#(i hope is okay! both the starter & that i gave you a second one)

[theha1r]

@realmyths liked for a starter!

Steve is quiet as he thinks, the things he's wanted to ask the older, more experienced, vampire weighing on his mind. However, he's hesitant to even ask them, not necessarily because he thinks she won't have the answers - but more so he's not sure if he'll like them. It's the type of things he tries not to think about, but it feels hard to ignore them, in this moment, when he has the chance to hear from someone with the experience. "Does it ever get easy? To outlive nearly everyone you care about? To lose people? To make new connections knowing you'll lose them too someday?" He pauses for a second. "It's only been ten years for me and I've never really made any connections I cared about losing ... until a few years ago." And now he doesn't know how he's supposed to ever live without them.

[mr-yuugo]

Special Someone

-Jamil Viper X Reader [Gender Neutral]- [Fluff]

Words: 938

Summary: During a tour of Silk City Jamil and his friends run into you.

Posted this on my AO3 account as well as Wattpad!

Najma smiled at Jamil as she began getting dragged by her friend so they could have fun together. "Alright, I'll see you later Jamil." She told him as she began to leave. She also looked over at the other Night Ravel students and told them goodbye.

She paused in her steps for a second before turning abruptly. "Oh and make sure to visit Y/N. I'm sure you are dying to have a chance to go talk to them!" She snickered as she winked at him before she and her friend went running as they laughed. He looked to the side embarrassed as he murmured a quiet okay.

He let out a sigh and jolted as he felt a hand go on his shoulder. "So Jamil! Caycay is picking up that you have someone here in the scolding sands that you haven't told us about!"

Jamil grimaced as he looked at Cater. "Oh please Viper, now I am intrigued as well," Malleus smirked as he placed his hands on his hips. Yuu jumped up, "Oh! is it perhaps a special someone?" They smiled.

"Well for starters it's no one important... let's just keep going with the tour." He sweated as he walked in front of them hoping they would drop the conversation.

He closed his eyes for a second though a chill soon ran through his spine as he saw Grim talking to someone a few food stalls ahead.

"Mhyaa!! I want another one!" Grim said as the person in front of him gave him another piece of dried-up fruit. "You're just so cute!" You laughed as you kept feeding Grim's black hole of a stomach.

The others saw the scene going on as their eyes drifted to Jamil. "Is it just me or is that Jamil's special someone? What crazy luck we have have!!" Carter giggled.

"By the way Jamil's blushing I think it is!" Yuu laughed alongside Cater. "Oh please just be quiet..." Jamil murmured out. You began handing Grim more dried fruit as you looked past the tiny mage and your eyes lit up. "Jamil!!" You called out as you waved at him.

"Would you look at that? They seem very happy to see you, Jamil." Trey teased. Malleus patted Jamil's shoulders. "It's disrespectful to keep them waiting." He smiled as he walked past him, the others doing the same so they could go find out more about his special someone.

Jamil sighed as he fixed his posture before he started walking to catch up with his friends. You were already talking to all of Jamil's friends, introducing yourself to them. Jamil finally got in reach and you smiled widely.

Between you and him was your fruit stall, a number of different types of fruits placed nicely on the table. As you smiled your body bent over the table slightly, your arms extended as you quickly clung to his body.

You gave him a big hug and he began to stutter. The table moved a bit as a few pieces of fruit fell. To which Grim greedily picked up and ate. "Oh, Jamil! I'm so glad I got a chance to see you!" You beamed as you let him go, your hands sliding down his arm and finally you took his hands in yours.

Cater, Malleus, Trey, and Yuu watched in surprise at your interaction. Trey looked away feeling as if he were interrupting something. On the other hand, Cater and Yuu had small blushes on their face. Almost letting out a squeal as they looked between the both of you.

Malleus just stood there in silence as his mouth fell open.

"I missed you so very much..." Jamil whispered as he tightened his grip on your hands. You nodded your head. "So did I." You smiled as you slowly let go of his hands. You then turned to Jamil's classmates who had then told you more about themselves. The whole time Jamil just looked at you and only you.

He loved watching you talk and it made him happy that his friends were making you feel comfortable enough so you could converse with people you don't know. "Ah, I see so you're also in the same club as Kalim! I hope he isn't too much trouble." You laughed as they told you about their own school life.

Jamil snapped out of his daze when you mentioned Kalim. "We're losing track of time!" He freaked out as he realized they had been too caught up in talking with you.

"I'm sorry didn't mean to hold you guys back." You smiled as you waved your hands out in front of you apologetically. Yuu shook their head. "Nonsense Y/N!"

"Yeah, I don't see the harm being a few minutes behind," Trey said. Jamil let out a sigh. "We should get moving though. We're supposed to be meeting up with Kalim in a bit."

You nodded your head. "Well, I hope to catch you guys for the fireworks at least." They all nodded their heads, looking forward to you joining them later in the day.

They began turning around to leave but you told Jamil to hold on a second. "Well?" You asked him with a grin. "Well, what?" He mumbled. You looked surprised for a second before he laughed. He leaned in and gave you a kiss.

"I'll see you later." He whispered out. Once you separated you told him to extend his hand. He did and you gave him a little clear bag tied with a ribbon. Inside were different types of dried fruits.

"Make sure you give them to the little mage." You chuckled.

[sisterofficerlucychen]

so i hadn't been able to watch the elevator scene in its entirety until rn because my stream cut off but oh my god.

i personally found that scene so beautiful and what eric and melissa had initially said about where it left them makes so much more sense ♡

for starters, the location — the elevator. at first, their "spot" in mid-wilshire was the garage, then the parking lot, and now the elevator which i think is a really cool metaphor? elevators go up and they go down, which i think is where they're headed because they have a long journey ahead of them to find their way back to one another (and it won't be easy). it's also where they shared that hug in the last episode and it was something both of them needed so much so it was nice to see this kind of continue.

i loved the intentionally behind the blocking that melissa described in their latest interview. there's something about the way how she's behind him literally tucked away in the corner, how they're not facing each other to when he finally turns to face her.

the song selection ♡

at first there's like this inkling of normalcy with tim saying that she probably saved his life and lucy saying that he had the guy — for some reason it took me back to when she gave him the audiobook and teased him about training for the rematch with nico.

and then he turns to her ... while it wasn't the adult conversation or a heart to heart necessarily, it was such an impactful moment because it's the first time he's acknowledged to her face how badly he messed up and the impact of her still being there for him because he wasn't okay until she reached out and we saw how the weight of everything he was carrying melted away as soon as she pulled him into an embrace.

"[...] and i will spend the rest of my life trying to pay it back in whatever small doses you allow" the choice of words here was something i found really interesting and also what it's tied to? because it has nothing to do with the break up but rather paying back the kindness she showed him when he didn't deserve it.

i had to sit with this for a second but ultimately i think the reason why it's better that those words don't have anything to do with the break up is because it wouldn't have been the right time or place (imo he's not ready to give lucy the answers she deserves) but how she's always been there for him. that kindness goes back to the very beginning and plays such a pivotal part in the foundation of their relationship because it was through that kindness that he was able to come back from a really dark place — along the way she became a voice of reason, comfort, and safe place.

just like she set the boundary of checking in on him even though she was still mad at him, he keeps that boundary by acknowledging that she has the control and autonomy here and it's her decision to accept or reject him trying to pay it back. also the "rest of my life" and "small doses" because of the implication of how this is something that will take time, a lot of time and effort.

lastly, lucy's reaction; how she takes it all in and there's this flicker in her eyes as he says that. she could have easily shut him down all things considered but instead she stays silent. that tentative first step as they both leave the elevator, how she continues to process what that could mean as she walks out too. it's not a no and it's not a yes but it's a start, it's hope.

[notstilinski]

Abbott Elementary Starters !

Taken from season two the 2022 ABC series, Abbott Elementary! Some of these have already been edited. You can change them however you see fit! There may be some light spoilers!

“I took it as an opportunity to grow. Not physically, of course, because I can’t reach the top shelves in my apartment.”

“Sea (Name) is very different than Land (Name).”

“If this is what they expect of us, it’s can’t be unrealistic.”

“Are you about to get evicted?!”

“I thought coming into work a full adult would be my solution, but I’m drowning.”

“I get it now. I’m not not a fan.”

“Then why do I have to see Chris Pratt everywhere?!”

“Oh, I don’t do that anymore. Because I’m in therapy and anger management.”

“Oh, we don’t take bribes — That aren’t in the form of money.”

“I think she’s saying I’m a broke boi.”

“(Name), I said that I don’t want to go to a strip club with you.”

���I hope all the kids aren’t here today. Yesterday, almost everybody was in attendance and it almost broke me.”

“You don’t want to be a corny legend.”

“Ya’ll gotta stop playing God with that boy’s life.”

“I’m not in the mood to improve-d at.”

“(Name) tells me I sound like a lesbian. I’m working on that.”

“And one of those is the right side, which is mine.”

“Are you two in a fight? Looks like ya’ll in a fight.”

“Poison? You know I ain’t poisoning anybody. If I’m taking someone out, I want to watch them go.”

“I’m starting to think that I didn’t grow into the person I’m proud of because of it, but maybe I did despite of it.”

“What’s that I taste? The taste of sweet victory?”

“Who does everybody get so surprised when I say I’ll help? I’m a professional.”

“You time yourself going to the second floor?”

“It don’t count if I don’t have my Fitbit on.”

“I haven’t seen you this made since the bartender cut you off at the batting cages.”

“Disguises, crime, looking hot? These are my specialities.”

“Okay, well, thank you for the donation to my mouth.”

“I’m just one of those people where chaos really affects my mood so I’m just gonna call it a day.”

“Ghost, ghouls and new friends.”

“Oh, like y’all came tell these moderately attractive white men with bears apart.”

“You truly do have the taste of a middle aged midwestern mama.”

“And now you’ve made me an accessory.”

“I Googled it. But I like to maintain that aura of dark mystery.”

“This is cutting into my pre happy hour hour.”

“All these wasted eggs when the (Name) is in town. Now I’ve got to throw a Molotov cocktail at their bus.”

“And I want to shield them with the best defense: Positivity.”

“The emergency is… I don’t feel like it right now.”

“Merry Capitalism to you all.”

“You know what? They’re a lot like paint fumes. Small doses? Fine — Even somewhat enjoyable. But too much just gives you a headache.”

“Yeah, after I introduce myself, you know. Start dating, get super clingy, abs go through his phone he might be.”

“That’s right. Now go ahead and make Juvenile proud.”

“Is that my work husband grinding on my work nemesis?”

“I’m sorry, you look like you’re in deep thought.”

“I drink a lot of Snapple so I kind of know some facts.”

“I know plenty of people who have counted me out before and, while I have absolutely no way of confirming this, I’m positive they’re all dead.”

“Sorry, so your- You dad, he hired an actor to play his child instead of just asking you?”

“Don’t look at me like that, he gave me his number.”

“I was both the hostage negotiator and the hostage.”

“Well, I’m a pacifist. You mess with me, I’ll pass a fist across your face.”

“We are watching the first Toy Story because the third one makes me cry.”

“What in the Earth, Wind and Fire is going on here?!”

“Okay. She’s robbed a child.”

“Aw. Disposable income.”

“Do you want to pinch my cheeks? My mom says it helps.”

“Well, that was before I realized that I have an insecure attachment style. I now recognize it for the disdain that it is.”

“I don’t think an adult has ever apologized to me before.”

“I will kick your (Name)-loving Valentine’s Day ass right out of this building.”

“Shame. So hot, yet so annoying.”

“I am one minor inconvenience away from putting this whole day in rice.”

“Mandates are nothing more than fervent suggestions.”

“Just because you got a round face like the Teletubbies sun baby doesn’t mean that the world revolves around you.”

“It’s cool that no matter what I do, no one is happy.”

“Let’s say that (Name) has a bubbly personality to cover up deep-seated mommy issues.”

“The silver lining about dating is that you only have to be correct about someone /once./“

“Last night, as the kids would say, was a film.”

“That is bisexual erasure. I expected better from you.”

“You’re a dork but you’re messy.”

“Weird cash floating around? Don’t threaten me with a good time.”

“Come on. Let’s go bully some sensitive artists.”

“Now you two need to get on board. Who we fighting first?”

“That’s why Mothers Day was invented. So less mothers would leave their families.”

“Don’t give Jesus my credit.”

“Nothing good has ever come from nerds whispering.”

“It’s because you abandon people, and it’s nice to finally hear you say it out loud.”

“People had hopes for you, and they gave up on me!”

“I get why you left (Name), it just kind of felt like you left me, too.”

“My night terrors have spread into day terrors. I can’t tell if I’m asleep right now or if this is some kind of waking nightmare.”

“Why can’t you ever give me credit for a good idea?”

“My lies don’t discriminate.”

“Never have I been so happy to hear such explicit content.”

“At the end of the day, they have to decide who they want to be. And this one decided to be a jackass.”

“So what you’re going to do is pick yourself up, dust yourself off, come back here tomorrow and do your job.”

“People have thrown dirt on my name, others have given flowers. It’s all a garden to me.”

“I love the company of others. But I’m trying to like my own.”

“I’m just gonna go back to avoiding her and never asking her for anything.”

“You would beat my ass, wouldn’t you?”

“The key to never getting your ass beat? Knowing when someone can beat your ass.”

“Note to self: New way to manipulate. Step one: have a daughter. Step two: Play the long game.”

“I’m a master forager. My speciality? Mushrooms.”

“I don’t know how to leave this conversation.”

“I’m counting on those tiny fists for very precise blows.”

“Yeah. I take all your recommendations seriously — I want to know why you like stuff.”

“Uh-uh. I don’t like clanks in bags. Clank-clank leads to clink-clink.”

“No wonder your dad’s a landscaper, the way you beat around the bush.”

“You need to be better at hiding things with your face.”

“Everybody I like knows it. (Name) and Diego Luna has seen my tweets.”

“If I don’t get a smooth eleven hours, I get a little handsy.”

[ivy-diaries]

⌗ kpop daebak show with Eric Nam (part two) !!

ᝰ era: unstoppable

ᝰ characters: Ivy & Eric Nam

ᝰ word count: 2.1k

ᝰ notes: done!! i hope everyone enjoyed it!! lmk if i got anything wrong!! stay hydrated <33

ᝰ taglist: lmk if you wanna be added !!

“Hello ladies and gentlemen, welcome to part two of catching up with ivy. So let's continue. We were talking about how you and yeonjun had met each other. Now let’s talk about your music. How does it feel, now that you are the producer, composer, lyricist and the mastermind behind all your songs? Does it feel different than before?” Eric turned to ivy as he asked her the question after the intro.

“Well for starters, it feels new. I’ve always had at least a person or two in my studio and they’d do the work and I'd just give suggestions but now I'm the one who’s completely responsible for what kind of music I put out. It's a bit burdensome. I won't lie but it gives me a lot of freedom.” she laughs before continuing. “I feel like I can play around with anything and everything until I find what I like before putting it out. And I have 3racha on the hotline so I can ask them any questions I have about producing. I remember I once called Han at like 3 am and he was like ‘what the hell do you want?’ I think he probably wanted to kill me." Eric joins in with his laughter before asking her, “it’s a relief that you have people you can reach out too then.” Ivy nodded, saying yes. Moving on from that, eric started, “we asked your fans, soleils, some questions for you to answer. Are you ready?” she nodded enthusiastically. “Okay, first question! ‘who is your fashion inspiration?’” eric asked her.

Ivy thought for a second before opening her mouth to answer, “honestly I draw inspiration from my everyday life. There isn’t anything particular that I can put a label on as my inspo. I sometimes look at yeonjun and get inspired, i listen to taylor swift and get an inspiration suddenly, i open pinterest and look at my board and randomly get up to choose an outfit for the day. So yeah it depends on many factors.” she concluded. Satisfied with her answer, eric nodded before looking at the iPad for the next question. “What is your favorite food ?” he asked her. “Hmm, to me, since i have very limited options as a vegetarian here but my all time favorite food has to be the tteokbokki that yeonjun’s mom makes. It tastes so good! Her food is my all time favorite after my moms of course. I think i visit her more than yeonjun sometimes haha” she laughs. “Oh yea! I wanted to ask you about that. How do you survive being a vegetarian here? It's really hard. I tried for some time and I went back to the states and I couldn't control it haha” Eric asks her and laughs. Chuckling, she started, “I was just brought up like that. I didn’t wake up one day and suddenly wanted to be a vegetarian. It's not that difficult for me in a sense that I don't find it difficult to not eat any meat but it’s pretty difficult to find vegetarian stuff here. There is not much vegetarian stuff available. And in that sense i'm really thankful to yeonjun’s mom because she tries a lot to make stuff vegetarian for me whenever i visit. It moves me to tears everytime. She’s always trying out new methods to make stuff edible for me and it really touches my heart.” she finishes.

Eric gave her a smile before reading the next question. “What is your description of the perfect date?” Eric asks, chuckling. “There is no such thing as a perfect date. You just have to make sure that the both of you don’t make each other uncomfortable if it’s the first one. But if it’s like a date with like your significant other, I would recommend that you do whatever that makes you both happy. A date should not be fun for only one person. Whatever you choose to do, make sure both of you have equal amounts of fun” she finished. Eric looked at her before asking her a question of his own. “Okay, this is my question. What is the best date that you have gone on?” she chuckled before answering him. “The first one that comes to mind is that one day when we both had the day off and we decided to not waste the day. We got up and we ate breakfast and just headed out. We went to art museums, we went cafe hopping, we had lunch and we walked out and about until sunset and we had a little picnic and we ended the night stargazing. It is the best date we’ve had. I won't lie haha” she laughed as Eric looked with adoration at her as she finished speaking. “That sounds like so much fun!! Okay now to the next question. What is your dream collab stage?” he asked her. She thought for a few seconds “i’d love to collab with Taylor swift. But we all know that’s not gonna happen haha. So realistically speaking, I'd love to have all my girl friends on an album or a song. Like I'm talking inka from stray kids, calista from enhypen, lua from ateez, and haewon from mask and many more people that if i start naming, i could go on forever haha.” she laughs as she finishes her sentence. Eric looks at her with an amused look and reads the next question. “What are your hobbies?” “hmm i’d say i love taking pictures that look really aesthetic. I have been using my old phone that I don't use anymore simply for taking pictures. And oh I love baking! If i’m not home, then i’m probably at the straykid’s dorm or the tubatu dorm baking with felix or soobin haha." She explains her hobbies and waits for Eric to ask her the next question. “What do you hate most in the world?” he asks her. “People not respecting boundaries. I really hate it when people cross boundaries they’re not supposed to cross. Like mainly in this industry where our privacy as idols are not respected. I know that as fans they want to know everything that happens in our life but people have to know where to stop. They have to understand that we can share only minute details of ourselves. They have to understand that it's the same feeling as someone randomly coming up to you in the streets and asking you to spill your deepest darkest secret.” she finished as Eric nodded, agreeing to her words. "Do you prefer cats or dogs?" He asks her the next question. Gasping, she places a hand dramatically on her chest. "You can't ask me to choose!! I know I have two dogs but I promised Inka that I will love cats the same as dogs!! I won't choose between my dogs and the words of other love of my life!!" Ivy says as Eric wheezes at her dramatic behavior next to her. She too chuckles when Eric tries to read the next question.

"What would you have done if you hadn't become an idol?" "That's a very interesting question. Hmm i haven't really given it much thought since from all i can remember from the age of 11 is that I've ever thought about is working hard to become an idol. But it really got to me when I was on break last time. I can't be doing this forever can i? I mean I'll continue being an idol as long as my body allows it and I have a passion for it. But I was thinking about what I will do next if I lose my passion for this. That's when I realized that I had to think of something else too. I think if i hadn't been an idol, I would've probably gone to college in the states and would've been working now. But I've always wanted to open a cafe so I would've probably done that. But I do plan on opening my own cafe one day though!! It's not just a dream of the past. It's a dream for the future too." Ivy finished as Eric looked at her like a proud father. "I really hope you achieve that dream of your jen!" He wished her as she thanked him silently before answering the next question.

"Who is the person you trust the most?" He asked her. Without any hesitation, she replied "mom, dad, my brother, my sister and yeonjun." Smiling at how quick she answered the question, Eric moved on to the next one. "Ooh this is a very interesting question. This fan asks 'since you debuted at such a young age, what were the pros and cons of it? How did you manage school?' " smiling at the question, "they always know what to ask haha." She laughed before answering it. "Of course the obvious pros that came out of it are getting a lot of fans that support me and love me for who i am. A lot of people come up to me saying that my music saved them or that they found me at their lowest and in one way or the other i helped them get out of it and these words really keep me up at night. Yes it was really hard debuting at that age but it's words like these that don't make me regret it. Although yes I do wish I could've debuted a bit later but i was desperate. I thought that if i didn't debut at that time then i couldn't debut at all. But all ended up being good. So I don't regret anything. And about how I managed school, it was tough. It really was haha I remember once when I was back from a music show at almost 2 am but I had a test the next morning so I stayed up preparing for it. I got a good result so it was all worth it but yeah managing school was tough. College was a lot easier though. I loved college." She finished. Eric looked at her with a look of sympathy as he read the next question. "If you had to pick a song to describe your life, what would it be?" "Hmm one song? It's hard choosing just one. Because I feel like there's a time in my life I could say "to my youth" fit the best and there's a time when I can say "blueming" fits perfectly. There was a time when- I can't say much about it but, a song in my upcoming album fit the best. So it's almost impossible to pinpoint one song. She replied. "Are you more of a sweet or savory eater?" Eric read the next question. "I am more of a sweet tooth. I love anything and everything sweet but I do crave savory quite a few times to balance it out. But the majority of the time, I'm a sweet tooth!" Ivy answered.

Suddenly Eric clapped his arms once startling the poor girl. Laughing at her, he says "it's the second to last question." Pouting, she whines at him about how she doesn't wanna go and wants to stay some more. Laughing at her antics, Eric reads out the question. "What's your dream destination?" "My dream destination is probably switzerland. I heard it's really beautiful and I've seen a few videos so I'd love to go there one day." Ivy smiled as she waited for the last question. Eric asked her, "which musical concept do you prefer and why? I feel like it's a good question to end" nodding, she replied. "Hmm I like a lot of concepts but I think I like fantasy and y2k concepts in kpop. But overall I love it when the music tells the artist's story. I love it." Sighing, Eric kept the iPad on the ground and sat up straight.

He could see ivy pouting and as he laughed at it, he said his closing ments and asked Ivy to say how she felt. "I felt so comfortable actually. It's so nice here, the ambiance is really good and you all are soo sweet!! I want to start a podcast here now! haha But anyways, I had such a great time. And it's been quite some time since I saw Eric oppa too so it felt really nice catching up and answering the questions! Thank you soo much for having me!! I'd love to be back one day!! Byeee" she said as the outro of the daebak show played.

[obl1vionblackhart]

How is that fair?

Bron Breakker x Fem! Reader

Requested?: yes, by gem ❤️❤️

Warnings: fighting, yelling, slight swearing

Summary: You’re Grayson Waller’s sister, when training at the PC with your (secret) boyfriend Bron, a brawl breaks out between your beloved boyfriend and your brother… and you’re left to pick up the pieces.

(Gif not mine!!)

“Oh come on, you can’t be tired already” your boyfriend, Bron- let out a laugh as you groaned.

“Well I am! I’m smaller than you are.” You huffed, sitting on the floor with a pout. You’d been dating Bron for 4 months now, without your brother’s knowledge. To say he’d be mad was.. an understatement. Your brother, Grayson.. he didn’t get along with many people, as sad as it was you were one of his very few friends.

“Oh come on, try.” He chuckled, holding his hand out to you. You stared at him for a second, before taking his hand and pulling yourself up. He gave you a goofy grin, causing you to laugh softly as he kissed your head.

“I’m gonna go say hi to Monika, don’t miss me to much” you mumbled to him, before walking over to Monika. The two of you talked for a bit, trading tips and training for a while. You were both snapped out of conversation as a commotion gathered, you turned your head and your mouth dropped open in horror. Your brother and Your boyfriend… beating the living hell out of each other.

“Shit..” you mumbled, sprinting over to get in between them. “Come on Bron!” Your brother yelled, going to punch the side of his face. “Both of you!!! Stop!” You shrieked, pushing them apart as you faced Bron.

“He started it! He came in here yelling!” Bron tried to defend himself, only for you to shush him and pull him away. Your brother watched you with a frown, throwing his arms up. ‘Hold on’ you mouthed to him, leading Bron to the other side of the ring.

“Calm down.. I don’t care who started it, are you okay?” You spoke softly, holding the side of his face. He nodded, melting into your touch “I’m fine.. are you?” You waved him off with a chuckle “of course I am”

“Okay..” he mumbled with a smile. “Okay” you whispered back, kissing him softly. He kissed back, before you were suddenly jerked to the side and bron fell to the floor. You looked up in shock, your shock turning to anger as you spotted the face of your big brother.

“Stay the hell away from my sister you bitch!” He yelled, pulling you up by the arm. You pulled your arm away, giving him a firm slap on the face before helping your boyfriend up.

“I’m a grown ass woman! Don’t you dare lay a hand on my boyfriend again.” “Boyfriend?! Y/N!-“ Grayson starter, his hand gestures all over the place. He couldn’t believe his ears, of all people, you were with him???

“No Grayson. Stay the hell away from him” you snapped, leading bron out of the PC and into the parking lot. You sighed, running a hand through your hair. You looked up at Bron, to see a smirk on his lips. “What?” You chuckled, as he wrapped an arm around your shoulders

“You’re hot when you’re mad” he said, his eyes scanning the parking lot. You scoffed playfully, shaking your head “was I not hot before?”

“You’re always hot baby, but that was a new level” his smirk returned, pulling you into a steamy kiss.

Watching from a distance, was Grayson. There was no way in hell this was going to continue… not if he has something to do with it.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed!! (Especially you Gem 🤭) requests are open, knock yourselves out!!

Tags: @cuttingedge3

[latteandjacks]

He’ll be fine

TWs: Sexual abuse, nothing too explicit, mostly just mentioned. Defending the abuser, I do not defend him, but it tends to be common for a victim to excuse and defend their abuser, specially if the sexual abuse it’s much more casual than what is presented in the media

This is just a small fanfic, and it will most likely not be canon, I’m going to be completely honest and that is that this headcanon is mostly just me projecting in both Richard and Roy

For any other victim of sexual abuse that may be reading this, you are not alone and I hope things will get better with time, read with caution

–Richard, darling, are you okay? –Of course, why are you asking? –Okay, for starters, we haven’t move in 4 minutes –I need to let the car on for a bit before starting driving –And I think 4 minutes is long enough, honey, second, you are bouncing your leg again

As soon as it was mentioned, he sat straight without moving

–A coin for your thoughts?

Carmen stared at her husband with concern, it wasn’t normal for him to be this nervous, not anymore at least

–It’s just… –Richard grabbed his face– Reynold, I’m kind of worried about him –Why? Your brother is a rather decent man, he will keep him out of trouble, won’t he? –I suppose... –... Are you worried they won’t get along, sweetheart? –Carmen gently grabbed his hand –… Yes –Richard hesitated before answering– My brother isn’t an easy person to get along with, you know it, what if we didn’t leave him in good hands? –His wife sighed –You’re worrying too much –She gave him a reassuring smile– It’s true that sometimes he’s… Not the best company, but I’m sure he will take of our Reynold just fine –…

His brother… He was more than just a “difficult person to get along with”, to be quite honest, even now he still has some difficulty hearing his name

It was weird to spend time with him when they were young, he never liked the idea of staying at home alone with him, it’s not like he ever ACTUALLY did something to him, nothing that matters at least

They’re family, and it’s not like his parents ever tried to do anything to stop it or noticed something strange, so it sure wasn’t that bad? It’s normal to feel uncomfortable by normal things anyway Family is touchy, especially siblings, you’re supposedly the closest ones there, so what if sometimes his hands goes lower than it normally should?

–What is it Dicky? Can’t I hug my cute, little brother? –Do not call me that! Of course you can…

He wrapped him in a tight hug

–Okay that’s enough, you’re suffocating me [    ] –Don’t be like that, I just like showing you how much I love you

It wasn’t unbearable

And he stopped the older he got, he grew out of it, it’s not like he knew any better, as said, his parents never corrected him so how could he had known it was wron   made him uncomfortable? He could never do the same things to Roy

–... I guess I am worrying too much, he’ll be fine –He’ll be –She leaned to give him a little kiss that, for a second, made him flinch– Now, shall we go? The party starts in 20 minutes and we can’t be late, just imagine how damaged our reputation could be if we don’t arrive on time –Richard smiled as he began to drive, he loves his wife dramatic antics

And she’s right, they can’t be late even if it’s for a minute

Why is he worrying so much anyway? Surely his brother is not that bad of a person Besides, if there was something wrong, Reynold would’ve called him already

Everything will be fine

He just needs to stop thinking about him this so hard

[vanosslirious]

BBS Dialogue Prompts #316

Vanoss Crew Prompts & Sentence Starters: [ 8 ]

SMII7Y

Why would you let me play again?

Why, he’s going to win?

We can win this game together.

What the fuck did you get?

I’ll have to come in and save the day.

How do you get one every time?

You shouldn’t have talked shit.

Where did he get that?

Let’s go…back to where we were.

I can’t do any of that.

I’ve been waiting so long for this!

This is literally a dream come true.

I can't see it, but I spent money on this, so I hope it looks good for you.

What the fuck you doing up there?

Let’s survey the area.

Yes, I am aware of that, and I will get to that.

This is couples therapy.

I’m coming to check it out.

Look at you go, beautiful.

Are you just standing in the middle and spinning?

BIGPUFFER

As long as I am in the middle.

He's looking right at us, I think he got pissed.

What is this red spot?

He'll probably jump over it.

He's throwing a rock.

Can you take shelter inside?

There's another guy in here.

Can you go to the roof, take the ladder to your left.

What have we created?

Wait, are we going against each other, how does this work?

BLARGMYSCHNOOPLE

I was so excited that I was the crab.

Oh my God, you guys are so far away.

Oh, you did this at a very bad time.

I was facing the wrong way and someone froze me.

My game isn't even up yet.

Hold on, let me try something.

Can't hit what you can't see, bitch.

Hit me, I dare you.

Well, I'll see you guys later, we're all done.

Like two seconds ago, but you weren't paying attention.

GRIZZY

And there's people on top of the hill.

Are you guys coming in here with me?

I'm so sorry!

I got no shields.

Why are you doing handstands?

We're never gonna see him again.

I guess I'll take it.

Look at us arguing like brother and sister, oh my God.

Now I'm trapped in the corner.

I tried to save your life.

VANOSSGAMING

Where's leaf blower guy?

Relax, it's just a crab.

What the fuck is that down there?

Kill me, bitch, I don't have it.

Uh, I did something bad.

I think it's quite crafty, it's in my art project.

I don't know, I've never seen that before.

I lost all composure when I saw something pop up, and I started clicking.

I told you the birds steal shit.

Should I start it?

NOGLA

Oh, that means we survived one day, congratulations.

Where do we get out, is this our new home?

Okay, we’re back here, what’s up?

Maybe he gave me a break this week.

It's like a wooden cookie.

You can't do anything with this.

He has your eyes, he's your baby.

We should probably prepare.

Stop going down, bitch.

Nope, you want me to take a photo of him?

MOO

What was the code?

I'm just gonna enter every number.

I got it, I'm so freaking smart.

Learn how to do math, idiots.

I should be in bed right now.

I have feelings still.

I'm a killing machine. 

Someone's here.

That's actually genius.

Oh, we're fighting different people.

WILDCAT

I'm not sucking enough people.

If you're an imposter, I kindly ask you to take us both out.

Can I have a milkshake?

You know what, I'll take it.

Oh my God, I just witnessed that.

Yes, obviously, dumbass!

Ask him why he did that.

You can't talk to anyone that's already dead, right?

That was fun, you got to talk to him for a little bit.

That was a fun little adventure we went on.

[spnbaby-67]

"Fateful Click: A Convention Encounter"

Ok so I got a little carried away today with writing, and I can't end the day with no Jared, SOOOOO, here's a Jared Fluff, and what he tells the reader about her photo, he really told me that on the first one and I wasnt ready, so we ended up taking the second one. Surprisingly, I was able to get both. I love this man, they are genuinely the sweetest guys ever. And they know how to make you feel special, even if its for a moment. Hope you enjoy, request are open as well. "Fateful Click: A Convention Encounter"

The convention hall buzzed with excitement as fans swarmed in every direction. Y/N (female reader), clutching a framed photo of Jared Padalecki, felt her heart race as she joined the line for the photo op. She nervously rehearsed what she wanted to say to Jared in her mind.

Y/N muttered to herself, "Okay, Y/N, this is it. Just a simple photo op. You can do this."

Moments later, she approached the curtained-off photo op area where a convention staff member ushered her forward.

"Next!" the staff member called out.

There he was, Jared Padalecki, standing with a smile as warm as the Texas sun. Y/N's heart skipped a beat as she stepped up to him.

"Hey there, sweetheart. How's your day going?" Jared greeted her.

Y/N, her nerves getting the best of her, stammered, "It's...it's great, Jared. I'm a huge fan."

Jared's smile remained warm. "That's awesome to hear. So, what pose do you want to do?"

With trembling hands, Y/N suggested, "Um, maybe we could do the classic side-by-side pose?"

Jared nodded, and they stood side by side, ready for the photo.

The photographer counted down, "Okay, guys, ready? 3... 2... 1..."

FLASH! The camera captured the moment.

Later in the convention hall, Y/N clutched her printed photo op, her heart sinking as she looked at it. In the photo, she appeared terrified, and Jared seemed concerned.

"Oh no, this is terrible. I look awful!" Y/N muttered, her eyes filling with tears.

Lost in her distress, she didn't notice the tall figure approaching her.

"Hey, are you okay?" Jared's gentle voice reached her ears.

Y/N jumped, startled. "Oh my God, Jared, I'm so sorry about the photo. I was just really nervous."

Jared smiled warmly, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about it," he laughed. "Trust me, I've seen all kinds of expressions during photo ops. It's part of the fun!"

Y/N wiped away a tear. "I just wanted it to be perfect."

Jared, perceptive as ever, reassured her, "You know, sometimes the imperfect moments are the ones we cherish the most. It shows you were genuinely excited and not just posing for a camera."

A small smile tugged at Y/N's lips. "You really think so?"

Jared nodded. "Absolutely. Besides, it's a great conversation starter. You can tell everyone you were so starstruck you forgot how to smile."

Y/N chuckled through her tears. "That's true! Thanks, Jared. You're so kind."

Leaning in closer, Jared whispered, "And you're beautiful, just the way you are."

Y/N blushed as Jared gave her a quick hug.

"Enjoy the rest of the convention, Y/N," Jared said sincerely.

"I will, thanks to you," Y/N replied, grinning from ear to ear.

Jared Padalecki walked away, leaving Y/N with a newfound confidence and a photo she would cherish forever.

@deans-baby-momma

[luvcherry]

Let Me In [1] ✾

Natasha Romanoff x Reader. 3rd POV. Word Count: 4.2k.

- || Part Two ✾ Complete Chatroom Masterlist

Summary: Y/n is back in the city, a place she never thought she would be. A heavy cloud hangs over her until it produces a heavy storm.

Content: mentions of a past toxic relationship, slight angst.

A/N: I hate to call this a starter chapter because it makes it seem like it's not important, but this chapter is just to get us started. I hope you all enjoy the sequel! It won't be as long but it will tie up all the loose ends!

MINORS, AGELESS BLOGS, AND BLANK BLOGS WILL BE BLOCKED.

"If you keep dragging your feet we're going to miss the shuttle!"

"I don't like it here, it smells," the five year old groans, tugging hard on Y/n's hand. The plane ride had been fairly easy with her, but the young girl grew restless as she had to walk on her own. The moment they began their lengthy walk to baggage reclaim, she complained that her feet hurt and that she was tired. She braved it earlier due to the excitement of flying for the first time, but now she was making it harder for Y/n. Y/n did her best to keep her at bay, but nothing she said could get her to stop whining. Once they made to bag reclaims, Y/n had to carry both of their carry-on bags, roll her suitcase in her free hand, and make sure she didn't lose the five year old in the busy crowd of the airport.

"I know Kennedy, but we have to keep going, c'mon. We're almost there."

She held onto her hand tightly as her suitcase rolled against the pavement. Y/n feels a little bit bad about dragging the little girl along as they exit the airport, but it's either that or being forced to wait another 30 minutes for a shuttle to the rental car pick-up building. Y/n had developed the skill of tuning Kennedy out when she really needed to; she's learned to just deal with the guilt later.

Every step felt a bit more agonizing than the other. Making it to the shuttle gave her the smallest feeling of relief, but it's something she'll take. The small bus is fairly crowded already but there is one open seat left. Y/n helps Kennedy up the stairs and ushers her to that open sear. A few eyes gloss over the two before reverting back to their phones. Y/n feels so awkward and out of place even though she has no reason to feel that way. It's been some time since she's had to deal with the busy process of the airport and she forgot just how much anxiety it gives her. This was Kennedy's first time on an airplane, and Y/n's first time going somewhere more than 50 miles with her. Y/n stands close to her, worried that somehow if she takes her eyes off of her for even a second that the girl would disappear. Y/n's mother offered to come with them, but Y/n politely declined her offer. It was hard enough to answer her phone call in the first place; she just isn't ready to talk to her yet let alone be around her.

The cracked windows of the bus allows a breeze to flow in and out. Y/n is grateful that she's in the city now when it's Spring, almost Summer, time. It's lovely in the winter, but she doesn't think she would be able to handle the snow and the cold while alone with a five-year-old Kennedy. She hasn't seen snow yet, but maybe when she's older they'll come back together so she can see just how pretty a city looks when it's covered in a light dust of snow.

"I'm hungry," the whine of a child is unmistakable and Y/n worries that Kennedy will annoy someone riding the shuttle with them.

"Shh, I know you are. I promise when we get the car and then we'll stop and get some food, okay?"

The plan seemed to placate the little girl who was playing with the straps of her little book bag. They had run out of snacks half-way through the plane ride and Y/n was worried about a meltdown happening. Kennedy kept quiet but sat there with a pout on her face and her arms crossed. Y/n took her silent fustration as a win since it's better than her crying.

It seems as if the shuttle driver was driving painfully slow, making a 25 minute trip into a 45 minute one, but they finally arrived to their destination. They come to a stop and a few people file out before Y/n and Kennedy can even prepare themselves to leave. "C'mon," Y/n whispers to her, grabbing her hand and holding it tight. They start towards the exit before some man grabs Y/n's suitcase for her to give her a helping hand. He gives her a sympathetic look, one that she is used to and has learned to stop taking the wrong way. She's just glad to have made it this far even though their journey isn't complete. With Kennedy's hand in hers, they walk inside the car rental center.

What was a hectic 7 hours felt worth it once they were secure in the car and driving into the city. Y/n feels oddly safe when she begins to recognize buildings and high rises as she drives into the city's limits. These buildings are so painfully familiar to her. She can hear Kennedy constantly going 'wow' in the backseat as they pass more and more tall buildings. Everything is so big compared to her and it must be a nearly magical experience for her. Y/n had the same feeling when she first stepped foot into this city.

"Are those buildings touching the sky?"

"Kind of. If we have enough time we can take a tour of the tallest building in the city. It's so tall that we'll be floating on the clouds!"

Kennedy let out an excited giggle that made Y/n smile. It is bittersweet. Completely bittersweet. She was coming back to this city, mixing her old life with the new.

Y/n hopes that everything goes smoothly with her job, Kennedy, and herself. She fears the elephant in the room is going to make itself known and cause a disruption in her life. She is older, but she is not necessarily better with handling her emotions. She became an expert at repressing herself by age 10 and she easily can do the same with her emotions as an adult. The feelings of sadness and disappointment she's felt in recent years feels like nothing compared to the first half of her 20s. More devastating things have happened to her since she was 19, but heartbreak she experienced as a teenager is fighting to overtake every heartbreaking moment of her life. Y/n has fought back very hard to keep those feelings deep down. But the dissonance in her head and her heart had her feeling completely out of whack the moment she accepted the offer from her job.

For the last few weeks she pretended like she didn't care about the particular location and that it didn't mean much. Yet the years of imagining and secretly rehearsing the scenarios she drummed up in her head where she comes out on top serve as evidence that coming here does in fact mean much. She does care. No matter how hard she tries to convince herself she doesn't, she absolutely cares.

The chances of running into anyone familiar is slim seeing as this is a city with over two million people. Her and Kennedy are drowned out by the sea of locals, expats, and tourists. But even just being here makes her wonder.

-

"It's two weeks long. I know you've got Kennedy to take care of but the university provides a daycare service. Dr. Bennett specifically requested you — you were recommended by an old teacher of yours. this would be great for your resume, Y/n, and it's paid for. I hope you don't let this opportunity pass you."

Y/n found it tedious to travel for her job. Location aside, she didn't like having to make a decision about something so major so quickly. There are many, many pros to this little two week work trip, and virtually no cons honestly. But it felt like a ripping off the band-aid off of a wound too early — except she suffered that wound 7 years ago. Now she sits in the place that is the very genesis of where her problem began.

Kennedy was buzzing to go into the place with the giant frog outside. It looked just the same as it did when Y/n first came here years ago; not even a single poster had been replaced. She hesitated to step inside but she had no choice when the five-year-old developed some mysterious strength and dragged her to the door as she walked on her little feet.

"Look at my frog!" Kennedy croons. Y/n quickly shushes her so she doesn't disturb anyone around them. Y/n noticed a few annoyed glances when she walked in with a small child in tow. She knows what it's like to be bothered by the presence of a kid in a place that caters to an older crowd. But, she also finds herself being upset at the people who look at the two of them with contempt. Other people's reactions to Kennedy is still something Y/n is not used to. The town they live in is so small and to itself, so it's easy to skate by anyone. A few older women in town will fawn over Kennedy if they spot her and Y/n at the grocery store or library. Other than that, it's always just Y/n and Kennedy.

"Make sure you finish up all of your food; alright? We have to go soon."

"But why?" There was a little bit of sadness in her eyes made Y/n feel guilty. She's had a tumultuous morning, experiencing an airport and airplanes for the first time in her young life. The least Y/n could let her do is enjoy her time here for a little bit longer, but they have to check into the hotel sooner rather than later.

"Because we have to get to our hotel. Don't you want to walk around, and maybe see if they have a pool?"

Kennedy looked at her with excitement before nodding her head profusely. Y/n's not so sure about the second half of her plans, but anything that placates Kennedy is good. She was probably too tired to even put up much of a fight. Y/n is swamped after the hectic morning the two had and she almost wishes they hadn't even stopped at this damned café. The freneticism of this morning is partially her fault due to obsessing over whether or not Kennedy was going to behave. Most of the plane ride she was on edge thinking about someone yelling at them because Kennedy was too loud. Y/n is a big girl now, but confrontation still scares her. She also fears Kennedy facing the harsh realities of the world for the first time. She fears that if that day comes, she might not know how to stand up for the two of them.

But, she doesn't have to worry about that now. It's easy for her to become inundated with the what-ifs and scenarios where everything goes wrong that it's hard to remember that everything is fine. Y/n's worries are a part of a larger fear she's playing the game of pretending it's not there. She has problems to confront, but right now she is fine. Kennedy is preoccupied, playing with a little plastic frog, and not making a fuss about them having to leave soon. A song Y/n remembers from years ago is plays through the speakers and it serves as a reminder that she's made it here safely. She's always so in her head, always worrying about how she's going about her life. Slowly this becoming a debilitating coping mechanism when she has very real things in the real world to deal with.

She lets Kennedy enjoy a few extra minutes snacking on her food and playing with her toy before telling the little girl it's time to go. It wasn't as painful to be here as she thought it would be. The familiarity makes it comforting as she hasn't been anywhere else outside the small town in Arizona where she resides now.

"It's time for us to go now," she quietly ushers her to grab her little bag and the toy she quickly grew fond of. Kennedy didn't complain about having to leave, much to Y/n's relief. She could always actually take Kennedy to the hotel's pool if she ever gets too upset, but that's her last resort.

"Can we watch TV when we get back?" Kennedy reaches up with her small hand and Y/n grabs a hold of it, both of them holding onto each other tightly in what feels like a strange world for the both of them.

"Sure, but after we put all of our clothes away, okay?"

"Fine."

Y/n has this habit of looking down at Kennedy as she's talking to her even if she's walking. She's walked into strangers before because of it. It's no longer feels like a huge embarrassment since it has become a frequent thing, but Y/n always feels a tiny piece of guilt for not paying attention to her surroundings. When she feels herself colliding with someone, she realizes that he has happened again and she immediately goes into apology mode.

"Oh god! I'm so sorry...sorry!" Y/n backs up and apologizes to the person. Her first instinct is to look down at Kennedy to make sure she is okay, so she doesn't even make eye contact with the person she just ran into.

"I thought that was you."

Movies and TV shows have told her that a familiar smell, sound, or voice can transport a person back to a poignant time in their life; today was not the day Y/n wanted to learn that that was true. She looks up and feels like she's got the wind knocked out of her. Not even the collusion was as jarring as registering Natasha's voice and face in her head. Suddenly it felt like the Earth had shifted underneath her feet and she felt uneasy. Of course the thing to pull her back into her body was Kennedy's little voice.

"Sorry for running into you!" She says as if she was the one being so careless and clumsy. She's completely oblivious to what is going on.

Watching Natasha laugh and bend over to reassure Kennedy that she hadn't done anything wrong made Y/n's blood run cold. She found herself warring with her needs and her wants again. She needs to keep walking and leave as quickly as possible, but what her subconscious wants is to stay here. She knows that Natasha didn't wake up this morning and expected to see her ex after years of being apart. Y/n can certainly understand if she's confused and shocked by not only her presence, but the little girl holding onto her hand tighter now, but maybe she wouldn't ne so in the dark if she made different decisions.

"I...I'm sorry," Y/n repeats, this time her voice hoarse from her mouth becoming dry. She's sure that Natasha is still able to read her like a book and can feel how deathly nervous she is. She feels stupid by choosing to just stand there instead of continuing on about her day, but she's paralyzed.

Natasha stands tall again and looks at her. She looks at her as if they're old classmates or something like that; not people who once dated each other. It's partially because Natasha isn't sure how to act right now.

"It's okay, Y/n," she reassures her.

Kennedy looks between the two adults as they stand there silent for a few seconds. She's so confused but her five year old brain would not be able to comprehend this moment even if someone tried to explain it to her. She doesn't know why Y/n is frozen in the spot, not saying anything, and just staring at this stranger. She misinterprets Y/n's behavior as fear and begins to feel weird about the woman with red hair.

"Why are you here — I mean — why are you in the city? I never thought I'd see you here again," Natasha laughs nervously.

"I'm here for work," Y/n responds curtly.

Natasha nods her head which makes Y/n nod her head too as if she's her mirror. It's more awkward than any moment Y/n had as a teenager and wants the floor to open up and swallow her whole. It's like seeing Natasha's face leaves her stuck on stupid and she forgets to function as herself. She feels too many emotions at once that it's dizzying. She she doesn't even have the words to describe some of the things she feels. Her body feels to be no longer under her control and she wonders if this is just a vivid dream that she will wake up from in seconds and will still be on the plane in midflight.

"Excuse me!"

Without thinking, all three of them step to the side. Neither Natasha or Y/n realized they were blocking the exit to the café. Natasha can't be mad at the guy who yelled at them because they were being a nuisance, but this is an important moment that Natasha doesn't want to be ruined by outside influences.

Natasha never thought this would happen more so than Y/n. She didn't think Y/n would want to step foot into this city ever again; she already wasn't too fond of it, plus Natasha had given her a reason to hate it. She can't decide which is more shocking, seeing Y/n here at this café where they met for the first time or that she has a child holding onto her hand for dear life right now. She can't help but keep glancing down at the little girl because she's desperately trying to see if she can recognize the traces of Y/n's face in hers. Natasha had not checked up on Y/n after deleting her Myspace page, and she felt too guilty to find her on Facebook (if Y/n even used it).

She wonders if Y/n is still mad at her even after all of these years. She wouldn't be able to blame her if she was mad. The more time Natasha had to sit with her thoughts she came to the conclusion that what she had done was shitty to say the least. Not just the break-up itself, but the entire relationship as a whole was a bad move on her part. She knew that in the moment when it was happening, but those few months after she felt worse and worse about it. What Natasha wasn't expecting was to feel so bad about it right now. Y/n is not a young girl anymore, she's 27 now, but in her face Natasha can still see some of that innocence she had in college. It's good that a part of the light in her eyes hadn't been completely dulled, but she's so curious if it's because she's matured or not.

"How long are you staying in the city?"

Y/n is hesitant to even give her an answer. She knows what that question will lead to and she knows she won't be able to decline any offers from Natasha. And that's exactly why she answers, "two weeks."

"Two weeks is a long time! What are you going to be doing."

"Oh, I'm a research assistant. I'm going to be working in the university downtown. I didn't want to do it, but you know how jobs give you better opportunities if you clear your whole life schedule and travel for them."

What was a little joke to clear up some of that awkward air was a reminder of why it's so awkward to be around Natasha in the first place. Y/n sees a change in Natasha's face, a flash of guilt, but the redhead quickly washes it away. Y/n didn't mean it in that way even though deep down she still has that resentment towards her ex-girlfriend.

"That sounds great," Natasha's eyes flash down to the little girl who is anxiously buzzing before looking back at Y/n, "well I won't hold you two up any longer. But, I do want to extend an invite to have dinner. It's the least I can do." Through the formalities and faux friendly behavior is a show of humility from Natasha. The look in her eye is almost sympathetic, like a nice good meal is the best she can do to offer Y/n some comfort for a pain she caused seven years ago. "You two will probably be eating out a lot, so I can cook so you can have a homemade meal," she continues.

Before she can't process anything Y/n's lips are moving and she's agreeing to this plan.

"Great. I have a new place that's nice and big, and I could use some guests to help me break in the place. We can exchange numbers and go from there."

"It's still (630) 555-3825, right?"

"Yeah," Natasha is shocked that Y/n still remembers her number. She also can't gloss over the fact that Y/n figured she wouldn't change her number. "That's exactly it."

"I'll call. Okay?" Natasha nods her head. Y/n looks down at Kennedy to check in with her; the little girl was growing restless just standing there and listening to the adults talk and they're going to have to go soon. "I'll see you later."

Y/n gives her a small smile, the first one of the trip, and the first one Natasha has seen in years. It's refreshing to see even if she can tell that it's forced when she sees Y/n's true emotions are right in her eyes.

Y/n walks past her and leaves the café with Kennedy in tow. Natasha is still a bit stunned that that actually happened. It was like a movie moment in real life but without the glamor and a more painful feeling. She didn't expect a happy reunion, but she at least thought the tension between the two would have lessened. It's been 7 years, many career changes, and possibly many relationships later, that should require someone to move on to an extent. She hopes that the dinner will be more lighthearted and less awkward. She can't believe Y/n accepted her offer, but if she's anything like she remembers then Y/n still struggles to say no.

Natasha leaves the café and heads home in the opposite direction of Y/n's hotel. What was once a decent, sunny morning turned into a bitter afternoon. It was the opposite of what Natasha felt inside. She felt an optimism that was almost uneasy. For years after that break-up she was desperate to make it up to Y/n for her ego's sake. She wanted to prove to Y/n and herself that the break-up wasn't just a power move. But, it is also easy for Natasha to delude herself when she wants to justify her actions that cause emotional harm. She'll have to reevaluate what she gains from this and what she wants out of it, if she wants anything, but right now she revels in the happenstance.

That is until her phone begins to buzz and takes her out of the moment. An unfamiliar number pops up on her screen. She rarely answers calls from numbers she doesn't know, but she does this time.

"Hello?"

"I'm just making sure you have my number."

Natasha was not expecting Y/n to call her just five minutes later. Y/n didn't expect to call her either but she wanted to hear that voice again and how it has changed so much yet still tugs on her heart all the same. She's too stubborn to admit any of that to herself though.

"Oh okay. I have your number now."

"Okay. My work schedule isn't exactly always accurate so I'll be the one calling you," Y/n says matter-of-factly.

"That's fine. I'm off of work every day at 4."

"Okay I'll call you when I can to set up a time for dinner. Bye-"

Natasha quickly interrupts her before she can hang up, "Y/n?"

"Yes."

"Can I ask you something? I don't want to be rude or pry, but I'm just very curious."

"Sure, go ahead."

"Is that your daughter?"

Y/n is surprised Natasha hadn't asked her sooner. She kept looking at Kennedy with a mix of fear and confusion when they were at the shop; Natasha tried to hide it in her eyes but it was so obvious to Y/n. There is no way that a person wouldn't have many questions when seeing their ex with a small child. Maybe Natasha didn't ask earlier because she wanted to be polite and not ask in front of Kennedy. Y/n is grateful for that.

"No. She's not mine, but she is mine...if that makes sense."

"It does." It absolutely doesn't make sense to Natasha, but now is not the time to try to get any more information out of Y/n. Despite there still being some confusion, Natasha feels a sense of relief wash over her at the answer.

"Okay, well I gotta go."

"Okay, bye."

"Bye bye."

Natasha's plans when leaving the house today to run some errands was to go home afterwards and continue her productive day. Now she feels like kicking her shoes off and taking a bottle straight from her wine cellar. Bucky is going to be in for a story tonight.

[beels-burger-babe]

Storm Clouds on a Sunny Day

***Oooooo Teen!MC! Thank you for the request @lovevictoire! Now, although I think I'm technically Gen z??? (I could be a millennial. I have no idea). I have like 0 sense of most pop culture and probably won't be able to write that classic gen z chaotic humour properly, so I'm not going to attempt. What I can do is the hurt/comfort aspect of this which I LOVE! So, let's do this. I hope you enjoy it. ((Oh and before I forget *hugs*))***

Summary: MC has always been a happy positive ray of light that brought joy with them wherever they went; at least that's what the brothers and the other exchange students would tell you. But when they suddenly start getting quiet and begin isolating themselves, everyone is concerned.

TW: descriptions of grief.

In the darkness of the Devildom, you were the sun.

Since arriving in the dark, cruel world of the demons, you had reminded them how to smile, how to laugh, how to love. With you around, it was like the brothers had another sibling again. For the other exchange students, you were a breath of fresh amongst all the horror and despair of the Devildom.

In short, everyone had come to love and be incredibly fond of the teenage human that; which is why they noticed instantly when you weren't acting like yourself.

For starters, you had skipped breakfast, which greatly concerned Beel. The friendly giant had to go up and bring you your food afterwards.

He gently knocked on your door with one hand as he held a plate with way too much food on it in the other. "MC? Are you awake? You missed breakfast."

There was a small curse from the other side before he heard some shuffling. The door cracked open to reveal you wrapped in a bundle of blankets. It wasn't until you looked up that Beel got a good look at your face and his stomach dropped.

Your eyes were tinged red with tear tracks stained onto your cheeks. Your bottom lip was still trembling from the effort of not breaking down into sobs. There was not a trace of the sunshine child that you usually were inside of your stormy sad eyes.

Beel's heart broke as you still attempted to give him a small smile and took the plate from him. "Th-Thanks Beel."

He kept a hand on the door to prevent you from closing it. "MC, are you alright? What happened?"

Your eyes widened a little and you quickly wiped at your cheeks. "I-I'm just not feeling that well. Can...Can you tell Lucifer I'm taking a sick day?"

Beel nodded as concern grew stronger and stronger inside of him. "Of course. Whatever you need."

You weren't actually sick, Beel could tell that much. What you were was heartbroken. Something had reached into your soul and shattered it into pieces. He to ask you what it was. He wanted to reassure you that everything would be okay. But instead, he let you close the door and hurried back to his brothers.

His brothers looked at him skeptically as he arrived, noting the lack of a tiny human alongside him. It was Belphie, however, who noticed the distressed look on Beelzebub's face. "Beel, is everything alright? You look upset."

Beel simply shook his head and looked over to Lucifer. "MC has asked me to tell you that they would like to take a sick day."

Everyone was instantly on their feet in worry.

"Sick? What kind of illness? I can get any medicine they might need and look up the quickest way for them to recover." Satan quickly stated as he began to move towards the kitchen.

Belphie nodded and picked up his pillow. "If they're sick, they'll need rest right? I'll go up there and help them sleep better."

Mammon moved to go with Belphie. "I'll come with ya. They'll feel better with if their favourite's there with them."

Belphie growled and shoved Mammon as Levi spoke up. "I-I mean, I doubt they'd want to spend the entire day with me, but at the very least I can provide them with some movies and games for entertainment. In fact, it might be easier if we just, um, m-move them to my room."

Mammon and Belphie were now snapping at Levi rather than each other.

Asmo scrunched up his nose in disgust and put up his hands. "Yeah, no thanks. I love MC, but I'll leave you guys to handle all the snot and vomit thank you very much. Tell them when they're healthy, I'll give them a spa day, just the two of us."

Lucifer sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Boys, Beel hadn't even told us what is wrong with them yet," everyone froze and turned to Beelzebub. Lucifer nodded and gestured for him to continue. "As you were saying, Beel."

Beel shifted uncomfortably at the attention. "Right. So, I don't think they're actually sick."

Lucifer rose an eyebrow at this as an air of defence grew around him. "You think they would lie?"

Beel huffed in annoyance and shook his head. "No. I don't think they would. But when they answered the door, they didn't look sick. They looked like they were grieving," everyone breathed in sharply at the statement, but Beel continued. "They honestly looked like they had been crying since midnight. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't get any sleep at all last night."

Lucifer frowned and finally made a move towards the door. "I, and I alone, will go speak with them. We don't want to overcrowd them. In the meantime, someone please contact Simeon just in case they truly are sick and Beel misinterpreted it," he ignored the several shouts of protest as he walked to your room.

He knocked softly on the door twice before carefully opening the door. "MC? Beelzebub informed me that you aren't feeling-"

Lucifer cut himself off as he saw you hugging your knees to your chest in bed, sobbing your heart out. He quickly made his way over and sat down beside you, gently placing a hand on your back. "MC, what's the matter? I've never seen you this upset before."

You didn't answer. You merely turned towards him and buried your face in his chest as you clung to his shirt. Lucifer quickly wrapped his arms around you and held you tight.

It was almost as if he could feel your sorrow within the sounds of your cries. The way they shuttered and cracked with every inhale and vibrated with pure agony on every exhale. You were trembling violently in his arms in a way that he hadn't felt since-

Since he held his brothers after Lilith's death.

Realization came to him as he glanced over and noticed the lightly crumped picture of you and another human on your side table. His breath caught in his throat and he held you tighter. "Oh MC," he whispered softly. "I am so sorry."

He held you there, letting your tears stain his shirt without a single care. He held you as your sobs softened into sniffles. He held you as your head lolled to the side and you finally gave in to sleep.

Lucifer had been about to fall asleep himself when he noticed the door open. Simeon, Luke and Solomon stood there with equal expressions of concern.

Luke took one look at your tear-stained face before a flicker of fury and angelic protectiveness flashed across his face. He opened his mouth to shout at Lucifer, but was stopped as a hand came over his mouth.

Solomon looked down at him sternly. "They're sleeping, Luke, and clearly in need of it. You don't want to wake them."

Luke huffed and slapped Solomon's hand away before going over to the bed and climbing in beside you and Lucifer.

Simeon pulled out a bag that clinked and clattered from the vials within it. "Satan had said that there was a possibility MC was ill?"

Lucifer sighed and continued to rub circles into your back while Luke gently dried your face with a handkerchief. "Unfortunately it seems the only illness they have is a broken heart." He nodded to the picture on the nightstand. "They appear to have lost someone. Today must be an anniversary of some sort that reminded them of it."

Both Solomon and Simeon's faces softened at the explanation. Simeon put the bag away. "I'm afraid I don't have anything that can help with that."

Solomon nodded. "It's a feeling I believe we are all familiar with," he stood in silent thought before snapping his fingers and grinning. "I know what will cheer them up! Some soup! It most certainly cheers me up whenever I'm upset. I'll go make them a pot right away," he smiled proudly as he left the room, missing the look of horror on everyone else's face.

"Oh my," Simeon began, "I better go supervise and make sure he doesn't accidentally poison them. Luke, do you wish to come?"

He shook his head and hugged you. "I'm not leaving them."

Simeon smiled fondly and glanced up to Lucifer who shrugged. "So long as he doesn't mind being the presence of a demon, I suppose he can stay."

Luke grumbled and continued looking at your hand as he held his up to it and compared sizes. "If they were able to fall asleep around you and you were able to comfort them...maybe you're not so bad."

Simeon raised an eyebrow in shock and laughed a little. "Well there you have it," he looked back to Lucifer. "I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything."

He nodded and watched the older angel leave.

@thegrimgrinningghost

Although the day was a rough one for you, there was not a second where you felt alone. There was always someone to hold you, to listen to you, and comfort you when you needed it most.

On days when sadness and despair threatened to cloud over the Devildom's only source of sunshine, the lords of the Devildom and your friends would be there to keep you warm until the sun could shine again.

***I hope you enjoyed this cute little comfort fic! Thanks again for the request @lovevictoire!***

TAGLIST

@henry-and-the-seven-lords

@satans-beloved-riv

@cosmixbun

@sufzku

[quindolyn]

Better Kisser || Lily Evans

Word Count: 2228

Note: little bit of James x Reader, but I think it’s mostly focused on Lily, idfk at this point. I questioned my whole ass sexuality today because girls are pretty and we got this. I have come to the conclusion that I would let Lily absolutely rail me and then hold me afterwards.

Warnings: Kissing, alcohol, Lily is hot as shit, sue me, barely edited

Part 2

Masterlist

One thing was for sure, Sirius Black was an upright prick.

And there he was all cuddled up in his boyfriend’s arms, having lost his shirt to Marlene many rounds ago.

“You’re really daring me to kiss your best mate’s girlfriend?” You asked incredulously, hoping you had misheard him. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to kiss Lily. No, on the contrary. You were just afraid that it would make things awkward with both her and James, whom you’d known since the both of you were in diapers.

‘Why (L/N)? You scared?” He taunted, a wicked grin plastered on his face.

“No, course not.” You denied, leaning forward to scoop your glass of water off the floor, you didn’t want to taste like firewhiskey when you kissed Lily. “Are you okay with it Lils?” You turned to her, if she didn’t want to then that was a non starter, James could be persuaded. But Lily’s consent was 100% necessary.

“Sure (Y/N/N), s’not like I’m kissing Sirius,” She jokingly sneered at him, straightening her skirt as she composed herself.

“You okay with it Jamsie?” She crooned at him like he was a child, and sometimes he was, his eyes never leaving her lips, but you could only sympathize because you too weren’t able to pry your eyes off of them. They were plump and red and swollen from alcohol consumption, you wouldn’t really care if she tasted like alcohol. 

“Mhmm,” He hummed, his eyes never quite meeting hers, “You do whatever you want baby, you wanna kiss (Y/N)?” He shrugged, she nodded, “Then go ahead and kiss her, s’not my place to tell you what you should and shouldn’t do.”

“Kiss!” Sirius heckled, taking another swig of firewhiskey before Remus pried it from his hands, kissing his cupid’s bow in attempts to calm him down.

“You ready love?” Lily asked, taking a puff from the blunt Marlene passed her, inhaling sharply before letting the smoke billow out her nose, a lazy smile taking over her face.

You nodded meekly before crawling over Dorcas who sat between you and James, where Lily was perched on his lap.

“Come here doll,” She beckoned with the crook of her finger, you hesitantly settled yourself next to her, your side pressed into James’ arm which was wrapped around Lily’s waist. 

“Can I kiss you?” You asked her, you faces inches from each other, noses prodding each other’s, you had been right, her breath reeked of alcohol and instead of repulsing you it just dragged you in further. Her eyes flitted down to your lips staying there as James had to hers. You wondered if yours were half as pretty as hers were right now?

Her response came as she leaned forward pressing her lips to yours, they were incredibly soft, her lip gloss tasted like strawberries as you licked it from her lips, the tip of your tongue grazing her bottom lip. Feeling her smirk into the kiss at your boldness, leaning in towards her more you cupped the right side of her face in your hand, savoring how the soft skin felt under your hands. Pushing her tongue into your mouth she grabbed your waist with one of her hands, working her way under your shirt to access your bare skin. 

It felt like an electric current surged through your body as your tongues fought for dominance, both of you mounting a fierce campaign, but ultimately you gave into her, letting her tongue explore your mouth at will.

After what felt like a ridiculously short amount of time she pulled away from you, the both of you gasping for air. You were distantly aware of the small whimper you emitted as she broke contact, but you couldn’t find it within yourself to give a damn, you were high off Lily Evans, and you needed more.

“I didn’t think you would actually do it,” Sirius spoke from Remus’s arms which were now rubbing up and down the smaller man’s arms, “I’m impressed.”

“Thank you,” You smirked, quickly regaining your composure.

“You’re an excellent kisser (Y/N),” Lily lilted, brushing a piece of hair that had fallen out of your ponytail, behind your ear.

And just as quickly as you had regained it you lost all sense of what you were doing and quickly fumbled out an awkward thank you to her compliment, you were sure your face was 30 varying shades of scarlet and was quick to hide it from the view of the others in the room. Settling back into your seat on the other side of Dorcas you failed to notice the intense gaze of a certain bespectacled brunette upon you that stayed there for the rest of the night.

The next morning, sitting down at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, the last thing you expected was to be immediately ambushed by James. He flew into the seat beside you, straddling the bench before scooping scrambled eggs and french toast onto your plate for you.

Before you could thank him, he opened his mouth and ruined his perfectly pleasant behavior, “I need you to kiss me!”

“I’m sorry what?” You spat out, somehow managing not to choke on the orange juice you had just taken a gulp of.

“I need you to kiss me.” He repeated plainly.

“No, I heard what you said, my bad. I probably would’ve clarified,” You cleared your throat, setting the glass of juice down onto the table, “What the actual fuck Potter? You have a girlfriend.” You swatted his arm turning in your seat so your body was completely facing the table, James was only able to view your side profile.

“And she has a boyfriend but you still kissed her,” He pointed out, you hated when he was right.

Before you could apologize for stepping over the line he continued, his words soothing your woes, “Last night after we all went to bed,” He started quickly, gesturing with his hands as he always did when he was trying to make his case, whether that was to McGonagall about how it most certainly wasn’t him who was hexing Slytherins in the corridors, or trying to convince Sirius and Remus about his idea for a prank, the boy was always moving his hands about like he was trying to direct air traffic, not that he’d know what that was. “Lily was bragging to me about how good of a kisser you are and how much she enjoyed kissing you.”

You blushed at that, moving your hair so that it would hide your face from him, but the boy wasn’t having it and moved it from curtaining in front of your face so he could once again view your side profile. “And that piqued my interest, because watching you guys kiss was,” He paused for a second, looking for the correct word, “Was euphoric.”

“Big word there Potter, Lupin teach you that one?” You tried in attempts to derail where this conversation was heading but he wasn’t having that.

“That was all fine,” He continued as though you had never spoken in the first place, “But then she started talking about how she was sure you wouldn’t have kissed me like that because she’s such a better kisser than me.” You did not like where this was going, “The problem here is that we’ve never kissed the same person, Lily was my first kiss,”

Though he raced over it quickly you couldn’t stop the small smile that bloomed across your face, there was no denying that James Potter loved Lily Evans. Unless you were Severus and couldn’t pull your head out of your ass that is.

“So we need you to help us settle this little disagreement.” He explained as though it were the most logical answer to his conundrum.

“Does Lily know about your little idea?” You finally turned towards him, one leg bent up on the bench.

He hummed, looking down to his hands where he was tugging at his fingers, “Well, no, not yet, I wanted to see if you would be interested in it before I asked her.”

Risking another glance at the boy you were met with his hopeful gaze which quickly morphed into a cocky grin as you nodded your head, “Fine I’ll kiss you, but only if Lily’s in too.”

“Great!” James exclaimed, pulling you up from your seat at the table and dragging you out of the Great Hall as he excitedly jogged towards the library where he knew Lily to be. 

“Oi, Potter, slow down my legs are shorter than yours!” You complained attempting to keep up with his long strides.

“Sorry Love,” Though he made no move to slow down for you, if anything he picked up speed. 

“Lily!” He announced your entrance when the two of you finally came to the library, earning him a sharp look from Pince. You tried not to look around at everyone in the library not wanting to see the looks they were undoubtedly flashing you, instead burying your head into the back of James’ shoulder, allowing him to guide you through the maze of tables and bookshelves until he finally found the coveted redhead pouring over her potions book.

“What do you want Ja-” She looked up catching sight of you as you tried to hide behind James, suddenly very nervous about what you had previously agreed to. “Oh, hi (Y/N). What’s going on?”

“I was thinking about last night, after we all went to bed,” He moved into the chair next to her, propping his head up in his hand which rested on the table top, “And I love you Flower, I really do but you’re just not the better kisser here, I am. But since you refuse to see that and we’ve never kissed the same person before we can’t really come to a conclusion. Until now that is, because (Y/N) here has agreed to kiss me and then she can tell us who is better.” He motioned to you with a wave of his arm and you felt the blood rush to your cheeks, the way Lily was looking at you, as though she was appraising you, made your legs tremble.

“You sure about this darling?” The question was directed towards you.

You nodded your head, not trusting your voice at this moment.

She sat in her chair a minute longer drinking you in before nodding, turning to her boyfriend who was smiling like an absolute idiot. “Not here though,” She commanded with a flick of her wand that had all of her supplies flying back into her bag, “Our dorm,” She looked at you as she grabbed James’ hand, then yours leading you out of the library.

James was sprawled out on Lily’s bed, the three of you had come to an unspoken agreement that that was where this would take place, it only seemed appropriate. Lying back, James propped himself up on his forearms, his eyes raking over Lily’s figure as she shrugged off her outer robe, leaving her in her tight fitting button down and plaid skirt. 

“You don’t have to if you don’t wanna love,” She murmured in your ear, brushing her lips against your skin, “Jamsie’s just being a dick wad.”

A gentle laugh escaped you at your joke but you shook your head, “No, it's okay, I want to.”

“Alright then bub,” She hummed, “Get on J’s lap.”

You scrambled to comply, easily settling into the grooves of his thighs, “Are you gonna sit up?” You asked him glaring down at where he laid splayed out on the bed.

“No was thinking you’d come down here since I’m gonna be doing most of the work anyway,” He smirked smugly up at you as you leaned down to connect your lips thinking, it's only gonna cost you points Potter, go ahead, you’re just hurting yourself here.

You brushed the hair off his forehead as your lips met each other, he tasted like mint and citrus, it left you wondering what Lily usually tasted like when she didn’t have alcohol on her breath. He wrapped his arms around your body, pulling you closer to him as his hands ran up and down your back, soothing you into his touch. His lips were rougher than Lily’s had been, though you suspected they would be, you weren’t sure if you’d actually seen him ever apply anything to his lips aside from Lily’s.

His tongue gently pressed against the seal of your lips before pushing past it into the velvety expanse of your mouth. James let out a moan, you didn’t realize what had caused it until you felt Lily’s delicate fingers slide up from his scalp to caress your face. 

You stayed there, in their shared embrace letting James’ tongue have its way with your mouth until your lungs couldn’t take it anymore and you were forced to push away, inhaling deep gulps of air.

James barely let you catch your breath before asking his question, running his hands up and down your arms which were the only things keeping you up. 

In all honesty they were both phenomenal kissers and they were lucky to get to kiss the other every day but there was a correct answer to this question, and James wasn’t going to like it.

tagging: @randomoutsiders​

[charmingyong]

Only Fate Can Tell

Prologue

Genre: Jaehyun x fem!reader, adorable bestfriend!Taeyong x Irene, marriage, fluff, slowburn, humour, angst

Warnings: slowburn, brief mention of mental health, babysitting children, alcohol consumption, awkward feelings, unrequited love, blinded by assumed thoughts,  an idiot to not acknowledge the feelings of love, suggestive at the end

Word count: 16k

Plot: You didn’t want to marry, but your parents were keen to find you a life partner considering your age. After numerous failed attempts of finding an alliance because you rejected all the potential ones after first meeting, your parents gave you a warning if you rejected yet another one. Therefore, much to your dismay, you chose to give Jung Jaehyun a chance.

A/N: This is a story of what happens before the marriage takes place (i.e. no married life scene in this part, and I will be writing a sequel). A few scenes were inspired by ‘The Return of Superman’ show. There’s a small surprise for Jaeyong stans. Songs of inspiration: Jaehyun’s I Like Me Better (Lauv), Love Me Now (NCT 127). Disclaimer: Taeyong x Irene is only for a fictional purpose in this story. If triggered, do not read this.

Gif: mine

© 2021 charmingyong.

- ❀ -

You dragged your feet to the entrance of the top floor restaurant, your palms getting sweaty as the doors slid open, making you hear the soft music more clearly. You were nowhere near interested in the blind date that your parents had set you up with. Even though you were itching to not show your face to the unfortunate man that had to see you, you didn’t have the heart to have your date be stood up by you.

You made eye contact with a female greeting you upon entry into the elegant establishment. “Hello ma’am. Do you have a reservation?”

“Yes, his name is Qian Kun.”

“Ah yes, please come this way.” She led you past the tables with light chatters, and you reached the end of the room where a man sat looking out the floor-to-ceiling windows at the miniature vehicles zooming on the highway.

“Sir, your date has arrived.”

Kun pried his eyes away from the window and towards you, a smile taking its place on his face. “Hello Miss Y/N. Please have a seat.” He gestured to the empty chair across him.

You nodded, timidly sitting down with your eyes wandering everywhere except on his.

“Would you like anything for starters?” he asked you gently.

You pursed your lips and shook your head. “Um, I need to tell you something.”

His lips formed an ‘oh’ and signaled for the server to leave you momentarily. “Yes, what is it?”

You took a deep breath in. “I only came here because my parents have been pestering me nonstop to get married. I’m really sorry but I’m not interested in marriage. It has nothing to do with you. It’s just me and I’m really sorry about that.”

Kun nodded, smiling tenderly at you. “I completely understand. I’m also here for that same reason.”

Your eyes widened slightly. “You too?”

“Yes. I actually want to focus on my career, and so I was hoping to get married like a few years from now. Definitely not now,” he spoke his last words quietly.

You smiled. “Well, I’m glad we’re both on the same boat. So I guess I’ll be going then since there’s no point for me to be here now,” you chuckled nervously.

He shook his head. “Please don’t. It’d be a shame to have you leave here with an empty stomach. This can just be a friendly dinner. That’s if you don’t mind, of course.”

You couldn’t say no to his kind eyes, especially when he was being a gentleman. “A friendly dinner it is.”

- ❀ -

You rang the doorbell and waited for a few seconds. The door flung open, revealing a smiling Irene. “Y/N! How did it go?” she beamed, excited to hear the details.

“You know the answer to that.” You took off your shoes and walked inside the clean spacious condo. Your eyes landed on little Aera who was on her four and you cooed, running up to her. You picked her up, cradling her tiny body in your arms and smooching a number of kisses all over her face. In return, Aera squealed happily from the sudden love attack.

Irene sighed. “You seriously did it again? Not give him a chance?”

You sat down on the couch with Aera on your lap. “Well, we did have a friendly dinner. And besides, he wasn’t interested in marriage either and he wanted to focus on his career.”

She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “You got saved this time, but it might not happen again. I don’t know how many times your parents are going to let it slide until they’ve had enough and force you into an arranged marriage.”

You cocked an eyebrow at her. “Isn’t this arranged anyway? Having to go on blind dates that they set me up with?”

“Yeah but you have a choice right now to say yes or no. What if next time you don’t get so lucky and they get fed up with you having to constantly reject every single one, and they force you into a marriage without your consent?”

You stilled, staring at Aera’s joyful face. Irene was right. There was a chance that you might not be lucky one day and be forced into a marriage without love. But you wanted to trust your parents that they’d let you choose your partner, no matter how long it’d take.

- ❀ -

You drove to your next blind date a few days later. Your hands gripped the steering wheel tightly as you ground your teeth, remembering back to your parents’ words the previous night. Even though your head was heated, you tried to focus on the calming music that played from the audio system in your car, safely driving down the streets without any road rage.

You parked the car in the near vacant lot and stepped out. The date was held yet again at a luxurious restaurant and you sighed.

At least it’s not as expensive looking like the past ones, you thought.

You grasped the golden handle and pushed it open. The lighting wasn’t too bright, just dim enough to create a cozy ambiance.

“Hello madam, are you F/N L/N?” The male inquired.

Bewildered, you nodded. “Yes. How did you know?”

He smiled politely. “The entire restaurant is currently booked for Mister Jung Jaehyun.”

You looked around and indeed found it unoccupied of customers, only spotting a male figure at the opposite end of the place, his back facing you at a table.

“Please come this way.”

You followed, your legs becoming heavier with every step and your heart pounded in your chest.

Please let everything go well with him, you prayed silently.

The server pulled out your chair and you sat down without giving your date a glance. Once you were settled, you then looked up and your breathing halted momentarily.

His soft eyes were trained on you, along with a smile accompanied by dimples so handsome that you almost swooned.

But good looks aren’t going to mean anything if there’s no love, you thought.

“It’s really nice to meet you, Y/N,” he greeted warmly.

You forced a smile out of courtesy. “Same here, Jaehyun.”

- ❀ -

“So how’s Jaehyun?” your mother asked with an vibrant smile.

You sighed. “Okay I guess.”

“So it’s a yes then,” your father stated.

You almost glared at him. “The date was okay. I didn’t feel anything with him.” Your palms were clenched tightly while you tried to slow your breathing down.

“Oh sweetie, you don’t have to feel anything for him. Love doesn’t have to happen right now. And Jaehyun’s a good boy. I’m sure he’ll make you happy,” your mother said.

You groaned quietly. “What if love never happens? He can’t make me happy if I don’t love him.”

“Your mother and I didn’t have any love in the beginning, but we learned to care for each other.”

“Caring is not the same as love.”

His hard gaze was locked on you. “It is.”

Grinding your teeth, you could never beat your father with his words.

Your father mentioned beforehand that if the date with Jaehyun also failed, then he was going to force you in a relationship with a man that you wouldn’t see until the day of the wedding. This meant that you were now, technically, arranged to marry Jaehyun.

You were at an age where your friends and relatives were already married, even having children. Your parents viewed societal expectations more important than your own, and so that resulted in you having to go on numerous blind dates with you fully prepared to turn down every single guy no matter what. You wanted to marry someone that you would love, and all the dates that your parents had set you up with were of men that met their ideal type as their future son-in-law.

The date with Jaehyun felt more awkward than with any previous ones. That was because with Jaehyun, you weren’t just there ready to reject him in the face as politely as possible, but you were trying to accept him as your future husband. While that would be something teenage you would squeal about in high school, you cringed greatly at that in your twenties. Your teenage self always dreamt of a grand wedding with the love of your life. But growing up, you accepted the reality. Not everyone was lucky to meet their love and the fact that you hadn’t met yours made you pessimistic.

Pessimistic that love wasn’t written in your fate.

So far, Jaehyun did seem like an okay guy and you could only wish that your feelings would grow for him, especially before the marriage date. Nothing about him upon first meeting had you dreading of a thing that you didn’t like in him. But... “Can I please seriously ask you something without you two being biased?”

Your parents looked a each other, embracing themselves for what you had to inquire. “Sure sweetie, what is it?”

You gulped down the bump forming in your throat. “What if I find out something bad about him before the wedding, or something I don’t like in him? Do I have to force myself to be with him still?” you asked with a puppy look to make your parents grow soft for you and agree.

A brief silence was what you were met with as they silently conversed with one another through their eyes. Your father released a long breath afterwards. “You have up until the time before the wedding invitations are distributed to give me a reason why you shouldn’t marry Jaehyun. And it must be a valid reason.”

- ❀ -

“Tae, are you even listening to me?”

His gaze was lowered onto the floating strawberries that swam around in his drink. “Yeah I am.” He took a long sip and smiled, humming in satisfaction. “Are you going to eat your pastry?”

You crossed your arms and leaned back in your seat. “You’re clearly not. My future is on the line and you want my pastry? You’re not even reacting to whatever I’m saying.”

He lifted his doe eyes onto you. “I am. But based on whatever you just said, the date didn’t sound like it went necessarily bad. All that happened was small talk and you two were silent most of the time.”

Your jaw dropped. “So now your gonna be on my parents’ side? Just because we were mostly silent doesn’t mean it didn’t go bad. What if we’re going to be like this after marriage? I can’t handle this awkwardness, Tae!”

“I’m not saying that I’m siding with your parents but give Jaehyun a chance. It was only the first meeting so obviously it’s going to feel awkward. Plus, based on the picture you showed me, he’s good looking.”

You blinked. “So?”

He shrugged, looking innocently at you. “Cute babies?”

“Shut up Lee Taeyong!”

He laughed, his head falling backward.

You sighed. “I can’t believe this. Why am I being forced into a marriage? Can’t they let me choose my partner?”

“They have been letting you for years, but you kept putting it off, Y/N.”

“Because I didn’t find the love of my life? I don’t like my parents’ choices where they always choose the one with money. I don’t want to marry a guy who’s only good with first impression but ends up being boring after marriage. I wanna meet someone like you, Tae. You’re so easy to love.”

Taeyong giggled. “I’m sure there are better guys out there than me.”

You rolled your eyes. “Please, you’re literally like the biggest cutest sweetheart on earth. I can’t even imagine someone beating your level. Irene is so lucky. If you didn’t fall in love with her, I would have asked for your hand in marriage,” you joked.

He shook his head, laughing hard. “Stop! You’re too much, Y/N. But don’t assume that all guys your parents try to set you up with are going to be boring. You don’t know the charms that Jaehyun’s carrying and before you know it, you’ll be falling for him.”

You sighed heavily. “Sounds too good to be true.”

He smiled sincerely. “Leave it up to your fate.” He looked behind you at the display case of the various baked goods before looking at your untouched pastry again. “So are you eating that or not?”

A smile tugged at your lips and you pushed your plate towards him. “Eat up. You need it more than me to keep up with the little angels in your home.”

After Taeyong devoured the chocolate tart, you both stepped out of the coffee shop with plans of heading over to the movies.

“I wish Irene could come with us, but the kids...” you trailed off.

Aera was only 9 months old and there was no way that little bundle would sit quietly for two hours unless she dozed off. Even if the problem was solved with Aera, Jinae was a year older and she was quite a curious and an energetic one. Though not more than Chunghee, the 4-year-old boy who was at the perfect age to be labeled as the troublemaker in the household.

“When I watch over the kids, you and Irene can have your girls night out. Or day, whatever time of the day it is.”

“Please make a vlog. I wanna see you struggle.”

Taeyong laughed. “Sorry to disappoint you but they love me more than Irene so they’re always listening to me.”

You rolled your eyes. “Maybe they’re scared of you.”

He clicked his tongue. “I’m sure they’re scared of Irene.”

You giggled. “I can see that being the case more.”

After paying for the tickets, you and Taeyong walked in the direction of the designated auditorium. Halfway through, Taeyong halted. “Awe man!”

“What is it?”

“I want sweet potato chips. But the vending machines aren’t here anymore,” he pouted.

You pondered for a bit, recalling back to the food counter by the entrance. “I think I saw them selling it at the front.”

His eyes brightened. “Really? Okay stay right here. I’ll be back soon.” He sprinted off in the next second, leaving you amused by his usual childlike behaviour. You pulled your phone out to entertain yourself for the time being.

“Y/N?” A deep voice called out your name and you looked up to find the man that you were unexpectedly seeing for the second time. Your body tensed hearing his voice again, and your heart skipped a beat when your eyes landed on his outfit. It was nice to see Jaehyun wear denim, something outside of the formal attire at the restaurant. In his hands was a container full of popcorn.

“Oh Jaehyun. What a surprise,” you awkwardly chuckled.

He grinned at you. “It is. Are you here alone?”

You shook your head. “No, my friend went to get some snacks. Are you?”

“My friend had to go do something. I was waiting for him until I saw you from the distance.”

Right on cue, a tall man appeared beside Jaehyun and genuinely smiled at you. “Oh, hi there. I’m Johnny.”

You gave him a tight smile. “I’m Y/N.”

His eyes went wide. “Y/N?” He turned to Jaehyun and repeated. “Y/N?” Johnny raised his eyebrows incredulously. He received a nod from Jaehyun and faced you again. “Oh my goodness. I heard about you and it’s seriously a pleasure to meet you.”

“Huh?”

He laughed at your puzzled expression while Jaehyun avoided your gaze nervously, his cheeks dusting pink. “It’s nice to see Jaehyun talk about something other than his work. He’s so devoted to his work that he sometimes forgets to chill out.”

Your heart fell at his words.

Devoted to his work.

You were not into men who were so passionate about their work that they’d forget about their well being. And not just well being, but they’d spend less time with their significant other.

Taeyong used to be like that until Irene was diagnosed with postpartum depression. He then took time off from work for Irene’s recovery. With his full attention on her and taking care of their first-born, Irene fully recovered with the prescribed treatments and Taeyong’s love, and you were relieved that the illness didn’t come back with Jinae and Aera.

You weren’t necessarily afraid of what happened to Irene. Taeyong had to get back to work after Irene’s recovery and they were able to pull through because there was love and understanding between them. There was no love between you and Jaehyun, and so your relationship, whatever little there was, had to depend on understanding one another. And that was going to be difficult when you weren’t interested in the man.

You pursed your lip, anxiously waiting for your friend’s return.

And finally he did with three bags of chips in his arms. “Sorry I took long. Oh! Jaehyun, right? Hi, I’m Taeyong. And you must be his friend, am I right?” he asked the taller one, shaking his hand.

“Yes, the name is Johnny. Nice to meet you, Taeyong. And boy, you have some strength.” Johnny was always the one with the most amount of strength. Therefore, having to meet someone who possessed nearly the same amount was impressive to him.

Taeyong chuckled. “Well I definitely do need it when having to look after my kids.”

It was a coincidence that the other two were there to watch the same movie as you. Taeyong suggested for them to sit with you two, and you sent your friend a small glare to which he responded with a smirk.

That was how you ended up sitting beside Taeyong and Jaehyun, squirming a little in your seat. During the advertisements, you noticed a popcorn container being offered to you by none other than your future husband. And you felt a slight pang in your heart.

“Sorry but I don’t like popcorn,” you admitted.

He was taken aback slightly before nodding and placed his popcorn on his lap, all while avoiding your gaze. You felt a bit bad. He was trying to be nice to you, but you weren’t going to force yourself to eat something that you weren’t a fan of.

Right after, Taeyong offered you his snack. You loved sweet potato chips, being the one to actually introduce it to your friend and you were proud to have him addicted to them. You took hold of the bag entirely, hearing a whine from him. You munched on the chips and hummed happily.

Jaehyun observed this and felt a stab of jealousy.

- ❀ -

“Jinae!” you beamed at the little girl waddling up to your open arms. You picked her up and swung her around in circles, making her laugh cheerfully.

“Wow Jinae, you really betrayed papa for Y/N auntie,” Taeyong sulked.

You stuck your tongue out playfully at him and pecked Jinae on her squishy cheek.

Chunghee ran up to his dad, crying with teary eyes. “Aigoo, what happened?” Taeyong kneeled down to meet his son’s level.

“Mama force me fruits!” he wailed.

Taeyong closed his eyes. “I should have known Ten uncle was going to be a bad influence on you,” he muttered.

“I can’t believe you trusted Ten with Chunghee. Wasn’t it only for an hour?”

He nodded in response and wiped the little boy’s tears away, kissing his forehead and picking him up with his strong arms. He carried Chunghee off to the bedroom while you sat down on the couch with Jinae in your lap.

“Don’t become like your brother and eat fruits, okay? Don’t stress your papa out.”

“Eung,” she responded in promise. You smiled at her and ruffled her hair, earning a smile from the baby.

Your phone vibrated in your pocket, moving Jinae down beside you. You pulled it out that displayed Jaehyun’s name on the screen. Right after the movie ended, you bid Jaehyun and his friend a quick bye and dragged Taeyong out the theaters, not giving a chance for small talk.

You hesitantly answered the call and pressed the phone against your ear. “Hello?”

“Hi Y/N,” he greeted softly. “Are you busy tomorrow?”

You chewed on your bottom lip, guessing where that question would lead to.

A date.

As much as you wanted to lie and avoid him, it ultimately wasn’t going to do any good for anyone, including yourself. Spending more time with him meant more opportunities to find a flaw in him.

“Um, yeah- I mean no! I’m not free- I mean I AM free... tomorrow. Haha.” You wanted to slap yourself in the head.

If it weren’t for the silence on both ends, you would have missed the almost inaudible giggle from him. “Can I come pick you up tomorrow around lunchtime? For a date?”

“Sure, yeah, sounds great,” you smiled awkwardly.

“Great. I’ll see you tomorrow, Y/N.”

Once the call ended, you were ready to chuck your phone across the room before tossing it next to you and slumped against the couch, physically cringing at how the conversation went. Jinae curiously watched you, her baby lips forming an ‘oh’ followed by her eyes crinkling in amusement.

- ❀ -

The doorbell rang to your home, which your mother giddily ran up to the front. A smiling Jaehyun was revealed on the other side who held a bouquet of warm-coloured flowers.

“Hello Mrs. L/N.”

“Jaehyun! Lovely to see you. Come on in now,” she ushered him inside.

Jaehyun’s eyes wandered around the interior design of the house, catching sight of the wall with framed photos of your life, ranging from your birth to your graduation. The smile tugging at his lips was enough to have your mother beam at him.

“Y/N has always been such as adorable girl. Isn’t she pretty?” She cooed at the pictures of little you laugh towards the camera, your pupils hidden behind your closed eyelids.

Jaehyun felt something in his heart. When he first saw you at the restaurant, he thought you were more beautiful in person. The surprise encounter at the movies had his heart skipping a beat. Standing in front of a collage containing various stages of your life made his heart flutter, feeling butterflies in his stomach. He really liked you and wished everything would go well with this marriage.

“She’s beautiful,” he replied with sparkling eyes.

You stood hidden away behind a wall, eavesdropping. To say you felt embarrassed was an understatement. You cringed on the inside every time someone walked into the house and stared at your pictures. You never liked the idea, but you didn’t have a say in it as it was your parents’ house after all.

To hear your future husband call you beautiful after seeing those photos had heat threatening to burn your cheeks and a warm feeling spread in your chest.

“Jaehyun, can I ask you something?” your mother asked.

“Of course.”

She swallowed before parting her lips. “You see, Y/N’s been trying to put off her marriage for a while and I’m not sure exactly how she’s treating you.”

He nodded, comprehending her words clearly. During the first date, he noticed your jitteriness and near lack of liveliness to continue the conversation as if you weren’t interested in him at all, and that hurt him. To see you interact with your friend in a brighter manner made him jealous. Jealous that you wouldn’t see him like the way you would with Taeyong. Though he understood that your relationship with him was new and he was willing to give you all the time you needed to become comfortable with him one day.

“While her father and I made her give you a chance, you’re not obligated to be forced into this marriage if you’re not happy. If you ever want to back out, I ask you to do it only because you’re feeling that way. Not because of Y/N. I really think you’re a perfect match for her and I’m sure it’ll take time before you can fully win her heart.”

You gulped upon hearing your mother say all that to Jaehyun. This meant that if Jaehyun didn’t like something about you, he could back out of the alliance. Your brain celebrated in near victory that it wasn’t going to be a fully forced marriage, as both the bride- and groom-to-be had your voices free, increasing the chances for either of you to call off the wedding.

“I understand. Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of Y/N,” Jaehyun assured.

You stepped out, walking up to where they both stood. He caught sight of you and sent you a charming smile, his dimples on full display.

You on the other hand grew curious of the bouquet in his grasp. He realized what you were staring at and grew flustered.

“Oh sorry!” He seemed like he was in a dilemma, whether to hand the bunch over to you or your mother, opting for the latter. “I-I brought these for your home,” he stuttered with the tips of his ears turning red.

Your mother giggled at his behaviour. “Oh thank you, Jaehyun. I thought you were giving those to Y/N. Seems like you got distracted by pictures of baby Y/N,” she teased.

Both yours and Jaehyun’s cheeks burned at your mother’s words.

After saying bye to your mother, Jaehyun beat you to opening the passenger door, holding it wide open for you to get in. You thanked him with a tight smile.

He had one hand on the steering wheel while the other fumbled around with the stereo, a song played softly in the background as he focused both on the road and on your tensed figure.

“I know this ramen place if you’re interested,” he spoke after some time.

You remembered mentioning to him in your small talk that you loved to eat ramen. Having him remembering the small detail made you feel a spark inside. “Ramen sounds great.” And what felt like the first time when being with Jaehyun, a small smile slowly spilled onto your face, not going unnoticed by the one beside you.

After two sets of bowls arrived at your table, your eyes drunk in the beautiful arrangement of the toppings on the noodles. You were about to pick up your chopsticks until Jaehyun stopped you. “Don’t touch yours just yet.”

You blinked at him confusedly yet stilled.

Grabbing his chopsticks in each hand, he worked with his bowl, mixing the pieces of vegetables and meats into the broth, folding the noodles on top. Once done, he laid down the chopsticks in its holder and switched his touched bowl with your untouched one.

You stared at your meal, surprised that such a simple action had your insides squealing with a fuzzy feeling. “Thank you,” you muttered, a bashful smile tugging at your lips.

He felt pleased with himself to make you feel that way and hoped he could continue doing so in the future. “No problem.”

Both of you dug into your noodles, slurped up the remaining broth once finished. You were glad that Jaehyun brought you for a casual lunch where you didn’t have to worry about manners and etiquettes as that sort of stuff did not go with ramen.

He later suggested a walk in the park in order to digest your full bellies. The weather was perfect, the sun blazing down onto your head and you were glad to have chosen a light-coloured outfit. Summer was nearing and soon enough, you were craving for a frozen dessert.

“Do you want something refreshing?” Jaehyun asked, almost like he read your thought.

“That sounds nice. Ice cream?” You pointed at the ice cream stall from afar.

He followed your finger and turned back to you, dimples reappearing. “Sure. Let’s go.”

Both your steps were synced, and he craved to hold your dangling hand. Craved to have his first ever physical touch with you. But he was worried if it was too soon and clenched his hands into fists to stop himself.

Approaching the stall, you read the long list of flavours, cheering internally when reading your favourites. “I’ll have a scoop of cherry and green tea each.”

Jaehyun turned to you with a look of mild surprise. “You like green tea?”

His face was unreadable so you couldn’t figure out whether he liked that or not. “Yeah, I love green tea. Why?”

He blinked before forming a blinding smile. “I love green tea too.”

After the ice cream date, Jaehyun drove you back home, parking his car in front of your house. He was surprised to see his parents’ vehicle in the driveway. “My parents are here.”

You nodded wordlessly. Your parents didn’t mention anything about a meet up between the two families. They only knew that you were going out with Jaehyun. “Let’s both go in.”

When you strolled into the living room with Jaehyun behind you, laughter was heard as the folks shared stories of you two.

“What’s going on?” you asked.

The eyes of a woman, who you assumed was Jaehyun’s mother, lightened up. “Oh Y/N! It’s so nice to finally meet you.” She pulled you into a crushing hug, which you tried to reciprocate with your locked arms.

“Same here,” you chuckled breathlessly.

She pulled back and beamed at you, eager to spill the breaking news. “We finalized your engagement date.”

All the colour had drained from your face and you took a quick side glance at your parents. They knew that you weren’t going to be happy with the news and had hidden it from you. “When?” you asked.

You were somewhat glad that the woman in front of you didn’t notice your fallen face. “In two weeks. And after that happens, we’ll decide on the marriage date.”

This was happening way too fast for your liking. Even though it was just an engagement, why were they so eager for it to happen quickly? “Isn’t two weeks a little too early? We’re still trying to get to know each other,” you reasoned.

Your future mother-in-law’s excitement didn’t falter the slightest bit. “Nonsense. I’ve heard that this is your third time seeing each other. And I’m sure that if you keep meeting up, you’ll have a better idea of each other by the time of the engagement. Plus, the date falls on my birthday and it would mean the world if my gift happened to be my son’s and future daughter-in-law’s engagement.”

You understood her feelings, and she was right. Two weeks should give you a better idea of Jaehyun, give you time to grow your feelings for him if you could. And it was only an engagement. A marriage in two weeks would have been more devastating.

You stared long at your father, silently pleading for him to still remember the condition set. Sensing that he knew what your eyes were trying to convey, he simply gave you a curt nod. Meanwhile, Jaehyun met your mother’s hopeful gaze, who offered him a tight smile, wishing that everything would go well between him and her daughter. You noticed your mother’s eyes being trained behind you and turned to the man. He observed the worried expression plastered on your face, his heart breaking a little at the thought of you not being excited for the marriage like the way he was.

- ❀ -

“Y/N! Please be our angel and help us out,” Taeyong pleaded over the phone.

“Of course I will. Why wouldn’t I?”

A moment of silence before he replied, “Because of what I’m about to suggest to you?”

After the phone call ended, you lied down on your bed, not believing your fate. Though it wasn’t actually all fate. This was Taeyong partly trying to play cupid.

Both Taeyong and Irene had to go out of town for the entire weekend, including their parents. But children were not allowed at the event, and their babysitter also happened to fall ill, leaving them with no other backup than have you look after the three children. You had never taken care of three children at once and he knew you were going to need a helping hand. And that was when Taeyong suggested that you babysat the three with Jaehyun.

Your fingers hovered over the screen before pressing on Jaehyun’s number. You had met up with him the past week, for casual hangouts and meals. Yet nothing much had happened in terms of you growing feelings for the said man. The engagement was exactly a week away, and you accepted your fate of having to wear a silver ring as you failed to find a flaw in him.

“Y/N?” Jaehyun sounded quite surprised that you called him for the very first time when it had always been him initiating it.

“Haha yes, it’s me.” You really wanted to hit yourself for still sounding awkward with him. “I actually called to ask you... like are you busy this weekend? I mean including overnight.”

“No, I’m not busy. What is it?”

“Are you okay to babysit kids with me?”

“Kids? Well yes, but whose kids are you talking about?” Jaehyun was ecstatic to spend the weekend with you, even if it meant having to look after some children. He was good with children and hoped he could get closer to you through this.

“They’re Taeyong’s kids. Remember Taeyong the one you met at the movies? Him and his wife are going to be away for the weekend, and he asked me to babysit them with you because there’s three of them. It’s for two days and we’ll have to stay at their house overnight. Is that okay?”

I am more than okay with the plan! Jaehyun thought. But to not scare you, he pushed down the excitement bubbling in his chest and calmly answered, “Yeah that’s fine. No worries.”

- ❀ -

Before you could even ring the bell, the door opened, revealing an overly joyful Taeyong. He threw himself on you, hugging you tightly and you laughed at him. He did the same to Jaehyun, flustering him greatly. “Thank you so much for coming, Jaehyun. Come in and leave your bags over here.”

Putting down your duffel bag to the side, you found Irene sitting on the couch with Aera in her baby walker. The baby squealed upon seeing you, bouncing on her tiny knees. “Hi Jaehyun. Thank you so much for helping out. I’m Irene.”

Jaehyun smiled at her. “Nice to meet you, Irene. And it’s no problem at all.” Taeyong led Jaehyun to the kitchen to explain the procedures that you had already memorized from the numerous times you had visited them.

“You two are literally our lifesavers,” Irene said to you.

You laughed. “It’s nothing. I’m sure it’s going to be fun with the kids.” And not as awkward with Jaehyun around, you thought.

She shook her head. “We’re leaving you two with a challenge, and Chunghee is going to be a real troublemaker for that.”

After an hour later, Taeyong and Irene finally left after placing a ton of kisses all over their youngest daughter. Aera was the only one awake at that time while the other two slept. Once you locked the door, you turned around to find Jaehyun introducing himself to the little one.

“Hi Aera, my name is Jaehyun, but you can call me Jae uncle. Let’s be friends, hmm?” Aera bounced on her knees again, beaming at him and did her signature baby laugh.

The adorable interaction between Jaehyun and the baby girl made your heart melt.

Shortly before a loud wail was heard down the far end of the hall.

“Oh that sounds like Jinae. I’ll go get her,” you said. Jaehyun gave you a nod complemented with a smile. Aera let out a high-pitched shriek to grab the uncle’s attention again.

On your way to Jinae, Chunghee sprinted past you into the living room, his doe eyes searching for his parents and instead was met with an unknown man sitting beside his sister.

“You must be Chunghee, right?” The little boy nodded with confusion written on his face. “I’m Jaehyun. Jae uncle you can call me.”

“Where’s mama and papa?”

“They already left. They’ll be back tomorrow.”

Chunghee hummed and walked over to the uncle, sitting beside his sister. “Are you auntie’s boyfwiend?” he asked.

The curiosity had pink paint over Jaehyun’s cheeks. He didn’t know what to call the relationship to a four-year-old. “Not boyfriend exactly but we’re getting married.”

Chunghee blankly stared at Jaehyun. “Do you like each other?”

Jaehyun’s breathing halted for a second. “Um, yeah but not really. I mean- I like her, but I don’t know what she feels.”

You walked back in the room, noticing a calm Chunghee trying to process something into his small developing brain, while Jaehyun sat with a faint blush covering his cheeks. Jinae had stopped crying as soon as her little eyes landed on you and fell back to sleep in your arms. You gently laid Jinae down on the couch and recalled the first mission that your friends gave you.

Have Jinae and Chunghee eat fruits.

Jinae was sleeping soundlessly so that meant Chunghee was going to be the first one to eat them, and that was the real mission.

“I’ll cut up some snacks,” you said.

Jaehyun got up to his feet. “I’ll cut them. You can relax with them.” He knew what snacks you were referring to, sending you a comforting smile before dashing off to the kitchen.

“Auntie?” Chunghee called out.

“Hm?”

“Do you like uncle?”

Flustered, you asked, “Why are you asking me that?”

“Uncle like you. But he not boyfwiend. And you gonna marry him.”

What?

Jaehyun liked you?

“Jaehyun uncle told you this?”

He nodded.

Jaehyun likes you, you thought repeatedly in your head. 

But it didn’t mean anything when you didn’t feel the same way.

After a few minutes, the said man returned with a plate of fruit varieties chopped up into small pieces. “Okay Chunghee, eat up.” He placed the plate on the foam mat covering the floor, away from Aera in case her baby walker bulldozed over the snacks.

The little boy huffed and crossed his tiny arms. “No fruits!”

“It’s going to be difficult feeding him fruits. We’ll have to figure out a way to get him desperate to eat them,” you mentioned. You picked up this idea from a movie you watched a while back and the tactic worked on the child in the film.

Jaehyun nodded and in a gentle tone told Chunghee, “I’ll keep this out in case you change your mind and become hungry. Okay?”

“But you’re not going to get any other food until you eat these,” you added sternly, hoping the strictness in your voice would have Chunghee obey.

Chunghee’s scowl faltered, not believing your words. “You won’t do that,” he responded but there was a hint of shakiness in his words.

Jaehyun went with your flow. “We don’t want to but we’ll have to,” he ended the supposed scary words with a smile to not scare the little boy too much.

The rest of the day went on with Jinae getting along well with Jaehyun, Aera sleeping shortly, and Chunghee frowning. He was the only one remaining who hadn’t touched the fruits yet and you grew concerned. Dinnertime was fast approaching and if the boy didn’t get a proper meal, then he was going to throw a tantrum.

Jaehyun offered to cook for everyone and you were surprised that he took up the task solely. “Are you sure? I can help,” you offered.

He hesitated for a moment, thinking about something briefly before he raised his hand to cup your face delicately, smiling at you. “Don’t worry. I got this,” he breathed out quietly. He retracted his and made his way towards the kitchen. Little did both of you know the true effect that the small touch had on the other, both of your hearts beating erratically as Jaehyun hurriedly hid in the kitchen while you stood frozen in your spot.

Four bowls of food were set on the table. For you, Jaehyun, Jinae, and Aera (though baby safe).

“Woa!” Jinae exclaimed before digging into her food with her baby chopsticks. Jaehyun began feeding Aera spoonfuls in the form of an airplane swooshing in the air, making Aera squeal joyfully. You stifled back a laugh from how funny Jaehyun looked doing that.

Hearing a faint grumble beside you, you anxiously glanced at Chunghee. The plate consisting of his share of fruits was left abandoned in the living room. “Where’s my food?” he asked.

“You know the deal. First fruits, then food,” you answered.

Chunghee couldn’t believe his ears. His parents had always given up eventually, no matter how hard they tried to get him to eat the naturally sweet products. “I. Want. Food!” he screamed.

This caused Aera to start crying and Jinae to stop eating her food altogether. You gave Jinae a side hug, rubbing her arm and let out a deep sigh. “Chunghee, if you’re going to keep this up, go into the living room. Let your sisters eat. It’s not their fault that you don’t want to eat something that Jinae already had.”

Tears welled up in the boy’s eyes. “You’re so mean!” he yelled and ran into the said room.

Jaehyun wiped Aera’s tears away and picked her up to soothe her, calmly her down shortly. “We’ll have to think of something else,” he told you.

“I don’t understand why Chunghee has such a huge problem with fruits,” you spoke. “He became like this ever since Ten looked after him one time.”

Jaehyun took in what you said, his mind raking up on a solution. “I think I can figure this problem out. Can you feed Aera while I go see him?”

You nodded. “Of course.”

Jaehyun found the little boy whimpering quietly as he hugged his legs to his chest. Chunghee’s sad eyes made Jaehyun feel a twinge in his heart. If there was something else behind it like a fear, he would have opted for a better solution.

Jaehyun sat down beside him. “I’m sorry,” he spoke tenderly.

The boy stayed put and sniffed, letting tears slide down his reddened cheeks. Jaehyun wiped his tears away with his thumbs.

“What’s wrong, Chunghee? Why won’t you eat fruits?”

Chunghee was still upset with his auntie and uncle, and so he didn’t respond back.

“How can I help you if you don’t tell me? Did Ten uncle say something bad about it?”

Those words stirred something inside the boy and he let his guard down. “Yeah,” he mumbled.

Bullseye. Jaehyun felt like he was close to solving the problem. “What did he say?”

Chunghee finally looked at the uncle with glistening eyes and answered, “Fruits will grow in my stomach.”

Fruits...

What?

Bewildered Jaehyun tried to compose himself before confirming. “So you won’t eat fruits because you’re scared that fruits will grow in your stomach?”

A nod.

Jaehyun faced away from the naïve boy and a smile threatened to spill onto his face. He was amused by the boy’s innocent fear, but at the same time he wanted to meet this Ten guy and smack him for installing the fear into the poor child. He turned serious again and softly said, “Chunghee, don’t worry because that’s not true. If it was, wouldn’t everyone be scared to eat it? Auntie and I wouldn’t have eaten it earlier if that was true. You saw us eat it, right?”

A glimmer of hope sparkled in his doe eyes. “It’s not?”

He smiled. “It’s not.”

“But seeds...”

“Yes, there are fruit seeds that you shouldn’t eat. But if you accidentally eat those, then they’ll come out of you when you go for a potty,” Jaehyun said, ruffling the boy’s hair. A smile finally emerged onto the little boy’s face and they laughed. “So are you going to trust us and your parents now to eat fruits?”

Chunghee hopped off the couch and grabbed the abandoned plate, at last popping a piece of chopped strawberry into his mouth. “I will.”

You were shocked to say the least for the boy to have finished up all the remaining fruits and had his meal with his siblings. You gave Jaehyun a questioning look, to which he smiled and mouthed ‘later.’

After a bit of playing around to digest the meal, you tucked Jinae and Chunghee in bed and walked back into the living room and found Jaehyun carrying Aera in the baby carrier, soothing her to sleep. Aera’s bed was separate from her older siblings as she needed more attention from adults. Thus, her bed was in the same room as Taeyong’s and Irene’s.

You thought back to your day spent with Jaehyun and the kids, amazed by how great Jaehyun was with small children. From looking after Aera to playing with Jinae to making Chunghee eat fruits. He really was going to be a great father one day. But was he going to be the father of your children?

Cute babies. Taeyong’s words echoed in your head.

With Jaehyun’s looks, there was no doubt about that. But did you really care about that? No. All babies were adorable no matter what. 

Uncle like you. Chunghee’s words rang in your head just then, and you didn’t realize you were staring at him until he stared back at you, shaking you out of your thoughts. Clearing your throat, you spoke up an issue. “So Taeyong and Irene only have one bed, same room as Aera’s so...” you trailed off, not sure how Jaehyun was going to take that in.

He nodded, not displaying any emotions. “I can sleep on the couch here. You can take the bed.”

Your eyes widened. “No! I didn’t mean- I mean... we should probably start becoming comfortable with each other, you know?”

His lips formed a small ‘oh.’ “Are you sure you’re okay with it?” He didn’t want you to force yourself and feel uneasy.

This was your future husband for goodness sake. You had to become comfortable with him at one point in your life. “Yeah, I feel like I can trust you, especially since Aera will be in the same room too. Haha.” There you went sounding awkward again.

Jaehyun bit back a smile and nodded. “As long as you’re okay with it.”

In the bedroom, Jaehyun carefully laid sleeping Aera in her bed while you settled yourself on one side of the bed, facing away from Jaehyun’s side. You were glad that your friends selected a king-sized bed, giving you ample of space to maintain a comfortable distance from him. Jaehyun got under the shared blanket and before he switched off the nightlamp, he softly called for you. “Y/N?”

“Hm?”

He silently drunk in the scene in his view. You next to him, a baby in her own bed, almost like a small family ready to doze off to dreamland. He wished this was what his future would look like, though only with you in it. “I really like you, Y/N,” he confessed and right away turned off the remaining light source, leaving your heart to hammer loudly in the dark.

- ❀ -

“Papa!” Chunghee ran into Taeyong’s open arms.

“My baby! Mwah,” Taeyong smooched the boy’s cheek with a wet kiss, making Chunghee shriek and run away.

Aera beamed in your arms upon seeing her mama’s face, making Irene take hold of the youngest and planted a haste kiss on her forehead.

Jinae waddled up to her papa, babbling for him to do the same with her as her super tiny arms rose up, asking to be picking up. Taeyong laughed and submitted, smooching a huge kiss onto her chubby cheek.

“How did it go? I hope the kids didn’t trouble you too much,” Irene said.

Jaehyun shook his head. “They didn’t trouble us. We managed to get Chunghee to eat fruits.”

Shock registered on Taeyong and Irene. “Did you just say Chunghee ate fruits?” Irene asked.

Chunghee beamed. “I did mama!”

Taeyong nodded his head slowly, letting the news settle in his brain. “Let me take you two out. As thanks for babysitting them and completing the mission.”

- ❀ -

Taeyong drove you and Jaehyun to his favourite coffee shop, the one you frequently visited with him that sold the most delectable pastries.

“I cannot believe I didn’t think about him having a fear, which makes sense because Ten also has a fear,” Taeyong said and took a bite of his strawberry Danish.

“Does Ten have the same fear?” Jaehyun asked.

You shook your head. “Nope. Apparently for Ten, it’s because fruits just look scary. I kind of find it funny that Ten thought of the whole seed thing and it grows in your stomach. It sounds so real and I’m sure a lot of people had that thought once in their life.”

Taeyong stopped chewing, a thought clicking to him. “You know Ten isn’t exactly wrong.”

Both you and Jaehyun stared at Taeyong, waiting for him to elaborate.

“How else do you make babies?”

“Lee Taeyong!” you yelled and slammed your hands on the table out of sheer embarrassment.

His laughter resonated in the café while Jaehyun’s cheeks burned red.

You grabbed Taeyong’s strawberry acai lemonade, taking huge sips of it as retribution. He whined and successfully retrieved it from you, shielding his body with it so that you wouldn’t steal it from him again.

You pouted. “Hey! I want some too!”

Taeyong took a quick glance at the silent one across from you, noting how Jaehyun’s eyes were masked with a hint of jealousy as he watched you be your playful self with your friend. Taeyong then met your eyes and nodded in Jaehyun’s direction. You frowned, not understanding what he was trying to hint at you. He casted his eyes on Jaehyun’s drink and later raised his own to take a sip. That was when it clicked you.

Your lips parted in surprise and turned to focus on the man across from you. His eyes were trained on swirling his drink with the straw. You cleared your throat, hoping you weren’t going to sound awkward. And of course, you failed. “Um, Jaehyun, can I um... try your drink?”

Jaehyun froze and lifted his gaze slowly. “Yeah of course,” he replied quietly and pushed his drink in your direction. You pressed your lips together on the straw, sipping the iced caramel macchiato. “Mmm,” you moaned. “This tastes better than Taeyong’s.”

“Hey! Don’t insult my drink!”

You laughed and stuck your tongue out at him while Jaehyun stared at you with a growing tender smile, super pleased that you liked his drink.

- ❀ -

[Two months later]

For the long weekend ahead of you, Taeyong and Irene planned a trip for you and Jaehyun to a rental vacation home. Now that you were engaged, Taeyong reasoned that a bachelor and bachelorette trip was a must. You were super grateful that your two friends also tagged along after dropping the kids off at Taeyong’s parents’ house.

It had been over a month ever since the engagement and even more hangouts, yet you still felt a little awkward with Jaehyun. After all, he was the man that you were eventually getting married to and you didn’t have any strong feelings of love for him.

Even if you did, you didn’t realize it.

Once arriving at the vacation home in the rental car, you were stunned by its exterior design. The neatly trimmed grass with small evergreen shrubs ran along the edges of the huge light up swimming pool, located off to the side from the entrance. The pool was surrounded by floor-to-ceiling rooms of the house, giving a few rooms a full view of the amenity. Even though you weren’t a fan of luxury, spending three days at that specific rental home sounded exciting.

The interior was just as jaw-dropping as the exterior and you spent the next few minutes walking around, familiarizing with the layout and where everything was located. Your friends and your fiancé were already sitting in the living room.

“This place is so cool!” you grinned.

“I’m glad you love it. Irene found this so it’s all thanks to her,” Taeyong said and pecked his wife on the cheek.

Irene squirmed. “Hey! Not in front of the kids!” she scolded her childlike husband.

You quirked an eyebrow up. “Excuse me? I am not a child.”

“You still are considered one until you’re married and have kids,” Taeyong stated.

You rolled your eyes at his words. He was right, and you felt like that with the way they treated you at times.

When the sun reached its peak midday, the four of you got into the vehicle and drove over to the closest supermarket with plans of stocking up on food and alcoholic drinks. You decided to split up into two groups, making Jaehyun hang around Taeyong while you walked with Irene.

Jaehyun pushed the cart into one of the aisles, containing a variety of pasta and sauces. “Can I make Italian for dinner tonight?” he asked.

Taeyong nodded. “Of course. Do you like Mexican? I can make that tomorrow.” Jaehyun nodded, giving him a weak smile. Taeyong noticed it and asked, “Is something wrong? It’s okay if you don’t like Mexican.”

Jaehyun stopped pushing the cart. “No, it’s not that. I...”

Taeyong waited patiently.

Jaehyun pressed his lips together before continuing. “I’ll tell you later.”

Meanwhile, you and Irene dumped whatever caught your sight into the cart.

“Y/N? Can I ask you something seriously?”

You let out a hum as a yes.

“How do you really feel about Jaehyun?”

You suddenly forgot how to read the labels on the shelves. Facing her, all that came out of your mouth was a ‘huh?’

Irene slowly repeated yourself, as if you had a hard time comprehending her words. “How do you feel with the engagement ring on your hand that Jaehyun put on? I’ve been seriously observing you the past months. Your actions, your words. Never do you talk about Jaehyun and you still act like you’re new with him.”

You blankly stared at the sparkling diamond ring resting on your third finger. Irene was right. You never talked about him, not giving him much of an interest. It was as if you had gotten used to having around him for the sake of your future being tied with his. “I don’t really know, Irene. I mean I do at times feel like I have a small crush on him. He is a good guy, but I don’t... I don’t know. Even though he already confessed to me that he likes me. Plus, he’s really calm...”

Irene was silent for a moment. “He is. But do you ever notice the way he’s like around you?”

You blinked confusedly. “What?”

“He’s always looking at you. I mean not in a creepy way. But he’s always smiling around you. Taeyong tells me how you don’t notice the little things with him and it sounds like Jaehyun gets jealous? Everyone has their own way of expressing themselves, expressing their love for their significant other. Jaehyun might not be obvious like Taeyong, but that doesn’t mean his love for you isn’t there.”

- ❀ -

Arriving back with the trunk full of groceries, it was finally time for Taeyong to have fun. Once all the groceries were put away in the kitchen, Taeyong sprinted out the glass doors, screaming high-pitched, and jumped into the swimming pool.

You laughed. “He really jumped in fully clothed.”

Irene sighed, walking over to him. “Sometimes I wonder if I’m a mother of four kids.” When Taeyong’s head popped up, she bent down close to the edge. “You should have at least changed into your swimming clothes,” she scolded.

With a mischievous glint in his eyes, he caught Irene off guard by pulling her into the water. She yelped, losing balance due to his strength, and felt the cold water hit her skin. “Taeyong! Are you crazy?” she yelled.

He laughed, pulling her into his arms. “I’m crazy for you, baby,” and smooched a wet kiss on her cheek.

You and Jaehyun ended up watching their adorable interaction from the sidelines of the pool and just then, Irene’s words voiced in your head.

Jaehyun might not be obvious like Taeyong, but that doesn’t mean his love for you isn’t there.

“Jaehyun?”

He turned to you. “Yes?”

“Do you know how to swim?”

He nodded. “Yeah I do.”

You pursed your lips. “I’m sorry.”

“For wha-”

You pushed him into the pool with all your strength, clutching your stomach as you laughed hard after he resurfaced. He gave you an amused smile with his hands on his hips. He loved that you were happily laughing at him, loved seeing you finally become playful with him.

“You know Y/N, it’s not fair that you’re the only one outside the pool,” Jaehyun teased you.

You agreed and backed up a few steps before running and jumping into the water. When your head resurfaced, you began splashing water on Jaehyun, to which he let out a hearty laugh and copied your actions.

Taeyong and Irene looked between you two in shock and then at each other. The husband took this opportunity to plant another huge fat kiss on his wife’s cheek, making her yelp again.

When the sky turned a shade darker and the hot humid air shifted slightly chillier, the four of you headed back inside to dry up. Of course, you were bound to share the bedroom with your fiancé, thankful of having previous experience with that. Jaehyun kindly let you use the room first, giving you privacy while he lazed on the outdoor chair, letting the sunset dry him up as much as it could before taking the matter in his own hands.

You stepped out of the ensuite bathroom, the covers of the floor-to-ceiling windows completely raised up and you spotted Jaehyun immediately. Knocking on the window, you got his attention right away and cued him that it was his turn.

Just like Jaehyun gave you privacy, you did the same for him.

You settled for the living room, the biggest area in the house. Taeyong and Irene were nowhere in sight, leaving you to entertain yourself. When you dug your hands into your pockets, you realized that your phone was forgotten in the bedroom.

If it was Irene or Taeyong in the room, you would have walked right in. But you stood outside the closed door, shifting on your feet and debating heavily as to what your next action should be. Knocking would be appropriate but this was your fiancé for heaven’s sake. You shouldn’t be knocking on the door for permission when this sort of thing was going to become a regular thing in the future.

You grabbed the doorknob, turning it clockwise and pushed it opened slightly. Your head peeked in, searching for him. When you couldn’t, thinking that he was already in the bathroom, you walked in cautiously. Right before you passed the bathroom, the door opened and out walked Jaehyun. His jeans and hair were still damp from the event earlier.

But what had you two react the way you did after was for the fact that he held his damp shirt in his hand, leaving his abs on fully display.

The speed at which both his and your eyes enlarged and twirled away from one another would make anyone think that both of you were not in a relationship. Let along engaged.

“Sorry. I didn’t know you were here,” he said and quickly put on his shirt. “I put my shirt on. You can turn around now.”

You let out an inaudible breath and turned, slightly disappointed to not see his abs anymore. “I’m sorry. I should have knocked but I thought... um...” You lost your words when a smile tugged at the ends of his lips.

“It’s okay. I’m glad you were comfortable enough to do that.”

You weren’t aware that your fiancé was in charge of dinner that night and was surprised to learn how much of a great chef Jaehyun was, even better than Taeyong as shocking as it sounded. Yes, he did cook before when babysitting but that was children-friendly, unlike the elegant cuisine of your favourite Italian dish that you had eaten in your first ever date with him.

- ❀ -

The next morning, you woke up feeling the bed occupied behind you. You stretched your limbs and turned around, suddenly forgetting how to breath when your eyes landed on Jaehyun’s sleeping face, facing in your direction. You wanted to touch his milky face, confirm whether it really was as soft as it seemed. His bare lips slightly parted and you wished to feel them on you.

Jaehyun felt a gaze on him and slowly fluttered his eyelids up. The eye contact had you jolt up from surprise while he stayed rooted in his lying position.

“I- I’m gonna go get ready,” you stuttered and bolted for the bathroom, locking the door behind you, and placed a hand over your racing heart.

Jaehyun sat up on the bed and smiled over how adorable you were. “Cute,” he whispered.

After breakfast, Taeyong and Jaehyun decided to go hiking nearby while you and Irene laid down on the outdoor lounge chairs, sprawling under the morning light.

The hiking trail was not too long and both men had reached the top in no time. Emerging from the trees, they were blessed by the breathtaking view of the mountains with a river that separated the mountains from where they stood. The morning birds chirped nearby, and the light breeze carried the echoes to their ears.

“Wow,” Jaehyun whispered. He felt as if a blanket was draped over him. A beautiful blanket consisting of your warmth.

“Beautiful, right?”

He nodded. “I wish Y/N and Irene came with us.”

“Same. I try to get Irene to come with me whenever I’d go hiking. But she would rather rest at home. I don’t blame her. Taking care of three small children is a lot.” Taeyong looked at the Jaehyun. “I don’t know how I survived all the times I had to do it by myself and Y/N always cracks jokes about me suffering.”

Jaehyun glanced at him with a small smile before turning back to the view.

Though Taeyong’s gaze was still locked on him. “Jaehyun?”

He took a deep breath, willing himself to take the time and ask your friend something that had been on his mind since the beginning. “How is Y/N so comfortable with you? I wish she could be like that with me.” Jaehyun was glad that he was starting to see you become comfortable with him during the trip. Even though it made his heart super happy, he craved for more from you.

Taeyong’s eyebrows raised up when finally learning the issue. “Well, that’s something that will depend on time. And the person too. When she first met me, I was a hot chubby mess, always clumsy and super clingy to my friends. I was naughty too, playful and pulling pranks. That’s how Y/N’s always seen me as since elementary school.”

The speed at which Jaehyun whipped his head to the man beside him had Taeyong chuckling. “Elementary... that long?” That all made sense to him. Being friends with Taeyong that long would only make you feel so at ease around him. And with that fact, another wave of jealousy hit him. How could Jaehyun beat that time before the marriage? Jaehyun was nowhere near Taeyong’s personality and he envied that to a great extent. On top of that, he didn’t want you to feel forced to marry him when you weren’t sure about it yourself.

A hand patted lightly on Jaehyun’s head. “Aigoo, is Jaehyunie jealous?” Taeyong teased.

Heat rose up to his cheeks, bluntly denying him, resulting in a roar of laughter from the married one.

“Don’t worry, Jaehyun. You’re a really good guy and I really think Y/N will like you back one day.” Sure, Taeyong was your best friend, but even he couldn’t figure out where a girl’s heart truly lied unless he had a chat with you. Regardless though, he would try to push you closer to Jaehyun, hoping that you’d break your assumed thoughts and give your fiancé a chance. A strong intuitive feeling of his told him that you and Jaehyun were destined to be together.

- ❀ -

Never Have I Ever.

That was a game that Taeyong had prepared for this trip. He had searched up a bunch of questions and written them down on a list of paper in case someone had a hard time to come up with a statement. The original game that he had planned included alcoholic drinks, but Irene had changed it to holding a hand up.

“Why? I wanted to drink!” Taeyong whined while wiggling in his seat.

Irene tsked. “Not right now. We’ll drink after dinner.”

He pouted, eventually agreeing with her words. Even though he was in charge of dinner that night, he couldn’t stop the desperate feeling of having one drink beforehand. “Okay, let’s start.” Taeyong spun an empty water bottle on the dining table and the opening pointed at Irene.

“Wow.” She picked up the list and scanned through the questions, immediately catching sight of one. “Never have I ever thrown a drink at someone,” she said and gave her husband an unamused look.

Only Taeyong raised his arm, knowing exactly what she was thinking about. And to his defense, he responded, “Come on, baby. You saw that guy! He was being rude to his mother. How could I not do anything?”

“But you could have talked it out. You didn’t have to throw your drink at him. We nearly got kicked out of the restaurant before we could even get our meal.”

“I would have made dinner for us then!”

“That’s not the point!”

“Okay guys, don’t fight,” you talked over them and grabbed the list from Irene, rolling your eyes at one of the questions. “Never have I ever fought in public.” You knew right away who were going to put up their hands.

Taeyong and Irene.

Irene crossed her arms. “Taeyong can get so childish when it comes to stuffed animals and chocolates that I have to nag him.”

Taeyong pouted. “Hey! At least I’m setting a good role model that adults should be child at heart, baby.”

But what you didn’t expect was that Jaehyun raised his hand up as well. “Well I wouldn’t say public like that, but I would hold onto my stand at work, which would raise some disputes. I know when to give up, but I can’t let a project go down the wrong path for the sake of maintaining peace in the company.”

You nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly with that, and you liked that thing about Jaehyun.

Taeyong grabbed the list from you, going next. “Never have I ever went on a solo vacation.” Taeyong never went on one, and wished he never did. Where was the fun when you weren’t on an adventure with someone?

Jaehyun was the sole person to raise his arm and you were aware of what he was implying to. He had informed you that he would be gone for some business in Paris a few weeks back and asked if you wanted to join him. Jaehyun felt bad for leaving you, but you spending a whole week in Paris with only him made your stomach lurch. Whether in a good way or bad, you didn’t know, thus rejecting his offer. You weren’t ready for such a stage in the relationship despite being newly engaged back then.

Pushing his broken heart aside, he explored the city in his free time. But he couldn’t stop thinking about you throughout the whole trip, even during the conferences that he was there for. Trips were something he used to enjoy solely. But after meeting you, he would have liked them better if he was with you.

He pushed the feeling aside and merely answered, “I went to Paris, mainly for business though.” He then asked something interesting that caught his attention on Taeyong’s list. “Never have I ever broken someone’s bone.”

You turned to Taeyong, shooting him a ‘what the hell’ look. “What kind of question is that?” Breaking your own bone was understandable. But why on earth would someone break someone else’s bone?

As expected, no one else except for the man himself raised his arm and chuckled. “I tweaked the question up because I technically did.”

Irene sighed. “It wasn’t you. It was on accident and it wasn’t Chunghee’s fault either.”

He sighed feeling a bit dejected. “I know but I feel responsible for what happened to Ten. Like I should have taught Chunghee better. Anyway, let’s move on.”

It was Irene’s turn again, and this time she yelped at reading one of the questions near the bottom of the page. “Never have I ever went skinny-dipping. What the hell, Taeyong?”

No one had raised their hand, and you were thankful for it because you wouldn’t know what to do with that information if either your married friends or your fiancé had done it before.

Taeyong wiggled his eyebrows at his wife suggestively, making her smack him hard in the chest and causing a windshield wiping laughter from him. “I really think it should be on our bucket list, babe,” he said.

“TAEYONG!” she screamed.

He laughed at her while you retrieved the list. “Never have I ever lived alone.” You had always either lived with your parents or had roommates when away from home. Taeyong and Irene were high school sweethearts, and so their only home away from their parents were with each other.

Jaehyun raised his arm solely once again. “I actually live on my own right now. I have my own place,” he answered. He never suggested to bring you over to his place, assuming that you were still awkward with him. Therefore, he only ever took you to public places to prevent you from feeling uncomfortable.

A phone rang, making Irene pick up her phone. “Hey Yeri.” Yeri was a mutual friend of yours and Irene’s and based on the muffled sounds from the other end of the line, you assumed that she was crying. “Oh no, just hold on for a second.” Turning to you guys, she said, “I’ll go talk to her outside.”

“I’ll come,” you added. You didn’t know what the issue was, but two heads were better than one.  

“Alright. And Taeyong, do not drink out of my sight. You hear me?” Irene pointed her index finger at him as she reprimanded him.

Taeyong sulked like a sad puppy upon hearing his wife’s words. Once the two of you were out of sight, a smirk formed on his face and he turned to Jaehyun, wiggling his eyebrows alluringly.

Jaehyun acted dumb, not wanting to get in trouble for encouraging Taeyong and avoided his eyes.

Taeyong nudged Jaehyun in the elbow, making the latter sigh in defeat. “This is about drinking, isn’t it?”

He nodded eagerly.

But Jaehyun shook his head. “No.”

Taeyong deflated. “Why?” he wailed.

“You’re going to get in trouble. Didn’t Irene just warn you?”

“I always get in trouble by her. It’s nothing new. I really wanna drink.”

Jaehyun was in a huge debate. Should he let Taeyong drink? Would you get mad at him for letting your friend drink?

“Come on, man. Please?” The puppy look was too irresistible for Jaehyun to stop him. One drink wouldn’t hurt Taeyong, would it?

“Okay, I guess a little won’t hurt you.”

Taeyong’s eyebrows raised in amusement. “You mean us. We’re both drinking.”

-

After comforting Yeri with her boyfriend issue, Irene decided to call her in-laws and check up on the kids while you headed back to search for the boys and see what they were up to.

Only to witness the scene in front of you absolutely shocking.

Both Taeyong and Jaehyun unquestionably wasted.

Numerous bottles were littered everywhere on the dining table where the four of you previously played a game. Knowing that Taeyong was a lightweight, the majority of the bottles had to belong to Jaehyun. Like a koala bear to a tree, Taeyong clung onto Jaehyun from behind, splattering kisses on your fiancé’s cheeks and nuzzling his nose into Jaehyun’s skin. From the looks of it, Jaehyun didn’t seem bothered at all by your friend with the dimples on his flushed cheeks.

But you were.

“Taeyong! Let him go! That’s my fiancé you’re kissing!” you yelled and strolled over to them. Trying to split up your drunk friend from your future husband was close to impossible. When Taeyong was drunk, his strength nearly doubled. The only other approach to get Taeyong off Jaehyun was for you to take a deep breath and release a bloodcurdling scream.

Startled, Taeyong let go of Jaehyun and stumbled over his steps, landing flat on his butt. The loss of human physical contact had Taeyong become a crying mess, but you didn’t pay any attention to his melodramatic tears. Because right after that moment, Jaehyun wrapped his arms around your waist from behind and nuzzled his face in the crook of your neck. He took a deep breath of your scent and sighed in content. “Mmm, you smell nice Y/N.”

Your heart thrashed in your chest and all you could hear was your blood pumping loudly in your ears. All you could feel was the warmth of his arms around you with the tip of his soft nose pressed into your cheek.

When Irene reappeared and quickly sunk in the scene, she ran up to her husband. “Taeyong! Did I not warn you earlier?” she shouted. Taeyong was going to have a tough time from Irene when he sobered up.

Once Irene dragged her wasted husband to their bedroom, you were clueless of what to do with clingy Jaehyun and later chose to follow your friend’s idea. After much difficulty of attempting to pull him inside the bedroom, you dropped him on the bed.

Right before you left his side, you heard him faintly mumble the words, “I love you, Y/N,” before dozing off.

- ❀ -

“Y/N, Jaehyun, can you two go to the market and grab some food for the long drive home?” Taeyong asked.

The last morning of your time at the rental vacation home had arrived. Thanks to the drunken men from the day before, food stock had been used up considerably quick to battle their hangovers.

“Sure. Whenever you’re ready,” Jaehyun said to you.

You pursed your lips and nodded. Frankly speaking, you were beginning to feel uncomfortable with Jaehyun ever since you heard his confession. Even though it wasn’t the first time to hear him confess to you, ‘I love you’ was a lot more deeper than ‘I like you’ and you were more than glad that he had said it while he was drunk. If he was sober, you would have had no idea on how to respond back. It wasn’t necessarily his feelings that you were bothered by, but your own. You didn’t know where your heart was for him and that was what made you uncomfortable.

Taeyong tossed the car keys to Jaehyun while discreetly sending a wink in your direction. You rolled your eyes, aware that your friend was only trying to get you closer to Jaehyun.

The drive to the market was tortuously silent as you focused your gaze on the faraway mountains and grass fields.

“I’m sorry about yesterday,” Jaehyun began. “I didn’t know Taeyong’s light and when he’s drunk, it’s hard to refuse him.” Taeyong had forced bottle after bottle on the poor man, not stopping until Jaehyun was drunk like him.

You stifled back a small laugh. “It’s okay. I’ve seen it before. But do you remember what happened?”

He frowned and shook his head. “Did something embarrassing happen?”

“Well, I would say something entertaining happened. You and Taeyong were quite something.”

He paled, keeping his eyes glued to the road. “What did we do?”

You laughed. “I wished I recorded you two, but I guess I’ll forever cherish it in my memories.”

At the market, Jaehyun pushed the cart and your hand rested on the side of it. Halfway through, Jaehyun felt his phone vibrate. Seeing the caller’s name displayed, he sighed, slightly annoyed at the phone. “Sorry Y/N, I need to take this call.”

You were surprised that he was telling you, yet hummed in response.

He thanked you and answered the call, keeping his volume low. “Hello? Didn’t I tell you not to call me?” You weren’t trying to mind his conversation but sort of ended up eavesdropping. “Just talk to Jade for me, will you? Thanks.” He hung up the call, taking a deep breath before smiling at you and resumed the grocery shopping.

What was that about, you thought.

- ❀ -

“Oh my love! I’m so excited to finalize your marriage date,” your mother gushed. “The time has finally come!”

You stayed mute, letting your mother begin daydreaming of all the things that would happen at your wedding.  Recalling the condition set in the beginning, your father asked if there was a valid reason to break it off. Unfortunately, you weren’t able to come up with a single reason for why you shouldn’t marry Jaehyun.

Why did he have to be so flawless, you thought.

When the doorbell rang, your mother gave you a gentle push, cuing you to open the door. With a huge deep breath in and out, you attempted to put on your best polite smile and swung the door open. “Good afternoon, please come in,” your tone laced with such fake enthusiasm that you had never displayed to your future in-laws.

Mrs. Jung walked in and pulled you into, once again, a crushing hug. “Oh it really is a good afternoon, Y/N. Let’s get your wedding talk going!” Once Jaehyun’s parents strolled to the direction of the living room, you shifted your gaze to the man himself, standing still on the porch.

“Um, you can come in too. Haha.” You weren’t ever going to stop feeling awkward with him, were you?

Though Jaehyun only held a neutral expression. No smile or sparkle in his eyes. And it made you worry if he was okay.

“Jaehyun?”

“Y/N?” he called softly.

You blinked. “Yeah?”

He sucked in a breath and asked, “Can I hug you?”

You blinked again. Physical touches were going to be basic intimacy after marriage so he shouldn’t have to ask you for one. But then, nothing much had happened between you two in terms of it except for a few, and you thought he was only being a gentleman. He had only hugged you once and that was when he was drunk. “Yes, of course.”

He closed the distance between you two and wrapped his arms around your waist, flushing his warmth against yours. You felt butterflies in your stomach when he placed his chin on your shoulder, staying like that for what felt like a minute, just basking in your warmth before he pulled away. The slight smile he sent your way, not quite reaching his eyes, made your heart drop.

“Let’s go in,” he muttered and held your hand in his gently.

Your heart would have fluttered at the contact, but you didn’t like the feeling that began to settle in your stomach.

After you two walked in, Mrs. Jung began. “Now that everyone’s here, let’s think of-”

“Mom,” Jaehyun cut his mother off quietly but firmly enough to be heard, making her blink at him in surprise.

“What is it, son?” his father asked. Jaehyun was never the type to interrupt elders. But at that moment, he couldn’t let them begin planning, getting their hopes up when it wasn’t going to happen.

He let go of your hand and glanced at your mother. “I can’t do this.”

You were beyond confused with him. “Do what?”

He turned to you, his eyes holding sorrow. “This marriage.”

The eerie silence that followed was broken by your mother. “This doesn’t have anything to do with Y/N wanting to break it off, does it?”

You gaped at her. “This is my first time hearing about this. I didn’t know either.”

“There’s literally no reason why he would be calling it off,” she countered.

“Mrs. L/N, this doesn’t have anything to do with Y/N. It’s my decision. I’m just not ready. I’m sorry.” Jaehyun lowered his gaze to the floor while you incredulously looked at him.

Not ready? My foot! There was no way he wasn’t ready for this marriage. After the confessions, after all his smiles. He wouldn’t have continued taking interest in you if he was going to break it off.

“Jaehyun, this is unacceptable. You should have told us beforehand,” his mother scolded.

“And I’m sorry for that. I didn’t want anyone to know so that everyone knows this is my decision. I’m not being influenced by anyone for this.” He raised his eyes to meet your parents. “I apologize, once again, Mr. and Mrs. L/N.” Without giving you a glance, he turned on his heels and strode towards the entrance.

Your head was spinning, your heart aching for an unexplainable reason as you watched the man disappear out the front door. It happened. It finally happened. After all this time of you wanting the marriage to be called off.

But why weren’t you happy?

Jaehyun stepped out of your house, feeling slightly less suffocated and released the held back tears. He pulled out his phone, dialing a number and pressed it against his ear.

After the second ring, the call was answered. “Hey Jaehyun! What’s up?” Taeyong’s cheery greeting almost broke Jaehyun yet he willed himself to stay strong.  

“Taeyong, can we meet tonight?”

- ❀ -

Jaehyun asked for Taeyong to pick him up. With the plan he had for that night, he wasn’t going to be in the right condition to drive. Taeyong had gotten the news from you prior to the meet that Jaehyun had called off the wedding. While Taeyong was childish at times, he knew when to act responsibly and had opted for cola when Jaehyun ordered spirits.

You didn’t take the news well either and Taeyong could tell instantly by your voice. He was going to talk to you later in person when Jaehyun had reached out to him first.

First come, first served.

Taeyong pressed his back to his chair and watched the man across down his shots. The food had been left abandoned as alcohol became a source of comfort for the broken hearted.

“I- I couldn’t do it to Y/N,” Jaehyun choked out. “I can’t let her marry me when she doesn’t love me. I can’t let her feel that she’s being forced to marry me when she doesn’t want to. Not once has she ever admitted her feelings to me. It’s like she’s only doing this for her parents.”

Taeyong sighed. “Jaehyun, I think you shou-” He bit back his words upon hearing a sob. The sobs had progressively increased, and tears flooded down Jaehyun’s reddened cheeks. Taeyong rushed to his side and guided Jaehyun’s head to his chest, hugging him as he soothingly patted his head.

The sobs had only lessened when Jaehyun choked out, “I love her too much, Taeyong. I just want her to be happy.”

- ❀ -

Your eyes fluttered open, the light breeze gently swaying the sheer white curtains that hung off the rods of your canopy bed. A soft breath left your parted lips and the aching hole in your heart continued to consume you. Your hand laid beside your head, the sparkling diamond ring still resting on your finger. While you didn’t know if your fiancé, ex fiancé, had taken the ring off, you didn’t have the courage to take off yours.

Irene answered the door and was astonished by your surprise visit. “Y/N, what a surprise. And you don’t look good...” she trailed off.

And you weren’t expecting otherwise when you felt like shit.

She ushered you in, and your eyes skimmed throughout the home, getting flashbacks to the times spent babysitting with Jaehyun.

Jaehyun.

You sniffed and tried to push your incoming tears back. “Is Tae...”

She shook her head. “He got an urgent call from work so he’s going to be there till late night. I heard about Jaehyun.”

You merely nodded, not sure what to say.

Irene placed a hand on your shoulder. “Do you want to talk?”

You chewed on your lips and shook your head. You had no idea what to say when you were confused by your feelings. At times like that, you’d go to Taeyong. He knew you more than your parents, more than anyone in the world, and would have a better idea of what you were feeling before you could realize it yourself. Until Taeyong arrived, you were going to quietly seek comfort from your friend and the little angels.

Chunghee came into sight and his eyes landed on you, running to you. Your typical reflex would have been a cheerful smile and have your arms open for him to run into. But you didn’t do that. The little boy’s steps slowed upon approaching you, noticing something was off when not met with the usual response. “What’s wong, auntie?”

A cry that you recognized belonging to Aera pierced through the rooms, making Irene leave the two of you alone.

Jinae had waddled into the living room, her eyes forming crescent moons, delighted to see you. She wobbled up to your legs and held onto your leg for support. You sat down on the floor and pulled her into your lap. You forced a smile at Chunghee. “Nothing. Auntie’s okay.”

Chunghee sat down beside you, looking around the room. “Where’s Jae uncle?”

Your heart stopped at the mention of his Jaehyun uncle. You were flattered that he liked him enough to ask about his whereabouts. “He... Jae uncle isn’t with me anymore.”

He stared at you. “Not together?” You shook your head. “Why?” he whined.

“What do you mean why?”

He pouted, and if it weren’t for the gaping hole in your heart, you would have laughed at how much he resembled Taeyong. “I like you and uncle together.”

“I guess we’re not meant to be together.”

With a scowl on his face, he yelled, “No! You two are!”

Jinae kept her tiny gaze on you and released a ‘humph,’ agreeing with her brother’s words.

- ❀ -

Taeyong had received a warning from Irene to not make noise when entering home at night. His gaze fell onto the figure sprawled on the couch, facing the backrest. On his tip toes, he quietly moved towards it and peeked over to see your face. You were fast asleep with signs of puffy eyes, hinting that you were crying recently.

“You’re such a fool,” he whispered and kissed your head.

The next morning, you woke up, being greeted with a cheery Taeyong who dragged you to the dining table for breakfast. Even though you weren’t in the mood to, he nagged you into going out for a walk with him so that you could digest your meal. It made you think back to Jaehyun when he suggested the same thing on your second official date. You were secretly thankful that Taeyong dragged you out the door as your limbs were aching for some movement after being cooped up indoors due to your gloomy mood.

Spotting an unoccupied bench, the two of you sat down for a short break. “The weather is beautiful, isn’t it?” he asked, staring up at the fluffy clouds in the bright blue sky.

You puffed out as your gaze was fixed on the pebbles along the path. “I don’t know what to do. Why am I feeling like this?”

He snickered. “If I was in Jaehyun’s spot, I wouldn’t even know what to do with myself if I loved you.”

“Hey! Is that an insult?”

Taeyong rolled his eyes. “Seriously, only Jaehyun is supposed to be hurting right now. Why are you getting affected? Wasn’t this what you wanted all this time?”

It was.

But...

“Yeah... but I don’t know. I’m so confused. Jaehyun really is a good guy. But I- I don’t know.”

Taeyong watched you softly. “You know what the problem is?”

You scowled. “If I knew the problem, I wouldn’t be here with you and stressed out.”

He smiled warmly. “Your problem is that you’re holding onto your biased thoughts. The type of guys your parents had set you up with previously have been ones you didn’t like. So now that there’s a guy who is perfect for you, you can’t see that. Plus, all your life you wanted a love marriage. The second your parents interfered and tried to set you up for an arranged one, you thought love would never happen.”

You let his words sink in and felt a piercing stab in your heart after hearing his words. You wanted to fall in love the way you thought you would back when you were a teenage girl. You wanted to fall in love with the one you were destined to be with like the way it would occur in movies. Not through having blind dates with prospective partners.

“Y/N, let me ask you something and I want you to forget that you had ever met Jaehyun the way you did.”

That felt like another stab in your heart, even if hypothetical.

“If you never met Jaehyun through a blind date, but instead met him in another way, would your feelings change for him?”

If you met Jaehyun as a classmate, or as a mutual friend, or colleague, or even as someone you bumped into randomly on the streets, would your feelings change? “My head hurts,” you complained and slouched against the bench.

He tutted. “This isn’t something to use your brain for. What do you feel in your heart, Y/N? Would your feelings change? Would you then accept your love for Jaehyun?”

Love...

For Jaehyun.

You stood up from the bench, suddenly feeling a rush of emotions surging inside you. You began trembling, becoming hyper aware of what you had been doing all this time. You had been pushing away your feelings for him. Unknowingly had been denying your love for him. “Oh my God...” you breathed out. “Why am I so dumb?”

If you had met Jaehyun in any other way, then you would have realized your feelings way earlier.

Taeyong placed his hands on your shoulder, gently turning you around to face him. “You realize it now,” he chuckled.

You couldn’t see his face as your sight became blurry from the tears welled up in your eyes. “Why am I so stupid?” you cried, and Taeyong pulled you into his embrace, stroking your hair. Wet patches formed on his shirt as you sobbed in his chest.

Your friend kissed the top of your head. “After all this time of you wanting a love marriage, you didn’t even realize that the love of your life had been in front of you all along.”

“He’s never gonna forgive me,” you choked out.

Pulling away from you, he wiped your fresh tears off with his fingers. “He will. He loves you too much to hate you. Also,” he grabbed his phone from his pocket and did some tapping. Your phone chimed, displaying an address under your unread message. “That’s his address, the one where he lives on his own. Go to him, Y/N. Tell him your true feelings.”

- ❀ -

Jaehyun doesn’t hate you. He loves you.

With that thought, you quit being hesitant and rang the doorbell. Your foot tapped impatiently as you waited for a short time. When the door opened, you were met with a shocked Jaehyun. “Y/N?” Your name fell from his lips in disbelief, as if to see you again, let alone at his place, would be a dream.

A nod. “Yup. It’s me. Haha,” you chuckled nervously. “Taeyong gave me your address.”

He hit himself mentally for keeping you standing. “Come in.”

You walked in and weren’t surprised for the vibe his place radiated. After all the money spent on your dates, and being your parents’ selection, you expected he’d own a deluxe home, his being a modern bachelor pad. You couldn’t help but think back to a particular set of words when you second met him at the theater.

“Would you like anything? Coffee or tea?” he asked.

You shook your head. “No. I’m fine. Well... actually water.”

He nodded. “Of course. Please sit.” He shuffled his way to where you assumed was the kitchen. Out of sight, you cautiously sat down on the couch, scanning your eyes around.

Jaehyun came back with a tall glass of water, handing it to you. You thanked him and took a few sips before resting it on the coffee table. Your eyes landed on his ring finger, stunned to see the engagement ring still there. “You’re still wearing it,” you muttered.

He followed your line of sight and caught on to what you were referring to. Quickly, he placed his other hand on top to hide the ring from your sight. “Oh, um...” He glanced at your own hand and noticed it there as well. “Oh, you too?”

Nodding, you said, “Yeah, I...”

He kept his eyes trained on you, waiting for you to continue and explain for the sudden visit.

“I’m such an idiot,” you muttered under your breath.

He raised his eyebrows, hearing you clearly. “Why?”

“Because I didn’t realize that I loved you all this time.”

He froze upon hearing your confession for the first time, and his heart began beating faster. “You love me?” he asked, needing to make sure he wasn’t hearing things.

You nodded and laughed quietly. “If it weren’t for Taeyong to make me realize it, then I wouldn’t be sitting here with you. And I’m sorry that I’m late. I’ve been blind all this time because we were arranged, you know? I thought love wasn’t going to happen. But I’m so dumb to not realize it despite all the times you’ve made my heart flutter.”

A blinding smile took over his face and you were relieved to see it again. “I made your heart flutter?” Jaehyun’s heart was far from okay with your confession. There were rare times where he could figure out if he moved your heart, but you masked your emotions most of the time.

“You sure did. I’m seriously such a fool to not have- argh!” you groaned, frustrated with yourself.

He laughed happily, pleased with the effect he had on you. “Better now than never. So you love me? Like you don’t have any problem with me?”

Which reminded you... “Well, there is one thing.”

His smile faltered, anxious for what you had to state. “Yeah?”

You pressed your lips together. “What was your friend’s name? Johnny was it? At the movies. he mentioned something that you were devoted to your work, and I can tell you’re someone of higher position. Will that mean I might not be able to see you at times because you’ll be busy?”

His lips formed an ‘oh’ and his smile returned. “You’re right. I do work at a managerial position, so it is possible for me to be away. But did you ever feel that whenever I was with you? That I chose work over you?”

You shook your head. “I didn’t.”

“Good.”

“Huh?”

He grinned. “Remember our trip at that supermarket and I got a call? It was from work. Actually, that weekend our team had an urgent project to work on, but I was able to get someone reliable to cover for me so that I could spend time with you.”

Oh my God...

“Work is inevitable and rare cases I’ll have to be away from you. But I will do anything and everything I can to put you first.” His smile dropped quickly when noticing your tears. “Y/N, what’s wrong? Did I say something wrong?”

You sniffed back the wave about to hit you. “You’re too perfect. I don’t deserve you.”

The dimples that you loved so much reappeared, and he wiped your tears away. “Nonsense. More like I don’t deserve you.”

“Don’t say that,” you pouted, frowning.

He laughed and patted your head. “You’re so cute.”

Your cheeks burned with adoration for him, and you caught him off guard when you hastily leaned forward and pecked him on his lips. You pulled back and found him blushing.

Out of embarrassment, you diverted your gaze, looking at anything but his eyes. Jaehyun gently held your face in his hands and turned you to meet his twinkling eyes. “I love it when you surprise me, Y/N.”

You grinned and pecked his lips for the second time, wanting to feel his soft velvety lips again.

Surprised, he let out a hearty laugh. “Someone’s desperate for my lips.”

“After all this time, I can’t believe I didn’t kiss you once. Maybe that would have changed my mind and accepted you faster,” you joked.

He shook his head, smiling in amusement, and was startled when you threw yourself on him, wrapping your arms around his neck and kissed him hungrily. Jaehyun responded back, pulling you into his tight embrace and kissed back in a feverish manner. You moaned and combed your hand through his hair, earning a deep growl from him. You pulled back after what felt like a minute, both of you panting heavily. He stared into your eyes, and as a confirmation whispered, “You’ll be my wife.”

­You chuckled breathlessly. “I’ll be your Mrs. Jung.”

He crashed his lips onto yours, moving more roughly. He left your lips and trailed down below your jawline, leaving a wet trail on your neck. Your moans increased in volume and he was pleased by how sensitive you were just from his lips on your skin. He pulled back and watched your reaction.

You whined at the loss of contact. “Stop teasing me.”

He quirked an eyebrow at you. “You want more?”

You definitely did. “Please?” You batted your eyelashes.

A smirk grew on his face. “Of course.” He placed his hands behind your back and knees, lifting you up into his arms bridal style. On the way to his bedroom, the two of you didn’t stop the kisses. He put you down gently on the bed and crawled over you, closing the distance between you two as he gave all of his love to you.

[storiesforallfandoms]

sucker for pain ~ machine gun kelly

word count: 1494

request?: yes!

“can you please do a colson one where the reader is getting their first tattoo and he’s by her side then he realizing they have a pain kink and yeah”

description: in which he finds out his girlfriend has a kink he’d never imagine she’d have

pairing: machine gun kelly x female!reader

warnings: swearing

masterlist (one, two)

*i changed it from the reader getting their first tattoo because i missed the “first” part when writing for some reason i’m sorry i hope you still like it!*

gif credit to @poppy-in-the-woods !

“Are you sure you want to get a tattoo on your ribs?” Colson asked as you waited in the lobby for your next tattoo. “You know how much that hurts, right?”

“It’s one of the more painful places,” you said. “I know that. Have some faith in me, baby, I’ll be fine.”

Colson still looked skeptical, but decided to drop it. You were stubborn and you were set on getting this tattoo, he knew he wasn’t about to talk you out of it.

You had decided a week or so back that you wanted to get a tattoo in honor of Colson. Instead of something small, like his initials or his name or something, you decided to get your favorite of his lyrics tattooed on your ribcage. You even had him write the lyrics out so you could get his writing as the font for it.

It was a bit big of a tattoo, and you were getting it in a very painful place, so Colson was worried you weren’t going to be able to handle it when the tattoo started. He insisted he wanted to come with you to be your emotional support if nothing else.

“Hey (Y/N)!” your tattoo artist, Mack, said as he walked into the parlor. “You’re early! Wanna get started now?”

You shrugged. “Yeah, why not?”

“Okay! Follow me in.”

You followed him into his area and he pulled the curtain across to block the view of anyone from outside. He turned back to you and Colson, eyeing your famous boyfriend for just a moment. “So, he does realize you’re going to be shirtless for this entire thing, right?”

Colson chuckled and nodded. “I’m aware you’re going to be starring at my girlfriend in just a sports bra for like an hour or more. Don’t worry, I’m cool with it.”

You could see Mack’s shoulders slump as he sighed with relief. “Okay good. You would not believe how many boyfriends lose their minds over their girlfriends having to take their shirt off for a tattoo, even if their tits aren’t actually out. If (Y/N) wasn’t a regular, I probably would’ve turned her down for this one just for my own safety.”

You laughed as you began to unbutton the blouse you had decided to wear - much easier to get back on once the tattoo was done. You laid down on the table and Mac started to line up your tattoo on your ribs.

“Last chance to back out,” Colson said as he sat down next to you.

You shot him a look. “Why are you so intent on me giving up on this because of pain?”

“She’s a tough chick, man,” Mack agreed. “I don’t think she’s ever flinched while I’ve given her a tattoo. It’s like she gets off on the pain or something.”

You shot a glare at Mack that he didn’t see as he was back on to you before relaxing your head back on the table. Colson looked at your curiously, making a mental note of what Mack had said.

The tattoo began and Colson took your hand in his. You looked over and smiled at him for a moment, wincing slightly when the needle touched your skin first. The pain suddenly radiated through your ribcage, but it didn’t bother you the way Colson had expected it would. You would wince every now and then, but you still had a light hold on his hand.

When Mack was finally finish, the black letters were bolded by the red of your irritate skin. Mack cleaned it and placed the bandage over the fresh tattoo. “I won’t give you the spiel on how to take care of this thing for the next few days.”

“You’ve said it so many times I think I know it word for word at this point,” you teased. You winced as you sat up from the table, both from the pain from the tattoo and from the stiffness of your back. “God, you guys need more comfortable tables. Feels like I was lying on the floor for an hour.”

“You’ve been there before, you know how uncomfortable it is.”

You playfully stuck your tongue out at him before turning to Colson. “What do you think, babe?”

Colson’s eyes studied the tattoo for a moment, still processing the fact that you got a major tattoo on your ribcage and barley flinched the entire time. “It looks really good. Is it what you wanted?”

You smiled. “Of course it is! I have something to remind me of you forever now, which means please don’t break up with me. It’ll cost so much to get this removed or covered.”

Colson chuckled and also rose from his seat. “I promise babe.”

You pulled your button up back on and headed to the front to pay for the tattoo. You couldn’t help pulling your shirt up to look at the tattoo once more as you and Colson started walking towards the door.

“Mack is probably the best tattoo artist I’ve ever been to,” you said. “He’s just phenomenal. I don’t think I’d trust anyone else the way I trust him.”

“He seems to know you pretty well,” Colson commented. “Like the fact that you seem to be into the pain that comes from getting a tattoo.”

You felt your face heat up as you tried to look away from Colson. You kept your voice as light as possible as you said, “Yeah, well, I’ve gotten a few tattoos at this point. I’m just used to the pain of the needle I guess.”

“I’m literally covered in tattoos and sometimes the pain is still unbearable for me,” Colson pointed out.

“We’re different people, Colson. Different people handle pain differently.”

Colson looked over at you as you tried to avoid his eyes. You wished you had been the one to drive so that you could get out of this awkward situation a lot sooner.

“Babe,” Colson said. You sighed and finally turned your head to look at him. “You know I am the last person to judge you on your kinks, right?”

You nodded. “I know, but...I’m just worried what your reaction would be if I straight up told you that I have a pain kink.”

“Well, for starters, I’d tell you that you’re dating the right guy since all I do is hurt myself.” You chuckled at this. “When did you realize you got off on pain?”

You shrugged. “I don’t know. I was a teenager I think. It might’ve been when I got my first stick and poke tattoo. All my friends hated the pain and complained for days, but I found myself kind of liking it. When I started having sex, I’d ask my boyfriend at the time to choke me or spank me, basically anything that caused the slightest bit of pain.”

Colson shuffled in his seat, a bulge beginning to grow in his pants that he was hoping you wouldn’t notice.

“Not all guys are into the idea, weirdly enough,” you continued. “I’ve been with some guys that consider it a deal breaker. I even had a one night stand just completely stop having sex with me because I kept telling him he wasn’t being rough enough. I guess I just associated that negative reaction with the kink in my mind and never wanted to tell you in case you thought the same way.”

Colson chuckled. “(Y/N), I have a foot fetish. I am literally the last person you have to worry about thinking your pain kink is weird.”

You smiled. “Yeah, you have a point. I just don’t wanna scare you off. I like you a lot, Colson.”

Colson reached over and took your hand in his, giving it a slight squeeze. “You won’t scare me off. I wanna know what you’re into, and what will make you feel good when we’re having sex.”

“You make me feel good anyways,” you assured him. “But, if you’re really interested in getting to know that side of me more, I could show you exactly what I’m into.”

"Even though you just got a new tattoo.” You gave him a look, which caused him to laugh. “Okay, fair enough. I’d love to learn, although it may take me a long time, fair warning.”

“I’ll give you all the time you need.”

Colson smirked and leaned over to kiss you passionately. You turned as much as you could in your seat to cup his face and deepen the kiss, slipping your tongue into his mouth for a short while. When you pulled away, Colson nipped at your bottom lip, which caused you to clench your thighs together in anticipated pleasure.

“Get us home before I climb on your lap in this parking lot,” you told him.

Colson didn’t have to be told twice. Within seconds, he had the car started and was racing out of the parking lot and back towards his house.

[alpines-bucky]

No one said Starks weren't a little dramatic

This is the first time I write Tony x daughter reader I hope you guys like it :)

Word Count: 2319 ( Things got a bit out of my hands while I was editing and eventhough it's edited I can't promise that there aren't any typos and I dtill wasn't satisfied with what I wrote but 🤷‍♀️Ig )

Warnings: Major character death, a lot of angst

Y/N loses her dad when he decides to save the universe with a snap of his fingers but when did anyone see a Stark not getting what they want? Let me answer for you, Never. ( AKA Y/N gambles with time and space and universes surprisingly there isn't any VA involved cause in my opinion they suck to save her dad but apparently there are always consequences)

Y/N had arrived at her destination albeit being a little late. She wanted to be there when the team tried to go back in time to get the Stones in hopes of saving aunt Tasha too but she had one and only shot at this so she had to make do with what she had. What she didn’t realise was she accidentally changed universes instead of going back in time.

The way she found out that the place she had arrived wasn’t when or where she intented to was Morgan, the little girl with big Brown eyes who had total control over her older sister the second they met. Y/N had to lay low and do her research before approaching them. But when she heard about Morgan she had to meet her before doing what she came to do. And that’s exactly what she did.

She found Morgan in a house by the lake with a woman who she assumed was Pepper.Her visit was short since she couldn’t afford getting caught by Pepper which would mean jeopardising the whole plan she had spent months making. She left a message for her dad before going off to save the man itself.

Her dad was fighting with Thanos when she arrived to the scene. The more she looked around the more it looked like the place she fought along with her dad and that meant one thing, she had to act quick.

‘’I am inevitable’’ Thanos said as he snapped his finger but nothing happened. Confused, he looked at his gauntlet to find that the Stones that were there a minute ago were no longer in their places. He looked around to see that Tony had them somehow.

‘’And I’m Iron Man’’ said Tony full of emotions as he was about to snap his fingers. He thought having all six Stones in his hands would kill him being a mortal and he was fine with it if that meant she could ensure his family’s security but he felt nothing. He thought he had died instantly but he found out that wasn’t the case when he got startled by an unknown voice.

‘’Oh, the hell with that!’’ said a girl who wore a similar suit to Tony’s. She seemed to appear out of nowhere. Which confused both man further.

‘’Who the hell are you?’’ asked Tony. Who the hell was mad enough decided to mess up the only chance of him stopping the big purple psycho of a man.

‘’Who do you think?’’ said the girl, winking at him confidentally but her eyes told a different story. There was sadness in them, grief and loss but it seemed like she was happy at the same time.What surprised him was the familiarity she carried but he couldn’t put his finger on it. So he searched her suit for some clues which led up to him finding the Stones. She was the reason he was not dead, she somehow got possession of the Stones.

‘’Kid, no!’’ yelled Tony. He attempted to get closer to her but she snapped her fingers before he could stop her. Everything stilled for a second. The other avengers thought Tony had done it as Thanos’ soldiers had started to turn to dust all of a sudden but when they found a girl that they’ve never seen before in the arms of Tony with fetal injuries they were puzzled. They gathered around Tony and the girl who struggled tos tay alive.

‘’I made it! I… I saved you, Dad.’’Tony was shocked at her words. He was processing what he heard as Pepper landed next to them and kneeled. They couldn’t Wrap their heads around what was happening but they both were not going to let a dying kid down for sure.

She had a difficulty breathing, she was in agonizing pain but she had a peaceful smile on her face. She tried to lift her hand but it pained her more, she whimpered. Tony sensed her intentions and put her hand on his cheek for her. He put his hand on top of her, gave it a gentle squeeze. ‘’Friday, what do we have?’’ asked Tony.

‘’3 to 4 degree burns from her right hand up to her face. Internal bleeding. Her lungs are collapsing... Life functions critical.’’ Answered the voice from both of the suits. Pepper grimaced, she didn’t know who this girl was but she had sacrificed herself for Tony, the man she referred ‘dad’. ‘’Who are you?’’ asked Pepper.

‘’I’m–‘’ she coughed, blood was pooling in her mouth. ‘’I’m surprised you couldn’t figure it out yet…’’ she let out a bloody laugh. ‘’I’m Y/N. Y/N Stark.’’ She said with her last breath. That shook the whole group to their cores. The girl wasn’t lying or confusing Tony with someone else. The girl who lied in his Tony’s arms nonbreathing was infact the daughter of Tony Stark. From the moment they realised the truth everything was a blur to the Stark Family and the avengers.

Y/N was Tony’s first daughter who had died in a cross fire 7 years ago. She was a teenager at the time. She would have been a few years older than Peter if she had lived. It was a wrong place wrong time type of situation, she had died on the scene. Tony had nightmares after that, his insomnia got worse. He had blamed himself although it had nothing to do with him. The guilt ate him alive day by day. He realised why the girl’s eyes were so familiar to him now, she was his Y/N/N. A grown, older version of her, but his Y/N nontheless.

He didn’t think he could recover from her death but losing her, seeing her die in his arms for the second time ruined him. He had no idea what was happening outside of his head, he was in a trance, he had stayed still looking at his hands where Y/N laid. Until his little girl, Morgan came up to him with a disk in hand and said ‘’Daddy! Daddy! A girl called Y/N wanted me to give this to you’’ That got everyone’s attention.

Tony told Friday to scan the disk and display whatever is in it. When he saw Y/N in front of her, he couldn’t stop the tears from falling and when she started speaking as if she could see her Tony lost it. He couldn’t hear her because of his own sobs, he didn’t even realised the rest of the avengers and his wife as they piled in the room when they heard Tony and Y/N’s voice. He had to stop the hologram a few times to gather himself. When he got control of his breathing, he built up his courage and displayed it all over again.

‘’Hey dad. I’m assuming since you are watching this I suceed. I’ve saved you.’’ She had to stop for a second to take a breath in to compose herself. ‘This time’ she said under her breath but Friday caught it.

‘’You are wondering how the hell I am alive. Well… For starters, I didn’t know that I was dead in this world which… makes you realise that I’m not from this world. I’m actually from what you call an alternative universe. Things got out of hand in my universe after… after you… Oh shit! This is too hard. I knew I couldn’t do this shit! I can’t even talk to my own god damn suit picturing it as my hypothetical dad without messing it up’’ that made a few people chuckle and a few others tos mile. The girl really was his father’s child after all.

‘’Okay I’m hoping you either won’t have to watch this or I can cut that part before giving it to Morgan. Anyways, I’m rambling.’’ Tony saw his younger self in Y/N which put a sad smile to his face. This was something he never got to experience before. To see her this grown up. To see a pieces of him in her.

‘’ So things went down hill after you did the whole ‘I’m Iron Man’ thing –which by the way I’m still mad at you about­- You… You died in my hands, dad.’’ She gulped. She had begun crying a while ago but now that she was talking about her dad’s death, she felt like the lump in her throat got bigger and bigger, suffocating her. ‘’ I was all alone for years! You were all I had and then within a second you were gone! I didn’t have anyone else!’’ She tried to calm herself. She wasn’t recording this to make him feel guilty or get answers she was possibly never going to hear. This was a goodbye. A goodbye she knew he deserved just like how she did from him.

‘’That’s why I made the decision to change it but I accidentally changed universes instead of going back in time. But this was my only chance, only shot at making it right. And then I found out that I had died in this universe and you had moved on. Good for you, dad. I’m really proud of you. You did what I couldn’t. It was a relief to know that you were happy and that you had a family now. I thought for a second that maybe the blip didn’t happen. That in this universe, you had a lovely life and I thought for a second maybe I could be in it too. Stay with you but that hope was shortly lived.’’ She gave a sad smile.

‘’And now I’m about to go to the battle field. Before I go, I have to say, I don’t know how if there is any way for me to stop you. I can’t take it all back but I will do anything to not let another girl grow up without her dad. And I ain’t going to let my own sister down. Oh, did you know that I always wanted a sister?’’ she chuckled making Tony’s heart warm. It has been so long since he heard his daughter chuckle the damn way he does. She stopped for a second to think ‘’Well, she has the Stark charm, that’s for sure. I only knew her for a few hours and she had me the second we met. I wish I could be there for her as her older sister. I would give anything to see her grow up but if that has to be for only one of us to see, I’d rather that be you because I’ve been there. I know how hard it is to lose your dad. I could see clearly what she would have to go through and the moment I realised that I knew what I had to do. I would stop you at all costs and since this reacording is being played I could sleep peacefully knowing she has you.’’ She smiled with tears escaping her eyes once again. Tony was full of emotions. His daughter he has been longing for years was right in front of him but way too far away at the same time.

With a sigh she started ‘’ You have people you can hold on to. I never did. Pepper, Morgan, Rhodey, the spider kid... Hold on to them Tony. Hold on to the team. Oh, speaking of the team, tell them I love them and I missed them so badly. I’m sorry. I thought I was going to have more time to talk And maybe if a miracle happens and we all can manage to stay alive I could tell you all about it but I have to go now. Have an old man to save’’ She saluted and looked around right where the broken team of Avengers were with longing in her eyes. She moved closer to the disk to cut the recording but decided against it the last second. Tony hung his head, his heart broke to hear the hope in her voice when he knew what already happened. He thought this was the end of the recording but he looked up when he heard her talking and she had turned to him and looked right at him as if she knew where he was stated. That sent shivers up Tony’s spine.

‘’I know you think I made the wrong decision but I saved you. I refuse to let you down once again. I refuse to see you die in front of me once again. I’m not sorry for what I’m about to do, I knew the consequences when I made this plan months ago. I’m only sorry because although I tried so much to have the future we always talked about with you, I won’t be able to, Tones. But Morgan will be. And I would give up anything for that little girl. And for you.’’ She said as she caressed the necklace Tony gave her when she was a child. She took the chain out of her neck and put it somewhere Tony couldn’t see. And Tony knew this was only a tape but he tried to hold on to his daughter, to stop her from going out there. His breath caught in his throat when his hands went through Y/N’s body. He fell to his knees.

‘’ But hey if it turns out that I, this badass manage to get both of us home in one peace one we can laugh our asses off as we watch me being the drama queen that I am… Well, no one said Starks weren’t a bit dramatic.’’ The heart Tony thought had broken to a million pieces broke further as he heard the tremble in her voice as she tried to put her brave face on. But she couldn’t hide it when one last tear escaped from her slightly swollen eyes as she ended the recording.

Why do I never have good endings? Cause I write in the middle of the night when I feel sad most of the time and it's easier to write sad than it is to write happy.

I hope you liked it. I would love to hear your thoughts on this one. I'd also like to discuss if you'd like the alternative ending that could be a happy one :)

[donteattheappleshook]

WIP Wednesday : Untitled Silver Emma Fic

I got a little stuck after my last update of Not Broken so I decided to tackle this little plot bunny that wouldn’t leave me alone. Instead, it became a monster. 

Loosely inspired by The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, a little older Emma/younger Killian romance.

***

“Oh come on,” she whined at it, trying again. “Come on, you’ve never let me down before.” The Bug was ancient - as her husband and son enjoyed pointing out - but she’d had it since she was a teenager and she wasn’t going to give it up until it died. Which it had apparently decided to do today. “Really?” she demanded, aware that she was talking to a car but not caring. “Today? Of all days?” 

She tried one more time. The sad, old engine grumbled, the car rattled, and then there was an awful screeching sound and it went silent. Emma gripped the steering wheel, her head falling back against the headrest and letting out a guttural cry of frustration. Just what she needed: one more thing in her life falling apart. 

“Are you alright, love?” a concerned voice asked softly beside her. Her face somehow managed to pale and flush at the same time as she opened her eyes and looked over to see Killian standing outside the car, leaning awkwardly to see her through her window. Of course it was him, of course he was catching her screaming and abusing inanimate objects a second time. Her neighbour was going to think she was insane.

“The car won’t start,” she explained weakly. He pressed his lips together, brow pulling down and nodded. 

“Do you want me to take a look at it?” he offered. 

“Do you know anything about cars?” Killian gave her a wry smile and she realised that question may have been a little rude. “Sorry. My husband and my kid both love to mess with cars but don’t actually know anything about them.” She winced, remembering the old beat up vehicles they’d taken apart and laid to rest over the years tinkering. Emma stroked the steering wheel. She’d never let them anywhere near it. “This one’s… sentimental.” 

He smiled again, nodding. “I promise not to hurt her. My brother was a mechanic. I worked with him for a while.” She didn’t miss the use of the word was and hoped his brother had just found a new profession. 

“Yeah, okay. Thanks.” 

He tapped the window frame, looking pleased that she’d accepted his help. “Pop the hood, will you?” She did as he asked. “Okay turn it on,” he called. "Okay, off." She heard a few clanks and then he had her do it again before going back to work. 

Emma waited there, feeling awkward sitting in the front seat quietly while he tried to figure out what was wrong, but realising it was probably even more awkward to stand there next to him while he tried to figure out what was wrong. He worked a little longer, Emma only catching glimpses of an elbow or a shoulder from behind the hood, noting that his left hand was a prosthetic like she’d guessed and wondering what could have happened to him. He was still so young. 

Finally, he shut the hood and came back around to the window, wiping oil on the front of his jeans from his stained-black hand. “Do you want the good news or the bad news?”

“The good news,” she said, needing some good news this week. 

“You just need a new starter. It’ll cost a pretty penny but it’s easy to replace.” 

“And the bad news?”

He winced. “It’s not going anywhere until you do.” 

“Damn it,” she sighed, hands dropping into her lap. Neal had taken his car and she didn’t enjoy the idea of carrying armfulls of groceries for thirty people - half of them teenage boys -  on the bus. 

“Do you have somewhere to be?”

“The grocery store. I need to get food for a party we’re throwing Henry tomorrow.” 

“Is it his birthday?” 

“No, he’s moving out on Friday.” She tried to keep the sadness that always clinged to those words from her voice. “I’ve got to pick up some stuff to stock his fridge with too.” 

“Oh right. He mentioned that,” Killian nodded. “Well, I could give you a lift if you want.”

“To the store?”

“That’s where you said you were headed, isn’t it?” 

“I - yeah. But you don’t have to…”

“I don’t mind,” he insisted. “It feels like the neighbourly thing to do.” She should say no. It was too big a favour. But she was really desperate. 

“Are you sure?” She found herself returning his infectious smile even as she still hesitated.

“Absolutely,” he beamed. “Let me just get cleaned up really quick,” he added, looking down at his hand and his grease covered jeans. He gestured towards the house, the invitation obvious even if he didn’t say it out loud. Emma grabbed her wallet, nodding and stepping out of the car. She followed him across the lawn to his house, hovering awkwardly on the driveway as he headed up to the front door. 

“You’re welcome to wait inside,” he told her, then glanced up at the sky. “Looks like it might rain.” 

She hesitated for only a moment, feeling a bit strange following a twenty-five year old (she guessed) into his house when any of the gossips on the street could see. Come on, Emma, you’re forty next month. Be a grownup. 

“Okay, thanks.”

*****

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