#I don’t honestly know if I’m smart enough to pass the classes I’d need for this

[ohnojackals]

It is seriously so weird to me that I’m actually considering a career in science??? And healthcare???That is something I never expected for myself but it’s the first time I’ve genuinely felt called towards something career-wise.

[jiminrings]

yoongi grills stem koo’s ass <3

cold senior!y/n x stem major!koo masterlist :D

stem koo wants to explain himself and yoongi may not want to listen

"hyeji's never packed you a sandwich before?"

jungkook pales at the mention, mouth drying when he sees yoongi bring up the soft smile that doesn't comfort him at all

“the one that’s all knuckle?”

oh my god

IS THIS A RIDDLE????

yoongi tilts his head in amusement when this pathetic excuse for your past crush is calculating what he just said in his mind

what is a sandwich that’s all knuckle?? but it doesn’t even rhyme!!

aren’t riddles sUPPOSED to rhyme????

jungkook’s more than well-versed in stem-related problems that are just rephrased 237 times over and over so that it wouldn’t be as easy to solve

he can solve that!!!

but this!!! :O his mind is short-circuiting pls do not approach him

“hm?” yoongi’s smile patronizes him further and puts him on the spot, straightening his figure and jungkook’s quick to stop him from coming back inside your dorm

“i want to-“

“i asked you — have you ever had a knuckle sandwich?”

yoongi enunciates with so much clarity that kook finds his mind blanking, tripping over his words he hasn’t even formed yet

“i-is it-...” he stalls, trying to rack his mind for the bread he’s not sure he’s ever even heard of in his life, “i-is it like, a pork thing? uhm, t-the pig’s knuckle? and then you put it between, uhm, bread?”

,,,, laughable

jungkook’s supposed to be smart, isn’t he? or atleast that’s what yoongi thinks he’s supposed to be

lmao he would’ve laughed at the boy’s poor attempts if only he wasn’t furious at him

he’s dumb but not the endearing kind ://

“no,” yoongi drawls out, pretending to fish something out from his pocket

jungkook watches in intrigue, thinking that yoongi’s reaching for his phone to show him a picture of what it looks like

the hypothetical situation in jungkook’s mind is clearly not the one that happens

jungkook SHRIEKS as he stumbles on his heels backward — crystal clear to him that yoongi was not looking for his phone, but instead balling his fist and him being the receiving end

almost the receiving end

yoongi almost sucker-punches jungkook in a blink, fist literally a millimeter away from his nose and the only thing he could see at the moment is red

... red and jungkook’s wide eyes that have never carried this much fear up until now

“that’s a knuckle sandwich, kid. would’ve fed it to you if only y/n isn’t in the room right behind me.”

holy fuck

his heart is beating right against his ribcage and that shouldn’t be possible, fists closing upon themselves nervously as he tries to soothe his thumb so his mind relaxes

spoiler alert: it doesn’t work

jungkook’s mind is all over the place, even more rattled than it was when he takes a text without studying (he was so low he got a 98), but the only thing that’s clear is that you’re behind this door

“yoongi — mister yoongi, please. i-i need to explain myself, and if only you let me try, i can!! i swear. i’m not forcing you but-...”

there he is again

jungkook’s only been in his sight for like two minutes but his eyes are already sore

“why are you even here?” he scowls and even if the younger boy’s taller than him, every bit of his posture and demeanor at the bite of his words scream small, “why go all this length for someone you stomped on today, then have the gall to be a crybaby about it?”

he's speechless and it only serves him right, looking at his mudded-up converse and trying to focus on anything besides the guilt within

"m-my explanation," jungkook mutters, hands behind his back as if he's being scolded, “will you tell y/n?”

yoongi releases an agitated breath at him muttering your name

he dOESN'T get to say your name!! no!!! not after what he did to you

“i’m not concerned about you. what i decide to do or not, has nothing to do with whatever you say right now.”

kook solemnly nods, and even if yoongi's much harsher in your words compared to yours, the gravity of yours with him not being related to you cuts deeper

there's nothing else he could care about, actually

jungkook follows campus curfews to a T and would come home two hours earlier in the rare event that he goes somewhere

but now, he couldn't care less when the dorm master could just be there any second and he'd pass a hall monitor like usual

for the whole day, you were the only one that occupied his mind

"i know hyeji isn’t the one."

god, it was clear as day

he'll be the first one to admit that he can't read people very well, but he knew from the start that it's probably not hyeji who's been packing his lunchboxes

jungkook sometimes takes attendance in behalf of the professor because as much as he's shy, he's also a teacher's pet

the classes she shared with hyeji? she wasn't present everyday for the whole duration of two weeks, and how could it be that she still managed to make him a lunchbox if she wasn't present in the campus at all?

there was a probability that it could've been her, but it was so low that it sat right next to improbable

"i-i entertained the possibility briefly that she was, but then nothing was making sense the more i thought about it."

jungkook sometimes also checks papers because his professors trust him enough and he has perfect scores anyway, so he uses his own as his answer key

"i needed to interview y/n for an assignment, a-and a signature above a name was needed and it was just so familiar."

the moment he racks his head for hyeji's writing, it seemed fAR from the writing on the sticky notes on the lunchboxes

"then she seemed mad at me, but when i went to her on the field to try and confront her-" jungkook pauses and almost whispers the next part, the shame on his skin starting to seep into his bones, "she told me that we weren't related for me to feel hurt about it."

yoongi clenches his jaw, a pressure forming on the center of his eyebrows because he knows where this is leading

"a-and i thought it was hyeji again."

jungkook can't bring himself to be elated that it's been you the whole time because he might be a little too late; a little too late when he's already subjected you to the heartbreak you didn't deserve

"i-i didn’t know what clicked in my mind but i was just so hurt that-"

that's the fiNAL straw for yoongi

this has been him trying to keep his anger at bay the whole time, but this one!! this one he can't just accept

"you are a fucking asshole. honestly."

jungkook slightly winces with the sudden cussing, but it barely scratches the surface

"you think you’re the only one hurt? tell that to me who’s never seen y/n cry so hard before — or even cry at all."

his explanation wasn't an excuse and he knows it, but nonetheless, it tears him apart

"i’m sorry."

his lips quiver and he's trying sO hard not to cry in front of his senior, but yoongi doesn't feel even the slightest remorse for the kid

"i don’t care. you don’t apologize to me; you apologize to y/n. whether she forgives you or not, which for the record i don’t think she should, you cannot take back what you said."

if what jungkook said was eVER said to yoongi, given that he had the same circumstances as you did, he wouldn't know how to bounce back at all

it's a pain he doesn't wish to feel and he could only helplessly look at you who's trying to navigate it

perhaps you don't even plan to navigate it — knowing you, you're just gonna sail through it all to the point you're not giving yourself enough time to even realize that you already are

it was the same cycle of trying to move on without grieving through it properly that it hurts yoongi and seokjin and the tiny amount of people around you

"grovel at her feet. cry her an ocean. commit penitence. whatever you wanna come up with, no matter what, you do not make my y/n feel like she isn’t deserving of love."

you're family and yoongi goes above and beyond for family.

"i don’t care if you make up. i don’t care if you don’t. all i know is that in any other place besides outside the room she sleeps in, i’d hurt you like you hurt her."

jungkook almost wishes that yoongi punches him now and he won't even try to dodge it

"i deserve it."

"you do."

they whole-heartedly agree and it's the only time that yoongi can get behind jungkook's words

"i’m always gonna be on y/n’s side, kid."

there's no other way around it and as much as you know it or not, you've cemented your position in yoongi's heart unknowingly

"the only way that i’m gonna be on yours is when you’ve earned my utmost respect," he can't even see when that happens, crossing his arms across his chest, "and you don’t."

jungkook's tears are falling to the floor but they don't get on his cheeks, the sudden set of footsteps coming from his side making his head straighten and wipe his eyes immediately

he's the only one alarmed and he spares yoongi a glance, then to said person

yeah right that couldn't have been you :((

the guy who's approaching doesn't stop walking and he looks like.... he's uh,,, coming to where he's exactly standing????

he seems oddly familiar though

“oh, taehyung!"

where did he hear that name before??

taehyung stands at the same height as jungkook, maybe a centimeter or two taller, but he just couldn't stop looking at him from the corner of his eyes

yoongi's oblivious to jungkook's ongoing deduction, immediately engulfing taehyung in conversation

"y/n’s already asleep. i could do her part of the project-“

he offers because he recalls that right, you told him that taehyung's coming over to finish your shared project of a business plan late tonight

uhhhhh you're kinda zooted and going through it rOUGH so yoongi doesn't mind doing your contribution for you

“yoongi!! oh no man, it’s not what i came here for," he leans for a side hug, eyes landing on jungkook to drop a polite smile to acknowledge him

jungkook only slightly bows, confused but even more intrigued because he heard your name in the conversation

"i just uh, i just saw y/n crying while i was on my way home awhile ago, and i didn’t get to ask why, but i felt bad, so i came by to drop some cookies.”

oh

taehyung continues talking and it leaves yoongi and jungkook stunned, but he only focuses his attention on the former

“you looked like a hazelnut cookie kind of guy, so i baked some too!! is y/n allergic to peanuts? i put some too in a separate container in case she is.”

yoongi laughs and they go from there

IT'S LIKE JUNGKOOK ISN'T EVEN HERE!!!!

baby he's here he's nOT a hallucination!!!!

despite the fact that he's sticking out like and (unacknowledged) sore thumb, no one makes a move to take the conversation elsewhere

“thanks, tae. damn, you did all this yourself?”

yoongi whistles when he takes the tupperware opening it and almost watering at the sight

he doesn't mind baking cookies for you in case you wake up hungry, but taehyung really just did himself a nice favor without knowing it

he smiles softly, eyes narrowing in intrigue now that he realizes

"taehyung. no offense, but you’ve only interacted with y/n like once and it’s only for a project. why would you bake her uhhh 28 cookies?”

hehe

“35, actually :D”

tae interjects, waving him off when yoongi's jaw drops even further

“yeah, i know. i just felt so sorry for her — i’m not related to y/n but i just felt like i wanted to make her feel better.”

jungkook's jaw locks at this, his breathing becoming shaky all over again, fists balled this time

“it’s like,, economics!! i don’t actually know, maybe??? i’m in visual arts. y/n took over my part for me when i was sick-“

".... so you made her 30 cookies."

taehyung's the personification of a golden retriever and now that he thinks about it, jungkook reckons seeing him more than a handful of times

he laughs deeply at yoongi's rebutt and it may be in unfortunate timing that jungkook realizes he kNOWS him

he's in the same year!! he's the one that takes the portraits for the school paper and it's always his name in the credits

"good night, yoongs. hug y/n for me. tell her i'll take over her part, no questions asked."

taehyung walks away and he's perfectly content even if he didn't get to give you the cookies like jungkook thought he would

"night, taehyung."

yoongi looks at the retreating figure briefly, then looks at jungkook pointedly

he doesn't realize that he's still budging and listened on an entire conversation, dropping his head when yoongi points to the elevator

"bye, jungkook."

"good night, yoongi."

he feels hesitant to leave but it's probably for the better, putting his hands in his pockets still not enough to make his hands stop trembling

kook stops at the middle of his walking, turning his head to look back at yoongi whose mouth already has crumbs

"c-can i see y/n tomorrow?"

"i'm not her dad."

jungkook nods somberly, leaving it at that while his bulk of emotions consume him

he thinks all about the ways he could attempt to make it up to you, a million ideas in his head but his head doesn't hurt

his nose twitches at the lingering scent the cookies left, annoyed at the persistent smell and perhaps the boy that brought them

jungkook's never really liked cookies.

[a-simple-imagine]

The Calm before the storm

synopsis: Best friends with both Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy it’s down to you to decide which romance you peruse but things become more complicated as the second wizarding war lingers in the near future. Will your path lead to redemption or anguish?

Pairing: future draco malfoy x fem!reader OR hermione granger x fem!reader

Words: 1.4k 

masterpost

It was inevitable that you'd wind up best friends. Your parents were close which meant ever since you were little you'd spent a lot of time around Draco Malfoy. You didn't get much of a choice considering your parents dragged you along during visits; you weren't fond of visiting the Malfoy manor. It was a particularly eerie building, not to mention Malfoy's father was scary. You no longer find him scary but he was still as strict as ever, considerably more than your parents ever were and ever will be. He's scolded you a fair few times but you always brushed it off. Draco was a lot like his father, it's honestly not surprising. He's like a mini version; only a little less cruel. Just a little. And so it was no surprise that when it was finally time, you both attended Hogwarts together. He was placed in Slytherin. You were expecting to follow but instead, you were graced with Hufflepuff. It was probably a little more surprising that you were still friends.

Draco had warned you about getting mixed up with the wrong kinds of wizards. You, as you often did, completely ignored him. You struck up friends with people in your house. But it was a Gryffindor who took up the next best friend spot. A smart, studious, special young witch. Hermione Granger. Often seen running with Ronald Weasley or Harry Potter.

"Do you wish to accompany me to the library later?"

"The library? You spend far too much time in there."

"And you, not enough. I know you haven't been studying."

"And you'd be right..." you chuckle. "But I can't, I'm helping Malfoy with his potions- don't tell him I told you that."

"Blowing me off to hang out with Malfoy,"

"He's really not as bad as you think,"

"So you often say,"

You sigh softly. "Hermione... he's a decent guy once you get to know him. I should know, we've been friends for years."

"How can someone so nice be such good friends with someone so cruel," the brunette muses.

"Our parents are friends so we kinda just became friends out of obligation," You shrug a little. "I mean, I wouldn't change anything now but in the beginning, it was forced."

"Wait so how long have you two been friends?" Hermione asked.

"Since we were like four," you smile softly.

"And you've never questioned your friendship with him once you began to see how he was."

"Draco can be a lot but he's sweet once you get to know him. A lot of his mean qualities come from his father which I suppose is why I'm so used to them."

"That's not an excuse,"

"I'm not trying to excuse his behaviour just explain that his family is intense. I was genuinely terrified of his father until I was like ten," you chuckle.

"So are your parents like his?"

You shake your head. "Not entirely. They're not as strict but they do share a lot of the same values."

"They're both wizards?" You nod a little.

"Yep. They're met at Hogwarts. My father was a Slytherin while my mother was a Gryffindor."

"Were they disappointed that you ended up in Hufflepuff?"

"It was certainly a surprise. They were expecting me to end up in Slytherin."

"I couldn't imagine you in Slytherin," Hermione comments. "You're like the embodiment of a Hufflepuff."

"I'll take that as a compliment," you smile softly. "I have to go meet Draco."

"You need to start studying too."

You roll your eyes. "I will at some point."

"Honestly I don't know how you pass any of your classes," She hummed.

"Do you want to go down to Hogsmeade tomorrow?" You ask as you head for the door. "You can bring Harry and Ron if you like? The more the merrier."

"If I've finished, I'd be happy to. I'll ask the boys when I see them."

"Enjoy the library."

"Have fun teaching Malfoy."

"He'll kill me if he finds out I told you, he needs help."

Leaving Hermione, you stroll to the great hall in search of Draco. He was with his normal gaggle.

"Where have you been?"

"Busy," You answer. "Now come on."

You find an empty classroom to practice in. Draco can't bear the idea that anyone may realise he's not good at something and that you actually help him out sometimes.  Especially not a Hufflepuff. Everyone knew you were friends; nobody quite understood why but you don't mind.

"So where were you earlier?" Malfoy SSL's, he's sat at a desk across from you. A cauldron between you.

"I was with Granger. She tried to con me into going the library." You chuckle. Draco's face sours as expected. "She thinks I don't study enough."

"I don't know why you hang out with her."

"Because she's nice and I enjoy her company." You reply, stirring the potion. "Which is more than can be said for you- what's next?"

"I'm nice," he argues, going over the ingredients laid out before him. "Just some wizards don't deserve any respect, she's-"

"Don't say it," you interrupt before it can slip off his tongue. "She's my best friend- don't call her that."

"I thought I was your best friend," He adds something to the potion but you're not sure what. He's following your textbook so he should be fine.

"You are- I can have more than one friend Malfoy." You assure him. "Anyway- hurry up, we can't stay locked up in here forever."

Skimming the book, Malfoy adds all his ingredients. You peer into the pot. "I didn't say rush it, it's spoiled."

He pushed it away. "This is stupid anyway."

"Just try again," you suggest, offering a smile. "You can do it."

"We're heading down to Hogsmeade tomorrow, you're free to join."

"Whose we?" He asks, taking the caldron back

"I also invited Hermione and her friends."

"I'd rather watch paint dry than hang out with potter and his friends." He bites back. "Do your parents know who you parade around this castle with?"

"No, well, other than you. They don't think I'm close with anyone." You shrug. "I don't try to hide the fact I have other friends, they just don't seem to care."

Hermione has been busy recently. You haven't seen much of her. Blah blah blah.

"Hey Granger, long time no see."

"It's only been a few days," She offers you a warm smile.

"Are you coming to my game tomorrow?" You question, grabbing a couple of strawberries.

"Game?" She questions, her brows furrow as you bite into the fruit. Nodding your head a little.

"Hufflepuff Versus Ravenclaw? I thought I told you about it." You had told her. You remember telling her.

"Right." You see her expression soften. "I'll try to make it but I kinda made plans with Ron and Harry."

You sigh softly but leave the smile on your lips. "That's alright, we can hang out after we win."

"So Confident."

"We've been practising a lot and I've gotten really good." You tease. "Speaking of which, I have a last-minute practice to get to. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow."

The day of the game comes and you're nervous. Normally you'd run to Hermione but you don't even know if she's here. But you were ready for this. You've got this. Sitting on your broom, you zoom into the air; searching the crowd. You don't spot her but maybe she's just blending with the crowd. You spotted Draco though, it was kind of hard to miss that platinum blonde hair. You're kinda surprised he would show up but despite his unfavourable qualities, he was always supportive of you.

You wake up in the hospital wing. Sore and tired.

"Good going, Hufflepuff. All you had to do was not fall off your broom and you couldn't even do that." It was Draco.

"Are you alright," Hermione speeds over followed by Harry and Ron. "I came as soon as I heard."

"Couldn't show up to the game, Mudblood-"

"Draco," you groan. "Don't."

"You show up to all of potter's games."He growls.

"Leave it," you huff, "I'm fine. Accidents happen, it's quidditch."

"I'm sorry I missed your game, did you at least win?" You glance to Draco who nods a little. "Apparently so. Hopefully next time I'll manage to stay till the end."

"Tell me the Ravenclaw that did it and I'll make sure they think twice about it next time," Draco grumbled. He was more bark than bite.

"I brought you something." She pulls out a small box and hands it over. "Had to pry it out of Ron's hands."

"Thank you," You smile softly. "Hope I get a rare card, no offence to Dumbledore but I'm sick of him."

"I am sorry I missed your game."

"It's not a big deal, Draco is just being dramatic." She places her hand over yours

"I promise I'll be at the next one."

DRACO NEXT // HERMIONE NEXT //

[engie-ivy]

The girls have a bet, the boys eavesdrop

“Merlin, Mary,” Marlene says. “You hadn’t noticed that until now? He’s been looking at Lupin like love sick puppy since third year.”

Remus eyes widen, but he doesn’t dare to turn his head to look at Sirius.

Stupid ideas and dumb bets

Boys cannot go up to the girls’ dormitory. Animals, however, have no trouble walking up those stairs, and once upstairs, his Animagii friends managed to pull Remus up as well. Which is how Remus finds himself crouched under the Invisibility Cloak with his three friends in the corner of Lily, Marlene, Mary and Emmeline’s dorm.

James had overheard Marlene tell Dorcas and Amelia that they were all to meet in their dorm that evening, to discuss dates for the upcoming Yule Ball. James had immediately decided that this was a conversation he needed to hear, as he was particularly interested in Lily’s thoughts on the matter. Remus was against the whole scheme, and had lectured his friends on breaching the girls’ privacy, but to no avail. Remus only decided to join to prevent his friends from being creepy, or at least more creepy than they’re already being. Not that Remus actually thinks his friends would do something like peek at the girls. He actually tested James. They had decided that Remus should look into the dorm first to check if all the girls were properly dressed, as Remus is as innocent and unassuming as can be, and he had said that Lily was standing in her bra. James passed his test with flying colours, as instead of immediately looking himself, he pulled Remus back and scolded him for not averting his eyes.

So now Remus is huddled under the Invisibility Cloak, where they only fit if Peter remains in his rat form, on the cold floor of Lily’s dorm besides her bed. He only refrains from complaining about his current predicament because Sirius is pressed against him so close he can feel the warmth of his body and his hair tickling his face.

In the middle of the room, Lily is sitting on her bed, knees tucked underneath her, wearing pyjamas and her hair in a messy bun on top of her head. Dorcas and Marlene are sitting on the edge of Marlene’s bed, Mary is lying upside down on a pillow on the floor, and on some other pillows scattered around, Emmeline, Hestia and Amelia are sitting.

“He’s going to ask you!” Dorcas says.

Lily brushes a hair from her face. “He wouldn’t dare.”

“Any sensible person wouldn’t, but Snivellus…”

“Don’t call him that childish nickname Potter and Black came up with.”

“He’s called you a lot worse,” Dorcas replies.

“Exactly,” Lily says. “And you don’t really think that after calling me the m-word in front of the entire school he’ll have the nerve to ask me to the Yule Ball?”

“You know what would really piss him off?” Mary says with a grin. “If you’d go to the ball with James Potter!”

Remus glances over at James, but he doesn’t look as pleased with this as Remus would expect.

Lily huffs. “I don’t care enough about Sniv- Snape to choose my date purely based on his feelings.”

“Besides,” Marlene adds. “That wouldn’t be fair to Potter. He really cares about you.”

“Potter only cares about himself,” Lily mutters.

“Lils, you know that’s not true,” Emmeline says. “He deserves more credit than that.”

Lily rolls her eyes. “You just like him because he’s the great Quidditch hero with good abs.”

Marlene leans forward with a sly smile “So you have been noticing Potter’s abs.”

Lily blushes and throws a pillow at her face. “Shut up.”

Remus sees James practically beaming. What Remus hopes he’ll learn from this is that he should show Lily his caring side more, and let her know how his feelings for her are sincere. What Remus fears he’ll learn from this is to show his abs more around Lily.

“So what’s the current status?” Dorcas asks. “We have Mary going with Peter, Emmeline going with Gideon, Marlene going with me-”

“Oh?” Marlene asks. “I don’t believe you have asked me yet?”

“Too bad, McKinnon,” Dorcas says, while pulling Marlene in and kissing her temple. “That was part of the deal when you agreed to be my girlfriend.”

Marlene chuckles. “I’m glad I don’t have to go through the trouble of getting one of those obnoxious boys as my date.”

“Who would you pick from the guys if you had to?” Hestia asks.

“Who would you pick from the girls if you had to?”

“Lily.”

“Lily.”

“Lily, for sure.”

“Yeah, Lily.”

“Aaaw, you girls!”

“Now Marlene, who would it be?”

“Sirius Black,” Marlene says. Lily rolls her eyes, but Marlene just shrugs. “If I have to, I might as well go with the fittest bloke.”

Remus can agree with her there, and is suddenly very glad for Dorcas. Next to him, Sirius has a smug smile on his face.

“You’d just do that to meddle with the bet!”

Remus frowns. The bet?

“Oh, you’d know all about meddling with the bet, won’t you, Emmeline?” Amelia says. “I heard you talk to Lupin the other day when Potter and Black entered the common room!”

Emmeline flips her hair over her shoulder. “Why, Amelia, I don’t know what you mean.”

“You kept talking about ‘how broad Black’s shoulders have become since he has started playing Quidditch’.”

“I was just making conversation.”

“You were putting ideas in his head!”

“Mia, please,” Lily says. “I hardly think Remus Lupin needs Emmeline to put the idea of Sirius Black’s broad shoulders in his head. I’m pretty sure they’re well-represented there already.”

The girls giggle, and Remus feels his cheeks burn. He feels said broad shoulders pressed against him, and the owner glance curiously at him.

“Can I still change my answer?” Mary asks. “I had no, but I was sitting across of Lupin and Black in the library, and Lupin was enthusiastic telling Black about this book he had read, and Black was looking at him so fondly!”

“Merlin, Mary,” Marlene says. “You hadn’t noticed that until now? He’s been looking at Lupin like love sick puppy since third year.”

Remus eyes widen, but he doesn’t dare to turn his head to look at Sirius.

“There’s no changing your answer based on new insights anyway.” Amelia takes a piece of parchment out of her pocket. “It stays as follows,” she says, before she starts reading out loud. “Official bets on the matter of whether Sirius Black and Remus Lupin will get their shite together in time for the Yule Ball and be each other’s date: Lily, Emmeline, Alice, Hestia: yes. Marlene, Dorcas, Mary, Amelia: no.”

Remus still can’t look at Sirius. He doesn’t know what to feel. Mortification that he’s apparently been so obvious, for sure, but also hope. Hope that maybe, just maybe, the girls are onto something and Sirius is into him as well?

“I don’t want to be pessimistic,” Marlene says. “But honestly, I think it’ll take more time for Sirius Black to get his head out of his arse. We’ll be lucky if they figure it out before next year’s ball.”

“Lupin won’t be much better,” Emmeline says. “He’s a super smart guy, but when it comes to Sirius Black, his IQ drops like twenty points. I was working on a Potions essay with him the other day, and Black was standing behind us throwing the Quaffle back and forth with Potter. I pretended like everything was fine, but he didn’t hear two-third of the questions I was asking!”

Mary chuckles. “Oh Emmeline, you can’t expect Lupin to focus on Potions when Black’s arse is in view!”

Now mortification definitely takes over.

“I can’t handle another year of this, though!” Lily groans. “Every time I’m in a room with the two of them together I wish I brought a knife to cut the sexual tension.”

“I’m surprised you’re all for it, Lily,” Dorcas says. “I know how much you like Lupin, but honestly, I thought you saw Black as an annoying, arrogant and loud prat?”

“Nah,” Lily says. “I’ve discovered there’s more to him than that long ago. And even if he acts brash half of the time, he’s so thoughtful and caring when it comes to Lupin! I’d hardly recognize him.”

“I know!” Mary gushes. “Like, normally he can’t pay attention in class for longer than five minutes, but when Remus is ill and can’t come to class, he takes notes of every word the teacher says, even during History of Magic, just in case Lupin wants to know something. And when does anyone ever wants to know anything about History of Magic?”

Remus blinks. Of course, Sirius can be very considerate, and Remus’s circumstances may make him more in need of his kindness, but it can’t have anything to do with Remus himself, right?

Suddenly, Alice bursts through the door. “Frank just asked me for the Yule Ball!” She squeals.

Immediately, the girls jump to their feet and hug her in excited exclamations of delight. In the consternation, James grabs Sirius and Remus’s arms and drags them to their feet and out of the room.

Nobody says anything until they’re back in their own dorm. Remus sits down on the edge of his bed and becomes extremely interested in the floor.

“Ehm,” James says. “I think Wormtail and I should go to… Ehm, well, not be here.”

After they’ve left, Remus hears Sirius scrape his throat. He jumps, as Sirius is standing much closer than he had expected. He looks up in Sirius’s eyes, and sees his nervousness.

“So,” Sirius says. “It seems like the girls are betting whether we’re going to the Yule Ball together?”

“So it seems indeed,” Remus replies with a nervous laugh.

Sirius runs a hand through his hair. “After McKinnon called me an arrogant twat during Quidditch practice, I’d hate to have her win the bet.”

“Do you now?” Remus asks with a smile. “You’d ask me to be your date just to spite McKinnon?”

“That,” Sirius says. “And also because I’ve allegedly been looking at you like a love sick puppy for years, and taking History of Magic notes, as it turns out, is not the best way to woo you. So what do you say?”

A happy, warm feeling spreads through Remus’s chest and he’s suddenly very glad for James and his stupid ideas and the girls and their dumb bets.

“If you don’t mind having a date whose IQ drops twenty points around you and who prioritizes ogling you over Potions essays?”

[bobohu4eva]

Pink Lace - Chapter 2

Characters: Baekhyun x Reader

Genre: College AU, stripper AU, fluff, smut, slow burn

Summary: Baekhyun, a philosophy professor with mysterious wealth, got himself completely fucked over a girl who can’t let him into her life.

Word count: 6.2k

Warnings: sex work, mentions of sexual assault, adult themes/situations, eventual smut

Tag list: @smolbeanmika @leave-me-in-the-summertime @totallynerdstuff @bbhmystar @nana-banan @kimyhappy @thegreatandi @geniusloey​ @deligxt​ 

Masterlist

“God I’m so fucking sick of this semester and it hasn’t even started yet.” You complained, lying on your roommates bed flipping through one of your textbooks for the upcoming semester.

“Relax, at least you have money and you’re smart y/n, you’ll be fine.”

“Easy for you to say, you’re an arts major, not an architecture student.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“Nothing! It’s just different!”

“Mhm sure I’d love to see you paint a landscape or sculpt something.”

You gave your best friend a dirty look before focusing your attention back to the textbook.

Mia had been your best friend since 2nd grade and she had lived with you since you were 18. She had always been the more artistic one, doing dance from a young age and taking all sorts of art classes whenever she could. Her overall view on life was quite different from yours. She saw the world through the lens of an artist, and an optimist. 

Her views on relationships were very different from yours as well, with quite the laundry list of exes, each one more thrilling than the last. You honestly loved hearing all her stories and found it impressive how well she seemed to have the dating game figured out. You on the other hand, could count the men you’d slept with on one hand, and aren’t one for parties or anything like that, preferring to stay home and study or watch a drama.

With your dislike for parties and dating apps, you stayed pretty single. Not that you minded, being too swamped with schoolwork to make time for a real boyfriend anyway. Sometimes you thought about going out to parties and trying to find yourself a hookup but you never followed through, not wanting that kind of intimacy with a stranger.

“Did you see Baekhyun again last night?” She asked casually, knowing all about your work. Although for her, asking if he was there really meant ‘are you going to buy me my lunches again this week’.

“Yeah...” You contemplated for a second if you should tell her, but you quickly decided to just say it, not wanting to keep things from your best friend. “I told him my name. Like my real name.”

Her eyes went wide, definitely surprised by your confession. “Wait seriously? Why?”

“He asked and I just couldn’t tell him no.” You replied, much quieter now.

“Well it’s your choice but that really wasn’t a good idea, he’s already way too into you and now he’s just gonna think he actually has a shot with you.”

“Yeah I know I just.. I can’t explain it but it felt different.”

“He’s just another pervy dude who wants tits in his face! There’s a reason he pays you.” 

“He’s not a perv! He’s still a guy of course, but he’s sweet.” You felt a twinge of embarrassment at how quick you were to defend him. 

“All that matters about this guy is that he gives you nearly a thousand dollars every night he sees you, right?” You nodded. “You don’t want him thinking he doesn’t have to pay you anymore do you?”

You stayed quiet, because you knew she was right. This was the nature of your relationship with Baekhyun, and straying from what you had with him now just meant opening yourself up to the possibility of losing a lot of money, money you needed.

You were kind of surprised by how opposite you and Mia seemed to be in this situation. Usually it was you talking to her about boys, telling her not to make reckless decisions.

“Yeah you’re right. I’m gonna go to bed. I have classes starting pretty early tomorrow.” You told her as you left her room for yours.

You needed to sleep, but your conversation with her left you with the same uneasy feeling you’d had after last seeing Baekhyun. The longer you stared at your ceiling, the more you felt like you did the right thing telling him your name. He really liked you and it probably made his day, and you knew he wouldn’t use it against you in any way. He was too nice for that.  What’s the worst that could happen, right?

~

The first few classes of the day had gone okay. Your physics and statics professors didn’t seem like complete assholes, and you only had one class left for the day, philosophy. Part of you was annoyed you even needed to take the class, since you wouldn’t exactly consider yourself a very “deep” person, but you figured it would be easy enough.

Being the good student you are, you decided to get there early to get a seat close to the front to make a good impression on the professor. When you arrived the previous class hadn’t finished yet, so you sat down on a bench nearby and opened a book.

“Hey, are you waiting for philosophy class too?”

You looked up to see a rather cute boy, books in hand, looking down at you with a smile on his face.

“Yeah, do I know you?”

“I’m Lucas.” He sticks his hand out for you to shake, so you do and he sits down next to you. “Are you a philosophy major?”

“No, architecture. And I’m y/n.”

“Damn you must be really smart then! I’m a business major.”

“You also just have to take this for the humanities credit?”

“Yeah, but I’m excited, the professor seems cool I met him earlier today.”

“Really? What’s he like?”

“Super cool and smart, kind of young, but like a genius.”

“Yeah well hopefully he’s nice too. Especially with grading”

Lucas laughed and you noticed the previous class leaving the lecture hall so you got up and made your way in, sitting down in the second row, Lucas sitting down next to you. The professor hadn’t showed up yet so you turned to Lucas again, making small talk to pass the time. As you talked to him you realized he was actually fairly funny, although not the smartest. You had to admit though, he was pretty damn handsome. He had to be an entire foot taller than you, with beautifully tanned skin and a smile that would make any girl weak in the knees. 

“Are you going to any parties this weekend? I’m going to one at my buddies frat Friday night if you wanna be my date.”

You frowned “Sorry, I don’t really do parties.”

You could see the disappointment on his face. “Damn really? Well if ever change your mind you can text me.” He said as he scribbled something down and slid a piece of paper with his number on it across the table to you.

You internally cringed, but took the paper anyway and give him a small thank you. You weren’t lying when you said you didn’t do parties, but you still felt bad shooting him down, especially since he was actually pretty cute. That was the problem with you and dating in college. No matter how cute a guy was, what they wanted and what you wanted rarely added up well.

You’d bought your textbook already so you decide to get back to looking through it before class started. You also just wanted an excuse to stop talking to Lucas. You got lost in the book, finding yourself surprisingly interested in different moral theories and types of ethical arguments.

“Ahem.”

You heard who you assumed to be your professor and looked up, not expecting to see Baekhyun of all people smirking back at you. Fucking smirking.

You almost choked on air when you realized who you were looking at. Not only was it Baekhyun of all people standing in front of you, but he was wearing a fitted white button down and slacks with his hair styled out of his face, and glasses abandoned on his podium. He looked hot. You felt your face getting warmer and warmer.

“Hey you ok?” Lucas asked, having seen your reaction to Professor Byun.

“What? Yeah I’m totally fine why wouldn’t I be?” You responded, too loudly. Loudly enough that Baekhyun noticed. And laughed.

“Do you guys know each other or something?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” You told him while giving Baekhyun your best version of a death stare, but he didn’t seem to care.

“Hello everyone I’m Mr. Byun, I’ll be your philosophies of life professor.” He said, starting the lecture with a fairly neutral look on his face, although you noticed him looking in your direction often, and smiling.

You had to admit, he was smart. Not that you were particularly surprised, he seemed fairly intelligent from the conversations you’d had with him at work, but granted those weren’t always the most intellectual conversations either. The way he explained what you had read in the book was both interesting and informative, but you couldn’t focus on him talk about Socrates when just two days earlier you had been grinding on him, and had even let him touch you. Especially when he looked like that now. Your whole body felt hot and you knew you were probably as red as a tomato. 

You tried your best to focus on what he was saying for the sake of your grade, but he wasn’t making it easier by the way he kept looking in your direction with that smile on his face. Now, often looking you directly in the eyes with the same intensity from the club. Only this time, while sounding incredibly, frustratingly, smart.

As much as you tried, you couldn’t focus. Not when you had to process the fact that Baekhyun was now your college professor, and knew way more about you and your life than you ever wanted him to. You were hit with the realization that he now also knew you’d lied to him about nearly everything.

You became painfully aware of how you looked compared to him. While he looked exquisite in his business-casual attire, you had barely rolled out of bed in time to throw your hair up in a messy top knot and apply some mascara. Your hoodie and leggings combo wasn’t your best either, and you started feeling more and more embarrassed by the second.

Every other time Baekhyun had seen you, you had been dressed in expensive lingerie with your hair and makeup done perfectly. You had always been the one in control of the situation. Now, you only felt small and underdressed.

After what felt like hours he finally ended the lecture. But he wasn’t done yet, not with you at least. And you could tell by the way he was staring at you, smile now gone and replaced with a much more serious  expression. As soon as he dismissed everyone to leave, you frantically started shoving your things in your bag, trying to get out of the room as quickly as possible but your hands were shaking so badly that you ended up fumbling and dropping most of what you’d been holding.

“Shit, shit, shit” you whispered to yourself as you desperately reached for your belongings, feeling Baekhyun’s eyes on you, but it was too late and right after you saw the last student leave the lecture hall, you heard your name.

“Y/n come here.”

Not really having the option to say no, you walked up to him, trying to look as annoyed as possible.

“You look cute like this, without the heels and everything. I like it.” He said, now smiling down at you. Despite the mocking feeling of the statement, his face was soft now, the smug smirk from earlier gone.

Baekhyun was absolutely thrilled. The girl he usually looked forward to seeing all week long was right in front of him now, within reach. And he’d get to you see you much more now as well. He had to keep himself from looking too happy since he knew you weren’t in nearly as good a mood as him.  

You’d never wanted to disappear as badly as you did in that moment. Here, Baekhyun was the one with all the power, and you despised it. He was the one all dressed up and making all the rules. You felt small and embarrassed, having little choice but to listen to whatever it is was he had to say to you. You hated the feeling.

“What do you want?”

“You lied to me.” His face didn’t look angry at all, just blank, void of any emotion.

“Why are you making me do this can I please just leave?” You asked, hoping he’d have some sympathy but you have no such luck.

No answer

“Baekhyun, please. Just let me go home and switch into a different section.” You look at him with pleading eyes, wanting this nightmare to be over.

His face hardened, now slightly annoyed.

“Professor Byun, and I’m afraid you’re stuck with me y/n. I’m the only one teaching this class this semester.”

“Well, fuck” You muttered, looking down at the floor. 

“Is that how you speak to your professors?” 

Your head snapped back up, and you narrowed your eyes at him.

“You know, y/n, I’m not mad that you lied to me. I should’ve assumed as much. After you told me your name and I saw it on the attendance sheet I had been hoping you’d been lying.” He still looked annoyed, but his face had softened a bit. 

“Oh fuck off Baekhyun”

Immediately his expression went sour again, jaw clenched and brown furrowed.

“Here it’s Mr. Byun. And don’t use that language with me again, I’m serious.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“What do you mean? I didn’t know you’d be here. It was just yesterday that I even realized your name was on my roll sheet.” 

He had a point. He couldn’t have planned this, you’d signed up for the class months ago and he didn’t even know your name until two nights ago.

“Why aren’t you freaking out then? Shouldn’t you be worried about having me in your class?”

He only let out a chuckle.

“Why would I be worried? As far as I’m concerned this only means I get to see you more often, which I’m fine with. And you need to pass this class to graduate on time, so shouldn’t you be glad you’re already friends with your professor?”

You knew it wasn’t what he intended, but the smile on his face felt like it was mocking you.

“Yeah. Friends.” You scoffed. “Can I go home now?”

“So this is your last class of the day?”

You internally cursed yourself for giving up that bit of information.

“Yeah. Now can I leave?”

“Well you’re not in a hurry are you? Since you don’t have anywhere to be after this.”

“Baekhyuuun” you whined “please, this sucks, just let me go home.”

He smiled, seemingly amused by you begging him.

“Okay. I’m not gonna make you stay any longer since you obviously don’t want to. But let me make it clear, I’m not gonna go easy on you here just because I like you. You still have to try.”

“Okay, that’s fine.” You reply, picking your bag up to leave, wondering what exactly he meant by like you. 

“I’m really looking forward to reading your essays by the way.”

He flashed you a smile as you finally turned to leave, and you hated yourself for not doing a better job at looking mad. As much as you hated to admit it, he had a damn beautiful smile.

“See you on Wednesday!” He shouted after you as you left the room. You didn’t respond.

When you arrived back at your apartment your mind started to fill with panicked thoughts. He wouldn’t come to the club anymore now would he? That meant having to try to mingle with strangers again, something you hated about your work. It also meant less money. It’s not often that customers bought hour long dances.

And what if he did show up again? How would you even act around him? Part of you wanted him to for the easy money, but you just couldn’t imagine grinding on your professor. Your face heated up just at the thought, especially since you knew he could look that good now. Would you even be able to give him a lap dance without losing your own mind?

You had trouble processing the fact that this was even able to happen. You’d  never thought to ask Baekhyun for his last name, and since it had been summer break he didn’t mention his job. The whole situation seemed bizarre. 

And what about class? Will he make it more difficult if he doesn’t get what he wants? 

No. Baekhyun isn’t like that, you tell yourself. As much as you disliked having him in a position of power over you, you’d gotten to know him well enough to know that he wouldn’t abuse it.

The more you’d gotten to know him the more you liked spending time with him rather than other customers, regardless of the money. And for good reason. The longer you knew Baekhyun, the more you realized he wasn’t like the other guys who came to the club. You could tell he was good, decent guy.

He was always there to see you, and only you. You had several other regulars, but none of them had any qualms about talking to and getting dances from other girls. Not that you minded, but you’d never seen Baekhyun even speak to another dancer.

He’s also just nice. The kind of nice that you don’t see in people often anymore. He was always incredibly respectful and would never do anything you weren’t comfortable with. Very few of the guys you came in contact with cared at all if they made you uncomfortable. They’d just assume that’s a part of the job for you.

Baekhyun was actually interesting to talk to as well. Since you’d met him at the beginning of summer, he usually told you about adventures he went on with his friends, most of whom you knew from the night they’d dragged him into the club.

They were a genuinely cool group of people. The one he was closest with, Chanyeol, was a music producer, another named Kyungsoo was an up and coming actor, and the one who’d introduced himself as Jongin was a professional dancer. Chanyeol had been the one to come with the idea of taking Baekhyun to the club in the first place. 

Baekhyun would tell you anecdotes from nights out he’d had with them during college, as well as other wild stories and you’d often find yourself laughing and smiling so hard your face hurt. Ever since your first night with him, you noticed how good he was at making the people around him feel at ease. He always knew what to say and when to make people laugh. 

Baekhyun was different from the other men at work because you liked being around him. You’d be lying to yourself if you said you didn’t find him attractive either. If you’d met him anywhere else, and he wasn’t your professor, you’d probably be more than willing to go on a date with him. 

But unfortunately that wasn’t the case.

You tore yourself out of your thoughts and realized how late it had gotten. Although it was only the first day, you already had homework you needed to start on. You spent the rest of the evening trying to be productive, but you couldn’t stop thinking about Baekhyun. How good he had looked, how attractive he sounded giving the lecture, how he wouldn’t stop looking at you. 

He was going to be much more present in your life now, whether you liked it or not.

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

Wednesday morning Baekhyun felt stupid for how excited he was to see you. He’d decided to get up early to work some exercise into his day, and hopefully clear his mind, but even as he took a shower and started getting ready to leave for work, he couldn’t get you out of his head. He’d decided to wear something a bit more casual and stylish, opting for a new pair of glasses, striped red t shirt, and cream slacks. He tried to make other excuses for why he wanted to look nice but in the back of his mind, he knew he wore it because he wanted to look good in front of you.

During the class before yours he noticed a female student in the first row chewing on the back of her pencil as she very intentionally leaned over her desk to grab a pen, putting her cleavage on display to him.

He only rolled his eyes, but he was pleased to see that his outfit was getting good reactions. He just hoped you’d like it.

When the class before yours left, Baekhyun felt his heart rate go up. What if you’d found a way to get out of his class? Would you even show up? Or if you did, would you just end up sitting as far from him as possible?

Usually he’d leave to go get a coffee during his break between giving lectures, but today he stayed in case you came early again. As the minutes went by students started to fill the lecture hall. Baekhyun couldn’t help but keep his eyes fixed on the door every time he heard it open, but he just kept seeing everyone but you. 

A minute before class started, you walked in and sat down in the second to last row.

Baekhyun felt his face light up as soon as saw you, only to immediately turn into a frown when he saw where you chose to sit down. It was as he’d suspected, you wanted to be as far away from his as possible. But at least you were there.

As Baekhyun started the lecture, he couldn’t help looking in your direction every few seconds. Even though you were in casual clothes without any fancy hairstyle or makeup, this was the version of you Baekhyun loved seeing the most. He was used to the perfected product you presented yourself as at your job, and he knew that wasn’t the real you. This was. You in leggings and a t shirt, your hair messily falling over your shoulders as you scribbled down notes. He could watch you like this all day. He noticed how your brows would furrow in confusion whenever he’d bring up a new concept, and how you chewed on your bottom lip when you were concentrating. Ever since he’d seen you like this on Monday, he couldn’t get enough. It was you, the real you.

He also noticed how you seemed to look everywhere in the room except for at him. You spent as much time as possible with your head down taking notes, even when there wasn’t much to write down. Other times your eyes would stay glued to the power point slides, or wander around the walls and ceilings. He understood why you weren’t exactly comfortable looking at him.

Despite being on the other side of the room, he was still able to pick up on little things. He noticed your leg bouncing, fingers tapping on the desk, and how much you would fidget when you weren’t writing notes.

He knew you were uncomfortable, and he hated it. He hated himself for being the reason. He wished there was something he could do or say that would make you enjoy being in his class more. Anything that would make you feel more at ease with him in this situation. If he wasn’t the only one teaching the class he wouldn’t have minded if you’d switched to a different professor, if it meant you were more comfortable. Of course he would’ve missed seeing you, but he also knew that was a selfish thought. He felt guilty that you had to be there and be uncomfortable because of him.

At the end of the lecture he gave the class their first proper assignment, a short essay analyzing Plato's “The Ring of Gyges”. It was an assignment he always gave at the very beginning of the semester, since it was a quite difficult read and gave him a good idea of how everyone would do in the class.

He was especially excited to see how you would do.

When class ended, you were the first one to leave and this time he didn’t stop you. He knew you wanted to leave and didn’t want to bother you again, still feeling slightly sorry for how late he’d kept you the first day. He’d only done it to try to reassure you about having him as your professor, but he hadn’t been expecting you to be as distressed about it as you were. In hindsight he realized he’d probably only made things more stressful for you.

Once the room was empty aside from him he packed up his things and left as well, hoping that you could become less anxious over time, and eventually, maybe even enjoy being in his class.

For now though, class had not been something for you to look forward to at all. You’d been dreading it ever since Monday afternoon.

That morning as you were getting ready, you tried to make yourself look a bit more presentable than you’d looked Monday, not wanting to live through the embarrassment of seeing Baekhyun look so nice while you were basically wearing pajamas again.

For the first half of your day you threw yourself into your other class work, successfully taking him off your mind for a while, but when your physics class ended and your next class was with him you felt yourself starting to panic.

You thought about skipping class, but you cared too much about your grade. You decided your best choice was to just get there as late as possible and sit as close to the door as you could so he wouldn’t be able to get you to stay after class again.

As you walked across campus you felt yourself get more and more nervous. Despite being there 20 minutes early and the room being open to sit down in, you sat down outside. As the minutes drew closer to class starting you felt your heart start to race and had trouble controlling your breathing. One minute before class was to start you got up, walked over to the door, and took a few deep breaths to calm yourself down a bit. You pushed open the door with shaky hands, and the second you could see into the room you notice Baekhyun's eyes on you, and his beautiful smile. You quickly looked down and hurried to the closest available seat in the back of the room, cringing at yourself.

As much as you wished you could, you couldn’t just ignore Baekhyun. He was the professor, you had to listen to him. But you had a hard time doing anything when he looked like he did. His shirt showed off his broad shoulders and he was wearing different glasses now too. He looked even better than he had on Monday. Had it not been for you already knowing him, you probably would’ve found him distracting for different reasons. You did everything you could not to look at him directly, knowing he’d catch you and see you blush. But who wouldn’t blush if he was staring at them while looking like that? You could tell some of the other girls in the class liked his outfit as well by the way they whispered to each other while shooting glances his way.

You wondered if maybe this was something he did often, if he liked starting things with students. If maybe his whole nice guy persona was fake and he really was just another scumbag.

But you soon realized that was just the bitterness speaking. You wouldn’t admit it to yourself but the thought of other girls trying to seduce him was bothering you. Baekhyun wasn’t a scumbag, not when he’d dedicated his life to teaching people about ethical issues and moral arguments.

As the class went on you couldn’t help but fidget and shift around in your seat. Even though you were avoiding looking at him, you knew his eyes were on you for much of the lecture. You’d figured it would be like this.

As it got closer and closer to the end of class you felt yourself get more and more panicked at the thought of him keeping you after again. You didn’t know what he could possibly keep you after for, but you didn’t want to stick around and find out, so as soon as he dismissed the class you nearly ran out without looking back.

“Hey, y/n!”

The sound of your name nearly gave you a heart attack, thinking it was Baekhyun who was going to force you to talk to him like this again but when you saw Lucas waving at you, you let out a relieved sigh.

“Hi Lucas.”

“I thought you’d come sit by me again today what happened?” He asked.

“Sorry about that, I was almost late today so I didn’t want to walk out there in front of the whole class” you said, hoping he wouldn’t see through your lie.

“Well I hope next time you’ll sit with me again.”

You managed to give him a small smile and nod, still a bit too frazzled over everything to want to talk to him.

“I have to get home, but I’ll se you Friday. Bye Lucas.” You waved at him as you went in the opposite direction.

You felt bad for not talking to him any longer, but you just weren’t in the right headspace.

On your walk home you felt weird. Had it really been that bad? Or were you just overreacting? Although he did look at you a lot Baekhyun seemed to teach the class as if everything was normal, more or less unaffected by your presence. He hadn’t seemed to mind your leaving either. Maybe he’d hadn’t planned to make you stay again. Maybe, it seemed, he was going to leave you be.

You knew Lucas would bother you about it if you didn’t sit with him again next time, but would you be okay to sit that close to the front again? Or even worse what if Lucas caught on that there was something going on between you and Baekhyun? He’d already seemed suspicious on the first day.

You decided your best course of action was to just do it and tough it out. All you needed to do was act like you did in all your other classes and everything would be fine right?

First however, you had to go home and face your roommate and tell her about this nightmare, having bottled it up until now. You weren’t exactly sure why you hadn’t told her right away. Maybe you felt strange about it since she had already told you you needed to keep him from getting any closer to you. Obviously that wasn’t going to be easy now.

As soon as you got home and put your things away you knocked on her door.

“YEAH?” You heard her yell through the door.

“Can I come in?”

“One second!”

A little while later the door opened.

“What’s up?”

“Can we have a girls night? I have some shit I need to tell you.”

You couldn’t remember the last time you saw Mia look so excited.

“You?? Have tea for ME??? Fuck yes!”

You thought about it, and this was pretty rare. 90% of the time she was the one unloading her boy problems on you, or any other kind of drama too for that matter. Not that you minded, that was just the dynamic you had gotten used to.

“Wanna order some food and put on a movie?” You asked.

“Sure.”

Your food eventually arrived and you put on a chick flick you’ve both seen a thousand times.

“So?? Are you gonna tell me what’s going on or what?” She asked turning to you, obviously looking forward to whatever you were about to fill her in on.

You sighed.

“So my philosophy professor this semester...” You swallowed, now having trouble getting yourself to say it.

“I know this sounds fucking insane but, Baekhyun’s my philosophy professor.”

The look on her face told you everything you need to know. The two of you had known each other for so long that words weren’t needed.

“I don’t know how it happened either. I signed up for the class forever ago anyway, before I even met him at the club. Just a bizarre coincidence. And he’s the only one teaching it and I need the credit to graduate so I'm stuck.”

“Shit dude.”

“Yeah I know. He kept me after class Monday and it was a fucking nightmare.”

“What did he say?”

“Basically just that I’m stuck with him. He also called me out for lying about what university I go to at work. And he said he liked me better ‘like this’ whatever the hell that means”

“He’s like obsessed with you isn’t he? He’s probably over the moon that he has a way into your personal life now which really fucking sucks for you.” She had a point. “Do you think he’ll still come see you at work?”

“I honestly really don’t wanna think about that right now.”

“Be careful, y/n. A customer having a crush on you is one thing but having him in charge of your grade is another. What if he starts trying to make moves on you and you shoot him down? He could fuck up your GPA just to get back at you or something.”

“No.” You responded, perhaps a bit too quickly. “No, Baekhyun isn’t like that. He’s not a bad guy, and I don’t think he’ll try anything anyway.”

“Really?”

“I’m not sure of course but he’s also a lot older than us and this is his job, I can’t see him risking his livelihood just for me.”

“He’s a college professor who’s giving you a thousand dollars a week, how does he even have that kind of money anyway? No way he gets paid enough as a professor to be giving you that much. He either has some other source of income or you’re already making him broke.”

You felt stupid for not having considered that yet. How the hell was he giving you so much? She was right, unless he was secretly rich or something there was no way he could afford to give you so much money every week without fucking himself over. Your stomach started to churn with the idea of him possibly even putting himself in debt just for your Saturday nights together. He couldn’t be that stupid right?

She could tell how much the conversation was stressing you out at that point.

“Listen,” she said, grabbing your hand “you just need to get through the semester. You can handle 16 weeks, class with him will get less awkward, and hopefully he’s at least smart enough not to come see you at work anymore now.”

The thought of him not coming anymore wasn’t a good one either though. You made much more money when he was there, and in under 2 hours. Staying at the club until 3am with school going on now, only to take home less money wasn’t really a good option either.

“I don’t wanna see him there but I need his money.”

“You’ll find some other guy who’s rich and in love with you soon enough, don’t worry, it’ll all be fine.” She said, pulling you in for a hug.

“Yeah..”

You knew she was just trying to make you feel better, but realistically you weren’t going to find another guy like Baekhyun at work, Even if someone came along who gave you as much money as he did, they wouldn’t be as fun to talk to, or as respectful as him. Guys like that just don’t come to strip clubs. You still didn’t even fully understand why he did.

“Just think of him as another one of your professors. It might be tough at first, but I think if you can do that you’ll be okay.” 

“You’re right, I just need to get my shit together and not let him distract me.” 

“See? Of course I’m right.” She grinned, and you couldn’t help but smile back. 

Eventually the movie ended, and by then it was late enough for the two of you to get ready for bed.

Talking to your best friend about it had made you feel slightly better. At least whatever happened, she would be there for you to talk it out with. Baekhyun wasn’t a bad person or anything either, it was just the situation that was stressing you out. As long as you could get ahold of yourself enough to focus on his lectures and do well in the class, you’d be fine. 

You kept reassuring yourself as you closed your eyes, and for the first night that week you didn’t stare at your ceiling for hours worrying, you went right to sleep.

Next Chapter

[arvinsescape]

Bracelets, Amortentia and the Patronus

A/N: Did i combine my love of Tom Holland and Harry Potter? Of course.

Summary: The Gryffindor boy is in love with the Hufflepuff girl. She comes to some realisations with the help of these three things.

Warnings: None.

W/C: 3.4K

You’d been paired in classes with the Gryffindor boy for years, he became one of your best friends throughout your time at Hogwarts. He wrote to you over summer and even sent you gifts when he’d been abroad, the last gift he’d sent you before sixth year started was a bracelet, it was possibly the most beautiful and ‘you’ gift you’d ever received. It wasn’t too flashy but it was enough to catch people’s eye and pull a comment about how lovely it is.

“He loves you.” Ellie said as you made your way to the Hufflepuff common room.

“Well he is my best friend so I’d hope so.” You laughed.

“No, I mean he’s in love with you.” She teased and you snorted.

“No he isn’t. I’m sure he has his eye on a Gryffindor girl, you know one that can match his talents.”

“I don’t think so. You know they say Gryffindor’s and Hufflepuff’s make the best life partners.” She shrugged as you arrived and sat down on one of the couch’s.

“I don’t think he sees me that way.” You said.

“Look at that bracelet he sent you! You are not gonna convince me that Tom Holland is not in love with you and the way he looks at you all the time.” She said as you shook your head with a small smile. “Do you like him? And not just as a best friend.” She asked and you bit your lip. Did you?

He was always the guy you sought out when things went wrong. You practically had all the same classes together. You helped him with the book smart lessons and he helped you with the mostly spell based lessons, there is no way you’d be passing defence against the dark arts without him. You studied late together and most people assumed you already were a couple. He made you laugh and he knew what to do to comfort you when you were sad.

“I don’t know.” You answered honestly after a long moment.

“You’ll probably find out in potions this year or maybe even defence against the dark arts.” She said and you furrowed your brows.

“What do you mean?” You asked confused.

“Well we’re learning the Patronus spell this year and you know, apparently it takes the shape of your favourite animal at first but it can change if you’re in love someone, so you know, his will probably be the same as yours after he’s seen it.” She said and you shook your head. “Then potions we’re making amortentia potion, the love potion, smells like whoever you’re in love with.” She shrugged.

“First of all that potion actually only smells like the things you’re attracted to, that’s what my mum and dad told me. Secondly, maybe we have the same favourite animal, so how would that prove anything?” You laughed and she smirked.

“We shall see.” She teased. “He’s in love with you and I don’t know why you deny it. It’s so obvious, ask anyone.” She laughed.

“I think you read too much into things.” You laughed. “Come on, we should probably go to the feast, see how many new kids we get in our house this year.” You said as you made your way out of the common room.

The Great Hall never ceased to amaze you, it was huge, then again it was made to fit hundreds of people in all at once. The banners were neutral again, when you’d left before summer they held the scarlet and gold colours of Gryffindor after having won the house cup for the second year in a row. Just before you could take your seat you heard your name being called by that oh so familiar Gryffindor.

“Hey!” He said as he engulfed you in a hug, to which you happily returned, burying your heads in each other’s necks.

“Tom! I missed you.” You laughed as he squeezed you tight against him.

“I missed you too, so much.” He said as he let go, you glanced at Ellie for a second who was biting back a smirk. He glanced down at your wrist and saw the bracelet there and he grinned. “Did you like it? I saw it and thought of you.”

“I love it! Thank you so much. Although I feel bad, I didn’t get you anything.” You laughed and he waved you off.

“I’m just glad you like it. I was worried you wouldn’t.” He said and you could have sworn you saw a tint of red cover his cheeks. Dam Ellie, she was making you think too much into it.

“I love it Tom. It’s an amazing gift.” You said as you hugged him again.

“Brilliant, I should get back, they’re about to bring in the first years, see you in potions?” He said as he pulled you into one last hug before walking away. You sat down next to Ellie who had the biggest grin on her face you’d ever seen.

“You know to say you’re as book smart as you are you’re very clueless.” She smirked.

“Shut up.” You playfully glared at her as the first years made their way into the hall. They all looked the same, awestruck and nervous all at the same time. It was a look you were all used to seeing after six years here. The feast was brilliant, as always and you gained ten new first years who all had the usual look of relief that they weren’t put into Slytherin.

“You should ask him to that dance the six years hold at Christmas.” Ellie said as you were getting into bed.

“No.” You said hoping to stop the conversation.

“Nah, who am I kidding, he’ll ask you.” She laughed and you threw a pillow at her.

“If he does, it will be as friends, like he did the yule ball.” You quipped.

“Oh yes, the night everybody realised he was in love with you. You made a lot of girls jealous that night. The way he held you, looked at you, fawned all over you, need I go on?” She teased.

“Ellie, seriously. I love you but please stop.” You huffed as you turned over in bed and she laughed before doing the same. Was he in love with you? You doubted it, he could do far better than you, he could have any girl he wanted so why would he pick you? He’s always been attentive sure but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s in love with you.

Do you love him? You’re not sure, you’ve always found him attractive and of course when you’d first met him you had a crush on him. He was funny, kind, brave and you admired everything about him and maybe that admiration had been a mask for how you truly feel about him. Whenever you were separated over the summer you’d miss him, it would always feel like you had a hole in your chest, you missed him far more than you did anyone else at the school.

You huffed as you turned onto your back, running your hands down your face. You needed to sleep, you could figure this out later and so you tried your best to fall asleep but your thoughts were consumed by the brown haired, brown eyed Gryffindor boy.

“Tom, do not add that yet.” You almost shouted as you watched him move to put an ingredient into the cauldron.

“But it says here that you add this next.” He said gesturing to his book.

“Yes, but look, you need to stir it first.” You laughed.

“What difference will that make?” He huffed. “Come on I wanna finish it.” He groaned.

“You need patience Tom.” You teased.

“Of course the Hufflepuff would suggest more patience.” He laughed.

“Hey, I’m also loyal and hard working. There’s more to us Hufflepuff’s than patience you know.”  You huffed as you stirred the cauldron and he laughed again as he playfully punched your arm. “Do that again and you’ll see how little patience a Hufflepuff can have.” You teasingly glared.

“You love me.” He smirked.

“Do I?” You teased as he feigned offence. You added the ingredient Tom had tried to and watched as the potion changed colour.

“Okay, just need to stir it again and then add the last ingredient.” You said as you stirred the cauldron. Meanwhile a Gryffindor girl had finished her potion with her partner and was asking Professor Slughorn to look at it.

“Very well done, now give it a sniff and tell me what you smell.” Slughorn said and she did. She took a sniff and then looked at Tom.

“It smells like you Tom.” She battered her eyelashes at him and you laughed, he was about to hear that more than once in this class.

“Erm, thanks, I guess.” Tom awkwardly said you added the last ingredient and stirred it in.

“What does yours smell like? Tell me it’s me.” She said as she watched in anticipation. You found yourself wishing that it would smell completely the opposite to her, a small feeling of jealousy taking over but you quickly tried to dismiss it.

“No, sorry.” He exhaled and she huffed turning back to her partner as he leant in to whisper in your ear. “Do you actually think it smelt like me?” He asked and you laughed.

“I don’t know but a lot of girls are gonna tell you that today so I’d get used to it.” You said and he groaned as you took your own sniff of the potion. Instantly you smelt almost everything you’d associate with Tom. You were taken aback, maybe it was a coincidence? You smelt coconut similar to what he uses to wash his hair and the familiar scent of his cologne. Loads of people use those two things, perhaps you just found the scents attractive.

“Well?” Tom asked, pulling you from your thoughts and you panicked abit.

“You first?” You said and he shrugged.

“Mine smells exactly as I thought it would.” He laughed and you felt your stomach sink slightly, so he was in love? Or at least attracted to someone and you couldn’t know for sure if it was you.

“Mine did but didn’t.” You shrugged.

“Come on give me a hint. Give me one scent you got.”

“Coconuts.” That seemed like the safest bet. “What about you? Give me one”

“Strawberry and mint.” He said.

“That’s two.” You snorted.

“Yeah well they go hand in hand.” He said. You were dismissed after that and made your way into the hall for lunch, ultimately meaning you had to separate. Ellie was there when you sat down.

“So, what did you smell?” She asked straight away.

“Tom.” You sighed and she squealed, practically clapping her hands together as you shot her a glare. “Maybe I just find those scents attractive you know.” You sighed.

“Oh come on Y/N. You are in love with him or at the very least attracted to him. What did he smell?” She asked.

“Strawberry and mint. That was all he gave me but he said it smelt exactly how he thought he would, if he did like me do you not think he’d have told me? Also I’m not sure why I’d smell like strawberry and mint.” You said and Ellie shot you a knowing look and you furrowed your brows.

“First off, maybe he’s trying to decide if you like him before he ruins a six year friendship and secondly what was the one thing you said you needed to do as soon as we could get to Hogsmeade?”

“What? I forgot my shampoo so I need more.” You were utterly confused now.

“So you’ve been using mine which just so happens to be that particular scent.” She grinned.

“But it’s not my natural scent so why would he smell that? Surely he’d smell the shampoo I use all the time. Maybe it’s you?” You said and she laughed out loud at that, drawing a few funny looks from other students.

“It’s not me, trust me. I don’t think I’ve said ten words to the guy since we started and if he’s in love with you, that potion will smell like whatever you do on that day.” She reasoned.

“Maybe. But what do I do? What if you’re wrong?”

“Listen Y/N. if there is one thing every house in this school can agree on it’s that Tom Holland is in love with you. I’m pretty sure you’re in love with him too, you just won’t admit it to yourself.”

You’d thought about what she said for a long time and by Christmas you’d come to the conclusion that yeah, she’s right, you are in love with him but you’re not sure he’s in love with you. Defence against the dark arts had been interesting because he’d cast his Patronus first and you watched a lovely dog burst from his wand. You’d done yours, after much guidance from your best friend and out shot a tiger. When you’d been asked to do it again, Tom miraculously started to struggle which makes no sense because he it was his best subject.

“They can’t change that fast can they?” You asked Ellie.

“I don’t know but he probably didn’t wanna risk it. How would he explain that? If it came out the same as yours that shows a truly deep connection and love.” She reasoned.

“But what if mine came out a dog when I did mine for a second time?” You said and she sighed.

“And you did and it didn’t come out a dog did it? He probably got nervous.” She reasoned. “Y/N, maybe you just need to approach this one.” She laughed and you nodded.

“Yeah maybe you’re right.”

You made your way up to the owlery, wrapped up for the cold weather to send a letter home when you bumped into him again. He was all wrapped up to, he looked adorable with his cold rosy cheeks.

“Hey Y/N, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.” He said and you felt your heart rate pick up in excitement.

“Sure.”

“Will you go to that Christmas party thing with me?” He asked and he seemed nervous as you grinned at him.

“Of course.” You smiled.

“Great. As friends.” He said and your heart sunk. Maybe everyone was wrong.

“Sure, yeah. Of course. I need to head back to the common room, I have a lot of homework before Christmas break.” You said.

“About that, are you staying here for Christmas again?”

“Yeah, I always do.”

“Me too.” He grinned and you returned it. Usually he’d go back home but maybe something came up this year. You said your goodbyes as you made your way back to the common room and you felt the tears.

After that you’d carried on as normal. It was quite easy to act natural with him because you’d been doing it for months and when the party came round, the night before everyone went back for Christmas you were excited to spend the evening having fun with him, you’d both been busy with homework. You made your way out of the common room and there was Tom as he said he would be.

“You look beautiful.” He said as he held his arm out for you and you placed yours through his as you made your way towards the party.

“Thank you, you look pretty good yourself.” You said as you took in his appearance. He had a lovely suit on.

“Look, I’ve got a different idea for tonight. I have something planned elsewhere.” He said and you looked at him confused.

“What, you’re throwing a party of your own. Lets go.” You said excitedly as you followed him. He was heading up to the astronomy tower and he sat down on the top step as you sat next to him. “This doesn’t look like a very good party.” You teased and he sighed.

“Can I talk to you?” He said seriously.

“Of course, Tom anything.” You replied quickly and he sighed again.

“Okay, so I’m in love with someone, like a lot, I have been for a while now, like an embarrassingly long time and I’m not sure she feels the same.” He said and your heart beat picked up with nerves because he was probably going to tell you who he was in love with.

“Maybe you should just tell her?” You suggested.

“I’ve tried, hell I’ve tried three times since we got back but I just get nervous because if she doesn’t feel the same it’ll ruin everything.” He ran his hands through his hair.

“I’m sure she will Tom, you’re an amazing guy. Maybe if you can’t tell her, show her.” You suggested as you placed a comforting hand on his bicep.

“Show her? I suppose I can think of one thing.” He sighed as he stood up and you looks at him in confusion. “Wait, I don’t know if I can.” He sighed again.

“Tom, you can. Trust me, just go and show her. Come on you’re a Gryffindor, bravery is your thing.” You teased. You felt utterly crushed that he’s just confirmed he’s in love with someone but you needed to be supportive as his best friend. He took a deep breath as he looked at you and muttered a spell you didn’t quite catch and as you watched him your heart nearly burst out of your chest.

From the end of his wand shot out a white animal and it definitely wasn’t a dog. It was a tiger, a complete copy of your own. You watched as it ran around the room for a while before disappearing. You felt tears of relief making their way down your face, he was in love with you. Your heart was beating insanely fast as you turned to look at him to find him already looking at you.

“But, when you asked me here tonight you said it was just as friends?” You said.

“It was supposed to be more of a question. I wanted to see if you’d bring it up first, you’ve not given me much to go on.” He let out a light laugh. “I’m sorry if this makes you uncomfortable.” He said.

“It doesn’t, I’m in love with you too.” You said and he let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank God for that. I was worried you wouldn’t. All I had to go on was coconuts and I can name at least six boys in my dorm room that use that scent in different things.” He said as he sat next to you again. “I was so nervous to do my Patronus again in front of you.” He said.

“Did it change straight away?” you asked.

“No, it took a month or so, I kept trying on my own. Looked kinda weird for a few weeks.” He laughed as you joined him. “I wanted to tell you in potions that it smelt like you but I got nervous.” He said as you rested your head on his shoulder and he rested his head on top of yours.

“You know, it wasn’t until potions I realised I was in love with you.” You admitted. “I don’t know why my Patronus has stayed the same.”

“Me neither, magic might be great but it doesn’t always make sense. You know I was hoping you’d mention something about the bracelet, I was hoping you’d figure it out.”

“Ellie did, she told me that you were but I didn’t believe her until just now.” You laughed.

“I love you.” He said as he moved his head and put his hand under your chin turning you to face him. His eyes flicked between your own and your lips.

“I love you too.” You whispered as he leaned closer to you, you doing the same.

“Can I kiss you?” He whispered as his lips were inches from yours and you nodded as he grinned and connected your lips. It felt amazing to finally kiss him, it was sweet and innocent but so full of love. He pulled away eventually, grinning.

“Wanna go that party?” You asked and he shook his head.

“Maybe later but for right now I just wanna kiss you for a bit.” He grinned and you laughed as you brought his lips back to your own.

[lovely-ateez]

Favorite Place~

ꕥPosted: 3/8/21

ꕥGenre: College!au, Angst, Fluff

ꕥPairing: FemReader! x Emo!Hongjoong

ꕥWord Count: ~4.8k

ꕥWarnings: General angst (happy ending), Unknown man being creepy to reader, Characters insulting reader behind her back, Alcohol intake, Driving with a few sips of alcohol (please don’t drink and drive), Implied violence, Language, Oral (f recieving), Unprotected sex, Corruption kink, Language

ꕥA/N: Reader is a girly-girl bc we need more rep that isn’t hella negative and to actually be portrayed as smart and hardworking for once 😤 You👏can👏be👏both👏 ANyWay—thank you for bearing with me while I wrote this

I ran my hands along the open science textbook laying upon my desk, eyes scanning rapidly over the information. The pages were thin and flimsy, clearly showing the book’s age. If I wasn’t careful, the pages would rip with ease. Not that I had time to actually think about that.

In less than five minutes I, along with the twenty five other poor souls who took this class of their own volition, would be handed our last final for the class. A hundred and ten questions in an hour and thirty minutes.

The class was basically academic suicide and had I been told that, I would have stayed far, far away from the class. But no. No one bothered to run that by me.

A whiff of familiar cologne filled my nose and against my better judgement I looked up to find the class genius, Hongjoong Kim. It was bad enough that he was smart as a whip and never needed to study, but on top of it all he was a dangerous, handsome, irresistible bad boy.

He gave me a wink, a sly smile resting on his lips. I gave him the same reaction I always did: a blank face. There had been multiple times he had tried to rile me up, whether that be say something flirty or wink, or “accidentally” touch my shoulder, and I refused to give him the satisfaction of any reaction. I would keep a blank face, hoping that he would leave me alone.

I wasn’t immune to his charms. I felt butterflies in my stomach every time he looked at me just like any other girl he tried it on, but I didn’t want him to know that. The biggest reaction I had given him was an eyebrow quirk at most.

I could tell it bothered him. I knew he was frustrated that he couldn’t get me to blush or stutter my words, and that may have been part of why he kept up his antics. Probably the entire reason, knowing him. Had he not been a fuckboy, I might have fallen for him. Might have.

I returned my eyes to my book and heard his footsteps walk past me, headed to the very back of class. His usual spot.

“Alright ladies and gentlemen,” A loud clap could be heard from the front of the room, our professor signalling the start of class, “It is time for your final. I hope you all are well prepared. I ask that you remove anything from your desk aside from a pencil and I will begin to hand out the tests. You may leave as you finish, just make sure to hand me your tests before you leave. Good luck.”

Book already off my desk, I gripped my pencil, hoping six hours of studying was enough.

“Thank you.” I muttered to my professor as he placed the stack of papers on my desk.

Here goes nothing, I suppose.

-

I handed in my test with a smile, hoping that I’d pass. Taking a deep breath I stepped out of the classroom, seeing a familiar face. At the noise of my footsteps Hongjoong looked up from his phone with a devilish smile, eyes staring me down. I must’ve not noticed he turned in his test before mine, not that I was surprised. He always finished his test the quickest out of all of us.

“How’s it going, pretty-in-pink?”

Pink was my favorite color and and I wore pink clothes often, unfortunately it had earned me several unwanted nicknames, all coming from Hongjoong.

I barely bothered him a glace, “I have a name.” 

“But your nicknames are so unique to you. Don’t you love them?”

“Can’t say I do.” I walked away, not interested in entertaining him any longer than I already had.

“Farewell, princess.” He fleeted me with a honey-like voice.

Suppressing an eye roll, I gripped the straps of my backpack, ecstatic to get away from him. The more time I spent away from him the better. The less time I was with him meant there was less of a chance for me to get attached to him. I refused to let that happen.

After I left the building I grabbed a coffee and walked to the library, bracing the cold weather. I only had one final left and I needed to make sure I studied enough. Just one last push before I was done for the semester. Taking the elevator up to the third floor, I saw a familiar face who smiled at me and I sat down at his table.

“Hey! How do you think you did on the final?” Lia asked me as I took my laptop out.

“Honestly I don’t know. I don’t want to say I passed because knowing my luck, if I do I’ll fail it. I knew the majority of the answers though, so there’s that.”

“That’s a positive.” She cocked her head, observing the way my eyes were glued to my laptop, “So what are you studying for now?”

“Criminal Psychology. I don’t take it until late tomorrow but I wanna get some studying in.”

“You’ve been studying for hours, you’ll be fine. Let’s just go shopping instead.”

My ears perked and I slowly raised my head, “Damn you. You know I’m not gonna turn you down.”

A wide smile formed on her face as she placed her hands behind her head, “What are friends for?”

“Oh don’t look so cocky.”

“Why not? I’m pretty sure I’ve won here. Now let’s get going.”

Lia stood up and slid on her backpack, a smile still plastered on her face. Just as I was placing my laptop in my own backpack I heard a string of male voices and a mention of my name.

I gave Lia a look and, curiosity taking over, I snuck closer to the direction of the voices to see a group of men at a table hid behind a large stack of bookshelves. There were four of them, not a one of them sitting properly in a chair. Two were sitting on top of the table, another with his legs propped on the table, the other sitting upon a backpack which itself was on a chair. I could only see two of their faces and didn’t recognize either.

“We’ve gotta invite the token good girl, right?” A tall man with dark hair smiled, leaning back on the table.

A man with distinct dimples, clad in all black scoffed, “Y/n? Like she’d go to a party anyway.”

“She might.” Hongjoong tiled his head, allowing me to see him, black earrings swaying as he looked at the man with dimples.

Oh. He’s there, too.

“She dresses like she still believes in the tooth fairy.” A man with a blonde ponytail scoffed, “You think she’s gonna come to a party with people like us?”

I grabbed Lia’s arm to prevent her from storming over. She was upset, I was too, but I wanted to keep listening. Still, I couldn’t deny the pang of hurt I felt as I looked down at my pink skirt and cropped top. Was it a crime to like the color pink?

And I thought I looked cute today...

“You should be the last person to judge someone over the way the dress, Yeosang. You never wear anything but black. If she likes it, then she likes it. Fuck you.” Hongjoong bit back.

I felt tears welling up in my eyes. I didn’t know why he defended me, maybe he was just defending fashion for fashion’s sake and it had nothing to do with me, but it was still nice of him.

Yeosang smiled, “Damn someone’s aggressive, huh? Someone might almost think you’ve got feelings for the girl.”

Hongjoong remained silent.

“Ooh is she still not reacting to your desperate attempts to woo her?”

Hongjoong quickly became defensive, “Listen, I’m not-”

“Okay we’re not getting into this. Just invite her, you never know what she’ll say.” The dark-haired man said to Hongjoong, “And invite her friend, too. She wouldn’t go alone.”

“Yeah that’s a fair point. I’ll talk to them next time I see them.”

I turned to face Lia, whispering in her ear, “Let’s go. Please.”

Her face told me that she would much rather confront them, but changed as my eyes began to water once more. She nodded and put an arm around me, leading me out of the library.

A tear fell down my cheek as we walked. I raised my hand to wipe my face when Lia did it for me. She pulled me into a tight hug, running her hands through my hair.

“Don’t you think for a second that you’re any less of amazing. Fuck them for not seeing it.”

As she spoke more tears began to fall and my breath hitched, “But-t they-”

“No. There’s no excuse for being shitty to you, especially when you haven’t done anything to wrong them.”

I nodded, trying my best to believe her and steady my breathing.

“What can I do for you? What can I do to help?”

Releasing Lia from my tight grip I stepped back and looked in her eyes, “Nothing. Let’s just go shopping.”

My friend nodded and slipped her hand into my own, something she would always do when I needed comfort. I squeezed her warm hand, following her footsteps as she led me to her car.

“So...you’re not gonna go to the party are you?”

“Yeah I don’t think so.”

She let out a hum in approval and nodded, opening the car door for me.

As much as I wanted to take my mind off of the boys’ words, I couldn’t. No amount of retail therapy seemed to help that. I knew Lia was doing her best to make me feel better and I felt a bit guilty for bringing down the mood. She scoffed when I told her, making eye contact and emphasizing that she simply wanted to make me feel better.

Sooner than I liked, we had to part. Lia had a class in thirty minutes and I had to help out in an on-campus activity. She gave me a tight hug and a small smile, bidding me adue.

I was the Vice President of our Activities Planning Board and as such was in charge of setting up an Academic Bowl for the competing students. Unfortunately, I was having trouble setting up the large tables and my small frame just made it harder. I was confident anyone around could see that I was struggling and I huffed, hoping no one would look my way. It didn’t help that I was outside in the middle of campus, where anyone just walking by could see me.

“Do you need any help?”

I turned to find Hongjoong with his dark backpack slung over his shoulder, a concerned look on his face. Had I not desperately needed help, I would have refused.

“Yeah I do. Hold this, will you?” I nodded at the opposite side of the table I was struggling to hold.

He appeared shocked that I accepted his offer, but I didn’t dwell on it and instead lifted the table. We worked in silence aside from a few words of instruction I gave him, and I was thankful for the lack of distraction. When we set up the last table I placed my hands on my hips, looking at the tables.

Hongjoong crossed his arms, “Why were you doing this alone?”

“No one else signed up to help for the Academic Bowl, so I did it myself.” He gave a confused look so I clarified my position.

“Of course you’re the Vice President.” Hongjoong muttered.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I faced him, feeling slightly offended.

He shrugged, “I know you’re just involved in a lot. I’m not surprised.”

Ignoring his comment, I took the conversation another direction. “Why did you help me?”

“You needed help, princess.” He answered simply.

I nodded, ignoring the nickname. “Well...thanks.”

A moment of silence followed until Hongjoong broke it, “Hey listen, there’s a party this weekend I want you to go.”

“Why?” I cocked my head.

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t know anyone that will be there.”

“You know me.”

“That’s not exactly an incentive.”

He scoffed in mock offense, “Okay first of all, ouch. Second, what if I sweeten the deal?”

My eyebrows raised, lips forming a smile, “Oh yeah? What could that possibly be?”

He faltered for a moment, his voice lowering seemingly without intent, “That’s the first time I’ve seen you smile. You’re beautiful.”

I turned from him, trying to will any semblance of a flustered expression off my face. “You were saying before?”

Hongjoong chuckled, “I’ll drive. You can even invite your friend if you want.”

“Lia?”

“Yeah. If it makes you more comfortable.”

At first, I wanted to say no. At first, I wanted to continue my streak of refusing any advance he made on me. But looking at his kind eyes, completely devoid of any malintent, I felt my heart flutter. When my mind thought back to how he had defended me in the library I felt a warmth bubbling in my chest. I pretended to ponder for a moment, even though I already knew my answer.

“Okay but I don’t...I don’t think I should tell Lia.”

“Why’s that?”

“She kinda hates you.”

He looked taken aback, “Might I ask why?”

I sighed, crossing my arms, “Don’t worry about it. So where is this party?”

He filled me in on the details and I did my best to keep up my neutral façade. I wouldn’t admit it, but I was ecstatic to see him outside of campus, my will of staying away from him faltering by the minute.

-

I stood in front of my closet for what seemed like hours, desperately trying to find something that would match the occasion. I laughed a bit to myself as I looked at the section of black clothes I had. I went through a bit of an emo phase in middle school and I just couldn’t bring myself to get rid of any of them. I debated avoiding black clothes all together, but the words of Yeosang rang in my head and I bit the inside of my cheek.

Fine. I’ll change it up. But I’ll be damned if I give up on pink.

Taking a deep breath I slipped into a light pink leather skirt reaching mid-thigh with black fishnets. I put on a black leather jacket over my black see through shirt exposing my lacy bra underneath, my pink shoes on last.

I took several deep breaths and observed myself in the mirror. It was a change, definitely. I didn’t mind black, but I wouldn’t wear just black alone. I wanted it to be more feminine.

I heard a car horn outside my apartment much sooner than I expected. Bracing for Hongjoong’s reaction, I stepped outside. I was greeted with a smug smile, the man adorning it seeming as confident as a god until he observed my clothes, his eyebrows raising.

Hongjoong’s eyes scanned over me, taking in my abrupt fashion change, “I still wasn’t entirely certain you’d go. Much less looking like this.”

My lips quirked into half-smile, “Well I can’t show up looking like I normally do.”

“Why not?”

My heart swelled at the genuine confusion evident on his face. “Some people don’t care for the way I dress.” I took a breath and continued, “I heard you and your friends in the library.”

I forced myself to look him in the eyes. I could see the gears turning in his head as he put the pieces together, a scowl forming on his face. “You don’t have to change a goddamn thing. You look great, don’t get me wrong, but you look great in pink, too. And I’m sorry if he made you feel otherwise.”

I shook my head. “It’s alright, I actually kinda like it.”

“You definitely make it work.” He swallowed, voice lowering.

“Then maybe I should wear a bit of black more often.”

The man gave a thousand dollar smile, quirking a brow that left my panties feeling slightly damp. He motioned to the car door, “Hop in, cutie.”

A friendly string of conversation followed us as Hongjoong drove. I felt my nerves starting to dissipate, his smile I once despised now bringing me comfort. And really, he was much funnier than I had believed. I found myself laughing with him more than I had in a long time. I knew my walls were falling, but I wasn’t trying to fight it anymore.

Why the hell not? He’s kind enough, and he isn’t even close to being hard on the eyes.

The car drive was much quicker than I expected, although how quickly I was unfamiliar with my surroundings through me for a loop. The trees around us became more sporadic and the sun set quicker than what seemed normal. I fidgeted slightly, prompting Hongjoong to look over at me. He intertwined my fingers with his own and I smiled, secretly welcoming his touch.

“Hey, don’t worry. I’m right here with you, okay?”

I nodded, grasping onto his hand tightly. Before I knew it, my eyes locked with the building in front of us. I took in the abandoned building in front of me, eyes widening slightly as I observed its poor condition. Large windows were shattered, vines were growing around pillars, grass peaking through what once was concrete.

“This is the most sketchy place I’ve ever seen in my life.” I spoke, feeling slightly alarmed by the building but comforted by Hongjoong’s presence.

“Oh come on, it’s not that bad.”

“I literally just saw a rat run out a broken window.”

Hongjoong suppressed a smile and let go of my hand, opening his car door and telling me to stay in place as he walked around and opened the door on my side. I hesitated as I exited the car, a bit afraid of what could possibly be inside the building.

“We can leave at anytime. If you don’t want to go in we can leave right now. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

As sweet as he was being, I felt the need to prove to him that I was brave enough to enter, even if it did look like he was leading me to my death.

“Thank you, but I’m okay. We can go in.”

He smiled, leading me to an out-of-the-way entrance which seemed to lead to a different building entirely. I gave an involuntary “woah” as we entered the building. As horrific as it looked on the outside, it was gorgeous on the inside. Perfectly up kept brick walls hugged the sides of the building, lights were strung from the ceiling, arcade machines and dart boards were huddled in a corner, and of course, there was a bar with a seemingly unlimited amount of liquor. People were scattered all throughout, socializing and being generally loud. Everyone wore about the same color clothes as Hongjoong, dark as they could possibly get.

“How did you even find this place?”

“My friend Yeosang and I were just driving around and we found it one day. Decided to make it our hangout spot.”

I looked at him confused, still amazed at my surroundings. Hongjoong led me over to his familiar group of friends, assuring me that they wouldn’t bite, and introduced me to the seven men, four of which I hadn’t seen prior. I saw the color drain from a few of their faces as they saw me, likely from their words in the library, but I didn’t comment on it. Overall, they were much friendlier than I expected them to be.

“I’m gonna get a drink,” Hongjoong nudged me, “You want anything?”

“No that’s okay. I think I’m gonna check out the pinball machines. They look kinda cool.”

“You sure you don’t wanna stay by my side? I won’t take long.”

I shook my head, “I’ll be okay.”

He chucked, “Alright. I’ll grab a drink and I’ll head right over, princess.”

I bit my lip at the nickname and wandered over to the machines, surprisingly feeling comfortable in the environment, despite everything being so unfamiliar. All of the games were being used, some people clearly playing better than others.

I got lost in the artwork on the side of a particular pinball machine when a gruff voice caught my attention. “What’s a pretty thing like you doing here?”

I turned to meet a tall man with grey hair. He was young, likely in his mid-twenties, and reeked of cigarettes and a foul smell I couldn’t place.

A flash of fear ran through me and I tried to make my voice as confident as possible, “I was invited.”

“Well...that’s certainly a shame now, isn’t it? I wasn’t invited, but I decided to show up for a bit of fun anyway.”

He came closer to me, our height difference incredibly prominent as he leaned over me, “How about you give me a kiss, little thing?” I ran away as soon as the words left his mouth, hoping that he wouldn’t follow me but assuming he would. I dashed around quickly and sporadically around people, hoping I would lose him.

I looked around desperately for Hongjoong, sighing when I found him surrounded by his friends, laughing at something one of them said. I ran up to him and grabbed his arm, gaining his attention.

I hope this fucking works.

“I need you to kiss me.”

A look of confusion flashed in his eyes, “What?”

“Please kiss me.” I begged, eyes wide, disregarding the stares of his friends around us, hoping that if the man saw I was taken he’d leave me alone.

Without hesitation he wrapped his free hand around my waist—a cup of alcohol still in the other—and pulled me close, pressing his lips to my own. He kissed me hard, biting my bottom lip slightly and letting out a growl only I could hear. He wasn’t my first kiss, far from it, but no one had ever kissed me like he did. Just a kiss had never left me feeling weak at the knees. Just a kiss had ever made me feel so submissive, making me want to beg him to take me right on the spot, regardless of the fear in my veins. Even with the taste of alcohol still on his lips, his scent overtook me.

He pulled back, eyes darker than before, and raised a brow, “Care to tell me what that was about?”

Just then I realized my hands had been gripping his leather coat, pulling him just as close as he was pulling me. I looked over in the direction of where the man was before, not seeing him.

“A man was following me and he was trying to get me to kiss him a-and I didn’t know him...I just wanted him to leave me alone.”

His eyes narrowed at my words, a rage I hadn’t seen before taking over them, “What did he look like?”

“I-I don’t know he was tall and had grey hair and-”

He cursed under his breath. Keeping me just as close he turned to the men around him, their eyes narrowed as well.

“You heard that?” He asked his friends.

“Loud and clear.” San said, cracking his knuckles, a scowl on his face that scared me, even though I knew I wasn’t the one it was directed at.

“I thought we told him to never come back here.” Jongho snarled.

“We did.” Hongjoong said.

Seonghwa looked at me, nodding to Hongjoong, “Keep her safe and take her out of here. If he’s here I’m sure he’s brought friends. Yeosang, lead everyone out. We’ll take care of him.”

Hongjoong looked conflicted, obviously wanting to stay and fight, but gave into the older man’s command. “Be fucking safe,” he barked, but I could see the fear in his eyes as he looked at me, “Come on, we’re going.”

Seonghwa mumbled something to Hongjoong and he nodded in response, tossing his alcohol to the ground. I didn’t have time to ask questions as he led me out a back door, the darkness of the night equally horrifying and comforting, and quickly pushed me into his car, apologizing the entire time. He entered the key into the ignition and the car sprung to life.

“Uhh...maybe it’s not a good idea for you to drive. You’ve been drinking, right?”

“I had maybe two sips. I’ll drive safe, promise.”He gave me a small comforting smile, “Put your seatbelt on. Hold on tight, sweetheart.” His voice was calm but firm as he spoke. I nodded and did as he said, bracing as his car sped off, my heart beating in overtime.

The ride was a blur, the only things I could remember being Hongjoong’s calming voice, periodically reassuring me that things would be okay. We arrived at a foreign building which Hongjoong called his house, and only then did I let myself fall apart. I felt tears streaming down my face as my hands quivered, my head beginning to pound.

“Hey, hey look at me. You’re safe. You’re safe with me.” My teary eyes met his and I felt my heart break at the way he was looking at me, as if he had made me cry himself.

“Here, come on. Let’s get you inside, okay?”

My tears slowed as he carefully led me inside his house, sitting me down on his bed. He crouched down in front of me, wiping the tears from my face.

“I’m so sorry, princess. I didn’t realize he was going to be there. I never should’ve made you come along I’m so-”

“Who was that?”

Hongjoong sighed, “He used to be a friend of mine. We had a falling out and he became violent. One time he showed up at one of our parties with some friends of his to start a fight. We won and told him to never come back. Looks like he did.” He looked off into nowhere, regret clear on his face.

“You didn’t know,” I sniffled, “You couldn’t have known.”

I watched the muscles in his jaw tighten, his agitation still visible. I brought a hand out to reach his own, trying to comfort him. The loud ding of Hongjoong’s phone made me jump and he apologized profusely. As he took out his phone from his pants pocket I looked around his room for the first time. It looked exactly as I had expected, solid black furniture and so many band posters decorating the wall I could hardly tell what color his bedroom walls were.

Hongjoong spoke up, “I just got a text from Seonghwa. There were two other people there with him. My friends took care of them don’t worry, you’re safe.”

I nodded, pulling him into a hug and burying my face into his chest. “If you’re comfortable with it,” He started, “I’d like you to stay here. I want to know you’re safe.”

My eyes met his as he moved a hair out of my face, “I’m not pressuring you. If you don’t want to I understand.”

A hand of his ran up and down my back, tracing little patterns here and there, and I realized just how much I wanted to be with him.

“If it’s alright with you, I’d like to stay.”

He laughed, “What do you mean ‘if it’s alright with you’ I asked.”

I bit my bottom lip and looked down, a bit embarrassed.

Hongjoong laughed, “Hey, look at me.” He said in a commanding yet sweet tone that made my thighs press together. I glanced back up at him, his handsome features making me feel dizzy.

He chuckled, “What’s that look for? You got something to say to me?”

I hesitated, “Actually, I do have a question.”

“Which is?”

“Why did you chase after me?”

Hongjoong smiled, “You never gave a reaction to anything I tried. It confused me and piqued my curiosity. So I began to watch you and how you interacted with people. You’re gentle and sweet. You’re innocent and haven’t let the world tear you down. I admire that.”

He leaned closer to me, his lips brushing my ear, “And it turned me on beyond belief. I wondered how I could ruin you, thought about how I could turn you into a quivering mess as you beg for me.”

I shivered and pulled back slightly to look him in the eyes. His beautiful, dark eyes. Hongjoong let out a dark chuckle as he sat on his bed, lifting me on his lap. He gave an eyebrow raise and a crooked smile as my breath hitched while looking at him, taking him in.

How did I never notice how his dark hair falls to one side when he cocks his head and how he looks so endearing when it happens? How did I never pay attention to his soft pink lips that give way to his gorgeous smile and how much I’ve been dying to kiss them all this time? How did I not see the way his eyes form crescents when he smiles, making my heart grow ten times over?

Why did I never think to take note of how his deep voice makes my stomach do somersaults? Why was I so unaware of his tongue piercing that was leaving me wonder how it would feel on my skin? Why didn’t I observe the black painted nails of his that were currently dancing along my thighs, giving me goosebumps?

How and why did I never notice him?

“You’re such a good girl.”

And for the first time around him, I flushed.

He chuckled, “Oh? You like that?”

I nodded quickly and he said it again, smiling as my face heated up once more.

“It’s so good to see you react to what I say. I wonder...” Hongjoong leaned closer to me, “How will you react when you’re underneath me? Squirming and begging for me to touch you?”

I gave him a look of desperation and balled his shirt into my fist, trying to move him closer, “Please.”

Hongjoong lifted me off of him, quickly discarding my clothes followed by his own shirt. My eyes were guided down by his abs and I ran a hand across them without thinking, whimpering quietly.

“Is my baby girl getting needy?” He cooed.

I closed my eyes, once again nodding in embarrassment.

“How about we take care of that?”

He laid me down on the soft sheets of his bed, leaving me in anticipation as he pinned my hands above my head with a hand of his own. My eyes widened and he chuckled, running a single finger along my folds.

“You’re so unbelievably fucking wet...do I turn you on that much?”

I let out a small “yes” and he hummed in response. Placing a few kisses upon my lips, Hongjoong slowly entered two fingers into me and my back arched. His fingers curled, hitting a spot inside of me that’d I’d never been able to reach. I spread my legs as far as they could go, pleading for more, feeling tears prick my eyes.

Hongjoong spoke, his voice already dropping several octaves, “Keep your hands here, understand? I don’t want you moving them.”

I nodded, willing my hands to stay in place as his own moved to my hips, leaving kisses along my inner thighs.

“Hongjoong please.”

“Please what, princess?”

“Please touch me.”

“Oh, I think I can do better than that, don’t you?”

His lips attached to my core, tongue running through my folds and nose hitting my clit as I moaned pathetically. His hands held my hips down as I tried to buck them up, barely able to keep my hands above my head. After what felt like years, his mouth finally reached my clit and I cried out as his lips attached to it, sucking hard and leaving kitten licks. My high built up quickly and I came hard, my hands leaving their spot and pulling slightly on his hair.

“Thought I told you to keep your hands above your head, no?”

I mumbled an apology and he leaned over to kiss me, “You’re forgiven, darling.”

He seemed just as impatient as I was and without much begging the rest of his clothes were off, his dick teasing my entrance.

“God Hongjoong please I need you so bad.”

“I need you too, y/n.”

He fully entered me, cursing as he did so. I was so caught up in the feeling of him inside of me that I didn’t even register him asking me a question until he laughed at me.

“Feeling good, baby? Can’t even speak?”

I whimpered, nodding seeming to be the only thing I could manage to do. I felt his member twitch inside of me and I pleaded for him to fuck me, to give me anything. Hongjoong growled and jerked his hips up into me over and over, leaving me a moaning mess.

“Taking me so well, aren’t you? Such a good girl for me.”

The amount of praise he gave me caused a few tears to fall from my eyes, not realizing how bad I needed it until that moment. My walls clenched around him every time, causing him to groan and snap his hips into me even harder. Hongjoong’s eyes grew hazy, his dark hair sticking to his forehead.

“I’m close, darling. Be my good girl and cum for me”

His hand trailed down to my clit, rubbing tiny circles. My back arched as I came in time with him, our breaths synchronizing as we gasped for air.

He slowly pulled out of me and ran to the bathroom to grab a towel, cleaning me up. Hongjoong giggled and I raised a brow at him.

“I never thought you’d give me a chance. It’s almost like I’ve corrupted you.”

“You have. Aren’t you aware of the party I went to because of you? I almost died.”

Hongjoong laughed as he crawled into bed and pulled blankets over the both of us. He ran a hand through my hair, looking at me fondly, “You did not almost die.”

“Okay yeah but I could have. That’s what we should be focusing on here.”

“I think there’s something else I’d like to focus on.”

Hongjoong pulled me into a deep kiss, hand slithering down to my waist. His kisses trailed to my ear, a slight chuckle leaving his lips, “My pretty princess.”

I looked at him with doe eyes, slightly in awe of him, and wondered how I could’ve pushed him away for so long. I knew for certain that I had no intention of doing so ever again.

When I told him he smiled, “Good. You’ve had a grip on my heart since day one. I’d be a fool to let you get away from me.”

I blushed slightly, much to his entertainment. We snuggled up to each other in silence, listening to the sound of our synchronized breathing as I lulled to sleep, our warm fingers intertwined. My dreams filled of him.

“Sleep well, my princess. I’ll be right here when you wake.”

[xpeachesncream]

perfectly wrong | seven

summary: there were rules that had to be followed: no one could know about you two, there was no ‘getting to know each other,’ and there was absolutely no emotional attachment allowed. if this could be done, there should be no complications. but somehow, the rules always get bended.

pairing: reader x fuckboy!kth

genre: college au | fluff, angst, smut

words: 1.8k

chapter warnings: cussing, mentions of sex, yoongi being a good bestfriend, nothing too crazy cause the next chapter gets a lil crazy lol

notes: shit is about to go down, so please stick with me :) so grateful for each and every one of you showing love to this fanfic!!! it means the world to me 🥺

tags: @soulstaes​ @apollukee​ @imluckybitches​ @btsis7okay​ @ppangiiroo​ @gee-nee​ @enchantaeduniverse​ @miinoongi​ @thedarkwinterrose​ (pls msg me if you would like to be added to the taglist!)

> series masterlist <

You continued to paint on the huge canvas posted up on the easel in the corner of your living room while Yoongi sat on your couch, scribbling things in his notebook for class. He decided to chill at your place because his roommate was getting on his last nerve and you offered for him to stay the night if he wanted to.

You and Taehyung hadn't seen each other as often as you used to, and you're wondering if it's because of the way you've responded to him the past times you've seen him. Could he handle it? Was he truly upset about Jungkook? You don't know, and it kind of sucks you haven't seen him, but you aren't going to mope around over someone who wasn't yours. Part of you was starting to become put off and not in the mood.

"So." Yoongi breaks the silence as he continues to scribble in his notebook.

"Uh oh, this will be good." You chuckle.

"I'm sure it will be." He turns to look at you. "Wanna tell me what's going on with you and Taehyung?" You damn near choke on your own saliva hearing both of your names together in one sentence, especially coming from Yoongi.

"Come again?" He shows his huge gummy smile before laughing at how flustered you look.

"The other two might not have a clue, but I've been onto you. What was up at the cafe?"

"Nothing? Just two people formally meeting for the first time."

"Y/N, please don't try and play me, okay? That was not the first time."

"What are you trying to say, Yoongi?" You put down your brush and give him your utmost attention.

"That you and Taehyung have something going on."

"I honestly have no idea what you're talking about." Is all you can say because Yoongi is smart and he's very observant. If there is one person you'll have trouble hiding from - it's Min Yoongi.

"Look, you know I don't come with any judgments, that's not me. But I know you've been seeing him and you don't have to lie to me to cover it up." You sigh and tilt your head upwards before looking back at him.

"I really do hate you sometimes, you know?"

"I'll take it as love." He chuckles. "So, when did this start?"

"It's been a few months already. Wait - how did you even know about this?"

"I see and observe things, duh." He laughed. "Nah but really, it's Taehyung. His name gets around like crazy, along with whoever he's onto."

"Please don't say it like that."

"Why do you want me to sugarcoat it, Y/N? Out of all people, you'd definitely know it's true firsthand."

"Whatever." You shake your head.

"The word nowadays is that he's been dropping his line of girls cause he's trying to go for a specific chick. They're all mad he just upped and ghosted for whoever this chick is."

"Please, he's playing the same fucking game he always does. You really believe that?"

"Then why are you sticking around if you know how he is? I know it's you he's going for. It was so obvious at the cafe. That fool probably doesn't know one thing about getting a cafe up and ready. He's probably only doing it to show off and get closer to you. Jimin for sure had him on that one."

"I don't know, okay? I really don't. I guess it's just been the thrill and the attention from him that's been hard to stay away from. I don't know what else I can tell you."

"Yeah, I get that, trust me. But if you know he's ultimately going to hurt you, then wouldn't that be enough for you to walk away?"

"I wish it was." You fiddle with your fingers. "Part of me is really holding onto this thin thread of hope that he'll be different or that he'll change because of me. But, I know it's impossible to think that way cause once a fuckboy, always a fuckboy? Plus, who am I to think that?" You tilt your head in frustration. "It was never supposed to get this complicated. We said we'd keep it lowkey. No complications, no getting to know each other, nothing."

"I'm going to play devil's advocate and say no, I don't think it's impossible for him to change especially if he's found the right girl that he deems is worth the change. I mean, it's been going on for a few months right? No matter what you guys said in the beginning, you're going to have some kind of emotional attachment to each other after a period of time."

"Yeah, I know."

"Jin hyung doesn't know, does he?"

"Hell no, and right now, I plan on keeping it that way because I'd hate to disappoint him. He's always known me to be someone who could stand their ground. He taught me that. But it all goes out the window with this stupid boy."

"You have a soft spot for Taehyung." Yoongi smirked.

"No, don't start."

"Hey, I'm just calling it like it is. He apparently does for you, too."

"Well, I'm not falling for that shit. I've barely seen him this past week and I know he's probably going back to his usual ways."

"Look, you know I love you right? I'll ride or die for you any day. But this is definitely your battle and you need to keep being smart. Don't let him hurt you, I know you know better than that. I'd hate to see you crying over someone like him because you deserve all the good things in this world for how great of a person you are. If he can't appreciate you, then that's on him for passing on a good woman."

"I know, Yoongs. Thank you." You smile softly at him. The one thing you really loved about your friends was the fact that they wouldn't hesitate to protect you and let you know how much you meant to them.

"No I love you back?"

"I love you, too." You groaned. "God, all three of you are so needy."

"Aiyyyyyyy! Don't be mean. You know you'd be lost without us."

"That's a bold statement." He chucks a crumpled piece of paper at you, making you laugh.

"Are you gonna tell Hoseok and Jungkookie?" You shook your head.

"Not right now."

"But what if they find out before you can tell them?"

"Let's hope they don't. I just have too much on my plate right now to be talking about my late nights with the campus fuckboy."

"When you left Hoseok's, you went to Taehyung's didn't you?"

"Why ask when you already know, Min Yoongi?"

"I just like to hear it so I can tease you." He laughed loudly. "Can you please just tell them before it gets out of hand?"

"I will, I will." You say, hoping he'll leave it alone at this point. Which, he does get the hint by silently nodding.

"Mind if I start cooking us dinner?" He asks as he makes his way to the kitchen to grab the groceries he brought from out of the fridge.

"Go for it." You continue to paint while Yoongi is whipping up something good as always. Once dinner was cooked, you two eat dinner in front of the tv, watching the remaining episodes of The Last Dance on Netflix. No matter how invested you were in the series, you couldn't help but check your phone every once in awhile to see if his name would pop up on your lock screen. And even later at night, when you and Yoongi are sprawled out on opposite ends of your couch, his name doesn't come up. You can't help but admit that Yoongi was right; Not only were you getting attached to Taehyung, but you were also getting attached to the possibility of you two actually becoming something beyond this. You were getting attached to that idea, that thread you've been holding onto.

Little did you know that Taehyung had been feeling that way too. The big difference between you and him though, was that he was trying to suppress it as much as possible because he was afraid. He wasn't sure if he wanted these feelings to linger or not, and he was also afraid of what you could do to him. He was just scared, and he couldn't let his pride down.

That's why you two barely see each other, and that's why you're getting no messages from him.

Taehyung's sitting in his apartment, wondering if he even made the right decision. These past few days have bruised him and his ego quite a bit, with the way that you were playing your own game and doing a good fucking job of it. Usually, the girls he's used to are submissive. It sounds bad as fuck, but he's used to getting what he wants, barely batting an eyelash. With you, it's a whole new territory. He's tried to break down your walls, but they're built out of metal and he has no idea how to do this shit. He's not a fucking metal bender. He's tried to do things different, he's tried to bend the rules for you, but he hasn't gotten anywhere and he wants to give up so bad. Call him a quitter all you want, but this was hard for him. And not only was this difficult, but he was also starting to feel real jealous over your relationship with Jungkook. Even though Jungkook probably doesn't know about your late night adventures with him, Taehyung knows Jungkook protects you with his life. He saw the way Jungkook eyed him at the cafe.

He hates that feeling and it reminds him as to why he never fucked with relationships in the first place. This shit was never worth it to Taehyung, and he thought he could finally get past that when it came to you. You made him want to try.

Guess not? Maybe he was never fit to be in relationships.

There's a small knock at his door and he throws his hood over his head to answer the door. He smiles down at the girl standing in front of him and lets her in. He had met her a couple of days when him and Jimin went to the bar for a couple of drinks. She couldn't stop eyeing the fuck out of him, and that's exactly what he needed to boost his ego back up.

"Hey." She says, setting her bag down. Taehyung looks at her up and down, licking his bottom lip at how she's standing in his apartment in some booty shorts and a crop hoodie. She wasn't you, but he was gonna have fun tonight to get his mind off of you.

"Glad you found the place okay." She smiled.

"Yeah." She giggled. "So Taehyung, what do you have up your sleeve?"

"What do you mean, love?"

"I mean, I think we both know what we want right?" He nods.

"How bad do you want it, Aiko?"

"I'll show you." She tugs on his shirt lightly. "We're both grown, right?"

[purrincess-chat]

Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s Spite Playlist: Remix CH5

Aaaand it’s finally time. Surprise! Work has been kicking my butt the past couple weeks, so I’ve been really tired and writing has been slow. But we are still plenty ahead of schedule on this project, so don’t worry your pretty little heads! You’ll still get a chapter every Friday! We’re getting closer to the big shifts. Only a couple more chapters until the real fun begins >:)

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Chapter 5: when the party’s over

“Good morning, sweetie.”

“Morning, Mom.” Marinette made her way down the stairs, carrying her boots in one hand. She yawned and stooped to kiss her mother’s cheek.

“How was the concert? Did you all have a good time?” her mom asked.

“I had an amazing time! We got to stand backstage for the whole performance, and you’re not gonna believe it! I fixed Jagged's jacket, and to thank me, he invited me to sing a song with him!” Marinette relayed as she grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl.

“Oh, how exciting!” her mom said. “I always knew you would do something amazing.”

“If Eliott hadn't suggested that I ask for tickets, Jagged would have canceled the show. It was really lucky that I was there,” Marinette said, ripping the peel.

“So, I take it everything is going well at your new school?” Her mom took a seat across from her.

“Yeah. I'm making new friends, and I helped someone with their bully,” Marinette answered around a bite.

“Are you happy?”

Marinette slowed her chewing as she mulled over an answer, and sensing her hesitance, her mom placed a hand over hers.

“I know there are things you don't tell me, but I can tell when you're upset,” she said. “You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. All I care about is that you're happy.”

“It's just that…” She took a deep breath before spilling everything. Following Lila and Adrien, the situation with seats, Lila's threats in the bathroom, Alya's akumatization.

Everything.

Once she started, she couldn't stop. Words tumbled from her mouth in a rapid current until hot tears spilled down her cheeks. Her mother moved to hold her, rubbing her back and kissing her hair.

“When you said you wanted to transfer to this new school to focus on your talents, I had no idea you were leaving behind so much,” her mom said. “You've been carrying all of that weight for so long.”

“I didn't know what else to do,” Marinette whimpered. She sniffled against her mother's shoulder.

“Look at me.” Her mom lifted her chin. “You do so much for other people, and that’s wonderful. But I think it's time that you focus on what makes you happy.”

That was the understatement of the century, but Marinette wasn't going to say as much.

“Your father and I raised you to always help others when you can, but we never wanted it to be at the expense of your own happiness. Sometimes it's okay to do what's best for yourself, and I think that changing schools was a smart decision.” She brushed a tear from Marinette's cheek with her thumb. “I know you're hurting now, and if you ever need anything, Papa and I are always here for you.”

“Thanks, Mama,” Marinette said.

She hugged her mother tightly, her worries washing down her face in thin streaks. For once, she wasn't a superhero with the weight of the world on her shoulders—she was a young girl, abandoned and hurt by the people she once trusted. There wasn’t a clever solution to fix everything. No lucky charm to get her out of a messy situation. It was the hardest lesson she'd ever learned. That sometimes there was no magic to reset everything. Some wounds didn't heal, and some bonds stayed broken.

For the first time since she became Ladybug, Marinette didn't have to carry anyone's burdens but her own. For once, she could just cry.

♪♫♪ When I’m Gone ♪♫♪

“Well, class, by an overwhelming majority, I’m happy to announce Lila as our new class representative!” Mlle. Bustier said.

“Mlle. Bustier, I would like a recount!” Chloe demanded.

“You only had two votes, Chloe. I don’t think a recount is necessary.” She gave her a sympathetic smile.

“What? That’s ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!” Chloe folded her arms over her chest.

“Can you blame us?” Alya asked.

“Yeah, Lila is way cooler than you.” Alix shot back, a sentiment echoed by several others.

Chloe slouched in her seat, seething. “Well, at least Sabrina recognizes my natural leadership,” she said, but her bff averted her gaze. “Don’t tell me you voted for her too?”

“Sorry, Chloe.” Sabrina shrank when Chloe gasped in disbelief.

“Are my ears deceiving me? How dare you!” Chloe slammed her fist on the desk as the whole class erupted into laughter.

“Wow, even Sabrina is tired of you,” Nathaniel said.

Chloe’s jaw clenched, cheeks burning angry and hot. Even the shrimpy comic book nerd was laughing at her. What had the world come to?

“I don’t want to cause any trouble, but I did win fair and square, Chloe. I hope you aren’t too mad at me.” Lila curled her shoulders. “The last thing I want to do is make another enemy like I did with Marinette. I just want to do my best to make your lives as easy as possible here.”

“See? Now that’s natural leadership.” Alya smirked.

“You’re all so lame. I wouldn’t want your votes anyway.” Chloe glared at Lila as class resumed and clicked her stylus pen. Lila wasn’t some nobody like Marinette. She was going to be harder to push around. Regardless, if there was something Chloe wanted, she always got it.

♪♫♪ I Don’t Care ♪♫♪

“Congrats on winning class representative,” Alya said at the next class change. “I can go over all of your duties with you this afternoon if you want. Marinette and I used to discuss things over ice cream.”

Lila suppressed an eye roll. The sooner Alya stopped talking about that brat, the better. Things were working out in Lila’s favor already now that she was gone. Pretty soon she’d own this school, and no one would even remember Marinette’s name.

“Actually, I’m recovering from tonsilitis, so my doctor said I’m not allowed to eat any dairy.” Lila touched her throat delicately. “Besides, you and I should pick our own rituals and forget about Marinette.”

“True, I guess.” Alya pursed her lips, and Lila placed a hand on her shoulder.

“I know it’s hard to move on, but honestly, Marinette is nobody,” Lila said. “Though not many people can say they saved an entire village from a stampede, so I guess I shouldn’t be one to judge.”

“Not all of us can be so amazing.” Alya chuckled good-naturedly. “I guess part of me just wishes that Marinette could have gotten to know you and seen how cool you are.”

“Her loss.” Lila shrugged as they entered the locker room.

“Did you see-”

“Is that for real?”

“No way!”

“What’s going on?” Alya asked Adrien and Nino.

“Marinette sang with Jagged Stone last night at his concert here in Paris.” Nino explained, tilting his phone toward them.

“What?” Lila snatched it from him.

“Miraculous, yeah I got this! I gotta confess I feel so strong!”

“She asked him for tickets yesterday on Instagram, and he gave her backstage passes,” Mylène said.

“She looks so happy and confident,” Rose cooed.

“Wouldn’t you be if you got to sing with Jagged Stone on stage?” Alix said.

“I miss her.” Rose slumped, and several classmates followed suit.

“Yeah, me too,” Max echoed.

“Hey, Lila, since you’re such good friends with Jagged Stone, do you think you could get us tickets to his next show?” Kim asked.

Every eye turned to her expectantly, and her annoyance flared. Of course Marinette wouldn’t go quietly. That stupid brat was causing her problems even after she was gone. Lila wasn’t worried though. This situation just needed a little precision…

“Well, I would love to, but celebrities like Jagged really don’t like to give stuff away for free. It’s kind of taboo to even ask. I’m sure Jagged only complied this time because he wanted to save face. He cares about his fans so much, but it’s actually very rude to ask someone for special treatment,” Lila said. “I feel really bad for Jagged being put on the spot like that. She could have ruined his reputation.”

“Wow, I guess I didn’t realize…” Kim rubbed the back of his neck. “I’d hate to put you in that position.”

“I can’t believe Marinette would do such a thing.” Nathaniel glared down at his phone.

“Yeah, way uncool.”

“Everyone, please don’t make a fuss and blame Marinette. She isn’t used to dealing with celebrities. I’m sure she meant no harm.” Lila assured them. “If only she were still here. I have so much I could teach her.”

“We’re so lucky to have you, Lila,” Nino said. He draped an arm across her shoulders.

“Yeah, thanks, Lila!”

“You’re the best.”

Lila smiled as the bell rang, and everyone shuffled off to class. Marinette wasn’t going to get ahead so easily. Everyone was still exactly where Lila wanted them, and she’d make sure it stayed that way.

♪♫♪ Primadonna ♪♫♪

Later that afternoon, the girls gathered in the bathroom to comfort Mireille who was crying over some stupid argument she’d had with her boyfriend, not that Chloe cared. All she wanted was to find dirt on Lila, so she slipped in unnoticed and hid in an empty stall to listen.  

Nothing was right in her school anymore. Lila was stealing away everything she’d worked for, and while everyone was too busy paying attention to her, Chloe barely had anyone to boss around. Something needed to change. Fast. She would have to be smarter if she wanted to dethrone this queen, but she’d have order restored in her kingdom soon enough.

Chloe peeked through the crack in the door as Alya and Lila entered. She was going to find Lila’s weakness, then she was going to take her down.

“What’s going on?” Lila asked.

“Mireille and her boyfriend got into a fight, and she’s pretty upset,” Mylène said in a hushed tone.

“Marinette used to give advice to everyone and help them stay positive.” Rose glanced up at Lila. “Since you’re the new class representative, you can help, right?”

“Well, Mireille isn’t really in our class,” Lila said, but when Mireille let out a loud sob, she scrunched her nose and knelt beside her. “Hey, there’s no sense crying over some boy. I’ve had my heart broken before too, so I know how it feels. Boys are dumb. He’s not worth your tears,” she said. “If he really loved you, he wouldn’t have argued with you, and if he doesn’t love you, then you shouldn’t waste your time crying over him. I think you should move on because there’s no better revenge than finding someone cuter.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right…” Mireille sniffled and ran a hand across her cheek.

“We can get some ice cream later if you want.” Alya offered.

“Thanks, girls.” Mireille smiled. She turned to the mirror to fix her face as the bell rang.

“See you later.” They all waved goodbye, shuffling to their next class and leaving Mireille alone.

Drat. Chloe would have to figure out another way to get to Lila. Everyone had a weakness, and Chloe would find hers if it was the last thing she did. But first she needed to get out of the bathroom stall.

She peeked through the crack in the door, but Mireille was still pouting over her lock screen—a picture of her boyfriend hugging her lovingly. Too preoccupied with her sadness, she didn’t see the little black butterfly land on her charm bracelet.

Chloe gasped as Mireille transformed before her eyes, closing the stall door before she could be noticed. She hated to admit it, but she actually missed Maribrat Dupain-Cheng. At least with her around giving pep talks to every miserable face she came across, akumas had reached an all-time low at their school. Where was Ladybug when she needed her?

♪♫♪ Listen ♪♫♪

“So, you really saved his whole show?” One of Marinette’s new classmates asked as everyone crowded around her.

“I’m sure they would have found another solution but-”

“Oh, don’t be modest!” Eliott cut her off with an eye roll. “She totally saved the whole show.”

“Yeah, Jagged Stone adores her.” Macy added with a giggle.

“I still think it should have been you up there, Macy. You’re a much better singer than I am.” Marinette rubbed the back of her neck.

“You have such a cute voice! We should sing a duet together for our next art project,” Macy said, and several classmates agreed, much to Marinette’s chagrin.

“Alright, class, everyone take your seats,” Mme. Allard instructed as she strolled into the room. To Marinette’s relief, the group surrounding her dispersed. “Today we will be discussing themes in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. Now, who can tell me-”

When Marinette’s phone buzzed in her bag, she checked it under her desk. “An akuma alert!”

“What’s that?” Eliott leaned over.

“Is something the matter, Mlle. Dupain-Cheng? M. Chasse?” Mme. Allard paused her lesson and quirked a brow.

“Uh, there’s an akuma loose in the city, ma’am. Shouldn’t we evacuate?” Marinette held up her phone.

Mme. Allard removed her glasses to read the report. “It says here that lockdown orders are only for the area surrounding Notre Dame. We will continue our lesson until it becomes a threat on this side of town,” she said. “Now, put your phone away. They are prohibited during instruction.”

“Yes, Mme. Allard.” Marinette tucked her phone back into her bag and exchanged a nervous look with Tikki. “Actually, Mme. Allard?”

“What is it, Marinette?”

“Can I be excused to the bathroom?”

“You just went before we got here.” Macy gave her a quizzical look.

“Do you have a documented medical condition that requires you to frequent the restroom, Mlle. Dupain-Cheng?” Mme. Allard asked.

A few classmates giggled, and Marinette’s cheeks burned.

“No, ma’am,” she mumbled.

“Then I think you can hold it until the next class change. Now don’t interrupt my lecture again.”

“Yes, ma’am.” She lowered her head, shooting Tikki an apologetic wince.

Her foot tapped the entire lecture, fingers drumming, pen tapping, eyes watching the clock. Part of her hoped the akuma would make its way to their side of town, but she wasn’t so lucky. When the bell rang, Marinette jumped from her chair and stuffed her tablet into her bag.

“Uh, I’m not feeling too well, so I’m gonna go see the nurse,” she said.

“Do you want us to walk with you?” Eliott offered, but she shook her head.

“I, uh, think I might be getting the flu, and I don’t want to infect you guys, so I’ll see you later.” She raced up the hallway.

The third-floor bathroom was empty when Marinette burst through the doors and ducked into a stall—her first stroke of luck all day.

“Your new school is so strict,” Tikki said.

“We can talk about it later. Transform me!”

Dashing across the rooftops, she hurled her yoyo as far as she could. She just hoped Chat Noir managed to show up and keep things at bay. When she made it to the school, she swooped down just in time to deflect an attack before it hit Chat Noir.

“Oh, nice of you to finally drop in,” he said dryly.

“Sorry, kitty, I got held up,” she said. “You okay?”

He relaxed and offered her a wink. “Better now that you’re here. You had me worried.”

“I’ll try not to make a habit of it.” She vowed, readying her yoyo. “In the meantime, I think we could use a little luck to get us out of this mess.”

“Be my guest.” Chat Noir bowed.

Her magnifying glass made quick work of Heartbreaker, and Mireille blinked in confusion as Ladybug purified the akuma.

“What happened?” Mireille asked, dazed.

“You were akumatized.” Chat Noir explained.

“Oh no!” She covered her face. “I got so angry…Now Jean will never take me back!”

Ladybug placed a hand on Mireille’s shoulder with a reassuring smile. “Hey, arguments in relationships happen. I’m sure you both said things you regret, so why don’t you try talking to him now that you’ve both calmed down?” She advised. “I’m sure you can come to an understanding.”

“I will. Thank you, Ladybug.” Mireille smiled. She waved as Ladybug and Chat Noir vaulted off.

“Thanks for your help, m’lady.” Chat Noir kissed her hand.

“Sorry it took me so long, kitty. I’m glad you were able to manage,” she said. “I’ll see you next time.”

“Don’t be late,” he called as she swung off.

Landing back in the bathroom, she leaned against the wall with a sigh. That was too close. She’d have to figure out a better way to escape to fight akumas, but at least she made it in time for this one.

She slipped into her desk in physics quietly and leaned over to Eliott. “What’d I miss?”

“I thought you had the flu?” Eliott recoiled.

“False alarm, just allergies,” she said.

“Oh, we should go to the spa later! The sauna is really good for your sinuses,” Macy whispered.

“Uh, sure.” Marinette nodded, shifting in her seat as they tuned back into the lesson. She relaxed when no one seemed suspicious of her.

Being a superhero just got a lot more complicated.

♪♫♪ Delicate ♪♫♪

“How is your new school?” Adrien asked that afternoon over tea and cookies.

“I’m…adjusting.” Marinette pursed her lips. “How is the old school?”

“Well,” Adrien drawled. “Lila is the new class representative, and she may have convinced people that you almost ruined Jagged’s image.”

“What a brat.” Marinette rolled her eyes. “She’s really class rep?”

“Don’t look at me, I voted for Chloe.” Adrien held up defensive hands.

“Somehow I don’t feel like that’s better.” Marinette leaned against her fist with a smirk.

She fixed her gaze on her cup with a sigh.

“Rose said she misses you.” Adrien offered. “Before Lila convinced her you were clueless about dealing with celebrities.”

“I miss her too,” Marinette said. She traced the rim of her cup with a finger. “I miss everyone, but…”

“I know.” Adrien winced. “For what it’s worth, I thought your performance with Jagged was awesome.”

“It was pretty awesome,” she admitted with a giggle. “And I got you an autograph!”

Adrien pressed his palms together appreciatively as she retrieved a signed poster of Jagged’s face from her desk.

“You rock, Marinette!” he said in his best Jagged impression, then more sincerely added, “I’m glad that you’re doing what’s best for you. If there’s anything I can do to help, just say the word.”

“Thank you, Adrien.” Her cheeks warmed as he held her gaze, her mind clouding into a lovestruck haze. She almost got lost in his gorgeous green eyes, but footsteps pounded up the staircase, breaking her trance.

Marinette jumped as her trapdoor swung open, and a familiar pair of icy blue eyes poked through. It was Chloe Bourgeois, and she was pissed.

[beyscape]

The Intern - 1

Andy Barber x Reader

Summary: Being Andy’s intern meant you got to spend more time by his side more than anyone. This was fine, however, until feelings got in the way and made things complicated

Warnings: Age gap, technically cheating, swearing and stuff

Word Count: 2.9k

A/N Spoilers as it progresses! I’ve not read the book and only saw the first two episodes so if you haven’t seen episodes 1 and 2, what are you waiting for go watch them! I’m putting the reader around 26 and Andy around 40.

Chapter 1   Chapter 2   Chapter 3   Chapter 4   Chapter 5

 02:37 am

You sighed at the clock, slightly feeling cheated that only 9 minutes had passed since you last checked it, when it felt like it should have been hours. Sipping at the now cold coffee you bought from the vending machine down the hall, you leaned back in your chair. You had been staring at the mountain of paper scattered around your desk for hours now, yet it didn’t seem like you were able to make a dent into it. It sat there, almost mocking you; you scowled at it.

The office was dark and empty, it had been for some time now as the last person had left sometime after the clock stroke 10 pm. Without the occasional whistling of the night guard patrolling the building, you seemed totally alone. Not just physically too, you felt like you had no one with you, supporting you. Your gaze drifted to the big desk left unoccupied behind the glass wall. Andy Barber, the plaque on the desk read, right next to the messy pen holder and another mountain of paperwork, almost identical to the one you had on your desk. Great, you thought, they could mock you both. Even the pile of paper had someone. You rubbed your eyes as even your thoughts stopped making much sense.

You were tired.

It had been two weeks now that Andy was forced to take a paid leave, following the arrest warrant for his son. Fourteen days. Then why the hell did it feel like fourteen months?

Being Andy’s intern was something you simply loved. You were excited and eager to do your job, straight out of a prestigious law school you had gotten such a good job, so of course you were fresh and happy to please your bosses and wanting to make a great career for yourself by learning from some of the very best. At least, that’s how it started almost a year ago. You had heard of Andy’s name, followed some of his cases as he was one of the best district attorney’s of the whole East Coast. The job wasn’t easy by any means, even though he was a kind man he would never go easy on you about your job. You liked that air of professionalism he carried around him though, it seemed as if he was good at everything he did.

He was incredibly smart, funny, kind, not to mention downright gorgeous, and he would always look at you with such emotion in his eyes that you couldn’t help but feel your heart jump a little every time he gave you one of his deep looks. So, it was an understatement to say you had a crush on him. It was impossible not to! That’s how you tried to comfort yourself in those late-night hours when you were up from tossing and turning and all you could think of was how his lips would taste on yours. It was just a simple, tiny crush that you couldn’t do anything about. Aside from obstacles such as the age gap between you and him technically being your boss there was also the matter of him being married. You had met his family on a couple of occasions, they had seemed like the perfect little American family. No matter how deep your feelings ran, you knew you couldn’t possibly be the reason for breaking apart a family.

It was just a tiny crush anyways.

Your mind drifted to Andy, how his once bright and sharp eyes now seemed tired and the bags forming under his eyes made him look older than he was. It was funny how two weeks can change a man’s life so drastically.

Defending Jacob wasn’t an easy job, what with so many in the office believing that he was responsible with the murder of Ben. You thought of Jacob, images of him visiting Andy in the office sometimes after school flashed in your mind, and how he would shyly smile at you when you offered him some candy or asked about his classes. You just didn’t think that a boy like him could be the murderer. You wanted to catch the actual murderer and put an end to this whole ordeal so that maybe, hopefully things would go back to normal. You had forgotten what normal even was in those two frantic weeks.

You didn’t need to pull such long hours at the office, in fact if Neil found out he would probably make a sly remark about it, but you wanted to. You wanted to catch a murderer and make sure a teenage boy didn’t go to prison over a crime he didn’t commit, but more than those you wanted to help Andy.

You thought of the times he would smile at you, thanking you for your hard work. “I have no idea what I would do without you, Y/N,” he had once said, the words still burning bright in your memory, “I can’t even remember how things were before you came in and started your internship.” His gaze was so intense at that point, his blue eyes so deep you thought you would drown in them if you stared for too long, his smile so relaxed and curved to the one side, his hands playing with the end of his tie he had loosened moments ago, he was everything you had ever wanted and some more. You had lowered your gaze back then, a bashful smile appearing on your heated face. Oh, how you wished you were back at that diner he had taken you out to celebrate after a long and tiresome case.

A sad smile played on your face as you reflected on the many memories you had made in the passing year, all of them equally leaving you flustered. You were so wrapped up in your thoughts however, you didn’t hear the footsteps approaching your part of the floor. Your head snapped as movement entered your peripheral vision, sending a dull ache down your neck sore from slumping over your desk for hours. It was too dark for you to see the face of the person approaching, but you knew him well enough to recognize him just from his silhouette.

Your mouth fell open ever so slightly, your heart picking up its speed as he made his way towards you. What was he doing here at three in the morning on a Tuesday night? He wasn’t even supposed to be allowed in the building! Despite these thoughts and many more swirling through your head, there was one main thought blaring in your mind: you missed him very much. You had seen him around town of course, but it was only here and there and in the passing. Neil had made it very clear that you weren’t to see Andy as “it would create a conflict of interest” he had claimed. You knew though deep down it was because Neil hated Andy’s guts and was probably happy to have him out of the office.

He finally walked close enough that the light of your desk lamp washed over his tired features, you noted the way his hair was a mess spiking up in different directions as if he had been tossing and turning restlessly in bed. He wasn’t wearing his usual work attire, those suits you loved seeing him in, and instead was in a pair of grey sweatpants and a simple hoodie on top. Your gaze shifted back to his face where surprise now gleamed in his eyes along with something else you couldn’t quite place.

“Y/N?” He said and momentarily all you could think of was how much you loved the way your name rolled off of his tongue.

“What are you doing here so late?” He asked as he stopped right in front of your desk, hands casually in his pockets. He didn’t need an answer however as his laid on the paperwork you had sitting in front of you, going page after page about him and more specifically his son’s involvement with the murder case.

“I see. That asshole Neal keeping you here all night? You look like you need some rest.” He remarked with a darkened, displeased look in his eyes. You shook your head, wanting to explain, to say so much, yet never finding the right words.

“I’m here because I want to, Neal has nothing to do with it. I wanna figure out a way to prove Jake’s innocence, to see if we maybe missed something. I don’t believe he did it.” You replied with a fierce passion, your words breaking the silence engulfing the whole building.

“That makes the two of us.” He smiled at that for a briefly, then seemed to catch himself. He frowned, almost feeling guilty for smiling. Your heart panged.

“How about you Mr. Barber? You really are not supposed to be here.”

“How many times have I told you to call me Andy? Kingston was at night shift, told him I forgot to grab some of my personal stuff I needed. And he let me in.” He scratched the back of his neck, slightly swaying on his heels.

“No offense but if Kingston’s just letting people in maybe he needs a little talk.” You teased him, wishing to see him smile once again. He didn’t, but you could easily read the amusement in his eyes. You had spent too long by his side, watching him, to miss those little things.

“You wanna take a walk? Clear your head a little. I know I need that.” He asked in response, surprising both you and himself.

“What about those personal stuff you needed to grab?” You shuffled on your feet to pull on your coat, hoping it would be enough to brace you against the chill of the night.

“Nah, I honestly didn’t know what to do or where to go, one thing I knew was I needed to get out of that house. Next thing I know, I’m in front of the building. Figured I’d try my chance at getting inside. But now that I’ve ran into you, my night’s a bit better.” He motioned towards the door with his head, his hair swaying slightly in the same direction, “Let’s go.”

The elevator ride and the couple of minutes it took to walk through the building was spent in silence aside from Kingston wishing you both a good night at the front security desk, as if you both didn’t know what to say or how to start a conversation. In that same silence you walked towards the park close to the tall grey building you had left moments ago, shivering against the cold of three a.m.

“So,” you started after minutes of silence, not being able to take it any longer, “do you wanna talk about it?” You hugged your arms around your body, tucking your already cold hands.

“It’s just,” he sighed and rolled his shoulders, almost as if trying to drop some of the weight he was carrying, “it’s crazy how fast everything went to shit. He didn’t do it, Y/N, I know my son. And they are ruining his life just like that. I can’t believe all of this and there is nothing I can do as I watch them ruin my son’s future so easily, just like that.” He rubbed his forehead, wishing for things to go back to normal, just as you. You both knew that normal was a long memory now, things could never go back to the way they were. Not entirely.

“I’m so sorry you are going through all this, Mr. Barber. Neither you nor Jake deserve this.” You let out a sigh matching his, desperately wanting to comfort the man who haunted every waking thought you had, yet finding yourself unable to as you glanced at the ring shining on his finger under the orange-ish street lights.

“How many times have I told you to call me Andy?” He turned his gaze to you now, you swallowed.

“More than I can remember the number of, Mr. Barber.” You gave him a cautious smile, unable to hold it in. Your heart swell with happiness as he snorted at your last remark, a soft look on his face as he took you in. You bit your lip before speaking again.

“How is Laurie?” You had to know. Damn your hands which ached to hold him, damn whatever may stand between you, you wanted to take action and do something as the urge, the need to close the distance between you got stronger and stronger. To do that, however, you had to know.

Andy flinched slightly at the mention of his wife, as if he didn’t expect for you to bring her up. Or like he even forgot that he had a wife. A bitter, short laugh escaped his lips as he ruefully examined the sliver band on his finger.

“Laurie is… Laurie. We are fighting again.” He raised his gaze to meet your eyes. You were caught off guard, you raised an eyebrow at the word ‘again’. He continued when you said nothing.

“We have been having some problems, we even had counselling a while ago. Laurie was always so keen about wanting to keep it quiet and locked away, and we tried it for Jake’s sake. Coming from a broken home type of situation, I wanted to try for Jake. These two weeks however, things have been really bad, on top of everything. This whole thing brought back a ton of unresolved bitterness from years ago. I never told anyone that.” He looked at you as if he was seeing you under a new light, his shoulders stood higher and more relaxed. A warm feeling spread in you as he confided in you things he never muttered to another soul, you smiled at him softly, his eyes drawing you in and spinning your head.

“I’m so sorry, Andy.” Was all you needed to say as you lay a delicate hand on his arm, the gentleness in your eyes surprising him and make him feel things he got the taste of so long ago.

One look at the hand you lay on his arm and another at your face, and Andy found himself to be in trouble. He already was, don’t get him wrong, his life seemed to be a magnet for all things bad and problematic at the moment. This, however, was a new kind of trouble as he looked at his intern, this young girl who had diligently followed him for a whole year and always seemed to know exactly what he needed. Before he knew what he was doing, he closed the distance between you with two small steps, and now was so close that you were too afraid to breathe, scared that even the smallest of moves would fully erase the very little gap left between your lips.

Despite your whole body feeling as if you were thrown into a scorching flame and every inch of your skin itching to get even closer, you waited, staring into his eyes with slightly raised eyebrows and hooded eyes. Your mouth was barely open and so was his, you were so close that every time he ruggedly breathed you felt his hot breath caress your lips.

“Fuck,” he whispered before giving in and closing the distance after a painful minute, placing those soft lips you had spent hours fantasizing about on yours. There was nothing gentle with his kiss, getting more and more heated and frantic as if he was a man needing cold water after spending his whole life walking around the desert.

You whimpered against his kiss as Andy’s one hand wrapped around your waist and the other finding your neck, pulling you towards him with no more distance to cover. You were so entangled with each other in the dark, it was hard to tell where one body ended and the other started. Placing one last, this time gentler kiss on your lips, he rested his head against your forehead, his eyes for closed as he breathed a deep breath.

“Oh Y/N,” he said, his voice strained and barely above a whisper, “what are we going to do, baby girl?”

You had no answer for him, a mess of emotions after the kiss that you felt your knees wouldn’t be able to hold you for much longer. So, you clung on Andy, his tense and broad shoulders feeling like they could carry you for as long as you needed, just as Andy’s hands clung on your waist, holding you close to his chest, his forehead still laying against yours.

In the park next to the towering building you both belonged to, you stood together some time after three. The chilly wind making its way into your lungs did nothing against the heat you felt all over your body, not cooling down one bit. In that park, in the safety of the shadows and the quiet of the town, you were safe. Not a defense attorney and his intern, just two people desperately needing to hold each other, too frightened to let go and face the world.

As the clock showed a little past 3 in the morning, you and Andy were safe in the dimly lit park, unaware how much that would change so very soon.

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

There you have it folks! I’m so so whipped for this man. Make sure to follow me so you don’t miss the other chapters! My inbox is open for requests, feedback or just to scream about Chris Evans! :P 

[ruewrites]

Raising Them Right

AO3

WBT

Ships: Diavolo/Lucifer (minor near the end)

Word Count: 3960

Warnings: Abandonement, Self Deprication

A/N:  Here it is! So this is the second fic that was inspired from the one angst anon that wanted to know more about Asmo’s past relationships. I really had a wonderful time writing it, and I hope you guys enjoy!

Lucifer could still remember that day. It was clear in his mind and bit at him like a viper, slowly killing a part of him that was now long lost to time. He knew that Levi and Mammon remembered as well. Maybe Satan. But Asmo and the twins? Not so much. Regardless, he knew it had toyed with his brothers in various ways. Forcing different insecurities and means to cope down their throats. Honestly Lucifer didn’t even get away unscathed. 

Hurt and betrayal had bubbled up in his throat as he tore their room apart. Part of him was looking for an answer of sorts. A reason. But the bigger of him wanted destruction, wanted to erase them from their lives entirely. They chose to leave, so why should they have any memory of them? 

Lilith’s room was left untouched. Lucifer boarded up the door the best he could. This made his heart ache the most. He couldn’t focus too hard on what he was doing. It wouldn’t lead to good things. He needed to keep a steady composure for his brothers. They needed someone to look up to. Someone they could rely on. 

They had all packed up and left that night. The oldest three couldn’t bear to be in the house anymore. Satan hadn’t said anything, conflict swirling within his young mind. Asmo and the twins questioned their actions slightly.

“What if they come back looking for us?”

“Are we gonna go home soon Luci?”

“What if they miss us?”

It made the situation worse. It made Lucifer’s throat tighten and his eyes burn. How could he tell them that they weren’t even going back? That that place was no longer home? That they’d been abandoned? That was how Lucifer saw it, and he could feel that Mammon was just as bitter. His teeth were clenched, trying so hard not to snap at the little ones. They didn’t know any better, and Lucifer wished he could have protected them all from this reality. 

He was helpless.

They’d travelled around for a while, until they found a small motel with a vacancy. The older three had done the math. If they worked enough, they could stay here.. He wasn’t sure who called about them, but he wasn’t surprised. Who wouldn’t have been worried about seven children of varying ages wandering around alone on their own? Honestly, it was the responsible thing to do. Even if Lucifer hated admitting to it.

Ever since that day, Lucifer fought tooth and nail for his family. He refused to let anyone take his brothers away from him, refused to let them be torn apart any more than they already were. He’d heard everything. He was too young to effectively take care of them, that the little ones would be better off in more stable households. These conversations only succeeded in making Lucifer angrier. Eventually they reached a compromise. All seven of them would move in with a family, until further notice. 

Lucifer had agreed to this, but also took it as a challenge to get them their own place as soon as he could.

***********

Lucifer had gotten the call. He put himself down as the primary contact for all of his brothers, so he always knew what was going on with them. 

Deep breaths. In. And out. 

Getting angry at Mammon rarely got him anywhere. It was just frustrating. Mammon was smart  dammit! And he was a good kid deep down. Lucifer knew this, and it made it even worse every time he heard that Mammon had acted out once more. Lucifer had apologized to his professor multiple times about not being able to show up to class, and they understood, but it didn’t make the situation any better.

Lucifer got out of the car and started the routine he’d become so accustomed too. What could it be today? Acting out in class? Snatching something off of the teacher’s desk? Stealing from the cafeteria? Oh Lucifer could only imagine.

Greeting the ladies at the front desk, Lucifer was quickly ushered back to the principal's office. Mammon was hunched over in one of the chair’s, his hoodie obscuring his face.

Suspended.

For getting into a fight with another student.

It wasn’t  a long suspension, but Lucifer still didn’t exactly know how to feel about it. There was a tense silence in the car.It got to the point where Lucifer pulled off into a parking lot and shut his car off. Mammon sank down further in the car seat.

“Would you like to explain yourself?” Lucifer hoped his voice came out even, despite the twitching he felt in his lip. 

“It wasn’t that bad.”

“It wasn’t- Mammon you got suspended.”

More silence.

“Let me see.”

“Luc-”

“Let. Me. See.”

Mammon hesitated for a moment before pulling his hoodie down and looking over at Lucifer. He had a black eye. Lucifer put his head in his hands and Mammon quickly went on to try to explain himself.

“It wasn’t my fault! These guys came along n’ they were makin fun of Levi and were tryin to take his-”

“Levi?”

Lucifer’s head perked up as he looked at Mammon. His frustration slowly melted away as he listened to his brother with new interest.

“Yeah! These guys are normally jerks, but then they started goin at our family, and messing with Levi really bad.”

Lucifer was silent for a moment before starting the car. He was quiet for a few moments before speaking up, “Is there anything you want?”

“What?”

“You know I don’t reward bad behavior Mammon,” Lucifer started, “But I don’t think I consider what you did today bad behavior.”

Mammon blinked a few times before snorting, “You sound like a dad.”

“Don’t push it.”

“Aight aight…. Thanks Lucifer. I’ll think about it.”

***********

Levi had always loved his games, and he was good at them. The time he spent on them honestly had Lucifer concerned for his eyes. They made Levi happy and Lucifer could usually hear him talking about the lore behind them or the characters when he wasn’t talking about his favorite shows or manga.

Lucifer didn't understand any of it, he didn’t pretend to. Usually he couldn’t stop the confusion that spread across his face. Understanding what Levi was trying to understand quantum physics. But Levi didn’t seem to mind, he would continue to talk, excitement rising with each word that passed through his lips. Honestly, Lucifer was fine with anything that made him happy.

As long as his brothers were happy and safe, that was all that mattered.

So when he heard sniffling from Levi’s room, Lucifer couldn’t help but investigate. The door was open ever so slightly. He peeked his head in first, eyes scanning the room and settling on a pile of blankets in the center.

He walked closer and sat down on the bed and let the silence permeate for a moment.

“Levi,” he said softly, the sniffling stopped for a moment, “Why are you crying?”

Levi didn’t say a word. Lucifer didn’t move.

“I’m not gonna do anything or amount to anything,” Levi sniffled, “I’m not good at anything. My interests are weird. I’m  just taking up space and… and-”

And Dad said so.

The unspoken words lingered like a bitter perfume in the air. Lucifer knew their father had most likely said such things to Levi, he knew that he’d probably said more to Levi and the idea made Lucifer’s blood boil. Just because his brother had interests that their parents hadn’t deemed worthwhile, it didn’t  mean that it made them any less important nor did it define his worth in any way. 

Yet the words of their abandoners still ran hot through Levi’s veins, and the idea of his own self worth suffered. 

It was despicable.

Deplorable.

“Who told you this Levi?” Lucifer asked.

The pile of blankets went quiet for a moment, “Just people…”

“Well they’re wrong,” Lucifer said, pulling the blanket down from Levi’s head, “You have plenty of talents and you have a place in this family.”

He picked up one of the controllers around them. The plastic felt awkward in his hands, and the buttons were foreign to him. Levi hadn’t moved, so Lucifer went to the next thing he could think of.

“I’d like it if you could teach me how to play.”

***********

After countless hours of research on cats, Lucifer finally made a decision. Satan had difficulties when it came to being calm. He surrounded himself with teas, and books, and music, but every now and again something (or someone) would ruin the atmosphere he worked so hard to create. Lucifer wanted to help him, he wanted him to find some sort of peace and maybe a cat was just what was needed.

Satan loved cats. Ever since he’d been young he’d had an affinity for them. Lucifer used to catch him setting out scraps for the strays outside of their old house, and maybe on more than one occasion Lucifer had left out said scraps for Satan to find. 

Cerberus was good with other animals, he’d seen the dog around cats and Lucifer didn’t think there’d be any problem with having another pet in the house. Satan was responsible and a wonderful student.  Lucifer wanted to help him and wanted to see him succeed.

“Where are we going?” Satan asked, crawling into the passenger seat. 

“I guess you’ll just have to wait and see.”

The look in his brothers eyes when he realized where they pulled up  to was one Lucifer swore he’d never forget. He asked him not to run as they got out of the car, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. He knew every cat in the shelter would be coming home with them if Satan could have his way, but they would be settling on one.

“Lucifer?”

Satan was staring into one of the pens. A small grey kitten with bright green eyes stared back. Needles to say, the soft bundle made the trip home with them. Lucifer swore that the calmest he’d ever seen Satan was when he was with that cat. He became a happier child and took care of her all on his own. His laughter filled the halls of the home more often, and it was contagious. Lucifer enjoyed seeing Satan smile, and he hoped the world would continue to allow him to have this type of happiness.

***********

Clothing stores had become a second home for the Morningstars. Lucifer swore the clothes he bought for his brothers never fit past the mall dressing rooms. Every other week he was bringing one or two of his brothers for shirts, or pants, or shoes, or some other article of clothing. Today it was him and Asmodeus.

Lucifer pushed the cart down the thin aisle glancing at the various clothes on either side of them with Asmo hot on his heels. However, the closer they got to the usual section the further and further Asmo lagged behind. It wasn’t until Lucifer was in front of the button ups that he realized his younger brother was no longer close behind him. Panic seized him for a moment, thinking he’d lost one of his siblings, but soon he spotted Asmo a few aisles down looking off at something.

“Asmo. Don’t wander off,” Lucifer said, as he approached him. The closer he got to Asmo, the better he could see what he was looking at. 

Pretty bows, flower clips, other sparkling hair pieces, skirts, loose fitting sweaters. Lucifer took a moment, looking over all of the different clothes, before realizing how nervous Asmo looked. Normally he was talkative and bubbly, but right now he was uncharacteristically silent and avoiding Lucifer’s eyes.

His brother had always liked pretty things. He loved picking flowers and having Lucifer catch butterflies for him to look at. He loved to watch the way sparkling dresses twirled in the movies they watched together and looking at the makeup on models on posters in the mall. Lucifer noticed these things, Lucifer knew these things about his brother, but Asmodeus didn’t know that Lucifer knew.  Asmo was worried, and unfortunately Lucifer thought he knew why. 

His brothers deserved to feel safe, to be happy, and even if they’d had a rough beginning, Lucifer wanted to make sure the rest of their stories led to a happy ending.

Lucifer leaned against the cart and offered a smile, “Well, pick out some things to try on.” 

Asmo perked up, looking shocked before a wide grin spread across his face. He put multiple outfits together from various sections and filled the cart. Lucifer honestly hoped they’d last him a while and that he wouldn’t outgrow them as soon as they got home. Asmo’s excitement was contagious.

Later that night, when he dropped him off at Solomon’s, Asmo tore out of the car, excited to show his friend his new clothes, hair clip sparkling in the sunlight.

***********

“Is dinner ready yet?”

Lucifer sighed and put the knife down next to the vegetables he was chopping. Beel had an appetite unlike any he’d come across before.  Doctors had said that he was probably going through a growth spurt and that he was likely going to be tall. A growing boy needed food, and Beel was far from a picky eater.

“Not yet.”

It was the same answer he’d given a few minutes ago.

Beel’s stomach echoed through the small kitchen as Lucifer picked up the knife once more. As he chopped away, his younger brother inched closer until his little eyes were peaking over the counter. A small hand reached out to steal a carrot piece from the counter. It wasn’t sneaky, Lucifer saw, but it didn’t matter.

Beel watched Lucifer in silence for a while, eyes wide and tracing every movement his older brother made.

“Lucifer?”

“Hm?”

“If I help you with dinner will it be done faster?”

The chopping stopped once more as Lucifer thought for a moment. Of course he could let Beel help. He didn’t want him using the knife, but this could still be a good opportunity to learn.  Slowly he nodded and looked towards the vegetables he’d already cut. 

“See those right there? Could you put those into the pot for me? I have another pot on the stove filled with water if you’d like to watch it warm up. When it’s boiling we can put the noodles in,” he said.

Beel’s grin widened and he nodded quickly, almost tripping over himself to help.

“And make sure you wash your hands, and be careful with the stove!”

Dinner had been quite lively that night. Beel chattered on and on about how he’d helped Lucifer with dinner, which led to some of the other younger ones wanting to learn so they could cook what they wanted. Lucifer chuckled quietly to himself. He knew he’d have to teach the rest of them eventually, but he never thought that he’d have a little cooking class on his hands.

***********

Finals had Lucifer stressed. He was running off of at least thirty-six shots of espresso split between six separate cups of coffee. Sleep seemed like a distant and fond memory to him, something he hadn’t experienced in a long while. He almost didn’t pick up on the sounds of small feet slowly padding against the floorboards of the house.

“Lucifer?”

The voice startled him, and he almost spilled one of his cups of coffee that had long gone cold. He swore softly before turning around. The soft glow of his laptop had been the only light source illuminating the room, and it took his eyes a while to adjust. Belphie stood in the doorway, pillow in one hand and his blanket trailing behind him. 

“Don’t tell the others, but,” Belphie was hesitant, his eyes swept to the floor, pink flooding his cheeks, “I had a really bad nightmare, and I can’t fall back asleep.”

Lucifer sat up a bit and tilted his head, “Is there anything you’d like to tell me about it?”

Belphie started to shake his head, then he hesitated. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before shaking his head again. “No,” he said, “But can I stay out here with you? But don’t-”

“Tell anyone? Of course I won’t, but you’re welcome to stay,” he yawned, scooting over ever so slightly to make room on the couch. He could feel his brother hesitate for a moment before wandering over to lay down. Minutes ticked by, and it wasn’t long until Belphie’s eyes shut once more and his small body slowly rose and fell

The more peace he could bring his brothers the better. Even at the slightest disturbance of sleep, Lucifer would smooth back Belphie’s hair in an attempt to calm him. Nightmares had become a common thing after what happened for a lot of them, and that meant Lucifer became alright when dealing with them.

He wasn’t going to leave them ever.

*********

Had he made the right decision? Or had his own pride made him so stupid as to make the worst mistake of his brothers’ lives? Should he have let them be taken by other families, potentially more stable families, and just set up dates to meet? Had he been selfish in his decisions?

These thoughts often plagued Lucifer when he was alone with his own thoughts. He thought about the problems his brothers faced and part of him felt responsible. He felt responsible for their fears, their problems, their worries. Everything bad that afflicted them could potentially be his fault. 

Mammon’s rebellious behavior.

Levi’s self deprecation.

Satan’s frustrations.

Asmo’s issues with his image.

Beel’s misplaced guilt.

Belphie’s angst.

Maybe he thought he could do more for them than he was actually capable of.

Maybe he’d been wrong.

**********

“Lucifer!”

Lucifer’s eyes glanced up from his paperwork to look at Diavolo from across the desk. He’d had piles of paperwork today, it felt like more than usual. There’d also been an influx in clients. New hires would definitely be needed soon. Perhaps he could have a meeting with Diavolo and Barbatos about it. 

“It’s time to clock out!” he said, bright and chipper as usual, “I was wondering if I could walk you home?”

Lucifer sighed and put down his pen. Diavolo was a good man and Lucifer did love him, but sometimes Lucifer felt like he took his work a little less seriously than he did.

Or maybe Lucifer was a little too strict. 

“That isn’t exactly necessary, besides, I have some things I need to finish up before I head home.”

“Nuh uh!” Diavolo clicked his tongue and shook his head, “The last time I let you stay past close to work, you were still here when I got back in the morning! It’s time to clock out. I’ll even help you where I can tomorrow!”

If he could stay on task when Lucifer needed him to. But Diavolo was a good man to work with, and he had proven himself time and time again. So Lucifer really shouldn’t worry himself all too much…

With a sigh of defeat Lucifer stood from his seat, each vertebrae in his spine cracking as he did so. He’d sat longer than he intended to…  “Alright, you win,” he said, “Just let me organize my work.”

Barbatos was waiting for them by the doors of the firm, keys in hand. Diavolo’s hand was pressed firmly against Lucifer’s back as he chattered away excitedly. It brought a soft smile to Lucifer’s face as he nodded to Barbatos. The more he thought about it, the more he realized how routine it had become for the three of them to walk home together. They were two of the closest friends Lucifer had ever had. After all, taking care of his brothers hadn’t left much room for socializing.

He knew Diavolo walking him home would also require him staying to talk for a little bit. Lucifer was already thinking of the variety of teas he could make for the two of them to relax with. His home wasn’t ideal, considering his brothers could be nosey when it came to his relationship, but if it made Diavolo happy it would suffice.

“Thank you,” he said as Diavolo opened the door for him, “Now-”

His sentence was cut short. No sooner had he walked into the kitchen and turned the lights on than confetti streamers went off, and a chorus of ‘surprise!’ surrounded him. 

His brothers were all there, standing with wide smiles and eager faces. In the center of it all was a cake: “Congrats on One Year!”

Diavolo was behind him again, guiding a stunned Lucifer into the room. His hand squeezed his shoulder, excitement coursing through his veins. 

“You haven’t forgotten have you?” Barbatos hummed, “The firm has been around for a year now. Your brothers wanted to congratulate you and asked us both to help.”

Ah. That’s right. This is why Barbatos was their secretary. The man knew how to keep track of the passage of time. 

Seeing that their brother was still in shock, Beel decided to speak up, “We wanted to let you know how proud we are of you.”

“Despite everything you’ve had to do and all the odds stacked against you, you still did it!” Asmo chirped in.

“And you did it while still raising all of us,” Satan smiled.

“Even when we could be the biggest pains in the ass,” Mammon said.

Levi turned to look at him, “Hey, stop talking about yourself Mammon.” 

“Oi!”

“Nah, he’s right, we can all be annoying,” Belphie snorted, “Well, you guys anyways.”

Despite his brother’s bickering, Lucifer’s smile had found its way back on to his face, “Thank you… All of you.”

“Well, why stand here when we have a cake to eat?” Diavolo chuckled, “Come on now Lucifer, let’s take a seat. Ha! That rhymed. Look at me being a poet!”

As Lucifer sat down with the others, he couldn’t help but look over all of his brothers. They’d all grown into such fine young men with bright futures. They were laughing, and happy, and together… They’d had their rough patches and a rather depressing beginning, but now they had a bright future ahead of them. Maybe Lucifer did make the right decision and maybe he’d been too hard on himself at times.

Despite every terrible thing that had happened they’d made it. They’d all beat the odds. As he sat there with his family he looked each of them over.

Confident and boisterous Mammon, who enjoyed drawing in attention.

Passionate Levi, who loved his hobbies more fervently than anyone Lucifer had ever met before.

Intelligent and calculating Satan, who’d always be hungry for knowledge.

Sweet little Asmo, who wore his heart on his sleeve and could spot beauty in anyone.

Gentle giant Beel, who was so compassionate and was always sensitive to the needs of others.

And a mellow Belphie, who knew how to appreciate the little things in life.

Lucifer was proud of them. No. Pride couldn’t even begin to describe the feeling spreading throughout his chest. This feeling was so much more intense. They were all so happy together, and Lucifer wouldn’t give this up for the world.

Their parents would never understand what a grievous mistake they’d made. Lucifer would never understand their reasoning, and he would never make excuses for them.

Lucifer had one thing they’d never have: the love of his brothers.

They would never have the satisfaction of seeing them be successful in life, and Lucifer would make sure they were successful and happy.

Even if Lucifer hadn’t been perfect, he knew he raised them right.

He knew they’d have bright and happy futures.

[osakaso5]

Iori Izumi OFF/TRAVEL Rabbit TV: OFF/TRAVEL@KYOTO

Riku Nanase: So this is the famous Uji Byodoin Omotesando!

Iori Izumi: Nanase-san, I'm going to have to ask you to settle down.

Iori Izumi: Every time you get too excited, your chances of tripping over your own feet increase.

Riku Nanase: Since when do I trip over my feet!?

Riku Nanase: And of course I'm excited, since I get to walk around such a historical part of town!

Iori Izumi: I suppose you have a point, there.

Iori Izumi: But since we were nearly unable to come here, thanks to a certain someone, I'd like you to mind your conduct.

Riku Nanase: You're not still mad that I nearly got us on the wrong train, are you?

Iori Izumi: I am.

Riku Nanase: Ugh, we got here fine in the end!

Riku Nanase: You're the one who mentioned that Uji is on the way to Nara, and made me assume that taking the train to Nara would get us here!

Iori Izumi: Uji is in Kyoto. If we got on a train to Nara, we'd just be leaving Kyoto entirely!

Iori Izumi: Good grief... Did you even check the timetables I sent you?

Riku Nanase: S-sure..! I took a quick look!

Iori Izumi: You should've read them properly, not quickly.

Riku Nanase: Geez, if it was that important, you should've just tell me where we need to go.

Iori Izumi: You...

Riku Nanase: What?

Iori Izumi: ...You looked like you were having fun buying the tickets, so I thought I'd trust you with that task.

Riku Nanase: So you're saying you'll trust me, as long as I'm having fun?

Iori Izumi: I... suppose. You're constantly working yourself to the bone as our center, so you could use the occasional breather.

Riku Nanase: Ahaha! You're not one to lecture others about working too much, Iori!

Riku Nanase: Let's forget all about our fight from earlier, so you can relax a little, too!

Iori Izumi: Haha... Fair enough.  

Iori Izumi: I'll try my best to have fun, then. Why don't we find souvenirs for our teammates and the people from our agency? This time, we won't be doing it for our Seven-irs project.

Riku Nanase: Ahaha! Sounds good to me!

Iori Izumi: Luckily, this place seems to have plenty of places to buy souvenirs from. What should we try first..?

Riku Nanase: We bought something for Sogo-san and Tamaki at Shojuin Temple already, but didn't you also buy something for yourself?

Iori Izumi: It was a good luck charm for Nii-san.  

Riku Nanase: Whoa! You went behind my back for that!?

Iori Izumi: Went behind your back how!? I just planned ahead, like I always do, because I wanted to do something nice for my brother!

Riku Nanase: Yeah, well, I thought about getting Tenn-nii something, too!

Riku Nanase: It's just that the temple was so pretty, it made me feel lightheaded...

Iori Izumi: It was a beautiful place, that I won't argue.  

Iori Izumi: It was very artistic... Even though it had been built in a Japanese style, being there felt like I was visiting a different country altogether.

Riku Nanase: Those heart-shaped windows were cute!

Iori Izumi: They were certainly very unique. I can understand why the place is so popular with girls.

Riku Nanase: Do you think our manager would like to see some of the pictures we took there?

Iori Izumi: I'm sure she would. It might also be a good idea to post those pictures on Rabbistagram.

Riku Nanase: I'll send them to her right away! "Hey, look where I went with Iori..."

Iori Izumi: Do you have to narrate everything you type?

Riku Nanase: Oh! I didn't even realize I was doing that!

Iori Izumi: How unaware can a person be..?

Riku Nanase: ...Whoa, she replied right away. She wants to know if you're having fun, too!

Iori Izumi: Wait, you sent that to our group chat.

Riku Nanase: Maybe you should read your messages more often?

Iori Izumi: You keep treating this like it's a grade school field trip...

Riku Nanase: Oh, so you are having fun! Good!

Iori Izumi: What's good?

Riku Nanase: That you're having fun.

Iori Izumi: ...You said you didn't have many memories of going somewhere with your friends, because you didn't get to participate in school excursions often.

Riku Nanase: Yeah?

Iori Izumi: I was never sickly like you, but, er... I didn't exactly have many close friends, so this sort of thing is very new to me, as well.

Riku Nanase: ...Uh-huh.

Iori Izumi: W-what I'm trying to say is... I am having fun on this trip.

Riku Nanase: Ahaha! You didn't have to say that in such a roundabout way!

Iori Izumi: I think it was logical more than anything else.

Riku Nanase: Okay then, Mr. Logical. Can you find us a shop that we could buy good souvenirs from?

Iori Izumi: Don't call me that...

Riku Nanase: Why not?

Iori Izumi: I don't like it...

Iori Izumi: ...In any case, we should make sure that what we buy isn't too similar to our Seven-irs purchases.

Iori Izumi: Choose something strange to bring back home if you have to...

Riku Nanase: Sure... Ah, how about these keychains!?  

Iori Izumi: Those look way too strange..!

Riku Nanase: You think so? I think they're cute... Look, there's something growing on their backs!

Iori Izumi: ...Are these the kind of designs people buy nowadays..?

Iori Izumi: It appears I still have much to learn about marketing...

Riku Nanase: ..? What are you mumbling about over there?

Iori Izumi: N-nothing.

Riku Nanase: Really..? ...Anyway, it's good that we could get to Kyoto with a bullet train, so Mitsuki and Tamaki didn't have to sit through a scary plane ride!

Iori Izumi: Right, because they fear heights.

Iori Izumi: Though Yotsuba-san nearly had to skip this trip anyway...

Riku Nanase: Oh yeah! It's a good thing you tutored him every day, so he passed all his exams!

Iori Izumi: My sleeping schedule would be a mess if I had to start waking him up in time for supplementary lessons.

Iori Izumi: Honestly... If the prospect of failing his classes makes him that emotional, he should start paying more attention in class.

Riku Nanase: He was crying and yelling: "You can't leave me behind!"

Iori Izumi: Heh... Right.

Riku Nanase: He was probably the most excited about all of us coming here.

Iori Izumi: I could say the same about you. You played games with him until the dead of night, and blamed it on insomnia.

Riku Nanase: You knew..!?

Iori Izumi: Of course I knew. You have no awareness of your surroundings when you're playing. We could all hear you from across the hallway.

Riku Nanase: What..!? Then we must've been really noisy! I'll have to apologize to Nagi and the others later...

Iori Izumi: I believe Rokuya-san was wearing headphones and watching anime at the time, so he was fine...

Riku Nanase: How do you know that!?

Iori Izumi: On the morning of our departure, he kept quoting the show half asleep.

Riku Nanase: You're always so sharp, Iori..! I should really step up my game, since I'm a year older than you...

Iori Izumi: No one expects you to be the smart one, rest assured.

Riku Nanase: Why you..!

Iori Izumi: I'm kidding. I expect plenty of you, Riku Nanase, center of IDOLiSH7.

Riku Nanase: Hehe...! Thanks, Iori!

Riku Nanase: Expect me to find good souvenirs, too!

The End.

Translator’s notes..? 

next up, Gaku’s Marie Mariage Rabbit Chats! 

[air-in-words]

My Sorting Hat Chats Journey

So, hi! I'm back!

I've been doing fun stuff off in the real world, but I decided to talk a little bit about my own Sorting Hat Chats sorting journey, and how it says a lot about self-acceptance, and how understanding who you really are can sometimes only come from being an active participant in life. Here we goooo...

The Beginning

So, my initial sorting was a Burnt Badger/Bird. This had struck me, because I'd never considered myself a Badger in ANY media. I was seen by my friends as a borderline loner, someone who didn't need anyone else. And yet, all the signs were there.

Looking back on my life, I've always migrated in groups, always looked for a nesting ground, and truly that's all I want. A place to nest, a place to rest, where I can feel safe and surrounded by people who love me. But, after a childhood filled with bullying, I found myself embarrassed of my bold face need for friends, and, for some reason, decided getting too close to people for too long was unwise, so I could probably never have a permanent home. And yet, I always found myself in these little "groups," little packs of people that all travel together.

I've always had these friend groups, where everyone knows each other, we all hang out together, and yet it always manages to eventually fall apart. I asked one of my friends how this keeps happening, and who keeps setting up these groups. She blinked sort of vaguely and said, "uh, you do." It was such a strange realization to look back and see myself as the "shepherd" I was, always creating a flock wherever I went. I had always been the spoke of my friend wheels, the only one that was friends with everyone, or actively tried to be friends with everyone. And I would attempt to hold it together, but it would always ultimately shatter, and I'd leave to find and form another. Family is important to me, and it isn't enough for me to bond with one person. I like for all my friends to be friends with each other, for us all to hang out together and enjoy each other's company.

So, although I still struggle, Burnt Badger came out on top, and I believe is still at the top to this day. I still search for belonging. I still search for family. And, yet, my heart seems to have no intention of unburning. Until recently, I had no idea why.

On the other hand, the secondary I received, Bird, seemed to fit like a glove, and was very obvious to me. I've been called the Encyclopedia before, I was made fun of for being caught reading the dictionary like it was a book, and I always seem to have a "fun fact" for every occasion. And all of this seemed to flow directly into me trying to use these facts and this knowledge to win people over, to get to see me as someone that could be their friend, or that I could be reliable as a member of their "group." So, Burnt Badger/Bird simply made sense. The reasons for me avoiding unburning my primary were irrelevant.

The Now

I'd been gone from this side of Tumblr for a bit, and decided to return on a whim. Saw @wisteria-lodge still posting as much as ever, and saw a lot of my posts had been passed around in the meantime (thank ya by the way) and decided to dive back in, because since then, so much of my life has changed. I've had certain people out of my life for a while that were a hindrance on my self-acceptance, I've moved out of my childhood home, and left a job I've had for the past 5 years. I've been forced to constantly LIVE, to make choices, actual choices, and have been offered the chance to be who I truly am, unapologetically.

So, I took the quiz again, curious if I would come up any different.

I got Burnt Badger/Burnt Snake.

This time, I was almost insulted. A flush of memories, of past feelings came to me, most of all the need to push back, to insist in exasperation I'M NOT A LIAR, as though I was tired of defending myself. As hard as I tried, I somehow couldn't seem to get Bird secondary to reappear.... at all. Which was so crazy, because before, that was pretty much all I could get.

So, I went to the experts, the aforementioned wisteria-lodge and @sortinghatchats .

I looked through the Snake secondary tags and found myself lost in memories I had pushed down, so far down even I couldn't find them, wracked with shame and a need to hide this side of myself, something I'd hidden so well I'd pretty much convinced myself it had never existed.

Being a Bird had always been a choice for me. I decided that was what people must want, becoming intelligent, knowing all of these things, showing off, that would make people like me. But, although I can devour books like nobody's business, and I tend to worry and whinge before every major decision, feeling unprepared, I would always find myself falling short of my own expectations. The amount of times I'd promised myself and others to create a plan and study hard, ultimately fail to do so, and then lie to everyone about it was astounding. My public image continued to be "air-in-words the smart girl" but my private image was still LIAR and FAKE.

I would still somehow get all A's. I was very good at remembering facts and excellent at taking tests. I always thought of them like little tricks themselves, meant to trip you up, but if you paid attention, you could figure out the patterns and be able to bluster your way through stuff you might not even fully understand. You can figure out certain words through context clues, and I was always very comfortable trusting my memory with little preparation beforehand. And yet, I still lied and told everyone I'd studied, at least as a child, before high school.

Math was what eventually messed me up, and sent my self-image whirling into the ground. My grades suddenly went from straight A's to D's and F's. My parents were aghast, what had happened??? I was so intelligent, so smart, such a good student. What had gone wrong?? And, although I never admitted it outloud to them, I knew the answer. With math, you can't trick your way out. You either know how to do it and give the right answer, or you don't. And I had never studied a day in my life, never practiced, never worked hard at all. It was my horrible little secret and math had outed me. It continues to out me, because rather than actually work at it and get better, I managed to keep my grades through high school afloat by leaning on my other grades and taking remedial math courses with a teacher who loved me very much and would let me off easy. To this day, honestly, I can barely count. I might actually have some form of dyscalculia, but I know that if I were willing to try a little harder I could get better. But, why would I do that, when this way works just fine? Just coasting through? But, again, no one could know. Not even myself.

Through high school, I began letting people in on my secret Snake, because being a "slacker" was suddenly cool. I still couldn't let my parents know, or the teachers, but coming clean about not being a keener was what earned me new friend groups. I wasn't some weirdo who actually studied all the time: I was a kid who maybe did 60-70% of my homework and slid by on my good memory and general interest in learning. And my reputation. My reputation was key to my success.

College would be the thing that completely threw me to the ground. There were simply too many sirens singing at me, distractions pulling me away from my work. I'd never looked less like a Bird than in college. I was always skipping class, always not studying, and in fact, would openly fail most of my courses. And I just didn't seem to care. I slid into what I guess must have been a sort of neutral zone, but I wasn't happy. The mask was slipping off and I needed out. I couldn't keep up this charade anymore. It was stifling, trying to be a Bird, going to college for a very Bird degree, surrounded by actual Birds, it was all very much what I didn't want. I wanted something less "academic," less, well, boring. Maybe more Snake like.

And, so, here we are. Currently dropped out of college, living in an apartment with my friend, away from my parents' prying eyes, and with a new job that I chose for myself. On the brink of finally understanding myself, and maybe accepting myself as I am.

My Badger primary is burned because of my Snake secondary. Because I thought I was a sham, a liar, a con, and I didn't feel like I deserved to have people close to me. Those traits are bad, and I was a bad person. No one should be tricked by me.

But, after reading some of the stories from the experts and other Snake secondaries, I found this crazy thought, that perhaps being this way isn't a bad thing. Maybe I'm not a bad person. Maybe it's okay to be who I am. Maybe I can use these "powers" for good, and they aren't inherently evil.

So, at least for now, I'm choosing to identify as Burnt Badger/Burnt Snake with Bird Model. Seeing how it feels to accept myself and not try and force myself to be who I think I should be, or who others want me to be (which is a Snake secondary thing in the first place. Lol!)

For Fun, Here's Some Crazy Actual Snake Secondary Things I've Done That I'm Trying to Be Less Ashamed of Now

When I was little, I used to make up crazy stories about things I'd done to seem more interesting. The one that makes me cringe the most is that my uncle has a statue in his backyard that comes to life and goes on adventures with me. My uncle DID have a statue in his backyard that I really loved but no, it didn't (and still hasn't) come to life.

Some of these, I can't explain, like this one, where I somehow had more than one teacher convinced I'd handed in every piece of homework before the one I was giving them the sob story about that day. I literally had a teacher look me in the face, tell me I'd been handing in my homework really well thus far and knew I was trustworthy, so they'd let me slide with no mark against me. Meanwhile, I had missed the homework for the past THREE WEEKS IN A ROW. I just smiled and let it go. Variations of this situation happened throughout high school and college. And, no, I had no good reason not to do the homework. I just didn't want to do it. Lol.

I usually live in the "neutral state" around my close friends, since I think it's disrespectful not to be straight with them, but I have had to turn it on to help them occasionally. One of my friends was having issues with an ex of hers, she was thinking that maybe she should go back out with the guh, and I had been my blunt, neutral self the whole time, telling her flat out that that was a bad idea. But, it wasn't working. "Neutral state" isn't like a Lion's forceful natural state, I guess. So, I decided I would have to push her in a certain direction to help her get through it. I told her she should go back out with him, and although she did sort of call me out for lying, knowing I didn't actually want that, I told her she should if she really think she should. The dude didn't last one date without showing his ass again, and she thanked me for making her do that. Lol.

Finally, at least for this list, my most prized shameful memory, is when I was taking an acting class in college. We were supposed to create a wordless scene as our final, and I hadn't prepared anything, so I just skipped the day we were supposed to do them. But, I decided to show up for the last day to see if I could still somehow pass. She's going through the grades, and looks up and asks me, "I don't have anything written down for you, I can't remember, did you give a performance or not?" I knew I hadn't then, but decided to give one now. I told her yes I had done one, don't you remember came up with a name on the fly. The same friend from the last story was staring at me like she was about to burst. She thought for a moment, then exclaimed, "ah, of course! Yes, I think I remember. I remember you'd done pretty well. What grade did I give you?" I hedged my bets and said A-. Lol. I had never been filled with more pride shame in my life.

[fiddlepickdouglas]

Viva Las Vegas, Pt. 14 - Unexpected Meeting

Summary: Sunset Curve Alive AU, Willex, who will they run into?, 3.2k

@trevor-wilson-covington is the bestie who makes these lovely edits, we stan supportive friends

WARNINGS: death mention, emotional trauma

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13

“Man, I need a break,” Reggie was saying as he strolled with Alex down an unfamiliar street in the early evening, stretching his arms. “I mean, being in the studio all the time has been good, but on top of everything else it’s just so much!”

Unsure where they were headed, Alex walked a few paces ahead on the sidewalk, casually navigating for both of them. He squinted as he looked at Reggie.

“Reggie, you dropped, like, all of your classes once we signed on.”

“Nope!” his friend exclaimed, tilting his head in a proud manner. “I just needed two electives to graduate. It’s okay, though, man. Not everyone finishes their math requirements as a freshman.” Reggie patted Alex’s shoulder, as if it were any sort of consolation.

“No, good for you Reg,” Alex said. His parents had paid for all this private tutoring and even gotten him to take some college credits early. Of course, his only serious plan after high school had been the band so it was all wasted effort, but then all of their attempts with him amounted to that. He was learning to feel less guilty over it. It wasn’t his fault they never cared about what he wanted.

“How long do you think Luke and Bobby are gonna be workshopping their parts together?” Reggie asked.

“Long enough. Where are we going, exactly?”

“Oh, I was just kind of keeping an eye out for anywhere interesting.”

Alex blinked. “I thought we were headed somewhere specific.”

“I’ve only been to this side of L.A. like, once, so I don’t think I’d make a good tour guide,” Reggie stated.

And just like that, Alex’s mind thrust itself back into remembering Willie. He was getting better at not crumbling completely in the moment, but it still felt like his heart was temporarily dunked into a dark ocean of misery. It would remain waterlogged and heavy inside his chest for a while.

“Alex?” Reggie was saying, looking at him with concern. “You okay?”

Snapping his thoughts back to the present, Alex sighed as he looked back at Reggie.

“I’ll be fine.”

He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jean jacket and pressed his arms against his sides. Shoulders hunched, he continued through the crowd. Focusing on walking would hopefully help it wear off. He made every step purposeful, trying to get the weight in his heart to fall through his feet. Reggie’s hand on his shoulder made him turn.

“It’s still rough, isn’t it?” he asked gently. “If I said something - ”

“It’s not your fault,” Alex tried to assure him. “Sometimes it just comes out of nowhere. Besides, I can’t make you and everyone else walk on eggshells.”

“Maybe not, but we’re in this with you. It may have been different for us, but we all met Willie. I’d never seen you warm up to anyone that fast. Even after a few months, it’s still fresh; don’t force yourself to be better for us.”

Pausing on the sidewalk, Alex looked up at Reggie. He tried to smile as gratitude edged its way in, relieving most of the heaviness in his chest.

“I appreciate that, Reg.”

“Of course, man.”

“So,” Alex took a deep breath to let everything else wash away as they kept wandering. “You made it sound like you had a lot going on. Is everything at home okay?”

Reggie shrugged. “Eh...no change there. My mom went to stay with her sister after the last fight, so my dad’s been trying his best to take care of everything, but he’s too upset to handle it well. My little sister has just been sleeping over with friends anyway, and I can handle myself, so - ” he shrugged again, “ - you know, I do what I can.”

Alex nodded. He had nothing really to comment, and Reggie knew he was always there to support him. This wasn’t anything unusual for him, but it still wasn’t right. Neither of them spent much time at their own homes, so wandering through the city like this kept them occupied when they weren’t with the rest of the band. Looking up at the store signs around them, he saw a record store about a block ahead.

“Hey, why don’t we check that out?” he suggested.

“Yeah!” Reggie said, dropping any ounce of gloom from the previous subject and skipping along to catch up with Alex.

A small bell rang as they came through the door, and they immediately began filtering through shelves of records and CDs. Peeking toward the back of the store, Alex could see a counter that offered a menu of food and drinks, some tables, as well as the smallest stage in the world. This seemed like a neat little place.

“Oh,” Reggie started after a while. “I got us a gig playing at my cousin’s wedding.”

“A wedding?” Alex said skeptically, turning from the Pansy Division vinyl he was checking out. “When we’re trying to finish a record and go on tour?”

“It’s Conrad, okay, he’s family! And he said we could make the setlist.”

Alex shrugged, considering that was fair.

“...with his approval.”

At that addition, Alex could only sigh and shake his head.

“And then maybe, you could, I don’t know, finally ask Bobby to be your date?”

Reggie put down the Mötley Crüe album he’d been examining and looked up at him in shock. Alex realized he’d possibly been too blunt. But immediately Reggie began to cover it up, laughing and shaking his head.

“What?” he said, his denial completely transparent. “Was that a...was that supposed to be a joke or something?”

Giving him a look of pity, Alex put his hands on his hips.

“You’re really gonna try to pull the wool over the eyes of your gay friend?”

Caught, Reggie looked back at him in defeat and bowed his head.

“I’m gonna guess you noticed a while ago?”

Nodding, Alex tried to soften his demeanor. 

“There’s been something up with you two for months. How come you haven’t tried to talk to him about it?”

Reggie knit his brow and began fiddling with his fingers.

“Well, I’m a little confused by it, to be honest. Cuz, I mean...I like girls, right?”

“Yeah, so?”

“But I like Bobby, too.”

“Okay.”

His friend looked up at him, expecting more of a reaction. Alex leaned against the shelf and folded his arms.

“Do you think there’s something wrong with you? Because you’re talking to the king of wrong feelings.”

“Well, sometimes I feel like that, but not really. It’s something else,” Reggie said.

“Like what?”

“Well...we’ve been friends for years. It just sort of crept up on me and I don’t know what to do. What if he rejects it? He’s one of my best friends.”

Thinking for a moment, Alex looked down at his feet. He didn’t blame Reggie for being worried. He’d had a mini crush on Bobby for a couple weeks back in ninth grade and had the same dilemma. It was easier for him to get over, though, simply because it had faded quickly.

“Well, I wish I could say if it’s meant to be it’ll happen, but sometimes…”

Sometimes it dies in a fire before there’s any chance of knowing.

He shook his head to get rid of the awful thought and ignored Reggie’s look of concern.

“But if I know Bobby, I don’t think it’s going to harm anything. I think you should go for it, Reg. I truly, honestly, will back you up on that.”

A smile spread wide across Reggie’s face.

“Thanks, man!”

Without fretting over it for another second, he turned back to the shelf of CDs he’d been perusing, and Alex did the same. There was a crazy good selection, and Alex wished he could get his hands on a record player. Playing CDs on a boombox worked for some things, but there was a level of charm in playing something on a vinyl record that appealed to him even more. He made a note to get a small notebook to carry in his fanny pack, hoping to return to this store and make a wishlist of sorts to work toward.

“Do I see Alex and Reggie of Sunset Curve?” A familiar voice said from behind.

Both of them turned to find Flynn standing in the aisle, braids tied up into a high ponytail and eyebrow arched in her usual smart fashion.

“Hey Flynn!” Reggie exclaimed, pulling her into a hug. Alex went in for one afterward, happily surprised.

“Hey guys!” she said, grinning.

“What are you up to?” Alex asked.

“Gonna be performing in a bit,” she said excitedly. “Just a warm up before the main group comes on. I’ve been working on some of my own stuff; I think you guys would love it! Got time to stick around?”

“Sweet!” Reggie raised a fist for her to bump. “I’m down. Alex, wanna stay?”

“Yeah, sounds great!”

He had yet to see what Flynn was capable of. If he were to judge only on knowing she’d been in a duo with Julie, he expected it to be good.

“Also, you should try the burritos here,” Flynn told them. “They are to die for!”

The endless click-rollll-click-click-click of his board filled his ears as Willie moved through the street, feeling the wind pass over him in the way that made freedom feel like he could clutch it in his hands. He’d actually spent today not worrying about Alex. It felt good not to dwell on what little past he had access to. Of course, he still had repetitive dreams about the few memories that had come back, but the backwards one with Caleb in it hadn’t come back ever since he’d gotten to LA. Moving forward felt...nice.

He had spent the morning sketching at the beach, getting all sorts of practice in. The beautiful waves, seagulls, the different activities all around him. Somehow a group of young college kids had gotten him to join their volleyball tournament. Willie wasn’t sure if he’d ever played it before, but once he caught onto the game, he’d gotten surprisingly good. It felt nice to roll up the hem of his jeans and dig his toes into the warm sand while playing with a group of strangers. They’d nicknamed him Mowgli, whatever that meant. He liked the sound of it though.

Heading off to work after cleaning himself up, he realized he could spend all his free time that way. Peacefully sketching, meeting fun people, and enjoying his surroundings. Was that all it took to be happy? Willie chuckled at the thought of how much Caleb had stressed over rising to the top of his business game, never appearing to be satisfied with any of it. Leaving Vegas remained the best decision he’d ever made. Of course, he wasn’t always proud about his method of burning down the shed, but it had been one of those...heat of the moment things.

Willie skated up to the back entrance and shook his hair out after lifting off his helmet. Just a few short hours of making food, some chill entertainment, and he could peace out for the night. He headed inside the store and right into the small kitchen. Thankfully, the store didn’t fit too many patrons and it was never hard to keep up with orders, and Kyle had a system so he never had to leave the kitchen. This basically meant he could jam to the live music during the lulls between orders with no interruption.

Kyle entered the kitchen just as Willie was tying on his apron.

“Hey, dude, thanks for coming. We actually got two acts coming in, so it should be a full crowd. Katelyn can be the MC for the first bit, but do you mind taking over for the second half?”

A twinge of excitement came over Willie and he lit up. He’d never gotten to try being an MC before.

“Don’t mind at all!” he said.

“Alright, man!” Kyle exclaimed. “First two orders up: swamp style nachos and a bog burrito.”

“Got it.”

“We’re up for a big night with these performances,” the girl hosting hyped up the crowd. “Let’s give it up for our artist of the night: Flynn Taylor!”

Reggie cupped his hands over his mouth as he hollered along with everyone else’s applause. Alex clapped with a mouthful of nachos. Flynn stepped onto the stage behind a set of deejay turntables, smirking as she began flipping switches and turning knobs.

“Thanks for coming out here everyone,” she said into the mic. More applause and whistles echoed through the room. “We’re gonna make a lot of noise tonight, so let me hear you get pumped!”

As she began playing a beat, Alex bobbed along, immediately interested. He didn’t know a thing about mixing, so he was highly impressed with the different sounds she was using. Then Flynn picked up the mic and began rapping and the whole room cheered.

“...I’m a princess, I don’t need a prince, boy I’m priceless...I’m here to shut it down like a night shift…”

“Man,” Reggie leaned over to Alex. “She’s so good! I say we book her to open for us ASAP as possible.”

Alex merely snorted and chuckled at Reggie’s misuse of the acronym. He actually enjoyed the idea of having Flynn rapping to open for their rock shows. Gigs where all the bands sounded the same got a little flavorless sometimes.

“Also,” Reggie said as he took a huge bite into his burrito. “This is the best burrito I’ve ever had.”

“Lemme try some, you can try my nachos,” Alex said.

All Reggie could say was Mm! as he passed the burrito over.

The final beats of the first performer echoed in the kitchen where Willie had been dancing, waving various kitchen tools around. He’d thoroughly enjoyed the whole set, and wondered what sounded so familiar about the girl who was rapping. Before he could spend more time thinking about it, Kyle came in.

“Okay, you ready?” he asked.

“I just keep people busy and then announce the next group, right?” Willie guessed.

“Yeah, man, you’ve got this!”

“What’s the next group called?”

“Downslide. And they brought some merch, so it’s a good idea to mention that to the crowd as well.”

“Okay,” Willie nodded, slipping out of his apron. “Maybe I could put their t-shirt on or something, you know, sell the look?”

Kyle looked impressed. “Yeah! I’ll go see what they’ve got.”

He left the kitchen and hardly a minute later returned with a jacket.

“They said you could wear it for the night. Not gonna lie, I wish I could wear this, it’s a sweet jacket.”

Willie slipped it on, and turned around. He didn’t often wear jackets, but whatever it was made of was pretty soft.

“Guess I’m ready,” he said, giving Kyle a hand slide and fist bump before leaving the kitchen. He stepped up behind the microphone and looked out at the crowd, and further back, the empty store.

At that moment, he heard the bell of the store door ring and two guys walked outside. Through the window, a familiar leather jacket passed. Then, he saw a head of blonde hair follow, turning to look both ways to cross the street, and his heart grew to fill all the empty space in his chest. It was unmistakable. It had to be.

“Alex...” he breathed quietly into the microphone. Adrenaline immediately went out to his extremities. The crowd before him looked bewildered as they waited for him to announce the next group.

Glancing offstage, he saw Kyle give him a strange look. Willie shook his head, unclear what message he was sending but ultimately knowing he couldn’t stay at his current spot. Before he could think anything else, his legs were bounding out the door. It felt like every ounce of blood in his veins knew. The search was over.

Reggie and Alex had just reached the opposite corner. He wasn’t going to miss his chance.

“Alex!” he cried, running to meet them.

He immediately thrust his arms around a surprised Alex, gripping him tightly, burying his face into his shoulder.

“Oh my god, Alex!” he said, panting. “It’s so good to see you.”

He didn’t feel the hug didn’t reciprocate, and instead Alex grabbed his shoulders and pushed him away. The darkness of the street seemed to envelop him.

“What are you - ?” Alex started, staring back at Willie like he’d just been assaulted. Then shock wiped over his whole face. Then confusion. And then a pain came over all of it that made Willie’s concern grow.

“What - what is it?” he asked, all the excitement gone.

Alex wouldn’t look him in the eye, and he raised a hand to hold the side of his head.

“No, this isn’t real,” he whispered to himself, shrinking backward and shutting his eyes. “This can’t be real.”

Willie glanced over at Reggie, who also stared like he was seeing the impossible. He could see Alex shaking and heard a rattled breath, and felt tension grow thick in the air. Quickly, he went to take Alex’s face in his hands.

“Alex, hey, look, it’s me,” he soothed. He fought to get a look directly into his eyes. “It’s me, Willie.”

Finally, the green ocean gazed back at him, turbulent and restless. What once had been a grounding rhythm of waves had turned into a maelstrom of despair. Even worse were the tears welling up right before him. Willie watched the storm rage for a few seconds, seeking for a moment of calm.

“What’s wrong?” he murmured, lowering his hands. Alex looked so wounded it frightened him.

“How are you alive?” Alex begged to know.

Blinking, Willie sat back, astounded at those words. While he agreed it was a miracle he was still alive, he couldn’t fathom why Alex would ask such a question. He chuckled merely out of discomfort.

“I’m here.” Willie glanced at Reggie, looking for an explanation. “Flesh and bone. Why? What happened?”

Alex looked at him incredulously, jaw hanging open. He looked so tightly wound and so scattered all at once. 

“Caleb told me you were dead.”

Willie blanched inwardly at the mention of Caleb, but even more so at the rest of that sentence he’d been utterly unprepared to hear.

“He...he - ” he stammered for a moment. “When would you have even talked to him?”

Sharing a look with Reggie, Alex took a deep breath. Then he looked back at Willie hesitantly.

“We see him all the time. We work for him now.”

It was Willie’s turn to drop his jaw.

“We’ve been signed to his record label for a few months now,” Reggie pitched in.

Directing his gaze to the ground, Willie puzzled for a minute.

“Why would I be dead?” he asked, looking back up at Alex.

For a minute Alex simply gazed at him wordlessly.

“I don’t know,” he said. There was a pause as both of them finally looked at each other, fully aware that this was real. And then Alex threw his arms around Willie to return the hug. Willie had to raise himself up on his toes to avoid falling over, and he tightened his grip to remain steady. He felt joy spread through his whole torso and breathed a sigh of relief as hands tangled into his hair. “But that doesn’t matter. I’m so happy to see you.”

[etherealluminescence]

I’d like to request the brothers reacting to GN!MC who suddenly starts crying because they’re so stressed out and everything is just too much for them

Of course Anon!! And if you requested this because you’re stressed, just know it gets better. You’re only at one stage of your life, and once you overcome it you’ll be really proud of yourself! Whether it’s immediate satisfaction or satisfaction you get looking back on how you got it over with. And if you aren’t actually stressed then keep that advice??;; oop i may sound dumb.

I tried to cover different ways of having stress?? Like how it feels like people are pressuring you but by different ways. I’m not sure if this exactly what you wanted, but I tried!!

Brothers comfort a stressed out GN!MC

Lucifer

You were in Lucifer’s office to talk about your grades recently. When you first came to devildom, your grades were doing great, you understood everything fairly easily, then why are your grades suddenly becoming worse and worse?

You were nervously tugging at your sleeves, knowing you were going to be lectured again. You hated it. You were honestly trying your best, but you’ve become busier and busier and the course material seems to just become harder and harder, that it suddenly does not make sense.

Sighing, he looked up at you and placed your test papers down on his desk. “Is something wrong with you?” You knew he didn’t intend for it to sound condescending, but you couldn’t help it. You started to cry.

Lucifer froze. Why were you crying? He didn’t say anything to make you cry, and you aren’t hurt, right?

You were now a shaking, sobbing mess, and Lucifer ran up to you to console you. He had never been the best at comforting others, but he was going to try.

He put an arm on your back and another gently held your hand, and asked if you were hurt. His actions only caused you to cry even harder, it really wasn’t his fault, but at the same time it hurt to hear he didn’t understand just how much pressure was on you.

At this point he was trying his hardest, he even tried to hug you. However, you pushed him off and shouted not to touch you.

At this point he could tell that he did something to upset you, but what? All he did was talk about your grades. Then it clicked.

Lucifer gently began patting your back again and tried asking you if your grades were the cause of it.

Through your sobbing mess, you were able to nod. Now that he got the answer, he still wasn’t sure what to do. He’s never had to comfort anyone before, so he just continued rubbing your back.

It was fine though, you didn’t need any words. You turned around and hugged him tightly, crying into his shirt.

After a half hour, you managed to fully calm yourself down, Lucifer was trying not to make you uncomfortable by any means, so he just continued to hold you and tell you that you’re doing good.

He made it a point to help you out with your classes and check in on you when you’re doing homework to make sure if you know how to do your assignments.

Mammon

You’ve been stressing out over school work for the past few weeks, and it was sort of the brother’s faults. They had been constantly surrounding you and bothering you all the time, leaving you little time to do your work.

You were in your room doing one of your assignments last minute, trying to finish it all before you get in trouble.

Mammon came into your room yelling about his latest money making scheme. He walked up to you and began to grab your arm to drag you off with him. You started to slightly shake and ask him to stop.

He ignored you and said this time it’s for real, it’s a big break. You then yelled out to let go and burst into tears. You started shouting that he never listens and never asks for your opinion, always dragging you off and clinging to you and you have to pay the price for it because he doesn’t care about you.

He’s ultimately shocked and gets a bit upset at you before noticing that you’re crying and having a break down.

He’s been through a few break downs before throughout his many years of life, and knows that you need someone to lean on right now, and apologises to you, giving you a hug.

It’s an awkward hug but he’s still trying his absolute best to tell you it’s okay and that he’s sorry.

He tells you that he didn’t know you didn’t want to do these things, or were falling behind in your work. He tells you that he could help you with math if you need, since he’s great at that, and anything he knows of.

You calm down rather quickly because you just really needed to vent to someone, and be told that it would be okay.

Mammon is there to support you where he can and makes sure to always ask for your opinion on things before making you do them from now own.

Leviathan

You had just been scolded by Lucifer in front of everyone about how you’ve been falling behind and weren’t giving good enough results for Diavolo’s exchange program.

You acted nonchalant about it and after Lucifer left you asked Levi to play the game you two were going to play later.

He was excited at first and you two were walking to his room before he asked if you should do your assignments first.

You tried your best earlier to keep it in, while everyone was there, but now even Levi was telling you what you should or should not do.

You burst into tears and broke down, choking on your sobs as you started to scratch your neck, digging your nails in.

Levi had many break downs during his life, as in a whole lot, and could immediately tell you were having one.

He was freaking out because he’s never had to comfort anyone, and he knew he shouldn’t get someone because you probably would feel like shit if another person saw you like this.

He awkwardly grabbed your wrists and brought you into his room so no one would pass by to see. He then proceeded to awkwardly pass you a controller and tell you that you two can play, and that when you feel better you can talk to him about anything, you can vent as hard as you need.

You took up the offer and started to play ripoff mario kart, and slowly began to forget about your worries by playing. Levi feared that you’d just bottle up again, so he tried to sneak in conversation.

“How have you been doing recently?” He started with small questions until you were venting your heart out. You were stressed, annoyed, tired, and you missed your family.

He couldn’t really do anything about your family, but he told you if you were ever stressed he would always play games with you, and even though he did online schooling he was sort of smart, so if you were willing to learn from a yucky otaku he would help you.

You were feeling a lot better afterwards. Levi also wouldn’t admit it but he let you win and kick his ass at ripoff mario kart to make you feel better.

Satan

You really admired Satan, but sometimes you were envious of him. He seemed like he had all his shit together. He knew what he wanted, he was smart, and he was able to do what he set his mind to.

You on the other hand, you felt like you couldn’t even do the simplest tasks compared to everyone. You couldn’t even use a little bit of magic.

You sighed for the umpteenth time as you were studying with Satan, but just couldn’t understand anything. You appreciated his offer to help you, but you just couldn’t grasp it.

Satan was slightly frustrated but explained it to you one more time. He told you it wasn’t difficult if you used xyz method, and you finally broke. Of course it wasn’t difficult if it were him.

You started to let out small sobs until it was full blown crying. You were tugging on your shirt trying to grip on anything to calm yourself, you just couldn’t think straight.

The words on the paper felt like they were mocking you, saying you couldn’t do anything compared to anymore, and you aggressively threw it across the room screaming for the words in your mind to shut up already.

Satan has read all about human behaviours and knows about mental breakdowns, and is immediately trying to calm you. Your breakdown was similar to his angry fits, how he breaks everything and just wants people to shut up.

You began screaming louder and louder telling nothing to shut up, and to leave you alone. Despite your thrashing, Satan managed to put you in a hug, and gently massage your shoulders.

You were slowly beginning to calm down, while letting out small sobs and hiccups. You knew you were acting unrational and stupidly, but you couldn’t help it. You hated it.

Satan just told you it’s okay and let it out repeatedly as he held onto you, and you cried your heart out.

You cried for about an hour and between mumbled things like you couldn’t do it, you don’t understand, why were you the only one not doing good.

Satan understood that you were probably stressed out with how much work Lucifer made you do, and just how high his expectations were.

Satan continued to console you as long as you need, and will talk to Lucifer and gently convince him to expect less work from you, you’re only a human after all. If he refuses he’s gonna curse Lucifer.

Asmodeous

You were out with Asmo when you were suddenly having a panic attack.

You felt extremely stressed, and that’s why Asmo was taking you to have a spa day, to calm yourself and treat yourself.

However you really couldn’t help it. Part of your stress was the other demons. You feared how they looked down at you, and being with Asmo, the most beautiful demon, caused people to stare at you tenfold.

You hated the feeling of being watched by so many people, you feared them, and you started imagining more than there actually were.

You started to cry and break down. Asmo was immediately putting his jacket around you and taking you somewhere private.

Crying in public is embarrassing, he knows. He’s seen it all.

Behind a building, he’s consoling you, asking you what’s wrong. He knew you were stressed about grades, but currently you two were out, not in doing school work.

You tell Asmo what’s wrong, and he immediately gets it. Social pressure sucks, if he weren’t beautiful he would feel it tenfold.

He’s always being judged by people for his appearance, because he’s beautiful and everyone knows he’s a fashion icon so he just can’t miss the trends.

Asmo tells you about how he relates the best he can, trying not to offend you. You feeling better having someone to relate to and start to cheer up.

You and Asmo spend time together alone instead of the spa, because you just wanted to be with him to calm down, and he refrained from making any moves and respected you until you felt better.

Beelzebub

Beel noticed something was wrong after you didn’t eat all day long, and didn’t really talk much.

He approached you when you were in your room to give you some food, insisting you need to eat. You need to grow up big and healthy.

Even after you refused, Beel insisted you had to eat just a little bit. You were trying your best to lose weight, and knew that if you gave into temptation then, you wouldn’t be able to keep up with the diet.

You told Beel you were on a diet and that you didn’t want to it. This immediately concerned him. Starving yourself was not a diet, it was just harming yourself??

Beel told you that you had to eat something and that’s not how you diet. You began to breakdown and say it’s none of his business, you’re not like him, someone who can eat all day long and still workout and become fit.

Beel went quiet, was this really what you were concerned about? Humans sure are silly. He’s been working out every day for like a thousand years, he hopes he would have some muscle.

Beel wrapped you in a big hug, and told you that you didn’t have to worry about what other people thought of you, and how they perceived you. If you were stressed about looking good in people’s eyes, or even in your own, he would be there for you.

You started to sniffle, and he wiped your tears away. He told you that he’s been working out for a thousand years, and he knows how to be healthy. If you want, he can help you. He was always willing to be there for you.

If anything else was stressing you out as well, like missing your family, friends, grades, he would always be there.

His body warm very warm and he cuddled you until you fell asleep from being so tired and stressed.

-> Beel has never comforted anyone but he seems extremely good at it for some reason.

Belphegor

All Belphie ever wanted to do was sleep. It was like he had absolutely zero worries in the entire world.

That’s what you yelled out after having a small fight with belphie, who interrupted your work you’ve been trying to do for three days.

He was extremely offended and started to yell back at you before you started to cry very loudly and break down.

He immediately stops, not wanting to escalate the situation but had absolutely no clue what to do since you just cried over a small fight.

He was mumbling “uhm” and “ah” awkwardly gripping his shoulder with one arm. You weren’t doing anything but crying, so he tried to just hug you.

“Uhm. I’m not very good at this. I’m sorry for yelling- I didn’t know you were stressed out so let’s just nap it out okay, sorry?”

He really was trying his best, so you tried to calm down but you were still crying. You literally just explained all he cared about was napping and you didn’t want to nap, which frustrated him.

Sensing your frustration he quickly said “or not.”

That did not help and you began to cry again. He tried hugging you, patting your back, speaking a bit.

Finally, he offered to help you with your assignment. He recalled you were working on something before he asked you to take a nap with him.

He hated work, but he was still a student council member. He could at least do one measly assignment. Hearing that, your sobbing started to decrease as you ask “really?”

He was already picking up a pencil and told you to stop crying and he will help as best as he can. You took awhile to calm down, but he did help you.

-> Belphie is bad at this but he’s seriously trying his best just for you. I can’t imagine him doing anything other than freak out really and go wtf is happening and just doing what it takes to get you to stop before finally letting out a very deep long breath.

[miraclekittyandbug]

Ten Questions With A Twist Chapter 5

So very sorry for the short chapter! It’s short but very sweet. Herein you will find a very protective Plagg telling his kitten just how wild these circumstances are and just how valued Adrien is. 

~ Chapter 1 ~ Chapter 2 ~ Chapter 3 ~ Chapter 4 ~ This Chapter ~ Chapter 6 ~ Chapter 7~

He sat down in class for all of three minutes before his internal screaming won out. He excused himself to the bathroom, though Mrs. Mendeliev was not thrilled that he didn’t go during his lunch break. Once there, he checked to ensure he was alone before opening his shirt to let Plagg out.

The kwamii only chuckled and watched his chosen pace. Adrien walked the length of the bathroom incessantly. He put his hands over his mouth to muffle his voice and spoke as loud as he dared to. He tried to talk himself through his revelation, but soon found all he wanted to do was scream. He stopped when he started to feel dizzy and braced himself against the sink.

“She’s Marinette,” he stated, when he finally found his voice.

“Yep,” Plagg responded, digging through Adrien’s bag, presumably to find some cheese.

“She’s Marinette,” he said again, with more certainty, this time. He stared at himself in the mirror until Plagg floated in front of him, obstructing his view.

“Hey, nice going with that ‘black cat named the plague’ thing. That was sneaky and I’m flattered.”

“This isn’t a joke Plagg! It’s Marinette and she has been right in front of me this whole time!”

“Yeah. That’s number 1. You’ve still got a couple parts to go before you’ve got this whole thing figured out.”

Adrien stared at his kwamii, “What do you mean?”  

“You’ll get there eventually. Just keep talking to yourself.”

He wasn’t sure what that meant, but he did as he was told.

“So it’s Marinette. She has been Marinette this whole time. Ever since the beginning. Day one- Marinette.” Plagg just nodded as if his chosen was missing something. “But that can’t be. Marinette is just a friend. If she’s been Marinette this whole time, then…” 

“And here comes number 2…”

“I’m in love with Marinette!”

Plagg clapped and did a flip in the air, “There it is! I’ve been waiting for this day for so. Long. It’s so satisfying to watch it all unfold.”

“No no, this makes so much sense, don’t you get it! It’s so obvious! Everything has been pointing directly at her! She’s brave, kind, courageous, the hair, the eyes, everything! Nino even told me as much! He came up to me not two days ago and looked me in the eyes and told me I was in love with Marinette.” He slapped a hand on his cheek and slid it down his face. “She’s Marinette. I’m in love with Marinette.”

Plagg chose this time to chime in, impersonating some kind of announcer, “And with just one more freak out to go, Adrien ‘she’s just a friend’ Agreste will have to dig deep to figure it out. Let’s see how long it will take him.” 

“Holy shit, Plagg, I’m in love with Marinette and she’s way out of my league.”

Plagg face fell, “What?”

“She’s so amazing! I mean, Ladybug is amazing too, but I’ve seen her trip over her own feet and need her yoyo to save her from falling off of a rooftop. I once caught her singing to herself when she thought she was entirely alone so she was doing this little dance and it was so embarrassing. But Marinette? I mean, come on, she’s incredible. She’s smart, talented, so kind to literally everybody. She’s so put together! She’ll never settle for me! I’m a mess! I have a million things going on in my life and it’ll be so hard to find time to date! Do you think Father would even let me date? Well that doesn’t matter, I’d date her anyway. And that’s just if she likes me back, which I mean would be crazy-”

Adrien was forced to stop when his Kwamii flew right into his face, stopping about two inches from hitting his nose. “Listen here, Adrien. I won’t hear another word about you not being good enough. You are smart, you are talented, YOU are kind to literally everybody. Sure you’re a mess, that’s because your human! And of all people you have even more of a right to be a mess because you’re my kitten! You can talk up that girl all you like and I won’t mind, but the second you say anything bad about the kitten that I raised, you had better bet I’ll have something to say about it.”

Adrien just stared. He looked into Plagg’s green eyes and started to tear up a little. Plagg wasn’t by any means neglectful. But he wasn’t a very touchy-feely feline. To hear all of this come from a creature who didn’t show much emotion other than a love for cheese, it was very touching.

Before he could say anything, Plagg resumed his normal position a few feet away from him. “That third thing is something you already realized. You just need to remember that you realized it.”

A beat of silence bombarded the blonde. Another passed before he screamed, slamming his hand over his mouth just a beat too late. The sound reverberated off of the tile of the bathroom, lingering in his mind while he voiced number 3. “She’s in love with me too.”

“Are you going to be this dopey all the time now that you know?” Plagg asked, honestly concerned. Sure, he had gotten a bit emotional just then, but that was in defense. He didn’t know if he could stand being like that all the time.

“You don’t understand, Plagg. I love her. She loves me. We can be together. Easy as that!”

Plagg went upside down in front of his chosen, “Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but she doesn’t know that you like her. You’re not there yet.”

“Oh, but we will be,” Adrien assured, “we only have a few more questions. And you know what?” He touched his finger to his chin, “I just thought of one more.”

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

~ Chapter 1 ~ Chapter 2 ~ Chapter 3 ~ Chapter 4 ~ This chapter ~ Chapter 6 ~ Chapter 7 ~

Any guesses what that extra question is? Also! Look forward to the next chapter, as it is where we will get the rest of the answers to the existing questions! Any maybe learn what Marinette actually feels about Chat Noir.