#I WAS GONNA HAVE READER DO THIS GIANT CONFESSION THING ABOUT HOW THEY STARTED DOING THINGS LIKE THIS N WHY

[the-californicationist]

FaceTime (Price/Reader)

Warning: video/phone sex

It was around lunchtime when you usually heard from John. His deployment was stationed in some Eastern European locale, and over there, it would be late at night. He usually texted you throughout the day, and you’d wake up to his updates, but it had been radio silence for at least twenty-four hours and you were nervous.

You tried to stay busy, keeping yourself calm by talking to your friends and calling your mom, but the house was so empty without him. Sometimes you stole a cigar just to smell his smoke in the house again, lighting it on a plate like incense. He’d be cross if he found out, but you knew he’d forgive you. 

You logged out of your work email and undressed to hop in the shower. Then, just as you were about to step in, you heard your phone buzz. Abandoning the running shower, you lunged for your phone, turning it over to see John’s profile photo on the screen, smiling at you.

“John?” You panted, fear crawling up your throat. 

“Hey, love,” he whispered, his voice low and gravelly. He sounded exhausted.

“Thank God. I was worried sick. Are you alright?”

“Yeah, yeah,” he sounded like he wanted to say no, “Everything’s fine.”

That was his code for ‘don’t ask.’ It made you even more concerned, but you kept that to yourself, not wanting to add to his mental stress.

“I miss you, John,” you sighed. 

Then, he was video calling you. You were naked, but he was careful. He would never call you in front of anyone. You swiped up to answer it. 

He seemed surprised to see your bare collarbones. He was shirtless, too. Ready for bed, alone in his bunk. 

“Oh, hey,” he smiled, “Look at you, pretty thing.”

You blushed, 

“Right back at you, handsome.”

He grinned, rubbing his big hand across his chest. You loved it when he did that. There was something so hot about his fingers petting through his thick chest hair, flashing over his pink nipples, warming his tired muscles, rippling and rising with his breaths. 

“Mm, careful, love. I’m already missin’ ya. Start praising me and I’m gonna grab you through this phone,” he joked with you, playfully threatening, flirting through his tiredness. 

“Wish you would, John,” you moaned, testing his limits. If you were lucky, maybe he would take the bait.

You heard the fabric of his sweatpants rustle, and when he repositioned the phone, you saw his pink cock being dragged out, heavy and hardening under its commander’s grasp. You moaned again, more enthusiastically this time, 

“Oh, fuck. I miss that cock,” you propped your phone up on the sink, leaning it against a bottle of soap and the tap. 

You saw your body on the screen, tossing your towel on the counter to show him your entire naked form. Your hands found your breasts, pulling at your nipples, squeezing the flesh for him and for you, feeling better by the second. Your hands were no match for his hands, but it would have to pass. 

“This cock misses you, baby. Why don’t you touch that soft little cunt for me, hm?”

You do as he says, eagerly sinking your fingers into yourself to obey him, sending waves of pleasure through your core as you do. You’re not ready yet, and you work yourself slowly as you watch his giant hand pump his fat shaft faster and faster in the darkness of his bunk. 

“I can’t wait for you to come home, John. I need to taste you again. I want you to put so much come in me that I feel full from it.”

“You like how I taste, love?” His voice was strained. He was concentrating on watching you fuck yourself on your hand. 

“I love it,” you confessed honestly, “You want me to show you how much?”

You didn’t wait for him to reply. You gathered your wetness on your fingers and showed it to him, making sticky strings of your own come drip between your fingers. He groaned, and then he gasped when he watched you lick them clean. 

“Fuck, do that again.”

You dipped your fingers into yourself, coating them with your own fluids and bent down closer to the camera so he could see the gleam of your juices as your fingers slid into your waiting mouth. You used your tongue to show him how clean they were. 

He groaned loudly, a familiar sound, and you saw white streams of come burst from his rosy tip, melting down his shaft like a tall candle. 

“Bloody hell, I needed that.”

You smiled, making a mental note to charge your vibrator before you get in the shower. You needed to let off the insane tension he had just built up inside of you.

You blew him a kiss and he caught it with his free hand, 

“Me, too. Call me tomorrow?”

“No need. Tomorrow, you’re gonna get the real thing.”

[writteninlunarlight-years]

Sorry this request might be a little weird; Im gonna try and word it best I can. Can you do something with Alastor and the reader, who very slowly and maybe unintentionally became friends; where Alastor confesses his feelings and how much he cares for the reader... But the reader doesnt take him seriously? The reader basically doesnt think he is actually interested in dating them. The reader thinks its a joke, he is just trying to use them, or otherwise just trying to get something out of them. Not in like a distrustful way either. The reader has the attitude of 'oh yeah. The great radio demon who has girls falling at his feet and can get ANYONE he wants is interested in me? Right, good one.' Like its a self-esteem/self-worth thing stopping them from believing him. Oh and this is for Hazbin Hotel obviously, but just in case I had to say it.

Please Please Please~

(This honestly was me projecting because this is me anytime someone shows interest in me. I have horrible self-esteem issues lol)

When you woke in hell, you thought nothing of it, really. You did some good, and you sure did some bad, so maybe this was exactly where you were always supposed to be. You had no anger or frustration about your placement because you simply couldn’t care enough. Heaven or hell, you probably would still be fighting for something. If anything, you hoped you would just fall asleep in death, but where would the fun in that be?

Upon your arrival, a few things became quite clear: 1. It was a dog-eat-dog world here in hell, so be prepared for anything. 2. The more souls you own, the more powerful you are, so start making some friends to make just as many enemies. 3. You will always be less powerful and popular than the TV head and the Radio Demon.

The only downside is you never got to meet this Radio Demon. He had been missing for seven years, according to the streets, and long gone, but still, he was the talk of countless women and men, especially Vox. This wasn’t a surprise, though; how people explained his rise to power was even more impressive and unique to you. He would one day be a formidable foe if you crossed him, or would he? The last extermination was killer. Half your souls had been killed off, and you were left a lot weaker from an injury caused by angelic steel. A slash was going straight across your back from a poorly-timed dodge. You weren’t bad at fighting; you weren't good at it either. Usually, during exterminations, you would hide at the Vee’s tower or another notable place. However, unsurprisingly, you were kicked out after your loud denial of working with the Vees. 

Seeking refuge at the next best place, you stumbled upon the Hazbin Hotel. Delirious and in pain, it was indeed just a stumble into the lobby. Upon entering, you saw an excited and concerned blonde chick, someone with a spear, and then all that was left was just red—beautiful crimson red. 

Some days had to have passed; you only know this because your wounds were wrapped up, and the calendar in the room you were placed in had days since the extermination marked off. Five days you spent asleep resting and recouping. Though your body was mainly healed, the scar you saw on your back when you stood was anything but attractive. Sighing, you sat on the cold bathroom floor.

You were never much of a beauty in your mind. You were just simply good enough. Sometimes, you could seduce a soul into your clutches, win a soul gambling, and sometimes gain one from fighting—a jack of all trades, master of none. Yet now, your value has significantly decreased with a giant scare running across the expanse of your back. Sighing, you stood once more and decided you would figure out where the hell you were and who was stupidly kind enough to help you.

With your top half fully bandaged, you didn’t think about putting on a shirt. The idea of anything rubbing on your wound annoyed you greatly. So, being mindful of potential others, you walked around carefully, ensuring your bandages were tight. Looking around, it was a reasonably average hotel. Nothing was too crazy about it; it just had some eerie decor at the most.

Rounding the last corner, you found stairs that opened up to the lobby, and dear lord, above did you wish you stayed in your room. A loud, cheerful presence came bombarding you, shouting a hundred questions about your health, your name, and what happened. You almost wanted to retreat into the shadows at how brightly she shone when you agreed to stay at her hotel and take a shot at redemption.

You met the residents quickly after that. It's not like you had much of a choice anyway. Surprisingly, the one you clicked with the most was the famed Alastor, the Radio Demon. How you two clicked was beyond everyone, besides the fact you were cunning and a silver tongue speaker like the man himself. Maybe that is why he found you amusing and watched you work your magic on lulling Husk even into a secure enough place to talk to you.

His lack of asking for your soul surprised you more than anything. Though you knew Charlie had her rules in the hotel, that didn’t dissuade the Deer from making his own choices. You commended him for his poise and regality; you understood why he was the talk of the town even when Vox was trying so hard to be the new it boy. Alastor was handsome in a nonconventional way; he was refined, elegant, and poised. He treated women like a gentlemen and men like they were just one step below him. 

You wouldn’t lie to yourself and say you weren't enamored; you liked him a lot from just the first handful of conversations. However, one late night really sealed the nail in your coffin of love for the affamed Overlord. You two were sitting on the lobby chair, the long-forgotten bar, and a nursed bottle of Whiskey between you two. Each new glass only brought you two closer, having a lot of similarities. 

You also killed upon your time on earth as a means to protect the ones you cared about and end those who acted foolishly like them. You also died an untimely death at the hands of something out of your control. You were both quick-witted and capable of compelling those around you with your voice and words. The only significant difference was he was an Overlord, a beautiful, attractive overlord. At the same time, you were just a sinner with a few damned souls that saw potential in you.

After that night, you and Alastor grew a lot closer. You would even dare to call him your best friend, knowing that nothing more would ever come of your two relationship past that. Not only was Alastor continuously turning women and men down left and right, but Angel was convinced the man didn’t know what romance or sex was. You couldn’t help but agree with him as every beautiful person who crossed his path was quickly shooed away or disposed of. 

As the Adam-led extermination approached, you noticed Alastor took a particular interest in your training. You were opting for him to train you and approve your placement on the battlefield. Your heart soared at his kindness, but you didn’t want to get your hopes up. He didn’t want to lose a like-minded friend, which was all this was. As you all prepared for the event, his sudden and lingering hug was just him being worried about a friend.

You would do and say anything to convince yourself he just saw you as a friend, even as he scolded you for your injuries after the battle. He just cared a lot about his best friend. You were nothing comparative in power and prestige as Alastor was, so he would never see you as more. This was all just a fond kindness he used with Niffty, Roise, and Mimzy. You wouldn’t allow yourself to be a fool and believe anything more would happen. 

As your affection grew for the Radio Demon, so did your self-doubt and negative self-esteem. You didn’t want to embarrass yourself like Mimzy, pining after a demon that would never love you. Your nights at the bar became more and more apparent enough that Husk took to talking to you and trying to help you out. This didn’t go unnoticed by the boss of said man. No, instead, jealousy was brewing inside of him, watching you grow closer to the cat demon. Jealousy that was soon to reach a head.

Alastor was utterly infatuated with you. You were a perfect mix of normalcy and insanity, something he admired dearly. You were not overbearing or clingy like Mimzy, not psychotic and wild like Niffty, and not motherly and borderline insane like Rosie. No, you were a perfect combination of what he loved in all his dear friends. That’s all you were right, a dear friend. It didn’t help that you stopped spending time with him and hanging around Husk; he grew irate. 

He needed help and fast; who better to turn to than his motherly companion, Rosie? Wanting to get you out of Husk's grasp, though he invited you along on the trip. It was pleasant. You wrapped around his arm as he led you through the streets, up until cannibal town people cowering at your feet. Once in cannibal town, though, the women came flocking. He was used to this, declining, pushing people away, and even allowing his shadows a meal or two. However, the frown on your face was the least of his expectations. He hadn’t long to question it before you two arrived at Rosie’s Emporium. 

As you two entered, you were immediately enamored with all of the goods Rosie had sold. Once quick introductions were out of the way, Alastor approached the side table to speak with his friend while you looked around more. His worries and fears were confirmed, though; he was, in fact, in love with you. Alastor wasn’t one to skimp on charm; he was a gentleman who would court you properly. 

After your visit to Rosies, you noticed a new change in Alastor. He was quite literally everywhere you were. You couldn’t get far without him complimenting you, giving you a gift, or asking you to accompany him on errands. You figured that your time secluding and hanging out with Husk might have made him think you didn’t want to be friends anymore. So, with a smile, you welcomed this change and stuck through it. Why not accept his doting behavior before he finally broke your heart and said he didn’t like dating or got a partner? 

This went on for months. The lingering touches, longer hugs, late-night talks, gifts galore, and, most importantly, him letting his guard down around you made you feel special. According to Husk, he hasn't done this with any of his other close friends. This made you almost hope that there was something more. Alastor had countless options, though, so of course, he would never choose you. Why would you allow him to embarrass you like that? 

After six months of pursuing you, Alastor believed he had amply courted you. He had enlisted the help of Charlie and Vaggie to set up the lobby so he could ask you to be his officially. The room was perfect: low lighting, candles, your favorite flowers, and food placed out. All that was missing was you there on his arm. He knew it was perfect for you, everything to your heart's desire. 

You were in shock as you entered the lobby after an impromptu errand Charlie needed to be done. You couldn’t even begin to understand what was going on. As you walked in, you saw Alastor sitting at the table before you, a large smile on his face. You looked at him quizically. “Uh, Al, what is all this?” He looked around awkwardly—that was the first time you saw that expression. “Well, Y/N, what does it look like? Of course, it's a date for us, in the hotel's safety.” You scrunched up your eyebrows, trying to process his words. “A date?” He seemed to be growing more tense by the moment; he expected you to be happy and excited, and you seemed to like his courting so much. “Yes, dear, we have been courting for some time now, which leads me to believe you were ready for a date. Was I mistaken?” You were taken aback. Are you courting? When did that happen? You looked at Alastor, trying to piece together the puzzles. Could he have liked you all this time? No, there is no way; he had so many options, so many better, less disfigured options. “Al, are you waiting for a different girl? Is this some like practice run for a person you want to date? You shouldn’t play with me like this. It’s not nice.” Alastor looked genuinely upset, only momentarily before his signature smile returned. “No, Y/N. This is for you. I have been courting you. Did you not realize my advances towards you? I have been avidly seeking you and you alone out.” You started to tear up. You wanted to believe him; you did, but it was hard. You weren’t the best; you weren’t the strongest. You had nothing going for you than surviving hell each day. “What, no? What do you mean? You can’t mean me. I am nothing, Alastor. I am nothing; I would just be embarrassing you. You are a powerful Overlord—a handsome, sought-after man. I am nothing. I am just here a sinner designed to fight through hell, that is all.” Alastor began to realize what you were getting at. You didn’t see yourself as being good enough for him. He never learned the toll you put yourself through watching person after person fall to his feet. You were watching him turn them all away and go about his day. You thought he was going to do the same to you. You thought you would never be good enough for him when you have always been what he wanted all along. 

“Oh, Y/N, no.” He rushed over to you, holding you close. Even as you fought to push him away, he stayed holding you close until you calmed. “Y/N, it has always been you. Yes, I am rough around the edges and have high expectations, but you meet them, Y/N. Can you not see how close and compatible we are since the day you moved in?” You stilled and listened. Could it be true that he liked you too this whole time? What if this was some sick prank to torture you? You looked up at Alastor, a genuine smile replacing his normal, calculated one. “Alastor, if I agree with this, you won't hurt me, right?” He sighed and held you close. “I can’t promise not to hurt you; I am an overlord and a selfish creature. However, I promise never to lie, cheat, or steal from you. I choose to love you and you alone, Y/N.” You smiled brightly and reached up, kissing his lips softly. His arms snaked around your waist as he deepened the kiss, and both of you closed your eyes. You could easily get used to being the top overlord's girl. 

Just please, please, please let him prove you wrong…

[devildomwriter]

One Little Thing, A Ring Part V | Mammon x Reader

1.2K Words | GN! Reader | CW: Slight angst

Mammon blushed as you held him in your arms. He wiped the dried tears from his cheeks and tried to straighten his hair. You both sat in silence until Mammon couldn’t bear it and lied, “nothin’s wrong.”

You glared at him and he shifted awkwardly and looked up at the hanging Christmas lights instead. You followed his gaze and came to a partially true conclusion.

“Oh, is it holiday stress?”

Mammon decided this was technically the truth and he crossed his arms and nodded still blushing. Embarrassed he’d cried in his sleep. What was there to cry about…this was everything he wanted. But was he what you wanted? He had to be right?

You could tell Mammon’s mind was swirling with anxious thoughts and hugged his side. His breath hitched in his throat and he leaned his head on yours.

“Let me know when you’re ready to talk about it…” you whispered and he nodded.

It was quiet again and as soon as you turned the lights back off Mammon blurted out the question he’d been dying to ask. “Why do you love me?”

Your eyes shot open and you stared at him in amazement. “What!?” You gasped and he flinched in shock. He hadn’t expected that big of a reaction.

“What do you mean? Don’t I always tell you, all the time?” You asked, concerned your absence with work was taking a toll on him—he was always pretty sensitive, and as hard as he tried not to, he wore his heart on his sleeve. It broke your heart to see his conflicted expression and you began to panic.

Why was he thinking these things now of all times? You hoped this wouldn’t ruin everything and bit your lip anxiously.

Mammon was quick to assure you that you’d done nothing wrong. He quickly got out of bed and started pacing the floor, trying to get rid of his excess nerves.

“Like…I mean…I ain’t rich…like I’m tryin’ but…” he sighed and finally let it all loose. “Why’d you choose me? Im happy ya did obviously but like, I’m not a prince like Diavolo, I’m not a trillionaire or whatever he is like Mephistopheles. I don’t control time, I’m not the strongest brother, I don’t summon a giant ass fish-snake-thing, I can’t charm entire crowds, I’m not a famous author or heaven’s greatest warrior. Hell, I can’t even cook, and half the time I clean things it ends up worse! Aren’t ya gonna regret it?” You gasped and he held a hand over his chest.

A tear slipped down your cheek and he froze, pale as a ghost.

“Mammon…I will never, ever regret you.”

Mammon’s heart lifted slowly as you continued. “I do not love you for money. I do not love you for power. I do not love you for fame. I don’t love you for a home-cooked meal or a journey through time.” You wrapped your arms around him and leaned into his exposed chest. “Mammon. I love you because you’re kind. You care far more than people realize. You’re both extremely adorable and incredibly handsome. You always think about how I feel first. You might steal your brothers’ things but you’re also the first to jump to their defense and put yourself in harm’s way. You are loyal to your family and your friends. I love you because you are amazing. You’re my greatest support, my strongest ally, my most cherished friend. Everyone else is family to me, cherished family…but I don’t love them like I love you.”

Mammon was sniffling and holding back his tears as he hugged you tightly.

“I-I’m sorry,” he practically wailed.

“What? Why are you sorry?” You asked, dumbfounded.

“The truth is I’m stressed…I’m stressed because,” he blushed and decided to confess what he’d found. “Cause I went snooping through your room and I found the wishlist you made…and I wanted to get ya the perfect ring but…”

Your eyes widened in shock as he groveled.

“But I’ve always been too damn nervous to ask ya what ya like best and even though I’m breaking my back for Diavolo and Barbatos, I definitely won’t have enough money to get you the perfect ring for you! I can’t even figure out what would be the perfect ring because you look good in all of them,” he blushed madly and the room was silent.

You stepped back from Mammon and turned around to head to your bed.

“Huh-Wha?” Mammon was astonished you’d just walk away and became nervous he’d said too much.

“I’m sorry I know I shouldn’t have snooped—“

You held the piece of paper to his face that he had tucked back into the envelope and hidden back underneath your bed.

“This is my wishlist?” You asked and he nodded shyly.

Again there was silence until you shook your head and began to laugh. Your laughter grew louder and you fell onto the bed, clutching your stomach.

Mammon was bright red. He’d never felt so embarrassed.

“H-Hey! What’s the big idea laughin’ at me!”

You shook your head and wiped the tears out of your eyes. “Oh, Mammon…” you giggled and reached back under the bed. You pulled out the gifts you’d wrapped for him.

“Mammon,” you said, making sure he was paying attention.

“Y-yeah?”

“That wasn’t my wishlist.”

Mammon froze, “h-huh!?” He hid his face in his hands. He couldn’t believe he really thought you were ready to tie the knot.

You grabbed Mammon’s hands and he slowly took them away to see you kneeling in front of him.

“It was my checklist,” you clarified and his eyes widened. “I was planning on waiting until Christmas Day but…”

Mammon let out a loud gasp and his hands shook as you held up a small velvet box.

“Mammon…will you make me the happiest person in all the realms and marry me?”

Mammon’s floodgates open and his lip quivered. He nodded enthusiastically and leaned into your arms. The box fell from your hand as he hugged you on the floor.

“Yes! Yes of course I will!”

You laughed excitedly and hugged him tightly. You felt his small wings flap in excitement and stayed there on the floor frozen in time.

Minutes passed and Mammon had finally calmed his heart. He sat back up and pulled you with him. He crawled to reach the box and opened it back up to see the shining golden ring inside embroidered with diamonds.

“Shit…how’d ya even afford this beauty?”

You laughed, “That’s why I’ve been working so hard lately too.”

Mammon chuckled that you’d both had the same objective this entire time and he hugged you again. “Here,” you declare, taking the box back. “Let me put it on your finger.”

Mammon nodded and his wings flapped as you slid the ring onto his finger. It was a little big but with a few words of sorcery, it fit like a dime.

Mammon grinned, blushing madly, and began laughing. He jumped to his feet and ran to the door beckoning you over, “c’mon! We’re showing everyone right now!”

“On one condition,” you grinned and he nodded, waiting to hear it. “Introduce me as your fiancé.”

He turned redder than he was before and nodded quickly as he grabbed your hand and pulled you out the door behind him.

“Hey idiots wake up! Guess what, you were so wrong!”

~Fin

Part I • Part II • Part III • Part IV

[ofherpinkways]

Hyper Fixation

Cod characters x horror fan reader (GN bf/gf :) )

Summary : they ask one small question horror movie sending you into a complete hyper fixation and happy rant about all your favorite scary movies

(A/N: tbh this is mainly for myself so I can finally spill out my bottled up horror movie rants,plus this is based off interaction I just had with a friend on Snap. Our babies will be referred to as "they/them" since i wanna include everyone 🤍🩰🧸 might do a pt2)

You loved horror movies and let it be known to all. Everyone at the base knew it and it was what you were known for even to those who didn't know you fully . Often referred to as the "Horrorjunkie"

Your dorm was filled with horror movie posters,props from iconic classics and of course you had a bunch of those mini polaroid posters of all your favorite horror movies. Your body is covered in horror movie themed tattoos of all the well known villains and other scary themed things. Your left hand was covered in one giant tattoo that made it look like you were a skeleton. All of your causal/civilian clothes were the Steven Rhodes t-shirts and hoodies.

God forbid anyone lets you pick the movie during movie night . It was gonna be scary obviously. This night you picked Sinister (2012) forcing everyone in the common room. It only got worse when few of your teammates confessed they've never seen it. There you sat grinning wildly knowing the whole movie play by play. Having the ability to mentally time each up in coming jumpscare in your head laughing and smiling to yourself prepared for each scare ,glancing up at them wanting to see their reaction. The infamous lawn mower scene had just happened causing everyone but you to jump and yelp a little , instead you laughed and smiled happily at their reactions finding the whole thing amusing.

Fast forward weeks later,you were sitting on the couch scrolling your phone with " " (This is where you insert whoever you want lol). You both got bored after a while, you move and lay your head onto their lap "wanna watch a movie?" you ask looking up at them "I'll pick" you sang dragging the words smiling . They laughed smiling back "and what horror movie has the honors of your picking today mmph?" they remarked . You sat up and playfully huffed with fake offended expression on your face , putting your hand to your chest "Now who said it was gonna be a horror movie ?" you replied holding back a giggle

"you get called "horrorjunkie" for a reason " they said with a chuckle. You crossed your arms smirking "Touche", you grab the remote and start looking through the horror movie collection on Netflix " How about The Strangers ?" you ask looking at your partner . "Again ? we've watched like ten times already,why do you like it so much?"

you gasped "how could I not love it? its's such a classic !, and the timing of its release ! It was something never done before ! it scared the shitout everyone making them fear being in their own homes,making them worry when answering their door and the simple fact it was based off a true event?!?! absolutely sickening" you explained in a fast and excited manner.

And that's how you both spent the rest of your night and ranting about each of your beloved scary movies along with the cast,the directors ,the lore,the meaning and messages behind them, the remakes and sequels all of it

Going on about Scream 1996 flapped over and changed horror forever

Going on about Radio Silence was doing a great job on honoring Wes Craven on his creation of the Scream movies , as they keep the franchise

Why the Evil Dead franchise was so loved

Breaking down and explaining all of Jordan Peele movies, explaining the meaning,how their connected in way,why Jordan writes the way he does, why it's better to show and not tell

Giving off examples of movies that were clearly inspired of Peele's work

Talking about Ethan Hawke is perfect for horror movies

How his performance in The Black Phone shocked and scared everyone

Even though they may not get horror movies the way you do. They love the way your eyes lit up,love hearing the excitement in you voice, loving how animated you became when talking about horror movies. They enjoyed how happy the movies made you so they sat smiling up at you the whole time as you talked for what seemed like forever but they didn't care

[tbsangstersgf]

Best Friend Minho x fem!reader

warnings: handsy glader, cursing, spicy

NO SMUT

mostly fluff, but definitely some spice

Best friend, he’s your best friend y/n nothing more stop looking at him like that. 

You’d been in the glade for a little over a year, one of the first to come up. Of course you were also one of the first people to explore the maze. You’re a Runner, and proud of it. Everyone respects you for how hard you work, and it’s well deserved. 

At first it was just you, Newt, and Minho running in a group for safety. But then Newt got hurt, and couldn’t run anymore. So now it’s just you and Minho running the maze until you choose more runners. You run together still, because not one person thinks that it’s smart to separate when you know so little about the maze and the monsters that haunt it.

“I wonder how much longer we’ll be searching” you huff, sweaty and tired from almost five hours of running. 

“Yeah, but we can’t stop our searching until we find a way out, I don’t wanna spend the rest of my life in the shucking maze.”

“We’ve been running so long can’t we have a lunch break now?”you whine. 

Minho looks over at you as you slow down and he smirks, 

“ fine ya lazy shank, we’ll rest for a half hour then finish out the day”

You both sit and pull out your small lunch if fruits and plain bread, silently grateful for Frypan figuring out how to use wheat for his delicious homemade bread. 

It’s quiet as you lean against the wall, and you take the time to admire Minho, in the least creepy way possible. His hair looks good even after all that running, and damn was he built, his shirt slightly sweaty and sticking to his form a bit. 

He closes his eyes and leans his head back against the wall and you cough as you’re taking a sip of water, caught off fairs by how attractive it was. No! Shut up y/n! He’s your best friend FRIENDDD nothing more stop thinking about him like that why does he have to be so damn hottttttt. 

“You good there shuckface?” 

He catches you off guard with the nickname and you feel heat rise to your cheeks as he smirks at you, but in a concerned kind of way.  

“Do you ever just wish things were different, Minho?”

“Different how? Like in the Glade?”

You laugh at his confusion, “No it’s just a different way of life when you’re the only girl, not that you get it though Mr. Tough Guy” you sigh, after a year of it you’d gotten used to it but hell, some boys have no respect, and can’t take no for an answer.

“So help me understand then.” Minho furrows his brows a bit and turns his body to face you.

“It’s just a girl thing i guess”

Raising his voice an octave Minho acts offended “Girly ok you know I’m here for you sister. Spill the tea😝” you laugh at his dumb girl voice. “No but seriously I’m here for y/n, I’m your best friend you can talk to me about anything.”

“Ugh fine” you cave, not planning on confessing anything, but definitely needing to talk. “Friendships are weird for me. All the guys that I just wanna be friends with want more. And the guy that I want more with just wants to be friends, nothing more.”

“Ahhh I see” he says, mocking a serious tone “y/n’s got a crushhhhhh oooooooooooooolalalalala!!!” He wiggles his eyebrows “Do tell, don’t be shy y/n. Is it Newt?”

“Im not saying!” You laugh “it’ll go straight to your head!” 

Not even realizing your slip you keep laughing. But Minho goes quiet, a slow smirk spreading across his face. He grins even bigger when he realizes that you have no idea you just gave it away. Jumping up he offers you a hand and says

“Come on shank let’s get going”

Both surprised and suspicious that Minho had dropped the subject so quickly you continued your run.  As you got to the end of your run started to worry.

What if he somehow figured out that I liked him and doesn’t feel the same way?Is it gonna be awkward now? Dammit did I just ruin my relationship with my best friend? Oh gosh, please no.

You finally reached the giant doors that lead back to the maze and run straight to the map room mean hoe right behind you. As you both work on the tedious task of drawing out the maze, you finally decide to say something, just to make sure your friendship isn’t ruined.

“Hey Minho?”

“Yeah y/n?” He suddenly stops what he’s doing and gives you his full attention. 

“We’ll be friends no matter what right?”

“Of course shank, always.” 

His gaze lingers on you, knowing exactly why you were asking. A grin spreads across his face again, as he looks at you focusing on your work with a small smile. You look up at him and catch him staring, a shy smile on your face as you quickly look down. 

Does he know?

(TW: handsy glader) it gets spicy

About a half hour later you suddenly realize something. 

“Oh shit it’s greenie day! I completely forgot they probably already started the bonfire!” You exclaim before grabbing Minho’s hand and dragging him out of the map room to grab some food and a jar or two of Gally’s drink. 

Two hours later you’re still having fun by the bonfire you’ve had a bit of Gally’s drink but not enough to really affect you.

But you are buzzed, which makes you a little oblivious to the random Gladers who flirt with you. And a little more physically affectionate. 

“Hey y/n” some random Glader who is definitely drunk comes up and puts his arm around you. 

“Wassup dudeee” you giggle a bit as the weight of his arm makes you stumble a bit. The glader leans in incredibly close and his and slides down from your shoulder, moving to your hip. 

“Hey there y/n, you wanna have some fun?” 

Slowly, painfully slowly you realize what he means. Your hesitation makes the glader think that it’s a yes. He starts to drag you away from the bonfire when you realize what’s happening. 

Thankfully, your night in shining armor, had been keeping a close eye on you all night long. He follows you as the guy pulls you through the Deadheads.

“Let go of me!” You scream and smack the glader in the chest, struggling to get out of the tight grip he has on your waist and hip. 

“Come on, it’ll be fun, I know you want me…” 

The guy grabs your face and starts to pull you in

“Stop! Please!” You yell, in no position to fight back, the guy could seriously hurt you if you tried anything. Just as the guy was about to kiss you, someone jumps out from behind a tree and knees the guy into the nearest tree. 

You hear a loud smack as the guy hits his head and Minho starts beating the shit out of him. 

“Minho! Stop I’m okay! He’s already unconscious you’re gonna kill him!”

Minho looks up at you, eyes wild with fury at seeing what the guy tried to do to you.

He grabs your hand without a word, and you two slowly walk back to the bonfire. Minho sits down on a log and you sit on the ground in front of him, your back to the massive flames. His eyes never leaving yours. 

Most of the gladers have gone to bed, but 3 or 4 are still up, the last few sober people cleaning up a bit.

“Y/n? Are you okay?” Minho asks, his tone laced with worry. 

“Yeah, you saved me.”

“I can’t believe that guy tried to-“

“Minho.” Your voice is stern.

“Yeah?”

“You saved me, that’s all that matters. Thank you”

He grins, looking at you with a playful smirk. “That’s what friends are for right?”

Friends. Yeah, because that’s all you would ever be. Friends. 

“Y/n?” 

“Yes Minho?”

You’re still buzzed, and you’ve had a bit more to drink after the handsy glader. 

Minho is silent for a second. 

You stand up quickly, still dizzy and a fuzzy feeling in your head. As unstable as you are you fall forward, Minho catching you by your hips. He looks up at you, and you look down at him. 

Your hands come to rest on his shoulder and the side of his face. For a second you just stare at him, but then you remember that he was about to say something.

“Yes Minho?”

Suddenly he’s on his feet, and it switches to you looking up at him, and him looking down at you.

“Shuck” he whispers barely audible. His eyes flicker from your lips to your eyes and to your lips, silently asking permission. 

For a second you both just stand there, his hands on your hips and your hand that was on his shoulder sliding down to his chest, keeping you two from being as close as you are longing to be. 

The hand on the side of his face moves, and you brush your thumb over his lips. 

“Shuck” he says again this time even quieter. He lets out a soft groan as if making a life changing decision. You close your eyes  and softly, oh so softly whisper his name “Minho…” 

Anything that possibly could have made him hold back is immediately broken down as he hears you say his name.

“Y/n” he whispers one last time before he pulls you in until your lips are ghosting over each others. You briefly open your eyes to look at him and something in him snaps as you make eye contact. 

“Fuck” he says.

Then nothing else matters

It’s just you two as he kisses you. He kisses you. Holy shit. Your mouths move in sync and his grip on your waist tightens as he pulls you impossibly closer. Your hands move around to the back of his head and run through his hair. He groans into your lips at the sensation, and you smile into his lips, breaking the kiss to laugh. 

“Damn Minho-“

You get cut off as he pulls you back in possessively, it catches you by surprise and you lightly moan into the kiss. 

The sound spurs him on ever further, and suddenly his hands are on the back of your legs and he breaks the kiss. 

“Jump” his voice is raspy and breathless and man is it hot. You jump and it’s like you weigh nothing as he holds you up by your thighs, your legs wrapped around his waist. 

Then he’s carrying you to the closest tree, and your back is pushed up against it, supporting you. 

His hands are back at your waist and they slowly move up up under your shirt, feeling your skin. They stop at about halfway up your torso. 

He’s switching between lightly massaging your waist and your thighs (good Lord he loves your thighs) when you slowly start to kiss down his neck. 

He quickly grabs your chin and makes you look at him

“Don’t- don’t do that” he looks at you with a look in his eyes that you can’t help but love. “Hmmm someone has control issues.” You laugh at him and he pulls away from the tree, his hands going to your legs to carry you again. He starts to make his way to his hut, on the way there you start to kiss his neck again and he stops, a dangerous look in his eyes.

“Y/n. Stop, you have no idea what you’re doing to me.” 

“Minho?” 

“Yes baby?” 

“Baby?” You laugh peck him on the lips and unwrap your legs from his waist standing up. For a split second he’s scared, scared you’re gonna realize you don’t want him and walk away. But then you take his hand in yours and continue to walk to his hut. Once there you both step in and he gives you a shirt of his, which makes it a little big on you. He turns around as you quickly change, and he does the same. Wordlessly you both climb into bed. He wraps his arms around you and you two lie on your sides just looking at each other. All of the sudden he shifts so you’re lying right on top of him, your head on his chest. He looks down to meet your gaze, 

“Y/n, you’re my girlfriend now” he states, no questions or anything. 

You grin, “Finally shuckface, it took you long enough” 

He laughs and is about to comment on how you slipped up in the maze and practically told him, when he looks down to see you asleep, or so he thinks. 

Barely audible over your own breathing, he whispers 

“I shucking love you y/n” and you smile, knowing that you’ll wake up in his arms and the rest of the shucked up world won’t matter.

requests are open and critiques are welcome! loosely based off combo of movie and book

[authorxxxxxx]

Based on this request . . .

Title : Chaotic

Pair : bayverse!optimus adoptive dad x human!gn reader

Summary : You and Optimus are going for a ride and you just can't stop thinking about how you ended up in this situation.

Tw : actually none , just pure fluff.

English isn't my first language so if you spot any mistakes just bare with me.

Ps. I finally published this after a week l and I'm so sorry that I was late. I hope you liked it. I personally loved it. I'm going to be out of town ( I don't know for how long ) because of some family issues. I will try to work on a new series that I was requested too.

I really tried. I hope it's good.

_______________________________________________________

He is so done with you.

He actually can not understand how you are so much energetic.

One minute you are quiet and peaceful -

and the all of a sudden you are going crazy and started doing all kinds of stuff.

At first you decided to clean the whole entire base , including the Transformers themselves.

That is how Optimus found himself - in this type of situation.

He is sitting on top of his berthroom , looking at you while your cleaning literally everything.

He looks at you and decides to give it another chance. " Are you certain that you do not need any help ? "

"Thanks again but no. I think I'm gonna go clean Ratchet's room again. " You say to him , but more to yourself.

To save you from trouble Optimus decided that the best option is to take you away from the base - maybe for ride.

Just to calm you down.

_____

This is how you found yourself sitting in his cabin at his alt - form driving in the night.

A podcast you both love is playing softly in the background.

You are in your peaceful state right now.

And you both knew why.

" it's quiet. I like it. " You said to Optimus , your head resting on his left window.

" How so ? " He asked you making you both laugh at his obvious joke about your personality.

" it's not funny. " You answered smiling.

When you reached your secret place , where Optimus could change into his real form , you both went quiet.

After a couple of minutes you broke the silence.

_____

" Do you remember the first time we met ? Wait - that was a stupid question - you remember everything. Anyways - back to what I was saying . . . I wanted you to know that I am so grateful that I was there that night. If I had said no to Sam to go out for a ride with Bee I wouldn't have met you. And do you remember when we first started to form our relationship? You are just like a father to me and I know it sounds strange , because your this - . . . You're just special you know ? " You said to him , trying to hold your smile back.

You didn't know if he was comfortable with that , but you really admired him and loved him as a father and you couldn't think about your life without him.

His silence made your stomach turn.

'I freaked him out. I fucked up. ' You thought to yourself.

"If you think that my silence after your confession is a bad thing , do not because it is not. I am grateful that you gathered the courage and tell me that you are happy that you've met me. Trust me all Autobots do. Even Ironhide - even though he doesn't show it much. But me ? Especially me ? I am extremely happy that you are inspired by me. You are a wonderful human being and we've learned so much from you. I'm proud to be considered your friend but I'm even more proud to consider you my daughter. " He answered making tears form in your eyes.

_____

You both remembered the moment. Hearts and sparks filled with love.

You loved your dad - even if he was a big , giant , tall machine.

Your dad loved you - even if you were a small but fierce human.

You knew everything about each other.

You told each other everything.

You were father and daughter.

You had an amazing bond.

" I love you dad. Even if your extremely bossy sometimes. " You said to him smiling.

"Well I have to be , considering that I have to deal with bots and humans like you. " He answered making you gasp and laugh.

"But I love you too. " He finally said to you.

You loved your dad and your dad loved you.

__________

Until next time . . . Enjoy summer : ]

@unimportantbabymilksharkte

[petrichor-idyllic]

heyy, hope ur doing well <33

so i have a request for thomas tmr x glader fem!reader, where they both came up together in the box and like the entire time theyre in the glade theyre js inseparable. so when thomas goes into the maze to save minho n alby, reader gets rlly worried and as soon as minho and thomas come back reader feels so relieved and gets emotional and thomas says something like 'dont worry, im never leaving you'. and one of them confesses to the other at the end <333

Oooo finally! I get to write for Tommy boy- that man does not get enough recognition in his own series lmao. He's the main character for a reason.

WAITING GAME

MASTERLIST | THOMAS MASTERLIST

SUMMARY: See above. Movie based fic.

WARNINGS: Inappropriate language, sappy stuff, that's really it.

Thomas was the first person you ever met. Well, the first person you can remember meeting.

In the Box, screeching metal surrounding you with a (admittedly handsome) teenage boy freaking out, trying to wake you up. For some reason, you were a lot calmer than Thomas was. He was bouncing off of the walls and you were just sat on the floor trying to process what was going on.

Then the ceiling opened and Thomas became a human shield.

The Gladers that you would come to know, treated you like an object and a piece of meat, bar a few exceptions. They'd never seen a girl before, but Thomas was there to protect you and make sure they didn't dare lay a hand on you.

Not that it mattered because the second you were both out of the Box, the boy grabbed your wrist and made a sprint for it.

It had somehow silently been decided that you were going to stick with each other. Which included tripping over him when he fumbled over himself and face-planted, as Newt would say.

Though, after the initial shock, you both started to relax more. Joined at the hip, wherever one of you went, the other wouldn't be too far behind.

You learnt about each other at the same rate you learnt about yourselves.

Thomas is reckless- he acts before he thinks and isn't scared of getting in a fight. He also asks a lot of questions and is more than willing to tell everyone his opinion.

You, however, are calmer. You think things through and explore more options. You prefer to let Thomas do the talking and get himself in trouble whilst you're there to try and solve whatever problem he's caused.

And you learnt this is a very small space of time.

Apart from Thomas, you get along with Newt, probably because he is one of the most respectful, and Alby, because he's more than willing to kill anyone that hurts you. Oh, and Chuck- Thomas thinks he's kind of annoying, but you already adore the small boy.

So, when Thomas gets attacked by Ben and Alby and Minho have to go into the Maze after his Banishment, you have a bad feeling about it.

You join Thomas and Newt at the giant Glade Doors, staring down the incredibly long and daunting corridor that almost feels twisting and nauseating. How Minho spends every day out there is beyond you- not that you've ever actually spoken to the guy.

Chuck stands next to you, anxiously looking between Thomas and a very stoic looking Newt. You put your hand on his shoulder.

"They're gonna be fine, Chuck," you smile at him. "Promise."

Glancing at Thomas, you brush your hand against his, making him look at you before he accepts the gesture. Intertwining his fingers with yours, you attempt to playfully nudge him.

Thomas has already become very passionate and caring about everyone here. And with his determination to be a Runner, you can tell he holds Minho very highly despite neither of you having anything to do with him.

"Whatcha thinkin' about?" He scoffs, taking a second to let your reassuring presence calm him.

He hesitates. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't developed a crush on you. Well, a lot of people have developed a crush on you because you're the only girl, but you and Thomas have some kind of connection. It's obvious the creators see it too, since you came up with him.

And the feeling is mutual.

"If Minho and Alby don't come back, what are our chances of actually getting out of here?" Thomas says. You understand what he means. Minho knows the Maze better than anyone, and Alby has survived all this time.

"They're gonna make it." Newt repeats himself for what must be the fifth time.

"Newt, they-"

"He's right," you cut Thomas off. "They're gonna make it."

Over time, a crowd begins to form, and Thomas is starting to squeeze your hand a lot harder, shifting on his feet and fiddling with anything he can find. The boy is stressed. At some point, Chuck decided to hold your other hand, so now your holding the hands of two very anxious teenage boys, acting like their mother.

The Doors closing time is drawing dangerous near, and you're starting to get stressed yourself. You stare at the ground, only for your breath to catch in your throat when you look back up.

"There!" You shout, a blur of motion catching your attention as Minho struggles to carry your unconscious leader.

Almost as soon as they emerge, the Doors start to move.

"They're not gonna make it," Newt mumbles. You and Chuck exchange glances, seemingly having the same idea. Letting go of both boys, you cup your hands around your mouth.

"Minho! Come on!" You shout. "You can do it!"

"Come on, Minho!" Chuck joins in, and soon the entire Glade is cheering on the Keeper to return. Some people even telling him to leave Alby, and it doesn't take a genius to tell that Minho isn't going to do that.

"I'm sorry," Thomas grabs your wrist, making you look at him.

"What?"

Without warning, Thomas bolts forward into the Maze. Newt tries to grab him but misses as he squeezes through the Doors, which close with a thud as he just about makes it to the other side.

The crowd stands there in a stunned silence.

You, Newt and Chuck all remain where you stand, almost like if you move, what just happened will become real.

You look at Newt, who stands with his fists balled. Your hand comes to the Doors, your face crunshing as you touch the stone, almost like you're willing it to open.

Newt takes a deep breath. "Everyone bed, now." He commands.

"But, Newt-" Zart starts.

"Now." He sighs. "We can't do anything about this now- and Alby's left me in charge. Bed. Go!"

The crowd disperses, slowly, until it's just you and Chuck left, with Newt standing just behind you.

Your forehead bumps against the stone as a sob shakes your body. The situation has finally set in and you can't stop the tears.

"Hey," Newt puts his hand on your shoulder, "if anyone can survive out there; it's Minho." You raise your head, looking at him and pushing your lips into a thin line. "Get some rest." He gives you a friendly boyish tap and turns to leave.

You look at Chuck, who is sitting on the floor now.

Thomas was the first person you ever met and the only person here you actually trust, so the weird feeling of loneliness and presumptuous guilt hits more than you expected.

You also sit down, taking your place next to Chuck and ignoring Newt's orders.

"They might make it," Chuck says. "Minho knows the Maze more than anyone- if Thomas is with him, he might be okay."

You sit there for what feels like forever, but you have no intention of leaving. Neither does Chuck.

Newt comes over several times in an attempt to get either of you to move, which falls completely flat and he eventually gives up. Though, he does bring you both blankets.

Chuck falls asleep after a while, and you let him use your leg as a pillow. But you stay awake.

You've known Thomas for only a few days but it feels like your whole entire life. You, for some reason, even liked Thomas when he was just a random boy you were trapped in a box with that didn't even know his name.

And now he was gone.

You were drifting in and out of consciousness when Chuck jumps up. That and the loud sounds of the Doors opening startles you back to reality. Sitting in the same position all night definitely wasn't good for your back but you have different priorities.

Scrambling to your feet, Chuck gets the other Gladers' attention and a small crowd forms, Newt leading the group.

It's like your surroundings become static and nothing feels real as the corridor remains empty.

People start to move away, with Newt putting his hand on the small of your back in an attempt to comfort you, making you look at him.

"No way," Zart mumbles, making your attention snap back to the Maze. Rounding the corner is Thomas and Minho, both exhausted and struggling to drag Alby back to the Maze.

You freeze, relief and shock overwhelming you as you stare at them. Cheers break out as they reach the Glade, dropping to their knees and panting.

"Did you see a Griever?" Chuck asks- because of course he does.

"Yeah," Thomas pants, "I saw one."

"He didn't just see it; he killed it." Minho adds, causing a new air of unease to spread across the crowd.

"Alright," Newt clears his throat, "get to the Med hut- all of you. We gotta make sure you're not shuckin' dyin' or some klunk."

Clint and Jeff help grab Alby. Minho and Thomas pick themselves up.

Thomas pauses, looking at you.

"You're a fucking idiot," you say, watching as Thomas nervously swallows, opening his mouth but he doesn't get chance to speak.

"Oi, Greenie," Minho calls after him, "let's go!"

You jolt your head in the direction of the Keeper, silently telling Thomas to go.

"Are you happy to see him or do you wanna se him?" Chuck asks, clearly more chipper than you.

"Both?"

He laughs.

You leave them to it as Thomas and Minho get patched up. But it's a weird feeling. You replayed it in your head- you expected to dive into his arms, confess your feelings or some shit.

But you just stood there.

Unmoving. And unsure what to do.

You watch Thomas leave the hut, talking briefly to Newt before making a beline for you as you sit at the edge of the Deadheads.

You look up at him from your seat in front of an old tree, pushing your lips into a thin line.

"Hi." He says.

"Hey." You respond.

"Newt wants us to have some Gathering in Council Hall." He awkwardly rocks on his heels. "He wants us all there. The Glade' goin' crazy."

"Why would you do that?"

"What?"

"Run into the Maze?"

"I had to help," he sighs, "I couldn't just leave them-"

"You could've died!" You snap, making Thomas jump. Your voice breaks slightly, the emotions of last night coming back up. "I would've lost you." The last part comes out as more of a whisper.

Thomas sighs, moving and crouching so he can sit next to you.

"Don't worry," he looks at you, slipping his fingers into yours as your arms fall falt at your sides. "I'm never leaving you."

You look at him out of the corner of your eye. Overwhelmed by feelings and unsure what else to do, you lean in.

Kissing him in the cheek, Thomas' body immediately tenses and his skin quickly becomes warm and red. You pull back, struggling to repress the smirk of your flustered friend.

"You know," he mumbles, facing you properly, "Minho ran off and left me, and all I could do was think about getting back to you. I was going to get back to you- whatever it took."

Your heart beat picks up as he glances at your lips for a second. "I like you, (Y/N). I feel... connected to you. I don't get it and I don't remember why, but you're all I think about even though I spend all my time with you. And I guess nearly dying has made me say it."

You smiles, and the images somehow makes him more flustered. "I- uh, I want- I mean-"

"Shut up, Thomas," you lean in, brushing you nose against his and giving him a hint, which he takes.

Your body feels on fire when he kisses you, and the relief that he's still here hits you all over again. He's safe here, and he's not going anywhere.

"Oi!" Newt's voice scares the shit out of you both. "I told you shanks we have a Gathering! Quit makin' out and get your sorry butts to Council Hall!"

You sit there, both of you blinking at Newt, who clearly isn't properly equipped to deal with this because he leaves pretty quick.

Thomas chuckles, standing up and offering you a hand. You smile, taking it and allowing him to help you up.

He isn't going anywhere, and he's yours.

Woooooo Thomas request- Done! I absolutely adore Minho, but it is nice to write for other characters sometimes.

I hope you enjoyed :))

[getokan]

i'm sorry

➛ Pairing. eren x reader

➛ Genre. angst, unrequited love, childhoodfriendswithbenefits to lovers? eren is a mess and an asshole.

➛ Summary. everyone thought eren and you would end up tolgether, given the unique dinamic that you both had; but when you confess and get rejected, you start questioning everything. Things get worse when suddenly he asks out mikasa, your mutual friend, out.

➛ warnings. emotional cheating? (not on reader)

➛ word count. 2.5k

“I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. I didn't know- i didnt. I just-” He cried, grabbing her hand, knees on the floor and head down in shame.

Perhaps apologizing wasn’t Eren 's forte. He’s never been the greatest at asking for forgiveness, but then again, most of the time he’s not the one in the wrong. He does apologize tho; that one time he pushed Armin into a pool and he landed wrong which ended in a trip to the hospital and a couple stitches- or when Vanessa from physics class confessed her love at the back of the school with a letter and a box of chocolates; he rejected her, laughed at her face, ate the chocolates and then went home, letter long forgotten. Couple days later, he did send the girl a dm saying sorry and a smiley face, which got him blocked not even 5 minutes later. 

In his 23 years of life, Eren's never been this desperate to be forgiven. He's tried it all, from calls, to pounding on the door, the latter getting him kicked out of the building. His friends have tried everything to distract him, taking him out for drinks almost every friday, which usually ended up with an annoyed Armin and a piss drunk Eren crying in the bathroom calling you. 

He didn't know what to do. Never felt this way before, worst part is, you weren’t even dating, just friends since middle school that took each others virginities and fucked almost everyday since -nothing special. He knew you were in love with him, told him so yourself, it was the first time Eren didn't know how to respond to a confession. Eren still remembers the betrayal in your eyes when he told you he was going to try things out with Mikasa - your other friend- who confessed her own feelings a couple of weeks back. Now, he knows he’s not a good guy, he was still fucking you while having some type of feelings for Mikasa, but then again, he’s never not fucked you. It's a routine at this point, you both have slept with other people, but you always come back

After the confession,everything changed. You still talked to him and Mikasa, but anybody could tell that the conversation felt forced. Their other friends, on the other hand, felt really awkward around them. Whenever the two walked into a room, most of the time hand in hand, Jean wouldn't stop making snide comments and jabs here and there, which made both Eren and Mikasa feel like shit.The sex with you stopped, obviously, even though Eren felt a little guilty that it didn't stop until a few days back, he was glad you never brought it up. He wasn’t gonna lie, he felt conflicted, really conflicted. Even though you still talked to him and responded to his texts, he felt like a giant wall was build up between both of you, and don't get him wrong, he wasn't stupid, he knew why that wall was there, but a part of him started questioning if the feelings he had for you were strictly platonic. 

On the other hand, his relationship with Mikasa was not great. While your feelings took him by surprise, Mikasa’s did not. He always felt her stare everywhere he went and the chocolates he received every year were obviously from her, in fact, everyone knew about the crush Mikasa had on Eren; however, everyone thought that you were the one. While Eren remained oblivious to your feelings, it was pretty evident you were in love with him from the beginning. You guys were basically a couple, went to prom together, were each other's firsts of basically everything, the list goes on and on. So to see Eren and Mikasa together, left everyone speechless, wondering how you, the other girl- as everyone liked to call you, felt. 

Mikasa knew about her friend's feelings. You had asked her for advice the day you confessed. Which left Mikasa feeling like a piece of shit, not having the heart to tell you she already went on a date with Eren, and were basically dating. She knew how your relationship worked, she knew you had sex and were basically a couple. She was a horrible friend, but she wouldn't have acted on her feelings had Eren not given her signs, signs that later on found out were just in her head. While the couple had discussed the relationship between you and Eren, plus Mikasa's own relationship with you, they both agreed that it was worth a shot. And while Mikasa at the time was ecstatic, blinded by the “sure” that left Eren’s lips when she asked him if he wanted to go on a date, she now realized the uncertainty that clouded Eren’s gaze at the time. 

To say Mikasa wasn't over the moon when Eren called her, asking her to meet him at the restaurant down the street, would be a lie. She got her best lingerie, called all her friends and ended up with Annie (the only one that answered) helping her choose a dress and give ideas for her makeup.  She took a long shower and shaved all her body, looking absolutely stunning. However; nothing could’ve prepared her for the heartbreak she would feel when they met up and not even 15 minutes into the date, Eren's words absolutely broke her down. 

“I never stopped seeing her,” he confessed. The table got silent, not a single noise could be heard, apart from Mikasa's heart beating all the way up to her head. “Y/n, I never stopped seeing h-

“i know who you’re talking about” Mikasa wanted to pretend to be shocked, but she knew deep down he would never fully commit to her, not with you still in the picture. She felt like vomiting, questioning everything they have gone through; they’ve been in an unlabeled relationship for  2 months, they had kissed a couple of times, never had sex, but that excited Mikasa even more; she thought he wanted to take things slow, not like he did with you, she felt different, she felt superior.  “Do you love her?” 

Eren sighed, looking down at his fingers. “I just felt like I had to tell you”

“Do you or do you not love her, Eren. Answer the fucking question.”Mikasa gritted her teeth, she felt suffocated, betrayed, heartbroken.” She’s my fucking friend, how do you think that makes me feel-”

“You knew my relationship with y/n, you knew what you were getting yourself into” Eren felt exhausted. It's been exactly 42 days since the last time Eren had seen you, 42 days since he told you he was getting serious with Mikasa and that he was gonna ask her out. He knew it was an asshole move, knowing how she felt about him, but he thought it was okay, that you were okay and that nothing would change, afterall, you've been together for most of your lives. 

“Don’t tell me THAT. I confessed, i fucking told you if you felt the same and you said YES, to my fucking face. I felt like a fucking bitch for confessing, knowing her feelings, yet I still did, knowing that i would probably lose my friendship with her AND Armin. Im fucking alone, they don’t fucking speak a word to me, heck not even Jean, Sasha and Connie. I'm painted like the slut, the whore, the homewrecker and I take it ALL, because of YOU, because I love you” Mikasa was screaming at this point, tears flowing from her eyes, gaze unbearable to meet and her cheeks completely flushed. She felt devastated, completely heartbroken and exhausted. All the sacrifices, all the loss for a man who couldn’t even look her in the eyes when confessing he has continued fucking her friend- ex friend. 

Eren finally looked at her, no emotions whatsoever in his face, which angered Mikasa even more. “I don’t know what to tell you Mikasa. I’m sorry. I really am. It's always been her, since the first time I saw her.”  

“So she stops talking to you and suddenly you have an epiphany and you don't want me anymore, but you love her? She’s always been there, heck you fuck everyday and you’ve never even considered getting together. Do I have to remind you what you told me the day I confessed? you told me that you couldn't see her that way, that even though you had suspicions that she liked you, you didn't feel the same. You’re a piece of shit Eren, and I hope she fucking rejects you. I hate you” Hatred completely swarmed Mikasa, finally fed up with all the bullshit she had to endure. She cries. She cries for her friends, her failed relationship, her dignity; she cries for you, for her betrayal, for their friendship, all ruined in just a couple months and for a man. Armin warned her, everyone did, yet she had hoped he would change, that he would look at her the same way he looks at you. But look at her now, sobbing for a man whose only thought is another girl. 

That night Eren left first, free of tears and not a single emotion in his face, never looking back even when Mikasa broke down to her knees and begged him to stay, not caring who was watching. Two hearts broken, but for different reasons. 

Time skip a couple of hours later and you find yourself in this position, Eren on his knees and a lot of crying and begging.  Never in a million years, would you have thought that your relationship with Eren would end up like this, a naive part of you believed he would reciprocate your feelings and you would become the couple of the year, yet, nothing could prepare you to the double heartbreak you had to suffer because of him, them. 

“Eren, it’s late and you’re drunk, go home.” you sigh, tired of having to deal with the whiny moans your best friend was giving you. 

“I can’t. I’m sorry, I'm so sorry.” he hugs your legs tighter, tears falling on your shoes. “I love-”

“stop.” you hissed, tired of his bullshit and of the situation in general. “It's been weeks. I  haven't heard from you in weeks, you've been busy parading your new relationship around, remember? I've waited for you for a long time, even before I confessed. Don't say you love me because you don't, you're just feeling my disappearance and mistaking it for love. So stop, you've hurt me enough.”

“That’s not true. I love you, I really do. I’m so sorry I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm an idiot, I was in denial, I was scared, I am scared.” he’s begging with all his might, feeling like every second counts and that if he doesn't get you to forgive him now, he’ll lose you forever. “I can't lose you, we've been together for years, what if everything goes to waste. 

But even if you reject him now and kick him out of your house. He’ll try again, and again until he tries everything on his book and exhausted all his options, only then will he give up, because, while he hadn't realized earlier, he now knows that he loves you and that you're it. There is no after you. 

“Well you've survived more than a month without me, you'll do just fine.” You sighed, your voice a little shaky. “ You don't have to excuse yourself, Eren. I got hurt, but at the end of the day you don't owe me anything, we never dated.

“No, don't say that. Don’t. We were more than friends and you know it” he stands up quickly, grabbing your hands and squeezing them softly, eyes searching for yours. 

“Well obviously not” you retort quickly, eyes looking everywhere but him. 

“It 's true! I'm sorry I was an idiot. I promise from the bottom of my heart that I love you. I've loved you for a long time, I don't remember a time where I wasn't in love with you. “ his hand reaches out for your face, grabbing your cheek and turning your head slightly, finally making eye contact. You hesitate, but finally give in and lean your head onto his hand. 

“ I need you- “ he murmurs. “You don't “ his other hand reaches for your cheek too, caressing it softly, if only you could describe the emotions and feelings in his eyes. You don't wanna fall into the trap, but something tells you that what he’s saying is true. “I need you, y/n. I love you so much and I'm sorry I didn't realize earlier. I'm sorry you had to see me with Mikasa, I'm sorry I wasted our time.”

“Eren, Mikasa loves you. I can't do that to her” You take his hands away from your face but still grab them. 

“Fuck Mikasa, fuck everyone else, i love you and you love me. That's the only thing that matters''  You can hear the desperation in his voice, he's trying everything. 

The atmosphere is tense, no one says anything. You're lost in thought imagining all the different outcomes that could come out of this. You can't help but imagine a relationship with Eren, it's obvious you haven't moved on from him. You have been in love with him for years so your love won't go away in a couple of weeks, yet you can't help but think about the other possible outcomes, the tragic ones, the ones where Eren realizes his feelings aren't real or where you break up and never speak again, yet, your heart hurts even more at the thought of never giving it a try. 

“I love you Eren.” He wraps his arms around you, lips touching your forehead in a really intimate scene, and for some reason you feel really calm and safe. 

“I love you too, so much, I will treat you like you deserve, I promise I won't let you down again.” He murmurs against your forehead, his hand caressing your back and snuggling you even closer.  “I promise, baby.”

[daisyblinder]

Buttercup //Denver “Bull” Randleman x reader

🌼Warnings: soft nsfw, dry humping, cursing

🌼Summary: Two best friends from Arkansas finally come to a place where they cannot hide their love

Requested by : @krispybearbouquet

I hope you like it, love! Sorry for the delay 🧡

Riding her bicycle with a fast pace along the dirt road Y/n cannot wipe the wide smile off of her face. She was going to see her Denver.

Denver Randleman. The giant of a man who stole her heart, her best friend.  

They had agreed to go walk along the field now that the hay was made. Both of them finally having some freetime and the weather was the most wonderful.

They had spent a lot of time walking around those fields, talking, playing with her dog Poppy, working, so much they had shared.

”Slow down there, buttercup or you might hit your head”, his drawl comes as she reaches their yard. She sticks her tongue out, jumping off from the seat and walking over to him.

”Didn’t you say you’d always catch me?”, she teases smiling. Bull shakes his head smiling taking the bike off from her hands and putting it against the wall of the house.

"Ain't gonna promise that a slow bull like will make it in time to catch a speedster like that but I guarantee you, buttercup, won't be from the lack of trying" he teases before taking the smiling girl under his arm and starting off towards their field.

***

”You’ve been awfully quiet, Denver”, Y/n frowns picking out a drop seed and tampering  with it. 

She knew the things were not alright in the world, she knew and she had been angsty to do something about it. She also knew that her Denver had been too.

”I ’ave buttercup, I have”, he sighs stopping his walking and staring at the glaring sun. Y/n’s frown deepens as she takes a step closer to him.

Denver turns to her taking both of her hands into his. ”I’ve enlisted”, he rumbles. Y/n’s eyes widen lightly, her ears not processing the information.

”Enlisted?”

”To the paratroopers”, his words cause her eyes to well up as she moves to wrap her arms around his barrel like chest. Her eyes stay wide open, her arms squeasing him like a vice.

”Buttercup?”, Denver asks quietly arms wrapping around the shocked woman, one hand coming to stroke her hair. He can feel her shaking and soon he starts hearing sniffles and sobs. He can feel and hear her mumble something against his chest.

”Darling, what are you sayin’ there?”, he croons pushing her away lightly cupping her face. She tries to make her breathing stable to tell him but she can’t meet his eyes.

”I-I’ve never, I’ve never told you-”, she sobs her breathing turning erratic again. Denver’s eyes fill with concern, as he starts trying to gently soothe her.

”Shh shh shh, darling, breathe darling. What haven’t you told me?”, he tries to calm her.

Y/n takes a grip of Denver’s shirt and turns to look at him fully. ”I love you!”

Denver Randleman rarely felt like his feet could just turn to jelly and give up from under him but this, this was something new to him entirely.

 The woman, he from since he was a kid, dreamed of marrying was confessing her love to him. Just before he left for an uncertain future if any future at all.

Her frightened, embarrassed eyes cause him to shake his head. ”Oh darling”, he whispers cupping her face and pulling her lips against his own in the August sunset.

**

A dirty thumb runs over a worn photo of a smiling woman, cigar smoke soon washing over the black and white scene. 

Denver could not explain how much he missed his Buttercup. Their tearful goodbyes and the I love you’s that had been said without being able to have their time to cherish it.

”You miss your girl, Bull?”, Johnny asks from next to him. He knew what it felt like to miss the woman who owned your heart and he had seen how much it ate Bull sometimes to look at the photo of his darling.

”Every damn day”, Denver admits putting the photo back into his pocket.

**

Nurses were running around the tent where Bull sat. He just needed to get his shoulderblade checked nothing else, so he waited for the red cross girls to work on the other men first. If he were a lesser man he would curse Winters and Roe for putting him there.

But he could not, they were only looking out for him. Once he gets it done, the night is so dark he is put to one of the makeshift tents to sleep in. Surprisingly it was empty, apart from him, not that the size of it was that big either.

The tents full of the badly injured were too full, he just needed a little place to stay and that’s what they arranged. It was a luxury to have this.

”Is he here, did you really say Randleman?”, a familiar frantic voice comes from the other side of the tent as the flap of it opens.

If Bull ever believed in angels it was in that moment. Even in her messy hair, blood stained hands and sweaty state, she looked an angel to him.

”Oh darling”, she whispers before throwing her arms around him. Bull catches her with an equally tight grip, fighting the tears that threaten to escape his eyes.

 Her scent, even through the blood and death, there was her in there. Her softness, her warmth, all the things he thought as home.

”My buttercup”, he chuckles pushing her away and holding her at arms length. Gently twirling her around, Bull checks her for any injuries. ”You got stationed here?”, he wonders bringing her back to stand between his legs pressing his forehead against her own.

”Kiss me before the questions”, she pleads before taking a hold of his face and pulling his lips against her own, their kiss is sloppy and greedy. Full of desperation.

But when her hands reach his shoulders, she suddenly starts to pat at the bandage there. Eyes opening mid kiss, she looks at the bandage before pulling away. ”What happened to you? How big is it, let me see?”, she says trying to get away from his hold to take a look but Bull keeps a tight hold on her waist.

”A little hole, dressed and all better. Can lift me arms and no pain”, he says sternly, getting her to stop struggling. Y/n looks at him with sad eyes before returning her arms against his shoulders.

The moment she had heard his name, her friends had told her to go to him. They would let her have this moment, there were too little chances in the war. Too many risks were out there for her not to take the moment with the man she loves. 

For a while they just talk in hushed tones. Both telling where they have been and how they ended where they are, neither admitting the horrors they had seen, but both of them knew. Both of them knew that there was so much more pain and horror than they were able to express. 

What mattered to them now was the fact that they had a chance to see each other, feel each other, hell even just smell each other. 

”I’ve missed you so much”, she whispers ghosting her lips against his own. He rumbles a soft mmm from his chest, fully pressing her lips to his now fully.

Gently he helps her to climb onto his lap, legs astride him. ”Is this appropriate?”, she asks shyly looking around afraid someone would walk in.

”Ain’t nothing wrong with loving your man”, he smiles making her giggle and kiss him again. Soon their kisses turn more heated, his hands moving to guide her hips to move against his lap.

”Den-denver”, Y/n whimpers her covered slit rubbing along the seam of his pants. Denver moves his kisses along her neck enticing more little sounds from her, covered by the sound of jeeps and chattering outside.

”I won’t have you here, my buttercup. This ain’t the place for a girl like you to be laid down. When we make love, we’ll be making it in a bed. But damn I’ve missed ya”, he says rubbing his covered hard-on harder against her.

”I-I love you”, she whispers breathlessly holding onto his shoulders for dear life, as his bulge keeps rubbing her clit over and over again. Her own hips start to move faster as they both pant, their releases nearing faster with all the waiting they have done.

”Love you too, so much, darling”, Denver growls starting to snap his hips upwards against her, a surprised squeak leaving her, her eyes closing.

Denver can feel her whole body trembling in his arms, and soon she is whispering his name like a mantra, falling apart right on his lap.

After some time her whimpers turn pained from the sensitivity and he stops his movements, letting her sag against him. He would take care of himself later.

”The moment we go back to Arkansas I will be putting a ring on that pretty finger”, he whispers pulling her exhausted form tighter against him, nose against her hair.

Y/n humms happily cuddling into his neck.

”And I will finally be Mrs. Randleman”

"you'll still be Buttercup to me"

"Please"

[mouthpiece-simp]

if u wouldnt mind, id love to see some prr x reader headcanons ;w;

Public Relations Representative x Reader Headcanons

Once again I'm gonna pretend Winston can actually leave the tower... lol. It's just easier that way... if you wanted HCs where he can't leave the tower just ask again!!

🧱You couldn't help but catch feelings for this goofy guy. He was always trying to relate to the toons, and you found yourself really admiring his efforts.

🧱So one day you decided to go on a walk with him and then confess. He noticed you were oddly quiet the whole time and knew you had something to say, so he wasn't really surprised when you confessed.

🧱He decided to agree to go on a date with you!

🧱And then said that the two of you were kinda already on one... lol.

🧱So the two of you were dating after that.

🧱Winston's data on a lot of things is missing or corrupted, so you'll have to re-teach him some basic things. He won't even realize his data is corrupted sometimes.

🧱He loves hugs and cuddles, even if he glitches away a lot. He's always extremely apologetic about it and clearly feels really guilty.

🧱If you try to help him get fixed up, he'll be SO grateful to you forever. {I HC that C.O.G.S. Inc. won't pay for his repairs and he couldn't afford them but has been tryna save up for it while he slowly falls apart more and more}.

🧱Winston will always want to hold your hand. He says it makes him feel like the two of you are together for everything.

🧱How many compliments do you get? Yes. C'mon, he's in PR, of course he's gonna know his way with words and schmooze you a bit {but he doesn't have any ulterior motive I promise}.

🧱He's also a bit old fashioned sometimes when it comes to gift giving and even pet names. You're not sure where it comes from.

🧱Winston is REALLY good at convincing you and other people to do whatever he wants. He doesn't really use his power of persuasion on you, but he uses it all the time on just about anyone else {and as you've noticed, basically 24/7 while he's at work}.

🧱Expect to see a lot of attempts to act toony or participate in toony activities. He just thinks that toons are so fascinating since they're so different from Cogs... and he's also learning how to appeal to toons better.

🧱His favorite place to hang out with you is Ye Olde Toontowne since that's where the two of you met and it reminds him of all the good memories you've had together.

🧱If he starts glitching really badly, you may have to help comfort him since it's really stressful and disorienting for him. He doesn't really show it so it will take some time for him to open up about that, though.

🧱If you want to make Winston get really flustered, just kiss him over and over. Words don't have as much of an impact on him since he manipulates them on the daily, but physical affection is something he's not used to {and will always get kinda flustered about... lol}.

🧱He's pretty goofy and his favorite toony activity to do is pulling the occasional harmless, fun prank. You might wake up splattering a cream pie into your own face or slipping on a puddle of water carefully placed outside your house...

🧱Once he even jumped out of a giant cake to surprise you for your birthday {and he was holding a smaller cake so you could still eat something yummy}.

🧱Basically imagine a pretty typical PR guy who's always trying to cover their behind but goofy and glitchy and that's Winston. Now imagine the glitchy goofy PR guy constantly giving you compliments and wanting to hug and kiss you constantly.

[tarabyte3]

I Want You to Show Me Weak

Fandom: Andor

Pairing: Kino Loy/F!Reader

Chapter 5/27 (4k words)

->start at chapter 1<-

<- Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 ->

Summary: You're pretty sure Kino Loy hates you. He screams at you, grabs you, and shoves you against the wall, and it's becoming a problem because, well...it shouldn't fluster you as much as it does.

Warnings: Explicit rating, Smut, Prison, Prison sex, minor non-graphic injuries, Dom/Sub, sexual tension, dirty talk, praise, hair-pulling, light choking, unprotected sex, oral, angst

A/N: You can all have some light smut. As a treat. Work title is from "Poison" by Vaults. Chapter title is from "Bedroom Hymns" by Florence + The Machine . Previous chapter links up above.

AO3 Link

Chapter 5 - Sweating out confessions, the undone and the divine

"Look at those smug assholes at table 3. They're a rack up and they think they're so great, even though there's still two hours left." Taybus throws a large socket wrench down a little too hard and it clatters on the table. Threl straightens up and glares at him.

"I know you're not trying to break shit when there's only two hours left," he scolds.

"If they gave us better tools then we wouldn't have to worry about breaking anything." Taybus pouts as he checks his work.

"They aren't gonna give us better shit, boy." Jevid grunts as he passes Sorrek the hanging drill. "So stop whining about it."

"I'm bored. This shift is taking forever!" He picks the wrench back up to tighten the part he half-assed the first time.

"Are you? We hadn't noticed!" Alis doesn't look up from locking the joint in place opposite you. "What are you in such a hurry for anyway? Got a hot date? Dinner plans? Wanna see how much your mustache has grown since we been in here?"

You can't help but finally crack a smile and you look up to see Alis grin and wink at you.

"I have to take a shit and I already used my second break. If I go back, Kino will kick my ass."

Your face immediately falls at hearing Kino's name, and you hover closer to the table. Alis sighs. He opens his mouth to say something else, but there's the sound of a fist on the table.

"Taybus," Sorrek's voice is stern and angry, "I know things have been tense around here, but this isn't helping."

"They're up one more," Jevid cuts in.

"If you want first place that god-damned badly, then focus on work. That's what will help. What you are doing right now serves no one. So stop it. Now." You look up just in time to see Sorrek give Taybus a thin lipped, angry stare down. Taybus breaks the eye contact first and looks at his feet, dejected. You can't really blame him. It's Sorrek's full disappointed dad voice. Even you feel a little guilty because it's your fault things are so tense in the first place.

"What's gotten into you anyway?" Threl shakes his head.

"His sparring partner isn't up for his shenanigans and he's worried, but doesn't have the emotional capacity to handle it." Alis slaps the top of the part to let Jevid know he's done, and then looks between you and Taybus daring either of you to tell him he's wrong.

"I'm fine," you grumble.

"I am not worried! What's it to me if she's sulking because she got yelled at?"

"Clear!"

You take a step back and glare at Taybus. "Yep, that's me, the giant baby at the table that has never gotten yelled at before. It hurt my delicate womanly feelings."

"Then what the fuck did he do back there? Spank you?" Taybus rolls his eyes, but you feel a wave of hot anger.

"Shut the fuck up, Taybus! Right now." Your usual light tone is missing and everyone, not just Taybus, seems taken aback.

"Hey, sorry, I didn't mean it! I was just trying to make you laugh." He sounds genuine and you know things must be bad if he's actually apologizing. You suddenly feel like an asshole because of course he doesn't know.

"No, I'm sorry." You sigh and look around the table as the next piece clicks into place. "I know I've been miserable to be around. I'm really trying, here. Just...give me time."

Kino walks by at that exact moment, and glances up from his data pad to look over the table. You're the last thing his focus lands on. When his eyes meet yours, there's a flash of something in them. Sadness? Concern? You can't tell, as usual, and you're tired of trying to figure it out. You quickly look away.

"Good work," Kino pats Threl on the shoulder and moves on to the next table.

"Wow, he didn't even yell at us." Any trace of Taybus's humility from being snapped at by the rest of you is already gone. "Being in second place is kind of awesome."

You just grumble, "Give me a lot of time, apparently." The only one that hears you is Alis.

"Want me to shit on his bed for you?" He whispers.

And you can't help it, you howl with laughter. For the first time in too long. It feels nice.

Your table gets second place by less than a rack. You're all a little disappointed you were so close to first, but it's still second place. The mood has been bleak for a while now so you'll happily take the small win. Maybe tomorrow you can actually get first, now that you have a taste for it. Maybe tomorrow you'll start to feel better.

It's that evening, on the heels of your second place victory, that Kino visits you. You're lying in your cell, facing the wall once again, so you don't know he's there at first. Or how long he stands there just watching you. You hope it isn't long so he didn't see the way you hug yourself as you curl your knees to your chest, or hear your little sniffles and world-weary sighs.

"Are you busy?" His voice comes from the doorway of your cell. Your stomach knots and rolls with dread at the sound. It's the first time he's spoken to you since…since The Hallway. With a deep, calming breath, you school your expression into an impassive stare and get up from your cot to stand in the middle of the small room.

"No. I'm not busy," you deadpan. You briefly meet his eyes, but you keep your focus on his shoulder instead. It feels safer that way. He looks the same as he always does, that halfway point between irritable and indifferent, so you're not expecting an apology. Why bother to give yourself that hope?

You expect him to talk to you from the main floor while leaning against your bench. That's what most people do when they chat during freetime. Instead he takes a step directly into your cell. Right before his foot touches the floor, you call out "wait!" and tense with panic, anticipating a shock that never comes, even as he stands before you.

You slowly unclench as you attempt to convince your body it's safe. Then you turn to him, wide eyed in surprise. "How?"

"Manager privilege." He moves to stand in front of you, and he's too close. Not as close as he gets when he's mad, but close enough that you can see every line on his face and darker hair in his beard. The strong angles of his jaw and speckled blue of his eyes. And god, how did you ever look into those eyes and not immediately feel like you're being plunged into water, swept into a wave, and dashed upon rocks? Because this has to be what drowning feels like.

"Oh." You blink at him, trying not to get distracted admiring his worn face, even though you've already failed at it. "I...didn't know you had that as a perk."

He shrugs and says gruffly, "Never wanted to use it before."

You're disgusted by the small thrill in your chest, both at his words and his presence.

"I'm going to guess you would like to talk, then." You want to sound flippant, but can't keep the ache and curiosity out of your voice. You also wrack your brain trying to think of anything you could have done during your shift that could be construed as worthy of a conversation, and nothing comes to mind. You've been very careful.

"You did well today." He takes a step closer. Now he's so impossibly close. You could lift your hand and touch his chest to feel the steady rhythm of his heart if you wanted to. And with dismay you know that you do want to. "In fact, you've been doing well for a while now."

You blink at him again. "What?"

"I thought you deserved to know that I've noticed." He leans in and lowers his voice to that gravelly half whisper. "And it made me realize that I've been so focused on punishment, I haven't given any consideration to how I might reward you."

You jump back like you've been slapped and your legs bang against the raised platform of your bed. Reward? Is he mocking you? Whatever this is, it's cruel and you've officially had enough. You don't deserve this.

"What is this?" Your voice is stern and outraged, and he looks taken aback by your tone and your reaction. "I know you hate me, but I guess I don't understand what the angle is here. To hurt me? To break me?" At that the creases on his forehead deepen in confusion. "If so, mission accomplished."

"I don't hate you." He frowns.

You give a bitter laugh. "Yes you do. You yell at me all the time." You lift your chin in challenge, daring him to refute it. You want to say more, to throw the rest of it in his face, but you don't trust yourself to not start sobbing or screaming or to push him out of your cell.

"I have to keep order on the floor. If I don't, they fry all of us as punishment. I yell at anyone that's disruptive. You just happen to have been particularly disruptive lately," he says, as if that should be obvious. As if he doesn't understand why he has to say it out loud.

You lean back, trying to create space between you to process that. And he's right. You have seen him yell at other people before. It's different with you, though. You know it is. "But you don't…grab anyone else like you've grabbed me."

His eyes flicker to your lips when you mention grabbing you and you watch a brief glimmer of heat appear on his face. If you hadn't been watching him so closely, you would have missed it.

"I suppose I don't, do I?"

What?

Wait.

What?!

Your heart pounds alarmingly against your ribcage, then, because that small action brings you a moment of absolute clarity:

"They aren't allowed to bother you." Every thing he's said to you. "Says me." Every piece you've been missing. "I know what she needs." Every double meaning of conversations you weren't privy to. "Are you going to behave?" Every damn shred of context. His nose brushing against yours as he holds you against the wall. It all slots into place in your mind, like stepping back from a puzzle to view a full picture. You see. Finally. He doesn't hate you.

Kino Loy wants to fuck you.

You have to sit down.

It's only after you sit that you realize you said that out loud. He's standing in front of you, waiting patiently.

"I didn't say you could sit."

And, oh God. You've just realized what this is. What you've been doing this whole time.

"Fuck," you swear under your breath. You know at that moment you have a choice to make. You can stay sitting and walk away. You can end this and heal and move on with time. You can try to resume what little semblance of a life you had in here. Or you can stand up.

You also know this isn't even a choice for you. There was only ever one outcome when it came to him.

You stand back up so you're face to face with him. He smiles at you, and it is triumphant and ruthless. He's been waiting for this.

Then he lessens the gap between you, but doesn't close it. His mouth hovers near yours, and though it's something he's done before, it is an entirely new and intoxicating sensation now that you realize what it fucking meant. That he enjoys it just as much as you do. That he's into it. A shiver travels down your spine from your neck to your tailbone, and overflows deliciously to your core.

"Stop me if at any point I'm wrong," he growls. "The first time I grabbed you, you liked it." You take a quivering breath, but don't say anything. "When I pushed you against the window you liked it even more." Your tongue darts out to unconsciously lick your lips as you remember just how close he had gotten and how you thought he might kiss you. His own lip curls into a gratified smile at your continued silence. "But when I grabbed your face and humiliated you in private? You liked that best of all."

You swallow hard because despite how much it hurt you emotionally, physically you fucking loved it. "You know I did."

"I wanted to hear you say it." His mouth ghosts against yours, a phantom of a kiss.

"Were you pushing me to see how far you could take it before I would break?"

"Not break," his voice rumbles, "surrender."

You shiver at the word. At the implication of the word. "If I didn't figure it out and continued to sulk, what then? What was next?"

"Do you really want to know, or do you want me to save it?" He tucks a strand of hair behind your ear, and you have to fight to remain upright and focused.

"Would it be my reward for behaving?" You're panting now and your entire body feels like an overstimulated, exposed nerve.

He gives you a smug, hungry gaze. "I told you I realized you don't respond to yelling."

You whimper and desperately want to press against him, to bring your bodies flush together, to touch him, but you stay where you are. You behave. "Save it."

"Does that mean you want this?" He lets the very tip of his nose brush your cheek.

"Yes," you gasp.

"Say it."

"I want this, Kino." You quickly bite your lip to stifle a moan. "Fuck, have I wanted this."

"I thought you may have. Now do me a favor and be very quiet for me." He shifts on his feet to further block the view from the other cells.

You give him a dazed look and manage to get out "what?" before his hand is running through your hair and he's massaging your scalp. It feels remarkable because it's touch, but more specifically it's his touch. You lean into his fingers like a lothcat, seeking more, and he rewards you with a slow drag of his nails. Some of the tension you had been holding on to for weeks at this point starts to melt away.

Just when you're ready to smile lazily up at him, his hand tightens around a large fistful of your hair. Then he wrenches your head back, exposing your neck to him. You start to cry out, but the sound dies almost immediately when you remember what he said to you.

"Very good," he purrs in your ear before moving to breathe against your now vulnerable throat. "You don't want to draw attention to this, do you?"

"No," you whimper.

"I don't think your table would appreciate it, would they? What would they think of you if they saw you whining and eager for this?" He lightly drags his scruffy cheek along your sensitive skin.

You feel a surge of arousal in response, which causes you to redden in shame. They can never know about this. About him, yes, but never this. This is yours. He tilts his head until his lips graze your neck as he talks.

"If they knew how wet you are right now, just from my hand in your hair?" He squeezes his fist to emphasize his point and you gasp. "Because you are, aren't you?"

"Yes," you choke out.

"Are you going to touch yourself later and think about me?" You swallow down the groan that nearly escapes your mouth. The tip of his nose traces your jawline and you feel your knees go weak, but he holds you steady. His hand is an anchor while you stand there in your cell, the backs of your knees against your bed.

"I will," you arch against him, breathless. "I do." He pauses, fighting to maintain control of himself after your admission. Feeling bold you add, "Do you want to know what I think about?"

There is a twitch of his lips against your throat, then he slowly resumes the near touch of his exploration. "Tell me," he sounds more unbalanced than before.

"I think about you fucking me in that hallway with your hand still on my jaw and my throat." He grunts and rests his forehead against your cheek for a moment.

"Fuck," he pants. "You don't make this easy for me, do you?"

"No," you whisper back, "I intend to make it very hard."

He wrenches on your hair again and you're expecting it, but the sting still causes a swell of pleasure between your legs.

"I'm going to have to come up with something to keep your mouth occupied, aren't I?" You gasp and lick your lips. "I take it you like that idea."

"Yes," you moan as quietly as you can.

"Are you going to think about it later with your hands down the front of your pants?" He runs his rough, fuzzy cheek against your neck again, but harder this time so that it burns.

"Yes, Kino." You're so lost in sensation that your words are almost inaudible.

"Do you think about anyone else when you touch yourself?"

"No," you hiss, "only you." You vow it with such ferocity that you almost don't recognize your own voice.

He hums in approval and rewards you with firm, open mouthed kisses below your ear. They trail down your neck and his tongue laps hungrily at your skin. Just when you've adjusted to the feeling enough to stop squirming, he nips at your throat and your eyes close in rapture. In that moment, everything you know and everything you are is bliss.

"You did so well," he praises. His fingers immediately relax in your hair, and he's tenderly massaging your scalp and hovering before you once more. Your muscles are weak, there's a dampness between your legs, and you crave more.

You also know he's not going to give it to you. You're going to have to work for every touch. For now, reward is caress. It's a kiss. Soon it will be stroking and touching until he finally fucks you. Punishment is humiliation and none of that. And god, do you want him to reward you.

"Thank you." You turn your head so you can nuzzle your face against his arm.

"You understand now?"

"I do," you sigh.

"And you still want this?"

"I want this," you insist.

"If at any point you don't, you tell me. Because you are not powerless here. I want your surrender and your devotion, but only if you give them to me. Do you understand?"

"I understand, Kino." The word devotion sets your mind and nerves alight, makes you ache and tingle. You look into his eyes so he knows you mean it. They're so wide and blue and beautiful. It's almost as if you can see the sky again. He fills you with such warmth that you want to bask in front of him like he's the sun.

He softens and his other hand delicately cups your jaw, which is so different from the last time his hand was on your jaw. You're nearly overwhelmed by all of the affection he's giving you after feeling nothing but misery for too long. "I'm sorry you didn't before. That was my fault. I really thought you did because the way you came undone in my hands…" he takes a shaky breath, "but I should have made sure. That will never happen again."

Then he kisses you—truly kisses you. Lightly at first, adjusting to the touch of your lips and how you slot together, which sets your mind reeling and draws another whine from your throat. And that would have been enough because Kino is kissing you and you're allowed to finally wrap your arms around him. To touch him. To feel his hands gripping your waist and running a long your hips. It would have been everything, but when you moan against him, he deepens it, tasting you and letting his tongue slide against yours.

It isn't reward or punishment. It's just him, and it's an apology. One you know you deserve. You want to lose yourself in it, to never stop kissing him and letting your hands roam over his back and shoulders, but too soon he pulls away. When he looks at you, his lips are red and kiss swollen against the grey of his beard. You can't help but groan at the sight. To wonder what he looks like further wrecked.

"Do you…?" You trail off, suddenly shy. Which is silly, you think, considering what just transpired between you. But there's still a part of you that hasn't accepted he doesn't hate you. That needs to absorb this.

"Do I what?" There's an amused look on his face.

He doesn't hate you, you tell yourself. He knows. He knows and he wants you.

"Do you touch yourself and think about me?" You whisper.

"Every night." He growls and presses your foreheads together.

"When?" You sigh into the touch. "How long?"

"The first time I grabbed you and just held you there. I had intended to yell at you, but god, you were trembling and writhing, and making this little noise in your throat. Every thought I had then was gone. I just stared at you, thinking about what other sounds I could coax out of you."

"Oh," you gasp because he could have fooled you. Did, in fact. He was so stoic. "I didn't realize what it did to me at the time. Was I that obvious?" You cringe thinking about how it must have looked to everyone else.

"It was to me." His voice is a husky rasp.

"Good." You can feel another surge of arousal between your legs.

"Unfortunately, I should go now. It's getting late and it will be a hot floor soon. Everyone at your table will be returning to their cells any minute." He sounds regretful, at least.

"Okay." You sag a little in disappointment and look down at the floor because you just got this and you don't want to let it go yet.

"Hey." He places a finger under your chin so that you are forced to look him in the eye. "Continue to behave. I'm always watching." He gives you a hungry smile. "And I can come back tomorrow."

You nod, your disappointment fading away at the promise of more. "You know I will."

Before he leaves your cell, he pauses and looks at you over his shoulder. "You really thought I hated you?"

"Yes." You say without hesitation.

"What did you think was happening then?"

"That you knew how I reacted and how I felt, and you were humiliating me out of cruelty. To get me to listen." He flinches and you know it hurts him to hear, but you aren't trying to cause him pain. It's simply a truth that had hurt you to go through. You don't want anything left unsaid.

He looks at you with an expression of profound conviction, one so open and sincere that you could never doubt it for a moment. "Never cruelty."

It's breathtaking, and you wonder why he scowls at all. You give him a nod because now you believe him. Now you know the truth. Satisfied, he exits your cell.

Later that night, you do exactly as promised. You slip your hand into the waistband of your pants when everyone else is asleep, wondering if he's down the hall doing the same. You think about his hand clamped around your jaw and twisted in your hair. Think about him pressing you into the wall, his lips on yours, the feel of his tongue. What would have happened if no one else had been looking? Would he have taken you against the window? Pushed you to your knees? You think about supplicating yourself before him and showing him just how devoted you can be.

NEXT CHAPTER->

[kkyaka]

The Chance To Change

Summary: When he coincidentally walks back into your life, he's determine to change the way things are

Pairing: Aomine Daiki x black!fem!reader

Word Count: 24, 909 😐🧍🏽‍♀️

Warnings: professional basketball player!aomine, bookstore!au kinda, lots of angst, lots of fluff, reader is oblivious, reader has trust issues at the beginning, aomine not knowing how to deal with his feelings, reader's on her period at one point, reader is scared of like horror rides (sorry if you aren't), lots and lots of kissing and making out, lots of intimacy, misunderstandings, smut: unprotected sex, fingering, multiple orgasms, lots and lots of confessions of love, aomine is very whipped for you, reader's best friend is an oc, and aomine's teammates are oc's, lots of going back and forth in time, all characters are 21+, if I missed anything please let me know, I know that there's gonna be typos in this and when it isn't 3 am, I'll get around to fixing them lol

A/N: Now. I can't even begin to explain how or why I was able to write all of this. I've been working on this fic for about a month, and I was finally able to finish it (thank God bc I have so much work to do lmao). I know some parts might seem kinda rushed, but I can't really bring myself to care bc I spent so much time on this and I'm just happy that's it's finished. Reblogs are greatly appreciated even though I know it might break your phone if you try to LMFAO, but if you read all this, I seriously appreciate it. And I definitely projected in this fic. This is also for @sintiva's #theclockisticking collab, and thank you so much for letting me join!

Running a bookstore is something you've always wanted to do. It seems silly to most people, but you've always found small, quaint bookstores to be really peaceful, and it was always somewhere you could go when the world was always too much. Whenever you stepped inside, it was like the outside disappeared, and you were only surrounded by paper bound together that told a million stories.

You actually read through the entire bookstore in your town, and you had become so close with the owner, that they gave it to you after you graduated college. You were surprised, to say the least, and a little worried, not knowing much about running anything, let alone a business, but the owner was more than helpful with getting you into the swing of things.

Now, it's like everything is second nature for you. Opening up the store and smelling that certain smell that books have that you've always loved. The small coffee shop you have in the corner is always a popular spot because it has a giant window that allows you to view the whole town. You've found yourself sitting in one of the comfortable chairs that are over there multiple times, watching the sunrise and seeing the city start to wake up.

Your co-worker/co-owner/best friend Mia always comes in about an hour after you do, always making a comment about how she doesn't understand how you manage to wake up so early. You always brush it off with a roll of your eyes as you hand her a cup of coffee that you know she'll need.

During the week, the place is usually quiet, a person every now and then, most of them coming in all of the time, so you know them by their schedules. You're sitting at the front desk, reading a book, one of your favorites, even though it's a cliché exes-to-lovers plotline, you always find yourself re-reading it whenever you have time.

Your peace, though, is rudely interrupted when someone yanks the door open, causing the bell to jingle violently, and you jump in your seat as you look at who just barged in. They have a hood on over their head as they look out the window like they're checking to make sure they're not being followed.

"Can I help you?" The figure turns towards you, and you feel your face fall at the same time a waterfall of emotions runs through you. "Aomine?"

He pulls the hood down from his head, and it's like you're frozen in your seat when he smiles at you. "Holy shit. It's you."

"Uh, yeah it is," you say, your voice hollow. He walks towards the counter, and you've never been more grateful for something being in between the two of you.

"Wow," he starts, his eyes running down your frame before he meets your eyes. "You look amazing."

"What are you doing here?" you ask, and you could've never prepared yourself for this.

"I'm here for some charity event, but the cameras were on my ass, so I found the closest place to get away from them."

Right. He's gone pro now. The last time you had seen him, he was leaving his freshman year of college and going to the NBA. He had told you all about it, and you were happy for him, truly. But you know all too well that things can be too good to be true.

You nod, but you don't say anything, and he's about to keep talking, but Mia walks up next to you. "Hey, I just finished--what in the actual fuck?" She's looking at Aomine, who frowns at her at first, but then recognition runs over it soon after.

"Wait, Mia?"

"What in the world are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be across the country?" She's just as floored as you, and you glance between the two of them, your eyes staying on Aomine when he starts talking.

"Charity event. And I'll be here for a while," he adds, making your eyebrows raise. "The team's doing some training here."

"How long is a while?" Mia questions and he tilts his head to the side as he tries to come up with a relative time frame.

"Dunno, month give or take." Mia scoffs as you find yourself staring at him in disbelief. You look at her as you curl your lips into your mouth. "And I since I found you, I wanted to ask--"

"I actually have to check inventory." You cut him off quickly, and Mia looks at you, confused.

"But I was gonna tell you that I--"

"I'm gonna go check inventory," you quip, turning to her sharply. "It'll probably take hours," you drawl as you start to walk away. "Like hours."

You don't even give him another look as you head towards the back of the store, taking a deep breath once you're out of earshot. You take another one, feeling the emotions you felt during that fatal night rising in you again. You run your hands over your face before you turn to look at the boxes stacked up against the wall. You know Mia already did it, but you can't bring yourself to go back out there.

Well, you always have a watch list that you could get started on. You grab your phone from your pocket, scrolling through your options for who knows how long until you ultimately end up picking something that you've already seen. You trust Mia's judgment, so you're not even going to try and do inventory, you just needed to find any excuse to get away from Aomine.

How it ended between you two is definitely different in your heads, but it's mostly your fault. You were young and naïve, you should've known that a guy like Aomine wouldn't actually fall for you. But you fell, and you fell hard. It still hurts to think about, but that's not saying that you've been hung up on Aomine. You've moved on, had boyfriends; you've grown from the girl you used to be, but seeing him again just opens up a wound that you're now realizing wasn't fully healed yet.

All of the signs back then were there when you think about it, but you didn't realize, just brushing it off, which makes the whole ordeal sting even more. You cringe as you shake your head, brushing away the memories that taint your mind. You look through the room before deciding to sit on the floor and watch your show.

You opt to watch about three episodes, hoping that he'll be gone by the time you re-emerge, but you accidentally end up watching about seven, getting too engrossed in the show. Mia comes in, telling you that she's got somewhere to be, and you nod, letting her leave since it's only about an hour until closing anyway. You finish the episode before you emerge from the room, starting the routine of shutting down the store.

You check through the whole building, making sure there's no one here, and you freeze in your spot when you see that Aomine is still here, sitting in one of the lounge chairs as he looks at his phone. You take a deep breath before you speak, taking half of a step closer. "We're closing now."

He looks up, giving you a smile as he stands. "That's cool, I'll just walk out with you."

"No, that's fine," you deny, shaking your head. "I've gotta finish closing anyway."

"I'll wait then." His response is quick, and you stop him before he can sit down.

"What are you doing here, Aomine?" He stops, giving you a playful look as he walks over to you.

"I already told you. Training."

"No, here. Why did you stay?" you clarify, and he shrugs as you try to guard yourself, still feeling all of those feelings from back then. "I'm not going to let you rope me back in just so you can fuck me and leave since you didn't get to do that in college."

"Woah, what?" His face looks like he's surprised at what you said, but there's nothing in you that believes him.

"Whatever. I'm not going through this again, so if you could leave, I'd really appreciate it."

"Wait, what are you talking about?" You scoff, putting some distance between the two of you.

"The fact that you don't know doesn't help your case." When he tries to speak again, you sigh, effectively cutting him off. "When you figure it out, come talk to me." You're frustrated at a lot of things. Aomine walking back into your life, revisiting all of those painful memories, the fact that you were caught off-guard. You can't do this right now, and you start to walk away. "The paparazzi should be long gone." It's the last thing you say to him as you leave, hoping he gets the hint to do the same.

FRESHMAN YEAR, BEGINNING OF FIRST SEMESTER

You've always enjoyed coming to the library, finding an area that doesn't get a lot of traffic, so you can always get a lot of work done without having to worry about any distractions. You bop your head to the music you're listening to softly as you switch to the next subject you need to work on. You nearly jump out of your seat when you feel someone tap on your shoulder.

You take your earbud out, your eyes landing on the hottest guy you've seen. You instantly recognize who he is, Daiki Aomine, a basketball star on the rise. He's all you ever hear about on campus. "You mind if I sit here?"

You frown as you shake your head, wondering why he even chose this seat in the first place when there were plenty of tables open. You put your earbud back in as he throws his backpack on the table and sits down next to you. You wish you had told him no because now you're hyper-focusing on him instead of your work.

You notice after a while that he hasn't opened his backpack, and you glance at him to find him looking at you. "What?"

"Do I know you?" Your frown deepens as your eyes scan over his face before you shake your head.

"I don't think so?" you say. You don't really know why he would know you, not ever having a single conversation with this man.

"Yeah, I do. You're in my psych lecture." You squint your eyes this time as your head tilts to the side. You've never seen him before, and you would've definitely known if you were in the same class as him.

"No. I think you have me mistaken for someone else," you state, and he nods his head.

"Yeah, you are. One-thirty with Johnson."

"Oh," you say, surprised. "I've never seen you though."

"Well, I sit all the way in the back." Well, that would explain it since you sit closer to the front of the room, mainly because it gives you a quick route to the door, wanting to leave as soon as possible to avoid the traffic.

He holds his hand out, introducing himself, and you give him a small smile as you take it, giving him your name. "So," he starts, saying your name. "You have a partner for the final project?"

You scoff, wondering why this whole interaction felt off. "Yes, I do. Sorry."

"C'mon, you can't make it a group of three?" he urges, and you smile as you shake your head.

"Nope, we already have most of it planned out anyway," you respond. You pick your phone up, seeing that you only have about fifteen minutes to get to your next class, and you start packing your stuff. "Hope you have fun studying your backpack," you say when you stand, poking fun at the fact that he didn't open it.

You slide the straps of your backpack onto your shoulders, and he watches you leave.

PRESENT DAY

As you open up the store, you can't help but wonder if Aomine will show up today. When you had gone back to the coffee shop area, he was gone, much to your relief, but it didn't make you any less anxious about what today might bring.

"Who would've thought that Aomine of all people would walk into the store," Mia says, sipping on her coffee as she sits next to you at the front desk.

"I know. It was like a slap in the face," you say, letting your head fall onto the wood. "I'm worried he's going to show up here again."

"I wonder if he's still the same asshole from back then," Mia hisses, and you huff as you look at her.

"He's probably even worse. The fame probably went to his head, fueling his ego even more." You both laugh as you roll your eyes. Mia is the only person that knows your "relationship" with Aomine and how it ended, and you could say that she was the one who helped you through it. "Oh, those books are supposed to be here today, aren't they?"

"Yeah, they should," she says with a nod. You get up, walking around the desk and towards the door to check. You groan when you see that they just left the stack of boxes outside the store, and you shake your head. You seriously need to get a new delivery person.

You squat down to lift one of the boxes, your eyes widening when you feel how heavy it is, and suddenly the weight is out of your arms. You look up, seeing the box that was previously occupying your arms is now in Aomine's arms.

He smirks at you, and you actually have the chance to look over him, noticing how big his arms are, remembering that he was big back then, but it seems like he's gotten bigger all while maintaining his sleek physique. "I can handle that," you say, snapping yourself out of it.

"I know, but there's no harm in helping." You give him a look before you sigh, turning around and holding the door open for him. Mia's eyebrows lower in suspicion, and you shrug as you walk behind him, letting him know where he can set the box.

"I should probably get the other boxes," you immediately say when he tries to speak to you.

"I'll get them." He's out of the door before you can even blink, and you give Mia an annoyed, tired look.

"Maybe if you let him say what he wants to say, then he'll get out of your hair," Mia offers, and you roll your eyes before you lift the box, setting it on the counter, and Mia takes it, disappearing into the inventory room. When you hear the door open again, you turn to see Aomine carrying both boxes stacked on top of each other, pushing the door open with his back.

"You can just set them right there." You point to where you want them, and you watch him set them down with a soft grunt. "Thanks." Your voice is clipped, and you stand there awkwardly when he doesn't make a move to leave.

"Did I do something?" You frown, not understanding his question. "It just seems like you hate me or something."

You wouldn't say that you hate him, it's more like you're mad at yourself for being so stupid back then, and his face just reminds you of what pain you had put yourself through. "I don't hate you..." You don't know what to say because it's very obvious that he still doesn't know what he did, and you would rather spare yourself the embarrassment again by explaining it to him.

"I'm missing something though, aren't I?"

"It's nothing," you try, but he seems to have gotten even more stubborn since when you first met him.

"No, there's definitely something I'm missing. And when I figure it out, I'll act accordingly." Your head can't even begin to wrap around this conversation, having trouble finding what to say.

"Don't you have something else you could be doing?" You hope your face isn't really showing how ridiculous you think this whole interaction is.

"Nope, absolutely nothing." Should you just ask him to leave? If you think about it, he really didn't do anything wrong, so there's no reason for you to be so indifferent towards him. He's just clueless about your dilemma.

"Well, since you're here, you can do some work." You both turn at the sound of Mia's voice, and you pointedly ignore the look she's giving you. "These books need to go on the top shelf," she says, patting the box. "Make yourself useful."

He surprisingly grabs the box without another word, and Mia tells him where they go as he walks off. You pull your lips into your mouth as you walk to the counter, taking a while to meet your best friend's eyes. "What the hell are you doing?" she asks once he's out of earshot.

"Nothing!" you defend quickly. "I'm not doing anything. I mean, it's not like he knows what happened back then."

"Well, he should."

"But, at the end of the day, I was stupid enough to think that he could be into me," you try.

"I told you to stop that shit. And I told you, he knew what he was doing." You shake your head, your body slumping a little as you look away. You don't want to have this conversation again. You've already been thrown off because Aomine suddenly walked back into your life, and he keeps doing it; the last thing you need is this.

"If you're worried about me "taking him back" or whatever, I'm not." Mia looks at you for a second before walking around the counter, wrapping an arm around your shoulders.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I know this is really touchy for you, but I don't want history to repeat itself."

You keep your eyes on her as you nod. "Yeah, I know. But it won't happen, I promise. I know better now. I'll be fine."

FRESHMAN YEAR, THREE WEEKS INTO FIRST SEMESTER

Aomine has started sitting with you in the library a lot more, which you find weird because it doesn't even seem like he's trying to get something out of you. You've changed where you usually sit, just in case he attracts a crowd, and you don't want the space to be overrun.

You didn't tell him, but he managed to find you anyway. "Why'd you move?"

You look up to see Aomine sitting down across from you, and you shrug, not really wanting to answer truthfully. "I just wanted to sit somewhere different today." You have the strong urge to ask him what his whole deal is, but you don't want to get caught in a situation that you can't get out of.

"What're you working on?"

You answer without looking up, keeping your head down. He doesn't say anything else, and your reflexes are fast enough to stop him from yanking your work away. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Let's go somewhere," he says, not letting go of your notebook, and you raise your eyebrow.

"I don't know if you can tell, but I'm studying," you counter, keeping a tight grip on your stuff until he lets go.

"How long have you been here?" he asks, finally letting you slide the book towards you. "You need a break."

"Where would we even go?" you prompt, and he shrugs, leaning back in his chair.

"I'll figure it out."

"You wanna go somewhere, but you don't even know where?" you deadpan, and he stands, walking to your side of the table. He grabs your arm softly, lifting you out of your seat as he packs your stuff up, and for some reason, you can't find it in you to stop him.

"Aomine," you start, and he throws your backpack over his other shoulder, pulling you away from the table by your arm.

~

"Isn't this better than being cooped up in the library?" he asks, and you scoff as you roll your eyes. You both ended up walking to one of the many large grass areas your campus has, and you will admit that it is a really pretty day.

"I mean, I guess," you muse, resting your back on your backpack and stretching your legs out. "How's the team doing?" you find yourself asking after a few moments of silence.

"Fine," he responds, but you can hear the attitude in his voice, prompting you to ask a different question.

"How are you doing?"

He huffs heavily as he rests his weight on his hands, leaning back. "It's definitely different."

"You don't sound too excited about it."

"I spent a while barely being able to lose, and I get here and it happens almost instantly," he says. "It's just a little unsettling, that's all."

You turn your head to him as you hum. "Do you wanna go pro?"

"That's the plan," he answers with a sigh.

"Well, I think you'll be fine. I've seen you play before, and you're really talented. I think you'll have no issue making it." He turns his head, a smug smile on his face.

"You think I'm talented?"

"Don't flatter yourself, Aomine," you say with a roll of your eyes. "I'm never saying it again." You both laugh, and you turn your attention up towards the sky, Aomine doing the same.

"Thanks."

"Of course."

PRESENT DAY

"I thought you were supposed to be doing some team training?" you ask one day when Aomine's helping you take the inventory boxes off the top shelf.

"Yes, but not right now," he says, handing you the box. "It's the off-season."

"Right," you start. "But what does that have to do with you coming back here?" You set the box down, turning around when you don't hear him respond, and you find him staring at you intently.

"Listen." You feel your heart start to race at the sound of your name coming from him as he steps closer to you. "I figured it--"

"Hey, there's someone on the phone for you," Mia says, peeking her head into the small room, and you swiftly make your exit, and Mia glares at Aomine with daggers in her eyes.

"What's your deal, Aomine?" she asks, stepping towards him, and he frowns at her.

"What do you mean?"

"Why are you still here? Because I know you're not here just to help out."

"She told me that when I figured it out, to talk to her, and I finally did, so--"

"Oh, you did?" she questions, cutting him off. "So, what? You think you'll tell her and everything will be all fine and dandy, huh?" He hesitates and it tells her all she needs to know. "Well, new flash, Aomine. It doesn't work like that. This isn't some cliché fantasy where it all just works out after a few days."

She would keep going because she is nowhere near done, but your voice interrupts her. "Hey, Mia, we need to work on the arrangements for this event." You're unaware of what's going on because Mia made sure to keep her voice down, and she gives Aomine one last look before walking out of the room with you.

And Aomine watches you go, sighing as he shoves his hands into his pockets.

"Were you threatening him?" you ask when you both get to the front desk.

"No, of course not," she responds quickly, and you cross your arms over your chest.

"Mia, seriously," you groan, and all she does is shrug.

"I don't trust him. We've got a lot of years unaccounted for. Trusting him right off the bat is dangerous."

She's right. Things are too good to be true, and you fell for that in college, and you were starting to do it again. You sigh heavily, closing your eyes. Every time you come to another reality check, you feel like shit.

You feel like it'd be the best option to just ask him to leave you alone, to never walk back into your life again. But there's a part of you that would feel almost defeated if you couldn't manage to stay strong.

You change the subject quickly, turning your attention to the plans that you and Mia are currently working on.

"Aomine, where have you been?" He's the first one on the court, rolling his eyes at the voice of his teammate.

"Nowhere," he responds, easily shooting the ball.

"Aomine actually showed up?" He grabs the ball when it bounces back to him, resting it on his hip as he looks over his shoulder. "What kept you away?" his other teammate, Matt, says, nudging him on the arm.

"Definitely a girl," Dylan speaks up. "There's no way he'd miss playing basketball for anything else."

"Are you sure?" Matt questions. "He usually has a line of girls, and he's always present."

"But this one might be different."

"Are you guys gonna play or what?" Aomine asks, annoyed, and they snicker as they sit down to change their shoes.

The gym he's in is one for the team to use if they wanted to play. Technically, they're on vacation, but Aomine is always willing to get reps in, but he hadn't been here lately because he's been helping you out. He was starting to get antsy because he hadn't touched a basketball in a while, but also because he's not getting anywhere with you.

When he first saw you, he wasn't really thinking about anything other than the fact that this could be his chance to finally say what he never thought he'd get to say. But then your reaction threw him off, and it took him way too long to realize why you were reacting the way you did.

And of course, when he finally puts the pieces together, there's no way for him to explain himself. With Mia right there beside you, he doesn't know if he'll ever be able to say what he wants. He's trying to fix it, but he doesn't blame you at all for being distant. But it sure is making it fucking difficult to convince you that things have changed.

"No, it's definitely a girl. He's zoning out." Matt's voice makes him realize that he hadn't done anything since they came in, and he huffs as he throws a random shot up, making it in easily. "So, who is it?" Matt prods. "High school sweetheart? Old flame?"

Aomine chuckles as he shakes his head. "It's nothing."

"It's definitely more than nothing, Daiki," Dylan denies. "Come on, what advice do you need?"

"What makes you think I need advice?"

"Because this genuinely seems to be bothering you." Aomine looks at Dylan, who actually sounds pretty serious considering he's the one always joking around.

He shakes his head. "It's nothing," he dismisses again after a while, and they both give each other a look. "What?"

"Nothing, man." Matt holds his hands up, and Aomine sighs, focusing his attention on the ball and the hoop.

"I'm starving," you groan, laying your top half on the counter, and you hear Mia agree. "Isn't your turn to get the food this time?"

"Are we really doing the turns thing?" she asks as you turn your head to face her.

"Uh, yes," you say. "Because I got food the last time, so it's your turn." She groans even louder this time, and just as she moves, the bell on the door rings. You look up to see Aomine with a couple of bags in his hand, and he sets one in front of both of you.

You and Mia look at each other as you sit up before looking back at Aomine. "What is this?"

"Lunch. I heard you guys talking about it, so I got some." You look at Mia again before you take the container out of the bag, seeing your usual order when you open it.

"Oh," you say quietly. "Thanks." He's handing you forks when you ask, "How much do I owe you?" Mia hits you on the arm, and you frown, confused as you look at her, mouthing 'what?'

"Don't worry about it," he says, waving you off, and just as Mia's about to open her container, she gasps loudly, nearly making you jump out of your seat.

"What day is it today?" she asks, her eyes wide as she checks her phone. "Shit, I was supposed to meet my mom for lunch." She quickly gathers her stuff, even sliding her food towards Aomine, saying that he can have it since she's not going to eat it.

"Have fun," you call out after her, and she gives you a quick wave before running out of the store. You laugh softly as you watch her go, and you start to eat, but then you slowly start to realize that you're now alone with Aomine. You don't say anything, keeping your head down.

"Do you mind?" You look up, seeing him pointing at the chair next to you, the one that Mia was just sitting in. You shake your head, but to your surprise, he just reaches over the counter, grabbing the chair and putting it on the other side.

He sits down across from you, and you're turning your attention to anywhere but him. The silence isn't really awkward, it's more like you're just waiting for him to ask you something that you're not ready to answer.

"That shirt looks really good on you." You look at your shirt before you scoff, looking at him with a lazy smile.

"Thanks." You can't help but laugh to yourself because the compliment reminds you of when and why you bought it. During one of your lower moments in college, you decided you wanted to change the way you'd dress, thinking that it would get you somewhere with Aomine.

To your absolute embarrassment, it didn't seem like it changed a thing, not getting a single compliment. You laugh at it now, but back then you were mortified. But you spent money on the damn clothes, so you were going to wear them. It's just hilarious to you that you got what you wanted after so long.

"I remember you wearing a shirt like that in college. Is it the same one?" Your brain screeches to a halt, the only thing you can manage is to blink slowly.

But then you feel your face growing warm as you answer. "Uh, yeah. It is." You laugh around your words, trying to laugh off how embarrassed you feel. For whatever reason, you feel like it's weird that you're still wearing the same shirt.

"I would've complimented you on it then, but I was too nervous." You immediately laugh at his words, shaking your head as you try to compose yourself.

"I know that's a lie," you say, but you stop suddenly when you see that he actually looks upset.

"That's what you think?" You frown before you give him a skeptical smile.

"You were nervous to compliment me?" He nods, and you really have to fight the urge to laugh again. "Why?"

"It isn't obvious?" You shake your head, your frown even deeper this time, and he sighs, deciding to eat instead of continuing the conversation. You feel like you're missing something with respect to his response, but you don't even know what to ask in order to get an explanation.

You do the same as him, eating your food as multiple thoughts run through your head.

FRESHMAN YEAR, TWO MONTHS INTO FIRST SEMESTER

The area you and Mia are sitting at is one that you both frequently go to, nearly occupying the same picnic table every time. This part of campus is pretty busy, the traffic usually picking up around lunchtime because the food is better on this side of campus.

"Midterms are kicking my ass," you groan, feeling like your eyes might fall out of your head if you continue to look at your laptop screen.

"We're almost done, girlfriend. Just hold on a little longer," Mia reassures, and you huff softly, smiling as you rest your face on your hand.

It's a nice day today, which is why you both opted to sit outside, and this kind of weather always relaxes you somehow when you manage to take a breath. "You're still not hungry?" you ask, closing your laptop, and Mia laughs.

"Yes. Did you skip breakfast or something?"

"No, I just didn't eat that much for breakfast," you say as you try to decide what you want to eat in your head.

"And that is why I brought you food." You turn your head to the familiar voice after you frown, seeing Aomine sitting down next to you. You glance at Mia, who's giving you a confused look before turning back to Aomine.

"You got me food?" you ask cautiously as he slides the bag over to you.

"Yeah. You said you really like this place, but you never go to it often because the line was always long." You open the bag, seeing that he's gotten the exact thing that you usually get. "So, I was passing by it and the line was pretty decent, so I got you some."

"Oh, thanks," you say slowly, your voice more on the softer side as you take in the information. "Oh, this is Mia, my best friend. Mia, is this Aomine. We have the same psych lecture." When you look at her, you barely shake your head, just enough that she can see it, but he can't. The look on your face tells her that you'll fill her in later.

He reaches over to shake her hand as you start to eat. "So, do you guys sit next to each other?" Mia asks after the conversation takes a silent break.

"No," you answer, and you can't help but chuckle. "We actually don't sit anywhere near each other."

Mia raises her eyebrows with a hum. "Really?"

"Yeah," you say slowly, barely looking at Aomine. "He sat next to me in the library." You chew your lip softly as you look at her. You hadn't had the chance to catch Mia up on anything because you thought this whole thing was a bluff, but Aomine is still sticking around. To say the least, it's confusing to you.

"She helps me with some of the other classes that I'm struggling in," Aomine buds in, and you slide your tray over to offer him some, but instead, he grabs your hand that's holding a fry, guiding it up to his mouth. You feel your face go warm as he takes it out of your fingers, your gaze quickly goes to the picnic table as you feel his hand squeeze yours before he lets it go.

You look at Mia for a split second, who has the smuggest look on her face, and you have to really fight the urge to kick her under the table. "Or more like he forces me to help him," you say, laughing quietly as you try to shake your nerves off.

"Please, you like helping me." You shake your head, finally looking at him, and you can't help but copy the smile he has on his face. "Did you see that we won the other day?"

"Yeah, I did. I watched the highlight reel," you answer with a nod. "I told you that you were good." You nudge him in the side, and you watch something come across his face as his smile falls, but then it's gone as soon as you see it.

"Yeah, yeah. I still got a lot of work to do." Mia eventually buds back into the conversation, diverting the topic to something else. Aomine ends up sitting with you both the whole time, claiming that he's got an exam later today and that you're the only person that can help him study.

You roll your eyes, but help him out anyway, occasionally looking at Mia when he's distracted. When you see her trying to angle her phone towards the two of you, you lunge at her, but she's faster, moving her phone to her chest as she leans out of your reach. She laughs, making you scowl at her as you sit back down.

"You're gonna be fine, Aomine. You know everything."

"You think? I just feel like I might be missing something," he says, looking down at his notes.

"Maybe you're just nervous," you offer. "Just treat it like you're about to play. Do you get nervous right before a game?"

He scoffs, lifting his head to look at you. "Of course not."

"Then do that. And it'll be over before you know it." You give him a reassuring smile, and he holds your stare for a split second before he packs his stuff up. "And thanks for the food," you add when he stands.

"It was nothing. Thanks." You return his wave before he walks away, and you slowly turn towards Mia.

"Do not say a word."

PRESENT DAY

When Aomine walks into the bookstore, he immediately notices that you're not sitting at the front desk and that you didn't come to see who had opened the door. Instead, Mia walks out, setting a stack of books on the front desk.

"I made her stay home," she tells him, knowing that he's looking for her. "She's been staying up for the past couple of nights stressing about the reading thing this weekend. I made her stay home so that she'd get a decent amount of sleep."

Aomine nods, trying and failing to hide his disappointment. She moves over to one of the aisles, looking through the books before putting them on their respective shelves. "I tried calling her earlier, but she didn't answer. I could try and swing by her place on my lunch break--"

"Let me do it." Mia raises an eyebrow as she gives him a look. "I don't know how to run the store," he argues, but she doesn't budge. "You can't just leave, and since I'm here, I can check on her."

She stares at him for a little bit longer before she sighs. "Fine, Aomine." She sets the books down, grabbing her keys. "This is the key to her place just in case she doesn't answer the door." He goes to reach for it, but she retracts her hand. "Nothing more."

He nods again, and she slowly hands him the key as she tells him your address, which he types in his phone, and then he's out the door.

~

He knocks on the door first when he gets there, waiting for about a minute before he does it again. He doesn't know why he's feeling so strung, ringing the doorbell almost instantly after knocking again. He would try and call you, but he doesn't have your number, so he sighs before using the key to unlock the door.

He enters quietly, making sure that he's not making too much noise, closing the door softly behind him. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. The thought runs through his head as he locks the door, feeling like he's breaking into your home. He makes his way through the hallway, feeling like this is definitely a bad idea as he walks through.

He doesn't hear any movement, so he assumes that you're still asleep, and he finds a door that's halfway open. He pushes it open slowly, and he sees you slumped over on your desk, your face smushed against the papers. He walks over to you, sighing a little when he sees that you're still breathing, and he shakes you gently.

He calls your name, but you barely move, and he leans down a little as he shakes you a little bit harder, saying your name a little louder. You still don't wake up, so he leans down even closer. You gasp when you wake up, but you end up jolting up, crashing the back of your head right into his chin.

You both groan in pain as Aomine moves back, holding his chin while you hold your head. You sigh, turning your head to see Aomine standing next to you. "Aomine? What are you doing here?"

"I was checking on you," he says around a wince as he rubs his chin.

You yawn as you stand up. "Are you okay?" You walk to him, and he lets his hand fall.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's my fault anyway, sorry for scaring you."

You yawn again as you shake your head, looking over your desk. "It's okay. What time is it?"

"Around noon," he answers, looking down at his phone. "I don't remember you sleeping that hard in college."

You scoff as you run your hand over your head before fixing the ponytail you had your hair in. "Yeah, but I've been up for the past twelve hours." His eyes widen at your statement as you frown. "Wait, how'd you get in?"

"Mia gave me her key," he tells you, holding it up in his hand. "She was worried about you, so I offered to go since she couldn't leave the store."

You hum as you let your arms fall down, stepping closer to him. "Are you okay?" you ask, and he feels his heart stop for a second when you reach up to touch his chin.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he says, and he definitely feels his heart stop when you give him a soft smile. He immediately misses your touch when you take your hand away, and you walk out of the room. He follows you a second after, shaking himself out of wanting to say what he wants to say to you.

"Well, thanks for checking on me," you say as he follows you into the kitchen.

"Sure." He stands on the other side of the island as you open the fridge. "Why were you up for twelve hours?"

"I've got a bunch of work to do, and the people that were supposed to come read to the kids on Saturday canceled, so now I have to find someone else to do it."

You pour yourself some water, speaking after you take a few sips. "I'm making it a bigger deal than it is. I'll figure it out."

"You always did stress way too much in college," he says, making you huff quietly.

"Yeah, I did. I guess old habits die hard." You lean back against the counter, and he looks at you for a second before calling your name. "Hm?" you say, looking at him expectantly, but then he brushes you off.

"Nothing." You raise an eyebrow but don't say anything. "Are you going to the store today?"

"I probably will later today just to grab some stuff," you say with a nod, finishing your water. "What about you? What are you gonna do?"

"Dunno, probably play it by ear."

"Just like college," you muse. He smiles when you do, and the words are on the tip of his tongue, but you seem to be under a lot of stress right now, and he doesn't want to make your situation worse. Most of your interactions and Mia's words prove that it probably would. "And I can give Mia her key back when I see her."

"Right," he says, and he finds himself hesitating to give it back. He feels like his time is running out like his opportunity is slipping away, but he hopes that he'll get another one as he hands it back to you.

FRESHMAN YEAR, TWO AND HALF MONTHS INTO FIRST SEMESTER

"Your boy toy carried the game last night, apparently," Mia says, and you don't look up from your phone as you talk to her.

"Yeah, I saw," you respond, purposefully ignoring her comment.

"Oh, you did?" she teases, and you look away from your phone, giving her a look.

"Yes, I did. You know that I like watching basketball." You've always been into the sport, but it's the last thing you would play. You tried that in middle school and instantly figured out that it wasn't for you.

"Speaking of him," she starts, and you follow her gaze, looking over your shoulder to see him walking with a girl on his arm. You roll your eyes as you look back down at your phone, scoffing quietly to yourself.

Since Aomine's been on fire recently, the girls on campus have started to take notice. The one that he's currently with is a new one though. That's not what bothers you though (well, maybe a little), it's the fact that they're with him all of the time. Even when he's hanging out with you. They're always all over him, and you would most definitely rather not see that, but it's like he encourages it, which makes it suck even more.

"And he's walking over here." You don't look up, shifting your gaze from your phone to the picnic table as you wait for the interaction to come. They haven't been the best in the past.

When he calls your name, you hesitate to look up, but you do, giving him a tight smile. "Who's this, Aomine?" Your smile immediately drops at the sound of the girl's voice and your patience runs out instantly.

He introduces you and Mia, but her eyes stay on you, scrunching up her nose a little, but keeping the smile on her face. "She's cute." You can't stop the smile that comes across your face, knowing exactly what that means. Mia's about to say something, but you stop her with a quick glance.

"That shirt is really pretty on you," you compliment, and of course, she eats it up. "And it was nice meeting you, but we have to get to class. You start to stand as you watch Aomine give you a confused look.

"I thought your class wasn't for another thirty minutes," he says.

"Well, we're going to study before it," you lie after you gather your stuff. You grab your smoothie, and right as you're about to walk away, you pretend to trip, spilling it all over her shirt.

She gasps as Aomine's eyes widen, and Mia turns around as she tries to stifle her laugh. "Oh, my God, I am so sorry," you say, dryly, giving a fake apologetic smile.

"You're a bitch," she spits, and you give her a wide smile.

"Thanks." You walk away, leaving Aomine in shock, and Mia laughs a little louder when you guys are finally out of earshot.

~

You're walking back to your dorm, deciding if you should get food or not when you hear a familiar voice call your name. You don't acknowledge it, continuing to walk until his hand lands on your shoulder.

"What the fuck was that?"

"What was what?" you ask cluelessly, and he sighs frustratedly.

"The smoothie."

"Oh, don't worry about that," you dismiss. "It wasn't that good anyway."

"That's not what I meant."

"What do you want me to say, Aomine?" you ask, and you're starting to get pissed. "It's not my fucking fault that every girl you have on your arm is a fucking bitch."

"What is your problem? You've been acting weird," he says, and you scoff, looking to the side.

"I don't have a problem, Aomine. I should be asking you that," you counter. "And the fact that you can't even tell that they're being absolutely disrespectful to me when I'm just sitting there is the start."

"What in the hell are you talking about?" he asks, and you grit your teeth before turning away.

"Forget it, Aomine." You turn to walk away, and he grabs your wrist, but you snatch it away. "I'm not having this fucking conversation with you. When you deal with that fucking problem come talk to me."

He lets you walk away this time, calling after you, but you keep walking, letting out a shaky sigh.

PRESENT DAY

"This is where you've been, Aomine?" Aomine turns towards the voice, almost dropping the book he was putting on the shelf.

"What the hell are you two doing here?" he groans, giving Matt and Dylan a plain but annoyed look.

"We wanted to see what was keeping you away from basketball. Although, it's a bit shocking that it's a bookstore," Dylan says, and Aomine rolls his eyes.

You walk up on the other side of him, ignoring the other two guys next to him. "Hey, the kids are going to be here soon, just a heads-up."

"Okay. I have one more box and then I'm done."

"Now, this makes more sense," Matt says to Dylan, gesturing to you, and the sentence makes you look at him.

"Oh, why are your teammates here?" you ask curiously, and Matt pushes Aomine to the side to step closer to you.

"I'm Matt and this is Dylan," he introduces, holding his hand out, and you laugh as you shake his hand.

"Yeah, I know. Dylan joined the team a couple of years ago, and you joined shortly after Aomine." They all give you a look, and your eyes dart between them.

Aomine steps forward, pushing his teammate back. "They were following me," he says, pointedly looking at the other two men.

"Sounds kinda familiar, doesn't it?" you joke.

"Okay, I stumbled in here by accident, alright?" Aomine argues.

"We just wanted to know what was keeping him from the court," Dylan says. "He's barely been at the gym." Aomine looks at him, and you watch, amused.

"Well, I'll let you guys get back to that," you say lightly. "I'm gonna go finish getting everything ready."

"Wait." You turn around when Aomine speaks up, and you tilt your head, waiting for what he's going to say. "They can help out, right?" he asks. "They just have to read to some kids, yeah?"

"Yeah. If they're free, then I'm okay with that." You walk away, and Dylan waits until you disappear to talk.

"What are we doing exactly?"

"She said that she was having people come in and read to the kids, but they canceled on her last minute," he explains. "And since you two losers are here bothering me, you can do it."

"Jeez, Aomine, who is this girl?" Matt asks, and he only responds by sighing and rolling his eyes.

"Are you gonna do it or not?"

"Okay, relax, we'll help out," Dylan agrees but not without nudging Matt in the side lightly, both of them finding this situation funny much to Aomine's dismay.

~

Every month, you host a small book reading for anyone that wants to bring their kids to read. You started it after reading to a couple of kids one day, and suddenly, you had a huge group of them. It had gotten so big, that you actually make arrangements for it to happen, only being able to do it once a month because of the demand.

You usually have some other people reading as well, reading other books to sort of break the kids up into groups. You finally have everything set up as the kids and their parents start to roll in, giving Aomine and his teammates the rundown before you send them off on their way.

You're standing off to the side since you have two more people to read, watching as the kids all settle down. Matt and Dylan are enthusiastic, engaging with the kids, and Aomine's doing the same. You're smiling because the kids look like their having fun so far, and you turn your attention back to Aomine when one of the kids in his group speaks up.

"You're supposed to do the voices, Mister." You use your hand to cover your laugh at Aomine's reaction, squinting his eyes as he eyes the kid.

"Does it make a difference?" he asks genuinely, and the kid nods quickly.

"You're telling a story," he drawls, like Aomine doesn't know that and you chuckle. "You have to do the voices."

You can tell he's fighting the urge to roll his eyes, but your amusement is cut short when he looks at you. "Well, I'm gonna need some help then, aren't I?" He smirks at you, and suddenly all of the attention is on you.

Some of the kids cheer quietly, recognizing you since some of them are regulars, and the next thing you know, you're being cheered on to go up there with Aomine, who already has a seat waiting for you. The kids all cheer when you walk up, sitting next to him, and you nudge him in the side when you sit down.

He actually does the voices, and so do you, reading when it's your line. There's one page where you have a decent amount of lines, and when you stop reading, waiting for Aomine to respond, he doesn't. You frown, looking up to see that he's staring at you. That apparently gets his attention because then he's looking back down to read again.

You find it weird, but he doesn't do it anymore, and you make it through the book, finding yourself smiling widely as the kids clap once you're done. Matt and Dylan have their own cheers once they finish, and the kids are so satisfied that they end up asking all of you for another story.

The men claim they have nothing else to do and would be more than happy too, so you let it happen. You're more than satisfied with how it went, the parents having to drag their kids away, saying that they've already taken up most of your time. Some of the parents thank you as they leave, and once everyone is out, you sit down behind the front desk.

"So, she's the one, huh?" Dylan says, noticing Aomine staring at you as you talk to Mia.

"Oh, definitely," Matt adds. "Pretty sure he had hearts in his eyes the whole time."

"Oh, fuck off," Aomine says, shoving at his friend.

"You were just reading for some kids, and now you're swearing?" They laugh as Aomine glares at them. "At least you're cool enough to not make a fool of yourself in front of her."

"Well, this might prove you wrong," Dylan says when he sees you walking up to him.

"Thank you for that, guys. You seriously saved me today."

"It was no problem," Matt says, resting his arm on Aomine's shoulder. "Anything for a friend of Aomine's." Dylan snickers and Aomine feels his face growing warm, pushing Matt once again. "We'd be happy to do it again if you need us to."

"Sounds like a plan," you say. "Thanks again." You give Aomine one last look before walking off.

"You guys can leave now." Aomine doesn't even let them get another word in, pushing them towards the door and out, sighing heavily as he pushes the door closed.

FRESHMAN YEAR, THREE MONTHS INTO FRESHMEN YEAR

You've successfully avoided Aomine for the past couple of weeks. After your argument, you were fuming. Against your will, you cried. You were just so frustrated at so many things. How he was acting, the girls, the fact that you were stupid enough to think that he could be into you.

You even changed your fucking wardrobe to see if you could get anything out of him. You feel pathetic, and every time you think about it, it ruins your mood all over again. You've found new places to study at on campus if you really don't want to stay in your dorm.

You're not sitting in any open spaces anymore in fear that you might run into him. You told Mia right after it happened, mostly because you're dorming with her, and she's just as angry. But you're confused that she's confused about the whole thing, and when you ask her about it, she just brushes you off.

You just try and move on or whatever, hoping that he might be too busy with basketball and some of the tournaments coming up to try and track you down. So far, you've been in the clear, but you always found yourself having mixed emotions when you don't see him on campus.

You've finally think it's safe enough to go back to your old spot in the library after you haven't run into Aomine. You've figured he's just moved on because you don't really mean that much to him, which makes you feel so much worse when you think about it. So, you just dive into your work, starting on some work that's not even due until next month.

When you're starting to focus more on something else other than your work, you decide to call it a day and pack up your stuff. You're thinking of stopping by the student union and getting a milkshake as a reward, and when you turn around, Aomine's standing in front of you.

You freeze, your brain stalling as you panic before you collect yourself. When you try to walk past him, he steps in front of you, and you look up at him. "I don't wanna hear it, Aomine."

"Please, just listen to me." You falter at your name coming from him, and your temporary pause gives him enough time to keep talking. "I'm sorry."

You scoff, and you actually manage to make it past him, but the way he softly catches your wrist makes you stop. "Of course, you're sorry now, Aomine." You screw your eyes shut, trying to find it in you to pull away, his fingers dancing over your skin like he's giving you an out, but you can't move. And he tightens his fingers around your wrist.

"Seriously, just hear me out." You don't turn around, only turning your head slightly so you can look at him out the corner of your eye. "I'm sorry," he repeats. "I know that's probably not helping, but I miss you."

Your breath hitches in your chest as your eyes widen. You feel like you could cry again as you look back down at the floor. "I need you, okay? You help me out all of the time, and I don't really give you much in return, but please. I'm sorry."

You finally turn to fully face him, and you wish you hadn't because you already feel yourself giving in. He doesn't let go of you, using your wrist to pull you towards him, and you go to him easily, like you're being drawn in.

"You're just saying that," you try, your voice soft, having a hard time looking away from his eyes.

"No, I'm not," he declares. "I really do need you. And I really do miss you." He pulls you closer to him, wrapping his arms around you as he cages you into his chest. "So, please," he begs again. "Don't leave me."

And that's what it takes for the final pieces of that wall to break down, your arms coming up to hug him back. You close your eyes as you breathe him in, noticing that you missed this.

"Okay."

PRESENT DAY

You're at the store by yourself today, Mia going to visit family for the day, so you close down the shop for a while to get lunch. You're walking back from the small café you usually get your food from, but as soon as you get to the door of the store, you're bombarded by a shit ton of people.

You jump backward as you look around, realizing that it's the paparazzi when the flash of the cameras starts to blind you, and you can't even get to the door. They're all asking you a bunch of different things, nearly screaming at you, and you can barely make out Aomine's name in the commotion.

You feel yourself being pulled in the opposite direction of the mob, and you almost fall down, being caught by someone. You turn to see Aomine, and that seems to make the crowd go even wilder, and he's pulling you away from them, and you trip over your feet as he starts to run towards his car. You quickly recover, following after him, and as soon as you get there, you run to the passenger side, getting in. He doesn't even wait for you to put your seatbelt on as he starts the car and drives off.

"Are you okay?" You're breathing heavy, still seeing the negative image of the flash in your eyes.

"I-I think so," you breathe, trying to take in what the fuck just happened.

"I'm so sorry. This is all my fault," he says, turning onto a side street before putting the car in park. "I should've been more careful."

"What are you talking about?"

"The parents must've said something or posted pictures about us reading to the kids." You take a deep breath as you relax against the seat. "I wasn't thinking about what might happen, I got careless."

"Daiki, relax," you say, reaching over to rest your hand on his. "It's not your fault." That doesn't seem to reassure him because he still looks ticked, but when he turns to you, his face softens.

"Are you sure you're okay? They didn't hurt you or anything?"

You nod. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little frazzled."

He sighs as he looks forward. "I don't know how long it'll be before they leave. I don't know how to get you back to the store."

"There's a back entrance we can use. They won't see us go in." Your phone dings and you lift yourself up in the seat to get it out of your back pocket. You unlock it, seeing a text from Mia. "Shit."

Aomine looks at you, but you're not looking at him, your gaze on the article that she sent you. It's a picture of you and Aomine reading the children's book, the title of the article claiming that Aomine has a new love interest.

"Fuck!" You know he's looked at it, and you sigh as you lock your phone. "I am so fucking sorry. I'll get someone to take it down."

You shake your head. "No, it's okay. It happens." If this keeps happening, you probably won't have much success getting into the store because they'll just outside, and eventually try to make their way inside. You groan softly as you rub a hand over your forehead. Your phone pings with another text from Mia.

>Is it as bad as I think it is?

Yeah. It is.

~

Aomine's team thought it was a good idea that you both stay away from the store and from each other for a while. Both of you being separated might help take some of the heat off of you, and you're getting multiple texts from him saying how sorry he is.

All of the articles were taken down, but it still doesn't change the number of people that now know who you are. You haven't left your house in a couple of days, Mia having to bring you stuff because you can't even go grocery shopping without being cornered.

You fall over onto the couch, curling up as you mindlessly watch the TV. Mia offered to run the store while you're trying to stay under the radar, but you didn't think it would change anything. The cameras would probably scare people off anyway, so you joked that she'd get a vacation, but she didn't really take the joke.

You don't even bother to pause the show when you hear a knock on your door, getting up and walking towards the door. You swing it open, gasping when you see Aomine standing on the other side.

"What are you doing here?" you ask, quickly moving to the side to let him in. "We're not supposed to be near each other."

"I know, I know," he says as you close the door, and he removes the hood from his head. "I just needed to talk to you."

"About what?"

He sighs, and even though it's been about a week, you can tell he's still frazzled. "Training's coming up, so the heat should be taken off of you soon, but I just wanted to tell you--"

"Aomine, I don't think this is the right time for this," you start, feeling like you know where this conversation's about to go, but he stops you, putting his hands on your shoulders.

"I know, but I need to say this, just in case I don't get the chance to." You feel like you might know what he's going to say, but there are so many options that you can't pinpoint what might say. "I'm sorry for what happened back then, and--"

The honking of the car stops him, and he groans but keeps talking. "I'm going to make it up to you, I swear. Just give me time, okay?" The car honks again, and he groans in frustration, and you raise your hands to try and calm him down, but you don't get the chance to. "I promise, okay?"

And then he's rushing out the door, leaving you speechless. You exhale loudly as you slump, resting against the counter as your mind starts to run.

Training is in full swing now, about three weeks since everything blew up, and even though he tries to not focus on it, it's all Aomine can think about. He had called you and he, Matt, and Dylan all apologized, and you once again said that it was okay. That none of you weren't expecting any of this.

But it doesn't make him feel any less like shit or frustrated. He finally thought he was in a good place with you, and he was finally going to do things right, but then it all when to shit. His whole team knows about what happened, but when they saw his demeanor when he first walked in the locker room, none of them dared to tease him about it.

He's been so off, that even his coach told him to call it in early. He throws his bag in frustration when he gets to the locker room, quickly showering before heading back to the hotel. He sends you a text when he gets to his room, constantly checking you since this whole thing is his fault.

He smiles and sighs in relief when you tell him that the paparazzi has died down, and you're slowly working your way back to opening back up. He's been talking to you whenever he can't sleep or whenever he gets sent back to the hotel early, and it makes him reminisce about college.

But then he thinks about what happened, and how he got into this situation in the first place and he gets irritated all over again. He's been replaying that night in his head ever since he stumbled into the bookstore, and he always thinks about how treated you that whole year.

He doesn't blame you for how you're acting towards him, but he's always been a little bit more on the selfish side, so he's determined to work for you, to make it better. He doesn't know if he can actually make up for what he did, but he's not going to stop trying until he knows he can't.

He stares at the goodnight text you sent him for a while, wondering what he could do about all of this in the meantime.

FRESHMAN YEAR, WINTER BREAK

"I'm not letting my guard down this time." You've spent the last month and a half trying to convince Mia that things are different with Aomine and that there's no reason for her to be worried because you know that you and Aomine aren't ever going to be a thing.

"I know you, though," she counters, and you glance to the side as you huff.

"Seriously, Mia. It won't happen again." You finally get her to drop the subject, talking about the whole thing still making you feel a range of emotions, and you don't like it. "And he's going back to Japan for the break anyway, so you have nothing to worry about."

You're being serious. He did tell you that he was going back to Japan for the break, and even though you felt your heart sink a little, you knew it was for the best. After realizing how strong your feelings were for him, and figuring out how he really feels about you, this is the best-case scenario.

It'll give you time to get your mind on the right track, and just focus on finishing out next semester and actually having fun during break. Your emotions have put you through the wringer, so a break sounds amazing right now.

"If he does some shit like that again--"

"Okay, Mia. Okay," you sigh, running a hand across your face. "Seriously. I can't do this right now."

She sighs, sitting down next to you on your bed and wrapping an arm around you. "I love you, that's all," she says. "I just don't want you to get hurt."

You smile softly, resting your head on her shoulder. "Yeah, I know, and I love you, too. But I won't happen again." She brings her other arm up, giving you a sideways hug that you return. And then you lift your head up to look at her. "So, how are we gonna start this break off?"

~

"How long are you going to be in Japan, Aomine?" his teammate asks as Aomine ties his shoes.

"For about a week, I'll be back in time for the tournaments though." He had already made the arrangements to make a quick trip back home, but he knew he couldn't stay for long. The topic, though, reminds him of the conversation he and you had during the last day of classes, and he finds himself smiling widely as he finishes tying his shoes.

He quickly drops it though, not wanting anyone to see him doing it before standing and grabbing his stuff. He wants to text you or something, but you've never given him your number and for some reason, he hasn't asked you for it.

The whole way back home, for whatever reason, you're all he can think about. He's been caught smiling like an idiot before, his teammates eagerly teasing him about it, and it always happens after you've been on his mind. He doesn't know what it is about you, but he feels like he can talk to you about anything.

It doesn't matter if it's about basketball or not, he always finds himself ecstatic when he sees you on campus after not talking to you after a while. He could talk to you forever if he could. He immediately thinks about bringing something back for you, and he mulls it over during the whole flight.

PRESENT DAY

You've been able to open the store back up, but you haven't decided to the readings again, waiting a little bit longer before that happens. You're getting ready to go, making sure you have everything before you leave, and when you open your front door, there's someone standing on the other side, their hand up like they're about to knock.

"Can I help you?" you ask, surprised as you look at the bouquet of flowers in their hands. They ask you if you're you, and when you say yes, they hand you the flowers.

"Have a nice day."

"You too," you respond slowly, watching them walk away before looking down at the flowers in your hand. They're your favorite, and you close the door, walking back into the kitchen. You set them on the counter, and you frown as you think about who could've sent them. You search through them to try and find a note, and you pull it out when you find it.

I know this isn't much, but please take this. -A

You huff as you read it, letting your hand fall as you look back at the flowers again. You take one between your fingers to smell it before you find yourself chuckling, and you change the flowers into a vase before making your way to work.

~

"You seriously didn't have to do that, Aomine." He smiles as sits down on the bench in the locker room, and he laughs softly.

"I know, but I just feel like shit about what happened."

"I told you not to worry about it. Everything's fine now. I'm actually in the store right now." He had called you to see if you had gotten flowers, getting to the locker room a little bit early so that he could talk to you. "We can't start up the reading yet though, but at least I'm back here."

"That's good," he says. "I'm sorry."

"If you say that one more time, I'm going to gut-punch you." He laughs loudly at that, resting his elbows on his thighs.

"Someone's talking to their girlfriend." Aomine's smile drops when he hears Matt's voice, Dylan in tow as they walk into the locker room. "Let us say hi."

He quickly gets up, but they're yelling loudly in the background, and he knows you hear them because you're laughing. "He spent like three hours looking for those flowers by the way!" Dylan yells, and Aomine groans as he shoves at him.

"I'll talk to you later, okay?" He's smiling again as he hangs up the phone, and Matt throws an arm around his shoulders.

"Look, Dylan. He's all flustered."

"Get off of me," Aomine grumbles, shaking his arm off as they laugh. "Why are you guys here anyway?"

"We wanted to get some more reps in, unlike you," Matt jabs. "What's the story with you guys, anyway?"

Aomine sighs before he goes quiet, looking down at the floor as he mentally shakes his head, reliving that awful night in his mind. "We went to college together, and she was in one of my classes." He smiles again when he thinks about all of the moments you spent together. "But then I fucked it up," he adds.

"What happened?" Dylan asks, and Aomine doesn't even know if he can say it. Technically, he didn't do anything wrong, but at the same time, he did. And he didn't realize until it was too late.

And he doesn't get the chance to answer because the rest of the team starts to pile into the locker room, signaling the beginning of practice for today.

~

"Mia," you say, dragging out her name when you put your phone down. "Why are staring holes into my head?"

"Are you sure you can really trust him? He hurt you." You chew on your lip as you look at the wood of the front desk. "I don't wanna give you any doubts," she says as they start to run through your head. "But I don't want it to happen again."

"I know, Mia. I don't want it to happen again either." You'll admit that sometimes you're a little worried that you're falling in that hole again, and it scares you. You don't feel like you've truly opened up, more like just accepted him as a friend. You don't think you'd be ready to do anything more than that. "But it's not what it looks like," you continue. "I'm keeping my guard up."

You hate that he's doing this to you, but for whatever reason, you can't find it in yourself to stop any of it. Probably because there's a part of you that is fully trusting him. A part of you truly believes that things will be different this time.

"Okay. If you think it's okay to keep going with this, then I'm here for it." You look at her, but the look in your eyes is distant when you look away. You sigh and hope that you're right.

Your cramps are literally kicking your ass, you're not even sure you can move. You groan as you pray for the medicine to kick in, and you groan even louder when you hear the doorbell ring. You debate on whether or not to open it, but when it rings again, you force yourself up. You wrap your fluffy blanket around yourself before walking to the door.

"Aomine?" you ask when you open the door. "What are you doing here?"

He lifts up a box that was resting on the ground, and you step to the side to let him in. He sets the box on the floor, and when he turns back to you, he frowns. "Are you okay?"

"I feel like shit," you deadpan, and he quickly moves over to you, resting the back of his hand on your forehead. "I'm not sick, dummy," you say, shaking his hand off. He seems to understand what you mean because there's a brief look of recognition that crosses his face. "What's in the box?"

He smiles as he gestures towards it. "See for yourself."

You squint your eyes at him but you move over to the box anyway, sitting down on the floor in front of it. "I swear if this is some sick joke," you warn, and he doesn't say anything, just urging you to open it.

You sigh as you start to pull it open, and your face falls when you see it's filled with a bunch of books. You give him a questioning look before you reach in and take one of them out, the book looking very familiar. In fact, you're very confident that it's the one that was on your wishlist.

"What?"

"You left your phone unlocked one day, and I know this sounds really weird, but I swear, all I looked at was the wishlist," he says, and you start to pull out more books, figuring out that all of them are the ones that have been in your wishlist. There are even some that have been on it for a while now.

"You bought all of them?" you question, and he looks proud as he nods. "Are you serious?" His face sort of falls as he takes in your reaction, not sure how to interpret it. "Aomine, I can't take this."

"Because they're not what you wanted?" You scoff at his words because he clearly doesn't see the issue.

"No, because this is a shit ton of books," you start, the box filled to the brim. "I know that these books all together weren't cheap."

"So? I have the money," he reasons, and you shake your head.

"That's not the point, Aomine. You could've spent this money on something else."

"Why would I do that?" You rub your hand over your face then over your hair, and you look at the books again.

"Aomine, I can't pay you back for this, I don't--"

"It's called a gift. You don't owe me anything," he says, and you don't know what to say, putting the books back in the box before crashing onto the couch. You're definitely not in the right mindset for this conversation, your hormones all over the place.

He's walking over to you once you do lay down, and then he's crouching down to your level. "Wait, why are you crying?" he asks, panicked, and you hadn't even realized that you were, and you quickly brush him off, wiping your face.

Your cramps were so bad that you couldn't even stand, which is why you were currently staying home, but now you're crying because you're so overwhelmed. "Do you need anything? What can I do?"

"Aomine, relax. I'm fine," you say softly, smiling at how frazzled he looks. You wince when another cramp hits you, and it definitely feels like someone is stabbing you in the side. "It's just my cramps. My heating pad cut out on me a while ago, but I took some painkillers so they should kick in eventually.

You yawn, feeling yourself getting tired. You didn't really get that much sleep because the pain had been so bad, and with how warm you feel right now with the blanket around you, you feel like you could knock any second. You feel your eyes starting to get heavy, barely catching Aomine in front of you.

"Don't move, okay? I'll be back."

You barely hear him, responding with a questioning hum, but then you hear the door opening and closing, and you don't have enough energy to try and figure out what's going on, letting sleep take over.

~

You lift your head up when you hear the door close, your eyes barely open as you look around, realizing you're in the living room. And then you start to remember how you got here, your eyes moving over to Aomine, who's walking towards with a bunch of stuff in his arms.

You sit up as he puts the stuff on the coffee table, and you glance at the clock to see that it's a little past two o'clock, and you blink a few times before you fully open your eyes, which grow wider when you see everything that's on the table.

"Aomine, what the hell?" You let the blanket fall off of you as you look through the bags.

"I got you another heating pad, some more medicine, and I wasn't sure if you were hungry, so I didn't get any food, but I did get some snacks." You're speechless, your eyes darting to look at everything. "If you do get hungry, I can order you something."

You run your hands down your face, letting them pull the skin down before you release them. You just sit there, staring at all of the stuff, your mind feeling like it's swirling but there's nothing running through it. "Thank you, Aomine."

"Of course," he says fondly. "Do you feel any better?"

You nod, wrapping the blanket back around you, but then it dawns on you. "Wait, I thought you were training?"

"Today's a rest day." You hum, grabbing one of the bags of snacks he got you before leaning back against the couch.

"So, you're just gonna play the day by ear I'm guessing?"

He smiles widely. "You know me so well."

You give him a small smile, and when you open the bag, you use it to give you a break before you say something else. "Well, you can stay here if you want," you offer.

His face falls slightly as he tenses. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. If you want," you say, nodding. You gesture to the couch, and he sits down, about half a cushion away from you. "You can relax, Aomine. I'm not gonna bite," you laugh when you see how tense he is.

"I know, I'm just nervous." Your face shows that you're amused and baffled, and you let your brows furrow as you tilt your head.

"Why are you nervous? It's just me."

"I know. That's why."

FRESHMAN YEAR, TWO AND A HALF WEEKS INTO SECOND SEMESTER

You're walking out of the dining hall when you hear your name, turning around to see Aomine running up to you. "Finally, I found you."

"Where you looking for me?" you question, playfully.

"Yes," he sighs, catching his breath. "I wanted to give you something." You frown, and he reaches into his pocket, pulling out a necklace.

"Is that for me?" you ask, and he nods quickly.

"I wanted to get you something from Japan, and I thought you would like this." You reach up, resting your fingers behind the necklace so you can look at it a little more closely. "Do you like it?"

"Yeah, it's really pretty, Aomine." His smile is big, and you can't help but smile too, and he turns you around so that he can put it on you. You glance around at your surroundings as you try to keep your heart rate down, waiting for him to finish with the clasp. You turn around when his hands fall down, and you look down at it before looking at him. "How does it look?"

"You look amazing."

"I said how does the necklace look," you clarify around a chuckle, and he does the same.

"Oh, um, it looks great." You tilt your head slightly at the sudden change in his demeanor, but then he's changing the subject.

You found yourself back in the same courtyard that he first brought you to when you first met as he tells you about his trip to Japan. It was only for a week, but Aomine didn't tell you that, hoping he could surprise you when he got back, but you were back home.

The necklace was practically burning a hole in his pocket, and he didn't know your schedule. To say the least, he was definitely running around campus looking for you, trying to remember what classes you said you were taking this semester.

It was probably a bad idea to sit outside since it's still pretty cold, but the sun is out and there are some clouds, so it could be worse. Aomine, though, feels like he could catch on fire any second now. He's sweating, and he's very aware of how close he's sitting next to you, trying to listen to you as you tell him about how your break went.

He makes the mistake of looking at you when you laugh, and he feels his heart do something weird. Your hair is down, and the tiny occasional breeze comes through, waving your hair around every now and then. And the sun makes you look even better, and he doesn't realize that he's zoned out while staring at you.

He suddenly comes to, finding that you're staring right at him, and he jumps back a bit. "Sorry, what did you say?"

You smile, and it only makes his heart race even more. "I said that it's freezing."

He's quick to move, shedding his hoodie and giving it to you. "Seriously, you can take it. I feel fine." He's not lying, but so far, he's the only one who knows how hot he actually is. You take it and slip it on, sighing at the warmth that it brings, and he feels like he needs to do something, so he lays down, resting his head on his backpack.

You do the same, putting your hands in the pockets of the hoodie, and he just watches you out of the corner of your eye. "Look at that cloud," you say out of the blue, and you point to your left, making him turn his head.

"What about it?"

"You don't think it looks like a plane?" you ask, and he shakes his head.

"I don't see it." You scoff, sitting up and moving closer to him. He feels his breathing stop when you get near his face, your upper half almost touching his. You point at the cloud again, trying to show him the wings and the tail of it. "I guess I see it," he says, and you roll your eyes.

You let your head fall on his chest, and he definitely starts panicking. "Okay, how about that cloud?" you ask, pointing to one above the both of you as you move in closer to him. He carefully wraps his arm around, feeling like it's just the right thing to do. Like this is normal for the two of you.

"I don't know, it looks like a cloud."

"Aomine," you groan, and you look at him, and then he really sees how close you are. "Use your imagination or something." He's more worried about you hearing how hard his heart is beating, not about the fucking clouds.

He doesn't even know what any of this means, and he doesn't even know why he's acting like this. But he does, maybe a little, like feeling like this. Finally being near you made him realize how much he missed it while you were away, and he listens to you ramble on about the clouds as he tightens the arm that's around you.

PRESENT DAY

"You're nervous because of me?" Aomine doesn't look at you as he nods, and you're in utter disbelief. There's no way he's serious. "Daiki Aomine. An NBA star, is nervous because of me?"

"Why do you keep repeating it?" he groans, and you can't help but scoff.

"Because there's no way--"

"There's no way for me to be nervous because I like you?" he cuts in, finally looking at you, and the comical look on your face drops instantly.

"What?" you whisper after a long beat of silence.

"I've liked you since college," he says, his voice just as low as yours. You haven't even touched the bag of chips you've opened since he sat down, and you set them on the coffee table.

"Aomine, please tell me this is a joke."

"I confess my feelings to you and you think I'm joking?" he asks, his voice more on the defensive side.

"But you can't feel that way because..." You trail off, realizing that you're about voice your insecurities right then and there. You never thought you had a chance with Aomine because you weren't like the other girls he would parade around with in college, and then that horrible night happened. So, you've just been brewing in self-doubt since then.

"Why?" you say after you go silent. "I thought you didn't see me that way."

"Listen, I just want to let you know now, that what I said that night wasn't about you." You bristle a little because you remember that night vividly. He sighs before moving closer to you. "I wasn't talking about you. The guy I was talking to was talking about you, and after I found out I would've decked him in the face, but I was focused on finding you."

You listen to him intently, your face neutral because you don't know what to say. "I could never say that about you. I'm--I'm pretty sure I was in love with you."

"Aomine," you start, looking away. "I can't do this right now."

"I know this isn't the best time, but I don't know when I'll get the chance to tell you this." You look at him again when he grabs your hand, and he's even closer to you now. "I didn't know what I was feeling back then, so I didn't say anything. All I know is that I loved being near you, and whenever I wasn't, I felt different." You just blink at him, feeling tears threatening to fall out of your eyes. "I'm sorry for how I treated you back then. I was a stupid fucking kid that didn't know how to handle what I was feeling.

"But I want you to know right now that I would never say anything like that about you. And I know that there's nothing I can do to make up for how I made you feel or how I treated you, but--"

"Okay, okay." You stop his rambling, wiping some of the tears that have finally fallen.

"I get it if you don't want anything to do with me, and I'll leave you alone if that's what you want. But I just wanted to clear that up." You don't know what to say, you don't think even think you can come up with any to say to what he just did.

You look down at his hand that's still holding yours, biting down on your lip to try and stop more tears from coming. "I'm scared," you admit quietly, not looking up at him. "I wanna be able to trust you again, Aomine."

"I know, I know. And I'm going to do everything I can to earn it. I can promise you now that I won't hurt you again." You finally meet his eyes, and he lifts his hand to wipe the tears from your face. "Take as much time as you need."

You let out a watery scoff, shaking your head. "Aomine, that's not fair to you."

"I don't care," he states. "You're the only one I want. You always have been." You've never heard him so sincere, and it almost makes you cry even more. "Can I hug you?"

You laugh softly, sniffling a little, and you give his hand a squeeze before you nod. His body is against yours in an instant, the force making you fall back, but he doesn't let go of you. You wrap your arms around his neck as you let your face fall into his neck.

"Thank you," he whispers against your skin, holding you tighter. "I won't make you regret it."

"I'm holding you to that."

You mostly blame your resistance with your relationship with Aomine on what happened back then. He's told you in probably a thousand ways that he was not talking about you that night, but the wound still runs deep. It's just the thought that he would actually think of you that way, and that's what really gets you. Mia had asked what happened because Aomine actually asked to borrow her key just so he could lock the door just in case he had to go get you something.

"Well, that sure is a lot that happened in thirty minutes," she muses once you tell her everything that happened.

"Yeah, it was." He spent a few more hours at your house after everything that was said, and you sometimes feel yourself really missing him. He doesn't come by the store anymore because he doesn't want to bring any more attention again, so that means you aren't seeing him as much.

He's not going to have another rest day for the remainder of the training, so you won't be able to see him as much, but he's still calling you once he gets back to his hotel almost every night. You tell him not to spend so much time talking to you because he has to rest, but he never listens, and you know this whenever you get that phone call.

"I guess I was wrong about him," Mia says and you shrug.

"Maybe. I think you were just worried about me, but right now we're kinda just testing the waters? I guess? Nothing's really official yet," you explain. "I'm still a little hesitant if I'm being honest."

"And that's totally okay," she reassures. "I'm glad that he's willing to stick with you through it," she says, and that makes you smile.

"Yeah, me too."

~

"So, what went down with your girlfriend, Aomine?"

"Yeah, it's pretty obvious that you went to go see her," Dylan adds, and Aomine just gives them a lazy eye roll, but it doesn't last long because he's smiling right after it. "I take it went well?"

"We're just testing the waters right now, but I told her how I felt, and I apologized."

"I'm happy for you, man," Dylan says, patting him on the shoulder.

"Look at our little Aomine. He's so grown up," Matt jests, and Aomine scoffs, shaking his head.

"I'm twenty-two years old," he returns. "Why am I even friends with you two anyway?"

"Because your personality is a little bit difficult to deal with," Dylan says.

"A little is an understatement," Matt whispers, but Aomine hears him, and he dodges Aomine when he moves closer to him. "Does this mean she's gonna replace us?" Matt asks, mock hurt on his face. "You're not gonna forget about us, are you?"

"I would love to do that, actually," Aomine laments, and he wrestles Matt off of him when he jumps on him, and Dylan just laughs, encouraging it. Their coach comes into the gym soon after, announcing that the training is about to start, and Aomine is finally relinquished of their teasing for now.

~

As soon as you set your phone down, it rings, and you scoff as you lift it up, already knowing who's name is going to be on the screen. "Hey."

"Hey, yourself," you say, laying down on your back. "You don't sound too happy," you comment, noticing how tight his voice sounds.

"Practice was rough today," he says, and you sigh quietly. "I just wanted to hear your voice."

You have a small smile on your face as you speak. "You wanna talk about it?"

"Not really," he groans, and you hear him shift, assuming that he's rolling over. "I guess I'm just having doubts again."

You frown. "About what?"

"I dunno," he whispers. "Some days I just don't feel like I'm where I should be, and the thought haunts me the whole time I'm playing." You feel your heart hurt a little that he's still feeling this way even after college.

"Where do you feel like you should be?" you ask, trying to see if you figure out the root of the issue.

"I don't know that either. I practice, and I just don't get the same feeling as I used to, so maybe it's because I'm not good enough."

You sit up when he says that, and you wonder how long he's been holding this in. "Daiki," you start. "You and I both know that's not the case. You are an amazing basketball player, you wouldn't be where you are if you weren't.

"I think you might be overwhelmed. You don't really get an off-season when you think about it, and I know you can't just stop practicing, but if you feel that way next time, just try dialing it back a bit. You're always pushing yourself too hard."

He doesn't respond, and you pull the phone away from your ear to see if he's still on the phone. "Aomine?"

"I really, really like you." You laugh a little when you hear him speak before you do.

"What does that have to do with anything?" you ask lightly.

"I just do," he says. "Sorry for keeping you up, I just needed to talk to you."

"It's totally okay. I'm here if you need me, okay?"

"Thanks. I'll talk to you later. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Daiki." You hang up the phone when you move it from your ear before plugging it back up to the charger.

You lay back down, trying to push down the giddiness you're feeling right now because you'll know it'll make it harder for you to go sleep.

FRESHMAN YEAR, TWO MONTHS INTO SECOND SEMESTER

"You're not going to class today." You blink at him when you try to get up from the table, his sentence stopping you in your tracks.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me," he says, standing. "The attendance for your class today isn’t mandatory, right?"

"I mean, yeah, but why am I not going to class?" He pulls you up by your hand, and you're still very much confused about what he's getting at.

"Because today is your birthday." You scoff in surprise, laughing as you follow him out of the library.

"Aomine, my birthday isn't for another couple of months."

"Not this year. I don't know if I'll be here for it, so we're celebrating it today," he says, holding the door open for you.

"Why this day specifically, though?"

"Just felt right," he answers with a shrug. You let him pull you away, following him wherever he's taking you. "So, what do you wanna do?"

"You're making me skip class, and you don't even have any plans?"

"Well, it is your birthday, so we're gonna do whatever you wanna do," he says, and you purse your lips as you think of something.

"The fair is supposed to be in town this week, right? We could do that," you offer, and he wraps an arm around your shoulders.

"Anything you want."

~

The college you go to is in downtown of the city, so whenever there are events happening, a lot of the students will attend, so the walk to it wasn't that far away. Aomine buys some tickets so that you can ride the rides they have and play some of the games even though you swear up and down that they're rigged.

"Don't tell me you're scared of the park rides, Aomine," you tease when he seems to hesitate when you choose the one that swings back and forth and spins.

He sucks his teeth. "Of course not," he says petulantly, and you pull him into the line. He actually caps you out on the rides because he doesn't know how much more he can take, and he offers to go on one of the horror rides.

"I'll protect you," he boasts when you show some hesitation this time. You both climb into the car, and you're already tense, these kinds of things are not your favorite thing to go through. "Relax. Most of this stuff is horribly fake anyway."

You jump as soon as you enter the building, the quick pressure of a fog machine getting you, and you curl yourself into him. "See, look how cheap that skeleton looks," he comments. "Someone definitely built that themselves."

You find yourself starting to relax the more you laugh at Aomine's comments, and there's even a few times when he gets scared which makes you feel better. By the time you've made your way through, you don't feel the least bit scared.

You get hungry after riding most of the rides, and you try to stop Aomine when he tries to buy your food. "It's your birthday, alright? This is my treat," is all he says, and you give in as he hands you the food. "Is there anything else you wanna do today?"

Your eyes go big as you swallow some of the funnel cake that's in your mouth. "You wanna do something after this?"

"It's your day today. We can do whatever you want to do." You think it over as you walk through the fairgrounds, and when Aomine sees a basketball booth, he's pulling you over to it. "Which one do you want?" he asks after he hands the person at the booth a ticket, gesturing to the various prizes hanging up all around it.

You look over all of them before your eyes land on a stuffed Labrador, pointing to it. "That one." He looks at it, giving you a confident smile before he starts playing. You step back to give him some room, and you watch as he absolutely crushes it, even shocking the person working and attracting a crowd at the same time.

He wins easily, and you're impressed as he hands you the prize you wanted. "You get another prize if you like," the worker tells him, and he ends up picking the same one that you did.

"Now, we can match," he tells you, and you chuckle as you walk away. Even though this was your idea, it seems like he's pulling you around more than you are him. He has you sit with him as you both get drawn as caricatures, and he even pulls you onto the Ferris wheel.

"Are you having fun?" he asks when you're at the very top of it. You nod quickly as you look over the town, feeling like you can see the whole thing from up here.

"Yeah, I am," you answer turning to him, and you notice there's a look on his face that you haven't seen before, but you don't get a chance to question it because the wheel starts moving again.

As the day starts to wind down, you decide that you want to go walking through downtown, finding it to be one of your favorite things to do. It gets really pretty once the sun is starting to go down, the lights throughout lighting the place up in a way that makes you really happy.

You both walk to campus right before it gets too dark, and you stop and turn in front of him. "Thanks, Aomine. This was really fun."

"Of course. Hope your not-birthday was good." You laugh softly, and you think about it for a second before you move towards him, wrapping your arms around him.

"It was awesome," you respond as he does the same.

PRESENT DAY

"You really decorated the whole place?" you ask, taking in the "Happy Birthday" banner hung in between two shelves and on the front desk.

"Of course, I did. It's a special occasion," Mia says, putting a happy birthday headband on your head. "Happy Birthday."

"Thank you," you say fondly, adjusting the headband. Every person that comes in tells you happy birthday, and you're almost tempted to take it off, having all of this attention on you a little bit tiring.

You look up when the bell on the door rings, seeing a person walk in with a white box. They walk over to you, saying that the cake is for you, and you shake your head as you take it before thanking them. "You seriously got me a cake, Mia?" you ask, raising your voice a little since she's in the office.

"What are you talking about?" You frown as you open the lid, and Mia walks out, standing next to you. "This wasn't me." You look at her before looking down at the cake again, and you can see in small letters written in icing,

From Aomine

"Should've known," Mia says, and you huff softly, your face hurting from how hard you're smiling. When lunch comes around, you and Mia eat the cake, and you put the rest in the fridge to take home later.

"Are you sure you don't wanna do like a small party or something?" she asks, and you shake your head, sliding the headband off your head.

"Nah, this was more than enough," you answer as you fix your hair. "Thank you, Mia."

"You're welcome." She gives you a hug before you guys start closing down the store.

~

You hadn't gotten a text from Aomine, and you just assumed that he went to sleep early, so you don't think too much about it. Your parents swung by your house earlier to give you a couple of birthday gifts and stayed for a good while. You're about to head to your room when someone knocks on the door.

You stop in your tracks, wondering who in the hell it could be, and you tiptoe towards the door, carefully looking through the peephole. "Jeez, Aomine, you scared me," you say when you open the door. "Why are you here?"

"It's your birthday, obviously," he says, and he lets himself in, and you roll your eyes as you close the door. "And since we can't go anywhere, I brought the party to you."

You see the takeout that he has, and you smile widely as you walk over to him. "You didn't have to do this," you tell him as he hands you a container and a soda.

"Stop saying that," he stresses. "I want to." He sits down next to you, opening up his takeout. "Sorry, it's not anything fancy. Not a lot is open this late."

"Don't worry about it. I appreciate it either way," you say with a shake of your head. You talk as you eat, sharing some more cake with Aomine after you finish the takeout.

"Do you still have the prize I got you?" You ended up finishing off the cake, still sitting at the island after.

"Yeah, I do," you say softly. "I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it," you admit honestly. "But I'm glad that I didn't," you add. "It was definitely one of the best not-birthday's I've had."

You both laugh softly between yourselves, and he offers to clean everything up. You stay in your seat as you watch him. "Aren't you supposed to get up early tomorrow?" you ask, noticing how late it is.

"Yeah, but this was worth it." You know he has to leave soon, but there's a part of you that really doesn't care about that, and you stand up when he's finally finished. "Happy Birthday," he tells you when he meets you halfway, and a fond smile appears on your face.

"Thank you." He rests his hands on your hips, stepping closer and minimizing the space between the two of you. "But don't blame me when you're off your game tomorrow."

He laughs quietly. "I'll be fine. I'll still be getting a decent amount of sleep."

There's a beat of silence, and you eventually break it, even though there's something telling you to say something other than what you're about to say. "Do you want me to walk you out?"

"Nah, it'd probably be better not to, just in case." You nod in understanding, and you give him one last smile.

"Well, goodnight, Daiki. Thanks again." He doesn't respond, giving you a nod as he smiles as well, and he lets his grip on your hips fall as you start to walk to your room.

But right as you turn around, he grabs your wrist, pulling you into him with enough force that you have to brace yourself against his chest. You look up at him to ask him what's wrong, but his lips beat you to it.

You're surprised at first, but you eventually fall into it. The kiss is short, chaste, but it's not even a split second before he kisses you again, deeper this time as he brings a hand up to cup your face, his other arm wrapping around your waist, pulling you impossibly closer.

One more kiss turns into five then into more, and you pull away to catch your breath. "Fuck, I've always wanted to do that," he whispers, resting his forehead against yours, and you huff softly. When you tilt your head back up, he's quickly covering the distance, and you wrap your arms around his neck.

"Are you sure you want me to leave?" he breathes, his eyes on yours as it feels like your heart is about to beat out of your chest.

"You can stay if you want," you start. "The couch is pretty comfortable." You laugh when he groans, and he squeezes at your hips.

"Are you serious?" he says lightly. "That's not good for my back."

"I do have an air mattress," you offer, making him laugh louder than you did. "It's up to you." He kisses you a couple more times before sighing.

"You're lucky you're a good kisser." You chuckle, taking that as a sign to go get it. He lets you slip out of his hold as you disappear to go get it, and you hold in your laugh as you hand it to him.

"Have fun," you tease before walking towards your room. You slide into bed, and you place your hands on your face, feeling how warm it is. You weren't expecting him to do that, but you're glad he did, and now you can't stop smiling. Or that might be because you can hear the pump of the air mattress.

You don't know how you're going to go to sleep after that, but you try anyway, rolling over and pulling the blanket up over your shoulder. Your mind is still running, but you suddenly realize that you don't hear the pump running anymore, and then you're hearing footsteps.

"Your mattress has a hole in it." You bite your lip to stifle your laugh when you hear the door open, pretending to be asleep since your back is facing the door. "Baby, I know you're not asleep." You don't move even when the steps get closer, and you hope he can't see your face.

You gasp loudly when you suddenly feel fingers at your side, and you try to roll over to get away from them, ultimately giving you away as you laugh. You try to pry his hands away from you to try and stop the tickling, but he only pushes against you. "Okay, okay!" you yelp around a laugh, and he hums as he stops.

"Scooch." You move over so that he can slide in, and he grabs your arm. "Not that much." You let him pull you towards him, letting your head fall on his chest as his arm wraps around you.

"This doesn't really seem like we're taking it slow," you jab.

"I think we are," he counters, and you lift your head up, squinting at him. "It could be worse," he says, and you raise an eyebrow.

"And how could it be worse?" He pulls you a little closer, giving him enough room to slide his lips against yours, moving your leg so that it's resting over him, and he rubs his hand up and down your thigh. "Or it could be better," he says after pulling away, and you shake your head.

"You're supposed to be going to sleep, Daiki," you chastise, and he gives you a playful smile.

"One more." You bump your forehead against his, but you oblige, and of course, it turns into more than one. "One more," he urges, when you pull away, and he doesn't even give you a chance to react before kissing you again.

"Go to sleep," you demand, letting your head fall down onto his shoulder.

"You're no fun," he whines, poking you in the side. "Goodnight," he whispers, and you curl into him a little more.

"Goodnight."

You roll over to turn your alarm clock off, groaning as you do so. When you start to wake up, you realize that you're alone, and, honestly, it was one of the reasons why you didn't want to sleep in the same bed as Aomine. You didn't want to wake up to the other side of the bed cold.

As you start to sit up, you notice that the house smells like someone's cooking. You frown, sliding out of bed and making your way to the kitchen after brushing your teeth. "What happened to training?" you ask when you see Aomine standing in your kitchen.

You discover that the cause of the smell is the pancakes that he's making. "It was optional today," he answers, looking at you over his shoulder when you walk over to where he's standing.

"How does everything always seem to work out for you?" you question, playfully, and he chuckles as he takes the pancakes off, stacking them onto a plate.

"Maybe it's fate talking," he responds, turning around to fully face you. He rests his hands on the counter on either side of you, trapping you between him and the counter. "Morning," he says softly, one of his arms making its way around your waist. You smile, barely getting the chance to say it back because he pulls you into him before meeting your lips.

You hum softly, bringing your hand up to rest on his face as you exchange a quick but deep kiss.

"Are you going to the store today?" he asks, keeping close to you.

"I had planned to," you admit honestly. "But the store usually isn't that busy today," you add. "So, I technically don't have to go in, if I give Mia a heads-up."

He gives you a smirk, his other hand splaying across your back as he kisses you again. Your other hand grabs at his t-shirt as he continues to mold his lips against yours. There's no space in between you two, your back bending back with every one of his kisses that seemingly have more passion than the one before it.

You moan softly when his tongue slips into your mouth, and he's groaning soon after, pulling away from you, both of you breathing raggedly. "Maybe you should go to the store today," he breathes, resting his head against yours.

"Why is that?"

"Because if you stay, then we won't be taking it slow anymore." You feel a shiver run down your spine at the look in his eyes, and granted, he'd said that you could it slow for your sake. But the more time you spend with him, the more you start giving in to him, and you're starting to feel like you would rather do anything else than take it slow.

You don't respond with words, deciding to kiss him again, your hands running up his torso, and then your arms loosely wrap around his neck. You shudder even more when lets his hands run under your shirt, and you feel yourself falling into his hands like putty.

"I actually have something planned, so if you don't go, you'll ruin the surprise." You raise an eyebrow, a playful smile on your face that he copies. "And no, don't ask what it is."

"Way to ruin the fun," you huff, but you agree anyway, finally getting around to eating breakfast. He cleans up everything while you go get ready, and he waits for you by the door. "Did you get me something?" you try, and he rolls his eyes.

"Stop guessing," he deflects lightly, and he cuts you off with a kiss when he knows you're about to guess again. "Don't miss me too much, alright?" he jests, and you scoff as you roll your eyes, trying to move out of his hold, but he tightens his grip on you. "I'll see you when you get home, okay?"

You nod, wrapping your arms around his neck to give him a hug, and you laugh when he covers your face with kisses, wrapping his arms around you when you try to move away. "Okay, 'Mine, I'm gonna be late," you chastise softly, and he gives you one last kiss before finally letting you go.

"Have a good day," he tells you, and you give him a fond smile before heading out the door.

~

"Yeah, because it definitely sounds like you guys are taking it slow," Mia says, and you roll your eyes.

"We are!" you argue with no heat behind it. "I mean, we're not rushing anything, you know? We're just letting things happen, and there's no pressure. It's really nice," you admire softly with a shrug.

"Jeez, if I didn't know better, I'd say you're in love with him." You don't respond, looking off to the side, and Mia stops what she's doing. "Wait, are you in love with him?"

"I think I've always felt that way, but I always tried to push it down, more so when all that shit went down," you admit. "But, I feel like I can really trust him this time, so I think I am." You turn to look at Mia. "What do you think?"

"I can't tell you what to think or how to feel," she says after a scoff. "But I think that with how everything's working out, it seems like you both could be meant to be. And he also isn't letting anything get in the way this time, so there's that."

You smile softly as you nod. "Yeah, he isn't. Things are just, I don't know, everything feels right."

"And that's good," Mia praises. "That's how love is supposed to feel. I'm happy for you," she says, and you feel a certain type of content with this whole thing like everything is where it's supposed to be. You know you keep repeating that, but it seems like it's the only thing you can say to describe exactly how you're feeling.

Mia lets you go early, with a bit of teasing of course, and when you get home, Aomine stops you as soon as you get through the door. "I'm not done yet."

"Well, can I at least get in the shower?" you ask, laughing softly.

"Not in your room."

"Then how am I gonna get dressed?" you question, chuckling softly.

"I'll bring you whatever you need." You wonder what he has planned, and every time you try to take the smile off your face, it always makes its way back. You knock on your door when you finish getting dressed, seeing that he only passed you clothes that you would wear around the house. You chuckle when he peeks his head out of the door, effectively blocking you from seeing anything inside.

"You have to close your eyes," he says, and you sigh loudly.

"Daiki--"

"I know, I know. You just have to trust me." You give him a look, but you close your eyes anyway. "No peeking." You raise your hands, telling him that you won't, and you hear the door open even more. You hear his footsteps walking around you, and then you feel his hands on your shoulders, and he carefully guides you into your room. You're not sure if he's rearranged the room or not, so you walk slowly with your hands out in front of you, and you can hear him laughing at you.

"Stop it, I can't see," you scold.

"I won't let you run into anything, I promise." Your knees hit your bed, so you crawl onto it carefully, moving where he tells you to, and now you really don't know what to expect. You hear him moving around some more, and the flick of the light switch before you feel the bed dip next to you. "Okay, you can open them now."

You slowly peel them open, and your hands come up over your mouth as you gasp, taking in what he's done. He's somehow managed to put two sheets over the bed, like a tent with lights all decorating the inside, and he's moved your TV and what it's resting on closer so that it can be inside as well. He's put more pillows and blankets on the bed, and then you notice that there are trays in front of you at the end of the bed with containers on them.

"Daiki, are you serious?" you ask in disbelief, still looking around.

"Do you like it?" he asks, and you can hear a bit of hesitation in his voice, and you look at him to see a little bit of it swimming in his eyes.

"I love it. This is amazing!" You can't stop looking at everything, and you point to the trays in front of you. "What's with the trays?"

"A friend a mine owns a restaurant, so I'd thought I'd get some fancier food than takeout," he explains before moving to open the containers. "But, I didn't really know what you would want, so I got almost everything on the menu."

Your mouth falls open as you watch him open all of them, having almost every option you could imagine, and you recognize the name of the restaurant on the containers; the place is extremely difficult to get a reservation at.

"You bought all of this food?"

"It's not as much as you think," he starts. "I didn't get very big portions, so we don't have to worry about wasting anything." He passes you a breadstick that you take, taking a bite out of it. "And there's a stack of movies that I haven't seen." He brings some movies over from his side of the bed, and you gasp when you see a bunch of classics that he hasn't seen.

"You can pick which one to start with." You go through the movies he has as he distributes the food between the two of you. He puts the movie in that you choose, and you both move back so that you're leaning against the pillows while you eat. "Is it good?" he asks, glancing at your plate, and you nod quickly, giving him some pasta to try.

"What's all this for anyway?" You both have eaten most of the food, Aomine putting the rest in the fridge. You're actually focused on watching the movies now, your head resting on his chest as he rubs a hand up and down your thigh.

You move your head back slightly so that you can look up to meet his eyes, and he looks at you for a second before answering. "Guess you could say this is me making up for what I did back then." You make a disapproving noise, but he keeps going. "I didn't mean it," he says. "I can't even remember who I was thinking about, but it wasn't you," he emphasizes. "I nearly--no, I definitely drove myself crazy trying to find you so that I could explain what happened, but I never did, and then I was leaving."

You let your thumb rub over his cheek as a soft look comes across your face. "I'm sorry for how I made you feel. I feel like shit every time I think about it."

"I know, but I believe you," you respond, taking a pause before you continue. "It just hurt really bad back then because I liked you so much."

"You liked me?" he grins, and you roll your eyes at what he chose to focus on.

"Yes, I did," you answer. "And you don't have to keep making it up to me, Daiki. All of this is more than enough."

"This also might be for the fact that I've never taken you on a real date," he continues, but it's not like he's ignoring what you said. "It just sucks that I can't take you anywhere."

"But I like this." You gesture around you, but you keep your eyes on him. "I prefer this any day, and you technically already took me out on a date." He frowns at you in response, so you keep talking. "My not-birthday? We just didn't know about each other's feelings," you explain. "So, if you think about it, there's not really a difference from then and now."

You both exchange a small smile, and he moves to slide his lips against yours. "Well, that's one difference," he says against your lips, and you can't help but laugh quietly. He kisses you again, longer and deeper than before, and you suddenly find yourself only aware of the two of you.

Everything around you disappears as he pulls you into him, his hand resting on your lower back before he moves under your shirt. He rolls more onto his back to that your body is on top of his, and you moan into his mouth when you feel his hand cup your breast.

You didn't really think twice about not having a bra on, but in this situation, you're glad you're not wearing one. You arch into him when he circles his finger around your nipple before his fingers tug at the hem of your shirt.

"Can I take this off?" he whispers, and you nod your head quickly, shifting so that he can take it off, both of you careful to not hit the sheets hanging above the bed. His shirt comes next, and he carefully tosses it to the side before rolling you onto your back.

He hovers over you, and he just stares. You try to shrink under his gaze, but when you move your hands, he catches them, intertwining his fingers with yours. "What?"

"I just can't believe it," he breathes. "I've always thought about this, and it's just hard to believe that it's actually happening."

"You've always thought about me?" you ask, your voice quietly.

He nods. "There was never a day that went by in college that I wasn't thinking about you," he says. "Even when I was playing on the other side of the country, you'd always pop back up in my mind."

He meets your lips again, and you wrap your arms around his neck as he fits himself between your legs. He breaks away from your lips, planting soft kisses down your cheek until he gets to your neck, continuing the trail. The only thing the two of you can focus on is yourselves, the sounds of everything around you fading away.

You spend the rest of the night exploring each other in more ways than one with nothing in between the two of you, making up for the time lost, and you can't help but find yourself content with happiness, so much of it that you feel like you could burst any second.

You both learn each other's tells, memorizing every sound you both make as your hands dance over each other's skin. You don't even go all the way, but it doesn't matter, the intimacy is still there either way, and you feel your love for him growing with every second.

You both always find your way back to each other's lips like it's home, falling into each other's arms like it's second nature like it's something you've always done.

"I love you." Hearing those words makes many things run through your body at once, and the one at the front is joy. Your smile can't be wiped off your face as you hold his gaze, rubbing your thumb over his cheek, knowing that this moment is something you'll remember for the rest of your life.

"I love you, too, Daiki." It's out there now, something that you've been thinking about for the longest, and something that you were realistically afraid to admit. But at this moment, you have no reason to be scared because you're in the arms of someone whose love for you is just as strong as your love for them.

And you couldn't imagine being anywhere else.

END OF FRESHMEN YEAR, SUMMER BEFORE SOPHMORE YEAR

This is probably the worst thing you have ever done. A party. You went to a party without Mia because she had something to do and because Aomine asked you to. You're literally out of your element, never stepping foot in a party or any general direction of one.

You have friends, but they aren't exactly the ones that are out at every party they can find. He had asked you to come, and here you are. You've been here for about ten minutes, and you already want to leave, but you felt like you should find Aomine before you do.

You maneuver through the people, and you decide that getting some fresh air sounds like the best idea in the world. You step outside, slumping in relief that you're not squished anymore and that you can breathe. You're about to take a step forward when you hear voices, one of them sounding familiar, and you follow the direction of them, recognizing one of the people as Aomine.

They have their backs to you, and they haven't heard you yet. You're relieved that you've finally found him so you can get out of here, but when you're about to move, you hear your name. Aomine doesn't respond, and the guy lightly taps him on the shoulder, saying your name again, and all Aomine does is hum, showing him that he heard him.

"Why're you always around her?" he asks, and you can't move, you're frozen in your spot as your heart beats rapidly in your ears. "She's the longest girl you've had around."

Aomine hasn't looked at him, but you don't want to look anywhere else. "Don't fucking worry about it," he spits. "She wouldn't get off my fucking back until I told her to fuck off."

You feel your heart drop, and you don't even know how to react, but what you do know is that you need to get out of here. The empty cup you had in your hand hits the floor as you turn around, making your way through the crowd and out the door.

You try to breathe, a poor attempt at composing yourself, but it doesn't work, the tears running down your face. You fucking knew it. You knew there was no way he'd feel the same, and he's probably been waiting for the longest time to tell you how he really feels.

You feel the necklace around your neck, and you quickly take it off, throwing it onto the ground as you try to keep your cries down before making your way home.

"Dude, she definitely heard us talking about her." The guy laughs, and Aomine frowns as he stops to look at him. He saw you walking away, and he tried to chase after you, but his words stop him.

"The fuck are you talking about?" he asks, walking back towards him.

"She just heard you say that you told her to fuck off." He's laughing a little harder now, and Aomine looks at him like he's crazy before it dawns on him. He wasn't talking about you; he was barely listening to this guy, but he doesn't know how he missed your name.

And then he realizes that you're probably walking away right now, and he quickly races through the crowd, but when he gets outside to the front yard, you're nowhere to be seen. He feels himself starting to panic because he doesn't know where you're staying and he doesn't have your number, and he's about to be across the country in a few days. He swears loudly, and when he looks down at the ground, he sees the necklace he got you.

He sighs heavily as he picks it up, and he doesn't even realize that he's crying until he feels the tears on his face.

PRESENT DAY

You're scrolling through channels as you sit on the couch, wondering if you should just go to sleep instead. It's pouring outside, so you and Mia closed the store early in order to avoid the storm, and sometimes they put you to sleep. It's dark outside, around eight-thirty, and you really don't have anything else to do.

You stop on a random channel as you look through your phone, and you frown when Mia calls you. "Is something wrong?" you ask quickly.

"What are you watching right now?" You look up, seeing you're watching some celebrity news show, something you could care less about. "Turn it off," she demands when you tell you, and you scoff softly.

"Mia, seriously, what is going on?" You're getting worried, and you keep looking at the TV as you listen to her talk.

"Just turn it off."

"Okay, okay," you say, grabbing the remote, but right as you go to turn it off, you hear Aomine's name. You look up, seeing his picture on the screen and you can't really hear what's being said because Mia's screaming in your ear. But the next picture that comes up explains why Mia's yelling. It's Aomine, but he's kissing someone else.

You don't know what to feel, and you fall back against the couch, and Mia calls your name when you get quiet. "Talk to me, what's wrong?" she asks, but she answers her own question soon after. "Fuck, you saw it, didn't you?"

There's nothing running through you. No anger, sadness. There's absolutely nothing. "Screw it, I'm coming over there right now--"

"No, no. You don't have to do that, I'm fine." You feel like your words are a lie, but there's really nothing wrong. But you can't stop staring at the screen. "Mia, you seriously do not have to come over here. I'm okay." You know she doesn't really believe you, but then you come to a sudden realization.

You hear a quick succession of knocks on your door, and you quickly make your way over, and you snatch the door open as soon as you look through the peephole. "Aomine, what the hell?" He's soaked, his clothes, his hair, everything. "Did you run here?" you ask incredulously as you hang up the phone.

"The place I was at wasn't far from here," he answers. "I can tell that you already saw the picture," he starts, and you shake your head, trying to speak, but he beats you to it. "But it's not what it looks like, I swear. I didn't do anything, she somehow got passed security and got to me. I didn't--I would never--"

"Okay, Daiki, relax," you say, pulling him into the house so you can close the door.

Aomine can't even begin to think, only one thing on his mind as he falls to his knees in front of you. "I can't lose you again, you have to believe me, okay? I swear, I wouldn't do that to you. Everything was happening so fast, and--" He cuts himself off, feeling like he can't breathe, and you move down to his level, cupping his face in your hands.

"Daiki, stop. You're making yourself go into a panic." He can't. He wants to but the idea that you could kick him out and end it all in a second scares him. "I believe you." He actually feels himself stop breathing as he freezes, his eyes wide as he looks at you. "I believe you, Daiki," you repeat, and he feels like he could cry.

"Are you serious?" he whispers, and you nod your head, and he can't control his body when he falls against you. "Thank fuck, I was so fucking scared." Now he actually is crying, but he's so overwhelmed, he doesn't know what else to do.

"Come on. You're freezing." He stands up when you do, and you guide him to the bathroom by your hand, and he realizes how cold he actually is. As you're running the water, he realizes how tired he actually is. After everything happened, he knew he had to get to you as soon as possible. Dylan offered to give him a ride, but he didn't even respond, he just took off.

"Daiki." He looks down to see you standing in front of him, and he helps you slip his shirt off, which is practically stuck to his skin, and he sheds the rest of his clothes as you turn the water off.

"You have to stay," he mumbles, and you chuckle softly.

"I'm not going anywhere, I'll be right back." You hang up his clothes so that they can dry before going to get some towels. He's resting his head against the lip of the tub when you come back, and his eyes are closed. You call his name softly, and he barely opens his eyes as he grabs your arm.

"You're supposed to be in here with me."

"Daiki, we can't fit," you laugh, but he doesn't want to hear it, pulling you closer to the tub. You give in easily, and when you finally get in, he holds you like you might leave any second.

"I'm sorry," he says against your skin.

"What are you apologizing for?"

"I shouldn't have let it happen, I didn't even kiss her back."

"Daiki, it's not your fault. Stop it, okay?" You rest your forehead against his, and he sighs heavily as he closes his eyes.

"I thought I was gonna lose you again. I didn't think you would wanna hear anything I had to say," he says, and you move back slightly to look him in the eyes. "There's no one else I want."

"I know, Daiki," you say, resting your hand on his neck. "I trust you." His eyes widen a little at your statement, and he straightens a little more. "You're the only one that I want."

He seems to sigh in relief, giving you a small smile as he lets his head fall back. "Are you feeling okay?" you ask softly, resting the back of your hand on his forehead. He doesn't seem to have a fever, and he's not shivering anymore, but you frown when he shakes his head. "What's wrong?"

He doesn't respond, and you're actually starting to get concerned, but then the smirk that he was trying to hold back appears on his face. You roll your eyes before leaning towards him and kissing him once. He doesn't let you break away for too long, bringing his hand to the back of your head so that he can meet your lips again.

You giggle softly when he smiles against your lips, and you pull away as you give him a feigned scolding look. "I feel better now."

"Mm-hm, of course, you do." You offer to wash his hair which he gladly lets you do, and you both have to do a lot of moving around, but you get it done anyway. You can tell he's tired, but you don't blame him, so you take him to your room once you guys dry off.

"Aren't you tired?" You can barely get the words out because he barely lets your lips leave his, and all he does is hum an answer. You feel shivers run up your spine when he trails his fingers down your back, the sensation making you arch into him, and he splays his hand across your back to keep you near him.

He grabs the back of your knee, moving your leg so that it's resting on him before his hand trails down to the crease of your thigh. "You're so beautiful, you know that?" You would respond, but his fingers dance through your folds before they circle at your clit.

He shifts so that you're on your back, and he holds himself up with his elbow, keeping his lips on yours. "Every part of you is," he mumbles as he lets his fingers slide into you. He kisses down your neck, continuing to rub at your clit with his thumb as he slides his fingers in and out of you.

He flicks his tongue over your nipple before closing his mouth around it, and he groans softly when you moan, his mouth still touching your skin as he moves to the other one. He uses his knee to gently hold your leg open, and he smirks when you grab at his wrist.

"Daiki," you gasp, your legs trembling with every press of his fingers on that sensitive spot inside of you. He lets his face hover over yours, that grin still on his face as he meets your lips for a sloppy kiss.

"What, baby?" he questions, speeding up the pace of his fingers. "You close?" You nod quickly, your eyes fluttering open and closed, and he kisses you as he rubs at both bundles of nerves, bringing you to that high.

He swallows your moans as you cum, your nails digging into his arm as your back arches off the bed. He pulls away so you can catch your breath, but he doesn't stop moving his fingers, only relenting when you whine softly. He rolls you both over after he licks his fingers clean, and you wince at the sensitivity of your core when he helps you put your leg over him.

He rubs his hands all over your body as he meets your lips once again like it's something that he can't help. He cups your ass in his palms when you grind against him, and you both moan into each other's mouth.

You pull away, lifting yourself up, and he holds onto your hips, his fingers digging into your skin when you grab his length, giving it a few strokes. "Are you sure?" he asks when you raise yourself up, positioning the tip at your hole.

You nod quickly, and he watches you sink down onto him, a guttural groan coming from his chest as your tight heat surrounds him. Your hips start out with a slow roll as you get used to the stretch, and he lets you take the lead as he watches every part of your body.

He grabs your hands so that he can pull you back down towards him as you continue to roll your hips. "You're so fucking beautiful."

He smiles against your lips when you chuckle softly. "You already said that."

"I know, and I'm gonna keep saying it," he murmurs, tilting his chin up slightly to slide his lips against yours lazily as he squeezes your hands. "I love you so much."

"I love you, too." He lets his hands run down your body before they grab at your hips again, molding to them as you move, your movements increasing the closer you reach that peak. He plants his feet on the bed, grabbing your hips before he fucks up into you, both of your moans echoing off the walls.

You kiss each other until you can't, too focused on your impending pleasure about to surface, and he holds you close to him, sweat coating your bodies. "I'm gonna cum, 'Mine," you warn, and he doesn't stop moving, only increasing his accuracy and ramming into that spongy spot inside of you.

"I know, baby," he breathes, his eyes on your face, wanting to watch you fall over that edge again. "Cum for me, baby. Please." It only takes a few more thrusts for that knot to snap, and you let your forehead fall against his as your orgasm runs through you.

He cums right after you do, your walls clamping around him the final straw, and he groans as he spills inside of you, rolling your hips with his hands as you ride out the high. You let your head fall into his neck as you both recover from the aftershocks, holding each other close.

He feels you slide off of him right as the fatigue starts to hit him, and he gives you one last kiss, pulling you into him. "I love you," he says again, his eyelids feeling terribly heavy.

"I love you, too, Daiki," you echo, and he smiles as he finally lets sleep take over.

When you wake up, you notice that you're being moved, and you crack your eyes open to see that Aomine's getting back in the bed. "Where'd you go?" you ask around a yawn, and he wraps his arm around you as you snuggle back into him.

"I went to get something." You look at him to see what he's talking about, and you lift your head up when you see him hold up a necklace with his name on it. "I was gonna give this to you a little while later, but after everything that happened last night..." He trails off, and you sit up on your elbow. "I thought it would be a good time to give it to you now."

You open your mouth to say something, but suddenly that realization you had last night comes into your mind, and it makes you hesitate. "Daiki," you start, and he gives you a questioning look. "You're gonna be leaving soon, right? You're gonna be on the other side of the country."

You forgot about that fact. You had been so caught up in everything that it didn't even hit you until last night, and so much has happened between you two, but it still makes you worried. "Yeah, I am," he says, and you look at the necklace. "But, not for much longer." You frown as your attention goes back to him. "I'm getting traded to the team here."

Your eyes widen. "Are you serious?" He nods. "But, Daiki, our team sucks," you say, and he chuckles as he shrugs.

"I don't care. It'll help the team for the draft anyway, so it was worth it." You don't say anything, and he has both of you sit up so he can put the necklace on you. "And sure I've made friends on my current team, but I can always do that again."

He knows you're having doubts about him going to a new team, so he's trying to make your feel better about it. He's not necessarily uprooting his whole life or anything because you're his whole life now. He wraps his arms around you, and you lean back against him as you grab at the necklace.

"Do you still have the one you gave me in college?" you ask after a few minutes of silence, and he smiles at you as he lifts his hand. You gasp softly, seeing it dangling from his hand.

"I found it outside of the party that night," he tells you before putting that necklace on you, and you hold it in between your fingers as you look at it, realizing how much you missed it. "The good thing about getting this one back is that I found out it came with a matching ring."

You freeze, and you look up to see his hand moving in front of you, a ring in between his fingers. "Aomine."

"Don't worry, it's just a promise ring," he clarifies. "You could say that I was being optimistic when I got it. Hoping that one day I would be able to see you again and apologize for everything." You look at it, at a loss for words, looking at Aomine when he starts talking again. "You don't have to take it, but it's a promise that I'll be a better man for you than I was before. And that I'll never make you feel like that again."

You take a deep breath, feeling tears about to form in your eyes, so you will them away. You hold your hand out, and he smiles widely as he slides the ring on your finger. Your laugh is loud in the room as he peppers kisses all over your face, making you fall back onto the bed and he follows.

"I love you so much," he says, giving you a firm kiss, and you give him a fond smile.

"I love you so much." And for the first time, in a long time, you feel like everything is how it's supposed to be.

[sexy-monster-fucker]

Holding Your Hand

The Grabber x Reader

requested by @blxckestheart : Can I get "Don't even pretend not to know how incredibly sexy and amazing you are." & "I'm so scared that you'll never want to hold my hand again... and your hand is the only hand I want to hold." Please? (Love Confessions)

warnings: Stockholm (obviously)

~~~

It had to have been months that you'd been locked in the basement. Shockingly enough, he had not killed you yet. Before taking you most of his victims were rather close together. But you were the only one taken for months now.

He had grown to like you. Allowing you upstairs to shower under his watch. A few times he rented a movie and invited you upstairs with him. You never really had a good home life, so this was slowly starting to feel like home. It shouldn't. You had been taken away from your everyday life in a flash by some creepy middle aged man. You never thought anyone in your town was capable of doing something like that.

Once he allowed you to become closer to him, he grew softer towards you. He would hold you on the mattress until you fell asleep. Holding your hand while the two of you watched a movie. Complimenting you while he watched you shower. You shouldn't feel safe here.

You sat on the mattress, tears slowly falling from your eyes. The two of you had gotten into a fight. Nothing physical. You got too in your own head about what had happened to those little boys...

"YOU KILLED KIDS," you screamed at him, "AND YOU BROUGHT ME HERE TO KILL ME TOO!"

"I don't appreciate how you're talking to me," he wore only the bottom half of the mask that was always on his face.

"Oh-ho-ho, yeah? I don't appreciate being taken away from my home and getting thrown in some guy whose name I don't even know's basement either! Guess we both have problems, don't we?" you scoffed turning your back to him.

He was silent for a moment. You could hear his breathing pick up. He was trying to not get angry. "To hear you talk, I took you away from a bad home. Funny how one minute I'm the best thing that happened to you, but the next I'm back to 'some guy.'," he grumbled standing from the squatted position he had been in.

"Shut up," you were fighting back tears.

"You can sit down here and cry for weeks for all I care. Mommy and Daddy didn't care to come looking for you, and they sure won't after all this time," he slightly raised his voice.

You slumped over as tears fell violently from your eyes. "That was-" you sniffled, "Uncalled for... you... you're so cruel." Your hand covered your mouth to fight back your sobs.

He scoffed and left the room. Locking the door behind him.

... What he said was extremely hurtful. You had always said that you could disappear and never come back and your parents wouldn't have cared. You did not realize you were right until he had said that.

It had been over a day since the fight happened. You wondered if he was gonna let you sit down here and starve to death. He usually sat with you more hours of the day then not. But not now.

You found yourself holding on to the sweet things he would do with you. Mostly the way his large hands held yours. It was almost like your hands were made for one another. Your fingers interlocked perfectly. You were scared he’d never want to hold your hand again. That made you cry even harder.

You heard the giant metal door begin to open. You jumped slightly. You knew he’d still be mad, he didn’t let things go that easily. He wore the whole mask now. Tiny horns adorned his head. He didn’t speak, just stared at you. Your eyes were puffy and swollen from all the crying. He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. He folded his arms and leaned onto the closed door. The two of you sat in silence just staring. You were relieved he even wanted to be in the room with you.

"Albert," he muttered breaking the silence.

"What?"

"That's my name... you said you didn't know my name... and I guess I never told you,” his arms fell to his side. He walked over slowly, joining you on the bed. His hand went to your leg rubbing small circles with his thumb on it. “I… I’m sorry for what I said. I was angry,” guilt painted his tone.

“I’m sorry too,” you mumbled looking at him. You leaned onto his shoulder, your hands joining his on your leg. Your fingers intertwined. “I was scared…. scared you’d never want to hold my hand again,” you admitted staring at your fingers wrapped together. He chuckled, “Your hand is the only one I want to hold.”

The two of you sat in a comfortable silence enjoying each other’s company for a few moments. You giggled to yourself. “What?” He questioned. “You don’t look like an Albert,” you snickered. He blew his breath out, “I hate my name.” You poked at his arm, “Eh it’s cute.” His face fell into his free hand. You sat from leaning on him into a stretch. “I’m sick of this basement, Al,” you groaned.

“Do you want to shower?” He offered. “I probably need one,” you stood up. “I love when you need a shower,” you could see him smile with his eyes. You laughed at his remark. His hands went to either side of your hips, “Don’t even pretended to not know how incredibly sexy and amazing you are, love.” You smiled and leaned back into him.

The two of you headed up stairs and he—who you now knew as Albert—drew you a bath. The two of you were once again enjoying each other’s company.”

~~~

[END]

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this consider following me or joining my tag list! Inbox is always open, thank you for your support! <3

tags: @theroadreader ~ @purplelupins ~ @heif ~ @d4dd7sgirl ~ @lucyhammershit

[ashdreams2023]

OMG idk if this is too much to ask, but could you do like a Loki x Marc Spector x Reader where, Loki meets Marc and realizes that that the reader and him are dating? And Loki catches them having aloneeee time, and he gets turned on by that? 😏😏

You can join

Marc spector x reader x Loki

Warning: vague smut and mention of Steven

When marc visited the tower, Loki was one of the first to greet him.

He was mainly interested in the big giant bird head moon god standing behind him.

"Interesting, and what abilities do you have?"

"Well, I can’t be killed easily and there’s these" marc pointed at his chest where the crescent moon was.

"Marc!" Your voice came out of nowhere.

"Oh hey baby" Loki took a double check, did he just call you baby?

It was confirmed when you jumped into Marc’s arms, then his mask was removed letting him kiss you.

Loki was stunned to say the least.

"Oh Loki! you met Marc?" Loki looked between you two like a lost confused puppy.

"Sorry, I should’ve mentioned that I’m also visiting my partner"

Like is speechless, he didn’t know what to say…at least he could agree you both look good together.

Marc was quite handsome.

Loki dismissed himself after that introduction, not completely sure how to feel about the situation but keeping to himself.

Later that day he was asked to go call you both for dinner or else everyone is gonna leave.

What he didn’t expect was to enter your room with Marc’s muscular back being the first thing he saw then the sound of your voice whimpering underneath him breaking the air in the room.

"Ah shit" Marc cussed when he turned around, his face was ready and hid chest was sweaty. You were underneath him with your chest rising up and down, and from the angle Loki was standing at he could see that Marc just pulled out from you and was just starting to lift your leg up.

"Oh goodness, Loki!" You used your elbows to sit down, completely nude.

All the blood in Loki’s body was rushing up his face and down his dick, he didn’t know what got into him but he just froze.

"Is he just gonna stand there?" Said Marc.

You looked at them both before noticing the clear plug on Loki’s crotch, you sighed in relief.

"Marc" you pulled him down and whispered in his ear, Marc nodded his head, not minding what you suggested at all.

"Hey, god of mischievous right?" Loki blinked at Marc then needed "what if you join us, double the fun I say"

"Yeah Loki, join us" you said.

Maybe it was the air or was it because he was simply horny and his dick was the one who lead him there, but either way he closed the door behind him.

When he reached the bed, he undressed him and you took his hard dick into your mouth and sucked him a little making him groan.

Then Marc pulled him on the bed beside you.

Loki then smirked, this was an opportunity he wasn’t going to waste.

The night felt vivid, between you three getting on top of each other and marking the sweet soft skin of the other.

There was a point where Loki and marc were trying to dominate each other but ended up both underneath you instead.

All you remember was waking up with both men on each side of you butt naked and their butts feeling sore…including yours.

"Well that was some visit" Marc stated "Steven was kind screaming when you what happened"

"Poor baby, I hope he covered his eyes"

"Yes but not his ears" you both busted laughing while Loki stared yet again in confession.

"I’ll explain everything later I promise" you caressed Loki’s confused face.



[taeyongdoyoung]

summary: falling for your best friend is never easy. but what is even more difficult is when the guy your best friend is interested in has a crush on you. what starts as a chance meeting in a coffeeshop turns into a complicated game that might just last eternally...

pairing: soobin x beomgyu x reader

genre: romcom, idiots friends to lovers, the slightest hints of angst

warnings: unrequited love (but not really), repressed feelings, ambiguous sexuality, flirting, swearing, matchmaking, implied social anxiety, friend dates, lying, hugging, drinking (alcohol consumption), PS5 reference, flip-flop attack, tickling, playful banter, just a bit of jealousy, some crying, confessions, holding hands, kissing

author’s note: the title is inspired by the weeknd’s how do i make you love me? and the beginning of the plot is connected to my obsession with barista!beomgyu x customer!soobin

word count: 4.7k

part two

Ever since you could remember, you and Soobin had been inseparable. He was your childhood friend and everything about him was perfect. He was kind, smart, funny, gorgeous and insanely tall. The only problem was that you had been harbouring feelings for him. But you had to keep your crush a secret at all costs. Because you were fairly certain that Soobin would reject you. You knew that he wouldn't refuse to be your friend anymore, no, he was too nice for that. However, you didn't want to make things awkward. So, you tried your best to bottle things up.

But everything changed one Tuesday afternoon. You and Soobin didn't have lectures so you decided to enjoy some coffee at this new place you'd heard a lot about from your friends Yeonjun and Wooyoung. You and Soobin wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Once you had ordered your drinks, you two found a quiet table to have a chat.

"The barista's pretty cute," Soobin observed.

"He's alright, I guess" you shrugged. Having Soobin as your best friend and crush meant all other guys paled in comparison. At least in your eyes.

"Are you kidding? Look at his long black hair! And his sparkly eyes! He is quite lovely," Soobin exclaimed.

You had never explicitly discussed the issue of sexuality with your best friend but you were fairly certain he was mostly into other guys. Which was one of the reasons why you held the firm belief he would reject you. And you were okay with that, really. In fact, you valued him so much as a friend that you tried to be as supportive as possible whenever he opened up about being interested in someone.

"Why don't you talk to him, then?" you suggested, without thinking.

"Me? I will just stumble all over my words and make a fool of myself," Soobin shuddered at the thought. And he was probably right. Despite being ridiculously handsome and sweet, Soobin had the tendency of being really shy and nervous when talking with strangers.

"How about you slide a note for him in the tip jar?"

"Forget I mentioned anything," Soobin shook his head, obviously too timid to actually act on his infatuation with the barista.

"I don't think I can do that," you teased and got up from your chair.

"What are you doing?" your best friend hiss-whispered.

"Relax, I'm doing you a favour," you chuckled confidently and began walking towards the counter.

Soobin looked completely mortified and covered his face with his giant hands to potentially stop himself from witnessing what was about to unfold.

"My friend thinks you're cute," you blurted out in front of the barista. Why was it so easy to say that to a complete stranger but you couldn't possibly picture being so bold about your own feelings in front of Soobin? Life was weird like that.

"Is that some new flirting tactic I haven't heard about?" the guy laughed.

"No, I'm serious. My friend's right over...there," you pointed at the table where you'd left Soobin only to find it empty. Your coward of a best friend had ditched you! You couldn't believe it!

"Is your friend...invisible?" the barista was amused.

"I'm sooo gonna kill him after this," you vowed in vain. "Actually, you know what? I'll give you his number," you started writing down Soobin's phone on a napkin. "The perfect revenge."

"Are you seriously hitting on me for him?" the barista blinked in shock upon realizing that the number seemed credible enough.

"You can thank me later," you smirked. What had gotten into you? Helping Soobin find a boyfriend was surely not the best idea to help you get over your feelings for him.

"So...you don't think I'm cute?"

"Huh?"

"You said that your friend finds me cute. How about you?" the barista smiled smugly.

"I mean, you're not so bad to look at," you teased. You had the feeling he was the type of guy who knew well enough that he was pretty. And that he would use that to his own advantage.

"Ouch," the barista placed a hand on his heart, feigning to be hurt.

"Promise you'll text my friend?"

"Do I get to see you again?"

What kind of a question was that? What did it matter?

"If you get along with Soobin well, why not? We're best friends, we come as a package deal," you joked.

"So that's his name," the barista mused out loud. "I'm Beomgyu, by the way."

"I know, it says so on your...uniform."

"You spend a lot of time staring at my chest?"

Was he flirting?! You had told him that your bestie was interested in him and he was flirting with you? Something didn't add up.

"Bye, Beomgyu," you laughed, heading towards the door, because you were intent on finding Soobin who had so rudely escaped the scene.

"I didn't catch your name!" he yelled after you.

"Cause I never said it," you giggled on your way out.

"Choi Soobin, how dare you leave me alone in such a life-changing situation?" you scolded your friend upon locating him a couple of metres away from the coffeeshop.

"What was I supposed to do? Watch helplessly as you made a disastrous attempt to play matchmaker?"

"It won't be disastrous if he texts you," you responded mysteriously.

"Please, don't tell me you gave my number to a complete stranger."

"Jeez, Soobin, live a little! The guy seemed decent and you were the one who said he's cute. I don't get why you're acting so upset about it."

"I'm not acting, I am upset. Why did you do that without my permission? You know how awkward I get in unfamiliar contexts."

"I just wanted to do something nice for you," you sighed. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

Suddenly, Soobin's phone buzzed with a text from an unknown number that read the following:

Hi, cute barista here. 😏 Your friend gave me your number, hope that's okay. My shift ends in two hours, we could watch a movie if you'd like. 🍿

Soobin excitedly showed you the message.

"Wow, that was quick," you smiled.

"I don't want to know if you threatened him into texting me."

"Hey, I'm not that scary! What are you waiting for? Text him back!"

"What am I supposed to say?" Soobin asked nervously.

"Just be yourself."

"How about: Hello, it is I, Soobin. That is perfectly fine. A movie sounds agreeable?

"Why do you sound like an awkward Jane Austen character? Who the fuck says agreeable over text?" you groaned. "Give me that."

Soobin handed over his phone and you quickly typed in:

Hello, cute barista. 😉 I'm Soobin and I'm game for the movie. 5pm? 

"Why did you add the wink emoji?" Soobin cried out, feeling embarrassed.

"So that he knows your intentions from the start."

"I myself don't know my intentions," Soobin sighed miserably.

"Just...go out and have fun. Don't overthink it."

"Easy for you to say. You're the type of person who would approach a complete stranger without hesitation. You're...confident."

You were also the type of person who didn't have the courage to talk to your best friend about your feelings for him.

"I was only confident because I was speaking on your behalf. Have you ever seen me flirting with a stranger for my own benefit?"

"That's because your standards are too high. You never fall for anyone."

Well, the first part of what Soobin said was true. Your standards were exactly 1.85 m high. As for the second part...Soobin didn't have to know you had fallen too hard. For him.

"What's wrong?" you immediately asked the grim-looking Soobin when he walked into the apartment you two were sharing.

"I don't know, you tell me," he snapped at you. You had never seen him so angry before so you were trying to remember what you had done wrong.

"Didn't the date with Beomgyu go well?" you tried to guess.

"It was going fine at first. We watched a movie and that was fun. But after that, when we actually started getting to know each other, he kept asking me questions about you. You weren't even there and I felt like I was third-wheeling on my own date. I felt so pathetic."

"Nooo, Soob," you rushed to give your friend a comforting hug. "I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding. Beomgyu was probably just asking out of politeness. You can't give up yet."

Soobin shook his head, disagreeing.

"I don't think he's interested in me. He probably texted me to try and get closer to you."

You refused to believe that. You really wanted this to work out so you could forget about your feelings for Soobin. Only you didn't anticipate they would grow stronger.

"Give him another chance. Did you two talk about a second date?"

"He...actually asked if the three of us can hang out."

"He didn't!" you exclaimed in surprise.

"Only he did."

"And what did you tell him?"

"I agreed. You know how bad I am at saying no."

"Right. How about...I tag along but then come up with some excuse to leave you two alone?" you suggested.

"He'll only ask about you if you're not there so what's the point?" Soobin complained. "Don't get me wrong, I love telling people how awesome you are but why go on a date with someone who's not even into me?"

"Then, let's not call it a date until you're certain Beomgyu's interested in you. For now, focus on making a new friend, yeah?"

"I guess that's reasonable enough," Soobin nodded. "Sorry for taking it out on you earlier. I know you were just trying to do something nice for me."

"It's alright. I shouldn't have approached Beomgyu without getting your approval first and I realize that now."

"I always feel much better after talking to you," Soobin nudged your shoulder playfully.

"So do I," you replied. Only you felt quite worried you'd started a game you weren't sure you could win. And you hated losing.

You were unfortunate enough to agree to this hang out with Soobin and Beomgyu. And in an ideal world, you would have been the third wheel. But shockingly enough, Beomgyu seemed intent on flirting with you for the most part of your time together. And no matter how hard you tried to include Soobin in the conversation, it was increasingly difficult. This was not at all what you had in mind when you'd given Soobin's number to the cute barista. You could tell that Soobin appreciated your efforts to make him feel comfortable, but they were mostly ineffectual because Beomgyu wasn't capable of taking a hint. Although Soobin later confided in you that he'd had a fun time, you could tell he was lying. So, you decided to talk to Beomgyu one-on-one and make things clear. You visited him at the coffeeshop where you'd first met at an hour when you were sure Soobin was busy.

"We need to talk," you approached him.

"Can you wait like...ten minutes till my lunch break?"

"Oh, right. Sorry."

You had been so determined to fix it all by yourself that you hadn't considered the fact you were interrupting Beomgyu's work. You felt a bit guilty about being so impolite but soon enough, you forgot all about it when you remembered how Beomgyu kept expressing interest in you despite being aware you had been trying to set him up with Soobin. Everything had turned so messy...

Eventually, Beomgyu's lunch break arrived and he sat down next to you on one of the tables at the coffeeshop.

"I'll have a sandwich while we talk, if that's alright."

"Oh, sure, go ahead," you replied, once again consumed by guilt for troubling him at his workplace.

"So, what was so urgent?"

"Um, I don't mean to sound insensitive but Soobin was really hurt after the last time we went out."

"Did he tell you so himself?" Beomgyu inquired.

"Well, no, but I know him well enough to know when he's hurting. Being his best friend and all that. I would appreciate it if you refrained from hurting him further."

"Are you implying that me flirting with you hurt him?" Beomgyu chuckled.

"How can you admit that so carelessly?"

"Why shouldn't I? I like you, what's so wrong with that?"

Oh, no. This wasn't supposed to happen. This was not what you planned.

"Beomgyu...I appreciate it but the truth is I have a crush on someone else."

"That's alright," Beomgyu shrugged. "I can wait as long as necessary."

You felt a bit unsettled by his ominous words but decided against dwelling on them.

"I genuinely thought you and Soobin would hit it off. I'm sorry for assuming..."

"Nah, don't be, you were right. Soobin's cool. And if it'll make you feel better, I'll stop flirting with you. In front of him."

What was that supposed to mean? Did Beomgyu intend to continue flirting with you behind Soobin's back?! Before you could open your mouth to ask, he spoke again:

"Do you want to hang out again? The three of us?"

"Yeah," you surprised yourself with your truthful answer.

"Great. It's a date."

"Don't call it that unless you mean it," you warned him.

"Who said I didn't mean it?"

But just as you were about to beg him to elaborate on that, Beomgyu hurriedly informed you that his lunch break had ended and he had to go back to work. You felt that you had just made things more complicated than needed.

The next time you hung out with the two boys, Beomgyu kept his promise. He was extremely attentive to every word Soobin was saying and he even went as far as holding your best friend's hands and hugging him every once in a while. Soobin looked really happy about that but there was also a hint of confusion clouding his beautiful features. At one point, Beomgyu went to the bathroom, leaving you alone with Soobin at the bar.

"It's going great, right?" you beamed, trying to sound encouraging.

"Well, yeah, but Beomgyu's been sending mixed signals, don't you think?" Soobin observed. "Last time you were the only one on his mind and now he's all over me. Don't you find it strange?"

"Nah, don't worry about it," you waved him off. "Just enjoy his company. He really seems to like you."

As the drinks kept coming, Soobin was feeling more relaxed around Beomgyu. Beomgyu was becoming even clingier than usual. Meanwhile, it was becoming more and more difficult to watch them getting closer. You genuinely wanted to be happy for them but the alcohol was making you more depressed than usual. You realized that your initial idea that this whole thing would help you get over Soobin was full of shit. You felt more and more jealous and...left out. Why was it so hard to make someone love you? Not that you'd ever tried.

"Guys, I'm not feeling so great," you revealed a half-truth. "I'll just head home early but you two should have more fun."

"Are you sure?" Soobin asked.

"Don't worry about me," you smiled weakly, rushing out of the bar.

Finally. Some fresh air. Away from-

"Let me walk you home," you heard Beomgyu's voice coming from behind you.

Seriously? There was no escape.

"You really don't have to," you insisted. "Besides, you can't leave Soobin."

"That someone you have a crush on...it's Soobin, isn't it?" Beomgyu correctly guessed the one thing you thought you were great at keeping secret. And he had only known you for a few weeks. Meanwhile, Soobin knew you since your childhood days. You wondered if he had figured it out but decided not to bring it up for your sake.

"Pfft, no, what are you talking about?" you tried to deny it and even laughed. It all sounded so...fake. No one would buy that.

"You don't have to lie to me," Beomgyu insisted. "I won't tell him if that's what you're worried about."

That was it. You broke down and started crying. Beomgyu approached you slowly and wrapped his arms around you. His hands were running comforting circles round your back but his words were pure venom:

"Instead of involving me in this mess, you should have just told Soobin how you felt."

"I don't regret involving you," you admitted. "You're an amazing person who deserves to be with someone as nice as Soobin."

"Well, you don't get to pick and choose who ends up with who."

"You're right, I shouldn't have tried to play matchmaker."

"What's done is done," Beomgyu sighed. "To be honest, I'm not interested in dating right now. But I do want to continue hanging out with you two. What do you say? Friends?"

"Friends," you sniffled in agreement. "I'm really tired, Gyu, I'll just go home. Please, don't follow me and go back inside. Soobin needs your company more than I do."

Whether Beomgyu believed your lie or not, you weren't sure. Nevertheless, you appreciated the fact that he did as you asked.

The next morning you were greeted by a surprise breakfast prepared by the one and only Soobin.

"What's all this?" you asked sleepily.

"It's...sorry for not walking you home last night. Do you feel better?"

"I feel great. And blessed with such a thoughtful best friend," you grinned and lifted yourself on your toes to kiss his cheek.

Soobin's face flushed with colour and he pushed the plate with the pancakes closer to you.

"What did you and Beomgyu talk about when he ran after you?" Soobin inquired curiously.

"He didn't tell you?" you were overjoyed to find out Gyu had kept his word and hadn't revealed the secret about your feelings for Soobin to your best friend.

"Nah, no matter how many drinks I gave him, he didn't say a word."

"Well, I have bad news and good news. Which one do you want to hear first?"

"Um...the bad one?"

"The bad news is Beomgyu isn't interested in dating right now."

"And the good one?"

"He still wants to be our friend and just...chill together."

"Oh," Soobin uttered laconically. You needed more than that.

"So...how do you feel about all this?"

"I mean, I guess it's better than nothing. I'm quite fond of Beomgyu as you've probably noticed already. But I'd rather continue seeing him than lose a friend."

Little did Soobin know that you felt the same way about him.

Around two months after you'd first met Beomgyu, he had become an indispensable part of your friend group. The three of you now hung out so often that you barely remembered what life without him felt like.

"Guys are the worst!" you exclaimed. "Why would you pick a PS5 over someone you're dating?"

"It's just a hypothetical situation that Yeonjun asked me about," Soobin explained.

"Not all guys are like Soobin and Yeonjun. I would pick the person I'm dating," Beomgyu added. "If I was interested in dating one day."

"Hey, why are you siding with Y/N?" Soobin complained. "What happened to bros over h-"

"If you value your life, you won't finish that sentence, Choi Soobin!" you threatened and started chasing your best friend around the room with a flip-flop.

"Gyuuu, save me!" Soobin bemoaned his fate dramatically.

"Nah, man, you're on your own," Beomgyu shrugged while eating his chips and enjoying the show.

When you had successfully caught your bestie in a playful chokehold, he surrendered.

"Okay, okay, I was wrong, have mercy."

"That's what I thought," you smirked, making the mistake of letting go of him. 

Before you could foresee his intentions Soobin started tickling you as a form of revenge. 

"Stahpp," you giggled.

Only then did Beomgyu decide that whatever it was you had going on was more interesting than his food. And he interfered by tickling Soobin, which despite his valiant efforts to resist, caused him to burst into laughter, as well.

"Traitor," he chuckled, but his words held no malice.

It felt so comfortable to be around these two. It was almost easy to forget why it started in the first place...

Later that day, you received a message from Beomgyu that puzzled you.

We need to talk. Just the two of us.

You sent him a confused look across the room, as he pointed towards the door out. Luckily, Soobin was playing some game and he didn't notice your strange behaviour.

"I'll go to the store to buy some ramen and vegetables," you improvised a believable excuse. "Anyone want anything else?"

"Nah, I'm good," Soobin replied without thinking, as he was too focused on the competition.

"I'll come help you carry the bags," Beomgyu cleverly said.

Soobin didn't seem to mind being left alone.

"What did you want to talk about?" you asked impatiently as soon as you were out of Soobin's earshot.

"I know I said I'm not interested in dating right now but that was a lie," Beomgyu admitted. "I just didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable because of my crush on you. But I can no longer hide it. The more time I spend around you, the stronger my feelings become."

"I really like you, Beomgyu," you responded, shocking even yourself. "But what am I supposed to do? It's highly unlikely that my crush on Soobin is requited, but if I go out with you, it'd be like stabbing him in the back. Considering how he feels about you."

"I think you should tell him how you feel first and then we'll figure the rest out together," Beomgyu smiled confidently.

"How can we ever solve this?"

"I may have an idea but you gotta talk to Soobin and only then will I share it."

You nodded in agreement.

"Come here, dumbass," Beomgyu pulled you into a hug and you were surprised at how safe he made you feel.

You were sitting at a park with Soobin, sharing ice cream, as you were mentally hyping yourself up for the inevitable conversation. You owed it to Beomgyu to keep your word, you owed it to Soobin to know the truth and last but not least, you owed it to yourself to finally be honest about your feelings for your best friend.

"I have to tell you something important," you blurted out. "I like you. A lot."

"I like you too, silly," Soobin flicked your forehead. "We've been best friends since forever."

"That's exactly it. I like you in a way your best friend isn't supposed to like you. In a...I want to kiss you kind of way."

"Oh," Soobin murmured as realization painted his features. "You do realize I hinted at liking you a year ago and you straight-up rejected me?" You stared at him completely dumb-founded.

"Whaaat? That's impossible, I've liked you for ages, I would never reject you!"

"Well, remember that time we were watching some romcom and I told you if we were still single in ten years, we should just marry each other? You said and I quote: I wouldn't marry you if you were the last man on Earth. It hurt like hell but I laughed it off and we want back to the movie."

"Oh my God," you blinked in shock. "I only said that because I thought you said the marriage thing out of pity. It was like a self-preservation instinct. I didn't think you actually meant it. But what I said couldn't be further away from the truth. From how I really felt...no, how I still feel about you. Soobin, I would marry you in a heartbeat."

"I appreciate you telling me but...isn't it kinda late, though? I spent so long thinking you weren't romantically interested in me that I sort of fell for Beomgyu and now..."

"Beomgyu is exactly the reason why I'm confessing in the first place," you interrupted Soobin. "I was so afraid of you rejecting me that it took him getting involved for me to finally gather the courage to say it out loud."

Soobin nodded thoughtfully.

"Beomgyu has a crush on you, doesn't he?"

"How did you figure it out?" you were beyond amazed that Soobin had realized Beomgyu was into you but remained blind to the fact that you had been crushing on Soobin.

"I mean, it was kind of obvious from the start, no? He only wants to hang out when you're around..."

"I believe it's a little more complicated than that," you suspected. "But before I get into it, tell me...is it really too late for us?"

Soobin grinned meaningfully and took hold of your hands.

"Why don't you kiss me and find out?"

Now, that was an invitation you couldn't possibly say no to. As your lips touched his, you kept thinking this was the best feelling in the universe. You had pictured this happening thousands of times but nothing could compare to the reality. Soobin kissed you back and it was more than surreal. Eventually, you opened your eyes and what you saw caused you to be the one to interrupt the affectionate moment.

"Beomgyu," you murmured.

"Wow, I love that the first word that came to your mind after kissing me is another man's name," Soobin joked sarcastically.

"No, I mean...Beomgyu was behind you. He saw us kissing and then he ran away."

"Oh, shit," Soobin sighed.

"I'll go and see if I can catch up with him," you quickly got up.

"Seriously? You're just gonna leave?" Soobin exclaimed.

"Sorry. I'll be right back, I swear!" you rushed to find Beomgyu.

After a couple of minutes, you found Beomgyu sitting on the ground. He looked really upset and you were instantly worried about him.

"Gyu..." you said softly and place a hesitant hand on his back.

"I want to be alone," he sniffled. "If you stay here, I might say something I'll regret."

"Well, I don't think you should be alone. Please, talk to me," you insisted.

"I know I have no right to be angry. But...seeing you two together just made me think that should be me."

"Kissing me? Or kissing Soobin?"

"Does it matter?" Beomgyu looked away miserably.

"It does to me. You said you needed me to confess to Soobin and only then would you tell me your idea for a solution to our complicated situation. But I think I've already figured it out. You can let me know if I'm wrong later but first, answer my question. Did you wish you were kissing me or Soobin?"

"Both. I wish I was kissing you both and I don't care if you think it's weird but...that's how I feel and nothing you might say will change that. So, hey, at least I'm being honest."

You squeezed his hands gently.

"I don't think it's weird, Beomgyu. I think it's more than perfect. Because from what I gathered, Soobin and I are in the same boat. The both boat," you couldn't help but chuckle at your own joke.

"Terrible pun but please continue," Beomgyu replied.

"I think...I want to be with you. And Soobin. And for you two to be with each other. I'm pretty sure he wants the same thing."

"Why don't we go ask him?" Beomgyu suggested, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

And so, you and Beomgyu hurried to go back to Soobin who you'd so rudely left on a bench a couple of minutes ago.

"I brought someone," you announced awkwardly, still clutching Beomgyu's hand.

"You should feel special," Soobin told Beomgyu. "Your name was the first thing on Y/N's lips after our first kiss ended."

"Is that so?" Beomgyu was grinning smugly. No trace of his previous frustration.

"Oh, shut up," you rolled your eyes. "We come with a proposition."

"I like you, Soobin," Beomgyu confessed. "And as you have probably guessed already, I like Y/N, as well. Judging from your heartfelt kiss that I interrupted, you two like each other. So, I guess what's left to ask is whether...you'll have us?"

"Both? You want me to date you both?" Soobin blinked in surprise.

"I don't see why not," you shrugged. "If we all like one another. You still like us, right?"

"Of course, I like you," Soobin smiled. "I just never expected this would be possible."

"We can't know unless we've tried," Beomgyu reasoned. "What do you say?"

"My best friend in the universe and the cutest barista in the world? I would be a fool to say no."

To be continued...

[sugxrslushy]

Hiii!! How are you doing today?? I want to request something for Zoro's birthday haha, so could you please do a hc or a scenario of Zoro gets a bit drunk and accidentally confesses his love to his s/o (fem reader).

Thank you in advance <333

Drunken Confessions

➪ a/n: hello, I’m well!! rather tired though, once it’s past 6 pm I start getting sleepy haha. I’ve been working on a lot of things today. I kinda missed the whole “gets a bit drunk” thing for this so my bad ahhh!! I did a mix between a scenario and hcs for this

➪ includes: zoro (w/ a fem!reader)

➪ warnings: alcohol

Roronoa Zoro

It’d already been a long night, the crew was celebrating a fight they’d won. It was a tough one but the defeat made it perfect to throw a giant celebration. Drinks and food were passed out and everyone was in high spirits

As expected, Zoro was pretty drunk. He’d been to sure of himself when the navigator challenged him to a drinking contest, telling him she’d excuse all of the debt he was is if he won

All that did was end him up very drunk and still in lots of debt, although he refused to admit he had lost. It also got him cut off from any other drinks

You were standing off to the side, watching the madness ensue from your spot along the railings. It was quiet and peaceful there, and the perfect spot to watch everything unfold

Stumbling over, the swordsman found his way over to you. He was probably looking for a quieter spot where the cook wouldn’t be antagonizing him for losing to the lovely Nami

“You’re gonna have an awful headache tomorrow.” You laugh and grab his shoulder to steady him. He grunts at you and leans against the railing, rather close to you. He remains quiet, occasionally glancing over at you

Just as you’re going to ask him what he wants, he leans in surprisingly close. His cheeks are tinted darker from the alcohol induced blush and he smiles lazily at you

“You’re so pretty.” He slurs and your heart jumps. It’s unlike him to be so straightforward about something like this. But it’s probably the alcohol making him like this

You’re at a loss for words but he keeps talking without a care of what he’s saying. “I never got to tell you how much I love you.” He slumps forward into your arms and you gasp, trying to steady him

It was an unexpected confession, but you have to admit you feel the same. But you’ll have to bring it up when he’ll actually remember what you say

“You’re too drunk.” You giggle and decide to help the drunken swordsman to bed. You should get him water too

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