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girlmeetsliv3 · 5 years ago

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Lilies of the Valley VI

A/B/O!BTS x Reader

Flowers can have different meanings depending on the flower shape, color, and method in which they are presented. Lilies are my favorite for such a simple flower can have so many distinct meanings.

“Why is there a missing flower you ask? I have left it out for only you could complete me.”

Release Date: 06/05/20 @ 7 pm

previous ~ next

It had been three days since YN had broken the fever and experienced her heat. The past days had been uneventful mainly, as most of the alphas remained hidden away in the main house. Like a routine, each of the men would swing by to check on her: Taehyung in the morning, Jimin for lunch, and Yoongi at dinner. It had been annoying at first, but YN had become accustomed to their presence which after dwelling on it for some bit she surmised was their plan. Then there lay another issue which had entirely slipped her mind until earlier this morning when she had received a call from her mother.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Oh, it’s so nice to hear your voice. You really should call more often we all miss you.”

“I know. Sorry, I’ve just been busy.”

“I was just calling to remind you about your sister’s engagement brunch. Seeing as you didn’t rsvp.”

Shit. “Yeah, um, about that -”

"No excuses. You promised you would go." There was a brief pause before her mother spoke again. "I know you're worried, but it's the 21st-century darling. Mates aren't as important as they used to be. People are a lot more open-minded nowadays."

“I know, Mom.”

“I just miss you so much, YN. It would mean a lot to the family if you showed up. You might regret not being there and your sister has promised that they’ll be no unmated alphas so you don’t have to worry.”

“Alright, mom. I’ll be there.”

Now YN had a little over twenty-four hours to convince her mates to allow her to go alone. It would be easier to steal the crown jewels. Though she appreciated it, the men had been noticeably tenser since her heat and she couldn’t predict how they would react. So, perhaps it would be best to wait this out. Yes, that’s what I’ll do. No point in damaging the delicate peace that had been established between her and the pack.

"You seem distracted," Jimin commented as the two of them sat at the edge of her bed watching some random sitcom YN had settled on. In front of her was a bowl of ramyeon that had been cooked by Seokjin. It hurt her pride to admit that it tasted delicious as if the man needed any more positive qualities to be attributed to him. "I was just wondering how everyone is." If the alphas were still out of commission, it would be an easier escape. The betas were still protective over YN, but less so.

“Ah, about that. We were wondering if you wanted to join us for dinner tonight? I promise everyone will be on their best behavior.”

YN doubted that sincerely, but it wouldn’t hurt her to show up. It would better her chances of convincing them, by demonstrating that all the effects of her heat were gone. Though there was one thing to account for. “Is that okay? So soon after their ruts?” YN was sure hormones were bound to be raging and it might not bode well for her either, but Jimin gave her the sweetest of smiles when he said. “Of course, we’d never do anything to put you in harm's way.” How could she not believe him? Even when deep down she knew it was a lie.

It stank. To be entirely honest it wasn't a bad smell, but it was so intense that YN could practically choke on it and that's what made it unpleasant. The manor was less polished than the first time she had been there, but not so. Before it looked like something one would find in the cover of architectural digest, now it simply looked lived in. Even if it was warmer these days, YN still covered up drowning herself in jeans and a large wool sweater. Yoongi hadn't commented anything when he came to pick her up, merely intertwined his hands in hers, and led her towards the dining room. The second she crossed over the threshold, arms swept her up into the air. Jungkook's musky scent filled her senses.

“I missed you.” He said, before placing her back on the ground. It took all her will power, not to recoil from the young alpha and he seemed greatly pleased at that. “Yah, Kookie. Let her be, you stink.” Hoseok scolded, as he helped set the dishes. As YN glanced around she saw everyone settling into their seats, her eyes met Seokjin’s briefly and he flashed her a smile. One that, subconsciously or not, YN returned. However, someone was missing as there were only six in the room.

"Where's Namjoon?" YN asked, looking around. Everyone seemed to stiffen a bit but refrained from answering. Suddenly, YN felt hot breath caress her ears causing her to jump slightly. Namjoon chuckled before placing his arms on her hips, "Right here, Lily." Before she could respond, he moved away towards his seat at the front. YN went to sit between the beta's like last time but found the only available space was between Jungkook and Hoseok. Great. This is going to be a long night. From what little she knew about ruts, YN knew that alphas tended to be a bit needy afterward - especially if they were mated. YN hadn't assumed this would matter much since her partial bond was tied to Jungkook and not the lead alpha, but it seemed to affect them all nonetheless. On the one hand, there were the peering eyes of Namjoon and Jungkook moving his chair ever so slightly closer to hers whenever he thought she wasn't looking. On her other side was Hoseok, whose legs would brush hers under the table.

Then there was Seokjin, who simply smiled at her whenever their eyes met - which was a lot. Even though the atmosphere wasn’t as tense as the first night, it still felt suffocating to her. She was beginning to look forward to the trip, preferring to stay a weekend with her stingy relatives rather than the men.

“Are you alright, YN? You’ve barely touched your food.” Suddenly all eyes were on her, she nodded meekly trying to play it off but the damage had been done.

Hoseok’s palm came to rest on her forehead and she wasn’t sure how he was supposed to check her temperature given how warm he was. “You are a bit warm.”

“Do you not feel good?” Jungkook spoke up beside her, as he tucked a loose strand behind her ear.

“I’m fine. Just a bit warm that’s all.” Immediately Namjoon gestured for the air conditioning to be lowered. All eyes were on her now and despite how uncomfortable it made her, it did present an opportunity. Here goes nothing. "I wanted to speak to all of you about something." The change was minuscule, blink and you'll miss it sort of thing, but had YN been paying attention she might have noticed the darkened look that crossed over then men's faces. How their eyes became hooded in anticipation.

“My sister is engaged and I’m supposed to be attending a family brunch is her honor.” At this all seven of them visibly slackened, tension exiting their bodies.

"That's fantastic," Jimin spoke, lips pulled upward into a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Unfortunately I've got work, so I won't be able to meet the family just yet."

Wait. What? “Uh -”

Taehyung's baritone voice echoed loudly, "I can't either. Have to help Jimin." It was then that YN realized she'd been misunderstood. They thought she was asking for accompaniment when all she had been doing was informing them. Cautiously her eyes turned to Yoongi, who merely shrugged. "I'm overdue for a deadline." No.

“Well,” Namjoon cleared his throat. “That settles it then, you’ll be going with us.” If the smile he flashed her was meant to be reassuring, it accomplished the opposite of its goals.

"Promise me, you'll behave." Yoongi wrapped his arms around Hoseok's neck puckering his lips as the lead alpha leaned down to kiss him. "No promises." He smirked, before placing the last of his luggage in the trunk. YN could swear it was a week-long trip with the number of clothes the men had packed, not to mention all the last-minute wardrobe changes they had forced on her. There was a bigger issue that hung over YN's head, much larger than her being stuck with only Alphas for the entire weekend, it was that her family wasn't aware of her current living situation. All they knew of her 'mates' was the incident and YN didn't think they'd be so inclined to welcome them into their home.

So, they had booked a hotel. It didn't really address the issue but considering YN was certainly going to arrive late, her childhood home was bound to be taken up by relatives. Once in the car, the atmosphere was quite tense though that was mainly because Jungkook had almost thrown a temper tantrum when he saw that YN was sitting between Seokjin and Namjoon. Not him. "Jungkook if you don't quell your hormones, I will buy you a literal dog house for you to sleep in." Seokjin threatened, earning a few snickers and a pout from the young alpha.

YN stared out the window seeing the houses move by as Namjoon scrolled on his phone. Whenever YN was in cars she always thought of what she should do if an escape needed to be made. The fault of that might be on all the spy movies she grew up watching. The other might be the Omega protection course she was forced to take in college which engrained survival skills such as: covering up, self-defense, and how to escape a kidnapper. Fun things. She was beginning to wonder whether or not escape was possible when it dawned on YN that her eyes had been situated on Namjoon’s phone the entire time. The man in question had noticed as well.

“Sorry, I zoned out.” She rushed to apologize.

Namjoon smiled, “Don’t worry I noticed. I was just setting up an appointment with Dr. Lee.” Who? "She's an OB. I spoke with her to get you off suppressants." Ah, right. YN had yet to tell them that her prolonged heat was more her due to misuse than the suppressants. Sensing her discomfort, Seokjin grabbed her hand and squeezed it tenderly. "Don't worry. We'll figure it out." YN couldn't figure out if he'd been referring to the suppressants, the family visit, or everything that was happening. It didn't matter, YN didn't believe him for a second.

Instead, YN took a deep breath and closed her eyes, preferring sleep than having any more interactions with the alphas. She knew once they arrived, she would need all her strength. Her family wasn't bound to be happy at not being informed at their daughter's mating status - not to mention who her mates were. It seems Jungkook was wearing headphones for YN could barely pick up the rhythmic thumping of bass, but that was enough to lull her into a nap.

When YN awoke, she found herself strewn across the laps of the men. Though she had not opened her eyes, she sensed her head was resting on Hoseok's with her feet at Namjoon's. Delicate hands weaved themselves through her hair, their calming nature causing YN to shift in order to feel the sensation more. She swore she heard the muttering of a 'cute' before the glare of the sun hit her face, forcing her awake. "C'mon, baby. Rise and shine." Yn grunted and stood up, the back passenger door had been opened but all of them had remained in place. In her groggy state, YN rubbed her eyes and asked. "Why'd you move me?" Instead of an answer, she got a pat on the back and Jungkook tugged her off the car.

YN's eyes widened in recognition as she saw Yeong-gwang's school grounds in front of her. It had been years, but the school's arches remained as pristine as she remembered them. Its Rococo inspired architecture is a clear demonstration of its wealth and status. YN's parents could just barely afford tuition and only received a scholarship because her grandfather attended. "What are we doing here?" She wanted to move her eyes away, but they remained frozen on the platinum gates. A place that once held such fond memories was now only a place of tragedy for her.

“Your sister wanted to meet here.” And as if having called on the devil herself, she appeared.

“What the fuck are they doing here?!”

Sorry this update is short, but that’s because the next one is going to be long and important.

Tag List:

@hxsxxk-180294 @saxpam24 @trixsterbi @mel-gonzalez07 @cstobitk @dionysus-png @taekimxx @moonlitehunter @joonie-grim @wonderlace19 @sugashaye @rosey-roseu @mintaemark @ciderxi @soloikeadates

@alex--awesome--22

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theladyofdeath · 4 years ago

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The Ranch {18}

An A Court of Thorns and Roses, Nesta x Cassian, Modern AU, fanfiction.

Collaboration: @snelbz x @tacmc

Summary: Nesta had spent years in Paris, living her dream and drowning in riches as a gourmet chef, capturing the hearts of the city and its people. But, after her father passes away unexpectedly and leaves his cozy, countryside B&B to his oldest daughter, Nesta is moving back home to the tiny town of Velaris, where the ranch, her sisters, and her father’s unfulfilled dream, awaits.

Sidenote: Being posted between two blogs, it is too chaotic to keep up with a tags list, so all chapters will be tagged with “#TheRanchNessian” & “#SharaCollab”.

The Ranch Masterlist

Nesta was overwhelmed by all the love, and the shower hadn’t even started yet. Elain had put her planning skills to use, once again. The B&B’s living room was covered in streamers and banners and delicate pink and gold decor. A table was set up, full of snacks and desserts, and Cassian and the other men had been ordered to stay away.

Which meant that they were out back, drinking.

Every time Nesta asked if she could do something to help or even tried to get out of her seat, she was ordered to sit back down, put her feet up and relax.

She was doing just that when Viviane and Mor flopped down on the couch to her left.

“So,” Mor asked, sipping her mimosa through a pink-and-white striped straw. “Do we have any names picked out yet?”

Nesta looked at the mimosa longingly, but she blinked, coming back to the conversation and smiled. “We have a few, but we haven’t decided yet.” She rubbed her hand over her belly, gazing fondly at it, at the perfect, little girl growing inside her.

“And?” Viv asked, just as sweet as she was the day Nesta had met her. “What are they?”

She blushed, thinking of what Cassian had told her while they’d laid in bed last night.

Everyone is going to want to see and know every little thing about her as soon as she’s here, he’d said, his finger drawing long lines up and down her spine. Let’s keep them to ourselves for now.

“It’s a secret,” Nesta said, and when Mor groaned at the given answer, Nesta only smiled.

“She won’t even tell us, so don’t feel too bed,” Feyre said, sitting on Nesta’s other side. “Your fiancé is drunk by the way.”

“Already?” Nesta asked, gazing out the back window with narrowed eyes. He was laying in the green, lush grass in the back yard with a bottle to his lips while Rhysand and Azriel threw a football over him, back and forth.

Feyre chuckled and held up a mini cupcake. “Here, snuck one when Elain wasn’t looking.”

“I’ve never loved you so much,” Nesta muttered, popping the cupcake into her mouth in one bite. They were ordered to keep hands off the food until all guests arrived.

Nesta glanced up at the grand clock as she chewed.

They still had twenty more minutes before it truly began.

Elain had invited anyone Nesta had ever been close to and she was surprised when she’d told her there had been over thirty confirmed yes RSVP’s. And as the pile of gifts in the corner, Nesta’s heart became more and more full.

The back door opened and they heard, “Uh, Nes… can you come here for a second?”

Nesta and Elain’s eyes locked as her boyfriend’s tense voice floated to them. All three sisters made their way out into the backyard. Azriel was the only one there, although the football had been left behind, as well as Rhys and Cassian’s shirts.

Feyre began, “Where are-.”

“On the way down do the roping pen,” Azriel interrupted. “Because the two of them started talking about the old days and they’re drunk and now they're going to try and rope the herd.”

“We left you out here to stop them from making stupid decisions,” Feyre groaned.

He threw his hands in the air. “There’s two of them, one of me, and they’re both drinking. And then they took their shirts off and at that point, it was out of my hands.”

“One of them is going to get hurt.” Nesta began to rub small circles into her belly. She’d begun to do so when she was stressed out, trying to make sure her sweet girl knew everything was okay. She knew when she was freaking out, she flooded her with the hormones as well.

Elain smiled sweetly, kissed Azriel’s cheek and said, “I’ll handle it, you two go back inside.” She hurried her sisters back inside and they watched from the window as she began walking in the direction of the round pen.

Nesta said, “What is she-?”

“Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answer to,” Azriel mumbled, grabbing a handful of trail mix, overloaded with pink and white m&m’s. “She’s persuasive when she wants to be and terrifying when she needs to be.”

Feyre blinked. “You may want to keep that in mind while you eat the food she ordered no one to touch.”

Azriel hesitated before popping the handful into his mouth. “If you say anything,” he began, mouth full, “I will destroy you.”

Nesta snorted as Azriel walked to the front porch and sat in a rocking chair while guests continued to arrive. WIth a shake of her head, Nesta was looking back out of the back window, where Elain had disappeared to. A moment later, she returned with her chin held high, Cassian and Rhysand trailing behind, looking like two children that were being dragged to timeout.

Nesta was pulled into conversation after conversation after that. They pretty much were all the same.

Yes, they were so excited for her to be here.

No, they weren’t announcing her name yet.

Yes, she'd be having an epidural.

“Some people have no boundaries,” Viviane muttered, saving Nesta from a conversation where she’d been asked if she and Cassian still had an “aggressive sex life”.

Nesta was still laughing from the look on the woman’s face when she informed her she’d have to wait to find out if he’d gotten her throat pregnant the night before.

“You know she goes to the local church, right?” Feyre asked, nibbling on the brownies Nesta had baked when she couldn’t sleep this morning.

Nesta shrugged. “Then she shouldn’t have been asking such intrusive questions.”

An hour passed and guests were beginning to leave. Nesta found herself exhausted as she fell back into the couch with a plate of mini cupcakes. The back door swung open and Cassian stumbled inside, still shirtless, grinning at an older woman with a wink - the same woman that Nesta appalled with her sex life details. She looked him over, once, shook her head and walked away.

“Hi, baby mama,” Cassian said, a slight slur to his words as he leaned over the back of the couch and put his sweaty arms around her.

“Hi,” she said, taking a bite of her cupcake. “You stink.”

He muttered a reply as he pressed his lips to the side of her neck. “Did we get a lot of cute shit?”

Nesta pointed to the long table on the other side of the room, where the opened gifts sat - diapers, clothes, headbands, shoes, socks, bibs, blankets, and the list went on and on and on. She had received both things that were necessary and things that were not, and although she was incredibly grateful, she had no idea where the hell it would all go.

Cassian whistled as he observed the gifts. “That’s a lot of cute shit.”

“Yeah,” Nesta said, quietly, picking up another cupcake.

Cassian blinked, then frowned as he looked at Nesta and caught her expression. “What’s wrong?”

Her lip began to wobble.

“What? No, no no,” he began, coming around the couch and kneeling before her, He took the plate off her lap and took her hands in his. “Don’t cry. Why are you crying? It’s a happy day.”

“Where are we going to put all of this stuff, Cass?” she asked, quietly. “We have enough shit to fill two nurseries, and we don’t even have one.”

The look on his face told her that she wasn’t the only one who’d been thinking about that. They had discussed building a new home, like Cassian had wanted, but knew that ultimately, they’d always end up back in the ranch house, so it would be a colossal waste of both time and money. They’d discussed adding onto the cabin or her little house by the river, but again, they knew where they’d end up.

Cassian had found her standing in the doorway of her old bedroom when it was unoccupied by guests, on more than one occasion. He knew what the best resolution was for both of them, but knew neither of them wanted to admit it.

He cupped her face in his hands, using his thumbs to brush away the few tears that had slipped over. “I think we need to sit down and have a talk with your sisters soon.”

She nodded, the tears starting a new, knowing exactly what conversation he meant.

He sat next to her on the couch and wrapped an arm around her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “It’s okay, sweetheart.”

She sniffled again and said, “Seriously, you stink.” He chuckled, but didn’t have a chance to reply before Elain’s frantic voice filled the nearly empty house.

“Why is she crying?” She asked, coming into the living room, eyes narrowing on Cassian. “What did you do?”

He shrugged. “Knocked her up?”

Rhys shoved a mini cupcake in his mouth and said, “Well, you’re not wrong.”

Feyre nudged him in the side with her elbow and Nesta chuckled, wiping at her eyes. “I’m fine.”

Elain’s eyes narrowed further. “You’re lying.”

Yes, she was, but she wasn’t about to have this conversation while there were still guests in the house. To save her from lying, once more, Cassian sighed, loudly and dramatically. “Well, if you’re all staying around for a while, I guess I should run into town and get more shit for dinner. I’m drunk, so one of you has to drive me.”

“Might wanna put a shirt on first,” Elain muttered, still uneasy.

“I’ll drive you,” Azriel said, but Cass shook his head.

“I think Feyre needs to come with me.”

Rhys had popped another cupcake into his mouth, so he mumbled, “What? Why?”

“Hush, and stop talking with your mouth open.” Feyre leaned down and kissed his cheek. “That’s fine, Cass. But you’re changing first, you really do stink. Let’s stop at the cabin.”

He so badly wanted to protest, but didn’t. Instead, he followed Feyre down to his cabin, who was eyeing him suspiciously for the entire walk.

“At what point during this outing are you going to tell me why it had to be me to accompany you?” Feyre asked, when they reached the cabin’s porch.

“Can I not simply enjoy your company?” Cassian asked, one brow arched.

“You can, but I also know you better than that,” Feyre said, amused.

He chuckled. “That’s fair. I’ll tell you when we leave. I just...need a second perspective on some things.”

Her expression didn’t ease as she looked at him though, it got more worried.

Cassian hustled up the stairs and went in to quickly wash down and change, while Feyre stayed out on the porch. It was brisk outside, the middle of October and the crisp fall day was beautiful.

Feyre leaned against the porch rail, looking out into the woods behind the cabin. She’d grown up, running through these woods, and she loved everything about it. She had painted every scene you could see on this land. When she was-.

Something caught her eye, and Feyre stared into the wooded area, trying to discern exactly what she was seeing. Or who.

The door of the cabin opened and Cass said, “Alright, much better. Want to smell?”

He lifted up his arm and Feyre rolled her eyes, pushing him away. “Shut up, let’s go.”

She decided that what she’d seen in the woods was just a shadow of a tree, as the sun was beginning to go down, and not a figure in the distance.

Cassian and Feyre walked to the truck where he, like the gentleman he was, opened the passenger door for Feyre before helping himself behind the wheel.

“So?” She said, as he pulled onto the road.

Cassian hesitated, then went with, “I want to give your sister the world.”

Feyre blinked. “I know. You are, surprisingly, very sweet to her. Go on.”

Cassian rolled his eyes but continued, “We don’t have enough room, Feyre, for a baby. Even then, it’s too much, you know? A ranch, a B&B, a newborn? Fuck, one of those is enough, but juggling all three?”

Feyre watched him, then turned her eyes toward the road as she said, “I know you, Cass, so stop dancing around the subject and spit it out.”

“Nesta doesn’t want to reopen the bed and breakfast when she’s done with maternity leave.”

The words hung between them. Feyre didn’t say anything, which almost terrified Cass more.

They pulled into the parking lot of the diner and he put it in park, turning to look at her. “Say something, anything, please.”

She gnawed on her lip. “I’m trying to decide what to say.”

“Are you mad or are you surprised?” He asked.

“I’m...in shock,” she said.

He nodded, slowly. “Why?”

Feyre laughed, breathlessly. “At first, I was surprised that she wanted to open the B&B to begin with. Then, she put so much work into it, put her whole heart into it...it hasn’t even been a year, and y’all want to close it?”

Cassian sighed. “It’s not that we want to, but it’s more of a necessity. Nesta has been scared to close it down...but, I think it’s for the best. We need the main house, and we make enough money on the ranch without it. We have no room for the baby, Feyre, no time. And...I don’t know. Raising the baby in the main house? She’ll have her own room, Nesta will have her own kitchen….It makes more sense. Right?” He added the question at the end, hoping for Feyre’s approval, but unsure of what she’d say.

She didn’t say anything, she just sat there, tapping her foot.

“I’m gonna go get the food, I’ll be right back, just…” Cassian sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “I just want to do what’s best for my family.”

He got out of the truck and headed inside and Feyre was…floored.

After Nesta had sacrificed so much, after she’d given up everything she’d ever known, she was already willing to quit. She had sold her restaurants, her life’s work, all to come back to Velaris and reopen the B&B. And just like that, she was done?

The more Feyre thought it over, the more angry she was getting and by the time Cassian was carrying the food to the truck, Feyre wasn’t even sure what she wanted to speak to him.

The drive back home was silent, she stared out the window, and Feyre was trying to calm her breathing before they returned home. She’d slapped Nesta on her first day here. She was pregnant, but if she was going to destroy their father’s dream-.

Feyre closed her eyes and sighed.

Their father’s dream.

Not Nesta’s.

Nesta’s dreams were back in Paris, London, Rome. And she’d left them.

To come back home.

She leaned her head back, letting it fall against the headrest, and a single tear rolled down her cheek.

Cassian noticed it, too.They were close to pulling into the driveway, but not quite. Cassian finally broke the silence by saying, “You know it breaks my heart, don’t you? I know how much work Nesta has put into this, Feyre, and your dad was a good friend.” He had been, Feyre knew. Cassian was one of her father’s favorite people in the end. “I wanted him to succeed. I wanted them both to succeed, and this decision isn’t easy, but we’re having a baby, Feyre. A fucking kid. It’s not just about me, and it’s not just about Nes...it’s not about either of us, it’s all about this baby, and I…”

His words trailed off, and he was still staring at the road as he ran his hand down his face in frustration. Feyre pretended not to notice how his eyes welled up with tears.

“I’m so fucking scared, Feyre. That I’ll fuck up somehow.” His voice broke. “I didn’t have a father, I don’t know how to be a father. I’ll mess this kid up or I’ll do something and she’ll get sick of me.”

There was Tomas again, always in the back of his mind. Even if they hadn’t seen him in weeks, he still haunted nearly every thought.

“If Nesta wants to give up the B&B, I’m going to support her in that.” His jaw was set and Feyre knew it wasn’t for a fight. “I just… I have to do what’s best for my family.”

She noticed the change from his earlier statement, saw the determination and devotion in his eyes. Feyre never been so thankful that her big sister had found someone so absolutely devoted to her than she was in that moment.

After a deep breath, Feyre reached across the center console and took her friend’s hand in hers. “We will support you, too, in whatever you decide to do, whatever you feel you need to do. And you’re going to be a good husband, and a good father. I know it.”

Cassian didn’t look in her direction and he took his hand off the wheel for a split second to wipe at his face as he nodded, shortly.

“Nesta’s stressed,” he said, at last. “I don’t know how to help her. Nesta was a pain in the ass to begin with, but pregnant Nesta? I feel helpless.”

Feyre chuckled and patted his hand before wiping away her tears. “You’re doing better than you think you are, Cass. That woman loves you. I have never seen her love anyone, anything, the way she loves you.”

Cassian did though. He knew one thing that Nesta loved as much as him, as much as her sisters, as much as their unborn baby.

And he knew what they could do.

When they pulled up to the house, all cars except those belonging to their family were gone. As they made their way up the stairs, they could hear the laughter of their families inside.

“This,” he breathed, stopping.. “This is what I want to come home to after a long day. My family, laughing, living, just being together. Not- not strangers in my living room.”

Feyre’s eyes softened. “I know, Cass. I get it.”

He nodded, and took a deep breath before pushing open the front door and holding up the bags of food. “Let’s eat!”

He was met with a round of hollers, all but from Nesta, who was watching him, wistfully. She knew him too well. Knew that something had happened, something had been talked about in their absence.

He gave her a gentle smile before making his way to the kitchen and unloading the to-go boxes for everyone to choose from.

He set out plates and napkins, and everyone came through and loaded up their plates, Nesta being last.

She met Cassian’s stare and said, “You talked to her about it, didn’t you?”

“I-.” He looked to the living room where Feyre was laughing at something Azriel had said. “How did you know?”

Nesta rolled her eyes. “What did she say?”

He was quiet for a minute and while he made plates for them, and as he opened his mouth to say something, Rhys hollered, “You guys know you can’t make another baby until Nesta pops that one out, right?”

Cass chuckled and kissed Nesta’s forehead. “Come on. We’ll talk later. Let’s go spend time with our family.”

A few hours later, the six of them ended up around a bonfire, and Cassian cleared his throat. “There’s something Nes and I want to talk to you guys about.”

Feyre didn’t look surprised. She simply folded her hands in her lap and waited, along with the others. Nesta was staring at her hands.

Cassian took a long, slow drink from his bottle before meeting Nesta’s gaze. She nodded, slowly, and after a breath, Cassian said, “Nesta and I are going to discontinue the B&B.”

Elain, Azriel, and Rhysand stared at him, open-mouthed, but Feyre just nodded, slowly.

“And before anyone says anything, yes, we have thought about it,” Cassian continued. “We need room for the baby, and we need privacy… We realize the B&B was Isaac’s dream, and we’re glad we were able to make it successful, but as we’re starting a family...we just need to do this. So, we’re going to shut down the B&B and continue the ranch...and, Nesta’s going to open her own restaurant.”

The circle went silent.

Nesta, included.

In fact, she was the first to say, “What?”

He nodded. “It’s your passion, sweetheart. I get to do what I love every single day. I get to live my passion.” He took her face in his hands. “You left your passion behind in your restaurants, in your food. You can keep doing that though. You can do what you love.”

“Where?” She asked, tears already spilling over. “The house?”

“If you want, some nights,” he said. “Or we can find you a place. Or I’ll build you one, on the property, I don’t care.”

Nesta was floored. “I- Are you- Really?”

He almost looked taken about. “Of course, really.” He didn’t care that the others were around, that they were watching, listening. “You’re giving me a baby, Nes. A family. And I just want you to be happy, and I will do everything in my power to make sure that you’re happy.”

He wiped at the tears falling down her cheeks, knowing full well they were happy tears, not tears of sadness.

“Cass,” she breathed, shaking her head slowly.

“If we close the B&B, tell me what you want and I’ll make it happen,” he whispered. “Tell me what you want, and it’s yours.”

She nodded, unable to form the words needed to express to him her love, her gratitude, her thanks.

But he didn’t need any of those. He could see the truth in her eyes, the amazement and the devotion there. So he kissed her, knowing that they were on the right path to their future.

___

It was getting late. They had all piled into the little house outback once the bonfire began to fade away. Then, Rhysand and Feyre took off, leaving Elain and Azriel snuggling together on the couch. A movie had been playing, and the couple were soon sleeping soundly.

Nesta and Cassian crept into the bedroom, Beau just behind.

Nesta crashed into the bed, her eyes dropping. It had been a long day and she was so over it.

“You look like you need a massage,” Cassian said, kicking off his boots and slipping his shirt over his head.

“A massage, a drink,” she muttered. “The list is long.”

“I can’t exactly condone the latter,” he said, laying down behind her, one hand covering her stomach, as it did every night, and pressing a kiss to the back of her neck. “But I can help with the former for sure.”

He let his other hand knit into her hair and scratched at her scalp. Nesta’s head lulled back, giving him better access to her neck and he kissed the delicate column of her throat before he whispered, “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she breathed.

“I’m drunk,” he muttered.

Nesta snorted. “You’ve been drunk since three.”

“Not true,” he said, trailing his kisses across her shoulder.

“So true,” she protested, but didn’t push him away, only closed her eyes as he slipped the strap of her tank top down her arm.

“You know, in a few months, I won’t be able to fuck you whenever I want.”

Nesta rolled her eyes and snorted. “How romantic. The father of my child, ladies and gentleman.”

But Cassian was grinning, his mouth against her skin. “I’m not wrong.”

“Hmmm.” She pretended to be unaffected by his advances, but Cassian turned her face towards him and kissed her. Nesta giggled and turned over, wrapping her arms around him.

“So what did I hear about our aggressive sex life today?” Cass asked, kissing her jaw.

Nesta laughed and said, “Remember the woman that you scandalized earlier?” Cassian blinked, clearly not recalling. “You were drunk, remember?”

“No, but I’ll take your word for it,” he mumbled, his attention redirected to more important things as his face planted between her breasts.

“Well, I basically told an elderly woman that I suck you dry, so..” Nesta trailed off.

Cassian snorted, propping himself up on his elbows. “You scandalized an old woman?”

“It makes me mad when people ask stupid things,” she said, shrugging.

Cassian blinked. “Is it weird that I’'m completely turned on right now?”

Nesta took his face into her hands. “When are you not turned on?”

Cassian grinned. “Fair point.”

He kissed her hard, his tongue sweeping along her bottom lip. She opened up, giving him access and moaned quietly as his tongue brushed against her own.

“Make love to me,” she breathed. “Make love to me in our home.”

Cass pulled back, gazing down at her.

Our home.

She watched as his eyes filled up with tears, but before one could fall, she pulled his lips back down to hers and kissed him, pouring everything she wanted to say into it.

He pulled himself over her but was careful for her belly. She kept telling him that a little bit of weight was okay, but he was overly protective of what that bump held.

A few more months, and they would go from being a couple to being a family of three. They would close the B&B and make the big house their home. They would raise their daughter within those walls.

And Cassian couldn’t wait.

#theranchnessian #thesharatag #shacmc #nessian #fanfic

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likelightningafterthethunder · 3 years ago

Text

Like Lightning After the Thunder: Chapter One: Damned Smile

Fic Summary:

His breath wavered as he stared into Katsuki’s eyes. He knew he could get out if he tried. He could knock Katsuki out, hope that no one else would find them, and run back into the shadows where he belonged. Katsuki may have had him pinned down but he was in Denki’s range now and it would take little effort to send a charge through Katsuki to paralyze him temporarily.

It would take barely any additional effort to kill Katsuki.

As the sparks began to charge, lighting up the air around him, Katsuki refused to back down.

–

Katsuki always knew he was destined for great things.

He didn’t think he’d have to turn his back on all he’s ever known to get there.

Rating: T

Warnings: Eventual major character death, implied/referenced child abuse, psychological trauma

Other Tags: Bakugou Katsuki/Kaminari Denki, slow burn, alternate universe - canon divergence

Read on Ao3 (links to corresponding chapter) or read below

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter | Fic navigation to read the fic on tumblr

Even years later, that damn smile haunted his dreams.

There was absolutely no reason for him to still think about the event. Everything had been taken care of when it had happened― injuries were treated, authorities alerted, information secured, and a press conference to tie it all up in a big red bow. There were no loose ends, no surprise second coming, no physical reminders of what happened lingering in his daily life. Katsuki would have labeled it as done, dealt with, and no longer relevant, shoving it aside in his memory so he could focus on actual important shit.

Except his mind had different plans.

When he was lucky, he could completely forget about the event for months. Other times, his dreams would be filled with nothing but that damn smile, taunting him with its silence. He could usually predict when the dreams would come― the anniversary of the event for example― but other times, it seemed like anything could trigger the memory. He once saw a bright yellow balloon and for the rest of the day, every time he closed his eyes he saw that damned smile, never wavering despite the curses and insults Katsuki spewed.

He wanted to forget it. He wanted so desperately to forget it. For the image to erase itself from his mind, for it to take the feelings away with it. He could deal with the anger, he could always deal with the anger, but when his memory reminded him of the wave of hurt and betrayal that nearly blinded him…

When his alarm jolted him from his sleep and freed him from the smile, he couldn’t get out of bed fast enough. He woke up drenched in a cold sweat, sheets singed and smoking lightly as he unclenched his hands, and Katsuki was, for once, very relieved that not all of his sweat was explosive. He slapped the singes a few times to ensure that all of the embers were put out before heading for the bathroom, cursing under his breath as he flinched at his own reflection in the mirror.

There was nothing particularly wrong with his appearance, if you didn’t count the dark circles under his eyes from a fitful night’s sleep or his clammy skin, but after being plagued by the smile, Katsuki could barely look at himself. His reaction to the smile made him feel weak, like he couldn’t handle himself and that there was something wrong with him. It was just a smile after all. There was no reason for him to react to it like a nightmare, no reason for him to lose sleep over it or to feel overwhelmed by emotions at the thought of it.

Yet when he saw the smile and saw how the corners of his mouth were tugged a bit too tight, how his eyes were open a bit too wide, how the only shine in his eyes were the reflections of light on tears that refused to fall…

Katsuki cursed.

The icy cold shower did little to help distract him from the memory, nor did his morning run nor the steaming shower he took after. He wasn’t supposed to head into the agency today, so he didn’t have any planned beatdowns for today, and yes he probably shouldn’t be hoping for it, but part of him hoped for a sudden emergency villain so he could distract himself by focusing on beating some villain’s ass into next week.

A few hours later when his phone refused to stop buzzing, Katsuki wondered if throwing his phone across the room until it stopped would be close enough to beating villain ass to work. He reluctantly decided that talking to people so they’d leave him alone was probably less hassle to deal with than having to replace his phone and distribute his new number (even if it would give him an excuse to ghost some of these damn extras).

A few individual texts and a group text were the cause of the buzzing. As the group text’s new message count continued to rise, he figured it would be easier to respond to the individual texts first. Just in case he changed his mind about destroying the phone.

Four Eyes (Rocket Legs): Hello Bakugou, this is a reminder about the upcoming Class A reunion. As the head of the reunion committee, it is my duty to ensure an accurate headcount for the event, and I have yet to receive your response about your attendance. Please ensure to respond via the following link by this Friday at 11:59PM. [Class A 10 Year Reunion RSVP]

Four Eyes (Rocket Legs): In case you missed the previous messages regarding the reunion, the event is March 28th starting at 7PM at the Shinjuku Hotel in Musutafu. If you need to rent a room for the night or the weekend, please alert the Shinjuku Hotel staff that you are part of the Class A reunion party by next Wednesday for an event discount.

Katsuki frowned. He wasn’t exactly looking forward to the possibility of being surrounded by all of his former classmates and even less at the idea of being socially obligated to spend the entire evening with them. At least when he met up with his friends elsewhere, he could always claim needing to leave early so he could make the last train or that work needed him to come in early the next day.

He closed out of the conversation, figuring he still had a few more days to decide if he really wanted to deal with his classmates for an entire evening.

Midoriya: Hey Katsugou! I was wondering if you’re going to go to the reunion? Tenya said the deadline to RSVP is coming soon and we haven’t heard from you, so I just thought I’d check in!

Katsuki: The fuck is Katsugou?

Midoriya: Oh sorry!! Typo!!

Midoriya: Anyway, are you coming?

Katsuki closed out of the conversation and moved on to the next one.

Shitty Hair: Katsuki! Are you coming to the reunion or not dude????

Katsuki: Fuck off.

Shitty Hair: Aww dude that’s no way to talk to your best friend, you know you love me!!

Katsuki: I’m blocking you.

He did not, in fact, block him. But he did close out of Eijirou’s texts.

Save for the newest text sent directly from Eijirou, all that was left was the backlog of texts in the group text. It had kept going off while he was reading the other conversations, so Katsuki figured it meant that everyone was either off for the day or on their lunch break.

Raccoon Eyes: guys!!!!! the reunion is COMING UPPPPPP!!!!

Raccoon Eyes: i cant wait to s

Raccoon Eyes: ee all of u guys again!!

Tape Face: lmao you saw us last week

Raccoon Eyes: yes

Raccoon Eyes: an eteRNITY ago

Raccoon Eyes: and like

Raccoon Eyes: kats left early so we didnt have everyone

Raccoon Eyes: so it doesnt count

Shitty Hair: Yeah Katsuki don’t leave early next time!!

Raccoon Eyes: we just have to hold him hostage next time

Raccoon Eyes: or like

Raccoon Eyes: AMBUSH him

Tape Face: i can always tape him up

Raccoon Eyes: YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES

Raccoon Eyes: tape him to the wall

Raccoon Eyes: and then like

Raccoon Eyes: steal his wallet

Raccoon Eyes: cant get on transit w no moneys

Raccoon Eyes: ei and han hold him down

Raccoon Eyes: i run to hide his wallet where he cant fi

Raccoon Eyes: nd it

Raccoon Eyes: probs keeps kats tapped to the wall all night

Raccoon Eyes: free up his arms so he can have a drink????

Tape Face: explosion palms dude

Raccoon Eyes: oh u right

Raccoon Eyes: he can just have a cup w like

Raccoon Eyes: a REALLY REALLY long straw

Raccoon Eyes: make sure u tape him up w his hands behind his back

Tape Face: you got it

Shitty Hair: He’s in this chat guys he’s going to see the plan

Raccoon Eyes: whatevs we can still totally blindside him

Raccoon Eyes: ANYWAYS

Raccoon Eyes: ure all going right?????

Tape Face: ya I rsvpd a while back

Shitty Hair: Yep!! Wouldn’t miss it for the world!

Raccoon Eyes: what about u kats

Raccoon Eyes: kats???

Raccoon Eyes: KAAAAAAAAAAAAATS

Raccoon Eyes: k

Raccoon Eyes: a

Shitty Hair: I’ll text him separately

Raccoon Eyes: t

Tape Face: he probably has this muted lmao

Raccoon Eyes: s

Raccoon Eyes: !!!!!!

Raccoon Eyes: how dare u ignore us

Raccoon Eyes: after everything weve done for u!!!!

Raccoon Eyes: thought we were ur ride or die hoes

Raccoon Eyes: dont tell me ur not going!!!!!

Raccoon Eyes: im so offended

Raccoon Eyes: how could u do this to us kats

Shitty Hair: Maybe he’s at work today?

Raccoon Eyes: boo

Raccoon Eyes: how dare he prioritize wo

Raccoon Eyes: rk over us

Raccoon Eyes: his best friends

Raccoon Eyes: the suns of his life

Raccoon Eyes: the bit of happiness in the cold

Raccoon Eyes: cold

Tape Face: coooooooooold

Raccoon Eyes: COOOOOOOOLD

Raccoon Eyes: thing he calls a heart

Shitty Hair: Lmao

Tape Face: its got a bit of warmth

Tape Face: most of it is his temper

Raccoon Eyes: boom boom POW

Raccoon Eyes: well while we wait for kats

Raccoon Eyes: help me pick some photos for the slideshow!!

Tape Face: are you doing only UA pics or some stuff since then

Tape Face: somehow iida managed to not specify lmao

Shitty Hair: The info email was like ten pages, how did he miss it

Tape Face: idk

Raccoon Eyes: ive got plenty for both!!

Raccoon Eyes: momo said pref UA pics but some new stuff is good too

Raccoon Eyes: show how far weve come n all that

Tape Face: oh cool let me get some opinions then too

Shitty Hair: Anyone have any pics of the camping trip from second year?

Raccoon Eyes: before or after todoroki and kats’ fight turned it into a icy hot springs

Shitty Hair: Both lmao but probably before it went to hell

Raccoon Eyes: image.png

Raccoon Eyes: ofc ive got us chillin in the springs

Raccoon Eyes: well most of us

Raccoon Eyes: kats u never get in the water w us :C

Raccoon Eyes: lets go to the beach next time!!

Tape Face: hed prob boil the water w you in it if you dragged him in lmao

Tape Face: spicy acid time

Raccoon Eyes: id like to see him TRY

Shitty Hair: Don’t tempt him lmao

Raccoon Eyes: image.png

Raccoon Eyes: i got like a shit ton more

Raccoon Eyes: should i send some of THE FIGHT

Shitty Hair: Maybe not

Tape Face: yes

Tape Face: well

Tape Face: depends on how many pissed off katsuki pics youre putting in lmao

Raccoon Eyes: OH

Raccoon Eyes: OHHHH

Raccoon Eyes: OHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Tape Face: ?

Raccoon Eyes: dude

Raccoon Eyes: do u have the POMERANIAN pic

Tape Face: o shit

Tape Face: image.png

Shitty Hair: I still think Katsuki should’ve taken that pup home

Shitty Hair: They’re matching!

Tape Face: image.png

Tape Face: i also have this one

Tape Face: when she tried to bite his nose off lmao

Raccoon Eyes: kats couldve named her king explosion murder

Raccoon Eyes: or just murder

Raccoon Eyes: p sure she wouldve tried to murder kats at least o

Raccoon Eyes: nce

Tape Face: lmao she basically tried when he found her

Shitty Hair: Maybe it’s for the best that he didn’t keep the pup

Tape Face: look what i found

Tape Face: image.png

Raccoon Eyes: AWWWW YES

Raccoon Eyes: LOOK AT USSSSS

Raccoon Eyes: we look FABBBB

Shitty Hair: Is that from the dance?

Tape Face: ye

Raccoon Eyes: guys what if we recreate that pic at the reunion

Raccoon Eyes: the fits?

Raccoon Eyes: immaculate

Raccoon Eyes: the pose?

Raccoon Eyes: perfection

Tape Face: hotel?

Tape Face: trivago

Shitty Hair: I’m down for recreating some pics!

Raccoon Eyes: yessssss

Raccoon Eyes: u have no choice either kats u gotta do it

Raccoon Eyes: wherever u are

Shitty Hair: Oh he replied!!

Raccoon Eyes: SWEET

Raccoon Eyes: what he say

Shitty Hair: He said fuck off

Tape Face: as expected

Shitty Hair: Lmao he threatened to block me again

Tape Face: thought he said he was blocking you last week

Shitty Hair: Yea exactly

Raccoon Eyes: HOW RUDE

Raccoon Eyes: as punishment for not paying attention to us

Raccoon Eyes: im gonna send this

Raccoon Eyes: image.png

Tape Face: LMAO whend you make that

Shitty Hair: Is that Katsuki with a cat face and ears

Shitty Hair: Dude I don’t know if he’s going to kill you for that or for the pink hair first lmao

Raccoon Eyes: lmao made it just now

Raccoon Eyes: well MAYBE if he ANSWERED us

Katsuki: Delete it.

Tape Face: O SHIT

Tape Face: you summoned him

Raccoon Eyes: NO I WILL NOT

Katsuki: Delete it Raccoon Eyes or else I’m coming for you.

Tape Face: are you coming for the left shoes and shittin in them

Raccoon Eyes: NOOOOOOO not my shoes!!!!!!!!

Tape Face: its just the left shoes tho

Raccoon Eyes: BUT THATS MY FAVE SIDE

Katsuki: What the fuck are you two going on about?

Raccoon Eyes: DONT COME FOR M

Raccoon Eyes: Y LEFT SHOES KATS IM SORRY

Katsuki: I’m not coming for your fucking left shoes. Or any of your shoes.

Katsuki: I will be coming for you if you don’t delete that picture, though.

Raccoon Eyes: FORGIVENESS

Raccoon Eyes: I BEG

Raccoon Eyes: PLSSSSS

Katsuki: Delete the picture.

Raccoon Eyes: ugh fiiiiiiiiiine

Raccoon Eyes: its deleted

Raccoon Eyes: i wont send it to momo for the slide show

Katsuki: Good.

Raccoon Eyes: IF U COME TO THE REUNION

Katsuki: Fuck off.

Shitty Hair: C’mon Katsuki!! It’ll be fun!!

Tape Face: ya it wouldnt do if we didnt have our exploding star

Raccoon Eyes: ill send momo WORSE if u dont come

Raccoon Eyes: nd u wont know WHAT til AFTER

Raccoon Eyes: so PLSSSSSSSSSS

Raccoon Eyes: PRETTY PLSSSSSSS

Raccoon Eyes: PLS COME TO THE REUNION

Raccoon Eyes: ill spam u a lot worse if u dont show us proof of rsvp

Raccoon Eyes: pls kaaaaaaaaats

Raccoon Eyes: kaaaaaaaaats

Raccoon Eyes: k

Raccoon Eyes: a

Katsuki: Ugh fucking fine, I’ll do the RSVP now then.

Raccoon Eyes: t

Raccoon Eyes: YAY

Four Eyes (Rocket Legs): Good afternoon, Bakugou! I just wanted to confirm with you that I have received your RSVP for the Class A reunion. As a reminder, if you need to rent a room for the night or the weekend, please alert the Shinjuku Hotel staff that you are part of the Class A reunion party by next Wednesday for an event discount.

Katsuki: image.png

Katsuki: Four Eyes is watching the RSVP form like a fucking hawk apparently.

Raccoon Eyes: YAAAAAY URE RSVPD!!!

Shitty Hair: You know him, always dedicated to his work

Tape Face: sweet

Raccoon Eyes: are u guys getting rooms

Tape Face: yea musutafus too far for a round trip

Tape Face: esp since itll prob end late

Shitty Hair: I got one for the weekend!

Tape Face: wbu mina

Raccoon Eyes: booked a room already!!

Raccoon Eyes: kaaaaats wbu

Raccoon Eyes: u should

Raccoon Eyes: we could have a brunch or lunch or s/t thats just us

Raccoon Eyes: plsssssss kats

Katsuki: I’ll think about it.

Tape Face: better than a no lmao

Shitty Hair: If they run out of space or if you decide last second, you can room with me dude

Raccoon Eyes: awww why not a yes

Katsuki: I haven’t asked the other Four Eyes for the time off yet.

Tape Face: is this four eyes no4 or no15

Raccoon Eyes: four eyes no69

Raccoon Eyes: no wait

Raccoon Eyes: no420

Tape Face: haha blaze it

Raccoon Eyes: BLAZE IT

Shitty Hair: It’s number 7

Katsuki: Fuck you, I don’t have that many Four Eyes saved in my phone.

Shitty Hair: I’d be surprised if you had 420 contacts period dude

Raccoon Eyes: would b hilarious tho

Katsuki: Yes, it’s Four Eyes number 7.

Shitty Hair: I was right!!

Katsuki: Why would I ask any of the other Four Eyes for time off? They’re not my fucking bosses.

Tape Face: dunno

Raccoon Eyes: idk maybe ure secretly dating one a

Raccoon Eyes: nd have to confirm that its ok

Raccoon Eyes: ARE U SECRETLY DATING A FOUR EYES

Raccoon Eyes: U HAVE TO TELL US IF U ARE

Raccoon Eyes: URE LEGALLY OBLIGATED

Tape Face: o shit

Tape Face: scandalous

Katsuki: Shut the fuck up, I’m not dating anyone, secret or not.

Raccoon Eyes: thats what they all say

Katsuki: Whatever. I’m not dating anyone.

Raccoon Eyes: kats n four eyes no420 sittin in a tree

Raccoon Eyes: k

Raccoon Eyes: i

Raccoon Eyes: s

Raccoon Eyes: i

Katsuki: I’ll blow up all of your left shoes when you’re not home.

Raccoon Eyes: n

Raccoon Eyes: NO

Raccoon Eyes: IM STOPPING DONT DO IT

Shitty Hair: Hey what do you guys think of this photo

Shitty Hair: image.png

Tape Face: dude yes

Raccoon Eyes: AWWWW OUR FIRST BILLBOARDS AS PROS

Katsuki: Do we really need to send them pictures? It’s not like we fucking forgot this stuff already.

Tape Face: you can be a killjoy if you want lmao

Tape Face: im sure mina will send more than enough to cover for you

Raccoon Eyes: U BETCHA

Raccoon Eyes: image.png

Tape Face: lmao why do you have a pic of katsuki throwing ei

Shitty Hair: I still can’t believe you did that bro

Shitty Hair: WITHOUT WARNING TOO

Katsuki: I gave you plenty of fucking warning.

Shitty Hair: Saying “I’m throwing you” AS YOU’RE THROWING ME is NOT PLENTY OF WARNING DUDE

Raccoon Eyes: im always ready to document golden moments

Katsuki: Shut the fuck up. We won the training exercise so what’s it fucking matter?

Shitty Hair: YOU THREW ME!!

Katsuki: Tape Face caught you before you could get hurt.

Shitty Hair: YOU /THREW/ ME!!!!!!

Tape Face: barely caught

Katsuki: Whatever.

Raccoon Eyes: im still impressed by how eASY u made that look

Katsuki: What the fuck’s that supposed to mean?

Raccoon Eyes: o look conveniently timed distraction photo spam

Katsuki sighed as he continued the conversation, commenting here and there on the photos his friends sent for judgement. In retrospect, he probably should have tried to talk to Shion first, since there was a chance she would have denied the time off for the reunion. Although, knowing her, she would have accepted just to force Katsuki into socializing. He opened up a new text message, figuring that if Shion did decide to deny the time off, he would at least have a screenshot to send to his friends explaining the sudden change in plans.

Katsuki: I need March 28th and 29th off.

Four Eyes (Shitty Shion): Do my eyes deceive me? The great Katsuki Bakugou, asking for time off?

Four Eyes (Shitty Shion): I’m amazed! Usually I have to ask you to take the day off!

Four Eyes (Shitty Shion): Nay, not ask, but force!

Katsuki: Are you going to give it to me or not?

Four Eyes (Shitty Shion): Depends! What do you need the time off for?

Katsuki: Class reunion.

Four Eyes (Shitty Shion): Oh those are fun!

Four Eyes (Shitty Shion): Fill out the proper time off paperwork and have it on my desk by Monday. I’ll approve the time off.

Four Eyes (Shitty Shion): Just keep your phone on you in case we need you to come in for an emergency, but I’ll try not to ruin your reunion with work.

Katsuki: Thanks.

Well, so much for an easy way out.

Katsuki pinched the bridge of his nose when he noticed that his phone had already accumulated another thirty texts in the past few minutes, no doubt primarily from Mina. He scrolled through the backlog, sending a few mostly empty threats when he saw photos he did not want projected for the entire class to see, freezing when his gaze met a pair of familiar amber eyes.

Shit.

In his scramble to close out of the photo, to escape the genuine smile that somehow was more haunting than the one in his dreams, he left the group text completely. He briefly thanked his past self; he’d impulse or rage quit the group text plenty of times before that this wasn’t unusual behavior. If he was lucky, his friends wouldn’t have noticed the timing of his departure and would assume he was just fed up with the notifications or the conversation.

Shitty Hair: You okay, Katsuki?

A weak laugh escaped Katsuki’s lips as he read the newest notification. Of course Eijirou noticed.

Katsuki: I’m fine.

Shitty Hair: Okay

Shitty Hair: We don’t have to talk about it

Shitty Hair: But if you want to, I’m here dude

Shitty Hair: I’ll tell the others that you left so your phone would shut up and not to add you back yet

Katsuki: Thanks. Really.

Shitty Hair: No problem dude

Katsuki put his phone down, silently praying for the smile to leave him alone.

When he finally laid down for bed that night, he repeated the short prayer, for a peaceful night’s rest free of the smile, of the hurt, of the pain, of the guilt.

But as always, the smile came.

#boku no hero academia #my hero academia #bakugou katsuki #kaminari denki #bakukami #kamibaku #katsuki bakugou #denki kaminari #bnha fanfic #mha fanfic #story #from the creator

8 notes · View notes

nelllraiser · 4 years ago

Text

sharks and strippers | group birthday chatzy

LOCATION: a frozen pond in the forest. PARTIES: @chasseurdeloup, @divineluce, @beatrice-blaze, @whatsin-yourhead, @connorspiracy, @phoenixleah, @notsoharsh, @corpse--diem, @detectivedreameater, @letsbenditlikebennett, @halequeenjas, @walker-journal, @seizethecarpe, Jack SUMMARY: nell’s birthday party has a surprise guest.

It was technically still two days until Nell's birthday, but with that actual day of celebration stuck right in the middle of the full moon and during the beginning of the work week, it had made much more sense to have the party today. The three Vural girls had pooled their magic to freeze over the pond they'd found to make a suitable outdoor ice skating rink, and hired someone to rent out skates for those that needed them. Fairy lights were hung around the perimeter of the new ice rink, and not all that far away was a bonfire pit already stacked with wood and marshmallows for s'mores nestled into the surrounding snow. Somewhere nearby was a speaker to play some music to skate along to, but perhaps most important was the little tent and table where guests could find an assortment of alcohol. Whoever said intoxication didn't mix well with ice skating hadn't watched their friends hilariously fall on their asses countless times. The spicy aroma of mulled wine and hot toddy filled the air along with irish coffee. In addition to the winter drink staples there were also the typical options for the more traditional. As she waited for others to arrive, Nell paced by the edge of the rink, realizing perhaps a bit too late that a magical invitation might not be all that intuitive for everyone receiving it. "You don't think they'll get lost, right? I mean- if you saw a golden trail come from an invitation you'd follow it, wouldn't you?" she asked.

Kaden wasn’t really up for a party, but this was for Nell. And the invitation was from Bea. So he’d make a brief appearance. Plus, it was a decent distraction. Might as well. And he knew it would be a sight to see. He ripped the invitation, followed the golden light and ended up in the middle of the woods. Of course they made it a magical invite. It took a while to get there, but none of it felt like the middle of the woods. It was decorated to the nines, as expected. He dropped his present off at the table that looked like it was meant for that sort of thing and saw the set up for alcohol. His first stop. Easily.

Luce leaned against one of the tables that had been set up, her hands tucked in the pockets of her jeans as she stared at the ice skating rink she and her sisters had put together. The effort had taken more out of her than she'd thought it would and, right now? She just wanted to sit down. She didn't even really want to be here. But, after all the shit she'd put Nell through, she had to be here. It wouldn't be fair to Nell if she wasn't here at least pretending like she was enjoying the party. Wandering over to the drink station, she made herself an Irish coffee and took a sip from it. Fuck that was good. They might not have access to the family bank account anymore, but they could still throw a good party. "We're witches. They'll figure it out." Luce said with a shake of her head. "Happy Birthday, Nellie." She added, doing her best to smile in a way that she hoped was convincing.

"I think you're overthinking things," Bea told her sister with an amused smile. "If they don't find it with that, they'll hear the people eventually. Or they can just call one of us. They have my phone number." She went over to the tent with the alcohol,"What do you guys want? I'm getting an Irish coffee." She would be skating drunk later and no one would be able to convince her not to.

The invitation was a little strange. Remmy had fiddled with it for a while before realizing that it was asking them to literally rip the piece of paper in half. As soon as they put that together, they realized that was definitely a very Nell thing to do. Or maybe it was just witches that would do stuff like this. They wondered if Morgan had ever done a fancy invitation thing like this, as they followed the trail through the trees and came upon a lake, frosted over. Nell was there, and they spotted Bea and Luce as well, waving over to them and giving a slow trot over. "Hey! Happy birthday Nell!" they said, trying their hardest to stay bright and happy. They didn't need to think about other stuff right now. Held out the card they'd made her. "Sorry it's not much."

Connor had been happy to receive the invitation to Nell's birthday, but that had led to his tiny dilemma of what to get as a gift. He'd asked Bea for some ideas and brainstormed based on what he knew about her. She seemed the sort of person who would just get whatever she wanted regardless. Ultimately he'd decided on a punny t-shirt that had a cactus on the front with 'Don't Be A Prick' written under it and a six month cactus subscription service so Nell could try out a bunch of different types. He wrapped up warm, like Bea had suggested, following the trail to the party. He put the gift on the gift table, looking around for someone he knew before heading to the bar where he ordered a simple beer. "Hey," he greeted, recognizing Kaden, and recognizing Bea's photo from her online account.

As the invitation led Leah to Nell's party, Leah couldn't help but feel equal parts excited and anxious. It was always a blast to celebrate with the Vurals, but the rumors that they were going to be ice skating had her worried about exposure. She wasn't cold at all, but she was still wearing her heaviest coat, gloves, and a hat. She made her way right to the alcohol tent, knowing full well that's where Bea would be. "Surprise me", she said with a grin, still holding Nell's present under her arm. "Where's the birthday girl?"

As people began to filter towards the party, it seemed that Luce's and Bea's words had come true. With an instantaneous wave at those arriving, Nell greeted everyone with a wide and eager smile, just happy that people had showed up. "Hi guys! Thanks," she said to everyone that greeted her, already bouncing towards the bar where people were seeming to gather. "I'm glad you guys are getting your alcohol before you get on the ice. Then it can be my gift to watch all of you fall." In a moment she was grabbing her own drink in the form of a hot toddy, having already asked for it before the festivities began.

Harsh lurked in the shade, waiting for the sun to dip just a bit more. At least it was getting dark earlier and earlier now. He wouldn't have to wait too much longer to grace Nell's party with his presence. He ripped open the invitation, blinking at the sudden spill of golden light. Witches, they always had the best toys. He followed it, careful to still stick to shady patches where he could find them, just in case the setting sun had it out for him. It didn't take too long to wander his way to the end of the golden path. He dropped his small, neatly wrapped present off with the others before glancing around, grinning when he spotted Nell. He lifted a hand in a little wave before heading over to inspect the booze.

Kaden gave Connor a small wave as he ordered a hot toddy. "I see you all went all out," he said to the sisters. "I expected nothing less." He recognized a number of familiar faces and expected more would file in as the night went on. "Have to say, I'm worried about the ice skating. Did you bring magical first aid kits out here, too? You might need them."

“There’s no location,” Erin pointed out as she inspected the invitation. Keys in hand, jacket on, present in tow, she was ready to head out the door when she realized this one crucial piece of information. How did she miss that when she’d originally received it or when she had made the initial RSVP with Bea? She started out the door anyway, pulling her phone out, hovering over the older Vural sister’s phone number again. “Are you ready to go?” She called back to Marley, narrowing her eyes, scanning the invitation for the fiftieth time. With all the heaviness surrounding them lately, Erin had actually been looking forward to this. She dialed the number and shrugged at Marley as she waited. “I think there’s a typo or something. I'm calling Bea now,” she said, holding it out to her.

Marley picked up the invitation handed to her and read it over once, before rolling her eyes and looking up at Erin. "It literally says right here to rip it in half," she answered, not waiting for Erin to say anything before taking the paper and ripping it straight in half. She handed the two pieces back to Erin before pulling on her jacket. "There better be alcohol at this party," she mumbled, "I don't do parties without alcohol."

Connor smiled over at Nell. "Darling, people are going to be falling arse over tit by the time this is over. If watching people fall is your idea of a good time, you're gonna have a hell of a birthday." He spotted Leah, giving her a grin. "Hey, thanks for the book help the other day." He glanced around. People were still trickling in. "I hardly know anyone here. Some of Nell's friends are kinda old."

Bea grinned at Kaden as her phone rang. "Hello, this is Bea, if this is about the party rip the invitation in half. It'll guide you to us. Bring a jacket too!!" She answered chriply.

Ariana had followed the little lights from the invitation with a fascinated look on her face. While magic was over her head, she found it to be too cool all the same. The little glowing lights led her up to an outdoor ice skating area. She could hear the chatter before she approached and smiled when she saw some familiar faces. She waved in Nell and Connor's direction and brightly greeted, "Happy birthday! Hope you don't mind- I dropped your gift off by your house because it would have been a pain in the ass to carry home. You'll see what I mean."

There were too many people by the alcohol. And, when Luce's choice of who to talk with were between Remmy, Kaden, Leah, some random white boy who was calling people old? Christ. No fucking thanks. Slipping away from the crowd of people, she took her steaming cup of Irish coffee and made her way over to the fire that was roaring off to the side. She didn't care much about the heat or the smores, she was just glad to be out of the fucking away. She'd hang around and make sure the fire was going. She'd do her part to make this a nice birthday for her sister. Glancing across the fire, she pointed at the sticks that were left for people to stab marshmallows on. "If you want smores, go nuts."

Nell waved over at Harsh as he greeted her, hoping the sun would set a little faster so that he'd be able to join the festivities a bit more freely. Nevertheless, she waved him over to the bar where everyone was. Laughing a little she quickly said to Connor, "Why do you think I specifically chose an ice rink? Watching my friends make fools of themselves is my dream." Then she was grinning at Ariana, waving yet again with vigor. "It's that big?" Nell chuckled curiously. "So are you gonna skate with me?"

Connor raised an eyebrow at Ari's mention of her gift. "Bruv, what do you mean? Too big? What'd you get her? A life-size sculpture of Greg the dog?" he asked with a chuckle. He lifted his beer in a small toast. "Happy birthday to Nell, happy party-day to everyone else. I'm Connor, by the way."

Jasmine decided she maybe should have worn more practical heels for this little follow the light to Nell's birthday venture. Normally, she was all about the whole being extra thing, but today, her feet were not particularly feeling it. For Nell, it was all worth it. She'd had a gift in hand that she set down on the table as she approached. She gravitated toward Bea and huffed, "Leave it to you to go all out down to the invitation, Beatrice." She scanned the crowd and waved at a few familiar faces.

Ariana tried to muster her most serious face as she answered Connor's joke. "Obviously. What else would I have made Nell for her birthday?" At Nell's mention of skating, she lit up. Given most of her skating past had included playing hockey, but skating just for skating's sake was always fun too. "You don't have to ask me twice. I love ice skating."

Harsh glanced around, finding a few familiar faces. Huh, it really was a small world. Or a small town, whatever. He followed Nell's wave, casually keeping himself out of the sun. There were enough shadowed spots that it shouldn't be too obvious. "Thanks for the invite, it's pretty cool out here." Trying to catch Kaden's eye, he gave him a little nod. "Hey man, didn't know you were gonna be here. I really need to get out more, I can't remember the last time I went to an actual party."

Remmy,confused, watched Luce slink away and over to the fire pit. They furrowed their brow, but chose to ignore it for now, and smiled at Nell. Moose was already rolling around in the snow, happy as ever. The one person Remmy didn't recognize yet introduced himself as was Connor and they waved. "I'm Remmy," they said, nodding, "and I think I'm gonna try skating!" They backed away and headed over to the table full of skates to rent and picked out their size. They plopped down, put on their boots, and stood up. They hadn't been skating in ages, but how hard could it be? They gave a pointed glance towards Luce at the fire pit before stepping out onto the ice, watching Moose tentatively test it out before deciding to sit happily in the snow at the edge.

"I do have some magical first aid kits, just so you know. I'm prepared for a few scraps," Bea told Kaden. She looked over at Jasmine with a shrug,"You remember how her birthdays were as a kid. She deserves all out." Bea and her friends had always been the few people who came to Nell's birthday parties when she was young. Her classmates, and even the kids in the coven, had avoided Nell. Her sisters had to give Nell a good birthday, especially after how this year has gone for them.

Connor nodded, giving Remmy a smile. "Nice to meet you, mate. Once I've finished this beer, I might grab a pair of skates myself. Hopefully still got enough of my ballet co-ordination to not make an absolute dick of myself." He edged a little closer to Nell, lowering his voice. "How do you know the old people?"

Erins’ mouth gaped as she literally tore the invitation. “What are you--” Almost at the same time, Bea answered and confirmed her question before she could even say anything. Lights appeared out of thin air. “Oh. Thanks. See you soon.” Of course. Magic. That was pretty cool actually. She hung up and led the way. “We’re going to a 24 year old’s birthday party. If there’s not alcohol, I’m leaving,” she joked. Kind of. But if she thought the lights were cool, the frozen pond that definitely shouldn’t be frozen in this weather was just as cool. She moved towards the first familiar face she saw, surprised to see her realtor with Bea, as well as a few others that were less pleasant surprises. “Oh, great,” she mumbled to Marley when she saw Kaden, waving towards Bea and Jasmine. “Please tell me you see the alcohol.”

Ariana snickered to herself as she heard Connor whisper about the old people.

Leah R Sipped her sangria, eyeing the rink cautiously as she walked closer to Bea, Kaden, and Jasmine. "How good are those first aid kits at healing broken bones?" she teased playfully. There was no way she would be out there skating today, but it would be fun to watch her friends tumble over each other. She glanced at Kaden, giving him a short, tight smile, before she looked back to her friends. "That stripper dude that came to your birthday isn't coming, is he? I think it's probably too cold for a stripper."

Luce wasn't surprised by the way Remmy looked at her and she let out a sigh. This wasn't the time or place for drama. Taking another large drink from her cup, Luce looked at the fire and nudged it with magic. The flames turned a slight blue color as she helped it burn a little higher. Glancing over the firepit, she watched as Jasmine, Erin, Marley, and a few other stragglers made their way into the party. What the fuck kind of shoes was Jas wearing?

It took a quick moment to lace up her skates, and in another second Nell was making her way to the ice with her drink still in hand, beckoning the others along. Nell's snicker was quick to join Ariana's before she said, "You know old people need attention, too. If you don't pay attention to them that's how they get wrinkles." Her tone was purposefully loud enough for anyone in the vicinity to hear."

"I sure do," Marley answered, because she'd scouted out the bar table the second she'd gotten there. There were a few familiar faces around, including Langley, of course, but she really didn't care. She didn't exactly want to be here in the first place, but Erin had bullied her into going, and she did kind of like the littlest Vural. Even if she was annoying. Mostly. She split away from Erin and headed towards the bar table, not waiting for her, sunglasses snug on her face. The sun was bright and it was making her head hurt to look at, and this place had just the cure. "Mexican coffee," she said, pointing at the tequila and then the big pot of coffee. "Put a little extra love in it, too."

Jack hadn't expected to be invited back to an event by a Vural after the last time, and definitely not socially rather than as a performer. As he eyed the ice and his breath curling in the cool air, he was kind of glad of that though. He couldn't quite show off his incredible abs and biceps to the crowd in his coat, but there was no amount of clothing that could hide his immaculate silhouette. He slid over to the bar with a casual grace. "Hey Bea, how are you doing?"

Jasmine nodded as she remembered Nell's birthday parties when they were kids. She never quite understood why other kids didn't show up but she was glad Nell got to have something this special now. Even if she did have to walk out here in heels. Skates would actually be a nice change of pace. "Point taken. Next time just warn a girl and she'll wear chunkier heels." She nudged Bea's arm jokingly and gave Kaden a wave. She was just going to gloss over the fact she thought he was a stripper up until a couple of weeks ago. She smiled brightly as Erin approached and said, "You could not be more right, Erin. I need a glass of wine."

Kaden gave Harsh a nod back. "Yeah, I've been friends with Bea for a while now. Nell's had to put up with me at enough dinners over at their house. Guess that earned me an invite." In truth, he cared about Nell, too, but admitting that was different. "How do you know the Vurals?" He blinked in confusion as he saw the stripper from the last party walk in. It was... outdoors. And cold. There was no way they were going to be subjected to this again. At least no one was asking him to strip. Again. For now. Putain. "I think I'm going to need more alcohol for this."

Connor snickered, lightly elbowing Nell. "Oh, better make sure you give them all the attention then. Especially that truck-sized man over there." He could see the sheer size of the man's muscles even beneath the layers of clothing. "Is that Remmy person cool? I'm trying to decide how long is socially acceptable to wait before I ask to pet their dog."

"Not good at all," Bea replied. She wished she could drag her friend out there, but the risk of her breaking wouldn't be worth it. "You could hang out of the edge of the pond? We could try to skate around there if you wanted." She let out a soft laugh as Leah spoke,"I invited him actually. He's sweet and here he comes now!" She grinned at Jack,"Hi! I'm great, so glad you can come! How are you?" She looked over to Jas quickly,"Try the mulled wine! Jack, do you want something to drink?"

Harsh couldn't bite back a laugh. "Wait, you had a stripper at your party? Okay, I clearly need to party with you more often." He turned his smile toward Leah. "Hey, don't think we've met, I'm Harsh." Looking back toward Kaden, he shrugged. "Nell and I hang out sometimes, I haven't spent too much time with the others though. I guess now's a good time to change that."

Jasmine laughed al Nell spoke more loudly. "Yeah, if you don't believe in the old people. They just wither and wrinkle away." She shot a glance over in the area Kaden, Erin, and Bea were standing. She shrugged and looked over to Remmy and asked, "Hey, do you mind if we pet your dog?"

Ariana laughed al Nell spoke more loudly. "Yeah, if you don't believe in the old people. They just wither and wrinkle away." She shot a glance over in the area Kaden, Erin, and Bea were standing. She shrugged and looked over to Remmy and asked, "Hey, do you mind if we pet your dog?"

"Oh hey!" Nell exclaimed as she spotted the enormous man seemingly appear out of thin air which was...quite a feat for someone so large. "Have you met, Kaden?" she asked, pointing towards the man in question. "I think he's actually looking into the stripping business if you have any tips for him," she said in a hushed tone to Jack. Then she turned back to Connor. "Yeah, Remmy is great! And if Moose isn't working I'm sure they'd be fine if you asked to pet him. He's a good boy." Then she turned to Ariana, trying to tug her friend towards the ice with her.

Leah shrugged, not at all put off by not being able to participate in the more physical activities that her friends enjoyed. She was used to it, honestly. "I'll just hang onto the side if I get the urge", she teased, right before her eyes went wide at Bea's next words. "You, invited him? Are you buds with an immaculately sculpted stripper now?" Leah felt heat rise to her face at the idea of it, remembering how forward the man had been at Bea's party. A stranger's introduction was the perfect excuse to calm herself down from the embarrassment. "I'm Leah,” she said with a smile, shaking his hand. She wondered if her body heat crept through her gloves. "I'm good friends with Nell's sister, haven't missed one of her birthday parties yet." She smiled as she looked around at the other members of the party, most of whom she'd met at least once before. "Everyone here is pretty cool, mostly anywhere. There are a few stragglers", she said, her gaze falling to Kaden.

Connor nodded a hello to the other person close-by that he didn't know, who had introduced himself as Harsh. Ariana, in true form, wasn't shy about asking about the gigantic Leonberger. "Well, I don't see a vest on him, so I guess it's okay to ask." People were heading towards the ice, so he decided to go and rent some skates too.

A long, elongated shadow moved under parts of the ice, bumping against the ice occasionally.

Bea pointed at the ice and laughed, "Look, a shark."

“You and me both,” Erin grinned at Jasmine. “I didn’t know the whole town knew the Vurals.” She wasn’t surprised to see Marley already ordering something for herself and followed suit to the table and ordered a glass for herself. “I thought this was supposed to be a kid’s party?” She joked, watching the crowd. Not that she was complaining. She leaned closer to Jasmine, smirking, lowering her voice like she was sharing a secret. “Also, did I overhear someone say there’s a stripper?”

Luce tossed a fresh couple of logs onto the fire and brushed the bits of bark off her hand. Walking away, she made her way back towards the ice, moving past Leah, Jasmine, and Bea. Raising an eyebrow at Leah's words and pointed glance at Kaden, she raised her eyebrows. As she neared the edge of the ice, Luce frowned. There was a dark shadow under the ice-- what? What the fuck was that? Looking over at her sister, Luce rolled her eyes. "It's probably just a piece of driftwood." She said, though she kept her eyes focused on the strange shape.

Connor turned his head at the mention of the word 'shark', furrowing his brow. "Oh, nah, not more White Crest bullshit. It's a birthday party, bro."

Nell saw the shadow moving beneath, and for a quick second wondered whether Ma'al's tentacley ass had decided to make an appearance. Was that cult appropriate? "Maybe it's Squidward," she chuckled, remembering the demon who had lived in the lake.

Jasmine tilted her head and gave Leah a questioning look as he gaze implied Kaden wasn't cool. She barely refrained from asking about it in the moment. Instead, she smiled brightly at Jack. "It's nice to have you here as a guest." Though she did slightly prefer his stripping attire. "Mulled wine it is." She agreed with Erin and said, "They really do, but it's good to see a familiar face. How do you know the Vurals?" She laughed at the mention of there being alcohol and a stripper at a kids' party.

Remmy stopped in the middle of the rink at the mention of 'shark' and glanced around their feet. They noticed the shadow swimming around under them then over to the edge. "Is that, like-- possible? Is he okay? Do you think he's scared?" they asked, skating over to the edge back near Moose and trying to scrape away some ice with the pick of their skate. "Should we do something!?" they asked worriedly.

Kaden rolled his eyes at Leah's pointed comment towards him. What he did to piss her off other than existing, he didn't fucking know. At least he knew why Marley and Erin disliked him. That was good and earned. His brow furrowed at the mention of a fucking shark in the pond. "Only in goddamn White Crest. What is it?" he asked as he approached the ice, drink still in hand but reaching for his knife, just in case.

Bea laughed,"Are you shocked that I became friends with him? He was fun at the birthday party and I love having connections with performers." She kept her eye on the shadow, "Luce's right, it's driftwood, but I'm also right and it's a shark. Driftwood shark. Sharkwood?"

Luce glanced over at Remmy, blinking at their question. "I really don't think that it's a shark. Bea's joking. Or hitting the irish coffee too hard." As Kaden walked up, hand going to the knife on his belt, Luce scowled at him. "Stand down, Ranger Rick. It's nothing. We would have noticed if there was a damn shark in the pond." Right? They would have noticed, right?

Connor hadn't even got to the skate rental booth. He'd turned to watch what was happening with the shark. He doubted it was spiritual in nature, so an exorcist wouldn't do any good. Instead, he stood at the edge of the pond, a little ways back. "Of course Kaden's got his knife." He wasn't complaining when the guy had helped with his Snicker Snacker problem, but at a birthday party? Only in White Crest.

With everyone distracted, maybe Marley could just slip away and go home. Erin seemed to be having fun with her actual friends, anyway. The woman she was with was one Marley recognized from somewhere. Like...a post sign or an ad for something. Marley squinted at her, luckily her gaze hidden behind her glasses, but she wasn't exactly being subtle about it. She sipped her coffee and plodded a little further away, sitting near the fire pit but away from most of the others gathered around it. Where the _fuck_ did she know that woman's face from?

Nell took note of her own knives that were nearly always on her person, not pulling one out but all too willing to take a tease at Kaden despite the hypocrisy of it. "It's the only way he knows how to make friends." It was...actually somewhat true considering all the people he'd to mistakenly hunt and then befriended.

Harsh returned Leah's handshake, more than a little grateful that her gloves probably hid the fact that he was a little colder than he should have been. "Nice to meet you. If they throw a lot of parties like this, I've got to get myself invited to more." The word 'shark floating around turned Harsh's head, his brow furrowing. Well, it probably wouldn't be a White Crest party without some kind of insane nonsense. He casually sauntered a little closer to the ice, trying to catch a glimpse of the supposed shark. "Well, if it's not hurting anyone, or itself, maybe we should leave it be for a bit."

Ariana looked down at the ice and tried to decipher what was underneath it. "Doesn't look like a shark." She peered over the ice as she tried to get a better look before shrugging and deciding to skate anyway. "Come on," she motioned for Nell and Connor to join her while also laughing at the joke's at Kaden's expense.

Leah shook her head with a laugh, grinning. "Listen, I don't know why anything shocks me anymore. As long as you think he's cool and he won't give me a lap dance, I don't mind getting to know him." She tilted her head as the attention turned to a figure under the ice. "A pond shark? It's pretty unlikely". It was more likely a Selkie or a mermaid, here in White Crest. She hoped whoever froze over the pond checked for anyone alive underneath, first. She nodded at Harsh's comment. "Yes, let's let it Bea. It's probably just, uh... saying hello!"

The shadow swam another lap of the pond at unbelievable speeds, banging its tail against the ice where the crowd was.

Remmy shrugged, then, looking at Luce and then everyone else who just didn't seem to care about what was under the ice. Whatever it was, it probably was okay under there. Still a tad nervous, Remmy stood back up and skated backwards, slowly, away from Luce and towards the middle again. "Should we at least give it a little place to get out?"

Erin should have been better prepared for that question. Any which way, her connection with the Vural’s was wildly illegal. “Oh, just family friends,” she shrugged, taking a hearty sip of the mulled wine. And then another when there was sudden talk about a shark in the pond. “Sharks and strippers. Why does this feel appropriate for a Vural party?” Maybe she should have been more worried about whatever was floating down there but she couldn’t bring herself to do more than drink again. Erin glanced over at Marley and narrowed her eyes. “Are you…good?”

Connor wandered over to Jasmine, almost like a child returning to a mother's side during a time of crisis. "Hey, do they have pond sharks in White Crest?"

Jasmine vaguely noticed one of the women staring at her. It wasn't entirely uncommon, her outfit did look great. She decided to stay at the table with the alcohol at the mention of a shark in the pond. It wasn't surprising to see Harsh check it out more closely. Ever the hunter that one was. She stayed close to Bea as she had no need to see what animal was in the pond. "I don't know what it is, but I think I'll let someone else figure it out." Not a ghost, not her problem was her mentality for today. Especially with a hunter present. She still felt eyes on her so she opted to smile and wave.

Luce jumped back as the shadow moved under the ice and began to smack against the ice. "Fuck!" She swore, startled by the sudden movement and noise. Glancing over at Leah and the random dude next to her, Luce glanced around at the people who were gathered. Pond shark, or whatever the fuck it was, didn't wanna be in there. At Remmy's words, she nodded. "Yeah. That sounds like a good idea. Outta the way, people." She said before raising a hand. A small flickering blue flame appeared on the ice and began to melt through. As a hole began to form, Luce snuffed out the magic and then drove the heel of her Doc Marten into the weakened section of ice. Kicking at the ice, she broke open a small area of water and looked down at it. "Uh... shark? You there?" She asked, feeling real fucking stupid as she did.

Harsh grimaced. Alright, that probably wasn't normal. Pond sharks were one thing, but aggressive, turbo, pond sharks were probably worse. He glanced around. "Alright, maybe it's time to get off the ice." He drew a little closer, watching as Luce took charge. "We should give it some space. If it's confused, it might bite anything it gets close to."

Bea watched as she sipped her coffee. It was mainly whiskey, but she was happy with it nonetheless. Pond sharks were exciting and people seemed to be intrigued by it. "I gotta thank whoever put the shark in the pond, this is fun," She wondered if Luce did it as a surprise like Nell had hired Jack for her party.

Jasmine nodded. "Family friends, good stuff." She gave Bea a smile and explained, "I've known this lovely lady since kindergarten." Her attention turned to Connor as he approached and she gave him a pat on the shoulder, "I know the lake used to have a squid. Don't know about pond sharks."

Connor was too stupid to be scared of whatever was in the pond, and instead opted for excitedly intrigued. He sensed he was about to watch one of the Vural sisters do some magic and was thrilled at the prospect. "I love that."

"Wait, I wanna see what it is!" Nell told Ariana as she tried to skate away. "Maybe he just wants a drink..." she mused before tipping a bit of her drink onto the ice as if she were making an offering. "Here you go, Shark-Boy."

Jasmine pouted and scooted up towards the edge of the ice. "It's probably just a fish!" Maybe not in White Crest, but she wanted to skate. "Oh my god," she laughed as Nell poured out a drink on the ice. "You're really giving a whole new meaning to pouring one out for the homies."

Marley felt like her name was right on the tip of her tongue, the mystery lady at the table, but she couldn't figure it out. Grumpily, she sipped more of her coffee, finishing it off before standing up and heading over for another. While she waited, she looked at Erin, then to her companion. "I know you from somewhere, don't I?" she asked, rubbing her eyes briefly before glancing sideways at Erin. "Peachy keen," she said with a grimace, "I've got coffee and alcohol, what more could a girl want?"

Ariana pouted and scooted up towards the edge of the ice. "It's probably just a fish!" Maybe not in White Crest, but she wanted to skate. "Oh my god," she laughed as Nell poured out a drink on the ice. "You're really giving a whole new meaning to pouring one out for the homies."

Jasmine tilted her head and tried to gather if she recognized the other woman. "I don't think we've met, but I'm Jasmine. You've probably seen some of my advertisements around town." She raised her glass towards the woman and said, "Good to meet you."

Bea inched closer to the crowd, she wanted to see the shark. "Do sharks like coffee?"

Luce scowled as Nell leaned over and poured her drink into the ice. "Don't do that. You might... drown it? Can coffee drown sharks? Or is that poisoning?" She asked, looking around for anyone who might have more than a high school freshman biology background.

Adam busted in late pretty sure his ass was grass for getting 'delayed'. However when it turned out that the lady of the hour was peering as some shark circling beneath the ice, siblings and dumbasses in tow, Adam promptly decided to take a swig of birthday wine earlier

Connor couldn't hear all the conversation that was going on surrounding the shark, but he'd decided to forgo getting his skates for the time being. He put his empty bottle in the recycling and ordered another drink. "Well, whatever it is, Kaden is about to go all Crocodile Dundee on it's arse, so I'm not worried about it.”

Leah glanced toward Bea as she inched closer to the pond, pressing her lips together. "I don't think they do... but are we sure that's even a shark?", she wondered aloud. She sipped from her sangria again, she was far too sober for this.

Remmy skated over a little closer to the hole Luce had made and watched with the others, wondering what might come out of the hole. "It-- I...don't think sharks can drown, Luce," they said, a little confused. Could they? "Don't they like...breath water? They've got gills and stuff..." They looked over at Luce and Ariana, pouring stuff onto the ice and into the hole for him. "Maybe we're scaring him by all standing around. SHould we give him some space?"

"It's a shark for sure, I have a degree in this," Bea told Leah seriously, though they both knew that was a lie. "Do you think the shark can get caffeinated?" Seeing Adam, she waved,"Adam! There's a shark here!"

Jasmine took a sip of her mulled wine and looked towards Kaden. Crocodile Dundee? She trusted Harsh to handle it more if it was really needed. "Right, well, he can have fun with that then. I'll be over here enjoying my wine away from the wild life."

Adam threw up his hands and said. "People told me NOT to bring my guns to a party! What the Hell!"

Jasmine shook her head at Nell's gun nut boyfriend.

Connor had watched Adam stroll in. He hoped the guy had brought Nell a bloody good present for turning up late. She didn't seem too upset about it though. "That's Adam. He's just... special."

“Oh, I remember the squid,” Erin shook her head. Boy howdy did she ever. “Jasmine’s the one who got me set up in my apartment, actually,” she added, glancing at Marley, though it was hard to keep her attention off of the group circling the hole in the lake. Leaning against the bar, she ordered another drink. “They look like they’ve definitely got it under control.”

Luce raised an eyebrow at Adam's outburst before returning to the hole. There wasn't anything going on at the moment, but that didn't mean it wasn't gonna pop out of the ice and try and eat them or something. Poking at the water with her boot, Luce looked at Remmy. "Shark's got stage fright? I mean, I've heard weirder shit, so you might be onto something there." She said before shuffling back a bit.

One minute, Dave had been scouting out whether there was any Gryndylow in this tiny pond, beating the pond bottom with his fin to disturb whatever was down there and get a feel for it. The next, he was resurfacing and had banged his head against a lid of ice. No way in hell had it been anywhere near cold enough to freeze over the entire pond in the ten minutes he'd been down there. But it had. Dave had swum around and around, looking for any gap, and had bounced his body against it to try and break the ice until he had a headache. It was only then that he began to worry, the oxygen in his arteries slowly running out. When he'd noticed shadows moving over the ice, he'd tried to get their attention, banging on the ice. Suddenly part of the water warmed up, and he felt the ice crack through his whiskers. Dave swam up quickly, poking his heavily scarred snout out of the water to breath deeply. Imminent threat of death solved, he now had to address the seal in the room: that there shouldn't have been a seal in this pond, and that there definitely shouldn't have been a loose leopard seal on this side of the equator.

As soon as the seal's head broke the ice, a look of slight disappointment came over Nell's face. "Oh. It's a seal." A shark would have been cooler.

"Oh, yes! Right! That's where I've seen your face! On the bench outside the precinct! You're the realtor gal, Jasmine Hale," Marley said, excited suddenly, that something, finally something could come to mind without hours of sitting and thinking about it. She sighed with audible relief and grabbed her next drink, sliding up next to Erin, suddenly much less moody than before. She leaned against Erin as she held her hand out to Jasmine. "Marley Stryder. Nice to meet you. For real. You're like half a celebrity in this town, considering your face is everywhere."

Adam looked at Bea with a scowl that betrayed just a hint of disappointment that a deadly predator hadn't shown up at a social occasion. "It’s a fuckin seal.”

It struck Connor that he'd been the first to ask how Nell knew all these old people, but now he was the one hanging out with them all while the rest of them were skating. "Jas and I only met after I'd found my beach house, but she's pretty good at her job. I bet your place is sick." He turned his head at the commotion as the shark - which actually now revealed itself to be some type of giant seal - emerged from the icy water. "Don't stab it! Or shoot it!" He called, stepping closer to the ice. "Just... I dunno, let it wobble off or something."

"Well, it looked like a shark!!" Bea isn't sure why anyone believed her, but it was nice to know her influence. "Do seals like coffee? Or whiskey?"

Ariana stopped skating as she saw a seal emerge from a hole in the pond. A seal. In a pond. Was it Ricky or Skylar? She'd never actually seen them as seals before so she skated closer to the opening. She eyed Adam and Kaden to see what their reaction would be. "See, it's just a seal. No reason to not skate."

Kaden was waiting for a monster of some sort to pop out from the hole in the ice. It was absolutely the sort of thing that would happen in White Crest. When he saw a seal, a leopard seal at that, all he could say was "putain de merde." There was no reason a seal like that could be in a pond unless it was a selkie. He really should stab it. He would have a year ago. But for now, he sighed and put the knife away. "Leave the seal alone."

Harsh glanced at the weirdo yelling about guns. "Yeah, I still don't think shooting it is the best idea. But I think we should all give it some space, like they said," he noted, nodding at Remmy. His eyes went wide as a seal poked its head up out of the ice. Well, that was new. He moved closer carefully, kneeling near the open hole. "I think it's alright, but uh, I wouldn't give it any alcohol."

Luce swore as the ice was broken and a big fucking animal poked its head out of the water and huffed. "What the fuck is that thing doing in our pond?" She asked. Looking over at Nell, she realized her sister was right. It was a seal. And now Adam had figured it was a seal. Okay, apparently everyone was a fucking zoologist or whatever. "Yeah, what the pasty british kid said. No one attacked it. Just stay away from the hole and let it have room to breathe or whatever."

A seal? Wait-- it wasn't-- Remmy blinked and focused on them. No, not Skylar. Sighing with relief, they skated back over, still keeping a distance. "Umm, are you okay mister seal? Or um-- misses seal? I can't-- I don't know seal genders..." they looked over at everyone else, up to Luce, shrugging. "Maybe they got stuck? Do you need help? I think there's a river close by..." But no one else seemed to be moving to try and help the surprised looking seal. "Should we help them?"

Leah laughed at Bea, shaking her head. It was definitely not a shark, then. But a seal, which meant it was a selkie, which meant they probably needed some room to breath. "Maybe we should leave it alone", she said, agreeing with Kaden for once. She was surprised that he wasn't attacking it, didn't hunters hate selkies, too?

"Big seal," Bea observed. "I'm kind of disappointed that it wasn't a shark, but a seal is cool too." She considered her little sister's friends for a moment, before speaking to the crowd,"Don't try to pet the seal too."

Adam disappeared off to the greenhouse for a time and returned with some plywood planks. Merrily slide-swearing his way out to the pond, Adam proceeded to cover the hole so people didn't plunge in.

If Dave had been able to hear the reaction and thoughts of everyone there, he would have been offended. As Immo's most murderous character, he was definitely more dangerous than the average shark.

Connor couldn't even be upset at the pasty British kid comment, considering it was true. "Yeah, see?" He swallowed another mouthful of beer, deciding he was actually going to get his skates now. He joined the others on the ice within a few moments, but not too close to the seal-hole. "Come on, mate. Weirder shit happens in this town than pond sharks and pond seals. As long as it isn't eating anyone, it's fine." He looked over at Adam, who'd returned with some planks. "Dude, I know you're a football player or whatever, but you know seals need to breathe, right?"

As the wood covered the hole, Nell tried to pour a little more of the hot toddy through the planks of it, figuring the seal should also have a good time. "It's okay- maybe he just wants a drink."

Adam peered down at the seal whose hole he was boarding up, give him a long "Dude we gonna do this or naw?" stare.

Luce shrugged at Remmy's suggestion, shaking her head as she stared at the seal that still had its head poking out the hole. "I'm not about to try and get that thing outta here, I'd get my hand bitten off if I tried to help it out." Watching as Nell moved to pour more alcohol on the animal, Luce grabbed her sister's arm. "C'mon, don't fuck with the wildlife." She chided. "How'd you like it if someone dumped a hot toddy on your head after you got out of bed or whatever?"

Dave carefully considered his options, breathing deeply. They'd forget this, right? Regular humans would talk about the weird fish they'd seen. Just as he'd gotten enough air for half an hour, that fucking kid he'd met in the underwater cave that one time began boarding him up. I damn well saved your neck back then he thought aggressively at Adam, slowly slinking back into the water. As a hot liquid was poured on him, he jerked back in clear discomfort, diving back under the water. He'd have to wait until they fucked off before leaving.

Erin raised a skeptic eyebrow at Marley, her mood suddenly brightening. Didn’t have time to question it as the creature was revealed to be a seal. “Aw, a seal?” Wait, a seal? Her first thought went to Skylar. She doubted it was her but she started gravitating a little closer. “Jesus Christ, Nell, stop pouring alcohol on the seal!” She yelled.

"Aww, oh no," Nell said as the seal obviously didn't like her offer of a drink, not having meant to pour it on the seal. "Sorry!" she called down into the hole even after the seal had disappeared. "I can get something colder if you want?"

Adam murmured "Hey uh Nell....did you like...brain-warp this seal in here..or?"

Remmy frowned, a bit sadly, as Adam started boarding up the hole the seal was in. What if it was a selkie, like Skylar and Ricky? What if they were worried or scared? But they didn't have too much time to contemplate this, as the seal recoiled and dove back under. "Ahh, wait-- oh," they sighed, "bye seal." Waved at them before standing up again and looking down at Luce. "Are you gonna sulk by the fire pit the whole time, or?" they asked, raising a brow. "Don't tell me you don't know how to skate."

Nell considered the question for a long-moment in her inebriated state, wondering if she had actually Summoned the seal here. "...maybe? I don't think so. No- if it was me it would have been a shark. A shark would have been cooler," she lamented once again.

Kaden shouted out at Nell, "What did I say? Leave the sel-- seal. Leave the seal alone." He grumbled and went to refill his drink. He was going to need a lot more to deal with this.

Harsh rose as the gun weirdo moved to board up the hole. Well, crisis apparently averted then. He so needed a drink. Hands in his pockets, he wandered back over to the drinks table to grab something strong.

Adam gave Nell a helpless 'babe your crazy is hot but it scares me' grin and stood up to awkwardly scoot his way over to actually get some skates

Ariana kept skating around the ice and her features brightened up as she saw Adam grabbing skates. "Finally."

Bea looked over at the older crowd around her, "Do we want to get on the ice too?"

Luce looked over at Remmy, squinting as they waved "bye seal" to the weird fucking seal chilling in the pond they'd commandeered for the party. Okay then. Well, that was enough excitement she could take sober. She needed some real fucking alcohol. "I do know how to skate, but I'm sure not gonna do it when that," She gestured to the recently vacated airhole, "is swimming underneath us. Did you see those teeth? It'd fucking bite off a leg. I'm gonna drink is what I'm going to do."

Leah glanced at her friends, deciding what might be best to do. "I'll just walk on the ice, not skate. That's way less chance of me falling in, right? Walking and holding onto the side." Somehow, the drink in her hand was already empty, and a warm haze surrounded her vision.

Jasmine took another long sip of her wine and happily said, "Absolutely. Now that I know nothing in the pond will try to eat me, I'm game."

Connor skated around with Ari and Nell and Leah and now, Adam. "Are you the only one underage?" he asked Ari, giving her a little smile. "Don't worry. Fuck pre-gaming. We can post-game at my house now that it's not infested any more."

Kaden sighed. "Are you going to make me?"

Adam looked back at Connor with a frown, wondering if the infestation was ghosts or cockroaches or satan or something but decided not to ask. He tied up his skates and began breaklining across the pond, perhaps unsure of what 'casual skating' was.

Remmy shook their head. "Scaredy cat," they teased, before skating away. Moose had been following them along the outside of the pond, running back and forth, making sure to stay away from the hole. Finally, he settled into the spot next to Luce, laying down next to her as he watched Remmy skate away. They were choosing to have a good time, Luce could stay behind and be grumpy all she wanted. They skated up to Nell. "Wanna race?"

Jack was better in high heels than skates, but he got on the ice with enthusiasm. "I don't know what all the fuss was about that big fish," he said with a shrug, flexing his gorgeous muscles as he skated about with perfect grace - even when he lost his balance and fell on his ass.

Ariana knew Remmy wasn't talking to her, but couldn't resist a good race. "Hell yeah she does. I'm getting in on it, too."

Marley took another long sip, watching as everyone finally dispersed once the seal was gone and the hole was boarded up. She looked over at Erin, who had started walking towards the pond as well, yelling at Nell. "Ah, leave her alone," she said, grabbing at Erin's arm, tugging her back, "it's her birthday. Let her be crazy." Besides, she wanted Erin to stay with her. "Wanna roast marshmallows? I hear those are supposed to be good or whatever." Plus, she'd never done that before, and she kinda really wanted to try.

Connor was more than happy to join in one the race, provided they all stayed away from the hole. "Oh, I'll play too, but can I please pet your dog after? He's so cute."

Bea put on her skates and waved to all her friends. "Come on! Have some fun! See Jack is having a great time!"

Adam zipped to the far side of the pond and produced a 'flag' from the jersey under his jack, holding it up high for the races to take their places.

For the rest of the evening, Dave would periodically resurface in that tiny hole to breath, and spent the rest of his time judging everyone at their ice skating skills.

Erin winced when the muscle-y hunk of a man she could only assume to be the stripper hit the ice hard. She wanted to skate but she got the impression Marley wasn’t ready yet. “Sure, marshmallows sound good. But don’t think you’re getting out of getting out there with me,” she said pointedly before following Marley to the open fire.

Seeing Remmy come up beside her, Nell didn't hesitate to answer. "Hell yeah I do!" she echoed Ariana's sentiment. "I can start us off." Then she began a countdown. "Three...two...one...go!" On the word 'go' she didn't hesitate to playfully shove both Remmy and Ariana as she took off and Adam worked his makeshift flag, trying to get a cheap head start by throwing them off kilter. Then she called back to Erin and Marley. "Yeah! Leave me alone!" she laughed as she skated on, carefully avoiding the hole in the ice. Despite the seal, and perhaps even in conjunction with the seal, the warmth of the party had her grinning as she raced around the rink, unable to think of anything she'd trade this party, company, and seal for.

#sharks and strippers #chatzy #wickedswriting

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dreamescapeswriting · 5 years ago

Text

BTS Reaction ||Stopping His Wedding [Part One] [BFF Series]

Seokjin:

As soon as your best friend/ love of your life, Jin told you he was getting married it felt as though your whole world was falling apart. You’d been in love with Jin since you were teenagers, he was there for you when no one else was and you’d had a crush on him since the moment you met. Now he was getting married and it was as if all the happiness had been sucked out of you, you knew you were supposed to be happy for him and you were, somewhere deep down inside, you were happy for him.

It was getting closer and closer to the wedding day and he’d asked you to be his best man, or Best woman rather, he said he couldn’t choose between the guys because he would feel bad but they all still had a part in his wedding, you agreed, knowing it would make him happy to have you stand up there with him, even if you did want to be the one standing in front of him and not behind him while he exchanged vows with someone that wasn’t you. As the week of his wedding came around he noticed you weren’t being like yourself, you were acting standoffish towards him and everyone else that was involved in the wedding, when he confronted you about it, you told him it was just stress and that you were sorry for being so horrible, but Jimin and Namjoon knew the real reason why you were so off, they’d always known about your crush on Jin, since the moment you realised, they did too.

(X)

“Y/N, You need to get it together,” Namjoon told you for the tenth time that morning, you’d been a mess since the day finally came. You were sat in the changing room toilets crying against the wall, Jimin was outside keeping an eye out for Jin in case he came wondering down and into the toilets.

“I’m over it. I’m fine.” You lied, coming out of the stall and looking at yourself in the mirror, you were dressed in a black sparkling dress to match the black suit Jin was wearing and you had a corsage that matched everyone’s buttonhole, you straightened the dress down and took in a deep breath.

“Jin’s coming.” Your eyes widened as you looked at Namjoon, he handed you a tissue and you wiped your face, trying to remove the stained mascara that had been running down your cheeks, the door opened and he walked inside.

“You ready?” You questioned turning to look at your best friend, his bow tie hanging down undone around his neck and his top button not done up, you scoffed shaking your head and going over to him.

“Go, guys, you’re needed upstairs,” Jin said to Namjoon and Jimin, they both turned to look at you as if questioning if you would be okay, you nodded and they left the bathroom, you began doing up his top button and then set to work on his bow tie.

“Thank you,” He said looking down at you, you avoided his eye contact keeping your gaze on the bow tie, your hands shaking a little from his stare.

“No problem, you were always useless at bow ties…even at prom.” You said with a laugh, he placed his hands on top of yours and you jumped a little, he continued to stare at you and you knew you were going to have to look up at him.

“I mean for being my best woman, for everything.” You hummed and moved your hands out of his and went over to the sink, you had to make it through the day without crying in front of him.

“I’ll see you out there.” You said with a cold tone, you didn’t mean for it to come out so standoffish to him but you couldn’t look at him, you could stare up into his eyes and not wish he was marrying you and not her.

“What is your problem?! Don’t bullshit me with the stress lie either.” You gripped onto the sides of the sink, not looking in the mirror at him, he continued to poke and poke until you finally exploded in front of him.

“Something just doesn’t feel right about it!” You finally yelled at him turning on the spot to stare at him in the eyes, were you about to admit your feelings for him? he stared at you in silence, you looked at the floor, feeling bad for yelling at him,

“Something just doesn’t feel right,” You whispered to him again, silence filled the bathroom, all that could be heard was the dripping tap in the corner of the room.

“You just don’t understand because you’ve never loved anything.” You felt your heartbreak, it was as if he’d just punched through your rib cage and ripped your heart out right before your eyes.

“Never loved anything?” You managed to stutter out, tears filling your eyes as you stared at him, your chest was rising and falling rapidly as you felt your broken heart race with every passing second.

“You’ve never been in love with someone before! You don’t know what it’s like to wake up every morning and have them be the only thing on your mind, you don’t know what it’s like to have them be the first and last thing you think of before you go to sleep at night, have them be running through your mind constantly…The racing heartbeat when they come near you or touch you.” You turned away from him, not wanting him to see you cry but he continued his speech of how “you’d never loved anyone.” You couldn’t take it anymore, it was as if he was pulling every last nerve ending out of your heart, your chest tightened as he continued to rant on and on about you as if he had any idea what you felt. You slammed your hands down against the porcelain sink and span around to face him.

“I’ve always loved you Jin! Always!” You screamed at him, finally feeling as if a weight was lifted from your chest.

“So don’t give me that shit about how I’ve never known what it was like to be in love! I’ve always known! I’ve known what it’s like to watch the one person you’re ever going to love, love someone else and not even glance in your direction!” Your tears were streaming now, he went to interrupt you but you shook your head, Namjoon was outside the door now and you could see him staring at you, silently pleading for you not to do this but you had to, you couldn’t let Jin think he could say that to you and get away with it.

“I know what it’s like to be in love with someone who will Never love you back, I know what it’s like to cry myself to sleep almost every night because the one person I want, I can never have. So Yes Jin! I know what it’s like to love someone, I know what it’s like to have them in your mind.” You ripped the corsage from your wrist and pushed it into his chest.

“I can’t be here while you marry her, I thought I could just push through today, I would see you happy and I could try and move past it all but I can’t.” He stared at you and shook his head, you went to walk out of the bathroom but he continued talking.

“And what am I supposed to do with this information now Y/N?! Huh?!” You stopped in front of the door, taking a deep breath and still facing the door, you couldn’t look at him.

“Marry her, she’s the love of your life Jin.” You opened the door and pushed past Namjoon who had been listening to the whole thing, you walked out of the church and over to your car, starting it up and driving away from him.

Yoongi:

Hoseok had come round to spend the day with you, your best friend Yoongi was off somewhere with his girlfriend so Hobi offered to spend the day together.

“He’s being so weird lately.” You said to Hoseok as you made popcorn for you both, he was melting some chocolate on the hob of the cooker, you always poured melted chocolate over your popcorn and Hoseok loved it, it was a movie day tradition, Hobi agreed with you about Yoongi being weird.

“It’s like he’s hiding something from us all.” He added, you nodded in agreement and poured the popcorn into a large bowl. Yoongi had been your best friend since you were kids and lately, he was avoiding you, your calls and your texts. You put it down to him being busy with album work but when Hoseok called you to tell you they were free all week you put it down to his girlfriend, you didn’t care that they were spending time together you were happy for him, even if he was the biggest crush you’d had.

“You’re going to have to tell him when he breaks up with her,” Hobi said as he poured the melted chocolate into the bowl, you stirred the popcorn around with a spoon and shook your head.

“If he breaks up with her you mean, they’re close Hobi…Closer than the others.” You mentioned thinking back to his previous girlfriends. They’d all been the same, they never lasted and Hobi had it wired into your brain it was because deep down inside of Yoongi he knew he liked you.

“They never stay, you know it’s true.” You laughed along with Hobi, it was and you wished Yoongi saw you the way you see him but you knew he didn’t. You knew he only liked you as a friend, nothing more and nothing less.

“Hobi we shouldn’t talk about our friend like that.” You said with a laugh, going over to the front door and getting the post, you flicked through the usual bill until you found a pure white envelope with lace around it. Your name and address were printed on the front in calligraphy, you came into the living room with it and showed it to Hoseok who frowned at the envelope.

“What is it?” You sat down next to him and opened it up, carefully because it looked too pretty to just rip open.

“You’re hereby invited to the wedding of Min Yoongi and…” Hoseok continued to read it off but you’d already drowned out his voice, staring at their names together and the small date across the bottom of the invite.

“Y/N…I’m, I’m so sorry.” You shook your head, taking a pen and circling the RSVP as ‘No,’.

“I love him Hobi…I can’t-” He pulled you into his arms, rubbing them as you tried not to cry, you couldn’t just watch Yoongi get married, it wasn’t that easy. But it was going to take one hell of an excuse for you to tell him why you weren’t going.

“Why didn’t he tell anyone?” You questioned, eyes welling up as you were rocked back and forth in Hobi’s arms, he patted the top of your head to try and comfort you but it wasn’t working.

“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.” He said to you, you closed your eyes, trying to listen to his heartbeat, Hobi and Yoongi were the only ones that knew how to comfort you and having him here was helping.

(X)

“So you’re just not coming?!” You heard Yoongi yell from the ground floor of your apartment, why did you have to give him that spare key? You wanted to scream at yourself for giving it to him, you continued packing your suitcase in the bedroom and ignored him, hoping if he didn’t hear you he would just leave but he came up to the bedroom and opened the door.

“What’s my important that my wedding day?” You tried to remember what Hobi told you to tell him, but seeing him in front of you hurt you, seeing him so broken about you not coming to the wedding that would break you.

“I’ve had this planned for months Yoongi…If I’d have known beforehand about the wedding maybe I could have cancelled but I didn’t know.” You lied, throwing a dress into the bottom of your case and going to the en-suite, you were just trying to avoid his gaze, he knew when you were lying, you were the worst liar in the world. You were leaving today to get on a plane and not come back until the wedding was over,

“I wasn’t important enough to tell I guess.” You whispered to yourself in the bathroom, he told no one about his secret proposal to his girlfriend and told no one they’d been planning the wedding for a long time, it was all a huge surprise, Hobi managed to book you a plane ticket away for the week of his wedding and you had to lie and tell Yoongi it’d been planned for a while so he wouldn’t get suspicious.

“So you’re taking a holiday on your own?! It’s bullshit Y/N! You hate airports, whenever we go through them together I hold your hand because they make you nervous, so who’s going with you?” You bit down on your lip, looking at yourself in the mirror, he knew. He always knew everything.

“No one, I figured I should pull up my big girl pants and go for a break.” You lied coming out of the bathroom and pushing past him in the door and putting some bathroom products into the suitcase.

“You RSVP’s three days before my wedding, what’s going on with you?” You zipped up the suitcase and looked for the passport, seeing it on your nightstand and going to take it but Yoongi grabbed your hand, you felt a spark run through your body and you tried not to cry, you looked at him and he had tears in his eyes, you hated seeing him this way.

“Why won’t you watch me get married?” The words felt as though they stabbed right through your heart, you shook your head moving away from him, Hobi told you that no matter what you couldn’t tell him how you felt. It would only mess with his head.

“Do you not love me enough to see me happy?” You shut your eyes, wanting the floor to just swallow you.

“I love you too much Yoongi…That’s the problem, I love you too much to watch you marry someone that isn’t me…So I need space.” You grabbed your suitcase and walked out of the bedroom door, going down the staircase and out towards your car, Yoongi would lock the door when he left.

Hoseok:

Hoseok dragged you out to go suit shopping for him, he was getting married and you couldn’t be happier for him, well you could on the inside but on the outside you were showing that you were happy for him.

“What about the navy colour?” The woman in the shop asked as they ran through fabrics and colours for him, you were off in the dress section while they spoke about it. You looked over your shoulder at him, he was looking through a folder of different coloured fabrics, you felt your heart lurch at the thought of him getting married to someone who wasn’t you but you couldn’t tell him any of this. Your best friend, the one person you were supposed to talk to about anything and everything and you couldn’t even tell him the one thing that was bothering you the most, him. It was always him since you were in school together, the moment he said Hi to you in the classroom, the moment he smiled and lit up your whole world because he was like a ball of constant sunshine.

“Shit.” You mumbled walking into a rack of dresses almost knocking them over, he looked over at you and sent you a smile, you smiled back and looked at the woman who was staring at you, you frowned and walked over to another rack of dresses.

“You love him?” You scoffed, trying to act offended that she would ask you something so outright like that, you shook your head, looking at the dresses in front of you.

“No, he’s my best friend.” You lied, she shook her head, turning you around to face Hoseok who was now looking through another folder.

“You love him and you know it…so why let him marry someone else?” You moved away from her grasp and turned away from him,

“I wouldn’t ruin his life like that, he loves his fiancé.” She grumbled something at you and you ignored her, taking out one of the bridesmaid’s dresses and going to try it on.

(X)

“There you are!” Hoseok said coming round the corner to see you, you were dressed in a lilac mermaid gown, staring at yourself in the mirror, you looked up to see Hoseok and smiled at him.

“Was just trying it on, any idea what you’re wearing?” You questioned, trying not to seem nervous about standing in front of him in a dress like this, he’d not seen you in anything like this since Prom, you went together since everyone else already had dates, that night he acted like a boyfriend, you danced together, held hands and he even kissed you goodnight, but that was the last time he ever kissed you. You shook your head trying to ignore the thoughts of it all coming crashing back into you like waves on a beach.

“You look great in it, I’m wearing a black suit, black bow tie and a white shirt.” He helped you get down from the small stool you’d been standing on in front of the mirror and you smiled at him, the woman from before coming into view now, you wanted to scream out for her to leave you alone but she was carrying a tiara and fake bouquet of flowers.

“For a bridesmaid.” She slid the tiara onto your head and you took the bouquet of lilac roses and looked at you, she was smiling and nudging Hoseok’s arm.

“Doesn’t she look amazing.” You blushed, rolling your eyes and handing everything back to her,

“I need to get changed.” You said slipping off into the changing room and trying to get out of the gown you had on, Hoseok wandered off to the other side of the shop.

“Admitting feelings for someone is hard.” The woman said as she came into the changing room, she was untying the corset in the back while you looked at her in the mirror,

“It’s even harder when we don’t know if the other person will return those feelings, but if you don’t tell him you’ll never know.” You shook your head, holding the dress around your chest now it was loose around you.

“I won’t tell him…He doesn’t need to have my love for him weighing on his chest.” You whispered to her, she left the room and you changed back into your jeans and hoodie, coming out to find Hoseok so you could both leave but he was standing outside the door with the same woman,

“You knew he was there the whole time…” You whispered, Hoseok looked as though you’d stood on a puppy in front of him, you’d never seen him this sad before. Even when a girlfriend had broken up with him in school, he looked crushed by what he’d heard you say in the changing room.

“Hoseok please I can-” He shook his head and you shut up, the lady walked off and you wanted to scream at her, punch and pull her down onto the floor and kick-off for what she had made you do in front of him.

“Don’t say anything,” You said, breaking the silence, he looked at you and you grabbed your handbag from the floor.

“I’ll leave, I won’t come to the wedding and it’ll be like this never happened okay?” You were about to leave when he grabbed your wrist stopping you, you stared at his wrist and not at him.

“But it did happen Y/N, It happened and you kept it from me.” You shook your head, tears rolling down your cheeks, he was mad, he was starting to raise his voice at you which meant he was really mad, he never yelled at you, even when you annoyed him, he never yelled at you.

“No Hobi, it didn’t. I was never here, I never admitted those things to you so you can go on and live your happily ever after.” You said to him, removing his hand from your skin and trying to leave, but it was as if he was pulling you in with his gaze, his eyes never leaving you.

“Hobi the paparazzi are outside, I’ll go out first and then you leave whenever. Have a good wedding okay.” You whispered, moving away from him and going out of the front of the shop, ignoring questions from the paparazzi about your friendship with Hobi and how excited you were for him to be getting married.

Namjoon:

“Next up with have Y/N, giving her best woman speech,” Jin said into the microphone, you were having a practice run for your best friends wedding, you, Namjoon, Jin, Jimin, Jungkook, Taehyung, Yoongi and Hoseok were all in the dorms giving your speeches to him, he wanted to hear them before the big day tomorrow and you all agreed you would do it. After hearing Yoongi’s and Jin’s speeches you were a little nervous but looking forward to it. You were happy for Namjoon, he deserved the big fairytale wedding he was getting, his fiancé was amazing and sweet, they deserved one another, but you couldn’t help but feel jealous about it. When Namjoon first asked you to be the eighth, best man/woman, at his wedding you said yes without a second thought about it. Of course, you would be at your best friends wedding, no matter your feelings for him you wouldn’t let him get married without you there. You’d had feelings for Namjoon since you met him through your best friend Jimin, you’d come down to the studio one day and met him while you were lost, he took your back to Jimin but on the way, you got to know each other more and more and since that day you’d become the closest of best friends, closer to him than you were to Jimin anyway. But Jimin knew why, you were in love with Namjoon, it took you four years to admit it to yourself and now he was getting married to someone else.

“You don’t have to do this you know,” Jimin whispered to you as you flicked through the pieces of paper you had ready to read from, you looked at him and then over at Namjoon who was sipping on a beer and laughing at something Jin had said to him, his dimples on full display, you looked away and back at Jimin.

“I do Jimin, I can’t, not speak, he’s asked me to.” He sighed and nodded over at the small “stage” they had made, it was just a couple of couch pillows for everyone to stand on and the “microphone” you were using was one of Jungkook’s hairbrushes, you took it from Jin and stood upon the “stage.”

“I’ve known Namjoon what feels like my whole life.” You started, turning to look at Jimin who was watching you nervously, you turned back to the front and glanced at the paper in your hand.

“But I’ve only known him four years and in those four years he’s proven to be one of the best guys ever,” You got a chuckle from Jin who was watching you along with everyone else in the room.

“The moment Namjoon and R/G/N met we all knew they were meant to be, even if Namjoon didn’t admit it to himself at first, he was madly in love with her. He would constantly check his phone to see if she’d called or text him, he’d lay up at night wondering when she was next going to call.” You put the paper away into your pocket and locked eyes with Namjoon, he was smiling at you, his dimples on full display, your weakness.

“The moment he chose to spend the rest of his life with her was one of the best decisions he’d ever made,” Jimin was on the edge of his seat now, more nervous than before because you’d put the piece of paper away and you were tearing up.

“Choosing who we want to marry and have a life with is one of the hardest choices we make as humans, it’s in our DNA to find someone and be with them for life, for some of you it’s easy, you find that person and the moment you meet that’s it, you know they’re the one for you, you’re the lucky ones, for others…Well for others it’s harder, we find the one we want to spend our lives with but it’s tougher than that because they’re not for us, or life has other plans, puts obstacles in our way, blocks that person from seeing us the way that we see them…The world makes it feel like they’re the one for us but its not…they’re not…” You stopped and looked at Jimin who was shaking his head at you, you knew you couldn’t keep going with the speech and you took in a sharp breath, tears rushing into your eyes you shook your head, finding it hard to find words, Namjoon was staring at you now and you locked eyes with him, the moment you did you felt the world stand still,

“I can’t- I can’t…” You rushed off the “stage,” shoving the “microphone” into Jimin’s chest and rushing into his bedroom, slamming and sliding down the door, bringing your knees into your chest and quietly crying into them. You heard Jimin crack a joke about how women weren’t fit for speeches before excusing himself to come and find you, you stayed in front of the door, not wanting him or anyone else to see you right now, you laid down in front of the door, pulling the Chimmy stuffed animal from nearby and cuddling him.

“Y/N…Let me in.” He said, banging on the door but you ignored him, he knew you were there, he could see your body blocking the light that was supposed to come through from underneath.

“He’s drunk, he won’t remember a word you said…and the guys all knew anyway.” You shook your head, that didn’t make the situation, any easier to deal with.

“I’ll call an uber and I’ll go home, I shouldn’t have come.” You said back to him, you took out your phone, ordering a cab and getting ready to leave.

(X)

“You’re going without a goodbye?” You turned around to see Namjoon standing in the dorms front door, you looked straight ahead, he was drunk Jimin was right, he was so drunk he couldn’t stand still, swaying side to side as if he was some kind of tree in a windstorm.

“Go inside Namjoon you’ll catch a cold.” You said coldly waiting for the cab to show up but it was taking its time, he came closer to you and wrapped his arms around your waist, burying his head into the inside of your neck, he always did this whenever he was drunk or sad, you closed your eyes tightly trying not to cry out for him to hold you like this forever.

“You’ll get sick.” You said pushing him away but he pulled you back into him, your heart was racing more than it should have been.

“I liked your speech, about finding someone but they have someone else. It’s like me with you, you always had Jimin you were in love with.” His words shocked you and the cab pulled up outside honking three times, you stood dumbfounded staring at the drunken Namjoon in front of you.

“What?” Your heart, felt like it had stopped beating for a couple of seconds, he groaned pulling you into him again.

“Stop trying to escape me, just let me have you for tonight, let me love you for one night, love me like you love Jimin.” You pulled away again, wiping the tears from your cheeks and shaking your head.

“I don’t love Jimin you dummy, the speech was about me loving you and you loving someone else.” You admitted, knowing he wouldn’t remember anything he was admitting to you right now, but you would. You would remember every detail.

“Goodnight Namjoon…Have a nice wedding.” You whispered, leaning up and kissing him on the lips, going to your cab and slamming the door behind you.

Jimin:

Park Jimin. Best friend since you were babies and the love of your life since you were teenagers and older enough to understand what love was. You’d never tell him that though, you’d rather keep your feelings to yourself, where you couldn’t get rejected by your best friend and you could keep him in your life, even if it was just to be friends. You were currently sitting in your living room with Jungkook watching romantic movies together, he’d come up with the genius idea of watching them help you get over your feelings for Jimin, but all you could picture was you and Jimin in the movie instead of the main characters.

“Kookie this was a dumb idea.” You groaned into his shoulder, Jimin had announced about a few months ago that he was getting married and you hadn’t been the same since. You started to distance yourself from him and began to hang around with Jungkook instead, Jungkook was the only one out of the boys who knew about your crush on Jimin, he’d picked up on it when you watched Jimin performing once, he asked you about it and you admitted it all to him.

“Hey! This was a great idea, I mean…” He stopped midsentence looking at you, tears down your cheeks as you watched yet another couple get their happy ending.

“Life isn’t like that, it’s dumb.” You said going over to the DVD player and turning it off, you selected a horror movie instead and went to sit back down next to Jungkook, he threw his arm around your shoulder and dragged you into his arm. You were at the dorms together alone, Namjoon was out with everyone else at the studio working on some songs and Jungkook took the day off to spend with you.

“Life has to be like the movies, where are they getting their inspiration from?” He questioned as the movie started, you shook your head.

“No! No, no no, see they make their stories up, it’s all fairytale bullshit.” You laughed turning up the volume on the horror movie to drown out the love talk, you didn’t want to talk. You wanted to watch a movie where there was no happy and no one got a happily ever after.

(X)

You were sitting in the car, waiting for Jimin to come and get in. The day had finally come around and you were riding with Jungkook and Jimin to go to the church.

“You know, if this was a movie it would be time for you to confess,” Jungkook said in the back of the car, you glared at him and shook your head.

“Life isn’t the movies Jungkook.” You reminded him for the 10th time that morning, he wanted you to confess, he wanted you to admit everything to Jimin while you still could, he was still young and naive thinking that you telling Jimin everything would just solve the problems but it wouldn’t, it would only cause more between you all, it would make it awkward, you had to let him go and get married, once he was happily married maybe it would be easier on you, easier for you to move on from him.

“Why are you so bothered about this Kookie, it’s not like me and Jimin being together would be good for you,” You joked ignoring his pleas for you to just admit it to his best friend, Jimin came out of the house in his suit and you looked at him, the way he walked, the way he smiled at you when he noticed you watching him.

“Look at the way you look at him as if he’s the only person in the world,” You punched Jungkook in the arm and he grunted at you, Jimin got into the car and started up the engine.

“Let’s go get me married.” He was too happy for you to even think about taking that moment away from him, you shook your head, forcing yourself to look away from him and keep happy thoughts in your mind.

“It’s never too late,” Jungkook whispered to you so only you could hear him, you ignored him, staring out of the window at the passing trees, you just wanted the day to hurry up and be over with.

“Jungkook if you don’t shut the fuck up I will rip your face off.” You whispered back to him, he sighed wrapping his arm around your shoulders and pulling you closer to him.

“You’re meant to be.” You closed your eyes, tears were threatening to spill from them,

“Please Kookie.” You pleaded, he looked at you, not realising how much talking about it was really starting to hurt you, he pulled you into his chest tighter, you let out a quiet sob and he sighed.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think it was hurting you this much.” You sighed and he kissed the top of your head, even though you were older than him he still treated you as though you were his younger sister and not a close friend.

“Is she okay?” Jimin questioned as you stopped in the parking lot, you prayed Jungkook would keep his mouth shut for once,

“Yeah, she’s just tired, didn’t sleep much last night.” Jungkook lied for you, you thanked him by squeezing his arm that was around you, he squeezed back and you opened your eyes to look at Jimin, he was staring right at you in the mirror, you gave him the best fake smile you could manage and then got out of the car, going towards the church but his hand on your wrist stopped you in your tracks.

“You’re going to be late.” You said as Jungkook got out of the car as well, he looked at you and stayed by your side.

“Jungkook, go inside tell them I’ll be in, in a minute.” Jungkook looked at you but went inside anyway, you stared at Jimin, he knew something about you and you could tell.

“When were you going to tell me?” You frowned at him, trying to play dumb but it wasn’t working, Jimin knew when you lied.

“I heard you and Jungkook in the car, when were you going to tell me you liked me?” Your breath hitched in your throat.

“I wasn’t going to.” You tried to say but he ignored you,

“Were you going to wait until I was about to say I do?! Huh?!” He scared you when he was mad, you shook your head and he threw his car keys to you, you caught them.

“You were going to wait until the priest asked?!” You were shaking, he was red in the face and stepping closer to you.

“Go to the dorms and pack up your shit.” You nodded, sprinting past him and getting into his car, starting it up and driving out of the parking lot.

Taehyung:

Your best friend Taehyung’s wedding was in two nights, which meant tonight was the night for partying. It was his bachelor party, which meant drinks, drinks and more drinks in a closed-off club for only you, the boys and a few other friends to come to, his fiancé was off somewhere for her night, you weren’t her friend though so you were invited out with the boys instead, you and Taehyung had been best friends since your teen years, meeting in school and developing a friendship over your love for art, your crush grew on him when he asked you to the prom, both of you dateless and needing someone to go with, as soon as you saw him in his suit you knew he was the one for you, it was just a shame he didn’t see you the same way, he saw you as a little sister, or that’s what he told you, so you tried your best to ignore the feelings you had for him.

“Are you ready to party?!” Jimin yelled coming into your bedroom, you were struggling to find the right outfit for the night and he agreed to come over and help you.

“I am.” You said back showing him the outfit options you had, both jeans with a nice shirt but he threw them aside, raiding through your closet and coming back out a few moments later holding a tight fitted black body con you’d been saving for a day you would have a date.

“No way.” You laughed looking at him, he pushed it into your arms and went to look for matching shoes for you to wear, he came back out holding a pair of strap heels and threw them into your hands, you stared at him and then at the dress.

“Jimin, this is like a top…I was saving it.” You whispered but he was shaking his head, pushing you into the wardrobe to go and get changed into it. The dress was a little on the shorter side and backless which meant you had to go without a bra.

“Jimin please.” You pleaded, wanting him to let you wear anything else except this, you’d gladly go in a bin bag, or jeans. What was so wrong with jeans.

“We’re going to have fun tonight and you’re going to look irresistible.” You came out a few minutes later in the dress and he smiled at you, you looked amazing in his eyes, which meant it was now time to go get into the cab that was waiting for you both, time to party the night away.

(X)

Tae had been watching you all night, you hadn’t noticed because you were busy having drinking games with Jimin and Yoongi, Yoongi came to dance with you the second you walked into the club they had rented out for the night, you were having fun. You felt like you could let go for once, but the dress you were wearing had everyone’s eyes on you. It was around 4 am and you were pretty wasted, Jimin was off with someone else so you and Yoongi were alone in a booth together, you were practically sitting on his lap just so you could make and hear the conversation you were having, Taehyung’s eyes hadn’t left the scene since it happened, he noticed when you slipped your hand onto Yoongi’s arm when he made you laugh, or the way you threw your head back when you laughed too hard, he could feel his blood begin to boil when he saw Yoongi whispering something into your ear.

“Yoongi no!” You giggled slapping his arm playfully and pulling away to take a sip of your drink, Tae was making his way over and you smiled at him, waving him over.

“Come join us, we were just about to get another round of shots.” You giggled, but it was cut short. Taehyung gripped your wrists and yanked you out of the booth and out of the club, you were hit by the early morning breeze and shivered.

“Shit Tae, what are you doing?” You groaned wrapping your arms around yourself, he pulled you down an alley and shoved you against the brick wall.

“I should ask you the same thing, flirting with Yoongi?” You stared at Tae in silence, were you flirting with Yoongi? You thought you were just being friendly with him.

“Tae we were just being friendly.” You tried to justify but he was having none of it, he shook his head at you.

“A little too friendly if you ask me.” You were about to try and justify your actions again when you realised it shouldn’t matter to him what you do and do not do, or who you flirt with.

“Why do you care Tae? You’re getting married remember, why should you care if I’m flirting with Yoongi?” You slurred a little at the end and leant your head back against the brick wall, the sky was starting to spin above you.

“Because maybe I-” He stopped himself and then went to the opposite wall to you, you looked at him and he was swaying a little.

“Maybe I- I just don’t like the way he was-” He couldn’t finish anything he was trying to say and you scoffed kicking yourself away from the wall and going over to him, you wanted to go back inside the club, you were freezing out here in the dress Jimin had picked.

“Well, I’m going back inside to flirt or not flirt with Yoongi.” You turned on your heel but his sudden grasp on your wrist stopped you from moving away from him, you looked at his hand and then up to his face, he had tears in his eyes and you couldn’t tell if it was because of the cold or if he was crying over something.

“Tae?” You whispered, confused, his grasp stayed on your wrist and he shook it a little as if silently pleading for you, your eyes met and he whispered out,

“Don’t leave me.”

Jungkook:

“You should see our suits Y/N!” Jimin said as he came bounding into the dorms living you, you looked up at him wanting him to continue but Namjoon was shaking his head violently at him.

“Joonie, you can talk about the wedding, just because I’m not invited doesn’t mean I’m not excited.” Your best friend, Jungkook, was getting married to his long time girlfriend in less than 24 hours, and everything had been kept on the hush from you, it’s not that Jungkook didn’t want you there, he did, he wanted you to sit with his mum and hold her hand while he married his girlfriend, it was his girlfriend that didn’t want you there. You knew why she hated you. She’d hated you since the moment she came into Jungkook’s life and saw how close you were with one another. You were so close with Jungkook because you were Namjoon’s little sister, you were the same age as Jungkook so when they first formed you bonded over your age, becomes friends quickly, your crush on him developed hard from the moment you met but Namjoon would never let any of his friends date you so you tried to ignore the feelings, only they grew stronger and stronger whenever you were with him until it developed into a love for him, but you pushed them away, wanting to stay close with him forever as a friend.

“I can’t believe you’re not going.” Jimin pouted, he leant his head on your shoulder and you looked at Namjoon sadly, when Namjoon found out you weren’t allowed to go he almost kicked off at Jungkook but you begged for him not to, it wasn’t Kookie’s fault you weren’t invited, it was his girlfriend. The moment she came close to him he was a different person, she switched something inside of him, and the moment she got her claws into him he changed, you weren’t allowed to go to the dorms unless your brother was there, you weren’t allowed to be alone with Jungkook and you weren’t allowed to the wedding…Not that you would want to go anyway, you knew something bad about her, something that she knew would destroy the wedding altogether if Jungkook ever found out and she blackmailed you to staying away.

“He’s being a dumb boy, he wants you there, you know that and he knows that but she’s just-” You stopped Jimin from talking, he was going to say something he might regret. You would have told Jungkook ages ago what she was doing but the blackmail she had over you was too much, it was enough to destroy your friendship with Jungkook and your relationship with Namjoon, she knew about your crush, she had the diaries from when you first met, you’d kept them locked away in the attic of the dorms thinking none of the boys would go up there and you were right, they didn’t. She did. As soon as she found out she was using everything inside them against you.

(X)

You were in the car driving Namjoon and Jimin to the wedding, you were the driver for them since they wanted to have a few drinks later, they were running late as it was, Jimin had taken his time getting ready and Namjoon lost his glasses, so now the ceremony was about to start and they weren’t there.

“Jimin just keep your mouth shut, we have no reason to object,” Namjoon said as they opened the door to the car, you frowned at their conversation.

“What’s wrong?” Jimin stared at you and ignored the looks from your brother,

“I think she’s cheating on him…I want to stop the wedding but Namjoon is sure it’s because of my hate for her that’s clouding my judgement.” Your hands gripped the stirring wheel of the car, your knuckles turning a white colour, Namjoon eyed you up and then looked at Jimin, your face was starting to turn red, if Jimin saw her cheating than it wouldn’t be just you going up against her, and she couldn’t use the blackmail against Jimin to stay silent.

“Y/N?” Namjoon questioned, you looked back at Jimin and bit down on your lip.

“She is, she’s cheating. She made me stay quiet because she has so much blackmail on me, but Jimin if you saw her and you have proof that she’s cheating…You can stop the wedding.” Namjoon’s eyes were wide as the thought of someone threatening his sister came into his mind, Jimin was shocked in the back of the car, and you looked at Namjoon.

“Joonie, listen okay you’re not going to like it but she has diaries of me when I was 17 when we first met Kookie, I loved…Love him, she was going to use it against me if I tried to stop or warn him.” Namjoon turned to face the front of the car,

“Start up the car, we’re going to the wedding.”

“But Namjoon didn’t you just hear what Y/N Said?”

“START THE CAR!” You jumped a little, starting up the engine and driving in the direction of the church.

“You have to go and the right time, we can’t just burst in there, if she sees Y/N, she’ll know we’re onto her” Namjoon whispered as you walked through the church, you were at the back of it all, hiding in the stairwell, Hoseok had opened the back door for you to sneak in, they were halfway through the ceremony by now.

“What’s the plan here?” Jimin whispered to you, you frowned shaking your head and looking at your older brother who was watching Jungkook at the front of the church.

“If anyone knows any reason these two should not be joined in matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace…” The Church fell into silence and that’s when Namjoon grabbed you and Jimin by the back of the shirts and lifted you up into full view.

“We object.” He yelled, pushing you down the aisle, everyone was turning to look at you and Jungkook’s eyes were on you right away, he looked pissed off at the fact that you were here. Jimin took your hand and gave it a squeeze of reassurance

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dlwritings · 5 years ago

Text

Call Him Hers | Dean Winchester | pt 1

series masterlist found here

general masterlist found here

pairing - Mark-of-Cain!Dean x plus-size!reader word count - 2,298 warnings - language, mentions of physical abuse

summary - Charlie comes to visit (Y/N) and the Winchesters and brings along the prospects of a hunt.

(next)

(Y/N) and Sam were in the same place they always had been lately: the library of the bunker, hovering over every book they could find that might help them remove the Mark of Cain from Dean’s arm. Dean was practically begging them to stop, but they refused. They wouldn’t give up on Dean, even if he had already given up on himself. Especially not (Y/N). The Winchesters meant a lot to her. They saved her once, so she felt she owed it to Dean to try and save him.

(Y/N) was 18 when she first met the Winchesters. To say her home life was bad was an understatement. Her mom passed away from cancer when she was ten, and her dad had been an abusive alcoholic ever since. So, it wasn’t unusual for him to disappear for days on end and leave her to fend for herself. He’d come back, dirty, reeking of alcohol, and ready to beat her into the next month. What wasn’t usual was him being gone for more than a week. That was when she knew something was up.

She worked at a diner in her hometown from around 5:00 until midnight every weekday. After another long day surrounded by greasy foods and spilled milkshakes, she parked her car in the driveway, ready to head off to bed. To her knowledge, her dad was still out -wherever he was- so she wouldn’t have to worry about avoiding him.

Or so she thought.

She crossed into the house and found her dad sitting in the kitchen, nursing a glass of whiskey. She swallowed thickly and kicked off her shoes. “Hey, Dad,” she said, doing her best to keep her voice light.

“Where have you been?” he asked.

“Work,” she answered, mentally adding, just like I am everyday.

“I’ve been gone for over a week,” he said, “and you weren’t even home to greet me.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t know you’d be home. I would’ve had someone else pick up my shift if I had-”

Her dad cut her off by throwing his glass at the wall. She winced and squeezed her eyes shut. She opened them when she heard his footsteps nearing her. Her dad grabbed her by the neck and shoved her up against the wall. Her head slammed against the wall, and he slapped her roughly across the face. Then he grabbed her hair and yanked her across the room, throwing her against the coffee table. Her forehead hit the edge, and she knew she was bleeding. She tried to stand up only to stumble again, so she crawled away from him as he neared her.

He didn’t need to say anything anymore. Didn’t need to taunt her or give her a reason for his beatings. She knew that they came whenever he wanted them to, usually for no reason at all except whatever liquor was coursing through his system. After eight years, she had just learned to take it. She could patch up the wounds. She could recover. She had enough practice. Eight years of practice.

Her dad came over to her and kicked her in the ribs, causing her to cry out in pain. He picked her up from off the floor and shoved her into the wall again. Her eyes had been closed, but she managed to force them open. When she did, she was sure she was hallucinating. Her dad opened his mouth, and his teeth were sharp, pointy, and canine like. She swore there was even something different about his eyes. When he lifted his hand to her again, she noticed his fingernails had grown sharp and pointy. She tried to let out a scream, but she was interrupted by her front door bursting open. Two men walked in, and her dad turned to look at them. He let out a growl and charged at them. He only made it a few steps when one of them pointed their gun at him and shot him in the head. He sunk to the ground, and all she could do was stand and stare.

The taller of the two men rushed over to her. She wasn’t a short person, but he still had to bend over to meet her eyes. “Are you okay?” he asked. She nodded, her eyes still fixated on her dad’s body. “Hey, listen,” he said, his voice gentle, “your dad, he wasn’t your dad anymore, okay? He was a monster.” She turned her head away and spit some of the blood from her mouth.

“I know.”

After they introduced themselves and made sure she was okay, they fled the town, but she wasn’t ready to let them go yet. She spent days tailing the Winchesters. She never got close enough to endanger herself or them, but she learned their ways enough. Finally, one day, she got too close, and they caught her. She was following them through an alley in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and they stopped, grabbed her by the shoulders, and shoved her up against a wall.

“(Y/N)?” Sam said, immediately recognizing her face. Dean let go of her, and she clenched her jaw and looked away from them. “How long have you been following us?” Sam asked.

“Ever since you left,” she admitted. “I’ve been watching you on all your hunts.”

“What the hell,” Dean breathed out, running a hand through his hair. “You know how many times you could’ve gotten yourself killed?”

“But I didn’t,” she snapped. “And now that I’ve seen the kind of shit you’re up against, I want in.”

“Yeah,” Dean chuckled, “that ain’t happening sweetheart.”

“Don’t call me sweetheart,” she said, her voice low as she stood up a little straighter. Dean eyed her, slightly impressed, before holding his hands up and nodding.

“She wants in, Sammy,” Dean said sarcastically. “Why don’t we tell her what we’re doing in Michigan and see if she’s game?”

Her first hunt with the Winchesters led her to a rougarou. She lit the bastard up, and she never looked back.

Dean cleared his throat, and (Y/N) and Sam both quickly closed the books they were reading. Dean scoffed. “Real slick,” he said. “How many times do I have to tell you to give it up?”

“We’re not giving anything up,” Sam said.

“We’re just weighing out all our options,” (Y/N) said. Dean rolled his eyes and took a sip of his beer.

“Well,” he said, “how about you two nerds take a break from that and answer your phones once in a while.” She and Sam both furrowed their eyebrows and pulled out their phones. She had a missed call from Charlie, and so did Sam.

“Charlie?” Sam said.

“Yeah,” Dean said. “Apparently I’m her last option when it comes to the three of us.” (Y/N) scoffed, and Dean shot her a playfully annoyed look before continuing. “She said she’s in the area. Thought she’d stop by. Even said something about a job she found.”

“She say where?” Sam asked.

“About five hours from here,” Dean said with a shrug. “Said she’d explain more when she got here.”

“Which will be when?” she asked.

“Soon,” Dean said.

Like clockwork, the door to the bunker opened and their favorite redhead burst in. “‘Sup, bitches!” Charlie said, coming down the stairs with a bright smile. All three of them returned her smile and stood up to give her a hug.

After they spent a few minutes catching up, (Y/N) said, “So I heard you found us a job.”

“Yes!” she said, perking up and opening up her laptop. “I’m thinking vamps. Cattle deaths have been popping up for a while now, but now a few people have gone missing. I’m wondering if most of the nest is trying to live clean, but they changed some new people and now they’ve got a few rogues. I was trying to find connections between the vics, and it looks like they all graduated from the same high school and never left the town.”

“What town?” (Y/N) asked.

“Uh,” Charlie hesitated, checking one of the articles again, “Dewey, Oklahoma.”

A thick silence hung in the room as (Y/N)’s jaw clenched. Sam and Dean looked at each other, and Charlie’s eyebrows furrowed. “What’s in Dewey, Oklahoma?”

“Nothing,” (Y/N) said. “Just a job I’m not going on.”

“(Y/N)’s from Dewey,” Sam explained as she shot him a glare.

“Wait, but that’s perfect,” Charlie said. “You know the town and the people. You won’t even have to go undercover.”

“Yeah, except I swore I would never go back there,” she said. “You guys can just take this one without me.”

“The missing people are from the only high school in the town,” Charlie pressed. “Probably your high school.”

“Dewey High?” (Y/N) asked.

“Yeah,” Charlie said. “The girls are, uh-” She looked at one of the articles again. “Amanda Moore, Elizabeth Johnson, and Sarah Taylor.” (Y/N) let out a sigh through her nose.

“I graduated with Amanda and Elizabeth,” she said. “I think Sarah was a year above us. They were all pretty close in high school.”

“See?” Charlie pressed. “You’re already giving us information we probably wouldn’t know without you.”

“What would I even do?” (Y/N) said. “Show up in town and act like I miss everyone?”

“Well,” Sam said hesitantly. “I might have a plan.” She cocked her head and looked at him.

“Is it a good one?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said. “But you’re not gonna like it.” She just raised her eyebrows. “Didn’t you say your class reunion was this weekend?”

“Oh hell no,” she said without hesitation. “Not happening.”

“(Y/N)-” Charlie tried.

“No,” (Y/N) said firmly. “High school wasn’t exactly rainbows and butterflies for me. No way am I going back. I already turned down the RSVP. No way am I gonna call Jennifer Smith, and tell her I changed my mind.”

“Who’s Jennifer Smith?” Sam asked.

“Our class president,” she said. “She’s the one who’s organizing the whole thing. She’s the worst.”

“You don’t have to do it alone,” Sam said. “We’ll go with you.”

“How?” she said sarcastically. “What, one of you want to pose as my husband?” Sam and Dean looked at each other, sharing a look of contemplation, before looking back at her. “I was joking! No one would ever believe either of you were my husband.”

“You too good for us?” Dean teased. She only rolled her eyes in response.

“It’ll never work,” she said.

“Yes it will,” Sam said. “Charlie and I will go as FBI, you and Dean can be husband and wife. We’ll talk to the families of the vics while you guys snoop around at the reunion. If the missing girls were in your graduating class or at least around it, chances are pretty high that something will happen at the reunion.”

“I would physically rather die than do this,” she said.

“Come on, (Y/N),” Dean said, putting his arm around her playfully. “It’ll be fun. I’m perfect husband material.”

And it definitely wouldn’t be hard to pretend she was in love with him.

“Besides,” Dean said, “I’m itching to get out of here and away from all this Cain stuff.” He looked at her and pouted. “Do it for me?”

And she would do absolutely anything for him.

“God, fine,” she said, pushing his face away from her. “I hate it when you do that.” He laughed and placed a playful kiss to her cheek. She hoped he didn’t notice the way her cheeks turned pink as he pulled away. “I guess I’ll call Jennifer.”

She grabbed her own laptop and left the library to get some privacy. Once she was in her room, she closed the door and sat on the bed. Her heart was thumping in her chest. Not because she was about to pretend to be Dean’s wife, but because she was about to return to the town of her nightmares.

She found the email invitation to the event that she had received and typed Jennifer’s number into her phone. She stared at it, her hands shaking, before finally pressing the green phone icon. She pressed her phone to her ear and silently hoped Jennifer wouldn’t even pick up.

After only two rings, she did.

“Hello?” she said.

“Hi, is this Jennifer?” (Y/N) said.

“Mhm,” she hummed. (Y/N) could picture the smile on her face. “Who am I speaking to?”

“Uh, this is (Y/N) (Y/L/N),” she said. “We grad-”

“Of course!” Jennifer said. “Hi, (Y/N)! How are you? I was so bummed to see you declined the invite to the reunion.”

“Yeah, that’s actually why I’m calling,” (Y/N) said. “I’m hoping it’s not too late for me to change that.”

“Oh not at all!” she said. “We reserved a block of rooms at the hotel for the people coming in from out of town. You want me to put you down for a room?”

“Sure,” she said, pinching the bridge of her nose, just dying to get off the phone.

“Great,” Jennifer said, her voice remaining far too chipper. “And I’m assuming it’ll just be you?” (Y/N) swallowed down her snarky comeback.

“No, actually,” she said, keeping her tone level. “It’ll be me and my husband.”

“Your husband?” Jennifer repeated. “That’s great. I’m looking forward to meeting him.”

“Yeah,” (Y/N) said shortly.

“So I put you down for a hotel room under (Y/L/N),” she said. “You can pay when you get here.”

“Sounds great,” she said, though she knew she didn’t sound enthused.

“I’ll see you soon!” Jennifer cheered. “Buh-bye!”

“B-” Jennifer hung up before (Y/N) could respond. She sighed. “Bye.”

----- ----- ----- -----

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jebentnietalleen · 5 years ago

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If ur serious about wanting things to do, I can oblige with a v specific request lol, could you headcanon Elu at a relatives’ wedding and them being all cute and dressed up and heart eyes and hot for one another

It startedas a joke: Lucas informed Eliott that he got an invitation to his cousin’swedding and that it said he was allowed to take a plus one. He had smirked andsaid ‘Finally I get to show off my hot boyfriend in a tux’, wiggling hiseyebrows as he put the card down on the kitchen counter, returning hisattention back to the curry he was trying to make. Eliott put his arms around his waist, leaning into his back as he whispered inhis ear ‘I can’t wait. Although I’m not a tux kind of guy, just a regular suitwill do’ Startled and a little confused, Lucas whipped his head around so quicklythat Eliott had to duck in order to prevent a concussion. ‘Eliott, I wasn’tserious. I haven’t spoken to this girl in years and I am pretty sure she isonly inviting me out of familiar obligation. I don’t think she expects me tocome, let alone take my boyfriend with me. I can see the scandalized faces now.Oh lord, is Lucas really with a boy? Ihope they don’t slow dance, or god forbid, kiss’ his face scrunched up ashe mimicked what could be one of many of his family members.

Eliott frowns at him, turning him around in his arms so that they were facingeach other completely. ‘Hey, she invited you even if she didn’t want to, it’s your right to go andhave a good time with your boyfriend, and if anybody is offended by that, fuckthem. I say we go, we eat and we drink and we dance the night away. Let themlook. Unless you aren’t ready, of course. I’d understand if that’s the case’ Lucas wraps his arms around Eliott’s neck and says: ‘I am more than ready, andyou are right. Who cares what they think. It’s not like I will see any of themany time soon after that anyway. Let’s do it’ And so he rsvp’s late that night, after they ate some curry and cuddles up onthe couch, giggling as Eliott suggests to start looking for fancy yet danceableshoes asap.

~ ~ ~

He almostforgets about it, until he gets a text from Eliott around a month after hereceived the invitation, while he is hanging out with Yann: I’ve found the perfect suit for the wedding.Can’t wait for you to see it, although I think I am in fact going to make youwait. He blinks at his phone a couple of times and can feel his cheeks turn redat the thought of Eliott in a suit. ‘Hello, earth to Lucas? What happened, did Eliott text you a sexy picture?’Yann laughs at him, a suggestive look on his face as he tries to sneak a peekat his phone. Lucas instinctively pulls his phone to his chest: ‘If he did I wouldn’t wantyou to see that, Yann, and no. He did paint a pretty sexy picture for methough. He found a suit for that wedding I told you about. I completely forgotabout that. Now I’m going to have to do some shopping this weekend’. Yann slings his arm around his shoulders and starts walking: ‘Why wait untilthis weekend? Let’s gather the boys and get you a sharp looking suit. Eliottisn’t the only one who will look great at that wedding, not on my watch’.

Yann keepshis promise and texts the gang, who all show up within an hour. It takes them 3stores and 6 different suits, but he finds one that looks pretty good on him,if he does say so himself. It’s dark blue, so dark that it could be mistakenfor black from a distant. He gets a baby blue dress shirt and silver-grey tieat the advice of the saleswoman, to make the look complete. Arthur nods approvingly while Yann looks like he’s proud, somehow. He has theweirdest friends, but at least he doesn’t have to go shopping by himself.Basile asks if they need to go look for shoes, but Lucas is done with walkingthrough the city and decides to buy some online that night.

~ ~ ~

Eliottkeeps teasing him about seeing each other in a suit, saying he hopes Lucas cancontrol himself in front of his family. Lucas just rolls his eyes and decidesthat two can play that game. He pretends that he isn’t all that happy with thesuit he managed to buy, but that he bought it because he couldn’t findsomething better. It’s not like he thinks he will wow Eliott with his suit, butit would be fun to see the surprise on his face when they see each other thatnight. Besides, it’s a good way to distract himself from thinking about Eliottin a suit, because even though he’ll never admit it, Eliott is right, it’sgoing to be really hard to control himself and he already knows it.

~ ~ ~

The day ofthe wedding, Lucas gets cold feet. And it isn’t even his wedding. All of the sudden, the baby blue dress shirt seems like a stupid idea, way toobright to wear, and when Mika tells him it brings out his eyes it doesn’tchange his mind. He’s about to take it all off, searching his closet for a simple white shirt,when the bell rings. Shit. Eliott is already here. He grabs the nearest white shirt he can find and locks himself up in thebathroom, shaking his head because he knows he is being stupid.

He hearssome murmurs on the other side of the door before he hears a familiar knock. ‘Lucas? Please don’t change your shirt, I heard great things about it. Let mesee’ and maybe that’s all the encouragement he needed in the end, because hislegs are drawn to the door, and he does want to see Eliott.He twists the lock and lets him in, and to be honest it’s just what he neededright now: seeing Eliott look absolutely devastatingly handsome in a grey suitthat looks like it was made for him, with a matching dark grey tie. Seeing himlook like that while he looks atLucas like he can’t believe his eyes. ‘Lucas…. Wow. You look… so beautiful. You always do, but this. It really suitsyou’ Eliott walks on over to him, cupping his face with his hands, tracing hischeekbones with his thumbs. His face feels warm again, but maybe that’s because he feels warm all over. He doesn’t think he’ll ever get used to Eliott looking at him like that andsaying such nice things about him. His hands are at Eliott’s waist, pulling him closer and in for a kiss. It’s dizzying in the best way possible, making him feel lightheaded and on fireat the same time.

They breakapart but stay close, lips still nearly touching, when Eliott says: ‘If wedon’t leave now, I’m going to have a really hard time convincing myself to goat all. Lead the way, Mr. Lallemant.’ Lucas grins up at him, taking his hand and walking backwards out of thebathroom and towards the front door. ‘If you say so, Mr. Demaury. Oh, and bythe way? I am going to need you to wear a suit more often. I can’t believeyou’ve been depriving me for 6 months’ He turns around while biting back a grin,knowing that Eliott loves it whenever Lucas openly compliments him like this. Eliott catches up with him when they walk down the stairs, leaning over towhisper in his ear: ‘You’re not going to make tonight easy for me, are you?’

~ ~ ~

He’s glad Eliottcould borrow his dad’s car for the occasion, because he can’t imagine having totake the bus whilst wearing suits, but also because the car ride over to thewedding gave Lucas the opportunity to look at Eliott as much as he wanted to. Of course, he has always been aware of Eliott’s model good looks, but over timeit’s something that just drifts to the back of his mind. There is so much to love about Eliott, his kindness, the way he cares about somany things and so many people, his blinding smile. The fact that his isgorgeous is hardly the best thing about him. This outfit… this outfit really brought it back to his attention. Eliottglances at him, a grin spreading from ear to ear: ‘You are checking me out.Admit it.’ Lucas huffs but doesn’t deny it: ‘Well duh, look at you. I can’t believe I amgoing to arrive with the most attractive person at that wedding. My cousin isgoing to kill me for stealing her thunder.’ Eliott laughs loud and genuine, almost doubling over behind the wheel. His handlands on Lucas’ knee, squeezing it softly before resting it right there.

‘I’m prettysure you will turn over some heads yourself. I mean it, Lucas. You areglowing.’ Lucas spreads his own hand on top of his: ‘That’s because you bring out thebest in me.’ He can’t believe he is being this cheesy, and he doesn’t even hateit. ‘and the worst, apparently, when did we become this couple? The one who is so lovey dovey the whole time?’ Eliott shakes his head at that: ‘We’ve always been that couple, Lucas. It’stime to embrace it.’ Lucas thinks he probably has embraced it, for a long longtime now. Ever since they decided to take it minute by minute, maybe evenbefore that.

~ ~ ~

It turnsout, his cousin is way too busy with getting married to pay attention to thefact that Lucas brought Eliott as his date, or to ask him about his life ingeneral, really. He doesn’t mind, he likes the fact that they can sort of pretend to be on afancy date instead of a wedding where he can run into family members every coupleof meters.

He doesn’trecognize most of them, and because it’s been so long since he last seen them,they don’t recognize him either. Has dad cancelled last minute, because ofcourse he did, and because his dad was supposed to be there his mother decidednot to come to the wedding.

There’s adistant relative here and there with whom he exchanges pleasantries, and it’ssurprisingly thrilling to introduce Eliott as his boyfriend to every one ofthem. He’s just so proud of Eliott. Not just that he is there with Eliott, whobrightens up any room he is in, but of who Eliott is as a person. It’s one ofthe things he never anticipated when he used to think about falling in love,but it’s arguably one of the best things about it.

They getsome drinks, red wine for Lucas and orange juice for Eliott. Most of the partytakes place in a big courtyard, decorated with fairy lights that are switchedon once the sun has gone under. The setting makes it look otherworldly, magical in a way, it creates a weirdbubble around them, even more than usual.

The wine ishitting Lucas harder than it should, or maybe it’s just the fact that he’s beensurrounded by Eliott all night that makes his head spin slightly. Eliott, whokeeps looking at him like he won the jackpot. Eliott, who charms everybody whointroduces themselves to him. Eliott, who is currently leading him to thedancefloor, never taking his eyes off him. The music is playing softly in thebackground, Lucas doesn’t recognize the song. He can’t be bothered to wreck hisbrain over it because right now the only thing that matters is Eliott and theway he gently pulls Lucas towards him by the waist until their bodies are flushagainst each other. His arms encircle Eliott’s neck and all he can think is home, this is home. ‘Lucas’ Eliott whispers softly, their foreheads touching ever so slightly, ‘canI confess something?’ Lucas nods, ‘Always’ Eliott bites his lip: ‘Days like this really make me think about the future.Weddings always kind of freaked me out a bit. I guess I didn’t like to thinkabout the future, for a long time. But right now, with you here? It doesn’tseem so scary anymore. To think about a future with you.’ Lucas pulls Eliott closer, close enough to kiss him. He tries to poureverything he is feeling into the kiss. Ilove you, I want you, I feel the same. Our future is going to be so bright. Whenhe pulls away and looks into Eliott’s eyes that are glistening with tears, heknows that his message is clear.

#skam france #elu fic #my fic #elu headcanon #this is super late and probably not what you wanted but...sksks hope you like it anyway #alsoooo meg if you are reading this: i am dedicating this to you babe! <333

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blueboxesandtrafficcones · 5 years ago

Text

The Nuptial Necessity - Chapter 6

A 12xRose Human AU

Despite an unglamorous job description, Rose loves the work she does with The Thistle Foundation, a charity founded by her best friend’s great-uncle. It doesn’t hurt that her boss, her friend’s father, is easy on the eyes. With a great job, wonderful friends and a loving family, life couldn’t be better – except for having someone to share it with.

All of that is threatened, though, when the great-uncle dies – and sets a strange condition for his nephew to inherit, jeopardizing the Foundation and Rose’s future, sparking a chain of events that might just get her everything she dreamed of and more.

Chapters will be posted on Saturdays and Tuesdays. Many thanks to my beta, @stupidsatsuma

Rated: Explicit, for eventual smut

@doctorroseprompts

AO3 | Masterlist

—

Monday

Rose hummed to herself as she started the kettle, waiting for her computer to boot up. She’d woken that morning determined to arm herself with knowledge, as she struggled with the impossible decision.

“Morning.”

She yelped, jumping and spinning to find Malcolm standing beside her desk, watching her with a raised eyebrow.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you,” he unsuccessfully tried to hide a smile, not fooling her for a moment. Though his lips didn’t move his eyes brightened, a clear tell, not that she would ever admit to knowing it.

“S’okay,” Rose settled herself in her chair, typing in her password before peering up at him. “Coffee’s on your desk, tea’s just starting. You’ve got a nine o’clock who should be here shortly. Anything I can- Anything I should know?”

If he caught her change of phrasing he didn’t let on, merely shaking his head. “No, thank you. After I’m finished with Ben, let’s meet and go over the details for the Gala – I want to know where we stand, and I’ll let you know which of the samples I’ve picked.”

“Sounds good.” Rose watched him enter his office before sighing softly. Things were no less strange, and she missed the easy way they had once had, one that had vanished upon the reading of Wallace’s will. Will getting married bring it back, or will we forever be so awkward around each other?

Turning her attention first to her emails, she prepared for their Gala meeting while waiting for Ben Jackson, who, with his wife Polly, ran a charity that oversaw more than a dozen orphanages spread throughout the Commonwealth. Their organization was to be the main recipient of the Gala’s proceeds. Every year Malcolm (and Rose, by extension) tried to pick a different group with a different mission to benefit from the Gala, though most were annual grant recipients anyway.

An instant message popped up from Mickey stating BJackson on way, alerting her that Ben would shortly be arriving, and by the time the man himself buzzed into the office and made his way to Rose’s desk she had a mug of tea ready for him, already prepared to his taste.

“You are an angel, Rose Tyler,” he declared, grinning, taking a sip before sighing softly and closing his eyes. “Perfect. You ever get tired of working for Malc, come see me first, okay?”

“Yeah, all right,” she agreed readily enough, laughing. “Though my dad might have something to say about that, and besides, I don’t foresee ‘getting tired’ of Malcolm, so don’t hold your breath.”

Taking his mug towards Malcolm’s office, he threw a wink over his shoulder. “I can dream, though.”

Rose watched him go, smile slipping as she considered her answer. It had been glib, said without thinking, but she realized it was true. She didn’t want this to end, loved her job, her life. From where she sat she could see the London Eye and Westminster behind it. Everything she did went towards helping people, making a real difference in their lives with the grants the Foundation gave. The only way to keep things from changing is to change them completely.

Turning back to her monitor, she bit her lip before sighing. Opening a new tab in her browser, she hesitated only a moment before typing into the search engine Viscount Gallifrey, and clicking on the first link.

Let’s see what exactly that means.

Malcolm shook Ben’s hand and thanked him for coming in, waiting until the door swung shut behind him to sink back into his desk chair and close his eyes. It was impossible to concentrate; the only thing his mind would focus on was the sticky situation with the will. The only variation on that was the memory of Rose’s bedroom, how it had been such an authentic expression of her. Soft pinks, solid cherry furniture, it was elegant and understated, and if he’d been given a hundred photographs of bedrooms and told to guess which was hers, he would’ve been right.

Shit, I’ve gone to mush, he lamented, unable to quite bring himself to care or feel guilty for it. He’d truly accepted his feelings a year or two earlier, and was slowly losing the war against them. You could just tell her, the insidious voice in his head whispered, as it had been doing for ages now. It’s not her fault, and it’s not her problem, he argued back. She didn’t ask for this, hasn’t done anything deliberate. I can’t burden her with my feelings. That was the last thing he wanted, her pity or apologies. This was his personal hell to bear, loving her from afar.

“Malcolm?”

The tap on the door made him jump, and he looked up to see the subject of his thoughts in the doorway, holding her tablet and portfolio folder with an uncertain expression. “Is this a bad time?”

“No, no, c’mon in,” he waved, and she did, letting the door slip shut behind her. She settled at the chair across the desk from him, and he grit his teeth against the flare of annoyance at the change of behavior – when they’d had this same meeting the previous Wednesday they’d spent two hours sitting on the couch nearly hip to hip, his heart aching for her – now she was farther away than ever, both physically and emotionally.

Damn you, Wally.

“So, you made your selection from the samples?”

“Uh, yeah.” Malcolm shook his head to clear it, finding the appropriate folder and handing it over. “Here. I appreciate you filtering the list down; if you disagree with any of my choices, we can discuss. How is everything else coming along?”

Rose opened her folder organizer, sliding the manila folder he gave her into the back. “I’ll take a look at those and confirm, though I’m sure it’s fine. Venue’s good, we just sent the second deposit. They handle the catering, and we signed off on the menu last week. Same for flowers. RSVPs are flowing in nicely, right on target. Once I get these final selections to Monica everything should be settled.”

“Good, good.” He’d expected nothing less, awkwardly twiddling his thumbs and wondering at how low he had sunk, making up a meeting just to see his own assistant. “Anything else I should know about?”

“You haven’t said if you’re bringing a- a plus one. For headcount purposes, of course.” Her eyes were a little too innocent to be convincing, but he didn’t comment on it.

“Uh, no, not planning on it.” That was truthful enough; the event was five weeks away. By that time, either she would be his date as his new bride, or he would have no need of one, it being the last official event of the Foundation as they closed up, having missed the inheritance requirement deadline. “Well, Clara’s on the guest list, right?”

Rose nodded. “‘Course. She’s already replied- she’s bringing Danny. Our table’ll be them, my parents, the Jacksons… and us.” She flushed slightly, and his ears reddened in response, embarrassed by how much he liked hearing her call them us. Pull it together, Tucker.

“Sounds like a solid plan. Anything else?” Then, unable to resist getting confirmation despite her implication to the contrary, he asked, “Are you bringing anyone?”

She let out an unlady-like snort, shaking her head. “Um, no. I’m so busy the night of anyway, wouldn’t make any sense even if I had a bloke. Nah, I’ll force you onto the floor if I want a dance. Much less embarrassing than with my dad.”

“Okay.” He took a moment to picture it, them swaying on the dancefloor together, having the excuse of the music to hold her close as he did every year. It was, quite possibly, one of his most favorite nights of the year. “That’s good.”

They sat in silence for several moments as he cast his mind desperately for a topic of conversation, before sighing. “If there’s nothing else-”

“There’s not,” Rose leapt at the chance, rising quickly and picking up her folders. “Lots to do, of course, but nothing for you to concern yourself with. Don’t forget to call Ace – she’s having trouble with the billing, I told her you’d ring her to help.”

“Will do, thank you.”

“Thank you.”

And she scurried away, leaving Malcolm feeling terribly alone in his office.

“Thistle Foundation, this is Rose,” Rose answered the phone using her headset automatically as she hit send on her email.

“Don’t you ever answer your mobile?”

She closed her eyes briefly, trying to bite back a sigh. “Hi, Mum. What’s up?”

“You’d already know if you’d answer when I ring you!”

I do not have the time or energy for this bullshit. “I’m at work, and it’s been busy. What’s going on?”

Jackie huffed down the line, setting Rose’s teeth on edge. “I wanted to remind you- and Malcolm- that we’re moving the cookout up to this weekend, since we’re away the next. Your father expects him to bring some more of that special whisky he brought last time – from Gallifrey, or something, wasn’t it? Doesn’t sound Scottish though, more Irish. Though why would a Scot have Irish whisky?”

Thanks to Rose’s earlier search, which had informed her of the whisky distillery on the estate she would soon potentially be Lady of, the name drop wasn’t a major surprise, though she did feel a little jolt at realizing Malcolm’s preferred brand was, indirectly, made by him. “I’ll tell him,” she said, and if her voice was faint, her mother didn’t seem to notice.

“Good. Tony’s requesting your special mac’n’cheese. You’ll be there around eleven?”

“That’s the plan. Um, Clara’s bringing Danny, by the by. Hope that’s all right.”

Jackie clucked her tongue, but merely said, “Sure, we can squeeze him in. I’m just waiting for the day you bring a bloke to these cookouts. I’m not getting any younger, Rose, and I want grandchildren before I’m eighty. You’re not getting any younger either.”

“Uh huh. Listen I’ve got to go, but I’ll see you Sunday. Say hi to Tony and Dad for me. K, thanks, bye.” And she hung up without waiting for a response, lowering her head to the desk and groaning.

“All right?”

“My mother,” she replied, voice muffled, not bothering to lift her head.

His ah perfectly encapsulated her own feelings on the subject, and she appreciated, as always, his understanding. She loved her mother, she did, but God she could be a pain in the arse.

“She wanted me to remind you the cookout’s this Sunday since they’re away, and Dad wants more of that whisky.” Her head popped up then, and she peered at him. “You never mentioned it comes from your estate, by the by.”

Malcolm shrugged. “Didn’t seem worth mentioning. Besides, that’s only a technicality – it’s independently operated. They use our name, our land, our river, and our barley. In exchange, they harvest all the crop, not just what they use, pay ten percent of net profit in rent, and we get plenty of the final product for free. Doesn’t sound like much, but they pull in a tidy sum, enough that our portion is more than we would get in rent from anyone else paying a straight fee on the land. It’s mutually beneficial, and reasonably equitable.”

Rose nodded, processing that. Free whisky – that’s worth a pretty penny. Then she realized where her mind had gone, and swallowed hard against it. Not that I’m actually considering this, or anything. “I wouldn’t expect anything less,” she said honestly.

His lips twitched almost into a smile before smoothing out again. “Thanks. Anyway, I can do that – might as well bring him a case. I’ve got a few in transit, figure I might as well stock up while I can. Though God knows where I’ll put it after- anyway. I’m meeting Ace for lunch at half past noon at the place near- you know what I mean. Can you make a reservation under my name? I’ll probably be gone a few hours – her accountant’s gotten the billing all fucked up.”

“Can do,” she said, already half-way through placing the reservation by the time he finished speaking. “I’ll let Graham know. Anything else?”

“That’s it, for the moment. Thanks.”

And he was gone, disappearing back into his office, while Rose sank back into her chair and replayed his throwaway statement several times.

-stock up while I can. Though God knows where I’ll put it after-

He thinks I’m going to say no, she realized with a jolt. He’s already making plans to that effect.

But of course I’m going to say no, a voice argued in her mind. I can’t marry him. That’s absurd.

It was absurd, and yet the longer she thought about it…

I don’t know what to do.

She tried to ignore the whisper in the back of her mind that said yes, you do.

#bbatcfic #ficandchips #Doctor Who #doctorroseprompts #Human!12xRose #Human!Twelfth Doctor #Rose Tyler #Human AU #AU #The Nuptial Necessity

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aliciameade · 6 years ago

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Fade Into You - Ch. 2

Title: Fade Into You (Chapter 2 of 5) Author: aliciameade Rating: T Pairing: Beca/Chloe Summary: Tip for newlyweds: send a wedding invite to every billionaire whose address you can find because it's a 50/50 chance their assistants just send you a perfunctory gift without ever wondering who the hell you are. Or: Beca had a really good terrible idea when she got tired of being broke in New York.

Also on AO3 and FFnet, but I probably can’t link there idk.

(Chapter 1)

Amy unsurprisingly declared her ignorance of the invitation situation when Beca confronted her, stating she assumed they’d added their parents and the Bellas to their list as a joke, or a way to get more free stuff.

There wasn’t much Beca could say to that. It wasn’t Amy’s fault the list was wrong.

~ ~

Two days later when Beca opened their mailbox, she pulled out one of their returned RSVP cards.

From Glen Hauenstein, the President of Delta Airlines.

“Holy shit.” She rushed up the stairs and almost fell through the door in her haste. In the absolute chaos they’d created in their personal lives, she’d forgotten what had started it: one teeny tiny gigantically unethical idea.

“Hey, you,” Chloe said with a calm smile over a cup of tea.

Beca held up the envelope. “Someone replied.”

“Oh, my God! Who?” Chloe set down her cup and rushed to join Beca still standing barely inside the door.

“Delta.”

“Shut UP!” Chloe said with a shove to Beca’s shoulder. It was so hard it actually threw Beca against the door. “Sorry. Let’s open it,” she said as she snatched the envelope out of Beca’s hand and ripped open its seal. She pulled out the RSVP card. “Glen regrets to inform us that he cannot attend,” Chloe said with a grin as she waved the card in front of Beca’s face.

“Oh, thank God,” Beca said with a sigh of relief.

“Wait; there’s something else in here.” Chloe reached back into the envelope to pull out what looked like a blue credit card. “Beca…”

“What? What is it?”

“It’s a five thousand dollar Delta gift card.”

Beca dropped her purse. “What?!” She grabbed the card out of Chloe’s hand and flipped it over. Surely, it had to be fifty dollars, or maybe five hundred, but… “Holy shit. Holy shit!” She threw it across the room like it was on fire.

“No! Don’t lose it!” Chloe chased after it and found it where it had slid under the edge of their bed.

“We can’t keep that, Chloe!”

“Well, it’s not like we can send it back!”

“Yes, we can!” Beca said, clapping with each word to make her point. “That was the plan. We can send something back with the sad news of our break-up and it’s all fixed!”

“He runs the airline, baby. It’s not like this actually cost him anything.”

Beca was about to reply when Chloe’s statement resonated with her—one word in particular. She grit her teeth. “Fine. I’ll think about it.”

“Good.” Chloe sat down on their bed and kicked her feet excitedly. “And now we know it works!”

Beca rolled her eyes at how fucking cute she was being. She knew this was bad. It was so, so bad. But Chloe liked it. Chloe wanted to pretend to be engaged a little longer and...Beca was good with that. She took off her shoes to cross the room and climb onto the bed and flop into her spot. “I’m pretty sure we’re going to hell for this.”

Chloe giggled and turned to crawl over until she was dropping down to kiss Beca’s cheek. “I’m going anyway. It’ll be nice to have you there with me.”

Beca felt herself blush at the thoughts that flooded her imagination as to what Chloe could have done to warrant her confidence in her afterlife.

“So, where would we go? If we keep it, I mean.”

“Apparently, we’re going to Fiji if we don’t stop this runaway train.”

Chloe shrugged next to her. “I’ll take care of it.”

~ ~

More RSVPs trickled in over the next couple of weeks. Cousins and coworkers who could not attend. Parents who would. Bellas who would. CEOs who regretfully couldn’t. And it was never the right time to call off the wedding—someone else was going through a break-up, or was sick, or a mom had a bad day at work.

There was always a reason. The one time Chloe couldn’t come up with one, Beca blurted some lie about her dad and Sheila starting couples therapy that day so they absolutely could not do it then.

Their fake wedding was two weeks away and neither of them had figured out how to call it off.

It was Saturday afternoon when someone buzzed their door.

“UPS!” crackled through when Beca asked who it was and she buzzed them up.

“What did you order?” she said when she dropped the delivered Amazon box onto the bed where Chloe sat.

“Nothing.” She looked up at Beca and Beca knew what she was thinking. “Get the scissors; let’s open it!”

Beca rushed to grab them from the drawer and returned to slice the tape. She let Chloe pop the sides open and pull out a rectangular package wrapped in white and silver paper. There was a slip of paper with it and she read, “To Chloe and Beca. May you live happily ever after. I’m so sorry I cannot make it to your special day, but I will be with you in spirit. Never stop singing your love to each other. Congratulations. Love, Mrs. Higgins. Oh, my God, Mrs. Higgins!” she added with a squeal. “Should we open it? Or should we wait until after the wedding?”

“Chloe,” Beca said slowly. “There’s not going to be a wedding. Remember?”

“Oh, right. I didn’t mean...nevermind. So should we open it?”

Beca sighed and sank onto the bed. This ruse was taking a serious toll on her morals even if it was pervertedly fun and exciting. “I guess?”

Chloe tore into the paper with another squeal to reveal the set of eight hundred-thread count navy blue Egyptian cotton sheets from their registry. “Oh, heck yes!” she said with a grin as she tossed the package in the air. “I’m going to go wash these and they’re going on our bed tonight.”

Beca expected to have a fitful rest when she slid into the luxuriously silky sheets that they basically stole. But when Chloe slid up behind her and draped her arm over her waist while she kissed Beca’s shoulder, she forgot, at least for a little bit, that what they were doing was wrong.

Because something about it all felt so right.

~ ~

“Remember how you were going to call off the wedding?” Beca asked as she zipped her suitcase while sipping from her fresh cup of coffee thanks to her new Keurig. They’d be in a cab to the airport in the next fifteen minutes for a two-week trip to Fiji, courtesy Delta Airlines and the Mitchell and Beale families.

Somehow an entire wedding got planned without either of them having to lift a finger (thanks, Aubrey), everything from rehearsal to dinner to the photographer to the ceremony and reception and the week-long honeymoon that the Bellas all chipped in for: a private bungalow on a neighboring island away from their guests.

“Yeah, you two are a regular Bonnie and...Bonnie,” Amy said as she sat on her suitcase and waved Beca over to zip it.

“Thanks again for your help, Ames.”

“Don’t mention it.”

She watched Chloe double-check the garment bag that contained their dresses. Beca didn’t even remember how it happened; one afternoon they were drinking white wine and suddenly they were in Macy’s picking out dresses suitable for an island wedding. “I will. But let’s get to Fiji first. We’ll announce it at the rehearsal dinner and then we can run off and do our own thing for the rest of the trip.”

“I seriously can’t believe we’re doing this. What is wrong with us?” Beca asked as she shoved her various chargers into her carry-on and made sure her passport was in her purse.

“We’re seizing the day.” Chloe swatted her ass with her own passport before putting it away and opening the door. “Let’s go get married.”

“We’re not getting married!” Beca had to say it for herself as much as for Chloe, it seemed. And that was a little...confusing for Beca.

“You know what I mean. Now, let’s go!”

~ ~

Twenty hours on an airplane was a lot, even with two stops along the way. The longest break was in Los Angeles and that was after a paltry six-and-a-half hour flight. Beca didn’t even need to stretch her legs yet.

It wasn’t all bad, though.

It was nice being upgraded to First Class when they checked in. They’d done it at a self-serve kiosk only for it to send them to the counter. The agent informed them that as a guest of the airline, they would be upgraded. Chloe had looked at Beca with such shock that Beca had to be the one to thank the agent and take their new boarding passes for seats 3A and 3B.

“Uh, excuse me? What just happened?” Amy asked from where she waited behind them.

“We got bumped to First Class,” Beca said, still feeling woozy from it. “I guess because we booked the tickets with the gift card? Whatever; let’s go before they change their mind.”

“You bitches,” Amy grumbled. “You better bring a hot towel back to me in steerage.”

It was nice to not have to sit sandwiched between Chloe and Amy for twenty hours. It was nice to hear Chloe tell the flight attendant they were wedding-bound, even if it was just a ploy to get free champagne (which would have been free anyway because they were in First Class, but Chloe seemed tickled to share the information regardless).

It was nice to have Chloe flip the armrest up between them to lean over and snuggle into Beca while they both settled to sleep for as much as the trans-Pacific journey as possible. Beca moved her arm to put it around Chloe’s waist so she could pull her in closer. And it was nice.

~ ~

“Oh, hell no,” Beca said when she stepped onto the tarmac in Nadi for their connection to Savusavu and saw what was waiting for them. “That’s a fake airplane. Can it even carry our baggage?”

“Well, we all know you have enough emotional baggage for the three of us,” Amy said under her breath and Beca ignored her.

“It’ll be fine, Becs,” Chloe said as she nudged her to start walking toward the plane, which only had six windows along its fuselage.

“I really don’t want to die before our fake wedding.” She let the man waiting by the door help her up the two steps and into the tiny aircraft. She even had to duck so her head wouldn’t hit the ceiling and she yelped when someone grabbed her from behind.

“I promise not to let anything bad happen to you,” Chloe said into her ear before kissing her cheek and peeling off to sit.

It was single seating along the sides of the plane which, by Beca’s count, could seat twelve people. There were only five aboard: their party of three and what appeared to be a couple based on how affectionate they were being even across the narrow aisle between their seats. Chloe seemed to notice them, too, because she reached across the aisle to find and hold Beca’s hand.

~ ~

Just as Aubrey said would happen, there was a van waiting for them when they landed at Savusavu Airport. Beca wasn’t sure how she survived that last leg of the journey between the trying take-off (seriously, it sounded like the engines had asthma) and landing on what amounted to little more than a dirt road. She’d sweat through the back of her tee and it hadn’t been that warm on the plane.

“You okay?” Chloe said with amusement as she plucked Beca’s shirt from where it clung to her skin while they climbed into the van. “You made it in one piece. Told you I’d take care of you.”

“Shut up,” she grumbled but couldn’t help but smile a little at the way Chloe looped their arms together to sit close. It seemed the other couple from the plane wasn’t traveling to their resort and the three of them had the van to themselves.

“Ladies, welcome,” their driver said. “My name is James. I’ll be taking you out to Koro Sun. Vijay will make sure you are comfortable.” He nodded at the man who’d placed their baggage in the back of the van. He was now armed with a tray of rolled white cloths.

“Chilled towel?” he said with a subtle accent as he offered one to Amy with a pair of tongs.

“Ooh, don’t mind if I do,” she said as she promptly unfurled it and put it under her shirt where Beca knew it was getting tucked under her boobs.

“Yeah, thanks,” Beca said after Chloe had accepted hers. She was still working on unrolling it to dab at her face when she hissed at cold landing on the back of her neck.

“You seem to need it more than I do,” Chloe whispered as she massaged her neck a little through the cool cloth. “Ooh, drinks!”

Beca blinked out of the daze she’d been put into to find a green coconut with the top cut off and a brightly colored straw and tiny umbrella sticking out of it. “Is there alcohol in that?” she asked as the man prepared to hand one to her.

“No, but I’m happy to add some.” He was reaching for a bottle of something dark from a spot next to their seat and pouring before she’d even agreed.

“Thanks,” she said when he finally passed it to her. She took a long, long drink. It was amazing. And much-needed.

“Yeah, I’ma need you to hit me up with a spot of that,” Amy said, stretching her arm out and waving her coconut in Vijay’s face.

“Me, too, please,” Chloe said with a polite smile. “Good idea, babe.”

Beca shrugged and took another sip. “When in Rome.”

“Yeah, Shawshank? I thought Chloe was the one who failed Maps? We’re in Fiji. Not Spain.”

She rolled her eyes and laughed to herself. She was in Fiji...to not get married.

What the everloving fuck?

~ ~

“Okay, ladies, here we are! Welcome to Koro Sun Resort.”

Beca peered out the dark window of the van. Despite the tint, it was clear they were deeply in paradise. She could tell the water was blue, or maybe even turquoise. There were trees everywhere and if there weren’t trees there were beaches. Pure, white sandy beaches.

“Coming through! Ladies first!” Amy announced as soon as Vijay opened their door. Beca watched her march toward what appeared to be the main entrance.

“After you,” Beca said with a nod to Chloe.

“Oh, wow,” Chloe said once she was standing outside the van. “Becs, hurry up.” She reached back and took Beca’s hand to pull her out. “Look at this.”

“Oh...wow,” Beca echoed. It was...beyond anything she could imagine. It smelled like rain and flowers and the sea and the only things she could hear were the breeze, birds, and what sounded like a waterfall. She felt Chloe’s arm around her waist.

“This is so romantic,” Chloe said quietly. “Come on; let’s go check in. I want to see our room. Aubrey said it’s an ‘Edgewater Villa.’”

~ ~

True to its name, their private villa was situated against the edge of a lagoon inset from the ocean. They had to get to the front door via a footbridge over a private pool through a garden.

“Okay, I’m here for this,” Beca said as she made her way through the house. It was epically luxurious without crossing the line into tacky territory. Everything felt organic, made from stone and woven plant fibers with windows everywhere to remind them they were surrounded on three sides by water (the fourth was curtained by the rainforest).

Chloe stopped in the kitchen to see what was stocked for them in the refrigerator so Beca kept going until she found a bedroom.

“Oh...right,” she said to herself as she dropped her carry-on on a chair.

“What’s wrong?” Chloe said from behind her before joining her in the center of the room.

“Nothing,” Beca said quickly. “I just...nevermind. It’s dumb.”

Chloe ran her fingers up Beca’s back to make her scrunch up her shoulders. “I’m sure it’s not dumb. Tell me.”

Beca sighed and gestured at the singular king-sized bed. “I was just surprised is all.”

Chloe smiled and gave her a tug toward the bed. “What—because there’s only one bed? Did you forget we sleep with each other every night? Don’t get shy on me now.”

“No,” Beca mumbled. Her face felt hot at Chloe’s choice of words. She let Chloe pull her along until they were both crawling up the bed to flop on their backs to try it out.

“See?” Chloe reached her arm out across the ample space between them. “Way more room than our bed at home. And comfier,” she added as she wriggled around until she was basically wrapped around Beca to defeat her own point of having more space. “Besides, we’re getting married.” Chloe poked Beca’s cheek and then kissed it. “It’s a little late to not want to sleep with me.”

“We’re not getting married.” Beca turned her head and looked down her nose at the bright eyes and giddy smile looking back at her and she shook her head. “What am I going to do with you?”

“Mm, anything you want,” Chloe said before kissing her cheek again and then leaping off the bed. “C’mon! There’s a ladder right off our balcony that takes us down to the water! We need to go swimming!”

Beca cleared her throat and sat up to watch Chloe throw open one of her suitcases and pull out a white bikini and start stripping right there in plain sight. “Yeah, I just…” She gawked when Chloe’s bra came off despite her back being turned toward Beca and having seen it a thousand times already. “I just need a minute after that flight.”

~ ~

“Should we be concerned we haven’t seen Amy since we got here?” Beca asked as she combed out her wet hair.

Chloe’s own wet hair thwacked her arm as she flipped it over to put some type of product in it. They were wearing matching white bathrobes fresh from their showers. “She probably has a new boyfriend fanning her with palm fronds in her private courtyard. I wouldn’t worry about her.”

Beca snorted and reached for her moisturizer. “So what’s the deal—do we need to make reservations for dinner? I don’t want to have to wait for a table. I’m fucking tired. What time is it at home?”

“We’re eighteen hours behind New York.”

She glanced at a clock on the wall of the ensuite bathroom and did the math. “So, midnight. Cool.”

“I know; I’m tired, too. But we have to hold out as long as we can to get switched over. I don’t want to be jet-lagged all week when we only have two weeks here.” Chloe’s hair whipped her again as she straightened.

“So, reservations?” Beca reminded as she watched Chloe get the part in her hair straight.

“Oh! No, we don’t need to make reservations. Bree said we get VIP treatment because of our wedding.”

“Right.” Beca looked at their reflections in the wide mirror and Chloe smiled at her through it. She wondered for the umpteenth time how they let this charade get this far. But they were there, so she decided to make the most of it while it lasted. “I’m not going to blow-out my hair. Or put on makeup tonight,” she said as though declaring world peace. “We don’t know anyone here, so fuck it.”

Chloe laughed and bumped her hip with her own. “You don’t need it anyway.”

Beca blushed and reached for her eyeliner as she leaned in toward the mirror.

“You just said you aren’t wearing makeup tonight.”

She paused and looked at Chloe through the mirror again. “This doesn’t count.”

Chloe just shook her head at her and turned to leave. “I’m going to get dressed. Meet me out front.”

“Sure.” She watched Chloe walk away for a second too long because she saw her drop her robe right before she was completely out of sight in their bedroom. It made her hand too unsteady to get her eyeliner on straight so she tossed it back in her bag. “Fuck it.”

~ ~

Once again as Aubrey had promised, they were treated as honored guests as soon as Beca gave the maître d′ her name. Dinner was exquisite, a three-course meal that Beca could only assume was locally sourced.

They were strolling along a path, going opposite the way they came so they could explore a little when the thumping rhythm of bass started mixing with the natural sounds of the environment.

“Do you hear that?” Chloe asked just as Beca noticed it.

“Yeah. It sounds like it’s ahead of us. Let’s check it out.”

They kept walking until they found the source: the resort’s nightclub. “Ooh, a bar! C’mon, I need something fruity with an umbrella in it,” Chloe said with a mischievous smile as she grabbed Beca’s hand to head toward the club.

They were carded at the door—probably Beca’s fault—but as soon as Chloe showed her ID they were both waved through with enthusiastic greetings and shown to a small high-top table marked with a Reserved sign and a waiter descended upon them before they’d even finished hopping onto their stools.

“Welcome to Latitude 17, ladies,” a handsome man wearing a tropical flower-covered shirt said as he placed a pair of napkins on the table. “Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials. We’re so happy you chose to spend it with us.”

“Thank you!” Chloe said. “So are we!”

Beca held her tongue; there was no need to tell this stranger they weren’t going to go through with it.

“Would you like something to drink?”

“Something tropical,” Chloe answered. “And strong.”

“Me, too,” Beca added. “And make sure hers has a tiny umbrella in it. Please.”

“Of course,” he said with a nod before disappearing toward the bar.

“Okay, I could get used to this,” Chloe said as her hand patted Beca’s knee.

Beca noticed she didn’t remove it once the patting stopped. She hoped their drinks would arrive as quickly as they were seated. “Yeah, same.” She looked around the bar and its tropical theme, hibiscus and greenery everywhere, even hanging from the DJ booth on the other side of the room. It was perfect, and being treated like royalty wasn’t too shabby either. “Is this the only bar in the place I wonder?”

“I haven’t looked at the map yet, so I don’t know. Why?”

“Because Amy’s not here, so there must be another,” she said with a smile and it sent Chloe into a fit of giggles. “Okay, calm down. You’re not even drinking yet; it wasn’t that funny.” She’s not quite sure why she would ever tell Chloe to stop laughing; she looked beautiful when she laughed.

“Maybe she’s not finished with her new boyfriend yet. Ooh!”

Beca turned at Chloe’s excitement to see their waiter returning with two fancy and fruity-looking pink drinks in hand. They both had tiny umbrellas and wedges of pineapple on the rims.

“Mai tais for the lovely ladies in love,” he said with a grand smile as he placed the glasses on the table. “Enjoy.”

“Thanks!” Chloe said as she picked hers up right away. “What should we toast to?”

Beca was slow to respond, still hearing the waiter’s words pinballing around in her brain. “Um,” she said as she picked up her drink and turned to face Chloe. She hoped her undue nerves weren’t obvious.

“I know! To you,” Chloe said before tapping her glass to Beca’s.

“Why me?” she asked before Chloe got the straw to her lips.

Chloe smiled at her. “Because we wouldn’t be here if not for you.”

“Don’t remind me,” Beca said as she rolled her eyes. The guilt came in waves and she felt it rolling in.

“No, no. Stop it,” Chloe said firmly. “We’re in this amazing place and I wouldn’t change it for the world. We’ll deal with our little...situation when the time comes. Let’s just enjoy this while we can, okay?” She punctuated her request with her sad puppy eyes and as usual, it rendered Beca helpless in arguing.

She felt a smile tug at her lips and it made Chloe’s grow until they were grinning at each other. “Fine!” she said. “To me!”

They tapped their glasses again and drank, both wincing at the same time.

“Okay, when I said strong…” Chloe said with a strained voice.

Beca coughed. “They listened.” It burned. And it was delicious. “Here,” she said as she plucked the paper umbrella out of her glass to drop it into Chloe’s. “Since you love them so much.”

Chloe squealed at the addition and took another long sip. “Hurry up and drink that. I want to dance.”

Beca just laughed and shook her head. “Of course you do. And I’m trying! This isn’t really something I can chug.”

Chloe cocked an eyebrow at her.

Her heart sank to her feet. “Chlo—no. That’s not—no.”

“On the count of three! One—”

It was Chloe’s favorite thing. Challenge Beca to a drinking contest. She figured out the little game years ago for the sole purpose of getting Beca drunker, but Beca participated in it nonetheless because competition ran in their blood. “No, I can’t, I’m not even drunk yet—”

“Two—”

“I wasn’t—”

“Three!”

“No! Baby, I wasn’t trying to—shit!” She threw the straw out of her glass to bring it to her lips and start. It burned and made her eyes water and when she slammed her glass down as carefully and victoriously as she could, saw that Chloe hadn’t even started. She was just staring at her over her untouched glass. “What happened?” Beca said with a laugh. “I’m not the only one getting drunk tonight. Go!”

Chloe’s eyelashes fluttered and then she was drinking until there was nothing but ice in her glass. Her face was flushed when she set it down. “Okay. Come dance.” Chloe grabbed Beca’s hand to drag her off her stool and toward the dance floor.

It wasn’t like Beca was resisting, though; she just wasn’t as quick as Chloe off her seat so she ended up being dragged along trying to catch up until Chloe finally stopped in the middle of the semi-crowded dance floor and turned around to face her, already moving to the beat. Beca didn’t know the song but it had a smooth house beat that wasn’t too fast for her liking. It was easy to slide into the rhythm and soon they were dancing in sync.

She and Chloe had spent countless hours on dance floors together over the years. Dancing with Chloe was as natural as breathing for Beca, though it had taken most of their first year as friends to reach that point.

Now she had no hesitations about reaching out and pulling Chloe against her after she’d turned her back to Beca. Her blood was warm and watching Chloe’s hips in her tight white capris wasn’t helping the matter so she decided to own it and wrap her arm around Chloe’s waist while their hips rocked together.

Chloe glanced over her shoulder at the contact and Beca could tell she was warm, too. The alcohol was probably starting to work its magic on her as well, Beca figured, as she winked at Chloe.

She wasn’t really trying to convey anything with it. Nothing more than a message that she was having fun. But it seemed to translate a little differently for Chloe because suddenly she was turning in Beca’s hold to drape an arm over Beca’s shoulder while the other wrapped around her waist to pull their bodies even closer.

They were close enough that Beca could smell the rum on her breath. It felt infinitely hotter on the dance floor and she was sure Chloe could feel the way her lower back was sweating through the thin material of her tank top. She was grateful she had opted for shorts because she was sure she’d be dead if she’d worn jeans.

She was also sure she should be dead from how intensely Chloe was looking at her. They were just dancing; there was no need for her to make that much eye contact. Yet, she was, and Beca wasn’t sure her heart was up to the task of dealing with it. It was really being put through its paces with how Chloe’s gaze kept drifting to what Beca thought might be her lips, though it was equally possible she was looking at, like, her chin. Or her cleavage, which Beca knew was readily visible in the low scoop neck of her top. She knew if she glanced down, she’d have a good view of Chloe’s, too, thanks to her halter top.

She pulled away as soon as the thought crossed her mind. “I need another drink!” she explained when Chloe looked at her questioningly. She was desperate for space but she didn’t get much; Chloe grabbed her hand to follow her off the floor and back to their table. Beca didn’t sit and neither did Chloe; instead, Chloe stood impossibly close to her until Beca had to tug her hand out of Chloe’s grip to sling her arm around her waist instead.

That seemed to make Chloe happy and she did the same, her fingers tucked into the front pocket of Beca’s denim shorts.

“Where’s our guy?” Beca asked as she looked around the room to get her brain and body to cool off.

“There he is!” Chloe said as she hopped a little and waved him down. They had fresh mai tais in short-order.

“I’m not chugging this one,” Beca said as she picked up her glass.

“Wait!” Chloe said before she could take a drink. “We have to make a toast.”

“We already made a toast,” Beca said as she tried to angle herself so she could look at Chloe without being an inch from her face. “To me, remember?”

“That was my toast.” She felt fingers walk up her back and then glide down to hold her waist again. “It’s your turn.”

Beca just shook her head. She wasn’t going to argue it. “Okay, fine. To us.” She smiled and tapped her glass to Chloe’s and drank. She watched Chloe take a sip, too, on a delay again just as she had been when they were supposed to race.

She didn’t think too hard about why that was.

That was a hopeless path of pain to travel down.

Instead, she focused on how nice it was to be able to hold Chloe as she was and how Chloe was holding her the same way and allowed herself to indulge just a little bit in the fantasy they’d created for themselves. That she was at an island resort with her fiancée set to be married in two short days and—

She grabbed Chloe’s hand from around her waist and pulled it up to the table between them. “A ring!”

“What?”

“You don’t have an engagement ring!” She slapped her own left hand on the table, foregoing her hold on Chloe to do so. “Neither do I! If you proposed to me, I should have a ring. And so should you! I wouldn’t not give you a ring. People are going to expect to see them. They’re always obsessed with engagement rings.”

“We’ll just tell them we left them at home to not risk losing them.”

“No!” Beca said. It was loud enough that she saw Chloe flinch. “No,” she tried again. “We’re going to take the shuttle into town first thing in the morning before everyone shows up and we’re going to get engagement rings.”

Chloe’s hand turned to interlace with Beca’s. “That’s really sweet, but I don’t really have money for an engagement ring.”

“We’ll get fake ones. Or some kind of local thing and we’ll tell people we waited until we were here to get something to remember this by.” She watched Chloe’s face soften until it looked like she was maybe going to cry. “Dude, what?”

Chloe laughed a little and shook her head as she cradled Beca’s cheek with her free hand for a second. “You’re really a romantic, aren’t you.”

“What? No,” Beca said, offended for some reason as she tried to crane her neck away from the touch that felt like heaven.

“Yes, you are,” Chloe said firmly before leaning in to kiss Beca’s cheek. She seemed to hesitate before pulling back and Beca’s heart stopped. Then she moved in to kiss her again, this time close enough to the corner of Beca’s mouth to make her head swim. “Let’s finish our drinks so we can go to bed if we have to be up early to go ring shopping.”

“Yeah,” Beca croaked. “Okay.”

~ ~

Beca fell asleep easily, sole credit to the jetlag.

But she woke up two hours later thinking it was time to get up for work only to check her phone to see that it was barely 1:00 am. Any other normal morning at home, she’d have rolled over and fallen right back asleep instead of getting up. But now her brain was awake on New York time and thinking about all the things that happened on their first day on the island.

Chloe changing into her bathing suit. Seeing Chloe drop her robe. Dinner and everyone treating them to the pinnacle of romance. The club. The way Chloe had looked at her, had danced with her, had almost kissed her. Well, she had kissed her, but it was an almost kiss. And the way Chloe had looked at her when she was blathering on and on about rings.

“Can’t sleep?” Chloe murmured next to her.

Her body must have been as restless as her mind. “I’m usually getting up for work right now.” She felt the bed shift and then Chloe’s arm slid around her middle, high enough that Beca had to stop the choking sound from escaping her throat because Chloe’s forearm was definitely touching Beca’s boobs. It was probably an accident, just a miscalculation of an angle, but Chloe didn’t correct it.

She felt lips against her bare shoulder next to the strap of her pajama tank and tried not to shiver. “Pretend you get to sleep in.”

“Trying,” she said with a sigh as she tried to clear her mind of everything yammering in her head.

“Nervous about seeing everybody tomorrow?”

She hadn’t been, but now that Chloe brought it up… “Yeah.”

Chloe squeezed her a little and the motion pushed her arm even more against her boobs. “It’ll be okay. We just have to act like we’re in love.”

Beca sighed but managed to smile a little into the darkness. “I don’t know how good at that I’ll be,” she said, knowing full well she was absolutely head over heels in love with Chloe and no acting would be necessary. She’d been acting like she wasn’t in love with her for years. It would come as a relief to not have to be in a constant mode of restraint. She could take her hand if she wanted, or hug her, or fetch her a fresh drink, or fix an errant lock of hair without raising suspicion.

Chloe chuckled behind her and gave her arm a wiggle. Beca knew it was only meant to jostle her but it scraped right up and over her barely clothed nipples and she shoved her face into her pillow to muffle her gasp.

“I’m pretty sure we know how to act like we’re in love.”

“Mhm,” Beca choked out.

“You know,” Chloe continued and Beca wished more than anything she was narcoleptic so she wouldn’t have to endure it any longer. Her arm started withdrawing and the relief it provided was short-lived because instead of her arm, Chloe’s hand rested on Beca’s stomach. It moved back and forth slowly and Beca wanted to scream. It wasn’t fair, and it was also wrong. She was getting painfully turned on when all Chloe was doing was being her usual touchy self. “People are going to expect us to kiss.”

Beca hadn’t considered that detail in the grand scheme of their scheme. The concept sucked every molecule of oxygen from her lungs. She tried to say, “Oh?” but it came out more like the squawk of one of the parrots she could hear in the trees behind their villa over the sound of the rain. She could feel Chloe’s breath on her shoulder and she twisted her pillow in her fist. It was pure agony.

“Mhm.”

She had to clear her throat because trying to speak failed the first time. “We’ll...cross that bridge when we get to it.” She felt Chloe’s lips on her shoulder again and had to stifle a shiver. The torture needed to end, and fast. “I, uh, think I can fall asleep now.”

“Okay. G’night.”

“Night.”

She didn’t fall asleep for hours.

~ ~

To be continued...

#bechloe #fade into you #fake dating au #fdau #fanfic #IT'S MIDNIGHT SO IT'S TOMORROW #ps getting real tired of my posts not showing up in the tag fix your crap tumblr

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iminclinedtowriting · 7 years ago

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FYI my date is a boy

summary: “First off, Mum, seeing as Sarah is my ex-girlfriend, similarity to her isn’t exactly a selling point. Second of all, I am seeing someone, so I’ll have to turn down the awkward blind wedding date.” aka Shit. I just told my mom I'm in a relationship and I haven't even told her I'm bisexual. Now what? words: 3000 genre: fluff, established relationship, coming out time: may 2011ish series: My Youth Is Yours part: 2 [[ao3]]

This semester is definitely going to be the death of me. All that is left is this 5,000 word paper. Just one dumb term paper is the only thing standing between me and the sweet freedom of being done with my first year of uni.

I’m lounging on Phil’s bed, surrounded by textbooks and half-heartedly trying to write a few paragraphs. Phil’s apartment was empty when I got here this afternoon, so I’m monopolizing the entire bed as fruitless, petty revenge for Phil not being here to distract me. I’m not quite sure where Phil is at the moment, but I hope he has the foresight to stop at the grocery store on his way home. The refrigerator currently contains ketchup, stale bread, and a questionable tub of yogurt – not exactly dinner ingredients.

Not that I’ve been paying too much attention to work anyway, but I’m completely distracted from ‘writing’ when my phone rings from the depths of the covers. When I manage to dig my phone out of the blankets, I answer without looking. I assume it’s Phil, hopefully calling about dinner (no one else really calls me, tbh).

“Hello?”

“Hello sweetheart, how are you today?”

How wrong I was. I love my mother. Dearly. But if I’d noticed the caller id, I probably would have let it go to voicemail. I’d hate to further distract myself from tumblr writing.

“Hi, mum. I’m doing well. I’ve been working on my term paper all day.” Sort of, whatever.

“I’m so proud of how hard you’re working, Daniel.” I grimace, and I’m not sure if it’s because she used my full name or because she’s seriously misguided in her pride.

A few seconds of silence pass before Mum continues. “Your cousin Cassidy is getting married – your invitation came in the post with ours today.”

“Oh, that’s nice. I’ve always liked Adam.”

“The wedding is June 15th. You’re done with your semester before then, right?

“Yeah, the semester is over June 4th. I can make it. Will you RSVP for me?”

“No problem, dear. I’m so glad you can come. If you haven’t already made plans, I was thinking you could come home a bit early and we can do something for your birthday.”

Ugh. As much as I love Cassidy and want to be there for her wedding, I was hoping to spend my birthday with Phil this year. We haven’t made actual plans yet, but he’s been hinting at a restaurant he wants to take me to.

“Er… yeah, maybe. I’m not sure if I’m doing anything on my birthday, I’ll have to let you know.” I say noncommittally.

“Well, if it makes any difference, Cassidy said you could bring a date. If you’re seeing someone, you could bring them home with you for your birthday as well… Although, if you’re not seeing anyone, my friend Jodie has a daughter that is starting at Manchester in the fall I think you’d get on with well. She reminds me a lot of Sarah.”

“First off, Mum, seeing as Sarah is my ex-girlfriend, similarity to her isn’t exactly a selling point. Second of all, I am seeing someone, so I’ll have to turn down the awkward blind wedding date.”

I immediately blanch as I realize I just confessed to being decidedly not single.

My mum, however, did not miss the confession. “That’s great, honey. I’m glad to hear that! How long have you been dating? Does she study law too? Do you think you’ll bring her to the wedding?”

Shit shit shit. Fuck this is not how I thought this conversation was going to go.

I hesitate for a moment, trying to think of the best way to end this conversation as quickly and with as little information as possible. When I finally respond, I chose my words carefully and actively avoid using any pronouns.

“Calm down, Mum. We’ve been dating for several months.” Technically 20 months qualifies as ‘several months’… “I’m not sure about the wedding or my birthday yet. I’m not sure if it’s the best idea. We’ll have to talk it over.”

“Several months!? I can’t believe you’ve kept this a secret for that long, Daniel. I hope you decided to bring her – I’m sure everyone would love to meet her, especially since you’ve been dating for a while now.”

“Yeah, uh… Like I said, we’ll see, Mum. I’ve got to go, I’m in the middle of my term paper and I need to finish this section before I lose my train of thought,” I invent wildly, desperate to end the call.

“Oh sorry dear, I didn’t mean to interrupt your studying. Don’t think you are off the hook though, I expect more details about this later.”

“Okay, sure Mum, bye.” I smash the end call button before my mother has a chance to respond. With a sigh of frustration, I flop onto my back and glare at the ceiling, considering my options.

Pretend to break up with my ‘girlfriend’ in the next month so I can avoid bringing ‘her’ to the wedding.

Not exactly foolproof. Mum will still ask a million questions about our relationship (and it’s timely demise) that I’ll either have to evade or lie about. Not to mention, I’ll still have to switch all of the pronouns.

Find a girl willing to pretend to be my girlfriend for the weekend.

Also has its complications. For starters, I definitely do not have any female friends close enough to ask that kind of favor of. Not to mention, we’d have to make up a complete back-story and risk getting caught in a web of lies. And what if I had to kiss her or something? I don’t want to kiss anyone that isn’t Phil.

Come out.

Terrifying.

The more I think about it, though, the more option three is the only option that makes sense. Me and Phil are only getting more serious – I’m planning to move in with him when the semester is over for god’s sake – and the truth is going to have to come out sooner or later. If I go along with this girlfriend ruse now, I’ll end up having to confess that I lied or lie more later on to cover up this lie.

Resolutely, I shove my law books aside (no way I am going to be able to concentrate on it now, let’s be real) and move to the living room. As I fiddle with my phone, I consider texting Phil to ask when he’s coming home but I figure I’ll just wait. Before I call my mum back, I need to talk to Phil. I have no idea how to do this.

I’m not sure how long I’ve been sitting on the sofa, staring at the wall with thoughts rushing around my head when I finally hear the click of the door being unlocked. Phil barely has the deadbolt turned before I’m standing in front of the door. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I gratefully notice that he is holding several Tesco bags, but my appetite has completely vanished.

“Thank god you’re home, we need to talk.”

Phil’s eyes widen and he looks alarmed. “Why? What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“Honestly? I’m kind of panicking.”

“Okay, take a seat and let me put the milk away. Then we can talk.”

I shuffle over to his table, immediately burying my head in my hands. The chair next to me screeches as Phil pulls it out and sits down. Out of the periphery of my vision, I can see Phil reach for my hand.

“What’s wrong?”

I groan into my arms and take a deep breath before I sit up. “My mum called today. Apparently my cousin Cassidy is getting married next month and she invited me to the wedding.”

“Er, alright. I’m not sure I’m understanding the problem here…”

“There are several things. One really big problem and a whole buttload of smaller problems.” Phil looks at me expectantly. “One: the wedding is June 15th and my mum wants me to come home for my birthday. Two: I was told I could bring a date to both my birthday and the wedding. Three: my lovely mum offered to set me up on a blind date with her friend’s daughter.”

Phil chuckles. “Alright. None of those seem life changing. If you have to go home for your birthday, we can celebrate early, that’s fine. Also, I’d rather you didn’t take your mum up on the blind date, seeing as I like having you as my boyfriend and all.”

“None of those were the big problem, Phil.”

“So what is it then?”

I finally look up enough to meet Phil’s eyes. “I told my mum I’d have to turn down the blind date since I’m seeing someone. Now she’s hoping I’ll bring that person home with me. And she’s assuming that person is a girl.”

Phil looks about like a deer in headlights. “Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh.”

“What are you thinking of doing?”

“I’ve thought about this a lot in the past—” I glance at the clock “—three hours. There’s only one logical option. I need to come out sooner or later, so it might as well be now, I guess.”

“I don’t want you to feel pressured. If you aren’t ready or don’t want to, we can figure something out.”

I close my eyes and collect my thoughts, taking a deep breath. When I open my eyes, I resolutely meet Phil’s gaze. “I’m sure. I knew the time would come and it’s come,” I say with an air of finality.

“I’m proud of you, Bear.”

“Thanks. I have no idea how I’m going to do this though. I mean, how does someone just call up their mum and be like ‘hey, thanks for telling me I could bring a date, but fyi it’s a boy and I’m bisexual’…?”

“Probably with a bit more tact than that. Maybe skype would be a better option. Or you could wait until you go home.”

“No, I don’t want to wait until I go home. If I wait until I go home then I can’t bring you as a date. Or worse, bringing you as my date will actually be how I come out. Oh my god, I didn’t even ask, do you even want to go to this? The wedding? I’m sure I can get out of the birthday thing if I try, but I have to go to the wedding. I’d love it if you’d come, but I get that meeting my whole family all at once is really intimidating and I wouldn’t blame—”

“Dan. Shut up.” Phil interrupts me and I stop rambling.

“Sorry.” I turn my gaze downward and toy with the hem of my shirt. Phil grabs my face between his hands, forcing me to look up at him.

“Of course I want to go with you. Both to the wedding and for your birthday.”

“But I know you had plans in mind for here.”

“Nothing that can’t happen a day or two early. This way you get two birthdays!” Phil looks so excited that I almost forget about the task looming over my head. Almost.

“Okay. So that’s settled. Now I just need to actually tell my mum and hopefully she doesn’t revoke the date invitation.”

“It’s going to be fine, Dan. I know it’s nerve-wracking, but I think your family is going to take it much better than you’re giving them credit for. When do you want to talk to her?”

“Now?” I try to sound confident, but instead, it comes out like a weak question. Phil raises his eyebrow. “I want to do it before I lose my nerve.”

Without saying anything, Phil disappears into his room. When he returns, he is carrying my laptop and a bag of Maltesers. “Here.” He shoves the laptop into my hands. “Text your mum now. Tell her you need to skype.”

I nod numbly and do as he says. My mum replies almost instantly.

I’ll be on in 5 minutes. Is everything okay?

I don’t respond. She’ll find out soon enough.

Phil rises and kisses my forehead. “I’ll let you have privacy with your mum.”

“NO!” I shout before I can control myself. I quickly add, “I really, really don’t think I can do this alone. Can’t you just like… sit at the table out of shot or something?”

“Of course. But if you decide you want me to leave, just say so, okay?” He settles back down into his chair and angles the laptop so that only I will be on camera.

I nod quietly in assent without taking my eyes off of the screen. In three minutes there will be a green dot next to my mum’s name. There’s no turning back now.

I snap out of my daze when the skype call comes through but I’m too petrified to move to answer it. Phil notices and reaches over and hits the accept button for me. Instead of pulling his hand back though, he grabs my hand and holds it under the table. The hidden gesture gives me the courage to speak.

“Hi, mum. Thanks for dropping whatever you were doing.”

“It’s no problem, honey. What’s going on?”

“Well, I was thinking about what you said earlier. If the offer still stands, I would like to bring a date.” I choose my words with care, making sure not to use pronouns before I actually intend to.

“Daniel! That’s great news. Of course the offer still stands. I’m so excited that—”

“Mum. Hold on. Let me say what I need to say before you decide if my date is still invited.”

That shuts her up. Phil squeezes my hand under the table and sends me a reassuring look when I glance over. On screen, my mum watches me expectantly.

“My date, um, wouldn’t be a girl.”

In the next five seconds, my mum’s face goes through a series of emotions. First she seems confused, then surprised, then anxious, but finally settles on calm.

“The offer still stands. I would love to meet your boyfriend.” I notice that she seems barely fazed by the word. “And I’m sure the rest of the family would too. So long as he makes you happy and isn’t a serial killer, I think everyone will be just fine.”

As she talks, I can literally feel the weight melting off my shoulders. I was so nervous about the hundreds of ways that this could have gone poorly that I never actually considered she would be so nonchalant about it.

“Thanks, mum.” I can feel tears prickling my eyes. Phil is positively beaming beside me. “Your support means so much.”

“I love you, Dan, no matter who you love.” She looks pensive for a moment. “It’s Phil, isn’t it?”

Her question catches me off guard and I can feel heat my cheeks instantly flush with heat. I nod sheepishly.

“How long?” She asks curiously.

“Um, like September.” She opens her mouth to say something, but I cut her off. “Of 2009.”

“YOU’VE BEEN DATING PHIL FOR THAT LONG AND DIDN’T TELL US?!” She shouts, but she doesn’t sound angry, just shocked.

“I told you I didn’t buy that ‘friends’ crap!” Adrian shouts from the next room.

“LANGUAGE, ADRIAN!” Phil guffaws at the exchange beside me. “Is that Phil I hear in the background?”

“Yeah, Phil’s here.” I jerk my head slightly and Phil shuffles into the shot.

“Hi Mrs. Howell!” Phil waves cheerfully with the hand that isn’t still attached to mine.

“Hello, Phil. I look forward to getting to properly meet you in person soon. So you boys have really been dating for…” Her face scrunches up as she tries to do the calculations.

“Nearly two years?” I fill in for her. “Yeah.”

Her expression turns slightly disappointed and when she speaks, she sounds sadder. “Why did you tell us sooner?”

I knew this would come up. It’s something I’ve thought a lot about since Phil and I started talking.

“Well, at first, I didn’t want to mention it because it was so new. And then when I went to visit him the first time, I was afraid that if I told you what we actually were, you wouldn’t let me get on a train to go halfway across the country to meet my boyfriend. Then I was planning to come to Manchester for uni and I didn’t want you to think I was moving to Manchester just to be with my boyfriend. And, well, since then, I guess I was just nervous and didn’t know how to talk about it or how you would react.”

I could see tears forming in my mum’s eyes. “Sweetheart, I’m so sorry that we’ve made you feel like you couldn’t confide in us. I can’t imagine what it must have felt like hiding this for so long. Please, don’t feel like you need to hide things from us in the future.”

“Thanks, mum.”

The conversation shifted to planning me and Phil’s trip. It takes a bit of negotiation, but we finally settle on us arriving the evening before my birthday and leaving two days after Cassidy’s wedding. I can’t tell who is more excited: my mum or Phil.

When the call finally disconnects, I fly into Phil’s arm. He wraps his arms around me tightly. “It went well. It went really well, Phil.” I’m smiling so wide that my cheeks hurt and Phil pokes my dimple, which is more of a crater than a dimple at the moment.

“It did, Bear. I’m happy for you.” He leans in and kisses my lips softly. He slowly presses long, sloppy kisses along my jaw and the mood shifts into something more heated. When his lips return to mine, the kiss is more urgent. I move my legs to straddle his lap, pulling my shirt off in the process.

Phil works his way back up my jaw and lightly pulls my earlobe into his mouth. “I’d say let’s move this to the bed, but I noticed that someone left the entire law library on my bed.” His voice is husky and his deep chuckle vibrates along my neck, which melts me into an almost incoherent state of bliss.

“Couch?”

next part

#iminclinedtowriting #established relationship #phan #phanfic #2011 phan #coming out

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freevoidman · 7 years ago

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Glad to know my communication skills have gone to absolute balls-deep shit.

Seriously, first it’s not informing me that I’m going to be receiving an award because they misinterpretted the fucking letter announcing such. The letter said "the awards received will be confidential" (as in, you don’t know what the award you and all the other students are receiving), so my parents thought this meant “don’t tell your kids that they’re receiving an award at all because we want it to be a surprise!”

It absolutely was not a surprise and I looked like shit compared to about fifty other people who were dressed up for the occasion and there I am, in jeans and a t-shirt, just having thrown my jacket in a corner like “WASSUP FUCKERS.” and people were taking pictures and I’m not okay.

THEN my orchestra teacher assumed I was going with everyone for the stupid NYSSMA thing despite me not having given my permission slip and having LEFT THE FUCKING SCHOOL AFTER THE AWARD CEREMONY and then proceeded to hold the entire bus for the field trip until I got there, had multiple people text me, then proceeded o text me herself about where I was (while using blatant guilt tripping tactics) and I felt horrible because I thought she knew I wasn’t coming. Bear in mind, this is after I received an award for dedication for the orchestra so now BOTH the award I got felt like they were a final ‘fuck you’ for my last two weeks in this hell hole.

AND THEN I learned that my loving, sweet, considerate mother signed me up to go to an arts award banquet for my writing and my orchestral ‘dedication’ a week ago without me giving the final word on it because we needed to RSVP and I never showed clear interest in it and she gave them a check for the seats and everything and my orchestra teacher is probably going to be there and I now feel physically ill with how much I’ve cried and torn myself to bits over this bullshit and I am absolutely not leaving this house. They’ll have to drag my dead body out of here in order to bring me to a fucking banquet or whatever the fuck they’re doing. It does not help that I’m a picky eater to the nines and I try to binge as much food as I can when i feel terrible so hahaha maximum torture please just kill me now.

So yeah, fuck me, amiright?

#personal #if someone likes this I'm blocking you not even joking #it's tagged as personal for a reason IT'S NOT MEANT TO BE LIKED #IT'S JUST ME RANTING FOR FIVE PARAGRAPHS #reading this is FINE just don't fucking like it

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redheadedcashew · 8 years ago

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Make You Miss Me. (3/4)

Soon enough the weeks were turning into months and Amanda still hadn’t left the small town of Charming. She was still sleeping in her old bedroom at her mums place, she’d never gotten around to collecting her furniture or her precious books from the house she had made a home with Tom. She occasionally wondered if he had thrown all her stuff out, or set them on fire as a way to further hurt her. When she felt herself thinking about him, she’d have to take a deep breath before her feelings took over and she became tempted to call him. It didn’t matter that she was still connected to Cillian, she’d been connected and apart of Tom’s life for so long, it was hard to remember how to exist with out him. She couldn’t say it to anyone, she didn’t want to admit that some part of her secretly yearned for him in the late hours when she was alone, but she had found Cillian to be a welcome distraction and the one thing she had made clear, she was NOT his ticket to club information.

As time had carried on, other things unrelated to her were changing. Ryan, had finally asked Sarah to marry him and of course, without even a hiccup Sarah had said yes. Amanda couldn’t have been anymore happier for her friends. These two had been destined together from the get go, they were as strong as ever and nothing could ever ruin the foundation they had built with each other. Even though Amanda was happy for them, she couldn’t help the unease in her stomach as she had received the engagement party invitation… it was to be held at the clubhouse. She sat down heavily in her chair to scan over the details. Could she do this? Could she face him after all this time? Did she look better or worse since he last saw her? She groaned and without much more hesitation, she sent her rsvp to Sarah.

She was going to have to go shopping. She needed to look like she was winning this break up. Even though she knew, deep down, she may have been loosing.

—

Amanda stood in front of her bedroom mirror and took one final look at her appearance, going over each and every detail. She had had her hair styled into an up do, leaving her neck and shoulders exposed as the sleeves of her dress begun just underneath her shoulders. She’d chosen a nice plum coloured stress and even added some heels to the mix. She was going to do this, she was going to support her friends and let them know she bloody loved them and missed them terribly. Besides, tonight she had some news of her own to deliver to Sarah.

“You’ll be fine love,” Amanda looked over at her ma, “i know you know what he’s been up to ma, just know I’m glad you never told me.” They settled to a spare spot outside the lot, she felt her ma grab her hand, “I raised you to be strong and independent, he was a stupid boy but you are here for Sarah and Ryan. You’re moving on, be proud of that.” Nodding, she took a deep breath and stepped out of the car as gracefully as she could, smiling as her ma linked arms with her. All the memories she had shared at this place started coming to her and she realised she had missed being here, this place had been such an important place to her. God… how could he have destroyed them? Their lives?

She tried really fucking hard to ignore the stares and whispering that was happening. A few of the guys gave her slight nods and she smiled back, but it wasn’t the same. Too much time had passed and she knew he was President now. He was the king, everything he had worked for had finally happened for him, but before she could scan the crowd for her, Sarah crashed into her, hugging her tightly. “Congratulations, it’s about bloody time,” she laughed to her friend, hugging her just as tight. The two parted and she couldn’t help but hug Ryan also, “don’t ever hurt her, because they’ll never find you.” She whispered to him, feeling his chest vibrate as he chuckled, “don’t worry, I can barely function without her. I’m never going to mistreat her.”

The night carried on and Amanda found herself standing in a group with Kozik and a few other outer charter guys, simply shooting the shit, things felt normal and she was enjoying herself. But then she felt it, she felt someone staring at her and she couldn’t tell who it was. Turning her head, she caught his eye and the two ended up just starring at each other, not hearing what was happening around them despite him being a few feet from her still. Her expression was blank, she wasn’t going to give anything away. He had changed, he was more built, more solid than she remembered and his beard was in full swing, but the President patch didn’t go unnoticed ether. Their eyes didn’t stray, not until she felt her phone vibrate in her hand.

“I’m on my way. C.”

She looked back up from the message, saw that Tom was still watching her and finally she sighed before simply shrugging at him. Turning on her heel, she said goodnight to those she was talking to and made her way through everyone to find Sarah, she needed to tell her something important. But as she walked away, she felt relieved, because her and Tom would never be anything again. She no longer felt that magnetic pull towards him, and that sealed the deal for her. They were really over.

“Sarah, can I have a minute?” The two moved to somewhere more quiet, “I want you to know I’m so happy for you,” gosh, how was she supposed to tell her only true friend in the world what she was doing. Looking at her friend, she gave a one armed shrug, “I’m leaving Charming… tonight.” She felt tears starting and laughed softly, “I’m probably making the biggest mistake, but I have to go. This place just isn’t the same for me now.” She hugged her friend tightly once again, “keep me updated on everything. Once I’m settled, I’ll explain it to you. Don’t walk me out, stay and enjoy your night, okay? Go and get stoned with your man.”

Stepping outside, it suddenly felt like the last weight of her troubles was finally coming off her shoulders. So much so that she started grinning to herself, “red, where you going?” She made a stop motion with her hand to Ryan, “I’m moving forward, finally.” Ryan frowned, “stay safe.” Ryan knew Tom was near by with a blonde and a brunette hanging off him, each fighting for the title of Old Lady but he knew Amanda hadn’t seen. He watched as she walked to the end of the lot and he was surprised to see who had pulled up to collect her.

Getting to the car, she gave Cillian a small smile as he got out to open her door, “are you ready love?” he asked as he helped her in, she nodded, “yeah, you still want me to come?” She waited until he was seated in the drivers seat to receive his answer, “I wouldn’t have organised it all back home for you if I didn’t want you with me.”

—-

All she could feel was a nervous energy racing through her body as the plane landed in Belfast, Ireland. Cillian held her hand tightly as they made their way through the airport, his men grabbing their belongings as he ushered her into a car. Her eyes were wide with wonder, trying to take it all in at once. Despite the nerves and excitement, she couldn’t help but begin to question if she really had made the right choice to leave with him. Of course she had wanted out, was sick of living a half life because she couldn’t bare to see Tom or anyone from the club around town, but was moving across the world with a man with ties to that club the best idea? He squeezed her hand and she looked at him, well, if it all went wrong, she could always build herself back up for the second time right?

After a nice, soothing warm shower, Amanda got into some comfortable clothes and began looking around Cillian’s apartment, waiting for him to join her. They needed to have a conversation, one she had had with herself in the shower. She was scanning his bookshelf as he entered the living room with food. “Before we eat, I think we need to draw some lines.” He nodded, telling her to continue, “I need to live separately from you. I can’t get sucked into whatever you’re doing when I’m trying to rebuild myself.” She ran a hand over her face, “I dunno if this even sounds right, I like being with you and whatnot, but I want to remember and find me…” He gave her a grin that could melt her, “you set the pace, I’m just happy that you agreed to join me. And while we are on the subject of sorting ourselves out, I got you a job interview.” He held up his hands before she could but in, “just an interview, you’ll have to win them over, told you I wouldn’t overstep the bounds. Trust me.”

—-

Trust him… well thats exactly what she did. She waited days, weeks and soon months for this all to blow up in her face. For the heartbreak and betrayal to format her full force but it didn’t. Cillian allowed her to rebuild in the ways she needed, gave her the room to breathe when at times it became too much but mostly, he was there when she needed to talk and she found she did have to rehash her past relationship, the relationship that was supposed to be her be all and end all. It had been the final key into being able to completely, and utterly let go of the pain. Life began to not look so grey anymore, she was standing on her own two feet on her terms but without even meaning to, she we aligning herself with Cillian to a blissful point of no return and had no plans to stop.

“Yes Sarah I read the instructions… I don’t know, nothing’s happening.” She let out a shaky breath, “oh by the way, I received the dress, booked in to get it altered just before I fly back.” She laughed, “yeah… I guess I am talking about your wedding at a time like this.” Glancing down, she pinched the bridge of her nose, “is it too late to change my plus one?”

—-

Ryan & Sarah’s

Wedding Day

It had been 12 months since Amanda had left Charming, 12 months since she had been someone she no longer recognised. New job, new life, new world and a new man could work wonders for some. She was undeniably head over heels in love with the Irish man who had convinced her to leave her old life behind. But today wasn’t about her, no, today was about the two people in the world who she loved dearly finally tying the last knot in their lives together. She’d arrived late the night before so no one knew she was here. Of course she had to spend the night before with her best friend, she had missed the hens party, there was no way she was missing this moment.

Morning came quickly, the two having stayed up talking, knowing the make up artist would have fun covering up their under eyes from the lack of beauty sleep but the talk was well needed. As Sarah’s mum got her daughter to eat and consume coffee, Amanda stepped away to get herself ready. Slipping into her dress, she smoothed it into all the right places and adjusted it accordingly, until she was satisfied with the way it sat on her body, figure hugging but understated, there was no question that Sarah had good taste. Her hair was put together perfectly, her make up natural so with one final nod at her reflection, excitement filled her as she made her way through the house to Sarah’s childhood bedroom, “ready to get this dress on?” Sarah’s mum grabbed the gown and the two helped Sarah into it, Amanda getting the lovely honour of zipping and buttoning it into place while Sarah received some words of wisdom from her mum. She looked over her best friends shoulder, looking at their reflection in the mirror, “you look beautiful, he is one lucky man to have you stick by him.”

She helped Sarah get the dress just right before she gave her a hug, “let’s get you married!” She picked up the train of Sarah’s dress and helped her leave the room, wondering if she was ever going to start feeling nervous. There were a lot of people she hadn’t seen in a year who would be here, one person in particular but the nerves never surfaced. She was too busy by the overwhelming joy she felt for her friends and the love she had for a certain man who would be waiting for her at the event. “Ok have we got everything? I’ve given your dad your luggage and he’s assured me it’s where it should be for you both to leave. I have my emergency kit, incase anything goes wrong. We good to go? Right let’s get you in the car!”

Before long, the time came to get ready to walk down the isle. Amanda turned to her best friend, “last chance to run away, I can have you out of her in 5 seconds, 2 if your dad helps me.” She was smiling as she said this, she knew these two would never not be together. “Ok, I’ll see you down there,” the music began to play and she gave Sarah one last hug before it was her time to walk. The moment she stepped out, she felt all eyes in her direction, “it’s fine, they just waiting for Sarah, no big deal, so you look a little different, it’s fiiiiiine.” Ignoring everyone, her eyes scanned the rows of guests as she smiled, her eyes lighting up as she found him sitting close to the front row. He looked handsome as fuck in his crisp, dark grey suit. He winked at her and she felt the faintest blush creep up on her neck and cheeks. God damn.

And then, she had to return her focus on the task at hand. She was Sarah’s Maid of Honour, and naturally everyone knew who Ryan would have chosen as his best man. That’s right, Tom was standing right beside his best friend but he looked a lot different from the last time she had seen him, like the world had hardened him even more. To her surprise, she felt… nothing as she looked towards him, even gave him a small smile of acknowledgement before Ryan caught her attention, “she’s here?” he whispered and she nodded, grinning. Ryan looked at his friend again, about to ask her another question but there was a change in the music and his focus moved to the end of the isle and he felt himself shift on his feet. This was it, fuck he loved her.

Cheers and applause erupted as the newly wed couple shared their first kiss as husband and wife. The two looked even more in love than they had ever looked before, Amanda felt the tears running down her cheeks as she watched them. They linked arms and made their exit, and it was now her turn to link with Tom. He offered his arm and she couldn’t tell if he had wanted to or not, but she linked her arm with his and once again, was shocked that he was having no affect on her. His touch used to make her weak and forget everything, now, he was just another person to her. She could feel how tense he was though as he spoke, “you’re pregnant?” she looked up at him, her eyes damp from tears but a soft smile gracing her features, “I am, 3 months left and then I can hold my little girl.” It was the most she had spoken to him since the night she’d walked out on him, but she wasn’t angry anymore.

As they reached their destination, she unlinked from him and moved to stand in position for a photo and then along with everyone else, cheered the happy couple off as they ventured to the reception. A hand found hers and she lent into the body she felt beside her, “are you alright?” Cillian asked, pulling her close, “I really am, thank you.” They shared a quick kiss before his hand ran protectively over her stomach, “shall we head to the reception? I’m sure Sarah need’s a bathroom break.”

True to form, the reception was in full swing and it looked like it had turned out exactly how Sarah had told Amanda she wanted it. Cillian had stepped away to get her something to eat when Beth, Tom’s mum, approached her. “Wow, you definitely made a change.” A little nervous, Amanda nodded, “that’s one way of putting it. How are you Beth?” The older woman softened slightly, “I’m well love, a lot has changed but some things never do. Tom’s President now,” Amanda watched Beth’s eye sight land on her son, who looked completely disinterested in the blonde who was holding his hand while she spoke to someone. Amanda nodded, “you must be proud.” She didn’t know what to say, at one point this woman was going to be her mother in law, jesus, she had looked to this woman for motherly advice but that felt like a lifetime ago now. “Why didn’t you give him another chance?” Amanda blinked at the question, “Beth, this is not the time, I’m here for Sarah and Ryan. Tom already knows that answer, so you need to go and talk to your son. Excuse me.” Turning on her heal, she walked away from Beth, not wanting to cause a scene. She wasn’t paying attention to where she was going but a hand caught hers, “everything ok love?” She relaxed noticing it was Cillian, “it is now, come on, let’s get a decent spot to hear the speeches.”

There were tears of joy and deep love for the couple as Sarah and Ryan shared their first dance as husband and wife. She was grinning at the two of them and she wiped the tears away quickly to applaud them before everyone else was invited to the dance floor. Cillian wrapped her in his protective embrace and the two moved easily to the song. She could feel eyes on her and she couldn’t help but find them, he was clearly ignoring the attempts of his date to get him onto the dance floor. She almost chuckled, good luck with that love, Tom had never been a dancer except with her in their kitchen, and that was only to make her smile. As the memory faded she looked away from him, she wasn’t going to walk down memory lane now. “Ryan looks like the happiest man alive right now,” she looked over towards Ryan and Sarah and nodded against Cillian’s chest, “he’s never wanted anyone else, never been swayed from her. they are forever those two.” “There’s still hope for us,” She leaned up on her toes, minding her stomach and kissed him, “definitely, plenty of time to find out.”

“Congratulations lovely,” Amanda said softly as she and Sarah hugged. Everyone was staring around waiting to say goodbye. “Enjoy the honeymoon and make sure to enjoy the time with just the two of you, without the club.” Next was Ryan and he still looked confused, “it’s just weird seeing you like this… is he being good to you?” “Ryan, you are about to go ravish your wife! Focus on that, I’m totally fine, the moment I’m not is the moment I call you to come and save me ok?” He nodded, “you fucking better.” Everyone waved goodbye as the two of them left, and Amanda really hoped they took the time to enjoy being separated from the club and all that came with it. “I’m just going to say goodbye to ma and then we can get out of here?” Cillian nodded, “I’ll let them know we are on our way.” He walked away as he pulled his phone out and she moved to where her ma was standing. “Hey, time for me to go as well.” Her ma smiled sadly, “alright darling, let me know when you land. Once I’ve sorted out some time off work I’ll be right there for when my granddaughter is born ok?” “of course, I’ll have the spare room waiting for you, I’m definitely going to need you.” Her ma shook her head, “I think you’ve got this, look at how far you’ve already come my dear.” Hugging her mum she took in the motherly comfort, “love you ma.”

“Car is here, let’s go home.” With both hands on her stomach, she nodded, “sounds good.” Cillian carefully lead her to the car that would take them to the plane he had arranged to get them back to Ireland tonight. She hadn’t even felt the eyes watching her, analysing every detail, studying her. The eyes were willing her to turn around, but she didn’t, she was no longer tuned into his presence. She was really gone for good.

—

Leaning on his bike, Ryan flicked the cigarette ash to the ground before the toxic stick was back in his mouth. It was early and the weather was cooling down, he’d had a hard time dragging himself away from Sarah that morning. She was even more tempting when he had a meeting early, she could wrap herself around him in such a way that had him completely lost to her. But just as he considered blowing off this meeting, his phone had gone off, telling him the location and that he better get his ass going. He’d just have to focus on the fact he’d get to shoot some guns in the lot without any repercussions.

A silver car pulled up into the space and he didn’t bother to move, knowing that it would be the Irish, they had set this up about and hour outside of town so they wouldn’t draw attention to themselves. “Ryan, nice to see you again.” The accent was thick but Ryan shook the offered hand, “Cillian, how are you?” he watched the Irish man light up, “can’t complain, are you taking charge today?” Ryan shook his head, “Tom is almost here, he got caught up with another meeting. Not gonna be a problem is it?” he watched the other man frown, “no, I’ve dealt with Tom from the beginning.” Ryan moved his head from side to side, stretching out his neck, “just… don’t mention Amanda and Andy ok?” Before the two could discuss the matter further, another bike joined them and Ryan jumped up, flicked his smoke away and went to meet his boss, his brother while Cillian moved to get his men to organise the guns.

“Bit fucking early for this shit brother,” Ryan said in good humour, “why’d we have to do it at this time? We’ve got nothing else on today.” He listened to Tom’s rather blunt reply, not taking any offence, it was just how he was now. Tom had become more blunt and disconnected since the wedding, jesus, he was still reckless with their work but nothing Ryan said could change anything. “Surprised you were allowed outta bed this morning, miss whats her name sure has her claws in.” it was no secret to anyone that Ryan couldn’t stand Tom’s girlfriend, the girl he’d cheated on Amanda with. He was fairly certain Tom was sleeping around on her too, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

The two of them moved to the table set up and Ryan’s mood was slowly improving, “is this the standard order we’ll be receiving?” he asked. “Aye, the Ak-47s and the glocks. I’m still searching for a supplier for the .223s ye requested, but the Aks at this time are not in short supply, so if you need, we can double the order.” Ryan looked at Tom, “that should keep black happy and possibly Alvarez if we still wanna expand, he has been asking.” “Everything is the same with shipping, we’ll send them dismantled, your boys will assemble and then run them to your other charters like discussed. If your into any issues, let us know, we’ve made some connections state side that could benefit you.”

“Anything else?” Ryan lit up another smoke as Tom finally spoke, he watched Cillian look to him, the two becoming eye locked and he wondered how this would play out. “We’d prefer it if you cut ties with the Russian pipeline you’ve previously had. We can handle the gun demand, but we won’t share customers with those bastards.” Ryan shrugged, he’d be happy to drop the Russians, “we’ll put it to a vote.” Cillian nodded to Tom, “let me know how that pans out. Now if you don’t have anything else, we’ve been state side long enough. Keep these, and the ones in the trunk as a sign of good faith. I’ll be back with the major delivery in a weeks time. Ryan, give my families regards to Sarah.”

Ryan and Tom were standing near their bikes, smoking, as the Irish left the lot. They were waiting for a prospect to come with the van to collect the guns. “We can scout another pipeline if you don’t trust the Irish. Though,” he exhaled, “they can definitely keep up with the demand of the other charters.” He looked at his boss, who was like a stone wall, no expression. He inwardly groaned, “let’s get outta here.”

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heartslogos · 4 years ago

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newfragile yellows [1051]

“We can't take you anywhere, can we?” Ellana says, sounding entirely too chereful for someone who's run into multiple people who’ve slept with her husband, and would gladly do so again. "So popular! You’re like a five star review on Yelp! aren’t you?”

Evelyn’s head is in her hands as Bull waves at a slow to leave gaggle of ladies, shoulders sagging as she resists the urge to succumb entirely and put her head down on the table.

“If I’d had known,” Bull mutters out of the corner of his mouth, “That your guest list was literally everyone rich, divorced and or widowed, I would’ve warned you. But since you’re so keen on keeping your guest lists secret from the rest of us, that’s entirely on you.”

“Do not blame me for your promiscuity,” Evelyn says into her hands. “How did you meet these people, anyway? I had to go through five or more intermediaries to get invitations to half of them here. And most of them didn’t send in their RSVP’s until the last minute just to get us sweating.”

“Ellana’s right, I’m very popular. You show one of them a good time the next thing you know her entire friend group is calling you and propositioning you.” Bull’s eye does a final sweep of the now empty hotel ballroom. “Alright. Just you and the rest of the Inquisition. You can cuss me out as loudly as you want, now.”

Evelyn raises her head to look at Ellana. “I know the two of you have an understanding. But doesn’t it bother you just a little bit when other people start talking about…their experiences with your husband right in front of you?”

“Only when they seem to hint that they’d love a repeat performance, but with me included,” Ellana says, entirely sincere. “Besides. Isn’t this something most people brag about? Their partner being good in bed? I mean. Sure. Other people’s beds. But the point still stands, doesn’t it? Do not correct me if I’m wrong, but good in one bed probably means good in a lot of beds.”

“Anyway, it’s not like I’m sleeping with them right now,” Bull points out. “So don’t even think about trying to pimp my ass for Inquisition credit.”

Evelyn looks a little green at that idea.

“By which I mean, don’t let Leliana put it on the table,” Bull clarifies. “You never know exactly what’s up her, which is the entire point of her being your spymaster. But just to be clear, I’m not interested.”

“Delightful clarification,” Evelyn intones. “But I have a feeling that most of the people we invited here tonight to become donors have walked away without a single thing in their head aside from you. I don’t think any of our speeches or impassioned pleas to their basic moral decency sunk in.”

“Impassioned something sunk into something,” Ellana says, reaching up and giving Bull a high five.

Evelyn puts her head back in her hands. “You’re all terrible people. Do I really have to run my guest lists by you every time? Is this the consequence of not doing that?”

“I don’t know why you were so intent on keeping this guest list secret to start with. I mean. We’d show up to the part and it wouldn’t be a secret anymore, right? It’s not like you’ve got some kind of weird…I dunno. Rival party you’re trying to beat.”

Evelyn remains perfectly silent.

Bull stares at her. “You’re shitting me.”

Ellana gapes. “Wait. Is that why we’ve held so many parties in the past few months? There’s a rival party host? And there’s a mole in the Inquisition seeking party info? Is this all an elaborate ruse in order to catch them out?”

Evelyn lets out a long, tired sigh. She lifts her head to examine them over her folded hands.

“We don’t actually need backers that badly,” Evelyn says after a moment where she just looks at them, like she’s running some very intense mathematics about their personalities, their trustworthiness, and the amount of teasing she’s about to get. “The first one was held in earnest. But you saw the turn out. Terrible showing for a party being run by Josephine Montilyet. The second one was to make up for the first, but the showing there was also suspect. Josephine, and if we borrow Cassandra’s name, can bring in a crowd. Big numbers. It doesn’t make sense if the numbers are that low. After a bit of probing, we found events that just happened to coincide with our chosen dates.”

Evelyn shrugs her shoulders. “Not exactly a reason to suspect a mole. But three’s a pattern, so we checked dates and sent out tentative feelers for a third event. Surprise, surprise, another event just happened to pop up that day and steel half of our invitees.”

“Why would someone sabotage the Inquisition in this weird, entirely new way?” Ellana asks. “I mean. The money is nice, but we’ve been doing fine without it before.”

Evelyn shakes her head. “Make us lose face, maybe. Or try to detract from our ability to gain supporters — financial or otherwise. Or maybe someone just doesn’t like us. Doesn’t matter. Point is, we have a mole and we’re trying to figure out who. The information is leaking from some point. And while the dates on the Inquisition’s social calendar aren’t the most sensitive of information to be released, I’d be much more comfortable if there wasn’t any leak at all.”

“And you suspected, what, us?” Bull asks.

“Someone down the line. Not you two. But someone down the line. We’re eliminating groups of people one by one based on rank,” Evelyn says, voice lowering into a whisper that makes the other two lean in close. “We’re almost entirely sure it’s someone in Logistics. We’ve already ruled out Josephine’s staff and my own. We’ve done a check with our finance department and our Outreach and PR departments as well. We’ve checked janitorial and maintenance. It’s almost definitely logistics and the next wave should catch them out.”

#heartsfic #gather your party and venture forth

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noctemusfic · 11 years ago

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☵ What You Can Observe

A Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies) Fan Fiction by Noctemus. Can be read on: @AO3

Characters: Pepper Potts, Tony Stark and Justin(fem!) Hammer (Justine Hammer) Rating: PG

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters portrayed herein. This is for fan enjoyment only and no profit gained nor sought.

Note:

AU post Ironman 2 and pre The Avengers. Thank you BdrixHaettC for going over this little snippet.

Summary: Pepper knows Tony, better than Tony knows himself sometime.

☵ What You Can Observe - 1/1

☳ ☼ ☳

"Well, you’re certainly in a mood," Pepper remarks as she watches Tony wrestle with his tie. His movements are jerky, his natural grace absent as he aggressively tries to subdue the piece of silk at his throat. Pepper idly wonders who has pissed him off this time as she sets her purse on the table next to her.

She doesn't bother to make a guess, not without more information. Over the years she has learned that the oddest, sometimes even the smallest things, could set Tony off. Tony’s reply is barely more than a grunt and Pepper squares her shoulder and quickly walks over to her boss before he can jerk the tie off and throw it into the fireplace next to him in a fit of pique.

Swatting his hands away as if he were a recalcitrant child and ignoring the scowl on his face, Pepper takes hold of the tie and efficiently ties it properly. She steps back to briefly admire her work before she reaches for Tony’s collar and folds it down, smoothing any creases out with her palms while Tony stands still, his hands seemingly relaxed at his side, resolutely glaring over her shoulder. She gives one final tug to the tie until she deems it fit.

In her high heels she is taller than Tony and it never ceases to surprise her. Tony fills the space he inhabits in such a way that he always seems larger than what he physically actually is. This close she can also see the tension around his eyes and Pepper mentally sighs. It’s her job to push Tony so that he fulfills his social as well as professional obligations but sometimes it also included knowing when to give him an out.

"Do you want to cancel?" she asks quietly while she brushes away a non-existent lint from his lapel.

That brings Tony's attention back square on her. She can feel the weight of his gaze so she keeps her face relaxed and open, no judgment to be found anywhere. Tony huffs a quiet laugh, "After all the effort you put into arranging this? No."

"It doesn't matter," Pepper replies even though it does, but it wouldn't be the first time that she has had to make up an excuse on the fly, at least this time she would be slightly forewarned. Putting her hands on his shoulders, she shakes him gently until he looks up into her eyes.

"You have plenty of valid reasons to bow out, and no one would take offense. You're Ironman after all." She smiles to take the edge off her words, and at the sight of his lips quirking in amusement she feels the tension leave her shoulders.

“Maybe,” Tony admits. “But I made you a promise.”

“You did,” Pepper acknowledges.

“And as I am trying to keep them these days, let's do this thing.” Pepper lets her hands fall as Tony takes a step back and watches as he tugs at his sleeves, making sure his cuff links are present.

Knowing when to push and when to let it be, Pepper keeps her silence and goes to grab her purse. She can smell his cologne and she knows that he is walking behind her, following her out the door.

As they make their way down Tony´s private elevator to the garage, where Happy is waiting with the car even though he technically isn't their driver anymore, Pepper reads out aloud from the mental list she’s compiled of the people Tony can expect to meet tonight. One of her main goal with the event is to establish that Tony Stark has come to stay. New York City will be their home, and all the bigwigs that insist on making themselves a part of Tony Stark's life can be put at ease.

Pepper sees their current circumstances as another opportunity to establish the new and improved Tony Stark, a man anyone would want to make business with, and the socialite and the shot callers of the city should view it like that as well. They will if she has anything to say about it.

They reach the garage and Pepper tucks her purse under her arm as she gets out of the elevator. Tony wastes no time getting into the car and soon disappears into the dark interior. Having noticed the dark mood his longtime employer and friend is in Happy turns to Pepper and subtly tilts his head in the direction of the limousine door. Pepper mutely shakes her head at Happy's silent question and squeezes Happy's hand in reassurance as he helps her into the car. She reflects the smile he gives her.

By the time Pepper turns to face Tony his mood hasn't improved any and the look on Tony's face makes her suppress another sigh. As Happy pulls out of the garage and makes his way to the event she looks out the window, giving Tony his space for now. She won't pursue whatever is troubling her boss, not tonight, she doesn't have the time nor the patience to dig deeper and find out what and who had happened, but she knows Tony is aware she isn't going to leave this alone. She never has.

Forcing her worry to the back of her mind, she makes a conscious decision to focuses on the event. Hopefully, SHIELD will stay away and if not, not be obtrusive enough to cause any problems. As she waits to arrive she mentally tallies up what she expects to happen and what her course of action will be if some of the guests don’t appear; that would send a clear message as to their stance to Stark and Stark Industries.

Seeing the grand hotel that was housing the event she sits up and nudges Tony's knee, rousing him from his thoughts. Seeing that they had arrived he smooths down his lapels and makes sure that the square in his pocket is as it should.

Giving a nod as he tilts his head questioningly, Pepper scoots forwards as the door opens and Happy's hand appears. Grabbing it, she steps out looking around momentarily blinded by the flashes of the cameras.

Looking back down into the dark interior she steps back to let Tony out, slipping her arm around his as he slips his glasses with the colored lenses on. He must have taken the ones Happy keeps for him in the hidden compartment of the armrest. With the flashes in her eyes she wishes she had a pair herself.

Feeling Happy squeeze her arm in farewell she lets her smile grow wider as she follows Tony up the carpeted stairs, ignoring the shouted calls from the reporters and paparazzi. The ones that are not to be ignored are already waiting inside of the hotel.

As they pass the large doors Pepper steers Tony to the waiting line of reporters and allows them a few minutes of their time before moving on.

Finally getting to the ballroom where the main event is being housed, she’s pleased to see that the place looks exactly as she planned. She can't help the smile that spreads over her face as she takes in the details. There is a good buzz by the guests that has already arrived, the waiters smoothly moving in and out in the growing crowd.

The turnout looks like it was going to be as good as she hoped even though the likes of Bruce Wayne had sent a last-minute decline due to unforeseen complications on the home front.

She quickly spots a familiar face which confirms to Pepper that Mr. Wayne had been as good as his word and sent a representative is none other than Lucius Fox, his CFO. Hopefully talking with the older gentleman Tony will come out of his dark mood.

Though Tony was smiling and greeting people as they move deeper into the decked out ballroom Pepper can still feel the tension that seems to run through him. She knows she’s the only one that can see the moodiness behind his smile and though he has spotted the other businessman and waved at him Pepper notice that the shadows don't leave.

She isn't really surprised as Tony hates these events no matter who is throwing them or for what cause even in his best of moods.

Subtly guiding him around the floor to mingle with the guests dressed to the nines, she lets the small talk wash over her as she looks around and ticks off in her mental guest list who came and who didn't. People are still filing in through the doors though, so she reserves the decision on whom she’ll put on her shit list until the event is officially starting.

It was the laugh that drew her attention to the bar, and Pepper can feel a smirk wanting to sneak out as she spots Justine Hammer. She is surprised to see her as Justine had not RSVP´ed one way or the other, but on the other hand, she isn't. This is an event for networking and she finds it hard to believe that Ms. Hammer would pass up something like that.

Subtly turning around as Tony continues to pretend to listen to someone who counted himself as one of the elite, Pepper takes the blond woman in. She must have recently cut her hair as it was artfully done in soft curls around her narrow face and the last time Pepper had seen her she'd had it longer than hers.

It isn't a bad look on her as it buys her a few years, making her features softer, though that could have been done by the discrete makeup she wears that complements her strapless light blue gown that shimmers if the light hit it just so when she moves.

Like Pepper she wore minimal jewelry, a bracelet in colored gemstones to compliment the gown, and what can only be diamond earrings adorning her earlobes.

Justine was drinking from a champagne glass while being entertained by a man Pepper can’t recognize as his back is towards her, but by his stance, she knows he’s expecting to get something out of the sandy-blond haired woman. Even from where she stands, Pepper can tell he will fail for even though Justine is laughing at something he said there is something about her pose that tells Pepper all she needs to know.

Pepper knows the moment Tony discovers Justine as he stills next to her. She has to fight to keep the smirk from appearing on her face and just to be safe she takes a glass of champagne from a passing waiter and sips from it.

One look at Tony's face and Pepper relaxes. There is a sharpness to his eyes as he looks towards the bar, a focus she recognizes and Pepper knows then that things were going to be just fine.

Letting go of his arm Pepper draws the attention of the man Tony had been speaking with as Tony himself mumbles something she pretends to be an apology.

As Pepper continues to mingle with the rich and powerful of the great eastern city, she is not at all surprised when she looks around the ballroom to discover neither of them in the room.

Normally, knowing what Tony is up to she would have been annoyed and irritated but for once neither of the emotions is present as she knows Tony will actually return. Hopefully, he will be in a better mood and do what she needs him to do tonight.

She has come to terms with the somewhat complicated relationship Tony has with the other CEO years ago and as long as both are consenting to it and more importantly, won’t affect the companies, she doesn't care what happens between them.

And to be crude, if all Tony needs is a good fuck to take him out of the mood that he's been so that he can be what she needs him to be, then Pepper is all for it as long as there is enough of the night left for him to work his magic.

☳ ☼ ☳

It is a while later and Pepper is talking with Mr. Fox when Tony returns. Pepper sees it immediately because, sure enough, when he strolls into the ballroom, he´s more relaxed. The tension is gone and his grins are more genuine. Lifting her glass so that Tony can see her she turns back to the older gentleman seeing in the peripheral as Tony snatches a glass as he makes his way towards them.

It appears that Tony has worked through his issues, just as she had hoped. Pepper wants to snort at the thought. She must have made some sound because when she turns around she's met with Tony staring at her, his brow quirked inquisitively. She wordlessly reaches out and straightens his tie. His smile turns rueful and he shrugs.

She shakes her head and smoothly moves to his side, slipping her arm around his as she quietly apologies to Mr. Fox and steers him towards the governor for a few words as it had appeared he was about to leave.

☳ ☼ ☳

The night wasn't as much of a disaster as she had feared it would be. Stark Industries ends up with some lucrative possibilities in the future as they continue to do their networking and although she spotted some SHIELD personnel during the course of the evening they were discreet enough that she wasn't bothered by it. She knows better than to expect that they would leave Tony without some eyes on him really.

Tony may hate these kinds of get-together but once he is in the element and in the right frame of mind she doesn't know anyone that can work it better than him. It never fails to amaze her how easily he can turn on the charm and own the people he meets with them none the wiser with the possible exception of Mr. Wayne who luckily isn't present this night.

It isn't until the event is drawing to a close that Pepper sees Justine again. The woman is talking to Fox and appears to be in a good mood and Pepper feels charitable enough tonight that she hopes the other CEO has had some good opportunities thrown her way as well.

The End.

#f: mcu #p: christine everhart x tony stark #c: pepper potts

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