#1. grandma woke up and is actually doing a bit better today. so even if she gets worse again at least my father got to talk to her | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

neoculturetravesty · 4 years ago

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We met in online class - Part 9

Image adapted from here.

Pairing: Renjun x Reader Genre: College AU, romance, angst, fluff Warnings: Strong language, fist fight, a character has Covid-19 Word Count: 5.2k

A/N: So proud of the boys for breaking records with Hot Sauce 🥺💛 Also, Eid Mubarak to all who celebrate!

Renjun is ashamed to be surprised, but his friends remain true to their word.

That night, Renjun slept for what he’s sure was a good fourteen hours. Because by the time he woke, it was way in the afternoon. Jaemin was already back from his shift and Jeno was almost halfway through his. Jisung had insisted that Renjun get some more rest before he had to take over. It was a tiny bit disconcerting to have Jisung hovering over him the entire day to make sure he was eating and feeling okay, but Renjun had to admit--this was exactly what he needed. He didn’t like who he was when he was alone.

The boys had apparently even created a dedicated group chat where they would post updates and a list of things that were required at the hospital. Not that there was much required, anyway. But the boys would make sure that at the very least, Renjun’s mom had fresh clothes and home cooked food everyday while she couldn’t get out herself. Jaemin had even taken Renjun’s phone and gotten it fixed so he at least had a proper screen instead of a cracked one.

Even when Renjun was sure that he could take over on his own, the boys wouldn’t allow it. On many occasions, he had just stayed by them during their turns, thankful for their company and their friendship. Because who else in this world would spend their semester break in this fashion? He’s pretty sure they had plans; but they had forsaken them all to be there for him.

Renjun has no idea how it happens, but slowly and surely, things start to get better. He’s pretty certain it has to be some sort of a miracle. Like a little break of sunshine had finally decided to shine on him through the dark clouds. Like somehow, his guardian angel had decided that it had slacked off for long enough and now it should give Renjun a break. Because one day, the doctors tell them that Renjun’s grandmother will be a lot weaker for the next few days to come… but with a lot of care and attention, she should be ready to go home. They echo Renjun’s thoughts and tell them that it is nothing short of a miracle, but also that he should be thankful that his grandmother is still young and has a fighting spirit.

The day she is taken off of life support and brought into another room with a window through which he can see her, Renjun can’t hold himself back. He hugs onto Jaemin so tight and cries happy tears, and Jaemin holds him back just as strong, though he’s sure that he’s so overwhelmed by relief that he’s putting all of his weight onto the boy. But Jaemin doesn’t relent and holds onto him and lets him cry tears of joy into his shoulder.

The boys head home that night and laugh till they cry and celebrate Renjun’s grandma’s life and health. They eat like they had been hungry for days and slump their shoulders in ease like they had been keeping them tense for too long. They laugh and they sit together and keep letting out long sighs of relief, as if each breath was undoing a knot in their chest. It’s a sweet, victorious sort of a happy moment, and it is Jeno who has to remind them they need to focus now more than ever so that Renjun’s grandma can get her strength back and finally test negative. And it is an important reminder because the new semester is about to begin soon and given classes, they will have to redo their hospital visit schedules.

At the very least, they learn that the new semester would begin online, because the sudden surge in Covid cases had led them to another lockdown. Renjun’s not sure whether he should be happy or upset about it. On the one hand, he thinks this lockdown should’ve happened earlier so his grandma would’ve never gotten sick in the first place. On the other hand, he is happy that his grandma would now be safe and recover comfortably.

When classes begin and Renjun finds all his housemates at home, his heart drops a little and he wonders if he should just skip today. But an amused Jeno mutes himself during his online class and stops him.

“You have other friends, too, you know?” Jeno cocks an eyebrow at him.

“Yeah, but I’m sure they have classes, too. Plus, the four of us have been doing this from the beginning, so… I don’t know…” Renjun says, rubbing the back of his neck, feeling a bit nervous about leaving his mother and grandma on their own without help. But Jeno looks at him like he’s talking gibberish.

“Dude. Not the four of us. All seven of us have been doing this from the very beginning.” Jeno says, eyebrow still cocked, looking at Renjun like he’s sure he’s lost his mind.

Renjun looks up and for a moment, he is sure his face looks dumb. Because if the buffering wheel was a human expression, Renjun’s certain he’s wearing it now. “All… seven?”

“Do you even check the group chat? Chenle and Mark and Donghyuck. They’ve all been doing their duty from Day 1, you idiot. How else would the rest of us come home so early?” Jeno scoffs and laughs a bit, knotting his eyebrows at his clueless friend.

For a moment, Renjun is silenced. Because he doesn’t know how to process this information. He feels a swell in his chest. A sort of happiness that only true friendship brings. But at the same time, he feels an incredible pang of guilt, because for one, he is an asshole that keeps underestimating the said friendship. And for the other, he had done absolutely nothing to be deserving of such love.

“Dong… Donghyuck, too?” Renjun asks and he feels his heart breaking, though even in this surreal moment of realization, he recognizes how strange it is to feel heartbreak over something like this.

“Of course, you idiot. Donghyuck was the one that stayed at the hospital the entire first night when you were asleep.” Jeno tells him and smacks him lightly on the head.

And for the first time in his life, Renjun actually feels what it is like to have his head physically hang in shame. “I don’t deserve it.” he sighs.

“I really don’t understand you sometimes, Huang Renjun.” Jeno says and turns his attention back to his class.

“What do you mean?” Renjun retorts.

“Just because friends have a dumb fight, doesn’t mean they abandon each other in times of need.” Jeno states like it is the most obvious thing in the world.

It should be simple and obvious, everything Jeno has said. But to Renjun, it is groundbreaking. Because Renjun wasn’t used to being loved and cared for without condition. In his dark and convoluted view of the world, everything was give and take. You scratch my back, I scratch yours. But here they were--his friends that were shattering all of those dumbass beliefs. Telling him that although he had been a grade A asshole and punched them in the face, they understood that he was going through some shit, and that taking care of his sick grandmother trumped all other childish grudges. Renjun realizes that perhaps, he was the most childish out of all his friends. Somewhere in his turbulent childhood, he might have skipped a lot of emotional development. Because why else would the kindness and love of his friends shock him so?

Jeno peeks over the top of his laptop and watches Renjun deep in thought, paying no attention to his own class. “He’s at the hospital right now.” Jeno says knowingly.

And that’s all Renjun needs to hear before he slams his laptop shut and makes his way out.

The fact that Renjun is probably a few steps behind in his emotional development is solidified when he sits next to Donghyuck on a park bench and suddenly finds himself at a loss for what to say.

The rush of blood and adrenaline he had felt in his veins leaving his house for his apology tour seemed to have faded when he saw his friend’s face. Donghyuck had been sitting next to Renjun’s father, but that hadn’t been the bothersome part. It was the fact that his friend was sitting there for him, but with a black eye that Renjun had given him.

In the grand scheme of healing black eyes, Donghyuck definitely looked less hurt than the last time Renjun had seen him. The purples were mostly gone, leaving behind hues of yellow and a speck of blue here and there. Though he may have been healing, there were more colors on him than before and that’s what made him look worse. That’s also the part that makes Renjun feel most ashamed. His friend was here for him even though he looked like shit thanks to him.

Renjun is sure that on the list of top ten assholes of the world, he would find his own name on top.

But sitting next to Donghyuck outside in the fresh air, he has no idea what to say. He thinks real hard and decides to start in the safe zone.

“Did the guys tell you? About my grandma?” he asks.

“Um, no. It was Jimin.” Donghyuck replies awkwardly.

Renjun nods. “I, uh… I told the guys like a day later, though. Did you tell them before I did?”

“No, um… I was at a party with the 127s… I didn’t see her text till like the next day either, so…” Donghyuck trails off.

Renjun nods again, then swallows. It’s so strange, how awkward this all is. It is unsettling because Donghyuck is the least awkward person he knows, and he hates that this weird zone is where their relationship seems to be heading.

Not if he can help it.

In another rush of dumbass adrenaline, Renjun gets up abruptly and stands before Donghyuck.

“Go on. Do it.” Renjun says and takes a deep breath.

“Huh?” Donghyuck looks at his friend quizzically.

“Do it. Just make it quick.” Renjun nods with determination and points at his face.

“You’re crazy.” Donghyuck states and slides further away on the bench, eyebrows raised, and a grimace on his mouth.

“Just do it, man. Do it so we can move on.” Renjun says, placing both hands on his waist and squeezing his eyes shut.

“I’m not going to punch you so you can move on, you psycho.” Donghyuck’s face is contorted, like he’s scandalized and perhaps even slightly scared of his friend.

“Come on, Donghyuckie. Just punch me and get it over with.” Renjun waves his hand impatiently, not relenting.

“Are you not hearing me, you crazy? I’m not punching you just to make you feel better!” Donghyuck almost yells.

And because Renjun is pretty sure this would work, he grabs at Donghyuck’s collar just to provoke him.

“What the fuck?!” Donghyuck tries to push Renjun off of him.

“Hit me!” Renjun shouts.

“No, are you fucking crazy! Get off me!” Donghyuck grabs at the sleeves of Renjun’s jacket and tries to pry him off.

“Not till you hit me!” Renjun insists, clinging onto the boy, grabbing and pulling at him to annoy him best he can to get a reaction.

“I’m not going to hit you!” Donghyuck yells. The two boys spin in inelegant, rough circles on the grass, trying to push and pull at one another.

“Punch me or you got no balls!” Renjun yowls and then finally feels the blow to his face that sends him flying to the ground.

He pauses for a bit because his head spins for a solid ten seconds. He shakes it vigorously to get it to focus and it helps because then he looks up to find a very startled and distressed Donghyuck looking down at him, fist still raised in the air.

“That had more throw than power.” Renjun comments, massaging his jaw.

“Yeah, that’s what I was going for.” Donghyuck agrees.

For a moment both boys nod and look at each other, acknowledging the technique and form of the punch. And then, they burst into laughter because fuck, all of this was so stupid. Renjun rolls on the grass and Donghyuck doubles over as he stands. Then he offers Renjun his hand to help him get up, which he takes eagerly, using it to lift up and fling himself into his friend’s arms. They hold each other strongly, thumping one another on the back. And just like that, the awkwardness is gone. All that was meant to be said has been said and now Renjun is no longer struggling to find his words. They come easily, because all of this is so natural. He was with his best friend, after all.

“You are a crazy motherfucker, you know that, right?” Donghyuck comments, shaking his head as they sit back down on the bench.

Renjun chuckles, then looks at the grass, because his head hangs in shame again. “I’m a sorry motherfucker.”

Donghyuck puts an arm around Renjun and thumps his back again. “You should be sorry, you dumb fuck. But also, you’ve got a pretty toxic coping mechanism, you know that, right?”

Renjun sighs long “I know. The longer I think about it, the dumber I feel.”

He expects his friend to make a joke in return but he feels his hesitation. So he looks up and finds Donghyuck trying to think of what to say. “Have you ever thought about… like sorting that out, maybe?” he finally asks.

“Sorting it out?” Renjun asks, confused.

“Like... you know this isn’t normal, right?” Donghyuck asks, and he doesn’t sound like he’s mocking. His tone doesn’t have the slightest hint of a joke and that’s what makes Renjun realize what he’s talking about.

“No… no, I haven’t…” Renjun admits. He doesn’t know why he’s never thought about ‘sorting it out’. Perhaps because he’s always thought he was smarter than anyone who could offer him help.

“You could give it a try. Talking to someone really helps sometimes, you know? Getting help can help.” Donghyuck says carefully.

Renjun bites his lip. He knows his friend is right, but he’s never really, truly given it a thought. Donghyuck senses his discomfort and changes the subject.

“Your grandma is finally getting tested again tomorrow.” he says as he stretches.

Renjun smiles “Yeah. I honestly can’t believe it…” he looks at his best friend “... but I also don’t know if I’ll ever be able to thank you…”

Donghyuck frowns and shakes Renjun by the shoulder “Stop it before I throw up.”

“I mean it.”

“I’ll throw up even if you mean it.”

“Donghyuck…”

“Okay, really, stop. Also, I’m not even the one you should be thanking. Or apologizing to.” Donghyuck sits back after he’s had his fill of shaking Renjun.

“Of course, you’re the one I should be thanking and apologizing to, you stupid. You did all of this for me even when I was an absolute asshole to you.” Renjun presses.

“You are an asshole, but you’re also a dumb asshole.” Donghyuck declares.

“Hey, I’m trying to apologize nicely, here.” Renjun pouts and his friend lets out a long, exasperated sigh.

“I thought you were just being obtuse but you seriously don’t know…” Donghyuck shakes his head.

“Know what?” Renjun asks and Donghyuck shrugs and acts like a little shit which annoys Renjun, but at the same time fills him with relief. Because Donghyuck being a little shit to him means their friendship has been restored to its original state. But he asks again “Know what?!”

“Dude, no offense or anything, but did you really think your parents can put your grandma in a private room all on their own?” Donghyuck asks.

Renjun stops a bit. He’d been so worried about the fact that his grandma’s life was hanging by a thread that he hadn’t even thought about the expenses part. He knows his grandma had a little bit in savings, but his parents for sure didn’t earn that much. Come to think of it, he hadn’t even realized that this was one of the nicer hospitals around.

“Fuck it, I’m really going to have to spell it out for you. Since your brain doesn’t seem to be working.” Donghyuck sighs dramatically.

“What?”

“Dude. This is Y/N’s parents’ hospital. Your mother couldn’t possibly keep taking care of your grandma all on her own, now could she? When Y/N found out, she went crazy. She made her parents direct all their best resources into taking care of your grandma.”

For a while, the information hangs in the air.

Renjun had thought that he would never get to feel things that were new and unexplainable ever again. He thought he had experienced every single feeling his body had to offer. The past month alone had put him through more emotions than he had experienced in his whole life. He had seen it all, felt it all.

But what he’s experiencing right now doesn’t feel like gratitude or shame or longing or anything one should expect to feel in a situation like this. It just feels like a soft light has filled his chest and is lifting him in the air. He feels like he’s floating, like he’s having an out of body experience.

“Oh,” is the only thing he can manage to say.

And then he remembers your face. He hadn’t realized it then, but he sees now how badly he had wanted to see you that night. He had wanted no one but you to hold him and kiss him and tell him that he wasn’t alone. And he remembers how he couldn’t tell you any of that. He remembers how you had walked away with another man.

And that makes him come back to earth. He feels a resigned sort of sadness.

“Y/N is… she would do that for anybody, wouldn’t she?” Renjun smiles sadly.

“She probably would. But you should’ve seen how worried she was. Even now, she is on the phone everyday with her parents, making sure they’re doing everything they can. She didn’t want what happened to her grandmother to happen to yours.” Donghyuck tells him.

Renjun looks up “What happened to her grandmother?”

Donghyuck raises his eyebrows. “She passed away from Covid last year?” His eyebrows go higher still “She says she’s told you about this?”

Renjun thinks, and then it’s as if a veil on his memory is slowly but poorly being lifted. He remembers laying his head on your shoulder. He remembers feeling your shirt dampen from his tears. He remembers your fingers drawing relaxing patterns in his hair. He remembers your soothing voice, speaking to him with such tenderness that Renjun had barely heard your words and had focused instead on it’s sweet tones. But now, when Renjun is forcing himself to think, he very foggily recalls what you had been saying. You had been telling him about your own grandmother. Why hadn’t Renjun listened? Why did Renjun never listen when you spoke? He was such a selfish, arrogant fool. He wishes he could go back and change it all.

Donghyuck shakes his head. “Are you really….” he sighs again, “Nevermind. But yeah, she basically went nuts because she couldn’t be here with you.”

Renjun’s heart is aching and he’s pretty sure his face reflects it. “I wish I could take it all back. Everything I did to her.”

“You can take it back.” Donghyuck says.

“How?”

“Apologize to her, you dummy.” Donghyuck smacks the back of his head.

“How? I tried calling her once but she didn’t pick up.” Renjun admits.

“Then you should call her again and again and again till it sticks.” Donghyuck says plainly and it makes so much fucking sense that Renjun is embarrassed that he hadn’t thought it.

“Yeah, but…” Renjun swallows, “... it doesn’t really matter now, does it?”

“What do you mean?” Donghyuck asks.

“She’s with Wong Hendery now. So…” Renjun can’t even complete the thought.

“What do you mean she’s with Wong Hendery?” Donghyuck scrunches his brows deep in his forehead in confusion.

“She left with him for the semester break. I went to see her… but she left with him…” Renjun presses his lips together.

“Wait…” Donghyuck says and Renjun looks up and nods at him as if to confirm the fact. But he sees something entirely different on his friend’s face. It’s an expression of deep dumbfoundedness. “... are you some sort of an idiot?” He asks like Renjun is the dimmest person he has ever come across.

And Renjun doesn’t help his cause because he only blinks in return.

“Dude! She’s not ‘with Wong Hendery,’” Donghyuck gets up and smacks Renjun across the head once again. “They’re partners on the SMK Trainee Drive. She’s literally been preparing for this for months? Shouldn’t you know this?”

Renjun blinks some more. SMK Trainee Drive? Renjun had heard and personally seen you preparing for interviews and these drives. But somehow a lot of it hadn’t registered in his brain. Once again, probably because he never listened to you well. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, he was an idiot. He was the biggest idiot on the planet.

Yet right now, he was a smiling idiot whose heart was suddenly filling with hope. “She’s not… with… she’s not with Hendery?” Renjun is embarrassed. He feels so fucking stupid asking this, but he absolutely can’t help the smile spreading across his face.

“She’s literally at the tower right now. She’s been stuck because we went into lockdown whilst she was there. It’s why she couldn’t come and see you. But the highway doesn’t open for another week, so she’ll be stuck till then.” Donghyuck explains, and Renjun feels his heart exploding with joy at every word. He’s pretty sure he’s grinning shamelessly.

“Why do I know more about your girlfriend than you do? Oh wait. It's because 'she's not your girlfriend.’” Donghyuck does a perfectly exaggerated mimicry of Renjun that reminds him of that one SpongeBob meme. On a normal day, he would’ve wanted to smack his friend for doing this. But in this moment, he is all too happy to be the one being smacked and mocked.

Renjun laughs with relief, then finds his laugh fading a bit. “Do you think she’ll forgive me? For everything I did?”

“I don’t know, man. But you wouldn’t know unless you try.” Donghyuck once again states something that should be obvious.

“How do I try if she’s not picking up my calls? And when she won’t even be here for another week?” Renjun sulks a bit but gets smacked in the head again.

“Dude! She literally did everything in the world to help your grandma, and she was in a wholeass different city! She did that all for you! I’m sure you can figure out a simple apology.” Donghyuck has his arms crossed and is now seriously looking agitated with him and it makes Renjun smile.

“She really did that for me?” Renjun asks and he doesn’t even care if he sounds like a cheesy motherfucker. He doesn’t even care he’s being this way in front of Lee Donghyuck who probably won’t let him live it down for the rest of his life.

“Of course she did that for you, you idiot.” Renjun earns another smack at the end of that.

“Does she like me?” Renjun asks like a stupid, hopeful teenage boy.

Donghyuck pretends to gag and moves away in disgust. But then he sees Renjun’s expression and lets out a long, irritated exhale. “Of course she likes you, you dumb fuck.” Renjun gets hit in the head, “Why would she do all of this if she didn’t like you?” Renjun gets another smack, “Oh Lord, please give me the strength to not commit murder. I am not your strongest soldier…” Donghyuck looks up at the sky and Renjun laughs openly, freely and lightly. He feels as if all the knots in his chest are slowly being undone one by one. So he jumps up and tries to tackle and cuddle Donghyuck but he keeps moving away. The two boys run around in the ground, Renjun chasing Donghyuck, trying to attack him with his love while he complains that his hair smells.

And Renjun accepts all his insults with a newly healed heart. You liked him. Despite everything that he’d done to you, you liked him. You had worried about him and done everything in your power to help his grandma. You had kept tabs on her and made sure she was healing even though you were miles away. You liked him, and you weren’t with a new guy and you liked him.

As he walks back towards the hospital with his arm around his best friend’s shoulders, he decides that if it came to it that he had to beg and grovel for your forgiveness, he would happily spend the rest of his life on his knees. Because you liked him and Renjun was never going to let you go ever again.

True to his word (for maybe the first time in your relationship), Renjun spends the rest of the week trying to reach you. Because his apology tour wouldn’t be complete without his most important stop--you.

He calls you so many times; but each time, he only gets to hear the dial tone and the mechanical voice telling him that the user is unreachable at the moment. You never pick up.

But his mind and his spirit is fueled by Donghyuck’s advice, and this time, the advice is a lot more sound and a lot less exploitative. So, Renjun doesn’t give up because he has to make it stick. You had never given up on him. He wasn’t going to give up on you. When he’s sure you won’t pick up his calls, he leaves you a string of messages.

‘Hey, Y/N. I’m trying to call you. Please pick up?’

‘I know you have every right to be mad at me, but I just need a chance to apologize.’

‘I’m seriously the biggest idiot in the world, but I need to tell you that in person.’

‘Okay, I’m coming to you.’

‘Turns out I can’t just negotiate with the police to let me cross the city lines to get to the girl I like.’

‘Y/N, please…’

‘I’m the world’s sorriest and the most embarrassed motherfucker and I need to hear your voice to tell you that.’

‘I am Berry-Berry sorry, and I’m just asking for one chance to get to talk to you.

‘I’m not going to stop, you know?’

He has to admit that his patience is wearing thin. Because he’s trying every method and none of it is working; and also because his pride had never allowed him to beg and grovel to anyone before. It’s a humbling experience, but at the same time, he doesn’t feel burdened by it. This was for you. The girl who had done everything in her power to make him fall. The girl who had given him more love and kindness than anyone else in the world had. The girl who had taken his troubles and worries as her own. So, of course, he had to do everything in his power to earn your forgiveness.

But as he’s sitting in his room, trying to call you for what he’s sure is the twentieth time that day, he hears that your phone has been powered off. For a moment, Renjun feels immensely dispirited. Maybe he had lost you for good. Maybe you never wanted to hear from him ever again. Maybe this is what he deserved.

But in the next moment, Renjun stops himself. No. He wasn’t going to let his mind spiral that way again. He had to think with a good, clear mind. He couldn’t sit around and sulk without knowing he had explored all possible options. He needed to get creative and for that, he needed to think.

He could certainly wait it out till the week was over and when you’d be back. But he wanted to spend each passing minute letting you know that he was trying. So, that wasn’t an option.

Maybe he could look at the map and find some loopholes and secret passageways across the city. Surely, some of them had to be unmanned so he could break the lockdown law and get to you? That would certainly be impactful, being locked up in jail as a grand gesture of an apology. But Renjun was no action hero.

Renjun sits and thinks and thinks and thinks till a light bulb finally goes off. Of course. A grand gesture. He yells into his pillow out of excitement and frustration that he hadn’t thought of this before. If one thing had been established during this time, it was the fact that Renjun was a dumb fuck with a penchant for being blind to the obvious.

He gets up bright and early the next morning and rushes to see your friend at her apartment. He sits beside her as her online class starts, away from the camera view and finds his heart filling with the utmost warmth as he sees your window finally appear on the screen. Even in the tiny box, you looked so freaking beautiful that for a minute, Renjun stops and stares as butterflies take over his belly. But he taps his cheek to get himself to focus. He was here on a mission.

He waits for the class to begin before he slides himself into view next to your friend and types out a message on the chat that had taken him all night to prepare. He hits ‘Send to Everyone’ and waits.

And thankfully, the professor--miraculously the same professor who had done this the very first time all that time ago--stops to read it out,

“This might be a long shot, but Y/N L/N, do you think you can find it in your heart to give me another chance?” he begins, squinting his eyes slightly in confusion as he reads on, then smiling as realization hits. “Well, that’s certainly not a question from Ms. Kim Minjeong, I can tell you that.” he jokes and waits because as it had before, this has piqued the students’ interest.

Renjun watches as your pretty eyes widen. He watches them skirt across your screen, seemingly looking for the cause of the commotion. He watches the moment of realization hitting your pretty face. And he waits.

“Well, Ms. Y/N L/N, are you going to put the young man out of his misery?” the professor jokes kindly and Renjun thinks he might die from the anticipation.

And then, he watches as you move to unmute yourself.

“Yeah, I guess I could give him another chance,” you say nonchalantly which earns you a round of applause and hoots from all other windows. Because college students will always love dramatic antics.

The professor calls the class back to attention and Renjun sits back in his chair, grinning like an idiot because the girl he had fallen for had given him another chance.

#renjun fic #renjun angst #renjun fluff #kpopscape #ficscafe #neowritingsnet #dreamwritersnet #huang renjun #renjun #nct dream #nct fic #nct dream fic #nct fluff #nct angst #nct college au #renjun x reader #we met in online class

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migilini · 4 years ago

Note

Hi!! Can you do another request for Charlie Gillespie? Can it be the 5 times he tries to propose and the one time he actually does? Thank you!!

Fifth Time Works A Charm - Charlie Gillespie

a/n: I loved writing this, especially because I’m procastinating to write the next Chapter for my Luke ff. I hope you like it as much as I do.

Requests are open!

Words: 3k

Masterlist

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He knew from the moment he kissed you goodnight on your second date that you were the one he was gonna marry one day. He loved the way you always complained about back pain, yet you never sat normally in any chair and the way you still paid attention to him when he talked about a topic you had no clue on. The spark in your eyes and the curve of your lips when you laughed at one of his awful jokes. Every Morning he woke up next to you was a good one and he loved you more and more everyday. He was totally and completely whipped for you that wasn't the hard part, finding the right moment to propose was.

The two of you were on vacation in Hawaii at the same resort the two of you accidentally met a couple years ago and learned that you actually only lived 30 minutes away from each other. You were laying on the beach, the soft towel brushing your skin slightly, a big sun hat shielding your eyes and face from the hot sun.

Cold drops of water hit your exposed stomach “Baby look, the water is so nice!” more water hit your warm skin. Screeching you sat up and saw your boyfriend standing over you, with a big smile while he wrenched out his hair, letting all the cold water hit you.

“It's cold.” you giggled. “And you're warm!” He dropped on top of you, instantly cooling you down with his cold skin. You tried to protest but he was faster and stronger than you are. Putting his elbows around your face, he lifted some weight off of your chest then he stared at you.

“Hmm? What are you staring at me for?” you asked, amusement evident in your voice. “You just look very beautiful right now. You look relaxed.”

Blushing, you cupped one of his cheeks and responded “Thank you handsome. I am relaxed, really needed this getaway.” He smiled and leaned down a bit to kiss your forehead, your nose and then your lips. You savoured the saltines that lingered on your lips for a second longer before he pulled away. He got off of you and rested on his own towel.

Sitting up a bit more, you pulled out your book and read for a bit, when suddenly something made your toe wiggle. Looking over the border of the book, you noticed that Charlie wanted your attention. You looked at him for a moment, taking in his small smile.

“I have something planned for tonight.” He said and buried your foot in the sand. “Yeah? Care to tell me what it is?”

“Nope that's gonna be a surprise! Let's get back to the room and get ready.”

He told you to get dressed casually yet fancy so you wore your hair up in a bun, light makeup with a bold red lip and a flowy maxi dress. You were sitting on the hotel bed when you heard someone vomiting.

“Babe? You okay?” you questioned and walked to the bathroom door. “Did you eat something weird?” the door opened and you were faced with a pale Charlie. “Oh baby.” a small frown sat on your face when you saw him. “Let's stay in. We can do your surprise tomorrow when you feel better, okay?” Pouting, he shook his head “No. I feel fine, let's go.” he went to grab your hand but you took a small step back.

“Charlie, you're sick. There's no harm in staying in today. Health first, adventures second okay?” His shoulders dropped in defeat, there was no way he could convince you to still go out, so he nodded and followed you back to the bed. But before, in a second that you went to grab a water bottle, he pulled a small black box from his pockets and stuffed it back into his suitcase.

Unfortunately he was sick for the rest of your trip.

You and your boyfriend Charlie were chilling on the couch in the living room. Charlie was responding to some emails while you scrolled through instagram. The radio was on in the background, filling the room with soft music. It was late evening and you put some candles on and turned up your little lights that were scattered all over the place to make it cozy.

Your ears picked up the familiar tune of ‘It's been a long long time by Harry James’ and a big smile spread on your lips. You jumped up, throwing your phone somewhere on the couch and started pulling on Charlie's arm. “Dance with me.”

“Baby I’m working.” he said with a grin, already closing his laptop.

“Please just dance to this song. It's our song babe! Then I won't annoy you the whole day.” you pleaded, jumping from one foot to the other, while still pulling on his arm.

“Okay. Just this song. I know how much you love it.” He stood up, his arms finding your waist as you interlaced your hands behind his back. Your manicured fingers immediately start playing with his longer hair. The two of you swayed to the music, he was humming along to the music, while you closed your eyes. He dipped you, waking you laugh. Then you twirled him around your arm. The song came to your favorite part and you wholeheartedly sang along, beaming up at your boyfriend.

‘Kiss me once’ You gave him a kiss on the shoulder and he kissed the top of your head, pulling you closer into his chest.

‘Then, kiss me twice’ You stood on your tiptoes and kissed his forehead and the tip of his nose.

‘Then, kiss me once again’ finally you kissed his lips. Charlie hummed in approval, tightening his grip on your waist.

Slowly the song came to an end when your phone started to ring. Charlie looked at your expectantly, waiting for you to pick it up.

“If it's important they'll call again.” you muttered with your face pressed against his shoulder. Sadly for you both a second later it began to ring again. Groaning the two of you left your little bubble as you picked up your phone.

“Oh hi grandma. How have you been?” You excused yourself with a swift kiss on his cheek and left the living room, leaving behind a lonely boyfriend.

“We got a special request to play this song today.” The radio host announced “I hope she said yes man!”

You just finished your last exam of the last semester of college. You were done. Finished. Now you only have to wait and see if you're actually gonna graduate or if you have to repeat the semester. Still, you felt like celebrating. Charlie had interview after interview scheduled for today so you didn't tell him right of the bat. You spent the day doing some mundane household tasks and grocery shopping. The moment your boyfriend was finished for the day, he ran out of your office to search for you.

You laid on the couch, watching a new netflix series when you heard footsteps approach. “You’ve done it baby!” he pulled you off the couch and twirled you around. Giggling you answered “I haven't graduated yet.”

“And? You will, I'm sure of it because I have the smartest girlfriend in the world and she just finished her last test. This needs celebration!” he left small kisses all over your face.

Due to the pandemic, you had to stay in the appartement to party. You didn't care though. Charlie ordered something from your favourite italian place and you pulled out the wine from your kitchen cabinet. Somehow the food took ages to arrive and to pass the time you decided to open the bottle.

Wine always had an interesting effect on the two of you, especially on an empty stomach. Charlie got very needy and you always blacked out during the night (He does too but he won't admit it). But the one thing both of you had in common was the touchyness. It wasn't like you two were not always touching when you were sober, it was just that wine drunk Charlie and you took it to a whole other level. By the time you were on your third glass, you wondered if Charlie even ordered the food.

“Could I have this dance with you ma lady?” Charlie held out his hand and bowled a little. You put down your now fifth glass of wine and stood up, taking his hand in yours.

“Oh, yes of course.” This dance was different from the dance you had a couple of nights ago. It was more of a makeout session than a dance. At some point he picked you up, so your legs were wrapped around his torso, yet he still swayed to the non existing music.

“I love you.” You murmured against his lips.

“I love you more.” he said and pulled away slightly.

“No way that's possible.”

“Oh really?” he raised his eyebrow.

“Marry me then.” he whispered looking you in the eyes with a spark in his.

“Yes! I do!” You slurred and kissed him harshly. A smile spreading on both of your lips.

You woke up the next morning with an aching headache and practically no memory of the evening before. You turned over to see Charlie sleeping next to you. You slowly traced the outline of his face. He opened his eyes and smiled at you.

“Hi” he croaked out in his morning voice that still made butterflies rise in your stomach. “Hey. How much do you remember?” You asked him sheepishly. He pulled you in with his arms, hiding his face in the crook of your neck.

“Not much to be honest and i'm guessing you don’t either?” You only shook your head.

“I remember that our food somehow didn't arrive.”

Next time Charlie should really read the text of the restaurant he orders from, because there was a perfectly cooked meal waiting in front of your door.

Charlie missed his best friend and you knew this. So you arranged a little get together with Owen and Jeremy at Owen’s new apartment. Your plan was to drive down from Canada, make a quick weekend stop at Owens and then make your way to your apartment in LA.

Currently it was a monday morning and you were still at Owens. His guest bed was just so comfortable it was harder than normal to get out of bed. On this particular morning, you woke up to an empty side of the bed and some talking from the living room.

Lazily, you put on one of Charlie's hoodies, some cozy socks and a beany. You shuffled to the living room where you assumed the boys would be sitting, not realising that you interrupted a conversation.

“I don't know man. Everytime I have something planned it goes wrong.”

“Look Char, In my experience the chance will… morning y/n.” Jeremy was quick to notice your figure shuffling towards them, your eyes scanning your phone. The boys tensed up and quickly tried to do a normal activity.

“Morning everybody.” You smiled at them. “Am I the last to be up?” you asked and only got noods in return. Still too sleepy to notice the atmosphere, you made your way over to your boyfriend, who was standing at the kitchen aisle, wrapping your arms around him from behind and nuzzling your head into his back. Your hands instantly go under his hoodie and on his bare skin to warm your hands.

“Kofe…” you mumbled into his back, barely audible.

“What?” Owen asked, confused while he sat on the kitchen counter, eating a toast.

“She wants some coffee.” Your boyfriend translated with a smile.

“Oh.. I just used the last capsule... I’m so sorry” Jeremy apologized and offered you the last sip of his cup of coffee.

“I’m fine, I'll survive thank you though Jer.” You yawned, releasing yourself from cuddling Charlie, knowing you're not gonna be fully awake without a cup of coffee. Your boyfriend also knew this and eyed you closely, then he leaned over to whisper in your ear that he's gonna get you a coffee after his workout. He looked at you lovingly and pressed a kiss to your temple.

“Jesus Christ man, you're whipped. Just ask her.” Owen said while rolling his eyes. The second the last words left his lips all the boys looked at eachother with wide eyes. Owen went to cover his mouth with his hands.

“Ask me what?” You asked in a soft tone and turned to your boyfriend who had a really panicked look on his face.

“I- I-uhm…” he stuttered, fiddling with his fingers.

“Charlie here wanted to ask you if you would mind staying one more day.” Jeremy came to the rescue and sent Owen a mad look, while he pulled one of his arms over Charlie's shoulder, who gave him a thankful nudge.

Your face softened “Of course bubby! If it's okay with Owen it's okay with me, we have no hurry to head to LA. I love spending time here. Gotta teach Owen a few tips and tricks of living alone.” you sent a wink in the blonde boys direction.

At this point Charlie nearly gave up on asking you to marry him, maybe it was a sign from the universe that the two of you weren’t ready for that commitment yet. You were both still so young and just started with your careers.

He looked over at your mess of curls that spread all over the pillow case. The peaceful up and down from your chest and the small smile on your slightly opened lips as you slept. He had to ask you to marry him, there was no way he wouldn't.

The sunlight peeked through the curtains and illuminated the bedroom on this sunday morning in a pretty yellow. You opened your eyes as you heard something shift beside you.

“Where are you going?” You asked, squinting your eyes that still needed to get used to the light.

“Just for a walk baby. Go back to sleep.” He pushed some hairs back that touched your face. Pouting, you put your much smaller hand on his hand that laid on your face.

“Noo. Don't go. Come back to bed.” you whined, leaving kisses on his hand. He sat there for a while, contemplating if he could say no to your face. In the end he sighed and you felt the mattress next to you go down.

“Thank you for staying.” you whispered and pulled him closer, letting your head rest on his chest. His arms wrapped around you and he shifted in a comfortable position, so that you were basically laying on top of him. With the tip of your fingers you drew little constellations on his chest and he played with the strands of your hair.

“Charlie?” You broke the silence and went to look at his face, propping your chin on your hand.

“What's on your pretty mind?”

“When will you ask me to marry you? Or should I ask you?” You finally asked the questions that have been running through your mind for months now.

He stopped breathing for a second, stunned at your declaration. A wide smile broke out on his lips and he started laughing. You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion.

“Is that such a funny concept?” You asked, slightly hurt. “I thought you wanted to do it in Hawaii but then you were sick and I also heard you and the boys talking about something. Plus I found the ring.” you admitted.

Charlie shifted again so you were both sitting up and facing each other. “You found the ring?” he asked quietly.

“Yeah I put some of your stuff into the drawer and it fell out. I didn't look at it though! I still wanted that part to be a surprise. But you never asked, so im gonna do it, fuck the gender norms. Charlie Jeffrey Gillespie will you...”

“Oh my god. Baby no.” he chuckled and cupped your face, making you stop in the middle of the sentence. “I had so many different ideas planned but something always came in between me actually asking you. So let me do it right.”

He got up from the bed and pulled out the little black box from one of the drawers in your bedroom.

“Uhm… could you maybe stand up?”

You obliged eagerly, your hands shaking like crazy.

And then it was finally happening. Your boyfriend got down on one knee and looked up at you with tears in his eyes.

“This wasn't at all how I originally wanted to do it but now thinking about it, it's just perfect. I knew pretty early on that you were gonna be the girl I marry one day. I know we’re both still very young but I couldn't imagine myself spending my life with anybody else other than you. You're the person I want to wake up next to every morning and the person I miss the most when I’m away. So would you do me the honours and make me the happiest man alive by marrying me?” he took out the ring with shaking hands, while you tried to stop the sobbing. You got on your knees as well and cupped his face, whipping away some tears.

“Yes! One million times yes!” You kissed him softly, afraid that this was all a dream. Charlie pushed the ring on your finger and lifted you up, kissing you again and again with a tear soaked face and a smile that hurt his cheeks.

#charlie gillespie #charlie gillespie x reader #charlie gillespie imagine #charlie gillespie fanfic #charlie gillespie fic #charlie gillespie fanfiction #charlie gillespie fluff #charlie gillespie images #charlie gillespie x y/n #charlie gillespie x oc #jatp #jatp fanfic

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sodone-withlife · 3 years ago

Text

i know who i am

summary: really, he never saw himself ever willingly letting anyone in on his broken past, but here he was, sitting in across from Waipo in the tiny cramped office at the back of the shop and nervously sweating about what he was about to tell her

read it on ao3: chapter 1 is the original version with Mandarin, chapter 2 has everything translated into English

the movie really hit me hard as an ABC, and I really wanted to write something for it. even though she barely had any screentime, I loved Waipo—she reminds me of so many of my relatives—so I decided to make her be one of the most important people in Shangqi’s life, and it turned into this wonderful mess (i had to stop writing this for a bit because I literally made myself cry). there is mandarin in this, it's kind of intended to be a physical manifestation of how my bilingual brain works (i did put the English-only version first, the original version with Mandarin is under that one but the formatting for it one is better on ao3, so i suggest reading it from there). apologies for my shitty mandarin; I have mediocre language skills, but I'm still so excited to be able to incorporate it in my writing. in regards to the character's names: I only know for certain the Chinese characters used for Shangqi and Wenwu, but for Xialing, I'm going to go with what it apparently was in the hong kong release (夏灵, with 灵灵 as the nickname)

English Translation:

“Waipo, do you have a bit of time?” Shangqi stood in front of Katy’s grandma, fidgeting nervously as fluent Mandarin rolled off of his tongue with an ease he's never felt in any other part of his life. “I want to talk to you about something."

She pinned him with a knowing stare. “Does it have anything to do with the trip you and Katy went on this past week?" she asked, Not waiting for his answer, she got up from the shop register and beckoned him into the back office. Feeling oddly like the first time he came into the store years ago as a teen—when he first met Katy’s family who had since taken him under their wing—he followed her into the familiar, cramped space.

He wasn’t exactly sure what within him prompted this interaction. He had come to San Francisco for a normal life, to get as far away from his father’s reaches as he could and to outrun the blood that stained his footsteps.

Never did Shangqi imagine that he would end up claiming the ancient rings that now sat in a heavy-duty (thanks to Xialing, with whom he now keeps in regular contact because of the promise they made to each other before he left the compound because he already left her behind once, and he’s never doing it again damn, my baby sister is running the Ten Rings now, and she’s trying to turn it into something better) and a very well-disguised (thanks to the sorcerers in the New York Sanctum and holy shit he’s in contact with famous superheroes now) back in his mess of a studio apartment.

Never did he imagine letting anyone in on his broken past, and even though his hand had been forced when it came to telling Katy, here he was going to the second person who truly saw something in him when he first started his new life and planning to tell them everything.

(Okay, fine, Shangqi wasn’t actually planning on letting anyone else in on it after telling Waipo, not even the rest of Katy’s family, but he really didn’t want them to be so involved yet—he still had no idea what he himself was doing and he wants to preserve what normalcy he can.)

(Also, he’s been reliably informed that anyone close to a public figure is bound to be targeted for attacks—which he figured out when the mercenaries attacked on the bus because yes, Lingling, he does have brain cells thank you very much.)

“Little Dragon, what’s on your mind?”

Little Dragon.

He started at the nickname, the one originally given to him by his mother. Somehow, it had completely slipped his mind that Waipo also called him that, starting a few weeks after he first met the Chen family. He barely kept it together, the long-unused nickname dredging up memories he had thought left him forever.

You have the heart of a dragon, she had declared firmly when he asked her why she decided on that particular nickname.

(That was exactly what his mother had told him right before she died, and yet he stood by, hidden behind a door, and did nothing while the men beat and killed her, the heart of the family.)

(He would carry the guilt with him for a lifetime.)

It was a while before he could bring himself to visit the family again—there were a lot of awkward excuses before Katy reluctantly backed off—and it took even longer for him to get somewhat used to the name again, but he eventually started seeing it as a gift with each faint impression of happier days that he got every time Waipo called him that.

Old, weathered hands gently covered his own, which were shaking and clammy with nervousness. Shangqi wondered how Waipo would react to the darker side of the lost boy she had basically adopted all those years ago, wondered if the legends of Ta-Lo and the Great Protector were known outside of the rather insular communities that continued to tell the stories, wondered if she had heard about his father through the stories that were passed down for thousands of years, from generation to generation…

(It can’t be wrong to miss him, can it? Even with the years of hell Wenwu had put him through, he was still his father. Shangqi still faintly remembered the man his father had been when his mother was still alive, the happy times they shared as a normal family…)

(But those times were long gone, ripped from their grasp by the past Wenwu wanted so badly to leave behind. Grief had shattered the whole family, and it ultimately led to the children fighting the father who had been driven to near madness in his denial, in his quest to put his broken family back together again.)

Mom, I miss you so much.

(And now Wenwu is dead, just like his beloved wife.)

(But just as she died to protect her children, he did the same. Now, his children are reunited and in contact again, getting ever closer despite living as far apart as they did, and he was reunited with his love in the afterlife.)

Finally, he straightened his posture and took a deep breath, looking directly at Waipo, who he’d come to view as the grandmother he never had.

“Waipo, have you heard of the legend of the Ten Rings?”

And Shangqi told her everything.

He told her everything and more,

She listened.

She listened as he described the legends behind the Ten Rings, Ta-Lo, and the Great Protector; his father’s history; his own history, from witnessing his mother’s death to ripping open the throat of the man who killed her when he was barely a teen, from leaving Lingling behind to seeing her again in the fight club she built from the ground up, from returning to the compound after a decade away in San Francisco to the battle in Ta-Lo…

Finally, he fell silent and stared at his hands but it wasn’t long before Waipo moved, slowly standing up with one hand on her cane. He made to help stabilize her but was quickly waved off with a stern look. He sank back into the chair and felt her move behind him. The shaky weight of her hands on his shoulders as she gently pressed down and straightened his posture was familiar, even after years of not having his posture deliberately—so gently—fixed like that every time he saw Waipo.

“You are the legacy of all who came before you, but you are your own person.” she finally said gently, and the tension in his shoulders slowly loosened under her familiar touch. “You decide your own fate.”

~~~

That night, Shangqi knelt before the altar he had in his apartment, the only part that was carefully maintained in all the years he had lived there. But now, two smiling faces stared back at him, a joy reflected in their eyes that he knew would disappear in less than ten years after the photo was taken.

Am I still your pride and joy? Lingling grew up, but I didn’t even take care of her like I should have.

I swear to you, I will never abandon her again

Even as his life got even more unbelievable as the years went by, the altar and his copy of his parent’s wedding photo would remain a constant. He and Lingling dove deeper into their family history—of the Ten Rings, of Ta-Lo, of both the good and bad—and both worked to carry on their parents’ legacy.

(With all of the proper discretion agreements and threats when needed, of course.)

Lingling is dating my best friend now, and they’re so happy together. Mom, I know you would have loved Katy. Dad, I know you didn’t like her much, but she really is a wonderful person.

Life went on.

There were the good days, when he went out with others and could almost feel normal, and there were the bad days, when phantoms pains plagued him and he woke up from a restless sleep expecting to see bruises mottling his body like they did so often when he was younger.

(Also, he was considered a superhero now and holy shit that’s still insane, even years after he first got in contact with the Avengers and the sorcerers in New York. Now he was going all over the West Coast, to help the locals take care of whichever crazy supervillain decided to wreak havoc that day.)

Dad, I hope you find this story as funny as I did: I helped a group of American superheroes yesterday. They’ve never been to San Francisco before and were extremely unfamiliar with the roads, especially Lombard Street. They spent half an hour trying to drive down the street, but I ended up driving them down myself.

(San Francisco was still home, and he had found a life there with all his friends and Xialing whenever she visited. He had a job now, too, at the local youth center teaching martial arts and self-defense, teaching and guiding the youth in a way he wishes his father had with him.)

People came into his life; some stayed, some left, and some even got together.

Mom, Dad, Lingling and Katy are getting married today and everyone is so excited for them. I’m taking over the Ten Ring within a month so Lingling can take a break. She’s led the organization for so long, it’s my responsibility now. I hope I can live up to her standards, she’s done really well. She’ll be back in a few years, but even after, I’m going to be much more involved to lessen Lingling’s workload.

Shangqi walked the path knowing who came before him and who was still with him.

Most importantly, he walked the path knowing who he was—demons, flaws, strengths, and all.

Mom, Dad, don’t worry. I’ll take care of them.

I hope you’re happy together in the afterlife.

~~~

Don’t be afraid, Shang-Chi, for you have heart of a dragon and the power of the Ten Rings.

We will always be with you and Xialing.

Original Version w/Mandarin

“外婆，您有没有一点儿时间？” 尚气 stood in front of Katy’s grandma, fidgeting nervously. “我想告诉您一些事情。”

She pinned him with a knowing stare. “是不是跟你和瑞雯这前个星期去的旅行有关？” Not waiting for his answer, she got up from the shop register and beckoned him into the back office. Feeling oddly like the first time he came into the store years ago as a teen—when he first met Katy’s family who had since taken him under their wing—he followed her into the familiar, cramped space.

Never did 尚气 imagine that he would end up claiming the ancient rings that now sat in a heavy-duty (thanks to 夏灵, with whom he now keeps in regular contact because of the promise they made to each other before he left the compound because he already left her behind once, and he’s never doing it again and damn, my baby sister is running the Ten Rings now, and she’s trying to turn it into something better) and a very well-disguised (thanks to the sorcerers in the New York Sanctum and holy shit he’s in contact with famous superheroes now) back in his mess of a studio apartment.

(Okay, fine, 尚气 wasn’t actually planning on letting anyone else in on it after telling 外婆, not even the rest of Katy’s family, but he really didn’t want them to be so involved yet—he still had no idea what he himself was doing and he wants to preserve what normalcy he can.)

(Also, he’s been reliably informed that anyone close to a public figure is bound to be targeted for attacks—which he figured out when the mercenaries attacked on the bus because yes, 灵灵, he does have brain cells thank you very much.)

“小龙，你有什么心事儿？”

Little Dragon.

He started at the nickname, the one originally given to him by his mother. Somehow, it had completely slipped his mind that 外婆 also called him that, starting a few weeks after he first met the Chen family. He barely kept it together, the long-unused nickname dredging up memories he had thought left him forever.

你有神龙之心，she had declared firmly when he asked her why she decided on that particular nickname. You have the heart of a dragon.

(That was exactly what his mother had told him right before she died, and yet he stood by, hidden behind a door, and did nothing while the men beat and killed her, the heart of the family.)

(He would carry the guilt with him for a lifetime.)

Old, weathered hands gently covered his own, which were shaking and clammy with nervousness. 尚气 wondered how 外婆 would react to the darker side of the lost boy she had basically adopted all those years ago, wondered if the legends of Ta-Lo and the Great Protector were known outside of the rather insular communities that continued to tell the stories, wondered if she had heard about his father through the stories that were passed down for thousands of years, from generation to generation…

(It can’t be wrong to miss him, can it? Even with the years of hell 文武 had put him through, he was still his father. 尚气 still faintly remembered the man his father had been when his mother was still alive, the happy times they shared as a normal family…)

(But those times were long gone, ripped from their grasp by the past 文武 wanted so badly to leave behind. Grief had shattered whole family, and it ultimately led to the children fighting the father who had been driven to near madness in his denial, in his quest to put his broken family back together again.)

妈妈，我太想你了。

(And now 文武 is dead, just like his beloved wife.)

Finally, he straightened his posture and took a deep breath, looking directly at 外婆, who he’d come to view as the grandmother he never had.

“外婆，您听说过 ‘十环’ 的传说吗？”

And 尚气 told her everything.

He told her everything and more,

She listened.

She listened as he described the legends behind the Ten Rings, Ta-Lo, and the Great Protector; his father’s history; his own history, from witnessing his mother’s death to ripping open the throat of the man who killed her when he was barely a teen, from leaving 灵灵 behind to seeing her again in the fight club she built from the ground up, from returning to the compound after a decade away in San Francisco to the battle in Ta-Lo…

Finally, he fell silent and stared at his hands but it wasn’t long before 外婆 moved, slowly standing up with one hand on her cane. He made to help stabilize her but was quickly waved off with a stern look. He sank back into the chair and felt her move behind him. The shaky weight of her hands on his shoulders as she gently pressed down and straightened his posture was familiar, even after years of not having his posture deliberately—so gently—fixed like that every time he saw 外婆.

“你是所有在你之前的人的遗产，但你是你自己的人，” she finally said，“你决定你自己的命运。”

You are the legacy of all who came before you, but you are your own person. You decide your own fate.

~~~

That night, 尚气 knelt before the altar he had in his apartment, the only part that was carefully maintained in all the years he had lived there. But now, two smiling faces stared back at him, a joy reflected in their eyes that he knew would disappear in less than ten years after the photo was taken.

我还是你的骄傲吗？灵灵长大了，但我也没好好照顾她。

我向你发誓，我再也不会抛弃她。

Even as his life got even more unbelievable as the years went by, the altar and his copy of his parent’s wedding photo would remain a constant. He and 灵灵 dove deeper into their family history—of the Ten Rings, of Ta-Lo, of both the good and bad—and both worked to carry on their family’s legacy.

(With all of the proper discretion agreements and threats when needed, of course.)

灵灵跟我朋友最近开始谈恋爱，他们俩可开心了。妈，如果你还在我们身边，我保证你会喜欢她。爸，我知道你一开始不太喜欢她，但她确实是一位精彩的人。

Life went on.

爸爸，我希望你跟我一样觉得这个故事很好笑：我昨天帮了一组美国超级英雄开车。那是他们第一次来旧京山，对道路非常陌生—尤其是 Lombard Street。他们开也开不好，花了半个小时慢慢的开下去。最终，我把他们的车开下去的。

(San Francisco was still home, and he had found a life there with all his friends and 夏灵 whenever she visited. He had a job now, too, at the local youth center teaching martial arts and self-defense, teaching and guiding the youth in a way he wishes his father had with him.)

People came into his life; some stayed, some left, and some even got together.

妈，爸，灵灵她今天会跟我最好的朋友结婚，我们都很兴奋。我一个月之内开始接管十环的业务，让灵灵休息休息。她干了多少年了，现在是我的责任。我希望我能辜负她，她管的非常棒，帮了许多人。她几年后会回来继续当领导，但我好像在领导方面发挥更大的作用。

He walked the path knowing who came before him and who was still with him.

Most importantly, he walked the path knowing who he was—demons, flaws, strengths, and all.

妈，爸，你们放心吧，我会照顾他们。

我希望你们俩来世都幸福。

~~~

尚气，你别怕，你有神龙之心，十环的力量。

我们永远会在你和灵灵的身边。

#i’m so sorry if the mandarin is shitty #the format is better on ao3 #but i’m so excited to be able to at least try it #shang chi spoilers #shang chi and the legend of the ten rings spoilers #shang chi fanfiction #shang chi #shang chi and the legend of the ten rings #marvel fanfiction #mcu #shang chi imagines

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severetimetravelnerd · 4 years ago

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Would you like a cookie? (ft. G Dragon)

Neighbour AU, Friends to Lovers AU

Taglist:

@unabashedturkeytreeslime

@kwonnansi

@happiestgirlontheeastcoast

Word Count : Around 9k

It’s Jiyong’s birthday today, and so, I wrote a one shot about him :)))) Happy Birthday!! I hope you have a wonderful and happy year ahead:)) For those who are following Hatred and Love, I’m sorry for taking so long :(( I just want it to be perfect :))) There are appearances from Mino, Taeyang and Hyorin. Enjoy :))

Warnings: Language, Smut, Insecurities

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You sighed as you finally flopped down on your couch, exhausted. It was 1 am and you had only just finished moving in and getting your new apartment to look vaguely habitable. Oh, who were you kidding? The place was a mess with cartons of your stuff everywhere. You had just about managed to put away enough things to occupy your room, and although you knew you should just put away everything and go to bed once and for all, your love for naps got the better of you and you set an alarm for 3 am, telling yourself that your alarm was so obnoxiously loud that it was bound to wake you up. It wasn’t. You only woke up at 7 in the morning because the sunlight proved to be too much for you to sleep through. You groaned as you got out of bed, body aching all over from the work you did yesterday. You fought your instinct to just get back into bed and sleep the day away and jumped into the shower, hoping that a cold shower would jolt you out of the sleepy, dazed state you were in. It did, and as you got out of the shower, pink cheeked and fresh faced, hair dripping wet, you felt considerably better. You changed into a ratty old t-shirt and a loose pair of shorts and got around to finishing the rest of your work, no matter how long it took.

It took you ages, but you finally finished getting your new place in order, happy with how it looked. You looked down at yourself, making a small face when you realised how sweaty you were. You sighed and got in for another shower. After getting out and changing into something more presentable than your ratty old t-shirt, you headed straight for your kitchen, because you were determined to make a good impression on the neighbours and make them something from the heart. You wanted to bake them cookies. You knew you were a bit of a klutz, but if there was one thing you were proud of, it was your recipe for chocolate chip cookies. Even if you were saying so yourself, they were brilliant and no one who had ever tasted them to go back to anything else. You did the math. You would have to make enough for five houses. Two for the floor below you, two for the floor above you and one for the person across from you. You packed them up neatly, all wrapped in pretty paper and tied them with a ribbon, and as you looked down at them, you couldn’t help the satisfied smile that spread across your face and the excitement rising in you.

You rang the doorbell of the house across from you, waiting nervously. You were hoping you would be good friends with this one. After all, they were the neighbours closest to you. But as you rang the doorbell a few more times only to get no response, your excitement faded a little. They were either in there and ignoring you, or they were out. For your sake, you decided to assume they were out. You let out a long sigh and you too the lift down, determined to at least give the rest of the neighbours the cookies and make some friends. When you stepped back into the lift to finally go back home, you were decidedly bittersweet. You met the rest of your neighbours, and while they were lovely, you were hoping for someone more around your age. A friend. Not babies, no matter how adorable, or grandmas, no matter how sweet. You stared down at the neatly packaged cookies for your closest neighbour in your hands, and the only thing keeping you from throwing them away was your strong hatred for wasting food. Caught up in those thoughts, you didn’t realise that the lift went all the way down to the lowest level until it was too late. The only thing you could do was supress a frustrated scream and make do with rolling your eyes. Trust your luck. You just kept your head down, annoyed, not noticing the two men who walked into the lift just then.

Jiyong and Youngbae walked into the lift, Youngbae having just driven Jiyong home after a crazy work session at the studio. Jiyong was too exhausted to stand straight, let alone drive. They didn’t notice you at the back, and Jiyong was crabby from the exhaustion. Leaning against Youngbae’s shoulder, Jiyong frowned when Youngbae wouldn’t stand still, moving his head around, sniffing the air. Irritated, he asked,

“What’re you doing Youngbae?”

Youngbae looked around again, and sniffed. Sounding convinced, he said,

“Jiyong, I can smell brownies.”

Jiyong just rolled his eyes, not even bothering to look up.

“You’re going insane Youngbae.”

Youngbae frowned and persisted.

“No, seriously!”

You perked up when you heard Youngbae say brownies, sniffing around to see if that was true. You shook your head, confused. You couldn’t seem to smell them either. Jiyong let out a long sigh.

“Youngbae, I can also smell them, but that’s probably just my imagination since I haven’t eaten properly in days. You’re probably just hungry.”

Youngbae turned around now, sniffing around more insistently.

“No Jiyong, I can smell it! I swear it’s in here somewhere.”

And as he turned around, he made eye contact with you, who was also sniffing around. You gave him a sheepish smile, but he didn’t return it. His eyes just went straight to the bag in your hands. He looked triumphant when he turned to face Jiyong.

“See! I told you so! That lady has some in her bag!”

It was supposed to be a whisper, but you heard him anyway. You were confused for a minute before you realised it. He was just smelling the cookies. Just as you were about to reach into your bag and offer them some, Jiyong scoffed.

“Youngbae, she does not! Stop it! You’re just embarrassing her!”

Before he could say anything else though, you entered the conversation with a welcoming smile on your face.

“Actually, I don’t have brownies, but I think you’re smelling the cookies I baked earlier.”

You reached out and handed Youngbae the packaged cookies that you had originally intended for your neighbour.

“I meant to give this to my neighbour, but it’s late and I don’t think we’ll be meeting today. Would you like some instead?”

Youngbae smiled back at you, but Jiyong was so sleep deprived that he was more annoyed that he was wrong than pleased about the free food. He turned and looked away, and your smile faltered a bit. Youngbae eyes turned apologetic. He reached out for the cookies.

“Thank you so much. I’d be more than happy to have some. Please excuse my friend though. He’s hardly slept this week, and that’s making him obnoxious.”

Jiyong glared at Youngbae while you laughed, not feeling so bad after all. The lift finally reached your floor and you were about to get off and say goodbye when they both stepped out as well. Both your eyes and Youngbae’s eyes widened in surprise, Jiyong too tired to notice. Youngbae extended his hand in a handshake.

“Oh, so you’re Jiyong’s new neighbour? Welcome! I’m Youngbae. I don’t live here, but you’ll see me often because Jiyong is practically incapable of doing anything on his own.”

He ended with a joking eye roll. You laughed.

“Oh well, looking forward to seeing you Youngbae. I’m Y/N.”

You turned and tried to look at Jiyong. he avoided eye contact.

“Hi Jiyong. Nice to meet you. Since I already gave Youngbae your cookies, can I get you some more? I always have extras at home.”

Jiyong just stared at you, with your warm smile and crinkly eyes and ignored you, opting instead to turn around and walk into his house. Your smile faded. That was rude. And mean. And made you feel terrible. Youngbae mouthed a sorry at you before disappearing into the house as well. You sighed. Maybe you weren’t going to have a great relationship with your neighbours after all. Youngbae on the other hand, followed Jiyong in, fully intending to lecture him about how he treated you when he found Jiyong collapsed on the couch, fast asleep. He shook his head and left, knowing that Jiyong would apologise after he remembered how he treated you.

To say you were not a morning person was an understatement. You fucking hated mornings, and if you had your way, you wouldn’t get out of bed before noon. Which is why when you were woken up by the constant ringing of the doorbell at 9 am the next morning, you were pissed.

Without thinking about anything other than biting off the head of whoever decided to wake you up, you marched to the door, hair looking wild, eyes puffy and still wrapped in your blanket. You swung open the door, not knowing who it was but prepared to kill when you found a sheepish Jiyong standing outside your door. Your mood soured even more. What did this asshole have to say? Glaring at him, you dared him to say whatever he wanted to. Jiyong suddenly seemed very interested in the ceiling. Your voice positively frigid, you said,

“Yes?”

Jiyong jumped a little and then put on a brave front. He cleared his throat and began.

“Hi Y/N. I’m Jiyong.”

He smiled a warm smile, faltering a little when you didn��t respond with one of your own.

“I just wanted to apologise for how I treated you yesterday. I’m sorry. I was just running on two hours of sleep for a week, and I know that’s not an excuse, but I hope that gives you context for why I was so crabby yesterday. It was nothing personal and I’m sorry I hurt your feelings.”

Your frozen expression slowly started to warm a little. You always did have a soft spot for guys who apologised and did it well, which was okay considering they were rare. You were still a little wary, but you melted enough to give him a slight smile. Encouraged by that, Jiyong moved a little closer, leaning against the wall with an adorably hopeful smile.

“Is your offer for cookies still on?”

Surprising even yourself, you found yourself opening the door and inviting him in for cookies. You were in your nightclothes. He was in his nightclothes. Neither of you said anything about it.

Four months later, you weren’t surprised when you came back home from work and found Jiyong lounging around on your couch, watching a drama. He raised his hand to you in greeting and you nodded, not joining him because you were going to shower and cook something for dinner. You and Jiyong had a routine now. You had become close. After the morning where he sheepishly came and asked for cookies, you started dropping by every time you baked something, and when you noticed he ordered food from outside for pretty much all his meals, you simply asked him to join you. You loved cooking, so making a little extra never bothered you. Besides, in thanks, he would help you clean your place, which was good, considering you could be a little … messy at times. Just like that, the two of you started spending more time together and got close. Of course, you knew that you weren’t his best friend, but you were still his binge-watching buddy and meal time buddy and that was okay. You also knew that you were a whole lot more invested in that relationship than he was because of the simple fact that you liked him. You might have developed a crush on him and you knew it was bad. You liked him and you wished you didn’t, because it was clear to the whole world to see that he didn’t see you the way you saw him. You wished you were more than just a neighbour to him, but you knew it wasn’t fair to expect any more. You were glad enough that the two of you could become friends. You knew not to push your luck, especially since his type seemed to be supermodels. You’d heard a lot about his ex from him, since they were still close friends. Of course, it hurt to have to see him with other women, and to have him never see you the same way, but you did your level best to never take it out on him. It wasn’t his fault either.

A few days later, you were just chilling at home, enjoying a lazy day baking. You couldn’t help but make small subconscious decisions for Jiyong’s sake, like baking his favourite lemon cake and caramel brownies. Once all the work was done, and you were satisfied with everything, you took a look at the clock. It was around 6 in the evening. Not too late to drop in at Jiyong’s studio and give him some food. You shook your head as you packed everything up. he never ate properly when he was working. Someone always had to remind him.

You reached the YG building, calling him as you parked your car. He answered on the third ring, sounding noticeably distracted.

“Hey Y/N. What’s up?”

You smiled and answered.

“I made your favourite cake and brownies. I thought I’d drop by with them.”

You were a little hurt when he just hummed an affirmation, not sounding too pleased, but you told yourself that it was probably just because he was busy. Getting out of the lift at his floor, you smiled to yourself because you knew he would love the food, when you heard your name. A woman’s voice was saying it.

“Y/N? Who is she?”

You also heard Jiyong sigh and then say,

“She’s my… friend.”

You couldn’t help the way your heart dropped. Was he seriously that unhappy that you dropped by? Did he really have to think about it that much to decide whether you were his friend? You paused for a minute to take a few deep breaths. You then forced yourself to smile the most realistic fake smile you had in you and pushed open the door. You originally thought you’d sit and watch him work for a while, but you didn’t want to make things worse, so you decided you’d go after dropping off the food. Your determination to leave cemented itself when you walked in and realised the woman’s voice belonged to his ex. One look at her, with her beautiful, goddess like skin, friendly smile and twinkling eyes made your gut twist. You knew the moment you saw her that you could never hate her. She was so nice and friendly. And it just made you feel even worse, because while you liked her personality, every second you spent around her made you feel worse about yourself. You were much shorter than her, your skin somehow looked both oily and dry, your hair was just a bundle of frizz. You felt shabby. You already knew his standards. It just hurt to compare yourself to it. Suddenly, you felt like your smile looked awkward, your clothes looked drab and you just looked like shit. Forcing yourself to keep the smile on your face, you waved at her. She smiled and moved to help you with the boxes.

“Hi Y/N. I’m (his ex’s name). These smell heavenly!”

You smiled back at her.

“Hi. I’ve heard so much about you! It’s so nice to finally meet you.”

She laughed.

“All good, I hope?”

You bit the inside of your cheek before replying an honest answer that made your heart hurt.

“Yup, all good.”

You turned to Jiyong, who hadn’t bothered to acknowledge your presence.

“I made the cake and brownies. I just came to drop it off. I’ll get going now.”

For the first time since you arrived, he turned, looking at you questioningly.

“Already?”

You nodded, struggling to keep up the act. You felt even worse that he never let you go visit him, saying you would distract him, but his ex was right there with him. You thought you were close enough for that. Jiyong’s features slowly morphed into a frown once he took in your forced smile and your hurry to leave.

“Y/N, are you sure? Is everything okay?”

You painfully managed one last beam at him.

“Yeah, everything is fine. I just had a little time so I thought I’d get these to you. I’ll get going now.”

And you left before he could stop you and interrogate you again. You might have cracked and told him, but you knew you didn’t need a rejection when you already knew what his answer was going to be.

You wanted to avoid him for the next few days, once the raw pain of your last encounter with him left, but you didn’t have to worry about that, because he was too busy working anyway. He didn’t come home for the next ten days and he didn’t bother to even send you a text, asking you whether everything was okay or thanking you for the food. You didn’t expect thanks, but you were still a little hurt that he didn’t bother to check up on you. You tried your level best to get rid of those thoughts, because you knew you were behaving like you were entitled to his affection, but they just weren’t going. So, you let yourself sulk for a few days and slowly, you got over it by just not thinking about it. When he finally did come home, you knew you wouldn’t have to worry about seeing him for the next two days because he typically sleeps through two days straight before wanting to interact with humans. You figured you would be okay by then. Life, unfortunately, had other plans for you.

It was the third day, the day Jiyong would typically get up. he had already texted you saying he would be over for dinner that night. You couldn’t explain what that text made you feel. You felt elation at the thought of seeing him again, but you also felt excruciating pain at the thought of having to be around him and pretend like he was just another friend. You bit your lips, deciding to go shower to get those thoughts out of your mind. You just stepped into the bathroom, humming a little tune and stood under the shower, fiddling with the controls to try and get the perfect mixture of hot and cold when the shower handle broke. It just plain snapped into two. You stood there, staring at the broken off handle in your hand, unable to believe it. You had some weird DIY hair masque of yoghurt and honey on your hair and you had to wash it off. It was late and you wouldn’t be able to get a plumber. Your head started to hurt when you realised what that meant. You would have to go and ask Jiyong whether you could use his bathroom. Cursing yourself for your weird affinity for late night baths, you gathered up all your clothes and covered your hair with a shower cap. You threw on a loose shirt and muttering under your breath, you went and rang Jiyong’s doorbell. He opened the door, standing there in a loose t-shirt and shorts, rubbing his sleepy eyes before he finally looked up and realised you were standing there. He blinked a few times, taking in the sight of you standing there with yoghurt all over your hair and a bunch of your stuff in your hands, cheeks flushed from embarrassment. He started to smirk, and with a teasing look in his eyes, he said,

“Well, hello grandma. I didn’t realise you were visiting me today. You know, you look really young for your age.”

You rolled your eyes and pushed past him.

“Haha, very funny. My shower isn’t working and I need to wash this stuff out of my hair.”

He groaned.

“Oh god. My bathroom is going to smell awful, isn’t it?”

but he still opened the door to his bedroom and showed you to his bathroom. While he was showing you how to work the fancy rain shower he had, he turned and looked you over, frowning.

“You take your time. I’ll order some pizza. You look tired. Take a break today. Oh, and thanks for the cake and stuff. They were really good.”

You were grateful he turned around and didn’t notice the slight blush you had spread across your cheeks. He cared.

You had a long, relaxing shower. That fancy shower really did make a difference. You sang your heart out, although you weren’t any good, and danced along to some of your favourite songs, taking your time to condition your hair, wanting it to smell nothing like yoghurt. You stepped out and towelled your hair, taking your time to put on some moisturiser and got out of the bathroom to change into your clothes, with only a towel wrapped around you. You were not expecting Jiyong to be in the room. Both of you froze for a second and then, he started. Looking straight at your eyes, he started talking, with not a single sign of embarrassment or awkwardness at having seen you like that.

“Oh, you’re done? I wasn’t sure whether you had a towel, so I came to leave one here, just in case. Also, the pizza will get here in the next five minutes.”

And he walked out, leaving you stumped and dismayed. Were you so deep inside the friendzone that even seeing you in a towel made no difference to him? You flopped down on the bed, upset. Seriously? Were you that bad? Were you so invisible to him? You groaned. Just when you were getting over the last thing, he found another way to hurt your feelings. You sat up and slapped yourself lightly.

“Okay, Y/N, come on! You just need to get through this one night.”

You started changing, about to put on your bra, but then, with a determined snort, you decided against it. You would try again. Just one more time. He had to react in some way if you were braless. If he was the slightest bit attracted to you, he would make a move.

Two hours later, you just waited to walk through your front door before crumbling again. He didn’t. He didn’t make the slightest move and didn’t even acknowledge it, and it was pretty obvious with the loose t-shirt you were wearing. He didn’t behave the slightest bit perturbed. Seeing you braless and in only a towel had done nothing to him. He just wasn’t attracted to you. And as you sat there, eyes red, eating salted caramel ice cream, you told yourself to suck it up. it wasn’t something you didn’t know already. You had met his ex. That crippling feeling of insecurity came back. You remembered how horrible you felt when you compared yourself to her, and a tear slipped out of your red eyes. You sniffed and took a large bite of ice cream. You would be okay. You had to be.

You were right. You had to be okay. So, you forced yourself to be okay around Jiyong. you had gotten pretty good at it. You were trying to stay positive, thinking about how you got to spend time with him, but you being stuck in the friendzone was still stuck at the back of your mind. A week after you realised just how deep down there you were, Jiyong randomly asked you something in between a drama.

“Y/N, I’m throwing a party tomorrow. It’s going to be quite chill, nothing too crazy. Just some food, some drinks and some alcohol. Of course, you have to come.”

He paused to glare at you.

“Because I know you don’t have any plans for tomorrow, but I was wondering whether you’d help me with clean up duty? You remember our deal, right?”

You mentally banged your head against a wall, because you did remember the deal. Whenever either of you would throw parties, the other would help clean up if they were free. He had already helped you once with that. You couldn’t get out of this one. You also felt like smacking yourself because you knew that somewhere deep down, you were getting hopeful that if you dressed up and looked nice enough, Jiyong might change his mind about you. You didn’t show him any sign of your inner monologue and you smiled.

“Sure, I’ll be there.”

Sure enough, the next day, your stupid, ever-so-hopeful side won out, and you went digging in your closet to find something that would make you look hot. You finally found it. That one outfit you bought on a whim that would save your life. A long black skirt, with a long slit on the left with a wine-red spaghetti strapped crop top. You knew his kind of crowd and it was the perfect mix of formal and sexy. You just threw on a shawl over that and picked out your strappiest of black heels. You didn’t like wearing them. They were painful, and they dug into your heels, but you were desperate. You wanted Jiyong to notice you. Taking a little time to give yourself one final pep-talk, you finally opened the door to Jiyong’s apartment, searching the crowd for him. You scanned the room, seeing a few faces you recognised. Youngbae and Hyorin smiled at you. Mino gave you an exaggerated wink, but you couldn’t find Jiyong. You face fell a little. You looked everywhere for him, unable to find him anywhere until you got to his bedroom. It was locked, and you were about to walk off, thinking it was just some random couple hooking up, when you heard Jiyong’s voice along with a voice you wished you didn’t recognise. So, it was just him and his ex in there. You scoffed to yourself and walked back to the living room, heading straight to the bar to get a shot. You didn’t want to get drunk. You just didn’t want to be so unhappy, and just a little bit of alcohol helped calm you down. You stopped at that one shot and moved away, finding a place on the couch, staring down at your phone. A few minutes later, Jiyong and his ex walked back into the room. you took one look at them and you felt a little sick. She was wearing his shirt, and he was wearing his shirt inside out. You didn’t need to be a genius to figure out what happened there. You blinked rapidly, trying to fight the tears you could feel were threatening to fall. You had gotten all dressed up, worn those ridiculous heels, done your hair and make up all nicely all in false hope. Why would you even try when she was around? Laughing a little at yourself and how pathetic you seemed in that moment, you refused to look up at him. You didn’t want to make eye contact. You would just wait to help him clean up. No more interacting with him for the night. You got up and went to the balcony, sitting in the swing, vigorously set off on mentally lecturing yourself about what an idiot you were, when you felt the seat dip next to you and you heard a familiar voice in your ear.

“Woah noona! You look great tonight!”

You turned to smile your first warm smile for the night at Mino.

“Thanks Mino.”

You and Mino met by accident, but got along really well. It was one of those nights were you just wanted to stay home and have a few drinks. A few drinks quickly became a lot and you were quite tipsy by the end of it. You were about to call your friend to come and drink with you when you heard a loud knocking on the door. You were curious about who it could be and you opened the door only to find Mino slumped against the wall, a stupid smile on his face, singing to himself. He got to his unsteady feet when he heard the door open.

“Ahhh hyung! Why did you take so long? Come! Let’s get drunk!”

and lifted his beer bottle. You lifted your can of beer and clinked it against his. Laughing at his confused expression, you said,

“I support the motion. Come in, I’ve got some drinks inside.”

When he started looking around puzzled, you laughed and had pity on him.

“Jiyong lives there.”

And you pointed at the door across from yours. You extended your hand and smiled.

“I’m Y/N, his neighbour.”

Mino looked back and forth between the two doors, confused for a little while and then he grinned at you. He shook your hand and walked into your apartment.

“Hi Y/N noona. I’m Mino, your new drinking buddy.”

He continued in a mock whisper.

“Jiyong hyung is a whiny drunk anyways.”

That night, the two of you did a rom-com movie marathon, both extremely tipsy and binging on all sorts of junk food. And Mino was right. He did become your new drinking buddy. And one of those nights when you were drunk, you had confided in him about your crush on Jiyong.

Mino looked at your warm smile and your surprisingly glassy eyes, and he knew why you were upset. He sighed and gave you a hug.

“I’m sorry he didn’t notice noona.”

You laughed. A small, humourless laugh, and then you snapped yourself out of it.

“It’s okay Mino. Don’t apologise. It’s not like you did anything wrong.”

Mino looked at your sad smile and he had to supress some anger at his hyung and how obtuse he could be. With a flirtatious smile, Mino tucked a little hair behind your ears.

“Well, noona, I, for one, think you look absolutely gorgeous tonight.”

You laughed at his attempt to cheer you up.

“Thanks Mino, but you’re a lousy flirt.”

He pouted and made the infamous puppy dog eyes.

“Noona, I’m not that bad!”

You ruffled his hair, and smirked.

“Sorry to break it to you, but you are actually that bad.”

Mino jumped to his feet and grabbed your hand, dragging you inside. He turned to face a surprised you and smirked.

“Well, for that series of insults that shattered my ego, you owe me a dance.”

Your eyes widened, making you look almost comical.

“Mino, you know I can’t dance!”

He gave you a light smirk as he twirled you around, making your back lean against his chest. His hands snaked around your waist and he reached for your hand to drape it over his neck. He slowly started guiding you to sway along with the rhythm while he leaned down and whispered in your ear,

“Well, that’s what I’m here for.”

You smiled with a light flush on your face.

“Okay Mino, I’ll admit that was smooth, but why are you doing this?”

He twirled you around again and pulled you even closer to him, leaning down to whisper in your ear and one of his hands reached up and undid your bun, letting your hair fall loose.

“Much better. I’ve always liked your hair like this.”

Leaning in even closer, he switched back to his normal self. In a low whisper, to make sure no one could hear him, he said,

“Noona, just go along with this. I have a hunch.”

You stared at his face suspiciously for a few seconds before giving in. You rested your head against his chest and pulled him down closer by his collar.

“I have no idea what you’re trying, but I’ll go along with it. I’ve got nothing better to do anyway.”

Mino just looked up to check whether his plan was working, and as he felt his hyung glaring daggers at him, his smirk deepened a little. His plan was working. Mino continued to blatantly flirt with you, and to the rest of the party, it seemed like the two of you were a thing, when in reality, both of you were struggling to not laugh. Mino twirled you around one last time before gently running his hands up and down your sides. He led you off the dance floor and back to the balcony. He looked at you, dead serious.

“Y/N noona, you trust me, right?”

You nodded. Mino looked behind you, and as he saw that familiar build, he knew he was right. He looked back at you and said,

“Trust me on this one too.”

And he grabbed your face and leaned in to kiss you. You closed your eyes, prepared to kiss him, but that never happened. Instead, you felt someone grab your hand in a vice grip and pull you away, muttering a half-hearted apology to Mino about how he needed your help with something. He pulled you straight through all the crowd and into his room, locking the door behind you. You stared around you and you felt a little sick. Wow, he was really something else. He had the gall to bring you to the room where he hooked up with his ex less than an hour ago because he was jealous you were dancing with Mino. You started to feel more than a little annoyed. He was really starting to get to you. You looked away at the walls and ceilings, not wanting to have to see his face. Jiyong’s voice was low and angry when he said,

“What the bloody hell were you doing with Mino out there?”

Still not looking at him, you replied.

“How is that any of your business?”

Jiyong was so angry he was practically hissing.

“It is my business if you try to hook up with my junior right in the middle of my house.”

You snorted, too incredulous to actually say something. Jiyong continued.

“You two were practically fucking on the dance floor.”

You froze for a second, shocked, and then, you hardened. Jiyong had gone too far. Your voice positively frigid, you said,

“I see.”

And you walked out, leaving a shocked, blabbering Jiyong behind. His expression melted when he saw you walk out. He didn’t mean to hurt you.

You spent the rest of the night on the balcony with Mino. Mino just took one look at your expression when you walked out of the room and he knew that things hadn’t gone well. And so, he decided to sit with you and keep you company, making sure you didn’t feel too low. You appreciated it. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see that Jiyong looked sad, apologetic, and he kept trying to make eye contact with you to try and apologise for the way he blew up, but you staunchly refused all of that. You didn’t want to talk to him. Not when you felt so hurt that the only reason you weren’t crying was because you were angry. Slowly, around two in the morning, people started to leave. Things were pretty close to wrapping up by 2:30. You were still sitting in the balcony while Jiyong was seeing his guests out. You had decided to stick things out and help him clean up because you didn’t want to owe him anything because you were planning on avoiding him after that. Youngbae, Hyorin and Mino were the last people to leave. The three of them were watching the two of you and trying to figure things out. Hyorin shook her head and muttered,

“God, Jiyong is an idiot.”

Youngbae nodded in agreement.

“He is. He’s really bad at trying to show her that he likes her.”

Mino took one look at the two of you and sighed. He rubbed his hands together and said,

“All right then. I’m going to go help speed things up. Make sure Jiyong hyung sees this.”

And as Mino walked over to you, Hyorin led a confused Youngbae up to Jiyong, making Jiyong turn around just in time to see what looked like Mino kissing you. In reality, he just grabbed your face and made faces at you, but from the back, it looked like a passionate kiss. Jiyong also saw you laugh and give Mino a tight hug. He didn’t know you had no idea why Mino did that and that you called him crazy, but he had seen enough. All his sadness melted away and was replaced with jealousy, making him quite rude to you.

You had gone to the kitchen, getting a trash bag so that you could get the work over and done with quicker. You hadn’t even been gone from the living room for five seconds when you heard Jiyong’s angry voice call you. Pausing for a second to steel yourself, you stepped back out.

“What is it Jiyong?”

His voice was harsh when he said,

“Were you trying to get out of cleaning duty?”

You just rolled your eyes and held up the trash bag.

“Clearly not, Jiyong.”

And you ignored him, moving around the house, getting rid of all the trash. He stared at you for a second, annoyed and unsure of what he should do next and then he got out a mop and began mopping up the spills around the place. He kept stealing glances at you, trying to get you to look at him, because the awkwardness between the two of you was killing him, but you never looked up at him. not even once. Jiyong didn’t know what to say, and the jealousy was clouding his mind. He had liked you ever since he first saw you, with all your hair sticking up and in ridiculous pyjamas. He had tried to drop hints. He had tried to make you jealous. But nothing seemed to work. He had resigned himself to thinking that you didn’t like him, and he would just have to get over it, but when you walked in, looking so unbelievably beautiful when Mino kissed you, he just felt himself lose it. Still mopping, Jiyong asked,

“So, Y/N. You and Mino, huh?”

You didn’t respond, but he needed to hear you say it. He needed to hear you tell him that you liked someone else so that he could finally try to move on. You stiffened when he said that, but didn’t say anything. He repeated himself, a little louder the second time around. You pretended like you didn’t hear him. Jiyong had had enough. he threw the mop down, letting the loud noise echo through the apartment, and walked up to you, grabbing your chin and making you look at him.

“Y/N. I’m asking you whether you like Mino.”

You stiffened, as though determined to fight it out before your body became slack, as though you gave up. You gave him a slight smile and with a shaky voice, you said,

“God, Jiyong. You really know how to hurt a girl, don’t you?”

He froze. You were sad. He had made you sad. Why were you sad? He watched you walk away for a second before realising that you were leaving. You were done. You had tried your best to help him and if after all that, Jiyong was still going to cause you so much pain, you were done. You had just walked through the door of your apartment, prepared to curl up in bed and cry when you heard someone walk in with you. You groaned, a little teary by now.

“Jiyong plea-”

He cut you off by slamming the door behind him and turning you around, so in a matter of seconds, you found yourself being pressed against a wall. He put his arms on either side of you, preventing you from moving. He had his head down, breathing heavily, as though trying to come to terms with something. He looked up at your teary eyes, his eyes equally pained and asked,

“What did you mean?”

You had nothing to say. You could only stare at that beautiful face, contorted in pain and confusion. His voice slightly calmer this time, he repeated himself.

“Y/N, what did you mean by that? When did I hurt you?”

You couldn’t help the tear that rolled down your cheek at that point. How could you possibly explain how he hurt you? He gently reached up to wipe your tears. His voice was soft when he said,

“Y/N, what’s wrong?”

You took a deep breath, trying your best to not become a crying mess.

“Jiyong, it’s not your fault. You didn’t mean any of it, except for just now, when you were an asshole about Mino.”

His voice both pained and soft, he asked,

“But what did I do Y/N?”

Fuck it. It was now or never. You already knew things with Jiyong would never be the same again. Tears started rolling down your face as you said,

“Jiyong, how?! How do you not know that I like you?”

Jiyong’s world froze around him while you broke down and started sobbing, desperately trying not to fall onto his shoulder. You refused to look up, scared to meet the pitying gaze you were sure he would have, but he gently but firmly grabbed your chin and made you look at him. when you finally opened your eyes, he was staring at you with a soft, gentle warmth.

“Y/N, how do you not know that I like you?”

It was your turn to be shocked, staring at him in uncomprehensive confusion. His hands cupped your face as he gently wiped off your tears.

“Y/N, I’ve liked you ever since you moved in here.”

You pouted a little, your lower lip trembled with a threat of tears.

“Jiyong don’t lie to me. You’ve never seen me that way. I know you hooked up with your ex today. You don’t need to pity me that much.”

All his anger, all his jealousy was gone and he just shook his head earnestly, thoroughly confused.

“Y/N, I swear we did not hook up today. We’ve never hooked up after we broke up. She’s seeing someone else.”

You stared at him, still a little suspicious.

“But you made it so clear that you only see me as a friend. Why didn’t you say anything earlier?”

He looked back at you, still confused.

“What’re you talking about?”

You sighed and grabbed his hand, walking over to the couch and sitting down there.

“We might as well get comfortable. You have a lot of explaining to do.”

He sat down next to you, waiting until you had crossed your legs and turned to him. Glaring at him, you asked,

“Why didn’t you say anything earlier? Why didn’t you behave like you liked me?”

He stared at you, incredulous.

“What do you mean “behave like you liked me?” Y/N. You’re the only person who has succeeded in getting me to eat well and on time. Loads of other people have tried too, but you’re the only one who succeeded. Why do you think you succeeded?”

You stared at him, still suspicious.

“Why do you think I spent so much time at your place? Because no matter how tired or sad I was, being with you cheered me up. you should ask Youngbae about that sometime. Before I met you, I would just stay in my apartment most of the time.”

You were still staring at him suspiciously. Jiyong rolled his sleeves up and turned to face you completely.

“I tried to make you jealous all the time.”

Catching your glare turn deadly, he quickly added,

“Now that I’ve experienced that method myself, I know how shitty it feels, and I swear I won’t ever do that again. But seriously. I tried to make you jealous so many times, and there was absolutely no reaction from you. That is the only reason I didn’t say anything to you. I thought that you would have reacted or said something or gotten mad if you liked me.”

You rolled your eyes and muttered,

“It’s called self-control.”

His voice turned soft.

“I know now. And I’m sorry. I didn’t realise how much it hurt to have to see that. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’m just dumb when it comes to stuff like this.”

You sniffed a little, his words finally getting through to you.

“But why didn’t you say or do anything Y/N? And what was that with Mino?! You let him kiss you.”

Your eyes turned fiery again.

“First off, Mino didn’t kiss me, he just made faces at me! Secondly, I didn’t do anything?! You think all those times I came back from work, exhausted to the bone, but cooked or baked your favourite food was nothing? What about all the all-nighters I’ve pulled to keep you company when you’re working on something important? You know how much I value my sleep! What about all the ridiculously sappy shows I’ve watched with you, all though the lines made me want to gag?!”

You snorted, and gestured towards your outfit.

“Look at me! I dressed up like this, with shoes that make me feel like I’m walking on glass, hoping that you would notice me!”

He winced a little and while you continued on your rant, he slowly reached for your feet and slipped them off without you noticing.

“The only reason I didn’t say anything was because of all the girls you were around. Your ex is a literal supermodel. How do you think it made me feel to compare myself to her?! And it didn’t help that you showed no signs of liking me back.”

He moved a little closer to you and held your hand.

“I’m sorry Y/N.”

His eyes were sincere, and you knew he meant it, but you needed some answers.

“Why was she wearing your clothes and why is your shirt on inside out?”

Without batting an eyelid, he moved even closer and answered in an earnest, sincere voice.

“She puked all over herself and me, so both of us needed to change. I put it on like this because I was in a hurry to see you.”

Your breath hitched when he said that and you blushed. Still, you continued.

“What about the time she was in your studio? So, it was okay for her to be there but not me? And why was there hesitation when you called me your friend?”

“I didn’t want to call you my friend when I want you to be my girlfriend. And yeah, she can be there, but you can’t, because I can still work if she’s there, but if you’re there, it is literally impossible for me to pay attention to anything or anyone else.”

You heart started beating a whole lot faster and your face turned red. Your voice wasn’t so sure when you asked your last question.

“What about the time I showered at your place? You walked in on me wearing nothing but a towel, but you didn’t react at all.”

His hands gently pushed pulled you closer so that he could wrap his arms around you.

“Y/N, I didn’t want to make it awkward for you. I didn’t react the way I wanted to because I thought you didn’t like me and I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

Your heart was beating so fast, you were sure he could hear you. All you could manage was a sheepish,

“Oh.”

One look at your face and Jiyong knew what he was going to do next. In one smooth movement, he lifted you onto his lap, making you straddle him. His fingers gently traced patterns on the soft skin of your thigh, exposed by the slit in your skirt. His other hand wrapped around your waist, he pulled you as close as he could and pressed his lips against your ear, gently murmuring,

“Do you want to know what I wanted to do to you that night?”

You nodded slowly.

“Well, Y/N.”

His fingers reached for the straps holding your top up.

“I wanted to undo that small knot holding your towel up and throw you on my bed. Oh and don’t even get me started about your braless stunt afterwards.”

His fingers undid the knots of the straps, letting your top fall to the ground, leaving you in a wine-red lace bra. His eyes darkened considerably, and you gulped seeing the lust in them, knowing fully well that your eyes looked the same. His hands ran across your back, making you arch against him.

“I wanted to make you scream my name. I wanted everyone to know exactly who was making you feel that way.”

His hands gently ran across your collar bones.

“I wanted to leave some marks against your pretty neck.”

His hands gently travelled down your body and grabbed your ass.

“I wanted to make you a moaning mess, so much so that you would barely be able to remember your own name.”

Feeling his erection, you rocked your hips against his, the feeling making you moan. His lips were pressed against your neck when he said,

“Yes, just like that.”

Looking straight into your eyes, he said,

“I wanted to fuck you so hard that you wouldn’t be able to walk.”

You let out another moan from just his words. You looked straight back into his yes and replied.

“Well then Jiyong. Do it.”

In a matter of seconds, he lifted you up in his arms and kissed you, a slow, teasing kiss. He walked towards your bedroom and dropped you down on the bed, taking a moment to pause and admire how beautiful you were. You were a little breathless when you said,

“Jiyong. Shirt off. Now.”

He smirked at you, but obliged. He climbed onto the bed over you, hands reaching behind you.

“Princess, I might have listened to you just now, but don’t get the wrong idea about who’s in charge here.”

Before you could roll your eyes and give him a snarky response, he unhooked your bra, pulled it off and swirled his tongue against your nipple. Your hands went to grip his hair, holding him there while you threw your head back, moaning his name. He looked up at you and smirked.

“See, I told you that you’d be moaning my name.”

And then shifted his attention to your other nipple. You were getting wetter and wetter, sure that your panties were soaked with how wet you were. He moved up to your neck, and sure enough, he began leaving small marks all across your neck. He leaned back for a second to admire his handiwork. You were flushed and panting. Your nipples were almost incredibly hard and your chest was covered with hickies. He kissed you, growling against your ear.

“Mine. All mine.”

You knelt on the bed with your hand on his belt, getting ready to make him feel a little better, but his hands gently grabbed your and held them away. His voice was teasing, but firm when he said,

“Did I say you could do that princess?”

He pushed you back as he slipped off your skirt.

“Tonight, I’m going to focus on you. It’s my way of apologising for making you feel jealous all those times.”

You were squirming, because every little touch of his took you too far, but he firmly pulled you legs apart and pulled off your panties. His fingers slowly ran over your clit while he watched the way you shivered from that. He brought his fingers to his lips and stared at them.

“So wet and all for me?”

You nodded, unable to take your eyes off him. Staring back at you with almost feverish intensity, he slowly licked his fingers and leaned in to kiss you. You could taste yourself on his lips, and that made you even more wet. He them made his way to your thighs, pausing to pepper them with light kisses and hickies. You were moaning.

“Jiyong please.”

His eyes teasing, he asked,

“Please what?”

You stared at him pleadingly. He smirked and sat,

“Say it.”

Your face red, you managed to whisper,

“Jiyong, will you please eat me out?”

His smirk deepened.

“As you wish princess.”

And he started. He gave a long, slow lick across your vulva before finding you clit. You were holding his head, pulling his hair as you moaned his name again. He licked around your clit, gently teasing till he reached the very edge of it, but never directly on it. By now, you were raising your hips, unable to sit still. You threw your head back and moaned out his name again. He paused for a second, only to give you a devilish smirk and say,

“Nope. Not loud enough.”

before diving back, this time giving your clit a long, firm lick. He then swirled his tongue around it before pressing down on it harshly and curling a finger into you. Without meaning to, your moans and screams became much louder, unable to contain yourself. He knew you were close from the way you were panting. Jiyong lightly nibbled on your clit before sucking on it, and with that, you came, shuddering a little as your breathing slowly steadied. He was about to get up when your hands ran across his chest, pulling you closer to him before you said,

“You said you were going to fuck me so hard I wouldn’t be able to walk.”

His face morphed into that same devilish smirk.

“My princess is so needy for me.”

Before you could reply, he reached for your clit and rubbed down on it, hard. You were already sensitive from your orgasm, so you could only moan as you fell onto him.

“Yes, Jiyong, I am needy for you.”

Still smirking, he reached for condoms in his drawers. You quickly undid his belt and removed his pants. He slid on a condom before pushing you down. He just pushed into you with no warning, making you gasp from the sudden change. Jiyong gave you a minute to adjust before he began moving, rough and fast. And hitting that one spot inside you without fail with every single thrust. You were already screaming when one of his hands reached down to play with your clit, making your screams even louder. Your nails dug into his back, leaving marks. His breathing was getting shallower and his thrusts unsteady. You were both glistening with sweat. He pulled out completely before pushing into you again, and with that, both of you came. He flopped down next to you, both of you tired. You turned and pulled him into a long, gentle kiss. He pulled away to smile and stroke your hair.

“I guess it’s a little late, but will you be my girlfriend?”

You laughed and nodded eagerly.

“I’d be only too happy to be your girlfriend.”

And you kissed him again. It was long and slow for a while, before things started heating up again. He pulled you onto him with a smirk.

“I guess it’s time for round two then.”

#kpop scenarios #g dragon scenarios #kpop friends to lovers #neighbours au #g dragon #g dragon fluff #g dragon angst #g dragon smut #kpop fluff #kpop angst #kpop smut #kpop #kwon jiyong #gdragon #fluff #angst #smut #fanfiction

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noona-clock · 4 years ago

Text

The Engineer

Genre: Engineer!AU

Pairing: Chanwoo x You (Female!Reader)

Warnings: None

Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | Words: 2,190

Don’t you just hate it when you’re walking along -- a completely innocent walk at your local park -- and a baseball whizzes by you, barely missing you? Like, it almost could’ve hit your head that’s how close it was.

Anyone would hate that, I think that’s a very fair statement to make.

Nobody ever wants to almost get hit by a baseball, especially in the head.

But I guess it was a good thing you almost got hit and didn’t actually get hit. That certainly would’ve been much, much worse.

Still, though. The sound of someone yelling ‘Watch out!’ and the sharp, breezy whoosh of a baseball flying right in front of your face was enough to make you freeze in your tracks, enough to make your heartbeat quicken -- after it stopped altogether, of course.

You let out a breath when you heard the ball land on the ground with a thud somewhere behind you, and you blinked a couple of times at the sound of footsteps thumping toward you.

“I’m so sorry,” a voice panted.

When you managed to turn your head to look at whoever it was apologizing for almost hitting you in the head with a baseball...

You hadn’t been expecting that.

You honestly weren’t sure what you had been expecting, but it certainly wasn’t that.

And, in this case, by ‘that’ you meant ‘him.’

A tall, broad-shouldered, somewhat baby-faced guy with the most concerned (and adorable) expression was approaching you, and you suddenly had no qualms with the fact you could’ve been knocked unconscious by his carelessness. And his baseball.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated, slowing his jog and taking more cautious steps to reach you. “Are you all right? It didn’t hit you, did it?”

“Mm?” you hummed. And then you immediately shook your head, a small grin tugging at the corners of your lips. “Oh, no. No, it didn’t hit me. I’m fine.”

You weren’t the only one who was fine in this situation...

But, obviously, you meant ‘fine’ in another way because this guy -- whoever he was -- was fine.

“You’re sure?” he asked, his brow still knit with worry.

“Yes,” you chuckled. “It just missed me.”

He let out a soft sigh of relief, and after spotting the baseball, hurried over to pick it up.

Now, it would be remiss of me not to point out that this kind of thing... didn’t really happen to you. Ever.

You didn’t just almost get knocked down by a baseball and then the person who threw said baseball turned out to be kind of incredibly cute every day. Not even every week. Or month! You weren’t the kind of person who just happened to meet good-looking people all the time.

Or ever.

And, for some reason, you didn’t want to let this guy grab his baseball and then just run away after apologizing one last time.

No. You weren’t going to let that happen. Not today.

Today, you were going to -- what did they say nowadays? You were going to take your shot? Make your shot? Not throw away your --

SHOOT your shot! That was it!

You were going to shoot your shot, and --

Oh, and now he was smiling awkwardly at you and turning to walk away and you had completely been too lost in thought to notice that he was about to leave so you blurted out, “That was a great throw!”

The guy paused, and his awkward smile became a bit more genuine. He relaxed a little, turning the baseball over in his hands and gently throwing it into his mitt.

“Oh, thanks,” he replied with a soft, bashful laugh.

And that soft, bashful laugh brought out the dimples in his cheeks, and you immediately knew you were a goner.

“I mean, if you were trying to aim for me, then it wasn’t a great throw. But you probably weren’t.”

“No, no, of course I wasn’t!”

“Then, yeah, it was a great throw,” you chuckled. “Do you, like, actually play?”

...Honestly, what kind of a question was that? Was your brain functioning properly right now?

“Not actually,” he answered. “Just a hobby, I guess. I would like to, but I don’t really have time.”

You almost let out a sigh of relief because he had, apparently, known what you meant.

“Well, you seem good enough to be a professional. I mean, not that I really know much about baseball, and I’ve literally just seen you throw one time, but it was super fast. That’s good, right?”

“Yeah, I guess,” he replied, his dimples getting even deeper as his smile grew wider. And then, despite the fact you basically sounded like a bumbling idiot, he took a step closer to you and held out his hand for a greeting handshake. “I’m, uh, Chanwoo. By the way.”

He had a name!

“Y/N,” you told him with a grin as you shook his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“You, too. But I’m sorry we met because I almost hit you in the head with a baseball.”

If that sentence had come from just about any other guy you’d ever met, it would’ve been a pick-up line. But, somehow, you knew Chanwoo hadn’t meant it like that. If he had, he had done a bang-up job of not making it seem like he had.

“Hey, it’s better than meeting because you did hit me in the head with a baseball,” you smirked.

“That... is very true,” Chanwoo replied as a soft blush tinged his cheeks.

Oh, god. His blush paired with his dimples made you want to reach out and pinch his cheeks so badly! How did someone so cute actually exist in this world and be standing right in front of you?

And how had you never seen him before?

“Are... are you new around here?” you asked, your brow gently knitting together in curiosity. You were sure you hadn’t seen him before; if you had, you definitely would’ve remembered him. He was too cute to forget!

“Ah, uh -- no,” he told you. “No, I... I actually grew up around here.”

Your brow furrowed more deeply.

“You did?” you asked with surprise. “So did I. What high school did you go to?”

When he answered that he had attended the same high school you did, you immediately asked him what year he graduated.

He told you.

And you almost screamed.

If your math wasn’t mistaken, he had entered high school after you had left.

So, it all made sense now. Now you knew why you didn’t recognize him. The two of you had gone to the same school, just not at the same time.

And now you felt like an absolute grandma.

“Oh,” you chuckled awkwardly. “Got it. I... I graduated a few years before.”

Chanwoo, surprisingly, did not look awkward. He actually smiled. “Do you know my friend Bobby? He graduated before me, too.”

Him you did know.

“Yes, I’ve heard of him.” But there was still a small problem. “He... graduated two years after me.”

So, Chanwoo’s older friend was still younger than you. Wow. Great.

If you hadn’t already felt uncomfortable, you sure would have after hearing that.

“Well,” you said brightly -- but the brightness sounded fake even to your own ears. “I should let you get back to practicing.”

“And I’ll let you get back to... whatever it was you were doing,” Chanwoo replied as he dipped his head into a nod.

You simply shot him a close-lipped smile before booking it outta there.

...Okay, you didn’t really book it. You just walked away. But on the inside -- emotionally and mentally -- you were booking it.

You felt like a complete fool. You’d been interested and flirting and he was so stinking cute... and you were quite a bit older than him.

I mean, not that an age difference is really a big deal. It was just strange and a little uncomfortable being on the upper end of that age difference.

Oh, well. You were older than him, but you weren’t that old. You still had plenty of time to find someone!

By the time you woke up the next morning, you had completely forgotten about...

What was his name?

See? You had forgotten all about him!

At least, you told yourself you had forgotten all about him. You couldn’t quite seem to get his attractive face and dimples out of your mind -- but you didn’t admit that to yourself.

You also didn’t go back to the park, instead choosing to take your walks around your neighborhood or on the treadmill in your basement. Neither option had as pretty scenery as the park, but you were trying to avoid seeing You Know Who in person. A more pleasant environment was just the sacrifice you had to make.

But then it started getting too hot outside to walk around your neighborhood, and while you could’ve bypassed the heat by walking early in the morning or later in the evening... you were just too lazy. It was enough for you to actually take a walk every single day! Plus, you were more of an Afternoon kind of person. Not an Early Bird or a Night Owl; your mind was the sharpest and you had the most energy for a few hours right after lunch, and since you did freelance work for your job, you were able to create your own schedule. Going for a nice walk around 2 PM every day was just your thing!

But, anyway. It was too hot to walk at 2 PM every day now, so you really had no choice but to trek down to your basement and walk on the treadmill while you watched a YouTube video or TV show.

It wasn’t your favorite thing to do, but you put up with it.

...That is, until your air conditioning system stopped working.

The whole point of exercising inside was because it was too hot outside. With your air conditioning broken, it really wasn’t any better. And your basement was the coolest part of the house!

This would absolutely not do. Not only could you not exercise in a non-air conditioned house when it was blazing hot outside, you couldn’t do anything in a non-air conditioned house when it was blazing hot outside.

You couldn’t sleep, you couldn’t relax and watch television or read, you couldn’t sit at your laptop and work -- you couldn’t live!

So, you barely waited a couple of hours after discovering it wasn’t working to look up a local handyman or mechanic. The company you’d been loyal to since moving into this house a few years ago had changed owners, and you had not had a pleasant experience when one of the new technicians had come to install a new light fixture last month -- it was time for someone new.

Just as you were pulling up a web browser to search for nearby handyman companies, you remembered your neighbor’s air conditioner had broken not too long ago. You decided to go over and see if she recommended them, and when she did, you asked for their phone number so you could give them a call.

Once you got back to your (extremely uncomfortable) house, you immediately rang them up to see if they could send someone out as soon as possible.

“Hello, thank you for calling YG Mechanical, how can I help you?” a young lady greeted.

“Hi, yes, my air conditioning unit is no longer working, so I was hoping to get someone to come out and take a look,” you told her.

“Absolutely,” she said. “When is the best availability for you?”

“I’m home all day, so any time, really.”

“All right, let me take a look... Oh, it looks like we have a technician with some time later this afternoon. Would that work for you?”

“Yes, that would be perfect.” Thank god.

After you gave her your name, address, and phone number, she confirmed the time window and thanked you for calling.

You wanted to reply with ‘No, thank you’ because she couldn’t feel how miserable it was inside your house but it was miserable, and getting things fixed in just a few hours was more than you could ask for.

...Still, though, you would have to get through the next few hours of work.

When your doorbell finally -- finally! -- rang, you closed your laptop hurriedly and sprang from your desk chair to go answer it.

Of course, jogging to the front door would only make you feel even more disgusting after sitting in a house with no cool air for several hours, but you couldn’t wait any longer than was absolutely necessary to let the handyman in.

When you arrived at your front door, you took a few seconds to let out a sigh, pat off the small beads of sweat on your face, and then you unlocked and opened it.

Your mouth opened to greet your savior -- whomever it was -- but when your eyes landed on the person standing on your doorstep...

It was Chanwoo.

Part 2

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ayellowcurtain · 4 years ago

Note

hiiii!!! how you've been doing?!? soooo today is Federico Cesari's birthday... any martino's ideas? hehe I feel like I take advantage of your writing, sorry

Hello, hello!!

I’ve been struggling a little bit mentally but getting better at not caring about numbers, so slowly getting back to my normal headspace, thank you for asking ❤️❤️

Happy birthday to that amazing, good looking guy that is Fede!! Only problem is that he’s a Pisces. Of all the possible ones, he had to be a pisces. At least we now know he’s not perfect hahaha

Since today it's his birthday, I couldn’t wait to do this some other time so let’s throw some ideas in the air like it was Marti’s (even though I have to be clear that Marti is an actual Taurus according to Netflix so he’s the best with the best sign.

1 - Marti woke up a little too early for his liking - it’s his birthday and a Saturday - but he came home last night just to spend at least a little bit of his day with his mom. And of course she would be the one to get inside his bedroom a little too soon, surprising him with a mini cake she just baked for him with some tiny candles on top of it, singing happy birthday. Marti looks grumpy but he can’t be that annoying so he sits up, blows the candles and eats half of the mini cake and his mom eats the other half. It’s probably the best cake she’s ever baked. Nico already sent him a bunch of messages after midnight - he has to be the first to wish his boyfriend a happy birthday every time - and so Marti takes a picture of his half of the cake, saying he’ll be home for lunch but for Nico to not make anything fo them! Once Marti is there they’ll decide what to eat.

2 - Before he’s leaving the house with some new clothes to take to Nico’s grandma’s place and the clothes he took there to wash overnight, he runs into Gio at the door. So they go back inside for a little more so Gio can see his mom and tell her how college is going, how he’s still happily with Eva, looking at some apartments to move in. He teases Marti, saying they’re looking for a place with two bedrooms for the nights when Marti fights with Nico and decides to sleep somewhere else. It doesn’t happen as often as he makes it seem but it’s funny to see Martino so bothered by it.

3 - They walk to Nico’s place so they can still spend some time together on Marti’s bday. Gio buys him some ice cream and they catch up lke they are not constantly talking, texting, video calling each other. Gio asks how Nico is and how are things between them, and before he leaves Marti at Nico’s door, he says they’ll meet a little bit later. Everyone will probably come to eat some pizza later and celebrate Marti.

4 - When he finally gets home it’s almost 2 p.m and Martino is a little tired, feels like this day is lasting a whole year. He unlocks the door with his keys and finds Nico almost instantly, running to meet Martino at the door, holding a bouquet of flower because he’s that cheesy. He gives it to Marti and kisses him, saying he’ll take care of the plants so they can have them for a few weeks. With Martino’s care they wouldn’t last the weekend. They only spent a few hours apart but it feels like months. When Marti left to go to his mom’s place it was past midnight. He holds his flowers and puts them aside and keeps kissing Nico for a little longer, saying it’s his birthday and he’ll say when they’re done kissing. Nico laughs and smiles against his lips, running his hand up and down Martino’s side, always so warm.

5 - They spend the afternoon in bed, tangled together, a little too hot but the fan Nico’s grandma left doesn’t work that well anymore so they’ll just have to ignore the heat from a house with not much circulation of air, no matter if the windows are open and the fan is on. When Marti starts to get really annoyed about it again, complaining, Nico kisses his to take his mind off of it, pushing the sheets aside so he can lie on top of Marti and they can start all over again. Marti’s mood changes instantly, smiling, always excited for Nico’s sexy ideas.

6 - Gio and Eva are the first ones to arrive at night. Nothing is really planned but it’s always like these during birthdays or special occasions: they just show up wherever they need to be and plan the night as it goes. Elia and Filo get there five minutes later and the same happens when Luca, Silvia, Sana, Malik and Fede. The rest of the boys get there a little later with a bunch of balloon with Marti’s name written on it and the balloons are all red - Nico’s request even though the boy don’t really get it, Marti does and it’s what matters. He laughs and thanks the boys and goes back to his boyfriend to give him a kiss away from everyone and thank him for everything.

Hope this is good? I wrote it a little too fast and without checking for any mistakes <3 You don’t take advantage of anything! I love writing and I love your ideas!!!

Happy birthday Fedeee!!! 🥳

#skam italia #skamit #martino rametta

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purplesurveys · 4 years ago

Text

1152

survey by emptyspaces

What song reminds you of being in middle school? Patron Tequila was a huuuuuuuuuge bop in 5th grade, and I can tell you too many kids who were too young for the song nevertheless vibed hard to it. Down by Jay Sean also reminds me of mid-elementary school. I believe both have so far been one-hit wonders, lol.

What was the first thing you learned how to cook? I don’t cook cook, but I remember we had one day in like preschool when we were taught how to make homemade pizza. That was the first dish I remember making. We used white bread for the crust and topped it with tomato sauce, grated cheese, and sliced hotdogs. I ended up liking the ‘recipe’ a lot and frequently asked my aunt or grandma to make it for me.

What does your hair currently look like? It’s slightly damp since I took a shower a couple of hours ago, and it’s currently styled in a low side ponytail.

Who's the worst driver you know? It’s been years since I’ve been in a car where my uncle was in charge of the wheel, but I would always end up feeling nauseous whenever he was the one driving. I never figured out why, but my best bet is because he tends to press hard on the brakes. I also don’t trust anyone who’s fine with being way too close to other cars.

What are some wild animals commonly found where you live? I live in a residential area where there are approximately 0 wild animals roaming around lol. I do have some neighbors who keep chickens, but that’s as wild as it gets over here.

Does it take a lot to make you cry? Nah. Just show me a stereotypical emotional video, like anything to do with grandparents or pets reuniting with their owners, and I’ll produce some tears for you in seconds.

If the last dream you had came true, would that be a good or bad thing? Bad. I was relieved when I finally woke up.

Have you ever had a lucid dream? No. I’ve tried doing it before but just could never get in the zone.

How long did your last car ride last? Something like 20 minutes. The mall isn’t that far away and most of the travel was because our house is way too far from the village’s entrance.

Isn't it disgusting when people chew with their mouth open? I mean c'mon... It’s icky but I have other worse pet peeves.

What's your most prominent memory from 2009? I used to keep this journal where all of my entries were of me roleplaying in the Twilight universe. Obviously it’s embarrassing to think of now, but I must’ve written quite well back then because my classmates loved reading it and used to pass it around during recess and lunch hahaha. That was my only successful stint in fiction writing ever. I know the notebook is still around somewhere, but I refuse to see even just the outside; too much cringe lol.

Do you think there will ever be world peace? A little pessimistic answer but no.

What's your biggest problem at the moment? A client was supposed to send us this file that I needed so I can proceed with a deliverable that we were asked to do today, but he never followed through. That’s fine by me since executions get moved all the time, but it also means he’ll probably send it sometime during the Holy Week break and I’ll have to work during one of my days-off this week. -__-

Has anyone ever told you you're too emotionally needy? I don’t think so. If someone has it would most likely stick with me.

Has an ex ever told you that they want you back? Nope. She has an infinite amount of pride in her bones for her to do that.

Have you ever turned down a job offer? I have never had to, and so far I’ve only been the one turned down haha. Joke’s on them; I’m super happy with the job I’ve landed.

What's the longest hospital stay you've had? For what? I’ve only had to be confined once and that was just an overnight stay. It was a dengue scare but turned out to be just a low platelet count.

Do you know anyone who doesn't know the basics of using a computer? My maternal grandma refuses to learn anything that’s got to do with modern technology, and I suuuper doubt she’d be able to figure out how to turn on a laptop or computer.

What was the last snack you ate? I was feeling hungry earlier and had a bite of this guava chip that my workplace had sent over as a care package; but it tastes super healthy and blech and I felt like I deserved something more junk food-y for finishing off the work week haha. Now I’m having KFC delivered at 1 AM :(((

What's something really basic that you're terrible at? Lighting up a matchstick. I’m scared of fire and I always ask my dad to be the one to light up my scented candles every single time.

Is it just me, or are tv shows/movies getting to be really dumbed down? No. Different generations, different tastes catered. I also think I’ve answered this survey before because I remember saying that I actually appreciate how content these days are more inclusive and open about tackling sensitive issues. That’s the complete opposite of ‘dumbed down’ to me.

Do you know any same-sex married couples? Finding one in the Philippines is like looking for a needle in a haystack, but yeah I happen to know a couple of couples. They probably handled all the paperwork in the US, but still. I’m glad their family is able to thrive here.

What was the last appointment you scheduled? It was a telemedicine consultation. I didn’t need it, but one of our clients recently partnered with this telehealth service and they wanted someone from the agency to use a free trial so we can have a better idea of what the service offers. I was the sacrificial lamb (lmao) and so I had to have this quick video call with one of their doctors. That was the first instance I was glad to have scoliosis because it gave me something to talk about, because otherwise I would be completely lost on what to consult about.

Are you happy with the person you have become? Getting there :) I definitely don’t have as many self-loathing moments than I used to just a few months ago.

What year were you born? 1998.

What does your favorite watch look like? I don’t have one; I don’t use watches as I will probably lose them in like a month anyway.

Did you have one of those Tamagotchi things as a kid? Yeah, but I personally didn’t get the hype and quickly went back to my other toys.

What's your favorite kind of wine? Sweeter ones. I can’t stand bitter wine.

When was the last time you felt lonely? Last Sunday. I was talking to Angela and Andi more excessively than usual that day; and it was most likely the quarantine getting to me. Even though they reassure me that I’m not being too clingy or annoying I still feel like I am, so that day made me rethink and reflect about ways to expand my circles and gain new friends.

Are your parents still together? Yeah, I literally just got them their KFC orders like 10 minutes ago.

Have you ever been so broke you didn't know how you'd keep a roof over your head? I’m thankful to have never been in this position.

Do you know anyone who believes that vaccines cause autism? Possibly. But at least they’re smart enough to keep their mouth shut about it.

What was the last piece of furniture you bought? OMG OMG OMG I *literally* just received it this afternoon but I finally bought a cute lil night lamp for my room :> :> Hahahaha I’ve spent my last four employed months spending on nothing but food, but I decided to switch it up a bit and finally purchase something that won’t be gone the next day, hence the lamp. Not really furniture, but still. It’s the cutest thing ever and it’s currently lighting up my room really prettily!!!

What's a new skill you'd like to learn? Climbing.

How did you celebrate your last birthday? It was the peak of the pandemic when the entire world was still scrambling to figure out how to handle it, so all stores were closed and no one could go out. I barely remember what had happened since that day just flew by, but I do recall that Angela had a box of sushi delivered to my place.

Do you have any great housecleaning tips? Not really.

What's your favorite cocktail? Zombie.

Did your favorite movie come out before or after you were born? Way before I was born; it’s 31 years older than me.

Is there anything you need to do before the end of the day? Nope.

#survey #surveys

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emiisanxious · 4 years ago

Text

Everything is Alright

Archive of Our Own Link

Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: M/M

Fandom: Sanders Sides (Web Series)

Relationships:

Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders

Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders

Additional Tags:

Comfort

Fluff

Light Angst

Alternate Universe - Human

Summary: “Virgil had a tiring shift and all that he wanted was Roman.

Really I'm just bad at summary.”

"Hey... Can you go downstairs to meet me up?" He was able to let the plea out of his tone, although it was a matter of need, not just selfish.

"Sorry Vee, I'm near done with my work, need 10 more minutes and then I will be free to stay with you." Was the answer he received from the other man, he let a soft sigh and murmurs. "It's okay..." With that, he hung up the phone as he walks past the gates and then starts to walk up the stair. His apartment is on the third floor of three floors. It's more likely a private apartment through. Since the 6 men inside all know each other since childhood.

It wasn't that late, like 11 pm, but it was already late for three of the man are been sleeping. Logan, Patton, and Janus needed to sleep early since they wake up and go to work early. Remus worked all night, so he probably wasn't there, while Roman his actual boyfriend had a messed-up schedule as a writer and theater professor.

Virgil on the other hand had a more messed-up schedule as he is a babysitter. Honestly, the only reason he liked this type of work is that the only interaction he has with adults is when he is receiving the notes about the child. No matter what type of children, he does have a way to deal with them, weird enough the kids loved him. And with his anxiety, he can remember and follow all the rules that the parents need. So in general, this type of job is perfect for him.

But... It does have bad sides for him. Because of his anxiety, he has a hard time to eat or sleep while taking care of the child, which can drain his energy quickly. So today was one of those days, where the parents just told him that he would need to do trick-or-treat with the kid, put them to sleep, and tomorrow at eight or worse nine they would be back.

It was nerve-wracking when he got a call saying that they would be delayed because their familiar problem got worse. He couldn't blame them, their grandma was in the hospital and they were taking care of her he got it. What doesn't got it was his anxiety.

What was supposed to be a 12 hours shift, went far more than 24 hours which he wasn't expecting; He was tired, but that was it, they all were safe and all he needed was get back to his home. In his way, he called Roman, he knew very well that he was been a needed selfish, but he truly needed some comfort right now. The disappointment as he hears the answer, he couldn't do anything, Roman needed to finish after all...

So as he finally is back, he locks the door, let go of his shoes, and without thinking, he goes straight to his room, let his bag fall slowly on the floor, to then take out his clothes, wash his hands, change to his pajamas and just throw himself on the bed. Pulling the blanket over his head as he hugs his legs.

It was fine, he was already home, but he couldn't help the insecurity thoughts that passed on his mind. He didn't hear when Roman called him, but he did jump when he felt arms around him hugging him tightly. "I'm here, I'm sorry I couldn't go downstairs. But I'm here now, and everything is fine Vee."

Those words did him move from where he was, to turn and just bury his head on Roman's chest. He wasn't feeling well, it was always a drain when his work didn't go as it should be. "Did you eat something or slept?" He could hear the concern in his boyfriend's tone. Although he was feeling nonverbal right now, so he just shook his head.

"Are you feeling nonverbal?" A nod, as all the answers he could give him. "How about... I order something light for us to eat, and while we wait we just stay like this. When the meal comes, I will get it and we can go watch something while eating, sounds good?" He had to move a bit to look at Roman, and then nod before moving back to bury his head on his chest. "Okay then." As the writer moved to pick up his phone he ordered something in silence.

Although when he was done, he did put on some Disney piano music, and just stayed there playing with purple hair, murmuring the musics. It took a whole two songs, till Virgil felt better. "I'm just... What if I messed up? You know, I... It was already 20 hours awake, and it was still 1 pm... I didn't eat anything and..."

"Shushu... I'm pretty sure you didn't mess up anything Vee. But to calm you down how about... I ask questions about it and you try to answer?" That was a nice exercise they developed to calm him down and talk about his day so he just nodded.

"What time the kid woke up? Did the kid brush their teeth?"

"8 am, and yes..." He had to stop a bit, to think about it since at this time his head is aching by lack of sleep and food.

"Nice, what you gave for breakfast?"

"Hm... Peanut Butter jelly bread? And Juice. Around 9 am... Because he helped me to do the bed."

"Okay, then what type of exercise you did with them?"

"Well, it was 9:30 am, that is when I got the call saying they would get long to return... So I asked if the kid had homework to do, and then I helped him to do it..." He started to breathe a bit more even and calm now.

"Seems like you improvised well ~! So, lunchtime? What you gave him?"

"Yeah... We stayed till noon doing his homework, mostly because he had so many questions... But after that, I gave him some leftovers that I could find on the fridge... After that, I let him watch tv and gave him some sweets since he was behaving. For dinner, I did some sandwiches and when their parents were back he was playing a game on his ps4."

"Did he broke any of the parent's rules?"

"Nah, I already looked for this kid once, he normally is well behaved. But he did miss his parents..."

"See, everything is fine Vee."

He sighed in relief, feeling his head far quieter as he looks to Roman, and place a small kiss on his lips. "Thanks... I guess I passed my limit of staying awake and just needed you to ground me down..." He murmurs as he now started to feel bad about needing his boyfriend's attention. Although before he could think too much about it, the brunet just passed his hands over his chin and pulled him in a deep and lovely kiss, which lasted for a minute, before he let go.

"Hey, relax. I'm your boyfriend for 5 years now, and you're starting to trail off about how needed you're right now. I know this look and this pattern. But it's not bad, I do love to give you all the attention I can ~! And all the cuddles and caress. Even if you didn't ask, I would still give you. Because you deserve it okay?" Roman was always making sure that Virgil understood that, and that is something that he was glad about.

"Okay, Prince." He smiles, now feeling more light and calm, as he looks back to his boyfriend. "Thanks."

"Shushu Emo, let's just appreciate the music till the food is here okay?" A nod was all he gave the other as he just stayed there cuddling. Although halfway he had to sit down and shake his head. "I'm going to shower..." He looked to Roman who just smiled and then when to pick up some clothes, going to the bathroom attached to the bedroom he undressed and started the shower.

His boyfriend though stayed there, putting the music a bit louder, as he promised he wasn't going to leave unless necessary. During his bath, he could hear the phone calling and the warning that the food was there, where he could see Roman leaving to pick up and Virgil just finished his bath.

Changing clothes and drying his hair he put up some clothes before returning to the living room, where he turned the TV and choose a movie to watch. Soon enough Roman was back with the food, going to the kitchen to serve it right and pick up some drink.

He ate the food and drink it, gladly that his boyfriend didn't put a lot, probably already knowing he won't be able to eat that much. Halfway through the movie, he started to feel sleepy, as he was finally able to rest, where Roman just let him rest on his shoulder. When the movie ended he turned the TV off and then carried him to their bed.

Turning the lights off and then slipping to lay down at his side. Letting relaxing music playing and a small night lamp on, as he just hugs Virgil and cuddles with him. "It was just a hard shift... You will be fine tomorrow. If not, I will be here to take care of you." He places a gentle kiss on his boyfriend's forehead and then falls asleep with him.

Notes:

So... It's somewhat based on a true experience, yet I just wanted to try something fluff with comfort? I dunno. My mind is weird. Also, I can't sleep because I need to keep my messed-up schedule.

About this: Here are some random things I didn't write in the fic but thought about:

- They are most likely the same height, a few inches tall or shorter. - They also have the same age range between 30, the difference between months. - They are all in a large relationship. Although some click more than others because of time. - If Roman wasn't home, he would jump to Patton and Logan. - They all have different jobs.

I honestly want to write more as them human and on his universe, if you have suggestion drop it down at my tumblr.

#Virgil Sanders #Roman Sanders #prinxiety #fanfic

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freetobcubed · 4 years ago

Text

For Louis

I wrote this story for a competition. Not even an honorable mention, which I’ll be honest, is a stab in the heart because I really poured my soul into this one. Better luck next time, I guess, but here’s the story:

The notebook’s small and faded. The little thing is speckled with dust and the spine is bent to a near-ninety-degree angle except where it’s belted shut with a shoelace. I shouldn’t care; there are real books in the yard sale, books that aren’t falling apart. But I’m curious. Why bother to keep basically scraps?

I throw the thing on top of my pile of books. The eighty cents will come from the money I’ll make selling the others online. I pay for my loot and load it into the trunk of my ’93 Pontiac. I stop, snag the notebook, and tuck it into my coat with my COVID mask.

On my drive home, I get stopped at this intersection that’s seen an accident. Annoyed, but with nowhere to be, I throw the car in park and pull the little black book out. I try the knot in the shoelace with my fingernails before realizing it’s just loose enough to slide off.

Twelve hundred-dollar bills kerflumph into my lap.

I choke. My mind spins as I cough; what in the world? That’s a grand. Where—do I have to return it? How—

No, I don’t have to return it, I reason as I finish spluttering. Nervously, subconsciously, I glance at the cops in the intersection. They aren’t even aware that I exist. Besides, I paid for the notebook. It’s not my fault that that girl didn’t know.

Feeling slightly better, I open the notebook. Three more hundred-dollar bills fall out.

No way.

I flip the notebook around. Peeking out between stained pages are more bills. One per page. I do a quick calculation in my head.

“That’s twenty thousand dollars,” I say aloud, stupefied. That’s insane. Thoughts tumble through my head: riding in an airplane to Europe. Paying my overdue rent. Do I have to pay taxes on this? Amazon, and the things I saved there for “someday.” A full cart at Walmart.

Unsure what else to do, I start to read.

“June 9, 1983

Today I am a dad. I’m a dad! Louis is so small, so perfect, so… what do you say about a baby? It’s all been said before. But this is my baby. My son. He has tiny toes and he eats until it hurts Marie (and then some.) I’m looking forward to playing catch and eating burgers together, and then I stare down at the blanket-bundle and tears fill my eyes because he’s here, he’s real, and he is mine. Ours. Marie’s and mine. My boy. My son.”

“Hey!” I glance up, the words of the book and the words of the cop waving me forward blending in my brain because twenty thousand dollars is still swirling around up there too. I put the Pontiac in drive, my left hand trying to cover the fortune in my lap just in case the officer looks through the window.

I race home. I stuff the bills in my pocket, worrying about neighbors. I try to walk normally, but I feel shifty. Nervous. I run through my crappy apartment, then dump the money onto my bed, triple-checking that I’ve gotten every bit out of my pockets.

Then I flip the book, pinching the spine, and wag the pages.

A rain of cash descends to the quilt Mom made for me. Mom. Mom could use a hundred bucks. I suppress the generosity. This money is mine now, and I definitely need it. Mom will be okay.

I’m tired. I climb into the unmade bed, careful not to knock the bills onto the floor where they could vanish under the bed or the laundry, and I read again.

“July 4, 1983

Louis’ first Independence Day. He doesn’t care, except when the neighbors set off fireworks that woke him. I’m not sure if the baby or Marie was more upset, but Louis screamed more. I decided this journal is for when he graduates high school; I put a hundred dollars in the back. It’s more than we can afford, but this is our son. And I can always take the money back out, I guess. I just wanted to say: I love you, son. I’m already proud of you, and you’re just a little lump on the floor.”

Something in me twitches. I don’t think my father ever said he was proud of me, even when I was—what was it? I glance back at the page. A little lump.

“December 25, 1983

It’s been a little while since I wrote for you, son. Work has been… insane. You’re rolling now. I saved another hundred for you, tucked it in the back with the other one. I’m sorry you’re not getting much this Christmas, but we’re doing our best, and as your mom points out, you don’t care. Not this year.

January 1, 1984

Happy New Year, Louis!

You’re almost seven months old. Hard to believe. You’re nearly ready to sit on your own, and even better—your mom is getting past the baby blues. It’s nice to get my wife back. Don’t feel bad, son, but it’s been hard. I always said I wanted two kids, but now I hope you’re okay with being an only child.

If I could convince you to sleep, that would be something—though it’s nice to cuddle you in the rocking chair at night. Your mom gets you most of the time—boy, you eat a lot!—but after you’re done, I take you and we rock. Sometimes I sing. You won’t remember me singing, because I don’t do it where adults can hear, but for now, you seem to like Dad’s rusty voice. Who knows? Maybe you’re knocking yourself out so you don’t have to listen anymore. I‘d understand.”

My phone rings, and I jump, searching around for it with one hand.

“Hello?”

“Tim? It’s Grandma.” I know. But telling Grandma that won’t keep her from identifying herself on the phone or signing her texts.

“Hi,” I respond, unsure what Grandma wants.

“Are you going to come change my lightbulbs today?”

Crap. I was. Mom has been haranguing me to help Grandma, guilting me with the idea of an old lady living alone, in quarantine, in the dark. Stupid COVID—normally, Grandma’s neighbors change the lightbulbs and stuff, but she’s been insisting to Mom that I need to do it now. As if a pizza delivery guy has less germs than her work-from-home neighbor. Whatever.

“Sorry, Grandma.” I find my keys. “I’ll be over in half an hour.”

“What, dear?”

“I’ll be over in half an hour!” I all but shout into the phone. Then I hang up before she can babble at me. I look at the money; my room is private, but my roommate is nosy. I go to the kitchen and, after hunting in the cupboard, come up with an almost-empty bread bag. I hurry back to my room, eating the last slice, and stuff the money inside.

Bring it or hide it? I consider for a minute. Finally I throw the bag and the notebook into my pocket.

I climb into my car. Grandma’s house is ten minutes away and I have twenty—oops. I pull out the notebook. Suddenly, it hits me—the money was still inside. What happened to Louis? How did the yard sale lady end up with the notebook, and the twenty grand?

I check the inside front cover, find an address. Finch Drive isn’t even that far away--I verify with my GPS.

I don’t even know what I’m hoping. It’s been, what, almost forty years since Louis was born? I open the notebook again, this time to the last page.

“February 18, 1999

I’m sorry, son. I’m sorry I’m going to miss so much. Your high school graduation. Your college graduation. Your wedding, your children. I was excited. I think you were too.

And you won’t really remember who I was. I mean, we have a lot of great memories together. Lots of catch and burgers. But we’ll never have an adult-to-adult relationship, and I’m really, really sad about that.

In a selfish way, I hope you’re sad too. I hope you miss me. Is that terrible? Anyway, I guess the best I can do is leave you with some advice.

Be a good person, Louis. You’re a good kid. Take care of your mom. Heck, take care of my mom. Be smart. Be hardworking. But most of all, be kind.

I love you, kid.

-Dad

P.S. Cancer is the pits.”

I stare at the last few words. “Cancer is the pits.”

I can’t do it. I can’t leave Louis hanging. I turn the car on, head to Finch Drive. Knock.

A lady answers. She’s 60-something.

“Are you Marie? I’m sorry—I totally forgot my mask.”

“Yes, I’m Marie.”

She’s puzzled, I can see it in the top half of her face, the only part showing. Funny, I thought somehow that she‘d be blonde, like Mom.

“I found this,” I say, holding out the journal. “It belongs to Louis. From his dad.”

She gasps as she looks down, and a tear splatters onto the cover. One more spot among dozens.

“I—how—”

“And, um,” I’m not sure how to explain, so I pull the bread bag out. “This was in the pages. It’s for you. Or, for Louis.

“Is he okay? Louis?”

She nods mutely, her shaking hand moving up to take the little black notebook. She doesn’t even look at the money, just stares at the book. I realize I never replaced the shoelace.

“He’s actually here.” She turns. “Louis!” A guy pops out a second later. His hair is dark and messy, like Harry Potter’s.

“You okay, Mom?” He asks. She nods. He squints at me, like he’s trying to decide if I made his mom cry on purpose.

“Your dad wrote that for you,” I say, waving a hand at the notebook Marie clutches. “And he left this.”

“My—” Louis stops talking as he realizes that the bread bag is full of money. A bread bag full of dough, I realize silently, trying not to laugh. “My dad?”

“I found the book at a yard sale. With the money inside. I read some of it—sorry.”

“It must have been in what I donated,” Marie says with a sniffle. “This young man—” She pauses, looking at me.

“Tim,” I supply.

“Tim. You brought Dennis home to us.”

“Dennis?” I blink a few times.

“My dad,” Louis says, and I nod idiotically.

“I didn’t consider his first name—I just thought of him as “Louis’ dad.” I mutter.

“He’d have liked that.” Marie smiles under her mask.

“Well, thanks,” I say, and hold the bread bag out again.

“’Thanks’?” Louis asks. “Thank you,” He stares at the bag. “Can I give you some of that? A finder’s fee? Times are tough.”

I swallow, and it comes down hard.

“Nah,” I say, and I fake a smile.

“But—” Louis’ eyes find the Pontiac.

“I got this,” I say. “I’m alright. Besides, your dad saved that for you.”

Louis nods, takes the bag, and puts his arm around his mom.

“Thank you, Tim. Really. I wish you’d known my dad.”

“He loved you,” I say. “Read the book. You’ll see.”

Louis stares.

“I know he did,” he answers. I smile for real; Louis was lucky. I nod, uncomfortable, then turn and walk down their porch steps. I don’t hear the door close.

Maybe I’m lucky too, I realize as I get back in the car. I’ve got Mom. I’ve got Grand—

Shoot.

I pull out my phone. I’m fifteen minutes late for lightbulb duty. I hit my recent calls and start the car while the phone rings.

“Tim? Are you alright?” Grandma’s voice is strained; she’s worried.

“I’m fine. It’s a long story.”

“You can tell me about it. Maybe…” she pauses. “Maybe over lunch?”

“Sounds great, Grandma,” I say. “I’ll be there in ten.”

Thanks if you read the whole thing. It’s dumb, but I could use some Internet-stranger validation on this one. If you feel like reading it in the original doc (I get like 1/3 of a cent from the site if you do,) it’s here: https://vocal.media/stories/for-louis

All the best. Over & Out.

#short story #emotional #writer #competition #cash #money #moleskine #little black book #cheesy #story

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multifandomfanficss · 5 years ago

Text

Benny X OC

My Babysitter’s a Vampire

You’re Special: Part 2

Prompt: This is another Benny x OC fic. In this fic my OC Liz battles her newfound powers and a siren alongside her boyfriend Benny and her best friends. This isn’t based on any specific episode, but is sort of a continuation of part 1.

Warnings: I don’t think there are any

A/N: I’m back at it again with the OC fics. Again there is a part when it briefly switches to 3rd person point of view, but it will be clearly labeled. Tell me if you want me to keep these going.

BEEP BEEP I woke to the sound of my screeching alarm clock. It’s Thursday morning. I got out my clothes for the day and waited and listened for the front door to close down stairs. As soon as I knew my dad was gone to work for the day I sprinted to the bathroom and turned the shower on. I slipped off my bracelet and put it on the sink. Part of me was afraid that I would ruin it if I wore it in the shower. It was a beautiful old leather bracelet with magical symbols carved into it. I got it from my boyfriend’s Grandma to help control my powers. I smiled to myself. Saying my boyfriend was still new and it was a nice feeling. Benny and I had only been dating for about a week now. Being as impatient as I am I hopped in while the water was still cold and bounced around waiting for the water to warm up. The water felt nice splashing against my skin. I felt safe. I had always felt a strong connection to water, but now knowing that I had powers that come from the earth everything was a little bit different.

After my shower I threw my clothes and my bracelet on and rushed to put a little makeup on. I don’t usually wear makeup to school. It’s a little bit annoying to wake up early just to put on makeup. These people see me everyday and we all know that nobody wants to be there anyway. I don’t need makeup for school. I’m just going to sit in front of a white board and projector for about 6 hours. I knew Benny wouldn’t care. He’s seen me without makeup a million times, but today was different. I wanted to look good and feel confident. Today was auditions for the drama club’s annual cabaret. Every year our school has a cabaret to raise money for the drama club. I love drama club. Although I don’t talk about it in front of the boys very much acting really is my passion. Benny knows how much I love it. He loves to do lights for the shows. Although Ethan and Rory always make fun of him he is such a techie. It’s really cute. I love seeing him get excited about all of the special effects that go into theatre. Even before we were dating when we were just best friends we always looked forward to drama club. It was always a good way for us to bond. We would never admit it to Ethan and Rory, but it was special to us.

I quickly ran downstairs, packed my backpack, grabbed a bagel for the go, and headed out the door. I met Benny and Ethan in front of the school with a smile on my face ready to face the day. When I got there they were arguing about the Mandela Effect and wether it was real or not. Typical. They were so into the argument they didn’t even notice me. “Benny, it’s not real. It’s not scientifically possible” Ethan argued. “Okay, Ethan, but you get visions and I have magic!” Benny responds. “And when they run out of fries in the cafeteria I throw a 6.2 on the Richter Scale...I gotta go with Benny on this one” I smile stopping in front of them. The boys look at me. “You’re just saying that because he’s your boyfriend now” Ethan says. “That’s right. She’s my girlfriend. I have a girlfriend” Benny says putting his arm around me. I blush. “Will you just shut up?” I beg him. I can’t help, but smile and giggle. He’s so stupid, but it’s the really cute kind of stupid. Thank God my bracelet is on or the school pipes would explode. Benny looked down at me and smiled. “Why do I have the most beautiful girlfriend in the world?” He asks me. I blush like crazy. Usually I’m pretty cool and I’m never speechless, but Benny just puts me at a loss for words. “Guys I’m still here” Ethan breaks me out of my bliss. “Now if only we could get Ethan a girlfriend” Benny pouts at him. “Hey, there’s still hope for Sarah yet. She never actually rejected him” I remind Benny. “I’ll ask her when I’m ready” Ethan defends himself. “You better” I tell him. RING The bell goes off and we head into the school.

By the time I had made it to lunch I was already pretty nervous. The day was halfway over and my audition for the cabaret would be soon. I sat next to Benny while I stared across the cafeteria. Ethan and Rory sat across from me. Sarah and Erica were nowhere to be found because the seniors were on a field trip. I was spacing out big time as I tried to make sure I knew the lyrics to the song I was supposed to sing. “Uh...Earth to Liz” Benny said breaking me out of my thoughts. I shook my head and snapped back to reality “Yes?” I asked. “Does that sound good?” He asked. I looked at him with confusion. “Have you been listening to any of this conversation?” Ethan asked. “Sorry...I just zoned out” I apologize. I feel bad, but I’m nervous about the audition. I feel my leg shake under the table. Benny puts his hand on my knee and looks at me. I stop. “Sorry” I say quietly. “What’s up with you?” Rory asks. I shrug my shoulders. “Aren’t the auditions for that drama club thing today?” Ethan asks. I nod. “I guess I’m just a little nervous” I confess. “You’re gonna do great” Benny promises me. “Yeah! You’re Awesome!” Rory chimes in. “Besides didn’t you get like the lead last year?” Ethan asks. “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I’ll get it every time. Theatre is hard. It’s really competitive” I tell him. I don’t want to talk about it anymore. “Anyway, what’s up?” I ask. “Movie night tomorrow at Ethan’s?” Benny asks. “You know I’m there” I tell the boys. I smile as they start another debate over Star Wars: Episode III and I zone out again. This time I find myself staring at a girl I never really noticed before. I don’t know everyone at our school, but at the same time we don’t go to the biggest school. I feel like I would have at least seen her in passing. She’s probably new. She’s dressed in mostly shades of purple and black and she’s sporting a pretty cool leather jacket. She looks like she radiates so much anger; like she just wants to scream at the world.

RING The last Bell of the day went off and I made my way to the auditorium. I was scheduled to be one of the first auditions. Then I could leave with Benny and Ethan who were waiting for me outside the school. I walked through the door and put my name on the sign in sheet. I’m supposed to go second. At least I’m not first. I looked down to see a name after mine that I didn’t recognize. Who’s going third? I questioned everything when I looked at the name Emily Sirven. I looked around the room and saw the mysterious new girl. It has to be her. The drama club isn’t that big and for the most part I know everyone. I wonder if she’s any good. I walk up to her and try to strike up a conversation. “Hi. I’m Liz. I feel like I’ve never seen you around before. What’s your name?” I ask. “I’m Emily and I’m going to make you feel in a minute” She snaps. I’m not quite sure how to take the oddly vague threat. Is it even a threat? “Liz?” Ms. LOL breaks me out of my thoughts. I turn to her. “You’re up!” She tells me. I hardly noticed the boy before me had even started let alone finished. I took a deep breath as I held onto the pendant on my TARDIS necklace. I rushed up to the stage and got ready to sing one of my favorite musical theatre songs. I belted out As We Stumble Along from the Drowsy Chaperone. The song was funny and powerful. As soon as I started singing I immediately started feeling better. I always feel at home in my singing. As soon as the song ended I left the stage. I pass Emily on my way out and decide to be nice. “Break a leg” I smile at her. “Oh I’m sure you’ll break something” She tells me. What is her problem? I knew I had to stay to see her sing now. I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I stood with my back leaning against the wall and waited for Little Miss Ego to start. “I’m going to be singing an original song” She informs the drama club. Is that even allowed? This a theatre cabaret not an open mic. She started the song and I completely blacked out.

3RD PERSON POV

Benny and Ethan were waiting outside the school for Liz when the entire building started to shake. “What’s going on?!” Ethan shouted over the nicely sized earthquake. Ethan lost his balance and fell to the ground. “We have to find Liz!” Benny responded. He knew his girlfriend was responsible. He grabbed Ethan’s hand and pulled him up, running inside the building. The boys ran to the auditorium, but as soon as they got to the doors the earthquake stopped. They took a quick look at each other and quickly ran inside.

LIZ’S POV

“Liz” I heard Benny and Ethan calling my name while I was being shaken. I opened my eyes to see Benny on his knees in front of me with his hands on my shoulders. Ethan was squatting next to him. I was sitting on the ground against the wall. They looked very concerned. “What happened?” I ask. “I think you started freaking out over your audition” Ethan guess. “No, I already had my audition” I tell them as I try to remember what happened. My head starts to throb. “I have a massive headache though” I say as I rub my head. I watch Ethan look around to see everyone in the drama club struggling to get up. They all seem to be in a daze. New girl is nowhere to be found. I see all of the destruction. “Did I do this?” I ask. I feel like I already know the answer. Ethan gives me a sad look. “Well we don’t know for sure...” Benny tries to make me feel better. I’m scared. I’m afraid of myself. I hate this. “Benny, I wanna go home” I tell him. “We should probably run you past Grandma” He says as he helps me up. I fall into him. “Sorry. I’m a little dizzy” I say trying to regain my balance. “It’s okay. I’ve got you” He says holding me.

Benny kept a hand on my back making sure I was okay no matter how many times I said I was fine. I just had a little bit of a headache. Benny, Ethan, and I made our way up Benny’s porch and into his living room. “Grandma!” Benny yells. I quickly shush my loud mouth boyfriend. I hated telling him to be quiet, but my head was pounding. “Sorry! Grandma!” He whisper yelled as he walked off to find her. I cracked a smile. Ethan walked to the freezer and came back with an ice pack. “Here try this” He said. “Thanks” I say taking the ice pack and placing it on my head. “I wonder what happened to the new girl” I think aloud. “What new girl?” He asks. “There was a new girl in drama club. I think her name was like Emily Sirven or something like that. She’s really annoying. She disappeared when the little earthquake hit. It probably freaked her out” I tell him. “Little earthquake?” I hear Benny’s Grandma come down the stairs with Benny following not far behind her. “My dear, your little earthquake was big enough to make the news” She informs me. “What?!” I ask. I quickly check my phone and she’s right. “I completely blacked out. I don’t even remember it” I confess. “This is worse than I thought” She walks up to me. “Were you wearing your bracelet?” She asks. I nod. She picks up my hand and waves some magic that I won’t pretend to understand over my wrist. “It’s still intact” She says in surprise. “Isn’t that a good thing?” Benny asks. “On the contrary. You must have gone through something truly terrible if you were able to cause an earthquake that scale while wearing your bracelet” She says. I look down at the floor and look up again at her in confusion and fear. “Why don’t I remember anything?” I ask. “Your brain must be protecting you. Maybe the black out was a defense mechanism” She guesses. “I wouldn’t worry about it right now at least.” She tells us. “Something is definitely going on, but we can’t do anything about it this minute” She adds. I sigh. How can I not worry about it right now?

I wake up the next day dreading going to school. The whole day went by so slowly. I just wanted it all to end so I could finally get to movie night at Ethan’s with my friends. I just wanted it to be me, a can of soda, a couple bowls of popcorn, a sci-fi movie, and my best friends. That was the only thought getting me through the day.

By the time we got to lunch I was so ready to leave school. Usually I liked school. I enjoyed learning and I loved seeing my friends even more, but today I felt like the life was just being drained from me. I was in the lunch line with Benny when I saw her again. She was right in front of me. She was humming quietly. It was so infuriating. I had never been angrier. I couldn’t help, but think about the stuff she said to me at the auditions. I had to say something. I could feel this fire boiling in my blood. “Hey, what’s your problem?!” I ask her. Benny looks at me confusion, but I don’t care. Then he grabs my arm gently. “Cool it sparky!” He says in sort of a whisper yell. I look at him with confusion and then I look to the stove. The flames are out of control and the lunch ladies are rapidly trying to put them out. “How did I-“ I’m interrupted by Emily. She pushes me to the ground. “Stay out of my way geek” She sneers. The second she touches me it feels like a thousand knives are being stabbed into my brain. All I can hear is a loud screeching noise. I watch the water fountain on the other side of the cafeteria explode as I scream. Other kids in the cafeteria freak out and take cover from the water. They don’t notice what’s happening to me. I curl my body into a ball as tears start to form in my eyes. My ears are ringing. Benny wraps his arms around me as he tries to speak to me. I can’t hear him and I start to panic. Everything is too much. I can feel the earth below me start to shake and I can feel the heat of the flames in the kitchen next to me. I feel everything. I feel too much. Benny holds me tightly. I hide my face in his chest. I black out.

I shoot awake. My breathing is heavy and I have sweat dripping down my body. I’m in the nurse’s office. I watch as Benny quickly puts his hands on my shoulders to calm me down. He tries to talk to me, but I still can’t hear him. I look outside to see it’s pouring down rain. A flash of lightening hits the ground and the thunder shakes the whole room. I stare out the window breathing heavy. Benny understands and he places a kiss on my forehead before helping me off the cot and out of the nurse’s office. I don’t know where we’re going or what’s happening, but I can’t really ask. Benny leads me to my locker. He opens it and fills my backpack for me. I watch him silently. I try to stay calm as I worry about if my hearing will ever come back. I zone out and suddenly I find Benny putting my arms into my coat. He pulls it around me and zippers it up for me. I watch him sling my backpack over his shoulder. Then he puts my hood up before taking my hand and guiding me outside and through the storm. I jump at a bolt of lightening as I press my body to his. He holds me close as we walk home in the rain.

As soon as we got to Ethan and Benny’s houses we stopped by Benny’s for clothes. Our clothes were wet from the rain. I sat on his bed in soaked clothes while Benny quickly closed the shades in his room to make it darker for me. I think he’s trying not to overload my senses. Then I waited for him to find me a new tee shirt to wear. He held up different options he thought I might like. When he held up the shirt with the Captain America shield I made a hand squeezing motion in an effort to silently say ‘Give me give me’. He smiled and tossed me the shirt. I then walked over to his dresser and sprayed the shirt with the cologne Benny wears that he had stolen from his dad. He gave me a confused look. “I want it to smell like you” I tried to speak. It must have come out as a yell because Benny quickly put his finger to my lips. I could see him laughing at me. I looked up at him as he smiled down at me. I smiled back. Then I pulled his hand away. He gave me a quick kiss and then I changed into his shirt. He changed and we walked next door to Ethan’s.

As soon as we got to Ethan’s Benny led me into Ethan’s closet and shut the door. He probably just wants to help my senses. I started thinking about the time Ethan lost his hearing and he had to sit in his own closet. Then I had a big realization. “Guys I think it might be a Siren!” I said through the door. Benny opened the door with a small white board and a marker. I laughed a little, at least I think I did. I couldn’t hear it, but I obviously felt it. Written on the board was ‘Does this help?’ I nodded. He erased it. He exchanged a few words with Ethan. He seemed to be telling him what to write. Then Benny wrote ‘We think it’s a Siren too’. Ethan and Benny kept talking. I couldn’t hear them. “It’s probably that new girl” I said in what was probably more of a shout again. I watch the boys nod. “Her name was Emily Sirven” I inform them. Ethan takes the board from Benny’s hands. He quickly writes ‘Well Sirven does sound a lot like Siren’. My jaw drops. “Hey, I was a little too preoccupied blacking out or maybe I would have noticed it sooner!” I definitely shouted that time. Benny takes a phone call while Ethan sits with me. He writes on the white board ‘You should probably get your hearing back soon’. “Probably?!” I question him. Benny comes back and takes my hand. He helps me up and guides me out of Ethan’s room. “Where are we going?” I ask. “My house” I see Benny mouth the words. “Your house?” I ask. He nods. We’re probably screaming.

Once we get to Benny’s house I sit down in his kitchen. I feel someone come up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder. I flinch. Benny takes my hand and mouths something I can’t quite understand. I turn around to see it’s just his Grandma. I smile. Her and Benny have a short conversation. I can only assume it’s about what happened to me. Next thing I knew I had Benny putting a pair of noise cancelling headphones on my ears. Benny’s Grandma then touched my head and I could feel a rush of magic go through me. Suddenly I could hear the sound of the blood pumping through my ears, you know the deafening sound you hear when you have noise counseling headphones on. I try to take the headphones off, but Benny puts his hands over mine. Instead he writes a message on a piece of paper. ‘You just got your hearing back all at once. It’s going to be very loud’. I nod. “So when can I take these off?” I suddenly hear how loud my voice was. I must have given a pretty socked face because I can hear Benny laugh through the headphones. I leave them on for a little bit longer. Then I start getting used to letting in more sound little by little.

Benny and I lay on the couch while we watch Supernatural with the subtitles on. He keeps the volume low for me. The headphones are off as this point, but I’m still getting used to having my hearing back. Benny looks down at me, tucking some hair behind my ear and out of my face. “How’s everything?” Benny asks. “It’s a lot better, but I’m still a little freaked out” I confess. “None of the stuff that happened today was your fault” He tried to tell me. “I know...it’s just....I’ve never controlled fire with my powers before...and the rain storm...was that me?” I ask. “Grandma thinks it might be, but you remember what happened last time with Serena. Sirens make your emotions all crazy. It’s not your fault” He reminds me. “Why do Sirens always pick dumb names that just sound like Siren. Like Serena, Sirven, come on. That is so stupid” I laugh. “Yeah what’s up with that? It’s like they’re saying please stop me I’m evil” Benny says as the credits role for the episode. We turn off the TV and decide to head back to Ethan’s for movie night.

I lay on the floor in Benny’s arms. His back is against the couch. Sarah, Ethan, and Rory sit on the couch while Jane is asleep in the chair next to us. Erica is nowhere to be found, probably out for a snack. She didn’t usually join our movie nights. I wish she did. We were watching a what was supposed to be a scary movie, but the only person who was scared was Rory. “Rory, how can you be afraid of this crap? You’re a vampire. You could easily suck that serial killer’s blood. You’re like way scarier than him” I tell him. “Really?” He asks. “Duh” I laugh. “You could beat Bill and his creepy lady with the knife any day” I promise him. “Awesome” I hear Rory say to himself under his breath. I smile as my comment seems to make him feel a little better. I’m exhausted. I guess it’s fair since I did almost rip the entire school apart today. After a long day I fall asleep in Benny’s arms. I don’t wake up until it’s time to go home and go to bed.

I woke up the next day and I knew what I had to do. Tonight is the cabaret. I had to go into dress rehearsal this afternoon and record Emily. Lucky enough I had gotten into the cabaret. I even had the big solo in the group number. If I’m being honest I’m pretty excited. I cannot let a Siren ruin it for me. I changed out of Benny’s shirt and got into the shower. I slept in his shirt. It makes me feel secure. Once I was out of the shower I threw on makeup and changed into something nice. Then I put on my shoes and headed out the door. I was a little nervous, but this was nothing I couldn’t handle and nothing my bracelet couldn’t keep down. Benny wanted to come with me to the dress rehearsal, but I assured him I could handle it on my own. All I have to do is keep my ear plugs in and get a recording of Emily. It’s pretty hard to mess that up, besides I’ve been feeling a little fragile and useless lately because of my newfound powers. I just wanna feel strong again.

The dress rehearsal went perfectly as planned. I got the recording and everything was fine. Now we just have to play it back at her during the cabaret. This could be a little harder. A couple hours passed and the auditorium started to fill up. I was happy the drama club was making so much money, but at the same time I was nervous about what could happen to all of these people. I was scheduled to go on right before Emily. Benny stood backstage with me while Ethan, Rory, Erica, and Sarah we’re getting ready for the fight. “You’re going to be fine” Benny says. “Just fine?” I ask with a laugh. “You’re going to be awesome!” Benny responds. I smile at my boyfriend. What did I do to deserve him? He can be annoying, loud, and obnoxious, but he is also sweet, funny, and a total nerd. He’s perfect for me. Ms. LOL signals for me to cone on stage and I quickly kiss Benny for good luck before walking on. I stand in front of my mic and belt my heart out. I look to the wings at Benny and get lost in the moment. Sarah, Erica, Ethan, and Rory are standing with him. No matter how much has changed and no matter how scary my life is right now I’m so happy doing what I love in front of the people that I love. Right now is the best I’ve felt in a long time. I don’t just feel safe. I feel free.

As soon as I finish the song applause roars through the audience. This does not make Emily happy. She tears onto the stage in fury. She starts to spread her gift. She sings her piercing toon, but she can’t effect me this time. I have ear plugs in. “Why can’t you feel my pain?” She asks. “Why don’t you feel this?” Ethan asks as he plays her own frequency back at her. She screams in pain. She pushes the speaker over and pushes me to the ground. Then she continues to sing. Ethan and Rory run to the sound system while Sarah and Erica try to fight Emily. Benny runs to me. “Are you okay?” He asks. “No!” I shout as I pound my fist into the stage and it shakes. “Liz, it’ll be okay” Benny promises me. I know it will. “I’m tired of feeling weak!” I shout over Emily’s noise. I stand up and I take off my bracelet and nothing goes wrong for once. “What are you doing?” Benny asks. “I’m in control” I say before shooting air from my hands. I shoot Emily with the air and keep her held to the ground long enough for Ethan to set up the sound system. Then he blasts her and she’s done. I collapse onto my knees and Benny runs to me. I watch the curtains close while everyone wears confused faces. They all try to figure out what’s going on. “How did you do that?” Benny asks as he slips my bracelet back onto my wrist. “When I was doing what I loved in front of the people that I loved I just had this emotion that was greater than any fear or any anger or any sadness I could have ever felt. Benny, I think love and happiness give me control” I smile. “You give me control” I tell him as I place my hand on his cheek. He smiles at me and we kiss. Erica makes a gagging noise. I smile and pull away. “Shut up” I tell her. “All I’m saying is that you could do a lot better” She says in her usual tone. I wrap my arms around my boyfriend and smile. Sarah elbows Erica in the arm. “Ow!” Erica exclaims. “But...” Sarah starts for her. “But I’m glad you’re...happy” Erica says through gritted teeth. Benny and I laugh it off. I look at him. “Don’t worry. You’re the best I could ever do” I say before kissing him again. Then we stand up and sit in the back of the auditorium while Ms. LOL apologizes for the weird show. This is just like the Rainbow Factory all over again. We decide to book it and hit the ice cream place on the way home. I sat on the bench under the neon lights with my best friends as I sipped my Chocolate Oreo Malt with my boyfriend’s arm around me. I knew nothing could be better than this.

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antpernas · 4 years ago

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12/28/20

Today was a VERYYY eventful day!

So, when I woke up around 6:00 AM, I browsed on my phone for a few minutes until I had the energy to get up. When I did, I noticed that some of our family friends from the night before had stayed over! I didn’t want to wake anyone up too early, so I went back into my room and killed time until about 7:00 AM. When the sun was up and I felt it was about appropriate, I started making everyone coffee and breakfast. Unfortunately, they were in a hurry and ended up leaving before getting the chance to eat, but I served my parents and my brother and we all ate good!

(Sidebar, one of the people who stayed the night was my friend’s grandma, and when she woke up she went straight to the bathroom. This would be pretty ordinary if not for the fact that she farted like 20 times in the minute it took her to walk from the couch to the bathroom. I just about died laughing.)

After that, I did the dishes while my mom was getting ready for work. When I finished that, I did my facecare, packed my bag, and got ready to head to my mom to help her with some deliveries. I also made sure I had a change of clothes since I had plans to play tennis with someone later.

At the pharmacy, I took some cute pics of my fit (the ones I posted earlier), and did some work on my laptop while I was waiting for her to get the medicines ready. Once she got them, I packed up and delivered the medicines. I’m a little annoyed with myself because I took them in the wrong order and ended up having to double back the way I came, but it worked out because I ended up going to a nursery to buy my friend some plants after I took the second medicine!

The nursery was adorable (as always) and, of course, had SO many plants! I called my friend to let her see what was around so I could get an idea of what she’d like. I probably spent about an hour or so picking out the plants and pots. While I was there, the guy I was hoping to play tennis with cancelled on our plans, but it worked out since now I wasn’t in any rush to get to the courts! After I bought the plants, I loaded them into my car (no easy task) and drove home.

(Sidebar, having the plants in my car kind of made me wish there were a way to permanently adorn cars with plants! Seeing the light so brightly bounce off the leaves of the alocasia... Gorgeous.)

When I got home, I unloaded the plants I bought my friend and made a mental note to burn all the shit I had piled in my car. Once I was inside, I changed into the sporty clothes I grabbed earlier, just to take advantage of the fact that I was home. I also grabbed my MIDI cable that I had left, as well as my other bag, which had a cuter beach outfit in case I decided to go after. (I forgot a towel though, oops!)

Once I was ready, I headed out to West Palm to practice at the courts there. I figured I could 1) at the very least still get some practice in, since I want to get more into playing tennis, and 2) had better chances of finding some stranger to play with in downtown than in Loxahatchee.

Practice itself was pretty cool! I learned that any skill I might have had with tennis has pretty much flown out the window and directly into a sewage drain. I spent just about the entire time I was there trying to perfect my serve, to little avail. It started raining at some point, which was annoying... However, I did manage to figure out how to consistently get the ball over the net and into the service box by the end of it! Just, not with much power. I also ended up rallying with this really sweet guy who was waiting for his dad. I felt bad, since I sucked, but I think it was fun!

Once I finished there, I went to downtown to get some coffee. I (surprisingly) payed for parking at a little meter (I downloaded the app and everything!), then walked about a block to Subculture, a place I haven’t been in FOREVER! They were doing some renovation, which was cool to see since the last time I’d visited was before I had left for Hawaii. I bought a cute little merch shirt and an iced chai.

Once I finished there, I went back to my car and downed my coffee. I decided to go to Palm Beach for a bit, just to walk on the sand. That went out the window after I dared myself to swim in the water no matter how cold it was. It was very cold. But worth it!

Once I finished there, I started on my way home. As I was getting off the exit from the highway, though, I noticed a car wash that I hadn’t ever noticed before; it’d always been there, I’d just never payed it any attention. I decided to go in and WOW what a great decision!

So first and foremost, the car wash itself was amazing. I’m not sure why it had never occurred to me to go to an ACTUAL car wash to get my car cleaned as opposed to using the cheapy shit one attached to the gas station somewhat close to my house. This thing FINALLY scrubbed all the dead bugs off my bumper, those things had been there since my trip to Atlanta! My car was sparkling!

The other thing that I absolutely ADORED was that they have these really strong vacuum stations free for use after you get your car washed! When I tell you I deep cleaned the SHIT out of my car. I threw away all the trash, vacuumed all the seats and carpets, and even finally got all the dirt out of my trunk from when I had taken my second set of plants home and they fell over while I was driving. That was like three months ago!!! They also had towels and spray bottles, which wasn’t a big deal, but it was nice to finally get the fingerprints off the inside of my windshield. All of that combined is making me consider getting a monthly membership there, just so I can make a habit of cleaning my car.

This is where it got super interesting. On the way home I checked my OnlyFans messages and saw that I had a new message from a guy who had offered to be my sugar daddy a few months ago. At this point, I have nothing to lose, so I messaged him back over iMessages and we started chatting. He turned out to be really cool and told me his terms/rules, and I’m not entirely opposed?? And then he sent me a selfie and he’s super attractive and not even that much older than me?? And he’s SUPER generous?? I’m not going to lie, I’m still going to need to get used to the idea of being a sugar baby; I feel inherently guilty in taking his money, or making him feel like the only reason I want to interact with him is his money, even if he offered, but fuck! It’s actually a REALLY great deal, and from the way he layed it out, this is going to be a more stable and fulfilling relationship than all of the courtships I’ve pursued in the last year COMBINED.

When I got home, we facetimed and hammered out the details, and made it “official,” or at least agreed to give it a try. I sent him a bunch of pics and videos, and a cute little introduction video, and he was really sweet and complimented me a bunch for each thing I sent. I’m really excited to see where it goes!

After all that, I had dinner, showered (finally getting all that seawater off me), did my facecare, and hopped into bed. I just finished setting my jewelry order appointment at a piercing shop (that I’m SUPER excited to go see) and getting a list of the jewelry I’m thinking to eventually get! After that, I checked my emails, and now I’m writing this. And that was my day!

OK, I’m gonna knock out now! Good night, I love you, be safe, and sweet dreams!

#mydiary

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laytonsartblog · 5 years ago

Text

How To Solve Everything

Little Spaces - Ch.2

Ch.1, Ch.2, Ch.3

Warning: This story contains violence, gun related violence, gang related violence, starvation, hypothermia, dysfunctional family themes, dysfunctional domestic themes, poverty, and homophobia/transphobia. Read with caution and at a good time for you. Take care of yourself.

Logan has a schedule he dedicates his life to.

First, to wake up at five am.

Next, is to get in the shower without a bucket. Why without a bucket? Because he's damn rich.

Y'see, when you're one of the most successful people in the country of Loríses, running a multi-billion dollar corporation on affordable apartment living and clean energy resources and steady bank loan agreements, well... you can afford some time.

That, and clean water.

Once that's all done and good, Logan likes to relax and have a nice breakfast in his humble top-apartment as he watches the news from the table.

The time didn't really matter when he woke up or finished eating because he never booked (or more accurately put, was forced to book) a meeting or council accommodation or ribbon cutting or something before eleven am.

Breakfast was his only sanctity; he made sure to have plenty of it.

With the news and breakfast over, Logan would head out to work with his classic polo and tie with a briefcase in hand, then spend about eight hours basically running around heading between business meetings and stock readings and introductory openings and apartment gatherings and- well, you get the picture.

Without a hitch, Logan'd get home at around seven-thirty pm, have some sort of dinner out with colleagues he really didn't care for, and get home to either sleep or do his favorite kind of work; charity work.

In the charity work's case?; he wouldn't get a wink of rest.

Today, Logan woke up like he would any other day, perhaps a little later than he thought he would, but that was due to his one am adoption centre charity bidding auction last night.

When he went to check his phone for any messages from his secretary for the day, he found only two from the uptight woman:

You have the day off, Mr.Corbett.

Have a nice day.

Logan looked on in confusion.

I have the day off? Why? he texted back.

His secretary immediately responded with a simple,You haven't used your vacation days at all for the past year, Mr.Corbett. If you don't use them by the end of September, you lose them. I took liberty of letting you off for the next week.

Logan was about to fight back and tell her he's coming into work anyway, but he found she's a bit faster with her hands.

You need it, Logan.

Go visit that old lady down the street, in the bookshop. Her name is Mrs.Tamry. She's my mother's sister and owns the place. She could use some company today.

Logan groaned. He wasn't moving the stubborn woman and that meant he actually had to take care of himself. Woe is he.

Logan grumpily put the phone to his bedside table before face-planting onto his bed. He groaned some more, kicking his feet and punching his hands into the pillows. Perhaps childish, yes, but Logan was never really raised to do much else than work. He didn't know what else to do.

Logan remembered the Mrs.Tamry from his secretary's messages a few minutes after his tantrum and sighed as he flipped over on the bed, rolling out of it.

After a shower he went over to his closet and picked out something a little more casual- a flannel and finer jeans -before stuffing down some toast to head to this bookowner.

Logan would admit that the bookstore part of the old woman was interesting; he's loved being read to and reading stories ever since he could recount the ABC's. It was one of the few pastimes he could be shown doing in public: his public advisor had once told him it made him look both gentle and intelligent, and the ladies would love it. Logan had just told him that he didn't care about the ladies and continued on his way to his office.

Logan finally made his way to the shop. He rolled his eyes at the name: "Book-Ends and Seller's Beggining." It was charming, if not a little corny, and Logan wasn't sure if this was really worth his time, but then he saw the little old lady through the glass sitting by her lonesome and let out a breath of air.

Dammit. Why do I have to feel so guilty?

Logan pushed his way through the tall glass doors and looked his way around, noticing the high bookshelves and neat working stations. It seemed grandma kept up with the times as Logan noticed a small table with a few charging stations attached to it, and a couple of teens doing their homework while plugging their phones in nearby. A stack of laps for rent stood on a shelf near the station.

Logan heard the old woman laugh hoarsely behind him.

"Well, now I wasn't expecting such a dashing young man in my shop so early in the morning!" Mrs.Tamry teased, still laughing. She got up from her weaved rocking chair and instead shuffled her way over to a flustered Logan. "Got some good bone structure- although the hair could use some work. A working man, hmm?"

Logan stammered at the guiding, touching hands and expert eye. "Yes ma'am, I- I am a businessman," he squeaked out.

Logan was used to just saying nothing while out in public, or worse, hosting everything and never getting a break. Having this conversation, if not an awkward one, made him sweat bullets. It was unknown territory.

"A businessman, huh?" Mrs.Tamry sang. She looked him over a few more times, noting the sweaty palms and pale face, before hollaring over to the kids in the corner, "Does this man look familiar?"

The three in the corner; a smaller, but colorful child, a tall but scraggly young fellow, and a boy with a star for his shirt all turned their heads.

The colorful kid snickered. "Nah, he looks too nervous to be any big shot I've heard of," they chided.

"Yeah, and what would he be doing here of all places if he was?" the scraggly lad questioned.

"Hey, knock it off!" the boy in the star shirt huffed. "The guy's probably super sweet and here to pick something up for his wife where they'll read fairytales to their kids and it'll be really damn cute!"

The colorful child started laughing hard; so hard, in fact, that they started tearing up. The scraggly kid did the same. The star boy just crossed his arms, looking to Logan with a much more innocent view.

Logan was sweating so profusely he was afraid he was going to faint. Mrs.Tamry just watched with a crooked smile at their imaginations.

"I am right, huh? You're just a nice guy!" the star boy asked, leaning in. The other two troublemakers got themselves together enough to lean in too, giggling.

"Yeah, tell us! Who are you?"

Logan couldn't stop himself before he even knew what his brain and mouth were going to say.

"I-I'm gay."

Well that was certainly new.

Logan realized what he said and covered his mouth with his hand, shock covering his entire face. Oh now you've done it, he roared at himself, you've told three kids and an old lady you're a disgusting pansy!

But the yelling and the chastising and the kicking-him-out-of-the-store never came. The other children looked to him in absolute glee, and the old woman just snickered.

"So what, dude? I'm like... mega gay too," the boy in the star shirt joked. He easily smiled at Logan.

Logan couldn't tell if he was being encouraged, or if he was doing the encouraging to the boy.

The other two children looked between eachother before looking to Logan. "We're non-binary. We use they/them pronouns. Could you please use them?"

Logan just barely managed a nod, his nerves in overdrive. He just outed himself and now these brave kids were coming out to him too? It was a hell of a thing to wrap around his brain. "O-Of course I will," he managed through chattering teeth.

Logan turned to the old woman last. He expected her to throw him out at first, but now he realized that she knew all this time. Now he looked to Mrs.Tamry in fear. The fact she could figure something like that out so quick was something Logan wasn't prepared to deal with, shock after shock being ran into him in the past ten minutes.

"Young man, you realize that this establishment has a 'We Accept You' sticker on the front, right?" she giggled, patting his shoulder despite him being a tree and her a stump.

Logan looked back to the glass and saw a mirrored version of that sticker on the door; clear as day.

Logan slumped his shoulders. "Oh."

Mrs.Tamry took his shoulders and guided Logan over to a seat, sitting in the one next to him with a sigh. "Ooh, that feels much better on my back."

Logan just stared at her, sweating and shaking and why had I not fought my secretary on letting me work-

Mrs.Tamry clasped a hand on top of his fussing one and smiled gently. The wild side of her had been turned down, and now something much more sweet laid itself out to the scatterbrained gay.

Logan felt himself calm down just a little.

"Now now, I've been told by my niece that her boss was coming in today to spend his day off. I'm to assume that's you, right?" she gently asked. The hand on Logan's softly rubbed it's thumb against Logan's knuckles.

Logan calmed down just a little more.

His tongue managed to unstick itself from the roof of his mouth enough to let out a small, "yes."

He didn't know why he was so freaked. Usually when he got this nervous he'd just bury it down like he had been for the past thirty something years but in this place, it felt like no matter how hard he tried, he was forced to feel everything he was feeling. Logan did not like it.

Mrs.Tamry sighed and used her other hand to tap a gentle rhythm in Logan's arm, giving him something to hold on to.

"Y'know, I didn't expect such a good man like you to be holding back so much fear. I could feel it as you stepped through that door," Mrs.Tamry commented, trying to make small talk.

Logan avoided her eyes. "Well, I haven't got much of a place to let it out."

Mrs.Tamry kept the rhythm on his arm while she hummed.

"Well that simply isn't good!" she preached. "Tell you what, if you're feeling so scared and trembling like you are now, you can always come to me, y'hear?"

Logan nodded a little. He could feel himself slowly relax, coming down from being so flustered and flabbergasted.

New places, new conversations- in which he made actual conversations instead of one-sided invites -new people, new ideas, new everything! It made his brain go into overdrive and his nerves alight. Usually he was able to handle it, bury it deep for later, but here? It seemed he couldn't stuff the feelings down.

Maybe it was Mrs.Tamry's wild but motherly approach, or the bookstore's inviting nature, or the teens he talked to earlier, but either way, Logan just sighed.

He was okay. He was safe. He was okay.

Mrs.Tamry pulled Logan up and rubbed his back while she headed him in the direction of the laptops.

"Why don't you do yourself a favor and find a game to play or- or a messaging site to talk to someone!" Mrs.Tamry then giggled cheekily. "It seems you don't have many friends, so now's a time to start!"

Logan took a seat next to the three teens with an awkward smile and a wave as he opened up the laptop. It was a little out of style, but it seemed fine enough as Logan booted it up.

"We never got your name, sir," the star boy asked politely while Logan logged in.

"Yeah! Like for example I'm Joan and that's Talyn, and he's Thomas, so now you know us!" the newly named Joan called out, tipping their beanie like a celebrity.

Talyn nodded along, playing with their colorful hair. "Homework is getting boring, we wanna know you!"

Logan turned to the three kids with a reserved smile as he signed up for a messenger site called GetAlong.

"My name is Logan Corbett."

Taglist

@amazable01 @vara-albion @sonicrainicorn @artist-of-the-moon @sparkedawg @unnipanda623 @kiibo57415 @anxious-sunflowe @thatonenerdphotographer @romanthestarstruckqueer @angels-and-dreams @midokiya @nedandn30 @chaosboitm @felicianoromano @supersoftsupersleep @icequeenoriginal

#sanders sides #sanders sides fanart #logan sanders #economic crisis au #economical dystopian #economic crisis #dystopia #dystopian #homophobia #tw homophobia

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lannette · 5 years ago

Text

1+1=1

requested by: @sexton3181

request: Hi!! I was wondering if you could do a long JC imagine where reader and him go spend a couple weeks in Texas to visit his family (and since his parents live in different cities do like one week at his mom’s and one week at his dad’s) and JC and reader tell his family that reader is 3 months pregnant but his mom and sister are really confused at first!? Thank you and sorry this was so detailed

prompts: none

pairing: Jc Caylen x Y/N (The Reader)

summary: Jc and Y/N go to visit his family in Texas and tell them that Y/N is pregnant

warning: none

word count: 1,810

A/N: I hope u guys enjoy I wrote this at 2 a.m. an dim tired!!

request here

Y/N was sitting on her suitcase, zipping it shut. Jc walked in their shared bedroom, “babe I don't understand why you have to pack so much for a 3 week trip.” She looked at Jc with a shocked expression on her face. “I know you’re not talking, Jc you have 1 suitcase for just hair products and bathroom stuff.” “What do you mean, you’re supposed to have all that stuff.” “No babe, I don't even have that much and I have more things to actually bring.” “Can we stop talking about suitcases and head out, our flight is in an hour, Kian drives slow and i wanna stop for food.”

They got in the car with little room left with all the luggage they brought along. Jc had to sit in the back with little room in the back. “Better you than me.” Y/N chuckled and Kian did too. “I'm glad you guys find this funny.”

Kian parked outside Jamba. “Y/N what do you want?” “I would love an apples ‘n greens in a large.” A large really?” “Yes Jc, we both are hungry.” Jc smiled and walked into the shop. Kian looked at Y/N, “So how are you and Jc gonna tell his parents?” She looked at the shop, “we haven't decided yet, but if we tell his mom first she's gonna tell everybody before we even tell his dad and we’re staying at his moms, so we aren't too sure yet, we know how we’re gonna tell them but we don't know who to tell first.” Kian looked at Jc as he was walking out with 2 smoothies and bag. Jc got back into the car and handed Y/N her drink, “Kian I grabbed you a breakfast sandwich that I know you love.” Kian takes the bag that Jc handed to him. “Alright the airport we go.”

Kian pulls up to the terminal and they all get out. Kian grabs Y/N’s 2 suitcases and She grabs her carry on. Jc grabs his 2 suitcases, his duffle bag, and his carry on. “Alright I'm gonna give you your suitcases and I will see you guys in a few weeks.” Kian pulled Y/N in for a hug and then gave Jc a hug. “See ya man.” “Alright guys can we go we have a half an hour till they start boarding, we’re cutting it close.” “Yea we better go.” Jc and Y/N get all of their stuff and walk into the airport.

After they had checked in their luggage they made it just in time for boarding. Their row was called and they got onto the plane. “Ready for this 3 hour flight?” Y/N asked Jc as she placed her head on Jc’s shoulder. “Yup so excited.”

Once the plane landed Jc had woken up Y/N. She groaned not wanting to wake up. “Baby get up please we’re getting off soon.” “5 more minutes please.” Jc rolled his eyes and sighed, letting her sleep till they started to let people off. “Alright, now Y/N we’re getting off you gotta get up now.” She groaned, but lifted her head off of Jc’s shoulder slowly. “I’m up, I’m up.” They both got off of the plane and went to grab their luggage. Jc had called his mom earlier to let her know they landed.

They walked out into the heat that was worse than home. Jc’s mom was only a couple cars down when she saw her son and Y/N. She walked up to the 2 of them, “Oh my baby boy I missed you.” She pinched his cheeks. “Mom, stop.” She smiled and clapped her hands together, “and Y/N I missed you too.” “I missed you as well Ms.Castillo.” “Oh Y/N call me mom, you and Jc have been together for awhile you don't have to call me Ms.Castillo.” Y/N smiled and pulled her in for a hug. “Your brother and sisters are at home waiting for you.” “Let's head home,” Jc insisted.

The 3 of them packed the car together with Y/N doing little work due to Jc not letting her pick up the luggage. Y/N sat in the car waiting for them to finish up.

On the way home Jc and Y/N told Jc’s mom about their life together in Cali and she told them about life in San Antonio. Jc and Y/N were anxious about telling Jc’s parents the good news they had. “So mom, when are you gonna make your homemade macaroni and cheese with fried fish?” Jc asked his mom with a huge smile. “Well tomorrow is taco night so most likely Sunday.” Y/N licked her lips at the sound of macaroni and cheese, fried fish, and tacos! She was dying for some food. She asked if they could stop for something really quick. They stopped at a nearby McDonalds and ordered 10 chicken nuggets and medium fries.

They arrived at home around midnight after their late night dinner stop. Jc’s mom helped them move everything into Jc’s old room that him and Y/N were going to be sharing for their whole vacation. Jc’s room had a full size bed, a bit smaller than the one back home but big enough for the 2 of them. Once all of their stuff was brought into the house Jc and Y/N went to say hi to Jc’s younger siblings. Y/N had met them many times before and she loved them. They didn't spend too much time talking because everyone was tired.

Jc walked into the room and Y/N followed closing the door behind her, “So when are we gonna tell your mom?” Jc answered quickly, “when she cooks dinner Sunday, but I think we should tell My dad over lunch tomorrow.” “I think that's a great idea, that means I have to write in the cup today so it will dry in enough time for tomorrow. “Ok well I’m gonna lay down.” Jc layed on the bed and turned over while Y/N wrote inside the cup with a sharpie. She then layed down and fell asleep.

In the morning Jc was up bright and early talking to his sisters and brother about the trip. Y/N woke up 2 hours after everyone else. She was welcomed with breakfast on the table and a cup of coffee. She looked at everyone, “good morning guys, mom I’m gonna have to deny the coffee today, but the breakfast is looking good.” “But you love coffee!” “yea but not today.”

After breakfast Jc had called his dad to have lunch with him and Y/N at a coffee shop. They started to get ready because they had to talk to the coffee shop about their plan. Jc had told his mom he was gonna be eating lunch with his dad and he had to go.

Y/N drove to the coffee shop and Jc held the coffee mug in his hand, “I hope his reaction is good.” Y/N pulled into the small parking lot of the coffee shop, “alright let's go.” Both of them got out of the car and went up to the hostess, Jc spoke, “Hi I’m Jc for a table of 3.” the hostess looked at the podium and dmarked a few things off, “ok follow me.” The 2 of them followed the young lady to an outside table, “your waiter will be here shortly.”

A couple minutes go by and a man walks up to their table, “hi my name is Ty I will be your waiter today can I start u off with a drink?” Y/N answers, “yes, can I just have a glass of water and I have a question we have a mug for my father in law I would love for him to use, its a pregnancy announcement and I was wondering if you can put whatever he orders as a hot beverage in the mug, that would be great.” Ty smiled, “of course and congrats, and for you.” He looked at Jc. “I’ll take a water as well for now.”

Jc’s dad arrived and he was greeted by Y/N and then Jc. The waiter came back after a couple minutes went by and asked for our order. Y/N got iced green tea, Jc got an iced caramel latte, and his dad got black coffee. Their order arrived and Jc’s dads coffee came in the mug they had brought. As Jc and Y/N were catching up with his dad he stopped talking and squinted his eyes into the mug, “what is at the bottom of my cup?” He tilted it a bit, “there are words at the bottom.” Y/N smiled and jc looked a bit nervous. He took one last swig of his coffee and looked into it, reading it. He mumbled what it had said before repeating it louder, “you’re gonna be a grandfather! Can't wait to see you in February!” He set his cup down. Y/N pulled out a picture and set it on the table, it was from her ultrasound, “I’m 11 weeks already.” Jc’s dad smiled and got up to give both of them hugs, “you guys are gonna make great parents!” Once they had sat Jc had said, “don't tell mom we are telling her tomorrow.” He and nodded and promised not to say anything.

They got home and took a nap before dinner. Taco night was tonight adn Y/N couldn't wait to eat and spend time with Jc’s family.

The next morning, no one was up everyone had been sleeping. Jc and Y/N slept in the longest almost missing lunch. Even though they had both only eating sandwiches they were set until dinner.

Once it was dinner time and everyone was gonna eat, Jc had something to say, “before we eat I would like to say thank you mom for making dinner and thank you Y/N for being the love of my life and I would also like to say that I love you 3 as my siblings and I wouldn't change anything for the world.” Y/N said, “ we have something to give to you mom.” She handed her a small brown box. Jc’s mom opened it to see a letter and a pacifier, the letter wrote, Dear, grandma please hold this for me in case I need it when I visit. Knowing my mom AND dad, they both will probably forget it. See you in February! “Are you really pregnant!” Y/N shook her head and Jc’s mom started to cry. She got up from the table and hugged them one at a time. “This is gonna be a great vacation.” Jc said to Y/N, “yes it is…”

#jc caylen #jc #jc caylen imagine #pregnancy

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jackscnfck · 5 years ago

Text

secret nuptials // jude and jackson

trigger warnings: none!

featuring: @judexhernandez

jacksonLast Friday at 8:23 PM

jackson was feeling a little stupid for actually staying awake and working the whole night before his impromptu wedding. he couldn't believe he was actually going to marry jude today. he decided to get ready at greyson and serenity's house before they met jude at the court house. he stole a suit from his twin because he wanted to actually look nice. he didn't want jude to blame him for their wedding pictures looking bad if he just showed up in his usual black jeans and leather jacket. he finished shaving his beard before he called jude, "good morning, almost husband. are we meeting at the courthouse or should we all drive in the same car?"

judeLast Friday at 9:00 PM

after jackson had asked him to get married that next day he had gotten very little sleep that night. jude had been waiting for this day for as long as he could remember. jack was the only man he ever loved and now it was going to stay like that for the rest of their lives. instead of sleeping he opted for watching their daughter sleep. he couldn’t wait to have the same name as her and the man he loved. when she woke up the next morning he explained to her what was going on. “but you can’t tell grandma and nana. we are still going to have a a wedding for them to see.” she nodded her head before picking out one of his suits and explaining, “cause it’s daddy’s favorite papa.” jude was about to start on his hair when his phone rang. “papa. papa. it’s daddy.” he rolled his eyes. “i know baby. hand it over.” the girl did so jumping up and down. “say that again. i can get used to that.” he whispered dreamily. “i wanna say meet there but i miss your face.”

jacksonLast Friday at 9:59 PM

jackson smiled brightly at the sound of jude's morning voice. he could picture exactly what he looked like and was a little sad he didn't get to see jude with his morning hair and stubble. "i know what you mean," he chuckled. he didn't want to wait to see his fiancee and their little monster. "i guess it would be more fuel efficient and better for the environment if we all went together."

judeLast Friday at 10:14 PM

jude was not usually a morning person and it would take him a few hours to fully wake up on his own. so he knew jack could hear it and it made him smile. he just wanted to see jack, kiss him, marry him. time could not speed up fast enough. “i think your daughter is more excited then i am.” jude turned slightly to see brooklyn jumping on the bed. “brooklyn penelope smith. stop. before you fall.” he cleared his throat before returning to their conversation. “tell your brother to hurry up.”

jacksonLast Friday at 10:18 PM

jackson wished he was there to be getting ready with jude. he knew it was unorthodox, but really everything in their relationship was. maybe it was a good thing to do something traditional. he smiled fondly when he heard jude talking to brooklyn, "she'll be fine, let her jump. it's a good day!" he exclaimed. "i actually think i'm the one running late. i couldn't help but stop to call you. i've still got to shave," he admitted.

judeLast Friday at 10:38 PM

jude knew their relationship was a little to clingy but he knew it was because they were in love. he also knew people were not going to understand that but he didn’t really care. the only thing that really matter is what they think. “if she falls and breaks her arm jackson. i’m blaming you.” he playfully joked only slightly. this was his wedding day and he didn’t really want to spend it in the emergency room. “don’t.” he said a little quickly and impulsively. but he wanted jackson here as soon as possible. he was better at doing the actor’s hair anyway.

jacksonLast Friday at 10:44 PM

"she's not going to break her arm, love," he laughed. though, he quickly leaned down to knock on the wood floor so he wouldn't be eating his words later. "hey, you're the one who told me i couldn't have a beard on our wedding day," he chuckled. "but if you really don't care, i'll leave it." he personally didn't give a shit what he looked like, he just wanted to be married. "oh, ariella painted my nails while we we're having breakfast, so i now have sparkly purple nails. kind of clashes with this suit, but i can't tell her no."

judeLast Friday at 11:20 PM

"i will hope not j because if i have to spend my wedding night in a hospital instead of being fucked by my husband you are not getting near my ass for a month." he ranted, thankfully that the girl did not hear him. she was currently distracting herself by trying to sing one of her daddy's songs. "i don't care what you look like or what your wearing right now. i just miss you and love you and wanna marry you so fucking bad." jude wanted to roll his eyes at himself. he didn't know how he was able to agree to wait two months when he couldn't even wait 24 hours. he growned loudly. "i need you to come do my hair. it's not going what you normally have it do!" jude was always the one more intuned with fashion so he would pick out everyone's clothes while jack did everyone's hair since he was awesome at it.

January 25, 2020

jacksonYesterday at 11:04 PM

"well, if she broke her arm now, we wouldn't even have a wedding night today," he replied a little snarkily. he was sure jude could picture the smirk that donned his features. "okay, okay, don't talk like that in front of her! but you and i both know you could never last a month," he chuckled. jackson smiled softly. he was so lucky to be in love with someone who loved him just as much a jackson loved him. "i know, baby, i know. i'll be there soon we have all day to do this," he tried to calm jude's nerves a bit. he could hear just how stressed he was. "babe, i literally just blow dry it and put some pomade in it. you don' need me for that. take a deep breath and calm down. this is a good day. a happy day. stop stressing."

judeYesterday at 11:25 PM

"you are soo lucky you aren't here right now, i'd slap the smirk clean off your face." he said with no vemon in his voice. at this point in their relationship they knew eachother so well it was like they always were facetiming without having to facetime. they knew every expression just by thesound or tone of the others voice. "chill out handsome. she can't even here me. dancing and singing her daddy's music." brooklyn really was the eptiome of a daddy's girl. "i have no idea what your talking about." jude shrugged, knowing very well jack was right. he tried to calm down but between brooklyn, his hair no cooperating and going on like sixteen hours without feeling jack's lips on his, jude gave up and sat on the bed. "i'm gonna wait for you." the actor knew he was pretty much the wife in their relationship but he loved when jack did things for him. he even had tricks he used to his advantage.

jacksonYesterday at 11:30 PM

jackson laughed loudly at jude's threat, "ooh, i'm so scared," he replied sarcastically. he loved the moments when they went back and forth at each other like this. "she's so cute, i can't handle it," he groaned. "was she good last night?" he knew that it could be a little difficult to handle brooklyn alone. she was really an energetic toddler. "yeah, i'm sure you don't," he shook his head. jackson laughed softly at jude giving into the defeat, "okay, but don't blame me if we're late. that's all on you now."

January 26, 2020

judeToday at 12:21 AM

jude rolled his eyes but did not say anything. he was so lucky to find someone who balanced him out perfectly at such an young age. “she’s totally you baby. she and ari are gonna continue the smith family legacy.” he smiled softly. “nothing i couldn’t handle.” jude had become a master at handling their daughter. he had to will jack being away a lot. they were still on the phone ten minutes later when he heard the door open. “that better be you or some asswhole is currently breaking into our house.”

jacksonToday at 12:54 AM

"i don't know how i feel about that," he hummed. he knew greyson had already told ariella that she could pursue music as a career when she was older, but jackson wasn't entirely sure he wanted his children to follow in his footsteps. the music business was lonely and harsh and it was hard for him to find people who were genuine. "that stresses me out to even think about, but i'm glad she wasn't too crazy for you," he laughed. he tried to be quiet while he got in the car and drove the short distance to their house, but of course the door gave him away. he hung up the phone when jude caught him, "damn, babe, i was trying to surprise you."

judeToday at 1:09 AM

“i know baby. i don’t know how i feel about it either but it’s a possibility she could want to be a singer or an actor.” their daughter wasn’t exactly normal. her daddy and uncle were very successful musicians and her papa played one of the most beloved characters of the past decade. they needed to get their minds around the possibility so it doesn’t catch them off guard when she is older. “she is a mini you mister. and i handle you just fine.” jude smiled as he heard jack’s voice. “it’s not my fault i have super good hearing.” he turned so he could see when his soon to be husband walked through the door of their bedroom. “now can you come kiss me?” he pouted

jacksonToday at 2:00 AM

"i think we can discuss it when she's older," he really did not want to get into any fights on his wedding day. it was still weird to say that it was his wedding day. "i know she is and that's so sweet but i'm hoping she'll have other passions. like, maybe she will want to be a teacher when she's older. no matter what our kids do, they'll be taken care of financially," he shrugged. jackson laughed softly, "i can never be sneaky with you." he leaned down and kissed jude softly, "yes, always."

judeToday at 2:29 AM

“of course.” the second his lips touched jack’s he was trying to pull him down on top of him but he was stopped by brooklyn saying. “gross daddy.” he sighed lightly as he reluctantly let go of jack and let the blonde climb onto the bed to sit behind him to fix his hair. within a half hour they were standing in front of the door that lead to where they were getting married. “are you absolutely sure about this?” the brunette asked, suddenly insecure.

jacksonToday at 2:47 AM

"i love you," he smiled. he laughed softly at brooklyn and picked her up quickly and kissed all over her face, "you think it's gross now?" he laughed and tickled her before he put her down. jackson quickly got to work on jude's hair and made it like he liked it. it wasn't too hard to get it done. "i'm more sure about this than i've been about anything in my whole life."

judeToday at 3:00 AM

jude sighed softly as he pulled jackson into the room where they would begin the rest of their lives. he got nervous as the judge spoke. “how would you like to do this? You can do vows before you sign or you can just sign it.” jude looked at jack to see what he wanted to do. the young man did not know if he would be comfortable telling the judge all of their business. they could always say what’s on their mind when they are alone. he just wanted to be jack’s husband and make love as husbands for the first time.

jacksonToday at 7:26 PM

jackson held onto jude's hands tightly, "what if we just sign today and then do our vows at the ceremony? that way we have more time to think of what we want to say and it can be in front of all the people we love?" he liked the idea of just waiting and sharing their love with everyone. "i just want to be married to you right now."

judeToday at 7:41 PM

jude's eyes widened, slightly surprised even after all these years he could read his mind so well. "i think that's perfect." he bit his lip as the judge spoke. "just double checking. only one of you is gonna be changing your last name? no hyphenating?" jude nodded his head. "i'll be changing mine." soon their marriage licence was past in front of them. the actor looked down and his eyes watered. with one signature his name will be forever be jude smith. "i love you."

jacksonToday at 7:44 PM

jackson was glad that jude was on the same page with their vows. he wasn't entirely comfortable sharing something so intimate with a strange judge. "you can finally be done with that name, love," he smiled. he knew that jude had struggled with his family, namely his mother, so he could only imagine how it must have felt for him. "i love you so much. more than anything in this whole world." he signed his name quickly and leaned over to kiss jude softly. he would save the passion for a bit later.

judeToday at 7:57 PM

jude was not one to be so open with his feelings around our people, not because he was embarrassed or ashamed of his relationship but because it was extremely personal. "the only name i've ever wanted for as long as i can remember." he whispered, writing his new name for the very first time, he no longer was tied to his parents if he didn't wanna be and that was a weight off his shoulders. he smiled into the kiss. "you're my husband."

jacksonToday at 8:06 PM

"it's the only one you'll have for the rest of your life," he whispered back. a small part of jackson still couldn't believe that jude actually loved him and actually married him. he was so beyond happy he wasn't sure there was a word for what he was feeling. he smiled and kissed his forehead. "and you're my husband. forever and ever." he thanked the judge and held jude's hand before leading him out to the car. "grey and ren are taking b..we've got a flight to catch."

#j a c k s o n

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