#At least I get to swim in the Mansion’s huge backyard pool for a few months

[domesticblisss]

Näher | Pt.02

Walter x Female Reader (Nicknamed ‘Hase’) Mob AU! Rating: Mature (Minors DNI) Word Count: 2048 Warnings: Smut. Pussy eating, fingering, cum eating, cum play.  Pt.01

“I’ll ask you again, do you want power, little hure?”

“I need to think about it.” My body betrays me, and I let out a little moan when he continues to stuff my pussy with his cum. 

“You need to think... it’s okay. I know it’s a hard decision to make.” he says as he brings me close to his chest, my head laying there. It’s a surprisingly tender moment, he tangles his fingers in my hair as he peppers soft kisses on my forehead. He slowly takes the two fingers from inside me, placing them in front of my lips, a silent offer for me to suck them clean, one I take without thinking twice. He kisses me after I cleaned his fingers and I see the biggest smile I have ever seen him let out.

After this little moment we shared he helped me get dressed again, brushed my hair with a brush he had on one of his drawers and insisted one of his guys had to take me home, even with me telling him I could catch uber. 

“You have Axel’s number, whatever your answer is, make sure to call him to let me know. But just know I look forward to seeing you again.” he finishes with a kiss and let’s me get inside the car. 

I’m thankful this little rendezvous happened on a friday, so I can sleep in and gather my thoughts. 

I woke up to a dream where I’m with Walter again, his lips all over my body, his hands in all the right places... I think my subconscious is trying to tell me something. 

I’m not going to lie, I’m very tempted into accepting his offer. It’s not like I need the money, I have a good post in a nice company that lets me lead a very comfortable life and... and... well, my life is boring. I barely have time for myself, I can’t even go out and have fun anymore because I’m either staying late at work or all my energy is drained. I haven’t had a good fuck in like two years at least and Walter was able to ruin me for everyone else, man or woman, in one night. Imagine it being a constant. 

It’s 10am and I decide to call Junior. I need to know what they do exactly before I turn my life upside down and get into this. He answers after the third ring, his voice all groggy from sleep. 

“Mein Hase, what’s wrong? Are you okay? Do you need any help?”

“Hey dipshit. Were you still sleeping? Dude it’s 10am already!”

“Well, I had a busy night okay.” I could feel the smirk growing on his face. 

“Yeah, the ’hottest chick’ right? Look, I need to talk to you, ask you some stuff and it needs to be in person. Can you come over?”

He sighs before answering me. “Yeah Hase. Give me about forty minutes to get ready and I’ll be there.”

In exact forty-five minutes I heard a knocking on my door and I open to see Axel standing there, a sleepy look on his face. I offer him coffee and breakfast, which he happily accepts. 

We sit by the living room’s centre table and I take my time to start questioning him. 

“Look, I know we haven’t seen each other in ages, but you do understand you have a big space in my heart, right?”

“Mhm, and you have in mine too.”

“Good! So... I’ll ask you a few things and I want you to be honest with me, please tell me the truth. You know I would never rat on you to anyone. And I’ll tell you why I’m asking all of this when this is over, okay?”

“I think I already got an idea why...”

“Okay, Axel? Do you agree with my terms?” I cut him a bit harshly. 

“Yes, Hase. You know I’d anything for you.”

“Okay...” I take a deep breath and start again “That day we met on the market, was our run in casual or did it happen on purpose?”

“On purpose.”

“Why?”

“Well, I’ve missed you and didn’t know how to get in touch with you...”

I look up to him with a ‘what’s wrong with you’ look in my face and move on. 

“How did you know I went to that market? Have you been following me?

“What?! No!”

“Axel, please be honest with me.”

“Hase, look... I live on that building across from you. That window with the Simpsons sticker? That’s mine. I’ve been living there for two years now, you can ask the door man if you want to. I’m not stalking you, I promise.” he answers me a little bit panicked. 

“Hey, hey... I’m sorry I was harsh with you. And I trust you, okay?”

“I know it seems a little suspicious. But I just saw you on the day you moved in, I was getting off the building to run some errands and I saw you unloading your stuff and when I got back I saw we were window neighbours.  As to the market thing, again, I didn’t stalk you, but you have your habits and we’ve almost run into each other a few times before and they were always on the same day of the week, at the same time. You really need to get a life, baby.”

“Wow, thanks for the call out. And why were all the guys there with you?”

“My hype squad.” We both laugh at his answer. “I haven’t seen you in so long, I thought you had forgotten about me and I didn’t want to make a fool out of myself, so they were there to hype me up.”

“Why is that something I can totally picture on doing?” I pause for a moment to gather some guts before getting into the harder topic. 

“What... what is it exactly that you, Walter and the guys do? And don’t tell me you run the club because I know the club is a front.”

“You’re really coming for my throat today, huh?” he laughs and continues “Well, the club is a front for money laundry. We deal with a few different things. Weapons, illegal gambling, illegal fights, races. No drugs or anything with people, you know? Walter is extremely against that. We also offer protection to businesses...”

“Why does your silence makes me feel like this is almost a hitman thing?”

“Sort of?” He scratched his head and gives me a quizzical look. 

“AXEL! What th—“

“Oh, it’s not like we actually kill people, we just rough them up a bit. Like I said, Walter is pretty specific with the business. Hase, why are you asking me these things?”

“Last night, after you guys left, which by the way, I’m sure that was staged too, but I digress, I was alone with Walter and we... well, we fucked. Like, a lot. Anyway, he asked me if I wanted power, that he could give me power.”

“Ugh, gross I don’t need to know who you fuck.”

“Axel, I’m being serious. C’mon.” I begged him. 

“Yeah, I’m sorry. But what did you tell him? Did you accept?”

“No, I told him that I needed to think about it. He agreed to it and said that I should call you to let him know, no matter what I chose. I called you because I needed to know what you guys actually did. Also did Walter ask you to leave me alone with him? He acted like he had it all planned out.”

“You really don’t let shit slide, do you?”

“It’s like you forgot who I am, Axel.”

“Yeah, Ms. Detective. I’ve talked about you to the guys several times before and mentioned that I saw you moving in and that your apartment was directly in front of mine. He came over one day and saw you sitting there, drinking tea, and reading. All he said is that he understood why I talked about you so much.” he finished, a little embarrassed.

“That’s a little –“

“Creepy? Yeah, I get where you come from. Walter is a nice guy, he really is, he just doesn’t know how to connect to people sometimes.” We stayed in silence for a few minutes eating the rest of our breakfast.

“Do you have your answer already?” Axel breaks the silence.

“I had it from the start, I just needed to know how fucked I would be.”

“Could you ask him if we could meet?”

“Is that a yes?”

“Axel!” I groaned.

“Yep, that’s a yes.”

Walter agreed to meet me and had Junior take me to where he lived. His mansion was located on the outskirts of the city, the kind of neighbourhood only millionaires lived on. Not going to lie, I felt like I was in one of the Keeping Up with the Kardashians episodes. A huge white and grey neoclassical hour, tall and imponent like it’s owner. Big green front yard, a garden of white roses, a beautiful Venus di Botticelli water fountain. Axel took me to the backyard saying Walter was waiting for me by the pool.

He indeed was there, all glorious under a sunshade, black rayban’s covering his eyes and black swimming shorts hugging his waist. He sat by a table full of different kinds of breakfast foods and fruits. Axel announced my arrival and before he left, Walter asked “Junior, could you please ask Freida to bring lovely Hase a bathing suit?” Axel nodded and left us alone.

“Come on, sit. Do you want to eat anything?”

I sat by his right side and grabbed a few grapes. “What do I get from this? Will I be exclusive pocket pussy in exchange for money? Someone to sit pretty by your side while you command everyone or what?”

“You think too low of yourself. I offered you power. I have four of the best men in the world as my partners, but I need something better. Women are usually more detail oriented, I need new eyes, new visions.” Freida’s arrival interrupted us.

“Good afternoon, miss.”

“Good morning, darling. I won’t keep you long, I think this will do.” I chose a black one piece with cut outs that I was sure would make my boobs look incredible.

“There’s a restroom room in there, go and change.” Walter said after I chose and Freida left. I did as he said and when I came back, I went straight to pool.

“C’mon Walter, join me, please. We need to finish talking.” He obeyed me, leaving his sunglasses on the table.

He cornered me by the pool’s end, his big hand brushing away the wet hair strands of my face. He continued “As I was saying, I need new eyes, I need someone I can trust. And fucking you whenever I want wouldn’t be so bad either.” His face was so close to mine I could feel his breath on my lips. I smiled at him, looking at his lips and then up to his eyes.

“How do you know I’m so trustworthy? Or if I’m actually that?”

“Axel always gushes about your little business during high school and what you took out of it, I think you’ll do just fine.” His thumb caresses my cheek. “So, what do you say?”

“Yes.” My arms snakes around his neck and I kiss him. He deepens the kiss and lifts me up to the ledge of the pool.

“Lay down a bit.” He commands while he slides the back of his index finger of my clothed slit. I did as he said and he immediately attached his lips on my clit, sucking and fingering me at the same time.

“Walter, fuck… what if someone sees us?” I ask him between moans.

“They know better than to come here.”

He kept his ministrations, increasing the speed of his fingering and never detaching his lips from my clit. It was too much at the same time and I squirted when I came.

“Oh shit, I’m sorry. That never happened before.” I told him, panicking a little bit. He brought my lips to his, kissed me tenderly and said “Oh, we’re going to have so much fun, my little hase.”

→

[timetravelingheart]

Consequences Chapter Five: A.M. Imagine

I guess I probably should have included some type of warning when I started this series. I’m not much of a smut writer, but I may attempt it, and even if don’t, there will definitely be allusions to sex. My characters also swear. I don’t think there are any other warnings, but if there is anything that upsets you or you think deserves a warning, please let me know! 

_ 

“I can’t believe you convinced me to come here,” Tessa nervously ran her fingers through her hair as she and Lydia got out of Lydia’s car. 

Auston had been badgering her for weeks about going out with the guys or attending one of their parties and she had been giving excuse after excuse (some legitimate, some not so much) to not attend. Somehow, over the course of the past few weeks, it appeared that the guys on the team, Auston included, had added Lydia to their socials and decided to hit her up instead, hoping for a different answer. And Lydia, being Lydia, was definitely not going to say no to a party. 

“Oh, whatever,” Lydia brushed her off. “It’s about time you hang out with Auston again. He cleared up everything about the girl at the bar, yeah?”

“Yeah, he did, but-”

“Then no buts. Just let loose and have a good time. No one is saying you have to sleep with the guy, T. But it doesn’t hurt to make more friends.”

With that, Lydia linked her hand with Tessa’s and pulled her towards the massive double doors of the Marleaus’ house. Tessa wasn’t sure what kind of party a married couple with three young kids would be hosting on a random Sunday afternoon, but she was told to bring a bathing suit and just wear comfy clothes so she figured it couldn’t be too wild. 

Before they could ring the doorbell, a beautiful woman opened the door with a big smile on her face. Christina Marleau, Tessa realized. 

“Welcome! I’m so happy you two could make it,” Christina beamed, reaching out to pull each girl into a hug. “You must be Tessa and Lydia. I’ve heard so much about you!”

“You mean you’ve heard so much about Tessa,” Lydia laughed. “It’s okay, I’ve seen the way Auston looks at her in person, and now it’s your turn.”

Christina let out a laugh, appreciating the Lydia’s bluntness. 

“Honestly, I have been so excited,” Christina pulled each girl into the foyer of her mansion. “I have never seen him like this over a girl. He’s been talking to Patrick about you ever since you turned him down. Good for you, by the way.”

“What do you mean?” Tessa asked, following her towards what she assumed was the backyard where she could hear splashing, laughter, and music. 

“Auston is used to getting what he wants with girls. I’m not saying he abuses that ‘power’ for lack of a better word, but just that if he’s interested in a girl, there’s a 99.9% chance that she’ll be interested back, sometimes just based on his name alone. So for you to come in, know who he is, and still just say no because you felt like it - that’s almost unheard of around here.”

“I wasn’t doing it to make a point,” Tessa felt uncomfortable under this stunning woman’s gaze. “I honestly just didn’t feel like saying yes. I didn’t even know anything about him at the time, other than what he does for a career.”

“Oh, that’s not what I meant at all,” Christina offered each girl a red cup for their drinks of choice. “I just meant that it was nice to hear that there are still some young girls out there who don’t just fall at the feet of a star athlete just because. Let’s join the rest of the group, shall we?” 

Christina lead them through another set of large double doors, leading to the backyard where children were swimming and playing in the pool, and many players and their significant others were all scattered around talking and drinking. It definitely wasn’t a rager, but Tessa still felt uncomfortable. This felt intimate. She almost wished this was a kegger with a bunch of random people. 

Mitch spotted the girls before anyone else, immediately standing up from his seat and pulling yet another beautiful blonde their way. 

“Ladies!” he made his way towards them and pulled each into a big bear hug. “It’s so cool that you could finally make it to an event.”

Tessa chose to ignore the ‘finally’ comment while Lydia snorted loudly. 

“It’s so nice to finally meet you both after hearing so much about you. I’m Steph,” the blonde also pulled the two girls into warm hugs. 

After chatting with Mitch and Steph for a little while, Tessa couldn’t help but wonder where Auston was. He had said to arrive for 2pm, and it was now 2:30. She did a quick scan of the space, not catching sight of him. 

“Looking for me?” Auston appeared behind her, making her nearly jump out of her skin. Tessa couldn’t help but take in his appearance, trying to convince herself that her racing heart was just from the scare, and not from being in his presence. She hated how good he looked, and when he smirked at her, she hated even more that he knew how good he looked.

“No, I was looking for a quick exit, just in case,” Tessa turned away from him and back to the group, trying not to be obvious in her momentary attraction to him.

“Just in case what?”

“Oh, you never know. You should always be prepared.”

“Uh huh, I see,” he nodded, playing along. “Hey Lydia. Have you girls met everyone yet?”

“We’ve met Christina and Steph so far,” Tessa nodded towards Mitch and Steph. 

“Well, let me introduce you to the rest of the tribe,” he put a hand on the small of her back and guided her away from their small group. Tessa instinctively reached for Lydia’s hand to drag her along as well. 

After meeting most, if not all, of the team and their significant others, Tessa was offered a seat between Auston and Freddie in a small group of them, Lydia, Will, Kasperi, Mitch, Morgan, and Steph. 

Tessa immediately felt everyone’s eyes on her, as if they were all ready to pounce. She shifted uncomfortably in her lawn chair, knowing what was to come. 

“So, Tess,” Kasperi started, winking at her, “I feel like we don’t know anything about you other than that you’ve been occupying all of our boy’s free time lately.”

“I’m sorry?” 

“He means that every time we want to play video games with Matts, he either can’t because he’s on the phone with you or he quits halfway through because you’ve finally started replying to all of the messages he sent you throughout the day,” Will offered. 

“That can’t be true,” Tessa shook her head in disbelief, eyeing a sheepish Auston. He never said anything about video games when they talked. 

“Oh, it’s definitely true,” came Freddie’s soft voice to her left. Tessa turned to him and caught his little smile. A gentle giant with a mischievous glint behind his eye. No wonder he and Auston got along so well.

“Anyway,” Steph piped in to save her, “I think what Kappy was trying to say was that we all would like to know more about you. Auston said you were getting your Masters. What’s the plan after that?”

Tessa smiled gratefully at Steph. Even though she hated being the centre of attention and didn’t feel like talking about herself, at least school was an easy topic. 

“I’m not 100% certain yet. Lydia and I still have the rest of this year, and then we’re both considering getting our doctorates. I could move up at Launchpad, but I don’t know if I see myself there beyond the next couple of years. My focus is on child development, and if I do my doctorate, I’m interested in a fellowship at SickKids.”

“Wow, that’s really impressive,” Steph replied genuinely. “What about you, Lydia?”

“Like Tess said, we’re both considering doing our doctorates. My focus is primarily on behavioural development though, so right now I’m leaning towards becoming a Behavioural Therapist. It will depend on how the rest of this year goes,” Lydia explained. 

“No wonder you turned down Matts, Tessa,” Willy laughed. “You two are way too smart for your own good. That’s really awesome.”

As the afternoon went on, the group asked Tessa and Lydia more questions about themselves, and Tessa and Lydia started to ask some back. Auston loved watching Tessa get comfortable with his friends. These people were his family for most of the year, and he wanted to make sure they liked her, though he had no doubts that they would. He was more doubtful that Tessa would still like him after his well-intentioned but annoying friends shared any and every funny story they could think to embarrass him with. Fortunately, she seemed to take it all in stride and even joined in on picking on him once in a while. He loved it. 

By the time the sun was setting, the group started to dwindle and those remaining helped clean up the backyard and the kitchen so their generous hosts weren’t left with a huge mess. 

As Tessa was walking into the kitchen to bring in some more dishes, she heard two voices and stopped in her tracks. She didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but when she heard her name, she needed to hear what was being said. 

“So you like her?” she recognized Auston’s voice asking the other person.

“I really do, man, she seems great,” Tessa now recognized that voice to be Patrick’s. Over the past few phone calls, Tessa learned how important Patrick has been to Auston and the other young guys on the team. She knew he relied on Patrick for advice on being a professional athlete, but apparently that extended to his personal life as well. 

“But?” When no response came, Auston pushed. “Come on, Patty. I really like this girl.”

Patrick sighed. Tessa braced herself. 

“I can see that you like her, bud. She just seems a little hesitant and withdrawn. She opened up quite a bit today as the day went on, and I could see that she was having fun. But she seems a little hesitant.”

“Yeah, she is. Apparently, she’s heard about my ‘reputation’ or whatever and it freaked her out. I’ve been fighting for a chance just to get to know her, let alone date her.”

“Ah, that makes sense. So she thinks you’re just going to mess around and that’s what you want with her?”

“I hope that’s not what she still thinks, but yeah, I think that’s the main reason she’s been keeping herself at a distance. She thinks I’m going to hurt her.”

“Well coming here today must have been a huge step for her then,” Patrick offered. 

“It really was! I had to go through her best friend to get her here, but I was so happy when she agreed. I think she might be willing to really give me a chance. I really like this girl, Patty. She’s all I can think about.”

Tessa sighed, not wanting to hear any more. She could hear the hope in Auston’s voice and while it was endearing, it also felt like a lot of pressure. She jingled plates in her hand purposefully, so they would know someone was entering the room. When she turned the corner, the two men looked up at her in surprise. Patrick fixed his face immediately, turning it into an easy smile, while Auston looked like a kid caught with his hand in a cookie jar. 

“Here, let me take those from you,” Patrick reached forward to take the dishes from Tessa’s hands. “Thanks for coming, Tessa. You and Lydia are welcome here any time.”

“Thank you so much for having us! You have a beautiful home and your family is so kind,” Tessa smiled sincerely, accepting a hug from the much taller man. She understood from the second Christina opened up the doors why Auston considered these people his family. They were amazing.

“Are you heading out?” Auston asked. 

“Yeah, Lydia just went out to get her car.”

“I’ll walk you out.”

“Okay, thanks again, Patrick,” she turned to wave one last time.

“Any time, Tessa.”

Auston and Tessa walked in charged silence to the front doors. Auston couldn’t help but wonder if Tessa had overheard them talking; Tessa couldn’t help but feel like she should tell Auston that she listened in. 

Neither said anything until they were out the doors, standing on the front step. 

“I’m so happy you came out today, Tess,” Auston spoke softly. “It was really good to see you again.”

“It was good to see you, too,” she spoke just as softly, not sure what was going to happen next, let alone what she actually wanted to happen. She hated that she kept thinking about what his lips and hands felt like. She hated how much she loved what he said to Patrick, and how sincere he sounded. And most of all, she hated how much she was starting to like him.

“So, do you think I could see you again? Maybe this week some time?” Auston’s hopeful voice broke her out of her reverie. 

“I have to submit my lit review by Friday and I’m working most of the week, so I’m not sure.”

“Well, you have to eat dinner regardless, right? I could swing by and pick you up and take you somewhere, or I could even just swing by with take-out for us?”

“You’re not great at taking no for an answer, are you?” 

“I didn’t hear a no anywhere in your statement,” Auston winked. 

“Touche,” she laughed. 

“Tess, I’m not trying to pressure you, and if I thought you weren’t even remotely interested, I would back off,” Auston hesitantly reached for her hand, pleased when she didn’t pull away, and linked her fingers through his. “But we talk every day either through text or calling, and you came today and hung out with everyone even though it was more of a family setting. And I know you have no problem saying no if you want to say no, so that’s gotta be a good sign. I mean, am I reading everything wrong right now?” 

Tessa hesitated, looking down at their linked hands. The calmness that washed over her at his touch terrified her, but she didn’t know how to express that. 

“No, you’re not reading everything wrong,” she finally answered, still looking down. 

Auston squeezed her hand gently and reached out with the other hand to raise her chin to connect their eyes. 

“We can go as slow as you want, Tess,” he whispered, moving closer to her. “We can start with dinner or just an ice cream date or something simple. I really don’t care what we do or where we go. I just want to spend time with you. You’re all I’ve been thinking about besides hockey ever since I met you. I don’t get it, but I’m not gonna fight it.”

Tessa let out a shaky breath. Auston squeezed her hand twice. 

“Okay.”

“Okay?” Auston repeated, unsure if he heard her correctly or if his ears were playing tricks on him.

“Mhm. Okay.”

Tessa couldn’t help but laugh as Auston’s eyes lit up and he pulled her into a tight hug. He dropped a light kiss on the top of her head, unable to hide his excitement. He pulled away from her, keeping their hands linked.

“Okay! So what day works for you? I have games Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday, and I know you mostly work days-” he paused at her sideways glance. “Do you really want to know how I know that?” Tessa just shook her head, thinking better of it. “Didn’t think so. Anyway, I know you work mostly days so that leaves Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday evening. You pick.”

“What works best for you?”

“If I pick, I’m picking Tuesday so I can see you as soon as possible. But if you have your paper due on Friday, we could do Friday instead so all of that is off your mind.”

Tessa loved and hated how accommodating he was being. She never would have pegged Auston Matthews as the thoughtful type. Her developing endearment was the only excuse she had for the answer she ended up giving.

“Well, why not both?” she offered. The look of pure glee that crossed Auston’s face was enough to let her know that she made the right decision. 

“That fucking made my entire day,” Auston reached down to pull her into another hug, lifting her slightly off of the ground and swaying gently. “How about Tuesday we do something simple like ice cream after work, and then Friday I can plan a real date for us? Gives me some time to plan!”

“Oh god, don’t go to too much trouble. I don’t need or want anything fancy,” she cringed. She definitely wasn’t the fancy type, and while she knew that money wasn’t an issue for him, she didn’t want him going out of his way. 

“Noted. I’ll see what other information I can get out of you this week to plan your perfect date,” he winked, leading her over to the passenger side of Lydia’s car. 

“Good luck with that. I’d like to see what you come up with! See you Tuesday.”

“See you Tuesday, Tess,” Auston closed the door behind her as she climbed in next to a patiently waiting Lydia, who had clearly heard the whole conversation. 

Instead of pulling out of the driveway right away, Lydia rolled down her window and stuck out her head. 

“Hey, Auston,” Lydia shouted, watching as he stopped in his tracks and turned out curiously. “I’ll take my thank you in the form of two tickets to a home game,” she winked. 

Auston barked out a laugh. He really did have Lydia to thank for a lot of things, most recently for getting Tessa to come today. Tickets were the least he could do. Hell, he was so pumped that he’d be willing to get her season tickets if she really wanted them. 

“You got’em!” he laughed as she honked the horn and pulled out of the driveway. He raised his hand to give a little wave, his heart tugging when he saw Tessa’s shy smile back. 

[goldenworldsabound]

Pool Party I

Modern AU Wendy x Viren fic! Takes place before we start dating :3c but after the Cocktail Party Fic. Enjoy!!! It’s about 6 pages long FYI

Even though she was physically at the pool party now, Wendy still found herself a little unable to believe it. Harrow and Sarai had invited her to their party? She barely knew them. She had met them at that cocktail party, and she knew Harrow was a PM like Viren was, but...even so...she was surprised, albeit pleased, to be invited.

Viren opened the gate to the backyard with the familiarity of someone who had been here numerous times, holding it for Wendy as she passed through. Her eyes were wide and the click of Viren closing the gate behind her barely registered as she gazed out at Harrow’s estate. The house seemed...almost mansion like, and as she turned her gaze to the backyard she gasped quietly at the large pool that sprawled before her. Complete with a hot tub over there, beach chairs and umbrellas placed around the edges, and various drinks and snacks set out on a table in the shade.

“Yes, Harrow and Sarai are...quite well off. I probably should have warned you.” Viren commented, smiling a little at Wendy’s awed reaction.

“Oh, no, it’s fine, I just need to make sure I keep my jaw closed.” Wendy replied, jokingly pressing up on her chin with her hand. Viren rolled his eyes a little, but smiled.

“Viren! Wendy! Glad you could make it!” Harrow swam to the side of the pool closest them as Viren and Wendy made their way to some unoccupied chairs to deposit their belongings.

“Thank you for having me!” Wendy replied, setting down her bag.

“It’s my pleasure. I hope it wasn’t too painful to ride so far with Viren.” Harrow teased.

Viren glared at him. “No, in fact, it was just fine.” He snapped back. “You know, around people who don’t mercilessly taunt me, I’m actually quite pleasant.” He crossed his arms, wandering to the edge of the pool to glare down more intently at Harrow.

Wendy giggled a little, but returned to pulling her belongings out of the bag. She set her towel down on the chair, and carefully placed her sunhat down as well. She sucked in her breath for a moment, glad for the moment of aloneness as the two men bickered and teased. She had decided to wear a bikini, which was unusual for her. At this moment, she now regretted that choice slightly as she fidgeted with the fabric of her dress, preparing herself to remove it.

Why did I decide to wear a bikini, of all things? She glanced over at Viren, who was now gesturing angrily at an amused Harrow, and then looked back down at her belongings. That was a silly reason, wasn’t it? He doesn’t even like you that way, you dolt. And even if he did, which he didn’t, did she even look good in a bikini?

Well, when she’d picked it out an hour ago she’d thought so. It was too late now. She pulled the sundress over herself quickly, before she could change her mind again. She folded it up and was about to put it in her bag, when a loud yell startled her such that she dropped it.

“LOOKING GOOD, WENDY!” Sarai yelled from across the pool, swimming to the nearest edge, Amaya and Gren joining her with big grins. Wendy turned to look at them in shock, blushing immediately, even as Amaya gave her a huge thumbs up.

“YOU’RE, uh, SMOKING HOT!” Gren translated for Amaya, laughing a little bit.

Viren whipped his head around to look at her mid retort, making a quiet strangled sound in his throat. Oh. Dear. She was beautiful in the dark bikini, her shy blush and the way she pulled inward to herself only adding to her looks. He felt his face growing warm.

“Yeah, looking great!” Harrow added. He elbowed Viren’s leg. “Don’t you think so?”

“Yeah she looks great, right Viren?!” Sarai added, grinning like a maniac.

Viren sputtered nonsense, blushing. “I- wha- she’s- she looks nice.” He finally got out, glancing at her briefly before pointedly avoiding looking at her.

“Um, thanks everyone.” Wendy rubbed the back of her head nervously. “Er, can someone help me put on sunscreen…?” She asked, holding up the bottle to her chest nervously.

Sarai held up her hands. “All wet, wouldn’t be much help with that.” The others nodded in agreement.

“Viren can help you out-” Harrow began.

“Yes, yes, of course, it’s no trouble.” Viren walked away from Harrow and towards Wendy with a scowl, grabbing the sunscreen out of her hands. “I’ll need you to return the favor, obviously.” His mouth twitched as he considered how angry he sounded, but opted not to say anything.

“Right, of course…” She mumbled, sitting down on the chair with her back to him. “Um, make sure to get under the straps.” She peeked over her shoulder at him with a shy smile.

The scowl faded from his face, and Viren laughed a little, putting sunscreen in his hand. “Don’t worry, I know all the tricks. Claudia is just as pale as you are.”

“Oh, that’s super fair. You’re pretty pale yourself.” She tensed up for a moment as his hands landed gently on her shoulders, but forced herself to relax as he rubbed the sunscreen in. It felt...surprisingly nice. Aside from her racing heart.

He sighed. “I can’t argue with that. Probably all that time I spend inside on the computer. Oh, wait, that sounds familiar, doesn’t it?”

“Sure does.”

Despite the both of them knowing that he was going to move her straps aside, since they’d discussed it already, they fell silent and grew tense as it happened. Viren’s hands became more tentative, and he stared intently at her shoulders, trying to stop his face from burning. It was just her swimsuit straps for goodness sake! She wasn’t naked or anything! Although, it would be easy to make that the case. The thought came unbidden to him, and he was horrified by it, quickly drawing his gaze back up from the hooks on her top. He was not that kind of person! This crush was really getting out of hand, for such thoughts…

Wendy, meanwhile, simply sat and blushed. Of course, he was being very respectful with his hands and where they want, but his hands felt so nice, she almost wished he would slip up, touch more of her than he needed to...despite the social awkwardness she was feeling, physically it was very comfortable.

He slipped the straps back into place on her shoulders and began to apply sunscreen to her lower back. As his fingers mistakenly grazed her side, she squealed a little, twitching at the ticklish feeling.

“...what was that?” Viren asked, pausing, peering around to see her blushing, embarrassed face.

“N-nothing, I’m just a little ticklish, heh…” She smiled nervously. Her concern grew as he smirked. “Wait, no, no, no, NO!”

He was tickling her sides with both hands suddenly, and she squirmed and squeaked while trying to get him to stop. After a few moments he stopped, laughing a little himself as she glared at him.

“I had no idea you were ticklish.” He commented smugly, as she wrapped her arms around herself and hunched over, still glaring at him.

“Yeah well obviously there’s no reason to tell you, since you’d do that.” She scowled.

“...alright, I’m sorry, I won’t do it again. Let me finish your sunscreen.” He tried to look innocent while Wendy tried to determine if he was lying. With a small huff she relented, uncrossing her arms and sitting up again, though she continued to give him nervous glances. He was true to his word, despite the temptation. “All done.”

Wendy turned around in time to watch him pull his shirt off, and her eyes darted around, uncertain where to look. On the one hand, she was curious to see him shirtless, but on the other hand she didn’t want to stare, but oh no he’s hot-

“Your turn! Sit down and I’ll lay it on ya.” She stood up, gesturing dramatically to where she had been sitting. Viren raised a brow before sitting down, and they both ignored her weird choice of phrase.

Without really realizing, Wendy began to hum as she started applying sunscreen to Viren’s shoulders and the back of his neck. He thought about making a snarky comment, but reconsidered quickly. It was...nice. He didn’t want her to stop her humming, or her kneading of his shoulders. Soft, gentle hands on his back. He felt himself relaxing under her touch, closing his eyes, a small smile on his face.

“Is that a specific tune?” He asked softly, unable to contain his curiosity.

“Huh?” Wendy asked, her hands ceasing their movement for a moment as she processed what was asked.

“You were humming. I was wondering if it-”

“OH, gosh, sorry, I didn’t realize I was doing that-”

“You don’t need to apologize. It’s nice. I liked it.” Viren turned to look over his shoulder at her, and was surprised to see her blushing.

“You did? Er, I mean, I’m not sure where the tune came from...think it’s just something I made up. I’m not sure.” She pursed her lips, thinking. “I’ll think on it, let me finish your sunscreen. If we take too long I’m sure we’ll catch some flack...or, well, you will, at least.” She stuck out her tongue.

Viren gave a heavy sigh, but smiled as he turned back around. “That’s true. I’m surprised they haven’t said anything yet to be wholly honest with you.” He looked towards the pool. While he couldn’t be QUITE sure, he felt like his friends had all just barely managed to get back into “casual” positions...he felt his skin crawl. No, he was sure they’d been watching. Damn it. He relaxed again as Wendy resumed rubbing in the sunscreen, tentatively humming again.

Finally, they were finished. Too soon, Viren thought, as Wendy reluctantly removed her hands.

“Ah, I guess you still have to wait for a bit before getting in, huh?” Wendy asked, looking thoughtful.

Viren waved his hand dismissively. “You can go ahead without me, I don’t mind.”

“Alright, if you’re sure. See you in a minute then.” She smiled at him before wandering over to the pool. Viren sat back down, resting his head on his hand. He watched her tentatively touch the water, to everyone else’s encouragement, and then simply jump in. He couldn’t help but smile. When she was at the far end of the pool with everyone else, he walked to the close end, sitting on the edge, letting his feet dip into the water. He made a stern expression to counteract the softness in his heart as he watched her having fun.

Harrow floated over slowly, head just above the water, grinning.

“Don’t. Fucking. Say. A thing.” Viren growled, glaring at his friend for a moment before crossing his arms.

“Like what? I’ve got nothing to say.” Harrow replied, smiling smugly.

“Stop- stop making that face- ugh, nevermind. Forget it.” Viren put a hand on his face and groaned. With a scowl, he kicked water at Harrow.

“Ohoho, careful there, friend.” Harrow raised a brow. Viren paused, but then smirked, kicking water at him again. “Now you’ve done it!” He splashed water up at Viren who yelped in surprise. “Oh come on, Viren, you had to see that coming.”

Viren looked shocked, glaring at Harrow while dripping wet. “This means war!” He dove into the water to tackle Harrow, catching the other man by surprise as they both went under the water. Everyone else turned to see what the sudden commotion was about.

Both men came up to the surface, and immediately started laughing.

“Alright, you got me there.” Harrow said, still laughing heartily. “Truce?” He held out his hand to Viren.

“Truce. For now.” Viren replied, smiling as he took Harrow’s hand.

They both yelped as Amaya and Sarai splashed them suddenly.

“Truces are for the weak!” Gren yelled, translating for Amaya, who grinned wide.

Viren and Harrow looked at each other, before yelling and splashing back.

Wendy watched speechlessly from the side, staying just out of the way. She found her gaze settling on Viren again. He looked like he was having so much fun. He looked so happy. She’d never seen him look like that. His laugh, his smile...if she wasn’t smitten before, she certainly was now.

“You can join them, you know.” Gren said, nudging her with an elbow.

“Hm?! Oh, well, yeah, I was just, it’s, ah...a little scary. And which side do I join?” Wendy looked thoughtful.

Gren laughed. “You’ll have to figure that out on your own. Where do your loyalties lie?!” He slammed a fist onto his own chest dramatically, before winking at her.

“Why aren’t you playing?” Wendy asked, tilting her head at him.

“Me? Oh, well, it would be uneven if I joined. Although, with you here, I guess it wouldn’t be!” He looked pleased. “Not that I’m trying to pressure you or anything!”

Wendy laughed. “It’s fine, I get you. Well, maybe I’ll join after all then…”

Wendy and Gren were suddenly slammed with a wall of water from Sarai.

“What are you doing sitting on the side, you two?! Get in here.” She yelled, while Amaya nodded agreement. “Join us!” She extended her hand dramatically.

“WHAT? You can’t have both of them!” Viren exclaimed, looking annoyed. “That wouldn’t be fair!!!”

Sarai stuck his tongue out at him. “Let them choose!” She turned back to Wendy and Gren. “What do you say?”

“Wendy-” Viren started to speak but Amaya splashed him, waggling her finger at him.

“Hm...well…” Wendy tentatively reached out her hand as if to take Sarai’s. At the last second, she grinned, and said, “not today, Sarai!” She used her other hand to splash Sarai, before diving into the water to swim over to Viren and Harrow.

“AYYYE! Welcome to the best team!” Harrow fist bumped her, and she grinned back at him, returning it.

“You made the right choice.” Viren said with a grin, patting her head.

“Heh, thanks. Let’s do it!” Wendy replied, smiling.

“Damn, I totally thought we’d have her with girl power…” Sarai said with a sigh. “And what about you, Gren?”

“Well of course I’m on your side.” He replied with a smile. “Can’t let Amaya down.”

Amaya flashed him a grin and signed, “knew I could rely on you!”

He signed back, “always!”

And then, the water war commenced.

[iamtaekooked]

Vanilla Rules || Ch 14

Genre: Enemies to Lovers! AU, badboy! au, college! au

Word count: 8.0k

Synopsis:

The hate saga between you and baddie of the town Park Jimin rests on two very simple rules: 1.) Hate each other for the rest of your lives and 2.)under no circumstances fall in love with each other. But what happens when the possibility of love threatens this dynamic?

A/N: Enjoy! Personally one of my favourite chapters in this series. I am sure you guys will like this one because it has been long overdue. 

Ch 1 || Ch 2 || Ch 3 || Ch 4 || Ch 5 || Ch 6 || Ch 7|| Ch 8 || Ch 9 || Ch 10|| Ch 11 || Ch 12 || Ch 13 || Ch 14

After the soccer team had won the game, Elijah from the team had decided to throw a pool party at his house to celebrate. You were walking with Taehyung by your side towards the driveway of a gated mansion which happened to be Elijah’s home. You never had any idea he was rich and you had to physically stop yourself from exclaiming aloud. Taehyung was talking about something you hadn’t paid attention to properly but you knew the subject involved Jimin since he said his name, after which you stopped listening. You had no desire to be anywhere near thoughts about him mentally or just physically.

Taehyung stopped walking beside you and once you realized that you did too. You turned back to face him.

“Did you listen to me?” he crossed his arms over his chest.

You didn’t but you couldn’t say that without sounding rude. “Yeah” you lied since you didn’t want him to repeat it again without bringing up Jimin.

“And are you okay with it? I mean if you aren’t I would understand. We can go back and we can tell Hoseok one of us is sick or something”

Okay with what?

“Y-yeah. Yeah I am fine with it. Let’s go” you said distractedly and hoped whatever you had agreed to wouldn’t come to bite you back because Taehyung did look very worried. With a sign you began walking again, taking in the grandeur of the place. Before you knew it you were stepping into the overly crowded mansion. It looked he had invited half the college and why not, he had the place to accommodate. You could only recognize a few people and the rest were absolute strangers. Most had abandoned their clothes and were in their bikini’s or swimming trunks.

“Oh god he has two pools” Taehyung walked straight in the direction of the backyard like a dazed child with his mouth agape in admiration and eyes wide with wonder, as if he had never seen anything like it before. There were people in both the pools, and one of them had been set up for pool volleyball. Taehyung shrugged of his shirt and jumped straight into the pool, garnering everyone’s attention and cheers. As always he was the social butterfly.

“You made it!” you heard Hoseok’s voice and immediately turned only to run straight into his chest for an embrace.

“I made it!” you pulled away with a giggle.

Oh,and I got this tequila” you handed it to him and he led you to the kitchen where he placed the bottle among many others. The surface was laden with food and other drinks, mostly beer.

“Hey, do you want something to drink?” Hoseok questioned, looking at the myriad of choices in front of you.

“This punch looks good” you pointed to the giant bowl with the blue liquid.

“Good choice. It’s my secret concoction” he said jokingly, while pouring you a cup.

“Well at least if soccer doesn’t work out, you could always bartend” you snickered making him chuckle as well.

He handed you the drink and you smelled it first before taking a sip. “I smell strawberries. How cliche”

“I am a cliche guy. Try it though” he prodded and you put the cup to your lips and took a small sip.

“Oh gosh. This is like roofied lemonade” you exclaimed in surprise because the mixture of strawberry soda, lemonade vodka made for a classic combination. But you detected another sweet note which lingered pleasurably in your mouth “Wait is there peach schnapps in here?”

“No it’s gatorade. That is the secret” he winked and shockingly enough it induced a blush on your cheeks. That did not even happen when he kissed you-- which suddenly made you feel very awkward and reminded you that neither of you talked about it. With the way his behaviour was so normal you wondered if you should touch the topic. Maybe he forgot all about it. Maybe it was a heat of the moment thing.

“Seriously? Gatorade? That is kind of disgusting and the worst combination with alcohol” immediately after the revelation your nose scrunched in distaste. But it did explain the blue color.

“You liked it. Don’t lie. Besides there are better things to focus  your attention on, such as the pool, which also happens to be blue in color. Unless that disgusts you too” he purses his lips to hide the teasing smile

“Oh shut up” you playfully slapped him on the arm which you realized a second later might have been a bit too flirtatious.

“So are we going out there?” he motioned his head to the backyard.

“I thought I would enjoy this disgustingly awesome punch. But i guess not” you chugged it in one breath before excusing yourself to change into your bikini.

You hadn’t seen Jimin yet which was a good sign, in fact it made your night that much better. Being around him was like being dunked in a tank without oxygen. You wished things hadn’t gotten that bad and you could be your usual self around each other-- just hating one another. But it wasn’t like that anymore. You could not drown yourself in that hate because so much had changed.

You shrugged your clothes off before heading outside to the backyard, where Hoseok was standing in front of the pool, stretching his arms to the sky. No matter what anyone said, the man definitely had an ogle worthy body. You shook yourself out of your trance before approaching him.

“Hey” you said timidly, rocking back and forth on your feet because it felt awkward.

Hoseok turned around and immediately his jaw dropped the second he laid eyes on you. He gave you a once over before he whispered “wow”

Your instinct was to cover yourself up but you stood there under his intense stare, waiting for it to somehow get less awkward.

“You look… h-h-hot” he almost coughed

“What?!” you exclaimed because that was not what you were expecting.

“Sorry. I meant you look good” his cheeks flushed red and without a word he turned around and jumped in the pool. The water splashed and soaked you completely.

“What the hell?” you screamed while giggling and wiped your face clean of water.

“Your turn!” he yelled back

You hesitated for a bit before jumping in the pool with him. The water was colder than you expected. You splashed around in the pool, making a game of who could splash the other more. It was nice hanging out with Hoseok because the time you spent with him was the longest you had gone without Jimin on your mind. He still hadn’t appeared at the party which was a huge relief.

You were unaware of how much time had elapsed with you in the pool, but the end you had caught a cold which had you sneezing without an end near in sight. Maybe you should have listened to your body before when you felt chilly. Maybe then the night would not have been ruined.

“I am going to go inside for a bit” you told Hoseok who had wrapped a towel around your figure with an understanding nod. You stepped in through the french doors of the balcony which immediately brought a sense of relief as the warmth hit your skin, raising goosebumps on your flesh. You pushed through sweaty bodies and made your way upstairs where you had left your clothes to change back into them. Not that the shorts would be of much help.

You made a beeline for the bathroom only to find it locked. So you rushed downstairs to the third bathroom in the gigantic house-- only to bump into Jimin.

Fuck. Shit. Why is he here?

You stumbled back in shock-- whether from the collision or from seeing him, you did not know. You looked at him wide eyed, like you weren’t expecting to bump into him in such a manner. And you weren’t, but facing him in reality was vastly different than the image in your head. Your stomach tightened in knots and a nauseating feeling built up to your throat, almost suffocating you. You felt the need to retch since the acidic liquid was pooling under your tongue. You stood staring at him like an idiot while he looked at you with his normal unreadable expression. Was he happy? Was he pissed? Was he irritated? What was he thinking?

So many burning questions, and the answers to them would forever evade you, which in itself was a big frustration, apart from the fact that it was weird that you were concerned about his thoughts and feelings in the first place. You shouldn’t have been but you were as you watched the man in front of you stare without uttering a single word or even blinking. He must have been thinking something. Maybe he was just as surprised to bump into you, but he knew you were going to be here. Maybe he was also thinking about everything that happened between you in the past few days, and he was stumped for words.

“Jimin?” you heard an almost feline like voice. It prompted the direction of your attention to a pretty brunette female next to him, who was waving her hand in front of his face to get his attention. She had the most gorgeous hazel coloured eyes you could envision on any human being. You knew that you did not need to look at the rest of her to know that it would set you into a spiral of self-deprecating comparisons because you didn’t think you could compare. But why would you need to?  

Your first thought: why is she with him?

You had to mentally chide this side of you to remind yourself that it was none of your concern who he was with. He could be with anybody he wanted to. Perhaps for a time you had thought that he had left his old habits behind. That he was a new man, with a better hold on himself. But maybe not. Maybe he could never change and maybe you should stop wishing for it to be so. Or maybe he never even really liked you as he had said. If that were the case he wouldn’t come to a party with another girl. Surely, he brought her here as his date.

Now that thought should have been a relief for you, but it wasn’t. If anything, it left it its wake a pang of disappointment followed by a weird feeling of sadness that constricted your chest. Like the one time your eighth grade crush had brought your friend Jessica to the annual Snowfall Dance, and you had wanted to cry because it did not feel good. It felt something like that this time too and you wanted to cry but for very different reasons-- mostly because you hated that you even cared and it scared the hell out of you.

“Jimin?” came her coy voice again and it oozed so much sexuality because even her just saying his name sounded so damn sensual. No wonder he brought her. In fact she was exactly his type of girl-- looks and talks.

“Huh?” he finally looked away from you and at her, a wide look realization in his eyes that she was there too. “Sorry. I just-- Were you saying something?” he paused and glanced at you. “Babe” he added at the end while looking at her.

You heart sunk hearing that word although you had heard him say that to a hundred different girls, sometimes in the hallways, sometimes yelling it out as his favourite flavour of the week walked by. This time though it didn’t ring by empty ears because you actually paid attention. You scowled at both of them before schooling your expression into one of indifference. He couldn’t know your raging thoughts and feelings. No one could know and if it was up to you, you wouldn’t let yourself feel them either.  

Maybe he never meant what he said and that is a relief

You weren’t fully convinced it was a good thing though because you just didn’t 100% feel that way, given your mind had been stuck in a limbo regarding that moment. It wasn’t a certain feeling like many others you have experienced before. It was missing the element of truth to it. It was like lying to yourself.

“Are you okay?” she questioned, like they had both forgotten someone was standing in front of them.

“Yeah I am fine” he gave her a small smile before directing his attention to you. Just like moments ago, you two wordlessly looked at each other, neither able to extend forward a greeting.

“Do you guys.. know each other?”

“Yeah” you both said in unison without breaking the eye contact which was frankly driving you nuts. But you couldn’t look away. Because if you did then he would look at her and deep, deep, deep, very deep down you did not want that. It was a good thing too. Because very, very, very deep down was something you could handle since it could never come to the surface. Feelings like that rarely ever grew and blossomed. That want would never transition into some deeper feeling like jealousy because you would kill yourself before it happened. It was an exaggeration but you would do something drastic before you let yourself go that much.

Never. Ever.

“Hi. I am Bethany” she extended her hand while you just stared at her blankly. A name like that was too puritan for a girl with her tastes. Bethany could be envisaged as some devout Christian who said her prayers, did her good dues and went to Church on Sundays. You weren’t even sure she could spell the word ‘church’ much less enter such a holy place.

“Y/n” you replied without meeting her hand midway which she retracted slowly as if she thought you might change your mind.

“How do you two know each other?” she question with what sounded like genuine curiosity, but for some reason it sounded a bit fake-- atleast to you.

“Uhh-- we go to the same college” Jimin interjected quickly. For some fucked up reason yet again, you felt a pang of disappointment. Like you were expecting something more from him-- maybe he would say you were his friend, or at the very least an acquaintance. Going to the same college together was such a generic reply which didn’t even answer her question. He went to college with thousand other people, did he know them too?

“It was nice seeing you” your mouth managed to utter the horribly embarrassing words which in this situation painted you as the one who had no self-respect. He certainly didn’t seem overjoyed by your presence, so it wasn’t a warranted response. If he acted indifferent, and cold you should have to-- that’s how it has always been, a good balance of give and take.  You were supposed to be mad at him for yelling at you and for a million other things-- maybe like kissing you. So, no it shouldn’t have been nice to see him.

But it was

Seriously y/n what in the fucking hell is wrong with you? You had to yell at yourself mentally again because your thoughts were getting out of hand.

Red faced, you stepped past them and headed somewhere, where you could die with shame.

///

There was something about the way Jimin sat with Bethany at the edge of the pool. You had never seen him engaged in such a serious conversation before. The way he was nodding at her with a small shy smile at the corner of his lips almost gave him the air of being interested in whatever she had to say or worse-- in her.

You had no clue what made you think it was worse he would be interested in her, but the fact remained you couldn’t stop focusing on it. It was like a downward spiral, a vicious circle because the more you thought about it the more you cared, and the less you tried to think about- try being the key word- the more your mind focused on it. You saw no end in sight for this.

So, all you could do was sit there and pretend to be a part of the conversation among your group of friends, all the while trying to remind yourself that it did not matter. Hell, if you wanted to you could get so drunk and make out with some random dude. But you didn’t feel like getting drunk and neither did you want to make out with anyone, even though some of the guys at the party were definitely worthy of it. Maybe that was the problem.

“I am gonna go get a drink” you lifted your feet from the pool and stood up. The music was actually blaring at this point and passing by the speakers wreaked havoc on your skull.

But somehow you made it inside without inducing a headache. There was nothing else that interested you from all the choice of alcohol except for the beer. You reached for it but at the same time someone else did too. The hand was considerably cold as it touched yours but it brought some relief because you realized just how warm your whole body was. You cautiously looked up to find--

“Jimin” you whispered and immediately retracted your hand. “It’s cool. You can have it”

“Your hand is extremely warm” he commented and let his hand fall by his side too.

“I realized that” you took one last glance before looking down at your feet, because suddenly it felt more fascinating to do that

“Are you sick or something?” he feigned indifference but even he knew that little bit of concern slipped through his voice, making his feelings loud and clear.

“I am fine” you said curtly, still not meeting his eyes. Somehow hearing that bit of care in his voice didn’t sit well with you. He shouldn’t care, yet he sounded like he did.

“You don’t look fine” he placed the back of his hand on your forehead. You shuddered due to the coldness of it or maybe simply because he was touching you. It could be either of those things but you were willing to bet it was the latter. And you didn’t like it.

“I am okay” you flinched away from his hand which he let drop by his side with a defeated sigh.

“You might have a fever”

“I’ll be fine”

“Stop being so stubbo-”

“Why the fuck do you care?” the anger in your tone rose with each word because his words made it sound like he cared, but his actions did the complete opposite. You couldn’t understand why it affected you so much, why it felt like there was a heavy weight on your heart, when you didn’t even respond to his kiss or his words that day. Why was it that a week later it suddenly started to form into something else?

You should be indifferent, and normal about him bringing a date, but you’re not. You should treat him the same way you treat people you don’t know-- aware of their existence and that is it. You shouldn’t notice him, what he says or does. You shouldn’t even be thinking about it but you are and you can’t understand why. It induced so much frustration that it made  you want to cry. The outburst was more the result of confusion and fear than actual dislike for the boy.

You had seen it so many times before and turned a blind eye. It never mattered who he fucked, or who he loved. But now your mind found a fixation with every action, every gesture, every word of his. Unconsciously, you felt the need to analyze every look he gave you, every word he said, or every word he didn’t say. You felt the need to dissect every single thing like someone with OCD, and overthink things to the point that they felt meaningless.

“Right” he nodded gravely and reached down for the can of beer. “I don’t care” he shrugged apathetically, the expression on his face suddenly one of rigid detachment like someone flipped a switch in him. “I’ll take this beer. Otherwise you might just make a fool out of yourself getting drunk” the bite in his words was so much like the old Jimin, one who never forfeited any opportunity to rile you up.

You guffawed and looked at him wide eyed. “You know what? Fuck off” with a scowl you went back outside to join your group of friends

The steaming expression of anger on your face must have tipped Taehyung off because in an instant he was asking what was wrong as you sat down by the poolside dipping your feet in the cool water.

“Nothing” you muttered through clenched teeth while having your having arms folded across your chest in an intimidating manner. You watched with seething anger as Jimin handed the drink to his stupid date and she took it with that frustratingly gorgeous smile on her face.

What an asshole

“Oh I get it” Taehyung spoke

“What” you asked without taking your eyes off Jimin.

“You’re jealous” he replied casually without that tone of unexpectedness in his voice almost like he was expecting it.

“Excuse me?” you turned to look at him with a frown, like he had just said something disgusting. “Why the fuck would I be jealous?”

“Well your face tells a different story so forgive me. But to be fair I did tell you about it” he pointed to Jimin and his date. You were never going to utter her name, it just made you too, angry. You looked at him blankly because you had no idea what he was talking about.

He looked at you with raised eyebrows-- the classic ‘oh really” expression. “Seriously? What the hell do you think I was talking about on our way here. I asked you if it was okay and if not we could go back home”

Now it made more sense, the concern on his face, the weird questions he was asking. But it did prompt you to question why he was worried about you with regards to Jimin bringing a date. Did he think you felt something for him? If that was the case it was a big misconception because the only thing you felt for Jimin was contempt. Kind of.

“Hold up. Do you think I like him or something?”

“Uhh……” he seemed to ponder his answer as he looked up to the side as if he was seriously contemplating what he wanted to say. His eyes flickered like someone who was mentally changing their answer. “No?”

“Why did you say that like a question? Like you’re not sure it’s a definite no” the tone of defensive had Taehyung frowning with suspicion, like he had an inkling something was going on.

“Why are you getting so upset. Chill. I don’t think you like him. Happy?” he shook his head at you like he thought you lost a screw or two.

“Because” you huffed. “He stole my beer. Okay? He stole my beer and I am pissed off about it. I mean I never thought he could steal my beer. I don’t even like him. So how dare he take my beer against my will. To--to think that he could actually take my beer-- it fucks with me” you sighed after the little rant. But Taehyung just looked more confused than ever and rightly so because when you realized what you had said made no sense.

“What?” taehyung gave you that look-- the one people give to those they think are crazy. “Are you sure you’re talking about beer? Because that��s kind of an overreaction for a can of beer”

You didn’t even listen to the second part and stopped when he questioned if you were talking about the beer. You glanced at Jimin again, and to see him act like he didn’t care at all it didn’t exactly feel too good. The way he was so careless about it all, so free like he didn’t have anything on his mind regarding you, like you didn’t exist lent a heavy, constricted feeling to your throat. Like you could not breathe. It wasn’t fair since you were all up in your feelings while he looked like he was having a good time.

“Yeah. Definitely the beer” you nodded gravely, as you realized you weren’t talking about the beer at all.

That was the one moment in your life you felt utterly scared.

///

The party had been moved inside due to the sudden storm which came as a relief because at least you didn’t have to suffer outside in the cold due to the mere social obligation and peer pressure. The only problem was the lights were out as well, but it wasn’t a problem given Elijah had been completely prepared for the possibility as the whole house was lit with candles. It was almost too romantic a setting which made a tightening knot in your stomach. Even though the lights were very dim, the surroundings were still visible. Well everyone else could see because you were bumping into furniture and people as you navigated your way upstairs to go to the washroom.

The was a kind solace in this partial darkness. No one could really see your face, or the red that had plastered itself onto your cheeks, or the angered look on your face which had been there since you saw Jimin. Or even the panic hidden behind that anger. No one could ask you what was wrong and you wouldn’t have to lie about it. It was the perfect disguise to hide your thoughts and feelings behind the curtain of darkness that had befallen. The storm was all that anyone was talking about, except some people who still managed to make out with each other, like the gay couple in the corner of the balcony upstairs.

You pushed past people and turned the handle of the bathroom when--

“Shh” you heard someone whisper and felt their hand cover your mouth. You protested against his hand but everything sounded like random noise. You couldn’t even see his face since the upstairs was plunged into darkness. So, you had no idea who had the audacity to do this. You had half a mind to kick him in the nuts, but didn’t want to aim wrong and hit something else around you.

“Come on” you heard the voice again and felt a tug on your arm before you realized you were being pulled into a room.

You tried to say something again. “Hey. You-”

“Shh.” replied the voice in a whisper like someone was right outside the door. Like this was something so forbidden it might land you in trouble.

His hand softly snaked behind your waist, holding you close. You felt goosebumps rise onto your skin, the trail of his touch leaving behind a burning feeling. Your heart rate had risen and you were sure that he could feel the beating of your heart through your shirt.

“Who the- ” you whispered back in urgency, trying to wriggle out from his grip.

“Shut up” you were cut off by the gruff voice

And there it was. You knew this voice very well but before you could say anything his lips were on yours. Again.

Jimin

Deja Vu

You felt the tingles in your skin again, you felt the burning of your flesh as he kissed you. His lips were soft as they melted into yours. Unlike last time you gave in because you liked this feeling of forbiddenness-- one that you had created for yourself. You shouldn’t have been feeling this thrilled because you weren’t defying anyone else but yourself. There was a certain power in knowing that you could do this. That you could give into it if you liked, that you still had this choice. More than power, it was a feeling of relief because now it was an option, if you chose it. It’s like when you are on a diet and you restrict yourself from eating something. But then when you do, you like it so much that you find it hard to stop yourself. Of course, there is that familiar feeling of guilt that comes after but maybe after this little indulgence you won’t feel guilty, you won’t deprive yourself.

So you kissed him back. You pressed your lips tightly against his drinking in the feeling of being so close to him. You never imagined what it would feel like to touch him, to have him touch you and kiss you like he’s never been kissed before, like he’s never touched anyone so profoundly before. But then it hit you like a ton of bricks, the realization of what you were doing.

You pulled away and put a lot of space between you. Your butt hit what might have been the dresser in the room as you steadied yourself against it in the dark. Your chest heaved, a slight ache coming on as to what might develop into a panic attack. Your whole being felt like it had been set on fire-- every molecule, every atom, every cell felt like it was burning. Your body had grown significantly hot, enough for you to start feeling sweaty.

The lights turned on blinding your vision, causing you to shield your eyes. You lowered your hand and opened your eyes cautiously, giving yourself time to adjust to the light.

“Y/n?” Jimin’s voice was a whisper of shock, of complete disbelief, of maybe even regret.

You stared at each other, red faced, breathless, aching, longing, and yearning. What might have been three seconds seemed like a hundred years in passing. You never understood why even second of eye contact felt like hours. Maybe it was something about staring into someone’s eyes directly, like you are actually looking at them, noticing them. The ticking of the clock on the room only added to the tension, as if telling you that time was passing by like sand through fingers. That each passed second will never come back and you will never experience this moment, this floating, dizzy, and dazed feeling again.

That this exact moment in which you were both trapped, a moment that has the potential to change into something else, will never exist in the exact same way ever again.

Then simultaneously you moved towards each other to end up pressing your lips in another kiss. This one spoke of your hidden emotions, the forbidden feelings that could never see the day of light. It was a way to cleanse yourself of these thoughts and feelings because perhaps giving into them once would ensure their disappearance. Because maybe these aren’t even feelings at all. Maybe it’s the simple fact that restriction creates taboo’s and anything taboo is the human mind’s attraction.

Your hands were all over the place, sometimes threading through his hair, and sometimes clutching onto his waist, or resting on his shoulders as you tried to pull him closer, if that was even possible. Maybe you needed this to get him out of your system and to go back to being your normal self because then you would have done it already and the appeal in the notion of a forbidden kiss or intimacy would diminish.

No words were exchanged as you kissed and kissed against walls, windows, doors, the dresser, anything and everything. Jimin even managed to close the door with his foot while you made out against it and then he flipped you so that you were pinned between him and the wall. Time seemed to have become an invisible entity because you had no awareness of it. You could have been drinking each other’s kisses for ten minutes or an hour. You had no idea. You couldn’t get enough of it. He was an addiction and the withdrawal might be severe.

A soft moan escaped your mouth while your hand snaked behind the nape of his neck as he held you steady against the wall with your thigh hooked tightly around his waist. His kisses turned fervent, urgent. He slowly moved away from your mouth and to your neck where he teased you with kisses, fleshing your skin between his teeth which was sure enough to leave a hickey. It stung with a pleasurable pain that you were sure you could endure more of.

Your common sense had been kicked to the curb and you couldn’t even find a second of rationality within yourself. Jimin’s hand slowly dragged across your abdomen, stopping just under the swell of your breast, his thumb lightly grazing the skin and you could feel his other hand reaching back to unclip your bra when the door burst open.

The loud noise propelled you to separate as you stared at a dishevelled looking girl just staring at you. “Shit. Sorry”

“Close the fucking door” he yelled at her and she blinked out of her daze and hurriedly shut the door.

You turned around to look at each other and after a passing second in which both your senses had returned and you separated, much like people who do so when they realize they did something they shouldn’t have. As close as you were before, you were on the opposite ends of the room now. The blank look of disbelief was apparent on your faces as you just stood there, trying to process what occured. It was definitely a heat of the moment thing.

You wiped your mouth with the back of your hand and adjusted your sweatshirt so that it fell back to your waist instead of being ridden up and exposing your abdomen.

Jimin was staring at the floor with one hand scratching the nape of his neck. You could see that his cheeks were coloured pink and his ears were completely red. It almost made you want to chuckle with fondness because he looked cute. But that thought seemed trivial when a full blown realization hit you: you just made out with Jimin.

That wasn’t even the worst part.

The worst of it was you liked it and a teeny tiny part of you did not want to stop.

“I’m just going to….” you pointed to the door while resting your eyes on the floor.

He cleared his throat. “Y-yeah”

You quickly smoothed your hair before hurrying towards the door. Your hand enclosed around it when you Jimin called out to you.

“You’re not going to tell anyone right?” he sounded very cautious, and hesitant. Maybe he was even regretting this because why else would he care if you told anyone? Or if you discussed this with anyone else?

“Please” you replied still facing the door and grip tightening on the handle. “I would rather die” you tried to make your tone as cold mean as you could but it just wasn’t the same as before. The air of awkward energy trumped any attempt at being snarky. There was way too much sexual tension and you felt it in every part of yourself. Who knew Jimin could make you a hot and bothered mess?

“Me too” came his voice and your heart sank, not because of what he said but how sure and certain he sounded that he would prefer any other outcome rather than kissing you. It made no sense because week ago he had taken the initiative to the same and even this time he didn’t seem all that hesitant about it. “This never happened”

“I wish it didn’t” you mumbled as you turned around to face him. It broke you to even think that because you didn’t regret it all. But he definitely seemed like he did.

“What?”

“Nothing. This never happened. Sorry to ruin your night” you said dispirited with a tiny voice. You turned around but stopped when you heard Jimin.

“Hey” his voice was soft and inviting. “You didn’t ruin the night”

This was frustrating. One second he implies that he would like it kept under wraps for whatever godforsaken reason and then he says it didn’t ruin the night for him. Could he just stick to one version of his tale? Either he wanted it or he didn’t. Either he would do this again or he wouldn’t. There was no in between.

You whipped around to face him and as you saw his face you couldn’t help but notice the flicker of hope in his expression that maybe you would tell him he was wrong. A part of you did want to tell him you didn’t actually feel bad about it, but you just couldn’t get the words out. It wasn’t easy to say something like that especially to him given the history between you.

“Mistakes happen all the time. So it’s fine” you gave a tense, tight lipped smile. It was definitely not a mistake because you know that it was a conscious decision for both of you. Both of you took the initiative for the kiss. You couldn’t understand the feeling of disappointment that he didn’t want anyone to know. Not that you would have told anyone about it anyway because how could you? How could you possibly explain making out with the one person you have always claimed to hate fiercely and how could you ever let go of the feeling of betraying yourself for not hating it at all?

But still hearing him actually say it was disheartening.

Jimin looked slightly taken aback as he blinked. “Yeah.Yeah. Totally. This was a mistake” he agreed nonetheless. At best it was a half-hearted attempt at trying to cover up disappointment.

It all felt like a big pretence and you couldn’t shake the feeling that it was.  That behind these empty meaningless words were completely different emotions. No regret, no guilt, no mistakes. Both of you were trying to cover up something. For you it was the fact that you didn’t hate kissing him and you didn’t feel panicked, or scared, or disgusted by it like you hoped. You had no concrete reason as to why you thought he was being dishonest. But just the way he talked, his quiet tone and weak voice was not one that evidenced any protestation or regret he might have carried about the situation. If that were the case he would have sounded very sure and certain of it, but he didn’t. If anything, he sounded a bit disappointed as well.

“C-cool” your heart sank once more and your stomach tightening with nervous knots. “I don’t kiss and tell. So don’t worry about it. See ya outside” you pursed your lips with a heavy heart and walked out.

///

Jimin really wanted to punch something. His hand curled and uncurled with the urge, his palm itched in the most irritating manner. Yet he couldn’t do anything because he was at this stupid party and he had done something he promised himself never to do again. He hated how lost of control he felt around you. He hated how his emotions, his feelings, thoughts, hormones, mind, everything defied logic and reasoning in your presence.

He promised himself he would ignore you and try to have a good time. He promised himself he would never kiss you again. He was supposed to tell you he thought you were someone else and that all this was a mistake. That he didn’t want to kiss you, and he never meant to-- atleast tonight he did not want to.  Yet there he was stuck in that stupid moment as you stared at him doe eyed, breathy and looking effortlessly beautiful with a slight blush painting your cheeks. And he caved in. That is all it took.

He felt like a fool because clearly you didn’t want it. You thought it was a giant mistake and if even if you hadn’t said it he still would have figured it out given how you carried a look of regret on your face. He wasn’t an idiot. He was used to attention from girls, he knew what interest looked like and he also knew what disappointment looked like because many a times he had the same look on his face when he woke up to a random stranger in the morning. To him you looked despondent and not happy at all.

He couldn’t tell what he was supposed to feel because on the one hand he knew you went in for the kiss too, but on the other hand you didn’t seem to think much of it except that it shouldn’t have happened. So was he supposed to feel relieved that you didn’t reciprocate his feelings since it might just give him the push to move on, or was he supposed to feel despair and hurt  about the matter?

He ran a hand through his hair, paired with a long sigh as he flopped on the bed with slumped shoulders. He was defeated. He had no idea what to think or do. He came to the party thinking he could ignore you since he found himself a date, for lack of a better word. Bethany wasn’t half bad. She was someone he could have an actual conversation with other than sex. In fact he was having fun talking to her about sports and music. Although he didn’t know the names of most of the artists she talked about, he liked that she had her own interests.

In fact when he pulled you into the room thinking it was her, he was ready to forget about you by giving into his old ways. He was going to have a good time so that for once he could think about someone else. He even went so far as to envision himself with her, whether as a distraction or because of genuine interest in her as a person he wasn’t sure. Because he did like her. The only problem was : he didn’t like her as much as you. Not nearly enough.

He had never felt so confused in his life before. He hated it because he didn’t feel like himself. He never cared about what you thought of him. He knew you hated him and to an extent he was okay with it. But now it bothered him.

“Fuck. Shit” he swore under his breath as he shook his head at himself.

He couldn’t hide in the room forever. He would have to go out at some point so he tried to shake everything off, all the tension, and pretend that everything was fine.

Stepping out of the confines of the room he felt like it was a whole new world. The storm raged outside, as it did within him too. He walked down the steps and into the living room area where most people were gathered. He found Bethany who was sitting with Yoongi, Tae, Jeongguk, Hoseok, and you. He had half a mind to turn around but he decided he wouldn’t torture himself like this.

“Where the hell were you man?” Taehyung questioned immediately

“I was taking a smoke” he gave a lopsided half-hearted smile as he sat down while glancing at you. But you weren’t looking at him. Instead your eyes were cast down on your lap while you fidgeted with your hands. He gulped hard before looking away.

“You’re gonna kill yourself” Jeongguk scoffed a bit bitterly and Jimin knew it was because he hated this habit of his. But smoking helped him relax despite him knowing what it would do to his lungs.

“I’d rather” Jimin gave a bittersweet chuckle and glanced your way to find you looking at him already with that doe eyed expression of concern. His heart skipped a beat-- literally. He watched as you looked away from him and focused your attention on your lap once again but this time fixing your gaze onto your phone.

“Woah. What’s wrong with you?” Taehyung asked concerned as he looked over at Yoongi, the two men exchanging a look. Jimin caught it but let go of it. He already had too much to think about.

“Nothing. I mean we’re all going to die one day anyway” he shrugged.

“Come. Have a seat” Bethany patted the empty spot next to herself and without a second of hesitation Jimin sat down next to her.  Her hand wrapped around Jimin’s arm and she leaned her head on his shoulder. For some reason it gave way to him glancing at you only to be disappointed by your lack of interest. A small part of him hoped you would react somehow, that you might feel hurt or disappointed, maybe even jealous. But you hadn’t even raised your head.

///

Your insides were turning at the sight of some other girl wrapped around Jimin’s arm. You hated how comfortable they looked and on instinct whether to get his attention or a reaction you laid your head on Hoseok’s shoulder who was sitting next to you. Instantly you were met with Jimin’s eyes on you, shifting focus between you and Hoseok. A small smirk lifted at the corner of your lips seeing as it did the trick, but the smirk fell as soon as his arm wrapped around Bethany’s shoulder, all the while his eyes bore into yours, almost mockingly-- the implication of which you understood very well.. You diverted your eyes to your lap, feeling foolish for even trying because it was a game Jimin knew how to play very well.

“Are you okay?” Hoseok questioned curiously, causing you to abandon your focus on Jimin.

“Yeah. I am just tired” you replied without raising your head. You felt him nod his head and that was the end of it. Other than Jimin no one had really paid attention to you, and your sudden intimacy with Hoseok. He didn’t seem to mind either, if anything you felt his body relaxing with your touch.

“Okay since everyone is here we’re gonna play a game of dares, just to spice things up a little” Namjoon winked. “No truth because it’s boring”

A couple of people chuckled and agreed.

“Form a circle” Namjoon prompted and everyone pushed their chairs and couches back and sat on the floor so a giant circle formed.

“There are some racy dare’s in here so if you wanna back out you should do that right now” Taehyung chimed in as he put a bowl of chits in the middle. He looked around the circle but no one backed out so he nodded. “Right then. Here are the rules. If the mouth of the bottle points towards you, you have to pick a slip from this bowl and do the dare that is written on it. Simple right?”

Everyone nodded.

“Right I am going to spin the bottle” Taehyung spoke and spun the green beer bottle in the middle.

You watched in anticipation with a racing heart as it spun round and round. It slowed down a little and with a tiny squeak against the hardwood floor, the mouth of the bottle pointed at Yoongi.

“Yay!!!” Namjoon beamed as he got up and picked the bowl from the center and held it towards Yoongi.

Rubbing his hands together the older boy picked a slip and handed it to Namjoon.

“Give a lap dance to the person on your left” Namjoon announced and was met with whistles and cheers from the group because sitting on his left was none other than Min Yeong, the President of the student magazine club.

“Sorry” Yoongi chuckled at her as he stood up and Taehyung quickly put a chair in the middle and sat Min Yeong down on it. She was completely red faced and his her face behind her hands while laughing.

Slow music began somewhere in the room and Yoongi stepped towards Min Yeong with the most predatory expression ever. He slyly licked his lips all the while keeping his gaze on her. She was so red you thought she would faint. You had never seen Yoongi this way. He was so serious all the time and the fact that he even agreed to do this without protestation was hard to process.

He turned around so his back was facing her and he dipped his back to give her the perfect view of his ass. A few wolf whistles went around the group. For the first time in the past few weeks you found yourself giggling without any stress or preoccupation in mind. A couple of people had taken their phone’s out to record the moment.

You caught Jimin’s eye briefly but looked away quickly since you recalled your make out session. Unconsciously your hand landed on the spot where he had softly bitten your flesh. You felt a small bruise and looking down you could see the red mark clearly. You looked around to see if anyone was paying attention to you but most people were busy with watching Yoongi’s performance.

There was only one person out of the others who was watching you, intently.

Jimin.

You made haste of pulling the sweatshirt up to hide the mark, and as you glanced at him you could see a small smirk at the corner of his lips. The room felt hot all of a sudden and you had to fan yourself with your hand.

The group broke out into an applause as Yoongi’s performance ended. You blinked out of your thoughts to focus on the present moment and joined in with everyone else, although you didn’t see much.

“Thank you for that great performance Yoongi. I am sure Min Yeong is going to have a story to tell later on” Namjoon winked and spun the bottle.

You watched again with nervousness and hoped it wouldn’t land on you. If you had to kiss h one more person you would run away from there. But thankfully the bottle spun past you and landed on none other than Jimin. He glanced at the bottle and then at you before he was being pulled into the center of the circle by Taehyung.

He ruffled his hand through the bowl and picked a slip. Handing it to Taehyung, he waited. You saw Taehyung’s eyes widen as he read the dare. It made you curious and you wanted to know what Jimin would have to do. It was not eagerness rather anxiety because you knew it couldn’t be anything good.

“Kiss the person to your left” Taehyung read and your heart sank because to his left was Bethany.

She giggled coyly and without a second of hesitation stood up and joined Jimin in the middle of the circle. He looked at you briefly as you did him. Once again there was some cheering from the group as everyone urged them on.

“Kiss. Kiss. Kiss. Kiss” they kept chanting with fervour.

She stepped towards him and your heart lurched. Your breath caught in your throat as you watched the scene with horrifying anxiety. Your mouth dried and the sight in front of you blurred momentarily before it cleared up again.

Her hands wrapped behind his neck and her face inched closer to his painfully slow. She was savoring the moment. Jimin didn’t back out either which made you want to sock him. Their lips were inches apart when a great sense of urgency took hold of you.

“Wait!” you stood up abruptly, heart pounding mercilessly in your chest as they stopped and all eyes focused on you. You could only hear your heartbeat in your ears and feel a cold sweat running down your neck and hands. “I uh… I---” you tried to think of something to say but drew a blank.

Your eyes focused on Jimin and he stared right back at you. “I-- I have something to say” you gulped although your mouth was as dry as sandpaper. “I just wanted to say….that….I…” you paused trying to buy time to find an excuse of some sort and then light bulb lit up “ I think we should congratulate our soccer team for winning. I don’t think we did that yet” you finished with a sigh of relief. Everyone was silent as they looked at you which made your anxiety and embarrassment worse. You ducked your head to shield yourself from their stares because it was awkward enough as it was.

“I agree” you looked up upon hearing Jimin’s voice. “We haven’t given a proper toast to them” Jimin looked at you.

Yoongi watched you curiously and stood up. “I agree too”

“Me three” Taehyung said next and then Jeongguk agreed as well.

“You all have your drinks with you right?” Namjoon looked around and everyone nodded. “So let’s raise a toast to our wonderful soccer team for winning this game for us and maintaining the pride of our college. To the soccer team”

“To the soccer team” everyone raised their drinks with a cheer.

///

You had decided to stay back and help with cleaning up as the party ended. The whole place was littered with cups and beer cans. WIth the trash bag in one hand and glove on the other you picked up the cups and put them in the bag. Most of the guys were in the backyard helping clean the pool area.

“That was smart of you” you heard a voice behind you and gasped in surprise. Turning around you saw Jimin sitting on the kitchen counter.

“You scared me” you held a hand on your heart

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to” he replied

“What are you doing here?” you questioned, realizing you couldn’t look at him for longer than a second without giving way to nervousness. So you turned back around and began collecting the trash again.

“It’s cold outside and they don’t need help” he said curtly before falling silent. You felt thankful for his short replies because it meant you didn’t have to answer since it cut the conversation off. “I am curious about something” he said.

You stopped with picking up the trash to face him. “Whatever it is, I am sure I am the wrong person to ask”

“You’re the only person to ask” he stepped off the counter and made his way towards you.

“W-what?” you asked as he approached.

“Why did you suddenly think of the toast” he stopped in front of you, hands folded behind his back and curious lingering look in his eyes.

“S-s-suddenly? I don’t know what you mean” you averted your gaze down.

“It wasn’t like that was the only time to bring it up. Just as Bethany and I were about to kiss” his voice a bit on the raspy end as he dropped his voice an octave lower. Was he trying to be intimidating?

You scoffed, trying to cover up your embarrassment “What the hell are you trying to say?“

“That you didn’t want me to kiss Beth” he said as a matter of factly

Beth? So she’s Beth now?

You guffawed, rather awkwardly. “ You think I said that because I-- I didn’t want you to kiss her? Why would I do that?”

“I don’t know. That’s what I want to know. Why did you do that”

“You are in way over your head Jimin. It didn’t mean anything” you turned back around and began cleaning again.

“I guess I’ll go kiss her now then” he paused. “Beth wait!” you heard him behind you and whipped around to face him. Unfortunately, for you he was standing there with no sign of Bethany anywhere. A wave of embarrassment washed over you and your cheeks began to heat up as you realized he was teasing you. You shouldn’t have turned around. This was bad.

He smirked satisfactorily as he regarded you with amusement. “You’ve been caught miss y/n” he took a step forward and dipped his head to your level. “As for your punishment”, he leaned in and pressed a kiss at the corner of your lips, lingering for a few seconds before pulling away. He promptly turned around and strode outside in the backyard in all his glory, leaving you a red-faced mess.

“I hate you Park Jimin,” you said in a breathless manner,  dropping the trash bag and placing the back of your hands against your hot cheeks. “I really hate you”

Let me know your thoughts!! Don’t forget to click that heart and to reblog! Thank you for reading :)

[estie-ellie]

so this is a thing i have been working on

it’s a story with my oc and katey’s oc AND SURPRISE it’s not damie and maggie. i did some tweaking and minor edits, but i can’t quite get the rest on the page atm... any feedback is really helpful. keep in mind too that there’s a huge skip forward in story, because i usually write out of order okby

Day 1: .My dad’s friend Damien came over for dinner last night. My dad knows him through work, but he feels like a distant uncle. He’s pretty cool. My dad mentioned once that he was gay and that I shouldn’t ask any personal questions because it wasn’t polite (and that he was special like me, but he doesn’t look like one)

 Since he’s the only adult I know who is both Not My Parents and Not Straight, I asked him what I should do if I was confused.. about everything. He told me to write it down, be honest. If I can write truth, eventually I’ll see it for myself. Here’s hoping..

 Day 5: Two weeks after the dance, I found out. He told me after we practiced swimming. That was a month ago. Everything seems so blurry and messy and strained. How do you be honest, if you don’t know what you’re doing? What is this? Why can’t it be simple? I want you to be my friend. I want to make you laugh and smile. I want to hold your hand. I want to be close. I want to press my lips against your skin. But I shouldn’t want all of that, I should just want to be friends. Right?

 Day 7: In study hall, he sat next to me and smiled. My heart skipped and I couldn’t breathe right. Even though we spent the period together, it felt like he was floating away. Come back and stay. Come stay. I don’t need to breathe.

 Day 9: We walked to the bus in silence. Hey are you mad? I was so scared he’d say yes. No. He didn’t look at me. Oh. Good. Do you want to hang out tomorrow? No. I’m kinda tired. I think I’ll stay in. Oh.. Okay.. I’ll talk to you later. Yeah.

He walked off and I waited for my bus alone.

 Day 15:  He hasn’t talked to me in five days. We got paired up in lit. We sat in silence and did our worksheets by ourselves. I tried to apologize. The bell rang, he didn’t hear me. 

I don’t know what I’m sorry for.

Day 17: I caught him in the hallway at his locker. I wanted to kiss at edges of his frown. He didn’t see me. In lit he said “pass me the handout”. His hand brushed mine and my stomach ached. It was like being homesick. 

 Day 20: He said ‘hi’ in homeroom when he sat down. It was the last seat. I tried to keep quiet. “Do you think we’ll have group work in lit?” he shrugged and turned the other way. I watched his back scrunch and tighten.

 Day 24: He found me behind the quad with Taylor and Christian wailing on me. 

What the fuck, Kai? He looked disgusted. 

Called you a bitch. My words were bloody. 

We’re not friends anymore.

 He got me to my bus stop and left without a word. His fingertips burned more sinister than the bruises. 

 Day 25: He looked at me with pity. Like I was a dog about to be put down. He sat down next to Hazel in homeroom. Hazel looked up at me like I was stabbing them both in the back. ‘I’m sorry’ I wanted to say. I’m sorry. All my fault, I’m so sorry. I laid my head in my arms where the bruises wouldn’t touch. 

 Day 28: Picked another fight, this time nobody to stop it. Brand new bruises to replace the old ones. More punishment; need to repent somehow. I’m the reason they talk about him. I’m the reason we’re not friends. Just wish in the fights they would aim lower though. It’s hard to look my parents in the eye with a bloody face. They’re worried. My grades are still the same. Except history. He used to help me with it. They don’t know what to do.

I don’t either. 

 Day 40: Everyone avoids me. Either because I look like a loser, they heard I was a loser, or because they already know I’m a lost cause. It’s okay. It’s the right idea. 

 Day 51: It’s hard to pick fights. Even the most sadistic, special-hating barbarians are bored. Got their fill. Won’t look at me. The game’s not fun. Old news. Not even worth the effort. I’m invisible.

 Day 57: Bruises are healing. Feathers are growing back. My parents look relieved when I come home free of new blemishes, no bloody clothes to clean. When I’m home, mom checks in on me every now and again, I try to act like I’m reading or playing games. Dad opens my door at night when he thinks I’m asleep. Homework is still done, dinner is still eaten. I’m mild and cooperative. They are confused. I don’t want to make it any harder on them. I don’t want them to worry. I wish I knew how to fix everything. I am breaking everything. I am broken, too.

 Day 64: We have started to change seats each period. In lit, I am off to the left in the back. He sits in front with Allison and Liam: new friends. When he smiles and laughs, I let myself pretend we are back in his room playing video games, in my backyard on the grass. That his smiles and laughter is because of me.  I look away before I feel nauseous. Before I can cry.

 Day 68: All the bruises are gone. At least, the worst of them. Some of them are slight and small on my chest and shins. No more fights to pick, no taunts to tip. Everyone avoids me or has forgotten. That was inevitable. It’s better that way though, I think. It’s better for him.  But what do I do now?

 Day 69: He wasn’t in school today. I think he got sick. After math, Hazel caught me by his locker. I only stopped a second. She noticed me staring. You have to stop, Kai. She grabbed my arm to pull me aside. I know. I don’t think you do. Everything that’s happened… You can’t keep doing this. I know. She wavered, as if my words set her on a balance beam. She looked at me as if she couldn’t tell whether I understood. Don’t worry, I know I ruined everything. I know I need to stay away.

  She backed away, tugging her books to her chest.  Take care of yourself. She took one last look and walked away.

Day 72: Swim season starts in a couple days. Eli, the varsity captain, begged me to stay on the team. I told him I’d think about it. I hadn’t actually thought about swim season at all this year until he asked why my name wasn’t on the sign up sheet.  I’ll probably stay on. Swimming is the only thing I might do right. Maybe. Day 79: Swim season starts today. My body welcomes the water, but my muscles reject the work. Haven’t practiced, mechanics are off, flip turns too early. I push anyway. I push until my lungs ache and my limbs cramp. At home, I collapse in bed, body too weak, lungs too tired. When I sleep, I don’t dream and I’m grateful.  Day 86: It’s hard to focus in the downtime between school and practice. At home it’s worse. Hours to myself, nothing to do. At least before I had bruises to tend.  Day 92: I saw him at the park on my way home from the deli. He was on the swings, talking to two of his friends and smiling. I don’t think any of them saw me. I rushed toward home with my head down. He’s happy without you.

Without you, he’s happy. 

Day 97: I skinned my knee on the floor of the pool. For the rest of the day, it ached and itched and bled, and before I knew it I was home in bed and I hadn’t been thinking of him. 

Day 101: I always wondered why people would cut. I thought it was too extreme, stupid, a futile attempt at comfort. I get it now though. If you can zero in on the pain, the world is blotted out. It’s easy to numb out all the other thoughts if pain is controlling you. I won’t go overboard. I just need something to pick at. If it aches, I can get through the day.  

Day 112: The cuts are easy to hide with our trunks and briefs, but I went too high this time. I had to lie and say I got it while working outside with my dad. It wasn’t a hard sell, and we went back to flip turn drills. Day 115: Between practice and homework I’ve been pushing myself farther and harder. It’s the only way I don’t break down. In our meet against Northtown High, I beat three of my records. Wish it was good enough to fix everything else. Day 118: After practice, some of the team went out for pizza. I tried to get out of it, but Eli wouldn’t let me. My mom was elated that I was invited anywhere and handed me thirty bucks with an enthusiastic wave goodbye from the minivan. When we got there, Eli gathered our party to sing praises of our previous glory and especially gossip about the hottest girls that came to cheer us on. I smiled and laughed at the right times, but it felt like lying to say that I was interested in anyone who had shown up. ---

I don’t know why I’m going to this party. I have nothing better, I guess. Maybe there’ll be booze.  --- Kai walked inside the mini mansion that was Eli’s home. The party was still in full swing, music pumping throughout the house and conspicuous red cups floating from hand to hand. He decided he had to pick a safe spot, someplace he could be without attracting attention to himself. Kai went alone after all, he needed the cover. The kitchen was too obvious. Too many transactions of alcohol, not enough to stay and graze off of the assortment of snacks and finger food. In the back, a grill was being manhandled by a member of the football team while a few boys and girls on the swim team hugged the edges of a massive pool.  The yard was adorned with buckets of ice topped with various cans and bottles of beer. Kai made his way out and grabbed a bottle, clipped the top with his keys, and retreated inside to investigate further.

From time to time he passed a teammate or an acquaintance that would draw his attention for a moment, but conversations didn’t linger. Kai was glad to have a distraction, though. The booze was finally hitting him and he floated around until settling in the family room in the basement. It was lit in soft yellow candle light, which was probably for function as much as it was aesthetic; it covered the scent of alcohol with a light vanilla puff.  He figured the party would settle down and he could leave, Eli & Co. happy that their fellow teammate showed up for once.

And the party did in fact wind down. Couples eventually left, clumps of friends relocated to various parts of the house, and the backyard became a haven for dimly lit poolside make out sessions. This meant that the couch Kai had been inhabiting soon became possession of a clump of kids in his grade slowly approaching, talking among themselves. 

“You mind if we..” A boy from the group--Nate, Kai recalled-- extended his hand which grasped a bottle of liquor, towards the coffee table in front of Kai’s feet. Kai nodded and scooted to the end of the couch as the group closed in on the living space. He hadn’t quite realized who exactly was in the group, until he Hazel emerged from the back of the group with Gabe in tow.

 "Hey, maybe we shoul-,“ she began.   “It’s ok, I’ll leave,” Kai gathered himself up quickly. He avoided their gaze as he was about to move away.  “Stay,” Gabe’s voice piped up, as they sat across Kai in a loveseat next to Nate. Kai’s eye’s shot up to Gabe and halted. Hazel looked wearily to Gabe, sharing an silent exchange of permission. “It’s okay,” Gabe replied finally.

 Kai looked to from Gabe to Hazel, the ultimate approval resting with her. She looked to Gabe. She nodded once in affirmation. The exchange took mere seconds but Kai had felt like an hour past. He silently sat back down and took a swig of his drink. The rest of the group seemed unfazed by the microcosm and readied themselves for their drinking game. Evidently it was "Truth or Drink”. There was no dare involved; the dare was inherently “get wrecked on Costco brand liquor”. Kai mostly tuned out the noise, the soft snickers and cackling from his party-mates, the clinks of shot glasses. He only made noise enough to apologize when his foot hit Mark Elsen’s who had taken up a spot on the couch next to him.

It seemed like they were having a good time, already a couple rounds in. A few beers in himself, Kai was pleasantly buzzed. The peaceful calm of the booze melted his tension, and for the first time that night, Kai allowed himself to enjoy the party. It was nice to see Gabe smiling, laughing. Nate had his arm wrapped around Gabe’s shoulders and they swayed back and forth with a giggle from Hazel’s joke. The yellow light danced in the chesnut browns in their hair. He had forgotten how pretty it was.

“What about you?” Mark tapped his shot glass to Kai’s shoulder.  “Hmwha?” Kai’s trance was broken and the group looked to him expectantly. “Have you ever cheated on a test?” Mark repeated. Kai looked to Hazel and Gabe again, searching for permission to speak. His eyes fell back to Mark, “A couple times, I guess. On spelling tests, I think.” “That’s pretty lame, man,” Nate replied, pouring shots into the empty glasses, now an additional shot sitting for Kai. “Okay, Hazel. Your turn.” She dutifully began to think of a question and when she came 

[neverisalongtime-ja-blog]

Chapter 40: Just ride

Her I am with another chapter! I never going to stop thanking all for all the support and the feedback! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

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-          Josh is out of control! How fucking dare he! – Anastasia was telling Mandy while both were swimming at Anastasia’s house pool.

-          I have to admit that I wasn’t team Richard before but now I totally support him – Mandy answered lying on a float with the shape of a sea shell – Josh is acting like a baby, so immature. He wants to have it all, he wants Lauren and he wants you but he didn’t see Richard coming.

-          You should have seen him begging me not to leave him and to be patient with him, but I’m done – Anastasia said with anger – I honestly didn’t see Richard coming either but everything happens for a reason.

-          He is so sweet – Mandy said.

-          And dreamy – Anastasia said.

-          And fun.

-          And talented.

-          And easy to talk to.

-          And easy to be around.

-          And so handsome.

-          And so perfect – Both friends looked at each other and laughed – This is exactly like when we were sixteen – Anastasia said – It’s so crazy we’re talking about the same guy.

-          I never would have thought Richard Austin would fall for you.

-          He hasn’t fallen for me.

-          An… the way he put his hand around your waist when you were watching the Peppers, and the way you two sang and looked at each other at the show. At Glasto he looked at you with such lovely eyes. He is incredible but, for now, I’m going to abstain from telling you what to do because I told you to let Josh into your heart and that didn’t go well at all. I’m sorry for that.

-          You don’t have to apologize, neither one of us would’ve thought that Josh would do such things. – Mandy nodded at her friend’s words.

-          Have you talked to him? To Richard?

-          He texts me or calls me every day. He is going to be in Los Angeles next week so maybe we’ll go out or something. He actually has a show at the Fonda Theater, we should go!

-          That would be amazing.

Richard was truly amazing to Anastasia, and after all her love-life-craziness in the past years, it was nice for her to have someone solid around. Richard was so sure of himself and so sure of what he wanted. As he told her, he was going to be in Los Angeles for about a week for the Fonda show and some promotion for the new record, so Anastasia thought it would be cool to invite him for dinner at her place. She told him she would “cook” for him, but what she actually meant was she would buy food to make him think she cooked it.

Richard arrived at An’s house wearing a green tee shirt and a jean jacket with the sleeves rolled up and holding a bottle of champagne.

-          You cooking for me is so special that I thought champagne would be perfect – He said at the door with half a smile.

-          It goes perfectly with the seafood I made – Anastasia laughed because she didn’t cook any of it. She was wearing a jean pinafore dress with high-heeled green velvet sandals and her hair tied up in a ponytail.

-          Your house is beautiful – He said looking and the backyard and the skyline of the city.

-          Thank you – Anastasia said looking at his face, he had a Marlon Brandon kind of aura – Come take a seat, the table’s set and the food is ready.

She decided to go with all kind of seafood, crab, oysters, lobster and more. The food was delicious and the conversation with Richard was easy, intelligent and nice as usual. She learned that Richard’s parents were Vegas natives and he was born and raised there too, his dad use to be a doorman at the Flamingo and his mom use to be a waitress at the same hotel and they met there. He also had two older sisters so he grew up in a very feminine environment; he had one niece and two nephews. His son’s name was Elijah and he was nine years old. He met his ex-wife in high school so he hadn’t been with a lot of women during his life, “Maybe two”, he said.

Growing up in Las Vegas was fun because of the culture, he did a lot of crazy stuff as a teenager, of course, but the glamour and the lights and all the big shows always had his attention and he loved that. His band got together because all the members were neighbors and they knew each other since they were kids; that meant they were tight as friends just as Dead Curse was. He wasn’t proud of the beginnings of the band because as they got famous he developed a very arrogant ego and that brought a lot of negativity to the image of The Genius Sex Poets but all of that was in the past now.

Although he played guitar, bass and piano, he wasn’t that much of a music geek. It was a huge part of his life but now family was his priority. The way he talked about his son captivated Anastasia’s mind. He loved to travel and driving in the dessert, because having grown up in Las Vegas apparently being in the dessert was a huge thing to do, “It’s like escaping, leaving all the craziness behind. I go there every time I need to have a minute and breathe”, he told her. Apparently, he did that a lot during his divorce.

-          I really thought I was going to spend my life with her – He said at the table – But she never got used to this kind of life style, of me not being around as I would wanted. She wanted me to quit and have a business or something, but that’s not me, I couldn’t do that. Music has giving me so many great things and I won’t leave it for anything – Anastasia felt the same, she couldn’t see her doing anything else.

After dinner, he opened the bottle he brought and they enjoyed it on the backyard with the stars as a roof and moonshine as illumination. The natural element conspired to create a romantic aura.

-          I really have to say that you look especially beautiful tonight – He said tucking some of her loose hairs around the ponytail behind her left ear.

-          Maybe is it because I cooked you all that food – She lied and laughed.

-          I always have such a great time with you – Richard, tucking more of An’s hairs behind her hear, he was searching for excuses to keep touching her. Anastasia had a pleasant feeling in her stomach and smiled.

-          I really enjoy your company too. You are so easy going and… I don’t know – Anastasia said as Richard started to get close – It’s like we have this… - Richard brought his face really close to Anastasia’s and talked.

-          … Strong connection – He said before kissing her.

It was the most romantic kiss Anastasia have ever received, so different from Josh’s. So delicate, so respectful. He grabbed her firmly by her waist with his left hand and positioned his right hand on the back of her neck while she hugged him on his torso. Their mouths were doing a dance of their own and after almost a minute she broke the kiss to gasp for air. He looked at her straight to her eyes and smiled, she did the same.

-          I have never received a kiss like that before – She said and he smiled wider – So… so…

-          Meaningful – He said a word that wouldn’t pass through An’s mind but was the perfect word to describe it: meaningful – After everything that happened to me last year – He was still close to her face -  I really thought I wouldn’t fall in love ever again but how wrong I was.

Did he just say that he was in love with her? Anastasia’s mind started to work fast. She definitely had feelings for Richard, but Josh was still in her heart. Josh was with Lauren at that precise moment… and then An got it: she deserved, for once, a man that was just for her (like she told Josh before), and Richard was everything she needed at that moment, the Universe was handing her a pair of arms where she could heal and restore her love life.

-          I’m sorry – Richard broke the hug and gave a few steps back because of the lack of response from her – I think I came too straight – He was ashamed - She grabbed his face with both arms and smiled.

-          I like straightforward people – And kissed him again.

Nothing else happened that night; Richard was too much of a gentleman to let it go further and that actually attracted her more to him. Once in bed, ready for sleep she couldn’t stop thinking about what just happened, Richard fucking Austin kissed her, her teenage crush kissed her. She thought that maybe this is how some Josh’s younger fans fantasize with him, she use to fantasize with Richard and now he just told her that he loved her. That smile stayed tattooed on her face until the day of the Richard’s band show.

By then Josh has texted her at least twice per day but she didn’t feel the need to reply. If he wanted to act like a jealous kid he had to do it on his own, she wasn’t going to play around that attitude. He had Lauren and now Richard was part of Anastasia’s life, she was sure it was time to cut the cord with Josh, especially for her mental stability.

Richard was very happy to have her on the show, Mandy and Mark tagged along. Unfortunately, Steph had to stay in London for work, she was also doing a Major in English Literature and conducting an investigation with the Oxford University, Mark couldn’t choose better.

-          Steph and I decided we want a small wedding in the English countryside – Mark said at the bar inside the Fonda while waiting for The Genius Sex Poets to take the stage – Maybe we’ll rent a house there and spend a whole weekend celebrating. What about you? – He asked Mandy.

-          I’m getting married in Malibu, there’s no doubt about it – The pink-haired girl answered with a smile -  I actually found an amazing venue, a mansion at the shore that is very private, perfect for me to get ready there and have the ceremony and the reception at the same place.

-          I’m gonna give you your honeymoon so think where you want to go – Anastasia said and Mandy opened her eyes big.

-          Are you serious? – She said.

-          I’ll pay for everything – Anastasia was laughing because of Mandy’s reaction.

-          I can’t accept that!

-          Shut up! – Anastasia said – Think where you wanna go and I’ll pay and you can’t say no.

-          God gave me the best best friend someone could ask and I don’t really need to tell you but it’s obvious you will be my maid of honor – Even though Anastasia supposed it, hearing Mandy say it brought her a wind whirl of emotions and her eyes got watery.

-          Oh, stop you two, I’m going to cry too! – Mark said and laughed. Anastasia hugged her friend, nodded and tried to wipe the tears without destroying her makeup - I’m pretty sure Stephanie will ask you to be one of her bridesmaids too.

-          I’m going to cry more! – Anastasia said – Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.

-          Maybe that will change – Mark said pointing to the stage where Richard was coming out through the lights.

He was amazing on stage, not only he moved with confidence, his voice was to die for, so strong, so trained and so different from Josh’s. Mandy and Anastasia knew all the songs except for the new ones; they were listening to the classics since they were teenagers. Richard found An in the crowd even though she was far from the stage, and he locked eyes with her a couple of times giving her a couple of smiles.

After the last song, An, Mandy and Mark walked backstage. Richard, now with his clothes changed, gave Anastasia a tight hug and a big kiss on the lips which took her by surprise, that display of affection in front of his band mates, but she responded in the same way, kissing him back. Mandy was shocked but the rest of the people in that room didn’t seem to care a bit.

-          That was an amazing show! – Mark said breaking the spell between Richard and Anastasia.

-          The new songs are incredible – Mandy talked.

-          That’s all because of Mark – Richard said with a smile, a pair of dimples formed in his cheeks every time he smiled – He and his damn amazing ear for music made them.

-          Time to boost the producer’s ego – Mark laughed.

-          Let’s head to the bar for drinks – Richard said putting his arm on Anastasia’s back, she felt such comfort in that action.

Richard was very sociable, and although he talked with a bunch of people that night, he kept coming back to Anastasia’s side to share a drink with her or to make sure she had everything she needed. He was certainly giving her all the attention in the world and that made her feel good.

-          Anastasia, marry that guy right now! – Mandy was a bit tipsy – No! Forget it! I already told you I wasn’t going to give you any more advice on love.

-          I think we are ready to leave – Mark said and Anastasia saw Richard talking with some friends in the distance. He looked back at her.

-          I think I’m going to stay a little bit more – Anastasia said to Mark – I’ll call an Uber. Can you safely take Mandy back to her place? – She asked her brother.

-          Like the old days! – Mark answered – Say bye to Richard from us.

-          I will – Anastasia said and waved goodbye as her friend and Mark leave the place.

At that moment, Richard went back to An’s side.

-          What happened to Mandy and Mark? – He asked.

-          Mandy wasn’t feeling well so Mark took her home.

-          And you decided to stay – He smiled again and the dimples appeared again she felt the pleasant tingling in her stomach again.

-          Yeah… - She didn’t know what to answer.

-          Listen, I had a crazy idea – Richard smiled again – I have my motorcycle parked outside, what do you say if we ride to Palm Springs and spend the entire day there tomorrow? – It sounded like an amazing plan.

-          Yes! Sounds amazing! What time do we leave? – She didn’t get the whole idea.

-          Right now!

-          What?! That’s crazy! Richard, Palm Springs is two hours away! – She said but she wasn’t worried at all. She actually wanted to do it – Well, let’s go now, then! – He smiled and kissed her.

 Now, An was wearing his leather jacket and riding his Indian Chief Dark Horse motorcycle through the 10 Route, leaving Los Angeles behind and entering the dessert, that place Richard loved. This was crazy, it was almost two in the morning, it was dark and that gave a special aura to the road, but she didn’t care about it, she felt safe with him. Anastasia had forgotten the last time she rode a motorcycle, probably when she was thirteen.

She was hugging Richard tight and saw him smiling; he stroked her arms from time to time. They arrived to the Palm Springs’ Marriott Hotel at almost four in the morning.

-          Thank God they had rooms available because I didn’t plan any of this – He said laughing and opening the door to the suite with an amazing view to the pool. Everything was so peaceful at that hour.

-          This is crazy. We both had drinks at The Fonda – Anastasia said entering.

-          I only had one drink – He put his arms around her - I told you, coming to the dessert is like escaping, leaving the craziness behind…

They looked at each other; she knew what was going to happen. All the thrill of that night was reaching its peak. She loved that Richard acted that way, so impulsive, so unpredictable; she saw it when he appeared at Glastonbury Festival just to see her and now she was standing in front of her teenage crush naked, ready to give herself to him, not worrying about what happened to both in the past. The connection she had with Richard made her feel like she knew him during her whole life, in a way it was, but this was deep and special and the best of all she was happy.

She woke up feeling Richard’s lips on her neck. He was such a gentleman and treated her like she was a china doll, delicate. Although Richard was younger than Josh, the way he acted and talked and made love to her was so much mature. She was over the moon.

-          I want to spend the day at the pool – Richard said smiling.

-          Do you realize we didn’t pack anything? – She rolled over only to faint at his dimples.

-          We can fix that, one call to front desk and they can bring us bathing suits and everything we need – Yeah, Richard’s band was in a much higher position, he was definitely more famous than her so in the hotel they knew who he was.

He did his thing and the hotel gave then swimming suits from one of the boutiques inside, she had the most relaxing day at the pool and the spa. That night they made their way back to Los Angeles. She was hugging Richard on his motorcycle feeling like a whole new Anastasia. This was solid; she could feel it and the most important thing of all: this time she was calm about the future.

Read chapter 41