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dorayakichan · 1 year

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may I req dating + how you guys met hcs with minu, owen & vinny? If its possible could you also do noah and kaneshiro? take your time and thank you

Windbreaker: first meeting + confession + dating headcanon (Part 1)

Pairing: Owen, Vinny, Minu x gn!reader

Fluff

A/N: Hi! I think I got really carried away with this one, especially with the Owen one so I couldn't put everyone in here. I'll be making a part 2 for Kaneshiro, Noah and maybe someone else.

Owen

You happened to meet Owen during a race. It was not a friendly meeting at all though.

During the race, Owen for the first had had difficulty beating someone else but in the end, he had won 1st place. He had heard a lot of things about you like how you had worked twice as hard as others to achieve the results you had right now. How you never rested and always trained even after a race. How your reputation and name had skyrocketed after that 1 year of break you had taken.

There was a lot of commotion when people saw you enter the race that day and most comments were about how they were not expecting much from someone who had taken such a long break.

Yet, you did it, you earned second place just some seconds behind the one and only Owen Knight. It was impressive, and Owen himself was fascinated by that.

So as you were sitting down to rest after having bought water you saw the blonde guy striding towards you with confident steps, the medal of the first place dangling on his neck as his sunglasses gave a vibe of arrogance to it all.

It was annoying to look at, for some reason. Well, as you didn’t have to deal with him that was fine. You lowered your head, closing your eyes for a second as you were totally exhausted.

“Hey, wanna race?” you heard a voice say from up above you. You raised your head just to be met with the confident grin on the blondie's face.

Annoying, you thought. “No, thank you.” You lowered your head again, closing your eyes one more time hoping this time you could actually get some rest.

“What are you scared you might lose?”

Great now I have to deal with this one, you thought looking up once again. “Fuck off.” was your answer making people who were observing the interaction gasp.

He raised an eyebrow taking off his glasses. His smile having already faltered, shifting into a serious one. “Why?” He asked not giving up.

You got up glaring at him. “I don’t want to, prick,” you said, pushing him away and leaving.

After all that interaction everybody had started talking about how bad your personality was and how it was obvious you were scared to race with Owen and bullshit like that. Yet, that didn’t faze you, you were just too tired. You had been training so hard the last few months without even taking a break, not to mention the fact that you had been arguing with your parents as they wanted you to give up on cycling. You would spend days outside coming home only late at night barely eating anything.

It was a miracle how you were still holding on, and even ended up second while racing against some of the best racers in the world. So yeah, you were not in the best of moods or states. Now that you had finally finished all you wanted was to rest but you had to deal with the annoying blonde guy who had won first place. It’s not like you wouldn’t have liked taking him up on the challenge but his attitude and your current state made you react like that.

After that one race Owen didn't approach you anymore and his crew mates would always throw daggers at you when you encountered each other in the competition. On the other hand, Owen was furious, he felt like you had gone too far reacting to him asking such a simple thing to you.

He liked the way you raced and he had always held a lot of respect for you, still, you went on and treated him like that.

After the race, he was standing at the back of an alley waiting for Harry to go and get his phone he had forgotten and left behind.

That’s when he saw you walking not far from him. You didn’t notice him as you seemed too immersed in the conversation on the phone. “What do you mean you’re taking my money? Yes, you are my parents and legal guardians but that money is the one I earned.” She stopped just some steps away from Owen anywhere in his presence.

“Mom I get it you don’t like it, but I’m still going to do it. This is my dream….” silence “ Oh, so you are going to leave me penniless and starving on the street now? And even rob the money I won by working hard for myself?” silence again. “You know what, I’d rather live in the streets than be on the same rooftop as people like you. I’m done.” You said ending the call.

To say Owen was shocked was an understatement. The guy felt totally horrible after he saw you crouching down on the spot and starting to weep. He wanted to talk but his timing had passed because if he revealed he was there now, you could end up feeling worse. So he kept silent as he stared at your weeping and crouching form.

“I’m back.” Harry’s voice came from the other side as both your and Owen's heads turned in his direction. That’s when you noticed Owen sitting there, eyes wide open as he looked at you with an expression of pity on his face. He had heard everything.

“Hey! Owen c’mon let’s go!” Harry said coming closer at that moment noticing your presence as your and Owen's eyes were glued to each-other. “Oh, isn’t this…” You couldn’t hear the rest as your eyes blacked out and you lost consciousness.

After that day Owen took you to the hospital, always coming and helping you with everything even asking you to become part of his crew. In the beginning, you felt ashamed you didn’t want him to pity you or anyone for that matter, and got angry at him. But after his continuous persistence you agreed and that’s how you became part of the Light Cavalry.

In the beginning, everyone was wary of you, but with time your kindness crept inside the heart of everyone in the crew, including Owens.

You were not only kind but also very courageous and straightforward. You always said what was on your mind, and when you thought it was alright went head-on into situations that other people would have to think twice about or never even think of going that far.

One of those was when you sprained your leg badly. Owen, although he had started having a soft spot for you, was very harsh when it came to you not respecting your own body and not taking care of yourself. So that day you were not supposed to be part of the team that would enter the competition. Owen was not there that day, so it was only you and the others.

As you were all waiting to start you saw one of the other members of the crew come. He looked pale as if all the color had been drained out of him. “Tommy, what’s wrong?” Harry asked in a worried voice. Tommy was unable to answer before he started vomiting. You all were not sure what it was but the next thing that happened was the ambulance coming and Tommy getting sent to the hospital.

“What do we do now? We have one less member, they won’t allow us to participate this way. I’ll call Owen.” Noah, who took out her phone ready to call, was stopped by you. “You know Owen has an important meeting with our sponsor today. If we were to lose them we’re done for we can’t possibly ask him to come here now. Plus he would still be late even if he rushed here.”

“What do you suggest then? The only available member here is you and…” she stopped as she saw you nodding. “You’re injured and Owen repeatedly told us to keep you away from anything that would hurt your leg until you fully recovered.”

“There is no other option.” You were determined and all of them including Noah knew how stubborn you were. So they just accepted it, ready to get reprimanded by Owen later, but as you had said it was the only option.

Your team won the race, although at the last moments, you ended up barely feeling your leg anymore. You were unsure how you still carried on but you were able to touch the finish line first, with the others coming not far after you. Seconds later you fell on the pavement unable to get up as you couldn’t feel your leg anymore.

When Owen came to find you at the hospital having found out about everything he didn’t talk to you, he just saw you once and left furious out of there. In the days that came by you were not allowed to leave the hospital until you fully recovered, by Owens order. He had been so angry shouting at everyone for being careless and didn’t even come once to meet you. All of these things were told to you by the rest of the crew who would daily come and stay for some time with you.

After getting discharged the first thing you did was go to Owen. In the beginning, you were unable to find him as you searched everywhere, what you didn’t expect was to find him in the alley where you had fainted that day he found out the truth about you.

As he was sitting right at the same spot as that day you sat next to him. That’s when he finally talked pouring all his feelings and worrying, telling you every detail of how he felt that day when he heard you were sent to the hospital, how his heart would clench every time you did such reckless stuff, and how he had actually fallen for you.

At first, it took you by surprise out of everything, Owen being in love with you that was the most unexpected thing you had ever heard. But you also knew inside you that you had also been secretly liking him for sometime and as much as you had tried to suppress those feelings, the moment that he poured his heart out at you, you decided to accept them.

That’s how you both started dating and let’s say caused quite the headache to the crew who from now on had to deal with Owen's over the top lovey-dovey attitude towards you.

Vinny

It was a rainy Friday night when you first met Vinny, not the best time to be out and about, but here you were inside the convenience store eating some snacks while waiting for the rain to stop.

“If it’s going to continue like this we might even expect flooding really soon.” That lady that was working at the convenience store said as she looked at you buying a second batch of snacks to pass time.

“Let’s hope not,” you said paying and sitting down on one of the stools looking outside the window.

As you continued eating you heard the door open. Coming inside was a drenched red haired boy from head to toe. The lady working there gave him a towel as she felt sorry for him and told him to sit on one of the stools on the window.

The red haired boy came sitting one stool away from yours as he continued drying himself. You noticed how one of his eyes was red. Besides that, he looked absolutely handsome. And the way he dried his wet red hair was so hot. Not to mention the drenched white shirt he was wearing, showing all there was to his well-sculpted body.

Noticing your stare he turned his head glaring at you. “What do you want?” his tone angry, warning you to better stay quiet and not speak.

“You’re hot.” Words which came to the red haired guy as quite the shock.

He did not reply, turning to look at the flooding street. While you continued snacking. Occasionally you would open your chips or biscuits and push it towards him. In the beginning, he would not as much as stare at it.

“What are you doing?” he asked after the 10th time of you doing the same exact thing again. “Jeez, what’s with the attitude I was just trying to be nice. It’s going to take some time for it to stop and you look bored so I thought a snack could help you pass some time,” you answered. “But anyway suit yourself, I guess.”

After that, some time passed while your bag of chips was still in the middle Vinny, started taking some. And that’s how you spent a good 4 hours together until the rain stopped that night.

After that you occasionally so Vinny, some of the guys you were in class with. That’s also how you found out he was part of their cycling crew.

You also would occasionally meet him at that same convenience store and as always offer him snacks or sit with him if he seemed to be staying for a while. There was also quite a change in his attitude, beside the very frequent meetings you would have there which seemed more than just mere coincidence he would always take his spot next to you. He didn’t need you to invite him anymore, he would just sit there with two of your favorite snacks or drinks, one for you and one for himself.

That’s how one day out of the blue you asked him if he liked you. “What? No.” Vinny said getting up and ready to leave the store. “But I do. Do you want to date me?” you decided to take that step as you could see with his personality he would never.

It took more than that for Vinny to finally accept dating you but when he did. Dating him was the sweetest thing that could have happened to you. He didn’t have much so he couldn’t buy stuff for you, but he would emotionally be always there no matter how bad the situation was he was always by your side in good and bad times.

And that’s what you loved about the relationship with him, you knew he was present, and you knew he undoubtedly loved you and only you going as far as to present you to his crew too.

Minu

Meeting Minu for the first time was during one of both your father's dinner meetings. You would usually meet Yumi accompanying her father, so it was quite strange to meet her brother Minu, who had been a mystery until then.

At the beginning of the dinner, your fathers started talking with each-other about business plans and the recent news of their new investments as the conversation continued you and Minu would just glance at one another and that was it.

Then the conversation went to the topic of your school life and as always your father started boasting about your accomplishments and how you had been a genius in literally everything since a young child and how he was so proud of you. Then the other parent would start boasting about their kid too and so on a never ending story of whose kid was the best. It had become so normal to hear that, that you would always space out in the middle of their talk since the only thing you had to do was nod and smile.

But when it came to Minu’s dad, you had to come back from the spacing out. He did not compliment Minu as how it was usually supposed to be. In fact, he talked about how he was quite lacking in many areas and that he was very obsessed with cycling. Not that you cared much about that but when you saw the guy's expression darken as his father was talking about how cycling had no value and such and that he needed to start getting more interested in business.

Something in you felt bad about that so you decided to interfere. “What? Cycling? You must be amazing at it then, I guess I can’t compare to that. I’ve never been that good at it, although I’ve always wanted to.” your words caught both of their attention. Making Minu's father stop in the middle of what he was saying.

“You’re really interested?” Minu asked, a hue of disbelief flashing in his eyes. He had definitely caught on to your lie, as had your father who on the contrary was just waiting to see what you would pull out with this.

“Yep! It’s amazing it’s rare to find someone who is actually interested in cycling and is good at it.” you continued blabbering on as Minu chipped in some words here and there.

“Dad, I think we are interrupting you both. May I and Minu be excused to go out and talk more about this?” Your dad grinned, finally understanding your intentions as he looked at Minu’s father. “I guess the youngsters wouldn’t be that interested in our old men talk.” He said as Minu’s father agreed.

“I guess you achieved your goal, you don’t have to hide it anymore.” Minu’s voice stopping you from stepping outside the door and into the garden next to the restaurant.

You flashed him a smile. “Do I have to thank you for this?” He asked. “Nah, I wanted to escape from that too. You just gave me a reason to breathe some fresh air.” You lied although you had to admit it was getting too stuffy in there so maybe it was not a complete lie.

After that, he asked you to exchange phone numbers, so if you ever found yourself in a predicament he would repay you that day.

In the beginning, you didn’t text each-other. Then one day you asked him which model of bicycle to use as a beginner as you had actually become interested in cycling and that was when it all really started. He would help you decide, and give you recommendations or tips on what to do.

There were days he would even come by so he could help you practice and stuff. You are not sure if you started this whole thing due to Minu but with time you could see that it was mostly due to him. His face and words had lingered so much in your mind after that day and every day after leading you to how things were going right now.

Minu in the beginning was there just to help but with time he saw how his visits became more and more frequent and even if that day you didn’t feel like cycling or didn’t have time he would still stay with you, go out with you even eat out with you. So much so that he decided, it was the moment.

One day while you were practicing you fell and hurt your leg, a worried expression on Minu’s face as he helped disinfect it and patch it up. “Thank y…..” you were unable to finish the sentence as Minu hoisted you up in a bridal style refusing to let you walk until you reached your bed.

After that, he would come every day to take care of you and one day as you told him he didn’t have to do it all the time, he stopped in his tracks, sitting down on your bed next to you.

"I have to tell you something." He paused for a brief moment to gather his ideas in order to communicate them as clearly as possible. "I think I like you." He swallowed hard after averting his gaze in order to avoid looking you in the eyes. "It's okay if you don't feel the same way..." but he was engulfed in a hug by none other than you as you admitted to liking him back.

And that’s how you ended up dating. In the beginning, he was always trying to act cool and show off his biking skills which would make you giggle. It was so cute looking at him trying his best to be a cool boyfriend.

But with time you explained to him that you fell for the Minu who was himself that didn’t need to act cool because he already was. After that he didn’t try as hard, he never needed to anyway as you had already given your heart to him.

He would buy you gifts and take you everytime he had a competition never stepping down from his role as your personal cycling trainer, which became more about him acting as if he wanted to correct you just to hold you or touch you, while you teasingly would lean on his touch loving the way how he was the only one who could make your heart beat this way.

#windbreaker webtoon #windbreaker x reader #windbreaker characters #windbreaker manhwa #windbreaker headcanon #windbreaker minu #windbreaker vinny #windbreaker owen knight #owen knight x reader #vinny hong x reader

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cloveroctobers · 8 months

Text

FEBRUARY FLUFF — CARMY BERZATTO.

A/N: so carmy won this time around!!! Thanks to all those that voted and ultimately made this decision for me lol. Hope you guys enjoy this and have a safe, healthy, and happy love season 🩷 + yes this is a mixture of fluff and angst...i mean come on! I wouldn't be me if i didn't include that in here somewhere!

PROMPTS ARE FROM HERE + HERE & I’m using: 1. “…Okay, so the only way for us to enjoy that huge discount is to act like we’re dating.” “What, so you’d fake date me for discounted food but you wouldn’t real date me even though I could take you out to the best restaurants out there in town every fucking night if you wanted me to?” + always giving the other the first bite of their food < or the last.

WARNINGS/SN: I wrote with a black or brown reader in mind although reader isn't physically described + they’re given a name only when mentioned, language is a thing here duh!, this is LENGTHY, lots of timelines: reader + nat became friendly before season 1 during the summer prior to 7 fishes which is estimated to be five years before season 2, reader knows of carmy due to past work, I feel like she can be just a few year(s) older than carmy but younger than nat—there’s a age gap for the Berzatto’s anyways, sexual relations are mentioned, this piece takes place months after the grand opening, & finally there’s a possible chance for a poly relationship or maybe just multiple crushes going on? Take that how you will.

𓍯𓂃𓏧♡ 𓍯𓂃𓏧♡ 𓍯𓂃𓏧♡ 𓍯𓂃𓏧♡ 𓍯𓂃𓏧♡

it was a Sunday.

The kind of Sunday you woke up embarrassed about but knew you had to swallow your pride and just send out that text. You knew you wouldn’t be judged regardless reaching out to Fak because he’s built to deal with things like this and never made you feel like shit about anything.

You usually had to squeeze it out of him to get him to lay out any cons about a situation but appreciated most times when he didn’t. Your minds been going haywire with a recent assignment as a food journalist and it really slipped your mind, although you were usually a quick thinker, you’ve been stressed over this recent restaurant. Thankfully it clicked for you after throwing a tantrum to simply reach out to Fak to come help you out.

The stupid lever in your bathroom decided to stop flushing on you and of course you panicked. Who wouldn’t panic in a situation like that? You no longer had a roommate and strongly debated if you even wanted to search for another; after the shady actions of the previous one, so you really didn’t have to worry about them giving you shit either. (Let’s see if your rent feels the same next month!)

It was just you in the end and perhaps you were learning to be okay with that.

Yet that didn’t stop you from FaceTiming Sydney about it. “Hey Siddy, how’s your day going?”

“Pretty good, yours?” She politely asked as she moved down the hallway of her shared apartment to prop her phone on the pedestal sink, moving around her functioning bathroom to grab some oil to grease her scalp.

Smacking your lips you glare, “it fucking sucks.”

“Oh?” Sydney questioned, appearing back in frame, “what happened? Did someone egg and scratch up your car again after a review you gave them? Noo wait, don’t tell me there’s a bullet hole?!”

That was light work compared to New York (it really wasn’t a competition of which state had its worst moments but your home state left you kinda triggered, not gonna lie!) where you were just starting off and those that were in tune with the culinary world didn’t take your words with a grain of salt. Most nights you still woke up gasping for air, reaching for your throat due to some trauma of a break in from a well-known nepo-baby chef. Don’t get that twisted, your mom didn’t raise no punk but that didn’t mean those events didn’t mess with your mental and you acknowledged that every time you had a nightmare. They only served three years and five months compared to the original five year sentence.

Ah the system…got to love how that works out for the privileged!

You shrugged, “no…the threats have been pretty tame lately so I can give myself a pat on the back for that. However! I still am in a crisis.”

Sydney begins to move her braids around to expose her scalp, “Elaborate for me.”

“My toilet won’t flush!” You whine, laying flat on your messy bed. You tended to not make your bed on Saturdays and didn’t get around to making it today—although it was after 3pm.

Sydney asks, “Like the waste won’t go down…?”

“Exactly!” You confirm throwing your arm over your eyes dramatically, “The lever thing is moving like my old dislocated shoulder.”

Sydney gags, “don’t fucking remind me of that day. That was spooky to witness but I am glad you healed from that.”

“Thanks girl, means a lot, truly.”

Sydney gives a small smile, “don’t mention it…have you considered YouTubing it? That’s what I do when I don’t want to ask anyone for help and figure it out by myself.”

You hummed knowing this was true. In a sense you could be like that too, especially when it came to the working field, since writers can tend to be some nasty bitches and always in rivalry with each other. You made a name for yourself in Chicago as well, coming from New York where you worked just as hard-maybe even harder than the rest to mean and write exactly how you felt about cuisine, regardless if anyone agreed or not. It wasn’t about if people liked you, the relationship with food would always be more significant and hold value in your life, just like the rest of these chef’s you encountered and you got that, people were allowed to be sensitive about their work. You’ve come toe to toe with many chef’s around the world who didn’t like your take on their craft but that didn’t mean you didn’t understand them. They hardly took the time to really dive into your ratings and automatically took it as you shit talking or not having any idea what you were saying since you “weren’t really a chef,” but you knew your worth most days.

Yes you could be straight forward but that didn’t mean you lacked compassion like some chef’s liked to think according to your reviews. You often wrote in a way that was puzzling to some, almost philosophical or riddle like with your own twist. Some just didn’t get it and that was okay but you wouldn’t back down from any confrontation. The second they didn’t want to really listen, that’s when you removed yourself from the escalating problem. It didn’t have to get violent like some wanted to inflict.

“Why didn’t I think of that?!” You exasperated, slapping the palm of your hand to your forehead.

Sydney snorted, “maybe because you’re under a lot of pressure lately and the most simplest of things don’t come as easily as they should.”

“You would think I have high blood pressure with the way these past two weeks have been.”

Sydney says, “give it time.”

“Gee, thanks! That’s exactly the kind of shit I want to hear from you.” You roll your eyes at the blurt of words that commonly escaped the braided girl’s mouth.

Sydney breathes out a laugh, “I’m just joking!”

“Yeah, yeah! Maybe I should text fak back and tell him not to come by!”

“You asked fak instead of the apartment manager?” Sydney is in amazement.

“Fuck that noise, he’s so full of shit that he should see a doctor about it. He’ll show up to analyze the problem, then acts like he’s going to fit you into the schedule and then when you catch him in the lobby he pretends that he has amnesia.” You commented with a scowl.

You get ready to minimize the call to text fak but some obnoxious knocks at the door made you pop up from your bed. “That was fast!”

Hopping up from the bed and padding out of the last bedroom in the apartment, you made the journey through the foyer to the awaiting black front door. Peeking through the peephole you spot Fak grinning widely up into it, almost making you jump back.

“He’s made it Siddy! I’ll call you back!”

“K. Good luck!” Sydney calls out before you end the call to pull the door wide open.

“Neil!” You scream, quickly latching onto his tatted wrist ready to yank him in until you notice someone else is with him, “…why is he here?” You point.

Fak quickly glances over at a brimmed Carmy who raised a brow at him in a silent told you so manner, “I mean we were having a boy’s day when you called and I didn’t want my buddy to be left out. Plus, it’s always great to have some assistance.”

“…i find it hard to believe that Carmen wants to fix my toilet.” You cross your arms, poking out your hip as you stare at him.

Carmen shrugs his shoulders, “I wanted to wait in the car if it makes you feel any better.”

“Hmm…it doesn’t.”

Carmy rolls his eyes, pinching at the bridge of his nose briefly in agitation, “you know what, fak you’ve got this right? I know you do so—

“Nope!” Fak quickly interrupts, “this maybe a two person job so aspie if you just let us do what we came to do—

Shooting an arm out to block the doorway you peer into Fak’s dark teal eyes to show you mean business, “didn’t I say I dislike that nickname, Neil?”

He nods.

“Also i find it offensive that you brought an uninvited guest to my place.”

“Just be glad it wasn’t Richie because that was also a possibility before he ran off to pick up the kid.” Carmy snaps making you roll your eyes.

If Richie was here you been would have slammed the door in both Fak and his face. Sure you had some sort of tension with Carmy and beef with .......his cousin but at least Carmy only gave it back to you when he had the energy to—meaning if he was already on one. The issue was simple, you wrote a not so nice review once before when the eldest berzatto, Michael was alive and running the joint. Richie couldn’t forget that and actually kept the clipping, yes the clipping of the review way back when. He had the receipts to show Carmy and Carmy actually brushed it off then, not seeming to really care or doubt some of the words that were said.

He came to revamp the place because Mikey left it for him, to fix the mess his big brother left behind, to create what they’ve always dreamed of. Sure he got shit for it in the beginning and part of him felt like maybe that was your case too? He could relate to you on that, yet the weight was slightly different on his part and he even spoke with you not long after he found those tomato cans.

That gave him a certain push he couldn’t really explain. He may have done a brief dive on you, wondering why you felt acquainted to him—completely forgetting about seeing you once around Noma—choosing to start with reading previous reviews by you on other restaurants here in Chicago and a few interviews you’ve done over the world. You weren’t just some nobody, you held your titles well and it reflected in your work.

You weren’t clueless.

He just didn’t really know what he was dealing with until a short time ago.

What he didn’t expect was for you to show up again on opening night with a certain head chef, also from New York. That made carmy more anxious than anything, seeing you sitting beside that four eyed fuck ready to set off a tornado in the heart of the bear. Was that your motive all along? With carmy attempting to build a bridge, not for you to kiss his ass with praise but there was a odd need to have a simple conversation with you. It was weird but it seemed like Sydney, Fak, and Nat liked you?

The jury was still out with the rest—except Richie but you were a mystery to Carmy. However carmy wasn’t the best at putting a read on people or their emotions in the first place, he was good at fucking that up unless you’re screaming it into his face. That’s just how he operated.

“You two can come in—only because I don’t have the patience with the manager here and Neil’s the best I’m gonna get.” You state while fak slaps a hand on his chest.

“That was really sweet, Aspen.” Fak cooed ready to pull you into a bone crushing hug but you hold up a finger.

“Save the hugs until after you fix my problem.”

“You got it boss,” Fak salutes before diving under your arm to travel through your apartment, ooo-ing and ah-ing before finding the bathroom around the corner from the living room.

Sighing you drop your arm and wave carmy through, who keeps his view straight while traveling through the hallway. You call out to him, “you can have a seat on the couch.”

“What? Did you drop a load or something and is that the real reason why you don’t want me to help Fak?” Carmy comes right out with it, nose twitching in amusement after whipping around to face you in the center of the living room.

See…only when he’s frustrated or overly focused will he just let it out. Some may look at this as Carmy attempting to make a joke but you took that somewhat personally. The only thing you were thinking after he said this was: What an ego on this one huh?

You stop on your heels and tilt your head to the side, “are you telling me that you think women or fem pronoun users don’t take shits? Do you know what it feels like to have period shits?”

Carmy blinks at you and shouts with his hands out, “I...don't even know what the fuck you're getting at? I wasn't even trying to be sexist to you just then! I asked you a honest question—

“About you being in my business,” you pointed out, “contrary to your beliefs I have a heart and decided to be nice to you and let you stay in my place to keep warm. You’re welcome!”

“Oh bullshit, don’t act like you’re doin’ me any favors.” Carmy scowls, “you don’t even want me here.”

You shrug, “yet you’re here in my apartment, yelling.”

Carmy exhaled while you smirked at him sweetly before turning to lean against the wall that leads to the bathroom.

“Everything okay in there, Neil?”

“Oh yeah!” He says, “I think I figured out the problem. Easy peasy!”

“Great!” You exclaim, pulling your phone out from your sweats to read a very important email.

The weight of stress seemed to lift a good chunk as you quickly responded to a email that you’ve been waiting for. You’ve been invited out (squeezed in) to a taste test at this restaurant for this evening that you’ve been trying to get into for a month before you brought it up to your employer. The deadline was approaching for the end of this week to have a review ready and they just responded to you five days before that deadline! Reading over it twice, the squeal in you slipped through your smile until you read the exceptions.

If you were to go over the amount of food purchased, which you would put on the company card anyways, you can get a discount if you brought a plus one and some reimbursement if the review was satisfactory to the owners—which the last part wasn’t unfamiliar to you.

You usually didn’t bring a plus one to any of the places you did reviews for, you got comfortable doing outings all on your own but this was different. Sure you were somewhat known in the culinary world but that didn’t mean you were a millionaire and this restaurant was apparently upscale. There was a waiting list regardless of your status—even for the celebrities that went there so this was a big deal and they gave you a short notice. Usually Sundays were known for a reset for the week but what better way to start it?

You don’t go forward with reaching out to anybody else that you work with. This was your battle and you were aware that two of your other co-workers also reached out to this restaurant. You just hoped you were the only one they picked and wouldn’t miss out on the great opportunity just because you weren’t sure about your guest.

A few hours before show time and you had to find somebody to attend with you. Your best friend was away in Cabo for a honeymoon, the other (who recently planned on moving to ATL) was dealing with the flu and had their no good ex boyfriend taking care of them, Sydney was suddenly MIA, and you even considered inviting Natalie Berzatto to piss carmy off just a bit.

“Hey, Nat!” You greet into the phone as you walk into the kitchen, witnessing Carmy perk up from the couch.

It’s small talk at first: you asking about how her day is going as a mom to be, if she’s going to be at the bear tomorrow, did she watch the Emmy’s the other night, tell her husband you said hello, and then finally if she had plans for tonight.

“…are you asking me to hang out?”

“We had fun at that club way back when no?”

“Yeah! But that was how long ago?”

You knew it’s been awhile. You were always friendly with Natalie, meeting her first—well second out of the siblings down at the small mart one summer you helped out at that your great-uncle owned. She was huffing about something her boyfriend at the time, Pete forgot to bring her and some groceries she was picking up for her mom. You were cool enough to become Facebook friends, exchange numbers, go out for coffee and go to the club together. This wasn’t unusual to call each other randomly but you knew she commonly got shit from Michael and Richard about her talking and hanging out with you.

The thing about Natalie Berzatto is that she always tried to give people the benefit of the doubt. Yes she saw your review yet she kinda laughed about it initially but it was all fuck you’s from the other two loud mouth’s. Of course she was going to listen to her brother but she still had a mind of her own. she didn’t care to listen to Richie go off but she understood how Michael felt, although she was the only other Berzatto that heard you out.

Except you didn’t owe anybody an explanation even if some felt you were more cutthroat in your younger years.

“...Before you and Pete even thought about marriage?”

You were younger than them but you imagined how it would always work out for Nat and Pete, which included growing old together.

“Wow! Yeah that sounds right.”

“So…?”

“Can’t do it.”

“You didn’t even hear all the details!”

“I know, I know and it sounds like it’ll be a real fucking blast but if this kid wasn’t sitting on my sciatic nerve constantly and if my feet weren’t the size of two honeydews…I totally would! But I’ll have to decline this time around—so please don’t hate me!”

“I could never!”

“You know you could always ask carmy-

“Why on earth would I do that?” Your reply was instant.

Natalie sighed over the phone, “aspen…the potential of friendship and love is a beautiful thing.”

You scrunched up your face at the phone before placing it back to your ear.

“Do you want me to hang up on you?”

“I’d call you a rude bitch if you did but then get over it.”

“I can live with that because I know it’s real love between you and I.”

“…whatever that means.”

“Right.”

You both laugh, knowing just how weird the subject of love can be. Although you didn’t talk all the time it was always okay for one of the other to drop a venting text or call each other’s way and know the other would get around to responding. The both of you may not be the best of friends but you did consider each other friends regardless. There were conversations between the both of you that no one knew about and would be a constant reminder of what kind of friends the both of you would remain.

Natalie wished things could have been resolved between you and Michael but she reassured that the dislike wasn’t as deep as it seemed. There was no secret that you felt awful about how his life ended and being there for nat during that time also meant a lot. She told you that one of the last conversations she had with Michael was about you and it felt as if he was learning to let go of your review, slowly taking in Nat’s words of you not having a cruel bone in your body especially with all that you’ve done for her.

Anybody that showed his sister true friendship couldn’t be complete garbage. As much as he tolerated Pete, Michael was always aware that he was good enough for his sister. They were all cut from different cloths and the Berzatto’s were just from the same but opposite corner’s.

Natalie telling you this was not to erase any worries you had since that is always brought to the surface when someone you’ve been face to face with before decides to end it all. It was to show you that nobody ever truly knows what anyone is thinking whether there is love there or not.

You can feel Natalie smiling through the phone, “Think about it…all that tension could be smoothed out if you extend the olive branch…now it’s your turn.”

“It’s not my fault he switched up on me after your opening night.” You didn’t lower your voice or make it louder but you were definitely staring at carmy now who was side eyeing you, looking like phineas from phineas and ferb.

“That’s something you need to talk to him about, don’t you think?” Her tone was always so gentle that it made you sick sometimes because she could be right.

“I’m not here to do think pieces.”

“…aren’t you a writer?”

“Have a good night, nat.”

“Ta-Ta!” Natalie sing-songs, “be sure to send me the deets later because carmy never tells me anything! Bye! Chat later!”

Hanging up the phone, you slide it onto the counter and tap your nails against the island. To the right of you, you pick up on some clinking in the bathroom—which sounds somewhat normal and zone in on carmy who’s also holding onto his phone but staring at the blank tv in thought.

“Hey, Carmen.” You call his name.

His bright blues turn to you as if he hasn’t been eavesdropping on your conversation here and there between his texts with Marcus.

“You. Me. The Saffron Simmer. 7pm.”

The air is frigid as the both of you hunch your shoulders shoving through Chicago’s winter. Shockingly the streets are filled with cars tonight so you had to park on the next street over before walking up and around to The Saffron Simmer. Carmy offered to drive, which was a debate—no shock there—since there was no way he was leaving the bear stock van behind for no license having fak to play around in.

Fak definitely found that offensive and said he didn’t mind hanging out at your place, being done with your toilet but with the look you sent him he said he’s find an Uber or fak2 can pick him up. It’s not like you didn’t trust fak in your place…it’s just that the possibilities of what he can get into are endless.

You also didn’t want to ride in the bear’s van not because of shallow reasons, you just wanted to annoy carmy just a bit more for fun. Walking mostly everywhere was the way to go growing up in New York and Carmy working there so doing so here in Chicago wasnt foreign either. However with the type of cold here in this city is enough to give the bravest of hearts hypothermia. So obviously driving was the best option, it’s just the petty back and forth between you two of who will drive had to be spewed.

Eventually you gave in and sat in the passenger side of the van, being on DJ duty for the twenty-five minute drive—something carmy didn’t care to argue over. The both of you made it on time, throwing the door back for carmy to catch then bouncing on your toes while he blew into his gloveless hands waiting on the greeter to find your reservation.

The pictures didn’t do The saffron simmer any justice. There was so much to look at with its modernized speakeasy décor and the high ceilings did a superb job of making the both of you feel small in the spacious space. Thankfully the dress code was business casual so you didn’t have to go all out but you still put in the effort of looking your best in simple attire. You’re shrugging out of your scarf, earmuffs, and puffer coat while Carmy is already seated; with only the removal of his cap across from you in a chair.

He’s watching you as you place everything neatly to the right of you before you're taking a seat in the leather oversized chair, then digging through your tote to pull out your notepad, Sony camera, phone, and bolt pen. You quickly scribble something on the first line and circle it before dropping your pen.

Rolling the sleeves of your long sleeves back underneath your blazer, you roll your shoulders with a close of your eyes before opening them with a look of determination.

“Wow, that was something.” Carmy tells you, making you set your eyes back on him, forgetting just that quick that he was your plus one.

Clasping your hands together you quirk up a brow, “What?”

“Watching you prep.”

You dip your head, “should have seen me before I got dressed…much worse.”

A smirk appears on the corner of Carmy’s lips, “oh yeah?”

“Well yes, I can contain myself in public, Carmen. Your home is supposed to be your safe space so that’s the best place to go a little crazy sometimes.” You inform, yet still not giving too much away.

“Why are you in your head about this place anyway?” Carmy peers around the slightly filled dining area before meeting your eyes once more.

You lift your shoulders, “have you seen the way they market this place? Giving not too much away although it’s top ten restaurants here and I can either contribute to its success or its downfall. They picked me for a reason so my review matters at the end of this year.”

“But you uh-get a thrill out of this shit don’t you? It’s what you signed up for, right?” Carmy is actually relaxed against the chair across from you.

Which is a sight to see.

You state, “it’s part of the job, if that’s what you mean.”

Carmy blinks and seems to get it, “and so you stay.”

“So I stay.” You echo while holding his stare, which is broken by a piece of the stone table lifting and showcasing the menu illuminated by sepia lighting in the dark of the restaurant.

Carmy’s bright eyes are wide as he stares at the menu that appears right in front of your faces. There’s a grin on your face as you rest your fingertips around its rough edges, almost as if you were expecting this while carmy blows out a breath.

“The hell is this place?”

You peek over at him, “some next level shit, berzatto.”

“Yeah…I think I’m starting to catch on.”

You turn your attention back to the menu, swiping your fingertips along the touch screen although you’ve heard things about the menu, which they kept offline since apparently it renews monthly.

“What looks good?”

“Uh…these pages aren’t even labeled." Carmy exhales through his nose, eyes searching all over the tablet, "I have no clue. You?”

The words come at ease for you, "One of almost everything maybe?”

“Sounds good...I guess?”

“On me by the way,” you state with a wink as you flash your company card.

“I’ll get the tip then.” Carmy pats his jeans, the left containing his carton of cigarettes, the right holding his keys, lifting his hips he checks for his wallet although he’s been sitting on his behind for about ten minutes now.

You don’t argue with that, eyes in awe at the selection of items as you start ordering, “don’t forget to order your drink.”

“Water should be fine,” Carmy mutters to himself, eyes scanning over the first strange title of water that is described as flower and ginger infused purified water and decides to go with that.

You finally express after rapidly letting your fingers go over the screen and taking a picture with your phone, “…Okay, so the only way for us to enjoy that huge discount is to act like we’re dating.”

It sounded so easy to you as you quickly shifted to pick up your pen and start writing notes.

“What was that?” Carmy pressed his elbows into the edge of the table, making sure he heard you right since he’s not even sure if he can trust his inner thoughts lately.

You’re still scribbling but also turning your face towards the messy haired chef, “you heard me. We have to act like we’re in a relationship because I’ve definitely went over the budget on the card.”

“That’s not really my problem?”

“Yes it is,” you demand, “you agreed to be my plus one so that’s that. Plus this menu further confirmed my suspicions from the email.”

Carmy scratches at his brow confused, “what are you talking about, aspen?”

“Here,” you swipe across your screen towards Carmy’s device, which brings up another screen instantly to carmy who’s in awe but scans over the details.

You didn’t share the email with him but he’s heard about how high tech this restaurant is but didn’t have the time to do his own research.

*Significant others in attendance are subject to applicable discounts.*

Carmy feels his stomach cramp at the fine print and it so small that he was sure anyone could have missed that.

Not you.

“…how exactly are we supposed to prove that, hm?” He's gripping at his greasy hair now, feeling himself getting a bit worked up about this.

You fanned your hand along, “just do what couples do and follow my lead...Depending on our witnesses,” you whisper as you look around, “they could always assume that’s what we are anyways.”

Part of carmy didn’t like how that came off.

“What, so you’d fake date me for discounted food but you wouldn’t real date me even though I could take you out to the best restaurants out there in town every fucking night if you wanted me to?” Flies out of Carmy’s mouth before he can even process what he’s saying.

That stoops you too, making you press your back against the chair in thought. That wouldn’t be going down in the notes, as you stare at the pen in between your fingers for a moment. Which brings you back to Carmy’s tatted fingers first that touched you in ways that romance novelist craved to write about.

So you may have left that out, how a shared conversation about the “heartless” review of then Chicagoland turned the bear melted into hot and heavy actions in the front seat of your Mazda. It hits you in those same flashes you take of dishes: the unsure sloppy kisses, you taking the lead to get Carmy to just touch you, shaky hands that trace the tattoo from your rib cage down to your hip before soon holding steady and angled just right beneath your red tapered trousers.

“Where did that come from?” You question just as a server greets you, delivering drinks and announcing the small plates should be out in the next five minutes with a timer appearing on both of the stone tablets.

Carmy says, “you—you didn’t just think I forget right?”

“Well I was hoping.” You were honest, “neither of us are ready for relationships—especially hearing about you and Claire.”

Carmy felt his eye twitch, “and how do you know about that?”

Sydney.

You wouldn’t throw her under the bus like that although you could tell carmy already knew.

“I have my resources but don’t think I’ve been asking around about you or anything like that.” You sipped at the raspberry mint cocktail, it could be stronger.

His thumbs are shaking first on the table top but his icy stare made your chest pulsate in a way you didn't particularly like, “…would that be so bad?”

You and carmy didn’t exactly know each other well enough besides a conversation once had and with his hand down your pants! and you trying to get him to crash, clothes still on right in the center of his lap—It was a spur of the moment hookup and you could tell it was not something that happened often for carmy. He never had time for it or bothered to get attached but there was something about you that had him thinking otherwise. What was supposed to be a one time thing that you swept to the back of your mind was being brought up again.

The annoyance overtook what that feeling brought in the front seat of your ride. You weren’t ignoring carmy after that but the both of you had a lot on your plate with him renovating a restaurant and you diving back into your own work. Both fields of work seemed to matter more and not once did you think he ever thought about you in that way.

Communication was important people!

And here you thought he wanted nothing to do with you, especially with you showing up to the grand opening of The Bear. Now here you were months later, basically at your benefit, face to face hearing only pieces of what Carmen Berzatto was thinking.

“Hey, guys!” A familiar voice gathers your attention and you both turn to see Sydney smiling at you two.

Carmy widens his eyes, “Syd, what’re you doing here?”

Sydney snorted, “doing the same thing you’re doing? Having dinner.”

“Right.” He lightly shakes his head.

“Oh my god…am I interrupting this um? Date?” Sydney quickly connected the dots eyeing the both of you back and forth while you’re choking on your drink, “you okay?”

She pats your back for you while you gasp and Carmy slides over his water your way although you have your own glass near by. Gaining some air, you swallow some water and breathe through your nose. Normally you would have a response for Sydney’s joke but given what carmy just said to you had your mind running along with some burning tears you wiped away.

“So this is where you’ve been instead of answering me back?” You decide to switch the subject-you were great at that-wheezing a bit while Carmy scoffs and looks away.

Sydney frowns, “huh? When did you call me besides the FaceTime call…” she starts and pulls out her phone, “oh shit sorry. I placed it on do not disturb like thirty minutes after you didn’t call me back. I got wrapped into some entail about the menu from one of the chef’s that works here and is also a friend.”

Carmy speaks, “Didn’t know you had a connect with anybody here, Syd.”

“Can’t reveal all my moves, Carm.” She winks and lightly elbows him while Carmy sends her a small smile and a shake of his head.

Carmy asks, “scooping out our competition?”

“Only a little," She pinches her fingers before continuing, "and my dad thought it would be a place I wanted to try.” Sydney admits, “and if you two weren’t on a date I’d say let’s make this a group thing! so I’ll be going! I see my dad coming back from the bathroom…he’s got like a bladder problem and I don’t know why I’m sharing that with you two. But bye! Enjoy and just know I’ll be keeping my eye on you two.”

“Fuck,” carmy exhaled feeling his nerves rising, “don’t do that.”

Sydney chuckles to herself and sends a wave to you two before walking back to her table by the window.

“Siddy kicked me to the curb for her dad,” you sigh resting your cheek into your knuckles for a moment, “can’t be mad at that.”

“But you can be mad at me for what exactly?”

“You wanna do this with me right now?”

“Yeah, I think I do.”

“I thought we could move past what happened—

“You can say it you know? Me with my fingers inside—

“Excuse me!” You hiss, “I don’t need you to repeat action by action thank you. I was there too. We both know what happened, we’d agreed we can coexist around this big ass city. I show up to support—

“Did you though?” Carmy pressed, “support me? Or am I waiting for something else to be thrown at me with your upcoming review?”

“What?!” You bite, “is that what your stank ass attitude is about?”

Carmy tightened his jaw just as the first serving was handed over. You let him sulk in that for some time as you study the plating of the four appetizers, making note of each before taking more pictures with your sony.

“I wasn’t there to write a review.” You reply.

“I saw you—

“Let me finish. I understand pressure so I get it but you have to learn to channel your anger and this grief, elsewhere and deal with it better without projecting it onto any and everybody. I’ll tell you that right now that won’t get you anywhere and especially with me, Carmen.” You affirm.

You’ve been in Carmy’s position before so you can speak with experience. He seemed to always be waiting for the worse to continue filling up his plate but it takes time to accept the good in life. He was giving you something but you weren’t sure it was the best option for the both of you and you weren’t afraid to say that.

“Alright…I didn’t come here to talk about feelings either you know? That’s what those meetings are for.” Carmy spills just a tad.

You stare at the vibrant but delicate plating but his tone and the soft upbeat tempo above your heads don’t go unnoticed. “What did you come here for then?”

Carmy blinks and snatches up a spoon, almost weighing it in his hands before he dives the utensil into the dish. He stares as the stretch of cheese, twisting the spoon to break it apart before holding the Macaroni and Brie with Crab out for you to take the first bite.

He doesn’t answer for awhile and so you do the honors of taking a bite and savoring it's texture and taste.

“…that’s not my favorite.” You announce and notice that Carmy waited for your view.

He raises his brows, “tell me about it?”

“They need different plating.” You deeply sigh, “I know that type of plating works best for a dessert and that’s not it. There’s more breadcrumbs than meat, which seems to not be fully removed from its shell so be careful with that. It’s also lacking flavor even with the brie, which is my least favorite kind of cheese in Mac, although many swear by it.”

Carmy flicks his attention to your disappointment to you scribbling into your notepad with a shake of your head. If he was making you a dish, he’d try his hardest to make sure it was everything you ever wanted.

He quickly has his share and thinks to himself.

Carmy can agree, this was lacking flavor and the breadcrumbs didn’t even have a crunch to them. You can’t just depend on the cheese to give you flavor in Mac and cheese.

“What’s your favorite dish? I—I don’t think I ever asked you that. We just went straight into talking about the beef.”

And doing dirty things in the front seat but who needs to relive that?!

You look up from your notes and lift your chin, “you’re looking at it. It’s childish I know...but that’s exactly what it reminds me of: my childhood. Mac and cheese! then as I got into my adulthood…crab kinda took over. Which is funny because I hated on it for so long growing up. My papa—my grandad, he helped my mom raise me, he's from Ocean City so you can only imagine the amount of seafood on our table.”

You’re smiling to yourself and Carmy can’t help but to feel his small laughter lines appear by his lips as you’re locked into some memory only you can remember vividly. This was the most Carmy was learning about you, sure it may not look like much but he didn’t feel the need to dissociate even if at times he really couldn’t help it.

You were the question mark that he wanted to figure out and get all the answers to. Maybe it was his gut and he shouldn’t have blabbed to sugar about you because now Carmy was thinking this was Michael’s doing.

If you believe in that shit.

So the both of you take your time trying the small dishes before getting the main courses. It seems the longer you sit across from each other—the tension was definitely still there especially with Sydney’s eyes burning into the two of you across the room and attempting to not get caught—although she had once or twice but gradually it lifted as you and carmy shared this time together.

He watched you work while you asked for his input before you told your own. He also provided a few things he would do to tweak it if he agreed with what you didn’t enjoy. Which was eye-opening for you, yes you went to school for journalism and sat in on some cooking classes once that also tied into your passion for learning. After completing your first degree you decided culinary may take you to different heights and enrolled into culinary school. You didn’t find the need to continue going through with being a chef after Copenhagen, finding writing to be your stronger suit but you still understood food and the relationship with it when it came to chef’s.

So you took carmy’s input into consideration.

With the last serving being a Asian dessert called, “Jjan Hae,” which consisted of: coconut rice pudding served with fresh citrus (orange, grapefruit, kumquat) and coffee ice cream, topped with crispy pop rice & a shot of Korean rice wine, it was a strange concept but the both of you came to terms with the dessert working well.

Carmy even took a video to show Marcus tomorrow at the bear and sent a photo to an old colleague, Luca, that you were also familiar with considering Noma was a thing that you didn’t bother speaking much on…but it was your turn to give carmy the last serving.

He hesitated since he had his own bowl, which he finished way before you did but it was clear you wanted him to have the last bite so he also took it while saying something with his eyes.

Breaking the stare, the both of you felt your phone buzz with a text. Carmy didn’t jump to answer it right away…he was the worst texter according to Nat and Sydney but you can answer for the both of you as it was a group text from Sydney who was long gone with her dad.

Siddy + (773) XXX-XXXX: Carmy, invite aspen to breakfast in the morning?? See you guys then! 👍🏾😉

“You guys do breakfast at the bear now?” You say lifting your eyes from your screen.

You heard Sydney made a mean omelette but you haven’t been back since earlier this year and you weren’t in the mood for that that night.

Carmy frowns and closes his eyes with a shake of his head, “uh yeah it’s a new thing that Syd came up with but we agreed to do that with everyone once a month…later this month. Why?”

“She wants me to have breakfast with you guys…knowing I’m not a morning person.”

“It’s not happening tomorrow anyway, so what is she talking about?” Carmy digs into his jacket, where he carelessly shoved his phone into after sending the photo off to Luca.

Another text rings out: at carmy’s place. just us three???

Not Sydney making plans and then placing it all at Carmy’s apartment.

He’s taking a breath, almost as a silent reminder for him to do so before his thumbs move over his screen: i don’t even eat breakfast, Syd.

Syd: well youre gonna.

~ Syd has notifications silenced 🌙 ~

“Well, looks like your work wife told your ass.” You laugh, which you translated into her message but didn’t comment further than that.

Carmy harshly exhales through his nostrils in disbelief, “my work wife huh?”

He didn’t hate how that sounded but he also never thought about marriage or relationships in awhile.

“Yeah…the proof is in the pudding, no matter what anyone says.”

Carmy pinched at his bottom lip as he attempts to dryly joke, “I thought it was rice? and what about outside work…”

“That’s something you have to figure out yourself.” You shrug, getting ready to pack up your notes and cameras.

You turn your attention to the table, which knows just when to lift as you tap on the screen to signal that you’re ready to pay while holding out your company card, “are you paying cash for the tip or card?”

“Uh, cash.” Carmy answers, “…what if I’m starting to think about what come’s next?”

“With Syd?” You question, your now sage and mint scented hands flying over the screen as you select the correct paying method before tapping your company card against the screen.

Carmy starts bouncing his leg underneath the table, “with everything.”

“Well…when you’re ready you’ll make moves to make it happen won’t you?”

Carmy dips his head, “you bet.”

And here comes the intense eye contact that you can’t help but to huff out some laughter.

“What’s funny?”

“It’s just people with light eyes always do this thing where they’re just staring into your soul you know? Like damn, relax!”

Carmy’s confused as he holds his wallet open, “uh sorry for having eyes?”

“Shut up, glacier eyes.” You tell while Carmy just snorts at you.

The both of you don’t waste any time rushing back to his car as the clock is approaching 10pm. The wind’s definitely picked up and the temperature dropped, making it easier not to get caught up in the night time city lights which you often liked to do. Back in the van, carmy doesn’t wait to crank up the heat and you don’t bother to mess with the radio this time.

“So?” Carmy asks as he waits for the car to warm up some.

You keep your attention outside the window shield, “yes?”

“What’s the rating?”

“What makes you think I’m going to tell you that, Carmen?” You continue holding yourself.

He sniffs, “I mean—I was sitting across from you the entire night while you told me some of your thoughts.”

“So you thought you should also get the final score? I don’t even know what I’m going to say yet.”

“Ah, I think you’ve got some idea.” Carmy lolls his head over to peek at you.

Laughter bubbles past your lips, “I do. I’ve absolutely had better because—what the fuck was that?”

Carmen feels a crooked smirk appear on his own face, “I don’t want to completely bash other chef’s work but fuck, I thought it was just me? You said it got a 4.3 out of 5? The ambience and service was spot on but…the flavor for most of the dishes?”

“I knew you knew something about seasoning,” you continued laughing while carmy rolled his eyes, “should spend less on the tech and interior and more on some fresh herbs.”

“Isn’t it called simmer saffron?”

That made you laugh even harder as you gripped your stomach, “You’ve got that so backwards!”

And carmy couldn’t help but to scan your features as you laughed and he felt his chest getting somewhat lighter? Just listening to the sound of you and being beside you. What kind of feeling was this? He’s felt it before looking at someone else but that feeling was more of a tug with that light while this one slowly poured in from the black.

“Don’t be too hard on ‘em though? There’s always room for improvement.”

“Sure, but we both know the bear is better and you guys don’t have a waist list months in advance.”

“We also don’t have any celebrities showing up either.”

“Yet.”

Carmy taps his fingers against the steering wheel, appreciating that, “right, yet…I’m sorry about March. I was too in my head about so much shit and you’re right, I took it out on everyone and I’m still trying to make up for it.”

“Effort doesn’t ever go unnoticed if people look and feel it hard enough.”

Carmy chews on his lips at that, “if you believe that…then why do you feel what I said about dating—uh us—about us dating is out of the blue?”

“I said that?”

“Your eyes did. It’s the most expressive thing about you which is funny to me when you talk so much shit about mine when you hide the rest of it away on your face. It’s fucking confusing but I think I gathered that from our dinner tonight.”

Carmy was just as detail oriented as you. It was in his language with food and maybe even in his tattoos that you tried to understand starting with his fingers first. The way he spoke about what he would do with the dishes that were lackluster, except for the dessert—that was pretty good. Carmy wasn’t much of a talker because he wasn’t sure how to express himself, always been that way since you knew of him at Noma…but he told just enough in his dishes and you told just enough between the lines you wrote.

Someone just had to look hard enough.

“…I ever tell you I was engaged? Of course I didn’t, we’re still…I don’t know what the hell we’re doing here Carmen but I’m starting to sense that we could be special if we both want this badly.”

“What do you want?”

“Does anyone ever really know?” You laughed, “ I guess someone to look past the circumstanial and I had that once but then he died. So that was the end of that.”

“You swore off love.”

“Love is many things but maybe I closed off the long lasting part.”

Carmy could relate to that as least with family. He never had much interest in romance even growing up because he lacked that confidence in anything being permanent besides the chaos he’s used to, then he found some of it once he proved what he fucking set out to do yet cooking was all Carmen really opened himself up to. While Luca and others encouraged him to have a night out in the town, he always left early or if there was one person that caught his interest, they get to talking and both get bored of each other since Carmy hardly made the move to take them back to his. Before Noma?

Maybe.

Back in Paris there was one that could have been permanent but Carmy had to break her heart since Noma was calling. Culinary was his true love and he honestly couldn’t tell you what she even looked like now if you asked him. Things that should have mattered tended to get buried in the blue of his mind unfortunately.

He didn’t have the time to be attached and you didn’t want to have your heart ripped out again.

“How’d—

“He was a firefighter.” Was all you said and just those words alone told carmy it was anything but peaceful.

It took a lot for carmy to scream at himself how Michael went out and he imagined it might have been the same for you. So he wouldn’t dare ask for further morbid details because what did that help?

So maybe you weren’t wrong about the both of you not being ready to take that step on going on dates but change was everlasting.

“Uh—what about breakfast then after that not so great meal?” Carmy asks as he pulls off from the curb now.

You think about it. Really think about it that carmy starts to assume you may have dozed off.

“Depends on the time honestly? And who am I to turn down a free meal?” You beamed at Carmy who lifts his shoulders with a chuckle.

Carmy explains, “Syd and I usually start our days early, sometimes even earlier for me if I don’t get enough hours in. but thanks to the reno those on the early shift can get prep ready and I heard…you’re not a morning person?”

You’re just as sarcastic but there’s no lies, “I don’t even know my name or birthdate when I first wake up…what do you think?”

Carmy snickered at that, “okay? So how does 10am sound?”

“That’s pushing it but…I think I can be there so that’ll give me the rest of the day to work from home.”

Carmy nods, “can’t wait to read it. Shake on it?”

“On what? My review or showing up?”

“Both.”

“I’m not sending you a sneak peek, maybe syd or even nat but not you.”

“Ouch.” Carmy mocks, still waiting for your hand to touch his.

And when you do there’s a spark, that makes you yank your hand back and you feel like you’re in one of those cheesy teen movies.

You’re aware carmy’s felt that too but he just clears his throat and placed his hand back on the steering wheel. Leaving you to lightly massage the palm of your hand, now glancing at the profile of carmy’s face.

Life takes time to live but once you start to just let it be, the green starts to stand out more and can be equally as joyous…once you get through the rain and mud that is.

And once the ice blue sets back on you, the both of you can’t exactly see the future but there’s always warmth waiting for the cold to give them a try.

𓍯𓂃𓏧♡ 𓍯𓂃𓏧♡ 𓍯𓂃𓏧♡ 𓍯𓂃𓏧♡ 𓍯𓂃𓏧♡

February fluff anthology series continues here.

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mysterious-moonstruck-musings · 3 months

Text

Closed Position: Week 4 (Jive Part 1)

Closed Position Masterlist ||| Main Masterlist Dieter Bravo x OFC (Katarina)

Series Summary: Dieter Bravo, now sober, was looking to change his bad boy image after hitting rock bottom. His team hoped that having him join the nationally televised family friendly dance competition, Dancing with the Stars, would be a good first step, if they can keep him out of trouble.

Katarina Stamos expected her last season as a professional dancer on the show to go the same as it had for the past thirteen seasons. That all changed when she was partnered with the infamous Dieter Bravo.

Dieter and Katarina are reluctantly thrown into their partnership and must learn to work together to succeed in the competition. In the process they form a deeper connection beyond the dance floor that neither anticipated.

Chapter Word Count: 12.1k

👉 Warnings: Themes dealing with intimate partner violence, past alcohol abuse, and past drug abuse. There will be fluff, tears, spicy language, and smut. This will be a slow burn. Read at your own risk. Dieter Bravo comes with his own warnings.

👉 Chapter Warnings: Dieter being Dieter. Gratuitous use of the "f" word and talk about Dieter’s member. Cat and Plant dad Dieter cuteness. Brief mentions of intimate partner violence (more protective Dieter).

Chapter Quote: "It’s gonna be a real test of your stamina."

Katarina’s POV

I was taken aback by Dieter’s reaction to Alec’s attempted apology. I knew he had been upset about the incident, but I wasn’t expecting an outright dismissal from him. There was, however, a small part of me that was internally cheering over it. No one had ever challenged Alec like this, and he deserved every bit of it after how he had behaved.

I could tell Dieter was upset when he left the staging area, and I wasn’t buying his excuse of not feeling well. I assumed he just didn’t want to be around Alec. Once I was finally able to slip away from Alec to go check on Dieter, I was shocked to find that he was avoiding me. Something told me that he was hiding out in his dressing room. He wouldn’t come to the door, and he wouldn’t answer my calls or texts. After several minutes of asking around if anyone had seen him, Alec found me. He insisted it was time to head home since the show was over because he felt we needed to spend some time together. I was annoyed with his pushy behavior but relented. I knew it was the right thing to do if I wanted to work on our relationship. As I was walking to my car, I could see that Dieter’s was still in its spot, so he definitely hadn’t left.

On my drive home, I tried calling Dieter again. Still no answer. I had a terrible feeling in the pit of my gut that was making me uneasy. I was half tempted to blow Alec off and drive straight to Dieter’s house to wait for him to get home. I glanced in my rear-view mirror as I waited at a red light. I could see Alec in his car behind me. It looked like he was talking to someone on speakerphone. I couldn’t help wondering who he would be talking to right now. The sick feeling I was having seemed to get a little worse with that thought. I suddenly felt like I was making all of the wrong decisions today and didn’t fully understand why.

Once we got to my house, I started making dinner. I had leftovers we could have eaten, but I saw it as an opportunity to avoid Alec for a little longer while he sat on the couch watching TV. I didn’t say much while we ate. He was doing enough talking for the both of us. He made sure to tell me how the “guys” were bugging him about going out tonight, but he would rather spend time with me instead. He also made a point to say he was avoiding them so he wouldn’t be pressured into drinking. If it was actually true, then good for him, but honestly, it sounded rehearsed and disingenuous. It felt like he was trying to say all the right things to placate me. At this point, I felt so jaded by him, I realized that I couldn’t really believe a word he said. Why did I do this to myself? I had an out. I should have taken it.

When we were finished eating, I did the dishes. Then, without a word, I went to take a shower, locking the bathroom door behind me. The shower lasted way longer than it should have, but the warm water was soothing and worked the tension out of my body. My mind wandered back to Dieter. I couldn’t understand why he was ignoring me like this. It was so unlike him.

I stood under the shower head, frozen in place as I stared at the wall, thinking back to the previous week. The time that I had spent with Dieter outside of the dance studio had been so refreshing. I quickly realized that I liked being with him while doing mundane things. He always seemed to be in a good mood and genuinely seemed to enjoy his time with me. Even doing something as simple as going to the pet store with him was enjoyable and honestly, had my stomach in a flutter the entire time.

That feeling only intensified when he asked me over to his place. A little voice in my head told me that going over there might not be a good idea, like it was stepping over some invisible line that had been drawn between us. I entertained the thought for mere seconds before charging over that line without looking back as I agreed to his plans.

That voice shouted at me once again when I saw the incoming facetime call from him as I was lying in bed that night after leaving the pet store. I wasn’t expecting him to call after sending a text to check in on the new cat food. I hesitated, watching it ring for what seemed like an eternity before finally accepting the call. I forgot my words as I took in his appearance. It looked like he was shirtless, and his hair was more disheveled than normal, like he had been tugging at it with his fingers. I briefly wondered if it would look like that after I ran my hands through it, or would it be worse? We both silently stared at each other through the screen for several seconds before he spoke up and finally snapped me out of my trance.

As usual, he kept me laughing during our call. Dramatically complaining about the cat tree he was struggling to put together. I offered to help him with it before I even realized what I was saying. He propped his phone up to free his hands and give me a wide view of what he was doing. Who knew that watching a very attractive shirtless actor put together a cat tree could be so captivating? I kept getting distracted by the soft waves of hair hanging down over his eyes as he worked, or the way the muscles in his arms and chest would tighten as he pushed down on and twisted the screwdriver, or the way his gym shorts would ride up his thighs when he would squat down to pick something up.

Fucking hell Kat, this is not the time to be getting hot and bothered. The guy is avoiding you. I huffed, feeling frustrated with myself for allowing my mind to go down that path right now. It probably didn’t help that I hadn’t actually done anything to scratch that itch in a while.

Once out of the shower, I got ready for bed. I was still feeling a little worked up, so when Alec crawled into bed behind me and began to suggestively rub my back and kiss down the side of my neck, I gave in. Turning my head to kiss him as his hand roamed my body, eventually slipping down the front of my shorts to rub at my center. I wiggled against him, attempting to guide him to the right spot, but failed. Jesus Christ, this guy needs a fucking map and a compass. How is he still this clueless? Out of frustration, I grabbed his hand and guided him to where it needed to be. He mistook the action for eagerness, pushing my hand away and telling me that I could come when he was ready for me to - that he was going to take care of me. Like that's gonna happen at this rate. It seemed more like a half-assed attempt to please me just so he could get what he wanted.

The longer he went on doing whatever the fuck it was he was doing, the more my mood soured. I could tell he was getting frustrated that I was taking too long. I could have faked it like I often did for his sake, but instead, I stopped him. Suggesting that we just go to bed, citing that I was too tired from the long day of filming and that it was making it hard for me to fully get into it. He wasn’t happy about it, but agreed, turning over to shut off the lights as he settled in on the opposite side of the bed.

I wasn’t sure how much longer I could do this with him. His actions didn’t align with his words most of the time and I still couldn’t trust him. Also, he fucking sucked in bed. At one time, I had been willing to overlook that, but now it was beyond frustrating. Especially since it seemed more about his needs rather than both of ours and his unwillingness to try and make it better for me.

I laid there in silence, listening to Alec’s breathing deepen and eventually turn into soft snores. I couldn’t help letting my mind wander back to Dieter. I really hoped he was OK. The more I thought about it, the more upset he seemed. There was something about the look in his eyes that scared me. Did something else happen that I didn’t know about? I really hoped he hadn’t been triggered by something that was possibly threatening his sobriety.

My mind began to file through the memories of the last few days. Particularly our evening together at his house. It was now clear to me that he was a very sensitive person. I could tell that from being in his home, among his things, his paintings, and after seeing the way he cared for his plants and Zee. I briefly wondered if perhaps his feelings for me were evolving like mine seemed to be for him. It felt like there had been some serious tension between us that night. I had even caught myself flirting a little, and he was possibly reciprocating it. The way he had looked at me and touched me as he was getting into the cabinet caused my breath to catch in my throat. In that brief moment, I considered what it would be like to grab him and kiss him, but the moment passed as I somehow managed to talk some sense into myself.

There were several things that he had said to me that day that seemed to be flirting, but this was also Dieter Bravo we’re talking about. The man did not have a filter, so it was sometimes hard to tell if he was just being his cocky self. Maybe those two things are one and the same for him?

My mind then drifted to thoughts of his paintings and drawings. They were all so amazing. He really was talented and seeing the transformation his artwork had taken since he became sober really struck a chord with me. I could see the changes in him through his paintings in particular. I was honestly shocked he had allowed me into his art studio and what he called his “sanctuary”. They seemed like very personal spaces, and he gave me free reign to look through them. It was clear that he trusted me, which meant so much to me.

What I did not expect was to find that he played the guitar. I shocked myself when I moved to share that part of me with him. Alec hadn’t even really seen it. That was a part of me that I locked away after my dad passed, mostly because it just brought up too many memories. They were happy ones, but hard to think about just the same because I didn’t have him here to play and sing with anymore.

It felt good to pick up that guitar. It felt even better when Dieter did the same and started playing. I didn’t hesitate to join in on the song, singing along as he played. Then eventually joining in on playing too. I was almost dumbfounded when he started singing. Was there anything that beautiful man couldn’t do? He sounded amazing. His voice was smooth like honey, so raw and expressive. I was completely mesmerized by him, staring into his soulful eyes as he belted out a verse. I could feel his voice vibrating throughout my entire body as we connected in a way I had never connected with anyone else. It was this moment that had me reevaluating my entire life. It felt like there was something between us that I couldn’t begin to describe or understand. Then the spell was broken, and he suddenly seemed distant - mentioning how late it was.

I brushed away those new feelings at that point, telling myself that it was nothing. Yet, I found myself feeling oddly protective and jealous when Anika of all people asked him to go out after the show. It wasn’t so much the protectiveness that surprised me, but the jealousy. I realized at that point that this was becoming a problem because I had no right to feel that way. I was technically still with Alec and Dieter was not mine. I got all in my head about it after that, reasoning with myself that it had more to do with protecting his sobriety than anything, but now I’m starting to realize that may not be the case. I care about him, deeply.

Since the beginning, we had a natural chemistry when dancing together. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced with a partner, including when Alec and I first got together. At the time, I didn’t think it could get any better than that. But with Dieter, it was something else entirely. I couldn’t explain or understand it. Every week it had only gotten more intense, and it didn’t show any signs of slowing. I couldn’t ignore it anymore or deny how it was making me feel.

It had been obvious to me that I found Dieter to be physically attractive, but it was quickly turning into so much more than that. Every trait that I found lacking in Alec, be it personality wise or emotionally, Dieter had. He was quickly helping me realize what I wanted and what I needed to be happy, and he gave it all so willingly that it was hard not to fall for him. Is that what this was, me falling for him?

I think part of me had known all along, but I was too afraid to admit it. I found myself wondering if he was feeling it too. Surely his subtle flirting wasn’t all in my head. Not that any of it mattered, I still had Alec and I had committed to giving him one last chance. So, there was no reason to even be thinking about any of this.

I glanced over at the clock, I had been laying here for an hour with my mind swirling with questions and analyzing every interaction Dieter and I ever had. I really needed to get to sleep. I checked my phone one last time, still no response. I sighed, then closed my eyes, finally dozing off. My last thought was of Dieter, hoping he was ok.

Dieter’s POV

When I woke up on Tuesday, I felt like shit after having stayed up half the night painting away my feelings. It was the first time I had painted since training had started for the show. It felt good, even though I really needed sleep. I wasn’t even sure what I was painting until an hour into it. Staring at the curves in brilliant red and light bronze tones surrounded by meshed shades of dark blues, pinks, purples, and white, I realized it was Kat that I was looking at. A view of her from behind, wearing that red dress as she danced with her arms raised. Of course it was. I had declared her to be my new muse after all. Her curves and the way her hips moved had been haunting my thoughts since day one. It was only a matter of time before images like this started pouring out of me onto the canvas. I was honestly shocked it had taken this long.

The paint slowly transitioned from an abstract mesh of colors to a more realistic dreamy appearance as the image solidified in my mind. It wasn’t my usual style, but I didn’t hate it. I was about to start adding in the finer details when I realized how late it was. I called it a night and made it to bed around 2 AM, but it still took me another hour to fall asleep. The 7 AM alarm was quickly approaching, which only made me more anxious in my attempts to doze off and exacerbated the sleeplessness. Once Zee curled up at my side, her soft purrs and comforting presence eventually eased me into an unrestful slumber.

When the alarm did finally go off, I awoke feeling groggy and discontent. My emotions were all over the place, creating the urge to talk to someone about it before I spiraled into darkness. I could feel those old cravings lingering in the back of my mind, waiting for me to slip up. So, I pulled up Dr. Smith’s contact information and typed out a quick message asking if I could see her sometime today, preferably this morning. My weekly meeting was already scheduled with her for the following day, but I couldn’t wait. I needed to see her today. Sensing my urgency, she was able to schedule me for 10:30 AM, which meant I would have to skip out on my early lunch with Kat. It was probably for the best because I wasn’t sure if I could handle being alone with her and still carry a conversation without turning into a sulking puddle. At least during rehearsals, I would have the dancing to focus on rather than her and how she was still with that asshole.

I spent a few minutes cuddling Zee, listening to her purrs and quiet mewls of appreciation for the scratches I gave her. With a loud huff, I finally drug myself out of bed and headed for the shower to get ready for our weekly production meeting. I was in no mood for Stacia and Joe’s bullshit this morning. I stood under the hot stream, silently hoping they would keep things professional for once. If they started pushing their “romantic relationship” agenda again, there was a good chance I may snap. I couldn’t handle it today.

I didn’t even bother to dress nice like I normally would. Really, what was the point? I was going to rehearsals after the meeting anyway. I opted for black sweatpants, a fitted gray t-shirt, hat, and glasses instead of contacts. At least this casual look wasn’t ratty looking with holes and stains for once. It was more on the stylish sportswear side than anything.

Once I was dressed, I quickly made Zee’s breakfast, grabbed my gym bag, then headed out the door toward Television City Studios. I stopped on the way for my usual cup of coffee. I second guessed getting Kat’s usual order, silently berating myself for acting like a lovesick puppy as I waited in line. As I exited the building with two to-go cups in hand, I noticed paparazzi hanging around and snapping pictures. It’s too fucking early for this shit. Why are they even here? I sighed, trying my best to ignore them as I walked the short distance to my vehicle.

Minutes later, I entered the lobby of my destination. My eyes immediately scanned the room to find Kat. I didn’t see her. My shoulders dropped at the realization that she wasn’t here yet. She was always early. My mind jumped to the memory of Alec asking Kat to let him come home with her, so he could “show her how sorry” he was. My stomach turned. I felt sick all over again as I moved to sit in one of the cushy chairs and sat the two coffees down on the nearby end table.

After looking around the room for a few minutes, I pulled out my phone to scroll through Instagram. Several posts from the Dieter and Kat hashtag filled my feed that included pictures and videos from the Latin club. I knew how it felt when we were dancing that night, but I hadn’t considered how it looked. It did not look like two friends hanging out and having fun. Instead, it looked like two people eye-fucking each other while getting a little too up close and personal on the dance floor. Did we always look like that? Is this what Alec saw that had him so angry? I could see why he was upset, but that still didn’t give him any right to treat Kat the way he did.

My scrolling was interrupted by Kat breathlessly rushing in like she was running late. I glanced at the time, our meeting wasn’t scheduled to start for another ten minutes. She sank down in the seat beside me as she blew air out through her cheeks.

I raised an eyebrow in her direction, “Everything OK?” I asked.

She rolled her eyes, “Yeah…I just feel frazzled this morning. I overslept and it went downhill from there.”

“Long night?” I bit the inside of my cheek, already regretting my question.

She sighed, “Not really. I mean, I had to put up with Alec and his snoring, but I also just couldn’t sleep. I had a lot on my mind.”

I realized she was avoiding my gaze. Her eyes were looking everywhere but in my direction. I leaned forward in my seat, into her line of sight. Her brow furrowed as she looked me over.

“Whatta bout you, are you ok? I was worried after you left last night. What happened?”

I shrugged. Now it was my turn to avoid her gaze, “I just wasn’t feeling well. I guess it finally hit me after the adrenaline rush wore off.”

She pursed her lips, “Why didn’t you answer any of my calls or texts? I was half tempted to drive over to your place to check on you. Are you sure you’re good?”

Wait. Does she think I relapsed? “I’m sorry, my phone was on silent. I didn’t see your messages until late. I didn’t wanna wake you. I’m fine. I promise. I was just feeling a little nauseous.”

She chewed on her bottom lip as she continued to stare at me for a beat, “You look tired, did you get any rest?”

The way she was looking at me literally took my breath away. All I could manage was a shake of the head before clearing my throat and reaching for her coffee on the table beside me. I needed to change the subject, “I got you some coffee. Sounds like we both need it.”

She took it from me as she mumbled a quiet “thanks”. Her eyes focused on the cup in her hands for a time. Her brows knitted together, indicating she was deep in thought. I hated seeing her like this. She seemed conflicted or frustrated about something. I sat back in my seat and sighed, propping my chin on my hand and staring out a nearby window. I could sense a weird tension between us now and I hated it. Or was that all in my head? I wasn’t sure.

When I turned back toward Kat, she was staring at me. Her lips were slightly pursed, and her brow arched as her eyes took me in.

My brows drew downward as I gave her a nervous smile, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

A smile tugged at her lips, “I’ve never seen you in glasses or a hat. It’s just different…”

My brows now shot up into my hairline, “Is that bad? I know I look like a slob this morning…”

She shook her head, “No…it’s not bad at all. I actually like the glasses. I prefer the soft and wavy hair look, but I could get behind the hat too. It's growing on me.”

My face heated from her words. I couldn’t tell if she was teasing me or hitting on me. As I gave her a look of what I’m sure was confusion, we were interrupted by a production assistant letting us know Stacia and Joe were ready for us in the conference room.

Stacia and Joe greeted us from their seats behind the large table with their usual sneaky smiles. It never failed to amaze me how they always looked like they were up to something. Once we got through the pleasantries, Joe got down to business, a sly smirk still on his face.

“Since you two are one the favorites this season, we wanted to check in with you about your social media posting. We’d like to see you posting more behind the scenes stuff to create some buzz for the show.”

I snorted, “So, you want free promotion? Is that what you’re saying?”

Kat sighed beside me and sunk down in her seat.

Stacia smiled, “Didn’t you read your contract? You’re obligated to do certain promotional activities. Social media posts are one of them.”

I rolled my eyes, “Yeah, but we’ve made a couple of posts. I’m pretty sure the contract doesn’t say how much or what type of stuff we have to post.”

Stacia’s smile widened, “You’re right. It doesn’t give specifics. It says it’s at the discretion of the executive producers. Consider this to be our discretion. We want more posts from you two…from rehearsals or if you happen to be hanging out for lunch…or whatever, just snap a pic and post it. It doesn’t have to be a big deal.”

I glanced over at Kat, her nostrils flared as a crease formed between her brows. It was obvious to both of us. They were still pushing their agenda, though they were being less obvious with their intentions. They knew all they had to do was create the perception that something was going on between us. Even if it was a subtle one, it would still have the intended effect with viewers.

I could feel the anger rolling off Kat, but she stayed quiet beside me. They had us backed into a corner on this one.

I sighed, “Alright, fine. More social media posts. Got it.”

They both smiled smugly at us, having won that argument. Joe tapped on the table, “Alright. Good. So…the next thing is, we’re gonna start shooting some backstage footage during the live show going forward. It will help fill some of the airtime as couples are voted off. We just wanted to give you a heads up on that because there will be cameras in the staging area and maybe even in hair and makeup too.”

My mind briefly drifted back to how Kat and I had stood together with our arms around each other to watch the other performances during the last show. Then there was our pre-performance ritual too. Stacia and Joe had noticed it, I just knew it. They wanted to get it on camera for the world to see because it played into their agenda. I suddenly felt like there wasn’t anything that we could do that couldn’t be twisted to look how they wanted it to. It was frustrating and pissed me off. We couldn’t even just enjoy our time together and be friends without it being twisted into something else.

Neither Kat nor I said anything in response to this new development, but I could sense she was feeling the same as I was about it. Her tense body language told me everything I needed to know. Once Stacia realized we didn’t have any comments on that, she started shuffling through her binder, for I assume, the mockups of our costumes.

“This week we’re doing a 50’s theme…so all of the music and costumes will be inspired by that time period.”

She slid the drawings over to us. They had Kat in some short black high-waisted shorts, a black and white striped shirt, and a 50’s pin-up model hair style. Mine was the typical white t-shirt, jeans, and leather jacket of that era with slicked back hair.

“We have you guys scheduled to do the Jive to Jailhouse Rock. Do you have any objections?”

Kat again didn’t say anything, she just shook her head. I did the same as I slid the mockups back toward Stacia.

Not much more was said between us after that. Kat and I soon found ourselves exiting toward the lobby. We were silent most of the way. She finally turned to me when it seemed we were away from everyone, “Do they think we’re that fucking stupid? I know what they’re trying to do.”

I shrugged, “Yeah, but it is what it is, I guess. Not much we can do about it. They’re gonna do what they do.”

I hated what they were doing as much as her, but honestly, it wasn’t the thing that was really bothering me at that moment. Seeing Kat so angry about being associated with me romantically felt like another punch to the gut, even though it shouldn’t. She was engaged to someone else for fucks sake. She should be upset about it. It wasn’t like anything had actually changed between us. I was just being delusional.

I watched as Kat sighed and ran her hand through the top of her hair out of frustration, “I don’t understand why they can’t just let things happen naturally and stop forcing this shit. It’s not fair to us.”

What the hell does that mean? I stared at her, unblinking and confused by her words. Her eyes widened slightly, “I just mean, they shouldn’t force cast members into situations is all I’m saying. It’s an asshole move.”

I nodded along, agreeing with her half-heartedly. I felt so confused.

She chewed on her cheek for a beat, then shook her head, dismissing the conversation all together. “You’re right. It doesn’t matter. It’s not worth our energy to worry about it…” She paused, then sighed before continuing, “So, where do you wanna go for lunch today? There’s a diner…”

I held up my hand to stop her, “I’m sorry…I can’t have lunch with you today.”

Confusion clouded her features and she looked almost…disappointed? She frowned, “Why not?”

“I-I…have an appointment with my therapist.” I paused, watching the look on her face change to one of concern. I suddenly felt like I needed an explanation. “It was the only time our schedules lined up this week…I go once a week.” Stop fucking rambling, Bravo. She seemed relieved now that she knew it was a routine visit, even though it really wasn’t.

“Oh…you didn’t have to tell me all that. It’s good to hear your going though.”

I forced a smile, “Yeah…so I’ll see you after that. I may be a few minutes late though…because of traffic.”

She nodded, “That’s fine. No big deal. You want me to pick you up some lunch then?”

I shook my head, “Na, I’m good. Thanks for the offer though.”

The way she was looking at me made me feel almost uneasy. I felt like she could see right through me, like she knew what was going through my head. I’m sure it was just my paranoia about her realizing my feelings toward her, but that thought didn’t make it any better.

I looked down at my watch, “Oh shit, I need to go. I’ll see you in a bit, yeah?” She gave me a small smile as we said a quick goodbye.

A short time later, I sat down in a chair in front of Dr. Smith as she asked what was going on. I was fidgety, rubbing the tops of my thighs nervously as I thought of the best way to explain it all. I thought it best to start with the events from last week, filling her in about how Kat and I had gone to the club then the subsequent incident that took place with Alec after. She listened intently as I explained how I had been worried about Kat’s safety and what an asshat Alec is. I paused for a beat, trying to decide on the best way to explain everything after that when she interrupted my thoughts with an unexpected question.

“Did seeing that bring up any feelings or memories related to your parents? Is that why you’re so upset?”

Honestly, my past family drama hadn’t even crossed my mind. I shook my head, “No…I mean I guess it did in that I know what those types of people are like. It makes me worried for her safety.”

Dr. Smith stared at me, she looked confused.

“I’m in love with her,” I blurted out. No sense in sugar coating it at this point.

Her eyes widened, “Well…that escalated quickly.”

I shook my head, “No, not really. I’ve had feelings from day one. I only just realized what it was yesterday when she agreed to give that asshole another chance. After our time together last week, I really thought she would tell him to fuck off.”

“Your time together? What do you mean?”

I realized I hadn’t gotten to that part yet, so I launched into it. Detailing our trip to the pet store, the facetime call, dinner at my place. The vibes between us and how it was making me feel. All of it.

“I know a relationship isn’t the best idea right now because I need to focus on my sobriety, but I swear this is different. It’s not an urge for a casual hookup…like…I want to be with her, and I don’t mean that in a sexual way. I want all the mundane domesticated stuff too.”

Dr. Smith sighed, “Can I be honest with you?”

“Of course!”

She leaned forward, “I had a feeling this was coming. I’m a fan of the show, so yes, I’ve been watching. It’s obvious you two have chemistry. That’s why I keep asking about her. The fact that you were avoiding the topic told me that something was going on inside that brain of yours.”

Damn, I knew that would come back to bite me.

“I am a little shocked to hear all of this has been going on. Her situation is concerning, but she’ll have to make the decision to leave on her own. The best you can do is continue to offer her support and hope she comes around.”

I started rubbing at the back of my neck, “But what am I supposed to do about how I feel? I’ve never felt like this about anyone before and the whole situation is giving me anxiety. I think I almost had a panic attack last night.”

Dr. Smith clasped her hands under her chin as she thought through her next words, “I’m torn about how to approach this…because I do worry about codependency. Especially if she’s currently in an unhealthy relationship and has been for that long. It could cause some unhealthy habits between the two of you.”

I shook my head, “No. It’s not like that with her. I’m confident that’s not an issue. I mean…we tend to look out for each other, and she would totally call me out on my shit. Everything is different with her. I don’t know how to explain it…Her dad was sober after struggling for a while, so she gets what I’m going through with that. She’s been very supportive.”

Dr. Smith nodded and pursed her lips as she took in my words, “Maybe you should tell her how you’re feeling.”

She said it like it was the simplest thing in the world. Like it wouldn’t completely change everything between Kat and me.

“What if she doesn’t feel the same way though? It will completely ruin our friendship. And…I don’t want to put her in that situation. She’s engaged to someone else…remember?”

She sighed, “Dieter, I’m not really sure what you came here looking for. I can’t tell you what to do about the situation. The only thing I can help you do is to work through your feelings. It’s clear you have strong feelings toward her. My main concern is you and if it’s causing an urge to use again.”

I puffed air out of my cheeks, “I mean…I had a brief moment this morning where I thought it would be nice to be numb to it all. That was the main thing that prompted me to come in. I just wanted to talk it out with someone. It was the first time I’ve had that thought in weeks…I’m just a fucking pansy who can’t handle any kind of feelings.”

She gave me an admonishing look, not approving of my negativity toward myself.

“Sorry…but it’s just facts.” I added.

“Dieter, you are perfectly capable of handling it. You just need to learn how. You’ve made so much progress already…I hope you realize that. I would expect you to have a hard time with something like this. It’s new and different. So, don’t be so hard on yourself. This is all part of the human experience and completely normal emotions to be having.”

I nodded. She wasn’t wrong. I had come a long way from where I had been. The old Dieter probably would have relapsed and never even made it to the first rehearsal. Or if he had made it this far, he would have completely gone on a bender last night without a second thought. I did need to give myself some credit.

I sighed, “You’re right. I have made progress. I’ll do better to think more positively about myself in that respect.”

She smiled, “Good. Now, how do you plan to deal with this going forward? I can talk you through that.”

I shrugged, “I guess…I’ll play it by ear and see what happens? Nothing has really changed. I’m just not really sure how to act around her. I don’t feel like I can be as open with her knowing she’s back with that douche bag. I think I just got my hopes up…ya know what I mean?”

Dr. Smith nodded, “I feel like that’s a good way to deal with it. It sounds like you two do have a good friendship, so try not to let this come between you as far as that goes. I do think she’s been good for you in that sense and as long as you’re managing your expectations you can handle it. For now, just focus on being a supportive friend to her. Maybe that will eventually pay off.”

My time with Dr. Smith was up soon after that. I did feel a little better after having talked it through with someone. It made me feel a little less crazy for the reaction I had - to know that it was actually normal emotions that I was experiencing. At least I had a plan with how to go forward. I just hoped I could stick to it without making an ass of myself or causing issues for Kat.

After leaving my appointment, I stopped for some fast food and ate in the parking lot. My mind kept wandering to Kat no matter how hard I tried to focus on other things. The thought of her going home with Alec the previous night was eating away at me. They had clearly spent the night together. It was making me feel sick all over again. I ended up trashing half of my greasy ass food before heading over to the studio to get started on this week’s routine.

Kat had already started working on the routine while she waited for me to arrive. She didn’t make a big deal out of my appointment, which I appreciated. Only asking if I was feeling ok. Somehow, I got the sense that she knew I was completely full of shit about why I suddenly had therapy this morning. I just hoped she hadn’t figured out the reasons for it.

We started the way we always did, by listening to our music arrangement and discussing what we wanted to convey with our performance. Then Kat moved into teaching me the basics of the dance since it was new.

“So, the Jive is a little different and is one of the more difficult dances because of the quick footwork. In ballroom it’s considered to be a Latin style dance, however, it’s also part of the swing dance family too. It’s known for its upbeat energy and requires high knee lifts and a lot of hip swinging. It’s gonna be a real test of your stamina.”

I raised a brow at her, and she chuckled. Seriously? I was tempted to make a joke but refrained.

“So, we’re gonna be using both open and closed positions for it. We’ll be doing a triple step with downward leg movements. You have to be sort of bouncy with it. On the finish, legs should be straight with an upright posture.”

She did her usual demonstration as she explained it. She wasn’t wrong, it did look a little more complicated. Even more so when she did it at the speed in which the dance required. It took me a bit to get the footwork down, but I finally caught on. We spent the rest of the afternoon planning out the routine, though I wasn't very engaged. I was unusually quiet and unable to focus on anything other than Kat being with that asshole. From the way she kept eyeing me, I knew she could tell something was up. I hoped that she wouldn’t ask, because I couldn’t lie to her if she asked point blank. Thankfully she didn’t.

The hours seemed to pass by quickly once we finally got into a groove. My sour mood didn’t abate, but at least I was able to focus on the task at hand. Once our studio time was up, I said a quick goodbye to Kat and moved to leave, instead of waiting around to walk out with her. She didn’t give me a chance to get out the door before calling out to me. I took a deep breath before turning to face her as she approached and placed her hand on my arm.

“I’m not gonna ask how you’re feeling again…but if you need anything…please call me. I don’t care what time it is. OK?”

The worry in her eyes nearly broke me. It was obvious that she truly cared about me. I would never question that. I felt a lump forming in my throat as I considered telling her everything, just so she wouldn’t worry. I looked away, clearing my throat before speaking.

“I promise, I’m good. I’m just…working through some things.”

She nodded, the sad look still in her eyes as she released my arm. I gave her a small smile and pulled her in for a side hug. I couldn’t leave her looking like that. It seemed to do the trick as she appeared more relaxed when I pulled away. After another quick goodbye, I headed out and went home.

After having leftovers for dinner, I spent some time checking in with my plants. As I was painting the previous night, I noticed that Goldie, one of my large hanging Pothos plants, was looking a little withered. Now that I thought about it, I couldn’t remember the last time I had actually watered her. I had moved her to the art studio away from Zee and sort of forgot about her hanging in the corner. Realizing that I had potentially neglected the viny greenery made me feel like shit. After providing just the right amount of hydration from my rainwater collection barrel, I spent a good hour clipping back the stems and gently dusting each of her leaves. It made me feel better to watch her perk up before my eyes. It also helped me relax and gain a little mental clarity about everything.

As I had said to Dr. Smith, nothing had really changed about our situation. Kat had never split from Alec. Therefore, there was no reason to try and patch up the wall that was slowly being chipped away between us. There was nothing wrong with us getting closer as friends. Though, I did have to weigh any emotional trauma that might come with that. However, I reasoned it was worth it if that meant keeping Kat in my life long term. Even if it was only as friends.

After checking in with the rest of the plants in the art studio, I got ready to go to sleep. Zee was already in bed waiting for me when I came out of the bathroom. It had become sort of a nighttime ritual to have some cuddles before we both zonked out.

Since I had met with Dr. Smith a day earlier, we canceled my Wednesday appointment. That meant I had the entire morning to do nothing until our evening rehearsal time. I took advantage of it and did not set an alarm - allowing myself to sleep in for once. Not that I got to sleep in too much later. Zee was on a schedule that she would not let me forget. It was nearing 9AM when I felt her pounce on top of me and meow loudly in my face. Which was just as good because I was almost positive I was having a dream I shouldn’t have been having about Kat. My morning wood corroborated that thought.

After groaning and grumbling loudly, I finally got out of bed and made my way downstairs to make Zee’s breakfast. Once she was finished, she hopped up on her cat tree and indulged in her favorite pastime, bird watching. I rolled my eyes and shook my head as I passed by her to go back to bed. After settling back in, I grabbed my phone for some morning social media scrolling.

Since following the ‘Dieter and Kat’ hashtag, my feed was now populating more and more posts related to us. I ended up going down another rabbit hole, looking at videos of our past two performances and behind the scenes rehearsal clips for the first time. There was no question about it, the chemistry between us was off the charts from the start, and not just while we were dancing. I almost didn’t recognize myself watching the way I interacted with her during the rehearsal clip from last week. I figured this is what people mean when they say you have hearts in your eyes. I looked like a lovesick fool.

I sighed, “Fucking hell, Bravo. You’re down bad, dude.”

I let last week's rehearsal clip play again, this time focusing on Kat. It was different seeing things from an outsider’s perspective. Seeing it like this made it obvious that Kat had the same energy toward me. I knew she wasn’t like this with other people, not even with Alec. The way she looked at me sometimes when we were dancing hadn’t gone unnoticed by me. However, to see her body language and the way she looked at me when I wasn’t paying attention was a whole other can of worms. I watched her watching me while I was focused on my foot work. Her eyes were sparkling as they roamed up and down my body, a small smirk playing on her lips. Then she would move in to correct my posture, pushing between my shoulder blades or change the positioning of my arms. Most would probably assume she was just minding my form, but some of her touches were lingering and even unnecessary given that she could provide verbal corrections.

Seeing this made me realize that Kat was definitely into me. It’s no wonder Alec was so worried. The sparks were there for the world to see even though we were doing our best to keep them from turning into blazing flames. It felt almost inevitable at this point. A part of me felt pretty damn smug about it. The other part made me even more concerned that Alec would do something incredibly stupid. My only hope was that he would have a major fuck up and make Kat realize she needed to dump his ass before anything bad happened to her.

I continued down my rabbit hole, clicking hashtags for the show to see where they led me. I eventually came to a post with the hashtag ‘Dieterina’. I snorted, busting into laughter over it. We officially had one of those cheesy celebrity couple names. Kat was going to love that. I briefly wondered what she would do if I used it on a post but thought better of it. For now, anyway…

My scrolling activities were briefly interrupted by Zee jumping on the bed and rubbing her face against my hands for pets, nearly knocking the phone out of my grasp. Once I got her situated beside me, I continued scratching her with one hand and scrolling with the other. Her soft purrs filled the silence as I dug further into the ‘Dieterina’ posts. It seemed we had a lot of shippers who enjoyed sharing screenshots of our performances. Shots that were timed just right to look as intimate as possible. I had to admit, we looked amazing together. I now understand why Stacia and Joe were all over it too. It seemed to be a big fucking deal, even with us trying to avoid it.

I sighed and dropped my phone on the bed beside me, turning to Zee to cuddle her fully.

“There’s something there, Zee. I fucking know it. I’m just gonna bide my time and wait for that asshole to fuck up again. I know he will. He can’t help himself. When he does, I’m gonna be there for her…and I’ll tell her how I’m feeling when the time's right. For now…I’m just gonna go off her vibes, like I have been.”

Zee nuzzled into my chin, mewling quietly in response. Her presence helped calm me. It was almost like she knew that I needed it. I was suddenly thankful that this little menace had forced her way into my life. Having her here was a huge positive impact on me mentally. I wondered if she knew? If she could sense it? Is that why she wouldn’t leave? I pondered that thought as I dozed off again.

I woke up a little after noon, shocked at how well I had slept after falling back to sleep. I felt refreshed and ready to deal with whatever the rest of the day brought. After taking a quick shower and throwing on shorts and a t-shirt, I headed to the dance studio for our afternoon rehearsal time. I was surprised to find Alec in our studio space when I entered. It looked like they were just finishing up with a late lunch. I gave Kat a small wave and tight smile as I moved to the empty chairs at the opposite end from where they were. She looked guarded as she returned the wave, her eyes following me as I moved to set my gym bag down. I was completely aware of Alec’s gaze as his eyes shifted between Kat and me with a self-satisfied look on his face.

I tried to busy myself with looking for nothing in my bag while they told each other goodbye. I just happened to glance over as Alec leaned in to kiss Kat on the cheek. A cocky look overtook his features as he stared me down through it. Like he was asserting his ownership over her and rubbing it in. Fucking asshole. Kat on the other hand seemed tense, not really leaning into his embrace. Why is she doing this to herself? I don’t understand.

Alec made sure to announce rather loudly that he would see her later this evening. He wanted to make sure I heard. Clearly his attitude hadn’t changed any. Kat watched him leave with a stony face before turning to me and smiling. It was so easy for me to tell that it wasn’t a genuine smile. I could read her so well.

I gave her a half-hearted smile in return. I couldn’t fake it like she could. Her smile faltered, she could read me too.

“Dieter…have I done something to make you mad at me? I just feel like you’ve been a little closed off toward me the last couple of days.”

I sighed, “Mad…no. I could never be mad at you.”

Her brow furrowed, “There is something though, right? What is it?”

I gave her another tight smile, “You really wanna talk about this right now? I��m sure I don’t need to tell you.”

She shook her head, “No, I wanna hear it. Say what you have to.”

I blew air out through my cheeks, “Fine. I’m not mad, I’m disappointed.”

Anger briefly flashed in her eyes, “Why?”

I scoffed, “You really have to ask? That asshole physically assaulted you and treats you like shit. I’ve had people like that in my life and I know what they’re capable of. I don’t want that for you. I don’t want you to get hurt…because believe it or not, I do actually care about your well being.”

Her eyes widened as she placed her hands on her hips, “Is that the only reason?”

What exactly is she asking me? The question took me by surprise, and I didn’t really know how to answer it. No, it’s not, but I can’t say that. I stared at her wide-eyed, “D-Do I really need another reason? Just because we’re friends doesn’t mean I have to like him or approve of it. You’re my only concern in this. He can fuck off.”

Her face softened, she looked conflicted for a moment before finally responding, “I’m sorry, you’re right. You have every reason to feel that way after what you saw. I think I’m taking my frustrations out on you, and I shouldn’t.”

She rubbed her hand through the top of her hair, a nervous habit of hers I noticed.

“Do you regret your decision?” The question was out of my mouth before I had time to consider it.

A sad smile tugged at her lips, “Am I that transparent?”

“To me you are…Why did you do it?”

She chuckled, “Oh…you know me, I believe people can change when given the chance. I’m tired though…all I do is worry and wonder what’s coming next. I think I’m just starting to realize that’s never gonna go away with him…but, I promised him one more chance and I’ll stand by it.”

“Just promise me you won’t let it get bad…that you'll tell me if you need anything.”

She reached up to cup my cheek and smiled. This time it reached her eyes, “You’re too good to me. I don’t deserve it, but I’m glad.”

I couldn’t help leaning into her touch for a brief moment. I felt like there was more she wanted to say but couldn’t. I reached to grab her hand from my face and held it between both of mine, “You deserve the world. You shouldn’t be punished for his shortcomings.”

She nodded, agreeing with my words. The moment felt a little too intimate. She chuckled suddenly, turning away and mock wiping sweat from her brow, “Whew, did we just have our first argument? I don’t like it. Let’s never do that again.”

I laughed loudly and pulled her in for a side hug, burying my face in the top of her hair as I spoke, “I think it was more like a mild disagreement…and I don’t like it either. I’ve missed you.”

I felt her arms snake around my waist and squeeze gently. We sat like that for a beat too long, causing the tension to return between us. She loosened her grip but didn’t let go of me as she raised her head to meet my gaze, “We should probably actually rehearse at some point today.” I chuckled and nodded in agreement.

We got to work after that. The vibes between us quickly shifted back to where they were before. I was right, nothing had changed. We had picked up where we left off. Although, it did appear that a few more chips had fallen from the imaginary wall that separated us.

This rehearsal turned out to be rather productive even though we had a bumpy start. We had the choreography completely figured out by the end of it. The routine was fun and full of energy. Kat kept joking about putting my loose hips to good use and opening with some of the signature Elvis gyrations. I finally gave in. It sent us into a fit of laughter as she showed me how to do it properly. That was how we ended the day, and I was thankful for it. I had missed hearing her laugh like that so damn much. You’d have thought it had been years instead of a couple of days since I heard it last.

As we were gathering our things to leave, Kat paused and turned to me. “What are your plans for dinner?”

I shrugged, “Probably leftovers, why?”

She rolled her eyes, “Well if it’s leftovers you cooked, it’s probably better than what I was about to suggest.”

I gave her a cocky smirk, “Maybe not. What did ya have in mind?”

She returned my smile, “There’s this little mom and pop diner about ten minutes away that I’ve been wanting to try. It’s Greek, but they have typical diner foods too.”

I rubbed my chin, pretending to be in deep thought. “I GUESS I could give it a try…” I said sarcastically. Kat laughed and shoved my shoulder lightly.

“Jerk.”

I cleared my throat, “Is that really a good idea though? I don’t want Alec to get pissed about it.”

She sighed, “He can get mad if he wants. I’ve already told him to get over it. Again, I’m not doing anything with you that I haven’t done with my past dance partners.”

I gave her a cheesy smile, “Yeah, but none of your past dance partners were hot.”

She snorted, “Valid point. Let’s go hot guy, I’m starving.”

Does that mean she thinks I’m hot? Her response shocked me a little. I expected a snarky come back, not that. I followed behind her toward the parking lot in a daze, opening the doors for her as we went. I ended up following her to the diner since I had no idea where we were going. We were parked outside the place within minutes. She gave me a shy smile after she got out of her car, walking over toward me so we could go inside together.

We were seated across from each other in a booth near one of the front windows, thumbing through the menu in silence and stealing glances at each other. She pursed her lips, fighting a smile when I caught her staring over the top of her menu at me.

“So, what are ya gettin?” she finally asked.

“Hmm, I dunno, this place has a little bit of everything. The pasta is looking pretty good.”

“Would you like an appetizer? I kind of wanna try the Spanakopita, but that looks like a lot.”

I chuckled, “I don’t even know what the hell that is…”

She laughed, “It’s like a Greek spinach pie in a flaky pastry crust. It’s really good with tzatziki sauce…usually.”

I wrinkled my nose, “Spinach pie?”

“It’s not as bad as it sounds…my grandma used to make it all the time.” She had a faraway look in her eyes now, seeing some past memory as a sad smile tugged at her lips. It obviously meant something to her.

“Well, then…we have to try it.”

Her eyes lit up, “Really?” I nodded. Then she gasped dramatically, clutching her chest. “Oh. My. God. They have baklava too! I’m gonna feel miserable when I leave here.”

I snorted out a laugh, eventually managing to ask what baklava was.

“It’s a dessert…like a pastry, I guess? Smothered in honey.”

“Mmm, that sounds good actually. You’re right, I think I’m gonna be miserable too.”

She smiled up at me then, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Now that I know you like Greek food so much, I’ll have to learn to cook some stuff for you.” Oof, that might have been too forward.

Her smile widened. Maybe not.

“Dieter Bravo, I told you, don’t make promises you don’t intend to keep.”

I chuckled, “I told you I’d cook for you anytime and I enjoy learning new dishes. Besides, I’d love to have you back over. Zee says she needs some more girl time anyway.”

Kat squinted at me, like she was trying to figure out a puzzle, but was interrupted by the waitress coming to take our order. After I asked several questions to narrow down my choice, I settled on the Pastitsio pasta bake and Kat got a Gyro with lamb. Of course, we also got the Spanakopita to share for an appetizer.

As we sat waiting, Kat was distracted by something outside. She stared for a moment before mumbling a low “fuck” under her breath.

My brows furrowed, “What’s wrong?”

She huffed, “I think there are some paparazzi across the street.”

I turned to look in the direction she had been. Sure enough, there were three standing there using long lenses.

It was my turn to huff, “What the hell? They aren’t usually hanging out at a place like this.”

“You think they followed us from the studio?”

I scratched at my chin, “Had to…How else would they know to come here?”

She sighed, “I really hope this doesn’t become a thing. It’s so fucking annoying… can’t even eat in peace.”

I gave her a tight smile, “I’m sorry, I’m sure it’s because of me. They’re just dying to catch me doing something the old Dieter would have done…waiting for me to fail.”

I felt her leg nudge against mine under the table, she didn’t pull it away. It made it hard to focus on anything else but the heat of our bare calves touching.

“Hey, you’re not that person anymore, so fuck them. Just ignore it.”

I managed a small smile in response before we were interrupted by the waitress bringing our drinks and various condiments. I turned my attention to the waitress, “I don’t want to be a bother, but can we close the shade?”

The woman gave me a puzzled look. “There are paparazzi out there taking pictures.” I added.

Her eyes widened, perhaps realizing who we were for the first time. “Absolutely, I can. Would you rather move to a booth in the back? We have one that’s away from everything…it’s more private.”

Kat and I both shook our heads, “Na, I think just closing the shade will be fine…thank you for the offer though.”

She moved to the empty booth behind me so that she could reach the cord and lowered the window covering.

“There you go. Let me know if you guys need anything else. Your food should be out soon.”

She gave us both a warm smile as she walked toward the back.

I shook my head, “Now, let’s see if a sneaky pic of us shows up on their social media later.”

Kat rolled her eyes, “Geeez, I hope not. We might as well not go anywhere at that rate.”

I gave her a toothy smile, “All the more reason for me to cook for us instead.”

She nudged my leg again, peering up at me through her lashes in that way that always takes my breath away, “I’m holding you to that.”

I narrowed my eyes and gave her a cocky grin. The look that passed between us was…something else. I’m not even sure how to describe it, but it definitely made my dick twitch. I finally cleared my throat to break whatever was happening between us, then reached to take a drink of my water just to have something to do so that I wouldn’t get lost in her eyes.

“Speaking of social media…” I finally said as I sat my glass back down. “Have you been paying attention to anything related to the show on there?”

Her eyebrows arched as she shook her head, “No, I try not to get on there too much. Why?”

I chuckled, “Well, we officially have a hashtag now.”

A crease formed between her brows, “What? What do you mean?”

I had to work to hold in my laugh, “You know, those cheesy celebrity couple names? We have one now.”

She rolled her eyes, “Seriously? You’re joking. What is it?” She moved to take a drink through her straw.

“Dieterina.”

She nearly choked on her water as she started laughing, “You have got to be fucking kidding me? Really? Surely there’s something better than that? That’s just…no.”

I had to stifle my laugh, she had the exact reaction that I expected from her.

“I dunno, I mean there are only so many combinations you can do with our names. Kieter? Is it first names only? If not…then Bravos? Stamo? Bramos?”

Kat was trying to hold in her laughs now, “OK. OK. They’re all cheesy. There’s no win here. I can’t…” She continued to laugh as she tried to catch her breath. It was a glorious sight.

“I think imma start using that on our Instagram posts…just to be a punk.”

She shook her head and threw a napkin at my face, “You will not. You might go missing over that one.”

Our appetizer came out soon after that. Kat wasted no time digging in, groaning at the taste of it, and getting little Bravo’s attention in the process, like always. At this rate, I had a feeling that was an issue I would have to take care of when I got home later. I must have been gawking at her like a perv because she froze as her eyes widened. She moved to cover her full mouth with her hand as she spoke, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

I tried to play it off, laughing slightly and shaking my head. “No reason…just watching you make a fool of yourself. I take it that it’s good?”

She shoved what was left of her half eaten spinach and cheese filled triangular shaped piece toward my mouth, “Yes. Try it. Now.”

I laughed, “Geez, so bossy.” I didn’t think twice about what I was doing as I leaned forward and took a bite from the same side she had. She watched me intently, waiting on the edge of her seat for my reaction.

“Well?”

My brows arched upward, “Hmmm. Not bad.”

She scoffed, “Not bad? Are you kidding me? I mean, it’s not as good as my Yaya's was, but it’ll do.”

She popped the rest of the piece I had bitten off of into her mouth, then gave me a cheesy smile.

I loved her like this. She seemed so relaxed and carefree. I also loved that she was sharing bits of her life with me. It made me feel more connected to her somehow.

“How was your Yaya’s different? Maybe I could figure out how to make it like hers.”

Her eyes rounded, “Gosh, I don’t even know how to explain it. I can’t pick out different flavors. It was a little creamier maybe? Or had another type of cheese in it? And maybe some type of herb? I’m not sure. Maybe my sister might know…”

“You have a sister? Older or younger?” I asked.

“Three years older…she lives in North Carolina. I don’t get to see her much.”

I started munching on my own triangle of spinach pie. “Does she look like you?”

She nodded, “Very much so.”

I gave her a sly grin as I arched a brow in her direction, “She single?”

She scoffed, “You better be fucking joking.”

I started laughing, “I am. One hundred percent joking.” I only want you.

She rolled her eyes at me, not amused in the slightest as she pulled out her phone. After tapping at it and scrolling, she showed me a picture of herself hugging a girl who looked very much like her. I took a moment to look at it, mainly focusing on Kat the entire time. She looked genuinely happy in that shot.

“So, you’re the hotter sister. Noted.” I gave her another sly grin before returning to my appetizer.

I could feel her eyes on me, but I didn’t dare look her way. I knew I was pushing the boundaries with that line. I was afraid to see how she had taken it.

Luckily the rest of our food arrived at that moment, breaking whatever tension my comment had caused. After getting our dishes situated on the table that almost wasn’t big enough, we dug in.

“Oh. My. God. You have to try this!” Kat mumbled through a mouth full of food. She held the Gyro over to me for a bite. Clearly, my comment hadn’t bothered her too much. I leaned in for a quick nibble.

“Damn, that is good. I’m getting that next time.”

I started cutting into my baked pasta dish and took a quick bite of the cheesy goodness. “Mmm, maybe not. That’s pretty damn good too. You wanna try it?”

“Oh, yes please!”

I slid my plate toward her, she didn’t hesitate to pick up my fork and take a bite. I don’t know why that was such a fucking turn on, but it was.

She leaned back in her seat, “Fuck. That’s good too. This might be my new favorite place.”

I snickered, pulling my plate back over in front of me. “So, how come you didn’t bring Alec to try this place with you?”

She sighed, “He’s not a very adventurous eater and doesn’t really care for this kind of food. I figured you might appreciate it more.”

I was a little stunned. What an asshat. “So…let me get this right…he’s engaged to marry someone with a Greek heritage, but he doesn’t want to make an effort to experience it with you?”

She chewed on the inside of her cheek, now staring down at her food. I don’t think she had actually realized that until now.

“It’s not something I’ve ever really pushed with him to be honest. I’m sure he would try it if I asked…maybe.”

It was my turn to nudge her leg with mine, leaving it against hers like she had done to me earlier.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

She shook her head, “No…I mean, you’re not wrong. He’s really not. He’s not very supportive in general. That’s something I really should think on.”

Man, fuck this guy. At least it seemed like she was beginning to see where he was lacking. Hopefully that was a good sign.

I changed the subject after that, shifting to sharing Zee’s antics instead. That seemed to cheer her up some. That topic carried us through the rest of our meal until the waitress asked if we wanted dessert. Kat groaned, “I’m so stuffed, but I really want some baklava. You wanna split a piece?”

It was my turn to groan, “Ugh, I guess. You may have to roll me out of here though.”

Kat laughed before confirming our order with the waitress. After the waitress gathered all our other dishes, she left, but returned quickly with one piece of baklava and two forks on a small plate and placed it between us. I realized this sort of felt like a date. Not that I had been on many dates to compare it to, but I imagined it wasn’t far off. It was a little weird given the situation, but it still made me want this with her, for real, even more.

The dessert was good, unfortunately. Which caused Kat to resort to making her moaning noises again as she ate. When she wasn’t moaning, she was licking the fucking honey off the fork. It was a new form of torture.

As we were finishing up, the waitress brought our bill. I grabbed it off the end of the table to pay. Kat grumbled but finally relented and allowed it. Soon after that, we were getting into our respective vehicles to head home for the evening. The paparazzi were still hanging around, so we opted for a smile and wave to say goodbye. Heaven forbid we get close to each other.

The whole ride home, the evening replayed in my mind. The way she kept looking at me. The way it felt to have her leg touching mine through most of the meal. The way she looked licking that fucking fork before sticking it in her mouth. I felt my dick involuntarily twitch.

“Fucking hell. Looks like I have something to take care of when I get home.”

Next: Week 4 (Part 2)

A/N: As you can see, this is only part 1 of week 4. If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm shit at judging the length of chapters based on my outline. 😂 So, yes, you will be getting a part 2 very soon. I'm shooting for posting next week. It's basically done. I just have a little bit left for the ending and proofing...and maybe some fun edits. It will probably end up being around the same word count as this one (maybe a little less). It will also mostly be Kat's POV. Why? Because we will be getting Alec's major fuck up. There may be a little bit from Dieter at the end, we'll see how I end up wrapping it up. Once again, we have a lot going on in week 4. Dieter is going through it after finding out Kat has given Alec another chance. Are we yelling at these two to figure their shit out yet?

We of course had more nonsense from Stacia and Joe. We will get more from them in the second half too. They are pulling all sorts of strings behind the scenes.

We also had some breadcrumbs about Dieter's history. How are we feeling about that? How do you think it could have affected him? How could it affect things going forward?

We also got a little more Cat/Plant Daddy Dieter in this one. Swoon!

Please do share your thoughts and predictions for the second half. You know I love it when you guys yell at me and jump into conspiracy theory mode!

💜Mysty

The video for this chapter is a fun little Jive to Tina Turner’s Rolling On the River. Enjoy!

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enehana · 2 months

Text

Jason Grace with the cabins

Cabin 1: Zeus. It's just him and Thalia because of the oath. Probably. Hopefully. Jason would be very protective of any younger siblings. He'd use his status as Champion of Juno to try and protect them from her wrath. It would work, for the most part.

Cabin 2: Hera. There isn't any children of Hera. He'd absolutely be chill with the 'adopted' children of Hera, though. Like the Iris cabin.

Cabin 3: Poseidon. Percy Jackson, baby. I don't believe they really compete over much unless its an actual competition or game. They work together just fine. Good friends, only gay sex as a joke. Any other children of Poseidon (that aren't supposed to exist either), Jason wouldn't really talk to. Percy would probably be too protective of them for Jason to have much to do with them.

Cabin 4: Demeter. The Demeter kids would always be asking him if he could change the weather for their gardens. He doesn't. He's too worried that if he tried it would get too out of hand and ruin their gardens. Some of them think the gesture is sweet. Others are more annoyed that he won't try. Cause he's literally the son of Jupiter, he should be able to control his powers. And he can. But he isn't risking it. They probably get along pretty well.

Cabin 5: Ares. The Ares kids are always challenging him to duels and asking to spar. He usually agrees, granted it's a friendly thing. They want to make their dad proud by defeating the son of Jupiter. They don't. Jason wins, and then gives them pointers. This makes them want to fight him more. If he thought it wasn't a friendly thing, he wouldn't fight them unless they actually attacked him. He'd always try to talk through the issue. Jason fully believes he isn't anyone special because his dad is the king of the gods. He thinks they want to spar with him because he genuinely is one of the best and most experienced fighters. Cause that's how Camp Jupiter is. Overall, they probably wouldn't get along well naturally. Zeus wasn't the biggest fan of Ares, so their kids wouldn't be inclined to be playmates or anything. But Jason would always try to work well with them.

Cabin 6: Athena. One of the best combinations. Jason and the Athena kids would be working together constantly. Sparring tips, doing research, teaching younger campers. Jason is built for leadership despite how much he never wanted it. Athena kids want to lead and earn their glory. He would absolutely support them on anything they decided.

Cabin 7: Apollo. I refuse to believe Jason died in TOA. It all happened, but he didn't die. Just no. The Apollo kids would be incredibly grateful for Jason not letting their dad die, especially after he actually started being a good dad. Jason would try to relax with the Apollo kids if he ever got a break. They'd all definitely be great friends.

Cabin 8: Artemis. Thalia Grace. Need I say more?

Cabin 9: Hephaestus. They'd love each other. Hephaestus was not treated great by Zeus and Hera at all. Jason would 100% try to make up for that. AND Jason always tried to befriend the outcasted kids. Hephaestus was one. Leo certainly loved Jason. The potential for Valgrace to be canon was insane. And the electricity. He could charge anything they made. He's strong too. Definitely able to hold up heavy machinery while they worked. He'd be amazing with the Hephaestus cabin.

Cabin 10: Aphrodite. Piper Mclean. Her siblings would love him. The younger Aphrodite kids would look up to Piper so much, so the fact that things ended 'amicably' between them would mean so much. Jason would be caught up on Piper for a long time, and would avoid the Aphrodite cabin for a while. But once he came around, he was there to stay. They were his siblings too, in his eyes. He'd steer them away from the whole rite of passage thing and encourage them to find the person they want to spend the rest of their life with. And he'd understand if they didn't. Jason was so sweet to them, but I can't image that he would date another child of Aphrodite.

Cabin 11: Hermes. Probably a pretty neutral thing. The Hermes kids tend to be tricksters and rule breakers, which Jason is not. He'd try to keep them in line, but he'd also want to maintain a good impression with them. He'd love to make friends with them. He had heard about Luke from Thalia, and he wouldn't forget that. Thalia did throw him off a cliff. But he would never hold Luke's betrayal against them.

Cabin 12: Dionysus. Jason wouldn't be a fan of the Dionysus cabin parties that were definitely against the rules. Dionysus let them happen anyway. The Dionysus kids would try to get Jason to let loose and forget about his responsibilities for a while. It didn't work, but he did appreciate their effort.

Cabin 13: Hades. NICO MOTHERFUCKING DI ANGELO. They're besties of course. If Bianca lived, she would like Jason purely because Nico liked Jason. I don't remember a lot about canon Bianca, but I can't imagine she would really be friends with Jason. Hazel and Jason were absolutely friends. She missed him when he went missing. And Jason always tried to befriend outcasts, and Hades wasn't considered an Olympian despite literally being the king of the underworld, and Nico was outcasted too much for literally no reason. (I love Nico.) Jason would be great with the Hades cabin.

Cabin 14: Iris. Jason briefly met Butch Walker. It wasn't much of anything. The Iris cabin would love Jason. Hera absolutely adores children of Iris because their mother is her personal messenger. Jason is the champion of Juno. So of course being loved by the queen of the gods would put them together too often. They would make pride flags and hold them up to him, silently asking if he's queer. He doesn't understand what they're doing. Genuinely clueless. He just praises their work. Awesome pride flags.

Cabin 15: Hypnos. Jason and the Hypnos kids. With Jason's PTSD induced insomnia, what better combination? They would absolutely be willing to help him sleep at night. The problem isn't even nightmares, he just cannot fall asleep. The Hypnos cabin would let him sleep in there at any time. And Jason would do anything in return. He takes any gesture of kindness towards him very very seriously. He would do anything for the Hypnos kids.

Cabin 16: Nemesis. Mutual respect. The Nemesis kids respect Jason so much. They can sense that he's done so much good and so many bad things have happened to him AND HE'S STILL A GOOD PERSON. They look up to him so much. They have a lot of adoration or maybe even obsession with this man. Jason respects them in turn. He appreciates how they want justice, they want everyone to be equal, and everyone has to follow the rules. They work incredibly well together. The Nemesis kids can link up their powers with an ally so they're in perfect balance during a fight, and holy shit do they do that with Jason. Jason and the Nemesis cabin is unstoppable. Jason by himself is unstoppable (HE DID NOT DIE I SWEAR), so the Nemesis kids being able to put themselves on par with him is insane. But they cannot spar with each other. The Nemesis kids know that Jason deserves to get revenge more than anybody they've ever met (and Percy, Annabeth, Leo, etc.). They just cannot fight against him under any circumstances. They would let him beat them every single time. He would get very frustrated that they wouldn't even try.

Cabin 17: Nike. Honestly, not the best relationship at camp. Definitely not the worst though. Nike kids tend to believe there can only be one victor and that life is an individual game, no teams. Jason wants everyone to win together. Equality amongst everyone. And the Nike kids 100% stand a chance against Jason. They can influence the outcome of any competition, so the chances of them beating Jason in anything skyrocket. But they also know that when it comes to survival they have to work together. They do tend to push in favor of Jason then. But usually, it's the Nike kids VS. Jason Grace. And Jason just wants peace between them.

Cabin 18: Hebe. The Hebe cabin practically worships Jason. They always wanted a relationship with someone like their mother's husband. And Hebe married Heracles, son of Zeus. So when Jason showed up to camp, they got all fancy and fawned over him. Though they did the same thing with Thalia. Jason was not a fan of the attention. He never wanted to be a leader. So when all these attractive, young demigods start begging for his attention, he felt really awkward. And he was raised at Camp Jupiter, where they value skill over parentage greatly. He did not like getting attention because of who his dad was. He wanted to prove himself through his skill. He did not want to be his father. He spends a lot of time avoiding the Hebe cabin, but he is always polite when he can't.

Cabin 19: Tyche. Jason is on relatively good terms with the Tyche cabin. The Tyche kids do have an illegal gambling room set up in their cabin, which Jason is not very happy about. He doesn't try to stop them though. Their ability to give people chronic bad luck stops people from reporting it. And Mr. D doesn't care anyways. If Chiron shut it down, he'd just help them set it back up. The Tyche kids do admire Jason because somehow he's managed to survive for so long. Abandoned by his mother, raised by wolves, was a child soldier his entire life. They figured their mother must like him if he's survived that long, so they like him too.

Cabin 20: Hecate. Half of the Hecate kids like him, and the other half don't. It's mostly the judgey ones that don't like him. The ones that do like him look up to his power and skill and status. They are the Hecate kids that accept Hazel as their own sibling. The ones that don't like him think he isn't very powerful for a son of Jupiter and is weaker than them. They also typically are the ones that are jealous of Hazel for being their mother's favorite. Hecate kids typically use their powers to enhance other camper's powers. They can lend their magic to others to have a greater effect. They do this with Jason. He works well with the Hecate kids when they're willing to.

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bagofshinyrocks · 9 months

Text

Face to Face

Prompt: Reader has vitiligo and is insecure about it. Ghost finds it attractive. [Requested by anonymous]

Featuring: Simon "Ghost" Riley x Male!Reader

Word Count: 1.2k

Warnings: insecurity about vitiligo; past teasing/bullying/disrespect/etc. regarding vitiligo; no reference to genitalia, but reader uses he/him pronouns; besides the skin condition, no reference to the reader's skin color; no smut, but nudity; two dudes who like dudes making jokes about dudes liking dudes

Note: Vitiligo is an autoimmune disorder wherein patches of skin lose pigment. I totally recommend looking it up if you haven't heard of it.

A/N: Brain shit itself, but hopefully this is still enjoyable to y'all.

You could have kicked yourself. All the years of prods and nicknames (especially in the military), polite and impolite inquiries, stares. You had tried sunscreen, makeup, every medicine available to you either at home or in the clinics. Even did some research on phototherapy.

And you could have just worn a fucking balaclava like this bloke from ‘Manchesta’ (with quite the man-chest). No one even looked at him for very long. You figured wearing a goofy costume mask would get eternal ribbing, but no. None at all. Very relieving to you.

The next time you changed bases you started wearing something to hide your face. Balaclava, facial mask, sunglasses. If it was in regs, you wore it. And it felt a bit better. Not that you couldn’t go outside without something, but the looks or stares didn’t bother you.

You coulda kissed Ghost for having such a genius idea.

Then you actually got to know the bastard. God, he was scary. No wonder no one teased him.

You started working with Ghost on base a few weeks after first seeing him, and the two of you were actually on friendly terms. You were one of the few he seemed to like. If it was it a good thing or a bad thing, you weren’t quite sure yet.

He would sit with you at meals where you got glimpses underneath that mask. Find you during training and start competitions. Playful nudges and shoves in the hall. Ribbing and teasing. It was really nice.

“Have I started a trend?” he teased, plucking at the cloth of his mask.

“You do realize its like ten degrees outside? Not interested in snot-sickles every time I sneeze.”

A rare chuckle. “Tha’s true. Snot-sickles are prob’ly not in the regs.”

“Definitely not. Distracting. Unprofessional.”

A gloved hand landed on your shoulder and gave you a good shake. “I bet you could pull it off though.”

“Oh, you betcha.”

It hadn’t even occurred to you that Ghost had yet to see your face. He’d seen your hands and forearms, and you figured that he knew what vitiligo was and that odds are it was on your face too. You appreciated the balance. He knew which mask jokes were funny and which were uncomfortable, and you two could shoot back and forth.

Finally, after some disgusting obstacle training, you were in the men’s room together, bitching and stripping in a wholly unsexy manner.

“Fuckin’ God,” you gagged, wringing out socks and shoving them in the laundry bag.

“I’d rather get shot in the arse than do that again.” The heavy thunk of boots on the tile. Then he braced himself on the counter and slipped out of his outermost pants. You whistled, and he told you to fuck off.

You went to the showers and decided it would be most efficient to rinse your clothes and gear at the same time as you washed yourself.

Your helmet, the various plastic pads on your joints and limbs, your vest. The slowest, muddiest strip tease. You’d rinse off your shirt a bit, ruck it off and wring it out like a towel and chuck it to the side. Then your pants, your undershirt.

A quick glance behind you and you could see Ghost continuing to struggle with twigs and leaves stuck in the straps of his tactical vest.

You shucked off your undergarments and a good round of water and body wash got the mud, dirt, and sweat off. It had been a minute since you showered with someone else there in the group shower rather than the little cubbies. But Ghost wasn’t looking. You thought.

He had told himself that he was only staring at your naked ass and back because he was curious about your skin. He thought it was maybe burns or scarring, but it appeared all over your body. They didn’t look painful or raised. They were fascinating. Sexy.

His head snapped back to the front and he yanked off his vest. Was he being a creep? A sneaky glance back to you. You were none the wiser.

If he wasn’t staring at your vitiligo, did that mean he was staring at your ass? Nah, you were his mate. Wanting to touch your skin was because he wanted to see if the depigmented patches were raised, or felt different. He wanted to see if the same pigmentation was on your front. Symmetric or asymmetric. Not because he wanted to see anything in particular on the front of your body.

The water shut off and his head jerked away.

Whilst distracted, he had stripped down to his undershirt and boxers and rinsed off a bit in the sink.

You wandered back over with a towel wrapped around you and another in your hand, drying your face and head.

“Mate, I had mud in places I didn’t even know I had.”

Ghost chuckled. “Wash behind your ears?”

You tilted your head and showed him. “Yep. With soap even.”

Finally, his eyes fixed on your face. You were in front of a mirror, but you were distracted with brushing your teeth and checking yourself for cuts and bruises. And he wasn’t being a creep. Right? Fuck, he felt like a freak.

To make himself feel better, he tugged off his balaclava and dropped it with the rest of his discarded clothes. A cursory scrub of his face in the sink.

Oh, good, he wasn’t being a freak. Because your eyes kept darting to his face.

“Alright, 50 minutes.” You patted the washing machine. “Time for a fat nap.”

Simon wrapped an arm around your neck and gave it a gentle squeeze. You grabbed at his bicep and turned to look at him. So close, his nose almost brushed the skin of your cheek.

“Harder, sir.”

He almost laughed but kept it in. A quick movement and you found yourself in the hallway as Simon dragged you backwards to his room.

“Shit, shit, shit.”

You went limp and he finally laughed.

“That won’t save you, pretty boy.”

Goosebumps. A warm rush of blood under the skin of your face. A funny feeling in your stomach. The hair on the back of your neck stood up. You were not excited to decode why you had that reaction to those words.

The officer’s quarters were nicer than the regular ones, with a private room. Small, but private. So (what felt like) a few seconds later you were in Simon’s room. On his bed. On top of the sheets, but still on the bed.

Then he crammed in next to you.

“It’s fine if it’s back to back,” he teased, pressing up against you and ‘got comfortable’, meaning he was rocking around and bumping into you on purpose.

“Yeah, sure. You like having your ass against my ass L.T.?”

“Fuck we supposed to do? Lay dick to dick? Snuggle arse to dick?”

“I’m wearing socks, L.T.” You flipped around and settled your hands over his shoulder blades. “Want a… back rub, sir?”, you said as sensually as you could while trying not to laugh.

Simon craned his neck. “You will turn back around and make our arses kiss or I’m going to break your arms.”

The bed shook with your laughter.

“We have 47 minutes to nap. Hop to.”

“Yes, sir.”

Enjoy reading this? Here's a link to my other works! Thanks for reading :-)

Posted: 2024 January 7

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ioniansunsets · 10 months

Note

may i please have some heartsteel yone/f!reader? i haven't seen much of my beloved producer 🥺

✖ Heartsteel!Yone x Reader ✖

✖ Word Count: 2k

✖ Tags: Long Term Established R/S

✖ A/N: You get together with Yone 10 years ago in Japan. HC Yone as someone who started out DJ-ing at clubs before outgrowing the scene and fading to obscurity online before Heartsteel picked him up.

---- Meeting Him ----

- You met him back in Japan, back when you visited clubs and actually managed to catch his DJ-ing before he quit. It was underground but it was unique. Experimental stuff that just somehow still sounded so damn good to you. You found yourself drawn to him and eventually going up to talk to him during a break between sets. He fell in love with you shortly after, he had a small but loyal fanbase and having someone like you appear at every single one of his performances really weakened the walls around his heart.

- You spent college dropping by any of Yone's appearances throughout your fall quarter and as school went on and as winter break came over, you finally found the time and energy to hang around and visit his other appearances too. Some fun mall gigs, cute online streams in the day, even managing to land a dj-ing gig at a local dance competition. You could tell it was hard, he had a distinctive style that was as much a pro as it was a con and eventually he faded away from performing at all in person.

- It was his 'Final Performance' so the speak. That late night in the club, a drink in hand, bright smiles as you had fun with you friends while watching the elusive masked dj on his little stage. It was his final performance. Now or never to confess your love for both him and his music, your nerves straight ice as the night slowly drew to a close. Unbeknown to you, he too, felt exactly the same as he watched you from the stand. The passing comments and small conversations the two of you shared over the months left him yearning for something more with you.

- And it was sweet when it finally happened. Uncharacteristically gentlemanly coming from a DJ. You stayed as the club begun to close, Yone walking up to talk to you just like any other time a friendly conversation before he offers you a small giftbag, softly telling you its a personal Christmas gift for his most loyal supporter, telling you to open it when you're home. You thank him, pushing yourself to exchange numbers with him so you can give him feedback when you're home safe. You curse as you miss your chance to confess in the heat of the moment.

- As you return home, you pull a thin package beautifully wrapped in the little bag. You unwrap it to find a homemade mixtape, all of your favorite songs from him paired with special unreleased works that he think you would like. How he even managed to know which were your favorites shocked you honestly. As you look into the bag further a sweet handwritten note confessing his budding love for you neatly written in decorative paper falls out. Poetic words with the neatest handwriting, you could swear the paper itself was scented too. Your heart races as you listen to the CD while reading the pages of his feelings. The first thing you ever messaged him was a cute " Yone, I love you too." Which Yone has graciously screenshotted and looked back on often over the years.

---- Heartsteel / Dating ----

- You two are the loving parents of Heartsteel, the comforting consistency, the caring confidants of the group. There was just something nice about seeing Yone and his partner of almost ten years still going strong in such a stable relationship that causes all the boys to look at you with such respect. You have fun with them all, you work hard late nights supporting Yone and his work, you look out for him as he looked out for you. You were as much part of the gang as he was.

- Surprisingly Yasuo loves you just as much (platonically), he's happy to see Yone just genuinely be so at ease around you, to have someone be there for his brother that can actually make the man relax? You have his approval. After moving on and joining True Damage, Yasuo would worry seeing Yone so alone, so having you appear and provide his brother with such companionship made him happy. Though, Yasuo does tease Yone a lot, every time you meet him he always asks you if Yone has proposed. He can't understand how you two have been together so long yet not gotten married.

- Dates with Yone were always so calming. Bringing you out to hot spring inns during stressful times, inviting you to cute hidden cafes to work together, comforting jamming sessions late night at his place if money was tight. Nothing embarrassingly over to top yet not so casual that you felt like the two of you weren't doing anything special. There was just something about the way he just knows what you need. As the years went by you realized it was just how Yone was, he was an attentive guy and especially so when it came to you.

- Also it was no secret that Yone looked at self care as a priority and slowly you picked up on his little habits too. Simple yet small adjustments to your own habits. The way you two would go through the motions of burning incense and making tea early in the mornings for a quick meditation and mindfulness session. The loving way he would cook healthier meals for you, how he would be the one buying bath and beauty products, how he would motivate you to follow him to Kendo lessons to exercise, how he would leave books filled with comments on post-its around the house for you to read when you had time. The softest part was how he never seemed disappointed even if you said no to any of this, he was caring and patient after all, he'll win you over into self help eventually.

- The biggest change with the new popularity of Heartsteel was seeing the sheer number of fans Yone started to get. You almost forgot what it was like being his fangirl honestly, so used to your life with him after his semi-retirement, it was weird suddenly being thrown back to your college days of being in love with that DJ at the club. Sure things were different, you came home to him, you slept by his side every night, you heard all his music before it was released, but still... There was something about the way your heart thrums as you stand in the audience watching Yone lift his mask to throw you a charming smile. There was something about the way you knew when he laughed softly on stage, when he waves to the fans, when the crowd cheers, that the cool DJ standing up there was all yours. Oh it made you smile just as bright.

---- During Touring Season ----

- Being together for so long had its perks and its downfalls, for one, you two had a really nice house together, a place you truly called home. Little bits of Yone all around you all the time in the way the bed smelt like him, the way you see his drinks in the fridge and his things around the room. As much as it all comforts you when he is away, it all also oh so depressingly reminds you how lonely you are without him. At the least, Yone was a man of conviction and strict schedules, without fail every day at midnight where he is, when the concerts over he would always contact you somehow. Be it a call, a message, and photo. He would always make sure to send you at the very least, something, once a day. Lovingly checking in on you to make sure you were ok.

- Sure you had your own life outside of being his loving girlfriend but yet, being by Yone's side was such a commonplace that the emptiness of the house felt foreign after all these years. Yone did his best to make sure you weren't alone though, leaving little notes hidden around the house for you to find and read, leaving you a playlist to fill his study with music so you could feel like someone was still there. Of course he still called you when he could but there were other things too, like how he kept ordering meals for you, secretly asking your neighbors to keep an eye out to make sure you were safe at night, how he actually sent you postcards so you could have a physical reminder that he was thinking of you. It was all so sweet.

- If you could make it to a concert? You had the VIP treatment, he was very secretive, not really having social media, no one really knew he was in a long term relationship with you. But for Heartsteel? Everyone close to Yone knew who you were. No questions asked, a VIP pass thrust into your hands courtesy of Alune who excitedly dragged you backstage to say hi to your partner before and after the performance.

- During the actual show it was crazy, for someone whose style was so underground it was exciting and certainly different to see how wild the crowd was compared to your hazy memories of small secluded rooms in the fringes of Tokyo all those years back. Heartsteel was good for him you had to admit, seeing him on the international stage, seeing him having so much fun with the other boys, seeing the way he was just glowing with joy when people actually hollered and cheered at his beat drops. A warm bubbling feeling rises up in your chest as you see him smile the way he does around you, only this time it was on the big stage. You knew he was happy with his own small fanbase of loyal stans but you two knew better, a tiny fanbase wouldn't pay the bills, being so wildly loved, being able to make music, his passion, for work. Having so many new people hear the same style of mixing that caught your attention years back and actually love it? Heartsteel was a blessing to you both.

- When you run backstage after the performance to congratulate all the boys on the successful performance Yone stands further back. A warm smile on his face as he pulls off his mask to watch you hug and high five everyone else, a mix of feelings as he watches you talk to his bandmate. As the initial greetings pass, you finally walk up to him, everyone leaving to settle their own post performance maintenance. For Yone, that was a little habit of searching for you and reaching out to pull you into a hug. A habit that he once had all those years back, the nostalgia after every performance always hitting him so hard his usually calm and cool demeanor would crack. The lightest tinge of a blush could be seen rising up to his ears as he finally makes eye contact with you. Slowly he walks over, a hand reaching out to beckon you to come over and hold him.

" You were amazing up on stage, I almost forgot how charming you always looked in the DJ booth."

" And I almost forgot how exciting it was to search for you cheering for me in the crowd. Especially when the crowd is that big."

Yone laughs softly. A deep melodic noise that sends shivers down your spine. Oh the way the corners of his lips curl up, his sparkling emerald eyes gaze down at you. His right hand reaching up, the back of his fingers lightly brushing over your cheeks, pushing your hair back behind your ears.

" Just like old times my love?"

" Just like old times Yone."

Carefully, doing his best to make sure his hair doesn't tickle you, the same hand that pushed your hair back now rises to hold his own messy fringe up as he leans down. Gently, just like always. His lips press against yours. Nothing too affectionate, you two were still in public after all, but still you could feel it, the way the softest kiss from your lover fills your chest with such overwhelming love. As you pull back you look up to see a smile so bright that it causes his eyes to close. Ah, you were truly loved.

#THIS WAS EXCITING i cried a little writing it cos a man this perfect doesnt exist #Yone #Yone x Reader #Heartsteel!Yone #HEADCANONS #SCENARIOS #Half half?#anon answer #YONE IS SO....UGH. he would take care of you oh so well.....................my heart..............it flutters............#Yone League of Legends #Yone LoL #Yone Heartsteel #man would bring you to pottery class and then actively use whatever you make #I hope you love this cos I SURE LOVED WRITING IT...........

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sealofarchives · 3 months

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Hello, could you do a Rottmnt headcanon of what kind of relationship Leo, Raph, Donnie and Mikey would be?

Headcanon: The reader might need 4 rings in the future since they couldn't decide on one turtle. (Requested prompt)

A/N: sorry for bringing up watt/pad again but, I did at least a couple of oneshots towards the reader in a poly relationship with the guys. So I had a bit of deja vu seeing this type of prompt again (probably around 5 years of writing) but anyway...

One last note: It was a bit difficult to understand the wording towards this particular ask. I already had some unpleasant interactions with "those fans" so I hesitated for a bit with this one.

So please double check your asks before sending it because I don't want to end up with another semi-hiatus because of asks that were out of my control...

If this isn't the kind of relationship you're into, then just skip this one.

Leo

He honestly wasn't expecting you to make the first move.

And tbh, he kept pacing around his room by the time the new feelings bonked him on the head. Like "Ooooh no... (Y/N)'s actually really really really cute..."

Surprisingly, he went to Splinter for advice. Part of his soul left his body when the rat man explained the importance of that special relationship in a lovey dovey manner. But, actually listened slowly realizing Splinter's previous relationships ended in failure. Especially with how things are with Splinter and Big Mama.

Its close to the end of the week when you suggest that idea to date all four of them. And you were very much taken back that he's okay with it. Though he can't promise not to be jealous from time to time. But, he and his brothers will make sure not to break your heart and will swear by it.

- More likely to do surprise visits (or alerting you with a text that he's dropping by for a few minutes. sometimes close to an hour or more if he's not really in the mood for a night patrol)

- Accidentally starts light hearted competitions with him and his brothers trying to impress you. He's still gonna be a showboat but tones it down the moment you pretend to ignore him.

- He's a bit insane and brave with the idea of wanting to meet your family members (the ones that you feel comfortable with). Or towards people that have been there for you in those darker times. Aside from April and his future self being close to a guardian figure to Casey Jr. And the brief time he and his family had with Karai, might be the reasons why he wants to reach out more. Mostly starting small though since the mental scar from the Krang and Shredder really changed him as a person.

Its usually Mikey or Donnie that challenge the red slider turtle to a friendly game on winning your affection. And when he's not feeling up to it, he just waits when Raph's turn is over and asks for your TLC (tender loving care).

Despite the horrors, he's still the same ol whiner. And will probably latch on to you with the most saddest eyes. That you're luckily immune to as you hold hands with one of his brothers for the start of the next week. Donnie has used a spray bottle with water at him and still does it even when its not his turn.

Raph

Very confused about the idea and trying to make sense of it.

It might be close to a few weeks where he finally understands. (mainly asking from April because his brothers can make it sound more confusing)

He hasn't really thought that much about the existential dread of the mutant/human relationship until seeing either Leo or Donnie silently anxious about it. Like the alligator snapping turtle is always more focused on keeping his family safe. And with you as a partner (and potential future spouse) being shared with him and the rest of his brothers. Mind Raph is pestering him even more just to say it out loud than just waiting for you to lead the relationship.

He'll eventually get used to it and given his oldest brother status. Takes it with ease being more patient compared to their high energy.

- Doesn't realize he acts like a "proper gentleman" (or gentleturtle as Donnie would say) when Raph opens the door for you while you're carrying boxes or something. Or offers to help you with the heavy lifting. Even Splinter calls him out on that behavior.

- When its his turn dating you, you get immediate "dibs" on everything. He plays very innocent with you but on his brothers. They always work together on a prank back at him for being annoying about it.

- Tends to look at your hands sometimes. He blushes thinking about how soft it feels around his face and lightly tracing around where its safe to touch his spiky shell.

While he always has good intentions, his brothers heavily hate the 'chaperone or third wheel checking in on the date idea'.

- It's mostly brought at least once a month and the trio usually try to tell you ahead of time before it happens again.

He'll be slightly grumpy whenever the trio share a single brain cell about a really stupid thing that he won't get.

- And he'll whine for a bit if you end up taking their side so, just take his side to save him from another wrinkle on his Raph chasm.

Donnie

He's silently making a fuss about it during the first month.

And a bit at himself, for waiting so long to ask you out. Before you went ahead with the bold move of "I don't want you guys to fight over me so... Is it okay if I date all four of you?"

It takes him a long while to get used to it. Or when Dr Feelings notices the softshell turtle not being open and honest about this relationship with you.

However once he's fully settled in, a very charming and laidback sort of relationship.

- I always get the vibe he uses 'dearest or darling' as his term of affection towards you. (His brothers used to tease him about it but, on days where bad luck decided to give this turtle a break and more on them. They're pleading for your help and whether you want to add fuel to that fire. That's on you)

- To me, he has that dramatic hopeless romantic energy. The only difference he pulls it off better than the dense couples in rom com movies/shows. With the amount of words he knows, at least a few or almost all of his compliments at you will send your heart into a flutter.

- At least every now and then, he'll try to dazzle you with something. Either one of his incredible inventions or surprising you with your favorite thing. (He'll boldly insist he was a step ahead getting it as a surprise. Even though his brothers actually chipped in to avoid another "The Purple Game" incident)

He sort of has a friendly rivalry with Leo on trying to make you laugh.

- If he starts to gloat about it, especially winning with the claim "Told you I was the funniest."

You kissing the softshell turtle's lips will instantly shut him down. use that power wisely

He unfortunately has jealousy issues by the time his turn is up.

- Like pretending to give the cold shoulder until you need help with something he's an expert at.

Mikey

Very much the mature one taking this relationship seriously.

Even though it took a few days with Donnie's help to get a better understanding of your idea of the poly relationship.

Dr Feelings and Dr Delicate Touch are working overtime because of these dumb dumbs sometimes.

Despite that, absolutely the sweetest turtle boyfriend. (and best future turtle husband material out of the four of them)

- While he has the Lou Jitsu charm, Mikey's bundle of sunshine is a whole another level. You can't help but, slowly break into a smile from his toothy grin.

- If you're the type who takes a long while to warm up to pda. He'll mostly stick to handholding and ask whenever you want a hug or kiss from him. (He's definitely more warm as a result of the mystic fire-based energy and ninpo that just naturally went with the flow towards him. So you sometimes fall asleep on his shoulder without realizing it)

- More likely to make any boring task you dread doing into a fun adventure. You both have matching hats from a previous grocery trip and pretended it was a mission from one of the Jupiter Jim comics.

His brothers were totally not jelly about it.

Very much tries to hide his embarrassment from his brothers suggesting 'better date ideas' to the best of his ability. He glared a few times at Raph with the chaperone idea. The usual youngest not getting along with the oldest brother sort of deal. So whenever you're around, the biggest sign is a strained smile on his face while lying that everything is okey-dokey.

- He almost clamped his shell shut when Splinter immediately disapproved the ideas with something even more embarrassing.

The only downside is he might go to some extreme lengths with how stubborn his brothers act.

- So you might need additional help from Splinter or April to prevent a new doctor persona along the lines of Dr Chaos.

#rottmnt x reader #leo x reader #rise leo x reader #raph x reader #rise raph x reader #donnie x reader #rise donnie x reader #mikey x reader #rise mikey x reader #I was supposed to post a few hours ago but ended up writing some au stuff (also rise related) a few days ago #its mostly just gonna be for fun but #I got excited through an anon ask about being inspired by an rise!au I saw for an upcoming dlc to a game I've been playing #and the person who responded was so nice ; w ;#I might post the basic summary of the 3 aus tomorrow but aaaaa I'm more excited to write and do some sketches now > w <

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oodlyenough · 3 months

Text

oblig dual destinies post

i finished the base game of dual destinies today, as in, everything but the dlc case. but the dlc case i assume is kind of a, er, side adventure that won't change much about my opinion of the main narrative, so here we go. spoilers for the first 5 cases

well that wasn't very good was it

things i did like

number one top spot MVP honourable mention goes to aura blackquill. aura is a great character, extremely my type of character, and her story was pretty interesting. every time aura was on screen i was having a good time. i cannot believe they hid the best, canon ace attorney toxic yuri in its worst game (that i've played so far). obviously wish we saw more of aura, more of aurametis, and more of aura with athena, but what we did get was honestly pretty good and much, much more explicit than i ever expected this franchise to get. i am a dog being tricked into taking a pill because it was hidden in a spoon of peanut butter.

i also liked athena. i was predisposed to like her because all the major female characters in this franchise start with a buff for me, but i did think her over the top exuberant competitive go-getter attitude coupled with the PTSD flashback sprites were a pretty good combo. i think she was unequivocally the star of this game, and i think we should have played her for a lot more of it. her power is goofy as all hell and mood matrix isn't a great minigame, but, well, uh, it's dual destinies i have to adjust my expectations somewhere.

i like that phoenix got his badge back. i can critique all the ways it played out, because you can critique just about everything in this game to the moon(rock) and back, but like. fundamentally. i like this choice and i'm glad it happened. i also like that we got to see edgeworth and pearl and got a letter from maya. it seems obvious this is the franchise trying to course correct after a rough reception to aa4, but frankly i don't really care, because i do think aa4 fucked up there. i liked aa4 and i think it was a better game than this; i also think it's quite a bummer of a game and in many places a middle finger to fans of the trilogy, so, i'll take the olive branches DD is offering me. 🤷🏼‍♀️

fullbright started off annoying to me but i did warm to him. there's one bit in case 3 where he and athena just cheer "in justice we trust!!!" back and forth that made me laugh. i thought the idea of the big bad being the friendly cop was pretty good. more on that later.

turnabout academy was dumb as hell (affectionate) and i liked it and the npcs were mostly really fun and/or funny. i love you aa5 klavier you hot washed up mess. somehow dual destinies made me more invested in klavier than aa4 did.

things i did not like

where do i start

jk, actually, the first place to start is Why The Hell Can't I Play This Game. writing and characterization and everything aside, this game is SO disinterested in being a game. i can't click stuff. characters autonomously solve puzzles on my behalf without even giving me a second to think of them. the minigames are reduced. investigation days are dull because i can't click anything. it weakens the characterization of the player and the companion character because you don't get their inane chatter. characters don't react to evidence being presented in interesting ways.

the attention to detail and love that went in to so many facets of the trilogy that made it so beloved are just not present here. i don't know what the issue was, rushed dev time or what was going on, but the wrong corners were cut. i made a separate post aout this example because it's so galling: in 1-4 if you try to present the photo of gregory's body to edgeworth, you get custom dialogue where maya intervenes and tells phoenix off for trying to show miles his dead dad. in 5-5 if you present photos of aura's murder to athena she reacts with the same generic disinterest dialogue she gives every other piece of evidence.

the characterization of the returning characters, ie not the ones new to dual destinies like athena and co, is at best watered down and one-note, and at worst out of character. i said i was happy to see edgeworth, and i stand by that overall; but his behaviour in the trial in 5-5 is like madlib edgeworth dialogue, half-hearted fanfic rather than anything to convince you it's a character who lived through the trilogy. phoenix is dumbed down and it's particularly noticeable coming off of aa4, where NPC phoenix was a fucking galaxybrained 5D chess puppeteer who was always one step ahead of everyone, and now he's like, incapable of making basic deductions. all dual destinies phoenix knows is eat hot chip be bisexual and bluff. boring, weak writing. he barely even reacts to trucy being kidnapped. perhaps because trucy is no longer a character and instead is just one extended "teen girl says the word panties" joke.

apollo... lmao... i hate to say it but i don't think apollo should've been in this game. i think his fans would be right to say that he deserved a sequel and that was what was set up by aa4, but all he does in this game is compete for the spotlight with athena, and lose. athena's story is the main story of this game and it is hindered by the detours DD has to take to include apollo; apollo, meanwhile, doesn't even really get anything of substance. we see him mourn a friend we never met and go off on a sidequest we don't partake in. the rift between the WAA would be really interesting if they... wrote it better, or let it sit longer, or let any character react to it for longer than ten seconds.

which gets to the most frustrating thing about this game: there are a lot of pretty good ideas here, hidden under layers of uninteractive "gameplay" and clunky writing that misses its emotional beats. the dark age of the law is a hilarious term but the justice system in AA IS super mega fucked up and that's a fine subject for the game to tackle, until they start pretending it's somehow *new* and that for some reason a prosecutor being convicted of murder was the final straw (ignore all the OTHER prosecutors who were convicted of murder in the golden age). the finale case you can practically FEEL capcom breathing down its shoulder, desperate to right the ship of the IP, scrambling to put together pieces that worked in the past.

but despite athena's backstory being probably the most compelling part of the game, it's hard to shake the feeling that we're getting a remix of turnabout goodbyes, except, well, worse. and that feeling is exacerbated by phoenix and edgeworth, who lived that case, never having or expressing any feelings to suggest they ... lived that case. on paper, edgeworth prosecuting a child who killed a parent by mistake is really interesting! but DD doesn't do anything with it. i actually really like fullbright being the phantom, and if i hadn't been spoiled by fandom, i think i would've been surprised. but that twist is undermined by the reveal that actually the character we knew was ... um... an amorphous shapeshifting blob with no independent identity, there's no sense of real betrayal between him and blackquill bc he's not a real person and blackquill was lying about trusting him so like ... who cares...

in conclusion

i see a lot of the shared DNA with investigations 1, and i have a lot of the same complaints. fun new characters, albeit underwritten; disappointing characterization from returning characters; in aai i found the puzzles frustrating, whereas here they felt nonexistent. at least aai1 had really cute pixel art and let me click stuff, though. shrek meme they don't even have investigating.

i am saying aai1, because i haven't played aai2 yet, and fandom swears up and down it's way better. but i have to be honest. what are the odds that of the four ace attorney games this guy wrote, three of them suck and one is a banger... i guess i'll find out in september when the port comes out :P or maybe when i play SOJ next i'll love it too. stay tuned

#oodly plays AA #this is soooooo fucking long. sorry #i stopped liveblogging so it's just one big thought dump at the end #ace attorney #aa5 spoilers #dual destinies

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woneuntonzz · 7 months

Text

competitive academic rival!eunseok x overachiever, afab!reader

“ started with a spark,¹ now we're on fire.² ” ; (2/2)

warning/s: cussing, violent thoughts

content: songfic, enemies to lovers, academic rivals, fluff, incy-wincy bit of angst, very lovey-dovey i'm actually attached, mention of other idol names for world building !!

wc: 7.4k!!

⋆⭒°｡⋆ i feel like we've made it pretty far, now we're stargazing ☄️ ; inspired by The Neighbourhood's Stargazing 🎶

It was a joke when Yunjin said Eunseok might take her place as your one and only best friend, but you figured there might be a slight truth to it. It wasn't that you'd dismiss Yunjin entirely, it's just that overtime, one instance of being project partners will become a sort of regimen for the two of you, him trailing behind you, calling out, “Partner, wait up!” as you walk to wherever you're headed.

You would still exchange playful banters —some not sounding very playful at all— and would still contest each other during class recitations, but it was all fair and square, unlike before where it'd be blood, sweat and tears, not in a literal sense of course.

“You should write this part. You're great at expressing your opinion.” This time, you two partnered up for statement writing —that supposedly was for a group of three.

“You really think so?” you tilted your head at him, jestful taunting hinted in your voice.

“Yeah. You're beautiful.”

You knew he wasn't finished speaking, but a part of you wished it had ended there.

“—your narrative I mean. If there's anything I'd like to correct, I'd say you take a little too long to get to the point, but overall your writing is great.” you nod, flailing away the lost hope in your eyes.

It's been three months since you've grown to treat each other like a friend. It was something your past selves would've never foreseen, like a switch had been accidentally turned on.

You wouldn't change a thing, though. Even if everything was only by chance, you wish it would stay till after highschool graduation, or, till all of your senses died out —till you were sure there was no way of seeing or hearing him ever again.

The thought was so unhinged for you at first, but denying is for underdogs, and you were no loser.

Considering the time you've spent with him, a big part of the blame is on him. Well how could you not blame him? when your conversations were at its tamest, he would resort to saying things that made you think more than when your history teacher would throw around riddles for you to figure out what he was trying to teach.

“You really like green? that's kind of gross.” you scoffed at his comment after he'd observe that most of the things you owned were of your favorite color.

You hold up your phone, showing the back of your fern-colored phone case. “It's fern. Maybe you're thinking about a gross shade of green —why does it matter to you anyways?”

“I just thought you'd like a different type of color, like blue.” he slightly shrugged, his eyes wandering to the keychain dangling at your bag's zipper.

“I like blue, but I see it all the time, everywhere, so my eyes are kind of tired of it at this point.” you gave him an innocent smile, one that would soon falter when he replied,

“You see me all the time, I hope you like me too.”

What kind of idiot says that? —you were determined not to emit much of a reaction, you feared it might be too much for the both of you, and that he might be just that friendly with those he considered friends. Of course I like you. —you weren't sure though, if it was only harmless feelings you'd have for a best friend, or if it was this almost electric sensation that made everything else around you fade away from the void of your mind as you isolate yourself with the thought of him.

After two weeks of somewhat careful reflecting, you realized that it was the latter.

He'd accept his feelings around the same time you did, but he most certainly caught it first. He'd tell himself that you never minded his incidental wording, not realizing just how bad he was at reading people. He just wouldn't catch the way your eyes would linger from where they last situated after he spoke because he was too afraid to look at you long enough to catch your reaction.

You were both so convinced that you did such a great job of hiding from each other, but the people around you could say otherwise.

Eunseok would start biting the inside of his cheek when Shotaro told him, “You know what you two remind me of? like a very, painfully slow basketball game.”

“Come again?” his friend laughs at him, poking fun at the confusion plastered on his face.

“She likes you too, I mean, why else would she stick around you and always be your partner?” The idea made him bite into his bottom lip, reminiscing about the way things used to be before the near fallout —the essay incident.

She's a people pleaser —but he couldn't just say that, and he knew you struggled with it too, he just wouldn't figure out why just yet. “She just finds it hard to say no to anyone.”

“Okay, partner.” Shotaro's teasing had him shaking his head.

It was something he wanted to help you with, saying no, taking care of yourself first. You kept giving and giving, it was something he never understood about you when he knew it's normal to be tired, angry, sad, and it's most certainly normal to refuse to save yourself from the anguish.

With you, he chose to be careful. He wanted you to be comfortable with him, to be ready when you finally him why you would always say yes to everyone, why you were so stubborn and so willing to give so much of your time and energy for the benefit of someone else who wouldn't even bat an eye if you got hit by a speeding truck.

It pained him to see you fake your keenness whenever Yuri, Ahra, or some other piece of shit chased after you in the hallway. They'd never directly say it, but they were basically asking you for their grades, all while you had to make sure yours were better than last quarter's results.

If you weren't taking care of yourself, he would, as much as his courage allowed him to.

The end of the school year was just right around the corner, you were busy all month preparing, elections for next year's student council were being held before the end of the year.

Eunseok was already a part of the student council, he was a public information officer, a very recognized one at that, but this time he was running for president.

He wanted you to run alongside him, as his vice president, but you were afraid that it was way beyond your limits. You have been a part of the student council before, the year he transferred in your school, you were a peace officer, but that's the farthest you've gone. You've lost elections the next year, and the current year, you lost the public information officer position to him.

Still, he was able to encourage you to run for secretary. And like he promised —though not verbally— he helped you throughout everything.

“I haven't gotten much sleep last night, sorry for drooling on your sleeve.” you lazily tried to wipe off the wet stain on his forearm that you had accidentally napped on whilst he explained something about initiatives, you couldn't quite recall.

He had actually stopped speaking when he saw the way you tried to fight your drowsiness. He felt bad for almost laughing, but the way your eyelids would shut itself and you forcing them open only to fail seconds later, he thought it was adorable.

“It's okay.” he moved his forearm, it was a signal to tell you to lie your head on it again. “You can rest.”

Your mind was still a bit hazy. You wiped your eyes and you would keep doing so, progressively becoming more forceful until he stopped you by taking ahold of your wrist. “Hey, stop, your eyes will hurt.”

He looked at them. He could almost feel your exhaustion, but even through it he could only see how lovely the color in your eyes were.

“Sorry, I was just up all night doing…” What did you do? oh, right,

“Someone else's work? don't be sorry. Give yourself a break, please.” you would lock eyes with him when he said please, his voice was pure silk, gliding through the very cracks of your soul, it almost made your eyes brim with tears.

The elections would roll around. You two would be inseparable by then, leading people to think you were running for vice president since he was with you more than he was with the actual running vice of your partylist. Even then, if they were being honest, they'd vote for the two of you. The pair of you were like a premium package in the market, two perfectly flawed individuals promoting your ambitions to the whole school.

Your confidence flourished like never before, and the stutter you always had when speaking, you were way past it. You received so much support and encouragement, not only from him, but also from your best friend Yunjin who ran for vice president and other candidates in your partylist.

You were happy with how everything was turning out, and so was he. He was confident you'd get the spot, not even caring any longer if he lost. He just wanted to see you succeed in something you've worked so hard to achieve for so long.

“I hope I get it this time. I've been beating myself up for not having enough confidence to get myself into bigger opportunities.” he heard you say to Yunjin when you were all getting ready to go home.

He didn't need to say anything because your friend was already there to assure you, but his stare was enough to tell you that he cared. He wanted you to know that he believed in you, more than you believe in yourself.

The sequel to your odyssey wouldn't be announced till the next school year began, but until then, you two would keep contact. It would start off with him popping up in your notifications with a little, hey how r u —which would shortly be followed by, it's eunseok btw.

yeah ik it's u —you laughed quietly to yourself, legs against your chest as you got comfy on your living room sofa. i alr have u saved in my contacts.

he would immediately reply, oh right

—lmao

You would subconsciously pucker your lips as you typed, whats up?

the sky? —you physically cringed at his reply, funny for being so unfunny.

bro? 😭

bro…

idk it's been two weeks

since school ended?

yeah

and it'll only take like less than a month till we're back

but suffering is for the weak 💪

right 💪

kinda miss it too

props to u for missing school ig

i meant to say you

lmao

It was normal to say things like that to your friends, you and Yunjin say it to each other when you reunite after a considerably long time of not seeing each other, so, this must be… normal, right?

that's oddly sweet of u

hbu?

same

it's not the same w/o ur annoying ass

annoying or not

i know u love my ass

eww????

Maybe not his ass.

You two would go on with your little convos every other day, that would soon turn into everyday, to every other hour, into phone calls.

would it be weird if i asked to call rn

why

u wanna?

yea

feeling lazy to type jus saying

call me then

You thought maybe you sounded too sure of yourself than you actually were, cause when he called, you fumbled, trying to fix yourself before you answered —it was pointless since it was an audio call and he won't even be able to see the pillow lining marked on your face from laying down for so long as you chatted with him.

He also had no reason to feel lazy at all, in fact the only activity he'd been up to is on his phone, talking to you. He just wanted to hear from you again, because at that point you two still had sixteen days left before you got to see each other again.

“Y/n” he spoke as soon as you picked up.

“Eunseok.” you said back, imitating his tone.

“The voting results are out, I'm looking at it right now, on my laptop.” you could almost hear him gulp before he spoke again. “We got it.”

You yelped, but rushed to cover your mouth. “Shit, is that for real?”

“Yep. It's for real alright.” his smile was wide, like the one he wore when you finally accepted his offer to be his project partner.

“Oh my fucking —thank you Seok. I love you, I love you guys so much, holy shit.” his eyes were wide open as he listened to your celebratory exclamations.

You loved him? He knew it was your utter excitement speaking, but deep down he just wished he could hear it again, just those three precious words.

──────────﹒★﹒﹒──﹒﹒★﹒──────────

Time flew by, but not like how it usually would. This time it actually seemed to be a little slower. Maybe it was because you spent the majority of your break talking to him, which you didn't even think was possible. What was even there for the two of you to talk about outside of school? you two had never gone below surface level conversations, then suddenly he was approaching you in school all smiley while holding a cup of iced coffee?

“Drink up Sleepy, my favorite dwarf.” he sounded so sweet, but it was a tease.

Suddenly your height became a topic of discussion, comparing you to one of Snow White's seven dwarfs, and he'd pinpoint the one who was most like you. Sleepy, always sleepy —and also pretty small. You weren't even that small, he was just a bit —no, he was a total tease. You'd mention it was your dad's genes, then it would turn into you telling him that you and your dad weren't really close at all.

It was a drastic shift, but he learned to appreciate the trust you've granted him by telling him those things, and he would find out about the emotional neglect that went unnoticed by you yourself.

You carefully took the cup from his hand, and with a smile you said, “Thank you, Seok.”

If back then he hid his emotions from you and everyone else, now he had his smile on full display, facing its very cause, you. He had learned how to read you now, and he knew he was getting somewhere when your voice had started to soften at certain times. Your voice that was usually dominant, almost sounding demanding in a way, he would be one of the few who would hear it completely disappear, and taking its place would be a sound he could only describe as his sweetest dreams.

Hearing you speak again in face to face for the first time after a while felt unreal almost, he felt ecstatic from your voice alone, so much so that he almost forgot that he was to be announced as student council president that day.

During orientation, you would be declared as student council secretary, and he's the president —the president who stood next to you instead of his designated place, next to the vice president. Yunjin stood where he was supposed to be, you noticed and whispered to him, “Hey, go back to your position.” but he'd just chuckle at your furrowed eyebrows. “Seok?”

His gaze was fixated on you, and it was like the whole world stopped for the two of you. “Hmm?”

“Congratulations, and, thank you. I really owe you one.” he chuckled again, and all you could see was him.

“You don't owe me anything, but thank you for trusting me, congrats Sleepy.” his smile caused your mind to almost lose itself, eyes wandering down to the glint on his lips.

Suddenly you wondered if they would feel as soft as the words he had spoken to you. You were ashamed that you would think that about your best friend, but he was thinking the same thing, eyes fixated on your velvet lips.

Nothing would come out of it, for fact, it would be as if nothing ever happened. But you both knew, the way you looked at each other was different. Heck, you could never even spare anyone else a second of eye contact. At that point, you two knew each other well enough, as opponents, and eventually as close friends. Now he just had to figure out how to know you as his lover.

──────────﹒★﹒﹒──﹒﹒★﹒──────────

The two of you would be busy as ever and being together in those situations served as a perk, for even with the urge to just throw away your paperwork and drop out of school, you were able to continue with each other's motivation, each other's smiles, each other's voices.

—each other's touch. “Are your hands okay?”

He eyed your fingers that had green guard bandages on them. You've been writing a lot, not only for being a secretary, but also for the ridiculous amount of school work you had piled up and had to finish before the end of the week.

He was hesitant, but you kept yourself busy and it gave him a push to just go for it. Moments later, your writing would be interrupted as a hand reached out for yours.

“Rest for a while. We have plenty of time before the next period.” was all he said as he enclosed your hand in his grasp.

His touch felt warm, relieving you of the pain and the pressure everything's been giving you lately. When he moved his thumb against your skin, you just wanted to drag him with you and run away from everything and everyone.

Realization would only hit you when from a distance, you saw a few of your classmates looking at the two of you, then whispering to each other.

“Hey Y/n, I hope you're not too busy—”

“What?” Ahra had approached again, but this time Eunseok answered for you.

“Oh, I just needed help with the gen bio activity.” she eyed your linked hands.

“Right, just give me your paper, I'll sort it out for you.” Ahra handed you her activity sheet, but it was Eunseok who'd snatch it from her hand and retort,

“You people can't do anything for yourselves? Jesus.” he had an ill-tempered glare that he kept on the paper he held, but he gave your hand a gentle squeeze. “If you need it so badly, I'll do It. Fifty bucks.”

“But I don't have fifty bucks on me right n—”

“Then go find someone else to pester.” he says as he hands Ahra's paper back to her.

Ahra takes it and walks away in shame, and spite. Why did he have to be there to ruin everything?

You were worried Ahra would be up to speaking ill of you to others like past classmates have done to you before, but he reassured you.

“They don't have to matter, besides, you're not obligated to take responsibility for their own.” just think about you and I —he finishes his words in his mind, not afraid to admit, but afraid to say it.

Even if he didn't say it, you were already thinking it. Because why would anything else matter when you had him and he had you. The summit of your dreams used to be these superficial things, and now it would be a future, a future of a better life, living off of pure contentment and bliss. A future together.

It would all remain unsaid, but you could feel it with each other.

Through him, you would learn to say no without much thought of the consequences all you had to think about is his fond eyes greeting you once you've successfully overcome your struggles.

And through you, he learned to be more open and considerate. He would finally see things from others' perspectives, helping him understand what he needed to do as the president of the student council, and as your…

Well, what was he to you? What were you to each other?

The label would be unclear to everyone, and to you both, but you were sure that you had something. You shared the same feelings and the same longing whenever your time with each other was cut short.

It was almost as if your only reason to go to keep attending school was to see each other and be with each other. It was easier to stick around with one another since you were both major parts of the student council, so when people asked if you two had a thing, there was only one answer.

“Well, we run the student council.” and apparently you ran in each other's minds too.

sleepy

don't force yourself to go to school tmrw ok?

but there's literally a presentation

and?

if u present with a stuffy nose and phlegm in your throat would that be any better?

no…

good

u better rest and not tire urself with ANYTHING else

oki

thanks seok :>

miss u alr lol

u know i miss u more

it's so hard to bear with these ppl without u around

see? this is why i need to go to school...

hell no

get ur ass some rest

i'll see u when u feel better <33

It was usually you who would be too sick to go to school, and he quickly picked up on your routine of going to school with allergies that'll turn into a fever by the end of the day, and you would be out of school for a day or two, and he'd always make sure to check in on you through messages or calls.

Soon enough though, he'd show up outside your house. It was a risky move, but he was always lucky enough that your parents weren't around to see him.

“You're really outside my house? Are you crazy?” you sneezed into your phone right after you spoke.

You heard his sweet chuckle from the other line. “Yeah, cutie. I have something for you, can you go down? or is there a way for me to get in? Is it through the doggy door or your bedroom window?”

Your laughter was weak due to the phlegm in your body. “Wait, wait, I'll open the door for you.”

Somehow, the thought of seeing him gave you enough energy to rush down the stairs to welcome him.

You ended the call on your phone as you opened the door, and there he was. “Hey Sleepy, looking real groggy there.”

A playful glare made its way onto your face, and he'd laugh loud enough for you to hear despite the distance.

“Can I come in?” of course you let him in.

He had about two hours before your parents came back. He got you food, very warm and comforting seaweed soup and a cup of warm lemon tea.

He watched you eat a couple bites, very slowly and feebly. He grew worried about the way you struggled with just holding the spoon up to your mouth. “May I?”

Honestly, why'd he even ask? he would do it anyway even if you refused —in this case you weren't even able to utter a reply. He takes the spoon, and feeds you, being very gentle, even wiping away some stray soup from the corners or your lips and your chin.

Luckily, you weren't too sick to miss his enamored eyes and for a moment he'd stop feeding you, wiping your bottom lip, allowing his gaze on it linger. Flustered, you'd bite down on it with the strength you had.

He chuckles, looking down for a brief moment. “You're so adorable.” —and a soft pinch to your cheek.

──────────﹒★﹒﹒──﹒﹒★﹒──────────

Your final year in highschool has finally ended. Elation coursed throughout your body when you received your medal as salutatorian, and of course, he was your valedictorian.

All those years he thought he was graduating with not much to look forward to. It was life, he graduates, and graduates again, then he'd be out making big contributions to the economy. But now, you would be in his list of aspirations, because at that point, none of you have ever thought of confessing, but still looked in each other's eyes like they were the only ones that existed.

The day of your graduation, he'd run to you —which startled you a bit— and carry you by your sides, spinning you once before settling you back down again. All you could hear was each other's laughter, and he'd engulf you in his embrace.

“We've made it pretty far.” —and you both wanted to go further, further from what you already had, a reassurance, a settlement.

You two would keep constant contact the whole time you prepared yourselves for college. It could be a miracle, or maybe it was truly meant to be —you two got into your dream university.

In all honesty, he never had a dream university. He'd only have one when he heard it from you. “Yonsei seems like a great university.” —his dream will always and only lie with you.

You spent your days talking, daydreaming about college life. You both knew it wasn't something to daydream about since it would only get harder from then, but it was driven by the thought that all this time, you would still be together. Still, none of you would outrightly say it.

“Imagine we'd get forced to drink with our seniors.” you let your phone lay close to your head on your bed as you spoke to him on call.

And to that he replied, “I'd never let that happen.”

You laughed, and it was the most beautiful song he's ever heard. He ended up laughing with you.

“I'm serious.” he adds, still laughing.

“I know, Seok. I know.”

The time would come eventually. You two would be in two different departments —he was in computer science— but fortunately, your seniors seemed to only know one place where they could pressure the freshmen to their favor.

Eunseok walks up to the table where you're at, you two have had your eyes on each other ever since you've step foot in that place.

He held onto the strap of his shoulder bag, looking into your honeyed eyes. “Let's go home.”

Everyone had their eyes on him, then on you. “Woah, woah, and who's this pretty boy? Why are you cutting our Y/n's fun so short in the night huh?”

“Y/n doesn't drink.” your seniors looked at you and you nod, keeping your eyes on him.

You extend your hand out to him, and soon you would feel sanctuary.

No other words were said as he pulled you along with him to the exit, not minding to spare the others another look. His hand still held onto yours as he walked you back to your dorm room. You were both quiet the entire time, your social batteries drained to its very limits from the orientation activities and the higher-ups pressuring the both of you to join them waste away.

Before completely letting go of you, you would both stop in front of your door, facing each other.

“See, I told you so.” you laughed at his playful jabbing.

“Okay, my firefighter. Thank you for saving me.” his eyes wandered down to your lips once again, but they would shift back up to your forehead.

He wipes the bit of sweat on it with his thumb, letting his palm slowly glide down and rest on your cheek.

“I said no, you know, but they kept insisting I come with them.” his hand went from your cheek to your chin, gently taking a hold of it.

“I know Sleepy. It's alright. It happened to me too.”

You wondered what would happen next. The tension had only grown stronger, it was only the two of you in that hallway, it was you, him and the desire dispersed throughout the silence of the halls —but nothing was salvaged from it. The looks in your eyes yearned for the feeling of each other's lips, but he held back.

His hands cupped your face, slightly squishing your cheeks together. “You kinda look like Keroppi.” a bittersweet chuckle leaves his mouth. “Good night, Y/n.”

Before he could walk away, your embrace would stop him, and he'd hug back, almost not wanting to ever let go. His hand wandered to the back of your head, gently caressing your hair.

“Good night Seok.”

That night was definitely one to remember, one that made you realize, he's always loved Keroppi, does that mean he loves me too? —maybe you were taking it too far, but it wasn't impossible. You saw it, you felt it, his amore through the feeling of his skin against yours.

Every moment you've shared with him felt like a push, just say it, just do it, but none of you would budge.

Your best friend Yunjin was in the same department as him, she didn't see you as often as he would, but when she did, she wanted to just push your faces into each other, just kiss already —she'd think to herself as she observed the two of you just being so lost in each other.

At one point you'd feel bad for not spending as much time as you used to with her, but after talking to her about it, she reassured you that she wasn't an obligation for you to worry about, but she'd always be there when you needed her, and of course you would be there for her too.

You thought you were lucky that both of your favorite people were in the same department, shared the same classes, that way it was easier for you to see them and hang out simultaneously.

Doubt would start swimming around the oceans of your thoughts —one day you were set to meet them in the campus library. Your pace was a bit speedy, wearing such a gleeful smile, you walked to meet them again after the longest week of your life. The campus library was huge, but it wouldn't take you a while to spot them.

Your first instinct was to run up to them, but maybe it was your exhaustion that had stopped you from doing so and instead just stand there for a while, watching them laugh together from a distance, and they would get so close to each other that your breath almost hitched.

You felt insecure, but also hated yourself for even allowing these feelings to surge. They're also good friends, your best friends, you were more fond of one of them for sure, but you both loved and cared for them just as much.

Your worries would subside once you were finally seated next to him. Your eyes lingered on each other's allure, it was quite clear that you two had this certain look reserved for each other.

“Oh, look. The project partners are back again.” —your harmonious laughter would fill your ears.

At first it came easy, but then it wasn't.

Being in different departments meant seeing them from afar walking side by side, and you would find that they would be together a lot more than before.

When they'd meet with you, they were together, almost all the time. At first you thought, it was easier that way for them, and for you especially.

Then love month came around. Everyone was busy preparing booths for the Feb Fair celebration. It was three days long, and everyone wanted it to be perfect, single or not, it was three days of just love, love for friends, family, for him.

Just a few days before Feb Fair started, despite your efforts of searching for him everywhere you could, sadly, your efforts would be futile.

hi seok

been looking for u everywhere

u busy? —delivered, 4 hours ago.

sorry

shit sorry

i am kinda busy

but not like usual

it's for something vv special :))

that's nice

you have any plans for feb fair?

anyone asked u out yet?

even if anyone did i would reject them lol

would u reject me then? —read, 10 minutes ago.

it's okay roppi lmaooo

tbh i'd say yes w/o u even asking

really?

so it's settled then?

you got it :3

shit

i got the prettiest date for feb fair 🙈

You seemed to have forgotten about the roots of your agitations once you've gotten a chance to talk with him again.

You made sure you would look the prettiest when you were with him. You wore a blue dress, he never said it was his favorite, but you did see it quite often in the items he owned, and some in his wardrobe.

But maybe you should've gone for green. The first day of Feb Fair, entering the area of festivities, a band playing some overrated love song would serve as soft background music for everyone else indulged in the love, it's in the air as they'd claim.

Maybe this would be the day, the day you would finally admit to each other's feelings, confess.

You walked around, taking in the luminous fairy lights, and the fake flowers that accompanied them. Even if they were artificial, they were still really pretty, and you would be the living depiction of those flowers, your dress flowing with the cool breeze as your eyes glimmered with the stars.

When he saw you, his whole world stopped. You were suddenly the only one he could see. He wished he was quick enough to rush over to you, hold your hand, but you were gone, like the wind.

You had seen him handing over a bouquet to your best friend —Yunjin, and at that moment you thought she looked so perfect that you thought your presence was unwanted.

Maybe it was a mistake, maybe he didn't mean it at all. Maybe you were only meant to be a bridge for them.

That night, you would lock yourself in your room, ignoring the calls and messages in your phone and your own roomate. You just kept yourself under your covers.

“Hey, um, Y/n, Eunseok's outside.”

“Please tell him to go away.” you cried out.

And your roommate would do just that. His heart would sink, but it was a lot worse compared to when you had first rejected his efforts of asking you as his project partner.

It was like the past all over again. There you cried all alone, then, it used to be because of an essay and his egocentric self, now it was because of a bouquet, and his fleeting promise.

He just hoped he could talk to you again.

y/n it wasn't what you thought it was

i'll explain to you when we meet again

please

i'm sorry

i'll wait for you by the water fountain tomorrow —delivered, 10 hours ago.

be my partner, please? —delivered, 30 minutes ago.

It was the second day of the Feb Fair. You were still isolating yourself in your room. You wondered where they could be. You still hadn't opened your phone so you thought, maybe they're together, like they always were.

You hopelessly sat on your bed, munching on some snacks. Suddenly it would hit you that all the food you had in your pantry was from him. Holding back your tears, you would let the packet of gummy worms fall down on your bed, with you feeling defeated.

Feeling like you needed to move, you got up from your bed, weakly opening your closet.

I should've worn the green dress. —unlike the blue one, it was more casual, and the most important detail of all, it had a cute little frog on the right chest area. You let your finger trace the frog imprint, almost tearing up again.

Closing your closet, you turned around, ready to plop yourself back down onto your bed, but your phone lit up again.

maybe tomorrow? :)) —read, 4 minutes ago.

When he saw that you had read his message, he wore a hopeful smile. Maybe, just maybe, you'd show up the next day, or maybe in the night. He promised that this time, he won't skimp on his words, he was going to tell you everything.

It was already dark, nearing 9:00 pm when he had messaged you. You were admittedly worried and guilty for making him wait till that time of the night.

Reading through his messages again, you knew you needed to show up. Because you trusted him. Trust, you almost forgot. You have given him so much of it.

The next day, you got up relatively early, at least earlier than your roommate. She'd wake up to you already dolled up.

“That's a cute dress.” she said, she had her hands against her sides, looking around for a while before asking, “Um, if you don't mind, are you and Eunseok… okay now?”

“We'll be alright.” the tiredness in your voice was still evident, and so your roommate would just give you a smile, nodding as she left to go to the bathroom.

You were going to make it right. This was the final push, you would finally tell him how you've felt about him, from the very start of it all up to now when you longed for him.

Still at the water fountain, Eunseok sat there anxiously. He sat there, and in his hand was a box. It was all, and everything he had kept of you, and if ever he lost you —and he prays to God it would never happen— he'd have your memories in this box, his most cherished ones.

6:00 pm, his eyes grew a thin layer of water as he watched everyone else with such loving eyes and sugared laughter. He looked up at the sky, and he thanked it for being so full for that night, full of glittering stars. He took it as a sign that you would come soon, because last night there were no stars at all, and you didn't arrive.

“I'll be your partner.”

He froze in his spot, stare still fixated on the constellations above him.

He stood up, bringing his gaze down to you. You eyed the box he held with both his hands, “Y/n.”

Your eyes lit up, hearing his voice emit your name very faintly. You let him walk closer to you, just enough for you to see his eyes glisten against the fairy lights.

“The flowers, well, I helped Yunjin look for them. They were meant to be for someone else, she won't tell me who. I'm guessing it might be Chaewon since she kept asking me about her, if you remember, Chaewon's my cousin.” —well shit. Isn't it just so easy to be stupid?

“Sorry.” he hurriedly used one of his hands, hesitantly reaching out for the one he's been dying to hold since the day he thought he'd lose you, for the second time.

“Don't be sorry. Please. I should've…” he glanced down at your entwined hands, your hand was cold. “... just told you that…”

Again, he'd struggle to find his words and you'd bring your hand up to his cheek, “Seok?”

“I like you and I think I'm in love with you —no, I am. I…” he was almost breathless, and you'd gently move his head to meet his soft eyes.

“Song Eunseok, I want to be your partner, in the long run, and maybe, till I can no longer write essays and make grammatical errors, will you be my partner —for life?”

Eunseok had always dreamed of going to space and seeing the shimmering little specks of wonder up-close. He knew they were just fiery rocks, but unlike him, who others would describe as still and emotionless, these rocks shined, and they were beautiful. You are so beautiful. He'd finally have a star to himself. His dreams, driven by his childhood imaginations, were coming true, in the form of you.

Finally, he would lean in, finally feeling your plush lips against his. You're as sweet as he imagined.

“Till I can no longer correct you, I'll be your partner.” he uttered against your lips.

Later that night, you two would be seated on the ground, leaning your backs against the base of the water fountain —he'd let you use his arm as a cushion for your back, well, he insisted. The fireworks had already died down, and you two were still there.

You were going through the box he had prepared for you.

“You kept this?” It was the essay, the nameless copy.

“Yeah, but look, look.”

He had written stuff all over it, and drew a bunch of Keroppis. And he had checked it like how your English teacher back then would, with one singular correction where he wrote, you missed a word miss know-it-all, doesn't matter though, i miss you more.

“When did you do this?” he watched fondly as you chuckled, reading through his little notes and doodles.

“I checked that essay the day you rejected my 'partner proposal' for the second time.” you looked at him wide-eyed.

“You… missed me then?”

“Yes?”

Then you'd see receipts of every breakfast coffee, every ice cream meeting —you never called it a date because you were just being professional, every candy packet and every wet wipe purchase he had ever made for you, all stapled together with little tmi's on them, y/n really likes green. i should buy more green shirts.

You chortled. “Don't laugh!”

“No! I just think it's really cute!”

wait holy shit, i wish i could draw well THE WAY SHE SMILED AT ME. i won. fuck everyone.

“You've liked me for that long?” looking into his eyes again, you'd melt into his loving stare.

He had been watching you smile through his sweet little shenanigans that you never would've thought he'd been up to this time. “Yes, I have.”

You bit your bottom lip, still your smile showed through it. With a gulp, you'd place a quick kiss on his lips, making him freeze once again.

With an innocent smile, you went back to rummaging through the box. “Wait, this was my favorite pen. You hid it?”

“I've been using it around you ever since I got it, I thought you'd notice.”

“I just thought you used the same brand. Shame on you, thief.”

You would laugh together for the rest of the night, reminiscing about the past, how you both hid your painfully obvious liking for each other, and then a moment of silence.

You admired the array of stars that shined throughout the body of the sky as you laid your head on his shoulder, his hand holding yours like it was its only purpose.

“Thank God Yuri plagiarized your essay.”

You playfully hit his knee, laughing out, “What do you mean?”

“Just imagine, If I never realized my feelings for you, I'd never make an effort to ask you as my project partner, and we'd stay the same, me still a jerk, and you…”

“Still saying yes to everyone? Well, that makes sense, but, what if we're really meant to end up where we are now?”

“We are meant to be, aren't we?” You felt him place a kiss on your head. “So, what's your opinion on officially being my girlfriend?”

You sat up, startling him a bit, but he'd chuckle once he saw the cheeky grin on your face. “You know how you've always taught me how to say no?”

You giggled when you saw his smile diminish.

“Well, you're no idiotic low-life, so yes, Eunseok, I'll be your girlfriend.” he leans in and hugs you, and you both fall over. “Wait what the fuck.”

“Sorry, sorry.” he helped you get up.

You would get lost in each other's eyes again, and eventually your lips were linked once more. You had your arms wrapped around his neck, and his hands on your waist. You pulled away, and you'd laugh at each other's breathless states.

“I honestly don't know why you still asked me to be your girlfriend when I asked you to be my partner for life.”

“I'm an anxious man, okay? but I just really wanted to be sure, and I wanted to ask for myself, that was the initial plan anyways, I can't believe you ruined my plan.”

“Excuse me? you seem to sound so offended now.”

“So what if I am?”

The stars were once only a tiny glimpse of hope for him, now drew the two of you. First two very distant stars, one shone blue and the other shone red, the blue star almost died, but the red star gave some of her flame, and soon they would ignite the fire they would share.

She said yes, finally. —he knew you'd ignite his flame again, and with an unspoken promise to himself —and to you, he'd grow to love you more and more, every single day.

Fin.

would you like to go back?

> take me back

> no :)) (thank you for stargazing with me)

#riize #riize au #riize fanfic #briize #riize x reader #riize fluff #riize eunseok #song eunseok #riize imagines #Spotify #songfic

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eryiss · 26 days

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Fraxus Week 2024 - Day 2: Sports & Competition

Description: Laxus had known there would be changes in the guild, and in his team, when he got back from exile. What he hadn’t expected was Freed getting involved in the guild's weird competitions. What he really didn’t expect was Freed competing shirtless, and looking jaw-droppingly sexy while doing it

Note: Day two, again hosted by @fuckyeahfraxus. This really is just Laxus going wild for Freed. Sue me. He’s hot, and I like to project onto Laxus.

Link: Ao3

To See Him Ruffled

In the year – or was it technically eight years now? – that Laxus had been out of the guild, obviously a lot was going to have changed. That would have been true even if they hadn't been trapped on the island and the wold went on ticking around them. Changes were something he had known to expect.

What he hadn't expected was how two different changed would mingle into him having to deal with Freed shirtless, sweaty, and sexy as all hell.

First, there was guild culture. Fairy Tail liked to talk about how close and friendly they were, but it had always been a big place and not everyone knew each other. But as members had started to walk away and leave for other guilds, those who remained had evidentially rallied together and gotten close. There were more events, more get togethers, and more focus on community. After everyone trapped on Tenrou had returned, that community had expanded, and the events had increased tenfold.

Second: Freed. Before, Freed had been the very personification of stoicism. He had a darkness behind his eyes, an underlying ferocity. That wasn't gone, as such. There was just more to him now. Like the darkness and the demon were a barrier, and he'd let it down, but was ready to bring it back when he needed it.

Both of those things were fine. Good. Great. The guild was reestablishing its roots, and Freed was growing into his skin in a way he hadn't been able to before. So yeah; all good.

The thing was, though, that they'd merged together to make something… troubling.

Apparently was of the new traditions was the 'Adaption Knockout'. Any member of the guild who wanted to participate would be faced with a day of random challenges wherein their ability to tackle situations were tested. It ranged from solving riddles, to setting up tents in a rainstorm, to performing spectacles of human exercion.

The Freed that Laxus had known when they were younger would have turned his nose up at it. But now, he had said it would be a good way to test his skills and hone his mind.

So, Laxus was now watching from the sidelines as Freed stretched. His coat and his shirt were on the ground, getting muddy and crumpled, while Freed's strong, firm, wonderful back flexed with the effort of his stretching. His shoulder blades were so pronounced, with skin stretching tight over them. He had a few scars, even a few whip marks that Laxus knew he had no business asking about but desperately wanted to know about anyway. It was a back for a strong, working man who had dealt with the crap life threw at him, and bit back with vigour.

Freed never used to take his shirt off. Never. He rarely removed his coat.

He'd been hiding a body like this for so long? Selfish asshole.

What the hell was Laxus thinking?

When Freed turned around during a waist rotation, Laxus wasn't thinking anything at all. How had he never seen Freed's abs before? They were rippling and tight and goddamn mesmerising. Freed wasn't the kind to aim for a body-builder physique like Laxus; he had that swimmer's build. The type you might miss when he was clothed but would get your mouth watering the second that he wasn't.

Damn his nipples were perfect. Laxus could imagine pinching and sucking and biting them, to see what the once reserved Freed would do. Bite back? Pin him down? Spank him?

"Come on man!" Gajeel snapped, sitting on the bleachers beside him. Laxus looked around and was met with a glare. "You wanna screw him, we get it. You really gotta smell like it though?"

Laxus blanched. He hadn't been around other Dragon Slayers for a while. He'd forgotten they had the same heightened senses. Dammit.

Through either luck or coincide, Laxus was saved from having to respond to that when the whistle blew, and the obstacle course race began. Freed shot forward, with the other contestants of course, and began to climb the rope to get to the raised platform. His arms ripples and his thighs clenched, and Laxus had to take the bleachers in a dead-white grip to control himself. He ignored Gajeel's damn snort.

Laxus only had eyes on Freed, and as he zip-lined down back onto the ground, he felt his throat dry up. The man's stomach was clenched, and every single part of him looked intense and tight and lickable.

"And, our first competitors are getting towards the axe wielding portion of the game," Bickslow, who had somehow swindled his way into being commentator for the day, said into the microphone. "Our daring guildmates will be tasked in cutting a felled tree into firewood, and then has to throw the axe into a target fifteen feet away. Tough, and very sexy too."

Seriously, who had let Bickslow get hold of a microphone?

He wasn't wrong though. Seeing Freed yank out the axe from the tree stump that it was bashed into without breaking pace was as sexy as anything Laxus had seen. Then to see him going to town on the tree, cutting it up fast and sharp and so damn skilfully set Laxus' body on fire. If he smelt of his attraction before, it must be a damn stench now.

"And that's Freed taking the lead after hitting the target," Bickslow crowned. "And I think I speak for all of us when I say, 'Daddy may I?'"

Laxus turned to glare at Bickslow, only to see him grinning back with his tongue out. Apparently Gajeel wasn't the only one who knew Laxus might not be thinking entirely purely. Slightly cowed, Laxus looked back to the race, to see Freed laughing and shaking his head slightly as he ran towards the next part of the course.

It was nice that Freed was laughing more. He deserved to laugh. Life had given him a crappy hand, and it was right that things were turning around in his favour.

"God your pathetic," Gajeel growled. "You're acting like he hung the goddamn moon."

"Like you wouldn't be doin' the same if it was your girl doing it," Laxus snapped.

Gajeel looked caught out, then annoyed, then vengeful. He crossed his arms and puffed out his chest. "Least I don't have competition."

Laxus frowned, not knowing what that meant. Gajeel looked past him with purpose to the rest of the crowd, all of whom were watching the race. Watching Freed, he realised belatedly, and there were quite a few flushed faces, sharp whispers and scandalous giggling. Why the hell had the guild allowed random members of the public to watch? Yeah, the guild needed money, but they didn't need to sell Freed out to a crowd filled with perverts.

What the hell had they done to look at Freed's flexing… fuck, he was flexing. There was a rubble moving section and Freed was hefting a large part of a demolished wall, and his entire body looked powerful and tested and too sexy for words. His back. His shoulders. His neck!

Why did they get to see Freed like this? Laxus was the one who knew him!

But he couldn't say any of that to Gajeel. So, he huffed and grunted, "Guess my guy's hotter than your girl."

"The hell did you just-"

Had he just called Freed his guy? He had, hadn't he. He didn't have a claim on Freed. He didn't. But he had more of a claim on him than anyone else, and if anyone deserved to be worshipping the man's body – did he want to worship him? – then it was Laxus.

Okay, he really needed to leave. It had to be the sun making him lose his mind.

It was certainly the sun giving Freed that beautiful, sweat slicked sheen.

"And with his storming lead, Freed is approaching the plunge pool. I think we're all looking forward to seeing how he handles this," Bickslow said.

Freed actually halted as he climbed the ladder, turned to look at Bickslow and yelled, "Next year, consider a cold shower before you start."

Maybe Laxus would benefit from a cold shower.

"Only saying what we're all thinking, Baby."

The fact that even Bickslow calling Freed baby, something he did to basically everyone he had ever met, had Laxus feeling jealousy roiling inside of him was a problem. Yes, Freed was basically sex on legs at this point. Yes, Dragon Slayers apparently had a predisposition for jealousy. Yes, Laxus wasn't so horned up and pathetic that he'd actually do anything about it. But still, it was a problem he was even thinking it.

He needed to leave. He would calm down, get his head on straight, and deal with this explosion of lust he was feeling when he was back to his self.

Just as he stood up to leave, a splash rebounded around the space, and Laxus turned to see Freed had jumped from a raised platform into a deep pool of crisp clean water. Crisp clean water he was climbing out of, shirtless and soaked and practically a siren that sang directly for Laxus' soul.

Water rolled down his chest, over his abs, and down the waistband of his pants which clung to him sinfully. He ran a hand through hid sodden hair and brushed it out of his face, his human and demon eye equally sinful as he rolled his shoulders and caught his breath, chest rising and falling and taunting Laxus.

Holy shit.

Silently, absently, and resolutely ignoring Gajeel's manic laughing at his expense, he sat down again. He could get his head on straight later. Maybe he was making a mistake, but this was too good to miss.

"And just so you know," Gajeel whispered lowly. "Looks like he's getting into the final round. You know what the final round is?"

"Don't care."

"Mud wrestling."

Laxus' grip on the bleacher got so tight he splintered it. Gajeel just laughed.

Once the final round was over, and Laxus had lost all sense of any sanity he'd ever previously had, Freed approached him. He was drenched head to toe in mud, still shirtless, and was grinning as if entirely content with the situation.

What the hell had happened to Freed, exactly?

Laxus was glad of it, whatever it was. Seeing Freed let loose and without the anxieties and holdbacks that had made him his previously reserved self was wonderful, but this was so far form the Freed he had known it was like night and day. To Laxus, who had only known this version of Freed for a few weeks, it was like a switch had been flipped and suddenly Freed was the man he was always meant to be.

He was so sexy like it, too. Not just because he had a good body – a really good body – or that he was caked in mud in a way that weirdly worked for Laxus. No. Freed had an easy confidence, and a cockiness that had always been there, but seemed more lighthearted now. Previously, they'd spent time laughing at their guildmates in a way not entirely kind. Now, it felt like Freed would make those jokes about himself only.

Laxus wanted to kiss him. Right here, right now. To hell with the consequences.

"I didn't expect you to come," Freed said in greeting. Had he not known Laxus was there? And to think Laxus had been entirely hypnotised by him.

"You're my teammate. I should support you," Laxus grumbled, glancing around to see if Gajeel was close enough to make a comment. He wasn't.

"You should apply next year. It's quite fun. Definitely gets the blood pumping," Freed grinned, rolling out his arm and flicking his now heavy hair out from his eyes.

Laxus had to look at him. His arm was troubling him, and he wasn't hiding it, which was frankly a miracle. Many a time before the harvest festival, Freed had decided to hide his injuries as if they were something to be ashamed of. There had been knife wounds he'd refused to admit to. To Laxus' shame, he hadn't all together cared. He'd thought that it was Freed's business, and he could handle himself.

Then there was the mud. The Freed he had known was spotless and without blemish, going so far as to cast illusion spells if something was wrong with his outfit. Now he simply stood there, like some kind of a swamp monster, and didn't seem to have a care in the world. He was ruffled and messed and gleeful in it.

He'd changed so much, and it looked so good on him. Laxus wondered if he could ever change so much. Maybe he needed a push.

"Yeah. I will," he said.

"You will?" Freed asked, a little shocked, but then grinned. "You'll really enjoy it."

"Sure I will," Laxus nodded slightly. He'd probably agree to anything Freed said in the moment.

"I should warn you, though," Freed continued. "I intend to win next year, so you'll have heavy competition."

"Obviously," Laxus grunted. As if Freed had ever not been one step away from putting Laxus on his ass. Just because Laxus might not have admitted to it before, it didn't mean he'd never known it. "Second place ain't bad, though. You did well."

"I suppose. I think third would have been preferable, honestly."

Laxus frowned. "Why?"

"There's something of a tradition between the final two competitors. A wager wherein whoever comes second has to perform a demand of the winner. A dare, essentially, of which I am now burdened to adhere to."

Well, that was one thing that hadn't changed. Freed got weirdly eloquent and verbose when annoyed. Laxus had to grin. "What's Loke makin' you do?"

Freed glanced at the man who had bested him, who was surrounded by Lucy, his fellow celestial spirits, and a few of the other competitors. He didn't look half as good shirtless and covered in mud as Freed did. "I'm his personal butler for a full week. Any demand he has, I have to without complaint."

Laxus snorted. "Sounds awful."

"I expect it will be," Freed chuckled, and the fact he was taking it in such good faith had Laxus grinning. He wanted to push Freed into the grass, pin him down, and drive him to distraction. "I don't think my ego will handle it."

"Nah, something that big can handle anything."

"My ego, Laxus. Not yours."

"Asshole," Laxus grinned. "Hope he makes you squirm. Gives you some stupid uniform or something."

"Funny you should mention that," Freed chuckled. "He actually sent me to change into my 'uniform' now. I just happened to see you before I snuck off."

"Is it bad?" Laxus teased.

"It's… exactly what a man like him would want in a butler."

"He gonna yell at you if you keep talking to me?"

"It's a bet, Laxus, not an employment contract," Freed laughed, and ran a hand through his muddy hair after it fell over his head. He reached down to the hair tie and pulled it out, swapping his hair into a messy ponytail. Laxus might not have ever seen so much of Freed's neck as he had in that moment. "Even if I was on a time limit, I wouldn't have reached it. He told me to change in the bathroom, but there's no real point. I might as well do it here."

"In front of-"

Laxus cut himself off when he saw Freed bending down and unbuckling his belt. He could do nothing but gape as Freed pulled down his pants and stepped out of them, standing just in his muddy boots, and his very tight – sinfully tight – boxer briefs. Laxus, in the brief second that he let himself look, could see everything. He quickly looked up

"What're you doing?"

"For the next week, I am to wear nothing but my boxers. Well, that and," he reached back into his pants pocket, letting them drop to the floor once he was done. He reached behind his neck, and Laxus swallowed at the sight. "A bow tie."

So. Freed was standing barely over a foot away in boxers tight enough to show off veins, and in a bow tie. Right. That was manageable. Laxus could deal with that. He didn't want to pin him against the nearest wall at all.

"A full week, huh?" He asked, voice hoarse.

"Yes, I'm afraid you'll have to get used to me looking like this for a while."

"Right."

"And flirting, too," Freed said with a blasé tone that might have Laxus falling to his knees.

"Flirting?"

"Loke's demand. I am to flirt constantly and shamelessly. I should probably start doing that, actually. I can imagine that he'd come up with a demeaning task to put me in my place, or some such nonsense," Freed laughed. He then stood tall, changed his posture, and looked up at Laxus from under his lashes. Laxus' spine snapped straight when Freed all but purred. "Is there anything I can do to please you, sir?"

Okay.

Right.

That was his limit.

That was the step too far.

Laxus let lightning cover him, transformed into it entirely, and shot off into the sky, ignoring the resounding sound of Gajeel's cackling, and missing Freed's self-satisfied smirk.

#Fraxus Week 2024 #Fraxus Week #Fraxus #Freed Justine #Laxus Dreyar #Fairy Tail #Fanfic #Writing #One Shot #canon compliant

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