#Anyway I’m writing two things right now that have definite CONSEQUENCES

[corellianhounds]

Stories need to have limits and rules and consequences to the events that happen or there won’t feel like there’s anything constraining the plot/characters, which takes any tension out of the narrative. If you as the author just keep coming up with new things to get your characters out of a jam without having established what the general rules and limitations of the universe are, it’s going to feel like you’re ‘cheating’ as the storyteller. If anything’s possible, then none of the consequences have any weight to them.

It’s why I don’t like when characters inexplicably come back from the dead in future seasons or movies, especially if there isn’t a GOOD explanation and narrative reason for why or how, there aren’t any present complications or effects on all of the characters involved, and there are no consequences of that death and resurrection. Foreshadowing can lay the groundwork for a character’s return if that return was planned from the beginning, but if you can tell the character was really only brought back because the writer had regrets or changed their mind, or new writers wanted to play with the same character, or production companies are just beating the same dead horse because it keeps spitting out money, then it isn’t going to be an effective twist. Comic books are notorious for this, and the more clones, alternate timelines, alternate realities, rewrites, reboots, and character resurrections you have, the less meaningful the previous stories start to feel, especially if you’ve given that ending closure.

This goes for character reunions or divides, destruction of belongings or locations, loss of powers, etc. Death is just the most finite thing that can happen for a character so if they come back, there better be a good explanation as to why, and a good explanation for the limitations surrounding that event. If death doesn’t feel finite, death or injury isn’t going to be an effective tool for the story.

[toddxhavez]

Love In The Dark

Pairing(s): Jenna Ortega x reader, mentions of Victoria Pedretti x reader

Summary: A nice night out at a movie premiere doesn’t go as planned for Jenna when she runs into her ex-girlfriend there.

Warning(s): Female reader, angst, mentions of drinking and past drug use, that’s all I think but feel free to correct me!

Word count: 1.7k

A/N: This takes place sometime in the future, reader is the same age as Jenna in this story which is 29. I’ll probably give more background on their relationship in part two but the song I had in mind for the reader in this story is Love In The Dark by Adele you’ll know what I mean after you read it. Sorry for disappearing but I was having trouble feeling confident and comfortable about my writing! Not proofread there might be some mistakes. (Gif is not mine, the credits belong to the user right below it!)

The biggest problem with working as an actress in Hollywood definitely had to do with the public, when they loved you they loved you sure but climbing the ladder of popularity came with consequences, all it takes is one interaction taken out of context to make them angry.

The interaction in question took place at a movie premiere. Jenna’s agent Owen received her formal invitation and asked her if she’d been interested in attending, she agreed since it was for a horror film.

If only she said no, she wishes she said no.

When Jenna arrived to walk on the red carpet, a staple feature that came with just about every movie premiere, she’d gotten there only minutes before you did. One of the many purposes of a movie premiere is to generate excitement and raise awareness about the film but right now one of the only things the media outlets are focusing on about last week was Jenna’s interaction with you, her ex-girlfriend of five years.

You’d think growing up as an actress your entire life would mean that it’s easy to walk the red carpet, Jenna wants to say that she’s used to it but she’s not.

Thankfully nobody would be able to tell the difference.

She takes a deep breathe and tries to push away that this walk in particular is turning into another stinging reminder that you’d always been here with her the times she’s felt truly at ease and comfortable, slowly but surely these resurfacing thoughts of you would fade away right?

Jenna continues walking past the numerous shouts and flashing lights, offering them a kind smile and occasionally stopping where one of the coordinators of the red carpet asks her to. There’s one photographer in particular that has a camera that could light up a whole town on his own that momentarily blinds her, while the coordinator reprimands the man she takes five steps forward and hopes for the best but ends up crashing into somebody anyways.

“Are you alright?” The person says and they grab her elbow lightly as a way to steady her from falling, but all she can do is blink rapidly as your face slowly comes into view.

“Yeah I’m fine.” Jenna says trying to grasp the fact that she ran into the one person she’d been dwelling on about less than five minutes ago.

What kinda’ve game did the universe plan on playing today?

“Are you sure? You still look a little dazed.” Victoria questions with a look of worry, you’d unintentionally shielded her from Jenna’s view and now she’s realized that you’d come to the movie premiere with her as your plus one after catching a glimpse of the other woman’s arm interlocked comfortably with your own.

A harsh game it seems. But why?

“Oh wait I know why,” you say and it spooks Jenna, how’d you know what she was thinking? If you could still read her as easily as you once did- would you really be diabolical enough to showcase her concerns in front of others? She wills herself to calm down with the reminder that you’ve never been the type and that’s really only worst case scenario.

“It was because of that photographer huh! I thought I died and saw god when he took some pictures of us.” You continue with a laugh unintentially dispensing out another grueling thought to replace the other because the only thing that stands out to Jenna in that statement is your use of the word “us”.

“I think I need glasses now.” Jenna says making Victoria and you laugh, she knows that it’s because of her joke but seeing you do it with Victoria rubs her the wrong way.

“It’s been so long, how are you?” Victoria asks excitedly reaching out to hug her, Jenna internally scolds herself for feeling this way about someone who’s without a doubt happy to have run into her.

“I’m doing really good… what about you guys?” Jenna lies copying Victoria’s movements and reaching out for a hug too.

Before either of you can answer and continue the conversation a coordinator steps forward to apologize for interrupting but mentions that you’re all required to move along because of the influx of people arriving on the red carpet.

“It’s alright I’m sorry about that sir,” you say before focusing on Jenna once more with a smile that’s warm and gentle enough to drown out the rest of the world around her, “we’re doing good too, it’s really nice seeing you again.”

And with that you’d left her.

The breakup happened about a year and a half ago, but whatever the both of you did apart from each other was still talked about widespread and analyzed through the lenses of “In separation, what and how are they doing now?” Or “Why’d it happen? And whose fault is it?”

The latter one being the worser of two evils because it overpowered fact with fiction of how it really ended.

Jenna broke up with you but a year ago the popular release of your hit song made the people think otherwise, the reality of this was that they actually painted you in a bad light because of it.

‘It happened because Y/N didn’t love Jenna anymore, so it’s her fault.’ But that was the furthest thing from the truth, and yet this belief diminished your reputation, Jenna felt guilty about it. She didn’t know what to expect when she’d heard you’d both been going viral after you released a song, but after listening to it she realized you wrote it from her perspective during the breakup, not yours.

The media crucified you because of these speculations, any mistakes that you’d made in the past were brought up and used to pick your image apart.

The worst one being that drug use played a part in the breakup.

You’d grown up as a child actress same as Jenna, but unlike her you were never given the choice to quit. You were forced into this life by greedy parents and discouraged from doing anything else. You were miserable and there’d been a time where you used drugs as a coping mechanism.

So of course, they accused you of falling off the wagon.

“Are you sure about this?” Owen says carefully pulling Jenna out of her thoughts.

“Have you seen the headlines? I’m sure.”

“And you’ve talked to her about it?” Owen questions offering her a sympathetic smile, but it only confuses her.

“Why would I talk to her about it? It’s the truth and it’ll help her with these assholes.” Jenna asks narrowing her eyes at Owen.

‘Help her but hurt you.’ Owen wants to say but he bites back the comment, he knows Jenna’s making this announcement to stop the public from condemning you but there’s a reason you’d never done it yourself.

“Nothing, I was just wondering.” Owen responds turning around and away from view to organize the mountain of papers on his desk, Jenna wants to press him for information but she already knows he won’t give her any.

“Did you like the film?” Owen asks walking towards the bar in his office to fix himself a drink, when Jenna doesn’t answer he takes a quick glance at her and sees that she’s back in her own little world again.

“Yeah it was… good.” Jenna trails off not wanting to admit that she missed about half of it because she’d been focused on you, well you and Victoria Pedretti.

The premiere didn’t have assigned seating but she’d gotten there a bit late- and not that long before Victoria and you did, that unfortunately meant you both were seated about three rows ahead of Jenna. At the beginning of the film you kept whispering things to one another and quietly laughing, the half that Jenna missed happened to be after Victoria rested her head on your shoulder. Jenna couldn’t stop thinking about close she was to you, the way your body softly shook with laughter whenever she said something to you, her bright smile merely inches away from your neck.

“For what’s it’s worth, I don’t think the rumors are true.” Owen comes back with two glasses of his expensive tequila, setting one of them right in front of Jenna and taking his own with him to his seat across from her.

“I know she’s sober.” Jenna thanks him with a nod, appreciative for the man who’s been akin to a protective father to her and you alike.

“Without a doubt, but I’m not talking about that.” Owen says with a pointed look, of course he’d know.

“That’s none of my business.” Jenna responds but the way she picks up the glass of tequila and downs it in one go says otherwise.

“You’re still in love with her.” Owen says and Jenna’s about to deny it but Owen’s one of the few people who knows her well enough to see through her lies.

“It’s not a crime to still feel some type of way about a person you share history with,” he continues getting up from the comfort of his chair to refill her glass once more “you never did actually tell me why you broke up.”

“Can you just have Emilia make the announcement already?” Jenna quips at him trying to change the subject, he merely hums immediately doing what’s been asked of him.

“It’s… complicated.” She finally admits when he hangs up his phone after calling her PR agent. Since she’d the one to break up with you, she felt as if she was in the wrong for being upset about the idea that you’ve already moved on and now here she was accidentally snapping at Owen for something that’s not his fault.

“We’ve got time.” He shrugs passively setting her freshly poured drink down in front her.

“You’ve got any limes?” Jenna asks downing the glass, Owen laughs going to cut up some limes and deciding it’d be better to just bring the bottle of tequila for the rest of this conversation.

[obxsummer]

Pieces of You // JJ Maybank

summary: you had grown tired of JJ's reckless nature and were suffering the silent treatment post-argument. so it's only fitting the next time he's careless it's to save you.

request: Heyyy, I love your work with all my heart!! I was wondering if you could write a JJ x reader fic, where in S3 at the end of episode 8 Topper burns the chateau down, but JJ has to save them because they didn’t notice the fire or anything? That would be so nice:)

warnings: minor injuries, angst bc it's me, crappy ending bc I didn't know what else to write ok

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Things had been a little too crazy for you and the Pogues. John B had supposedly managed to get arrested after knocking the shit out of Topper. Sarah did cheat on him after all, so his reaction was warranted in your mind. Kie had been busy dealing with the backlash of her parents while Pope and Cleo seemed to be the only duo without any major complications. Granted, Cleo did have to talk the boy out of killing Rafe for melting the cross but hey, minor details.

You and JJ however, were in the middle of the biggest argument you’d seen. At this point, you don’t even remember how it all happened minus the fact that the two of you stopped speaking shortly after his whole bike incident. JJ had the habit of being a little too careless for someone who had people that needed him and loved him. You were growing really tired of his reckless behavior. You loved JJ more than anything, but sometimes you wished he saw that his actions affected more than just him. You needed to know that he would be okay if you weren’t around to approve of his actions and make sure he didn’t go too far. 

JJ had been avoiding you since the moment you caught his gaze on the busted concrete. He knew he was fucked, and royally too. You’d warned him about being more careful and here he was doing powerslides from overpasses. 

He couldn’t get the words to work right to explain to you why he acted the way he did. It wasn’t just for the adrenaline rush, or because of his upbringing. JJ genuinely would do anything for you and the Pogues. He just happened to jump to the craziest way of getting there instead of taking the time to think it through.

“Will you just talk to me please?” His voice was pleading as he watched you move around your bedroom in a rushed fashion. You’d been quiet since Topper had dropped everyone off and your boyfriend was losing it with the silence. 

“Oh, I’m sorry. Do you want to talk to me now? Where was this initiative when you practically dumped me off your bike into the truck bed? Or, better yet, where was this when you just stared at me blankly like I wasn’t sobbing over the fact that I thought you were dead?” You were getting angry quickly and JJ didn’t like it. 

He hesitated in his response, enough that you let out a huff of air in annoyance before turning away from him again. Recently, JJ panicked easily. It all started once he lost John B but got better for a while, especially when he had you. Now that everything was colliding, JJ was panicking. 

“I just didn’t know how else to get the cops away from-”

“You didn’t have to do something that involved you almost dying, JJ!” You shouted this time as the random pieces of clothing dropped from your hands. “I know you care. You care a lot for everyone but JJ… I care about you. I care so much that you break my heart when you do things like this because I can’t lose you! And neither can our friends! I know you don’t think far enough ahead for your personal consequences but please… please think about how everyone else would react if we lost you.”

JJ walked out on you sometime after that. You’d clearly upset him and your friends definitely felt the awkwardness but if you were honest, there was so much tension between everyone right now anyway. Your small family was starting to waver but you knew everything would work out. 

Sarah had called you all over to the Chateau, promising good news. You had yet to see her as you slowly approached the group, Kie, Cleo, Pope, and JJ already in attendance. There wasn’t much conversation to begin with, but it all fell silent the moment you stepped into view. Kie gave you a reassuring smile that didn’t do much to ease your nerves.

The blonde girl that had asked for your presence came walking down the steps of the Chateau not long after, sparing the awkward silence. “Hey, um, thanks for waiting. Look who decided to come home.”

John B stepped out of the doors of his childhood home, looking relatively fine for the hell he’d been through. You were shocked that he had managed to get out of jail so quickly, especially with Topper’s family status being put into play.

“Welcome back,” Cleo greeted with a smirk on her face. 

“Whoa! Good to see you, man.”

You let out a small laugh at John B’s surprise presence. “Welcome home, JB.” 

“You gotta be kidding me,” JJ scoffed from his spot across from you on the large tree branch. John B tucked his hands in his pockets and walked towards all of you solemnly. He looked really upset if you were being honest and it made you wonder what had really happened. 

“I have something I want to share with you guys,” Sarah said as she pulled the attention back to her. “I can get us down to Orinoco.”

“Are you serious?”

“What?”

“Okay, how’s that gonna happen?”

“My dad’s gonna let us use the plane-”

“Ward?”

“Your dad?”

You rolled your eyes at the pop-up comments that seemed never-ending. “Can y’all let the girl speak? Geez.”

Sarah’s gaze met yours as she offered up a small thankful smile. “We lay low tonight, then wheels up first thing in the morning.”

“Okay, that’s a lot to process. Your dad actually helping us,” Pope recounted in shock. “So we trusting Ward now?”

“Trust Sarah,” Kie offered with a solidifying nod at her own words. 

Pope and Cleo seemed excited about the plan as Sarah spoke up again. “But wait, I also just have one more thing to say. Um… since we’ve gotten back from the island, I’ve done some things I regret. A lot.”

Kie cleared her throat in the awkward silence that followed.

“Yeah, uh…” To your surprise, John B broke the quiet. “I feel…I feel like we’ve all done a thing or two that we regret.” His eyes glanced at the blonde next to him before he looked towards the ground again.

Sarah continued, “And I don’t…Poguelandia, guys. It’s all I’ve been able to think about. We were all together on that island and it was a good thing and I don’t want to ruin a good thing. And I-I just wanna know, are we still all in? Are we still all together? Because I am.”

Kie was the first to agree, wrapping Sarah in a hug before Cleo piled in on top of them.

“I still can’t believe you got the plane!” Pope smiled as he brought the Cameron girl in for a hug. “That’s actually insane.”

You took a deep breath as you watched them, well aware of JJ’s eyes on you. He’d been staring for a while now, always observant when it came to you. You took a few steps forward to embrace Sarah before retreating back to your own space next to Kie.

“Let’s go get Big John, alright? What do you say there, shit bird?” JJ tugged Pope under his arm as he regarded your friend. You found yourself pulled into the group hug next to Kie and Sarah, all of you waiting for John B to complete the circle.

“I think this deserves a woogity.”

You watched from the corner of your eye as John B stayed still in his spot. You shook your head slightly and made eye contact with him while smiling. “How long are you gonna pretend you’re not coming over here?”

Your best friend’s blank exterior broke at the question, glad to see a smidge of positive emotion from you over the past few days. He caved and made his way toward your group, quickly throwing his arms over your shoulders.

“Come over here, funny man. We don’t bite.” The seven of you hugged each other tightly, finally all back in the same place for once in what felt like forever. 

“Oh, we’re really doing this, aren’t we?”

Your small family was slowly rebuilding as everyone made their way into the Chateau for the night. John B and Sarah were quick to excuse themselves to his room, leaving the rest of you to entertain yourselves. 

“Jay,” You whispered his name quietly as he brushed past you to the kitchen in search of a beer. You blinked sudden tears from your eyes and looked up to the ceiling in an attempt to not cry. 

Letting out a deep breath, you quickly made your way to the guest bedroom where you and JJ had spent most of your time. You stared at the colossal mess of your things scattered amongst his along the furniture and floor. Your chest ached at the sight, wishing the two of you weren’t on such poor terms at the moment so you could actually enjoy the peace before setting off on another treasure hunt. 

Busying yourself with a shower in the attached bath, you figured some quiet time would help you clear your head and hopefully come up with a game plan of what to say to your boyfriend. You didn’t mean to make him feel like shit for expressing his love the way he did, but you were scared for him. 

The hot water of John B’s shower was soothing as you took the quiet time for yourself. Eventually, you had to leave the comforting steam when it began to run cold. Completely disheveled and stressed, you pulled on some comfy clothes and attempted to dry your wet hair before you had to face the music again. 

You let out a sigh and reached for the metal doorknob to walk back into the spare bedroom only for a searing pain to stretch across your hand. Jumping back with a yelp, a rush of panic overwhelmed you once you realized how hot it was in the small bathroom. 

“JJ!” You yelled instinctively as you searched for the hand towel to possibly grab the handle with. The fabric held the heat off long enough for you to open the door. The sight of bright flickering flames filled the room you and JJ had claimed for yourselves, burning pieces of each other into ashes. You stumbled back in shock before the adrenaline kicked in and you ran into the smoky room in hopes of salvaging some of the items.

“Y/N!” The boy in question came flying through the bedroom door a second later. He could barely see you through the thick smoke but managed to catch a quick movement of your figure across the room. “Y/N, we have to go!”

Your heart was pounding in your ears too loud for you to register his voice. The few items you’d grabbed in a rush were thrown in a canvas tote bag Kie had given you before you spun straight into JJ’s chest. 

“We gotta go, baby, come on.” JJ tugged his your t-shirt up over your mouth and nose to help filter the smoke before doing the same and leading you out of the room. Most of the house was covered in the bright orange light of the fire as you observed it in shock. You could barely focus as JJ pushed your hips towards the window of Big John’s office that was left open from their prior escape. He was quick to climb out and turned back to catch you. Glass shattered from another window causing the two of you to duck down and JJ to grab your wrist to tug you away from the structure. 

JJ’s grip on your wrist eased up as he brought you towards the dock where everyone had gathered in their escape. Your boyfriend’s touch was gentle as he helped you sit on the ground to take a deep breath and cough out the smoke in your lungs. “It’s okay, ‘m right here, baby.”

Everyone was visibly relieved when they saw you and JJ come running from the smoldering flames on the side of the house. It all happened so fast that they felt guilty for completely forgetting you were in the shower. JJ had taken one small look and took off before anyone had a chance to stop him. 

Your hands were shaky with the anxiety and fear that was coursing through your body. In the few moments before you found JJ, you were thinking the worst. You thought you were going to lose the person who mattered most to you in the midst of an argument and that was terrifying. You’d never forgive yourself if you lost JJ ever, but to be on rough terms was a nightmare you’d never recover from. 

“Hey, hey. Look at me. Everyone’s fine, I’m right here.” JJ’s blond hair was suddenly visible in your view as he forced you to look up at him and uncurl from the ball you’d shifted into. “What did you grab?”

You released your suffocating grip on the bag you’d practically filled. In the midst of your panic, you didn’t realize your friends had moved away to give you and JJ some space. You settled back against the posts of the wooden dock to watch as he went through the items you grabbed.

JJ’s favorite hoodie, a handful of Polaroids Kiara had taken of your group, his rings, the necklace he’d saved up to buy you for your anniversary. JJ was careful with the items as he shifted through them, his eyes suddenly damp with tears. 

“Y/N, sweetheart, all of this is replaceable. You aren’t,” He consoled as he finally made eye contact with you. Both of you were crying now, emotions running high from the events that just took place.

You took a shaky breath as you fought back the sob threatening to break through. “I...I felt like that room was us. All of our memories, and it was just crumbling and you weren’t there. JJ, I can’t lose you.”

“I know, I know.” JJ didn’t hesitate to pull you against his chest as you cried against him. He’d felt the panic himself a few moments before when he realized you were still showering and blissfully unaware of the damage awaiting outside. JJ refused to let you be in pain because of him and his actions from here on out. It wasn’t fair to any of your friends but especially you. “Not doing anything majorly stupid from here on out. Maybe just a little here and there, but-”

You laughed slightly and pulled your head from his shirt to look over his shoulder where the Chateau was crumbling from the flames. Heart heavy, you leaned your cheek against JJ’s shoulder and let him hold you, hoping this was the lowest your group could go and things could only look up from here.

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[scuttling]

Devil You Know

Fandom: The Vampire Diaries Pairings: Damon Salvatore/female reader (future) Word Count: 2,107 Tags: Just canon typical violence/blood so far, Episode related 2x14 Crying Wolf Summary: Damon's in love with Elena, would do anything to keep her safe—including forming an alliance with a mysterious newcomer who just might change everything. A/N: I consider this a teaser I guess, as plan to write the rest of season 2's storyline! I hope you like it :)

Keep reading below!

Damon goes to the historical society tea party because he needs to confront Elijah. 

It’s absolutely the last thing he wants to do, after blowing off Jenna’s friend Andie, who will almost certainly be in attendance; the last thing he wants to do, knowing that Elena and Stefan are on some romantic getaway to her family’s cabin by the lake. But he needs to protect her, which means finding out more about Elijah and the deal he’s made with her, which means he gets dressed and goes to the party, puts on a smile, charms the pants off everyone like he always does.

It’s not easy, but someone’s gotta do it.

Damon is just walking away from Alaric, heading into the study on Elijah’s heels, when a pretty young woman grabs him by the elbow of his jacket. She fits in at the tea party, in a white sweater, long, tan skirt, and heels, but he can’t remember ever seeing her around town.

“Whatever you’re about to do, don’t,” she says in a low voice. A human wouldn’t have heard it, her lips barely move, but he can and she must know that. 

“And who are you?” he asks, cocking a brow. He doesn’t take advice from people he does know, and definitely not from people he doesn’t; all the same, something about her intrigues him, though he can’t quite put his finger on it.

“Someone who’s not about to let you make the biggest mistake of your life — or afterlife, whatever you call it.” She lets go of the fabric of his jacket, then smooths it out where she’s wrinkled it. “Trying to kill an Original is suicide, so don’t.” 

She says it with an air of finality, almost authoritative, then turns away from him like she’s going to leave. 

He can’t let this girl leave, but he can’t let Elijah go either. He’s torn, feels two warring senses of urgency, looks briefly toward the study and then back to her retreating frame.

“Wait—who are you? How do you know–what you know?” She turns back, hair falling over her shoulder, and shakes her head like she’s frustrated that he’s even bothering to ask.

“I know, and that’s all that matters right now. Look, I have to go; I shouldn't have come as it is.” 

Damon grabs her arm to stop her from turning again, to stop her from leaving, but she frees herself with one firm, no nonsense tug and walks out the door without ever looking back. 

A mystery for another time. Elijah’s in the study, and Damon’s going to do what he came for in the first place.

-

He gets stabbed in the neck by Elijah because of course he does; he never claimed to be rational or sensible, to think things through or weigh the consequences like his brother. He acts on instinct, with more emotion than most people probably imagine him capable of, and then deals with the aftermath as it comes. 

The aftermath of this situation is a very sore throat, and a growing headache, as he mulls over what little they know, over and over and over in his mind. 

“Today was a bust,” he punctuates with a sip of bourbon. He says it to himself, to the room at large, but Ric answers anyway.

“Yeah, that Elijah’s one scary dude. I’d think twice before I trust that dagger and some ashes to do the job. You’re gonna need more info.” Damon frowns.

“But I’m out of sources.” Ric stands to pour another drink, grabs Damon’s glass and does the same. When he hands it back, Damon has a flash of memory from earlier in the day—the tea party, the mystery girl who knew more than she should—and he smiles a little to himself, pleased. “Actually, you know what. There might be one person who can help us out.”

“I’ll take anything we can get,” Ric says, drinking down the remainder of his bourbon in one sip. Damon stands and does the same, grabs his jacket from the back of his chair. 

As they head for the front door he starts brainstorming, deciding where they are most likely to find her. Strangers always seem to gravitate toward the Grill, so they should probably start there, ask around, find out if anyone who’d been at the event remembered her.

Those plans are cut short by werewolves. Goddamn werewolves.

“You know what the great thing about buckshot is? It scatters through the body. Maximum damage,” the one he knows to be Jules says, the one he hates with every fiber of his being. 

They’ve got him chained to a chair—an antique that’s going to be a bitch to restore after this—with some kind of inverted spike collar on him, and he is leaking blood from a hole in his neck for the second time today. It’s a new method of torture for him, and he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t a little terrified of the potential outcome.

This is how he knows he loves Elena, really, truly loves her, he thinks. For anyone else, he’d have given up a long, long time ago, out of both boredom and self-preservation. Damon would kill for almost anyone—he kills mainly for himself, anyway—but she’s the only one he’d die for now that Katherine has fucked them all for the last time. 

“Where is the moonstone?” Jules yells, pulling him out of his thoughts with a cock of her gun. One of the wolves pulls on the collar, which hurts like hell, but Damon just shrugs, smarmy as shit. Jules rolls her eyes. “Vampires.”

“At least vampires have the decency not to enter someone’s home without permission,” someone calls from the foyer. Damon can see that it’s his mystery guest, still dressed for the party, as she strolls casually down the hallway and into the parlor, toward the werewolves. Jules takes a good look at the girl, brows tight, as if she’s trying to place her, but the other wolves growl—actually growl—at her, nostrils flaring. It’s clear they know who she is… and that they actually fear her. “If I were you, I’d go. Now. Before another one of you gets hurt.”

Whether she’s referring to Mason or someone else he doesn’t know about, it doesn’t make a difference; the male wolves run out of the house in a blur, and Jules must trust her pack enough to know to follow, because she speeds past the girl and out the front door with the rest of them. 

Damon is impressed. Very impressed.

A minute later, when the house is quiet and the girl seems satisfied the wolves are gone, she steps toward Damon; her heels click across the wood floor, and in that delicate skirt, that pristine white sweater, she yanks at the chains that have him bound to the wooden chair. They nearly crumble in her hands, breaking apart and freeing him from captivity.

Now he’s kind of terrified again. Terrified, and a little turned on, and really fucking confused. 

“Should have let them kill you,” she mutters as she unlocks the collar, her hands slick with his blood but no less precise. She pulls each wooden stake carefully away from his neck, and he sighs his relief when the device is completely off, discarded on the ground. “Do you always have such a knack for getting yourself into dangerous situations, or have I stumbled upon a no good, very bad day?” 

“Hey. They broke into my house,” he reminds her, standing, and what’s left of the chains join the collar in a heap on the floor. The girl lets out a long sigh and puts up her bloody hands in a gesture of irritation.

“Because you’re fucking with, quite literally, the most powerful, ancient beings, things you know next to nothing about, even though I told you not to.”

“No offense, but I have no idea who you are, what you are… Those guys obviously did, and I’m getting now that you’re kind of a big deal, but it takes a lot more than a mysterious girl leaving a cryptic message at a town event to get me to change my mind.”

With another sigh, she sticks out one of her hands, and after a pause he gets what she’s after, reaches out to complete the handshake. 

“Hi, I’m the new resident vampire slayer. Happy to make your acquaintance.” He tries not to show that his mind is a little blown at this, that the prim and proper, frankly beautiful girl in front of him is a killer of anything.

“Vampire slayer? Is ‘hunter’ not cool enough this year?” She drops his hand, then wipes the blood from hers against the fabric of his black henley; it’s not enough to clean them fully, but now they’re merely stained red and no longer dripping with the evidence of his prior torture. 

“Hunters are usually guys with personal vendettas, who spend too much time shopping at the army surplus store,” she says with a completely unsubtle look at Ric, who remains dead on the Persian rug. Either she doesn’t care, or she’s spotted the Gilbert ring, knows what it means. “Slayers are different; we’re born with innate power, similar to what you develop when you transition—though I guess it’s all the same when you’re on the wrong end of a wooden stake.”

She takes a step back as he takes a step toward her—toward Ric, really. She watches as Damon lifts him up and drops him onto the sofa, so he can wake up with a little more dignity, at least. “So, vampire slayer. Are you from around here?” he asks as he turns back. He grabs their glasses from earlier, and a third, and fills them all with bourbon. He offers her the drink, which she accepts, sips. 

“I get around,” she says lightly, carefully avoiding his question. She walks around the room, exploring, as he cleans up, rolls up the soiled rug so he can dump it later on. “This is my first time in Mystic Falls, though I know all about its… rich history.” She takes another drink, this one deeper, like she’s tired after such a long day. He knows he is, so he can understand the feeling. “I’m drawn to where I’m needed, and I wasn’t needed here until the moonstone came into play. Now you've got doppelgängers, werewolves… I’m just fortunate you dealt with the vampires in the tomb on your own, or we’d be in a hell of a lot more trouble.”

“Hey, I’ve changed since then; I was an idiot in love,” he explains, then he fully realizes that’s bullshit; he’s still an idiot, and still in love—or, more appropriately, in love again. 

He throws her a playful smirk, but she’s not laughing when she comes closer and locks eyes with him. It’s the first time he’s looked at her and seen what must be her darker, more dangerous side.

“Love is not an acceptable excuse for your actions, and if you ever give me reason to, I’ll put you down without hesitation. It’s important that you know that.” Her eyes flick over his, as if ensuring that he’s gotten the message, that he understands her loud and clear. “Even when I help you—if I help you—my loyalties are to the slayers who fought before me, who fight alongside me. No one else. If any of you harm an innocent person with intent, I will kill you.”

Damon contemplates that for a moment, he really does; there’s no shortage of people who want him dead, so adding one more to the list isn’t really as impactful as she may believe. He can’t help thinking, though, that if she’s on their side—if she’s willing to fight with them instead of against them—they might actually have a chance against the werewolves, the Originals. They might actually have a shot at eliminating the threat instead of outrunning it, at protecting Elena once and for all. 

It means giving up human blood, which isn’t his favorite thing to do, but he’s done it before, can do it again. Will do it for Elena, if that’s what it takes.

“You have my word, slayer,” he says, peering down seriously into her eyes. For once, he means it. “You help us keep Elena safe, and we’ll all be on our best behavior, or you get to wipe out every creature of the night that lives in Mystic Falls.”

She nods, after a moment, then drains her glass of bourbon with an exaggerated, satisfied smack of her lips. 

“Alright then. First things first: who’s Elena?”

[ddejavvu]

omg sorry im totally gonna yap too much about your hangman series rn !! because not only does it contain THE utmost perfect combination of all my favorite tropes, but they are reflected, written, and PACED sososososo dang well ?? like the tension is there but i loveee how you validate the perspective of why the reader is hesitant to give in WHILE still maintaining the sense of pinning coming from Jake AND the cutesy sometimes snappy back and forth they got going on ANND it all unraveling at such a nice tempo — I’ll be honest, I didn’t even watch that airplane ass movie cause Tom cruise annoys the hell out of me, and now I’m even more torn cause there’s no way in hell some Hollywood execs wrote jakes characterization as good as you have, so obviously I’ll be disappointed off the bat but at the same time you make him sound HOT like I need to see the source material with my own two eyes yk? UGH anyway yeah all over the place so sorry I just wanted to give u some love cause re reading chapter 5 this morning quite literally got me out of bed to my morning lecture ~ my academic thank you, muah!!! <3

hi sweet thing!! I want you to know that this got ME out of bed this morning with a smile on my face! I really, really appreciate feedback and messages like this, more than I could probably ever truly articulate.

first off, i love talking about my writing with other people who are engaged with it!! it's one thing for me to explain every grueling plot point to my best friend who is politely interested for my sake, but wouldn't read it if it wasn't mine. It's another thing entirely to have fans of my writing talk to me about what they like about it and what they think of the plot, characters, pacing, etc!!!

one thing that I'm really appreciative of you praising is the timing. I know that uploads have been slow on my part, and that's because I'm full time with both work and school, but even when I was uploading every week, people were so unsatisfied with the timing!! and i know that I've advertised smut for the story, and you haven't gotten any yet, but I was very proud of the plot that I had constructed, as well as the backstories and reservations that I gave to each character, which required more than just an, 'oh well, let's fuck!', and like. 95% of the comments that I was getting for a long time were 'omg she needs to give in already' or 'i would have just caved!' like 😭😭😭 like did i not do it right? did i not create a compelling argument for why they should NOT fuck at this moment in time?? that's why i'm immensely grateful to hear that you like it, even if slow burns aren't everyone's thing! i love a good slow burn and I worked really hard to make this story realistic instead of just some utopia where nothing matters and actions don't have consequences.

second - you haven't even seen the movie!!! i'm always flattered when people admit that they haven't even seen the source material before indulging in my fics because i usually have little to no interest in reading fan content if i haven't at least seen the characters for myself first! i'm insanely flattered and i do recommend watching the airplane ass movie because it's one of my favorite movies but perhaps it's only my favorite because the men have so much potential and are so fun to write about !!! i definitely warn you that he's an ass through most of the movie but it gets better anon, i promise! he has a great ending <3

i love that you reread chapter five and i love that it got you out of bed and i love that you were kind and complementary with your message instead of something less motivating! these are the kinds of messages that make me motivated to write more, these are the kinds of messages that get my inspiration flowing when i've got the time to work on it!! i love you very much and all future chapters are dedicated to you actually <3

[eremorte]

You literally always send the best asks, so we’ll thought through and I’ve never seen you ask someone the same thing twice so I figured I’d sent you one

If you could write more seasons / specials / webisodes / crossover for eah what would the plot be for each?

Keep in mind that Mattel would still have to approve it so don’t go crazy with dark lore + queer ships but definitely can add more than what was originally in the series - or you can completely discard this and do what you want. Rules are made to be broken.

I would actually love to hear this extremely detailed if you had lots of ideas

I have been terrified of an ask like this one gracing my inbox. (Still grateful). As much as I ponder the franchise I haven’t thought of much that would objectively move the plot forward. What I’ve been obsessing over are the cracks in explanation or how plain everyone is in a world filled with magic.

Firstly, thank you? One of the reasons I haven’t asked anything twice is because if anyone wants to answer the prompt they are free to (Please do, I beg y’all). And because I figure people have already suggested these ideas already but outright saying “Hey, I want you to answer” appears to work best.

I really like asking people things! But it takes a while when a person has no clear prompt for questions ("asks are open" is vague in this bottleneck of a fandom). Or I see content on their blog that already answer a question I might’ve asked/not involved with other fandoms on said blog.

Also like, the asks I’ve gotten before were objectively a challenge so I just thought that was the bar…

I will say right now I don’t like crossovers so I don’t have many ideas regarding that (Even with g1 monster high).

So webisode ideas….

An episode in which Kitty either apologizes or doubles down on what she did in a Cat who Cried Wolf. (Let’s be clear, the consequences for Cerise would have been worse than death. I am still bitter) (and have also forgotten most of the books if this is ever rectified).

A few episodes where Apple and Raven don’t appear at all and also doesn’t introduce anyone new (they aren’t bad, I’m just bored of them appearing in everything).

Conversely, a few episodes where it focuses on the fact that allegedly Raven and Apple have a social circle outside of their room mate.

(Raven Maddie Cerise and Cedar)

(Apple Briar Ashlynn and Blondie)

An episode on what Apple and Maddie do as co presidents

(any extracurricular episode really)

An episode focusing on the brothers Grimm. I noticed that after Spring Unsprung continuity from the specials doesn’t seem to matter to webisode continuity. So it probably won’t delve into the resentment Giles has built up from being trapped. The next best alternative is something involving Milton’s obsession with the unicorns. Maybe Milton lost a unicorn but is too embarrassed to announce it and sends Giles (or Giles notices on his own and helps anyway) to find it.

And an episode where Ginger has to reconstruct something on her gingerbread cottage and Cerise and Ramona are enlisted to help her.

A boys only episode. Idc what the plot is.

Full salt ahead…

An episode where either Duchess or Ramona call out Poppy on her apparent Roybelness. (Ramona mostly, and then when Poppy reveals the sister secret Ramona is still annoyed, and points out that Grimm probably wouldn’t force them to switch places if he knew at this point (because you don't need two Rapunzel's, but you need at least one Badwolf). Cerise is the reluctant peace keeper)

Oh and also an episode where people eventually hear about the Red/Badwolf romance (friendship?) but mistakenly attribute it to Cerise and Ramona somehow. Obvious it gets cleared up by the end.

If nothing else a picnic date between Ramona and Red.

It seemed towards the end we would have gotten something focused on the hood-badwolf sisters. I'm not sure if the reveal of the secret and acceptance is what I want. I would want a special wholly dedicated to the reform school. Or at least, whatever Ramona did to her sent there.

Because it feels kinda annoying to shove the whole arc of acceptance into 45 minutes start to finish. And nothing in the show explicitly conflicts with Cerise revealing her secret to Hood Hollow (Unfairest of them All) which is objectively the bigger fish for them, compared to the populous of Ever After High, so, I'd be bored watching it. Besides even if in show canon Cerise didn't do what she did. It'd still be just the high school they focus on.

Given how the webisodes are formatted I would've preferred they dealt with the reveal that way (or like how they did THD). The tension between uploads would help.

[builtbybrokenbells]

Hate To Love You | ii

Read part one here

Read part three here

Pairing: Sam Kiszka x f!reader

Word Count: 8.3k

Warnings: SMUT 18+, female masturbation, slight touch of (consenting!!) voyeurism, fingering (f!receiving), dirty talk, a bit of choking, unprotected sex (god please wear protection, im sorry i keep doing this), sex in a sort of kinda public place, shower sex, continuing to have sex while someone is talking to you ? Idk what that’s called but yeah, that, swearing, talking about toxic ex’s, fluff, angst, love triangle shit, sad Danny and Sammy (very much deserves a warning), sorry if I missed anything!

without further ado, here’s part two! Hope you enjoy :) also fair warning that this is actually kind of filthy by times 😭 I’m unsure of where that came from, but anyway. beware, this kind of has emotions all over the place. also disclaimer, I set this up as a terrible situation right from the beginning because for some reason i literally live for writing angst. i only started this fic bc i knew how i wanted it to end. it’s a character flaw now ig. please be kind and don’t mind any grammar mistakes!!

~

Your heart drummed in your chest as your hand slipped around the doorknob, opening the door and sliding through the crack. You let out a sigh of relief when the latch clicked behind you with no interruptions. See, the plan was that there was no plan. Just you and Sam inconspicuously sneaking off at different times and hoping nobody would notice that you’d both magically disappeared without a trace. So far, it had worked out in your favour. And if it hadn’t, nobody had said anything yet. It definitely wasn’t the smartest course of action, but it was the one you were going with. You decided you would reap the consequences when they made themselves known.

You took a seat on the couch of Sam’s dressing room, crossing your legs and leaning into the arm. Their set finished in five minutes, which was your cue to get moving. In no way were you willing to be caught sneaking into his room by one of his brothers after they got off stage. You checked your phone to see if you had any missed messages, but the screen was blank. You pulled up your camera, checking your hair and makeup to make sure you looked good. You sighed as you clicked your screen shut, tapping your fingers against the leather of the sofa with growing impatience.

The boys has started a small tour, just for about a month, and it was wrapping up in the next week. But, the month had been too long for your liking. It had been weeks since you’d seen Sam, or any of the others, for that matter. They had a show booked for a venue a few cities over from where you were living. You had managed to convince their tour manager, which you’d met a few times in the past, to sneak you in the back door so you could surprise Sam. Guilt was creeping up on you for not telling Danny about your arrival, but you were desperate to see the boy who’d been occupying your mind for weeks on end. You loved your best friend, but Sam had somehow wormed his way into your heart and showed no signs of leaving. He consumed almost every one of your thoughts. He’d been plaguing your phone with messages of missing you, and some rather provocative voice messages and photographs. He was making sure you wouldn’t forget about him. Little did he know, it wasn’t even a possibility that you could. So, you packed up for the weekend when the chance arose, just so you could curb the need for his company for a few more days.

So far, to the best of your knowledge, he had no idea. Before you’d arrived that night, Sam had texted you his daily countdown of how many days were left until he could see you. You were quite confident that you were still in the clear. One thing you hadn’t really thought out was how you were going to leave the venue without anyone knowing you’d been in there. And also, how the hell you were going to sneak in and out of his hotel room. You’d worry about that later, though. All you were concerned with was seeing the boy who’d been occupying your mind every night for weeks on end.

You’d fully intended on telling everyone about your’s and Sam’s new found relationship the night it had begun. Somewhere along the lines, the plan was lost in translation. The sneaking around had become thrilling, to say the least. Pretending to hate each other like usual, but sneaking off to a bathroom to make out, sneaking touches when no one was looking or from under the table, or leaving parties ten minutes after each other to go back to Sam’s place, was kind of hot. Plus, the idea of growing the relationship together first, making sure it would last before announcing it to everyone seemed most logical in your brain. But, above all, you were terrified of hurting Danny by telling him. Realistically, you knew deep down it might hurt him more by hiding it, but you were terrified of being the person to cause him any sort of pain. This had been dragging on for months now, no end in sight.

You were jolted back to reality when you had heard laughing and shuffling from the hallway. You immediately sat up, straightening yourself out. You couldn’t hide the smile on your lips, practically vibrating with excitement. You were eager to see his reaction when he came in. When the doorknob twisted, your heart could have exploded. The door pushed open and Sam stepped inside, not noticing you immediately. The door fell shut behind him with a thud. He was glistening with sweat, hair sticking to his neck, shirtless and barefoot. You had to stop yourself from giggling at the sight.

“Great show you put on, Sammy. Think I’d be able to get an autograph?” You asked sweetly. His head snapped up, eyes wide with shock. It took him a moment to process what was in front of him.

“Y/n?” He asked, still barely believing you were there. You jumped up, running over to him. He picked you up in a hug, kissing you as if it was the last time he ever would. You didn’t care if he was sweaty, you were just happy you were finally back in his arms. “What are you doing here?” He questioned, still holding you. Your legs were wrapped around him, his hands supporting your bum.

“I couldn’t wait any longer to see you, and I pulled some strings at work.” You whispered, kissing him again. It was soft, but imminent, showing him all the emotion you had pent up since he left. “I missed you so much, Sammy.” You whispered against his lips.

“You have no idea how much I missed you.” He said, resting his forehead on yours. “Does anyone else know you’re here?” He asked, gently letting you back down to the ground. You shook your head.

“As much as I love everyone else, I just needed to see you.” He understood what you meant, feeling the same way. “I drove here, so maybe I can just sneak out and meet you at your hotel once you get there?” You asked, hopeful. For the first time so far, sneaking around was much less than hot and way more of a pain in the ass.

“I mean, yeah, if you’d like to do that, we can.” He said, brushing some stray hairs from your eyes. “As long as I get to sleep next to you tonight, I’ll be happy.” He admitted. You couldn’t agree more.

“I just wanted to surprise you, I didn’t really think it all out too much. Five days just seemed so long.” You laughed, feeling a little dumb.

“That’s okay,” he rushed out “I’m more than happy to see you, trust me.” He let his fingers trail over your jaw, then down your neck and landing his palm on the back of your neck. He pulled you in for another kiss, much hungrier than the last. You could feel the shift in the dynamic before it was even over. “Bathroom, now.” He ordered once he’d pulled away. The sweet side vanished, quickly overpowered by desire.

“Why?” You cocked an eyebrow, challenging him.

“Because you’re going to get in the shower with me, and I’m going to fuck you.” He stated, simply. His eyes showed no hint of joking.

“I don’t want to ruin my hair and makeup. I prettied myself up just for you.” You smirked, knowing your disobedience to the order would get him going. “Don’t you want to appreciate it, first?”

“Oh, I have.” He paused, eyes looking you up and down. “I’m not going to say it again; go to the bathroom and take your clothes off.” He growled. You tilted your head to the side, staying in place, a sweet smile stuck on your lips. You always found it fun to mess with him. He was already tired of waiting for you, his patience never really existing in the first place.

“Make me.” Your cheekiness was quickly brought to a halt when he reached up, taking your throat in his hand. He was careful not to apply too much pressure, still terrified to hurt you in any way. He smiled, admiring the look on your face. He caught your lips in a kiss before tightening his grip slightly.

“I don’t think you want me to have to do that, sweetheart.” He whispered. You gave a nod, feeling your arousal pooling between your legs. “Now get in there and take your fucking clothes off.” You weren’t sure if Sam had normally been dominant in the bedroom, or if it was an extension of your relationship dynamic from almost the entire time you’d known him. Either way, you weren’t complaining.

He let you go, putting a little force behind it as he did so. You stopped yourself from stumbling and turned on your heels quickly, making your way to the bathroom without another word. You wasted no time ridding your clothes from your body, leaning against the counter to wait for him. You heard shuffling in the other room, presumably just Sam straightening some things out before he joined you. Your mind wandered to what he was going to do with you once he got you in the shower. You were out of your mind with anticipation; you had no idea how you went so long without having sex before Sam. Now that you were with him, it was all you wanted to do.

You couldn’t help but let your thoughts consume you, reaching a hand down between your legs for some type of satisfaction. You ran your fingers through your wetness, spreading it up to your clit, rubbing small circles. A gasp fell from your lips as you did so, but you couldn’t help but wish it was Sam’s fingers instead. You found yourself lost in the moment, not even noticing when the door opened until you heard someone speak. “You couldn’t even wait for me, princess?” A disapproving tone broke you from your concentration you quickly moved your hand, embarrassed to be caught. Sam moved towards you, now only clad in a pair of boxers. He grabbed your arm, roughly putting your fingers back to where they were before he’d interrupted. “I didn’t tell you to stop.” He reminded.

You watched him, cheeks flushed, trying to process what he was saying. His jaw was hard set, clearly worked up himself. Slowly, you returned to touching yourself, waiting for his approval. He took a step back, allowing himself full view. His breath caught in his throat. “Get up on the counter.” He demanded. You did as you were told without question, placing your hands on the cool surface and hoisting yourself up. You watched him watch you, feeling a knot form in your stomach. It had been far too long since he’d seen you like this. You placed your hands between your legs once more, but feeling a bit nervous being on display. “Don’t be shy, baby.” He said, reaching out and spreading your legs for you. “You wouldn’t have been touching yourself in here if you didn’t want me to catch you.” He said. Your eyes fluttered up to meet his. “Am I wrong?” You shook your head ‘no’. Although it wasn’t your original intent, a small part of you definitely wanted him to walk in on you. “Use your words.” He demanded.

“No, Sammy.” You said softly, feeling the anxiety slipping away.

“That’s what I thought.” His voice was gravelly. You could tell by his tone he was trying not to take you right there, but he was a bit too cocky to give in so quickly. “Get yourself off.” He ordered.

“Sam-“ you began to protest, but he cut you off.

“Shut up.” He snapped. You stopped, immediately scared that he wouldn’t allow you an orgasm at all. I said, get yourself off.” His hand was still on your knee. Although his tone was harsh, the loving circles he’d been tracing into your skin assured you it was an act. “Then, I’ll make you cum.” He assured you. “I just want to see how you did it while I was gone. Did you think of me?”

“Mmhmm.” You mumbled softly, picking up the pace in which you were rubbing yourself. “Wished it was you every time.” You mumbled.

“Oh so it was more than once?” Arrogance was radiating from him, but you couldn’t help but watch him with nothing but admiration. “Answer me, beautiful.” He said palming himself through his boxers.

“All of the time.” You answered truthfully. You let in a sharp inhale, feeling yourself getting close to your climax.

“I can’t wait to fuck you.” He admitted, hand trailing up your bare thigh. You could tell he was struggling not to touch you.

“You gonna show me how much you missed me, Sammy?” You wanted to put on a show for him, hooking your leg around his waist and pulling him closer to you. He let out a groan at your actions, tightening his fingers around your leg. “Are you gonna fuck me?”

“Don’t worry about what I’m going to do.” He spat, still rubbing himself, trying to get some relief. “Just worry about you. I’m getting impatient. If you don’t hurry up you may not get to cum at all.” You did as he said, quickening your pace and adding your fingers to the mix with your unoccupied hand. “That’s it, gorgeous.” He sighed, his eyes focused on your cunt. With the added stimulation of your other hand, you were painfully close to your climax. You threw your head back, closing your eyes and letting out a moan. Sam acted fast, grabbing your face in his hand and forcing your head back down. “Look at me. I want to watch you.” The statement caused your hands to stutter.

With his eyes locked on yours, gaze unwavering, you gave into the pleasure. Your orgasm hit you hard, way harder than it had in the past weeks. His eyes hardened, scared if he looked away from you, you’d disappear. Your own eyes rolled back in your head as you rode the high, desperate for air. “S-sammy!” You stuttered, almost as if you were praying to him.

“That’s it, baby.” He muttered, bringing your lips to his. He was painfully hard, already planning on getting you right off the counter into the shower. When he pulled away, you removed your hands from yourself, to which he immediately replaced them with his own. A strangled cry came from your mouth as his calloused fingertips brushed over your overly sensitive clit, but he didn’t stop.

“Sam, please,” you pleaded, trying to push his hands away.

“Stop it, you’re fine.” And he was right, you were. After a few moments of unbearable sensitivity, the euphoric feeling had hit you ten times harder. You were practically screaming your noises of pleasure, only fuelling him further. “Come on, princess.” He whispered, working his fingers into you. “I want you to cum like that for me.” And you did, clenching around his hand while crying his name. Tears were welling in your eyes as your legs shook, hips locked in a solid position. Your throat was hoarse, and you were sure the entire venue would have heard you if not for the concrete walls.

Just when you thought he would coddle you, maybe pull you in for a kiss, he removed himself from you completely. He walked to the shower, flicking the tap on. He threw his boxers away hastily and returned to your side. He didn’t utter a word as he picked you up. “Legs around me, now.” He ordered. You did as best you could to obey, barely being in the conscious mind. He stepped into the shower, still holding you, and pressed your back against the wall. The cool tile felt nice on your warm skin. He supported you with one hand while lining himself up with you with his other. He pulled you down on him, eliciting a groan from you. “Fuck I missed you,” he muttered, withdrawing his hips slightly and pushing himself back in. He stayed slow in that position, wanting to enjoy being close to you again without getting too intense. His head was buried in your neck, whispering sweet nothings while he sucked and bit marks into your skin.

“I love you, Sammy.” You mumbled, so fucked out you were barely aware of what you were saying. He paused his movement entirely, pulling his head away from you. “Oh my god, I’m sorry, I-I didn’t-“ you rushed out, finally coming to your senses. When he dropped you to your feet, your stomach churned with anxiety. He didn’t say a word, but watched you meticulously. You were starting to panic, tears rushing to your eyes. “I’ll just… I’m gonna g-go.” You excused yourself, making a move to get out of the shower. He grabbed your waist, his fingers searing into your skin. He pushed you against the wall of the shower so your chest was flush, but pulled your hips back towards him.

“Say it again.” He barked, his hand now gripping your shoulder. He lined himself back up with you.

“What?” You questioned, unsure of what was going on.

“Fucking say it again.” He hissed.

“I- I love you, Sam.” You said with more certainty. He pushed himself into you, moving his hand to your hip. The steam from the heat of the shower was filling your senses, sending you back into euphoria as he started to fuck you again.

“Again.” He pleaded, all tones of assertion gone, replaced with a touch of desperation.

“I love you, Sammy.” You repeated, confident this time. His hips sped, pushing your face into the tile with every thrust. Something had taken over him, he was more animalistic with you than he’d ever been. You were driving him crazy by saying it. He leaned down, leaving love bites all over your shoulders, gripping you so hard you were sure he’d leave bruises. You let out a blissful moan as he hit your g-spot. He continued on at that angle, loving the noises you’d been making for him.

A knock sounded at the door just as you were both reaching your peak. You expected him to pull out, or at least slow down, but he continued on. “Brother?” Someone called out from the other side of the door.

“Yeah?” Sam yelled back, voice unfaltering.

“You okay, man? You’ve been in there for a while. We’re getting ready to head to the bar.” You could recognize the voice as Josh’s. You had been trying to stay as silent as possible, but Sam did not make it easy. He’d slipped his hand around to the front of you, fingers dancing over your already abused clit.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just don’t feel too good, don’t know what hit me.” He lied so effortlessly that even you could have believed him if not for him being inside of you.

“Oh, okay, man. You think you’re gonna join us? Should we wait up?” He questioned. A whimper fell from your lips as he had hit the perfect spot. His free hand clamped around your mouth.

“No, you guys can go. I’ll be done here soon, then I’ll probably go to the hotel and call it an early night.” You couldn’t understand how his voice was so steady. You chalked it up to him singing and talking while he jumped around on stage.

“Okay, text us if you change your mind and we’ll let you know where we are.” Josh yelled.

“Will do!” Sam answered. He waited a moment until he heard the bang of the main door shutting, then he removed his hand from your mouth.

“What the fuck was that, Sam?” You whispered, still scared Josh would overhear you.

“You certainly weren’t complaining.” He muttered, slamming his hips back into you. You let out a gasp. “Actually, I think you’re gonna cum.” He said, smugly. He was correct. Damn him for knowing your body too well. He swirled his fingers over your clit a few more times before you unravelled, slurring out profanities. “That’s it, baby.” Sam groaned, not far behind you. “Tell me you love me again.” He ordered once you can down from your high.

“I love you.” You said softly, no tone of arrogance or anything other than honesty. He took a sharp intake of breath and reached his own orgasm, moaning your name and pulling you back down on him as it happened. He rested in you for a moment, just basking in the closeness. Eventually, he withdrew and you turned to face him.

“I love you, too, baby.” He said, eyes drooping with exhaustion. You couldn’t help but smile at the confession. “I love you so much.” He sighed, pulling your chin up so he could lean down to kiss you. “We seem to have a thing for fucking in bathrooms, though.” He stated once you broke apart. You both laughed at the statement.

You finished your shower with him, both of you slipping out and wrapping yourselves in towels. You dried off and picked up your clothes, making a move to go back to the main room. He followed closely behind, not wanting you to leave his sight. When you dropped your towel, he gave your ass a smack. You jumped in surprise, letting out a giggle. He went over to his bag and grabbed a hoodie and sweatpants, tossing them in your direction. “Here, if you’d like to leave undetected.” He smiled. You nodded, slipping on the bottoms. You had to cuff the sweatpants quite a few times and tie the drawstrings, but you made it work. You threw his hoodie on, leaving the hood up.

You revelled in the confines of the sweater, breathing in the scent. It smelled just like him and it warmed your heart. “You look good in my clothes.” He said, pulling on another pair of his pants. That was one thing you had to laugh at, Sam packed a bag like a middle aged woman on vacation; two outfits for every occasion. He grabbed his wallet from a pile of his things and opened it, pulling out a hotel keycard. “I got two at check in, cause I always end up losing one.” He chuckled. “Guess it really came in handy, this time.” He handed it to you. “The room number’s written on it too.” You slipped it in your pocket.

“Guess so, baby.” You said, giving him a smile. He leaned down to place another kiss to your lips. You held him there for a moment, never wanting to lose the feeling. When you pulled away, you let your hand rest on his cheek. “I’m gonna head out, try and avoid everyone.” You informed him.

“Sure,” he said, pulling you into a hug. “I’ll be there soon. Be safe.”

“I will, Sammy.” You said, making your way to the door. “Oh, uh, can you bring my clothes back with you?” You asked, suddenly embarrassed at your earlier interaction. A blush rose to your cheeks. He laughed at you, nodding his head at your request.

“Of course.” He followed you as you left, leaning against the doorway as you walked out. He watched you make your way to the exit, smiling to himself.

“Hey, who’s that?” A voice sounded from beside him. Sam looked to see Danny standing, watching you walk away, too.

“Oh, uh, just some chick from the front row.” Sam brushed it off. “Asked security to pull her back here before she left.” He lied quickly, trying to cover his own ass.

“Ah, I see,” Danny said. “And you let her take your clothes home?”

“Yeah, just old shit anyway. Figured I’d never miss it.”

“Uh huh,” Danny paused, knowing that the clothes in question were some of his favourites. “And how do you think y/n would feel if she found out you were fucking groupies?” Sam nearly choked on his breath, whipping his head to look at Danny.

“What?” He asked, in disbelief.

“Come on, man. We all know. You think you guys are being sneaky, but we know you both way too well.” He chuckled. “Just wish you guys would have told me, you know?” He said before he walked off.

“Wait, Danny!” Sam called to him, but he wasn’t turning around.

“Also, you guys are obnoxiously loud.” He said before disappearing around the corner.

“Fuck,” Sam muttered to himself, turning on his heels and walking back into his room.

•

You pushed through the door of the hotel, taking in the sight of the front lobby. It was beautiful. You didn’t have too much experience with hotels, or travel. Your parents were quite poor growing up, and you never really broke the curse as you grew into adulthood. Hotels and anything of the sort, no matter if they were five star or not, were quite luxurious to you. The lady at the front desk gave you a warm smile as you passed by. You mumbled a hello, returning her gesture. You went directly to the elevator, pressing the button to go upstairs. The doors swung open, inviting you inside.

You looked at the paper holder containing the keycard, seeing the room number written messily on the outside of it. You clicked the floor number and waited. You laughed at the messy penmanship; Sam could be so forgetful by times. Luckily, this time around, it really worked in your favour. The ding of the elevator broke you from your thoughts. The doors parted and you stepped into the hallway. Your legs carried you down the hall, eyes scanning the bold black numbers labelling the rooms.

You landed in front of the room that matched the number on the card, swiping the key in front of the sensor. The electronic lock clicked open and you stepped inside. Upon first inspection, it was so blatantly clear that this was Sam’s room. His cologne was still present in the air from before he’d left for the venue, a towel was left on the bathroom floor, and a few different outfits were strewn on the bed. The blankets were messy and the pillows were all over the mattress. You smiled to yourself, dropping your bag by the T.V. stand and immediately crawling in the mess of pillows, pulling the blanket over you. The pillowcase smelled like Sam’s shampoo, inviting you in and lulling you to sleep. It had been far too long since you fell asleep surrounded by him.

Without even realizing it, you drifted off into a slumber more peaceful than any you’d had while he was away.

About thirty minutes later, Sam was unlocking the door himself and making his way inside. He dropped his own bag by the door, kicking off his shoes. When he looked to the bed, his heart melted at the sight of you. He walked over, carefully sitting on the bed beside you. He ran a hand through your still damp hair, gently brushing out any knots. As you began to stir, he leaned down and placed a kiss on your head. You let out a small groan, slowly coming back to life. You stretched out your legs, taking in a large breath as your eyes fluttered open. “Well, hello, sleepyhead.” Sam said softly, hand still tangled in your hair. “Have a good nap?” You couldn’t help but smile. It had felt like an eternity since you’d woken up next to him.

“Would’ve been better if you were here.” You whispered.

“Good thing I’m here now, then.” He said. He wasn’t sure if he should tell you about his interaction with Danny earlier, not wanting to disturb the peacefulness of the reunion. He knew he’d have to eventually, but right now just didn’t seem like the time for it. You opened your arms, reaching out for him to lay beside you. “Just a second.” He promised, standing up. He took off his shirt leaving himself just in his sweatpants. You watched him, silently admiring him as he moved. You made a move to take your pants off, wanting as much closeness with him as you could get. You tossed them onto the floor beside you, scooting over a bit to give him some more room to climb in.

He picked up the comforter, sliding in next to you and wasting no time pulling you to his chest. The warmth of his body immediately relaxed you. “I know I already said it, but I missed you, Sammy.” You mumbled, eyes closing once more.

“I missed you too, baby.” He said, his hand snaking under your far too large sweatshirt, caressing the skin on your hip. “I promise I’ll take you out on a date when we get home, I just want to be here with you tonight. I want you all to myself.” He admitted.

“Me too,” you agreed. You both sat in silence for a moment, not moving, just soaking up each others company. Eventually, he pulled you on top of him, settling you between his legs. Your head rested on his stomach, your arms brought to your chest, curling the blanket up to your chin. He played with the ends of your hair, letting the locks fall through his long fingers.

“Did you mean what you said, earlier?” He asked.

“Which part?” You asked for clarification.

“That you loved me.” His hands worked their way up to your scalp, gently massaging it. You let out a hum of pleasure at the feeling.

“Yeah, I did, Sammy.” You whispered, your own hand now moving to his stomach, tickling his skin with your fingertips. The muscles in his abdomen flexed at the contact, causing a small giggle to fall from you. “Of course I did.” You added. “I was scared that it was too soon, you looked almost… mad when I said it. But I meant it.” He laughed quietly at your words, finding it ridiculous that you thought he’d be mad at you.

“I wasn’t mad, y/n. Shocked, yeah, for sure. I wasn’t expecting you to say it.” He admitted. “But I’ve been waiting to hear you say that since the day I met you. If that was the only thing you said to me for the rest of my life, I’d be happy.” His hand that wasn’t knotted in your hair came down on top of yours, lacing your fingers together. “Why would you think I’d be mad at you?” He whispered now, gentle with his tone. You stayed silent for a moment, unsure of how to answer him.

“I don’t know… I guess I’m just so used to my past boyfriends being mad at me all of the time. I suppose it’s just in my nature to expect you to be mad, or assume I did something wrong.” You confessed. His heart leapt at the use of the word boyfriend. That had not been discussed yet, but he certainly didn’t mind the sound of it. On the other hand, he was curious. He’d never heard you talk much about your former partners.

“You can talk about it, if you want.” He didn’t want to pry, but he did want to know more. He gave you the option to tell him or not.

“I don’t know, Sammy.” You sighed. “Not much of a story, I guess. I’ve only had one other boyfriend. He was a dick. I dated him all through high school and moved in with him after graduation. He was mean and I didn’t know that it wasn’t how I should be treated. I didn’t know anything else.” A frown encased his lips. “He never let me go out, or have any friends. He wanted me to do anything he wanted whenever he wanted it. He always wanted to fight with me and according to him, I could never do anything right. That’s how I met Danny, actually.”

“What do you mean?” Sam never actually got close enough with you to know much about you in the beginning. He knew you were beautiful, funny and kind. He knew you adored Danny, but not why. He knew enough to fall for you, but he really wanted to know you, now. He wanted the little things constantly stored in the back of his head so he could use them as needed. He wanted to know what made you, you.

“After a particularly bad fight, I went to a bar to get some cheap liquor.” You laughed at the memory. “I’m not sure why, but it seemed right at the time. I barely drank back then. But Danny showed up, he was just finishing up with you guys at the studio. He sat beside me and bought some god-awful looking beer.” You shuddered at the thought. No matter how hard Danny tried to convince you it was good, you couldn’t stand the taste of it. “He introduced himself and noticed I’d been crying. He talked to me all night, wanting to know everything about me. It was the first time I’d ever felt…” you pondered for the right word. “Seen.” You finished. “He was the only person in my life by that point, who’d ever cared enough about me to want to know everything. And he barely knew me.” You had to laugh.

Sam felt a rush of jealousy flood through him, but he pushed it aside. “He offered me a place to stay because my boyfriend at the time told me to get out, and that he never wanted to see me again. You know why?” You asked.

“Hmm?” Sam mumbled, still listening intently.

“A male coworker sent me a friend request on Facebook.” You whispered. “It was bound to happen eventually, and I had an apartment lined up just in case. Things had been really bad for a while. But he just kicked me out, he didn’t want to hear anything I had to say. Just opened the door for me like I’d meant nothing to him for six years.”

“That’s terrible, y/n.” Sam consoled you, pulling you closer to him as he spoke. ‘I’d never do that to you.’ He thought to himself.

“Yeah, but I never would’ve ended up here if it didn’t happen.” You reminded him. “But Danny came with me as backup to get my shit from his house. He helped me move into the apartment I live in now. We got wine drunk together and the rest was history. He didn’t care that I was broken. He didn’t care that I had no idea how to make friends, because I was never allowed to have them. Just wanted to be with me.” You shrugged. Sam tried his best to just hear your words rather than think about how Danny felt about you, but he was struggling. “You know, I prayed for months that something would happen, anything to make life better. And he showed up that night. Just waltzed in and changed everything in an instant.”

“You love him, don’t you?” Sam couldn’t help it. The jealousy was surging through him. He wanted to listen to you talk, but his heart was breaking at the words you were saying. You lifted your head to look at him, noticing the expression of worry.

“Yeah, of course I do, Sam.” You were honest. “But it’s never been like that for me.” His body relaxed slightly. “Danny was always meant to be my best friend. He’s been the person I looked for my whole life. Someone to do stupid shit with, to make memories, to be my kids godparent, I love him more than anything, but I’m not in love with him, Sammy.”

“I’m sorry, I know that. I just… yeah.” He muttered. “I just get nervous, I guess. I know how he feels about you. I know how much he cares for you, and you for him. It’s hard to think that he could steal you away at any given moment.” He laughed quietly, more to himself. “You know, it would’ve made so much more sense if you ended up with him. He deserves you way more than I do.” He said, guilt seeping through his pores.

“It was never a matter of ‘deserving’ anything. If I wanted to be with Danny, I would be. I’m in love with you, and I always knew it would end up like this. The minute I met you… it was like all of the bullshit from the past didn’t matter. The pain from the last relationship didn’t hurt, because it brought me to you. It made it all make sense, you know?” You sighed, fingers still dancing with his. “I know we treated each other like shit for a long time, but I always knew. From the minute I saw you, I wanted to love you, to be in love with you. I wanted this, exactly what we’re doing right now.” His heart drummed against his ribs, threatening to break them. He couldn’t believe how much you affected him.

“Me too, baby.” He sighed. “All I want to do is love you; I’m sorry that I was an asshole for so long.” You sat up, moving around to sit on him. You straddled his waist, pulling his face in your hands and running your thumb over his cheek.

“We’re here now, aren’t we? Isn’t that what matters?” He smiled at your words, putting his hands on your hips.

“I guess so.” He agreed, catching your lips in a kiss. “I’m so lucky to be able to love you.” He breathed as you parted ways. “I want to know you. I want to know everything about you; I want to make sure that you know how you deserve to be loved. I hope I can do it properly.”

The sentiment of his words hung over the room like a cloud of serenity. You two enjoyed the alone time, rolling around in the bed, sharing kisses and laughs. You played music softly in the background, singing along to songs that had no meaning to you until that night. The evening dwindled by too quickly for either of your liking, slipping into the late hours of the night and eventually to the earliest ones of the morning. You wanted to live in that moment forever, where nothing was wrong and it was just the two of you making up for lost time. Sam made it so easy to fall for him, with his sweet words, loving touches and fantastic sex. He treated you better than you ever could have imagined a partner doing. The months of romance felt like an eternity; you felt like you’d known him like this your whole life.

Eventually, exhaustion enveloped the two of you and the music that was once fuelling your energy turned into lullabies. Sam was on his side, facing you with his arm draped over your bare torso. Somewhere in the events of the night, you both had ended up naked, but not resulting in a sexual motive. The intimacy of being completely exposed with no intent of sex was beautiful. It was just the two of you seeing each other completely, loving each other fully. Your eyes were drooping, barely being able to hold them open. His were similar, but he was forcing himself to stay awake so he didn’t miss a second of admiring you. His eyes on you, holding so much emotion behind them, felt like pure bliss. Being appreciated by Sam was the greatest feeling you’d ever experienced.

“I love you, princess.” He whispered, voice laced with sleep. “So much.”

“I love you, Sammy.” You said, the words coming straight from your heart. You were sure that you both had said it a million times that night alone, but the novelty of the phrase was too exiting to stop. Finally, the proclamation of emotion you’d both been feeling for so long was in the air, accepted and desired.

“I’m gonna take you to breakfast in the morning, before you have to go. Just me and you.” He promised. You smiled at his words but your chest ached at the realization you’d have to leave him again the next day. Although the time between now and seeing him next was much shorter than the one previous, you didn’t want to be away from him at all.

“I’d like that.”

“Me, too.” You laughed at him, barely awake and still trying to hold a conversation. You had both closed your eyes, finally giving your bodies a chance to rest, just minutes away from sleep. He pulled you closer to him, your head quickly finding its way to the crook of his neck. You drifted to sleep to the scent of him, finally feeling at home.

•

A violent knock on the door shook you both from your slumber. Neither of you had moved from the position you’d fallen asleep in. You both ignored the first knock, figuring it was one of the boys coming back drunk and wanting to chat. “Go back to sleep, baby.” Sam mumbled, clearly not caring about who was looking for him. You tried to do as he said, but another burst of loud knocking pried your eyes back open.

“Sam, open the fucking door!” You were upright now, immediately recognizing Danny’s voice. Sam groaned, reaching out for his phone.

“It’s 4 in the morning, man, go to bed! We can talk tomorrow!” He shot back.

“I know she’s in there, Sam. I just want to talk to her.” Danny pleaded. You could tell he was plastered. You could hear it in his voice. Your heart was racing, panic encased on your features. Sam gave a look to you as if to say it was okay. He rolled out of bed, pulling on a pair of pants as you searched wildly for clothes for yourself. You threw on the clothes Sam had given you earlier, crawling back in the bed and hoping that Sam could convince Danny to go back to his room. Sam wanted that, too, hoping you would just talk to him in the morning, when you were both sober and in the right state of mind.

Sam shuffled to the door. You heard him open it a crack before speaking again. “Just go to bed, Danny. You’re hammered.” Sam sighed, trying to reason with him.

“You’ve both been avoiding me for months and lying to my face the whole time. I’m done. I’m sick of waiting for you to decide to tell me the truth.” Danny snapped. Your stomach twisted in a knot, palms breaking out into a sweat. He knew. He’s known all along.

“Hey, stop, man. It’s okay. We can talk in the morning.” Sam muttered, obviously still half asleep. You didn’t understand how he was so calm about the whole thing. Sam made a move to try and shut the door, but Danny pushed it open again, not done with the conversation.

“Just let me talk to her, please.” Danny said again. “I know she’s in there. I saw her car outside.” Danny was pushing back on the door as Sam tried to hold it closed. “You can’t keep my best friend from me.” Something in Sam snapped at his territorial marking, not liking it in the slightest.

“Okay, fine, in the morning!” Sam was losing his patience. “I’m not letting you talk to her while you’re drunk and pissed off.” Sam was being overly protective, not willing to budge from him stance.

“I’m not going to fucking hurt her, asshole.” Danny argued. “She’s my best friend, Sam. I have to talk to her.” With a final push, Danny got the door open and stepped in the room. Sam sighed, stepping down and out of his way. Danny walked in, his eyes immediately landing on you. He stared for a moment, watching you sitting in Sam’s bed, wearing his clothes, looking scared. He felt a wave of hurt enveloping him. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again, unsure of what to say. He’d gotten his answer already. He already knew what he would find, but he was hoping he was wrong.

“Danny,” you started, but he’d already turned to walk back out. Your heart shattered, but you pushed it to the side. You were not the one that should be upset in the situation. You jumped out of the bed, following after him. Just as he was rounding the corner into the hallway, Sam grabbed your wrist to stop you from following. “Let go, Sam.” You warned.

“Y/n, just wait until the morning. We’ve waited this long, we can wait one more day.” He begged.

“That’s the problem! We never should have waited this long to begin with!” You cried, still trying to shake yourself from his grip. “We lied to him. I hurt him. I’m still hurting him!”

“This isn’t a good idea, you’re both upset-“

“We’re going to be upset either way! I need to make it right with him before it’s too late. He’s my whole world, Sam.” You pleaded with him. Sam’s eyes darkened at your statement, once again feeling that pain he’d felt walking into Danny’s apartment the year before.

“What about me, y/n? Am I not part of that world, too?” He said, hurt dripping off of his words.

“What? Of course you are Sam, what do you mean?” You scoffed.

“I mean exactly what I said. This is just like it was in the beginning. No matter how many times we fuck, or how many times you say you love me, he’ll always come first, right?” You opened your mouth to retaliate, but found no words coming out. “That’s what I thought.” Sam rolled his eyes. “You wanna go talk to him? Fine by me.” He dropped your wrist. “It doesn’t matter what I think, anyway.”

“You’re jealous now, of all of the times you could’ve been jealous? We did something to hurt him and you’re pissed off because I want to make it right?”

“No, I’m pissed off because it seems like I was right the whole time. You may not have been fucking him, y/n, but he will always be the most important person to you. He says jump and you’ll do it, no matter how high. No matter who’s begging you not to.”

“Sam you’re being ridiculous.” You scowled, feeling the months of hatred and vicious words coming back.

“It’s four in the morning, y/n. He shows up drunk and wakes us up, barges in here and doesn’t even say a word to you, and you’re chasing after him. Im asking you to stay. I am begging you to at least wait until the morning, when he’s not drunk and you’re in your right mind, but you refuse to see that maybe that’s the most logical thing because like I said a million times before, he comes first, before anyone else. It. Will. Always. Be. Him.” He annunciated his words so harshly that it caused your blood to boil.

You couldn’t believe that after everything you’d told Sam, every memory and sweet word over the last few months, everything that you’d professed to him that night alone, he could throw this out the window so easily. Tears welled in your eyes, begging to be shed. You loved Sam, but he always seemed to be the one to know exactly how to break your heart. You thought that he’d changed, that him being an asshole was just one big misunderstanding, but maybe you were wrong. Maybe Sam would never change, no matter how much you hoped he would. “I’m not fighting with you over this, Sam. Not again.” You said, completely defeated. “I could go into the next room and spit on him, even kick him in the face and you’d still try and argue that I’m in love with him. You didn’t believe me when I told you the million other times, and you never will. I’m done fighting.” Your voice broke.

“If you leave,” he paused, eyes angry but you could tell it was covering sadness. “If you run out there after him, I’m done, y/n. I can’t always feel like I’m in second place.”

“That’s your problem, Sam. You’re trying to beat him in a race, but you guys aren’t even competing in the same one.” You took a step towards the hallway. “Oh, and if you’re genuinely giving me an ultimatum, whatever this is, ends here. Because if you make me choose, I will never forgive you.” You said, back turned to him now. You couldn’t see it, but a tear fell down his cheek, too. He didn’t answer, just watched you teeter between the hallway and his hotel room, hoping you’d turn back towards him.

“You say that because you know you’d choose him.”

“If you make me stay, we’re done.” You whispered.

“I guess we’re in stalemate, then.” He replied. You closed your eyes, praying he’d say something else, that he would change his mind. Instead, you were met with silence. You looked back at him over your shoulder, wanting to see him one last time before you made up your mind. The sadness in his features implored you to stay, to hold him and tell him you only ever wanted to love him, but the anger towards him that was brewing in your chest was overwhelming. “Please, y/n, come back to bed with me.” He tried one last time. You checked to make sure you’d slipped your phone and your car keys in your pocket when you got up, relieved when you found that you did.

“I love you, Sammy.” You whispered. His eyes glistened with hope, thinking that maybe you were going to stay. As soon as he’d let himself feel it, it was quickly shattered. You had stepped into the hallway and slammed his door shut, not even waiting for him to say it back. He stood, staring at the doorway where you’d been standing just seconds before, not knowing where to go from there.

.

Don’t worry!! It doesn’t end here, there will be a part three! 🫶🏻

[smolwritingchick]

The Bangtan Gal Chapter 72- You Were Worth The Wait

Chapter Summary: Jennie tells Jungkook exactly how she feels about him.

Words: 9,000+

Author's Note: We made it! I was watching one of my soap opera couples and had to add one of the cute lines she said to her significant other on the show. It fits nicely. Now for the next challenge...writing Jennie and Jungkook as a couple!

Un-thinkable (I'm Ready) by Alicia Keys always makes me think about Jennie and Jungkook. It's so cute. I like how to lyrics change from "I think I deserve it." to "I know I deserve it.". And it reminds me of Jungkook telling Jennie that she deserves all the love she's getting.

---------

Jungkook was grinning ear to ear when watching Jennie’s recent tweet with her manager’s daughter. It was pleasing to see her smile but also seeing her face made him think back to that day he told her how he felt.

He felt vulnerable that day, letting all his defenses down as he poured his heart out to her. After standing by, admiring her, he had finally said everything he wanted to tell her. She was the one he wanted to be with and he felt assured that this was the woman he wanted to be in a relationship with.

The Golden Maknae couldn’t help but think of how nervous he was before knocking on her door. How sick to his stomach he was as he thought about her feelings and if he was prepared to face the consequences if his confession went south.

Jungkook thought about the conversation he had with Namjoon after letting him know that he finally told her how he felt. Namjoon was proud that he confessed and liked the fact that he was still considerate of her feelings, understanding that he told her on short notice and he would still be friends if she didn’t return his feelings. But Namjoon had a strong feeling that she would, so Jungkook did not need to worry.

“Why are you so worried?” Yoongi grumbled from his nap on the couch.

Jungkook turned to him. “What do you mean, hyung?”

“Jeez, stop whining. I’m pretty sure she feels the same. Just relax and wait for her to come back. You kids overthink things too much. It’s pretty damn obvious to me that she likes you, anyway.”

“I-I’ll wait for her to confirm it when she comes back.” Jungkook looked down shyly.

Every time he heard his hyungs say that she liked him too, it had given him a lot of butterflies in his stomach.

Yes or No, Jennie? Only time will tell...

----------

The next day, after her photo shoot and interview with Billboard, Jennie felt elated about when it would be released to the public. She decided to go get lunch after the long morning. While walking through the streets of LA alone, she couldn’t help but notice two extremely familiar figures and decided to follow them to get a closer look.

Was it who she thought it was?

As soon as she heard one of their voices, it confirmed everything.

“No friggin' way. You gotta be kidding me. I can’t believe this. Tony? Nate?” she called out.

The two men turned around and widened their eyes. “Jennie!?” Nate happily yelled.

“Jen!” Tony beamed.

“Yooooooo!” she ran over and hugged them. “It’s been forever! I missed you guys!”

“We missed you, too! What brings you back to LA? I thought you were in Seoul.” Tony asked.

“I had a few interviews. Gosh, how have you two been!? We need to hang out, like right now! I’m on my way to eat, are you doing anything?”

“Actually we were on our way to grab something to eat, too. Let’s go, we’ll show you this nice spot that has some good ass food.” Nate suggested.

“Definitely!” Jennie beamed.

Once they got settled in a nearby restaurant and got their food, they began catching up like old times.

“BTS has soared since American Hustle Life.” Nate praised.

“Oh yeah, I am so proud of us. We are grateful for you guys. It’s just crazy how things are now for us. Getting our first win for I Need U, gaining more fans, and just sharing more quality music for the world, I’m very happy with where we are at, right now. What are you guys doing? You still working on music, right?”

The two men sounded so enthusiastic about their music projects and Jennie couldn’t wait to hear what they had in store. She admired their hustle and work ethic even after American Hustle Life.

“Now the real question is are YOU working on music? Where is that album, girl?” Tony asked.

Jennie laughed. “I have a ton of songs on my computer that I wrote. I have to record all of them but the first thing is making better instrumentals. Everyone is always asking these days. It makes me nervous. I don’t think I’ll be releasing anything, any time soon.”

“Well, I want you to let me know when you begin working on it full time because I want to help you with the album.” Nate offered.

That surprised Jennie as she stared at him in disbelief. “Are you deadass?”

“Yeah! And me too. We can always help you, y’know?” Tony added.

“Wow, thank you, that would be great. I could use all the help I can get. It’s nice to work with a team on a project like this. Suga and Rapmon also have been glancing at what I’ve been working on. They told me they can see what I’m aiming for. I just don’t think it’s anywhere near done.”

“It’s best to take your time with the music. Now is it a mixtape or album?” Tony asked

“I got a lot. So, I plan to drop EPs and a full album. I'm starting with the EP first, to show off who Jennie is. I do want to create a full album down the line as well. I kind of wanted my songs to go by a timeline for the album. Back from when I started in Amity until where I’m at now. So, kind of like a story. I want to express my emotions. Like how happy I was in Amity, then how angry and sad I was in Amity. Then moving on to BTS, feeling various emotions from that. Like how I passed out and had that concussion, you know, just a whole story of what I have gone through in life. The good times and the bad times. And then some random songs, too.”

“I see. I like the idea. Yeah, hit us up when you’re finally ready. I just hope it’s soon. I’m gettin’ real eager to help you with this.” Nate grinned.

“Will do. BTS misses you guys, so much. You gotta come down to Seoul when you get the chance.”

“Oh yeah, we got to. Gotta talk about the good old days at American Hustle Life.”

“For me, haha I dunno about them. I think they’re still traumatized with vans, thinking they’ll be kidnapped like last time.” she laughs with them.

After their lunch, they take a photo together with Jennie tweeting, ‘My album is coming out 20-eventually! Ahahaha good to see you guys! Glad I ran into you two! Missed you! Thank you for everything.’

Some fans had tweeted under the photo:

‘HOLY SHIT!’

‘Is this real!?’

‘Someone check on Jimin! Lmfaoooo’

‘Tonyyyyyyyy! Nateeeeee! The memories!’

‘Who are they???”

‘They were the mentors for BTS during American Hustle Life! Watch it!’

After lunch, Jennie finally met up with Kevin to go shopping at Target for a few items so he could ask out the girl he liked. She was amused to see how nervous and out of place he was as he tried to find the most random things to put in the cart.

“Um, I don’t think you want to give her that.” she took out the box of baby toys.

“Oh shit. I thought those were something else. Ah...sorry. I was trying to find a plush doll for her or something.” Kevin nervously said.

“Dude, relax. You’re going to be fine.” she patted him on the back and continued to push the cart into another aisle. “Get her this.” she grabbed a big Tweety Bird plushie.

“I am so glad you’re here. I wouldn’t know what to get.” he took it and put it in the cart. “I just want to make it simple, cute, and special.”

“I think you’re overthinking it. She is going to love it.”

While Jen and Kevin were shopping around they were unaware of some sasaengs that had followed Jennie, taking photos of them. From the angles of the pictures, it looked like they were dating because of how close they were. Once they got what they needed, they posted the photos on Twitter and it spread like wildfire.

‘I found Jennie and Kevin!! Aren’t they cuteee?!’ was the caption for the tweet.

While browsing on her phone, Jennie had gone to her latest photo to see various comments flowing in. The most common comment she had gotten was that she and Kevin were relationship goals. It made her confused but she laughed it off and commented, ‘Lol @ these comments. **Best friend goals, actually.’

But then she saw that there were dating rumors about them. And of course, it had to be on Allkpop as she scrolls through.

‘BREAKING! BTS’ Jennie dating?!’

“What...? How do you...” she stood there puzzled. 

How could they write an article and have a photo of them that quickly when they are already here at the store?

Unless...

Jennie set her phone back in her pocket and turned around. “Is someone watching me?”

“Everything cool?” Kevin turned around and saw her walking away. “Aye! Jen! Ayo Jen! What’s the problem?” he grabbed the cart to follow her.

“Someone is following me. Someone snapped photos of us and now there’s another article talking about me allegedly dating. Again.” Irritation was evident in her voice. “I cannot catch a break, huh? Why is all this coming at me, now? A guy and a girl can’t be friends?”

Kevin ended up laughing. “Wow...they just won’t quit huh?”

“Terrible timing, right now,” she responded, thinking about Jungkook. "Stupid Allkpop for their article. Just why now? Stop believing the littlest things and making a big deal out of something so simple.”

She decided to just ignore it for now and have the last laugh. This needed to end today. She was tired of the speculation. It was like she could never get peace by hanging out with Kevin without someone assuming they were dating. Any guy for that matter.

“Okay, enough ignoring,” Jen muttered and grabbed her phone to go on Twitter. 

All right, she did say she would ignore it but she wanted to call out whoever followed her.

She tweets, reblogging the Allkpop article, ‘EHHHH WRONG. Change the headline to BTS’ Jennie helps friend ask out a girl he likes. #ThinkBeforeYouWrite #SoompiWillAlwaysBeBetter #LetAChickBreathe’

Kevin laughed at her response. "I love how you call them out like it's nothing,"

She chuckled with him. "They just be getting on my fucking nerves, I swear,"

After calming down, the two continued to shop. 

“She skateboards too, y’know.” he brought up.

“Ooh really? Why not ask her out at the skatepark where you two hang out?”

“That’s a good idea. Okay, let’s do that.”

“Let’s buy some chalk.” she went to find the school supplies aisle. “I have just the plan.”

Arriving at the skatepark, Jennie planned out everything for him, asking him to help her draw cute messages in chalk on the ground. Kevin had added a few inside jokes that he and his crush share, too.

“Do you think that ‘Will You Skate With Me and Be My Skater Girlfriend’ is too cheesy? You said she loves cheesy quotes. Is that too much?” she asked.

“Nah, it’s perfect. And I’ll place the plushie and flowers right here on the bench.”

After setting things up, Jennie and Kevin were proud of their work. 

“All right, I best be going,” Jennie announced.

“You leaving, now?” he panicked.

She let out a laugh. “Kevin, breathe. I’ll watch from afar and then I’ll leave. I gotta get ready for Angelina’s party. Just tell her everything you told me. Tell her exactly what you’re feeling and be 100% honest. She is going to say yes. I know it from what you told me about her.”

He nodded, feeling more confident. “Thank you. Really Jen. You a real one for this.”

“Of course.” She pulled him in for a tight hug. “I’ll be watching~!” she walked away.

Keeping a safe distance, she had seen him meet up with the girl. She looked so happy to see him. It was pretty obvious she liked him a lot. After they had skated around, the girl soon noticed what was written in chalk and turned around in shock. Her face looked so happy as Jen’s heart fluttered. Gosh, this was getting her in her feelings as she thought about Jungkook.

Filming, Jennie squealed in the background as she watched how the girl jumped into Kevin’s arms. “I am crying~. Oh mah God, look at how cute they are! Goals~! Black love is so beautiful,”

She posted the adorable video on Twitter with the caption, ‘Kevin, you did amazing! I am so happy for you. I’m wishing you both many beautiful years of dating. You had nothing to worry about.’

After taking a selfie with his new girlfriend, Kevin posted the photo on Instagram with the caption, ‘She said yes! This is a dime I can’t pass. Thank you, Jennie, for helping me plan this. I owe you big time.’

Jen commented, ‘Anytime buddy! Glad I could help you confess to this special lady. I would like 3 bags of smarties please!’

Kevin commented back, ‘Lmfaoooo, I got you, girl.’

-------

On her way to Angelina’s place, Jennie decided to post a selfie of herself looking completely done at those who always make pointless assumptions and wrote the simple petty caption, ‘Salty...’ to throw shade at those who were quick to judge.

It also looked like Allkpop had deleted the article instantly after that and ARMY took over to roast them for their nonsense.

Finally arriving at Angelina’s place, the two friends got ready together for her party.

“So what type of party is this again?” Jennie asked.

“I just wanted to have a random party at this big venue because I was bored and missed hanging out with some familiar faces such as yourself. We’ve all been a little stressed with work and other obligations, so it will be nice to let loose and dance around a bit.

“Jennie! You’re back! Finally! I missed you!” Tyrone, Angelina’s little brother ran up to hug her.

“Hey! I missed you, too! You being good?” she beamed.

“For you.” he grinned, staring at her with heart eyes.

“You idiot, if you don’t stop flirting with her. She’s taken!” Angelina killed his vibe.

“What!? You have a boyfriend? Who is he? Is he cuter than me?”

“I-I don’t have a boyfriend-“

“Not yet.” Angelina cut her off with a smirk. “Now get out of my room.” she shoved him out and shut the door, locking it despite his protests.

“You’re so mean.” Jen laughed

“He’ll live.” Angelina shrugged and went into her closet. “Diana left your outfit in here somewhere...”

While Jen sat on Angelina’s bed, she looked at the missed text messages from Jimin and Tae. They had sent her multiple candid photos of Jungkook, making her heart flutter. He looked so cute today.

Jimin: BEHOLD! Your future boyfriend! Kekekekeke [7:17 P.M]

Jen: LOL for goodness sake... [7:33 P.M]

Taehyung sent a photo: Don’t you think your future boyfriend is cute? [7:33 P.M]

Jen: Of course [7:34 P.M]

“Got it!” Angelina handed her the outfit. “Well, it’s a big skirt and this black lace bra. Diana said something about you always having an eye on this outfit but could never wear it in Korea because they’re more conservative over there, right?”

“Yeah! She really got me this? I gotta thank the stylists and her for bending their backs for this outfit. I always wanted to wear this. What are you wearing?” Jen asked. Once Angelina showed the dress, she widened her eyes. “Girl! You about to get Namjoon to take a flight to LA to see you, ahahahah!”

“That would be so nice, hahaha.”

After showering, straightening her hair, and putting it in a high ponytail, she connected Angelina’s phone to her speaker in the bathroom and pressed shuffle while applying some light natural makeup to complete the look in the mirror.

Angelina walked into the bathroom to join her and stared in awe. Jennie turned and stared at her in awe as well. The both of them were stunned at how good they looked.

“What?” they say in unison. “Sorry, you’re just glowing!”

Once they realized they were talking as one, they ended up laughing. 

“That lovebug bit you pretty hard. You can’t stop smiling.” Angelina added.

“Me? What about you? You look so happy, I love seeing you like this. I like this vibe, let’s keep this.”

“For sure~!” she said and walked into her room while Beyonce’s 7/11 played. 

Angelina was recording herself lip-syncing to the song on Jennie’s phone as she traveled back to the bathroom, while Jennie was performing the choreography by the mirror, in her own world.

Man I swear I kick it with you

Girl I wanna kick it with you

Man I know I kick it with you

Yeah I spin’ around and I kick it with you

Shoulders sideways, smack it, smack it in the air

Legs movin’ side to side, smack it in the air

Angelina stood there stunned when she saw her best friend twerking. “OKAY!”

“Oh crap!” Jennie stopped and laughed, covering her face. She ran out of the room, looking adorable while Angelina continued to laugh.

“Yooooo and I was filming the whole time! That was perfect timing! Ahahah!”

Posting it on BTS’ Twitter, Angelina tweeted, ‘What are we going to do with her? #HackedByAngelina’

After they were ready, Jennie filmed Angelina to hype her up. “Okay, girl! Strut! Look at good she looks tonight guys!”

“Stop...” she covered her face, letting out a giggle.

“You did it to me, I’m gonna do it to you. That outfit though! Legs for days! Who is you?!” she hyped her up. Angelina gave in and strutted around, posing while Jennie continued to give her praises.

The two even decided to take some photos before going to the party. The one photo of Jennie posing happily in her outfit had caused all the members to comment about it.

‘PLEASE be wary of guys trying to make a move on you, sweetie. :) :) :) #JinIsSTRESSED'

That caused Jennie to laugh. Poor Jin. He was probably freaking the hell out in Seoul right now. But he just really cared and wanted to make sure no one would try any funny business.

‘I second the motion! !!! Whaaaa please be careful, you may make guys faint from your beauty #Jimin’

‘I third the motion! What a stunner #Rapmon’

‘Fourth the motion! Ahhhhh munchkin you look so adorable!! #JHope’

‘Fifth the motion! Sooo cute Ennie! #V’

‘Sixth the motion! You look nice, kid. #Suga’

‘Seventh the motion! Just wow... #Jungshooked’

Jen tweeted back, ‘LOL, I won’t! Besides, I am already locked down <3 Love you ARMY!’

But lowkey the tweet was meant for Jungkook to subtlety let him know that she was already his. She hoped he read through the hints. 

During the car ride to the party with Diana and Angelina, Jennie made a quick Twitter video to vent about her struggles with finding smarties.

“There were NO smarties at the store! None! How!? Who took the last bag of smarties!? I wanna find the person who keeps taking my smarties!”

“Wasn’t it you who kept going to the same store getting bags of smarties and eating them?” Diana brought up.

“Oh wait...” Jen realized it was her the entire time and the car erupted into booming laughter.

Salty, Jennie looked down in embarrassment.

“I am judging very hard right now,” Angelina said in the background.

“Anyway, how y’all doing today?” Jen grinned sheepishly, fixing her hair before ending the video.

After posting the funny video, she saw a text from Jimin,

Jimin: Jungkook keeps whining about how beautiful you look in that outfit. I recorded his rambling ahahah. [8:45 p.m]

Putting on an earbud, she played the voice recording and had a smile on her face.

“...utiful she is? Just wow...it’s like every day she gets cuter and cuter.” she heard Jungkook ramble.

‘I wonder what else you say about me when I’m not around.’ Jen thought with a smile.

“She is so in her feelings. She can’t even stop smiling.” Diana called her out, snapping Jen out of her thoughts.

“Huh? What?” she took her earbud out.

“I said, what exactly are you going to do when you see Jungkook?”

“Uh...say how I feel?”

“You’re going to freeze,” Angelina predicted.

“I am not going to freeze. Why would I freeze? I’m going to be cool and calm.”

Diana snorted while Angelina added, “Oh, trust me, as soon as you get back, you’ll go to Jungkook with open arms.”

“Okay, yeah.” Jen shrugged.

“Open heart...” she went on

“Yep.”

“Open mouth...”

“Ye-hey!”

“Open legs...” she teased.

Jen covered her ears, “Ugh, my virgin ears.”

--------

A few nights later, Jungkook was in the dorm, upset at the 95 Liners because they had brought up Jen’s dating rumors with Kevin in a teasing manner. He had gotten a little jealous and even though the rumors were false, he couldn’t help but feel bothered that his hyungs kept trying to tease him about it.

Periodically, the Golden Maknae would roll his eyes at their words. The 95 Liners were planning on going out to eat with Jungkook but thought of a plan to make him stay home so he could be alone in the dorm when Jennie arrived back. Jungkook didn’t know when she was coming home so it would be nice for the 97 Liners to have some alone time to talk things out.

After a few teasing words, Jungkook angrily shoved them out of his room and slammed the door, letting them know that he didn’t want to go out anymore.

“I think it worked.” Jimin high fived Taehyung and went to call Namjoon while heading out to go eat with Hobi and Jin.

With Jennie, back in Seoul, she went straight to Big Hit’s building to meet with Yoongi. When she went into his studio, she handed him the headphones that he had wanted from LA.

“Niiiice. Thanks, Smartie. I appreciate it.”

“Anytime! They were pretty easy to find. I'm surprised they didn’t have them here in Seoul.”

“So, how are you doing?” he relaxed in his chair as she took a seat next to Namjoon who was also in the room.

“I’m great,” she replied with a smile.

“And how are you truly doing?” Namjoon asked, seeing right through her.

“The kid is on your mind, isn’t he?” Yoongi took her silence as a yes.

“And you love him, too,” Namjoon confirmed. “Nervous to see him?”

“Very,” she replied.

“The kid...I never saw him act like this with a girl. Not even IU. You clearly did something to him. And I’ve been watching you. Even before he confessed, your demeanor showed that you love him, too.” Yoongi observed. “Look, I know you’re a bit on edge with this whole thing. But go with your heart, smartie. Not with your mind. Your mind is giving you all these doubts and fears but you need to listen to what your heart is telling you. And besides, you two are like puzzle pieces. Can’t fit anywhere else but together.”

“His confession made you acknowledge your feelings for him,” Namjoon added. “He woke something inside you that you’ve been trying to keep away all this time because of the fear of ruining the friendship. That this would change things for the worse. But he took that risk, and finally told you how he felt.”

“Did you know that he went to talk to Bam Bam about his feelings for you because he knew that Bam Bam liked you, too?”

Jen soon thought about the conversation she had with Bam Bam on Facetime recently. Now she understood everything.

------

“I really like you. I have for so long. You are just...truly amazing and I know my dating ban isn’t up yet but when it is, I was wondering if we can go out on a date sometime.”

That surprised her. Before she could speak, he went on,

“That was what I wanted to say before I found out that there is someone who has way stronger feelings than me. Someone that makes you so happy, that I can’t help but support you two. And when I look at you and him, all I can say is, Ah...the Golden Maknae always wins.” he playfully whined and let out a chuckle. “But he deserves you and I hope he treats you well. And if you ever get over him, I’m always here.” he grinned as she laughed.

“Thank you, Bam Bam. But I don’t want our friendship to end over this. Or make things awkward between you and Jungkook. I don’t want to be that girl that ruins a friendship like that.”

Bam Bam shook his head. “No, no, never. I prepared for this. Ever since the GAYO shows. After watching you and Jungkook, I knew it was going to be him. Ahhh...this is like Taeyeon all over again when I liked her but then Baekhyun took her away. One day I will find love. But Jennie, you are one of the sweetest and most enjoyable people I know. Our friendship will never end over something like this. You will still have a special place in my heart and I will be supportive of you guys.”

------

“He must have said something that made Bam Bam realize that his feelings were stronger.” Yoongi went on. “So, I know for a fact that kid isn’t going to give you away that easily just because of some false dating rumors with your friend. Let’s face reality. The Golden Maknae has you locked down. And you have him locked down. Go to him. Simple as that Smartie.”

“Where is he?” Jen asked.

“Dorm,” Namjoon answered.

“He’ll be happy to see you. And he’ll probably be bouncing up the damn walls once you tell him that you love him, too.” Yoongi smirked and gestured for her to leave. “I trust you kids will become a couple before this night is over.”

Feeling motivated, Jennie thanked Namjoon and Yoongi for their words and went to the door.

“And smartie?”

“Yes?”

“Nothing is going to change when you two date. Besides you both dealing with Jin and his protectiveness and us watching your romance 24/7, things will remain the same,"

“Agreed. You two make each other happy. And we’ll all be happy to know that our two maknaes are happy with each other.” Namjoon smiled.

“Now get out of here and get your bunny so I won’t have to hear him whine about how much he wishes to be your boyfriend. I’m this close to killing the kid.” his words made her chuckle and she left the building.

Her phone buzzed and she got a text from Taehyung,

Taehyung: Fair warning...Jungkook is very angry with us.

Giving him a call while on her way to the dorm, she asked, “Um, whatchu mean you pissed him off? Oh God...what did y’all do?”

“We didn’t do anything!” he giggled

“Sure...”

“Is that Ennie? Hi Ennie! Are you on your way to the dorm!?” Jimin asked in the background.

“Yeah, I am.”

“Okay, Jungkook is a little angry because we may have...teased him about your dating rumors and assumed you’re dating Kevin-“

“I cannot believe y’all!” she exclaimed as they giggled. “What this your plan? Cause if so it sucks!"

“At least you two will be alone~!”

--------

Sounds of angry grumbling were heard in Jungkook’s room as he violently mashed the buttons on his controller while playing his video game. Jimin and Taehyung had successfully pissed him off tonight and made him not want to join them and the others for a bite to eat.

So here he was, by himself in the dorm.

His Hyungs played too much. He wanted to kill them for teasing him about Jen’s dating rumors. He knew they were only joking but his jealousy crept on him as he imagined her with another man. 

Detecting whimpering, he looked down at the floor to see Tony rubbing against him. The dog could sense his annoyance and began to feel sad, trying its best to cheer him up. It did ease his irritation as the Golden Maknae relaxed a bit.

“I’m fine, Tony. Just thinking about Jennie.” he let out a sigh and petted him. Tony snuggled against him as another whimper was heard. He picked him up and let him rest on his lap, resuming to pet him. “Do you think she loves me, too?”

Tony had barked cutely in response, causing him to smile. “Ah...I don’t know what I would do if she said yes to me...being in love with her for so long and finally telling her my feelings and then her returning them? I don’t know how I would react...seems like only a dream, huh? And you miss her too, huh? Jennie will be back soon, okay?”

Pausing his game, Jungkook set Tony down and went to the kitchen to make sure he had food and water in his dishes. Afterward, Jungkook decided to take a quick shower and put on a pair of pajama pants. Neglecting a shirt, for now, he dried his damp hair with a towel and placed it over his shoulders. His irritation seemed to have simmered down throughout the rest of the night as he played video games in his room to make himself feel better.

Meanwhile, Jennie had finally made it back to the dorm, placing her bags in her room. 

Tony had eagerly ran up to her as she let out a giggle, kneeling to pet him. “Tony! I missed you! You really missed me, huh? I knew you’d be in here. I brought you a new toy, see?” she presented him with a new ball as he got hyper, with its tail wagging around happily.

She tossed the ball and Tony ran around to play with it. 

Standing up, she went into her bathroom. All that confidence she had to go in and tell him how she felt went out the window as her butterflies got worse.

‘Breathe girl...’ she looked at herself in her bathroom mirror. ‘Why are you so damn nervous? Relax!’

This was going to be a bit more challenging than she thought. She wondered if this was how Jungkook felt when he made the first move.

Soon after, she thought about her previous conversations with friends asking what she was going to do and say to Jungkook when she saw him. Truth be told, she had a plan but the closer she was to his door, the more the plan fell apart. She couldn’t think of any coherent thoughts because her nervousness got to her once again. Although jetlagged, she wanted to say how she felt tonight. But her first goal was to be able to knock on his door. She had been standing in front of his door for a few minutes now. Hesitating, she paced back and forth.

‘Okay...walk in, tell him, hey, I love you, too.’ she thought. ‘No, no. Don’t do that. That doesn’t really sound realistic. It’s too sudden. I’m not going to be able to walk in and be that abrupt. Don’t be so cliché with this, either. Ugh...why is this so hard? I dunno what I’m doing.’ she rambled in her head. 

Looking back at his door, she screamed in her head, ‘Ahhhhh, would you knock on his damn door? Stop stalling!’

Blowing her cheeks, she whispered to herself, “Don’t be a coward. Just go for it.”

Pulling herself together, she knocked eight times in rhythm.

No answer...

‘Was he here?’ she thought.

She knocked three times, trying again...no answer. But she heard a video game playing in the room. So, she knocked once more.

Jungkook had ignored the knocks as his irritation built up, once again. He thought his hyungs left but it looked like they wanted to bother him some more. However, maybe if he ignored them, they would go away. So, he proceeded to game.

Once he heard another series of knocks, he finally grumbled, “Go away, hyung...”

‘Kookie, I am not your hyung. I am your future girlfriend. Open this door.’ Jen thought as she knocked again.

She wanted to say it out loud, but she couldn’t find her voice as her heart raced when she heard him speak.

“I said go away!”

This time he sounded even more bothered.

‘They must’ve really pissed him off tonight.’ she thought. 

She underestimated Jimin and Taehyung telling her that he was angry at them. But she was going to keep knocking until he answered. He’ll crack eventually.

“Hyung, leave me alone, already! I am not in the mood!” he added.

Jen’s nervousness peaked, and she chose to cease her knocking, getting second thoughts. Maybe she should wait until he calmed down. She turned around, about to head back into her room but stopped.

Nah.

He was going to open that door, see her, and realize she wasn’t Jimin or Tae trying to bother him. She had been waiting to see him again and she was going to see this man tonight.

Knocking once again, she heard a loud noise and heavy footsteps towards the door.

‘Oh God, he’s coming.’ she took a step back in alarm.

Fed up, Jungkook quickly slammed his controller down and yanked his towel off his bare shoulders. Somebody was about to die tonight when he saw who was at his door.

“Damn it, I sai-”

Feeling a huge breeze as the door swung open, Jennie looked up from her feet to meet the annoyed gaze of Jungkook. When she took in the sight of him, she took in a sharp intake of air, as his brown irises met hers. Once Jungkook realized that he was staring at the girl he loved, his eyes softened, and his body relaxed spontaneously.

“Jennie,” he murmured in surprise.

It was official, he was still smitten and she managed to calm him down by just looking at him. Like her friends predicted, Jen froze and forgot everything she was going to say. Her pep talks did not prepare her for this. Especially because of how he said her name and how he was staring at her like he was about to kiss her again. Deep down, she wanted him to. But she knew he wasn’t going to go that far like when he confessed. He wanted confirmation of how she felt. And tonight, she was going to confirm her feelings. At least try to because her mind was getting out of control when she realized she was finally looking at him for the first time since that day.

‘Abort mission! Weewoo, weewoo, weewoo, weewoo! Abort mission!’ Jen panicked mentally as she averted her eyes.

Was she going to be able to do this and get over these butterflies?

Snapping back to reality, she cleared her throat, stammering, “H-hey. I just got back and was wondering if you had time to talk.”

‘Really Jen? Ugh.’ she scolded herself. 

She wanted to hit herself for saying that. Maybe she should have said something different instead of that statement. But Jungkook nodded and let her in as they both went inside.

"You can shut the door. I bought Tony a new toy. He'll be occupied with that," she informed.

“You sure?” Jungkook asked a little too eagerly.

The sound of his low voice had made her heart flutter. She then noticed that it was almost like he was asking because he anticipated that something was going to happen between them.

“Yeah.” she nodded. “I want to be alone with you. No distractions or interruptions.”

Once he shut the door, it was official, she was alone with Jungkook in his room. The rest of the members were nowhere near the dorm, it was just them. 

Jen observed her surroundings in his room. Stuff that she hadn’t noticed before until now. Like how he still had that sketchbook she gave him when she celebrated his birthday for the first time. It was filled with a few sketches of him and her together. And how he had a picture of him and her on his nightstand. It was all making so much sense to her, she wanted to slap herself for being this clueless and making this man wait for her for so long. How she took this long to accept what she was feeling.

The room felt warm from the heat blasting in his room. Huge difference from the uncomfortable coldness outside in the snow.

Pushing her hair back with her hand, she uttered, “I’m sorry for showing up here unannounced and out of the blue. I can see you’re a little irritated with the guys.”

“Ah, it’s okay. I’m fine, now. Seeing you back in Seoul safely cheered me up, real quick.” he smiled and took a seat on the edge of his bed. “Is everything okay?”

"Yeah. I just wanted to speak with you.”

“Are you all right?” his voice changed into concern.

Jennie began to pace around as the nerves got to her while she tried to gather what she wanted to say. 

“Why am I so nervous? I had this all in my head, perfectly. Now, I understand how you felt.” she stopped pacing around and turned to him. “But when you said what you said that day, it was from the heart. So, I should do the same. That day you confessed to me, it got me thinking. A lot. A lot of feelings built up. Hidden feelings came up from the surface.”

That statement made Jungkook’s heart pound as he continued to listen, giving her his undivided attention. 

Hidden feelings? Did she...feel the same?

“I have been thinking about you a lot. More than usual as of late since that day. Since I’ve been away, I thought about some things I love about you.” she went on. “How you sleep with your mouth open, it’s the cutest thing ever. How you’re like a personal heater for me when I’m in your arms. How sweet you are to everyone. How you are so passionate about your work ethic when it comes to Bangtan. How good you look in white shirts and Timbs...well, good isn’t exactly the best word I would use but...you know.” she felt her face warm up as he smirked softly, feeling good about himself.

Jungkook made a mental note to wear even more white shirts with his favorite brand of shoes if she enjoyed seeing him in them so much. He didn’t know he had that effect on her. He pondered what else she liked about him as he looked at her expectantly.

“I’ve been watching you, too.” she pointed out. “You tilt your head out of habit when you’re challenged. You even did it before you confessed to me. When you get jealous, you do that thing with your tongue. That thing where you poke the inside of your cheek. I always peeped that. And you often do it when it involves me and other guys that get a little too close in your eyes.”

Jungkook stared at her in astonishment. He didn’t realize he had made it that obvious. But hearing all she had to say gave him hope that she would return his feelings. So, he kept listening, eager to know where she was going with this monologue.

She carried on, “This right here is probably not going to be perfect. It’ll probably be a mess due to my mind being all over the place. And it is all because of you. Because now I can’t shake this feeling away. But deep down, I realized that I didn’t want to. I don’t want to shake this away. Not when it comes to you. Y’know I was just that foreign girl in K-Pop, finding my way in this industry. I met seven awesome guys. And one guy was a little more on the shy side and I wanted to speak to him, more. So, I did, bringing up Iron Man and the rest was history. Fast forward, I noticed that he was opening up more to me, which I was grateful for. And then he called me his Golden Best Friend and gave me matching friendship rings, promising to cherish each other. Then, I ate lamb skewers for the first time with him and he...told me my skin was beautiful and made me feel special while I helped him with his English. I...” she trailed off, shaking her head.

This was harder than she thought. She just kept rambling and couldn’t find the right words to say to him or how to bring the topic up. She stood in front of him, letting out a deep sigh as she tried to pull herself together. 

“Why can’t I think of the right words? I keep losing my train of thought, I dunno how to bring it up...” she said.

Looking up at her, Jungkook grabbed one of her cold hands and gave it a gentle squeeze with his warm hand.

“Take your time,” he spoke softly. “Be honest and say what’s on your mind. Don’t hold back. Even if you ramble, I’ll listen. So, just take your time.”

She nodded. “Jungkook, you were right about everything. I did get jealous when those girls talked to you at the costume shop. I guess...I don’t like when girls get too close for comfort with my man, flirting with you as if I’m not there.”

Her man?

Jungshooked, his lips parted in shock as he replayed her sentence in his head again. Feeling a sense of euphoria, he released her hand and began to stand up. Before he could stand, she placed a hand on his shoulder and made him sit back down.

She wanted him to just sit and listen to everything that was on her mind just like she had listened to him about how he felt. And at this point, as he did with her when he told her how he felt by his actions, she wanted to do the same along with her words to express how she felt about him.

With that in the back of her mind, she went on to express herself, “Jungkook, what you said to me and what we did in that room is something that I don’t regret. Just like what you asked me in that room, I cannot...think of a good reason as to why this shouldn’t happen. I want this. I want this to happen. I want what we have to go far.”

Jennie felt like this feeling was right as she continued to speak to him, admitting everything she was feeling while she held his loving gaze.

“You have been on my mind ever since that day. And I can’t stop thinking about you. I can’t stop thinking about the kissing. I can’t stop thinking about me...in your arms. Together with you.”

‘I can’t stop thinking about you, either.’ Jungkook thought as her words captivated him, making his heart pound.

“I have tried my best to get you out of my mind. I have tried my best to avoid you. The music I listen to, makes me think of you. The places I go have some type of reminder of a precious moment we shared over the years. Those closest to me can’t even help me because they are constantly talking to me about you. And no matter what I do, no distraction I try can keep me away from those happy thoughts I have of you. Of us. How happy you make me.”

“I have felt so many different emotions when thinking about this. I even felt a little scared to be in this scenario with my best friend just like you said that day.” she acknowledged. “I always thought about the what ifs...if this feeling is wrong. If this should not happen because of how long we’ve been friends. Because of the position we are in as a group. But I need to stop doubting and just go with my heart. Not the doubts in my head. I can’t be scared to give someone as precious as you, my heart. The fact of the matter is...I was already yours before you confessed to me. It just took me a while to realize. I’m yours and I want you to be mine.”

She began to run her fingers through his damp hair as his eyes went round. “You were right about everything," she said. "This is not one-sided. I want you more than you can ever imagine. More than you think and more than I thought I did. I want you today, tomorrow and forever,"

She wanted him...more than he imagined?

Jungkook felt his throat tightened as he tried to keep himself composed. His emotions were running high listening to the woman that he loves talking about how much she couldn’t stop thinking about him like he couldn’t stop thinking about her. And the fact that she wanted him too made his eyes sparkle with elation.

“Your admiration for IU is the cutest and I hope one day you’ll gain that courage to meet her and possibly collab. Your smile makes my stomach flip and I can’t help but smile back," she smiled. "Your voice is like honey. When you sing, when you speak, I love listening to you. And when you told me that I was yours in my ear, I could not get it out of my head. You just do things that make me go crazy. And your laugh has got to be the best thing I have ever heard. Like it is just too infectious, I love it. Before I came here I talked with Yoongi and Namjoon. Yoongi told me that we’re like two puzzle pieces. Can’t fit anywhere else but together. And I believe him. I realized that I waited for you and you were right in front of me the entire time. It just took me a while. Me and my stubborn behind.” she let out a chuckle and shook her head.

Jennie took a good look at him, smiling. “You...make me feel things that I have never felt before. When I’m with you, you make me feel warm and giddy inside. I’m not worried at all when it comes to you. I can be myself around you and since day one you accepted me for me. Thinking of you since I’ve been gone made me think of a lot of things I want to do with you. I want to eat pocky and play video games with you. Kicking your fine ass in whatever game you want to play is going to be something that I’ll never get enough of.” she giggled when Jungkook playfully narrowed his eyes.

“Oh really?” he raised a brow as a competitive smirk came across his lips.

After giggling, she went on, “I want to even dress up as Iron Man for you one day just like you dressed up as Captain America for me. I'll always be your Pepper Potts. No doubt about it. I also want to go bowling with you. I want us to dance together, go on dates, and drive the members crazy with our pranks. I want to sing you to sleep and give you all the massages you want. I want to take care of you and cherish you just as much as you cherish me. I want to hug you as much as I want, I want you to be my first, I just...want to do a lot of things that I haven’t experienced yet with you. Only if you let me.”

She caressed his face and ran her thumb against his bottom lip. “And I don’t want no pocky stick or mistletoe to kiss you. I want to kiss you on my own. All of that and more that I want to do but not as your friend...” she trailed off and took this moment to slowly move to straddle him.

Jungkook was caught off-guard by her sudden actions as he placed his hands on her hips. Seated on him, she rested her arms on his shoulders as they gazed at each other, anticipating what was going to happen next.

“In reality, we are going to have disagreements. Now, I know I can be a little petty-“

“A little?” he raised a brow with a smirk

“Excuse me?” she remarked with an amused smile.

A mischievous glint appeared in his eyes as he let out a throaty chuckle. “I had to.”

After their chuckling, they went back to being serious.

“Okay, really petty at times. We are going to be upset at each other and irritate each other once in a while. But no matter how bad our disagreements may be like you said, we will work through them together.” she asserted. “I won’t give up on us, no matter how difficult something may be. We will make this work. I promise to be patient with you and hold you down. I’ll be there to pick you up and I will be there to help you through anything. Nervous before a performance? I will be there to keep you at ease. You want me to listen to one of your covers before you share it with ARMY? I’m a call away.”

She gently kissed his cheek, then his nose, and then his other cheek. The urge to kiss him rose tenfold and Jungkook was feeling the same way from her words and how close she was to him.

“I promise to always keep an open mind with you and make sure to do things that you would like to do. I promise to always be honest and listen to you. I promise to make us a priority, fight for you, and remain 100% committed to you. I promise to be there for you on your worst days, not just your best days. I promise that we will take adorable photos and videos together, and I will be secretly filming you sleeping and trying to prank you in the process.” she teased with a proud smile.

Jungkook shared a soft laugh with her before resuming to listen to her loving words.

“There will be times when I will fail you. I will fall short,” she admitted. “But I won’t tap out, okay? I'm going to be protective of you like you are with me. I'm going to support you if you want tattoos, change your hair, or anything you want to do. What we have is real. And also, I highkey want us to be the cutest marvel loving couple ever. So, let’s make sure to do that, okay? Let’s like, dress up as our favorite Marvel characters when going out somewhere. Maybe even New York Comic Con or something as a cosplay couple,” 

Jungkook let out another laugh. He found her adorable. Gosh, he loved her so much.

"I'd love that," he said softly with a huge smile on his face.

“This warm feeling I got with you in that room when you told me you loved me wasn’t the only time I felt this way. I felt this way for a long time. Even before you confessed to me.” Jennie nodded to herself, caressing his face. “I accept it now. I accept this feeling I get when I’m with you. No one else gives me this feeling but you. No one else makes me feel wanted like you. Saranghae, Jungkook.”

Once she announced her love for him with no hesitation, Jungkook looked at her while his throat tightened again as he tried to hold back the tears.

She...loves him too?

When she didn’t hear him respond, Jennie began to feel a little nervous. 

“Please...” she said softly. “Say something.”

Jungkook looked down, trying to keep himself composed as his body had softly shaken.

“Say it again.” he looked back up with tears in his eyes.

Seeing his eyes water made her eyes begin to water as well while her heart flipped. 

“Saranghae, Jungkook.”

“One more time.”

“Saranghae.”

The feelings began to be too much as the tears of joy streamed down his face and tears began to stream down her face. He wrapped his strong arms around her while she buried her face in his neck with her arms around his neck for a hug.

She pulled away as Jungkook’s smile grew wide. She wiped her tears and wiped his, letting out a soft laugh.

“I remember telling you that whoever your future girlfriend will be, she’ll be very lucky to have a guy like you. And you would always reply that you were the lucky one," she said. "But no, I believe that I am the lucky one because I get to be with someone as special as you. You chose me out of everyone. Gosh, I’m sorry for making you wait so long.”

“Don’t be. You were worth the wait.”

After he said that, Jennie pressed her body against him and collided her soft, cold lips with his, overwhelming him with emotions. He gripped her hips tightly when he felt her cold hands on his muscled chest, making him shiver slightly. The kiss started slow and sensual as she took her time, to show him how important he was to her. Their noses had pressed together periodically while his warm lips moved in rhythm with hers.

Running her hands down his chest, she heard him let out a soft groan, making her heart race. Deepening the kiss, their kissing became more urgent and demanding as she ran her fingers through his hair. Her lips soon moved to his neck as his breathing quickened. She was really starting to enjoy straddling him. Since he did all that he did to her, kissing the hell out of her during his confession, she wanted to do the same and then some.

“Jennie.” he managed to breathe out as he found the confidence to let his hands wander, landing right on her rear, gripping his softly.

Since it was getting too hot, she unzipped her jacket while their intense lip locking continued. Each kiss was better than the last as Jungkook let out a soft grunt whenever she had moved while straddling him. Her loving kisses were making his heart pound and she was so gentle with him as he melted to her touch.

Jungkook soon found his back meeting the bed when her cool hand gently pushed him back. Once they slowly broke the kiss to catch their breath, Jungkook looked up at her, watching her take off her jacket, leaving her in her shirt. His chest was heaving up and down as he watched her and looked down at where she was sitting. Her hand was on his chest as she thought about how tempting this position was.

Grabbing her hips, Jungkook spoke, "Keep going. I don't want us to stop. Not yet," 

He had been waiting for this moment for so long, he wanted to stay like this and keep kissing her. 

She responded by leaning down to continue to kiss him, caressing his face. Jungkook began to sit up with an arm around her waist. He then easily turned them around so her back was on the bed. Pressing his body against hers, he slowly leaned down to give her a series of tender kisses, making her breathless as she held onto him tightly. His warm kisses traveled down to her neck as he felt her squirm underneath him.

“I found your weakness, huh?” he teased against her ear with a smile as he felt her hand on the back of his head.

She tried to speak but couldn’t as her heart began to race when she felt his warm lips on her sensitive neck. She couldn’t turn them around so she could be back on top, either. Her breathing got deeper and her cheeks flushed as she tried to fight any sounds with their legs getting tangled with each other. Gently pinning her wrists on the side of her head, he slowly moved his hands up to intertwine his fingers with hers.

He then gave her slow, sweet kisses up her neck, to her cheek before saying in her ear, “You are so beautiful,"

After some more kisses, he moved back to look down at her with a smile as she returned his smile. He then started to give her playful kisses all over her face, making her giggle, trying to push him away.

“Let’s make this official,” he announced and got off of her.

“Official?” she sat up and watched him go into his closet, taking out a Timberland box. She scooted up to remain seated on the edge of the bed, waiting for what he was going to do. 

Jungkook kneeled in front of her and took off her sneakers while Jen let out a laugh.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

Opening the box, he revealed it to be a pair of Timberland Women’s Glancy shoes, along with some recently bought Smarties. On the inside of the top of the box, it read, 'Will you be my Golden Girlfriend?' with cute drawings around it, which made her heart soar.

Jungkook looked up at her with a big smile. “I brought these Timbs for you the day after we ate Lamb Skewers for the first time.”

“Kook...”

“Will you do me the honor of wearing Timbs with me as my Golden Girlfriend?”

She happily nodded, letting out another giggle. “Yes! Absolutely! I would love to, Jungkook!”

When she put them on, it was a perfect fit as she stood up and walked around, loving the shoes.

"You look great in them. Wow, perfect fit. Now we can wear Timbs together.”

“And Nike.” she cheered.

“And...Nike.”

“Hey, watch that tone of your voice. Say it with more enthusiasm.”

“And Nike! Yeah!” he sarcastically said, making them both giggle.

“This is kind of funny. I brought a pair of Nikes for you.”

“A-are you serious?”

“Yeah, I’ll go get them.” she took off the Timbs and put them back in the box. Leaving the room, she went to her room to grab the Nike box. Coming back to his room, she pushed his door back so it could only be opened slightly.

As they both sat back on the bed, she opened the box to reveal red and white Nikes. 

“Ta-da!” she cutely announced. “Now we can also wear Nikes together, too! Will you do me the honor of being my Golden Boyfriend and wear Nikes with me?"

“Just for you. Of course, Jennie. ” he smiled and tried them on.

“Good, I wasn’t taking no for an answer.”

He smirked and checked them out. “These look awesome.”

“I’m glad you like them.” she let out a tired yawn as the jetlag got to her.

“Let’s go to sleep. Sleep on me, I know you’re jetlagged.” he took off the shoes and prepared his bed. 

Laying on his back, under the covers, she crawled on top of him, sighing against his warm, comfy chest. Putting the blanket over them, he wrapped an arm around her.

"Jungkook, I love you," she looked up at him with a smile

"I love you, too," he smiled and kissed her. 

She laid against his chest and he kissed the top of her head, watching her doze off immediately as he tenderly rubbed her back. Tony stepped in, opening the crack of the door slightly, and jumped on the bed, snuggling next to his parents. 

Jungkook glanced at Tony and then Jennie. There was no place he would rather be. He was happy.

Drowning in his happy thoughts, he dozed off, too.

A few hours later, Jimin knocked on Jungkook’s door. “Jungkookie? You still mad?” he opened the door and walked in.

Seeing JenKook asleep together made Jimin cover his mouth to avoid screaming in glee. Running out of the room, he dragged Taehyung to show him as they both started silently jumping around, freaking out. Rushing over to the bed, they took a few selfies with the peace sign while Jennie and Jungkook were oblivious, in their own world of sleep.

“I can’t believe it! Look at this!” Jimin whispered excitedly.

“I know!” Taehyung added in a whisper. “We did it! Finally, they’re together!”

“What is all this ruckus...?” Yoongi grumbled, walking into the room to see what the commotion was. “What the-are you-are you cryin’? The hell is wrong with you?” he asked the 95 Liners who were wiping their tears of joy.

“Look!” Taehyung pointed to JenKook.

Yoongi smiled at the sight. “About fucking time.”

[taddymason]

I have an idea for what you could do next with your lightning pin AU. Now I’m not trying to tell you what to do. I love all the work. You’ve done on it so far and have complete trust at what you make next will be amazing but my idea about what you could do.

My idea is that you have Jay and Kaida enter the tournament of the source dragons and essentially have Kaida take Frak’s place. Not as having Kaida work for lord ras again unless (that’s your plan which in that case it’s still works) But have Kaida somehow slowly lean towards the ninja team slowly go towards the ninja team.

Also, we another thing have Jay fight cole because tournament elements call back for one. But in the end, this is your AU and you should do what you think is right. But if you wanna include my ideas, that would be nice.

Aaaaa thanks so much for the ask! I love it when people theorize about what's going to happen in the next chapters, and I have to resist the temptation to spoil the plot and give away all the important story moments, I'm terrible at that

I can't say much about how the next arc and the tournament plot will go bc spoilers, but I can say with confidence that Jay and Kaida will not be working for Ras anymore. After all the mess they made in the last two chapters he doesn't want them back either.

Anyway, I love your idea of ​​Kaida and Frak's arcs being parallel. I also don't want to go too deep into how the character arcs will be in the next arc, but I can say that these two are already kind of leaning more into the ninja team. Not consciously anyway, but since chapter 18 they've decided to stop working for people like Ras and stop acting impulsively as if their actions have no consequences.

I swear I didn't expect Jay's redemption to start on LP before the show but yeah, while he and Kaida were obviously never evil, they're definitely past that point

Also, sorry I don't know how but I missed the other asks you sent me about what the tournament arc will be like, so here would be a few hints of LP part 3:

Arin and Jay will get along badly in this arc, a lot of tension between them because of the whole thing about Arin wanting information about where his parents are. Jay isn't the most cooperative person.

There will be an answer to how shattered soul can be healed.

There is a surprise in the final battle that I can't go into detail about but it's a moment I've been wanting to write for a long time.

More Jiro moments in this part because I love him so much ^^

Kaida gets a new friend in the next chapters and there will be more exploration of how her powers work.

By the way, I love it when people theorize about this story so if you want to leave your theories you're welcome!I'll try to get chapter 21 out soon

[scoonsalicious]

LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS CHAPTER🩷🩷

Pocket is QUEEN and pookie u r MAJESTIC!! I absolutely love this chapter. The friendship between Pocket and Sam, Tony’s concern, Buckerina and Stevenson ‘toxic masculinity’ fight😂 Man, i would love to see them beat the shit out of each other bcs both of them deserves it. Plus, POCKETS NEW APPEARANCE?!!

I have to ask… do you have a picture of Pocket’s hair right now? I NEED IT😭😫. Cherry Pie fits Pocket so much. A combination of cute and sexy😏 I want her in a lingerie and make Buckdoodle suffer more….

It’s very satisfying to see how ‘desperate’ (is that even the word?😂) Bucket is. But seriously…. WHY R U SO STOOOPID BUCKYYY??😭😭 WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS?!!! WHY?!! How dare you call Pocket ‘your girl’ after everything that happened?🙄 You should be glad I’m not cutting your dick.

(bcs I forgive you, IM SORRY IM SUCH A SOFTIE FOR BUCKYYYY😭😂)

And Steve (thank god no sex😂 I would absolutely cry). I love the part that he’s trying to be a great friend (by not pouring/confessing his love out to Pocket that kind of shit and focus on talking about her relationship with Buckwheat). Pocket needs it………..

but i still don’t like Steve.

Honestly, i’m kind of scared for Pocket😥. One of the chapter is called Unprotected. It means either something will happen to Sam, leaving Pocket alone on the mission, or something happen to Pocket (she gets kidnapped and that kidnapper is fucking Jeremiah bcs there’s also a chapter called Unsurprising — making her spiral and shit or make it much more dramatic her EX? again over reacting)

Also, I have a feeling Buckaroo will insert himself into the mission and somehow one thing leads to another, and then the revelation (the stomach bug, Jeremiah, the *cough* sex in russia🤮). Lastly, maaaaaaybe a showdown between Bucket and Joseph? CHILLSSSS….

Just a thought but won’t it be fun if the whole team beats up Jojobean?😂

Anyways, as always…. I love you Pookie. I can’t wait for the new fic too (With Friend Like These) AGHHH!!! *kicking my feet, squealing* I LOVE YOU SO MUCH

😗❤️

Yay! I'm so happy you loved it! Pissed!Pocket is so much fun to write. Like, girl is take no prisoners; she's so over it. I like to imagine that Bucket and Steveoli's fight was very homoerotic (especially once Pocket poured that water on them, cause now they're all wet), and that they continued to punch the snot out of each other once Pocket and Sam left. So, for Pocket's new hair, I had this mental image in mind, and when I got your message, I went searching for something that encapsulated it. This was the closest I could find:

Bucket is definitely desperate rn. He's starting to really see that his actions are having very really consequences-- whenever he messed up before, Pocket was always willing to forgive him, and now, not only is she not forgiving him, she's not even speaking to him. It's throwing him (not that he doesn't deserve it or shouldn't have seen it coming, of course).

Steveoli was decent in his interaction with Pocket, but a lot of it was out of guilt. Would he have stopped it, himself? Who can say? Oh wait, me. I can say. No he would not have. He's not evil, but he's been selfish, and he's finally starting to see that here. I love hearing everyone's theories based on the chapter titles; they make me smile! Let's see... what can I say about Unprotected? It's got double meaning. Maybe triple meaning? UGH, too much possibility to give things away. And of course Bucket is going to insert himself into the mission somehow; come on! Gotta get those two crazy kids back in the same room together at some point! ;) And the showdowns are coming. It'll be like a Showcase Showdown up in here. Pookie loves you so much

[knightyoomyoui]

DubChaeng (Dahyun x Chaeyoung) - “Worlds Apart”

My longest one-shot so far! Sorry for quite a long delay. Man, I'm definitely feeling the consequences of having a college life. I'm lacking on available time to do things that I want, such as writing stories like this. Enjoy reading!

Dahyun was on her way through the lockers beside the hallway after entering the school more than half an hour remaining before the classes start, where she had a scheduled meetup with her friend from another section named Irene.

Searching for her keys inside her wallet as she continue walking, she did find it right at the time where she had to raise her head up; meeting an unfavorable sight that quickly annoyed her mood this morning. Great, she thought. Her day is just beginning yet she has to contain herself facing this situation again.

With her own eyes, she's clearly seeing Irene who is standing while forcefully making herself look unbothered being in between this group of male and female delinquent students circling her.

Dahyun knew that Irene knows who these people are, and Dahyun certainly does sure that she's thinking what she's thinking too.

She knows these trash, pathetic teens are insufferable as always. She didn't expected it though that there will be a time where Irene would eventually take their attention, and that is happening right now.

She paused on her tracks as she stood just few steps away from the group who is unable to notice her presence being close yet, occupied with dealing on Irene who instead already caught her watching them.

A helpless expression suddenly became visible on Irene's face that shouts a desperate need of help right now from Dahyun, and the pale clever girl clearly understands it.

"Just try it out or something, we'll have fun I promise you that.", the leader of the notorious ruthless gang that preys on the weak students around the campus named Chanyeol once again pulls out another plead he has in store in him.

"And why should I listen to you? Why me anyways?", Irene looked up fiercely at Chanyeol.  "Do you guys have nothing to do again that you two just randomly picked me and belong to your list of bullied victims, huh?"

Chanyeol only smirked, the rest of his members just stiffled a laugh. "Wanna know why?"

He quickly went forward, narrow his gap even closer to Irene who ended up colliding with the wall and completely trapped in front of Chanyeol.

Dahyun gaped her mouth, became even more worried for Irene on facing them alone.

"I have my eyes on you ever since you guaranteed to got my attention and I could say... well damn they ain't lying that you are indeed beautiful, Bae Irene.", Chanyeol grinned as his hand on the wall placed beside Irene's head.

Dahyun found Irene's body starts to shaken. She's definitely sure that the poor girl must be nervous and terrified of whatever Chanyeol is planning to her.

She gulped as her fists clenched tight, mustering up her courage to stop this and help her friend who is in danger.

"You had me having interests with you. Those bastards I see being with you like stupid dogs following around you, I admit... I get jealous many times.", Chanyeol said while gritting his teeth at how irritating it made him felt speaking up that experience he had.

"So I can't take it anymore. I have to move and make you mine, so why don't you just take it a shot, Irene. Who knows? We might be fitting, we can take over the entire campus as the leading couple around.", Chanyeol spreaded his arms and roamed it around to elaborate what he's saying along with his dreamy look.

"Do you want it? Would you get out together with me?"

Irene just stared at Chanyeol, speechless of what she is going to respond to the leader's proposal. She clearly does not want anything involved with a heartless guy like him but the problem is that she just don't know how will she say it.

She can tell it right away that if she declines, she'll get hurt.

Before Chanyeol gets more impatient from waiting on the answer...

"Irene-ssi! There you are! Sorry I'm late!", Dahyun just casually appeared and pretends to walk hurriedly towards Irene. Chanyeol and the rest of his gangmates just looked at her weirdly and confused.

"D-dahyun...", Irene muttered.

Dahyun looked aside and saw the gang's crumpled foreheads and eyebrows squinting at her. "Oh sorry, I didn't know you're talking with them. Did I interrupt something important?"

"You do, now can you please do me a favor and leave us both alone for a while you idiot.", Chanyeol looked at Dahyun seriously and spoke to her with angst. The girl just widened her eyes, portraying that she didn't saw that curse coming.

"E-eh... Oh sorry. I'm about to excuse her but I guess I'll be just waiti-", Dahyun's about to finish her words when Irene interjects and threw a dagger of stare at Chanyeol.

"N-No, Dahyun, nothing's wrong now. We're done now anyways so let me join you.", Irene joined your fake approach as she tried to escape Chanyeol's trap but the leader tugged her arm and gripped it harshly.

"Where are you going? Who said you can leave ready?", Chanyeol said after Irene rotates her body to face him.

"I don't like you Chanyeol okay? You want an answer? Leave me alone please, stop disturbing me because I have no desire to hang out with the likes of you.,", Irene said sharply, leaning her face closer to make him hear it clearly as she forcefully sweep his hands away from her skin.

Chanyeol reacted with a twitch of anger in his lips, pent up anger building up in him.

"GRAAAHHH!!"

He pushed Irene with frustration, causing the elegant schoolgirl to nearly crash into the ground but thanks to Dahyun, she quickly catch her and prevent her from falling.

"IRENE!"

"That's a huge loss you had there, Irene. I was giving you an opportunity already. Ain't no man can satisfy you much as I can do for you.", Chanyeol retorted. "But instead you had the dare to cancel me and rather what? talk to this nerd?"

"Chanyeol!", Irene scolded him with a shout of his name as she didn't liked what he used to call Dahyun.

"Stop and leave her alone okay? Irene said no already, so stay away from her!"

"Shut up nerd, don't command me like that.", Chanyeol then pointed his finger warningly at Dahyun who became anxious. "I don't even know who the hell you are so don't tell me what I shall must not do.

He then stepped forward and squats in front of Dahyun and Irene who both look unimpressed to match their level.

"But you know what... you have guts, huh. I'll remember you for that.", Chanyeol stared intently at Dahyun who repayed him the same manner and just listened at his comment that either she felt being warned or complimented at the same time.

As no one ever dared to speak up after that. Irene thought that this is the time where they had to leave and not waste any more time with this irrelevant moment.

"Let's go, Dahyun." Irene insisted.

Dahyun helped her slowly stand up on her both feet again before leaving one last annoyed glance at Chanyeol who is still crouching while sniggering devilishly at them.

They made a few steps away only to halt when Dahyun crossed paths with somebody that she used to know before who just arrived at the scene, clueless about what happened but immediately guessed how it occurred.

Dahyun's grimace got deepened at the sight of her while Irene just looked worriedly at Dahyun as she recognized the woman in front of them.

"You shouldn't have get in the way."

Dahyun scoffed and ridiculous rolled her eyes on this person who was once a special person to her life, now turned into a forgotten past.

"I did what I had to do, it's my friend. I chose to save her.", Dahyun replied. "Most importantly, I chose to follow the person who cares about me... so don't tell me that as if you can even do it."

Dahyun gave one last offended glare at her before proceeding to walk away pulling Irene by her arm.

The girl on the other hand just hurtfully watched her disappear after unable to dodge the painful facts that Dahyun just made her realize again.

--------------

Later during recess, the campus gang smokes cigarette in their favorite area in the campus: behind one of the senior high school buildings where they did some many troublesome things discreetly from the officials for them to get caught.

Chanyeol who is currently savoring the taste of his bubblegum flavored vape remains silent as he replayed what happened earlier when his gangmates began talking about it.

"Then that weird girl just interrupted our business like as if she didn't know who she just messed with."

"Imagine disrupting a conversation with the famous gang leader and king of the campus Chanyeol being involved. Does she really even know how fucked up what she did."

"Heh, I bet she doesn't. Say, what if she made her realize the consequence of doing it?"

That suggestion coming from his fellow gangmate made Chanyeol to woke up his senses back as it reminded him of what he just said to Dahyun before leaving.

"You know... I like your guts, huh. I'll remember that."

He puffed one more bubblegum smelled smoke in his mouth before playing the vape on his hands and avoid looking at his followers as he gather all the question popping in to his mind.

"That girl... her name was Dahyun, isn't it? Irene called her that earlier if I'm not mistaken.", Chanyeol curiously asked.

"Yes, boss.", one of his sidemen named Sehun answered.

"I'll give it to her, she may look weak but she's courage enough to step in to my business.", Chanyeol tilted his head. "But then again, I'm sure all of you know what is one of the things I hated the most."

All of the gangmates went silent, seemingly knowing where is their leader's point going ahead into.

"Meddling with me especially if you're a nobody.", Chanyeol clenched his fist. "And what she did earlier made her prove what does a person like that I despise."

"You all must've heard what I told her before we let them go. I admire her guts, and I really do. Because nobody has ever done it like that to me.", Chanyeol finally revolved his sight around his gangmates.

"I told her that her deed was remarkable, and she might have no idea how it's actually offensive in my part."

"We let them go, but that doesn't mean we're setting them free... especially her."

"However though, there's something I pointed out earlier that seems... fascinating to me.", Chanyeol caressed his chin.

"Anyone including me has no idea who she is.", Chanyeol looked at the rest who agreed as they nodded their heads, except for someone.

"But... there's this one of us who doesn't seem like it."

All their gazes went directly to the only woman in their group who is sipping her strawberry lollipop. She also looked back to her friends with guilt, understandably knowing the meaning behind their looks.

"Chaeyoung. Come here.", Chanyeol did a 'come hither' hand gesture to Chaeyoung who followed right away, stepping closely beside him.

"Based from what I saw a while ago, have you... and Dahyun know each other?"

Chaeyoung took out the lollipop in her mouth to allow her to respond. "Yes."

The members listened attentively more to their conversation as their curiosity risen also.

"Were you and Dahyun... close?", Chanyeol asked, squinting his eyes.

"O-once." Chaeyoung solemnly answered, slightly stuttered at the word. "We were close before."

"Mmmhmm. So, are you two what?"

"B-bestfriends. She was my bestfriend."

Chanyeol nodded, pursing his lower lip interestingly. He glanced at Chaeyoung, turning his head to the side.

"Do you still consider her as one until now?"

Chaeyoung matched Chanyeol's anticipating stare.

"Like I said. WAS. That was before. We were no longer like that in the present, so as I am to her."

"Good to know then. So... you won't mind that we'll target her next and your side will remain with us, right?"

Chaeyoung gulped and blinked her eyes rapidly when he said that.

"R-rest assured, Chanyeol."

Chanyeol nodded, patting her on the shoulder before urging her to lean her face closer, giving Chaeyoung a kiss on her cheek which sent a red fuming blush in react for the girl.

The bell then rang, alarming everyone to return back to their respective classes now that the recess is over.

"Goddamnit, I hate it when break passes fast.", Chanyeol grunted in annoyance.

"That boring ass Math subject is coming up next, let's slack off and avoid boring ourselves to that wack class Mr. Shin has."

----------------

Dahyun and Chaeyoung's friendship before can be described as joyful and strong. They were unseperable. Two different personalities, but each share the same preferred way to make theirselves entertained.

They were buddies, always together whenever they want to do so many things that will assure them happiness. Everyone who sees them probably thinking that this two are just so perfect for each other that other would began to think and see them differently being actual sisters rather.

That wholesome connection they built between each other because of the friendship they had for each other made them wish it would never end, especially for Dahyun who already sees Chaeyoung as a special person. A loved one and a family.

That is... until one day, something happened that changed everything drastically, which would lead to the start of their fallout.

Dahyun haven't met Chaeyoung for two days now, after swearing that they'll have a scheduled stroll in the mall on weekends; but it didn't happened because Chaeyoung didn't appeared or so.

What she did doesn't make her angry. Instead, she was worried.

When she decided to come to Chaeyoung's house, she was greeted by her mother Mrs. Son who looks devastated as the evident cries in her face was presented to the youngster. She may not be shedding tears anymore but she can call that it does looked like she did.

"Why are you crying, Mrs. Son?", Dahyun thoughtfully asked the mother.

"U-uh... this? W-we just had a fight with my husband..."

"And Chaeyoung? How is she? Is she there?"

Mrs. Son remained silent.

"Dubu... that's what I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?", Dahyun furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"I know she's not okay after hearing and seeing what happened in our family but... I don't know what she's doing right now about it.

"She... just walked out of the house. Didn't she came to you?"

Dahyun shook her head, with fear and concern in her face. She began thinking of Chaeyoung immediately. "N-no, she didn't."

"Oh god... I hope she comes back soon.", Mrs. Son began crying again, enough for Dahyun to quickly comfort the poor woman.

"It's okay, Mrs. Son. I'll help you find her. She will be alright. Nothing wrong's gonna happen to her."

Dahyun excused herself to began looking for her in the middle of the night. Her search didn't last long though when she saw Chaeyoung walking slowly alone in the sidewalk, her head bowed down in sadness.

"CHAE!"

The girl heard that familiar voice. Lifting up her head, she met Dahyun's sight of her running closer to her before engulfing her in a tight, warm hug.

"D-Dahyun...", Chaeyoung's tears fell at her friend's touch.

"Sshhh... it's okay. I'm here. Where did you go? I heard what happened, so I came to look out for you."

"I- I just strolled around for a while. Took some fresh air to calm myself down."

"You got me worried about you Chaeng. Don't leave alone next time okay? Wherever you go, I'll either join you or find you when you need help."

Chaeyoung can't help but to just nod, speechless enough for Dahyun's easing words.

She just deepened her hug onto her friend. "T-thank you, Dahyun."

"Always welcome, bro. Come on, let's get you home."

After that, they talked about what happened. Chaeyoung shared that it's a family matter regarding her father and mother's relationship. She learned that her mother got mad of her father for acting cold and uninterested these days whenever he'll come home or he is indeed in the house.

Her father didn't like hearing those accusations, so he began spitting out some hateful remarks and turned mad for his wife on blaming him for lies. That's where the altercation began and Chaeyoung was just only there, begging for them to stop as she watches them fight in the living room while sobbing in the stairs.

The couple stopped when Chaeyoung who can't contain this anymore, had to left the house for a while to let them know the damage they've done as parents. She didn't knew that the father then locked himself up in the bedroom after what happened, and her mother got even more mad that her husband didn't even bother to look for her daughter who just walked out in the middle of the night.

Dahyun sends some assuring and comforting messages for her friend to keep her positive. That didn't last long when two days later, Dahyun found out that Chaeyoung's fear came true.

Her parents broke up and her father left them alone after admitting that he was indeed cheating on his wife.

Now having a broken family, that made Dahyun concerned more for Chaeyoung, especially when she joins her everyday after the news was received; she noticed that Chaeyoung's mood got worsened. She looked gloomy, pale and weak everyday.

She didn't know that as days passes by, not only her mood changed entirely... but also her personality.

Dahyun noticed and figured out that it all started when she caught Chaeyoung meeting with some students who are famous for being delinquents and troublesome around the campus. They are a gang led by Park Chanyeol and all that Dahyun knew one thing about this is that... this doesn't look right at all.

Knowing how great Chaeyoung is as a person compared to these people and now that the opposites are meeting together, it became alarming for her.

It continued. Dahyun got to witness subtle changes on Chaeyoung. Her attitude and ego went bigger, she started using some curse words, she barely meets up with her and if she does, she looks forced and uninterested. She even got to do some tattoos around her skin which shocked Dahyun more, knowing that Chaeyoung used to despise these.

One day, Dahyun finally had enough of this; watching her friend slowly losing the version of her friend she mostly liked being around with.

She knew exactly where Chaeyoung's location might be and she was right. She located at one of the favorite spots of the gang, that one bench under the tree that they self-proclaimed own.

She might be waiting for the others who belong to the gang managed by Chanyeol. But she didn't care. She has to confront Chaeyoung and end this now.

"Chaeyoung."

Her friend looked at her.

"Oh, Dahyun? Wassup."

"Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Uhh sure? But go faster please, they are coming soon."

"Who? Them? I don't care."

Chaeyoung raised her eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"I have to talk to you, Chae. Right now."

"About what is it then? If that won't be worth my time then-"

"It's about you, Chae. And really, you don't really care that much now at what goes on with us?"

"It's not like that, okay? I'm telling you that they're coming and I don't want to get in trouble."

"So you prioritize being with them much than to sincerely lend atleast just a minute to talk with me, is this what you really are now Chaeng?", Dahyun complained. "And I don't need you to warn me. I'm already in trouble now, Chaeng. Ever since you got to get close with them you just started to become... different."

"Dahyun, what are you saying? I'm still your friend and I'm still here."

"That's not what I'm talking about Chaeng. The version I've known of you. There. That's the one who... went gone. I couldn't even believe I'm seeing you like this."

Chaeyoung remained silent.

"Wearing tighter uniform, drinking beers, smoking cigarettes, curses and attitude, even that tattoos that are imprinted in your body. That's not that Chaeyoung I've known once.", Dahyun enumerated.

"And that all started when you let yourself hang around with them which I don't even know how did it started.", Dahyun continued. "But this isn't right. I know it, and I can see it on you, Chae. They are a bad influnce. They changed you for the worse when you were broken."

In Dahyun's surprise, Chaeyoung reacted with a laughter.

"Really? That's how you see it? That's bad, we are not alike. I am enjoying it though."

"You like what they're doing to you?!", Dahyun unbelievably reacted. "No, Chae. This isn't right, you don't know what's happening to you. They've turned you into someone I didn't want you to be."

Dahyun grasped Chaeyoung's shoulders and looked at her deeply.

"Chaeyoung, you must stop meeting and hanging around with them. Think about how it affects us, me as your friend, your mom who only has you left in her. Don't let them change you for something you aren't."

Chaeyoung stared at Dahyun for a second. Her silence made Dahyun keep her hopes up that her words somehow made her friend reconsider things and choose the right decision.

That didn't worked well however, as Chaeyoung started to slip Dahyun's hands away from touching her shoulders and turn her body around, her back now facing Dahyun.

Dahyun observed that Chaeyoung was shaking her head.

"No... you're wrong. I became better. They're not as bad as you think they are. They helped me feel better when I was down."

"Chaeyoung, really?! I WAS THE ONE WHO WAS THERE BY YOUR SIDE RIGHT FROM THE START!"

"YEAH, AND YOUR COMPANY WASN'T EVEN HELPFUL!", Chaeyoung turned around again just to shout directly at Dahyun. The latter got taken aback, astounded at her sudden outrage and her... offensive words.

"You may be the one who came to me at that night, but all the words you said to me was nothing but what ifs, false hopes and lies. Everything you said didn't came true like you and I wanted to be. But do you know what differs you from them?"

Chaeyoung placed her hands on her waist as she looks fiercely at Dahyun who is listening to her.

"You failed to put me back together, but they weren't. They showed me different, new things to try... and I never known it would be so much better than the ones I'm having with you."

Dahyun got hurt at Chaeyoung's words more.

"Now go away before I finally change my mind. Don't make this worse, Dahyun."

She turned her body around again to return back to the bench but to Dahyun's side, she won't let it end this way anymore. She has to make her stop.

"No I won't leave unless you have to listen to me. Please, Chaeyoung stay away from them. I'm doing this to-"

"SHUT UPPPPP!!!!"

She haven't got to finish her words when she didn't expected what happened to her afterwards.

Chaeyoung slapped her hard right in the face, causing her to lean away and grasp her stinging cheek.

The hand Chaeyoung used remained raised and upright, shivering as she halted in shock as she just realized that she just slapped her friend.

She hurted her bestfriend physically for the first time.

"D-Dahyun?"

Dahyun slowly turned to her, Chaeyoung got shocked at her eyes forming pool of tears begging to get released while still caressing her assaulted cheek.

"O-oh my God. I-I'm sorry... I-"

She was about to touch Dahyun to help and apologize more but she got prevented when Dahyun stepped back and dodged away from her.

"N-no... don't come close to me..."

"Dahyun..."

"I finally understood all along. You are not her. You are not the real one I met and cherished. You chose others than me who cares more for you.

Chaeyoung, you were no longer a friend of mine I used to have."

Chaeyoung became speechless at what Dahyun just said. A teardrop finally fell straight to the cheek she just slapped with and that was the last thing she saw before she leaves.

The two never talked about what happened, Chaeyoung didn't wanted or dared to beg for forgiveness again to Dahyun anymore, since her bestfriend who now turned to become a former never wanted to associate things with her again, finding ways to ignore her completely whenever she tries to find her.

That one slap made Chaeyoung to lose Dahyun, and Dahyun accepted the fact that her friend was now truly gone.

---------------

THE NEXT DAY

"Let's continue later, okay?" Irene respectfully paused their topic they were discussing while they are walking away from school as they've already reached the roads where they have to seperate ways on their way home.

Dahyun realized ahead that this is the part where they have to bid each other goodbye for today after Irene mentioned it. "Yeah sure unnie. Bye! Be safe!"

"You too, Dahyunnie!". They waved hands at one another with a smile. Irene initially continued to walk and make a turn to another street while Dahyun waited for the cars to allow space for her to cross the road.

The cars passing through get lessened and Dahyun finally was able to cross through the pedestrian lane properly and step onto another sidewalk of another street.

She walked alone, silent, mind usually filled again with thoughts regarding the lessons they've learned hours ago and brand new activities that were assigned to them; being the brilliant and responsible student like she always is.

However, her taking of notes mentally had to stop temporarily when all of a sudden she was about to pass an alleyway, a group of fellow familiar students of hers from the same school blocked her way.

Dahyun paused her tracks and traced all of their faces. Her smile faded rapidly as her eyes landed to Chanyeol's devilish smirk.

"W-what do you all want from me?", Dahyun cautiously asked them, one foot went backward like she's ready to defend herself from them after sensing an impending danger brought by them.

"Easy there, ghost. This won't take long, as long as you'll cooperate.", Chanyeol said. "Take one more step back and we'll make sure you won't go away until we settle things off. Although, if you do want to go home with a broken feet."

Dahyun gulped in fear. Sweat starts to form and emerge in her skin, dripping in terror at what these hotheads want to deal with her.

She looked next at Chaeyoung who is the next person she immediately noticed. Standing beside them, only looking at her with a blank and unbothered demeanor.

"I won't run off, I just want to know what are you all doing here. Did you all just hide and waited for me?"

"Thanks for stating the obvious, nerd.", Chanyeol replied, making his members laugh but Chaeyoung remained expressionless. "Well, you're right. Now that you're wondering why, well we'll go straightforward and not waste any more time."

"What is it?"

"Apologize.", Chanyeol sternly said.

"For what? Yesterday?", Dahyun asked. "You were the ones who started it. You cornered Irene and forcefully asked her to go out with you even though she doesn't want it. My friend was frightened and alone. I just came there to help her, and now you want me to apologize when you are the one to blame?"

"No. I think you're mistaken. YOU are the one who should apologize, Chanyeol; especially to Irene.", Dahyun pointed her finger at him bravely.

Chanyeol chuckled and looked aside to his friends. "Look at this bitch. She wants me to say sorry." The rest just shook their head disapprovingly.

"Like I said, I admire your guts; but I won't let it pass when I'm the one you're opposing with."

"AAAAGGGHHH!!"

Chanyeol quickly grabbed Dahyun's hair and pulled it tight. The schoolgirl just shrieked in pain.

"Nobody tells me to apologize, do you hear me? I'M ALL OUT OF MERCY. I call things around here!", the volume of his voice began increasing as well as the level of her grip to her smooth long black hair. As expected, Chaeyoung was still watching her without doing anything.

"AWWWWWW L-LET ME GO PLEASE!"

"Then apologize! I told you already that this will be quick if you just cooperate, now look at you pathetic bitch. How long will your courage last now, huh?"

Dahyun didn't said anything. Chanyeol's impatience intensifies so what he did next is that he laid Dahyun's face on the concrete surface of the road and presses his knuckles on the side of her head.

The girl exclaim awfully, can't take the abuse of this cruel guy threatening her just to say sorry for something she's not even the one at fault.

"APOLOGIZE!!!"

"O-okay! Okay!!! I-I'm sorry. I'm sorry! Just, let go off me!", Dahyun's pleads finally urged her to do something without no more other choice but to say the words this bully wants to hear from her.

Her breaths became heavy as Chanyeol finally lets go of her hair and head, allowing her to clutch herself in pain.

She kneeled. Chanyeol raised up her face by cupping her in the chin, making her to equally measure the level of their faces staring at each other.

"See, that wasn't hard to do; you're just too hardheaded that you didn't want it instead.", Chanyeol once again smirked. "You did said sorry, but... you know me; I'm not an easy person."

Dahyun just gritted her teeth, still enduring the stinging sensation of her head and scalp from the pressure Chanyeol just put in her.

"To show that you mean it and to teach you a lesson that you must know the person you're messing with, I'm giving you a mission to do for us."

Dahyun sighed, unbelievably looked at Chanyeol. She thought this was over and one sorry was enough but how dumb is she to forgot that Chanyeol is a bad person.

"Starting tomorrow, you'll be the one who'll do the homeworks for us for the whole month. We have an assignment tomorrow in English. Reaction paper about The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. Make one for all of us."

Dahyun's eyes widened in shock. This is just so mean, she thought. She doesn't deserve this at all, it is simply injustice to be the one who'll get a punishment when she's the victim and the defendant here at the same time.

"If you won't and we ended up incomplete or late; I'm going to make you regret disrespecting me more. Do you understand?"

Dahyun was silent, still couldn't believe about what's happening to her.

Her silence didn't last lomg when the impatient Chanyeol hit his palm again on her head, causing a small ouch sound out of Dahyun's mouth.

"I- I'll do it."

"Good. You can go home. One more thing, don't you dare report this to anyone.", Chanyeol gave her one last warning before walking away with her friends including Chaeyoung who just watched her former bestfriend get hurt like it was no effect from her. "Let's go, there's a vape shop near here. We'll take a visit."

As they left, the abused Dahyun couldn't hold her tears anymore as she started crying due to Chanyeol's unfairness and heartless actions while the person who was the one who doesn't want to see her torn apart before can now endure seeing her like that.

Like she always thought, she's just a forgotten past of Chaeyoung's memories.

---------------

As they were now meters away from Dahyun, Chaeyoung finally drops her cool and disguise as she kept on hearing Chanyeol brags about how Dahyun looked horrible on being in his control, resulting in her forced surrender.

"What the hell was that, Chanyeol?!" Chaeyoung interrogates Chanyeol, stopping him from mocking and teasing Dahyun's pity state at what happened a while ago. All of their eyes landed on her.

"I thought we agreed not to put your hands on her?!"

"I can't help it." Chanyeol said faking nonchalantly. "She doesn't understand the situation. She doesn't know how fucked up she is by opposing us. That's why I have to show and remind her how me and our gang are the most fearsome individuals around the campus."

"But still, you don't have to do it. We talked about it, right? You could've let me handle it." Chaeyoung objected.

Chanyeol chuckled, squinting her eyes at Chaeyoung with a wide grin plastered in his face. "You, huh? Why? You going to go easy on her instead?"

Chanyeol walked towards Chaeyoung, his towering figure and serious demeanor intimidates the short and sassy girl.

"W-what?"

"You can't take how your friend looked and sound defenseless, don't you?", Chanyeol said. "Does she still affects your soft spot in your heart? Do you... wanted to help her in that instance rather?"

Chanyeol leaned his face closer at Chaeyoung who backs away, gulping and throbbing nervously at how scary his aura has shifted.

"N-no. I just want her not to become a burden for you to manage, Chanyeol. I know her, you don't have to go that far. You have many other things to focus on, lend her to me and I'll be the one who'll do the first move."

"What makes you so sure?", Chanyeol crossed his arms and looked at her interrogatively.

"Because I'm her weakness.", Chaeyoung confidently daid. "I am her wound, and the one way to heal it is for her to aid it is by dealing with me."

Chanyeol stared at her Chaeyoung for a second before her lips curved into a smile. "Hmm at the very least, I appreciate the thoughtfulness.", he hummed.

"Fine. I'm sorry." Chaeyoung softened Chanyeol in a rare occasion. "Next time: I'll give you the gun of opportunity. I'll let you be the one to pull the trigger."

He poked Chaeyoung's tip of the nose before nodding in agreement. He walked again along with the other members who are just listening at watching them talk, while Chaeyoung tailed behind them; the glimpse of her discreet manipulation disturbs her.

5 DAYS LATER

"Finally." Dahyun muttered in a huge sight of relief as she adored the sight of all scattered papers in her table, all filled with contents produced from her own handwriting but not intended for her.

She finally completed and finished all the reaction papers assigned by Chanyeol to her that she will give later to them.

All set to be delivered, Dahyun fixed her things before leaving the library. Just as when she was about to exit, she encountered Chaeyoung who appeared very close in front of her, nearly colliding at one another.

The two stared to reprocess before both returns to full consciousness, Dahyun squinted her eyes filled with hatred, lips straightened, and mood slightly got shakened at the sight of Chaeyoung who just like the same as the rest of the days whenever they meet, empty and unmovable.

She noticed the papers labeled as reaction papers held by Dahyun on her arms. She sniggered before stating bluntly again. "You did it."

"Should I suppose to be happy hearing that?", Dahyun raised her eyebrow full of arrogance. "I may be allowing this just because I'm outnumbered and threatened but I promise to all of you, this will be the last time you'll be doing so. Karma will hit all of you soon."

Chaeyoung scoffed. "Just be grateful they didn't went extreme to you already. You should learn by now, so be still."

Dahyun elicited a small smile and a shake of her head. "Looks like you are also." Chaeypung just crunched her eyebrows, clueless what she's pointing at.

"What does it even mean?"

"You really are indeed hopeless, old friend." Dahyun only said before walking right past to her, leaving Chaeyoung both in perplexion and curiousity.

As Dahyun goes next to her classroom, she noticed that some of the members in the gang were casually talking together near the storage room.

She pursed her ears further, trying to eavesdrop their conversation.

"Boss Chanyeol has the right to become suspicious of her okay?"

"Yeah I know, until now even me doesn't fully accept and welcome her on being part of the group. The first thing I sense of her is that she will just turn out to be a bad charm to us."

"You're right. That's why if she failed someday, I hope boss won't hesitate to finally kick her out. I can't stand her anymore honestly."

"Oh I can't wait for that to happen. It will be be so satisfying to watch."

"Hahahaha that princess tigress will be tamed by her owner."

As they've gone complete silent, Dahyun thinks that this is the time for her to leave. As she does so though, her eyes are sprung up, mind gone crazy and gooesbumps all over her body as she heard about all of their evil schemes prepared for her former bestfriend once it backfires.

For the first time in years, Dahyun has never felt so heavily worried and afraid for her former bestfriend despite being betrayed and abandoned.

The next day, Dahyun gives another set of completed homeworks to the gang that was sent to her yesterday. As expected they are satisfied and impressed.

She was about to leave their secret spot quickly when Chanyeol called her one more time.

"Before you go, remind yourself to meet us at the base later at 6:30 PM. I will tell you the activity you'll do for us. Don't be late. Are we clear?"

Dahyun looked around at them first before answering. "Yes."

Chanyeol then gave her a nod gesture as a signal for her to finally leave. As she vanished, Chanyeol and the rest of the group wore a mischievous smirk.

"See you later."

Dahyun walks swiftly on her feet, frantically looking around back and forth at everything she passes through as she wants to track the sole person she wants to meet as soon as possible.

She couldn't believe she has to do this but something feels odd in her that she must have to.

At last, her series of wandering throughout the areas of the campus came into a stop when she finally saw someone she has to meet urgently.

She walked even faster and when she is now inches away from her, she waited for her presence to be acknowledged.

She side glanced, that's where Dahyun took the signal.

"Chaeyoung."

The girl faced away from tracing the bulletin board while holding her paint tools and a canva. She spun around, meeting the person who called her by her name for quite a long time now.

"Dahyun? What are you doing here?"

"I know we are destined to hate each other forever, but I just have to ask you this.", she coldly said and paused before gliding back to her words. "Do you... really trust your friends in the gang a lot?"

"Isn't it obvious?  ofcourse. I do. What are you implying at?", she answered, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Then it means you...  haven't ever thought of a possibility that someday they might... turn on you and cause you to get ejected from them?"

Chaeyoung eyes blinked puzzedly in a moment, her lips plopped as if she was about to say something back but that statement coming from Dahyun seemed like it got her otherwise.

"Checkmate."

"S-shut up.", Chaeyoung rudely denied. "Did you really just came to meet me here and have this type of talk again, Dahyun?"

"Why couldn't you just answer my question?"

"Damn it, fine! You're so insufferable.", Chaeyoung huffed and rolled her eyes. They would never do that to me. Why would they, huh? I got their trust and they have mine. I belong to their group now. Isn't it enough?"

Dahyun nodded and acted satisfied and convinced with Chaeyoung's response. "Okay. If you say so.", she shrugged.

"Whatever. You don't even know what you're talking about."

Dahyun stood beside Chaeyoung and pushed her face closer to hers, wanting her to listen carefully at every bit of words out of her mouth.

"Beware though, you might eat your words very soon. If I were you, I won't let them out of my zone. You wouldn't know, maybe they're plotting already to get you lost."

Chaeyoung sarcastically chuckled at Dahyun. "What is this? Now you're concerned for me?"

"Don't be misintepret Chaeyoung. I didn't do it to be friends with you again. You can forget about it happening."

Her whole composure nearly gave up as her heart felt like it skipped some beats and her energy felt loosened after what she heard.

"I'm just doing this to open your eyes and stop fooling yourself. We both know you're better than that."

"You're completely delusional, aren't you?", Chaeyoung pushed Dahyun on her shoulder with a jab of her palm. "I don't know what are you exactly trying to do with all these nonsense-"

"Yeah, nonsense? Alright, say whatever excuses you got Chaeyoung but let me tell you this.", Dahyun interrupted Chaeyoung as her voice gone aggressive.

"You will never be one of them. You don't belong in that group because you are way beyond than them... and that would make them care less about you."

Dahyun finally gave Chaeyoung some space to take all of those words and reconsider things in her mind.

The possibilities and imaginations about it occuring had Chaeyoung uncomfortable thinking about all of it at once, fondling her fingers and lip bites to catch the adrenaline of concerns for herself.

4 HOURS LATER

Chaeyoung was just eating chips along with her gangmates on their base when one of their members who left after being commanded by Chanyeol returned with some filled plastic bags on both of his hands.

He placed it all on the table. Chanyeol stood up and checked all the contents. Chaeyoung got confused at what she saw.

They bought some bottles of strong beer and some snacks. "And the other one?", Chanyeol asked Lai, the accomplice that he tasked on this.

"It's here, boss." Lai reached for the pocket of her jacket and pulled out the thing inside to give to Chanyeol.

The rest became more interested as they saw what's placed in Chanyeol's hand.

"Boss, is that... a-are we doing drugs?" Sehun said, referring to some white pills wrapped in a plastic.

"We are." That sounded controversial, exchanges of looks was thrown by the members at each other including Chaeyoung who had the slight look of objection in her eyes.

"... but this isn't for us.", Chanyeol caressed it with his fingers. "We're going to give this to someone else."

"I invited Dahyun earlier to come here, right? She agreed which obviously she has to.", Chanyeol added . "She's gonna be here soon, and she doesn't know completely the plans I do have in mind for her tonight."

"Mind if you tell us, boss?"

Chaeyoung also listened more intently.

"Well, I just want to give her some appreciation for everything that she's done for us. ", Chanyeol confidently said. His head fell, eyes returned to the view of the pills again. "But... there's something more I would like her to do for us, and I won't be letting her even say yes or no for it."

"Dahyun... is indeed a very attractive woman. Such a shame nobody's interested at her just because of being a nerd overshadows her beauty.", Chanyeol frowned. The members agreed, nodding quickly while Chaeyoung's brows knitted at how suspicious he's getting.

"But I'm an observant one... and I would like to be one to try how good does she really is when she's out of her shell."

"So here's my plan. We're going to make her join us to drink and then, when she gets drunk... this pill inside of this plastic; would boost her sexual desires...."

"Oh shit! Boss, are you saying... we're going to have a taste of her too?"

"Exactly. Let's see how gorgeous she really is if we discard her innocent and smarty self."

Chaeyoung's widened as it finally sinked in what does Chanyeol is probably wanting to do to Dahyun.

She remembered what Dahyun told her a while ago, and it kept getting repetitive and louder inside her head like it does warns her of an impending bad situation she's going to regret if she won't prevent it.

"Damn! Man, I always wanted to spank and eat that meaty ass she got. Finally, the wait will be over later."

Chaeyoung heard that disgusting and vile comment coming from Sehun. She wasn't even aware that her glare got even intense and venomous as it directed to him after saying that. It sounded so wrong and illegal to her.

"Now let's just wait for her to come and begin. We're going to have fun tonight." All of them cheered like idiots. Chaeyoung just roamed her eyes at them, pissed and frustrated at how far they've gone through.

Dahyun was her former bestfriend, but deep inside she knows and she admits that Dahyun will forever be the one that will make her succumb and retreat in case something bad happens to her.

She just can't do it, hiding it behind her mask of her new self. She doesn't know, but at this situation going on... it seems that this is very inappopriate already and a huge cross out to her that she shouldn't be able to let this one pass this time.

For the first time, Chaeyoung would pick the right choice.

"No."

Chanyeol and the rest looked at her. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. I said no."

"Do you have any more to say, Chaeyoung?"

"I am. I want you all to leave her alone. Stop this. Let her now go.", Chaeyoung stood up from sitting at one of the empty boxes stored near the wall. "Like you said, she did what you tasked her to do. The deal was done, isn't it enough?"

Chanyeol squinted his eyes. "So you're saying..."

"Please, don't do anything to Dahyun. I told you, I'll handle her on my own. Leave her alone. We can just move on and target new ones but not her.", Chaeyoung's voice softened in plead. It's been a while since she has that tone when it regards to Dahyun.

"Now you're siding with her? What's with the change of heart, Chaeyoung? You can't pull the trigger anymore?"

Chanyeol stood up, walks and faces the troubled and guilty Chaeyoung.

"Too bad, I'm the one in charge here. I make the decisions around here and all you have to do, is to fall in line with us."

Chaeyoung looked up at Chanyeol and stares at him with angst.

"Fuck that. I'm done with this. I'm a nobody's bitch."

She slapped Chanyeol hard in the face reminiscence of what she did to Dahyun before. That was her symbol of answer, a choice, a loyalty... and a side to stand with.

"This doesn't have to be this way, Chaeyoung... but you left me no other choice. I'll do the honors for you instead."

In a snap, Chaeyoung bended her body and grasped her stomach in pain as Chanyeol heavily punched it.

"I knew you couldn't do it. You never changed. You will always be just like your friend and anyone we dominate in here: weak and pathetic."

"But you're even worse than them. You're a traitor."

One kick goes right to Chaeyoung's arm, she groaned in pain as her body fell to the ground.

"You used me to put you back together..."

Another kick but it connected to the leg this time. A teardrop escaped on Chaeyoung's poor eyes.

"I gave you what you wanted, a better company, welcomed you in when you felt alone and this is what you do to me in return!!!"

A slap fired through Chaeyoung's face, her cheeks reddened and stinged at the impact. The hit was so loud that even the members began to wince at how Chanyeol visibly looks even more outraged.

Chanyeol pulls her hair and tugged it upward, facing Chaeyoung who is now crying horribly in front of him.

"Remember this, from now on.... you just made the worst mistake of your life. Starting today, you and your ghostfreak friend, you both caused me a lot of problems, now I will make your highschool life a living hell.

"Boss, that's enough. You made her fear you now." Sehun went behind Chanyeol, putting his hand on top of his shoulder.

Chanyeol infuriatedly drops Chaeyoung's messy hair, falling back into the ground again and curl her body to ease all of the pain she's feeling somehow while she hurtfully cries at the abuse.

"She should've been that at the very start. Now I know she just treats me like a joke, I'm even more motivated to ruin their smiles.", Chanyeol snagged before spitting a saliva that went to Chaeyoung's sleeve due to lack of aim.

"Let's go somewhere to drink. I can't stand to see ghostfreak and this traitor all at once for now, we'll deal with them tomorrow."

They all brought their belongings with them as they left their dugout, leaving the recently evicted Chaeyoung in the ground; once again all alone by herself but this time, she did it for a great decision.

Few minutes later after the departure of the gang, Dahyun appeared at the scene wearing a simple casual attire. From the distance of the corridor, her eyes widened and face expanded in astoundment as she saw Chaeyoung wailing on the floor.

"Chaeyoung?"

She didn't reacted.

Dahyun made couple more steps forward to lure herself closer to her ex-friend.

"Chae- CHAEYOUNG!"

Now she ran and kneeled beside Chaeyoung. She assisted her to get up and there her features were presented to Dahyun, she sees nothing but disdain, destruction and shattered soul.

"What happened to you?!" Dahyun hastily asked Chaeyoung who is still heavily crying on her arms.

She still didn't speak. Dahyun made the adjustment instead by checking Chaeyoung's body. There, her heart cracked when she saw some bruises and wounds on her arm and legs, including a red spot in her cheek.

"THEY DID THIS TO YOU?!", Dahyun shouted. Chaeyoung just nodded.

"WHY?!"

"I... I-... I left their group."

"Y-you did w-what...?"

"I left their group... f-for you."

Chaeyoung didn't followed up more as she just snapped out from her consciousness, probably got tired out too much from what she suffered. She fell into slumber right on Dahyun who was only left confused at the last word she said.

"For me?" She repeated. She looked again at the resting Chaeyoung with eagerness to obtain the reason why.

------------------

"How did I-" Chaeyoung paused after lingering her eyes around her bedroom, lying down on her own personal bed.

"Dahyun?" She called the name of the girl sitting on the chair beside her closet, watching her freshly woke up from resting.

"You got hit pretty bad that you had to sleep for 5 hours." Dahyun nonchalantly asid, crossing her arms and legs while sitting.

She looked around the familiar interior of the room she's sharing with the person she used to know before too. "I thought even the designs of your room would change just like you, but I'm surprised you left it untouchable. It's been a long time since I can freely enter here whenever I want."

Chaeyoung went silent, revisiting those blocked memories she used to have with her in their childhood days. "H-how did you bring me here?"

"I carried you, you're still a lightweight.", Dahyun boastfully said. "What happened to you back there? Did you got all of those from them?"

Chaeyoung covered her body with her blanket more, feeling embarassed to reveal it at the person who was the one trying to warn her all along from having this happen. It's funny how the karma became reality just in a few hours following.

"N-no... only Chanyeol."

"What did you do to make him hurt you like that? I suppose that's the first time you. both had a physical altercation.", Dahyun guessed. "What did you mean... you left their group because you did it for me?"

Chaeyoung gulped, looking away from Dahyun. "I said t-that?"

"You did, not until you passed out from low energy." Dahyun replied. "So I'm asking you again and clarify it to me... what have you've done?"

Chaeyoung sighed and looked at Dahyun with her droopy eyes. "Earlier they... they were talking about you. Chanyeol wanted to do something on you."

"At our meetup?"

She nodded. "He instructed one of us to bought beers. He was suppose to invite you to drink with them and you have to accept it. I didn't even expected that they're something more that I never liked to discover."

"What do they want from me?", Dahyun continues to become authorative on her questions.

"They wanted to drug you, okay?! As you drink more and more, they want you to be sexually driven and... you know what's gonna happen next."

"Oh god..." Dahyun gasped. "W-what? They tried t-to take advantage-"

"They were also lusting about you like the perverts they were. I know we don't like each other but... hearing somebody about to get raped and me as a w-woman... did nothing about it, even f-for you... it just feels so wrong.", Chaeyoung bowed down her head.

Dahyun was speechless, still shocked and in disbelief that she almost put herself in that nightmare and trauma, but all thanks to Chaeyoung, her former friend; unexpectedly sacrificed her allegiance to backstab her entire gang just to save her.

Her lost in her thoughts ended instantly when all of a sudden, Dahyun heard a sniff and small soft cries coming from Chaeyoung.

She was covering her face, burying it on her palm.

"I don't understand... w-why did you have to help me. You shouldn't be doing this after everything I've done from you. I betrayed you. I left my only true friend and labeled her useless and unreliable. Why, Dahyun? Why did you have to heal me?!" Chaeyoung's anger, guilt and conflicted questions that she fired all at once at Dahyun made the volume of her tone increase in intensity.

Dahyun watched Chaeyoung finally took accountable of her wrongdoings. It felt nice to finally see herself at fault here, but it was still unfair for her on the other hand knowing and believing she does still have a part of mistakes here also.

"You're speaking as if you didn't do the same for me Chaeyoung." , Dahyun retorted. "If you want to know why... I'm actually not so sure either.", she shrugged.

"I couldn't help it. It was like an urge of redemption that I have to do. It felt like I was now finally proving myself that I can heal you it's just... I could've done it a lot better earlier. I could've been a better friend you're expecting me to be.", Dahyun clenches her fist, admitting her own fault also.

"No, you're not Dahyun.", Chaeyoung corrected. Dahyun looked at her in curiosity. "It was all me. I'm the one who looked at you falsely. You didn't have to pressure herself like that to improve for me, I could've done better also to make you feel that you are doing your role well.", she said while wiping the tears flowing from her eyes and cheeks.

"I didn't wanted to hurt your feelings and break your trust, Dahyun. Trust me, I wanted to approach you and fix my mistake many times... but I understand that you wouldn't want to see me."

"In my heart... y-you're still a friend to me. I saved you because after all this time... I still think about you. I'm concerned about you. You were right, i'm not suitable to be with them... and I couldn't believe I left the right one who can provide me the true meaning of what a real friendship should be."

Dahyun couldn't take it anymore. It was too much to contain, too much to resist, too much to act tough. Chaeyoung's words of regret, guilt and apology got her retreat on her emotions. Tears of her own began escaping also from her eyes.

"It should've been you, Dahyun. I should've stayed. I'm not hoping for you to forgive me, I'm just begging for you to understand because... we do are destined to fight forever."

Dahyun stood up from her chair and positioned herself near at Chaeyoung who is still crying hard.

"You're right. And I did mean what I said before. You can forget about us being friends...

... because we're sisters, Chaeyoung."

Chaeyoung slowly released her face from her hands and look at Dahyun. In her surprise, Dahyun was smiling at her with tears also streaming on her face. She was in the dark ever since she changed, and it does felt refreshing and completely relieving that  there's a light who is willing to rescue her again.

Without any further ado, Dahyun extended her arms; signalling Chaeyoung to do one simple thing to make things assured and settled like they both always wanted to finally happen.

Chaeyoung removed the blanket around her and raised herself up, extending her own arms too as she accepted Dahyun's welcoming body for a warm, longing and forgiving hug.

"I missed you so much Dahyun. I'm very sorry." Chaeyoung said as she buried her face on Dahyun's crook.

"It's okay now, Chaeng. I'm sorry too and yes... I missed this. I missed us being like this.", Dahyun smiled, shutting her eyes close to indulge the great feeling of finally recovering the special person she lost in her life. Meanwhile, Chaeyoung smiled and blushed as she heard her sister call her by her favorite nickname again.

"Now that we are back together, there's only one more thing that matters and our newly reformed bond is the key for it, Chaeng. We have both common enemies now, and all we have to do is to get back against them."

Dahyun heard Chaeyoung hummed in agreement and her head bobbed either.  Feeling inspired, uplifted and confident, with the assistance of Chaeyoung this time, she is now ready to beat Chanyeol and his gang and stop them from targeting other innocent students and end up like them.

The only question remains is... how?

That until, Chaeyoung had a bright idea on what they are going to do.

-------------------

THE NEXT DAY

"So... this is them?"

"Yeah."

Dahyun asked Chaeyoung, pointing at all three students that are standing in line in front of them; clueless at what is the purpose of being in here.

"Alright. Everyone, before we start... I have to introduce myself first. I am Kim Dahyun from Grade 11 and-"

"We already know her."

One of the two out of three female students blurted as she stares deadly at Chaeyoung who noticed and avoids it with shame. "Aren't y-you... one of Chanyeol's slaves? W-what is this? What are you going to-"

"Everyone, please listen to us." Dahyun interjected, defending her friend who is too speechless from a state of shock and terror. "Her name is Chaeyoung and yes, she did became a member from them... but that was before. She's now gone, she chose to quit from that unsafe gang.", Dahyun explained to them sincerely.

The other three students began muttering at each other before the student once again spoke to communicate further.

"S-she really did?"

"Yes. If she wouldn't, she wouldn't be standing here with me and..."

"... a-and... ask for your cooperation.", Chaeyoung took the turn to speak. Dahyun lets her and the students faced her altogether, they paid attention to her even more.

"H-how could we even give that t-to you if you haven't d-done anything to s-save us before?", the only guy in them three had difficulty breathing saying those words as the memory of his suffering at the hands of those unruly, sinister, troublesome teenagers.

"Because I-I'm doing this to help you guys this time.", Chaeyoung replies. She began to slowly lower her body to the ground until she was only in her knees. The three students including Dahyun were surprised at her manners.

"E-eh? M-Miss..."

"P-please... I'm begging you all. I'm heavily sorry for everything. I'm just a victim of Chanyeol's manipulative and authorative control including her beatdown he gave to me after I did the right thing.", Chaeyoung begs on her knees, bowing down her body to the ground as she grasped the hem of the dress of the student while crying.

"I want to redeem myself for each one of you. This time, I want him to be taken down, but knowing him... he's got backups. I'm alone, but I need ones too on my back.", Chaeyoung pleads to the female student on the middle. She monitors and saw how she's desperate and needy she looks. Three of them started to have their faces filled with wince and worry.

"I hope all of you accept and agree with me. I promise, again... I'll give you all the help I should've done if I wasn't get stolen by Chanyeol t-to my friend Dahyun here.", Chaeyoung looked at Dahyun who just gave her a small smile.

"C-can you stand up f-first, Miss Chaeyoung?"

"C-call me Chae. It's shorter." Chaeyoung followed the order of the student.

"If you do meant it so much and we all have the same despise to only one person and taste the medicine of his karma, w-we'll take it."

Chaeyoung and Dahyun's smile beamed brighter at the great news.

"Thank you so much! We truly appreciate it."

"If you guys want to do it too... then what shall we have to do?"

---------------

Dahyun and Chaeyoung were currently standing at the entrance of the canteen where many students are gathered to eat or order foods of their own choosing.

Among in this crowded place was Chanyeol and his gang joining somebody who looks very weak and shy as they kept on teasing him about immature jokes.

"He's there." Dahyun said as she mentioned Chanyeol's positive trace in the area.

"I'll go near them first. You know what to do next, okay?"

"Yeah, be careful. Try not to make it messier with them." Dahyun advised.

"It will be the difference from them. They cause chaos always, Dubu." Chaeyoung and enters and sealed her eyes across the ridiculous view.

"Why do you even eat too much of these?" Chanyeol problematically asked the little anxious guy. "No wonder why do you end up being thin as fuck like these french fries." They all burst into laughter as Chanyeol threw a piece straight through the victim's face.

"Enough. Leave him in peace, Chanyeol."

All of the gang rotated their heads at the source of that voice. Chanyeol knitted his brows and mouth agaped quizzically at why in the world would be their biggest problem just stood at their table without even preparing herself not to be embarassed by them.

"Look who just showed up.", Chanyeol gritted his teeth. "Speaking of the devil, huh."

"Don't worry, I'll let him go this time." He then threw all of the french fries at the shy student before standing up, removing himself on the seat and slowly went across Chaeyoung. "I'll give it to him, he's free.

"But this isn't going to be the same as you, Chaeyoung. Since you're here, now I got to invade your peaceful interactions or none rather, and you owe me a nightmare for you to suffer."

"Don't bother. Being your ally was way worse than a nightmare. I consider it as a curse."

"Watch your mouth you backstabbing shark. The audacity of you, I still haven't forget what you've done to us, you little traitor.", Chanyeol grabbed Chaeyoung's face and aggresively sank his fingers beneath the latters' soft flesh of her face.

"Then do something, bitch.", Chaeyoung grabbed Chanyeol's thump at her chin and catched it with a huge bite, enabling to sprung out Chanyeol's hand away from the girl as he screamed in pain.

"You're testing me now, huh. You aren't taking this seriously. You think I'm just playing a game with you." He gave his thunb some twirls, puff of air and peck of kiss to settle down the amount of pain it received.

"Let's raise the stakes then, let's get physical." Chanyeol then almost gave Chaeyoung's a strong blow of his fist ahead of the side of her head when in a blink of an eye, everyone was in shock including Chanyeol when Chaeyoung just catched his fist just in time.

"W-what the-"

She threw it away before Chaeyoung stood even more fearlessly at him, tiptoeing just to nearly match his menacing stare.

"Come on, hit me if you want. I wouldn't care less anymore. I'll just end up striking back harder than you can give."

"You must've gone crazy, dipshit!" Chanyeol landed a knee to Chaeyoung's midsection, kneeling down on her former master's feet.

All of the students and canteen servers watched the brawl between Chaeyoung and Chanyeol as all of them chanted "oooh" sounds whenever each of them exchanges a better attack.

Chanyeol tugged her hair upwards but Chaeyoung spun around and holds his wrist, twisting it around which elicited a groan from him. She drags it down, colliding the bone of his arms to her shoulder blade.

"GET HER!!!"

Chanyeol infuriatedly initiated all of his sidemen as they rushed over at different spots with the same motive: block her off while they take the turn to inflict pain on Chaeyoung after.

In tight spot and outnunbered situation, Dahyun saw the male bullying victim of Chanyeol running in straight return back to her standing figure.

"Have you done it?" Dahyun asked him.

"Yes, Dahyun-noona." He nodded. He was about to give back a USB device to Dahyun when she ignored and pushed it in his chest instead.

"No, keep that with you for a moment. I'll go there and protect Chaeyoung."

Chaeyoung guarded the other three's actions as she quickly turns her head, only to be caught by distraction when Chanyeol kicked her between one of her knee, sending her to fall in the floor with her other one supporting the impact.

Chanyeol headlocked Chaeyoung, wrapping both of his arms around her neck. "WHAT? YOU CAN'T BREATHE? I CAN SHUT THE LIFE OUT OF YOU RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW IF I WANT."

"Hey."

One of the gang members who are grinning and watching Chaeyoung slowly get choked by their leader felt his back being poked.

He turned around, only to met by a brutal smack on the face by Dahyun using her shoe.

"D-Dahyun." She heard Chaeyoung's gurgled voice as she tries to break away from Chanyeol's trap.

Before she was about to help Chaeyoung, the rest charges to Dahyun but the latter avoided it with some dodges.

Chaeyoung was about to get knocked out from Chanyeol's headlock but she unleashes one last attempt at him, grabbing both of his eyes and forcefully scratches it as he screamed in pain.

Meanwhile, Dahyun received a blow to her back from Lai as she got finally caught after dealing first with the other one named Doyoung.

"EVERYONE OF YOU, STOP THE FIGHT!"

Sehun's about to slap her when his hand stopped mid-air just in time to look himself clearly the ones who are the suspects of this ruckus.

They just realized that it was such a bad timing and a screwed up moment from them. All of them were literally standing while Dahyun and Chaeyoung are on the floor, groaning in pain at the hits they took.

"PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE. NOW. ALL OF YOU WILL GET EXCUSED FROM YOUR CLASSES FOR THIS."

The principal shouted at all six of them who hesitatedly followed him as they walked by pair. Dahyun and Chaeyoung lets out one last glare at the gang especially Chanyeol who already look like he can commit a murder anytime.

The boy who ran to Dahyun and was about to lend back her USB device remained on his palm as he played it while watching them enter the office with anxiousness in his face as he joined by his two other fellow victims.

"Will they be okay?" The girl with the nametag that has Eunchae written on it asked.

"The truth always prevails." The boy named Jun said with his voice full of hope and assurance.

"Let's just wait and see what's gonna happen." The other one with them named Yujin said which Jun and Eunchae both nodded their heads.

Few minutes later, Dahyun and Chaeyoung exits the office first to avoid conflict in case they are plotting something to hurt each other again, especially as how they can tell from the losers based from the judgment created by the principal.

They both saw Jun, Eunchae and Yujin sitting at one of the benches outside the building.

"UNNIES!!!" They all stood up in sync. "What happened?!"

Dahyun and Chaeyoung looked at each other, a smile slowly appeared in their faces.

"We won."

All of them felt a huge relief and a breath of fresh air to inhale on their lungs as they finally managed to defeat those gangs that brings horror to this entire campus.

"Thanks to the USB that you sent Jun to the guidance office, they watched the video we made regarding your confessions about their bullying issues and even heard it personally from you guys... they considered it as an essential evidence." Chaeyoung explained.

In addition, it was proven immediately with no further investigation needed when Irene enters the principals office to interrupt the meeting and lets him watch the video she was recording.

Unbeknownst to Chanyeol and his gang, this is the first time that somebody dared to record their sinful acts when Irene records them bullying a guy before being interrupted by Chaeyoung.

As they left the principals office, they both thanked Irene as she excused herself to attend an organization meeting.

"It was reported immediately to the principal and there, including what he just witnessed at the cafeteria; they made up their mind even more to give them the worst punishment. They got expelled while us... well, we just have to go to a detention for 5 hours for being involved in the cafeteria fight." Dahyun chuckled and rubbed her nape.

"Wait... so does that mean we won't be able to s-see them ever again h-here?" Jun stutteredly said in bewilderment.

Dahyun nodded. The three felt like they are about to cry in joy.

All three of them ran at Dahyun and Chaeyoung and enveloped them in a group hug of appreciation.

"T-thank you... thank you unnies so much. We can finally go to school without being afraid by something we didn't deserve."

Dahyun and Chaeyoung hummed and expressed their willingness to help as they returned the pleasure of doing it.

As all of them left, Dahyun and Chaeyoung remained in their spot.

"So..."

"Yeah... hehe..."

They acted awkward at each other, struggling to compose theirselves at interacting together.

"We finally got what we wanted."

"Yeah, it's completely deserving of them. How do you feel?", Chaeyoung pondered.

"Me? It felt like... I'm available again. There's no one to stand in my way now on... bringing you back to me again." Dahyun said as she watched the other students strolling around the campus. "You?"

"I feel free and peaceful. I'm no longer jailed in his prison and... the alluring devilish voices of lies he kept on inserting in my head, it's all quiet now."

Dahyun nodded understandably. She looked at Chaeyoung, urging the latter to do the same for her.

"I know we had our own worlds apart in months. It made us think that we're destined to hate one another but... now I realized, we did started as something special."

"We are more than just bestfriends. We've had a sisterly bond that evolved throughout all of our childhood years. So, despite we got betrayed and be mad at ourselves; we are still fated that someday we will resolve our problems and our lives become related again..., we're sisters Chaeyoung. I can't leave you and so as you. At the end of the day, it will always just be you and me supporting each other through our toughest times."

"Forgiveness is anything and family is forever.", Chaeyoung said as she smiled with her dimples visible on her blushing cheeks. "It was indeed true, because I got to experience it with you Dahyun. Even after everything we'e gone through, we still end up looking for one another in the end."

Brought by their emotions and desire to reconcile to gain closure for their own, they hugged each other and at last, the feeling of happiness, thankfulness and lack of loneliness was one again had its strong presence revived that will only revolve between the both of them.

"I missed you so much, Chaeng. Welcome back." Dahyun said, clutching the back of her head as she pulled her closer on her more.

"I missed you too so much Dubu. I won't ever leave again, I only have one more chance remaining, I won't waste it anymore.", Chaeyoung sweared in return.

They stayed in others embrace for half a minute before they seperated as they hooked each other's head with their arms while they began to walk side by side.

"Hey, since we have 10 more minutes before detention; can we go to Building C for a while? I have a pineapple cake order to pick up from my Taiwanese friend that I just met few days ago.", Dahyun requested.

"Oh yeah sure, no problem. Wait, you said Taiwanese? She's an exchange student or what?"

"Nope, transferee. She's so nice and uhh... tall." Dahyun showed a silly grin. Chaeyoung saw that and half-lidded her eyes as she observes.

"Yah! Are you teasing me?"

"No! What are you saying,  I didn't do it on purpose! I swear she's really tall. I even had to raise my head a bit just to make eye contact with her. Have you ever forgot I'm also short like you?" Dahyun chuckled. "Although... I'm just inches taller than you."

"Yah! We just got back together and you're being like this to me already." Chaeyoung pouted. Dahyun laughed and patted her baby beast on the shoulder.

"Stop sulking now, we'll go eat those cakes during detention hours. Sounds good?"

"Really?", Chaeyoung's face enlightened.

"Yup."

"Yayyy! Brooo!!!" the cub offered their classic handshake they made before which brought them back to another jolly parts of the memories they've created together before which couldn't ever be forgotten.

Dahyun high-fived her buddy back,  gripped her hand and rattles it slightly before letting go with some explosive-like hand gesture. "Brooo!!!"

"I'll have you meet her. You two would get along, I promise." Dahyun smiled. They entered the building again and head through the stairs to climb up onto the next floor to search that foreign student together.

[flfverse]

i love promising things and not following up. it’s awesome. superrrrr cool. anyway, little life/fic update for you all. it’s 4am, please bear with me.

i wanted to wait to do this until i had more work done so i could drop snippets and have an actual date for the hiatus to end, but you know.

to be honest, the brain? is not great. where’s the halloween meme. mental is hocus. health not pocus. etc etc. and the thing is i have a support system of sorts, therapy, all that good stuff. i also have, like, four or five mental illnesses. and because of the logistics of College, none of my support system is actually physically nearby most of the time. so. that kinda sucks. <3 i miss people. horrified to discover i might actually be an extrovert and just anxious.

but you know, ups and downs. this week, or at least this weekend, we’re on an up, which is good. the shitty part is, this time last year i coped by writing so, so much fanfiction. truly, look at my ao3 september-december 2022. wild.

and i just. can’t really write these days, for whatever reason. not easily. and it sucks! because i love this story! i want to tell it so bad! but the initial hyperfixation has worn off and my motivation to do anything at all is a bit….how do you say….nonexistent. so like. halfhearted cheers. sorry.

the best timeline i can give right now is this: i have a fandom trumps hate auction due december 31st. it’s about half done. that is obvs first priority (after silly things like school and work) because there are actual material consequences if i don’t finish. i am also launching something original in january, if i can get myself together enough to do so. i think i will. i’m mostly ready (and hey, my main is in my pinned if queer fantasy pirates sounds up your alley?).

and also, there’s FLFverse. i would really like to get back to posting before the year is up, but :/ not sure. definitely want to by january. i’m not sure if i’ll be able to keep up with two chapters a month or if i’ll have to drop to one or something even more sporadic than that.

hey, be honest, would you rather wait longer for me to build a backlog for regular updates, or get the ball rolling sooner but with no schedule?

we have a poll now i guess. it’s seriously 4am and i’m about to go back to making paper mache bones on the floor, mkay. don’t ask me to be normal.

so anyway. that’s the update. i wish it was more positive. if you made it all the way to the end and want to toss an ask, a little prompt, a question, whatever, that would be very cool. i think i have a chill week coming up and i miss this ‘verse a ton, wouldn’t mind some dopamine.

[cruelfeline]

To @cruelfeline // Cc @ladybinary because some of this pertains to my interactions with you. (It is very surprising that you two have not blocked me yet as far as I can tell, but I’m going to take advantage of that to try to do something reasonable instead of something bad). I was the one who repeatedly sent the creepy anonymous asks regarding Horde Prime (or at least, most of them) and I wanted to apologize for my horrible behavior towards you. It was very immature of me to not respect your boundaries. I understand that you will not forgive me, but I wanted to tell you anyway. Also, I didn’t want to hide my behavior behind the idea of being anonymous anymore, so I didn’t. You can ignore this, or publish this and comment on it, or publish this and comment on it but specifically crop my name away, or read this and send me a reply through private messaging, and send it to ladybinary later. I won’t be upset by any of the options you pick, the power should be in your hands. I guess I would prefer the last option, but it is up to you. I’m sort of expecting you to ignore me and block me though, since given my behavior, you probably don’t want to hear anything from me ever again. Tumblr wouldn’t let me do a cut, but…  **more under the cut and It Gets Worse** Basically, I enjoyed some of your posts and something about your writing style made it entertaining(?) for me to upset you for my own amusement. So, along the lines of why I suspect most people who do a specific kind of online harassment do what they do. But here’s where things get very interesting and horrible in a way that you may not expect: I had/have this tendency to do something mean or immature, and then somehow rationalize it as being “not me”. I don’t mean this in a straightforward sense of not wanting to take responsibility for my own actions—although it certainly is that! I don’t even mean it in a sense of thinking that the bad action was done by someone else, or the fault of someone else. I mean it in a sense of… I would do something, and then decide that it doesn’t “count”(?) towards who I am, because it doesn’t match my beliefs or internal concept of myself. And then I would willfully(?) forget that I had done it until I felt like doing it again. Like, I had a certain idea of who I wanted to be, but instead of actually striving for it, I would just… as a starting point, decide that this is who I am, and that any behavior that fell outside of that wasn’t reflective of who I actually was “on the inside”. I wasn’t consciously aware that I was doing this, and by the very nature of itself, it is a tricky thing to catch yourself doing. Now obviously, this is cheating, so to speak. This is not how assessing someone’s moral character works, so I can’t… apply it to myself and no one else. Instead, your moral character can be assessed through observing your actions, both good and bad. I think this is reasonable, but I don’t want to get caught up in a rant about moral philosophy right now. I just want to apologize for something I did that was not good by literally any reasonable definition ever. So the solution, then, instead of defending my mental image of myself, or splitting myself into pieces so that I can keep doing bad behavior with no consequences, is to… try and actually behave in a way that makes sense to what I believe, both about myself, and about the way people should behave in general. If I think that online harassment is bad, then I shouldn’t do it. And it sounds so obvious when you say it like that! There’s a second part to this, too, which is slightly less horrible, but still worth discussing. So, on some level, I knew what I was doing was… not who I wanted to be, but I had not quite worked out that it was a reflection of who I was, just as much as everything else I did… and so, I silently decreased and then got rid of the horrible behavior in situations where it was obviously, obviously not wanted. But here’s the thing: even when I am not intending to do online harassment, I can end up doing it anyway by being really, really bad at assessing what the other person is thinking, or not understanding the norms of the group, what people’s boundaries even are so I can respect them. If I don’t know that they don’t want me to screech about Horde Prime or whatever else I feel like screeching about at that moment, then I will do it. But the effect is the same, and it is completely understandable if I get blocked or banned for that reason. I only recently figured out that I could be in the wrong about this. This is partially because of the “my behavior somehow doesn’t reflect who I am” bullshit from earlier, but it is also because… I had some unpleasant interactions on Discord, and in real life, where people just dislike me (or even harassed me as I have harassed you) for being too weird or too intense by some arbitrary standard. When you add strong emotions and black-and-white thinking to that, it becomes, “well, literally any time someone doesn’t like something I’m doing online, they’re being close-minded and that’s their problem!” and I can see now that that’s not true. Sometimes, if someone doesn’t like something I’m doing online, that really is their problem, but… well, sometimes, it’s mine. It is a nuanced thing. It depends on what I am doing, and the context in which I’m doing it. Writing a post on your own site is different than sending an ask, and behavior that is directed at someone personally, for them to see, needs to be held to a higher standard than just talking to yourself/your audience on the internet. I also want to tell you what made me change my mind regarding my behavior towards you. Or, not change my mind about the behavior itself, because I suspect that I always knew it was bad, and that it was the “my behavior somehow doesn’t reflect who I am” bullshit which stopped me from actually changing it. One of the things was assessing a real person and then a fictional character who did something worse than me with an uncomfortably similar psychological process. I like to think about fictional characters, and sometimes it causes me to learn about myself, if they are like me in some way. Sometimes, that knowledge is comforting. Other times, it is uncomfortable, but still necessary or helpful in some way. The other was being held accountable for my actions by getting blocked/having certain people get upset at me. This is really important. It isn’t just that people who get bullied or harassed don’t have to forgive, and are allowed to be upset in terms of just… themselves and their right to be upset. It’s also that, if the person who did something bad in the first place is actually interested in becoming a better person, then they will accept that there are consequences sometimes. It is not… horrible to them, and they are the victim now somehow. Rather, it is morally similar to splashing cold water on your face so that you can feel more awake. It’s unpleasant but very effective if you know what I mean. I want to be clear, this entire under-the-cut section is not to guilt-trip either of you into forgiving me, it is to explain how someone who spent a rather long time doing and saying things that were terrible and honestly just… gross… could decide that they are going to stop behaving that way, by coming to a realization of how their own moral character should be assessed. In fact, I actively expect that you are not going to forgive me, or even believe that I am being sincere, but given how I behaved… that’s honestly just what happens. As for what I’ll do in the future, aside from stopping this one specific obnoxious behavior… I will err on the side of caution when directly interacting with people online. If it is any of my own sites or a private piece of writing, I will go wild and if people don’t like that then they can block me, but in terms of behavior directed at specific individuals, I will use more caution. The other thing I will do is understand that my bad actions reflect my moral character, just like my good actions reflect my moral character, or other people’s bad actions reflect their moral character. Unfortunately, I cannot literally just say that I’m going to be a good person now, because that would most likely be a lie. Because even now, when I am like, “Okay, our actions reflect our character, and we will be careful to behave in a way that makes sense to what we believe…” My moral compass is very, very, very messed up for reasons outside the scope of this post. I will obtain a better moral compass by educating myself on social issues and continuing to think carefully about the things I read. I will also think some more about my previous bad actions outside of harassing you. That was a really unsatisfying conclusion and really just not the best thing I’ve ever written in general, but oh well.

Dude. If you think I’m going to actually read whatever self-involved monologue you’ve vomited into my inbox, you’ve got another thing coming. I do not care about the mental gymnastics you indulged in to further those perverse, gross asks you sent me. All I care about is that I finally have your username so I can easily block you without ruining anon for everyone else. And that you sent this publicly so other people can block you as well, if they so choose.

Don’t talk to me.

[bonesandthebees]

Anyway, Rose chapter 5. In my head it started with a montage of all the shit Tomys got up too. Like I could see Tobyn pour that bag over his head and see the both of them running through the hallways while screaming. And I can hear the screaming when the curtains got set on fire. While half of it is obviously just the two of them being kids and messing around and discovering the consequences (and maybe his friends trying to cheer Tomys up because she’s sad at having to move to the palace or unhappy). Some part also feels like maybe Tomys is trying to get sent home. He doesn’t know why he’s here (I’m like 99% sure it’s not a front), he doesn’t want to be here and he probably has no idea how long he’ll be here. He just wants to have some fun and enjoy the experience while it lasts. So he’s not too worried about it, but subconsciously he might think that if he’s childish or annoying enough, he might get sent home.

Wilbur then gets annoyed by that ability to be childish. Because he knows the consequences he would have gotten (read: Phil would have given him) if he had set his curtains on fire, yet Tomys just gets away with it. Like sure he probably got scolded, but there’s only so many times you can scold a kid before it loses it’s effect. And clearly whatever they are trying to get him under control is not working (hint: you need to use the intrinsic motivation). It’s obvious when he’s interacting with Wilbur at the market.

Side note: as a person who has spend a decent amount of time with 14-year-olds, you are doing such a good job writing Tomys as that age. Like he’s not some irredeemable bastard. He’s just a kid who wants to have fun with his friends and he has little control over his life right now, so he just tries to gain some of that back. Which is probably why he “acts out”. It’s a sense of control.

We see this at the market. Tomys ins’t really concerned with the political importance of the market, they have markets at home. He just wants to know if it’s going to be cool. He’s only really interested in the shells because that’s something new.

Also since he knows about the shells and that merchants get them further in land, he might have seen them before but not been allowed to get them (possibly for the same reason), would definitely make him double down now that he has a chance because he knows that Wilbur has no authority over him. And Wilbur not knowing about the shells getting further in shows that he’s a palace kid and doesn’t really know all that much about the kingdom from experience outside of the capitol (Do I see a flaw in Phil’s parenting? I see many. Moving on.)

(1/?)

-🌲

I am so glad the chapter started off with a montage in your head that's exactly what I was going for LMAO

wilbur is very frustrated with tommy and claims it's because he's annoying and childish but yeah, a lot of it actually has to do with his own jealousy that he never got to act like that as a kid. but it's also his own view that well, he wasn't allowed to act like that as a child because he was taught it's immature and foolish to do things like that, so he judges tommy for not being as understanding and mature as he was at that age to get that.

oh yeah tommy has definitely wanted to make dumb purchases at the market back in Valbroek before and wasn't allowed to for obvious reasons. now that he's loose with a bag of coins at his hip he's definitely going a bit wild, and is going to ignore everything wilbur says to try and get him to listen

[victorluvsalice]

Happy Birthday Newt!

@dont-offend-the-bees Inspired by your current love of Lockwood & Co., and your old love of DGHDA, here is “the two members who consider themselves the ‘sensible ones’ of their respective polycules complain to each other about their respective Disaster Boyfriends.” XD It’s at least ghost-hunting adjacent, as per what you said before? XD Anyway, enjoy!

---

“So. . .has yours ever come home and tried to hide the fact that he was ‘lightly stabbed?’”

“Not yet, but I would not be surprised if he did,” Todd replied, rolling his eyes. “Dirk is – not good with his own personal safety, let’s put it that way. He tries to blame the holistic stuff – ‘if the universe says I’m going to get hurt, Todd, there’s not much I can do about it’ – but I know it’s because he just doesn’t think about the consequences of his actions. Like, ever.”

“Yeah, Lockwood is definitely the same way,” Lucy said with a long-suffering sigh. “He’s always ‘rush in now, ask questions later.’ Which drives poor George mad.” She shook her head. “Poor fellow is always neck-deep in his research and Lockwood – well, he doesn’t actually ignore it, but he doesn’t listen to him as much as he could.”

“Yeah, I bet he doesn’t. . .I wonder if that’s how Mike feels sometimes,” Todd mused, taking a biscuit from the offered tin. “Thanks. . .he’s really into looking up all the weird phenomena we get tangled up in. Mostly because he’s always hoping it’s actually aliens, but still.” Todd dunked his biscuit in his coffee. “Dude works his butt off to get us as much information on the latest round of bullshit as possible. . .only for Dirk to ignore it because ‘I’m a detective who doesn’t look for clues, why would I do research?’”

“Mmm. . .admittedly, your ‘holistic’ bullshit seems rather different from our ghostly variation,” Lucy pointed out, taking a biscuit for herself. “Hopefully the boys don’t notice the change in the rotation. . .anyway, I thought the whole point of it is that it’s all coincidences and lucky breaks and bizarre accidents.”

“Yeah, but you can still write stuff down about it,” Todd responded through a mouthful of biscuit. He chewed and swallowed at her look. “Sorry. . .it’s not like people don’t do books on ESP and psychic readings and–”

“Isn’t Dirk very firm on the fact that he’s not psychic?”

Todd waggled a hand. “I think that’s more he doesn’t want anyone thinking he can see the future or predict shit on command. Like Blackwing thought he could.” He swirled his coffee, face hard. “He doesn’t talk much about what went down there. . .but I know it involved them calling him stupid a lot. And paintballing him in the face for some fucking reason.”

Lucy winced. “Right. I wouldn’t call myself psychic either if that’s what it meant.”

“Exactly. . .but he can still figure out shit that nobody else can, get these weird-ass hints from the universe that only he can piece together, so. . .” Todd sighed. “I dunno how to describe it, honestly. ‘Holistic’ fits as well as anything.”

“Yeah. What surprises me about it is that he’s still got whatever it is,” Lucy admitted, dunking her own biscuit. “The Talent. . .it doesn’t last long past a person’s twentieth birthday. And while I wasn’t happy about having it before – we’ve really started making a difference in people’s lives. And. . .” She sighed, taking a chomp of her soaked cookie. “I don’t know. It’s a dangerous life, but – someone’s got to do it.”

“Yeah, we all kind of feel that way about our stuff too.” Todd scowled. “Though we’re all in our thirties, not our fucking teens. Your ‘Talent’ is just one more thing I’m adding to the list of ‘shit I’d like to punch the universe in the face for.”

Lucy laughed. “If you ever figure out how, let me know. I’ve got my share of grievances.”

“No problem. Now – Lockwood ever accidentally set a house on fire while stealing a dog?”

---

[sanguine-inkwell]

I think I want to write about self care today.

The thing about being a sanguinarian is, it’s not as… straightforward as a normal need? It’s easy to understand that a human being needs sugars, fats, and proteins to survive. Your brain needs those things. It is rational to conclude that not being able to feel hunger, or not eating, is a Bad Thing with Bad Consequences.

Blood is hard to get, and I end up mentally filing it under “luxury goods” like chocolate and bath bombs. Iron pills don’t really do it, my usual pomegranate juice helps a little, but even pomegranate juice is ludicrously expensive and I have bills to pay. So, compared to the necessary value of chicken and bread and milk, blood should be a sacrifice I can justify not making for months or years. I only have my favorite chocolate on holidays, you know? It should be simple.

I still don’t know why I crave blood. It’s not a bit or an aesthetic choice. If it was, I’d be thrilled buying red candles for the evening and messing with my makeup to make blood drips down my jaw. If it was an aesthetic choice, I wouldn’t be facing the war between my social anxiety and my genuine need. The need definitely wouldn’t be winning. Blood is in people, you can’t really get it any other way consensually. It’s not like I keep farm animals in my apartment.

I’ve been running with the assumption that it’s psychological, but it’s such a niche psychological want that I thought I could gloss it over, or maybe classify it with the impulses like touching hot stoves or throwing my phone out a window. But I don’t feel worse after successfully ignoring those last two.

The thing about being neurodivergent, though, is that by hook or by crook you end up being really good at ignoring or not registering your own needs, be they physical or psychological. Nature, nurture, however the cards fall. Especially if you’re prone to dissociation- I’ve got a friend with ADHD I meet up with for DND, and he frequently doesn’t eat all week because he just forgets to. I’ve got a friend with autism who sometimes goes Angry Werewolf Mode out of nowhere and asks to be left alone for a day, and then comes back saying they might have had some emotions they were ignoring.

So maybe it doesn’t matter what blood does for me, whether it’s rational or irrational. What matters is this want has stuck around for over a decade, and I feel healthier after taking care of it.

But I know myself. There’s a nonzero chance I’ll forget I even wrote this! And I don’t have the cash to help myself anyway. The electric bill is more important than the water bill, both of those are more important than groceries, groceries are more important than getting my oil changed, and pomegranate juice isn’t even on the list. I can buy so many hot dogs for the price of a bottle of expensive juice. Hell, even if I had a willing blood donor, my usual honorbound payment is pizza. Or at least dinner. I can’t afford that.

Can I afford to start caring about this lacking area of self care? I don’t know. I can at least acknowledge that I need to take better care of myself, which is something. But after that we get into the universal issue of a lack of local swans. If I wanted to complain about that, I can think of at least three Discord servers full to the brim with equally desperate vampires. It’s easier to ask a friend, but the friends that would be willing are an expensive plane ticket away. So!

Is there any benefit to recognizing I have an unfulfilled need right now? There probably should be, on principle. I’m not sure what it would be. At the very least there’s value in recognizing what’s real and what’s not, and treating myself kindly according to that. The brief impulse to throw my phone out a window? Not a real need, does not have lingering effects if I ignore it. The need to drink blood? There are consequences if I don’t, even if I’m really good at ignoring those consequences. I won’t die, but I also won’t die if I don’t take my meds, and I definitely function better with them than without.

So I suppose… the most I can do is recognize that the need exists and accept it, but if I can’t respond to the need, is there value in recognizing it?

I feel like my therapist would say yes.