?)

He goes into full concerned boyfriend mode. He knows you’re one of the most amazing people that he will ever have the pleasure to meet, so to see you anything but with unadulterated happiness shining off of you freaks him out. He pulls you into the biggest and tightest hug he can deliver and is content with standing there for nothing short of an eternity if it means that it would make any small disturbance leave you alone. He slowly starts to pry to find out what’s bugging you, but will always, always* be mindful of overstepping boundaries, scared that you would reel back and run away if he’s being too intrusive. But slowly when you start to open up about what’s upsetting you he does what he does best, he offers you consolace and reassuring whispered words with a kiss pressed against your soft cheek.

V = Vaunt (what are they proud of? Do they like to show you off?)

He is so immensely proud of you. Every little thing you do blows him away and if he could he would scream to the entire world about just how much he loves you and how proud of you he is. You have gotten yourself through hard times and made it out on the other side as a better version of yourself and you always strive to be the best and kindest version of yourself you can be and that’s something he admires more than anything. He also loves that you’re so dedicated to your job/studies and he will take any given opportunity to talk about it and how well you're doing and just how smart you are. He feels like on that point your opposites and that that’s a part of your world that he isn’t fully integrated into so he watches from the sidelines and cheers you on with the loudest voice he can produce.

W = Wedding (do they want marriage? If so, what would it be like?)

He is 100% down to get married if you are as well. Just the thought of the two of you sharing the same last name almost sends him into cardiac arrest. But really, if you’re not up for it that would be fine with him as long as he gets to spend the rest of his life with you he would be happy. But he can’t lie, the nights where he envisions the small copies of you and him running around in a big house he also can’t help his mind from slipping over to the image of you in a white dress standing in front of him. He’s quite a private person so the wedding would be rather intimate with just the people the most to the both of you being there to witness you declare your love for each other to the entire world. He wants to slow dance with you to some slow song that you had spent months worrying over, whispering love declarations that he has said a million times before, but for the first time he would tell them to his wife.

X = X-Ray (how well are they able to read you?)

He likes to think he’s gotten pretty good at it. You have the kind of eyes where emotions just shine out of, so in dire times he can use them as his guiding stars if everything else falls short. But over the years you have now been together he has learned all your small mannerisms, your mimics and gestures so he has a pretty good idea what’s going through your head before you even get the chance to say it. He has all of this information stored away in the special corner of his mind that is dedicated solely to you, where everything you have ever said or done is documented so he can use it for later.

Y = Yes (how would they propose to you?)

Again he’s quite private and he knows you’re not the one for big public gestures so it would be something intimate and personal. He’ll spend weeks or months getting the ring just right, always striving to get the piece of jewellery to look like the one he sees on your finger when he tries to fall asleep at night. Then he would either do it when you’re at home, just spending time together and doing what you do best, loving each other or a place the two of you love and where you have so many treasured moments from your time together. It could happen in the middle of the kitchen with him crouched down on the kitchen floor or somewhere in yours or his hometown with him surprising you with the beautiful handcrafted ring. No matter what, his hands would be shaking along with his voice and carefully chosen words as he asks the love of his life to spend the rest of forever by his side.

Z = Zen (what makes them feel calm?)

There’s nothing that makes him feel more calm than the feeling of you scraping your nails over his shoulders, up and down his back or through the short strands of hair at the back of his head. When he gets home from a stressful game where too many goals were conceded he finds solace in the warm nest made of duvets and pillows, a movie or show playing on the TV in front of the bed to act as background noise to the constant drumming of your gentle heart as he laid with his head on your chest. His hands would be skimming your sides under the battered t-shirt you always wear to bed while your hands would be caressing his skin while mumbling sweet words into his shower soaked hair, delicate kisses being pressed into the crown of his head.

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deathbyjoong · 3 years

Text

ATEEZ Wedding HCs

Each member x fem!reader

Genre: Fluff, some slight suggestiveness

Note: I hope you guys like these! Let me know what you think! Shoutout to @bfyunho for being an angel and beta-ing for me 💕

Yunho

Your wedding will take place in a protected forest area on the West Coast in early October, with a large number of attendees at the ceremony and an even larger number of people at the reception

Yunho wears a classy white tux with a yellow lily nestled atop the lapel

You knew he was gonna be a giggly, blushy mess when he first saw you during the ceremony

But nothing prepares you for when you meet eyes with Yunho from the middle of the aisle

It’s like the world stops around you

Yunho is the only person in the world in that moment, with his eyes shining and his grin so wide you wonder if it hurts

He tries to play it cool when you get to the altar, but he can’t stop smiling. And you don’t want him to

He giggles in the middle of his vows and the whole audience goes aww

Listen he’s just a stupidly cute groom okay

When the officiant pronounces you husband and wife, he grabs you by the face and kisses you sweetly

You can feel his smile in the kiss, and you swear you feel the slightest bit of wetness beneath his eyes

The two of you hug as everyone claps, and Yunho parts from you with a soft kiss to your forehead

As the two of you walk back down the aisle together, he tries to cover his giddy laughter with a hand over his face but it’s so obvious that you’re the happiest two people in the world

The reception will take place on a nearby ranch, with an awesome DJ, open bar, and massive dance floor

Multicolor lights and lots of energy, with a special table up top for you and the groom to watch everyone make toasts

Yunho has an arm around your shoulders and the two of you watch fondly and laugh while people give toasts

Everyone in the wedding party will have flower crowns of yellow and white with green leaves, and you bet your ass Mingi is given an extra one so he can put it on Yunho at some point during the reception

Mingi doing a flower crown drive by and Yunho blushes but he looks so happy and handsome in his flower crown uwu

Especially because it matches your bouquet :(

When it’s time to leave, Yunho scoops you into his arms and carries you bridal-style (how else?) as everyone cheers and throws flower petals over you

You wave to everyone out of the window as Yunho drives the two of you to the airport, ready to begin the first of many adventures with his favorite girl

Mingi

Mingi has always been your summer sun, so of course it’s a summer wedding

The ceremony and reception are at a beachfront hotel, and you carry a rainbow of bright colors in your mixed bouquet

The flower that Mingi wears on his white tux is your favorite kind of the bunch, a pink dahlia that you picked out for him specially <3

It’s a beautiful scene, with ribbons hanging off of chairs, blowing softly in the wind

The soundtrack to your walk down the aisle is a simple string quartet along with crashing waves on the beach behind you

When Mingi first sees you walking toward him, he can’t help but let out a loud noise that sounds like something between a laugh and the word “wow”

He puts his hands over his mouth in embarrassment at his outburst, as the audience laughs along with you

Mingi tries to compose himself but just giggles in wonder at how he managed to land this gorgeous woman

Like he just cannot believe it

He gets emotional during the vows, and you can tell he’s a bit nervous about speaking even though he wrote these lines weeks ago and has been turning them over in his head ever since

You smile at him, hoping he can feel your love and encouragement

Mingi takes a moment to focus on you, just you

You mouth the words, I love you to him and his resolve returns

He finishes his vows with such conviction that you forget anyone is even watching--because these words are truly for you and only you

After rings are exchanged, you throw your arms around his neck and bring him to you for a kiss

It’s not one big kiss as much as many short kisses, because both of you are breathless and giggling

You practically skip down the aisle hand-in-hand, and Mingi is high-fiving everyone on the way out

The reception is a blast, with way too many people giving speeches, and more than half of those speeches centering around roasting you

But it’s all in good fun, and it’s a night full of laughter and celebration with all of your friends

You and Mingi are at the center of the main table, but you eventually get up and walk around together, greeting all of your guests and accepting gifts

Mingi keeps a hand on the small of your waist, making sure no one steps on your dress or bumps into you

This is also to keep himself calm, since he can get a little overwhelmed with all the activity and people buzzing around you both

His favorite part of the whole day is your first dance as newlyweds

He holds you close, and you whisper back and forth to each other as you sway slowly across the dance floor

He already knows this is gonna be the favorite moment of his entire life

Jongho

Jongho lets you choose almost all of the details of your venue and season, because he admittedly doesn’t understand all the fuss and he just wants you to have the perfect day

So it’s a fall sunset at a winery, because that’s been your dream setting since you were a girl

The vineyard looks stunning against the backdrop of autumn foliage, and even Jongho is impressed

In keeping with the autumnal theme, your accent color is maroon

You know Jongho thinks he looks best in red-based colors, so you gifted him a maroon silk tie to wear with his suit. The bridesmaids’ dresses and groomsmen’s ties are the same shade, and everyone looks gorgeous

You fully expected Jongho to keep a completely straight face during your walk down the aisle--the man isn’t always forward with his emotions

You were wrong, however

Jongho can’t help the adorable, gummy smile on his face when he first sees you walking to him

As you get nearer, you can just make out the faintest tinge of pink in his cheeks

He’s trying so hard not to be shy, but you’re so beautiful in your dress that he can’t help but feel like he’s seeing you for the first time

He has to look briefly at the ground to compose himself when you finally stand in front of him, shining like the sun

He doesn’t take his eyes off you a single time after that, beaming at you the whole way through through the vows

One of your family members is audibly weeping in the front row at how in love you both look

Jongho wastes no time in kissing you after you’re pronounced married, and can’t help but throw his arms around your waist and pick you up

The reception is an absolute blast, taking place that evening in a clearing that’s been set up with tables and twinkle lights

The one set of details you did leave to Jongho was the food and drinks, because his taste is, objectively, just better than yours

Jongho chose filet mignon with vegetables (much to San’s dismay) and a wine menu full of exquisite pairings (much to Seonghwa’s delight)

You cut the wedding cake together, and you can’t resist smearing some icing across Jongho’s cheek

He responds by sticking some on your nose, and everyone laughs with you

Wooyoung gives a hilarious speech that turns out to be quite sentimental and lovely, making you blush and bury your face in Jongho’s shoulder

When it’s time to make your exit, Jongho scoops you up and sings to you, all while nearly skipping to the gravel driveway, where a car is waiting for you

His laughter is music in your ears, and you feel the strongest happiness you’ve ever known--safe in his arms, knowing he’ll never drop you

Yeosang

It’s a summer afternoon when you meet your man at the altar, although the altar isn’t quite that--

The ceremony takes place in the gardens of an upscale hotel, with beautiful flowers blooming all around you. The “altar” is actually an archway decorated in red and white blooms and ivy fronds

Yeosang is wearing a classy black suit with a red tie, the same red of the roses in your bouquet and flower crown

His hair is blonde (his summer look) and slicked back. He almost looks prettier than you, truly the statuesque Kang Yeosang that his brothers always gush about

It’s not a huge ceremony, with the audience numbering no more than about eighty people--just close friends and family members deemed worthy

You’re in a simple but elegant dress, and it almost knocks the wind out of poor Sangie when he sees you at the end of the aisle

At first, his mouth just hangs open as you glide towards him, accompanied by the lilting music of a string quartet

He manages to gather his jaw off the floor and grins at you when you stand in front of him, blushing furiously

The officiant gestures for the two of you to join hands right away, and Yeosang takes yours with a small “hi”, which you return with a giggle

He gets through the vows just fine, but when you say yours, he fails to suppress a smile. He tries so hard to keep a straight face but just can’t bc he’s so giddy

When you’re pronounced Mr. and Mrs., he leans in and kisses you softly, giving your hands a gentle squeeze

He doesn’t let go of you for a single moment, even when his friends slap him on the back during your walk back down the aisle, hollering loudly and making him laugh

In the interest of keeping things lowkey, the reception is a cocktail hour (or four) in an event hall inside the hotel

The first dance is beautiful-- no complicated steps, just the two of you embracing as everyone looks on fondly

The music is curated by Yeosang himself, with Hongjoong’s help, and the drinks are flowing freely

A couple of hours pass and everyone is good and tipsy--including yourselves

It’s a good thing the event hall is spacious, because at one point, almost everybody is dancing

Sang spins you around on the dancefloor when he’s feeling brave, and you’re having so much fun that you don’t realize the time is flying

When it’s time to leave, people start whistling, and Yeosang is nearly the same color as his tie

He hides his face in your shoulder, and you cover his face with kisses

After saying your goodbyes to everyone, you whisper something to Yeosang, and he nods with a giggle

As requested, he carries you piggy-back to the car, as everyone waves you off

Seonghwa

We know Seonghwa comes from wealth, and the man is extra af, so of course the wedding is extravagant

It’s a winter wedding that takes place at a mountain resort, and pretty much everyone you or Seonghwa have ever known is in attendance

Your groom is in a black tux with an silver tie, and the bridesmaids are wearing dresses of icy blue

You do a pre-ceremony reveal in a side hall, partly because you want a moment alone amidst the madness, and partly because the two of you can’t wait to see each other

Seonghwa almost cries when he turns around and sees you in your dress and the pearls that he gave you

You giggle, fighting back tears, and walk up to him slowly

Hwa’s got one hand over his mouth, and the other pressed over his heart, and only moves them when you’re close enough to touch

He just holds your face in his hands and presses your foreheads together

You’re both smiling and laughing, even through the tears that are now falling freely

You hang onto his shoulders for as long as you can before your maid of honor tells you it’s time to get moving

The ceremony takes place in the grand atrium, with massive windows revealing the soft snowfall and forests outside

You walk down the aisle confidently and quickly, ready to just marry this man already

When the officiant announces Mr. and Mrs. Park, you don’t hesitate to put your hands on his shoulders and kiss him

Seonghwa holds your waist and the back of your head, keeping you close. It’s a sweet, passionate kiss that’s over in a matter of seconds but leaves you dizzy nonetheless

The reception takes place immediately after, in a grand hall decorated with flowers and lights everywhere

You and your husband are seated at the head table in the reception hall, which is perfect because you’re in your own little world anyway

Hwa gets really excited about feeding you pieces of the wedding cake, gently wiping icing from your lips between bites

During the toasts and speeches, he keeps kissing your hand and smiling to himself

Of course, you have to end the night on a high note--the traditional bouquet toss!

All the bridesmaids and eligible ladies are gathered at the foot of the grand staircase, giggling with excitement and pushing a little here and there to get the clearest shot

But you toss the bouquet with a little more force than you meant to, and it goes over all of them

Yeosang happens to be walking along after just having gotten himself some more food, and catches the bouquet without meaning to

He looks at the flowers in his hand, bewildered, as you and Hwa cackle above, and the ladies in the crowd look more than a little disappointed

Seonghwa never lets him live it down, giggling every time he brings it up

It’s more joy than Hwa thinks he deserves, but he’s unbelievably grateful for each moment

Wooyoung

You and Wooyoung have a spring wedding in a botanical greenhouse with a moderate number of guests in attendance

The greenhouse is massive, and filled with every kind of orchid you could imagine from floor to ceiling

It’s a cool, cloudy day out, so the greenhouse isn’t too hot. But light still spills in and illuminates all the colorful flowers

Wooyoung is waiting for you at the altar of rich green leaves and soft pink orchids (one of which has been plucked and pinned to his lapel)

He’s wearing a bowtie, one that he proudly picked himself because he thought you would like it, and a snazzy pair of shoes that he’ll be able to dance in later

When you emerge during the ceremony, the sight of you in your dress immediately brings tears to his eyes

Wooyoung wipes his eyes, but still sniffles a bit through his vows. If you weren’t so giddy, you would probably be doing the same

The officiant finishes his part and begins to announce, “I now pronounce you--”

He doesn’t get to finish, because Woo gets too excited and launches himself at you, grabbing you by the face and kissing you as everyone breaks into laughter

You throw your arms around his shoulders, kissing him back as best you can while giggling

It’s not a wedding for Wooyoung if the reception isn’t LIT

It takes place under a large outdoor hall, with an open bar, disco lights, and so, so much dancing

The first dance is the only slow dance of the night, and the two of you spend the rest of the songs swinging around wildly on the dancefloor with all your closest friends

He does a choreographed dance with the boys to an upbeat song of his choice, making sure to be extra cheesy when pointing at you and lip-syncing to you

Cutting the cake is a hot mess, but in the best way

You and your new husband nearly end up starting a food fight, but let’s be honest, what did anyone expect from Wooyoung and his girl

You get a little bit of icing on his tux, and he gets a little bit on your shoulder (which he offers to remove with his mouth if the two of you can sneak off)

You playfully smack him on the arm, but the idea is lowkey tempting

You’re mildly nervous when Yeosang gets up to make his Best Man’s speech, but Wooyoung assures you that he’s not gonna say anything too embarrassing

He does roast the two of you a little for being so loudly in love with each other, but he also makes both you and your new mother-in-law cry when he recounts the moment Wooyoung first told him he wanted to marry you

You hadn’t heard that story before, so when you glance over at Woo with tears in your eyes, he wraps you in a big hug and kisses your cheeks

You cling to him like velcro after that, which is fine, because he loves every second of it and returns the affection without a second thought

Inwardly, he hopes you’ll hold each other like this every day for the rest of your lives

San

You and San share a taste for all things modern, sexy, and sleek, so nothing makes more sense than a spring wedding on a city rooftop

Lavender is the obvious accent color choice for both of you, as purple has long been San’s favorite, and you think it suits both of you well

San is waiting at the end of the aisle for you wearing a classy grey suit, lavender tie, and the widest smile you’ve ever seen on him

The sun is setting over the city skyline, but in San’s eyes, it rises and sets on you alone

You carry a bouquet of lavender flowers, and a few are tucked into your hair

Your heart is pounding in your chest, but the sight of San, handsome and grinning, gives you the boost you need to keep moving

San says his vows without a hitch, but you get nervous while reciting yours-- there are a lot of people staring at you, and the pressure gets to you a little

When you stutter over your words, you catch yourself and look up at San, eyes wide

But he’s your rock, your mountain-- steadfast and gentle with you even when you’re not gentle with yourself

“You’re doing amazing,” he whispers to you, quiet enough that no one else can hear

His kind eyes and easy smile comfort you immeasurably, and you finished your vows with a renewed confidence

Upon hearing “You may now kiss the bride”, San wraps one arm around your waist and holds one of your hands with the other, kissing you sweetly as your guests erupt into applause

The applause turns to cheers and whistles when San whirls you around and dips you low, holding you in the kiss while he adds the extra flourish

The reception is just as perfect as the ceremony. It’s a roaring party set against the glittering backdrop of city lights, and lit throughout with twinkling lanterns

There are games, trivia, good music, and plenty of lively conversations

You and San make the rounds, making sure to greet all of your guests and thank them for attending, giving gifts, etc.

At one point you get separated, but you meet his gaze through the crowd

San is looking at you with so much love that you have to excuse yourself from your conversation with a family member and stroll over to him

Throwing your arms around him, and feeling his go around you, you kiss him once more and nuzzle your face into his neck

He holds you there for a moment, smiling to himself and basking in the moment-- trying to memorize every detail of it

It seems San isn’t just the winner of the day for having married you--he manages to kick everyone’s ass at limbo even while being a little tipsy

Afterwards, he returns to you with puppy dog eyes, and demands his prize-- “a kiss from the most beautiful woman in the world”.

You’re more than happy to give it to him, continuing the kiss even as someone whoops

You smile against his lips knowing that, despite what San may think, the luckiest person in the world is actually you

Hongjoong

You’ve always wanted marry the love of your life in an art museum

Hongjoong’s appreciation and love of art runs deep, so he agrees right away

You book the venue for springtime, when it’s bright and golden and still a little bit cool outside--your favorite time of year

Joong is in a neat, grey suit with a patterned bow tie that you picked out-- it’s mostly green, but with a quirky pattern that he loves

He gave you something as well-- before you even picked out your dress, Hongjoong made you promise not to buy wedding shoes

You were confused, but trusted him

Two weeks before the wedding, he hands you a box. In it, are a pair of designer shoes that he drew on and painted, customizing them just for you

They’re beautiful--not too plain but not too much either, and you cry when you first open them. Hongjoong blushes, pleased that you love them so much

The ceremony is in the Grand Gallery, with a glass ceiling and high walls covered in priceless masterpieces

You glide down the aisle with confidence and ease--seeing Joong at the end of it makes you feel like you’re walking on air

He whispers, “You look beautiful” when you reach him, and you reply, “You too.”

You’re wearing the shoes that he reformed for you, and they peek out from the hem of your dress

He gets misty-eyed during his vows, pausing for a second to breathe because he’s so overwhelmed with love. You respond by reaching up and brushing his cheek

He smiles at you, pure and sweet, and continues. The vows are beautifully written, eloquent, and poignant

But then again, you already knew everything he touches turns to gold

You make him cry again when you read your vows, and you get emotional a bit yourself as well

His hands are shaking when he puts the ring on your finger because he’s so excited-- you’ve both looked forward to this day for so long, and you can’t believe it’s happening

You hear a loud sniffle and look over at the audience to see Seonghwa and San holding each other and weeping in the audience

You can only giggle for a second before you’re announced as husband and wife

It’s a sweet and simple kiss, just the two of you holding each other close

Joong has his hands on your cheeks, and yours are on his shoulders

He nuzzles your nose after the kiss, just an affectionate brush accompanied by the smile that you love more than anything

Your first dance is to an orchestral version of “Twilight”, which he helped to rearrange

You rest your head on Hongjoong’s shoulder, and just watch his face as the two of you sway to the lilting music

His eyes are closed, and he looks completely at peace. The corners of his mouth are turned up slightly, and his hand is splayed across your back, holding you close

You press a kiss to his neck, and he does the same to your forehead

It’s heaven on earth, and you pray to anyone who’s listening that it lasts forever

#ateez #ateez hcs #ateez headcanons #hcs #writing #my writing #seonghwa #hongjoong #jongho #yunho #yeosang #mingi #wooyoung #san #fluff

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mae-gi-writes · 4 years

Text

Plus One | Kevin Moon (Around The World Collab)

When your boyfriend of eight years suddenly decides to break up with you right before your destined trip for your cousin’s wedding, nothing can cure your broken heart. In a desperate attempt to make you feel better, Kevin states that he will be your plus one.

Genre: little angst, fluff, friends to lovers.

This fic is part of a collab “Around The World”, featuring different countries x the boyz members. I had the utmost pleasure of working with such an amazing group of talented writers for this project, so please don’t forget to check out their works too! ^^ <3

This fic is takes place on Mauritius Island.

Word count: 9k IZ A LONG ONE SO BUCKLE UP BUTTERCUPS

Tagging: @aniyawoos @chaoticdeobi @moondustaeil @juyeonzz @atbzkingdom @2hyunjae @jopping-to-my-kpop @jeongsinkookie @ihearttbz @heartyyjeno @bahnmi07 @sadlandia @itsquxxn

-----------

Eight years, gone just like that.

I stare at a spot on my navy blue suitcase, not really focused on what’s before me and more concerned about the memories flickering past my lids. I can’t help it. Everytime I see luggage, it makes me think of the way I kicked him out of my life. Everytime, a slab of pain will grab my heart between its icy fingers and squeeze it so that I can barely breathe. Everytime, until I feel like I’m drowning inside dark waters without the real desire to swim to the surface.

My psychiatrist told me that it had been for the better. That it had been an obsessive, unhealthy kind of love in the first place. But was it better now that I couldn’t even feel my heart in the hollow space where it’s supposed to be?

“Y/N.”

Still, I remember the messages on his phone, the way his touch would feel strange, eerily hollow for some reason, the way he’d avoid my eyes whenever he’d tell me that he was going out with the guys. I remember smelling his coat and recoiling at the cheap scent of perfume clinging to it like second skin, how he’d constantly tell me how wonderful I was-- too wonderful for him -- and that I should find better, that I didn’t deserve someone like him.

And then, when I’d stumbled into our flat a little earlier than I was meant to -- since my gym class had been cancelled -- and took note of the trail of shoes, followed by a coat, a shirt, a thong, before my ears picked up on the noises echoing from the bedroom doors…

“Y/N?”

His face when he spotted me, the astounded expression like a dog that had just been caught sneaking into the pantry. And the girl, a prettier woman, a curvy woman, with red lips and with those beautifully deep red wine locks tumbling down her back with the perfect physique that could make any man drool. That girl, who was none other than one of my good friends at work and who had spent most part of the year listening to my rants about him.

“Y/N!”

“Huh?” My head whips up when I register my name being called out, looking up to see a raven-haired, petite-faced man leaning against the bedroom doorway with raised brows and a concerned expression on his face.

“Oh, you’re here,” I say, as he crosses the doorway and sits beside me. The bed dips down under his weight as he tilts his head in that knowing manner of his, “daydreaming again?”

“No,” I mumble, but he sees right through my facade and with a sigh, his arms wrap around my shoulder before pillowing his head against my shoulder.

“It’s going to be okay,” he murmurs as I allow myself to lean back against him, against his comfort. His lavender scent wraps around me, a little bed of comfort amidst all the pain.

“I can’t stop thinking about him,” I murmur, tears stinging the corner of my eyes, “it hurts, Kev.”

He only holds me a little closer, a little tighter.

If there is one person that I can trust more than myself, it’s Kevin Moon. I’ve known Kevin ever since high school, having hung out in the same friend group until we had become partners for an art project. It was only then that we’d become closer, and had been close ever since. With his angular features and almond mono lidded eyes and thin lips that were constantly shaped in a pout, the Korean-born man had moved to Canada when he was young, just like I had a few years ago. He had kept me afloat during my university days, I had comforted him through his first break up. He had been present during my final Fine Arts Photography Exhibition, I was up all night coming up with re-branding concepts for his design project. Overall, Kevin had pretty much been a constant in my life, you get the gist of it.

When he found out that my boyfriend had cheated just a few days before our destined trip to attend my cousin’s wedding -- mind you, I had been sobbing waterfalls and it was a miracle he even understood me through my blubbering mess -- he had half a mind to storm up to the guy and rip his throat out. But he did the most surprising thing; booked a ticket for himself and turned up at my flat on the eve of the departure, stating that he was going to accompany me to that wedding, whether I liked it or not.

My cousin, Emma, was getting married right where home was: Mauritius. The memories I once had of the small island nestled right in the Indian Ocean on the right of Madagascar, was of my grandma’s comforting food, the sea scented air that washed along with the too-white sandy beaches, the multitudes of merchants selling all kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables on the side of the road, and small corner stores that looked like they had come out of a 1960’s movie. People liked to claim that Mauritius was paradise on earth, and in a way, it is.

“Come on,” Kevin had nagged when I shook my head adamantly. He’d wriggled his plane ticket before my nose, “you’re not going to let that loser spoil such a happy event are you? Emma’s waiting for you!”

In the end, he’d won. Which is why we are here, staying at my cousin, Emma’s, apartment in a village called Moka, located at the foot of a mountain and has an abundance of forestry adorning the sides of the road. It's chilly here, in comparison to the harbourfront, and constantly smells like fresh rain and has a gentle fresh breeze blowing through.

“You know, assholes like him are not worth thinking about,” Kevin says now, his arm a gentle soothing caress up and down my back, “your brain might rot.”

I can’t help but let out a soft, choked up laugh.

“It’s our first day here, let’s not ruin it by thinking about him, hm?” Kevin continues soothingly and I nod in agreement. He’s right. I’m just wasting time by reliving memories that I should be banishing from my mind.

“Okay!” he brightens up then, “where shall we go? The sea? The market? Or do you want to go eat?!”

--------------

The first few days are about meeting up with family and rediscovering Mauritius for what it is. Emma gives me a full-fledged hug the moment I open the door to her house, pressing me close to her with such motherly warmth that it takes everything in me not to break down right then and there. I greet my uncles and engage in small-talk with my aunts, help my grandma out in the kitchen as she continuously asks me why I’ve gotten so thin. While I know the main reason, I decide to smile and spare her the details, as embarrassing as it is.

No one mentions him, until one of my uncles slips during a conversation with Kevin, “so you’re Y/N’s boyfriend. Such a pleasure to meet you! We’ve heard so much about you that we started thinking she was just making things up.”

“Er--” Kevin reddens, “I--”

“So how did you two meet?”

It is at this very instant that my mouth decides to move on its own and I blurt out, “we’re high school friends.”

“Oh highschool sweethearts! How cute!”

Kevin doesn’t fail to mention what a mistake I’ve made to lie to my entire family to save face.

“I feel guilty,” he says as we walk out to the car, keys dangling from my wrist.

I unlock the car, “it’s fine. We’ll be in and out before they know it. They don’t have to know anything.”

“Hm, sure.”

After some well-deserved family time, Kevin and I decide to head to the west of the island to catch the sunset, my camera stuffed neatly in the backseat, where Kevin has tossed a few spare towels just in case. We each have donned our swimsuits for the occasion and it doesn’t take an expert to see the excitement thrumming through Kevin’s veins as he sits beside me like an excited child in the passenger seat.

“I never realized that you guys drive on the left side of the road,” he comments, head whipping back and forth in-between the passage of cars.

“Yeah, it takes some getting used to, especially if you’re crossing,” it is then that I notice that there is a newly built mall as we turn left at the green light, “hey, that’s new. I’ve never seen this before.”

“Cas-ca-velle,” he mumbles out with that strong accent of his. He is definitely not one to know French and I’ve been acting as his translator all along, considering that my family speaks French at home, “what does that mean?”

“Beats me. It’s just a fancy name for a new shopping mall,” I peer into its parking lot, “wanna visit?”

“Whatever floats your boat, honey. I’m all in.”

The mall is longer than it is wide, with white archways decked with wooden-style roofs that give way to an open-plan exterior. A wide beige cemented pathway occupies the space, with shops lined on either side.

“I never realized, but you guys are very multicultural,” comments Kevin as we pass by another family of four chattering quickly in a mixture of French and Creole.

“We’re similar to Canada that way.”

“Do you miss it here?”

My eyes glance over at him, notice the soft empathy in his expression.

“I guess I do sometimes,” I say while I kick at a stray pebble, “It’s like homesickness. But in a way I can’t quite explain,” after a moment, I ask, “do you miss Korea?”

“The food, mostly,” he grins bashfully, “my halmeoni makes a killer gamja tang.”

“Let’s go visit her one day.”

“Is that a promise?” he asks as I shrug, “if you want it to be.”

It’s a little past six when we drive up to the Flic En Flac beach and as we gather our things, my eyes light up upon falling on a nearby roti stand. I quickly slap Kevin’s arm in my bout of excitement.

“Ouch! What? What is it?”

“Kevin, you’re not going to believe this,” I point at the stand in question, “this roti stand? It’s the best roti in Mauritius. Here, take this,” I don’t wait before shoving my bag and camera in his arms, “I’m gonna buy us some. You go and find us a spot on the beach.”

“But--”

I don’t wait for him to finish his sentence before taking off, greeting the merchant who is just about to be wrapping up to ask whether I can get two rotis with ‘cari saumon’ (roughly translated into salmon curry mixed with indian spices), local and freshly made. The smell wafts through the folded paper wrappers as I grab them. They smell just like my childhood, where everything had just been as easy as having rotis by the beach without a care about the future that is to come. It’s nostalgic and I can’t help the smile tugging up my mouth at the thought.

Kevin is already settled atop a pair of spare towels and looks up at the sound of my footsteps approaching. I pass him one of the paper wrappers and he takes a peek, confusion flitting across his face.

“This smells spicy,” he mutters loudly enough for me to hear, “it looks like naan bread.”

“It is,” I agree, “except it’s flatter and more like a crepe.”

Throwing me a hesitant glance, he takes a small bite. I watch his face go from confused to impressed in a few seconds, before his eyes whip up to mine, “woah, this is good.”

“Told you so.”

“But this is really, really good,” he can’t help but marvel at it and laughing, I proceed to dig into my own roti, allowing my mouth to be filled with that salty fish taste melting along my tastebuds, the curry spices giving it the nice tangy kick you wouldn’t find anywhere else. The roti is soft and practically melts on my tongue and I can’t help but moan at how good it is.

“God, this is everything I’ve been looking for my whole life,” I find myself telling him, wrapped up in momentary bliss, “this, this is everything.”

I can feel his eyes on me, so intense that my own flicker up in question. He drops his gaze the moment I do and I frown, confused.

“What?” I can’t help but ask, wondering why he suddenly seems so meek, so shy and awkward, “what is it?”

“Nothing,” he replies like he’s trying to be casual, except that it’s anything but. When he gazes back at me, I notice the warmth in his maroon eyes, more the color of caramel in the dim light from the sunset basking his profile in a golden glow, “I think--I think that’s the first time I’ve seen you so happy, since...”

He doesn’t need to continue, for I know where this is going. Indeed, this is the first time in many months that I haven’t paid any attention to the hole inside my heart.

And it feels good.

“Yeah,” I murmur as I watch the sun settle on the ocean’s horizon, fire kissing water, “I don’t know, I just feel like this is nice. Like it’s right.”

I spare him a glance from the corner of my peripheral and watch him shift. His sleeveless shirt slips, allowing me a glimpse of the naked skin underneath. I quickly look away, slightly embarrassed at the notion of even thinking of him in such a way.

“That’s how you should be, Y/N,” Kevin murmurs back just as softly. It’s almost like talking too loudly will break the sudden spell that has settled over our shoulders. He takes a sip of his beer before continuing, “you’ve suffered enough for someone who deserves nothing but shit for what he’s done.”

There’s a small pause as I digest his words. Then, I manage to murmur out, “thanks, Kevin.”

“No problem.”

Another small bout of silence ensues, covered up by the sound of the ocean roaring up the sand, distant birds chirping in the fading light of the sunset drowning into the now orange-flecked waters.

“Hey Y/N.”

I glance at him. He’s gorgeous, even more so somehow. Maybe it’s the time of the day, maybe it’s the mood, or maybe it’s the way my heart can’t help but be swallowed in gratefulness whenever I look at him.

“What?” I ask.

“Do you know water has memory?”

I choke on my beer, “do not-- and I mean this-- do not quote Frozen with me.”

“Huh, I tried.”

---------------------------

“So, Kevin huh?”

My eyes shoot up to meet Emma’s in her crusty-dust-filled mirror, presently lounging on her bed and flipping through a book as I had been trying on my bridesmaid gown. Kevin is downstairs, helping out with the barbeque grill with the rest of the family, and it is only now that I get to have some alone time with the woman I consider my sister.

She’s the only one that knew the exact details of my breakup, and that Kevin is only a mere replacement to cover my humiliated ass. I remember her trying to calm me down when I had called in a frenzy, practically hyperventilating because of the amount of pain that gripped at my heart and was choking me of all air.

I revert my eyes back to the dress, a baby blue as bright as a summer sky, and smooth my hands down my sides, “he’s been so good to me, ever since…” I can’t finish the sentence, voice already wobbling at the thought that comes with it.

“Hey,” Emma’s murmur causes me to look up, and in her eyes I see a flicker of understanding, “he’s not worth it.”

“I know,” I swallow back the tears crawling up my throat, “I know, it’s just--a hard pill to swallow.”

A hand comes to a rest at my elbow, before my cousin tucks her chin atop my shoulder, “it’ll be alright, Y/N. He doesn’t deserve you."

I nod. Then, just to change the subject so that I don’t break down in her arms, I gesture towards the dress, “so? How does it look?”

Emma tugs at some pieces here and there, rearranging the fabric as she sees fit, “I think it looks good. You look gorgeous. Kevin will swoon, for sure.”

“It’s not like that,” I hurriedly say as I strip out of the dress and put it back on its hanger, “we’re just friends.”

“Mhm,” she throws me a pointed look, a mischievous smile tugging at the corner of her lips, “'just friends' doesn't feel right..”

“Emma, really? Right after my breakup?”

“He came to Mauritius just for you Y/N,” she squeezes my shoulders comfortingly, “doesn’t that count for something?”

“Well, we’ve been friends since high school so…”

“I don’t think just any friend in high school would do such a thing if I asked,” Emma catches my eye in the mirror, her gaze deep and meaningful, “just think about that.”

I just nod in hopes that she’ll stop yapping away at my nonexistent relationship with Kevin, whatever that means. The hole in my heart is still so raw and filled with pain that I can’t even start thinking about another relationship. The thought alone is enough to drain me of all energy and I decide to brush it off for now as I follow Emma out in the backyard now filled with familiar chatter and the smell of cooked meat wafting through the air, with the sky bruising a soft purple to signal the end of a long summer day.

Catching sight of Kevin as I bring out one of the many salad bowls that my family has prepared, my lips can’t help but twitch into a slow smile when I see him by the grill, whipping away the multitudes of flies zipping back and forth as my other cousin deftly flips the sausages upside down with a trained rhythm that only years of experience can bring.

“Kevin! You’re not doing your job right!” my cousin cries playfully. Kevin attempts to flap the newspaper around while screeching, “oh god, my eyes are burning!"

“Someone bring more meat!” My cousin hollers.

“There’s more?!”

“He’s doing a great job,” my grandmother’s voice brings my attention back to the salad bowl in my hands, and I quickly bend to kiss her cheek as she continues, “better than any of your other cousins. They never help out.”

“That’s because you pamper them too much, grandma,” I grin at her and follow her to the dining table where my aunts are already settling down amongst themselves.

The evening passes by with good food and good company, the sky darkening and dotting with a veil of stars that has Kevin gawking in awe. I'm not surprised, you don't see skies like that anywhere, a sky that isn't so intoxicated with modern chemicals. My uncles take it upon themselves to introduce Kevin to all the types of Mauritian delicacies, such as chickpea fritters we call 'gato pima', small balls of graped choko vegetable and minced pork 'niouk yen', and to top it all off, a plate of cornmeal pudding also known as 'pudine mai' that makes Kevin's eyes go wide with surprise.

"This is dessert?" He holds it up in his hand, "with ...cornmeal?"

"Sure is," one of my aunts chime in with a smile, "made it just this morning."

It's past midnight when we get back to our little apartment with Emma's dress hanging off my arms, which Kevin doesn't hesitate to grab from my hold despite my protests.

"It's fine dude," he flashes me a quick smile, albeit tired, and my heart does this weird little squeeze in my chest at his thoughtfulness.

He's kind. Too kind. I really don't deserve someone like him.

"I'm sorry," I say as we settle onto the small couch, shoulders fitted snugly against each other, "my family is kinda overwhelming."

"No no," Kevin looks over, edges of his lips curled up, "I actually love your family, you know."

My chest warms, "thanks."

There is a moment of silence that we enjoy, the day's events sinking into my bones.

"Hey," he murmurs.

"Hm?"

My eyes slide over to catch his, dark pools glimmering with a certain softness that catches my attention.

I bite my lip. It suddenly feels a little warm.

"What is it?" I ask, voice hoarse.

"Is oreo a sandwich?"

I sit up so suddenly that I jostle him, "wait--what?"

He grins up at me with that little nose scrunch that I can't help but find endearing, "is oreo a sandwich?" I open my mouth to answer but he beats me to it, "is cereal a soup?"

"Stop."

Reclining back to lace his hands at the back of his head, he says, "is ketchup a smoothie?"

"Stop it."

"What about hotdogs? Are they sandwiches?" He continues in a singsong voice and rolling my eyes, I make a move to punch him once more. But he's faster, hand shooting out to hold my wrists. He pulls me over and I stumble, knee pressing against the side of his leg.

"Come on. Answer it," he wriggles his eyebrows.

"Nope."

“Don’t be a party pooper.”

“You’re so annoying.”

"Are you sick of me yet?" His face is so close that I notice the creases at the corner of his eyes when he smiles.

"That's an understatement."

"But really, do you think oreo is a sandwich?"

"No! Oreos are just oreos!"

“You’re no fun,” He pouts before finally releasing his hold. I draw back with a roll of my eyes, settling beside him once more and pillowing my head onto his shoulder.

Emma’s right. Kevin had sacrificed so much to be here with me, and he doesn’t even know Emma. Yet, he immediately dropped everything so that he could be my plus one, so that I wouldn’t have to face the music alone. The thought makes my heart swell with emotion and suddenly I’m all too aware of his presence beside me.

I shift to gaze at him, eyes tracing the curve of his nose, the indent above his lips before I whisper, “hey Kevin.”

“Hm?”

“Why’d you come?”

His eyes flicker over to mine then. A heartbeat passes. For a moment, I wonder if he can hear my heartbeat suddenly throbbing a little too loudly in my chest.

“Good question.”

Another pause.

“That’s not an answer,” I laugh slightly, to show that it’s all just fun and games.

But when I catch his eyes next, there’s something else brimming in them. They’re tender with emotion and it catches me so off guard that I almost don’t catch his next set of words:

“Because I care about you.”

My heart gives a quick lurch but I somehow can’t tear my gaze away. I want to say something. Anything.

But all I can muster is a soft, “oh.”

“Why do you ask?” he asks, voice hoarse.

I hesitate, “Emma asked why. And...I guess I wanted to know too.”

“Oh.”

The air feels heavy, heightened with the things that are threatening to slip off the edge of my tongue. A mixed series of ‘but why’s and ‘can’t you tell me more’ jumbling up my thoughts with so many possibilities that I decide to stay quiet for the sake of not ruining the moment. Because there’s this lingering fear that once I do say something, then it’ll just pull me down a rabbit hole that I can’t crawl out of, that the only escape lies on the other side.

And I don’t know if I want to take that leap yet. My heart is already so fragile with the aftermath of a love that went wrong. I don’t know how much more I can take.

So I just stay quiet and let out a soft sigh, and though Kevin shifts as if he wants to say something, he doesn’t. The question just hangs there between us, in-between the slithers of moonlight and in the cold Moka air, like a perpetual ghost we ignore as we drift off to sleep.

----------

Something shifts between us after that. It’s unspoken of, but suddenly, I am all too aware of Kevin as a whole. Things that I hadn’t noticed before surface as we spend most of our free time visiting the rest of the island; like how he loves ruffling his hair whenever he feels uncomfortable, or the way his bicep curls as his arm drapes over the wheel with the barest hint of muscle that is enough to be attractive yet subtle, or how he smirks in that attractive way of his whenever he thinks something is undeniably adorable.

The good thing about having Kevin is that I don’t get to think of him all too much, which is a blessing in itself. It’s been days since I’ve shed another tear and for that, I have to say I’m glad that I’m making progress.

We spent the last few days before the wedding traveling around the island to visit all the touristy spots that I know Kevin will enjoy, like a hike all the way to the top of Le Morne mountain, where I explain that’s where slaves would throw themselves off when their masters would find them. We visited Bois Cheri, a tea-making factory where Kevin had the pleasure of tasting all different kinds of teas cultivated in the fields below, and ate lunch on the Caudan Waterfront as we gazed at the boats lulling along the harbour.

“Woah, this place makes me feel like I’m in Aladdin somehow,” Kevin’s mouth is wide agape as his eyes try to take in the endless racks of stands selling fresh fruits and vegetables of the day. The Port-Louis Bazaar has always been one of my favourite places to visit, but it’s also one of the busiest. Even now as we attempt to squeeze our way through, people are jostling us here and there, causing me to press my bag to my chest in case any pickpockets are nearby. I prompt Kevin to do the same.

“Hey Y/N, I wanna check out the bags over there,” Kevin motions towards the hand-woven baskets situated at the far end of the market and I nod as we keep moving forward with the crowd like a pair of salmons trying to swim upstream. But there’s so many people, it’s so suffocating that it gets hard to keep up with Kevin’s figure. Someone elbows my shoulder and I groan, stumbling to the side in irritation, only to get pushed forward by another.

“Seriously--” I curse under my breath, when a hand suddenly appears before my eyes.

Looking up to see Kevin’s outstretched arm, I am only greeted with his bashful smile and averted eyes.

“Come on,” he doesn’t even wait for my consent before slipping his palm over my own and tugging me along, his hold firm and strong despite his skinny frame and the action is enough to render a flurry of butterflies soaring over my stomach.

Stop, I try telling my subconscious. That does nothing, however, to stop my neck from tingling with unfamiliar heat.

Kevin’s hand feels so warm. It’s comfortable, safe.

And I’m liking it a little too much.

He doesn’t let go when we reach the desired stand and talk over which bag looks the best and keeps his hand in mine for the entirety of our journey back to the car. Only when I unlock the doors that his palm finally drops from my hold and air rushes over my palm that is now a little too cold without his warmth. But while a multitude of questions are burning the back of my throat, they fall apart halfway through at the thought of his answer, before I decide to drop it altogether.

Kevin, on the other hand, doesn’t seem the least bit affected.

When the day of the wedding finally rolls around, I drive my car to Emma’s after a quick breakfast that Kevin surprised me with -- to my surprise, he’d managed to make a decent eggs and toast without burning the place down -- so that I can help her get into her gown and more importantly so that she doesn’t run away, lest her mind goes in a frenzy at the thought of tying the knot.

“You’ll be fine,” I reassure her, teasing a few of her curls so that they slip down to her chest in a perfect wave. She looks stunningly beautiful, with her strapless white dress that shimmers with diamonds in the light with every movement she makes.

I reach out to smooth over her veil so that it falls on either side of her face, frames her perfectly, and notice her big brown eyes staring back at me through her vanity mirror.

“You look beautiful,” I can’t keep the awe from my voice.

Her face blossoms into a smile, “you too.”

“Ah come on, you can’t say that to me on your wedding day,” I shove her playfully on the shoulder, “you’re the star of the show. Don’t let anyone take that away from you.”

“Okay mom,” she rolls her eyes before changing the subject, “So, how have things been? With Kevin?” My hands freeze in mid-action, “It’s good.”

I don’t have to look at her to know that she’s giving me a pointed look.

I sigh, “well, okay. Maybe you’re right. About the whole…’just friends’ thing not being true.”

“Why?” she straightens up, turns to me, “what happened? Did you kiss? Did he make a move--”

“No we didn’t kiss,” I’m quick to answer as my cheeks heat up. And after a few beats of hesitation, I give her a summary; the way he’d looked at me that night with eyes that held so much in them that it had made my chest swell, the way that he’d snitch glances at me whenever he thought I wasn’t paying attention, and the fact that he’d grabbed my hand and didn’t let go even long after the crowd wasn’t an issue anymore.

Emma’s eyes are wide and sparkling with a feeling that I know all too well, I can practically see the cogs turning in her head and quickly shook mine in rapid retaliation, “Emma, no.”

“But--But he’s perfect for you!” she bellows in protest, “What do you mean ‘no’?!”

“I can’t go there. Not after,...not now, it’s too soon…”

She rolls her eyes, “it’s not like he’s asking you to marry him, christ’s sake. He likes you, and I feel like you’re only trying to deprive yourself because you feel like it’s not right.”

“It’s not right--”

“Who says so?” she cuts me off then, her gaze hardening on mine with such intensity it takes everything in me not to flinch back, “who says it’s not right? It doesn’t matter if it’s after two days, two weeks, two months. You think I don’t know how it feels to be heartbroken? You can’t just keep thinking about the past. You’re going to hurt yourself that way.”

My teeth sink down onto my lower lip, her words like ice-cold knives aimed straight at my chest.

“What you can control, right now, is the present, Y/N.”

“I know,” I mumble out half-heartedly.

“I can see it, you know, the way he looks at you,” she shakes her head, “even if you don’t like him back, you gotta be aware of all that he’s done for you.”

Her hands find their way to mine, enclosing them in her grasp before squeezing them with such care that I can’t stop the tears crawling up the back of my throat.

“I’m sorry,” she murmurs next, “I don’t want to pressure you if that’s not how you feel. That--That was not my intention,” her eyes latch onto mine, filled with understanding, “I just want you to be happy.”

Happy.

That’s a word I haven’t heard in a long time.

“Don’t you dare cry now,” Emma says while waving her hands around in warning, “you’re going to ruin your makeup and we definitely don’t want that.”

I sniffle, trying my best to hold in the tears now brimming through my eyes, “you’re right,” I attempt to smile, albeit it’s wobbly, “we don’t.”

“Come here,” she tugs my arm so that I fall into her embrace. Her head finds her way to my shoulder and she hugs me tight, not caring that her veil is getting all bunched up and wrinkled, “you’ll be okay,” she whispers, one hand stroking my back, “you’ll be just fine, little one.”

Then, pulling back and pushing a few strands away from my face, she flashes a bright smile, “we should probably head to the church soon.”

----------

“We now declare you, Vincent and Emma, as husband and wife.”

The church explodes in a round of applause and I join in the clapping, furiously trying to keep the tears of joy at bay. Vincent has been there for Emma ever since they met at work and it has been the most beautiful love story ever since; filled with the purest kind of love no one can imagine. Beside me, I feel Kevin’s hand coming to squeeze my shoulder in a reassuring manner and I feel warm all over despite the rush of emotion in my heart.

The wedding reception is to take place at a fancy restaurant overlooking the harbourfront. Our family has booked the venue for the evening, and as I enter, I take in the baby blue veils that come down each corner of the restaurant, sprinkles of glitter here and there as we make our way to our assigned tables that each have a baby blue napkin shaped in swans.

I don’t even have time to place my butt down when I hear a voice call out, “Y/N! Look how big you’ve gotten!”

Of course, big wedding ceremonies only mean that we get to meet all of our extended family that we haven’t seen since forever, and they’re all too happy to chat with me about living overseas. Soon enough, I’m bustled off to a table and look back over my shoulder to mouth a quick “I’m sorry” to Kevin. Bless his soul, for he only smiles and shakes his head, his hand motioning for me to go on.

I manage to catch up with cousins I haven’t seen since I was a little girl, talk over appetizers with excited aunts who want to know all about how it feels like to live away from family for such a long time, and nod along to the old uncles trying to get me to give a concrete answer about when and where will my wedding take place.

“Come on Y/N! You’re the next one after Emma for sure,” one of my uncles bellow, face flushed red as a result of the glasses of wine he has downed like water. He is Emma’s father, no surprise that he’ll want to get drunk from happiness and pride. It is his daughter’s wedding after all.

He leans close with a conspiratorial look in his eyes, “so tell me,” his eyes glance over to Kevin, currently deep in conversation with another one of my distant aunts. I watch as he says something to make her laugh, and something inside my chest warms at the action, “is he the lucky guy that’s going to ask for your hand?”

“Do you think he’s the one?” another uncle pipes up.

I purse my lips and attempt to shrug, “it’s early days,” I try laughing it off although it sounds forced, “who knows what can happen.”

“He’s a good kid,” an aunt says, “you know how we all have this sixth sense? Well Y/N, I have a good feeling about this young man. Don’t let him go. Something tells me he’s a keeper.”

A wild imaginative speculation, considering that we’re not even dating. But I nod along and say that yes, I’ll tell them whenever I decide to tie the knot.

It’s only when the dance floor opens and people start pooling onto the dance floor after the first dance -- led by no other than the bride and groom themselves -- that I finally allow myself to breathe. I find my way back to my chair, back to Kevin’s warm smile flashing in my direction as his eyes take in the fatigue lining my face.

“You look like you could use a drink,” is the first thing he tells me the moment I plop my butt onto my designed seat, the one that’s been kept cold ever since I stepped foot into the dining hall.

I gratefully accept the glass of wine he offers me, swallowing it down in a few gulps, “thanks,” I sigh with relief, “I needed that.”

“How was catching up with family?”

“It couldn’t be as bad as being left behind,” I peer over at him, guilt flooding me at the prospect of having left him all alone, “sorry. It’s just that everyone--”

“Oh stop that,” Kevin nudges my shoulder with his, “don’t be sorry. It’s totally normal. I’m happy for you. And I wasn’t left behind. I had a wonderful time talking to your aunt. She seemed so happy to tell me what your childhood was like.”

“Bet you liked that, didn’t you?”

“Hey, it works as blackmail. Why wouldn’t I like that?”

“Dork.”

“You’re friends with this dork.”

“Oh piss off,” I slap his shoulder playfully in retaliation, causing him to laugh softly as we watch couples glide across the dance floor like swans over water. The lights have dimmed, the yellow hues now replaced by soft cool blues and purples that cause Emma’s dress to shimmer every time she turns. She’s absolutely stunningly beautiful, and the way she and Vincent are gazing at each other just scream of pure love that wraps around them in a golden mist so enchantingly beautiful that I find myself catching my breath in the back of my throat.

“She’s so beautiful,” the words fall from my mouth without meaning to, and I feel Kevin’s eyes on my face from the corner of my peripheral.

“You are too.”

I bite my lip and narrow my eyes at him playfully, “thanks, but why do I have a feeling that this isn’t a compliment?”

“It isn’t,” he holds my gaze, “it’s just the truth.”

Emotion lodges at the back of my throat. I stare at him. He stares back, a glimmer of tenderness echoing through the dark pools of black, his whole expression relaxed into a face that appears flooded with affection for--

Me.

For some reason, no words seem to come to me as I open my mouth and close it. Embarrassment slowly bubbles through my stomach. I look away, unable to contain the goosebumps suddenly exploding across the back of my neck with that same familiar uncomfortable sensation I keep getting around him these days. Like I’m standing atop a cliff and preparing myself to jump.

“Wanna dance?”

I blink in surprise, before turning to the said young man beside me who has his head cocked to the side with that same expression. My heart can’t help but squeeze inside my chest before I push down the rising protest searing through my brain.

I nod. And off we go onto the dance floor. His hands settle on my waist, mine atop his shoulders in a casual sling. There’s enough distance between our bodies to show that we’re not together and yet, I can’t deny that electrical tension that keeps on pulling me towards Kevin like a magnet. I wonder if he feels it too, that searing heat that is so palpable I can feel sweat break out from the back of my neck. Asking, though, would mean that I’m aware of what’s happening, asking would imply that I want something to happen.

Maybe I do.

Maybe I do want to grab life by the reins myself and steer it wherever I want it to go.

“What are you thinking about?”

I blink. Right up into Kevin’s brown orbs, his hair catching the shades of blue from the disco balls. My throat runs dry.

“Uh--” my mind tries to scramble for a response, any response, “just--uhm, it’s kind of like our last day here.”

He cocks his head, “sad?”

“Kinda. I like it here,” my eyes brush over Emma and Vincent’s forms in the vicinity, catch my grandma sitting at one of the tables, little cousins running all over the place. Then, I look back at the said young man gazing at me with that undecipherable look in his eyes that makes my heart sing, and try not to squirm as I continue softly, “it feels like home.”

“We can always come back,” he uses ‘we’ as though it’s now an adventure kept between the two of us, a secret to our own little neverland that nobody knows about. I can’t help but smile at the thought.

“Do you want to come back?” I ask.

“Are you kidding? Hell yeah I want to come back. The views are amazing, the food is out of this world, and your family has been really kind to me.”

“I’m sorry, they are kind of overbearing when you first get to know them.”

“I love it,” Kevin says seriously, “I love that they’re overbearing. Couldn’t have asked for anything more.”

If I had any doubts, the sincerity dripping from his eyes is enough to wipe out any suspicions left from his compliment. The sudden urge to hug him rocks through me and my hands fist on the back of his shirt in response.

We keep on dancing silently, bobbing from one foot to another for a few minutes more before he speaks up softly.

“Y/N?”

“Hm?”

“I wouldn't mind getting married here.”

My eyebrows shoot up in surprise, “really now?”

“Yup,” he grins, “really.”

“Your future wife will have me to thank for that.”

“Maybe my future wife won’t have to thank you.”

There it is. That same borderline flirting that’s been happening for days on end.

“And why is that?” I probe, partly just to tease him, and partly because I just want to know.

“Maybe she might be right here, in this room.”

“Didn’t know you were into one of my cousins,” I start looking around the room, only for one of his hands to cup my cheek to turn my face back to his.

There is none of that teasing glimmer now. His eyes are darker, gazing down at me with such emotion that the breath catches in the back of my throat and the air halts in my lungs. We gaze at each other for a few beats longer, before I feel his thumb graze my cheek. Gently, so gently like he’d stroke a flower petal.

Swallowing at the heat of his hand cupping the side of my face, my hands unconsciously tighten on the back of his neck. He senses my nervousness, but only pulls me slightly closer so that we are mere millimeters from each other, noses hovering over each other in a space that causes my heart to stutter inside my chest.

When he opens his mouth next, his alto is hoarse, pent-up with emotion.

“I wasn’t talking about your cousins.”

My heart practically jumps to my throat, teeth biting onto my lip.

I can’t hear the music, nor the people. I can’t hear anything except for my pounding heart and Kevin’s soft breaths washing over my face.

His eyes search mine and we hold gazes for a moment too long.

“Y/N?”

I press my lips together, “Y-Yes?”

He moves even closer then so that his nose brushes mine in the most intimate of ways.

“I--”

“Y/N! I was looking all over for you!”

We spring apart like we just got burnt just in time for one of my cousins to grab onto my arm. He sends an apologetic smile at Kevin, before explaining, “we just need to sort out the takeaways. She’ll be back in a second!”

And without listening to my protests, he proceeds to drag me away from the said young man on the dancefloor. I look back, mouthing an ‘I’m sorry” once more -- it’s the second time that night!-- and see the raven-haired man laugh good-naturedly before shaking his head and waving me away. That does nothing to keep my heart from cartwheeling out of my chest, swelling up with such affection that I grin back despite the earlier predicament.

One thing’s for sure: I’m not done talking with Kevin Moon yet.

----------

I find him sitting alone in the tiny garden that overlooks the decorated pavillon a few hours later. His figure, illuminated by the soft yellow hues of interior light, seems to glow in the dark, the moon bouncing off his hair and catching the strength of his cheekbone when he turns and catches me staring. He only smiles though -- that beautiful tender smile that I keep seeing more and more these days -- before waving me over.

“What are you doing out here all alone?” I ask as I reach his figure. A soft breeze dances along the back of my spine, cool in contrast to the warm stickiness of the air.

“Your smaller cousin was showing me what she’d learnt in astronomy at her school,” he tilts his head up at the sky, “she’s quite the prodigy at that.”

“The next woman to land on the moon,” I joke.

“Jeez, I should get her autograph.”

“Wise idea,” that’s when I feel his hand slip into mine and I look down at him, blinking. He grins a little shyly, before tugging me forward so that I all but stumble right into him, halfway sprawled across his lap.

Heat explodes through my chest at the proximity of our bodies and I can’t help but avert my gaze from his, partly embarrassed that maybe there might be someone around to see, and partly because it’s only recently that I’ve started seeing Kevin in a new light that being so close makes my heart choke up and my mind to run blank.

We’re close. So close I feel his breath mingle with mine. My hands settle atop his chest lightly, “Kev,” I breathe out but nothing follows, too scared to verbally voice out what is going on for fear that it might all crumble into nothing.

I don’t want false hope. I also don’t want his heart -- or mine -- to break.

This friendship is too precious to let go. I can’t imagine a life without Kevin in it.

“Listen Y/N,” Kevin’s voice is soft, a hushed murmur resonating through his chest as his eyes search mine, “I think we both know what’s happening here.”

I nod mutely.

Taking a shaky breath, he continues, “I don’t want to do anything that will hurt you. I know it’s been tough and that you’re still healing. I just--I just want to know.”

As his words wash over me as gently as the forest leaves rustling around us, I feel the warmth of his hand cupping my cheek, holding me like I am fine china and stroking my skin with his thumb so that butterflies suddenly rush along my middle.

I bite my lip so hard I can taste blood, " I-- well, I think you already know how I feel."

"I know," he breathes, "but I need to hear it from you."

As if it isn't hard enough to come face to face with my own feelings, having Kevin stare me down as though I put the moon in his sky makes me want to squirm with a mixture of embarrassment and excitement.

“I like you,” I blurt out then, “a lot.”

There is a few seconds delay, before a shit-- eating grin --the biggest I’ve ever seen -- spreads across Kevin’s face like sunshine peeking through the clouds.

“Enough for us to go on a date?”

I nod mutely. I don’t trust my voice, not right now when I already feel so pathetic. Kevin’s grin softens into a tender smile, one that I can’t help but return when our eyes meet in the most intimate of ways. Suddenly, the air feels charged and alive with electricity, the heat between our bodies palpable as his hand moves to the back of my neck.

He tugs. I follow.

His lips find mine mid-way in a delicate kiss.

It’s soft. Softer than any kiss I’ve ever had. Kevin’s mouth parts over my own in a gentle caress, before he tilts his head to the side and captures my lower lip between his.

I gasp slightly at the contact, hands unconsciously tightening around his neck.

Slowly leaning away, I notice the film of lust like a dull glow at the back of his maroon orbs, just the slightest hint that he wants me as a woman. And that makes my lungs constrict, air suddenly halting in the back of my throat.

My skin is prickling with the aftermath of his touch. I let out a soft breath before he covers my mouth with his once more and all thoughts fly out of my brain the moment he does.

I don’t really know how long we spend outside, exchanging the softest of kisses underneath the moonlight, until I hear the soft exclamations of my family’s voices suggesting that it is time to head home. So I part from the said man and can’t help but blush at the lack of space between our bodies.

“We should probably head back,” I hate how wanton I sound, like I’ve just sprinted a mile when in truth I’ve been sitting in this very spot for the last hour.

He agrees and I descend from his lap, his hand subtly finding mine as we walk back to the wedding hall.

Emma is still saying her goodbyes, her hair now dotted with glitter, probably from the decorations that my younger cousins took pleasure in bathing her in. Her face lights up as soon as she spots our entwined hands and I try not to meet her eyes for I know exactly the kind of smug look she'll be giving me.

"Enjoyed the wedding?" She says as soon as we're within earshot.

"That must've been the best cake I've had in my life," Kevin lets out a dramatic sigh, "and that says something."

"Do I trust your taste buds though?" She teases.

"I'd be offended if you didn't," he gasped in mock offense, before they both break into playful chuckles.

As we exchange our goodbyes and Vincent engages Kevin in a conversation, Emma takes this chance to drag me to her side as she whispers, "so you gonna tell me the tea or am I going to have to extract it from you?"

I press my lips together as I try to control the heat searing through the back of my neck, "...we kissed."

She gasps, "No way! OH MY GOD! Are you guys a thing then?!" The answer is as clear as water on my face and she clamps a hand over her mouth, would've jumped up and down if she could've, "OH MY, OH MY GOD. I knew it! I just knew this was going to happen--"

"Shut up!" I hiss, scared that Kevin might overhear and think I'm a big fat tattle tale. My eyes quickly swivel over to his and I'm glad to find his head bent towards Vincent in concentration.

"You need to tell me everything," Emma's eyes are sparkling, "like--as soon as you have some free time."

"You--" I send her a pointed look, then jerk my head at Vincent, "--need to tell me everything."

"Oh I will, don't worry."

"Anyway, I'll talk to you after your honeymoon."

"Okay," I turn around to find Kevin, not failing to notice the smirk playing on Emma's lips. I slap her arm in response, causing her to laugh before she calls out:

"Don't forget to use protection!"

-----------

"We'll come back right?"

That's the first thing that Kevin states as soon as we step inside security, away from the tears of my family that I just left behind a few seconds ago. My heart still aches when I think of their faces, all crumpled and blinking at me with tissues in hand and noses as red as traffic lights. But I seek comfort upon feeling Kevin's hand slip through mine as we walk towards our destined gate.

"Sure," I look at him; at his red-tinted cheeks (probably the aftermath of a sunburn), his newly tanned skin a fresh contrast against his white shirt, and the permanent grin that seems impossible to wipe off his face. My heart instantly flutters.

It's only been a few days since we've confessed our growing romantic interest in each other, but I can already feel the weight of his love pouring out of his heart and into mine the moment he realized that my arms would be there to catch him when he fell.

"I'm not going to wake up to an empty bed tomorrow morning, am I?" He’d joked when we stumbled, half-asleep, into Emma's flat after the wedding.

I frowned at him, "Why would you think that?"

"Just in case you think that kissing me was a mistake."

A small pause ensued, in which I realized that despite all my fears and all the pain I had been carrying in my heart ever since we landed on my motherland, I had not once considered how Kevin might be feeling at this very moment.

My eyes quickly took note of his countenance, sweeping right up to his face only to notice the flash of vulnerability in his eyes, the way the corners of his mouth were tense, cheekbones taught against his skin as he awaited for my answer with baited breath.

Clearing my throat, I whispered, "it wasn't."

A soft smile tugged at his lips, "good to know."

His answer seemed so genuine, so wholehearted that my chest tightened in a mixture of gratefulness and affection, so much so that my arms automatically reached for him to tug him close. My nose found its rightful place at his neck and I breathed in his comforting lilac smell that I enjoyed so much.

I felt him take a breath. Then, softly, a hand caressed the back of my head. I buried even closer if that was possible.

"I really want this to work," my words were a muffled mess and I was surprised that he understood.

"Me too," he murmured into my hair, "and it will work. I promise I won't break your heart Y/N."

Looking back now at this tender moment in which we both weren't certain of where we were stepping, I can't help but laugh at the thought, for now the love and attraction is so natural I'm amazed it has taken this long to flourish.

Maybe I hadn't been looking the right way. Maybe I had been searching so far out and wide that I hadn't noticed that my safe harbour is the one standing right beside me.

"Hey Kevin," I call out.

Kevin turns towards me, where he'd been watching planes take off from the ground into the gorgeously blue sunny sky.

"Yeah?"

“I’m really glad you came.”

There's a few beats of silence although his mouth immediately cracks into that gorgeous, crooked grin of his that I adore so much.

“Me too.”

----

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littlemindsseo · 2 years

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10 Fun Christmas Activities for your children

Christmas is fun when there are a lot of kids around there. Making cribs, singing carols, baking sweet cup cakes with mommies and lots of laughter in the air. The season of Christmas is super cool for children who don’t get exhausted easily after so many chills till dawn. So how about making those tiny little fingers to create something prettier this winter? Christmas holidays can be made productive for your children like doing little activities at home, to create something pleasing, arts and crafts or learning the basics of baking.

As the best Kindergarten in Dubai, we would like to share you some fun Christmas activities for children, which we bet, won’t make your kids bored, but will do with more joy and enthusiasm than you expect.

1. Christmas Card Making

Gather the children around the table and provide them with colored chart papers, sketches, pencils, glitters, crayons, scissors glue and many Christmas themed stickers to start. They may wonder what to do but do a little brainstorming for popping ideas for beautiful Christmas cards. We bet, your children create the most charmed and colorful greetings to everyone they love. Let them be creative.

2. Bake Christmas cookies

Don’t get anxious to call your children to the kitchen. They may create a mess to your sparkling cooking space but what’s more loving to watch them baking their first Christmas cookies all by themselves? Just help a little to budge the dough, adjust the ingredient proportions, cut out the cookie shapes and to put the tray into the oven and that’s it. The holiday baking is fun and friendlier at every step of the process and you better wait to get your sweetest Christmas kiss from your children.

3. Make a Wreath

Wreaths make best art pieces for the Christmas. Depending upon their creativity and color themes, you can guide them to make beautiful wreaths with beads, paper flowers, golden laces and colored tapes to add extra beauty. Hang them on your doors to make them feel more special.

4. Decorate the Christmas tree

Celebrating Christmas without a Christmas tree is not embraceable. So decorating the tender green branches with colorful laces, ornaments, ribbons loads of warm lights, gifts and little stars with your little ones can be fun and loving and they make memories for a life time.

5. Used Bottle Decors

Recycle used bottle for transforming them into beautiful home decors. Your children can find better ideas to design and light up with multicolored lights. Grab some used wine bottles or jars for Christmas decorations.

6. Design a snowy Christmas village

Collect everything to make a small Christmas village out of cardboard with faux snow, trees, snowmen and figurines and help your children to fix them in shape. Add extra colors like brick red and green to the roofs and trees and intense white to the snow. This is a good Christmas activity which adds imagination to creativity for children.

7. Make paper snowflakes

Drawing and cutting out the snowflakes out of paper is fun with your little children and this is a wonderful activity for spending your time with your children for every Christmas and they treasure it a lot. Hang your kid’s master pieces in the Christmas tree can make them feel special.

8. Make Christmas ornaments

You can get many DIY ideas for making Christmas ornaments at internet. You can give your kids ideas to make DIY pendants, Christmas hats, masks or ornaments from paper, cardboard pieces, tissues, beads or even recycled materials to cherish their creativity.

9. Make a ginger bread man

When you try new recipes for this Christmas, ask your kids to join you for making a nice ginger bread man and let them decorate it according to their ideas. If you are that capable, design a ginger bread village with the cutest elves and gnomes on it.

10. Write a letter to Santa Claus

Children mostly don’t like to sit and write on holidays. But for their favorite Santa, who comes at the Christmas Eve to present the wonderful gifts for them, they love to write amazing letters with little drawings for him. Just encourage them to make it colorful and you can add a letter box too in your Christmas tree for putting their letters.

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jaroslavlewis · 7 years

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30 Kisses: Heiji and Kazuha- Bond of Steel

30 Kisses: Heiji and Kazuha

Title: Bond of Steel

Author: Jaroslav Lewis

Fandom: Detective Conan

Theme: #13-excessive chain

Summary: Heiji and Kazuha just always end up getting chained together in all worst ways possible, because what is red string of fate when you have a strong chain of handcuffs to connect both of you?

Warning: Rated R for sexual themes

Disclaimer: I don't own Detective Conan or any of Gosho Aoyama's characters. I simply kidnap them when I'm bored and make them binge watch K-dramas with me. Don't worry I make popcorn for them too.

The first time Heiji and Kazuha were handcuffed together was way back when they were kids. Two innocent seven-year olds snooped into their fathers' stuff and thought that the game of cops and robbers would be a lot better if they used cool, real cop stuff. The poor kids apparently, didn't have the key to unchain themselves and had to wait until their fathers came back from work. By the time Police Chief Criminal Investigator Toyama Ginshiro and Police Super Intendent Hattori Heizo had arrived, Heiji and Kazuha had already done a lot of things together (Granted, they hadn't gotten much choice.), some of them were far too 'intimate' and embarrassing to even bring up as they grew older. But of course, at that time, childhood innocence had no room for any malice. The young boy and the young girl were after all just two curious little children, two playmates who had a little fiasco while playing with their fathers' work stuff. Of course, Heiji and Kazuha got into a lot of trouble for what happened. They had a long sermon from both of their fathers about how they shouldn't be snooping into police stuff and that kids should never be playing with handcuffs. It did not however, take long for the two police officers to receive a long nagging lecture from their wives about how responsible fathers shouldn't be leaving their things within children's reach. All was good in the end. The little incident had become a fond old memory to both the families as the two kids grew up. It had become something that both of their families laughed and made an inside joke about.

It happened the second time when they were seventeen years old and it was unlike the first one. It wasn't an effect of curious innocent child's play but rather, involved a lot of violence, death threats, secret codes, being locked up in a dark, dusty attic, and a huge, nasty old woman pushing Heiji to the creaky wooden floor as she pointed a gun to his head. It was an image Kazuha never wanted to see, the same way that her cries and screams of fear were sounds Heiji never wanted to hear, ever again. It was all the more reason for both of them to swear that they would never be stuck, handcuffed to each other once more.

But for the third time, Heiji and Kazuha were yet again in another handcuff entanglement. It was of course, still as they remembered, uncomfortable as ever, though not as horribly unpleasant as the second time, but it was in no way as cute as the first time. Sure it involved sheer curiosity, not to mention, a different kind of exploration, but it was in no way innocent as the little childhood memory they once had.

It started with a nice candlelit dinner Kazuha had prepared for their wonderful evening. For their 3rd wedding anniversary, the couple decided to have a simple but romantic date night at home. Kazuha fixed up a full-course meal of bacon-wrapped asparagus for the appetizer, tomato-basil lasagna and spinach and cheese-stuffed chicken for the main course and home-made no-bake strawberry cheesecake for dessert. Heiji offered to do the dishes as he figured it was important that he did his share of household chores since Kazuha had already done the cooking. After the dishes were done, the couple handed each other their anniversary gifts. Kazuha got Heiji a limited edition, leather bound, 3-volume set of Ellery Queen's "Masterpieces of Mystery". Heiji on the other hand, got her a 14 karat white gold, heart-shaped locket with elegant diamond embellishment. Inside the locket were the pictures of their fraternal twins, Mikan and Midori on either sides of the locket.

Surprises were surely not over for both of them as they had a few glasses of wine and from there, things started to heat up. Heiji crossed over to Kazuha's side of the counter. He stood behind her as he offered to put the locket around her neck. He paused to stare at the soft, smooth skin of her nape that was exposed since her hair was styled in a neat French chignon up do. He lifted his arms and brought the necklace up to her neck and then hooked the chains together at the back. She stood still as she felt him lean closer to her. She gasped as he kissed the sensitive junction between her neck and her shoulder blade. His lips brushed gingerly against her exposed skin, making her shiver.

Kazuha grew weak against his touch. She leaned closer to him and pressed her back against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her waist, hugging her from behind.

"Just so you know, I actually have another present for you." She said between her raspy breathing as he left open-mouthed kisses against her neck and jawline. She felt him smirk against her skin before he pulled away, only to press his lips near her ear.

"You're just so full of surprises arencha'?" He whispered in a low, dulcet tone, sending goosebumps to creep on her smooth skin. She then, turned around to face him and looked into his emerald orbs as she smirked.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Why don't you peel off the 'wrapping paper' on this one to see what I have for you?" She said playfully, as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Heiji smiled softly as placed his left hand on the side of her waist. He lifted his right hand to tuck the stray hair that had left the confines of her neat bun, before sliding it to her back to tug at the zipper on the back of her dark green, v-neckline, bodycon dress that hugged her curves perfectly.

"Careful. First layer of the 'wrapping paper' is special, not to mention, very expensive." She remembered to warn him since the particular dress was her most favorite among her wardrobe.

"Oh, I should know. I paid for it after all." He said smugly as he started to pull down the zipper of her dress in an ever so slow and teasing pace. His fingers brushed against the skin of her back that was slowly being exposed, making her shudder against his light touch. Kazuha on the other hand, had started to loosen his dark green tie and was slowly working her way through the buttons of his white, long-sleeved button up shirt.

"Ahou." She teased. The old, odd "term of endearment" was never lost in the years of their relationship.

Heiji smirked at her little remark before he leaned in to press his lips against hers in a soft kiss that didn't stay so for long as his right hand moved from the small of her back up to her chin, gently teasing it down to part her lips and allow himself easy access which she granted to him right away. It didn't take long for them to become both intoxicated with the faint taste of red wine on each other's lips.

Lost and drowning in the intensity of their kiss, their movements became driven by sheer passion. Kazuha hadn't even noticed that Heiji had already hoisted her up from the ground even as she willingly wrapped her legs around his waist. Upstairs they went and without breaking their heated kiss, Heiji pushed her to the wall next to the door of their room. With a click of a door knob and one soft push of the door, Heiji entered their dimly-lit bedroom with Kazuha still in his arms. He pinned her to the nearest wall and soon enough her feet were gently placed back on the ground as she held onto him and used the wall to support herself since her knees have gone weak because of his kiss.

What seemed like eternity was soon put to a pause when the two pulled away for some air. Both panting, Heiji and Kazuha gazed into each other's eyes. It took a few beats for them to move again to step away from the wall and advance closer to the bed. As soon as the back of Heiji's leg hit the edge of their bed, Kazuha worked her way into sliding Heiji's shirt off of his shoulders. After the harmless shirt was tossed to the ground, Heiji pulled Kazuha closer to him again to plant a soft kiss on her forehead as his hand went by the back of her head to pull the one hairpin holding her long brunette hair up, untangling it from the confines of her French chignon up do as it pooled down her shoulders.

His lips brushed gingerly against her jawline and then down to the sensitive spot on her neck as he pushed her hair to one side and tugged at the straps of her dress which right then, moved down her shape and fell smoothly on the floor.

He pulled away for a moment to gaze at her exposed beauty and noticed that she had decided to wear something special for him that night. Heiji was in a daze and entrapped in her charm. Butterflies fluttered chaotically inside Kazuha's stomach as she felt his eyes on her. She had been exposed to him several times before. They were husband and wife. It was no big deal. But for some odd reason she still felt the same feeling as when they had their first night together. The tension in her heart was still there. Unknown to her, Heiji also felt the same. No matter how many times he has seen her, she'd always look the same. Beautiful as always. Like the first time he saw her. Like their first night together.

"The second layer's prettier, though. Too bad, it has to go." Heiji teased, breaking the silence between them. The grin on Heiji's face grew wider as Kazuha's blush grew redder with his statement. She was about to call him an ahou yet again when her retort was cut off and lost in another passionate kiss.

Her thoughts were about to get clouded again in pure bliss when something snapped in her.–An idea that sparked from pure curiosity. A part of her was hesitant, but instinct told her to feel otherwise. There wasn't much time to think. Heiji was distracted, trying to distract her, hands lost control in wandering touches.

It was a little game, a battle on who loses focus first and Kazuha swore to never lose to him again. She was going to have it her way this time. And so, it took her all the self-control she could muster to get her plan together and she acted fast.

As Heiji busied himself trying to figure out the intricacies of her little outfit, Kazuha's hand sneaked through the back pocket of his pants to take out a cold chain link of hard steel. She smirked against Heiji's lips. Just as she thought, he had kept them there. He had always placed them there for work. Heiji rarely had any use for them. The police officers always took care of the arresting. But tonight, Kazuha was sure to make good use of them.

Clink.

The evident sound of metal chains clashing shook Heiji's awareness of his surroundings and made him jerk back, putting a short end to such a pleasing kiss.

"K-kazuha?" He blinked back, with eyes albeit startled, were glassy with desire.

And though being a detective skilled in Kendo has sharpened his senses reflexes so well, his capacity to think vanished in the moment and in the beautiful sight of her before him. In one swift move, he was pushed to the bed by such a petite, pretty lady.

As his head hit the headboard, Heiji reminded himself that it was never good to underestimate her. Looks can be deceiving. Aikido has made her strong. It didn't look like it, but like him, she was also a skilled martial artist and could easily flip men and beat them to a pulp.

But she was such a sweet, lovely wife that it made him forget such fact about her at times.

Startled by her newfound boldness and attracted to her beauty, Heiji watched her every movement as she climbed the bed and positioned herself on top of him. Kazuha smirked as she dangled the handcuffs she took from him, right in front of his face. It took a few seconds for him to fully process what was happening.

Click.

Before he could even protest, Kazuha had already handcuffed his right wrist and she grinned in pure success. The shocked look on Heiji's face satisfied her even more.

"Wait- "He tried to stop her but to no avail, was cut off as she pressed her lips against his as her free hand slid down his bare chest, touching him in the right places. Her lips moved to his jawline and then to his neck and all thoughts of his were lost in the hazy cloud of arousal that took over his mind. And then she started moving again, getting through with her plan as she thought she figured him out. But Heiji was smart enough to play her game.

So he fought back because there was something he had to tell her, but what was it again?

He kept forgetting about it. She was so damn good at distracting him.

And she fought as well. She was sure as hell determined to win in their battle for dominance and god was she strong.

Heiji struggled and swung his hand that bore such a peculiar silver bracelet. And then...

Click.

The other side of the handcuffs swung and caught Kazuha's left wrist perfectly.

Kazuha's light green eyes widened in shock. Heiji gaped.

"Crap." He muttered.

"No worries. We could unlock it with the key and play this little game longer." Kazuha said, giggling flirtatiously as she tried to give him ideas, but the detective of the west seemed to have drifted to another place, lost in his thoughts.

She stared at him for a while and she read him. She didn't have to be a detective to figure him out.

"Heiji…"

He failed to respond as he stared at their tangled wrists.

"Please tell me you have the key to unlock this thing."

Heiji gulped and prepared himself for the scolding of his life. But she was silent and he waited.

"Say Kazuha…" Heiji said, breaking the awkward silence between him and his wife as he sat on their bed, shirtless with his wife on his lap, facing him. Her legs were on either sides of his waist, straddling him.

He gazed at the beauty that is her. She was clad in provocative, lacy, pale pink lingerie that complimented her fair skin so stunningly. She looked undeniably alluring in her outfit but her face showed an innocent, half-furious, half-embarrassed expression. Her lips were pouted in the most adorable way possible and her cheeks were flushed crimson red. Her eyebrows furrowed in a frustrated manner as she refused to meet his gaze. Cute and sexy were both contrasting together but Kazuha seemed to be a combination of both, a fact that Heiji couldn't help but marvel at.

Under normal circumstances, Heiji could've easily surrendered to primal, animalistic urges. Screw self-control and reason. He could easily flip her and pin her to the soft mattress of their king-sized bed as he kissed her senselessly, but instead both of them stayed still in their intimate position. He kept his gaze on her as he waited for her to say something but words refused to come out of their mouths as uncomfortable silence continued to fill the air. He felt the lump in his throat thicken as his mouth went dry while they both waited on each other. Heiji figured, he couldn't keep their game of stillness going on forever and so he decided to speak up.

"Remember when we were little our dads told us to never play with handcuffs?" He brought up, clearing his throat. The statement increased the level of awkwardness that surrounded both of them. Kazuha's furious light green eyes darted a glare towards his dark green ones. Heiji yelped, anticipating a loud retort from her or maybe a hard smack on his head, but instead she simply rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Yes." She hissed under her breath as she looked away from him again to hide the guilty expression on her face.

"I think now's the right time to say that we should've just listened to them." Heiji said, stifling a laugh. He also took a mental note not to make jokes during embarrassing situations. It surely did not lighten up the mood.

His gaze then travelled to her left wrist that wore a peculiar accessory of a hard steel bracelet that was connected by a short link of little chains that were attached to an identical steel bracelet wrapped around his right wrist.

"As I have recalled, they only said 'children should not play with handcuffs.' They could've warned us that it's not for adults too." He added, unaware that he had just said his thoughts out loud. He was surprised when Kazuha, who seemed to have lost her cool lifted her left hand in attempt to hit him, but was immediately stopped with the restriction of the handcuffs that connected her wrist to his.

"Ahou." She muttered under her breath as she gave up her attempt at hitting him hard with her hand that was closer to him. Her dominant hand was free, but she suddenly didn't feel like exerting much effort anymore. After all, to say it was kind of her fault was an understatement.

Under dim light, Heiji could still see Kazuha's beautiful peridot orbs that were teary with frustration and annoyance. He immediately took the hint. He could be such a moron about a lot of things but seeing her crestfallen, especially on the night of their third wedding anniversary was not something he'd like to see. So, he decided to diffuse the situation before everything went haywire.

"Okay, let's not panic." He said calmly as his freehand touched her shoulder. Being a detective, Heiji had well-mastered being calm during desperate situations. Age has also matured him in different ways. Over the years, he had learned to manage his hot-temper and impulsiveness and he figured at such times, his newfound self-control did come pretty handy.

"Do you have a hairpin or something we could use to pick the lock?" He asked.

"Inside the first drawer of our night stand." She answered and immediately he moved his right hand to reach the drawer by his right side, forgetting that it was chained to his wife's left wrist. Such action caused Kazuha to grit in pain as her left wrist was dragged carelessly and obliviously by Heiji's force and sudden movement.

"Careful!" She whined.

"Sorry." He said as he shifted his position so that he wouldn't injure his wife's wrist as he reached for their side table drawer.

Kazuha watched intently as Heiji started picking the lock. She silently prayed that picking the lock would work, but Heiji seemed to be struggling with it.

Heiji on the other hand, had started to wonder where his wife started getting ideas. Unbeknownst to him, Kazuha had been thinking about it since they came back to Osaka after their recent visit to Tokyo.

The bookstore from where Kazuha had to buy her anniversary present for Heiji could only be found in Tokyo and only shipped items within the city. So, she asked Ran to take the delivery and cover for her in the meantime. She also figured that it would also be a good opportunity to visit her and Sonoko again to catch up. Ever since the twins came, she and Heiji hardly had any time for anything else. All their hours were spent on their respective careers and on their son, Midori and their daughter, Mikan. Kazuha was thrilled that Heiji did not get suspicious with her motives and that he did not get any ideas about her surprise. She could barely keep anything from him. –One of the cons of marrying a great detective.

Unknown to her, Heiji had a different motive as well. Turns out, he too was also going to buy Kazuha's anniversary present in a store in Tokyo. Heiji had found a good place (thanks to Shinichi's help), to buy the locket. It was the only piece and was sold only in that one store in Tokyo. So, when Kazuha asked him if they could come to Tokyo to visit Ran-chan, he did not have any second thoughts about saying yes. It was the perfect fool-proof plan. –Kazuha, Ran and Sonoko catching up, him and Kudo catching up as well while they go to the store to check the locket out. It would be great, like hitting two birds with one stone.

And so while Heiji and Shinichi were out, there Kazuha was in the living room of the Kudo mansion with her two closest friends catching up with some tea and cake that Ran had prepared. By their side, in a playpen for the toddlers were Mikan, Midori and Conan.

"Thank you so much, Ran-chan for doing this for me. You're a life saver!" Kazuha said as Ran handed her the package Kazuha had asked her to keep for the meantime.

"No worries. I had to keep this from Shinichi because that guy tells Hattori-kun everything. But other than that, it was no biggie." Ran said as she settled the parchment she had kept for Kazuha on the table and then poured tea into Kazuha's cup. "I'm really glad this opportunity came and you finally had the time to visit us, Kazuha-chan."

"I know right? I miss you both a lot. Heiji and I have been very busy. Him with the cases and me with the kids in the hospital, both of us with Mi-kun and Mi-chan. The twins are really a handful." Kazuha said.

"Tell me about it. Conan's been keeping me and Shinichi up every night. I could only imagine you and Hattori-kun's struggle with Midori-kun and Mikan-chan." Ran agreed. "But still, everything's all worth it. It's all rewarding in the end, ne?"

Kazuha turned at her cute daughter and son playing with Ran's toddler and smiled.

"Yeah. It sure is." She giggled, before bringing the cup of warm chamomile tea to her lips.

"Aww, you two. Look at both of you being such great mommies. Gosh, you guys grew up so fast. I'm a proud friend to be honest, but a little out of place since I can't relate." Sonoko joked, pouting before she brought a bite of the slice of Ran's lemon chiffon cake with cream cheese frosting up to her mouth after she had punctured it with a dessert fork.

Ran giggled at Sonoko's remark before she lightly hit her friend's rib with her elbow.

"You and Kyogoku-san have been married for some time, now. Don't you think it's time to fill your mansion with mini versions of you two, running around?" Ran asked and Sonoko shrugged.

"Hmmm, we'll get there I guess. Makoto's brought it up too and we've talked about it. I'm not against the whole idea, but for now I'd just really like to enjoy my married life with my hubby." Sonoko replied with a smile. "Besides, I want to watch and learn from you guys first. For now, I'll just be the cool and fab aunty who'd spoil Conan, Midori and Mikan."

"Anyway, what are your plans for the wedding anniversary, Kazuha-chan?" Sonoko then asked curiously as she turned to their Osakan friend and gave her a knowing wink, making Kazuha blush a light pink shade.

"Eh? Well, not much. Heiji and I are just gonna have a nice dinner at home with the twins. Shizuka-kaasan will be going to Sapporo with Heizo-tousan for an event and my parents will be going to Hokkaido to visit some close relatives. We can't leave Mi-kun and Mi-chan with anybody else." Kazuha answered. The hint of disappointment in her tone didn't go unnoticed by Sonoko and Ran. But immediately, she decided to shrug it off with a smile. "It will be fun. It will be the first time we'll be celebrating our anniversary with the twins."

Somehow the last statement felt as if Kazuha was trying to convince herself. Not only did it sound like that to Ran and Sonoko, but to Kazuha herself too. It seemed wrong in a way, but no matter how she tried to deny it, she strongly felt it. It was the truth and she felt like an irresponsible parent for feeling so.

"Something tells me you're a bit upset about this." Ran scooted closer to Kazuha's side, coaxing her to tell the truth. "Come on, we don't have to be detectives to figure you out, Kazuha-chan."

"Well, I was honestly looking forward to spending some time with Heiji. Alone." Kazuha confessed sighing. Her cheeks have gone a darker shade of red due to embarrassment. She brought her teacup up to her face and took another sip to hide her blushing face. After taking a long sip from her cup of tea, she placed it on the table again and looked down at her lap to avoid Ran and Sonoko's gaze.

"I mean, I know right now, my priority should be Mi-kun and Mi-chan and I love the twins so much. I don't want you guys to think that I'm being a bad mother, ya' know. But the thing is, I rarely spend time with Heiji now and I kind of miss him." She continued shyly.

"Other than that, there's something that has been bothering me for the past few weeks now. I know it's silly but I've been really bothered by something my colleague said about relationships losing spark and all. And to be honest, things between me and Heiji have been a little…bland, ya' know…" Kazuha added, mumbling her last sentence almost inaudibly. It was then that she realized how much she had blubbered and she felt even more nervous and embarrassed with what she said.

"It's normal to feel that way. Sometimes, we also need a little break from parenting." Ran assured as she gave her friend a pat on the back.

"You know, if you really want to spend time with Hattori-kun on your anniversary, Shinichi and I could babysit the twins for you guys. We could come to Osaka that day and rent a villa overnight and you can drop Mikan-chan and Midori-kun there before you celebrate your anniversary." Ran suggested, putting a hopeful but a bit hesitant smile on Kazuha's face.

Of course to Kazuha, the idea was great and she knew very well that she could trust Ran with her kids. Ran was the queen of all mothers for goodness' sake. Even during their teens, Ran had already been a great "mom" and for so many years Kazuha looked up to her and admired her parenting skills. However, she did not want to be a nuisance to Ran and Kudo-kun. She knew very well that they have their own affairs to deal with. Shinichi was a successful detective in Tokyo and Ran has been busy with her career as a lawyer, also assisting her mom in their law firm. The couple also have a toddler of their own to take care of. Furthermore, Mikan and Midori can be quite a handful and she very well knows that.

"Gee, Ran-chan. I mean, I don't want to trouble you and Kudo-kun…" Kazuha said hesistantly.

"It's no trouble at all. Shinichi and I love having Midori-kun and Mikan-chan around. Besides, Conan could really use some playmates and we could really use an out of town family trip." Ran said sincerely. "What do you say?"

"Well, if you say so, then it's really tempting. But I guess, I'd have to discuss this with Heiji first. And you should probably ask permission from Kudo-kun first." Kazuha pointed out, before taking her first bite on Ran's lemon cake which she found really delicious and took a mental note about asking her for the recipe.

Somehow, she felt lighter and more relieved with Ran's words but it didn't take long for Sonoko to interrupt and set the mood back to awkward and bring the topic back just when Kazuha and Ran had thought they had finally settled the conflict.

"Bland you say huh? You don't possibly mean like no sex, right?" Sonoko blurted as if it had been the only thing she was thinking about since Kazuha stated her dilemma. Kazuha choked on her cake and Ran almost spit the tea she was drinking at their friend's blunt statement.

"It's not like that!" Kazuha snapped defensively after she had painfully gulped the cake down her throat.

'Eh… So, maybe it's kinda like that.' She silently thought to herself.

"Sonoko!" Ran hissed, scolding and Sonoko simply snickered playfully. The redness on Kazuha's cheeks had come back just when it had started to subside.

"What? We're all grownups here. And the toddlers are way too young to even understand what we're talking about." Sonoko argued jokingly. Ran shot her a stern glare which Sonoko shrugged off with a huge grin on her face, just like she used to do when they were in high school.

Sonoko then turned her attention to Kazuha who just looked at her with big, round clueless light green eyes.

"Tell you what, Kazuha-chan. If you really want it to be less bland with Heiji, I suggest that you kick things up a notch. Spice things up. Get creative." Sonoko stated, nonchalantly before she gave Kazuha another wink. Slowly, the uneasiness had started to transform into curiosity. Unknowingly, she found herself getting interested in what Sonoko was bound to suggest.

"How do I do that?" She asked, turning her full attention to Sonoko.

"Experiment. Use your imagination. If you ask me, there are plenty things you can do, considering your husband's occupation and interests. Isn't that right, Ran?" Sonoko replied as flashed Ran a sinister grin, causing the latter to turn as red as Kazuha had earlier.

"Sonoko!" Ran whined, hitting her friend with a throw pillow. Sonoko smirked, teasing her friend, knowing exactly how to push Ran's buttons.

"Anyway, Kazuha. Any fantasies of Heijji, you know of? You can use that to your advantage." Sonoko said, before taking another sip from her tea.

Kazuha's thoughts started to drift as she thought hard, but there isn't anything she could come up with.

"Not that I know of, no." She sighed, disheartened. Sonoko figured, Kazuha was a lot more difficult to play than Ran, but she wasn't going to give up.

"How about you? Anything you want to try with Heiji?" She asked, her lips forming an amused, teasing smile as she observed how Kazuha turn red again.

Bingo.

Kazuha's mind on the other hand, drifted to Sonoko's words earlier.

"If you ask me, there are plenty things you can do, considering your husband's occupation and interests."

"Well, looks like I sparked something in you." Sonoko remarked, proud with her work before she sat back and took another bite on her slice of cake.

"Don't listen to her, Kazuha-chan." Ran said, before shooting Sonoko another scolding glare, knowing just how Sonoko's mischievous ideas could cause a lot of ruckus. "Sonoko, don't give her such ideas."

"Yeah right. Says the wifey who dressed up as Irene Adler for her Sherlock Holmes-nerd hubby." Sonoko shot back with a tone filled with so much sarcasm as she rolled her eyes. Suddenly Ran was silent again and looking away trying to hide her crimson-red cheeks. Sonoko couldn't help but become even more amused.

"Didn't you say, Shinichi looked really hot smoking that tobacco pipe?" Sonoko teased, grinning as childishly threw a throw pillow at her. Ran on the other hand, wanted to disappear into a puff of smoke to save herself from further embarrassment.

"How come I never knew about this, Ran-chan?" Kazuha asked curiously as she raised an eye-brow at the Kudo-wife.

"Sonoko, we promised never to speak about 'that'" Ran retorted.

"Besides, shouldn't we be focusing on Kazuha's plans, instead." She added, immediately changing the topic to divert the attention towards Kazuha.

"So, what do you think, Kazuha-chan?" Sonoko asked as she raised an eyebrow mischievously.

"I think it actually sounds like a good idea…" She answered, mumbling it absentmindedly as her thoughts drifted to an idea that had just sparked in her head.

"Ouch! Be gentle, Heiji!"

"I would if you would just hold still."

"I don't think you know what you're doing."

"Yeah right, as if you would if you were in my place."

"THIS WAS SO NOT A GOOD IDEA." Kazuha groaned as she watched Heiji pull and tug on the pin that was stuck to the lock of the handcuffs.

"Ya' think?" Heiji muttered sarcastically, losing his patience. "Ya had to use the handcuffs. Ya' could've used my belt or my necktie or somethin' but ya' had had to use these handcuffs."

"Shut up! Don't ya' dare be sarcastic with me. You were the one who left the keys!" Kazuha retorted accusingly.

'Besides, your belt and tie wouldn't be strong enough to hold you down.' She silently thought to herself.

"You were the one who freakin' tried to handcuff me!" Heiji argued as he turned his attention from the chain of hard steel to his stubborn wife.

"Well, you never told me you didn't have the keys!" Kazuha reasoned out angrily. Of course deep down, she knew it was her entire fault but it still hurt her pride. Furthermore, she was a bit tad upset with how her plan failed and Heiji tended to rub it in.

"Dammit, Kazuha! I was trying to tell you! You were distracting me!" Heiji's tone rose and there was a long pause between them. His emeralds met with her peridot orbs briefly before she broke their eye contact. He blushed, realizing he had snapped and slipped.

Heiji tried to bring his focus back on the picking the lock again, but he had lost all capacity to think. It was not helping that his hormones were pumping through his stream, messing with his head. He was too frustrated to calm down. And despite how annoyed he was with how his wife was being so difficult and troublesome, he couldn't get over how irresistible she was. And god, was she so damn beautiful arguing with him that way. Even if she did tick him off at times, the way she frowned and pouted her lips was so cute, it turned him on. She was so mesmerizing in such a crazy way. Oh, how Heiji wished he could just pry the stupid handcuffs off right away and take her. But damn was that thing too strong. Screw Osaka Prefecture Police Department and their damn security.

Kazuha on the other hand, felt really guilty of the whole situation. It didn't take a while for her to feel guilty about arguing with Heiji. She knew it was her fault for having such foolish ideas. And she wasn't quite sure if she and Heiji were still in the mood to even continue from where they left off. The whole thing was just crazy and it exhausted her. She just wanted to get the thing over with and save herself from all the embarrassment. She felt stupid, for embarrassing herself in front of her husband on such a special evening and now, there they were bickering again, on the night of their wedding anniversary.

"All I wanted was a romantic evening with Heiji. Is that too much to ask?" She sighed. It took a few seconds for her to realized that she had just spoken her thoughts out loud and before she could even shrug it off, Heiji had already forgotten about the handcuffs he had been trying to unlock for some time, now. His gorgeous dark green eyes (that Kazuha loved so much) were all on her as his expression softened. Kazuha bit her lip shyly as she looked down at their handcuffed-wrists, the little mess she made.

For the past few months since Midori and Mikan came, Heiji and Kazuha's relationship had taken a 180 degree turn. It was all good, but very different. Life with the twins was a whole lot of fun. They were double the bundle of joy, but of course, also double the responsibility. A lot has changed since especially their priorities. Being good parents was now at the top of their list of many things to do. Then, there were other kids Kazuha had to attend to, since she has been a successful resident pediatrician at the Osaka Women's and Children's Hospital. Meanwhile, Heiji had his numerous cases to solve. Suddenly, they barely had time to do the things they used to do back when it was just the two of them.

But there were some nights when they'd still try.

"Night's still young and the twins are fast asleep." Heiji whispered suggestively in his wife's ear as he lay and tuck himself in bed with her and then scooted closer to her. His arm snaked teasingly around her waist before he roughly pulled her closer to him and pressed a kiss on her bare shoulder.

"Heiji… We have work tomorrow. I have a scheduled check up with one of my patients, early in the morning and Otousan wants you early in the headquarters tomorrow." She protested, reminding him as she turned back to a book she had been reading to ready herself for sleep. Though she had completely lost focus on what paragraph she stopped when Heiji had interrupted her. Also, the suggestion felt tempting and she loved the warmth of his body against her so much.

"It's still early. So, I suggest you put that damn book away so we can get started. Besides what's so interesting about that book for you to neglect you to neglect your own husband, anyway?" He asked giving her the cutest face he could do to capture her full attention.

"I should ask the same thing about Ellery Queen." She said, giggling she settled her book on their night stand, soon for it to lay forgotten as she gave him the attention he wanted. Heiji chuckled triumphantly as he shifted his position so that she lay trapped in his arms as he leaned in to capture her lips with his.

Just when things started to heat up, a soft baby's cry filled the speaker of the baby monitor sitting by their night stand. Immediately, the couple pulled away from each other, a bit disappointed. But such feeling was lost in urgency as both of them hopped out of bed to dash to the twins' room to find Mikan, awake and soon followed Midori who was interrupted in his deep slumber by his sister.

Heiji picked Mikan up in his arms and Kazuha held Midori.

"It's okay, princess. Daddy's here." He said softly as he looked into his baby girl's dark green eyes that were very much similar to his. It was the only physical feature she inherited from him. She takes after Kazuha so much, which was one of the reasons why Heiji's pretty much wrapped around the infant's finger. The baby girl's crying had started to subside upon hearing her father's voice. She rested her head on her father's shoulder. Her little arms were pressed against his chest and her eyelids started to grow heavy, drooping sleepily as Heiji gently rocked her back and forth.

Kazuha on the other hand, handled her irate baby boy who was being moody about waking up to his sister loud cries.

"Yosh, yosh." She hushed at her son softly. "You take after Heiji so much. Not only did you inherit his looks but his temper as well hmmm?"

Kazuha giggled as she gazed at the toddler version of Heiji in her arms. Midori had Heiji's same dark skin and jet-black hair. It was only Kazuha's light green eyes that he inherited from his mother.

"Ahou. What's that supposed to mean? You throw quite a tantrum too." Heiji argued as he walked closer to Kazuha, still holding the sleeping Mikan protectively with his right arm. Kazuha simply smiled, shaking the argument away as she rocked Midori in her arms, humming him a soft lullaby.

"Sorry, buddy. I'm sure your baby sister didn't mean to wake you up in your sleep." Heiji said as he ruffled his son's hair with his left hand.

"Look at you, playing favorites already." Kazuha scolded playfully after she had briefly paused her lullaby.

"I don't play favorites. Midori is older than Mikan for about a few minutes which makes him the elder brother. He should understand because he's older than her. When they grow up he's gonna protect her from all the sneaky boys trying to make a pass at her." Heiji reasoned. Kazuha on the other hand, rolled her eyes and then continued to sing Midori a lullaby and it was enough for Heiji to become mesmerized by the sound of her voice as well as the sight of her gently taking care of Midori. Heiji couldn't quite explain it, but Kazuha looked even more beautiful with their baby in her arms.

It took a few more minutes before Midori fell asleep in Kazuha's arms. The little boy could be quite difficult at times. Not long after, the two parents gently tucked their babies to bed and then they went back into their room as well (finally).

But as soon as their backs hit the soft mattress all thoughts of continuing their cut-short make out session was gone. Putting the kids to sleep made them want to crawl into deep slumber. Kazuha snuggled closer into Heiji's arms and it did not take long for them to fall asleep, tangled in each other's warm embrace.

Morning followed and after a goodnight's sleep, the two woke up quite nicely. Stirring awake as the sun's rays touched her face, Kazuha's eyes met Heiji's. Turns out the great detective of the west had been lying awake in bed for some minutes now but chose to stay where he was so that he could just watch her sleep.

"Ohayo, Tantei-han." She greeted him thoughtfully, beating the sun's brightness as she smiled.

"Ohayo, Dr. Hattori." He greeted back. The deep sound of his just-woke-up-voice was enough to send chills running down her spine. "So, it's still early. Want to pick up from where we left off last night?"

Despite how awfully numb and dead Heiji's whole body was due to sleep, he had managed to make a move on her already as he flipped over her so she was trapped between him and the mattress.

"Ahou. We didn't even get to start last night." Kazuha said, giggling as her husband had started planting soft kisses against the exposed skin of her shoulder blade and neck. "Heiji, we're gonna be late."

"Relax. A few minutes won't hurt." Heiji protested as he pulled away from her, only to lean in again to press his lips against hers in a fierce kiss that was enough to leave both of them breathless.

"H-Heiji. We have work." She tried to protest as his lips left hers to trail kisses against her jawline while his hands had started to creep up underneath her camisole, touching her bare skin. His hot breath against her neck and his hand gliding against her skin were enough to make her weak.

And then the faint sound of the twins cooing filled their baby monitor. The two snapped out of their hazy thoughts and pulled away from each other.

"Whoops. That's our cue." Kazuha said as she lightly pushed her husband off of her. Heiji sighed.

"I cannot catch a break here, can I?"

"Sorry, Heiji."

Apparently, mornings weren't kind enough to give them a chance either.

And so when Kazuha had "the talk" with her colleague, she couldn't help but be a bit alarmed.

In the clinic, one of Kazuha's fellow doctors just openly discussed her recent divorce. The woman was of course, forlorn about the incident but still handled it with much grace and maturity. Kazuha on the other hand felt down about it. She just couldn't imagine how a couple who chose to commit to each other in marriage would just grow apart and throw away their relationship. It was too difficult for her to process.

She thought about Heiji and the possibility of him getting tired of her and drifting from her and it broke her heart. She just couldn't imagine her life without him. He had always been her partner in life. They had a bond of steel and she chose to believe in it.

"When you're way past the honeymoon stage and the spark's gone. The marriage becomes bland. Soon your relationship grows cold and everything just changes. Time changes people." Hanare-san, Kazuha's colleague said as she shrugged. There was a hint of remorse in her tone and with the way she looked into Kazuha's eyes as she said such words. "But of course, I guess it was my fault too. I didn't give him much of my time. I got really busy…"

And since then, her statement had left a mark in Kazuha.

Kazuha on the other hand, hoped that her and Heiji's bond of steel was strong enough to hold their relationship together.

She noticed Heiji's left hand move. His thumb and index finger cupped her chin, lifting it so that she looked up at him. Her peridot orbs were filled with worry.

"Heiji, do you think we've already lost our spark?" She asked. "Please answer me honestly."

'So, all of this was because she thought that she and I…'

Heiji was caught off guard with her question. He never thought that she would get such ideas. Of course, he had been aware that he and Kazuha hardly have much time for each other and truth be told, he missed spending time with her. But it never bothered him that much. He understood very well. She loves the twins and she loves her career but it never meant that she doesn't love him just as much. He knew it was the same with him and that she understood it very well too. After all, they were already parents. They had grown and taken their relationship to another level higher. He never knew the sudden change in their life had such an impact on her and that she has been having doubts.

"It's just that lately, I have been Midori and Mikan's mother, a doctor at the hospital, but not so much Heiji's wife." She confessed.

"Ahou." He smiled softly at her as he teasingly poked at her forehead, causing her to flinch. "A spark only lasts for a brief moment. A bond of steel on the other hand, lasts a lifetime."

"Heiji…"

"Hey, I promised I wouldn't let go right?" He reminded her as he lifted his right hand and turned it so that the back of it showed. "Kazuha, I held onto that cliff holding you long enough to know, that I was never gonna let you go."

Kazuha glanced at the small but evident ragged line on the back of Heiji's right hand, right next to the knuckle of his index finger. She recognized the scar very well, after all, she was the one who gave it to him, in an attempt to save him from falling from a cliff with her. Her eyes then travelled the gold band on the fourth finger of his right hand, very much identical to the one she wore on the fourth finger of her left hand.

"And remember, you promised not to let go either." Heiji reminded as he grinned and gazed at the shining gold band on the fourth finger of her left hand, the hand he once held and chose to held onto for life.

"Of course. You told me you'd kill me yourself if I didn't hold on tight." Kazuha smiled, knowingly as she reminisced an old fond memory of holding onto Heiji as they both escape the bombed ruins of Satsuki hall in Kyoto after her catastrophic final match in her first Karuta Tournament against Momiji Ooka.

"Ne,Heiji... I'm sorry I got us into this." She apologized as she used her right arm to pull him for a hug which Heiji willingly returned with his unrestricted left arm.

"Funny, how we always end up in these weird situations." He remarked, smiling as he rested his chin on her shoulder.

"And bicker over the pettiest things." She added, chuckling softly.

Heiji then pulled away from such a satisfying embrace to gaze at Kazuha's face. He raised an eyebrow as he tucked her bangs behind her ear using his freehand.

"Hey, I've been bickering with you all my life and look where it got us now? Married with two kids and supposedly making baby number 3 if it weren't for these handcuffs." He teased, earning a light punch on the shoulder from his wife.

"You sneaky ahou. We can barely even manage the twins and you want a baby number three." Kazuha complained playfully. Heiji laughed.

"So, what do you say? How about we go down the garage and get some tools to take this thing off and pick up from where we left off? Hmm? Sounds good?" Heiji flashed her a childish grin, Kazuha knew instantly that she couldn't resist him. Also, it was still the night of their anniversary after all.

She was about to move so that both of them could briefly hop out of bed, when Heiji moved his arm and tugged at the chain of their handcuffs, roughly yanking her forward, pulling her to him so her weight crashed against his and her lips pressed against his for a sudden kiss. Her eyes widened in shock. She was still clueless when he briefly pulled away and pressed his lips against her ear, whispering, "You know what, on second thought, I think I can make this work. That is, if you're up for a challenge."

Kazuha smirked.

"Challenge accepted, Tantei-han." She whispered back in his ear, in a sultry voice that was enough to send him off the edge as he flipped them over and pulled the covers over them (with his free hand) for a long night of passion.

The morning after, Heiji used his tools in the garage to cut the metal chains of their handcuffs. Just when Kazuha had decided to dispose of them, Heiji immediately stopped her. He then took the broken chains from her and cut a small piece of them as a "souvenir" to be placed inside each of their Omamori pouches that held the old chains from their very first handcuff fiasco.

'He remembered.' Kazuha thought smiling as her husband reached up to her head and slid her Omamori necklace down to her neck before he wore his own as a necklace identical to hers.

La vena amoris or the "vein of love", according to the Ancient Greeks was the vein that ran directly from the fourth finger of the left hand to the heart. Such theory sparked the tradition of married couples wearing their wedding rings on the fourth finger of the left hand.

Heiji and Kazuha however, chose to defy such tradition, simply because their belief held a more valuable promise only the two of them share, a promise that had sprung from a chain of memories they've had since childhood. Heiji wore his wedding ring on his right hand because it was the hand that got handcuffed to Kazuha's. It was also the same hand that held hers and got scarred by her when they hang on the cliff for dear life. Kazuha on the other hand, wore her ring on her left hand because it was the hand that got handcuffed to Heiji's when they were little, also the hand that Heiji held and chose not to let go.

For the third time, Heiji's and Kazuha's same hands were handcuffed on the night of their third anniversary, as if reminding them of such promise, as if telling them that no matter how troublesome their relationship could get, they would always end up and choose to be stuck with each other.

Some couples have their red string of fate, but Heiji and Kazuha have something stronger. Theirs was a chain link of steel, a bond that was forged in fire, strengthened through time and bound to last for a lifetime.

A.N. Okay so it's 4am here and I wasn't able to proofread the latter part of the story. I apologize if there are typographical errors or grammatically incorrect phrases/sentences. I always end up writing such long one shots. I swear, I did not intend for this to be so long but an idea just sprung from another like an excessive chain. (LOL. Even used the theme in my Author's Note.) Anyway, I'm sorry it took a while for me to make this update. I actually intended to post a different story and use a different theme from the list. I initially wrote something for theme #27-overflow. I even finished halfway, but as I was writing, I realized there were loopholes and some of the ideas weren't thoroughly put together. It took a while before I decided to set it aside and write something else, while I was having a hard time piecing it up. So, I came up with this very mature KazuHei one shot. IDK if this could even be considered as smut/lemon/lime, but yeah, I tried. Sorry if it wasn't any good. I had a better grasp of the ideas on this one compared to the original second oneshot I first wrote, but I had a hard time writing the mature parts. So yeah, this was slowly and carefully created. I also did some research on the La Vena Amoris so that I could connect it well with the handcuff thing. Hahaha. I hope it didn't seem forced. I did some asking around with Kazuha's occupation. And many answered doctor or teacher since she's good with kids. So, I came up with pediatrician. Hihihihi 3 And yeah, I think it suits her well. Also, to clarify, this whole series is not meant to cover only a married Kazuha and Heiji. It just so happens that my two consecutive one shots are about a married KazuHei, because it's honestly fun to work on stories of them being married. I mean, there are just so many possibilities and I honestly like imagining them being more mature and intimate, 'coz we hardly ever see that in the series and the closest we've seen was the scenario in OVA 9. But I assure you, while I have quite a lot of married KazuHei scenarios in my head, I also have some present KazuHei/teen KazuHei scenarios to show you. I also watched Movie 21 last month and I've had some inspired ideas from it. Hihihi Notice, I included a certain reference from the movie here. Sorry for spoiling those who haven't watched it. TT_TT

Hope you guys liked this! Feel free to tell me what you think.

Love,

Omake 1:

"I hope the twins didn't cause you guys much trouble." Kazuha said as she took Mikan from Ran while Heiji took Midori from Shinichi.

"Oh, they were sweet little angels." Ran said as she lightly poked Mikan's cheek before she gave her a soft kiss on the forehead. Mikan cooed and giggled adorably.

Shinichi on the other hand scooted closer to Hattori as he ruffled Midori's hair.

"Oi, oi, Hattori. I love your kids and they were adorable, but you owe me one. Never forget that I babysat them just so you 'could get some'." Shinichi muttered in a tone so low only Heiji could hear. Heiji lightly hit him on the rib with his elbow, causing the latter to yelp.

"Yeah, yeah. You can count on me anytime on your and Neechan's wedding anniversary."Heiji whispered as he patted his friend's back.

"Well, we'll see you guys soon!" Kazuha said, bidding their friends goodbye as they proceeded to step out of Shinichi and Ran's rented villa.

"Come on Mi-kun, MI-chan! Say, 'Bye bye!'" She said to her twins as she moved Mikan's hand with hers in a waving gesture. Heiji also did the same with Midori's.

As Kazuha and Heiji lifted their hands the sleeves of their sweater were tugged down, allowing to show a little evidence from last night.

"Ne, Hattori, what's with that bandage on your and Kazuha-chan's hand?" Shinichi asked, curiously, being the keen detective that he is.

"What happened to you guys?" Ran asked worriedly.

"Just a sprain. A little accident, you know. Hahaha" Kazuha answered, laughing nervously.

"Yeah, housework could cause some accidents sometimes." Heiji added, defensively.

"Well, don't forget to put hot compress on that to prevent it from swelling." Ran reminded, innocently.

"Housework huh?" Shinichi said, suspiciously as he raised an eyebrow and then snickered at his friends' blushing faces.

Omake 2:

"Here's the new pair of handcuffs you requested, Hei-chan." Otaki-han said as he placed a fresh new chain of cold steel on top of Heiji's desk. The thing was still in a nicely wrapped package. All nice and new.

"I wonder what happened to the old ones they gave you, though. They were good as new. You barely even use them." The police officer said, causing Heiji to blush.

"The twins broke it." He lied, laughing nervously.

"Aren't your twins still infants? Those handcuffs are made of good material, Hei-chan." Otaki said, skeptically.

"Well, what can I say? Twins are a handful."

-Owari-

23 notes · View notes

parkjmini · 7 years

Text

Precarious // 7

mafia!bts: park jimin precarious: adj. dangerously insecure or unstable Psychotic, that’s how he viewed himself. He was a precise hitman who never made a mistake, until now. Set on an all kill mission, he brings back more than just blood stains. word count: 2183 warnings: explicit language, fluff? maybe??

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summer is here now so i hope i will be able to update more frequently ((: pls let me know if i should add smut to this story bc im torn ive never written it b4 but it could fit well in some parts ??!!

The many floors disappeared under your feet. The elevator shooting up smoothly. The glass was clear all around you. Tiny people scattered below and became out of sight. The elevator was rather frightening because it was window all over, even under your shoes.

It stopped and a ding noise caught your attention. Jimin was on his phone the entire time, scrolling through emails and text messages. Several business men stepped inside, carrying briefcases and neck ties secured at their collars. Another stop followed with another ding. The elevator was slowly becoming crowded.

The men eyed you with a mischievous glisten. An uncomfortable chill ran down your spine and you followed their many eyes to your slightly exposed chest. The dress was cut low, but Jimin said he really liked you in it.

Peering over, Jimin was still glued to his cell. He felt your pleading stare and he looked up. His eyebrows knitted together at your expression of help and slyly checked the other expressions of the business men.

Rolling his eyes, he scooted over in front of you and blocked the view of anyone else. His chest was pressed up against yours. Your eyes drinking up his own. His scent wrapped around you. His arm was placed at the side of your head, the other holding his phone so he can continue his previous business.

It was the first time you’ve been so close to him. Even sleeping, you two kept a good distance away from another. This position though, there was no personal space. You were so close that you felt his soft pulse of his heart; you could see every pore on his porcelain face.

Your back was pressed up against the glass window to make room for Jimin to squeeze in front of you. As he was distracted by his device, you rested your head in the crook of his neck. His cologne filled your nose, musky and cool. He tensed up and turned his head to gazed upon your sudden affection.

He gulped and looked away. He shoved his phone into his back pocket and drew you closer, which you didn’t think was even possible. His hand held you by your arm and his cheek pressed against the top of your head.

You two stood like that for a few more floors and you contemplated about what your new life has become, how you ended up in Jimin’s arms.

“When you said you were going to take me somewhere, I didn’t know you meant you were going to take me out to lunch.” You whispered across the fancy dining table that was draped with a beautiful pearl tablecloth.

He smiled and you pretend that it didn’t shock you. His grin was stunning; the right amount of elegance and charm traced his curve. “Why are we whispering?” He leaned forward as well to answer you, his voice never above a hush.

The restaurant was at the very top floor with massive windows instead of walls. The other diners wore lavish dresses and nice suits. You sat with Jimin in a white sundress and him in a casual hoodie and black ripped jeans. It was relatively quiet, the only noise being the jazz music that played softly in the background.

“Are you sure we won’t get kicked out for under dressing?” You glanced around as a waiter approached your table.

“I don’t think they’d dare to.” Jimin relaxed into the red cushioned chair. The waiter unraveled your silver utensils from their cloths and carefully arranged them next to the plate.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Park. How may I be at your service?” He bowed and you couldn’t hide your amusement. Jimin smirked and folded his hands in his lap.

“The usual and strawberry champagne in the cooler.” The waited nodded and hurried away.

“Well if I knew it was going to turn out like that, I wouldn’t have regretted wearing this dress.” You groaned.

“Aren’t you use to this though? This kind of treatment shouldn’t be new for you.” Jimin shaded and you glared at him before answering.

“Yeah, but my parents always made us dress up despite the occasion. They said that we would get kicked out if we showed up in casual wear. Also, I’ve been stuck in your mansion for the past month that, I guess, I’ve forgotten how it feels to be treated like a high class individual.” You shot back and the only reaction he gave was a yawn.

“But it’s still nothing new. This doesn’t stray far from your previous life.”

“It’s a little different. I’m sure my family wasn’t as A-list as you guys are.”

“We’re only A-listers because they know we won’t hesitate to kill them. They’re scared of us.” Jimin kept his voice low and his eyes hooded.

“I’d be scared of you too if I knew the crimes your gang commits.” You said before the waiter came back with a bottle of champagne. He poured it into your tall wine glasses and you could swear you saw the same sparkling bubbles in Jimin’s dark eyes. The bottle of stars reflected against his, thirsty to devour. The universe swimming in the pool of dark brown. It made you forget how hard he shaded you.

“Strawberry, what a funny choice of flavor.” You sipped the liquid, a strong fruity taste hit your palette and the sweetness covering every inch of your mouth.

“You did say you like fruity drinks.” He remembered from last night. You hid your growing smile behind your fist, afraid that he’d see how happy he just made you.

Throughout lunch, Jimin couldn’t help, but fidget underneath the table. His sweaty palms twitched at the sight of a loose strand of hair or when your hand was across the table. He craved to touch you again, to be so close he could hardly breath anything else, but your slight fragrance.

He’d wish days like these would last forever. Jimin could spend hours listening to you speak. He wouldn’t mind staying with you for an eternity, if only you would ask him to. Being in your company relaxed him more than any method of meditation that Namjoon made him practice.

Your smile, the lovely expression that he hoped to never leave your face. How stunning you looked with creases around your eyes and lines drawn on your cheeks. Thinking about you only fed the flame because it only made him want to be with you. Touching you was a whole different story.

Feeling your pulse and soft skin under his palms thrilled him uncontrollably. His dopamine levels surpassed the standard high. It was almost unbearable, but how he only wanted more of it. Holding you felt better than killing and that was a feeling he thought nothing would ever top. He often wondered how he would feel if he kissed you. However, those thoughts didn’t last long because it scared him. If he already felt so good by your simple touch, kissing you would make him explode. He wouldn’t be able to control himself.

After lunch, Jimin drove for hours up a mountain to arrive at a meadow. The clouds were scattered and resembled white streaks in a blue background. A warm breeze ran against your unclothed arms and carried your hair with it. There was nothing, but tall grass and flowers. Hills rose and fell at the horizon. The empty space that surrounded you stretched so far. Civilization was nowhere. Just you, Jimin, and an open area to yourselves.

“What is this place?” You took off your shoes and dangled them from your fingers. You stepped off the rocky road, and onto the soft dancing field. Jimin observed how you twirled in your enticing dress and giggled with complete joy — the happiest he’s ever seen you. So entirely free and let go. So enchanted by nature and wonder.

“My… well, now, our secret place.” Jimin correct himself shyly and joined you. He allowed the wind to cast him toward you. You lent out your hand for him to take it and with a small hesitation, he took it. Pulling him forward, you guiding him in a simple two-step spin.

“How did you find it?” You managed to ask in the midst of laughs.

“I drive around a lot to find a perfect place to do meditation.”

You stopped and jumped. “You meditate?!” Your voice echoed into the vast land that captured you two.

He nodded and you proceeded to plead, “please teach me.”

Jimin walked you deeper into the meadow, to the point where even his car and the road were out of sight. You sat down, criss-crossed, on a random spot on the ground. Jimin followed, sitting directly across from you, and you mimicked what he did with his hands.

“Now, you just close your eyes. Deep breaths and focus on the noises around you.” Your eyes were closed and Jimin saw how your eyebrows creased, concentrating hard on the sounds.

After a few quiet seconds, you burst into laughter, no longer able to keep the serious facade. Jimin’s laughter mixed in splendidly with your own.

You opened your eyes and looked behind him, “this is quite a marvelous view.” But even though you thought the view was pretty, Jimin thought you were prettier.

The two of you must have been there for a really long time. You had watched the sun go down and the baby blue was washed out with a darker, navy sky. The clouds turned into specks of glimmer, reminding you of the champagne you had earlier.

Jimin laid down next to you, his eyes glued to the galaxies above. The wind flew away and now, you were left with a warm stillness.

“You were right. I do like it here.” You whispered.

“You’re very predictable.” He answered back. Turning over, you glared at him.

“Oh, am I?” You enticed and Jimin didn’t even bother to acknowledge your new position. He nodded, his head ruffling the grass.

You had no idea what had come over you, but you kissed him. At first, it was merely to prove a point. But then, Jimin’s hands traveled to your face and you didn’t want him to let go. You didn’t want him to pull away.

There was a rapid escalation, something that neither one of you could handle. Jimin became passionate and slightly opened his mouth to take you in. He moved, still connected, to be over you. Your back fell to the grass and Jimin held onto your waist.

A loud ring broke the heated trance, but Jimin didn’t budge. He continued to kiss you, gripping onto every part of your body that he could hold onto. You pulled his collar closer, afraid that he would suddenly stop. Neither one of you cared about the other person on the line, who was urgently trying to come in contact with Jimin.

It was only until whoever it was kept calling and his phone kept going off. “J-Jimin.” You pushed at his shoulders. He groaned aggressively and pulled away. He hovered over you still, just staring down at you.

You probably looked like a big mess, both of you were breathing so heavily. Your heart rate slowed down from the intense intimate scene. The ringing continued and Jimin, obviously angered and annoyed, pulled out his phone from his pocket. You kissed him one last time for safe measures. He blinked at your expressionless face and leaned back down to peck you again.

His thumb slyly slid the answer button as his lips danced upon yours once more. “Where the fuck are you?!” Namjoon’s voice was low and menacing, causing you two to break the kiss.

“Meditating.” Jimin paused and waited for his boss’ response.

“Get your ass back here. We got business to handle.” With that, the call ended. Jimin’s head fell into his palms and a heavy sigh fell from his swollen lips.

“I’m sorry, we have to go.” Jimin spoke after a few seconds.

“It’s fine. I had a great time today.” You patted his exposed knee and played with the loose thread from his ripped jeans.

“Really?” He analyzed your face, trying to catch any lies that you might have been hiding.

You embraced him in your short arms and snuggled your tired face in his fleece hoodie. His hot hands held your back and he kissed the top of your head sweetly. “How many times do I have to say it for you to believe me?”

“Three more times.” Jimin smirked, a new and exhilarating sight.

You clicked your tongue against the roof of your mouth before repeating your previous line three more times, “I had a great time today.”

The pesky notification noise went off again and Jimin checked his device. You peered over and saw the message before he turned off the screen.

“You better be back within the next 10 minutes.”

Jimin pulled you up by your hand and sprinted to his car. A small sweat droplet lined his brow and you could tell how genuinely terrified he was of Namjoon.

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cutiecrates · 5 years

Text

Cutie Reviews: NMNL April 19

Welcome to our next April review!

So uh, moving wise.... still no clue what’s going on. But for now let’s just focus on what’s in the box.

“Whether you’re busy with school or work, It’s important to take a break so every now and then. And because everyone deserves to have a relaxing evening, April’s box includes beauty products that are just what you need to pamper yourself. Exfoliate, moisturize, and relax with your face mask, it’s time to have a spa night!“

Contest Prizes

This month, the winners can get a hatomugi cleansing foam and Shiseido Elixir anti-aging sleeping pack in Sakura.

Glam Gift

This month the glam gift includes some cutesy items from Holika Holika and The SAEM, with the Holika items based on the Peko snack brand and includes things like face masks, lip balm, eye shadow, and a milky bun puff. The SAEM has lip tint, hand cream, and a highlighter in multi-color.

Meanwhile, this months horoscope is a Japanese or Korean 2019 trend recommendation. Mine, Libra, suggests orange lipstick- which I really honestly don’t think I could pull off at all. I barely think I can pass with coral shades.

To-Plan Shea Butter Body Lotion & Morning Surprise Hand Cream

For our first item we have this cute little bottle of body lotion made from shea butter and several other nourishing ingredients like Hyaluronic Acid, olive oil, and collagen to seal water into the skin to keep it moisturized. It’s also fast-absorbing, so it’s perfect to use after a bath or shower.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

It smells very lovely~ I’m not really sure what scent I’m picking up, but it reminds me a lot of what my cucumber-scented Num-Noms smell like ♥ In terms of the quality the lotion has a creamy-fluffy texture and it does absorb really quickly. I do see a tiny hint of greasy residue on my fingers if I rub where I applied it, but I noticed its not leaving streaks or smears on anything I accidentally bump, like in the case of some other lotions. Not sticky at all.

It’s very soothing to put on, and I did use it after my shower recently and I think it did a great job x3 my skin felt so good all day.

-------

Next up we have another lotion product but this is a hand cream. It was available in Monroe Peach or Princess Snail (who looks like Snow White, might have been intentional, I don’t know). I was a bit conflicted over which one I wanted, because I’ve already had Monroe Peach (it’s really nice and smelled great), but... the idea of using a product with Snail in it seemed kind of strange to me. Like, I thought they might hurt the snails to get it and what was what worried me, but most snail-based products use their “excrement“, like the slime or something. Which is still kinda weird, but not harmful to them.

So anyway as you can tell, I got princess snail. Like our previous item this also includes olive oil and shea butter, but with the addition of snail extract or peach (depending on which one you get).

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I never really have a problem with these hand creams, they usually all do their job and smell good. I loved my Monroe Peach so I didn’t have any doubts this would be that different besides the scent, and I was pretty much right. It feels really good on my hands, they feel soft, and the scent is pretty good, in an odd sense. I can’t really identity it or compare it to anything.

Peking Opera Sheet Mask

Next we have a face mask by Berrisom, based on the King and Queen roles of Chinese Opera. The Queen mask features red wine and adenosine and focuses on improving skin elasticity, radiance, and hydration, while the King mask features pearl and arbutin and focuses on brightening, treating blemishes, and hydrating the skin. Both masks are made from 100% cotton (which reminds me of Scream 3 every time I hear it :P), making them a good choice for sensitive skin.

With my skin problems usually just being dryness, both make a good option as they focus on hydration.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Initially I was a little concerned over how this would fit because of it being a thinner mask, but it opened easy and I had no trouble getting it on my face. It actually fit really good too and clung to my face the entire time. My face felt really nice after using it too.

In terms of scent... it was kind of perfumey, but after I took it out of the package and used it, I could pick up a bit of a... mineral, charcoal-ish smell? It was pretty light and not overbearing at all.

House-Shaped Makeup Sponges

For on the go or just using at home (see what I did there? :P) we have a set of extremely popular sponges from Japan. Not only does their shape make them really versatile for getting the harder spots of the face, but they don’t overly absorb product. The booklet suggests using it damp for things like liquid foundations and creams, but dry for powders.

These were available in pink, or a peachy skin-tone color.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Despite getting makeup sponges I tend not to use them, like at all. I don’t know why, I just tend to go straight for my fingers or brush (the one that I now have 2 of, I reviewed it a long time ago). But for the sake of review, I moistened the sponge and used it to test both foundation and blush (that side left dry of course).

I actually really like it :D it did take me a few minutes to moisten the sponge but it was practically a miracle worker. The foundation really was easier to apply, and it feels like it soaked into my skin fairly quickly, so my face isn’t greasy or sticky or anything- it’s seriously making me reconsider the sponge. I didn’t have any foundation streaks that I had to fix, and the sponge does a good job of lining those hard spots. My face actually feels nicer than it did before I put it on oddly enough.

However, with the blush... I feel like it was less successful. It might be because I use a light shade, I’m not sure, but I felt like it was way more effort and kind of un-necessary. So I will probably, exclusively just use these for foundation and such.

(Just a warning, if anything resembling blood triggers anyone I’d suggest skipping the next picture~)

Water Candy Lip Tint

I was really excited to get this :3 I love these cutesy facial products and I’m so happy we get them now. I’ve seen this several times (especially for slime coloring. It works really good) and of course I really wanted one (I say that a lot but its the truth).

This is available in several varieties and flavors/scents, but the box focused on 5 different red-themed ones; like cherry, watermelon, apple, etc. I would have been happy with any but I got cherry. The booklet says these are matte, and its essentially right once it begins drying on the lips, so you could put a gloss over them if you wanted. These also moisturize the lips with hyaluronic acid and honey extract.

Now, before I rate it I have a little bit of a funny story. Right after I took the picture I noticed this dripped on the carpet o_o but surprisingly, this color blended in very well with it. I used the next item to clean up the few drops and in no time it cleaned them up!

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Because of my pale my skin is (it looks darker in these pictures), I always worry that vibrant red wouldn’t look too good on me. But I can’t say I hated this, I think it looks pretty, and when partially rubbed off it has an even prettier pink hue. By the time it dries it also looks pinkish.

Now as a warning, this cherry scent... smells a lot like cherry medicine. So if you’re triggered by that or have any issues with cherry medicine you won’t like this. I actually like the smell though, I can’t say cherries or cherry flavoring was ever ruined for me either. It has a bit of sweetness on the lips, which by the way, feel a little weird after putting it on. I’m not sure why.

But obviously there is that little problem. Because this is a lip tint, it took it about 20 minutes to completely dry and stop staining. So if you’re impatient or need something quicker I’m not sure this is a good choice.

Stress Relieving Pureful Cleansing Wipes

Next up we have these cleansing wipes by the brand Ariul. Besides being a nice, refreshing wipe, these also moisturize the skin and remove waterpoorf makeup, micro dust, etc. These are also good for sensitive skin and use nothing artificial.

As I mentioned above, these also remove makeup from the carpet. They have a... sort of cleaning lemon fizzyish scent.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Well first of all I love the scent, it’s amazing and such a pick-me-up~

My skin feels cooled and refreshed, and it removes makeup pretty good too. Definitely better than just using a regular wet wipe.

Foot Scrub Sponge & Konnyaku Face Sponge

Our second to final item is this foot scrubbing sponge by Lucky Wink. This sponge is double-sided to fit both uses of exfoliating and healing dry or cracked skin, especially around the heels. It’s a lot easier on the skin than a pumice stone, which can sometimes scratch the skin or irritate it. It can be used wet or dry.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I had a particular rough Monday and was on my feet for most of it- so they really needed this. Initially I wasn’t that sure if it was helping, but I can start seeing one after using it a few more times. I love it!

-----

Our final item for the box is this face sponge made from Konnyaku (asian potato) to exfoliate and massage the skin while using it, removing dead skin cells and dirt from pores to leave the skin feeling smooth. Just make sure you wash it well before using the first time. It’s 100% natural.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥

I don’t know, I never really feel much of a difference using these types of sponges. They feel pretty nice, and it’s really fun how bouncy they are; but eventually they shrivel up and dry out.

It’s okay...

♥ Cutie Ranking ♥

Content - 5 out of 5. Everything is practical and I love most of the items; everything did its job, I didn’t really see any sort of quality problems or issues or anything.

Theme: 4 out of 5. Everything about these items screams spa night- but the lip tint and house applicators aren’t really spa NIGHT in my opinion, you don’t put on makeup when you’re preparing for bed or just pampering yourself with relaxing items you know? They’re more or less for the next day.

Total Rank: 9 out of 10. I’m not sure if I liked this box less than or about the same as I did the last box, I kind of feel like I liked it a smidge better. As I said, the items are fit with the theme exception for 2 of them, but I thought they were all pretty good and work checking out if any interested you. The online shop for these boxes usually has in the beauty items, including some they don’t even put in them ;o

♥ Cutie Scale ♥

1. Body Lotion - Probably the 2nd best smelling thing in the box (next to the wipes), I love how my skin feels after using it.

2. Stress Relieving Wipes - The smell is so pleasant, and I really like how useful and compact these are. I can pop them in my purse or just keep them in the car if I wanted to.

3. Foot Sponge - I was pretty surprised by how decently this has been helping my heels. I really like it. Plus it comes in a cute shape.

4. House Makeup Sponges - Not only are they cute, but it worked very well! I’m impressed and I seriously plan to start using makeup sponges more often!

5. Water Candy Lip Tint - I really like this, but at the same time its a bit of a nuisance... I find the smell to be intoxicating~

6. Face Mask - It smells really good, and it was pretty soothing. I think it was really nice.

7. Hand Cream - I like it and all, but I already have a whole bunch of hand creams at this point and in terms of smell and feel, I’d say its average.

8. Konnyaku Face Sponge - Probably the item I’ll use least out of everything honestly. It’s not bad though, and I think they’re neat to look at and feel.

#nmnl #nomakenolife #berrisom #the saem #holika holika

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all-sortsa-stuff · 7 years

Text

A new start, part 5

Pairing: Chris Evans x Reader

Word Count: 2793

Warnings: Language and fluff

Part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4

“Oh.”

Chris stared at you in total shock. His answer felt like a punch to the stomach. Your mind whirling with what felt like rejection. Stomping off to the kitchen you pulled an open bottle of wine out of the fridge and poured a rather large glass for yourself. He stood in the same spot in the living room unsure of what to say.

“Just go home Chris. I’m sorry I said anything. It won’t affect work or the movie, okay? But please go.” It was difficult to look at him so you just concentrated on your glass as you stood at the kitchen island. He walked into the kitchen slowly, as though he were afraid to startle you.

“I don’t want to go, [Y/N]. I was just surprised to hear you say that. I mean, come on, why would you, this amazingly talented and wonderful woman, want a dork like me? I have had this huge crush on your since walking into that trailer. Holy shit, I think my heart stopped when I saw you.” You looked up quickly at him. Not sure if you could believe the words that were coming out of his mouth. “I knew I couldn’t act on them. You had been so hurt by that asshole and you needed a friend. So I wanted to try to be that friend. You know what?” You shook your head at him.

“What?” Chris had moved close but stopped before getting too close.

“We became good friends. It felt good. I knew I couldn’t have more than that with you but I was happy, am happy being your friend.” Letting go a breath you had been holding.

“So you mean you just want to stay friends?” He put up his hands quickly.

“No, no. Not what I mean. Shit, what the hell am I trying to say? [Y/N] I meant I don’t want you to think that I only became your friend because I wanted to take advantage of it. You have become a real friend.” You canted your head looking at him as you leaned against the island.

“So, you are my friend. And again it sounds like you just want to be my friend.” A look of confusion on your face. Chris raked his hand through his hair.

“Fuck. This is not coming out right. I am nervous as hell right now and my brain obviously can’t get my mouth to say anything right. Okay, let me try again.” Taking a long pull from the wine glass, you stared at him. The sweet taste and bubbles helping to settle your stomach that was doing flips as Chris paced back and forth in front of you. “[Y/N], I like you a lot. I have since day one. I was lucky enough that you let me become your friend. But I want more. I want to be more than your friend. I want you to see that there are guys out there that aren’t lying, cheating fuckers. Well maybe not other guys out there, but see that I am not like that.” You laughed as he fumbled through what he was trying to say. Finally getting to the point.

“So if I understand you now, you like me?” He laughed quietly taking a tentative step closer.

“Yes. I like you.”

“What do we do then?” Crossing your arms over your chest, you looked back at him. Chris shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

“Maybe we should go out. See how things go, being more than friends. Like normal people.” You bit your lip as though you were thinking very hard over the offer. When truly, you were trying not to throw up. Your heart furiously in your chest.

“I think that is a good idea. When?”

“Tomorrow? I know you are off the afternoon. I should be done by six. Maybe pick you up here by seven?”

“Seven is good. So tomorrow?” He nodded, as everything felt a bit awkward now. Why did it have to be awkward? This man had been your friend for the last several months. You had told him things you had not told anyone else. Now, it was awkward.

“Yes, tomorrow. Umm I should probably go. It’s late and umm yeah.”

“Yes it is… late.”

“Okay, see you tomorrow, [Y/N].” He walked towards the door. You followed behind, to see him out. As he opened the door, he turned back startling you and causing you to bump into him.

“Oh sorry. I wasn’t….” Chris laughed, relaxing his stance.

“Can I hug you at least? I have missed you this weekend. Not talking to you since last night sucked.” A flush of blood surged to your cheeks and you smiled shyly.

“Yeah you can hug me. I missed you too Chris. It was just… hard to concentrate on my thoughts about you when you were right there. I needed a step back for a moment.” He took the moment to step forward with his arms out, enclosing them around you in a tight hug.

“I understand that now. I’m sorry for acting like an ass. But I promise I will make it up to you tomorrow.” Returning the hug you squeezed tight. It felt good in his arms. You wanted to continue the feeling but he slowly pulled back. His face gave the impression it was reluctantly. “See you in the morning.” Chris walked towards his car throwing a grin over his shoulder. You waved like an idiot as you leaned against the doorframe. As he drove off the realization hit you that you were actually going on a date with Chris. Not just friends hanging out and having a pizza. A real date.

“Fuck, what did I get myself into?” Rubbing your face, you closed the door and went upstairs to get ready for bed. It was going to be a long day tomorrow.

After a fitful sleep, two large cups of coffee and an hour in the hair and makeup chair you were ready to get work started for the morning. The crew was setting up the shot as you sat in your chair waiting for the director to call you into the scene. Your phone started going off with a FaceTime message. Jake, for whatever reason, was calling. “Yes Jake? I’m kinda working here.”

“Well don’t you look all fancy ‘Miss I’mma super star actress.” Rolling your eyes at him through the screen you asked again.

“What do you need Jake? I don’t have much time.” He laughed as he moved the phone to show a beautiful black horse.

“Seems this girl right here needs a new home. She is great with other horses and…”

“Yes. I want her! She is gorgeous. How old is she? Where did she come from?” You excitedly sat up in the chair and squealed causing a few odd looks from those around you. Jake laughed petting the horse’s nose.

“She is five and has all her papers and looks pretty healthy. Going to have the vet check her out before I load her up in the trailer. I figured you would want her so he is already on his way.” Your brother knew you well.

“I hope Boots and Talladega like her. Jake you are the best.”

“I know, I know. Glad you appreciate that. Now did you tell that guy you like him yet? You look like you are in a better mood. Get a little something last night when you got back?” He wiggled his eyebrows with a smirk. You did not realize at that point in the conversation, Chris had walked up behind you, now he was trying not to laugh.

“Ugh, Jake you are worse than mom, you nosey ass. I have to go. Send me the info when you get her home please.” Turning the phone off, you did not wait for him to say goodbye. You leaned back in your chair with a groan.

“So you told your family about me?” Chris whispered in your ear, causing you to scream and jump out of the chair. He had a wide grin on his face.

“You scared the crap out of me!” He continued to grin at you. It was infectious and you could not help but start to smile. “And maybe.”

“Sounds like a yes. I think I like it. Don’t worry I told my mom, well she actually dragged it out of me, but she knows I have this giant crush on you.” Laughing you turned to sit back in your chair. Chris came around to sit next to you. He looked so handsome in old military costume. Just looking at him made your cheeks flush.

“Fine, yes I told my brother and my dad. Who probably told my mother. They noticed how we were texting all weekend. So they got nosey.” A look of pure happiness crossed his face. If you were telling your family there must be something there for you. He tried to give you that nonchalant look again as he turned to watch the set. It was not fooling you but you were not going to push the issue.

“So where are you taking me tonight?” You looked at him out of the corner of your eye, trying to play him at his own game.

“It’s a surprise. Don’t worry you’ll enjoy it.” That did not give you any information.

“Well how am I supposed to know what to wear?” That damn smirk of his appeared again.

“Wear that red and blue swirled dress. That looks gorgeous on you.” You raised a brow at him. If you remembered correctly, you had only worn that dress once during the whole time you had been in North Carolina.

“Okay, if you like it that much.” Before either of you could continue the director called you both to the scene. The morning was busy with trying to get as much done before the afternoon shots with Chris and change of location.

By the time the afternoon started to turn into evening, you were trying to calm the butterflies in your stomach. Chris would be at the house in little less than an hour. You had showered and pulled out the dress and sandals. The things that were most difficult were your hair and makeup. Makeup wise you did not want to look over done. Not that you could ever do what the makeup artists did to you on a daily basis. You wanted to look like you, just a prettier version. Once that was finished you worked on your mess of [Y/H/C] hair. Finally getting it up into a loose but pretty bun. The doorbell rang as you slipped into your sandals. Of course he was two minutes early. As you opened the door, looking at the man standing there it took a moment to remember to breathe. Chris looked amazing in a khaki colored pair of dress pants and a white long sleeved dress shirt with the top button undone. “Wow, [Y/N] you look… just wow.”

You beamed at him. It felt good that he thought you were beautiful. “Thank you. You look so handsome. Let me grab my purse and we can go.” He nodded sliding his hands into his pockets.

The car ride started off quiet, both of you nervous and afraid to say the wrong thing. “[Y/N] I’m sorry. I don’t want this to be weird. I want you to have a good time tonight.”

“I think you are worrying too much. I always have a good time with you. Remember we have been out so many times before. They just weren’t technically dates. So this should be easy. Like before, just with more feelings.” Chris looked over at you a moment as he tried to read your face.

“True. Okay easy then. Let’s try for that.” You moved your hand over to his and squeezed to show him it would be all right. But you did not expect him to squeeze back and hold tight to your hand. He did not want to let go. There went your heart; it was now somewhere lodged in your throat beating at ridiculous rate. You wanted your hand to stay in his, so there you left it. The smile he gave you as you did just that made your toes curl. Damn this man was going to kill you one way or another. You felt like a school girl on a date with the football star.

The restaurant was situated on a grassy area that looked over the beach. While there was dining inside Chris had reserved a table outside under the stars. There was a small band playing with several couples dancing in the middle of the tables that were scattered about. Twinkling lights ran the edges of the outside area. It was beautiful, quiet, and just perfect. With the wine ordered, he stretched his arm across the table and took your hand in his. Your mind started over thinking everything again. Like should you be feeling this way? He was your friend. Your friend who was now looking at you like more than a friend and was holding your hand. However, it felt good, it felt right.

“Stop trying to over analyze this, [Y/N]. It’s dinner. If you don’t like it then we will go back to being friends. I promise.” Fear flashed in his eyes the moment he said it. But he was a man of his word and would never force you to do something you did not want to.

“You know me too well. I’m sorry I know. I over think everything. But don’t think I don’t want to be here with you, I do. It is just a big step for me.” This time he was the one to squeeze your hand in reassurance.

“How about we not worry about it? Let’s have a good time. Tell me about your new horse. You were so excited today.” Chris knew what to say to distract you from yourself. The conversation after that flowed easily just as it always had with him. You told him all about the new horse as well as your other two back home. He went on to tell you stories of learning to ride for a movie years back then falling off and bruising his tailbone. You laughed so loud you had to cover your mouth. When the meal came each of you fed the other a bite of your meals just to try them out. After finishing and chatting for a little while longer Chris stood up holding his hand out to you. “Dance with me?”

You bit your lip nervously as you took his hand and stood with him. He drew you alongside of him and out onto the dance floor. Twirling you around first before he took you in his arms. The two of you danced just staring into the others eyes. It was then you realized this was how it was supposed to be. This was the person who made the world look beautiful and bright. You had spent the last four months getting to know him and becoming his friend. Now there was more. So much more. Closing your eyes, you laid your head on his shoulder drawing close into his arms. Chris leaned his head against yours. Neither of you wanted to move. However, after several songs, you knew it was time to go.

The ride home was similar to earlier in the quiet of it. The difference though was the air about it all. Both of your hands encircled his as he drove back to the beach house. He would look over at you for a moment and you would grin at him, causing him to return the smile. When you arrived home he got out, opened your door, and walked you up to the house. “Do you want to come inside for a bit? We can have a glass of wine.”

“I want to. But I think it’s best if I go home. I am not going to rush this. I want you to be able to see me as someone you want to be with and who will do anything for you. Especially wait for you. I’m not in a rush nor am I going anywhere. Remember that. I will call you in the morning if that’s all right.” You nodded with tears welling up in your eyes. This man did not know what he was doing to your heart. Chris took your hand and kissed it before walking back to his car. There you stood on the front porch watching until you could no longer see his taillights. It had been a wonderful night.

“Oh shit, I have it bad….”

Part 6

@feelmyroarrrr @bolontiku @aquabrie @malindacath @mysteriouslyme81

@thegirlwithnodragontattoo @magellan-88 @jensenxnina @thedoctorsnerdgirl @waywardswain @tacohead13 @beckyboo1188

#chris evans #chris evans imagine #chris evans fanfiction #chris evans fandom #chris evans fic #chris evans x reader #chris evans x you #christopher evans #christopher evans x reader #reader x chris evans #fanfic #fanfiction

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nochu-specs · 7 years

Text

3:04am

A/N: my first hoseok writing! kind of short, but i like it. enjoy, and once again, feedback is always appreciated! - sen

summary: drinking wine and talking with your best friend at 3:04am seems like heaven.

genres: fluff,mild angst

word count: 2.2k

warnings: -

Hoseok had always enjoyed the night. Especially around spring time. The nights are warm, but not too hot nor cold. People are slowly getting ready for summer and letting go of winter, and somehow the atmosphere was more cheerful. It was a circle, and it happened every spring. Hoseok loved it. His night was going to be as normal as it would’ve been any other night. He’d be in the dance studio, pursuing his passion. He’d let the music take him wherever it felt like, and go home to sleep afterwards, drenched from all the work he had done. However, this night was different. At around 2am, his best friend had called him, asking to come over. He had gotten worried - why would she want someone to come over at 2am? Not that Hoseok wouldn’t come - his best friend’s happiness meant the world to him. It turned out that she just wanted to enjoy time with Hoseok. That was fine - he couldn’t sleep anyway so going over to his friends house seemed like a better whatsoever. So, he packed his bags and off to the night he went. What was even better about going over to her house, was that it was her. Sure, she was his best friend, but over time, it’s hard to not fall for someone you really care about. It’s the little things. At some point, their smile seems to be a little brighter, ther laugh a little more enjoyable. You find yourself thinking about them in situations, where a thought of them wouldn’t pop up before. Little things on the streets, whether it’s a colour or a plant, remind you of them. And at one point you realize - it’s love. Love’s all fun and that, unless it’s someone you know you have zero chances with. Then it turns into a pain that squeezes your heart into a tiny, tiny ball and holds it encaged. Hoseok knew that falling in love with his best friend was a bad idea, but sometimes feelings are stronger than common sense. When he realised his feelings, he continued his life as normal. He spent time with his best friend, and although it was a pleasurable pain, he beared it.

Hoseok climbed the stairs up to her apartment door. He knocked on the door, impatiently waiting to see her face again. It had been a while since he had last seen her - the adult life is simply busy. Although it was over 3am, Hoseok mind was clear, and on the inside, he was jumping all over the place. He heard steps inside, and the pumping of his heart felt louder and louder as seconds passed on. The door opened, and there she was. Hoseok felt a smile form on his face. She was smiling as well, and her cheeks were coloured with a rosy blush, her hair tied to a messy bun. She was barefaced, but he swore he had never seen such beauty before in his life. “Hey, Y/N. Can I come in?” He asked and she giggled again. She had a wine glass in her hand - maybe she was a little tipsy. Not drunk, though. She moved away from the door, allowing Hoseok to step in and take his shoes off. “Thanks for coming. I knew you wouldn’t be sleeping, you’re always dancing”, she laughed and Hoseok smiled back. She walked further inside the apartment, and Hoseok followed her, gaze glued to her body. “You really overwork yourself, Hoseokie. Normal people sleep at 3am”, she commented and walked into the kitchen. Ah, the reason for her tipsiness. A bottle of sparkly wine on the kitchen counter. Explains it all. “I guess you’re not normal either then, Y/N. We’re both awake”, Hoseok noted and she rolled her eyes. “Touché. Want a glass?” She asked as she squated down to the floor, opening a closet from under the counter. She pulled out a bottle of red wine, showing it to him, to both. A glass, and for red wine. He nodded, and she stood up. She stood on her tiptoes, trying to reach the top closet. Hoseok stepped in. How absolutely adorable. “Silly. You can’t reach it, I’ll help you”, Hoseok laughed and walked over to her. He opened the cabinet door, and took a cold wine glass to his hand. He placed it on the table, turned over to look at her. She was suddenly so much closer, her chest almost touching his. Her lips were pouted slightly, and her eyes were wide open. Hoseok stared at her, and it was silent. Neither knew what to say, but both wanted to stay like this. Y/N was the first one to move away, stealing the glass from Hoseok’s hands. He couldn’t help but smile. Oh, if the odds were in his favour… “Hoseok! I swear to God, you always make me feel so small!” She exclaimed and Hoseok laughed at her and smirked. “You already are small. I just remind you about it”, he laughed teasingly and although Y/N tried to play the upset little girl, little giggles escaped her pink lips. She opened the bottle. The red liquid was poured to the glass, and Hoseok nodded to her once he thought it was enough. He grabbed the glass into his hands, as she poured a glass of sparkly wine to herself. “Wanna go to the balcony? I have great views from here”, she said and he just nodded, unable to sweesh away the smile from his face. She smiled back and took the first step towards the balcony.

The night view of Seoul is pretty from the street, but even prettier from above the buildings. The lights are easier to observe, most of the noise is unhearable. An even better way to enjoy the night view of Seoul is to spend it with someone you deeply adore. At least according to Hoseok.

To Hoseok, Y/N always seemed to find the best of everything. Her attitude towards the world, her behaviour towards it was inspiring. She could always make him laugh and smile, no matter where they were or how much distance they had between each other. This night was no different. Him and her sipped on their wines, laughing about everything that popped into their minds. It felt like they were living in their own bubble, and it couldn’t be popped. Or maybe it could. “Hoseok?” She asked, and she placed the glass down on the little wooden table between the two. Hoseok turned to look at her again. Her voice was somehow a bit more serious than it was a few moments ago. Not that it ever was entirely serious without any hint of positive. “Yeah?” He asked, little butterflies flying in the bottom of his stomach. What was the matter? “You know, we’ve been friends for a long time. I know everything about you, you know everything about me, right? And we’re here for each other, I can tell you everything”, she said. Clearly, she was either extremely shy or just uncomfortable. Hoseok slowly nodded. Where was she heading?

“So… God, this is so hard to say… Ahh! Yeah, so, I like this guy.”

Hoseok could feel all the positiveness from inside him drip away. His heart was squeezed into a tighter ball, and somehow the air seemed thicker. The words couldn’t stick to his mind. She liked another guy? He was too late. He could never confess now, not if she had someone else in her mind. Hoseok forced a smile on his face.

“Really?” he croaked.

“He’s really sweet to me, you know? I’ve liked him for a while now. He always just knows what to say when we’re together”, she said, and her smile was dreamy. Hoseok smiled back, nodding and nodding. Her smile was glowing like a thousand little suns had just been born. He couldn’t just show how it broke him to see her speak so dreamily about other boys. He knew the day would come when she would find someone special, it would be inevitable and he knew it. Somehow it still hurt like hell.

“He’s so bright. He always smiles, and puts others happiness above everyone else’s. He’s so passionate, so hardworking. He pours his heart into everything he does, and everything he tries, comes out almost perfect. Yet, he stays humble. Always bows a little lower than before”, she continued. Hoseok breathed in, breathed out. The ache in his heart was growing second by second.

“I think I love him”, were the words that had Hoseok’s heart turning. He managed to paint a smile on his lips, and nodded.

“That’s good. I’m happy for you”, he said, before quickly taking the drink to his hands. He sipped on the wine. Maybe drowning his blood system in alcohol would help ease out the pain.

“Are you alright? You seem a little uneasy”, Hoseok heard her voice, as beautiful as ever. He smiled, letting the glass stay in his hands for a little longer.

“Yeah. I’m good. Why? We should focus on the boy. What’s his name?” Hoseok asked, keeping a wide smile on his lips. Y/N shook her head.

“Hoseokie”, she used the nickname that had always made his heart flutter. Even now, when his heart felt hard like cement, the nickname could make his insides go topsy-turvy.

“I know you. Something’s bothering you. I’m your friend, you can tell me what’s up. That’s what I’m here for”, she said. Friend, friend, friend. That’s the problem. He wanted more, but he couldn’t get more, especially not now. Hoseok knew he couldn’t lie his way out of this. She was too smart to not fall for his little white lies. He also didn’t like lying, even if it was for a better cause. Oh well, he thought as he took a sip of the red wine, he can always blame it on the alcohol the morning after.

“See, the problem is that. You’re my friend. And that’s great, you’re probably the best friend anyone could ever ask for. I’m lucky to have you in my life, and all that. But the title friend isn’t enough for me. It’s too small for me. But I’m willing to settle with it, for you. No, that sounds too selfish. I’m fine with being friends, I mean. I just… Ahh. Who knew that this could be so hard?” he sighed, brushing his hand through his hair.

“W-what are you implying?” God, how innocent was she?

“I… I love you. As more than a friend. I really do. This already sounds too cheesy. I’ve loved you for some time now. And then you find another guy, and that’s fine. I guess. Your happiness is worth more than my desires. If you like this new guy, then be with him. I’ll support you, no matter what goes through in life. But I just need you to know that from the bottom of my heart, I really love you. I can’t really even put it into words, or at least the words don’t seem right”, Hoseok blurted out. He sighed, and drank the rest of the wine. There went nothing. He turned around to look at Y/N, and her facial expression looked to confused that Hoseok knew something he said had been wrong.

“No. No. You know what? Let’s just blame it on the alcohol, we’re both a little tipsy and s-” his words were cut off by her.

“No. I don’t want to blame it on the wine”, she shook her head and took the now empty glass away from Hoseok’s hands.

“The boy, that I like… He can be so oblivious at times. I can’t believe I have to tell this to him, right now”, she smiled. Hoseok furrowed his eyebrows. Right now?“The boy… His name is Jung Hoseok, and he’s truly one of a dumbass”, her voice sounded cheerful again, as she stood up. She walked the three steps over to Hoseok’s lap, and sat down on it. It was time for Hoseok’s face to look confused. Was this really happening? No, this is just a drunken dream, right?

“God, you can be so blind at times.”

As her lips came in contact with his, he knew it wasn’t. Her lips were soft, a bit chapped but soft anyway. She kissed him gently, careful not to make everything too rushed. Hoseok smiled into the kiss, and answered with equal pleasure. As the nightlights of the city grew a little brighter and Hoseok and Y/N were locked inside a sweet, much anticipated kiss, Hoseok knew that his little cage for his heart was opened. For good.

He was the first one to pull out from the kiss. Both of their lips were a little swollen, and their cheeks were red with either adrenaline or just the cheekiness of it all. Hoseok tilted his head as he pulled Y/N closer.

“I really thought I would have to watch you get loved by another guy”, Hoseok laughed. She laughed as well, snuzzling her face into his neck.

“I thought you were really stupid, Hoseokie.”

“How come?”

“Hell, who else invites someone to drink wine at 3:04am, if it wasn’t for love?”

#jhs network #hoseok #hoseok fluff #bts #bts fluff

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tauers-go-dutch · 7 years

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Molly does Europe

A guest column by Molly herself

There’s a hokey quote that gets circulated on Facebook about how you can go long periods of time without seeing your best friends, and when you do see them again, it’s as if no time has passed. During my trip to Europe to visit Mariah and Ryan, I found this to be true, hokey or not. Mariah did me the honor of asking me to write a guest column on this travel blog about my whirlwind trip through four countries in 10 days, so everyone’s about to find out how wordy I get when I’m not confined by news writing. (Fans of the Oxford comma, deal with it.)

Amsterdam or “This cookie just ruined every other cookie for me.”

In Amsterdam there are the most delicious cookies. They’re from a little store that does just one thing: Makes delectable dark chocolate cookies filled with a molten white chocolate center. Mariah and I ate those cookies while crossing a canal after having cappuccinos to help me with the jet lag, and I’m pretty sure I felt the ground move, that’s how good they were.

(I have to note here that my mom’s chocolate chip are still better, though.)

Why in the world bitterballen are such a big deal and Van Stapele cookies are not is beyond me.

Bitterballen are fried gravy balls, and are a national food in The Netherlands. They’re, well, an edible thing. I ate one in spite of my life-long hatred of gravy and was unimpressed. I was not disgusted either, so I guess that’s something, but that could have been because they come with mustard, which is one of my favorite things. But hey, more for Ryan that way.

We went next door to Brouwerij ‘Tij, which is located inside one of Holland’s trademark windmills and brews some pretty good beer. While there, Mariah and Ryan regaled me with tales of their lives in Amsterdam and we did our best to get caught up on everything that has happened since August.

Beyond the culinary delights and not-so-delights, we filled our initial time in Amsterdam with museums and other sight-seeing. We visited the Anne Frank house, which was a sobering experience and dredged up memories of reading the Diary of Anne Frank as a teenager. We walked through the rooms where she and her family and the other refugees lived and were eventually betrayed and hauled off to concentration camps.

We also paid a visit to the Van Gogh museum, absent from which was Starry Night because of “some damn Rockefeller,” who put it in the Met in NYC instead, but we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless.

Stroopwafel as big as your face

Brouwerij ‘t IJ

Paris or “There’s that church you wanted to see.”

Our first stop after our hotel in Paris was a nearby restaurant with a good Bordeaux and better ravioli, because why not eat Italian in France? Snails are gross. We followed that with crepes for dessert and then arrived at the Louvre to get a look at ole Mona Lisa.

I confirmed my suspicions that I prefer Van Gogh to da Vinci.

We made our way along the Champs Elysees and had some dinner before starting our trek to the Eiffel Tower, which was lengthy. Along the way, we found a memorial to Princess Diana on top of the overpass where the car accident that killed her occurred. Unexpected but kind of interesting.

We finally got to the tower and realized we’d need to wait longer than we expected to catch the big light show they do there after dark. So we waited and turned down about a dozen guys who wanted to sell us wine and roses in the meantime.

When the lights came on though, it was worth the wait. The tower is always lit up after dark, but every hour they really put their backs into it and turn on a mass of dancing lights that make the whole thing glitter for a full minute. It’s stunning and you can’t take your eyes away from it. Nor should you.

The next day we headed to Laduree for brunch. They served us scrambled eggs that were delicious but inexplicably compacted into a hockey-puck shape, albeit larger. We ordered macarons and went on our way to Montparnasse Tower, a 59-story office building that is located in an area that is definitely not zoned for that.

Because it’s the only building of that height in the area, the views of the city from Montparnasse are incredible, so they turned the top three floors into a visitors’ center. You ride the elevator up and then climb three flights of stairs to get a 360-degree view of the city from the roof. Then you go back down three flights of stairs and eat an eclair where it isn’t quite so windy but you can still see out the windows.

From there we went to Notre Dame, or “that church I wanted to see,” which contained exactly zero hunchbacks performing heroic acts.

What it did contain, though, was architecture from the 12th century and stained glass windows that are incredibly vivid, as are the relief portraits of various scenes from the Bible that line the interior of the cathedral.

At this point, we decided we had really not eaten enough cheese for being in France, so we fixed that by visiting a cheese shop for dinner. We grabbed dessert from a bakery and retreated to our hotel.

During our last hours in Paris, we climbed Montmarte to Sacre Coeur, another cathedral, stopping for more crepes along the way. We did some shopping and then headed for the train.

Aboard the train to Paris

Brussels or “Wow. Wow. Wow!”

I probably could have sat in Grand Place eating truffles for my whole visit to Brussels and been happy.

We rounded the corner into the square, which is 360 degrees of intricately constructed buildings, built in the 10th through 13th centuries. As expression goes, I’m much better at sarcasm, incredulity and snark than I am at excitement and wonderment. Exclaiming aloud about cool stuff just isn’t something that comes naturally to me.

But this place got three (maybe even four) consecutive “wows” out of me. And that’s a lot for me; I think Mariah would back me up on that. (Editor’s note: It’s true.)

Fortunately it was early enough that there weren’t many tourists present, because I would have run right into them with my head craned up toward the sky.

We ate some brunch and then bought chocolate, obviously. We went to see Mannekin Pis, or the fountain featuring a peeing boy. They dress him up in different outfits and people take pictures. That day he was dressed like a firefighter because we were in Brussels on the one-year anniversary of the bombing at the train station there.

Aside from chocolate, Belgium is famous for its beer, so we had some of that as well, at Delirium and at Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen, which specializes in lambics and krieks, which are some of my favorites.

And aside from chocolate and beer, Belgium is famous for frites and waffles, so naturally we had those too, and jumped on a train back to Amsterdam.

Grand Place

Mannekin Pis dressed to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Brussels terrorist attack at the train station and airport

Amsterdam again or “Is this a tin can?”

We spent a day in between trips in Amsterdam, during which Mariah cooked up a delicious Dutch pancake for me. Later we met Ryan and his colleagues at a speakeasy where they were hosting a guest bartender from Switzerland. We ordered drinks. Mariah got a pretty pink one in a cut-glass champagne flute. Mine came in a tin can. An actual tin can, and it had a rosemary sprig in it that that looked like a tree. In spite of looking like it came from the garbage, it was quite tasty. Good job, Swiss bartender.

Berlin or “We’re back in East Berlin, there’s Ampelmann.”

What Berlin lacks in aesthetics (in my opinion and relatively speaking after Paris and Brussels), it makes up for in history, depressing as it may be, and the best food I had on the whole trip, except maybe those cookies in Amsterdam.

Mariah and I got to Berlin ahead of Ryan, and made use of the time by going to Charlottenburg Palace, which was built by the final few generations of the monarchy there. The exterior of the building was covered by construction scaffolding, which was a bummer, but the interior has been restored after sustaining a lot of damage during WWII.

The surrounding gardens are probably a lot prettier later in the spring, but still made for a nice stroll in late March.

The next day we took a walking tour of Berlin that started at Brandenburg Gate (site of Reagan’s “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” speech, and a slew of other important events) and led us through some of the most historically and culturally significant parts of central Berlin.

We visited the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe, which is a large piece of land with huge gray stones of varying size set so that people can walk among them. The guide explained that visitors are encouraged to walk through it and get lost a little bit, as it is intended to be disorienting and something of a sensory-deprivation experience. The stones get taller as the ground slopes down, so you can’t see over the top, creating a maze of sorts.

We also stopped at the site of the headquarters of the Gestapo and SS, which has been torn down and is a vacant parcel that will never be developed, some remnants of the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie, as well as some non-war-related sites including churches and concert halls.

You can tell if you’re in former East Berlin or not by looking at the pedestrian traffic lights. In East Berlin, the little red and green guys who tell you if you can cross or not have a distinctive shape and have been dubbed “Ampelmann.” He has his own tourist shops and is kind of a big deal, apparently.

The most memorable part of the tour, though, occurred when our tour guide took us to a parking lot at an apartment complex. Yeah, you read that right. We were standing on some grass that hadn’t started to grow properly yet this year.

He then told us that we were standing above the remnants of the bunker where Hitler shot himself as Soviet troops closed in on him, bringing an end to WWII. After his body was removed and cremated, the remains were scattered into a moving river and the bunker was imploded and paved over. Now it’s just a parking lot, and that grassy spot is where residents of that complex take their dogs to do their business.

It was chilling to say the least, standing there. The tour guide explained that officials at the time wanted to make sure that no one would ever have a place to go to pay respects or otherwise honor Hitler.

However, a nearby sign indicating what happened there means that theoretically there could be a gathering in that parking lot if someone wanted. Or across the street on the SS headquarters site. But I guess they did the best they could in trying to erase the evil that occurred without turning a blind eye and pretending it didn’t happen. It would be a hard line to walk.

After all of that, we needed a pick-me-up, so we ducked into a Bavarian restaurant for helles and hefeweizens, as well as spatzle and strudel.

We visited the DDR (Deutsche Democratic Republic) Museum, which is focused on life in East Berlin during the 28 years that the Berlin Wall divided the city. Hint: Communism is unpleasant.

That night and the next day were mainly wandering around the city and Mauer Park, where big markets are set up every Sunday and bands play for passersby.

We closed out Berlin with lunch and ice cream, both of which we had outside because it was unseasonably warm.

Inside Charlottenburg Palace

Brandenburg Gate

The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of the Holocaust

Remnants of the Berlin Wall

Berlin Wall Memorial

The East Berlin Stadium (Not the Berlin Wall)

Amsterdam again or “You have packed one Molly’s worth of beer.”

My final experience in Europe was a sitcom-worthy jaunt through Amsterdam with my luggage and the suitcase full of Belgian beer I agreed to escort home for Ryan. He painstakingly packed it the night before and had to help me get it to the airport because it weighed as much as, if not more than, me. But he’ll have a respectable stock of Cantillon when they come back to the states. (Come back soon!)

Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily express those of the main Tauers Go Dutch author. However, mostly they do. It’s why we’re best friends. Tot Ziens!

#Molly does Europe #tauersgodutch #Guest columnist #tauers go dutch

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