#''do this around this time'' (she does it 5 hours later /j)

[walnutcookie]

cappu influencing langue to be a little more relaxed and langue influencing cappu to be a little more organised and when they notice this theyre a mix between “oh no she’s infecting me” and “im changing for the betger :)”

GRAAAHHHHFHHHHHHG /VPOS . GOD. they mske each other worse at the same time /silly GOD IM INSANE OVER THIS THOUGH. langue forcing cappu to fuckinf Plan out her day and not do all of his work at night and not pull all nighters and then cappu points out that they have no breaks in their schedule whatsoever lol . rhey shojld add breaks into thwir schedules Together💙

[lukola4evs]

So here’s my theory (subject to change)

Mom and Dad always had a soft spot for each other or “kind eyes” but could never act on it since 2019

L always referring Ross and Rachel etc.

They’ve always been friends, he ask N for advice on J etc. and even in season 1 or 2 promo (zooms she did) she was tearing up seeing her friend asks her questions.

Season 3 they dive in and get super emotionally connected.

Season 3 they fall in love as polin but also fall in love to the point where the blurred lines definitely have J/L break up.

Timeline during filming

Block 3 filming, episode 5/6 emotional mess so to speak if you catch my drift. J/L breakup nov/dec

Block 4 filming episode 7/8, flirty on set but no definite name to it.

Episode 8 riding scene (all lukola) and production could tell so that’s why we get montage cut.

But they are so bf/gf coded here

Liz (ic) gives them steps to walk away and make sure it’s real and they are distant but they do check in and they’re still in lurve with Photo Booth pic.

So N makes decision for them to walk away because Liz but also since she’s a jaded guarded Capricorn she needs to make sure it’s real for her and not just feelings from pen since it’s “such a profound experience”

L does hbs and parties his feelings away,

N and L post thirst traps for each other on ig last year. I’ll post pics later but she did one from New York and he did shirtless pics from R ig. (You don’t have to follow publicly to keep tabs)

They come back for reshoots dec ‘23 and they back at it like they meant to be but N still doesn’t let anything happen because polin 🙄

On March 2nd, 2024 N likes that zendaya posts saying about being an actor and falling in love with your costar.

Then press tour heats up. Back and forth messages hidden in promo (Ive rewatched 50 videos and the things you catch 2nd time around is crazy)

Now press tour - it was fun until Brazil and L only told N it was completely casual with A and not to worry about it.

They allowed themselves to fully soak up in each others energy because they are doing press as them. Not the characters. So they now know it’s not just an on set thing. Fucking Finally.

N ditched her side piece expecting L to do the same and he tells her he will, they love up some way or talk about feelings all Brazil, Toronto, Ireland, and part of london.

L is nervous af knowing a’s going to London premier and didn’t tell N outright. So in all london interviews he’s reaching out constantly to n (not only because he wants to now but because he’s worried whatever he and a have planned with his team is gonna be like a 💣 to N)

N ever the skeptic can since his bs (or maybe his lack of vulnerability when they were with her family) and eases back emotionally when she remembers too

London promo always throws me off part of the way. (Deliberately calling him bud - downplay what they have if he’s not gonna be serious or talking about showers to incite jealousy?)

But she can’t help when we see the 😍 either.

Pap pics drop she’s pissed next day. Post satc tt to be a bit vindictive

Lets it stay up for 24 hours.

L or someone reaches out and she makes the lukey newts fan club pr post.

Then for the first 6-7 days after it’s like they have coordinated posting. Always liking in 15 minutes or whatever.

Then in addition to this she lets the Polaroid be seen at ts to let us know it’s all good between them to the ga and shippers.

Fast forward to Wimbledon we see enough of the Polaroid to let us all on x know it’s a different one. And if we know it’s different from computer screens then so does L. Remember by now we know his notifs are on.

He’s got adhd and best believe when his love of his life is icing him out he’s gonna hyper fixate on everything he knows. Including a phone case he’s stared at for ages and constantly liking her stuff first thing when he wakes up.

Now n is icing him out, giving herself some time to do her and work.

Didn’t @ him on latest amazing thank you all posts which is usually her m.o. she tagged the pic but not in the captions is what I mean.

When they reunite after he deals with a he’s gonna have to make amends because Istg I know they are end game but I feel like he told her it was gonna be one way when it went sideways on her outta nowhere (she left after party super early even for having work next day)

Like he’s such a ppl pleaser the minute he got back with his friends he or someone decided that life isn’t his regular life and went back to friend group ways.

Posting more tomorrow. Didn’t realize this was so long.

LOVE x

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA For Snitching On My Brother?

tl;dr at the end, the submissions a bit long. sorry if this sounds like stupid teen drama, but i needed outside opinions. (tw for mentions of attempted suicide)

so for a bit of context here, me (14nb) and my brother (14m) both have Parental RestrictionsTM on our phones. In my opinion they are way more severe than they need to be. i am not allowed to have any social media at all, my mother barely tolerates discord. I cannot text anyone who is not my direct sibling or parent from 9pm at night to noon the next day and i cant use any "nonessential" apps during that time frame too. my brother has the same restrictions on his phone, but he has safari removed because my mother said he was playing "random internet games". however, he has found ways around this and ways around the app restrictions. i know how he does it. i really dont have any intention of telling our mother, its none of my business and i honestly dont care that much.

I recently moved to a new school. My brother and i were homeschooled prior to this during covid. And it was fine. We went to a homeschool co-op twice a week. A year ago we were both enrolled in Local Community College as dual enrollment students. A semester into that i was Not Vibing Well and ended up having a breakdown and getting a therapist. I would talk to her directly about this but i havent been able to see her in weeks due to scheduling conflicts. The workload seemed too much to me, there was no longer a distinction between School and Home. i felt like i was constantly on the clock, and i barely saw my friends. In addition to other factors at my co-op, I got very lonely. At that time the limits on my phone were 9pm-3pm (it was later edited to 9am to noon) . I cant remember exactly what happened, but i asked my mother to at least change the communication limits so that i could talk to my friends during the day. She said no, stating that I Do Not Need to Communicate With Friends During The School Day. i do not have a real “school day” i am at home basically 5/7 days of the week. And normal kids see their friends every day at school. The argument got dropped then.

Fast forward half a year, i felt increasingly lonely, out of place, bothersome, etc, at my co-op and have decided to try going to Local Public Highschool. This meant leaving my best friend (14f)  whom i love dearly (for the purposes of this post i will call her Z). Z is one of my favorite people in the whole world, we got platonically married, I lovingly refer to her as “my wife”, and i would genuinely die for her. She got a phone over the summer which means we have a better way to communicate, replacing discord as the primary communication system. Also at that time one of my best online friends fucked up their discord account somehow and the whole online group moved to text. there's about four of them? J, Other J, B, and L (ages vary from 12-16). I believe only B is directly relevant to this story but the others are worth mentioning. Additional context (tw for mentions of suicide from now on), all of those four are varyingly suicidal. B has attempted before, at least twice I believe. out of the group i am probably the most mentally stable.

School starts! I am already feeling a bit lonely due to leaving Z but we stay positive. I wake up for school at like 530 and check my phone at like 6:45. Woohoo a message from B! It was sent at 4 am. This is concerning. There is a glitch that i can use in order to view texts for between half a second and four seconds, it depends, and i use it. B’s message reads “Bye”. theres no fucking reason that they would be texting me goodbye at 4am in the morning unless they were going to kill themselves. I cannot properly view or respond to that text until noon, so eight hours. I wait to know if my friend is ok for eight hours, and at noon i check my phone again. In that time i’ve received messages from the groupchat. J, Other J, and L all received “bye” texts from B at around the same time period. After a few messages, we know B is ok, i dmed them privately and they responded both in ims and the gc. So they are ok. But i had to wait for eight hours to know that. Later that day i asked my mom if she had considered my proposal (i asked her a day or two before if she would at least turn off communication limits because it is also rather embarrassing to be honest to have to tell other people that oh i cant respond to your message right now, sorry my mom has limits on my phone :D. In addition i get anxious when i send a message that im nervous abt and it doesnt get responded to for hours so i hate leaving messages for longer than two hours). Once again, she said no. it goes against her Views As A Parent for me to have “unrestricted access” to my phone. She offered to add only Z to the list of people i can contact during the limits. This is better than nothing but Z texts more in the groupchat than she does in private messages so it wouldn’t work that well. We argued, it didnt work out, i got pissed off and we both went to bed. i very strongly feel that for like my mental health i need to be able to communicate with my friends better than i can at the moment. And i dont want to wake up to a message from a friend, have it be the last one they ever send, and not be able to respond for hours. 

Heres where the part where i could be an asshole comes in. (so sorry that that was really long i didnt know what parts would be needed as context and what were not so i just typed everything i think might be relevant). This isnt something that i am very strongly considering, as i truly dont want to fuck up my relationship with my brother and i love him a lot. I just want opinions on whether it would like be going too far i guess. I am considering offering a trade. I tell my mother how my brother has found ways around his limits, and she turns off the communication limits on my phone. WIBTA if i did that?

TL;DR: would i be the asshole if i snitched on how my brother got around some restrictions in exchange for me being able to communicate with my friends?

What are these acronyms?

[absoluteocellibehavior]

I adore (1) Charlie Dowd. I believe that Charlie should be surrounded by pretty men and women and be loved and everything. Unfortunately, this leads to a lot of sad thoughts about Charlie's place in a relationship. Let me explain:

1.) Noel Finley - Call it an awakening for both of them. Charlie's first love though neither of them knew what to do with said feelings. They become police partners and are thick as thieves. They both end up getting drafted in The Great War and I am one to believe that the two of them were able to get a single picture of themselves away from everyone else while they were there. It's the only thing that Charlie has of them, and he carries the picture in his breast pocket. A bud snipped before it even had a chance to bloom.

2.) Roland and Delphine Cummings - This is a ship I was turned onto by @creekschaoscorner (thanks a lot for the brainrot, Graham /j). He and Roland connected fast. And throughout working together, they became closer and closer. Roland was already married and had a ten-year-old daughter. Charlie was reasonably nervous about playing around with Roland after hours but couldn't help the love that he felt for him. Delphine's no idiot though. She can see the affection in his husband's warm, dark eyes every time he looks at his partner. It's a look she knows well. She's the only that actually wrangles the two into a proper relationship and what a powerhouse they are. Charlie becomes another father figure to Amanda and cares for her like she's his own. However, there was a still nagging thought in the back of his mind that he would never ever have the security in that relationship that Roland and Delphine had. Leaving for Egypt is one of the toughest things he did, though he didn't anticipate that to be the last time he would say goodbye to them. His girlfriend's body in a freezer. His boyfriend's soul later ripped apart in front of his own eyes because he couldn't convince the King in Yellow he wasn't lying. And his surrogate daughter leaving his letters unanswered. He had lost everything again.

3.) Frank Underhill - Now this is a rarepair for sure that I don't admittedly have much for but was inspired by the Malevolent commentary in which there was a possibility for Frank to have helped Arthur in the Dreamlands and possibly into Season Three, filling that sort of "guide" role that Charlie does in Season Four. Additionally, we are unsure of how much time Frank spent in the Dreamlands so it's certainly possible that the two were in the Dreamlands together (despite the possibility of the two of them actually meeting being slim to none). In my mind, Charlie was able to get out of the grasp of the King in Yellow and stumbled across Frank in his attempt to escape. The two of them teamed up and assisted each other in their mutual goals. They spent months together, trying to survive the Dreamlands and exploring the vast expanse of it all. I don't know if we have a concrete canon depiction of the cause of Frank's death, but I do think that Charlie was there to witness it. Probably one of those self-sacrificial acts so that Charlie could have a chance of getting out. It's something that still haunts him.

4.) Dennis Collins (The Butcher) - I have two different takes on this. One, is the canon storyline in which Butcher gets his head exploded and another where he lives. In both cases, Dollins gives me a very very intimate and close friends with benefits vibe. It's playful and flirty but also deeply caring without there being the stress about labels or commitments. In the canon storyline, it is very similar to Noel in which they don't even have the chance for something to blossom. In the living storyline, Charlie wishes for something a little more after a while, but Dennis is far too nomadic in his living and job that he doesn't wish to "settle down" so to speak. So, they compromise as much as they can.

5.) Ourthur (Arthur/John/Oscar) - Charlie loves these three more than life. I always see this ship as Oscar and Charlie (Holy Ghosts) getting together first and then John and Arthur (Jarthur) join in later. I think Charlie is actually the one to recommend the relationship since he has experience with it (*motions to Roland and Delphine*) which makes this prospect even more painful. Between the three of them, Charlie is generally the one to compromise on his own romantic wants for the others. Arthur or John have intruded on his moments with one of the others multiple times and simply will give in for the others' happiness. He's not the first one that many of them come to for physical affections despite him being quite fond of it. But he loves them so much, nonetheless.

So, what trend do we see here? There's two the pop out in my mind. The first is the fact that Charlie feels an immense guilt and responsibility for the deaths of his previous partners. There's a part of him that feels as though their ties to him is what caused their deaths even though he couldn't do anything about them. There's a hesitance in him getting into other relationships because of this fear that he's going to end up killing them too. Secondly, is the idea that Charlie feels like he consistently is second in a relationship. He doesn't have the stability that Roland and Delphine have, he knows that Dennis is going to prioritize himself over Charlie, and he's generally not the first one thought of in the Ourthur relationship. It's something that pains him but maybe it's for the best as it may be the only thing keeping them alive. At least in his mind.

Enjoy the Charlie angst! Kisses <3

[honeycrispappletree]

mayonaise // tooru oikawa 🏐ᯓ★

master list

match 5: streetlights

The last place yn wants to be is with her friends. Not because she doesn’t like them, but because she’s just... tired. Tired of always having something to do. Sometimes she wishes she could just disappear, slip away completely. But she decides that staying at home would make her a loser.

So here she is, at the highly anticipated HINATA SHOYO BLACKOUT RAGER™. The blaring of whatever trashy music hinata put on blasts through her ears before she even fully steps inside. The loud heated atmosphere of the party hits her, a sharp change from the cool quiet night outside. She slips off her shoes and leaves them in the huge pile of others— iwaizumi’s jordans, saeko’s combat boots, noya’s crocs, and yui’s flats. yn sighs and tosses her Uggs into the mix, hesitating before walking into the party. Immediately, yachi approaches her.

“yn, where the hell have you been?!” yachi drags out her words, pulling her into a hug.

“I’m only 15 minutes late girl.” yn smiles and lightly kisses her cheek before cutting right to the chase, “Where’s the drinks?”

yachi puts on a serious face, before giggling, “Time to get down to business.”

They weave through the vollyeball teams of aoba johsai, eventually landing in the kitchen. The room hums with noise-shots being poured, laughter filling the air. It’s like everyone’s forgotten about the week’s worries, just for a moment.

yn spots oikawa at the island, pouring himself a small drink. She knows volleyball is always on his mind, which is why he always talks a big game about drinking but never actually follows through.

“Pour me a shot, would you?” yn grins, sliding next to him at the counter.

oikawa glances at her with a smile but scoffs. “Pour your own loser.”

“Aren’t you fun?” She rolls her eyes and grabs a solo cup.

He takes a sip of his drink and grimaces. Turning back to her, he asks, “You talk to yui yet?”

yn throws back her shot before pouring another one, then replies flatly, “Hell no. If she’s got a problem, she can come talk to me. I’m not begging her for forgiveness when I don’t even know what she’s annoyed about.” yn feels a sense of guilt from her words, because she knows exactly what yui is upset about, and she knows it’s her fault.

oikawa sighs, dissapointed. “Does this mean no secret society meetings this week?”

“It wouldn’t make a difference,” she says coldly. “I’ve got club practice all week.”

He shakes his head in playful disapproval. “Elite snobs…”

yn chuckles, but it doesn’t have any real substance to oikawa. “Yeah, tell me about it.”

Before he can say anything else about the rate at which she’s drinking, noya stumbles into the kitchen, tripping over his own feet.

“You guys in on the Mario Kart tournament or what?” he challenges.

yn and oikawa exchange a quick glance, both laughing as they leave the counter and head for the living room.

“Be warned, I might just beat your ass and—” noya starts to taunt before oikawa slaps the back of his head. yn giggles, and for a brief moment, oikawas heart skips. It’s strange, but the sight of her laughing feels different now. He wishes he could make her laugh like that all the time.

TWO (grueling) HOURS LATER

Blood, sweat, and tears have been wiped away from the living room as tsukishima is announced the winner of the tournament- once again. He’s the three time champion, but he couldn’t care less.

As the group starts to mellow out, people scatter around the house, talking amongst themselves. yn drifts through the rooms, overhearing snippets of conversations. She smirks at yachi and yamaguchi, having a discussion about unrequited love with his head over the toilet. kageyama and iwaizumi, on the other hand, are deep in a conversation about their ‘shoe game’. kageyama earns an elbow to the stomach when he says iwaizumis ‘j’s are fake’. The mix of it all gives her whiplash, but she doesn’t pay much attention until she notices oikawa and yui by the pool table.

Something about the way oikawas listening to her so intently makes yns stomach sick. She can’t figure out why, but it feels so… wrong. She just knows she doesn’t want to be near it.

The alcohol swirls in her stomach, and before she knows it, she’s stumbling out to the front porch. Too tipsy and tired to have a real conversation, she settles into a chair, hugging her knees to her chest, staring out at the city. It’s quiet, peaceful at night. The streetlights glow softly infront of her.

She doesn’t even have to look up when the front door creaks open. She knows it’s oikawa. She could never not recognize that presence.

“It’s kind of cold out here,” he says, a little annoyed, as he sits down beside her.

“Then go inside.” She slurs the words, trying to sound dismissive, but she just sounds stupid.

He frowns, but doesn’t argue. They sit in silence for a while, the cool night air heavy between them. oikawa finally breaks it.

“Are you okay?”

yn doesn’t meet his gaze, but she feels his eyes on her. It burns.

“I’m fine, toru. The world’s just a little blurry right now,” she mutters, turning to face him.

“That’s not what I’m talking about,” he presses, his voice quieter now.

Somehow, her already neutral face fades. She rolls her eyes, turning back to the night, trying to brush him off.

“I’m not gonna do this whole…thing with you right now.” She sighs, shutting down any attempt at a heart-to-heart.

oikawa leans back in the chair, frustrated. He’s learned not to push with yn, but sometimes all he wants is to know what’s happening in her head.

They sit there, the silence thickening, neither willing to leave or speak. For once, the silence they can usually sit with doesn’t feel right-it feels suffocating.

“Do you want to know why I’ve been skipping practice?” yns voice breaks the stillness, and oikawa flinches. She wasn’t expecting to say it, but somehow she did anyway. oikawa can thank whiskey for that.

“Why?”

yn hesitates. She wants to soften the blow of what she’s trying to say, but she doesn’t really know how. “I guess… I thought-“ she stops, shaking her head before continuing. “I hoped if I missed enough practices, coach would just kick me off the team.”

oikawas eyes widen in confusion. He couldn’t possibly imagine yn wanting to quit volleyball on purpose, it doesn’t make sense. That’s not the kind of person she is, atleast that’s what he knew. His mind flashes to their countless hours playing volleyball in his backyard as kids. His heart drops a little.

“You want to get kicked off the team?” he asks, trying to make sense of it.

She clicks her tongue. “Yeah. I guess I do.”

She can’t bring herself to look at him. Her mind is screaming to stop talking, but for some reason, she keeps going.

“I don’t think you’d understand,” she whispers, hoping he won’t hear and just forget she said anything at all.

“Then help me,”

His words catch her off guard. She turns to him, her heart fluttering. His gaze is confused, but all while still full of concern. She doesn’t know what to say. yn doesnt see concern or care looking her right back in the face very often. For a moment, she wants to tell him everything- the way it takes everything in her to get up in the morning, how nothing she does feels right anymore. She wants to tell him.

Her mouth opens, but no words come out.

“yn?” oikawa presses, his voice gentle.

He doesn’t care, and nobody ever will.

Did you really think any different?

But yn shakes her head, “Forget it”.

She stands up abruptly and walks off the porch, her footsteps echoing in the still night air. oikawa contemplates calling after her, but his words are lost with the wind. yn walks alone down the sidewalk, the silence consuming the air once more. The same glow she was admiring earlier casts down on her skin.

The streetlights flicker.

overtime!

tsukishima mains lenny on mario kart

oikawa and yn do NOT know what they are (neither do i)

yachi took a trip to europe and loved how they did the cheek kiss for greetings so now the girls all do it

hinatas house is the canon event center

iwaizumis j's are NOT fake dont put too much on my boy

taglist: @itsdragonius @lulumi1u @gigiiiiislife @babyyitsval @akaashislove @smellysluna @dazqa @walllflowerrrsss @cupidsblonde @nitasplace @gsyche @punkhazardlaw @iaminyourfloors @mydearlybeloathed @writing-for-the-hell-of-it @nifflermini @haechuun

a/n: i have been improving my writing game bc i used to put in no effort and it was just wow. I DONT CAPITALIZE NAMES SORRY maybe one day i will. anyway they r so tragic and in love maybe for now we will see what happens

on god im updating ivy its just actually impossible help me

[callsigns-haze]

Pretty like a crime

Chapter 7

Pairing: Agent Jake 'Hangman' Seresin x Singlemom! Agent Y/n 'Cobra' Y/l/n

Summary: Cobra is finally back on the agency and is finally back in the job. With Kai at home she has to jumble being a mother and a agent. She's sent to her first U.C mission but never thought that she would meet a blonde, green eyed Texan...

Warning: Mentions of gun use, ptsd, mentions of death, mentions of shooting, flirting, mentions of abuse, description of dead body, death, blood, undercover work, alcohol use, smut, kissing

Prologue/ Part 1/ Part 2/Part 3/ Part 4/ Part 5/ Part 6

----------SIX MONTHS LATER-----------

Mornings were the most enjoyable portion of the day in your home. It was calm and tranquil, which was unusual for the couple given the chaos of raising Kai.

You and Jake enjoyed the morning since your new schedules meant you didn't have to worry about work or Kai, whom you loved deeply. Those few hours you may spend together and enjoy a tranquil time in each other's arms

It was early in the morning, with sunlight streaming through the windows, when you felt Jake's massive arms weight on your waist and his nose nuzzling against the nape of your neck.

"Good morning, love," he whispered in his scratchy morning voice, drawing you against his bare chest.

“Good morning… ooh I see our big friend is also joining us this morning” your lips curled into the famous Seresin smirk that Jake thought you while feeling his hard cock against your panty covered ass.

“Can't stop it when I'm sleeping next to a goddess ” he slid his hand under your night gown tugging against the rim of your panties to get access to your slick folds.

“Jakey, what are you doing?” you giggled as he slowly lowered you panties.

“Giving my goddess the affection her needy ass needs. It’s been a while since our last trip downtown ” he says in his morning rasp as he leaves butterfly kisses down the side of your neck.

"It's only seven a.m., and he won't be up until nine, I can tell you that," he pulls you in closer, pressing his hardon into your ass.

"But.." you protested, but your body had already given in to him, allowing him to take control.

He silenced you before sliding his fingers inside your moist and massaging your clit in a circular manner. You moaned as he placed light kisses on the nape of your neck. "Does that feel good, mama?" he teases against your ear, his fingers moist with your sticky as he takes his time pleasing you.

"Mmmhmm," you murmured gently, your body lighting up at his touch. He slips two fingers into your heat and draws circles on your swelling bud with his thumb. Your hand returned to run your fingers through his hair, taking a grip of it as you pulled your hips back as he continued to pump his fingers in and out of you at a regular rhythm, which felt nice but wasn't enough for you.

"Please, Jake, fuck…." you said in a frantic whisper. He had won you over, but he was destroying you.

"What do you need baby?" You can hear the sneer in his mocking tone. "I need you, I want you inside me," you said, as Jake quickly pushed you onto your back and removed your pants.

"Don't worry, sweetheart, I'll take care of you," he says, raising your nightdress above your head.

He bends down to savour your lips, gasping as your tongue swirls with his. He kisses your breast and swirls your peaks around his tongue. Your hand reaches down and pushes his boxers to release his member.

He continues to suck on your tits as you wrap your fingers around his thick shaft, giving him a few strokes before lining him up with your entrance. He slips in smoothly, sighing quietly as his long, thick length fills your tightness.

"Fuck, darling" Jake murmured quietly into your ear, moving his hips into yours slowly and forcefully, making you tremble. His body was wonderfully moulded to yours. You tightened your legs around his hips, bringing him closer as he drove further into you.

"Fuck, Jakey, so close, oh!" you groaned, falling back as you achieved your peak. Jake was near as well, increasing up his tempo as your walls pulsated with the sensation of your high, making him chuckle at how you squirmed beneath him. You were both so caught up in each other's delight that you didn't notice your bedroom door was open.

"Mommy, Jakey?" Your son's tiny voice appears from thin air as you and Jake quickly pull up the covers for a bit of cleavage. Your little son is standing in your door frame, leaning a bit forward as Jake asks him what's up.

"I'm hungry…" Him and Jake have been getting along amazingly for the past few months but yet you still can't get over how shy your son manages to get at times. Jake knows how shy and antisocial Kai can truly get and says.

"Hey bud, give me a minute and I'll be down in the kitchen okay?" Kai to that, full of energy nods his head and runs off down the halls as you where about to get up but Jake quickly pushes you down and gets on top of you, kissing down your neck.

"I'll go take care off him, you rest, I bet I tired you out." He plants one more kiss on your lips and gets up grabbing some underwear and sweatpants beside the bed. "Jake you don't hav-" you've said that line already and many times before, and stops you in your tracks as he grabs a t-shirt and leaves the bedroom to take care of your son.

You lie down on the sofa mattress while staring up at the ceiling, wondering how you got so lucky. You've fallen for an agent that cares for you and your son and protects you no matter what. He cares for your son and how the young boy is doing. Overall he's just a gentleman.

You slowly rise out of bed, picking up your cleavage and pyjamas at the side. You slip on the top and bottom, swiftly walking over to the table where your phone starts to vibrate. You don't hesitate to pick up the phone even though it's an unknown number.

"Hello?"

"Hello Madame Chevalier."

Current taglist:

@callsign-magnolia

@shanimallina87

@callsign-dexter

@rosiahills22

@horseslovers2016

@djs8891

@hookslove1592

@emma8895eb

@hardballoonlove

@kmc1989

@dempy

@mamachasesmayhem

@senawashere

@emma8895eb

@buckysteveloki-me

@sweetwhispersofchaos

@a-beaverhausen

@itsmytimetoodream

[astrid-nomically-steddie]

Part 2 of My Steddie mean girls au

Part 1

Steve feels like an asshole.

He really didn't mean to do this. What was the point really? To be popular? How stupid is he. He ruined his only chance at real friends. And for what? To mess with Carol? Yeah sure she's a bitch but why does that matter? And Tommy? Yeah he doesn't even really want him. Steve just wanted to get back at Carol.

God he's pathetic.

And Eddie. Jesus fucking christ. Eddie. He's been so nice and sweet to Steve and he just basically threw it all away. He took a bit fat dump on their friendship and a chance at something more for nothing. And Robin, she was so kind to him too. He shakes his head. He needs to fix this now.

Steve gets up, wipes his face and takes the canvas with him. He doesn't even glance at the painting knowing if he did he would stare at it for hours. As soon as Steve is 10 feet from his house he can feel the music pumping through his feet. Shit. The party, he thinks. He sighs as he walks closer to the door.

When he walks in the music screams in his ears. God I'm going to get a massive headache after this. One of the basketball players comes up to him, Steve thinks his name is Jake? Jason?, something with a J.

"Hey Steve. Had a good time with Hagan, huh." He said sluggishly.

"Umm, yeah I guess." Steve replied wanting to get away from him.

"You guess? Tommy told me you loved it."Jason? said.

"Loved what?" He was so confused they only ever kisse-.

Oh. My. God. Did Tommy tell people they fucked?

"Ummm, you guys did fuck. Right?" The guy - Jake? No Jason definitely Jason - said.

"No?! What are you talking about? We barley even made out!" Steve replied slightly frantic and a little angry at Tommy for lying.

"OK, jeez. Just asking! That's just what I heard. Don't shoot the messenger and all that shit." Jason mumbled as he began to walk away.

Steve stood there in shock and anger. He couldn't believe this. He needs to think but he can't because of this stupid fucking party. That's it he can't take it anymore. Steve power walks to where he knows the radio is and full on unplugs it. He gets on top of his fireplace and screams at the, now confused, party-goers.

"That's it! Party's over, guys! Go home!" He yells over all the protests. He sees Tommy and his friends stare at him with annoyed looks. Steve watches as Tommy tells his friends something and goes to walk towards where Steve is. "Dude, what the fuck?!" He says.

"What?" Steve replies slightly confused but with left-over irritation spilling from his voice. "What do you mean, what? You stopped the music and told everyone to go home!" Tommy argued but Steve thought it was pointless because he was, So. Fucking. Done. "And?! It's my house and my party. I can do what I want." Steve huffed, "Now, get the fuck out of my house, Tommy!" He practically yells at him.

Tommy just stands there in shock not knowing what to do. "Well?! What are you waiting for? Leave!" Steve yells this time. Not just at Tommy, but instead at everyone who stayed standing there like complete idiots. They all scramble to get their stuff and rush out the door. Tommy shakes his head and starts to walk away. Before he leaves he tells Steve, "You are not as cool as I thought you were." Then he walks away with all his friends. They keep looking back at him and giving him looks.

Steve feels like a total fool. Who was he to think that Tommy was an actual good person? God he's a complete buffoon. As time went on and the last people trickled out he began to clean. After around 5 minutes later he felt a tap on his shoulder. He quickly turned around.

The face he saw was definitely not one he'd thought it would be.

[saiilorstars]

Ch. 5: A Push and a Loner

Pairing: Barry Allen x OFC  // Fandom: The Flash

Story Masterlist • Previous Stories: Rise Up • It Had To Be You • Belén’s Masterlist

• Can also be found on Fanfic and Ao3 •

Taglist: @ocappreciationtag​​ @arrthurpendragon​​ @anotherunreadblog​​ @maaaaarveeeeel​​ @stareyedplanet​​ @foxesandmagic​​ @frostandflamesfanfic​​ 

Let us out.

We want to be free.

We will come out.

Belén jumped in her seat when Iris dropped a file of papers on her desk. Belén blinked up at Iris who was suspiciously eyeing her.

"What?" Belén looked around and saw none of their co-workers had stopped to look at them oddly. CC Pictures was, after all, a place of gossip.

"I just thought you forgot how to blink," Iris picked up her papers from Belén's desk then peered over to Belén's computer screen.

Belén was meant to be working on an article due that same day, in a couple hours actually, but was still nowhere near finished. Iris knew that, she'd been watching Belén all day and noticing how...distant Belén seemed. At random times Belén would just start staring into space, like she was forgetting where she was or what she was doing. It was odd, even for her.

"I'm just tired," Belén gave a little smile and got back to work. "Thanks for the wake up call."

"Mm," Iris eyed her for another minute before continuing on her way to her own desk.

Belén discreetly watched after her and scolded herself for being so weak. You can get this under control, she told herself.

She just needed distractions off her usual fear thoughts. She needed to take control. That was the key to everything. After all, it wouldn't be the first time she needed to work on getting control over herself. It was what she kept telling Caitlin to do and she should employ it herself to make the example.

"I can hear the voices, Cait," Belén explained as she and Caitlin walked into Jitters later that day. "What does that mean? That I'm actually going to go crazy here?"

"I think...actually, I don't know what to think," Caitlin admitted. She herself didn't understand how her powers came to be except that it was because of her siphoning device they used to "defeat" Datura.

They each ordered a drink then went to take a seat at an empty table. Belén fidgeted in her chair like she would lose it at any second. "Do you hear...her voice?" she asked in a whisper.

Caitlin shook her head. "No. At least, not now." Belén sighed, frustrated with her unique situation. Caitlin didn't like seeing Belén so...lost. She felt partially responsible because she created the siphoning device and now even she couldn't figure out where it went wrong, why it had gone wrong in this version of their time line. According to Barry, they had successfully defeated Datura in the original time line without any sign of...whatever the hell this was right now."You know, it might have to do with the fact you're using them more than I have."

Belén's eyebrows knitted together, taken aback by the assumption but definitely didn't discarded. "I...you think?"

Caitlin didn't say anything while the waitress stopped by to hand them each their drink to go. "It's possible that while you're attempting to use them, it's giving a chance for development. Involuntary development."

"I can't just not use them," Belén nursed her cup of coffee like her life depended on it. "I've been down the road of pushing powers away. It resulted in me losing total control. I don't want that again." She took a sip of her coffee and crinkled her nose. "It's cold."

Caitlin managed a weak smile as she drank from own cup, which turned out to be just fine. The two women then got up from the table and started to leave.

"I think, maybe, leaving them aside for now would be best," Caitlin offered a piece of advice after the two headed down the street.

"No," Belén knew that wasn't an option. "I can't ignore them, especially when they talk to me. I have to practice, take control before they do. And maybe you should too." Caitlin bit her lip, just nervous at that idea already. "Just because she hasn't talked to you doesn't mean she won't ever. She's lurking…"

"I...I don't think so," Caitlin shot that down before it could manifest in her own mind. "I don't want to use my powers."

"Well…" Belén came to a slow stop, "I didn't ask for them but I'm going to learn how to use them." Her eyes lowered to her cold cup of coffee. "In fact…"

Caitlin followed Belén's gaze and started shaking her head. "Bells…"

Belén made a hand gesture for Caitlin to stop. "Starts now," Belén shrugged. She focused her attention on her cup and the exact power she would need to use. It was strange — not the attempt to use her usual plant-based powers — but this was what she was given now and she would have to get by with it.

It just didn't work out the first time.

Caitlin gasped when the cup burst into flames. Belén dropped it instantly and, alarmed, stared with wide eyes at the flaming cup on the ground. "Oh my God!"

Caitlin looked around to see if anyone had noticed yet. Thankfully, most of them were on their phones. She quickly stomped on the cup and put out the small fire. She yanked Belén into a sprint-like walk.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know that would happen!" Belén kept glancing over her shoulder to spot anyone who might have caught them.

"Don't look back!" Caitlin hissed and immediately Belén obeyed. "I understand you want to practice them—"

"But you don't," Belén forced them to stop at the end of the street. "Caitlin, you got one power from that siphoning device. I got...I don't know how many powers I got," she turned her hand over and let flames consume it.

Caitlin once again nervously looked around. "Stop that!"

Belén let the flames die and a red energy erupt from her hand instead. Caitlin looked so pale she could have passed out on the spot. Belén put her hand down and turned her head to the road where Caitlin saw her raise a couple of rocks.

"Belén…" Caitlin was terrified and so Belén finally let it all die.

"I almost burned myself a couple days ago when I tried out my heat powers, remember?" Belén made Caitlin think back to a the night they'd gotten together at Caitlin's apartment in order to...test out their powers. "Barry kept asking me if I was okay. And I definitely had to get rid of my clothes before his freaky forensics nose got into the scorch marks on my blouse."

"I'm so sorry I did this to you—to us—" Caitlin covered her mouth with the back of her hand. All she had wanted to do was save Datura from her terminal illness. She ventured to create such a complex siphoning device that would have - ideally - restored Datura's biology enough so that she would keep her powers and be stable. Caitlin never foresaw that instead she would alter her own friend's DNA along with hers. She'd given them a part of Datura's powers with the danger of unstable DNA as well. She recreated the problem, twice.

"Caitlin, it's okay," Belén hugged the near crying brunette. She didn't blame Caitlin at all. It was, unfortunately, an accident. The timelines changed and they had to make do with what they had. All that was left to do was try to control it.

~0~

Cisco stood alone in the breach room with eyes glued to the swirling breech in front of him. Little by little, the group began to arrive from his urgent call.

"What's going on? Why'd you open a breach?" Barry quickly rushed up beside Cisco. Who the hell could be on that other side? He dreaded to know. If his luck was with him, maybe it was a benign area on the other side, maybe like Anais' world. He would like to see her again...or maybe…

"What's a breach doing open?" Belén made both men turn to see her and Caitlin coming in. "We didn't decide on that, did we?"

Caitlin shook her head to answer. "No we did not."

"I didn't do it," Cisco raised his hands in defense. "That's why I called you." He pointed at Barry.

"Well, can you close it?"

"Once again, I wouldn't have called if I could."

"Okay, well, who's coming through?" Belén cautiously stepped forwards with Caitlin.

The breach rippled as someone finally crossed through and with it went the group's nerves. Harry Wells jumped through, although if the group had been paying more attention they would have seen the urgency on the man's face.

"Allen," Harry Wells greeted, "I need your help."

Barry was still trying to process this unannounced visit to properly dread what new problem Earth 2 could be facing. "With...what?"

But before Harry could answer, someone suddenly zipped through the breach and went around the whole room before stopping in front of Barry. The gust of wind she left behind put everyone into a state of surprise.

"With that," Harry pointed a finger, unimpressed, at his daughter.

"Hey, guys," Jesse waved with a cheery hand at the dumbfounded group.

Harry would then have to explain how his daughter was now a metahuman. They moved into the cortex to better discuss the new change.

"When did this happen?" Wally was probably the most affected, but no one would really know then.

"A few days ago," Jesse was all too happy to explain. Everyone could tell she was over the moon happy with her speed.

Harry, not so much. "So, when I got Allen his speed back, Wally and Jesse were hit with the dark matter. Turns out she was affected," he glanced at his gleeful daughter. "She was totally affected."

"But I didn't get speed, so could it have been from something else?" Wally asked.

"No... I mean, I doubt it. Dark matter affects different people in different ways at different times...sometimes not at all, so be thankful, but she was affected, and I want to run some tests and find out just how much."

"Well, then, you've come to the right place. Let's go to the Speed Lab," Caitlin suggested but both Harry and Barry turned to her with similar confusion.

"Speed Lab?"

~ 0 ~

The 'Speed Lab' turned out to be a rather dramatically large room with everything a speedster would need to train...except Barry had no idea it even existed, and he didn't remember ever training inside of it. He was mostly struck by the large tube-like structure that actually ran above them. According to Cisco, Barry had been using it nonstop

"Something tells me you've never been in this room before…" Cisco sarcastically said to the open-mouthed Barry in the center of the room.

"Nope," the speedster confirmed.

Harry stopped and turned to Barry, only giving him a brief glance before he got the gist of what was going on. "Wait, you...you nev...Allen." Barry actually winced at the sharp edge in Harry's voice. "I suppose that means you traveled back in time again."

"Yeah, but—"

"How many times did I tell you not to do that?"

"How did you even figure that out so fast?" asked Belén.

Before they could say anything else, Nina walked in. Her condition made both Jesse and Harry gasp. She rolled her eyes and looked at the others. "Seriously, anyone else going to give me the wide-eyed look? I've been pregnant for almost nine months!"

"Not from where we stand," Harry settled a sharp glare on Barry.

"How are they immune?" Iris nodded to Harry and Jesse, wondering how that was even possible if no one else noticed the timeline changed.

"Because it's another Earth, so it's another timeline," Harry answered her. "So when did you do it?" He once again turned on Barry. "After we returned to Earth-2?"

"Look, Harry, only a couple things are different—" Barry didn't even get his attempt at an explanation.

"Oh, I'm sure. Not."

Cisco's eyebrows raised. "Really? You guys are doing "not" on Earth-2 now?"

"Uh, no. That's all him," Jesse jerked a thumb at her father.

"Okay, let's just get Jesse on the track and see what she can do," Barry hoped to get things moving because Harry's sharpened eyes were not something he could withstand for long.

"Yeah, let's do it," Jesse was all too happy to show off her new speed. "All right. Check this out!" she took off into the tubing and ran as fast as she could.

"Damn. She really can move!" Joe was the first to react with popping-wide eyes, making the others laugh...except Harry and Wally.

"Yeah, she can. Um... I got to go," Wally tore his gaze from the speeding Jesse and left in a hurry.

"Wally?" Iris called after him but it was no use. It was easy to tell he wasn't quite thrilled with the news. Iris offered to go talk to him but it still wasn't enough to ease Joe.

"Look, it's just... it is better if he doesn't have speed," Barry moved over to Joe but was surprised to find the opposite in Joe.

"Oh, you don't have to convince me of that. The last thing I want is two of my kids zipping around the city, running into danger!"

"Cause he looked pretty disappointed…"

"This is about that other timeline, isn't it?"

Barry had only just thought about the fact Wally could be next on Alchemy's list. He had been a speedster, and though not an evil meta, Barry was sure Alchemy would do something to make Wally a threat. "No, I just... I think you should keep an eye out."

~ 0 ~

Things were picking up with the metahumans Alchemy was summoning. At least that's what Barry thought this new case was all about. John Kane had been attacked with a street lamp post the previous night that just happened to fly into the apartment.

"That smells like a metahuman case from a mile off," Belén told her mother as the Detective led her daughter into the offices. "You have to give me something."

"Yeah, even though you're my daughter—" Veronica stopped and turned to Belén, making the younger woman bump into her, "—I can't do that. Iris came in with the same attempt about an hour ago."

"She did?" Belén blinked.

"Oh yeah, I thought you were worked at the same place…?" Veronica gave her a strange smile.

Belén weakly smiled back. Truth be told, she hadn't quite listened to Iris that morning. The voices were inhabiting her mind and Iris' voice just couldn't break through. "Must have forgotten."

"You okay?" Veronica asked and looked her over to make her own assumptions. "You've been acting...a little...odd, even for people like us."

"I'm just tired," Belén said and believed herself to be telling a technical truth.

"Hm, take a little rest, then," Veronica patted Belén's arm then spotted Barry coming in. "You!" she snapped her fingers at him, making him immediately hold his hands in defense.

"Am I in trouble?"

Belén rolled her eyes and turned around to him. "Have you done anything else?"

"No," he frowned at the similar stares he was getting from both mother and daughter. "I just…" he made a hand gesture to them, the open office where Joe was conducting an interview with a young girl, and to the reception, "...I'm just...doing my job…"

"Help me out on mine then," Belén walked up to him with a warm smile. "I need deets on this case."

"Nu-uh!" Veronica warned her. "You can't bat your eyes at our forensics to get private information."

"Is it a meta?" Belén ignored her mother and waited for Barry to answer her. "You know I can't write about that anyways. Not if it's...you know, Alchemy's doing," she whispered in the end.

Barry apologetically smiled at Veronica who groaned. "I'm pretty sure it's a meta, though I don't know if it has to do with Alchemy."

"Well, we wouldn't know that until we need this new meta," Belén waved a finger in the air and walked towards the nearest desk.

"Barry," Veronica called to him again, this time serious as a Detective, "What exactly did you find? Because we're not getting much from that girl," she nodded towards the open office, "Frankie Kane."

"Well, the outer layer of the lamppost is a half an inch thick, but to bend even a quarter-inch of steel requires 177 tons of tensile strength, so…"

"Are we looking for Mr. Incredible?" Belén smiled at the two, wanting to chuckle at her own joke.

"...but I'm the dork?" Barry playfully asked.

"That's a truth too," she gave a nod. "But back to that little theory—"

"I know you're not infiltrating information to a reporter, Allen," Julian strode into the room, missing Barry rolling his eyes at him, and met Belén's smug look. "You know it's against the rules."

"Mhm, I know how much of a stickler you are for rules," she leaned against the desk and crossed her arms. "But this is off the record, so c'mon…" she gestured with a hand for him to keep going. "Let me hear how the story ends."

Julian upheld her stare for about a minute or so before he continued with their discoveries. Veronica looked between her daughter, Julian and Barry and wondered to what extent did Belén have the two men in front of them wrapped around her fingers.

"...the only problem with Barry's little theory is there were no fingerprints found on the post."

Barry really had to force himself not to roll his eyes at Julian. "Again, Julian, not my theory, and the meta could've been wearing gloves—"

Julian did not hold back. He raised a hand to stop Barry from talking. "Yes, perhaps. But the curvature on the post suggests that equal amounts of pressure were applied to the whole thing at the same time. So, unless our strong man has a wingspan of over 20 feet…"

"Something else caused it," Veronica nodded.

"You two are not really going to fight over theories, I hope," Belén warned Barry and Julian seeing as the two couldn't stop glaring at each other.

"They've fought over less," Veronica mumbled to her and moved for the office. She had pulled Joe out from the office so that they could converse.

"Who's that?" Julian spotted Frankie from the open door.

"That's Frankie Kane, the victim's foster kid," Joe seemed to be harboring something."That poor girl's been in and out of homes for years. Listen, she said that she blacked out during the incident."

"Blacked out?" Julian repeated, confused. From the desk, Belén listened in with a little more interest.

"Yeah. Repressing memories is a coping mechanism for lots of foster kids," Barry gave a little insight but it didn't seem to keep Julian at bay.

"Hmm. Is it?"

Barry's glare was just automatic at this point. "It is," he mimicked Julian's accent.

"It could be something else," Julian pushed past him to get to the office.

"When will you two just...stop?" Belén sighed as she leaned away from the desk.

Barry gestured after the blonde who was in the middle of discreetly taking Frankie's glass of water. "Did you not just—"

"Like school boys, you are," Belén shook her head at him. "But those blackouts...what if they're not just blackouts?"

Even though Barry was fairly annoyed she was getting on his case for something Julian so easily provoked, he listened to her question. "Blackouts have been...a recurring theme for metas…"

Belén cleared her throat when the theory got back to her. It was how she'd started losing control of her powers when she first got them almost three years ago. That...made her wonder. "I have to go," she said with the idea fresh in her mind.

"What? You're not going to persuade these two idiots to keep telling you whatever you want?" Veronica's gesture at him made Barry even more annoyed.

"No, not today, gotta go!" Belén scurried out of there with the intention of finding someone.

~ 0 ~

Jesse came to a stop with a laugh after finishing up a new round of exams for Caitlin and Cisco. "So, how'd I do?" she eagerly waited to hear the response.

"Blood pressure, heart rate, metabolic rate all excellent. And you've got some serious speed, girl," Caitlin looked up from her computer scanner with a proud smile. "I think you're good to go."

Harry, who stood on the other end of the computers, pointed a finger at Caitlin. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I still want to run a few more tests."

"Like what?" Cisco gave him a look. They were basically finished with every possible test they could conduct on Jesse.

"Like...more tests," Harry waved him off.

"Hey, so, is Wally here?" Jesse peered to the doorway of the room.

"No, not yet," Caitlin was sorry to say. She could tell Jesse really wanted Wally to be there for her.

"Right. Um... Okay, I'm gonna... I'm gonna go grab some food. I'm starving," Jesse sheepishly patted her stomach.

"Yeah, there's some PowerBars in the workshop. Help yourself," Cisco suggested. He waited until Jesse was completely gone before he called Harry. "Harry? Can I just ask...what are you doing?"

Harry would not tear his gaze from the screen in front of him. "Being thorough."

"Yeah? 'Cause it seems like you're stalling…"

Harry flung his hands in the air. "Okay, fine. I'm stalling. I'm stalling! So what?"

"So what? So why?" Cisco would like to know.

"So why? Why? Why? I got to explain myself to you two? Oh, I guess I do, 'cause you're not parents. That's my daughter, okay? And she spent months on this very Earth watching Barry Allen defeat meta after meta after meta... And Zoom... And all of a sudden, bam! She's got speed, and now she wants to be a hero just like him. And I think that's a great idea. Not!"

"Harry, we can help her. We can train her just like we did with Barry," Caitlin took a much kinder approach than Cisco's sarcasm. "We've done it with Belén and Nina too. We know what we're doing."

"Yeah, except I don't want you to train her, okay?" Harry didn't know what else he needed to do to get that point across. "I brought her here for you to talk her out of it, not talk her into it, all right, Ramon? You... you should talk to her. You're a meta."

Cisco pretended to think about that crazy idea. "Yeah, which makes me the last person she should talk to about not using her powers."

"Okay, Snow... Caitlin... You and her—" Harry put his hands together like a prayer, "You've always had such a special relationship. You talk to her."

Caitlin looked at him like he was crazy. "No, we don't. And I don't know anything about having powers, so I'm the last person you should talk to, so don't ask me…" she knew she'd rambled on a bit too fast during that last sentence. She should start learning how to lie better - it was something she and Belén would need to work on together...just another thing they needed to get under control.

~ 0 ~

Belén arrived at STAR Labs and found Caitlin first in the cortex. "Where's Harry?"

Caitlin looked up from her computer and sighed. "He's probably still cooped up in the breech room trying to figure out how to keep Jesse from using her powers."

"What?" Belén was only momentary surprised but then remembered this was Harry Wells the protective Dad and brushed it off. "Whatever, I think I have a way to figure out a little more about...our situations."

Caitlin turned her chair in Belén's direction. "Like…?"

"Well, besides us and Datura, who exactly would know about Datura and Killer Frost's history?"

"I...I don't know…"

"Harry!" Belén exclaimed. "He kept tabs on the metas in his city. Granted it might not be in-depth but something is something."

"Belén, I don't know about this…" Caitlin sighed. This was a tough situation alright. She knew that unlike her, Belén wanted to understand and control these powers while Caitlin felt said powers were more of a curse. So far, Caitlin didn't know much about their powers and she didn't exactly have the support from the others since they were choosing not to say anything about it.

"I'm not revealing anything, I'm just...asking some questions," Belén tried to explain her idea so that Caitlin could see no danger of disclose would loom over them. "I can make it work as if I'm trying to understand Datura more. He has to know whose powers she owned and what exactly happened to make her...crazy. He can give me the timeline we need."

Caitlin tapped her fingers along the desk, indecision written all over her face. "I just...I don't want people to know…"

"And they won't," Belén promised her. "Worst case scenario, I'll tell him about me."

Caitlin could see that despite Belén coming to her to explain her idea...there wasn't much convincing her otherwise. "Just be cautious, please."

Belén beamed and assured her it would be alright. Unfortunately, Belén didn't have the time she needed to talk to Harry because their metahuman had finally made a true appearance.

Frankie Kane was their culprit.

Barry stared at the profile picture of Frankie on the wall screen. He, Joe and Veronica had the unpleasant task to meet her metahuman side after Julian practically forced it out of her. He nearly paid for that with his life if Barry hadn't gotten him out of the way.

"Her name's Frankie Kane, but she's calling herself Magenta," he told the others.

"Meh," Cisco crinkled his nose at the name.

"That Magenta is a whole different person than the scared, kind girl I was interviewing," Joe remarked. Magenta had an air of smug confidence that Frankie Kane was very far from.

"She's dissociative," Harry said.

"You mean split-personality?" Belén asked and gave Caitlin a discreet look of 'he knows what he's talking about' to which Caitlin inwardly sighed at.

She instead focus on the computer screens before anyone noticed. "According to her medical records, it's a condition she's been dealing with her entire life. I'm sure all the yelling at CCPD is what triggered it."

"So Frankie is Jekyll. Magenta is Hyde," Wally simplified it. "Classic good versus evil."

"Or she's pulling a "Primal Fear." She's faking it," Harry suggested.

"No, she's not faking it. I saw the struggle going on inside of her," Barry reassured them all this was a real case. "Magenta's trying to take over completely."

Belén looked down with an actual twinge of fear. It was an all too familiar fear she wished would leave her alone. Seeing it happening in someone else, a young girl like Frankie, didn't help.

"You said she was raised in the foster care system?" Caitlin asked.

"It's in her records," Veronica came over. "She's been going from home to home."

"Yeah, and maybe not good ones," Caitlin said after checking the records of Frankie's current home. "Her current foster father, John...the one who was hurt in the attack has got a few disorderly conducts."

"He might have some information we can use," Iris saw a chance to help and went over to Caitlin's side. "Belén and I can follow up with him."

Iris' smile made Belén feel terrible when she shot her down. "I can't go. I...have something else to do…"

Iris raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

"I...I just...can't," Belén quickly looked down at the floor to avoid Iris' suspicious stare.

Even Barry was wondering, at this point, what she meant. "There is...something else…" he spoke up only to keep Iris down. He had began picking up on some strange behavior from Belén after Iris had pointed it out. He was going to look into it, soon. "She got her powers from Alchemy. When I said his name, she knew who he was, so Magenta must have existed in the other timeline too."

"Who's Alchemy?" Jesse asked.

"Well," Cisco began with an overly sarcastic tone, "Doctor Alchemy is a magic man in a cloak who can somehow restore the powers that people had in Flashpoint."

"Okay, and what's Flashpoint?"

"That's what we're calling the alternate timeline that Barry created when he went back in time and saved his mom," Caitlin explained.

"Oh. So Magenta is another side-effect from your time trip. Genius," Harry spat at the speedster in question. "Not. Who knows what else you've changed!?"

"I don't need to be reminded. Thank you," Barry crossed his arms.

"Look, anybody with those powers and as angry as her needs to be tracked down," Joe said, getting them back on track. "Fast."

"Well, great. I mean, fast I can do!" Jesse exclaimed and started out. "Let me just go carb-load."

"He didn't... That's... you don't…" Harry was left calling in vain. "Snow!" the brunette flinched in her chair.

She knew exactly what he wanted and groaned. "Okay, Harry, I'll talk to her, but I don't know what I'm gonna say." She got up from her chair and went after Jesse.

"And I guess I'll go see John Kane," Iris announced, lingering a sharpened look on Belén.

I am a horrible friend, Belén thought.

"Belén?" Veronica startled her out of her thoughts. "Still okay?" she was watching her daughter for any movements but Belén knew that trick all too well.

"Just tired," she recited her lie and waved her and Joe off.

~ 0 ~

Caitlin took in a deep breath before she entered the pipeline where Jesse was finishing her snack. Jesse sheepishly smiled as she cleared the crumbs of power bars off her face.

"You guys weren't kidding when you said speedsters were hungry all the time…"

Caitlin gave a little smile, an awkward one too since she wasn't sure how this conversation was going to turn out. "Listen, Jesse, before you speed off to find Frankie, I just want to make sure that you feel like you're ready."

"Why? Is something wrong? I mean, did the test results say something?"

"No, not at all. All the test results have come back fine so far. It's just... maybe you should take it slow…"

Jesse thought about it for a second before shaking her head. "Sorry, is this how you guys treated Belén when she got her powers?" Caitlin blinked, sensing the sort of accusation Jesse was about to throw at her. "Because we're girls? We need to take it slow?"

"What? No! Not at all!" Caitlin exclaimed. "It was the opposite - she was scared-"

"Well I'm not," Jesse cut her off without intending on being rude. "I like my powers and I can use them!"

This was going downhill, thought Caitlin. "Well, I mean, I'm sure you think that it's a great thing to have powers, but sometimes, it's not so great. Trust me," Caitlin paused involuntarily as her own secret began to resurface in her mind. "I'm just saying that if I had powers, I would probably take it slow…"

Jesse sighed and got up from her seat. "My dad put you up to this, didn't he?" Caitlin opened her mouth but Jesse didn't give her the opportunity to answer. "Yeah. I mean, of course he did!"

Caitlin winced as Jesse stormed out of the pipeline. She quickly went after Jesse, but by that time the younger girl was already shouting at her father in the cortex.

"You don't want me to have this speed, do you? I mean, that's why we're here, right? Not so you could test me, but so you could get everyone to talk me out of using my powers!"

Harry briefly looked over Jesse to Caitlin - the brunette quickly lowering her head and rushing to sit beside Cisco and Wally at the desk. Harry returned his gaze to his outraged daughter still waiting to hear what he had to say. "I just want you to be…"

Jesse groaned when she recognized the same old story about to be told. "To be safe, yeah. Yeah, I know. I've heard it my entire life!"

"This is different. This is way different!"

Jesse scoffed. "Yeah, no, it is. 'Cause I'm not Barry, right?"

"Right. You're not Barry—"

Jesse didn't give him the opportunity to speak. She was tired of hearing the same excuses for everything she did. She whirled around and left the cortex. Harry helplessly watched after her but the action of actually trying to speak with her again was definitely not the right one at the moment.

Wally cleared his throat and slowly got up from his chair. "Let me...talk to her this time," he offered. Harry gestured him to get a move on it.

~ 0 ~

Despite the troubled air in STAR Labs, Belén still managed to secure Harry alone in one of the cortex's side rooms. Caitlin had distracted Cisco with something that would hopefully take at least ten minutes.

"Harry?" Belén poked her head into the side room and gave a wiggle of her fingers.

Harry wasn't exactly the talking sort, and it was even less when he was in problems with his daughter. Belén had to remember that as Harry gave only a brief wave of a hand before returning to a deep work on the computers.

Belén cleared her throat and slowly stepped into the room. "Um, I have something to ask you...it's...um, it's about my doppelganger."

Datura was a delicate topic for Harry considering the woman helped kidnap Jesse and nearly got them both killed. "What could you possibly want to do with her now?"

"You haven't heard, then?" Belén dreaded to be the one to give Harry yet another point against Barry regarding the time lines. "Datura sort of got away from me in this time line."

"WHAT!?" Harry wouldn't try to keep his voice at bay even if Belén clapped a hand over his mouth. "ALLEN! I swear to God—"

"Harry, please! It's already done! There's nothing we can do about it. I'm trying to figure out where she is right now and I need your help!"

"I want to know why the hell Allen is still allowed to walk when he so clearly can't help screwing things up!"

"Harry, I know what Datura being free means to you so if you really want her to pay for everything she did, help me out," Belén put her hands together, "Please?"

Harry shook his head knowing that he would end up helping Belén with whatever she wanted. "You need to put that boyfriend of yours in the pipeline for at least a week."

Belén cracked a small smile. "Sure."

"So, what do you need to know?"

"Datura's history." Belén bit her lip nervously. "Uh, specifically her development into, uh...an evil meta."

Harry cocked his head, his scrunching face pretty much implying he had no idea what that had to do with her search. "What do you mean?"

"I was, um, thinking that perhaps learning her true history would help me ensure things end differently the next time we meet," Belén explained and gave herself silent props for making her excuses sound legit. "What I mean is, I'd like to know what powers she's been known to have. I know a couple, of course, but I also know that she only showed a pea-sized amount of what she actually had."

"Nobody knows all the powers Datura had, Belén," Harry shrugged quickly, "I doubt even she knew."

Belén blinked at the revelation. "What?"

"The whole reason Datura's meta physiology was unstable was because she couldn't control the powers she had. She couldn't stabilize enough to switch between them and actually identify each one."

"But...but what about the people she siphoned? There has to be records about those victims—"

"I can get you the reports from my STAR Labs on her and her victims but her actual body count isn't known, neither are her powers. She kept losing some while gaining others."

Belén let out a heavy breath. This conversation wasn't going exactly where she needed it. Make do with what you have, she reminded herself. It was all she had left. "Okay, um, can I just please get whatever you have on those?"

Harry nodded. "Give me a couple hours to compose all the profiles, alright?"

"Yes, of course." Belén would have to anxiously wait to receive those profiles and get started on a proper plan for her future.

~ 0 ~

"Seriously, what the hell were you thinking? You can't just go stepping into the street like that! I mean, you got to use your head!"

Belén, Caitlin and Cisco each squirmed in their respective spots in the cortex as each of Barry's shouts carried into the room. And if it wasn't enough, Harry and Jesse were going at a similar match in the very room. Apparently, Wally had gotten the idea that he could jumpstart his 'speed powers' like Jesse had - involuntarily - done in her own world. Unfortunately, it didn't work out and Jesse had to pull him out before he got ran over by a car.

Now everyone was mad...except for the leftover trio hearing everything. In the end, both Wally and Jesse each stormed away from their shouters.

Harry immediately called upon Caitlin, who jumped in her chair at suddenly being put in the spotlight with an accusation. "What did you say to her?"

"Me?" the brunette pointed at herself.

"Yeah, you," Harry directed a finger at her face.

Caitlin got over her initial startle and scowled. "Don't blame me for this. I tried to help!" Helping was all that she tried to do lately with no success.

"Help her or help me?" Harry's demand only pushed her further into annoyance.

"Listen, Harry," Caitlin pushed herself up from her chair and slammed a hand on the desk, startling both Belén and Cisco. "Maybe the reason she's shutting you out is because you're not trying to understand what she's going through—"

"I don't need to unders—"

Caitlin was not giving him the chance to speak. "Maybe if you helped her navigate her powers rather than just assuming they'll destroy her, she'd turn to you rather than push you away!" she gave him a sharp glare before leaving herself.

"Point one, Caitlin," Belén mumbled to Cisco who 'mhmed' in response. Harry overheard her and sent the two a murderous glare which prompted them to get out of there too.

~ 0 ~

"Iris, what are you doing here?" Nina accidentally startled the focused reporter in the hospital hallway.

Iris stopped and turned sideways to see the doctor smiling at her. "I'm following up on John James...for job purposes and…" she leaned forwards and whispered, "...meta reasons."

"Ah," Nina understand and looked around the rather empty hallway. "Our street lamppost victim. He's this way," she started walking with Iris. "What's going on with him?"

"His foster daughter is the metahuman," Iris began to explain in a quiet voice since nurses were still passing by.

"Frankie Kane?" Nina recalled the girl which took Iris aback.

"You know her?"

"Not personally, but…" Nina stopped Iris for a second. Her eyes flickered around in case anyone lingered by. "I'm not supposed to disclose anything, but...she's been in here a couple times with some...weird accidents."

"What kind of accidents?" Iris crossed her arms.

"Broken bones in the arms, one time a leg," Nina shook her head. "If you asked me, it's abuse but I can't exactly prove it which is…"

"Why you haven't said anything," Iris nodded, understanding the position Nina was in.

"I can't do anything unless I have concrete proof and if the girl comes forwards. I've just reported my suspicions to the social worker but...there's not much I can do."

Iris began to wonder how that might factor into Frankie's current condition. It definitely made sense. If Frankie lived in a hostile environment, she would try to cope with it some way or another...which might have made her an easier target for Alchemy. "Wait…" she grabbed Nina's arm when a new idea suddenly entered her mind, "...maybe that's why turned into Magenta."

"Magenta?" Nina wasn't in the loop about Frankie's new identity for the moment, but Iris didn't stop to explain.

"Maybe Magenta came out as a defense mechanism! She tried to get back at John Kane for hurting her…and if she did it once - and failed - she's going to try again!" she dashed for the room the nurse in the reception room had indicated was John's.

"Can we not run? I can't run!" Nina grumbled and walked her fastest after Iris.

"Nurse!" Iris found one nurse in the room at the moment and went directly to her. "We need to get this man to a safe location!"

The nurse gave the reporter a strange look. "Why?"

But before Iris could even attempt to expalin with an excuse, they heard distinct noises of metal from outside. Nina came in with a slight short of breath and saw Iris nearing the room's window.

"What is it, Iris?"

Iris' mouth fell open at the sight outside.

"Oh my God," the nurse nearly fell back.

Magenta was back...and with a tank.

~ 0 ~

In the cortex, an alarm went off but it wasn't one that Barry recognized. "What kind of alarm is that?" he looked over to Cisco and Caitlin who were already working on the computers to see the situation.

"That's Iris' panic button," Belén came rushing into the room with Joe and Harry. "What's going on?"

"Her what?" Barry was dead confused but apparently no one else was. "What is that?"

"Her panic button. We installed them on everyone's phones!" Cisco exclaimed and looked up to Barry's confused face. "Cause we kept getting kidnapped!" he nearly shouted.

"After I could start making an actual tally mark chart counting my kidnappings, we decided it was better to be prepared," Belén looked at the others who nodded in agreement. "I still won, though."

"Yeah you did," Cisco smirked.

"We got it!" Caitlin pulled up Iris' location on the screens behind Barry. "It's...the hospital…"

"Iris said she was visiting John Kane, remember?" Belén blinked. Now she definitely felt terrible leaving Iris on her own.

"Is that...a tanker?" Joe nearly fell over seeing the security feed.

Cisco slowly rose from his chair in utter shock. "Th-th-that's a tanker, yeah."

"She's gonna kill everyone in there," Jesse was wide-eyed like the others.

"We have to go there," Barry looked over to Belén, wondering if her strange behavior would also carry over to their work.

But Belén would be damned . "Let's!"

~ 0 ~

Inside the hospital, Iris and Nina were working to get John out of there, even though the man didn't really deserve anything at this point.

"I should really be up there helping," Nina struggled to get people moving without bumping into her.

"Are you kidding me?" Iris sent her a sideways glance while pushing John's wheelchair. "Don't you even dare! Let the others take care of things."

They made it to the front doors but stopped simultaneously when they saw Frankie's figure outside. Magenta was holding her hands on either side of her, controlling the tanker moving over the hospital.

Barry sped to the hospital's roof with Belén. The two settled on their feet and gazed at the tanker coming their way.

See, super strength would be very handy right now, thought Belén. She wished Datura could have had that power siphoned somewhere…

She shook her head after realizing the implications of that. Another metahuman killed for their power was definitely not something she should be wishing for.

"There's not enough time to get everybody out of the hospital. This thing's coming down," Barry communicated with the others through the comms. "What if... What if I create a wind funnel?"

"You won't be creating enough updraft to keep that tanker up," Harry shot him down.

"No, no. Not with my arms. If I run. That could…"

"Propeller," Cisco realized. "That could work."

Harry agreed too. "Barry! Run in a figure eight fashion. You'll act like a propeller. The wind will build upon itself. It'll create the supersonic resistance we need. Could work."

"All right," Barry exchanged nods with Belén then started running in the infinity symbol trail keeping the tanker from crashing over them.

"Okay, well, that worked, but now what? He can't stop her if he's up there," Joe remarked.

"We don't need to fight her," Belén said, still staring down at Magenta. "If she's dissociative then we can get Frankie to assume control again."

"That's your plan?" she heard her mother's doubtful voice and rolled her eyes.

Belén jumped over the ledge and let tendrils of vines create a downward slide allowing her an easy landing in front of the girl. "Frankie? Frankie Kane?"

Magenta's pink eyes glowed bright in the dark and settled over Belén. "You need to leave," Magenta ordered. "I'm not allowed to hurt you."

Belén blinked pretty rapidly, confused by Magenta but took any advantage she could. "Allowed? Why not— you know what, that doesn't matter because I don't want to hurt you either. I know that you're sick, or that...someone made you sick. Let us help you. My friends can help you figure this out…"

Magenta growled under the strain of her tanker. "You need to leave!"

Belén jumped when the tanker gave a large creak on the roof. "No!" she shouted at Magenta to stop. "Magenta—ah!" she lurched forwards as she started to hear voices again.

They want us.

We want to come out!

Use the fire!

This was the worst time to get sucked into the whirlwind of voices. What was worse is that she could actually feel some of those powers forcing their way up her finger tips. "No! Leave me...alone!" Belén clutched her head, shaking it frantically as the voices continued to invade her mind.

~ 0 ~

"What is going on…?" Cisco checked the monitors and saw Belén's vitals spiking up and down. "Magenta hasn't touched her!"

Caitlin immediately took over and smacked Cisco's hands away from the computers. "It's probably her sugar levels," she said the only thing she could think of.

"What's that got to do with this right now?" Cisco frowned at the ruddy excuse.

"Blood pressure is going up, really up…" Caitlin mumbled the readings with growing concern, "Neuron activity spiking...I...Belén!" she called into the comms. "Belén!"

"If she's not getting through Magenta will let that tanker crush everyone in that hospital!" Joe was in equal frantic state since Iris was still in said hospital.

"He right," Harry slowly met Jesse. "They need all the help they can get."

Jesse was a little doubtful of her father's seriousness. After everything, it wasn't expected. "Dad…"

"You need to get out there, now."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I know you can do it. You're more than fast enough. Now, run, Jesse," Harry encouraged her with a smile. "Run!"

Jesse smiled back and sped out of there. She met Barry while he was running on the roof. "Hey, thought you could use some extra help. I got this. You go take care of her."

Barry was happy to see her there. He let her take over and rushed down to where Belén and Magenta were.

"Go...away…" Belén said through gritted teeth but the voices were swirling like a vortex, overlapping one another.

"Azalea…" Barry wasn't sure what was happening but he started getting flashes of her earlier days when she wasn't in total control of her powers. Could it be the same thing was happening again? Had he caused that too?

"Barry, Magenta!" Harry's voice rang in his ears.

Barry took care of the priority - he supposed - but felt a little better when Belén managed to send a weak smile his way. She was coming back…

But from what? And why?

"Magenta, killing your foster father and everyone else inside that hospital isn't gonna give you what you need-" his step forwards put Magenta into a snappy mood.

"You have no idea what I need! It's not just John that I want to get rid of. I want them both gone!"

"I know you're still in there, Frankie. Don't let John destroy the good that's still inside you…."

Magenta's eyes flickered pink to dark brown, but inevitably filled with tears. "He said I was weak. That I was pathetic! He said I was a horrible person."

"He's lying," Belén managed to get a word in, simultaneously taking in a deep breath. The voices were going away, but that was an episode she definitely did not want to repeat. "He's just blaming you for all the bad things he's caused in his life. It's not your fault. This isn't because of you."

"I just want him to stop hurting me," Magenta slightly lowered her arms.

"This isn't the way. Your foster father never forgave himself for his mistakes. That's why he took them out on you. He couldn't move forward. But you can…" Barry took cautious steps towards the girl.

Magenta's pink eyes faded to brown, and remained that way, this time. She looked up at the tanker and redirected it back to its place. Seeing the immediate peril was diminishing, those inside the hospital who could leave did.

With Magenta gone, Frankie Kane sobbed her apologies.

~ 0 ~

"So no one else got hurt?" Frankie was now properly there and sitting in the cortex with the group.

"Luckily, no. You don't have to worry about that," Veronica gave the girl a little smile.

"What about John?"

"The DA's prosecuting him for what he did to you. So I think he's gonna be serving time, and he's not gonna ever be anybody's foster father again," Joe was happy to report. It definitely helped having Nina's records on file just for extra evidence of that man's abuse.

"It's just so strange being responsible for all of this and not remembering any of it," Frankie stared at her hands, the ones who apparently had control over...terrible powers.

"What do you remember about how you got your powers?" Barry asked her, in the guise of the Flash. "How this all began?"

"Um... I started having dreams, at night, of Magenta."

"Dreams?" Wally asked, and she nodded.

"They were more than dreams. It was like I was living another life or something. And then I started getting them all the time. During the day. And the more it happened, the more painful they became. Then I started hearing a voice."

"What voice?" Barry had a good idea of who that voice was, but he wanted to confirm…

"It was a man. Named Alchemy. He said he could give me what I wanted and make me powerful again. I didn't understand. I thought I was going crazy," Frankie shook her head.

"Trust me. Magenta is not here because of anything that you did. There may be a darkness inside of you, but if you face it, it'll make it easier for the good side of you to win."

Frankie took his words' meanings with shock. "You're letting me go?"

"None of this is your fault, Frankie. Caitlin found you a good home in Keystone. People that will never hurt you."

"But what if Magenta tries to come back?"

"Fight her. And if you need help, we'll be there. We have faith in you, Frankie," Barry's smile was infectious to Frankie. She thanked them all for the second opportunity she would be getting.

~ 0 ~

"Your neuron levels spiked up like crazy, Belén!" Caitlin was reading over the reports she'd stored while Belén had been out with Magenta.

Belén was now the one sitting down in her greenroom while Caitlin circled her chair. "I don't even know what that means, Dr. Snow," Belén reminded her they did not speak the same scientific language.

Caitlin leaned on one hip, not amused with the response. "Whatever happened out there, caused every single vital of yours to just go up! I barely hid it from Cisco."

"I'm sorry, I didn't...know that would happen," Belén fiddled her fingers together. "I was just talking to Frankie when...the voices started. They were like attacking me with different things."

"They were doing more than just saying stuff," Caitlin looked over the reports on her tablet. "It's like, for a brief second, they were taking ahold of you."

"I felt the powers try to force themselves out of me," Belén admitted.

Caitlin shook her head. "I knew you shouldn't have tried to use them—"

"So then what the hell am I supposed to do with them?" Belén snapped and pushed herself up from her chair. "Because the last time I was in this situation was because I didn't use my powers! They controlled me, Caitlin, remember that? I worked hard to control them and be the Azalea. I refuse to let them take me over."

Caitlin pursed her lips and stayed silent. Of course she remembered. Belén had been close to fighting even Barry off in her non-controlled state.

"I'm just trying to do things differently here," Belén crossed her arms, her anger softening as she calmed down. She wasn't angry with Caitlin, and she wasn't upset...she was just...scared. "It's happening again and I don't want it to. I don't want to lose control. I want to take control. Not using your powers works for you but it's not what I want for me."

"Okay," Caitlin sighed and passed some hair over her shoulder. "Let me...device a training plan, alright? Maybe, if we start slow, then we can take control of each power you siphoned."

"Thank you," Belén said softly and sat back down on the chair. She rubbed her forehead and somehow the fear she felt only increased as seconds ticked by.

~ 0 ~

"Hey, what's going on?" Barry walked into the precinct's desks where Joe and Julian already were. He'd gotten the call so suddenly when he was all ready to go home after such a day.

"Listen, Singh wanted me to show you guys this," Joe motioned Barry to quickly come over. His hand was hovering the clicker of the computer where a video was paused. "This happened a few days ago at Iron Heights. They tried to keep it under wraps 'cause they didn't want anybody to think there was a security issue, but check it out."

"That's Clariss," Julian said without care. "Is this why we were brought in?"

"No, this is why," Joe let the video play.

Clariss was shouting in his cell for Alchemy when all of a suddenly he was picked up and pinned at the wall. He was thrown around like a ragdoll, harshly, until he was flung one last time and hit the ground.

"Dead before he hit the ground," Joe muttered and looked up at the two wide-eyed forensics.

"Alchemy. You ever heard that name before?" Barry asked specifically for Julian just to try their luck at some new information.

"Alchemy? No, I haven't," the blonde shook his head.

"Maybe there's an invisible meta," Barry thought otherwise. Iron Heights was made specifically to cancel out any powers...so where exactly would this invisible meta come in?

"Maybe it's a ghost," Julian suggested. "Do you believe in ghosts, Allen?" Barry's flat face gave him the answer. He rolled his eyes and left the place.

"Hey, do you think this thing is part of the Flashpoint timeline too?" Joe asked once Julian was surely gone.

"I have a feeling a lot of things are these days," Barry muttered and tore his gaze from the video.

[jamiesugah]

I just finished a five-part, six-hour YouTube deep dive on a 45-year old murder case and it is fucking INSANE and needs to be a miniseries. Way more interesting than another OJ Simpson doc. Who cares.

Anyway. Story. Someone I went to high school with is in jail for murder. He was up for parole a few years ago and got denied. Anyway, when Netflix came out with the new Unsolved Mysteries show, it made me think of him, and I mentioned it on our monthly family video chat. Which prompted my dad to go, "oh that reminds me of when this girl that my sister used to babysit was murdered".

And I just kind of blinked at him. Like. Say more right now. Why am I almost 40 and didn't know this. And he didn't tell me much, but there was a TV movie made about the case so I looked it up. Learned the basics of the case, and it always stayed in the back of my mind, because there didn't seem to be much on it anywhere.

Putting this under a read more just in case people get triggered by it. Also it's long.

So when I looked up the Wikipedia, there was a bit on it, but the basics are that she was a teacher in a town in PA near Philly (she is from my dad's hometown, though, which is super tiny and rural), and she was found in the trunk of her car in a motel parking lot near Harrisburg (which is a couple hours away from Philly). Her children also disappeared and THEY WERE NEVER FOUND. IT'S BEEN 45 YEARS.

It was the kids that kept this in the back of my mind. No one ever found out what happened to the kids. Their dad is dead, both suspects in the woman's murder are dead, and they spent their entire lives claiming that they were innocent and the other man had done it. We will never know what happened to these kids. They were 10 and 11.

Anyway, I fell into a bit of a YouTube spiral this past weekend where I started with watching videos on the Watcher situation, then Jojo Siwa, then J Lo, and then somehow ended up on true crime, specifically The Boy in the Box and then the Yuba County 5. And I was like, "I've never been able to find an official documentary, but surely someone on YouTube talked about this case about the woman and her kids." And lo and behold, I found one.

It is six hours long, which surprised me, but I kept watching because this shit is BONKERS, and the fact that there was only one TV miniseries (even if it starred Stockard Channing and Treat Williams) and, like, 20/20 never even covered this is a huge missed opportunity. This shit is BANANAS and Hulu or something needs to jump on this.

So the two main suspects, who were both convicted (though one was later overturned as the cops withheld evidence during his trial), were the former principal of the school - who was also convicted of robbery and his sentencing was like the day after the murder - and her secret boyfriend and fellow teacher.

By the way, the principal has a Wiki page, the woman - Susan Reinert - does not.

Anyway, the boyfriend/teacher was like a narcissist and compulsive liar. He was dating something like 5 women at the same time (including two former students) while being legally married, and he used to tell people that he had helped the government hunt down rebels in Cuba, which of course was not true. He basically had a little cult of followers around him, and he would ask them to do stuff like HIDE WEAPONS and WIPE FINGERPRINTS OFF $25K IN CASH and no one ever went, "huh that sounds shady" because I guess he was just that charismatic.

The former principal was known to be weird and secretive. He never even let his wife or their children in the basement of their own house (which when they raided because of the robbery they found riddled with bullet holes), and it's more than likely that he murdered his oldest daughter and her husband and then tried to pretend they ran off to California.

Anyway, the boyfriend/teacher spent the months leading up to Susan's murder telling as his "followers" that he knew for sure that the principal was going to kill her and lamenting that he would likely be framed for it because she had made him the beneficiary of her life insurance (which she did, and he would have gotten like $700k which is a lot of money now, let alone in 1979). And none of these people went to the cops or told Susan, even though they all knew each other because they all worked at the same school. So then boyfriend/teacher worked REALLY hard to have an airtight alibi on a specific weekend, which just so happened to be the weekend that she died.

After the murder, all of this dude's followers were like, "wow you were right, principal actually killed her", and then he suddenly started going, "no I think he was framed by the mob" and everyone was like wtf is wrong with you, you have been telling us for months that he was going to kill her. And then his lies started to catch up with him and basically everyone in his influence turned on him and went to the police, except one of his girlfriends, who may or may not have helped him dispose of the kids' bodies, since they were never found.

ANYWAY this case is fucking crazy and should absolutely be immortalized on like HBO or something, but if you want to go down the rabbit hole, this is the first part of the series that I watched. It is super detailed. Like the murder doesn't even happen until part 3. You can also look up The Mainline Murders, there were a couple of books, but one was written by the principal's lawyer.

[indeedaesies]

4/4/23

Cultures in any working industries is stupid & ridiculous.

Everyone rushes & competes who can carry the boss’s balls the highest. Boss takes advantage of his position and literally behaves like the biggest asshole on this planet.

I just got FUCKED by the worst boss I’ve ever worked for and his work bitch, aka The Manager. They’re quite well known in the company as Clown 1 & Clown 2. All for an MC that I had received from a certified doctor as I was diagnosed with Influenza B, a contagious disease and somehow almost everyone in my timeline is getting it in Singapore now. New covid? I was still not well yet I wore my mask and dragged myself to work as I did not want my colleague to be on shift alone, KNOWING how that felt like. Only to be fucked as early as 0830 on a Sunday morning.

Could not wait till work ended? Oh that’s right - coming from “the boss” who works everyday where he comes in at 0800 and fuck any nurse who arrives later than him, has time for exercises in between consults, goes for a two hour break unbothered, goes of as early as 3 or sometimes earlier, complains and bitches when he has to do a procedure for the patients, find faults with nurses, beats the patients up, does surgery without sterilised gloves contaminating everything, sides with his entitled clients who lies to his nurses but comes up with bullshit stories for him and when nurses try to clarify and explain themselves, he takes it as talking back and will make your life hell.

Oh, & lets not forget the work bitch - comes in the latest among all the nurses, dont even bother helping anyone with any treatments in the morning, sits at the front every single shift and claim “as the manager I need eyes everywhere so being at the reception is where I need to be to know everything”, has no idea everyone at work hates her, make so much promises but delivers nothing, turn the nurses and doctors against one another, telling me “as the new manager you should not join in the bitching” but bitches the most, act like someone you can trust behind the boss’s back but immediately give a whole new charade in front of him, acts nothing like a leader, purely lazy, throws the phone to other nurses who are having their breaks when clearly she is supposed to be the one mending the phone as per a receptionist does, will literally talk shit non stop, extremely bias, bitched about a nurse and claiming she wants to terminate her just because this nurse’s mom is a kidney dialysis patient and needs to be sent for treatments, hits patients too, really not around as she is busy chain smoking her lungs out, also leaving work as soon as the boss goes home.

I swear to god, this company’s a J O K E. These two clowns tell clients their pets are safe with us. THEY ARENT, especially not with these two mother fuckers who really, I do not understand why the fuck are they in this industry. Patients are being left ALONE overnight but these two clowns will tell clients “there will always be a nurse to take care of your pet overnight”. NO, there IS NOT! Coming to 5 months, I have seen 4 patients DIE overnight as there was NO NURSE OR VET to take care of them. My heart breaks every single fucking day. I vowed never to work for a company that does this shit and fuck me I was just desperate and an idiot to think I could change this place for the better. These two mother fuckers are inhumane. I saw once the boss CHOKE a motherfucking corgi with the leash because he was fierce. I had it handled, I was already restraining the corgi and this piece of shit grabbed his leash and held him in the air. I had to yell to tell him to stop. That corgi was so afraid. I have seen this monster castrate a cat when the cat was not even down yet all because he was in a “hurry”. I cried and I prayed for the cat because I was useless, I was a nobody and that was all I could do, help the cat recover from such a traumatic experience.

I try my best every single day, to do what I do best and that is to save animal lives. Help them. Be their voice. Make them comfortable. Everything that happens in this clinic goes against everything I believed in.

On that unfateful morning, while getting yelled at by the two clowns, all that went through my head was what would happen if I were to snap? My boss told me “i paid you your full salary to do your job” and tell me clearly what the fuck have i been doing all these months then? Come in to work and open my fucking legs and sit on my ass all day? He told me “I cannot work with you anymore, you took more medical leave than I did through my career. Go find a company that will tolerate this and do not tell me I am unfair” That’s rich coming from someone who is so full of it? Like I wouldnt come to work every single day if I get to not work, pass my surgeries and procedures to my nurses and other vets, go for undisturbed breaks and leave before 4 everyday? And Ive been slogging for them and this was my very first long medical leave BECAUSE OF A VIRUS MIND YOU.

Then coming from the work bitch “You can kiss your manager post goodbye, there is no way I can handover this position to you, this is unacceptable” - well funny how this is coming from someone who is not even FIT to lead a team. Also, I have already mentally checked out the managerial post as I have bigger plans coming my way and that is to get the fuck out of this company ASAP.

All for a medical leave. They know it is illegal to terminate me as MOM will not allow it, so here they are making it unbearable for me.

Dont get me wrong, the other doctors and nurses are amazing. I am really close to them as I bothered to get to know them. I took the time to hear them. I try my best to be there for them or help them. I understood what they go through. No matter what happens outside work, I still come to work every time with a smile on my face and make it worthwhile for everyone. But these two pieces of shit - in it for other reasons. And I do not know, for the first time in my life, what to do next.

All I know is, they can try their very best to get me to quit on my own accord but too bad, I am a survivor. I have been through shits after shits to be who I am today. They want me gone, they’ll have to give me a payout. Funny how this bitch is telling me all these bullshits to put on a good show for him when she’s the one that confirmed me as a permanent staff on my second month and even increased my salary. All because of a medical leave that I was entitled too. Amazing right?

[bratshaws]

goodness gracious 76. brb x oc

THIS FIC IS 18+ ONLY! MINORS PLS DNI!

a/n: sometimes I don't call for the smut the smut calls for me uwu

check out the fic's playlist made by the sweet @wiipes !!

pairing: plus size!oc x rooster

warnings: healthy relationship is based on TALKING, s m u t , god they are so in love i fucking HATE THEM ( jk i love them)

chapters:

1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13/14/15/16/17/18/19/20/21/22/23/24/25/26/27/28/29/30/31/32/33/34/35/36/37/38/39/40/41/42/43/44

45/46/47/48/49/50/51/52/53/54/55/56/57/58/59/60/61/62/63/64

65/66/67/68/69/70/71/72/73/74/75

(pls let me know if you want to be added to the taglist!!)

taglist: @mirandastuckinthe80s @roosterschanelslut @wiipes @lcahwriter @shrimping-for-all @gretagerwigsmuse @frenchtoastix

@lizzie-rdj @fanboyluvr @atarmychick007 @comebacktoearthpls

@peachiicherries @mak-32 @lizziespidiepridie @roosterswifey @ollyoxenfrees @piceous21 @sqrlgrl22 @hofficoffi @lexhalstead3 @lorilane33 @legendarydreamersharkparty @luckyladycreator2 @emilybradshaw @j-6o @louisahale @leobabbyyy @kulicny @winter-run @ktjmac @graciereads

-

Beatrice stood by the sink, waiting for the tub to fill up, in a way that made Rooster stare at her in questioning. Her arms crossed over her chest and her body almost curled in a way it’d hide most of herself, one leg partially tilted over the other as she leaned on the floating counters. He didn’t know what was going on, but it reminded him painfully of their first time together.

He curses internally, thinking that if his attitude was enough for her to feel so uncomfortable to that point he probably hurt her more than she let on. When the tub is filled and already smelling really good, he turns to Beatrice whose eyes never leave the water’s surface, “Baby, do you want me to get in first?” green irises rose up to meet him, but she nodded with a small smile. No vocal response, that was getting worrisome. 

Beatrice’s form doesn’t change position once he’s in the water, her eyes now staring at nothing to the side and her arms even tighter around herself. “Baby.” he calls, gently, almost as if he’s trying to pry her off those dangerous thoughts he was sure were running in her head, “Aren’t you coming in?” he should prepare himself if she suddenly changed her mind, he wouldn’t like it, but he’d respect it no matter what.

The relieved sigh that left his lips however couldn’t be stopped, seeing she slowly started removing her own clothes - a bit too quickly, almost as if she wanted it to get over with - and he had almost no time to admire her body like he usually did before she got into the water…on the complete opposite side of the tub. He inhaled shakily, fear climbing up his spine like an angry spider ready to bite. “Bea.” he calls again, softly, making her worried eyes turn over to him, “Baby, come here.”

Her body moves as if she wants to, but something holds her back, her lower lip disappearing inside her mouth as she chews it anxiously, “I…” she didn’t feel pretty, or sexy that day. The words that woman tossed her way still haunted her hours later. Rebound. Tubby. Rebound. She knew it wasn’t true, she knew Rooster, but the doubtful anxious part of her brain couldn’t understand that at all. 

“I’m sorry for what happened, I–”

“It’s not you, Roos.” she cuts him off gently, rubbing her wet arms with both hands, looking to the side, “It’s just my brain is not helping me.” she whispers the last part, lowering her lids almost as if she’s ashamed of admitting it. She’s made so much progress and all it was needed was some random weird woman show up and make her doubt everything she ever worked so hard for.

And her boyfriend, while not fully aware of the whole reason, was already taking it on himself to make her feel better, “C’mere gorgeous.” he tries again and this time Beatrice does scoot closer, lying sideways on his chest with her arms still close to her body and her cheek on top of his warm pectoral. Bradley sighs gently, lowering his mouth to her head to kiss her scalp as his own arms wrapped around her, like a protective shield, “Your head can be very wrong a lot of times. Whatever it’s telling you, it’s not true.”

Beatrice just hums a weak reply, her eyes focused on the water ripples around his bent legs and her arms, “Do you want to share it with me? You don’t have to hold it in.” he questions, his mouth still on her scalp. She doesn’t reply, nor shakes her head negatively so he has to pull back to look down at her. Beatrice drags her big green eyes up to his face, her lower lip jutted just a bit,  but her face still had the same worried mask on.

He inhales, bringing her higher against his chest so her face is on the crook of his neck. Bradley then kisses the side of her face,rubbing his thumb on the outside of her wet arm while his other arm is wrapped around her waist, “I don’t know…how to explain.” she finally whispered, which was more than she said hours ago.

“I’m not in a hurry to go anywhere, so,” he whispers, kissing her temple this time, “Take your time.”

Beatrice’s back expanded with a deep breath she took in, for courage no doubt, the warm breathing hitting his neck when she exhaled, “...something happened today- I mean yesterday.” she corrected, remembering it was already past midnight, “Someone…um, showed up.” he showed no change in his body, he was still listening, “And she ah…well,” how could she say this and make it make sense? Even if part of her brain was screaming that it wouldn’t work. “She said she knew you.”

That made him still completely, the hold on her body tightening just a bit and Beatrice tilted her head to meet his eyes, seeing they were already looking down at her with a mix of worry and anger swirling in those whisky brown irises, “...and she…well…” she looks away, ashamed once more as she remembers the words she used to her, “She said some things to me.”

“What things?” his tone was hard, but not at her, she could feel it wasn’t directed at her.

“Just…” she didn’t want to repeat it, but she knew she had to so Rooster would know, “...well, she…ah…” it was harder than it looked but she was thankful he wasn’t pressuring her on saying it faster, “She just said you– that you.” do not cry, don’t you dare cry right now. She swallowed the lump in her throat, clenched her eyes to stop the burning of tears, keeping them closed when she tells him everything, “She said she didn’t think you’d be so desperate to be with me and…t-that you needed a rebound because she moved away and–and she called me…names.”

Beatrice feels his arms tightening even more around her, his body now tensing up visibly. She opens her eyes to check his face and she doesn’t think she had ever seen him so distinctly angry, looking like he’d murder anyone within his path. His nostrils flared, his tongue moved inside his mouth as he took in the information, “She saw you?” Beatrice nods, which only appear to make her boyfriend even angrier, “Fuckin’--” he doesn’t finish the sentence, she’s not sure if it’s because he was raised right by his mother and doesn’t usually talk bad on women or because he was too mad to actually finish it. 

“Roos?”

“I can’t fucking believe she went to you, how the fuck did she– I need to talk to Mav about this because she can’t do this shit.” he growls under his breath, the tendon on his jaw popping when he clenches it, “First she tries contacting me, which was already a fucking annoyance but she goes to you?? I’m not going to let her get away with this.”

Beatrice blinks up at him, pushing herself upwards so she’d be face to face with Rooster, “Wait, what? She contacted you?”

“Came out of fucking nowhere, I thought I blocked her on everything but it’s so possible she made a new account.” he groans, he was so angry he was starting to fidget in the bathtub with Beatrice still in his arms, like he was ready to jump out of it and fight someone, “We never had anything! We went out once and she started pulling this bullshit about how we were going to date, asking me about my parents and whatnot…Jesus Christ, this isn’t right– did she hurt you?”

“Well…not physically.” she murmurs, looking down at her hands, “She just,I guess she brought some of my fears back onto the surface, you know? And it…it really sucks.” because now she couldn’t get rid of it, she could not erase them from her mind. Bradley’s expression softened, he was still angry she could feel it in him, but he hugged her close, kissing the top of her head before adjusting her on his lap after lowering his legs.

“You are not a rebound.” he whispers against her hair, inhaling the lavender shampoo with his eyes glaring at the opposite wall, “You are not a replacement for anything, you are you. You are the woman I love and I fell in love with you for who you are. I love you, babe. I do. You are the most beautiful woman in the world.” Beatrice’s cheeks turned red and her eyes shone with tears she didn’t want to shed, “I’m so fucking sorry she showed up like that, I…I really am.”

Beatrice smiles softly, her cheeks flexing enough to force a few tears down, tears that he either kissed away or wiped with his thumb. Her heart fluttered happily, even if her mind still disagreed with his words, she felt more at ease when he said that. She knew she was right deep inside, she knew the goblin voice was wrong - again - and that Chloe was wrong just as much, “I love you too.” she whispers in a shaky voice, sniffling a bit, trying to hold back the other tears that tracked down her cheeks, “It’s not your fault that she…showed up, you know?”

“Still, it was related to me in some way.” he murmurs, murder written all over his face, “She can’t do that, I don’t now if it counts as harassment or something but it’s bullshit.”

“Evelyn was there when she showed up.” Beatrice says,her body slowly easing some of the tension from before, “So…she called her dad and just that was enough to make her scurry away.”

Bradley looked up at her with his eyebrows slightly furrowed, then he thought of her words with his eyes to the side, “Yeah, it’d make sense, Cyclone can have a talk to her new superiors and tell them what happened. It won’t end well for her.” but he was still very annoyed by everything. How the fuck dare she go to Beatrice and tell her she’s a rebound. Rebound?? 

God he was so mad.

But his focus right now would be Beatrice,talking to her and making sure she understands that whatever Chloe told her is not true, “She started saying some stuff about you too.” Beatrice says softly, making circled on his chest with the tip of her index finger, “That…well, she said a lot of dumb stuff and I guess,I got really mad at her. I don’t know, she talked about you like you were…an idiot or something, and it fucked me up really bad.”

He didn’t know why he was surprised, knowing Beatrice, she’d be upset if she hurt her but she’d be downright furious if she messed with someone of her family, her friends but especially him. Even the little knot between her brows showed that she was getting even more upset just talking about it. Bradley’s lips twitched into a smile, his anger dissipating into adoration as he props his chin on her shoulder, “And you defended me.” she nods, without hesitation, “...God I don’t deserve you.”

“That’s not true.” she whispers, “Why would you say that?”

He couldn’t elaborate why, his own demons probably prevented him from forming an eloquent sentence that’d show why he felt that way and she’d still not believe him, “You are just…” he shrugs, not finishing his sentence yet again, but there was no anger in his tone, kissing her cheek soundly with his hands dropping from her body to hold her own, turning her to rest her back on his chest in the process, “Just you.” he interlaces their fingers together from behind her, her hands were so much smaller and softer than his.

Beatrice tilts her head back to look up at him, her pink lips parted showing parts of her white teeth, the movement gave him enough space to lean down and kiss her forehead, then trail kisses until he reached her neck, where he stayed, her soft hair touching his chin and chest, “You know I’m crazy about you, right?” he asks against her skin, making Beatrice nod in front of him, “You know there’s not a single woman in this whole wide world that drives me as insane as you do,right?”

Her smile returns, “In a good way?”

He squints his eyes playfully, “Most of the time, but I do like when you are a bit bad and tries to get something out of me.” he replies, bringing his lips to the curve of her jawline, loving how it made her giggle softly.

“I know Roos.” she whispered, “And while my brain sometimes gets…really bad, I know it’s just because of my own self doubts. I know you love me and I know that sometimes I still get…I know my mind gets the best of me.” he bends his legs up once more, caging her against his chest so he could keep her close, “I don’t doubt you. My brain may sometimes make me think I do, but I really don’t…it’s a bit confusing.”

Bradley chuckles, still kissing her soft skin and sighing against her neck, his body relaxing just having her there. “I know babe,I know.” he he drops one of his hands from her hold to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, rubbing his knuckles on the curve of her jawline, “I know your brain can be a bit of a brat and annoy the hell out of you and there are times it’ll also get the best of you.”

“Yeah…”

“But I’ll be here with you to get rid of those thoughts,” he assures her, her face breaking into a shy smile when she looks his way, “No matter what.”

“Even if it makes no sense?”

“Even if it makes no sense.”

Beatrice’s cheeks reddened, her smile getting even wider before she turns around and wraps her arms around his neck in a hug, their chests touching with the embrace and the water made it a bit hard for them to keep close since they were so slick but they did a good job. With his face buried on the curve of her neck and one of his hands on the back of her head, Rooster’s voice breaks the comfortable silence, “I thought you left.” he says softly, running his fingers through the brown strands, “When I didn’t see you, I thought you went back to your place. I got…I panicked.”

“I’m sorry.” was her reply on his shoulder, her smaller hands cupping her arms to keep herself close to his neck, “I had to use the bathroom and calm myself down a bit, Jojo followed me carrying my bag thinking I needed it and we stayed there for a bit. I honestly didn’t hear you calling me, I’m sorry.”

He hums against her skin, closing his eyes in relief “It’s okay.” he whispers, pulling his head back the same time as she did, her sweet apologetic smile only warming his heart even more, “I forgive you.” she laughs softly at his response, cupping his face with her hands, rubbing his cheekbones fondly before she kisses his lips in a quick peck. “We should wash up.” he comments, while his hands move to her thighs under the warm water, spreading them enough to make her straddle his lap, “But, I’m honestly thinking about something else.”

“Oh?” she asks with her lips hovering over his, “Is that right?” He nods, kissing her once more but this time the kiss was a lot deeper and his huge hands traveled all the way back to her behind where he cupped each cheek with gusto, pressing her front of his and making Beatrice gasp softly into his mouth. Beatrice’s hands traveled all the way up to his sandy brown hair, a groan vibrating his throat at the feeling of her nails touching his scalp, gently tugging the strands.

It doesn’t take too long for Beatrice to feel what he means, quite literally. She adjusts herself on his lap just enough for him to slowly slide in, a whiny sigh going past her lips when he hilts, her arms draped once more around his neck. She breaks the lip lock to look down at him, his eyes partially open as well and his lips red and flushed from kissing, one of his hands going from her buttcheeks to her back then her chest, sighing out when her hips moved slowly on top of him.

“Fuck, you are a fucking vision.” he whispers, watching how her brown hair darkened and glued to her skin because of the water, how her cheeks flushed a darker shade of red, how it traveled all the way down to her chest like a beautiful crimson wave. Beatrice’s only response was a quiet moan, her hips moving in a wave motion, her arms still wrapped around his neck to keep her steady.

The warmth of the water, followed by how warm their own bodies were was actually having a cooling effect on both of them for some reason, he couldn’t understand how since there wasn’t anything in the water that would cause this effect but he wasn’t complaining. Beatrice’s green eyes were now only a ring because of her dilated pupils, her lips parted, shiny and pink, like fresh berries he wanted to bite. 

Neither of them were in a hurry, which considering everything that was spoken about minutes before it could be understandable. It wasn’t only about pleasure, there was reassurance in both of their movements. The unspoken words of ‘I’ll never leave’ were being said by their bodies, the ‘I love you’s’ and ‘I’m sorry’ was more than enough for them. Bradley’s eyes never left her body on top of him, not even looking at her flushed chest but directly on her face. 

Beatrice drops her forehead to his, her arms lowering from his neck so her palms would be on his chest, one of them right atop of his heart. He could endure the worst situations, the most dangerous missions but he could never see himself without her. “Bea.” he calls softly, making her eyes blink open, unfocused but then meeting his, “I love you.”

“I love you too,Brad.” she replies, her voice breaking into a moan at a specific thrust coming from him, her nails digging on his pectorals just enough to make him wince but not enough to make him stop. He just had one of his hands on her ass, the other was on her upper back, fingers tangling with the wet strands of her hair.  

He wanted to tell her, to ask her now, what he wanted to do. He wanted to let her know how much she meant to him, how much he wanted her in his life…but no, not now, not when they were both having sex in a bathtub, she’d think he’s saying it just out of emotion instead of it being thought out completely.

Just a few more days, then her birthday, then the move and then he’d work on it. Right now he should enjoy this. And he was. Beatrice moaned one more time, her hips moving a bit faster to meet his, the water sloshing around them with a few drops of water falling on the tiles. He groans deeply in his chest, with Bea’s lighter one following when both of them decided it wasn’t going to last too long,  the laborious movement was no longer going to be needed right now.

He cups both of his hands on her ass, giving himself some leverage while Beatrice yelped out a moan, holding on the edge of the tub behind him when his hips moved much,much faster than before. Her moaning was broken, chopped murmurs of his name trailed of her lips while her other hand clenched around his shoulder, “God!Brad!!” she whines, pressing her face to the muscle on his neck, trying her best to keep up with him. Beatrice’s whines got louder, her moaning sharper and the water kept on splashing on the floor creating large puddles that undoubtedly would be quite dangerous when they stepped out.

He breathed heavily against her neck, his nails digging on the plush flesh of her buttocks and hips, until neither of them could prevent what happened. Never, in neither of their lives, had they ever felt such a thing before. Never had them ever climaxed with someone else at the same time.

Beatrice’s hips convulsed and her voice cracked, while Bradley’s cursed moan alongside his hips thrusting shallowly onto hers added to the sounds around them. With her hips still moving with aftershocks and Rooster’s doing the same, neither of them acknowledged what just happened until a few minutes after the high had finally passed. Beatrice whined on his neck, hips moving just a bit with him still inside of her before he lifted her head, “Brad?” her boyfriend was breathing heavily, leaning his head back on the edge of the tub and exposing his heavily flushed throat for her eyes.

Bradley’s eyes fluttered closed, still sensitive over the orgasm they both shared and keeping his hands on her lower body, “Fuck, baby…” he mutters, biting back a groan when she moved on top of him “Fuck that was good.”

“It always is.” her reply makes him grin, lifting his head from the edge to meet her eyes, her shining eyes and equally shining smile with her hands cupping his cheeks and bringing their lips together in another slow romantic kiss but lighter than the deeper one from before, “Are you okay?”

“I’m always okay.” he smirks, pecking her lips a few more times, “I think right now, we should finally wash up.” he chuckles against her mouth, making her laugh at the same time, agreeing with him.

-

The pizza was only ordered minutes after they were both done and smelling fresh and clean as he called them. They were both enjoying it on the couch, not so different from that time he was about to go to her aunt’s wedding, watching Rupaul’s Drag Race - season 11 this time - with Jolene chewing on a few doggy treats that Beatrice brought along.

Beatrice couldn’t keep her eyes off of Bradley as he sipped his soda, her legs on his lap and one of his hands rubbing her calf repeatedly. He felt her eyes on him, his lips quirking in a smile with the glass still tilted up, pulling it back to look at her, “What?” he asked gently, loving that she was wearing just her long shirt and comfortable Beetlejuice cotton shorts that showed so much skin.

She hummed, chewing her pizza with the same smile he had on his face,”I’m just thinking,”

“About?”

“Stuff.”

“Ah,” he nods as if he completely understood what she meant, putting his glass on the coffee table so both of his hands are now free, “Of course, stuff. What is this stuff you are thinking about?” she was so happy they were back to normal, especially with her brain being quiet and no longer putting seeds of doubt in her.

Beatrice smiles, licking her fingers clean of any sauce and keeping eye contact when she does so. Bradley’s brown irises dropped to her digits disappearing, one by one, inside her mouth before being popped out with a soft sound, “Just thinking about what’s going to happen when we move in together.” he hums in response, still looking at her mouth and fingers, then moving his eyes back to her own amused gaze, “We could look some stuff up tomorrow and you know, check when it’s available for moving.”

“Yeah,” he agrees with the same smile, “I think it’s fair. I think we can find a good place soon.”

“I can call my cousin Gabriella if you want, she’s a real estate agent.” she suggests, “She helped Leo find his house, so.”

“It doesn’t hurt to try.” he grins, grabbing the plate from her hands so he could crawl on top of her, supporting his weight by her sides, “I know what we can do the moment we move in,” he coos, dropping his lips to the curve of her jaw. Beatrice makes a questioning sound, which makes him reply with, “I think we should christen every room, at least twice.” that makes a laugh break out of her lips, tilting her head back and exposing more of her neck to his lips, “It brings good luck.”

“Uh huh,” she replies clearly not believing him, “And where did you see such a thing?”

“Somewhere, I don’t know.” Another laugh comes from Beatrice at his nonchalant reply, “But I know it’s good.” He kisses her throat a few more times, pulling his head back to look down at her. Her lips still curved into that beautiful smile, her hands coming up to rub his cheeks. His heart thudded wildly just by thinking about it, thinking about their future together, “I can’t wait.”

“Neither can I.” she says, her eyes softening the longer she looked at him, “I’m a bit nervous but..it’s the good type of nerves.” she reassured him immediately when he stilled on top of her, his body relaxing when he sighed out a breath. “Did you tell anyone about it?”

Bradley purses his lips, then tilts his head partially to the side, “I had to tell Mav, he was…really happy.” to put it mildly, he feared he’d give his godfather a heart attack by the way Pete was looking at him all wide eyed and opening and closing his mouth, “I’ll tell the others later.”

Beatrice nods, then pauses,looking to the side, “I think…I told Shells,Penny and Ev…without really noticing.” she whispers, meeting his eyes again, “When uh…Chloe showed up I kind of let it slip, so…I’m surprised Shells hasn’t messaged me yet about it.” but maybe it was better this way, she’d tell her parents last. 

Rooster sat back down on the couch, pulling her alongside him so she could sit on his lap, kissing her temple with his arms wrapping around her waist, “We’ll be fine.” he tells her, but the words held more weight than just about moving in together. It was about everything. It was a promise both of them planned to keep.

‘Yeah.” she whispers back, smiling while looking at the TV, “We will.”

[hansolmates]

a hero’s journey (m)

summary; jungkook and jisoo are the mightiest power couple. however, one drunken confession and that whole facade fades in an instant. you realize that maybe you need to break from your unvaried life for a bit and be the hero of your own love story pairing; jungkook x editor!reader (f) genre/warnings; best friend’s boyfriend au, slice of life, angst with a happy ending because im weak, pining pINING, everyone’s kind of a mess in their own sweet special way, alcohol use, mentions of ze weed, toxic relationships, mean friends, sex—slight dom!kook, food play, fingering, squirting, heavy use of the petname “pretty girl” bc im weak, strength kink, manhandling (oop!) w.c; 22.2k a/n; woof! my first fic for @goldenclosetnetwork​ 23 | jungkook’s birthday project! this goes out to all the closet romantics *ahem me cough* who doesn’t love pining between a cutie koo? a huge thank u for vivi @eerieedits​ for making this bbbBEAUTIFUL fic banner!  

prompt used: “I should’ve known.”

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It’s so easy to ignore the world. 

Maybe it’s a young-adult thing, but it gets difficult fitting into the 9-to-5 and playing to satisfy bosses that don’t entirely understand your work ethic. Maybe it’s out of complacency, or fear. But you prefer to let the world flow around you and when you’re needed, you’ll act. You’ve reached that point in your life where you enjoy the little things, satisfied by an extra hour of overtime tacked onto your paycheck, a new fabric softener, or finding the perfectly squishy yoga mat. 

You’ve finally started feeling comfortable in your shoes, uncaring as to whether you’re single or drowning in college debt, happy to live a relatively stable life. You’re grateful. There’s nothing more than you need than your happiness, and the love of your friends and family. 

Namely, your best friend from college. Jisoo always joked about how you two “won the lottery” as dorm rooms in freshman year were determined by lottery. Pulling numbers 883 and 884, you and Jisoo snagged a corner spot of the dormitory, leaving you two utterly cramped but utterly close as the years went by. Six years later and it’s still the case, the two of you have grown into talented working ladies. While you may not be able to spend time with each other the same way you did in school, you still care for each other. 

So when Jisoo shows up teary with a rumpled dress shirt and her hair waterfalling out of this morning’s bun, you break out the good alcohol and season three of Jane the Virgin for her. 

After the liquid is warm in your cheeks and you’ve fawned enough over Micheal and Rafael’s love triangle, you let Jisoo ramble. 

Jisoo has downed a whole bottle of soju on her own, while you’ve decided to have a tasteful glass of wine. You’d rather be tired wine drunk than wasted on soju. 

“Jungkook and I had a fight,” she warbles, stuffing a handful of popcorn in her mouth, “it was totally stupid.” 

Your eyes flash, picturing Jisoo and Jungkook in quarrel. They’re the epitome of an Instagram-worthy couple, beautiful and deathly charming to a fault. They show nothing but kindness and sweetness to you whenever you third-wheel, not a lick of anger between them when you’re all together.

So a fight is something surprising. Jisoo and Jungkook, J-squared are a power couple. Saying their names next to each other just emits a sort of energy you can only akin to famous small screen couples like Troy and Gabriella or Cory and Topanga. Jisoo’s Instagram is belly full with sweet selfies of them together, the doe-eyed man always looking completely sweet and gentle to the woman in his arms.

You never piqued Jungkook as the type of guy who would pick a “stupid fight.” And you know Jungkook pretty well. 

Maybe a little too well. 

“He surprised me during my lunch break and he caught me talking to Doyoung and he thought I was flirting,” Jisoo is practically eating her sweater, her head falling between her flannel pyjama sleeves. 

“Doyoung, as in your ex Doyoung?” you raise a brow. 

She groans, glaring at you in earnest. “Not you, too! I told him it was ridiculous to get jealous, and then I told him how jealous I get when he’s around girls and I don’t need to tell him that,” she rolls her eyes, twisting her feet petulantly in her fuzzy socks, “but then you know what he says back?” 

You wince, swirling your wine glass, “That you’re crazy?” 

“That I’m crazy, exactly! How did you—” her bloodshot eyes zero in on you, where you’ve tucked yourself in the corner of the couch. You swirl the ruby liquid in your cup, watching the feet web around the cheap crystal, “you think I’m crazy too, don’t you?” 

You swallow your sigh, taking your time to finish your liquid in languid sips. Uneasy, you wish you could just sink through the couch in order to avoid this conversation. Jisoo’s heart is generally in the right direction, but in terms of emotions she has the kind of sensitivity that you prefer to ignore rather than tread. Jungkook is also equally emotional, but in a different way. He wears his heart on his sleeve, preferring to keep things straight as opposed to bottling it up like Jisoo. 

However the theoretic bottle has reached it’s brim and Jisoo’s tipping, fast. 

“I need to tell you something,” Jisoo is swerving, crawling like an infant on wobbly limbs to reach your corner of the couch. You almost stop her, tell her you can continue this conversation in the morning, it’s what you normally do when she drinks into a stupor. But tears are swimming in her glassy caramel eyes and she’s grappling onto your blanket, resting her head in her lap. 

Her glossy russet strands curtain her head, so you don’t see the expression on her face when she says her next words: 

“Jungkook told me he liked you senior year, and I told him you weren’t interested so I’d have a chance.” 

Wow. So that explains everything.

The memories that you’ve tried so hard to brush away, the feelings you’ve tried so hard and continue to try to suppress, are laid out in front of you on a rusted platter. You could laugh, you could fling the rest of the Pinot Grigio down your throat like fresh water on a hot day and call it a night. 

But instead you choke back your tears, and push her off because you’re hurt.  

Deep down you know you would’ve been less upset if she told you the week after Jisoo and Jungkook called it official. If you knew from the beginning, it would’ve been easier on your heart. But it's been over two years since the past, thinking you’ve been needlessly, stupidly, delusional in thinking that you could’ve possibly had a chance with Jungkook.

Because it could’ve been you. And the reason why Jisoo and Jungkook fought today? Now you know it’s because deep down, they know they’re each other’s second choice. 

You can’t even recall a time where Jungkook and Jisoo were together alone before they suddenly started dating, remembering how it used to be you and Jungkook before Jisoo found him one day in your shared apartment, utterly smitten. And now you know you weren’t delusional, because the feelings and the signals you two were exchanging in senior year was real. 

But it doesn’t stop the fact that over two years have passed. Two years of a serious relationship between Jisoo and Jungkook, and two years of you secretly loving him from an arm’s length. 

“You hate me,” Jisoo removes herself from you, voice trembling. The quick, dark part of your mind wants you to snap back of course I hate you. You’ve trusted Jisoo with your life all these years, she was the reason you got through college so gracefully, why you enjoyed the past seven years of your life. 

But the sentiment is stained, and all you can do is deliver a tired smile and stand up. “I don’t hate you,” you say, “I’m just, really overwhelmed. I can’t lie and say that I’m not hurt,” your fingers clutch the fake crystal in your grasp, and for once you’re thankful you’re not strong enough to break it, “but you two love each other now and there’s no point in dwelling in the ‘what-ifs’.” 

Now that you think about it, when was the last time Jisoo treated you like a best friend? You stare at your wine glass, thinking that the only time comfort is provided in this apartment is when Jisoo is upset, never when you’re upset. 

Jisoo bobs her head senselessly, agreeing to every word. It’s pathetic, seeing her on her knees and her eyes glimmering with the hope that you’d forgive her straightaway. She must feel awful. That’s good.  

You sigh, needing to be the bigger person. “You need to call Jungkook and tell him he has nothing to worry about though, after all, you two have history now. As much, if not more than Doyoung.” 

“Right,” she replies, biting her lip. It suddenly feels like you're talking to a wall, carrying a conversation that's long ended.

“As for us,” you have half a mind to slam your glass on the counter, but instead you give it a heavy hand, letting slowly thump to the coffee table, “I don’t think I want to see you two, for a while.” 

“Understandable.” 

“And I don’t want to help you move out anymore,” I just want you gone.  

“Right,” she whispers. The both of you will be completed with your lease in two months, and Jisoo and Jungkook have decided to move into Jungkook’s apartment. As for you, you haven’t decided as to whether you want to go through the whole process of moving out or looking for a new roommate. 

“I’m sorry, I’m so so fucking sorry. I just was insecure as fuck in college and Jungkook was the first person I met in a long time that helped me feel more… like me.”

You want to say that she's right, she’s selfish. Her excuses aren’t palpable anymore. It’s too late. But if you were in Jisoo’s shoes, you’d think this apology is mere crumbs in comparison to your friendship. Why isn't she trying harder? Maybe because she doesn't know any better. After all, you never told her what you felt for him has morphed into love. 

You don’t even have to ask as to whether she’ll tell Jungkook this or not, you now know honesty is not her style. 

Jisoo doesn’t get a goodnight and a drunken kiss on the forehead like she usually does whenever you two have your late night talks. Instead, she seals herself to her own demise as you slam the door to your bedroom, effectively shutting each other out. 

Work is a bitch the following morning. You’re like molasses, rolling out of bed despite the whole world and its mother telling you to go back to sleep. 

Your feet are killing you as you make your walk to work, deciding to wear a pair of red-backed heels so you can stomp your way through your day. 

Your Wusband (Work-Husband) Kim Namjoon matches you step-for-step, eyes glued to his phone as he catches you on the sidewalk. “Woman on a mission,” he comments absentmindedly, eyes glued to his phone as he follows the click of your shoes to your favorite cafe. 

You spare a glance to your right hand-man, eyeing him appreciatively at his dedication to your morning routine. He’s your favorite co-worker, one who keeps you on time to your meetings and keeps you sane when you want to pull your hair out and dig out a coffin in your little cubicle. Namjoon’s long legs always seem to catch up with you during your workweek, whether it’s to get coffee in the morning or to talk shit about the latest gossip in the breakroom. 

The bell of the glass door tinkles in your ears as you enter the café, relatively busy for the morning rush. While you wait in line, Namjoon ticks off your activity list for today. 

“Meeting with Victoria is cancelled this morning,” you groan in relief, your supervisor Victoria always scares the shit out of you even when she’s not doing anything, “and just the usual proofing and whatever we have to do on the third floor today—can I get a large iced Americano with a pump of caramel? Thanks,” Namjoon moves aside so you can throw your order in as well, “and after work could you stop by Vernon’s? He took a sick day today and he has most of the manuscripts for the next issue.” 

“Done and done,” you swipe your card in the dip, tucking your card away in your zippered pouch. “So like, do Americanos taste any good? Like it’s literally watered down espresso how do you pay to drink watered down tar—” 

Jungkook’s at the pick-up counter. Jungkook’s at the pick-up counter swirling stray sugar crystals with his thumb and putting them in his napkin. What an impeccable display of Virgo energy, absentmindedly cleaning things he has no business doing. You scoff to yourself, recalling this morning that Jisoo got off the phone this morning with a stupid smile on her face. From the mirror image that Jungkook is excluding while he’s smiling on his cellphone like a smitten teenager, it seems like they’ve made up. 

Nevertheless the hurt from last night is still fresh in your bones, and you force yourself to look away despite the fact that your morning pick-me-ups are almost done and are sitting tauntingly next to Jungkook’s elbow. Does he really need to learn against the counter like he owns it? Hair slightly damp from the shower, your heart beats a little faster at the fresh image.His biceps are straining against his charcoal lycra long sleeve, which is slightly damp from his morning run. Snap out of it! You are a mature, working woman who does not swoon in the view of bulgy muscles, especially when the man who owns those muscles is taken. Suddenly there’s a call of your name, and two cups and a paper bag are put in front of Jungkook. 

He blinks, and you immediately pale when you see his eyes flit over your name surrounded by your favorite coral pink beverage. You feel struck as his head perks up at the name and he narrowly makes eye-contact—

“The fuck you’re doing,” Namjoon gripes, shoving your guava iced tea and croissant in your chest, “standing there like a moron as if we don’t got shit to do today.” 

“Sorry,” you mumble, pulling at the brown paper bag to tug a piece of croissant between your teeth. The warmth, buttery pastry melts in your tastebuds. Ah, bread. Nothing like a little bit of carb to make you feel better. 

You’re suddenly thankful for Namjoon’s gargantuan torso from effectively blocking you from Jungkook, hauling you out of the coffee shop like a petulant toddler. He doesn’t even give you a chance to catch another secret look at the object of your affections, making sure you’re back in your work game before you enter the building. Even if he doesn’t know it, Kim Namjoon’s always got your back. 

Or in today’s case, breathing down your back. 

Without your third editor and a hard deadline coming up by the end of the week, you and Namjoon are working in tandem throughout your 9-5 to complete drafts for Big Hit Publishings Arts & Media section. Both of you take turns to bring snacks and feed each other, feeling like reading zombies and slaves to your desk as you remind each other to breathe throughout the whole ordeal. 

In complete honesty you don’t totally mind. Namjoon is a great partner-in-crime, and you both love what you do and do a damn good job at it. You call it “Buzzfeed but with Benefits.” 

And at least for today, you could quell the feelings in your chest from last night and this morning. Sure, you’ve always been okay with the pining you’ve had for Jungkook. The feeling comes and goes whenever it pleases, and since yesterday you’ve been okay with just admiring from afar and being their third wheel. 

However, now the feelings are acutely comparable to a third-degree burn with the help of Jisoo playing with fire. 

With a quiet exhale, you concede in your gaming chair (because it’s just so damn comfy to keep in the office.) You’re an adult and not a petty child, and you will not let this piece of information derail you from your calm, stable lifestyle. 

But honestly? Fuck Jisoo. 

“Let’s go, buckaroo,” Namjoon logs off for you, the cinnamon-y smell of his shampoo effectively waking up your senses, “it’s already 5:30. And you said you’d stop by Vern’s to get his drafts.” 

“Right,” you blurt, mindlessly putting away your papers and snack wrappers in your bag. You can’t believe the whole day’s gone already. 

“Maybe you don’t even have to go to his apartment. Just text him or whatever.” 

“Sounds good, thanks Joonie.” 

“And y/n?” Namjoon gives you a look that causes you to force a terse smile, one you give one too many times to higher-ups at work. It isn’t to insult Namjoon by any means, but you guys are partners, the kind that tell way too much but hide just enough to remain close from afar. “Take it easy, will you?” 

“I will,” you concede, stretching your arms, “I’m def overdue for a massage.” 

“You don’t look sick,” you scoff, taking in the casual look your co-editor boasts as he leans casually against the doorway. 

Hansol Vernon Chwe is the epitome of fluffy, decked out in large electric blue sweats and his russet brown hair curling softly above his porcelain skin. Not only is he your co-editor, but also a friend from college. Not to the extent that you were with Jisoo and Jungkook, but you operated in the same publishing club and managed to get partnering internships that made you the co-workers you are today. You see a little bit of that collegiate youth in Vernon right now, as he looks well-rested and fresh faced despite the fact he probably didn’t apply moisturizer or drink enough water today.

“But you kinda do,” he tilts his head, noting the heels that adorn your feet, “you’re wearing your sexy shoes today, that means something’s going on.” 

“Gee, ever the ladies’ man,” you scoff, getting under his arm to invite yourself inside, “all I want is the completed interviews so we can pick out the best parts and draft them. Then I’ll be on my merry way.” 

“Oh c’mon, we’ve been talking nothing but work this whole damn month. What happened to college when we’d talk hours about House Hunters, the safeness of library sex, that little furry thing in Lincoln Hall’s urinal? That was prime conversation.” 

“Vern, I’m just here for the drafts,” you sit at his tiny kitchen table, glaring at his open laptop.  

“You could’ve just emailed me,” he teases, twisting around his chair so he can rest his arms against the back. “But since you’re here, that means you probably wanna spill some tea but you’re too upset to admit it.” 

“If I talk will you stop talking like that?” 

“Yes. Give me the juicy details. Need some juicy juice.” 

“Nevermind, get out of my apartment.” 

“Uh, this is my apartment.” 

“My point still stands,” you make another face at his outfit, “you look like the blueberry girl from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.”  

Vernon purses his lips, scooting his chair closer to yours. He’s unfazed by your insult, far used to your defenses being higher up than Fort Knox. He looks up at you with his pretty lashes and deceivingly sweet caramel eyes, leaning his head along the backrest. “C’mon, tell me what’s bothering you,” he says in a gentle tone, coaxing you open. 

He always knew how to do it for you, a little bit of sweet talking and that clear open gaze always reduced you to shreds in university. For him, it always took a good meal and some sci-fi movies to get him to talk. That must be why you’ve stayed friends for so long, you two knew how to connect. 

Finally you crack, kicking off your shoes and hoping the sharp end doesn’t land on his cat. You hear Luna meow in protest but she’s got great reflexes. Unbuttoning the first three buttons of your stuffy blazer, you air out your cleavage, not caring about Vernon’s gaze. He’s seen worse. 

“Remember Jeon Jungkook? Majored in graphic design.”

“Ah, yeah. The guy who like, lived at the gym and the dining hall? Haven’t seen him in a minute,” his eyes seem to glaze over the glory days, reminiscing in the simultaneous safetynet and stressor that made up your early twenties, “didn’t you guys hit it off real well? Like I remember you ditched like—three sci-fi nights to study with him. Who even studies at 1AM?” 

“Yeah, we did,” and you can’t help but frown at as you remember the 7-Eleven runs, the utter warmth you felt when he would wipe a stray rice grain off your cheek, and how happy you felt to laugh so much with him it hurt, “but uh. Jisoo got drunk last night, because they had a fight. And she sort of admitted to me that she sabotaged our relationship and told Jungkook I wasn’t interested in him so they could start dating. Two years later and here we are.” 

A pause. And then, “Want a beer?” 

Vernon doesn’t even wait for a response when he gets up, bare feet slapping against the tile as he prepares some drinks and snacks for you. 

“That’s pretty fucked up,” he practically sing-songs among the cacophony of popcorn pop-pop-popping in the microwave. The aroma of buttery kernels is all but a relief, reminding you of movie matinees, “and like, she knew you liked him! It was totally obvious, even if you didn’t spell it out for her.” 

“Yeah,” you practically gushed to Jisoo those past two months, every waking moment with heart-eyes over the talented graphic designer Jeon Jungkook. 

“I can’t believe Jisoo would keep that a secret from you for so long. Like, can you even trust her anymore?” 

“Don’t know, was she even my bestfriend or was I just a good roommate to her?” you ask. Vernon is holding two beers in one hand and a bag of popcorn by the tips of his fingers in the other, careful to not burn himself. Opening the beer for you, you thank him and take a long swig.

“Well, good thing you’re still not in love with him or whatever. That would really suck. Unless—”

The look on your face says it all. You’re practically snotting into your bottle, your face tucked into your chin as you fight hard to stop the tears you’ve been suppressing for the last two years. “Don’t give me your pity,” you garble, turning away from the sad look Vernon gives you as he wraps his arms around you. 

The tears are soft and gentle, flowing freely onto the cotton of Vernon’s arms as you let it out. 

“‘M’not,” he concedes, rubbing his chin into your neck. He really is a lot like Luna, just like his  cat ready to give you affection. “Let’s just, get some take-out and watch Hamilton or something.” 

He lets you wear his matching sweat suit, lime green, as you order Thai food and rap along to Hamilton’s sick beats. Vernon does a better job keeping the flow, but you’re having a good time being his hype man as he parades around the living room like it’s 1776. 

You go home that night around ten o’clock, feeling noticeably lighter and more relaxed. Be that it may you are still wearing the sweatpants and heels ensemble, you feel comforted. 

The apartment is quiet when you walk in, not a single light turned on. You get a slice of the city lights bleeding in from the organza curtains, which allow you to kick off your heels and hobble to where you think the kitchen counter is. 

Today is Jisoo’s day to cook dinner. You can tell she decided to cook today from the faint smell of Japanese curry and a small unwashed plate in the sink. Whenever it was someone’s turn, they usually left an extra bowl or serving in it for the other roommate when they got home. Unsurprisingly, you find no such thing on the counter or in the fridge. 

You’re not upset, but rather decided. If Jisoo is going to let your friendship fade off with no intention of redeeming herself, then you should give her the same amount of energy back. You realize now the apology she gave last night wasn’t for you, but empty words to make her feel better and mend whatever toxicity she’s created in her own relationships. People like Namjoon and Vernon reminded you that you didn’t need to try and earn other people’s friendships. 

It’s disappointing, but the feeling is all but too familiar. 

If you could describe Jisoo as anything, it would be the color pink. Blushing, beautiful, beguiling pink. The way she flushes when Jungkook does an uncalled for grandiose gesture of romance, or when she wears a hot magenta number when she’s hosting a fashion show. Jisoo is the personification of La vie en rose, unbothered and unabashed.  

But now all you see when you think of Jisoo? Nothing but red. 

With that, you go in your room and untack the polaroid of you and Jisoo at the carnival last month, putting it away in your junk drawer to be forgotten. 

“You’re running away.” 

“Am not.” 

“Are too,” that interjection comes from Vernon’s roommate, Jung Hoseok. He’s been watching you two bicker over work for the past hour while he plays GTA5, failing to get a good hard carry because you and Vernon are too busy discussing whatever finishing touches you need on your final draft. 

“No one asked for your opinion, Jung,” you throw over your shoulder. 

“I’m just saying,” Hoseok flicks his wrist and nabs a tank, “you never wanna go home, you eat all our food, and I found your pyjamas in my laundry basket.” 

“You said your basket was the blue one,” you hiss under your breath. 

“The navy blue one,” Vernon chirps unhelpfully, “not the electric blue one.” 

Hoseok hits “save” on his campaign, disconnecting from his PS4 and stretching his lean limbs. “I mean, we could use a third roommate,” Hoseok jokes, getting up from the couch and grabbing a handful of M&Ms from your bowl, “you do make a bomb mac n’cheese.” 

“Appreciated,” you relent when Hoseok presses a kiss to your cheek and tells Vernon he’ll be back late working, leaving you and Vernon alone in their shared apartment. When Hoseok is gone, you stare at the door, tilting your head, “y’know,” you remark, “Hoseok’s a cool guy, why did I never hang out with him in college?” 

“Because he was stoned the majority of senior year and you just didn’t vibe with that crowd.” 

“Oh, yeah.” 

“But, you’re trying to change the subject,” Vernon carefully untacks your hands from your keyboard, knowing that you two have already been done with this month's issue and you’re now just mindlessly re-reading emails. “You’ve been here since Thursday, and now it’s Saturday. And as much as Hoseok and I like having you around so you can wake me up before we go to work, it’d be nice to throw me a bone and let me in on what you’re thinking right now.” 

You frown, noting Vernon’s large hand covering your laptop closed. He isn’t going to remove his hand anytime soon unless you talk. “Jungkook’s helping Jisoo pack up her half of the apartment this weekend and I don’t want to be there,” you say, short and simple. 

“You miss her?” 

“Yeah,” you admit honestly. You hate this version of yourself, unable to even look at Jisoo nowadays despite the fact you’re under the same roof for the remainder of the month. It’s hard to believe that the roommate from six years ago finally got under your skin, cancelling out all the years of friendship because of one silly relationship, “sad she doesn’t want to be my friend anymore.” 

“Did you talk about it?” 

“There’s nothing to talk about,” you reply despondently, “if she cared at all she would’ve to apologize again by now.”

Vernon figures, and his neutral expression doesn’t change as he leads you to the couch, brushing away Hoseok’s things so you two can get comfy. You busy yourself with the remote, exiting the PS4 homepage to scroll Netflix. 

“And are you trying to get over him?” 

“I mean, yeah,” you have been, but it’s a little hard when you’ve been contentedly pining. It was easy to keep your feelings bottled up because you originally thought Jisoo and Jungkook were meant to be for each other for the past two years. Now you're still pining but ruefully bitter at Jisoo.

“It’s not fair, y’know. She broke girl code, bros before hoes. Or is it chicks before dicks?” Vernon shakes his head at his lame attempt to get you to smile, which works anyway because Vernon’s silly and his sense of humor always gets you a little loose. “It’s your house too, you shouldn’t feel like you don’t belong there.” 

“Well I was supposed to help her move out this weekend, and I’d prefer it if Jungkook didn’t know what was going on.” 

“What?” your friend furrows his thick brows together, tucking his hands under his knees as he leans into your stubborn expression. “You’re gonna let Jungkook go on with his life not knowing that his relationship is based on a lie. That’s not cool. Even if you’re into him, he’s still your friend.” 

Damn, when did Vernon get so good at giving advice? Truth is Vernon’s always been good at dishing advice, you’ve just been privy to what you wanted to reveal to him. The first year or so being together outside of college was always about work, saving each other’s asses to ensure you two got that promotion and aim higher and higher. Now that goal is out of the way, and what better way to reconnect over some shoddy romance straight out of a Degrassi special? 

“I know,” you hug your knees tight to your chest, “when I’m ready, okay?” 

“Okay,” he agrees, because he’s not a pusher, “do you know the best way to get over someone?” 

“What?” 

“The best way to get over someone, is to get under someone," he emphasizes that point with his hands, sliding one under the other with a wiggle of his thick brows.

You slap him on the shoulder, “Vern, you disgust me.” 

“But it works!” 

“I’m not going on Tinder to find a fuckbuddy.” 

“You don’t have to look on Tinder or Tumble.” 

“Bumble.” 

“Whatever,” and his eyes flicker to his lap, where his pale fingertips turn red as he grips the edge of a throw pillow. "If you really don't wanna find someone, I can help." 

Is Vernon offering himself up? He is offering to fuck your brains out in the hope that you could inevitably fuck out your interest in Jungkook? Your eyes flicker over to Vernon's form on the couch, who's tucked in the couch just as you are. 

It’s true that you find Vernon attractive, and to some extent he definitely finds you attractive as well otherwise he wouldn’t have suggested the idea. It’s just that in college you never viewed him in that kind of light, probably because you were always so caught up in Jungkook. But tonight you can’t seem to ignore the eagerness hidden in Vernon’s carmine gaze, and how shiny and touchable his chocolate locks look under the setting sun. 

“I don’t want our friendship to change,” you reply slowly, furrowing your brows. “I appreciate it, but I don’t know. It sounds like a temporary fix.” 

“Can’t knock it if you don’t try it,” and out of curiosity, you don’t shy away when Vernon leans over to you, squeezing himself between the couch so he can tuck you in his arms. “I want to help you, but only if you want to.” 

Maybe it’s the frustration you feel with Jisoo, Jungkook’s ignorance, or the fact that you haven’t felt physical pleasure in such a long time, but you soften into Vernon’s hold. He’s relaxed, nothing betraying him as he waits patiently for your answer. You’ve always admired how much he kept up his “cool as a cucumber” demeanor. He isn’t the type of guy to let life pass him by, but he’s the kind of person who walks along life, embracing the ups and downs like old friends. He’s the ocean waves that crest along the shore, pushing and pulling along without a care in the world. 

He’s the textbook opposite of Jeon Jungkook, which is why you give Vernon the okay to lean in and press his lips against yours. 

His kisses are soft, and he takes great care in making sure you’re comfortable with this new step in your relationship. It almost feels as if you’re cutting corners, and you can’t help but feel a little guilty that you revel in the way Vernon’s hands trail under your too-large t-shirt. 

The pleasure you’ve ached for is there, bubbling low in the pit of your belly. It’s hard to get you out of your mind however, because this man isn’t the one you love. His kisses hold no power, only brief reprieve. Your heart doesn’t palpitate and your palms don’t sweat, you’re just languid. 

You’re greedy and selfish, but you remind yourself that it’s okay to allow yourself of these freedoms, even for a little bit. As Vernon finds your sweet spot that has you rolling your hips against his, you find that temporary fix isn’t a bad start at all. 

When you trudge back to your apartment that night after much reluctance, your face is still flushed and you think you smell a little too much like Vernon’s cologne. But the fact that still stands is that you're satiated, and you feel a tiny percent closer to moving on. 

The television is glowing with a terrible reality TV show, angry brides upset over cake layers or whatever. Jungkook and Jisoo have fallen asleep on the couch, surrounded by half-empty boxes. Jungkook has his arm lazily over Jisoo, her petite body fitting perfectly between his chest and the crook of his neck. 

You scoff when you spy Jisoo's bedazzled manicure digging into Jungkook's bicep, as if someone's going to take him away if she doesn't hold tight.

With stiff muscles you spare one look at Jungkook, ignoring the pang in your chest as you weave between boxes to turn the TV off. Barely an iota of your feelings have dissipated since your previous tryst with Vernon not an hour ago. Looking at Jungkook brings it all back, unfortunately. You suppose the feelings will pass with time. The soft hum of the television ceases, and you’re bathed in a room that feels dark and empty, despite the apparent life in the room. 

There’s some bleary talk coming from the couch as you walk to your bedroom, and if Jungkook is sleepily mumbling your name in question, you pretend you don’t hear. 

“So, where’s y/n? I thought she was going to help us pack.” 

It’s an innocent enough question, as Jungkook scans the corner of the living room hallway that leads to the bedrooms. You haven’t come out yet. He knows that you love sleeping in on the weekends, but he hopes the smell of fresh food will coax you to the table. His pan is sizzling in protest, telling Jungkook to quit talking and flip the hashbrowns. He's fried up three, in the hopes you’d be up for some crispy potatoes. He knows how much you love potatoes, especially at 2AM when you’re craving fries and a McFlurry combo. 

Instead Jisoo mutters, “You toasted too much bread, you know I don’t eat bread like this,” she’s pulling slice by slice out of the toaster, until there’s a stack of six golden toasts in the middle of the kitchen table. 

A little part of him wishes to quell the precursor to the argument there. It would be so easy for Jungkook to say, “the extras are for me” because he’s trying to gain weight, and that would be that. 

Instead he continues with his unanswered question and replies honestly, “I made extra toast for y/n, babe. She was supposed to help us pack but I haven’t seen her all weekend.” But he’s pretty sure you came home last night, unless that was his imagination. 

Jisoo pulls a carafé of apple juice out of the fridge, pouring the amber liquid into two glass cups. “Ah, she said she had some last minute things to do for work. Y’know, Big Hit always wants a big hit.” 

He chuckles, tilting his head as Jisoo gives him a small smile from the kitchen table. Jisoo is always good at cheesy jokes. “She must love her job, huh.” 

“Yeah.” 

“Her articles are really good, too,” the air smells like butter and Italian seasoning, as he places one hash brown on Jisoo’s plate, and two on his. He knows you edit in the Arts & Media section, and loves how you make it a point to include video games and modern graphics when it’s deemed appropriate. “She did a piece on the evolution of RPG and I thought her commentary was really spot-on.” 

He brings breakfast over to the table, while Jisoo places two slices of toast on his plate, one buttered and one with strawberry preserves. Breakfast is a quiet, but peaceful affair. Jungkook takes note of how Jisoo takes extra long to complete her meal, her fork creating ribbons in her little blob of magenta jam. He allows himself to complete his first hashbrown and a slice of toast before asking the difficult question. 

“Are you and y/n okay?” and he also takes note when Jisoo’s ministrations on her jelly stop, as she looks up at him with her big brown eyes. 

“We’re fine,” she insists, “just normal roommate issues, I promise.” 

“Maybe I should text y/n,” Jungkook says, pulling out his phone. “Lemme help you fix this, wouldn’t want you and her in a bad place when you’re about to move out.” 

“Baby, why are you so concerned about y/n?” Jisoo croons while his thumb hovers over your contact, his screen showing a two-year old selfie you two took during a study session early on in your friendship. He can’t remember the last time you two took a picture together out of spite, one without Jisoo. Jisoo’s hand pulls him away from his phone, rubbing small circles between his palm. 

He wants to ask, why aren’t you? But he sees the terseness in Jisoo’s smile, as her eyes fix between the interlocked fingers. He has a feeling he’s hovering somewhere he isn’t allowed to be in. Maybe it really is roommate stuff and it’s none of his business, but he feels a little insulted being left out because you and Jungkook are just as much best friends as you were in college. 

Or are you? 

This question plagues him throughout the day, and when Jungkook packs enough boxes for the weekend and says he needs to go home, Jisoo for once doesn’t argue. Normally Jisoo would cling to him like a koala, murmur simultaneously adorable and dirty things in his ear and lead him to her bedroom to coop up for hours on end. But Jisoo says she’s tired and needs some alone time, which is also fine. 

He doesn’t feel like going home, and instead heads straight to the gym. A couple pumps wouldn’t hurt, and it would clear his head. It’s nearly five in the evening when his body is thrumming with the afterglow of his post-workout, and he decides to take a little cool down in the mall and treat himself to a smoothie. 

It must be kismet when he sees you coming out of the bookstore, looking a little winded but no less professional in your beige blazer set and rose gold iPad. Whenever he hung around your apartment with Jisoo and you’d come home from work, he’d make it a point to acknowledge your plethora of multicolored skirt-suits. He never needs to be professional in his place of work, and admires how much effort you put in. 

“Hey!” he jogs up to you, and he catches the way your shoulders jump at his voice. “We missed you today.”

Your smile curls into something dry, and you twist your spine like rusty hinges to face him. In turn, his smile dims a little, wondering if he’s doing something wrong. Maybe you’re tired? He catches the line of sweat that glistens your baby hairs, and how your hair is done up but has fallen a few centimeters with some pieces falling out. 

“Jungkook,” you exhale, “lifting boxes wasn’t enough of a workout?” 

“You know me,” he replies stiffly, hiking his backpack higher upon his shoulder. Why does this conversation feel so awkward? “So, finishing up work? Sucks you have to work on a Sunday.” 

“Ah, it wasn’t so bad,” you face relaxes a little as you explain your work, “it was children’s day at the bookstore and they were watching Disney movies. I’m writing a piece on how I believe Ratatouille is Pixar’s magnum opus. Interviewed some kids, I wanted an expert opinion.”  

“Ratatouille is the superior film,” he declares with a firm nod, “after all, anyone can cook.” He revels in the small smile he manages to retrieve from you, immediately understanding the inside joke. If he came out of the gym five minutes earlier, he probably would’ve been able to catch you in the bookstore. What a shame, he would’ve loved to see you play around with the kids. 

At the mention of food, the mall manages to silence itself enough for him to catch the grumbling coming from your stomach. He laughs when your cheeks heat. 

“I was on my way to get some smoothies,” he jabs a thumb in the direction of the food court, “wanna catch up and get a bite?” 

“Oh, I don’t know, I have a lot of work to edit,” disappointment pangs in his chest at your easy rejection, but he ignores it, “I kinda wanna save some money too, still not sure if I’m staying in the apartment after Jisoo moves.” 

He doesn’t know what compels him to take your shoulders and wheel you in the direction of the food court, much to your protest and whines. “C’mon, explain to me why Ratatouille is the magnum opus—I need to defend why The Incredibles is superior. I’ll treat you to dinner.” 

“What? I can pay for my own food—” 

“And I can’t treat my best friend to a nice meal once in a while?” 

That has you stopping in your tracks, and Jungkook nearly barrels his chest into your head if not for the grippy soles of his Adidas Ultraboosts. He can’t see your face, but his hands note how your muscles cord tightly between the cotton of your blazer. 

He doesn’t understand why you’re so tense. Was it because he called you his best friend? Well, you are? At one point he felt that way, early on in college. The position just stuck with you. And when Jisoo told him you weren’t interested, he was perfectly fine with the platonic relationship. It was nice to have someone to talk media and video games to, someone not as chaotic as Jimin and someone not as deterred as Yoongi. 

Although, maybe as of late he hasn’t been so much of a friend. It’s no one’s fault, he’s been caught up with work and Jisoo’s move, he hasn’t said so much as a “hey how are you” when you’re around. He can’t blame you. 

Suddenly his mind blanks, the mall fading away as he focuses on how small you look as your eyes dart between the parking lot and the food court. Jisoo and Jungkook have been so caught up on each other lately, that he fears you’re starting to separate yourself.

“Um, this place is good,” you tug him by the elbow and lead him to a fast food joint. 

When he picks up both your orders and comes over to your saved table, you’re talking animatedly on the phone. You’re laughing, looking at Jungkook as if he’s the one intruding and you’re muttering a hushed “sorry” as you continue the tail end of the conversation. 

“Yes, Joonie. Go with section two, I know my shit. I’m your Work Wife for a reason, Umji in PR could never compare,” you’re giggling like you’re five years younger, and Jungkook feels stuck in a timelapse. 

He watches you go, throwing around names and terms that he’s so lost on but so desperate to understand. He knows nothing about your life other than the one that’s tied with Jisoo, which is a damn shame. Since when did he inevitably downgrade you from “best friend” to “his girlfriend’s roommate?” 

“I’m sorry,” you turn your phone over and push it to the side, giving Jungkook a smile as well, albeit weaker, “let’s dig in!” 

To his relief the dinner goes as good as it should be. You have your tray practically overflowing at the seams, all on Jungkook’s dime. It has his heart swelling with pride, he hasn’t seen you eat in a long time. There’s fries spilling out from the corners, and two sandwiches because you couldn’t decide between a chicken sandwich and a burger. 

Food gets you amicable, and he doesn’t mind when he does most of the talking. You’re engrossed in his talk, lettuce hanging out of your mouth as you’re rapt with attention as he recalls a story that happened at work recently with Mingyu. You ask questions in all the right places and he sucks up all your attention like a happy pill, and it feels nice to be able to lead a conversation for once. 

“Jeez, I’m getting the burger sweats,” you giggle to yourself, and his smile brightens at your positive change in attitude. Food always helps. 

When you remove your thick high-collar blazer, that’s when he sees it. 

“Seeing someone?” he asks, eyes flickering curiously towards the violet bruises that bloom across your neck. 

“What–oh,” you have the audacity to look embarrassed, hands clutching your neck like a shield, “no, just a hookup.” 

A messy hookup, too. Unless you had a thing for showing off marks, which doesn’t seem to be the case. “Didn’t peg you for someone who hooks up,” he says more to himself than you, but you catch him on his impulse jab. 

Your eyes narrow and your defenses go up, “I’m trying to get over someone,” you snip back, busying your hands by crushing up your greasy sandwich wrappers. 

“Am I allowed to state my opinion?” 

“Since you asked so politely, no.” 

He sighs, “I just don’t think that’s the best way to get over someone,” heck, Jungkook doesn’t even know who exactly you’re trying to get over. He just knows that you’re far too smart and independent to let yourself resort to such matters. 

“It isn’t, but it’s really the best option as of now,” you reply curtly. 

And his gaze saddens as he sees you fold your blazer over your arm, indicating that your time is up. Jungkook is aware the comment he made is out of line, and it weakens him knowing that you don’t even want to pick a fight with him. He can’t even find it in himself to apologize properly. 

He doesn’t know if he’s more sad that you’re pining over someone unattainable or upset at himself for not knowing you’ve been harboring feelings for someone. If you really think hooking up is your only option, you must be really hung about whoever you’re into as of late. 

“If it’s worth anything,” Jungkook adds, wanting to leave on a high note, “fuck that guy. He clearly doesn’t deserve you.” 

A small, secret smile plays on your lips, “Yeah, I like to believe that.” 

“I’m anxious,” Namjoon’s mantra makes the whole energy in the room wobbly, paired with the fact the two of you are squished between cardboard boxes as Jungkook aimlessly moves things around like a Tetris screen. 

The only time you feel remotely comfortable basking in your home is when Jisoo is gone. Oh-so conveniently is the Big Hit building undergoing maintenance today, so you and Namjoon have decided to work from home in your apartment. Although you thought by now that Jisoo’s boxes would be long gone and tucked away in Jungkook’s place, instead you’re living in an episode of Ed, Edd and Eddy and the cardboard is practically wall-to-wall. You also thought by now that Jungkook would have no reason to show up unannounced anymore, but apparently that’s not the case. 

“I have, anxiety,” Namjoon adjusts his glasses for the nth time this afternoon, brain not fixed enough to focus on the screen of his chrome MacBook, “anxiety, anxiety. I can’t right now. I need my weighted blanket and a pillow.” 

“Namjoon, I can get both of those for you if we just send in this last spread,” you coo gently, as if placating a baby. You make brief eye contact with Jungkook from the other side of the room, his lips quirking in amusement as he stacks a box of clothes by the kitchen. 

“Do you feel my palms? My palms, they’re like a fucking fountain you need to feel them—” your Wusband approaches you like a zombie, leaning over you and tripping over his criss-crossed legs before he topples over you. 

“Blegh, get off of me you sweat giant!” you cry with a good-natured laugh, although the grip of Namjoon’s palms under your shoulders are damp and slimy, “Joon, I can’t get you your blanket if you’re crushing my boobs.” 

Namjoon finally relents, untacking himself to rest his chin on your glass coffee table. “Fine.” 

“Look over the last column and I’ll bring your blanket, okay?” 

Pushing yourself off the ground, you shuffle your way out of the living room through the maze of boxes and into the hallway. It feels like your apartment is less of an apartment and more of a storage space when you’re trapped in-between two lines of boxes, and Jungkook effectively blocking you from entering your room. He was just in the living room but now he’s come from the linen closet, standing between the entrance of your room. 

“Sorry,” he pops his head out from a smaller box, one filled with designer costume jewelry. 

“It’s fine,” you chirp, barely making eye contact as you shuffle over the boxes. 

Your toe drags over the lid of one of the open boxes in an attempt to move diagonally. You nearly crash your face into the hardwood if not for Jungkook’s arm stretching out to catch you. In seconds he manages to catch all your weight in one hand, pulling you to him with your hip pressed against his. Your breath traps itself in your neck. Your subconscious fears that if you speak now, you’ll babble about how attractive it is that he’s able to catch you as easily as grabbing a light sheet of paper. 

“Careful,” his voice rumbles in his throat as he regards you with a wan smile. 

Your “thanks” is barely uttered as you slip into your room, heaving your weighted blanket and a pillow in your arms to let Namjoon borrow. 

The burgundy quilted fabric is hunched over your shoulder, draped around your body so it’s easier for you to carry on your back. You try to eradicate the memory of Jungkook’s arms, lean and strong as he held you to him moments before.

Ugh, you thought messing around with Vernon would stop your silly pining. It seems that it’ll take more than a couple rounds to satiate your curiosity. For such a kind guy, Jungkook seems like a wolf in sheep’s clothing when it comes to the bedroom. 

You can imagine him being so kind in the beginning, coaxing you to wan and bend to his every wish and command. And then when you keen a little too hard at the attention, you bet a switch would flip and he’d grab you—

The blanket flops around your back, and you’re sorely reminded that you’re thirsting over a taken man, yet again.  

Jungkook makes it extremely difficult for him to be hateable. It’s by nature that he’s just so damn likeable. Heck, he’s pretty much packed seventy percent of the things Jisoo should be packing right now. 

Making sure not to trip again, on your feelings and your blanket, you successfully reach a tired Namjoon. You tuck your koala-shaped pillow under your co-editor’s arms, and drape the heavy blanket over him like a cape. He’s giving you a thumbs up and a toothless smile, the previous meltdown overcome as he focuses on finishing the last of today’s work. He’s slipped on some noise-cancelling earphones, presumably filled with generic coffee-house music or rain playlists. 

Wordlessly you go to your nook to prepare some tea. It’s getting late and a warm cup would distract you from the impending deadline. Despite the fact that you and Namjoon are 99% of the way done, his previous freak-out has you on live-wire and you could use a little caffeine. 

Placing three mugs on the counter you call, “Jungkook, tea?” 

“Yes please,” you stiffen when you feel Jungkook magically appear right behind you, his head peering over your shoulder, “with milk and honey.” 

Deciding to give Jungkook the beehive-shaped mug because it’s very on-brand for him, you begin to steep the leaves in your kettle while he spoons the honey. 

“So,” his words are slow as the drip of honey, the amber goo taking its time to descend into his mug as it falls from the dipper. “Is that the guy you’re trying to get over?” 

Jungkook lifts his brows towards Namjoon, who is softcore jamming to his white noise playlist. It’s cute as to how curious Jungkook is about Namjoon. While you try to keep your work life separate, there really isn’t much backstory to your personal life to warrant that kind of divide. 

“Namjoon,” you state aloud, watching Namjoon sing badly to himself, “why, are you gonna beat him up for me?” 

“I can take him,” you can practically hear Jungkook’s chest pop out. 

With a roll of your eyes, you reach to kill the heat off the tea kettle, “No need. He isn’t the guy I’m trying to get over.” 

“Oh, he’s your fuck buddy then?” 

“Shit!” being caught off guard, you grab at the handle of your kettle without a pot holder, burning your fingertips. In seconds Jungkook’s larger hand encases your own, pulling you over to the sink to soak your fingers in cool running water.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Jungkook is chanting like a sinner at church, searching for any sign of pain in your visage, “I shouldn’t have asked while you’re working with a hot stove.” 

You suppress a sigh, relaxing your fingers as Jungkook soothes the burn with his gentle hold, “Shouldn’t have asked in the first place,” you mumble. 

“I know,” he replies, “guess I’m just feeling a little left out. We don’t talk like we used to. I guess I’m getting a little too nosy for my own good, aren’t I?” 

You don’t understand what’s going on with his incessant babbling as of late, but you chalk it up to work stress and Jisoo’s move. Having no answers to his honest reply, you gently untack your red palm from his grip, assuring him that you’re fine. 

Namjoon steps into your kitchenette, being surprisingly careful as he takes your potholder to pour himself a cup of tea. If the tea is oversteeped and bitter he doesn’t say anything, only leans against the counter as he regards you two with slow sips. “You alright?” 

“M’fine,” you reply stubbornly, avoiding Jungkook’s worried stare. 

Namjoon holds out his hand, “Hand.” 

“No—”

“Hand.” 

His deep voice coerces you, and you immediately slap the back of your palm onto Namjoon’s. Your partner brushes his golden hands over the tiny blister that’s forming over your fingertips. “Can’t have my Work Wife outta commission.” 

“Your Work Wife is fine,” you gripe back. 

Your co-worker’s eyes flicker over to Jungkook’s for a brief second, Jungkook regarding him in curiosity as he stares at your connected palms. “I have some aloe in my bag for sunburns,” Namjoon offers helpfully, ignoring the weird glances, “I’ll give it to you in a bit. Also, I’ve overcome my sudden bout of stress and I’m ready to email our progress to Victoria. We’re done for the day.” 

“Awesome, thanks Joonie,” you exhale, relaxing against the sink, “wanna go eat somewhere?” 

“There’s a niche place in Itaewon if you wanna check it out?” Namjoon offers.

Jungkook interjects, “Jisoo ordered pizza if you guys wanna share with us?” 

“Pizza also sounds good—” 

“We don’t wanna interrupt your alone time,” you gracefully cut in, stepping in front of Namjoon despite the fact that he’s easily towering over you. 

Jungkook snorts, “I’ll have enough alone time with her when she moves in, don’t worry. Besides, I ordered three pies because I wanted to try three different flavor combos. I need two additional judges.” 

“Thanks Jungkook but,” you stifle a cry when Namjoon jabs you in the back with his thumb. It’s pressing, digging into the small of your back as if he’s trying to telepathically tell you that you’re being rude, “but… I don’t know if I can eat three slices! Namjoon on the other hand, can probably eat enough to fairly judge.” 

“Great,” Jungkook’s smile is blinding, causing your grin to stiffen as he looks for his phone to shoot Jisoo a quick text that they’re having dinner for four. 

Once Jungkook’s out of earshot, Namjoon tugs you by the sleeve, “The hell was that?” he hisses in your ear, “you look like you’re about to shit and piss your pants at the same time.” 

“I just don’t feel comfortable eating with them,” you cross your arms in defiance. You think back to just a week ago where you and Jisoo reluctantly attempted to eat breakfast together one morning. You provided minimal small talk while Jisoo clinged to her phone, replying to you in non-committal clipped tones. 

“Do I want to know?”

“No.” 

“Do you want me to leave?”

“No!” you retort, “you got me into this mess, you’re gonna stay with me ‘till the end.”

“I don’t know what you want from me, woman,” Namjoon throws his arms out exasperatedly, oolong tea nearly sloshing onto his hand, “just suck it up or I revoke your bragging rights to that snag you got on our spread next Monday.” 

“Not my fault you couldn’t get Kim Taeyeon on the spread,” you smirk. 

“Well I didn’t so happen to stalk the Sephora she frequents for the past two weeks—” 

“I didn’t stalk her I just so happened to need a new Fenty Gloss Bomb every other day—”

“I’m home, Jungkookie!” 

Your face contorts, your playful energy melting to the hardwood as your previous banter with Namjoon evaporates into thin air. Work bags in one hand and three boxes of pizza balancing in the other, Jisoo kicks off her heels somewhere across the door and places the pizza on the dining table. 

Jungkook immediately appears by her side, and you look away and Jisoo plants a heavy kiss on his lips. She cracks open one eye as she notices you and Namjoon hanging by the kitchenette, “Oh,” she mumbles at her audience, “you’re here?” 

Yes, you bimbo. I’m here in my own apartment. 

“I guess you didn’t read my text that they’ll be joining us for dinner,” Jungkook cuts in good-naturedly, “we have way too much pizza anyway. Have a seat, guys.” 

Jungkook navigates the kitchen as easily as your own, and you slump in your chair while Namjoon exchanges pleasantries with Jisoo. She looks impeccable, hair in a tight chignon and a tight navy dress as she converses with your co-editor. 

“I’m starving,” Jungkook announces, making sure to place a slice on Jisoo’s plate. He shuffles through the other boxes, making brief eye contact with you when he decides to put a slice on yours as well, “you like these toppings, right?” 

You regard the greasy, hearty piece of cheese and bread with a curt nod. You feel Jisoo’s eyes laser on your skin, “Yeah, thanks Kook.” 

Namjoon, Jisoo and Jungkook mostly stir up the conversation, you opting to eat as slow as possible to avoid any conversation. It’s easy to blend back and let them take over, as Jisoo loves to talk about her fashion firm and Namjoon is a great listener. 

Jungkook and Namjoon make it a point to direct the conversation to you from time to time, and you let the ball leave your court as soon as it lands. You prefer to keep your responses short and simple, especially when Jisoo is so eager to talk about the new silk drapes she’s installing for Jungkook’s windows.

Your phone buzzes in your lap, and you discreetly look under the table to read the incoming text message. 

vernie bernie: would u like to do the devil’s dance tonight

vernie bernie: or a tickle to my pickle? 

vernie bernie: beatin ya bean? 

You: ohmyGOD 

vernie bernie: or y’know, u could just come ovr and chill. Hobi made some bomb tres leches

You: call. Ill come after dinner

“Are you okay, y/n?” your head bounces up to meet Jungkook’s gaze, “you’ve barely eaten and you haven’t talked much.” 

“Oh you know, she’s just stressed about the upcoming spread,” Namjoon steps in for you, and you send him a discrete, but grateful smile. He’s always impeccable at reading the room, “she’s just nervous about her interview with Kim Taeyeon, but I think you did her interview justice.” 

“No way, the singer Kim Taeyeon?” Jungkook gushes, regarding you with stars in his eyes, “your interviews are always so great, y/n. You ask really good questions. Like that one spread about  Lee Yonghwa’s art gallery? Really cool.” 

You notice the way Jisoo presses her lips together, a thin line as if she’s trying to seal away words that she’ll regret saying. She’s jealous, and you can’t help the blush of pride that fills your veins as you raise a secret brow at her. 

“Right, you got nothing to worry about,” Namjoon squeezes your shoulder encouragingly, as if you’d get his double-meaning. 

“Thanks,” you reply, pushing your plate away and standing up, “I’m actually gonna go head to Vernon’s for a bit, though. He wants to double check his work before we email Victoria.” 

It’s a bald-faced lie, Namjoon sent the files to Victoria right before dinner, but he isn’t going to argue. 

“Okay,” Namjoon thanks Jungkook and Jisoo for the meal, stacking his plate atop yours, “I’ll walk out with you.” 

“It’s only been twenty minutes, though,” you see the slight panic in Jungkook’s gaze as he watches you quickly clean up for you and Namjoon. You can’t quite pin why he’s so concerned, after all he has been acting strange as of late. 

“Yeah, I’m full,” you reply curtly, licking your lips and avoiding his gaze. You already know what he wants to say, that he’s been in your apartment all day and all he’s seen you eat is stale chips and tea, “but we can do this again.” But hopefully not. 

“If you’re coming home late again,” it’s the first time Jisoo has spoken to you directly. You tilt your head to her slowly, watching the plastic smile carefully carved onto her expression. You see the contrived care and concern between her brows, “please try to be quieter next time, the last time you came home late you woke Jungkookie up.” 

Snapping your gaze to Jungkook you plaster on a thick smile, “Sorry Jungkook—” 

“What? No, it’s fine!” he furrows his brows in confusion, finally able to detect the strange tension between the two housemates, “I barely heard you—” 

“Maybe I’ll just stay the night at Vernon’s,” your eyes trail over to the pajama set you immediately switched into when you got home today, “wouldn’t want to disturb you two.” 

“Good,” Jisoo’s tone is saccharine and clipped as she tacks on a, “have fun.” 

It’s laudable, how much Jisoo wants to make a fool out of you but you won’t have it. You revel in the perplexed expression as Jungkook’s gaze darts back and forth between the two of you, wanting to butt in but unsure of how to approach it. Not giving him the time to, you bid the couple a goodnight and make a fast getaway. Heck, you don’t even take your work stuff with you. 

Once you’re out the door, Namjoon wordlessly gives you a hug. You sigh gratefully into his embrace. 

The next time Jungkook sees you, he reads the room before anything. You and Jisoo’s apartment is scarily empty, almost clinical. He’s tried texting you a few times after his failed-not-failed attempt at catching up at the mall and his awkward conversation concerning Namjoon, but you always reply back with vague replies and an unpromised promise of meeting up sometime soon. 

It dulls him to think that you’ve given up on him as a friend. But can you blame him? He needs to keep an appropriate distance for Jisoo, after all, she doesn’t like it when he gets too close to other women unless it’s strictly professional. Usually Jisoo’s jealousy inevitably works itself out and Jungkook doesn’t pose any problems because he has very few girl friends, but for some reason your friendship with him specifically gets Jisoo stiff in the face. Is it because you and Jisoo are so close? Possibly. 

But it doesn’t mean you can’t join the same Valorant server with him at 2AM and accidentally bomb each other, or argue over the magnum opus of each film company. Is that not enough? 

Jisoo’s working overtime, and Jungkook suggested last night that he move the boxes to the front of the door for easy pick-up when the moving truck arrives. Jisoo promises to buy Thai food in return, and with a kiss emoji she leaves him to audit fabric budgets. 

As he glides down to Jisoo’s room he notes that the pictures along the wall have disappeared, and there’s double the amount of boxes in the hallway. It seems that you’re moving out too. To where, he doesn’t know but he hopes it isn’t too far. 

He chides Jisoo remotely when he sees that her room is completely intact, and he makes moves to pack up her things. 

That’s when he finds his letter. Not a love letter to Jisoo, but a love letter to you. Deep in the recesses of Jisoo’s junk drawer, is a faded lavender envelope with a pressed cream colored baby’s breath taped up in plastic. The glue is yellow and old, clearly served its purpose due to the fact that the letter is already opened and the contents rumpled. 

Hey Pretty Girl–

He immediately stuffs the letter back in its holder, stricken at his messy handwriting from two years ago. It feels like he found a time capsule, another version of Jungkook confessing to you. He used to call you Pretty Girl, not enough for you to catch on to his feelings, but enough for you to understand that he did find you attractive. It was early on in your friendship. 

When you first asked him to be study partners for some silly class that had nothing to do with each other’s majors, he gaped like a guppy and pointed to himself. That day he went to class in last night’s clothes and a nest of fluffy strands. “Me?” he felt like absolute trash, and you were probably desperate due to the fact you two were the only seniors in this class, “but you’re a pretty girl… and I’m pretty dumb when it comes to this subject.” 

But instead you scoffed and pulled him from his slumped figure, dragging him to the library, with a wink and a “you’re pretty, too.” Those words have burned in his brain since then, as he wasn’t used to getting such off-handed compliments, especially from intelligent girls that wanted more than one night. 

For whatever reason you continued seeing his dumb self, even after the semester ended and together registered for one more class for spring. 

Whenever you’d go out for ice cream you wouldn’t hesitate to stuff your face and add for extra Oreos and fries, you’d assure Jungkook you’re not normally this much of a slob. 

Jungkook would just smile and offer you a napkin and say, “You’re still a pretty girl.” 

He fell for you gracefully. There was no regret, no walk of shame, no cliché late night party where you or him could’ve instigated it into the physical. It was all by feel. 

However the two of you took your time with your relationship, languidly enjoying the hushed conversations in the library at 2AM, the late night McFlurry runs, the integration of each other’s friends like it was natural. Ergo the lavender love letter. It was a gentle declaration, one he felt pretty confident in. 

So color him stupid when you passed him in class with a happy wave, Jungkook dumbfounded at how well you handled his confession. You weren’t oblivious, you just never read it. 

But now he knows the declaration was for whatever reason, lost in transit. “I should’ve known,” he whispers in the air, the letter crumpling in his grip. Composing himself, he pinches his brows.  

There’s an electronic buzz and a sharp slam of the front door. Judging by the time, you’re home. 

You flop onto your mattress, folding an arm over your head to stop the sun from seeping to your eyes. Vernon’s exhausted you, and you barely got away before he could have any say in it. You need a little space, and some time to think. 

Just as you close the door to your bedroom, it swings open. 

You gape as Jungkook thrusts himself into your bedroom like a deer with horns, looking pale. You follow his gaze, darkened eyes that linger a little too long on your neck again, and you narrow your eyes at him to avert. He looks a little red in the cheeks despite his pallidness, looking like he just got out of bed with messy wavy locks and his signature sweats. Is Jungkook packing for Jisoo again? 

Acutely aware that you smell like sweat and sex, you clutch the blankets closer to your body. “Uh, rude.” 

He looks uncharastically frantic, waving a letter in his hand, “Did you ever read this?” 

“Read what?” you ask, hands reaching out for the envelope. 

“My confession letter,” he blurts, having no shame now that all the gears are running through his head. “I wrote you a letter asking you out, because you said you wanted to collect notes like in Letters to Juliet. But I just found it in Jisoo’s drawer, why would it be there?” 

And all the pent up frustration that never seemed to escape under Vernon’s sheets, the feelings that never seem to subside, all bubble back to the surface. Now that Jungkook knows, there’s no hiding. 

You’re in shock, hands reaching for the letter despite the burn that seeps through your fingertips. Jungkook’s shoulders slump when you do indeed look like it’s your first time seeing this, as if a missing puzzle piece in your timeline has finally been revealed.

“I, I didn’t think you’d write me a letter,” you take the lavender envelope, clutching the letter by your chest like it’s something precious, “that’s so sweet,” you say to yourself.  

It dawns on him, “Wait, you knew about this? I knew something weird was going on.” 

“Only recently,” you frown. 

“And you didn’t think to tell me?” he nearly shouts, causing you to flinch, “no wonder why you were being so weird all this time. How could you let me live the rest of my life knowing this? That my relationship is built on a lie? ” 

“I don’t know,” you suddenly feel very small in your mattress as Jungkook rounds up on you, pulling your desk chair closer to your bed, “because you love Jisoo, of course.” 

“Well obviously that’s not possible,” and while yes a two-year realtionship ending like this is going to hit him hard tonight, he’s focused on you and the fact that you failed to tell him, “somehow I’d find out. Why wait for me to find out on my own?” 

“Because I wanted to protect you!” 

“Protect me,” he scoffs, crossing his arms and sneering at you. It causes you to tense up, feeling the telltale signs of tears bubbling to the surface, “you don’t even want to be friends anymore, y/n. I’ve tried to catch up to you so many times, but you keep leaving me hanging. I know I’ve been a pretty bad friend and I get it if you just feel awkward that I liked you, then that’s a shitty reason.” 

“Have you ever considered that it’s too late to tell you?” you shoot back, sitting up straight, “yes, I admit I should’ve told you earlier and I’m sorry, but it was a lot for me to process to y’know? Jisoo and I haven’t talked properly in weeks!” 

“Oh, so you’ve stopped trying to be friends with Jisoo too, huh? Just like you’re trying to stop being friends with me.” 

“No,” you pinch your brows, “she stopped being friends with me! She doesn’t care about me because she has you,” conflict burns in Jungkook’s gaze, and you only serve to fuel the fire, “she’s tried so hard to not involve me in your relationship.” 

“Just tell me why you’ve really kept this secret instead of saying you want to protect me like a baby—” 

“It’s because I’m in love with you, idiot!” 

You blink and back up against the wall of your bedroom, as if you can’t believe that the words came out of your mouth. 

It’s quiet again. The sour look evaporates from Jungkook’s face as he watches you suppress your sobs on your mattress. The room seems devoid, sucked out of its color as you’ve cleaned up most of your things, the only thing left being some plain grey sheets and a pillow. 

Jungkook’s mind is absolutely reeling, playing back memories from a different point of view. 

“When Jisoo told me she sabotaged our relationship so she could date you, I was so upset and didn’t know what to think,” you manage to place the lavender note on your wooden desk, making sure no tears could mar it. “And I thought I could move on and eventually stay friends with the both of you, but the next day Jisoo put all her attention on you and completely ignored me or any attempt to salvage our friendship. She only told me to forgive herself,” you’re hugging yourself, wrapping the blankets around you like a weak embrace, “so I thought if I cut myself out of the picture and forced myself to move on like I should’ve, everything would’ve been okay.” 

“So, you would’ve rather kept all this pain to yourself?” 

“Yeah,” you give him a teary smile, “because I wanted you to be happy.” 

And with an equally sad smile he murmurs, “But I’m not happy.” 

 Your face falls, and you really look at Jungkook. He’s exhausted as well, slumped in his chair. Has he been trying to grapple along the threads of his relationships, while you’ve been trying to loosen them? 

“What a waste of two years,” he slumps in your chair, letting the pieces click into place, “a relationship built on fake love. I was really trying, y’know. I thought I was going crazy.” 

The three of you have unknowingly been playing a futile game of Cat’s Cradle, a game that no one wins. 

Jungkook looks wistfully out the window, noting the pleasant day that fails to present itself in your tiny room. It feels simultaneously satisfying and bitter when it falls into place, your thoughts finally fitting together for the first time in months. “We could’ve loved each other. For real,” he says, and you silently agree. 

You’re still crying, shaking like a leaf in autumn. Jungkook’s arms hover awkwardly over yours, his warmth palpable despite the fact that he hasn’t touched you yet. With a timid smile you allow consent, and you melt like putty in his arms. 

“Kookie, ‘m so sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” you murmur into his shoulder, not caring if it hurts when you press your chin into his skin. “I’m sorry you had to find out this way.” 

It’s been so long to have him close like this, the friend you’ve always wanted but never needed. Since college you’ve always imagined a life without him doing just fine, but that doesn’t mean you want to live without him, roommate’s boyfriend or not. 

“I’m sorry too,” he sighs back, “this sucks right now, but we’ll be alright.” 

The two of you sit in your room until it turns dark and the sky muddles into shades of twilight and egg yolk orange. There’s lulls in the conversation, the two of you filling in the gaps and making sense of the mumbo-jumbo that’s been going on in your consciousness up until this point. Your insantities turn sane, and by the time Jisoo’s making her way back inside with the smell of pad thai, Jungkook is ready. With a squeeze to each other and a press of your lips because you don’t know what to say, you tuck yourself in and pretend to fall asleep. 

“Messy, messy, messy,” Vernon sing-songs, knocking his heels against the wall. 

The both of you are sitting upside-down, butts attached to the wall connecting to his mattress and your feet hanging in the air. Your mint floral organza socks pad against his Pink Floyd poster, while his yellow tube socks are heeling against some old Polaroids from college. There’s no prospect of sex today, not when shit just hit the fan. 

Today you and Vernon are just two old friends and very close co-workers. 

“Tell me about it,” you bemoan, frowning at the beige wall, “this whole week’s just been a whole mess. It’s like, warm tuna salad.”

“Gross,” Vernon grimaces at the apt comparison, “so what happens now?” 

You sit up on your elbows, looking down at Vernon’s peaceful expression, “What do you mean?” 

“Like, are you gonna get together with him?”

You snort, flopping back down on his bed. The blankets fluff around you and you inhale the pine scented sheets. “After all that? No.” 

“But you still love him?” 

It must sound dumb to still love him after all this time. You wouldn’t be surprised if Vernon thought you’re silly to still hold a place in your heart for someone who has fifteen million things on their plate now. After all the physicality and the space Vernon gave you in his home, your feelings haven’t wavered. 

Your companion doesn’t bother waiting for your answer, hearing your answer somewhere in the air as he gets up and throws on his denim jacket. Rolling over your stomach you ask, “Where are you going?” 

“Some friends down in printing want to meet up for drinks,” Vernon messes up his hair, making the waves part in that little coiff that makes his jawline look sharp. “I heard Yerin really wanted me to come, so.” 

You can’t help the little middle school coo that comes from your lips, causing Vernon to giggle and throw a pillow at you. “Yerin’s cute!” you declare, remembering the petite girl in overalls who’s all about pops of yellow and violet, “you're into her?” 

“Nah,” Vernon holds up two hats in his hands, gesturing for you to pick one. “Just figured it was a push in the right direction.” 

Crawling out of his bed you stumble in your oversized t-shirt, tucking a finger under your chin as you decide between the emerald bucket hat and the red Ralph Lauren baseball cap. You pull out both hats from his hands and set it down on his vanity, opting to smooth out the flyaways and ringing your fingers through his soft curls. “And what direction would my free-flowing friend be going today?” you ask aloud, “you look better with your hair out,” you declare firmly, “makes you look like a fluffy CEO.” 

He laughs at your silly comparison, and he gently moves your hand away from his hair when you linger a little too close to him. His gaze is solemn as he regards you with a gentle smile, “Keep your distance, I’m tryna get over someone,” he says simply, and your arm falls limp at your sides. 

Your heart thuds in a different direction, your mouth parting but no words coming to the surface. When was the last time you asked about Vernon’s needs, wondered if he was doing alright, making sure you two were on the same page—

“You’re spiraling,” he reads you like a playbook, smoothing down your hair to press a kiss to the crown. Suddenly you feel guilty for not having sparks in your belly, shaming your conscience for not even considering his sacrifices in your self-absorption these past few weeks. “Like I said, I wanted to help you. Stop looking like a kicked puppy, it’s okay to be selfish.” 

With transparent tears the two of you pack up and head to your next destination. Hands ghosting between each other you make your way to the exit of Vernon’s apartment, him to meet up with his friends while you have to unpack your new apartment. With a hug you tell each other you’ll see them on Monday, and as easy as that you go your separate ways.

Hey Pretty Girl—

I kinda wanted to tell you this in person but I know how much you liked Mamma Mia and all those other movies that have grand gestures in writing so I thought hey, might as well shoot my shot on paper. 

Not gonna tell you all the details, because you deserve to hear it in-person. But mayhaps this letter has something to do with how much I like studying with you, watching movies with you, doing absolutely nothing with you and all of that in-between. 

There’s a gift card to our spot attached. Meet me at McDonalds @12 tonight, so I know it’s real 😎

Hopefully yours, Jungkook

P.S. if you haven’t noticed already, I sprayed a little cologne and stole Taehyung’s fancy paper from Muji. That’s how serious I am about you. 

“Joon, we live in a bonsai garden. We’re like giants in a forest.” 

“Can you—can you stop spitting at them? Let them breathe, dammit.” 

“Not my fault they’re so tiny! I literally have to zoom 200% just to get a good look at ‘em.” 

The two of you are huddled in what used to be Namjoon’s balcony, now a sunroom for his succulents and bonsais. Your heart feels pink and swollen with affection as you regard Namjoon with interest, absorbing every bit of information you can as he teaches you how to care for his plants. After all, you’re co-parenting now. 

Having your Wusband co-sign as your roommate for the next year is probably the best decision you have made this year. Everyday is like a breath of fresh air. With Seokjin gone for the year to tour his restaurant franchises, his room is yours for the taking. The two of you are easy going roommates, filling the apartment with color and vigour whether it be in the form of baking sweets or watching Netflix documentaries. 

The only drama you ever have is when you two are having a meltdown over the same work-related issue, as if you two somehow share the same brain cell. It’s significantly less stressful, no need for unnecessary anger when  you have someone as mediating as Namjoon.

After today’s plant lesson, you two go back to the living room to finish up your work for the evening. Another perk of living together is that you can go home at normal work times and continue where you left off with the comfort of your couch and eating a whole pizza pie with no shame. 

Namjoon’s phone pings with a new email from corporate. “We got the new concept for next month’s spread,” he gestures to you with a grandiose wave of his arm, “drumroll please.” 

He pulls up the newsletter from corporate with a flick of his thumb. Your company put out every month’s concept out in an Evite, like every month was a themed party. A stressful, month long work party. In seconds, the page loaded and you’re met with next month’s title bathed in electronic glitter. 

The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Class of Youth

The two of you say silent, absorbing the concept like a cookie to milk. It’s a personal spread this month, a real treat for the team to show off their normal non-professional life. A spread that reveals the masters behind the ink and text. Last year’s personal spread was about the staff’s vacation destinations, but this year’s is much more intimate. You can imagine all the ideas that will be thrown around on Monday’s meeting: pinning down shared ideas like Throwback Thursdays, late night munchie runs, drunk stories, and all the crazy college nostalgia that you’ve been trying to avoid as of late. 

But now it’s presented to you in a gold chalice, and while you’re sick of the past you think it’s about time to face it. You’re excited to tackle the dark monster you’ve suppressed since Jungkook and Jisoo’s breakup. 

“Did I ever tell you I was president of my university’s Mock Trial?” 

“No, I always thought you’d be president of the Comparative Literature Club or whatever. But Mock Trial is equally as nerdy.” 

“I’ll have you know Mock Trial got me tons of action,” he winked, “made me very convincing.” 

“Gross,” you sneer, “so that’s what your spread will be about? How the co-editor of the Arts & Entertainment section managed to bag with his skills from Mock Trial?” 

“Nah, I went on a penniless journey with Jin during spring break. Six days around Malta.” 

“That does sound so you,” you sigh, fingers slipping between the cracked screen as you mull over the overly happy Evite, “sounds like a cool story.” 

“I know that look,” Namjoon quips, snatching his phone under his nose, “don’t overthink your spread just yet, it’s still the weekend. Now to more important things, what do you want from Taco Bell?”

And because you can’t refuse the combined efforts of nachos and Namjoon’s dimples, you relent for the night and tack the unmade idea to the next workday. 

Unfortunately the next workday is just as disheartening. Today’s work meeting is the antithesis of icing on the cake. While your college life isn’t anything remarkable, you didn’t think it was a painfully dull time. With every passing moment and every excited co-worker throwing memories back and forth like ping pong balls, the more you felt inferior by competing with their amazing memories. 

“Who can even afford Aruba at twenty-one,” you mutter under your breath, stalking back to your cubicle. 

Filling up a whole spread is daunting to you, the thought of Victoria popping her head in your cubicle to ask what you’ve got for the day is practically eating you from the inside out. Maybe your college life was in actuality, super boring? You have no crazy drug trips to tell, any vacations that gave you a life-changing perspective, or an epic love story. 

“What’cha got there, partner?” 

The third musketeer of your editing team’s caramel eyes peer into your cubicle, causing you to jump in your chair. Vernon wheels around, chair and all to push you into your already cramped space. His gold button up gleams in the sunlight, effectively blinding you. 

“If by something you mean nothing, then yeah I got nothing,” you frown, spinning around your chair. “What are you writing about?” 

A fond smile melts onto your friend’s face, and you can’t help returning a smile that mirrors his own. You two have fallen back into a good place, as far as you know. He’s still easy, simple, sweet Vernon. When you dropped some boxes off in coloring, you heard that Vernon and Yerin have recently started seeing each other. 

“Thought of the idea as soon as the Evite came out. It’s more of a photo spread, but I’m gonna write about my study abroad in NYU,” Vernon ticks a pencil on his forehead, “a self-identity piece talking about how I felt like, not-white around my family n’stuff. And then felt not-Asian at the same time, s’complicated but I think I can make it work.” 

“Deep,” you pat his shoulder caringly, knowing that Big Hit is a good outlet for these kinds of subjects, “alright City Slicker, since you’re so full of ideas then tell me what to write about.” 

Vernon sits up straight, regarding you with narrowed eyes, “Aren’t you gonna write about your little love triangle with Jisoo and Jungkook?” and it seems like he’s already storyboarded the idea in his head, gesturing to the air as if he’s writing down a timeline, “I can see the headline now: How to Steal a Heart,” he’s grinning, nodding fervently as you cross your arms in distaste. 

“Vern, are you suggesting that I exploit Jisoo and Jungkook’s personal lives?” while the journalism business didn’t pride itself on sincerity, it did feel wrong to drag in your personal life to that extent. 

“Babe, you don’t understand. You have the perfect slice of life story. Everyone’s writing about expensive vacations and that one time they got cross-faded and ended up in Busan,” he squeezes your hand, “but your story, it’s relatable. It’s romantic. It’s angsty. It has closure. No one’s gonna be able to relate to an impulse spending on daddy’s money to Aruba. But first loves? Unrequited romance and all that ish? Everyone can speak to that. And you’re a beautiful writer, they’ll eat up that story like honey.” 

“I don’t know, it still doesn’t feel right.” 

“Change up the names, twist the story,” he offers easily, knowing you’d put up a fight, “besides, it’s not like you’re planning on talking to Jisoo or Jungkook ever again,” you open your mouth to retort, but Vernon’s phone beeps to the Star Wars theme song and he’s flying out of his chair. “Shoot, gotta go help Joon upstairs. Just think about it, okay? Good luck!” and he’s kicking his chair out with a brown loafer, leaving you with breathing room in your cubicle. 

Five seconds later Vernon is jogging back, pointing a finger at you, “And if you do choose to write it, you have to add that Jisoo copped your McDonalds gift card. Like, who does that shit? Couldn’t she have just given it to you and say it was from her and not Jungkook? Seriously fucked up.” 

For the next ten or so minutes you mull. Out of all the memorable college events you’ve participated in, the largest one by far is your (now defunct and debatable) friendship with Jisoo, and your (un)requited love for Jungkook. Reluctantly, you must admit Vernon has a sharp idea, busting in like a hero and offering you the most writable piece on a silver platter. 

It doesn’t feel morally right just to start writing, because ultimately you can’t feel comfortable until you get the consent of Jungkook. While you don’t want to touch Jisoo with a ten-meter pole, you do want to start talking to Jungkook again now that the waters have calmed.

Your life has moved gracefully up until this point, and you’d like to start being friends with him again. Decision made, you pull out your phone and make an important call.

“Hey Yoongi,” you say nervously. Min Yoongi is Kim Namjoon’s equivalent, Jungkook’s Wusband and former upperclassmen in college. 

Said man hums noncommittally on the other line, “Whaddya want, it’s been awhile.” 

You stifle a giggle at his apathetic attitude, knowing he’s someone who wastes no time in getting straight to the point. “I just wanna make sure Jungkook’s address is still the same? I know it’s been a couple months, but I need to send him something and I wanna make sure it gets to him ASAP because—”

“Because last time something was sent, your crazy roommate intervened and Jungkook ended up in a two-year half-toxic relationship? Yeah, let’s make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

“Yoongi,” you say slowly, “where are you?” 

“Working in the studio,” he tuts, “Jungkook says hi, by the way.” 

Typical, cat’s out of the bag. With a roll of our eyes you reply, “Thanks for outing me, Yoongi. Talk to you later.” 

“And y/n? Jungkook says he’s waiting.” 

With a stupid smile slapped onto your face, you hang up the phone and pull out your stationary kit from under your desk. You pluck out a vermillion red envelope, a color so bold and begging to be seen, you know it can’t possibly get lost in transit. Feeling a little bit like a high schooler as you pull out a glitter jelly pen, you get to writing. 

Hey Pretty Boy...

Jungkook and Jisoo are no longer together, evidently. 

Their social media runs in different directions, with Jisoo sporting absolute elegance in her work at her family-owned boutique. Her posts are full of shiny outfits and soulless gazes, betraying any pinch of emotion she may have felt over these past few months. Her profile is wiped of any personal posts, all traces of you and Jungkook evaporated from her page. You must admit that she looks good, like a real fashion mogul, but only at the surface level. 

Conversely, Jungkook is thriving. It’s evident. Normally he isn’t the type of guy to post so frequently, his habits being often sporadic and limited to sweaty gym stories. But whenever you scroll, it’s pictures of him smiling. Big bunny teeth broken into a genuine, full-bellied laugh. Cute selfies of him and his co-workers. You notice two familiar co-workers in those posts, Irene and Seulgi, two beautiful women Jisoo always felt intimidated by whenever she ranted to you. You conclude positively that Jungkook doesn’t feel tethered and can hang out with all the friends he wants, female and male alike. Jungkook looks free, and you’re happy for him. 

It’s another Instagram-worthy moment tonight at McDonalds, where you and Jungkook proposed to meet each other at 12AM. 

This time, the letter makes it to its desired destination. You make sure of that because this time you hand-deliver it, slipping under his apartment door knowing he lives alone and no one would be able to access it except him. 

You’re parked in an obscure corner, but you can see that Jungkook is currently having a great time with his co-workers for an after work meal. Yoongi is unbothered on his phone, while Jimin and Seulgi are taking turns throwing fries into each other’s mouth. Jungkook is squished between them, scrunching his nose cutely as he tries not to get in the fray of their fry-war. 

Your phone pings, and you laugh at what pops up on the screen.

Yoongi: come inside, u loser. 

You: can’t ur friend group makes me nervous stop being so dang cute

You: dw i’ll wait, it’s only 11:50

Instead of replying, Yoongi puts his phone down and resumes eating. In turn you pick a playlist, deciding that “summer time high mix✨✨✨” is a theme you need to subscribe to for the rest of the weekend. 

Busying yourself by sending some texts to Namjoon and checking some emails, you relax in your seat as you let your brain turn to sludge for the weekend. You’re tired, eyes glazing over as you watch Yoongi elbow Jungkook harshly, forcing him to look out the foggy window. 

Jungkook’s eyes light up like it’s Christmas Eve, but instead of Christmas lights it's your car’s lowlights. The graphic designer  pays no mind to his friends as they wish him goodbye and goodluck, throwing on his jacket with a wave. 

The night air whizzes by, Jungkook’s floppy black strands bouncing with each step as he bounds to your car. He throws your door open, bringing in the cold air as he regards you as easily as an old friend would. 

“Hi,” he chirps, placing his tattooed palms by the air vent, “c’mon, let’s order.” 

“You know, you could’ve ordered inside and brought it in here.” 

“Yeah but then it would take longer to get to you,” the cheeky grin that Jungkook throws at you is unmistakable, “c’mon, get out the car and let’s switch.” 

“Huh?” 

“You look tired, you didn’t come back from the office again, did you?” 

“I did tonight,” you say, “I just really wanted to get the soft copy of the article done and—” 

“Out, out!” Jungkook clicks your seatbelt off and he’s coming out of the passenger side, opening your car and pulling you out by the hand, “c’mon, I’ll drive.” 

You shake your head, hiding your smile in your hand as you let Jungkook do what he wants. Normally you’d be insulted that anyone suggests they should drive your car but Jungkook would always drive you around, saying he loved long rides. Above all, if you could trust anyone to drive your car, Jungkook is at the top of the list. 

Buckling in, you bite the inside of your cheek as Jungkook easily pulls out of the parking spot one-handed. His jacket is pulled up to his elbows, exposing his veins as he expertly whirls the wheel in the direction of the drive-thru. Since college he’s always looked very attractive driving.  

Doesn’t mean you have to act like you’re still in college. You tamp those feelings down, knowing that your article probably has you feeling stuck in time. 

“—coming along?” 

“Wha?” 

“I said, how’s the spread coming along?” 

“It’s pretty much done, I think. I’ll send you the hard copy when it’s ready,” you tap your fingers against the dashboard, “but are you sure you’re okay with me writing it? I know I’m using a pseudonym and everything for you two but I still feel weird—” 

“It’s fine, I think it’s a good thing,” and you still squirm in your seat when he flashes you a genuine smile, “I mean, it kinda is a funny story and I think it’s good for both of us. Like closure, y’know? Moving on and—hi, can I get two Oreo McFlurrys and a large fry? Thanks!” he pulls out his wallet to scan the total on the e-reader.  “I mean, didn’t it feel good writing it?”

“Yeah,” you replied honestly, relaxing in your seat, “like, college was fun and all, but when Jisoo kinda ruined all that… after awhile I didn’t think it was ruined after all, y’know? I still made amazing friends and ended up where I wanted to be. I want to show the readers that shit happens, and that’s okay. And if things are really meant to be, they’re meant to be.” 

The summer playlist hums in the background as Jungkook pulls up to the pick-up window. He thanks the worker and hands you the tray, and you make quick work to put the fries in the first cup holder for optimal sharing. He doesn’t park at McDonalds, but instead smoothly pulls out of the restaurant into the direction of his apartment. It isn’t a particularly long drive, but you figure it would be easier for Jungkook to go home first if you’re already parked at his complex. 

“What do you mean by that?” Jungkook parks in the driveway of his apartment, taking his McFlurry from your hands. 

“Mean by what?” 

“If things are really meant to be, they’re meant to be.” 

“Well, we’re here now, right?” 

Jungkook pops his spoon in, swallowing vanilla and a silly smile through his coral pink lips, “We’re here now,” he repeats. 

The night air is cool and your conversation is warm. You promise Jungkook that you’ll send him the final copy of your spread as soon as it’s done, and you two eagerly deviate away from the past and focus on the present. 

You can’t help the eagerness that flows between you, as if you’ve never spent time apart like this and it’s only now that you’re reuniting. It must be absence that makes the heart grow fonder, because you swell with affection and you find Jungkook’s presence sweeter than any kind of ice cream. 

Are you dating now? Maybe. You and Jungkook are going on dates, everything without the title. McFlurry runs, marathons of HGTV’s Design on a Dime, having lunch at each other’s respective buildings with the Wusbands. Whether these dates are exclusive or not is unknown, but you figure the question will present yourself one way or another. 

You’re in a good place right now, potential relationship or not. After all, your priorities are simultaneously positive and in order: family, work, friends, and any potential romantic trysts are at the very bottom. You could kiss the cover of this month’s issue (and trust, you have kissed your own copy multiple times) if it is not for the fact that this specific issue is for Jungkook. 

So, romantic trysts and friends have a tendency to flip-flop on your priority list, but only because it’s Jungkook. 

Unsurprisingly, there’s no guilt knowing that you’re dating your former best friend's ex-boyfriend. 

After a much deserved early work day, Namjoon and the crew arrange a hearty happy-hour filled with good food and enough relaxation to last the weekend. With your combined successes, your team felt like they made the best issue yet. At the heart of it, The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Class of Youth became a reckoning of each other’s young life. Despite the love and the growth that occurred from your college years up until this point, you’re glad to close that chapter and move forward. 

You did not tell Jungkook when the issue would come out, so you think it’ll be a fun surprise for him when he sees it magically show up at his apartment. Bending down you move to slip the issue under his door, one hand pushing it under while one hand braces against the frame to steady your balance. 

Just as the shiny cover glides under the door it swings open, and you fall flat on Jungkook’s feet. 

Being the little shit he is, he simply giggles at the blunder, looking at you with excited eyes. “I’ve been waiting for you,” he says. 

“Creepy as hell, Jeon,” you mutter under your breath, brushing the dirt off your aqua pencil skirt. Looking at him from your spot on the floor and his large height, you grimace. “You look like a middle-aged serial killer looking outside your peephole.” 

“Now, we know that’s not true.” he finally offers his hand, easily pulling you up to your feet. You follow him into his kitchen, where he’s cutting up fresh fruit. He throws your issue on the counter, gentle enough so it doesn’t slide off the granite. He gestures to himself with both hands, “me, a dashingly handsome late twenty-something in Nike sweats who can bench-press two of you? Totally not a middle-aged serial killer.” 

“It’s in the eyes,” you chastise, “you look crazy.” 

“Maybe I’m just crazy excited to see you,” he says with a cheeky grin. 

You try your best not to choke on your spit at the cheeseball comment, throwing a blackberry in your mouth. Savoring the burst of tart flavor that fills your mouth, you wait for Jungkook to plate the fruit before meeting him on the couch. He’s holding a prettily arranged plate of berries, bananas, and mango with a huge dollop of whipped cream in the middle. In his other hand is Big Hit’s magazine. 

Throwing your blazer on the couch’s arm you don’t hesitate to cuddle up next to him, eagerly waiting for him to read your spread. 

The cover gazes back at the two of you like a reflection. The entirety of the staff is posed on the cover, made to look like a class photo. Some of you are holding balloons in your respective school colors, many of you grouping up with whoever happened to go to college together. You and Vernon are wearing matching university sweaters with silly grins on your faces. In the middle of the issue is the editor-in-chief, Victoria Song holding a placard that reads: Class of Youth. 

Jungkook spares you a glance from the corner of his eye, your head naturally tucked into his shoulder. With an exaggerated sigh, he fiddles through the glossy pages, “Hmm, which one should I read first?” 

“Of course you’ll read mine first,” you pout. 

“Ah, Namjoon’s looks really fun. Or Vernon’s? New York looks pretty cool,” he flips to a random page, “wait, Yerin’s spread is a Korean cookbook! I definitely want to make some tuna rice...”  

“Jungkook,” you whine, “read mine.” 

“I don’t know,” he taps his finger on his lip, “I mean, I pretty much know your spread because I’m already in it. It would be kind of redundant to read it.” 

“Kook, you’re being mean,” you glower, rubbing your cheek against his soft sweater. He’s just so damn comfy. 

“I’m kidding,” he tugs at your cheek, “where’s the table of contents, first page?”

“I’m on page eighty-three.” 

You speed up the process like an impatient child, leaning over to brush the pages to the desired spread. You even dog-earred it, a habit that drives Jungkook crazy as he immediately fiddles to iron out the crease. 

“Are you gonna read it to me too, mom?” he teases. 

“Okay fine! I’ll be quiet, but don’t take too long.” 

“Yes ma’am.” 

Eyes fluttering, you let Jungkook take his time to absorb your piece. A roommate by any other (rude) name: the lost letter. A cheesy, gimmicky title that Victoria insisted upon that you had no choice but relent to. The rest of the spread thankfully has a very authentic edge to it, your story laced with photos of you and Jungkook, your internship with Vernon, and most importantly, a scan of the lavender letter that got left in the past. 

Jungkook’s not silent through his read-through, either. He laughs at all the right parts, fueling your ego as his smile grows at your favorite lines. While he doesn’t directly engage in conversation, his positive energy is enough for you to make you feel like you’ve done your job right. It’s one thing to write about unknown celebrities and unnamed artists, but for people like Jungkook, the validation is personal. 

“It’s beautiful,” Jungkook says when he’s read it thrice through, running his thumb over a picture of you. “Really organic. Really, real.”

“Really?”

“Really,” he chuckles, having run out of adverbs. “It’s funny, too. I liked your little internal monologue. I wish I knew how you felt back then.” 

“I wish you did, too.” 

You’re quietly munching on a strawberry, looking over a polaroid Jungkook took. It was  sometime in the beginning of senior year, where you’ve fallen asleep on his mattress, drool drying on your mouth. Normally you’d be opposed to having such unflattering, grainy pictures amongst your writing, but it encapsulates the youth you’ve tried so hard to chase away. 

“How do you feel?” Jungkook says, switching out the magazine for the plate of fruit, placing it on his side. 

“Feel great, actually,” you muse, smiling to yourself. By no means are you a hero writing some grand gesture in an entertainment magazine, but you feel like you’ve saved yourself. You’ve savored your youth in four thousand words, cutting out the poison and keeping the moment as sweet as it can be. 

“I’m proud of you,” he reaches to ruffle your hair, and you don’t even get mad when it tousles out of your pinned style. 

Reveling in the attention, you simply close your eyes and feed yourself a handful of blueberries. 

“Love that I make money, but I definitely miss college from time to time,” Jungkook stretches, jostling you out of your comfortable position. “Like I remember Taehyung and I would take turns bringing backpacks to the dining hall so we could stuff fruit in it for later.”

“Yeah, but as much as I loved college I wouldn’t go back,” you nod to yourself, “I’m happy where I am now.” 

“What about when we stayed up for midnight breakfast? The dining hall was filled to the brim with food. Remember when I tried to eat a whole stack of pancakes?” 

“Jungkook…” 

“Or when our classes got cancelled and we went to Lotte World? You ate way too much funnel cake and I had to carry you to the car!” 

“Jungkook—” 

“And that one time we snuck out to the music hall’s rooftop?” words gush out of Jungkook’s mouth like a waterfall, unable to relent, “that’s when I realized I liked you. I liked you so much, I tried to tell you that night but choked—”

“Jungkook!” and he immediately zips up, frowning. You straighten up, on your knees as you reach over to run your hands through his onyx tresses, moving the styled strands to the back of his pierced ears, “Jungkook,” you repeat softly, “I’ve heard all these stories, I was there for most of them. As much as I love the past… can we talk about something else?” you give him a small, tentative smile to show him you’re not mad, but a little uncomfortable at his reminiscing. 

He leans into your touch, pressing your palm against the soft swell of his warm cheek. “Okay,” he agrees, resting one hand on your thigh. 

You’re roped in his gaze, and you have to force yourself to breathe when Jungkook moves closer to you. He hooks a leg behind his back, and another across his lap. A cool breeze kisses your inner thighs when your skirt exposes your cotton underwear. You should be embarrassed but instead you’re fixated, unable to understand what he’s trying to accomplish. 

“Then I’m gonna talk about the future,” Jungkook traps you between the couch, his thumb running hot circles to where your skirt has hiked up. It exposes a slip of the thigh that Jungkook has seen a million times. He’s seen you walking around your apartment in a large shirt, ridden up to your boyshorts. It’s different now, you feel exposed and tingly, thrumming with excitement. “I like you, obviously anticipated news and old news. I can’t stop thinking about how much I want to go on dates with you, re-watch Avatar, grumble when I force you to come to the gym with me,” he bumps noses with you when you scrunch yours, “I wanna be with you. Heck, I’ve even cleared space in my spare room so you’d have closet space for all your fancy designer suits if you ever need it.”

“You cleared space?” you manage to choke out. Visions of a shared apartment roll through your brain. Cooking meals together, having two toothbrushes side by side, and waking up to his face. 

“Of course I did. Do you know how financially attractive you are?” he says lightheartedly, “you’re a sexy working woman and it’s crazy to imagine you’d want to settle for me and my little apartment. But I have to try now because if I don’t, it’ll be too late.” 

“That’s not true,” you retort, “you’re not someone I’d settle for. I want you, and no one else.” 

He chuckles, running a thumb over your cheek. “Then what are we waiting for? Your key’s hiding under the mat.” 

“Jungkook…” on the tip of your tongue lays the words you’re going too fast but it doesn’t make its way to the air. 

“But do you really think it’s too fast?” he reads your face clearly, “these feelings never went anywhere. They were locked away, sure. And I loved her,” he can’t even say the name, not when you’re warm and flush against him, “but I loved our friendship more.”

“I… I don’t know what to say,” you breathe, letting the cogs in your brain roll until sparks develop. 

“You don’t have to say anything,” he concedes, “I just wanted to let you know. Could’ve done the letter thing all over again and let the past repeat itself. I know Namjoon wouldn’t hide a love letter for two years, but if I left another damn letter he’d definitely make a copy and tease me about it.” 

You snort, pressing your forehead to his. You’re practically buried in the couch now, tingly and vibrating with happiness. “And I’m not going to leave you hanging. I do want to say something,” and he looks at you expectantly, licking the leftover berry juice on his lips, nearly making you miss your train of thought, “I like you too,” you say, the other L-word is also applicable, but you feel like that phrase is reserved for another time, “I want to show you off on work vacations, bring you along as my date and show them you’re my muse,” you confess, “I wanna play video games with you ‘till 2AM, and eat ice cream in the comfort of our apartment instead of our cars because we’re too stubborn to admit we don’t wanna go home without each other.” 

Jungkook absolutely preens at the affection, sending you a heart melting smile that has your stomach doing backflips.

“Jungkook, I want to fall in love with you again.” 

Your squeal of surprise is swallowed by Jungkook’s lips, tasting of mangoes and berries as strong hands cup your backside, easily lifting you onto his lap. You plop under his strong thighs, feeling them flex against yours. The both of you are pouring in this kiss, raining with promises and hopes for a future with each other. His taste is concentrated, and you can feel the devotion practically injected in his embrace. 

When he pulls away his lips are cherry-red and shiny, looking up at you through clear coffee eyes. “This isn’t a dream, right?” he looks at you up and down, unable to decipher fact from fiction, “because I distinctly remember two wet dreams that involve you looking like this.” 

Looking down, you heat at the disarray you’re in. Hair wild and parted in different wavelengths, tired of the day’s efforts. Your slightly sheer dress-shirt is rumpled, the lace collar opened with two popped buttons revealing your cleavage, and your skirt is stretched so tight that it’s ruched all the way up your thighs. Sprawled across Jungkook’s lap, you’re dangerously close to something long and hard. 

Emboldened, you clutch at Jungkook’s collar, pulling him closer. 

“Show me what happens in your dream,” you whisper into his ear, barely brushing your clothed core against his crotch, “maybe we can make it come true tonight.” 

You can’t see his face, but you feel something dark and sensual overtake him. The grip on your ass tightens, a delicious pain that has you pressing your breasts against him and nipping on his ear, your tongue darting sensually through the cold silver hoops that dart through his skin. 

Within seconds, he rips you away from his neck and demands, “Open.” 

Dazed, you barely get a centimeter of your mouth open when Jungkook presses something cold and sugary against your lips. Whipped cream. You manage to take a small bite of the tart strawberry that he holds by the viridian stem, rolling the flavor between your mouth as Jungkook paints the leftover whipped cream over your lips. Once he’s satisfied he then creates a white trail that leads to your cleavage. 

Better than any dream, his eyes drink you in like the last glass of water in a desert. Your lips are swollen and parted like a baby kitten, covered in the creamy confection. “So pretty,” he exhales, his hot tongue licking from your cleavage to your lips, swallowing the flavor of you and strawberry juice, “such a pretty girl you are, and all mine.” 

“Yours,” you submit easily, rolling your hips against his. 

At that moment you think you’re meant to fall in love this way. You can’t imagine the shy, fumbly Jungkook and your equally confused self waltzing around a relationship when you barely had your lives together. The two of you still had growing to do. The wait is certainly worth it, because as you feel his arms tighten around you, you’re sure this love will stay strong.

It’s difficult for you to find a rhythm at first, what with Jungkook’s strength and need to be satiated, both of you are sloppy but the friction is nothing less than delicious. Your finger reaches over to swipe at the leftover cream on the plate, and you press your finger to Jungkook’s mouth, and he immediately complies. A dollop of sweet cream leaks out of his lips and your panties dampen further when you feel his tongue lick you clean, imagaining how good it would feel if it was your pussy he was licking. 

Your mouth waters at the feeling of his dick lining up against your core, as sticky as the strawberry juice that clings to your bodies. 

“C-can I make a confession? I—oh, Jungkook…” your mind is all fuzzed up when he snaps his hips against yours, causing you to shamelessly bounce on his length. 

“Yeah?” 

“I… I like it when you use all your strength like that,” his hips slow as your words sink in, but you don’t mind as it gives you time to make a long drag along the entirety of his member. “Everytime you pull me up when I trip, or you come back from a workout, I like it when you carry me around like I weigh nothing.” 

“Do—do you think about it a lot?” he grunts, and you stifle a moan when he does a slow, hard drag against your wet folds. “Tell the truth.” 

“It’s, it’s embarrassing,” you whimper, unable to think straight with the amount of stimuli you’re receiving.  

“Please, baby.” 

“Yes mm—oh! I do,” you try to get the words out as quickly as you can. He stops moving, and you groan in frustration so you just lay it all out on the table. “I, I love it when you hold me in your strong arms. And, ah, uh w-henever you come back from the gym you just look so sexy fresh from the shower. Sometimes I think about how you’re too damn nice for your own good but I bet you’d be so rough in bed.” 

“Really?” and then he’s shoving you onto the couch, air brushing against your bare thighs as your back hits the beige throw pillows. He’s hovering, dark eyes starting from the tip of your toes to your damp lips. “You like it when I manhandle you? Throw you around like a little doll?” 

“All that strength, and for what?” you try to keep your snappy remarks in check, but it’s hard when he’s pressing his straining dick against your thigh, weeping and needy. 

“You’re not gonna be joking about my strength anytime soon, baby,” emblazoned, he easily throws your leg over his shoulder, pushing your panties to the side to let your wetness leak out and onto his fingers, “are you gonna complain or be a good girl?” 

“Yes, I’m ah—” you wince when he inserts a finger, “I’ll be good for you,” 

“My good girl,” he revels in the way you melt under his touch, your previous sarcasm quickly dissolving into a puddle. You always had an inkling that Jungkook would be a sneaky fox in bed, all that muscle hidden behind a kind smile and a penchant for tea with milk and honey. 

Jungkook slips in another finger, stretching you and preparing you for what’s to come. He’s scissoring you at a sensible pace that has you squirming and wanting more. To prevent you from shimmying off the couch he holds you down with his free hand, and you love the way he practically feeds you to the couch, hands dancing over your neck as he shoves you further into the furniture. 

“You look so gorgeous,” he says, causing you to moan and keen at his attention, “you’re such a strong, gorgeous woman. Having you sprawled out like this, ready to do whatever I want to you is so fucking hot.” 

“I’m—I’m only weak for you Jungkook,” you say honestly, tears pricking when he dips another finger. The stretch burns deliciously, and your folds eagerly swallow him up until you’re filled to the brim. Your fingers or toys cannot compare to flesh, and you sigh in relief when you see his inked fingers pick up the pace once more. 

“You’re damn right,” Jungkook husks, and with a grain of love he murmurs in your ear, “I’m only weak for you, too.” 

And that’s when he snaps, thumb rolling against your bud as he slams his other fingers against you, going at a brutal pace. You cry out, not caring whether his neighbors hear as he pulls you back and forth through pleasure and pain. 

“T-too much, Kookie,” you mewl, your hand warbling to find his, “I, ah, ‘m gonna cum!” 

“That’s the plan,” he only goes faster, stretching your band further and further before your desired high is reached. His hand trails up to force your chin straight, looking up at him, “let go for me, baby. Wanna feel your pussy clench around my fingers.” 

In seconds, you gush. It has you in a slight panic, drunk on endorphins as you try to lift your head up but Jungkook’s hand is firmly pressing you on your shoulder as he fingers you efficiently through your high, the wet squelching sounds only increasing with your cries. His lap is drenched in your arousal, along with his chin and lips glistening with your essence. 

He finally releases you when you’re practically shaking, his hands sticky and creamy. You moan when he shamelessly licks them within your view, making sure to wrap his tongue around his ink-stained digits. 

“I,” your mouth is dry when you feel the dampness that hits your bottom, “I’ve never, I don’t remember ever—” 

Your babbles are lost between your throat and Jungkook’s tongue, shoved deep into your mouth. Tasting your arousal has you practically vibrating in your place, as you two rut against each other like hungry bunnies. 

“God, you’re amazing,” he says between pecks, kissing away your face of any tears you may have pricked, “Amazing, adorable, absolutely beautifulIadoreyousoso—” 

“Pleasepleaseplease,” you press your hips up, wiggling for more attention, “please fuck me, Jungkook.” 

You can’t help the witchy, satisfied smile when Jungkook’s eyes darken to a thick coal, “Anything for you,” he murmurs, swinging your legs between his arms as he lifts you like a feather. 

On his lap again, you soon accept that the way you two mesh like puzzle pieces is one of your favorite positions as it gives you both equal space to ravish each other. 

Just when your hand trails to the waistband of his boxer briefs and you’re rolling your thumb over its collected moisture, the moment is shattered when the doorbell rings. You jump in his arms, unprepared for your moment to be interrupted. 

He groans into the crown of your hair, and you soften in his relaxed hold, “I ordered us pizza,” he nearly forgot. 

Perking your head up to look at him you regard him innocently, as if you didn’t release a waterfall on his sweats two seconds ago. “You got us pizza?” 

“I knew you’d be coming over tonight,” he’s pouting into your neck, regretting ever having called the pizza guy if he knew this would happen, “Victoria posted the publish date on Twitter. I just didn’t think,” he gestures vaguely to the mess on his pants, “this would happen.”  

“Damn, and here I thought I was being sneaky,” you chuckle, flicking his ear playfully. 

He gives you an uncharacteristically subby whine, shamelessly upset he has to let you go so fast after he’s given you your first of many highs. Before he weakens further under your beauty, he unceremoniously shoves you off. “Sorry, pretty girl,” you melt at the easy way his pet name rolls off his lips, “can you wait in my room for a bit so I can pay the delivery guy? I don’t want them to see you like this.” 

“But I want to eat pizza,” you declare stubbornly, standing up to button your blouse and pull down your skirt. 

Before you could fasten one button or pull down one centimeter, his hand darts out to snatch your wrist away from your body. It doesn’t hurt much, but it causes your body to heat in more places than one. He’s sexy like this, demanding your attention. “No,” he rumbles definitively, “my room. Now.” 

“Why?” you throw your hands in the air, yelping when he slaps your ass. He makes sure to make it sting, cupping you fully. 

“Because,” he says firmly, “you don’t get to eat until I eat,” you whimper when his hand reaches to cup your sex, panties wet and cold without his warmth as he pushes you in the direction of his bedroom. 

Oh, you can’t wait for both of you to eat tonight. 

some time later.

“Ohmygod the view is beautiful!” Krystal, who works in advertisement, squeals. “No filter needed!” 

“Alright alright, make room Princess,” Namjoon teases. With a bump to Krystal’s tiny hips Namjoon shoves you two across the pavilion, putting his arm around you once he finds the perfect angle, “Umji, can you get a pic of me and my Work Wife? I want this on the Big Hit Instagram!” 

You hold your straw sunhat down from the salty wind, smiling beautifully as Umji takes multiple pictures of you and Namjoon from her Nikon. Another successful year under your notch, ending with a successful work retreat. 

“Namjoon, can I take a picture with my actual wife now?” 

“We’re not married, Jungkook,” you chastise, patting the chest of Namjoon’s floral printed Hawaiian shirt so he can switch. Instantly, Jungkook slides up next to you like a picture perfect stock model piece, and you wrap your arms around his trim waist, “we’re not even engaged.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” he pouts, looking over the pavilion and adjusting the both of you so there’s a good amount of you and the resort in the background. The sun may be scathingly hot, but it looks beautiful perched over the crystal clear waters. “Namjoon, you got it easy,” Jungkook says when he hands him your phone, “every angle is our good angle, so you can’t mess it up.” 

Being the honest man he is, Namjoon knows better and doesn’t say anything to that. Instead he shoots down whatever pineapple-flavored concoction is offered to him on a silver platter, and starts shooting. 

“Is this swimsuit new?” Jungkook murmurs into your ear between shots, flicking your little red number by the strap connecting the back, “because I didn’t see this in the luggage.” 

You smile big, pearly whites as Namjoon demands to pop out your butt and work it, pressing your body closer to Jungkook’s. “Tiny enough so I could hide it in my purse,” you reply proudly, voice low for only each other’s ears, “why, surprised?” 

“Definitely not prepared,” his fingers dig deliciously in your bare flesh, “would Victoria fire you if she catches us doing it in the cabana?” 

Amused that your boyfriend now shares your combined awe and fear of your boss, you twist his nipple lightly. He yelps, and from Namjoon’s guaff he’s definitely got that on camera. “We didn’t come to Boracay to fuck in the cabana.” 

“Then the hotel room?” 

Namjoon hands you back your phone when he considers his job done, letting you and Jungkook have some alone time. You wave your phone in his face, trying to get him to focus on the task at hand. You wanted to post some cute pictures of you and your boyfriend, one to impress the family back home and the Big Hit interns back in Seoul who are absolutely pining for your position. 

“Jungkook, they have the water ski thing where you can flip in the water mid air! Doesn’t that sound fun? Or we can go scuba diving, have Filipino food, or get massages. LIterally, we’re on Big Hit’s dime, and the first thing you want to do is go back to the room?” 

“Yes,” he pouts petulantly, leaning into the hollow of your ear and whispering, “got a chub on.” 

Discreetly so, your hands brush against his navy trunks and you note yes, he’s half hard. “No!” you shake your head definitively, pushing him out of your arms. You’re not letting sex get in the way of your hard-earned vacation, you’re on company dime and you intend to milk every peso of it. “Namjoon, take him away!” 

You blow him a kiss and follow another group who’s decided to go eat, watching your boyfriend get dragged away by Namjoon’s long arms. Krystal, who’s been mildly watching the whole ordeal in-between taking selfies, looks at you in awe, “You got it good, bosslady,” she says, and you happily link arms with her in the direction of the restaurants. 

You and Jungkook definitely have it good. You don’t see him until dinnertime, looking utterly relaxed as he sips on a mango-muddled concoction. He must’ve gotten a couples massage with Namjoon, cute. Splitting up was definitely a good idea, by the time your meal arrives the two of you are practically leaning against each other, telling each other what events you need to do tomorrow and events you think will be fun to do together. 

“Joon,” Jungkook is throwing an arm over your Wusband’s shoulder, mildly tipsy. The image is adorable, as Jungkook long ago previously confessed that he felt a little jealous of Namjoon’s work relationship with you before you were dating. Now, it feels like they’re best friends and you’re third-wheeling. “What do you think about having halo-halo tomorrow? It’s like bingsu but with a bunch of other good stuffs. There’s red bean, mango, ube, ice cream…” 

Just as Jungkook begins his tirade of dessert ingredients, you pull up your phone to check on your social media. You smile back at your profile, seeing your latest Instagram post at the very top of the feed. Not to flex, but the two of you look pretty smokin’ since you’ve been keeping up with Jungkook’s insistence to join him at the gym. Jungkook and you are leaning against the pristine veranda, overlooking the clear blue water and a cloudless sky. The smiles you two sport are genuine and utterly in love. 

You scroll down the comments, most of them filled with sweet messages but one of them has you doing a double take. 

@sooyaaa__: 😒😒😒 knew something was goin on behind my back… good riddance

The smell of Jungkook’s detergent overtakes your nostrils, and you turn to him. He’s stopped talking, now immersed in whatever’s going on in your phone. 

“The nerve of her,” Jungkook scrunches his nose, disgusted at her latest comment. “As if anyone would believe her.” 

“Yeah,” you echo, “I feel bad for her, though. She’s probably lonely.” 

“Her loss, she put this upon herself. Not us.” 

You pout, “I know, but she was my friend at one point.” 

He frowns, putting an arm behind your backrest. It would be easy for him to say yeah, and she was my girlfriend and one-up you, leaving it at that. But now he knows better, and that friendship is a much better value than an ill-fated relationship. “Sorry baby,” it’s not his fault, but he sees your disappointment in putting out hope for an old friend. He gives you a little smooch on your temple, “do you miss her?” 

“The old her, yeah,” you sigh, clicking on her profile, “but now? I can do without her negativity.” 

“Okay,” he takes your phone from your hand, “have you ever blocked a person before?”

“No.”

“Well, today’s the day,” he says it so coolly, you barely have time to think when he clicks the ‘block’ button on Jisoo’s profile, then clicking off his phone to put in his pocket. “No more phone for today,” he proceeds to take your plate that was recently served, taking the time to cut your large vegetables into smaller portions. “Like you said, we shouldn’t waste your vacation time.” 

Your heart swells with butterflies for Jeon Jungkook, who’s meticulously cutting your food and telling you to relax and stop dwelling on the past. He’s right, if Jisoo’s not going to stick around for the future and continue to cause negativity in your life, why not keep the positives in the past while it lasted? 

“You know I love you, right?” 

He ceases cutting, and looks at you to pop a sweet potato in his mouth. “Love me enough to do it in the cabana?” 

He’s still on that? “Jungkook,” you warn, pretending to get up, “forget I said anything. I’m gonna go karaoke with Umji.” 

“Kiddingggg,” he whines, pulling you back down with an outstretched hand, “you know I love you too.” 

“You’re terrible.” 

“Only this way because I’d know you’d totally be into cabana sex if we were vacationing by ourselves.” 

“Yes, but you’re still terrible,” you giggle when Jungkook steals a kiss, just as easy as he’s stolen your heart.  

[nonadjacent]

stupidly long ahh analysis of ONE 10 from someone who literally just woke up

[real analysis starts below, but before that, a small intro]

i should be preparing to go somewhere right now but who cares i literally woke up, watched ONE 10, and finished the episode crying /srs

literally if you want me to cry literally put any episode of ONE, especially after episode 6 and those tears are going to turn into waterfalls😎

fr i don’t even know why but ONE episodes make me sappy and ONE 10, holy crap i was nervous waking up, now i’m sobbing

anyway, analysis time because ONE 10 woke me up

[ONE 10 SPOILERS AHEAD. WATCH THE EPISODE FIRST IF YOU HAVEN’T]

what do we know about before the episode?

ONE 9 leaves us with Liam being out of the plane. He was gone for not 5 years, as some theories say; he was gone for 7 months. When Soda Bottle came back is something we do not know. With literally nothing left for him in San Francisco, he decides to go to Bridgeport where Soda Bottle is. No name for Soda Bottle has still been confirmed. Most importantly, Liam is left with sticky notes from Stone that they shoved into him (please do not take it out of context /j),  in which these sticky notes contain some code, preferably coordinates of some sort. (may be wrong looking at it now; think about it, would it make sense for a coordinate with a whole ass string of numbers with 1 decimal point?)  

what's new based on the episode?

ONE 10 mostly shows Liam’s journey from San Francisco to Bridgeport. It wasn’t a straight up long trip, he made stops in hostels along the way from the looks of it. From the scenes, the travel took around a week as Liam mentions. It almost was not worth it, since Liam was not greeted openly by Soda Bottle, shutting the door on him as he arrives. In a fit of rage, Liam explains that by having the talk with him may solve the unsolved with the plane. After multiple attempts to get SB to talk to him and leaving and coming back multiple times, after SB asks if “she’s” here, to which Liam answers “no” to, SB finally opens the door on him.

what details from the episode can be noticed?

“Rattlepate” from the title of the episode means someone who is a rattlebrain, thoughtlessly talkative. (Merriam-Webster, n.d.)

Soda Bottle has an incredibly instant change in expression as he sees Liam in front of him. After which, he is trembling, probably in fear. (trauma from the plane?)

We get new sticky notes, one being a drawing of a smokestack, another being an encircled “5″, and another being a laptop on a table with the word “silva” on it (preferably a password of sorts? if we base on language, it means a forest or woodland of sorts)

The more Liam talks, the more impatient he gets. He even explains he literally has nothing all for SB to continue ignoring him.

Time is confusing. Liam claims they were taken in February 10th and were stuck there for 224 days, meaning he came back September 8th and got to SB on the 15th: seven whole months. However, from one line in Liam’s fit of rage, he says after SB got eliminated, Airy dipped for also 7 months. It’s not sure whether that 7 months is in plane time, because it obviously does not make sense in real life.

Liam takes upon, what, how Amelia/Scenty confronts people? Notice how his fit of rage is similar and/or parallel to Amelia’s angry fits of rage towards Airy, especially in ONE 4.

This isn’t a super important detail, I saw Liam cry in the elevator and honestly same

Every noted timeskip in the episode had something to do with 10. “10 minutes later,” “10 hours later,” so on. (Not safe to assume even his roadtrip lasted 10 days, but it does fall within a week) (after rewatching ONE 8, even the small timeskip was 10 minutes I’m mildly convinced that that one was a coincidence but hmm)

Soda Bottle had to ask, “is she still there?”, referencing Amelia. Instinct-wise and semi-jokingly, I’d think he’s either intimidated or scared of Amelia. Come to think of it, both of them have not had a good one-on-one aside from in ONE 1.

Anytime Airy is no longer sorta “loud” to the flow of Liam’s life, there is no intro (y’know the opposite of endtro the intro song literally has no name and isn’t in the one soundtrack-). Notice in ONE 9, where Liam is eliminated, there is no intro screen nor intro music at all. Here, in ONE 10, the intro is no more, but the outro is completely different. (I don’t know if this was just all “oh haha new season new outro babey” but I’m still skeptic)

i spent a good hour writing this holy shit

[cheerstotheelites-if]

99. What are the ROs' morning routines usually like? What do they eat for breakfast (if they have breakfast)? What time do they usually get up in the morning?

From this ask list

Under the cut

Weylyn: Wakes up at 6:30 am and does some stretches, then makes his bed. Goes downstairs to cook breakfast for him and his parents, then eats with them. Breakfast depends, but it usually contains coffee, toast, eggs, stew, fruit jam, and pineapple juice. Takes a bath next, does a bit of a face routine, and brushes his teeth, then dresses up for school. It takes a good while for him to comb and style his hair because the curls are a bit unruly at times. He takes the lunch his mom packed for him, and heads out with a loving goodbye and a kiss on the cheek to both of his parents.

~•~•~

Fleur: Wakes up at 5:00 am and drinks her medicine, then makes her way to her private bathroom, replying to the texts Cooper sent her hours prior. Takes a thirty minute long bath (facial routine included) in her private bathroom with some music playing from a bluetooth speaker, then starts getting ready for school after. Blowdries and combs her hair for a while until floofy. Heads downstairs to the dining room, fully dressed in school uniform and bag on her shoulder. She doesn't eat, only taking a bitter mug of coffee, leave her bag at the couch in the living room and goes back upstairs to brush her teeth and pick up things before she forgets. By the time she comes back downstairs, her brothers are already groggily awake and eating breakfast with her parents. So she waits in the living room, reading on school materials and waiting until it's time to go.

~•~•~

Zephyrine: Wakes up at 6:00 am, and does her bed bregrudgingly. She ties her hair into a high ponytail as she heads downstairs, then starts cleaning up whatever mess her mom left behind from the night prior. Thirty minutes later she's eating a PB&J sandwich as she pours food for Sashimi. Her mind wanders to what kind of guy her mom brought home, judging by the slew of clothes and things that are obviously not owned by her or her mom. Once that's done, she goes back upstairs to take a quick shower, brush her teeth, and wash her face with some facial products. Starts getting ready for school, blow dries hair, applies make up, puts on uniform. She takes her bag, gives Sashimi one last kiss on the head and exits the house and to the garage where her motorbike is, to which she drives her way to school with.

~•~•~

Eliseo: He wakes up at 5:45 am, staring at the ceiling for a while with a sigh before getting up. Bregrudgingly makes his way to his private bathroom to take a long shower and quickly wash his face. Once that's done, he starts dressing up for school in a lazy manner. He dries his hair, then starts styling it with a comb and some hair wax. He opens Nicotine's cage, and the parrot hops on his shoulder with a squawk. He goes downstairs to the dining room, greeting both of his moms with a kiss to their cheeks before joining them. Breakfast is different on each day, and today the kitchen staff made french toast. Eliseo feeds Nicotine some seeds as he idly listens in on the conversation his moms are having, something about business, as he drinks his white coffee. He brushes his teeth after, tells Nicotine to not be a little shit, and leaves with a goodbye kiss on the cheeks to his moms. He drives his sportscar to school.

~•~•~

Cooper: Wakes up at 3:20 am and immediately starts texting Fleur about random things and greeting her good morning. Tries to clean up his room a bit, but ends up making the mess a bit messier so he gives up. He wanders around his home for a bit, greeting graveyard shift servants and striking conversation with some of them. Ends up in the kitchen and greets the kitchen staff, have a chat, and ends up eating breakfast with them which for today is rice, fried tempura and crab meat, and stir fried veggies with a glass of red iced tea. Cooper would often ask if he can help with the cooking and prepping, but the kitchen staff gently turn him down, which often makes Cooper pout. With a goodbye, he heads to one of the many gardens of the Lockhart estate, greeted by the family corgi Corndog. He wanders the gardens for a bit until the sun starts to rise, and eventually heads inside with Corndog, to which he happily greets his awakening family with.

~•~•~

Ophelia: Wakes up at 6:00 am and is immediately greeted by the family dog Cryptid with licks to the face. Washes her face, then heads downstairs to eat breakfast. Is greeted by her lack of her older siblings (both have already gone to work and college). Eats what remainder of breakfast is left on the dining table which is usually cheesy scrambled eggs, buttered toast, and orange juice or brown coffee. Takes a quick shower after, and dresses up for school. Might end up staring at herself in the mirror for a while, before getting snapped out of it by Cryptid's barking. She leaves some food and water for Cryptid, give the doggo some last minute goodbye kisses, and walks her way to school.

[meltwonu]

| 🍒 CH-CH-CHERRY BOMB! 🍒 |     [CHAPTER 20] FINAL

pairing; dom!seungcheol x camgirl!reader

this chapter’s notes; camshow, sex toys, shibari, dom!seungcheol, dirty talk, overstimulation/forced orgasms, squirting, degradation, name calling, daddy!kink, gags! 😍💕 ✨HAPPY NEW YEAR!!✨ Here’s to more fun fics in 2021! I can’t believe this is our last chapter though omg 😭 It’s been suuuuch a journey and a privilege to write this little series out! I’ve honestly thought about a camgirl/boy series for like, over a year now, and I’m glad I finally did it! I completed one of my goals! 🥺💕 2020 was definitely a wild one, but I want to thank you all so fuckin’ much for supporting me and stickin’ it out with me all year! Here’s to more in the coming year!💕 Also I was proofreading this at the dining table last night thinking my roommate wouldn’t come out of their room but they did(while I was making dinner and my hands were dirty so I couldnt close my laptop ☠️) and they walked past my laptop and now I’m convinced they saw my fucking smut fic right in the open so yes my little mini-break next week is MUCH needed cause I am ✨embarrassed✨ 🤣 I’ll still do my inbox roundup tomorrow and probably answer a bunch of small thirst posts ‘n stuff throughout the week but there won’t be any drabbles! For now, enjoy chapter 20 🥺, have a safe weekend, and remember that I love you~ ❤️🍒💕

chapters; 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 COMPLETE

Seungcheol wakes up much earlier than you do the next morning; pressing a kiss to your forehead as you groan and snuggle deeper into your pillow.

“Baby, I need to go run some errands for a little bit, okay? Just keep sleeping, you don’t need to get up yet. But, I made breakfast and put it in the microwave for you when you decide to get up later.”

His voice is muffled and you can barely understand what he’s saying but you nod; a soft sigh on your lips when you drift back into dreamland. He takes his time getting ready, checking his phone notifications as he gets dressed and places a note on the nightstand knowing that you didn’t catch a single word he said.

‘Hey, did you get everything I asked for?’

Jimin🧍🏻: of course, who do you think I am? Jeongguk?

Jimin🧍🏻: and btw, i’m just giving you a crash course okay? We don’t really have a ton of time

Jimin🧍🏻: did you watch those tutorial videos I sent you?

‘Yeah, I did some practice on my breaks, but I guess you can tell me if I’m doing anything wrong.’

Jimin🧍🏻: okee, i’ll be waiting. Don’t get here too late!

‘I’ll be otw soon. Thanks again, Jimin.’

“Ow--damn, okay, you don’t need to tug on it so much!”

“Sorry, I’ll be careful! And why are we practicing on you anyway?! Couldn’t you just have shown me pictures or something?”

“How else will you learn if not on an actual body? It doesn’t work the same way, Seungcheol.” Jimin pauses, checking himself in the mirror. “Also, keep in mind she does have boobs so just… go slow, okay? It’s not gonna sit like this on her.”

Seungcheol blushes a crimson red; biting the inside of his cheek at how amateur he was at this.

“Okay…”

Seungcheol is gone for a lot longer than you anticipate and although he replies quickly to your texts, you can’t help but be curious about where he’d gone and what he was doing.

Especially knowing that the two of you had to film tonight and knowing that everything was up to Seungcheol.

A shiver rolls down your body at the thought and you quickly try to shake off the nerves that seem to slowly invade your body when your mind starts to wander.

“It’ll be fine, I’m sure…”

“I’m home!”

“Where have you--oh, that’s… a b-big box? Um, should I be concerned...”

Seungcheol grins, shrugging as he sets it onto the kitchen counter. “Just some supplies for tonight. I had to go pick them up from a friend but I had to make sure everything was right.” He notices the way you can’t seem to take your eyes off of the box; eyes twinkling when he makes his way towards you.

He tilts your head up to meet his in a searing kiss, lips easing into a smile when you wrap your arms around his neck and melt under his touch. You moan against his lips just before he pulls away; staring dreamily at him while his hands start to roam over your clothed body.

“We have a long night ahead of us, sweetheart. Let’s pamper you a little before then, hmm?”

j__min: ??? where’s the loverboy

j__min has donated $200

angelhan has donated $75

therealchan99 has donated $50

xcaliburDK has donated $75

xcaliburDK: is that the sybian? Haven’t seen that in a looong while

You bite your lip and nod, somewhat shy as you sit alone in front of the camera. “Seungcheol’s still… setting up but he told me to start! I’m a little nervous, to be honest…” Your eyes flit to Seungcheol who rummages through the box in the kitchen and from the angle you’re sat in, you can’t see a single thing he takes out.

Earlier, he’d cooked you your favorite meal and even took the time to give you a full body massage before the two of you cuddled on the sofa and watched a movie. To you, it seemed a little too suspiciously tame and you only found yourself more nervous when he made you drink two glasses of water and ever so quietly announced it was time to start getting ready for the camshow.

“He’s being so suspicious! He was even gone for a few hours earlier today…” You mumble; brows furrowed at the camera before checking the comments.

It still amazed you every time with how much money you and Seungcheol made from the camshows and videos and it made you feel even better knowing that everyone loved the chemistry the two of you had together. There were a lot of video requests and ideas mixed in with the comments at any given time and you were definitely ready to pitch some to Seungcheol now that you’d rebranded your channel to be a couple’s channel instead.

“Almost done, sweetheart!”

gc__koo: he told me to watch cuz he was being suspicious with me too 

gc__koo has donated $50

alphagyu97: what is he even plotting

alphagyu97: i am excited to see the sybian again tho ngl

artist8hao: pretty baby gonna squirt for us again?

universe_WZ: hell fuckin yea let us see how fuckin wrecked you get on that machine

You feel your pussy clench around emptiness at their comments; already feeling yourself getting wetter and wetter with the anticipation.

Movement out of the corner of your eye catches your attention and Seungcheol walks towards the bed with a wide smile and the same box in hand. “Ready?” You can only nod back slowly, watching as he dumps the contents of the box right next to your body.

gc__koo: oy

chwenon: oh shit

sleepy_wonu: oh baby, you’re in for it now

sleepy_wonu has donated $100

Your entire body fills with warmth as you look over the various objects; unsure of where to really look first. “I, um--”

A stack of red ropes sits next to a small bullet vibrator that sits next to a ball gag that sits next to a pair of EMT shears and your eyes immediately flit up to Seungcheol who only smirks back at your shocked expression. “I had some other toys I wanted to use but I figured I should go easy on you, y’know? Since you showed me some mercy last night.”

Nodding, you reach out towards the ropes, touching them shyly. “Why red?”

“Thought they’d be on theme for you, babygirl.”

Seungcheol takes his time; remembering Jimin’s words when he tugs the ropes around your wrists.

“Colour, babygirl?”

“G-green… daddy…”

He nods, sitting up on his knees behind you as you sit on the sybian and face the camera. You bite your lip, somewhat embarrassed that you were already soaking the toy underneath you as Seungcheol worked to bind your arms behind you.

“D--daddy, where did you l-learn this?” You whisper, somewhat curious if this had anything to do with why he was gone for so long earlier in the day.

“Mm, daddy’s friend Jimin was kind enough to help me get the tools and teach me a few tricks to make sure I kept my babygirl safe. Wasn’t that kind of him?” You nod gently, gulping when you shift atop the machine slightly in hopes of relieving some of the growing sexual tension in your body. “Why don’t you thank him properly, sweetheart?”

Your hazy eyes make eye contact with the camera, head tilted slightly. “T-thank you, J-Jimin… for--for helping daddy…”

j__min: omg a shoutout ive made it

kitty_junjun: we never thought we’d see the day

tangerine_kwan: and here we all thought you were gonna be the bad guy huh

hoshi_tiger_xx: like when u only see previews of the book online but the rest of it is different ykwim

Seungcheol makes sure your arms are bound snug enough but not too tight; leaning away slightly to admire his rope work. “Feeling okay so far, babygirl?”

Nodding, you whine back slightly. “Y-yes, daddy… But… my--my pussy wants s-something…” He laughs in return, readjusting so that he’s sitting on your side this time to give himself easier access to start the rest of the bindings.

“Is that so? You’re gonna have to be a little more patient this time ‘cause daddy’s not done yet.” He starts working on the rest of the harness; going slow and checking in with you often to make sure none of the ropes were digging into your skin or making you uncomfortable. “You’ll have to forgive me a little though, I’m admittedly a ‘lil inexperienced so our pretty babygirl is only going to be tied up in this pretty harness for tonight.”

gentleman_josh95: the fact u even took the time to learn just for her

gentleman_josh95 has donated $100

artist8hao: seriously, the dedication

kitty_junjun: we stan a man who knows safety and etiquette 

Comments of reassurance and donations flood in at Seungcheol’s small apology and although the two of you are in your own world; you can tell from just the amount of pings coming from your laptop that they all seemed to be encouraging him.

The two of you fall into a comfortable silence as Seungcheol continues to move around you on the bed to finish the harness and a smile graces his lips when he starts to secure the last knots in the back. He can’t help but mentally pat himself on the back at how neatly he’d done it for his first time.

“There. All done, baby.”

Your eyes flit to the laptop’s screen to see yourself; cheeks hot when you see how fucked out you already look and he hadn’t even touched you properly or turned on the machine.

The star harness Seungcheol had tied looks pretty with red ropes and you can’t hide your smile at how good it looks on you too either. “Ah, daddy made it really p-pretty… Thank you.”

This time, Seungcheol nods, letting you admire yourself as he silently reaches for the small remote for the sybian, switching it on.

Your entire body lurches forward as soon as the vibrations attack your clit and you immediately find yourself moaning and grinding down onto the machine as he gives you some relief.  

“You’re welcome, babygirl. Now let’s really have some fun, huh?”

You need to cum.

Badly.

“Awww, is my pretty baby drooling? Does it feel that good on your sensitive ‘lil clit?” He teases, smoothing down your hair as you cry around the ball gag in your mouth; drool seeping out from the side of your lips when he raises the vibrations a setting higher.

You don’t know how many times he’d played with the settings and edged you by now, but all you do know is that the urge to cum only grows stronger as you grind against the machine, soaking it with your wetness as you chase the pleasure building up in your body again.  

Surely cumming was okay, right? He never said you couldn’t.

You whimper around the ball gag, eyes fluttering shut when the tension in your body snaps in the blink of an eye and your thighs clamp down onto the sides of the machine. Throwing your head back, you moan against the gag and ride out your high as Seungcheol watches you from the side.

“Mm, bet that felt good, huh? But I know you want something in that greedy ‘lil cunt of yours, don’t you? You want daddy’s cock slamming into your tight ‘lil hole ‘til it’s full of my cum, right, sweetheart?” He licks his lips, turning off the sybian as you slump forward.

universe_WZ: shit shes so sensitive

chwenon: especially with her arms bound like that i bet she’s on cloud nine rn

gentleman_josh95: her cute lil head is probably all fuzzy already from all the sensations

therealchan99 has donated $100

gc__koo has donated $75

j__min has donated $150

All you can do is whimper and nod; teary eyes blinking back at Seungcheol as he smirks and leans in towards you.

“Mmm, you’ll get what you want eventually. But for now, you’re gonna cum again.”

He turns the sybian back on, licking his lips when he sees your body tensing again. It was always easier to get you to cum a second time and his point is proven when you mewl around the ball gag a few minutes later; chest heaving in stuttered breaths as you try to shy away from the toy still vibrating against your overly sensitive clit when you’re quickly thrown into another orgasm.

“You always cum for daddy so easily, don’t you, babygirl?”

Your head feels fuzzy after already cumming twice in such a short span of time but you nod, head lolling to the side as Seungcheol finally turns the sybian off for good.

Seungcheol gives you a second to catch your breath before he’s scooting in and fiddling with the clasps at the back of your head to take the ball gag off.

A thread of saliva connects your lips to the gag and you whimper at how good it feels to be able to actually speak again. “D-daddy…” Drool drips from your mouth as your lead lolls forward and Seungcheol is quick to bring a hand up to keep your head up as he looks into your lust filled eyes.

“Colour, sweetheart?”

“Still g-green…” He nods back, checking to make sure none of the ropes had shifted. “Would you like some water before we continue, baby?”

“Yes, daddy…”

He fetches you a glass of water, tilting it against your lips as you down the entire glass and you find yourself a little surprised at how needed it was. “Thank you, d-daddy…”

“You’re welcome, babygirl. Ready to keep going?”

You nod, a little bit more energized. “I hope everyone, mmh, l-likes the show so f-far~” Your teary vision prevents you from reading the comments and before you can even make an effort to, Seungcheol is already helping you off of the machine and helping you sit on the bed across from him.

alphagyu97: ugh she looks so fucking good in that harness

angelhan: right? That shade of red looks so good against her skin too

angelhan: so fuckin pretty

tangerine_kwan: pics for the private room later? Plz i beg

Seungcheol takes this time to take off his boxer briefs, cock curving up against his abdomen when he’s fully naked across from you. He wraps a hand around his cock, moaning and spreading the precum down his shaft as you watch. “D’you want this, baby?”

Your lips fall open in a silent moan as you watch Seungcheol jerk himself off and you can’t help but squirm. “Y-yes…”

“Tell me exactly what you want then. Let them hear what a filthy little slut you are for me.” You can’t help but feel miserably empty watching him and despite having already cum twice, you want his cock fucking you open and making you cum again.

“I--I--”

“Yes, babygirl?”

“I, ngh, I want d-daddy’s cock… Please? Ah, I--I wanna feel you fucking my--my pussy into the, mmh, s-shape of your c-cock… And I w-want you to c-cum inside my--my slutty little h-hole…”

Seungcheol scoffs, hips shallowly thrusting up into his enclosed fist. “That’s right. You’re just my slutty ‘lil babygirl that lets me use all her tight holes how I please, right? You like it when I cum down your throat and in your pretty ‘lil ass. But we all know you like it best when I cum in your hot ‘lil cunt. Makes you feel all warm and full, doesn’t it? You like it when my cum is dripping out of your spent cunt and sliding down your shaky thighs.” This time you nod furiously as you whine back in response.

“P-please… Can’t wait any--anymore!”

This time, the impatience takes over as you slightly tug on the ropes; whining when they don’t give. “Daddy!”

And this time, he gives in quicker than he anticipates, growling as he reaches for the EMT shears to cut you from the harness. “Don’t let your arms down, no matter how much you want to. You’re going to strain your arms if you move too fast so let me handle it, okay, sweetheart?”

The sudden gentleness in his voice has a giddy warmth pouring over you as you nod and sit still while he cuts at various points of the harness to make the ropes fall loose around your arms and chest. You keep your arms in the same position like he requested and you soon feel his hands roaming your skin and massaging your arms to get the blood flowing again.

“You’re so good for me, baby.” He whispers against your hair, leaning down to kiss your shoulder before he slowly easing your arms down from being folded behind your back.

He continues to massage your arms for a few more minutes before it’s you that’s getting impatient. “Daddy… Can you fuck me now?” Whispering, you slightly turn your body to the side to meet his gentle stare.

Seungcheol laughs under his breath, nodding. “Lay on your back for me, legs spread.”

You follow his orders as you quickly scramble to get into position; legs spread wide for him to situate himself between.

“Mm, your pussy is still so fuckin’ wet. I wanna taste you on my tongue, baby.” Whines spill from your lips as you shake your head ‘no.’

“No! My p-pussy feels empty, I need y-your cock, daddy… ‘n I’m so wet, you can probably, ah, just s-slide your cock in…”

He wraps a hand around his cock just as you wrap your legs around his waist and he guides himself until the head of his cock is right at your entrance.

Neither of you say a word as he slowly starts to sink his cock in; guttural moans on his lips when he meets no resistance and bottoms out in a singular thrust. “Holy fuck, your cunt is so fuckin’ wet. Shit, and so t-tight!” You clench around him, already feeling good with his cock inside of you as you beg him to fuck you hard and fast.

“Ngh, p-please fuck me like--like I’m your, hah, c-cocksleeve… I want it f-fast, daddy!”

He grits his teeth at your words; drawing his hips back before snapping them into you just how you wanted. “Fast, hmm? All you think about in that pretty head of yours is my cock pounding you open, huh? Slamming into you so fuckin’ good, it makes your toes curl when you cum.”

Seungcheol starts a quick pace, already feeling the pleasure building up for himself when you’re reduced to garbled noises and broken cries of his name. The heels of your feet dig into the small of his back as you try to press him in closer and he’s quick to reach for the small bullet vibrator left on the bed next to your body.

“Your body is so fuckin’ sensitive, I can already feel how tight you’re getting around me. So fuckin’ greedy to cum too. Already came twice and you still want more. You’re not satisfied until your whole body is shaking underneath me, huh, sweetheart?” He turns the small toy on, pressing it to your clit as you yelp and let out choked sobs.

“Ah, ngh, d-daddy, my--my clit’s t-too sen--sensitive! I--I can’t--!” Squirming, you feel the pressure building up obscenely quick; bottom lip quivering when he takes one of your free hands and makes you hold the toy to your swollen clit.

“Just a little more, sweetheart. Don’t you wanna cum?”

He angles his thrusts to graze against your g-spot and loud cries of his name leave your lips in a hurried, jumbled mess when he only doubles his pace.

The sound of donations and comments pour in like water and get lost within the ringing in your ears; unable to even warn Seungcheol that you’re about to cum when you feel your entire body starting to lock up underneath him.

Your lips part in a silent scream and your back bows off of the bed, thighs shaking uncontrollably as you cum for the third time. Seungcheol growls, fucking you through it as you squirt all over his lower half.  He finds it harder and harder to thrust into you as you cum, but he feels himself quickly following suit with your warm walls fluttering around his cock.

“Fuck, baby, that’s right. Squirt for me, get me fuckin’ soaked while you cum.” He uses a free hand to make sure you keep the toy pressed to your clit, growling when he starts to unload his cum inside of you. “Mmh, gonna fill your cunt up with what you want, baby.”

A shaky moan leaves your lips as you feel him throbbing inside your pussy; walls clamped down onto him in a vice grip as you ride out the remnants of your orgasm.

“Ah, d-daddy’s cumming suh--so much inside of my p-pussy…”

Whining, you feel Seungcheol’s grip on your hand give way as he rides out his pleasure and you take the opportunity to turn off the small bullet vibrator while he doesn’t notice.

You watch his face contort in pleasure, hips still shallowly thrusting into you as his entire body shivers above you.

“D-daddy’s so h-handsome...” You mumble, cheeks hot when he cracks a smile through the pleasure wracking his body and chuckles under his breath. 

“Thank you, babygirl.” 

After you end the show, Seungcheol makes sure to cuddle with you on the bed for a little while longer.

“One more glass of water, baby.” You whine in response, pouting up at him before he gets up from the soaked sheets. 

“But I already had a glass! If you have a piss kink just say so, ‘Cheol!”

He lets out a boisterous laugh at your comment, trudging back to the bed from the kitchen with another glass of water for you. “You need to be hydrated, sweetheart. You came three times and we played a little more rough today. I just wanna make sure you’re okay.” 

“Fine, but you didn’t deny my comment.” You snarkily reply, taking the glass from him as you down the water. 

“Don’t make me have to punish you again! I’ll have you know I still need to get you all washed up and change the bed--”

A faint pinging has the two of you turning to the laptop; still on your camming homepage from where you’d checked the revenues from tonight’s show. 

A small [1] sits above your inbox and Seungcheol is quick to turn to you with an eyebrow raised. “I thought you turned off the messaging system on your profile?” 

You tilt your head in confusion, handing him the emptied glass. “I did. The only messages I should get are from, like, the actual system admins or other creator accounts which, I haven’t received any ‘til... now, I guess?”

Seungcheol sets the glass down onto the nightstand before he takes a seat next to you, dragging the laptop closer as you go to check the notification. 

“’Love&Letter Films’? Aren’t they one of the biggest adult film companies?” Mumbling, you click on the message, giving yourself and Seungcheol a second to process the message that stares back at you; a shocked smile on your lips.

‘Hello!

I hope this message finds Cherry and Seungcheol well. 

We, at ‘Love&Letter Films’, have really enjoyed the shows and videos from your channel throughout the years and we really have enjoyed watching the growth of your channel and the addition of Seungcheol to it. The dynamics between the two of you are rare in this industry and we’ve yet to see anyone like the two of you in this market. 

The shows from the last two nights have proven that the two of you have the right kind of chemistry to film together for bigger productions and we would love to hire you for a few film productions we have planned in the upcoming weeks as a feeler. Of course, all expenses paid by us if you would kindly take our offer. 

We love the various scenes and roles that the two of you take on with ease and we would love to help propel your careers forward, should you pursue a career in the adult entertainment industry. 

Please don’t hesitate to contact me as I’ve listed my contact information below. I’m excited to hear from the two of you and hope to work with you in the future on many projects.

Respectfully, 

Kwon Soonyoung, L&L FILMS CEO’

[creepytoes88]

WARNING ⚠️- this is absolutely FILTHY like I need to go to church for real. like the last one is rainbows and kittens compared to this one y’all 😰🥴 sorry for any grammar mistakes or miss spelling

PSA- y/n in this smut is a famous TikTok weeb and she doesn’t understand how famous she is yet and Vinnie has a fat Crush on her readers to find out more 😈 and covid doesn’t exist in these obviously

https://youtu.be/NocXEwsJGOQi

Song/dance I’m talking about 👆

Vinnie’s POV

I watch her dance again I’ve watched it 8 or 9 times. Her baby blue thigh high socks and her lace pink skirt. The little bit of thigh poking out between the two driving me crazy the thoughts going right to my downstairs area. I groan and close TikTok I can’t keep thinking these things about y/n it’s not right I then hop out of bed and head downstairs to get some breakfast and coffee. When I get downstairs and step into the kitchen J immediately yells to me from the living room “DID YOU SEE HOW HOT Y/N LOOKS IN HER LAST TIKTOK!” Before I could answer Anthony come out of his room and gets something from the fridge “Avani is coming over and she’s bringing a friend that’s moving in with her, apparently she’s shy so everyone is nice I’m not getting bitched at cause you all couldn’t keep your dicks in your pants and made her uncomfortable” we all nod in agreement I take my muffin and coffee up to my room and watch some tv.

Y/n POV

I take a deep breath as I step off the gate moving to LA was a big move but it’s for the best I skip baggage claim because all of my stuff should be at Avani’s house by now. I pull my phone out of my carry on but before I could call Avani and see if she’s here yet but before I could I hear my name being called I turn around and see some boys around my age coming towards waving at me I wait and we take pictures I say goodbye as we walk away and call Avani’s phone “HEY! DID YOU LAND?!” “Yes I landed, I’ll be out front by the doors come find me.” I laughed as I hung up, It only took 10 minutes for Avani to find me and run at me full speed before nearly taking me and her self to the ground “WOAH!” “So how was your flight?” I laughed “very pleasant” Avani pulled away from me before looking me dead in the eyes. “There’s someone I want you to meet” point, Blank, period that was all she said before grabbing my hand and pulling me to her car. “Not that I don’t appreciate that but I’m not looking for a boyfriend.” Avani stops dead in her tracks before turning around to look at me “Then just fuck him” I stared back at her with a shocked face.

“I- wh- what “she turns back around before pulling me to her car, she unlocks the car and I throw my carry on in the back seat and get in the passenger side. Avani starts the car up then puts her seatbelt on, she turns on her blinker and waits for space so she can get out “well who is it?” I’m a little curious. Avani looks at me and smiles “I know you don’t follow him but maybe you have heard of him” she says with a big smile “his name is Vinnie and he is simply and cutest and sweetest most annoying human being on this earth” she says as she pulls out on to the road heading to her house or so I thought “no I can’t say I have heard of him.” About 30 minutes later she asks if I need to change because we’re gonna stop and pick up her boyfriend and maybe some of his friends then we’re gonna get some food. I thought about it and remembered I brought a mini skirt with me and some thigh high socks along with my doc martens and the sweatshirt I am wearing I think that’ll be fine “no I brought some clothes to change into.”

“Okay cool,” she says we sang to music before pulling in to the expansive looking neighborhood. I guess I should get used to this in a couple of months I’ll be in my own house in an expensive neighborhood just like this one (wink wink 😜) we pull into a house with a bunch of cars in the driveway. I’m kinda nervous for all the people my anxiety starts to kick in a little bit so I take a deep breath “if you want you can change in the car or the bathroom.” I almost agree about changing in the bathroom and for some reason, I change my mind “ it’s ok I’ll just change in the car.” Ok, that’s fine just come in when you are done past the stairs and then you’ll see the living room I’m gonna get Anthony from upstairs.”

She says as she walks away ok this is fine I hurry up and change I slid my socks on before putting my boots on as fast as I possibly could. I put my bag in the trunk in case more people decide to come then just us three I then walk up to the door and take a deep breath I grab the handle and turn it, Of course, it didn’t open. Why would it open, nothing goes right in my life. Great time to make it more awkward for myself, I knock on the door a couple of times and nothing happens so I do it again. Still nothing I take a deep breath before pushing the doorbell great just great I think to myself. I hear someone yell and I stand up straight and got ready to start explaining myself especially if Avani wasn’t the one to open the door. Not a second later a BEAUTIFUL man opens the door, soft brown eyes with hints of green and long eyelashes, rosy cheeks, and big red lips. Even his unruly curly hair was beautiful. I had to tilt my head back to look up at him ( you can change this if you are tall we love tall queens here) his eyes meet mine and Immediately his face changes from confusion, shock and then finally he hits the ground.

Vinnie’s POV

After I finished my breakfast I hopped in the shower and made a TikTok (the one where he has a towel wrapped around his waist) I then put on some sweats and walked downstairs I saw Jordan and Kio playing on the x box so I laid on the other couch before falling asleep. However, I woke up to the sound of Kio screaming my name I look up at him “will you go answer the door I’m about to win.” I groaned as I got up to answer the door I looked out of the peephole and saw nothing but the top of a head with pigtails on it “what the fuck” I said to myself chuckling and I opened the door to see a girl and as she looks up at me I immediately realized who it is and then everything went black.

Y/n POV

I look down as he lays on the ground unconscious I gasp before calling Avani’s name all of a sudden three boys come out of nowhere. “I don’t know what happened he opened the door and when he saw me he passed out” the boys looked at me with wide eyes before they started to laugh and make fun of the boy on the ground for being “whipped” and a “simp” I just look at them shocked “YOUR FRIEND IS PASSED OUT ON THE GROUND AND YOU'RE CALLING HIM A SIMP!!?” The boys stop and take their friend to the couch about that time Avani comes running down the stairs “ OMG Y/N ARE YOU OK I HEARD YOU SCREAMING!” “Yea the door was locked and that guy answered it and then just passed out when he saw me.”

Avani let’s out a load laugh “what the fuck is wrong with y’all” I say with a scared look on my face. “THAT'S VINNIE!” Avani yells as she laughs “he has the biggest crush on you and he passed out when he saw you OF COURSE WE’RE GONNA LAUGH!” She says almost crying “that’s Vinnie,” I say with wide eyes he’s fucking beautiful I think to myself. Maybe I will fuck him I laugh at my own joke I turn around as I hear one of the boys say “welcome back simp” I hear him groan. ”You guys I thought I just saw Y/n but I am pretty sure I was just still asleep, tell that girl I’m sorry please I’m gonna go lay down,” he says as he gets up slowly “you should put some ice on that bump.” You say as you walk towards him he looks up at you with wide eyes “don’t pass out again, please.”

I say with my hands out in front of me to push him back if he falls forward “ I-I I’m ok really.” He says as he scratches the back of his head “well show me where the kitchen is and I’ll get you an ice pack.” I saw with a smile “oh good luck we don’t have those here.” Vinnie says with a laugh “I got this don’t worry” I say with a wink. We walk into the kitchen and as he sits at the island I look around for a ziplock and fill it with ice, then wrap a rag around it. I walk towards Vinnie and hand it to him “thank you” he says with a smile while looking into my e/c eyes I stare back at him I don’t know how much time went by with us staring into each other's eyes but Avani walks in and laughs.

“Alright you two do you guys wanna stay here and we’ll bring you back food all the guys wanna come and we only have 5 seats sooo?”

I turn to look back at Vinnie “is that fine with you?” He looks at me and smiles “ I would love that” he says as he looks in my eyes again I take a deep breath staring back at him. I look at his beautiful lips his smile is just everything. “okay well text me what you guys want and we’ll be back in a couple of hours have fun, but not too much fun.” she says laughing I roll my eyes and look back at Vinnie “does your head feel any better?” “Yea actually” he pulls the ice back from his head and throws it in the sink “wanna watch a movie with me,” he asked with a smile “yes absolutely but first do you wanna film a couple of TikTok's together?”

I ask with puppy dog eyes “yes!” Vinnie says with no hesitation my eyes widened in shock at how fast he said yes “ok great. Well where should we film?” Vinnie thinks and asks if I wanted to film in his room or by the pool “hmmm the pool” I bet the sun is about to set “ok come, on silly girl,” Vinnie says as he walks away I run after him to see him go through a door so I follow and I see the big ass pool, I was right the sun is going down “wow,” I say to myself “it’s so beautiful right” Vinnie says with a smile “yea it’s is beautiful.” “Not as beautiful as you though,” Vinnie says with a slight blush on his cheeks I turn and look at him before walking towards him. I stand on my tippy toes to kiss him on the cheek I feel Vinnie put his hands on my waist “come on before the sun goes down” Vinnie and I make a couple of dancing tiktoks and we decided to make a thirst trap on his account so we went to his bathroom.

Vinnie started the video in front of the mirror by himself and then he transitioned to where I’m standing in front of him holding the phone. The next transition was me sitting on his sink counter as he takes his finger and snaps my thigh high sock against my thigh he laughs at my shocked face before ending the video he watches the video back with his hand still on my thigh. His thumb drawing small circles on the outside of my thigh I just stare at him I could feel my heart thumping and butterflies in my stomach going straight to my heat I can’t be thinking about him like that we just met an hour ago tops. Vinnie looks down at me his eyes then trail from my eyes to my lips he licks his own lips “V-Vinnie” “ yes beautiful?” He asks “what are you thinking about?” Vinnie looks me in the eyes again and says “About how great you’re going to taste.”

My eyes widen in shock and I put my hands on his shoulders to stabilize myself I can’t do this I shouldn’t be feeling this way I barely know this man “V-Vinnie?” Vinnie looks down at me “what baby?” I move my hands to the back of his neck “kiss me please” Vinnie didn’t waste any time attaching his lips to mine he grabs at my waist and chest. I nibble on his lips teasing him he opens his mouth for me but I denied it and keep biting and teasing him. However Vinnie grew tired of my teasing he picks me up off the counter, he then rubs the little but of ass that’s poking out I gasp as he does, Vinnie takes the opportunity to slide his tongue into my mouth, I can feel my heat throbbing against his rock-hard abs, my legs pulling Vinnie even closer to me and I start to grind my hips against his toned stomach and I let out little moans between kisses.

Before I realized what was going on he drops me on his bed immediately my legs fall apart and I reach my hands up to grab him but Vinnie is too busy staring at my cheeky white Lace panties with a cute pink bow at the top. I grow self-conscious I remember that I’m probably a little prickly down there and begin to close my legs, maybe this isn’t a good idea right now “don’t close your legs baby I think you are gorgeous.” He says with a sweet smile and lays his hands on my knees resting them there “I-I haven’t shaved in a couple of days and I-“ “I don’t care” Vinnie says with a duh face as a smile creeps on his Lips “as long as you keep you’re skirt and socks on I’m happy.” I give him a weird look and Vinnie looks back at me with an open mouth “ unless that makes you uncomfortable-“ “no I’m just curious as to why” I say with a smile “god I hope I don’t make myself sound like a creepy stalker” Vinnie says as he takes a deep breath “I have been following you for at least a year now and I have always had a crush on you I've had dreams about fucking you in a skirt with your socks on” he says really fast a deep blush on his cheeks.

“You just make it look so hot with your thick thighs and bubble butt-“ I take my sweatshirt off before he could finish ”so no shirt?” Vinnie looks at my boobs with his mouth open just staring “n- no” he clears his throat “ no bra huh” he says with a small smile “that’s a nice surprise” his eyes trailing down my naked chest “you can touch them if you want.” I say with a smile Vinnie immediately pushes my legs open and lays between them he then grabs both of my boobs in his hands and pinches my nipples with his thumbs and pointer fingers. I let out a whimper and grab his strong biceps I can feel his muscles flexing in his arm every time he squeezed or rubbed my boobs and nipples I began to rock my hips against his stomach again “c-can I lick them?” He asks in a small voice I throw my head back and let out a moan “YES PLEASE” Vinnie takes one of my nipples in his mouth and sucks harshly and pinches the other with his ring-covered hand as he begins to grind his bulge against me.

I gasp as he nibbles and sucks before moving on to the other nipple I run my hands through his hair I know I’m fucking it up but it’s so soft. I feel his lips trailing down my stomach I open my eyes and look down at him and the first thing is seeing is a bunch of big and little red mark all over my boobs and tummy “you left hickeys!!?!” Vinnie looks up and then looks down I see the blush creep on his cheeks and he looks down “well it’s too late now” I say with a breathy laugh “just keep going” Vinnie’s eyes light up before he went back to leaving hickeys on my hips. “Please vin” Vinnie looks up at me “can I” he looks down and then looks back up at me “yes, please do“ I laugh as I run my thumb over his bottom lip. Vinnie kisses the palm of my hand As he then kisses my lips again he rubs and squeezes my thighs for a while before pulling away to unlace my boots once he got both off he spreads my legs wide and looks at my panties that are soaked with my excitement.

I throw my hands over my eyes I know there’s a wet spot I just know it “Jesus baby all this for me” he says as he runs his pointer finger over my wet panties “you even made a mess on my bed baby.” Vinnie says as he kisses the inside of my thigh leaving hickeys I groan in pleasure and embarrassment my cheeks glowing red. Vinnie’s eyes shoot up to look at me and I can feel him smile against my thigh before switching to the other side I moan as I feel my walls clench around nothing. I can feel my wetness gush a little and I throw my head back whining and moaning Vinnie’s name. I feel Vinnie push his nose against my heat, he takes a deep breath through his nose, he groans as he licks his lips pulling away “you smell delicious baby, I bet you taste delicious too.” Vinnie leans his head down taking my underwear in his teeth and pulling them down my legs once they were fully off Vinnie pushes my legs apart and pushes my knees up so they are by my shoulders he can see EVERYTHING.

Vinnie keeps looking down eyes locked on one certain area I could feel him looking at it.“Maybe one day if you get lucky” I say with a smirk ( let me know if you would be interested in part 2 with✨anal✨😊) Vinnie blushes and then realizes what I said before smirking and leaning down between my thighs. Vinnie licks a stripe from my wetness to my clit he groans before shoving his tongue as far into me as possible “mmmm baby you taste like fucking candy.” he slurps and nibbles I gasp and run my hand in his hair “how is that even fucking possible?!” He groans “I could live down here.” he says as he shoves his long tongue into me yet again but this time he grazed a special spot making me release a small shout in shock.

“O-OH VINNIE YESSS DO THAT AGAIN!” I yell as I push his head down and grind my hips on his face at the same time basically using his face to get off. Vinnie pulls my hands off his head after a few minutes and pulls away “n-no keep going-“ “sit on my face please.” Vinnie says as stands up and pulls me towards him by my legs. “Why-“ “because I asked nicely,” he says with a cheeky smile looking down at me, so I sit up and get on my knees Vin lays down on his bed and gets comfortable he then reaches out to me with both hands. I take them and slowly shuffle my way up, when I finally am above his face and I start to lower myself Vinnie grabs my thighs and pushes me so all of my body weight is on his face ”mmmmmm baby! “Vinnie moans inside of me I moan and try to get away from his torturous tongue and vibrations that’s making my legs weak I don’t have the strength to fight him anymore and I fully sit.

Immediately he starts eating me out twice as fast and deep he starts rubbing my clit with his nose while he moans. He’s squeezing and slapping my ass with the other hand “OH OH GOD YES VINNIE JUST LIKE THAT.” I was humping his face at this point I don’t even realize he wasn’t holding me down anymore and it was me I thrust my hips a couple more times before calling out to him.“YES VINNIE MAKE ME CUM DADDY MAKE ME CUM ON YOUR BEAUTIFUL FACE!!” I yell with my head thrown back “do you want me to cum on your tongue daddy?!” Ask in a whimper Vinnie groans in response to the vibration shoving me over the edge. I throw my head back so hard I fall off of Vinnie’s mouth onto the bed still moaning and whining, Vinnie jumps up and attacks my pussy with his mouth again.

Before my high is gone making me scream again and thrust against his face once more before I lay with my legs and mouth open gasping for breath. “Are you ok” I didn’t have it in me to talk so I just gave him two thumbs up Vinnie laughs before asking “are you down for another round?” My eyes widen and I look at him before I answer I take a good look at his hair all over the place lips red and plump my juices on his face. My eyes then got distracted but his god-like features my eyes taking extra long to graze over his v-line and his rock hard cock. I take my hand and run my fingers down his hard stomach feeling all the bumps and grooves down to his happy trail and I follow it to his sex Lines. I push Vinnie down on the bed before crawling in between his legs I begin to kiss his neck and leave hickeys as he did on me.

I lick his nipple on the way down and he lets out a surprised gasp grabbing onto one of my pigtails as I trail my lips and tongue down to his hip bones to leave hickeys there and on his sex lines. He trusted his hips up towards my face and let out a hot whine so I pull down his sweats and underwear in one go I immediately start to rub my thumb on his tip. I lick the vain from the bottom to the top and then I took his balls in my mouth as I stroke him Vinnie's head thrown back in pure pleasure “ple-please don’t stop” he says in an airy breath I pull off from his balls making a popping sound. I then take him in my mouth if there is one thing I’m good at its blowjobs the bigger the better and Vinnie is the biggest I've ever seen.

I suck the tip and make my way back down as far as I can go without deep throating him yet I got about halfway down his cock I then started to hum and move my tongue around what I could reach. I then began to deep throat Vinnie and as my throat was expanding to his size I couldn’t help but moan “F-FUCK.” Vinnie yells as he grabs both of my pigtails and shoves my head the rest of the way down making me choke “OH MY GOD! I’m so sorry-“ I moaned before doing it again myself my eyeballs rolling to the back of my head I then pull off and catch my breath. “Mmhm fuck my throat daddy” I say as I start to suck his tip again with big wide innocent eyes Vinnie’s hips snap against my face his hands grabbing my pigtails again fucking my throat.

I could feel his balls slapping against my chin and I grab them in one hand and start to massage them while I rub his thigh with my other hand. I feel his balls start to tighten and his tip twitched so I pull off “lay down I wanna Fuck you.” I say with confidence “I-I ok” Vinnie stutters laying on his back now as I straddle him. I take him and put his tip at my entrance before starting to sink down on him I let out a small moan as Vinnie let out a load moan as he grips the sheets trying to keep him self from pushing you down. ”Fuck Y/n your so fucking tight, I’m gonna explode” “ooooh yea, you gonna cum in me daddy or are you gonna put your baby’s on my thighs instead hmmmm maybe on my ass cheeks?” Vinnie let’s out a loud moan “any-anywhere baby please just let me cum” Vinnie groans “mmm fuck me baby.“

I say I feel him grab my ass cheeks before thrusting up into me at a super-fast pace. Vinnie groans and moans as I scream and moan “ahh are you gonna cum in my little pu-pussy daddy?” “Mmmm yes baby I’m gonna paint your walls with my seed.” Vinnie says as he pounds into me at an even fastest pace if that’s possible. “I’m gonna shoot my load so far up your pussy it’s gonna be coming out of you for days!” He yells as he grabs my neck and licks my face we are both groaning and yelling things at each other. “HIT ME DADDY HIT ME” I yell I’ve never asked someone to hit me before so this is new.

Vinnie without even thinking about it throws me on my back and slaps me across the face. I could feel the stinging sensation and my pussy throbbed so I whimpered “again” he slapped me across my face again. I moan even loader this time I could feel the knot starting to twist “AGAIN DADDY SLAP MY FACE AGAIN AN-AND CALL ME YOUR LITTLE SLUT!” I scream at Vinnie so he slaps my face again harder this time. I could really feel the sting that time I let out a cry but immediately moaned right after “YOU LIKED THAT DIDN’T YOU SLUT” he pounds into harder. I let out sobs of pleasure tears running down my face.

Vinnie then pulls out completely before flipping me on to my hands and knees, I immediately drop my head to the bed so my ass is in the air. I feel Vinnie push inside of me again this time from the back, he grabs my hips thrusting in to me at a fast pace ”DADDYS GONNA SLAP YOUR ASS TILL ITS PRETTY AND PINK” Vinnie shouts at me as he begins to abuses my ass cheeks with his open palms I push back on him and I moan my eyes rolling to the back of my head ”P-P-PLEASE DADDY CUM INSIDE OF ME I WANT TO BE YOUR SLUT !” I scream at the top of my lungs I can feel the knot about to pop “F-FUCK YOUR SUCH A DIRTY LITTLE SLUT YOU WANT ME TO CUM IN YOUR TIGHT LITTLE WHORE PUSSY!” He moans “SUCH A DIRTY SLUT FUCKING A MAN YOU MET TWO HOURS AGO AND ALREADY ASKING ME TO PUT BABIES INSIDE OF YOU!” He shouts as I let out a scream it was like everything stopped my mind went blank all I could think about was how good daddy’s cock felt inside of my slutty little pussy.

I hear Vinnie start to pant “I’m gonna-I’m-I’m CUMMING” he yells as he grabs my boobs and falls into my neck his hot breath on my neck. I wrap my arms around his waist and I start to rub his back “thank you, Vinnie.” He starts laughing “I should be thanking you I don’t think my dick will get hard for another woman ever again.” I laugh and give him a tight hug “you know I don’t actually think you're a whore right “ I look at him and smile “well I would hope not considering you had sex with a complete stranger too” I kiss him on the lips “will you go on a date with me y/n?” I smile at him “yes, absolutely I would love to!” He chuckles and kisses my lips “I never thought I was gonna meet you, or be going in a date with you. let alone have sex with you AND cum inside of you all in the same day, life is full of surprises” he says with a big smile. I smile back at him before kissing him once more and getting comfortable “will you take a nap with me?” “Yea of course my sweet girl.” Vinnie says with a kiss on the head.