#I finally got the box set for the books like a month ago after begging my dad to get it for me

[tastybluesprite]

Oh boy I don’t even remember lmfao

I think the first Harry Potter was a movie that I watched over and over again a lot. I had never read the books then or watched the other movies because I was too young and my parents wouldn’t let me, but then as I got older I ended up reading every book a million times as well as having watched every movie a million times. That was probably my first biggest and most real hyperfixation ever.

[vinylhazza]

For Keeps (G.D)

Summary: Jesse knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to say it, or rather demand it. Grayson, who carries respect and dignity like a shield of armor, walks the line of being the vanilla boyfriend he always thought she’d want, or the guy that listens to the devil on his shoulder and embellishes on the fantasies that won’t leave him alone every night. There is a first for everything, a time and place to try something -- or some one new. There is a chance to set the fire in motion. He might just take it.

Word Count: 4.9k

Warning: Strong sexual content, giving head, fingering, spitting, explicit language 

          There is a first for everything.

          The first time you ride a bike, the first time you try your favorite food, the first time you win an award, the first time you hear your favorite song, the first time you talk to the person you’re meant to spend the rest of forever with, the first time you overcome your worst fear, the first time you read your favorite book, the first time you travel to a different country, the first time you have thoughts that should damn you for eternity and for some...there is even a first time for eating pussy.

         It’s an embarrassment he’d never wanted anyone to discover let alone put to the test. Sure his friends had their time to talk about their extensive knowledge on female anatomy, but whenever the topic of him and Jesse doing anything outside the box he himself had placed them in, his lips were sealed. For one thing it wasn’t their business, for two he’s not entirely sure what he would say. He knew the time would come. He didn’t view their relationship like a race and he knew Jesse didn’t either. They’d been friends for too long and knew each other too well for him to base their relationship off of sex. 

       Grayson keeps his eyes glued to his hands holding Jesse’s hips tight -- unsure of what to do now that he’s got her beneath him and wanting him to have his way with her. He knows what he wants, but doubts that he has the courage to pursue it within him. He’d watch her with careful eyes as she peeled off each article of clothing before pulling him close by his belt loop and on to the bed to kiss her rough busy day away. A picnic was nice, but his complete and undivided attention was better. Even if his eyes trailing up and down every part of her body made her nervous. 

          He’d done plenty of things with his ex before Jesse, but none of those things had involved his lips and tongue anywhere beneath the waist. Not anything like he’s inevitably about to do. 

         “Cat caught your tongue?” Jesse had snickered minutes ago, a sly smirk lacing up her ruby red lips from so much kissing -- moment’s before he’d gotten them both all hot and bothered. He couldn’t help it when he was with her, his self control falters and he’s drunk off her touch once again, swimming in a pool of despair he can’t control. All he can think about is her. Wanting her. Needing her. Touching every single inch of her velvety skin. Wanting to do things to her. Wanting her to do things to him. Things he would blush at in the future.

         Jesse was a woman with desires he’d only dreamed of women having. She was shy at times but the devil danced in her bright eyes. Grayson knew she wanted things she’d never had the guts to say out loud and things she only wanted from him alone. It all made him a fierce kind of nervous, but gave him an electrified thrill. A challenge for him to explore the workings of her body and all the ways he can make her more satisfied than she’s ever been. He didn’t plan on letting her go anytime soon - and if he wanted to do her right, he had to go outside of his comfort zone for her.

         Knowing Jesse was more experienced did things to him that he couldn’t begin to hide -- but more than anything it made him jealous of every set of hands that had ever touched her skin before his. It made him reckless and competitive, focused and haughty. He was better than them, he could be better than them.

         He could rapture her into a whirlwind of pleasure that would ruin her image of every man except him, wanting no one's mouth but his, daydream of no one’s lips but his own, beg for no one else’s touch, want no one else’s hands but the ones holding her now. It wasn’t about him, this wasn’t about his pleasure for once, it was truly all about her. 

         Pulling him back into the flames, he’s burning up under her intense stare, waiting for him to do something, do anything. Anything but watch her long enough to find something less than stellar, less than grand, less than exceptional. With her fears unfolding she pulls him down for a kiss of her own, a soft feather of a thing he can feel all the way to his toes. She’d always been good at that, giving  him more to miss when she’s away. The way she hugs him close is one of those things.

         Grayson fell hard into love—which wasn’t particularly unusual for the hopeless romantic he was, but he always knew Jesse was set apart from the seasonal heartthrobs. He was truly bewitched by her creativity, wanderlust, unapologetic confidence, patience, and beauty.

         An enchantress she was, beautiful beyond anything he could ever deserve. Drop dead gorgeous with the personality to match, there wasn’t a head that didn’t turn when she walked into a room, not a man that didn’t fumble over their words at any opportunity to talk to her, not a woman who didn’t want to be her friend. Sure her beauty was undeniable, but her benevolent heart beat it all.

         He may never know why Jesse had leaned in to kiss him seven months ago save for three days in a hidden corner in Café Verona -- a quaint treasure he’d always hold dear to his heart. Fairy lights criss-crossed along the ceiling, soft Jazz waltzing with the beat of his heart, emerald green leather bench pressing into his thighs. But he’s glad she did. He’s glad she leaned in to kiss him when he’d been building up the nerve for weeks. So afraid to go there but more afraid of not knowing what would happen if he didn’t. He’s glad she took his chin in between her fingers to hold him still enough to feel her lips press to his securely, a warmth swarming in his chest where the heart shaped hole once was.

          If he flipped through the pages of his memory, he would remember a statue-like stillness about him before he sunk into her touch, caging her head in his large careful hands. Feeling the gasp she tried to hide, the smell of grapefruit shampoo and the way her flushed cheeks felt under his stroking thumbs. He would see himself fall into her, around her and through her, off the edge of the rocky cliff and into the dark blissful deep of nothing but her.

          He’d be eternally grateful she looked at him with utmost sincerity and whispered with a raw kind of intensity that he’d “driven her mad you see” -- and he’d heard it then, the brittleness of her voice because fear rattles her to the core, and she had been scared out of her mind. A crack that tracked through her careful confession and to the root of him. Jesse was scared of what he meant, what he was in terms of her heart, what he could be if she continued to kiss him the way she was.

          In that quiet moment he remembered what made her so deeply rooted in his heart: the laugh that rattled him, the soft smell of peaches and vanilla, the way she never drives without sunglasses because her mom who passed away much too early did the same, the dance she does when she finally eats the first bite of food after damn near breaking the world in half in hanger, the way she punches the roof of her car after making it through a yellow light because her best friend in high school did the same, the way she always turns her spoon upside down when eating ice cream, and the way she always has answers for everything no matter what topic, even the way she laughs entirely too hard at Family Feud. 

         For that reason alone he waited for the physical parts to come when they may. It was new and exciting sure, and he’d always loved her heart of course, but her body was uncharted territory. He was patient, yes. A gentleman guarding some assumed virtue, even if he knew better than to think she was anything but a seductress. Patient enough to tell her no when she’s had one too many drinks and not enough discipline. They’d been friends before anything else - the best of friends with a foundation of trust. He’s spent years trying to gain that trust and he vowed to keep it.

          Of course he could have been that guy on many occasions: possessive, selfish, greedy and crude. He could have played his cards and dealt his dirty hand at the wrong moment and still pulled out ahead. I mean hell, how often do guys get out of the friend-zone? But he wasn’t that guy. No matter the relationship status — they weren’t ready.

         They hadn’t been ready to cross that carefully drawn line in the sand, not until now. With the strawberry White Barn candle burning in the corner on the cluttered desk one could expect from a college student and a half full can of Arizona tea on the night stand...her face lit with a mystical kind of magic he’d only ever seen the day she leaned back after their first official kiss. 

         “Hold my hair.”

         Grayson found the words slipping off his tongue easier than they’d come all night. All he’s planned on was a simple date in the park that was tucked away and secluded from all the people that could interrupt, he’d even brought her favorite book and laid back on a soft patch of grass to listen to her melodic voice read to him. He’d planned to come back and share a peck or two while watching a new episode of Daredevil and holding her through the night. She’d had a long day full of texts to him, trying to get him to give her the okay to walk out of her low-paying job and not look back. He never planned on laying her down on his bed and caressing every inch of her skin until he was finally delving into a place he’d never been quite like this.

          He was nervous but he could do anything, be anything with her hand in his hair and her kind eyes watching him defile her. He just knew from this moment on he would have a reputation to uphold, as cocky as it sounded. He had to prove he wasn’t as lost as he felt. He felt like a virgin all over again, like he was doing something raw and real and scary. A secret only the wrinkled sheets would remind him of later.

          Her touch, her soothing him through something that frightened him has always been a crutch for him to lean on. When he got in a fight with his brother, she was there to comb through his hair and talk him through the proper apology, when he decided to change majors and had a breakdown so crippling he couldn’t breathe she rocked him through it until his breath was even once again, when he wrecked his new car on the way home from a party he never should have been at she was right there to give him a kiss on the cheek and help him call the insurance company and his erratic mother who loved her like a daughter. She led him through the rough parts of life and then some.

           He never imagined she would be leading him through something so sensual, but he needed her bringing him back to earth all the same.

          Jesse obliged with a grin of her own, feeling him shuffle down to trail a string of kisses across her torso and down to the base of her need and desire. The fireball of want burned in her stomach, turning her rational thoughts brown and charred. He was good at that, making her need him fiercely. She’d never wanted anyone so much, and even if she thinks back to past flings - she’d never been satisfied like she was with Grayson, and they’d done much less.

         “What are you thinking?” Jesse wonders, distracted by his soft supple lips and his nibbling at her hip, but wanting to hear the inner workings of his brain. Her fingers fidget, wanting to push him by his brown mop of hair down lower - just to feel him at last. She needed this distraction, she just needed his help to forget. Not that she hadn’t been waiting for months for this exact moment, there was just urgency in the way she’s stripped herself bare before him. 

          She almost expects him to wait for her direction, but jerks against him when he takes the lead all on his own. How could he not with her as his complete mercy, giving him the fuck me eyes and twisting a lock if hair around her finger? 

          Grayson thinks on that as he trails his mouth down, down, down to slick his tongue up the base of her, smirking to himself when she wiggles against him. “I’m thinking that I like you this way.”

          The contact was a shock to her nervous system and a promise of what was soon to come if she kept tempting him the way she was. She was a heathen with angel eyes. Someone infatuated with his innocence (at least he was more innocent than she) and curiosity to learn every curve and dip of her body. He made her feel powerful, unstoppable, undeniable. She craved it as much as he craved her own lips tracking across his skin - in the heat of the moment or in the still of the night.

          “Naked you mean?” She laughs then, trying to keep herself at least somewhat under control now that he’s grown some balls and taken the first step. She’s shocked momentarily that she didn’t have to practically order him into touching her.

           She grips her breasts at another bold swipe of his tongue. Rolling her hardened nipples between her fingers and tensing at the sparks flying up her center. The feeling of him spreading her open, blowing against her throbbing clit is almost too much to bear. Jesse curses then, a soft “fuck” she tries to reel back before he gets too big of a head. She knows it fell on eager ears when he delivers another bold stripe of his tongue up her center -- slow and deliberate. 

           “Unguarded,” he finally grumbles, rubbing away the goosebumps that pepper her thighs. She thinks for a moment that she could gave turned off the ceiling fan circling over top of them, but feared she might burn up if it wasn’t for the white blades blowing on her crown of hair going every which way on the pillow. 

          She ignores how right he is - that she’s never been this vulnerable with him before, but instead rolls her eyelids shut to feel him really delve into her - opening his mouth and pressing his tongue to her flat. This is just what she needed, her favorite person trying something new and succeeding at it. 

            For someone that’s never given head, he was pulling it off. He was going to ruin her.

           Glancing down at the yellow glow of the lamp illuminating the right side of his face, Jesse curled her fingers into his plush head of hair once again, somewhere between heaven and hell with no real knowledge of the difference.

           She moans at his lips wrapping around her, the suction to her lower region and the way his thumbs dig into her skin to hold her in place. No running this time, she had no choice but to feel it all. This is what she wanted right? 

          “This feel okay?” he teases, tentatively trailing the tip of his tongue around the place she wanted most. He loved to see her eyes alight with that devilish incomprehensible lust. He was truly winging it, doing anything he’d heard from friends or watched himself late at night, anything to further her soft pants and moans tumbling out of her O shaped mouth. She was too good to be true and felt like one lucky bastard. 

           Nodding down to him she groans, wanting him latched to her. “M-more than okay just keep going.”

          He never knew it could feel so pleasurable to be the giver and not the receiver nine times out of ten. He didn’t know how selfish he’d been and the opportunities he'd missed to feel compliant and...obedient. He liked it. He loved it. He loved the position he was in - her looking down at him like the goddess she was and always had been, him crouching down at the end of the bed to devour her in the best way he could, his hair disheveled, eyes dark with hunger, hands gripping her tight.

          He lets instinct take the wheel, peppering kisses to her clit and bringing his own  hand down to slip in a finger to add extra stimulation - pleased when Jesse releases another string of curses. Fowl language huh? Wonder what she’d do if he stopped-

          “You’re such a dick-“ she tugs at his roots, rolling her hips into his mouth that savors  her now, lips slick with her wetness. She tasted good, he’d concluded. It wasn’t anything like what he imagined it would be, no, it was better. It felt better than all of the horror stories he’d made up in his head. He’s sure if he wanted to - he could stay right down between her legs for hours -- until his lips were sore and his tongue tired. Stopping wasn’t an option. Not when she’s been waiting so long, fantasized too often. She huffs out again “Thought you’ve never done this before.”

            That must be a good sign, right?

           “Never,” he slurps at her, shaking his head and groaning into her core. He felt the slickness of her on his cheeks now. Bowing down to eat her out was harder than it looked, especially with back problems as it was. 

            Focused and drunk on Jesse’s gentle hip thrust into his mouth he hugs her thighs and stands upright, just off the edge of the bed, bringing her lower half up in the air with him. He can feel her trembling now, wide eyes gleaming at him with surprise and delight at the new and better position.

            She was losing it. She’d had him compliant at first, her soft-hearted boyfriend trying something new...but damn he was tugging the ropes from between her fingers and leading her to a path less traveled. Quick learner he was.

           “Grayson put me down! Have you lost your mind?” Jesse squealed, grinning at his closed eyes and moving lips, deaf to her antics. She was expected something quick, maybe even simple, but him switching up positions was not in the game plan as great as it was. 

           She could see it now, the guy that was always hiding just beneath the surface. She could see how her sounds urged him on and made him try harder. She could see his arms shaking from the weight of her legs and the effort it took to hold her pussy as close to him as he could. She could feel the heavy breath fanning out across her pelvis from his nose. She could feel the tickle of his hair dangling down and whispering across the skin of her stomach. She could feel that same ball of fire seated in her stomach slip lower and lower with each passing second - until the words that fell out of her mouth were nothing but strings of profanity would make a sinner blush.

             It was going to sear her in half, that fucking ball of fire. Hot lava stirring up a flood she couldn’t stop. It was splitting her in half just as his digits were now, pumping into her hard and fast, curling at his knuckles. His rings gleam from the yellow lamp-light and shock her when they touch her dewy skin. She had lost all sense of control.

            Hearing his own moans, hearing how desperate he was to keep eating her pussy and make her feel better than anyone had, got her inching towards the edge. It was a low kind of growl itching at his throat.

            The taste of her blurred his senses, the soft smell of her making his mind spin out of control, the tightening walls of her cunt around his fingers fucking her fast, the light sheen of sweat that glowed in the dim light of his room - he was a madman with no direction but forward. He had to keep going, for stopping would surely break them both. He would love to tease her, but knew if he stopped one more time she would kill him in a heartbeat. 

          “Open your fucking eyes and watch me.” He barked down to her, stopping only for a moment to glare at her. His fingers continued their fast paced in and out, in and out, in and out.

                         He’d figured if he was going to take it all the way, he needed to pull every string. Needed to pull out the nasty daydreams and make them a reality. This is something he would have for keeps. Something he’d want to do over and over, something he couldn’t wait to do again. Something he’d want to remember. 

          Peeling her eyes open she sobbed at the sight of him spitting into her pussy with a smile, staring at her darkly. Light eyes blacked into pits he ruined her through and through. He had to be lying, he just had to be.

          “Fast learner,” Grayson sneers, leaning forward to smear his saliva around her slick folds, arms circling her midsection to hold her close again.

           “ Fuckfuckfuckfuck- keep fu- keep going!” Jesse begs, barely holding on to the light threatening to slip away into the fire burning her up. “Doing so good Gray, so fucking good.”

             She had discovered soon in the relationship and the minimal sexual acts they’d indulged in that Grayson was a man that adored praise. He wanted someone to tell him how good he was doing, even if he already knew it. He wanted someone to look him in the eyes just as she was doing now and watch him succeed. He wanted complete undivided attention, verbal acknowledgment. 

              He sucked at her still, sliding his tongue into her quickly then — remembering someone in a poorly shot amateur porn video did the same to the tatted up blonde he was practically fucking to death, and hoped it would have the same effect on his beautiful princess begging for him to keep going. He kept note while he watched the video, knowing one day he would be standing where he is now relishing in the gold mine that belonged to him. He fucker her with his tongue, humming into her cunt for the added stimulation. 

               Fuck all she was the end of him. “Pretty pussy all wet for me, yeah? Want to cum? Bet you doubt me huh? Thought I wouldn’t do you right…”

               He chucked at the vigorous nodding of her head, the eyes rolling in the back of her head, the hand that leaves his hip to pull at her own hair. Her eyes squeezing shut in panic now that she feels the tip of the iceberg coming up fast. 

               “Don’t even know how crazy you drive me, how long I’ve wanted to do this to you.”

               Hearing him admit it only made her thighs quiver against his strong arms, only made her want more, made her creep dangerously close to the edge she was for once in her life afraid to fall off of. The crash into the sea would be the biggest shock she’s ever had. Jesse tried to focus on her breathing, trading the heaving for squealing when he dipped his tongue in her entrance to give her something to fantasize about. She’d never had someone tongue fuck her, let alone stair into her soul while they did it. 

              Fuck he was good. Too fucking good.

             “Baby you have t-to slow down,” she warns, the big splash terrifying and so close. He was a wicked man for doing just the opposite, spreading her legs wider and shaking his head against her again, eyes squeezed shut like he knew what would happen in only a few seconds.

               “Grayson step back,” she tried to warn more firmly, afraid of the unfamiliar feeling of something new about to happen, embarrassed already but too worked up to stop it. “Shit - Grayson step back!”

                And there it was, the strongest orgasm she’d ever had and certainly the wettest. Her release soaked the bed beneath, sheets spotted with her arousal and breath stolen from her lungs. She’s not sure when Grayson had dropped her, or whether her convulsing body wiggled out of his grasp during the black out she’d just had. She was spread on the bed in her own mess, her chest flushed, damp hair stuck to her forehead in waves, vision blurred, eyelids drooping in exhaustion, hand somehow in Graysons.

              He’s there then. He’s everywhere and nowhere all at once, his hand a ghost on her forehead brushing away those tendrils of hair, his thumb rubbing over her knuckles with tender care, his lips smoothing the furrow of her brows. Grayson is lifting her without a word, caging her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck, and smoothing her head against his chest to feel the weight of her there - just to feel the heat of her consume him.

              “Holy fuck,” she breathes, spent. 

              “I hope it wasn’t too much,” he whispers into her hair, hand smoothing over the locks while rocking her around the room, mind racing with every image of what he’d just done and the feeling of complete bliss flooding his body.

                He’s almost worried she fell asleep in his arms until he feels the shaking he can only assume is laughter, before she’s hugging him tighter. ���Idiot. I can’t believe you’ve never done that. And I can’t believe I’m this tired. Feel like a rookie.”

               “Guess I passed the test then?”

               “Flying colors.”

                Jesse nuzzles in as far as she can, tucking in her arms against his chest and letting the state of Nirvana wash over her. With a sigh Jesse thinks over the shocking events of her boyfriend being 100% nastier than she’d initially thought — not that she’s complaining.

               She barely remembers Grayson running a bath, or setting her in the steaming tub with a kiss, or waiting for him to strip the bed with a giddiness sitting in his chest at all that they’d done, barely remembers him joining her in the tub and catching soap in the calm of his hand to smith the suds over her post-sex body. That’s the only way she would describe herself in the moment, her skin felt sensitive to the touch, sparks still shooting through her with the feeling of his hands on her.

             What Jesse does remember is laying with Grayson in a bed freshly made, arm draped over his stomach, head resting against his arm, lips peppering kisses against his chest randomly through-out the night. She remembers the feeling of adoration and understanding. What they’d done was both the most foul thing she’d ever done, but also the most liberating and beautiful experience. To lose yourself in another person in such a way that you’re utterly consumed by them was...foreign to the pair laying together in the still of the night.

              Jesse waited until Grayson was softly snoring until she said the only thing she’d never had the guts to tell him in the months they’d been dating. He’d been waiting on it patiently. It was different between friends, but it meant so much more when you don't want to say it to anyone else for the rest of your life. The moment she says it, she can’t ever take it back. Maybe that’s why she chooses the early hours of the morning to lean in and press her lips against his feather soft, blinking back the mist clouding her vision. 

              “Don’t know if you could tell...but I'm kind of in love with you...so just be patient with me please I’m trying for you.”

              Maybe she would get the guts one day to say the words while he’s awake, maybe face to face or with the lights off because she has some kind of comfort in the dark, or maybe it would slip out on accident. In any way that it happens, she hopes he will smile. She hopes that he knows how insanely incandescently happy he makes her each and every day, and how honored she feels that she got to experience another first with him.She hopes he will be comforted that his feelings are 100% reciprocated. She hopes that she gets to see that beautiful  smile he wears on special occasions -- the true smile that he doesn't show too often. For now she presses her lips to his once again, smiling softly as the slow ride and fall of his chest, arm holding her close, the ring she won him out of a shitty machine in the corner of a tattoo shop he’d stopped into on a whim secured on a thin chain around his neck, and the fluttering of his eyelashes while he dreamed. 

[tanoraqui]

There actually are enough good fics about postcanon tentative reforging of assorted pairs and even the whole of the Gusu Summer School No Brain Cell Trio to satisfy my niche itch, so pls enjoy these stray snippets of a fic I don't have to write:

Nothing would've happened if the cultivation conference wasn't at Cloud Recesses. But it was, Cloud Recesses with its pale stone and gracefully winding walkways and too many memories, including Lan Xichen sitting the whole thing out in seclusion somewhere... If it'd been at the Unclean Realm, Nie Huaisang would've been busy and if it'd been at Carp Tower the memories only would've been manageably bad, and if it was Lotus Pier or one of many smaller sects, it would've been...fine. Just fine.

But it was Cloud Recesses this year, this first conference since Jin Guangyao's downfall, and specifically it was half past ten at night, and Nie Huaisang was wandering the elegant pathways with a mostly full jar of wine in one hand. The previous jar, now entirely empty, had been left back in his room. He was a Nie, so he was only half as drunk as he'd always used to pretend at these things - but at least twice as drunk as he'd ever actually been.

After da-ge's death, of course. Before that, he used to get plenty drunk. Playfully drunk. With friends.

It would be a terrible idea for him to go appear on Lan Xichen's doorstep. Neither of them was ready for that yet.

So he appeared on Jiang Cheng's.

[ . . . ]

"Fine." Nie Huaisang pouted and turned. "I'll go ask Wei-xiong - "

And Jiang Cheng was easy, he was so easy, he'd always been easy, the only new thing is the faintest edge of wariness to his fury -

He grabbed Nie Huaisang's elbow in a flash and snapped, "Ugh, fine, I'll go - but I'm holding the wine."

Nie Huaisang laughed and handed it over. Jiang Cheng immediately took a deep swig.

[ . . . ]

It must've been a quiet night at the Jingshi. Wei Wuxian's sleeping robes didn't look the least bit hastily pulled on, and his lips were only the slightest bit red and puffy.

[ . . . ]

[for the record, this takes place in a book-show postcanon fusion wherein immediately post-Guanyin Temple, WWX and LWJ ran off to fuck in the bushes at least once a day for as long as possible, but in their absence, various sect leaders voted that Lan Wangji should be Chief Cultivator now, and alas some messenger caught up with them about six months into their honeymoon. Definitely caught them in flagrante delicto. Tragic for all. I’d probably communicate all this hereish somehow. It was definitely NHS who finally tipped someone off on how to actually find them.]

[ . . . ]

"Yes, yes, I'm coming," Wei Wuxian said, with a lidded look at Nie Huaisang, and Nie Huaisang burst into a giggles because the two most unequivocally lethal people he knew were afraid to leave each other alone with him, and it was satisfying to be recognized but also what's he going to do, personally? Cry at them? It'd taken him years to destroy Jin Guangyao, and at this point it'd take him months, if not years again to re-destroy the Yiling Patriarch, much less Sandu Shengshou. Especially when they both kept doing things like watching each others backs while pretending they weren't.

[ . . . ]

"Of course we need more!" Wei Wuxian declared. "This isn't even Emperor's Smile!"

[ . . . ]

"It's just a rat or something," Jiang Cheng scoffed.

"So?!" Wei Wuxian cried grandly. "Are we not noble cultivators? Is it not our duty to investigate this woman's complaint, and to slay whatever monster plagues her good inn’s wonderful cellar, whether deathly or monstrous or rodential it be?" He turned to Nie Huaisang and begged, "Help me out, Nie-xiong. You agree with me, right?"

Nie Huaisang clutched his cup against his chest, eyes wide, and shook his head in sharp jerks. "I don't know! I don't know!"

Wei Wuxian laughed and elbowed him in the side.

[ . . . ]

[while waiting for Wei Wuxian to send some sort of signal]

"You know I don't bear any grudge against Jin Ling, right?"

Jiang Cheng's impatient glare snapped to him, darkening with threat; his hand shifted on Sandu's hilt toward a drawing position. "What?"

"I don't bear any sort of grudge against Jin Ling," Nie Huaisang repeated, holding only the last jar of Emperor's Smile. "That's why you've been side-eyeing me all night, right? All conference." He took another sip (it really was the best!) and added recklessly, "If I wanted Jin Ling dead and disgraced, or all Carp Tower burned to ash, they already would be."

Sandu slid an inch out of its scabbard and Nie Huaisang watch it with fascinated curiosity. From a greater distance, he wondered if that was entirely healthy.

"What about Lotus Pier?" Jiang Cheng asked abruptly.

It took Nie Huaisang a blinking moment to focus on him.

"What about Lotus Pier?"

Jiang Cheng sat beside him on the cold earth and yanked the jar out of his hands, cruelly before Nie Huaisang could take another sip.

"Where's your grand terrible vengeance against me and mine? I get it, but if you're being honest for once right now, you could at least tell me when it's going to hit, and how."

"What?" Nie Huaisang pushed himself against his tree trunk, genuinely confused. "Why would i have a terrible vengeance planned against you?"

"I benefitted from Nie Mingjue's death, didn't I?" Jiang Cheng took another swig of wine of his own, and swung the jar illustratively. "My disciples have hunted in your territory while you 'weren't paying attention.' I absolutely fleeced you in that trade deal four years ago. And I worked with that bastard as much as anyone but Lan Xichen, especially on those damn watchtowers, and you broke him. So when's it my turn?" He pointed at Nie Huaisang, finger only wavering slightly. “If you fuck with Jin Ling, Wei Wuxian, or my sect, I will fuck you back.”

"You- oh, gimme that. Gimme. Gimme!" Nie Huaisang leaned forward and tried to grab the wine jar, and more importantly whined until Jiang Cheng handed it to him.

He stared at it for a moment, thrust it back and ordered, “Drink,” without letting it go, and once Jiang Cheng had dutifully tilted it back, pulled it back and slugged down the last swallows. He needed more alcohol for this much honesty, and so did Jiang Cheng.

He set the jar down very carefully, because the ground seemed to be moving, and leaned forward with even more care. He enunciated clearly, “Everyone fleeced me, and hunted in my territory, and I acsh- ass- let them. Why would I expect you to go looking for trouble with Jin Guangyao, when he had your heart locked in a box in his treasure room?”

Jiang Cheng, who was a respected master of all five arts but probably hadn’t actually read poetry for fun since an instructor had officially declared him as such, and who was himself at least a full wine jar in, squinted in angry confusion.

Nie Huaisang rolled his eyes. “He had final say over where and how Jin Ling spent his time, and could’ve tried to poison him against you. What would you have even have done if I had come complaining?”

Jiang Cheng’s face only fell further, with the very sort of drunken moroseness Nie Huaisang was out here to avoid.

Nie Huaisang attempted to swap him sharply. He failed on both the swap and the sharpness. 

“Stoppit! Stop thinking you’re not useful! You weren’t! I needed to pry er-ge away from him and for that only Lan Wangji would work, and I needed someone to watch his back through thick and deadly thin, and to be so disruptive that even Meng Yao couldn’t...circle, sneaky, planning...”

They were waiting for the pulse of a light talisman from the other tunnel entrance, half a mile away. There was a small but very bright explosion. laced with resentful as well as spiritual energy.

“Motherfucker!” Jiang Cheng cursed, leaping to his feet and drawing Sandu in one hideously coordinated motion. 

“Just Lan Wangji, I think,” Nie Huaisang said, because Nie Mingjue himself couldn’t have stopped him. He groped for his own weapons - fan, check; wine jar - 

“Oh no!” 

“What?”  Jiang Cheng snapped, as he bent and dragged Nie Huaisang to his feet with one hand. (Hideously coordinated. Sword people, honestly...)

“He’s going to be so mad that we finished the wine without him!”

[ . . . ]

[three grown-ass men, two sect leaders and one Yiling Patriarch, flying at high speed through Caiyi Town on one sword, all screaming. Nie Huaisang is clinging to Wei Wuxian; Wei Wuxian is flinging to Jiang Cheng, a little bit to Nie Huaisang, and most importantly to a chicken, Jiang Cheng is flying the sword. There is a bedsheet draped over all of them from where they ran into a laundry line. It’s 2am. Again I say, all are screaming]

[ . . . ]

[it probably wasn’t a rat - not just one, at least. Wei Wuxian does something incredibly clever, possibly including a creative use of that bedsheet; Jiang Cheng singlehandedly defeats something in combat, probably after he and Wei Wuxian shove each other out of the way of blows without either of them acknowledging it. Nie Huaisang shoves them both under cover and then with perfect professionalism tells whoever came to check on the ruckus that they handled the problem exactly as planned with absolutely no involvement of alcohol, and the Chief Cultivator will foot the bill for the unfortunately absolutely necessary property damage. Overall, they did handle the problem, but the local cryptid they were chasing will only have its reputation swelled and its continued existence assumed by all locals. it is possible that they themselves made this cryptid up two decades ago, but idk how heavy-handed we want to be.]

[ . . . ]

Nie Huaisang was leaning heavily on Wei Wuxian by the time they got back to the guest quarters. He could hold his alcohol, he was a goddamn Nie, and frankly he’d had it adrenalined out of him at least twice this evening. But he’d also had rather a lot, and he didn’t have Jiang Cheng’s golden core or Wei Wuxian’s blithe lack of sleep schedule. 

“I missed this,” he admitted, head on Wei Wuxian’s (Mo Xuanyu’s) shoulder while Jiang Cheng opened the door.

Wei Wuxian leaned his head on Nie Huaisang’s. “Me too.”

“You’re both fucking annoying,” Jiang Cheng grouched, which meant, Me too.

Wei Wuxian stripped off Nie Huaisang’s muddy outer robe and tucked him into bed, and Jiang Cheng poured a glass of water from the pitcher by the door, drank it, poured another, scowled at Wei Wuxian for a moment, and set it on the bedside table. Wei Wuxian glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, finished with Nie Huaisang and started backing out of the room.

Nie Huaisang sat up more or less abruptly. “Both of you have got to stop that bullshit. I miss my brothers, okay? I’d I had a second chance...” He sagged back down with the plural, and flung an arm over his damp eyes. There was a glimmer in the sky; it’d be morning by Lan standards soon. “I fucking miss them.”

“...Ah,” said Wei Wuxian, who always spoke even when he didn’t know what to say.

“Yeah,” Jiang Cheng said abruptly, and, “Drink your fucking water.” And the door slammed behind him as he walked out.

[...a few lines of dialogue later...]

“Seriously, you can go.” Nie Huaisang flicked a few tired fingers in dismissal.

“Are you sure?” Wei Wuxian added with an audible smirk, “Because if I stay up for another half hour, I can wake Lan Zhan with a morning...big ol’...loving...”

Nie Huaisang finally adjusted his arm to crack one eye up at him.

“People usually cut me off before I get that far,” Wei Wuxian admitted.

[ . . . a bit more dialogue and the end.]

[1plus1kiyoomi]

Chapter 16: 6PM Walks

[prev] [next]

[masterlist] [kia’s slambook]

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

“What did you call me a while ago?” Kiyoomi asks Kia, not listening to what you’re saying.

“Kiyoomi, this isn’t our issue right now.”

“No, it is. She has to call me that again.”

“She won’t.”

“She will. She did it a while ago.”

“Kia’s probably playing with you,” you mumble to yourself, but you leave the two of them to continue making breakfast before the whole fiasco. You figure that Sakusa is too excited being called papa that he won’t listen to anything you will say at the moment.

“Kia say it again. What you called me a while ago,” Kiyoomi asks Kia. They are on the couch in the living room, Kia’s eyes stuck on the television screen. She ignores Kiyoomi. He takes the remote and turns the TV off. The little girl looks at him in disapproval. “Say it again and I will turn the TV on.”

“What?” Kia asks, obviously not hearing Kiyoomi’s pleads a while back.

“What did you call me a while ago?” Kiyoomi pushes, his eyes piercing through hers, begging.

“Kyo,” Kia deadpans.

Kiyoomi pouts, turning the TV back on. He leaves Kia on the couch, then goes to you at kitchen. You don’t notice him so he just leans his back on the counter, admiring you from behind. You looked so cute with his shirt and boxers on, the apron you’re wearing is the cherry on top. He’s trying his best not to jump on you especially that Kia is just there.

You, on the other hand, are slicing the apples, Saki in your mind. “That fucking bitch,” you mutter, slicing rougher than needed. “She better not show up here again.”

“Have mercy on the apples,” Kiyoomi chuckles. He wraps his arms around your waist, his chin on top of your head. You continue to slice, Kiyoomi carefully watching your hands. “Where’s the ring I gave you?”

“It’s in my bag. I took it off when we were in Universals since it was slipping off my finger. I was scared I’d lose it,” you reply. His hug feels comforting so you slow down in slicing. “Have you given up on Kia calling you papa?”

“No,” he huffs, his chin now on your shoulder. You giggle at his determination. “You’re probably shocked about what happened.”

“Didn’t know your fuck buddy was psycho,” you respond. He starts leaving small kisses on your exposed neck, so you put the knife down and turn to him. “Kiyoomi, why are you so touchy today?”

“What do you mean? I was also touchy yesterday,” he corrects you. His hands intertwine with yours as he brings it close to his. He gives all your fingers soft kisses, completely calming you down. “You seem so stressed. You should get a massage or something.”

“That sounds nice.” You smile at the thought of simply relaxing. Ever since you had given birth to Kia, time for yourself was impossible.

“Then take a day off from being a mom today,” Kiyoomi mumbles, planting a kiss on your forehead. You look up to him in confusion. “I’ll drop you off at the mall. I actually booked you an appointment at a salon and spa a week ago.” You stare at him in suspicion but he seems solely genuine about wanting you to relax.

“What about Kia?” You ask hesitantly.

“I’ll take good care of her,” he responds. “Get changed. I’ll continue making breakfast.”

After eating breakfast with Kiyoomi and Kia, they send you off to the mall. You are so excited to relax. “Me time” is rare as a mother. You shall cherish it without questions on how and why you got to do it.

As you left the car, Kia and Kiyoomi drive to another street in the city of Osaka. They leave the car, and go to a small cafe that doesn’t have a lot of customers. A woman waves at him and he goes to where she’s seated.

“Kyo who’s that?”

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

You finish your appointments at around 5:30 PM. Kiyoomi really wanted you to relax. He had appointed a full body massage for you, a hair treatment appointment, manicure and pedicure and lunch at a 4-star sushi place; he’s spoiling you.

You see his car at the driveway outside the mall. You enter his car, then you sanitize your hands. Kia is asleep so you keep quiet. You take a look at him and he looks nervous.

“Are you okay?” You ask him and he nods. You eye him warily as he starts driving off without a word. “What did the two of you do today?”

“We went to a cafe, then met up with my nutritionist. Kia is also gave him a checkup. Apparently, Kia is taller than most of her peers. She’s 8 centimeters away from 100cm and she’s only 30 months old...” Kiyoomi states in a stressed manner.

“Are you afraid she’ll get bullied by other kids for her height?” You look at him and he seemed upset about it. “On the brighter side, with her height she can be a volleyball player like you.” You reassure him, he still looks like he’s on the edge.

“It’s the flower field Kia and I went to a while ago. Do you wanna take a walk?” He suddenly suggests, looking out the window of his car. You hum as a yes, then he parks his car somewhere near the flower field.

“Baby...” You coo at Kia, taking her seatbelt off. Her eyes slowly flutter open and she smiles when she sees you. You lift her off her chair then close the car’s door.

You look around, and notice that there aren’t a lot of people. No wonder why Kiyoomi wanted to take a walk. The place is peaceful and breathtaking. Rows of different kinds of flowers, but mostly roses and tulips. You look down to Kia and see that she is staring at the sun setting over the flower field.

You finally sense Kiyoomi beside you, but the energy he’s giving is off. You take a glance at him and he isn’t wearing his mask on. Now your suspicion has risen to the highest level. You want to ask him about it but Kia suddenly wriggles out of your hold. You run after her but stop when you see two familiar boys.

“Mu-chan! Ki-chan!” She squeals in excitement, running towards the said boys. You greet them with a wave as they are standing from a far. You watch Kia run to them before walking towards them too.

“Mama! Turn around!” Kia shouts but you don’t hear properly.

“Turn! Around!” Atsumu shouts this time, signaling you turn with his hand. You raise an eyebrow at them before turning around.

3rd Year, Itachiyama Academy

August 19

“Omi... I suddenly thought of something,” you spoke, watching the sunset. You two were at his backyard, enjoying your first anniversary in the comfort of his home. “How will you propose to me?”

“Are you really thinking about marriage just because we’ve been dating for a year now?” Sakusa squinted his eyes at you. You shrugged, leaning on his shoulder.

“I’m just curious since you hate surprises. You might tell me to get my nails done a week before so it’d look good in pictures,” you joked. He let out a chuckle in agreement.

“I might do that.” He saw the excitement in your eyes. Now, he’s curious about your dream proposal. “How do you want me to propose? Do you want a grand one or a simple one?”

“I want you to propose just like this,” you replied, eyes glued on the setting sun. “You, me, on our anniversary, with the sun setting.”

“Do I have to be on my knee? The ground might be dirty,” he rambled so you pouted.

“How is it a proposal if you don’t go on one bended knee?!”

“Then I’ll do that,” he replied, determined. There was no hesitance in his response so your heart beat faster.

“Really?” You asked, hopeful. You were now looking at him and so was he.

“Yes.”

“Sakusa Kiyoomi, why?!” You exclaim as you cover your face with your hands, tears already falling from your eyes.

The Sakusa Kiyoomi who well known as a germaphobe is on his knee in front you, with a ring in his hand. You check your phone to see the date, just to make sure. August 19. You cry even harder, not able to process what’s happening. Your heart is about to jump out of your chest. How does he remember even that?

“Will you marry me?”

Unable to answer due to too much emotions, you pull him up and kiss him deeply, hooking your arm on his neck, pulling him close to you. He wraps his arms around your waist, lifting you up the ground in excitement. He puts you back on the ground, then gives you another chaste kiss before slipping the ring in your ring finger. He gives it a kiss, before kissing you once more.

“Mama!” You hear Kia run to the two you. Kiyoomi lifts Kia with one arm, his other arm not leaving you. “Look! Kyo proposed to me too!”

“Kyo who’s that?” Kia asked as she and Kiyoomi sat in the same table with a strange woman.

“Is this your daughter?” The woman asked Sakusa. He nodded. Kia was still looking at her weirdly. “Hi, I’m Nako. I’m a jewelry maker. I make necklaces, bracelets, and rings. Do you wanna see?”

“Sorry, I’m late,” a familiar voice spoke, catching Kia’s full atention.

“Mu-chan!” Kia greeted him with a kiss. He sat down beside her, greeting Nako and his teammate with a smile and wave. Nako was Atsumu’s classmate in high school that has become a famous jeweler in Japan.

“Here’s the ring and necklace you have requested to custom made,” Nako told Kiyoomi, handing him two black velvet boxes. “Just as requested, a palladium engagement ring with a 2.4 carat round cut diamond. And in this box we have a 14k white gold ring attached to a 14k white gold chain. I also made sure that this won’t choke your daughter. But to be extra careful, take it off during her sleep or if she’s playing without you or your wife around.”

They finished their transaction and Nako left, leaving the boys with Kia in the cafe. “So we’ll wait for at the flower field near your house and Kia will run to us, then you’ll propose?” Atsumu clarified.

“Yes. That’s right,” Kiyoomi approved. “Please thank Kita-san for me.”

“I will. I will. We’ll meet you there.” Atsumu bid his good byes, leaving the father-daughter duo.

“Papa what’s the rings for?” Kia asked, staring at the shiny jewelry set in front of her.

“Baby, I’ll propose to your mama,” Kiyoomi started to explain. “I’ll give her this ring so we can get married and we’ll be together forever.” He tried to explain in simpler words so the child could understand.

“Why do you want to be with mama forever?” Kia questioned, which made Kiyoomi smile.

“Because I love your mama.”

“How about Kia? Do you love Kia?” Kia tilted her head to the side, her hopeful eyes peering at his. He cupped her cheek, planting a kiss on her forehead.

“So much. I love Kia so much,” he replied. “That’s why I’m giving you this.” Kiyoomi took the necklace out of the box, presenting it to her.

“You’re proposing to Kia?” She asked in an excited manner, her hands clasped together, pressing them close to her chest. “You wanna be together with Kia forever?”

Kia started crying in joy so Kiyoomi picked her up from her chair, giving her a tight hug. Her sobs quiet down so Kiyoomi put the necklace on her. She hugs him again, giving him a lot of kisses.

“I love papa, too.”

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

Facts:

The idea and tradition of engagement rings dates back to ancient Egypt. The Egyptians believed circles were symbols of eternity.

The truth is the most popular engagement month in a year is December. 

In all, about 70% of brides wear their rings on the fourth finger of their left hand; a tradition that comes from the Roman belief that the vena amoris, or vein of love, was located there.

Wedding rings were traditionally made of gold because it was considered the most pure and valuable metal, and was thought to perfectly symbolize marriage.

[prev] [next]

Taglist:  @elianetsantana​ aoi-turtle ptv-hades  aquzairus a-applepi justoneofthefangirlsarianna-r13 morenabambinii chaelysian loser-keiji mxngy ne-kuroon1fangirlsblog d-efendmissalicebaskervillemarvelousbakugou @agaashesmilktea​ bonkyandloki kimi09 ntimacy @mkazuyuh  ushi-please minty-mangos-world @dearest-kiyoomi​ yeehawslap  onlyshinji obsessedwhxre

[labomi]

play by the rules [1]

Nanami Kento is a well-known bodyguard who always adheres to his own set of principles when completing a job. But when his next assignment is protecting you, he suddenly finds himself second-guessing his morals and questions whether or not some rules are just meant to be broken.

pairing: nanami kento x f!reader

words: 2.7k

warnings: none for this chapter, please look at the series masterlist for general content warnings

notes: i’ve been meaning to write a multichap fic for nanami for so long and i finally got around to outlining most of the story and writing the first chapter yay! i’m a little unsure if the plot will actually be good or not lol but i’m hoping it’ll turn out okay! thanks for reading!

series masterlist

There’s a distinctive knock on your door that pulls you out of your thoughts as you lay on your bed with an unopened book in your lap. You had been meaning to read the story for the past three months after seeing rave reviews about it online, but for some reason, you couldn’t quite find the energy to start reading. Every morning, you pulled the book from your shelf with the full intention of getting past the first page. But every night, it was returned to the same spot on your shelf, remaining untouched.

With a quiet sigh, you force yourself to crawl out of bed, leaving behind the comfortable warmth of your blankets. You drag your feet as you walk over to the door, dreading the imminent conversation you’re about to have.

To be honest, you’d rather he just leave you alone to wallow in self-pity in the comfort of your own room. You knew he had good intentions, but you dreaded his frequent check-ins with you. If he had no good news to deliver, you didn’t want to see him. And there had been no good news for the past three months.

You have no expectations that today will be any different.

With a hesitant hand on the doorknob, you take a deep breath and try to suppress the bitterness you feel towards the person on the other side of the door. Once prepared, you open the door with a wide grin and a bright twinkle in your eyes.

“Hi Dad!” You greet him with a high-pitched, chipper voice.

Your father looks pleased to see your lively expression. “Good morning, princess. Do you mind if I come in?”

You manage to hide your surprise. Most of his visits consist of a quick hello just to confirm you’re alive in your room, but he heads off to go back to work. If he intends to enter your room, there must be something serious he wishes to discuss. You try to ignore the small glimmer of hope that flutters in your chest. 

“Of course!” You waltz over to your bed and sit down, patting the space next to you. Your father sits on the plush bed beside you, twiddling his thumbs idly in his lap.

“I’m aware these past three months have been hard on you, princess,” he begins.

You dig your nails into the palm of your hands and bite your tongue to prevent yourself from spitting out a harsh retort.

Yeah, no kidding.

“They’ve been tough for me too.” He pats your leg comfortingly, giving you a sincere, apologetic look. “I hate seeing you stuck in your room all day, but you know I only do this because I love you and because I want to keep you safe.”

Your father’s words are genuinely heartfelt. There’s no doubt he cares for your well-being and bemoans the unfortunate situation, but you’re not in the mood to be swayed by his guilt.

After all, it’s because of him that you’ve been trapped inside for three long months.

“It’s okay, Dad. I don’t blame you.” You try your best to act like a caring daughter who wants to console her father and assuage his fears that you despise him for his actions. “I know it’s for my own good.”

Three months ago, your father fired your personal bodyguard. 

This also meant that three months ago, your father shredded your only ticket to the outside world.

You can only venture outside the family’s property lines if a trained professional, tasked with keeping you safe from potential harm, accompanies you to pre-approved destinations.

Your father worries about your safety in public, because he often does business with local mafia groups in the area. He is not an influential or well-known member of the underground economy, but in this line of work, it isn’t unusual to piss off the wrong person in a deal gone bad. Family members are the most common targets, so you are a natural choice for disgruntled clients to take their frustrations out on. 

On one hand, you believe it is unfair that you are forced to live a restricted life under the constant protection of a bodyguard because of your father. You have nothing to do with his business, yet you must suffer from the consequences of it.

On the other hand, there is no doubt that you reap the benefits from the success of your father’s career. You had never worked a day in your life and always received any material goods you asked for, so perhaps you do deserve to face at least a share of the consequences.

Your father is insistent that you must have your own personal bodyguard after an incident involving your mother that occurred when you were just a baby. There was an altercation when she had encountered one of your father’s enemies while doing some errands alone in the city.

It hadn’t ended well, to say the least.

So for three long months, you were stuck inside. To his credit, your father had immediately begun the search for a new bodyguard, but his vetting process was so rigorous that it was not a timely process. There had been some mishaps in the past with previous guardians, and your father had vowed to never let those mistakes happen again.

You know you should be grateful that your father cared about your safety enough to have a dedicated group of his team spend endless hours thoroughly investigating each and every potential candidate. You also know you shouldn’t complain about being trapped in a luxurious mansion, but you hate being at home.

You hate seeing your father’s workers around the premises.

You hate thinking about what sort of shady business deals are happening just a floor below you.

You want nothing to do with it. You don’t even want to think about it, which is why you prefer to spend as much time as possible away from home. 

“I’m so glad you understand,” your father says with a relieved sigh. “But I have some good news this time.”

Your breath hitches in the back of your throat. The moment feels almost surreal. You had been waiting to hear those words for so long, you almost thought it would never happen.

“I approved your new bodyguard.”

This time, you didn’t have to fake your excitement.

“Really?” you gasp, looking at your father with wide eyes.

He nods at you.

Unable to contain your burst of elation, you throw your arms around your father with a squeal, giving him a fierce hug. “Thank you! Thank you!”

Your father lets out a hearty laugh, patting your back as he revels in seeing your utter joy. “He starts tomorrow, so you may leave the property again in the morning.”

In less than 24 hours, you are free to once again explore the city, visit popular shops, and stop by your favorite restaurants. You can barely contain your enthusiasm as your heartbeat drums in your chest from the rush of adrenaline after hearing such wonderful news. Pulling away from your father, you continue to beam at him, feeling an unusual wave of gratitude towards the man.

A loud beep disrupts the heartfelt moment.

Your father looks at his smartwatch with a tight frown. “I’m so sorry, princess, but I have to go to a meeting now.” He gets off the bed and gives you a small smile. “I’m glad I could finally give you some good news. I’ll hopefully see you for dinner tonight.”

Before your father can leave, you reel in your scattered thoughts after being almost too excited to think straight. “Dad, before you go, can I at least ask for this name?”

You cannot believe you almost forgot to ask such a crucial question.

“Nanami. Nanami Kento.”

You nod at him. “Thank you! Good luck at your meeting!”

Alone once again, you throw yourself a little celebration which consists of childishly dancing around the room blasting your favorite “good vibes” playlist. Afterward, you grab your laptop and plop onto your bed with a satisfied grin. You crack your knuckles. 

It’s time to get to work. 

In order to maximize your free time tomorrow, you need to have a rough idea about what you want to do and where you want to go. But before you start the task, you need to make one important phone call.

“Hey, Itadori.”

Itadori Yuuji is one of your father’s henchmen, but he’s a sweet boy who had nowhere else to go when his grandfather died. Luckily, he isn’t directly involved in the main operations of your father’s business. Known for his fast feet and powerful arms, he is mostly used as a source of manual labor to move heavy boxes that are brought in or shipped out of the various underground warehouses scattered throughout the property.

The two of you had become friends when you saw him trying to sneak food out of the main kitchen during the late hours of the night. Only your family and your father’s trusted confidants had permission to be in this part of the mansion.

Itadori immediately got on his knees and begged you not to tell anyone that he was stealing food, but you just laughed and showed him where the good snacks were located. Together, the two of you had a mini feast using the leftovers from the culinary staff. It was the first of many secret dinners to be held.

“Hey. What’s up?” he answers.

“Can you do me a favor?”

“Yeah. Sure.”

“Can you sneak into my father’s office and copy a file for me? It’s someone named Nanami Kento.”

There’s a groan. “Seriously? But you know how hard it is to sneak into his office,” he whines over the phone.

“I’m sorry, Itadori,” you apologize. You know you aren’t making his life any easier, but you need him to do this for you. “But I know you can do it. You’ve done it plenty of times before without a problem.”

Itadori sighs. He knows he can’t refuse you, not because he’s afraid that you’ll turn him in for punishment (or worse). No, Itadori genuinely likes you, and he’s grateful for your presence in his life for many reasons. Therefore, he does whatever he can to help you out whenever you ask.

“Alright. You got it.”

“Thanks, Itadori.”

Several hours later, a manila folder is slipped underneath your door. With a victorious grin, you grab the folder and set it on your desk. You shoot Itadori a quick text confirming that you got the delivery and thanking him once again for his help.

Quivering in anticipation, you open the folder and see a grainy, black and white copy of a man’s photo on top of the stack of papers. Even with the image’s poor quality, you can see the man’s sharp cheekbones and styled, light-colored hair. You think he looks rather handsome, but you’re not quite sure with the fuzziness of the copy.

Setting the photo aside, you read his file with an interested hum. Because of your father’s rigorous vetting process, the folder is stuffed full of numerous background reports. You vaguely wonder how Itadori slid such a large stack of papers under your door.

Nanami Kento, huh.

You flip over a page and continue reading.

What an interesting man.

“Did you finally accept a new job?” Gojo asks curiously, craning his neck to get a better look at the papers spread about on Nanami’s desk. He spots a photo of a woman among the various files that catches his attention. “Who’s that?”

Nanami rubs his face with an exasperated groan, wishing his coworker would mind his own business for once. He tries to hide the photo under other papers, but Gojo is too quick. The white-haired man easily snatches the photo off the desk before Nanami can touch it and waves it in front of him in a teasing manner.

“Nice try,” he grins, pulling back to observe the photo up close. “Oh, she’s pretty cute. I’m guessing she’s your new client?”

“No,” Nanami answers begrudgingly. He knows Gojo won’t return the photo or leave him alone unless he partakes in the conversation. “Technically her father is, but she’ll be the one under my protection.”

“Oh, so you did accept a new job then.” Gojo returns the photo with a satisfied grin now that his original question had been answered. “Surprised it took you this long to choose one. How long has it been since you finished your last assignment?”

“About three months. I wasn’t in a rush to start a new job.”

Nanami can afford to be picky about his assignments now. Over the years, he has built a strong reputation as a proficient bodyguard who always follows orders and always gets the job done. Now that he is well-known in the industry with a long list of satisfied clients, Nanami no longer has to scramble to accept any odd job. Plus, as part of Gojo’s renowned bodyguard service agency, he can rely on the secretaries to filter out any scams or seemingly impossible requests before they reach his desk.

Nanami is now constantly flooded with inquiries from influential celebrities, notorious mafia members, and other wealthy figures. These people are always willing to pay big bucks for an extra sense of security as they go about their lives, but Nanami is no longer interested in solely the money now that his multiple bank accounts are flush with cash. Instead, he wants to take it easy with a simple, straightforward assignment that won’t involve a lot of gunfire, blood, or death. 

Being a bodyguard is a lucrative career, but it is also both physically and mentally taxing.

Simply put, Nanami is tired.

This is why he waited three long months to find his next job. With each additional request, he ignored how many zeros were listed as compensation and instead took his time to scrutinize the client, their family, and their motivations in seeking a bodyguard. He had a mental image of what he was looking for in his “perfect” job and much to his surprise, he stumbled upon a request that checked almost every box.

While Nanami was lost in his thoughts, Gojo had secretly snatched your file from the desk and had been skimming through it. He couldn’t resist learning more about this new client.

When Nanami returbs to his senses, he sees the missing file on his desk and glares at his white-haired coworker. Gojo just laughs in response. 

“Sorry, sorry. I’m just curious to see what kind of person would pique your interest after all this time, Mr. Picky.” He purses his lips. “Hmm, she’s not much younger than us. Surprised she’s still single too. Aren’t most women in these sorts of families forced to marry early to strengthen business ties? Oh, maybe her personality is so bad her father can’t marry her off to anyone!”

Nanami rips the file out of Gojo’s hands with a scowl. “None of that concerns me.”

“Aww, come on, Nanami,” the white-haired man pouts. “You’re going to be spending a lot of time with her. What is she’s a demon in disguise? Women are pretty scary, you know.”

Nanami figures Gojo skipped the part in the file where your father had described you as a “bright, bubbly young woman who loves to shop and eat”.

“I think I can handle it,” Nanami responds flatly. “After all, I can reasonably get along with everyone except you.”

Gojo clutches his chest dramatically, acting like he had just been shot. “Nanami, you’re so cruel to me!” He then drops his hands and places them on his hips with a devious grin. “Alright, I’ll leave you alone now. Good luck! And don’t fall in love!” He lowers his sunglasses and winks. Gojo can’t help but get in one last jab to irk his coworker.

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

Nanami is a serious professional, one who always plays by the rules. He adheres to a certain set of principles in order to remain successful in this line of work. Without them, situations can get messy, and he has all too often witnessed other bodyguards make the mistake of deviating from protocol and facing the consequences.

There are three fundamental rules that Nanami always follows without fail:

Never go above and beyond what a job asks you to do.

Once a job is finished, leave immediately.

Never get personally involved with a client.

And under no circumstances would he ever disregard any of these rules.

[sylvie-writes]

Pixie

pairing: steve rogers x wife!reader x daughter!sarah rogers

prompt: Dec 12 - Elf On The Shelf 

warnings: none that i can think of! 

word count: 1814

author’s note: pardon any mistakes! this is my first entry for @the-ce-horniest-book-club Home For The Holidays!

another a/n: I’m sorry that the writing style on this isn’t superb. I have a lot to do today and I totally forgot about this, yet I still really wanted to write it. Hopefully you all still enjoy! xoxo

PART OF MY CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION (check the tag for the masterlist)

(gif below is not mine, nor do i take credit for it

“Look, Daddy. Teacher says every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings!” Zuzu looked to her father and he sweetly smiled down at her. “That’s right, that’s right.”

With that the movie ended and the credits rolled. Tonight was the first day of Steve’s holiday break, allowing him to spend some family time with you and Sarah. Since Steve was still trying to catch up on new movies and such, you suggested It’s a Wonderful Life. It was released just a few years after he went into the ice so you assumed he would enjoy it, as would Sarah. The toddler shared a love for vintage things just as he father. To her, it was so fascinating that Steve was from another time that she always begged for stories. 

At the moment, you three were curled up on the couch in your humble and small Brooklyn apartment. Sarah’s tiny figure was half laid on your lap. Her head was resting on your sweatpants-clad thighs while her own legs were tucked into her body to retain warmth. As for Steve, you were leaned up against his chest, laying at an angle while the man remained faced forward, one muscular arm wrapped around your shoulders. Occasionally he’d turn his head to shower you in some form of affection. 

“So, how’d you like the movie, Stevie?”

Steve shifted in his seat, now enveloping you with both arms, careful of Sarah who was still sleeping. He smiled down on you with a dopey yet adorable and loving smile. 

“I think that it was a great suggestion, doll.”

With vigor he immediately cut off your unspoken words and kissed you deeply. Suddenly, Steve’s not so innocent kiss was cut short when Sarah made you both remember her presence, the ever so quiet and sleepy “eww” making you both laugh. 

“Well hello, sleepyhead.” 

Sarah pushed herself up from her laid out position and tiredly scrambled to her feet. She then ran to stand between Steve’s legs and leaned forward to lay against his chest. 

“M‘sleepy, Daddy.”

Your daughter’s eyes started to close and Steve took that as a sign to go ahead and scoop her up in his arms. Steve did so and then bent over a bit for you to kiss the dozing little girl goodnight. 

….

As Steve helped Sarah get ready for bed, you got did your nightly routine as well. Once you had finished and made it to bed, Steve soon joined you, the two of you ready to turn in for the night. 

By the time the lights were out and both you and your husband were sleeping soundly, it was a bit past midnight. 

For a few hours you slept comfortably, occasionally intertwining your legs with Steve’s and such, especially since that man was such a bed hog and he didn’t even know it. 

Around four in the morning you suddenly popped up having remembered one important thing. 

Today was December 1st.

To the average person it was just another day, but to your daughter Sarah, it was the time for her elf on the shelf, Pixie, to arrive home for the holidays. You mentally scolded yourself for forgetting such a thing as Sarah had been talking non stop all week long about Pixie’s upcoming visit. She was so excited and her little friends at school told tales about their elves on the shelf making your daughter even more excited. 

Without second thought, you popped out of bed despite your body screaming at you to go back under the oh-so inviting sheets and to wrap yourself into Steve’s warm embrace.

As you had gotten out of the bed, you pushed Steve’s heavy arm off of your waist, and let’s just say you could have been a bit gentler with your actions.

“Woah (y/n), what’s wrong?”

Somnolent yet very much alert, Steve now sat up in the bed, even reaching to turn on the lamp, blinding you both. 

After a bit of a hiss, you scurried to his side of the bed to turn off the nuisance of a light. You had calmed down a bit and just quickly ran your fingers through Steve’s messy hair while kissing his forehead and purposely coaxing him back to sleep.

“I have to go and find Sarah’s elf on the shelf. She’ll be heartbroken if Pixie isn’t out tomorrow morning.”

Steve nodded having understood the matter. He then got out of bed despite your pleas for him to go back to bed. 

From there, you and Steve spent a good half an hour searching through your shared closet in search of that disguised cardboard box that held a select few of Christmas decorations, including Pixie. Sarah has always had a knack for finding tucked away gifts or just anything you’ve hidden from her for that matter. That is why you and Steve decided to throw the elf on the shelf and its accessories in that box so she wouldn’t find it. 

Eventually, you found said item. The whole process would have been faster if it wasn’t the middle of the “night”, but with it being so early in the morning, you two had to carefully dance around each other in hopes of not waking your sleeping angel. 

Together, you and Steve quietly tiptoed down the squeaky hallway. One would think that after all of those stealth missions, you and Steve would be able to handle sneaking around your own apartment, but alas, children are a lot more attentive than the enemies you have dealt with in the past. 

After spending a few minutes tediously assembling Pixie and her accessories, you and Steve finally came to design a finished project you both thought Sarah would enjoy. 

You and Steve had decided to set Pixie on the kitchen counter with her own bowl of cereal as Sarah was always up before you both. The little miss would be preparing her bowl of cereal and hopefully catch sight of her elf friend. 

Steve looked to you and groggily grinned, the two of you now a bit awake from the minimal adrenaline rush. 

Unfortunately, that lasted for a very short time because the minute you laid your head on Steve’s shoulder, your eyes shut and apparently you unintentionally fell asleep. It was no use fighting the sleep as it was inevitable at this point. Steve just chuckled at how easily you succumbed to the slumber as you were just energetically talking to him not even seconds ago. He then tenderly placed his hands upon your back and scooped you up bridal style, carrying you back to bed for a few more hours of much needed sleep. 

That morning you and Steve both woke up, same time as usual, and to no surprise, found Sarah in the kitchen. Although, before you both rounded the corner to step foot into the kitchen, you heard Sarah’s voice as she attempted to whisper. Looking to Steve with furrowed brows he looked back at you with shrugged shoulders. It wasn’t until you quickly peaked your head around the corner that you realized she was talking to Pixie. 

When you both found that out, you decided to stay behind the wall for a minute more to let her finish telling the elf what she wanted for Christmas. Luckily, either you and Steve were always to overhear what she’d ask for from Santa. Of course she still wrote a letter to Santa and you both would use that, but sometimes she’d drop a few things here and there to elf on the shelf. 

Though this time when you heard her request, it caught you off guard. 

“Hi Pixie, Mommy and Daddy are sleeping right now and I wanted to tell you this now before they wake up.”

Sarah placed her finger to her lips and made a shushing sound. You quietly laughed as did your husband. 

“Anyway, Daddy never gets to stay home for Christmas and I know this is a lot to ask for, so I wasn’t going to ask for anything else. I was hoping you could tell him I said this. As Mommy says, it’s always better to ask in ‘vance.” 

With that Sarah blew a kiss to the elf and turned back to her bowl of cereal. 

As quietly as possible, you once more turned to Steve who was practically breathing down your neck. Little had Sarah known that her father had indeed taken off the whole month of December. 

Sarah was just an angel, but what really tugged at the strings of your heart was when she asked for this and was willing to sacrifice a few silly toys just for her father to stay home this year.

That child was just as selfless as her father. 

Communicating with your eyes, both you and Steve silently agreed to tell her now. That way she’d still ask for some real gifts because what’s the fun in Christmas for a kid if they can’t open something from under the tree? 

So maybe you and Steve liked to spoil her during Christmas…

What? Sarah was your only baby and as any parent would do, you’d spoil her, and only because she was such a good child. 

With that, you and Steve finally walked into the kitchen where Sarah excitedly greeted you both. 

“Hey honeybun, Daddy and I have something important to tell you.”

You rested your forearms on the kitchen counter, where Sarah sat directly across from you. 

Steve came to join you by your side, a bowl of cereal in his hands. 

Sarah set down her spoon and intently looked at you both. 

“You know how I’m not always home for Christmas, hon?”

Sarah sadly shook her head, looking to Steve who was currently talking. 

“Well… I was able to talk off some time so I get to spend all of December with my two favorite girls!”

Immediately Sarah jumped from her chair, making you freak out for a second, and then she ran around the counter to hug Steve who welcomed her with open arms.

She wrapped her arms around Steve’s neck and he swayed back and forth as you watched the adorable interaction between the two. 

When you both weren’t looking, Sarah discreetly waved to Pixie and sent her a quiet “thanks.” 

Steve’s crazy frequency of hearing undoubtedly picked up the sound and he tried to look over his shoulder where Sarah was resting.   

“Did you say something, doll?”

Sarah picked her head up from its place on Steve's shoulder and she leaned back to be face to face with the man. Nodding her head “no,” she kissed his nose and you adoringly smiled at the two. 

Needless to say, that was the best Christmas gift Sarah could have asked for. Well, besides for the puppy she put on her list. And no, you and Steve didn’t cave on that one. 

[solarwonux]

prince!mingyu x princess!reader

w.c: 2.2k

warnings: angst, just a lot of it. 

note: I KNOW YOU WANTED BEST FRIENDS TO LOVERS BUT IT TOOK A TURN AND NOW I HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE CONSEQUENCES. I’M SORRY. anyway I hope you enjoy please please please let me know your thoughts .xx

masterlist || drabble game

Mingyu’s hand was intertwined tightly with yours as he led you further down the hallway of the palace. Away from the boisterous ballroom and the familiar low murmur of gossip and loud laughter of Kings and Queens, Princes and Princesses from all around the Kingdom.

It was the annual ball Mingyu’s parents—the King and Queen held a month after Mingyu’s birth. It was the one out of the two times a year where you got to see the tall handsome Prince, with now freshly teal dyed hair. A rebellious act on his part just to get under his parent’s skin. This is how he always was; his mischievous ways always gave you a certain rush of adrenaline, keeping you on the edge of excitement. The one in which you feared simply because if you hadn’t befriended the boy with the toy sword who went around challenging every single palace official he could spot within the limit of his parent’s ballroom; you wouldn’t be where you were now. With his fingers encased between the empty spots between your fingers as he took long strides down towards the forbidden ballroom the King and Queen always warned about. 

“Slow down Mingyu, I don’t have freakishly long legs like you.” You gripped the train of your off-white dress that oddly resembled a wedding dress. The thought alone made your heart race, simply because according to your mother, you were running out of time and needed to be wedded off soon. You figured that was the only reason for the way your dress looked, to give off the illusion of what you would like as a bride to the Kings and Queens that attended the annual ball looking for possible suitors for their offspring’s or in some cases themselves. Yet despite all that, the only person you ever wanted to spend the remainder of your life was with the boy who had stolen you away to chaos havoc around the dark corners of his castle one summer when the two of you had turned nine. The same one who was leading you away from the tiresome crowd, and the one who was already engaged to someone else. A Princess whose family was far better off than yours and checked off all the boxes in the eyes of the king and queen.

“You wouldn’t be having such a problem keeping up if you would’ve just grown a little more after I told you too.” The teasing tone wrapped ever so evidently around his vocal cords, hinting to the summer night a few years ago when the two of you had tried sneaking off into town together. But when you had failed to jump the fence after him, ripping your favorite dress in the process and getting caught by palace officials. He had expressed through gritted teeth and an angry gaze that the two of you would have been frolicking through town instead of getting lectured by both sets of parents if you had only been a little taller and not worn a dress. 

“Yes, I’m sorry your majesty next time I’ll let my gene pool know about your request.”  You huffed obviously annoyed. Clearly, Mingyu found it entertaining because instead of combating your comment with another teasing one of his he just stopped walking and let out a boyish laugh, causing you to trip and bump into the side of his body. “You’re annoying Mingyu.” You tore your hand away from his and crossed both your arms in front of your body. The gesture alone would’ve been followed by a lecture if your mother had been there to witness it. It was unladylike but who were you to care if it was or wasn’t. The only one you wanted and cared to impress already had his eyes locked on someone else. 

“Princess, are you…flirting with me because if so can’t say I’m impressed. Pretty disappointed actually.” He tsked shaking his head as he backed up against the familiar forbidden set of double doors.  You were panicked and looked around quickly to see if anyone was in sight, but to your surprise you and Mingyu were truly alone for the first time since sundown. “You would think that after years of knowing me, you would find me endearing instead of annoying, can’t say I’m not hurt by your indifference.” His hand moved slowly to the rustic gold handles and with a smirk followed up by a cheeky wink he opened them. The cold air from the untouched room folding over your lace trim covered arms. 

“Mingyu what the fuck are you doing, if they find us, we will never hear the end of it.” You yelled lowly. This had been a familiar sight during the years of your friendship. The two of you always found yourselves in front of the infamous double doors, hands itching to open them to reveal what was hiding behind. To finally see what the King and Queen were so adamant about keeping a secret. Each time you had been caught, lectured until the voices of his parents grew hoarse, while your parents begged them to spare your life. It had gotten to the point in which the two of you weren’t allowed to be alone anymore. The few times in which you found yourselves alone, there was always a palace guard inconspicuously watching from afar. 

“A Princess shouldn’t be speaking that way,” he opened the door widely, revealing a dark room where the only light known was the one that belonged to the moon as it filtered in through the skylight. The setting far too intimate for a relationship of your kind. Though, before you could protest and suggest going back to tiresome ball to listen to the same round of gossip for the umpteenth time, he grabbed your arm, dragged you inside and shut the door faster than you could form the words, “and we would only be caught if we stay outside. Now that we’re inside no one will ever know.” He whispered, the low vibrato of his voice sent shivers down your spine, and you thanked all your precious Gods for the limited lighting you found yourself facing. 

“Can I ask why we are here then?” You said, the famous rush of gut-wrenching adrenaline you only felt with Mingyu, returned. Instead of answering your million dollar question he simply shrugged and walked back, entering the faint spotlight supplied by the moon. As you looked around there wasn’t much to the ballroom, it was far smaller than the one you were used to spending time it, but it had a variety of glass sculptures that sparkled underneath the light of the moon slowly bringing them to life. Finally, you understood why this room was off limits. It wept with vulnerability so beautiful it took your breath away. 

“Care to share a dance with me?” Mingyu all but whispered holding his hand out inviting you in. Though, you had known the reckless prince for the entirety of your life. Never once did the two of you share a dance. It was an ongoing joke between the two of you that dances were only reserved for people you never wanted to see again. It made you wonder if this was Mingyu’s way of finally letting you go. To which you understood even though it brought an ache to your heart so awful that you would rather have someone cut it out completely. Somehow you had convinced yourself that hurt less then actually saying goodbye to the one person you had ever grown to love. 

After tonight, the secret trips into town would stop. The letters that shared equal amounts of adoration and frustration would stop. And the mystery of what was inside the forbidden ballroom would stop as well, because now you finally knew enough to be able to close the chapter you had kept opened for years. “Y-Yes.” You cleared your throat and pushed yourself away from your spot against the doors and slowly made your way to Mingyu. “There’s no music playing though.” You added once you were finally in front of him. It wasn’t entirely the truth, the faint melodies coming from the ballroom could still be heard as they bled through the dark walls of the ballroom. 

“Where is the rule book that says that you need music in order to dance?” He said wiggling the fingers of his extended hand as a sign that he was waiting for you to take it. “Even if such one exists; I wouldn’t care enough to read it. So just share a dance with me tonight, away from all the stares and all the whispers…but here…alone in the room where I’m meant to share my first dance with my wife.” 

“T-Then shouldn’t you save this moment for when it comes, why waste it on me?” You swallowed the thick lump that had formed at the base of your throat. It made sense why this room was off limits and it wasn’t because of how delicate it looked on the outside. It was meant to be shared between a husband and wife, and clearly not between childhood friends. With one suffering from unrequited love. 

Mingyu smiled a sad smile and it plucked your heartstrings creating a soft melody that longed for the times in which the two of you had no care for the world around your shared bubble. He grabbed your hand gently and intertwined your fingers together reeling you in and resting his hand against your lower back. “Your hands look so little compared to mind.” He deflected staring sweetly at your hand locked in his. You watched as he shook his head before lifting it, getting deeply lost in your eyes and he silently wondered if your heart was also beating ten times faster than it usually did. 

“I-I think we should go Mingyu, we shouldn’t be in here let alone toge—” 

“There’s no other person I would rather be in here with than you. I’ve always wanted you to be the one to enter this room with me. Where I can create such an intimate memory one no can take away from me no matter how hard they try to keep up as away from each other. I knew when I met you back when we were kids that I would always love you, but I also knew that my parents would never want you to be by my side when it came to ruling this kingdom. You challenge their views the only ones they have ever known, and it scares them, but their fear will never stop me from wanting you. I already failed once, obviously, but this time I’m not baking up. I’m going to fight for you and your heart even if it means leaving everything I have ever know behind.”

The only time you had ever heard such unfiltered determination in his voice was when the two of you were fifteen. After you had been caught having an unprompted picnic in his mother’s rose garden. 

“Don’t think about doing anything stupid Mingyu.” You blinked slowly. You were slow to process his confession because it was everything you had longed to hear. But you also had to make sure that you were in fact here and that it wasn’t your mind playing some sort of cruel joke on you because you had had two flutes of champagne and anything was possible.

“Leave your room open tonight, I have bribed some guards into secrecy, and we can leave tonight. Just you and me just like we’ve always talked about.” He rested his forehead against yours, holding you as close as your dress allowed him. His ears were as red as bricks and you knew that although he was determined to leave everything behind, he was also scared.

“Mingyu.” You sighed and pushed him away, creating enough space between the two of you, a frown forming along his usual soft features. “We can’t, I can’t let you do this. This isn’t some fairytale your mother used to read to you before bed. This is your life and my life on the line. If they find us do you think they’ll greet us back with open arms?” You reasoned backing away from him and the center of the room. Away from the moonlight and into the dark. 

“Who cares, they shouldn’t be able to keep us from loving each other. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and if that means living this hell hole, I’ve been so unfortunate enough to be born into then I will and I want you to be by my side.” 

“Mingyu, I can’t I’m so sorry.” You continued to move before your back hit the doors, the ridges digging into your back as your hand blindly looked for the handle. You were about to do the one thing you never thought to do. Sacrifice the many years of friendship that had blossomed between the two of you. You were about to break two hearts instead of one all because his safety was more important to you rather then your own happiness. 

“Why not?” He took a step forward and into the darkness. He was approaching you faster than you could have ever imagined, and you opened the door in a haste causing him to stop walking all together. Your grip on the door handle was so hard that your hand had started to grow numb. It took every last fiber of your being to not close it again and kiss him like you had always dreamed, but this wasn’t a dream . It was reality, and your reality was never meant to have a happy ending. 

“I just d-don’t love you, your majesty.” 

[russian-romanova]

the one that got away

title: the one that got away

pairing: joe goldberg

warnings: adult language, spoilers for season two of ‘you’, very brief mentions of violence 

notes:  joe’s pov. i haven’t gotten anything out there in a while, so here’s this. 

summary: it’s been years since you ran out on your high school boyfriend joe goldberg. now that he’s seen you again, maybe it’s time to find out if your instincts were right. 

+      +      +

There was a part of me that had forgotten about you. I would go months without thinking about you, but then the strangest things would conjure up an image of you or your name would ring in my ears for a moment or two before passing out again. So don’t make the mistake of thinking I forgot about you, Y/N. I never forgot. Not really. 

We dated in high school, which doesn’t mean much at face value. High School relationships are the ones that are the most fragile when boys can’t control their own body parts and girls don’t seem to know the word ‘boundary’. The teen couples that come into Mooney’s are the worst relationships, where they hold hands and kiss every time they turn a corner. It takes all I have not to turn them away.

But we were… different. We were good, and we took it slow. I was quiet and you were sweet, and God, I don’t think I could ever recreate that high I would get when I walked into school and would see you waiting at my locker, reading some book I had given you or eating some breakfast dessert. We didn’t rush anything, we were slow and steady friends more than anything, at least before we kissed. And when we did kiss, it wasn’t bumbling or awkward like teenage kisses should be. It was perfect, Y/N. Like it was meant to be.  

You know why I’m bringing this up. I saw you at some supermarket the other day, in LA. It wasn’t Anavrin or any of those frighteningly strict healthy eating markets. It was just some supermarket I went to in search of some food I had been thinking about, and I saw you in the cereal aisle. You didn’t see me, Y/N, although I wasn’t sure if you would have even recognized me. You had a box of ‘Cinnamon Toast Crunch’ in one hand and a box of whatever the generic brand was in the other. I watched you for a moment, turn the first box over, then the second, before sighing and adding the generic one to your cart. I turned my body so you couldn’t see my face as I waited, only turning once I was sure you had left the aisle the opposite way of me. 

Trust me, Y/N, I almost couldn’t believe my eyes. I had to double-take to even think it was you, and then I ended up staring at you for a full five seconds before I remembered where I even was. A supermarket. In LA. 

Really, the strangest part was that I had been in LA for around a month and hadn’t somehow caught wind of you. Sure, LA’s a big city, perfect for disappearing -- I should know -- but I have a sixth sense for these sorts of things. It helps that I’ve been trying to stay away from you, really, I stopped searching your name on the internet long ago and I’ve been trying to push you out of my mind. 

Still --  I see in you in all of their eyes. Candace. Beck. Love. 

Then you pushed your cart away from me and left behind the corner. I trailed behind you for a while, because how are you supposed to see your high school sweetheart and just forget about it? You picked out black beans and condiments, grabbed crackers and milk. Then you were gone. 

But I knew you were in LA, and that got me through a while. I was distracted at work, distracted with Love. Even Ellie knew something was off, and of course, I couldn’t tell any of them about you, Y/N. I made up some lie about work or the news, but I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I wondered if you shopped every Tuesday afternoon if I would have a chance of seeing you again if I waited there next week. If you saw me first, would you interact? Would you know what I was doing and confront me or would you leave and hope that I didn’t see you? Would you see me at all?

No, I knew that I had to find you before then, preferably someplace where I wouldn’t look like some random creep approaching a pretty girl. I had to do my research. 

I didn’t know whether to be impressed or disappointed when I discovered both an Instagram and a Facebook account that were both private. You were aware of security, at least a little. You had a public twitter account, but nothing you posted on there really pertained to you on a personal level, mostly retweets about characters or politics. 

Roughly three weeks ago, you had retweeted some comedic tweet about the benefits of being single. This was a good sign, Y/N. My expectations were set low, but the more I learned about you, the higher they became. I couldn’t stop thinking about you, about our high school years, and how happy we both were. We could be like that again. 

I was about to give up on the social media scour when I saw an Instagram account linked to your twitter account, completely different from the one I had already stumbled upon. This one was a much vaguer account, with some photos you must have taken, mostly of other people or of aesthetically pleasing nature views or buildings. The photographs that caught my eye the most -- and I’m sure you understand why, Y/N -- were the ones of Farmington Park and the one of a house front. The house numbers were blurred out, but it wasn’t that hard to trace around on Google Earth. I extended the view and followed the roads surrounding Farmington Park, making the assumption that you were near to it judging by the amount of photots you had posted of it, until I found the house that seemed the most familiar, the one that matched up perectly with the photograph. Bingo.

You should be more careful, Y/N. 

✾ ✾ ✾

And so I wait. I see you again, but no longer by accident. I don my jacket and cap, and I wait at the bench near your house -- just a man reading a book, nothing anyone will pay too much attention to. I see you leave your house, which I’m relieved to see you walk out of. I’ve been wrong in the past, and it’s the worst possible feeling I could imagine. But you looked right at me, Y/N. The second day, you walked out of your bright red door and made direct eye contact with me. I have sunglasses on, so I don’t know if you can tell I’m looking back, but you stare at me for a few seconds, and then you move on. I worried you had maybe seen me, but the next day I returned and you didn’t think much of it. 

Tuesdays and Thursdays is when you went to the park. As the sunsets, to get those stereotypical sunset photos, I presume, and you stay until late on Tuesday nights because you have Wednesdays off. It’s abandoned by the time it’s nine pm, the perk of small parks in big cities. So I waited until I was ready, until I thought you would be ready, and then I decided it was time to meet you. 

8:42 on a Tuesday night, and I’ve never been more terrified before. I sit in the grass and watch you as the people slowly go home, watching you on your phone and messing with your camera. I notice for the first time, the green bracelet on your arm, which I recognize instantly, because I gave you that bracelet, Y/N. In high school, for your birthday. I gave it to you years ago, and you still wear it. 

That almost gives me hope.

I had a plan. Once it was empty enough, I took off my hat and sunglasses, and I just sat there. You needed to come to me, to feel comfortable enough to do so. It was going to be an accident that I was here, nothing creepy. Nothing to feed your worries or stresses. I wasn’t a worry, I was a comfort that was reappearing after years and years. 

When you saw me, your froze. You just stood there, unmoving and possibly unbreathing, frozen in a moment either now or in the past, mind racing and heart too fast. I waited for you, patiently. It was hard to not run up to you, to talk to you unprompted. But I had waited this long, I could wait a few minutes more.

Finally, you spoke. “What are you doing here?” 

I looked up, feigning surprise. “Oh my God, Y/N,” I closed my book and stood up, smiling as if I had no idea you still existed. “What are you doing in LA?”

“Cut the bullshit. I saw you the other day. At least, I thought I saw someone that looked just like you, and now I’m pretty fucking sure that was you, Joe. This can’t be happening. This isn’t-” You trailed off, mumbling to yourself. Your were suspitious, but I could work with suspicious. 

“You saw me? Seriously? Where was it?” I laugh as if I’m more confused than you are, still confused and surprised. Keep it up, Joe. Patience. “Why didn’t you-”

“Stop it. You were-” You stopped talking, your eyes widening a little at the absurdity of the situation. “You looked at me, Joe. I know you’re lying, so cut the bullshit. Be honest.”

I think it over for a minute. “I didn’t know if it was actually you or not.” I say, a little bit quieter. I feel like a kid again, and we haven’t even been talking for a minute. 

“Honest,” You repeated. “I’m not new to your games, Joe. Where did you see me first?”

“The bus stop,” I say, maintaining eye contact. You give me your ‘bullshit’ look, and I realize nothing has changed. I almost smile before I remember what’s happening, that I need to work fast and convince you. I can’t lose you again, not now that I’ve found you. “The bus stop,” I reaffirm, before adding. “Nice bracelet.” 

And I’ve changed the subject. 

“I need to go home,” You say, sounding tired and frantic. 

I take a step forward. “Let me walk you,”

“No, Joe.” You say loudly at first, and then repeat it a little softer. 

“Please, Y/N,” I say in a tone that we both know is close to a beg. You look at me with those big fucking eyes and I hope I’m making the same expression back. The puppy dog eyes are something we’ve both mastered. 

“Joe, I don’t love you anymore.” You say suddenly, and you throw your hands out to either side as if that’s it. As if that’s enough to satisfy me and it answers all my questions. 

“Then why are you still wearing the bracelet?” I’m begging you now, pleading with you and I hate my own tone of voice. 

You glance down at it as if you’ve forgotten about it. There’s a pause as you think for a moment, searching for words or for a lie. I’m frozen when I stand. “It’s not because I love you. It’s to remember.” You look up at me again, and your eyes aren’t just big anymore, they’re teary now. A part of me still wants to run to you, to tell you that it’s okay, but I know I can’t. “You killed me, Joe. Or you might as well have. I’m mourning her. I can’t forget her.”

Any act is long gone. We both know what you’re talking about, about all the conversations we had where you had tried to break up with me and I convinced you, about all the looks your had given me when I did something that would send off a red flag. “I didn’t, Y/N. I wouldn’t have. I was so careful with you.” 

You look at me in a way I’ve never seen before. “I hid. I shouldn’t have had to hide. I changed so much about me, about who I was because I was scared you would find me somehow, I don’t know.” You run a distressed hand through your hair.

“Why? Why were you so scared of me, Y/N? I was just some kid in love. I loved you so much. I love you so much.” I take a step towards you.

You match it with one back, putting up a distressed hand. “Stop, Joe. Stop. I’m not doing this, okay? All of these things about you pointed to terror for me and I went with my gut because you hear all of these horror stories about girls and their boyfriends and it was better safe than sorry and-“ You sniff, wiping your nose with the back of your hand. You’re crying and I didn’t even realize it. “And I am sorry, Joe. I really am, but we both know that’s what I needed to do.” And you’re right, Y/N, and it would be a lie to deny it. I didn’t have to do anything to you and you knew who I was. No one has ever understood as well as you. 

I am hurt as you look at me, somehow pained yet strong. “I’m sorry,” Is all I can manage out, and you don’t respond. 

“I need to go home,” You say finally. “You do too, Joe. This is out there now, and we can move on. Okay? Don’t try to find me again.”

“But I can’t forget about you.” I don’t know if I’m making excuses or being honest anymore. For a split second, I think about lunging at you, grabbing you or striking you or something -- but then I remember that this isn’t just anyone. This is you. Candace, Beck, Love, they’re all modelled after you. I think that’s all I’m working for, is you again. Yet I respect you too much to treat you like them, and I love you too much to really let you go. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do anymore. 

“Then don’t,” You look at me with calm eyes. “Then don’t forget about me. It’s better to remember, but to keep it somewhere just out of reach. It’s not like I could forget you, Joe. You were a part of my life,” You admit. “No matter how bad, you can’t forget something like that.” 

And that’s all you need to say. No goodbye, no farewell greeting. You turn and walk away.

And I let you, Y/N. 

For the first time in my life, I watch someone walk away from me, and that’s it. Out of everyone, I hate that it’s you leaving yet I’m happy that we ended it like this. I watch your wrist swing slightly as you walk, the stringy ends of the bracelet swinging along with it. I think of what you said, about remembering, and I know there’s some truth there. I’ve felt it before, the need to remember Candace and Beck long after I had thought they were gone. For them -- and for me.

But as you turned the corner for the final time, something in me pulls at my senses, telling me what I already know is true.  Your words ring in my mind one final time, but I know you’re wrong this once. 

Sometimes, Y/N, it’s better not to remember, but to forget.  

[yangsrose]

Owo i noticed your requests are open,can I have an angst with street racer haechan based off the song in another life by Katy perry + haechans death from crashing?

Word Count: 2.9k words

Warnings: street races, mentions of alcohol, mentions of tattoos, mentions of making out, character death, angst

Authors Notes: this is my first time writing something like this so if it’s bad i’m sorry akjdfn also i got a bit too carried away hence the fic almost being 3k words o_O

Summer after high school when we first met

You pulled out the old photo book, flipping through the pictures that you had taken that fateful summer. You felt the memories of the summer before the first year of college flash back to you, remembering how carefree and young you were. As you flipped through the pictures, we saw a familiar leather jacket peeking from the corner of one of the images. Tears pooled in your eyes as you saw his face, memories of him flooding your brain. 

Lee Donghyuck, or Haechan as everyone called him, was your first actual boyfriend. Sure, you had a few flings with other people throughout the course of your high school, but your first actual relationship was over the summer with a certain purple haired boy that lived across from you. 

The day that you met him was forever ingrained in your brain, never letting you forget about him. Your parents had gone on a trip over the summer, leaving you home alone for the entire break. You spent the summer before university just like how anyone normally would, wasting your time by lying around and eating a ton of ice cream. Your summer didn’t truly start until one of your friends convinced you to go to a street race that her friends had invited her to. You were nervous and jittering, not wanting to get caught by anyone by going to the illegal race sites. 

You remember sitting in the bleachers and watching the races, feeling an adrenaline rush surge through your body as you watched the cars zip down the gravel road, constantly trying to overtake each other. The hot June breeze blew your hair around, causing there to be more heat than refreshment one usually gains from the wind blowing. You remember watching a certain light blue and white car zip down, and something in you hoped that they would be the one to win. Maybe it was the fact that the colours popped out amongst the other darker cars, or maybe it was the fact that the driver easily maneuvered around the other cars. Whatever it was, your attention was instantly captured.

After the race was done, all the racers stepped out of their respective cars and your friend dragged you to go see her friend that you had attended the race for. As you walked through the multitudes of people, you saw the person in the blue car take off his helmet and shake his hair that was currently flattened from the helmet. As if the world was going in slow motion, you and him made eye contact, and you felt as if you were being tugged to him. 

His dark purple hair complemented his tan skin perfectly, giving him a carefree and rebellious look to his doe like eyes. His jacket matched his car, having a white body and bright light blue sleeves, patched adorning them. His pants were an odd combination of light and dark washed stripes, but even after all these years, you have to agree that he was the only person that could pull off wearing those. 

While you were still stuck in your trance, you didn’t notice the male walk up to you and stick his hand in front of you. One thing led to another, and before you knew it, you had exchanged numbers with each other and even had a date planned out. You felt a giddy feeling rise up in your chest as you drove away later that night, replacing any doubts that you had about going to the race today. You looked back at Haechan from your rearview mirror and saw him wave at you, leading you to replicate the same motion. Even though you had only known him for a span of a few hours, you were truly whipped for him. 

We'd make out in your Mustang to Radiohead

And on my 18th birthday we got matching tattoos

Used to steal your parents' liquor and climb to the roof

It was now the beginning of August and summer was almost done. Haechan had asked you out in the beginning of July, which meant that you two had been dating for a month now. He took you on frequent dates, them always ending in the backseat of his car, making out, or on your roof. Even though you were pretty apprehensive about climbing up to the top, Haechan was always there for you, holding out his hand so that you could climb up to the top without getting hurt. He was also the first person that you had even gotten drunk with, him bringing bottles of alcohol to the roof. Yes, some people might label him as a bad influence, but you truly knew the type of person that Haechan was. Even though he made some bad mistakes here and there, he was the sweetest person to exist, never letting anything bad happen to you. 

On your 18th birthday, you made a decision that some people might call stupid. You begged Haechan to take you to a tattoo parlor, wanting to get a matching tattoo with him. He denied your requests, saying that you would just regret it later on. But as you pleaded even more, he obligated, taking you on your birthday. 

You remember sitting next to Haechan, holding his hand as the repetitive prick left your arm stinging. An hour later, yours and Haechan’s wrists were wrapped up, and you both left the store, walking hand in hand with a small lock and key tattoo permanently inked on your skin. 

And for the record, you never regretted that tattoo. 

Talk about our future like we had a clue

Never planned that one day I'd be losing you

Eleven months into your relationship with Haechan, you both realised that going to different universities would be really hard for the both of you. Between the long nights spent at the library and the hours in internships, you both soon began to cherish any free time that you had together. Haechan still raced, but you spent more time focusing on your school work, leaving for no free time at all. Today was the only day that the both of you finally had free time in your schedules, due it currently being summer break. You and Haechan currently lay in your bed side by side, talking about anything and everything that came to your minds. 

“What are you planning on doing after graduating?” Haechan asked you, turning to face you. 

“Probably try to get into medical school. You?” you asked, turned your head towards him. 

“I’m probably going to go into music.”

“Music?”

“Yeah, I like singing and not to mention, I’m pretty good at it.” Haechan said, smirking in your direction. 

“Looks like you’ll have to show me one day.” you said, giving him a coy smile. 

“Do you know what else I’ll be doing?” 

“Racing?”

“Spending the rest of my life with you.”

You choked on your spit and sat up, not believing what Haechan was saying. The look on his face was one of pure adoration, showing no hints of deception. 

“Don’t say stuff like that” you said, shoving his shoulder lightly. Haechan laughed at your response and teased you a bit for your shy attitude. But deep down inside, the both of you knew that you would be willing to spend the rest of your lives together. 

I was June and you were my Johnny Cash

Never one without the other, we made a pact

On your second anniversary, Haechan went all out for your date. He bought you a huge bouquet of roses, and even cooked you dinner, setting the small dining table in your shared apartment to make it seem like you were at a fancy restaurant. You remember Haechan pulling out your chair for you and acting extra dramatic that day, making you laugh at his silly antics. Little did you know, he was actually planning to purpose that night. He fidgeted the entire night, sticking his hand into the pocket that held the velvet box encasing the small metal band.

 After dinner and desert were done, Haechan cleared his throat and asked you to listen to a song that he had recorded a bit earlier. You didn’t take much into account because he was always asking you to listen to stuff, wanting to get your opinion on his works. But today, something seemed different. For one, Haechan seemed more jittery, and he kept fidgeting with something in his pocket. You put those all aside and pressed play, the sweet voice of your boyfriend filling the air. Once the song ended, you were met with your boyfriend kneeling on one knee in front of you, holding a dark velvet box containing a small diamond ring, the stones glittering under the bright light in the dining room. Your hands flew up to your mouth and you felt tears form in your eyes, jumping out of your seat to tackle Haechan into a hug. He groaned a bit when you hugged him, but his arms encircled your body, pulling you closer to him. 

Hugging him here, it felt like nothing in the world could go wrong. 

Sometimes when I miss you I put those records on 

Someone said you had your tattoo removed

Saw you downtown singing the blues

It's time to face the music, I'm no longer your muse

“Get out.”

“y/n-” 

“I said get out.” 

Haechan sighed and stormed out of the apartment, grabbing his jacket along with him. You watched him go out, feeling a mix of anger and sadness brew in your stomach. You felt a feeling of anxiety rise in your chest, confusing you at what the feeling meant. 

Six months ago when Haechan proposed to you, he vowed to put his racing days aside. He told you that he wanted to start a family with you, and frankly, racing was slowly becoming more and more dangerous, leading to more people dying from crashes that occured during races. You were relieved, feeling happy that he wouldn’t be putting himself at risk anymore. But two weeks ago, you started feeling suspicious of Haechan. He would always give you an excuse of “having to go to the library for schoolwork”. You investigated into the cause of his absence, and when you did, you found out that he was secretly going back and racing , something that he promised you not to do. When you confronted him, all he did was stare at you in disbelief. How did you find out? He was so careful to cover his tracks, but you still managed to figure out what he was doing. Haechan began arguing back, saying that he needed a way to get rid of all the stress that had accumulated on himself from school. Before the both of you knew it, it had just led to Haechan walking out and you sitting on the loveseat, sobbing your eyes out. 

Three hours later, it was near midnight and Haechan still wasn’t back home, causing you to get worried for him. Even when you two fought with each other, you always managed to make up with each other, keeping true of not letting the sun go down on your anger. You called his phone multiple times, getting the same message saying that the receiver could not be reached at the time. Your hands started to shake as time went on, and you felt a feeling of anxiety take over you. Just as you were about to grab your coat and go outside to search for Haechan, your phone let up with a notification of someone calling you. You immediately grabbed your phone, saying a small “hello” into the receiver.

“Is this y/n l/n?” the person asked. You nodded your head fervently and listened to what they were saying. When they finished, your phone dropped out of your hands and fell onto the floor with a clattering sound, causing it to resonate around the small room. 

Haechan had gotten into an accident while racing and was in the hospital in a critical condition. 

You ran out of your house and got into your car, driving at an unreasonably fast speed to the hospital. You rushed over to the front desk, telling the receptionist that you were there for a patient named Haechan. The receptionist told you the room he was in, and you ran off to the room, hoping that you would reach on time before it was too late. Your wish went into vain however, because by the time that you had opened the room’s door, you heard the doctor announce to the nurse to write down the time of death. You felt the world spin around you, and suddenly, everything turned black. 

All this money can't buy me a time machine, no

Can't replace you with a million rings, no

I should've told you what you meant to me 

'Cause now I pay the price

Two weeks later, you stood in front of the huge headstone that was placed in front of you, feeling the never ending tears well up in your eyes once again. Everyone flocked around you and Haechan’s family, mummering their condolences and placing flowers on his grave. 

That night, Haechan had left the apartment in anger. Wanting to find a way to relieve the stress, he went over to the familiar race track, hoping to feel better after racing for a while. He apparently lost control of his car after he swerved to avoid hitting another racer that was ahead of him. The rest of the details were hidden from your mind, you selectively choosing not to listen to what had happened after that. 

After the funeral was done, you walked back to your car, feeling as if an immovable weight was placed on your shoulders. You sat in your car, the silence of the environment threatening to swallow you whole. You looked down at your stomach, placing a hand over it. 

The day that Haechan died was the day that you took a pregnancy test, realising that you had symptoms of potentially carrying a child in you. You remember waiting to tell him of your news, all of it long forgotten in the process of the events that happened the few days prior. You felt the tears well up once again and you hastily wiped them away, not wanting to break down once more while you were trying to get home. You inserted the key into your car and drove away, your mind clouded with countless thoughts of what you would have to do now. 

You just wished you could tell him that you loved him one last time. 

In another life

I would be your girl

We'd keep all our promises

Be us against the world

In another life

I would make you stay

So I don't have to say you were

The one that got away

“Mom come on! We have to get going to the ice cream parlor!” you turned around and saw your daughter’s head peek up through the top of the attic, the only thing being seen was her mischievous eyes peeking out.

“Go put on your shoes. I’ll be there soon okay?” you watched as her head left sight, the sound of her hurrying to put on her shoes echoing through the house. You put the photobook back into the box that you pulled it out of, smiling at your past self ten years ago. Your life had changed drastically through those years and even though you still spent days grieving over Haechan, you realised that he taught you to love the little things in life and let loose for once, learning to live in the moment. 

You climbed down the attic stairs and walked over to where your daughter was standing, putting on your shoes as well before feeling her tug at your hand. You laughed and let her lead you, not noticing that your necklace had come out from under your t-shirt when you bent down. The light reflecting off of it caused your attention to be captured, scattering multitudes of small multicoloured diamond shapes all over the floor. Your hand clasped onto the dainty ring that was held on by a thin gold chain, the cold metal sending a shiver down your spine. You looked down at your other hand and saw it being held by your daughter, who you had to admit was the exact same person as Haechan. Her infectious personality and positive attitude reminded you of the days where Haechan would sit next to you for hours on end, helping you with your school work. Even her facial features were the same, the round doe eyes holding bits of mischief in them, lighting up whenever she smiled or laughed. 

The sun shone down on the both of you, finally peaking through the clouds as it scattered the light around. You looked up and smiled, something in your heart telling you that it was Haechan’s way of saying “it’s going to be okay.” You smiled and walked into the parlour, because for the first time in almost seven years, life did seem like it was going to be okay. 

[pastelwitchling]

Cosmic 🌌 Happy Malex Remix Day! 🌌

My malex remix piece is a sequel to @captainsassmanes‘s super angsty, super heart-wrenching, super lovely fic; Gravity.

Alex decides he’s done with Roswell, but Michael doesn’t want him to go.

You can also read it on ao3, if you’d prefer! I’m so glad I joined the challenge this year, it was an interesting experience. If you enjoy reading, even a little bit, please comment and share/reblog, it always makes the world of a difference ❤

***

Alex opened his eyes to a still-dark sky outside his window. He reached for his phone on the nightstand, checking the time; 4:30 in the morning.

               He rubbed his eyes and heaved a sigh into his palms. He wouldn’t be getting anymore sleep, he knew that much. He forced himself up, swung his leg over the edge of the bed, and reached for his crutches.

               His morning went by like clockwork. He washed his face, brushed his teeth, did his morning stretches, tried to ignore the constant ache in his leg, and sat down on the little stool in his shower to clean himself off. By the time he was in his kitchen and the sun was starting to rise, not even the steaming cup of coffee in his hands made the realization that he’d been stuck in a loop ever since he’d come back to Roswell any better.

               The silence of his living room was palpable, the faint snow falling outside and glittering in the morning light. Alex imagined the snow had reached a good three feet by now, and was glad for the excuse not to have to leave his house today.

               Home, he reminded himself, though nothing about this place had felt like home in too long a time. He was so tired of looking around and feeling more and more distanced from everything – the chairs and couches to the trees and birds. None of it had any meaning, none of it gave him comfort. It was just stuff. He didn’t think that was how it was supposed to feel.

               He thought of that conversation he’d had with Michael two weeks ago, felt like months ago now, when he’d followed him out of the bar. When he’d told him that Forrest was an idiot for breaking up with him. When Alex had confessed that he couldn’t trust his feelings, couldn’t trust that Michael chose him.

               That was why everything but a single piece of furniture was covered in white sheets now. That was why he had a plane ticket to New York booked for tomorrow night. Forrest had ended things for good reason, but Alex wasn’t going to go running back to someone who didn’t want him. He would go somewhere else, start over. He’d been saying that it was time for years, but stayed back. Because Michael was here, and he wanted to be where Michael was. Even when he’d dated Maria, even when he’d made it clear that he didn’t want Alex near him. Even after everything, Alex stayed, because he’d hoped.

               Then he’d found Forrest and learned what it meant to actually be loved, to be cared for. It made him realize just how hard he’d been trying to find love in everything Michael did and said to him, from even the cruelest words.

               His phone buzzed with another text. Alex glanced just at the name before he sighed, and deleted it, not bothering to read what it said. He couldn’t remember Michael ever texting him this much before he and Forrest had broken up. Six months ago, his heart would’ve fluttered at the idea that Michael was trying so hard to be with him. But the more cynical part of him saw the attempts for what they were; guilt, and a desire not to be alone for the night.

               No. Alex had had better, and he’d lost it. Forrest, he had decided, would be his last loss.

               It wasn’t until a little after noon, when Alex had finished making lunch, that he realized just how little say he would actually have in that. He’d expected the calls and texts to his phone to stop in the morning, after he’d ignored enough of them, but as Alex fished one of the few bowls he hadn’t packed yet from the pantry, a knock came at the door.

               His brows furrowed, and he checked his phone. Kyle and Gregory weren’t scheduled to come over until tomorrow, because of the snow, to help him pack the last of his things. No one had given him a heads-up that they’d be checking in on him.

               When he opened the door and found Michael on the other side, his shoulders slumped.

               “I need two minutes,” was his greeting. Alex looked over Michael’s shoulder to see the snow around his blue truck had moved aside for him, giving him room to drive.

               Alex should’ve told him to leave, that he didn’t have the time, that they had nothing to talk about. But he just sighed and moved out of the way.

               “You shouldn’t have used your powers,” he said as Michael took the chance and stepped inside past him. “Someone could’ve seen you.”

               He closed the door and Michael shrugged. “You were ignoring me.”

               “I wasn’t,” Alex lied, leading the way into the living room. “I’m just really busy, Guerin.” He stopped, and turned to face him with his arms crossed. “So whatever it is, make it quick.”

               But Michael wasn’t looking at him anymore. Instead, he was taking in the packed, cardboard boxes, the furniture draped with sheets.

               “You goin’ somewhere?”

               “Yeah,” he cleared his throat. “New York.”

               “For how long?”

               He stuck his hands in his back pockets. “For good. Did you want something?”

               Michael stared at Alex like he was waiting for him to laugh, to tell him he was joking, to say he was just doing some very intense spring cleaning in the middle of winter. When Alex didn’t, Michael scoffed, the hurt evident in his eyes.

               “So that’s it, huh?” he said. “You’re just going to leave? Run away again?”

               Alex clenched his jaw. “Did you want something, Guerin?” he said through grit teeth.

               Michael seemed to realize what he’d said, and his face fell. “I – Alex, I didn’t mean that –”

               “If you’re done, you can go.”

               “No, wait, listen,” he said, grabbing Alex by the elbows as he turned away, keeping him close. “I didn’t mean that, Alex, I’m – I’m sorry.”

               “Yeah,” Alex stepped out of Michael’s hold, hugging his arms to shield against him. “Seriously, why are you here?”

               “You weren’t answering,” he said, still looking around at the boxes a little helplessly. “I just . . . I wanted to see you. Why are you leaving?”

               “I need a change,” Alex said. “Roswell hasn’t felt like home in such a long time. I don’t have a reason anymore to stay.”

               Michael swallowed. “Roswell was never your home.”

               Alex stilled. Michael said it like it should’ve been obvious, like he had always been Alex’s home, Alex’s only safe place, like it was some unspoken truth. Alex thought that some truths should’ve been spoken a long time ago. They just felt like meaningless words now.

               “Then I guess,” he said quietly, “I want a home that wants me back.”

               “Alex –”

               “Look,” he scratched under his eye, “I leave tomorrow. I have a lot of packing left –”

               “Alex, please –”

               “And I just don’t have the time to play this game.”

               “I’m trying to tell you I love you!”

               Silence. Alex couldn’t look away from Michael, his glistening eyes. But it was too late. No matter how badly his heart wanted to believe it, he had to keep reminding himself that Michael hadn’t felt this way a year ago. He hadn’t wanted Alex when Alex had begged for him. He’d made his choice, and even though Alex had chosen him time and time again, Michael couldn’t do the same. He was done.

               He stepped closer to Michael, his hands clenched to fists. “And I don’t believe you.”

               Michael wouldn’t look away, his jaw clenched so tightly that Alex worried, despite himself, that he would draw blood.

               He didn’t say that. Instead, he said, “You need to leave.”

               “No,” Michael said at once. “No, I don’t want to.”

               Alex opened his mouth to argue, but the ground started to shake. Michael didn’t seem surprised.

               “Stop it!” he demanded. Michael said nothing, and the ground shook more wildly. Furniture started to fall over, floorboards creaked. “Guerin, stop!”

               “You’re not leaving me, Alex,” he growled. “Not again.”

               “Guerin –”

               A sound like a heavy blanket falling came from outside, and the windows turned dark. The house finally stopped shaking, and Alex looked around. Even Michael looked confused at what had happened.

               Alex turned to a window and pulled back the curtain to reveal snow, covering most of the glass.

               “No,” he breathed, and headed for the front door. “No, no, no.” He opened it to reveal a wall of snow. He checked the backdoor and found that sealed, too, as well as every single window.

               Michael sniffed as he set his cowboy hat down on the couch. He didn’t seem as bothered by what he’d done as Alex thought he should’ve.

               “Gear up, Private,” he smirked humorlessly. “Guess we’re stuck here.”

               “No,” Alex demanded. “You used your powers to drop the snow on us, just – just use your powers to move it!”

               He sat down, his arms stretched out on the back of the couch. “Can’t.”

               Alex clenched his jaw. “Can’t or won’t?”

               “Both.”

               “Guerin –”

               “I shook the house,” Michael said. “And I used the earth to move the snow back on my way here. So unless you want me to uproot every nail and window in this place, I’d get comfortable.”

               “You won’t even try?”

               “Nope.”

               “You’re such a . . .” he pulled out his phone and looked for Kyle’s name. No signal. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

               Michael huffed, pushing back the white sheet that covered the couch, and gesturing at the empty space next to him. “C’mon, Private,” he said.

               “I leave tomorrow, Guerin,” he argued.

               Michael leaned forward, any amusement in his expression gone. “Then that gives me a day to change your mind. So stop fighting me on this, because I’m not letting you go again.”

               *

               Michael had to admit; locking both himself and Alex indoors had been a happy accident, but when he’d made it clear that he wasn’t letting Alex go until he absolutely had to for his flight (honestly, he was reconsidering that part of the deal, too), he’d expected the airman to secretly be pleased, to find any excuse to be near him, the whole oh-no-there’s-only-one-bed-and-we’ll-have-to-share kind of situation.

               That was definitely not what ended up happening. Alex continued to pack what little he had left, pretending Michael didn’t exist as he walked in and out of the living room.

               “You gonna look at me anytime soon?”

               Alex said nothing, kneeling down in front of a cardboard box. Michael hated the sight of those damn things; blatant reminders that his Alex was leaving. For good.

               Michael crouched down beside him, his arms folded on his knees. “At least talk to me, Private. What’s so great about New York anyway? Is it just to be as far away as possible from me?”

               Alex’s shoulders slumped, exasperated. He didn’t have to answer, but Michael had always known that if he asked softly enough, Alex would tell him anything he wanted to know. Pride bloomed in his chest to know that only he had this power over Alex’s heart, only he could tug enough to get what he wanted from him. Alex would’ve been able to resist the world, but not Michael. And right now, Michael was desperate enough to take advantage of that.

               “No,” Alex relented. “It’s not because of you.”

                He smirked. “Got you to talk to me.” Alex glared, and his smirk widened. “Got you to look.”

               Alex shut his eyes and turned away, and Michael couldn’t miss the blush on his cheeks. Alex’s hands were clenched to fists on his lap. Michael licked his lips and carefully reached out, tracing his finger along the back of his hand.

               Alex flinched away from him the second they touched, and he stood. “It’ll get cold tonight,” he said. “I’ll go get you some blankets.”

               Michael stood after him. “Alex –” but Alex had already disappeared into the hall.

               That night, as he lay on the living room couch, Michael couldn’t help but stare down the dark passageway to where Alex was, sleeping soundly in bed. He imagined his soft hair splayed messily on the pillow, his body stretched out underneath the blanket, probably colder without Michael there to warm him.

               The silence of the heavy snow should’ve been warning enough not to move off the couch, but Michael couldn’t help it. He pushed himself off and, as quietly as he could, made his way to the bedroom. He just wanted one look at Alex, to make sure he was resting, to know he was safe and asleep and finally at peace, but instead, he opened the door to find Alex sitting up in bed, a book in hand.

               Alex raised a brow at him. “Everything okay?”

               But Michael couldn’t hear him so much as stare. His hair was sticking up in perfect, messy strands. His cheeks were rosy, his lips red, his muscles evident under his short sleeves.

               “Uh,” Michael started. “I – I was just . . . really cold.”

               Alex began to get out of bed. “Oh, okay, I can get you another blanket.”

               “Actually,” Michael said, already making his way to the bed. “I think I’ll just be warmer in here.”

               “What – Guerin –”

               But Michael was already sliding into bed and pressing the length of his body against Alex’s. He turned his face into Alex’s arm, inhaling his scent.

               “G-Guerin –”

               “Just for now,” Michael told him. “If you’re gonna leave me tomorrow, then I just want you now.”

               He thought Alex would kick him out, snap at him to leave already, but he only sighed shakily in that way he did when he was preparing to do something that scared him, and set his book down on the nightstand.

               Michael watched, his heart hammering in his chest as Alex slid down to lie beside him. He pulled the hem of Michael’s shirt up, and Michael let him take it off him. His eyes darkened and his mouth hung open as Alex leaned in close. He put his hands on Alex’s arms, feeling his muscles and wrapping one leg around Alex’s hip.

               “I want you now, too,” Alex murmured before he let Michael pull him down on top of him and kiss him.

               It all felt like something out of a dream, being allowed to touch Alex like this, to run his hands up his shirt and taste his nipples, his chest, his stomach, his cock. He couldn’t get enough. Every moan Alex made into his ear spurred him on, made his thrusts more erratic. Every plea made Michael groan, his body hotter, his length harder.

               By morning, he was still feeling the electricity in his spine, the heat in his gut. He woke, already reaching for Alex, eager for more of him. When he felt the empty space beside him, he opened his eyes and sat up. Because of the snow, it was hard to tell exactly what time it was, but he guessed it was late morning.

               “Alex?” he called, and heard shuffling inside.

               He picked up a blanket, wrapping it around his shoulders to shield against the cold. He stepped into the living room to find Alex piling boxes into one corner. His heart fell into his stomach.

               “What’re you doing?”

               Alex didn’t seem surprised that Michael had woken up. He stood, hands on his hips. “Making it easier for Gregory and Kyle when they come over. They’re supposed to help me get the last of this packed. They’ll be able to tear the snow down, too.”

               Michael swallowed the bile that was starting to rise up his throat. “Y-You’re still leaving?”

               Alex finally turned to look at him, but said nothing.

               “What about last night?”

               His brows furrowed. “I thought we agreed that last night was a goodbye.”

               “Goodbye?” he demanded. “No, Alex.” He shook his head, helpless. “When – when are you gonna stop punishing me for what I did?”

               He frowned. “Guerin, I’m not punishing you. I just don’t trust you anymore.” Michael fell silent. “I did everything I could for you, and you chose someone else. You know I can’t eat or sleep or think because I can’t help but wonder whether or not you would even care that I was leaving if Maria hadn’t ended things? That’s the worst part of it all. She ended it. Not you, her.”

               “Alex, that’s . . .” he shook his head. How could he have screwed up this badly? How could Alex – his Alex – have the tiniest doubt that he was everything to Michael? “Stay,” he demanded. “S-Stay for me.”

               Alex looked pained. “That’s not going to work on me anymore, Guerin.”

               Michael stepped forward as Alex turned away, taking him by the shoulders. “Look at me,” he said. “You know who I love.”

               He sighed. “Guerin –”

               “Let me try!” he pleaded. “We’ve been pushing each other away for over a decade, Alex. Let me just try to fix things. Give me one more chance, just one more!”

               Alex bit his lower lip, and looked at the boxes like Michael had; like they were threatening to separate them forever.

               He took Alex’s face in his hands. “Look at me,” he said. “I love you. I could give you a million reasons why I wanted to try with someone else, a million reasons I thought it would make me better for you, but . . . you do know me, Alex. Better than anyone. You know the real me, you know it’s you. It could only ever be you, and you know that, so please, stay.”

               “I . . .”

               Michael pressed their foreheads together. “We’re cosmic, baby. Remember? Stay with me, Alex. Stay with me.”

[hyuckssunchip]

Redemption Pt. 1

Pairings: Jungwoo x reader, ft. nct 127

Words: 4.5K

Warnings: Language (there is almost always language in my writings), some angst

Synopsis: 

Y/N finds Jungwoo in a compromising position weeks after their breakup. A list of misunderstandings leads to outcomes neither of them can bear to handle. Will the two of them be able to move past this and sort things out again? Or is there no room for redemption?

Part 1 | Part 2 |

It’s been three weeks since you left the apartment, and Jungwoo behind. 

You stumbled up the flights of stairs that led me to the front door that you had lived behind for the past year. As you stood before the door you began to lose the courage that it took for you to make it this far, but before you could turn around and flee the scene you forced yourself closer to the door. 

“Okay Y/N, you can do it. Just… do it now, or you’re never going to.” You whispered to yourself, clenching the hem of your shirt between your closed fists. Wiping the sweat off your palms your fist made its way up and knocked on the door.

You panicked for a second and contemplated just leaving so you wouldn’t have to see him. Was your stuff really worth it? But before you could make a rash decision a muffled voice yelled out, “Just a minute!”

As the door flung open, your wide eyes met with his shocked ones, “Y/N! W-what are you doing here?” He said so quietly you thought you imagined it.

Be strong Y/N. Just get your things and go, don’t cave.

“I’m here to get the rest of my stuff.” You said as bluntly and coldly as you could.

“Uh.. ummmm. Your uh.. Stuff?” He forced out, obviously nervous.

“Yeah. I never grabbed all my things when I left. Could we just make this easy and let me get my things and go?” You replied, shocked that your voice didn’t seem to waver.

“Ummm… Well, y-your stuff isn’t here.”

“What?”

“I don’t have your things here.”

“What do you mean? Where are they then?”

“Umm…”, he gulped nervously, rubbing the back of his neck, “They’re gone.” He whispered the last part, barely audible, so much so that you had to lean in to hear him.

“Gone where? Please, Jungwoo, don’t make this any harder than it already is.” You pleaded with him, losing confidence.

“Well, you see…” But he was interrupted by a voice calling out from behind him.

“Jungwoo? Who is it?” A beautiful woman came into view, dressed formally in a slim black dress that hugged her perfectly. It was short, and the heels that she wore only accentuated her already long legs. 

With furrowed eyebrows you looked back at Jungwoo and realized that he too was dressed up quite nicely. Your eyes popped open when you saw that her hand landed on his shoulder, squeezing a little bit, before you averted your eyes elsewhere.

“Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your... date?” You apologized, embarrassed that you stood in front of your ex boyfriend asking for your things back while he had already obviously moved on, and was on a date with a woman that you could never compare to.

The woman giggled and your eyes snapped towards her once again and she said that it was no problem at all. Meanwhile you couldn't take your eyes off of her hand that was traveling down Jungwoo’s torso, who hadn’t said a single thing since she made her way into your conversation. 

You locked your gaze with Jungwoo, who’s eyes were pleading with you. You shook your head, of course not. Why would he look at me like that when his beautiful date is all over him? You convinced yourself that you must be seeing things.

“Just… text me where my stuff is and I’ll pick them up. Ummm… Thanks, e-enjoy the rest of your date.” You said rushing the last part of your sentence as you spun on your heel, high tailing it out of there. 

You sat in your car, banging your head on your steering wheel. 

“Oh my god. Why are you so stupid? I knew it was a dumb idea to come back, now I just look like an idiot in front of him and his girlfriend. Ugh! Stupid, stupid, stupid!” You chastised yourself, banging your head between each word. 

You sighed and eventually straightened up, twisting the key and starting the engine. You hadn’t even noticed the tears falling down your cheeks until your vision became blurry. You angrily wiped your face and pulled out of the parking garage, heading home.

JUNGWOO’S POV

3 DAYS AGO

“Guys, stop it! Let me be depressed on my own!” I groaned, frustrated with my hyungs. 

“No! Knock it off! You moping around here for the past few weeks is bringing everyone down! You need to get over Y/N and get on with your life. Just admit you screwed up and nothing is going to change that! Get over it!” Yuta yelled, storming out the door and slamming it on the way out. 

“Don’t listen to him. We all know you’re upset about losing Y/N and we know you need time. But Yuta’s right, you need to come to terms with it and move on. Get yourself back out there and have a good time. We all miss you, we all just want you to be happy.” Taeyong said softly, pulling me into a hug.

“Hey! Hyung, how about we set him up with someone so he can get over her? My friend Mina has always had an eye for him!” Mark shouted excitedly.

I groaned, “No. I’m not ready. Let me just be alone for a while, I don’t want to get over Y/N!”

“Jungwoo, I think Mark’s right. You should at least try to get over her, you’ll be miserable until you do. Please try it.” Taeyong said while nodding at Mark, giving him the signal to tell Mina.

Johnny came back out of my room that he had disappeared to a while ago. I cocked my head with furrowed eyebrows as I noticed the cardboard box he was carrying.

“What’s that?” I questioned. 

Johnny walked past everyone, making his way to the backyard and set the box down with a thud, smiling sadly at me. Wordlessly he pulled out a match book from his back pocket and handed it to me.

“W-what’s going on?” I stuttered, getting a nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach. I had a bad feeling about this and I was afraid to check what was in the box.

Johnny rubbed his hand on my back, patting me, “It’s her stuff Jungwoo. You need to get rid of it. It’s been almost been a month, she’s obviously not coming back to get it. This will give you some closure.” 

With that all my hyungs went back inside, leaving me alone to contemplate what to do next. I sat down with my head in my hands. I didn’t want to do it, because maybe then I would actually get some closure and everything would be finalized. I didn’t want to be done with Y/N and this would make it all real. But maybe I need this, I’m miserable right now and if this could change that, maybe I should try. My hyungs aren’t the only ones who miss the real me, I do too. If this will get me back, I’ll do it.

With a nod I strike the match and lean over to drop the match in the box and as it falls a small stuffed animal catches my eye. A whimper involuntarily escapes my mouth and I scramble to put out the fire, but it’s already too late. By the time I managed to put it out, it was a mess of burned and water soaked ashes. What little remains were left, were so disfigured that I couldn’t even recognize any of the items. 

It didn’t make me feel any better, if anything I felt worse. I could feel four pairs of eyes trained on me, watching as I sunk to the ground and let my tears fall on to the box, mixing with the mess that I had just made.

JUNGWOO’S POV

THAT NIGHT

“One last thing. Your hair is a mess! At least try to look presentable and be nice. If anything goes terribly wrong, I’ll be responsible for setting you two up!” Mark teased me while trying to tame my hair.

“Hey! It’s not even that bad, let me go, she’s supposed to be here any minute!” I laughed for the first time in what felt like forever.

Mark smiled at me, happy that he finally got me to laugh, “Alright! Alright. I’ll go.”

“Hyung? Do we really have to do this? I don’t really want to move on… Can’t I just say I’m sick or something?” I begged, now directing my attention to Johnny in the corner.

“No. Jungwoo we all know this is for the best. She’s gone. The longer you hold on to her the worse you’re going to feel. Please move on. We all hate seeing you like this, miserable and depressed all the time. Please make some effort.” He said, pulling me in for one last hug before a loud knock interrupted.

“Gotta go! Enjoy Jungwoo!” Mark yelled as he pushed a startled Mina in the apartment and ran down the stairs, dragging the larger man with him.

“Hi…” Mina said, giggling as she quietly shut the door that Mark had left open. 

I shoved my hands in my pocket and gave her a forced smile, replying with my own greetings so as not to be rude.

The date continued really awkwardly, Mina was really comfortable with me, but I wasn’t all the way there. Everything that she did reminded me of Y/N and I couldn’t get her off my mind. The date was going awfully when Mina got up from the table that Taeyong had set up and started playing some romantic music on the stereo.

I sighed standing up, I wasn’t ready for this. 

“Mina.” 

“Hmm?” She mumbled swaying her body to the music. I couldn’t help but compare her to Y/N, and flashbacks came back to when she was in Mina’s spot. I shook my head, getting the image out of my head.

Mina smiled at me and grabbed my wrist, pulling me towards her, trying to get me to dance with her. 

“Mina, I don’t think we should do this. We just met…” I tried to let her down as politely as I could.

“C’mon, just enjoy it!” She said flirtatiously, but was cut off as I pulled away from her.

“Jung-” She began to whine, but was cut off by a quiet series of knocks at the door.

“Leave it.” She said as seductively as she could.

I grimaced and released my wrist from her grip as gently as I could shaking my head. "Just a minute!" I yelled to the person behind the door. As I turned my back on her I heard her footsteps stomp towards the bathroom in the back of the apartment. 

I closed my eyes and let out a sigh, a breath that I didn't know that I had been holding for so long. I opened the door and my eyes widened at the sight before me.

"Y/N?! W-what are you doing here?" I couldn't seem to get my voice loud enough, as I was having trouble breathing, seeing her in front of me.  

"I'm here to get the rest of my stuff." She said harshly and I felt my stomach churn as her words sliced through the air. Shit. She couldn't be talking about the stuff I... got rid of? Could she?

"Uh.. ummmm. Your uh.. Stuff?" I forced out, unable to hide the nervousness in my voice.

"Yeah. I never grabbed all my things when I left. Could we just make this easy and let me get my things and go?" She said, not showing any emotion at all.

I could feel my eye twitch and I bit my lip out of nervousness, "Ummm... Well, y-your stuff isn't here."

"What?"

"I don't have your things here." I knew my facade would fall any moment now, in a matter of minutes I could be a wreck.

"What do you mean? Where are they then?"

"Umm... ", I gulped, rubbing the back of my neck, "They're gone." I whispered, half hoping that she wouldn't hear me and would somehow just leave. I was so embarrassed and guilty over what I had done that I couldn't control it anymore. 

"Gone where? Please, Jungwoo, don't make this any harder than it already is." She said in a tone quite inconsistent with her previous tone.

"Well, you see..." But I was interrupted by a voice calling out from behind me. Mina. For the first time since I met her I was happy she was here, only as a scapegoat, but nevertheless, she saved my butt. I stood there quietly lost in my own thoughts on how I was going to fix this mess of a situation I created.

"Jungwoo? Who is it?" Mina called out in a higher pitch than she usually spoke in. She had made her way next to me, still standing in the doorway and she snaked her arm behind my neck, resting her hand on my shoulder. I could feel the heat of Y/N's gaze on me, but I refused to look, too much of a coward to make eye contact again.

I could feel Mina’s hand travel down my chest, rubbing sensually, but I still couldn't find the courage to say anything so I stood there, letting it happen.

A small cough pulled my eyes up and before I could look away, my eyes locked with Y/N's. Instantly my eyes softened and begged her to stay, to kick Mina out and run back into my arms. To give me a second chance to redeem myself, to make up for my stupid mistake, all of my mistakes. If only she could read my mind, but what she said next made it clear that she couldn't.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your... date." She blurted out, I could tell that any confidence that she had had coming here was quickly fading.

Mina giggled only provoking the false thoughts running through Y/N's mind, "Oh, it's no problem. We'll get back to it soon enough, won't we baby?" 

My blood began to boil as I heard Mina’s response, knowing exactly what she was doing. But before I could say or do anything Y/N blurted out, "Just... text me where my stuff is and I'll pick them up. Ummm... Thanks, e-enjoy your date." Rushing so fast that I wasn't fully sure that was even what she said. 

With that she was gone.

“Oh my God! That was the most humiliating thing I’ve ever done!” You wailed into your pillow as your best friend stroked your hair.

“Oh come on, it wasn’t that bad.”

“You weren’t there!” 

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad."

You sat up facing her, aggressively wiping your eyes semi-dry.

"They were all over each other and there I was asking for my stuff back like some pathetic ex who couldn't move on."

"No, that's not true. It's not pathetic to want your stuff back. It's yours. Did you at least get it back or did you just leave?"

You frowned, really thinking about it for the first time. 

"Um... he said he didn't have it anymore, that it wasn't at the apartment. I don't know, he probably made Jaehyun take it or something. I might just let them keep it, I don't want to see them again."

You groaned falling flat on the bed, throwing your arm over your eyes.

"No, it's your stuff. You asked for it back and he should give it to you. If you won't get it, I'll go over there myself and drag it out."

She stood up grabbing the coat on the chair as if she was really leaving.

"Please don't." You let a sigh. "I promise I'll get it myself, just some other time. Maybe in the middle of the day. There is no way that I'm letting you go there alone, who knows what you'll do to him."

"You're right. He'll probably be black and blue by the time you get your stuff back." She laughed, the dip in the bed evidence that she was resting on the edge of the bed again. 

"But seriously, Y/N I know you're hurting, but it's been long enough, you need to move on. It's obvious he has."

"I know."

"You know, I really hate to push you, but I hate seeing you hurt like this more."

"I know."

There was a deep sigh. 

"Well, I'm hungry. You want something?" She asked, dropping the subject knowing that you weren't going to contribute much to the conversation.

"I'm okay."

"Alright, well holler if you do." She smiled at you, patting your head one last time. 

As you heard the door shut you rolled over on to your side and stared at the window, trying to let your mind go blank.

Your phone rang and you were pulled back to reality.

Jungwoo?

Why you kept his number, you don't know. Why you didn't block it, you don't know. Well, there's a piece of you that did know. You couldn't bear to delete it, then it would really feel real. And in all honesty you didn't want to let go.

Wait? Did that mean he didn't delete your number either? I mean he was calling you right? No. He could've got it from Jaehyun or Johnny. Right? 

So lost in your own thoughts you had let the call go to voicemail. You panicked, picking up the phone as if that would make him call again. 

New notification. Voicemail.

"Hey, it's me, Jungwoo. Uh, you probably deleted my number. Um, I was thinking maybe you wanted to talk or have a real conversation, you know cause of last night. If you don't that's okay, but call me if you do. Um, do I just leave my number here? Or...? Oh, I guess you can just call back right? Sorry. This is a mess. Anyways. Call me. Or not. Yeah. Bye."

Click.

You dropped your phone and covered your mouth with your hand, a nervous tick you had. 

Did you want to do this? I mean you wanted your stuff back right? And here he was giving you the perfect opportunity to not go back a second time looking pathetic. But does this make you seem pathetic? Did he realize how much last night affected you? Is he just going to tell you how he and his girlfriend are doing? That he's over you and wants you to stop barging in on his life?

You groaned throwing your head back.

What do you wear?

"No, stop it. I can't believe you're considering this." You scolded yourself. "You just said you'd get your stuff later. Later doesn't mean so soon. Does it?"

Ugh.

"Hey. Come in." He gestured for you to enter. 

It had been so long since you've been inside, and the scent of candles brought back a wave of memories. It was really clean, like usual. Left over flowers from the night before were still in the vase on the table. You gulped.

"About last night. Mina's just a little forward, um... I hope it didn't make things weird, cause I don-"

"I have a date." You blurted out. 

What the hell are you doing?

"Uh, what?" He looked up, obviously confused.

"I uh- I have a date tonight, can we make this fast?" 

No you don't. Liar.

"Oh, sure." He looked at your outfit, quickly realizing. 

You nodded back at him, not really looking in his direction anymore. 

"Do you want some water?" He asked, stalling.

"I'm okay, thanks." You replied curt, although your mouth was so dry you would die for a glass. 

"Right, okay."

There was a silence. 

"My stuff-"

"Last night-"

That wasn't awkward at all.

"You first-"

"Go ahead-"

You were about to die of embarrassment. He took a large sip of water while gesturing for you to go first. 

"Right, um, last night I came for my stuff. Do... do you have it now?" You asked, cursing at yourself for the slight stutter.

He choked on the water. 

"Stuff?"

"Yeah, I left some things here, but you said you didn't have them then." You mumbled avoiding eye contact.

"Uh... About that." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, like he always does when he's nervous or guilty, "I actually-"

"Jungwoo! Dude, how was last night?!" Mark came running through the door, Jaehyun and Johnny following behind, seemingly in deep conversation. 

"Uhhh...." He stopped in his tracks, wide eyed. "Y/N. What are you doing here?"

Johnny and Jaehyun stopped talking and Mark stared between you and Jungwoo.

"Oh. I just came to get the last of my stuff." You said quietly, starting to feel uncomfortable. They would never gang up on you, but you couldn't help but feel trapped. 

"Your stuff?" Johnny's eyebrows shot up, darting to Jungwoo's terrified expression. So he did get rid of it after all. Well, shit.

"Yeah, I came last night but he was a bit preoccupied." The last of your sentence faltering out.

"Shit."

You looked at Jaehyun, who unfroze and sent a pity smile. 

Ouch. That hurt more than you expected. 

Johnny, ever the friendly one blurted out, “Why don’t we get dinner together, like old times? Then we can help you grab your stuff.”

“Um, I don’t think I left that much, I could probably get it myself.” You frowned, why would they want to eat with you? Isn’t it already awkward enough as it is?

“Well, let’s at least get dinner. There’s this great new place-”

“She has a date.”

Right. You have a ‘date’.

“Oh.” Johnny died out.

“Shit.”

Again, Jaehyun sent you a smile, it didn't quite reach his eyes.

An awkward laugh filled the silence between you.

"Well, now what?" Mark asked, still laughing uncomfortably.

"Um, I could get my stuff."

"Yeah, you could I guess." You looked at Mark and cocked your head. His face was scrunched up as he glared at the floor.

"Actually. I've got your stuff at my place." Johnny spoke up, wide eyed, as if communicating with the rest of the guys.

"You do?" Jungwoo asked.

"Yeah. Remember? I took it so you wouldn't have it around anymore. Right?" It sounded more forceful than questioning, but you let it slide. If anything this was better right? Now you didn't have to see Jungwoo again, and you could just grab it from Johnny's. There’s no risk of barging in on another date night.

"Oh. Okay."

"But you're probably running late for your date right? I'll get it to you some other time." He said, pushing you towards the door.

"But I'm not late, it's only four thirty?" You protested, but he was too strong.

"Right, anyways. Call me." He said curtly before closing the door on your face. 

You frowned. Another day I guess.

JUNGWOO'S POV

"Okay what the hell was that?" Johnny asked, making his way to the others. 

"Umm..."

"She wants her stuff back?" He asked, "Now? After a month?"

Mark snorted, "After it's gone."

That earned him three glares.

"Why didn't you tell her you got rid of it?" Jaehyun asked, a bit softer and a bit more rational.

"I- I told her I didn't have it anymore. I just didn't tell her that it doesn't exist anymore." I raked my hands through my hair. 

"Dude. She came by last night too." Mark said in awe, just now realizing the severity of the situation. "Hey but at least it looks like you're really moving on now."

"I'm not though."

"But she doesn't know. She's got a date too so it's better that she thinks you're moving on, right?"

I don't want to.

“Damn, she’s got a date.” Johnny sighed, resting his hand on my shoulder. 

“I know.”

“So what are we going to do?” Jaehyun asked. “Give back her non-existent stuff?” He sat down at the table, opening a bottle of water. 

“I don’t know. Maybe I should just come clean. Tell her I burned it all.” I groaned, falling in the seat next to Jaehyun.

“No, don’t do that, it’ll seem like you did it out of revenge or something.”

“Johnny! You were the one who told me to do it!” I glared up at him.

“Yeah! But I didn’t think she’d want her stuff back!” Frustrated, he looked away. “Look, I’m sorry. I got you into this mess, I’m gonna get you out of it. I’ll just tell her that I accidentally donated the box or something.” He slumped into a chair. 

“What was even in the box?” Mark asked, curious.

“Some pictures, a couple of shirts. Stuff like that. You know, meaningful stuff.” My head was now resenting on my forearms, refusing to look at anyone.

“Well, then why don’t we just make a box with the same stuff?”

“What the hell are you talking about Mark? How are we gonna find the same stuff that she had in the box. I don’t even remember half of it.” Johnny turned to him.

“It’s been so long sinces she’s actually looked in the box. How’s she gonna remember what’s in it? We just find a bunch of old pictures of her, Jungwoo probably has some hiding somewhere, find some shirts that looked the same. Blah blah blah, put some stuff that would’ve been in there and bam! We’ve got her stuff.” He smiled triumphantly, proud of his idea.

“Don’t be stupid.” Johnny said, turning his back on the younger boy.

"Actually, that's not a bad idea." Jaehyun spoke up, "Jungwoo, you've looked through that box everyday since you two split.  You know what was in it right?"

I lifted my head slightly, "Yeah."

"Then this is actually doable." He muttered, he got up grabbing a piece of paper and a pen. "Here, write down everything you remember in that box and be really specific."

"Guys, I don't think-"

"Then don't think, just write it down." Mark said, pushing the paper towards me and tapping the paper. 

I hesitated, this was a bad idea right? But how am I supposed to tell her that I burned all that stuff? Wouldn’t she hate me?

I sighed.

The tickets from the movie of our first date.

The jacket from the pier of our second date.

The picture of us at the mall during our third date.

The stuffed animal I won at the fair for you.

The keychain of our first overnight camping trip.

The sea shell from our stay in Jeju Island.

The photo of us in a frame that I gave you for our 100th day anniversary.

The letter I wrote you for our six month anniversary.

The play ticket that I stood you up on.

The museum ticket you went alone to because I didn’t go.

The plane ticket we never used for our year anniversary trip.

The promise ring you returned.

previous | masterlist | next

© Copyright 2021. hyuckssunchip. All rights reserved.

[janicho88]

Falling For You -Part 6

January

Pairing- Dean xJo,  Eventual Dean x Female!Reader, Past Reader x OMC Justin, mentioned.

Word count-6777  

Warnings- REMEMBER SLOW BURN! We'll be interrupting the fluff you have had to bring you angst this chapter, along with unrequited feelings, heartbreak, and two morons who need to learn to talk to each other.  Possible language, there is a dash of fluff. Seriously thought a lot of angst in this one. Sorry! 

A/N- I had an idea for a one shot, and giving a backstory to Dean and the Reader meeting took on a life of its own. This story is AU  Thank you to @waywardbeanie and @whatareyousearchingfordean for helping me keep these 2 characters in line, letting me bounce ideas off of you, and send you random messages when something pops in my head. 

I debated about posting today with everything with the finale last night.  If you aren’t up to reading right now that’s perfectly fine.

Summary- After being burned before you had sworn off finding love for now. Coming home from work one night there is a strange man pounding on your door.  Neither of you knew what this meeting would lead to. 

The New Year’s Party and its ramifications.  Remember how we left the last chapter?  Sorry!! I am going to try and have the next one out on Monday.  Until then I think I’m going to go hide.   

Series Masterlist

Nine days, since you have seen Dean.  He sent a text this morning about getting together tonight, you have an appointment with Meg, but should be able to meet up with Dean first.  You can’t wait to see him again.  Just after your lunch break your phone beeps with a text. ‘Sorry Sweetheart, I’m going to have to stay late tonight.  Tomorrow maybe?’

Of course he’s been away for a week Jo must be there today and he wants to spend time with her.  Texting him back ‘Sorry I can’t tomorrow’ you return to your work.  Charlie notices the change in your demeanor and comments on it.

“What happened to you?  You were an unbearable rainbow of cheerfulness this morning, now it looks like someone stole your pot of gold?”

“Nothing, I’m fine.”

“Yeah and I’m dating the fairy queen. Spill.”

“I had dinner plans with Dean, he just canceled.  It’s nothing.”

“Okay, but I don’t think you really believe that.”

That night at Meg’s dress fitting she wasn’t in the best of moods because her dress was a bit tight.

“Meg,” you tried to reason with her, “you scheduled this for days after Christmas, too many sweets over the weekend.  You will be fine.”

“Nope time for bridal bootcamp.  Diets and exercise in the New Year, no more random baking.  We are going to look killer in April.”  

“Am I to assume I’m doing this with you?”  She just stared at you, Meg wasn’t the type of friend to beg.  “Fine, at least I work out already.  You are the one who’s going to have to get used to the gym again.”

Wednesday you got out of work at three and headed home to finish your deserts, get yourself ready and head out by 6 to help Meg set up. Knocking on the door Cas lets you in taking the orange cranberry cake from you.  Following him to the kitchen Meg looks over when you enter. 

“Are those deserts?” She raises her brows giving you a hard look as you set them out on the table.

Taking your time in replying, you turn back to her, “Yes, Bridezilla they are the two you asked me to make a few weeks ago.  You have the round orange cranberry cake for good luck and the raspberry parfaits in wine glasses, they just need whip cream on top along with a cherry. 

 You said bootcamp starts in the new year, that’s tomorrow enjoy tonight. ”

“Who’s going to bootcamp?”  Dean asked as he, Sam and Jess just joined you in the kitchen.  

Jess walks over to check out what you brought and to give you a hug while Meg explains to Dean about her bootcamp.

“You are the best man Winchester, maybe you should join us.”

“I don’t think so, Meg.  I just got a coupon book for Christmas and I fully intend to use it.”  He looks at you with a big smile on his face, you send him back a small one.  Okay maybe you were a tiny bit upset about him staying at work with Jo Monday.   

Cas calls the guys into the other room while you and Jess help Meg, before he leaves Dean walks over to you.  “I’m sorry about Monday.  I was looking forward to seeing you.  Can we talk later?”

“Sure Dean.”

When they leave Jess digs into her bag and hands you and Meg both a box.  “Sam and I were talking today and I realized I had completely forgotten to give these to you guys when I did them last month.  In my head we were already past this.”  You and Meg looked at each other then Jess, not sure what she was getting at with the boxes.  “Come on, open them!”

Carefully unwrapping and opening the box you just stared at its contents not sure what to say yet.

“Oh look,” exclaimed Meg, “the wino gave us wine!”

“You really want me to be your Maid of Honor?”  You whispered.  Meg’s request to be hers wasn’t a shock to you, Jess’ was. 

“Yes I really do.”  We’ve gotten to be great friends this last year, and I want you up there with me.  We both know Meg won’t do it.”

“Nope, we have already had this discussion planning your wedding, I’m no one's bitch.”

You both shook your head at Meg and Jess started speaking again. “I have a cousin who will be in the wedding and a friend from work, but I’m not as close with them.  I don’t have a sister yet, but I have a feeling one day soon I will.  So yes, I want you. Please, don’t make me get Sam in here with the puppy dog eyes.”

“I would be honored Jess, I’ve had plenty of practice with Megzilla over there.”  Meg stuck her tongue out at you before heading to pour you all a shot to toast with.  “This is super cute by the way.”

“Thanks, how did Meg ask?”

Well, when Meg asked me she handed me an envelope with cardstock inside that said something about I was the only person she likes, will you be my Maid of Honor?”  

“It’s true.   According to my mother I had to have my two cousins in the wedding, but no way was I dealing with one of them as my MOH.”

“How did you ask them?  You never did tell me.” 

“Hey sluts you’re going to be in my wedding right?”

Looking at her a moment before you said anything, “I’d ask if you were joking, but I’m pretty sure you’re serious.”

“I am. Your ask was as fancy as I was getting. Okay enough wedding talk for the night, time to get the party started!”

It wasn’t too big of a party, besides the six of you a few of Cas’ friends from work were there, his brother Gabe, sister Anna both of whom had come up to visit Cas, and Charlie. 

Later that night the guys are watching some competition in the living room while the ladies are hanging out in the kitchen.  Charlie who was one of the last to arrive, looks over at you and asks “So is this infamous Dean here tonight, do I get to actually meet him?”  

The punch you had just taken a drink of flying right back out.  Meg grins looking over at you before turning to Charlie.  “Has she been talking about one green eyed mechanic at work?”

“Practically every day, you should have seen how down she got Monday when he canceled dinner with her.”

Jess joins the conversation next, “Is she as in denial with you as she is with us?”

Finally finding your voice, “I’m not in denial.”

“You mean about how they are just friends, and she wasn’t moping at all last week when he was out of town. Or how she was fine when she wasn’t going to see him on Monday.”

“I wasn’t moping and I WAS fine on Monday.”

“Oh” Meg starts talking, no one is paying attention to you. “Have you seen the way her face lights up when she gets a call or text from him?”

“It does not.”

“Yes,” answered Charlie, “and you don’t even have to ask who it is, the face says it all.”

All three turn to look at you, “Oh are you actually going to acknowledge I’m here now?  For the millionth time, we are just friends.”  They all start laughing, rolling your eyes you turn away.

Jess comes over and puts her arm around your shoulders, “Come on Y/N, we are starting a new year shortly let’s start it honestly.  How do you really feel about Dean?”

“Guys, I don’t know how to be any clearer.  Dean and I are friends, simply friends.  There will never be anything more.  We are never going to date, or get married, please just drop it.”  

Dean’s point of view

Checking my watch it’s after 11,  I haven’t had a chance to talk to Y/N alone yet.  If I’m going to sort everything out before midnight I need to go find her.  Cas had come back into the room a few minutes ago so I asked him where the girls are and he directs me to the kitchen.  Grabbing my beer I head that way.  Standing in the hall near the door I can hear them laughing, but I don’t hear Y/N’s laugh.  She has the cutest one.  Then I hear Jess start talking and she asks Y/N about me.  This could be perfect timing to what I want to talk to her about.

 “Guys, I don’t know how to be any clearer.  Dean and I are friends, simply friends.  There will never be anything more.  We are never going to date, or get married, please drop it.”  

Her words were a knife through my heart.  I guess it was the perfect time to realize I would be damaging our friendship if I told her how I felt.  So much for mom’s intuition.  Turning back  around quickly, I head outside for some time alone.

Standing out in the cold with the snow blowing around so many thoughts running through my head.  I was really hoping my mom was right about Y/N, I didn’t realize how much I had imagined she was and what was going to happen next with us.  Then my thoughts unfortunately go to everything Lisa has thrown at me.  Maybe she’s right and no one is going to really want me for me.  Y/N knows so much about me, she’s really the first person I let in in a long time.  I thought I could be myself around her but she saw who that was and  she doesn’t want to be with me.  She just made that perfectly clear.  Hearing a car horn in the distance I think about work and what Benny had said this week.  Jo doesn’t really know me, maybe it’s not too late to change for her to stay interested.

Back in the kitchen

Everyone was looking at you and you continued to pretend the floor was extremely interesting. 

“If that were the truth and you really felt that way, you would be looking at us and saying it, not explaining it to the floor.”  Meg tells you.

“Why do you keep insisting there is nothing there?  We’ve seen the two of you together, and you were totally pouting at the party when he was late because of Jo. Your eyes were greener than Dean’s that night.  What’s really going on, it's time to be honest with us.”  

“You want the truth? Yeah, Dean is an amazing guy, probably the best one I’ve met.  I’m not the girl for him.  He deserves someone so much better than me.  He likes to go out and do things, he likes horror movies and haunted woods. He needs someone who doesn’t get scared easily. Someone who isn’t going to hold him back and ruin his good time.  Someone he can be proud to be seen out with.  We all know that’s not me.”  You turn away as you finish to hide the tears threatening to fall. 

Meg and Jess exchange looks before Meg walks over and gives you a hug. “See this is where we don’t let Justin win.  It’s time to move on and be happy.”

Jess appears on your other side, “Dean is nothing like Justin. If something scares you he’ll be there for you just like at the Halloween party.  He won’t belittle you for it.  He would be very proud to be seen with you.  I’ve known Dean a long time Y/N, I haven’t ever seen him as happy as he is when he’s spending time with you.  We aren’t kidding when we say we see the two of you together.” 

“Thanks ladies, will you give me a minute.”  Heading to the restroom to regroup you clean up smudged makeup and try and calm yourself down.  Jess and Meg were right, it was time to move on.  You also needed to stop wrestling your feelings for Dean down.  You weren’t going to find a better guy than him anywhere. 

Walking back down the hallway you saw Dean coming in the front door, his face looked a bit red must have been cold out there.  Giving him a smile you walked his way, “Hey Dean you said you wanted to talk.”

“Oh yeah, it wasn’t important.  I was just going to see how your week is going. I really want to see if this guy makes the jump I’ll talk to you later.”

“Okay,”  You watched him head back to the living room.  A feeling in your gut told you something in that short conversation wasn’t right. 

11:50 you helped Meg and Jess carry in glasses of champagne to the living room getting ready for the countdown.  Meg made Cas turn on ‘Rockin New Year’s Eve Countdown’ that you all had been watching in the other room. 

 10..9..8..7..6..5..4..3..2..1.Happy New Year!! As you watched the couples around you kiss their significant other you turned to look at Dean who had walked away when you stood next to him before the countdown.  His eyes briefly met yours before quickly turning away.  You wished Charlie a Happy New Year before moving on to Meg and Jess, Dean had left the room before you reached him. Finally finding him in the kitchen with a beer.

“Happy New Year, Dean.  I hope you have a much better one than last year.”

“Yeah well it’s off to one hell of a start,” he snarled out.

“I’m sorry you feel that way.”  You weren’t exactly sure what was going on with him.  You were only minutes into the new year.

“Well I guess there is a lot I shouldn’t be feeling.  See ya Y/N.”  With that he grabbed his coat from the back of the chair quickly exiting the room, leaving a stunned you behind.

Starting the clean up in the kitchen you didn’t feel much like going back out and joining the rest of them.  Meg found you a little while later most of the food cleaned up and put away.  

“What are you doing in here?”

“Just picking up, I didn’t want you to worry about it.”

“You and Dean both disappeared; we thought you’d be making out somewhere.”

“Nope, just me,  He grabbed his coat. I don’t know where he went.”

Over the next week you tried to make plans to meet up with Dean, but he either ignored your calls and texts or sent one word replies.  It seemed he was too busy to get together with you right now.  That Saturday you were heading back to your apartment with Charlie when you ran into Sam and Jess in the elevator.  

“Hey Y/N, where’s Dean?” Sam asked you looking around.

“I haven’t seen him since the New Year’s party.  He’s been acting a little weird. He's not with me, I don’t know. Why do you think I’d know where he is?” 

Sam looked over at Jess before continuing, seeing her frown and shrug he reluctantly answered you.  “He said he had a date tonight.  We both thought it was with you.”

“No, not with me.”  You are fighting to keep a neutral face and not break down when you answer.  “Guess this goes to show we were only friends.  I got to go, talk to you guys later.”  Quickly exiting the elevator when it opened you rushed to your door with Charlie following behind.

Sam watched you go, he saw the hurt you were trying to hide and he felt so bad when he saw your face fall.  My brother’s an idiot he thought to himself.  

Once inside the safety of your apartment you paced from the living room to the kitchen and back again trying to calm down.  Charlie was standing by the door watching, waiting to see what you were going to do next.   Ten minutes later you were still pacing and Charlie answered the knock at your door.  Meg entered not noticing what you were doing yet.  

“Okay, I’m ready to talk about the groom's cake, Castiel is extremely excited you agreed to make that one.  I want you to know, I am fully expecting you to go home with the best man after my wedding.”

At that you lost the little composure you were holding onto throwing yourself down on the couch grabbing a throw pillow and screaming into it, before those screams turned to tears.

“Okay, I thought we were past denying our feelings for Dean.”

She couldn’t understand your blubbering through the tears so Charlie translated.  “She just found out from Sam that Dean’s on a date tonight.”

Meg picked up her phone dialing someone, “Are you home?  Then get over here now.  Y/N’s.”  Turning to Charlie still standing by the door, “Will you open that?”

Confused, Charlie did as she was asked pulling it open, just as Jess came rushing in.  Seeing you crying on the couch she rushed over to give you a hug.  “I’m so sorry, Sam and I were sure it was you.”

You cried into her shoulder trying to once again push down the emotions you had finally admitted for Dean.  Meg walked over to sit on the other side of you.  “When did this happen, and who’s the chick?  I texted Cas and he doesn’t know anything about it.”

“Sam asked Dean if he wanted to come over tonight and Dean said he had a big date tonight and couldn’t.  He didn’t mention a name so we both thought…”  She trailed off but looked down at you before looking back at Meg.

“What is he thinking? He’s..”

“It’s fine,” Your shaky voice cut Meg off before she could keep going.  “I’m just over reacting anyway.  I told you guys he didn’t see me as more than a friend.  He told me he didn’t want to get back out there and date.  I guess he just meant he didn’t want to date me.”   

Taking a deep breath you continued, “Justin was right I’m not worth it.  I would have just ruined things between us anyways. I ruin everything, that’s probably why Dean is dating someone else.  He’s tired of me ruining things for him.”

“What do you think you ruined?”  Meg wants to know.

“I don’t know but obviously something.”

“Oh honey, that’s not true at all, Dean couldn’t do any better than you.” Jess said, giving you another hug.

“It’s okay. This will be for the best.”

“Do you really believe that?”  Jess asked you.

“Eventually I will.”  Giving her one more hug you get up to get yourself a drink of water.  You glance at the picture frame sitting on your end table, laying it flat as you go by, willing the tears to stay away.  Blowing your nose before heading back you try to act like you have it put together.  Fake it till you make it right?

“You came over to talk wedding Meg, let’s talk about something happy.”

“It’s okay it can wait for another day.”

“No, I can wallow in my own self pity when I’m alone, it’s fine.”

The girls try their best to distract you for the evening and you let them think they are.  They don’t need to know that every other thought is Dean on a date with someone else.  You know this means things are going to have to change for you.  

Over the next week Jess and Meg both tried to get you out of your apartment in the evenings, but you kept finding excuses to avoid them.  One night you even had to leave your apartment so Jess would believe you actually were going out.  Granted you sat in your car for an hour in the parking lot, but at least she left you alone the rest of the night. You just didn’t feel right hanging out with them right now.  Yes, they were your friends, but you had gotten used to spending time with them along with Dean.  That wasn’t an option any more.  Dean was Sam’s brother and Cas’ best friend.  He wasn’t going to stay away from them.  You couldn’t handle seeing him with his new girlfriend right now so you stayed away.   Not to mention you would be the odd one out now, everyone else being in a relationship. 

 Speaking of the man, you never heard from him this week.  Nothing since Friday when you asked him if he wanted to come over or go out and grab dinner.  All you got was a text back with ‘Can’t.’  This was the longest you've gone without talking since you met.  You really missed your friend, but it looked like you would have to get used to that. 

The weekend after you found out about Dean’s new girl you were sitting on your couch watching Hallmark movies.  Why couldn’t things in your life work out like that.  Meet a great guy, he actually likes you, maybe there was a smidge of drama then happy ever after.  But your life wasn’t a romantic comedy.  You didn’t think you would ever get that happy ever after.  A knock interrupted your pity party for one.

Meg, Jess, and Charlie were on the other side, great they were teaming up now.  This meant you couldn’t use one of them as an excuse to the others.  Before you could even say anything Meg pushed the door open.

“Hi, we’re coming in.  Apparently you have been using the three  of us to tell the others you have plans with the other.  So if we are all together, you can’t avoid us.”

“I just wasn’t up for anything this week.”

“Well at least you got out of the here Thursday with Charlie,”  Jess remarked smiling at you. 

“No she didn’t,”  cut in Charlie.

Jess turned to look at you with raised brows and you looked at the floor.  “I may have gone and sat in my car so you would think I left.”

“Y/N!”

You just shrugged and walked back to the couch.  Jess and Charlie sat on either side of you while Meg stood in front of you.  “You need to get out of here and get your mind off of Dean.”  

“I do get out of here, I go to work.  I’ve even been to the grocery store and the gym.”

“Doesn’t count.  We are dragging you out of here tonight, nothing drastic, just dinner and friends.  Go change.”

“Do I have a say?”

“You can pick the restaurant.”

“Fine, give me a minute.”

As much as you didn’t want to admit it the girls were right.  You enjoyed the time out with them, and they successfully got your mind off of what’s his name.  Then Meg started talking about Jess’s birthday.  You completely forgot that it was coming up, and that she shared a birthday with Dean.

“We are having a get together at his house since it’s bigger.  Mary and John are coming up for the weekend, too.  We both have friends from work coming.  You three will all be there right?”

The other two readily agreed, you took a moment to think about it.  Besides Meg, Jess was your best friend, and at one point Dean was too.   It was actually his thirtieth birhday.  You really should go. “Yes, I will be there.  Is there anything you want me to bring?”

“I’d love anything you wanted to bring.”

“Okay, I’ll come up with something.”  

With the promise of attending the party the girls let up on you over the next week, letting you do your thing.  Going through your recipes you found the perfect dessert to take for Jess.  You knew the girl loved blueberries.  Deciding to play nice you even made something for the birthday boy.

Arriving at the party you knocked on the door and luckily Sam was the one who greeted you.  Giving you a genuine smile he hugged you before ushering you in.  Taking one of the desserts and gifts from you he led the way to the kitchen. Jess and Meg inside finishing up the food when you entered.  The Birthday girl rushing over to hug you.

“I’m so happy you came!”

“Happy Birthday Lady! I told you I would.”

“Yeah, but we weren’t so sure you would actually make it.”  Sticking your tongue out at her you went to set the deserts up. 

A few minutes later you heard Dean walk in followed by Mary.  She came over giving you a great  big hug.  

“So good to see you again, hunny.”

“It’s good to see you also Mary.  How have you been?”

“Good, good.  How about you?  Anything new, anything to share?”

“Not really, things are okay, just been working lately.”  She gave you a strange look before smiling at you.

Seeing Dean watching you from behind her you said hello.

“Y/N, hey.”  Walking closer, he looks at the table, “Did you bring pie?”

“Yeah, a cherry and a blueberry.”

“Oh awesome! Thank you.”

“No problem, Happy Birthday.”

Others started to arrive shortly and Jess and Dean both went into the living room to greet people.  As the party was underway you noticed a blonde attached to Dean’s side.  That must be the girlfriend, you thought.  Meg came up beside you, “I heard her name is Jo.  I guess he met her at the shop.”

“He’s mentioned her before.   He was with her the night of the Christmas party, but he told me they were just friends.  Guess that was a lie.” 

Doing your best to keep your distance you tried to enjoy your night.  Sam introduced you to Dean’s coworker Benny.  He seemed like a nice guy.  The two of you talked for a bit before he moved on.  Not realizing how close you were to Dean you hear Mary ask him who the girl was.  Turning you saw Jo walk back over then.

“I’m Jo, Dean’s girlfriend.” If you had been facing them you would have seen Dean’s eye go wide. 

Quickly walking off to find Jess you miss the rest of the conversation.  Finding your friend you wish her a happy birthday again, but claimed a bad headache and told her you will be heading out.  Grabbing your coat from the office you make a hasty exit before anyone can stop you. 

Dean’s Point of View 

I was surprised to see Y/N in the kitchen, but if I’m being honest it was really good to see her.  It hurt to know how she really felt about me.  Because of that, yes, I have been trying to distance myself, but I missed my friend.  I had not talked to her in two weeks.  Walking over to see what she brought I’m betting it something for Jess.  I wasn’t expecting to see the pies, oh my mouth started watering.  Missed that girl's baking so much, along with well pretty much everything else about her.  The doorbell started ringing so I headed out to answer it, not sure what else to say to Y/N.

Jo shows up shortly after the party starts.  She immediately attaches to my side.  I wish she would give me a little space. She has been like this since I asked her out.  I was supposed to have a boys night with Sam, Cas, and Benny last week.  We were at the sports bar downtown watching the game, had just ordered food.  Probably only been there twenty minutes. The next thing I know Jo is standing beside me.  When I asked her what she was doing here, she said she was just passing by and wanted to check in with me.  Honestly a simple text would have worked if that’s what she wanted, not that it was needed.  I thought she would leave after I introduced her to Sam and Cas, but she ended up sitting down on my lap and sticking around. Probably why they both left at half time.  Benny stayed a little longer, even he made a comment to Jo about finding her own seat.

 When I tried to make plans with Sam one night when she was closing the bar she insisted that I come in with her instead.  Apparently there is some creepy guy who comes around.  Hangs around outside some nights by her car.  Makes her really nervous.  I asked if she has called the cops, but she says he’s never around when they show up.  Every night she has worked I’ve ended up going in with her.  She told me how happy Bobby and Ellen were that I was around so nothing would happen.  I guess that’s what you do when you are dating someone right.  I don’t want her to think I’m useless.   

I watch Y/N as the night goes on, it seems like she is trying to avoid me.  I’m not really sure why she would be upset with me.  Every once in a while I will see her glancing over, but she quickly looks away.  I wonder what’s going on with her.  Heading into the kitchen for another drink, Jo follows close behind.  

“Here do you want a cookie?”  

She tries to hand me some store bought thing, “No, thank you. Y/N, made me pie. I’m going to wait till we cut into those before I have dessert.”

“You aren’t dating her, why would she be making you something?  I’m sure these cookies are better than some pie anyway.”

“She’s a good friend, she was being nice.  Actually nothing tops…. that cookie, I’m sure.”  If she wants me to eat that stupid cookie for some reason, I guess I will.  I assume I never mentioned my love of pie to her.

When I’m alone mom comes over and asks about who the girl with me is.  Before I can say anything Jo is right back here calling herself my girlfriend.  When I finally get over that shock I manage to respond.  “We have just gone out a few times.”  

“A few times?  Dean, honey we spend most nights together.”  I didn’t realize we were counting all the nights I had to sit at the bar to keep the guy away as dates.  

We have been together for two weeks, I didn’t realize it was going to be this much work.  Looking around I don’t see Y/N anywhere.  When Jess ushers everyone to the kitchen for cake, pie, ice cream and singing I still don’t see her.  I ask Meg as soon as I get the chance, I guess she told Jess she wasn’t feeling well and went home. 

I went to grab a slice of pie as mom was cutting everything and Jo pulled me away. “You don’t need that, I got us a piece of cake to share.”

“Cake, yea!” I’ll just grab some after she leaves.

Presents followed shortly.  Most of mine were over the hill, prank gifts.  

Jo gave me a ‘I have the best girlfriend’ shirt, and a picture of her, just awesome.  Do I really have to wear this?  The last  gift I opened was from Y/N.  I was again surprised after how I was avoiding her that she got me anything.  That’s just the kind of person she is, always thinking about others.  Opening it I found the blue ray box set of All Saint’s Day,  The DVD set I had was ruined by Lisa one night when she got mad at me.  I knew Y/N wasn’t a fan of the movies, but had offered to try and watch one of them with me when I came back from Kansas at Christmas.  We never got to do that. 

“My gift was your favorite right?”  Jo asks, wrapping herself around my arm.

“Ah, yeah, yeah it was.”  Giving her a smile I nodded my head not trusting to say anything else.  

As the party wound down and everyone except for my parents, Sam and Jess, had left I couldn’t be happier to have everyone out of the house.  Cas and Meg were some of the last to leave, usually they’d stick around but Cas said they needed to get going.  I think Meg is mad at me for some reason.  I don’t know if I’m frustrated or happy that Jo didn’t stick around to help clean up.  Deciding on happy for a bit of peace, I go to grab me some pie.  Looking at the table and in the refrigerator I can’t find it.  “Hey, where is the rest of the pie?”  

“Gone, it was very popular.  I have Y/N’s dishes in the dishwasher.  There is cake, the cookies your girlfriend bought and a little of the blueberry fluff Y/N made left.”  Mom answers, I swear her tone changed when she said girlfriend.  Nah, I must have been imagining it.

“Seriously, none left? I’ll take the blueberry, you can toss those cookies.” 

Sam and Jess left shortly after and dad went up to bed, leaving me in the living room with mom.  She sits across from me on the couch in silence.  Something's coming I can just tell, ten bucks says it has to do with Jo. 

“Well that was a surprise.”

“What’s that mom?”

“That girl being here, connected to your side.”

Ten bucks to me!  “I asked her out a couple weeks ago.  Her stepdad owns the shop I work at.”  

“When you told me you had a date last week, I was expecting Y/N.”

“Yeah that’s not going to be happening.”  She starts to say something else.  “Just drop it mom.  Please.  You were wrong about her.”   With that I went up to bed. 

Your apartment that night

You came home from Dean’s house grabbing the container of ice cream from the freezer and turning on the television.  You had no idea what you were even watching, you weren’t focused on that at all.  How could you be so stupid to fall for a guy that you were never going to be good enough for.  He only saw you as a friend, and that was just until he found a girlfriend. Now with the way he had been acting, you weren’t sure if he even needed you as a friend anymore. Putting the ice cream back in the freezer you were headed back to the couch when your eyes landed on Scooby.  The plush was sitting on the table next to the couch. He was a big reminder of what you couldn’t have.  Talking him into the office you set him in the closest with spare bedding. 

 “Sorry buddy I just can’t look at you right now.”   Leaving the room you went back and curled up on the couch with your blanket, ending up crying yourself to sleep there.   

A knock woke you the next morning, you were slightly disoriented from sleeping on the couch. Without thinking you headed for the door first, extremely surprised to see Mary Winchester on the other side.  

“Morning, oh honey are you alright?”

“Hi Mary, yeah I’m okay.  Are you here for me, or Sam and Jess?”

“I was bringing your dishes from yesterday back, and wanted to chat.  We didn’t get much of a chance yesterday.  Are you sure you’re alright?  You look upset.”

Oh yeah, how could you forget all the crying you did last night. No wonder she’s worried about you.  “Yeah, I’m sure.  Come on in.”  

Mary walked in ahead of you noticing the blankets on the couch like you had most likely slept there.  Pushing them to one side you gestured for her to sit down.  “Thank you for bringing those back, that was really nice of you.  I don't have any coffee, but can I get you juice, milk, or water?”

“No, I’m fine but thank you.”

“Okay, I’m going to go brush my teeth real quick I’ll be back.”  She chuckled as you rushed into your room.  Quickly brushing your teeth and splashing water on your face you grabbed a different sweatshirt to throw over your tshirt and headed back out to the living room. 

“Sorry to stop over unannounced, I didn’t mean to wake you up. John and I are leaving today and I wanted to talk to you first.”

“I was a little surprised to see but you’re fine, don’t worry about it.”

“I was surprised last night also, I had heard Dean was dating someone.  Honestly I thought it was going to be you.”      

Picking up a blanket to fold you used that as an excuse not to look at Mary.  “Dean doesn’t see me like that.  I was just a friend.  Trust me Dean deserves a much better girl than me.  I hope Jo can be that for him and make him happy.”

Mary wasn’t sure what to do with you, you were as negative about yourself as Dean.  But she was pleased to hear that you worried about Dean’s happiness. “Wait what do you mean was a friend?”

“Things have been strained between us since New Year’s Eve for some reason.  Then yesterday was the first I saw or talked to him since he started dating Jo.  I don’t think he wants me as a friend anymore.  Maybe that’s for the best right now.  It really hurts to see him with Jo, or anyone else,”  you finished your sentence in a whisper.

“Y/N, do you have feelings for Dean?” 

Out of blankets to fold you looked for something else, finding nothing you sat down on the couch.  “Yes, but I’m not going to do anything to mess up his relationship.  I know I’m the only one with them.”

Coming over and giving you a hug Mary whispers, “I’m not sure what’s going on with Dean right now.  I don’t ever want to hear you say you aren’t good enough again.  My son would be very lucky to have you.  Don’t write him off just yet.”

“Thank you Mary.”  A short while later she left having to get back to Dean’s.  You had a quiet rest of your Sunday at home, getting ready to start your work week.  The week seemed to drag on a bit.  You were really missing the random texts Dean used to send you.  They always made your day a bit brighter. 

Meg came over Friday with magazines notes, and a list of websites to go through.  Apparently as maid of honor your duty tonight was to try and help her find the best wedding favors.  Or at least narrow it down for her to show Cas.  Jess joined you a short time later.  You ordered a pizza and put in a movie while coming up with ideas for Meg.  You might not get married or find Mr. Right, but you could live vicariously through Meg and Jess these next few months.  

The wedding things put away you three were on the couch when Meg spoke up.  “Cas said he barely talks to Dean anymore.  Sees him even less.”

“Sam is so mad at him.  They have made plans to get together or hang out and Dean either has to cancel because Jo needs him, or she ends up tagging along.  When Dean asked him to come out tonight Sam told him he was too busy.  He didn’t want to have to put up with her.  I only met her at the party, but Sam’s not very fond of her.  Apparently she has some stalker-like guy who hangs around the bar, and she needs Dean to be there whenever she’s working so the guy won't try anything.”

“Why not call the cops or get a restraining order?  Cas is hoping it ends soon too.  He says Dean has been acting really weird since he started seeing Jo.”  Both turn to you for your opinion.

“Dean and I don’t talk anymore so I wouldn’t know.”  

“Wait,”  Jess sits up to look at you.  “I knew things were a little strained between you.  But you don’t even text anymore?  You guys were always going back and forth.”

“Other than briefly on your birthday, we haven’t talked since he started dating her.  It hasn’t been like it used to be between since New Year’s.”  Getting up to head into the kitchen you pause to get your emotions back in check.  It doesn’t matter one way or another to you if Dean keeps seeing her or not.  When you can believe that lie you will be all good. 

Thank you for reading!

Part 7

Tags  @talesmaniac89 @katehuntington @winchest09 @flamencodiva @whatareyousearchingfordean @waywardbeanie @deanwanddamons @smol-and-grumpy @emoryhemsworth @anathewierdo @malfoysqueen14 @superfanficnatural @jensengirl83 @atc74 @sandlee44 @akshi8278  @fantasydevil2002  @nervousfandom

Falling For You tags- @halesandy @abuavnee @hearteyesj2   @vicmc624​ @440mxs-wife​ @wonder-cole @maralisa124 @krazykelly @unicornqu33n17@bobbie3939 @cutestdolans @supernatural-love14 @dean-winchesters-gardian-angel @waywardwifey

[shirtlesssammy]

6x05: Live Free or Twihard

Then:

Vampires are real

Now:

At a gothy bar, a girl shows an ID and starts looking around. She takes a drink and starts walking around. She bumps into her presumed date. Later, they’re really bonding --or well he’s pressuring her to reveal more about herself than she feels comfortable. She agrees to show him more of her poetry, and in the process of pulling the sheets out, she gets a papercut. The guy looks away TOTALLY not interested.

Actually, he’s more interested than he should be and takes off for her sake. 

He comes back though, because he can’t stop thinking about her. He pulls out his best Edward line and tells her they can’t be together. Bella Kristin disagrees. He’s done BAD things, girl. But she’s 17! He shows her his fangs. It only excites her. He invites her to see his world. And a gross dude pops out of the alley to go to chow town on her neck. 

Dean gives Lisa a call, seeing if she’d like him to visit. She misses him --of course. 

Sam has a bunch of missing girls. They’ve got a case.

They head to interview a parent of one of the missing girls, Kristy. They check out her room to discover she’s REALLY into sparkly vampires. Dean’s little “wow” says it all. Sam finds the girl’s computer, while Dean entertains himself with reading the vamp books the girl was obsessed with.

They read the emails and find the location where the girl met her fate. 

Meanwhile, a blood transport van is robbed. 

Sam gets on the phone with Samuel. He confirms that they’re hunting vamps and they need to find the nest. Dean and Sam head inside the bar to scope the scene. They find three potential vamps (well, actually just two because one kisses another dude and Dean Bean, you don’t have to look so awkward.) 

They split up to follow their respective vamp. Sam ends up in a storage area and slices his vamp’s head off easy peasy. Because Sam Fucking Winchester is Sam Super Fucking Winchester without a soul. Dean heads to the alley to break up a totally normal couple just making out. The dude wasn’t actually a vamp --he just pretends to be to get laid.

Dean gets jumped by the longhaired vamp. Sam rushes into the alley to watch the vamp beat up Dean. He has plenty of time to stop it --but just watches with a cruel and curious smile on his face. He watches the vamp feed Dean his blood. The vamp takes off (THANKFULLY) before Sam can kill him. 

Dean’s a vampire, guys!

His transformation involves hypersensitivity to sound and light. He tells Sam that once Samuel gets there, he needs to kill him. He also wonders why Sam isn’t more freaked out. Sam just wants to know how he physically feels --cause that’s normal Samuel. 

Dean heads to the bathroom to check on his little baby fangs. They’re coming in nicely!

Also, he totally runs away and heads to Lisa’s place. He acts cryptic but tells Lisa, “Thanks, for everything.” (Remember when Cas said those exact words to Dean when HE was being cryptic but knew he’d never see him again? I do.) Dean then tells Lisa he’s got to go --he’s not going to talk about it. He doesn’t want to bring it home. She gets closer and demands that he tell her what’s going on. Dean takes off, but not before waking Ben. He comes closer to Dean and Dean shoves him away--hard.

Later, Grandpa Campbell scolds Sam for losing track of his brother. But, surprise! Dean is lurking next to the refrigerator. He double pinky swears that he didn’t feed. “You can relax, I didn’t drink anyone. But...I came close.”

Dean begs for a quick ending, but Samuel reveals that he has a vampire cure - as long as Dean doesn’t drink any human juice boxes. There’s just one catch: he has to get blood from the vampire who turned him. Dean departs, armed with dead man’s blood and a can-do attitude!

Samuel spends a moment looking at Sam suspiciously. Apparently they both discussed the vampire cure months ago! So why didn’t Sam save his brother? WHY INDEED. Samuel implies that Sam did it solely to get a man on the inside and help them track the alpha vampire. 

Dean encounters Edward Cullen in the grimy, dark hallways of the vampire lair. Sparklepants the Vampire Boy offers Dean a refreshing blood cooler before they sit down and watch Nickelodeon together. “I killed so many people on the way over here,” Dean boasts awkwardly, turning down the blood. He just can’t eat another bite! Dean gets the feature tour of the compound. He’s been tagged as a recruiter for the vamps, on account of his pretty face. 

Dean encounters his sire. The vamp reveals his dirty scheme. He keeps the captured and turned women locked up until they’re “compliant” (EW) and then sets them out to catch hot guys, who in turn set out to catch hot girls. Etcetera! Ah, the circle of life. 

The vamp leans in reeeeeeeaaaal close and asks Dean if he wants the “private tour.” GOOD GOD I am deceased. 

Dean pulls out the vial of dead man’s blood, but one errant drop escapes the syringe and the game is over. They grapple for control, and Dean looks like he’s about to lose. But whispering descends from above. All the vampires collapse to the ground and in an instant, Dean follows. He dreams of a series of images - little girls and vampires and gothic country imagery. A man appears in the vision - the alpha vamp. 

Dean swims to consciousness just as all the vamps try to ambush him. Heads meet the blood cannon. 

Sam and Samuel pull up outside of the lair. A vamp breaks their windshield. 

Dean continues to murder his way through an entire building of vampires while Sam and Samuel fight off windshield vamp. They head inside to see room after room of dead vampires. “Looks like your brother has some Campbell in him after all,” Samuel mutters. DAMN RIGHT HE DOES. (Some Mary Campbell, that is.) They finally find Dean sitting in contemplation with his boot resting gently on his sire’s severed head. 

For Male Modeling Science:

Later, they prepare the cure. Sam demands to know what Dean saw of the nest - what visions did he have? Cold as ICE, Sam! Dean chokes down the cure. He vomits a truly next level amount of bile and his flashbacks go in reverse because, you see, HIS VAMPIRISM IS REVERSING. The last thing Dean remembers is the smirk on Sam’s face as he got turned. 

He wakes, physically whole but mentally as scarred as ever! The next morning, Sam presses Dean again. He wants to know what Dean saw in the nest. WHAT GOTHIC COLLAGE?

Alone outside, Dean calls Lisa and then immediately chickens out on leaving a message. He checks in with Sam as they leave - he’ll always have his back, right? RIGHT????

The Sparkle Quotes of Doom:

These aren’t vampires. These are douchebags

You’re pretty!

 Want to read more? Check out our Recap Archive!

[popculturebuffet]

Amphiba: True Colors Review or FINALLY THE  FINALE

We’re finally here all you happy people! Ten Months, 36 episodes, 20 half hours, a lot of gay subtext, a lot of bloodshed, and a lot of build up have lead us all here! One absolutely STUFFED finale: A trust is betrayed, a rebllion is had, a conquerer rises and NOTHING will ever be the same.. and yes htat’s thrown around a lot but this is one of those times where NOTHING WILL BE THE SAME. This is that kind of finale folks. 

But before I can get into all the juicy stuff you’ve been waiting for there’s a few things to discuss.. and the first is obviously the fact we had to wait three goddamn extra weeks to get here after spending all season leading up to this. 

You all know the story by now. Hell I even angirly ranted about it when it happened and rightfully so. But frankly the colossal delay is going to be such an integral and permeant part of this episode and this show’s history that not talking about it in this review would do it a diservice: So to recap: The finale was posted to air  May 1st, a weak after “The Dinner/Battle of the Bands”. I had it set in my schedule, it showed up in that month’s press release of Disney Channel Episodes, We were all ready to go with all the tight and intense build up leading up to this. 

Then the worst happened and Disney aburbtly, and with a funny face image trying to play it off as a joke annoucned via it’s animation twitter the episode would be delayed. Now in fairness to the twitter person there, they were PROBABLY trying to help massage a blow... but seriously dude, read the room next time.  Thankfully creator Matt Braly stepped in and explained it was technical delays. After what happened the next day I ASSUMED he was just trying to cover for them as it would turn out the episode was finished.. turns out, and I had to edit the review to reflect this the truth was somewhere in the middle. Edits were more discussed, likely due to the episodes very violent nature, and the episode was given a content warning. Given what happens.. I can’t blame Disney for wanting one or for thinking of editing it.. but canblamehtem for the “Things that could’ve been brought to my attention YESTERDAY’ nature of the edist and the insuing delay. 

I can also blame them for leaking the episode on ITUNES. Yeah if they were REALLY concenred abotu content then they would’ve held off longer and not brought this up five minutes before it aired, delaying the episode for many. Hell I DEFENEDED them in the original version of this, but they had MONTHS of this episode being in production to fucking say something. WHy do this five mintues before it’s finished? 

It just smacks of laziness and overly panicy stuff. A content warning would’ve been FINE. You ahve it for racisim on Disney Plus, just put one here and call it a day. You haven’t objected to the horrifying content in the series up to this point why start NOW.  And they STILL never apologized. For any of this. For the leak, for the delay, never properly explaining the delay (Matt didn’t either.. but given how twitchy comapnies can be about what their creators say, I can’t blame him for not wanting to clarify it was a post credit’s thing till closer to airtime), just in general not giving a shit abotu the kids or adults watching this. Just because kids watch thiis dosen’t me older kids don’t have social media, and it dosen’t mean teens don’t. If you want to pretend us adults watching this don’t exist.. fine. It sucks but I can’t do anything. But do not do this shit to kids and then not go to them. And again Matt could’ve.. but it’s not his fucking job. His job is to make a show, help make sure it gets to air and be a sweeheart. YOURS is to make sure things run smoothly and when their is a hickup,get your house in order. 

Matt shoudln’t of HAD to beg people not to watch it. Various va’s for the show shoudln’t of HAD to record funny messages.. it was appricated but it’s not thier job to prevent this from spreading. It’s yours. It’s yours to open your damn eyes and see adults and older teens watch this stuff too and to head that shit off. This incident is going to stick in my craw for god knows how long and ALMOST convinced me not to cover Owl House weekly (I still woud’ve likely done a review on each half of the season). I ended up renegeing on that and will be starting regular coverage of that in June and continuing coverage of this show whenever it returns.. but it was close. 

And it’s ultimately YOU GUYS that kept me hanging in there. It was thanks to a Disney show this blog exists in the first place, and contiunes to get the bulk of it’s viewers. It’s how I got my patreon, biggest fan and bfinacial backer Kev. I’ts why I can do what I love, talking about and analyzing stuff I enjoy and ocasionally loathe. You guys came back week after week for my ducktales reviews and stayed for Amphibia. I”m sure i’ll get even more for Owl House. It’s thanks to all of you I can keep going despite the hardships, the lack of patreons, the long nights, the weird sleep schedules. I wouldn’t of made it through 20 weeks of awesome tv without you. So for you, and for myself, i’ll hang in there but I expect better Disney. And i’m damn well gonna get it. So join me under the cut as the world turns upside down.. and there are a LOT of spoilers. Seriously if you want to wait for the tv airing do not go under the cut

So we open with a flashback to 8 months ago, the day all this began: Marcy was working in the library on her cram classes, getting texts from both Sasha, who was excited about Anne’s birthday, and her own father who wants her to come home right away as there’s something important they need to discuss. 

But before she can a book about the strange and what not naturally slips out and Mar-Mar can’t help but thumb through it.. and as you were no doubt dreading.. finds the box which is said in a large tv friendly caption to lead to other worlds. 

Naturally Marcie is intrigued and snaps a pick and heads home... and we cut to the END of that conversation as she tearfully runs out of the house , refusing to accept what they’ve told her and her dad coming off hella unsympathetic with his overly harsh tone, especially since we DO find out what he told her... and it’s a lot to put on her and a lot to just say “accept because I helped make you for all of two unsatisfying minutes. “ 

So while running away she passes the box.. and sets the events from both the show’s opening and the flashback from the last finale in motion. Marcy sent them here on purpose.

Yeah needless to say I DIDN’T see this coming. And it seems obvious in hindsight: Marcy being the one most desperate to keep thier friendship together, as we’ll see at it’s worst through this episode, her barely mentioning going home, and most tellingly the only things she talks about from earth were Anne, Sasha and her dorky intrests. All the things closest to the heart and that she’s most likely to make out with.. but while Anne brings up earth stuff every so often even after getting more screen time in Season 2b... Marcy NEVER talks about that kind of stuff. She has her girlfriends and a real life fantasy novel right here... but she DOSEN’T miss her parents or earth itself. And given her life was already shown to be as an outcast with only two people carring about her, three with her mom now we know, who never REALLY fit in and whose on friends very clearly didn’t share her intrests.. it probably made it all the more tempting: a real adventure, an escape from her problems, and a way to start over: become who she always PLAYED and not who she was. Everything just.. snaps into place with this revelation and makes Marcy an all the more heartbreaking character... even more so soon enough when we find out what her overall plan was. 

But that’s half an episode away: for now our party returns on Joe to Newtopia.. though clumsly. Marcy admits that they probably can’t fit more people on him. But with this our heroes are ready to finish this story and with a plan since obviously they can’t just walk into town with two wanted crminals: Marcy will present the box and THEN sasha and grime, who will cloak themselves to avoid attracting attentions, with literal cloaks Marcy hasn’t made a cloaking device yet, so hopefully they’ll get a pardon. 

Inside Sprig and Anne talk, with Sprig admitnig he’s sad this is the last adventure.. but Anne has hope. After all they have a way home now and that portal goes both ways. She can hop back any time and vice versa. This sin’t goodbye.. it’s just goodbye for now. And i’ts something I genuinely didn’t think of.. and not just because Andrias’ shady actions and Sasha and Grime’s machinations meant this was NEVER going to end well. 

Speaking of Sasha and Grime’s machinations those come to a head: As our heroes enter the castle, greeted by Lady Olivia, and we get our typical end of the RPG speech from the “Good” king.... Sasha swipes the box and Grime uses the hammer to knock everyone off ballance. The coup the two have been cooking up has come to pass. 

Anne and Marcy’s reactions.. are telling: Anne is utterly pissed at the betryal and done with Sasha and Marcy is begging both sides to stop as this was not how it was supposed to end. Sasha tries to use a box as a baranging chip, and plans to destroy it if Andrias dosen’t surrender despite destroying her way home. Given it’s implied her home life isn’t great either and she gets to rule an empire instead of a school, it’s easy to see why. 

Grime stops him from calling her bluff though by wacking him in the shins and then hodling him at hammer point to get the military of Newtopia to stand down while his covert Toad agents reveal themselves and runamuck. Grime has won. 

Anne meanwhile is livid, with Sasha not quite getting why MAYBE Anne would once again feel betrayed that once again Sasha is trying to do everything her way and once again lied to her and harmed innocent people. Anne breaks off their friendship which deeply uspets Marcy.. who weirldy. ISN’T trying to talk Sasha out of this. After all she gets what she wanted anyway. She IS upset when Sasha tries to send them home for defiance.. but the box dosen’t work for her and she simply has the guards escort our heroes and Olivia out till she can figure this out. 

Naturally though Anne, being pissed, heartbroken and pissed, and yes that was indeed intentional, HEADBUTTS the nearest guard and breaks them out, with the planatrs starting to fight back. Their still outnumbered.. but help arrives 

Or rather the Amphibia equilvent as both wolverines are busy with prep for the Hellfire Gala. Yes it’s General Yunan, who Lady Olivia cuts off probably not for the first time. Your lucky that’s one of her turn on’s lady.

So our heroes sneak out and head to Sals, while the Toads wreck up the town. Marcy... is of course desperate to fix things, but figures it’s easy. All they have to do is free the king, stop the rest of the army from arriving, their an hour away, and cementing grime’s foothold, get her girlfriends to reconcile and fix the inherent power imbalance so a rebellion doesn’t’ happen again. 

But Anne rouses them: They may be a goofus, a quick witted kid, an out of touch old man, a literal baby, am etaphorical baby, and a nerd.. but their a BADASS Goofus, kid, old man, babies and nerd... and two other ladies the toads actually know and respect. They’ve fought worse: Canibals, princess bride references, theater bandits, chicken elder gods, Poly’s addiction to angry mobs and paste pot pete and come back stronger each time. They can do this. They might only be 8 strangers, but together they can fuck up this shit. or to have a previously mentioned buddy of mine sum it up

So with that it’s time to split up gang: Marcy, Hop Pop and Olivia will go free the king using Hop Pop’s acting skills...which actually works despite Olvia’s doubts. Polly, Yunan and Frobo will put the hammer down and give them hell, taking out the toads in the city and drawing all of them away from the gate where Spriganne will trigger it thus saving the day. 

Meanwhile Sasha is feeling discontent. She got everything she wanted.. but she didn’t think about what to DO with all that power. At home she could do all sorts of things ruling a school but now she’s lost one of the loves of her life. Without Anne and Marcy i’ts just empty. Even Grime’s utterly heartfelt gift of an emerald sword, he knew she always wanted to duel wield that has a heron on it, a sign of how they met and a truly sweet gesture can’t cheer her up. So Grime suggests redecorating and the first thing to go is a sappy mural of Andrias and his subjects. What they find UNDER it though is horrifying.. and i’ts surprisingly not a bunch of spiders like you’d expect.. but a mural of Andrius as some sort of horrible king with an army of robot frogs like Frobo, with a LOT of frog, toad and newt skeletons piled up. Sasha and Grime are glad they dodged that bullet.. only to find Anne scaling the tower with Sprig, the two naturally going to stop them.

 The two try and turn the wheel, but can’t as there’s a doorstop... one they DEFINTELY saw earlier when looking out the window of Sal’s.

Regardless they send Polly for that.. and the rematch begins. Sasha TRIES talking to Anne.. but given she stabbed her in the back AGAIN for incredbly petty reasons, that’s not going to work and the two get one hell of a fight. Beautifully animated and rife with emotion as the two clash with Sasha DESPERATLY trying to get Anne to stop for a second and listen and Anne rightly refusing, while we watching know our hero winning will spell DOOM for this world despite her trying to do the right thing. Anna and Brenda’s acting here is just TOP notch. In any other episode this would be the best part of it.. but we’re only getting warmed up.

While they fight, we get a surprising and awesome bout I did not see coming: Sprig Vs Grime. And it gives me Spider-Man vs Kingpin vibes really: A rotund but still far more powerful opponent versus a smaller but quicker one. And that’s how even more shockingly, Sprig comes out the WINNER. While Grime has the hammer and more strength and skill... Sprig has speed and thus gets Grime to whack himself with it. Granted he can’t use the thing and comically spins around afterword.. but it proves Grime’s racist thoughts about frogs wrong and leaves Anne free to turn the wheel once she beats Sasha. The invasion is thwarted.

But naturally given the ooky spooky mural and the other hints of ominous shit like the watcher with a thousand eyes, this isn’t the end. Back at the throne room, with Sasha and Grime as prisoners Anne gives Andrias the box despite sasha begging her not to. But rather than send her home right away.. he has a history lesson for her first. And nothing good ever starts with someone delaying helping you to give a sinister history lesson let me tell you.

We find out the while truth: Amphibia was once a technological empire powered by the box, and prosperity SEEMINGLY reigned, and Andrias, much like our heroines, had two close friends, a toad and a frog. But one day they betrayed him, abandoning him and seemingly stealing the box , leaving his mechanical marvels powerless and Andrias bitter and angry. Hence the whole revenge ploy. 

In an unsurprising and invincible-esque twist, he reveals his ancestors were not explorers but CONQUERERS and he intends to finish their work, placing the box on a pedestal that turns his castle into a flying fortress glowing blue. It only gets worse from there: the castle’s awakening also activates factories around Amphibia similar to the one we saw back in “Fort in the Road” that gave us Frobo and it turns out their dark purpose.. is to create armies of unstoppable soldiers to secure his dominon.... and spread it to the other worlds. The reason he didn’t send the girls home is he figures correctly Anne and the others will try and stop him from TAKING it. 

So yeah Anne’s reaction is very naturally...

And despite being outgunned, outmanned, outnumbered and outplanned she plans to make an all out stand. She realizes that her own fight with Sasha only allowed something FAR WORSE to take hold. She’s not WRONG for fighting her, Sasha was being a shithead taking over and did so for flimsy and selfish reasons and she had no reason to listen to her.. but had she at least thought over giving him the box and not simply given it to him to spite her none of this would be happening. So she and the plantars get ready for round 2, with Sasha having her back this time, and Grime having Sasha’s. It’s a really sweet moment, showing Sasha has realized just how much her own greedy and controlling ambitions have cost her and that she’s brought about something far worse thorugh them, and is ready to make amends and Grime as always ready to stand by the only true family he has. 

But before the carnage can begin.. Marcy stops them... and then tearfully turns to Andrias “This wasn’t our deal!”. Andrias, now not having to play nice, dosen’t care and cruelly points out of course he did: He would’ve said whatever it took to get her to fill the box and she did it. He also hints at Marcy’s dark secret, with both girls wondering what the hell he’s on about.. but clearly starting to piece it together, with Andrias cruelly toying with Marcy to tell them before he does.. and barely gives her any time before going ahead with it anyway, knowing she’d be unable to. And with this we get the best line of the episode and Keith david’s best delivery.. and given he makes a fucking seven course meal of the entire second act, yeah that’s a high bar.

"Did it ever occur to you — Anne, Sasha — that one of you knew more than she was letting on? That one of you might've gotten you stranded in Amphibia... on purpose?"

The line itself hits like a sledgehammer. We knew for the full episode she did this on purpose.. but we also knew at some point it was clearly going to come out and hurt them both.. and to see someone Marcy clearly saw as a better replacement dad, someone she thought cared about her and was offering her her dreams for no gain on his end cruelly tell them clearly for his own amusment as he dosen’t remotely see them as a threat.. it’s utterly chilling as it is heartbreakiing and horrifying. 

Naturally Anne and Sasha are upset, Sasha a bit baffled and Anne just utterly broken by this: She’d already been betrayed TWICE by the other love of her life.. now MARCY had betrayed her.. and WORSE? 

And it only gets worse as Marcy heartbreakingly reveals her motivation and what this was really all about: Her dad announced he got a new job and they were moving a state away.. and like I said he’s a prick. Not for moving, that happens and it sucks but for having no freaking empathy about it. Maybe if he took a parenting class earth wouldn’t be on the cusp of a robot invasion. Marcy was about to loose her girls and was desperate.... so naturally Andrias claimed to simply want to take them all with him on his journeys, obviously leading out the conquest and likely genocide part, so they could go on and on FOREVER. And this whole thing gave Anne the plantars so it’s not all bad right? Right? But it’s clear she’s trying to desperatly lie to herself this was all okay as she’s been doing ever since she started this all 8 months ago and Anne pointing out she misses her family, something Marcy never considered given her own reasons for leaving and how Sasha likely dosen’t have a happy family life herself. 

This.. this is Haley Tju’s finest hour. She’s done good voice work before, especially in this series but here, with Marcy’s anguish, desperation and guilt all leaking out as she tries to get her girlfriend not to turn away from her. it’s all just amazing heartbreaking stuff and I salute her and the animation does her fine acting a service and shows every bit of pain in the poor girls face. 

Anne naturally does turn away a bit and Marcy cries.. but Anne quickly recovers... while she obviously isn’t entirely ready to forgive Marcy JUST yet, it’s clear she wasn’t thinking straight and did all of this out of desperation... and that the hulking dickbag who betrayed them all and is gloating about all of this manipulated her, preying on her desperation and anguish to finish his plan.  Marcy fucked up big time, no question.. but ANDRIAS is the true monster here, and if he’s not stopped this world she’s grown to love and the one she left behind will BURN. Anne may be many things: impulsive, kinda weird, easy to anger.. but she is over all that a HERO. And there’s a villian to stop

Andrias, while not seeing them as remotely a threat, does admit this will probably be fun and the fight begins, with our heroes, including Marcy, easily besting the Obsdian Swarm.. as i’m calling them now. It’s a cools equence.. but ultimately futile. Andrias is FAR more powerful than he’s let on with the box. And shows it off by destroying toad tower before coming at them with a fire sowrd, easily swatting them aside like flies. They try their best to fight back but it’s not much use, and Andrias NEARLY crushes polly to death under his fist. Yes a fucking child. What a dick. 

Frobo saves him... and sadly this is the end for our new friend as Andrias is mildly amused that one of his creations glitched.. then smashes him into robotic paste. Polly rightfully calls him a monster and his response is as chilling as it is wonderfully dickish: “Don’t worry, your next”. 

Thankfully though she got out of the way.. because she has LEGS now. It’s also why I keep saying 8 months, though it’s likely more like 9 given it took a month to get to newtopia: 

The prophecy has come true! And while she stumbles for a second Polly quickly proves she can really move, she has an attitude and she’s the fastest thing alive by grabbing the box seemingly winning.. except Andrias has sprig in his fist and is going to crush or drop him ulness she stops. And despite Sprig BEGGING his sister to let him go for the sake of everyone else, like any good hero she naturally puts the box back. 

Anne begs for him to let Sprig go since he got what he wanted and he’s her best friend in this or any world... but all this does is insprie Andrias to DROP HIM OUT A WINDOW, bitter over his own past and eager to torture her some more. This really shows off who Andrias REALLY is now the mask is off; a sadistic tyrannical bully who relishes in making his victims really squirm, revels in malevolence and is just so damn gleeful about it: Not to say BIll Cipher levels more of a cold, cruel enjoyment of things. 

As I said earlier Keith David makes a motherfucking Seven Course Meal out of the second half of this episode, utterly stealing the show now he can play Andrias as he truly is: not skulng in the shadows with ominus hints he’s evil or pretending to be nice, but instead as a sadistic brute who delights in suffering and wants nothing less than everything under his boothill. in short he’s an AWESOME antagonist and while Keith David has played TREMENDOUS villains before, this one will easily be his best if the writing holds. Andrias is Keith David at his fucking best and proves the Disney legend has EVEYRTHING left in the tank even as he approaches 70′s. Jesus I fucking love this man. 

So this causes anne to retreat into herself, leaving us in a black void as Anne remembers all the good times.. and goes MOTHERFUCKING SUPER SAYIAN. Well more accurately super sayian god super sayian, or blueper sayian if you will, but still i’ts a n utterly striking sequence and a clear direct shout out with Anne getting her powers the same way Goku did: loosing someone to an utterly cruel bastard. Same with Gohan’s upgrade to super sayian 2. It’s just a truly striking sequence as she powers up in a FULL rage, DEMANDNIG he give him back. 

Andrais is stunned, clearly knowing this was something she was capable of but thought she could no longer do as the box shoudlv’e drained her of the ablility, while Hop Pop and Grime wonder if this is a human thing. 

So Anne WAILS on the fucker, easily besting a shocked andrias despite his best attempts.. but she tires out and he swats her aside, gleefully noting she dosen’t know how to control it. Sprig turns out to be okay though. Marcy went and saved him while Anne was rippig Andrias asunder.. and then activates the box. Sasha and Grime hold him off while Anne makes a run for it with the plantars while Andrias gives out your standard villian big no. Anne and Fam make it... but Marcy is taking a sec.. and that second gets her GUTTED. Not an exageration or me being a smart ass like usual.. Andrias RAN HER THROUGH WITH HIS SWORD. 

His only response is “Look what you made me too and Anne and crew are warped away, unable to save her. 

So we end with our heroes landing somewhere and Sprig wondering where they are... where they are is on the top of a car on a busy Los Angeles Freeway... and in front of two very weirded out humans. Anne is home. 

So now for the part that wasn’t in the original release apparently: The teaser.. aka THE MOTHERFUCKING SEASON 3 OPENING. 

Hell. Yes. Just a few quick personal notes before we hit the wrap up: I love how the season will be on earth, a nice change of pace, how the Boonchuy’s have very clearly warmly welcomed the plantars, the expanded cast at the title card, and how Disney just let them go ALL out for this one. They’ve clearly stopped being cheap assholes when it comes to letting intro’s change or at the very least got this was the very end of the series and thus important enough to gussie up. But yes the end is nigh.. and probably not till late this year if this year AT ALL And I will return for it. Well return to doing this show anyway, i’m not going anywhere. They’ll have to pry this blog from my cold dead hands. 

Final Thoughts:

This episode is the series best so far. My only honest complaint is the Toad Invasion comes and goes really quickly and I question why it was crammed into half the episode. Don’t get me wrong, Andrias’ rise needed the full 10 minutes, but I question why we dind’t get an episode before this settingit up and THEN have it happen over half an episode, epsecially since we spent an entire episode on getting the other toad barons involved only for ONE of them to show up for all of five minutes. 

Otherwise though? Yeah no notes. The cast is at the top of their damn game, with Brenda Song, Hailey Tju and Keith Motherfucking David as the standouts, the animatoin is likewise, and it pays off a thing or two you wouldn’t expect like the acting episode. This is a truly outstanding finale, one that has now joined other all time faviorite season finales such as “You’re In Control”, “Reunited”, “The Crossroads of Destiny”, and “Moonvasion”. I will be watching this again when it comes to Disney Plus. Masterful stuff.

As for the season as a whole.. this was a great season. While it did start a bit rocky with the road trip arc, which I’m still not a huge fan of as I feel it mostly wasted an awesome idea of them going on a world spanning roadtrip with some fairly weak episodes, with the exception of standouts “Truckstop Polly” and “Wax Museum”. 

But once we got to Netwopia it got better, with better spotlight episodes, the pacing picking up and Marcy joining our merry crew. And it hit it’s peak with the second half of the season: the return to wartwood effortlessly combined slice of life with the compelling temple episodes. It was also a nice break before the utter hell that arrived in the finale, but still nicely lead up to said finale.  This season may of STARTED bumpy but it finished at it’s highest point and with one epic finale to go it’s only going to get better from here. 

As for this blog the same holds true: Review wise next week i’ll be taking a break from normal reviews to do a week’s worth of Goofy based content in time for his birthday, from shorts, to goof troop, to hosue of mouse, to an obscure special, all leading up to the Disney Classic A Goofy Movie. So stick around.

And if that dosen’t do it for you I have an ongoing retrospective on the story arcs of ducktales season 2, i’m nearing the end of one on Scott Pilgrim and in the middle of one of The Life and Times of Scrogoe McDuck. and if you prefer weekly reviews, as I mentioned earlier offhandidly i’ll be covering the Owl House! LIke Amphibia i’m starting with Season 2, but just like with this show i’m excited as all hell and hope you’ll join me. And if you need even more I have a patreon, patreon.com/popculturebuffet, where I have exclusive reviews if you choose to back me as well as exciting stretch goals, one of which down the line is reviewing season one of this very show. So join it and if not that’s okay too, either way.. it’s been a pleasure. 

[kooksbliss]

– finishing line || jjk

→ pairing: racer!jungkook x reader

→ genre: strangers to lovers / smut (future) / fluff (future) / street racer au!

→ word count: 6.1k

→ summary: it was a normal, ordinary night out with your best friend, or so you thought. that was before she invited you to a street race, to which you caved into and went. there you met the oh so famous, jeon jungkook. 

→ warnings: hoseok makes an appearance / explicit language / mutual pinning / jungkook makes oc a hot, shy mess / pet names / teasing / this chapter is pretty sfw 

a/n: hi hi hi! hope everyone is having an amazing day <3 this will be more than one part but i don’t think this will be a very long series (i’m thinking around five chapters max) leave me suggestions or any ideas you would like me to write in my ask box! i’m down to do drabbles anytime, hope you all enjoy part one!!

— posted 04.15.2020

masterlist new masterlists | 01 | sneak peek of part 02 | 

You were tired; no, you were drained. Working black friday was no easy task, especially when you work in retail. You stretched your arms as you exited the employee break room after a long awaited break. Once you got back to the sales floor you went up to the cash register to clock back in from your break that’s when you heard someone scoff beside you. 

“It’s about time.” Hyuna stated. 

Hyuna is a co-worker of yours that well, happens to hate you for no reason, no reason you're aware of. She had been working with the company a little over a year before you got employed over the summer and ironically was placed to be your supervisor, meaning you had to be nice to her if you wanted to keep your job. 

“Sorry, Jaehyun needed some help with the stock.” You said as you punched your employee number into the system.

Jaehyun was also a supervisor but for the men’s department, he has been a close friend of yours since you started working here and knows about how Hyuna tends to treat you, unfortunately there's not much any of the two of you can do about it. 

“Well next time come straight out, Jaehyun is a big boy he can take care of himself. Now if you’ll excuse me I’ll be going on my break.” She said as she walked past you making sure to hit your right shoulder in the process. You looked up at the clock, thirty more minutes just thirty more minutes, you had been working for who knows how long and your feet had been begging for a rest.

Luckily since it was five in the morning there weren't too many people left in the store, but one thing you did know was that your sleeping schedule is fucked after tonight. Suddenly the chime sound from the bell that hung above the door rang out, you looked away from the clock about to greet the person who walked in, well that was until you saw who it was - to which you responded with a roll of your eyes.

“Come on don’t give me that look, y/n! You know you love me~”

“Jennie left about an hour ago, Hoseok.” 

Jennie is your best friend, you two have been friends since middle school and once her family moved next door, there was no separating the two of you. When you both graduated high school you both thought that it would be good for the both of you to have a change of scenery from the small town you lived in, that’s when you made the comment of moving out into the city, which Jennie happily agreed to. 

Jennie is from a wealthier family compared to your own she could afford going to university straight out of high school you on the other hand, didn’t have the financial support so you got this job and plan to work for another year or two before deciding on whether or not you are financially well off to go to university. She decided to move into an on-campus dorm while you found a decently well priced house, that was near your workplace and not too far from everything else, it’s been a year since you two decided to move into the city and you have loved every second of it, life was good.

“Actually I’m here for you, Jennie felt bad not being able to take you home after your shift so she asked me if I could.” Hoseok said as he walked to the side opposite of you at the checkout table.

Hoseok is Jennie’s boyfriend, they’ve been together for about eight months now and met in one of her classes freshman year. You're so glad she met him, you've never seen her happier and you know he’s good for her. As for you not being able to drive, well - a month ago some dickhead rear ended you and you’ve been waiting to see how much his insurance will cover, so you’ve been taking the bus a lot and thankfully your friends - well Jennie, has been taking you to work which is really the only place you go to outside of your house. 

“Oh, okay. Thanks Hoseok, you didn’t have to.” You said feeling bad about him having to be up at five am to take you home.

“It’s no problem, y/n! You know I’m someone you can count on.” Hoseok said as he walked around the store. “You still have thirty mintues right?”

“Yeah, sorry for making you wait.” 

“Y/n. I already said it wasn't a problem. Anyways I wanted to start my Christmas shopping early.”

As you were about to respond a lady came to the cash register.

Your shift was finally over, you clocked out and grabbed your coat from the back thankfully you didn't run into Hyuna, which is a win in your book. You caught up with Hoseok, who was waiting for you near the entrance. 

“You ready?” Hoseok asked as he looked up from his phone.

“Yep!” You exclaimed as you two left the store, looking down at his hands you noticed that he did in fact buy some things. 

Walking across the parking lot you held your coat closer to your body, the crisp November air was chilly especially in the morning. “Thank you again Hoseok.” 

“Of course, y/n. Do you want anything before we head back?”

You were hungry but, you were just too tired to put that before your sleep. “No, that’s okay I’m super tired from tonight.” Hoseok just nodded as you two reached his car, he clicked the door open and the two of you got in. It felt really nice to sit down, your legs were aching and you wanted nothing more than to lay in your bed and sleep the rest of the day away. 

The ride to your house was nice the two of you caught up and made small talk, soon you were arriving at your house. “Well, thanks for the ride! Be sure to have a safe drive back home.” 

“Of course y/n, I’ll be sure to text Jennie to tell her you made it back home safely and that I didn’t kill you.” He joked. You smiled back as you wished him a good night - well morning. Unlocking the door to your house you quickly took your shoes off and entered your bathroom where you took a quick shower, changing into your sweats and t-shirt entering your bedroom. Charging your phone you placed it on your bedside table as you laid down, sleep slowly consuming your thoughts. 

Feeling the sunlight pour into your bedroom you slowly began to wake up. Sitting up you stretch your arms up into the air and reach over to check your phone as the time reads “3:00”. You moan and groan but finally got up to do something productive for the rest of the Friday you had left. You were looking forward to the relaxing weekend you had planned ahead since you got a bit of a break from work as you didn’t have to go until Monday. 

Doing your typical morning routine you went to the kitchen to make an omelet, grabbing your phone off the counter you put your music on shuffle and started making your dish while dancing and singing along to the song.

Once you were done cooking you gave yourself a pat-on-the-back for not burning the house down. Pouring yourself a glass of juice while sitting down on the barstool you started eating your meal while scrolling down your feed liking some memes.

Ping.

You then got a message from Jennie.

You did say you wanted to be productive but really, now all you wanted to do is binge watch your show and wait for your outing with jennie.

Looking at your phone the time read “6:23” you finished the last few minutes of your show and turned off your tv and went to get ready. After you had dressed casually in booties, jeans, sweater, coat and your purse you topped your look off with light makeup. Opening the the bus app you see when the next bus would be coming and headed towards the stop near your house. 

The sun was already setting making you feel uneasy, you weren’t normally out at this time in the dark and definitely not alone. You sped up and felt your nerves calm once you reached the crowded area of the city. 

Waiting for the bus you sat on the bench and got your phone out of your pocket to check where the bus was, saying it was three minutes away.

Once the bus stopped, you got on, paid the amount and walked towards the back and sat down waiting for the stop that was closest to the restaurant. 

You arrived at the restaurant after walking about ten minutes from where the bus had left you at. You called Jennie to ask if she was already there since it was 7:15. She said that she got caught up in traffic and would be there soon and to go ahead and get a table. 

You went inside feeling your once cold cheeks warm up with the heat of the atmosphere, sounds filled your ears and the restaurant's signature dish scent reached your nose. It was busy as usual, you walked up to the main table to get a table for two, the hostess seated you in a booth towards the back. 

“WHAT?” You shouted in the middle of the restaurant causing many bystanders to give you the side eye. “Shush! Lower your voice, y/n!” Jennie whispered loudly.

Jennie had arrived around thirty minutes ago and the two of you had been chatting it up and she suddenly dropped a huge bomb on you. 

“...Wait, so Hoseok is a-”

“A street racer, yeah.” She started, “I know it sounds totally crazy and I know how you steer away from those sorts of things but, you know he’s a good guy a-and it’s been killing me not telling you.”

You stayed silent, never did you ever think that Hoseok was a racer and your mind was still trying to comprehend everything your friend was telling you. 

“And the reason why I’m telling you is because - now y/n don’t freak out or close yourself out but,” biting her bottom lip she continued, “ I wanted you to go to one of the races with me. It’s been killing me having this secret from you, and that’s only if you want to go! I’m not trying to force you either...”

You were not expecting this at all. Your friend was dating a street racer… and now she’s inviting you to one of their very much illegal races. What should you say? You want to say no you really do, it’s not your scene, plus you really just wanted to relax this weekend. 

“When is it?” You finally spoke after a good minute of silence.

“Tomorrow night.” Jennie responded, “Y/n, I just wanted to tell you about Hoseok, and he told me I should ask you if you wanted to go with us. You don’t have to say yes, and there's many more races anyways if you do decide to want to come to one.” 

You thought about what she said, and were happy that they would even think to invite you. “I’ll - I’ll think about and let you know for tomorrow if that’s alright.” 

“Yes of course y/n! Take your time. Anyways did I tell you about what my chemistry professor said yesterday? He totally was like-”

You got lost into your thoughts as you thought about what she said, normally if someone were to ask you to go to a street race you would’ve said no on the spot but for some strange reason you did want to go but you know you shouldn’t.

“Like, that’s just so rude to say and I don’t even understand why he would bring that up in the first place!” Jennie sighed.

The two of you spent the rest of the night gossiping about each of your co-workers as well as the show you were watching, but in the back of your mind you kept thinking about what she said. 

Jennie took you back home and you two wished each other goodnight. 

Walking into your house you went to your bathroom and did your nighttime routine, changed into some pjs and you promised yourself you were just going to watch two more episodes of your show. Did that happen? No, of course not. What you did however is manage to fall asleep on the couch. 

Waking up with an awful cramp in your neck you arose from the couch with a groan. “Gosh I really shouldn’t have slept on the couch.” You spoke to yourself. Today you weren’t feeling up to cook so you just had your favorite cereal and texted Jennie.

Looking down at your phone you sighed. Should you go? A part of you really wants to know about the racing scene and to see. You needed some thrill in your life and maybe this is it, this is your chance. 

You may have seemed cool, calm, and collected over text but in reality you were freaking out. You just agreed you were going to a street race in less than thirteen hours when your previous plans were to binge watch the show you’ve been watching for another season, a lot more tame for what you're now signing yourself onto. But for some reason you did want to go - it's been a long time since you've gone out anywhere else outside of your work. 

Your thoughts were racing, maybe it won't be as bad as you think it is, maybe the media just exaggerates what the reality is, maybe it’s actually super lame. You tried to make yourself feel better about your decision but you can’t help the anxious feeling inside your lower stomach.

It’s 9:49 pm and you've been staring at your closet for the last two hours, at least that’s what it felt like - it was really more like ten minutes, but still! What were you supposed to wear to these kind of things? 

You supposed wearing black is the most common thing, at least you hoped. You digged into your closet and found a pair of high waisted black joggers with vertical lines on the sides of them, a black halter, some all white sneakers and a large oversized jean jacket.  You then went to your bathroom and tried to make yourself somewhat presentable, with some light makeup and styled your hair to your liking. 

You checked your phone for the time “10:42” you felt your heart accelerate, you were excited, nervous, and anxious all at once. 

One minute soon became two, then three, and soon it was already 11:00. Your nerves were on edge. Suddenly your phone rang and you flew up three feet in the air, with shaky hands you picked up your phone Jennie’s contact lit up the screen and you answered. 

“Hey Jennie!” You said trying to sound excited to hide your nerves.

“Hey! I’m outside! Oh, and make sure to bring your ID.” 

“O-okay sure thing!” You said as you began to awkwardly laugh. You grabbed your phone and your small wallet that you slipped into the front pocket of your joggers since you didn’t want to take a purse. 

Well here goes nothing. 

After driving for what seemed like 20 minutes from your house you arrived in a secluded area where there was a pay toll like entrance and a huge line of cars wanting to go in.

“Uh, Jennie? How many people actually come to these things?” You said being genuinely surprised by how many people are lined up behind the entrance. 

“Hm. I don’t really know the exact numbers but it varies to who actually races, if they’re a fan favorite, a newbie, stuff like that.”

You supposed that made sense but still you didn’t think that there would be so many people, you’re assuming that Hoseok and his friends are fan favorite racers. 

It took 15 minutes from you two to make it to the pay toll.

“IDs?” A deep voice rang out. 

Jennie waited for you to get yours out of your wallet and then handed the man both IDs. He checked the two and looked back up at the both of you, then handed Jennie two white bands, as well as the IDs.

“Thank you.” Jennie said as the toll’s gate rose up and drove off, 

“This is so exciting! How are you feeling y/n?”

How are you feeling? You really didn’t know, it was a strange feeling that’s for sure.

“Good, just… nervous.” You softly chuckled as you looked down at your hands that you curled on your lap.

“That’s totally understandable, I was too when I came to see the first race. I wanted to be a supportive girlfriend but I actually ended up liking it.” Jennie said as the two of you arrived at a graveled parking lot, there were cars parked everywhere and you could hear the distant sound of people talking and the car's engines.

“Here you’ll need to put this on.” Jennie said as she put the white band on your wrist and you did the same for her. 

“Thanks.” You said as the two of you got out of the car.

The cold crisp air nipped at your cheeks as soon as you got out. You hugged the jacket closer to your body and met up with Jennie on the other side of the car.

“Okay! Let’s go!” Jennie said as she looped her arm around yours.

After walking for about four minutes you reached a huge crowd of people, once you two had successfully made it past the crowd you could now see the large narrow street that disappeared into the distance.

Jennie then started walking towards the left where there were a lot less people, and stood two large men in front of a pathway.

“Uh, Jennie?” You said as you cuddled closer to her - what is she doing?

“I’m with Hoseok.” Jennie ignored your questioning and spoke to the men.

“What’s the code?” Said the man on the right. Jennie then whispered what you assumed to be the code to one of the men, they both looked at each other and spread apart making room for the two of you to continue walking on the pathway. 

“Uh, what was that about? Where are we even going?” You asked Jennie once you two were a good distance from the men.

“Sorry if that freaked you out, but basically where we are going is like the VIP area for the racers and those are the bodyguards, the racers are the only ones that know the code but they can tell people too, which is why I know it because of Hoseok.” Jennie said as you two approahed two buildings, one was like an open pit stop area for the cars and the other was like a clubhouse - they really take this street racing seriously huh?

“Oh, I see. So do all the racers hang out over here?” You said as you started hearing the sounds of people getting louder and louder. 

“Yep! Hoseok is probably in his car now, getting ready for his race against Jungkook.” 

Jungkook? That name was unfamiliar to you. 

“Who’s Jungkook?” You said a bit confused.

“Oh! That’s right I forget that you don't know him, well you can meet him after the race,” She said pulling her phone out checking the time, “It’s already 12:27? The race starts in three minutes!” Jennie exclaimed and grabbed your arm taking you to the pit stop area. 

Entering the pit stop area there were a lot of people inside making the once quiet outdoors loud with excitement. You then noticed that each of the racers had their own separate rooms and the people inside were either the guests or the actual pit crew of the racer, well it’s good to know they actually have proper protection and safety. 

The racers had a gold plaque above the open room that they were in, Hoseok’s was the fourth room and you happened to notice that Jungkook’s was right next to Hoseok’s. 

“Come on y/n it’s about to start, I’m so excited!!” Jennie pulled your arm onto a couch that was placed in Hoseok’s room. A loud engine sound rang out making you jump up in your seat, it sounded so close you didn’t realise how close you actually were to the street. 

The cars were not in your view of distance yet but you could hear just how close they were, then you saw two cars one red and one black stop right in front of the room you were in. 

Out of nowhere a very slim, tall girl dressed in basically swimwear and heels holding two flags stood in the middle of the two cars, just seeing what she was dressed in made you shiver. An abrupt voice from an intercom then broke the silence.

“Welcome, welcome ladies and gentlemen, hope everyone is doing well on this cool November night. Tonight’s race is a treat for all of you, we got two of our hottest, favorite racers but I’m sure the lot of you already know that. These two don’t need any sort of introduction, of course I’m talking about Jung Hoseok-” the crowd roared out, cheers and screams rang, you felt your eardrums were going to burst. “And Jeon Jungkook.” If possible you heard the crowd scream even louder. 

“Now, let’s get this race started shall we?” The intercomer’s voice faded out and the girl lifted the two flags, “three, two, one!” She said as she lowered the flags. 

The two cars then accelerated passed her, you got up from the couch and moved to the opening of the room and saw the two cars faintly in the distance.

“They go super fast don’t they? I think Hoseok said something about going 130 mph.” That actually scared you - the fast you’ve ever gone was like 90.

“Dang, and how long does it take for them to come back?” You said as you looked down at the black and white checkered finish line that was a couple feet away from you. 

“Hm, it depends really but it usually takes eight to ten minutes. But in the meantime I like getting some snacks while I wait.” She said turning around to go to the popcorn machine that was next to the couch.

You were still looking towards the distance when you happened to look over to Jungkook’s room, there were at least five girls inside, one of which made eye contact with you and flipped you off, you quickly looked away and met up with Jennie again on the couch.

“So uh, this Jungkook guy? He seems to be a ladies man.” You said while reaching over to steal some of her popcorn.

“Hey! Well yeah, he most definitely is. Why do you ask?” Jennie’s eyes suddenly lit up as she smirked, “Y/n are you trying to get laid? I mean I thought you would be one to wait but I mean Jungkook probably wouldn’t mind fucking a virg-”

“Woah, woah Jennie!” You say as your cheeks and ears start getting red. “N-no well I - well for one I’m not a virgin! And two I asked because when I happened to look over to his room there were a lot of girls but also this one girl gave me her middle finger!” You said in almost a pouty matter. 

“Wait, you’re not a virgin? Not that it’s a bad thing if you are but, you never told me that you lost your virginity.” Jennie said a bit surprised and honestly you don’t blame her. Anyone who knows you probably thinks you haven't got a freaky bone in your body. “But as far as the girl who flipped you off - that was probably Lisa for some reason she thinks that her and Jungkook are together when he himself has made it clear that he’s not into her in that way. She even got jealous of me before she found out I was with Hoseok and not Jungkook.” 

“Oh, then maybe that’s why she flipped me off, but I don’t even know him. A-and about that I uh, lost it the night of junior prom with my date.” You said looking anywhere but her, for some reason you always get shy talking about sexual things, also you didn’t see the hype around it your first time wasn’t as magical as you thought it would have been and people hyped sex up so much you just thought it would be different, you didn’t even climax!

“Oh well maybe you can tell me about it at a better time-” The sound cars’ engines could be heard again and Jennie jumped up. 

“Come on! Let’s see who’s in the lead!” Grabbing your arm the two of you stepped into the open area of the room to where you can see the cars in the distance but on the opposite of which they started. The black car seemed to be the one in the lead but not by much.

In a matter of seconds it seemed, the two cars then passed the finish line, but it was so close that neither you or Jennie could tell who won.

“Well, well, well ladies and gentlemen it seems that this race was indeed a close one, but winning by three seconds more, Jeon Jungkook won tonight’s race. Be sure to stick around to see your favorite racers, that’s all for tonight folks have a good night.” The intercomer wished his goodnights and what was left was the cheers from the crowd. 

The sound of the car door opening reverted your attention to the two racers, Hoseok was the first one to come out of the red one, that meant that Jungkook’s was the black one. You and Jennie waved over to Hoseok as he smiled and waved back.

You looked over to the black car once again only to see the girls you saw in the room along with Lisa were swarming him before he even got a chance to get out. Then you heard the car door opening and you felt the world stop.

Jungkook removed his helmet as he flashed a smile and one of the girls, the one you were told was Lisa then wrapped her arms around him. Then you felt your heart in your throat, he looked at you at least you think he looked at you, regardless you blushed and looked away from what seemed to be his stare directed towards you. 

Hoseok then came up to Jennie and kissed her, “Honey, that was a close good race, but you did good.” Jennie said with a smile.

“Thank you, baby.” He said as he leaned back down to plant another kiss on her lips. You felt so awkward, it was like you were third wheeling, you just looked at the ground trying not to make eye contact with your best friend’s makeout session.

“Okay, okay we get it lovebirds.” An unfamiliar voice said, causing you to look up.

And there he was. Jungkook was absolutely breathtaking, you never thought that someone could look this good close up. You were so mesmerized that you didn’t realize you were staring.

“Didn’t your parents ever tell you it was rude to stare, sweetheart?” Jungkook said to you to which you didn’t even reply until you felt Jennie’s and Hoseok’s eyes on you too.

“O-oh I’m sorry.” You said looking down, this is why you don’t go out, you just don’t fit in. You were jizzing your pants just looking at the man who doesn’t want anything to do with you, or even knows your name as a matter of fact. 

“Aw, sweetie that’s alright. No need to get all shy on me, I don’t bite unless-”  

“Jungkooookie!~” Lisa ran up to the group cutting off whatever Jungkook was going to say and hung onto him, “That was such a good race! I knew you would win, no offense Hoseok.” 

“Yeah, none take-” Hoseok started but Lisa, you supposed has a habit of cutting people off.

“So Jungkookie, do you want to go out for dinner with me? It can be a celebratory thing, I even have dessert for you whenever we get to your place.” She said as she sent a wink his way. You could only imagine what she meant making your face red with the thought.

“Actually I might have to cancel-” He answered, removing her arms around his torso. “I was thinking about going with Hoseok, Jennie and-” He paused looking to you. “What’s your name sweetheart, I’ve never seen you around here?” 

You felt your heart stuck in your throat anytime he would even breathe in your direction, the more seconds passed the more you felt yourself grow hot.

“I-it’s y/n.” You said as you mentally slapped yourself for stuttering. “And uh, it’s my first time to a race.”

Jungkook hummed. “Ah, I see. What a pretty name for such a pretty girl.” He said with such sincerity, looking straight into your eyes. You really thought you were going to faint, was he really saying this to you? 

“You're joking. Jungkook, there’s no way you would rather go with them, her, rather than going with me?” He didn’t answer but instead kept staring at you, while you just stared back with wide eyes. 

“Jungkook!” He finally tugged his eyes away from you as Lisa exclaimed and pulled onto his arm.

“Actually I think I would, and I will. Maybe another time hm?” Jungkook said as he looked over to Hoseok. “What do you say? Want to treat me to a celebratory dinner, loser.” He said in a joking matter directed to Hoseok.

“Since you won and I’m such a good friend, I’ll treat you for tonight.” Hoseok said.

“Great-” Jungkook started, “You’re coming right y/n?”

“O-oh I don’t - it’s late a-and-” 

“She’d love to, Jungkook.” Jennie jumped in, you gave her “the look” to which she ignored. “What? Come on, you were taking some of my popcorn earlier, surely you're hungry.”

She was right you were hungry but just thinking about being in a room with Jungkook made you already want to die in a hole from embarrassment, you don't even know the guy and he has such an impact on you. 

“Fine, fine. I’ll go too.” You said still looking at Jennie missing the way Jungkook’s eyes lit up. 

“Uh, what about me Jungkookie? I thoug-” Lisa started, 

“Actually Lisa, can we have a rain check? I want to spend some time with my friends.” 

“Ugh, whatever. You know where to find me when reality hits you.” Lisa said looking at you as she rolled her eyes and walked away with a huff.

“Sounds good, let’s all meet at the restaurant. Jungkook you drove here right?” Jennie asked.

“I did, I drove Hoseok here as well.” Jungkook answered. 

“Hm, well Hoseok can come with me and, y/n, why don’t you go with Jungkook?”

Your eyes almost just shot out of your eyes, was she serious? You’d rather go with them and feel like a third-wheel rather than go in a vehicle alone, with him. You could already see it, you making a fool of yourself.

You felt everyone’s eyes on you as they awaited your response. But you didn’t want to be rude and it’s just a 20 minute car ride, it won’t be that bad, at least you hoped. 

“Uh, yeah sure, if he doesn’t mind.” You said looking over to him only finding him already looking at you. You felt your heart rate increase, something about how he looks at you makes you feel strange, and you couldn’t tell if that was a good or bad thing.

“Of course I don’t mind babygirl.” He saids with a slight smirk walking towards you whereas you felt yourself heat up with the pet name. “Now, shall we?” 

The walk to Jungkook’s car was short and quiet, maybe he came to the earth revolving revelation that you really weren’t that special and that he’s wasting his time. Being captivated in your thoughts you didn’t even notice that Jungkook, who was beside you, stopped walking.

“Woah, woah babygirl, are you already trying to escape?” Jungkook said with a chuckle. 

“Huh?” You turned around with a confused expression painted onto your face. You then noticed that he stopped at a parked car with keys in his hands. “W-well how was I supposed to know this was your car!” You said walk towards his car.

Jungkook put his hands up against his chest as a surrender, “Yes, you’re right, my fault.” Walking to the other side of the car you open the door still very nervous due to the fact that you’re about to be in a confined space with him.

Whipping around to put your seatbelt on, you felt your phone vibrate, causing you to accidentally drop it in the cup holder between the two of you. Reaching over to get your phone, Jungkook did the same thing causing the two of you to rub your hands against each other. “S-sorry.” You said as you pulled your hand away, still feeling his hand lingering next to yours, it’s almost scary how your body reacts towards him. Man you really needed to get laid again. 

“No worries it is your phone after all.” Jungkook said as he held your phone up, he didn’t mean to look down at your phone but he just happened to, “Hm, who’s Kyle?” Kyle… Kyle??! Why is he messaging you, you grabbed the phone out of his hand and looked down at the message. Just a simple “Hey” was displayed on your screen, why is he messaging you after all these years?

“Oh, he’s nobody just someone I went to high school prom with, I really don’t know why he’s messaging me.” You said as you looked down confused at your phone, but decided not to respond. 

“So do you know where we’re going?” Jungkook rang out, “Oh! Not yet but let me text Jennie.” You responded. As you waited for her response you felt this awkward tension as you looked at the plain grassy field in front of you. “So, uh Jungkook?” You said turning to look towards him, “What got you into racing?”

“Hm, we haven’t even gone out and you’re already asking for my life’s story?” You suddenly felt super invasive, “Sorry I didn’t mean to seem nosy.” You said as you look away, staring back towards the field. You felt cold fingertips graze the side of your right cheek as Jungkook turned you to look towards him. “You didn’t babygirl, I just- don’t really like to talk about it.” He said as he stares at you, you begin to blush, surely he could feel it as his hands are gripping your face. You felt electric, you never met someone that had such an effect on you and you didn’t really know why. You knew you really have, but you just couldn’t resist as your eyes moved down from his eyes and onto his lips, he must have seen this as he then began to move towards you.

“J-jungkook…” He stops moving and just stares into you, removing his hands away. Jungkook cleared his throat looking straight on as you stayed in the same position, shocked. You almost just kissed a man you didn’t even know, it’s strange - you don’t even know him yet it feels so right being with him. Maybe it was only you that felt this way but you could have sworn you could see a rosy hue on his cheeks. 

Ping. 

You felt your phone vibrate as you got another message, this time from Jennie.  

You choked on your own spit as you read the message in your head, you were going to kill her.

“Woah, what’s wrong are you okay?” Jungkook said as he looked over to you, “Y-yeah uh, Jennie said that something came up so it’s just us two, y-you can just drop me off if you like. We don’t have to do anything-”

“Y/n. It’s fine, I don’t mind, really.” He said as he put the car in reverse, “Now, let’s go get something to eat babygirl.” 

taglist: @krystle1990, @lurkerarmy​, @olivialovemason88​ @eclivpses @hinawariinoue97 @chimshoe95​ — (let me know if you would like to be added!)

© kooksbliss - all rights reserved

[nonawaaa]

Lovers Series: Forsaken Story 

1, 2, 3 , 4

Sakura feels sick. So sick of what happened. It's been a month since she confessed which left her mad, confused and heartbroken. How could this happen? She was sure she had a chance.

"Dinner was wonderful Sasuke-kun, thank you for driving me home," Sakura smiles, she gave him a coy smile, not to say that she has been blushing the entire time they were driving in silence.

"Hn, thank you for coming,"

Sakura went out of the car and stood before the car door still opened. Her heart is pounding as Sasuke looks at her with a smile, getting ready to leave and just waiting for her to close the car door.

"Uhm… Sasuke-kun I ha- I have been wanting to tell you…" Sasuke looks at her confused, waiting for what she is about to say. What a shitty way to start a confession. He is still waiting and she is still standing. A minute has gone by and they look like they are having a staring competition.

"Sakur-?"

"Sasuke-kun I like you, I really really like you," She cuts him off and says it so fast but her words are easy to understand. She says those words looking at him straight in the eye, her whole body almost blushing which is evident because of her very red face. Sasuke stares at her, first with a smile, but that smile slowly turned into a serious face, no emotion at all. Sakura is confused, did she ruined their night? Not at all right? They have been hanging out for months now, she's sure he got her signals.

Sasuke's eyes turns toward the windshield of the car, he looks forward still with no emotion at his face. Sakura don't know what to do, she just stands there, waiting for him to talk, waiting for a response. Suddenly Sasuke starts the engine which made Sakura step backwards from the car.

"I'm sorry Sakura…"

That was the last thing she heard from him before she slammed the car door closed and rushed inside her dorm. She didn't heard from him after her failed confession, she tried to talk to him, she really tried, she went to his friends, she calls his number, she waits for him by the campus gate wishing maybe she can see him and get some closure about what happened but nothing happened, he was always away or gone or any other excuse as to why she can't see him. It was like Uchiha Sasuke vanished.

'He doesn't want to see you, he doesn't like you, that's your closure dumbass,' the voice in her head said to her with pity in her voice.

The week after the confession went by so fast that she was not sure what happened. It was like her mind and body was in auto-pilot. Finals was coming that week and her mind and body just studied and slept, she didn't cry, she doesn't have the time.

The week after when she was done with school was when everything hit her. That was when she looked for a way to see him, that was when she shed her tears for him. Her emotions hit her like a truck she didn't saw coming, she didn't know that she was holding back her emotions. She didn't torture herself though, she knew better than that, she ate and slept even when its hard but she can't deny how heartbroken she was. Her parents started calling her as they haven't heard from her for a while, after hearing her mother talk to her she broke down, she let out all the tears she was holding back, she was broken. Since the school year was done, Sakura has about a month and a half of vacation, her parents suggested that she go home to their hometown.

The third week she was supposed to go home but she chose to postponed it, she was still looking for a way to see him. She wants her closure. She deserves a closure. Why did he reject her? Why did he just left? She knew that he always noticed her feeling for him but why did he chose to lead her on and then reject her. But God is busy for Sakura right now, she can't find him, she might have just filed a missing person report just to see him. She was getting better though, her tears shed now comes her anger. She is not mad at him for leading her on, she was mad at her self for expecting, she was mad at her self for jumping to conclusions after conclusions.

Now in her fourth week, she started packing her things she's going to bring back home by the end of the week. She promised to her self that by the time she's on her way home she will not bring any negative emotion with her, she is going home to rest.

"Did you start packing already forehead?" Ino called her all of the sudden. As broken as she is right now, her friend is also going through something and she is so thankful for a friend like Ino. They didn't need to see each other to know that both are going through something painful, but they will always be there for each other.

"Yes, ma'am I have,"

"Very good Ms. Straight A student. It's good that you chose to go home for awhile but I'm kind if sad that we won't be spending the vacation together,"

"Why? Are you not going home too?" Sakura ask her friend with concern, she knows Ino also needs a break from all that has been going on with her.

"I can't, I need to start my final project for next school year so I need to stay near the campus,"

"That early?!"

"Don't you remember that we need to make a couture runaway for the final year, I need to make at least five gowns!"

"Wow good luck with that Ms. Fashion Designer,"

After the call with Ino, Sakura went back to packing her things. She's bringing home the clothes that are rarely used, some books from her 1st year which is just laying around her dorm, some gifts and the things she will be needing. The last she was going to pack was the 1st year books, she got the boxes ready but when she was about to put the books one book fell from her hands and some notes fell together with other things. As she was picking up the papers, she noticed three polaroid pictures.

The first picture was a picture of her taken by Ino on their first day at the campus with 'good luck mixing some medicines Dr. Haruno!' written below. She laughed at the picture and caption. They looked so young back then, she looked so young and innocent, she even need to tell her age whenever she's introducing herself to someone because they all thought she was 15.

The second picture was her parents taken by her, it was taken during her 2nd year when she visited, that was the last time she visited home, about a year ago. She took the picture as a sign that her going home was a good choice, she needs rest.

The last picture is another picture of her but this time she was studying, 'Dr. Haruno' reads the hand written note below, it was taken by Sasuke. This was their first study session in their 3rd year. She just stared at the picture, she expects tears falling but none came, she smiled. She bittersweetly smile at the picture.

'He's love was a secret she was hoping, dreaming, dying to keep,'

The truth is, she knows that moving on was not going to do any good for her. There isn't really a thing to move on to, they're just friends, were friends, nothing more, nothing less.

"What am I going to do now Sasuke-kun huh?" she said to the picture as if she was talking to him.

"I really do love you, you know,"

"I was begging for you to take my hand basically, I was ready if you were even to break my plans, but seems like God didn't want us to be together,"

"Seems like you didn't like the thought of us being together,"

Sakura continuedly talk to the picture as she was walking towards her bed to lay down. As she lay down, she looked at the ceiling and put the picture in her chest.

"I'm going to be happy Sasuke-kun. I'm going to be happy with my friends, my family, alone- I mean if given the chance I want it to be with you but if not, I want to be happy for myself," she said while looking at the ceiling. After 10 minutes of staring blankly, she felt the urge to start packing again, now with more determination than ever.

"I'm gonna do it Sasuke-kun, I'm gonna be HAPPY! Nothing less than that remember that!" she shouts as she stands up to her bed. She rushes to the last book that was needed to be pack, put everything together, tied the box shut, and she look at her mirror, she's beautiful.

She looks for her polaroid camera in her drawers, she is sure its in there somewhere, she wants to take a picture. After she found the camera, she set it up and point it to her mirror, showing her own reflection, and she smiled, her packing her things is shown through the mirror also.

'Click'

She waits for the picture to show at the polaroid, as the picture is appearing, she felt alive again. She is seeing her own reflection, she is seeing herself, her beautiful, smart, intelligent self. She didn't write a note below yet, she is waiting for the perfect timing to do that. She cleans everything up and get ready for bed, as she closes her eyes, she knows one thing.

'Tomorrow, I'm going to be happy'

Thank you so much for reading! The next update will be the end for the Forsaken Story also I hope you enjoyed this chapter（￣︶￣）↗