#I drew this so fast then ran to take the bus to get to my drafting lessons

[jovieinramshackle]

Quick Gino doodle because I love him and he deserves the world and because he wouldn't leave my brain alone all day in school

tag list: @ramshacklerumble @thehollowwriter @summerspook @scint1llat3 @skriblee-ksk

@cyanide-latte @twistedwonderlandshenanigans @oya-oya-okay @viperbunnies @jadelover69

@twsted-void @lallopsyou (lmk/dm if you wanna be added)

[peachhcs]

𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 | 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬

hughes!sister x will smith au (samy + will)

two times samy and will get injured in a game & then take care of the other afterwards

4.2k words

longest wonder years fic?? this takes place samy & will’s senior year of hs and dev program. this idea popped into my head the other day & i had to write it bc i find it really cute how much they look after one another & care for each other

au masterlist

ONE.

ann arbor's club soccer team was up by a point in a very tense game against battle creek's club team. now that the regular season was finished, samy transitioned from high school soccer to her club team she played with in the off season. her family traveled up from ann arbor into battle creek with the hockey boys in tow on a rather cold sunday afternoon. 

the six of them—will, ryan, gabe, drew, aram, fowler, and vote—piled themselves into mrs. leonard's suv that fit a good seven people and followed mr. and mrs. hughes to the game. they were like a bus piling themselves in and pouring themselves out of the big vehicle ryan offered to drive so they wouldn't have to take two cars. now, they were all huddled together on the bench attempting to stay warm as the cold breeze brushed against their skin. 

"god, how does she play in these temperatures. i'm freezing my ass off," aram complained, blowing into his hands for some more warmth. 

none of them really looked at the weather before they left either, so the boys were pretty poorly dressed for a two hour game. gabe was probably the only one decently dressed in a heavier coat, a hat, and gloves—the others feeling very envious of him at the moment.

"she's got thick skin or some shit, especially wearing shorts and a short sleeve," ryan mumbled, clapping when ann arbor stole the ball back. 

their eyes followed samy's team across the field as the girls struggled to get their feet on the ball. battle creek had a wicked good defense, so scoring wasn't easy. plus, club soccer felt way more competitive than high school soccer, at least in the boys' eyes. it was a lot faster movement, more running, and a lot more contact. 

the youngest hughes waved her hand indicating she was open and wanted the ball. her teammate took it left, trying to fake out the opposing team. battle creek moved faster though and were on their toes as they intercepted the pass and took over. 

samy ran across the field looking for an open or to steal the ball back. her footwork was fast as she bobbed and weaved through the other girls. the guys watched in amazement that she could move that fast, probably crediting some of it to her experience on the ice. 

"let's go samy! take the ball!" ryan was the loudest one in the stands besides ellen and jim. he was never afraid to call out the refs and scream at the other team when they did something wrong. 

"jeez, these girls are hella good," drew mumbled. 

the ball fell to battle creek again. their girls ran up the field towards their goal making ann arbor chase after them before they could score. samy was in the middle of the action as the center forward, making an attempt to get the ball to score again. 

battle creek passed it around, trying to get past the defense. samy's team crowed them, getting ready to block the shot which definitely flustered the other girls. the one who had the ball passed to her teammate who was relatively open for a goal. she got ahold of the ball, taking a shot from a very wide angle to the goal. 

because it was so crowded in the goal area, the players nearly lost track of the ball until it came down on a direct hit to samy's face. the whole field gasped and so did people in the stands when the girl flinched, instinctively covering her face after the hit. 

ellen and jim jumped up and so did will. when samy briefly pulled her hand away there was blood gushing from somewhere that was already staining her hands and dripping onto her jersey. more people gasped when they saw all the blood.

"oh shit," gabe mumbled. 

samy's coach was running onto the field with the athletic trainer on her tail. they quickly ushered her off the field and samy's parents wasted no time rushing off the stands to her. will didn't even think twice either as he followed them and ignored his friend's calls. 

her coach sat her down on the bench when the three got down there. ellen was at her daughter's side in seconds while jim and will stood back to see the damage. she slowly pulled her hand away again so everyone could see what happened and what was bleeding. 

"looks like it busted your lip. you okay? feel okay?" the coach asked, handing the girl a cloth to apply more pressure. 

"i-i think so," samy muttered, still a bit dazed from the whole thing. 

"can you tell me what day it is?" they started doing the concussion check list. 

"december 7th, 2022."

"your full name and birthday?" 

"samantha poppy hughes. january 17th, 2005." 

"what's their names?" her coach pointed to samy's parents and will standing in front of her.

"ellen hughes, jim hughes, and will smith." it seemed like she didn't have a concussion which was a relief, just a really bad busted lip. the thought relieved everyone that it wasn't anything worse, especially will and her parents. 

"keep the cloth on the lip and see if the bleeding slows down. just sit and collect your thoughts," her coach instructed and samy nodded. 

"will, can you sit with her? we're gonna go bring the car around closer if we need to take her to the emergency room," ellen looked at the blonde still standing there. he quickly nodded and took her place on the bench. 

"crazy hit, huh?" the boy wondered and samy nodded.

"a shitty play if you ask me. she wasn't making that from where she took the shot," even hurt, the brunette was still commenting on the game and will laughed. 

"can i see it again?" he wanted to see if the bleeding slowed down at all or not. samy slowly removed the cloth from her bottom lip and surprisingly, it started slowing a little, but the gash looked deep. 

"shit, that looks deep. you still might need stitches," will informed as he inspected it. 

"fuck. it's probably because of how cold it is and the ball was just extra hard today," the girl frowned while putting the cloth back to her lip. 

"yeah, it's fucking freezing. how are you not cold? do you want my jacket?" will remembered that she was in nothing but shorts and a short sleeve. the youngest hughes giggled, but she didn't have time to say no because the blonde was shoving his jacket off and placing it around her shoulders.

"wow, so charming. thanks," she half smiled. 

"i don't think you'd be happy getting hypothermia on top of a split lip," the two shared a laugh, indicating samy was still in good spirits. 

"thanks for coming, by the way. i always like seeing you and everyone up in the stands," she settled herself against the back of the bleachers, sitting close enough that their shoulders and knees touched and will tried ignoring the feeling in his stomach at the contact. 

"what kind of friends would we be if we missed a game? we just need to check the weather before leaving next time," his words made samy giggle again. 

"how you feeling hughes?" samy's coach caught their attention again. the girl removed the cloth to show her the damage again. 

"looks pretty busted. why don't you head back with your parents and get that looked at. you might need stitches. just keep me updated," her coach said and the girl nodded, a bit disappointed she was out for the rest of the game. 

will helped the girl up, picking up her bag for her as they walked to find where ellen and jim ended up. the blonde caught his friends' attention in the stands, motioning to them that they were gonna leave. gabe gathered them all to meet them at the bottom of the bleachers. 

"you all good hughesy?" ryan wondered when they got to them.

"yeah, i think i'm fine. busted my lip, but it doesn't look horrible," the girl shrugged. 

"that was a nasty hit. it looked like it hurt," aram commented and will glared at him because obviously it hurt. 

"yeah, it definitely did, but i'll be fine," samy chuckled nonetheless. 

mr. and mrs. hughes finally reappeared with the car. will helped her over and into the backseat, putting her stuff in the trunk. "thanks will. you boys get home safe!" ellen exclaimed to all of them to which they nodded.

"we will, don't worry," will smiled. he waved to samy and so did the other boys before they drove off towards the hospital. 

it wasn't until they got back into ryan's suv that gabe noticed will didn't have his jacket anymore, "where's your coat?"

for a second the blonde grew confused until he remembered samy still had it on, "oh samy has it. i gave it to her so she wouldn't get cold." 

the darker-haired boy eyed his friend for a moment, about to make a probably smartass comment about that, but he decided to refrain and kept his mouth shut. the blonde noticed gabe's hesitation and raised his eyebrow.

"what?"

"nothing." 

will didn't get it, but the other boys in the car did and they shared knowing glances around the blonde. 

four hours later, samy facetimed will to update him. she connected with a line of stitches across the underside of her bottom lip. "does it look badass?" 

"oh for sure. glad you're okay," will nodded.

"i knew i was gonna be fine. they numbed up my lip that i've just been drooling everywhere. i tried drinking something earlier but i literally spilled it all over myself," samy laughed and will was glad to see her in a good mood despite everything. 

"well at least you're chipper. that's always a good sign of healing," he chuckled. 

"i get them out in twoish weeks, but i can't play until they're out and i'm cleared," she rolled her eyes slightly.

"oh, that sucks. i guess that just means more time you get to come to games?" will grinned. 

"right. by the way, i still have your jacket. i'll give it you whenever i see you which will probably be on wednesday at your game."

"can't wait," the two shared a smile and then proceeded to sit on facetime for the rest of the night. the brunette caught will up on everything she didn't tell him about the week and will caught her up on everything he didn't when he didn't see her. 

if no one knew them, they'd definitely be suspicious of how long their facetimes were when they saw the phone log. the boys definitely were every time will denied there being anything between the two. 

yeah right. 

TWO. 

the holiday hockey tournament was samy's favorite set of games the ntdp put on because each game was a different theme for those in the stands and she always got some type of free treat they were handing out to the fans. last night was your best elf or santa costume and tonight was wear your best holiday pajamas. 

night two was always samy's personal favorite because she got to be comfortable and cozy sitting in the cool arena. she loved it when she was younger because her 10-year-old self had an excuse when she came to watch quinn's games. 

it felt like dev program spirit nights. tomorrow night was wear your best game day outfit which meant people would come in their best threads and samy already had an outfit idea in mind. the girl got herself comfortable three rows up from the glass where she always sat next to grace and ryan's girlfriend who flew out for break. 

the boys were playing against michigan state tonight and everyone was excited for a loud and crowded game since the entire arena sold out. the usa boys were on the ice doing warmups. samy caught will's gaze that looked for her before every start so he knew where she was sitting. she waved and he quickly waved back to her, julianne, and grace. 

"so..what's up with you two?" julianne began with a quizzical look in samy's direction. the brunette raised her eyebrow. 

"what do you mean?" 

"i dunno. still not together?" she poked and the youngest hughes finally understood what her friend was getting at. a flush fell over her cheeks and she glanced over at grace briefly who said nothing but had the same look on her face as julianne. 

"no, we're not. come on, you know we're just friends," samy brushed the comment off while choosing to forget about everything that happened between her, kevin, and will and all the stuff she was still trying to figure out herself. 

"okay. just asking. ryan brings it up sometimes," the blonde hummed while samy's flush turned into slight embarrassment. 

"oh." 

julianne didn't bring it up again after that and samy was left wondering what that meant and what ryan was saying to her. she tried to not think about it too much or else she'd get into her own head and she just wanted to enjoy a game of hockey tonight. 

the team kicked it off thirty minutes later with the first puck drop. the u18s flew across the ice after the puck that michigan easily worked to their favor. playing against the college teams were great experience for the boys who were heading to college next year, but they sure were tough and a bit more experienced than the u18s. 

michigan's boys skated the bends of the rink with the puck. they were good at defense and getting between the players to make passes. samy was on her feet like always, shouting things and following everyone with her eyes. 

"come on! get past them!" she called out to the usa boys. the golden trio as samy liked to call them worked together trying to get ahold of the puck, but man, michigan was quick. 

minnetian finally got his stick on it. he took it up the ice, passing into will's line. the blonde shot his stick out to control it towards the goal. the three girls watched as he passed back to ryan who passed to gabe. the darker-haired boy went for the goal, throwing his hands up when it went into the net. 

the stands cheered for them and samy jumped up in excitement. the other girls closer to the glass screamed gabe's name which definitely inflated his ego a bit as he blew them kisses. julianne, grace, and samy giggled at his behavior. 

"god, he's so weird," julianne shook her head. 

"tell me about it," samy mumbled with a small shake of her head.

the game picked up into a close score. 3-2 in the u18s favor. they were fighting hard tonight, especially will's line who was becoming better and better each game. 

during the second period, things started getting a bit more tense. michigan started getting more touchy, sending some of the boys into the boards in a clean hit as they skated past for the puck. people in the stands started complaining when almost every u18 got sent into the boards by one of the michigan boys. 

"what the hell! let's play fair!" samy called because she didn't think they deserved to be shoved like that. 

will had a hold on the puck, racing towards the other end of the rink to the goal. ryan and gabe were at his sides ready to get a pass if he needed, but then a big guy in green came barreling down the center of them and went head first into the blonde sending both of them to the ground. 

a gasp rippled across the stands and samy jumped up, her own gasp leaving her lips when she saw how hard will fell to the ground. the whistle blew and everyone went still for a second as the teammates crowded around. 

"shit, come on, will. get up," the brunette mumbled under her breath as everyone watched in anticipation. 

will wasn't getting up. the michigan player who hit into him was up and the fans started yelling at the refs to throw him out for that one. 

"he's not getting up," samy mumbled mostly to herself or to julianne and grace if they were listening. she found herself clutching julianne's arm as the refs looked will over. 

"get up, get up, get up," the silence in the stands was a bit deafening as they watched one of the star players lay on the ice somewhat unmoving. 

finally, will was up with the help of the refs. he didn't look good at all. samy caught gabe's gaze in the stands and when they met eyes, he made a motion for her to come down, so she raced down the bleachers without a word. the others clapped, relieved the blonde was at least on his feet. they got will off the ice and took him back into the locker room just as samy made it down to the floor. 

she poked her head into the locker room, watching as will tore his helmet off and fell back against his stall groaning out in pain. she slipped in, knowing they didn't care she was in there. 

"will? are you okay?" she was at his side a moment later, worried when she saw him wince with every movement. the trainers let her slide in next to him on the bench as they tried helping him get his gear off so they could see better. 

"fuck, that hurt so fucking bad," the blonde grumbled. 

"that was a mean hit. i don't know why they started playing so dirty like that," samy shook her head as she also helped the trainers slide will's shoulder pads off. 

the girl moved back as they began examining his shoulder and chest area all while will just groaned and complained of the pain whenever they touched him. the worry was etched into her features because she never saw her friend get hit like that before. 

"ow, ow, ow," will complained when the trainers got his leg pads off next. they felt around his rib cage and hip area, testing out different pressures of each touch and peaking at his skin for any bruising. 

the blonde subconsciously reached out for samy's hand as a way to place the pain somewhere else. she let him take it and he literally squeezed the life out of her hand. 

"it doesn't look or seem like anything's broken, but we're gonna send you in anyway just in case. i think it's just some serious bruising. you took a pretty hard hit and i think your body is just in shock from it," the trainer explained.

"fuck, it feels like i broke something though," will huffed.

"which is why we're gonna recommend you get into the er so they can take some x-rays and confirm. i don't think anything is broken because it doesn't feel like it from what i examined, but i might've missed something smaller," the girl continued. 

"yeah, okay," the blonde nodded. 

"do you have anyone that can take you? are your parents here?" 

"not tonight but my sister is. and you," will looked at samy who quickly flushed. 

"i can go get her," the brunette nodded, ready to get up and get grace, but will held her hand in place before she could move. 

"no, no just text her to come. don't leave me," will nearly begged so the girl didn't move. instead, she pulled her phone out to text grace to come down. 

the older smith sibling was in the locker room a minute later. she frowned at her brother's painful state. "i'm gonna need help getting him up," she looked at samy who nodded. 

the girls put their arms under will's armpits and slowly got him to his feet. the boy groaned out at the movement, literally putting all of his weight on them as they shuffled themselves out of the arena to grace's car. 

"shit, i parked kind of far. do you think you can make it or should i bring the car around?" the older girl wondered. 

"just bring it around. it'll take us forever if i try to walk," will mumbled.

"are you okay here with him for a few minutes?" grace asked samy who nodded and then the girl hurried off to get to find her car. 

"sorry for making you stand in the cold," will mumbled as he tried not to put all of his weight on just samy. 

"it's okay. can i check your bruising again? i wanna see if it got worse," the brunette asked. will nodded and attempted to hold himself up as samy slowly slid his shirt up. 

just as she suspected, there was big purple makes littering will's rib cage where the guy hit into him. his shoulder looked similar, but like the trainer said, nothing looked broken. "it honestly just looks badly bruised," the girl said. 

"i guess that's a relief," will threw his arm back around her shoulder when she was done inspecting. 

"i was worried for a second. you had me scared you weren't gonna get up," samy said after a beat of silence. will peered down at her, a bit of surprise on his features.

"well, i thought i wasn't making it up after hat hit," the blonde grumbled. 

"i'm glad you did though. can't have you getting seriously hurt on me," the girl teased a bit making will crack a smile. 

"i'd never, don't worry. or if i do, at least i know you'll be there for me," a small blush spread across both of their cheeks, but luckily grace drove around before they could say something else. 

samy helped will into the car, trying to gently sit him down without hurting him further. she ruffled up some of his still damp and sweaty curls, "i'll come by and check on you after the game if you're home."

"please do. i'll be expecting you," will teased a bit. samy rolled her eyes, stepping away and waving to the siblings as they drove off. 

despite losing will, the u18s won the game 4-3 which held some redemption for all the players they pushed down throughout. will texted an hour ago that they were back home and he was just badly bruised, nothing broken, so samy decided to stop by and see him like she promised. 

she made her way up the stairs to his room and gently knocked on the door before pushing it open. the blonde glanced up from his phone, smiling at her presence as she slowly shut the door. 

"i'm not broken at least," the boy grinned, throwing his phone to the side. samy rolled her eyes a bit as she sat down on his bed. will carefully pushed himself up some more so he could rest his back against the headboard. 

"that makes me relieved. you guys won 4-3 at least," she smiled.

"i know, gabe texted. that makes me feel a little better that they whipped their asses. still have no idea what was up with them tonight," will huffed.

"yeah me neither. my mom thought it was because they were mad u18s were beating them so they decided to play rough." 

"fucking bullshit honestly. maybe it's because u18s have never had the lead on them like that before," the two snickered before falling into a second of silence. 

"did you at least win the pajama contest?" will changed the subject as he examined samy's holiday pjs more closely. he liked the little reindeer on them and her matching top. 

"no, i didn't, but it's fine. i was still comfortable so that's all that matters," she grinned.

"you'd definitely win if i was judging. how could they not like the reindeers?" the hockey player laughed.

"beats me. a kid in an elf onesie won over me," the girl shrugged but will just rolled his eyes at that. 

"whatever. they just don't have taste," his words earned a tiny blush across samy's cheeks. 

she wanted to change her sitting position, so she crawled up will's bed to sit beside him against the headboard. the blonde instinctively opened his arm for her to get into, locking it around her waist while his other hand clicked the tv on with the remote.

no wonder why julianne asked about them. 

even if samy and will knew it, they'd never talk about it with one another. they were friends and this was them hanging out as friends. there was nothing weird about the way samy talked will's ear off about the rest of the game and the boy just listened while half watching the tv with a content little smile on his lips like everything about her in his arms was so perfect and normal for them. 

and when it was getting late and will's mom hadn't heard much since samy went upstairs she peaked her head into her son's room to find the two cuddled into one another fast asleep in his bed. the older woman stared at the two teenagers for a second before deciding to let them be. 

she also knew. way more than her son and her best friend's daughter did. so she let them be because it was late and she wasn't going to wake samy up just to make her drive the 30 minutes home. 

plus, she figured will could use the company and comfort after tonight's injury.

[cantareincminor]

The Dross - Part 3

Looking back, I am surprised at the wandering nature of some of my discarded writing from Orpheus. I guess hindsight is 20/20, as the whole story is set in stone now, and most events and conversations ended up serving a definitive purpose. Maybe if I had kept some of these discarded sections, I still would have found a way to make the story work, or it might have acted like a butterfly in the time stream and altered major plot events later on.

Chapter 20 was the sparring scene between Twilight and Yor, a major step in the two of them figuring out something was off about the other. Initially it did not start off with Yor's POV in the gym, however. I was going to continue Twilight's reactions to Anya being upset at school in Chapter 19, but it started to go nowhere and lose momentum, both plot-wise and in building tension toward the inevitable clash and identity reveal.

Scene below the cut.

That afternoon at school dismissal, he made sure to stand in a highly visible spot so Anya could see him as soon as she came out the door. Sure enough, her eyes lit up when she saw him, and she ran to him as fast as her short legs could carry her. He lifted her up and enfolded her tightly in his arms, holding her longer than he normally would. 

“I missed you, Anya,” he said. He knew it would sound strange to her, as he seldom expressed any emotion in her presence. 

Anya’s eyes widened and she drew back to look into his face, her little hands clutching the sides of his head. “Papa…I missed you too! I’m so happy to see you!”

He smiled a genuine smile, the type he reserved only for her and Yor. “Let’s have some fun while it’s still light out. What do you say we go to the park? There’s a traveling carnival passing through.”

“Yes!” Anya crowed. “But…what about studying? Professor Henderson said we have to work hard for final exams.”

“Don’t worry about that, Anya. I’ll help you study later. Or,” he said as a look of distaste crossed her face, “Mr. Authen will help you study with Spy Wars reenactments. Maybe we can win a prize at the carnival and give it to him as a thank you gift.”

“Yes! Papa needs to win all the prizes!” She scrambled down from his hold to get in the car, her sad mood seemingly forgotten. 

Later, with an unreasonable number of stuffed toys, a goldfish in a bag, and a half-eaten stick of cotton candy, he drove the drowsy girl toward City Hall so they could pick up Yor from work. He again made sure to park where she would notice him before heading toward the bus. While Anya half-dozed in the back seat, he quietly exited the car and leaned against the side, tapping his fingers against the car door with unusual jitteriness. This should have been nothing out of the ordinary. He’d picked up Yor from work before, had even invited her out for lunch when her workday allowed. But now that things had changed, their relationship accelerating and decelerating at the same time as he wrestled with what was best for Yor, he was prone to feel and act nervous around her.

He finally saw her come down the stone steps, walking beside her superior, an older gentleman with thick glasses and a refined, stately demeanor. Somehow he caught sight of their car and his presence first, pausing their conversation, and Yor naturally followed his gaze to her husband. Twilight’s heart skipped forward as a radiant smile bloomed on her face, and she bid her manager goodbye as she hurried toward him.

A loud whistle from one of her coworkers took her by surprise and caused her to stumble and turn around. Camilla, Millie and Sharon had just come out the door behind her, and the blonde woman held two fingers between her lips with a menacing grin. Sharon merely rolled her eyes and walked on as if fed up with their antics.

Yor turned back toward him with a blush and walked more slowly, looking down at the ground until she reached him. 

“Hi,” he said softly, taking her bag from her. “Good day at work?”

“It was alright. Thank you for coming to pick me up. It’s…it’s a pleasant surprise,” she said uncertainly, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. It was obvious she was flustered by her coworkers’ hawkish eyes on the two of them. Twilight could not care less.

He opened the passenger door for her and gave her a quick peck on the temple as she went inside. Enough to satisfy the hens for now, while still safe enough not to embarrass Yor.

Holding hands as they drove home, he told her about the fabricated events of his day at Berlint General and how he was able to leave work early to surprise Anya with a fun afternoon at the carnival. If Yor had noticed any changes in his parenting approach, she hadn’t yet asked him directly about them. He knew she was pleased that he hadn’t been pressuring Anya to study recently, and had instead been spending more time on the things she enjoyed, simply allowing her to be a kid.

[lilacella]

So this will start out a little spooky and graphic but then it's mostly lighthearted fluff and comic relief so if you're not in the mood for the former scroll past the orange **.

I am aware that Booktok werewolf fiction probably wasn't a thing in the 90s so just imagine the timeline pushed into the future.

Also, Sirius is a dramatic hero again in the first part so...I would say I'm sorry but I have no regrets

This is NOT the last chapter. I know, I said there would be 10 but there will be one more after this.

Nightsky

Chapter 10: In sickness and In health

First Previous Next

It was the summer after Harry's 4th year in

Hogwarts. Sirius and Remus had spent almost the entire day at the Potters backyard, chatting and eating and enjoying the sun. But now it had started to rain and the sun was setting so they had gone in, sharing one last drink in the living room. Harry had been out of the house all day, meeting his friends, had only recently returned and was now ransacking the kitchen for a snack.

"Didn't you eat dinner at the Weasleys?" Lily called to him.

"Yes but I'm still hungry!"

Lily shook her head.

"How can he eat so much and still be so skinny?"

"He's a teenager, Honey. He invests it all into growing upwards." James smiled over his drink.

Their conversation was interrupted by a loud knock at the door. Who could that be at this time?

"I'll go!" Harry called and they heard his footsteps in the hallway. Sirius frowned.

"Are you expecting anyone?"

James and Lily shook their heads and James peered towards the entrance door.

They heard a low voice but Sirius couldn't make out what it said.

"Oh, sure of course. Step in, I'll get my..."

James suddenly jumped to his feet.

"Harry, no!"

The lights went off and an eerie silence surrounded them, only interrupted by the front door slamming shut with a bang. Sirius blood ran cold. The rain. The darkness. A stranger by the door.

When late at night with pouring rain

A stranger asks to be let in

Don't be friendly, don't be polite

Close the door, and run and hide.

A fucking wraith. They only had seconds.

Sirius quickly got up and drew his wand, going to get Harry but James had already run past him and hastily dragged his son into the living room. His face was a ghostly white in the darkness.

"Get Harry out the chimney," he told Sirius. "Quickly."

Sirius nodded.

"Get in the fireplace." He turned to the others. "Hold onto each other. Don't let go! And dull all the surfaces!"

"What is going on?" Harry asked with a trembling voice. "Where's the old lady? She just disappeared!"

"That wasn't a lady. That was a wraith. Harry, listen to me carefully!" Sirius put his hands on Harry's shoulders, trying to keep his tone as calm as possible while at the same time being quick and precise. Time was sparse. "I will send you through the chimney. It's the only way out but it will collapse after I sent you through. You will probably end up in the backyard. Call the knight bus. Let it take you to the Cursbreaker Quarters. Tell them there is an active wraith. Tell them the adress. Tell them there's people still alive. Now go, in there. Hold your arms up."

Harry looked frightened but followed Sirius' directions. He threw one last fearful look over to his mother, searchingfor reassurance. Then Sirius' spell dragged him upwards trough the chimney. Bricks crashed into the fireplace as it collapsed. Sirius let out a breath. At least Harry was safe. He saw a shadow lurking at the doorway. Then everything went really fast.

The wraith lunged forward. Its twisted limbs flailing around as it shot towards Sirius at a terrifying speed. He barely managed to dodge out of its way but in the next moment, he heard a high pitched scream.

"James!"

Sirius shook his hair out of his face only to see how James was dragged to the ceiling, flying around like a puppet. A precisely shot spell hit the deformed figure, causing it to shriek in anger and drop James. James hit the floor with a loud thump. He felt sick.

Lily and Remus immediately rushed to check on James and Merlin, did Sirius want to do the same, but the wraith was still hanging on the ceiling above them, just waiting for the right moment to strike again. Sirius pointed his wand at it in warning, knowing that there wasn't much he could do. Their chances to survive this were slim, the statistics were pretty clear: Only 2% of victims survived the first thirty minutes in a wraith house. 0% for Muggles. But they weren't just people. James and Lily were capable Aurors and he was a cursebreaker. This wasn't the first wraith he saw eye to eye to. But usually, wraithes were a five people job. And he was alone.

He shot a look over to the others. Remus and Lily tried to wake up James but he seemed knocked out. And by the way Lily was crying and the bloody spot on the ceiling, Sirius could imagine what his face looked like. He swallowed hard. It was way more difficult to remain focused when your own loved ones were on the line.

"Try to get underneath something. A table maybe!"

While he tried to stay in between the wraith and the group, the others dragged James towards the kitchen door. Sirius didn't think about it until it was to late. Lily screamed again. But this time not in fear, but in pain. The wraith vanished from the ceiling like a fleeting shadow. Sirius spun around only to see how she dropped James, her right forearm twisted by 180 degees.

"Get down, out of the kitchen!" He yelled in a panic.

There were a few rules regarding wraiths, that had been hammered into their heads during training. One of them was: Never go into the kitchen. There were just too many reflective surfaces.

The wraith, once in the house, took over all mirrors. If you were reflecting in anything, the wraith could control you and bend and break your body at its will. That was how most people died.

Remus dragged Jamed back into the living room by his feet, cowering next to the couch. Lily didn't move. Sirius could see how her head slowly turned, inch by inch. She had been trapped. The wraith was trying to break her neck.

Sirius stormed towards the kitchen and threw dulling spells at everything he could see, yelling at Remus to help him. Remus appeared next to him and finally, with a pained moan, Lilys head snapped back forward and she slumped to the ground.

"Fuck! Get back to James. I'll take Lily," Sirius commanded and helped the half conscious Lily over to the couch. Remus looked terrified, clasping his wand tightly.

"Is there nothing we can do? It's going to come back here!"

"It will. I will try a ban circle but I don't know if it will hold up long enough."

Sirius crawled over to the fireplace and picked up a piece of coal, trying to find a good place on the floor to draw the circle. He had just begun with the banning symbols when a greyish arm reached over the couch, grabbed Remus by the neck and roughly pulled him away, out into the hallway. Sirius put the coal into Lilys left hand, hoping that she'd be able to finish the ban without him and ran.

It had Remus. Not Remus! Please, not Remus. The horror spread through Sirius body like icy water. If he lost Remus... He shook his head violently to drive away the thoughts and stormed after the wraith and Remus' screams.

The wraith had dragged Remus down the stairs to the basement. The door had slammed shut and wouldn't budge. Again, Sirius found himself separated from Remus - Remus who needed him desperately - by a bloody door! He didn't think much about it and made a radical decision.

"Bombada!"

The explosion ripped out the offending piece of wood and the adjoining wall, splinters and chipped stone flying around, hitting him in the face. Sirius didn't care and hastily climed trough the hole.

"Remus!" He yelled, terrified of what he would find downstairs.

At first, he could see nothing. Only hear: a rythmic thumping sound coming from one direction, which he followed. He reluctantly conjured a Lumos, unsure if he wanted to see what was in front of him. When the light appeared, the thumping stopped abruptly.

Sirius stomach turned. Before him, Remus was lying on the floor, his face covered in blood, his nose broken and crushed at a nauseating angle. The wraith had apparently smashed his head against the wall, repeatedly. That must have been the sound he'd heard. Sirius pulled himself together, but just when he wanted to kneel down next to Remus, his husband slowly blinked at him and then averted his gaze to something above his head.

Sirius didn't have time to react before the wraith landed on his head, long cold limbs wrapping around him, squeezing like a vice, threatening to crush his skull. He could feel his jaw snapping out of it's joint and his cheekbones breaking. Yet all he could think about was Remus. If he died right now, so would Remus. Maybe James and Lily would make it, if they got the ban circle right and help showed up in time. But Remus would die. He would die and he would die in pain and Sirius could not let that happen.

He blindly pointed his wand upwards, the wraith immediately grabbed his arm but he managed to hit it anyways. His head was brutally torn backwards, together with the wraiths body and he slammed on the basement floor. He hastily shot spells at the writhing figure in quick succession until it trampled up the stairs, retreating.

Sirius sat on the ground, panting. Blood was pooling in his mouth, his head was throbbing and he could barely see through the veil of pain.

"Sirius? Are you hurt?" Remus voice sounded weak and and nasal.

Sirius could only groan. He couldn't speak. Remus couldn't see this. Don't look at me. He gestured towards the stairs, keeping his head turned away from Remus.

"What is wrong? Are you alright?" Remus came crawling towards him. Sirius shoved him roughly to the side and pointed at the stairs again.

"Sirius..." Sirius grabbed his husband and quickly spun him, so he was now behind Remus back, pushing him up the stairs with shaking legs.

They stumbled out of the hole, back into the hallway. When they made their way towards the livinc room, Sirius heard a sound, coming from behind them. He pushed Remus further towards the door - where he was hoped, safety would await - and turned to face the creature that was thrashing towards him.

He only had a split second to decide what to do. A regular stun spell would drive it back but then it might target the others instead. He had to stop this thing. Binding a wraith technically required four people, one on each side. But this time he would have to do.

He aimed and hit, a powerful surge of magic rushing through his arm through his wand. Thin tendrils of light wrapped around the wraith and held it in place. The creature shrieked and struggled and Sirius felt the tearing in his arm. He wouldn't be able to hold it for long.

Remus cowered next to James and Lily in the darkness, eyes fixed anxiously at the door leading to the hallway where Sirius was fighting with the wraith. Remus knew Sirius was hurt. He hadn't been able to see the full extent of his injuries but he had heard the noise...

A loud, wall shaking bang sounded through the house, accompanied with a sizzeling flash, shining through the doorframe.

"What was that?" Lily hissed.

In the next moment, the wraith crawled trough the door, speeding towards them again. It crashed against the ban circle and recoiled in anger.

In the next second, the front door burst open and they heard a loud voice, yelling commands. Help had come. They had made it.

**

Remus followed the healer into the room. His face was still hurting a little but his broken nose was already healing, thanks to the tending of the healers - and his lycanthropy. A rare upside of his condition. But he barely felt his own pain as he stepped to Sirius' bedside and looked at his mangled body.

He was alive. That had been the biggest relief, after James, Lily and he had been guarded out of the house into the rain. Half of Sirius face was wrapped in bandages and so were his right hand and arm. His broken wand was laying on his bedside table.

Split lengthwise, almost all the way through. Remus remembered the grave words of the cursebreakers, as they had carried Sirius past him. Recoil injury.

Recoils were one of the nastiest side effects you could get from magical misuse. They only occured when extremely strong magic either hit an impenetrable barrier and was thrown back or when the conjured magic was overloading the wand. Usually the latter could be easily avoided, since there were telltale signs before a wand broke from too strong magic, giving you sufficient time to abort the casting. But Sirius hadn't stopped. He must have casted something and held it, even as his wand started to vibrate and crack, menacingly. He must have known this would happen. Remus of course knew, why.

He gingerly traced his fingers over Sirius shoulder, terrified of hurting him, eventhough he was still unconscious.

"When will he wake up?" He asked, turned to the healer.

"I can't say. He might wake in a few days, he might wake in a month. But he will wake. I assure you."

Sirius woke up on the following day. But Remus somehow wished he didn't. Because when Sirius woke up, he was in agony. He could barely move or talk. It took weeks until Remus could finally take him home.

"When can I use my hand again," Sirius asked lowly, sitting on the bedside, rubbing the gnarly scar on the palm of his hand. The recoil had split his hand down the middle, the tears reaching up his arm almost to his elbow.

"You can try, once you've got a new wand. But keep in mind, that your magic might need a bit to fully come back."

Remus nodded, at the words of the healer. He had spent a lot of time in the past weeks to search every medical volume he could find for information about recoil injuries. He wanted to be prepared to take good care of Sirius, the way he had always taken care of him after the moons.

Sirius frowned deeply. "I know." He looked up to Remus, Remus eyes inadvertently got drawn to the thick scar on his face, reaching from his forehead, through his eyebrow, barely past his eye over this lips. Somehow, he still looked perfect to him. Remus offered his hand, helping Sirius up.

"You want to get one right now?" Remus wasn't sure this was the best idea. But Sirius was determined to go to Ollivanders' straight away.

"I need a wand. I have had a wand since I was three! I will not go another day without one!"

"Right, of course love. But we'll go home after that straight away."

They entered the shop, setting off the tingling of the door bell.

"Good morning," Remus called into the empty shop room and Mr. Ollivander appeared abruptly from behind a shelf.

"Morning. What can I do for you?"

"I need a new wand," Sirius said and put the remnants of his last one on the counter.

Mr. Ollivander gasped in shock.

"What did you do with this one?!"

"Recoil."

Mr. Ollivander glanced at Sirius hand and then nodded, slowly, still seemingly shocked. He took off to the back, inspecting the wand, mumbling to himself.

"Dragonheart string and English Oak, interesting combination..."

Sirius impatiently tapped his fingers on the counter while bouncing his knee. Remus put a calming hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently. Sirius looked over, caught, and stopped, leaning slightly against Remus instead.

"It won't, work, why won't it work," Sirius yelled in frustration, throwing his wand onto the table and angrily shook out his trembling hand.

"Sirius," Remus hurried towards him, wrapping him in his arms. "Give it some time, love. It's only been a few days. Your magic will come back!"

"But I can do nothing! Not even a small Lumos! I can't even turn into Padfoot!" Sirius sobbed into Remus shoulder. His sudden inability to use magic was affecting him greatly. Remus had feared for this, as soon as he had read that that could happen. Sirius, the one who had already effortlessly mastered 5th grade spells in first year, without any magic just seemed unthinkable.

"What are we gonna do at the moon? Fuck, I...I'm sorry, Moony..."

Remus pulled Sirius off his shoulder and cupped his face in his hands.

"Don't worry about that! I've got the wolfsbane, I'll be just fine. You need to focus on yourself. Don't put so much pressure on yourself. Maybe you should just leave the wand alone for a couple of days."

Sirius didn't seem convinced and pulled a face like a sullen child. Remus kissed his cheek.

"You will be okay, love."

Sirius was sitting on the couch, staring grumpily out of the window. It had been sixteen weeks since his injury, Harry had long returned to Hogwarts, but Sirius magic still wasn't working. They had went back to St. Mungo's but the Healer had just told them to wait. That it would eventually come back, but there was no way of telling when. Sirius really hadn't liked that answer. In addition to that came the nightmares. They both regularly dreamt of the events of that fateful night. The bloodied faces and screams of their loved ones. There had been weeks where Sirius had woken up every single night, barely being able to go back to sleep with Sleeping Draught and Remus holding him tightly, because he kept seeing things in the shadows of their bedroom. Sirius mood had deteriorated quickly. He lashed out more easily and seemed to have lost interest in pretty much everything.

So when Remus approached him now, he did so with caution:

"Do you want to go on a walk? The weather is quite nice today?

"No Remus, I do not want to go on a stupid walk! Why would I want to do that? To remind me that I can no longer turn into a dog? That I can't conjure an umbrella in case it rains?"

"We could take an umbrella with..."

"NO! I don't want to go on a fucking walk! I'm not that old that that's all I want to do!"

"So what do you want to do?" Remus asked gently, hoping to diffuse the situation.

"I want to use my bloody wand, that's what I want to do! Now do me a favour and stop asking me stupid questions!" Sirius snarled and turned back to the window.

Remus sighed.

"Don't leave it out on me."

He got up but suddenly felt Sirius' hand on his, stopping him.

"Remus...I'm sorry," Sirius said in a small voice. His expression had softened. "I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm sorry...I know it's not your fault."

Remus sank back into the seat. Sirius leaned onto him.

"It is just such a weird feeling and I...It scares me. I feel so...powerless. And I just don't know what to do with myself. I can't work and everything I liked to do involved magic. Or magic was what made it fun."

"So no more hikes?"

"I don't know. Maybe. But when we go out I feel like people stare at me." Sirius pointed at his scarred face. Remus smirked.

"People have always stared at you."

Sirius rolled his eyes, fondly.

"Well but now I notice it."

"I could glare at them for you," Remus offered galantly. Sirius laughed.

"My glare is more effective than yours and you know that."

"Then we'll both glare at them. That should scare them off." He pressed a kiss against Sirius temple. Sirius giggled and leaned back against Remus chest while tenderly playing with his fingers. He turned his head lightly.

"I love you, Remus."

"I love you too, Sirius."

**

"This will cheer you up, I am so sure," Lily said gleefully while handing Sirius his christmas present. They all had done what they could to lighten Sirius mood and Lily had suggested - after Sirius had complained that he couldn't even read because all the books about wizards or magic made him more depressed - that he could try Muggle fiction. Since then, Sirius had made his way through a bunch of famous authors:

Orwell (made him very angry and also very confused about muggle technology), Jane Austen (to many fancy people), Kafka ("Doesn't this man want to find out who turned him into a bug? That would be my first concern"), Tolkien (tricky territory because of Gandalf, but overall a success) and recently Agatha Christie which he loved, to everyones surprise("Ms Marple is just such a lovely lady. I'd love to tag along with her."). But now, Lily had claimed that she had found the perfect genre to keep Sirius entertained.

Remus and James watched intently, as Sirius unwrapped the book and then inspected it with raised eyebrows.

" 'Ravaged by the Wolf?' What the fuck is this? And why is the dude on the cover undressed?"

Remus snatched the book from Sirius hands.

"Erotic werewolf fiction? Lily are you serious?"

Lily laughed like a maniac.

"No, but he is."

Sirius groaned and James cackled.

"Good one, honey."

"This is great. You will love it. Basically describes your life." Lily trailed off into a giggle.

Sirius spent the entire next day snort-laughing about the accursed book, reading the defenseless Remus passages from it.

" 'Alpha Matthew pinned my wrists against the walls, rendering me motionless. <<Know your place, pup.>> he growled lowly into my ear. I could feel my arousal...' "

"Stooop! Please, I'm begging you, this is unendurable!" Remus covered his ears in desperation. Sirius laughed.

"But don't you want to hear what Alpha Matthew does to her? I mean they are 'mates' after all! Don't you want to know what mates do? So you can do it to me?" He smirked suggestively and then burst back into laughter as he saw Remus running his hands over his blushing face.

"I can't believe you've put up with my behaviour so far," Sirius mocked further. "I should have been calling you Alpha Remus this whole time! I apologize profusely!"

Remus groaned in annoyance.

"I don't think I would be an Alpha. Didn't you say they have ranks?"

"Yes, but you'd definitely be a 'top wolf'. You've got the spirit for it!"

"I am taking this as an insult, since you've so far only made snide remarks about all of these people!"

Sirius chuckled.

"But never about you. See, we share a special kind of bond. Since we're mates and all..."

"Siriuuuuss!"

"Nooo not this guy, he's ugly!" Sirius yelled at the TV Lily had gifted them, judging the choices of the young charming lady looking for love in a questionable muggle format. Remus was glad, that Sirius had found something to keep occupied but while he did find Sirius commentary entertaining, he couldn't quite get behind the shows himself. He still watched them with Sirius, since it gave them more cuddle time.

He turned to his husband, popping a piece of popcorn into his mouth and asked:

"I'm ugly. Would you not have chosen me, if we'd been on a format like this?"

Sirius gave him an irritated look.

"You know I don't care about things like that. And you are not ugly! Stop saying that. Anyone that calls my husband ugly, catches hands and I really don't want to hit you."

Remus grinned but insisted.

"But you just called that guy ugly, so you must care a little bit."

"I care because he is simultaneously a douchebag! Ugly inside and out. This man should have no game at all! Really, this woman needs to raise her standards before someone steps on them!"

Remus snorted and almost choked on his popcorn. Sirius was really a force to be reckoned with, even without magic.

Winter and spring had passed in a blur and summertime was gracing them with the first thick heat of the year. The kind that rendered you tired and sluggish. Remus was sitting on the couch, Sirius' head in his lap, watching the latest episode of their favourite home make-over show, windows wide open to at least attempt to let in some fresh air.

" 's so ugly. If someone did this to my house I'd hex them," Sirius murmured sleepily. Remus smiled down at him.

"Don't you like animal print?"

"Not in this extent."

Remus dug his fingers deeper in Sirius hair, massaging his scalp with his fingers. Sirius sighed with enjoymen, then turned his head so Remus would gently scratch under his chin. Remus chest filled with warmth and he chuckled.

"You really are like a dog sometimes."

"Be careful, I might turn into one," Sirius responded and, without warning, suddenly did.

Remus stared. Padfoot stared back. Then he barked, experimentally.

"You...you turned!" Remus exclaimed in excitement.

Padfoot rolled of the couch, examined his paws and then set off zomming through the house. Remus looked after him fondly. It had come back. Of course it had.

[therisingnight]

In early April I took the train from Chicago to South Bend to visit a friend and to get a better view of the eclipse and to take a load of my mind, and on the way down I listened to caroline—the self-titled record by British post-rock octet caroline—for the first time in a while.

The South Shore Line is an interurban, an endangered species of American transit infrastructure. The rails run along the southern edge of Lake Michigan, setting out from downtown Chicago, passing through the Indiana Dunes, and finally alighting at the airport in South Bend. The better half of this course cuts through a heavily industrialized stretch of Chicago's South Side and Northwest Indiana—steel mills, warehouses, railyards, landfills, highways, factory towns of modest single-family homes.

[image taken from the South Shore Line's website.]

In early April it rained, and the clouds threatened to overpower the eclipse, at least in my corner of the Middle West—but there, on the train, the pale clouds drew out the melancholy of that terrain. It has always intrigued me. I live in a dense, walkable urban neighborhood with a lot of office jobs and bus routes and fusion restaurants and things of that nature. This has been the fabric of my adult life. Thus the American Rust Belt, the industrial small town, the contrast between the vastness of manufacture and the smallness of those houses—it has a certain romance. It feels wrong, almost political, to say that about something so ordinary and ubiquitous, but I mean it as well as I can.

There's something wonderful and terrible about the way these man-made things become the very landscape. There's something uncanny about these artificial topographies.

In the afternoon, there was a pale, dreary light, and raindrops ran down the windows of the train, and I listened to caroline, and I meditated upon the vast and small things, on space and on spaces.

caroline was my favorite record of 2022—the year it came out—in large part because it sounds like so few other records. It's an odd melange of folk, minimalist-classical, and rock music, built on repeating musical phrases and gradual crescendi. Its lyrics are sparse but they gesture towards broad, elusive emotional landscapes. It is a record more suggestive than anything else, full of elisions and unrequited tensions.

The vast spaces of caroline's songs are composed of small gestures. Rituals, almost. There is, I think, a counterindustrial impulse in that record, which manifests as text (i.e. distinct yet vague allusions to leftist political organizing), subtext (the preeminence of acoustic instruments on what is ostensibly a rock record) and, I think, metatext (the artificial megaliths, half-abandoned spaces, and distant, incidental cityscapes that underpin the visual language of their music videos and record covers). More than anything else it is a profoundly communal album. It lives upon the patient interplay of its performers. It defies immediacy, flashy showmanship, and conventional songwriting. It has its own self-contained, self-sufficient logic.

(caroline, it also turns out, know a good train ride when they see one. It was meant to be.)

There's something to be said for letting a sound grow loud while the train rolls fast beside the built-up river basin. caroline is a record of grey clouds and sudden color, like the landscape of the industrial Great Lakes. Chords cycle, ringing again and again and again, and the view changes constantly.

That contrast of change and stasis intrigues me most of all. There is a contrast between the organic structures of the music—slow patterns, gradual swells of volume, odd syncopations—and the hard presence of the built industrial environment; there is a contrast between the forward momentum of the railroad—blurred landscapes, glimpses of other lives, the accidental intimacy of running rails between strangers' backyards—and the circular movements that dominate the album.

There's something to be said, too, for listening to such slow music while moving quickly. Have you noticed the relativity of things, how objects in our foregrounds slip in and out of view faster than things that are farther away? You can hear it in songs like "IWR," when individual chords slip by while the whole piece passes over slowly, or in "Skydiving," where countermelodies creep about the edges of the song's main motif. You can see it from the windows of a train, too: the smokestacks are motionless while the gates of the factory whiz past the window.

That afternoon caroline was as much of a journey as the train ride itself. It transported me in its own way. The record has a fixed form that becomes familiar to us, in the same way a train, bound to its rails, runs the same right-of-way over and over. It, too, has its rituals, and god, I love a ritual. I love to learn a place, a path, an experience over and over and draw meaning out of it.

What I'm saying is the train whistle sang at the perfect peak of the chorus of "Good morning," and it felt right.

[shaelashaela]

Before You Were Born, ch. 5

[cw] catcalling, verbal harassment, physical violence [reading time] 7 mins.

“Hey. Hey, pretty. Slow down a sec.”

I averted my eyes and picked up my pace instead. Despite my best efforts to go unnoticed, I had the unfortunate luck of constantly attracting the worst types when I went out. Today it was a young man with spiky hair and an arrogant swagger. He’d followed me for a couple of blocks, probably thinking I didn’t notice him. Once he decided to open his mouth, it confirmed exactly what I assumed about him.

He wouldn’t give up, though. “Yo, I just wanna talk.”

I walked as fast as I could without breaking into a run. My heart kept pace with my feet, and I repeated in my head, Go away. Go away. Go away.

My heart sank as I approached the bus stop. I had to make a choice: either stop now and endure this, or keep moving and find somewhere safe to disappear for a few minutes. The man with the red beard was here again today, though. Maybe if I was closer to him, the other guy might not approach?

I walked up beside him and stopped, still pointing my eyes toward the ground. I hoped the bus would arrive soon, and I shuffled my feet back and forth, trying to be as unassuming as possible.

Spiky-hair stopped just an arm’s length away. “Why’re you bein’ a bitch? I just wanna say hi.”

Cornered, I finally responded without turning around. My voice rattled. “You’ve said it. Now, please leave me alone.”

Red-beard took notice at that point. He wasn’t wearing earbuds today, and he glanced over his shoulder curiously at spiky-hair.

The other man didn’t take the hint. “Just gimme a smile. C’mon.”

Red-beard turned suddenly to me. “Oh, hey! I didn’t see you walk up. C’mere.”

He beckoned with his hand. Confused but too scared to refuse, I leaned down closer to him since he was quite a bit shorter than me. Without warning, he grabbed me around the shoulders and hugged me tight.

“Don’t say anything,” he whispered in my ear. “I’ll let you know when he’s gone.”

His arms were stout like tree branches, so I didn’t feel like I could escape anyways. After a brief pause, I heard spiky-hair swear under his breath and walk away. A moment later, I was released. I regained my senses and drew away from my rescuer, both thankful and wary at the same time. A gasp left my lips; I didn’t even realize I held my breath.

Red-beard resumed his original position, waiting for the bus to arrive. “Sorry that dude was being a dick to you.”

I fidgeted with my skirt, smoothing it out to give my hands and mind something to do. “Th-thanks.”

He didn’t say anything else. Curious, I looked over at him, and for just the briefest of moments I glimpsed grey, bark-encrusted skin underneath his neatly cropped ginger hair. He caught me staring at him and shot me a stern glance right back.

“Hey lady, take a picture,” he quipped, his voice suddenly much colder than it was a moment ago.

I turned away, ashamed for being rude. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to stare.”

He harrumphed indignantly. My curiosity would get the better of me, though. There was only one kind of fey I knew that could pull off elaborate glamour in broad daylight. I had to ask.

“You—you’re a spriggan, aren’t you?”

He threw his hands up in exasperation. “This is the thanks I get? I just ran off that creep, and now you’re trying to blow my cover?”

I should have known better. I tried hard myself not to be noticed (and failed spectacularly, unlike him). But I was fascinated, and I couldn’t help myself. Most elves lost much of their ability to weave complex illusions when the veil between worlds shattered, and we could only do so with considerable effort. Spriggans were masters of the art and could wear whatever appearance they wanted. I was momentarily proud of myself for noticing his true form.

I didn’t want to push away another fey though, considering how few of us there were living among the humans. I apologized to him again, and he waved a hand dismissively at me.

“Forget it,” he responded.

“My name’s Sylvie, by the way.”

His face stretched under the strain of incredulity. “I guess you wanna be friends now?”—he grunted a half-hearted laugh—“I’m Malcolm. Most people just call me Mal.”

I made a friend!

The bus pulled up to the stop, and both of us were relieved for very different reasons. Mal made the same gallant gesture as the other day, motioning for me go first. I found a seat and moved over to let him sit down, but he walked past me. I’m not proud of it, but sometimes I can be a little single-minded. I got up and relocated next to him, blocking him into his window seat. He shook his head in disbelief.

The bus started to move again. I pursed my lips for a moment, trying to think of a good topic for conversation. “So, what brings you here? I didn’t think spriggans liked to venture much outside of the Moonwood.”

“Look lady, don’t make a big deal of this. I’m just trying to live my life. Let’s just say it’s complicated, and I like being alone. Don’t you have any elf friends you can bother?”

I shook my head. “Outside of my parents, I haven’t met any other elves that live here. A few pass through from time to time, but I don’t think they want to stay here. Oh! Though I did learn yesterday that my neighbour’s wife is an elf. Er… well, was an elf. She passed away some time ago. I didn’t even get to meet her.”

He banged his head up against the window. “Jesus, you’re a piece of work.”

I ran my fingers through my hair over and over again, nervously trying to think of what to say next. I annoyed him. Maybe it would be better if I kept my mouth shut.

A rush of air brushed past my legs, just for a second. Odd, since I didn’t see any open windows. I looked down but saw nothing.

Mal sat up, and his brow creased. “What was that?”

I started a reply, but instead cried out as pain shot up my right arm. Sharp icicles pierced my flesh. I looked down, and a faint glow of two red eyes in the midst of churning black smoke stared back at me. I panicked and tried to shake it off, but the shadow creature held tight.

Screams broke out all across the bus as people panicked. Dozens of the biting smoke animals surrounded us. I tried desperately to compose myself and remember what my father taught me about defence against dark magic, but my breath was short and strained. Fear clawed its way up my throat.

Mal climbed over me and slammed his fist down hard on my assailant’s head, and it finally let go. “You are just nothing but trouble for me,” he quipped, and then he tumbled out into the aisle via my lap.

The bus came to a screeching halt, causing further chaos as everyone was thrown forward out of their seats. Thankfully it also disoriented the shadow beasts, scattering them everywhere. I’d never witnessed so many conjurations in one place. I rubbed my throbbing arm, trying to assuage the pain and regain focus. Most of the other passengers took advantage of the momentary lull in the melee to force the doors and emergency exits open and flee, though a few were left behind, struggling to get off the floor.

My new friend got to his feet and tilted his head back and forth until there was an audible crack from his neck. I couldn’t fathom what he was thinking—was he going to beat them all with his bare hands? He’d be overwhelmed for sure!

Since he stood instead of cowered, the creatures all turned their misshapen heads in his direction. Several of them converged into a larger, wolf-like beast made of coalescing smoke and shadow, slightly more opaque as a unit than they were individually. I tried to warn Mal that he would be torn limb from limb, but he wasn’t listening to me anymore.

I felt a surge of energy in the air, a familiar rush of magic that only the fey could muster. It exhilarated me and at least partially cleared my senses. Before my eyes, Mal changed. His human skin melted away as he abandoned his glamour. His body grew to the ceiling like a great oak tree, and his skin turned ashen, bark sprouting from it in irregular patterns. Coppery autumn leaves cascaded from his head and chin in place of hair and beard. The few people who remained on the bus grew still, dumbstruck by his presence.

His voice rumbled like thunder from within his new frame. “Come on, mutt.”

The wolf lunged at him, going for the throat, but Mal was surprisingly agile for his new size. He slammed his fist into the beast’s chest while it was in mid-air, and then with one arm shoved it down so hard that the frame of the bus protested with a metallic groan. He gave it no time to recover and brought his other fist down hard in the same spot, this time striking so hard that his fist split the floor open. The smoky creature dispersed into mere wisps as it was crushed between spriggan might and solid steel.

The horde of fell animals was undeterred, however. While the wolf amalgam was momentarily dealt with, another group of shadows clumped together and fashioned themselves into a great snake. Mal rose back to his full height just as it fell upon him, coiling around his neck. He grunted and fell down to one knee, clutching at his throat.

I swallowed hard. Now was not the time to let my fear take hold of me. If I didn’t do something, the snake would surely choke him to death, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see the wolf slowly reforming itself from its scattered remains.

Time slowed for me as I let the adrenaline take over. I was terrified, but I grabbed onto one of the seats and pulled myself up. All around me, the shadows were closed in, and I wanted nothing more than to run as fast and as far away as possible. I couldn’t leave Mal to die, though. I called upon the discipline my father instilled in me through years of drills. For decades, I had wondered if my skills would ever be tested, and now I knew.

A low murmur rose in my throat as I recited incantations practised a thousand times. My eyes closed, and my mind sought the evil all around me. One by one, they lit in my consciousness like bloody beacons. One, two, three, four… I counted them all. Seventeen in total. It would be difficult, but I had no choice but to believe I could do it.

With two fingers, I drew a sigil in the air, leaving behind a trail of soft white light. Direct casting of sorcery was not one of my strengths, and magic itself weakened in the human world. But I hoped deeply in my gut that it would be enough. One, two, three swift motions—my fingertips reached the point where they’d started, completing the spell.

A hundred tiny darts of light shot out in all directions, seeking the gloom that threatened us. The creatures wailed and gnashed their icy fangs, writhing in pain as magic melted their ethereal bodies. A bead of sweat ran down my temple. Focus for a moment longer, and I’d burn them all.

No such luck, though; one of the shadows slammed into my chest, and I doubled over. It only took one of them to escape my grasp, and I knew I was finished. I closed my eyes and fell. At least I tried. I hoped Mal would forgive me. It was my fault he was caught up in all of this, after all.

I expected to hit the floor, but someone caught me. The low, throaty voice of my spriggan companion touched my ears. “So you’re not useless, after all. Let’s get out of here.”

He threw me over his massive shoulder and ripped a hole in the side of the bus with his bare hands, breaking out into the welcoming daylight.

[amber-michaelson]

Bratty Mood

geralt of rivia x reader

Summary:being the brat and getting the punishment you deserve

Read at own risk

Warning: swearing

geralt pov 

“don’t touch that” i muttered and grabbed the blade out yns hands “what i was gonna help you clean” she whined and walked and pouted next to me “darling i know you wanna help but these are dangerous” i warned and put it back on the table "then how can I help" she whined "go sit over there" I growled and pointed to the chair in the corner she whined walking over and grumpy sat on it "good girl" I smirked and went back to cleaning my weapons.

Yn pov

I waited and waited for geralt to finish or for something to happen, I blushed as he removed his shirt so he didn't dirty it "looking hot babe" I murmured teasingly "not as hot as you" he gave me a glance making him look hotter, I grew wet and became figaty "geralt" I whisper like a soft moan "not now princess" he warned not looking at me, I whimper to myself as I slowly slip my hand into my panties since I was only wear panties and one of geralt’s shirts, I slipped two of my fingers into my pussy and let out soft moans I don't want him to hear me because it was one of the rules I wasn't aloud to touch myself without his permission, i moaned thrusting my fingers in and out while using my thumb to massage my clit "geralt" I whimper a bit to loud my eyes widened I quickly look at geralt 'thank god he didn't hear me' I sign in relief looking up for a brief moment"having fun there princess" I squealed looking at him only for him to be two inches away from me "I'm sorry" I squeaked pulling my hand out and he grabbed it "naughty naughty" he shook his head bringing my hand up to his face and sucked on the fingers I used he knew I liked when he did it "you taste fantastic baby but you are in trouble" he growled "go to the room and strip" he commanded "bu-" "no buts 10" I scrambled to my feet "9" I ran to the bed room "8" I teared off my shirt and panties "7" I climbed onto the bed and spread my legs "6" I could hear his footsteps as he drew near he was taking longer to give me time "5" his voice gave the hall a soft echo "4,3,2" he lingered at the door "1" he growled lowly and stalked his way to the bed “good girl” he muttered and started pulling off his clothes piece by piece.

Geralt pov 

i watched as her body shivered “you were naughty” i growled “im sorry you were just to hot” she whispered her eyes pleading me to touch her “do you deserve me to touch you” i asked leaning to her “please i promise to be good just please help me” she begged slightly lifting her hips towards me “behave” i muttered eyeing her body “please geralt” she whimpered “ i *smack* said *smack* behave” i said slapping her but she whimpered “turn around” i growled she nodded and slowly turned around lifting her hips up “how many spanks should i give you” i murmured rubbing her ass “15″ she whispered “no how about 25″ i smirked “now count” i muttered "ok" she whispers.

Yn pov

I whined as he spanked me "one" "two"

▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎(Skip)▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎

"25" I cried "good girl you did so well" he praised rubbing my ass “now what do you want for your reward” he asked leaning down to me “fill me up please” i whispered  he growled in acknowledgment and moved himself so he was behind me "please make me cum geralt" I whined pushing back into him "you know I will darling" he groaned and slipped inside I moaned as he got balls deep "ready" he asked checking in I nodded eagerly and pushed back "please fuck me" I begged he started thrusting hard and fast, every thrust making my hips jolt forward "fuck baby" he growled and grabbed my hips "you feel fucking amazing" he added I moaned at his praises and the pleasure he was giving me "do you want me to rub your clit" geralt murmured breathing heavily still keeping his rhythm I nodded wordlessly and arched my back as he started rubbing "geralt" I cried shaking in pleasure "are you getting closer baby" he growled "fuck yes please please let me cum" I pleaded "cum for me baby" he groaned and did one final thrust causing both of us to cum "how did that feel baby" he asked and slowly pulled out "thank you geralt that was amazing" I tiredly smiled "ill run us a bath and get you more clothes" he said and stood up "what about cuddles" I whined stretching my arms out to him "I promise in the bath" he said and blew me a kiss before disappearing into the bathroom 'how did I get so lucky'.

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[goggles-mcgee]

Accidental Baby Acquisition

Danny has his portal accident a lot earlier than in the show, 10 years early to be exact. Jack and Maddie had been in the kitchen going over some blueprints and studying some ectoplasm samples they had stored in their fridge. Jazz was out of the house at a friend's house, she made sure her parents remembered. She put it on the houses multiple calenders, in her parents phones, a note on the fridge, and even announced on her way out the door to catch the bus to school that morning. Needless to say the two forgot anyways and thought Jazz was watching Danny in the living room as they tinkered away in the kitchen.

Danny was being a kid, a young kid who was fascinated by his parents work and who just wanted to look at the cool toys they made downstairs in the basement. He was very good at going up and down the stairs by himself, and remembered to put on what his mommy called a HAS-MAP suit....or something like that. His was white and black! Like an astronauts! He couldn't reach his goggles though but he figured it would be fine, he was just looking and nothing was on! And mommy and daddy only wore the goggles when something was glowing.

He hadn't been down there a lot because Jazzy didn't like him down there. She said it was dangerous but mommy and daddy are always down there and they don't say it's dangerous so maybe it's not that bad? He had a fun time looking around! He made sure not to touch anything like a good boy but then he saw the giant circle thing in the back. It looked like the bottom of a rocket ship! Mommy and daddy were building a rocket ship! He excitedly ran towards it but tripped over a big wire, it was close to what daddy called a tension cord! He didn't mean to knock it out he didn't it was unplugged so he plugged it back in carefully because he didn't want his parents to be mad. Then he walked inside the giant metal circle.

He tripped again into the wall of the big circle, he hit a loose piece, he felt bad when it fell off and decided he should get out and go apologize, but then he heard a humming. It got louder and then. Pain.

Jack and Maddie heard the scream. It was. It was awful. Something they would remember forever. They ran as fast as they could to the lab calling out for Jazz and Danny. When they got down they were shocked to see their portal to the Ghost Zone active, and more so to see a small ghost getting up from the floor to look at them. It was mimicking crying. They weren’t idiots. Maddie drew one of her guns with Jack doing the same, she knew she was crying, she had heard her baby. This ghost had to have taken him and was taunting them.

"Where's my baby!?"

"Mommy. Mommy, I hurt." The ghoul cried and Maddie saw white. How dare this thing mimick her child. How dare it try to take advantage of them. She didn't know what happened but she could guess from the way her finger felt cramped and the way her husband had shouted.

She had shot the ghost. It was falling back into the portal. It was getting away. They both scrambled to grab something, anything that would catch it so they could question torture it in on Danny's whereabouts. They were unsuccessful and all they could do was watch the little thing fall further into the portal before it got to far it let out this piercing, in human wail and next thing they knew, both Jack and Maddie awoke on the floor of their lab. It was a wreck, their inventions were thrown all around, some broken, some thankfully intact, but the most devastating realization was to see how damaged the portal was. She screamed.

Jazz was brought home by her friend's mom but when the mom walked her to the door and they heard screaming and crashes, her friend's mom told her to go wait in the car and tell her older daughter to call 911. Jazz was smart. She knew something was wrong, and all she wanted to do was run in there and make sure her baby brother was okay but she listened to Mrs. Richmond anyways. That was the day Danny Fenton went missing. It would be soon that Jazz would go to live with her Aunt Alicia. Maddie and Jack were deemed unfit to take care of her. But that was fine, she would just get in the way of their research. They never reached out.

Danny, lost in the Zone and hurting only wanted to be safe and he just wanted his family. The Zone no longer had a portal to send the little Twilight child out of back to his family but it did the best it could. Danny landed on a chunk of a ghost town, no ghosts were there, it seemed to truly be abandoned.

Flynn Walker went missing when he was 8, that was 10 years ago. His mama had told him not to go messing around the town's local ghost story ridden abandoned train cart out in the woods. Boy sis she tell him many times, and he remembered his dad saying, "Alicia, he's a boy, boys tend to wander and seek adventure." His ma and dad fought a lot, but he liked the idea of adventure. He remembered complaining about wanting to go see the train because all his friends had, and he remembered his dad telling him to go and that he would cover for him if his mom asked. That would be the last time he saw his dad or mom.

The memory was fuzzy but he did remember exploring the train carts and being bored until he got to the last one. It just felt off. It was cold. It was hot. He felt like there were people all around. Then he heard the trains horn...which was very impossible since there were only carts from the train. Not the front. Not the back. Not even the dining cart. It was a couple of the seating ones. But it was when he heard that horn when a flash of green blinded him and he ended up in the Ghost Zone.

He had been trying for years to get back to his mama, but so far, nothing. So he did what his mama taught him, and he survived. He was doing a good job if he did say so himself, he even made some alliances with some ghosts. He knew what to expect in the zone. What he didn't expect was finding a baby ghost hurt on his property. And well, he wasn't going to leave the little thing to die...again. Nor was he going to risk Walker and his men finding the little thing or any other ghoul.

That was the day Flynn Walker accidentally acquired a baby. A ghost baby. A ghost baby who for some odd fucking reason turned human sometimes.

This is another idea that's been floating in my head and I had to put it down somewhere so why not here? I definitely want to write this too! This will have ghost baby Danny being parented by his missing cousin and he will meet his rouge gallery as a baby! And spoiler alert they become attached. Also baby Danny is powerful and they all are kind of in awe at how powerful this tiny baby ghost human is. Jazz lives with her Auntie and gets to be a kid again but she also just really worries about Danny and thinks she sometimes sees him but that's impossible right? Alicia becomes Jazz's guardian and learns just how negligent her sister and husband were to Jazz and Danny and it broke her heart and lit a fire in her like nothing else.

This will have maximum Maddie and Jack salt with them thinking they were in the right but they just also kinda go off the deep end. This will have redeemed Vlad because yes. It will still have Sam and Tucker just in a different way than in the show. I'm thinking of having them be ghosts too but I'm leaning more towards humans that Danny meets when a portal is open again.

[fa1ryofshampoo]

hii! i was wondering if you could do a smut request for heeseung please? where him and the reader are basically always getting cockblocked by the other members leaving both of y’all fed up(especially heeseung). until one day all the boys leave, so heeseung takes out his pent up anger? (i don’t know how describe it lol) on the reader. you can make it as detailed as you want!

thank you and have a great day! <3

hello! here it is! i enjoyed writing this aaA, i hope i did okay here huhu thank you for the request and stay safe! 💟

Thirsty

pairing: lee heeseung x reader

–––––

Today, I have the whole afternoon to myself. Thanks to the strength and power I had I was able to finish the tasks up until noon time. I lie down my bed and scrolled through my phone when my boyfriend's name appeared on my screen, a call incoming.

"Heedeungie." He chuckled at my cute voice.

"Y/N, how are you? Are you busy?"

"I'm good, I'm not busy. I have finished my tasks so I have the rest of the day to spare." I responded.

"Would you like to come over here? I cooked something for the two of us since the boys are all out." I sensed some shyness in his voice on the last sentence. A smile formed on my lips because of my boyfriend's thoughtfulness.

"Okay! I'll text you once I'm near there." We both said our goodbyes and I went to change clothes. Since I'm on the mood to wear something fancier than just jeans and a shirt, I went for a casual dress and a denim jacket matched with my boots. I brushed my hair and gave my pout a touch of my favorite lip tint before I stepped out of my apartment. Dang, it's cold.

While sitting on the bus, I tought of the times me and Heeseung spent on their dorm. Most of the time, the two of us will watch movies or play board games that will eventually end up to us making out in their room. Heeseung, as my first boyfriend, is clingy. He will not hesitate to make the first move and make me feel things I haven't felt before and I love that. One day, when we thought about finally having sex after and when we first tried to do it, Jungwon suddenly knocked on the room saying that the foods they ordered were there already. I remember clearly how hard he was at that time, how I sat on his erection restricted by his boxers and how my school skirt was bunched up to my waist, ready for what was about to happen. But although Heeseung is clingy, he gets pretty flustered easily. That's why when we got interrupted, I know we won't be able to continue anymore. When I came there another time, Heeseung forgot to lock the door so Sunghoon suddenly barged in, thinking the two of us are just chillin' because he heard songs playing inside. But then again, we were almost discarding our clothes. And again, we're interrupted.

Just everytime, every single time we would want to have sex, something has to come up and take away the moment from the both of us. I noticed how Heeseung was flustered and shy the first time it happened and how he was disappointed the last time we got interrupted. I'm wondering if the same thing will happen today even if the boys are out.

I finally saw the familiar sight of their dorm so I went down the bus and texted Heeseung that I'm about to cross the road. Before I could even cross the road, Heeseung was already outside waiting for me. When I reached him he immediately embraced me. He smells so freakin' good, goodness gracious. He wore just plain white shirt and a black baggy sweatpants. His hair now black with an almost mullet making him even more attractive. Can he get even more attractive?

"Someone missed me so much, the stares are melting me." I lightly slapped his arm making him laugh.

When I entered the dorm, Heeseung closed the door and trapped me between his arms, devouring my mouth. I was a bit surprised but immediately responded to the kiss. His hands ran down my hands and I can feel him taking his time. We're not rushing things and we're letting our bodies move accordingly. To my dismay, my stomach grumbled in the middle of our make out sesh. Heeseung opened his eyes, chuckling after he realized my stomach complained. I looked at him apologetically and before I could say anything, Heeseung opened his mouth to speak. "It's okay, Y/N. I know I prepared food and before they get cold and you collapse from hunger let's eat now." No wonder I had a big time crush on him up until now.

After eating the foods he prepared, he took my hand and played some upbeat songs to dance jam with. We continued to dance and converse until we finally felt like sitting already. We sat on the couch and decided to drink some soju.

"Time flies so fast, it's already four in the afternoon. When will the boys come home?" I asked him while he poured me a drink.

"Jungwon, Sunoo and Ni-Ki will be home by nine I guess. They said they'll be having dinner outside. Sunghoon, Jake and Jay won't be home until tomorrow morning due to their personal errands." My mouth formed an 'o'. It's very rare that the boys go out and have time of their own.

"Thank you for spending your spare time with me. I really appreciate it." I raised my glass and took a shot of it. "Oh, shoot. That still hits!" My face grimaced with the taste of alcohol. Heeseung laughed at my expression. He know how low my alcohol tolerance is so he never lets me finish a bottle to myself. After a few more shots, I know that tipsy is enough so I stopped. Heeseung drank the remaining drink. Despite the cold weather, sweat formed on his temples. I took a good look at the sight in front of me. My boyfriend, gulping from the bottle, adam's apple shifting with every gulp, his shirt hanging low down to his chest, eyebrows furrowing from the aftertaste of the alcohol. Heavenly.

"You might drool, sweetheart." To my surprise, Heeseung was already mere centimeters away from my face. He played with the lace of the hem of my dress. "You dolled up for me today with this dress despite the fact we're staying at home and it's freezing cold outside." I can only look at him, too tempted of his actions. "I see you wore the lip tint I gave you. I was right when I thought it would suit you." His gaze went down to my lips. He held my hand and I squeezed it.

No words needed, he gave me wet kisses on my neck. "Do you know how much I waited to finally have time with you alone?" He managed to mumble while still kissing my jaw and everywhere else he could. I can feel he's getting impatient but he still made sure to savor every moment. I can only hum as a response. I turned his head to mine and kissed him. The taste and the flavor of the drink lingered everytime our tongues fought. "Your lips taste so good, Heeseung." He bit my bottom lip and held my hair to deepen the kiss. Fervor grew each and every minute, my denim jacket, his shirt and sweatpants now discarded while he held my thighs and I straddled him. He held onto my ass before standing up and giving it a sharp slap that made me yelp. I can feel the erection growing from his sweatpants. I rolled my hips to make my pooling core meet his member that made him groan. I noticed how his half-lidded eyes are now filled with so much lust.

"Heeseung, please just fuck me now." I continued to roll my hips in his. Growing impatient, he pinned me to the wall and bunched my dress up to my waist. He took his cock out and pushed my panties aside. He held my waist as I slowly sat down on his thick cock. When I was finally halfway, he thrusted up and picked up his pace immediately. His movements show how much he's thirsty to do this all along. Heeseung played and flicked my nipples with his tongue while kneading the other one. I didn't know how to react, all I know was the dorm was filled with our moaning noises. "You know how much I wanted to pound into you like this, hm? I know you wanted me to fuck you too huh don't you?" His brows furrowed while his eyes remained filled with lust. "Want me to fuck you real hard? Use your words baby."

"Yes, Heeseung please!" Tears started forming in my eyes from pleasure. "Yeah, I like that. Always say please, baby." I rolled my hips to meet his movements and moaned directly into his ear. I kissed the spot behind his ear making him moan. Heeseung opened their room and lay me down his bed without breaking our kiss and position. Once I was comfortably laying down, he took one of my legs up and placed it on his shoulders. I ran my hands on his well-built chest and his abs. I took time to admire my heavenly-looking boyfriend hungrily fucking me. "Fuck, Heeseung. You look so hot." I cannot contain it any longer. "You too, Y/N, you look hotter than hell." He pulled my dress up and throwing it somewhere in the room, leaving me with my underwear. He took away my bra and without a warning, he tore my panties not wanting to pull out from me. My mouth opened agape in surprise from him tearing my panty and his thrusts growing even faster, hitting a spot that made me emit a high-pitched moan. "Just like that, baby. Doing so good for me." He held onto my waist in the tightest way possible to hold me in place.

"So fucking tight." His growl made me unconsciously clench around him. He kneaded my breasts while the room was filled with the noise of our skin slapping, his growls and my moans. "Fuck, Y/N, I'm gonna cum." He continued to moan my name each time. I didn't know his thrusts could still grow faster and deeper, a knot forming in my stomach making me hold onto his bicep while moaning his name. He drew circles on my aching clit, enough to overstimulate me. It's so intense my legs were shaking and my toes curling. "Me too, Heeseung. I-I'm cumming." He kissed me and rode my high until his own high came, my name and curses leaving his mouth. He pulled out and came on my stomach.

After catching our breaths from the intensity, Heeseung got up to grab tissues and clean the mess. "Finally, no one interrupted us." I chuckled. "Yeah, finally. I was really looking forward to finally having you to myself, Y/N." He covered my body with blanket before lying down beside me. "It's cold, jagi. Please hug me~" This was his complete opposite minutes ago. I snuggled to his chest, bodies sweaty but none of us cared. He wrapped his arms around my body and hummed me a lull while caressing my hair. What an adorable yet thirsty baby, I thought.

[watevermelon]

Quiet Sort of Love | Sakusa Kiyoomi x Reader

✧ Summary: Manager to the Fukurōdani volleyball club, there was no doubt that Itachiyama’s Sakusa Kiyoomi was a strong ace. He brought your team to their knees on multiple occasions, but what you were not expecting was getting to know the nationally acclaimed spiker beyond just the titles and labels.

✧ Warnings: Implicating language and slight spoilers toward the end (you will be warned beforehand :)) 

✧ Notes: Buckle up boys cause this is a LONG one LMAO -> lots of fluff, angst, slight BokuAka, character development, mutual pining at one point, and just me being sentimental over one of my favorite teams  -> #SummerWrites for these! I tended to write fluffier stories

✧  Masterlist 

If someone asked you for the full story, there was no way you could explain it. One moment, you were in junior high, relatively enjoying your time on the track team. The next, you were attending Fukurōdani Academy without a clue to which club you wanted to commit to. 

While you could have rejoined the track team, you were not especially good at sprints and had only done so for your friends at the time. Now, there was a much more daunting pressure about what you were going to be committing your time to. Akaashi has suggested you take-up the open managerial role for the volleyball club, since you were unsure you wanted to truly dedicate yourself to any sport. And, somehow within a couple days of that conversation, with the eccentric introductions of second-years Yukie and Kaori, the current managers, you were attending their volleyball practice on a trial session.

Fast-forward a few weeks and it was already the best decision you had made in your first-year of being a Fukurōdani Academy student.

They were dedicated to their sport, their passion easily radiating off of them and to onlookers watching a simple set. It was what entranced you to begin with - their strong zeal that easily drew others into their bubble. Yes, you were a powerhouse school with a long history of being winners. But it was the people that encompassed the team that drew it closer to your heart.

From the confident yet silly second-year Bokuto, to the mother hen Akaashi, you made fast friends with the team and the other managers.

There were times that you had to remind yourself that Bokuto, the same Vice Captain and nationally rising spiker to gain acclaim, was the same Bokuto who had accidentally locked himself out of his dorm room only to find his lanyard in his back pocket.

And, while reminding yourself of Bokuto, you remembered the text you received from the team group-chat early that morning. You had gone home for the weekend to pick-up some stuff from your family home, the place of residence sitting outside Shibuya and a good thirty-minutes by train away from the inner city. 

But, it was a short-lived trip since the next morning you had to return back to the dorms for a practice match set with your school’s supposed long-term rivals: Itachiyama. GC: Hoot Hoot ⊹⋛⋋(◐⊝◑)⋌⋚⊹

6:15 ahKASHi (๑ᵕ⌓ᵕ̤)         oh no

6:15 Kaori _へ__(‾◡◝ )>         (L/N)-chan pls tell me your awake

6:15 yukie-yukie (｡♥‿♥｡)         (F/N)-chan you are our only hope

6:20 yukie-yukie (｡♥‿♥｡)         @Y/N !!!!

6:23 mother-hen^2 (ﾟ⊿ﾟ)         I’m awake!!

6:23 ahKASHi (๑ᵕ⌓ᵕ̤)         Please tell me you can pick-up some Dorayaki on your way to the school

6:23 mother-hen^2 (ﾟ⊿ﾟ)         ah yes, the patented bokuto revival snacc?

6:24 haaaruki !         thnk u mom

6:24 mother-hen^2 (ﾟ⊿ﾟ)          >.>

6:24 ahKASHi (๑ᵕ⌓ᵕ̤)         Thank you, (L/N)-san. 💓

And true to your word, or text rather, you stopped for the snack on your way back to the school. However, with the surprisingly crowded trains on this unfortunate weekend, you were near sprinting down the street once you got some open space. You wanted to still be on time, reasoning regardless, and with the pace of the crowd you were going to be way later than you expected. You rushed between trains, hopping onto the right transfer and letting your foot tap away in impatience as the train pushed onward.

Nearing the school, you were in a dead-sprint toward the entrance and only inwardly sighed at seeing the large school bus, from what you assumed was the rival school, covering the main gateway. You approached from the back of the bus, students filing out from the opposite end of where you were running. You did not want to glance down at your watch, afraid of the time you would see, and instead tried to inwardly navigate a way inside and around your obstacles. 

Athletic bags and groups of the students littered the area as they unloaded, forcing you to jump over their stuff if you did not want to break your speed. You were so dead-set in your sprint, you failed to notice the number of eyes on the bus following you in your run.

Just as you turned around the pillar, your speed and momentum came to a stop as you crashed into an unsuspecting student. His hands were in his pockets, a mask covering most of his face, but even you saw the surprised look as his hands shot out to steady the both of you.

Immediately, the dark-haired athlete was chastising you, “Watch where you are going.” The young man immediately pushed you off of him, not in an unkindly way but moreso he wanted his safe distance instantly.

You bowed and muttered out an, “I’m sorry!”

The glare of annoyance was obvious, but it only dropped down when he turned to look at his upturned palms, no longer hidden in his pockets but instead being stared at in a mortified way.

I mean, it’s not like you were dirty? You complained inwardly at his expression, but sucked it up anyway. You were the one who crashed into him and owed the apology anyway and so you could do your duty and then bid the supposed germaphobe goodbye.

Team Mom instincts already kicking in, you reached into your side-bag and took out a small pack of wet-wipes. You opened the container, and not one to incense him further, held it out for him to grab himself.

“An extension of my apology.” You stated at seeing his apprehension, before he took two and wiped his hands clean of your grime. 

It was hard to fight down the inward grimace at seeing this utter stranger be so offended at having even touched and breathed the same air as you.

“Komori, nice to meet you.” Another student came up to the two of you, having emerged from the pack of Itachiyama students. “Sorry for my friend here.”

“It was my mistake.” You stated.

“No worries. Nice to meet you, you on the track team?”

You shook your head before glancing down at your watch, losing more precious minutes that you could not afford to waste on a conversation like this. “Sorry, I’m running late. See you around!”

Bidding farewell to the group, who you were sure to see in just a few minutes, you bounded through the school and toward the back gymnasium. The net was already set-up, Akaashi standing toward the center as he warmed-up the spikers, matching up with their heights before the other team made their appearance.

You waved at him as you entered, holding up a bag containing half a dozen of Bokuto’s snacks, before placing it in the careful hands of Kaori. Akaashi thanked you genuinely, only to be surprised when you handed him an iced-latte in a cold glass from the store as well. He smiled, before putting it in the cooler for his undoubted headache later. Yukie looked at you with a curious smile, to which you threw two capri-suns at her - the drink secretly one of her favorites.

They thanked you before rushing back to positions and responsibilities, either continuing to warm-up or simply prep the gym for the other’s arrival. You did as you were told, then lined up to attention when the doors opened to greet your rival school.

While it was only a practice match, the team had already filled you in on the reason behind the unending tension between the two schools. Bokuto spun a tale of wild rivalry spanning generations while Akaashi stated plainly that they had not yet won against Itachiyama in recent years.

Seeing the germaphobe from earlier in the line-up, you stood quiet while the volleyball members silently introduced themselves. Your third-year captain, in his ever so passive-aggressive ire, tightly gripped the hand of the other Itachiyama captain. You fought the urge to roll your eyes and instead let your vision scan the line-up.

The tension was only more palpable during the game. Fukurōdani had practice matches before, but none so eerily… quiet.

Yes, there was intra-team communication and words of encouragement between teammates…  but nothing else.

During the practice match with Shinzen, your third-year teammates acted like old friends with some of those students. They even offered some pointers regarding serves between the two schools. And that school was categorized as a rival to your own as well. Shinzen was in the Fukurōdani group after all - they were your close rivals if anything.

But it seemed that the rivalry between Itachiyama and Fukurōdani ran even deeper than that.

Bokuto’s excitement, while usually cute and endearing, definitely contributed to the current atmosphere as well. Bokuto was naturally loud and with every point he scored, there was a chorus right after from yours truly. But, without an audience to drown out his cheers and the Fukurōdani third-years looking seriously quiet, the tiny Bokuto celebration grated on the nerves of the other team.

You watched the young man from earlier, mask gone from his face now and instead replaced with his own brand of quiet determination, as he ran up and smoothly spiked the ball. The action seemed so natural, it was only when the resounding slap signified again how loud and powerful he truly was, the ball smashing into the ground and landing somewhere behind the upper-risers.

That was incredible strength, you thought inwardly, feeling a similar awe you felt the first time you saw the true power behind Bokuto’s spike.

The awed expression on your face quickly squashed down to grimace, remembering this was the guy you had awkwardly crashed into earlier.

“What’s with that face?” Yukie asked, spying you from the corner of her eye. She stood parallel to you, both of you manning the standing scoreboard. Kaori was sitting with the coach, pen in hand as she took notes on the game.

You put back on your neutral visage as you flipped the score number, “That guy who just spiked, he was the one that I bumped into on the way here.”

“Sakusa-san?”

“Yeah...” You affirmed, trying to subtly point in his direction with your gaze alone.

She looked at you with an amused expression, patting you on the back in pity.

Fukurōdani lost the practice match.

And while a part of you was inwardly hissing, there was no doubt that both schools gave their all and the better ended up on top. The third-years commended the team, they were still in the process of finding their rhythm. After all, the points were not that far apart to being with. Having lost 2:1, you noted that the points were relatively close in all three sets.

Bokuto’s displeasure was obvious, complaining loudly that he should have worked on his jump-serve more, but still shaking everyone’s hands at the call of the game.

With both teams working to clean the gymnasium, you walked over to the net to help loosen it and fold the poles. Some of the team members of either side were lightly mingling, commending each other on certain skills while introducing themselves.

You spotted Sakusa in the corner, having helped put away the mats already and retreating to the spot furthest from the crowd. Fighting the urge to bemusedly chuckle at the action, your attention snapped to Komori approaching you, a water-bottle in hand.

“From your running earlier - thought you were a member of the track team.”

You smiled in a friendly manner, “Nope, just a manager of the volleyball club.”

He shot a smile back, “I see. I missed your name earlier...?”

Sheepishly rubbing the back of your neck, embarrassed over forgetting your introduction to your senior, “(L/N) (F/N), nice to meet you!”

“Nice to meet you, too!” He repeated back your words before adding, “How cute.”

You angled your head in question, surprised at his boldness and flabbergasted from replying.

He continued, “So, are you -”

“Yes, this is all good and well.” An arm swung across your shoulders as the owner cut him off, “But we better help our team out.”

Yukie shot a wink over her shoulder, whisking you to the other end of the room as someone else took over helping breakdown the net. You shot her a curious look, before your attention was grabbed back to the corner Sakusa was inhabiting.

It seemed Bokuto had found him, issuing a direct challenge to the other wing-spiker for their next match. Seeing your teammate, boisterous and loud, next to the quiet and narrow-eyed Sakusa was such a direct contrast; you had to remind yourself that they played the same role on their teams.

Bokuto grumbled the rest of the night, which only continued into the weekdays at school. You formed a study group for a particularly painful math class. And currently, said group had some vbc members crowded around a round table in the library. Most occupants preferred to spill the tea - Yukie and Konoha always had something regarding their second-year class. 

Which ironically left the younger two to herd the group. You tended to go with the flow. Which left Akaashi, the ever so smarty-pants honors student, to often lead the charge. (He also grumbled that you teased him about this fact, but you were also in the same honors classes yourself.)

You got in five pages worth of outlining before the conversation shifted. Focus on the class was easily torn as Haruki brought out a monthly volleyball magazine.

“Check it out, an entire profile on Sakusa Kiyoomi.” The libero stated, opening up the magazine as Konoha leaned over to look.

“Wow, lots of eyes are already on him.” Kaori stated.

“Anyone who saw him play during junior high would know he’s one to watch during Interhigh.” Haruki voiced.

“Well, I’m in the top four.” Bokuto muttered, arms crossed as he read along the magazine.

Akaashi sighed, putting down his pencil as his curiosity grabbed his attention, eyes straying to the article as well. Besides, Sakusa was a first-year just like the two of you, if he was this much of a threat it would be good to soak up any useful information on him

“The photograph looks a little far, don’t you think?” Yukie said with an unsure smile, pointing to the stiff Sakusa standing at least ten feet away from the photographer. “They couldn’t have zoomed in at all?”

“Maybe this is zoomed?” Konoha asked with a brow raised. 

You took a look and fought the urge to grimace aloud, you could barely tell it was him either. The action shot on one page was good, but for their interview photo he was covered completely with a mask and hat, just his eyes visible and still relatively far away from the photographer.

“Well, I don’t expect anything less from a germaphobe like him.” You commented, before turning back to your notebook. 

You saw multiple occupants’ expressions reel back in surprise before curiously looking toward you.

Kaori voiced their curiosity with a raised brow, “And how do you know that?”

“I - I bumped into him before the game!” You cursed your weak resolve, hands coming up in defense. 

“WHA?!” Bokuto asked, making you realize you only told Yukie about the prior encounter. The librarian shushed your group with a disapproving stare, before walking away. “You knew his weakness this whole time?”

Konoha laughed, “What are you going to do with that information? Sneeze on him during the next match?”

You shot eye contact with Yukie, the brunette simply shooting you teasing smirk as she leaned back in her chair. She was your older-senpai, but damn was the eccentric manager so ruthlessly teasing! Her love of food was the only clear read you could get off of her. Otherwise, it seemed like Yukie just loved to sow mischief.

“Wait. Weren’t you talking to their libero after the game? Was it Komori?” Haruki recalled, asking more out of curiosity then of seriousness.

“Um. Yes, well he introduced himself after I almost knocked over Sakusa-san.” You explained, nearly sweating buckets at some of the second-years’ gazes.

“Wait, knocked him over?” Konoha asked, glancing back down at his textbook to place a pen in it, then close it entirely.

“Well, I was running and didn’t see him when I turned the corner!” You continued to explain.

“Sure, sure.” Yukie waved off, sitting up and then sipping from her water bottle.

“I was rushing to bring the snacks - come on guys, you know this!” You defended, a sheepish smile on your face now as the other occupants varied from teasing to surprised.

“(L/N)-san, didn’t the teacher ask us to get something for her?” Akaashi cut in, already in the process of putting some of his study materials away.

You breathed a silent sigh in relief, agreeing and mimicking his actions as you readied to leave the sudden hot library. Yukie’s teasing was enough, but once Konoha and the rest started rolling it was all over from there.

“Yes, let’s get going.” You accepted immediately as you organized your school things, “See you all after class.”

Somehow, Akaashi was already up from the table and waiting for you at the door. You followed behind him quickly, going in the direction of your next class. Entering it, there were a few lingering students - some on their phone, others listening to music - but otherwise the two of you were alone.

You felt a small vibration from the pocket of your skirt, checking the messages from the infamous instigators of your group.

GC: Hoot Hoot ⊹⋛⋋(◐⊝◑)⋌⋚⊹

12:15 yukie-yukie (｡♥‿♥｡)           Nice receive, Akaashi

12:15 yukie-yukie (｡♥‿♥｡)           ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

12:15 BROkuto ᕙ( * •̀ ᗜ •́ * )ᕗ           cmon ahkaaashi; don’t you want to spend time with me? :C

12:15 yukie-yukie (｡♥‿♥｡)            Enjoy your alone time ;)

12:15 haaaruki !           yah “studying” ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Akaashi had a dead-panned expression back on his face, undoubtedly reading the same messages you had just skimmed through. The young man was so smart and quiet, and yet so silently sassy, you really cherished having him as your friend. Akaashi was the mother-hen of the group, undoubtedly, but you wondered how blessed your team was so to have such a patient and thoughtful setter in your ranks.

The two of you relished the silence of the room, sitting next to each other for this class, and resuming the earlier studying that you were interrupted from before. 

Life after this moved very quickly - thoughts of Itachiyama and the target named Sakusa was pushed in the back of your mind. Suddenly, your powerhouse of a volleyball club was having non-stop practice matches with others within the Fukurōdani Academy Group. Shinzen, known for their style of combination attacks, and Ubugawa, known for their serves, were two schools in Tokyo you often saw.

But, with them, came the introduction of Nekoma High School.

You almost felt bad for Akaashi after the first training camp with all three schools. Yes, you were familiar and friendly with the other schools, but with the introduction of middle-blocker Kuroo Tetsuro and his friend Kenma, it brought all sorts of adventures for your little group. He was certainly a sly cat, wielding the art of provocation like it was his second-skin. Fukurōdani had many practice matches with Nekoma throughout the spring semester, it was almost mentally jarring how quickly the Interhigh prelims crawled up on you.

Being friends with the other schools made the preliminary matches all the more intense - near screaming in support from the stands. You were friends with people in these other schools - managers whom you shared watermelon with in the scorching sun; and, forgetting volleyball, just teenagers whom you had seen at high school house parties throughout the semester - it was entirely personal during the prelims.

And while your school fell second to Itachiyama - you were excited to see your first ever nationals tournament.

To keep the teams organized in one spot, you were all staying in a swanky hotel not far from the sports center. It seemed to be a popular spot for other teams, since you had spotted familiar red and black athletic gear in the lobby when you entered. Nekoma was standing to the side by the chairs, Itachiyama littering the opposite area of the lobby.

Bokuto immediately bounded over to Kuroo and Kenma, Akaashi following behind begrudgingly, citing he did not want the spiker to wander off and get lost. Your eyes followed them, waving a hand at the Nekoma duo as you mentally weighed joining their conversation. Scanning the rest of the room, your eyes landed on Sakusa in the nearby corner with Komori hovering nearby.

Just as you made eye-contact with the libero, he waved you over with a friendly smile.

“Hey - good to see you, (L/N)-san.” Komori greeted, you waved back and made the small walk over.

“Hey to you too.” You replied, looking at both boys.

“Hi, (L/N)-san.” Sakusa stated back, as curt as ever. He was leaned against the wall, hands hidden in his pockets again. His eyes skipped over you quickly before looking away and scanning the room - you fought the urge to inwardly laugh at how easy he was to read at the moment.

For someone so collected and intimidating on the court, there was something so amusing at seeing him so on edge at the moment.

You were about to say something when someone called your name from behind. Waving a quick goodbye, you skipped back over to your team, seeing it was Akaashi who was herding you back to the group. 

It was only when you got in the elevator that you realized something - Sakusa remembered your last name.

Biting your lip in confusion, you thought to the last time you talked to either boy. You only gave your name to Komori during that first initial practice match - maybe Sakusa overhead and just had a good memory? Whatever the case may be, it was not the time to be looking into things. You shook your head, focusing on the present as you turned back to whatever Bokuto was talking about.

The coaches gave you time to organize yourselves before warming up in the nearby gym. With three managers for your team, it was agreed beforehand that you would fight on equal ground for the beds. Whoever won would get the bed to themselves while the other two would share. And yesterday, Kaori claimed herself the victor and you were sharing with Yukie.

Plopping your stuff down, you all got down to business as you organized the room quickly, heading out for auxiliary practice, and then herding the group at dinner.

After dinner, you were still bursting with energy. Excitement, anticipation - all of that was coursing through your veins for the events tomorrow. It seemed that the other managers were facing something similar, since neither had taken a bath yet and gotten ready for bed. Instead, Yukie was still in her outdoor clothes while Kaori was on her phone, scrolling through her social media feed.

Yukie turned to you with a mischievous smile, her brown eyes reflecting nothing but trouble when she finally asked, “So, seen any cute boys yet?”

You sputtered at the randomness of the question, “What?”

Kaori laughed, but then admitted. “Well, we are in the area with some of the best volleyball players in high school. Can’t deny some of them are handsome.”

You could not help the giggle in response, as Yukie added. “Hmm, you right. Some of them are looking so gooood.”

“Oh my god.” There were no words you had prepared for this moment.

Yukie looked at you before incling her head, “Come on, even Bokuto is looking mighty fine when he’s in the zone.”

“I -- “ You stuttered, was she looking for a response? 

“Don’t you think Bokuto has such a fine ass?” Yukie asked, “Like damn boy you looking thicc!”

Uhhhhh.

“Lay off.” Kaori came to your defense, or so you thought. “She’s more into the Akaashi-type, right?”

“Strong, but silent?” Yukie asked, “Quiet, but could easily snap your neck with his thighs?”

You blanched at the idea of your reserved friend doing any of the sort.

“No way! He’s just a friend.” You countered immediately.

“Hmmm, sure.” Yukie responded, “When Kuroo shuts his mouth, it makes me want to put it somewhere else.”

“Bruh.” You voiced as you laughed, slapping your reddening cheeks. 

Was this something they usually talked about during nationals? The conversation seemed so natural to the both of them - neither blushing or phased at talking about the other attractive men within your prefecture. Just thinking about any of them in a romantic light had you blushing, how on earth could they talk about this so naturally?

“True, but have you seen Sakusa?” Kaori countered, the conversation carrying on.

“Sakusa would be hotter if he allowed anyone within ten feet of him.” Yukie waved off before turning to you with a wink. “Well, I saw you talking to him today.”

You thought back to the interaction with a grimace, “More like a hello before he shut-down the conversation.”

“Think he’s cute?” Kaori asked, this time.

You thought back to him during the practice match, strong and confident when on the court and mask hidden away. But then again, you thought back to all your actual interactions, and grimaced.

You answered candidly, “I mean, I’m not blind. He’s attractive, but I barely know him.”

Yukie giggled, “I’m not saying you have to marry him!”

Kaori giggled and you felt your cheeks flame-up. You felt your embarrassment creep up your throat and blurted out, “Okay, he’s hella attractive and when he spikes it sets me on fire! Like ok - can he smack my ass like a drum??”

Yukie slapped you on the shoulder in jest as Kaori’s laughter got louder. Yukie replied, “Damn girl - I didn’t know you were into that sort of stuff.”

You were redder than Nekoma’s colors at this point, embarrassment at an all time high at having admitted something that even you were not aware of. Kaori and Yukie were so easy to talk to, so funny to be around, they really took away your one brain-cell sometimes.

“But I totally agree - when he snaps his wrist against the ball… well.” She ended the sentence with raised brows, both of you catching onto her mischievous face.

Kaori giggled and you could not help but laugh aloud at this point - you loved the other managers so much, they made wild conversations like this so easy. 

You started braiding your hair, conversation shifting to the boys in class at Fukurōdani. And while you admitted it was rather small-minded of you to say, you honestly could not remember a lot of the other student body outside of the volleyball club. You spent almost every free minute of your time on the club - many of the faces outside your class blurring to the side as your priorities lay elsewhere.

Just as you finished your hair, a small sound broke out in the room, Yukie picking up her phone as it vibrated against the bed. The brunette took one look at the caller ID, got up and winked at the two of you, before leaving the hotel room entirely. You turned to Kaori with a curious look, who simply shrugged and said it was probably some cute boy she was talking to.

You accepted it casually, before getting up yourself and putting on your outdoor shoes. You still had all this pent-up, enthused energy - maybe a run would do you good to calm your mind. Voicing this to the other manager, she agreed before laying back down on her bed.

The lobby areas were still littered with other volleyball club members in their casual clothes, some from other schools and some from your own. Some of the third-years were mingling, undoubtedly high-energy for this being one of the last few tournaments they would be participating in.

Putting headphones in, you started your run toward areas you personally knew and were relatively populated at this time of night. Certain areas of Tokyo were always bustling, and so you stuck to roads nearby the main one. Your mind, which was reeling only a few minutes before, was surprising blank during your run. Your focus was on the path ahead of you and the music surrounding you - it felt that simple somehow.

No team entered tournaments to lose - that was obvious. Everyone on this level of the competition had a hug leg over the average team - geniuses, prodigies, top spikers in the entire nation - they were all gathering here for the next few days.

Your team were the protagonists of the world - that was what you repeated in your head like a mantra for the past few days.

Fukurōdani were going to do more than just compete in nationals - they were going to win, you were confident.

“Pour all your soul into each ball.” You repeated, remembering the official banner for your powerhouse of a school.

The confidence in your team was overflowing, any lingering nerves flowing away as you continued on your focused run. And so when a crack of thunder was louder than your music - you reeled back in surprise and turned your attention upward at the sky.

Groaning, you ran over to the side of a building to huddle under a pagoda awning, other people doing the same as you and crowding the area. The weather quickly upturned from a calm night to a sudden downpour. There was nothing about rain in the forecast and this afternoon the sky was a pretty blue - had you just not noticed before?

Cursing your lack of foresight, you took out your headphones and stored them in the fanny pack across your chest. Recognizing the shops around this area, you were only ten minutes from the hotel by run. But, dodging the rain and ducking under pagoda’s would probably make it about a half hour. You considered briefly waiting out the rain, but also did not want to get stuck out late in the case that it did not let-up soon. 

Already decided, you were planning out your trek back to the hotel when you scanned everyone else around you. Turning to the other people taking refuge, you could not help the surprise on your face at seeming a familiar person huddled all the way in the back corner.

Sakusa, in all his might, was emanating serious waves of discomfort only a few feet away from you.

What were the odds of this happening? Was this some sort of karmic energy from the universe, due to the conversation you had earlier?

You walked over the spiker, waving a hello and receiving a nod in greeting.

“Looks like we had the same idea, Sakusa-san.” You started, receiving nothing from the conversation but a blank stare.

Boy was he hard to talk to.

Not to be deterred, you continued. “I know the area pretty well. Feel free to come with me, so you’re not waiting out the rain too late?”

Sakusa nodded again silently, and when you turned your head in confusion on instinct, he voiced himself this time. “Thanks.”

You felt a smile crawl up your face as you turned, dodging between some of the street shops’ canopies and awnings in your quick pace. He followed you closely, not wanting to get any of the accursed rain on his bodice, you guessed. Still, it was hard to keep track of someone right behind you. 

This situation was altogether so strange - who would have thought that this would be the way you would be ending your day??

Not used to the silence - after all, your usual company was always bouncing with energy - you joked as you turned to him, “I guess this is where I should insert some proclamation of rivalry here?”

The only thing that signified he heard you was by the quirk of a smirk at the corner of his lip - was that amusement?? you wondered.

Stopping at the corner of the street, you had to run the crosswalk and make your way to the cafe’s awning across the way. You voiced this as you both waited for the stoplight to switch over.

“Are you nervous for tomorrow?” You questioned, filling in the dead air.

“No.”

“Ah, what was I thinking - a nationally ranked spiker like you…” You drew out sheepishly.

“No, as in my team does not play until the day after.” Sakusa explained, making you groan. You forgot - Itachiyama was seeded after all. 

“Oh, my bad.” You stated, losing all your earlier confidence to try to speak to him. 

Whatever expression was on your face must have made him feel bad, you assumed, since Sakusa turned to you and continued. “But I am looking forward to fighting Wakatoshi-kun.”

The inward book in your mind flipped open, recognizing the name and attempting to find the correct team it was associated with. “Ah, that nationally ranked spiker from Shiratorizawa Academy.”

“Yes, he is… a good benchmark to play against.” Sakusa explained, making you nod in agreement. “But our priority will be watching Fukurōdani’s match tomorrow morning.”

“Oh?”

“You took a set from us during the Representative Playoffs. We won’t let it happen again.”

You smiled at his words - just Itachiyama and Sakusa himself as a whole felt like a goal. The team was the only one ranked above yours in the prefecture. It was your goal to beat his team and him especially. Maybe it was the fact that Bokuto and him were competing on ranking that made it that much more intimate, but it was easy to look at Sakusa as a target more than just who he was: a human.

And so hearing his small admission that Fukurōdani was a strong rival, after dominating your school for so long, you could not help but smile at his candor.

“We’re there to win nationals.”

He raised a brow at your words, and while you wondered if you had overstepped your boundaries for a second, a smirk grew on Sakusa's face as he simply responded. “Ah.”

You watched the countdown timer to the other side of the street, signifying it was soon time for the both of you to break out in a spring to the other side. Both of you readied yourselves just as a car squealed past the corner, trying to beat the clock and make it before it turned red. 

It all happened so quickly, eyes darting around the area to see if there was anything you could duck behind. Chairs and tables, the usually bustling Tokyo was already wrapped up in plastic and stowed away. There was no getting away from the large splash of water on the both of you - drenching you and Sakusa instantly.

The groan from the spiker was loud above the city bustle, and if not for your mutual distress, it would have made you laugh in amusement. Sakusa was inspecting his clothes, obvious disdain and surprise on his visage. Figuring it was whatever at this point, you grabbed his upturned palm and led him to a cafe area nearby. It was closed at this point, but there was a wide awning area that would be empty by now.

You led him to one of the empty garden chairs and sat him down, uncaring if he was annoyed at you pushing him around. It was your team mom instincts kicking in at this point.

Reaching into your fanny pack, you took out some of the emergency wipes and offered the pack to him. He took it readily, taking out a few and going at his hands immediately. With your on-hand handkerchief, you patted him down at the shoulders, not noticing how close the two of you were at this point.

Sakusa said nothing to your actions, not even when you moved from his shoulders to the exposed skin of his neck, wiping off the dirty street water. The initial mother adrenaline was quickly wearing off as you stood over him, surprised that he was letting you do this after all. The rosy tinge on your cheeks was growing with every second of that lingering thought.

“Nervous?” Sakusa called you out, making you stiffen up your posture. Thankfully, he did not push the subject and instead said, “I don’t understand you. Your team hates me. Shouldn’t you just be letting me get sick?

“I wouldn’t do that, especially not even to you.” You waved off the thought, smiling as you did so. “We’re going to beat you with our own skill.”

He looked up at you from his spot, initially saying nothing to your words as you moved to take out another wet-wipe from the pack. Sakusa stopped your action, putting a hand over yours and starting, “You should be using some for yourself.”

You lightly pushed it aside, not unkindly. “It’s fine; I don’t care much. Besides, this matters more to you.”

He said nothing, letting go of your wrist, but not moving away out of your range. You took that as Sakusa’s silent acceptance, moving the wipe back to his neck area and even patting him down on the cheek. His eyes never left yours, making you wonder what could possibly be going on in that head of his.

The moment was so strangely intimate, you were silently proud of your usually easy-to-tease demeanor staying calm. Once you were done, you debated taking the seat next to him when he finally looked away. Taking a look at the world around you, the sudden downpour had actually let-up to a slight drizzle. 

You voiced your observation, recommending that you make your way back to the hotel before it possibly got worse. He nodded silently in agreement, breaking out into a light sprint toward your destination side-by-side.

By the time you arrived it was already late night, most of the lobby thankfully empty. You were not sure what you would say if Bokuto saw you walk in with his rival completely drenched. The squelch of your sneakers was obvious against the granite floor, making you wince at how others probably saw the two of you right now.

Sakusa bid you farewell with a small word and wave, heading toward an elevator at the other end of the hall. You did the same, before feeling the niggling feeling that someone had their eyes on you. Heading to the elevators, you turned to your peripheral and saw Yukie, sitting at one of the lobby tables with some random guy across from her.

Her face was alight with obvious mischief, her smirk alone was enough sign that she was going to be questioning you about this situation immediately. You winced at her expression, turning toward the elevator doors and waiting for the ding! to signify you were free from her eyes.

A thorough bath later, you were surprised the next day to see that Yukie had not questioned you at all. Instead, all energy was focused on nationals and the upcoming teams you were going to have to play against. 

Fukurōdani Academy was a powerhouse in itself and hearing the loud cheers surrounding your side of the court was enough to lift the entire team's spirits. Your audience section was fit to the nine’s - including a marching band, a specific fan cheering area, and even cheerleaders.  The team played through their games proudly, passion radiating from the team as you made it to the quarter-final on the third day.

You never got to play Itachiyama.

The third-years were retiring.

The silence on the bus was mentally jarring - no one expected your nationals journey to end this soon. Even Yukie, who was always quick on her feet when it came to comforting the other members, was eerily silent the way back to the hotel.

The only person who was still remarkably confident, was signified by the strong words Bokuto uttered when they first left the court.

“Nothing here was a mistake.” Bokuto started, mind in his thoughts as his back faced the team. You were in the middle of handing a spare hand-towel toward Haruki when you turned to the ace. “Your tosses were incredible under the pressure.”

The entirety of the team turned to the usual mood maker, one who was so easily swayed on the court over simple things, now voicing his introspective words.

Bokuto turned to the rest of you, “We will come back here next year and carve the rest of the way.”

Akaashi nodded from beside you, other second-years agreeing with their newly determined ace. The third-year captain, now sporting an anguished smile, walked over to Bokuto to place a hand on his shoulder. The other older members followed suit, proud of their young owl growing up right before their eyes.

After the game, you split up at the hotel to return to your rooms and shower. Getting ready for the night ahead of you, the third-years stated that they were going to take the team out for dinner after the strong season.

Yukie hopped in the shower first as Kaori and you packed up some of your room. The team was still going to stay at the hotel until the end of the tournament, but your long notebooks and team journals were of no use now. Combination attacks and details on the third-years were now a thing of the past. 

You had to fight the sob in your throat when you closed the folder on your captain one last time.

The silent hotel room, which was filled with giggles and teasing only hours before, was palpable against you and Kaori’s attempts to stay calm. She was affected moreso than you, having spent the last two years with the current team.

You were so occupied in your thoughts, you almost missed the silent vibration in your pocket, a notification dinging from your social media platform on Instabook.

Hey. Are you back in the hotel?

What was Sakusa doing, messaging you now of all times? 

Waving the thought away, you typed: Yeah. What’s up?

I have something for you - where are you?

The tendril of suspicion shot through you, but Sakusa was definitely not the type to kick you while you were down. You messaged him back your room details, earning back a simple ok omw and nothing else to signify just why he was coming here.

Yukie was still in the shower when you stepped out. Sakusa really was before you, in all his silent glory. Sporting his usual face mask, he took something out of his pocket and thrust it toward you.

“It’s only fair, (L/N)-san.” Sakusa stated, a familiar pack of wet-wipes in his hand outstretched toward you. 

You felt your smile grow, your earlier saddened disposition breaking at the strange sight. “That’s really not necessary.”

“Just take it.” Sakusa said as he grabbed your sleeve and placed it in your empty hand. 

“Well, okay.” You said with a slight chuckle in your voice.

“I meant to give it to you at the complex, but..”

“Yeah.” You finished for him, the conversation coming to a silence. “Thank you, Sakusa-san.”

He looked at you with an unwavering gaze, “Sakusa is just fine.”

“Then just (L/N) is fine too.” You added, finally feeling that you were coming to terms to some sort of odd friendship with the spiker. Holding up your phone, you motioned to it without voicing your question. “So we don’t have to rely on random appearances?”

“Ah.” He agreed, taking out his phone as you exchanged chat-ID’s.

That was the end of the conversation, him waving goodbye once it was over and walking down the hall to the stairwell. A part of you watched him go, almost smiling when you realized that of course the athlete would opt for the stairs when you were on the tenth floor.

You tried to silently enter back into the room, Kaori in the shower this time as Yukie was packing up her things. Leaning your back against the door, you tried to placate your undoubtedly rosy blush - you did not need a mirror to know that you were adorned with one now.

“Look at you - you think you’re slick?” The smirk on her face was enough warning that you were in danger, “I saw you two from the peephole.”

“He was just dropping off a gift.” You state, as if that would sate her curiosity at all. Instead, she stood up at attention.

She had one eye narrowed at you, “Right, of course. What else was I thinking - other than the totally normal gift-giving for two platonic members of rival volleyball teams.”

“Yup.” You nodded with a reserved smile, before making your way further into the room.

Yukie pushed the conversation as she got on the bed, “Are you secretly dating Sakusa?”

You flushed immediately, “It’s not like that!”

“And what is it like?”

“We’re just… friends?” You bit out, the lack of confidence even obvious to your own ears. Was that a question or a statement?

The relationship you had with the young man was strange. Were you friends? It was more like mutual acquaintances who happened to have a totally-but-also-not intimate moment. You could never really tell what he was thinking - being of very few words. 

“And suddenly you’ve convinced me.” Yukie teased, before going silent as Kaori entered the room. You took this as your escape, readying your stuff quickly and entering the shower area before she could continue.

Thankfully, Yukie dropped the subject while you were around others. Your previous, almost giddy expression, came back to a silently gloomy one as you went for your last dinner with the Fukurōdani third-years.

Any previously unshed tears slammed to the forefront when seated around your peers. Even while sad and crying, your team was loud and scorching down food in the small ramen bar. The third-years thanked you all for your efforts, for the growth you had since the start of the school year, and sent you off for the new year.

April swung around quicker than you would like. You were a newly minted second-year, priorities quickly changing almost as quickly. The questions from guidance counselors and coaches were unending: asking you about your future, what you wanted to do, what electives classes were you going to take. It was all preparation before your final year - it was almost mentally jarring against the happy and almost innocent vibe from your initial year of a high school.

Sakusa’s phone number untouched since the day outside your hotel room. 

Bokuto rising to the role of captain in his third-year was no question. But seeing Akaashi, now a second-year Vice-captain, it set all your “uwu’s on fire,” as Yukie dubbed it. He earned the role, without a doubt, but seeing the two together was so strangely heart-warming.

Bokuto and Akaashi were a strange pair, but they got along together so well, it was hard to imagine anyone else on your team with these roles. Akaashi mother hen’ed you all, but there were times that it seemed the young setter could almost read Bokuto’s mind. 

They were a perfect match, you often teased. 

Akaashi would often stare at you blankly when you reiterated this, but Bokuto would only fuel the fire. The duo were almost always in immediate distance to one another, oftentimes your captain would swing his arm across Akaashi’s shoulders or just initiate some time of close distance. After all, they were roommates now in the dorms, that was not just because they were captain and vice, you had a feeling.

It made you wonder what else was there beyond the surface.

But, you still had your own job to do as manager. By the end of the year, Fukurōdani would be losing two of its precious managers. And so, here you were, on the hunt for a first-year to take on the role and get used to the responsibilities of being manager to a powerhouse school.

Your team was focused on finding their rhythm, endless individual practices to get the first-years up to speed with the Fukurōdani standard. The regular line-up was still mostly comprised of third and second years, but first-year Wataru Onaga showed lots of promise. Standing at 191 centimetres, he earned his way to starting middle blocker on the team.

On occasion, you would be found in the library with other members of the volleyball team, studying for classes and researching upcoming teams in the preliminary matches.

You noticed how Sakusa earned himself a formal ranking among the top three aces of the country - Itachiyama now a heavy favorite to win in nationals. He was growing in regard very quickly, attention on him was a far cry from the initial rumors surrounding his first-year. Now he was on the cover of Volleyball monthly, pages dedicated to an expose of his career.

Would he even remember you?

Thoughts of the spiker were pushed away again with the onslaught of practice matches with other schools within the Fukurōdani Academy Group. Captain Kuroo was no better than regular Kuroo when it came to being the instigator. If anything, it seemed like the cat hung around your group of friends even more now.

He was often seen at group hangouts, whether just going to the mall or the local arcade. It was interesting, to say the least, the combination of your loud owl and the conniving cat, their two silent wards in tow.

You had a practice match with Itachiyama around the corner. And while you told yourself that you were not disappointed in your waning friendship(?) with Sakusa, you could not help the lightened feeling in your heart when he took the time to greet you before the match. Komori waved at you as well, before stretching and getting ready.

You watched the sets with careful eyes, Yukie taking notes alongside you. Almost everything was documented - how many times Bokuto was blocked, how many successful jump serves, service aces - and this was for both sides of the court. You could not help the way your eyes were drawn to Sakusa, his flexible wrist combined with his power making a combination the bane of your middle blockers.

Yukie caught you a few times, saying nothing but wagging her eyebrows at you in a wavy motion.

Losing three to two sets, you sighed and moved to help clean-up the gymnasium. Wheeling the scoreboard to the storage room with Yukie, all volleyball members were moving about the gym to make sure it was properly organized. You stepped out to check the hammock cart holding the volleyballs, counting them to ensure that none of them belonged to the rival school. 

Should you say something more to Sakusa?

You paused, looking up from the volleyballs and frowning at yourself.

Wait… Why did it even matter? Why did you even want to talk to him? Yes, you were on friendly terms with the ace. But why did you seek him out so much? You were friends with Kuroo, so did not feel the same draw to the middle blocker as you did now? 

Why was your mind so intent on just something with the ace?

Mind reeling with these questions, it was to your surprise when he approached you.

“Hey.”

“Hi.” You replied in a much smaller voice, attempting to put a smile back on your face, as if you needed to hide your earlier train of thought.

“Are you available this weekend?”

“Uh, wait what?” You could not help the incredulous words coming out of your mouth. 

Seriously what??? How do you go from weeks of not talking to this??

Yukie was a few paces away from you, opting to walk away from your conversation to give some privacy, after all the two of you were standing in a gymnasium filled with two bustling volleyball teams. But she undoubtedly heard that last question since her head whipped around back in your direction.

Seeing that Sakusa was actually waiting for a response, you thought back to your plans with Bokuto, Akaashi, and Kenma group to play the usual Mario Kart at the latter’s house.

“No, I’m free.” You responded.

Yukie laughed, before walking away entirely, as to not give away her eavesdropping.

“Ok. I’ll text you the details for this weekend.”

Not able to hide your surprise, you let out a sound of uncertainty as you raised your palms. “Wait, for what?”

“Hang-out.” Sakusa stated, as if it was such a natural event. “Komori suggested inviting you so I did.”

You dropped your hands, letting them fall to the sides and letting out a small, “Huh.”

He waved you off, saying he was going to text you the details tomorrow, before joining back with his team. Yukie’s face was indescribable and Haruki sported a similar expression only a few paces away.

Their questioning gazes were only pocketed for later, passed the time the coaches had given pointers and tips to members of the team. Eventually, when the other school had all packed up and left, the third-years were quick to bombard you with questions.

“HAAAA! (L/N), how could you hide this from us?!” 

“You two have been close, this whole time?”

“Not dating, my ass.” Yukie teased as she crossed her arms.

Akaashi placed a hand on your shoulder, his calm voice cutting above the rest. “What was that?”

“Honestly, I don’t know.” You answered candidly.

Bokuto and Haruki turned their heads in confusion while Yukie looked at you with a face asking you, really?

“Yeah, we haven’t actually spoken to each other since nationals.”

“Wait, really? That long ago?” Yukie asked this time, genuinely surprised.

“Yeah. That invite really feels… out of nowhere.” You explained, your own confusion evident on your visage and reflecting back on the other volleyball team members.

“Eh, it’s probably nothing.” Bokuto shrugged as he walked away, “We hangout with other schools all the time.”

Yukie held a flat-expression toward the ace’s retreating back, Haruki following behind him with a shrugging expression. Akaashi and the brunette manager turned back to you, the female grabbing your hand as she did.

“Okay, really?” 

Akaashi sighed, grabbing your attention. “Text me if you’re uncomfortable.”

“Wow, look at you Mr. Chivalrous.” Yukie commented, making Akaashi roll his eyes before turning to you seriously. You nodded in affirmation, to which he accepted and walked away.

You waved goodbye to the other members as they closed up the gymnasium, walking with the other managers back to the female dorms. 

Yukie was not letting it go at all, repeating her question from earlier. “Okay, really?”

You smiled this time, voice mocking as you responded. “Yeah, really.”

“What happened?” Kaori asked.

“Sakusa-san asked her out on a date.” Yukie spun the tale.

“It’s not a date.” You cut in.

“Oh yeah, then why are you smiling so giddy?” Yukie asked with wide, accusatory eyes.

“Because it’s… Shut up.” You stated between nervous laughter, “He asked me to hangout with a group - it includes their libero Komori-san.”

“Maybe he likes you.” Kaori commented, to which Yukie agreed vigorously.

“Do not put these assumptions in my head.” You stated with a loud sigh, head angled toward the sky at their words.

Yukie sighed back, “Don’t deny the possibility.”

You shrugged it off, knowing that there was no ending to their teasing at this point. You repeated the truth in your head like a mantra: he was nothing more than a friend. It was not worth looking into every single interaction you had with the young man - after all, he was rather strange when it came to social interactions to begin with. 

Ironically, you had to think that the others did not know him like you did. He was straight-up with his words, not fully understanding the meaning of it or how it affected others. If Sakusa wanted to do something or felt something, he would lay it out straight - that’s just the type of person he was.

And you would not be looking into the words between the lines.

But it was increasingly hard to do this when both Yukie and Kaori invaded your room Saturday morning, stating that your usual plain clothes would just not do for a day like this. Two hours later, your hair was in beachy waves and your planned “plain” outfit was replaced with a casual, knee-length springy dress over a white shirt.

What if this really was nothing but a casual encounter for him? Would your outfit be more forward then you intended?

Any of your self-conscious questions were too late, since before you knew it you were already on a train to the destination by Kichijoji. You had a few more stops to your destination, the packed train-car as busy as ever. Distracting yourself from those previous thoughts, you whipped out your phone to check the messages that had been pouring in since early morning.

GC: Hoot Hoot ⊹⋛⋋(◐⊝◑)⋌⋚⊹

11:11 Kaori _へ__(‾◡◝ )>           Look at how cute (F/N)-chan looks           Attached: cutie.jpg

11:11 yukie-yukie (｡♥‿♥｡)          She should dress like this every day!! (*•̀ᴗ•́*)و ̑̑

11:11 haaaruki !           WOAH :O 11:11 BROkuto ᕙ( * •̀ ᗜ •́ * )ᕗ           Hey hey hey 

11:11 BROkuto ᕙ( * •̀ ᗜ •́ * )ᕗ           look at you ;)

11:12 ahKASHi (๑ᵕ⌓ᵕ̤)           That would seem difficult considering (F/N)-san’s sleep schedule and the amount of time it takes for her to get ready. 11:13 Konoha(gakure) (•́ᴗ•́๑)           damn girl u look so pretty!!

11:13 BROkuto ᕙ( * •̀ ᗜ •́ * )ᕗ           I still can’t believe she abandoned us for saks >:(

11:13 Kaori _へ__(‾◡◝ )>           you can’t stop her from dating dad

11:13 yukie-yukie (｡♥‿♥｡)           well you know what they say bro’s before hoes

11:13 BROkuto ᕙ( * •̀ ᗜ •́ * )ᕗ           eye-

11:13 ahKASHi (๑ᵕ⌓ᵕ̤)           But otherwise, (F/N) looks beautiful today.

11:13 BROkuto ᕙ( * •̀ ᗜ •́ * )ᕗ           >>:C

You skipped to the end, scrolling through at least a few dozen more messages that ranged the topic from the picture of you getting ready to the supposed Mario Kart tournament that you were now missing out on. Typing in your response:

12:35 mother-hen^2 (ﾟ⊿ﾟ)           Sorry boys, had to look cute for today only ;)

12:35 yukie-yukie (｡♥‿♥｡)           IT’S A DATE!!! I KNEW IT!

12:35 Konoha(gakure) (•́ᴗ•́๑)           BO YOU OWE US YAKISOBA BREAD

12:35 BROkuto ᕙ( * •̀ ᗜ •́ * )ᕗ           ITS A DATE??

12:35 haaaruki !!           be safe mom!!

12:36 mother-hen^2 (ﾟ⊿ﾟ)           it’s NOT a date  (・-・)

12:36 BROkuto ᕙ( * •̀ ᗜ •́ * )ᕗ           HA

12:36 Konoha(gakure) (•́ᴗ•́๑)           bruh 

12:36 yukie-yukie (｡♥‿♥｡)           JUST YOU WAIT

12:36 ahKASHi (๑ᵕ⌓ᵕ̤)           Text me the moment you need an out.

You rolled your eyes as you pocketed your phone into your side-bag, leaning into the halting train as it crawled to a stop on the Keiou Inokashira Line. Walking out and looking for any telltale signs of your friend, you scanned the train station with wandering eyes as you walked out.

But, it was not necessary, since Komori’s light brown hair was an easy pick in the crowd. However, next to him was a volleyball player that you could easily pick from the bustling station. While Japanese men were generally around 170 centimetres, seeing Sakusa’s curly mop of hair high above the crowd was enough for you to follow.

It seemed they saw you immediately as well, Komori waving at you to come over while Sakusa merely kept his eyes trained on you. With them were a handful of other members of the Itachiyama volleyball club, from the players to their female manager, you recognized them from practice matches.

They invited you into the group of teenagers quickly, as if nothing was strange at all, waving at you with smiles before shooting looks at both Komori and Sakusa. 

What the hell was happening?

You had a feeling in the back of your mind that something was happening around you, that they all knew something that you did not know.

You walked along with the group into the popular neighborhood of Kichijoji - the group traveling from food stand to souvenir stand. Their female manager was so friendly, unlike how seriously quiet she was when visiting. She even asked to touch your hair at one point, saying it looked so bouncy and pretty today.

“The tracksuits don’t do any of us justice.” She complained, “But you look so nice today, (L/N)-san!”

You smiled at her words, “Thanks. We had an off-day today too. So I figured why not.”

“Well, it looks great. Don’t you think so too, Kiyoomi?”

The sudden question had you reeling back in surprise, turning to the black-haired teen. Why was he suddenly being brought into this? What were they trying to do?

But the thousands of questions in your brain came to a halt when Sakusa turned to you and simply said. “You look nice.”

“Thanks.” You replied, more out of reflex than truly getting his words. So in your head, you failed to notice the teasing smile she shot her ace, before turning away back to the rest of the group.

They gathered around the menu of a popular crepe stand, you left standing there in surprise as the group continued on without you. Sakusa stayed beside you, before taking a step and inclined his head toward the rest.

Shaking your head away from the niggling feeling in the back of your mind, you lightly jogged to catch up with the rest, finding a pace between Sakusa and Komori. 

The brunette turned to during your walk, “You’re probably really surprised to be here.”

“Yeah…”

Komori chuckled, a hand on his neck as he lightly muttered beneath his breath. “Honestly, I’m surprised he did it.”

“Did what?” You asked with a raised brow.

“Nothing important.” He waved off, “I’m just glad you were able to join our group today.”

Deciding not to push it, you instead said. “Well, thanks for the invite.”

The group’s conversation ranged from the food stalls, to your long awaited destination at the billiards club. The building had, true to its name, billiards tables and other vintage arcade machines. 

You were unsure where to place yourself within this group, obvious inside jokes that you would not understand between some of the other members. Thankfully, Komori and their female manager were very quick to try to get you to weigh in on the conversation.

“Well, I think Shrek is funnier in Japanese.” She stated it clear as day, as if a fact. You had to stop yourself from chuckling, one hand on the pool cue since it was your turn to go.

“But it’s not funnier than Cars.” Another countered.

“Have you heard Mater in the original movie?” You replied after hitting the ball, watching it not follow the path you had intended to hit it in at all. “That’s the one English dub I’ll accept.”

She smiled before arguing, “As if a cowboy accent is funnier than Shrek with a Jojo’s voice?”

You attempted to dead-pan your face, Sakusa stepping up to the billiards table after you. “We’re Japanese. We all have Jojo’s voice.”

“Alright Pikachu, calm down.”

You held a mock-offended hand to your chest, not able to hide the laughter at her jest. Despite being a beginner at billiards, and getting absolutely wrecked by everyone else playing, you were having fun with the random group.

This was not just the Itachiyama volleyball club - a fan favorite to win nationals.

These were high school teenagers, enjoying their free day off.

It was like a wide-awakening of your perspective. After all, you went to a powerhouse school yourself. When people saw Bokuto, saw Fukurōdani as a whole - how many times were people intimidated at Prelims just because of your team’s reputation? Taking Itachiyama off its pedestal was the same and it was hard to remind yourself of this fact.

But finally putting names to faces, personalities to people, you let it sink in that they were not that unlike you and your team.

After billiards, you continued with the group to a hot-pot restaurant a few blocks away. Komori hung especially around you, you noted inwardly. Was it to keep you from feeling left out of the group? But why were you even with this group to begin with?

Wait.

Didn’t Komori call you cute during your first encounter?

You felt something inside you inwardly swell and then sag. Were you here because Komori wanted you to be here? Even though your direct invitation came from Sakusa, the ace reasoned that it was at Komori’s suggestion. Were you invited here to get closer to the libero?

Despite being surrounded by the loud vbc members, their eagerness to eat bustling in both action and conversation, you felt yourself sag at the realization.

They were trying to get you closer to Komori?

You inwardly slapped yourself on the head for being so closed-minded. Not that he was a bad guy - he was the best libero in the entire country after all. Volleyball skills aside, Komori was trying his best to make you comfortable in the group. He was naturally outgoing, friendly, and had been the reason behind your invite in the first place.

But another part of your mind, the part that you had been trying to close off for so long, could not help but glance over to Sakusa and hoped that he had been the reason.

The silent ace caught your gaze, making you turn away immediately and flush at being caught.

It was… disappointing.

But you failed to notice how Sakusa kept his gaze on you, the female manager watching this interaction entirely with amused eyes.

You were still trapped in your thoughts. You had gotten your hopes up after all, despite saying to all the other members that it truly was not that way between the two of you.

And now it was fully true.

Entering the restaurant, the female manager, having the foresight to call ahead to reserve for your large group, you deliberated where you wanted to sit at the table. You went to take a seat next to the manager, to which she motioned to Komori in a none-too-subtle way, to instead take the seat before you could finish your question.

That left a single seat left on this side - the corner one that was only next to Komori.

Of course they were trying to set you up with him, why else did you think otherwise?? You almost slapped yourself on the head for how tunnel-minded you were before this.

You took the seat, shooting a smile toward Komori that did not quite reach your eyes. But, to your surprise, the brunette muttered a small excuse of having to go to the bathroom or something, you could not catch it exactly since it was so quick. And instead, the ace that had been plaguing your thoughts for the last few minutes, had plopped down into the spot.

You snapped your head forward, grabbing at the menu and stating that it all looked good. The female manager smiled at you, more like smirked, before joining in the conversation of what she wanted to order.

As per your team mom instinct™, you took out your hand sanitizer and offered it to the other table members. 

“Thank you, (L/N)-chan!” She replied, taking the small container and using some. You offered it to the rest and let it pass around. “You even beat Sakusa offering it to us.”

Komori took the seat across from you when he returned, adding to the conversation quickly. “That’s (L/N)-chan’s?”

“Yeah. Otherwise, it would’ve been paired with a lecture from our dear ace here.” The female added. “It’s almost like you complete each other.”

Wait, what?

You smiled awkwardly, eyes landing on the silent Sakusa who had yet to say anything.

“Ah. I have the same brand.” He said when the bottle made its way back.

Okay, not what you were expecting at all. You took it from his hands, a small grin still on your face, using it before storing it away.

A few minutes in and it was clear that members of the table were breaking out into their smaller conversations. To your left was a wall and so that left the silent Sakusa or Komori across from you, who was trying hard to converse with only the person next to him.

“I saw the article about you in volleyball monthly.” You started. “Congrats on officially being one of the top spikers in the country.”

Sakusa turned to you when you first spoke, replying. “Thanks, but it’s brought a lot of annoying attention.”

He was actually talking to you? Stop. He’s human too.

“I could imagine - scouts, fangirls - it’s never ending.” You responded. “A lot of girls like to hang around and watch practice matches for Bokuto, I’d assume it’s the same.”

“It’s annoying.” He stated curtly, “They’re dirtying up the gym with their outdoor shoes every time.”

Of all things… you thought inwardly with an amused grin.

“Being so popular now, there’s probably tons of people who approach you based solely on reputation. I hope you don’t think that of me.” You stated.

“I don’t.” He said back just as quickly.

You smiled, before continuing the conversation. “Even if their energy is misplaced, I can’t help but agree that you’ve accumulated a lot of earned attention.”

“Oh?”

“Well, yeah.” Your smile widened unconsciously, “I mean, you’re more than just the title. You were a good spiker before any labels told anyone that.”

Sakusa looked at you, in what looked like a flat expression. 

What you did not know was how thoroughly he was scanning your face, just to gauge how genuine your words were. You went to rival schools? Other schools in the prefecture were so quick to antagonize him and his team. After all, Bokuto made his feelings obvious during the last practice match. And yet you were willing to just hangout, of all things, with people you hardly knew? So willing to compliment the ace with the largest target on his back??

Your actions confused a realist like him.

Why even bother to be nice to him way back then? Why try to keep in touch? Why be here today?

And even more so, why did he want to know the answer to these questions so badly?

“(L/N)-chan, what would you usually be doing on your off days?” The manager broke you out of your thoughts.

“Well, today was supposed to be a Mario Kart tournament with some of the Nekoma kids.” You thought back to your earlier plans. “As crazy as it is, we tend to just lounge around and play video games with Kuroo and Kenma.”

“Ah, that’s right. Nekoma is in the Fukurōdani Academy Group as well.” She stated, her voice lowering toward the end.

“Yeah, but we’re pretty close to Kuroo and rest beyond volleyball. I don’t know how, but our captains all get along like frat bro’s.” You reminisced to the last interaction, “But at least with all the managers together, we have five mother hen’s, six including Akaashi, to guide the group.”

She laughed, before biting her lip.

You noticed the action and questioned, “Something wrong?”

“No.” She tried to wave off, “Well. I don’t know. I’m kind of jealous.”

You let out an incredulous snort before leaning forward. “Why?”

“You get along really well with the other schools in the prefecture. Enough so that I see you guys,” she motioned to you in a circular motion, you took this to signify the Fukurōdani team as a whole, “Like everywhere on social media.”

“Oh?”

“Parties, weekends, you name it. Even Masaki-san, who is infamous for being so angry looking, posted you and the rest out swimming last summer break.” You thought back to the event, the name of the now captain of the Ubugawa High volleyball team jumping out at you.

House parties… Wasn’t that a regular high school thing to do? And while you were all responsible teenagers with a lot to lose, the team did indulge in various friendly gatherings that did include teens across multiple schools in the prefecture.

You hadn’t said anything yet, so she continued. “Meanwhile, our coach has us play against college teams since he insists it’s better practice. We don’t really play with anyone else in the prefecture other than you guys - and you hate us.”

“That’s not true.” You cut in immediately, to which she raised a brow. “Believe me. The only outspoken one would be Bokuto and none of that is beyond surface level - he’s a really nice guy and would never actually hate anyone.”

You continued, “It may just seem that way since we’re immediate rivals. But I honestly had no idea that it made you guys feel so isolated.”

“Yeah…” She admitted, her voice trailing off at the end.

“It doesn't have to stay this way. After all, you were nice enough to invite me out now.” You replied, a bright smile back on your face. “Why don’t we exchange numbers?”

She radiated a smile reflecting your own, taking out her phone and quickly inputting your digits in. “Wow, you’re so friendly.”

“Don’t worry about it.” You replied.

She held her smile for a few more seconds, before her eyes slid over to the silent ace between you two. 

“I’m so glad Sakusa wanted to invite you with us today.”

You looked toward him as well, Sakusa meeting your eyes before turning away.  “Uh, I was glad I was able to join.” 

“Yeah, well. It’s no wonder he…”

Her voice came to a halt when the ace looked straight at her, the waves of warning enough for even you to feel, without having to see his expression.

Sakusa wanted you to be here?

“He…?” You questioned, to which she smiled and shrugged, not completing her previous thought.

The rest of the dinner went without any special events - even holding light conversation with Itachiyama’s ace next to you. Conversation with Sakusa was curt, but he meant no harm. If you had to describe it, he was dense in the way of conversation, similar to Bokuto and yet for the opposite reasons. 

Bokuto was so extroverted that he got along with people so easily. But, it often led to him mistakenly leading on girls for how friendly he was. Meanwhile, on the other side of the spectrum, introverted Sakusa kept to himself because that was where he was comfortable, not because he thought others beneath him.

You felt your heart swell at having learned a little bit more about the ace.

After dinner, the nightsky reflected back at you as you went to part ways with the group. Dorms in opposite directions, you were surprised when Sakusa offered to walk with you to the train station. 

And while your heart swelled at the implications, Sakusa reasoned it was only fair since he was the one that invited you out. Now that it was late, it may not be safe for you to be out late and it would be on his head if something happened.

His manager laughed, while Komori just sighed, muttering that he was hopeless.

She bid you farewell with a tight hug, saying you should text her when you get home. The rest waved at you amicably before walking off in the opposite direction. 

Whatever the reasoning may be, there was no logical reason as to why a germaphobe like him would sit directly next to you on the train back home. Your shoulders were even touching, but neither of you voiced this fact. 

“Today was actually really fun.” You started, turning to him on your right. There were only a few other people taking this line and they were mostly crowded around the opposite end of your train-car. “Thanks for inviting me.”

“You don’t have to say thanks so many times.”

“Did I?” You asked with a sheepish smile, “I honestly didn’t notice, but I do mean it.”

“Good.” His eyes bore into your own so seriously, “Because I’m glad you did.”

Unsure what to even say, you just kept on smiling. “Thank-

“What did I say?” Despite his normally cold visage, the tilt in his voice was enough to signify to you that he was teasing you.

You inclined your head toward him, “Fine. I’m… really happy, that we’re friends.”

He looked at you fully, not saying anything and making you question if you overstepped, before Sakusa stated, “Kiyoomi.”

“What?”

“Call me Kiyoomi.”

“Oh.” You smiled, “(F/N) is fine too.”

The rest of the train ride had such a lighthearted atmosphere. The only other person you could sit in comfortable silence with was Akaashi, but even then he was so silently sassy that it was nothing like Sakusa’s energy. And yet, at that moment, you felt so comfortable in his presence.

Sakusa did as he said he would, walking you all the way to the school-gates before finally bidding you farewell.

“See you around, (F/N).”

You reiterated it back to him, only walking off when he disappeared from sight. The smile on your face stayed etched there all the way back to your dorm room - where Yukie and Kaori were eagerly waiting on your lower bunk-bed, your roommate nowhere to be seen.

“Details, (F/N)-chan!” Yukie yelled out immediately, an enthused Kaori not too far behind her. 

And you did just so for the entirety of the hangout - from the billiards club, the manager’s desire to be closer to other teams, to your conversation with Sakusa on the train. They nodded along as you explained, having brought snacks with them as well, it was clear they were waiting for a while. How they got in your dorm room - that was a question for another time.

They chuckled at you for thinking Komori was the reason and nodded in understanding about the female manager. It was only at the end when they really questioned you and Sakusa.

“So… not dating, huh?” Yukie asked with a raised brow.

“Not yet.” Kaori answered.

“Damn, that means I owe Bokuto Yakisoba bread.”

You chuckled at the girls’ words, but felt that you could no longer honestly deny their teasing. The two of you were nothing more than friends, but there was no denying that you wouldn’t mind the possibility of being more than that…

Fuck it, you liked him.

No longer doing mental somersaults in your brain, it was surprisingly easy to accept the fact that you had a crush on the Itachiyama ace.

And your relationship only seemed to grow as the school year went on. During the next practice match, you formally introduced Yukie and Kaori to the other manager. The four of you were quick buds and she was invited to your dorm room on occasion. Other members of the team greeted you warmly, Sakusa even calling you by your first name, confirming that your last conversation was not just a fever dream you had one day.

Your heart only squeezed in on itself more when you felt your lingering looks become mutual. Sakusa had always garnered your attention during practice matches. But between plays and matches, you would just be looking at him when suddenly, he would be looking at you too. 

No matter how many times it happened, Yukie always made sure to tease you when she caught you.

You would text him memes and would receive a dry lol in return. There were times that he would spin the conversation and ask if you had eaten yet. 

Was he really trying to mother hen the Fukurōdani manager? You thought with a smile.

Your small texts and conversations were tantamount to much more when it came to Sakusa. His actions meant much more than it did to the average person. He did not waste movements, nor did he waste his own time. These were more than just dry texts - Sakusa could easily not reply at all. 

You learned that he disliked oranges due to its messiness. He actually liked the colors of his school tracksuit, even though they were bright against the soft hues of the Tokyo landscape. He was not a fan of the interviews, but knew it was a small sacrifice if he wanted to go pro. He loved his team and wanted to go far with them.

These little details made you like him even more - there was so much more to him than just volleyball.

When you finally voiced your feelings to Yukie, she gave you a soft smile and a pat on the shoulder. “I have eyes, you know. We all do, actually. But I’m glad you finally caught up.”

You laughed at her words then - maybe you really were a late bloomer when it came to your feelings?

Your frequent texts became frequent calls. Those became frequent late night video chat’s and soon enough, even your coach was teasing you over your close relationship. 

“The next practice match with your boyfriend’s team is scheduled for next Friday.” They stated with a straight face to the entire volleyball team, making the third-years chuckle and Bokuto even nudge you with his elbow.

“Not saying you’re just friends anymore?” Yukie asked with a smirk one time.

You shrugged, to which Akaashi sighed before ruffling your hair.

And so, when the managers were hanging out in their hotel room at the next Interhigh National Tournament in the fall, neither Yukie nor Kaori nor the Itachiyama manager, who was chilling with you guys, batted an eyelash when Sakusa texted you to hang-out that night.

You texted back, trying to convey a teasing tone over the words. “Wouldn’t it be weird if I was having dinner with the rival team of mine at Nationals?”

His response was immediate:

Not team; just me.

You blush only increased and Yukie teased you further, “Woah, what could he possibly be sending you for you to get that red?”

“I’m willing to bet Yakisoba bread that they’ll be official before the next nationals.” The other manager stated, outstretching a hand toward Kaori and Yukie.

“Whaaaat?” The former drew out, “I’m thinking by tonight.”

“Shut up.” You stated as you blushed, putting on your outdoor shoes and a jacket.

Going down to the lobby, you scanned the room to see Akaashi and Bokuto at one of the tables. The two had such a… trusting relationship, you learned. Yes, Akaashi played the suffering card almost every day. But the setter loved to watch Bokuto play so passionately, you could see it in his eyes every time they were on the court.

Whatever was going on there, you supported it.

Turning away, you made your way over to the door where Sakusa was waiting. He looked so out of place, as per usual, hands in pockets and looking as if he wanted to be anywhere but there.

As you approached, Sakusa nodded to you in greeting and - to your eternal surprise - took your hand in his own before guiding you out the door. He had on winter gloves, so none of your germs would be touching his skin, but the action itself was so surprising. Yes, you talked and smiled and pined after him - but premarital holding hands?? Were you both ready for this??

He led the way over to a small cafe, walking in mutual silence and only releasing your hand when the host seated you across from each other. You eagerly soaked up the menu, eyes scanning the sweets while he deliberated over something.

Sakusa had yet to say anything to you, not grabbing at the menu either, which worried you in a way. What was it that was on his mind?

“Something wrong, Yoomi?” The nickname slipped off the tongue easily, having used it in your last night talks on the phone with one another.

“I want you to know my intentions in our relationship.”

You swallowed at his words, sure that he heard your nervous tick as well.

“I want to get to know you.”

The teasing smile was quick on your face, “Me too. I mean, that’s what we’ve been doing all along?”

“No.” He cut in instantly, tugging the face mask he had on down and off. “As in get to know you with the intention of being more than friends.”

“Oh?”

“You confuse me endlessly.” He admitted, “Your initial kindness made no logical sense - why extend it to your rival that you barely know? Why humanize me, get to know my team after all this time?”

“Because I wanted to be kind, even way back then.” You thought aloud your reasoning.

“I know you now. And what I see… That’s what I like about you.”

“Wait. You like me?”

Your humility was cute and such a rare trait in your shared interest; the small question made Sakusa smile inwardly. 

“Yes. And you like me too.” He responded with a smirk, to which you could not even deny.

“Well, yeah!” You laughed as you affirmed his statement.

He tilted his head at your outburst - god help him you were so cute. His smirk morphed into one of an endearing expression, before he took a breath and calmed himself.

“I do have to be honest with you.” He started, “I want to get closer to you, more than before. But my priorities right now are volleyball.”

Your bright smile fell to a neutral grin, not really from his words, since you truly did understand his situation. He was in his third-year, college scouts and grades were on the line at every turn for him. Even tomorrow, at the Fall National tournament, his performance could very well carve out the future he was working so hard for this whole time.

Your silence must have been a telling sign for Sakusa, since he started to pour out questions in a way that usually occurred when he fixated on something.

“Stop, you don’t need to explain it to me. I understand fully. There’s too much on the line right now to get distracted.” Your smile was back on your face as you reached over to grab at his hand this time, “But I want to get to know you too.”

“Good.”

The hand under your’s squeezed back lightly, before upturning the positions so yours rested in his larger one. It was a silent moment, sharing eye contact that felt so intimate, and yet similar to the one you shared at the last tournament. His smile, rarer than the times Bokuto fell silent, was small and for you alone at this moment. 

What he was asking for was not an outright relationship - nothing about this was normal, but you wouldn’t have preferred it to be.

--------

(continue; BUT SPOILER WARNING TO CHAPTER 392!! :O)

You sat in the stands on the Black Jackals side, cheering on the team of your boyfriend of three years. Adorned on your shoulders was Sakusa’s sports jacket, his last name shown proudly on your back. Next to you, Akaashi and Yukie were loudly cheering for the team’s victory.

Seeing both Bokuto and Sakusa on the same team was no longer a strange sight. And, instead,  always elicited a pang of pride surging through you every time you watched their games.

The two of you never confirmed your relationship throughout the rest of high school. And while this made many of your then teammates groan at your ambiguous relationship, especially since many kept betting Yakisoba bread to no avail, you would not have it any other way.

After a few months from your conversation in the cafe, Sakusa would kiss your cheek in goodbye, no matter who was around you. When walking around Shibuya, with either yours or his or even with Nekoma’s team around, he would hover shoulder-to-shoulder with you.

And when Itachiyama, the favored team to win Nationals as a whole, lost to Inubushi East High - you held him in your embrace the entire night in the comfort of his hotel room. He did not cry then, but his disposition was enough for you to know that he was not okay.

And when Fukurōdani made it all the way to the finals of the National Spring Interhigh, only to get eliminated, Sakusa held you close despite your loud crying the next day.

You knew how much Sakusa cherished you, that was all that mattered. And so when he kissed you for the first time, even without a label to your relationship, none of that mattered. Your feelings to each other only grew with time and what happened in the private recess of your relationship was for you two alone.

Watching the pro team win the game 3:2, with your boyfriend getting the first service ace of the game, you almost cried in joy at how far he progressed in achieving his dream. This was a far cry from his first pro-game, but seeing him on the court, surrounded by your Fukurōdani friends, brought so much nostalgic feelings to your heart.

Even as the rest of the audience cleared the stadium, you and the two others lingered. Bokuto made sure to wave at Akaashi, his significant other since the day you lost at the Spring Nationals.

You waited together until you received a text from Sakusa, then headed down toward the entrance of the changing rooms as a group. Some of the members of the Black Jackals were already waiting for you three by the time you made it through the crowd and down.

Hinata greeted you excitedly while Bokuto ran, with not a hint of hesitation, toward Akaashi. Lifting the previous setter off the ground, he placed a light butterfly kiss on his nose, careful not to hit his glasses.

“Kōtarō, please.” Akaashi attempted to chastise the volleyball player for ignoring the rest of the group and stop him from getting any deeper in his public display of affection, but the smile on his face took off the weight of his words.

“I love you.” Bokuto said, forehead to forehead with your close friend to this day, before receiving the words in kind from the previous setter.

You smiled warmly at the two - to think that they were dancing around their feelings also in high school. Having teased them a lot before, it only warmed your heart to know that they found their eternal happiness in each other.

Yukie was also smiling behind you, before Bokuto took the both of you in his arms for a long awaited hug. Your high school best-friend offered him a Yakisoba bread after, it was not a silent tradition after all the lost bets she participated in. Bokuto took it with a smile, putting the bread in his pack before encasing Akaashi’s hand in his own.

Atsumu was next to leave the changing room, shamelessly flirting with both you and Yukie the moment he laid eyes on you.

You laughed at the setter’s attempts, “Come on blondie, give it up.”

“You know, I think you’d make a great manager for our team.” He ended it with a wink.

“(F/N)-chan used to be my manager before!” Bokuto cut in, sticking his tongue out in jest at the end.

You felt strong arms wrap around your midsection from behind, Sakusa having quietly exited the changing room, before feeling his lips against the side of your head. “Sorry for making you wait. I had to wait for them to sanitize the showers again after Atsumu used it before me.”

The setter sputtered in reaction, after being implied as dirty, but was honestly used to it by now. 

Only when Bokuto inclined his head toward the exits did Sakusa let go of you. But only for a second, grabbing your hand in his own as you headed out. The group had agreed earlier about going somewhere for the victory dinner - probably the usually ramen place you haunted in Shibuya.

Facing you fully now -  Sakusa held your cheeks in his hands, the coarse skin affected by the endless hours of enduring volleyball. You leaned into the motion as he lowered his height closer to you. Familiar with each other’s nuances by now, you angled your head to side as your hands comfortably wrapped around his neck. Nudging your nose slightly with his own, he rested his forehead against yours before the velvet skin of his lips matched your own.

You felt one of his hands move to curve around your waist, bringing you closer to him as he deepened your act of affection. Greedy to just feel more of him, you leaned into Sakusa again, lips meeting twice, three times, before you pulled away.

His loud groan was palpable to the now silent hallway.

Sakusa was only ever so affectionate when you were in private. And so for him to be this forward while the possibility of getting caught still hung in the balance was a rare thing - not that you were complaining.

“Come on, we should go catch-up with the rest of your team.” You said almost breathlessly, still sharing the same breath in your close embrace.

You felt one of his hands travel behind your head slowly, grazing the back of your neck softly as he went. You leaned into him at the feeling, sensitive to the touch. The smirk on his face was obvious, the jackass - teasing you in public of all places. 

“Do we have to?”

Was he trying to tempt you to just go straight home to your shared apartment?

Not one to be easily swayed, you gave him a small peck on the lips before backing out of his embrace entirely. 

His hands dropped down to yours as you went, “Yes, we have to.”

Pulling you back to him, and chastely kissing your forehead this time, Sakusa replied. “Okay, but only for you.”

Your smile only widened then, at his affection words meant only for you. 

Your relationship was never easy, busy with your respective college degrees, and the attention that came with being a professional athlete gaining world-renown. Like every other couple, you fought, and cried, and loved each other so much in your own little ways.

The two of you had a quiet sort of romance. You were not the sort who would flaunt your relationship in public, nor would you so eagerily utter the words I love you as other couples, but you knew that what you had was real.

What started as a chance encounter became the best partner you could ever ask for.

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

Author’s notes:

The only reason I’m thinking Fukurōdani has dorms is just an educated guess:

All the schools that have “Academy” in the name seem to be the ‘higher’ or more prestigious schools. Karasuno High, Nekoma High, Shinzen High - none of these places have dorms. But Shiratorizawa Academy; Fukurōdani Academy; Itachiyama Academy -> since Shiratorizawa is confirmed to have dorms i figured ayyy let's roll with it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ A loooot of my assumptions are going to be based off Shiratorizawa - like the fact that they feel they’re the best and practice with colleges instead of other hs cause they’re not good enough lmao

IT ALMOST KILLS ME that we know only TWO people on the Itachiyama team and then timeskip hits and its like ?? LOL ok ?? hype them up for so long and JUST NOW we see Sakusa play ok ok ok 

✧  Masterlist

[hozierandco]

Sam Fender x Reader / call me lover

Friends to lovers. Lots of fluff.

Plot: Y/N and Sam have been friends for as long as they can remember but growing up has led them to grow apart. There are many things they have to tell one another.

The thing with kids is that they grow up. Too quickly, with too much silence surrounding them.

Sam was a boy, Y/N was a girl but to one another, they were just friends. They had known each other for as long as they could recall and had not doubted one second that they were just friends. Of course, there were the subtle questions from their parents, the hesitation when Sam would spend the night at Y/N's but their parents too knew it was just friendship.

Although they agreed that with all the secrets and trust they shared, they would be the best of couples, they thought it to be too pure to be broken.

Their friends too believed that it would inevitably happen, that they would end up together. Of all people, Dru was the most persistent on the matter. He had known Y/N for a longer time than Sam since Y/N's mother was the doula and a close friend to Drew's. Therefore, the two of them considered each other as siblings.

He  liked to tease Sam to make him confess a crush he would have on Y/N. To no avail.

And then, there had been Y/N's first boyfriend when she was 15. At a time in his life when he was still playing Fifa in his room when he was not toying with his piano, he had to endure his best friend clung to her boyfriend's arm.

For the first time, he felt repulsed by the sight of Y/N but mostly by that of the Alex Turner wannabe her heart had fallen for. He began writing about love and deception though he had no reason to have known either.

Of course, the idyll was cut short with Alex Turner #2 coming back from summer camp without his virginity anymore, exploit he felt the need to share with the whole school.

Sam and Drew had come to Y/N's rescue the day at school and together, they had eaten pizza and waited for Y/N's tears to disappear. It was the world against them from now on, and nothing could change that.

Sam had worked his ass off to make Y/N proud and had done all he could for his A-levels. In spite of all the intensity and long hours of going over Horatio Nelson and the Boer War with Y/N, he gave up and started working in a pub. He was to be a musician, no matter what.

His fingers got crooked because of his guitar, his voice sore but at last, he was given a festival to play at. Drew would be there too of course.

As for Y/N, she had started working in an architect's office while studying at the local Uni.

Things got so fast. The kids grew and were soon overwhelmed with new responsibilities. Y/N had a new life for herself and Sam was about to tour before releasing his debut album. When he found out that a label had signed him up, the three friends along with Dean and Joe had screamed their lungs out.

It had come out of the blue that Joe fancied Y/N and it had also come out of the blue that Sam didn't like this turn of event.

The tour meant that they would not see each other for at least half a year as Sam's studio was in London. They had never been away from one another for so long so the day Sam left North Shields, it felt like the soil was crumbling under her feet.

Y/N informed herself of Sam's whereabouts through Dru as Sam didn't reply to her texts. Dru was regularly implying to his friend that he should call her every now and then, but he was always "too busy". Just like that, silent formed around them.

"Sam, call her", Dru begged one more time.

Sam sighed. He did not dare calling her, he felt as though he had let time rule his emotions. The more distance he put between them, the harder it was to think of something to say. Sure, he was busy but he always had been busy.

"You know what day it is today, don't you?"

Sam stared with round eyes at Dru.

"It's her bloody birthday, Sam. Just call her, okay?"

Dru had taken Sam's phone from his coat that was lying on the floor and forced Sam to take it.

Sam went to the room, right next to where he was and dialled Y/N's number, ending up on the voicemail "Hi! I hope that the voicemail just indicates that you're getting hammered somewhere and I also wish you a happy birthday. I'm sorry I didn't call earlier, I wish I could make it up to you. I miss you and I love you"

It was not until the message got sent that he realised what he had just said. Sam knew that opening up always led him to say too much and he couldn't take the risk to lose Y/N.

"What's wrong?" Dru asked when he saw Sam visibly agitated.

"I screwed up"

"You just had one call to make, how can you screw up a call?"

"I said something I shouldn't have. I told her that I loved her"

"As in I love you?"

"Yeah, I mean it's not something we say to each other"

"And do you? Love her?"

"Yes, Dru. I think I do. I think I always loved her"

"Well then, you haven't screwed up. You've just made things easier"

Days went by without a word from Y/N and Sam to pass time was playing with his phone a couple of times a day, not knowing what or if he should write to her. But then it got worrying, he feard that something had happened to her.

"D'you have news of Y/N?", he confronted Dru one night.

"She didn't say that she loves you back, huh?"

"She hasn't said anything at all, in fact. Is she alright?"

"That's odd. Yeah, she's fine, I just got a text from her, not even ten minutes ago. I can ask her to reach out for you if you want"

Dru is a magician as not only five minutes later, Sam's phone buzzed.

Y/N: Dru said you called on my birthday. My phone was off, you should have left a message... Sam: I did! You didn't listen to it? Y/N: I didn't get anything... Sam: Can I call you now? Y/N: No, not tonight. I'll call you tomorrow morning, good? Sam: Yes :)

Sam was not a morning person but he woke up as early as he could. He waited and finally she called. On FaceTime. She looked radiant, unlike him who severely lacked of sleep.

"Hey!"

Bring the tone down, Fender, Sam thought. You're gonna freak her out.

"Hi, sorry I couldn't call you yesterday. It's good to see you"

Just like that, one moving still of Sam was enough to have her mood lit up.

"So, can't make a voicemail work, huh?" Y/N joked around.

"I promise you, it worked. I don't know what happened but it's good I get to tell you like that"

"Tell me what?"

"Well, first that I'm sorry I've been an idiot lately. It's just that I've missed you so much and I wanted to see you and I couldn't stop thinking of you all the time"

An unfamiliar noise of a plate falling.

"Garlic's going on an adventure?" Sam referred to Y/N's cat that was known to be the clumsiest cat on Earth and that Sam had helped naming six years prior.

The distraction was much needed as Sam was blushing and it started showing on camera.

"Let me just go somewhere quieter"

As Y/N left her living room for her bedroom, Sam saw the silhouette of a man trying to assemble the splinters the plate had left behind.

"Sorry for that. What were you saying?"

"Nothing. I'm just sorry I didn't call you earlier and I hoped that you had a great birthday..."

"You sure there was nothing else"

"Yeah, yeah I'm sure"

The two of them chatted for another 5 minutes when the conversatio became awkward.

Y/N was certain when she hung up that Sam was about to reveal his feelings. And she would have let him. In fact, she would have revealed hers as well.

But Dan had to be in the way. Or was it Ian? Stan? Y/N had always done this. When she was thinking of Sam too much, she was collecting men to share the night with.

She never got attached to anybody but liked to wake up by a man's side.

A few weeks later, Dru called Y/N with good news.

"We've got some rest from the tour. We'll be at Shields for a month or so. I cannot wait to see you again, little sister!"

Y/N had set her mind to meet them at the train station from where she would get in the tour bus with them. Since Sam's aborted declaration, Y/N had not gotten any news from him and was not taking any.

When the van arrived and its doors opened, Dru ran to Y/N and hugged her "Ah, come here, you!"

There was a new face amongst the original team.

"Hi, I'm Lisa" the stranger introduced herself. By gazing that her hand was in Sam's, Y/N took a wild guess that the two of them were a thing.

"Nice to finally meet you. You're the 5th Beatle or so it seems. The boys could not shut up about you"

Y/N grinned at Dru and fainted a smile towards Sam. Unfortunately, she couldn't say as much for Lisa and blamed Dru to have kept it a secret.

Lisa was gorgeous, it was undeniable. Her posh accent had made the journey with her and contrasted with hers and the boys'. As long as Sam is happy, I'm happy, Y/N tried to convince herself as she got in the van.

"So, pub?" Dru asked. It was not even 5 pm but the idea seemed to everyone's taste.

"I'll join you later if that's alright. Joe, can you drop me off? I've got a few things to do before I join"

"You alright?" Dru whispered at her as he was seated next to her in the back of the van.

"Yeah, I'm fine" but as she answered, she stared a little too long at Lisa and her brown curls, her tanned skin and her perfect Julia Roberts smile.

"It's Lisa, huh? I don't like her either. Too posh for Sammy"

"I've never said I didn't like her"

"Then what?" Dru hesitated and then exclaimed "Oh!"

As he had nearly shouted, all of the boys and Lisa turned around to laugh at his looks of bewilderment.

Dru shushed himself down as his friends took the piss at him "Finally got the epiphany that you're ugly, Michael?" Dean mocked him.

As Dru brushed the joke and everything went back to normal, he went on with his whispering "You fancy Sam?"

Y/N simply nodded which got Dru leaning back in his seat, stirred by the confession.

"There, you go, princess" Joe stated as he had parked right in front of Y/N's flat.

They all greeted Y/N goodbye and agreed that they would see each other at 7. Sam did not dare looking at her in the eye. He knew he should have said something about Lisa but he had not come around it, why would he since she had her own life now?

As she opened the door, Y/N started tearing up a little, stunned by all the events. She seized her phone and sent a text.

By 6.15, the intercom rang. Y/N had changed into a wrap dress made of sequins and black heels.

"Hey!", she exclaimed to the man who was waiting by the door. This one was Chris, a chap she had seen some days prior. He reminded her of Alfred Enoch somehow with his chiseled jaw and round cheeks. Y/N didn't feel like being alone tonight and Chris was good company.

"Y/N, here!" Joe informed as he was in charge of getting a new round of drinks "By the table over there. Oh hi" he said to the stranger "I'm Joe"

Chris was by far the best-dressed man there as, clearly not familiar to pubs, he was wearing an open white shirt over brown chinos.

Dru and Tom made some space for Y/N and Chris to sit once Y/N had introduced everyone to her date.

The conversation was very much alive by 8 except for the fact that Lisa and Chris felt left out as it was all about childhood memories and family-related topics.

Sam was all eyes for Y/N. It was as though nothing awkward had ever happened between them and as though they were kids all over again.

In an effort to include Chris in the night's ambiance, Y/N asked him to dance with her. She hoped by that that she could get a reaction from Sam as dancing was THEIR thing.

At her birthday parties, they were always the two ones inventing silly dance moves on cheap Eurodance. As teens, they would always wiggle at gigs while the rest of the audience would look at them tenderly.

"I should get going. I've got a meeting in the morning" Chris let Y/N know as a song by Marvin Gaye ended. It was only 10 pm but Y/N didn't hold him back.

"C'mon, Sam. Invite her to dance, you're dreaming of it" Lisa rushed him. "She's your best friend after all"

What if he didn't want to be her best friend anymore?

Sam got up and joined Y/N. Tonight, he would tell her the truth. Not tomorrow, tonight.

"May I accompany you?"

"Yes, you may. Lisa's not into dancing?"

"I don't know but I'm into dancing with you"

"He's in love with her, isn't he?" Lisa asked Dru who had just ordered more drinks.

"Yeah, I think he is.. I'm sorry"

"Don't be, it's no big deal. Sam and I were just fooling around anyway. She's sweet, just what he needs"

"They just have to admit it now"

"So, Chris.. You two are together for long?" Sam asked.

"No, I mean technically we're not together. We've met twice with tonight"

"He seems nice"

"Yeah, I suppose. You and Lisa?"

"About the same: couple of weeks, nothing too serious"

"What did you mean to tell me last time?"

"Last time?"

"Yeah, you were saying that you missed me and all"

"Well, yeah. Touring without you sucked. I've missed you every fucking day. I want to be with you all the time. It's always been like that me and you"

"I missed you too, Sam"

The song had changed.

"What I'm about to say could ruin what we have but I just have to say it: I've always loved you, Y/N. It took me a whole ass tour to realise that. It's what I told you on the voicemail"

"I love you too, you idiot!"

Dru admired Lisa's ability to remain amicable even when she understood that Sam and Y/N had just confessed their feelings. He had judged her badly and saw what Sam had seen in her: a genuine goodness.

Sam was eager to kiss Y/N but had to make sure that Lisa was alright. He wanted more than anything else in the world Y/N and him to be together but he couldn't do it like that.

He turned around to Lisa only to see her kissing Dru. Sam shook his head and turned back on Y/N who was laughing at this sudden act of PDA.

Sam laughed along and then joined his lips to Y/N's.

[simplyxsinned]

Haikyuu boys going out on a date with their s/o during a rainy day

𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡

characters: hinata, lev, bokuto, akaashi

warnings: cussing

A/n: had a struck of inspiration while standing at the bus stop after school when it’s raining REALLY bad , I’m sorry that I haven’t been writing much lately

Hinata:

☔︎︎ You guys were having a picnic

☔︎︎ But halfway through the picnic it started to rain 😔

☔︎︎ Yall ran as fast as yall could to your car

☔︎︎ You even busted a kneecap rip

☔︎︎ It ended as a late night drive around the city

☔︎︎ Loud music bursting through your car speakers

☔︎︎ You guys even enjoyed the food in your car while its raining outside

☔︎︎ he drew a smiley face on the window when it gets blurry awwwhhh

Lev

☔︎︎ Yall were walking on the streets of Tokyo window shopping

☔︎︎ Going into shops after shops

☔︎︎ You guys even took those aesthetic photos of Tokyo

☔︎︎ Then out of nowhere it started raining

☔︎︎ My guy literally took off his jacket at put it on you, told you to get on his back and ran

☔︎︎ * screaming intensifies *

☔︎︎ Luckily there was a bus stop nearby

☔︎︎ You guys had to wait till the rain is over and walk home

☔︎︎ You both ended up asleep at the bus stop tho 🤠

Bokuto:

☔︎︎ “Hey y/n it’s raining let’s go outside!”

☔︎︎ He’s weird asf but that’s what you love about him

☔︎︎ He gave you puppy dog eyes and you couldn’t reject him

☔︎︎ On the other hand, you both could get sick and don’t need to go to school the next day

☔︎︎ So it’s a win-win for both of you

☔︎︎ Yall would dance in the rain, drink rainwater and kiss under the rain this is so romantic I can’t-🥺

☔︎︎ The next day you both caught a cold you jinxed it

Akaashi:

☔︎︎ This boy, we all knew that he wouldn’t be outside

☔︎︎ In fact, you and Akaashi were having a study date at a coffee shop

☔︎︎ He was wearing glasses and reading a book while you were on your laptop

☔︎︎ The strong aroma of coffee lingers in the shop, every now and then you take a sip of your favourite drink infront of you

☔︎︎ He's wearing his glasses occasionally peering over at you, smiling slightly wondering how he got so lucky to have a s/o like you by his side

☔︎︎ Then it starts to rain, raindrops began tapping on the large window beside you

☔︎︎ It was quiet but peaceful, although it’s pouring outside you still feel warm because you’re beside your partner

Ty for reading <3

[apocalypseornaw]

One Condition

For the square "Friends to lovers" on @girl-next-door-writes make me feel bingo

Side note Bobby is alive in this cause screw canon

No real warnings besides cursing and lots of fluff

First meeting

You had just thrown your bags into the trunk of your nova when your cell phone started ringing. You cursed under your breath and ran to the front seat to grab it. You barely glanced at the screen but recognized the number instantly.

You answered with a smile on your face “Bobby! How are you doing?” You could hear other voices in the background but that wasn’t exactly an uncommon occurrence.

Bobby was pretty much one of the few people that tried to coordinate the efforts of hunters and offered a place to crash and or get patched up to those he was close with. “As good as I ever am sweetheart. Look I got some boys here that are hunting a witch and since you’re a bit more attuned with that type of thing from everything your uncle taught you I was wondering if you could lend them a hand” You didn’t even think about it before you said “Of course. I’m about three hours from you but I’ll head that way” if Bobby was asking you to work with them they could be trusted. You heard him call someone in the background an idjit before he told you to drive safe and hung up.

------

“You think this chick can handle a witch better than me and Sam Bobby?” Dean was a bit skeptical about Bobby calling in another hunter to back them up. “Son, her uncle raised her and he was a witch. She didn’t pick up a lot from him but she knows enough to spot the signs and had a few defensive maneuvers up her sleeve. Give her a chance, I’ve known her for years and she’s just as good a hunter as either of you”

The sound of an engine pulling up drew their attention. Sam stepped around the corner from the kitchen with a bottle of water in his hand and motioned to the door “That her?” Bobby tilted his head slightly and listened for a moment before nodding “Yeah that’s her nova” 

Dean and Sam both followed Bobby out to the porch. You parked just behind the impala and killed your engine before climbing out your car. Bobby walked down the steps to greet you and a smile slipped onto your face the moment you saw him “Bobby!” you hugged him and he did his usual checklist to ensure your last hunt was successful and you hadn’t had no recent injuries before finally turning his attention back to the two standing on the porch watching the two of you greet each other “These the boys I told you about” he started so Sam of course stepped up first and extended his hand “I’m Sam. That’s my older brother Dean” you shook Sam’s hand with a smile “Name’s Y/N”

Dean nodded at you but you could see how skeptic he was about working with you. “Hold on..Sam and Dean? John’s sons” Dean nodded again so you turned back to Bobby not meaning to talk about the Winchesters in front of them but needing to ask “I thought they didn’t really work with other hunters? Did they change their policy since their dad died?”

Dean cleared his throat so you looked back at him. He gave you a smile that was much more sarcasm than friendly “Sweetheart we can answer questions for ourselves.” You laughed sharply before replying “My name isn’t sweetheart darling and I was just making sure the two of you had worked up to the point of playing well with others. I see your brother has manners but from where I’m standing I ain’t too impressed with yours”

You brushed past Dean into the house so he begrudgingly followed you. Bobby whispered to Sam “Either they’ll work well together or the witch will be distracted enough by their fighting you should be able to kill her easy enough”

Friends?

“Can I ask you one thing sweetheart” Dean spoke from the other side of the motel room and you cut your eyes up with a raised eyebrow “What?” He motioned to where you were currently painting your nails “I mean what I’m about to say in the least offensive way possible”

“Not a good way to start a conversation with a woman who is armed and can kick your ass but do please continue” you replied and he laughed before holding his hands up defensively “It’s just..you’re a hunter and one of the best I know. You’re pretty badass in my opinion but you always have your nails painted and yeah it’s normally a dark color but I was just curious as to why”

You let a sly grin slip onto your face as you closed the nail polish and placed it back into your bag “It comes in handy” “How so?” he asked so you shot him a wink “You’ll see”

------

Later that night you and the boys headed back to the motel to catch a little sleep before parting ways the next morning. Dean stopped you just outside your room door “C’mon Y/N tell me how you knew who the shifter was” you stopped and leaned back against the doorframe glancing over where Sam was watching you and his older brother with an amused smile.

You held up one hand and wiggled your fingers. Dean looked confused for a moment then realization flashed across his face “Does your nail polish have silver in it?” You grinned “Silver infused basecoat and that my dear is why my nails are always painted” 

He nodded approvingly “Smart and yet again proves my point of why you’re one of the best hunters I know” you touched the tender spot on your side when the shifter had thrown you into a wall and probably would’ve went for a killing blow had Dean not been there “You’re not so bad yourself Dean, in fact I would say you’ve finally learned how to play well with others” Sam laughed but Dean simply grinned “Only took a few years of knowing you huh?”

“What can I say? I’m a miracle worker even with seemingly lost causes” he shook his head with a light laugh “Goodnight Y/N” “Night Dean,Night Sam” after Sam wished you a goodnight you walked into your room and shut the door behind yourself. Who would’ve thought all those years before when you first met the brothers that they’d end up being your two closest friends?

Maybe more?

Dean stopped in his tracks when he walked into Bobby’s living room and saw you curled up on the couch fast asleep. You had grabbed his discarded jacket from the arm of the couch and was using it as a pillow. A small smile slipped onto his face at seeing you were finally resting so he grabbed one of the blankets Bobby kept in the hall closet to spread across your legs. You moved slightly in your sleep and for just a moment he worried he may have woken you up but you were simply burrowing further into his jacket and the blanket.

He walked quietly back into the kitchen and sat down at the table across from Bobby “She doing ok?” Bobby asked, nodding back towards you.  “Yeah she’s finally asleep. I’ve been worried about her these last few days” in truth you had done something incredibly stupid while also simultaneously brave.

You, him and Sam had gone up against a coven and you’d taken the brunt of a spell protecting him without even knowing what the spell could do. He had felt an ice cold jolt of fear when you’d gone down. He was afraid when he made it to your side that you’d be gone. Thankfully you were stronger than given credit by the witches. They’d gotten you into the impala and Dean hadn’t come under ninety getting you to Bobby’s.

Bobby being well Bobby had an antidote waiting but apparently it’d take a few days to get your system back right after the shock of the spell. The last week and a half you’d gone through shivering spells hard enough you’d cracked a tooth only to spike a fever the next moment.

You hadn’t kept much to eat down and sleep had been out of the question completely. You’d been in and out of it and Dean hadn’t left your side for a second even refusing to go into town if anything was needed. That’s where Sam currently was.

“You care about her don’t you?” Bobby asked, forcing Dean out of his thoughts about you. “What? Of course I do, she’s my friend” Bobby sighed in frustration with the younger man who was like a son to him and just as stubborn “Dean that’s not what I meant” that made Dean really stop to consider what Bobby was saying. Did he have romantic feelings for you?

When was the last time he’d sought another woman? It just seemed natural to spend time with you after a hunt or just crash. When he needed to talk to someone he’d call you if the two of you weren’t around each other. He always looked forward to seeing a smile on your face and when it was because of him? There wasn’t a better feeling. You’d become such an important part of his life over the years he hadn’t even realized it.

When you’d gotten hurt this time and he faced the very real possibility of losing you it had just confirmed what he’d already known deep down. You were who he wanted in his life. You were the most amazing woman he’d ever met, you kept him on his toes and made him strive to be a better man every day although you never missed an opportunity to tell him just how good of a man he already was. “Bobby..” he started but was silenced with a look “Don’t tell me son. Save it for when Y/N wakes up then you two need to have a talk”

------

When you slowly started to wake up you felt like you’d been hit by a bus. Christ what had happened? Everything was a little foggy. You caught a whiff of gunpowder,leather and cinnamon and memories started flooding back. Dean. That damn witch had thrown a spell at him!

You sat up quickly only for a wave of dizziness to push you back down. You then realized your pillow had in fact been Dean’s jacket. Where was he? Was he ok? “Dean?” you called weakly calming slighty when you recognized your surroundings as Bobby’s living room.

You heard footsteps and looked up to see him walking into the room with a worried smile “You’re awake” you nodded slowly being careful to not cause another wave to push you back under and started to sit up much more carefully this time. He stepped forward to help you then sat down next to you so you leaned your head over on his shoulder with your legs curled up under you while you turned to face him on the couch. 

“Are you ok?” you asked, voice slightly muffled due to the fact that your face was buried in his shirt. He laughed slightly which caused you to pull back enough to look at him “Why are you laughing at me?” he raised one hand to gently cup the side of your face “You’re asking if I’m ok while you’ve spent the last week and a half going through everything this side of torture because you decided it was best to shove me out the way and take that blast for yourself” you grimaced slightly “Well at least we’re both alive”

You realized he was still holding your face and probably would’ve been embarrassed had you not been fighting the urge to curl up against his chest and go back to sleep. “Why?” he asked and you were confused for a moment before you realized he was asking why you’d saved him. “Because whether you believe it or not Dean you’re worth saving time and again” he smiled slightly and opened his mouth to talk but you raised a hand before he could “Wait let me get this out while you feel bad and may not make fun of me later if it backfires I can blame it on the after effects”

You might as well confess your feelings now considering you’d nearly died for him. When he nodded you took a deep breath then said “Dean I’ve had feelings for you for a while. I couldn’t very well just let you die. It was worth the risk” “Can I speak now?” he asked with a slight smile so you nodded. He leaned forward to press a gentle kiss to your forehead before saying “I feel the same way about you. When you’re better I want to take you on an actual date, ya know actually romance you but for now thank you and please don’t ever scare me like that again”

You smiled slightly then said “On one condition” “Which is?” he asked so you motioned to his chest “Can I go back to sleep on you?” He laughed and pulled you into his lap “For as long as you want”

 @girl-next-door-writes

[heyyyharry]

"you drew stars around my scars but now i’m bleeding”

(a blurb from the My Girl Series)

…in which Y/N tells herself this is the last time.

Warning: SMUT (car sex)

Word count: 2.8k

AU: older!harry (4-year age gap), actor!harry, childhood best friends, friends with benefits.

“DON’T CALL ME KID! DON’T CALL ME BABY! LOOK AT THIS GODFORSAKEN MESS THAT YOU MADE ME!” 😔 inspired by folklore.

.

.

.

“Did anyone see you leave?”

“No,” Harry said, leaning back and spreading his legs as she worked his zip down. She’d been thinking about this all day, but he didn’t have to know that. If men knew how much you wanted them, they’d only want you less At least that was from her personal experience.

She took his cock out of his pants, fingers curling over the smooth, hot skin of his shaft and sliding up to tease at the edge of his foreskin. The head of Harry’s prick was already slick, and she sucked his precum off her fingers before licking her palm and stroking and squeezing around him until he whimpered. They had done this so many times that she knew his body even better than he did. She knew how to work him up, how to run her thumb over the head of his cock so he’d buck into her grip and whimper her name. But she didn’t want to hurry.

She struggled a bit to get her pants off, hating that they were in the backseat of his car instead of her place or his. They’d usually meet at hers, but her neighbour was having a party tonight; it’d be impossible for Harry to come and go without being recognised and photographed. But she didn’t need a fancy hotel room or a comfortable bed, because they were just hooking up. Nothing more, nothing less.

“Should have worn a blood dress,” she muttered, fighting her bunched-up jeans and kicking them under the front seat.

Harry laughed, but as soon as she peeled off her damp panties, his breath caught and his nostrils flared. She knew his car would smell like them at the end of the night when he drove home alone, and something about that erotic thought turned her on even more.

She gracefully slid into his lap. His hand slipped down to stroke at the silky heat of her pussy, two fingers opening her up, spreading her slick and rubbing at her clit until she began to tremble. She clutched his wrist to still him so she wouldn’t come on his fingers then kissed him before he could say a word. She bit his lip, curled her free hand into his messy hair, and moved her hips so she could rub the thick crown of his cock against her.

She’d been on the pill lately, so it was easy to just grab for his dick and guide it into her. He loved it when she told him how big he was, how full she made her feel, murmuring filthy words into his ear as he fucked her, hard and fast, flushed with the praise. But when they were as horny as they were tonight, she didn’t have to say anything; she couldn’t. Her mouth hung open without making a sound as she felt the first, deep, blunt push of his cock into her pussy. It always ached a little no matter how many times they’d had sex. He always stretched her so good, but she was too wet to need a pause.

“God, I missed you,” he hissed, filling her to the brim as she settled into his lap. She tried to ignore the effect those words had on her, and to not wonder if he really missed her or only what she was willing to give him.

She clung onto his neck and shoulders and clenched down as his hand went under her thighs, lifting her, moving her on the length of his cock. The head slid over her g-spot, and she gasped and ground harder against him. His fingers clenched around the backs of her thighs as he let her set the pace and planted sloppy kisses down the side of her neck. He nuzzled her hair out of the way and made small noises against her hot skin.

She rode him faster, snapping her hips against his and making him moan. She wondered if they were shaking the car and somehow felt thankful for the fact that the car park was empty. They weren’t trying to keep it lowkey anymore.

Harry whispered her name as his fingers dug into her thighs. She can feel his dick flexing inside her. She knew he was close. He always waited on her like a true gentleman, and she kissed him clumsily as she slid a hand down to rub at her clit.

What shoved her to the edge was the way Harry groaned and bit his lip as her moving fingers brushed the base of his cock. His hips jerked, and they were both so close for each other. Her slick pussy started pulsing as she sobbed into his mouth and he squeezed her tighter, so tight she could feel his fingernails leaving marks in the soft flesh of her thighs. She would go home alone with those marks as a reminder of this moment, and she’d either feel bad about it or want him even more. Usually both.

“Yes, baby, come for me.”

And those were the words that set her off. Him calling her baby was her ultimate weakness, even if it might not mean anything to him. His thrusts were getting faster, messier, driving into the tight clench of her as she cried out and ground her hips. She shuddered against him as she came again.

“Gonna,” he whispered, his hips stuttering and his fingers tightened, and then he was spurting hotly into her, filling her up until his come was trickling back down over his balls. She was already thinking of the way he’d have to tug his coat close just in case he ran into the paps. Meanwhile, she would go back to her flat still feeling the hot pulse of him having been in her. Everything about it was dirty, and she loved it.

Harry rested his head back as she started nipping at the side of his neck, feeling his pulse racing beneath her lips. “That was...so good,” she said, still breathless.

“I know.” He gave a soft laugh which turned to a groan as she slipped off his still-hard, sensitive cock. She grabbed his face and pulled his lips back to hers. His hands burned against her back, drawing her close.

They’d had sex, again. And he still wanted her.

She had no idea why she must reassure herself that he wanted her every single time they were together. Perhaps because this felt surreal. Because if she told her teenage self that someday she’d be having sex with Harry in the backseat of his car, that girl would not believe it. In her memory, Harry had always been untouchable. Yet here he was, burying his face into her neck and inhaling her scent as if she were air. She could feel his heartbeat against her chest. This felt real. Even though she knew it was anything but.

“Kid.”

His voice snapped her back to reality. Her eyes flinched open and she saw his face twisted with worry as he took her wrist and removed her arm around his neck.

Her heart wavered at the thought that he’d finally decided that this was wrong and wanted to end this. Wouldn’t it be cruel? To say he didn’t want this anymore after he’d just finished inside her? Would he tell her to get out of the car and leave her here all on her own?

To her surprise and confusion, he lifted her arm, still catching his breath. That was when she realized he was peering at the scars on her forearm. “How did you get these?” he asked.

“I fell.”

“When?”

“A few weeks ago.” She giggled. “It’s no big deal. I was running for the bus and the pavement was slippery.”

Harry frowned. His gaze slipped from hers as he leaned in and pressed a kiss to the scar. Her heart leapt involuntarily. And she hated herself for it.

“Remember when I used to draw stars around your scars,” he whispered, his dimples darkening in the dim streetlight. The memory of the happier days warmed her from inside out, and she felt it showing on her face.

“Because I said my legs looked ugly after my bike accident,” she said timidly.

“You fell a lot back then.” Harry looked up, his forehead creasing as if he was trying to remember one of those times. “I thought you’d get less clumsy when you grew up but I guess I was wrong.”

Grinning, she wrapped her arms around his neck. “You can always draw stars around my new scars.”

“Or,” he kissed the corner of her mouth, “you can stop running in the rain.”

She laughed as she kissed him again and pretended that they weren’t in the backseat of his car in an empty car park, that they didn’t have to sneak around, that whatever she was feeling right now was valid, that he would rather be with her than go back to the world where she did not belong.

And so they finished cleaning up and laughing for a whole minute about the stain on his crotch. As she pulled her jeans back on and he adjusted his clothes, what had felt like a euphoric rush now felt like shame and a bit of regret. She shrugged it right off. It was normal. No one should be proud if they had to drive to a place like this to have sex just so they wouldn’t be seen together.

Then, the thought of them being seen together briefly crossed her mind. How would he react if the world found out? Would he be ashamed? Would he end this? Or would he say fuck it and risk it all for her?

She twisted her hair into a low bun, secured it with her scrunchie and turned to face him. To her surprise, he was giving that goofy dimpled smile that her thirteen-year-old self would write ten pages about in her journal. It was funny how he’d always been so close yet always felt a thousand miles away. She knew she was his girl, but had he ever been hers?

She reached up to fix his hair, only using it as an excuse to run her fingers through it. He took another glance at her scars and frowned a bit, which made her wonder why they bothered him so much. Was he finally paying attention to her imperfections?

“Have you got a pen?” he asked.

She looked at him funny but still answered, “Yeah, I always carry one around to take notes.” Then she reached for her bag in the passenger seat, fumbled for her black pen and gave it to him.

He clicked the pen open and scooted closer, tucking her arm under his as he held onto her wrist and carefully drew stars around her scars.

“Really?” she giggled, and he shushed her.

“Don’t move. Do you want ugly stars?”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“Oh, baby, when I’m done, you’ll want to get ‘em tattooed.”

Her smile thinned as a chill coursed through her. He needed to warn her before calling her baby. It did inexplicable things to her; things she wasn’t so proud of.

“There you go,” he said and clicked the pen close with a victorious smirk upon his face.

She peered at the stars he’d drawn and raised both eyebrows. “Not bad.”

“Hey, I’m twenty-four years old. I should draw better than when I was thirteen,” he said with a shrug, laced their fingers together and kissed the back of her hand, as one would to their girlfriend. Why was she thinking of that word right now? What had gotten into her? She wasn’t this person.

The sound of a text broke the silence in the car and Harry groaned loudly before fumbling into the pocket of his coat draped around the driver’s seat. He unlocked the screen, the bright light illuminating his face. His dimples deepened as he read the message and typed something into his phone. She heard a whoosh of the message being sent, then a ding of a new one arriving. The serenity of their own world had been intruded by this person who was texting him.

She didn’t want to care who it was, who made him smile and shake his head and bite his lip as he thought of something to write back to make the person smile, too. She didn’t want to care if he was going to see this person once he’d dropped her off. She didn’t want to know if he’d wake up alone tomorrow or in bed with a beautiful woman. That wasn’t how their ‘thing’ was supposed to work. She was supposed to mind her own business. But she wasn’t to blame, for he wasn’t supposed to draw stars around her scars, kiss them like he meant it, and called her ‘kid’ and ‘baby’ as if this was special.

It wasn’t.

She wasn’t.

“It’s late,” he said and tucked his phone into the pocket of his jeans. It’s not late, she wanted to say, but she didn’t. “I’ll drive you home.”

She felt the urge to ask if he had other plans later. The question lingered at her throat, yet she swallowed it down.

“I can walk home,” she said, putting on her coat as he’d already put on his and seemed so eager to get rid of her.

“Alone? At this hour?” he asked, his eyes wide. “Kid, don’t be ridiculous. I’ll drive you.”

“It’s too risky,” she sighed. “I bet that most of my neighbour’s party guests are just arriving. His parties usually last all night long.”

She’d almost used it as an excuse to spend the rest of the night with Harry. She guessed it wasn’t happening now. She could either let him drive her home to get some more time with him or be smart about this and not put themselves in danger of being seen together. They weren’t so far from her block and she didn’t mind walking.

“I can’t let you walk home alone at night, Bambi,” he said. There was the same tone that her father would use. Moments like this reminded her that he was older and she would always be just a kid to him.

“Fine. I’ll call Alice to pick me up.”

Alice was her co-worker. But of course, she wasn’t going to bother Alice.

Harry studied her expression for a long moment as if to check if she was lying. Surprisingly, he believed her, or he had no choice but to believe her so he could leave as fast as he could.

“All right,” he said, leaned in and kissed her forehead, his lips hot against her skin. “Call me when you get home safe, okay?”

“Okay.” She pressed her lips into a smile and got out of the car.

Harry insisted on waiting until Alice arrived, but she threatened him with the fact that Alice was a big fan of his, and she’d be the last person who should find out about their “thing”, whatever this was. So Harry left first. The pained expression that he gave her before he drove off somehow made her feel reassured. Or was she just looking for any sign that showed that he cared about her more than he appeared to be?

Tearing her gaze from the empty street, she secured her bag on her shoulder and wrapped her arms tightly around herself. As she walked home, she kept pulling up her sleeve to check if the stars Harry had drawn were still there. She knew she’d have to wash them off later in the shower. Still, she wanted to keep them as good as new for as long as they lasted.

The longer she looked at them, however, the heavier her heart became. She could not help but recall the feeling she’d had when he’d kissed them, and guilt washed over her as her heart started sinking to the bottom of her chest. And so she told herself this would be the last time, that she’d not answer his call ever again. No more secret meetings and false hopes and daydreaming. If she didn’t want to bleed, she should stop running in the rain.

But there was something about running in the rain – the excitement, the longing, the feeling of being washed clean even though you’d arrived home shivering, drenched, and covered in mud. And so she knew this wouldn’t be the last time. She’d keep running until she fell and could not get up.

[hopeamarsu]

I just couldn’t get my mind to stop thinking of Beach Bum Pero and well, this is the result:

Word count 1,1k

Pero Tovar x female reader

Warnings: Sort of fluffy? Maybe a tiny bit of angst thrown in the mix

Written on my phone, not proofread much so please excuse all obvious mistakes. Be kind.

Pero Tovar was a free man.

No more war, no more fighting, no more orders and chain of command and most importantly, no more strict rhythm in his daily life.

He was free to choose his own time, his own rhythm and his own path. Which is why he’d chosen the beach he thought. The sand under his bare feet, the warmth seeping into him from where the sun had heated it. The same sun hitting his skin and the way waves lapped on his body as he went for a swim or a surf. He felt free, he felt light and he felt like there wasn’t anything burdening him.

The only schedule he had was with the local bar, meaning they would call him when they needed someone to help out, being it working behind the bar or at the door. The door gigs weren’t his favorites but according to the owner his looks deterred the worst of the worst. Maybe it was his scar, a memento of his past life, maybe it was his constant frown he wore when not on the beach, Pero didn’t know. But the owner paid good money and money put food on the table. And Pero never said no to food.

Thankfully the bar didn’t need him today and Pero was free to sit down, his board propped up behind him and just watch the sun set in the horizon. Quiet, calm and serene, just how he liked it. The sky was painted with orange, red and pink hues as the sun was disappearing under the cool blue sea and Pero felt calmness wash over him. This was his life, his salvation and he wouldn’t trade it for anything.

He ran his hand through his shaggy mane, absentmindedly thinking he was overdue for a cut but at the same time enjoying the idea that he could keep his hair long and shaggy if he wanted to. The sleeve of his worn striped shirt caught his eye and he studied it for a moment. It looked like it could use a little mending, but that could wait, he decided. There were moments to experience, a worn cuff hardly meant a thing in the universe.

He swept his gaze across the sandy planes, solitude and sea his usual companions, when suddenly something caught his eyes. A metallic object flew across the air, hitting the waterfront, followed by a piercing scream. Pero jumped to his feet in an instant, some of his old ways rooted deep into his subconscious, and started stalking towards the sound.

“Fucking hell!”

You stood near the can you’d thrown, shoes in hand as you stepped back and forth the sand.

“Fucking idiotic piece of shit! I hope you rot in hell!”

“Is something the matter, señorita?”

You whirled around, aiming your shoes towards him, which made Pero throw up his hands, trying to defuse the situation. “Hey, hey, hey! No need to throw away good shoes.”

“Shit, sorry!” You dropped your shoes, the alarm of someone sneaking up on you switching to concern. “I’m so sorry.”

“No problema. But still, is there something on your mind? I saw the can flying and…” Pero trailed off, gesturing at the can still half in water, waiting on an explanation. You sighed, bending down to pick up the object you’d thrown earlier in anger.

“Yeah, I’m… uh, it’s just...” You closed off, turning to look at the dimming sun, before continuing. The words weren’t easy, but the silence between you and him wasn’t uncomfortable as he patiently waited for you to continue.

“You ever feel like your not good enough? Like you are the one everyone uses to advance themselves further, the one that can be thrown under the bus in a moments notice and the one nobody will think twice of?” You asked, not really knowing if you wanted an answer or not.

Pero remained silent, waiting on you to continue if you wished so. He found it a good tactic; reading people and their body language had served him well in the past. He spend the moments studying you, the way your shoulders hunched forward a little, your body curling on itself either in sorrow or in anger. Which, he couldn’t yet tell but he recognized the symptoms he’d been through before choosing the lifestyle to ease up on his own demons.

“I’m literally this close to quitting my job. I’m just a cog in someone else’s wheel and I’m tired of it.”

You plopped down on the sand and brought your hand down next to you. Your voice was tired, your eyes sad you kept your gaze at the water. It was clear there was a lot going through your mind and none of them good thoughts.

Pero remained standing, unsure of how to proceed now. Should he sit down, should he return to his own spot and leave you alone or try to offer some words of advice?

In the end, he only knew one thing and that was that he was drawn to you and he wanted to ease your worries, even if it was only by doing something small. So he held out his hand, palm faced up and let you study it for a moment as you switched your gaze to him before crooking his fingers a little, almost a come here -motion but with all of his fingers instead of just the one.

Pero waited on you to make a decision. Take it or not to take it. Trust him or not to trust him. He watched your eyes flit between his face, his scar and his hand. Your face swept the beach, trying to see just how many people were left and if it was wise to trust a complete stranger.

Usually he wasn’t fast to trust people either, so he understood the hesitation well. But something magnetic drew him into you, kept him rooted to the spot and not withdraw his hand. The fact that you hadn’t thrown the shoes at his face yet and the look in your eyes clearly torn between logic and desire told him you felt the same.

So he took the leap. “I’m Pero. Would you like forget all this for a moment? I know a cheap bar close here where we can talk and laugh and drink. Sounds like you need it.”

A warm palm met the other and he pulled you up, twisting his other hand to rest low on your back. For a moment you just looked into each others eyes and he found himself unable to describe the feeling running rampant in his body, miles and miles more intense that the best wave he’d experienced or the first morning of freedom he had after leaving the service.

The sun dropped down low, under the horizon but still you stood on the beach, in the arms of a stranger, eyes locked to one another and the world had never felt more right.

Everything taglist @clydesducktape @wayward-rose @themuseic @miraclesabound @clydesfavoritegirl @a-true-janian-reply @10blurredsmoke10  @caillea @mind-p0llution

[kilyra]

Found the Trouble

A/N: Well no one asked for this either, but I really enjoyed “Looking for Trouble” so I made a follow up! I think there might be one more to this arc - I’m loving Johnny! I’d say this fic takes place maybe mid S1, when he’s still subletting to a yoga class but is starting to get more students.

After weeks of training with Johnny, you find you’re getting a little closer to him than maybe you should...

Warnings: Racy bits and Bad language but no spoilers. Also a warning is I don’t write past racy bits (which I’m not even sure are that good, I’m so rusty!) so you might want to have a proper smushalicious fic lined up to read after this LOL

If you want to be on my tag lists, (all or just a character) just let me know!

“So, you deal with that bitch in Accounting yet?”

As Johnny stood on the mat across from you, wearing his black gi with his knees softly bent, he was clearly ready to make a move. Which made his random question even more confusing.

“W-what?”

Your skin prickled with anticipation as his eyes flickered over you, but his serious expression didn't betray his plan. "You know...what's-her-name. The one that threw you under the bus last week."

It was a conversation you had as he drove you home from a late practice. One of the many times he drove you home, actually, since most of the practices ran late. Or if practice wrapped up, you were often so caught up in conversation that you stayed late anyhow. And, although you had politely protested at first, it became routine for Johnny to drive you...and often spend a few more minutes in the parking lot of your apartment building as you finished your chat. Time seemed to speed by too fast when you were together. 

The fact you were fully crushing on him like you were a teen again didn’t help.

Wondering what this new tactic was, you hesitantly answered. “Uh...yeah, no, I know who you're talking about. I just...there's nothing to deal w-”

Rushing forward, he roughly grabbed your arm to yank you off balance. Stepping to the side, you dug your fingers into his wrist, forcing his hand open enough to catch him in a wrist-lock. Following through the motion, he was forced to bend and turn away as you raised his arm behind him.  

Letting go, you kicked hard against his backside, sending him stumbling forward. Dropping his arm to catch himself, he stopped short of falling to the floor. Shooting a look at you over his shoulder, a quick lift of the corner of his mouth was all the approval he'd offer.

"You were pretty pissed after all that bullshit she pulled last week. You're seriously not going to do anything about it?" He continued without missing a beat.

Slowly rising to his feet, he tucked his chin and kept a steady gaze on you. Your eyelids fluttered in quick blinks to stop yourself from getting trapped in his stare.

“Yeah, it turns out she's an asshole, but it's not like I can get her fired over it, so what's the point? It's just more drama. My manager knows the truth at least.”

Stalking you like a predator hunts its prey, his lip curled in a sneer as he shook his head. Tension raced down your arms as you braced yourself, ready to try and block a hit...or listen to an arrogant lecture.

Instead, he swiftly closed the gap and grabbed a solid handful of hair. Clapping your hands over his, you pressed his fist to your scalp and snapped forward at the waist in a quick and low bow. Driven to his knees, Johnny was on the mat with his arm low to stop his wrist from being hurt.  

As both of you let go, you stood up and took a moment to fix your hair without stepping back.

Still kneeling, Johnny's eyebrows drew together in disapproval as he looked up at you and spread his hands apart. The gesture caused his gi to open, exposing his bare...and deliciously toned...chest in the process. “What the hell? Is that all you're gonna do?”

"What? My team knows the truth and they're on my side...that has to be enough."

Rolling his eyes, he rocked back to his feet and stood up while pointing to the mat where he had fallen. “No, not that...that. Hair grabbing isn't part of karate, but if you were one of my students, I'd have had you on your ass for that.”

Heat flushed your chest as he barked at you. That move was perfect and you both damn well knew it.

“For what? I nailed that!”

Not even a hint of amusement seeped into his face as he moved forward. Sidestepping, he started to circle, but you stood your ground and watched his movements in the mirrored wall across from you. Straightening your shoulders, you practically challenged him to argue.  

Which, of course, he did. "And where's your follow-through? If someone grabs your hair like that, it's not just some asshole harassing you – you're in a fight. It's not enough for him to let go, you need to put him down, or he's just coming right back only now he's really pissed.”

Your eyes were glued to the mirror as he stood between you and the dojo wall, staring at the back of your head and silently daring you to argue. Gritting your teeth, you tried to stay quiet but...

“I don-”

Shouting sharply, Johnny sprang forward and threw his arm around your throat. Panic burst through you as you tried to grab his elbow, but he smoothly closed the headlock, flexing his muscles to apply extra pressure. Gasping, you struggled to pry him off you as he pulled you flush against his chest.  

“Come on, Y/n. We've done this one before. You know what to do here.” There was a steadiness to his tone, unaffected by your desperation.

Focusing on his words, you thought back to the few other times he showed you how to break the hold. Each motion was hesitant as you fought the blur of your scrambling brain, but shifting your weight, you leaned enough to drive your elbow into his stomach. As he let go, you grabbed his wrist and stepped back to put his arm in a hold behind him.

Breathing heavily, you held his wrist as adrenaline still washed over you. Even your hands were shaking as you tried to control yourself. Did that bastard really put you in a headlock with no warning?

"Nice work. Now from here, you ca-"

Sidestepping, you let go, but raised your arm, bracing along his collarbone as you threw your weight forward. Letting you push him, he moved with it as you pinned him against the wall. You intended to push him away, to yell at him for being a jerk.

But instead, you found yourself staring into his bright blue eyes as he smirked. 

The rush shifted as you breathed in the scent of stale sweat and spicy cologne while you felt the quickening rise and fall of his chest under your arm. Keeping his hands relaxed at his sides, he didn't resist, seemingly uninterested in pushing you off. His eyes only just darted to your lips, but it was enough to start a new flame in your core.

“Not bad. But the point of self-defence is to create space between you and...your attacker.” The strain in his voice was almost too slight to catch.

“Maybe I don't want to create space...” Your reply came out in a low, breathy exhale.

His eyes skimmed over your face as the smirk slowly dropped. Suddenly, you became acutely aware of the fact you were pressed against him, and while he didn't try to move you, he wasn't exactly reciprocating.

Immediately, your ears grew hot as you realized you might have misread everything. The easy chats, the lingering looks, the fact he was bothered by the idea of you taking the bus after dark...it didn't mean he was up at night, fantasizing about you when he should be sleeping, like you were. It could just mean you were friends...

Doubt struck hard. Shaking your head sharply, you eased off the pressure and pulled your arm away. "Sorry...”

Before you could step back, his hand jerked up, roughly grabbing your waist and keeping you in place. Your breath hitched in your throat as your lips parted. But no words came out.

Johnny paused long enough to search your face for a sign to stop. But as your gaze dropped to his mouth, he swiftly moved in. His lips came crashing onto yours as he pulled you closer, his hand dropping to your hip. There was no gentleness or even a fight for dominance as he deepened the kiss. His tongue pushed past your lips and invaded your mouth. But you welcomed it. You were greedy for it. Grabbing the fabric of his gi to steady yourself, the skin of his bare chest was warm and inviting under your fingertips.  

You wanted more.

Your free hand snaked up to the back of his neck, gently grabbing his hair. Soon, his hand also ran up your side until it settled to the back of your head, keeping you in place. As his tongue explored you, a very real need grew. If you didn't pull away to clear your head, you weren't going to stop until you were both in his office, naked and exhausted.

Rolling your hips against him, you knew you didn't care. No. You did care...you wanted it. You wanted him.

Lowering his hand from your hip to your leg, he guided it around his waist. Protecting your head, he spun you around, pinning you against the wall and lifting your feet off the floor in one smooth motion. Bracing yourself on his shoulder, you wrapped your legs around him, hooking your feet together and pulling him close as he ran his hand up your thigh to hold you with a bruising grip.

Pressing his hips forward, giving you all the friction you ached for, he captured your moan in his unending kiss. It wasn't until you started to grind against him, hugging your legs tight and feeling how hard he'd grown, that he finally let you catch your breath as he kissed his way down your neck. Letting your head relax to the side, your soft whimpers filled the room, egging him on. As his hand roamed up the back of your shirt, you knew you needed to get somewhere more private. Immediately.

Your fingernails scratched at his scalp as you tried to form words between your panting breaths.

But before you could manage it, the bell above the dojo entrance jingled as the door opened. You both froze.

To your horror, a young man's voice called out. “Sensei?”

Kicking your feet free, you hid your face in Johnny's chest and the lust-filled haze was replaced with embarrassment. Loosening his hold, Johnny let you slide until your feet hit the floor, but otherwise stood still. His flaring nose and clenching jaw was his only response to the teen wandering into the room.

“Sensei Lawr- Oh! Oh...um...I'm sor-” The teen sputtered as soon as he came far enough in to spot you.

"What is it, Miguel?" Johnny's voice was commanding, but he refused to turn around.

“Uh...never mind, it's...” Miguel's awkward fumbling grew worse as he started to back out.

Your heart hammered in your chest as you finally pushed Johnny back a step. Had you truly believed you could just casually fuck your instructor and it would be no big deal?

With your cheeks on fire, you slunk out from behind Johnny and hurried over to your bag. Grabbing your stuff, you waved Miguel back into the room. "No, no, it's okay. I have to get going anyhow."

"Wait? What? No, come on, don't be like that. I can still give you a ride home."

Not affording a look back, you didn't even glance at Miguel as you brushed past him. You needed air.

"No, it's fine. I'll be fine." Not only did you cross a line, but you found the trouble you had been looking for.  

“Would you just-”

The cool, sobering evening air greeted you as you rushed out, letting the door cut off Johnny's words.  Glancing up the street, you stopped the bus turning the corner.

You couldn't outrun your embarrassment, but at least you could make a quick getaway.

Taglist:  @foreverfaeries​  @flower-two-writings​  @getlostinyourparadise​   @selfishkiddo​  @angelicshinigami  @parkersbabey  @whyhaveyouwritten-mehere​   @livingmybestfictionallife​  @sorryyoureoutofmyleague​