#I didn’t date this work but I must have done it in my early college years at the lastest

[pallanophblargh]

I was scrolling through my camera roll when I remembered I’d taken a photo of a portrait I did of my childhood dog in my parents’ house. It’s bittersweet to see where my art was as a late teen/baby 20-something. And of course, I still miss my dog and his hugs.

[thechaotictheoryy]

Unravel | 6. The Boy I Once Loved Pt. 2

summary: What if you had chains around your heart but you were the one who put them there? If you took a look at Parker’s heart, you would see a nice beating heart but Parker felt there were heavy metal chains wrapped it. After years of a disconnected relationship with her parents and a hard break up with her boyfriend of four years, Parker Williams made her heart mentally chained. Declaring to never fall in love again but what happens when she meets a witty musician who is all about seeking love?

pairing: main character x Hongjoong ft. ex! Yeosang

genre: (18+ minors dni), romance, fluff, lots of angst, coming to age, college au, smut, strangers to lovers, self discovery

word count: 4,636

chapter warnings: flashback againnn, self realization, Parker talking to the girl from Yeosang's apartment, Jessica being the goat.

song rec for this chapter: Better Things by Aespa

Wednesday November 4th, 2020 

The time was finally here. 

The showing of my big art piece was going to be shown in the LAMC. I was going to be a part of the November to February art gallery because my piece fit the theme better. I ended up destroying the piece I had been working on and painted the new piece for almost eighteen hours straight on that Sunday after I was discharged from the hospital. Nicole and Kayla had to pull me out of my room for dinner because I didn’t eat that entire day. I was determined to get it done because my emotions were at an all time high. I ended up breaking down like twice while painting but it made the details even more beautiful. 

It was about 7:30 at night and the gallery was opening up at 8:15. I looked in the mirror at my outfit and I smiled. I was really about to let over thousands of people see my work and I was excited yet nervous. All of my art class including Mr. Cook told me they were coming to see it. My class was a very supportive bunch, you always just needed a group of people who knew it was okay to fail because there is always room for improvement and success. I hope Mr. Cook was going to be proud of me. I always take the opportunity he has given me since freshman year to heart. He really is one of the first teachers I ever had to treat me like I was his kid and wanted to see me be something in life. 

“Come on Parker! It’s like a 30 minute ride!” I heard Nicole yell. 

“I’ll be right out!” 

After I finished fixing myself and grabbing my bag, we headed out. Los Angeles was so beautiful at night and I was always amazed when we came down here at night. Despite me being from here, I never was downtown till I had started dating Yeosang. 

Yeosang... 

He tried to contact me a few times after that night but I always kept ignoring it. I blocked him  a few times then would unblock just because in case he was in a death or life situation, he could still reach me. I hated him for what he did but I still loved him very much. He was my first love after all, I could never leave him to suffer when he needed someone on his side. It was the kindness in my heart and just how insanely in love I still was with him. I wish it would go away but love never goes if it was real and I, Parker Williams, was indescribably in love with him. I hate to admit it but I probably won’t be dating for a while. 

I must have been thinking about it for a long time because we had just parked in the parking lot of the museum. I took a few deep breaths before getting out of the car. I saw a lot of people dressed up and walking inside, it made me even more anxious. I felt my palms getting sweaty and my body slightly starting to tremble. I felt Nicole grab my left hand and Kayla grab my right, they both smiled at me. I smiled back at them and we walked in the museum. My ears were filled with all the voices in the room, there were over thousands of people here already. I saw the gallery and there were red clothes on all of them. I had to be there a little early so I could stand next to my piece, I squeezed my roommates hands then walked away. I told the people at the red ropes my name and showed my ID, they let me right in. I looked around at all the paintings that were covered, it had to be about 20 pieces that were going to be shown today. I just hope mine was up to par as the other talented painters. 

Most of these were shipped in, all the painters were from different parts of the world and all order than me. I was the only person under 27 who had a piece in here today, that was huge in my eyes. I saw my name and the large canvas on the wall. I walked slowly to it and tears came to my eyes. I wonder how many doors this would open for me, I wasn’t trying to be too emotional but I knew this opportunity could either put me on the map or just another mediocre piece that would be known to locals. I checked the time again and it was two minutes before they were going to remove the ropes for people to come. I saw two men walk over to me and they removed the red cloth off the painting. I was in awe at my own piece, it felt so different seeing again. I think that atmosphere had an effect on my thought process. It felt like the two minutes went by fast because I could hear the noises of people filling the room and the sounds of heels hitting the ground. 

“Wow,” I heard someone say behind me. 

I turned around and there were 50 people staring at my piece. I think it caught other people's attention and almost everyone in the room was looking at me and my work. I moved to the side so they could read the title and the description about it. The name of it was called “Trouble in Paradise”. It was two angels crying and facing each other, holding bleeding hearts. There were big holes in their chest to show the pain and struggle of ripping out their hearts. The sky was blue and the shine was shining bright on them. Their mouths were open to indicate they were yelling at each other. I remember crying about this after I finished it. It was one of the best pieces I ever did so far and it was just an expression of my pain. I felt someone tap my shoulder and I turned to see Mr. Cook and my class. 

“You guys made it!” 

“Parker, this painting,” Mark said. 

“Do you guys like it?”

“Hell yeah,” all of them said in unison and gave me a thumbs up. 

“I’m proud of you Parker, especially after you told me what happened,” Mr. Cook said, patting my back. 

I slightly smiled at him and looked back at my painting. Two days after my break up when I went to turn in the painting to Mr. Cook, he could tell I was off and he has observed me for the past year to kind of know me more than I know myself at times. I broke down in front of him. He just listened to me and watched me cry. He let me vent for about an hour straight, he didn’t judge me nor did he say the words “everything will be okay”. He was real and honest with me. 

The world won’t stop because you’re sad. Take that heartbreak and pain and place it into your work. 

He let me hug him for thirty minutes as I got myself together. He was the kind of person I wanted as my father. He was right with what he said, the world won’t stop rotating or take a pause for me. It’ll keep going until it’s ready to fall apart. I knew his words were going to stay with me for a while because I needed to take the phrase with me into every hardship I go through, whether it be my paintings not getting noticed or more heartbreaks that happen to me. 

I felt a tap on my shoulder and I turned to see Jessica.

“You told me you couldn’t make it,” I gave her a hug. 

“My job let me get off early because I told them I had to come support my little cousin,” she rubbed my back. 

I remember telling Jessica about my break up and she was ready to find Yeosang. I know the first thing she would want to do is to bear his ass but I didn’t want him to get kicked out of the university. I know her reasons for coming to school and I didn’t need to fall into the place she was in before she got here. Jessica always felt like something was up with Yeosang but she saw how happy I was with him so she put her opinions to the side. 

But her opinions were right. 

“This is beautiful,” she said, looking up. 

“Only took me a few hours because of how hurt I was” 

“Guess this is how painters put their best work out by being hurt sometimes” 

“Sometimes, some painters are just happy in general or in love when they put out their best work” 

“You know I know nothing about art but I support it because I find it interesting” 

“I know,” I laughed. 

Two hours passed and I met so many people in that amount of time. I was watching how I represented myself and talked to them because I didn’t know who was big time or who could have connections to someone important. I hope I will get something out of tonight. The gallery was about to close in about an hour. This family I was currently talking to were some sculptors and they were just giving me some tips if I ever wanted to invest into it. 

“Are you Parker Williams?” I heard a voice with a thick Korean accent behind me. 

“I am,” I turned around and my eyes widened. 

It was Mr. Oh Se-jung, he was the president of Seoul National University. I was in complete shock that Mr. Cook had to pinch my side. 

“Mr. Cook has told me so much about you and your class. He invited me here about two weeks ago, saying you got picked to have your painting here. He also sent me photos of some of your other work.  I just want to say your piece is amazing,” he shook my hand. 

I looked at Mr.Cook and he smiled at me. I couldn’t believe this was happening to me. The 27th president of Seoul National University was speaking to me, admiring my painting. I didn’t think this would ever happen or maybe not this soon in my life. 

“It’s an honor to have you here sir”

“I heard you were thinking about doing a study abroad program at Korea National University for the summer?”

“Yes, it was one of the schools I was thinking about” 

He turned to my painting and walked up to it a little more then turned his head, smiling at me. The next words that came out his mouth was nothing that I was expecting. 

“Mm, I would like to give you a summer scholarship to SNU. Everything paid including your flight there and back. You’ll also be able to stay in one of the small apartments near the university. You don’t have to give me an answer right now but I need one in about a week so I can put your name and send you the application to apply” 

My mouth slightly dropped and I felt my heart rate increase. Did this man just say a full ride and everything paid for? This isn’t just my imagination right? My legs felt a little weak but I need to be professional right now, I could not embarrass myself right now and faint. 

“Yes, yes I accept. It would be a pleasure to be a student at your university” 

“It’s settled then, I’ll get Mr. Cook to email me your information. It was nice meeting you Parker and can’t wait to have you with us this summer,” he smiled and walked away, going to look at other pieces. 

I looked at Mr. Cook and hugged him tight. This felt like a dream, a dream that I didn’t want to wake up from. Maybe my break up happened for a reason. I didn’t believe in fate or things aligning with the stars but it was just the right timing for what I just went through. My nights of crying till my eyes dried and beating myself up in my head got me here, which is sad but it’s the truth. This night is definitely going down as one of the best nights ever in my life. 

As the night came to a close, the director told me at the last minute that the artists present had to say a thank you speech to everyone before the closing for the night. I didn’t have a fear of speaking in front of crowds but I hated when I would start talking fast so I would trip over my words a lot. I was listening to some of the thank you speeches from some others who were present and they kept it too short for my liking. 

When it finally got to my turn, they handed me the mic and I took a deep breath. 

“Hey everyone, my name is Parker Williams and I’m a student at USC. Thank you to everyone who came and checked out my painting called Trouble in Paradise. Special thanks to Mr. Cook, my art teacher, for giving me such an opportunity to showcase my work. Thank you LAMC for giving me a chance and having me displayed in the November-February gallery. I hope my painting made you think and made you figure out the meaning. I can’t wait for my next pieces to share with the people of Los Angeles and in the country. You guys have a nice night and thank you again” 

I heard people start to clap and some cheered, the loudest ones were my classmates and Jessica. I laughed a little and blew a kiss to them. I was ready to go back to my dorm and sleep. I was so worried about how to go tonight that the mental exhaustion was starting to hit my body. After telling everyone goodbye, I headed back to campus with Nicole and Kayla. 

I fell into my bed with a big smile on my face. I wanted to relive this night for a long time. I pulled out my phone and went through my contacts till I found my mom’s name. I sighed and pressed the call button, putting the phone up to my ear. I usually call sometimes just to check up on them because they were still my parents. 

“Yes Parker?”

I told her everything that happened in the past week and it was just silent for a few seconds. I don’t know if she didn’t know what to say or she was trying to process everything that I said. 

“Sorry to hear about your break up and congratulations,” her voice was so monotone. 

“Thanks mom” 

“I’ll let your father know what you told me tonight” 

“If you don’t care, I’m sure he wouldn’t give two shits about what’s going on with me” 

“So why do you call?” 

I was silent. Why do I call every chance I get knowing they don’t care? Was I trying to be a respectable daughter to let my parents know what’s going on with me? Did I feel guilty in a way for not being what they wanted me to be? 

Or was I looking for acceptance and love from the two people that thought they would love and accept me no matter what? 

“Just keep you guys updated mom,” my voice cracked a little. 

“Parker, cut the crap okay? We haven’t had a real conversation with you since you were about 15 and we haven’t seen you since you been in college” 

“Why did you guys let my dreams tear us apart?” 

“We wanted better for you and you wanted to be a creative with little to no possible future Parker” 

“Can’t believe you just said that,” I felt tears fall down my cheeks as I closed my eyes. 

I hung up on her and threw my phone across the room. I sighed and sat up, while wiping the tears off my face. I felt so abandoned by the only two people who were suppose to have my back and love more than anyone in this fucked up world. They were supposed to be my rocks, my shoulders to cry on, my encouragers. Instead, they broke me and left me. Literally moved across the country so they didn’t have to see my face. My first heartbreak will forever be my parents. They shattered it and stepped on the pieces. 

I always felt like they might change one day considering they still sometimes send me money to survive on since I have no job. If I didn’t supposedly care about my child, I wouldn’t be dropping three thousand dollars in the account every month. Most of the money went to my savings anyway for me to find somewhere to live after I graduated from here. I was going to find a job so I didn’t have to depend on them anymore since they clearly didn’t care about my success. It was like they wanted me to fail in life since I didn’t want to be a lawyer or an attonery. I feel like even if I made it big with being a creator, my parents still wouldn’t care. They were well off and definitely didn’t need money from me even if I made more than them. 

I took off my shirt and headed into the bathroom. I turned on the water for my shower then stopped at the mirror. I touched the necklace I had on and played with it. It was a paintbrush necklace that Yeosang had given me for my birthday last year. I yanked it off and it broke off.  I threw in the trash and rubbed my neck. I wanted to remove everything that reminded me of him. I looked at the tattoo on my left rib and ran my fingers over it. It said “Kiss me in the rain till the sun peaks and finds warmth on our skin”. It was a tattoo that I got with him but he had it on his right rib and it said “Kiss me in the sun till the cloud filled with rain  finds us and wets our skin”. 

It was the only thing that would remind of him but at least it wasn’t his name or anything. It was just two quotes we made up together but someone could think it’s from a book because I do like to read from time to time. I took out my hair out of the bun it was in and took off the rest of my clothes. I hopped in the shower and let the water immediately hit my face. I hope my days become better and brighter. I didn’t want these clouds of pain to cover the sun that was trying to shine on my brain. 

It’s been a week since the gallery and everytime I would be out on campus, someone would come to me and ask if they could watch me paint sometimes or be invited to the next art gallery I was in. It was a bit overwhelming for the most part. Attention was nice but too much of it made my anxiety go up a little bit. 

 I was currently in the art studio, just doing some freestyle drawing. I had the window open so I could hear the people outside and just the nature. The building was by some trees so I could hear and see birds a lot. It was currently around 6:17 in the afternoon and all my classes were finished for today. I didn’t have anything planned till around 8pm. Nicole, Kayla, Jessica, and one of Jessica’s friends named Emmett wanted to go to this ramen spot downtown. 

 I heard the door open and I saw a girl. I raised my eyebrow and she was just looking at me.

“Can I help you?”

“Parker right?”

“Yeah, who are you?”

“My name is Isabelle, I was the girl in Yeosang’s apartment that night” 

My eyes widened slightly and it started coming back to me. I knew she looked familiar in a way but I didn’t know where from but now I know. What could she possibly want? To warn me to stay from Yeosang? She didn’t need to threaten me about that. 

“What’s up?” I put my pencil down. 

“I just wanted to talk to you, I felt like we were both confused and hurt that night” 

I put hand out as a signal for her to sit in front of me, I don’t know why I was so chill right now but I always been known for nothing wanting to be in a lot of drama so I probably get my attitude from my dad because he stayed out the way a lot when I was growing up, especially when him and my mother would get into disagreements. 

“How long were you and Yeosang together?” she asked. 

“Four years, four long years,” I crossed my arms and rubbed my forehead. 

“Are you fucking serious?” she looked at me in disbelief. 

“Yeah, how long were you guys together?”

“Parker, I got with him almost like a year and half ago”

The thought made me want to throw up. Yeosang was cheating on me for nearly almost two years and I never caught on. Considering he wasn’t here yet, he could have met Isabelle anywhere when I wasn’t around.

“Where did you guys meet?” I asked. 

“He was at this party that I went to with some friends, I wasn’t even trying to pursue him but he came on to me and we had sex that same night. Then after I think like 3 months, we started dating” 

That explains when sometimes he wouldn’t mind when we didn’t go out sometimes or when he was “busy” some days. He was playing and toying with both of us. He is fucking sick and it’s even more disgusting he was having sex with both of us. He would only cling to me when Isabelle wasn’t available to him. We had discussed some more about both of our relationships with him and just found out how we were both getting played. We cried to each other because undeniably we were both in love with him. Isabelle's cries were not like mine, I was sobbing all over again. I can’t say I was deeper in love with him but if you saw us both, you would believe I was. I even showed him the tattoo that  I got. 

“He told me it was a quote he heard one of his family members said,” she said, wiping her eyes. 

That was like a sucker punch to my stomach. His friends are some bitches too because that means they knew about me and Isabelle. Isabelle told me she went out with Yeeosang and his friends a few times. They were always telling me that they were rooting for me and Yeosang to stay together forever. They were even there when we got the tattoo. 

“We got a tattoo too” 

“Where” 

She pulled out her bottom lip and it read “Yeosang, the only angel I need” in Korean. I knew she would regret that tattoo for the rest of her life unless she planned to go back to him. 

“What does his tattoo say?” 

“It should say “Belle, the only star that shines on me” in Korean but who knows if that’s what he really got” 

“It’s not,” I sighed. 

“Are you kidding me?”

“He told me he was being spontaneous and got “My skies are blue when I’m with you” in Korean, and he showed it to me. He said I always said it to him on occasion so he got it tatted. 

“That man is fucking evil” 

“Very evil” 

We talked for another thirty minutes then she left. She gave me her number in case I ever wanted to hang out with her. I don’t think that would do me and her any good honestly. We would just be reminded of who Yeosang used to be with. I couldn’t wait to tell everyone at dinner about this, it was just unbelievable to hear. 

I can’t believe he was really cheating on me for almost two years like that’s real mind blowing to hear. He didn’t care about his actions. Those tears that came out of his eyes when I was in the hospital were fake and he knew they were. Who knew how many other hearts he hurt out here. What if me and Isabelle weren't the only ones? It made me feel so sick to my stomach to think about it. 

I checked the time and it was 7:30 and I cleaned up everything before heading out. When I made it back to the room and saw everyone waiting for me. I dropped off my stuff in my room and changed my outfit before we headed out.

Those beautiful lights that shone around the LA downtown area always got me. We found the ramen place and the scenery inside was so beautiful as the waiter took us to a table. I heard this place didn't check for IDs for drinks so that was the first thing we ordered. 

“The wildest shit happened today,” I put my menu down

“Share with the class,” Jessica said jokingly. 

“The girl Yeosang was cheating on me with, popped up at the studio”

Everyone got quiet and stared at me. 

“Are you serious?” Nicole said. 

I nodded and started to explain everything that happened. I told them everything Isabelle had told me even about the fucked up tattoo. I tried my best not to get emotional because I was tired of crying over this evil ass man. 

“Parker, please let me whoop his ass,” Jessica pleaded. 

“No, he’s not even worth it” 

“He cheated on you for almost two years and got this Isabelle girl to get his name tattooed inside her bottom lip, if that doesn't deserve to get your ass beat then you are too nice Parker,” Kayla said. 

I looked down at the menu. I knew Yeosang deserved everything coming his way because I didn’t want my friends to get in the middle of it. Some way or somehow Yeosang was going to get the karma coming his way maybe not now but soon in the future. The first part of it is not giving his power to believe that I would just forgive anytime he decided to come back around or try to talk to me. 

“I think me and Isabelle just moving on will show him that both of us are threw with him and we’re not his beck and call anymore. My revenge is showing my ex I don’t need him and I never will again,” I looked at them. 

“I support that,” Emmett said. 

I smiled and nodded at him as a “thank you”. 

“You know we support you no matter what but if he pulls some shit, I’m punching him,” Jessica said, looking back at her menu. 

I rolled my eyes in a joking manner. I loved my friends so much and I knew they would always be here for me when I needed them most but I didn’t want to be dependent on them when I got hurt.

I had to go through things myself and learn how to trust myself in these situations. I won’t go back to Yeosang and that was a promise I just had to make to myself. 

He just had to be the boy I once loved. 

taglist: @hwaslayer

previous. next.

[jasonbehrs]

🎭 wear your heart where i can see 🎭

by airauralintensity (aka me, jasonbehrs!)

“But you’re a dude!”

“That will continue to be true for every lesson in the curriculum, so I suggest you get over that quickly.”

fandom: dbsk/tvxq characters: kim jaejoong, jung yunho, seulgi sooyoung boa in supporting roles ship: yunjae themes: high school au, fake dating au, tutoring au, sooo tropey, you're gonna predict every plot point and you're gonna love it okay?, okay chapters: 1+2/10, including prologue + epilogue word count: 2.1k+ for both rating: T+ for cursing

read it on ffnet, aff, ao3, or below!

~~~

prologue

Seulgi follows after her First Day Buddy somewhat boredly. She may be a transfer, but she's a second-year student. It's not like this is her first time setting foot in a high school. All she really needed was to be shown to her locker, but here she is on a tour of the school.

Sparing her Buddy's words half a brain, Seulgi surveys the crowd of students as they surge around her, wondering if any of the people she observed would end up becoming meaningful to her over the next two years. Maybe she already crossed paths with her next best friend, or a new nemesis, or her next boyfriend.

As they pass the gym, a group of freshly showered co-ed athletes filter out, laughing and boisterous. Immediately, one of the guys catches her eye.

"Who's that?" she asks, just loud enough to interrupt her First Day Buddy's narration. (She didn't really internalise his name. Sue her.)

To his credit, he doesn't seem to mind. "Which one, Tall with Curly Hair or Dimples and Broad?"

"Strong Jawline and Great Arms," she recites with interest.

Her Buddy points just to be sure. "Him? High cheekbones, bow lips?" When Seulgi nods, he sucks a breath through his teeth. "Ah, that's Jung Yunho. He's a final-year, on the hapkido team, dating the star of the drama club. It's his longest relationship ever, I think. They're pretty serious."

Seulgi gets a calculating look in her eye. "How long is 'longest'?"

Her Buddy turns to her, deadpan. "No offense, but greater women than you have tried to keep them apart and failed." He juts his chin in a direction over her shoulder, and Seulgi turns around just in time to see a beautiful girl with a quietly confident aura pass them by. "And that's the greatest woman. Kwon Boa."

The pair watch as Boa seamlessly blends into the early morning bustle, which slowly gets calmer as students filter into their classrooms until nothing but a silent, empty hallway remains.

~~~

chapter 1

The sound of rubber slapping linoleum echoes in the empty hallway as Kim Jaejoong runs as fast as he can. He hates being late for rehearsals.

He makes it to the auditorium just in time for a break, and his best friend Choi Sooyoung beelines for him as soon as she sees him. "Where have you been?!"

He huffs as he deposits his bag and jacket on the closest aisle seat. "The guidance counsellor wanted to see me after school to talk about my college applications." It's a bad day when has to be reminded he actually goes to this building to lay the building blocks of his life and not just hang out with his friends and vie for a speaking role in the spring musical, but needs must.

Sooyoung gives him a sympathetic frown which he waves away easily. "You texted earlier that you need to tell me something. What's up?"

She directs them to two available seats and doesn't beat around the bush. "Yunho and I broke up."

Jaejoong almost jumps back up. "Already? Didn't you guys just start dating earlier this month?"

"Yeah, but it had to be done," she says with a sigh.

He quirks an eyebrow at her word choice. "You did the dumping? What's wrong with him; was he too perfect?" he jests.

Weirdly, Sooyoung's aura goes wistful. She reclines in her seat and stares forward at the stage where students worked on the set pieces while the actors were off. "He just isn't like what I thought he'd be," she says at last.

"What does that even mean?"

She answers his question with one of her own. "When you think of Yunho, what do you think he's like?"

Jaejoong can't say that he thinks of Jung Yunho often. In fact, until Sooyoung mentioned she had started dating him, he kinda forgot the other student existed at all. They may be in the same year, but they just run in completely different circles. "I don't know?" he hedges. "I'd hope he was kind."

"Oh, he is. Polite to a fault."

"That sounds like a good thing."

"To a fault, Jaejoong. He has, like, no personality. He's not that funny, he's not that romantic, he's not even that interesting! All he has going for him is that he's super hot and super accommodating."

When she says that, vague memories resurface in Jaejoong's mind. "Someone in badminton club with me dated him last semester, and someone in my geometry class last year did, too. I don't think either of those lasted long either; and they cited similar concerns, if I remember correctly."

Sooyoung nods. "My friends that had dated him warned me about this, too. The same thing happened to them."

He makes a face. "How many girls has this guy dated?"

"Probably too many, but I swear it's not as bad as it sounds!" she is quick to correct his impression. "I'm pretty sure my story is the same as everyone else's: we do the asking; we do the dumping; none of us get hung up about it. He's not categorically plowing through the school's female population, breaking hearts left and right; he's way too nice for that."

"Do you expect me to blame women, then? In 2023 AD?" He's joking, but he's not. It sounds like this Yunho guy has a major problem.

Sooyoung giggles at least. "It's no one's fault, really."

The faculty advisor announces that the break is over, so Jaejoong gets up and stretches his arms and shoulders. He ends the conversation with a casual, "If you say so." This characterisation doesn't make any sense to him, but he's got better things to do than ponder the mysteries of Jung Yunho's unsuccessful romantic life.

Sooyoung is clearly fine about the breakup. Now that he's listened to her tale, he's completed the required extent of duties as her friend. He might invite her out this weekend under the guise of unbreaking her heart, but the two of them have never needed a reason to hang out anyway.

He and Sooyoung head back to the stage and easily pick up a new thread of conversation, her brief stint with Jung Yunho already being relegated to a footnote in their minds.

~~~

At the end of the week, Jaejoong decides to get some fast food after school as a treat to himself. There's a Lotteria more or less equidistant between the school and his house, so he orders on his phone and takes the bus there.

The food isn't ready yet when he arrives, so he takes a seat at an empty booth near the door to wait it out, which gives him a direct line of sight to Jung Yunho and some girl he doesn't recognise sharing a table together.

Jaejoong snaps his attention away in a panic, hoping he wasn't caught staring; but he is quickly preoccupied with analysing the parts he did see. It looks like they're on a date, but he hopes he's wrong. If Yunho was openly dating a new girl so soon after his last girlfriend dumped him, Jaejoong bets he was probably cheating on Sooyoung for at least part of their time together. He never fully believed her "he's way too nice" propaganda, after all… Then again, the girl with Yunho today could be his sister, or cousin, or something.

Maybe it's because he isn't looking anymore that his hearing gets better because a snippet of their conversation happens to reach him.

"So, Yunho-oppa, what do you like about me?"

Well, there goes the relative theory.

"I'm sorry, but what do you mean?"

"Oppa, don't be silly! You agreed to date me, right? What about me made you say yes?"

Despite himself, Jaejoong is intensely curious about Yunho's reply. If this is the girl Yunho replaced Sooyoung with, Jaejoong wants to know what on earth makes her better than his best friend.

"Because you asked me, of course," is Yunho's plain response.

"That's it?"

"Should there be another reason?"

Jaejoong doesn't smack his palm into his forehead, but it's a near thing. He's never had a girlfriend, but even he knows that there are better responses to the girl's question than that.

Just then, a cashier calls for him to pick up his order. He eagerly rushes towards his reason to get the heck out of here; but when he picks up his food, he stops short, attention focused on the bag. The red Lotteria logo looks back up at him.

So this is clearly a date, but why Lotteria of all places? As far as cheap high school dates go, this is definitely on the lower end of the scale, especially for a first date. And if it isn't their first date, then he could build a case against the bizarre mythos that Jung Yunho isn't a womanising dirtbag who pretends to be mild and boring just so that he can sample as many girls with as little effort as possible.

He doesn't necessarily want confirmation that someone could treat Sooyoung so terribly, but her story just doesn't add up! Since he's already here, he might as well get to the bottom of this.

He elects to resituate himself at one of the bar seats against the window that looks toward the street. It's closer to the couple, better hides his intention to eavesdrop, and allows him to pass by and sneak a peek at the two of them.

From the vantage point he has as he crosses the restaurant, he can't see the girl's face that well, but he gets a good look at Yunho. The arrangement of his face is kind of small compared to the size of his head, but the features are all individually handsome. His blazer is slung over the back of his chair, and the snug fit of the sweater vest over his collared shirt highlights a torso shape which Jaejoong frequently likens to an inverted Dorito. He begrudgingly sees the appeal of dating someone with only one non-distracting imperfection which further highlights existing conventional attractiveness.

Like him, they're both still in their school uniforms, which means they came just after school let out. Considering they were here before Jaejoong arrived, he surmises Yunho must have a motorbike or equivalent. Jaejoong begrudgingly sees additional appeal in dating someone with his own means of transportation regardless of his reputation. The buses in this district could be better.

None of it is enough, though.

Over the next excruciating hour, he learns that a) this is definitely a first date, b) she asked him, c) Yunho took her to Lotteria because this is where "the team" hangs out, and d) the boy is utterly incapable of maintaining a conversation. Jaejoong isn't even the one who has to come up with direct responses to anything Yunho says, and he is still mentally exhausted from their date. Sooyoung was absolutely right to break up with him.

Sooyoung was right about everything, it turns out.

Jaejoong is so baffled that someone could have so much dating potential and absolutely squander it that he needs to say something. Just like his emotional support character. Glinda from Wicked: when someone needs a makeover, he simply has to take over.

The poor girl declines Yunho's offer to drive her home and leaves the restaurant first, swiftly and without looking back. Before Yunho could even reach behind him for his blazer, Jaejoong slides into the seat she just vacated. "I gotta tell you, Jung. That was the worst first date I have ever seen."

Yunho only blinks at him. "Pardon me, but who are you?"

Jaejoong expects an affronted look for his brazen comment, but full-on confusion over his identity? It offends him so much he loses track of his self-appointed mission. "Wait a minute. What do you mean, 'Who are you?' You dated Sooyoung, and you don't know who I am?!"

Yunho has the wherewithal to turn sheepish. "I didn't get around to meeting her friends."

"You were dating for almost a month!—Okay, okay." Jaejoong forces himself to abandon his offense in favour of a more productive emotion. "I'm just going to add this to the list."

"List of what?" Yunho gets up from his seat a little to peer at whatever Jaejoong is typing on his phone.

"List of reasons you can't keep a girlfriend."

He plops back into his seat. "Excuse you?"

Jaejoong pockets his phone and looks seriously at the other student. "Don't worry. I'm going to fix you."

"Hold on a second," Yunho demands with the most emotional tone he's used all day. "Who are you, and what exactly about me do you think you're going to fix?!"

He smiles in a self-satisfied way his friends have come to understand means he is definitely winning Uno.

"My name is Jaejoong, and I'm going to teach you how to date."

~~~

A/N (4.1.2023): Pretty short, but it's just the premise set up. The next chapters are, like, much longer lol. Thanks for reading! I hope to update twice a week, but we'll see how that works out for me.

[justmeinadaze]

Unattainable (Eddie X Girl at School) 

So this is the first time I'm sharing any kind of writing with anyone. Be gentle! I've been dealing with some internal nonsense and have been extremely pulled towards Eddie <3 I thought I could try my hand at some fan fiction and I am absolutely down for this to go down the smut road. Lol.

No real warning here. Just some information about the girl who meets Eddie. I did pull from the scene above so some of the dialogue is the same.

Word Count: 1,150

I never thought happiness was something for me. Not that I didn’t want it. It was something I desperately craved yet always seemed just so out of reach. My parents divorced when I was a kid and my mom never recovered. She spent most mornings in bed nursing a hangover and most nights so drunk she forgot where home even was let alone that her ex-husband’s daughter was in it. My dad moved across the country and called “when he could.” Could being after his new stepdaughter’s basketball game or when he got home from taking his new pregnant wife out to dinner. 

I learned how to take care of myself pretty quickly. I made all my meals making sure to leave some left over for mom should she decide she wanted to ingest something that wasn’t an alcoholic liquid. I biked to and from school every day and buckled on all my studies. I knew early on that a scholarship was the only way I was every going to make it into college and get out of this hell hole. I was a straight A student and joined a couple of after school activities including theater. I loved theater. I loved embodying a personality and a life that wasn’t mine. I loved that for a couple of hours the spotlight was on me and people were actually listening to what I was saying. 

When it came to dating, I wasn’t really interested. That’s a lie. I was extremely interested but not in any of the guys here. Many of the boys here in Hawkins were either the one and done type. I didn’t have any time for that. Plus, what’s the point, right? They’re all going to leave me anyway. I swore I would never become my mom. I was going to work hard, graduate, and get the hell out of here to become a famous actress. I refused to allow someone to come into my world and shatter that plan when they were just looking out for themselves.

I know. I know how I’m coming off but, look, you try being me for a few years! It’s lonely and it hurts! You have to harden yourself up to make it through all that. You have to—

“TO THE DEATH! TO THE DEATH! TO THE DEATH!”

What the hell? Everyone should be gone by now. I stayed behind in the auditorium after all the theater kids left to prepare for an audition that was coming up in a couple of days. I thought everyone else would be at the game tonight. I peak through curtain and notice just below the stage a group of people sitting around one of the tables we use in class to go over material. They are wearing those Hellfire shirts I’ve seen a couple of kids wear around campus. HellFire Club. 

Now I’m not one to judge. I know some of the other kids (especially the jocks) make fun of them and the game that they play but I think it’s kind of cool. I have no idea what is going on but I love the enthusiasm. The throne that was used for our production of “Hamlet” is at the edge of the table, back facing me. Suddenly, a big floof of hair jumps excitedly. I can see his knees on both sides of the chair. He must be on his feet, leaning over the table. 

“Time out! Time out!” someone yells as the group gets up to huddle in the corner. I can hear them from where I am debating whether or not to flee. 

“HEY! If I may interject, gentlemen. Lady Applejack…” the person in the throne leans his body to right settling his foot to the floor. Eddie? Eddie Munson? I knew of him. Everyone in Hawkins did. Usually they referred to him as “The Freak” who’s dad was in prison. We had never crossed paths before today. Honestly, there was no reason to. I don’t do drugs, I have no idea how to play Dungeons and Dragons, and I usually spent lunch in the library. 

“Whilst I respect the passion, you’d be wise to take Gareth the greats concern to heart. There is no shame in running. Don’t try to be heroes. Not today.”

Wow. What a nerd. I giggled to myself. He says it with so much confidence and adorable vigor you can’t help but be entranced. You can tell he loves what he does and has a real passion for it. Cheers erupt from the other players. 

“Direct hit!”

Eddie fake whimpers in shock, “What?!” He claps his hands and lets out a laugh, “That’s why we play!” I can’t stop starring at him with a smile. I’ve never seen anyone like him before. He was so energetic and lively. He captured the attention of a room with just his words and he didn’t have to act like someone else. He seemed so genuine…so…happy. 

I looked down at the floor ashamed. A reminder of something so unattainable for me. At least not while I’m stuck here. I turned and walked back to where my bag was packing everything neatly inside. As I turned to head for the exit, I smacked face first into something, falling backwards. 

“Whoa! Oh my god, sweetheart. Are you ok? I didn’t know anyone else was here.”

“Well, I’m going to be feeling that tomorrow. Ouch.”

“Here, let me help you up.” I felt strong hands grab my elbows and lightly pull me to my feet. “I’m seriously sorry. I was just coming back here to shut things down so the theater teacher doesn’t pitch a fit and not let us play in here.”

“No. No it’s totally fine.” I was still trying to adjust my clothes. “Usually, I’m not in here at this time but…I…” I looked up from slinging my bag over my shoulder and was met with Eddie’s big, beautiful brown eyes. It was like they pulled the words from brain. I can’t explain it but something about those eyes made me feel safe. Comfortable. I hadn’t felt that way since before my dad left. Eddie lips pulled into a tiny smile.

I was suddenly aware that his hands were still on my arms. He must have noticed to because he immediately pulled back and put his arms behind his back. 

“I…thank you for helping me up. I…um…I have to go.”, I stammered and quickly power walked in the direction towards the door. 

“Hey! Wait! You forgot your—”, the door to the auditorium slammed shut and I was suddenly caught in swarm of kids leaving the gym. I bobbed and weaved to the bike rack, quickly unlocking my bike, and peddling as fast as I could away from the school. Away from that foreign feeling I didn’t trust. I may be crazy but I could swear I felt eyes on me, watching me as I disappeared over the hill towards home. 

[captainsophiestark]

A New Lab

Elijah Mikaelson x Reader

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Requested on Wattpad!

Fandom: The Vampire Diaries/The Originals

Request: Reader is Tony Stark’s daughter, dating Elijah Mikaelson

Summary: Y/N is Tony Stark's daughter, and has been dating Elijah Mikaelson for a little over a year and a half. She's been home visiting her family for a few weeks, and even though she loves spending time with them, she seriously missed her boyfriend. Unfortunately for her, she's got a big project due for her mechanics class, and the only place that's got a lab where she can work on it is her college, meaning even more time away from Elijah. Elijah, thankfully, is a smart, determined man, and decides he's going to do something to fix that.

Word Count: 2,153

Category: Fluff

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

BEEP BEE-

My hand shot out and slammed into my phone, quickly silencing the alarm. I glanced over at my boyfriend, Elijah Mikaelson, but by some miracle he was still asleep next to me.

I sighed, then set down my phone and carefully slid out of bed. I tiptoed to the closet, and still, Elijah stayed asleep.

Thank goodness. Sometimes that vampire hearing made it impossible to be considerate if I wanted to wake up any earlier than my boyfriend.

I'd been gone for two weeks, visiting my family in New York, and I'd gotten home late yesterday afternoon. Elijah and I had spent the entire evening together, talking and laughing about all the new insanity I'd witnessed from my family (which was in no short supply, since I was a Stark), and then we'd had a nice, romantic night together after being apart for so long. Now, though, I had to get going. I had a big lab project due in just under a week for one of my engineering classes, and I hadn't even started it.

I managed to get dressed and get out of the room without waking Elijah, by some miracle. I got downstairs and decided to make a quick breakfast before going to my university to get some work done. I opened the fridge to pull out a few eggs, and when I shut it, Elijah was standing there staring at me.

"Shit!" I yelled, jumping and dropping the eggs in my hand. Elijah, with the help of his superspeed, caught them and handed them to me with a smile. "A year and a half we've been dating and I'm still not used to that."

"It must be your genetic superhero reflexes keeping you on edge," he said. I just scoffed and shook my head.

"Uh huh, I'm sure that's it."

I caught Elijah smiling out of the corner of my eye as I started cooking over the stove. He crossed the kitchen to stand behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and resting his chin on my shoulder.

"Why are you up so early, my love?" he asked. "Don't tell me you're trying to sneak out after spending the night together?"

I laughed. "If I'd wanted to do that, I would've done it sometime before the one year mark."

"Fair enough. Still, I thought you'd want to have a nice, restful morning in bed after all the excitement back home."

"I do, Eli. So bad. But I still have to do my mechanics project. I wanted to do it while I was home, but I got caught up with family and Stark Industries stuff."

"I can imagine that could be quite a distraction. Still, why don't you work on your project here?"

"I need a lab," I said, shaking my head ruefully. "I just don't have the space or facilities here to do what I need to do. My college does, although it's not quite as good as what I've got back home."

Elijah took step back as I finished cooking and put my eggs on a plate. He looked thoughtful as I sat down at the kitchen countertop, and I stared at him as I took my first few bites. Then, when he didn't say anything, I spoke up instead.

"You could always come with me, if you wanted to," I said. "I could sign you in and we could just hang out in the lab while I worked. I'll even mix in some of the music you like with my usual workshop playlist."

Elijah smiled and huffed a laugh, then looked up at me.

"I appreciate the invitation, but I have some work of my own I need to take care of here."

"Fair enough," I said, standing and moving to stick my dishes in the dishwasher. "Lord knows being a Mikaelson alone is enough to keep you busy for an eternity."

"That it is," he said. I paused and gave him a kiss, then headed for the door, but he called out and stopped me. "Y/N? Any idea when you'll be home?"

I grimaced. "Late. Dinner at the earliest, around two-thirty am after the lab closes at the latest."

"Alright. Just let me know when you're leaving the lab, and tell me if you want me to walk you back here."

"I will. Thanks, 'Lij."

"Anytime, darling."

I blew him a kiss, then turned on my heel and headed out the door. I had a long day ahead of me.

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

Elijah's POV

I put my hands on my hips as I surveyed the room in front of me. It sat unused on the first floor of the compound, just below Y/N and I's bedroom. It was as isolated a room as I could find in this building, which made it the perfect choice to convert into a lab for Y/N.

"Well, I suppose there's nothing to it but to get started," I muttered to myself.

I spent the rest of the day cleaning out everything that had been sitting in the room gathering dust. Some of it went in the trash, some into other rooms in the compound. I managed to finish cleaning it out before Y/N got home that night, thanks to the perks that came with being an Original Vampire.

Turning it into a high-tech lab, however, was going to be much more difficult. Securing whatever equipment might be necessary would be one thing, but knowing exactly what equipment Y/N needed presented a whole other problem.

I decided to go with Y/N to her lab the next day. I made a point of asking questions about what all the different equipment was, and how it differed from what her father had in New York. Then, when she wasn't looking, I took detailed notes that I hoped would be enough.

After Y/N left to work on her project for the third day in a row, I started getting pieces of machinery delivered to the compound. I compelled the delivery people to bring it in without questions (or remembering what they were delivering, where, and to who), and I was in the middle of directing them where to place it when my brother walked in.

"Elijah, what the bloody hell are you doing?" demanded Niklaus. I finished directing the delivery, then turned to him.

"I'm putting this empty room to use," I said simply.

"To use as what?"

"A lab for Y/N."

"A lab for Y/N?"

"Yes." I turned to face my brother fully as the delivery people walked out the door to get the next piece of equipment. "Do you have a problem with that, Niklaus?"

"I suppose not, since nothing was in this room anyway. And I quite like Y/N, as well." A smirk was slowly spreading across my brother's face, and I knew he wasn't about to end the conversation there. "She's got you wrapped around her finger brother."

I just rolled my eyes as Niklaus laughed. I let it go on for a moment as I headed for the door to continue the unloading of lab equipment, but paused at the threshold and turned back to my brother.

"I would look carefully in the mirror before making any jokes, Niklaus. I remembering being in Mystic Falls not too long ago and seeing you almost completely lose your mind over a certain blonde, newborn vampire from a small town in Virginia."

Niklaus scowled, but I ignored him as I continued to walk outside. The mention of Caroline Forbes never failed to shut him up.

Now, I could go back to focusing on getting things in order for Y/N.

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

Y/N's POV

I came home from another long day of working at my lab. My project was due in two days, and I was finally getting close to finishing it. Still, I was completely exhausted, and as soon as I turned my project in I was planning to come straight back here and go to sleep.

I wandered into the kitchen in a daze, only to find my boyfriend already there, a smile on his face and a nice dinner waiting for me on the table.

"Welcome home, Y/N," he said, giving me a soft smile.

"Elijah... oh my God, I love you. You're amazing."

I crossed the kitchen to give him a kiss, then sat down to dig into the amazing dinner in front of me. Elijah joined me, and even though I was exhausted, I could tell he was a little more excited than usual. That, coupled with the fanciness of the surprise dinner, was enough for me to put together that he had something up his sleeve.

"Alright Eli, I've been buried in my lab lately, but I'm not completely blind. What's all this about? What are you planning, or what did you do?"

"I'm not sure I know what you're talking about," he said, not even bothering to try to hide a smile on his face.

"Uh huh, sure. And I'm not a Stark. Come on, babe, tell me what's up."

"Finish dinner. Then I'll show you."

I wanted to argue, but the food was too good, and I was too tired. I quickly ate the rest of my meal, glancing up at Elijah's smile every few seconds, and it never dropped from his face. Finally, I finished.

"Alright, that's it. And it was amazing, by the way. Now, what's this thing you've got to show me?"

He stood, then held out his hand for me to take. "Right this way."

I, of course, took his hand, then he led me out of the kitchen and towards the back corner of the compound. As far as I knew, absolutely no one ever came back here except to leave the compound from a back exit, so I had no idea where Elijah was leading me.

Finally, he came to a stop outside a set of double doors. There didn't seem to be anything special about them from the outside, and I didn't see any of his siblings hanging around. I gave him a questioning look, but he just gestured towards the doors.

"After you."

I took a deep breath, then pushed open the doors. I got half a step inside before I froze on the spot, taking in the sights around me.

It was a fully-stocked, state of the art lab. Not as high-tech as what my dad had at home, but far and away better than my university's lab.

My hands flew to my mouth, and I started to tear up. I did another scan of the room, trying to convince myself that it was actually real, then turned back to my boyfriend. He had a massive smile on his face as he took in my reaction.

"Elijah..." I breathed. I wanted to keep going, but I was honestly at a loss for words.

"Do you like it?"

"Like it? I absolutely love it! Elijah, this is amazing! Thank you, so much!"

Without waiting another second, I rushed across the room to wrap him in a monster hug. He hugged right back, burying his face in my neck and breathing me in. After a few seconds, I pulled back just a hint, then kissed Elijah as hard as I possibly could.

He wrapped one arm even tighter around my waist, then tangled the other in my hair. I ran my hands along his back, and Elijah deepened the kiss. After a few heated moments, however, I pulled back. Elijah gave me a curious look, and I couldn't help grinning at him.

"Not to make you regret this amazing thing you did for me, but I literally can't wait another second before I start breaking in this lab," I said. Elijah laughed, slowly letting his hands drop from around me.

"To tell you the truth, I didn't expect you to last this long before getting instantly to work."

"You know me too well," I said, shooting him a grin over my shoulder as I ran my hands over all the new machinery. Elijah just smiled back as he watched me go, and my heart soared.

I'd somehow been lucky enough to find the best man in the world, and not only that, but I got to have him as my boyfriend.

[legoshi-plz]

Notice Me Part III

Pairing: Izuku Midoriya x Reader (eventually), Best! Friend! Shinsou Hitoshi x Reader

Summary: College AU. Reader feels like she’s constantly overlooked/ ignored and she’s made her peace with that.

Waning: See Chapter One.

A/N: I think this story is turning into a slice of life fic which I’m oddly okay with even though I’ve never written for that genre before. It’ll be a new and interesting experience for sure!

///////

Your last class ended on Friday evening and you found yourself filing out of the door with slight tension in your neck and relief at the weekend ahead. With no plans on your schedule, you were free to sleep in as late as you wanted and relax properly.

You mind drifted back to your plans from the previous weekend. You couldn’t remember the last time you’d had so much fun with someone who wasn’t Shinsou or Tokoyami. Midoriya was so sweet and always so genuine about everything, being around him really had a way of letting you see the world through his eyes in a much more optimistic light. You’d been serious when you offered to hang out more and you found yourself secretly hoping he’d reach out.

Before you could even open the door to your dorm, you heard your suitmate’s shrill giggles outside the door. It wasn’t like her to entertain company in the suite common area, as she usually just took her friends straight back to her room but you didn’t begrudge her for it. She kept out of your hair most of the time to the point where you barely remembered she was there and she was sweet enough to let Shinsou in when you didn’t hear his knocks. Speaking of which....

“Y/N! Why didn’t you tell me your friend here was such a charmer?!” She squealed in delight the second you walked through the door. She was currently sitting on the sofa with her legs thrown over Shinsou’s lap, a smile donning her face that showed off all thirty-two of her teeth. Shinsou was smirking to himself as his hands trailed dangerously high on her legs and thighs.

“Took you long enough, thought you were never gonna show up. Been here almost thirty minutes, luckily I had company,” Shinsou looked quite smug and you couldn’t tell if you should turn around and give them some privacy or not.

“Don’t let me interrupt, I was just gonna head in early anyway,” you laughed with a slight awkwardness while turning to the door that led to your room.

“Like hell you are,” Shinsou stood, brushing off your suite-mate so that he could follow you into your room, barely throwing her a quick “catch you later,” despite cozying up to her for half an hour. Shinsou’s ego when it came to women was really unbelievable sometimes, it made you wonder why so many girls would put up with it but maybe they saw something in him (or at least in their attraction to him) that you just didn’t.

“Have you forgotten what tonight is? I’m feeling pretty generous so I’ll even let you pick the movie,” Shinsou made his way over to your bed and flopped down.

“We haven’t done Movie Night in weeks, hell last week we, and by we I mean I, worked on lab assignments the whole night,” you sat your backpack down by your desk.

“Yeah but that was last week. This week, we’re doing movie night.”

“One of your dates must have canceled on you, huh?”

“Y’know I could always walk across the hall and remedy that,” Shinsou smirked in that cruel way of his. He didn’t do it often but there would be the rare occasions where Shinsou would throw his prowess in your face to see how you’d react. As if to remind you of the stark difference between the two of you. He could get any girl he wanted without even trying, yet no guy would come within ten feet of you in a romantic way. These were facts you’d long since come to terms with and you wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of a reaction.

“Be my guest, just try to keep it down, I’ve got some homework I need to catch up on,” you chuckled, sliding into your desk chair.

“Please, as if I’d ever touch a girl like her. Have you seen that face?” Shinsou scoffed, as if his hand wasn’t just creeping up her skirt not even ten minutes prior.

“I have actually. I think she’s quite pretty,” you hummed, getting out your laptop. You were serious about catching up on that homework even if he wasn’t.

“Well you’ve always had terrible eyesight and dogshit taste so I’m not surprised. Put that away, I already told you we’re having movie night. You can do your homework literally any other time,” you could tell by his whining he wasn’t going to let it go so you might as well cave now.

“Okay, okay, I’ll go make the popcorn then we can find something to wa- actually, does it have to just be us? I wanna invite someone else,” you picked up your phone, scrolling down to find Midoriya’s number.

“I already told you I’m not gonna screw your suite-mate, why do y-”

“I’m not talking about her, I’m talking about Midoriya,” you wondered if you should just call him but that felt a little too pushy so you settled for a generic ‘you busy?’ text.

“Hoping he’ll put in a good word for you with Todoroki? Or that he’ll bring him along? Honestly, Y/N, this is getting pretty pathetic,” You knew Shinsou’s annoyance was stemming from his concern for you as a friend but he was taking the tough love approach a little too far.

“Believe it or not; I actually like hanging out with Midoriya, you ass. We had fun last week.”

“Oh great, now you’re another fan girl for All Might Jr. I think I would’ve preferred if you just stuck to your guns with Todoroki,” you ignored Shinsou as you texted Izuku back. It seemed he was up for joining you two.

“It’s not like that, it’s just nice to have a friend who doesn’t have group leader ego,” you grumbled, putting your phone down.

“I never asked to be group leader, but you and Tokoyami weren’t exactly stepping up,” Shinsou smirked. He could be so full of himself sometimes, it was hard to imagine him as the same shy middle schooler you met all those years ago. But behind all that bravado, you knew he could still be sweet and a genuinely good friend even if he got embarrassed when people saw that side of him.

“I’m gonna go make popcorn. You can go ahead and find something, I wanna already have the movie ready with Midoriya gets here,” you stood and stretched, making your way to the kitchen.

“Hope Wonderboy likes horror movies,”Shinsou grumbled, grabbing your remote.

//////

AN: I know Shinsou’s kind of an asshole in this chapter but there’s a reason for it, I promise :) and I know I haven’t stated it explicitly in the story but Shinsou, Tokoyami, and Reader were all close friends while at UA and still are even though they don’t see Tokoyami quite as much because he has other friends and was never quite as close with Shinsou and Reader as they are with each other.

[btssaysstudy]

Salvage - 1 || jjk/kth.

Summary: After your confession, it's safe to say that there was nothing left to salvage between you and Jungkook. However, things start to change when a new hurdler joins the team. Genre: college!au, track!jungkook, track!taehyung, track!reader, angst & fluff Pairing: jungkook x reader, taehyung x reader Warning(s) : unrequited love, alcohol (drinking) mentioned, swearing Chapter Word Count: 3.7k a/n: My first mini series! Let me know what you guys think and the ending depends on your feedback :) taglist: do let me know if you want to be added to the series taglist

series masterlist

“Wake me up when you’re done.”

“Alright, alright. I’m done.” Your body got up from your seat, but your gaze still glued on your laptop screen and hands on your keyboard. Your roommate groaned, marching her way to pull your hands away from the laptop.

“Yn, it’s a Friday night. Let’s go! Namjoon’s waiting for us downstairs.”

“Yea but,” You sighed, your eyes on your work, “I still have quite a lot of things to do. Maybe I’ll skip this party—“

“Like how you missed Hoseok’s birthday party? I’m sure he’s going to hunt you down later. You still have the weekends to complete your work and you’re already dressed up.”

You knew your roommate was right. You had agreed to go for this party since it was one of Namjoon’s close friends’ birthday. Though you weren’t close to the birthday boy, you were close to Namjoon and his girlfriend, who also happened to be your roommate - Miya.

“Okay, okay.” You quickly saved your work and turned your laptop off. “Let’s go.”

Miya squealed in excitement, linking her arm around yours as she pulled you towards the door. The two of you went down to meet Namjoon who had been patiently waiting for you to get down.

“Sorry for wait.” You gave an apologetic smile. “No worries! We’re still early. Good to miss the first few awkward minutes of the party.” He chuckled as he opened the car door to let you both in.

Miya truly hit jackpot with Namjoon. He was the whole package - athletic, smart and a gentleman. Miya was a great catch herself and you were thankful that she was your roommate.

Miya had been your roommate since freshmen year and ever since, you both always wanted to dorm together. Miya was very caring and gentle yet blunt at the same time. You both were awkward beings when you first met, and you were worried how dorm life would be with a stranger.

Thankfully, Miya, being the straightforward person, immediately went out with setting the ground rules together and suggested for a roommate date to get to know each other.

The rest was practically history.

Miya had been there for many of your significant memories in college - the good and the bad.

She was also there when you met Jungkook.

“Do you have any clubs in mind?”

“Actually, I do. I’m planning to sign up for track.”

Miya gasped and giggled in excitement, “No way, I want to join track too!”

“That’s cool! Shall we head over then?”

The two of you made your way to the track and field booth, sharing about what events you partake in. Miya was a hurdler while you weren’t. Nonetheless, it was pretty amazing to you two that you were both signing up for the track team.

“Hey freshies! Here to sign up?”

The two of you converse with the seniors to learn more about the try-outs and practice sessions.

“Psst,” Miya nudged you as you filled up the sign-up form, “On your left. Isn’t he cute?”

Your gaze turned to see a tall, buff boy, who seemed to be signing up for track as well. “He’s pretty cute.”

“I’m going to say hi. Wait for me.” Miya winked at you before approaching the boy - little did she know at that time that he was going to be her boyfriend.

“See you try-outs!” You smiled at the senior as you handed the form.

Your eyes wandered around the nearby booths as you waited for Miya to come back.

“I’ll just look around.” You mouthed at her when she turned to make eye contact with you.

“Hey! Interested to join Photography club?”

“Freshies! Come join the Badminton club!”

The atmosphere was completely chaotic with seniors shouting at the top of their lungs to promote their club. Slightly disoriented from the ruckus, you had bumped into a stranger.

“I’m so sorry—“

“So sorry about that—“

The two of you took a step back to meet each other’s eyes. “Sorry about that.” The black-haired boy gave a sheepish grin as he rubbed the nape of his neck. “I was kinda too excited to sign up for a club.”

“No worries, it’s my fault as well. I wasn’t looking.”

“All’s good. B-But… Any chance that you happen to know where the track and field club booth is at?”

Your eyes widened slightly in amusement, “Yea I do. I was just about to head back to meet my friend.”

“Oh! Could I follow you there?”

“Sure.”

Your eyes took a quick once-over, it wasn’t hard to notice that his built was athletic, donned in sweats and an oversize black shirt, this guy looked like the poster boy of college dudes.

“My name’s Jungkook. What’s yours?”

“Yn. Did you run track before college?”

“Yep, I do 4x100s.”

“Oh, same here!” You flashed a smile. “Wow, what a coincidence that I’d bump into you huh.” Jungkook chuckled and you did the same. “Must be a sign that we’ll both be teammates.”

“Not a bad sign at all.”

“Yn!” Miya waved her hand wildly amidst the crowd. “I was about to leave the booth to go find you! What booths did you— Oh hi, I’m Miya, you are?”

“Jungkook. Nice to meet you. You must be the friend yn was going back for.”

Miya gave you a subtle look which you chose to ignore that day.

“Jungkook,” Miya grinned, “It’s nice to meet you too!”

“Speaking of the party, yn, you know Jungkook will be there as well, right?”

“Yes, this is the tenth time you’ve told me that.”

“Sorry, just another reminder before we pull up to the party.”

Besides having a ton of workload to do, you also had another reason for having second thoughts.

That reason was Jungkook.

“Thanks for your concern. But it’s been a year, I’m long over it.”

“That’s great to hear, I’m proud of you yn.” Namjoon piped in as he parked the car. “And we,” He placed his hand on Miya’s, “Should trust our friend’s word.”

Miya glanced at you before sighing, “Alright. I do. Now, let’s go greet the birthday boy.”

The three of you left the car and made your way to the party venue. The birthday boy was clearly loaded as the venue was huge. You jaw dropped in awe, “Why is this party so extravagant?”

“Good thing our birthday gifts are more drinks.” Miya nudged you and you laughed, nodding your head.

You were all greeted with blaring music from the stereo and neon lights to add into the ambience. People had already begun drinking and some were busy eating dinner.

“Yn!! I missed you!” A very familiar voice erupted as you spotted a figure rushing towards you.

“Hoseok!” You grinned, extending your arms out for a hug.

“You didn’t come to my party!” He pouted as he pulled away. “But I visited the next day as a surprise!” You defended yourself.

“That’s true… Still feels like forever since I saw you.” Hoseok pulled you back in for a hug.

The four of you made your way to one of open rooms which had been turned into a buffet area. You had helped yourself to the wide array of food and found a table to eat with your friends.

“We have a new hurdler joining us. He’s our batch but he only joined the club this try-out round.” Namjoon filled you in since you were the only non-hurdler in your group.

“Oh, who is it?”

“Kim Taehyung.”

“Wait, Kim Taehyung? Isn’t he from table tennis?”

Namjoon shrugged his shoulders, “Guess he wanted to try something new. I was there during try-outs and he’s a really fast runner.”

—

Since it was a huge party and you weren’t close to the birthday boy, you didn’t need to spend the night entertaining the main character of the night.

To make full use of the amenities at the booked venue, the four of you started playing different rounds of games.

You were paired with Hoseok against Miya and Namjoon. The first round was charades and you lost to them. Hoseok found the game Just Dance and proposed it as the next round.

Jungkook had not been on your mind the entire night as you busied yourself playing games with your friends.

“What else can you do?!” Miya exclaimed, stepping in front to take over Hoseok’s spot.

“More like what else can you not do?! That was amazing!” You pulled Hoseok in for hug, “We’re gonna win this. Get ready to treat us for a meal!”

Namjoon chuckled, “We have to do another game after this. Hoseok basically created the game Just Dance. He followed the moves to easily.”

“Don’t whine, just dance!” Hoseok teased, pulling you back on the couch as you both watched Miya and Namjoon do their round.

“Didn’t want to ruin the mood but… He’s watching.” Hoseok leaned in to whisper in your ear. Your eyes slowly wandered around the venue to spot a familiar figure hanging around a crowd of people.

You both made eye contact and you decided to cast a smile at his direction. In return, you received a quick and small smile before he looked away, completely avoiding your direction.

“That went well.”

“Give him time.”

“Hobi,” you deadpanned, “I’m pretty sure one year is a lot of time.”

Hoseok just shrugged, “I know but… Okay, I have nothing to say to defend him.”

You chuckled, turning your attention back to Miya and Namjoon, “You don’t have to defend him.”

“He’s my close friend too.”

“I know, and I feel bad that you have to split yourself in half every time—“

“No, no,” Hoseok nudged you to get that thought off your mind, “I don’t feel that way. Besides, I met the two of you on separate occasions as well. Please don’t feel guilty about anything.”

You gave him a thankful smile, “Thanks Hobi.”

The Just Dance bet ended with your landslide victory thanks to Hoseok’s hidden dance skills.

Namjoon insisted for another game to even the playing field and Hoseok went out to the backyard to set up the beer pong table. Miya and Namjoon had gone to the kitchen to grab the cups and drinks and you had volunteered to grab more titbits to snack on.

Thanks to your luck, Jungkook had busied himself with filling his plate with snacks as well.

“Hey.”

Jungkook jumped upon heading your voice, quickly steadying the plate on his hand. “H-Hey.”

“How’s the party going?”

You attempted to start a conversation with him as you grabbed a plate yourself. Jungkook awkwardly cleared his throat, “It’s a huge party… H-How about— Are you enjoying it?”

“Yea, there’s tons of things to do. How about you?”

“Yea.” Jungkook fiddled with one of the serving scoops. You pressed your lips in a tight smile, recognising the awkward atmosphere engulfing the both of you.

It hurt you to know Jungkook was still feeling awkward around you. It always reminded you that you had made the wrong choice. That you had ruined everything between the two of you.

“Right, I guess I’ll head off first. See you at practice?”

“Yea… See you around.” Jungkook nodded his head, his gaze locked on the table filled with snacks as you left the area, feeling dejected from your encounter.

“What’s with the long face?” Hoseok asked as you approached your group. You looked up to meet his eyes and he immediately knew, sighing as he pulled you into a comforting hug.

“It’s not your fault.”

“Still feels like it is.”

-

“Is it just me or am I still hungover from the party?”

You laughed, “You had a whole Sunday to rest.”

Miya sighed as she started doing hip circles. “I know, I must be getting old.”

“You probably are. Anyway, where is Namjoon?”

Just as you had asked, you heard his voice calling you and Miya. The both of you turned to see Namjoon heading over your direction with someone unfamiliar next to him. Namjoon was goofily waving his hands to grab your attention while pointing to the male next to him.

As they got closer, you managed to recognise the person next him. It was Kim Taehyung. He was popular in college because he was very talented at table tennis. It shocked you when Namjoon said he had joined the track team as a hurdler.

“You two must be Miya and Yn. I’m Taehyung.” He stuck out his hand for a handshake.

With a light smile, you reached out to return the handshake. Taehyung had a welcoming aura around him. He had a friendly and approachable vibe. He was tall, athletic, and good looking.

“So, what made you join track?”

He shrugged his shoulders, “It’s our last year in college, wanted to try something different.”

“Hope you like it here.”

Taehyung glanced back at you, casting a boxy grin your way, “I think I will.”

The coach blew their whistle to grab everyone’s attention. Everyone made their way to the centre of the field to start physical training. Training started with light warm-ups before rounds around the track.

While running, Taehyung was happily chatting away with you to get to know you better. “That sucks, so you’re not a hurdler?”

“Nope, I do 4x100s.”

“So, I’ll only get to see you once a week.” Taehyung pouted and you chuckled, “You can see me on other days.”

Track had 3 sessions a week - one combined with everyone and two within your own events. The combined session was physical training for all, hence why you were running rounds with a hurdler by your side.

“I’ll take that up!” He winked at you before speeding up slightly, “Catch me if you can!”

From behind, Jungkook watched you and Taehyung converse with a scowl on his face.

Why were you even talking while jogging? Was Taehyung flirting with you?

He used to be the one disturbing you during these rounds.

Jungkook tried to shrug off the scene of you and Taehyung together, ignoring the bitter feeling growing in his chest.

-

“Don’t feel bad. You’re sick, I’ll bring up some food for you.” You grabbed your student ID and phone as you insisted that Miya stayed in bed. Casting you a weak smile, she thanked you as you left your dorm to head off to the dining hall.

You lucked out when you saw Jungkook standing at the end of the queue, scrolling through his phone. With a deep breathe in as you made your way to join the queue. “Hey.” You gave a cautious greeting towards his way. Jungkook’s heart jumped, his grip tightening on his phone as he looked up to see you smiling at him.

“Hey.”

Jungkook hated how awkward he felt with you. It never used to be that way. Then again, that was a year ago.

You also never understood why Jungkook was the one avoiding you when you were the one who got rejected.

“Today was fun.” Jungkook gave you a toothy grin, “Yea it was.”

“Definitely my new favourite restaurant. I’m so full!” He playfully patted his stomach and you chuckled, “Looks like I know where to go when you start being grumpy or stressed.”

“That’s easy, you don’t have to take me to that restaurant. I just have to spend time with you and I’m good to go.” He shrugged his shoulders. Your heart fluttered at how nonchalant his words were yet so genuine. You had been thinking about it the entire afternoon, contemplating if it was the right decision. But you knew you had to let it out before it was too late.

“You good?” Jungkook pulled you out from your thoughts. “Mm? Oh yea, I’m good.” Your feet lazily kicked a stone in front of you.

“Hey,” Jungkook stopped walking, gently placing his hand on your arm to turn you around to face him. “You can always tell me something.”

“I know, I’m… I’m just tired that’s all.”

Jungkook pursed his lips together, “How about we head over to my place to watch a movie?”

“Sure.”

You let Jungkook choose the movie for the night as your head was far away. Jungkook nudged you, shimmying his shoulders. That was always his signal when he offered his shoulder for you to rest on. You gave him a small smile as you leaned your head on his shoulder.

Despite loving Marvel, you found yourself not paying a single ounce of attention to the movie. Jungkook seemed to have noticed that as you weren’t bantering with his small comments to the movie.

You were brought back to reality when you noticed the movie was paused.

“What’s wrong?” You asked, sitting up to face Jungkook.

“I was about to ask that.”

“I’m… I’m tired. I think I’ll just head home for the night.”

Jungkook frowned and you had to look away to save yourself from crumbling into pieces.

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about what’s on your mind?”

You sighed, this was it. You just had to let it out.

“Promise me you won’t hate me?”

“Hate you? Jungkook repeated, “I would never hate you.”

He placed his hand on your knee, encouraging you to continue. “I’ve liked you for a while.” You paused, allowing the words to sink in. You could feel his hand stiffen and you were sure he could hear the loud beating of your heart.

The silence was deafening.

Your confession repeating in both your heads.

As every second dragged on, you started to regret it even more. You had made a terrible mistake and there was no way you could take it back. Life had no re-dos.

“I’m guessing you don’t feel the same way, given the response.” You clicked your tongue together, gathering the courage to look up at him.

Jungkook was lost for words. He would have never expected to hear a confession from you that night. From his closest friend. From his best friend.

Your words left a funny feeling in him that night, but he could not tell whether it was a good or bad feeling.

“Well, don’t worry.” You forced a laugh, “I didn’t expect much anyway. I just wanted to let it out. But I’m guessing I just ruined our friendship.”

“N-No, uh… I just… I just need time to… to absorb all of this.”

You nodded your head, “I understand.” You took it as a cue to get up from the couch, Jungkook’s eyes following your figure. “I’ll see myself out. Sorry for ruining the night.”

“T-Text me when you made it home safely.” Jungkook called out as you headed for the door.

Terrible. Even after ruining your friendship, Jungkook was still looking out for you. You hated how that made you feel. You turned around to face him one more time, a smile plastered on your face.

“Will do. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

It pained Jungkook to see you holding back your tears. If he could have another chance to replay that night. He would’ve stopped you from leaving, he would’ve told you that your friendship wasn’t ruined.

He would’ve done anything he could that night to stop you from leaving his life.

But in reality, he did none of those.

When you texted him that night that you were home, your message was left unread.

You took it as a message to give him time to process everything. A night turned into a day. A day turned into a week. A week turned into a month. A month turned into a year.

It was because of your confession, you both had become strangers once again.

“Yn!”

“Oh, hi Tae!”

Despite using his phone, Jungkook’s attention was on your conversation with Taehyung. You were already calling him ‘Tae’? Since when were you that close with him?

“Namjoon told me Miya’s sick. She alright?”

“Yep, just grabbing food for her so she can take her meds and rest.”

“Need my help?”

“Oh no, all’s good.”

Taehyung nudged you, “It’s alright, you have to get your own food too. I’ve already eaten, I can help carry her food up to your dorm, check up on her as well.”

“Sure, if you’re free, that is.”

“Free for you.” He teased and you laughed, looking away momentarily to see Jungkook who seemed to be invested in his phone.

“Oh, Jungkook! Didn’t recognise you at first. How’ve you been?”

Jungkook looked up to greet Taehyung, “H-Hey, I’ve been well.”

Ever since meeting Taehyung, he got along with your group easily. In fact, he got along with everyone effortlessly. He knew almost everyone in the track team only after 2 weeks. That meant only 2 combined sessions. Somehow along the way, it seemed that he had introduced himself to Jungkook as well.

Taehyung was amazing with people and that was admirable. The more you got to know Taehyung, the more you looked forward to hanging out with him.

“See you next practice!” Taehyung happily patted Jungkook’s shoulders goodbye as you two went off a different direction towards your dorm.

You barely register their conversation as your head was somewhere else, recalling the night you had confessed.

“Hey, are you okay?” Taehyung’s concerned voice made you look up to meet his eyes.

“I’m okay.”

Taehyung frowned, glancing behind to see Jungkook looking at the two of you walking away. Jungkook shook his head, quickly glancing away as Taehyung caught him looking.

“Something to do with Jungkook, perhaps?”

Taehyung was very observant and you knew you couldn’t fool him as well.

“Sort of… We just used to be close but... He’s been avoiding me and I’ve been trying to salvage whatever’s left. But it doesn’t seem to be working.”

Taehyung pursed his lips together, “It’s not fair if only one party is putting in the effort, you know.”

“I know, it’s just that… We used to be close.” You sighed as you stepped into the elevator with him, your gaze on your tray of food.

“Still, it’s not worth salvaging if you’re the only one putting in the effort. I’m sure you’ve done your best. Sometimes, you just can’t force things to happen.”

As the elevator opened to your level, you allowed his words to sink in.

“Miya! We come with food!” Taehyung grinned, bringing the tray to your sick roommate as she thanked the two of you for your help.

Your eyes trailed to Taehyung who was helping Miya grab her medicine and a glass of water.

Maybe Taehyung was right. Maybe it’s time to stop trying.

[itsamejin]

easy || jungkook angst/fluff

Summary: Date you, win a bet, get his rent paid off. Sounds promising enough, right? Jungkook should’ve known that his ambitions would end in disaster, but even if he did, that still wouldn’t have stopped him from pursuing you.

Warning: cursing, crude humor, fuckboy talk

Genre: college!au, fuckboy!au, bet!trope, angst, fluff

Pairing: Jungkook x female!reader

Premise: In which Jungkook accepts a bet from Taehyung to date the first girl that walks into the lecture hall and realizes that he bit off more than he could chew when starts to catch feelings. Now, he has to suffer the consequences of being an idiot.

Commission Request: @altus-gens​

Word Count: 9,203 words

—

It's not like Jungkook planned to be one of the most sought after person in Yonsei University, but it somehow turned out to be that way. Truthfully, he basks in it, loves that so many people idolize him for doing the bare minimum. He was handsome after all and had a level of charm that surpassed the need to have a good personality. 

He got into such a prestigious school through an athletic scholarship for Taekwondo, managed to convince his professors to pass him when he put in minimal effort, and there was no shortage of girls to call when he was feeling lonely for a night. He was the stereotypical 'it' boy on campus and maybe if he was a little bit smarter, he'd have a better choice of friends than the six idiots he always hangs around with.

"How about this," Taehyung starts, gum in his mouth, "the first girl who walks in, you have to successfully get in her pants."

Jungkook rolls his eyes. They were in a damn lecture hall and yet Taehyung had no shame bringing up sex. Typical.

“This again, bro?” Hoseok sighed. “Aren’t you sick of bribing us to do weird shit for you?”

Taehyung smirked.

“Not at all, actually.”

"For how much?" Namjoon cut in, probably curious for the price point Taehyung would arrange this time. He was fired from his job just a week ago and could really use the money. "I'll do it if it’s enough to pay for my rent this month."

Taehyung scoffs, although knowing full well he could pay for all of the boys’ tuitions combined if he wanted to. He was the resident rich bachelor on campus after all.

"I'll pay it for a full year and your utility bills too if you're really down," Taehyung flaunts. "You just gotta have proof you actually managed to do it."

"Dude that's gross," Seokjin chimes in, "No one wants to send you proof of us doing it with a random girl."

Taehyung shakes his head.

"No, no, no," he says, clicking his tongue. "I phrased it incorrectly. I’m not a fucking pervert."

“You got us fooled,” Jimin mutters. 

Taehyung leans in closer to the six boys and even Jungkook finds himself getting intrigued. Admittedly, he was a little curious considering he hasn't had a proper meal in weeks. He could really use having some extra cash for food without worrying about rent.

"You have to date the girl for like three months," Taehyung says seriously, "and I'll consider that as enough proof that you managed to actually do it since I know you guys are too horny to wait any longer than that to fuck."

They all look at Taehyung in disgust, Jimin even opting to hit him in the back of the head for being so vulgar. To be fair, they were all thinking of accepting Taehyung's bet regardless. It's not like they were new to leading girls on anyway.

"You gotta pay me more than that to fuck just any girl," Yoongi says, yawning in the process. He seemed the least likely to take up Taehyung's offer, but he was still game depending on the person.

"Then how would you feel," Taehyung starts, "if I told you guys that I could get you priority registration for next quarter."

The boys, even the ones who weren't interested, were now listening to Taehyung's every word.

"You mean," Hoseok gulps, "I could finally get that fucking Organic Chemistry class I need to get out of this hell hole?!"

Taehyung shrugs, an ominous smile on his face.

"Just the perk of having parents who have connections," Taehyung replies. “I’ll only accept one of you guys to do it though. I don’t wanna have you all fucking the same girl- that’d be weird.”

Hoseok rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, that’s what’s weird about this,” he grumbles.

“So are you guys in or not?” Taehyung asks, his patience growing thin.

He lays back on his chair, a smoldering look on his face when they all nod. They were desperate for money after all.

"The next girl that walks in will be the subject of this bet and whoever calls dibs on her first will be the one to woo her,” he says with a stretch of his arms. “Good luck boys.”

They all turned to look at the door and Jungkook watches silently as guy after guy walks into the lecture hall. No girl yet. 

Jungkook was hoping, from the bottom of his heart, that no familiar faces would walk in. If he had to deal with a past fling, he’d have to back out immediately. He never dealt with exes very well.

The guys are at the edge of their seats, praying for a cute girl to walk through that didn’t already know about their horrible reputation. They were looking for an easy target, someone that could fall for their charms almost immediately.

And then, you walk in. You were clad in sweats with earphones on, rushing toward the front row seats of the lecture hall. You were chatting with your friends, yawning several times throughout your conversation with them. Jungkook couldn’t help but smirk. There was nothing special about you to point out, in fact, you were just like everyone else. Strangely enough, he found that the most intriguing part about you.

"Nope, nope, nope," Jimin shakes his head repeatedly. "Can't, won't, never will. Sorry, Tae."

They all stare at him in confusion.

"What the fuck, what's wrong with her?" Yoongi asks, crossing his arms over his chest. Jimin faces away from you, not wanting to look at you any longer.

"No, nothing," there seems to be a blush forming on his face. He was hiding something.

“Bullshit,” Taehyung furrows his brows. “Bro, if she’s crazy and one of us gets our dick bitten off, we’re all blaming you, so spit it out.”

Jimin just sighs.

"She's been giving me Professor Kwon’s notes for the past few weeks,” he starts, much to the confusion of his friends. “Her name is [Y/N]. It'll be really mean if I go after her, especially since she and I are kind of friends. Plus, I really need to pass this class. I failed last quarter..."

The boys groan. Jimin was no fun.

"She's not my type so I don't think I could really get into it either," Seokjin states, no longer interested in the prize after Jimin’s confession. He’s been banking off of your notes from him too. 

"Aren’t we all old enough to know not to mess with people’s feelings?" Hoseok sighs.

They roll their eyes at Hoseok’s statement. Who was he trying to fool with the nice guy act? He probably fooled around with girls just as much as the other guys did.

"Yeah, I’m backing out," Yoongi agrees, "and she hates me so there's that."

They all look at him questioningly and he puts his hands up in the air from their gazes.

"What? I just realized who she’s talking to down there.”

He pointed at a girl discreetly, but no one seemed to recognize her.

“Her friend and I dated,” Yoongi continues, “and I broke up with her over text and blocked her without letting her respond. That whole friend group is pretty much pissed at me. I'd rather not have to deal with them again."

The guys look disapprovingly at him. Breaking up over text was harsh, but probably not the worst thing Yoongi has done to his exes.

"You're actually a piece of shit," Namjoon sighs. "I really do need my rent paid though..."

Jungkook nods in agreement. It's been almost impossible to balance Taekwondo practices, college papers, and working a part-time job all at once. If he could somehow find a way to quit his job for a while and get priority registration for classes, then he doesn't mind getting his hands a little dirty in the process. Plus, you were cute enough and he's sure you weren't too difficult to befriend as long as he doesn't mention Yoongi in any conversations.

"I'm in," Jungkook chides, finally saying something after such a long period of silence.

They all look at him with disbelief in their eyes. Jungkook was never the one to partake in Taehyung's bets. In fact, he was the one usually ridiculing them for participating. He must have been really desperate if he was willing to do it.

"I mean, it's all yours if you want," Namjoon replies, "I don't wanna turn it into a competition.”

“Don’t worry dude,” Jungkook fist bumps Namjoon, “I’ll quit my job and refer you for it.”

They nod at each other as if they were on the same wavelength. 

“I knew I could rely on you,” Namjoon says, faking tears from his eyes. The boys groan in response.

“Alright,” Taehyung claps his hands. “In exchange for providing me some mindless entertainment and going out with [Y/N], you will get your rent paid for the rest of the year and get early registration for next quarter. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me.”

Jimin shakes his head.

“I don’t know about this, guys...”

Jungkook doesn’t hear him and instead takes one last look at you. You catch him in the corner of your eye and you can’t help but feel flustered at his serious expression. 

“Should be easy enough,” he mutters to himself and turns his gaze back onto his friend.

“So we have a deal?” Taehyung asks.

He smirks, shaking the outreached hand Taehyung held out for him. He steals another glance at you and he finds you staring right back. He gives you a wink.

“Deal.”

—

Jungkook slid into the seat next to yours in the campus canteen, his eyes filled with determination. His posture was laid-back, but it was a little too obvious that he was trying to act like he didn’t care.

“Hi,” he greets you in a breathy tone- girls loved it when he spoke with his breathy tone.

“Hi?”

You’d been sensing that someone was staring at you during the lecture, but you thought that was just the paranoia that came from being near such an intimidating group of guys. Turns out, you should always trust your instincts.

Jungkook had a boyish grin on his face that made you want to smile back but also stare at him in disgust.

“I heard you help Jimin with Professor Kwon’s notes,” he whispers mischievously. “I’m struggling myself, actually...”

Not really, but you know. This was the easiest tactic to approach you- tackle your similarities. You nod understandingly at his words, not quite getting that he was flirting with you.

“Yeah I can send you the Google Drive folder,” you comply, taking your phone out. “But you can’t let Professor Kwon know or else he’ll flip out. He doesn’t want people to have the notes for some odd reason...”

You trail off but Jungkook just scoffs. You seemed clueless.

“That’s not what I necessarily meant,” he says, a little shy this time. “I need a tutor.”

You furrow your brows at him.

“Yeah, you’re gonna have to pay me for that,” you say seriously. The last time you offered to tutor someone for free, they ended up blaming you for their failing grade and screaming about it all over social media. You needed money to compensate for that emotional trauma. “Microeconomics is hard to teach.”

“Well thankfully I’m a good student,” Jungkook teases. You stare at him with a deadpan face.

“You wouldn’t need my help if you were a good student,” you say blankly, standing up from your seat. “My hourly rate is 20,000 Won. Take it or leave it.”

Jungkook’s eye twitched. He had to spend his money to get Taehyung’s money? Well, the payout would be worth it in the end anyway. He reaches out a hand to you.

“If you’d have me,” he says cheekily, looking up at you. You take his hand in yours and maybe for a second you felt your heart skip a beat, but that was soon over when you let go of him.

“You have sweaty hands,” you say straightforwardly. You wipe your hand on your shirt and he coughs awkwardly at how unresponsive you truly were. Didn’t Jimin say you were a nice person? 

You take your barely-touched lunch tray and walk away from his pensive figure.

“Wait, can I get your number?” he yells. You don’t look back.

“Alright, whatever,” he mumbles to himself. “I’ll just ask Jimin, I guess.”

Without even a second glance, you disappear from his sight. He sits back on his chair, heaving out a deep sigh. Sure, this wasn’t the first girl that didn’t care much for his advances, but you didn’t even crack a smile or anything. This is going to be harder than he thought...

—

“She hates me,” Jungkook whines to Seokjin as they walked down the university halls to their next shared class. “Yesterday, I went up to her to get her number and I left with a fucking debt. Does that make any sense?”

“Well, maybe you shouldn’t have taken on the bet,” Seokjin yawned. “Namjoon would have wooed her with his poetry by now or some shit.”

Jungkook rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, I’m sure she’s interested in a dude who can’t even put on a hat without causing an earthquake.”

Seokjin smacked him on the back.

“At least he’d have the guts to say no to having a fucking tutor,” Seokjin replies. “You dug your own grave, man. Now roll around in it.”

“Do you want me to succeed or not?” 

“I want you to not be a fucking dumbass, Jungkook,” Seokjin sighs. “Do you really wanna make your reputation worse than it already is?”

Just as Jungkook was about to reply, he catches a glimpse of you walking farther ahead in the university courtyard. You were a bit far but he’s sure he could make it if he hurries. He smacks the binder he held in his right hand onto Seokjin’s chest.

“Yo, can you cover for me,” he asks hastily and Seokjin stares at him with a concerned gaze. He watches as Jungkook takes off his backpack and leaves it on the ground. Jungkook looked about ready to break out in a sprint.

“What the fuck, why?” Seokjin questions.

“Just tell the TA I’m out for a bit,” he says in response, already running ahead to catch up to you. “I’m winning this fucking bet or I’ll die trying.”

Jin stands still, mouth agape. Jungkook really left him with his backpack and binder just to talk to you. He shakes his head. ‘I need to make new friends,’ he thought to himself, picking up the discarded backpack and walking in the direction of the class Jungkook was planning to be late to.

You were walking with your earphones on, not noticing someone sprinting at you in record speed. You only turn your music off when Jungkook stops in front of you, his hands on his knees. He was panting heavily.

“Hey,” he says through deep breaths. You nod at him awkwardly.

“Why are you running?”

“I wanted to... catch up to you... and I thought... you were closer... but the run here... took... fucking... forever,” he says breathlessly. “Water. I need water.”

You take out a bottle from your tote bag hastily, handing it to him. He took it into his hands, grazing your fingers a bit. As he was about to start chugging it, you halted him.

“Waterfall,” you say curtly- you were still planning to drink out of it later after all. 

He nods in response, a drop of sweat cascading the side of his neck. After he was done, there was practically no water left anyway. ‘I’m gonna have to refill it myself,’ you thought begrudgingly. You stuff it back into your bag and wait until his breaths become more even.

“A bit out of shape, huh?”

He scoffs and gives you a glare, clearly offended.

“I actually have a Taekwondo scholarship, you know that? I just wasn’t warmed up and I’m naturally sweaty so it’s not like-”

You laugh a little.

“I’m joking,” you say, a smile adorning your face. He feels his face turn red and he can’t help but purse his lips out of embarrassment. Jeon Jungkook couldn’t take a fucking joke.

“O-oh,” he says shyly, avoiding your gaze. Why was he acting more like an idiot than usual? You hear the chiming bells of the university tower and stare at your phone to check the time.

“Don’t you have a class?” you ask him. His eyes widen and soon he was dashing off again. He turns around mid-run, jogging backward to face you.

“My number is 06-1313-9197,” he yells, loud enough for the other late students in the courtyard to hear. Most of them roll their eyes, knowing that Jungkook was flirting with another girl yet again. You’re embarrassed by the amount of attention he’s getting, but punch his number on your phone anyway.

“Text me,” he shouts. “I’ll always respond to you.”

Now it was your turn to be flustered.

—

"That’s wrong,” you say, reaching over to Jungkook’s notebook and marking a large ‘X’ on his paper. “You’re not supposed to apply that function for this problem...”

Jungkook stared at you with a tired face. He didn’t think he was too bad at the mathematical aspect of Microeconomics, but it seemed like it was your life’s mission to make him look like an idiot. Of course, you caught every mistake that he made- even the ones he made on purpose just to see if you were really paying attention to his work and not bamboozling him.

“My bad,” he mutters, copying down the same problem on a different sheet of paper. He didn’t even get a chance to make a move on you today- not like he could make any big developments in the campus library anyway.

“Is it like this?” he asks, tilting his notebook to face you. You take a hard look at it and nod.

“Yeah, just make sure you know the difference between these two formulas, or else you’ll mess up on the midterm,” you say thoughtfully.

This was your fourth or fifth tutoring session by now? Truth be told he wasn’t really counting. Each moment he spent with you kind of blended together and he didn’t quite know if that was a bad thing or not.

“You know you’re not even struggling,” you say, your nose buried deep in your textbook. “It’s not like you’re completely clueless like Jimin. It seems like you’re wasting money on stuff you already know.”

Jungkook laughs heartily, getting shushed by the people around him. He really was stupid, wasn’t he?

“Yeah, well, it was just an excuse to hang out with the pretty girl in class, you know?” he says as nonchalantly as he could. You stare at him for a second and he swears he feels his body freeze over. If looks could kill...

You just shook your head with a click of your tongue and got back to reading.

“The pretty girl in class is most definitely not me,” you grumble. “If you wanted, I could’ve given you Soobin’s number without all the added hassle of you trying to come talk to me-”

“Woah, woah, woah,” Jungkook stops you from saying anything else. He looked worriedly at your face. “I don’t even know who the hell Soobin is, why would I want her number?”

You look at him and finally, you chuckle. ‘She really does have a nice smile,’ Jungkook thought to himself. It would be nice if he could make you laugh more often and not just on rare occasions like this.

“You’re saying you don’t know Yoongi’s ex?” you tease slightly. You were finally letting your guard down with him and Jungkook smirked. One wall down, another million more to go.

“Bold of you to assume that I know any of Yoongi’s exes,” he says and you scoff. “He’s an asshole when it comes to dating.”

You roll your eyes.

“Isn’t that your whole friend group?”

He pouts. You knew of his reputation after all. Jungkook thought he could get away playing a nice boy act, but it didn't seem possible considering your knowledge of him. A little white lie couldn’t hurt in the end.

“Not me,” he replies. “I choose my relationships pretty carefully.”

You take a glance at him before jotting down a few more words in your notebook.

“Well,” you start off, a little shy to admit what you were about to say, “I guess we both have that in common.”

He tilts his head rather cutely out of confusion.

“What do you mean?”

You cough awkwardly, adjusting yourself on one of the library’s notoriously squeaky seats.

“I’ve never really had a boyfriend before,” you say quietly. His eyes bulge out from their sockets.

“You’re lying.”

“No, I’m not,” you say, a hint of amusement in your voice.

“Like, you’ve never been on a date or what?”

“I have,” you say hesitantly. “I’ve been on a few but they just never led into anything serious. I was pretty focused on studying in high school so there weren’t really any opportunities to get involved with someone. Plus, the guys who pursued me weren’t very... attractive.”

Jungkook laughs loudly again, much to the dismay of the other students in the library. He liked that you didn’t beat around the bush- it was easier to talk to you that way.

“And me?” he asks teasingly, laying his head on his arm that was atop the desk. He looks up at you with that boyish grin of his that gave you small butterflies in your stomach. You stare back at him, but only for a second. You ignore his watchful gaze and continue to flip through your textbook, trying to find the passage you last read. He keeps his eyes locked on you and you just couldn’t resist.

“What about you?” you ask, feigning ignorance.

“Am I attractive?” he replies as bluntly as he could. You stop your movements and he chuckles.

“You’re... cute,” you settle on that word. Cute. It was safe enough to not be misinterpreted too much. He sits up straight with a satisfied smirk. He takes his pen and draws a heart on the side of your notebook. He winks at you when you stare back at him, puzzled by his actions.

“You are too.”

—

“Tell me you’re lying,” Soobin whines disappointingly, shaking your shoulders. You were trying to eat lunch undisturbed in one of the campus cafes but your two friends seem hell-bent on making you suffer. “There’s no way you’re friends with Jungkook.”

You sigh, attempting to rid yourself of Soobin’s grasp but to no avail.

“He’s an asshole, [Y/N],” Gaeun sighs disappointingly. “I thought you were a feminist, why the fuck do you even tolerate him?”

You glare at her for a split second before going back to prying Soobin off you.

“Jungkook has no respect for women or himself. It shows in how many shitty friends he has,” Soobin chants, still clearly bitter that Yoongi dumped her.

You shake your head, rolling your shoulders back when she finally lets go of you.

“Jungkook’s not even as bad as you guys describe him,” you reply. “He’s actually been really sweet.”

The girls take a glance at each other and burst in a fit of laughter.

“You must be out of your damn mind,” Gaeun cries. You cower slightly at their words. It’s not like you said anything that controversial, did you?

Soobin slaps Gaeun on the shoulder when she realizes how your face had soured. It wasn’t right to judge you for your choice of friends so harshly, no matter how horrid said person was.

“As long as it doesn’t go past friends,” she says soothingly, but that only made you feel worse.

“Why?” you ask a little hesitantly. “Does Jungkook sleep around?”

Gaeun nods, a worrying glimpse in her eyes.

“He's not exactly the type to kiss and stay...”

You nod understandingly. You weren’t too clueless to believe Jungkook when he said he was “careful” on who he dated. As long as you knew the boundaries that came with being his tutor, everything should be fine... right?

“Don’t worry guys,” you say with determination. “I’m not the type to get played-”

“Of course you are!” Gaeun sighed. “Guys gravitate towards girls like you who lack experience. Jungkook’s a fucking weirdo, of course, he’s gonna try and-”

“[Y/N]!” a shout from across the cafe screams. That distracted you from the various insults Gaeun was spewing from her mouth. You get that she was being critical of Jungkook, but did she have to speak ill of you too?

You look around and catch Jungkook waving frantically at you. He stops at your table and takes a mere glance at your friends before setting his focus on you. 

“Do you have time to help me out today? One of the papers for my writing class-”

“You tutor him in writing now, too?!” Soobin exclaimed, mouth agape. “[Y/N], what the fuck.”

You try to ignore your friend’s overreaction, a little disheartened when Jungkook looked hurt at their words. He had started to shy away from them as if he didn’t feel welcomed.

“Nevermind, I’ll just ask you later-”

“Actually,” you say standing up. “I’m free now.”

The two girls look back and forth between you and Jungkook, noticing the stars in your eyes when you looked at him. They did not like the thought of you two together at all.

“But [Y/N]-” 

You ignored their words and start to walk away, hoping Jungkook would come catch up to you. You didn’t quite know why their insistence on him being a bad person had made your blood boil. It wasn’t like you weren’t aware of his flirtatious tendencies, but hearing from your friends that you shouldn’t pursue a guy that you liked-

You stopped in your tracks and feel heat climb up your face. Like.

No way you admitted that just now. There’s no possible way you actually like-

“Hey, wait up,” Jungkook pants, his hand touching your shoulder. “Why do you walk so fast for-”

He sees your shocked face and turns you towards him, his hands on your shoulder similar to how Soobin had shaken you just earlier. Except this time, it felt comforting. It made your whole body feel warm as if you were coated with a weighted blanket. Was he always this gorgeous?

“What’s wrong?” he asks, inspecting your face closely. “You look like you just saw a ghost.”

“N-nothing,” you swipe his hands away and rush out the door of the cafe. He smirks at how flustered you look, maybe he did have an effect on you after all.

Jungkook takes a last glimpse at the two girls who sat in their seats, staring at him disapprovingly. He raised an eyebrow at them and shoved his hands in the pocket of his jeans, following after you. ‘They’ll try to get in the way,’ Jungkook thought to himself, ‘but they’re already too late.’

The girls clenched their fist out of annoyance. He was definitely trying to get on their nerves.

“There’s something strange about what’s happening,” Gaeun mutters.

“They’re up to something,” Soobin agrees. “I don’t trust him at all.”

—

It’s been a week since you last spoke to your friends, not really wanting to read the messages they bombarded you with about how you should stay for away from Jungkook. It was hard to take any of their advice seriously when they were just badmouthing him without reason. They based all their opinions on him from rumors around the school and Soobin always felt the need to compare him to Yoongi even though they both had very different personalities. Well, at least to you they seemed very different.

Frankly, you were sick of their nagging and just turned off notifications from that group chat altogether. Instead of sitting next to them during Microeconomics, you opted to sit with Jungkook in the back of the lecture hall instead of at the front with them. Jungkook had abandoned his own rowdy friend group to sit with you and flashed them quick smirks and winks whenever they’d stare at him. 

Slowly, Jungkook had started to become a constant in your day to day life. You walked to class with him, ate with him, played video games with him. It was sort of strange how used to you were of his presence, like you had known him your whole life. Jungkook snaps you out of your thoughts when he starts humming a little tune.

He draws a heart in the corner of your notes- which you find he has a habit of doing whenever he wanted to say something stupid.

“I don’t get what he’s saying,” he pouts cutely. “It’s like he’s speaking a foreign language.”

You shake your head, not paying him any mind.

“Well maybe if you actually paid attention,” you mutter softly. He scoots closer to you and you feel yourself stiffen.

“But you’re tutoring me later on anyway,” he says teasingly. “I get more bang for my buck if I know less.”

“Bang for my buck,” you scoff. “Who even says that anymore?”

He points at himself nonchalantly and you can’t help but crack a smile as you continue to focus on the professor’s words. You don’t even cower under his gaze like you usually do when he stares at you with those puppy dog eyes.

“What do you want?” you ask, finally caving when Professor Kwon adjusted something in his PowerPoint slides. He smiles.

“I want to hold your hand,” Jungkook replies and you could feel your palms clam up. His flirtatious comments increased as time passed and you didn’t really quite know whether he was just teasing you or if he was genuinely interested in you. You weren’t very good at taking a hint.

“I’m writing right now...” you reply, slightly skipping a beat in your note-taking. He really was the ultimate distraction, wasn’t he?

Jungkook pouts sadly, but you can tell an idea pops up in his mind when his eyes start to glimmer. He sits his hand on your thigh and you jolt back from the touch of his hand on the material of your jeans. He pulls away slightly, scared that he had made you uncomfortable.

“I just want to put my arm around you,” he asks innocently. “Are you okay with that?”

You calm yourself down and nod. For goodness sake, you weren’t a child- why did a hand on your thigh make you so nervous for?!

“Yeah,” you say, a little more confident despite your nerves. “Go ahead.”

He smiles softly at you and connects his hand to your waist, pulling you a little closer to him. It was comforting, not at all meant to be more than just a public display of affection. He finds himself getting lost in the lecture along with you, his hand playing with a loose thread on your shirt through it all. He didn’t even look at his friends who were teasing him on the other side of the class or your own friends shooting daggers into his being.

At that moment, it was you, him, and Professor Kwon giving out a lecture that had half of the students already asleep. He smiled at how diligently you worked and how your breath would quicken when Professor Kwon switched the slides without a warning. It was the little idiosyncrasies like this that caught his attention, the kind of things that made him wonder where you’d been all his life.

The smile on Jungkook’s face disappeared when he came to that realization.

Fuck.

—

Jungkook rolls around the grass while you sit on the picnic blanket you two had set up. Midterms were over and grades would soon be announced. He wanted a much-needed distraction from the monotony of constant studying and you had suggested a small picnic in a nearby park. Of course, he agreed. 

“We’re free,” he groans. “Finally free.”

Jungkook stares hungrily at the assortment of food you had laid out for the two of you. He tries to reach a hand out to grab a bottle of lemonade but ultimately fails in the end. You giggle at his silliness, popping a grape in your mouth.

“You’re welcome by the way,” you say jokingly. “Don’t think you could’ve done it without me.”

He sits up to face you, bowing deeply as if you were a traditional empress.

“Thank you,” he says, imitating a Joseon accent. He was watching far too many historical dramas recently.

“You’re embarrassing me,” you say, attempting to straighten him out. “Sit up.”

He complies, only after a few pulls from you, with a toothy grin on his face.

“Seriously, I don’t think I could have gone through the first few weeks of Professor Kwon’s class without your notes,” he sighs, opening his mouth to signal that he wanted to be fed. You roll your eyes but placed a grape between his teeth anyway.

“You have hands, you should know how to use them,” you mumble shyly.

You move to take another grape for yourself, but he grabs your wrist before you could. He intertwines his fingers into yours.

“Why should I when my hands are holding yours~,” he says in a sing-song voice. It made you want to throw up at how cheesy he was, but you couldn’t help but laugh along as he cringed at his own words. When was it so normal for him to hold your hands like this?

“You can’t go one sentence without flirting, can you?” you sigh, feigning annoyance.

“Not when it comes to you,” he replies, but you could feel sincerity laced between his laughter. “I can’t resist flirting when it makes you all giggly like this.”

You purse your lips to prevent yourself from smiling too brightly. Jungkook and you were somewhat past the point of being just friends by now, but you were too much of a coward to label what you had with him. What if there was a chance that he was just leading you on?

Jungkook saw your furrowed brows. He rubbed circles on your hands with his thumbs to ease you.

“Am I making you uncomfortable?” he asks softly, about to let go.

“No-” you say a little too quickly, clasping him closer to you. Your faces were inches apart now, much nearer than they were before.

“D-don’t,” you attempt to say but you’re tongue tangled as you looked at his lips. He certainly does have nice lips...

“Don’t what?” he asks in a lowly voice. You start to look around you- anywhere that wasn’t him. The park was relatively empty but it still felt embarrassing to say anything too loud.

“D-don’t let me go,” you say, your eyes on the picnic blanket rather than on him. His gaze was too intense to look at. Jungkook feels his heart clench. You were cute, too cute. 

He shouldn’t be feeling this attached to you, but he couldn’t help it. Everything you did, every word that came out of your mouth- it had him wanting more from you than he could possibly handle. It was dangerous to feel this way.

“Why don’t you want me to let you go?” he asks nervously. He too was anxious for the answer. If you were to confess to Jungkook right now, he’d get the first part of the bet done, but there’d be no turning back after your confession. He would have to lie to you from now on. 

Jungkook closed his eyes, chanting to himself that it’s okay to like you for a little while, just as long as he doesn’t get too attached in the end. He needed the money, he really did.

“Because,” you start off with a sigh, staring at him now with glossy eyes. “I like you.”

Jungkook feels like he could do ten backflips in one go and it wouldn’t even drain him of energy. The smile on his face was huge, his eyes curling into that half-moon shape that made you swoon. 

Jungkook was relieved and if the boys asked, it was because he’d only have to date you for three months. He’d die before he’d admit to them that he caught feelings because Taehyung, as generous as he was with his bets, would never give Jungkook the money unless he cleanly broke up with you. It was one of his unspoken rules.

“I like you too.”

You smile at him and he can’t help but pull you close, his lips hovering over yours.

“Can I?”

You nod.

His lips graze yours slightly but he pushes a bit closer when he feels you lean into his touch. He kisses you again, and again, and again, but you pull away when his tongue had started to prod at your lips. Your face was flushed,  embarrassed to be doing this in such a public place.

“Maybe later?” you say, panting slightly. He gives you a cheeky grin and nods.

“At my place?” he asks with a wink.

You hesitate, letting go of his arms, twiddling with your fingers. You wanted to set clear labels on what your relationship was. You didn't want to accidentally get caught up in a friends-with-benefits situation and be all shocked when Jungkook ends up breaking your heart.

“So we’re dating now, right?” you ask cautiously, looking at him with a worried glint in your eyes. 

Jungkook’s mouth opens to speak but no words come out. He thinks a little harder about the whole situation... He was getting good grades, spending some quality time with a girl he’s clearly attracted to, and having his rent paid off all in one? He was killing three birds with one stone. It shouldn’t be too big of a problem to catch feelings for now, right? It’s not like any of his relationships lasted longer than a couple of months anyway.

He nods, cupping your face lightly.

“Yeah,” he hesitates. “We’re dating.”

Jungkook wasn’t aware, as he gives you another light peck, that it wasn’t possible to have his cake and eat it too.

—

It happens naturally. You coming in and out of his apartment that he shared with his friends, you tangling your legs with his underneath the sheets of his bed. It was hard to imagine a life where you didn’t wake up with him by your side. You were so wrapped up in his touch, so wrapped up in the sweet words he would whisper into your ears, that you spent most of your time with him. 

You weren’t really up to date with your friends anymore and he didn’t really hang out with his either. Jungkook shared an apartment with Seokjin and Hoseok, and so the only contact he had with the other boys was when they visited those two. He should’ve known to take you back home when all the boys bombarded into his living room, where you sat with him watching TV. 

“The lovebirds are at it again,” Taehyung coos, a mysterious glint in his eyes. “The honeymoon stage hasn’t passed quite yet, has it?”

Jungkook chucks one of the sofa’s throw pillows at his friend, obviously annoyed. What the fuck did Taehyung think he was doing?

“Quit it,” he mutters. You were sitting next to Jungkook, his arm around your shoulder protectively

“Why?” Yoongi yawns. “Anyone can see how incredibly in love you two are.”

You didn’t quite like the smirk he gave the two of you. This didn’t feel like regular teasing... it felt like he knew something that you weren't aware of. It made you curl your toes out of fear.

“Guys,” Jimin says calmly. “Stop it.”

The boys shrug their shoulders as if they said nothing wrong.

“We’re just pointing out how cute they are together,” Taehyung noted, “It’s not like we’re lying to her or anything-”

“Yeah, or leading her on or anything like that-”

“I think I should go,” you say hurriedly, uncomfortable at how tense the atmosphere was. Jungkook was clenching his fists, about ready to start a fight any second. Knowing his strength, you didn’t want anyone to walk around with a bruised eye because you couldn’t handle a few jokes- if that’s what Taehyung and Yoongi think they’re making. Harmless jokes.

“I’ll take you home,” Jungkook announces, standing up with you. Namjoon pulls him down back on the couch.

“Let someone else take her,” he says sternly. “We need to talk.”

Jungkook was about to protest until you spoke up.

“I can get home by myself just fine.”

“Hoseok and I can take you,” Seokjin insists, pulling the unassuming man up with him. “We don’t mind.”

Hoseok gives you a lopsided smile and you return an equally awkward one.

“Okay, that’s settled,” you say, clapping your hands. You walk over to Jungkook. “I’ll text you later okay?”

He nods, grabbing your hand and kissing it lightly. Yoongi scoffs and Taehyung glares at Jungkook. The dirty glances they were giving each other... You didn’t like it at all.

“Let me know when you get home, okay?”

“Okay.”

—

The walk to your apartment was unnecessarily awkward, Hoseok and Seokjin were talking too much and you talked too little. You tried to respond to their every quip, but you weren’t in the mood for chatting after that whole mess.

“You okay, [Y/N]?” Hoseok asks worriedly. “Don’t think too much about what those idiots said back there, they’re like that all the time.”

You nod, keeping your eyes on the ground. There was something chipping away at the back of your mind, something you wanted to get out of your chest.

“Would you say Jungkook and Yoongi act similarly?” you hesitate to say, “like with relationships?”

The two boys exchanged nervous glances at each other.

“Well, it depends,” Seokjin starts, choosing his words specifically. “What about relationships specifically?”

“Does he...,” you start off, not knowing the right phrase without sounding too harsh, “play around with girls? Like how Yoongi played around with Soobin?”

Hoseok looked at you with a raised brow.

“Who’s Soobin?” he asks before getting punched in the arm by Seokjin. “What the fuck bro!”

Seokjin clears his throat.

“What Hoseok meant to say,” he starts, glaring at his friend a little too harshly, “is that Yoongi never really introduces us to his girlfriends. You, on the other hand, are one of the few girls Jungkook actually took the time to invite over.”

“Yeah,” Hoseok chimes in. “He’s not exactly the most chivalrous, but he wouldn’t ghost someone like Yoongi did.”

Somehow their words weren’t enough to satisfy you. There was still something off in the conversation that transpired between the three boys- as if they were all keeping something from you. You stopped abruptly in front of your apartment complex, finally making eye-contact with the two boys.

“Do you think...” you start, a slight quiver in your voice, “that Jungkook is cheating on me?”

The two boys let out a deep breath that you didn’t even notice they were holding and laughed joyously together. They cackled as if what you said was the funniest thing they had ever heard in their life. Seokjin wipes a stray tear from his eye.

“Y-you think Jungkook’s cheating on you?!”

You nod, a little embarrassed at their reaction. Hoseok shakes his head, sighing out of his laughter.

“Trust me,” Hoseok starts, his breath evening out. “Jungkook would never cheat on you.”

You start to giggle along with them until a serious look suddenly takes over Seokjin’s features. He faces you fully.

“But listen [Y/N],” he starts. “If Jungkook hurts you, just know that he does love you. Like, undeniably. He does.”

“And we’re not just saying that as his friends either,” Hoseok continues. “We know how he’s like and we can tell that he really does like you.”

You smile at the two, feeling a small sense of comfort at their words.

“Thank you, guys. I mean it.”

They pat you on the back.

“Anything for Jungkook’s girlfriend.”

—

You walk through the campus cafeteria, eyes searching for a free table that you can sit alone in. Jungkook had Taekwondo practice so there would be no lovey-dovey feeding time with him. 

He’s been a lot tenser since the living room incident (which was already a week ago) and it seemed like he got more agitated as the days passed. Not towards you directly, but he’d always mutter slight insults whenever Yoongi or Taehyung passed by. It made you worried that you had done something to possibly drive a wrench into their relationship without even knowing it.

‘Whatever,’ you thought, ‘I’ll talk about it with him when he comes over later.’

You aren’t able to find a seat, though, when you feel dainty fingers wrap around  your elbow to pull you back lightly.

“[Y/N],” Gaeun says in a low voice. “We need to talk.”

It wasn’t like you had been ignoring them deliberately, though that was definitely the case at the start. You just couldn’t find the time to really hang out with them as much as you used to since you were with Jungkook most of the time. It was like that too when Gaeun and Soobin were in relationships, so you never really felt bad about doing it yourself.

“Yeah sure. I miss you guys,” you smile at her, but she doesn’t return it back.

“Come with me.”

Gaeun leads you to a table near the back of the room, where Soobin was sat up against the wall with her own tray of food. You sit down in front of her and Gaeun takes the seat next to Soobin.

“Good, you’re here,” Soobin says, apprehension laced in her voice. “We need to talk about Jungkook.”

You roll your eyes.

“Not this again-”

“[Y/N],” Gaeun warns. “Listen.”

You keep quiet, a little intimidated of how scary their expressions were.

“It’s all a bet,” Soobin says sternly.

You furrow your brows at her. She tends to speak vaguely when you needed her to be specific the most.

“What?”

“It’s a bet, [Y/N],” Gaeun repeats for her. “Jungkook’s only dating you because Taehyung said he’d pay his rent off if he did.”

You clench your fist on the table. How could they sit there and spew lies so easily?

“What are you guys-”

“Those dicks do this all the time,” Soobin rambles. “They play stupid games with girls just to fucking break their hearts later on and-”

“I don’t believe you,” you say confidently. “Jungkook would never do that to me. Besides-”

Gaeun didn’t even wait until you stopped talking to play a recording on her phone. The voices were familiar enough to recognize.

“So you’re telling me that Jungkook’s just fucking around with [Y/N] because he wants priority registration? You have to be fucking joking...”

You could tell from the sound of the person’s voice that it was Soobin. It sounded like she was putting on her clothes.

“Of course not. He’s doing it for priority registration and his rent getting paid for the rest of the year. I’m not joking when I say Tae goes big with his bets. He likes to flex his money on us like that.”

Your jaw drops at the sound of the man’s voice. It was Yoongi. You were sure of it.

“And you guys don’t feel bad? Like at all?”

“Why should we? Jungkook’s planning to break up with her next week anyway so she doesn’t catch feelings for too long. It’s not like they were gonna last past the three-month deal...”

Gaeun paused the recording when she sees you bite your lip so harshly that blood starts to surface. This didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel real.

“I hooked up with him last weekend,” Soobin admits, shame written all over her face. “He was spewing stuff about Jungkook spending all his time with you and not really hanging out with the boys like he used to.”

“You still hook up with Yoongi? After all he did to you?” you ask, not meaning to come off aggressive but undoubtedly did.

“Look,” Gauen starts, taking the heat off of Soobin. “She was just drunk and looking to have fun. I was with her that night and I was talking to Namjoon. He...”

Gaeun trailed off, but you were sick of it. Sick of being kept in the dark from something you should’ve known all along.

“What?”

“H-he told me that all the boys were getting tired of him playing around with you,” she says, twiddling with her fingers. “He’s supposed to break up with you today. Some of the guys think he’s just prolonging it to fuck with you and they’re getting really annoyed-”

You bite back the tears threatening to spill over any minute now.

“Hoseok and Seokjin told me to trust Jungkook. They said he wouldn’t hurt me-”

“Did they also tell you that their rent gets paid too if Jungkook pulled through with the bet?” Soobin replies angrily. “Because they live together, don’t they?”

You open your mouth but no sound comes out- just a small whimper. Your lips start to quiver and you bite your lip again to calm yourself down. When you had collected your thoughts, you glared up at the two girls.

“And you didn’t tell me this earlier?”

Soobin scoffed.

“You were fucking ignoring us too, how were we supposed to tell you?”

“Still it wouldn’t have killed you to-”

“Don’t take your anger out on us,” Gaeun warns, her finger pointing at you. “Jungkook is the one to blame. We told you from the start that he was bad news.”

You pursed your lips and Gaeun put her finger down, feeling guilty that she lashed out on you when obviously you were just processing the information.

“Hey, I’m sorry-”

“Why me?” you ask with teary eyes. “What did I even do to them to deserve this?” 

They glance over at each other for a long while before Soobin breaks the silence. You had the right to know, but at the same time, they knew it would break you.

“It’s a sick game that they play where they just choose someone randomly...” Soobin starts off gently handing off the next few words to Gaeun, “and you were just the first girl to walk into Professor Kwon’s lecture hall. He thought you’d be...”

“Easy,” Soobin finished.

Just as they predicted, you had burst out in tears.

—

Jungkook opens the door to your apartment, using the spare key you had given him a month earlier since he tended to visit often. It was more convenient that way. 

He was freshly out of his Taekwondo garb, still sweaty, but otherwise clean from taking a shower at the campus gym. He found it strange at how dark the room was, but he knew you were on the couch from the noticeable lump of a blanket on it.

All Jungkook wanted was to cuddle with you and fall asleep in your arms after such a harrowing day. Lord knows he needs your warmth right now.

He smiled as he made his way towards you, but stops in his tracks when you sit up from where you laid. He couldn’t quite see you in the darkness so he walked to the light switch to turn the lights on. His heart broke at the sight of you.

Tears stained your cheeks, your eyes red and puffy from all the crying. You looked a mess and his blood boiled at the thought of someone hurting you. 

“What happened?” he asked, rushing over to you and cupping your face in his hands. You push him away.

“You don’t have to act anymore,” you say softly. “I can handle it.”

He looks at you with furrowed brows.

“What are you talking about-”

“I get that you really need the money,” you say through bated breaths, “I get that financially, it would have really helped, but did you really have to hurt me to do that?”

Jungkook’s breathing stopped. Everything was happening too quickly, his world crashing down when you uttered those words. He knew what this meant, knew that now you would see past his lies. Jungkook couldn’t have you finding out this way. 

He kneeled in front of you, attempting to wipe away the tears from your eyes but you push him off.

“[Y/N] no-”

“It could’ve been anyone,” you whimper, trying to look up at the ceiling to prevent any more tears from falling down. “Anyone could’ve walked through that door and you would’ve been okay with it.”

“That’s not true-” he interjects but you stop him.

“A-and you flirted with me all the time ‘cause you knew that I wasn’t used to it,” you say, your voice quivering. “You took advantage of me.”

Jungkook shakes his head rapidly, eyes pleading for you to let him speak. It hurt seeing you refuse to even look at him, to have your eyes so filled with sadness because of what he did to you. He fucked up, he fucked up so bad.

“No, you have to listen-”

“They told me not to trust you,” you whimper somberly. “They told me and I didn’t believe them because I... I was delusional or something. I thought that someone like you could actually like someone like me-”

His heart broke. It wasn’t you that didn’t deserve him. It was him. All him.

“Please don’t say that-”

“Did you come here to seal the deal? To finally break up with me?” you ask sadly. “Are you happy you’ll get the classes you want next quarter, Jungkook?”

He clenches his teeth. Jungkook knows you’re mad, knows you have a right to be, but it feels like he’s being cornered by you. Why won’t you give him the chance to speak?

“[Y/N], no,” he says sternly, “You have to trust me when I say that it went past just a bet. I like you. Genuinely, I like you.”

There was no point in lying any longer. You deserved to know the truth, but he needed you to know all of it- not just the information your friends cherry-picked to fit their narrative. He tried to speak again, but you wouldn’t let him.

“How could you,” you whimper. “How could someone be so cruel?”

Jungkook’s heart breaks at the words. He should’ve seen this coming. How could he delude himself into thinking he’d be okay if you find out- that he’d be fine seeing you heartbroken? He was disgusted with himself.

“I’m sorry [Y/N],” he whispers. “I’m so sorry.”

You shake your head, your vision getting blurry from the tears. He clasps your hands in his, knowing that it used to soothe you whenever you felt worried over something, but you just wailed harder at his touch. He didn’t know what to do, he didn't even know where to start.

“Stop pretending like you care,” you cry. “Please. It hurts.”

“It was a bet,” he admits and he breaths through the words to prevent himself from getting too emotional, “but I promise that my feelings are genuine. You have to trust me.”

“Trust you?” you ask crudely.

You stare at him, slowing your breaths to ease the crying. There was a certain emptiness in your gaze and it scared him. It was awfully frightening having you looking at him with a certain animosity that was not there before. Like he was a stranger.

“I can’t do that anymore, Jungkook,” you say softly, “because I hate you.”

—

A/N: Gasp A double update?! Say it isn’t so... I had so much fun writing this!!! Probably one of my favorite fics I’ve written in a while because I love this trope. How do y’all feel about Jungkook? Forgive or forget? Let me know!! Thank you @altus-gens​ for requesting this story, I hope you like it :)

Please leave any comment, critiques, or just random thoughts about my story! I’m planning my murder mystery series rn and I’m so excited (I might... do an album giveaway along with it...) I really love the direction I’m taking this blog in and I hope you guys are excited for the stories to come~~ 

buy me a coffee?

[harryspet]

pinky promise | p.parker, b.barnes & s.rogers

[Warnings] little!peter x little!reader, stucky x reader, stucky x peter, ddlg, ddlb, polyamory, fingering, vaginal sex, sex in little space, age regression, millionaire!stucky, hints of breeding kink

A/N: she’s finally here :)  i intended for this to have more stucky but it just didn’t work out lol 

In which Peter and you play Mommy and Daddy. 

taglist: @peterztinglez @lovelynerdytraveler @buckybarney @hollandsdream @micki-smiles @buckybarnesplumwhore @arts-ismything @saharzek @lovemassivelybeautifulbouquet @what-is-your-wish  @brattypeony @hermayone @buckysugar @mandiiblanche @nsfwsebbie​@yanderepeterparker @ttqueen05 @belleknows​ @write-from-the-heart​ @sad-ed-noise​ @quaksonhehe​

main masterlist

word count: 2.6k

“Pick out which one you want, baby,” Bucky whispered before walking past the little curtain, talking into his cellphone as he listened in on an important phone call. You went back and forth trying on the same skirt, one white and the other a light pink. You were starting to get a bit frustrated, knowing that you preferred when Steve just chose for you. 

You huffed, deciding that you didn’t want to look at yourself in the dressing room mirror for any longer. You decided to put them back on their individual hangers and put your clothes on. That morning, Daddy had put you in one of your “big girl” dresses. It was still light blue with ruched sleeves but, paired with your white sneakers, you looked normal enough to walk around the mall. 

When you left the dressing room, Bucky was waiting for you. His face instantly fell when he saw your expression, “What’s wrong?” He grabbed your arm softly and when you turned your face away from him, he grabbed your chin, “Which skirt did you pick?”

“I didn’t like them,” You spoke softly, your eyes slowly rising up to meet his.

“But you looked beautiful in them,” You gave him a shy look and his lips began to tug into a grin. He reached up to brush a piece of your hair behind your ear. 

“I can’t decide,” You told him, “I don’t need them anyways …”

“Nonsense. If you can’t choose, then my princess must have both. How else are you supposed to turn heads and make a good impression on the first day of classes?” Bucky easily dismissed the idea, “We’ll have a fashion show tonight and the boys can help you pick.”

You should’ve known that money would be no object to him. It was never to Steve but it seemed Bucky liked to spoil you especially. No wonder Peter was so spoiled. 

“Thank you, Papa,” As he heard your voice, the raise in pitch and the pouting lips, he knew what you needed. He kissed your forehead softly. 

“Awe, my baby doesn’t want to be a big girl anymore. Let’s get you home then, princess.”

It was true. Your date today was very nice and you loved the bond you were building with Bucky but you wanted desperately to wind down in little space. After a long day of college classes, your favorite thing was coming home to Steve but now you got to come home to three people who wanted to baby you. 

From the moment, Bucky buckled your seatbelt for you, you were already beginning to slip. He held your hand the entire ride and as the two of you walked into the luxurious brownstone in Brooklyn that you called home. 

You were quite ready to run into Steve’s arms but the first thing you saw was Steve’s arms wrapped around Peter. The younger boy was sitting in his lap, playing a video game, his eyes focused on the flat screen illuminating the living room. 

When Steve saw you, he smiled of course, but you couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy. Steve was Peter’s Daddy as well but, in your moment of wanting to regress, you couldn’t help but want Steve’s full attention.  

“Hi, Papa!” Peter shouted, his eyes not leaving the Mario Kart game. He was dressed in his PJ’s, the footie ones that had all the little Darth Vader’s printed on them. 

“How was your trip? Successful, I hope,” Steve asked. 

Bucky seemed to notice your mood had a fell and that's when you felt his hand on your waist. He lifted you easily, setting you on his hip, all while holding your shopping bags. You were very grateful, resting your head on his shoulder, “Very successful but this one is in need of some tender love and care. I think we need a nice warm bath, don’t we?”

Bucky felt you nod and his lips pressed into a thin line. Steve flashed him a knowing look and Bucky gave him a look that said, “don’t worry, i got this”. The merging of your small family went much better than Steve had anticipated but you still had your moments. 

Bucky carried you upstairs into the room you shared with Peter. The walls weren’t painted white but the two sides of the room contrasted each other. Peter’s side was full of pastel blues and greens while yours was rainbow central. 

Bucky ran a bath for you and, much to your enjoyment, he joined you inside. You felt completely relaxed as he ran a wash cloth along your skin, soaping you up and massaging your skin gently. Your back against his front, Bucky could feel you slowly relaxing. 

“You know, both Daddy and Papa love you very much,” Bucky spoke into your ear, his hand dropping between your legs, slowly spreading them. 

“Mhm,” You agreed, shivers running through you despite the warm water. 

“And Peter does too …” As his fingers spread your folds, his strong hands began to rub in a circular motion.

“I know, Papa,” His pace was still gentle, every circle he made teased your sensitive bulb, and you found your hips starting to grind against his fingers. Your eyes closed as you tried to focus on the sensation. 

“That’s why I think that this weekend … you and Peter should spend some time together, while Daddy and Papa are away on business.”

Your eyes opened at that, surprise evident on your face, “Without Papa and Daddy? But we’re too little-” A small moan escaped your lips as he paid special attention to your special area. You slowly closed your eyes again. 

“Your big brother will take care of you, whatever you need, princess,” Bucky spoke softly, his fingers working methodically against your clit.

All you could do was nod, agreeing with whatever Bucky had said. You were too focused on your incoming orgasm to disagree. When you finally did release, Bucky didn’t let you go, he kept going until you were trying to pull away from his body. He wrapped his other arm around your torso, pulling you back, as he made you ride out your orgasm.

“Good girl,” He groaned into your ear, “What do you say?”

“T-Thank you, Papa,” You panted and he began to kiss the skin on your shoulder. 

+

You were still deep into little space when you awoke the next morning. After a tearful goodbye to Steve and Bucky, you decided that you’d play dress up in order to cheer yourself up. Peter explained to you that he was going to be a “big boy” and make the two of you food for your tea party. A tea party that he invited himself to after complaining that his own stuffed bear was invited before him. 

You’d chosen a cowgirl hat to go with your flouncy pink dress and set the living room up to be your venue. The coffee table was fully decorated and pillows surrounded the table for all your guests to sit. 

“Petey!” You called to the kitchen just as he entered with a plate. You told him he had to dress up if he was to join you but he refused to put on one of your dresses. Instead, you had to settle for him wearing a red cape and a crown. 

He set it out in the middle of the table, proudly smiling as he exclaimed, “Ta-da!”

You took one look and pouted, “You burnt it,” There were about ten slices of burnt toast with butter, “And where are the finger sandwiches? Cinnamon scones?”

Peter gave you a confused look as he took a seat on the pillow beside you. He was already grabbing a piece of toast and stuffing his mouth, “The toast is pretty good,” Was the great response you received. You shook your head, deciding to just pour the tea for everyone. 

“Here’s tea for you Buttons, Sassy Cat, Miss Sprinkles, Sir Horse  …. and for you Mr. Parker,” You poured his tea carefully and you smiled, noting how impressed he seemed by the simple act. You set down the pot and grabbed your own cup, “And make sure you sip it like this, with your pinky out, because we’re sophisticated.”

“I thought you were a cowgirl,” Peter chuckled a bit as you watched him try to sip his tea carefully. 

“A cowgirl princess,” You corrected him with the utmost seriousness, “I’m still sophisticated.”

“My apologies, your majesty,” He bowed his head slightly and you felt your cheeks heat up.

Your day had started with burnt toast but you had a feeling Peter was going to make it a fun day. 

+

Hours later, the living room was now shifted into a small fortress made of blankets and chairs. Toy Story was playing on the TV while you and Peter paid attention to your separate coloring books. Your most relaxing pastime was having your paci, letting it soothe you, while you colored. You stayed inside the lines unlike Peter and he’d constantly tear out his pages before starting again. 

The two of you had changed out of your costumes from early, having done a million activities since tea this morning. You were down your panties, a rainbow t-shirt, and fuzzy pink socks. You were flipping the page in your book when you felt Peter’s foot graze the bottom of yours. You didn’t think much of it, even starting to find the feeling soothing after a while. 

When you turned your head towards him, you found him watching you, “I’m bored,” He spoke suddenly, “Let’s play a video game.”

You only shook your head, turning back to your drawing, and you heard him let out a frustrated huff of air. The stroking of your foot soon turned into a tapping. Despite your attempt to ignore him, he began to inch closer to you. When you turned your head again, his face was only inches from yours and you were looking into his brown eyes, “We can play pretend some more,” That made you perk up and, despite being in the middle of drawing a castle, you set down your crayon. 

You gave him a curious look which caused him to smile, “We could play Mommy and Daddy,” As your eyebrows raised in confusion, he continued, “Well I’d be the Daddy and you’d be the Mommy of course. Don’t you know how to play?”

You slowly shook your head and Peter leaned in. You were frozen for a moment as he kissed your pacifier. You felt your cheeks heat us as he gently removed it from your mouth then pressed his soft lips against yours. You’d never shared a kiss with him while the two of you were alone and, for a moment, it felt forbidden, “We have to ask permission…”

Peter could see your enjoyment as clear as day, “But we’re just pretending. Mommies and Daddies kiss all the time,” You nodded, understanding though you still felt a bit nervous. 

“I like your kisses, Petey,” You said and you watched his face turn red. He leaned in again and you were grateful for his touch, how he moved your lips against yours, and how his tongue began to explore your mouth. You turned on your side and you felt his hands roam over your backside. 

He dipped his fingers into your panties, causing you to cry out, “Shush, we have to be quiet. We can’t wake up the baby,” He whispered to you and you instantly nodded, enjoying the sensation, “You’re soaked, Y/N.”

You could feel his member growing hard against your thigh, still confined to his underwear. You reached out to touch it and you watched him shudder at your touch, “Geez…” He groaned, “Do you want to make another baby?” Something seemed to shift in his eyes and suddenly he was more eager than before. 

“Yes,” You nodded, playing along to whatever scenario he was making up along the way, “I love being a Mommy.”

Peter couldn’t wait much longer and you let him climb on top of you as you quickly pulled down your panties. He didn’t waste time with his own underwear, pulling out his hard cock, and pressing against your warm heat. You felt his tip rub against your clit and then up and down your folds. 

You held onto the sides of his torso, gripping his striped shirt tightly as he began to sink inside of you, “Y-You’re so tight, honey,” he began to rock back and forth, looking into your eyes as he hovered over you. He gripped the pillows beneath you tightly, the motion in his hips causing your body to convulse beneath him. 

“Peter, peter, peter,” You breathed, biting down on your lip. His head dipped down, kissing your lips again and, distracted, you didn’t notice that his hand moved between your thighs. He fucked you while his hand stroked your sensitive bulb, knowing that would send you over your edge. As you tightened around him, you brought him to his climax. 

As he collapsed against you, catching his breath, you welcomed his embrace. 

“You can’t tell Papa or Daddy,” He told you, hugging you tight.

You only held out your pinky and he wrapped his around yours. 

You wouldn’t tell but you imagined the grand punishment that would ultimately lead to you cumming until you passed out. 

+

“Petey … petey,” You tapped the sleeping boy’s nose until you finally startled him awake. He was quite cute when he slept, holding tight to his teddy bear while he was tucked into his baby blue sheets. Peter pouted as soon as he opened his eyes, seeing you hovering over his face, book in hand, “I can’t sleep.”

He attempted to close his eyes again, “Count your sheep, Y/N,” He mumbled as he turned his head away from you. 

You bounced on top of him, your legs straddling him, and he awoke again, “I counted all the sheep! Like five trillion-million of them,” As your voice raised, he pressed his pointer finger to his lips. He sat up on his elbows, giving you a frustrated look. 

“Shush, you don’t wanna get in trouble, do you?” You instantly shook your head, obeying his warning to calm down. Peter eyes the book in your hand, “Why can’t you read it to yourself?”

“I like the way you read,” You spoke earnestly, “And you can say all the big words.”

You knew that would work, stroking his ego. Peter loved it when everyone treated him like a big boy. He thought for only a moment, a small smile tugging at his lips and suddenly his tiredness was gone.

“C’mon, get under,” He motioned for you to move and, excitedly, you climbed under the covers with him. The twin-sized bed fit you two comfortably and you liked cuddling more than anything. As Peter pulled the covers over you, he whipped out the flashlight he kept underneath his pillow.

You rested your head against his chest, wrapping your arms around his torso, as you listened to him, “Don’ you worry, Harry. You’ll learn fast enough. Everyone starts at the beginning at Hogwarts, you’ll be just fine. Just be yerself. I know it’s hard. Yeh’ve been singled out, an’ that’s always hard. But yeh’ll have a great time at Hogwarts — I did — still do, ’smatter of fact.”

The accents he used always made you giggle. Peter was quite the story teller but that didn’t keep you from drifting off a few minutes later. Peter kept reading, entranced by the novel, but stopped when he heard your soft snores. He turned off the light and let the book fall against his stomach. 

“G’night, Y/N.”

[happiestplacehq]

        “ I WAS BEGINNING TO THINK WISHING ON STARS                      WAS JUST FOR BABIES                                         AND CRAZY PEOPLE ”

                          LA BOUFF'S NEW YEAR'S BASH EVENT

Redwood Hollow has never been a stranger to controversy, but this year especially it seems like controversy and Redwood Hollow might actually be an item. Since Halloween, there has been chaos at Town Hall (though the Mayor would like you to believe otherwise). After a public address from the Mayor acknowledging the devastating mass poisoning, and a number of town's folk hospitalized, including the Chief of Police, Woody Pride, and an unfortunate death, there was relative silence from Town Hall for a few weeks. Behind closed doors, there were meetings, and meetings, and more meetings. Councillors, advisors, police staff, and even one Casimir Borovsky have been making frequent visits to town hall, with nary a word relayed to the public about what was really going on.

Finally, on December 1st, Mayor Burton took to the stand again to address the public.

"It is with great sadness, but in the interest of public safety, that we must cancel our annual festivities this year. While we greatly appreciate the work that the community council do in making our little town a festive haven, we now feel that it is no longer safe for our planned timetable of events to take place until there has been a breakthrough in the investigation into the mass poisoning in October, and the series of illnesses over the past year that we now believe are linked. As such, the Christmas and New Year's Parties will not be taking place at Town Hall. The Festive Markets will still take place, but only for non-food and beverage related vendors. I hope you understand, and aren't too saddened by the news. We at Town Hall are taking these investigations seriously and feel cancelling these events is the only option to keep everyone in our small community out of harm's way at this present time. I extend my best wishes for the holidays and into the new year. Thank you."

Unsurprisingly, the moment the news broke, people began taking matters into their own hands. Just because there wasn't going to be a big party at town hall, didn't mean that people couldn't party, right? Work dinner parties were arranged at the office, college dorms had a party in every room, and, of course, the big houses took note too! No parties at town hall, meant it was Lottie La Bouff's time to shine!

The invitations were elaborately designed, the theme was perfected, and the social media posts were planned well in advance of the big announcement. If you were lucky enough, you received a handwritten invitation, giving priority early access. Then, once everyone RSVP'd, invitations went to the masses. And so it was done. Lottie La Bouff was going to host THEE single greatest New Year's Eve party in history. Be there, or, like, be square. Obviously if you wanted to go to Tammy's party a few blocks down the road you, like, totally could, but Lottie La Bouff was going to have an ice sculpture and live entertainment and everything.

The invitation to the masses read as follows:

Miss Lottie La Bouff requests the pleasure of your company to welcome the dawn of 2023 with a bash.

Step into an evening of old Hollywood glamour, fizzy champagne and dazzling fireworks at the La Bouff Estate. Pre-Party invitation holders must arrive by 6pm sharp. All other attendees may arrive from 7pm onward.

Dress Code: A sea of stars. Hollywood Glamour. Black and silver.

                                                ——————

An OOC information post will be made closer to the event start date with more details for players, and will be linked in the source once posted. This event will take place between Monday 19th of December and Sunday 8th of January OOC. The event will take place on New Year's Eve into New Year's Day in character.

[royal-ruin]

avatar: the last airbender fic recs (part 1)

oh, there’s definitely going to be a part 2(edit: part 2 linked here).  personal favorites are starred, by the way. everything is complete unless stated otherwise.

sokka / zuko (zukka) fic recs

*feels like we only go backwards by oldpotatoe (~134.5k as of now)

[Time passes oddly. Between one second and the next, Sokka has the Fire Lord pinned to the wall with his hands around the bastard’s throat. Golden eyes (one gold eye, his mind whispers) widen in shock.

“Sokka?” he chokes out. And then he smiles.

What the fuck?

“Sokka, I—”

Sokka slams his head against the wall, once, twice, and the smile wipes off his face. Good.

“What,” Sokka bites out, “have you done to my sister?”]

Or: An injury leaves Sokka with amnesia. His last memory is of the failed invasion, of leaving his father behind in enemy territory on the Day of Black Sun. Of hopelessness. Rage.

But then he wakes up, and the war is over. Suddenly, he must come to terms with the fact that years have passed, and that he's somehow the Southern Water Tribe Ambassador to the Fire Nation. He is also supposedly friends with banished-Prince-turned-Fire-Lord Zuko, of all people. Close friends.

Yeah, nah.

warning: incomplete fic (last updated 10/8/21). i actually just read this last night and it my my angsty heart so happy. like there’s so much angst and it’s all written so well. also, if you’re apprehensive because of the incomplete thing, i get it, i was too. but the last update doesn’t leave off at a cliffhanger and it can count as a hopeful ending.

Afternoon Tea by toribird (~47k)

Of all the places he could have walked into--of all the tea shops in Ba Sing Se--(of which there are many)--he had chosen the one that Prince-fucking-Zuko worked at.

Or: Early on during his time in Ba Sing Se, Sokka stops for a cup of tea. This small action changes everything.

that's murder, buddy by egeria (~23k)

Throughout the streets, on quiet nights, it was rumored the screams of those missing could be heard. Some say the sounds were coming from underground.

Where were the young girls? And what was happening to them? Was an evil spirit haunting Gaoling, or something more human? More sinister?

My name is Zuko, and you’re tuning into another episode of ‘That’s Murder, Buddy’.

Or: Sokka has no idea that his crush is the host of his favorite podcast. (But everyone else knows.)

the entire fic is just sokka being oblivious, romantically and logically (i don’t know how else to explain it). it’s a modern college au, but bending is still a thing.

and where you go, i will go too (yes, i am now a part of you) by AndyBoy (~4k)

[“I, uh…” Zuko shifted in his seat. “Well…” He gestured vaguely, hands following the movement of his wrists. “Yes,” he settled on finally, averting his eyes. “I’ve met my soulmate.”

“What?” Sokka leaned forward interestedly, ignoring the soft ache behind his ribcage. “Is it that goth chick? Mel?”

“Mai,” Zuko snapped. “And...no, it’s not her.”

“Then who?” Suki asked. “Do we know her?”

“Yes��No. It doesn’t matter.”

“You don’t have to tell us, Zuko—” Katara started.

“Good!” Zuko said, standing up. “Because I don’t want to!”]

Soulmate AU Where you see in grayscale until you hear your soulmate laugh for the first time. Sokka laughs a lot, loud, proud, and bright. Zuko...barely even smiles.

*How Zuko Kind of Maybe Starts Accidentally Dating the Water Tribe Peasant by All_About_That_Ace (~13k)

If Uncle hadn't insisted on making Zuko wait tables filled with giggling girls, this wouldn't have happened. If the damn Water Tribe peasant hadn't heard about the amazing new tea shop, this wouldn't have happened. If Zuko didn't come up with such terrible ideas while panicking, this wouldn't have happened. Though honestly, Zuko probably would've fucked up somehow anyway, so what was the point in griping?

*The Duke's a Hazard by naggeluide (~51k)

Everything changed when the feral child attacked. Sokka and Zuko are stuck co-parenting the Duke, and the last half of Book 3 suddenly becomes a lot more chaotic.

oh god. this fic is literally everything to me. it’s my comfort fic (and i don’t say that lightly) sokka and zuko become caretakers for stabby feral child!duke after zuko joins their group. it’s just so good, like i don’t even have words for it. it has like found family AND there’s a slow burn zukka romance. it’s hilarious too. so much crack and humor. there’s angst (of course there is, who would i be if there wasn’t) but there is so much tooth-rotting fluff too. i’ve read a few times, and i’m going to reread it again, because i can. 

*I Wanna Be The Very Best by Haicrescendo (~3k) (series is ~64k)

[“Gym Leader Zuko?” He asks hopefully, and the grin the man sends him dashes his hopes into smoke.

“Afraid not,” the man says, “Zuko is my nephew and unfortunately, he’s not here right now.”

“Shit.” Sokka squirms a little. “Any idea when he may be back? I need his badge so I can—“ Go beat up Aang for being annoying and perfect at everything and making champion at thirteen goddamn years old while Sokka’s doing this whole thing late— “Better myself and reach true enlightenment. Uh. Sir.”

The man says nothing about Sokka’s age, just hmmms in consideration and rustles his bag.

“Call me Iroh,” the man says. “My nephew is like a spring wind, vivacious and—“

Flighty.]

Or, The Pokémon AU that nobody asked for.

this is part of an incomplete 12 part series called Carry On For You. i think it would be helpful if you had some kind of prior knowledge about pokemon, but it should be fine if you don’t.

*absence of heat, excess of destiny by theycallmesuperboy (~4k)

Sokka is born in the dead of winter with a red dragon curling down the left side of his back.

Zuko is born in the sweltering heat of summer with a sword down his spine.

He doesn’t want to talk about it when their gazes turn on him. They make assumptions— is it someone he left behind in the Fire Nation? He looks away when he agrees with them.

Toph brushes past him when they all part ways. She says, “I know you’re lying.”

boy problems by burnt_oranges (~22k)

[“I accidentally signed off on an arranged marriage to Sokka,” Zuko says faintly. He sits up so fast he almost falls out of his chair. “I signed off on an arranged marriage to Sokka, and he agreed."]

In which Zuko suffers in a variety of ways, including but not limited to: close and constant proximity to the object of his affections, assassination attempts, and irreparable injuries to his dignity.

[what-if-nct]

Bruh- big dick doesn’t always equal dominance. I’ve always loved the idea of being submissive as early as 10-11 years old. My sisters loved Girls Generation, and it began my attraction to older women. They were all so gorgeous and instantly caught me attention by surprise.

But RED VELVET- they started the kinks and fetishes for me. They were the reason why when I got my first girlfriend at 13, I knew what would make me hard instantly. I wanted to be stepped on and be controlled by her — I even whined to get her attention. Sadly, she didn’t want like a submissive boyfriend because intercourse was the only thing she wanted from a guy with a 7 inch dick at the time. Although I could get a lot of girls through hookup culture since rumours were spreading around that I had the best dick in the whole school in year 7-9 (around grade 8-10) (My dick started growing from when I was 9 or 10 and it was so big that I outgrew all of the boys by the time I turned 14 — even my Asian friends lol), a lot of girls wouldn’t want me once they realised I was submissive or I was moaning louder than than them or too femininely. Ever since then, I started feeling insecure with my dick and would even wished I had a normal average size. This even goes with the same for guys. Whenever I would make out with them, they would expect me to top them because I had a bigger dick. When they asked “why do you have a large dick if you aren’t going to use it anyways” or “why are you a bottom when you have a big dick”, it makes me feel ashamed that I would do anything to make it at least 3 inches smaller.

Once when I was 14, I finally had an experience with an older girl (about 17-18) and she was very supportive with my kinks and me being submissive. It was the best sexual encounter I’ve ever done for which made me feel more confident when she said that my moans sounded adorable — like a kitten.

One day, me and some friends went to a sleepover party and I was dared to play 7 minutes in heaven with my closest friend of 8 years (since year 1 when we started school for the first time and interesting fact, I just came back from South Korea over the holidays) and since he was gay and I was bi, I didn’t mind to do it with him.

When we got to the closet, I told him that I was a bottom and he was like “Cool! I’m a top so-” and I smiled because I was being accepted despite already seeing me naked. I must of gotten so emotional since I managed to blurt out a “really?” You wanna know what he said?

“Sam, I knew you were a bottom, and I accept you no matter what. I like topping anyways.”

This left me emotional, even when the 7 minutes was up. Don’t worry, he decided to suck my dick whilst fingering my butthole.

I then proceeded to ask if he actually meant what he said during the 7 minutes (because it could easily change since I’ve been manipulated a lot), and well…

“You’re my best friend, of course I meant it. Any time you want to fuck, you can call me. Bros before hoes.”

From around March, we processed to be besties with benefits until few days after Halloween, I wanted to change it up. I asked him to be my boyfriend and he said yes.

It’s our 4 year anniversary today and since we didn’t have a lot of time due to assignments, we literally had a date at the college canteen where we literally paid for each other’s chips and ate together at the tables. That’s literally our typical dates basically.

You are completely right, a large penis doesn't mean dominance and it shouldn't automatically be assumed from those who have one. It is hard to be comfortable with your sexuality when you've really only been met with an adverse response. It sucks people aren't as open minded and accepting that you're not what they expect you to be. I have been approached by men who are more submissive. Sense I'm also submissive it kinda doesn't work but I still try and give it a chance. But I'm happy that after all of that you've still had good experiences and you've found someone who accepts and loves you as you are and that's what's really important. I''m so happy you can have that, I wish you both many beautiful years.

[golbrocklovely]

remember me // colby brock (pt 2)

A/N: as i mentioned before in a different post, this took me FOREVER to write. i loved writing this story but something about it just made me drag it out for so long. nonetheless, i love this and i'm excited to see what you all think. please lmk what you thought about this. thank you to everyone that has supported me and sent me kind messages. yall are the best ! hope you enjoy :) also lmk if you want another part...

prompt: she's the only one that remembers colby, or so they both thought.

trigger warning: ANGST, heartbreak, AU mention, friendship problems, cursing, happy-ish ending (but not the end...?), kissing

word count: 5526

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

Colby was relieved that the waitress, the only one that remembered him, decided to help. The moment she agreed, Colby gave her his number and left. She texted him not too long after, and he realized for a moment she never said her name. He planned to ask her the next day when they decided to meet up at his place.

It was weird to come back to his apartment, knowing that down the hall his best friend, his brother, lived there and didn't know who he was. Usually when Colby felt lonely, he would walk down the hall to Sam's and hang out for a bit. It was always nice to talk to Sam about anything and everything.

But now... he couldn't do that.

Colby tried to sleep during the night, but barely any rest came from it. He tossed and turned, hoping that when he would wake up, this would all just be some weird-ass nightmare.

When his cell phone rang the next morning at 9:34 A.M., it was an unfamiliar ringtone. As he rubbed his eyes awake, he glanced at the caller, the name 'Waitress' appearing on his screen.

I guess this wasn’t a dream after all.

"Yeah?" Colby groaned, squinting his eyes at the sunlight.

Her voice came through cheery, the tone too loud in Colby’s ears. “Let me up to your apartment. I'm here.”

He cleared his throat. “This early?”

“I figured you would want your normal life back as soon as possible, yeah?” She sassed.

He rolled his eyes. “Alright, give me a second. I'll come down and get you.”

Colby stumbled out of bed, running his fingers through his hair as he threw on a random shirt and jeans, slowly trudging down to the lobby of his apartment. She sat on a couch, tapping her foot against the carpeted floors. Her eyes were staring out the door, almost like she was looking at someone. When she heard Colby’s footsteps, her gaze pulled away from outside.

“Did I wake you?” She frowned, grabbing her bag next to her and standing up.

He shook his head. “You can't really be woken up if you barely slept.”

“I'm sorry to hear that.” She lightly bit her lip, following Colby to the elevator.

He shrugged tiredly. “It's okay.”

They both slowly got into the elevator, climbing up to Colby's floor. The loud 'ding' of the elevator broke their silence moments later. They walked to Colby's apartment, and he unlocked his door quickly.

She whistled quietly. “Woah, nice place.”

A half smile spread across Colby’s face. “Thanks.”

“No offense, but how do you pay for this place if you're not a social media person?” She questioned, stepping into the kitchen.

He raised an eyebrow. “That's... a good question. From what my mom told me over the phone yesterday, I worked all throughout high school and college, so maybe it's from that?”

“You only worked at Dairy Queen while you were in high school. You must have gotten a better job in college because there is no way you can afford this place.” She disagreed.

Colby smirked. “How'd you know I worked at Dairy Queen?”

“Well, for starters, my friend told me. And also, I did some research about you. But I'll get to that in a second.” She continued, her voice falling to a serious tone, “So... would you like to hear my theories?”

“Theories?” He puzzled.

“As to why everyone forgot about you.” The waitress explained.

Colby sat down on his barstool, exhaling. “Let's hear it.”

“Okay. For argument sakes, you're gonna have to just go with me on this. Because otherwise, I literally have no way to help you.” She started, already pacing slightly.

He cautioned. “...okay?”

“So last night, I tried to think of a reason why everyone would collectively forget about you. And the only conclusion I could come up with is that you're in an alternative universe.” She hypothesized.

Colby’s eyes widened, bugging out of his head. “A what?”

“An alternative universe. Basically, everything is pretty much the same in your life, except a few minor details,” she revealed. “That’s why you still live in this apartment, but you didn’t get here the same way you did in your other life, your real life.”

“This... it's way too early for this.” He grumbled, astonished.

She sighed, her hands resting on her hips. “The only other option is that this is a very long-winded prank that your friends are still pulling on you. Have you tried talking to any of your other friends besides Sam?”

“No, everyone else’s number is gone in my phone, which I can only assume means they don’t know me either.” Colby retorted. Then he took a deep breath as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “But, this doesn't make sense. How did I end up here if this isn't my life?”

“I’m not sure how you got here, but I think you’re here for a specific reason. I think you’re here to right a wrong that this Colby Brock did. I’m just… not entirely sure what that wrong might be.” She answered, unsure.

He huffed. “Okay… what am I supposed to do then? Stay here and hope we figure that out soon? I don't even know who I am in this universe.”

“And that's where my research comes into play.” She pulled a laptop from her bag quickly, placing it down on the counter and opening it. She scrolled through her browsers until she came across Colby's Facebook, which surprisingly looked active for someone who hadn't been personally on it in years.

I use Facebook? Gross.

“First, I started by seeing if you and Sam were friends on here, but that didn’t amount to much since Sam doesn’t have a Facebook. However, what I found out is that you and Sam did live in the same town, go to the same high school, and played in the same marching band. Sam talked about his early years before he was ‘famous’ in one of the first videos he posted, and I crossed referenced that with your profile and it all matches up.” She informed.

“That's strange,” he mumbled. “What did we do after high school?”

She stated. “You went off to college and majored in Business Management with a minor in Philosophy. You graduated early too.”

Me? Graduating early? I couldn’t even get through math without Sam’s help.

“What did Sam do?” He asked.

The waitress scrolled to another tab, opening it to show a search of Sam. “Well, a very quick Google search shows that he actually went to the same college as you but dropped out once his Vine career started to pick up. Then he went on to Musical.ly when Vine died. He moved out to LA in 2017 and started a YouTube channel after he met Katrina, and slowly met all of his- your, friends that way. He got a bump of followers once he started dating Kat because of her following.”

Colby’s mouth gaped at her words. “That can't be true. He would have never wanted that. I mean, I had to convince him that we should be on social media so that we could spread our message. Plus, he hates those channels that use their relationship for views.”

“Not this version of Sam. Or at least, it doesn't seem like it.” She commented.

He covered his face, groaning into his hands. “What the hell am I here for? What wrong have I done in this universe?”

Her voice low, she replied. “I think it might have to do with Sam.”

“But... he doesn't know me.” He dissented, sitting up.

She nodded. “I thought so too. However, after scrolling through all of your public photos, I found this.”

Colby squinted at the screen, an old photo of him and Sam stared back. They looked super young, probably sophomores in high school. They were both smiling, laughing at something. He vaguely remembered this day.

“So, we did know each other.” He bit his lip softly.

She hummed. “Yeah. And weirdly, it’s the only photo of the two of you on your profile. But it’s not the only strange thing.”

Scrolling to a different tab, she pulled up an old tweet of Sam’s. It read ‘Never thought you would be the one to hurt me. But I guess everyone can be surprising.’

Colby noted the date. “That was back in high school.”

“Yeah, and there’s a bunch like them. He talks about being betrayed and someone hurting him deeply. He never mentions, of course. But his tweets line up with some that you were tweeting at the same time.” She confessed.

The waitress clicked on a different tab and another tweet showed up, one from Colby’s account. He gazed at it, reading the words ‘If you hate me… imagine how I feel about myself.’

Colby’s face dropped. “Wait, what?”

“You don’t tweet that often, but when you do, you talk about righting wrongs and fixing things you fucked up.” She added, “You also hate on yourself a lot.”

He doubted, crossing his arms. “You think they’re connected?”

“I do. I think in this universe you fucked up somehow and hurt Sam. And I think you are here now to fix what the other you did.” She explained.

He ranted. “This is all so fucked! When I saw him yesterday, he acted like he didn’t even know me. How am I supposed to even go about this? What, do I just go down the hall and apologize for something I don’t even remember doing?”

“No. Sam's not in his apartment anyway. I saw him leave while I was waiting for you.” She mentioned nonchalantly.

He grunted. “Great, he could be anywhere in LA right now.”

“I know exactly where he is.” She smirked.

“What? How?” He questioned.

The waitress divulged. “This version of Sam has a favorite restaurant he goes to all the time. A lot of his fans know about it, thus one look through any of his fan accounts and you'll see it. It's called ‘Paradise’.”

“Sounds like a strip club.” Colby deadpanned.

She pouted. “It's not. But he goes there all the time, and I got us a table there last minute.”

“What exactly are we gonna do when we get there?” He crossed his arms.

“I was planning on going up to his table and talking to him, maybe asking him about you, see how he reacts.” She described.

Colby furrowed his brow, confused. “And what about me?”

She slid her laptop into her bag, zipping it up hastily. “Well… I didn’t really think that far ahead. But hopefully, whatever you did is forgivable, and we can just fix it right there.”

He murmured. “That's a lot to hope for.”

“It's better than sitting here and wasting daylight.” She grabbed her stuff and headed for the door. Colby followed suit, grabbing his keys.

He spoke as he locked his door. “What if this doesn’t work?”

She turned back to him. “It will. It has to.”

~~~

Paradise was a themed restaurant, which Colby thought was strange because his Sam never really liked those types of restaurants. The theme was nice, however, tropical and Hawaiian. It felt like something he, Sam, and a few friends would have gone to after a fun, drunk night.

As Colby and the waitress were escorted to their table, they both kept an eye out for Sam, glancing around nervously for the blonde boy.

“I think the worst thing about this universe version of me is how messy my car is,” Colby joked. “It’s like I live out of it.”

She shrugged, smiling. “It wasn’t that bad.”

“You should see my real car. My honey wagon is spotless.” He expressed, waving his hand.

“Honey wagon?” She queried.

“Long story,” he chuckled. Then abruptly, he gasped. “Holy shit, I just realized I never got your name.”

She cocked her head. “What? I never told you?”

He blinked. “No.”

She started. “It's-”

“Hi, I'm Tony, I'll be your server for today. Can I get you something to drink to start you guys off?” Tony greeted, cutting her off.

“Yeah, sure. A water for me.” She blurted out.

Colby added. “Coke, please.”

Tony smiled. “Okay, coming right up.”

Once Tony left, the waitress started scoping out for Sam again, her eyes widening once she saw him.

Her body stiffened, turning back to Colby. “He's over there, three tables down to your left.”

Colby gazed over his shoulder at his friend. Sam looked lost in thought, staring at his phone as he ate his food.

“Why is he alone?” He muttered.

“From some of the blogs I read, he likes to go out and eat by himself. Also, apparently, him and Kat are on the rocks.” She admitted.

“They love each other so much, it's kinda gross to be around them sometimes,” He quipped, but shook his head. “So to hear that...”

“I'm gonna head over.” She announced quickly.

Before he could speak, she left the booth. Colby watched her walk over to Sam, listening closely to their conversation as he ducked his head down.

“Hey... sorry to bother you, but are you Sam Golbach?” She asked sweetly.

“Yeah I am. Did you want something?” Sam stared blankly at her.

“Um, yeah?” She almost scoffed at his tone. “I’m a huge fan and I know this might be a weird question, but do you know someone named Colby Brock?”

Sam’s face remained stoic, but his eyes intensified. “No, I've never heard of that name before.”

“Are you sure, because I'm pretty certain that you and him are best friends.” She insisted.

He raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”

Colby watched nervously as she pulled out her phone and showed Sam the photo. Sam scrunched up his face, his eyes scanning the image. “Yeah, no. Still don’t know who he is. What was his name again?”

“Colby Brock.” She stated.

“...Sorry. I’ve never heard a name like that before.” He mumbled, almost inaudibly. “Sounds stupid anyway.”

She cocked her head. “Wait, what?”

Colby clenched his fist, unable to hear this conversation any longer. He needed to come face-to-face with Sam. He slid out of his seat, walking hastily over to Sam and the waitress. Sam’s eyes narrowed as he gaped at Colby.

“Sam…” Colby started.

Sam growled. “Are you fucking serious, Colby? Did you really have to get one of my fans involved?”

“What?” Colby puzzled.

Sam jumped out of his seat, grabbing Colby’s arm and pulling him out of the restaurant. The waitress followed behind them, confused just as much as Colby. Sam’s feet stopped behind the back door of the building, turning to Colby without warning.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Sam barked.

Colby stepped back, surprised by Sam’s anger. “...Uh, I don’t know what you mean by that.”

Sam scoffed. “Why the fuck are you here? After all this time?”

“So, you do remember me.” Colby remarked.

“Yeah, I do. When you showed up at my place yesterday, it took me a minute to realize it was you, since you decided to dress up like a Hot Topic employee, but yeah, I knew it was you. Are you really gonna pretend in front of her that we don’t know each other?” Sam teared his eyes away from Colby’s, staring at the waitress suddenly. “Let me guess, he hasn’t told you the whole story, right?”

“I guess not.” She shrugged uncomfortably.

Sam chuckled darkly. “Of course not. If he told the whole story, he would have to admit he was an asshole, and God knows he’s not gonna do that.”

“What are you talking about?” Colby panted.

“Do you not remember? Well, I’ll give you a refresher. You and I became friends freshman year of high school. You were my best friend and I was yours. I trusted you. I trusted you with a lot of shit that I’ve never told anyone. Senior year of high school, right before we were about to graduate, right as we were starting a social media career, suddenly you don’t want anything to do with me; which would have been bad enough, but then I go and find out you and my girlfriend were hooking up behind my back,” Sam snapped, catching his breath for a moment. “So yeah, I remember you, Colby.”

Colby’s mouth fell open, his breathing speeding up.

None of this sounds like me. I would never hurt Sam like that.

“And now, you have the fucking audacity to show up when everything in my life is going great and I’m succeeding. I have fans, friends, and a girlfriend that all love and care about me, and you’re here trying to what? Stir up drama? Get some clout from me?” He demanded.

“If your friends and girlfriend love you, why are you eating all alone?” The waitress jeered.

Sam glared at her, biting his tongue. “And you made one of my fans hate me. Dope, dude.”

“Sam, look; I’m sorry for what I did. But that was years ago. I’m not who I was back then.” Colby choked out.

“I don’t care. I don’t want you in my life. Do you not understand what you did to me?” Sam persisted.

“I know I was an asshole, and I apologize for ever hurting you like that. But I miss you, and I want to work things out. Let me prove to you that I’m better.” He trembled, getting closer to Sam.

Sam backed up, blocking Colby. “No. No! You don’t get to miss me. You don’t get to miss a relationship you fucked up. It took me years to trust again. Hell, I’m still going through it. You don’t get to decide whether or not you’re in my life. Not anymore.”

“Sam… please.” Colby whimpered.

“Don’t show up at my place again. Don’t talk to my fans about me. Don’t act like you care about me. Because I’m done,” Sam stared into Colby’s eyes before going back into the restaurant. “I don’t care about you. Fuck off forever and leave me alone.”

Sam’s words punched Colby hard, taking the breath out of him instantly. He caught himself against the wall, his legs turning to gelatin under his weight.

He stuttered. “I… gotta leave. I-I have to…”

“Colby, relax. It’s gonna be okay.” She grabbed his hand.

He shook off her embrace. “What? No it’s not! Did you not hear what he said? Why would he want to be friends with a piece of shit like me?!”

“You were eighteen when this all happened. Give yourself a break.” She argued.

“No. I’m fucking terrible. This version of me is terrible. Of course he doesn’t want to be friends with me! I don’t even want to be me.” His voice quivered with anger, his body racing away from her.

She furrowed her brows, trying to keep up with him. “Where are you going?”

“I just need to leave. I can’t be here right now!” He grunted, his pace picking up.

She called after him, but Colby didn’t care. His heart slammed against his chest over and over again. Tears weld up into his eyes, blurring his vision as he began to run. He wanted to keep running until his legs gave out, until he couldn’t remember all the words Sam had said to him.

It dawned to Colby how much worse this universe was.

He wasn’t just stuck in a universe where Sam didn’t know him.

He was stuck in a universe where Sam didn’t want to know him.

In a universe where Sam didn’t love him.

And he had no way of escaping.

Colby must have blacked out while he ran, somehow maintaining to stay upright, because once his thoughts started to subside, and his body basically gave out under him, he noticed he was in a part of LA he had never been before. Some random neighborhood that was unfamiliar.

He shoved his body up against a metal telephone pole, sliding down to the ground. He tried catching his breath, gulping back breaths as he forced down the nausea overwhelming his senses. He wiped his face with his sleeve, feeling more tears rush down his cheeks.

His throat and chest burned with each sharp inhale. He whimpered into his hands, covering his face from the slowly retreating sun.

He slid his phone out of his pocket once he caught his breath, calling the only number he knew.

“Hey honey. What’s up?” His mom’s voice rang back sweetly.

Colby’s voice was monotone, exhausted. “You know who Sam is, don’t you?”

The line went quiet for a moment, all Colby could hear was her light breath.

“You told me not to talk about him. After you two stopped being friends, you said you never wanted to hear his name again.” She exhaled deeply, “I was taken aback when you asked about him yesterday.”

“He’s out here… in LA.” He responded.

She gasped lightly. “Did you run into him?”

He laughed bitterly. “You could say that.”

“Oh, Colby. I’m so sorry.” His mother consoled.

“There’s nothing to be sorry about, mama. I just…” Colby trailed off, unable to explain.

“Why don’t you come home this weekend?” She offered. “I miss you, you know.”

“I would love to. But…” His chest heaved as hot tears drifted down his cheeks. “That’s not my home.”

“Nonsense. You will always have a home here.” She assured him, her voice almost trembling.

He wiped a fallen tear, a broken smile coming to his face. “That’s good to know. I love you.”

She hummed. “I love you too, baby. Call me again soon.”

“I will. Bye.” He uttered breathlessly.

The sky was getting darker and darker, and Colby remained against the phone pole. He didn’t know how much time had passed, but suddenly his phone vibrated, a new message from ‘Waitress’ asking where he was. He sent his location, and she arrived twenty minutes later in his car. He stood up, stumbling to his passenger door. His legs were weak from the sprinting he had just done. As he got in, the cool AC blasted the sweat and tears off his face.

They didn’t speak, a quiet radio station playing in the background the only sound. She drove through the hills of LA, eventually hitting a peak. She parked the car as it overlooked LA, the lights looking like stars on the horizon.

She got out a minute later, walking over to the hood and leaning against it. He could see something in her hand but didn’t recognize it. Colby sat in the car by himself, not able to physically move his body from how exhausted he felt. Eventually, he achingly stepped out of the car, sitting next to her on the hood.

“I’m fucked.” Colby breathed.

She started. “I don’t think-”

“Please don’t try to make me feel better. I know you mean well, but I am fucked,” he rebutted, his voice dark. “I’m stuck here, in this universe, where Sam hates me. And as if that weren’t bad enough, I did terrible things, things I know I would never do to him. How the fuck am I supposed to apologize for those mistakes? I wouldn’t take him back if the roles were reversed.”

“Read this.” The waitress stated, handing him a journal.

He glanced down at the leather-bound book, slightly faded from years of writing. He unclicked the lock and opened it, looking down at the pages. It was his, a journal full of writings he had done.

“Where did you get this?” He inquired.

“You were right about your car being messy. But you’d be surprised what you fine if you just look.” She teased.

Colby read over the words, the first entry catching his eye. It was dated a year after him and Sam had graduated high school.

Sam is succeeding without me. I knew he would. He was always so smart when it came to business decisions. He just hit 10k followers on Vine. That’s crazy!

“What the hell is this?” Colby questioned.

She answered quickly. “This whole journal was you keeping up with Sam without him knowing. This version of you always paid attention to what he was doing, even if you guys were no longer friends.”

“I’m obsessed with Sam? That’s great.” He deadpanned.

“You’re not obsessed with Sam. Read this entry.” She skipped a handful of pages, finally stopping on one and showing it to him.

I hate myself everyday for the hurt I caused Sam. I can’t believe what an idiot I was back when I was 18. We could have gone so far together… but I had to go and fuck it up.

He scowled. “Am I supposed to be sad for myself?”

“Keep reading.” She pushed.

The night I chose to never speak to Sam again, I knew I made the wrong decision. But I had to. Sam was ready to go on and do bigger and better things. I was just gonna hold him back. I was terrified of failing, not only myself, but him. He deserves success. That’s why I had to ignore him. I have never been as smart as him. I would have ruined our chances of doing something great. And I have been proven right by how far he has gone without me.

“You stopped being his friend because you were scared, not because you didn’t care anymore.” She repeated.

He slid off the car, scoffing. “So what if I was scared to fail? Sam didn’t deserve the hurt I caused just because of that. And what about me cheating with his girlfriend?”

She jumped off the car, striding up to Colby. She grabbed the journal from his hand. “You didn’t cheat, look.”

She pointed at the bottom of the page, his eyes following her finger.

“Me and Lexi were never together! I hate her for telling him that. One night, they had a really big fight and she came over to my house to ask what she should do. I told her to break up with him if she really didn’t care anymore. And then she tried to hit on me. I told her off and threatened to tell Sam, but she got to him first. She must have told him her and I were together.” The waitress read aloud.

“Wait, if I never hooked up with his girlfriend, why wouldn’t I tell him that?” Colby hissed.

“I think at that point, you wanted the friendship to be over, and I think this solidified it.” The waitress responded.

“All this time I could have been friends with Sam, but I ruined it because I was scared? What a fucking idiot.” He spat.

“You weren’t an idiot,” She interjected. “You just disliked yourself so much you didn’t think you deserved happiness. At least now you know that this version of you isn’t as terrible as you thought.”

“Even with that being the case, Sam’s never gonna accept my apology. Why should he?” Colby lamented, “I let him down the worst ways. I broke his trust and loyalty.”

She shook her head, stepping towards him. “Give him some time. You might be surprised."

Before Colby could speak, his phone rang. He took his phone out of his pocket and looked at the number. It looked familiar, but he couldn’t place it.

“Hello?” He answered.

“Did you really mean it when you said you were sorry?” Sam spoke, his tone hesitant, but dry.

His breath hitched at the sound of Sam’s voice. “Of course. I never meant to hurt you, Sam.”

Sam paused for a moment, before breathing out. “I’m giving you one more chance. Tomorrow. Come by my place. You apparently know where I live.”

“Yeah,” Colby laughed awkwardly. “I’ll come by. Thank you… Sam.”

“Don’t thank me yet. I’ll see you later.” Sam stated, hanging up.

Once the call ended, Colby’s eyes stared down at his phone widely. He almost couldn’t believe that happened.

He inhaled sharply. “Sam just called me. He wants to meet me tomorrow.”

“That’s great.” Her voice just above a whisper.

“He wants to hear me out… he wants to give me another chance.” His face dropped with confusion. “How did he get my number?”

It hit Colby like a brick as he gazed up at the waitress, who bit her lip hiding her smile. “You…?”

“You weren’t the first person I showed the journal to,” she explained. “When you ran off, I was gonna go after you. As I got in your car, I saw this journal sticking out from under your seat. I read through it and… I knew I had to show Sam. I went back in and talked to him for an hour, showing him how much you were actually sorry. How much you had beat yourself up over hurting him. And then I gave him your number. I wasn’t sure if he was gonna call but-”

“Oh my God, you’re amazing!” Colby ran up to her, grabbing her by the waist and spinning her around. She gripped his shoulders tightly as they spun, laughing loudly into his ear. As her feet touched the ground, he stared into her eyes, his smile the brightest she had ever seen it. His hands glided up her body to her face, cupping her cheeks quickly. He smashed his lips against hers, his heart pounding as he did. Her hands lowered to his chest, her grasp on his shirt tightened as she felt herself lose her footing and back up into the car.

As they stumbled, he realized what he was doing, pulling away quickly. “Shit… I’m sorry. I-I shouldn’t have-”

“No, it’s okay,” She giggled. “I’m just… surprised.”

He exhaled, letting his arms fall away from her body. “Me too.”

They leaned against the car, keeping a slight distance from each other. A light blush rested on both their faces; however, it was hard to see with the setting sun, something they were both grateful for.

The waitress sighed, breaking the moment of silence. “I think I know why this happened. Why I was the only one who remembered you…”

He raised an eyebrow, slightly side-eyeing her. “Really?”

“I lied to you when we first met. I wanted to seem a bit cooler than I am, but I don’t think I can hide that anymore.” She began, nervously.

Colby’s face relaxed a little, surprised at her words. “Okay.”

“My friend didn’t introduce me to you guys… I introduced her… to you.” She confessed.

A soft grin came to his face. “I had a feeling.”

She rolled her eyes. “No, you didn’t.”

“Yes, I did! I totally did,” he snickered. “Not every fan knows I worked at Dairy Queen. And… no average fan would have helped me get Sam back the way you did.”

“I think there’s a reason for all of this. I think in your universe, your life… you don’t know me.” Her voice dropped suddenly, making Colby turn to her.

“That’s true, I don’t.” He nodded.

Her eyes met his, a sad glint reflecting in the moonlight. “But I think the reason for that is because… you’re not supposed to.”

“What do you mean?” He replied, his face twisting in confusion.

“I think you and I are only supposed to have met here, in this universe. But not in yours.” She glared up at the sky, “Maybe in some weird way, I’m your guardian or guide or something.”

Colby’s thoughts raced. “So, what you’re saying is-“

“This might be the last time you’ll ever see me. You did what you had to do. You got Sam and you to talk again.” Her voice cracked as she held back tears, “You can go home.”

He grabbed her hands, holding them close to his body. “But… I don’t want to leave if it means I don’t know you.”

A hitched breath fell from her lips, a smile appearing from his words. “If we’re meant to be, we’ll see each other again.”

“That’s not fair.” He shook his head, a deep frown settling on his face.

“I know, but it’s how it has to be.” She whispered.

He rested his forehead against her, breathing deeply. “Can I… get one more kiss?”

She bit her lip softly. “I thought you’d never ask.”

They leaned in, his breath fanning across her lips for a split second before he pulled away.

“Wait…” He shuddered. “I never got your name.”

A soft smile came to her lips. “I’ll tell you after.”

His arms wrapped around her, pressing her body into his as their lips collided. He held onto her for dear life, terrified that the moment he pulled away, she would be gone.

He could feel things around him slow down, almost melting away, but he couldn’t tell if it was from the beauty of their kiss making him dizzy. A whirling silence overcame his senses. A burning sensation sliced through his abdomen; his breath ripped from his lungs.

A heavy darkness overtook his vision and for the briefest of moments, he felt absolutely nothing.

Except her lips.

<< |

[five-rivers]

Changeling Chapter 1

A DP Fae Au fic. I've been promising you this for so long XD. I can hardly believe I'm finally delivering, even if it's only one chapter for now.

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Chapter 1: In the Beginning, There Was an Offer

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They studied legends. According to those legends, today, Beltane, was a time of renewal, of birth, of fertility.

It was not supposed to be… this. Their dreams weren’t supposed to be crushed today. Not under this sun, not under these blue skies and among softly blooming flowers.

This kind of news should have come with rain. It should have come with storms.

Maddie wiped tears out of her eyes and Jack patted her on the back. The air smelled sweet and dusty at the same time. The bench was uncomfortable.

“We could try adoption,” said Jack. He sounded shocked, too. Drained. His voice was pulled taught over a great hollowness. “Lots of people adopt. We can- can do some good in the world, maybe.”

Maddie sniffed and cried harder. She’d wanted her own children, and Jack knew it. Adoption was all very well and good, but at this point the suggestion felt like some consolation prize, and she felt terrible for even thinking it was, because Jack was right, it could be a good thing, and…

She wanted children. Her own children.

“Excuse me, I believe I can help.”

There was something about how he said that, about how the voice wound and slipped through her ears that had Maddie’s head snapping up. The man who stood to the side of the bench wore a long coat with a deep hood. Symbols, symbols that Maddie had spent hours, days, weeks, researching were stitched into the fabric. His eyes glittered in the shadows. The fingers of his hands, clasped in front of him, were too long, their coloring faintly lavender, as if they had been dipped in ink and retained the stain even after they’d been washed clean.

This was not a human.

“How?” asked Maddie, feeling hope drip back into her limbs even as Jack tensed behind her. “How can you help?”

.

“We shouldn’t have done that,” said Jack as they drove home. “We really shouldn’t have done that. Maddie, they’re evil, there’s always a catch and it’ll always be looking for a way to push us into it.”

“The catch is in the open,” said Maddie, leaning back against the seat of the car and closing her eyes. “It isn’t as if it’s in the fine print and we’re going to stumble into it. We have one, and then I get my tubes tied, or you get snipped, and we go on with our lives.”

“What if we have twins? Triplets? Maddie, we should have talked about this.”

“There wasn’t any time,” Maddie said defensively. “I had to decide right away.”

“What are we going to do if we have twins, Maddie?”

Maddie bit her lip, her eyes opening without her full permission as she thought. “We know how to deal with things like him.”

The car jerked just a little to the right as Jack failed to suppress his flinch. “Do you remember our work on motivations? On why they take artists, musicians, children?” he asked. He forged on without waiting for an answer. “Creative sterility, we called it. For this one to be able to cure sterility, he has to be powerful. I don’t think nails in pockets and inside-out clothing is going to stop him.”

Such protections were hit and miss to begin with. One faerie might hate bread, another might love it. The sound of bells would drive off one, and another would wear them in their hair. Even cold iron was no guarantee against them.

“We’ll have to find something better, then,” she said, firmly.

.

Maddie laughed. Not a twin. A single child showed on the ultrasound monitor. A girl. A beautiful baby girl. Perfect.

On the other side of the bed, Jack sunk into a chair, obviously relieved. “She’s healthy?” he asked the OB/GYN.

“Completely,” she said. “This is quite the miracle the two of you put together here.” She shook her head. “We must have gotten something wrong during our examination. I can’t even begin to tell you how sorry I am to have put you through all that, and I won’t blame you if you wanted to find a new doctor.”

“It’s fine,” said Maddie, patting the woman’s arm. “It happens.” Yes, being approached by a powerful fae just ‘happened.’ “The important thing now is to make sure there aren’t any complications.”

.

They made sure Jazz was born on a Sunday, with two middle names, one of which Maddie made sure to forget. They scheduled her baptism for as early a date as possible, even though both Jack and Maddie were as lapsed as it was possible to be.

Precautions.

Jack had his surgery only a month later.

They were safe. They had won.

The family of three snuggled together on the couch. Well, Jazz snuggled inasmuch as a newborn was able. They watched TV.

“Jack, dear,” said Maddie, roused to awareness by a news story about a rising young businessman. “Is that our Vlad?”

Jack blinked at the screen. “I think you’re right,” said Jack. “I haven’t seen him since college. I don’t think we’ve talked to him since college.” He frowned. “Did something happen? The three of us used to be so close… He was the only one in the whole folklore department that would put up with our theories, do you remember?”

“I don’t know,” said Maddie, trying to remember. “It was like he was there one day, gone the next.”

“Do you think he’ll mind us getting back in touch?”

“Only one way to find out.”

.

(As it turned out, Vlad did not particularly care to get back in touch.)

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Jazz was not a normal child.

She saw too much. She understood too much. Her teeth grew in early. She learned how to get the milk out of the fridge at about the same time she learned how to walk. Her eyes were too large, even for her age. She didn’t start talking until she was almost two, and when she did, it was in complete sentences. She took to responsibility like a duck to water. No, she demanded responsibility, from waking up the family in the morning to answering the door. She loved rules and games, and the rules of games.

But they had never raised a child before. Perhaps this was simply how they were. Perhaps this was within the expected variety of humanity.

Most importantly, Jazz was theirs. Completely.

.

Maddie was not terribly concerned when her period missed a few days, or even when it was late by a week. But when it started pushing two…

She bought a test.

It came back positive.

.

Danny’s birth was different from Jazz’s in almost every particular. Instead of being infused with a sense of joy, proceedings were overshadowed by dread. Jazz had been born in a hospital. Danny would be born at home, behind every ward and protection Jack and Maddie could conceive of. The midwife they hired was more than used to odd belief systems and threw a few of her own traditions in as well.

It couldn’t hurt.

.

It didn’t help.

After the birth, Maddie held Danny in her arms. He’d been born in a caul, which had been slightly alarming, even though Maddie had known that it was a thing that happened regularly, and that, by most accounts, it was lucky.

He was such a tiny little thing. Smaller than Jazz. Which made sense, he was a little premature.

“I won’t let anything happen to you,” she promised him, whispering into the silky, wispy curls on top of his head.

Someone knocked on the door. Maddie jerked her head up, even though the front door wasn’t at all visible from the basement. Jack flinched hard enough to drop the towels he was holding. The midwife froze.

“Hospitality,” croaked Maddie. Those rules were always humanity’s first defense against the uncanny. Don’t want something in your house? In your life? Don’t invite it in.

Although, she had arguably already invited in the fae they were worried about. Hence all the other contingencies.

The knock came again. And again, louder.

Jack let out a sigh of relief. “It can’t get in,” he murmured. Then he smiled, broad and bright. “We just have to wait it out.”

Maddie nodded, tears in her eyes. The knocking continued. This was far from ideal, obviously, but she’d been half expecting the fae to simply rip through the wards like tissue paper.

Perhaps the theory that more powerful fae were more bound by custom, more vulnerable to their weaknesses, held water? She and Jack had always dismissed it as fanciful, but they’d never been able to gather evidence before.

Then, a sound that made her heart stop.

“I’ll get it!” called Jazz, childish voice muffled by distance and the obstacle of the floors above. She’d been told not to answer the door when Danny was being born, to wait patiently in her room, but for all her unusual maturity, she was only three.

Faster than she’d ever seen him move, Jack bolted for the stairs, pushing aside several pieces of furniture and medical equipment in his haste. He took the stairs four at a time and nearly taking the door off the hinges.

He wasn’t fast enough.

“Who are you, mister?”

“Me?” said a voice Maddie had prayed against ever hearing again. “I am your uncle, my dear. Did your parents not tell you about me?”

.

Jazz tipped her head to one side and stared up at the man, making her eyes extra big. She knew it made a lot of people uncomfortable when she looked at them like that, so she treated it as a kind of test.

The man smiled, kind and patient. He was kind of funny looking, but in a good way.

“No,” she said finally. “Are you Mommy’s brother or Daddy’s brother?”

“Ah, you already know about uncles, then. I was worried I’d have to explain. May I come in? I would like to greet your little brother, as your parents promised I could. I have gifts for both of you.”

Jazz liked gifts. “Okay,” she said. “But I dunno if Danny’s been born yet. Mommy said it can take a while. And I dunno if he can have gifts, yet. He’s gonna be really little. That’s what all my books say, and also the internet.”

“Jazz! Don’t!”

Jazz turned to see her Daddy skid around the corner, just as her uncle stepped across the threshold.

“Not quite on time, I fear,” said uncle. “Young Jazz has already let me in.” He patted Jazz on the head. She ducked away and stuck her tongue out, like she always did when Daddy did that. “Having greeted my niece, I would like to see my nephew.”

.

The fae did walk past the rest of the wards as if they weren’t even there. It didn’t even break them, just ignored them. Some of them he even commented on, as if approving.

He gazed down at Danny with his otherworldly eyes. The midwife had retreated to the corner of the room, refusing to look at what was happening. Jack had attempted to attack the fae with his bare hands, only to be pushed away with something approaching gentleness by an invisible wall. Maddie didn’t know where Jazz was. Upstairs, somewhere, hopefully.

“So beautiful,” the fae said, brushing Danny’s forehead with his off-color fingers. Faster than Maddie could react, he had a pair of scissors in his hand and was cutting off a lock of hair. “A lovely child.” The lock of Danny’s hair disappeared into the fae’s coat.

If Maddie didn’t know better, she’d call the expression on the fae’s face love. But she did know better. Love was as incomprehensible to the fae as fae laws were to humans, so she’d call it by its true name: avarice.

She tightened her grip on Danny, as if she could keep the fae from plucking him from her arms.

“Not now,” said the fae, after another moment. “Soon, I should think.” It ran a hand over Danny’s head. “Soon.” The fae looked up, meeting Maddie’s eyes. “I will return,” he said, “in one year.”

“For what?” demanded Maddie, unwilling to get her hopes up.

The fae blinked slowly. “For his birthday.” He tilted his head. “To determine whether or not he is ready. Perhaps, also, to visit my niece.”

“You stay away from Jazz!” snarled Maddie. “You have no claim on her.”

The fae merely shrugged, then smiled, slyly. “She does, however, have a claim on me. I promised her gifts, before your husband whisked her away.”

“Gifts,” repeated Maddie, hoarsely.

“For the sister of my child, yes,” said the fae, voice and face as calm and even as ever. “Would you ask me to forswear myself?”

“Then,” said Maddie, “you can leave them here, with us.”

“You will give them to her?”

“Yes,” said Maddie, through her teeth. She did not say how long she would let Jazz be in the presence of these ‘gifts.’

“Very well, then,” said the fae, pulling a number of boxes out from beneath his coat. “One year. Be prepared.”

And, with that, the fae faded from view, as if he had been an illusion all along.

Danny was still with them. Their son was still with them. Still theirs.

“One year,” she said, breathless. “Only one year.”

“One whole year,” corrected Jack, rushing to her side. “You’ll see, Maddie. Next time, that fae won’t know what hit him!”

“One whole year,” echoed Maddie, weakly.

“One year to prepare,” said Jack. “Look what we did with half that time! We’re Fentons! We can do it!”

“We can do it,” breathed Maddie. “One year. We’ll be ready.”

Jack nodded, firmly. “We’ll be ready.”

[reidyoulikeabook]

hi i saw that your requests are open for the night for that list and i feel like 15&35 with spencer might be all i need to survive

anyways i’m on anon bc i’m scared you’ll hate this request but just know your writing is my favorite i would read your grocery lists at this point

excuse me i love this request please do not disparage yourself ever again <3 that’s the loveliest thing anybody has ever said to me and i will now think of you and this compliment whenever i write a grocery list

Ship: GN! (wears a bra, no mention of gender other than this) Reader x Spencer Reid

Warnings: Mentions of canon-typical case things, pining, mild thievery.

Word count: 2.4k

Prompts: #15 - "You’ve just won one free pass to my bedroom.”

#35 - “Well fuck, didn’t expect to be announcing my undying love for you this early in the morning.”

A/N: This got so ungodly long I’m so sorry I don’t even know if I can call this a blurb at this point it’s a full fic but I loved this idea so much and it ran away from me.

PLEASE let me know what you think because I bashed this out in the span of an hour and I’m not sure if I love or hate it.

--

Rossi’s spitballing theories behind you. Your head lolls on the desk, feeling far too heavy to attempt lifting up at this time of night. The case was hard, you were sleeping in shifts, and somehow you, Rossi, and Reid had drawn the short straw. Your eyes are blearing a little too much to make out the exact time on the clock, it’s on the opposite side of the room and your eyes burn when you squint to look at the time; you’re fairly certain you’re somewhere on the wrong side of 3am.

23 hours awake.

Sighing, you push yourself up, looking around and only now noting that Spencer isn’t in the room. He must have made his exit while you were flicking through the files making notes, it was often easier to do that with your headphones in.

Thankfully, you'd set up shop in a conference room at the hotel, given the local PD was tiny and barely equipped to handle its own officers.

“What about the meat packing district?” Rossi muses.

It’s a rhetorical question but one you actually have an answer to, “I don’t think so. The busiest part of the city is between the meat packing district and where he’s dumping the bodies. Cops do random stop-and-searches sometimes, I don’t know if he’d risk it.”

“He could drive around.”

You frown, thinking, “He’d be crossing state lines. Hey, wait,” You stand up from your chair, walking to the board and starting drawing circles that illustrate your point, “Spencer thought there must be a pattern, right? But it died off here and we didn’t know about any more victims. If we expanded the search to outside of state lines it might connect here, here, and here,” You circle each here with a point, tapping the pen against the board triumphantly.

Rossi smiles, “Good thinking kid. I’ll call Garcia.”

Exhausted from your breakthrough, you flop back down into the chair. The clothes you’ve been wearing are icky, uncomfortable with sweat and flying and you’re strongly regretting your choice in underwear now too.

You hear the door swing open, looking up to see Spencer entering the room. Holding your go-bag. The one you’d left on the jet this morning. The jet that was a two hour drive from your current location.

“Where did you? When did you?” Your incoherency is related to both your tiredness, and his thoughtfulness.

He smiles, “It took some calling around but I found a cab driver willing to go and pick it up. It just got here.”

“Spencer I-,” You start, scrambling to your feet to accept the bag he’s offering to you, “Thank you. That’s so sweet of you. How much was the cab?”

“Don’t worry about it,” He says, handing it to you and heading over to the board, “What are these?”

Rossi - who was watching the exchange with some amusement - starts explaining the eureka moment you’d had. Spencer nods along, turning to smile at you when Rossi credits the thought to you. It’s something he does a lot, Rossi’s noticed. Not in a condescending way, Spencer knows more than anyone just how capable you are at your job. It’s as if he needs to channel his love for you somewhere, and chooses pride. It’s the easiest one to explain, after all, because who isn’t happy for their colleague making breakthroughs?

That’s how Spencer justifies it anyhow.

You leave the room, heading to the bathroom to change. You’re incredibly grateful to slip out of your dirty clothes and the bra that’s cutting into you, so much so that you decide to pop on a t-shirt under your blazer. The sports bra and t-shirt combo revitalises you more than you thought possible for this hour.

Digging through, you find an item that you didn’t pack. A pair of brown fluffy slippers. Attached to them, a note, ‘I thought the heels on your boots looked uncomfortable, and I didn’t want your feet to hurt. - Spencer.

He signed the note. Something about that, alongside the gift itself, sends a flush of warmth through you.

He gave you his slippers

So?

Is that something friends do?

Wracking your brain, you try to think up if he’d do this for anyone else. Hotch? The thought makes you laugh. Emily? Maybe, actually. If she didn’t make it so hard for others to take care of her. Penelope? Almost definitely.

Your heart sinks a little, and you distract yourself by fumbling to get your work boots off and the slippers on.

It doesn’t matter it isn’t romantic, it matters that he did it.

It matters to every other person you date

He sets an impossibly high bar

Thankfully, the late hour means that there aren’t many local PD still hanging around to see your interesting choice of shoe. You slip through to the conference room, where Spencer and Rossi are huddled over the phone talking to Garcia.

Spencer does a double-take. He knew the gift he’d given you, but he hadn’t expected to see you...wearing them? You look beautiful: hair mussed from fiddling with it, an old college t-shirt under your blazer, brown fluffy slippers on your feet. The mix of professional and homely attire does something to him that he can’t quite explain, and he has to clear his throat before making his next point to Garcia.

Did he just blush?

You try not to stare at him, try not to see if that’s a tinge of red creeping up under his turtleneck.

It is.

“Thanks Garcia,” Rossi clips, hanging up the phone, “I’m going to go and find some coffee. You two,” He points, looking knowingly between you, “Just keep doing what you’re doing.”

No sooner has Rossi left the room, you both try speaking at once.

“You look-” He starts.

“Thank you so-” You start.

You both tinge with warmth.

“You go first,” He says, gnawing at his plump lower lip, finger turning oer the pen in his hand.

You laugh, a little breathless, “Well fuck, I wasn’t expecting to be announcing my undying love for you this early in the morning.”

His eyebrows quirk, is that...hope?

No. Wishful thinking

It’s probably confusion, and you’re a little embarassed, so you quickly clarify, “I mean Spencer Reid this is the kindest thing anyone has ever done for me. I’m endebted to you forever, really.”

A look washes over him: disappointment? You can’t trust your eyes to see the clock, so you feel you can’t entrust them to analyse his micro-expressions right now either. Especially when you’re biased by personal desire.

“It’s no problem,” He says, voice cracking a little, “You look...” He trails off.

“Unprofessional?” You suggest, teasing.

He shakes his head, swallowing, “You look really nice.”

It’s your turn to swallow. You drop your gaze to the pen, feeling too flustered to continue looking your colleague in the eyes at this moment in time, “Thank you. Where did you get slippers at this time of night?”

He shifts, one hand settling over the wrist of the other and fingers nervously rubbing over the back of his hand, “They were uhm. They were mine.”

“Yours?”

“Yeah,” It comes out pitchy, a squeak, “I’m sorry, that’s probably weird I just thought-”

“No, Spence,” You say, looking up at him and giving him a genuine smile, “No, it’s really sweet. I’m really lucky to have you.”

He gives his signature tiny tight-lipped smile, the one he gives when he’s feeling awkward or suppressing something he wants to say but can’t.

Please let it be the latter.

You relinquish him of the obligation of responding, instead standing to join him at the board, “You think you’ve got enough to make a geographical profile out of this?”

He nods, tapping the board with his pen, “Your idea about crossing interstate lines was really smart.”

“I have my moments.”

He wants to tell you that everything you have is a moment. You want to step closer, to cup his face in your hands, to press a kiss to the lips that you swear are pouting, begging to be kissed. You don’t.

Namely, because Rossi chooses this moment to re-enter the room, clutching three cups of coffee, “A little help here?”

From the way you spring apart, despite not even being that close, he wishes he’d taken a little longer. Damn kids and their inability to express their feelings for one another.

***

It’s 4:30am when the alarm on your phone goes off. With the work of the four of you - Garcia sporadically included when she had genius updates - you’ve managed to uncover a pattern that arches across states. You’d called Hotch, who’d commended the good work and advised that you should head to bed at 4:30. The others would get up then, and start to head out to the different potential crime scenes. Local PD was already on it.

You’d been told under no uncertain terms that you were to rest until at least 10am. Unless there was a call from Hotch. You prayed there wouldn’t be.

Rossi’s off the minute the alarm rings, bustling out the door with a “See you later kids.”

You wait behind while Spencer packs his things into his satchel. Or rather, unpacks his things from his satchel, frantically tearing it apart.

“What are you looking for?” You ask.

“My key card,” He murmurs, “I swear it was in my wallet.”

“You were rooming with Morgan, right? Want me to call him?”

“Yes please,” He says, continuing to unearth the contents of his bag onto the desk, with an increasing degree of agitation every second that goes by.

You dial Morgan’s number, and he answers after two rings, “Hey kid.”

You put the phone on loudspeaker.

“Hey. I’m with Spencer, we’re about to head up to our rooms for the night, are you still here? He can’t find his keycard.”

He lets out a breath of air through his teeth, “Sorry, I’m already on my way to one of the crime scenes. Local PD found a body over the state line. Nobody’s at the hotel but you guys and Rossi.”

Spencer outwardly sighs.

“No problem, we’ll figure something out.”

“Alright, good work kid, get some rest.”

The phone line clicks. Spencer’s brow is pinched with frustration, and your heart breaks for him. You’ve all been awake well over 24 hours, and he looks exhausted. He’s more eyebag than man at this point.

“Do you want me to go to the front desk?” You ask.

He shakes his head, “Reception doesn’t open until 6am. I’ll just wait here until then.”

He starts packing the belongings back into his bag, a resigned look on his face. And you have an idea.

“Actually,” You say, pulling the keycard out of your pocket and sliding it across the table to him, “You’ve just won one free pass to my bedroom.”

He picks the card up, squinting in confusion.

“Me and Rossi both got put in single rooms. I mean, it might not be the most comfortable thing in the world, both of us in a single bed, but it’s better than nothing right?”

He opens his mouth to object, and you shake your head.

“Spence you look like you’re about to drop unconscious on the floor and I don’t want to be responsible for yet another injureid.”

You’re so tired that the pun seems hilarious to you, and it does elicit a small laugh from him.

“Come on, it’s either share a bed with me, share a bed with Rossi, or try to sleep in one of these chairs. And I’ll be honest, I’d be kind of offended if you’d rather either of the other two options.”

“I can sleep on the floor,” He says, obviously warming up to the offer but not wanting to push his luck. You can hear the hesitancy in his voice.

“You can. But you won’t,” You tell him, settling your go-bag on your shoulder, “And might I remind you that all this time you’re spending objecting are minutes we could be spending sleeping.”

That seems to win him over. He tucks everything back into his bag, zipping it up, “After you.”

“You have the keycard,” You smile, “After you.”

***

The bed is a single bed. It prompts another round of ‘No really, I can sleep on the floor’ from Spencer, your enquiries about if it’s too much for his germaphobia or issues with touching, and his blushy embarassed reassurance that he doesn’t mind if it’s you.

He doesn’t mind if it’s you.

Not as if you’ll spend the next year mulling over those words or anything.

When you get out of the bathroom from changing, Spencer is tucked up in bed. Well, you say tucked up, but he’s practically lay right on the edge. How he’s actually physically still being supported by the mattress at this point must be his physics magic.

“I thought I said I didn’t want you getting injured,” You say, crossing the room to him.

He opens his eyes, “I didn’t want to-”

“It’s okay Spence,” You tell him, huddling down into bed.

There’s about enough room for you both to fit in, with an inch between you, so you pull gently at his arms, urging him closer.

“There’s enough room for us both without you going flying in the night,” You tell him.

He nods, obviously still a little nervous. It’s odd, lying face to face with him, illuminated only by lamplight. He looks soft. He always does, but there’s something intimate about this. You can feel his breath fan across your cheek, can feel how heat radiates off his arms.

“Do you want me to turn the lamp off?” He asks.

It’s not your staring that implores him to ask, because he’s been staring at you too. The both of you, trapped in a perfect bubble of a moment. Lamplight a spotlight, highlighting all the features of the person you love most.

“Sure,” You whisper, breath catching in your throat.

He flicks it off, settling back down.

His breath brushes against your face when he asks, “Do you want me to turn around?”

“Do you want to?”

He hesitates for a moment, voice even softer when he answers, “No.”

It’s dark. You can hardly make out his outline. Yet somehow, you both just know. Shifting, infitismally closer. Breaching the tiniest gap between you somehow feels like crossing the Grand Canyon. Your heart thumps in your chest, and you can feel it in your fingers, the fingers that trace cautiously along his jaw.

His mouth finally, finally, slotting against yours in the most gentle of kisses. A blink and you’d miss it.

And yet, in the same blink, your life changes forever.

When Rossi makes a speech at your wedding, he admits to being the thief of the missing keycard, and intentional orchestrator of the greatest love story he’s ever known. His words.

---

Permanent tagslist: @reidingmelodies @takeyourleap-of-faith @sassiest-politician @calm-and-doctor @ssa-m-187  @seasonfivereid @averyhotchner @muffin-cup @purplewaterbottles082 @spencerreid9 @drspencerreidd @reidsnose

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[pinkpeaonies]

“sara and her health food obsession”

first story of this nature! kinda nervous! pls let this reach the target audience or im gonna cry

cw: calorie counting/ed tendencies???

topics: stuffing, wg, and cute lesbians!!:

“Hey! Wait up!”

Sara turned back to see who was calling her, her blonde hair flowing in the gentle spring wind. It was none other than her lovely girlfriend Maizie.

“You’re so mean, trying to go to school without me!” Maizie teased, lightly punching Sara.

“Well, maybe if you actually woke up on time, we wouldn’t be in this predicament!” Sara teased right back.

“Ah, only a girl like you would make fun of someone while using the word ‘predicament’…” Maizie said, lightly kissing Sara’s shoulder.

They had just started dating last month, and Sara didn’t know too much about Maizie, but she loved her nonetheless. Maizie just happened to be her roommate, and ever since, Sara slowly started falling more and more in love with her.

The boring school day went on. College could be so boring to Sara, especially the classes that had nothing to do with her major. After a long day of school, Sara went to the spot that made her the happiest: the gym. Sara was a bit of a health obsessed chick, and spent large amounts of her free time planning healthy meals or working on her body. She wanted to be the best she could be for Maizie, after all.

But for some reason, today, she just wasn’t feeling up to it. Perhaps she was impatient and wanted to be with Maizie. As she ran on the treadmill or used the elliptical, it just didn’t feel the same.

“I might as well go home…” Sara thought. Rest days were good, and she hadn’t taken one in a while, so she figured there was nothing wrong with it.

“Oh? You’re home early. Couldn’t wait to see me, huh?” Maizie said as Sara walked in the door.

Sara noticed Maizie was preparing a feast of sorts.

“What’s all this for?” Sara asked. It smelled amazing, but also extremely unhealthy.

“Oh… well, I was making something for my family since they’re in town. It’s a bunch of their favorite foods; I’m making two kinds of pasta, margarita and New York style pizza, ribs, chicken wings, mango sticky rice, and of course, a green been casserole to be healthy!” Maizie said, stirring the pasta sauce.

“Wow. Your family must love you, huh?” Sara said. “Although… this is all really unhealthy…”

“So? Doesn’t make it any less delicious!” Maizie replied, giggling.

Sara kept walking towards the bathroom to take her before dinner shower. She wondered what she should have for dinner as she got undressed.

“Should I make that grilled chicken and greens salad again? Or should I do a cheat meal of sorts and make some vegan macaroni and cheese…” she thought.

After a while, Sara finally got done showering and was absolutely ravenous. She rushed to get dressed so she could get started on dinner. However, when she came out of the bathroom, Maizie was standing outside with a distraught expression on her face.

“What’s up?” Sara asked, bracing for the worst.

“Oh… you look so cute with wet hair! But that’s not the point. My family all of a sudden is going on this keto diet and they refuse to eat anything I made! I made so much, what am I gonna do?!” Maizie cried, leaping towards Sara and falling into her arms.

“Oh… well… I’m sure we’ll be able to finish all of it over the whole week!” Sara reassuringly said, but Maizie didn’t look any happier.

“That’s the thing, none of this stuff is good the next day! We’ll have to eat it all tonight. I only made so much because I was cooking for five people!!!” Maizie said, looking frustrated.

“I mean, I’ll try to finish it for you. Don’t worry, okay?” Sara replied, stroking Maizie’s head like she was a cat.

After Sara got herself ready, she sat down at the table and started to fill up her plate. It truly did look delicious. She went for the rich, creamy spaghetti first, grabbing a heaping pile of it that was about half of the portion Maizie made.

“I haven’t had a cheat day in forever! This looks so good, thanks babe!” Sara said, going in to take a bite.

Sara couldn’t believe it. The pasta was so good. She couldn’t control herself. She was so hungry, it felt like the best thing she’d ever eaten in her entire life. Forkful after forkful, it was so good, she couldn’t stop.

“Wow, someone’s enjoying their food, huh?” Maizie said, smiling mischievously.

“What did you put in here?!” Sara said inbetween mouthfuls of spaghetti.

“Uhhh… pasta noodles, heavy cream, tomato sauce, chicken stock, italian sausage, and some seasonings. Don’t go stealing my recipe though!” Maizie answered, laughing innocently.

As Maizie said that, Sara wiped her plate clean. It was strange, because normally after such a huge portion, Sara would be beyond full, but she felt a desire to keep eating. Perhaps it was the love (and calories) that Maizie poured into her food.

Next, Sara reached for five slices of the New York style pizza. She was a sucker for good pepperoni pizza, so she immediately wolfed down three slices in the span of about a minute. She could feel it start to fill her stomach and weigh her down, but that wasn’t stopping her. Come to think of it, Sara was so hungry all the time, but she got used to it. It was nice to relieve her hunger while trying to ease her girlfriend’s emotions.

She quickly finished the pizza, and then she moved on to chicken alfredo. It was gone just about as fast as she served it to herself. Then, she had some of the ribs. Sara was scared of ribs because she ate them for a week and gained crazy weight, but it was nice to indulge in them as she really did love barbecue ribs. The ribs were gone, and soon were the chicken wings, and soon was the green bean casserole, and then she made it to the mango sticky rice. Sara was especially scared of sugary things because of how much she loved them. She could eat cakes and cookies all day, but not without an increased tightness in her waistband. So, she avoided sugar like the plague, but she decided she might as well and started to dig in. Like all the rest of Maizie’s wonderful cooking, it was amazing. But there was a problem. After the obscene amount of food she just ate, her stomach hurt excruciatingly, and her stomach was so heavy it almost pinned her down.

Maizie was just dumbfoundedly staring the whole time.

“Damn, I didn’t know you could eat so much. Did you enjoy it?” Maizie asked, standing up to clear the dishes from the table.

“Y-yes… I did… but my stomach aches so much now…” Sara said, rubbing her stomach.

As she rubbed her stomach, she couldn’t help but notice that she was bursting out of her size zero pajamas with how bloated her stomach had become. As she made a face that made her discomfort known, Maizie came over to her chair.

“Awww… you poor thing! You should do that more often cause you’re so cute when you’re full!” a blushing mess of a Maizie said, moving her hands towards Sara’s poor stretched out stomach.

“Maizie, what are you-“ Sara said, watching as Maizie took her hands and started to squeeze and rub Sara’s tight stomach. It felt so good, so Sara couldn’t help but let out a loud-

“BURPPPPPPP!” Sara let out, instantly blushing out of embarrassment.

“Oh gee… what am I gonna do with you?” Maizie said, extending out her hand for Sara to grab.

All that warm food sure made Sara tired, so she walked (it was more of a helpless waddle) to her bedroom and almost instantly fell asleep.

Sara woke up in the morning and got ready for another day of her dreadfully boring college classes. But today, sometimes was different.

“Baby, can you come here please?” Sara said, sweating profusely.

“What’s wrong?” Maizie said, rushing to the scene immediately.

“I don’t know why, but my jeans won’t button or zip up all the way! Can you help me”

Maizie flashed Sara a devious grin. “Of course I’ll help you!” She said, walking towards Sara and stopping when she was right behind her.

Maizie wrapped her arms around Sara’s waist and found the zipper. She yanked and yanked and yanked on it, and with five minutes of trial and error, both the zipper and the button were good to go.

“Aw, thanks! I don’t know what I would do without you sometimes!” Sara said, getting up to go eat some breakfast.

Breakfast… should she really eat breakfast after all the food she ate last night? That had to be like, 12,000 calories that she ate all by herself last night. She was just going to leave early for college and skip breakfast, maybe walk around campus to burn some of those excess calories. But then, she smelled something.

“Surprise! It’s a special occasion, y’know. So I wanted to make some pancakes for you!” Maizie said, presenting a plate stacked high with pancakes drizzled in chocolate sauce and covered with berries.

“Um… what’s the occasion?” Sara said, shaking in her boots at the size of the pancake stack.

“What’s the occasion?! It’s our one month anniversary!!!” Maizie scolded Sara.

“Oh… yeah! Yeah, it is! Happy anniversary, honey!” Sara replied, bear-hugging Maizie

“Okay, eat up!” Maizie said, grabbing her own plate and setting it down on the table in addition to Sara’s plate.

Sara couldn’t help but notice Maizie had only 3 pancakes while she had 9.

“I guess she really just wants to shower me with her love… huh…”

After another long and boring day of college classes, Sara started to make her way to the gym. She has a lunch of kale, spinach, and pickles, so she thought she might as well add on to her health streak by going to the gym today.

“I don’t wanna fall into a cycle of not going to the gym, next thing you know, I’ll blow up like a blimp!” Sara thought.

But just like the cat always came back, Maizie suddenly started running after Sara.

“Saraaaa! Wait for me!” Maizie yelled.

“Oh geez, what is it now?” Sara teased.

“The anniversary gifts don’t stop at breakfast! Do you wanna go to that pastry shop we went to on our first date?” Maizie asked.

“Oh… well… I was actually about to go to the gym…” Sara started to say, but Maizie’s puppy dog eyes made her reconsider. “…okay, fine!”

“Yayyy! I promise I’ll buy you those cookies and cream croissants you really like! Or the oreo donuts…” Maizie said, grabbing Sara’s hand and happily dragging her to the donut shop.

“Hello, Mrs Pastrie!” Maizie said, barging into the donut shop with her flustered date in hand.

“Hello girls, what will it be today?” Mrs Pastrie said, smiling widely.

“Hmmm, can we please get two coffees, one black, one with two creams and three sugars, one oreo cream filled donut, two oreo crossiant, and one cheesecake donut?” Maizie asked politely.

“Sure!” Mrs Pastrie said, smiling even wider.

The two took their pastries to their dorms and Maizie got started on dinner.

“Y’know, you don’t have to spoil me like this…” Sara said, feeling embarrassed that she was being pampered by Maizie.

“Awww, it’s no worry! Anyways, I’m making chicken dumplings and noodles!” Maizie replied, giving Sara a soft kiss to the forehead.

Sara sat down in her bedroom, looking at the plate of pastries and her cup of sweet coffee. She was hesitant to eat them, but Maizie said they were all for her, so she started to dig in.

She ate every last one of them, and about as soon as she finished, Maizie came in with a big plate of chicken dumplings and black bean noodles.

“Dinner in bed, ay?” Maizie said, setting the plate down on the table next to Sara.

“I guess…” Sara mumbled, laying back. That was definitely way too many pastries to eat before dinner, and Sara found that out the hard way.

“Urghhhh… my IBS is acting up… I’ve gotta go, but enjoy your food!” Maizie said, running and clutching her stomach

“Poor girl…” Sara thought as she started to dig in to her food.

It was gone just about as fast as Maizie brought it in, and Sara succumbed to the heavy weight of sleep, plate still in her lap.

———————————————————————————

Sara didn’t know what to think of what she was becoming.

She didn’t notice it until she thought of how she hadn’t gone to the gym for over a month.

“Oh god, I think I might’ve gained some weight with how I’ve been eating…” Sara thought as the third pair of jeans she tried on couldn’t fit over her thighs.

She got her old scale out of her closet, plugged it in, undressed herself (she didn’t want any extra weight) and begrudgingly stepped on.

“I mean, I have been eating like a slob… but I don’t feel much heavier at all!”

“184 Pounds” read the scale.

Sara couldn’t believe her eyes. Before all this had started, she was a measly 118 at 5’4. How could she gain so much weight so fast.

“Oh god… I might as well look in the mirror to see how fat I look…” Sara said, stepping off the scale and going to get her full body mirror out of the closet.

Sara once again was left in a state of disbelief as she stared at the plump woman starring back at her. Where her well defined abs once were was a soft casing of jiggly fat. Where her perfectly sculpted curves once were, there were now rolls and love handles, still equally as perfectly sculpted. Her formerly skinny legs now jiggled when she moved an inch and she saw that her cheeks were chubbier and she was slowly getting a double chin. It was completely out of hand. Sara fell to the floor, in nothing but a bra and some panties that barely fitted her.

“Ugh, how did I let it get like this?! I’ve never been fat in my life, but now I’ve turned into a gluttonous, overindulgent, rotund, plus sized lady! Oh my god…” Sara said, squeezing her sides.

Maizie suddenly walked in the room. “My my, what’s going on here?”

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me! I’m so… I’m so… I’m so BIG! And I can’t help it! The food just makes me feel so good…” Sara cried, grabbing onto Maizie’s ankles.

“So what you gained a little weight, it’s just because I love you too much! Weight isn’t everything, y’know.” Maizie replied, stroking the top of Sara’s head.

“Oh… I wish that I would’ve known filling myself up with pastries and pizzas would have an affect on my body… I just didn’t think it would happen to me!” Sara cried.

“Awww, don’t cry! You can’t go to school like this… you deserve to take a sick day.” Maizie said, helping Sara up. “Cheer up. I’ve got pizza on the way, y’know.”

Sara started to think. Was she… into all of this? The filling up her stomach to her heart’s content, the difficulty of fitting into her clothes… did she… enjoy it?

That was the least of Sara’s concerns though, as she still had to lose all of her soft, pudgy fat.