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kpopfanfictrash · 4 years ago

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Raise the Barre (Ch. 8)

Author: kpopfanfictrash

Pairing: Jimin / Reader

Rating: 18+ (Eventual Smut)

Genre: Enemies to Lovers / Dance Academy!AU

Warnings: underage drinking, angst, hoseok’s bare abs

Word Count: 10,705

Summary: You and Park Jimin have been rivals for as long as you’ve known one another; ever since he tripped you in the front row of your first dance convention. When you graduate from high school and enter Russet Ballet Academy, you tell yourself you’re leaving all past quarrels behind. The main problem with this though, is that your past seems determined not to leave you alone.

Worse still, the obstacles you face while out in the real world might prove more challenging than anything your enemy has to offer.

“Okay, even you have to admit this is too soon.” Finn stared, appalled at the chalkboard. “It’s not even Halloween!”

Laughing a little, you looped your arm around his to drag him towards the back. Plopping down in a chair, you placed your order number in the center of the table. Seating himself across the table from you, Finn began to undo his coat.

“Come on.” He grinned, brown hair flopping when he leaned forward. “Admit it – this is too early for holiday drinks.”

“Okay, maybe it’s a little early,” you acquiesced. “But Halloween is tomorrow! They probably just put up the holiday drinks so they don’t have to do it on Sunday.”

“Laziness!” he cried, jabbing a finger in the air.

Shaking your head, you smiled when Namjoon, the barista, placed a pumpkin soy latte before you.

“Thanks!” you said, pulling this towards you.

“No problem,” he said, flashing his dimples before he turned to leave.

Taking a long, slow sip of your drink, you groaned. “Oh my god. This is it. This is heaven.”

Finn laughed. “Is that seriously your first pumpkin drink of the season?” Sadly, he shook his head. “I remember our senior year, you dragged me out of bed at 7:00 AM on a Saturday just to get the first pumpkin drink of the year.”

“I know,” you sighed. “But I’ve needed the extra caffeine jolt each morning. Sweet drinks just don’t cut it anymore.”

“Ah, the first step in addiction.” Finn nodded sagely.

Smiling, you settled back in your seat as he took the first sip of his black coffee. It had been two weeks since your fight at the club and since then, Finn had been on his best behavior. For about a week, things between you had been awkward but slowly, your relationship was returning to normal.

Seated in the corner of your favorite coffee shop, you drank from your cup and glanced around the room. This was what you’d pictured when you imagined you and Finn living in the city together. Coffee dates, going on new adventures and continuing your relationship where it had left off.

Of course, this morning was only possible because Miss Britt’s ballet class had been cancelled. A contemporary master class had been scheduled for the afternoon, but your day before then was free – something you’d immediately taken advantage of by calling Finn. It was becoming easier to fit each other into your schedules, more like second nature, but things were still tense whenever things didn’t line up.

None of this was eased by the burgeoning whatever-it-was you’d shoved to the back of your mind regarding Jimin. Since the day of Mr. Vlad’s ballet class, you’d managed to keep your emotions in check, but were constantly on the lookout for dangerous situations. You and Jimin were professionals, obviously, but you were also only human. It was reasonable to have subconscious wants and desires, but these weren’t important unless you chose to act upon them.

You didn’t tell Finn about it because honestly, there was nothing to tell. Okay, so you’d felt an errant spark one day during a lift. Big deal. Finn had been your boyfriend for over two years – it would take more than that to threaten your relationship. A relationship which, frankly, had been getting stronger as of late. Telling him something as inconsequential as a spark you had with Jimin would only take you further down the wrong path.

“Are you sure you’re okay with us doing separate things tomorrow?” Finn interrupted your thoughts. His brow furrowed. “It is Halloween, after all.”

“Ah, yes.” You nodded. “Halloween, the internationally known couple’s holiday.”

He laughed. “Okay, point made – but still.”

“It’s fine,” you assured him. This was something you’d already been over. “It just makes sense like this! Your friends are going to that off-campus party and I promised Noelle I’d go to this club thing with her.”

“Right, of course.” Finn grinned. “I’m bummed I’ll miss seeing you as the Powerpuff girls, though. Who’s going to be the third one, again?”

“Well, I’m Blossom – obviously.”

“Of course.” He nodded. “Miss Responsibility.”

A twinge of annoyance went through you, but you pushed it aside. You didn’t think you were always the responsible one but admittedly, you’d been more on edge than usual lately.

“Anyways,” you continued with a roll of your eyes. “I’m Blossom, Noelle is Buttercup and Irene is going as Bubbles. It’ll be fun! Aside from the whole club part, of course.”

“It does sound fun,” Finn admitted, a tad mournful. “Meanwhile, I’ve been roped into the classic college bro costume of Ghostbusters.”

“Oh, come on! That is classic! You’ll be super cute in your… suit? Cargo pants? What do Ghostbusters wear again?”

“Knowing Ben, something tragic from Party City. Pray for me.”

“I’ll light candles.”

Finn grinned, sipping his coffee again and your conversation slipped naturally to other topics.

Halloween fell on a Saturday this year, which meant every college campus was gearing up for some epic parties. Noelle had managed to snag tickets to a club fancy enough to require an RSVP. Apparently, said brother she missed was a DJ and could get tickets to a lot of things if Noelle bothered to ask.

A bunch of people from Russet were going, which made you excited. There hadn’t been many parties with your classmates so far this semester. Despite technically being in college, your classmates were all under the same intense pressure, only made worse by constant early morning ballet.

This week though, even your teachers seemed to have decided you needed a break. Aside from the master class you had this afternoon, there were zero Russet classes until Monday morning. The break in schedule meant you could actually go out – and drink – if you so decided. You and Noelle were planning on attending a ballet class tomorrow, but your entire day after would be free.

You’d originally planned on seeing Finn during the day, but then he’d been invited to a Halloween darty (day party) starting at noon. Despite not seeing Finn on Halloween, you weren’t feeling stressed. It was only one holiday and not even a couple’s one, as you’d said.

After coffee, you kissed Finn goodbye and headed to class at Danley Hall. The atmosphere was different as soon as you entered the classroom – all of the students were buzzing, excited by the prospect of the weekend ahead. The excitement only grew when coupled with the fact that today’s class was contemporary.

For nearly two months, your training had been mostly ballet. This was the foundation of all western dance, and where most dance students were expected to start. Finally though, you were being given a chance to show off. Today’s teacher, Luna Jordan, was a well-known contemporary choreographer across the globe.

You’d done a master class with her once back in high school and honestly couldn’t wait to learn from her again. She wasn’t alone, though, you noticed as you walked in – an unfamiliar, dark-haired guy stood beside her, stretching lithely before the room’s mirror.

“Holy shit,” Noelle whispered as she came to a stop. “That’s Jeon Jungkook.”

Startled, you looked twice and saw she was right. You hadn’t recognized him without his bevy of followers, but Jeon Jungkook was known in the dance world. A child prodigy, he’d been on America’s Got Talent at age eleven and finished in second place. Following this, his family had moved to LA and he’d been in high demand for movies, music videos and performances ever since.

You remembered hearing he worked with Luna Jordan, but the thought hadn’t crossed your mind before now that he might be here.

Noelle cocked her head to one side. “He’s hot.”

“Noelle,” you hissed, trying to shush her.

“What!” A devious grin spread across her face. “Am I supposed to be blind, as well as mute?”

“Well, no, but –”

“Alright, everyone!” Miss Luna clapped her hands together. “I know everyone is excited for the weekend, but we unfortunately have an hour and a half together before then. Everyone spread out for warm-ups!”

A few people laughed, spreading out on the floor as class began. Noelle wriggled her eyebrows, pulling you towards the front in order to get the best spot. Hiding a smile, you ducked your head and settled beside her into a stretch.

Noelle was nearly as excited as you were for the opportunity to dance contemporary. Most of your classmates knew this to be your forte – you caught glances from the corner of your eye while you warmed up, trying not to let their attention get to your head.

Jimin was also near the front, although on the opposite side. You suspected your class was equally excited to see him perform – as talented as Jimin was at ballet, there was a reason you hadn’t thought he’d be at Russet this fall. Jimin’s strength in jazz and contemporary was unparalleled. You would’ve thought he’d gone to LA to become a dancer like Jungkook.

Speaking of whom – Jungkook really was attractive; that much couldn’t be denied. He had dark, wavy hair pulled into a bun and cheekbones sharp enough to cut glass. When he glanced up from his stretch, his gaze somehow found yours and he smiled.

Eyes widening, you stared until you caught sight of Jimin behind him. Glancing between the two of you, Jimin’s expression soured before he looked away. Lips parting, you felt the sudden urge to say something, but there was too much distance between you.

“You ready?” Miss Luna called, an upbeat pop song blasting from the stereo. “Let’s go!”

She launched into isolations, leaving the rest of the class to follow. Warm-ups passed quickly and before you knew it, you were gathered at center to learn the combination. Miss Luna’s style was right up your alley. The steps came easily and, once you’d learned the whole chorus, she left you alone to practice.

You were helping Ari with a difficult move when you caught sight of Sabrina as you turned. She’d positioned herself near the back, which had to be a first. Usually, Sabrina was front and center to allow for maximum receipt of teacher praise.

The decision to stand near the back could’ve been strategy – sometimes, dancers did that at conventions. Conventions were giant weekends of competition with teachers from all over the globe who taught master classes to hundreds of dancers in hotel ballrooms and convention centers. Space at the front tended to be limited, so some stayed at the back, where there was more room to dance and be seen. You had a greater likelihood to capture the teacher’s attention when you had the room to do incredible leaps.

Sabrina’s decision didn’t seem strategic, though. While you watched, Sabrina stumbled transitioning from one move to the next. A brief twinge of pity went through you.

It was easy enough to spot ballerinas dancing anything but ballet. Although ballet was the root of modern westernized dance, it could be hard to translate into other styles. Ballet was more rigid than contemporary, jazz or hip-hop. In ballet, each position was defined, individual style was limited, and dancers were expected to all look the same. Standing out in the corps de ballet was equally frowned upon as missing an entrance.

Not that ballet wasn’t important to all dance styles, mind you. Even hip-hop dancers took ballet to improve their balance, core strength and general understanding of the body. There was an element of individuality in other dance styles, though, which lacked in ballet. Contemporary and hip-hop dancers were expected to have relentless technique all while creating their own, unique flair.

Just looking at Sabrina you could clearly see the holes. She was trying so hard to emulate the moves of Miss Luna, she was kind of missing the point. When Miss Luna did a certain flick of the wrist, it wasn’t a defined part of the choreography, but rather an individual choice.

Without thinking, you took a step forward – only to stop. Sabrina wouldn’t want your help; she’d already made that abundantly clear. Besides, you knew her friend Katie to be a contemporary dancer. She could help Sabrina and yet, when you looked, you saw Katie practicing near the front with Jungkook.

Jungkook obviously knew the steps, since this was probably the tenth time he’d learned the combination. Dance teachers often did that – selected a dancer to attend classes with them, traveling to different cities to demonstrate the combination and help when they weren’t free.

Before you could decide whether to help Sabrina, Miss Luna clapped her hands again.

“Let’s do groups!” she declared. “I’ll count you off into groups of four, and each group will showcase. Sound good?”

It wasn’t really a question so much as an announcement. The rest of the class nodded, waiting while Miss Luna counted you off. You ended up in the same group as Irene, Paulo and a few others. Jimin and Noelle were in the group two, while Sabrina was in the group after theirs.

Jogging off to the side, you waited while the first group took center. You were part of group four, which meant you’d be amongst the last to dance on the floor. When the music began, you closed your eyes and began to mark the combination. You tried not to focus on what anyone else was doing, but this became difficult once Noelle’s group stepped up.

Noelle had trained in jazz and contemporary, although she’d stopped in high school to focus mainly on ballet. Still, her artistry shone in her movement. She could definitely stand to loosen up a bit but was still one of the best in the bunch. You found yourself smiling when she landed a turn, silently cheering her on from the side.

While you were watching, Jimin cut across your vision.

Dropping to the ground, he rolled and arched as his forehead brushed wood. His quality of movement was breathtaking and for a moment, you felt like you were back in high school.

Suddenly returned to those dimmed auditoriums, you watched Jimin take the stage like an otherworldly being. His body seemed to move before your mind could comprehend. Barely did he finish one move before he was starting another, the steps flowing endlessly together like unhindered water. Although you knew the combination and knew how you would dance it, watching Jimin perform was a different experience entirely.

Ballet required dancers to stay on the beat but in contemporary, they were expected to lag. Extensions were all the more breathtaking when they clung to the last second, seeming as though the dancer might not make it before they caught up. Jimin was an expert in this, knowing exactly when to hang precariously over the edge and when to pull back.

Watching him dance, that pesky, strange something bloomed in your chest again.

Squashing this quickly, you looked away and resumed marking the combo. The end of the song was improvisation though and, unable to stop yourself, you found your attention drifting to Jimin again. He was ridiculously beautiful – you nearly didn’t hear when Miss Luna called for them to stop. As she turned off the music, she applauded the group while they walked from the floor.

Breathing heavily, Noelle came to a stop alongside you and – somewhat guiltily, since you hadn’t been watching – you gave her a high-five.

“That was awesome!” you said with a grin. “You definitely stood out in the group.”

Noelle snort-laughed. “Not with Jimin up there, but that’s okay. This is his specialty – and yours,” she added with a wink. “I’m psyched for group four.”

“Ah,” you groaned, rubbing your neck. “Too much pressure.”

Noelle laughed, shaking her head as group three took the floor. Both of you fell silent to watch, your curious gaze finding Sabrina in the back. Sabrina looked almost nervous; an emotion which seemed out of place on her features. It made her look almost human.

As soon as the music began, you stifled a wince. Sabrina stood out from the group, and not in a good way. She had the combination down but moved with a woodenness you would’ve expected from someone half her age. It was enough for you to glance at Miss Luna, wondering if she had noticed.

“Wow,” Noelle whispered, looking almost gleeful. “Sabrina is terrible.”

“Noelle!” you whisper-laughed.

“What? After everything she’s done? After everything she’s said?” Noelle’s gaze narrowed. “Sabrina deserves this.”

Despite privately agreeing, you couldn’t help but feel bad as Sabrina continued. Not wanting to watch any longer, you turned towards the front and resumed marking the combo. As soon as Miss Luna cut the music and polite clapping ensued, you turned back around.

It was time for group four. A shaky, sick feeling entered your stomach as you walked to center. So many eyes were on you, but it had been so long since you danced contemporary. You couldn’t help but wonder if you were as good as people seemed to imagine. Surrounded by so many dancers at Russet, surely your own talent would pale in comparison.

As soon as the music began though, everything faded. Insecurities slipping away, a lightness entered your chest as, eyes falling shut, you slowly inhaled.

Taking a step forward, you opened your eyes and began.

To you, dance had several phases. The first was learning, where you memorized each step and put them in order. The second was understanding, where your muscle memory began to take over and the combination felt smoother. The final phase, performance, was when you thought not of the steps, and were free to just dance.

This was your favorite phrase. In this phase, your mind separated from your body, leaving you only with sweat and emotion. Dance was the only art form composed solely of the body. An odd combination of physical strength and artistic beauty, it was both a testament to human capability and human emotion.

Losing yourself in the music, you ebbed and flowed through the combination until the choreography ended and improvisation began. Finally, you let go and held nothing back. Raw, unbridled passion poured out as you lost sight of yourself, so consumed by the movement.

When the song finally finished and you came to a stop, you were panting for breath. Glancing up, the first person you saw was Jimin.

He stood off to one side, leaning casually against the rungs of the barre, but his expression was anything but. Focused on you, his gaze had turned dark in a way which made you catch your breath.

Miss Luna clapped both hands once again, returning your attention to her. Blinking, Jimin shook his head and in your peripheral, you saw him straighten.

“Very good!” Miss Luna scanned the group. “I know our time is nearly at and end, but why don’t we have a few students come out and demonstrate?”

Again, this was fairly common in master classes. After learning the combination, teachers would often single out students to perform as examples. It wasn’t always the students with the best technique who got chosen. Oftentimes, it was as much for passion and performance quality.

Taking a step forward, Miss Luna began to call out names. You were one of the first – setting your water down, you jogged back to center. Jimin was the next person called, then Noelle, much to your excitement. Jungkook was also instructed to join on the floor.

Turning the lights halfway down, Miss Luna pressed play and let you improvise until the combination began. Jungkook started dancing and honestly, he was beautiful, but you couldn’t linger on him for long.

Catching sight of Jimin again, you were once more transported to earlier times. This wasn’t the first time you’d been called out together. Oftentimes, this had happened at conventions but back then, your mind had been too clouded to see him for who he was.

You’d always wanted to beat him in high school, but now, you were consumed by the oddest desire to see him do well.

Glancing up, Jimin caught your gaze and he smiled – but then, the combination began.

By the time you were finished, you could hardly catch your breath but somehow, you felt the most alive you’d been in ages. Back in your own element, surrounded by some of the most amazing dancers in the world – this was what you’d imagined when you came to Russet.

People around the room clapped, some of them begrudgingly. You got the impression many of your classmates weren’t used to not being chosen. As you walked from the floor, you saw surprisingly, Sabrina wasn’t amongst them.

Instead, Sabrina simply looked tired – as though she’d tried her best and it hadn’t been enough. You knew that look. You sympathized with that look.

The look lingered in the back of your mind while you packed up your things and listened to Noelle discuss Halloween tomorrow. When she mentioned Ari had decided to visit her family this weekend, an idea began to form in your mind.

“Wait,” you interrupted, looking up. “Ari can’t come tomorrow?”

Noelle shook her head. “Her brother just turned eighteen, so her whole family is having a party or something.”

“So… her ticket is free, then?”

“Yes…” Noelle paused. “Why? Y/N, what are you planning?”

“Okay. Hear me out,” you said as you shrugged on your coat. It was cold enough now for the coat to be necessary.

Noelle sighed, slinging her bag over her shoulder. “Alright, I’m listening.”

Glancing away, you saw Sabrina packing her things on the other side of the room. Before you could talk yourself out of it, you returned to Noelle.

“What if we invited Sabrina?”

Noelle snorted. “Pass.”

“Noelle,” you laughed, reaching out for her arm. “Come on! Do you really think she’s doing anything for Halloween?”

“Probably not. And that’s her own fault.”

“Maybe,” you said, glancing at Sabrina once more. “But how could it hurt? We have an extra ticket, there’ll be tons of people tomorrow night. She’ll probably say no – at least this way, you can claim a write-off on your way into heaven!”

Noelle upper lip twitched. “Oh, is that how write-offs work?”

“Well, I can only assume.”

Finally, she laughed. “Ugh, fine. You can invite her – but only because it’s Halloween, and Halloween is a time for peace. And slutty costumes.”

“Thanks, babe,” you said, squeezing her waist in a one-armed hug.

Sighing exaggeratedly, Noelle waved aside your thanks. Hiking your bag higher, you began to make your way across the room. As you closed in on Sabrina, you began to rethink your choice. It had been nearly a month since anything bad had happened between you but still, you found yourself feeling wary. As tough as you pretended to be, rejection hurt you just as much as the next person.

Still, dancing with Jimin had been a reminder of just how bitter your relationship used to be. If that relationship could change, you had to imagine things with Sabrina could, too.

Coming to a stop at her bag, you waited for her to look up. When she finally did, her brow wrinkled in confusion.

“What?” Sabrina asked, sounding defensive. “What do you want, Y/N?”

You couldn’t really blame her for her suspicion. Had your situations been reversed, you would’ve been equally distrustful. It was likely Sabrina thought you were coming over to gloat, or say something to do with class today. Another twinge of pity went through you as Sabrina zipped her bag shut to stand.

“I just wanted to know what you were doing tomorrow,” you said, trying to smile. “Noelle has an extra ticket to a Halloween party, and we thought you might like to come.”

Sabrina stared. “What?”

“Tomorrow is Halloween,” you said, a bit slower. “You know – when we were kids, it was all about costumes and candy. Now, it’s about costumes and booze?”

Sabrina failed to crack a smile. “And you want… me to come to this party?”

Something about the way she said this made you sad, as though she genuinely thought this might be a joke. As though at any moment, someone might jump out and yell SIKE.

“Yeah,” you said, softening a little. “Look – it’s not a big deal if you can’t make it. A bunch of our class is going though, so we thought of you.”

Sabrina hesitated, then glanced at the door. “Okay,” she said, looking back. “Okay, yeah. I’ll come.”

Stifling your surprise, you nodded. “Great. I’ll text you where to meet us tomorrow before the club. Wear a costume,” you added before walking away. “Noelle said it’s required.”

“Alright,” Sabrina said, so quiet you almost missed it.

Walking away, you were nearly at the door when Jungkook popped up before you. Flashing a smile, he fixed a loose strand of hair away from his face. Feet fumbling to a stop, you could only stare.

“Y/N, right?” he said, sounding shy.

Unable to find the words, you blinked in response. The way Jungkook danced had been so confident, you’d only assumed this to be his off-floor persona, as well. Hearing him sound shy was unexpected.

Also – you hadn’t expected him to know your name.

“I… yeah, that’s me.” Shaking your head, you smiled. “Jungkook, right?”

“Yeah.” He nodded. “I just wanted to say I’m such a big fan of your dancing. It was great to take class with you today.”

Without meaning to, a laugh escaped your lips. Jungkook stared at you, baffled until you quickly waved him off.

“Oh, no – no! Sorry,” you said. “I’m not laughing at you! I’m just laughing at the ridiculousness of you saying you’re a fan of me.”

Some of Jungkook’s wariness disappeared, and a small smile played across his lips.

“Well, I am.” His grin widened. “I used to assist on the convention circuit, too and I remember you being called out all the time. You and Jimin,” he added, glancing across the room.

You looked, too and saw Jimin still packing his things. His back was stiff, pointedly not looking in your direction. Lingering on him a moment, you returned to Jungkook.

“Still,” you said with a laugh. “It’s a bit of a stretch to say we took class together when you’re the teacher’s assistant.”

“True.” Jungkook paused. “Well, next time you’re in LA, let’s fix that. Let me know if you’re ever in town and we can take a class together.”

Despite yourself, your brows raised. It was harmless, but Jungkook was definitely flirting with you. He was attractive, sure and seemed nice, but he lived in LA and you had a boyfriend. You should probably leave before things had the chance to go any further. The last thing you needed was another complication. Adjusting your bag, you gave Jungkook a small smile.

“Sounds like a plan,” you said before turning away.

Jungkook chuckled from behind. “Bye, Y/N.”

As you joined Noelle at the door, she stared over your shoulder.

“What?” you said, coming to a stop.

Noelle’s gaze moved to yours in disbelief. “How?” she demanded as you exited class. “How do you have all these men just… tripping over themselves for you?”

Heat rising to your face, you shook your head. “That’s – I,” you sputtered. “You’re being ridiculous!”

“Am I?” Noelle grinned. “First Jimin, now Jungkook… and all this while having a boyfriend.”

“I… you... Jimin is not tripping over himself for me!”

Both her brows shot way, way up. “Is that the only part of the sentence you took objection to?”

“Shut up,” you groaned and shoved her in the side.

Noelle laughed but nodded. “Alright, fine! I’ll stop. Did Sabrina say she’ll come?”

“She did.”

“Great. I still don’t like her,” Noelle said, pushing open the door. “But I guess you’re right, I have an extra ticket. It’s nice to be nice.”

You laughed, pulling your coat tighter as you walked outside. “You’re a saint.”

While you walked, your phone dinged and pulling this from your pocket, you saw a notification on Instagram. Jeon_Jungkook97 has followed you.

Shaking your head, you returned this to your jacket as you continued. While it was nice of Jungkook to compliment your dancing, his approval didn’t mean as much as certain other peoples had. This realization stuck in your mind, making you wonder about Noelle’s teasing jibe.

She had said Jimin flirted with you, but that wasn’t true – was it? You would have known if Jimin were flirting. It was hard to pick out though, since Jimin was friendly with everyone. That was just who he was; as he’d said earlier, he liked to be liked. A note of uncertainty entered your thoughts though, recalling the ballet class with your chest pressed to his. Shoving this away, you forced yourself to focus on the upcoming weekend.

Halloween was a night for fun, for letting loose and enjoying yourself with your friends. You refused to let the night be spoiled by any lingering feelings – either from you, or towards you.

The next night was perfect Halloween weather.

Chilly, but not cold enough to risk snow falling. There were several Halloweens from childhood you could recall trick-or-treating with a winter coat flung over your costume because the temperature had dropped below freezing.

You, Noelle and Irene showed up to Paulo’s house around 8:00 PM, shivering a little while you stood on his doorstep. Paulo was one of the few freshmen who lived off-campus, having known several upperclassmen before he came to Russet. The brownstone he lived in was cute, with window boxes you imagined hosted flowers in the summer.

Tugging your pink and black minidress down, you adjusted your bow as Paulo opened the door.

Blinking, he took in your costumes. “The Powerpuff girls!” He cheered, raising an arm overhead. “Try not to take down any of the villains upstairs, yeah?”

“No promises,” said Irene, flicking hair over her shoulder.

Entering the house, you heard thumping bass from an apartment upstairs. Paulo lived on the third floor and as you climbed the steps, the music grew louder. It took Paulo two tries to shove open the door – “warped wood,” he explained – but once you were inside, you saw familiar faces.

“The Powerpuff girls!” Jasmine cried, jumping up from the couch. “Finally! Thank god – can you take down Eamon? He came here dressed as a potato, or something.”

“It’s an avocado!” Eamon shouted from the kitchen. He was dressed in a round, green costume with a halo overhead. “I’m ‘holy guacamole’ – get it?” he said, pointing at the halo.

Jasmine stared at him a moment. “That’s terrible. Worse than mine,” she said with a wave down her body. “I’ve been Princess Jasmine for the past five Halloweens. It’s easy to remember and I already have the outfit.”

Laughing, you shrugged off your coat and added this to a pile on the couch. “It’s a classic,” you agreed as you turned.

Noelle had managed to procure at least twenty tickets to the party tonight, so a lot of your freshman Russet class was in attendance. Including Sabrina, who stood in the corner, talking to Louis over cups of red punch. She looked up when you entered, pausing before she gave a small wave. Surprised by the gesture, you did the same.

“No.” Noelle groaned, coming to a stop alongside you. When you looked, you saw she’d already removed her coat. “Tell me Sabrina didn’t come to this party dressed as a ballerina.”

“We did invite her at the last minute,” you laughed. “Hard to find a good Halloween costume in a day.”

“Hey,” Noelle argued. “There’s no we here. You were the one who invited her, and you’ll be the one to accept the consequences should your social experiment fail.”

“Done,” you agreed. “Speaking of social experiments though, I’m ready to get drunk tonight. Where’s the alcohol?”

“Kitchen!” Irene called, brushing past. “Or – that’s where Brian disappeared to when we entered, so I can only assume.”

Telling Noelle you’d be back with drinks, you wound through the room towards where Irene had pointed. The kitchen was tiny, on par with most city apartments. There was only room enough for one or two people, so you were lucky it was deserted when you entered.

Surveying the counter, you found the usual party staples. A bowl of red punch, a bunch of beer and various liquor bottles with chasers. Skipping over the communal punch bowl, you reached for a bottle of diet coke and coconut rum.

“Oh,” a voice said as they entered the kitchen. “Sorry – I didn’t know you were in here.”

Glancing up, you saw Jimin and froze.

He’d dyed his hair black – that was the first thing you noticed. Jimin’s hair was no longer blonde, but completely dark. His outfit confused you at first – a frilly, white blouse with slicked-back hair and dark trousers – until you saw his bright red contacts and the dribble of blood at his mouth.

“A vampire,” you said, finally recovering your voice. Scanning his body, you frowned. “Where are the teeth, though?”

Jimin blinked, his gaze jerking up from your waist.

“Huh?” he said, sounding a bit strangled.

Cheeks heating a little – your dress was pretty short – you repeated yourself. “The teeth,” you said, pointing at your own lips. “Don’t vampires have fangs?”

“Oh, right.” Jimin dug around in his pocket – fuck, were his trousers tight – to produce twin fangs. “I took them off when I got here. They’re really hard to talk in.”

“Go on then, Park,” you said with a grin. “Put them in.”

“One second.” Twisting to face the wall, Jimin popped them in his mouth. Turning around, he bared his teeth. “Sexy?”

With the teeth in though, the word came out more like shex-shie and you burst into laughter. “So sexy,” you agreed, reaching past him for a cup.

Jimin stiffened when your arm brushed his front. Unbidden, you thought about what Noelle had said – Jimin had been flirting with you. Pulling away, you resumed making your drinks and tried not to look in his direction.

Even so, you remained aware of his presence. Jimin inched his way behind you, reaching for the whiskey on the other side. His arm brushed your elbow as he went, right knee nudging yours in an intimate gesture.

Glancing up from the counter, you accidentally caught his gaze. Despite your earlier joking, he did look sexy. Devastatingly so. Even the blood-red contacts weren’t enough to deter the shiver which ran down your spine.

Shaking yourself free from your trance, you grabbed both cups and pulled back.

“So, what’re you drinking?” you asked.

You decided it was best to steer the conversation away from how sexy Park Jimin was or was not.

Seemingly oblivious to your inner turmoil, Jimin poured whiskey into his cup. “Whiskey and coke. Can you pass me that bottle?”

“Sure,” you said, leaping at the chance to prevent him from walking past you again. “Here you go.”

Pushing this forward, you watched Jimin pour both drinks all the way to the brim. He paused near the end, staring into the depths before he looked up. He seemed to be warring with something, debating whether or not to speak whatever was on his mind.

“So…” He paused. “Do you know Jungkook, or something?”

You blinked. “Jungkook…?”

“You know, Miss Luna’s assistant. Jeon Jungkook.”

“Oh! Jungkook. No, I don’t really know him.”

“You were talking to him at the end of class, though?”

Hearing the curiosity in his voice, both your brows raised. “And?”

“And nothing,” Jimin said, sounding uncomfortable. “I just… I didn’t know you knew him, that’s all.”

“I mean, I don’t.” You paused. “But even if I did, what does it matter?”

“It doesn’t.” His cheeks began to redden. “It’s just – ah, never mind. We don’t have that great a history, that’s all. He’s kind of the reason I’m at Russet this year.”

You stared at Jimin a moment. “Wow, what a tragedy,” you said, stifling a laugh. “To have been forced to attend one of the most prestigious dance institutions in the world.”

His upper lip twitched. “It’s not that. I was deciding between attending Russet and accepting a job offer out west. I was asked to join this pop star on tour… anyways, Jungkook’s never liked me much. It’s a long story.” Jimin’s brow furrowed. “My offer was rescinded at the last minute. The artist never said why, but I always got the feeling he had something to do with it.”

You stared at Jimin a moment, unsure how to respond. Jungkook hadn’t seemed like that kind of person, but you supposed you’d only talked to him for a few minutes. If that was true, what happened to Jimin sucked and yet, the next words from your mouth nearly had you face-palming.

“And here I thought I was your biggest rival, Park,” you said.

Jimin’s eyes widened. “Are you… jealous, Y/N?”

He sounded almost pleased by the notion, which sent a different kind of shiver down your spine.

“Not at all,” you said quickly, turning back to your drinks.

Jimin made a soft tsk-ing sound, as though he didn’t believe you.

“That sucks,” you continued, determined to change the subject. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”

“Yeah. Maybe it was all for the best, though. Things happen for a reason, right?”

Looking up, you caught Jimin’s stare. He didn’t look immediately away and you got the oddest sensation he meant more than what he said. Hastily, you pushed this feeling aside, clutching your drinks as you entered the main room. Jimin followed close behind, two cups in his hands.

“When did you get here?” you asked. “Been here long?”

Jimin shook his head. “Nah. Hoseok and I got here like, ten minutes ago. He should be around here somewhere, he –”

“Y/N!”

You looked up just in time to see Hoseok, Jimin’s roommate, barreling towards you.

“It’s been so long!” Crushing you to his chest, Hoseok wrapped you in a hug. “Hope Jimin isn’t boring you to death,” he stage-whispered before he pulled away.

“Just for that.” Jimin arched a brow. “Both these drinks are for me.”

“No – wait, wait. I’m sorry!” Hoseok pouted. “Hand over the drink, Park. It’s been the longest fucking week.”

Jimin grinned and relented, handing Hoseok his cup as you laughed. Hoseok was a newer friend, but he was close to Jimin, so he’d gradually bled into your latest gatherings. Despite not being on the ballet track, most of the dancers at Russet knew of him. Hoseok had that way about him.

Glancing down at your outfit, Hoseok held up a finger. “Let me guess – Blossom,” he said, turning to scan the room. “Which means… aha! Irene is Bubbles and Noelle is Buttercup. Makes sense.”

“And you are…” Pausing, you squinted at his outfit. “Someone at the spa?”

“Sure.” Hoseok shrugged. “Honestly, I just wanted to wear a bathrobe.”

Said bathrobe was paired with only boxers, the front of the robe open to display his toned abs. The costume didn’t surprise you, based on past interactions with Hoseok.

Casually, he twirled the robe tie in a circle. “Impressive, no?” Hoseok glanced away. “Whoa, wait – they have beer pong? See you all later!”

Hurrying off, he left you alone with Jimin. Shaking your head, you glanced in his direction and saw Jimin down his whole drink. Arching a brow, you were about to ask why when Irene called your names from across the room.

“Y/N!” She waved her hands. “Jimin! Get over here, you two – we need more for flip cup!”

You found yourself pulled in this direction despite your insistence you didn’t do well under pressure. Jimin ended up at the other end of the table and you lost sight of him when you started to play, paired with Jasmine for a partner.

By the end of the first round, you discovered you weren’t as horrible a player as you’d imagined. Then someone suggested mixed drinks for the second round, and things became fuzzier. There were more people present than just current students of Russet. One of Paulo’s roommates knew Seokjin, so you saw him in the room, along with Sana.

You chatted with both over the course of the evening, in addition to a guy who’d recently debuted on Broadway, Kim Taehyung. Apparently, there was already buzz around him for a Tony. Taehyung was nice, but it was sometime during this conversation you realized how tipsy you were. Apparently, not drinking for several months and then going ham made for very low tolerance.

Collapsing onto the couch, you joined Irene and Brian’s conversation. In the corner of your eye, you caught sight of Noelle – a terrible flip cup player, she’d roped Hoseok into giving her private lessons, but these seemed to be going terribly. Or perhaps very well, given how much the two of them were laughing.

You completely forgot about Jimin until you spotted him across the room talking to Sabrina. Seeing them together, you straightened. Both seemed fairly comfortable, which struck you as odd. Since that morning in Jimin’s dorm, you hadn’t really seen them hang out together.

Despite this, Jimin was laughing at something Sabrina had said. Tearing your gaze away, you forced yourself to focus on the conversation at hand. It didn’t matter who Jimin spoke to, or even who he decided to go home with tonight. He was your dance partner and friend, nothing more and besides – you had a boyfriend.

Blinking, you reached into your clutch and pulled out your phone. To your disappointment, you’d gotten no texts from Finn since this morning. You assumed he was still at his party but didn’t know for sure. Shooting him a text, hey, you waited for a response and when you got none, returned your phone to your purse.

Across the room, you heard Noelle yell your name. “Y/N!” She cupped her mouth with both hands. “We need another person for flip cup!”

Laughing, you pushed yourself from the couch and were immediately roped into your fourth game of the night. The night blurred again after that, turning into a pleasant hum of conversation and booze. At some point, Ubers were called to bring you to the club. As you rushed downstairs, you realized you forgot your coat as soon as you stepped outside.

Shivering violently, you rubbed your arms and cursed yourself for poor foresight.

“Y/N?” Jimin came to a stop alongside you. “Hey, where’s your coat?”

“Inside,” you said through chattering teeth. “I-it’s fine, though. I’m fine!”

Jimin gave you a look. “Where’s Paulo?” he said, glancing around. “I’ll grab him, we can get your coat before we go –”

“The Uber’s already here, though,” you argued, grabbing his sleeve to drag him towards the curb. “I’ll be fine from here to the club!”

Jimin sighed but gave in, following when you rushed to the grey SUV. Irene had claimed the front seat, so you and Jimin pulled open the middle door – Noelle and Hoseok were crowding behind you, so you and Jimin ended up together in the backseat.

Collapsed in a heap, you giggled as Jimin tried to squish himself in a corner. “Sorry,” he said, trying – and failing – to keep his knees separate.

“Jimin.” You snorted. “Are we going to go through this again? Your hands have been in way more inappropriate places than that this semester.”

Jimin’s lips parted, shocked, but you were already hoisting yourself over the middle seat. Draping your arms next to Noelle, you begged her to play your favorite song on the radio. Had you been more sober, you might’ve recognized your position to be precarious – perched on the edge of your seat, your ass hovered inches away from Jimin’s face.

Plopping back down, you glanced sideways at Jimin and found him frozen. Suddenly, you realized the visual he’d had.

“Um, so what happened to the teeth?” you blurted, determined to change the subject.

Jimin blinked and managed to meet your gaze. “Casualty of flip cup,” he said. “One of them fell out during the game and I couldn’t find where it rolled.”

“Well, that’s okay. You can just be one of those vampires who blend in with normal humans. You know, the kind whose fangs only come out when they want to bite someone.”

“That’s true.” Jimin arched a brow. “Lucky for you, I’m not hungry.”

“Lucky for me? Lucky for you,” you retorted. “My blood is about half alcohol right now. If you drank my blood, you’d be a very silly vampire.”

The idea of a silly vampire made you laugh – even more so when you pictured said vampire as Jimin. He seemed much too coherent for your liking right now.

“A silly vampire, huh?” Jimin looked on, amused. “Damn, Y/N – when was the last time you went out? Your tolerance is shit.”

“I know,” you sighed. “I haven’t drunk much this semester. Too much dance, too little time. I think the last time I went out was –”

“We’re here!” squealed Noelle, throwing open the door.

A blast of cold air hit you and you shivered, wishing you’d worn your coat. Jimin’s gaze remained steady on yours.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he said lowly. “I can give you, uh…”

“Your shirt?” you said dryly, lifting a brow as you brushed past. “Then you’d be shirtless, Park. Let’s think this through.”

Jimin chuckled before he followed suit, although you cursed as soon as you left the car. He was correct. It was freezing, even with your alcohol-induced blanket.

“Come on!” you yelped, following Noelle towards the entrance.

Bypassing the line, Noelle walked straight towards the bouncer and showed him her phone. He nodded and waved her past, counting your friend group who followed. Not everyone from Paulo’s place had gone to the club, but enough for you to make quite the entrance.

“Y/N!” Noelle doubled back to link arms with you. “Come on – this way! That guy’s going to show us to our table.”

“Table?” you asked her, wide-eyed.

Tables in a club on Halloween night were ridiculously expensive, but it seemed Noelle had downplayed her brother’s connections. Your group was led right to the front of the upper balcony, getting a coveted spot overlooking the dance floor below.

This was undeniably the coolest club you’d been in. Not that you’d been in many, mind you, but this one had to take the cake. A half-circle of tables took up the top floor, with twin staircases descending to the main room below. Most of the lower floor was for dancing, although you saw additional tables pushed to the sides. Fluorescent bars and dance platforms were dotted throughout and above all was the DJ booth, blasting the latest songs.

“Whoa,” you breathed.

Noelle grinned, squeezing your arm to pull you into the booth. As soon as you settled in, Jasmine leapt up and clapped her hands.

“I want to be in one of those!” she said, pointing to a glowing cage at the center of the dance floor.

“Oo, me too!” Irene leapt up to join her.

“Me, three!” said Paulo, clambering out of the booth.

“Awesome.” Irene beamed and glanced your way. “What about you, Y/N? You in?”

The idea was tempting for a moment, but then Finn flashed through your mind. You highly doubted he’d be on board with you gyrating for a room full of strangers without him. Somewhat dejectedly, you plopped back on the bench.

“That’s okay,” you sighed. “I think I’m going to stay here for a while. I’ll join you later!”

Irene frowned but nodded, following the rest when they left for the stairs. About half the group went, clearing out the table while you stared at the dance floor.

Jimin slid into the bench alongside you. “You don’t want to dance?”

Startled, you glanced in his direction. While you watched, Jimin began to undo his cuffs, casually rolling the sleeves of his shirt. His hair, which had been slicked back at the start of the night, was starting to fall. Several dark strands hung over his forehead, although this only seemed to make the look more appealing.

“No,” you said, crossing your legs. “I just… don’t really feel like it.”

“Is this the whole hating clubs thing again?”

“Kind of.” You laughed. “I don’t know. Club dancing isn’t like normal dancing, you know?”

“It is when you’re at the club with all dancers,” Jimin pointed out, nodding towards the floor.

Following his gaze, you saw Jasmine dancing full-out in a lit-up cage. She wasn’t so much gyrating as she was creating choreography on the fly. The mere mortals around her looked on in awe. Fighting a smile, you returned to Jimin.

“Okay, that does look like fun,” you admitted. “The last time I was at a club was with Finn.”

Jimin blinked. “Sorry – what?”

“In the cab,” you said, leaning closer in order to be heard. “You asked me when I last went out. It was that night… um, the night you came and picked me up.”

Jimin stared at you a moment, as though contemplating something important. Abruptly, he stood and held out a hand. You blinked at this like he’d offered a football.

“What are you doing?” you said, glancing up.

“Taking you down to the dance floor.” Jimin retracted said hand. “Come on, Y/N! You don’t have to give out dry lap dances, or whatever.”

“Hey!” In disbelief, your mouth fell open. “You said you’d forget all about that!”

His smile turned impish. “Seriously, we can just do the sprinkler, or something. It’ll be fun!”

“The sprinkler?” Starting to laugh, you stood. “Was that really the first move you thought of?”

“Nah. My go-to move is the criss-cross, but I figured this was more your speed.”

Snorting, you shoved him in the arm before following Jimin to the dance floor. It didn’t take you long to spot your other friends, clustered near the front and around the DJ booth.

“Y/N!” Noelle cheered, breaking off from the pack. “You made it!”

She nearly spilled her drink while she danced, catching herself just in time as she spun around. You grinned, entering the circle with Jimin by your side. He did, in fact, pull out the criss-cross – Hoseok joined in and soon, there was a Fortnite dance battle between them. You truly haven’t lived until you’ve seen a TikTok dance-off between two semi-professional dancers.

This ended with both declaring mutual defeat, and Hoseok disappearing to buy the next round. Noelle shimmied her way over to Jasmine, accepting the hand given to stand on the platform.

You laughed at their ridiculous dance moves, choosing instead to stay on the ground. The crowd around you had thinned since you’d joined. Eamon disappeared a few minutes later, saying something about needing a drink upstairs. Before long, Irene had joined Jasmine and Noelle on the platform, leaving you alone with Jimin on the floor.

Under other circumstances, you might have felt uncomfortable, but Jimin was so good at putting you at ease. Determined to keep you in the present, he came up with more and more complicated dance moves which had you snorting with laughter.

On a particularly flamboyant spin, Jimin accidentally smacked the drink from someone’s grasp. Blue vodka splattered everywhere, drenching its owner – a burly man in leather who snarled in frustration.

Looking up, he met your gaze and his eyes narrowed.

“Shit. Run!” you blurted out.

Grabbing Jimin by the arm, you dragged him into the crowd.

“No, wait – let me apologize!” Jimin tried to twist around. “I can pay for his drink! I can –”

Once there was suitable distance between you and the guy, you came to a stop. Laughing so hard you nearly fell over, you turned sideways to face him.

Bodies pressed against you from every side but rather than feel claustrophobic, all you could think about was Jimin before you. His hair had become thoroughly mussed during the night and you fought the sudden desire to smooth it down.

Although your breath came hard, the club around you seemed to slow. The music somehow had narrowed to pinpricks, a heady thump of bass while everything dulled.

What you should’ve done was taken a step back – but you didn’t.

Instead, your gaze drifted across his face. Jimin stared back, something intense to his gaze you couldn’t quite name. Breath caught in your throat, his eyes dropped to your lips.

Before you could react, someone bumped into you from behind, sending you careening forward. Jimin caught you easily, one arm around your waist and your chest pressed to his. You could feel every hard line of his body, his thigh wedged between your legs while you grasped at his arms. Heart thudding traitorously against your ribcage, you tried to ignore the emotions which followed.

It was impossible.

The song playing was slower, sexier than the one which had inspired the dance-off. Without meaning to, your weight subtly shifted. This caused your hips to move against his as Jimin quietly sucked in a breath. The effect this had on him was instantaneous. His grip on you tightened, gaze heady with desire and something more. Before you could second-guess what you were doing, you moved your hips again – this time, on purpose.

Jimin’s eyes darkened. Without looking away, his grip on you tightened as he slowly dragged you up his thigh. Suddenly breathless, your hands gripped him tighter while your eyes fluttered shut. The heat of his body on yours, the faint smell of cologne and sweat, the tension in his limbs and the knowledge of what he could do to you – it all left your head spinning.

“Y/N,” Jimin murmured, low in your ear.

You weren’t used to him saying your name like that.

You were used to him saying your name in every other way, but not that. Sharp with dancer’s critique, brusque with instruction, light with teasing – but not like something heavy was lodged in his throat. Maybe his heart.

Panicked, your eyes flew open.

What were you doing? This wasn’t some random stranger and this sure as hell wasn’t your boyfriend. This was Jimin. Stumbling backwards, you broke from his hold. Jimin seemed equally stunned, staring at you on the dance floor.

“I have to go,” you blurted and whirled around.

Shoving into the crowd, you heard Jimin emit a soft groan. Despite this, he didn’t immediately pursue, for which you were grateful. Stumbling through strangers, strobe lights flashed brightly overhead. You squeezed between someone dressed as a go-go and another person dressed as a werewolf. Skidding to a stop on the edge of the floor, you scanned the room and saw no one from Russet.

When you glanced over your shoulder, you saw Jimin now followed. Panicking again, you began to move. Beside one of the bars, you spotted a hallway labeled restrooms. Heading in this direction, you quickly disappeared inside the door marked women.

Once inside, you locked yourself in a stall, lowered the lid and sat down. Head in hands, you slowly exhaled. You were a coward; that much was clear. Jimin was probably out there looking for you right now, but you’d rather hide in a bathroom than face him.

The fluorescent lighting overhead was too bright – it made you feel overexposed. After a long moment, you fished around in your purse and pulled out your phone. Flipping to your thread with Finn, you saw he’d sent no response since your text. Complete and utter silence.

Heart cracking a little, you slid this in your bag and stared at the door. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. When you imagined you and Finn at college, you’d always pictured you together, attending the same parties and sharing the same adventures. Tonight though, had proven to be anything but that. Finn hadn’t once glanced at his phone judging by the unread mark next to your text.

Dimly, you wondered why you weren’t more upset about this. It should bother you that Finn hadn’t called or even texted throughout the day. Sure, he was out with friends, but so were you and you’d reached out – as soon as you thought this, your heart sank.

You weren’t sure you could call Jimin a friend after what had just happened.

Sure, you’d only danced, and it had only been for a second but still, guilt bloomed behind your ribcage. The idea of Finn doing the same thing with anyone else made your heart twist. You wouldn’t feel that way if what you’d done wasn’t wrong.

Groaning out loud, you lowered your head to your hands. After several minutes, you felt calm enough to stand and pretend-flush the toilet. As you exited the stall, you walked to the sink and began washing your hands. Staring at yourself in the mirror, a million things ran through your mind.

Clearly, the situation with Jimin was worse than you’d thought. The spark you’d felt kept returning, no matter how much you tried to ignore it. Maybe the only solution was to find a new partner. The very idea made your heart sink, but you couldn’t deny things had gotten out of hand.

Before you could seriously consider the option, the door to the bathroom flung open and banged against the wall. Sabrina stormed in, wiping both eyes with the heel of her hand. You froze, staring at her in the mirror but she didn’t seem to notice your presence.

When she finally lowered her hands and took a deep breath, she saw you and froze.

For a moment, you both only stared at each other and then – you coughed. Awkwardly, you began to dry your hands.

“Are you okay?” you asked, tentative.

Sabrina stiffened. “I’m fine,” she muttered, walking to the sink.

You watched her wash her hands, struggling and failing to control her expression. Sabrina’s hair was a mess and you stared, wondering where she’d been. You hadn’t seen her since you’d entered the club, but had assumed she’d stayed on the second floor.

“Are you sure?” you pressed, remembering your night at the other club. “You know, you can –”

“Will you… just stop.” Sabrina closed her eyes. “Will you … stop pretending like we’re friends, or something?”

Struck with disbelief, you could only stare. “I… are you serious?”

“Yes.”

“Wow.” You shook your head. “Just wow.”

Her lips tightened and finally, she whirled around. “What?” Sabrina demanded. “What is it?”

The look in her eyes was familiar. Her frustrated, angry look was mirrored in your expression, but you found you didn’t care. Sabrina was clearly going through something, but her rudeness to you was the final straw. Tired from Finn, Jimin and the constant pressure you were both under, something about Sabrina’s words made you break.

“Why are you always such a… such a bitch,” you blurted, hurling the word like a knife. “What did I ever do to you? Why do you always act like you hate me so much?”

Sabrina’s upper lip curled. “Why do you always think this is about you, Y/N? Maybe I just wanted one second of peace and instead, here you are. Like always.”

“Here I am, in the public restroom of a club we’re all at?”

“No. Here you are in my life,” she snapped, pushing herself from the sink. “People won’t talk to me? It’s because you’ve run your mouth about things you think I’ve done. I’m falling in the class ranks? It’s because you’re after my spot. Jimin doesn’t want to be my partner? It’s because of his feelings for you. I’m sick of turning around and always seeing you there!”

“Okay, but none of those things – I, Jimin doesn’t have feelings for me,” you sputtered.

Sabrina gave you a look. “Oh, please, Y/N.” Her laughter was harsh. “Why else would he turn me down?”

“Um, maybe because he’s a decent human being? Unlike yourself.”

“Great, yeah.” Sabrina glared. “Make me the bad guy again.”

“I’m not the one doing that,” you huffed. “You are. You want to blame me because no one wants to be your friend? Maybe try reaching out first. Maybe don’t talk shit about people behind their backs. And I’m improving because I’m taking extra lessons. No thanks to you, of course.”

“Don’t try and make me feel bad because I didn’t have time to give you lessons.”

“I’m not trying to make you feel bad. I’m trying to explain why I’m improving and you’re not.”

Sabrina bristled. “Are you saying I don’t work hard, too?”

“No.” Mirthless, you laughed. “I know you work hard – maybe even as hard as I do. But you know what the big difference is between you and me?” you said, drawing yourself to your full height.

Sabrina’s eyes glimmered while she stared you down. Still, she retained her aloofness when she said, “What? What’s the big secret?”

“You think everyone’s out to get you,” you said, stepping closer. “You think not asking for help makes you stronger, but it’s the exact opposite. At least I’ve improved since the start of the year. What have you done?”

Not waiting for an answer, you pushed past Sabrina and walked out the door.

Shoving it wide, you entered the hallway. Dance music flooded your senses and you winced, remembering where you were and what you’d been doing. Luckily, Jimin was nowhere in sight. He must not have seen where you’d disappeared to.

Shoulders slumping, you pulled out your phone and dialed a number. Walking to the front, you concentrated on breathing while you waited for them to pick up. Coming to a stop beside coat check, you didn’t leave the club – a lesson you’d learned the hard way.

Noelle answered on the third ring. “Babe?” she yelled, barely audible over the din. “What’s going on? Where are you?”

“Are you…” Closing your eyes, you paused. “Can we leave?”

Noelle paused, then muffled her phone with one hand. “Irene!” you heard her yell. “You good to get a ride home for these people? Okay, cool. Bye!” Her phone became un-muffled. ��Where are you, babe?”

After explaining your location, you hung up and hugged yourself with both arms. Noelle burst into view a few moments later, scanning the crowd like a mom on a mission. When she saw you, she rushed over – and you promptly burst into tears.

“Oh, no!” Pulling you into a hug, Noelle began to rub your back. “No, no, babe! Don’t cry! What’s going on? Do I need to kick someone’s ass?”

Hearing Jimin’s words said by Noelle only made you cry harder. Wisely sensing this to be a problem not easily solved, Noelle continued rubbing your back while walking towards the exit.

The two of you went outside and, as luck would have it, saw a group of people arriving at the club. Noelle snagged their taxi, helping you in the backseat and giving the driver your address. As you settled against her, your head on her shoulder, Noelle kept rubbing your arm and waited for the tears to stop.

You weren’t really sure why you were crying.

Of course, Sabrina was terrible, as was the situation with Jimin, but it was more than that. Dancing with Jimin hadn’t caused problems in your relationship with Finn. There had been problems in your relationship Finn and so, feelings had crept in which led you to dance with Jimin.

More than that though, you couldn’t help but notice Noelle had come to your aid much faster than Finn ever had. Even Jimin had dropped everything when you asked, and he was someone you’d once called your enemy. Noelle had been having fun, but she’d cut her night short because you were upset. This knowledge crushed you and for the very first time, you realized your relationship with Finn might be unfixable.

Curled up on the backseat, you let yourself cry a bit more. You could be calm and rational in the morning, you decided but for now, you just felt defeated.

When you finally climbed into bed at your dorm at night, you looked at your phone and saw Finn still hadn’t texted.

Author’s Note: Thank you for reading! 😊 New chapters of Raise the Barre are posted weekly; dates are listed on the series Master List. Requests for updates will be deleted.

RAISE THE BARRE MASTERLIST

#bangtanarmynet #btsbookclub #jimin fanfic #bts fanfic #jimin au #bts au #jimin writing #bts writing #jimin series #jimin e2l #bts series #bts e2l #jimin dance au #bts dance au

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xiaosmoon · 3 years ago

Note

Ehehehehe hi there 🧍‍♀️

Congratsss on 300 followersss! 💕✨

Erm, diluc + 💌, thank you sm

💌 - "quick, kiss me!" + diluc

a/n: not proof read. got a lil carried away ehe oops-

"that should be all of the inventory. thank you for staying late and helping me y/n!" noelle smiled at you. jean assigned noelle to help count inventory of crates that arrived from fontaine at the docks. since you were just passing by, why not lend a helping hand? "of course. if there's nothing else, i'll be heading home now." "good night y/n!"

you wave a goodbye to noelle before beginning your journey home. your feet were absolutely killing you and your back hurt from all of the heavy lifting, but now you could finally take a bath & bunk down for the night. the loud chatter and music from the angel's share caught your attention. you passed by often to get to work, but you've never really seen it at night. charles must be busy, you thought eyeing the door.

too caught up in your own thoughts, you didn't even notice the 2 drunkards sitting at the table just a few feet away from you. "hey sweetheart, can we help you?" one of them slurred. your eyes shoot over to look at them. his eyes were droopy and the aroma of beer became stronger. you took a step away, "um, no." you begin to walk away again but before you could take another step, one of them had taken ahold of your wrist. you turn around in freight. "come on, have a drink with us! a pretty little thing like you shouldn't be alone this late." you harshly snap your wrist back and give him a deathly stare. "i have a boyfriend." you didn't really have a boyfriend, but you hoped it was enough of a threat to get them off your back.

the drunkards looked at eachother and laughed. "boyfriend? and what loser are you dating?" he almost stumbled onto the other guy. without much thinking, you spat out the first person you can think of. "the same loser that owns this bar. want me to get him?" you hold up your chin high, trying not to show your uncertainty. is diluc even here? your mind went into a panic, not knowing what to do if he wasn't. the expression that sinked onto the drunkards faces confirmed your statement. so he is here. you hurry into the bar, letting your body do all the talking. you spot diluc behind the bar, mixing up a drink. without any warning, you push past people to get to him.

once he spotted you, diluc smiled, "hey y/n. i wasn't expecting-" before you let him finish his sentence, you scoot next to him behind the bar, practically throwing yourself at him. "quick, kiss me!" diluc couldn't even process your sentence, you already had pulled him down by the collar to meet your lips. diluc couldn't fathom what was happening. your lips on his in such a public area was enough to set his body aflame. before he could even kiss you back, you had pulled away and were now wrapping your arms around his torso.

you tilt your head up to get closer to his ear. to anyone else it looked like you were giving him a kiss, but you whisper, "there's 2 guys over there, drunk. they were harassing me so i kinda told them you were my boyfriend. really sorry." you were embarrassed, truly, but what other option did you have? diluc gently placed his arms around to your back, scanning the bar for them. surely enough they were standing petrified by the entrance, trying to scramble away. "i-it's alright. i'll handle them. just stay here." you weren't sure if it was from the kiss or of the humidity, but diluc was fuming hot.

diluc called over charles who was just at the other table, whispering something in his ear. charles nodded, walking behind the bar. "stay with charles til i get back. it won't take long."

you nodded, watching diluc marching over to the men. he grabbed both of them harshly by the collars and yanked them out the door. "what do you think he'll do to them?" there was a bit of nerve in your voice. you were honestly a bit scared for their fate. charles glanced over to you. "nothing you should worry about. come on, i'll make you a drink. on the house."

---

later into the night, diluc offered walk you home. you had insisted that you were fine but he wouldn't take no for an answer. the night was cold and nipped at your skin and you a diluc walked in a comfortable silence in mondstadt. "thank you, again."

diluc looks over at you for a split second. "of course, it was no problem." he was thankful for the darkness, otherwise you for sure would've seen his face reddening again. the kiss is something he would think of for months to come. "this is it." you stop in your tracks, now standing in front of your door.

"goodnight master diluc." you softly smile at him. diluc takes ahold of your hand gently and brings it up to his lips. now it was your turn to get flustered. "if you ever need another fake boyfriend, you know where to find me."

#diluc x reader #diluc fanfic #genshin impact #genshin impact x reader

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siriuslyblack12 · 4 years ago

Note

21 coops please? 🥺🥺

coops credit to @lumosinlove as always :) 21 - jealousy (but like healthy and cute jealousy) we love a little bit of healthy jealousy/possessiveness in this house The hallway to the Lion’s locker room was lively with post-practice adrenaline. The grins and shouts and jokes of the team could barely be contained by the time they could get in the showers and attempt to cool off after a hard day of work. Coach had really pushed them that day, though not enough that they were tired, more that they were edging for more. Remus bounced on his heels and bit his lip as he followed the rest of the team. Team, that was new and still unbelievable. What he didn’t notice was Talker following on his heels, or at least he didn’t notice until a still-gloved hand slapped his ass unexpectedly, “Hey, Rookie.” “Please stop calling me Rookie,” Remus complained with no real bitterness. Most of the guys were probably half-way dressed at that point, so he could stop and turn to face Thomas fully. “You did good today,” Talker replied with a smile. “I never knew how fast you were, Loops. No one else can compete.” Remus chuckled, “Thanks, Talkie, but I’m sure they can.” Thomas shook his head, wrapped an arm around Remus’ shoulders and guided him into the room as he hummed one of those new songs he’d added to the team playlist. The team - as he’d predicted - were in various states of undress. Logan leaned against Leo’s stall with only a pair of sweat pants that didn’t quite fit, whispering something in a low voice that caused a blush. Evgeni and Nado wrestled completely naked in the showers. Kasey, still pretty much fully dressed in goalie kit, danced around the room, occasionally inviting James or Olly to join him in his own world. Remus’ eyes however went straight to Sirius’ stall to find his boyfriend laughing heartily at the scene before him. His freshly cut hair (which Remus absolutely took credit for) fell into his ocean blue eyes and the 12 necklace around his neck swayed with every move of his head. God, Remus was in love. “Get naked, Loops,” Talker said far too loud as they made their way to their stalls. “There’s a new song I want to try out for shower karaoke today!” Shower karaoke. How could he forget? “Alright, alright, I’m on it.” “You bet you are!” Talker drawled out. Remus glanced over at Sirius again, still in his stall but now with one James Potter in front of him trying to coax him out, much to Sirius’ dismay. Remus shed his heavy gear, carefully folding what could be folded in contrast to most others in the room, and stepped into the showers fully. The warmth of the rushing water dancing against his back was refreshing and somehow cooling, bringing him down from his high. Some people, it seemed, were not affected the same way. “Loops, I mean this as platonically as possible,” Talker leaned over from his own shower, “But that ass though! Sirius is one lucky man!” Remus, only mildly mortified, couldn’t help but laugh, “If that’s platonic to you, then I’m not sure what you consider ‘romantic’.” “Wouldn’t you like to know,” He winked slyly. The shampoo bottle in Thomas’ hand suddenly became his personal microphone as Harry Styles started to sing over the speakers. At some point, he held it up to Remus to try and get him to sing along. “Absolutely not,” Remus tried. “My shower karaoke days are behind me. I’ve retired.” “What a shame,” Thomas complained. “I quite enjoyed your solo rendition of ‘Alexander Hamilton’.” Remus rolled his eyes and grabbed the bottle right from the other man’s hands, beginning to sing off-key. More guys had entered the showers, joining in to their awful kind-of concert. It was a good job they were good at hockey, Remus thought to himself. As he hit a high note with all the vigour it deserved, Remus heard Talker wolf-whistle loudly, “Go, Loops! I would totally date you if it wasn’t for Noelle, you know.” “And you’d have to get through me,” another voice called out as they stepped forward. As Remus got a better look, he saw Sirius, the only thing on his body the silver necklace that sparkled under the running water. His face was playful though his eyes were stormy as serious. Thomas only whistled again. “You get your man, Cap,” He called out with a grin. Sirius flipped him off as he moved closer to Remus for a brief kiss, “Hey, baby.” “Hi.” “You played good today,” Sirius said honestly, not even realising he was parroting exactly what Thomas had said before. “You always play good, I love you on the ice.” “I love you too,” Remus smiled to his ears. Just as he was about to place a hand on Sirius’ shoulders and meet his face again, Thomas spluttered from his shower. “Keep it PG, guys,” He said. “As much as we love and support you, just remember that you are butt naked right now and sex is better for the bedroom.” Sirius’ eyes widened as Remus flushed all over. The rest of the room erupted in uncontrollable fits of laughter, including Thomas, as Sirius shooed him off with one hand, “Ok, ok, leave us alone.” “But, you know, If you wanted to...” Talker started. “NOPE!”

#coops #coops fluff #sweater weather lumosinlove #sw #sweater weather fanfic #wolfstar #remus lupin #sirius black #remus x sirius #thomas walker #lumosinlove oc #ficlet #fluff

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missmorosis · 4 years ago

Text

here’s our bus route map for my bus ride! (masterlist!)

here’s the original event post :)

HI EVERYONE!! i just wanted to thank you all for your participation BECAUSE AAAAAA YOU GUYS DELIVERED AND UGH I WAS LITERALLY SO WORRIED NOBODY WAS GONNA WRITE ANYTHING BUTSJFLKFASDF

ALL OF YOU ARE SO TALENTED OKAY??? LIKE BYE I WAS BLOWN AWAY

I WAS SO EXCITED FOR THIS EVENT HEHEHE I LOVE ALL OF YOU SO SO MUCH!! AND THE FACT THAT YOU SPENT TIME ON THIS EVENT 😭😭MWAH MWAHH

THANK YOU AGAIN FOR 400!! MUCH LOVE AND HUGS AND KISSES :D

ALSO SORRY AHHA THIS WAS POSTED SO LATE

WE IGNORE HOW IT’S PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO GET FROM LA TO LONDON VIA BUS JKDFJKFJK

here’s how i formatted it!

title- author’s @!

pairing genre warnings word count their summary that they made

-> my review!

let’s take a look at our map...

starting from LA, heading to bilbao! we’ll stop along the bus stops on our way!

and yes im aware that the route is going in a weird, illogical way if bilbao is our last stop, shush i wasnt thinking when i made bilbao our last city KJDFJKS

masterlist under the cut!!

now arriving at... los angeles, California!

-> write an AU!! the AU can be literally anything: royalty AU? road trip AU? GO FOR IT!! just as long as it’s not in the canon era hehehe

first stop... “something only the stars know” - @luvoratomi

pairing: suna rintarou x gn!reader genre: secret relationship au, royal au, crown prince!suna, knight!reader, established relationship, fluff, angst word count: 544 their summary: in which you and crown prince, suna rintarou, find comfort in each other’s arms underneath the moonlight, where only the stars are witnesses of your love.

-> my review: um. nayru. OKAY IM CONSTANTLY BLOWN AWAY BY YOUR TALENT AND THIS IS NO EXCEPTION. i dont even KNOW who rintarou is but im in love with him. ALSO I DONT THINK IVE EVER READ A ROYAL AU BUT KLASDFJ THIS WAS SO?? WELL?? WRITTEN?? ive reread it at LEAST 5 times.

next stop... an untitled zombie au from @eunoianthia

pairing: yamaguchi tadashi x female!reader genre: zombie au, angst :) warnings: a lot of angst, death, a bit of gore? word count: 1.1k their summary: going to Los Angeles was a dream, and you were finally achieving it. It’s like a dream come true, going to Los Angeles and your boyfriend tagging along? What could go wrong?

-> my review: OKAY WAIT THIS IS THE FIRST ZOMBIE AU IVE EVER READ. like EVER. AND WHAT I DIDNT EXPECT IT TO HURT THIS MUCH. i- the ending- PLEASE I- i dont even know what to say. how COULD YOU.

now arriving at... 3:38 am from @arquitecturadelanada

pairing: zuko x fem!reader genre: roommates au, i would say fluff! warnings: none! word count: 1.1k their summary: As sokka’s best man zuko has to write a heartfelt speech for the wedding day, the only issue? he doesn’t believe in love, but maybe his roommate can change his perception on the matter.

-> my review: so youre saying this whole time youve been supporting my writing when YOU WRITE BETTER THAN I DO?? ugh you’re so talented this isn’t funny, and this fic ALMOST MAKES ME WANT TO BECOME AN ATLA BLOG AGAIN BAHHA- “he noticed he was considerably less stressed just by hearing his roommate’s voice” IM GONNA CRY

last stop... “what are the odds” from @hikariakaashi

pairing: kuroo x fem!reader genre: roommates au, i would say fluff! warnings: none! word count: 3.2k their summary: it was an act of desperation, to say the least, downloading the app lev recommended for him. but he was in dire need of a wedding date. so when kuroo opened up the brightly colored app titled rent a girlfriend, he knew he was in for an interesting evening.

-> my review: so uh 1) i remember writing a review for this and i have no idea where it went IM SO SORRY DSKJFJ and 2) i would do anything for kuroo to be my bf even if it was just my job 😩😩 and 3) um ??? YOURE SO TALENTED?? MISS MA’AM??

now arriving at... london, england!

-> breakup fic time </3 you can make it an angsty breakup, or a fluffy exes to lovers!

first stop... “i love(d) you”- @floralkawa

pairing: tsukishima x reader! genre: angst! warnings: none! word count: 300 their summary: one where tsukishima never showed his love. making it onesided, leading poor f/n on in a bitter relationship. of course, no one can handle it forever, can they ?

-> my review: this is the reason why i dont like angst. i felt this IN MY HEART, OKAY? NOELLE YOU LIED & SAID YOU COULDN’T WRITE FEELINGS. i hate it I HATE IT I HATE IT. but ugh youre talented enough to pull anything off and your angst is PROBABLY the only ones ill read willingly :(

next stop... “i should have seen the signs”- @kirishimas-manly-eyeliner

pairing: oikawa x reader! genre: angst! warnings: none! word count: 2k their summary: going to the city of love and london was supposed to be an exhilarating vacation after a long week of exams. as it seems, love is fake and so is toru oikawa.

-> my review: um. this kinda hurted me tho. how am i even allowed to be friends with you like ?? miss ma’am? YOURE SO TALENTED??? i hate angst and ill say it again: I HATE ANGST. IT HURTS IT HUUUURRTSS. OIKAWA MY BABY WOULD NEVER DO THAT BUT HE DID. I CANSTEALK I CANT DEAL WITH THIS

now arriving at... berlin, germany!

first stop... “Spring Chills”- @wesokkasimp

pairing: oikawa x reader! genre: fluff! warnings: none! word count: 447 their summary: you and Oikawa go for a walk on a chilly spring day. beware: banter ahead

-> my review: 😐😑😐 my heart wasn’t prepared for this. AND!! I BET Y/N LOOKED GREAT IN THAT TANK TOP; OIKAWA BETTER HAVE GIVEN HIS JACKET TO HER AFTERWARDS. jacket + tank top = cute outfit smh

next up... “warm and fuzzy”- @oikawaplssteponme

pairing: kuroo x reader! genre: fluff, a hint of angst, childhood friends to lovers, ‘boy next door’ warnings: one swear word, kuroo calls the reader ‘pretty’ however no gender pronouns are used, mini make out word count: 1.4k their summary: n/a but a quote: "The lights in your room were dim. Their golden-yellow tone shone above you, though you paid little attention to what was going on inside your room. You were much more interested in what was happening outside.”

-> my review: wait this actually reminds me of me and my front door neighbor GOODBYE AKLSJDF I MISS HIM :( ANYWAYS BAHHAHA- see you never miss 😐 i think awkward tetsu is underrated BYEALKSF THIS WAS SO CUTE I CANTASEKL

last stop... “ice cold”- @kyotarou

pairing: tsukishima x reader genre: fluff! warnings: bit of fanon tsukki, mutual pining, smidge of angst, fluff word count: 700+ their summary: n/a but a quote: “Asshole was the best word to describe Tsukishima Kei. He was an asshole to his peers, and it didn’t change towards you, his best friend.”

-> my review: mY TSUKISHIMA HEART OMG- okay OKAY I THOUGHT I GREW OUT OF MY LOVE FOR HIM BUT ITS ALL COMING BACK ASLKJFDL- oh to share a jacket and be vulnerable with tsukishima ✋😩 once again bestie youre so talented it isnt funny

now arriving at... bilbao, spain!

our only stop in this city... "break-in”- @kohi-zeri

pairing: iwazumi x reader! genre: fluff!! warnings: mentions of food and common illnesses, use of “darling” and “brat” word count: 1.4k their summary: n/a but a quote: “there’s something so… infuriating about having a migraine. especially when it’s uncalled for.”

-> my review: i cant express to you how much i love sickfics. like JLSDFLJKFSALJ SADFL I CANT- ALSO I READ THIS FOR THE FIRST TIME WHEN I HAD THE WORST HEADACHE SO WHENEVER MY HEAD HURTS I COME REREAD THIS BAHAHHA-

here’s what some of our passengers are saying...

one passenger says “Wait. Stand right there, I want to take a picture of you.”

“pretty petals, pretty pictures”- @shxyo-sho

pairing: iwazumi x reader! genre: fluff, mutual pining, just two best friends crushing on each other warnings: none! word count: 590 their summary: If you could describe your best friend, Kiyoko, in one word; what would it be? I would pick the word, flawless.

-> my review: repeat after me: kiyoko is a queen. and YOU DO HER JUSTICE I ASFDLKJ PLEASE- in all honesty i would be blushing if kiyoko said a word to me too- y/n you arent alone ✋😩

another passenger asks “Why aren’t you asleep?”

"night owl”- @atlabeth

pairing: sokka x reader! genre: fluff! warnings: stress over school and one (1) curse, but other than that it’s pure fluff word count: 907 their summary: If you could describe your best friend, Kiyoko, in one word; what would it be? I would pick the word, flawless.

-> my review: alright this isnt fair where is my irl sokka 😐 YOURE BRINGING ME BACK INTO MY ATLA DAYSDF LKSJA- not complaining tho I LOVE SOKKA SO MUCH. and “But for a “fairly smart person”, you made a lot of bad decisions.” THATS TOO RELATABLE STOP IT RIGHT NOW SFKDJK

HEHEHEHEH THANK YOU AGAIN!! SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG GOOD BYE

#morosis's 400 followers bus ride #morosis recommends #haikyuu!!#haikyuu angst #haikyuu fluff #haikyuu x reader #atla x reader #haikyuu fanfiction #atla fanfiction #haikyuu x y/n #atla x y/n

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cheeri0-queeri0 · 4 years ago

Text

My First Two Loves (WLW version): Chapter 3

Is she gaping? Emma has to be gaping.

“Ava… y-you and… Mason? Are…”

Ava grins rakishly, rubbing a hand along Mason’s back. “Madly in love? Or, well, lust - we haven’t gotten to that other L-word yet.”

Nails. Nails are being driven into her heart.

For his part, Mason looks taken aback by her reaction. “I meant to tell you last night, Emma.”

“You could’ve texted!” A lump is rising in her throat.

Mason scratches the back of his head. “I wanted to tell you in person. I tried to call, but when the line kept dropping, I thought…this is better?”

No. No it is not. It is one million times worse.

“Yeah, you’re right!” Emma forces the words to come out chipper, forces a placid smile. “I… I’m speechless. Congrats, you two.”

Congrats on secretly shattering her heart. But hey, what’s another secret to the now-sure-to-grow pile?

Mason’s shoulders relax, the tension falling from his face as he turns to Ava. “I almost forgot, babe! I got a little something for you.” He reaches over on the hood of Ava’s car where he put a cute little thermos.

Ava tentatively takes it from him, eyes wide in surprise. “Caramel macchiato?”

Mason gives her a shy, crooked smile. “With two shakes of cinnamon.”

Ava’s favorite.

The girl slings her other arm around his neck and rests her head against his cheek. “You remembered! Best boyfriend ever!”

Emma...is going to combust from agony.

“You guys are just so...perfect together,” she grits out, hoping it sounds passably pleasant.

Ava’s eyes find hers, softening just a bit.

Mason lets out a breathy laugh that seems more like a sigh of relief. “See, Ava, I told you she’d be happy for us!”

Ava blinks, breaking her gaze away. “I knew she would be. She is my bestie, after all.” There’s something off about her tone. If she hadn’t told Emma in the car that they were still solid despite Lauren dying to usurp her place, Emma would worry that maybe they weren’t best friends anymore.

Hell, maybe she’s still a little worried. And now for more than the Lauren reason.

“I should leave you alone for some...couple time. Catch you later!” Cue an ungraceful escape.

Mason jogs to catch up. “There’s so many times I tried to call. To tell you.” His voice turns plaintive. “Emma, I just want to double check. Are you okay with this?”

No! I am unequivocally not okay with this! God, how badly Emma wants to shout that at the top of her lungs. If she said it, Mason is exactly the kind of guy who would follow through and break up. He’s good. And that’s the problem.

“Mason. I’m happy for you. And for Ava.”

“...Yeah? Because your happiness means a lot to me.”

And now she has to sell it. “Yeah. I’m stoked. You’re so cute together. I should’ve played matchmaker years ago.” That...might have been overkill. “I just have some things to take care of right now. Talk later, okay?”

Mason nods. It worked. “I’ll hold you to that.”

Emma power-walks away, tears pricking at her eyes as she let her feet take her anywhere else.

After a short time, she rounds a corner, realizing too late that she’s behind the gym near the back parking lot she usually avoided.

And she wasn’t alone.

“Hey there, princess. What brings you to my place of business?” The boy is smarmy, leaning against the brick wall, hair gelled so thickly it wouldn’t move even in a tornado.

Emma stills, confused. “Your...uh, what?”

He frowns, pushing off the wall and wandering closer. “My store. My shop. My livelihood. What you buying?”

Oh. Shit. “I’m not - I’m just trying to get away from some people - ”

The boy comes to a stop too close. “Save it. A sob story won’t get a discount.” He looked her up and down, calculating. Though he definitely didn’t look like someone who was good at math. “Adderall. Has to be. A study buddy. Everyone needs one, right?”

He yanks a plastic bag out of his pocket.

“Oh, no thanks. I appreciate it, but I am not interested.”

His jaw works, clenching and unclenching. “The offer isn’t optional anymore. You saw what I’m selling. You’re part of this.” He takes one more step, his Axe body spray stinging the inside of Emma’s nose. “Now open up that bag and find me two hundred bucks.”

Several thoughts race through Emma’s head. The first, unhelpfully, is two HUNDRED dollars for one bottle of pills? Shortly followed by If I run, will he grab me?

Sensing the direction of her thoughts, the boy huffs. “I don’t like having to hurt people, really.” But he would, hung unspoken in the air.

“Leave her alone, Darren.” The voice is unfamiliar, low, with a rasp to it.

Emma whirls around to the girl stalking toward them. She’s...dangerous looking, leather jacket slung around her broad shoulders, green eyes boring unwaveringly into the aggressive pill-pusher.

The boy - Darren - backs up quickly. “N-Noelle? I didn’t know you were back in town. I’m just trying to run a business, okay?”

Noelle doesn’t speak, just wrenches the bag out of Darren’s hands and flings it onto the roof.

“You bitch!” Darren hesitates, glaring, then turns tail and runs.

The other girl watches him go, the ghost of a smirk on her lips. Up close, she’s taller than Emma, but only just.

It’s like the bubble of nervous energy inside her just bursts, and Emma blurts out, “W-wow, that was...kind of amazing -uh, amazingly stupid!”

Noelle hums, glancing at her. Emma doesn’t miss the way her eyes drift down to her stomach and back. “You gotta fight like with like.”

Emma laughs, a tittering little sound that she hates. She bites her lip, hard. “You’re lucky it didn’t come to a fight.”

The other girl shrugs, unbothered. “I like my chances better than yours.”

Okay...fair.

Noelle sighs, swiping a hand through her bangs to push them out of her chiseled face. “You should get out of here. I can’t spend all day playing guardian angel.”

“Oh.” The comment rubs her the wrong way, but Emma brushes it off. After all, she did call the girl’s heroics stupid. Maybe...maybe there’s a way to make it up to her? “Unless…you’re new, right? Maybe I can repay the favor and show you around?”

Noelle raises a brow. “How do you know I’m new?”

Not an outright rejection, Emma can work with that. She smiles. “I happen to know pretty much everyone here.”

“Don’t be so sure.”

“So you’ve been invisible the past four years? I would definitely have remembered you.” The last part comes out without her even thinking it.

Green eyes drop to the ground, expression shuttering off. “I’ve...been away.”

“Like on a trip?”

“Not exactly.”

Emma pauses. She honestly can’t tell what the other girl is thinking. “You...don’t seem to like answering questions.”

Noelle’s lips twist into a humorless smile. “I’m told it’s one of my best character traits.”

Emma’s heart pangs. That’s messed up. “I’m not sure who told you that. It’s...sad. It keeps people away.”

“Sometimes it’s better that way.” Her voice is flat, either matter-of-fact or defeated. Who’s to tell?

“Not always,” Emma shoots back, challenging.

Noelle studies her curiously, weighing her words. She runs her tongue over her lips, then clicks it against her teeth, coming to a decision. “Fine. So, hypothetically, let’s say I take you up on this offer. What are you gonna do? Draw me a map or something?”

Emma snorts. She’s dismal at drawing. “I’d give you a tour. The campus has changed a lot the last few years, and I know all the best new spots. Besides, I’m not letting you get away that easy.”

She means it as a joke, but - she means it as something else, too.

Noelle’s back straightens, and there’s a renewed interest in her gaze. She gives her an easy grin. “I like the sound of that. Alright, I’m in.”

Something in Emma’s chest swoops. She can’t help but beam. “Welcome to Eastridge High tour extraordinaire.”

She takes the other girl around the school, pointing out landmarks important and trivial. Noelle opens up, not by much, but enough that Emma gets a glimpse of who she is underneath all the stoic backtalk. Intuitive, dry humor in spades, and…

And maybe...very, very attractive.

Emma’s only ever really had a crush on Ava, so she’s not totally sure what her type is, but damn. Apparently badasses check a lot of her boxes.

They wind up at the greenhouse, bequeathed by wealthy alum’s generous donation. It’s dubbed the Garden of Truth, the legend going that questions asked near the fountain in the center must be answered truthfully, with a magical limit of one a day.

Noelle chuckles, like legitimately chuckles. “You have to be making that up. Right?”

Emma tuts, kneeling to dip her fingers in the fountain’s water. “One question only, so choose wisely.”

Noelle looks up at all the hanging plants, the vines climbing towards the ceiling. “You first.”

Are you into girls?

“Have you ever been in love?” Close enough, right?

Noelle stiffens. “No,” she says, sharply, then reconsiders. “Maybe. I had feelings for someone I- someone I shouldn’t have.”

No pronouns. No closer to an answer for that, then. There’s silence for a moment, Emma tracing patterns on the water’s surface.

“You looked upset when you showed up at the parking lot today. Why?”

Emma jumps, drenching her sleeve. She stands. “I wasn’t - ”

Noelle sends her a look. “We’re in the Garden of Truth, remember? Be honest.”

Emma takes a deep breath. It might be nice to tell someone, someone with no stake in the fight. “I found out the girl I like is dating my best friend.” She wraps her arms around herself, holding Noelle’s gaze. “N-no one knows that I’m… Don’t tell anyone.” Her voice actually quivers.

Noelle reaches out and puts a hand on Emma’s arm. “I won’t. I’m good at keeping secrets.” She takes her hand back, and Emma immediately misses its warmth. “This girl… Does she know how you feel?”

Emma’s vision clouds with tears. “No.”

Noelle tilts her head, eyes crinkling in sympathy. “Figures. It’s hard to imagine someone turning you down.”

It isn’t hard for Emma - that seems to be all she has been able to imagine. The way Ava’s mouth would hang open, the way she would back away, turn her down. How it would get out, first to the cheer squad and then to the whole school. There’d be whispers, cruel jokes, pity. Everything would change.

They walk back out. Emma spots a few cheerleaders lounging around a picknick table in the courtyard. They wave her over.

Noelle slows, shoving her hands in her light-wash jeans pockets. “Looks like that’s the end of the tour. Bye for now, Cheer Squad.” She walks off before Emma can reply.

“...Bye?”

Her steps felt lighter as she joined the group. Like Noelle had lifted the weight since the Ava-Mason bombshell went off this morning. A distraction, if only for a few minutes.

Ava’s watching her with a somewhat shell-shocked expression. “Emma, I can’t believe you were talking to Noelle Harris!”

To her right, Lauren looks delighted. She twirls a lock of black hair in her manicured fingers, eyes sharp. “Don’t you know who she is?”

Emma searches the team’s faces for a hint, but she can’t find one. “What, is she famous or something?” It’s meant to be sarcastic, but she’s so confused it comes of as genuine.

Toni clears a spot for her, patting the bench. “You’d better sit down. You need to hear the truth about her!”

Taking trepidatious steps, Emma has the sinking feeling she’s gotten herself further into a mess.

#playchoices #choices mftl #mftl

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theraikouhotel · 4 years ago

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Massive Headcanon Post

ALRIGHT I HAVE IDEAS!!! I think.... Headcanons below the damn cut because they’ll be separated into different series! God I hope this becomes a thing I do...

Please enjoy!!

Fate

Raikou’s favourite time of day is dawn. She likes to see the sun coming up and the hope of a new day washes over her, making her look forward to another day of her being not insane as she believes she is.

Shikibu secretly collects figures of the other Casters and sometimes makes them move with her magic, re-enacting something she sees in her head. She then writes out in her little diary, as if it was the most interesting thing ever when really...she made them kiss with her own figure she had gotten made.

Arturia also does baking on the side whenever she’s alone and she’s made sure that the cafeteria is empty. She’s been caught several times but they let her do her thing as she looked determined to get the recipes down. This is usually to thank everyone who has helped her, especially her master.

Tiamat likes to decorate mindlessly when she’s stressed. She’ll do it usually with Christmas decorations she has in her room, because she likes how fun they look. Sometimes it might be with Halloween ones. The Primordial Mother just likes decorating so much.

Europa sometimes might summon Talos and pet him to calm herself down. Having her bull close to her soothes her, especially when she sees things aren’t going as well. If she doesn’t have her bull, she’ll curl up and try to breathe but it doesn’t work sometimes.

Irisviel isn’t too fond of people badmouthing her children. Especially those she considers her own. She’ll kick the crap out of you so hard that you won’t even get up for the next week.

Black Clover

Asta hates it when people ask about his parents or drill into him that he should have died way too long ago. He’s never had any proper blood parents so he’ll say the Father at the church he was raised at is his dad. But when people say that doesn’t count, he won’t like it. He’ll also say that the belief in his comrades helped him live.

Noelle isn’t actually too close to the Mama Squad. She feels awkward around them. Or any sort of mother figure as she has no idea what to say. She’s also afraid of breaking down in front of them as it’s not becoming of a royal as she has drilled into her head.

Vanessa only drinks to make sure the lonely thoughts don’t invade her mind. She hates feeling lonely and drinking helps alleviate it. But when she doesn’t, her mind starts playing on the fact that she’ll be alone forever and she just heads to bed, crying.

Bleach

Ichigo has nightmares about Yhwach from time to time. He always thinks about how he could have ended it a lot more quicker so that everyone could have lived. He always imagines several outcomes. But whenever he opens his eyes, he remembers those who have died in the War and it hurts him so much.

Orihime wishes she was as strong as Yoruichi. She has one of the strongest abilities yet she hates how indecisive she can be. She has kept to herself that her kind heart has hindered her so much, even with the amount of people telling her it’s her best trait and one that should be kept as there was enough hate in the world.

Yoruichi often feels like a failure. She has strongly felt this ever since Aizen and it continues to eat away at her even after the Thousand Year Blood War.

Highschool DxD

Issei often feels like the girls that love him aren’t real. That he’s not really deserving of their love. He has these thoughts that plague his mind every other day that tell him that Rias is lying or that Raynare is actually still alive and is playing tricks on him.

Rias does her best to be there for everyone. But hates how her own duties stops her from doing that which instead makes her rely on Issei to see how everyone is. It’s not just as the alpha female in the harem, it’s as a friend to everyone.

Sona secretly enjoys dressing up with her sister, Serafall, as it reminds her that one day she may not be able to spend much time with her. So she never tells her to go away whenever Serafall is with her, rather she’ll just bear it and blush in embarrassment.

Date A Live

Kotori still enjoys the kids meals at the nearest restaurants as she loves how cute they are always made. She’ll always add it in with another order so she gets to indulge in how cute it is before devouring it.

Kurumi isn’t a big fan crowds. Whilst it does help her with her concealment, she feels her heart race whilst being within them. She has to take a moment in the shadows to get her heart to a more normal rate before going back in there again.

Love Live!

Umi is always the strict one. However, she almost always feels bad when she has to berate someone because in her own home, she has been treated a lot more harshly as the next head of the Sonoda household. But she keeps this fact closely guarded.

Kotori is always thinking about something. Usually about how to get Honoka to be hers only but she never acts upon it. She’d hate that she’d feel horrible if she did make Honoka only hers and “took out” the other competition that is her idol group. So instead, she gets out of this habit through fashion designing.

Mari isn’t actually a big fan of showing her wealth off to other people, only her friends. Sometimes she accidentally does it and then they try and cosy up to her. She hates that. She can see right through them and immediately denies them.

Chika doesn’t actually have many passions except idols. If it weren’t for idols, she would most likely stare blankly into the ceiling of her home as she would take over the Ryokan Inn that her mother owns. She’d just wonder what she was doing, whether or not if existing was right or not.

Karin has been offered various modelling gigs, which is of no surprise. However, there have been times when she has considered going 18+ modelling but refused in the end. She was curious yes but will never do it. Of course, she’s just about getting by.

Emma has always been Karin’s best friend. They always look out for each other. However, Emma can see whether or not something is bothering Karin but doesn’t ever bring it up. Instead, she just wants to see her happy.

Bang Dream!

Sayo is a girl of many secrets. She only ever tells them to her twin sister, Hina as of late. Before, she’d never tell anyone about herself and if she did, it was only the bare minimum. She’s still closed off as she refuses to get hurt by anyone.

Tomoe is always overworking herself. She has lots of volunteering and things she does, which always leaves her knackered (tired as fuck) at the end of the day and all she wants to do is sleep. Even on days when she looks like she’s okay, she isn’t. She wants to rest.

Aya is clumsy and will get lost, just not as often as Kanon, her friend. However, she feels inadequate as an idol. She has trained for this but it always bothers her, as it goes into late night practices and early dawn nap times. She has considered giving up so many times, because of all the hate she has seen, even with her idol group, she’s usually the one with the most hate as she is at the centre most of the time.

Arisa is just gay as fuck. But she isn’t sure if it’s right to feel that way or not about certain people (KASUMI TOYAMA)

My Hero Academia

Kyouka has an innate talent of analysing quirks as well, she has never realised it. She has an analytical brain that can probably compete with Midoriya’s if she applied what she knew about music into hero work.

Momo hasn’t been the biggest fan of being raised rich. She always wondered what it’d be like to live a normal life, without all the privilege and weight of a legacy she has on top of her.

Danganronpa

Tenko has always been confused about what to feel about the ‘degenerate males’ she has met. Especially the likes of Shuichi and Makoto. She has wondered if her view of them being horrible is skewed as she seems Shuichi as one of her closest friends. But she won’t ever admit that, ever.

Kaede really wants to know if she can stop with the piano puns. She likes to make them too much.

Makoto hasn’t exactly had the easiest time mentally. The death of his friends always haunts him even in his sleep. The screams, lights, flames, everything. He remembers all the details vividly and when he tries to reach out for them, their dead bodies are there on the floor.

Komaru has a hard time of knowing if she fits in or not as she had been taken from school and is now older than what she believes she is. She sits there wondering if it’s right to be this way now or not.

Other Muses

Jotaro is very cautious of everyone he meets. He doesn’t want a repeat of what happened in Egypt if he gets too close to anyone he likes. Even if DIO is gone, he’s never gotten rid of the feeling that someone will die in his presence or in his name.

Levi has a soft spot for his brats. He basically sees them as his children as this point and he may have been called dad once or twice by a few them. He enjoyed that but only gave them a glare.

Weiss is a soft gay for Ruby. But apart from that, she’s fine with both guys and girls.

Mami always has the feeling of her wish being selfish at the back of her mind. It’s there nagging away at her as if it would come back to bite her in the ass so she’s always out there doing her best for her juniors and always on the look our for Kyoko Sakura.

Natsu hates how his former guild had treated him. He isn’t a dumbass who can’t do anything right, rather he’s someone who was the most attuned to his emotions as his flames prove. If he meets anyone from there, he won’t hesitate to take them out with one punch.

Lelouch actually had a crush on Cornelia for a brief moment before knowing of his relation to her. He decided to drop it and add her to the list of “Siblings I absolutely adore” but from time to time he does wonder if they weren’t related, would they take over the world together?

Haru has pictures of her friends in a small box. She also has one thing they owned within it too. She’s unaware of how strange this is.

#{stories - writing headcanons}

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stonerbughead · 5 years ago

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maria watches friday night lights (#4)

season 2, pt 2!! (2x08-2x15)

ugh Matt is really having his Being A Stupid Teenage Boy season huh?

-lol love a good naked dude being chased scene — in this case, Smash on his recruiting trip being chased around by a potential future teammate. Classic.

(it’s kinda cute that Matt came to pick him up tho)

- the latest in season 2 being off the fucking rails: really? Riggins’ new digs include a meth lab on wheels??

-Landry confessing to murdering someone and then having his sheriff dad drag him out of the station to go home is the whitest shit EVER. Like, Landry is literally *trying* to be punished and they just won’t punish his white, cop-kid ass. ‘Murica. (I mean don’t get me wrong: it WAS self defense against someone literally stalking and trying to rape Tyra, but the point still stands that if Landry was a black kid he’d have been tried as an adult and convicted no doubt)

-YESSSSS a MySpace shoutout! we love to see it

“I hate you” - Santiago (and also me) @ Buddy Garrity

-omg Coach Taylor noticing that things aren’t good at home for Riggins and taking him in, my heart!

-Wow in just one scene Riggins charmed baby Grace, warned Tami’s sister not to shame women for eating a lot (“it can lead to anorexia, especially in girls”) and then offered to go out to the store to get baby formula in the pouring rain. What a man.

-and yes, Shelly, you fully grown woman, it IS a bad idea to lust after a TEENAGE BOY

-wow Riggins protecting Julie from the SUPER DRAMATIC TORNADO that made me laugh. Do we get to have a Riggins-Julie friendship??? bc I’d be down. We need more friendships.

-Thank you, Tami, saying “EW” to her sister watching Riggins work out! Someone has sense to know a fully grown woman shouldn’t be lusting after a teenager! Julie can lust if she wants tho, that’s age appropriate.

-DYING at Landry being aghast that Tyra’s never heard of West Side Story.

-oh god, Lyla — it is totally fair to assume your mom would tell your dad she’s getting remarried, especially if she knew you’d be seeing him — so I’m sorry you’re the one who accidentally set off whatever nonsense Buddy is gonna pull now that he knows his ex wife is “marrying that treehugger.”

“Who’s that?” “Some douchebag named Chip. who names their kid Chip anyway?” Same, Tyra, same.

-Landry, one of my biggest pet peeves is asking someone out while they’re on the clock. Like, come on! let Tyra work, boy.

-Jesus Christ it’s like everywhere Julie looks, she has to see Matt making out with someone. That’s rough.

-and oop Matt you busted bc Julie actually knows who Carlotta is!

-once a cheater, always a cheater, Buddy. And yes to Pam for being like “nah bye I’m happy now, it is over.” You treated her like garbage so here we are, sir!

-hilarious that Landry is the one who ends up throwing the first punch that gets the post-tornado, school-crossover tensions to finally boil over

-I like that they show both the fall formal and the party where everyone who didn’t go to the formal is. Nice.

-Aw poor Julie got drunk af to deal with all her feelings. This really is the season where they have Julie and Matt being sixteen year olds in the most painful ways. So maybe it’s good they’re not together during this tho I’m still looking forward to when the tide turns their way again.

-anyway, Tim is a good friend for getting the creep who thought he was “one beer away from getting laid” off of Julie.

-And....in true Texas dad fashion, Eric Taylor misinterprets everything! Noooo. We can’t have nice things.

-This Noelle-Smash partnership is definitely an interesting pairing. Two very ambitious football people courting all these recruiters while Smash’s mom side eyes them in the corner? Hilarious.

-omg not this Oklahoma tech recruiter harassing smash’s mom in the grocery store! GTFO here! Give her some fucking personal space. They really do such a good job of showing as much of the toxic shit about football culture as the inspiring, big moments.

-Aw and I love that Tami tried to help Mama Smash get the guy to go away. It’s such a familiar scene, women helping each other get a dude harassing them away. And then they have a heart to heart in the parking lot? Love that.

-omg what a throwback that Shelly TAPED OVER Eric’s football game to tape a NEW EPISODE of The Office! Love it. “Y’all should get a TiVo.”

-omg watching Tami and Eric work out arguments is so beautiful, they communicate very well! We stan a good marriage.

-wow seeing the other coach from tornado school lose his shit publicly after he knocked down Riggins was uh....wild???? This is the second time he put his hands on Riggins!

-awww Eric actually coming to apologize to riggins for overreacting about Julie when he hears the real story??? Love it.

-Weevil from Veronica Mars shows up as a friend of Santiago’s? Of course.

-WOW and Logan from Gilmore girls as a Christian radio host...tracks.

“Is that your way of telling her you like her?” Jason making a surprisingly astute observation about Tim. (And Lyla.)

-yo why would you invite your daughter’s boyfriend’s family over for dinner just to say they shouldn’t date? (And bc it’s an interracial relationship.) Southern culture is wild to me lol

-wow the racist coach from last season is now off spouting his mouth about how “no wife of mine would be working with a kid at home.” I love that Eric calls him out as sounding stupid and ignorant — you better!

-hearing that Lyla burned her cheerleading uniform is one of the most badass things she’s done so far tbh along with that dealership destruction

-off the rails update: 2x12 was toooo much!! Like, Jesus between Smash’s sister getting harassed at the movie theater by the racists who hate on smash and Noelle...and this plotline with Santiago and his old friends trashing Buddy’s place...it’s like, can we breathe.

-I could not be more excited for Carlotta to leave and another teenage boy with adult woman relationship to end.

-wow can’t believe the plotline where Riggins stole $3000 from a drug dealer isn’t ending well for him. And now Smash is getting arrested bc of those racist guys from the movie theater episode? One recap I read said that too many of this season’s plots feel contrived and I think that sums it up.

-is there any character who HASN’T worked at Buddy Garrity’s dealership at this point?!

-and yikes at all the other salespeople being mad that a salesperson in a wheelchair was hired...y’all mad ugly and ableist for that

-Tyra and Landry are....confusing

-Wait Logan from GG is an actual preacher and not just a Christian radio host? CREEPY. And he kissed Lyla? A lot to unpack there.

-lol Tim trying to woo Lyla is kinda funny to watch simply bc Tim is clearly so confounded by rejection

-I love how much space they give for Smash’s sister’s pain in the Noelle-Smash theater incident. A lesser show wouldn’t have centered her as much.

-is it mean of me to say Jason is boring AF most of the time

-yeah this dreads girl is seemingly way more compatible with Landry than Tyra yikes! Like she made him a power metal mix cd???

-wow this Smash storyline where mouthing off to the press is what gets him suspended....really checks out bc teenage boys are dumb

-I love Tami as a volleyball coach and getting to see another sport! Also as someone who’s been on a losing team I know that feeling of finally winning a game!!! Go Dillon volleyball!!! (Am I maybe currently writing a Bughead fic based on my underdog field hockey experiences? ;) yes yes I am)

-Oh shit now Saracen’s at the nihilistic Nothing Matters phase of teenage angst. Right on schedule!

-lol these two short haired blondes (white dreads Jean and Tyra) being in a love triangle with Landry is wild

-Omg jean just said, “are you a friend or are you competition?” She is not playing!

-I love Riggins dragging Saracen to practice

“I don’t want you to become at an at-risk youth” -Landry teasing Saracen while also sincerely caring about him is some of the best friendship banter on this show. The accuracy 😂

-It seems like Julie gets a lot of hate? But I think I have such a soft spot for Julie bc I was a bitchy teenager with undiagnosed mental health disorders and I just wish so much #growth for her! Also I really do miss her and Saracen’s relationship, I’m so excited I’m almost at S3 where it seems like it’s happening again?

-LOL this guy at the dmv is the first person in Dillon to be like, “no I hate football.” That tracks.

-wow Saracen is getting driven to the hospital to make sure his grandma is okay by the sex worker who was just giving him a lap dance. Amazing.

-also I hope grandma is okay!

-okay Tyra throwing her hat in the ring for Landry at the last minute? Idk I think Jean deserves the win but there’s no way it’ll happen bc she’s a guest actor?!

-awww Saracen’s abandonment issues coming out whiles he in the tub after being sobered up by Eric Taylor. “There’s nothing wrong with you.” 😭 and “your daughter left me for a better guy” - will take that crumb — first mention of Julie out of Saracen’s mouth in a minute

-hey, Landry, my friend: flirting with a girl (Jean) to get her outside then dumping her immediately is kind of a wild bait and switch. But I get it, he’s been in love with Tyra for a long time and Tyra IS right — they had a very fucked up start to their relationship so it makes sense she needed a minute to process her ~feelings~. however I definitely identified closer to a jean in my high school experience L O L (minus the unacceptable white dreads)

-these Julie and Tami driving scenes are painfully accurate, btw. Love them.

-wow the scene of Smash hyping everyone up, the adrenaline/energy of the team cheering with helmets and a classic “clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose” - then the whole team running out onto the field and leaving an empty locker room with just Smash breaking down into tears....#art

-alright y’all I’m gearing up for the last episode of S2! Thanks to @lockitin for reminding me this is the writers’ strike season — I was in eighth grade then and remember being pissedddd about the shortened fourth season of “the office” — so I’m fully prepared for the abruptness to come.

-I love when they parallel showing the white church and the black church

-and Tim going to church just to see Lyla makes me laugh

-ooooof Jason you cannot put on this waitress you had a one night stand with the fact that this could be your only chance to have a baby!!! Omg this poor woman who just pointed out she, too, is NINETEEN.

-wait so is Riggins doing a sports show on a Christian radio station? What?

“I think you’re really hot. Your long hair reminds me of Jesus” -Christian girls being horny for Riggins LOL

-awww Saracen being like “okay Landry you’re gonna impress Tyra right now” before that football play was a cute friendship moment for those two

-aww I love how this Smash storyline is turning out with Coach Deeks whose had his eye on him for six years my heart 😭

-also unclear to me whether Logan Huntzberger the Preacher is a fully grown adult dating a high school senior?? Biggest teen drama pet peeve once again! Stop this!

-Tami is my heroine for just leaving Eric at the restaurant fighting with her ex. “see you at home, honey!”

-I’m sorry, is Jason gonna like actually convince this girl to have a baby with her one night stand at 19??? Oh lol wait THAT ended up being the cliffhanger of the whole season? Fucking hilarious.

well I made it through season 2!!! Super psyched for Season 3, Jay has been hyping me up for it. See y’all next time! (I’ll try to post more for season 3 bc this accidentally got long af.)

#maria watches friday night lights #mine #friday night lights #friday night lights 2x08 #friday night lights 2x09 #friday night lights 2x10 #friday night lights 2x11 #friday night lights 2x12 #friday night lights 2x13 #friday night lights 2x14 #friday night lights 2x15

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cakesunflower · 6 years ago

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Sugar Coated Pain [Boxer!Calum AU] Ch. 16

special thank you to @gotta-try-something-new for reading this over for me! i appreciate it a lot!!

Chapter 16

A GROAN SOUNDED from behind Noelle. “Alright, now you’re just teasing me on purpose.”

Grinning, a blush spreading across Noelle’s cheeks as she straightened to stand properly, turning around to catch sight of Calum standing right behind her. She saw the appreciative look in his eyes before his lips tilted into a smirk, and she clicked her tongue at him while crossing her arms. “You’re not allowed behind the counter if you don’t work here,” Noelle retorted, eyeing where he stood.

She stayed in her spot as Calum raised an unimpressed eyebrow, taking the two steps towards her in the limited space until he was towering over her smaller frame, tattooed hands gripping her hips to pull her towards him. Noelle let him without argument, looking up at the Australian as Calum mused in a low voice, “What if I’ve got an in with one of the owners?”

Noelle knew it was unprofessional of her to cozying up to Calum behind the counter during business hours, but his touch over her clothes was burning into her skin and, really, she could never think straight with him so close to her. After weeks of only seeing him as someone standoffish and only getting physical when it came to violence, Noelle reveled happily in Calum being flirtatious and getting his hands on her in any way he could. It was such a good fucking change.

Before Noelle could say anything, tease Calum that just because he called her my girl three nights ago didn’t mean he could hop over the counter, Calum’s smirk widened into a shit-eating grin as he continued his statement, “She’s dating my best mate, so I don’t think she’ll mind.”

It took a second for his words to register in Noelle’s mind as she blinked up at him in mild bewilderment, and when she noticed the mirth in his eyes and the words referring to Beverly instead of her clicked in her mind, Noelle let out an affronted scoff as she stepped back with a dismissing swat to his chest. Calum let out a laugh as she tried to move away, his grip on her hips keeping her in place as she playfully glared at him.

“Get out of here,” she declared with a shake of her head, though she made no other move to push him back or get away herself.

“You know I’m kidding, babe,” Calum laughed and Noelle pondered if her heart would ever stop doing a flip at Calum referring to her by cute pet names that melted her from the inside. “’M here to see you before I go to work. Brought you coffee—cream and sugar, right?”

It was then when Noelle noticed the plastic coffee cups from Dunkin Donuts resting on the counter—she’d mentioned it a few nights ago how she preferred their coffee over Starbucks—and the smile was back on her face in full force as she looked back at Calum. “I thought you had a reputation to maintain of not being a romantic?” she hummed, arms wrapping around his waist as she tilted her head back to look up at him. “You’re just destroying it yourself, you know.”

Calum smirked, lowering his head as he bumped his nose with hers. “Ask me if I give a shit, doll,” he rasped before slanting his lips over hers.

Noelle couldn’t help the giggle as she kissed him back, muffled by Calum’s lips. Pushing herself up on her toes, Noelle wrapped her arms around his neck to keep him close, tasting a mix of his minty toothpaste and the bitter coffee he’d been drinking, not too surprised she liked the combination. It was a taste of Calum—of course she liked it.

When Calum tried to deepen the kiss, Noelle reluctantly pulled away, putting herself back on her feet as Calum groaned at the loss, and she let out a laugh as he opened his eyes. “Sorry, babe,” she smiled, heart skipping as she used the term. Her right hand slid around so her thumb could brush along his soft lips, lightly wiping away the lipstick that made his mouth seem pinker. “Not here.”

Calum let out a long sigh, arms going around her shoulders and hands linking before he quirked an eyebrow, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Then how about tonight?”

Noelle fought her grin from widening, heart thumping as she was momentarily reminded of Calum’s promise of having every intention of finishing what he’d started a few nights ago. “I would, but I’ve got plans with Camille,” she told him, looking up at him as her fingers lightly trailed up and down his back. “You free tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I finish training around seven,” Calum answered, catching sight of someone approaching from his peripheral before pulling away from Noelle. “You’ve a customer.”

Noelle stepped around him towards the register and Calum sat on the stool to her right, watching as she pleasantly greeted the middle aged woman while ringing her up. Calum noticed the smile on her face was ever present, genuine as she and the customer engaged in small talk as Noelle scanned the five books and a packet of bookmarks. He sat, hands clasped in the space between his thighs as his gaze remained on her and listened to her sweet voice speak, felt his lips tugging at the sound of her laugh.

It was alarming, how much he liked her. It happened in a matter of days, didn't it? How his initial indifference—maybe annoyance but that just rightfully made him feel like an ass—had so easily transformed into not being able to keep his eyes and hands off her, or keep from adoring the sound of her laugh. Calum was aware that at first his growing feelings for Noelle were a lot too quickly, but just as fast as his feelings developed, he’d accepted them. Why try to win a fight he knew he’d lose? And while Calum hated losing, he didn’t mind this time.

“So who’re you up against in your next match?” Noelle’s voice pulled Calum out of his musings, prompting him to look at her facing him once more, leaning against the counter as she picked up the coffee he bought for her.

“Arnie Lance,” Calum answered, knowing the name meant nothing to Noelle. “Decent fighter, should be fun.”

Noelle chuckled before having to turn around to tend to another customer. Calum then pulled out his phone to check the time, realizing he’d be late to work if he didn’t leave now. So he stood up and came up behind Noelle just as she bid the customer goodbye, reaching for his own coffee as he pressed his lips to her temple. “I’ll talk to you later, yeah? Have fun tonight,” he murmured, squeezing her hip with his free hand.

She hummed, his soft gestures leaving her breathless as her eyes followed Calum walk around the counter and towards the door, all straight back and broad shoulders as she enjoyed his lingering scent for a moment. Noelle watched as Calum opened the door, her smile reappearing when he looked at her over his shoulder and threw her a quick grin, and the giddy feeling bubbling in her stomach stayed long after Calum was gone.

♔♔♔♔♔

Noelle hadn’t expected her night to go slightly downhill after having dinner with Camille and a few of their other friends. She’d been having fun; at home she got ready before bidding goodbye to Andrea, who was off to a summer camp in New Jersey for the next month, before stuffing herself silly with some hibachi and enjoying the company of Camille, Sera, and Tanya especially since she hadn’t seen the latter two for a while. They’d gotten dressed up, gotten dinner and then dessert at a nearby Cheesecake Factory before going to DUMBO in Brooklyn to take pictures in front of the water and Brooklyn Bridge. And it had been fun; Noelle was having a blast, laughing and snapping picture after picture until it was nearing eleven o’clock and they decided to head home because it was a weekday, after all.

But it wasn’t until after Sera and Tanya bid goodbye to walk to where they found parking for Sera’s car and the other two were headed to where Noelle parked hers that things took a turn. Her car was in a back road behind a building full of restaurants, and just as she and Camille approached it, one of the back doors of the building opened and out stepped a guy Noelle had only seen once but had made enough of an impression to allow her to forget him so easily.

“Ah, Hood’s girl, aren’t ya?” Milner mused knowingly once his eyes landed on her, slowing his walk down just as Noelle did, her hand lightly grasping Camille’s wrist to keep her from walking. Noelle took in a breath, wondering why this shit kept happening to her. “Can’t say I mind running into you. Or your friend.”

When his eyes trailed appreciatively over both girls, Noelle and Camille’s faces scrunched in distaste, exchanging glances of exasperation. There weren’t many people around at the narrow street they were on, the only lights being the ones filtering out of the ground floor windows of the buildings they were in between, and Noelle hoped someone would walk by or out if things got. . . Difficult.

“Good for you,” Noelle responded before using her grip on Camille to usher her towards the street so she could walk around to the passenger side of her parked car. Camille shot her a silent questioning look as she went, wondering who the hell this guy was. “Unfortunately, we gotta go.”

Her heart thumped when she tried to reach the door, keys in her hand but stopping short when Milner smoothly got in her way. “What’s the rush?” he tilted his head, voice cool as his left hand pressed against the window of her door. Noelle could see Camille’s eyes widening, the sixth sense women seem to have alerting them of threat seemingly going off for both of them. “I just wanna chat.”

Noelle’s jaw clenched, body rigid in alert as she shot back, “About Calum?”

A grin stretched across Milner’s thin lips, though the sight of it didn’t nothing to rid of the unease Noelle was feeling around him. In all of Brooklyn—in all of New York—why did she have to be in the same place as this guy? Milner lifted his chin slightly as he regarded her. “Smart girl.”

“Smart enough to know to stay away from you,” Noelle sharply responded as she grabbed the car door handle and tried to open it despite his hand still on her window. “Get your hands off my car.”

When she tried to open her door, a startled gasp escaped Noelle as Milner’s free hand shot out to grab her wrist, his grip not even in the same neighborhood as gentle. Her jaw loosened in pain at Milner’s tight grasp, his large hand wrapping around her wrist and squeezing it and she genuinely feared that he would snap her bones. Camille, from the other side of the car, let out a protesting exclamation of her own as she noticed Noelle grimace.

“You got somewhere to be?” Milner questioned in a steady voice, but Noelle could pick up the controlled anger behind it. This was crazy—what the hell was he angry for? Just because he’d seen her with Calum, didn’t mean he could get in her face and nearly break her damn wrist. She watched with wide eyes as a mocking knowing look dawned on Milner’s face as he nodded slowly. “Oh, right, probably off to see Hood, aren’t ya?”

Noelle clenched her jaw as he gave a squeeze to her wrist, trying with all her might not to show the pain or fear he was successfully instilling while her heart pounded in a way she hadn’t felt in years. It was thundering against her ribcage, provoked by the same kind of fear she had felt once more when she was in the hospital, waiting to find out the fate of her father and sister. This time, Noelle’s dry mouth and hammering heart were in honest-to-God terror of her wrist snapping because this man in front of her was angry and he was an actual fighter, and Noelle would be flat out lying if she didn’t feel even the slightest bit fearful of her life right now.

She didn’t get to respond to Milner, to frozen in shock and pain, but he continued along in a dark tone that had her nerves standing on edge. “When you see him, tell him I’ll be waiting for our match.” Noelle’s eyes are glued on his, knowing that he can probably see the alarm in them but she somehow maintains their gaze, looks into his dark eyes that weren’t nearly as comforting and lovely as Calum’s were. She knows he’s aware he’s freaking her out because his lips curl into a near sadistic smirk, as if he was getting off on instilling these kinds of feelings in her. When he leaned closer, Noelle instinctively moved back, wincing at his grip. “And this time, he’s gonna be the one crawling out of the ring with broken bones.”

Noelle felt her body freeze at his words, the pain in her wrist pushed to the side as she saw the dangerously serious look in Milner’s eyes. He wasn’t joking, not in the least, his threat against Calum successfully planting and growing a seed of justified terror. It wasn’t just a threat—it was a promise of revenge.

And when Milner shoved her hand away with a force that caused Noelle to stumble, her hip hitting the car, she felt her heart in her throat as he literally smirked in satisfaction. What kind of low-life man enjoyed hurting a woman? She glared after Milner, which didn’t faze him in the slightest as his warning eyes went from her to Camille before he turned around and walked off, tall and proud for just intimidating two alone women.

It wasn’t until he disappeared down the block, moving out of sight around the corner that Noelle released a long shuddering breath as she pressed herself against her car, her left hand coming up to lightly brush along her right wrist where the dull ache of Milner’s hand still remained.

Noelle’s heart was hammering so loudly in her ears that she didn’t even hear Camille’s hurried footsteps until her best friend was right in front of her, blue eyes widened in fright. “Holy fuck, Noelle, are you okay?” she hastily asked, casting her gaze down to Noelle’s hand. And then she gasped, cursing softly, “Shit, how hard did he grab you?”

A bewildered, disbelieving daze had fallen upon Noelle as her mind tried to process what had just happened, blinking down at her wrist in mild confusion as she also tried to make sense of Camille’s words. Her unplanned confrontation with Milner had Noelle’s thought process become blanketed in a layer of numb discombobulation, a shocked ringing in her ears as if she’d been hit in the head a bunch of times. Only it was her wrist that was in pain.

So she followed Camille’s slightly horrified gaze, her reaction slow, until her eyes landed on her wrist. The glow of the streetlamp above them showed the barely there marks that were reddening on her skin. Noelle bruised like a peach, so the near instant appearance of the bruises-in-the-making wasn’t a surprise—though, it did take a moment for her mind to catch up with the fact that these were signs of someone practically manhandling her. Signs of Milner searing her skin without her consent.

“Noelle, hey.” Camille snapped her out of her thoughts, causing Noelle to finally look at her worried best friend. “Who the hell was that? Does he know Calum? Are you okay?”

Her last question was stressed, ducking her head slightly so her eyes met Noelle’s determinedly. “I’m fine,” Noelle responded slowly, almost unsurely because if she was being honest—she wasn’t fine. She was shaken from Milner’s words and actions, eyes dropping to her wrist as she noticed the imprint of his hand angrily standing out against her skin. Heart still pounding, Noelle let out a deep breath as she stammered, “We should go home.”

Camille kept her gaze on Noelle, the concern swimming in her bright blue eyes because she was still reeling from what had just happened, too, and had so many questions that she doesn’t think Noelle could answer right now. “Okay,” Camille said instead. “Do you want me to drive?”

“No,” Noelle shook her head, throat working as she swallowed inaudibly. She clutched her keys in her palm, the metal biting into her skin as she told her heart to calm the fuck down. Milner was gone by now, so why did her insides feel like they were shriveling up and her heart wasn’t slowing down? “I—I’ll drive. Let’s go.”

The car ride was silent other than the radio playing the top hits, the music only serving the purpose to fill the gap Camille may use to ask questions. As Noelle drove, each ray of light from the buildings or streetlamps they drove by washed over her wrist, her attention constantly being drawn to the reddening marks where the muscle still ached with a dull throb.

When Noelle pulled up in front of Camille’s house, the blue eyed girl didn’t move as she asked, “Are you gonna tell me what that was about? I’m kinda freaking out over here, Elle.”

Noelle squeezed her eyes shut and clenched the steering wheel, releasing a deep breath as she found her voice. “Not tonight, Cami.” She met her friend’s disapproving stare. “I’ll tell you later, I just—I wanna go home.”

There was only one person Noelle wanted to talk about this with, and she wasn’t sure how she should go about telling him.

So when Camille finally, reluctantly, got out of the car and bid goodnight, Noelle drove off to her house, trying her best to obey the speed laws but wanting to get home quickly. Noelle’s ears were ringing as she stepped inside, absently greeting her mother who was sitting on the couch watching TV, drinking a cup of coffee as she was dressed to go to work at this time of night.

Noelle didn’t care where Beverly was, probably at Ashton’s or something, as she headed straight for her room, lungs burning for a breath she didn’t inhale until the door was shut behind her.

The last thing she wanted to do was call Calum, to bother him by informing him of what happened, but she knew she had to. There was obviously some serious bad blood between him and Milner, and she knew Calum would be pissed if she kept this from him. So she pulled out her phone, holding it in her right hand which wouldn’t stop shaking and the sight of the marks on her wrist, even redder because all of the blood that was gathering under the skin, frustrated her so she switched her phone to her left hand.

Sitting on the edge of the bed as the line trilled, Noelle’s knee bounced uncontrollably, her breath catching in her throat when the line picked up and Calum’s voice sounded through the speaker. “Hey, you done already?”

Noelle pressed her lips together, the sound of his accented voice succeeding in what she couldn’t by calming her erratic heart at least somewhat. “Yeah,” she breathed out, clearing her throat when it got caught. “We—I, uh, just got home.”

She could hear how unsteady her voice was, so she shouldn’t have been shocked when Calum’s immediate response was, “Noelle, what’s wrong?”

Glancing down at her wrist, Noelle tried to turn her hand over and, shit, she hated herself when she felt her eyes burning with tears she wasn’t aware she had been holding back. The bruises on her skin hurt, yeah, but not enough to draw tears—but she knew she wasn’t crying because of the pain. She’d been scared, intimidated by Milner’s presence and words and grip and even if she was in the comfort of her own bedroom, the fear that had balled up in her throat was finally taking over and she let out a choked breath. “I saw Milner.”

♔♔♔♔♔

Calum was seeing red.

Fire had sparked in his blood the second Noelle told him she’d run into Milner, intensifying with rage when she told him what he said, what he did. By the time Calum picked up on the shallow breathing and sniffles from Noelle’s end, an obvious indicator that she was crying, all bets were off and Calum had snatched up his keys and slammed his apartment door shut, heading to the one place he knew Milner would be.

The short drive to Astros only served to let Calum’s bubbling anger grow, palms stinging from his death grip on the steering wheel and jaw beginning to ache from how tightly he was clenching it. It was all he could do to control his rage, to not let his utterly pissed off mood make him run over a pedestrian or crash into another car. But he couldn’t help it—he was furious that Milner had the audacity to talk to Noelle, to fucking touch her without her consent and threaten her as a way to get to Calum. And he, for one, was not going to let that fucking go.

So when he arrived to Astros and allowed a sliver of patience to park his car in the only available tight spot, Calum threw open the doors to Astros, not even acknowledging how the heavy doors slammed against the wall or the looks he was receiving from the handful of people there, his entrance overpowering their training session and the music playing. But as soon as their eyes landed on him, landed on the unfiltered dangerous aura he was radiating and the wrathful scowl twisting his features, they all knew not to get in a very pissed of Calum Hood’s way.

“Where’s Milner?” he demanded as he took a few steps inside the building, not catching sight of his victim amongst the men there. But when no one responded, only continued to throw wary glances his way, Calum’s already thinning patience snapped as he clenched his fists and roared, “Where is he?!”

His voice bounced off the walls and deafened the music, shoulders shaking as his blunt nails dug into his palm as he waited for an answer. Finally, one of the men Calum didn’t recognize nor cared for answered, “He’s taking a smoking break out back.”

Calum didn’t need to be told twice. His movements were sharp as he stormed across the building, narrowed eyes only having tunnel vision as his gaze locked on the door leading towards the back alley where he often took his own smoking break. The door rattled on its hinges as Calum pushed it open and stepped out into the alley, gaze immediately landing on the dickhead he was on the hunt for.

The banging of the door caught Milner’s attention, leaned against the wall and a half finished cigarette between his fingers as he raised an eyebrow at Calum. The smell of trash and nicotine was overpowered by the blood boiling in Calum’s veins, by the echoing sounds of Noelle’s hesitant tears in his ears as Calum made his way to Milner without a moment’s pause, not letting him register what was happening as Calum drew his fist back as he neared him, and let it fly forward so his knuckles and rings came in contact with the bone of Milner’s jaw.

The anger and adrenaline were taking over every part of Calum’s being, not allowing him to register the sting in his fingers because fighting with rings was not a good idea but he couldn’t give a single fuck. Milner stumbled with a grunt, cigarette dropping to the ground as his back slammed against the wall and Calum didn’t give him any time to prepare as his hands fisted the front of his shirt to hold him up before letting his left hand go to deliver a second punch to Milner’s jaw, this time letting him fall right to the ground.

“The fuck did I tell you about staying away from her?” Calum snarled, accented voice thick with vengeance as Milner struggled to his feet, a glare of his own on his features. As Calum stalked near him in the wide alley, he added, “I’m gonna break your fucking hands for putting them on her.”

He watched as Milner spat the crimson liquid on the ground as he stood up, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as his gaze met Calum’s. “Just wanted to send you a little message, Hood,” he shrugged, lips curling into a smirk that showed off his blood stained teeth. “No harm in that.”

Calum’s body was on fire from the rage fueling him. He wasn’t one who took threats and throws against his family and friends lightly, and when one of the people who he couldn’t stand blatantly got in the face and bruised his girl? Calum was blind to everything except the unadulterated fury he was keen on letting out on Milner.

“You wanna send me a message? Face me like a man,” Calum growled. “Don’t even think about going near her.”

Milner’s smirk turned mocking. “Unfair that you get to keep that little tight piece for yourself.”

Calum’s jaw locked. He wouldn’t be surprised if he left with his fingers broken from ring impacted punches.

♔♔♔♔♔

The dishwasher clicked shut after Noelle put in her dirty plate, having just eaten a slice of the chocolate cake Beverly had gotten for kicks the last time she went grocery shopping. It was nearing midnight and Noelle was alone at the house, her mom having just left to go to work and Beverly spending the night once more at Ashton’s. Noelle didn’t mind being alone. Sure, she was still a bit shaken from what happened earlier with Milner, the forming bruises on her skin a reminder, but she’d rather not explain anything to her family when she could just sit by herself.

She had told Calum what happened, down to the last word Milner said and the grip he had on her. Noelle could still recall the shivers that ran down her spine at Calum’s darkened tone after hearing what she had to say, promising that he’d see her later before hanging up. She knew Calum probably went to see Milner. She knew, from what she knows of Calum and what she’d seen of Milner, that things had the high potential of turning ugly. But all she could do was sit in her house and let her knee bounce with worry and teeth nibble on her nails as she wondered what was going on right now.

Distracting herself by eating cake and trying to watch her show wasn’t working out too well, and Noelle had to stop herself multiple times from reaching for her phone and texting Calum to check in. But they’d only, officially, gotten together just a few days ago. She didn’t want to seem annoying, but she couldn’t help but stew in her anxiousness.

It was fifteen minutes past midnight when the doorbell ringing had her jumping where she sat on the couch, her heart hammering for some reason as she paused the TV and got up, hurriedly making her way over to the front door. Noelle didn’t even pause to ask who was on the other side, which would’ve been smart since it was past midnight, instead unlocked the door and swung it open. Her heart was suddenly in her throat when she registered the sight in front of her.

“Told you I’d see you later,” Calum grinned lazily.

But it wasn’t his presence or smile that had Noelle’s stomach lurching. It was the fact that he had to lean against the doorframe to keep himself up, the cut across his right cheekbone where blood was gathered and staining his skin, and the way his hands—the knuckles angrily red and blotchy—were clutching his left side. The breath stilled in Noelle’s lungs as her eyes trailed over every wrinkle in his shirt, the tousle of his mild curls, and most importantly the blood sticking to his beautiful golden skin.

“Calum,” Noelle breathed out, her grip on the doorknob tightening as she felt her heart beginning to pick up its pace. “Oh, my God—w-what happened?”

She knew what happened, of course she did. But that didn’t stop her from asking as she quickly muttered a quiet come here before gently taking his right arm and placing it around her shoulders to help him inside. Noelle was used to carrying Andrea’s weight so even though Calum was significantly heavier than her, she didn’t find it too difficult to hold him up. She didn’t care if his weight was crushing her—he was hurt and the only thing on Noelle’s mind was trying to find a way to make him feel better.

“I’m fine, love,” Calum reassured, though the slight strain in his voice told her a different story once the door was shut and she was helping Calum further into the house. “Nothin’ that’s never happened before. Just need t’sit down.”

Noelle’s own breathing was growing shallow from the worry twisting her stomach, the tips of her left fingers grazing Calum’s hand that was still holding his side. “You’re bleeding and practically limping, Cal. You’re not fine.”

She had so many questions about what went down, how he managed to get here from wherever he was in the state he was in. Seeing Calum in fights at Astros was one thing, but this was completely different. This wasn’t a scheduled match, he hadn’t won money off of it, and while she’s seen him battered and bruised, she’s never seen him unable to completely support his own weight. He wasn’t dragging his feet nor was he falling over, but it was obvious his side was hurt, hindering him from walking properly.

He didn’t say anything in regards to her words, instead opting to respond with, “Can we go to your room?”

Noelle bit her lip as she casted a glance towards the stairs before looking up at Calum. The muscle in his jaw was jumping, the tension in his neck obvious and Adam’s apple bobbing. “Can you make it up the stairs?”

Calum nodded, curls falling across his forehead as he straightened. She saw him squeeze his eyes shut for a brief moment as he put more pressure from his hand to his side, inhaling sharply through his teeth before he took the first step towards the stairs, Noelle instantly walking along with him.

Getting up the stairs wasn’t as much of a struggle as she had worried, Calum’s boots thudding heavily on the steps as he let go of his side to use the railing for additional support just in case. Noelle could hear him breathing through his nose, her heart twisting at the thought of this being even the slightest bit of struggle for him. Calum was always so quick, so effortless in his movements. She’d be lying if she said having to help him up the stairs wasn’t causing a dull ache in her chest.

He got hurt because of her. She knew it may be irrational for her to take all the blame because it was Milner that did this, and while Noelle hoped Calum sent him worse off, she still hated seeing him in this state.

“We should clean you up,” Noelle murmured once they reached the top of the stairs, making their way down the hall. “Let’s go to the bathroom, okay?”

“Yeah, okay,” Calum breathed raspily, allowing Noelle to take them to the bathroom across the hall from her bedroom.

Once inside, Noelle had Calum sit on the closed toilet seat, hearing him grunt as he leaned back and tilted his face upwards, eyes closing with a slight furrow in his brows. Under the bright lights, she saw the blood already drying on the long cut, and despite the presence of the crimson liquid she could see that the wound wasn’t that deep, thankfully, just long in length.

Since her mother was a doctor, there were First Aid kits in every room of the house, so Noelle pulled it out of the cabinet under the sink and made sure there were bandages and antiseptic cream to be used before pulling out a clean rag from the cabinet by the shower.

“I’m gonna clean the cut, Cal,” she informed him softly as she crouched in front of the dark eyed man, looking up at him from her position as she rested her hands on his knees. “That okay?”

He nodded, opening his eyes as he gave her a small half smile. He look as tired as Noelle expected, just silent as his dark eyes watched her, breathing calmly as Noelle stood up to bring the First Aid kit over. She didn’t want him to stand, even if she needed him to be near the sink to clean the wound. So instead Noelle found a small plastic container and filled it with cool water and soap before also bring those over, a soft yet already washcloth in hand, and putting it on the thick rim of the bathtub next to them.

Noelle would have to crouch over him, she knew, because of his seated position but as if Calum had been reading her mind, he looked up at her and said, “It’ll be easier if you sit on my lap, sweetheart.”

Her eyes flickered to meet his, widening slightly with worry as she glanced at his left side that he had been holding. “But your si—”

“‘S okay, Ellie.” The softness in his voice had her breath faltering, accompanied by that same small smile tilting at the corners of his lips. She couldn’t believe how handsome, so effortlessly gorgeous he looked in this moment, even though he was hurt. “Trust me, I’ve been worse.”

As if that’s supposed to make me feel better. When she hesitated, Calum pushed himself up against the toilet a bit more, not even wincing as he did so even though a sharp pain spread from side, courtesy of the kick Milner had delivered. No broken bones, Calum knew, but still hurt like a bitch. He patted his jeans covered thighs. “Sit.”

She pressed her lips together, wondering if it was the appropriate time to feel her heart hammer in her chest as she moved forward and spread her legs just enough before carefully settling down on Calum’s lap. Noelle straddled him, the material of his jeans rough against her own bare thighs thanks to the night shorts she wore, her lack of underwear and the material of the shorts too thin for her to not feel the jeans against her pathetically clothed center.

Fucking hell, not right now, she scolded herself, but her thoughts were hard to control when she felt Calum loosely grip her hips, Noelle’s gaze flickering down to his hands. Shit, she loved the bracelets and rings he wore on his tattooed wrists and fingers, but she also made a mental note to get him ice for the bruises on his knuckles.

With a dry mouth, Noelle finally looked back at Calum, feeling her breath catch at his dark eyes instantly meeting her hazel ones. Once again, it was like he was staring into her soul as Noelle brought up the damp rag in her right hand, left hand surprisingly steady as she brought it up to allow her fingers to cup his stubbly chin. It tickled her fingers as she tilted his head to the side, watching as Calum looked off to the side without a choice as she began gently cleaning the blood under the wound.

“What happened?” she asked again, her voice soft and quiet as if to not disturb the silence of the house and the one that comfortably existed between them.

The white rag was pickening with Calum’s blood as he let out a sharp breath through his nose. “Fucker pulled out a blade on me,” he responded, the exasperation and underlying anger clear in his tone. “I knocked it out before he could swing it again.”

Noelle swallowed inaudibly as her brows twitched into a frown, and while she was glad Calum had gotten rid of the blade before anymore damage could be done, she also wished he’d never gotten this cut in the first place. She wished none of this ever happened. When she efficiently got rid of the blood on his skin, Noelle let out a shaky breath while turning Calum’s head to face her again, mumbling, “I’m sorry this happened.”

Calum pulled together, not liking the guilt he could hear in her voice. He knew she knew this wasn’t her fault, that his confrontation with Milner wouldn’t happened for one reason or another, but he did hate that it occurred because Noelle was thrown in the middle of it. He would’ve happily kicked Milner’s ass whenever he felt like, but Noelle getting involved stirred a painful discomfort in Calum’s stomach he needed to ease.

When her right hand reached to the tub to drop the rag into the soapy water container to let it soak, his eyes followed the movement before his left hand gently grabbed her fingers. Calum brought her hand over, the familiar angry fire lighting in his chest as his eyes landed on the hint of the bluish-purple bruises around her wrist. They weren’t that prominent, but against her pale skin they were obvious and Calum felt the urge to kick Milner in the gut with a new intensity.

If anyone should be feeling any guilt, it was Calum. It was his past with Milner and his present with Noelle that made her a target, and while he couldn’t have known Milner and Noelle would run into each other tonight, Calum still felt a sense of failure on his part in being unable to keep her away from him.

“I’d do it again,” Calum told her truthfully, pushing aside the anger for Milner and replacing it with honest reassurance for Noelle, fingers of his other hand brushing along her wrist as his jaw clenched momentarily. Meeting her eyes once again, Calum promised, “And I’d have no regrets.”

The firm earnesty in his voice had Noelle taking in a breath, thinking this was so much happening so fast but then realizing that if Calum’s liked her for even half as long as she’s liked him, it didn’t matter. It’s been over a month since they left and developing feelings for him came just as fast. But Noelle still felt her heart leaping at the fact that Calum liked her just as much as she liked him—which was a crazy, head spinning and beautifully overwhelming amount.

So she smiled that soft smile Calum adored, hinting at her dimples but not showing them as she lightly jested, “That’s pretty romantic,” as she picked up the washcloth and squeezed out the excess water.

A breathy, silent laugh escaped Calum, feeling the tension lift from his shoulders as Noelle brought the wet washcloth up to his face. “Hold still,” she instructed before, with a feather light touch, dabbing the cut.

Calum didn’t even flinch at the sting of anything touching the cut, still fresh as his brown eyes remained on Noelle. Her gaze was focused on what she was doing, but her cheeks were heating up under the weight of Calum’s eyes on her, heart never pausing in the leaps it was doing as she cleaned up the cut. His hands were back on her hips, but his fingers had snuck under the hem of the loose tee she wore, his warm fingers against her skin sending sparks of heat throughout Noelle’s body as she swallowed inaudibly. That mixed with the cool metal of his rings had Noelle’s dry throat working.

Of course, because nothing ever goes unnoticed by Calum, he noticed the tension in her neck, smirked because he knew he was the cause of it. His thumbs began rubbing small circles against her skin, the gesture giving Noelle pause which he felt because she had briefly stopped cleaning his cut and bit the inside of her cheek. Yeah, that’s not distracting at all, her thoughts drawled, continuing her ministrations while trying—and failing—to appear unaffected.

“Alright,” she breathed, eye on the newly cleaned cut that was now just a long pink, not deep, gash across his cheekbone. Noelle put the washcloth back in the container and picked up the antiseptic cream from the kit.

“Wait, gross, no,” Calum shook his head, trying to lean away from Noelle when she squeezed some out on the tips of her two fingers. He hated the smell of it and he sure as hell didn’t want his face to smell like it.

She shot him a mildly incredulous look, not expecting to see Calum with his face scrunched up in distaste as a laugh threatened to bubble past her lips. “Are you serious?” Noelle raised her eyebrows. “I know you know that you need this so it doesn’t get infected.”

“Yeah, but,” Calum hesitated, eyebrows lowering into a complaining frown before whining, “It just smells.”

She’d never seen him look so pouty, never thought his raspy voice was capable of sounding high pitched when he whined like that, and she broke out into an amused grin. “Cal, it’s odorless.”

He blinked. “Oh.” His cheeks warmed up in slight sheepishness, but the giggle Noelle released had his lips tugging up, no longer embarrassed for appearing even the least bit bratty. Calum watched as Noelle brought her fingers up, took in a sharp breath at the cold cream against the cut, slightly stinging as Noelle offered a soft apology.

They were so close as Noelle’s fingers gently soothed the cut, only being able to hear their soft breathing and feel the steady thrums of their hearts, Calum reveling in Noelle’s fruity scent and her doing the same of his outdoorsy, piney one. Their entire focus was on each other.

“Done,” Noelle’s sotto voice sounded, leaning back slightly and reaching over to rip off some toilet paper to wipe her two fingers clean from any residual cream left over. As she dropped it in the trash, her hazel eyes met his brown ones as she said, “I’ll get you some ice for your knuckles and side.”

She made a move to get off, but Calum’s grip on her hips tightened, keeping her seated on his lap as he said, “No.” He didn’t want her to go, was enjoying her on him too much, so when Noelle parted her lips to protest, he cut her off in a low tone, “Don’t need any ice. Just need you.”

Noelle’s heart jumped to her throat, lips parting at the utter honesty in Calum’s tone, overwhelmingly excited and giddy and endeared when he leaned towards her, closing the distance as her eyes fell shut when she felt his lips against hers. Noelle inhaled deeply through her nose, hands cupping Calum’s jaw as she moved her lips against his in the slow, soft kiss that turned her insides into jelly. She could already feel her head spinning at the gentle pace of the kiss, different than the ones they’ve shared; unrushed as their lips moved in synchronicity.

She’s not sure how long they’ve been kissing, enough for her to pull away and trail kisses down Calum’s strong jaw, head ducking to let her lips and tongue and teeth work down his neck and return the favor he’d done days ago and left her own marks against his pretty skin. Noelle heard Calum let out an appreciative groan as she nipped, working on her fourth mark, a small boost to her ego because she was the one who got him to make a sound as sexy as that.

She brought her lips back to his in a slow, sucking kiss that erupted wild butterflies in her stomach. And when Noelle felt Calum’s blunt nails digging into her skin, the metal of his rings biting, she let out a soft moan into his mouth as she whispered, “I need you, too.”

Her words, just as sincere as Calum’s, had him groaning before nipping at her lower lip. Calum pulled back ever so slightly, brushing his nose against hers and keeping his eyes closed as he practically begged, “Then let me take you to your room, baby girl.”

Noelle felt her heart drop to her stomach from anticipated excitement, feeling his warm breath against her lips and forehead against her own as she instantly consented, “Please.”

Calum didn’t hesitate as his hands went from Noelle’s hips to slide under her thighs, feet firmly planted on the ground as he stood up and lifted her up with him. Noelle’s arms instantly wrapped around his neck and legs around his hips at the unexpected gesture, eyes widened slightly in concern as she worried, “Wait, your side, I can ju—”

He let out a breath to prelude his rushed words of, “I got you,” before capturing her lips in another slow kiss.

Yeah, his side was protesting as he carried Noelle out of the bathroom, but the tightness in his pants was a lot more demanding as Calum blindly walked towards Noelle’s bedroom, seemingly having her house mapped out. He kept kissing her, relished her chest pressing against his as he walked them through the open doorway of her room and kicked it shut behind him.

Noelle’s fingers, which had been entangled in the curls at the back of Calum’s head, tugged at his hair slightly, eliciting a guttural groan from him that allowed Noelle to meet his tongue with her own. It was slow, sensual in the way the kiss deepened and Calum made his way towards the bed, and stopped at the right place from memory to crawl onto the mattress on his knees before bending to lower Noelle. Their kiss never broke, a lazy tangle of lips and tongues and teeth as Calum’s hands slid from her thighs and went up her sides, going under her shirt and all the way up. His knees resting on either side of her hips, Calum’s thumbs brushed right under her bare breasts, his cock hardening even more at her lack of bra.

“As cute as this is,” Calum mumbled against her lips, eyes opening only slightly to let his hooded gaze drop to the picture of Bambi on her shirt. He looked back at Noelle, her light eyes glinting in the darkness of the room, save for the lights filtering in from her parted curtains. “It needs to come off.”

Noelle giggled breathily as Calum’s fingers pulled off her shirt as Noelle lifted slightly to get it off, and once Calum discarded the piece of clothing on the floor behind him, he pulled back to admire the view in front of him. He let out a groan, sitting back on his legs as to not put his weight on her as he praised, “You’re so perfect.”

Her cheeks flushed a happy pink at his words, which were followed by him coming down to kiss her once again and his hands cupping the soft flesh. Noelle moaned into his mouth as Calum’s calloused fingers had their way with her breasts, cupping and squeezing and tugging at her already hardened nipples due to the cool air of the room. It may be cold in here, but Noelle felt like she was on fire.

Much to her chagrin, Calum pulled away from the kiss and she was desperate to follow his lips with hers, but her head dropped and tilted back when she felt him wrap them around her right nipple, giving it the kind of attention she craved. His warm tongue circled her nipple before tugging at it lightly with his teeth, and Noelle closed her eyes and let out a breathless whimper through parted lips, fingers still tangled in his hair as his other hand squeezed her left breast and rolled the nipple between the pads of his finger and thumb.

Holy shit, she thought kissing him was dizzying—this was leaving her without any air to breathe.

When he treated the other breast similarly, Noelle couldn’t help but open her eyes and watch as Calum licked and sucked, his own eyes closed and lashes brushing against his cheekbones, and Noelle felt her stomach stirring and bit her lower lip at the waves of pleasure his mouth was bringing her.

One of her hands slid down from the back of Calum’s head and when she felt the collar of his shirt, she tugged at the back of it. “Take it off, please,” she breathlessly pleaded and Calum realized if she ever asked him to do anything in that voice, he’d do it in a heartbeat.

So he sat up, taking a moment to admire the way Noelle’s chest moved from her breathing, his throat drying at the sight of her breasts slick with his saliva. Calum could hear his heart pounding in his ears as he reached on hand to the back of his shirt, pulling it off in one swift motion and tossing it to the floor, ignoring the cool chains and pendants he wore against his heated skin because he couldn’t believe the sight in front of him. Couldn’t believe the girl with the glazed hazel eyes and kiss swollen lips was his.

Fuck, he adored her.

And while he admired her, Noelle was doing the same as she took in his toned torso and tattoos; the ones he got for his family and for himself. She took in the hickeys she’d left on his neck, a show of her actions. But the black ink and purpling marks weren’t all that were sticking out against his golden skin, because Noelle’s eyes drifted to the yellowing bruise on his left side, a bit too large for her liking as she saw it through the limited light of the room and slowly sat up.

She took in a breath, steadying her wild heart as her fingers barely brushed against the tender skin, the guilt from before coming back at the sight of the bruise. When she pulled her lower lip into her mouth, Calum’s hand came up to cup her cheek, thumb gently releasing her imprisoned lip as he ducked his head and told her gently, “Look at me.” She did, swallowing at the intensity of his kind stare that contradicted the harsh cut on his cheek. It was a look he kept for only those close to him. “I’m okay. I’ve seen worse.”

Noelle let out a sharp breath, hearing the mild summer wind outside over her heart, realizing that having Calum so close was the only thing keeping her warm. “That doesn’t make me feel any better, Calum.”

His lips tugged upwards into a smile, using his light grip on her cheek to bring her forward and softly bite down and tug at her lower lip before releasing it. “Then let me try to help out with that.”

And then he was kissing her again, enjoying the faint taste of chocolate she’d eaten before pushed her back until she was lying down again, before dragging his lips away from hers towards her jaw and down her neck. Noelle savored the feel of his full lips against her skin, an appreciative moan falling past her as Calum sucked and nipped on a particularly pleasurable spot. His actions were slow, taking his time on leaving his mark on one spot of her neck before moving on, dragging his mouth lower and lower all the while making sure to leave purplish marks on her collarbones and the swell of her breasts as well.

The left side of his torso was still experiencing a dull throb of pain as he moved himself further down on the bed, but Calum paid it no mind because his entire attention and energy was focused on the stunner of a girl beneath him, whose moans and soft whimpers were more empowering than any crowd during a match.

When he trailed kisses all the way down her torso, the cool pendants of his necklaces doing what the air couldn’t and raising goosebumps on Noelle’s skin, Calum moved to rest on his knees on the floor, hands on the back of Noelle’s knees to pull her down closer to him as she let out a startled gasp. Smirking and reaching the waistband of her cute little night shorts, Calum paused and glanced up at Noelle, questioning, “Baby, can I take these off?”

Fuck it if Noelle didn’t melt at the husk of his voice. She looked down at him, wondering how they hadn’t truly even done anything yet but she still felt like she was seconds away from coming undone. Her lips parted, licking her bottom one and Calum knew he’d have to take his pants off soon because the sight was so fucking hot. “Yeah,” Noelle answered with an absent nod, “Yes, Cal.”

He didn’t wait a moment longer as his fingers hooked into the band before dragging the shorts down her leg, and Calum felt his entire body clench because she was dripping. The sight of her slick folds was enough to send Calum over the edge, and he couldn’t wait to get to know every single inch of this gorgeous girl’s body. “Shit, Ellie,” he breathed as he discarded the shorts, hands on her inner thighs to push them apart, giving him full access to her waiting pussy. “Who made you this wet?”

Noelle pressed one hand against her forehead when she felt Calum draw circles on her inner thighs, the subtle action sending an unexpected wave of pleasure as she truthfully answered, “God, you did, Cal. Please.” Head still against the mattress, Noelle looked down at him, face scrunched slightly pleadingly as she added, “I need you. Need your mouth and your fingers. Need all of you.”

She wasn’t even embarrassed that she was already begging for him, not when she saw Calum smirk before his lips trailed kisses up the inside of her right thigh, all teeth and tongue and leaving marks. He got close to where she needed him most, he was right there, but he suddenly switched to her other thigh and Noelle’s chest fell with a heavy breath at his purposefully slow movements. Each nip and suck had Noelle begging for more.

“Can’t wait to taste you,” he breathed, his breath teasing Noelle’s heated core before her mouth dropped open at the little kitten licks he taunted her pussy with, and Noelle had to stop her entire body from spasming when Calum’s tongue slowly entered her.

Her strangled moan and his satisfied groan were music to each other’s ears, Noelle motivating him and the sound he made vibrating through her entire being as both of her hands found home in his hair once more, keeping him close as his tongue worked her over.

Calum watched, savoring her taste, her back arching and head tilted back in pleasure, completely entranced at how fucking beautiful she looked like this, how her pretty lips parted open in a breathless gasp when he shifted lower to push one finger into her folds. “So pretty like this,” he remarked breathily, reveling in the way her fingers tightened around his curls, watching as Noelle’s glazed over eyes watched him lick his lips that were wet with the taste of her. Calum pressed a kiss to her clit, adding a second finger and increasing the stomach coiling pleasure she felt. “So pretty for me.”

His lips wrapped around her clit as his fingers continued their ministrations and Calum forced himself to keep his eyes open so he could keep them on Noelle, as her moans, music to his ears, were accompanied by her trying to close her thighs as her head tilted back, giving Calum the stunning view of her pretty neck and the darkening marks littering her skin. She was utterly his, he couldn’t help but muse, as the rim of his ring added onto the pleasure he was generously giving her.

Calum used his free hand to keep her left thigh spread, quickening his pace until he felt Noelle clenching around his fingers. The room was filled with the sounds she made, whining when Calum suddenly pulled his fingers out because she was so close, only to let out a panting, “Oh, God,” when his fingers were replaced by his lips and tongue. “Shit, Calum, I’m clo—”

“Cum for me, baby,” Calum prodded, wrapping his arms around thighs and pulling her even closer, lifting her hips off the bed and the new angle his tongue was hitting was enough to had Noelle seeing stars and squeezing her eyes shut at the toe curling end she finally reached, the moan her star-seeing orgasm accompanied causing Calum to groan against her as she came right on his tongue. He didn’t think he’d ever get enough of her taste.

Calum pulled back with one last kiss to her clit, and Noelle used the grip she had on his hair to tug him up, his body easily following her lead as she pulled him down and pressed her lips to his, tongues instantly meeting. Noelle moaned into his mouth as she tasted herself and not for the first time did Calum think this girl would be the end of him as his left hand dragged up her body, feeling her smooth skin under his touch before his hand found her throat.

But before he could do what he wanted, Calum paused briefly before deciding against it, lips still on hers as he began to move his hand away from her neck. He wasn’t sure if Noelle would want that, didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable in any way. However, as if realizing what he was about to—or what he hesitating to—do, Noelle’s right hand grasped his tattooed, bracelet covered wrist and kept his hand in place.

“Please,” she mumbled against his lips, dragging hers against his. “Do it. Do whatever you want.”

Shit, he didn’t need to be told twice.

His hand splayed at the base of her throat, putting just the right amount of pressure in the front as he used his fingers to do the same on the sides of her neck. Noelle’s lips parted against Calum’s, the unadulterated pleasure she felt from Calum choking her unforeseen yet so fucking dizzying. No one’s ever choked her before, and the pressure Calum was putting along with his cool rings biting into her skin had Noelle’s stomach recoiling wonderfully.

He was obsessed with her, with the way she tasted and felt and sounded, and Calum knew he would never be able to have enough of her. Especially when her fingers worked on the buckle of his belt as she instructed hoarsely through a fucked voice, “Off. Need you now.”

Calum kissed her lips before pushing himself up and off the bed, his kiss swollen lips already missing Noelle’s as he got to his feet on the floor. His eyes never left Noelle’s, the air between them alive with thrilled, euphoric electricity as she pushed herself further up on the bed, and Calum let out a shameless groan when she pulled her lower lip into her mouth, watching as he worked at his belt.

He took it off as it clattered to the ground, toeing off his shoes and socks before hastily unzipping his jeans, the urgency to be on her, inside her, with her getting the better of him as he shoved his pants and boxers down his legs, wincing only slightly when he bent and his side protested at the action. Calum barely registered it, though, along with the thud of his pants because of his phone and wallet in the pockets, the only thing he could focus on was the woman in front of him, her breathing as shallow as his because of the intense anticipation of what was about to happen, what they’d both been waiting for to happen.

Noelle didn’t feel the least bit embarrassed when she felt her mouth practically water at the sight of Calum, completely bare and all for her. She took a brief moment to admire every part of him; from his tattooed arms and biceps and collarbones, his toned chest and strong thighs, all an indicator of how well he treated his body, of how stupidly gorgeous he was.

When Calum crawled back onto the bed on his knees, he made his way back to her by trailing kisses from below her belly button all the way up her stomach, torso, the valley of her breasts and neck before finally reaching her lips. Noelle felt like her body was on fire, Calum’s lips leaving scorches in their wake as she sighed into his mouth, feeling his hardened length against her thigh and her heart threatening to burst through her chest.

“So beautiful,” Calum rasped against her mouth, and he realized the way his heart pumped during a fight was nothing compared to the breathlessness he felt in this moment, with his front flush against hers and his cock twitching in impatient anticipation. “Need you so bad, Ellie. Can I have you?”

“God, yes, yeah,” Noelle whined, her senses overwhelming full of Calum as she couldn’t possibly wait a second longer, her hands cupping his cheeks as she felt the hard lines of his jaw in her palms, his chest against her own as his necklaces sensually dragged against her fiery skin. Her eyes met his as he hovered over her, only inches between them as she took in his dilated pupils and pink lips, obsessed with every feature of his, thumb tenderly brushing the skin right below his cut. “All of me, yeah. Just need to feel you, Cal.”

Their noses brushed together, heavy breaths mingling in the silence of the room as their blood rushed in their veins and hearts pounded in their ears. Their senses were just full of the other, unable to be close enough, as Noelle breathlessly volunteered, “I’m on the pill.”

Calum’s heart jumped up to his throat as her words registered in his mind and he dropped his forehead to her collarbones, an aroused groan escaping him at the mere thought of being able to feel Noelle without any filter. “You’re gonna kill me,” he quipped against her skin, voicing the thought that always seemed to flutter around his mind where Noelle was concerned. Reaching his hand down, he gripped the base of his cock, brushing the tip against Noelle’s sensitive folds that pulled a soft whine from her, causing him to smirk as he slanted his lips over hers in a kiss not as gentle as the ones before, the adrenaline in his veins energizing his movements.

“What’re you waiting for?” Noelle muttered against his lips when she didn’t feel him in his entirety, pulling back slightly as a smirk of her own tilted at her pink mouth. “Get on with it.”

Narrowing his eyes, Calum’s smirk widened at Noelle’s bold impatience, staring down at her as he couldn’t help but think how perfect this beautiful, sexy girl was and that she was his. “Whatever you say, love,” Calum marveled before, without another moment’s pause, he moved his hips and sank himself into Noelle’s heat, the sensation of her walls snugly around him making Calum release her lips, their foreheads pressed together as both of them let out loud, impassioned groans at this new feeling.

He bottomed out, Noelle inhaling sharply as she tilted her head back at the maddening way he filled her so completely, so full and she could already feel herself drawing to the edge at how tantalizing Calum felt. He, in turn, dragged his lower lip along hers as he released shallow breaths, heart in his throat as he held himself up with his arms, both of them taking a second to process this moment, to revel in the new level of intimacy they’d been craving. It wasn’t until Noelle clenched around him that spurred Calum on, broke every strand of patience and control he had as he pulled out almost completely before snapping his hips forward.

The gratifying mewl that escaped Noelle at the rough movement prompted Calum to pick up his pace, and he couldn’t help but kiss her for what felt like the hundredth time, but still ignited a fire just like the first. It was a kiss messy with tongue and clashing teeth, rushed with the heat coursing through their veins and the waves of bliss stealing their breaths and writing their bodies, the pleasure even more enjoyable for Noelle as his stubble scratched her chin.

“So good, Cal,” Noelle babbled softly, moving her legs to wrap around his hips and lock her ankles at his back. The new angle as she pushed himself more into her had Noelle quickly approaching the edge, and Calum buried his face in the crook of her marked neck because he didn’t think he’d ever felt euphoria this intensely before. One hand returned to her throat, fingers finding home around it and Noelle’s heart felt as though it was going into overdrive. Her nails scraped lightly against his scalp as he groaned against her skin. “God, I feel so full.”

Shit, she really was going to be the end of him. He kissed her collarbone and sat up slight, other hand holding her thigh and rings biting into her skin as his hips never once ceased bucking forward, overwhelmed in how well he fit inside her. “Take me so well, baby,” Calum rasped, unable to stop the praise from falling past his own lips as he licked at her. “Like you were made for me.”

Noelle believed that wholeheartedly.

It wasn’t long until both of them were reaching their end, their stomachs coiling as Noelle felt her muscles quivering at her fast approaching orgasm. And when Calum let go of her thigh to prop himself up, allowing his other hand to come up and rub loose circles over her clit with his thumb, he urged, “Let me how pretty you look when you cum, Ellie.”

It took all of Noelle’s willpower to open her eyes, to look up at the stunner of a man who was bringing her the kind of ecstacy she’d never felt before, who lit up her body in every way with a fierce fire, every nerve within her body igniting with life. And when her eyes met his, she was done.

Calum let her ride it out, the warmth of her releasing around him quickening his own approaching orgasm as the sound of skin slapping against skin and their mingling moans electrified the air. Noelle’s lips parted with a heavy gasp as Calum kept going, loving the feeling of him within her sensitive heat, wanting to always remember this moment of how her name falls past his lips in a euphoric groan when his own orgasm finally washes over him and she feels him deliciously spilling inside of her.

Their breaths were heavy, disrupting the silence of the room as Calum, after a moment of pausing to catch a breath, pulled out of her tenderly, unhindered groans sounding from both of them at the loss of closeness. Calum laid down beside Noelle, their chests heaving and hearts only just starting to slow down, his head against the pillow as he wrapped his right arm around her shoulders and pulled her over. The desire to be close to her was never going to disappear.

Noelle rested her cheek against his shoulder, hand resting against his chest as they basked in the afterglow of the rapture they’d just experienced without anything keeping them apart, skin warm and flushed and heads swimming in pure delirium. They knew they should clean up, but they were too comfortable on the bed next to each other, too overwhelmed and sensitive to do anything except bask in each other’s presence.

Arm wrapped around Noelle’s shoulder, Calum’s fingers lightly ran through her hair as he felt her legs move until a blanket was sliding up his bare legs, Noelle reaching for it to bring it up and cover them up. “Sleepy?” he mumbled because, really, falling asleep with her in his arms, beautiful and fucked and his, sounded like the best thing.

She hummed in response, cheek against his shoulder as she reveled in the warmth the blanket and Calum’s body provided. She was exhausted and sore and felt so taken care of. Though she didn’t have to, she still rasped, “You gonna stay the night?”

Calum twirled a strand of her soft hair around his finger, pressing a kiss to her temple as his own eyelids felt heavy. “Don’t wanna be anywhere else.”

tags: @aphroditebeautyshit @cartiercalum @modelukes @tothemoonmikey@candidcalum @perfectlycake @cakestan @lukesback @polarizehood @vaporlewk@luke2k18 @biggestslutforcalum @kinkycorbyn @nostalgia-luke @captain-what-is-going-on @hoodstations @calumamore @thesamebutwonderfullydifferent @rosecth@aghostofmgc @mollypayge @o-cece-d @hemmohales @crownedbyluke @vscsng@invisiblexcth @lukes-youngblood @sunflowertoejam @5sos-stan4lyfe @vistaviola@clum-thomas @justalittleofmyworld @babygirlcashton @ashsthetic @bahylon@angelbbycal @egyptiangoldhood @calistajs @booklove-2 @pickleluke @rememberr-iloveyou @ghstofcalum @chloettegriffiths @lil-brown-princess@lifeakaharry @kimkimj @bfcalum @ngandtea @bitchinbabylon @my-world97@babyloncth @haileygonzalezz @lifeofsterek @stfujace @miahelizaaabeth@cosmixcalum @darynn @all-i-want-is2b-loved-by-you @musicspeaks @drunkoncalssofa @grreatgooglymoogly @escap0-with-me @socorroann @jane-ofalltrades @lovelettercalum @ashyoungxblood @theblackfastclub @runawaywithme-xo @rosegold-thorns

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enniewritesathing · 6 years ago

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The Couple Interview

Rules: answer the questions from your OC OTP’s point of view and tag as many people as you want.

I was tagged by @pink-chevalier (thank you bb <3) and... well, I’m gonna tag everyone who wants to do it!

This is a read, but this is also sort of a small primer for my newer followers.

1. HOW DID YOU TWO MEET?

Brian: “Oh, boy.”

John: “You want me to tell it, or...?”

Brian: “Nah, I got it. How can I put this? Back in our freshman year in high school, I kinda put out a hit on someone and I asked John to do it.”

John: “What?” (looks at Brian) “Well, when you word it like that, it sounds I killed the guy. I didn’t. And it wasn’t a hit. Brian ran cross country at the time and he was on the varsity team. The captain didn’t like that because Brian’s breaking records, so he tried to harass him. That is, until Brian pulled me aside and asked for help.”

Brian: “I didn’t have anyone to turn to. John was in my homeroom, and I always saw him carrying his gym bag with his gloves; I knew he fought, but I didn’t know what sport, but if it was enough to get McIntyre off my back... I asked John, which was the scariest part.”

John: “I wasn’t the friendliest lookin’ kid in the school.”

Brian: “Oh, he wasn’t. You really didn’t talk, and you were just... intense. Anyway, I asked him, even made the whole ‘you can copy my homework’ and all of that spiel, make the offer enticing because, why help me?”

John: “And you know what, I never took that offer up. I did it because I never liked the guy and two, I can’t stand it when I see someone getting harassed. And three because, Brian’s the only one to actually speak to me. Found out we have the same lunch period, so, we sat down and talked a bit.”

Brian: “And then McIntyre came.”

John: “Yeah... and I blocked him. He tried to get at Brian and next thing I know, McIntyre swings on me; I leaned back, he whiffs, I stepped in and threw a knee to his stomach -- not hard to break anything, thank god, but to send a message to him and everybody that watched: you fuck with Brian, I’ll fuck you up. Honestly? Should’ve punched him in the face.”

(Brian nods.)

Brian: “And, of course, god and country saw the whole thing, and John got suspended for a week.”

John: “And my uncle suspended me for... a month from fighting. It was worth it. I didn’t care about what my rep was. I was already the scary kid with the spooky eyes. (He shrugs) On top of that, lot of other people came forward about him harassin’ and he got expelled. I like to think of it as taking out the trash. My therapist wasn’t too happy about the whole thing... my mom was though.”

Brian: “I went over to his house. Which is in Windenburg. At the time, I lived in Oasis Springs. A loooong way off. Noelle, Mrs. Davidson came to the door. Looked at me up and down. I’m thinking this woman is going to yell at me for getting her son suspended, but... no, she asked what happened and I told her. She looks at me up and down again. She invited me in for dinner, so we could talk.”

John: “She didn’t really ground me because of what I did, but why I did it. She understands, but she also wished that I could’ve went a different way. But, after that, Brian started to come over and... that’s that.”

2. WHO IS THE MOST JEALOUS OF YOU TWO?

Brian: “Me.” (laughs) “I’m a lot better at it though.”

John: “See, I’m used to getting attention and Brian isn’t. So... when someone’s focusing solely on me, well...”

Brian: “I’ve had to do the slide in and do the clingly boyfriend thing a couple of times.”

John: “Now, Brian just wanders off.”

Brian: “I figure, eh, he’s probably making someone’s day or something, it’s no big. John’s not exempt though! We went out one time and the waiter was really flirting with me, and I gotta admit... that margarita was pretty good.”

John: “I made him a better margarita when we got home.”

3. WHAT’RE YOUR 3 FAVOURITE PHYSICAL THINGS ABOUT YOUR PARTNER?

Brian: “Just three? That’s not fair...” (John has a smug look as Brian looks at him.)

John: (kiss the air) “Hey, how ya’ doin’?”

Brian: (laughs) “Oh my god. If I had to honestly pick... (Brian rubs his chin.) Hmm. Hair, chest, and... lips. John’s hair? Look at it. It’s long and luscious. Like a cover of a romance novel. Lips? Soft and plush. I think about some of the kisses he gives two weeks later. His chest? (He grins.) Firm, yet supple. Look at that carpet!”

(John is blushing)

John: “Brian used to hate my chest hair. Like to the point of threatening to wax it off. So I said, “okay” and I did. And all of a sudden he hated how smooth I was. He couldn’t just run his fingers through it. Hell, I hated it because it just made everything sensitive. Never again. Oh, and by the way, every chance he gets, he sleeps on it.”

Brian: “You make a good pillow!”

John: “Apparently! You drool every time!”

Brian: “Alright, alright, enough about you. What about me?”

(Before John answers, Brian turns to him and bats his eyelashes (:3))

John: “I see... three isn’t fair.”

Brian: “Right?!”

John: “Eyes, Legs, Freckles. Brian’s eyes... they’re hazel. It’s easy to get lost in them, like a forest. They twinkle when he smiles. You have a wonderful smile. And his eyelashes? I’m jealous. Legs... ooh. See, I like Brian’s legs because it... kind of brings him together. He’s long and slender... like a dancer. Graceful.”

Brian: “Aw.”

John: “And a lovely ass. I can just eat it like a peach. I love peaches.”

Brian: “Yet you eat like--” (Brian pauses and turns beet red and covers his face.) “Oh.”

John: “Freckles! I can really see them now. You should see him after he’s been in the sun. There’s so many, and I wanna play connect the dots. But also, it makes him cuter than he ought to be. Like right now.”

4. WHO’S MORE LIKELY TO BE RUNNING LATE?

John: “Brian has no sense of time since he’s been a nurse.”

Brian: “I really don’t. There are times it gets so hectic in there that time is a myth and a lie. I don’t even know how I get home on some days.”

John: “It sort of bleeds over to when we’re getting ready to go out. He takes forever to pick an outfit. Hell, he has a mini fashion show to see what looks good. Babe, all of it looks good.”

Brian: “I have to be coordinated. You’d think John with (gestures) all of this, he’d be late. He’s not. He knows exactly what he’s gonna wear, how to wear his hair...”

John: “We were fifteen minutes late to see a movie because he couldn’t decide if he wanted to wear long sleeves or short sleeves. I told him it’s gonna be cold in there. It’s always cold in the theater. You’d think he listened.”

Brian: “I didn’t. Thus, we had to sneak into another showing...”

5. WHO IS THE MOST ORGANISED AND WHO IS THE MESSIEST?

Brian: “I am the messiest person alive. In our first apartment, John made a little study area for me.”

John: “I don’t remember a time where I saw the floor because papers, books, clothes... name it, it was there or on the desk. I’ve tried cleaning it up but then Brian got mad at me because he couldn’t find his notes.”

Brian: “Listen, when I got into my major, I needed to keep everything because, you never know.”

John: “We still have those books. It’s been... 3 years?”

Brian: “As much money I had to pay for them, holy shit. I digress.”

John: “I gave up after awhile and let it be, but I at least picked up the clothes and shoes. Brian claimed that he can find whatever in the chaos he made.”

Brian: “I’m jealous of John’s organization skills. I mean, he has to with all the tools he’s gotta keep track of.”

6. WHO IS THE BIGGER FLIRT? (FLIRTS THE MOST?)

(They look at each other.)

John: “Brian flirts on complete accident.”

Brian: “How so?”

John: “Your eyelashes, for one thing. You bat them. And then you have this specific voice. I call it your nurse voice.”

Brian: “Nurse voice? You don’t know what I sound like when I work!”

John: “I imagine it to be soft and gentle, like this. ‘Excuse me, can you tell me where the candles are? (in normal voice) and then you smile and whatnot. Every guy you ask for assistance, well... there’s an effect.

Brian: “Huh. Didn’t know that. John is... a bad flirt. Let me take that back, when he’s not thinking about it, he’s okay. When he is...”

John: “Before we started dating, I’d try to flirt and I wondered why Brian never really responded. Turns out I try too hard. And he knows this because I put more bass in my voice and then he can’t understand me. (laughs)”

7. WHO DOES THE MOST COOKING?

John: “I have to do the cooking, or else Brian will die of starvation.”

Brian: “John. C’mon.”

John: “He has a habit of just... not eating. Especially when he gets busy or when he’s really focusing on something. And during that time, he’ll eat like, a granola bar. That’s no calories and no energy. Or junk food. I’ve been cooking since I was 11, and I cook actual meals.”

Brian: “Are you gonna tell the story? I feel like you are.”

John: “I’m gonna. So, about a year and a half ago, I’m at work, I get a call from the hospital, where Brian works. I’m his emergency contact, so I’m freaking out. I get there, this jerk is in one of the beds. Turns out that he’s been living off of caffiene for three days and haven’t eaten in a day and a half, AND, been on 14-hour shifts. Oh, and haven’t slept since last year.”

Brian: “We’re still understaffed and... shit happens. I had to get a couple shots of adenosine, I passed out from low blood sugar...”

John: “I may have yelled at someone about his schedule. When we got home, Brian told me that he didn’t have time to eat. Even when he gets back. So, I started meal preps. Nutrient dense. I even asked his supervisor a couple of times if I could take him down to the cafeteria so he could actually eat so he’ll have energy to take care of his patients.”

Brian: “I just don’t have the time. Or, I’m not able to make the time that I need. John’s schedule is more stable than mine, so he does the cooking. Or I will starve.”

8. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT KIDS AND DO YOU WANT THEM? IF SO HOW MANY?

(John looks at Brian with a very pointed look)

Brian: “What?”

John: “Nothing, nothing...”

Brian: “We’ve talked about kids, and... John wants ‘em, I’m on the fence. But he understands that. (John nods) I love kids, but not right now. That’s a huge step, and right now, I don’t think we’re stable enough. We’re still pretty young, y’know.”

John: “Yeah, I’m not in a rush and you’re right, we’re young. On the record? Three. At least one daughter.”

Brian: “The real question is, how are we gonna address... you’re not calling yourself Papa.”

John: “Why not? I like the ring of it. Papa John.”

Brian: “Ugh...”

9. WHO WEARS THE PANTS IN THE RELATIONSHIP?

(John twiddles his thumbs)

John: “We try to keep it even. But... Brian is pretty bossy.”

Brian: “I am not. A little bit.”

John: “Let’s put it this way, any major decision, I run it past him and if he says no or maybe, I just... drop it. Brian tends to do it and then tells me after the fact. He hasn’t done it in a while.”

Brian: “I try not to, but I’m also compensating for years of not being assertive. I’m just taking it out on poor John.”

John: “It’s alright, honey. I enjoy it when you wear the pants.” (He winks.)

Brian: “John.”

John: “Huh?”

10. WHAT’S YOUR PARTNER’S LEAST FAVOURITE HOUSEWORK TASK?

Brian: “You know what? I’m not sure. I woudn’t say that John enjoys all of it, but I think he’s just indifferent to it. He’s a hands on kind of guy.”

John: “Cleaning the fridge.”

Brian: “Oh.”

John: “I’ve found a lot of science experiments in there. I made the grave mistake of opening up tupperware that sat in there for... six months. Threw up in the sink because the smell was so horrendous.”

Brian: “Ew.”

John: “I tell Brian to empty whatever he has leftover in his lunchbox into the trash. Each time he’s left something in there, he forgets it.”

Brian: “Sorry...”

John: “I do most of the chores, but Brian and laundry? Forget it. He’ll wash it and y’know, put it in the drier, but that’s it.”

Brian: “I admit, I’m lazy. I just pull out what I need from it. Even if I manage to put it in the basket, the cat gets into it and I just leave her there.”

11. WHAT WAS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICED ABOUT EACH OTHER?

Brian: “John’s eyes. It’s hard not to notice them. They were sad looking, but the rest of him wasn’t. I honestly thought they were contacts until he proved me wrong by touching his eye. Eugh.”

John: “They’re amber. Extremely rare in humans. Light hits it right, they look like gold. It freaks people out when I look at ‘em too long, so I try not to do that. I use that to my advantage before a match though; I always see them squirm just for a second.”

Brian: “They’re goregous though.”

John: “Hmm. I noticed how small Brian was when I first saw him. I mean, I wasn’t much taller or bigger than him at the time, but man, Brian, you were tiny. A strong gust could’ve knocked you over.”

Brian: “If you saw pictures of me back then and compared to me now, you’d be shocked by the difference. My growth spurt happened but then I was a bean pole. Even in college. Hell, I didn’t really start gaining weight until a couple of years ago. I needed a lot of sandwiches.”

12. WHAT DOES YOUR PARTNER DO THAT PISSES YOU OFF?

Brian: “John is stubborn about a lot of things, but when I have to tell him to slow down and scale it back when he’s training for a match, tournament, whatever, he just... he won’t listen.”

John: “Here we go.”

Brian: “He can be obsessive and single-minded. John will train himself to the bone. It’s happened before.”

John: “I do what it takes to win. You know that.”

Brian: “I know I’ve probably told this story before, but this nut broke three of his ribs during a match. He went on to finish it. He won. I don’t know how. After that, he collapses. I’m freaking out. One of his ribs punctured his lung--”

John: “--it wasn’t that big--”

Brian: “--and he was hospitalized. It took him three months. Would’ve been two but he caught pnuemonia trying to get back to it because he felt fine. John, I love you, but you have to let your body heal and recover or you’re gonna breakdown faster than you want to.”

John: “Oh, like you haven’t done that before. Brian used to pull so many all nighters when we were in college. One point, he didn’t sleep for three days. He was so stressed, he had a nervous breakdown. It was bad. And it pisses me off when he doesn’t take care of himself. I get it, you have to take care of a lot of people, but you gotta make time for yourself so you won’t burnout. Sometimes I just... want to swaddle you in a blanket so you can actually sleep.”

Brian: “Man... we’re stubborn, huh?”

13. WHERE’S THE CRAZIEST/WEIRDEST PLACE YOU’VE EVER HAD SEX?

John: (mumbles) “The hospital.”

Brian: “That was... that was interesting. John, that was left field.”

John: “Brian was on-call at the time. Basically, he had to be in the immediate area of the hospital, just in case he’s needed. It’s three days long, and he’s rotated in every... what, three months?”

Brian: “About three months.”

John: “He can’t exactly leave there, but there’s some dorms set aside for it. Bed, fridge. It’s basic. After his shift ended, he called me up wanting some food, so I cooked and brought it over. Here’s the thing. I hate hospitals. Hate’s a strong word; I intensely dislike them. Bad memories. I’m just wanting to go in, get out. But, Brian’s here. He knows about it. For whatever reason, I asked for a tour.”

Brian: “I have keys, and it was after hours, so no one was around. I explained what was in the room and, y’know answered questions he had. We get back, and John’s... bothered.”

John: “I told him about some dreams I had. Uh, they took place in the hospital and... it was very, very kinky. Let’s go with that.”

Brian: “The way he described everything, I just...”

John: “We fucked, and it was the hottest thing. Top 3.”

Brian: “We learned too... and, uhm...” (laughs) “Yeah, I learned something about John that I wasn’t expecting at all, but I was happy to oblige.”

John: “And five minutes later, he got paged so, we didn’t get to let everything sink in.”

14. DO YOU KNOW YOUR PARTNER’S LOVE LANGUAGE? IF YES, WHAT IS IT?

Brian: “Love language... oh! I’ve read about this! John’s language is... how does this work again? His language is... he does things for me so I don’t have to worry about it. Chores, errands. He doesn’t like to talk about it, he just does it. And I’m forever grateful for him. Thank you. (Brian kisses him on the cheek. John smiles.)

John: “And, Brian’s language is touch. I know it’s a part of his job too, but... after a hard match and I’m busted up good no matter what the outcome is, he’s always there for me. His presence makes everything better. Even if I’ve lost. His touch keeps me grounded, makes sure I’m alright. That’s comforting and that’s pretty much what I need.”

Brian: “That and preventing him from doing anything dumb.”

John: “Of course.” (Laughs)

15. WHERE DO YOU SEE THE 2 OF YOU IN 10 YEARS?

John: “Ten years? Married. Kids? Maybe. More cats? Probably.”

Brian: “We don’t know how Spaghetti would handle that... yes on everything else.”

#ts4 #ts4 simblr #oc: john #oc: brian #oc pair: healing hands #tagged in #a text post #non sims #couple tag interview

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goddessofphilosophy · 5 years ago

Photo

As much as Hyacinth loved to follow through on the Women Empowerment projects of the United Nations discussed during the General Assembly, there is no way in hell she would want to miss the Dolce & Gabbana Fashion Show for the Milan Fashion Week. Twice every year, she'd reserve frontrow seats and get an upclose look at the items that will eventually grace her wardrobe upgrades for the season. She decided it would be best for Jane, her new secretary, to stay in Manhattan just in case there would be papers that needed to be signed. It's an excuse since she reasoned the trip would be a family affair. She and Annicka would eventually meet Amberleighn, Noelle, and their mother in Milan. They landed at the airport a few hours just before the women's fashion show. Oh how she missed Milan's exquisite atmosphere. "Have you seen them yet?" Annicka was getting disappointed that Amberleighn wouldn't pick up her phone. Hyacinth was looking around instead, "Oh there they are! Andiamo!" They both made their way among the crowd to join Amberleighn, Noelle, Druella & Astoria at the entrance of a nearby café. "Scusi, per favore. Grazie," she was almost mumbling. The airport was jampacked with tourists, photographers, media personalities, designers, graphics artists, and eager fashion bloggers for the upcoming event. However, a man in gray suit blocked their way and extended his hand unexpectedly. He was beaming, it would be impolite not to return the gesture of shaking his hand. "Hyacinth," he breathed. "You're even more beautiful than I remember." "Ciao, nice to see you around. We haven't seen each other for a long time." It was a lie. Why is she lying? She didn't expect him to follow her in Milan. He felt why she needed to lie and he understood. The awkwardness was unbearable that they have an audience. "Do you remember my sister Annicka?" His eyes darted to Annicka, finally. Hyacinth doesn't quite like the uneasiness she felt whenever he stares at her. "Sí, I do," he smiled at Annicka. "If you don't mind, I'd like to have a word with your sister, per favore?" Annicka looked at Hyacinth as if to ask if she'd be fine if she leaves them alone. Hyacinth nodded. "Alright," she replied and went to the café. His attention went back to Hyacinth and he led her towards a corner where there were less people, away from her family's sight. "We haven't seen each other for a long time? Did you have to miss me that much?" he smirked and laughed lightly. "Suit yourself," she rolled her eyes. He loved that about her. "Would you mind to be my date at the after party tonight? I didn't forget you are obsessed with Dolce & Gabbana," he smiled crookedly. "Just like old times." "You don't have to use that card on me." "We both know I don't lay down a card if it wouldn't be in my advantage," he whispered and kissed her cheek with a lingering kiss. "Ci vediamo dopo, beautiful." And just like that he was gone again. He knew he can't stay much longer. He knew his limits. He knew he blew his chance once. He knew she's already married. But there had been speculations about her fragile marriage when she left New York all those years ago. And that gave him hope. This year, Dolce & Gabbana's theme embraced Tropico Italiano showcasing its signature floral prints, pasta & pizza, religious symbols, classy little black dresses and crowns which are remarkably Italian. Coconut trees lined up the runway with LED lights also present in some of the models' shoes. She especially liked the 'I love Pizza' bag. And the piano skirt absolutely captured her heart. The festivity continued during the after party when the street was closed off for the banquet. The newly opened Monte Napoleone boutique was divinely prestigious with its gold accents truly fit for royalty. Indeed, Italians do it better. Hyacinth has always been proud of her Italian descent. When the Descartes-Houghton girl squad arrived at the gathering, Hyacinth was trailing behind them. They were all used to the cameras but Annicka so Amberleighn came in first. Her supermodel status always attracted attention. Dark-haired Noelle and Annicka spiced up the family's ethereal fashion-forward style. Nobody will ever know that Druella is their mother. They all looked like sisters, even with Astoria Houghton and her German lineage. "Ciao," Anthony whispered while joining her in front of the cameras. "Where is your escort?" Hyacinth smiled at him, "Nessuno." He replied in haste, faking a frown, "Ouch, qui sono." Then he took her hand, ushering her towards their seat, "Si guarda molto meraviglioso. Mi manchi." She looked at him and hoped she heard it all wrong. "Il gatto ti ha mangiato la lingua?" he asked, provoking her. She never imagined what it would be like to hear those words from him again. Does he possibly think those were the magic words? He felt her apprehension and he regretted what he said but what could he do when it was what he wanted to say to her simply because it was inevitable? Her silence spoke volumes and he understood it. He reminded himself to just enjoy the night and stop playing with their frienship that caught fire. Despite the darkest dawn, it was a night to remember. And it almost felt like it never ends when she joined her friends in the dancefloor. It was surreal that almost all of them married within their circle. Pietro married Alexandria and they got two kids, a girl and a boy. Marcello married Hannah and they were blessed with three beautiful ladies. Eduardo married Chiara and decided not to have kids. The others are happily and independently single. "Man, we never knew who broke the engagement. It all happened so fast. And then Hyacinth here got married three months later. Ti immagini?" a slightly tipsy Pietro spoke with his think Italian accent. He has always been tactless. Alexandria shook her head to say we shouldn't mind him. She was trying to soothe him by giving him a glass of water. Anthony looked at Hyacinth with tenderness, but it was meant to answer Pietro, "Ci siamo lasciati e morto un Papa se ne fa un altro. É così." "Ma dove é lui?" Clellin chimed in. "He never accompanied you during Milan Fashion Week." And all she could respond was the truth, "He's busy." She thought she heard him mumble, "Che peccato!" But Anthony was lost in thought, suddenly not paying attention at their group conversation. Among her peers, she trusted Hannah would always turn the atmosphere into something lighter, "Why don't we all hang out. It's been such a long time!" She also hated it when Anthony starts speaking in Italian. The accent confuses her. "My place. I have a villa in Tuscany," Anthony suggested, then sipped his champagne. You received an iMessage from Leah Hale. Leah: Ms. Chairperson, have you forgotten about the internship interviews? They are now late for their analysis of the first presidential debate, their supposedly first project especially those who will be assigned in the Political Science Department. Hyacinth: Can't come back until tomorrow. Leah: Where in the world are you? Can't contact you! Hyacinth: Tuscany. There's a storm. Leah: Why? The Editorial Board has released our support for Hillary Clinton, as per your request. The New York Times need more correspondents for the upcoming debates. And interns for the law firm's Journalism Department. How do you expext me to handle all these? You promised to do the interviews with the Human Resources Department! Hyacinth: I'm so sorry. Jane will come to your rescue. Leah: Jane? Hyacinth: Jane Sheppard, another secretary of mine. Leah: I feel so betrayed. Hyacinth: Never knew how to disagree with the husband. Leah laughed at "Never knew how to disagree with the husband." Leah: Okay, orient her please before sending her in our precious minefield! Hyacinth: The little girl's even willing to follow me in Syria! Be ashamed of yourself! Leah: Not risking my life for you! I don't love you that much! Leah: Little girl? How young is your new minion? Hyacinth: Not more than 25, for sure. Hyacinth: I don't even know! I have to ask her! Leah: You are such an awesome boss! You loved "You are such an awesome boss!" Leah: Why are you in Tuscany? Leah: What are you doing in Tuscany when you're not even divorced? Hyacinth: So funny! Leah: How are you in Tuscany alone? Hyacinth: Not alone. Leah questioned "Not alone." Leah: Thanks for all the juicy details! Hyacinth laughed at "Thanks for all the juicy details!" Leah: Spill the beans! You sent an image. Leah: OMG! Leah: He's still hot! Leah: Too bad you didn't marry the guy! Leah: Why are you with him? Leah: You almost married the guy, Cinth! Leah: Almost. Hyacinth: And I didn't. There is such a thing as platonic relationship, right? Leah: Who owns the place? Looks really good! Hyacinth: We are with some friends. Leah: I ALMOST thought you sounded defensive. Hyacinth: He bought the villa years ago. Leah: Friends who expected you guys end up together. Married friends with their partners and you are with him. Nice pairing! Leah: He bought a villa after you left him? Hyacinth: You're delusional. Leah loved "You're delusional." Leah: How is that a group picture and he's accidentally staring at you? You received an iMessage from Astoria Houghton. Astoria: The Ritz Paris is amazeballs! Just in case you changed your mind. xx Astoria sent an image. Hyacinth: Don't tempt me, temptress. Astoria loved "Don't tempt me, temptress." You received an iMessage from Noelle Xade Descartes. Noelle: You're such a party pooper! It's Paris Fashion Week! Mom always tells us that family always comes first and yet there you are with your friends. Hyacinth: We can all wait for another century and I will come to Paris without force. Noelle: You're missing out on all the fun! You sent an image. Noelle: And the country goddess award goes to you! You received an iMessage from Druella Rose Descartes. Druella: Bonjour from Paris! Il est toujours trop beau pour être vrai! Your Father would love it even more. Hyacinth Athena, family above all. Call me if you're ready to talk about it. Druella sent an image. Druella: Wish you were here! You received an iMessage from Annicka Paulette Descartes. Annicka: How did you let them drag me to Paris Fashion Week? Hyacinth: You said you didn't like hearing Italian all the time! Annicka: How is French any better? Hyacinth laughed at "How is French any better?" You received an iMessage from Leah Hale. Leah: How many tomorrows do I have to count until you're back? Don't you check your e-mails? The United Nations called twice today. Hyacinth: I'm so sorry. Let me personally handle that one. Leah: You always check your e-mails not unless you're in Syria again? But if they knew you're on a mission, why would they call here? Hyacinth: I'm not in Syria. Leah: It can't be always stormy in sunny Tuscany! Hyacinth: We're in Capri now. Marcello wanted us to meet his children. You sent an image. Leah: Wow. They all got their mother's looks! Australian beauties! Leah: Where are the other two? Those without kids. Hyacinth: Back in Venice. Leah: Did you ride the gondola with him in Venice? Hyacinth: Andréas and I did last year. Leah loved "Andréas and I did last year." Leah: Not talking about your husband, Cinth! Hyacinth: It's a no. Leah: Did you ride the gondola with him in Venice and kiss him under the Bridge of Sighs at sunset when you two were still dating? Back in the days? Hyacinth: Don't you have more important things to do, Atty. Hale? Leah: You did! You received an iMessage from Amberleighn Vernice Descartes. Amber: Get your sexy ass here! When will you ever stop letting the past haunt you, sister? Amber sent an image. Amber: Jacket envy! Amber sent an image. Amber: Wish we stayed in Paris. New Yorkers are so lame. I don't understand why Mom likes New York. Everything is better in Paris. Hyacinth: Because you work in New York. Amber: I can change that. Hyacinth: No, you stay with Mom! Amber: Why wouldn't Annicka stay with her? Hyacinth: She doesn't like New York. Amber: Do you think I like it? You laughed at "Do you think I like it?" Amber: Hey, are you back in Manhattan? Hyacinth: Not until tomorrow. Amber: Where are you? Hyacinth: Greece. You sent an image. Amber: You don't cliffdive! Hyacinth: I just did. "What did it feel like?" Leah's inquisitive side always gets the job done. Hyacinth was back in New York City to meet the new interns of the law firm. She had to set their expectations. It's a shame Jane had to do the interviews. This year is particularly important since the presidential elections only happen once every four years. They were sitting beside each other in Leah's office. It used to be Hyacinth's office too. The room was sound proof due to the confidentiality of their conversations. "Like I can conquer all my fears, even the fear of losing him one day." Leah laughed. "No, not cliffdiving. What does it felt like holding his hand while doing it?" "Normal. We're friends." "Are you having an affair with him?" "No!" Hyacinth glared at Leah. She couldn't understand how her mind works sometimes. "Are you planning to have an affair with him?" "No." "But do you want to have an affair with him?" she whispered, enunciating each word, then nudged her. Hyacinth studied her for a moment, "What's your point?" "Just in case you want to... how to get away with an affair, my friend," Leah winked at her.

#mine #andi

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megairishrose · 7 years ago

Text

Put a Patch on it chapter 15

The next morning Killian finally saw his would have been sister law. What could he possibly say to her? Was he even allowed to talk to her? Did she feel it was his fault she and Liam weren't married? Did Roxanne blame him and hate him for it? But no, they had a quick cup of coffee at the local café, and talked like old times. She was happy he was back, that the family was back together. She gave him a tight hug and threatened to hurt him if he left again.

Then they were all sitting in the office of the funeral director. There was Tara, Killian, Roxanne and Neal along with the family priest, Father Brian. He had done so much for them through the years: weddings, christenings, communions, confirmations, and funerals. But this was one even he was not mentally prepared for. But here they all were.

Liam's obituary was on the table in front of them, one more go over before it went in the paper.

Jones, Liam Patrick of New York City, entered eternal life last Wednesday. He was the son of the late Michael Jones and the late Kathleen Jones (nee McCartney). He attended Our Lady of Divine Mercy, Carnegie Academy and was an alumni of Harvard where he majored in business. He was the CEO of the family owned shipping company Jewel of the World. Liam was a parishioner at Saint Patrick's Cathedral. He enjoyed playing the drums, playing football and working on cars. He is survived by fiancée Roxanne Bennet, sister Tara Cassidy (nee Jones), brother Killian, brother in law Neal Cassidy, niece Sophia Cassidy, and many aunts, uncles and cousins. Visiting hours are from 2-4 and 7-9 at Daniels funeral home on Thursday. Funeral mass at St. Patrick's at 10am Friday with a Christian burial following. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Yellow Ribbon Project.

"Do all of you approve of this final draft?" The director asked.

There was a nod around the table, expect for Tara. "I just don't like the word was." She said. Neal squeezed her hand. "It's fine. What's next?" Honestly she just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

"What are you planning on having buried with Liam?"

Tara touched the St. Patrick's medal she was currently wearing around her neck. It was Liam's, he should have it back. She unhooked it and placed it on the table. Next to her, Roxanne did the same thing. She had a large wolf ring, another thing of Liam's. He wore that to remember someone else.

"I brought this…" Killian pulled something out of the bag on the floor next to him. His football. "The winning ball from the state championship game." The ball had all the names of the team.

Tara smiled, she remembered that game clearly. She didn't remember that Killian even had it.

"So you have everything ready at the funeral home: the coffin, flowers, hearse, any prayers that will be said. There is a place for anyone to stand up and say a few words. We do need six pole bearers though…" The director looked up.

Tara looked at Neal and Killian, worry and concern in her eyes.

"We don't usually have immediate family do that." Father Brain said gently.

Thank God, Killian didn't think he had the strength to carry the coffin.

"I was hoping I could do a reading." Neal offered, gripping Tara's hand under the table. He knew she was not going to have a voice.

"Of course you can. There's another reading…"

"Kathleen wants to do it." Roxanne suddenly said, she suddenly had eyes on her. "She texted me last night."

Tara nodded. 'My twenty-one-year cousin is braver than me.'

"Tara, would you and Killian like to bring up the offertory?"

Killian nodded, answering for the both of them. Anything that didn't involve talking.

"We do still need pole bearers…"

Tara's phone rang. She looked at it. "It's the office, I need to take this." She stood up and walked to the corner of the room. "Hello." Noelle's voice was on the other end. "Adam's at the office? Sure put him on." Tara looked back at the table and said quietly. "Adam played football with Liam in high school and college." She turned back. "Hi Adam, thank you… we are dealing the best we can…yes Killian is here." Silence on her end. "Really, you would do that?" She sounded floored. "Six is enough. Seriously, thank you. You have no idea what this means to us. See you on Thursday." Tara hung up the phone and faced the table, tears in her eyes, but a small smile on her face. "Adam is getting some of the guys and they will be pole bearers."

"That's so nice of him." Roxanne remarked.

"Alright, we are all done here. I will see all of you in two days." The director closed his book. Neal thanked him, he was the only one with a voice. He had to be the strong one here. Father Brian walked out with them. He had already been on phone with them every day, just offering words of peace and comfort. They all decided to all go back to St. Patrick, just for a quiet moment. While they had Liam's funeral coming up, they were thinking about another family member's death. This one none of them saw coming.

It might be said that the Jones kids could be referred to as dense. They had been moments when they didn't realize what was going on around them. Then suddenly the clouds would part and they realize something was seriously wrong.

Their father was being pushing about them taking an active role in the company. Actually more than pushy. Ever since he hired that public relations officer, Regina Mills. She forever took his side against the siblings. Who did she think she was?

It dawned on Liam first, that their father was keeping something huge from them. Tara and Killian didn't want to thin that, their father had always been honest and upfront with them. But Liam insisted and they had to sneak into their father's office.

"Why do I have to be the lookout?" Killian almost whined.

"Because you're the little brother." Liam stated, not leaving any room for argument.

"Just flirt with Noelle, I bet she would love that." Tara said, following Liam into their father's office.

The sun shone into the room and siblings quickly began their search. Liam sat down at the computer. Tara grabbed the date book.

"What's Dad's password?" Liam asked.

Tara paused. "The obvious would be someone's name, birthday, anniversary…" Then she had it and tapped her finger on Liam's arm.

He understood instantly. The tattoo their father had on his arm. "The Voyage". It worked.

Tara flipped through the planned. Nothing out of the ordinary, just meetings and birthdays.

"No weird emails. If he's hiding anything, Dad is doing a good job…"

Suddenly the phone on the desk rang. Tara and Liam stared at each other. Now what? Do they answer it?

Tara bit the bullet and picked it up. "Good morning, Jewel of the World, Michael Jones' office… no he's not in at the moment, can I take a message?" Tara used to work front desk once upon a time. "He has a what next week? A MRI? Why? Sorry, I understand you can't discuss personal information over the phone. I will remind him and he will see you next week. What's the doctor's name? Alright, thank you. Enjoy your day." Tara hung up the phone and headed to the door. "Dad has an appointment with Dr. Carter next week. I need my computer to do research."

Liam followed Tara to her office, grabbing Killian along the way, much to the dismay of Noelle.

"So what did you find out?" Killian asked.

"Not completely sure, but Dad has an MRI next week."

The three go into Tara's office and gather around her computer screen. "Alright, Dr. Carter is a specialist in brain tumors, most of his work revolves around the rarest type called… Yeah I can't pronounce that." Liam wasn't even going to try.

Killian leaned forward. "Pleomorphic xanthroastrocytoma." Tara and Liam stared at him, clearly impressed. "What, I listened in science class."

At that moment, there was a knock at the door. They looked up to see their father standing there. "Guys, board meeting now. I need you there." He told them.

They followed him into the board room and took their seats. They didn't have the answers they needed and that was all that was on their minds. None of them were actually listening to anything their father said.

Until Liam noticed that Michael kept touching his forehead, as if pushing through a migraine. Being the oldest child, he stood up and took over the meeting. Michael sat down, grateful for the break.

The meeting ended and the when they were sure the board members were gone, Liam, Tara and Killian were able to ask about their father's upcoming doctor's appointment.

"So why do you have a MRI next week?" Tara asked point blank.

Michael froze, he was not ready for this conversation. But he was caught red handed. He couldn't lie to them, not anymore. So he took a deep breath. "I have nine months."

"Nine months for what?" Liam asked, he already knew the answer but wanted to make sure.

"The doctor found a brain tumor. There's no way around it." Michael said, finally meeting his children's eyes.

"Daddy, why didn't you tell us?" Tara choked by tears.

Killian went numb, he had already lost his mother when he was so young, he was far from ready to lose the only parent he ever knew.

"I need the three of you to be ready to run the company. Regina will help in any way she can…"

"Regina? Is this why you hired her? She knew that you were… dying before we did?" Liam found it difficult to say that word.

"Yes."

There was a little bit of anger in the room, but mostly sadness. Michael had accepted his fate but knew his kids would not let him go without a fight.

"There has to be something. Some kind of treatment. Some doctor… something…." Killian finally opened his mouth.

Michael had to smile. His youngest child, possibly his most reckless one but the one who had the most hope.

"No lad, there's nothing to do. The MRIs just watch the size of the tumor."

"We are coming with you to the doctor. I want to know what is going on." Liam stood up.

Liam, his first born, the natural leader and protector. Michael nodded. They did not want to be left in the dark anymore.

Tara had been uncommonly quiet, she refused to meet his eyes. Her hand was touching the tattoo on her arm. She was not ready to lose someone she was close to.

"Lass, come here." Michael went to sit next to her and pulled her into a tight hug. She didn't fight back.

The doctor's appointment was not helpful at all. Doctor Carter just told them to make their father comfortable as the time got closer. Michael did everything he could to get his children ready to take his place. Nine months passed too quickly and the Jones kids found themselves orphaned and now running a company. The funeral was simple and full of family. A week later found Liam, Tara and Killian alone in their father's office, well now it was Liam's office. It was just the three of them at the head of Jewel of the World now. Three parentless children and a few bottles of Captain Morgan, what could go wrong?

"Regina, do I look hungover?"

Regina quickly turned to stare at Tara. The press conference was going to start in ten minutes, Tara was supposed to be at the office an hour ago but instead she decided to grace them with her presence five minutes ago and that was her opening line?

Regina's brown eyes narrowed. "Are you?"

"Maybe." Was the response.

Regina shook her head in disappointment. This family brought so much stress. She did not get paid enough to deal with their problems. Why did she even take the job? "Mrs. Cassidy, you are very good at hiding things, you will be fine."

The press conference went well with Liam doing all the talking. Tara and Killian were still reeling from the loss and didn't trust themselves to say anything without breaking down.

Then the important question was finally asked. Who was the new CEO? Traditionally it was one person but the Jones kids were a team.

Liam looked at his siblings before answered. "We have decided, after a long conversation that myself, Tara, and Killian will do it jointly. No more questions. Thank you for attending."

The press jumped up with more questions, they were going to have a field day now. But Liam led Tara and Killian away to the back room.

Regina was there waiting for them and she was livid. "You just think you can make decisions without talking to anymore?"

"We discussed it with Captain Morgan. He has really good ideas. Maybe you should give him a chance Regina." Killian asked, there was finally some humor coming back into his voice.

Tara kept the details of the previous night to herself. There had a lot of drinking and suddenly legal documents on the desk. The next morning, the siblings discovered they had joint control of the company. Captain Morgan could have made them do worse things, like hand over control to the board.

#once upon a time #killian jones #fan fiction

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opepin · 8 years ago

Text

may: week two

08: i was tired in the morning but i got up and did my hiit workout. i took my time in the morning, which resulted in me thinking that i could get on the 8:45 am train instead of the 8:36 am one...BUT the train never came at 8:45 so i got on at 8:54 and got to work at around 9:30, which upset me LOL. i did a bit of work and then shared my chinese snacks with everyone. i brought the flower pastries, coconut candies, dates, and apparently, the ginger candy and fish jerky?! LOL. the fish jerky was delicious though. haowei and kien really liked it and cole and cait enjoyed the flower cookies. i think dave thought it was alright. mathew also enjyed the fish jerky. :P anyway, i got brain-blocked in the morning, but after waiting for cole to get out of his meeting and getting gogi on the block and eating (i brought lunch from home), i was better. the guy at the food truck gave cole kimchi fried rice (kinda thanks to me but not really) for free, which was awesome of him! we ate lunch with raj and cait and then i got on standup and continued with the rest of the work day.

my allergies came full on and my eyes were itchy and my energy was drained. i did truck on though. ended the day with showing cole northside i-night stuff ahha. steve joined in a bit later and then we all left around 5 pm. cole and i nerded out about .hack while walking to south station because i mentioned how ready player one is very similar and i think i got cole really interested in reading the book haha. there were minor delays on the train but i got home at like 6 pm and then i did some exercise and showered. i wanted to stay in the shower. my allergies got real bad to the point where the roof of my mouth was slightly swollen but really itchy. i don’t know if it was because of some food i ate? or was it allergies? idk. kevin cooked thai basil beef bowls, we ate and watched gordon ramsay videos, and then i read a bit more and went to sleep at around 12 am. i was thinking that my symptoms wouldn’t go away so i was going to wfh.

09: i didn’t feel so good physically this morning and i was tired so slept in. zzz. i magically woke up just in time to get dave’s message that the project was due in an hour o__o so i got up and then talked with him a bit and we got extra time so i worked on that in the morning. it came out pretty good -- i had low expectations because of all of the blocks i had but it looks good. i noticed that i didn’t eat breakfast and none of the english muffins were defrosted so i had an early lunch at 11:30 am haha. then i hopped on the t7 all-hands. i did a bit more work and then fit in some exercise sessions to make up for the missing my morning routine. then i ate a banana with peanut scooped on because i got hungry and the english muffins still weren’t defrosted. kevin got back home and we cuddled for a bit. i showered and then he started cooking the delicious egg and tomato noodles. this meal is probably one of my favorites from the cook books we got. it’s so comforting and easy to make (although a lot of components). we watched cooking videos while eating and then i read for the rest of the night. i also watched jane the virgin and we booked another set of tickets for chicago in july! we have a lot of traveling planned in the upcoming months and i’m pretty excited tbh. i have never traveled this much! i ended up sleeping at 12 am and yeah, i fell asleep pretty quickly.

10: i ended up doing a cardio kickboxing workout, which made me really happy in the morning. then i showered and started a bit of planning for the day. i ate breakfast with kevin before he left for work. then i worked and got a slack message from one of my co-workers asking about ux360. i helped him out a bit and then got on stand up and continued my chill work day. phil was on a plane to boston and i think dave was busy (as usual). i looked up some axure tutorials and learned the basics. then i did some structuring and thinking for tomorrow’s brainstorming session. it’ll be interesting tomorrow. i also got some errands out of the way and i talked with diego on slack a bit -- he’s been real busy so he hasn’t been in the office. then i read and gamed a bit. then i did another kickboxing workout, put some chicken in the oven, put on some rice, and then showered. kevin didn’t go climbing today so then we relaxed a bit when he got back and then he made some lemon garlic butter spinach to go along with our dinner. i got really hungry so i ate half of a chicken thigh while he was distracted by hp fanfic...LOL. we ate and then kevin continued reading and then went to game. then i finished reading ready player one!!! omg it’s such a good book. the ending was kind of expected but the entire story was just great -- i was sucked into another world. i listened to ‘your shirt’ by chelsea cutler on repeat and walked around the apartment. that’s my jam right now. kevin also liked it enough to save it to his spotify :O then i played some bravely default and went to sleep. zzzz.

11: today i did some dancing in the morning and then went to work. i also got to meet phil for the very first time! his face doesn’t match with his voice 100% so it was an interesting experience. the product team was inside a conference room the entire day. it was pretty productive and i liked being able to just talk and go through processes with my team for the first time :) we had a late lunch (i was kind of dying but i had dates and half a banana to snack on) and then we just kept going. at around 4 pm, i checked in with everyone about rides to the go-karting place and then made sure everything was okay. i left the office at around 4:30 pm and met up with kevin at the train station. we got home and then relaxed for a bit before heading out to f1 boston. it’s actually only 5 minutes away from our apartment...LOL we met up with ben, jackie, kien and noelle! i’ve missed noelle! we filled out waivers and then raj and cait came and then everyone else got there. the food was A+. i chose great appetizers~ noelle said i should be on the catering team ;D huhuhu.

we had an orientation which consisted of a ton of flag colors and a lot of rules, but we got there. our guide made me super nervous when describing the track and i almost didn’t drive, but then i did. i had to wear a suit that didn’t fit me because they were all out of mediums but that’s coo. we got out there and drove. ofc i didn’t place the highest but in one of the races i placed in the middle of the pack! it was terrifying but fun all at the same time and i was soo tired by the 4th race. i wanted charles to replace me but i drove anyway. john won...ofc. kevin placed below middle but he got to drive in the 5th race (only top 10 raced) and i was surprised that me and cole were the ones out?! LOL. apparently cole got t-boned by charles o__o and his glasses broke and maybe he was the only person in the penalty box? LOL so gg him. i expected to be last and i was just proud that i drove in all four races. :)

we took off our gear, got our score sheets and then everyone just talked about the experience and etc. it was a fun time. kevin also had fun hehe. we drove back home and then i did some oblique exercises, made some chicken nuggets, showered, and then i think i just ko’d. oh, my back is bruised from go-karting o_o i have bruises on my shoulder blades and also lower back in the same spots. i have symmetrical bruises right now. :P i ko’d at like 11:30 or something. zzz.

12: my back bruises got worse when i woke up. they spread into medium sized circles lol. i got up at 7:30 am and then did hip hop cardio and then showered, ate breakfast, said goodbye to kevin, and then hopped on the train. boy, no one is in the office on fridays LOL. mathew, dave, phil, sultan, jim, and i were the only ones in the office today. i started my morning out with a free everything bagel and some tea. i answered some of robert’s questions and best practices for ux360 -- it went well and it was a nice chat. then the product team headed into the conference room and brainstormed some more. then we all got lunch at around 12:30 pm. i got a salad from pret because i didn’t want to stray too far from the group and come back when they started brainstorming again. we continued brainstorming until phil had to leave ;( he gave us all goodbye hugs and then dave went on a call. i talked to mathew for a bit and then dave left and then i talked with mathew and sultan about work and other things. i decided to leave early because i was beat so i took the train home at around 3 and then i caught up on some internet errands.

kevin went climbing today so i just did some oblique exercises and then showered when kevin got back. i also managed to watch a ton of youtube videos hahaha. then we decided to get take out from shaking crab because we were both super hungry. there was a 45 minute to 1 hour wait so we just ordered on the phone and kevin went to go pick it up. i noticed that the nectarines we got were all pretty grody so i started making nectarine cobbler with them. i was in the process of making it when our order was ready. me and kevin put it in the oven and then we ate our 3 lb of shrimp, mussels, and clams; one order of garlic noodles; one order of cajun fries; and one order of sweet potato fries. clearly, we bought food with our stomachs LOL. i got full really quickly because i focused on eating the fries first. the sauce doesn’t fully penetrate the meat of the shellfish so i’m not 100% into this craze but everything was still yummy. i didn’t like the gulf sauce (rich sauce) as much as i do the regular shaking (cajun sauce).

kevin cooked fried rice for jeanne (we planned to make her hot fresh food but didn’t account for how many leftovers we would have) and then we picked her up from the train station. she changed and went straight to eating. hehe, thanks for eating the fuds for us, jeanne! jeanne said our place was v fancy too. :P we just talked and caught up. then we cleaned up the kitchen area. kevin went to game and jeanne and i kept talking. then she went to shower and later on in the night, i got a call and i stayed up until 3:30 am on the phone. jeanne was sleeping by the time i got off the phone (she just did work for the rest of the evening before she slept) and then i brushed and me and kevin went to sleep. @_@

13: i woke up at 5 am and then went back to sleep and then i woke up at 9:15 am to say goodbye to jeanne. i didn’t get to spend a lot of time with her (she was also only here for a night) so i hope she does visit again! we talked a bit and then she headed out to public transit. then i went back to sleep again and woke up at around 12 pm and stayed in bed with kevin until 1 pm because we slept so late and we were tired. we had breakfast, which was a mix of leftovers and then i gamed a bit. i also fixed the nectarine cobbler i made last night. we didn’t taste it for some reason before putting it in the oven (probs because we were so hungry) by adding nutmeg, cinnamon, and some honey. kevin kept reading and then we went to target. i wanted to get lip balm by lasting smiles in an effort to be more conscious about my product choices (supporting brands that are smaller, who donate some of their profits, etc), but i couldn’t find it there. we went to target for lip balm, cheese (because kevin never had ramen with cheese before -- blasphemy), and better quality bandages. we stopped by the home decor, fitness, and kitchen ware section first -__-” LOL and we ended up buying a chalkboard / corkboard / storage wall decor unit, a yoga mat on clearance, some candle lighters, and two glass cereal bowls... it’s the target effect. o__o

we went back home and then chilled for a bit more. kevin gamed i think while i did the dishes, ate some cobbler, lit a candle, washed our bed sheets, and did some internet errands. then i got a bit grumpy waiting on kevin to finish his chapter before we decided to plan more stuff for stockholm and copenhagen. i could have worked out before he was done but he said 15 minutes. poop. oh well. we were pretty productive; we got our passport information in, contacted an airbnb, planned out 3 days worth of stuff in copenhagen, purchased adapters, figured out currency and credit card stuff, and figured we didn’t need to buy travel sim cards for our phones. we still have to plan for stockholm and book an airbnb, but after that, we’re good! :) we got hungry while planning so i ate some leftover fried rice and shaking crab. i made kevin the ramen. tbh, i think shin ramen black isn’t the best for cheese + egg... i may buy the regular shin ramen noodle and remake it for kevin. it just didn’t taste right. we watched supernatural and then i started to workout.

it felt like a workout session where i had just eaten (which i just did). so there was a lot of stomach activity and some bloating and cramping, but i just worked through it thinking it was normal. at the 30 minute mark though, i started scratching like hell so i stopped and went to the bathroom. my face was covered in hives. when i checked my body, there were spots that were red and itchy as well. it was pretty scary. my face felt numb more that anything like a thousand bees came up and stung me at the same time. kevin freaked out too and kept looking at me so i told him to stop because i felt really self conscious. he suggested i take a shower so i did and then applied a ton of aloe-based products on my skin and avoided the products that could cause a flare-up. i asked kevin to put ice in a paper towel and then started patting my face with it. my face was on fire in terms of temperature. it didn’t feel itchy anymore. my body settled down after the shower, but my face was still red and blotchy. i took out an aloe vera face mask and put it on. i patted my masked face with the ice bag while walking around the apartment. it helped a lot. when i took off the mask, everything was better. there were some raised welts but most of it was gone. i made sure to wear light and breathable clothing and not push myself for the rest of the night.

i watched the latest episode of reign and fell asleep on the undone bed...LOL kevin woke me up and i went to the washroom to brush my teeth and apply more aloe product to my skin (thankfully, i purchased the benton aloe travel kit from memebox). then we made the bed and i ko’d at around 12 or 1 am. omg this day though... i looked up what it could be and it could be an exercise allergy induced by eating something (guessing it was the shellfish because i’ve exercised after eating before and never broke out like this. i haven’t gotten into the whole seafood craze until i moved to boston).

14: i woke up at around 9:30 am and stayed in bed until 10:30 am. i checked my face and everything seemed to have calmed down. i still have some redness and bumps but nothing too crazy. i made breakfast and then did some online window shopping. i want to use my gift cards for ae but i don’t want to buy enough for free shipping so bleh that. i also want to buy stuff from uniqlo but i don’t really need anything ahah. i’m thinking about buying new basics like tanks and tshirts though because my old forever21 ones are kinda jank (the seam line is not totally straight...) anyway, i went back to bed after eating breakfast to wake kevin up and then i just lounged around until he got up. he made us congee and pork soup dumplings. after eating, i felt pretty nauseous. this isn’t uncommon on a rainy day btw. i always don’t feel great when it is raining outside and anything i eat makes me feel nauseous...

so after we ate, kevin gamed a bit and then i started laundry and looked up some places to go in stockholm. then we went grocery shopping and i felt pretty bad but i went anyway. i got the tom yum flavored pretz and some soft af bread from kam man. kevin got two different pork buns and they’re pretty good. kevin pointed out that the pork buns in chicago feature the actual red pork but here, it’s just flavored similarly without the redness. hmm. i do like these pork buns better than chicago’s though. we had a long grocery trip from good fortune* (i think i’ve been calling it lucky) to kam man to bj’s and then to lowe’s. we picked up canvas materials to hang up the thing we bought from target on the wall LOL. we got back, put away the food, i folded laundry (i forgot to mention i spent the morning also reorganizing my drawer and figuring out how to roll t-shirts, fold underwear, and roll up socks nicely), and then we planned for stockholm. we’re pretty much done planning! yay! kevin made food with leftover ingredients we had, i did really light exercise to test if i would break out in hives again, and then i ate some tomatoes.

omg i love tomatoes right now. did i mention that already? more specifically, i love the hothouse tomatoes from kam man. they’re so naturally salty or something. i could eat them for days... well, i went to sleep at around 12:30 am because i got super tired.

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