#But no I popped into my drafts on my lunch break and was like OH OUCH RIGHT I WROTE THAT LMAO

[saltpepperbeard]

ummmm so what if stede incessantly sticking by ed in season 2 leads to further heartbreak and misunderstanding?

because ed is at what he perceives to be the lowest of lows, the most “monstrous” version of his persona. he’s a beast from the depths, an unforgiving thing of legend, the kraken…

and yet stede sticks by that.

stede ran when he was his softest, his most open, his most vulnerable. so in ed’s eyes, how can it be that stede wholeheartedly loves him? how can it be that stede loves the authentic version of himself?

is he not sticking by to gawk at the legend, at his dreaded mask, just like everyone else?

[yourmomni]

A/n:HIII so I know I know “niyah where the hell have you been” “ Niyah what about my request” yes guys I know I’ve been gone and I’m back and staying. I had a lot going on and am finally ready to finish writing . The request are being done now but I wanted to give y’all something that’s been sitting in my draft as a welcome back gift from me to you🥰 enjoy

How you met them

Plus sized reader x Enhypen

Heeseung

Heeseung was the sweetest boyfriend you ever met

He was always on time to dates and he would even stop by your favorite flower shop and buy you flowers when ever you hanged out

NYou felt so loved and safe being with his especially when you told him about your insecurities

You weren't the lightest person when in came to weight and it was your biggest enemy when trying to find love

The side glance you would get when you ordered food at restaurants or the stares you received when working out

It always made you feel insecure

So when your schools smartest student asked you out one spring day after chorus practice you honestly thought it was a joke

sweat was dripping off of his forehead making his bangs wet. He was holding his knees trying to catch his breath " Please go out with me ... .tomorrow…night ... .oh my gosh I think I'm dying." He reached for the ground sitting down in front of you and you just stared at him in shock. “ I have water.” You blurted out fishing in your bookbag for your Sanrio covered water bottle. “ it's cold.” You kneeled down beside him, handing him the bottle which he gladly took to drink what was left in it. “ I tried to catch up with you earlier but you move really fast.” You smiled at him and hessung swear he thought the heavens opened up and shined down on you. “ what were you saying earlier?” He regained his words and asked you on a date which you happily said yes too.

Jay

You worked for his dad when he met you

It was one of those days where he decided to visit the office and see how everything was going when he saw you.

Standing at the printer wearing a white button up and a black pencil skirt curly hair stopping at your shoulders framing your face beautiful dark brown skin. Jay almost spit out his coffee when he looked at you .

Why hasn't he noticed you before? He would have noticed you.

You grabbed the papers and started walking back to your desk. Your shoes were killing you and you were so hungry you couldn't think straight.

“ Um excuse me.”

You looked up with a annoyed glance the emptiness in your stomach making you hungry a little. A man you never seen before was looking down at you through his long lashes. His hair was dyed a nice blonde and his jawline was nice.

“ Yes how can I help you?” He smiled.

“ When Is your break?” he glanced and the watch on his wrist then back up at me. “ In 10 minutes but I can help you with whatever you need right now before then” you breathed out hoping you didn't sound as irritated as you felt.

“ I was wondering if I can take you out for lunch, like right now?” you would be lying if you said you weren't shocked by the handsome man's request.” And why would you do that?” He shrugged.” Because I think you're pretty and I want to get to know you.” you huffed out a laugh raising your eyebrow. “ I flattered but I don't know you, and i have work to do. My boss is really strict when it comes to us not leaving early for break.”

Jay tilted his head. You had dimples that he didn't notice when you were standing in front of him at the printer and your replies make your features pop even more.

He reached his hand out and you took it. “Jay Park of park industries” Your eyes widened, You remember him now from the huge photo that was framed in your bosses office of his family.

“ My dad is your boss and soon I'll be your boss.” He kissed your hand and your rose from your chair.

“ How about that lunch.” He smiled

Jake

How you and jake met is different from the rest of them but you had a huge crush on the native Australian. Alexa play So Into You by Tamia because that's all that played in your head when you saw this man walking down the hall with his friends, the world was moving in slow motion and jake was the only thing that caught your eye. He was smiling talking to one of his friends fixing the circular glasses that framed his face well. His honey skin glistening ugh you were falling for him, but like who wouldn't.

That night you were at a party one of your friends invited you to attend insisting that you should go to quote on quote “ Get out of the house on a Friday night and shake sum ass for once.” And here you were wearing a skin tight black dress leaning on the wall like a loner with a cup that has been empty for the last 5 minutes watching your best friend suck faces with Park Sunghoon.

You were not having fun

The hair pins she shoved in your hair was stabbing you're scalp and you felt really exposed in the spaghetti strapped tight dress she put you in that showed off ever curve.

You were so stupid for coming.

But Jake thought you looked like a girl straight out of his mind. He couldn't get his eyes off of you since you walked through the door, asking his friends if they knew who you were.

“ I'm going to go talk to her.” He drink the rest of his liquid courage and headed off towards your way. You didn't seem to notice him as you were in your own world staring into your empty cup. “ Having fun?” Your eyes went wide when you seen him.

Jake Sim talking to you

“ I didn't mean to scare you.” He smiled “ I saw your cup empty and wanted to come over and ask you if you wanted another drink?”

“ oh” you breathed out still staring at the man” yeah I would love another drink” 1 drink turned into 5 and you and him spent the whole night together drunkenly talking about life and fantasizing the future. Jake accidently telling the real reason why he walked over to you and you telling him how you had a crush on him.And the rest was history. The next weeks were just you and him hanging out every day until he asked the big question that you excitedly said yes to.

Who would have thought you would be dating your crush.

Sunghoon

Sunghoon was a stone faced guy who never showed anyone any types of attention especially girls.

God you liked him so much

you passed him everyday on your way to your business class and it was hard to not stare at him, it not like he noticed you anyways and if he did you sure as hell wasn’t his type. Sunghoon was athletic and those types usually date people who are also athletic like them. You lose your breath on the stairs on the way to class everyday that was definitely not his type.

the rain that morning was especially hard, making it difficult to see your way to class. You were covering your head with a textbook while running trying not to be late. Why the hell wasn’t class canceled. “ Hey Wait.” You turned around to Sunghoon chasing after you. You heart stopped for a second, of course he would want to talk to you when you're soaking wet and your make up is probably dragging down your face. That thought made you turn back around and quickly head for the business building “ No no wait.”

You never ran so fast in your life just to get away from someone. You'd rather die then let him see you like this. You pulled on the building door and it didn’t budge “ Huh” you yanked on it again repeatedly. “ Oh god please don’t tell me” “ classes were canceled like 10 minutes ago” I side eyed him as he stood there holding his books as well “ I see you come this way everyday so I wanted to tell you.” I bit my bottom lip and nodded. “Thanks” he nodded but didn’t walk away like I thought he would.

I quickly glanced at him and he was staring at me studying my face. Could the world just open me up and swallow me right now please. “ I was on my way to the cafe do you want to come with me, anywhere is better than being out here” I slowly looked at him and it was like fireworks went off around us. He’s facial feature softened and the smirk that was on his face before was gone. “ You-you um wouldn’t mind going with me right”

He turned away from me and a blush covered his cheeks “ yeah that’s fine” he nodded quickly turning his back to me. “ I’ll lead then” he put his book over his head and ran into the rain I quickly followed him smiling to myself. Did I just make THEE Park Sunghoon blush?

Sunoo

You scrubbed the dog in front of you until it’s white fur was no longer the mucky brown it was before “ look buddy you look like yourself again all cute and cuddly” the big dog shook all over you as you blocked your face from the attack. You rinsed him off and sent him on his way to get his hair cut. “ Y/N” you turned and your boss was standing their with a boy beside her. He brightly smiles at you and you automatically smiled back at him. “ Y/n this is Sunoo he’s new and I would like if you could train him for today.” You nodded and she quickly walked away to go help someone else

“ Hello I’m sunoo please treat me well.” He beamed “ I’m Y/n it’s nice to meet you I guess your going to be helping was dogs today can you go grab a apron and then we can get to work” he nodded quickly putting the apron on and standing next to me. I explained how everything in the sink worked and how to correctly wash the dog.

Sunoo was the cutest guy you’ve ever seen, his cheeks grew every time he smiled and he talked to you so kindly. You let him do a dog by himself and he followed your directions properly until he lost control of the hose and sprayed it everywhere. You and him started screaming trying to gain control as you also got soaked from the water the dog stood in the corner watching everything unfold quietly and calmly. He finally turned it off and looked at you with shock all over his face “ I didn’t know that was gonna happen” you both broke out in fits of laughter, he helped you off the floor but you both slipped which ended with you on top of him. His faces turned red and so did yours you quickly got up and dust yourself off “ I’m gonna go get the mop” you ran to the closet and left a flustered Sunoo on the floor with his heart beating and a new crush.

Jungwon

Anger is what you felt in this moment.

Anger,Sadness, hatred that’s what you felt for these people. “ Look she can’t even fight back how pathetic” they laughed at you ridicule you everyday of your life just because how you looked and it was starting to get to much for you.

“ why do you even come back huh? Is it because you secretly love you getting talked about everyday or do you just like the attention” the girls laughed looking down at you. “ Isn’t she just pathetic” The boys beside them laughed in agreement. “ looking down at her like this makes me feel bad for her a little” you grabbed your books putting them back in your book bag so you can get away from these humans.

“ We didn’t say you can go fatso” he kicked the book bag out of my hand. “I’m having to much fun with you” the tears riled down your face and the laughed at you again.

You hated them no one ever protected you from them, they always bullied you and no one ever saved you, no one stood up for you.

You grabbed your book bag again and started collecting your books quickly you reached for one and a hand was already on it you looked up and a boy you never seen before grabbed it and started collecting your papers around you.

You froze. What’s going on?

“ She doesn’t need your help new kid get lost” the boy slapped the book out of the boys hand, he scoffed picking the book back up and grabbed my book bag stuffing everything in it. “ Are you deaf or just a dumbass?” The started laughing again but he didn’t pay them any attention grabbing a paper but the bully stepped on it

“ Leave it.” He said through gritted teeth, him and the boy stared at each other intensely “Move your foot” the girls gasped at the boys voice. The bully scoffed “ what did you just say” the boy raised his eyebrow “ I don’t ask things twice” my eyes widen at the situation. The bully lifted his foot up and the boy grabbed the paper stuffing it in my book bag “ Are you okay” he wiped the dirt from your face. You nodded he put the bag in your shoulder and helped you up off the ground.

“ I’ll walk you home” he sweetly smiled grabbing my hand gently as we walked away from the group but not before throwing a glare over his shoulder at them. “ Thank you” I whispered he turned back around and looked at me “ No problem I’ll walk you home from now on my name is Jungwon I just transferred here today” I smiled “ I’m Y/N” he smiled repeating your name “ Y/n a name almost as beautiful as the carrier” I blushed.

I guess I can’t say no one ever saved me because,

Yang Jungwon did

Niki

You sat at the table and watched your best friends battle over a air hockey game. “Y/n come on let’s have fun” you smiled “ okay I’ll get next game against winner” the arcade was full on a Friday night , the game machines were alive and colorful. People here with their friends or even on dates. You heard a group of boys getting rowdy by the basketball game and looked over. They were in a intense versus against each other. The ones currently going were apparently neck and neck. The buzzer sounded and the one on the left clapped his hands loudly smiling with a lollipop in his mouth. He started to turn towards the big group and they high-fives him as he smiled. The black zip up and chains on his neck made you not wanting to look away. You swore you could hear his bracelets jingle from where you were. His hood and hair was covering his eyes but what you could see he was a breath taking looking man.

“Y/n it’s your go” I turned towards my friends smiling and taking my respective place.

Niki high-fived Jake as he beat heeseung in the basketball game. “ Now you owe us a pizza” heeseung grumbled as he made his way to the front to order pizzas for the group. “ Hey man you see that girl over their” Jay swing his arm over my shoulder pulling my hood off so I could see better. He followed the oldest glance, a girl with brown curls playing air hockey with someone smiling and clapping as she landed on in the goal. “ She couldn’t keep her eyes off you man” Niki watched you dance with your arms up in victory smiling and laughing. “ And I guess you can’t keep your eyes off her huh” Niki didn’t want to look away from you scared you would disappear or another guy would try to make a move on you.

That wasn’t going to happen.

Heeseung came back with a receipt tapping Niki chest. “Hey play me again we can see who’s going to buy the drinks” “ Maybe another time hyung” Without a second thought he started making his way towards you, hopping over tables just to get to you scared someone would beat him to it.

“ I win again Mariah that’s 9 in a row” you laughed as your best friend just rolled her eyes at you. “ Anika you want to try to beat me” the girl shook her head recording you dancing. “ Oh come on I’m on fire so one has to try to beat the champion I promise I’ll go easy” “ I’d like to try” you turned around and was met with Mr.Basketball

“Oh” he smirked going on the other side of the table, Mariah quickly ran to sit by Anika as they ushered you on. “ well okay but I lied about the going easy part” he shrugged “ wouldn’t have it any other way” you played over and over somehow getting tie 5 to 5 “ okay next point is winner” I said sitting the puck Infront of me “ let’s make this interesting” Niki said getting ready “ If I win I get to take you out” you could hear your friends ohhing in the back “ Okay and if I win?” I asked him “ I won’t bother you for the rest of the night” you smiled “ okay then” you hit the puck with your cone and Niki hit it back it went on like that for awhile until Niki accidentally pushed it into his own goal you lifted your hands up in victory and did a little dance “ I win” he smiled at you

Cute

“ You win congrats” he held his hand out for you to shake and you took it “ I’ll see you around Y/n” he bit his lip as he walked away from you back to his friends. Your friends ran beside you “ are you seriously not going to go out with” she watched him sit at the booth and his friends clapped him on the shoulder. You walked again towards him

“Maybe next time man.” Jay said as he shook my shoulder I shrugged it off grabbing a drink from the middle drinking it. “ Yeah maybe she likes losers” they laughed and he mocked them back tired of their shenanigans he was no longer fun.

“Niki curly head 3 o’clock “ Jake said tapping his shoulder Niki lifted his head and saw you standing in front of him “ Hey” she smiled “ Hey” he heard his friends giggle and he glared at them making them stop. “ Um you never told me what time you were picking me up tomorrow” Niki raised his eye brow in confusion “ What do you mean.” “ Well for our date”

Niki face lit up and the smile he had was unmoving no one get wipe that off of him “ Oh yeah how does 5 sound?” You nodded smiling back “ Great see you then Niki” you waved and walked away. Niki couldn’t stop starting at you until everyone erupted with laughter and questions

“ Oh young love “

[ijuliet]

calc tutor hyuck

paring : lee donghyuck x gn!reader

warnings : college!au, mature, kissing, sexual innuendo, mark and jaehyun are mentioned TT

 wc : 600~ words

isaac newton was your worst enemy, because who in their right mind would have the time of day to create calculus! sadly, with a D+ on both midterms, you forced yourself to sign up for the tutoring program your professor recommended with a tear in your eye. it killed your pride, but you didn't want to end the class with anything lower than a C.

luckily, you were paired up with the cutest dork ever, and you began to thank your brain for having a hard time with the course.

lee donghyuck had dark brown hair and sun-kissed skin. the first time you met him, his glasses were black, and he wore a neatly ironed crew neck. but as the days went by, hyuck would wear his clear glasses and loose graphic shirts (you loved these sessions because you could see the moles littered on his collarbones, which left you wondering how much more he was hiding).

and as you got closer, hyuck would bring you lunch and tell you the gossip between his best friends and their latest fuck. the way he exaggerated the stories always made you giggle.

i’m serious y/n! jaehyun hooked up with his sociology professor, he has a noona kink

or

the last girl i tutored stopped showing up because mark rejected her, too bad she ended with a D in calc… wait… you wont ditch me if i introduce you to mark, right?

oh and of course, hyuck was a great tutor.

not only did his inner-circle-drama and OOTDs encourage you to meet him at the library every thursday, but his promise to gift you with a surprise if you got above a 90 on your next test did too.

surprisingly, when test day rolled around, you landed a 91! hyuck was so proud of you and picked you up from the ground and into a hug in the middle of the fiction aisle. when he put you down, his smile never disappeared, and a light blush covered his face as he muttered apologies, i knew you could do it y/n.

for your gift, hyuck invited you to a movie night at his apartment. although it didn’t seem like much, it felt as if you were becoming a part of his life.

his home was comfortable and expected from the clever boy, and the way hyuck happily showed off his gaming setup made him live up to his nerdy persona.

tutoring you helps pay for my double monitors, he’d say as you playfully push his shoulder.

you both popped popcorn in the microwave and laughed together, confessing you might’ve written the formulas on your hand.

when suddenly the electricity shut down. the quickly turned dark setting took you both by surprise as you jumped towards each other's bodies for safety. hyuck quickly held your hand before clicking the flashlight button on his phone.

soon enough, you were both sat on hyuck's bed, knee to knee, shoulder to shoulder, while his birthday cake candles are lit around the room. he apologized for a ruined celebration, but you insisted being with you hyuck is just enough.

despite the room being dimly lit, you could feel hyuck relax beside you, taking his hand off of his lap and behind your back. now inches away from you, you turned your head and began to shape the figure of his face and move towards him, locking eyes and staring at his lips.

hyuck pulled you into a kiss as his hand crawled up to the back of your neck, pulling you in deeper. his lips were soft and tasted like the perfect buttered popcorn you get at the movie theaters. your hands played with the hair at the nape of his neck, slightly pulling and earning you a whimper.

you straddled his lap and could immediately feel his bulge beneath you. breaking off of the kiss with a smile on your faces, you reached out to touch his wet lips with your thumb before moving up and removing his glasses, whilst cracking a question:

"what if i get a 95 on my next test?"

sitting in my drafts for months, imy haechannnnnn

[ouatsqincorrect]

Not sure if you’ve already answered this and I’ve missed it 🙈 but do you have any Emma and Zelena headcanons? I love their brotps in fics

oh absolutely! sorry this has taken me a minute—it’s been sitting in my drafts as i slowly add to it. anyway

i know it seems like every member of this family likes to take each other lunch/snacks while they’re at work, but that’s just how it is. sometimes, zelena will pick up two bear claws from granny’s and drop them off for emma and david

usually, this ends with her sitting in one of the office chairs for a while, most likely trying to annoy the crap out of them, but failing (with robyn in daycare and no job, zelena has a lot of time on her hands)

once, zelena breaks regina’s blender and begs emma not to tell regina, and when emma inevitably does (regina gets it out of her) zelena calls emma a traitor and gives her the cold shoulder for exactly 2 hours before she decides not talking all the time is too boring

they don’t really talk about deep things. at least, not often, but they both totally get using humor as a defense mechanism and when they do talk about the hard stuff, it usually entails a lot of jokes

zelena doesn’t have her magic anymore, so one day she tries to get emma to magic things for her. it ends with snow having green hair and an alpaca in regina’s office (emma is confused, zelena just cackles)

regina is the person zelena goes to for movie recommendations, but emma is the person she goes to when she wants to listen to some new music—she goes through this phase where she wants to learn all about pop culture in this world and emma is happy to help

when emma and regina do get together, zelena tells emma she’ll turn back into the wicked with if emma ever dares to hurt her sister, but she knows emma won’t

(zelena’s just happy she doesn’t have to watch them “helplessly pine after each other” anymore—although she outwardly wonders if seeing them “turn into “the charmings 2.0” is actually worse—she knows it’s not)

[wiypt-writes]

Consciousness Of Guilt

Chapter 21

Summary: Your honeymoon over, it’s back to work…and someone there is REALLY getting on your nerves…

Warnings: Language, adult themes, Smut (NSFW, 18+)

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar the reader and any other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer. I do not consent to my work being translated or posted elsewhere. If you see this fiction on any site other than Tumblr it has been taken without permission.

W/C: 7.3k

A/N: Thanks to my beta @spectre-posts​

Consciousness Of Guilt Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 20

Your heels tapped against the elevator floor, impatience being your newest virtue as of late. If it wasn't life taking its sweet time you were simply irritated at how slow everyone else seemed to be moving.

You and Andy had been nothing short of busy since getting married. Whilst the newly wed glow was absolutely still about you, you both seemed to be simply rushing off to work or just missing one another in the office. Whilst you had turned down Eva's request for you to take over her position while on maternity leave, all things considered, you might as well have done it. You and Amber were running things within the office whilst Mandy, the temp, just took the name and calls, answering emails on behalf of the new mom.

And she was something else; deep burgundy hair, always in a tight bun and dressed to impress. You scoffed at Amber one day over lunch, telling her that Mandy reminded you of a porn star. And boy, did she act like one. You had half a mind to talk to Ron about her. You tried telling Andy and he just laughed you off, rolling his eyes and joking with you over it.

Amber had conceded she did remind her of someone she’d seen in one of those “boss rails horny office worker” films on YouPorn, which had left the two of you in fits of giggles. Giggles you’d been unable to stop when the woman in question had walked in, or rather her boobs had, followed by the rest of her about sixty seconds later.

Today, however, you’d seen Mandy for all of fifteen minutes in the morning for your daily stand up, when she had disappeared stating she had to meet with Ron. It was now lunchtime, you’d given up waiting for her to come back, and instead had decided to take your break.

The lift stopped on Andy's floor and you felt a little weight lift off your shoulders as you neared his office. You glanced down at your ring set and smiled at the soft and dainty design. It made you grin a little and you waved to Andy's assistant and paralegal as you walked passed her as she was on a call.

“Oh, hang on, Mrs Barber…” she called and you stopped, turning to her as she smiled, “he’s in there with Ron and Mandy, might wanna knock, I don’t know what they’re talking about.”

Well, that was news. You had been under the impression Mandy's meeting was just with Ron. It hadn't occurred to you it was a partner meeting with Andy. You gave her a nod and raised your left hand to knock on the door.

“Yeah?” Andy’s deep drawl called. You opened the door and smiled as Andy looked at you, his eyes soft.

“Hi, Angel.”

“Sorry, I didn’t know you were in a meeting I was just calling on the off chance you could do lunch? But if you’re busy…sorry, shoulda called.” You popped a shoulder, apologetically.

Ron smirked, "no, I think we're done here. We'll set the press release once it's finished. Trial was a success, thanks to Andy. Amanda, I'll expect the final draft for review on my desk by tomorrow morning." He stood and winked at Andy, "Enjoy your lunch."

You stepped into the office, clearing the way out for Ron and he stopped in the doorway.

“Nice work with the damage control on the Goldman case by the way. I know I emailed down but wish I’d gotten chance to thank Eva in person, was a hell of a dumb case to leave for maternity with.”

“Oh, yeah, don’t sweat she was fine.”

“Shame we lost it too but can’t win ‘em all. Mind you, he was guilty as shit.”

“Stupid too. I mean anyone who calls a pizza delivery and then holds up the delivery driver with a gun, on his own stoop ain’t winning any Mensa prizes anytime soon.” You snorted and Ron laughed.

“Fucking state appointed cases. Still, we’re obligated to take our quote. Anyway, change of subject, I told Andy to come over Saturday, we’ll do dinner.”

“Sure, sounds good.”

With a final wink Ron left and you turned back to Andy. Mandy was lingering around his desk and you huffed a little as you were waiting for her to go.

But she really wasn’t taking the hint.

You cleared your throat, “Andy, do you want me to meet you downstairs?”

“Might be best, Y/N,” Mandy smiled at you, flashing her perfect white teeth, “I’ve got a couple of things I need to discuss with Mr Barber.” She chuckled as she gently perched on the edge of his desk.

You blinked, looked from her to Andy, who eyd you with a little teasing amusement but you weren’t really in the mood. Normally you’d laugh it off as you knew he’d put her straight when he got chance but today it irked you, big time.

“You know what, it doesn’t matter, I’ll sort myself out and eat with Amber.” You gave a curt nod, and before Andy could interject, you turned heel and disappeared.

You didn't even bother grabbing Amber, you'd only said it. Instead, you headed for your Jeep and sat in the driver's seat momentarily, before peeling out and heading to Patti's. And all the way there cursed and mumbled about your temporary boss as you drove.

You parked up and headed in, still grumbling, and Patti smiled at you.

“Y/N, Mr B not with you?”

“Not today, no.” You smiled at her as your stomach gave a huge grumble.

"You want your usual, honey?" Patti asked.

"No, I'll start with the cheesecake and take a menu, please."

“Bad day, huh?” She laughed, “take a seat at the counter, you can talk to me whilst I work.”

You smiled at the sweet old woman who'd become a good and close friend to you and Andy over the years. With a nod, you found an empty seat at the corner of the counter and perused the menu. It wasn't like you didn’t know it from cover to cover already, but you were so indecisive that you needed a gander.

Patti dropped the cold slice of cheesecake in front of you and you practically drooled out of your mouth. The warm blueberry compote sat off to the side as you usually preferred to dip your bites in it but this time, you dumped the whole little ramekin over the delicious and rich treat.

"I think I want the patty melt on the marble rye with onion rings and blue cheese." You ordered. "And a soda water with lime!"

Patti chuckled, "that all, honey?"

You nodded. You didn't even particularly like blue cheese dressing, you were a ranch kind of girl, and the only blue cheese you typically preferred was the crumbles in your charcuterie or in your walnut salad. But it spoke to you today, so that was what you were having.

You made small talk with Patti in between her serving other patrons and sorting your order. And when she placed in in front of you, you noticed there were far more onion rings on the side than in a usual portion.

"Thanks, Patti." You sighed.

“You look fed up, my dear.”

"You know, I don't know. We have this temp that's taking Eva's spot, she came highly recommended and now I'm starting to see why." You rolled your eyes heavily.

“Boobs?” Pattie arched a brow and you snorted, almost choking on the onion ring you’d just taken a bite of.

"Big bolt ons. And definitely fillers in her lips and cheeks. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if her ass was fake."

“You can buy fake asses?” Patti looked at you, “damned I’m outta the loop.”

"You can buy anything these days," you shrugged, tucking into your hot melt with the grilled onions and fresh rye bread.

“Not happiness, sweetie.” The older lady said wisely, “can have all the money or fake boobs in the world, won’t make you happy unless you wanna be.”

As you pondered her words, for the first time in ages your mind flicked to Ransom. He was a prime example of what she was saying, he had more money than he knew what to do with and he'd been an inherently unhappy, albeit sadistic and evil, bastard.

Exhaling loudly, you reached for the glass on the counter. "Amen to that," you sipped your soda.

"How's Mr. B?"

“Andy’s Andy.” You gave her a raise of your brow, “working hard but he’s good.”

"Should pack up some lunch for him? Maybe that club sandwich he's been turned onto lately, with the potato salad?" Patti offered.

"Nope, he's got other plans, I'm sure he'll figure it out." You could help but lace a little irritation into your words.

"Alright," she smiled softly. "I've got to check on some tables, holler if you need anything."

You’d finished your meal by the time she came back. You asked her to box some of that cheesecake up for a mid-afternoon snack and once you’d paid and left your usual tip, you headed back to the office. After you deposited your cheesecake in the fridge, you topped up your mug of coffee and made your way to your desk.

“You’re ten minutes over your allotted time.” Mandy called to you as you passed her open office door.

You grit your teeth, “knock it off the extra hour I worked when I got home last night.”

"Is that allowed?"

"I'm salary, it shouldn't be of concern."

“Look, Y/N, I know you were in the running to take over from Eva, and this must piss you off they gave the job to someone else, but-“

“I was…who told you that?” You raised your brow as you looked at her.

"No one, I figured it out.” She smugly popped a shoulder.

"For your information, I did get overlooked, I turned it down. Andy and I just got married last month and we had a lot to plan. It didn’t seem like the right time, Amanda."

“Right,” she looked at you a little sceptically, before she stood up and smoothed down her dress, “either way, you’re extremely hostile towards me. It’s not productive for a healthy working relationship.”

You licked your teeth behind your upper lip, and clenched your jaw. "Sorry you feel that way. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do."

You headed back to your desk and flopped into your chair with a groan. Amber looked over at you and gave you a little smirk. You rolled your eyes before you unlocked your computer and opened your emails.

You were engrossed in responding to one regarding a potential law student coming to shadow one of the partners for a day, when Andy poked his head into your office.

“Honey?”

"Yep?" You didn't even look up.

“You wanna grab a coffee?”

"Just topped off," you continued to type. “And besides, I was ten minutes late back from lunch, and that’s an issue. Apparently.”

"Oh Angel," he softly chuckled.

“What?” You looked up at him.

"You're fiesty today, honey. I like it." He leaned on your desk. "C'mon, I want to take my wife down for some coffee in the break room. If Amanda has anything to say about it, she can speak to me."

“Oh I’m sure she’d love that.”

"Okay, I'm not getting anywhere with this, I see." Andy sighed, "Can I at least get you a snack?"

“I got cheesecake in the fridge from Patti’s, no thanks.”

“You went to Patti’s?”

"Yep." You sent your email and sighed, sitting back.

Andy took a deep breath, before he perched on the edge of your desk. “What’s goin’ on?”

"Nothing. I just don't..." You gave a sigh. "I..." You stopped. "I don't like her, she's very in your business." You emphasized the 'your' in reference to him.

“She’s…certainly in your face, I’ll give you that,” Andy smirked at little, his eyes crinkling at the side. But you failed to find the humour, because really, was there any?

"Andy.... I just need to finish this, okay? I'll see you later."

Andy took a deep breath. “Alright, but do me a favor, huh?”

"What?"

“Leave that attitude in here when you come home tonight,” He arched his brow as he stood up off your desk.

You glared, "Sure."

With a final sigh and roll of his eyes he left, not bothering to look back.

You outright growled as you looked back at your screen and then glanced at Amber who was politely glancing down at her work.

A snide sound came by your desk. "Trouble in newlywed paradise?"

“Fuck off,” the words fell from your mouth before you could stop them.

"I think you should the rest of the day, work from home. We'll discuss your outburst and behavior tomorrow." Mandy folded her arms.

“You know what, no, we won’t. Because I won’t be back tomorrow. I’m done,” you spat as your stood up and slammed your laptop shut.

You grabbed your things and headed for the elevator. The absolute audacity of this woman. You had half a mind to call Eva, or march up to Ron's office and say something. Instead, you stormed straight for your car, throwing your bags into the back before you drove home, angry tears pricking your eyes.

You assumed Amber had called up to Andy's office or gone to see him as he was calling you as you pulled right into the garage of your condo. You ignored his call and stormed in, foregoing even taking your bag in. But your anger ebbed away as your baby boy came bounding to meet you, his tail wagging, little whimpers escaping his mouth.

“I’m sorry, Grant, I hate leaving you but the wicked witch of the west is allergic to dogs so you can’t come anymore,” you fussed him as you let him out to go do his business, “kinda ironic seeing as she’s a massive bitch.” You grumbled as you closed the door. You kicked off your shoes then checked the note from the dog walker who said she’d been in and done three miles before giving Grant a treat and settling him back down. You cracked your neck from side to side, let Grant back in and then headed upstairs to change.

You were generously willing to skip editing the brief you had to work on and finish your emails however, given there was a press release due and case inquiries to finish and forward to case management, you changed into your comfies and retreated back to the Jeep in the garage for your work bag.

You settled yourself at the breakfast bar in the kitchen, a large mug of camomile tea by your side, Grant playing with one of his squeaky toys as he sprawled on the couch. Not even an hour into your work and a second cup of tea, Andy came barrelling in to the kitchen through the garage side door.

“What the hell, Y/N?” He blurred out before he’d even shut the door behind him, “I had Amanda in the office before, with Ron, telling us you told her to fuck off and then stormed out?”

"Sure as shit did, and I don't care."

“Jesus Christ what has gotten into you today?” He shrugged off his jacket and tossed it over the chair next to you, before pulling his tie loose with an angry tug.

"You, Amanda... work," you shouted. "Don't think I don't catch her little comments or the way she looks at you over her stupid fake prescription glasses and those bolt on tits that come through the door hours before her head does." You stood with fervour.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Andy frowned, his palm resting on the surface of the counter by your computer.

You snorted, cleared your throat and put on a fake, airey voice. "Oh Andy, you're so funny..." You touched his bicep. "I'll have that report to you first thing. Anything you need, Andy, anything you need Ron."

“That’s what this is about? Some bimbo flirting with me? For fucks sake, Y/N, we’re married!”

"You think I don't realize that, Andrew? And she as shit does but she doesn’t care. And I'm sorry, but I sorta don't see you doing anything to stop it. You nor Ron.”

“Because I didn’t think it’s a big deal!” Andy shook his head giving a frustrated laugh, “people flirt, I’ve seen guys do it with you. That damned waiter in the restaurant on our last night of our honeymoon was blatantly doing his best to get you to smile at him, but you know what? I don’t care! I trust you, I’m secure enough in our relationship to know that it doesn’t matter, because you come home to me!”

"Oh, you think I don't trust you? Jesus Christ, seriously? You're the only fucking person I do trust."

“I never said that.” Andy shook his head. “I’m just trying to understand why she in particular has got you so bent out of shape. Honey, this isn’t like you!”

You breathed fiercely through your nose. The truth of it was, you didn't know. It had to be fierce PMS. Since coming off your birth control before your wedding, you were all over the place in terms of mood and energy. You knew it was due to that and your busy work schedule. It had nothing to Andy, or even Amanda, Mandy or whatever the hell she wanted to be called.

“Honey, talk to me.”

You felt the emotions bubble.

“Oh, Angel…” Andy sighed when he saw your face crumple, “c’mere.”

You cried into his shoulder as his big, broad arms and chest wrapped around you. Your make up smearing over his white shirt. His wide hand carded through your hair.

He softly rocked you to and fro, his lips pressing to your temple. “Shhh, come on. It’s okay. Whatever it is we can work it out.”

"I don't know what it is. This is just... She's awful and it's so childish to even admit. I want to tell Eva but I'm not bothering her with this. I don't want to go to Ron and it's hardly fair I tell you, professionally, that is."

“You can tell me anything,” he shook his head, “professionally, personally or otherwise. Don’t think that.”

You took a deep breath and stilled yourself. "I'm sorry, Jesus Christ, how embarrassing. I have never felt like this, well since…she just makes me feel like shit."

Andy lightly chuckled with a sigh, "It's barely been a month, honey. She's here for at least two more."

“Can I take a sabbatical?”

Andy laughed as he stepped back and cupped your cheeks, “what is it about her, bar the tits and teeth and her tactile nature that grinds your gears?”

You snorted, “grinds my gears, you sound like my dad!”

"Well, he's nearly as old as I."

“Shut up.”

He flicked a brow. “So? You gonna tell me?”

“She’s lazy, she sits in that office all day making calls and filing her nails. Me and Amber have been keeping it all afloat, I might have well taken the job up to cover for Eva after all. I've been checking all the work and stuff before it comes up to the partners. She doesn’t even read it on her desk, but she’s happy to take the plaudits. Although, I guarantee she would be just as happy to throw me under the bus if it was wrong. And she touches things that don’t belong to her.”

Andy understood that reference. He gave a little chuckle and cupped your face. "Oh Angel. I love you."

“I wasn’t just talking about you,” you pouted slightly, “she steals my coffee.”

“Not the specialty roast from Patti!”

“Yup.”

“What a bitch.” Andy shook his head dramatically

Then it occurred to you, "God damn it I forgot my fucking cheesecake."

“Yeah, she’s probably eaten that too.”

“Andy!”

"I'm serious, honey." He chuckled. "Look, why don't you go run a bath, I'll pick us up some dinner from that dumpling house that just opened and be back. And I'll bring you back a cheesecake for the rest of the week."

“I want some tonight.”

"Clearly, but I meant a whole one for us. I'm going to tell Ron I'm working from home, a come down from the trial, and you're going to take a sick day. We're going to watch trash tv and lounge on the couch."

"I have so much work to do."

"And you have a boss who can and should be doing it for you." Andy arched a brow, “and she’ll have to if you’re not there. Let her drown for the day, show herself up.”

"Anyone tell you that you can be exceptionally sneaky at times?”

He squinted as if thinking about it, "a time or two," he smirked.

“I love it,” you grinned, “okay, I’ll go take a bath. Oh, can you ask Pattie to put plenty of the compote on it?”

At that he frowned, “really? You normally take it on the side, you always say too much makes it too sweet?”

“Yeah, but I had it all at lunch and it was so good.”

He chuckled, "Alright, Angel, compote, got it."

After finally giving Grant the attention he was waiting for the minute Andy came home, he left to get dinner and you headed up for a bath, a chilled white wine in your hand. You filled the tub with oils and bubbles and slipped in with the daylight slowly creeping away. It was near summer and the Colorado spring was beautiful outside your bathroom window.

You made a mental note to tell Andy that when you found your dream home, you wanted a tub with a view. Maybe you could start looking tomorrow, use your “sick of tits and teeth” day to start checking out the realtor websites.

You smirked and nodded at yourself, yep, that sounded good.

********************

Andy was highly amused by the events of the early evening as he left the dumpling place and headed for Patti's. He'd never seen you like that before. Sure, there were times of heightened emotions lately but good God today had been chaos. He understood you were under a heavy workload but he hadn't realized it was so much so as both he and the partners assumed Amanda was doing the job Eva brought her in for.

He didn’t like seeing you upset or put on, but he couldn’t help but chuckle a little at the way your anger had manifested. Telling your temporary boss to ‘fuck off’ was a pretty good way of making your feelings known.

With that in mind, he’d called Ron on his way to collect dinner and explained what had gone down. His boss has groaned and simply ranted on about this being the reason he wanted you to take the role in the first place. And Andy was inclined to agree, however you’d both had that discussion and whilst Eva’s official maternity leave was only planned to be four months, she had a full three others to take at half pay if she so required. And then it was likely she would come back part time to start with. With that in mind, given that you were trying for a family of your own, you’d both decided it would be best to bring someone else in.

Ron apologized for not catching things quicker and vowed to be more vigilant. Then he wondered if you and Andy were still coming up for dinner on Saturday and Andy affirmed you were and no doubt you and Giselle would have plenty to gossip about given the events of the week. Ron laughed and at that, he'd ended the call with a promise to sort it out.

Andy headed into Patti's and stood at the counter, waiting for someone to come help when the woman herself poked her head out of the back room and came to his assistance.

“Mr Barber, I’m surprised to see you here,” she chuckled.

“Andy, Patti, come on!” He chuckled.

The woman chuckled, "What can I get for you, Andy?"

“Just a cheesecake, Y/N left hers in the office and she’s hankering for some more. Plus I didn’t get any today either.”

Patti laughed, “you know, I’m surprised that wife of yours has any room for food after what she ate at lunch.”

"What do you mean?"

"She chowed down on a slice before lunch, then had a patty melt and onion rings with blue cheese dressing." Patti laugh, "and she skipped the Coke and went for a soda water. Heck, even dumped her blueberries all over her slice. She must not be feeling well. Sweet girl."

Andy let out a chuckle, “she had a bad morning, clearly felt like a blow out.”

"I'll say! I was jealous she put it away like she did, lovely figure like that." Patti laughed. "Tell you what, tonight it's on the house. I'll go get it and box it up."

“No, Patti that’s-“

“Hush, I insist, I owe you.”

“What for?”

“Well, you know that nice man I was talking to at your wedding?”

“Dave? Our office maintenance guy?”

“Yup, well, he’s taking me to dinner tomorrow.”

“You sly, little minx!” Andy grinned.

"I'm in my sixties, Andy, this bag of bones can't hold out much longer."

“Oh hush, you’re fitter than me. And I bet there’s plenty of life left in ya,” He winked as she swatted at him with her dishcloth.

"You offering?" She joked. "I can put ya over my knee there, son."

“Don’t tempt me with a good time.”

With a laugh, Patti pulled a cake from the case and began boxing it up.

"Oh, special request, can you put the compote on top this time?" Andy caught her before Patti closed it up entirely.

“Yup, I’ll give you some extra, I’m at the end of today’s pot so you can take it home, it’ll keep on the fridge for a day or so.”

“Thanks, oh, and also… can I get a bag of your blonde roast?”

"Sure thing, still not paying me though."

“Fine, guess I’ll just…” Andy fished a twenty out of his wallet and folded it up, “leave this here.” He slotted it into the tops jar with his trademark smirk.

"Sly little brat," Patti scoffed, sliding the pink bakery box and coffee on top over to him.

“That’s the second time I’ve been called sneaky today,” Andy laughed, “thanks Patti.”

"Night, Andy."

“Night.” He winked and picked the box abs coffee up, heading to the door. He opened it and paused, turning back. “Oh, and take it easy on Dave. He’s got a bad back…”

A damp dishtowel hit his back as he slipped out of the doors, his loud laughter ringing out against the bell as it opened. He headed to the car, his chuckles still rumbling his chest as he walked, before he let out a sigh.

Dinner and after sorted, plus a replenishment for your stolen coffee had to make you feel better, surely.

He placed the box on the roof of his Audi as he opened the door, before he shook his head. This was typical of you, not wanting to trouble him with worries or stresses, even if they were bad enough to make you want to storm out at lunch and emotional eat.

But the heightened sensitivity was something that tossed his mind a bit. You weren't quick to react, and normally pretty complacent to the office women. Mind you, he supposed it was to be expected, being a little moody and down, especially after the excitement of your wedding and honeymoon. Two glorious weeks in Puerto Rico has ended with a bump when you’d both had to come home.

He recalled the last night with fondness. You’d had a lovely meal, walked back along the beach, sat up drinking and then been drunk enough to order a huge plate of ribs and chicken wings to the room. And of course, the usual argument about blue cheese dressing and ranch has ensued.

He frowned a little, yeah the blue cheese thing was a little odd. You’d vehemently refused it the entire time he’d known you.

With a click of his tongue, he closed his car door and pulled out of the spot. He stopped at a red light on the corner of the high street, his mind straying to the little row of shops opposite. His eye caught the lit advertisement in the window of the children's boutique.

'Stork Sale! 25% off all newborn clothing and essentials!'

And then, just like that, the dots in Andy’s mind joined.

Mood swings, increased appetite, the naps you’d suddenly started taking after work and at weekend, odd food that you’d normally never want. And, to top it off, as he worked through it methodically, you hadn’t had your cycle for a month; he knew that from the fact there had been no usual four or five day break in your sex life. Or the usual few days before hand where you would huddle on the couch in your comfies with a heat pack.

Fuck, were you pregnant?

A car horn sounded behind him and with a curse, he realised the light was green. With an apologetic wave, he set off and drove round the corner, before hankering a sharp left then, ignoring the angry hand gesture that came at his lack of signal.

“Oh, Angel…” he mumbled to himself, the butterflies in his stomach fluttering away as he drove quickly down his revised route.

A childlike grin spread his lips wide and he knew there was just one final stop he had to make, just to be sure.

******

When he got home, you had set the table and poured the wine, waiting for him in a little cami and short set he liked from your honeymoon.

“You were a little longer than I thought.” You smiled at him as he set the familiar link box down on the table, a chuckle escaping you at the sight of the coffee.

"Got caught up."

"I can see," you kissed him softly, hugging the bag to your chest. "Thank you, BB."

"You feel better after your bath?" He wondered, rubbing his hands up and down your bare arms.

“Yeah. I’m sorry, I’ll apologise to Double T when I go back.”

Andy laughed at your coined nickname, “I told Ron we wouldn’t be in. He’s gonna tell Amber and if Mandy asks, it’s a simple none of her business.”

“So, I assume you got caught up talking to Patti?”

“Oh Patti told me a few interesting things. Did you know Maintenance Dave is taking her on a date tomorrow?”

"No shit?"

He chuckled, “she threw a dishcloth at me when I told her to watch his back.”

“Andy!” You laughed as you started to unpack your dinner from the bag. “So, what else? You said a few interesting things.”

"Well I heard all about your lunch," he smirked. "Have you switched dressings on me, honey? You hate blue cheese dressing."

“Yeah that was a little strange but, it tasted good. Maybe I’ve been a little harsh on it.”

At that he laughed, "oh Angel."

"What?" You smirked.

He pulled something from his jacket pocket, "Humor me."

You looked down at the Clear Blue box in his hand and snorted. "No."

“Honey, you came off your pill two weeks before our wedding. That was six weeks ago.” He gave you a significant look as he held out the box.

You stuttered for a moment, incoherently babbling.

“Now I know that you ain’t been sat on the couch, eating chocolate and complaining of cramps since then.”

“Yeah, but… my cycles are gonna be out, my body’s getting used to coming off birth control.”

“Maybe,” he popped a shoulder, “and I could be way off so… do that and then if I am wrong you can come down, call me an idiot and then I’ll let you drink the rest of that wine.”

You glanced down at the box and chewed on the inside of your lip. Then you smirked and smiled, snatching the box from his hands and heading for the bathroom near the garage.

Andy watched you go and busied himself setting out the rest of your dinner before he heard the toilet flush and you came back out.

“Okay, I peed on the stick…” you rolled your eyes as you set it down on the counter top on top of a piece of kitchen roll.

“Clever girl…”

“Oh, fuck off!” You slapped his arm as he laughed, before you reached for a dumpling. You dipped it into one of the pots of sticky soy and hoisin dips before shoving it in your mouth. “God that’s good, I’m so hungry.”

“Eating for two will do that to you."

"Andy," you hushed him. You didn’t want to get your hopes up.

He chuckled as you grabbed another dumpling and shoved it into your mouth.

“Do you really think I am? Already?” You whispered.

"I'd be a little surprised if you weren't."

You bit your lip, “I guess… I mean, we had a lot of sex on our honeymoon so…”

"And after...."

“And after.” You nodded, giggling at the smirk on his face.

The timer he'd set on his phone chirped. It had been the longest yet fastest three minutes of your life and his.

You took a deep breath and turned back, glancing down at the test. Andy watched as you read the result and then without a word you turned, walked past him and grabbed your wine.

“Shit, Angel, look… it doesn’t matter, I’m sorry, I was just so sure-“

“Man, I’m gonna miss you…” You inhaled a deep smell of the wine, and closed your eyes before you opened them, a smile spreading across your face as Andy suddenly registered what you said.

"No, wait, yes? Really?"

“Yeah, really. You were right… I’m… we’re having a baby, Andy.”

"Oh honey, Jesus fahk, I love you so fahking much, Angel." He pulled you close and cried.

You chuckled a little as his arms held you, your own eyes stinging with emotion. “Andy…”

"Yeah, honey?" He pulled back and looked at you, his eyes swimming, so much unsaid in them.

You gently reached up and cupped his face in your hands, fingers tangling in his beard. “I love you, and… I just wanna make sure you’re a hundred percent okay with this. If you’re not and you wanna talk about it, or need some time to… well, to visit Jake, I get it.”

"Oh Y/N," he sputtered, "I want this, oh baby girl, I want this so bad," he nearly sobbed.

Your own tears slipped down your face as he pressed his forehead to yours, “good, me too… I can’t… I mean I thought we’d be trying for a little while at least but…”

"But nothing, we're... Oh fahk, I, we..."

“I know!”

You couldn't even begin to imagine what was going on in his head. You wouldn't even try.

Then, his lips pressed to yours in a deep kiss, your hands still pressed to his cheeks.

“We should eat,” you whispered as he pulled away, his hands taking yours. He pressed a kiss to your wrist.

“Yeah, yeah… dinner.” He nodded, taking a deep breath. “Better feed your both, huh?”

You smiled at him, "and cheesecake?"

“Baby, you can have all the cheesecake you want.”

Reluctantly, Andy let you out of his hold and the pair of you settled down at the table. Andy swapped your wine out for a sparkling water as you both tucked in, both of you now buzzing and shining with your new found knowledge.

It felt different. And how could it not? You were both ecstatic that a mere month post your marriage here you were, already about to start your family.

The pair of you giggled through dinner, Andy constantly touching you in some way or another, often falling quiet as he merely looked at you with a soft expression on his face.

After dinner, the trash was quickly discarded and Grant let out into the yard while Andy fed him. He stood there, lost in his own thoughts about that teeny little life that was currently residing within you, and he felt his heart jump in his chest.

He found himself thinking back to when Laurie had discovered she was pregnant. Unlike this, that had certainly not been planned. A happy surprise, they’d both called it, not an accident. He remembered that feeling of excitement but also absolute terror at the prospect of becoming a father. He was barely out of law school, temping at a local lawyer’s office in hope of getting a break. They’d been living in a small one bed apartment too, in the North End of Boston, completely unprepared. But fuck, it had been worth it, and all his worries had faded the minute he’d held Jake in his arms for the first time.

And, despite everything, he wouldn’t change a single second he’d had with his son.

When he’d left Boston behind, he’d never dreamed he’d meet someone else and get another chance to be a father, and then you’d walked into his life. And here you both were. He was older now, and wiser (he hoped). Financially secure. It was different but every bit as amazing.

And still, scary as hell.

This was his second chance at a moment he never thought to have and he'd be damned if he didn't make a silent promise to you and a vow to himself that he wouldn't fail this time.

“BB?” Your voice broke him from his reverie and he smiled as your arms slipped round him from behind, curling up over his shoulders.

"Yeah?" He whispered, reaching over and wrapping his arm around your neck and head.

“Why don’t you go shower and change? You’re still in your office stuff.”

"Uh, yeah," he said softly.

"Where did you go, BB?"

He took a deep breath, “I was just, thinking about when Laurie found out she was pregnant. I’m sorry, I just…”

"Oh, Andy, it's okay, I mean I... Look at me," she turned him around gently. "I expect you to think about it. I mean this is bigger news for you than it is for me, and I want to respect that."

“It just made me think, you know. How different the circumstances are but how I kinda feel the same. Bar the shock of course because we’ve been trying but… the rest. Excitement, being shit scared… but fuck, honey, I’m so damned happy.”

"I'm happy too, Andy, more than anything. I didn't expect it. Really, I didn't."

“I won’t lie, it’s caught me a little unaware at how fast but,” he chuckled, “there’s a well known saying about not doing the crime if you can’t do the time, so to speak.”

"Andy...”

“Yeah?”

"We're gonna be parents. Like it's not hit yet, really but..." You started to tear up again. "When I was... he wouldn't, he didn't and then I never thought it possible, the scars and I don't... I didn't. Here we are."

“Hey, hey, look at me.” He smiled gently, hands cupping your face. “You did. And you’re right, here we are.”

You took a moment in the stillness to look at him. His bright blue eyes so soft and gentle, piercing the deepest depths of your soul. He held the key to your darkest corners and your brightest days. The tinge of wonderment he held behind unshed tears made you smile softly as you kept his gaze. Your chest was tight and your heart was pounding, your stomach in the happiest of knots. Your hands covered the non-existent bump that soon would swell your belly, big and round. You parted your lips just so a shuttering breath could escape and you whispered, "kiss me, Counsellor."

Without a word, he leaned down and pressed his lips to yours, his kiss tender yet flooded with love and emotion. Your hands slid up his chest, making their way round his neck as his own splayed over your back, holding you to him.”

"Take me to bed, Andy."

His nose bumped yours and he smiled, before he reached up behind his head. His fingers finding yours, he took your hand and with a gentle call to Grant, he led you up the stairs.

Your now fairly well trained pup bounced into his bed in the corner of the room and Andy took a moment to call him a good boy as he settled, before his attention turned back to you.

"I love you, baby," he bent his neck to kiss you, then he fell to his knees, lifting your cami and hooking your shorts down with his first finger. "And I love you, Baby Barber, so damn much." His words were laced with tears as he pressed those bearded lips to your smooth skin.

“BB junior,” you chuckled as your hands gently slid into that day messed floofy hair that was sporting the odd strand of grey throughout.

At that, his hands curled around the waistband of your bottoms and panties and gently pulled them down your legs. You stepped out of them the second they hit the floor. That bearded face watched your own expressions as Andy dragged his whiskers along your smooth inner thigh.

Your lips parted as you took a soft inhale of breath, your eyelashes fluttering against your cheeks as you sighed, your fingers tightening slightly in his hair

"Imma kiss you, Angel," he rasped as he drew close to your slit. You were highly aroused and now you knew why. The source of your moods and heightened sex drive, the explanation of your body sensitivity and why the sex since your wedding night had been just that damn good, not that it wasn't exceptional before.

“Please,” you whispered, a shiver running through your entire body as you watched him. His broad shoulders rippled beneath his white shirt, which was crumpled from the days wear, still tucked into his navy suit slacks, office shoes still on his feet.

"So fahking pretty, honey." He looked up at you and bit that plump bottom lip of his. He teased you with his finger, a thumb pressing into your swollen clit and your legs shook before he'd even gotten started.

With gentle hands that curved around your thighs to your ass, he hiked your left leg over his should and steadied you with his hands against your cheeks as he took to you.

Slow at first, testing your nectar like a butterfly at feeding then he sped forward, increasing the flicks and licks of his tongue like a humming birds wing beat. Your hands curled into his hair as you balanced against him, your head tipping back just so at the pleasure.

Your soft moans mingled with his own little hums of satisfaction as his beard scratched at your sensitive inner thighs. His mouth was soft, warm; it was a contrast that drove you wild.

You must have done something right or tasted something sweet, for every few minutes on deep breaths of air, Andy hummed into you, vibrating your heat and you would whimper.

With gentle fingers, he slid one inside then a second, "oh Angel, you're fahking soaked. So good, honey. You taste so fahking good. I wanna fuck you so bad, baby. So soft and bad."

“I want you to,” you managed to gasp, “please, Andy, need you.”

"Get on the bed, Angel," he choked out, undoing that button down and his slacks.

You did as told, shuffling up and settling yourself back against your pillows as Andy stripped down. His clothes in a heap on the floor by his feet, he crawled up the middle of the bed, settling himself between your legs. He waited a second for you to slip from your cami and toss it aside. His lips were quickly on yours in a deep, languid kiss that made your toes curl as he used one arm to balance, the other hand cupped your face, fingers in your hair at the back of your head. You gently took hold of him and he gasped.

His lips parted, mouth brushing yours as your foreheads pressed together. With a gentle twist of your wrist, you moved your palm up and down his shaft and he gave a choked grunt which caused you to smirk

"You like that, baby?"

“Yeah, fahk…” he groaned as you carried on, your eyes watching his face

"Oh baby," you whispered. "Please, Andy."

You used your hand to guide him to where you wanted him, needed him. As you felt his head brush your folds, you tilted your hips up and with a slow thrust forward, he slid home.

"Oh fahk," you both drawled loudly. His a groan, yours a whimper.

Andy stilled a moment before you again gave a tilt and he took that as his sign to go. He rolled his hips, slow and tenderly, his lips on yours and then your neck, down the hollow of your throat and your sensitive nipples. His hands held yours at your head, gently, lovingly.

It was slow, intimate, the pair of you clinging to one another as Andy kept his languid pace steady.

"My baby mama," he whispered at your ear.

“Oh, fahk…” you spluttered, your voice catching in your throat.

"I'm close," he purred.

“Me…me too…keep talking, Andy, please.”

"Gonna take care of you, take care of our baby," he moaned, "oh Angel, our baby, you're having my baby, honey."

“Andy, oh, Andy… I’m gonna… fuck…” you came with a loud cry, your body trembling beneath his as your legs went stiff, your back arched.

"Yeah, honey," he groaned, increasing his thrusts just a little to chase his end.

By the time you’d regained some vague sense of yourself, Andy’s face was buried into the side of your neck, his breathing deep as he’d reached his own end, triggered by the feel of you pulsing around him.

"Oh beautiful, so beautiful, honey." He spoke into your hair. "I fahking love you so much, Angel." His lips kissed into your skin. And then you heard him give a sob, "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

The realization, you felt, that you were pregnant with his child had finally hit him.

“Oh, Andy.” Your voice cracked as you turned your head to face his. “Baby, look at me.”

That softly crumpled face peered back at you.

“I love you, so much, Andrew Steven Barber.”

He nodded and kissed you, "I love you, Y/F/N Y/M/N Barber. More than you'll ever know."

“Good job, because you’re stuck with me,” you nudged his nose with yours, and then gently took his hand and pressed it to your belly, just above the point where you were both still joined. “With both of us.”

He sputtered a smile, "I'm okay with that."

*****

Chapter 22

[whoabo]

all i have

pairings: bo burnham x reader.

part one: all i wanted.

warnings: swearing, angst, sad bo.

era: inside (2020–21)

a/n: thank you guys for waiting so patiently for the second part. i’m so sorry it’s been so long, i accidentally deleted the first draft and had to re write it. so hopefully you enjoy. ily <3.

four days.

four days.

three nights.

you left four days and three nights ago. not even saying ‘i love you’ back.

bo hadn’t stopped calling you since that night. the only time the phone stopped ringing was when he fell asleep. clutching a tear stained pillow with bruce asleep by his feet.

he didn’t realize how much he royally fucked up. he didn’t realize just how much harm he did. he thought you were fine while he was working in the guesthouse. she never complained, so he never asked.

he now realizes how flawed his logic truly is.

when he awoke, his face felt hot. it felt wet. lifting a hand to his cheeks he sighed and stood up. the sound of bones popping as he stretched made him cringe.

he walked down the hallway— not without bending down a smidge to block from hitting the doorway. reaching the living room he collapsed on to the couch. he stared at the wall, one that held a framed photo. it was a picture of you and him, about four to five years ago, it was when he adopted bruce.

he always laughed at the picture when lever his eyes happened to land on it. it was pretty much a selfie of you two, that he printed and framed.

looking at it now makes a feeling rise in his stomach, a feeling that he can’t really describe. it’s not painful nor is it a good feeling. it’s more dreadful, anxiety ridden, if you will.

“jesus fucking christ.” he groaned sitting up.

he could already tell the layout of his day.

sit down, get up, call, sit down, get up, let bruce out, sit down, get up, call, sit down, get up, make lunch, sit down, call, get up, feed bruce, sit down, get up, call, lay down, and eventually cry everything out.

sounds eventful.

as he stood over the stove, cooking some eggs. he made a decision to take a two week long break from his special. he’s gonna spend. that time trying to get you to come home.

grabbing his phone he noticed the time; eleven forty nine. (11:49 am) and zero calls. well one from his mother but not one from the person he so desperately wants to talk to. back to his mother, he’ll just facetime her before he goes to bed.

he opens his phone as he turns off the stove. clicking on the green phone icon, he presses the oh so familiar contact.

the sound of your phone ringing was enough to pull you out of your sleep. your eyes squinted as you lifted up your phone to your face.

the name displayed caused a feeling in your stomach. guilt, anxiety, happiness, anger? who knows. it’s hard to depict the feeling to an exact word. if that makes sense.

“fuck it.”

accept.

not daring to say word, you hold the phone against your ear. the sound of his breathing is almost too loud, that being the only thing audible.

“hello? did- did you answer?” hearing quiet shuffles from the speaker, you close your eyes at the sound of his voice.

“you answered.” he spoke, sounding— almost— marveled that you did.

you sigh and open your eyes, “would you rather i didn’t?”

shit. you didn’t mean for that to sound snarky. but he deserves it.

“no, no. i just— you haven’t been answering me all week so i didn’t really expect you to answer.”

you sit up, leaning against the headboard of the bed. you anxiously note the tip of your nails as you figure out what to say to him.

“i’m sorry.”

really? ‘i’m sorry’? you have nothing to be sorry for, he’s the one who should be apologizing. he ignored you for months while living in the same house together and your gonna say sorry cause you didn’t answer his calls for four days?

that’s not shit compared to what he did.

a bittersweet chuckle left bo’s lips, “you’re sorry? i should be the one apologizing. i was a total fucking douche and left you alone. i shouldn’t have put this special so far above you. and to yell at you— .. god, i’m so sorry, honey.” his voice changed a lot during his mini ramble.

it started off very emotional, then started to get louder. not yelling but not taking in his regular speaking voice. it stood directly in the middle. but. it ended with boarder line whispering.

the way his voice sounded like a plead, in some sorts made you want to just drive home and hug and hold him.

he cleared his throat, “i miss you.”

did you miss him?

of course, who are we kidding.

“i miss you too.”

a gasp was heard from the other side of the phone. it sounded hopeful, excited, happy, etc.

“oh, you have no idea how happy that makes me, honey. god, i’ve missed you so much. i truly realized how much of an asshole boyfriend i was— am. i promise i won’t do that again.” he pleaded.

you take the phone away from your ear and look at your sheets.

just go back home.

“i.. uh.” you stuttered.

“you what, baby?”

you squeezed your eyes shut. it shouldn’t be this hard you’ve said this to him a thousand times before.

“i- i love you, bo. i don’t know when, but i’ll be back. soon. okay?” you whispered. so low, bo could barely hear it. but he caught it.

a noise crackled through which sounded like a sigh of relief.

“of course. take your time. i love you too, y/n.”

two am.

two o’ one am.

two o’ three am.

eventually, two thirty am.

weird time to be waking up and deciding to leave your friends house with a small paper on the fridge thanking her for letting you stay.

with a bag thrown— quite dramatically— in the back seat, you’re off.

there was something about that call. about his voice. the way he sounded like he had been sick or crying, maybe even both. how would you know, you’ve been gone.

the time spent away from him, it was needed. but now it was time to go back and see him. hold him. or hold bruce, whoever came up to you first.

pulling up to the house, you turned you headlight off and sighed. it was relief. the relief of finally being home.

all the lights were off but you saw his car in the drive way. luckily he’s home. but hopefully his in the house.

unlocking the door and making it down the hall to the bedroom door, which was already half way open. you snuck in and saw bo facing away from the door and clutching a pillow to his chest. bruce laid comfortably at his feet. you smiled, eyes tearing up the slightest bit.

your legs and feet start to move, somewhat, on their own and you walk to the other side of the bed. slowly, you slip under the covers and place a hand on top of bo’s.

he jolts a little and mumbles out your name, not able to open his eyes fully. he feels your hand come to contact with his cheek and he sleepily smiles.

“holy fuck, you’re home. i’ve missed you.” he slurs, seemingly too tired to even say words properly. the best he can do to show some kind of affection while being half asleep is moving his head to rest on your chest.

“i missed you too, bo.”

“i’m taking two weeks.. uhm, two weeks off from making my thing.”

you laugh at how tired he sounds. not being able to remember what exactly he’s working on at the moment.

he wraps an arm around your waist and soon enough falls back asleep. you smile and pull the blankets up more. almost covering both of your guys chins.

“goodnight, bo.” you whisper, pressing a soft kiss on his forehead.

“goodnight, y/n. i love you.” he murmurs.

[asahipleaseloveme]

She Loves Me ~ Tsukishima

Tsukishima x reader

Warnings: none; let me know if I missed something

Word Count: 3k

Author's Note: This has been sitting in a word doc since JUNE (lmao). I can't believe I finished this finally. This is my longest fic yet. Not really edited. Sorry if Tsukishima is a little out of character. This was fun to write though.

Tag List: @goldenshoyo, @gonuclear

Based on: "She Loves Me" from She Loves Me

She loves me And to my amazement I love it knowing that she loves me

I love her, isn't that a wonder? I wonder why I didn't want her. I want her, that's the thing that matters, And matters are improving daily.

Yesterday I loathed her, bah! Now today I love her, ah!

I'm freezing that's because it's cold out. But still I'm incandescent And like some adolescent I'd like to scrawl on ev'ry wall I see She loves me!

Your job at the Sendai City Museum had always been your dream job. And it would have been, if it weren’t for one thing: Tsukishima Kei. The two of you had started around the same time at the museum, and every single day he seemed to make it his goal to make your life miserable. No matter what you did, Tsukishima always seemed to play devil’s advocate and he usually ended up having the rest of the staff on his side by the end of his argument. Hate was a strong word, but you were quite certain you hated this man. You tried to be cordial with him since you were co-workers, but some days the disdain you had for him showed all over your face.

Walking to your boss’s office with a draft for one of the new displays the museum was working to set up, you ran into Tsukishima and dropped your papers.

“You know, if you walked with your head up, you wouldn’t have crashed into me,” Tsukishima retorted.

“You know, if you weren’t always right where I’m walking, my papers would be all over the floor and I wouldn’t be late for my presentation,” you growled.

“You’re presenting today? I thought that wasn’t until Friday.”

Bent down picking up the papers, you quipped, “Yeah, well, it’s been moved to today. And now, once again, you’ve somehow come up with a way to derail me. I can hear it now, Oh, ______, you’re always so unorganized. Maybe you should take some notes from Tsukishima. Pff, I’m tired of you always doing this!”

“Doing what?” Tsukishima asked as he bent down to help you pick up your papers.

“Being better than me in everything I do. I come up with an idea, you come up with a better one. I explain something to a visitor, you chime in with a more in depth explanation. Always making snide remarks during my presentations. What do you want from me, Tsukishima? What are you trying to get at? Never mind, I don’t have time for this. I don’t even care. I have to go,” you snatched the papers from his hands and left him speechless.

“Wh-what just happened?” Tsukishima watched as you stormed off.

Luckily, you were able to get your papers and yourself in order and you felt that your presentation went really well. The curator seemed very intrigued by your work as well. He didn’t say much, but he seemed very enthusiastic about your ideas. This had you in a great mood going into lunch. You sat in the break room quietly eating your lunch when you saw him walk in.

“Hi, ______.”

“Tsukishima.”

“How did your presentation go?”

“It went rather well, no thanks to you.”

“Which upcoming exhibit did you give yours over? I gave mine over the dinosaur exhibit.”

You nearly choked on your water.

“Of course you did. Wait, when did you give your presentation?” You sounded desperate for answers. There were three upcoming exhibits that needed to be researched and set up: Modern Pop Culture, Solar System, and Dinosaur.

“I finished my presentation with the curator 30 minutes before you gave yours. He seemed rather impressed with my work.”

“Hm, that’s weird, because I also gave mine over the dinosaur exhibit and he seemed pleased with what I had to bring to the table.” Your mood had shifted and now it just felt like you were, once again, in a game of one-up with Tsukishima.

“Look, Tsukishima. I’m sure that you gave a great presentation. But I don’t really want to spend what’s left of my lunch break bickering with you over who gave the better presentation. So, if you don’t mind, I’d like to spend the rest of my lunch not talking to you.”

“Yeah, ______. No problem,” he said as he grabbed his lunch and sat at the table directly across from you. You were irritated. But technically, you said you didn’t want to talk to him and not necessarily look at him.

Occasionally, you would take a quick peek at him. You couldn’t be too sure, but it seemed his eyes would dart away from yours. You sighed and packed up the rest of your lunch. He really annoyed you to no end and he knew it.

It was close to closing time when your boss stopped you.

“______, I need to see you in my office in 5 minutes. Bring your portfolio from your presentation.”

“Yes, sir!” You beamed. You had never been called back to the boss’s office after one of your presentations. This could prove to be promising. Finally, you can take the victory over that smug-ass Tsukishima. You walked through the door to find the curator sitting at his desk and…

The smile on your face started to fade as you saw him come into your view.

“Go ahead and close the door behind you, ______”, the curator instructed.

“I’m impressed with both of your takes on how the dinosaur display should be laid out. Both very different, but both very intuitive. I can see either one of your visions being successful. However, I think I would like to see what both of your minds can do together.”

He must have noticed the visual change in both of your faces, but he continued.

“I want you two to collaborate on how we can make this exhibit the most successful exhibit we’ve ever had. I can see this being the best exhibit in the country with you two behind this project. I’m giving you three weeks to present your finalized design and research. Should you have any questions, I’ll be here. But I’m really depending on you two to work off of each other and support each other.”

You both stared at the older gentleman, unsure of what the next move should be.

“Tsukishima. ______. That is all,” he stated with a smile.

“Thank you, sir,” you say in unison. As you are leaving, you give each other a side-eye. The echoes of your shoes on the linoleum floor are the only sound in the hallway. You hugged your papers close to your chest. This was possibly the worst case scenario for you; working close with someone you cannot stand. You reached your locker and you were surprised that Tsukishima had stayed quiet for so long.

“Look, I’ll just say what you’re thinking,” you broke the silence. “I’m not happy about this anymore than you are. But, if this means we’re going to make a name for ourselves, then so be it. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to display the best goddamn exhibit for the museum. So, just suck it up and be ready to work tomorrow.” You slammed your locker and walked out.

“Uh, okay…” Tsukishima muttered and shook his head.

The next day, you and Tsukishima took the time to make a schedule for times you could work on your collaboration. You decided that you would work together during your lunch and stay after work until Tsukishima had to leave for his practice. If you both felt like you needed more time, you would come in over the weekends.

“So, what made you choose the dinosaur exhibit?” He asked you as you both started going through each other’s portfolios.

“It just seemed like the most interesting of the bunch. I’ve always had a fascination with them,” you shrugged. “I would have thought you would be more interested in the solar system exhibit.”

“Why is that?” Tsukishima raised an eyebrow at you.

“You know, because of your name,” you state, rather sheepishly realizing that it sounds silly when you say it outloud.

“You know what happens when you assume, ______?”

“Yeah, I make an ass of you,” you snorted.

“That’s-that’s not the whole saying,” he said a little flustered.

A few minutes passed as you continue reading each other’s portfolios.

“So, ______. What’s your favorite dinosaur?”

“What is this? Twenty questions?”

“Just trying to make friendly conversation.”

“Ha, yeah, friendly. If you must know, I’ve always loved the Tyrannosaurus.”

“Pff, lame,” he scoffed. “There are way cooler dinosaurs to be fascinated with and you choose the most popular.”

“Shut up!” was the only thing you could say in your defense as your face turned red.

A smirk spread across Tsukishima’s face.

Several days passed and you and Tsukishima were more focused on getting the research aspect of the exhibit finished first before the display aspect. Tsukishima was much better at refining and revising the research and putting it on paper. There was a lot of writing involved. You had to create several different pamphlets and each artifact, artwork, and item needed a description to go with it. You didn’t want to admit it, but Tsukishima was the best person for this part of the job. You didn’t mind writing, but he had a way with words…on paper anyway.

Two weeks passed by and the research portion was finally finished. It was now on to the display portion. This is where the two of you had your differences. Research was research. It was something you couldn’t really argue about. But the placement of the artifacts was something completely different. The first couple of days you spent bickering back and forth on where certain artifacts and fossils should go.

“Wait!” you enthusiastically brimmed. “What if we put one of the T-rex skeletons at the front of the exhibit and the other one at the end of the exhibit? Hear me out on this, Kei. You said it yourself. The T-rex is the most popular of the dinosaurs. It’s going to be the reason why most people will want to walk through the exhibit. What if we put one in the front to draw them in and then put the promise of another at the end to bring them all through? While they’re going through, they’ll most likely stop and look at the other artifacts and fossils. If we put some interactive pieces in there, the kids are more likely to participate instead of just rushing through to find the other T-rex.”

“That’s actually a really great idea, ______.”

“Oh, uh, thank you,” you smiled as you could feel heat rushing to your cheeks. You tried to steal some glances, but he would always catch you. Your face would get very hot and you’d look away quickly. As terrible as you were at stealing glances, Tsukishima was that much better. You never noticed the way he stared at you, or the way that he would smile when you lit up with excitement.

A few more hours passed as the two of you worked on the layout of the exhibit. You glanced at your watch.

“Oh, no! We worked over our regular time. You’re going to be late for your practice,” you stated with concern.

“It was actually cancelled due to the impending winter storm.”

“Impending...winter...storm?” the intonation on the last word giving away that you were clueless.

“Don’t you watch the news? We’re supposed to get a lot of snow this evening into tonight. We should wrap up soon just so we don’t get caught in it, though.”

“Mhmm,” you squeaked out. You had dropped your car off at the shop the night before and had taken the bus to work. But your carelessness with the time had caused you to miss the last bus heading toward your side of town for at least another hour. And if the impending winter storm was as bad as they were making it out to be, then that bus was probably the last of the night.

“What? What’s the matter, ______?”

“I, uh, forgot that I have to walk home tonight.”

“Walk? But it’s already started snowing. And that’s like an hour or so walk for you. I can give you a ride.”

“No, it’s okay. That’s out of your way and I wouldn’t want to risk getting you caught in the storm.”

“Well, then if you insist on walking, at least take my coat. That thing you have won’t keep you warm for very long. You can also borrow my scarf. Just bring them back tomorrow, yeah?”

“No, no. I can’t possibly take your coat and scarf. What if you get stuck in your car on the way home and need them? I don’t want to be the one responsible for you freezing to death.”

“How do you think I feel! I can’t just let you walk out into that with barely anything on. I’ll just take you home. It’s fine. I don’t care. But the more we sit here and argue about it, the more likely it is that we’ll be stuck here all night,” he huffed.

The car ride was mostly silent. The snow was really starting to pick up and the roads were getting worse by the minute.

“Um, it’s the building up here on the right,” you said while pointing to your apartment, “you can pull into this spot.”

“Okay, well. I got you home. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

You continued to sit in the passenger’s seat fidgeting with your hands.

“Um, Tsukishima...I don’t think it’s very safe for you to..to keep driving in this. I know you live at least 20 minutes from here, and I-”

“______, I’ll be fine. You don’t have to worry about me.”

As soon as he said not to worry about it, a heat built up in your stomach and spread to your face.

“Tsukishima, I can’t let you go out there. It’s getting way worse than when we left the museum. You can barely see out of the windshield. I can’t in good conscience let you keep driving in this.”

“Quit being stubborn, ______. It’s-”

Before he could finish his sentence, an alert popped up on both of your phones. The message stated that it was now considered a red alert and the only vehicles out should be emergency vehicles only.

Tsukishima sighed heavily, “Are you freaking kidding me? I just….fine. Let’s go, then.” He grabbed his practice bag from the back and the two of you began walking up to your apartment.

The sudden realization that he would be coming into your place had you feeling frenzied. Tsukishima Kei, in your house, staying the night.

You entered your apartment and Tsukishima seemed hesitant to come in.

“I’m not going to bite, Tsukishima.”

He signed again and walked in.

“Um, it’s not much, but it’s cozy,” you said, wondering why you were defending yourself to him. He stood there with his bag over his shoulder looking around.

The awkwardness you felt was beginning to overwhelm you. You weren’t sure what to do now.

“Where is your bathroom?” He finally broke the silence.

“Oh, of course,” you led him to the bathroom and went to your room to change out of your work clothes. You threw on a loose pair of sweatpants and one of your favorite t-shirts. You grabbed a few blankets and a spare pillow. Tsukishima was still in the bathroom when you walked back down the hall to the living room. You set up the couch for him to sleep on. You were thinking about what you could make for dinner when he came back out. He had his practice uniform on and a heat ran across your face. It made you wonder why you hadn’t gone to see him at his practice before.

“You okay, ______?” he asked as he stared at you, the hint of red flushed across his cheeks but you didn’t notice.

“Oh! Yeah, I’m fine. Uh, here’s a spot for you to sleep. Un-unless you want to sleep in the bed and I’ll sleep out here, you know, since I got you into this mess.”

“The couch is fine. Don’t feel bad about this either. You probably made the right call on having me stay, anyway,” he said as he stared out the window, nothing but white coating the outside.

“Just make yourself at home. I’m making some pork cutlets and rice. I hope that’s alright,” you said.

“That sounds fine.”

You ate dinner in silence, the awkwardness so thick you could cut it with a knife. You grabbed your plate and went to grab his at the same time he did. His fingers grazed yours and you froze up. Heat washed over your body.

“Let me help,” he said as he grabbed his plate and the plate from your hand. You stood in shock for a few seconds before following him into the kitchen.

“Y-you don’t have to do that, Tsukki,” you sputtered out. His ears perked up at the nickname.

“It’s alright, ______, I don’t mind.” He moved closer to you, and your heartbeat picked up. You took a step closer until you were less than an arm’s length away.

“Tsukki, I-” you took the tiniest step close to him. You wanted to rest your hands on his waist, but didn’t know if that would be overstepping your boundaries.

“Tsukki, can I…,” you hesitated for a moment, “can I kiss you?” His face turned impossibly red, but said nothing. You feared that you had just ruined anything the two of you may have had going.

“Oh, no. I’m so sorry. Just ignore me,” you forced out a laugh. You turned to leave, but he grabbed your wrist with one hand and cupped your cheek with the other. He leaned down as you stood on your tippy toes to meet your lips with his.

“You should call me ‘Tsukki’ more often,” he said with a smirk.

“Don’t ruin the moment, TSUKIshima,” you teased. “So, where do we go from here?”

“Let’s get through this exhibit presentation first, and then let me take you on a proper date.”

“I’m holding you to that,” you smiled.

If your relationship with Tsukishima was going to be anything like your work on the exhibit together, then you had a lot to look forward to.

[ofherlionheart]

zukka + 6? 😌

send me a prompt! || 6. "I want you to be a part of my future."

[edit: yeah this is boo chronicles ‘verse but y’all already knew that lol]

It’s a stunning spring day of clear skies and rustling green leaves, and Zuko’s stuck in a library for it. From the page in front of him, Butler’s words rise up and swirl meaninglessly into the air, as they have been every few minutes for the last hour. Zuko sighs and slouches to the left to find the straw of his lukewarm, no-ice cold brew with his tongue, taking a sip even though his body stopped responding to caffeine a few days ago.

Finals week is as annoying to suffer through the seventh time as it was the first time.

There’s a thunk on the end of Zuko’s desk, and he startles, nearly smacking his coffee across his work.

“Do you rotate every couple hours to make sure you’re getting enough sunlight?” Sokka asks.

Zuko safely relocates his coffee and eyes the box that Sokka’s dropped onto his desk. “I’m not a houseplant.”

“Really? You should take advantage of having legs, then.”

Zuko snorts. He can tell Sokka’s also a bit fried by finals week—especially since this is his eighth and final one, coinciding with a research thesis—because his quips are’t nearly as witty as they can be. “What’s in the box?” he asks.

“See for yourself,” Sokka replies, popping open the top flaps.

Zuko rolls his chair closer to peek inside. Immediately, he recognizes the soft leather casing, but he still reaches in to lift an edge and confirm that what he already knows is there is actually there. And, yes, there’s the soft glint of metal that Zuko expected.

“Why did you bring these to the library?” Zuko asks.

They’re knives. Not just any knives, but Sokka’s kitchen knives, a finely crafted and extremely expensive full set meant for the head chef of a high-end restaurant, not a college student who mostly makes stir fry and curry. Zuko’s a little obsessed with Sokka’s knives, not only because they’re objectively far superior to Zuko’s cheap, off-brand shit from the corner store, but also because they have a great story: when Sokka’s grandmother left her shitty ex-husband, she also walked out the door with Pakku’s gorgeous knife set, which she passed down to Sokka the year he left for college. Sokka, of course, promptly named them The Stabby Girls.

Sokka grabs a chair from an unoccupied table and drags it over to the side of Zuko’s desk, long legs sprawling enough when he sits for his foot to knock against Zuko’s ankle. “Decided to start packing early, since I’m leaving right after commencement,” he says. “Also, I’m avoiding thesis edits.”

“Uh-huh.” Zuko’s glad the final draft of his thesis was due a month ago.

“And as much as I love The Stabby Girls, it doesn’t make much sense to take them roadtripping.”

He starts playing with the edge of one of Zuko’s notepads, an idle movement to match the unhurried way he’s working through his explanation. Zuko wonders why Sokka’s still been popping up in his day-to-day the last couple weeks. Sure, they’re good friends by this point, but there’s only finals week, and then Sokka’s going to graduate and leave for this “epic roadtrip of epic proportions.” After that, who knows where in the world he’ll land for grad school. If there’s such thing as an organic ending to a friendship—which Zuko absolutely believes exists, seeing as he’s never really stayed friends with someone after they’ve been absent from his immediate day-to-day for longer than a year—this ending is the perfect example.

“I thought about asking Katara to take them, but she once tried to put Mama Stabby in the dishwasher, so that’s a no,” Sokka continues. “And then I realized there’s only one person I really trust to take care of The Girls, and that’s you.”

Zuko blinks. “You don’t want The Stabby Girls?”

“I mean, I want them back. But it doesn’t make sense to leave them in my car when I’m backpacking.”

Which, yes, Zuko understands, but … “You’re leaving them with me?’

Sokka nods, looking at him easily while still messing around with the notepad, as if this is all just very normal. “Yeah,” he says. It sounds a little bit like Obviously. “I’m planning on seeing you again. I want you to be a part of my future.”

“Oh.”

At that, an amused smile curls Sokka’s lips. “Oh?” he echoes.

“No,” Zuko splutters, though he doesn’t know what he’s negating. “I just …”

He really doesn’t know how to put words to the tumble of emotions that’s suddenly roiling around his gut, but he thinks it has something to do with declaring permanence—no, not permanence. Constancy? Continuity? Some sense of promise applied to a future that seems anything but certain. Legible? Visible?

Zuko needs to give his brain a break. “Have you had lunch?”

He pulls the box with The Stabby Girls closer to him, and he must be imagining the different twitch in Sokka’s cheek. “Not yet,” he answers.

“Let’s grab some.” Zuko stands, shutting his laptop and tucking The Girls under an arm. “I don’t think we should keep a box of knives in the library for that long, either.”

Sokka nods, heaving to his feat. “We can drop off The Girls at yours and then swing by Sullivan for food?”

Sullivan Street is a bit further out than Zuko was thinking, but hell, apparently Sokka’s regularly thinking about them way further out than he is. “Sounds good,” Zuko says and falls into step with his friend, cradling the box of knives against his chest.

[bokutosworld]

i won’t say (i’m in love) | kageyama t. 

pairing: kageyama tobio x gn!reader

wc: 1,935 words. fluff, high school crushes. hinata being a wingman lol. 

summary: an encounter at kageyama’s favorite spot in school leads him to meet someone that makes him feel all sorts of confusing feelings. 

a/n: so if it’s not yet obvious by the title, this was inspired by the song from hercules, i won’t say i’m in love :D this idea has been on my drafts for quite some time and i finally had the chance to work on it yaaay 

The first time Kageyama saw you, you were in front of the vending machine he frequented.

It was lunch break, and with ten minutes left before the next period, he figured he could get his favorite banana milk. He was walking towards the area that hid the machine away from prying and hungry eyes. Kageyama was confident that no one was familiar with its spot, especially since the machine always seemed to never go out of stock of his go-to drinks. But boy was he wrong.

The instant that he rounded the corner, he heard the recognizable thud of the drink box falling and someone getting it from its confines. He took a peek and saw a glimpse of a student cheerfully sticking the straw to the pack, humming as they take a sip of the milk. With a contented smile, the student walks off and passes him, giving a side glance and showing off a smirk to Kageyama.

How odd, the setter thought. Though he didn't dwell on it for any much longer, opting to get his own share of the milk. However, when he stood in front of the machine, his heart lurched upon seeing the red light that indicated not available. Kageyama's eyes shoot wide open and he whipped his head towards the direction you went, sending a glare to your retreating back as he realized you took the last milk. Oh, he was furious and poor Hinata was on the receiving end of that sour mood for the rest of the day.

Since that unfateful encounter, Kageyama has been noticing your presence everywhere. And it was an understatement to say that he didn't find you annoying. He remembers how you went under his nose to grab that last box of milk and it still infuriates him.

Whenever you walk by in the hallways, he can't help but follow you with a pointed look on his face. To any outsider, Kageyama looked as if he was sending curses towards your way, at least that was what Hinata thought. But actually, the setter was trying to figure out who you were and why he hadn't seen you in the campus before that day. One day, his curiosity finally got the best of him and he asked Hinata about his concern.

"Huh? What do you mean you don't know Y/N," the orange-haired boy replied. Hinata gave his friend a puzzled look, and as if the cogs in his mind stopped turning, a teasing grin made it way to his face. "Ah, so that's why you've been looking at them like a madman recently. You're so dumb, Kageyama! How could you not recognize them, they're literally our class president."

Hinata was right. That time, Kageyama was dumbfounded when they returned to the classroom and saw you chatting with your friends in the corner. He was entranced by you and the way you were laughing at one of the jokes that he hit his hip in the sharp edge of the desk. He shrieked, causing you to turn your head towards him with worry cast over your face.

It didn't hurt that bad. He was massaging that spot on his hip when you silently stalked towards him. You stood by his side, placing a hand on his back and asking if he was okay. It took all of Kageyama's willpower not to lose his composure in front of you, but Hinata caught on his actions. In that moment, an idea popped up in Shoyo's mind.

"Hey, Pres," he put an arm around Kageyama's shoulders, wiggling his eyebrows at him. "Can I ask you a favor? Can you bring my friend here to the clinic and get his injury checked out? I'm sure it's only minor but we can't be too sure." Kageyama angrily nudged Hinata, a string of stupid, you idiot falling on his lips.

"Yeah, no problem. Come on, Kageyama, let's get you to the nurse."

He was immediately flustered. Kageyama swears his face has never felt that hot when you took his shoulders and wrapped them on your own, acting as his crutch as the two of you walked to the clinic.

Kageyama cleared his throat, his eyes looking at anywhere but you. "H-hey, I'm not completely paralyzed. I can walk on my own."

You laughed, "It's fine. You can rely on me sometimes, you know. Besides, I don't want our star player sitting out of the games." A moment of silence clouds over the two of you on the rest of the way, but just before entering the clinic, you say, "I know you love volleyball. You should enjoy it without any injury."

Kageyama thinks that maybe you were much more than a milk thief after all.

Hinata doesn't know what happened after he sent you and Kageyama to the clinic. But he has a slight idea about what changed when he sees that his teammate has been talking more to you at every chance that he gets, walking by your desk and starting up conversations when he can.

In mornings, he notices that Kageyama always has two packs of milk in hand. And when you enter the room, he sees how he lights up, a shy smile forming on his face as you wave a hand and walk to his desk. He couldn't believe his own eyes when he watches Kageyama give you the other milk and he comes to a conclusion that he bought it just for you.

In gym class, Hinata observes the way Kageyama is extra pumped up to be against you in the 100m dash activity. He sees the playful taunts he sends your way and how you gladly react to them and indulge Kageyama in his competitiveness. He honestly thinks Kageyama won't let you off the hook but he's shocked, when just a few centimeters away from the finish line, he fakes a trip and falls down on the ground. You pass him in high spirits, jumping up and down as you exclaim that you won against the King of the Court. And Hinata knows that the normal Kageyama would be pouting and pissed off at his loss.

But this wasn't a normal Kageyama. He figures that this was a Kageyama in love. 

The pair was assigned to set up the net and prepare the gym before practice started. They were in the storage room getting the equipment when Hinata started teasing Kageyama about his little crush.

"I don't know what you are talking about." The taller boy strongly denied all the accusations that Hinata was throwing at him. "Just shut up and help me here."

Hinata chuckled like an evil villain and continued to spew obvious facts. "You give them milk every morning. You unconsciously make them laugh with your not so funny jokes. You look out for them during gym class more than their friends does. You make time before practice to say goodbye before they go home."

"So, what is your point?"

His friend smirked, "Kageyama Tobio, you have a crush."

Kageyama stood frozen, his hands went limp by his sides at the sudden realization. He was aware that in his recent interactions with you, he'd sometimes feel sick, like he'd get nervous around you, his breathing becomes unstable and his palms get sweaty.  He has noticed it himself how the surroundings would turn brighter whenever you walked in the hallways or how his own heart would beat twice as fast whenever you were approaching him in his desk.

He didn't know what that feeling was called. He didn't want to give it a name. But Hinata just had to point it out. Frustrated that his friend called him out on his adoration for you, Kageyama stayed silent and started playfully punching Hinata. The poor boy was only saved when they heard footsteps come in, and Kageyama was quick to push Hinata away and avoid your gaze when you walked in.

Hinata was grumbling as he walked out of the scene, leaving you two some time to figure out your mutual feelings.

Kageyama immediately crouched down and hid his face on his hands, making you laugh at his awkwardness. He inquired in a muffled voice, "How much of that did you hear?"

You answered him truthfully, narrating the moment when you stopped to hide behind the doors was when you heard Hinata starting to tease him about his little crush. "I'm honestly flattered, Kageyama. Though I am also surprised that Hinata was watching us closely. Or should I be creeped out?"

He glanced up at you, standing from his position and going off on a tangent about how he also thought that Hinata was looking into things too much. He complained that instead of thinking about his love life, Hinata could've used that time to practice his spikes and jumps.

At this point, Kageyama was rambling and though you thought it was endearing, you needed him to pause and breathe. "Can you stop talking for literally ten seconds?" This seemed to work as he shut up and straightened his back, his eyes gazing straight into yours.

Kageyama realized, "Why are you here anyway?"

You smiled and brought out something from your pocket. "I wanted to give this to you." It was the banana milk that he loves. "I saw that it was the last one in the vending machine. I figured you'd want to have it. Have a drink before or after practice."

You thought it wasn't humanly possible to see eyes literally sparkling, but Kageyama was giving you proof of that as he excitedly took the drink from your hands. The corners of his mouth turned upward in a soft smile, and you thought that was the prettiest that he has ever been. He remembers the moment he first saw you and laughs, "You didn't have any problems before taking the last available milk for yourself."

It was your turn to get shocked, hiding a blush behind your palms. You also recall that incident, "Stop, I didn't do that on purpose. Was it my fault that they haven't restocked on that day?”

Kageyama scoffed, "Yeah, right." You pouted, crossing your ams on your chest as you looked away from him. "Thank you."

He has put the straw in the opening of the pack, taking a sip of the milk when you asked him for the second time. "So, you like me, huh?" Kageyama almost choked on his drink, and you laughed before patting his back to help him calm down. Some liquid were spilling from his lips and you were quick to wipe it with your hand. The action was enough to render Kageyama speechless, so he put some distance between the two of you.

You were taking some tissue from your bag to give to Kageyama when you also shared a confession of your own. "If it makes you feel any better, I like you too."

"I'm free this weekend. If you want to take me out a date, you know my number." He looked at you expectantly, the words yes, I'd love to go out with you resting on the tips of his tongue but he wasn't able to let it out. Because in a few seconds, you boldly took a step closer and pressed your lips to his cheek. His face felt warm and his heart was beating like crazy.

"I'll be expecting your call, Tobio."

In that moment, the feelings that he kept on a tightly closed lid were overflowing and it was the affirmation that he needed to know that he was already in too deep for you.

[wisteriashouse]

three pointer.

pairing: rengoku kyoujurou x reader

genre: fluff, romance, college!au

word count: 2453

remarks: for @kyojoroo​ who mentioned something about a college!au for kyojuro!! this is a bit of an ugly draft, but i just wanted to post it anyway (because i spent too much time on it) i hope you enjoy it!

“Great game!” 

“Yeah, you were a beast on the court, captain!”

“That last shot was insane! We wouldn’t have won without you!”

“Thanks, everyone,” Kyoujurou laughs as he steps into the communal showers, peeling off his basketball jersey as he goes. After a whole after non of so called friendly matches against a rival college, Kyoujurou can’t wait to get into the showers to wash all the sweat and grime that has accumulated off his body. “We all did great today, not just me. It’s our victory.”

“Oh, stop it with the humility, Rengoku, it’s embarrassing to watch,” someone shoves his shoulder playfully from the back - Kyoujurou turns around to see Tengen grinning at him as he steps into the shower next to his, tossing his own jersey to the side. “I’ll eat my gym socks if the headhunters aren’t brawling over you at this year’s nationals. They’ll be like a bunch of piranhas trying to get a piece of that ass.”

Kyoujurou shakes his head, but there’s a pleased smile curling at the corners of his lips. “Let’s just focus on making it to the finals firsts,” he says with a quick laugh, stripping off his shorts and stepping into the shower. Cold water runs down his back, splashes over his face. He glances at the clock hanging on the wall.

Five minutes to eight.

He reaches for the soap just as one of his teammates starts asking around where the rest want to head to for dinner. There’s a smattering of replies from the team, consisting of answers ranging from Wendy’s to the sushi place down the street, punctuated by the sound of running water. Kyoujurou, however, does not answer, focusing his attention on rinsing his hair clean of any soap suds before he’s reaching for his towel to dry himself off. 

Tengen, who’s in the shower next to him, notices how quickly he’s moving.

“What’s with the rush?” Tengen calls as Kyoujurou roughly dries his hair. “Are you that eager to head to dinner? Or,” his smile turns sly, “is it because of the cute waitress there who has the hots for you?”

“What? Don’t be stupid,” Kyoujurou reaches for his shirt, tugging it over his head and casting another glance at the clock. Eight o’ clock now. Damn, he’s late. “Besides, I’m not having dinner with you guys today. I have something else on.”

Tengen raises his eyebrows so fast Kyoujurou thinks that they might just fly off his forehead. “You have something else on?” He repeats, so loudly he might as well be trying to broadcast it to Mars. And to nobody’s surprise, least of all Kyoujurou’s, everyone in the showers is immediately aware of Kyoujurou’s dinner plans.

“Ehh? Captain, you’re not coming with us for dinner?”

“Yeah, we were gonna treat you and have some drinks after!”

“No, no, everyone, let him go,” Tengen’s eyes glint, and instantly Kyoujurou knows that his thoughts are ballooning far beyond the reaches of reality. “He’s definitely got himself a date, fucking finally-” Kyoujurou slaps a hand over Tengen’s mouth to shut him up before another word can leave him. The man might be one of his best friends, but god can he be annoying sometimes.

“I am going to dinner with a friend.” Kyoujurou emphasizes on the word ‘friend’. Tengen waggles his eyebrows very suggestively at him.

“A very… flamboyant type of friend?” He suggests, and Kyoujurou throws his towel at him. This, unfortunately, only serves to make Tengen all the more insufferable than he already is, the man dissolving into a bout of uncontrollable laughter. Kyoujurou groans.

“Stop it.” Sending one last look at the clock, he gathers up his things and shoves them into his backpack before pulling on his varsity jacket as fast as he can. “I’m meeting a very friend sort of friend for dinner, so don’t get any funny ideas. And stop it with the moaning noises,” he directs his last comment at Tengen, who’s still laughing at him. “I’ll see you guys for training tomorrow!”

As expected, a few shout goodbye in return while the rest hoot and holler for him to introduce them to his ‘special friend’ soon. With a quiet laugh and a shake of the head, Kyoujurou steps out of the sports hall, grateful for the cool evening air against his warm cheeks. Really, why do they feel the need to tease him like that?

He’s just about to take off at a light jog when his phone vibrates in the front pocket of his jeans.

Wincing around a slight smile, he hits ‘answer’ and raises the phone to his ear without a glance at the caller ID, the soles of the shoes slapping lightly against the pavement as he picks up a steady pace.

“Hey.” Kyojuro says. He hopes his voice doesn’t sound too breathless.

“You’re late.”

“We went into overtime and the match ended late.” The lights are red when he reaches the crossroads, so he slows his pace and takes a moment to catch his breath. A car honks loudly opposite him. “Sorry about that.”

“Hmm.” A noncommittal noise, and then a pause. “What do you want for dinner?”

“Dinner?” He repeats. The lights turn green, and he begins to jog once more. “Uhh… a double cheeseburger set and a coke zero.” It’s difficult to run and talk at the same time, more so over the phone with his backpack jostling with every step he takes. 

“Tempura side?”

A short bark of laughter leaves him. “You know me too well.” There’s a smile stubbornly clinging to his lips. He doesn’t want to get rid of it.

“You’re about as easy to read as a piece of paper.” A snort, then quieter, “I’ll be waiting for you at the diner.” Before Kyoujurou has the chance to say his own goodbye, the call hangs up on him. He holds the phone up, looks at it for a moment in amusement and laughs, before shoving his phone back into his pocket and quickening his pace, a new spring in his step.

You’re not a person who likes to be kept waiting.

>>> 

The distance to the diner isn’t very far from the sports hall, so Kyoujurou takes only about ten minutes, at a light jog, to make it there. Slightly out of breath from the exertion, he takes a moment to catch his breath and collect himself, before he pushes open the door to the diner, eyes immediately searching the inside for-

You’re seated at one of the booths, dressed in a comfy oversized hoodie and idly scrolling through your phone as you wait for him, two trays of untouched food on the table in front of you. At the sight of you, his mood lifts instantly - you don’t seem to have noticed him yet, so he waits for a moment before he makes his way over to you, sliding into the seat opposite.

You look up from your phone, and Kyoujurou beams, shucking his bag to the side.

“Hey.”

You raise an eyebrow at his chipper attitude, glancing at the screen of your phone as you set it to the side. “You are,” your tongue pokes at the inside of your cheek, “twenty minutes late.”

Kyojuro puts his palms flat on the table and bows his head sincerely. “I am very sorry,” he says, suitably chastened. “Please forgive me.” You look at him for a moment, then open your mouth to speak.

“Did you win?”

At that, the smile that Kyoujurou has been trying so hard to keep down inevitably breaks through. “Mmhmm,” he says, and he swears he catches a ghost of a smile touching your lips as well.

“Then I’ll let you off this time.” You push his tray towards him, condensation gathering on the outside of his drink. You’ve been waiting twenty minutes for him, after all. 

“You could have started eating first, you know?” Kyoujurou says, slightly worried as he begins unwrapping his burger. “It’s not healthy to eat too late, and I know you skipped lunch for your project today.”

You shrug off his concern, lazily stealing a fry from his tray before he can stop you (not that he would, even if he could). “Wanted to eat together.” Is all you say in form of an answer, before popping it into your mouth.

Kyoujurou blinks at you, then reaches over to put a few more fries on your tray. He really needs to work on hiding his smile.

“Have some more, then.”

The two of you eat in comfortable silence amidst the chatter and noise ongoing behind you. Occasionally, Kyoujurou pauses between bites to ask you about your day, how your tests went. Conversation swells and ebbs easily between the two of you, never awkward, and the silence is always comfortable.

He finishes his meal first, demolishing the entire tray of food in a few big bites that would make Godzilla proud. Calling for an ice cream (because he’s still hungry), Kyoujurou settles his head on his hands, content to watch you eat, but to his surprise, you’re the one who speaks up first with an unexpected question.

“So, nationals.” You say, slowly. “When are they?”

Kyoujurou pauses, then blinks up at you, unsure if he’s mistaken the word ‘finals’ for ‘nationals’. You’ve never showed an interest in any of his basketball matches before, due to your dislike of large crowds and excessive screaming - hence, almost every basketball game ever. As far as he remembers, you’ve never even been to a game since… well, ever. Still, you asked, so Kyoujurou will answer. 

“They start next month.” Kyoujurou sits up, back a little more straight. “Why?”

Ignoring his question, you simply continue. “It’s a big deal for you, isn’t it?” You lift your burger and take a bite out of it. “Your future, and all that.”

Kyoujurou exhales a bit before he smiles again. “Yeah, it’s huge. All the headhunters from the professional teams will be watching. I can’t afford to show them anything but my best if I’m serious about becoming a professional athlete in the future.”

You make a face. “That sounds… awful, to be honest.” Kyoujurou laughs at that. Instead of taking another bite of your burger, you take a breath, set it to the side and look at Kyoujurou seriously. Confused by the sudden change in mood, Kyoujurou looks back at you, back straightening subconsciously and leaning forward more so that he can hear you better. “Since that’s the case, do you…” you pause for a second, seemingly hesitant, which really piques Kyoujurou’s interest. “Do you want me to-”

Kyoujurou never does find out what it is that you’re suggesting, because in the next second you’re interrupted by an ice cream being set down on the table between you. You, as usual, fall silent in the presence of an unexpected stranger, and Kyoujurou wants to groan. Talk about bad timing. It had seemed serious.

“Oh, it’s you again, captain.” Kyoujurou looks up to see the waitress smiling at him - she’s the one who usually serves his team when they stop by here for team dinners. He returns her smile politely. “It’s surprising to see you here with someone other than your team.”

“I had plans with a friend,” Kyoujurou gestures at you, not noticing the slight frown that tugs at your mouth. The waitress’ mouth forms a slight ‘o’ of realisation at the word ‘friend’, fidgeting with the serving tray in her hands before she speaks again.

“I’m sorry to interrupt your time with your friend here,” she says, suddenly, and her nervous tone gives Kyoujurou pause. Was Tengen right somehow? Did she really have a crush on him? “But you’re a sweet person and I think you’re really cute, so… if it’s alright… may I have your number to get to know you better?”

Kyoujurou blinks up at her, caught off guard by the sudden question - yet he finds his eyes instinctively straying to you. Your expression is neutral, both hands wrapped around his sundae as you begin digging into it, seemingly paying no attention at all to his business with the waitress.

Pressing his lips together, Kyoujurou turns back to the waitress, giving her a smile. “Thank you for your affection, I’m deeply honoured. However,” he pauses, making sure that his voice is carefully gentle before he continues, “I’m afraid that I already have someone else I am interested in. My deepest apologies.”

“Oh.” Her voice comes out tiny. Her eyes dart towards you, just for a moment, but once again you don’t seem to notice, attention still completely riveted on his ice cream. “No, no, it was my fault. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.” 

“Not at all!” Kyoujurou is quick to reassure her. “I think you’re a lovely woman, surely soon you will meet a partner worthy of you who returns your feelings.”

The waitress squeaks out a ‘thank you’ before she escapes into the kitchen, serving tray clutched to her chest. With that over, Kyoujurou turns back to you with an apology on his lips, only to be surprised to see that you’re staring at the kitchen door the waitress has just disappeared through.

“That happens often,” you comment lightly, taking another bite of his sundae. “You must be used to rejecting them by now. Did you come up with that excuse on your own?”

I’m afraid I already have someone else I am interested in.

Kyoujurou’s mouth opens, lips parting slightly and an answer hanging from the tip of his tongue, but before the words can escape him he closes his mouth firmly. He looks at you, watching as you swirl a fry in his ice cream before popping it into your mouth, before you look up at him expectantly. It is not in his nature to lie, so…

“You’ve finished all my ice cream,” he says, tone lighthearted. “I wanted dessert, you know.”

You glance at him, eyes narrowing slightly, but you don’t press the issue, looking down at his ice cream again. “I’ll buy you another one if you want.” You shrug. “Food always tastes better when stolen from someone else.”

Kyoujurou has to shake off a smile before he rises to his feet, hiking his bag over his shoulder. “Come on, I’ll walk you back to your dorm.” Although the stroll is done so in comfortable silence, the topic of the waitress does not resurface, and Kyoujurou can’t help but feel just a hint disappointed. When you bid him goodbye at the door, your expression is just as unreadable as ever, and Kyoujurou does not know what to make of it.

He never manages to find out what it was that you wanted to talk about, either.

[maddiwrites]

Secret Lives (Part 3)

Pairing: JJ x Reader

Summary: You and JJ never got along so your friends trap the two of you on a boat in the middle of the marsh to work it out. Only it doesn’t go as planned. 

Note: Hey guys! Remember this little series I wrote? A lot of people asked for a part three and I truly had no plans to write one, but I came up with one for you if you if guys are even still interested, who knows. I don’t know how I feel about it. Kinda seems dramatic of me, but oh well. Its been in my drafts for forever so I’m finally posting it. Let me know!! If I tagged you, its because you were tagged in part 2 or asked to be tagged in part 3! 

Word count: 6k

Warnings: mentions of abuse, drugs, violence, and death

 Part 1   Part 2    Masterlist

The relationship you and JJ had transpired into something no one saw coming. Your friends thought your friendship was unsalvageable after what happened when they trapped you in the middle of the marsh with one another. You had reached your breaking point and they didn’t think you’d ever come back to them. But you did. Not only did you come back to them, but you came back to JJ. 

The two of you, once closed off around each other, were now inseparable. You spent almost every day together. You followed him around his work schedule and he snuck through your window any chance he got because he didn’t want to spend one night without you. Your family was surprisingly very accepting of JJ. Your mother was first worried, knowing how men on the Cut can grow into something/someone no parent would want for their daughter. And Andrew knew of Luke Maybank from word of mouth and was afraid JJ might be just like him. But the first night you invited him to dinner at your house, your parents welcomed him into your family. He was polite, mature, and personable throughout the whole meal. You remembered that night well. The morning of, he  called you panicking because he didn’t know what to wear. You told him to wear whatever he wanted, but he was afraid the Kildare County T shirt and cargo shorts wouldn’t send the right message. So you took him shopping on the mainland. Together you took the ferry and made him play dress up in stores you knew he couldn’t afford. He felt bad that you were paying for his new wardrobe, but you promised it was something you wanted to do because you would do anything to make him feel better about this night. That night he came to your door with a bouquet of flowers for your mother and a bottle of Scotch he told Andrew his dad bought for him for that night. Your little sister absolutely adored him, barely giving him enough time to kiss you hello or goodbye. 

You and JJ were more alike than either of you could even imagine. Your temper wasn’t as short as JJ’s, but you weren’t afraid of a fight when it presented itself to you. Your mother always said that’s what happens when you grow up on the Cut. You learn to fight for what you want and need. Most of the time JJ liked that about you. Seeing you standing up for yourself was a huge turn on to him and he felt prideful when onlookers would watch impressed because they didn’t expect a girl from Figure Eight to fight like that. He never let it get physical though even though he always thought it would be hot to see you in a cat fight with some rich bitch from your school. He cared too much about you to let you get hurt. 

You and JJ have another similarity no one outside of the Pogues know about. Although you hate it more than anything, you and JJ live through the trauma of having an abusive father. As if dealing with your father alone wasn’t stressful enough, he created a few fights between you and your boyfriend. JJ was constantly on your case when you were hiding a new bruise or silently frustrated from a previous conversation with your father. You tried not to find it overbearing because JJ was just concerned. You promised you’d stop seeing your father. It was easier for you than for JJ because you had another family to fall back on. A loving mother, a generous step father, and a boisterous little sister. The perfect family. Which is why you felt so guilty that they didn’t seem like enough. ‘Cause it didn’t matter how much money Andrew had, or if he said he loved you like his own, or that he promised you he would never hurt your mother on the day he proposed. He wasn’t your real dad. Your real dad was out there, living in filth and drugs. Without a second income, he couldn’t pay his bills or own a car to drive himself to work every day. He blamed that on you and your mother and you fell for his pity party every single time. 

JJ knew when you were lying. You’d wearing more clothes on the days you were hiding your skin and quieter on the days when you were thinking back to the hateful things your father yelled at you the day before. He hated that there was someone out there laying their hands on you and there was nothing he could do about it. JJ knew the kind of damage that could happen if he tried to physically intervene and it didn’t work. Every time he brought it up, it would only start a heated argument. You would bring up his own father and how JJ wouldn’t let you say anything to Luke, even on the days you two were face to face at Barry’s home with your own father. You hated that JJ thought he could come between you and your father, but you couldn’t do the same. It was hard to believe you two were using your own father’s against each other to prove a point.

Today was no different. It was sunny, cloudless day in the middle of the summer. Which meant the perfect boat day for you and your Pogues. John B was excited to fish, JJ and Pope were excited to swim, Kie to tan. And you? Well you weren’t excited all at. Because last night was a particularly bad night between you and your dad. 

He had taken you out to Barry’s again, forcing you to come inside so he could show you off like his own personal wallet. He drained you of another four hundred dollars after Barry threatened to shoot your father in the head if he didn’t get his money. And you hesitated. Not because you wanted your father to die, but because you had never had a gun pointed at another person in your vicinity. Ever. But that’s not how your dad took it. When you dropped him off, he had you come inside so he could give you his unpaid utility bills. When you least expected it, your dad shoved you hard into the countertop, the corner of it jabbing into your side. Even when you fell to the floor, your father didn’t stop kicking you in your stomach. He called you ungrateful and disloyal. He told you he wished you had never been born - how you ruin everything. You cried into the tiled floors until your dad tired himself out, grabbed a beer, and went to bed.

Your torso was covered in blue and purple bruises when you woke up. Even the warm water from you shower this morning felt like a million little needles pricking your skin.  You contemplated texting the Pogues, telling them you felt sick and that you couldn’t go today. But when you looked out the window and saw the perfect day, you didn’t want to miss out on the sun or a day out with your friends. Your father’s taken a lot from you, but you wouldn’t let him take this.

You wore a one piece bathing suit you had no intention of showing anyone today. JJ greeted you first when the Pogue pulled up to your dock. His arm wrapped around your waist, his hand lightly squeezing your side. You inevitably flinched but forced out a giggle to make it look like JJ had only tickled you. Not hurt you. No one thought anything of it. No one but JJ. He watched you with a narrowed gaze as you said your hellos to the others and popped a squat next to Kie and Sarah.

When John B docked the boat, everyone immediately undressed to get into the cool water.

“C’mon, babe. You’re my partner for Chicken,” JJ walked up to you, the two of you the only ones on the boat.

You looked up and admired his shirtless, toned body. His tan skin glowed against the North Carolina sun and you couldn’t understand how you got so lucky to call him yours.

Then you remembered your predicament and looked out towards your friends to avoid his stare. “I’m not feeling that great today, J.”

“What’s wrong?” JJ asked but he didn’t need to. He already knew what was wrong. He just wanted to see if you would lie about it again.

“Just nauseous,” you said, “I think I ate some bad eggs this morning or something.”

“Some bad eggs, huh?” JJ scoffed.

“JJ...” you sighed. You knew he didn’t buy your lame excuse. You wouldn’t either if it was the other way around.

“You went to see him again, didn’t you?” It wasn’t a question it was a statement.

“Can we not do this here? Please.” You practically begged. You knew this argument could get heated. It usually always did. Neither of you meant to get mad at one another. In the end, it was your dad who was in the wrong. But you guys didn’t like seeing the other one hurt. It was both frustrating and exhausting.

JJ rolled his eyes. “Whatever.” He dove into the water head first and swam out towards his friends.

You dropped your head on the boat’s steering wheel, your forehead thumping against it. You wished cutting ties with your dad was as it easy as it sounds. But now you know that Barry would kill your dad if you didn’t show up for him with the money he owed. And you couldn’t let that happen. It would feel like murdering your own father.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

A week later, you found yourself at another boneyard party with your friends. You tried your best to enjoy the night despite your boyfriend giving you the cold shoulder. He was still mad about the incident on the boat. The two of you fought about it when you got back to the Chateau. He knew you were holding something back from him. And you were. You never mentioned Barry or the drugs or the gun to him. As far as JJ knew, you paid your dad’s bills and took him out to lunch every once in a while. And you wanted to keep it this way - afraid of what he might think knowing you were spending time with not only a notorious drug dealer, but his own father.

“I’m gonna get another drink,” you tell Kie as the two of you watched JJ and John B play beer pong against two Tourons.

She nodded and kept her eyes trained on the winning Pogues.

Before you reached the keg, a hand wrapped around your wrist and pulled you away from the crowd, towards the water. When you looked up at who it was, you ripped your hand away and glared at the blonde Kook.

“Y/N -“

“What the hell do you want, Rafe?” You could tell he was high. His eyes wouldn’t stop flickering back between yours, his balance was off, and his pupils were dilated.

“I - I screwed up. I don’t have the money - I didn’t make enough money for Barry’s blow. He’s gonna kill me.”

“Hey, hey. Calm down,” you looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping.

“You need to help me. You need to sell this -“ he tried shoving small baggies into your hands but you pulled yourself away like he was offering your a lit flame.

“Are you out of your mind. Put that away!”

“I wasn’t - wasn’t keeping track of how many people were using my shit. And then there was this girl -“

“Rafe, I can’t do this.”

“JJ can help. Yeah? His dad -“

“JJ stays out of this,” you took another step towards him so you were face to face with the Kook and he could see how serious you were, even through his high state of mind. “You hear me? JJ’s nothing like his dad and I swear to god I’ll kill you first if you say anything to him.”

“What am I supposed to do?” Rafe raised his voice, frustrated that he couldn’t come up with any other ideas of how he was supposed to get his money back.

“Hey!” You froze when another voice broke you and Rafe apart. JJ walked up from behind you and pointed his finger at the Kook. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Get away from her.”

You let JJ pull you behind him but kept your eyes on Rafe, trying to warn him from saying anything to your already fired up boyfriend.

Rafe sniffled and took a step back. “Nothing, dude. Relax. Okay?”

“Didn’t look like nothing.”

“Rafe was just leaving,” you said and kept your eyes on Rafe.

“Y/N, you don’t understand. Barry -“

“Rafe!”

JJ’s head snapped in your direction and his brows furrowed in confusion. He knew that name. His dad’s mentioned that name before. It’s usually followed by coke prices.

Rafe just glared at you. “If I die, it’s on you.”

You swallowed the lump in your throat and looked down at the sand as Rafe walked away. JJ slowly turned to look at you as his brain scrambled to put the pieces together.

“Y/N...”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” You said quickly.

“How do you know Barry?” JJ pushed. He didn’t care if you didn’t want to talk about it. He was tired of letting you push him away.

“He’s my dad’s dealer, J. We’ve been over this.” You tried walking away from him but he grabbed your wrist to make you look at him.

“You been to his house?” JJ asked. When you didn’t answer, he took a step back and looked at you incredulously. “You work for him now?”

You glared at him. “Of course not!”

“Then -“

“My dad makes me pay for his shit, okay? And I can’t stop or else Barry will kill him.” You snapped. Tears pricked at your waterline and threatened to fall.

“Barry won’t kill -“

“He pointed a gun at his head the other day! I was there! I had to scoff up hundreds of dollars to save his life.” You shook your head. “And that still wasn’t enough to save myself from a stupid beating. So please stop telling me how much easier it is for me to escape him. Stop telling me how lucky I am to have such a great family to rely on. Because I don’t! If I don’t help my dad out, I might as well sign his death warrant myself.”

JJ’s heart physically cracked in his chest at the sight of you. You were falling apart. Here at a boneyard party, where you should be having fun and forgetting about your problems. But instead he pushed you too far, and although he was relieved to finally hear the truth from you, he wished it had been in the privacy of your home or the Chateau. When he looked over your shoulder, he saw the worried looks of the Pogues looking at them. He didn’t know if he heard them, but he hoped they hadn’t. He still needed time to process this without the pestering questions from his friends. Even if they meant well.

“Okay,” JJ said softly. “Okay. I won’t say anything. I’m sorry. Can we just - “ he sighed. “Can we just go back to the Chateau? I just wanna hold you.”

You sniffled and meekly nodded your head. You were angry and frustrated. But not at him. At Rafe. At your own father. At the world. And you just wanted your boyfriend too.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

That night, you fell asleep pretty fast. From your sore body, to the sleepless nights thinking about Barry and his threats, and the warmth of JJ’s body held against you, your exhausted state quickly took over you. You felt like you could sleep for hours.

JJ, however, did not. He stared up at the blank ceiling with his forearm tucked under his head as his other arm stayed wrapped around you. He couldn’t stop picturing you at Barry’s home with a bunch of old low lifes, scared and innocent. He wondered if his dad was ever there - if he ever said anything to you.

He hated that there wasn’t anything he could do for you unless your dad was gone.

Gone.

And idea popped into his head like someone flicked a light switch on in his brain. He turned his head, back and forth, looking for your phone. When he found it charging on his night stand, he stretched his arm out for it, careful not to wake up your sleeping figure.

He secretly knew your passcode after subtly watching you type it in a couple weeks ago.

His fingers tapped against your screen until he found the app he was looking for. Glancing down at you one last time, he shared your location with his phone.

When you squirmed in his embrace, JJ quickly put the phone back where he found it and pretended to be asleep in case you peeked an eye open at him. He hoped you didn’t feel his heart racing against his rib cage or his uneven breaths. He knew if you found out what he was doing, you’d be pissed. But before he fell asleep, he promised he was going to do anything necessary to keep you safe.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On the day JJ knew you were going to be busy all day babysitting your neighbor’s kids, he rode his bike to Kildare County’s police station. He stared at the entrance for a long couple of seconds, hating every second of being in near proximity to this place. Basically going against every natural instinct he had to stay away and not trust the police.

But he was doing this for you.

He walked in, ignoring the couple of looks from officers he’s encountered over the years. They were mostly surprised he wasn’t being forced through the doors with his hands cuffed behind his back.

“I need to see Sheriff Peterkin, please.” JJ says politely.

The older woman looked JJ up and down. “Do you have an appointment?”

“It’s the fucking police station. Since when do you have to make appointments? You assume people are just gonna know when an emergency is going to happen?”

“Look kid -“

“JJ.” JJ turned and relief washed over him when he saw Sheriff Peterkin in the hallway looking at him confused but also concerned.

“I need your help.” JJ admitted. He hated cops. Probably always will. But he trusted Sheriff Peterkin. She’s always tried to help John B through his DCS struggles. She actually cared about what he wanted and never took the easy way out just to make her work load lighter. She remembered why she took the oath every day.

Peterkin never really liked the Maybank kid in particular, but she was able to see something in him pretty much every cop couldn’t. She saw the loyalty and the determination his friends saw. She could tell he didn’t want to grow up to be like his father.

She led him into her office and shut the door behind them for privacy. She gestured towards the seat in front of her desk and asked him to explain what was going on.

JJ’s mouth moved a hundred miles per minute. He told her how your mother didn’t know you would sneak out to see your dad despite the custody agreement. He mentioned the bills he made you pay and the bruises he would leave you despite your efforts to help him. He teared up when he mentioned his own dad - and how his father and your father had the same dealer. How your dad would make you go inside Barry’s home and use you like a a community bank account. He even told her about the gun Barry threatened to use on your dad right in front of you.

“Why are you tell me all of this?” Peterkin says slowly. She studied the boy in front of her who was slowly falling apart and felt sympathetic for the young blonde. It didn’t take a genius to know why JJ was telling her this.

“Because...y/n... she has a heart of gold,” JJ sniffled. “She won’t leave her dad behind to be homeless or killed because that man is her blood. It doesn’t matter if he beats her black and blue. She always goes back because she thinks she owes him.” He sighs. “I want him gone. I don’t care what you do to him. Arrest him, kill him. I don’t really care. Although the second choice sounds more strategic -“

“JJ -“

“And I don’t want her getting in any sort of legal trouble because it’s not her fault. She doesn’t do drugs or deal them or anything like that. She just stands there and watches her dad blow his money on coke and who knows what else. And her mom? Her mom has no clue what’s going on but it’s not her fault. Y/n is really good at hiding her pain. She forces a smile every day and -“ JJ’s breath hitched in his throat when he thought about how you faked your happiness every single day and how a girl like you should never feel as worthless as you do. “Her mom’s a good mom. And I don’t want people blaming her or taking Y/n away from her because they think she can’t control her -“

“Hey, look at me,” Peterkin says softly. She wanted to reach over the desk and squeeze his hand to comfort him. “I understand.”

“You do?”

“Yes. I remember having to visit their home when Mrs. Y/L/N was still married to him. Y/N mother’s a good woman. I wouldn’t let anyone come between them.”

“What about her dad? I tried convincing her to never see him again but she won’t do it. She’s afraid Barry will kill him.”

“I can’t bust into Barry’s home without probable cause -“

JJ stood up. “That’s bullshit! You know -“

“Without probable cause or evidence that proves Barry is holding drugs or being violent, I can’t barge into that home.”

“That’s -“

“Here,” Peterkin writes her number down on a post it note and hands it to JJ. “Without probable cause, I can’t arrest Barry and the men who work or buy from him.” She stared at JJ, hoping the boy will understand her hidden message. She points at the post it in JJ’s hands. “Now. If you need anything from me. Call that number and I will find you.”

JJ looked down at the number and slowly nodded his head, understanding what he would have to do.

“And JJ -“ the blonde turned. “Be aware of where your father is when you call me. I dont want you ending up in the same situation as your friend John B if that’s not where you want to be.”

JJ nodded. “Thank you Sheriff Peterkin.”

Peterkin nodded and walked him out of the station.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Three days later, JJ met his friends at the Wreck for lunch. He slowed his pace when he noticed the seat next to Pope wasn’t occupied and neither was the one next to Kie. 

“Where’s Y/N?” He asked them.

Kie looked at the others with furrowed brows. They all got the same text. The one where Y/N apologetically told them that something came up and wouldn’t be able to hang out today. They thought JJ would have known that. 

“She said she couldn’t make it,” Kie says. “We thought you knew.”

“Did she say why?” 

Pope shrugged. “Just that something came up.”

JJ ripped his phone out of his back pocket and scrolled through his messages with you. You didn’t text him - you didn’t even answer his good morning text. He knew what this meant. You didn’t like to lie, so you’re way of dodging questions you didn’t want to answer honestly is to make sure no one can ask you them. By avoiding them all together. JJ knew that. It made sense to him. 

“JJ, what’s going on?” John B asked his friends, recognizing the look on his best friend’s face. He was furious but also anxious. His leg hasn’t stopped bouncing up and down since he asked where you were. 

JJ clicked on the app that showed your location and saw you were deep into the south side of the Cut. He recognized the area of his father’s drug dealer. 

“We gotta go,” JJ stood up and motioned for his friends to follow. “Now. JB, you bring the Twinkie?”

“Yeah, but...” John B stuttered as he grabbed his stuff off the table. “What’s going on?”

“We're saving my girl from that douche bag she calls a father,” JJ says. “For good.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

John B pulled the Twinkie to the curb outside of Barry’s house, making sure to use the trees to hide his vehicle. The Pogues immediately recognized your car parked in Barry’s driveway. Confusion bubbled through their heads, but rage ignited in JJ’s.

“Why is she here?” Kie asked. 

JJ didn’t answer. He picked up his phone and clicked on Peterkin’s name. “It’s JJ.” The Pogues paused as they listened to JJ to talk to the Sheriff. “I -” He stopped when the sound of a gun shot being fired silenced all of them into panic. 

“JJ -” Peterkin called for him but JJ didn’t answer. He dropped the phone so fast and sprinted out of the van, towards the house. He didn’t care what kind of danger he was running into. He just knew he had to get you out of it. 

JJ ignored the calls from his best friends behind him as he ripped open the screen door. He stopped, looking left, right, up, down - anywhere for you.

He heard the commotion coming from Barry’s living room along with shouting and glass smashing. The first person he saw was Barry holding a gun up to the ceiling, pointed at the hole he left above him only seconds ago. He was glaring in the direction of you and your father, barely taking notice of the new kid in his home. Luke Maybank was the first to notice his son and narrowed his eyes in his direction. JJ gulped nervously - he didn’t know if it was because he was afraid of the guy with the gun or his dad. But what he feared the most was you not being okay.

Your eyes grew wide with fear when you saw the new face. You looked between JJ and Barry nervously, not knowing how Barry would react to the new member in his house. He was already pissed as it is, threatening to shoot you in front of your dad because neither of you could fork over the money your dad owed Barry. He was getting tired of the same old bullshit, and Rafe didn’t help. He stood silently in the corner with his fingers racked through his hair.

“Who the fuck are you?” Barry pointed the gun at JJ when he finally noticed him. 

“Hey, hey, hey, he’s good!” Luke came closer to Barry and said, “That’s my son.”

“What the fuck is he doing here?” Barry asked him. 

Luke looked past Barry at JJ for an answer he couldn’t give him. JJ glanced from Barry, to his dad, to you and gulped again as he tried to come up with answer. That’s when you understood what was going on. He was following you. 

You didn’t know if you should be mad or not. All you could focus on was the gun in Barry’s hand that’s still pointed in JJ’s direction. 

“Look, kid,” Your dad said to Barry, gaining his attention all over again. “I’ll make it up to you.” He put his hand on your shoulder and shoved you slightly forward. “You want to have her for the night? She’s all yours.”

Your head snapped in your father’s direction with your mouth open agape. Did your dad seriously just try to pimp you out? You felt betrayed, vile, used, and worthless. This isn’t something you do when you love your kid.

JJ seethed and clenched his hands in fists, ready to rock the shit out of your dad. “You son of a bitch -”

Luke, however, caught him in time, holding him by the arm and pulling him away from your dad. JJ tried fighting him off to get to your dad or you - to get you out of this entire home. He saw the scared look on your face and it made him want to set the entire house on fire. He’d do anything to protect you - to keep you safe. And right now, he thought he was failing. 

Then, red and blue lights flashed through the open windows, followed by loud sirens. Barry crossed the room to stand next to you and your father and looked out the window. When he saw the cops, he immediately swiveled around to point his gun at your boyfriend. 

“You called the fucking cops?” Barry sneered. 

“Stop!” You yelled to try and get Barry’s attention and away from JJ. 

You dad tried to use Barry’s distraction to his advantage and snuck up behind him to try and reach for the gun. Barry spun around and tried pulling his wrist away from your dad’s grip. As they fought for the gun and an upper hand, you ran across the room for JJ who immediately wrapped his arms around your waist. He kissed the top of your head and motioned for the front door, mumbling about leaving.

You nodded and grasped his hand in yours. When he turned to lead you out of there, another shot rang out and you flinched closer to JJ as he ducked and pulled your head down with his arms and shields your body with his. 

You heard a thump and the floor vibrated under your feet. 

“Shit -”

“Fuck -”

“What did you do that for -”

“Jerry? Hey! Jerry!”

Everything kind of moved in slow motion after that. You turned around to see what had happened and that’s when you saw your dad laying on the floor with a puddle of blood growing around his body. Your feet moved faster than your brain did to get to your dad. 

JJ tried reaching for you but you swiveled out of his grip and dropped to your knees in front of your dad’s body. His eyes were closed and his mouth open. You placed your hands on top of the wound in his stomach to get it to stop bleeding. You cried. You didn’t know why you were crying but you did. Hard and heavy, barely able to get your own breaths in. You didn’t pay attention to Rafe fleeing from the backyard, or Barry being stopped by the cops who stormed into the house with guns raised. You barely felt JJ place his hands on your shoulders to try and coax you up. All you saw and could feel was your dad’s dead body and his blood on your hands. 

“Honey,” You felt another set of hands touch your back as they knelt down next to you. You didn’t look at her but recognized the familiar voice. “He’s gone. It’s over.”

“No -” You voice was barely above a whisper. 

“I’m sorry. Let’s get you cleaned up. Okay?” 

Sheriff Peterkin nodded at JJ to help you up and lead you out of the house. He was  finally able to pull you up from your knees and placed a comforting hand on your lower back. 

Your friends watched from the barricade the police set up around the house. When they saw you, all of them either started to panic or cry. They thought your were hurt until JJ nodded at them to tell them you were okay. But they could see in your face you were anything but okay.

Another cop lead you to the back of an ambulance. You don’t even look at Luke being handcuffed next to Barry or Rafe disappearing in the trees. All you can think about is your dad. 

The EMT did a quick check up on you after realizing the blood on your hands was in fact not yours. Then they took a quick look at JJ and asked if there was someone they could call for you.

“My mom -” You whispered. 

The EMT nodded. “Do you have a number?”

You told the EMT her number and waited patiently as she walked away to call her. When the two of you were alone, JJ turned to look at you and reached out for your hands and held them in his lap. He rubbed his thumb up and down over the back of your hand and waited for you to say something. He didn’t know if any words could make this right. He didn’t know how to comfort you after you just witnessed your dad died. It didn’t matter if you hated him or not. You literally watched him take his last breath. Your own flesh and blood. That shit’s traumatizing. 

“I’m sorry,” JJ said when he realized you were not going to say anything. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I just - I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“This is my fault.”

“No,” JJ shook his head. “No. It’s not your fault. It’s Barry’s. He was the one with the gun -”

“I should’ve walked away. From my dad. From all of this.” A single tear rolled down your cheek. “I enabled him. I allowed it to get this far.”

“You were doing what you thought was best for your dad.”

“I got him killed -”

“He did this to himself, Y/N. You were more than the perfect daughter. You literally couldn't be more perfect if you tried.” JJ wrapped his arm around your shoulder and pulled you closer into his side and kissed the top of your head. “He didn’t deserve you. There’s nothing you could have done to prevent this.”

You cried into his shoulder, letting the sobs wrack through your body and your heart tear into millions of pieces. JJ held you tightly against him and whispered comforting words in your ears. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

JJ stood by you through your grieving process - through the good and the bad. He’s took your harsh words with a grain a salt when he noticed you were just trying to pick a fight, he held you when you cried into your pillow in the middle of the night, he was by your side for a hand to hold when you told your mother what happened and why you were at Barrys for the millionth time, and he was there to tell you he will always be there for you when you think he’s just going to up and leave like your dad did.

After your dad’s funeral, you stood in front of his tombstone with a solemn expression. Your dad was a piece of shit and didn’t deserve your love, money, and attention. You wished you could go back and time and never give it to him. At least that way you wouldn’t feel all these complicated emotions that made no sense. Love, hate, grief, relief. You didn’t know how to feel. 

Coming up behind you was JJ. He weaved his fingers with yours and kissed your temple. You couldn’t believe there was ever a day where JJ Maybank was your enemy. You didn’t think you’d be able to get through this without him.

“JJ,” You said and looked up at him. “Thank you.”

JJ nodded. “I love you.” He would never admit this, but he was glad you dad was dead. Because now he knew you were safe. 

“I love you more.”

JJ shook his head. “Impossible.”

Tag List: @allycat449-blog​ @zarahsloves​ @redknight9​

[yukidragon]

Our Life Snippet - Pretzels and Pop

Been a while since I flashed a clip of my Our Life: Beginnings & Always novelization’s first draft, huh? This time let’s take a peek at part of the Step 1 moment Shopping.

As always, credit for the original wonderful visual novel that fuels so much inspiration in me goes to the game’s creators, @gb-patch.

...

The scent of baked and fried goods, both savory and sweet, wafted through the air, drawing the children’s attention away from the keychain. Cove turned further down the street where he quickly spotted numerous different food carts lined in a row. Most importantly, he saw an array of delicious goodies people were happily eating.

Cove frowned, placing his uninjured arm over his now grumbling tummy as the delicious smells almost seemed to tease him. A quiet rumbling from his side drew his eye to Jamie and he saw she was holding her stomach now as well. “Let’s go get some food.”

“Yeah,” Jamie said with an eager nod. She hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and she was more than ready for lunch after so much walking around.

The children hurried their footsteps to reach the food vendors quickly, then slowed to consider their options. An array of foods both salty and sweet lay before them, their enticing smells serving to make their stomachs growl louder than before. Everything looked delicious, but they couldn’t sample it all.

After a short discussion considering the merits between foods such as pizza and hot dogs versus snow cones and ice cream, the pair came to a decision and got in line for the pretzel vendor. Cove eagerly ordered a pretzel covered with cinnamon that came paired with a little cup of icing that was far too tempting for him to resist. Jamie almost gave in to that same temptation, but ultimately she chose the pretzel already coated in vanilla icing and adorned with a rainbow’s worth of sprinkles.

Jamie licked her lips as she accepted her colorful treat from the vendor, barely resisting the urge to take a bite before they found someplace to sit. Her moms didn’t want her to eat too much sugar, but it should be fine, she thought; this was a special day and a special outing with Cove after all.

Besides, if Jamie drank milk with it, which was good for her, it would balance out the sugar, right? That’s why she got a carton of milk instead of soda pop like Cove did. She made sure to be the one to carry their drinks for the both of them after tucking her precious keychain away in her pocket, as Cove’s hands were getting pretty full.

The children hurried along to find an empty table for them to sit and eat their tasty treats. Fortune smiled on them as they found one close to the beach, which gave them an unobstructed view of the ocean.

Unfortunately for Jamie, this also meant that it was close enough for sand to cover the ground, and she winced as the chairs made terrible scraping sounds when moved. If her hands weren’t full, she would have covered her sensitive ears, so all she could do was grit her teeth and bear with the pain until they sat down, letting out a sigh of relief when the awful noise stopped.

Cove had been too distracted by setting things down on the table and getting into his seat without letting go of the balloon to notice Jamie’s discomfort for more than a moment before she relaxed. He didn’t know what to make of it, and she brightened up right away, so he supposed it wasn’t anything important.

Besides, there was a bigger issue they had to deal with right now. “These balloons are gonna make it hard to eat,” he said as he looked between the balloon and his pretzel as he tried to puzzle out the problem. He had a difficult enough time carrying everything while trying to keep a hold on the balloon’s string, especially while wearing something as unwieldy as a cast. It was going to be harder when his fingers got sticky with cinnamon, sugar, and icing.

Jamie looked at their balloons and opened her mouth, ready to agree, when an idea suddenly hit her. “Oh!” she gasped. “I know.”

Without bothering to stop to explain, Jamie went into action. She placed the drinks on the table alongside her pretzel, careful to keep her tasty treat on its waxy paper wrapper so that it wouldn’t get sandy. With her hands now mostly free, she hopped out of her chair without moving it so she could round the table to join Cove at his side. Gently, she tugged at the string of his balloon, taking it from his hand. Before he could ask her any questions, she tied it in a delicate bow around the wrist of his uncasted arm.

“Oh,” Cove said, blinking at the balloon now tied to his wrist. He moved his arm up and down a little, testing the stability of the knot. After seeing his balloon bounce and jerk but remain attached to him, he gave Jamie a satisfied smile.

Jamie returned the smile with one of her own as she offered her balloon to Cove. “There, now can you do mine too?”

Cove was only too happy to repay the favor. Unfortunately, the cast got in his way again with the way it restricted his fingers on his left hand, making it difficult for him to move them the way he wanted. The string tied to his right wrist also proved an additional challenge, as he had to be careful not to accidentally tangle both strings together.

Jamie watched Cove work patiently, his fingers feeling ticklish as they kept touching her wrist. The sensation was strange. It made her feel… happy? She liked it, but it was different in a way that left her face feeling warm and unable to look her friend in the eyes.

Finally, Cove managed to overcome the challenge, letting out a satisfied hum as he finished the knot. “Got it,” he said happily.

The two children took a moment to admire their handiwork. It also helped Jamie calm down from the weird feelings. With everything now settled, she returned to her side of the table after placing Cove’s soda closer to him. She was careful not to move the chair again as she squirmed back into it.

Now, both friends were able to finally enjoy their sweet treats and drinks as they admired their ocean view. The sounds of the sea mingling with the crowd served as a pleasant backdrop of ambient noise that left conversation unnecessary as they focused all their attention on enjoying their meal.

Jamie was the first to finish her pretzel with a little bit of regret that there wasn’t more of it. She licked what remained of the icing off her fingers, trying to get every last bit of the sugary goodness until she was sure there was nothing left. As she wiped her sticky hands on a napkin, she looked over at Cove and saw that he was close to being finished, but not quite.

Jamie didn’t want to rudely interrupt Cove’s meal by talking, but without anything to do, she quickly found herself growing bored. She drained the last of her milk as she looked around for something to occupy her time when she spied her balloon bobbing back and forth from the movements of her arm.

Inspiration struck, and Jamie pulled the string down until she could bring the balloon down into her hands. She held it more delicately than any of her stuffed animals as she moved it in what she felt confident was a good imitation of a real dolphin. She twisted in her seat to face towards the beach and held the balloon a little out in front of her as she continued her play, smiling proudly at how it looked as though it was swimming through the waves like that pod of dolphins she saw.

Cove curiously watched Jamie mess around with her balloon as he continued to eat. From his angle, he was able to see what she was going for. A delighted laugh escaped him as he could imagine exactly what she was, and he wanted to join in.

Jamie glanced over at Cove and watched him place what little was left of his pretzel down onto its wrapper so that he could take a hold of his dolphin balloon like she did. She beamed, eager to start a game of pretend with her friend. “Mine’s name is Merriweather,” she said proudly. “He’s the prince of the dolphins. He wears a crown of seaweed and all his friends are merfolk!”

Jamie turned ‘Merriweather’ towards Cove and bobbed it in the most regal manner she could manage, which elicited a giggle from her friend. “Every now and then, he’ll make friends with a kid and let them ride on his back,” she said before letting out a wistful sigh. She wished she could meet a magical dolphin prince like Merriweather for real.

“What’s yours?” Jamie asked eagerly once she shook off the fanciful thought.

Cove took a moment to consider the question seriously. He placed the balloon on the table, laying his cast covered arm across it as his gaze grew distant with contemplation. It took him some thinking to come up with an idea. “It’s-”

A loud and terrible pop destroyed the fantasy Cove had conjured up as the poor dolphin balloon exploded into green ribbons.

The children reeled back from the explosion, both yelping in surprise. For a moment after, the two could only stare at the tattered remains of what had been Cove’s balloon, which now looked more like a pile of seaweed that washed ashore.

Jamie was the first to break the silence. “Oh no…”

When the shock melted away, what had just happened hit Cove hard. His balloon was gone, destroyed beyond hope of repair. It wasn’t fair. He barely had a chance to enjoy it and now it was gone… forever.

[renaerys]

Prompt 50. But Berserk & Boomer😔👉👈💕

50. “I thought you left.”

We’re calling this one Unfortunately, She Impressed Him. This is a pair of characters I love with all my heart in any flavor of relationship and can’t wait to write more of in my ongoing multi-chapter fic Trinity House over on AO3.

This fic is part of a prompt challenge that is now closed to new requests, but you can read all the completed submissions here. Reminder that the challenge is to make everything SFW, so we’re getting creative here.

xxx

Boomer was halfway across the deserted lobby of Faust Keating Rogers, LLP when he realized he’d forgotten his keys at his desk. He groaned aloud because it was 8 p.m. and no one was around to hear him because they had all gone home to their families hours ago like normal people. Boomer didn’t have two to three kids and a house in the suburbs, though, and neither did his boss. The three hour lull reserved for dinner, baths, and bedtimes before the evening work-from-home grind offered him no alternative but to power through. He fully planned to grab take out on his way home and enjoy an episode of whatever was on HBOMax before getting back to the tedious work of reviewing the draft prospectus statement his boss had sent him to proof by tomorrow morning.

Except, his keys were forty floors up and he now had to risk running into her again when he’d managed to slip away so neatly. He’d even removed his tie on the elevator ride down, and now he rubbed his exposed neck, flushed with anxiety over what might happen if she saw him and asked him to stick around to finish the work here.

“Nice going, dumbass,” he lamented as he stepped onto the elevator and hit the button for the fortieth floor.

It wasn’t that Boomer disliked his job. In fact, he didn’t mind it at all. It was better than slinging drinks or waiting tables. He had health insurance, a steady paycheck, and a resumé that could proudly display the name of one of the most elite accounting firms in the country. He could pivot his career if he wanted to, as Brick would say. Boomer wasn’t thinking about his next job right now, though. Right now, he was thinking about this one and how his boss was a hard-ass and a workaholic even if she was brilliant, and how there was a one hundred percent chance she would detect him coming back to his desk (which was annoyingly set up right in front of her office so that he could answer her calls, manage her meetings, and deal with whoever passed close enough to her event horizon to get suckered into the latest heinous audit in need of staffing).

There were his traitorous keys sitting on the desk next to the framed picture of his brothers. He glared at them, as if they were a forgotten household item that had developed a supernatural grudge like in those old Japanese folktales he liked to read online. He half expected them to jingle and alert his boss to his presence, just to spite him.

They didn’t, and he slipped them into his pocket as quietly as could be. He released the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and took a beat. It was quiet. Most of the offices were dark, save for a few poor souls in the large conference room stuck on the ongoing year-end audit for one of the firm’s most important clients: Unicorn, Inc. His boss’s office was also lit up behind her closed door, but she hadn’t called out to him like she would during the day when he got back from his lunch break hoping for a few minutes to catch up on emails in peace before she dumped more work on him.

This, of course, was odd. The small legion of assistants who had come before Boomer were notorious for their short-term employment working this specific desk. The work was demanding and so was the boss, but there was something else that set her apart from other senior associates in the International Tax Services division, something that seemed to intimidate away any support the higher ups sent her way. Denise a couple desks down had warned Boomer not to bring too many personal effects to the office; chances were he wasn’t going to last long. Boomer had smiled thinly and thanked Denise for her advice, and brought the picture of his brothers in the next morning because he had his pride and Brick told him it was healthy to indulge that once in a while. Brick would certainly know.

So here he was, uncertain. Anxiety over having to sit here for another two hours finishing work and having tepid Doordash delivered pulled him toward the elevator and escape, while that annoying, rare pride demanded he check on his boss and make sure she knew he was here to support her, lest she get the idea that he needed to be fired.

The longer he stood there, indecisive, the greater his curiosity grew. What was she doing in there? It was quiet, even when he strained his Super hearing. He could hear Dean Matheson pouring whiskey a few offices down (that guy had a drinking problem and everyone knew they only kept him around because he had the Unicorn, Inc. account), Adebayo Hansou on a conference call with Dubai that was escalating to profanity, Shelly Kim with her head down and typing away at an Excel spreadsheet like a pro. Their assistants were long gone for the night, but here was Boomer, loitering and indecisive and what is she doing in there not yelling at me when she definitely knows I’m here?

He couldn’t take it anymore. He knocked on the closed door—rap, rap, rap—and called out softly, “Berserk?”

A beat, then: “Come in.”

Finding his boss in upward facing dog while still in her pencil skirt was not a sight Boomer was prepared for. Berserk had her eyes closed as she stretched at a near ninety degree angle and listened to music on her Airpods. Boomer had never seen her with her heels off and her mane of red hair thrown together in a messy bun; it was so casual that it was almost obscene.

“You’re staring.”

Fuck, he was staring and now she was looking right at him down her nose, even though she was the one on the floor. He stood up straighter, unable to help himself when she took that tone that reminded him so much of Brick’s when he was about to criticize, but he didn’t avert his gaze. “Sorry.”

She breathed in deeply through her nose and hoisted herself up into downward dog position. “Why are you here?”

Forgot my keys seemed like a really lame excuse that she’d probably laugh at him for, but he also was not in the habit of making shit up on the spot if he hoped to make people believe him. “I forgot my keys.” He took them from his pocket to show her, as if she might not know what keys are, as a concept.

“Smart locks.” Berserk exhaled and slowly walked her hands back on the yoga mat until she reached her feet and began to swing slowly left and right.

Huh? he almost said like an idiot, until he caught himself. “Don’t think my landlord would approve of me installing that.” Also, those things were like $200 a pop, which was not worth the occasional inconvenience and shame of forgetting his keys and then catching his boss doing yoga in her office after hours.

Berserk made some noncommittal sound like whatever, peasant and slowly uncurled upward one vertebra at a time. Boomer realized he was back to staring again, literally lingering in her door watching her and trying to equate this subdued, casual version of Berserk with the terse, no-nonsense businesswoman he was used to dealing with on a daily basis.

When she finally achieved her full height, she popped her neck. The hair that was too short for her bun fell in around her narrow face in a stylish, athleisure sort of way. The top buttons on her blouse were undone. She wore a small, golden necklace he’d never noticed before because he wasn’t in the habit of checking out his boss. “I thought you left.”

The accusatory nature of her words were totally at odds with her flat tone, only the barest hint of curiosity dangling there at the end, like she expected him to respond.

Oh, she expected him to respond.

Boomer took another step into her office because he was full of poor judgment today. “I forgot my keys.”

At which point he showed her his keys again and also had a mild stroke, because what the fuck are you doing, mate?

Berserk smiled. “Yeah, I got that part.”

Was she laughing at him? He had never heard her laugh before, unless it was at Dean Matheson, that comb-over in denial who, in addition to being a high functioning alcoholic, also had a reputation for throwing associates under the bus when a client wasn’t happy.

Boomer smiled back, because that was what he did when people smiled at him, and ‘people’ now included Berserk, apparently.

“Well, since you’re here,” she said as she padded around to her desk.

Crap, there was the work he was afraid of soliciting from her by remaining in the building. He debated an excuse to give her: picking up dry cleaning? Plausible, but transparent. Meeting up with his brothers? No, she’d probably make him stay all night for the chance to ruin Brick’s plans.

“Thai or Mexican?”

Boomer stared dumbly. He was becoming quite good at that (10,000 hours and you can become an expert at anything, they say). “Huh?”

The yoga must have put Berserk in an exceedingly gracious mood, because she actually repeated her question without getting that look on her face like she was picturing him getting trampled by stampeding monsters. “Thai or Mexican? I don’t have a preference.”

Oh.

Oh.

Boomer’s stomach picked that time to snarl at him—8 p.m. and still no dinner, the fiend.

Berserk snorted in laughter and fanned herself with her phone. “Jesus. Mexican it is.”

Which was how Boomer found himself on the small sofa tucked in the corner of Berserk’s office, shoes off and belt loosened, with enough tacos, tamales, and rice and beans to feed a small family. He even had a beer from the mini fridge Berserk kept under her desk.

She hadn’t stayed late to work. Well, she had, but only because she didn’t have a reason to go home.

“I just hate getting home to a dark apartment sometimes,” she said in between bites of food. She had her legs tucked up under her on the sofa close enough to brush Boomer’s thigh if he reached to grab the salsa.

“I thought you lived with your sister?”

“Brute got her own place a few months ago. The arrangement was only temporary while she was in between jobs.”

It was weird knowing so little about a person whose whole family had been in Boomer’s inner orbit since childhood. As far as he knew, Berserk wasn’t close to any of her cousins, not even Blossom. Boomer himself had never been more eager to leave a room than when Brat walked into it. Only Butch, Brute, and Buttercup had ever found common ground among each other once the sworn rivalries and blood feuds of their youth gave way to teenage rebellion against their respective overlord fathers and then the slog of adulthood that was inescapable even for a bunch of Supers flying high on Chemical X.

The fact that Boomer had gotten this job surprised him more than anyone. After drifting from restaurant jobs to office temp placements over the last six years, he’d never thought he would dust off his economics degree and land a temp-to-permanent position that seemed way above his qualifications. And he never thought it would be working for a woman he’d most definitely electrocuted in battle at least a dozen times before puberty.

“What?”

Boomer blinked. He’d been staring again, Jesus Christ. “Sorry, I was just thinking… I didn't know that. I’ve been working here for five months and I don’t actually know much about you at all.”

“Hm.”

Her magenta eyes were wine-dark against the murky sky beyond the window forty stories up. Boomer did avert his gaze this time to reach for the salsa, but he didn’t use it.

“I don’t even know why you invited me to stay for dinner in the office if we’re not going to do any work.”

“Why did you stay?”

“For the free food.”

Berserk grinned—the third time she had smiled at him tonight (or ever). He needed to stop counting; he’d be disappointed when it stopped happening tomorrow.

“Don’t get used to it. Much as I appreciate the company now and again, there’s no need for both of us to be stuck here while Matheson’s breathing down the associates’ necks. Can’t have him poaching you out from under me.”

“Well, I don’t work for him; I work for you.”

“It’s sweet how you don’t understand office politics.” She ate a lone slice of avocado with a fork. “He landed Unicorn back when they were early stage, and back when he was still putting in the work to earn his reputation. But since they IPO’d three years ago and make up twenty percent of our revenue now, he’s just another big name coasting by on associate work. You know he regularly schedules client calls and just doesn’t bother to show up? He forgets half the time, and the other half he’s busy playing golf or buying a yacht or whatever the fuck rich, white Boomers do.”

“Well, as a Boomer myself, I can say I’ve spent exactly zero hours buying yachts.”

She chuckled. Fourth time. “Oh, really.”

“Never even thought of yachts. As far as I’m concerned, they’re not even real.”

“Thanks for your expert opinion.”

“Any time.” Boomer turned his body to face her and draped his arm over the back of the sofa. With only the soft light from the floor lamp in the corner, he imagined himself adrift in the darkness, the sky scraper lights nearby stars. It was a lonely thought, one made romantic in the knowledge that she was here too, and he wasn’t actually alone.

“Matheson almost did poach you, you know.”

“What do you mean?” Boomer couldn’t recall exchanging more than a few words with the man.

“When we were filling support positions. Someone recognized you from the news a few years back, when the Cyclops Monster attacked the marina district and you and your brothers took it out. Matheson got it in his head that you’d be able to work at Super speed and help lower his billables.”

“Wow. Maybe you should’ve let him. What do you think the net savings would be in yacht units of measurement?”

Berserk rolled her eyes, but she was smiling again. “I claimed you before he could get the paperwork in.”

Boomer hyper-focused on that word: claimed. He also pointedly ignored it entirely, much in the same way he ignored the new count of five smiles tonight. “Showed him your bending powers, did you?”

Berserk’s Corona bottle turned frosty under her hand in a totally unnecessary, big dick energy display of said powers, and she took another sip. “No. Sharon from HR likes me. And I promised her I wouldn’t fire you after three months like your predecessors.”

Flattered was not how Boomer would describe the feeling of being claimed by Berserk and eluding Matheson’s vampiric clutches. But he was a bit tickled all the same. This was the woman Butch had once described as essentially Brick, if he were constipated all the time.

And then he realized what she was doing. “Hey, you’re sharing things about yourself.”

She clinked her bottle to his, and Boomer shivered at the frosty chill she transferred on contact. “Aw, you figured it out all by yourself.”

“Ha ha.”

She didn’t quite smile, but she did look kind of serene then, content even, as she lay back against the arm of the sofa and yawned. Her gold necklace—just a simple disk with an engraving Boomer could not make out—reflected the lamp light when she moved. It rested just beneath her collarbone, which had suddenly become the single-most interesting part of Berserk, and oh no, was he interested—

“You’re staring again.”

Son of a bitch.

“Sorry,” he said automatically. “I didn’t mean to.”

Hard no. He was not allowed to be any percent attracted to Berserk. First, she was his boss, and there was a cliché here that, while subverted on the gender role spectrum, was still very risky for both of them. Second, she was Berserk, a fellow Super, cousin to his best friend Bubbles and a shrewd, stiletto bitch in Brick’s estimation, which sounded bad. Not that she was bad, or even evil, unless you counted helping rich corporations accurately report their taxes while taking advantage of the many egregious loopholes in the Internal Revenue Code. Which, okay, point taken, but he also worked here and anyway, people should not be deemed good or evil so much as their choices ought to be—

“Are you thinking about fucking me?”

You shrewd, stiletto bitch!

She was smiling again, and Boomer pathetically logged that as the sixth time, although he wasn’t sure he should count it given the overt malice behind it.

Unfortunately, Boomer was, as had been previously established, very bad at making shit up on the fly. So he miserably said, “Yeah.”

“Hm.”

She sipped her beer slowly, and of course he watched. If it was out in the open, as fleeting a bout of insanity as it may have been, at least he could wallow in it without worrying about appearances.

It was the yoga. That fucking upward facing dog, Jesus Christ.

It was more than that too. Over the last few months, he had worked closely with her, watched her navigate the cutthroat halls full of piranhas like Matheson and other account managers, getting herself work on the best clients while managing her juniors with efficiency and professionalism. She was excellent and sharp, and she demanded excellency and sharpness in kind. After years of going it alone or temping for bosses who didn’t care enough even to learn his name, much less provide him with guidance and mentorship, it was an unspeakable relief to work under someone who knew how to rally the troops. Someone who knew how to lead, how to motivate, and how to reward loyalty with loyalty in return. It didn’t hurt that she looked amazing in her daily stilettos, either.

Unfortunately, she impressed him.

“I have some work to get done tonight.” Berserk stood up and smoothed her skirt.

Boomer scrambled to his feet. “Of course! Um.” He began closing food containers and repackaging them in the bags they’d come in, because he was panicking. “I’ll get rid of the trash. Do you want the leftovers in the fridge?”

“You take them. Otherwise my office will smell like a burrito for a week.”

“Okay.” Numbly, Boomer finished packing everything up, while Berserk made her way back to her desk and logged into her computer to check her emails.

Boomer lingered at the door. “I’ll have the prospectus back to you later tonight.”

“Thanks.”

Wow, way to go, stud.

He turned to leave, but her voice stopped him.

“Boomer?”

“Yeah?”

“Friday is good.”

He stared back at her in expert mode. “Huh?”

Berserk poked her head around the side of her large, external monitor. She was smiling again. Lucky number seven. “For fucking.”

“Okay,” Boomer said.

Okay?!

She pulled back behind her monitor. “I was going to get a cat, but you’ll do much better.”

Because she didn’t like going home to a dark, empty apartment alone. With no one to fuck.

“That was a joke.”

“Yeah, I got that,” he croaked.

Friday is for fucking, he thought, which was delightful alliteration and also completely insane and one hundred percent something he was getting more on board with by the nanosecond.

“See you tomorrow,” she said.

Boomer clutched the leftover Mexican food in his fist. “Okay. Goodnight.”

It took him the time to fly home and put the food away in his small fridge to realize that he had a sort-of date with Berserk lined up for two days from now.

He Y-posed at the window and whooped, “Hell yes!!”

Loud pounding in the floor followed by old Mrs. Cruikshank’s muffled Keep it down! couldn’t bring down his mood.

Boomer leaped onto his threadbare, living room sofa with his work laptop and took to the prospectus with alacrity. He’d send over superior work product and make Berserk’s job just that much easier tomorrow morning.

xxx

If you enjoy my writing, check out more of my fics on AO3, link in my profile. I’m currently updating Trinity House (which has a lot more Berserk and Boomer content, btw!) and The Alchemy of Us. Thanks for reading!

[putschki1969]

The other day you mentioned that you like to sleep in on Sundays. This has made me curious. What does a day in the life of Puts look like? If you don't mind sharing ^_^

Hello there!

I don't mind sharing at all but I am gonna warn you, it will be boring as hell, I lead an incredibly uneventful life XD It’s also extremely regulated since I need structure in my life. Oh well, here goes nothing.

⏰ I have set my alarm for 05:00 although I don’t really need it since I naturally wake up around that time. While I am not exactly a morning person I have zero issue getting out of bed. The second my alarm goes off I am out of bed. It’s because the tiniest noise almost causes me to have a heart attack :P I can’t handle obnoxious alarms, I am using Kalafina’s “dolce” to gently poke at me (but still, my fragile heart acts like this is a sledgehammer XD).

☕💻📱 From 05:00 till around 06:15 I drink a bit of water, make myself a cup of black coffee (disgusting but healthy) and turn on my laptop to check for Kala-updates. While my old-ass device is booting, I am browsing all my social media apps on my phone so I know what to expect. Most Japanese news are posted at noon (JST) which is 05:00 in CET so there is almost always something to work on. if it’s a big announcement, it can take me up to an hour to post it all but if it’s something small, I have time to focus on other stuff. I will typically use the early morning hours to work on my tumblr drafts (asks like this), prepare uploads for content posts (videos, audios, scans, etc) or do some random translations that I consider worthy of sharing.

🚽💩🚿🧽 For about 40 minutes I am doing all the normal morning stuff people do (bathroom, wash up, etc) and then thoroughly vacuum the apartment because I have a slight OCD when it comes to dust.

💻 By around 07:00 (or even earlier) I typically turn on my work-computer (I have been working from home since March last year) although I usually won’t officially sign in until 07:30. I have flexible working hours but I still try to stick to a routine for my 8 hours a day. Plus, there are always a bunch of meetings throughout the day so there are lots of limits to my flexibility. After having checked all my e-mails and handling any pressing issues I will do some arm/shoulder/neck/back exercises and a bit of stretching to deal with my bad posture and regular headaches - nothing longer than 30 minutes. I can take my breaks whenever I want so I am obviously using them to post any Kala-related news that pop-up throughout the day. Sometimes I will be too busy with work though (or otherwise occupied with a meeting/workshop) so I will have to postpone my Kala-activities a bit. We have a daily team-meeting at 16:00 so my work day tends to end at 16:30. Whenever this meeting gets cancelled, I am off my work-computer even earlier XD

🍲 The second I sign off work, I start preparing my late lunch/dinner. This can be from around 15:00 to 16:30. I only have one big meal a day and I always plan everything in advance to save time while cooking. For the first half of the day I stick to water (or more recently Waterdrop - the best invention EVER to stay hydrated for people like me who never drink enough). For my meals I rely heavily on frozen veggies, instant food, meat and eggs :P I also make myself a gelato-like fruit smoothie (with protein yoghurt, frozen banana and some random berries or mango - gotta take care of my vitamin intake after all). For dessert I always have some of my favourite sweets (Kinder Bueno, etc). Occasionally I will order a pizza or I will go out to eat McDonald’s if I am in the mood for it or meeting up with someone (but that doesn’t happen very often). Depending on how long it takes me to prepare everything and eat it, I will usually finish by 17:00 or 17:30. I try not to eat anything after 18:00 because a full belly will keep me from falling asleep (I go to bed relatively early). I will eat my meal while watching some YouTube videos (I mostly follow people who make Japan/fashion/movie/TV related content). Recently I have also discovered TikTok so that can keep me occupied for a while.

💻 For the rest of the evening I honestly just continue what I started in the morning. Make Kala-posts, work on my drafts, do some scans etc..I will also just relax and really focus on enjoying whatever Kala-content I posted throughout the day. While I am in the process of writing up, translating and summarising stuff for my blog, I can’t properly enjoy myself (and it sometimes feels like a chore) so I use the evening to really immerse myself in all these amazing things without having to think about anything. This is also the time where I do my infamous fashion detective searches (they can take several hours XD).I have mentioned it before in passing but I have recently become a fan of Robert Pattinson so whenever I feel like taking a break from Kalafina, I do something in relation to him (which atm is reading Twilight slash fanfiction - yeah, I know, don’t judge XD)

🚶‍♀️ Depending on the weather, my motivation and the number of unfinished Kala-tasks, I may or may not decide to go for an evening walk at around 19:00. Ever since I have hit my 30s I am having a harder time maintaining my weight and the pandemic hasn’t exactly been helpful in that regard either so I am currently about 4kg heavier than I would like to be. I hate working out with a passion so taking walks is really my only option. I try to get to at least 10,000 steps a day which takes me around 1h20min. I love this time because I can blast all my Kala-music to my heart’s content. Living in the heart of Vienna is very convenient because there are so many scenic walking routes available to me.

💻📱💤 When I get home I will do some more stuff on my computer and/or phone and finally around 22:00~23:00 I am ready to head to bed.

On weekends my days are pretty much the same, just without my daytime job. Although I do a lot of tutoring and ghost-writing on my days off to earn some extra money. God knows I need it with all my Kala-expenses :P If I don’t have any real work planned for the day I try to sleep in a little but alas, there is often something that comes up. Weekends are also reserved for deep-cleaning the apartment.

So yeah, that’s a day in the life of Sarah. I warned you it would be boring XD

[mansions-maiden]

Helloooww againnnnn xD

Thank you so much for taking my request before (arthur mc switch place). Sooo i wanna request again if you have timeeee xD

About young mc was a mischievous kid, problem child and often got spanked by her mom back then. So i wanna request the scenario of mc suddenly become a little girl and 12 of them will dealing with her shit*y mischievous behavior xD. Kinda wanna see they got tired and traumatic to have children xD

Thank you so much before and i love you so muchhhhh ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

this was so much fun to write! and sorry it was late! I was busy with school work and the first draft got deleted. so had to rewrite it from the scratch. T-T. wrote it long as a compensation! Enjoy the reading! And second request from the same person! Love you too❤💕

word count: 2K.

The sun rose in the east and dyed the streets of 19th century France in it’s orange hue. Sebastian went to wake MC up as she didn’t wake up yet.

*rap rap* “MC! wake up! It’s morning already!” , he knocked MC bedroom’s door for sometime and yet, there was no answer from the other side. Worried, he went to comte and grabbed the spare keys to MC’s room.

He went inside and searched for mc. But when she couldn’t be found anywhere, he called for comte and Leonardo. Hearing his calls, Leo and comte immediately came running into the room, only to find a small girl child, fast asleep amidst the silky bedsheets.

The three men looked at each other before Leonardo gently picked up the girl in his arms. A crescent smile crawled on to their lips at the sight of the little girl.

Comte took the girl from Leonardo's arms and put her on his hip, wrapping an arm around her little waist.

"who is this little girl? Where did MC go?" Comte asked looking around the room.

The girl woke up from her slumber due to all voices and movements. The three men stared at her. " Hey Leo, why do I get a feeling that this little girl is MC? her eyes look the same as our mc..ow!" Comte cried in pain while speaking as MC was pulling his blonde locks of hair painfully.

Leo laughed at Comte and Sebastian quietly snickered before composing himself and spoke" M.comte, I think we should explain the situation to residents too."

"You're right Sebastian. I shall inform them. " Comte said, finally freeing his hair from MC's grip.

MC was giggling to herself loudly.

(Aand mama Comte and papa Leonardo mode have been activated )

All the residents stared at the new arrivals in the dining hall.

" Goodness Comte! When did you become father? Congratulations on becoming father of 13 members!" Arthur spoke from one end of the table with a mischievous grin.

"stop it Arthur. I am no one's father. And this little girl here is our MC. Looks like she took something that changed her into her childhood self". Comte said with a little frown as he took his seat.

"oh really!? MC is so cute! Come here little girl!" Vincent aka the gentle angel took her from Comte and sat her on the table. "Do you want bread lil doll?" Vincent asked, giving her the baguette.

MC threw the baguette on the other side of the table ( I can hear the sound of Comte's breaking heart seeing his favorite dish being thrown away XD. )

The baguette smacked Mozart's face and a disappointed sigh was heard from him ." It's only morning and I have to deal with little MC's ruckus? She already causes enough trouble in original form.." Mozart said.

"Mama! Papa! Give me chocolates!" MC went to Comte and tugged at his cloak with her little hands.

"wait! Why the hell is she calling you mama and papa!?" Theo asked with a surprised tone to which Leonardo replied with a shrug and laugh.

“sebastian? can you buy her some chocolates? “ comte asked. Sebastian immediately went into the town. 

"You're soo cute Toshiko- little mc! I want to squish you in my arms!" Dazai said as he poked her cheeks and suddenly, a shrill scream of pain escaped his mouth. " Ahh~! Why did you bite my hand !? " Dazai screamed again looking at the red bite mark appearing on his fingers.

"No one touches mc!" Mc squealed and jumped on to the floor and began running. "Catch me if you can!" Mc ran out of the dining room and disappeared into the gardens.

Arthur, Vincent and Napoleon were soon on their feet searching for mc. "Now, where did this sneaky little girl go?!" Arthur said, wiping the sweat beads on his forehead. That's when the three heard heard the adorable giggles of a child.

They saw mc, covered in mud from tip to toe and Arthur's and Theo's dogs running and playing with her.

"Gotcha!" "Ahh~ Arthur! Hehee!" Mc squealed and wriggled , trying to escape from Arthur's grasp.

"hey! W-what are you doing?!" Arthur exclaimed suddenly as he found himself getting covered in dirt by mc. " Wowee! Noe Arthur us dirty! Napoleon! Shoo him away and throw him in the bath"

"Go and freshen up Arthur. I'll take care of her" Napoleon told Arthur and sent him into the mansion.

" Napoleon! Bend down! Bend down! Gimme a piggy back ride! "

"wai- woah!!" Napoleon was surprisingly pulled down by MC by his Cape.

And that's how MC had a whole tour of mansion with Napoleon as her personal horse.

The sun rose further into the sky and soon it was afternoon. All the vampires gathered at the dining table including Shakespeare, who was invited for lunch by Vincent.

Shakespeare heard the giggles of a child. "Why doth I hear the giggles of a child in thy mansion Comte? " Shakespeare asked searching for the source of the voice.

"our MC has turned into a child Will. Those giggles are of our MC." Vincent explained what had happened from the morning.

" oh- looks like destiny has strange ways of entertaining herself.." Shakespeare murmured to no one and called out for MC.

"Shakespeare! You're here. I have some stories for you. Do you want to listen?" Mc asked running into the dining hall.

"what may those stories be little Angel?" Shakespeare asked, making her sit in the chair next to his.

" Do you know, Theo has sweet tooth secretly. He even fills his entire pancakes with sugar syrup! He dips everything he finds in sugar syrup.! And he wants Vincent  to love only him!”

"oi little Hondje ! What do you think you're blabbering about?!" Theo rose from his seat, as he stopped  eating his sugar syrup dipped pan cakes. XD .

"Vincent! Protect me from your darling brother!" MC said hiding behind Shakespeare and sticking her tongue out at Theo.

The mansion reverberated with the laughter of residents as she went on and on telling her stories , which had some of the most embarrassing stories of residents and had left residents with burning cheeks.

After lunch, Theo called little mc and took her out into the town along with his dog King. “ MC! come here! Don’t go wandering off!” Theo was having hard time catching mc and looking after his King at the same time.

“THEO! Come here! You must see this! It’s so cute!!” MC approached Theo and dragged him by his arm. Theo turned to stone as soon as he saw what had caught the sight of mc. “Theo! Theo? ...Hello..Theo!” MC shook Theo by his arm and Theo immediately looked down at her with a flustered gaze,” Why would you want to show me a cat?! You little rascal!” Theo bent down to reach mc’s height. “Oh.. Are you afraid of cats? I’m sorry! I didn’t know that.. but! OH! I gotta tell this to all the members!”

“Don’t you dare!” Theo now ran after MC as she sped off towards mansion. Her mischief kept all the residents on high alert their toes and they didn’t even realize it was evening.

When mc was roaming through the corridors, she found Leonardo fast asleep near the library doors again and  a sudden idea popped in her mind. She woke up Leonardo and gave him a glass of water. “ Leo! I thought you might be thirsty. So I brought you a glass of water!”

Unable to resist her puppy dog eyes, he took a sip of water, only to spit it out the next instant .” What did you mix in this cara mia?!”

“uh-oh! I think  I mixed the salt without my knowledge. Thank you for saving my tongue Leo!” mc said laughing and ran off into the corridors.

Sebastian was in kitchen, cooking dinner  when he felt his waistcoat being tugged. “ Hey, peasant! Bow down to the queen! “ MC posed as a queen with crown stolen taken from comte’s room. “ Your lovely highness, I’m afraid you’re not a queen yet. But the princess of this mansion does deserve a treat. Here” Sebastian told as he kept a chocolate bar in her mouth. A sweet moan escaped her mouth as the chocolate melted in her mouth. “ Yours truly is satisfied peasant! You may continue your work!” MC said as she went off, still chewing off the chocolate in her mouth.

“It looks as if looking MC is much harder than all the 11 vampires combined together..” he sighed as he murmured to himself.

after sometime:

Isaac heard a soft knock on his door and he opened it, and found little mc with her hands behind her back and mischief dancing in her eyes. “I am here to give you this” MC said with a smile as she gave him  a paper. A sour face was made by Isaac as soon as he saw the paper she gave. “What is this?! Not you too!” Isaac cried out as he saw the drawing of Isaac saying, “I love apples” and many more drawings related to apples.

“OH MC! COME HERE!” Isaac shouted as MC ran away, laughing loudly on her way. The residents heard the commotion and came outside, only to find Isaac with a flustered gaze and panting heavily. “Who told mc about apples and me?! Now even she joined in Arthur’s cult!” Isaac told everyone and everyone burst out laughing.

Comte called her into his room and sate her in the chair across him as he asked,” Cherie? Here you go , I bought this for you. “ Comte said as he gave her the new dresses and chocolates.

“ aah!! Comte! thank you so much!! You’re my mama!!” Mc squealed as she hugged comte’s knees.  She stretched out her hand and told, “mama! say aah!” comte opened his mouth and soon found out that she had given him a chocolate. He took her into his arms and sat her on his lap, kissing her nose and forehead affectionately.

After dinner:

MC was on the couch yawning  and scrunching her eyes when comte and Mozart found her. “Are you sleepy cherie? Would you like to sleep?” Comte asked, bending down. “Yes..” “ I shall play a lullaby then. Will you listen to it MC? “ . “yeah...” mc yawned again.

Mozart told comte to follow him into his music room with mc. Mozart began playing  lullaby as soft as the wind chimes in the windy night on his piano. Comte ran his fingers through the hairs of mc as he watched her fall asleep, with her head in his lap with a smile on his face. ‘could this day get any better?’ he thought to himself as continued petting her head.

After MC fell asleep, he carried her gently in  a princess carry into the hall where everyone is gathered.

“Is she asleep?” everyone looked at mc’s sleeping face with adoration as Napoleon asked. “ I can’t believe she has the nerve to sleep after keeping us on our feet the entire day.” Theo sighed .

“ I do agree..she’s such a handful kid.. But it is the most refreshing day and most adorable thing I’ve ever seen”  Arthur said, stretching his hands above his head and laughed.

“I can’t believe one of the most feared emperor  ended up becoming a personal horse for a little girl” napoleon said rubbing his still aching back and shoulders.

“Does anyone want to have a kid here in the mansion?” Sebastian asked with a curious gaze.

“No! Having mc already in her original form is enough to us. She’s just like a big grown up baby. “ Leonardo said with a smile.

“I’m so glad that everyone thinks of MC the same way” Comte said laughing.

“We all are tired today due to her. Let’s call it a day guys..” Everyone retired to their own rooms and comte put her to sleep in her room before going to his room.

Next day, mc was back in her own form with no memories of the previous day. But everyone kept their mouths sealed for they wanted to hide their smile whenever they saw her and were mesmerized by her innocence.

[hetalia-has-a-secretary]

Can you write something where the shyest boys finally kiss their crush at a party in a human au. But then some other mischievous character catches it on camera. Then they try to show it to everyone to tease them? (Not really maliciously more playfully. More like a trickster.) Sorry, but I am a sucker for shy characters since I am shy myself.

So my shy boys in my human AU are Japan, Canada, Russia and England (I'd put Romano but he's just a lone wolf who tends to bite when he's disturbed. Metaphorically.)

A/N: I HIT ONE OF MY NOTIFICATION POP UPS AND IT FORCED ME OUT OF THE FIRST DRAFT! I had to redo Japan and Canada's scenerios •́ J ,•̀

Human AU: Shy Boys kiss their crush! On TAPE!?

Japan:

He wasn't really enjoying the party Alfred was throwing. The only reason he was there was over the fact he promised to record some footage for a homemade music video, and he knew his crush was going to be there.

At some point he found himself watching his crush as they danced away with their friends. Was it kind of creepy? Yes. Did Kiku realize this at the moment? No.

He just about jumped out of his skin as his crush made eye contact with him, and his heartbeat quickened as they started dancing towards him.

"Hey Kiku! I thought you didn't like parties?"

"H-hai! I do not usually partake in such events, but I promised Alfred I'd get footage for one of his YouTube videos..."

His crush's head tilted, not hearing him through the loud music and talking. Even with him shouting he wasn't loud enough. So naturally he had them follow him to the porch.

He could have sworn that every star in the night sky was reflecting in his crush's eyes as they were waiting for him to repeat his anwser.

"I have to admit to some urges that have been occuring..." (Not what he was hoping he'd say)

Kiku cringed at his wording, and cursed himself for cramming so many english classes in before he transferred to America. He only calmed back down after hearing his crush laugh and egg him on to continue.

"I... kisu si te ii desu ka?" (Can I kiss you?)

Even though he was rather nervous, he was pretty close with his crush. During their lunches they asked him to teach them japanese so they can help him with translations. Even after two years they still had trouble with it.

"... What about a kiss? oh! Did you kiss someone at the party!"

His face turned red, and he shook it rapidly.

"No! You!"

"What do I have to do with a kiss and you- Oh!"

Kiku covered his face as his crush slowly caught on to his question. Soon enough they had taken his hands away, and lightly pecked his lips.

Flash.

That looked like the flash of a camera. Sure enough Alfred and England were standing at the doorway, polaroid camera in hand. Al being his usual loud self.

"I saw you bring them out here and just KNEW something was going to happen! Didn't I tell you, you had it in you! Now the whole class must know of your bravery!"

By the time Alfred finished his speech, Kiku was already after him. Sadly he was no match for Al's speed due to tripping over everyone, and everything.

Canada:

It wasn't like he was exactly shy, but he didn't have many friends since not many people in his class had much in common with him. His only real friend was his crush, so of course he was terrified to ruin that friendship. Though the constant jokes the others at the party made didn't help, since most of it revolved around them dating.

He was also getting more and more frustrated with the amount of attention his crush was getting. Some of it they welcomed with open arms, some of it not so much. The thing that really annoyed him was seeing Alfred himself flirt with them.

This was the final straw that gave him the courage to walk up to him, and accuse him directly.

"Why are you flirting with my date?"

"Date? I thought you said they were just a friend?"

Mathew had turned his head towards his crush, and planted a light kiss on their lips.

"There. Now we are!"

Matt's face went pale as he realized the scene that was playing out got the attention of some party goers. Phones already recording in case a fight broke out. Leaving no possibly way to get everyone to delete those videos.

Not realizing his crush had a hold of his hand to prevent any conflict, he tugged them out the door, trying his best to shield his face.

Once outside they both sat on the stone slabs of the sidewalk. Matt's crush clearing their throat to help stop the akward moment.

"You know... If you wanted to kiss me, you should have just asked..."

"Oh maple leaf! I am so sorry! I didn't even know I had it in me!"

His crush shook their head, chuckling, then leaned in for another kiss.

"There. Now we're even."

All matt could do was repeat their words with a dreamy sigh.

"Now we're even..."

Russia:

Ivan was already pretty shy, but he really wanted to hangout with his crush. So he let them rope him into going to the party Francis was having. It was a small party, so it wasn't all bad. Other than no one wanting to talk to him due to his lack of English.

His crush was certainly doing plenty of talking through out the night though, and they eventually pulled him aside to ask him something.

"Hey, Ivan? You okay? You don't look like you're enjoying yourself much".

His crush knew to keep sentences as simple and short as possible since he struggled with English. But he still managed a good enough response.

"Da. I am... Not good at the parties. Not one person, speeches? To Ivan..."

His crush smiled, reaching up to playfully ruffle his hair, earning a small giggle.

"You mean to say 'no one speaks to me'. I'm sorry. It can be hard, da?"

He nodded at them. Giving a smile knowing his crush at least tries to conversate with him. But there was something else on his mind. The more they talked, the more he seemed to stare at their lips. He was struggling more and more with hiding his blush. Eventually his crush took it as a sign he was overheating and they dragged him to the bathroom to splash water to his face.

"It is too warm for a turtle neck and scarf! Your face is very warm!"

Ivan shook his head, face getting redder from the embarrassment.

"Nyet!"

His crush gave a look of confusion, and Ivan took this as a sign to try and explain.

"You do much of the talking. I... Do much of the seeing. Nyet. I do much of the-"

He gestured his gaze to his crush's lips, unable to convey his message and when it still didn't sink in for them, Ivan did the next best thing out of pure frustration.

He kissed them. It felt like forever, but it was cut too short as the sound of a gasp interrupted them. Breaking away he spotted Francis standing at the door that was left wide open. A phone with the light on, signalling it was recording them.

"Oh ho ho! This is quite the confession! A love that goes beyond language barriers is just as strong as love itself!"

Ivan couldn't seem to follow Francis' words, especially because he was more concerned with the phone footage.

"You take video for just us, da?"

Francis gave a smirk and took off without another word. Ivan wasn't dumb when it came to body language, and he took off after him. Taking no time at all to corner Francis, scaring everyone else as the two of them bickered over the phone.

"Throw out the phone!"

"I will do no such thing!

"I will throw you instead!"

It took his crush snagging the phone and deleting the video for everything to finally settle back down.

England:

He was kind of popular in the sense everyone knew him as the punk kid who could play the electric guitar. But so did others students so he wasn't exactly special. So yeah, he was wicked shy and insecure about how everyone viewed him.

But his crush seemed to treat him differently, and honestly? He was secretly hoping that meant they really liked him. Maybe even more than liked!

The best part is, he wasn't even expecting his crush to show up at some random person's party. He, himself, was only there to help a band entertain. But there they were, his crush, dancing and bopping along to the music.

He found himself making a lot of eye contact with them, and when the first break came around, he bounced off the makeshift stage. His crush immediately walking over to him to pester.

"That was amazing! I didn't know you played so well!"

Arthur pulled at his bangs.

"Thanks love. It means quite a lot coming from you. Especially because you didn't expect to see me here, of all places..."

"Actually I-"

Before they could continue, they were dragged off by some of their friends to be introduced to someone. He decided to follow, wanting to know what the fuss was about. And of course his crush's friends were trying to hook them up with... Francis...

He gave a verbal sigh, watching his crush shift uncomfortably as Francis did his best to act all suave. His crush looked back at him with pleading eyes. This gave him an idea.

He walked over, slinging an arm around their shoulder, speaking up and over their conversation.

"There you are darling! I've been searching the whole bloody house for you! Oh, hello Francis. I didn't see you there!"

Things got intense, and before anyone knew it, Francis and Arthur had gotten into a fist fight. There wasn't a particular winner, but Arthur certainly left the fight with the only bruised lip. Sitting at one of the spare couches, his crush tended to the bruise.

"I can't believe you did that! Are you nuts? Why do you two fight anyway!"

"I'm sorry love... It's just... He gets in the way is all".

"In the way of what? Some male pride?"

"...you"

Silence filled the space between them, only to be broken by the chaste and airy kiss from his crush.

"I didn't know..."

"Part of me didn't want you too..."

Neither of them knew someone had recorded them until the day they returned to the college. Someone had thought it was funny to make a "fancam" of Arthur "fighting for his loved one". The only words his new lover could mutter was:

"At least no one is going to have to ask us if we're together now..."