#How do you drink in a bar and then goes to drive a MOTORCYCLE

[qcomicsy]

Yeah I know he's killed people, but it's the reckless driving that gets to me.

[lady-ashfade]

Things Modern Hotd Characters Do.

´*: ･ﾟ⋆˒ Character: Jacaerys Velaryon, Aemond Targaryen, Lucerys Velaryon, Alicent Hightower, Rhaenyra Targaryen. (X reader)

╰･ﾟ✧☽ Literally just some random thoughts that came into my head, and it’s a modern au.

╰･ﾟ✧☽ warnings: lromantic, short, cute and fluffy.

-`｡ﾟ˘: ﾟ⋆ ––✷☽ ᱬ ☽✷––⋆ ﾟ: ˘ ﾟ｡.`-

✬—Jacaerys Velaryon

You already know my boy is a jock of some sort, it’s a given. So he gives you his jersey to wear and I see him in hockey.

He also is the type of guy to at first watch you when you are around and at first he is shy about it and tries not to get caught. Then it’s just known to everyone that he is admiring you, like a drooling dog.

Gets shy when his friends bring it up.

You think you’re allowed to drive? Nope, his passages princess (no matter the gender)

I also see him proposing as soon as you both graduate, or when you both are still in your early 20s.

✬—Aemond Targaryen

Leather jacket. I don’t make the roles and has a motorcycle- The person the school fears after sending a kid to the hospital in middle school.

Before the relationship he talks to you at some points in the day, and then people literally stay away from you because they are scared of Him. So no bullies coming your way.

Takes you shopping because he likes to see you happy, and not the best at expressing his lives. So gifts and acts of service are his love language.

Keeps a photo of you in his wallet- don’t tell him I told you.

✬— Lucerys Velaryon the man I did this all for.

Watches all the Barbie movies with you while you play with his hair, and put it in weird and cute hairstyles.

One of the boys who is shy but will let you do anything to him. Like letting you putting makeup on him or carry you around.

He is so fucking shy but also a little shit. He’s so two faced. He will be pouting one minute and blushing like crazy when you kiss his cheek. And the next knocking you to the side and racing down the stairs.

Pulls pranks all the time that you didn’t talk to him for weeks but you can’t resist that cute face.

Walks everywhere while holding hands so you both don’t get separated 🥺

✬—Alicent Hightower

She’s the neighborhoods widow. And also on the watch council, so she is big into the community. She has been so sweet to you for years since you moved and always find yourself seeing her.

Goes out into her yard and gardens while watching you, not in a creepy way tho- just making a excuse to talk to you out of the blue.

Brings you sweets a lot and goes on coffee dates before dating.

Is so happy when you show her a real love relationship, and how you put her above everything. So she spoils you the same.

But keeps you away from her “stepdaughter” because she is afraid you’ll leave her.

✬—Rhaenyra Targaryen

Someone say mommy- the type of woman to buy you drink after making you flustered just by staring at you from across the bar. Like that cocky smirk of “i want to make you nervous” sexy smile you know?

Doesn’t let you think she is just a one time and dip. So she starts to send you gifts, to your work, house and almost anywhere. Texts you so much about going in dates.

You know kinda like a sugar momma for sure but loves you.

This girl will punch another woman for flirting with you and drag her by her hair- she’s so possessive.

Introduces you to her kids when you start dating because she wants you all to get along, and if you just immediately sweep them under your wing?

Already planning your wedding.

If you want more characters pls send them in the inbox.

[dailytogachako]

So I found this around, can I ask for Toga/Ochako?

♥ Send a ship and I'll give you who:

- Gives nose/forehead kisses

- Gets jealous the most

- Picks the other up from the bar when they’re too drunk to drive

- Takes care of on sick days

- Drags the other person out into the water on beach day

- Gives unprompted massages

- Drives/rides shotgun

- Brings the other lunch at work

- Has the better parental relationship

- Tries to start role-playing in bed

- Embarrassingly drunk dancer

- Still cries watching Titanic

- Firmly believes in couples costumes

- Breaks the expensive gift rule during Christmas

- Makes the other eat breakfast

- Remembers anniversaries

- Brings up having kids

omg hii anon!!! sorry it took me so long to respond 😞😞

to be honest I didn't really understand the question, is it a trend? like, say who would do this or that? I interpreted that way so i will do it that way, sorry if I got it wrong 💔

1- gives nose/forehead kisses

Definitely Uraraka! she always kisses toga's forehead and nose to show that she loves and cares for her. She does this every day before going to work.

2- Gets jealous the most

Okay, it would definitely be Toga. Himiko's jealousy is not exactly possessive, but rather insecure jealousy. She's afraid that Ochako will find someone better and "less weird" and end up leaving her. Even when Uraraka's assurances that this won't happen, she still has insecurities about it which ends up resulting in jealousy of anyone she doesn't know and talks to Uraraka.

3- Picks the other up from the bar when they're too drunk to drive

I thought a lot and came to the conclusion that Himiko doesn't like alcohol. She seems to be someone who likes sweet drinks, and despite having sweet alcoholic drinks she avoids them because she believes she doesn't need alcohol to have fun. But there are exceptions, and in these exceptions Ochako always goes to look for her little girlfriend in the bar. Himiko does the same for her, but she doesn't know how to drive 😭😭 so she gets a ride from one of her friends to drop her off at Uraraka's apartment

4- takes care of on sick days

BOTH YOUR HONOR!!!

I can perfectly imagine Ochako taking care of a sick and spoiled Himiko and I can also imagine Himiko taking care of a very stubborn Ochako.

Uraraka HATES hospitals so she does everything to avoid them, so she's always ends up accepting Toga to take care of her despite being extremely stubborn and swearing that "I can take care of myself"

5- Drags the other person out into the water on beach day

Himiko! She doesn't see the point of a beach day without going into the water, so she drags Ochako with her and always ends up forgetting to put on sunscreen. One time she ended up all burned and was mumbling for hours because her skin hurt 💔😞 Uraraka never let her forget again

6- gives unprompted messages

THIS IS SO HIMIKO CODED

She likes to text her girlfriend about ANYTHING even though she knows Ochako won't respond right away. She uses kamojis (mainly the ":333") and sends Uraraka a lot of pictures of herself or little things about her day and Uraraka LOVES IT. If Toga ever stopped texting about everything, she would definitely find it weird

7- Drives/rides shotgun

As I said before: I'm pretty sure Himiko doesn't know how to drive, at least not yet. So she always gets rides from her girlfriend to go places. After all, Ochako knows how to drive (in my head...) And if Himiko were to ever drive, it would be a motorcycle!!!

8- brings the other lunch at work

BOTH!!! but one detail: toga doesn't know how to cook very well, so it's always a surprise if the food is going to be half-burnt or raw. Her specialty is making sweets, but she doesn't only live on sweets, so she trains a lot to cook something delicious and healthy for ochako. She always stares at Uraraka while they're eat together just to make sure that it's really tasty...

And when the food isn't good, ochako goes out to buy them something to eat. Money has always been something that Uraraka lacks in her life, so when she spends it on food for herself and her girlfriend, she just feels so happy and fulfilled. It's something important to her. Is a way of saying that she cares about Himiko and that she's happy that she can buy something for both of them.

9- Has the better parental relationship

Uraraka

I don't think I need to elaborate much...

10- tries to start role-playing in bed

I didn't quite understand the question 😭😭 that would be like something obscene right?

Honestly, I don't think Himiko would do that. She's certainly not innocent, but she's a little too shy and ashamed to try something. Especially something like RPG. I believe that in the beginning she would be very embarrassed and insecure, she wouldn't know what to do and would be more lost than ochako (who is also embarrassed and insecure).

And after talking and spending a lot of time together, they would stop being so embarrassed and insecure and could try new things. I don't think RPG would be one of them, because in RPG you need to make a character and Himiko wants Ochako and only her. Just like Ochako wants Toga and only that.

(sorry for giving such a vanilla answer 😭😭)

11- embarrassingly drunk dancer

HIMIKOOOOOO

She doesn't do sexy dances or anything like that, she just DANCES!!! and she doesn't know how to dance, so it ends up becoming somewhat embarrassing. She has a lot of fun doing this and doesn't care about people's looks... EXCEPT ONE, she only cares about one... (ochako looks at her as if she were the most precious thing in the world while she dances macarena with denki and kirishima).

12- still cries watching Titanic

*sigh*... himiko—

13- firmly believes in couple costumes

TOGA! She loves couples costumes and always has some creative idea of what to wear with Ochako on Halloween or other events. She seems very happy organizing everything, so Ochako doesn't even try to stop her. Himiko knows what she's doing and she's more than happy to follow in her footsteps.

(I didn't quite understand the question but I hope I answered it coherently) (english is not my first language)

14- breaks the expansive gift rule during christmas

I CAN'T STOP SAY HIMIKO

She would be so nervous and wanting to please that she spent all her money buying something that everyone would like 💔💔😭 she wanted them to like her and have a good impression

15- makes the other eat breakfast

BOTH

Ochako is always concerned that Himiko is eating well and Himiko always uses Ochako as a guinea pig to see if her cooking skills are improving 🙏🙏

16- remembers anniversaries

Hi....mi....ko 👹

She's the type of person who enjoys celebrating other people's birthdays more than her own. She always writes down everyone's birthday on her calendar and tries to give them a gift on that day. Unlike Ochako who always ends up forgetting and getting super nervous when she realizes it's a close friend's birthday

17- brings up having kids

It may sound crazy (or not), but it would be Himiko. She would try to talk about this with Uraraka to get out the feeling of thinking she would be a terrible mother, only for Ochako to assure her that she would be one of the best mothers. I don't think they would have children any time soon, but they would definitely have a pet and take care of it as if it were a child.

Himiko would buy him clothes and Ochako would very reluctantly let him sleep in them despite the fact that they shed a lot of hair...

[another-lost-mc]

can we get little. fun facts. about the OCs? like silly or weird things they do and stuff :3

This got a little long since they're all here.

Azra:

He has beautiful penmanship and still writes and speaks in Scripture from time to time (sometimes to annoy Zee, sometimes to insult Lucifer, sometimes when he feels nostalgic)

He likes riding his motorcycle more than driving because it reminds him of what it felt like to fly

Zee:

His favourite thing about visiting the human world is getting fast food milkshakes (usually strawberry)

He plays the violin and keeps one in his office at The Fall so he can play when he gets bored or stressed

Karasu:

Mammon and Asmo have tried to convince him to try modeling in the past, but he refused

He listens to ASMR videos when he works or has trouble sleeping

Tenebris:

He loves animals but he’s never had a pet before (he would love a cat one day)

He’s ambidextrous but still prefers using his right hand for writing and casting spells

Diavolo’s private beach is one of his favourite vacation spots

Belial:

He has a belly button piercing (from his time as an angel)

He doesn’t drink Demonus but he loves mixing and creating his own mocktails inspired by the human world (he usually makes his own drinks behind the bar at The Fall while Zee glares at him from across the room because he's not allowed to do that)

He loves cars in general but he doesn’t like to drive very much. He prefers to fly or to ride his horses (he rides his chariot when he feels especially dramatic)

He owns several properties in the human world and goes on vacation there when he needs time to himself

Bathin:

When his parents and brother are invited to grown-up parties or dinners, he takes it very personally that he wasn't invited too. He's very good at sneaking past his babysitters and breaking into whatever upscale restaurant or private estate the party's being hosted at

Meta:

He's a published author (using different pseudonyms) for various genres including poetry, fiction, and romance/erotica

He taught himself how to swim and spends a lot of his free time swimming in one of the Celestial Realm's great lakes, usually in the morning if he didn't sleep well the night before

He started reading manga and follows Levi’s blog for reviews and recommendations

Seraphiel:

He’s fond of colouring books and puzzles

He knows how to drive in the human world. He tried to teach Meta how to drive when Meta asked (never again)

Gabriel:

He prefers wearing dark clothing and silver-toned jewelry. He doesn't wear black often in the Celestial Realm but its one of his favourite colours to wear when he has business to run in the human world

He’s one of the angels with the most varied reputations depending who you ask: “He’s scary” “He’s hilarious” “He’s so romantic” (that last one is usually Michael gushing over something Gabriel is planning as a surprise for Uriel)

Uriel:

He doesn’t play sports or gamble because he’s a bit of a sore loser

He wants to learn how to ride a motorcycle

He's a bit shy when it comes to PDA, except if he's had a bit too much to drink (or if he has some irrational feelings of jealousy/possessiveness)

Habuhiah:

She doesn’t have any pets but she talks to the plants and flowers in the Celestial gardens

She curses a lot when she’s angry or frustrated. Not drastically so, but angels that don't spend much time with her would be surprised. Like, there might be the metallic clink of a fork dropping to the ground during dinner, followed by a hushed, "Damn it!" as she ducks under the table to pick it up

[tomatoland]

i wish i hadn’t read that. someone using one of my posts to suit their narrative.

because i don’t think mew talks down to his friends.

he always makes rational statements that are true. what people don’t like is how he delivers his messages. he’s pretty blunt and he doesn’t sugarcoat.

ray was suicidal. but is he still? at what point is someone allowed to tell you that opting for a slower death versus an imminent one is just as bad?

when mew tells ray he’ll die before he’s 30. is it blunt? yes. but is it untrue?

1) driving while drunk increases his risk of death insurmountably. i know someone who died in a motorcycle accident the summer after college at 23 while under the influence 2) drinking excessively can lead to cirrhosis which is permanent damage and scarring to the liver, affecting liver function and in the worst case, your liver starts to fail. i know someone who got severe cirrhosis in his 30’s 3) drug use also increases risk of death because you can never know what’s been cut into them. how many celebrity OD stories are out there? look into how many members of the 27 club ended up there because of drugs 4) when ray was giving his birthday speech to mew and he talking about the future. i don’t know if he’s implying a future without him. i don’t speak thai. i do speak another se asian language though and we don’t have tenses. so you only know if someone means ate, eating, or will eat based on certain time words people use. will eat/future tense is very vague. the speaker has to specify the time period. because otherwise it can mean later today or it can mean in the distant future. update: from what i read just now, thai is similar.

and if ray HAD been saying goodbye to mew. i would still not forgive him. because doing it via car not only impacts him but potentially others on the road. and i can’t say the words but i know the person in this article. the person who ran into his family, did so intentionally, trying to kill himself and that motherfucker had the audacity to LIVE when they did not.

time and time again, ray has shown a blatant and willful disregard for human life. he drives to yo’s bar when he’s SOBER. he makes that decision when he’s sober and when he knows half of his friend group cannot drive. i wouldn’t give a fuck if he got wasted and took a taxi because that’s at least responsible but as soon as he gets behind the wheel, my sympathy goes right out of the door. and to know he makes that decision before drinking, that’s not just reckless, that’s actually diabolical.

how many times documented on the show has he tried or actually gotten behind the wheel? three times? how many times do you think he’s done it in the past? dozens, 50, more? he is playing God with anyone else who has the misfortune to also be on the road with him.

[dakotakazansky]

Ghost • Eight

Previous | Master List | Next

Warnings: 18+, Fluff, Angst, lots of Dumb Bitch Juice, Some Smut

Pairings: Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin x OC & Javy ‘Coyote’ Machado x OC

Word Count: 1,341

Kota

Jake and I sat quietly in his truck when he pulled up to the barracks. I was still frozen in thought about this deployment and I think it was finally hitting him as well. We are both really exceptional pilots and know we would have no trouble with this mission, myself flying ice cold, and him just as cocky and confident as ever. 

"What do you think about Coyote and Villain starting to spend so much time together?" I ask, trying to break the silence and to finally push us both past these thoughts that would become reality soon enough.

"Honestly, I've only seen that look that Coyote has been wearing, whenever she's around, once before on someone else. I think they could be good for each other." Jake replies back to me.

"I think before we leave for the carrier Tuesday, they'll be together." He looks at me, "Do you really think so?" I nod back to him, "I do and I'm willing to bet on it too." He chuckles, "Twenty dollars says they aren't together." I stick my hand out to him, "And Twenty dollars says they absolutely are together." We shook hands agreeing to this bet. 

"So what are we doing tonight Kota?" Jake asks, trying to find out if he should grab a change of clothes to go out, or if we should get comfortable to stay in. "Well what are you feeling like doing?" I ask since not only do we have tonight but we have all of tomorrow to do things too, before we meet up Sunday with Coyote and Villain again for drinks at the Wrecking Bar.

He wears a confused look on his face, as he was not expecting that response from me, "Uhh well, hmm..." he states. I chuckled at how easy it was to trip him up like this, "Well if you really can't think of anything I might have an idea." I say waiting to see if he can come up with anything, to which nothing arises. 

"Well Jake, since it's my idea, I'm now making it a surprise!" I say excitedly before continuing, "Wear something comfortable for not being indoors." I run off to my room, but peek my head out of the door, "Oh and since it's now a surprise, I'm driving so put on something that prepares you for my bike! Dress for the slide!"

I pop my head back into my room, and begin to change out of my clothes that are under my flight suit and into my comfortable clothes. I picked out a pair of black ripped skinny jeans, my black Sk8-Hi Vans, a black t-shirt, and one of Jake's Dallas Cowboys hoodie I stole from him back when we were in the Academy. 

I came back out of my room, and into the living room, where Jake was sitting on the couch, waiting for me. "So that's where that hoodie went! I knew I wasn't losing my mind!" I chuckled, and took in his appearance.

Jake was in a pair of dark washed jeans, also a black t-shirt, a blue flannel, and his black Stetson cowboy hat. "Oh no Jake, you definitely will not be needing this!" I say plucking the hat off his head, and started to attempt to plop it down on my head.

"Woah woah woah!" Jake shot up off the couch, removing the hat from my hands, "Hey now, you don't just go taking someone's cowboy hat Kota." I gave him the sad puppy dog eyes, hoping he'd let me put it on. "As cute as it would be, nuh-uh, you put those puppy dog eyes away missy."

I attempt to snatch his hat away once more, but he's caught on to me, and keeps it out of my reach. We both laugh with each other, Jake goes and puts his hat away, and I grab the spare bike helmet for him. 

"Ready to go?" I ask once he returns from putting his hat away. "Sure am and since you're driving, if there is anything to pay for, it's on me." he responds as we make our way out to my bike. I handed him the spare motorcycle helmet, as I put mine on, checking the bluetooth to make sure it was connected.

Once he had the spare helmet on, I made sure the bluetooth to his helmet was connected as well, this would allow him to communicate without having to scream over the wind, and would also allow him to listen to my music. I climbed onto my bike starting it, and I felt him climb on behind me.

He wrapped his arms around my waist, and I was so happy my helmet covered my whole face, because I was blushing as bright red as a tomato from his touch. I ask once more, "Ready to go?" he replies, "Yes, I'm ready."

We begin to take off, and I start driving around Lemoore. I knew where I was taking him, and didn't want him to catch on just yet where our first stop was going to be, so I attempted to confuse him, by just driving around aimlessly for about 10 minutes.

Once I felt he was good and confused about where we were actually going I drove over to the side of town where all the food trucks were parked, they happened to be super close to one of my favorite hidden lookout points. We grabbed some tacos to go from an authentic Mexican taco truck, and then we drove over to my lookout spot.

I parked the bike, waited for him to get off, then got off myself. Without thinking about it I grabbed his hand, "Come on, follow me!" and I led us to the secluded location, where there were a few picnic tables. I sat down on one of the tables, and Jake took up the spot next to me. 

"How did you know about this place?" Jake looked over to me, as he took a bite of one of his tacos. "When I was younger, Ice was stationed here at Lemoore for a spell, and one night he brought me here. We sat right here at this picnic table and stargazed, well that is until," woosh, one of the planes from the base took off overhead, "that." I chuckled.

"He knew the night fliers would be out testing different things. This is honestly where I fell in love with the naval aviation side of the Navy. Yeah I've always had love for the Navy, and knew I was going to join one day, but that day with Ice solidified that I took was going to follow in his footsteps as a naval aviator." 

I say sighing contently, and taking a bite out of my tacos. Once we had finished our food, we laid back on the table and I started to point out different constellations to Jake. We laid there together enjoying the view of the stars, and every once in a while, a Navy jet flying over. 

"This was a nice surprise Kota." Jake said when it started to get really late. "Yeah it was, thank you for being a good sport and letting me share with you one of my hidden happy places." I said as I went to throw our trash away.

We recollected our things, and got back on the bike and returned back to my barracks room. As much as I had wished that could've been our first date I still wasn't ready to take that risk, and be fully transparent about my feelings towards Jake.

We grabbed some things from my barracks room, and he drove us back to his place. I spent the night at his place, so that we could spend all day tomorrow at his place having a movie marathon, watching all of our favorites on his big screen tv, and just enjoying each other's company. Little did either of us know, we both were falling for each other just that much more.

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[the-firebird69]

Watch "Redbull hired me to train their pit crew #f1" on YouTube

a lot of people there and I did this and I was clocked that a couple of police. They said we're mostly doing 25 and I showed up to 35 once and they said it's not illegal and they can't give me even a warning.. Madison how the day is going and if I could try and train them to run fast I saw the guys running fast and they said they can't take any illegal substances I said I'm not on it and they're not either it's a sports drink and it's all legal and he looked at it and said how the heck of people doing this this is incredible and they wanted to have some and they wanted the training. That's New York City and they were not black people no. So I heard this did you pick New York City perhaps and they started laughing and also the people on the Hill are laughing it says it's not really that fun but they can't really catch me and they start smiling and said okay we're going to sign you up and we want to see him run. They got a little p**** I gave them the card and I told them it's a seminar and I said I'm certified than I am as an Athletics instructor. Turns out to be real as I am and asked about the helmets and the clothing I said it's fire resistant it's fall protection on a motorcycle and when running at 25 miles an hour you can get hurt. Do you want to know more and I'm starting the class for them on Monday and they're kind of happy and they're laughing and they said it's survival in the city. And they really needed it so I had a few cases of the drink and I brought it to them and they thanked me but tears in their eyes it's a hard job no matter what race you are we went home and we all had a good time and yeah sometimes with cops in this very difficult and we can't seem to stay in shape even he has trouble trying to get the damn food his big poops and he's eating like crazy this place is making people sick

Frankie lupena

I'm astounded that the speed at which he's making money and companies yes he is outstanding at doing it he's using progressive ideas our son has come up with and we're going to have him start some companies up one of them is the Big Joe's pancake House they had a meeting and it started well they're yelling at each other and stuff after but it's going to go forwards it is a nice place and it's going to be new buildings it has to be big and our son and daughter say later you have outlets that are smaller and people go there with the drive-thru to get the Big Joe and that's what we're going to call it big cup of joe but we think maybe Big Joe and this is going to be a lot of fun like the two big guys to model as Big Joe and we're going to have a another one that's huge Joe but we have to come up with a name that's better and Preston will be Little Joe no he's going to be Big Joe or maybe Preston will be Joe and Bill Joe will be Big Joe and little Joe will be Ken so all the sudden we're starting to see something it's like The Big valley no but really it's a lot of fun and it's really going to be awesome in the story says you have to keep big cup of joe because they're going to serve in a big huge cup a big cup of coffee cup it's a mug really but it looks like a coffee cup it's kind of like a mug and you can put a top on it this is how it goes it's really going to be a lot of fun his ideas are fun and people are having a hard time and they need something to do. He's thinking of making the bar cheers because people need a place to go and really it is kind of like that place the bullfinchpub is similar. But it's not a bad idea and then when I do it and just call it cheers just like the show and everybody can be in a real movie this they'll say and you can come in and during a certain time during the day you can run your lines with your friends and put it online on YouTube and then put it up there for you any jokes in the bar. Carla is saying she knows what happened with the car it's kind of what he's saying he dropped it in his back and it was too late and it's really fun time but really there's a lot of stuff going on but they want to start that restaurant and this guy is a winner and he is getting things done and he doesn't want to fail he doesn't want to fall it's going on there's a lot of places we want to start up including Disney castles and people found out it's authentic and they want one everywhere and Max is thinking of hiring us and we want to interest in it which would make itself for real it would sell for real and he'd be the brother of dracul but he's the actual lizard King and there's a dragon there for crying out loud and tons of people are listening and they're saying you got to be kidding me this guy is the brother of the guy who made those castles and it's really for his brother who's a giant and he's baby giant. It's going forwards okay

Bitol and Goddess Wife

We want a sweet in each of them so we can stay there and we can travel all over the place and I have familiars it's kind of weird you probably want to hear about it and but anyways it's like RC but it's not and people want that and we can visit each other at the castles and they're secure and people come from everywhere it would be incredibly odd and crazy he likes it and he wants to set up a suite with me so I'm going to start designing it and I can hand it off to the guys and if we don't have to pick who we're going to hand it off to a bunch of it and they like that that was close. And a whole bunch of women are interested. And there's a sweet there they have but you don't have two beds and it's a little small it might not be able to fit

Hera

Olympus

[maranull]

Hi!! Headcanons for what the ladies (and Blaidd) would do for a date mayhaps?

Hello! My hand slipped so here's a wall of text! Hopefully it's close to what you had in mind. Also thank you for the ask! <3

~

Ranni: Picks you up late in the evening. She tries to be nonchalant but she also did say, "Yes, sir!" to your mother so she's going through it. You get drive-through and park at the top of the nearest hill. You sit on the hood and spent hours just chilling and talking under the moon and stars with the faded city lights below. She gets all bothered and flustered at almost any compliment or tease you throw at her. A cheesy eyes-like-stars type compliment has her swooning for a good five minutes. There's a light breeze that is pleasant at first, but starts to turn chilly after a while. She gives you her jacket (that she only wears for fashion) the moment she notices you're cold. She also steals all your fries. No, she didn't want any. You return in the middle of the night. If you kiss her goodnight, you'll spot her jump in the air in triumph the moment she thinks no one's watching.

~

Melina: Comes by your house around noon. You grab a bus and head into the city. You share earbuds during the trip and she keeps her hand around yours. You get out close, but not too close, to the library and stop by a cafe on the way. She gets warm tea. You spent some time there, with Melina getting all giddy every time she sees couples or families walking by. You walk to the library after a while. There, you first head to your favourite section, then to hers (history). You play a game where you pick a book with your eyes closed, pick a random chapter number and read it to each other (quietly). You then have to guess what's the book about without looking at the synopsis. You both leave with (at minimum) two books on your hands and schedule your next date to be a reading one. But at a cafe cause people-watching is fun.

~

Malenia: Actually invites you over her house. She can't leave because she's carrying for her brother. But they have a whole ass pool so she invites you for a swim. Her brother keeps smiling and winking every time he thinks you're not watching. He soon retreats to his room, while wiggling his eyebrows. Malenia has a dance studio at the basement and she spends an hour or two teaching you some steps. A sneaky little bro changes the song to waltz a couple of times. Instead of a shower you jump in the pool at which point you discover that Malenia doesn't believe in undergarments. But she's really chill about it and soon you stop paying attention to her lack of swimsuit and you just talk at the edge of the pool until your fingers start to wrinkle. After a quick towel dry, you take a walk in her garden and pick fruits from the trees to eat. Which you do sitting by the pool, talking and watching the sunset.

~

Marika: Picks you up with a sport motorcycle early in the evening. She's in full leather. Wears no helmet but bought one for you on the way and refuses to move if you don't put it on. You go to an early screening of a generic action movie and she also pulls the yawn and stretch move. She's really into the stunts and excitedly explain how they did such and such both during the movie and at the walk back to the bike. You drive to a rock bar and sit at the front bar. She's a whisky on the rocks kinda gal but only drinks a single glass tonight despite almost getting into a drinking challenge with a random dude. She might start explaining the differences between single and blended malt and all other kinds of details about whisky, if asked. And she does it with such genuine enthusiasm that you find it hard to get bored. At the drive home, she takes the highway and floors it. She goes so fast that you start thinking you'll crash but she has perfect control over the bike and slows down when she feels you tensing on her back. She does a donut as she waves goodbye.

~

Blaidd: He's the type that suggests a hike for a date. You leave at dawn and he insists to carry your bag for the first two hours. Until he realizes that carrying two bags and talking on the trail is really not a easy thing to do. Stops every now and then to show you how these tree scratches are from a deer, or how this round, cleared hole was made by wild hogs. If you pass a stream, he'll suggest to try and find the source, because "water from the stream source tastes better". He actually has cleared an area for a picknick upstream and wanted it to be a surprise. He also has brought all the ingredients needed for a full meal and cooks for you on the spot. He undercooks the meat but everything else is perfect. You spent a couple hours on the clearing, some talking, some just listening to the life around you. Eventually you return to the car and you drive to a hill to watch the sunset. You are home by 21:30, on the dot.

[thegreatstoryteller]

Hey it’s Vice! I was hoping you could help me out, my hot uncle is coming over tonight. Any ideas on how we could make the most of our night together?

Hey Vice! Sounds like you're gonna have a fun night on your hands. I know exactly how to make the most of your night.

So we all know that your uncle is a pretty hot guy. Countless men and women are aware of this fact. He's got an image to uphold when he goes out to have fun. That's why tonight you're gonna join him. But not as your normal self. His drinking buddy was nice enough to lend you his body for the night. And I am more than happy to facilitate the swap.

His body will certainly take some getting used to. Being well over 6 feet tall and stacked with that much muscle, you may find yourself bumping into guys at the bar or stumbling over your new big feet. But hey, with looks like those you can probably play at off as flirty and join your uncle as the world's hottest wingman.

Be warned though. Your uncle's drinking buddy is one tough son of a bitch and powerful personalities like that can sometimes take hold after the swap. I'm sure you'll be fine though.

And boom.

Looking good big guy. Now go enjoy your awesome night with your uncle. And keep an eye on your old body since he'll be tagging along too!

THE NEXT DAY

Hey there my man looking good. And just wearing some running shorts. Bold look. Seems like you're embracing your new body! Thought you'd come back last night to get swapped back. How'd it go at the bar with your uncle?

...

Woah! You challenged your old body to a drinking contest? Well of course you one. You're practically a tank that runs on alcohol in that body... and what are these you're showing me. Pictures? Woah! I brought you there to hang out with your uncle and play wingman, but judging by all those people flirting with you, he was YOUR wingman! Well all's well that ends well. Ready to swap back?

What do you mean the drinking contest was a bet to see who'd keep this body? Wait! And your uncle likes you in his friend's body too? What did his old drinking buddy have to say about this!?

...

Huh... well that's true. Not many guys would stand up to a guy as big as you... So of course he'd give you all his old clothes and... what? You want me to call you sir now? Fuck... i mean sure. You certainly look the part now... Guess I can't swap you back without your permission sir and- Wait! Where are you going now? Oh you've got a hot date?

Fuck you're even driving his motorcycle now? Sorry! I mean your motorcycle! Ok. I'll see you around then? Oh. Right. You're gonna be spending most nights with your uncl- I mean your friend now. Have fun.

[mypoisonedvine]

okay but here me out: you're a prostitute hired by laurie bc she found out that andy is cheating on her and needs proof for a divorce. when you see him, the payment is merely a bonus

wait i love this but i wanna modify it slighty: you’re a private investigator hired by laurie to seduce andy to prove he’s cheating!

this got so nasty so fast omg watch out for really dominating andy, with lots of dirty talk and a little bit of manipulation if you wanna read into it

“you don’t have to go through with it, obviously,” she explained, “you just need to get him to admit he’s done it before, and he’ll do it again.  on tape, with this.”

she set the audio recorder down in front of you, and you smiled sympathetically.

“don’t worry, ma’am, this isn’t my first time with a case like this.  I have my own equipment that’s less conspicuous and more reliable.  I could even catch him on film if you wanted.”

“you can do that?”

“yep, I have cameras that look like pens, buttons, rings, earrings, glasses...”

“well, video footage would be even better,” she explained, excited yet somber.  “I mean, it would make a better case in the divorce.  it would kill me to have to watch it, though...” she trailed off, scratching the back of her neck.

“is there any doubt in your mind he’s cheating on you?”

“only because I don’t want to believe it.  but it’s become to obvious to ignore,” she shook her head.

“I understand.  it’s hard to stomach that the people we care about most would hurt us like that.  but sadly it is all too common.  let’s just say that as a private investigator, this is a huge portion of what I do... and I get very steady work.  you’re not alone, laurie.”

“thank you,” she smiled weakly. “can you do it tonight?  I want this over with.”

“um, as long as it’s pretty late, I have other tasks this evening.”

“oh, late shouldn’t be a problem, he’s out until 4 or 5 in the morning these days.  this is the address of his work--” she set a piece of paper in front of you-- “just follow him to whatever bar he goes to from there and you shouldn’t have a problem.”

she’d shown you a photo, so you knew what to expect.  you had to come straight from your last assignment following somebody else around the city, so you weren’t dressed for the occasion at all.  to follow someone, you needed to dress plain and forgettable; to seduce someone, especially someone like andy barber, you needed to be extremely memorable.

you brought a change of clothes in your car, which you hastily slipped into in your back seat-- it required some acrobats to put tights on in the back of a small car like yours, but you managed to get through.

not just tights, but lingerie and garters.  sky high heels, a skintight dress that made you feel like your whole body was on display.  a motorcycle jacket and dark lipstick to give the whole look some edge.  basically, you’d tried to look as different from his wife as possible.  married men who were fucking around on the side always wanted something different, something fresh.  you knew how to do that.

plus, the jacket had the hidden camera attached to the lapel, nearly invisible among the snaps and buttons.

the echo of your heels on the concrete floor of the bar made every head turn.  it was quiet, and apparently a pretty slow night with only a few men scattered here and there-- the only other woman was the waitress.

andy was sitting at the bar, nursing a beer, and he gave you a quick glance before doing a double take.  you tried not to smile visibly. gotcha.

you sauntered up to the bar, leaning forward and making sure to arch your back just so, showing off your ass. “vodka cranberry?” you requested, smiling when the bartender nodded and started pouring grey goose into a glass.

you took a seat decently far away from andy, “adjusting” your jacket to turn the camera on.  you wanted to make sure you caught him coming up to you, starting the conversation, flirting first.  he looked over at you a few times but never said anything, making you start to get a little impatient, before finally the bartender arrived with a second drink.

“from the gentleman at the end of the bar,” he explained as he handed it to you.

“oh!” you smiled, “that’s so sweet!  you can tell him to come say hi if he wants.”

and it was just a few minutes before andy got up and leaned against the bar beside you, looking down at you with dark, half-lidded eyes.

“thanks for the drink,” you grinned coyly, letting your gaze drift a bit.  he was really good looking, honestly, and he looked all kinds of right in that suit, too.  if it weren’t a job, this might be the kind of guy you would actually flirt with of your own accord.  then again, you knew better than to go for a guy who had a tan line on his ring finger-- you hoped the camera was able to see that he’d taken his wedding band off.

“I’m here almost every night and I’ve never seen you before.”

“I’m from out of town,” you explained.

“business or pleasure?” he asked with a little smirk.

“I guess we’ll find out,” you winked.

it didn’t take much more flirting and a few more rounds of drinks for him to ask if you wanted to ‘get outta here,’ and with a giggle and a nod you let him guide you to his car with a hand on the small of your back. 

of course, you thought he was going to drive the both of you somewhere.  you didn’t expect him to push you up against it and kiss you roughly.

it was so sudden, and you knew you should stop him, but you somehow couldnt bring yourself to push him back, not when the way he was breathing heavily against you made your head spin, not when you could feel his beard and it was so hot for no good reason at all, not when his thick hands were grabbing you at your waist just tight enough to make you breathless.

“get in the back,” he instructed when he pulled back, making you blink up at him in shock.  you knew you had enough, you knew you should make an excuse and leave, get this footage uploaded from your mini cam and onto your laptop so you could get laurie what she needed...

but instead you found yourself biting your lip and nodding, letting him open the door for you and hopping in before he climbed on top of you, shutting and locking the door.

“we can go back to my place,” you offered as he started to suck on your neck, pulling you closer.  

“cant wait that long,” he mumbled quickly before helping you push your jacket off.

and you could tell that the way he tossed it onto the floor made the camera perfectly angled to see what he was doing to you.  maybe it was the perfect evidence for laurie’s case.  maybe it was about to tape you in your most intimate state with no way for you to stop it.

certainly there was no way you could stop when he manhandled you onto your hands and knees, pushing your dress up to find your black lace panties, and the garters holding up your tights.

“fuck, look at you... that’s why you came out tonight, then?  to get fucked?”

you nodded a little, gasping when he slapped your ass.

“little whore.”

you didn’t think you’d like being talked to like that, but it made your pussy throb beneath the lingerie that barely covered it.

just when you thought he was going to give it some attention, he flipped you around again and pulled you into his lap. 

“get on the floor, on your knees, and suck my cock.”

how was he so comfortable telling you what to do?  better yet, why were you doing it?

you slipped down, barely finding enough room with your massive heels in the way, and started to palm at his cock through his suit trousers, moaning absent-mindedly when you felt the thick, hard, hot length hidden beneath.   your mouth was already watering.

you started on his belt, looking up at him occasionally to find him watching you with a cold, unyielding stare.  when you reached inside his boxers and pulled it out, he smiled at your little gasp.

“bigger than you expected?” he taunted.  you were speechless, only able to nod in response before he put a hand on your hair-- not exactly forcing you forward, but definitely encouraging you to go ahead and put it in your mouth.

“fuuuck,” he groaned with you licked the head and finally closed your lips around it, suckling gently as your eyes fluttered shut.  “no no,” he correctly instantly, “look up at me with those pretty eyes, sweetheart.  take it deeper.”

you moaned around him but obeyed, using your hand to stroke the portion you couldn’t fit in your mouth (which was more than half).  you started to back away when you choked a little, but he pushed you back down and moaned a little louder, “I like it when you gag,” he explained gruffly, smiling when you looked up at him again, your eyes watering this time.  “god, you look so good like this.”

he pulled you off by your hair while you took in a gasping breath, gripping his cock at the base and slapping you lightly on the face with it a few times.  when you put your chin by his balls, the head hit you on the forehead... it made your gut burn as you tried to imagine how that would possibly fit in you without breaking something important.

when he pulled you back onto him, bucking up into your throat as you choked and gasped for air, you felt need tingling up your spine from seeing him like this.  he was completely in control and yet looked totally wrecked as he fucked your face.  it made you so wet you couldn't stand it.

just when you thought he might come, he stopped suddenly and lifted you up onto his lap, pulling your dress down to admire your completely impractical bra.

he grinned when he saw your nipples were already hard, reaching up to tweak them gently until your hips rocked on top of him of their own accord.

“you like having your tits played with, sweetheart?”

“I like when you do it,” you blurted out.

“sweet young thing like you, you’ve probably never even been with somebody who knows what they’re doing.”

it’s not like you hadn’t had some adept partners in the past, but none of them were like this. nobody had ever made you this desperate.

“please fuck me, andy,” you whimpered.

“not yet,” he growled, ripping your bra and tossing it aside.

“that was expens--” you started to protest, but it fell into a moan as he latched his lips onto an exposed nipple, sucking and licking eagerly.

“f-fuck!” you stammered, gripping his jacket tightly as you tried to stop yourself from humping his leg out of desperation

but he wanted you to-- he grabbed your hips and pulled you down, guiding you to rub yourself on his thigh.

“go ahead, pretty girl, show me how bad you want it.”

you were pretty confident that even through your panties, you were going to leave a stain on his trousers. 

you could even feel his cock on the inside of your thigh, hot and still slick with your spit, so hard you wondered why he wouldn't just put it in you already.

“please please please, need it so bad,” you whined, “I'm so wet for you, baby, I'm so fucking ready....”

“I know,” he whispered, pulling you closer to put his lips right beside your ear.  “I know, baby, I can feel it.  I can smell it.  you smell so fuckin sweet...”

you whimpered and your head fell back, pleasure shooting up through your body in jolts as you rubbed your swollen clit on his thick thigh.

“want me to fuck you?  I’ll fuck you, babydoll.  hard and rough just how you need it.”

“yes,” you sobbed.

“I’ll give it to you so good you won’t be able to walk straight tomorrow, won’t be able to sit right cause I tore that pretty little pussy up.”

you gasped but you wanted it, god you wanted it so fucking bad you couldn’t even remember that this was supposed to be a job, not a hook-up.  but you didn’t care.  

“please baby, I’ll do anything just fuck me, please--” you cried, cut off by him grabbing you and pushing you onto your knees again, slapping your ass one more time before pulling your panties aside.

“god, you’re soaked,” he chuckled condescendingly. “you’re so sensitive, honey.  I bet you’ll go crazy if I touch you here,” he proposed, rubbing his thumb over your clit and making you jolt forward from the intensity of it.  

he leaned down to wrap his body over yours, holding you close with one arm around your neck as he whispered in your ear, turning your face slightly with a hand on your jaw.

“look into the camera while I put it in you, baby...”

you weren’t sure if it was realizing you’d been caught, or the feeling of him pushing into you that made your eyes water, but a tear fell down your cheek as he buried himself into you with a groan.  it was just the right type of pain; with how wet you were, even a cock as massive as his slid into you easily.  but it felt like you’d never been stretched so wide and you didn’t even know what to do with yourself as he pulled back and slammed into you.

“I never told you my name,” he reminded you, “but you knew it anyways.  and with what I do for a living, I can smell a p.i. from a mile away.  you’re not as slick as you think, sweetheart-- well, proverbially slick... cause literally, this pussy is so fucking wet for me.” 

you could only gasp and sigh as he pumped into you faster and deeper, reaching parts of you that had never been touched before, let alone ravaged like this.  you could feel his smile against your ear as he started to fuck you faster, his free hand palming at your breasts before reaching back to hold your hips steady.

“god, you’re so fucking tight... anybody ever fucked you this good, honey?  anybody ever taken you like the needy little slut you are?”

he bit down on your ear and you realized he wanted an answer.

“n-no,” you replied, “never.  nobody’s ever fucked me like this, andy.”

“anybody ever fucked you on camera before?”

you swallowed dryly. “no.”

“was it all an act, then?  all part of the job?  I don’t buy it.  I think this is who you really are, a desperate little slut who needs to be stuffed full of cock by somebody who can give you everything you need.”

his filthy monologue fell on deaf ears as you tried with all your might to look away from the camera on your jacket, knowing that you had totally blown your case as well as presumably destroying your reputation.  fucking a married man is one thing, fucking a married man whose wife is your client who hired to prove he was cheating?  maybe you could spin it as doing your job a little too well?

“I can tell you’re close, sweetheart, go ahead and come for me.  I wanna feel this pretty pussy squeeze me, milk my fuckin cock when you come.”

mainly you were just trying not to get too loud, afraid that the car wouldn’t be enough to muffle your noises in case somebody walked through the mostly empty parking lot.

“andy!” you yelped when you reached your peak, not really meaning to but it came out anyways, he chuckled a little, the sound morphing into a growl as you clenched down around him with each wave of pleasure washing over you.

“fuck, don’t fuckin stop, this pussy feels so good I think I’m gonna come inside...”

you were too out of it to protest; you would’ve gone limp and fallen down onto your chest if he hadn’t held you up, his cock flexing against your overstimulated walls as he painted your insides with his come.

he grinned as he stilled his movements, catching his breath for a moment before sitting up and pulling out, slipping your panties back on to keep his come inside for a bit longer.

it was all a blur as he helped you half-redress before he all but shoved you out of the car, stuffing his cock back into his pants before getting into the driver’s seat and starting the engine.

“tell my wife I said ‘hi’,” he winked at you as he drove off, leaving you with wobbly legs balancing on your heels while his come leaking down your thighs.

[in-ky]

An Old Scent [2] - Negan x Reader (A/B/O AU)

Summary: During summer break, you decide to come back home to visit your dad, Rick. Over the course of your stay, you realize that your dad's friend is pretty hot.

Warnings: Eventual smut, A/B/O dynamics, cheating, angst, age gap, Negan, a bit of gore if you squint

A/N: ok so everything is written i'm just gonna stagger posting a little bit :') 2.7k words

The first thing I woke up to in the morning was a dull ache in my lower abdomen. Great. My heat was starting up again. Growing up, Bee always asked why I never went on suppressants. I always got a bad vibe from them. Then, a few years ago, a large brand got recalled because it was shown to cause cancer in a lot of different patients. Now suppressants were harder to come by, more regulated, and needed a doctor's prescription. A lot of omegas took the hit hard, but out of it came an influx of at-home ways to take care of your heats by yourself. Super helpful for a single girl like me. When my heats started to get really bad around my junior year of high school, Bee took me out on a shopping spree and got me a bunch of toys to try and satisfy myself. It worked for a while, but they got worse as the years passed. By my age, a lot of omegas were already claimed and had an alpha to help them through their heats. I was still relying on the toys Bee had bought me. The box was tucked neatly under my bed, waiting for me. I rolled over with a small groan and sighed. The heat wouldn't be in full swing for another few days or so, so I could still go to the courthouse with my dad. Speaking of, I heard Rick shuffling down the hall and slid out of bed, gathering my bathroom stuff and walking out of my room into the small tiled room to start the day.

~~~

"So you weren't at the garage on the night of the eight?" Negan hummed, leaning against the railing in front of the tv. His eyes were glued to the face of the man sitting on the stand. The poor guy was drenched in a nervous sweat, tight blue shirt sucking at his chubby neck. He swallowed thickly and leaned forward to the microphone.

"That's correct," he croaked.

"Oh, Jeremy," Negan chuckled, shaking his head and looking at his feet. "Don't you know perjury is a criminal offense?"

"I-I'm not lying!"

"Is that so?" The alpha held up the remote to the TV "I have some footage here that directly contradicts your story, man. One last chance." He wiggled the remote teasingly and raised his eyebrows. Jeremy held his ground. "Alrighty then, let's see what we have here." He took a step back and furrowed his brow at the remote and pressed a button. The screen in front of him came to life. I had to lean forward in order to see the video, but in reality it wasn't the security tape I was watching. It was him. I couldn't look away. He had dominated the room for the past hour and a half. His deep voice was never raised, but it still carried a commanding tone that had every person sitting on the stand shaking in their boots. My eyes trailed down his body. His suit clung to him in every perfect way. His hair was slicked back in its iconic style and the way his glasses perched on his face made my insides burn. Part of me regretted seeing him like this so close to my heat, but another part couldn't imagine if I hadn't. Rick leaned over and tapped my elbow.

"We've got him now for sure." He whispered in my ear. A smile formed on my lips as I nodded to him. There was a child-like joy on his face. He really did appreciate my presence. I turned my attention back to the video screen. The footage was fuzzy, but there was a clear figure of a woman standing still hunched over what I presumed was her phone. She was texting away, fingers flying over her screen. Suddenly a large figure, who had the same height and build as Jeremy, slunk out from the shadows. He slowly approached the woman from behind and raised a crowbar high above his head. He swung it down with brutal force. There were small gasps of horror from the jury and the crowd as the crowbar connected solidly with the woman's head. She collapsed in a heap, but Jeremy didn't stop beating her until she was a pile of mush. Negan clicked the TV off.

"Well, shit, Jeremy," He boomed "I do in fact think you are lyin' to me." He tossed the remote down on his table top and gave a grim scoff. "Everyone just saw you turn poor Miss Parker's head into your personal punching bag. You still wanna claim you were no where near there?" All of the color had drained from Jeremy's round face. He swallowed again, tugging at his restricting collar. But soon, his face turned a deep shade of pink and he slammed his beefy palms on the flat surface of the box he was sitting in.

"That bitch deserved it!" He howled, gasping for air. "She had no business-" He stopped when Negan raised his hand silently.

"I really don't care," He sighed, turning around and grinning broadly when he saw the defense team resting their heads in their hands in defeat. "I'll let the jury do the rest, your honor."

"Yes, thank you, Mr. Smith." The judge said, voice prickling with annoyance. Negan returned to his bench and pulled out his seat. But before he sat down he gave Rick a small thumbs up. And I could have sworn that he flashed me a little smile as well.

~~~

"You were incredible in there!" I cheered, giving Negan a high five. The contact made my skin tingle, but I passed it off as the consequences of the impact. "You really made that guy tremble like a kid!"

"It's what I do," Negan chuckled deeply. He looked around me and furrowed his brow. "Where's your dad?"

"He's pulling the car around," I said "I just figured I should let you know how good you did before I leave." He was so close. He smelled so good. The same combination of whiskey and campfire that could get me drunk in a few breaths. I was so focused on his intoxicating musk that I didn't notice the group of alphas that were headed our way. Negan did, though. I heard a rumbling from his chest and felt a hand clasp around my shoulder. Confusion clouded my mind and I looked up to him for some answers.

"The next case is starting soon," He said smoothly "Let's go wait for your dad outside." I agreed and he steered me out onto the steps of the courthouse. The short skirt and heels I was wearing weren't exactly comfortable for walking down stairs, so I held onto Negan's forearm as he guided me down to street level. There was a small breeze and I saw his jaw tense as a soft gust of wind swirled up from behind me and into his body. It no doubt carried my scent on it, and an alpha like Negan could probably tell what state I was in.

"So," I sighed, looking to engage him further "What's next?"

"Well," He tilted his head and ran a hand over his bear-covered chin. "Jeremy goes to jail. Your dad and the department get praise. And I get to go to the bar for a celebratory drink." He paused for a moment, looking me up and down quickly. "You want to join me?" I opened my mouth to say something. To be honest, I wasn't sure what I was going to say. I didn't really drink, but I was willing to do absolutely anything that Negan wanted. But it was then that Rick rounded the corner and gave the horn a little honk.

"I would love to," I settled on "But dad has a full day of father-daughter fun times planned, and I don't really want to keep him waiting." I gestured awkwardly to where Rick was sitting in the car, bopping his head gently to incoherent music.

"Totally understand, doll." He grinned.

"Maybe another time, though?"

"For sure."

"See you around, Negan."

"Bye, doll, have fun. And be safe"

~~~

Negan was pleasantly buzzed, as per usual. He got off his motorcycle and hung his helmet on the handlebar before lightly stumbling into the house from the dark garage. The sight he saw he did not expect. There sat his fiancé in the living room, arms crossed over her chest with a pissed expression on her face. And beside her was a woman he knew all too well.

"The hell is goin' on here?" He asked, slurring his words slightly.

"I could ask you the same thing, Negan."

"Lucille, what the fuck is she doing in our house?"

"Oh, so you know her?" Lucille growled. Negan just licked his lips and flicked his gaze between the two women sitting in front of him. "Of course you do. You have been fucking her after all." Negan groaned, rubbing his eyes.

"Baby, please-" He started, but Lucille cut him off.

"Don't you dare," She hissed, jumping to her feet and balling her hands into fists "You don't get to call me that after what you've done, Negan. You slept with another woman. Hell, maybe more than one. You ruined our relationship." Negan took a step forward but Lucille raised her hand and pointed to the kitchen table. "Don't take another step. Your stuff is in that box." Negan looked to see a cardboard box sitting alone in the dark kitchen, his belongings poking out of the top. "I never want to see you in my house again."

"Lucille, can't we just talk about this? You don't understand." He pleased, extending a hand to her. She batted it away.

"There's nothing to talk about." She spat "You cheated on me, Negan! What is there to understand? How can you expect me to forgive you for that?" A moment of silence passed between them. The other woman shifted uncomfortably on the couch. Negan glared at her before turning his eyes back to his now ex-fiancé.

"I have no where to stay." He whispered.

"That's not my problem." Lucille said boldly "Take your shit and leave. Don't come back. We're done."

~~~

I stirred the pot of spaghetti while humming a song I heard on a radio earlier. The father-daughter activities had consisted of driving around town and revisiting old spots we used to go to when I was younger. We got ice cream at the shop down the street and then watched the sun set at the park that we used to picnic at. It was nice. College did really fix our relationship. The TV in the next room hummed quietly and Rick was talking on the phone with someone. I heard him hang up and walk into the kitchen.

"Think there's enough in there for three?" He asks with a sigh, looking over my shoulder.

"Should be, why?" I return, meeting his gaze. He takes a deep breath and scratches his neck.

"Um, well, Negan's fiancé kicked him out of the house. Apparently she found out he was cheating on her. He doesn't have anywhere to stay." He mumbled "He's gonna be sleeping here for a bit." I stopped stirring. The water started to bubble too close to the top, but I blew a gust of air to push it down.

"Why here?" was all I could muster.

"He really helped me with your mom. It's the least I can do."

I just hummed in acknowledgement and returned to my cooking. So Negan was engaged. And he CHEATED on his fiancé? Maybe I didn't know Negan as well as I thought I did...

~~~

"I just can't believe she kicked me out!" Negan seethed, shoveling a spoonful of spaghetti into his mouth. He was still chewing when he continued. "She didn't even give me a chance to explain myself!"

"I hate to say it, but you did cheat on her, buddy," Rick said carefully, not wanting to poke the angry alpha in the wrong way "She's upset."

"I was in a rut." Negan growled.

"For four months?"

I was making a plate for myself, listening to the conversation from across the room. Rick's phone buzzed on the kitchen table and he picked it up.

"Sorry, I have to take this." He sighed, shaking his head and standing to his feet. He left the room and suddenly it was just me and Negan. I took my plate to the opposite head of the table, watching Negan wolf down his dinner.

"This shit is really good, sweetheart," He groaned. Normally, the noise would have sent me over the moon. But there were so many other emotions clouding my mind. "You ever consider changing your major to culinary arts?" I didn't say anything, just twirled my fork in my serving of pasta.

"Why'd you do it?" I said quietly, almost in a whisper. Negan paused instantly.

"What?"

"Why'd you cheat on her?" My eyes never left my plate but I could hear him shifting in his seat, rubbing his face while trying to answer my question.

"I don't know," He said. His voice was soft, sincere. Something I had never heard from him before. My eyes drifted up and met his. They were the same tawny color, but there was something else behind them. Something I couldn't distinguish. "I thought...Something was off in our relationship. I guess I thought that I could fix it by trying something different. I ran into Tanya at a bar a few months ago. She's a beta, just like Lucille. Wanted to be with an alpha. I gave in. Just for a quick fuck, didn't mean anything. I didn't like her. I told her that but...she...she wanted more, I guess. She fucking threatened me. Threatened to ruin my life unless I kept seeing her. I chose to do it. I don't know if that decision was the right one or not but it's the one I made. I texted her last night to tell her it was over. Never fucking thought she would come to my home." I was chewing the inside of my cheek the whole time he was speaking. I didn't know how much of his story was true, but he sounded like he was hurting.

"Why did you break it off?" I whispered.

"That's your damn question?" He scoffed, giving a short smile. He looked in my eyes. I knew the answer. Or at least I thought I did. He opened his mouth, but Rick reentered the room before he could say anything.

"Alright, sorry about that guys," He said, slipping back into his seat. "What did I miss?"

~~~

Negan was set up in the bedroom next door to mine. Our doors faced each other from across the hall. We would have to share a bathroom. Rick didn't seem to have a problem with it, but with my heat starting I wasn't too sure about the whole arrangement. I felt more cramps riddle my body. I was ready to bed, ready to curl up in a ball and go to sleep, but something called me across the hall. Curiosity got me and I turned slightly, walking up and leaning on the doorframe. There was Negan, clad in grey sweatpants and a black tank top, unpacking his things.

"Hey," I said quietly, not wanting to startle him. He turned around. He looked older like this, hair unkempt and his glasses on. When he saw me his lips curled in a smile. Any trace of vulnerability I had seen earlier was now gone.

"Hey to you."

"I just want to apologize for earlier," I said "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I'm also sorry that you have to be subjected to me and my dad for the foreseeable future." He let out a snicker and shook his head.

"Don't worry about it, doll. And you're not that bad. I appreciate Rick; he's a good man." He scratched his beard and looked over at the clock next to the bed. "It's late, you should get some rest." He took a deep breath and I nodded. I turned to leave but he called my name softly. "You know I meant what I said last night, you are looking good." I smiled but didn't say anything and crossed the hall, shutting my door and hopping into bed.

[aqricus]

“while he was schemin’, i was beamin’ in the beamer, just beamin’! can’t believe that i caught my man cheating!”

you sat in the luxury car, hotboxing with your cheap cigarettes as you pondered about what to do. all you wanted to do was say hello to your sweet red haired boyfriend till you saw him bending the back of his little secretary, fucking her with the same fervor and same momentum he’d fuck you, but instead of the sweet praises he’d mutter under his breath, he was calling her all sorts of nasty things. a slut. his own personal whore, which was one you could most definitely agree with. and it was barely audible behind the door, making you wish you were hearing things, but alas, you were not, which was something you would most definitely realize when you creaked open the door just a little. but as you bubbles with rage, a small idea came to mind. he gave you his credit card that morning because he wanted to buy you something, but didn’t have the time to go with you. and he’s always mentioned about how he’s got hundred of thousands of dollars, so he surely wouldn’t care if a bit of it went to waste, right?

“(oops!) there goes the dreams we used to say.”

your first stop was a little vivienne westwood store in some pricey little corner of tokyo. you buy whatever catches your eye, settling on a bag filled with corsets while you thank the cashier, determined to leave this man broke.

“(oops!) there goes the time we spent away.”

after that godly shopping spree, your feet were killing you and you simply had to take a break and drink some coffee, ordering a small cappuccino and thinking about everything as you’re surrounded by bags so chock full of expensive items you’re basically setting yourself up for a mugging. holding the warm cup in your hand, you vaguely remember a man who chuuya would always complain about, how he’s always ruining his shit and can’t seem to keep himself out his business. infact, wasn’t his workplace right next to here? maybe hanging with him could help solidify what you’re proving to your ex, and how you no longer need him. (but his card’ll be very hard to separate with.) p.s i’ll probably never finish this - 💋

YES YES cheating revenge is such a concept. stitches the heartbreak back up with a thread straight from the devil’s cloak and gives me a sense of sick satisfaction.

bleed this man DRY!! go to an upscale bar and buy a round of drinks for everyone in the establishment. purchase a bottle of their most expensive wine, pull on those burgundy driving gloves you purchased with his card, and pour the alcohol all over his motorcycle while humming that song that’s been stuck in your head all day. buy two of everything. invite your friends out and flash his black card and tell them you’re paying.

[drabbles-mc]

You Came Back (2/3)

Juice Ortiz x Reader

Request from @ateliefloresdaprimavera​​: Juice has a special place in my heart, so I'm denying his ending on the show😭 I want to foccus on the nurturing,fluffy and romantic side that he deserves😍 maybe something about Opie and Jax childhood friend who comes back to charming( Gemma always thought of her as her own kid) and she's really closed of emotionaly, bit our boy is smitten from the second he has his eyes on her. so romantic Juice overdrive, and she starts to see this side of life that's worth, by his side

Warnings: language, cuties dancing around their feelings

Word Count: 2.6k

Chapter Index: Part 1 , Part 3

A/N: I’m a sucker for build-ups before relationships, which seemed to work well with this prompt. Hope y’all enjoy!

You fell into a routine at the shop quicker than you thought you were going to. Most of the time you were working with Gemma, helping her manage orders and appointments for all the repairs. Occasionally you were sent out on a pickup with one of the guys, usually Juice or the prospect. It wasn’t a strenuous work day for you, and you couldn’t deny the fact that you felt extremely comfortable at T-M, even if you didn’t want to admit it.

You were finishing up filing some things away when you heard Jax’s voice fill the small office, “Hey, Y/N.”

You turned to him with a smile, “What’s up?”

“You heading right home tonight? Or you got time to stick around?”

You shrugged, “Got no pressing plans, why?”

A smirk passed over his face, “You should stick around, then. Party at the clubhouse tonight.”

You sighed but couldn’t stop yourself from smiling. Even before you had never been one to go to the clubhouse parties. The only people you really wanted to hang out with then were Jax and Opie. In a way, that hadn’t really changed all that much, but you felt a little more of an obligation to go. You were more entwined with everything now whether you liked it or not.

“Fine. But the second someone says some weird shit to me or tries to touch me or something, I’m out.”

He chuckled, nodding, “Alright. But hey, you’ll have me and Ope. No one is gonna try and mess with you.”

“For your sake and theirs, you better hope not,” you tried to keep a straight face but you ended up breaking out in laughter.

As much as you hated to admit it, you were having fun at the party. You kept yourself close to Jax and Opie, knowing that they would provide you with a type of security blanket.  You were perched on the arm of the couch, Opie’s hand resting on your knee to provide you with a little bit of extra comfort. You took in the controlled chaos happening around you and it was hard to imagine that your best friends had grown up in this, that this is just what life was like for them.

“I’m gonna grab another beer,” you patted Opie’s hand, “You want one?”

He nodded, “Yea, if you don’t mind.”

You shot him a wink as you stood up from the couch, “I gotchu.”

You leaned against the bar as you waited for Kipp to bring you a couple beers. You felt someone come and stand next to you, and when you looked over you had to smile at the eagerness that seemed permanent in Juice’s eyes.

He smiled at you, “Didn’t think I’d see you here.”

You laughed, “Me either. Jax extended a personal invite, so I figured I should show up to at least one party before swearing them off altogether.”

“Wanna step out for a smoke?”

You smiled, “I gotta bring this to Opie.”

Juice shook his head before flagging down the prospect, “Yo, Half-Sack,” he nodded towards the beer bottle, “bring that to Opie. Grab one for Jax, too,” he turned back to you with a smile, gesturing towards the door of the clubhouse, “After you.”

You laughed and shook your head as you walked, “And they say chivalry is dead.”

The two of you sat down across from each other at a table outside the clubhouse. It was nice to be out of the haze of body heat, smoke, and alcohol. Juice handed you a cigarette from his pack and lit it for you, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth the whole time. You shared a few moments of quiet, the only noise being the music drifting out from inside the clubhouse.

“So,” you looked over at him, “I gotta ask, how does a boy from Queens end up in a motorcycle club in fucking Charming?”

He laughed and shook his head, “A long string of questionable decisions,” he paused and took a drag from his cigarette and shrugged, “Was looking for some place to belong, and this fit the bill.”

You chuckled, “One of these days you’ll have to give me all the fun details of that. I missed out on a lot around here, apparently.”

“Apparently,” he smiled, “Where’d you run off to, anyway?”

You scoffed, shaking your head, “Doesn’t really matter, does it? Still ended up right back here.”

“How’d that happen?” he seemed genuinely interested.

You searched his face, trying to figure out how much you were willing to divulge. There were a lot of things that you weren’t ready to face yet, “I don’t think that anyone ever really gets out of Charming once they’re here,” you took a drag, praying for a shift in conversation.

He felt the coldness that was appearing to show in your tone. He let it drop, for now. He waited for you to meet his eyes and he smiled, “Well, if that’s the case, and you won’t be leaving any time soon, does that mean you’d be free for a drink sometime?”

The question stopped the downward spiral your brain was beginning to take you on. You looked over at him, trying to gauge just how serious he was with his inquiry. You weren’t in the mood to be anyone’s play-thing. You were more than just something to help pass the time.

“Maybe.”

He smiled, leaning his elbows onto the table, “Tomorrow?”

You laughed, “You don’t waste any time, do you?”

He shrugged, “Why wait?”

You sighed, feeling the persistence emanating from him. You let a small smile cross your face, “I’d be more than willing to get a drink with a friend tomorrow,” you looked at him, “I’m in no mood to get jerked around, Juice.”

You wondered if that grin was permanently etched into his features, “A drink with a friend sounds good.”

You drummed your fingers on the surface of the table, “I get off work at 5:30 tomorrow.”

“I know.”

You laughed, nodding, “Yea, that’s true.”

“Can I ask for your number? As a friend?”

Something about his smile was contagious, “Yea, as a friend,” you held your hand out for him to give you his phone, which he did gladly.  You handed it back when you were done, “I don’t want to be getting any late-night bail calls, okay?”

Before he could respond, Jax appeared behind you, resting his hand on your shoulder, “Thought you bailed without saying goodbye,” he laughed.

You looked up at him with a smile, “Nah, just getting some fresh air,” you stood up with a sigh, “Now that you mention it though I think I’m gonna head out,” you hugged him, “Tell Ope I said goodbye?”

He nodded, “Sure thing. See you at home.”

You walked around and rested your hand on Juice’s shoulder, giving it a light squeeze, “See you tomorrow.”

Jax looked at Juice expectantly as he watched you walk away. He chuckled, lighting his own cigarette, “She’s gonna see you tomorrow?”

“Yea,” Juice shrugged, trying to contain his grin, “we all work together, right?”

“Right,” there was a hint of amusement in Jax’s voice, “Just be careful, Juicy Pants.”

If you had asked Juice, the next day seemed to drag on endlessly. Each time he’d walk across the compound he’d catch a glance of you in the office, and he instantly got the jitters. Five-thirty felt like it was forever away. A couple different times he caught a smack to the back of the head from one of the guys, telling him to focus or he wouldn’t be going anywhere with anyone anytime soon. You pretended not to notice the way that he’d linger for a few extra moments when he came to drop off paperwork for Gemma.

At five-thirty-one Juice came striding into the office, already changed out of his T-M shirt and into a regular t-shirt along with his kutte. You couldn’t help but to laugh as he leaned onto the desk, eyes alight with excitement.

���Come here often?” he said with a laugh.

You rolled your eyes, trying to suppress the laugh that was creeping up inside you, “Well, considering I work here? Yes.”

“Still up for a drink?”

You nodded, “Yea, sure. Just gotta finish filing a few things.”

You were expecting him to leave to wait, but he sat back in his chair contentedly. You chuckled to yourself as you wrapped up the last few things that you had to do for the day. When you started to gather up your purse and keys, Juice shot up out of his chair.

“You ready?”

You laughed, nodding, “Yea, are you?”

When the two of you walked out of the office, you turned to walk to the clubhouse, assuming that that’s where you were going to be grabbing your drink. But Juice reached out and lightly put his hand on your arm to stop you. You looked at him, a confused expression on your face.

He nodded towards his bike, “You up for a ride?”

You chuckled, nodding, “Sure. Where to?”

He shrugged, “Nowhere fancy,” he handed you his helmet, “Remember how this goes?”

You laughed, “Just worry about driving, Juice.”

You hopped on the bike behind him, wrapping your arms around his waist. It had been a while since you rode on a bike, but it felt like home. You missed it. You leaned into him, resting your head against his shoulder. He peeled out of the lot and you laughed as he sped down the street. Your heart was racing inside your chest, and for a few minutes you felt like a teenager again. You felt light as you wrapped your arms tighter around Juice’s middle.

He slowed down and pulled up against the sidewalk. You looked around, trying to figure out where exactly he was taking you. You had expected him to pull up to a bar, but there were none in sight. You let him help you off the bike and onto the sidewalk, looking around for a few more seconds before finally caving and asking where you were going.

“I thought we were going out for a drink?”

He smiled, “Yea, but we never specified what kind of drink,” he motioned for you to follow him and as you continued down the block you couldn’t help but to laugh. He proudly gestured towards the ice cream shop, “Best milkshakes in Charming!”

“Is the dairy competition fierce here?” you laughed as he held the door open for you and let you walk through first.

The two of you ordered at the counter and Juice told you to go grab a booth while he waited for your drinks. You had to admit that the entire outing caught you by surprise. It was a nice change of pace, and you could tell that Juice was incredibly proud of himself for thinking of it. He stuck out in the small shop because of his kutte and tattoos, but that almost made you love it more.

He sat down across from you and slid your drink over to you. You couldn’t help but to laugh as you took a sip through the straw, “I gotta admit, this is not what I was expecting.”

He smiled as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table, “Good. I know being at the clubhouse can feel like…a lot.”

You smirked, “I didn’t expect to hear that from someone who’s actually in the club.”

He laughed, “I’m half the reason it can be a lot,” he paused, his expression getting a little more serious as he toyed with the straw in his drink, “But I could tell even last night that it was a bit much for you.”

“Oh could you?” you were trying to casually play it off but you did feel oddly seen as you sat across from him.

“Just had a feeling,” he said with a slight shrug.

You could see it in his eyes that he had a million questions that he wanted to ask you. You saw it, and you were ready to try and maneuver around each one if necessary. But, despite all of your preparation for conversational gymnastics, Juice actually asked you very few questions about you and your life. Your body was tense as you waited for them to come, but they didn’t. Instead, he told you stories of what had been happening with the guys and with Charming in the past few years. It was interesting, and comical for sure.

Juice knew exactly what he was doing. Despite the fact that he had so many questions to ask you, so many things that he wanted to know about you, he stopped himself. He saw the way you clammed up the night before and he knew that bombarding you with questions wasn’t going to make you want to let him in. So, he did what he considered to be the only alternative, and that was to let you in. He hoped that if he was open and honest with you that someday down the road you would be comfortable enough to return the favor. The longer he sat across from you and looked at you, the more he realized that he would tell you just about anything if you asked.

You lost track of how long the two of you had been sitting there. Your cups had been empty for a while and neither of you seemed to care, too wrapped up in conversation to notice. You only realized it when you caught the street lamps outside turning on. You turned and looked out the main windows, chuckling as you saw how it was now dark out.

“Sorry I took up your whole evening,” you said as you toyed with the cup in your hands.

“Don’t be sorry,” his response was quick, “This was…really nice. Thank you for coming with me.”

“Thanks for the milkshake,” you laughed.

On the ride back to T-M you felt like you were melting into Juice. He was fighting to stay focused on the road, but the warmth that was seeping from your body into his was hard to ignore. Your arms rested around his waist and all Juice could think about was that he never wanted you to let go. The ride back to the shop wasn’t nearly long enough.

You hopped off his bike once he stopped in the lot, handing him back his helmet with a smile, “Thanks for the ride.”

He smiled, “Any time.”

“You’re alright, Juan Carlos.”

He laughed, trying to hide the fact that hearing you say his name like that made his heart skip a few beats, “Thanks for the thrilling endorsement,” he paused, wanting to choose his words carefully, “If you ever want to do this again, lemme know.”

You smiled and nodded, “I will,” you stepped in and gave him a quick hug before heading to your car. Juice couldn’t help but to stare at you as you sauntered away.

You walked into the house and were met with silence. You let out a sigh as you toed off your shoes and headed back towards your temporary room. Just before you crossed the threshold, you heard Jax’s voice call out to you from down the hall.

You poked your head into his room to see him sprawled on his bed with the TV on, “What’s up?”

“How was your date with Juice?” he chuckled.

You rolled your eyes, “Wasn’t a date.”

“How was your platonic outing with Juice?”

You smiled, “It was fine. He seems nice. Had an awful lot to say about you boys and your antics.”

“Did he mention that he was the leader of nearly all of those antics?”

You chuckled, “It might’ve come up, yea.”

“Nice to see you makin’ friends, Y/N,” he looked over at you, “Maybe it’ll give you an extra reason to stick around this time.”

You shook your head, choosing not to respond to the comment, “Goodnight, Jackson.”

He laughed, “Goodnight.”

[hogarthwrites]

house sitting for two chapter 17

chapters:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 16 pairing: Sam Drake/Reader (m/f) genre: smut, slow romance, mutual pining warnings: graphic sex, alcohol words: 2,901 summary: You're unsure about dating someone else and it makes you guilty about still being in love. You make your mind up when you run into a certain someone one night.

Sam and Sully had gone to Las Vegas. “Just because,” Sam reasoned. He needed to forget how empty he felt whenever it was nighttime and he was lonely in bed.

Instead, he and Sully gambled, outsmarting each other in their own games. At the end of the night, Sam would go to the nearest bar to drink. That’s where he was reunited with Victoria, an old flame he had just before Panama.

Victoria – or Vix – as he called her, was a nice enough woman. She was as loud as he remembered her and he genuinely did have fun with her, and there was an understanding between them: it was just sex.

He'd take her to his RV every night, and every single time he fucked her, he thought of you. As he dug his fingers into the soft skin of her hips, he closed his eyes, imagining you, drowning out the sounds of her moans. He couldn't understand how he became so attached to you but no other person.

It was then the telephone started ringing. Sam sighed, considering his options. He wasn't close yet and he wasn't in a hurry so he got up and hobbled to the phone.

“Yeah?” Sam leaned against the wall, expecting it to be Sully calling from his five-star hotel room, but there was no response.

“Come on, Sam, don't keep me waiting,” Victoria whined. “I was so close.”

“Just a second,” he turned away from her. “Hello? Hello?”

The line cut out, leaving Sam confused. Must've been a wrong number.

He drove Sully back to California the next day, feeling a little sad about being back in Paso Robles. It didn't stop him from looking around as he drove, hoping to get a glance of you – that is, if you stayed in the area.

“I've gotta say that was the first Vegas trip I've been on where I haven't made any life altering decisions,” Sully mused. “Hell, that was the mildest experience I've had.”

“Jeez, Victor, sorry I made it lame,” Sam joked. Deep down they knew they were too old to get shit faced drunk and make horrible decisions just after a few nights in Las Vegas.

“Ah, maybe next time,” Sully picked up his bags as Sam parked in front of his mid-century style home. “What's next for Samuel Drake?”

“Uh,” Sam thought. “Gonna visit a special lady named Irene, then hopefully my business partner can find another job for us.”

“Oh, Irene,” Sully chuckled.

“Ah, so you know her,” Sam smiled.

“The ‘70’s were a wild time, Sam,” Sully winked, confirming yours and Sam’s suspicions.

“Well, good for you, Victor. She's still single, just so you know.”

“Right,” Sully laughed. “Hey, maybe you should go up to Los Angeles, just see the sights. Weather’s nice this time of the year.”

Huh , Sam thought to himself. He hasn't been in LA in years. It won't hurt to stop by.

“Sure, Victor. I'll send you a postcard.”

“There's an open house this weekend,” Stephen said over the phone. “I hope you understand.”

“Yeah, I'm totally cool with it.” You lay in the hammock of your backyard, smoking a cigarette and mindlessly scrolled through social media. Sam was always on your Instagram, giving you just a glimmer of hope.

“I'll call as much as I can. I love you.”

You paused, chewing on you lip. “I'll see you soon, Steve.”

You felt the tiniest pang of guilt as you felt a bit of relief to be away from Stephen for two weeks. As much as you tried, you couldn't love him. Sam was still in your mind and everytime you had sex with Stephen, you thought about Sam. It just didn't feel as good.

It didn't stop you from being racked with guilt. You didn't want to be with Stephen, but you didn't want to be lonely.

I'm a horrible person and I had the audacity to call Sam a selfish bastard, you let out an angry puff of smoke. Maybe we are a lot more alike than I thought.

You groaned as you slid off the hammock hanging on your back porch and padded your way into your kitchen to get a drink. The silence was overwhelming while you poured yourself a glass of orange juice.

You retired to your room and climbed into your cold, empty bed. You hated the silence. You missed Sam’s voice as he talked on and on about something that excited him.

You read and reread the letter he wrote you in the hospital. It was short but it was enough to make you miss him every time.

I'm sorry. No one's ever done anything like that for me and I feel horrible. Please get better. I'll make you pancakes like I promised long ago.

I love you,

Sam

The landline phone caught your attention. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to hear his voice just for a bit.

You hastily got up and walked to the phone, mind racing as you picked up the receiver. You assured yourself it was fine and that Sam never had a caller ID.

Here goes, you held your breath as you dialed his number, dreading the ringing tones.

It kept ringing and you were scared it'll go to voicemail, but after a while, Sam finally picked up.

“Yeah?” He was out of breath.

Just that one word made your heart leap. You opened your mouth to say something when you heard someone in the background.

“Come on, Sam, don't keep me waiting,” a woman said in a sultry voice. “I was so close.”

“Just a second,” Sam called out. “Hello? Hello?”

You hung up. That was a terrible idea.

Irene was overjoyed to see Sam, peppering his face in kisses.

“Oh, you've grown so tall!” She joked. “It's so nice to see you, Sam.”

“You know I can't stay away from my favourite weed lady,” he chuckled.

“Are you staying long?”

“Nah, just dropping by to say ‘hi’.”

“Well ‘hi’ to you too,” she smiled.

She gave him a pan of banana bread (and some weed) before he left, asking if he ever got to see you. He wished he did.

You lay on the floor of your living room, music blasting on the stereo as you had a pity party. You had to end things with Stephen as the guilt was becoming too much for you to bear.

You had put the ring back on, staring at it as you held your hand up. You needed a drink.

The fluorescent lights of the store were a little too bright for you and you trudged to the fridge, ignoring the guy manning the cashier.

“You look like shit again,” he remarked.

“‘Kay, thanks for the input, Troy,” you muttered. Asshole.

You grabbed a few bottles of beer, hugging them to your chest. Just another Friday night.

“Sorry, I need a pack of cigarettes… Or two,” you heard a familiar voice. You peeked behind a shelf of condoms.

It was Sam. What the hell is he doing in LA and in this particular store too?

Fuck. You began to panic, glancing down at yourself. The grey sweatpants and your stained DIY shirt you painted years ago wasn’t the most flattering outfit and it didn't help that your hair was a mess.

You wanted him to just go, but through your panicked state, you dropped one of the bottles in your arms, catching Sam’s attention.

“Y/N?” He looked at you curiously.

“Heyy, Sam,” you sheepishly stepped away from the mess on the floor.

“Clean up on aisle two,” Troy mumbled, grabbing the broom and a mop.

“Sorry, I'll pay for that,” you tiptoed past him.

“No, I'll pay for it,” Sam looked at you, a smile tugging at the corner of his lip. Your heart leaped when you met his gentle eyes. “That's a lot of bottles.”

“TGIF, right?” You awkwardly laughed. Idiot.

“Can't argue with that,” Sam smiled.

Troy totalled up yours and Sam’s purchases after a lot of whining. Sam helped you carry your bottles of beer.

“Where ya heading?” He asked.

“Home. It's not too far from here.”

“Come on, I'll give you a lift,” he nudged you.

“No, it's fine,” you shook your head.

“You don't wanna see my snazzy new tiny home?”

“Tiny home,” you chuckled. “Yeah, sure I'd love to see it.”

Sam had a nice little RV with his motorcycle secured on it. It wasn't too fancy inside; his books were neatly organised on a small shelf by the sofa/dining area, the plants you left him on a box by the window, and a large bed in the back with just a curtain for privacy.

“Wow,” you looked around. “What made you wanna get an RV?”

“Eh, just wanted to be able to move around easier,” he shrugged as he sat in the driver's seat. “It's not permanent, but it's been alright so far.”

You took the seat next to him, fastening your seatbelt.

“Where to?” Sam asked.

“Its just a few blocks away. Go west.”

It was supposed to be a short drive, but it felt longer to you. You didn't know what to say and neither did Sam, just Spandau Ballet softly playing on the radio filling in the silence.

“So,” Sam cleared his throat. “LA… Why? You planning on being in Hollywood?”

You shrugged. “I've always lived in smaller towns, I thought a bigger city might be an experience.”

“Right,” he nodded. “Do you like it?”

“It's been alright,” you shrugged again. “I haven't gotten around to exploring as much. Oh, it's just here.”

You pointed at the one-story Spanish revival house you've been staying in. Sam parked in front and you picked up your paper bag, heavy with the bottles.

“Let me help you with that,” Sam reached out, his hand touching your arm. It was enough to make you feel hot all over.

He locked eyes with you and for a moment, you thought he was leaning in to kiss you. You instinctively closed your eyes, waiting, but nothing happened.

When you opened your eyes, Sam was holding the paper bag and walking towards the door.

Oh, you were disappointed. What was I expecting?

He walked you to the door, his eyes on you the entire time.

“I missed you,” he said, making your heart leap again.

“Sam,” you looked up at him as you reached your door.

“Sorry,” he sighed. “I just… Couldn't get you out of my mind in months, I had to say it.”

“I missed you too,” you softly said.

This time, you felt his lips on yours, and you instinctively kissed him back. There were butterflies in your stomach, but the moment didn't last.

Sam stepped back, his face a little flushed. You felt your cheeks heat up as well.

He held out the paper bag to you. “Um, good night.”

“Good night…” You whispered as he turned to go back to his RV. “Sam, wait–”

He looked back, and you walked towards him.

“You can park in my driveway for the night… Or however long you're going to stay here.”

“I don't want to be a burden–”

“What? Sam, it's me. I…” You bit your lip. “I want you here. Maybe we can hang out.”

“Okay,” he smiled.

You took a deep breath as you closed your door behind you, your heart still racing. Sam kissed you and for the first time in months, you felt… Happy?

You placed the bottles in your fridge, no longer interested in drinking them, then changed into cleaner clothes for bed. You peeked out your window and saw the lights were still on in his RV.

You wanted to go to him, to kiss him more, to hold him again, but you thought of Stephen. True, he wasn't your boyfriend officially, but he trusted you. But still…

You found yourself in front of Sam’s door, and as you were about to knock, Sam opened the door.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi.”

You stood, staring at each other as if you both couldn't believe it. Sam pulled you into his arms, and you kissed him, wrapping your legs around his waist as he carried you in, closing the door behind him with his foot.

He sat you on the table, his hands sliding down to your ass.

“I missed you,” he whispered, his lips moving down to your neck.

You sighed as he left cool kisses on the hot skin of your neck. He pulled you close and you wrapped your legs around his waist again.

“Sam,” you whispered as he began lifting your shirt.

“What–what is it?” He rested his forehead on yours.

“Should we be doing this?” You asked, trailing your finger down his chest.

Sam kissed you. “I don't know, but it feels so right.”

Your shirt and your shorts were discarded somewhere around his RV and Sam had your legs over his shoulders as he kneeled in front of the table. He gave your clit a few licks, his eyes on yours the entire time.

“God, I missed this view,” you ran your fingers through his hair.

“What, your new boyfriend doesn't eat you out?” He gave you a smug smirk.

“He’s not my boyf–”

Sam continued licking your clit, closing his eyes as he pushed his face further against your pussy. It was getting too much for you and you tugged at his hair.

“More, Sam, more,” you moaned.

You felt him smile against you as he began sucking on your clit softly, switching between sucking and licking. You bucked your hips against him but he held you down.

Sam gave a satisfied hum as you came, your thighs squeezing his head.

“How was that?” He stood up, leaning over you on the table. It was then you noticed that he was still fully dressed, but the tent in his grey sweatpants was hard to ignore.

“I think I've been missing out on Samuel Drake,” you chuckled.

He pulled you up and carried you to the bed bridal style.

“Wait, Sam,” you sat up as he climbed over you.

“What?”

“I've been having sex.”

He blinked at you. “So?”

“And you have too, I assume?”

“Yeah,” he shrugged. “So?”

You pushed him away. “So put a condom on.”

Sam gave you an amused smile. “You know you're the only person I've never had safe sex with.”

“Good to know,” you stuck your tongue out. “But put one on.”

“Okay, okay,” he laughed, standing up.

Sam held the condom up before climbing on top of you to kiss you. “Happy?”

You took off his shirt and he climbed out of his sweatpants, cock glistening with precum. It was enough to get you wet.

He ripped the condom packet open and slipped it on with ease. Sam gave you soft, sweet kisses as he began pushing inside you.

You both gasped at the sensation, Sam had his lip pinned between his teeth as he pushed deep inside you. He began to thrust slowly and gently cupping your cheek.

“Harder,” you whispered, desperate for more.

Sam groaned as he began pounding into you, his hands sliding up your body to cup your breasts. He kissed you hard as he collapsed on top of you, rolling over so you were on top of him.

“I wanna see you,” he said, moving your hips against his. “I wanna see you fucking me.”

You placed your hands against the headboard, bouncing on his cock. You moaned out his name loudly; something you've been wanting to do for months. It felt so good to finally have him under you and all you wanted was to make him feel good, to make up for all the lost time.

Sam pulled you in to kiss you, wrapping his arms around your waist.

“I missed you too,” you sighed between kisses.

“I forgot how good you feel,” he kissed your neck.

His hands slid down to your ass, spreading then as he rammed his hips up against yours. You grabbed at the pillow at his head, crying out loud. His finger dipped into your asshole and you moaned out.

The dual sensation was enough to make you cum, and Sam wasn’t far behind. He kissed you hard as he came, holding you close.

You were breathless as you rolled off him and he took the condom off, dunking it into the trash.

The bed dipped as he climbed back in, lying on his back next to you.

“Wanna see something cool?” Sam smiled.

He pressed a button and the rather large sunroof opened up, letting in more of the moonlight and the dim streetlights.

“Oh, that is cool,” you grinned. “Why didn't you show me before we fucked?”

“I don't think your neighbours would be too happy seeing us fornicate if they happened to look out the window.”

“You think they can really see us?”

Sam shrugged, putting an arm under his head and stared up at the sky with you.

“Do you wanna go out tomorrow?” You asked.

“Are you gonna give me the Grand Los Angeles tour?”

“Honestly, I haven't even toured it myself,” you sheepishly said. “It hasn't really felt like home.”

“Well,” Sam looked up in thought. “Maybe we can start with Santa Monica? I believe it isn't too far from here.”

“Okay,” you took his hand in yours.

[yehet-me-up]

Fractions of Tomorrow

Pairing: Zitao/Reader (female)

Word Count: 10,249

Rating/Warnings: PG13

Summary: They always say opposites attract but you and Tao are putting that theory to the test. He works nights at Flanagan’s, you work the crack of dawn shift at Starbucks. He wears leather jackets, sings in a rock band, and drives a motorcycle. You prefer Keds to Chucks, study poetry at UW, and ride a pastel purple bike across town. Luckily, he’s not someone who’s afraid of a challenge.

When Baekhyun dares you and Tao to test the idea that two people can fall in love in one night you don’t expect to care so much, so fast. And when the sun rises all you can hope is that he feels the same.

Part seven of the Exodus Mall series (Can be read independently, but you’ll get some extra backstory if you read the other parts first!)

February 28, 1997

His head aches, body still reeling from the alcohol he drank far too much of the night before. The line at Starbucks is endlessly long and he groans. If he was responsible he’d go to the grocery across the street and get a decent breakfast. But his brain needs a substitute for the gin he was coerced into last night by his friends and it will only accept caffeine as an offering. 

A saccharine song pours in from the speakers and people around him clear their throats or rustle in their pockets and the sheer noise of the morning grates against him. He’s a creature of the night; he finds other humans far more tolerable without the sun beating down on him. Only desperation pulled him from his hangover to acquire the nectar of the gods. He taps his foot and shrugs his jacket further up his body, hoping the collar will keep the bright light pouring in from the tall windows from reaching him. 

A sweet voice breaks through the din and he turns to watch you, drawn by the warmth of the sound. It’s not his first time here, but it’s his first time paying attention. In the thriving ecosystem of the Exodus Mall everyone’s a friend of a friend of a cousin of someone and he distantly remembers you’re related to one of Baekhyun’s friends. 

Maybe it’s the way early mornings after late nights distort the world, making everything feel hazy like a dream. Maybe it’s the fact that he went home alone last night, yet again. Maybe it’s the bright, energetic shine in your eyes, astounding for the pre-eight-am time. Or maybe it’s the dimple in your cheek when you smile at the customer, writing his name on the cup and passing it to your co-workers. 

When the man moves aside and you turn your focus on Tao, for whatever reason, his intuition tells him to notice. Maybe it’s an illusion, but today feels different. You feel different. 

���Hi, welcome to Starbucks. What can I get you?’ 

He opens his mouth, unsure what to say. For a long beat he simply observes you. The little hearts drawn around your name on your name tag. He rolls it around in his mind, matching your face with the word, almost saying it aloud. A dangerous proposition. A door he should leave shut. 

Someone coughs behind him and he shakes his head, stepping forward. ‘Just a big Americano please. As big as possible.’ His voice is thick and his throat dry. One day he’ll remember to drink a glass of water before bed after getting drunk.

You nod, reaching to the stack of cups. ‘A grande?’

He swallows to wet his throat. ‘Sure.’ 

‘Name?’ 

With a deep inhale he smells last night’s cologne still clinging to his skin. God he needs to get his shit together, he thinks with a sigh. His general state of dishevelment is even more noticeable next to you. He wonders if you ironed the collar of your shirt to be that precise or if you simply move through the world without acquiring any wrinkles. 

‘Zitao,’ he says finally. 

‘Cute.’ You say it under your breath but he still hears. His eyes go wide, his sluggish mind coming awake. After handing the cup to your co-worker you say the total. ‘That’ll be four oh two please.’

Automatically he reaches into his pocket for his wallet and pulls out the five dollar bill. He knows he’s staring like an idiot but he can’t help it. You hand him his change and on reflex he drops it into the tip jar. Service industry solidarity, he thinks with a half-smile.

The smile on your face blossoms; tentative at first, it grows when his eyes meet yours again. ‘Thank you!’ You pull a small coffee can out from beside the register and hold it out to him. ‘Anyone who tips gets a poem.’ 

He stares at the can and the slips of paper neatly folded within. Amusement fills him and he reaches for one at random, his fingers brushing yours as he pulls back. The sensation makes him want to linger. How long has it been since he touched someone, in the daylight? Since he wanted to hold and be held? Tao tells himself it doesn’t matter. It can’t. He’s got plans to leave Seattle and he doesn’t need anything tethering him here.

Before he embarasses himself he slides the paper into his pocket with a nod and moves on down the line. As he waits for his drink he keeps his focus on you. The efficiency of your motions and the genuine happiness on your face as you take order after order on the busy Friday morning. People come and go around him but he leans against the wall, waiting, thinking. 

Finally his drink is done and the cup spreads heat along his chilled palms. The world is too sharp and demanding and the thought of a day full of errands on too little sleep followed by a full shift at the bar drags at him. But the smell of coffee and your smile and the mystery poem in his pocket are life preservers thrown to him today. He clings to them with both hands to keep himself afloat. 

On his way out he finally reads the poem you’ve gifted to him. The writing is done with small, neat lettering and he knows it’s yours. 

There is a candle in your heart, ready to be kindled.

There is a void in your soul, ready to be filled.

You feel it, don’t you?

- Rumi

With a groan he pushes out the door with his shoulder, blinking on the too-bright sidewalk. It’s too early to feel so raw and exposed, he decides. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday July 18, 1997

You trail into Flanagan’s Pub after Baekhyun and your sister, Hitchcock. It’s not her real name, but she’s had the nickname so long it might as well be. As always, they argue about movies. As always, you’re the third wheel. Not that they’re actually dating. But everyone agrees they should. 

‘Come on, it was brilliant.’ Baekhyun waves his hands dramatically as you wind your way around the crowded bar after them. 

‘I’m not saying it wasn’t,’ she responds. They slide into a booth opposite each other and you follow after your sister. ‘All I’m saying is it’s unrealistic, that’s all.’

Baekhyun scoffs, offended. ‘As if realism was the point here.’ You unfold the drink menu while he carries on, undeterred. ‘I know you’re not a hopeless romantic like myself, but are you honestly telling me that you don’t think it’s possible?’ 

Tonight’s Friday-movie-night tradition was your first viewing of The Fifth Element and Korben and Leeloo’s instant connection has revived their years-long argument about love at first sight. You roll your eyes when your sister shakes her head, leaning forward to tease him. She’s told you about her crush on Baekhyun, her best friend. For someone who’s been in love for as long as you can remember she fights awfully hard against Baekhyun’s romantic nature. Methinks the lady doth protest too much…

‘Look at Before Sunrise,’ Baekhyun says with a click of his tongue. ‘One night and they fell in love.’

She hums and scans the menu. ‘So what? It’s just one night. Show me what happens ten years later. After they see each other with messy morning hair and when he leaves dishes in the sink or, I don’t know, when she bites her nails.’ Baekhyun huffs and she smothers a laugh. ‘Let’s see how that instant love does after it’s put to the test. I’m not saying it isn’t possible, I’m just saying one night doesn’t mean it will stand the test of time, that’s all.’ She folds her menu and rests her elbows on the table, looking incredibly smug. 

Baekhyun opens his mouth to argue but the server arrives and interrupts his tirade. ‘What can I get for you?’ 

The gravelly voice is familiar and your eyes widen in surprise when you see Tao towering over the table. Quickly you look away, back to the dark wood table. 

You’ve noticed him before - at Starbucks, at parties at Baek’s from a distance, at Moe’s ages ago - but tonight he’s so cleaned up you hardly recognize him. Gone are the bags under his eyes and the nervous, jittery, curmudgeon energy that seemed to hang over him like a dark cloud. Tonight his eyes are alert and crinkle at the corner when he smiles broadly and you can’t help but notice. A very bad idea. 

‘Hey man, how’s it going?’ Baekhyun reaches out and does a complex handshake with the man before you. 

‘Oh, you know. Just working at the salt mines,’ Tao says with a laugh. ‘Are you coming to Chan and Soo’s party tomorrow night?’ 

‘You know it. I wouldn’t miss your big send off. My man here is taking off on a national tour on Sunday. Local boy making it big!’ Baekhyun gives Tao a friendly punch on the arm before drumming his fingers on the table and raising a brow. ‘Since you’re here, maybe you can settle an argument for us.’ 

Tao darts a look to you and clears his throat. ‘Sure thing. Lay it on me.’

‘Do you believe you can fall in love with someone in one night?’ Baekhyun waggles his brows at your sister and she groans. ‘Like, soulmates burning-down-the world you’re the person I’ve waited for always Blockbuster kind of love.’ 

He tilts his head to the side, considering. After a moment he shrugs. ‘I’m not sure.’ For a flash Tao’s eyes linger on you once more. ‘I think it would depend on the person.’ And then the bastard goes and winks at you. 

Baekhyun snorts and lounges back in the booth, resting his arm on the back of the seat. 'Good luck, buddy. You'd have better luck charming a brick wall. She only reads about love these days, Double Shot here is a bit gun-shy at putting it into practice again.’

You glare at Baekhyun, body going rigid at being called out. For as long as he's been your sister's best friend he's acted like a surrogate older brother to you. He vacillates between telling you it’s good you’re so focused on your studies and telling you that you're too serious, too focused on school and work. Since you got broken up with Baekhyun seems focused on the latter, always needling you to go out and have fun. But, as they say, once burned twice shy. 

You focus intently on your hands resting on the table and absolutely avoid looking at Tao. From the first time you rang him up at Starbucks you knew his gaze would see more than you'd like. He's the type to see through every bullshit line you give about how you’re fine being alone, fine with how things ended, fine fine fine. 

If life was kind the three of you would order and Tao would leave and that would be the end of it. You could safely stay in your cocoon and hide. But of course, life doesn't play fair. 

Tao sticks the pen behind his ear and folds his arms. ‘Is that a bet?’

Your cheeks warm and your heart races. Finally, you look up to him fully. 'Excuse me?' 

He shrugs and gives you a lopsided smile. 'If you're game, of course. What do you say, shall we put this to the test?' 

'You want to see if we'd fall in love in a night?' You're certain you look like a terrified animal. In a vain attempt to fold yourself back into someone confident you lean against the booth, pressing your feet to the ground and making your spine tall and straight. 'What makes you think you're even my type?'

‘Sweetheart, I’m everyone’s type.’ 

God knows he probably is. Tall, handsome bad boy who sings like an angel, drives a stupidly hot motorcycle, and looks like he knows the fastest way to make you come undone with just a look. But charming is only skin deep and in return you want to see if there’s anything underneath it that would keep your interest. 

‘Fine, then.’ You hold out your hand. ‘I’ll take your bet.’ Stubborn, always so stubborn. Baekhyun giggles and claps excitedly as you grip Tao’s rough, much larger hand.  

Your sister leans across you to stare Tao down. 'Hang on. I'm not about to let her go off with some random dude. How do we know you're trustworthy?' Hitchcock has turned her interrogation mode on. ‘I’ve seen you around, but I don’t know you from Bruce Willis.’

He must have other tables to attend to, other things to do, but he rests his palms on the table and leans down to meet her glare. 'I'm an open book. Ask me anything.' The move brings him inches from you. He smells like whisky, the kind that burns, and you swallow instinctively in response. 

She narrows her eyes and hums. 'How old are you?' 

'Twenty three.' 

'Did you go to school?' 

He chuckles. 'High school. No need for college.'

'Why not?' You speak up, preparing for an argument. He looks like he could actually keep up with you and a spark of excitement grows low in your body.

'Between singing and bartending I make plenty of money.’ He answers you, not your sister. ‘Don't get me wrong, I respect an education. But I get far more inspiration from living life than from just reading about it.' 

You bristle. As a poetry major this feels like a personal attack. ‘Are you telling me you’ve never read anything that made you feel - I don’t know - inspired. Magical. Exposed?' You press your lips together, wishing you could gather the words back. 

Tao looks at you through his lashes, bending close enough that you can feel his breath on your lips when he speaks. ‘Words are just the appetizer, darling. I prefer to have an entire feast.’ 

His dancing eyes dart down to your lips. But then he straightens, pulling the pen out and readying it on the pad. You grip the table to avoid swaying towards him and almost hate him for how much of a magnetic pull he seems to have over you. 'Any other questions or can I grab your orders?'

Baekhyun orders a Smirnoff Ice, delight pouring off him. Your sister narrows her eyes at Tao for a moment. Finally, she relents and orders a sex on the beach. You stare at the red plaid shirt tied around Tao’s hips and order something. An Appletini maybe? Your mind seems to have abandoned you but thankfully Tao nods and winds his way back through the crowd to the bar. In his absence you can breathe fully and look up to see Baekhyun smirking. 

‘What?’ you practically groan at him. 

‘Oh, nothing.’ He looks like the cat that caught the canary. ‘I just love being right.’ 

Hitchcock kicks him under the table and he winces, reaching for his shin. They resume their discussion, transitioning to talking about their opening shifts at the theater tomorrow and how much they can reasonably drink tonight and still be functional in the morning. You drum your nails on the lacquered wood table and wonder if your heart is racing from the heat of the packed bar or from the prospect of Tao holding you to your bargain. 

The man himself comes back with drinks a moment later. When he slides the light green concoction across the table to you he tilts his head in question. ‘So, how about tonight?’ 

You choke on your sip and fight the burn in your throat. ‘Are you serious? So soon?’

He grins. ‘Why, did you want time to get ready? I think if we’re going to put it to the test it would have to be tonight. Also, I leave on Sunday morning, so the clock is ticking so to speak.’ 

‘But I work tomorrow at Starbucks. At the crack of dawn.’ You sputter, waving your hand in front of you. ‘I didn’t think you-’

‘Guess we should get started soon, then.' He winks again and you're tempted to throw your drink at him, just to get the upper hand. ‘I get off at nine.’ Without another word he puts the serving tray under his arm and leaves.

Your sister rolls her eyes. ‘You’re such a bad influence, Baek.’ 

He throws his arms out wide. ‘I can’t help it baby, I’m a lover. What can I say?’ 

She snorts and pats you on the back sympathetically. You down your drink in two swallows and absolutely refuse to look at Tao, Baekhyun, or your sister. Instead you pull some bills from your purse and push your way out of the bar before anyone can suggest anything else insane. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It takes you several tries to find a presentable outfit. It's been more than six months since that last fateful date and in the time between you’ve built a literal barrier around yourself, bundling up in sweaters and blankets at home, only emerging for work and class and Friday movie nights. 

Baekhyun's words come back to you as you frown and throw yet another outfit on the bed. Are you really a brick wall, impenetrable and cold? You weren't always, surely. Byron's 'and thus, the heart will break, yet brokenly live on' swims in your mind, still fresh from the finals you took just a few weeks ago. 

You don't feel broken, just stuck. Numb. Waiting. You hold a dress up to your body and wonder if your ex feels the same or if he, as the one who did the dumping, moved on instantly, and it's just the broken-up-with half that flails around trying to find new footing.

With an defiant press of your lips you sigh and settle on your favorite black and white checkered dress and white Keds. It’s a declaration of intent in a peter pan collar. Your ex always hated your clothes, what you chose to study, your music; everything about you screamed soft and he tried so hard to bend and form you into someone he wanted. 

But you are as you are - romantic and idealistic and sweet. You roll your eyes. It’s the truth, and you remind yourself that just because you didn’t match him doesn’t mean you have to change just to make someone else happy. The outfit screams innocence it dares Tao to judge you tonight. As if you care what he thinks. Which you definitely do not. 

You barely make it back in time to Flanagan’s. When you rush up Tao is pushing out of the bar onto the street. A thrill runs down your spine at his smile when he sees you. Your ex doesn't control you anymore, you remind yourself. You get to decide when you move on; when you stop mourning something that's dead and over and find something new. Even if it's not with Tao, tonight is an experiment. To see if you can handle a fresh start.

‘Hi,’ you start, breathless from your hurrying. 

'Hi yourself. You still game?' he asks, mischief in his eyes and hands in the pockets of his leather jacket. 'If you want an out I won't hold it against you.' He looks you up and down and smirks, but doesn’t comment on your appearance.

In return you scan him as well. His hair is mussed just-so and his earrings match too well to be an accident. He’s trying too, even if his devil-may-care attitude would make others think he’s not. Everyone has an image they present to the world, tonight you’ll find if there’s substance behind Tao’s.

You press your tongue between your teeth and tilt your head at him. 'I'm ready to be surprised.' 

He barks out a laugh. ‘Fair enough. I’ll see what I can do’ 

Tao starts to move towards you across the sidewalk, but you hold out a hand at the level of his chest, stopping his movement. 'So, love, huh? There's not some girlfriend or boyfriend of yours waiting for you at home?'

‘I belong only to myself. For now, at least.' He smiles and holds his arms out wide. His brows tug together suddenly. For a moment he looks unsure. Vulnerable. But the look is gone so fast you wonder if you imagined it. ‘What about you?’ 

You want to fold in on yourself and turn away, hiding. As if the stain of failure is written across your face. The words that were thrown your way like scarlet letters on your skin for him to see. Prude. Uptight. Tease. Your stomach churns and you’re glad you only had the one drink tonight. 

‘Single.’ You suck in a breath after you get the word out, like it stole all the air from your lungs in speaking it. 

He nods, holding your gaze for a moment. Those eyes of his drink you in and you’re sure he can see it - the hesitation and the fear. But once more he simply stands tall and gives you space to think. ‘Shall we head towards the waterfront?’ 

A public place, lively and full of people on a Friday night. Safe, reassuring. He didn’t suggest a club or somewhere heavy with expectation and you like him better for it. Tao waves an arm out in front of you, inviting you to go first and you start walking, clutching your purse under your arm. 

He falls into step beside you. 'So I guess if we're going big or going home, shall we start with our dating history?'

You should have expected this level of inquisition, especially from someone who is friends with Baekhyun. ‘Jesus, you don’t pull any punches.’ But against your will you let out a laugh. 

There’s something refreshing about someone who seems like, for all his mystery, he doesn’t hold any secrets. Everything out in the cool night air and you wonder if it would be freeing, to let it all go. To not question the words you say. To trust that the person you’re speaking them to will hold them without judgement.

‘Never have, never will,’ he reassures you. The cat-like grin on his lips is teasing. ‘That I can guarantee you. I’m happy to go first, if you’d like?’

You nod, and he sighs, looking through the clouds to the moon that peeks through. The streets are dry for once, a brief respite after the wet Seattle spring. Everyone around you takes in the night with gleeful laughter, on the search for music and connection and entertainment. But even with the full sidewalks around you all you feel compelled to do, inexplicably, is lean in closer to hear Tao. 

A group of women brush by you, giggling, forcing you into Tao to avoid them. On instinct he reaches out an arm to keep you both from being overrun. You turn into him and end up meeting his eyes. In the night they’re so dark they look almost black, with flashes of light from passing cars.

The moment stretches around you and irrationally you want to stop him before he says anything else. No stories of the people he’s been with or kissed or loved or wrote songs about. Maybe that’s the appeal of one night love stories, you think. The beginning of love is always a lightning bolt. If that’s all it ever is you never have to deal with being knocked on your ass by the resulting thunderstorm. 

The women pass and Tao respectfully brings his hand back to his pocket and time carries on. But the look on his face remains as you both start walking towards the Market again. 

‘I should say up front, I uhh - I guess that I’ve never been in a relationship. Actually.’ He runs a hand through his hair and winces like he’s ashamed of it. ‘I came close a few times. But it’s just never worked out.’ 

You open your mouth but aren’t sure what to say. Do you make fun of him for clearly being a playboy, not wanting to be tied down, fitting the stereotype of the rockstar he’s on a path to becoming? Do you play coy, asking him if you might fit the bill? Or do you reassure him? 

The latter feels the most natural. ‘You’re young. It’s the nineties. I don’t think it’s unusual to be playing the field right now.’ You lift a shoulder and shrug, the edge of your black denim jacket slipping down your back a bit with the motion. It exposes the skin of your collarbone above the strap of your dress, where your neck meets your chest. 

Tao licks his lips and drags his eyes away from your shoulder to meet yours with a nod. ‘That’s true. I guess most of my friends are single. Sehun is. Jongin is. Baekhyun is, for sure. Even if he is in love with your sister.’ Your jaw drops and Tao bites his lip. ‘Shit, I shouldn’t have said anything. Please don’t tell her I -’ 

He looks genuinely panicked and you laugh, waving a hand. ‘Trust me, she’s in love with him too. They’re both too stubborn to admit it though. So your secret is safe with me.’ 

Tao sighs, relaxing, and gives you a half smile. ‘Thank you, I appreciate that.’ The neon lights from the bars and clubs along Pike street pass over his face, painting him dozens of bright colors. ‘So, that’s my story. Too busy working and writing lyrics and singing to be tied down. What’s yours?’ 

‘That’s hardly a story,’ you challenge, raising a brow. ‘More like the cover of a book.’

‘It’s plenty!’ he laughs. ‘I’ve exposed myself as a perpetually single man. I think that tells you tons about me.’ At your pursed lips he continues. ‘Fine. I’ve been chasing music for so long that I have avoided getting serious with anyone, lest it keep me from my dreams of stardom. I crave that intensity between me and an audience when I sing, but I’m afraid to let myself have something real. Something intimate, that expects more of me past one performance. I’m afraid that off-stage I’m more disappointing than on et cetera et cetera.’ 

He cuts off his rambling monologue, his eyes widening as he stops in his tracks for a moment, like he can’t believe he just said so much. But you stand next to him without judgement. Something about his disarming honesty and expressiveness makes you want to tell him the truth, ugly that it might be. 

While you stand on the corner and wait for the light to change you look at the zipper of his leather jacket to avoid his eyes and spit it out. ‘I got dumped six months ago.’ You lift your hands and drop them uselessly to your side. 

He tilts his head back in appraisal. Blessedly the teasing is gone from his face. He doesn’t offer sympathy, cloying and patronizing words about how you’ll find someone else. He doesn’t flirt with you, even though that seems to be his nature. 

‘I don’t know the circumstances, and you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but all I can say is - it’s his loss.’ He gives you a slight smile, not moving even when the light changes, and you can’t help but return it. 

It’s strange that it could be so simple. Perhaps if you do carry on something with Tao you’ll tell him more. But for tonight it can be that easy. The pain and doubt and shame can fade into a pinprick of light heading off into the distance and get swallowed up by the night. Like you can just wipe the slate clean and start over. You inhale a deep breath of cool, salty air and look up at Tao, your smile growing, becoming more genuine and whole. 

A lightness fills you and you wind your arm through his, pulling him into the crosswalk just as the last few seconds show on the countdown. He lets you guide him easily and you come to rest on the concrete looking down at the Pike Place Market. The bright neon red sign reflects against the dark night and the inky blue waters of the Bay beyond it. In the twilight ships move back and forth through the port, full of tiny lights of their own. 

He drops his hand a little, running over the clothed skin of your arm until he reaches your palm. The contact of his hand on yours makes you jolt. ‘Is this okay?’

Without thinking you nod, twining your fingers with his, savoring the heat as he presses against you. Your ex hated holding hands in public, hated any kind of PDA, calling it childish. But Tao stands by your side, hand in hand, as though it’s the most natural thing in the world.

People mill about you, heading to the endless restaurants and food stands that line the Market. In summer it’s in full bloom, crowded every night, and after a long winter and spring holed up in your apartment it’s disorienting to be out in the world again.

You start walking together, without a plan. It’s far more comfortable than you’d expected, the companionable silence with him. Everyone in your life talks a mile a minute - Baekhyun and your sister, your co-workers at the busy coffee shop, your classmates, hungry for discussion - but Tao seems content to just hold your hand and admire the rows of vendors you pass. The lack of pressure from him eases something that had drawn tight and anxious in your chest over the last few months. 

Before you is a maze of stalls. Tables full of tulips in bright yellows and pinks, bouquets wrapped in brown paper, that you stop to smell. Screen printed tee shirts with the Sonics logo or photos of the Space Needle or trendy political puns that Tao points out with a laugh. People sell everything from watercolor paintings to homemade honey to snow globes. As a recent college grad, you’re saving all your money, but everything is still fascinating to look at. 

The two of you settle on a kebab place for dinner after a long debate about the merits of the taco cart and the hole-in-the-wall seafood stop. The steam brings the rich smell of meat and vegetables to you. Against your protests to split the bill, Tao insists on buying dinner. 

‘If this is an official date I have to follow the guidelines,’ he winks. 

You roll your eyes and defiantly go to the next stall to order two Jones sodas from the seller. When you hold them up he laughs and inclines his head. ‘Alright, that’s fair.’ 

When you’re settled on the narrow rock wall beyond the far edge of the market, balancing Jones sodas on the uneven stones with a warm kebab resting on your knees, he carries on. 

'So, poetry. What made you choose that?' He asks around a bite.

After a sip of soda you tilt your head at him. ‘You can't laugh, okay?'

'Why would I laugh?’ His brows furrow like it’s the furthest thing from his mind. ‘I'm a singer, sweetheart. I don't take the arts lightly and anyone who does is an asshole.' He narrows his eyes at you in mock seriousness but the way his mouth fights a smile is endearing.

You snort, liking him yet again without planning on it. ‘I don’t know. I’ve always loved it and sometimes I try to write it. I’ve had some job or another since high school, so I’m confident I can always get a job if I need it but - there’s something so - so delicious about poetry.’ You swallow another drink of your soda and Tao’s eyes flick to the motion of your throat. ‘If I was going to go to college, and our parents kind of insisted on it, I wanted to study something I loved.’

Tao lifts his own soda and clinks it to yours in solidarity. ‘I can respect that. What’s your favorite poem?’

Suddenly shy you turn to set your soda down on the stone beside you, letting your hair fall over your face while you think. It’s not that you don’t know, but that it feels too close, too personal to tell him just yet. ‘That’s very private.’

When you look back to him he holds your gaze for a moment. ‘Hmm. Okay I can respect that. Favorite songs are pretty personal too so I’ll let you hold onto it, for now.’ With a movement as casual as breathing he tucks your hair behind your ear, as though he does it twenty times day, and resumes his eating. 

Poems run through your head as you chew, heart racing. You’d thought this was an experiment that would quickly go south. A quick walk to prove that you’re not compatible. A smug ‘I told you so’ to Baekhyun. And then a return to the comfort of your bed to read for the night. You didn’t expect to want him. Words, endless remembered words filter across your consciousness, ones of love and lust and death and the exhilaration of life. 

Normally your own creative voice is quiet, too afraid to give permanence to the ideas, the words, that live inside you. But as you watch the gentle night breeze ruffle his dark hair you think you could write some tonight, if you had pen and paper. Instead you shove an enormous bite in your mouth and chew, afraid of the attraction you have to him. 

When you’re both done eating he holds his hand out for your trash and you wad up the wrapper and hand it to him along with the empty bottle. He walks over to the trash and dutifully puts the bottles in the recycle, like any good Seattle boy. Dusting off his hands he turns back towards you, approaching slowly and holding out his hands. 

After a moment’s hesitation you reach for him, allowing him to help you stand. Continuing the night’s adventure. When you’re on your feet he releases one of your hands, keeping the other one tucked in his as the two of you wind your way back through the crowds. Both of you stop to pat the bronze pig at the crux of the Market for good luck.

He leads the way down the narrow stairs to Post Alley and the line outside the comedy club at its base winds around in a long chain. It’s funny, normally you’d want to know The Plan. Baekhyun calls you anal retentive, but you just consider yourself organized. You like knowing what’s coming. But tonight you consent to following him without knowing the destination. You bite back a smile - it’s exciting and terrifying all at once.

A group of people tries to come up the stairs as you’re going down and you are pressed against the rail, trying not to slip. It definitely isn’t meant to be wide enough for both directions of people at the same time. As if sensing your predicament Tao presses his broad back into the rowdy man behind you, ignoring his grumbles of annoyance, making space so you can descend the last few steps onto the courtyard. 

Out front of the Market Theater you thank him and wonder what exactly his plan is. Is he taking you to an improv show? A concert? Drinks? With your hand still in his he gently moves to the left, under the archway and in front of the long gum wall. You raise a brow at him but he merely smiles and shrugs. 

‘I didn’t peg you for someone who likes tourist attractions.’ 

His eyes dance with amusement. ‘Oh yeah? What kind of person did you imagine me to be?’ 

You purse your lips and try to figure out how to answer him. ‘I’m not sure, actually. Normally I can read people pretty easily, but I can’t pin you down.’ 

‘Me?’ He presses his hand that holds yours to his chest. ‘Baby, I’m an open book.’

The gum wall around you smells sickly sweet and you can almost taste it on your tongue. Everyone around you is taking polaroids in front of the wall or chewing their own gum in preparation to add to it. 

You wonder what the two of you look like from an outsider’s perspective. Tao, tall and imposing with his thick motorcycle boots. You with your white Keds and sweet, checkered dress and headband. It might seem like you’re an odd couple, but the heartbeat in his chest against your hand is strong and underneath it all perhaps you’re not so different. 

With a breathy laugh and a roll of your eyes you grip his hand and pull him further along the alley beside the gum walls, towards the water. Nearby one of the many buskers permitted to perform along Pike Place starts signing a loud and heartfelt, if slightly off-key, rendition of ‘Sweet Caroline,’ drawing the cheers of the onlookers. 

Away from the crowd in Post Alley you emerge onto a side street a block or so from the water. Tilting your head back you watch as everyone sings along. Tao’s free arm suddenly comes around your waist and dramatically he starts swaying you back and forth, crooning along to the Neil Diamond song far better than the busker. A few other people on the street around you smile or laugh, making their way to the pier up ahead. 

Instead of asking him what on earth he’s doing or feeling embarrassed about dancing in the middle of the sidewalk you just cling to him and try to keep up. His voice is rich and soothing, his hand holding you against him is sturdy and comforting. You can’t help but giggle and roll with it, holding onto his jacket and watching his jaw move as he sings. 

All too soon the performance back at the Market behind you ends and the last lyrics are drowned out by applause. Tao takes a step back and the night is cold without his warm embrace. You long to step forward and close the distance once more. Instead you brush your hair back and compose yourself. 

‘What kind of music do you like to sing?’ you ask as the two of you resume your progress towards the pier. 

‘All kinds.’ He shrugs. ‘But mostly love songs.’ 

‘Really?’ The light before you changes and ahead the aquarium looms in the night. To your left is the Kingdome waits, past the long stretch of the boardwalk. Without waiting for Tao you head that direction, the briny ocean air filling your lungs. 

He easily comes to your side. ‘Of course. Everything’s about love I think, when you get down to it.’ 

‘You weren’t singing love songs when I saw you perform.’ 

You answer without thinking, remembering the concert a few months ago that you and your sister went to. Baekhyun had invited you both to see Chanyeol’s band - Yeol and the Salty Wolves - and Tao was performing with the opening group. 

‘You’ve seen me on stage?’ His proud grin is teasing and playful and damned if you don’t want to kiss him. 

‘Yeah. It - my sister dragged me out of the house. She thought getting outside would do me some good.’ You focus on picking off a section of your pink nail polish that’s started to chip. ‘You guys were great. But you were definitely yelling about anarchy, not love.’ 

The imagine of him in his tank top, wide slits cut under the arms revealing a broad swath of his tanned skin, singing passionately, makes you suddenly very aware of him. Tonight he’s composed, a rebel in street clothes. But that night his face was slicked with sweat from his intensity, red in the cheeks and headbanging along with the crowd and the rest of the band. Even that night, so close after your recent break up, you wanted him. It was a dangerous idea then and it’s a dangerous idea now. 

He hums and veers to the right, heading down one of the longer piers. ‘I could argue that anarchy still is love. Love of your beliefs and love of a person or a place or a thing so much that you’re willing to fight for it, to go to war for what you care about.’ 

To that you don’t argue. ‘That’s true. I guess anything could be love when you get down to it. There’s so many poems about sadness - missing love or rejected love. Anger. Bitterness.’ 

The wooden boards of the pier below you give a gentle thunk with each heavy step of Tao’s huge boots. Below you the water sloshes against the planks. Now at the end you lean forward, resting your elbows on the railing, before turning back to Tao. 

‘I guess this is a day to be debating love,’ you smirk, thinking back to the conversation that got you into this. In the wind off the Bay you shiver. 

Like a reflex Tao shrugs out of his jacket and holds it out to you. But you lean over and wave your hand at him. ‘No it’s okay, I’m fine. Please, you don’t have to -’ 

But he drops it over you anyways, the warm weight of his jacket settling on your shoulders and insulating you from the wind. In his black, long-sleeve shirt he doesn’t even seem cold. With a sigh you pull it more fully onto you and bend upright again, inches from him. 

‘Debating love indeed. See I think love and intimacy is made far too complex by a lot of people.’ He slowly rubs his hands together, forearms resting on the railing as he leans over, looking at the waves. ‘I think it comes from knowing someone. Really knowing them. Hopes and fears and memories and all of that. and choosing to be with them. Simple and complicated as that.’

‘Simple as that?’ you gape at him, holding your wind-tousled hair out of the way with one hand so you can look at him. ‘There's no way to truly know someone in one night, though. There's too much nuance for love in such a short time.’ The beating of your heart in your palms when you look at him would argue otherwise and you inhale deeply, trying to keep your center. 

‘Hence why I also said complicated. But now we’re debating what love itself means.’ His gaze darts down to your lips before he meets your eyes. ‘I know plenty about you.’ 

You open your mouth to argue but he carries on. ‘I know you’re stubborn, given the soda earlier and the coat just now. I know you’re practical and competent - I’ve seen you at your job. I know you’re a romantic at heart, you have to be to study poetry, and even if some asshole temporarily doused that fire you look for evidence that love is real everywhere.’ 

Feeling raw and exposed you try to find anything to say to brush off the way his statements cut to the heart of you. ‘That doesn’t mean you - uhm - that you know me.’ 

The word you almost said in your haste was love and the thought makes your palms sweat. Irrational. Impossible. Everyone always says your emotions are easy to read, that they’re written all over your face, and you wonder what he sees as he watches you. The moment you said it you could see the slow smile start on his lips. At the very least he knows you’re not arguing with him as much as arguing with yourself, against what you feel. 

He leans in closer so that his forehead touches yours, low voice almost a murmur. ‘But I want to know you more. I want to do a lot of things. Does that count?’ 

‘Count?’ If you wanted to you could press up on your toes and kiss him. The thought is intoxicating and you close your eyes, heaving a breath into your lungs. 

After a long moment of thinking and waiting and wondering you finally open them again. Tao looks just as conflicted as you are - his brows tug together and the casual flirtation is gone. He holds himself still before you and something far more serious crosses his face. Though he doesn’t answer with words the look in his eyes telegraphs his feelings for you. 

With a sigh he pulls back, reaching to the railing with both hands to steady himself, and you sway in his absence. He looks up at the night sky, at the moon through the clouds, and smiles. The stars peek through here and there. It’s not a cold night, just a breeze across the water to relieve the heat from the long summer day. Distantly a line of poetry comes to you, about being thirsty, parched almost, and wanting to drink him in to quench it. 

Rather than indulge the dangerous impulse to touch him again you take off back down the boardwalk. Back to the city and the lights and far away from the closeness of being with him in the dark. The pressure of his thick jacket will have to be enough, for now. 

‘So, where do you want to go next?’ You’re impressed you manage to sound steady. 

He sticks his hands in his pockets once more and ambles after you, a small smile gracing his lips. ‘I know a place.’ 

As you make your way along the waterfront he turns the conversation to safer territory. You fill each other in on your jobs - how they started and what you like and don’t like. Co-workers who are dating, friends you have in common at the mall. Notorious customers. Tao has dozens of stories and his laugh is easy, his eyes bright with flirtation now that you’re both on safer ground. 

Through the night you meander around the city in a vague Northward direction. Past the Science Center, it’s great white sculptures lit up. Around the Space Needle and the fountain. Another city and the streets would be deserted this late. But here there’s groups of people, laughing and splashing each other at the base of the enormous bowl that forms the center of it. You pass the occasional jogger or couple holding hands, walking home. 

The two of you stop to use the restroom and get a drink of water at a 24 hour grocery store. Tao also insists on buying some snacks, chocolate and a bag of chips that you keep in the large pockets of his jacket as you progress to the edges of Lake Union. 

It’s easy, being with him. His energy is calm, reassuring. He’s got a wicked and witty sense of humor you wouldn’t have expected and you easily spend half an hour looking out at the boats, making up other, naughtier names for them. 

It turns out he likes X-Files just as much as you and your sister do. As you stroll along the Fremont bridge you end up taking his hand once more. The snacks are gone and you can’t resist touching him again. It must be well after midnight, but he doesn’t mention going home. Strangely, you don’t want to either. For someone who’s life has become so habitual you’re surprized you’ve not even spared a thought for your nightly routine of reading in bed with a glass of wine and a candle burning on the windowsill. 

There will be other nights for that, but for tonight you let the momentum of the evening carry you along with him. You both decide to skip a visit to the Troll, not wanting to tempt any disasters. The Keds on your feet hold up well and you give a thanks to your past self for not wearing heels or sandals. 

Eventually his destination becomes clear. The gates to the park are closed for the night. ‘Gas Works? This is your plan - breaking and entering?’ 

He nods, biting his lip. ‘Yep. I know a way in. The nighttime view is unbeatable.’ 

You hold out your hands, gesturing to the enormous PARK HOURS: DAWN TIL DUSK sign. 

‘Afraid of being caught?’ 

You roll your eyes. ‘Yes, actually. I don’t think getting arrested for trespassing would be a great thing for my resume.’ 

Tao considers before backing towards the edge of the fence with a smirk. ‘Come on. How about a little mischief here ‘upon the honey’d middle of the night’?’

‘You know Keats?’ It leaves you breathless, rooted to the ground. It’s not from your favorite poem, but he is your favorite poet. A good guess or has he been doing his research? 

‘Of course. Don’t you?’ Tao teases, folding back a corner of the fence and easing himself through. 

You scoff and charge after him. The smug bastard can’t just quote Keats and then run away from you. Once again you want to kiss the proud look off his face, to rattle him the way he seems so capable of rattling you, getting underneath your surface. With a last thought to your reputation you step through after him and a thrill runs down your spine. 

The rusted red containers and machines that form the center of the park are tall ghosts in the night, rising from the grass and casting long shadows around you in the distant light from the city. He holds out his hand and you easily catch it, both of you winding your way carefully around the gentle hills to make your way to the view. 

You find a suitable spot and sit down on the grass. ‘You’re right,’ you tell him reluctantly. 

‘About what?’ Tao sits beside you, linking his hands over his knees. He sits near enough you can feel his thigh pressing against yours. Close, always so close, but not as close as you want him.  

‘About this.’ You gesture to the Seattle skyline in front of you. 

Sure you’ve been in the daytime, watching the boats sail on Lake Union and the groups of yoga practitioners and families with young kids fill the grassy slopes down to the water. But by night the lights of the city look like a painting. Skyscrapers touching the clouds as the first hints of sun are lightening the horizon. 

‘I thought you’d enjoy it.’ He nudges you with his shoulder and smiles at you. 

The gentle sounds of the water below is relaxing. Even as you lift your hand to cover a yawn you don’t truly feel tired, like the night and closeness to him could keep you awake forever, if you let them. But even so, dawn is coming and you think back to the reason that you’re both here. 

‘So. About that bet?’ Your words are a sigh and somewhere between the late hours and the way his eyes crinkle at the corners when he smiles you don’t second guess the question. 

He side eyes you and can’t smother the grin on his face. ‘You mean the one about if we can fall in love in one night?’ 

‘Yes, that.’ It must be the lack of sleep causing the giddiness you feel, you tell yourself, as you lean back against the grass and cover your face with your hands. 

His own hands find yours and you turn to see him on his side next to you. Gently he pulls them down, holding them to his chest, so he can look you in the eyes. ‘Hmm, I don’t know about love, but I feel a whole hell of a lot right now. We never came up with an objective definition of it, anyways.’ 

You snort. ‘Did you honestly just say ‘objective definition?’’ 

‘Yes, I think if we’re going to agree here, we need to be on the same page.’ With his intense focus on yours he brushes a kiss against the backs of your hands. ‘If we say love is a feeling, who’s to say that we aren’t in love? If we decide it’s an action then which one is it? A kiss or a commitment or - maybe it’s nothing more complicated than putting words to the way I feel when you look at me?’ 

The smile blooms across your face and right then you’re tempted to say it’s all of them. How much you want his mouth on yours and his hands all over you. How you’re not quite sure you know how to have a relationship with a man anymore, after your ex, but that you want to try with him. How wild and free you feel being next to him. 

‘I don’t know about -’ you whisper. You let the truth fall out, not bothering to think about what it might mean. ‘Long term or after tonight. But I’d say, much that I hate to admit Baekhyun could be right, I’d say… uhm, he could be right.’

You avoid Tao’s eyes, focusing on his jaw or the fabric of his shirt or the way his hands hold yours. But still you see how he smiles, almost glowing in the light of the moon and the barest reflection of the sun coloring the skyline to your left. 

He clears his throat, pressing another kiss to your hand. ‘Well, I'd look at it this way. Let's say we do get together. Maybe we last a month or maybe we last for the rest of our lives. Another fifty or sixty years. In either of those cases tonight would be just a fraction of the relationship. A small sliver. Important when looking at the broad view of a life together, but not crucial by itself.’

With a nod you look at him and the heat in his eyes makes you gasp. He moves over you, releasing your hands to brace himself on the ground behind your head. The sturdy press of his body reminds you this isn’t a movie or a dream, it’s something real that’s happening to you. The cool grass sinks into your dress at your back and brushes against your thighs. 

'Or.' His hot breath cascades across your lips. 'If all we have is tonight.' Moving himself to the side he runs his nose along your jaw, mouth teasing the skin of your neck with barely there kisses. 'One night would be everything. For all the marbles, as they say.' He pulls back and looks at you with a lopsided grin. 

You huff out a breath, blowing your bangs out of your eyes, absently running your hands across his shoulders, along his chest. 'I don't know. I like knowing there's always time for more. Like - what if I was tired tonight or hungry or cranky and I messed it up? The thought of just one night still makes me nervous.’ 

He kisses your forehead and the words come faster, as if hurried along by the morning. ‘If we're a forever thing, then it's okay, because there will be a thousand more chances to get it right. But just once? How can it be perfect if it's so brief?'

'Well, even if we do get together we'd still only have one first kiss.' He rests on one elbow and uses his free hand to cup your jaw, clearing his throat around the roughness of his voice. 'Do you want to wait or shall we attempt perfection tonight?'

The thought of waiting any longer makes you far sadder and you nod. ‘Screw it - kiss me. Please?’ 

Instead of answering he simply drops his head, closing the distance and sealing his mouth over yours. He groans at the contact, the sound vibrating in his chest where it rests against yours. You grip his neck, winding your fingers through the strands of his hair and hold on, to ground yourself, between him and the grass as he slowly, hungrily, kisses you.

Your eyes flutter for a moment as he sucks on your lower lip. Behind him the sky is bright, the rays of light spilling through the clouds and rendering him art himself. The arch of his brows, full of emotion. You squeeze your eyes closed and hold him tight, grazing his neck with your nails and sighing into his open mouth. Before you can kiss him again he pulls back, his cheeks flushed and his eyes full of delight. 

‘That was pretty damn good.’ He huffs out a laugh, running his tongue along his lower lip like he’s trying to keep the taste of you close. ‘Are you sure you want to risk another one? It could be -’

‘Yes,’ you answer immediately. ‘Again.’ 

He grins and buries his face in your neck, his hot breath falling on your sensitive skin. ‘I think we’ve found the crucial difference between us.’ At your hum he carries on. ‘I can take one moment and hold onto it forever, perpetually living off the way it felt. You want to have it over and over again. And here I thought you were the poet.’ 

Rolling onto his back he pulls you on top of him with a squeal as you right yourself, bracing hands on his shoulders for balance. His hand rests against your cheek. ‘But if it helps. I - feel the same way.’ 

‘Oh.’ To keep your surprise and delight from exploding all over your face you bite your lip. ‘Alright then.’ You trace patterns in the fabric covering his chest. 

It’s as simple and as complicated as that, just like he said, hours ago. 

As the day rises full and bright with the heat of the sun you do indeed kiss again. Several more times. When you’re both red lipped and thirsty and covered in wrinkled clothes you head back to your apartment by UW. He gives you a piggy back ride when your feet start to hurt and helps you make breakfast with a sleepy smile and runs his fingers over the covers of the numerous books stacked on every surface of your apartment and all the while the feeling in your chest grows, not diminishes. 

You hurry through a shower and getting dressed for work while he patiently waits on the couch. His eyes are closed when you emerge, putting your hair back in a ponytail. Leaning against the door frame you watch the gentle rise and fall of his chest. You stifle a yawn and think of how not twelve hours ago you didn’t know what his skin felt like beneath your palms or what he’d be like to kiss or how perfectly your bodies seem to line up.

Tomorrow, or perhaps later tonight, you’ll have to report back to Baekhyun and your sister. Though you still have no idea what you’ll say when he asks if the two of you fell in love in one night, you know that, at the very least, it was the start of something. 

You leave Tao a note with instructions to sleep as long as he wants and a spare copy of your keys. He works his own shift tonight at Flanagan’s at two, his last one before he leaves on tour. Reassured that at least you’ll see him once more tonight at the party, before he’s gone for - well, you suppose you didn’t ask the specifics yet. You laugh at the thought and quietly shut the door and sprint down the steps to work. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It’s hardly after nine in the morning when Tao arrives. Far earlier than you were expecting, but you’ve learned that he likes to surprise you. When you see him standing in line you bite your lip, tilting your head and giving him a sleepy smile. 

‘A bit early for you, isn’t it?’ You ask, friendly and professional. ‘You look like you had a long night.’

He laughs, shaking his head and resting his palms on the counter. ‘I did indeed. But it’s been over two hours since I last saw you.’ 

‘Oh yeah? Is that a long time, then?’ you tease him. 

He whistles and leans in to whisper so only you can hear. ‘Far too long for someone in love.’ 

‘Love?’ The word thunders in your chest.

‘Maybe it’s too soon to know,’ he says, not backing up at all. ‘Maybe love is confirmed by time. But what I feel, whatever this is the start of, I’m greatly looking forward to.’

‘Are you sure you want to start this? You’re leaving, like, tomorrow.’ Suddenly in the light of day the reality of the situation makes your stomach flip.

He clutches his chest dramatically. ‘Don’t sound so sad, love. Please. You say that like I won’t come back.’ He reaches for your hand across the counter. ‘At least we'll have tonight. Tonight or forever, right?’ 

‘Exactly.’ Unable to resist you lift your hand to hold his cheek and kiss him. It was killing you not to and why not? He’s right. If it’s just one more night, you’re going to make it count.

You pull back and fill out his cup, insisting it’s your treat. Before he leaves you hold out the jar of poems. When he reads the line he laughs, holding it out to you.

“And one by one the nights between our separated cities are joined to the night that unites us.”

― Pablo Neruda

[the-firebird69]

This is the Tron light cycle bar and I want to imitate it and I want to make it look like kind of just like it and have a few dance floors and have like a lounge area they have one but it's kind of small and the central located bar it's really what it is kind of I can be made into something for mixed drinks that mix when you dispense it in the proper quantity and it's probably another invention and it's hose just like the beer and we'd have beer there too colored though that's all the color blue and orange see what team you're on and it'll be for electric motorcycles and so we will call it the light cycle bar meaning that most electric bikes have some sort of glow or or decal or something is lit up and or lights

We worked on this together he and I

Hera Zues

I think this is a great idea and we'll have the bikes on the turntables and we'll show the videos like you said on these glass walls that you touch to get it go forwards and you can fast forward just like you can with YouTube except it's going to be all of our stuff we prepare for viewing and they'll be racist we can have a speed trials and electric light cycle from Tron type bites racing and all sorts of things it shows a particular bike looking at and describes it too in detail and we can do some items too like simulcast it to your phone or you could plug into it with a the slip connection and you can hear the thing so if you can't hear the speakers which you should be able to and we're going to go ahead with this and it's a it's a crazy idea and it's Grace and he wants to get in as soon as possible if you don't have all the hardware to put it in when we get it and we know about this too it's not easy to make all that stuff overnight so we're going to get it ready and we're hiring people for this particular bar and it should be a success we have a lot of lights and real and then the real electric Tron light cycle with the light cycle drive and lights and we have Tron drive motorcycles with motors and we have light cycles that look like Tron bikes with chains and belts and they have a whole bunch of different ones and we'll have this specs and top speed of what people usually look for listed right at the top and you can push it right or left and to get a difference spec I'm going to go back to the original automatically it's always a pain that can't get the original specs right away people are going to be amazed it's so cool and everything there will be really cool and he says we should sell gear for bikers because even though they might not have an electric bike or buy one we can sell the gear and it usually people ride with and it's really cool looking the helmets are cool and their suits and their different helmets regular helmets then high tech helmets how much are the helmets with a phone all sorts of really cool stuff you can link with your phone and you don't have to get a second one it is really intense and you can see in the movie that Sherry has one with the phone in a helmet and for some reason the helmet looks gigantic and she says it's extra cushion cuz she likes that way and it's okay as long as it's cushioning really the foam is not that great either but you should have phone that doesn't break and we have helmets that are made from something other than the styrofoam that don't break and people want to see that and we have hard EXO suits and like iron Man suits and they look like cloth like the Superman suit that Carvel wears it looks kind of like that but it's really hard and yeah we have helmets that look better than that when you have you look like dark helmet from Spaceballs. And she says thank you very much that's what I'm shooting for.

Thor Freya

No it's not me Lord Vader from Spaceballs thanks though and helmet is huge it's probably yours

Sherry

Haha yes my character is bigger but not that big it's probably his it says it probably is cuz the faceplate goes up and down automatically so get pissed off cuz his stuff is better he doesn't even have it yet damage but a weird day I'm talking about making a bar I just have a few bars I know about bars since all this stuff and hardware and equipment we have to move in it's made by us and stuff in our vendors and the alcohol but we need to do things get the licensing and all this other weird stuff and you're kind of this wild card so I think I might look at that it's not a bad idea and we need stuff like that and we need to have a job and he has to sell these all over and he's after selling all of them and they're all their brands and I just got an idea and we can sell scooters too in the Chinese American motorcycle and we can put it next to the shop or next to the bar or down the street would be a huge electric motorcycle sales company and I'm amazed a lot of people want to do it we can even do conversions and have a shop there that's a purpose because people don't want to pay all this money you have a new battery and motor it goes in just like a transmission in the motor like s&s and I'm in this is really nice it says she thinks they're talking stuff's about the same as a regular motor and they say it depends on the bike and they have it already an engineered I'm going to get with it this sounds like a great opportunity

Stan

Usually drives right by after you get it done he doesn't notice he says what I thought would be bigger about everything but when he sees your shop and your idea is going to think differently there's a lot of them out there and you're going to decide that the ones that they build here suck even yours is terrible but the bike is half decent you can put our motor in your bike and we can send it to your factories you can send a few over now and see if you want to do it most of the time people don't want to do it they're lazy but you guys have to and they're saying yes so we're going to arrange a deal and probably just do it by phone if they don't want to meet or we can meet at a restaurant and he's saying this is terrible I should probably do that and we'll pick up the tab and you can bring Sherry and other if you like so he says no that's okay but yeah that's probably a good idea so we're going to go ahead and do that and we'll just say how many you want to do a test and we'll try it so great idea

Thor Freya

So I'm imagining that we're at lunch by myself in my daughter and I look out the window I see Ken and Chris with her hands on the window trying to see him so I guess they're not invited and they're making noises and the windows must be clean okay this is damned annoying

Stan

I'm into this and I wanted to get it going so I can get one and he can get one they don't have to wicked fast but we have to have something and this sucks but stuck here like complete poor people doing absolutely nothing

Ken

They say it a million times we just got to get going we're trying to adjust and we're working on

Olympus