#I forgot that the update was today and I was totally taken aback when I entered in Duel Links

[astralhope]

I'm loving this

This is absolutely my favorite thing of the new UI

[toshis-puppycat]

Hello Again Part Four

A/n: so… hi. I’m back and well I’m back in class too (off campus thankfully), but I have like maybe 2 semesters left now??? Idk I just know I’m like 91% done with my bachelor’s degree. I figured since I got some time why not put part four out there. And don’t worry Unfortunately will be updated soon too so keep an eye out 😉 I made myself sad writing this but I hope yall enjoy.

Summary: Shouto and you have a talk about Endeavor and well you’re not happy about that, and well you’re still not ready to talk to All Might. Its a whole mess right now. Thankfully Aizawa might give you something else to focus on. Let you ignore your problems help others.

Word Count: ~6k

☆☆☆☆☆

Part Four

“Hatred is in your blood! You are Endeavor’s son!” You heard Yoarashi yell at Todoroki.  It made your blood boil a little. He was not just Endeavor’s son and you could practically feel Todoroki’s rage at Yoarashi’s words as well. Was he really letting his hatred for Endeavor get in the way of him getting his license?  Yoarashi was still yelling at Todoroki. His “cold-blooded father”? Jesus how much did he fuck up before you came back? It seemed like children who weren’t even related to him hated his guts. You ran until the injured bystanders were safely away from the chaos.

“Everyone! This should be far enough. We can put up a barrier to keep these people safe and make sure none of the villains can enter!” You yelled at the other candidates, they all nodded and proceeded to make a barrier with their quirks and a few made sure to guard around them. Keep the injured safe and make sure they can safely be led in. But first. “Deku! There was someone else still there with Todoroki and Yoarashi! We need to get him to safety.” You said to the younger boy. He nodded his head, determination being the only emotion you could see. You held back your flinch. He has the same look. Was your only thought before you immediately pushed it away. Now wasn’t the time. You both ran back to the area Gang Orca was in, seeing the rush of flames being pushed by the wind and headed straight for Shindo! 

Deku, thank god for him being able to run faster, quickly picking up Shindo and running away. Not before looking at the the two who almost let Shindo be burned and going, “Dammit. What are you two doing?!” You felt the same. But pushed away the anger, and quickly prepared yourself for him to make his way back so you could heal Shindo. Watching him hit the floor, made you wince. You could make sure he was okay and then heal Shindo from any brain damage he could have at this moment. You hear Yoarashi scream, Gang Orca decided to take care of them now you supposed. You’ll help them after Shindo, no doubt that Todoroki would be next. But you saw Yoarashi falling. He was so high up before, and now he was falling too quickly. You used your quirk and shot water forward, making sure he could be caught and safely brought to the ground. You couldn’t heal him until you were closer though. That had to do for now. You could see the sidekicks quickly coming to the area, Deku and Shindo were close enough for you to heal him! 

“I’ll take care of this.” You heard him say before he put his hands on the ground and made the ground quake. Stopping the villains from coming any closer. You quickly ran to them, placing your hands on him and have your quirk do its magic.

“I thought you couldn’t move because of his blast.” You heard Deku say. Shindo gave you a look at the feeling of your hands on his arm, he wasn’t as tense anymore. 

“My extremities are still pretty numb, but I’ll bounce back. Soundwave aren’t that bad. Not much different from my vibrations.” He lost the pained look on his face. “So I’ve built up a pretty good tolerance to them. Might be the first time I’ve been thankful for that recoil. Anyway. I was trying to get a surprise attack in on that whale! And those two first years ruined it.” He said, looking beyond frustrated. Izuku just looked a little taken aback.

“Shindo you were out before they came to the area. Do not blame my students.” You said calmly.

He looked a little sheepish at you calling him out, but continued, “I’ve tripped the henchmen. Now you make sure they’re out of the game. We’ll split up and get the remaining injured to the shelter.” He said, you could see Deku get those familiar green sparks around him before quickly running through the ruined area. 

“Okay Shindo do you need to be healed anymore? Or will you be okay? I know you may be used to it but I can still heal you if needed.” You said, but then a burst of wind and fire rose from the area that you knew Gang Orca was with Todoroki and Yoarashi. Shindo nodded. 

“I should be alright, thank you.” He looked more relaxed. You saw your students quickly running to the area as well, they surrounded the henchmen nearby. You helped Shindo get on his feet. 

“We need to get you out of here. You’ve done enough. There are others here to help now.” He almost scowled at you, but the look you gave him left no argument. And you two left as quickly as possible to the evacuation area. It looked like most of the HUC people were evacuated, the test would be over soon. When you two made it to the area you heard a buzzer sound.

“Um, yeah, so, at this time, all of the HUC members who were deployed have been rescued from the disaster zone. It may seem anticlimactic, but with this, the provisional licensing exam has officially been completed. After we tally the scores, we’ll announce the results here in the arena. Anyone injured should go to the infirmary. The rest of you are free to change clothes and wait wherever you like.” Mera said, you gave a sigh of relief. 

“Okay, time for you to go to the infirmary.” You said. “And no, you’re going. I can’t heal everything ya know.” You smiled at the younger hero, he gave you a tired look. You helped him to the infirmary and quickly dropped him off, you needed to change into more comfortable attire. 

☆☆☆☆☆

“Okay. Everyone. Thanks for your hard work in todays exam.” Mera began, you all looked towards the podium. “Now, before I announce the results. I should probably explain the way we evaluated you. Between the HUC, and those of us at the Heros Public Safety Commission, we had a two-fold demerit system that we used to determine your total scores. In other words, we were evaluating you based on how few mistakes you made in a crisis situation. Anyway, the names of those who passed are listed here in alphabetical order. Keep my words in mind as you search the screen for your name.” Mera continued, moving his arm towards a large screen, the names automatically flashing up. You quickly searched for your name, finding it fairly quickly. Y/l/n Y/n. You felt yourself smile, you did it. You could hear all of the students exclaiming in relief. It looked like they all passed! But then you felt it. The frustration coming off of Bakugo and you quickly searched for his name in the list. Bakugo, Katsuki wasn’t on the list. As you searched, neither were Yoarashi, Inasa or Todoroki, Shouto. You almost winced at the yelling that occurred with Yoarashi and Bakugo. One being frustrated with himself and the other… well he was very upset that he didn’t pass. Todoroki seemed to be lost in thought after noticing he didn’t pass.

“Todoroki.” You heard, Yoarashi walking to him. You held yourself back from walking forward and just watched as the two staired at each other for a moment before Yoarashi bend down in apology slamming his head into the ground once more. You moved forward in that moment, wincing as Todoroki moved back in shock. “I’m sorry!” Yoarashi yelled. “Its my fault you didn’t pass the licensing exam. My focus was too narrow minded. Forgive me!" 

Todoroki had a passive look, before softening slightly. He looked ashamed for a moment before saying, "You’re fine. I was the one who got us off to a bad start.”

“But, still–!”

Todoroki cut him off, “And thanks to the things you said to me, I have a lot to think about.”

Ashido was shocked at the fact Todoroki failed, you felt so proud though. You missed so much of this kid’s life and he’s already learned a valuable lesson. The personal feelings had to be let go, in order for someone to be who they want to be. Then you remembered you forgot to heal Yoarashi, he was already gone, probably headed to the infirmary instead.

“So, next we’ll give you the printouts of your results. They include a breakdown of your scores, so you’ll know exactly what areas you need to improve going forward.” You could hear the excited chatter of the students around you. “Y/l/n.” You heard, turning to face the member of the HPSC. He handed you the paper. You looked it over. Not many points were taken off for you it seemed, but to be fair you know how to deal with civilians and how to keep villains away. The few years of experience you had before coming forward helped you more than you’d like to admit. “We lopped off points when you did something wrong. Fall below 50, and you were done. These demerits are itemized on your results forms, as you’ll see, so I’d look at them.” You could hear Iida saying something about being thankful for the evidence about what to improve on. “Anyway, moving forward, those of you who passed can exercise the same authority as pro heros, but only during emergency situations. Except of course the one who just needed to renew their license. In other words, fighting villains, saving the victims of criminal acts or accidents. You may act using your best judgment, with no direct orders. Keep in mind that your every action from now on carries with it a deep responsibility toward bettering our society, and that the world is watching you. I’m sure you’re aware that All Might, our greatest hero, no longer has his incredible power. One of the reasons crime in this country has been so low is due to his presence. With that deterrent gone, criminals are sure to become bolder and more widespread. Expect the balance we currently have in our world to be destroyed, and for things to change quickly. You young people will be the hope for our future. It’s imperative that you become exemplary heros. That your reputations grow to suppress crime as did his. Remember, the license you earned today is provisional, and you still have much to do, except for the one who renewed theirs of course. I would like for you to think of yourselves as fledglings, and be even more diligent in your studies. And as for those who fell short and did not pass. We don’t have time for you to feel bitter about your loss. Instead, we offer you a chance to redeem yourselves. After you attend a three-month-long special course and pass an individual test, we plan to issue a provisional license to those of you who failed as well.” Mera said, you could hear all the students who failed cheer at the revelation. Mera continued on, “In order for us to reach the idyllic future that I just spoke of, we’re going to need as many good heros on the streets as we can get. The first round was one to weed people out. But we would like to grow the 100 selected in that test as much as possible. That’s why we watched you all until the end. So we could see for ourselves that you each have promise. That once your shortcomings are corrected, you have the potential to be as great as your fellow classmates. This special course will keep you busy, as it will run concurrently with your normal studies. You’re welcome to retake the exam in April if you prefer to wait.” You could hear Bakugo yelling “Oh, like hell!” And turned over to look at Todoroki, Iida and Midoryia said they were rooting for him. These kids were one step closer to becoming the heros they wanted to be, and you were going to be able to watch them grow. 

☆☆☆☆☆

You all received your licenses. You were stopped by Mera just before you left, he asked you if you could attend the event for the next hero rankings along with perhaps the extra lessons for the students who failed. You were a good hero, and they wanted to honor you and well it might help students seeing you there, you took the test with them after all. You smiled at the man and just said “There’s no need for all of that, I’m happy to go. But I must decline the offer to honor what I’ve done. It was my job, and I wouldn’t have done anything differently.” They accepted and you confirmed your attendance for both events. You walked out, seeing Aizawa and Ms. Joke just outside talking. Joint training would definitely be a good idea. You saw Midoryia excitedly ask a shiketsu student about their training, you smiled. He’s a great kid. 

☆☆☆☆☆

The students were gathered in the common room, excitedly chattering and talking about how classes would start the next day. 

“Everyone, make sure you don’t stay up too late tonight and well. Celebrate a little if you’d like. I’ll be in my room if any of you need me.” You said, you saw Yaoyorozu and Iida nod at your statement and smiled at the two. They’d know when to come to you thankfully. You left for your room, but not before hearing Bakugo tell Midoryia to meet him “out front later”. It made you pause for a second. You needed to talk to Aizawa about that. Bakugo went through a lot already. A slime villain attempting to kill him, being kidnapped at the training camp. He needed some help, his explosive personality could only excuse some of his reactions. Todoroki stopped you just before you entered your room. You looked to him, and he gestured to the room, silently asking for permission to talk alone. You let him in. It was time to have that conversation. You hoped it wasn’t as bad as you could feel it was.

☆☆☆☆☆

It was bad. He told you everything. How his father married his mother, how he married her for her quirk and you’d never felt so disgusted with yourself and with him. You asked him about Rei and he said that it just seemed right and he wanted to just be married. You should have known. But then his son told you the true purpose, creating the perfect child. One that would defeat All Might. And you felt so furious. How dare he? How fucking dare he do that to his family? Like he didn’t remember the immense pressure his parents forced on him. It startled the younger boy when you fell to your knees in a bow. Apologies coming from you with no stop. You looked up at the young boy, the child who had been failed by you and by his father. You were furious, but you pushed that emotion down, along with your feeling of self depreciation. You really just believed him. That easily, because he was your childhood friend? Father was right. Even with that quirk, you’re a stupid girl. You asked Todoroki if you could also apologize to his family, he looked a bit shocked. Not expecting it perhaps? But you felt responsible, after all you should have known he was acting fishy when you found out he was married through another source instead of him. Todoroki only said it wasn’t your fault, giving a small smile. He did appreciate it, and said he would speak to his siblings about you. If they even knew about you. But it seemed like he was happy to have you on his side, and that you believed him over knowing his father since childhood. You let him out of the room, and after he left you wept. 

☆☆☆☆☆

It was after curfew, and you knew when everyone went to bed with being so close to the common room. Bakugo and Midoryia were going to talk. But you weren’t so sure about it being a good idea at the moment. You have to tell Aizawa, you started making your way to his room. You caught Aizawa just after he left his room thankfully and walked with him to the doors. The both of you bumped into All Might as soon as you exited the building, 

“All Might?” You asked, your voice didn’t crack nor did you feel any tears coming forward. He looked startled for a moment. Like he forgot that you were there or that you also lived on campus. 

“Ah, Aizawa,  Y/n.” He said, you just nodded in response. You tried to ignore the feeling in your chest. It wasn’t the time to think about it but, well, it felt a lot like heartbreak.

☆☆☆☆☆

You were avoiding him, he wasn’t stupid. He could tell something changed. You weren’t around him anymore, you’d happen to leave the room to do something when he would enter. It was obvious you knew that you two needed to talk. He wanted to beg you at this point, he wanted to pull you close and beg you.

“Midoriya and Bakugo. Why am I not surprised to hear that. I understand they’re at the practice field.” Aizawa said.

“Yes I wanted to catch you before you went. I’ve known those two since before they came to U.A. And I’ve given the pair quite a bit of thought. Will you leave them to me for now? I’ll bring them back.” All Might asked. Aizawa nodded and looked at you, the two of you were going to get the two boys but now… 

“I’ll heal them when you get back.” You said. And he had to leave, you weren’t going to walk with him to get the two students. He’ll try to talk to you after everything is taken care of. After All Might left Aizawa gave you a look and sighed.

“What did you need to tell me?” He asked after All Might left. 

“I believe Bakugo needs therapy.” You began, walking back inside.

☆☆☆☆☆

It took them a while to get back. Must have taken a while to find them and be able to stop their fight. You should’ve gone and helped him- you stopped the thought. You winced looking at the two boys wrapped in Aizawas’ capture weapon. 

“You fought the night you finished the preliminary hero licensing exam? I’m glad to see you two have so much energy.” He said, and boy were you glad you graduated 20 years before this. Aizawa would’ve popped a blood vessel. 

“Aizawa, wait, hold up with those restraints. It’s my fault that they spared in the first place.” All Might said, and Aizawa gave him a look that screamed what the hell. 

“Your fault? And how it that?” He asked, All Might moved forward, to whisper in Aizawa’s ear. After he was finished whispering, Aizawa let his capture weapon loosen and it fell from the two as you allowed your quirk to work. They weren’t terribly injured thankfully. “I understand that they felt they had to break the rules. But this isn’t something I can just ignore. There must be a suitable punishment. Who threw the first punch?” He asked.

“I did.” Bakugo said, he sounded pissed and tired. You didn’t give any look to the two boys. 

“I also went pretty hard. It wasn’t just him.” Midoryia said.

“You’re both on house arrest. Four days for Bakugo and three for Midoryia. During that time, you’ll clean all the common areas in the dorm, morning and night. Plus, I want a written apology.” Aizawa said, pulling his capture weapon away completely. “Y/n?” You turned to face him

“They weren’t injured much. Just scrapes, I just had to clean them.” You said. Then you turned to the two boys once more. “If either of you are injured, or if a previous injury hurts, please, let Recovery Girl or I know. And we can help you.” The two boys nodded at you.

Aizawa sighed, and All Might finally let his hands fall to his side. “That’s all! Go.” He told the two boys. And they left. You were about to leave the room as well, but All Might stopped you, grabbing your arm gently. It left you two alone, you weren’t ready for this. Not now.

“Y/n-” he began, but you cut him off, you still weren’t facing him.

“We should really head to bed now. It’s late and classes start back up tomorrow.” You said. 

“Y/n, we need to-”

“I can’t.” You said, your voice cracked a little, and the barrier you made was cracking, slowly crumbling. If he tried talking to you, well you don’t think you could handle actually hearing him say that Midoriya is his kid or that he was with someone and didn’t know how to tell you. Or didn’t want to tell you yet. Hearing your voice crack made him let you go, and you quickly left the room. You didn’t let any tears fall until you were in the safety of your room. You didn’t sleep that night. 

☆☆☆☆☆

There was one good thing about your struggle with sleeping regularly, you were able to do some research on what kind of heros Toshinori and Enji were like. Toshinori was, of course, one of the best heros, he was number one as long as you’d been gone, a symbol of peace. Enji was number 2, and well… he was a good hero. He was good at his job, he caught villains. But… you thought he’s so angry. He looks furious when he’s fighting, and what if he’d injured the people around him? It’s like he doesn’t care. The top searches even pointed it out to you. The people thought he was terrifying, they didn’t like him. Again just how much did he fuck up for people to dislike him this much. He’s always had a temper, one that you excused for a passion. One that screamed, I want to protect people. But now… watching how he worked… it wasn’t passion. It was just a bad temper that’s gotten out of control enough times for the public to know and well fear it. I need to talk to Todoroki. I need to get his siblings out of that house, away from their father. You thought of leaving your room and making your way to the school building. You just saw Iida feeling “the dilemma of being a class rep”, poor boy. Then you saw another student antagonizing your students.

“I heard a little rumor about Class 1-A.” You heard him begin, “Two people! You had two people fail the licensing exam, you losers!” He yelled, and he looked a little crazed.

You heard Sero say his name was Monoma. And Kaminari said he was “just as unhinged as usual”. Your students antagonize him as well, Kirishima saying he must’ve been the only one to fail in his class just like in their final before you came. He didn’t actually all of class 1-B passed their licensing exam. It made you proud, even though you didn’t see anyone’s growth.

Monoma’s gaze was on you now. “And a new student who wasn’t even in your class! Even she passed!” He started, and it looked like he was going to continue but you cut it off before he could.

“Class 1-B good job on getting your licenses.” Most of them beamed at the praise. “And I’m not a student. I’m a pro hero, that’s an assistant at U.A for the time being.” You said, then you looked towards the Monoma. “Monoma, I do hope you understand that being a hero isn’t a competition. And if you think of it as that, maybe you shouldn’t be a hero.” You said, he winced at the tone and so did the rest of class 1-B. All you could even think about with that was Endeavor. A competition. Saving people isn’t a competition. One of his classmates cut into the conversation thankfully, having a harsh statement thrown at him needed the distraction anyways.

“Accordin’ ta teacher Vlad, we’ll have classes together this semester– doesn’t that sound like it’ll be fun? I’m looking forward to it.” She said, smiling. Her posture took on a cheery form. It was adorable, until you saw Monoma whispering in her ear. Her posture changed again into a more “lets go!” pose and she said “Touch me and I’ll pummel you till yo mama doesn’t know ya.” You noticed Monoma laughing nearby and sighed, closing your eyes a bit. At least Aizawa knew what would happen with his class. The laughing stopped and another student in 1-B said “stop filling her mind with crazy.” God you were too tired for this apparently. You moved forward to the classroom. You weren’t going to go to the assembly they were having, so you just stuck with preparing the classroom, whatever needed to be done.

☆☆☆☆☆

“Okay, starting today we’ll resume our regular classes and training schedule. I know a lot has happened recently, however, you need to switch gears and focus on your school duties. We’re lecturing today, but this semester you’ll have even harsher training than before.” Aizawa stated, Ashido said something to Asui but Aizawa just said “Like to share, Ashido?” Interrupting the girls question. Asui interrupted Ashidos’ panic though.

“Excuse me, sir may I ask a question?” You started spacing out, only coming back to when Mic entered the room. And Aizawa pulled you away.

“Y/n. I have to ask you for some assistance. There is a case I’m going to be working on with other pro heros, and we may need you on hand for defense and healing.” He began, you followed along just nodding your head. It’d be good to do something like this. Get the hang of everything again. 

“I’d be happy to help Aizawa.” You said, and he nodded. 

“You should meet with Nighteye soon then. He’s the one at the head of the planning.” He said, and you nodded. 

☆☆☆☆☆

“Y/n sensei?” Todoroki called out that night. You looked over to the younger boy. “My sister asked if I could come over tomorrow. And she said father asked if you could come as well.” He said and you nodded.

“I would love to go, Todoroki. Thank you for letting me know.” You said, and he nodded back.

“Thank you y/n sensei.” And with that he left to go to his room.

Well, seems like you’re going to be beating Endeavor up much sooner than you anticipated.

☆☆☆☆☆

The next day you got ready. You wanted to look nice meeting the Todoroki siblings, they didn’t know you, and you really wanted to make a good impression. And well let them know they could come to you for any help against their father. You exited your room, making your way to Aizawa.

“Hey, Aizawa. Todoroki and I will be leaving soon. We’ll be back before curfew.” You said, he nodded.

“Todoroki let me know as soon as his sister asked.” He said. You both heard footsteps and turned to the source, it was of course Todoroki. 

“Y/n sensei, Aizawa sensei.” Todoroki said after he popped up, the younger boy nodded at you. It was time to go to a dinner you supposed.

☆☆☆☆☆

“What should I call them?” You asked suddenly, you should’ve done it before you were suddenly in front of the Todoroki household, but well. Things happened.

“You should just ask them what they want to be called.” He said calmly. But you could tell he felt a bit jittery about being back so soon after being at the dorms. You placed your hand on his shoulder and smiled.

“I’ll do that then. Remember, you’ll be safe with me here.” You said, and he gave a small, very small miniscule smile and nodded at you. The door opened, his sister, Fuyumi, was standing behind it. She brightened seeing Shouto.

“Shouto!” She cried out, immediately pulling the younger boy into a hug. “It’s different without you here.” She said, he relaxed into the hug. It made you smile. Then she noticed you. “Ah, you must be Ms. Y/l/n?” She asked. You nodded in response.

“Hi, I’m sorry I couldn’t meet any of you sooner but…” you trailed off. You did kinda just get thrown 20 years forward. She just nodded and reached her hand out. 

“I’m Fuyumi.” She said. Oh thank God.

☆☆☆☆☆

The dinner was so awkward at first. No one was talking, Natsuo was glaring at you, while Enji just looked pleased to have you there. Poor Fuyumi and Shouto looked awkward and you could practically feel the questions they wanted to ask. Who are you? Why didn’t father talk about you (which you couldn’t answer, God this was a disaster) Natsuo broke the silence and it made you want to die.

“Are you fucking our father?" 

You could hear the three other people choking with you at the question, you turned towards Enji and well he didn’t look like he’d deny it right now. Because of the choking.

"I’m more likely to fight him.” You said when you stopped choking, Shoutos eyes widened, Fuyumi looked panicked. Natsuo almost brightened at the comment and you turned towards your childhood friend. “How about after dinner we show your kids what an old man you are?” You asked him, he looked mildly insulted. Shouto looked at you, you could tell he almost felt pity for his old man. Almost.

☆☆☆☆☆

You knew they’d all been in this room at one point, for their “training”. And now you were in there, preparing to fight your childhood best friend, a friendly spar of course. Just like you used to. Unfortunately, for him well. You were very upset learning how he treated his children. His three children. They didn’t need to do anything other than what they wanted and he twisted it like his parents twisted him. 

“Remember don’t hold back old man.” You said, looking at Enji. Natsuo looked incredibly excited, Shouto looked like he was going to finally crack a full smile and poor poor Fuyumi looked a little panicked. You smiled at them and gave a cheeky grin. He bristled at that. And suddenly the fight started. Quirks were allowed, because you said you had the best quirk to protect them, creating a barrier around them was easy for you. He made his first move (as always, he was never very patient) throwing fire in your direction which quickly fizzled out when you brought up water to counter it and then he basically charged at you. It was like this for a while. Until finally he was charging at you again and you jumped over him, quickly landed on his shoulders, and you wrapped your arms around his neck as best as possible and threw yourself backwards, using your quirk you made everything shift slightly, like all the liquid moved to one side (like when blood rushes to your head, that’s how you always remembered it) It left him off balance. This moron really forgot your true specialty, didn’t he? After all, the body is at least 70% water. You were both on the floor and you had him in a choke hold. “Yield!” You yelled at him, the water covering his children went away drenching him so he couldn’t bring his flames to burn you in any way, leaving him sputtering. 

“I yield.” He ground out. Teeth clenching. He was pissed you beat him apparently.

“That was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen!” Natsuo yelled, quickly coming to where you two were. “I’ve never seen anyone beat the old man before!" 

It made your blood boil, you gave a sharp look to him, hiding it behind a tense smile. "It’s been a while, you haven’t gotten creative while I was gone old man?” You said, it sounded teasing. Like you weren’t mad at him too, but you knew he knew that you found out what he’d done. Natsuo helped you up, just as Fuyumi attempted to help their father up. She’s very sweet. 

“It’s been a while since I’ve had a good spar, y/n.” He said, and you almost brizzled at the comment. Yeah when you try to beat the shit out of your kids that happens. 

“We should talk, since it’s been a while. And Shouto can spend some quality time with his siblings!” You said, purposefully being extra cheery. Natsuo grinned, quickly pulling in a dazed Shouto under his arms.

“Yeah, we don’t mind spending some time with little Shouto.” He said, Fuyumi smiled. And they walked away just like that. You turned to your childhood friend. 

“We should go to your office.” You said simply. He gave a terse nod and began walking. This wasn’t going to be a pleasant conversation.

☆☆☆☆☆

You were pissed and when you made your way inside, that happy smile you usually wore was absent. It made him remember how you were before you both attended U.A. before you softened yourself up and became more approachable. It was devastating to see that look on your face again. 

“So are you going to tell me why two of your kids hate you? Or am I going to have to tell you why?” You said, you were barely holding back your rage at him. “Do you want to tell me why I recognized the look all of your children have when they look at you Enji?" 

He pointedly ignored that part. Recognizing a look? You must be insane to think that. 

"Y/n-” he began.

“Don’t you fucking dare Enji.” You snarled out. “Don’t you dare look me in the eye and tell me you didn’t abuse your children!” You yelled out finally crying for his family, he took a step away from you in shock. You were crying. You didn’t cry, you wore a smile and held back the negative. You were always like that after you started at UA. You were strong. But now you were in his home office, crying. “I thought, I thought that when either of us had kids. That we agreed Enji. We said we wouldn’t be our parents for them. And what I learned? You saw everything and said, ‘mother and father were right’ and you-” you cut yourself off, you stopped to take a deep breath to calm down. You felt so much anger blowing up at him but now it was just disappointment. “You wonder why your children hate you Endeavor? The way you raised them. Attempted to, for three-”

“Four.” He said, cutting you off and you looked up alarmed.

“Four?” You whispered. “You… I cannot believe you." 

He gave you a condescending look before speaking again. "The first three were failures. But then Shouto was born and when he turned 4 he could control my fire and her ice, he was the perfect blend to be the future number one-” you interrupted him with a slap to the face. Both your hand and his face were an angry shade of red, and there was an emotion he couldn’t recognize in your eyes. 

“You wonder why they hate you, Enji? It’s because you raised them like that. All that hatred builds up. And then you’ll be left alone and vulnerable.” You said, you were tired, disappointed and done. “People told me you were an angry, bitter person Enji. They looked me in the eyes and said you were going to be an angry bitter man.” You said, turning away from him. “I thought they were wrong.” You looked over your shoulder at him, eyes red from the tears. “You saved me when we were younger, Enji. But now I have to save your children. And I have to save them from you.” You said, opening the door and furiously wiping away your tears. “I hope you’re happy, Enji.” You walked out, using your quirk to destroy any trace you had of crying. You had a job, and your job was to be strong and to protect people, to protect everyone who needed to be protected. The people in this world who can smile are always the strongest. You remembered the little boy who told you what his mother said, you remembered the furious tears. And you remembered why you wanted to be a hero. But it was disappointing to see that Enji- no… Endeavor lost his reasons. But you just took another deep breath and smiled, you had to make sure you and Shouto returned to the dorms safely. 

And when you did return to the dorms, you didn’t see the beeline Shouto made for Midoryia, nor did you hear the whisper of “Midoryia she made my father eat the floorboards of the training room, I think I love her.” As a choked sound came out from the boy who was cleaning. You were just trying to keep yourself together, keeping a non-threatening smile on your face. You had to be strong. That night you slept. There were no pleasant dreams though.

☆☆☆☆☆

The next day passed quickly enough, and Midoryia was allowed back, already apologizing to everyone when you entered the classroom. Aizawa thankfully started the class before he could do more. 

“Morning. Now that Midoryia is back, we’ll go into more detail about what the work studies entail. Go ahead and come in.” He said, turning towards the opening door. “I’ll have people who’ve experienced them firsthand explain. I suggest you carefully listen as they point out how work studies differ from internships.” You could see Midoryias face, he looked quite shocked seeing the students. Must’ve seen one of them before, you turned to Aizawa, looking at the three students. “These three are third years at UA. They rank at the very top of our student body. You may know them as the Big Three.” He finished, two looked at you curiously, while one looked like he was trying hard to not be noticed, while he snuck a glance at you. You smiled at the three, two gave you a blinding one back while the third gave a more timid smile back. It reminded you of being apart of the Big Three yourself. Just you and- you stopped the thought. Not today.

☆☆☆☆☆

Taglist: @saratour, @yukiimanic, @theygottheircages, @itsallmightbitch, @toobsessedsstuff, @quirkyfandoms, @anxious-cat-with-cheesesticks, @traqicalromance, @waitwhatsrealityagain, @mugiwara-no-angel143

[arthur-morgan-slap-my-ass]

The Progress of Arthur Morgan | Chapter 3

A/N: I’m sooo sorry I forgot to post yesterday! I got too caught up playing TLOU for idk, the 5th or 6th time because I’m a dirty rat and would totally suck Joel’s dick? Anyways, here’s the conclusion to this thrilling saga, by yours truly! As always, please, give the feedback! Thanks for reading in advance!

Playlist

Word Count: 8,200 words oof

Chapters: 1 | 2

Arthur had started greeting you with a kiss on the cheek about two or three sessions ago, and you were taken aback by the sudden change in behavior — usually he’d stick to the trivial nod of head, maybe a shake of hands, but this was a bit over the top.

You had blinked at him, flustered at the sudden easiness in which he seemed to touch you. With a sudden wave of uneasiness, you took in the small details, his trimmed hair and carefully shaven face, clothing on the nicer side of his wardrobe and a terribly good smelling sandalwood cologne.

Over the past weeks, he had made considerable improvements on his self-image and body language, seemingly more at ease with himself at each session, his behavior growing more flirtatious and teasing with time. It made you happy, to see Arthur progressing like that, but that last bit worried you. It wasn’t unusual for patients to feel attracted to their therapists, but it was rare for them to actively pursued it.

It took half a heartbeat for you to realize that you were most likely in deep shit.

“How are we doing this week, Arthur?,” you had asked him with a tight smile, ignoring the flutter of your stomach at the way he smiled at you, as if aware of the effect he had over you.

“All good, I s’ppose,” he shrugged lightly, apparently not too keen on highlighting any moment of his week, “same old, same old.”

“Same old would be a lie,” you laughed at his offhanded comment, moving to take a seat at your armchair, all too aware of the way Arthur was watching you. “We’ve come a long way since your first session and you seem far better, from my point of view.”

Arthur scoffed, averting his gaze with a flustered look. He soon chuckled, smile widening at your words. “Geez, doc— you can’t go ‘round blurtin’ out stuff like that.”

Was he blushing?

Crap.

“I’m just saying the obvious,” you tried to contour the situation, feeling the twist of emotion in your stomach. “I mean, you’re clearly taking better care of yourself, dressing better—“

At this, he smirked, fixing you with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Arthur shrugged again, as nonchalant as he could be. “S’ppose I have, don’t have to mean anythin’.”

“Arthur Morgan,” you said in a secretive voice, curiosity dripping from your words, “don’t you dare shit me.”

He laughed warmly, the light of it making the corner of his eyes crinkle, no longer hiding behind his hand. Arthur was charming. You couldn’t believe you hadn’t noticed it before. “Let’s say there’s someone,” he started, seeming to be examining you for a reaction, “would you look down on me ‘cause of it?”

“Why would I do such a thing?,” you inquired, wary of the nature of the conversation.

The man huffed out a breath, leaning forwards in his seat in an intimate way as if to tell you a particularly nasty piece of gossip. “Well, all things considered, I just got out of a sinkin’ marriage, doc,” his eyebrows shot up, as if stating the obvious. “Sure sounds weird, me suddenly goin’ ‘round with someone else after barely a couple months, ain’t that so?”

You mouth suddenly felt dry, but you nodded nevertheless. “Each has their own time to heal, I suppose… but if you need to hear it, I wouldn’t look down or think less of you because of that.”

He seemed satisfied, a sheepish little smile blossoming on his full lips. The man seemed almost boyish with the way his eyes fixated on you, the warmth in it threatening to smother you. “Ain’t sure if she likes me yet,” Arthur said quizzically, smile broadening at your nodding answer, “but I sure am tryin’ to catch her eye.”

“It’s good to see that you’re allowing yourself room to grow,” you spoke gently, fighting the urge to prod on the subject, “it makes me proud knowing you’re reaching out for the things you want, Arthur.”

The man cocked his head to the side, an enigmatic little smile playing on his lips as he watched and you could swear his eyes dallied a second too long on your left hand. “Yer told me you’ve divorced too” he started casually, a teasing lilt in his voice as he leaned back, “never told me how that went down for you.”

“Ah,” you gasped out as your eyes widened in surprise, caught off guard, “I don’t think— I mean,” you smiled nervously, fixing your hair, “it’s— it was okay for me.”

Arthur laughed softly, amused at how he had been able to knock you off your feet. “Don’t tell me I’ve ruffled your feathers, doc,” he teased, “why did you divorce?”

Because my husband was a lying piece of garbage who had been fucking the desk attendant, of all people, behind my back as I worked my ass off sounded a bit too extreme, you decided. With a placid smile, you answered:

“I suppose we couldn’t see eye to eye anymore,” your hands tightened on your lap and you trained your gaze on some point above Arthur’s shoulder, “eventually, other people came around and we grew distant.”

He watched you, as if absorbing that piece of information and deciding if he should ask more on it. “Did he cheat on you?,” Arthur asked, all the amusement and jeering gone from his voice, replaced by genuine worry. You had a hard time trying to remember if you’ve seen him this serious.

You turned your head to the side, running away from the question. “I believe we should be talking about you, Arthur—“

“I’m tired of talking ‘bout myself,” Arthur interrupted in a soft voice, “we been seein’ each other once a week, for months now. Figured I should get to know yer a little more, ‘s all.”

With a steadying breath, you rubbed your lips together, tasting the sweetness of your lipgloss. What was he trying to do, cornering you like that? “I don’t think—“

“Don’t give me the ethics talk,” Arthur complained, sighing wearily, “think we’re well past that. ‘sides, I just asked yer a question,” his eyebrows jutted up, a soft smile playing on his full lips. “What’s wrong with that?”

You flirting with me is everything that’s wrong with it¸ you thought to yourself, trying not to seem too closed off, and the worst part is that I want to flirt back.

“I see your point,” you spoke up, in your best nonchalant voice. “I suppose that’s fair.

“Well?,” Arthur probed further, gently. “Don’t have to tell me if I’m pushin’ too hard, doc. I’m just curious ‘bout you, ‘s all.”

“He cheated on me,” came your quiet confession, gaze resting on his eyes, so blue now you swore you could drown in them. You wanted to cry. “With one of our front desk attendants, about 2 years ago.”

Arthur nodded comprehensively, wary not to abuse his already stretched thin luck. You swallowed thickly, trying hard not to seem too sensitive over it. “We divorced and split the money, I got the house and he took the car, nothing new there. I’m okay with it.”

What an awful liar.                            

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, “didn’t mean to upset yer, doc.”

“It’s okay,” you turned your attention to him now, forcing a smile, “it’s behind me.”

Arthur blinked, letting the silence settle in until you squirmed. And then, suddenly, he reached forwards, slowly, offering you his upturned palm. “Thanks for tellin’ me, doc.”

You hesitated, the few centimeters between you both diminishing by half. Your own hand moved, brushing his fingers before gently allowing him to hold it. Arthur’s hand squeezed yours and you noticed how warm his touch was, almost comforting, like a long waited embrace. You gasped out quietly, allowing the tears to pool in your eyes before wiping at them.

“It’s okay,” you repeated, listening the thunderous beating of your heart, hoping it wouldn’t give you away. “It’s okay, Arthur.”

He squinted at you, smiling so softly it made your heart clench — and you had to restrain yourself not to pull away in distress. “It’ll be.”

You pushed the entrance door open, the well known jingle of the bell ringing over your head.

The café you usually went to wasn’t a busy one — a small little thing, a family business with an incredibly sweet Italian cappuccino, just the way you liked it, with an adorably white-and caramel themed decoration —, and today wasn’t any different. With a pleasant smile, took a deep breath in, the smell of coffee and delicacies filling the air as you scanned a good spot to sit down at and maybe update your logbook.

You refused to actively address the issue at hand, opting for avoidance rather direct confrontation.

Arthur had been a recurring subject on your mind for the past few weeks, and what with after the little display a couple days ago, the presence of his character only intensified itself — much to your despair. His hands had felt so incredibly warm against the cool tips of your fingers, gentle and steady, much like his very presence and overall disposition whenever he walked into the listening room lately.

You were satisfied for him, really, proud of the path he had taken towards self-improvement and acceptance — Arthur was far better than when he came to you all those months ago, the curling satisfaction in your chest doing all the more to have you feel like an important part of it. Arthur needed reassurance, a little bit of recognition to realize his own self-worth, resourcing to it every once in a while, which you were all too happy to provide. The look in his eyes whenever you said something kind to him made your heart beat faster — the warmth there, the satisfaction on top of the inherent need to have someone to simply listen.

Scouting a place to sit was easy enough, your gaze sweeping through the few occupied tables to find a quiet and secluded spot for yourself, where you could possibly dissect your feelings revolving Arthur—

Until you found him sitting at the corner of the shop.

Arthur had his chin resting on his hand, holding a pencil as he scribbled something away in the journal you had gifted him — and your heart swelled with affection for him, tinged with a little bit of satisfaction by having him actually enjoy something you had given to him. There was half an empty cup of coffee at his table, beside a plate with half of a sandwich and you figured he must’ve arrived not too long ago.

He didn’t seem to have noticed you, too focused on the task at hand to actually pay much mind to whatever was happening around him. The thought had you smiling with fondness, for some reason.

Your hand tightened around the strap of your shoulderbag. You wanted to sit with him, you realized with a shocking realization; maybe have a coffee and chat a little. Arthur was by no means a bad company, he was funny and witty, having an air of caring disposal to his personality that made you enjoy every minute you could get with him.

It was just a chat, a little voice at the back of your mind reasoned. Just a casual conversation. There would be no harm in that. You were simply being amicable, weren’t you? Friendly, just plain and simple. With a steadying breath, you moved towards him, smile automatically broadening as you got closer.

You were in deep shit.

“How are we doing today, Arthur?,” you asked in your therapeutic voice and Arthur perked up immediately.

He turned to you, setting the pencil down as soon as soon as his eyes caught yours and you could tell he was surprised, but wasted no time on getting to his feet. “Hey, doc,” he spoke casually, bending down to press a polite kiss to the side of your face like he’d done a thousand times. You felt your face burn up just a little. “didn’t expect to run into you here.”

You nodded, absolutely not regretting it. “It’s a small place, yes; I confess that’s the main reason why I like coming here. Also, it has a really good cappuccino.”

Arthur chuckled, the sound of it familiar and comforting to you at this point. “Yeah, well, just got here myself. Was workin’ at the journal and I have to admit, you were right ‘bout it. It’s quite calmin’.”

“I’m glad to see you’ve enjoyed it, really,” you offered gently, feeling brave enough to risk a fleeting brush to his shoulder. You marveled at the way he always seemed to feel so warm and solid every time you touched him. “Like I said, it’s a good way to voice your feelings, quite soothing.”

He smiled softly at you. “Yeah, good excuse to practice my watercolor too,” Arthur motioned towards the leather bound journal, obviously at ease, “good pages for it, too. I’m surprised you knew.”

You shrugged lightly, quickly avoiding your gaze before looking at him again. “I just had a hunch, I think.”

Arthur breathed out a laugh, sitting back sideways on the white cushioned chair in order to face you. “Wanna take a look at it?”

You blinked, slightly taken aback by the offer. It was innocent enough, but it still made your heartbeat raise a little, and you hesitated. “Oh, you don’t have to show it to me—“

“Nonsense,” Arthur waved his hand dismissively, motioning for you to sit across from him at the beige colored sofa-booth right beside the window, “wouldn’t offer if I didn’t want ya to take a peek, ‘sides you’re yet to see some art by me, right?” He smiled softly, in an inviting way, “tell me what you think.”

It’s okay, you told yourself, just take a look at it, maybe have a coffee and—

Who said anything about coffee?!

With a mortified sense of self-awareness, you made your way to the sofa-booth. It was an intimate way to sit with someone, especially with the small table and warmth emanating from everywhere around you. Arthur picked up the menu, passing it to you with a sweet smile.

“Order somethin’ for yourself, doc,” he drawled, in voice that could only be classified as teasing, as if he knew the effect he had on you. “Now yer obligated to spend some time with me.”

Laughing, you took the menu from him and set it down. “I guess you caught me in your trap, Mr. Morgan. How rude of you.”

Arthur hummed, trying to look smug. “I’m smarter than I look like.”

“Quite,” you agreed, smiling at the flustered look that passed through his features for a split second. “Won’t you order me something, since you’re so smart?”

He watched you for a moment, almost surprised, before deciding on it and picking up the discarded menu. “Let’s see,” his gaze lingered on your face, flicking every so often downwards, “you seem like the kind who goes by somethin’ sweet,” he spoke more to himself and you couldn’t help but laugh at it.

“So does you,” you motioned towards the half drained mocha coffee sitting by his hand, “although I’d never have guessed. You seemed like the type to take it straight to me.”

Arthur’s eyebrows shot up, a light chuckle at the back of his throat. “Good to know I can still surprise you somehow, doc.”

Oh, he had no idea.

“What do you have in mind, then?,” you asked, trying to peek at the menu, only to have Arthur pull it more closely to him with an amused laugh.

“I’ll say either Italian cappuccino or mochaccino,” he announced with finality, putting the little booklet aside and moving to his own cup of half finished coffee. “I’ll let you pick which, cuz whatever you’re having, I’ll want one too; if you don’t mind.”

You tried to hide your smile, looking over to one of the waitresses and signaling for her to come over and take the order. Arthur stayed silent, watching you somewhat fondly, until the waitress left, taking the empty cup and the plate in which only a small portion of his sandwich remained after he had said he wouldn’t be finishing it.

“Are you going to show me your journal,” you started casually, pointing to it, “or was it just a way to trick me into having a coffee with you?”

Arthur raised his hands in mock surrender before speaking up. “Maybe a lil’ bit of both, I’ll admit. Just hope you don’t mind much.”

You sighed, cocking your head to the side with a sense of familiarity. A tiny voice whispered at the back of your mind that you were taking things too far; but you preferred to ignore it in order to have Arthur looking at you the way he did now. “Very well then,” you acquiesced gently, pushing a strand of hair behind your ear, “let’s see what you have.”

“Ain’t much writing,” he explained, picking it up and passing it to you “just drawings n’ such, few watercolors, ‘s all.”

His fingers brushed yours when you touched the leather cover, which made you startle slightly, coughing a bit to diffuse the tension. With a little surprise, you noticed that Arthur had nearly used half of the pages already. “You sure liked the idea, don’t know why you never took to it before.”

Arthur shrugged, watching you open the journal and examine a particularly skillful work of a riverbank forestline, the goldish-orange hue of it making it clear which season it was. “Just needed the right push, s’ppose.”

“That’s…,” you ran your hands over the picture, turning to see a pencil sketch of a bird on the next page, beside what you thought was the perfect representation of a tree leaf on the other side. He was skilled, definitely. “Arthur, that’s so beautiful…”

The man scoffed a little, clearly embarrassed. “Ain’t much, but thank you—“

“No,” you interjected softly, turning to the next page for a particularly good-looking representation of blue flowers, which you recognized to be a clump of forget-me-nots, their name written below in neat calligraphy with Arthur’s signature beside. “I mean it, they’re really beautiful.”

“Ah,” he gasped, standing up and quickly moving to your side and you unthinkingly made room for him to sit beside you. “I forgot to give this one to you,” Arthur pointed to it, “thought you deserved a little thank you for… well, you know, didn’t have to buy the journal, but since you did—“

You turned to look at him, the realization and embarrassment slowly creeping in and covering your cheeks in a pinkish hue. “Oh, please, you don’t have to—“

“Aw, c’mon, doc,” he gently pulled the journal from your hands, steadying the pages to rip off the one with the watercolor meant for you, “it’s the least I could do.”

He passed it you, feigning nonchalance, but you noticed how nervous he was; so you took it in your hands, marveling once more at how beautiful it was. “I don’t know what to say, it really is beautiful, Arthur,” you glanced up at him, smiling, “thank you so much.”

“s nothin’,” he half muttered, with a sheepish little smile, pushing the leather bound book back to you, but he didn’t move to go back to his chair across from you. “Just thought you’d like it, ‘s all.”

Trying to repress your own smile, you averted your gaze and set it aside to keep it from crumpling or staining, turning your attention once more to the journal. This was a red light, a big red light — and you tried to play it off as a gentleness, nothing more than that, just Arthur being kind to you. He was an artist, you reminded yourself, and he painted things all the time. It was okay.

You turned the pages idly, examining animal studies and plants, coupled with a few other watercolors — from childhood memories, a few other landscapes, a perky looking brownish dog which Arthur explained to be the one he owned when younger.

“Hosea and Dutch took me to the animal shelter, couple weeks after I came ‘round. Love at first sight, I say,” Arthur chuckled, scratching at his chin, “he was one mad pup, always had his snout where it shouldn’t be.”

“You never mentioned you had a dog,” you commented idly, turning to look at him with a pleasant smile, “I didn’t think you were a dog person.”

Arthur snickered, resting his elbow on the table and leaning into it a little. “Never got the opportunity to mention, ‘s all.”

You watched him for a second, taking in the soft smile on his lips and the warmth of his eyes; so incredibly open you could barely believe how clamped up he had seemed to be when you first met. The coffee had come and was gone now, with how entranced you were by the conversation — and so was Arthur, to your absolute glee —, and you were entertaining the idea of ordering another one just to not have to leave.

Politely skipping Arthur’s writings, you preferred not to pry on his thoughts, instead focusing on his artwork — which were, once more, breathtaking. He paid close attention to details, you noticed. There was a myriad of subjects, but it was clear that Arthur had, indeed, a keen interest in nature. You didn’t know why, but it made you smile. As much as he was willing to share things with you, there was still a lot to discover.

“I wonder where you picked up drawing from,” you whispered outloud, caressing the page of a watercolor of the silhouette of a hare standing out against the sun as it set.

“From Hosea,” Arthur said, leaning closer to the book in order to examine the art himself. Christ, he smelled perfect. “He taught me most of it, but I just got better with time, y’know.”

You nodded, smiling. All you wanted was to lean sideways and rest your head on his shoulder, but you held back, instead turning the page.

And at that, you cocked your head to the side.

It wasn’t the recreation of a budding flower or a bird spreading its wings ready to fly, there was no landscape or careful study of animal anatomy; no leaves

Instead, you looked at a picture of yourself.

You were standing, about half of your torso in it, next to the desk you kept at the listening room; a serene, yet focused expression on your face as you read through the stack of papers there, the profile of your face highlighted beautifully in Arthur’s skills. The colors he had picked for you were soft, pastel-like, putting together an overall dreamy picture and you could see everything, you noticed; the tiny strands of hair, the glimmer of your eyes, the gentle way that your shoulders slouched a bit. Your lips were pulled up slightly, in a quirky smile and there was an overall soft pink hue to your cheeks.

It was simply beautiful.

Turning to look at Arthur, you found yourself out of words. You tried to say something — anything! —, but you could simply look at him, either in shock or realization, you couldn’t really tell. His eyes drifted to yours and he smiled sheepishly, looking way softer than he had ever in the whole time you had known him. His presence now was nerve-wracking, every inch of your body responding to him as if to electricity.

Arthur leaned closer to you, his breathing fanning warmly against your face at his proximity and it felt almost surreal as his lips pressed softly to your cheek. His hand touched yours, cradling it in his touch as he took the opportunity to brush his nose gently against the sensitive skin. You unconsciously leaned into it, closing your eyes.

It was sweet, achingly so, the way he touched you; almost as if you were made of spun glass, a precious treasure to keep. His fingers tangled with yours and he sighed, pulling back to look at you with half-lidded eyes. The same smile was still there, only softer this time, more of admiration and tenderness than anything else.

With a pinkish hue creeping to your cheeks, you noticed the way which Arthur’s gaze dipped ever so slightly to your lips, coming back up a couple times. He wanted to kiss you, came the realization. You reached out, touching his warm cheek with the tips of your fingers, running them around to the back of his neck, making Arthur close his eyes.

There was a pause as you took in the softness in his expression, the way which he leaned into your touch like a something he’d craved for a long time; his free hand coming up to wrap on your wrist. With a flutter in you stomach, you finally caved, leaning towards him for a kiss.

The kiss was so gentle, the soft press of his lips to yours smooth and perfect. Arthur sighed into it, squeezing your hand fondly as he coached you to open your mouth and give him entrance; a request you could never deny. He was surrounding you, the warmth of his touch on your hand and the sweetness of the cappuccino on his tongue a constant reminder.

Your fingers tightened on his hand, unwilling to let go.

You were fucked, you realized instantly.

You brushed your hair slowly, pensively at the vanity of your bedroom. The moon was high in the sky as you stared at your own reflection. Had you committed the worst mistake in your profession? Allowed yourself to catch feelings for your patient, as well as captivating them in him? There was no way of knowing for certain.

Nevertheless, the treatment had seemed to be nearing the end. You’d close off Arthur Morgan’s file and hopefully drown your feelings in an unholy amount of ice cream and vodka, like any divorced woman would.

He was handsome, you reasoned with yourself, and so unbelievably sweet. Such a good kisser, too, gentle and loving. Even with his tendency to clamp up, Arthur was willing to let people in if they cared enough to stick around for him. It made you wonder if he really was so bad that his ex-wife had wanted to divorce him, but…

Did you even know Arthur?

Well, you felt like you did. People never lied in therapy and it was easy to follow things through and the diagnosis would come together and you figured out where to work, plus you had the reference contacts. It all matched. Sometimes people just wanted to talk and it was easier without the judgment of someone they knew — hence the reason why there couldn’t be a prior contact between patients and therapists aside from the listening room.

You set the brush down, watching yourself in the mirror. It was obvious that you had made a mistake. You were still recovering from your own failed marriage, your ex-husband having been a poor excuse for a companion for the past 8 years of your life. You were confused, Arthur was caring and you got carried away. That was it.

If he had been anything like Arthur, a tiny voice whispered at the back of your mind, you’d probably still be married. Maybe even with children.

“What the fuck,” you whispered at yourself, “what the actual fuck—“

You started entertaining the idea of referring him to someone else, a colleague maybe, someone who wouldn’t catch feelings for him but then—

Arthur has trust issues, you reminded yourself angrily, if you refer him to someone else, especially after that long of therapy, he’ll feel dejected. We’re speaking of lives, here. You know the prognosis. You can’t.

Even if you wanted to.

“Fuck,” you sighed, feeling the start of a migraine building up. You paced in an antsy manner in your bedroom before deciding to storm towards the office. You needed the files.

The room was clear, with hues of soft blues and white furnishing to keep your books and logs into shelves. Tying your hair back into a loose knot, you fished Arthur’s logbook from between a disarray of books that looked the same for anyone else asides from you, flicking the pages quickly until you found his entry. You felt as if you were intruding, checking at his logbook like that, even though you were his therapist. You were supposed to accompany his case and make sure he was progressing, not risking your career as a whole because of an infatuation—

You put your reading glasses on with an annoyed sound at the back of your throat.

-> Patient seems to have become less intolerant towards his emotions, displays more willingness to talk about them occasionally + improved verbalization and recognition;

-> Has stopped shying away from family topics; speaks blandly about early childhood;

-> Settled divorce has caused relief, patient has started to develop more self-confidence + vocalization of his wants;

-> Has shown a willingness for connection with others;

-> Patient has shown uneasiness about the ending of treatment; possible codependency?

-> Difficulty when it comes to reaching out for things he wants + unbelieving of self-worth on certain situations (needs work); strives for reassurance every now and then.

Frowning you set the logbook down, with a shivering sigh. Just a couple months more, until the end of the six months period and you’d be able to breath properly — maybe even talk to a colleague about your situation.

When it came to Arthur Morgan, all the years of experience dried up as if an empty well.

With a sickening drop of your stomach, you sat down on your office desk, pulling out a clean paper branded with your name and wrote down a patient referral letter alongside a clean copy of Arthur’s logbook. You decided to keep the flirty behavior and professional boundaries crossed aside, not wanting to get in trouble, alleging that you felt like you could no longer help your client. The moonlight filtering through the window seemed to be the only witness of your deeds, silent and judging.

There was no way you could keep seeing Arthur, you told yourself with a painfully tight tinge of pain in your chest, not when he messed with your head like that, the way you had kissed; and with you willing to bend the rules and blur the lines between your relationship just to indulge him, the memory of the kiss still fresh on your mind. You were no rookie, no fresh-out-of-a-classroom therapist, with only theories to guide you.

You were a seasoned therapist. You had experience and an outlined career path, with good mentors, of a decent formation. You’ve always had a good way with people, always been told you were a good listener. It’s not supposed to happen like this, you kept telling yourself as the letter came to be. It simply isn’t.

You signed it off with a flourish, like a death sentence. You’d make sure to find a colleague who’d suit his needs, better than you ever possibly could — and to call his referral contact, Hosea, later tomorrow. It’s for the best, you told yourself.

Freud had once said that psychoanalysis is, in its essence, a cure through love. It was healing, pure and nurturing, but the love in which he referred to had nothing to do with developing affairs with your patients. You were supposed to listen to Arthur, help him realize his own inner strength and send him off back on his way; and you had done it a thousand times before, with countless clients.

Your eyes welled up with tears of frustration and you leaned forwards to press your forehead against the sealed off envelope on your desk, as if hoping it’d give you the answers you needed.

>

The day dragged slowly, with you delivering the letter to one of your colleagues of a different clinic, who had experience around the same area as you — he was polite enough not to ask about your sudden decision, looking suspicious, but took the document nevertheless. You passed along details regarding referral contacts and little conjectures on diagnosis and approaches for Arthur — how he seemed to be fond of humor when nervous, his eye contact avoidance when uncomfortable and etc.

Your colleague took notes slowly, fixing you with the look of someone who wanted to ask more, but decided against it.

After getting the worst part of it done, you left the clinic, walking out in the brisk autumn air towards your car, sighing loudly once the door was shut. “Fuck,” you muttered in the deafening silence.

Might as well get it done with. You fished out your cellphone, quickly finding Hosea’s number and dialing to explain the situation for him, doing your best to sound calm once he his voice came up from the other side of the line. “Hello?,” there was a clattering of dishes in the background and you supposed he was in the kitchen.

“Hello, Mr. Matthews,” you said softly, trying to avoid a tremor in your voice, “it’s Arthur’s therapist, I was wondering if you had some time to talk?”

“Ah, yes,” he replied promptly and you heard a door being closed and shuffling, someone asking about the call. Maybe he had gone to the garden? “Has something happened? Is Arthur okay?”

“No need to worry,” you bit your lip, closing your eyes, “Arthur is completely fine. I’m just calling to let you know that unfortunately, I won’t be able to stay with him for the remaining sessions of our treatment—“

“He hasn’t offended you, has he?,” the man asked suddenly, sounding worried, “boy has a poor filter, but his heart is right.”

“No, he…,” you gulped, shaking your head as more tears welled up, “he’s a good patient, but I do believe that your son would be in more capable hands with another therapist.” Hosea hummed thoughtfully, considering your words. “I took the liberty of putting together a referral letter, with all his documentation and information and passed it along to a few colleagues and fortunately one of them replied to me,” you pushed your hair back, trying to keep the tremor off of your voice, “I just left his office, actually.”

“I see…” Hosea sounded surprised, even though he agreed, “that’s a bit sudden, though. I thought you were getting along nicely, weren’t you?”

Perhaps too nicely, you wanted to reply.

“We are, I’ve built a strong bond with Arthur, but I feel like his situation is now beyond my capability as a professional, unfortunately.”

The man hummed, considering your words. “Huh,” he sounded wary, as if not entirely pleased, but understanding. “Will you pass me the information on your colleague then?”

“Yes, absolutely,” you sighed out thankfully, tapping your fingers on the steering wheel, “do you have paper?”

It was wasn’t until a month later that you heard of Arthur, mind constantly wandering off to conjure him in the empty seat of the listening room. The brown throw-pillow of the loveseat seemed far too neat for your liking now, and you picked it up slowly. You missed him, you realized with a sudden wave of emotion. Was it possible to mourn a romance that never came to be? Did he miss you too? You couldn’t possibly know, nor shouldn’t. It was for the best if you severed ties with him.

As if on cue, your phone started ringing, snapping you out of your daydream. Frowning, you recognized the name as the one of your colleague which you had referred Arthur to, and you flopped down on the loveseat with your arms wrapped protectively around the cushion, like Arthur used to do before picking up.

“Hey,” the man greeted you lightly, “do you have some time? I was hoping to ask you a few questions, could be over the phone if you’re in a hurry.”

“Sure thing,” you agreed promptly, “I’m between breaks now, but I can talk. What’s the matter?”

“It’s about the patient you’ve referred me to, some…,” he paused for a moment, as if reading a file, “Arthur Morgan, I believe.”

Your throat tightened and you felt the cold pinpricks of needles at the back of your neck. “Yes, Arthur. What do you need to know, then?”

“I was just wondering if he had the habit of skipping sessions,” your heart dropped at it, “it’s been a month now and he hasn’t showed up for about… six sessions I think, with the reschedules of course.”

“He never skipped with me,” you said in a levelled voice, devoid of any emotion, “maybe he’s having a hard time readjusting with the change?”

“Yeah,” he agreed, “I called the referral contact, his father I believe? Hosea Matthews?”

“Yes, yes, Mr. Matthews,” you agreed.

“Well, I called and he said he couldn’t convince Arthur to finish the remaining time in therapy. The patient seems reluctant, apparently, he says that he doesn’t need it anymore and I grew worried because according to the information you passed me along—“

Your mind zoomed out, the words falling on deafened ears. Fuck.

What would be of Arthur now, with an incomplete treatment? What if you had left him scarred for life, breaking his trust like that, without so much as a warning? Your stomach twisted painfully at the memory of the kiss, the growing anxiety creeping around you and seeping into your bones.

All because you were too scared to access your feelings, choosing to play on the safer side and pushing him away. There were ways to make it work, you knew — loopholes and technicalities —, but you clamped up at the prospect of letting him get any closer. You felt your eyes burn with the warmth of unshed tears, reaching for the tissue paper to keep your emotions from ruining the light makeup of the day.

Someone calling your name snapped you out of your haze.

“Are you still there?,” your colleague asked, as if expecting an answer.

“Sorry, I kinda spaced out here,” you said, fighting against the waver in your voice, “I didn’t quite catch it.”

“I asked if you could come in contact with the patient or his referral, just to be sure. I don’t think they trust me enough to handle it.”

“Sure,” you muttered out with a dry mouth, “I’ll try to reach him, do you want me to get back to you—“

“With all due honesty,” your colleague spoke softly, making you want to cry even more. Had he heard the silent despair in your voice? “I do believe that you should figure out what you really want before anything else.

Silence stretched for a few seconds before you recovered. “I don’t know—“

“I won’t tell,” he said gently, “I can vouch for that.”

You closed your eyes, allowing the tears to gather there. It wasn’t unknown to most of your profession colleagues about the nasty breakout with your ex-husband and your self-induced behavior of isolation. You took a deep breath before speaking again. “Thank you.”

You parked the car in front of an apartment complex, in a nice little residential neighborhood. The building was somewhat stocky, with only eight floors, with white and dark blue tiling. Drumming your fingers on the steering wheel, you started to fidget anxiously.

You had rushed to your desk, fingers running through patient files until you found Arthur’s — complete with contact, address and etc. With a resolute sort of conviction, you set out, asking your front desk attendant to reschedule any appointments you were to have later that day. Tucking the file below your arm, you took the car and set the GPS to the address.

Now, standing at the final destination, according to your cellphone, you looked up at the building. Coming closer to the intercom, you searched for the right name, reading the freshly scribbled “Morgan” in pen and paper, in contrast to the others, which were clean slates.

“Okay,” you pressed the button, listening to the telltale buzz of the call being ensued, “right.”

It rung until it didn’t anymore, your anxiety growing by the minute. With some sense of impatience, you pressed the button again and the faint sound started once more. You pressed your hands together, shivering at the cool wind blowing through the street. The afternoon was clear, but you had forgotten to grab your coat on your way out of the clinic and the autumn chill was exerting its power.

“Who’s it?,” came Arthur’s annoyed voice from the intercom, sounding annoyed. “Ain’t got no time—“

“Arthur,” you said his name gently and he quieted down. It was uncomfortable, you had to admit. “Arthur, I need to—“

“What do you want?,” he muttered out, sounding defensive.

“Can you buzz me in, please?,” you asked with a tight knot in your throat, “I need to see you.”

You heard him huff from the other side of the line, unbelieving. “Do ya, now?”

“I know,” you acquiesced, feeling your desperation growing by the minute, “I know, but we need to talk, please?”

He stayed quiet for a while, your heart pounding in your chest at his silence. “I’m not… sure if I want to see you, doc.”

“Arthur,” you pleaded, “I’m not here as your therapist, that’s not who I am,” your voice wavered as you pressed your hand to your lips to keep check of your own emotions. You had missed his voice so much. “I’m here as your friend, please.”

Arthur sighed and you could feel the tension rolling off him in waves. He seemed unwilling to say anything else.

“I just need to see you,” you whispered to the intercom, voice cracking at the emotion of everything, “I just— please, Arthur,” you breathed out shakily, “please.“ The gate buzzed and you startled, before pushing it open hesitantly. Your hands felt clammy despite the cold.

Gathering the little courage you had left, you walked into the building with a growing sense of dread, your heart fluttering in your chest like a caged bird. Did he really want to see you now? Arthur wouldn’t have let you in, if he didn’t want to. He wouldn’t. You felt as if your legs might give out.

There were some people walking about the hall, some chatting casually at the common area, but no one paid much mind to your presence. Fidgeting with the sleeve of your blouse as you walked towards the elevator, you turned your gaze down to your phone where the number to Arthur’s apartment appeared in the notepad — 302. Swallowing down your anxiety, you pressed the number three and watched as the doors closed.

You weren’t sure what to say to Arthur. Should you confess? Was that too cliché? You should tell him the truth, though. That’s what he deserved, after wall, the reason why you had come all this way. The elevator was taking a long way up, thankfully, and you were left to your own thoughts.

No way in hell you were ready for what was to come. There was nothing about it in the books back when you studied — and even if there were, you’d have brushed it off as some hypothetical situation that could never happen to you because you were too disciplined. A pretty little tale spun for those who were romantic at heart, but not you. You knew how to behave, or at least thought you did.

It hurt your head to think.

The elevator came to a stuttering halt, the doors hissing as it opened and you stepped out into the equally well-lit hall.

“Three o’ two…,” you muttered, rubbing your hands together as your head turned from one side to another, squinting slightly and moving towards it once you located the door.

You stood there, for maybe a few seconds, before knocking gently at the door; once, twice. There was silence from the inside, but soon enough you heard it unlock and Arthur appeared in front of you, worse than you had ever seen him. There were dark bags under his eyes, a day or two beard sprouting on his face with a greasy mess of curls on top of that. He looked tired, in a simple grey tee and some sweatpants in the middle of the summer. Far too tired. Had he just woken up?

With a tight press of your lips, you felt your eyes watering. Had you done this to him? “Arthur,” you choked out his name, raising both your hands to the lower half of your face, “I’m so sorry…”

He didn’t say anything, but you could sense the surprise in his demeanor before sighing tiredly and averting his gaze to the floor. “You never told me anythin’…”

“I know,” you cut in with a teary voice, wiping away the stubborn tears that insisted on streaking down your cheeks, “I just didn’t know what do when you— when we… I got scared that you—“

The man reached out, one calloused hand curling around your forearm in a gentle motion as you allowed yourself to be drawn in by his presence, warm and solid. Arthur made a noise at the back of his throat, something choked with emotion, when you threw yourself into his embrace, clutching to his tee with all the might you could muster up. “I was so scared, I thought it was my fault—“

Arthur shook his head slightly, staggering out a shaky breath himself. “’s okay, doc…”

“Please,” you hugged him tighter and you still could smell the sandalwood cologne on his skin, subtle but definitely there, “I never meant to…,” you trailed off, shaking your head, “I like you, Arthur. More than I probably should, but…”

“I want you to stay,” Arthur whispered suddenly and you were highly aware of your own lack of words after it. He circled your waist, fingers digging gently into your back as he took a steadying breath. “I need to know, I need to know if I can love you, so please— I don’t wanna do this if you’re not… I gotta know if you’ll stay with me. I need to.”

You pulled back from him, eyes watering and searching into his teal colored ones and this time you allowed yourself to take in just how handsome Arthur really was, as your hands cupped the sculpted marble of his face. He shuddered at it, closing his eyes and leaning forwards to press his forehead to yours with a quiet sigh of someone who’d been denied for far too long.

“Let me kiss you again,” Arthur pleaded in a whisper, calmly and too benevolent for you not make a sweet sound at the back of your throat, “please.”

You closed your eyes, taking a steadying hold of his neck. “Next time,” you whispered back, thumb caressing the sensitive skin under his eye, gently wiping away the dampness that had gathered there, “you don’t have to ask.”

He took a gentle hold of your hand, pressing his chapped lips to your palm like a caress, his demeanor sweet and reverent; and with a twinge, you realized that Arthur was far too good for his own good. “I want you to stay,” he said again, moving on to your forehead and pressing another kiss there. You shivered, tilting your face to allow him better access. “Wanna be with you,” a press of lips to the space between your eyes, “make yer happy.”

At this, you hummed lightly, breathing out shakily. Arthur cupped your face, bringing you closer to him, if that was even possible. His lips caressed your cheek and the subtle curve of your jawline before finally pressing to your own. When it came, the kiss was sweet, so frail and light you could almost believe it wasn’t happening, even if the pressure of Arthur’s hand on the base of your neck was enough proof to you. He muttered your name, trying to pull you more closely against his body, and you gave in with a sigh.

There was a shy prod of tongue against your lips and you complied promptly because oh, it just felt so right — the moment, with him, right then and there. The voice at the back of your mind quieted down immediately, its last murmurs of protests dying out in face of Arthur sweet humming. He pulled you backwards with him, into his apartment, and you pushed the door closed before he could press your back to it with a desperate little gasp.

“Stay with me,” Arthur whispered and God, consequences be damned, you wanted to. His nose brushed against yours, so intimately you could swear you were dreaming, “don’t go.”

You answered by pushing back the soft tresses of his hair, pulling away and making Arthur close his eyes with a soft complaint at the back of his throat. “I’m not going anywhere.” His breathing quickened as he pressed his head to the crook of your neck and you were somewhat amused, fond of the sweetness of the act. “I’ll stay here.”

[stitch-n-time]

Topic of Conversation

The setup: I have ehler-danlos syndrome. My primary care physician (PCP) is the one that finally agreed to have the test run, after my seeing like 6 or 7 other doctors that just totally dismissed the idea. I love her. She's fabulous. Would recommend to at least most people. She's also gotten used to me over the past 3-ish years. She's told me in the past that she knows it's going to be an "interesting day" when she sees my name on the patient list. Everything from "my foot folded in half" to "I need you to help slice my toe open to fix this particular thing" to "I touched my leg and the skin split" to the latest one - "I woke up and my thumb was dislocated". All while having conversations that range from "we're going fishing tomorrow" to "haunted museum tours, you should totally bring your kid!" to "no no no... If you're still pregnant on Halloween, you should TOTALLY do the chestburster!" and a little bit of everything in between. So yesterday I go see her because... well, my thumb dislocated in my sleep. Like 2 weeks ago.  It hasn't been quite right since. It keeps subluxating (not quite dislocated, but not quite in the right spot), my grip strength is nonexistent, and it's becoming a problem. While there, I show her a ring brace that I think may help and ask her opinion. (Also about some supplements made specifically for people with conditions like mine, and she’s all gung-ho about my being a guinea pig for this particular one. Will update after they come in, and after taking them for a while.)

“I don’t know. I think it may help? But they’re also really expensive, and I don’t want you to have to spend that much without knowing more. Would you mind going and getting some x-rays? Maybe seeing a sports medicine specialist at the building I used to work in?”

me: “Sure! I would actually feel a little better getting a third* opinion on this, and having the images might help. It doesn’t feel like there’s bone chips or anything but still...”

Dr B: “OK. Let me print out a referral for you. And I’ll get the order for the blood test, so after you’ve taken those supplements for about a month, go ahead and get the bloodwork done. I want to see what happens there.”

me: “Yeah, great. That’s totally doable. And if anything happens with those, I’ll let you know and discontinue use.”

A little later yesterday, I get a phone call from her assistant. “Dr B told Dr D about you over lunch, and he said to go ahead and get just an over the counter soft brace for now. He’ll confirm when he sees you.”

Which... great. Now I know these two are friendly. Cool cool cool.

I call this morning to see if Dr D has openings for some point within the next couple of weeks. “Yeah, we’ve got an opening in about a half an hour. Can you be here?”

“Sure! I’m on the way home from work and haven’t passed that turn yet. Let’s go ahead and do it.”

Now, some important information here: I met Dr B while she was at the teaching hospital. I followed her from her observation, through where she was doing the observations, and into the new building where she works now. Dr D is currently at the teaching hospital, where he is doing the observation of upper level students who are working through their rounds and getting practice before being sent out into the world.

So I get there, go through the weight/height/blood pressure thing again, and go sit in a room. Student doctor comes and does an exam. She’s really taken aback by the whole “Yeah, Dr B had no idea either. But she was the first person to take me seriously. Mostly because she admitted that she had heard about ehlers-danlos but had never seen it, so she looked it up on the internet and essentially ran down the checklist while I listed off symptoms. Immediately ordered the test. Which, really? Just a simple blood draw? That could have been done years ago!” thing. Then we get to laughing about it.

SD: “Can you do that thing where you touch the ground, but with your hands flat? I can’t even touch my toes.” She demonstrates.

I laugh. “Yep!” Stand up, smack my hands flat on the floor and keep walking them back until my shoulders are behind my knees. “Want me to keep going?”

At this point she’s laughing, too. “What else can you do?”

“Touch my nose with my toes. Put one arm up and one arm down and grab my wrists behind my back. Before I had kids, I could bend backwards and put my heels on my chest. From behind. But I can’t do that anymore.”

Student doctor leaves. I can hear muffled conversation through the wall adjoining the exam room to Dr D’s office. Student doctor comes in. Dr D comes in, with a really amused look on his face. Introductions are made, he repeats the exam, checking a couple of things that student doctor didn’t know to check. He’s explaining why as he’s doing the exam. I’m nodding along, because this is familiar territory to me, thanks to previous work experience.

Dr D is doing the “Does it hurt here? Here? Here? What about if I do this?” thing while poking at the thumb and wiggling it around.

me: “No, not there. Pain receptors don’t quite fire correctly because of the EDS. The pain is specifically here, here, and here,” said while I put a finger on the spots.

Dr D: “Oh yeah. I forgot about that.” He leans back against the counter. “Honestly, you’re the first person I’ve ever actually seen with EDS. So a lot of my knowledge is more theoretical. What did you do that might have caused this with your thumb?”

me: “Slept?”

They both blink at me a few times. It takes a minute. 

Dr D: “No, no. I guess that makes sense. With your condition and all.”

me: “Yep. It just kinda happens. Now I know you talked to Dr B yesterday and approved a soft brace, but I want to show you something and get your opinion. Because I research everything. It’s what I do.” 

I pull out my phone and show him this:

“I’m more worried about the lateral movement than the hyperextension, since the hyperextension is something that’s happened ever since I can remember and has never been a problem.”

Dr D: “Oh yeah, that will do everything I would hope for. Probably a little more. That looks better than anything I would have been able to recommend.”

me: “Perfect! I’ll see about ordering one, then. I was reluctant because of the price.” I stare at it for a minute. “Or maybe I’ll see about getting some sturdy wire and just making it my own damned self.”

Dr D: “I’m still going to send you for x-rays. I don’t think there’s anything there, but it’s a safety precaution in case of bone chips.”

me: “Yeah, Dr B and I talked about it yesterday, but I thought it would be a good idea to see you first. I don’t think there’s anything in there, but...”

Dr D: “You know we’re having lunch with Dr B today, right?”

me: “Yeah, I kind of figured. She fan-freakin-tabulous. Just don’t tell her I said so.”

Dr D laughs at me. “Yeah, we’re best friends. It may just slip. That happens sometimes. You already know we’ve talked about you, since her office called you yesterday.”

me: “More power to ya. Hell, if you want to talk about me to more people, let me know. Especially if there’s a new doctor you want to freak out a little bit. I’m an interesting case, and will absolutely tell them when they’re wrong.”

Dr D: “Oh. We are definitely going to be having a talk over lunch today...”

*third opinion, as she is confident that I have stupid amounts of self awareness, and actually know if something isn’t right before test results would show anything, so her confirmation counts as a second opinion when it’s just the two of us in the room

[jisunwithtaeandkookie]

"Taehyung, what do you think you are doing?"

Tae opened his eyes on hearing Jimin's voice. He then looked at me, then Jimin, then back at me, with a small look of surprise on his face.

"I was....waiting for you, I guess?" He said, getting up, or rather, jumping up.

It was then when I realised what I had done. With eyes wide, I checked my watch. "It's....8:00????" I screamed in a high-pitched voice. "Oh my God Tae, were you waiting for 3 hours???"

He shrugged. I caught a glance of Jimin looking at him in a, rather, funny way.

"You were waiting for 3 hours for her sitting at her doorstep?"

Tae looked dumbfounded for a second. "I mean, I didn't...sit here for 3 hours." And then, very slowly, he added, "It was 2 and a half."

Guilt washed over me, and I immediately went over to Tae, leaving Jimin's hand which I didn't even know I was holding in the process. "Tae, I'm so, so, sooo sorry..I totally forgot." I said holding both of his hands in mine. "Why didn't you call?"

"Maybe I did." He said, looking down.

Dreading, I checked my phone. I had turned it on silent in the ice cream shop, and I had 5 missed calls from Tae. I closed my eyes. "Oh my God, I suck."

"So I'm....gonna get going then." Jimin said, with his shoulders up and both of his hands in his pockets.

"Wait, uh...Jimin," I said, without breaking out of Tae's grasp. "You were saying something before...you know."

He looked at Tae, and then back at me, and smiled. "Some other time." And without saying another word, he left, leaving me and Tae alone in the dark night.

We stood there, not saying anything, for a long time. Something was in the air, because I didn't even realise we were standing this long, silently, without getting bored.

"So...." He finally said.

"Come in!" I said abruptly, and led him inside. "It's cold out there, and you were sitting outside for so long....Tae why do you do this to me?"

"It's not....that cold." He said, looking amusingly at me. "And do what?"

"Make me feel guiltier than I should've." I pouted, making a mock angry face.

"It's okay, Y/N. You don't have to worry about it." He came closer and squeezed my cheeks. "My gosh you're so cute...and small."

"STOP SAYING IT!!!" I screamed, and he was taken aback. "Geez, calm down, I didn't even say anything wrong." He said, pinching my cheeks. "Your face is so small!"

"Says the one with the biggest-ass hands," I slapped him on his hand. "Get your hands out of my face, you moron!"

"How do you even do this?" He pouted like a baby, but not removing his hands. "I should be mad at you, but instead you are mad at me, and I should be mad at you for this but I am not because I'm too busy making you feel better about it when you should be doing that to me!" He said this in one breath.

"Slow down! And...I'm sorry, for...whatever you said." I frowned, taking both of his hands out of my face and into my hands. "How are your hands so big?" I said, admiring his hands.

"I grew them nicely." He said, grinning.

I rolled my eyes, and then sighed, focusing my attention on his hands which I was holding. "I am holding V from BTS's hands...So many girls would be jealous of me right now." I smiled, blushing a little.

He looked at me for a second with a look that I could not comprehend, then cleared his throat, getting out of my grasp. "You were also holding Jimin from BTS's hand a little while ago." He said slowly, looking down, and immediately looked up with sudden enthusiasm. "How did the date go?"

"It was not a date." I rolled my eyes again, smiling a little.

"It went well then." He said, ignoring whatever I had said. "And let me guess...you didn't tell him."

"There was nothing to tell." I said, and immediately realising, looked at him. "I mean, no. Obviously not."

"Obviously not." He said, deadpan. "Do you realise what you are saying?"

"Can I bake you some cookies?" I said, trying to avoid the question.

He narrowed his eyes. "Okay, that was the lamest topic change attempt I've ever heard. Y/N....when are you going to tell him??

Suddenly something clicked inside me. "Very soon." I suddenly said, looking meaningfully at Tae.

"Please tell me before you are going to tell him though." He sounded giddy but a little surprised at my sudden revelation.

"Okay, Tae." I sighed. What have I gotten myself into?

"Have I told you how much I love you right now?" He said, grinning.

"Not that I can think of." I squinted my eyes, trying to look thoughtful.

"Then let me show you." His eyes sparkled with mischief.

Oh no. "Tae, whatever you're gonna do, don't!!"

"Too late." He chirped, and jumped on my couch, standing up on it. "AND IIIIIII, WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU!!"

I facepalmed myself. "Tae, what are you doing, get off my couch!!"

"Please excuse me miss, I'm in the middle of something important." He said in the worst British accent ever. "YOUUU, IIII-"

"Tae, stop!"

"-WILL ALWAYS LOVE-"

"Kim Taehyung, you get off my couch right freaking NOW!!" I pulled his T-shirt down, and he stumbled.

"YOUUU-OW!" He fell down from the couch, taking me in the process. We screamed together as we fell down on the ground, him landing on top of me.

That went nicely.

"Why is no one saying anything?" I whispered after what seemed like an eternity.

"Because we were shocked." He said.

I realised he was still on top of me, and a blush crept up my cheeks, because his face was right in front of me..inches away from mine. He kept looking at me, with his soft eyes. It wasn't the first time I had noticed his eyes were beautiful, but it was the first time I noticed his eyes were extremely beautiful. And his face was...flawless, even from this close.

"Oh yeah, right." He got up, looking away from me. I followed him, also not daring to look in his direction. Boy, this was awkward.

After a brief second, he turned back. "Hey, so, umm....how about you come over tomorrow night at our place, and we'll hang out, the...eight...of us?" He said with a smile that wasn't reaching his eyes.

"Aren't you gonna stay?" I was a little disappointed.

"Say yes first." He narrowed his eyes.

"Okay, yes, I will. Now, aren't you gonna stay?"

"No...it's late." He sighed. "I have some...stuff to work on. I gotta go." With that he dashed out of my house.

"Wait Tae, you can stay the night you know." I called after him, mentally beating myself up for low key forgetting about him coming over.

He stopped at the doorstep. "If I stay, I am going to leave something behind again." He said without turning back, and vanished into the night.

I stood there for a moment, not understanding what just happened here in a matter of seconds. What was all that about?

Shrugging it off, I closed the door. Walking towards my bedroom, I let the smile wash over my face, thinking about the eventful day I had today. And also what I was going to do tomorrow. I had already made up my mind, and with me going over tomorrow, I had the perfect opportunity for what I had in mind. With that, I decided to turn in for the night, and as soon as I entered my bedroom, I caught sight of something, lying on my bed.

Tae had left his shirt here. Again.

Can You Keep A Secret? Pt.4

Part 3//Part 4//Part 5

So, that was.....a lot of things. Like, I don't know what is going on here. Do you?

I am not sure what is going to happen, but one thing I'm sure about...there is definitely going to be at least one heartbreak.

Next update coming up on 22nd November at 17:30 GMT. Stay updated, and happy reading!

SERIES MASTERLIST

Pairing: Reader × Jimin/Taehyung ft. Other Members

Genre: Humor/Romance

[parkkjiminssi]

Someday Chapter 2.

pairing: idol!jimin x idol!reader

genre: fluff, angst

summary: Y/N just moved to Seoul after being selected and offered a contract to become a trainee at an entertainment company. Her first day was going well until she decided to roam around an unknown city on her own and gets herself into some trouble. Lucky for her an unexpected man came to her rescue.

a/n: hey guys, welcome back to the second chapter! I’m sorry if the story started a bit slow, but i promise that from here on out it will start getting interesting! I’m trying to figure out an update schedule. Don’t know if to do it once or twice per week, what do you all think? Also, I’m sorry about the captions on the Snapchats! I’m not very original when it comes to that. Lunars is Moonstruck’s fandom name. Anywayyyysss, enjoy!

“Y/N? Y/N are you listening to me?”

“Wha—.” You mumbled as you were brought back from daydreaming. “Sorry, what were you saying?”

“I asked, do you want to go out and get something to eat? This might be the last time we will be able to go out in a good while. What were you even thinking about? Don’t tell me the pressure is already making you delusional!?”

“Easyyyyy, Scarlett. I’m still as sane as I was when I first met you.” You answered your friend’s question as you sat straight up on your bed. “I was just thinking about... Well you know.”

“You’re thinking about that night when you first arrived to the dorms again? Geez Y/N, you should seriously see a counselor. You’re still traumatized.” Scarlett teased. You quickly grabbed your pillow and threw it at her as a frown formed on your face.

“It’s not that! While it is true that it was a very scary situation, I just can’t believe who it was that came to my rescue. Much less the fact that I didn’t recognize him till way after. To top it off, I couldn’t even properly thank him! How embarrassing...” You protested, a sigh escaping your lips.

Scarlett’s reflexes activated immediately and stopped the pillow from hitting her. “I’m just messing with you,” She said as she took a seat next to you on the bed. “but maybe now you can thank him properly, don’t you think? I was seeing on television that they’re about to do a comeback. So maybe we’ll run into them eventually?”

“Maybe... but you know how they’re always busy. He probably doesn’t even remember and that’s okay.”

It had already been two years since that day. Since the day that Jimin saved you. You constantly caught yourself thinking about it, thinking of ways that things could’ve been differently. How you could’ve showed your gratitude properly, better than just a plain ‘thank you’. However, you also constantly reminded yourself that that was all you could do at that time. You didn’t speak Korean well, after all.

“Well, don’t think too much about it and make sure you go to sleep early. Tomorrow we have a big day ahead of us.” Scarlett said as she stood from your bed and headed for the door.

“Wow, the way you’re always babysitting me makes feel like you’re actually older than I am!” You called after her as she started closing the door. “Don’t forget to put the alarm for tomorrow since you’re probably going to be the last one to fall asleep.”

It also has been two years since Scarlett and you became really close friends. She became a trainee a month after you did. You have no idea how but before you knew it, the two of you were inseparable. From late night Korean language study sessions and sneaking out for barbecue, to wiping each other’s tears when missing home became too much. So imagine the happiness the two of you felt when you found out you were going to be debuting in the same girl group! Not to mention the fact that the two of you became roommates once you moved into the new house where the group was going to be living together. After days and hours of practice, fansigns to introduce the eight members and promotions, the recording of your mini album, and the shooting of the music video, tomorrow was finally going to be the debut of your group.

Moonstruck.

“Y/N, WAKE UP!” Scarlett exclaimed as she turned on the light from your room.

“Five more minutes, mom.” You said as you covered yourself with the blanket.

“No, I’m not your mom and there’s no more five minutes!” She said as she changed from her sleeping shorts to some jeans. “We’re already running late, all the girls are already downstairs waiting for us. I can’t believe I forgot to set the alarm!”

“Don’t worry about me.” You mumbled as you sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed your eyes. “I am prepared, just need to put on some shoes and wash my teeth.”

Scarlett turned to look at you skeptical, not sure what you were talking about. However, she quickly realized that you were already dressed. “H-how, what...? Did you go to sleep dressed for today?”

You nodded and before Scarlett could say anything else, you stood from your bed and headed for the restroom to wash your teeth and face. Once you were done you headed back to your room to brush your hair and put on your shoes. You grabbed your phone and purse and headed for downstairs. After a couple of minutes, Scarlett finally made her way downstairs as well. Seeing that all of you were already ready, your manager motioned for all of you to follow him and to get into the vehicle that would be transporting all of you to the venue. One by one, you started loading the van.

“Did you two go to sleep late last night? You’re not sick, right?” Your leader, JaeHee said as she turned to face you and Scarlett from the front seat with a worried look. Scarlett started mumbling something but you quickly interrupted her.

“Sorry, I forgot to put the alarm. I stayed up late practicing for today, so it must’ve slipped my mind. I promise it won’t happen again, Jae Hee.” You said, quickly bringing your hands together and slightly bowing. “I guess I was just too excited for today, I’m sorry I kept all of you girls waiting!”

Scarlett stared at you wide eyed. “It’s okay, Y/N! It’s not a big deal, we didn’t wait long anyways. A lot of us had just came down too.” JaeHee quickly replied with a warm smile. The rest of the girls also gave you reassuring smiles and thumbs up.

“Why did you take the blame for me?” Scarlett whispered, nudging you on the side.

“Ouch... I wouldn’t be such a good Unnie if I let the Maknae be scolded for something like this, specially today.” You started saying as you patted her back reassuringly. “Let’s just worry about our debut and give it our best!”

BTS had just arrived at the M Countdown venue and were lining up before the entrance to greet fans, but for some reason Jimin was taking longer than usual to get down their vehicle and Jin was already getting impatient.

“What’s wrong?” Namjoon asked Jin, noticing the expression he was wearing.

Jin turned to point to where Jimin was. “He’s taking forever to get down, I have no idea why!”

Everyone turned to look at where Jimin was and after a few moments, he finally joined the rest of BTS. “Sorry, sorry! My phone had fallen under the seat and I was trying to get it.”

Rap Monster muttered the words ‘it’s okay’ and signaled for the boys to do their introduction. After they were done, they posed for a few pictures and greeted a few of their fans before making their way into the building. They were all so excited for their comeback tonight, and to see ARMY once again.

Once the van in front of yours moved, it was Moonstruck’s turn to get down and greet their fans. Your heart was beating crazy fast and your nerves were all over the place, but the happiness you felt overpowered all the other ones. One by one, the members got down the vehicle and walked over to the designated area to line up one next to the other. You could hear the fans cheering louder and louder each time a member got down. When it was finally your turn, you were totally taken aback at what your eyes were seeing. Fans screaming and saying encouraging words, holding posters with your group’s name on it. You could totally feel their love and for that you were beyond grateful. None of you would really be here if it weren’t for them. As you walked over to where the rest of the girls were, you started making all types of heart gestures to all the Lunars that were there. Once you reached your group, your leader gave the signal to introduce yourselves. After that, the eight of you posed for pictures and greeted fans before starting to walk inside the building to prepare for the big night.

Inside the venue, one of the girls that was part of the crew led you to your dressing room and informed your manager that in thirty minutes Moonstruck needed to go onstage to block First Love, your first single. He nodded and started ushering all of you outside of the dressing room, having you follow the same girl onto the onstage. When you got there, each of you were given tags with your names and ran the song a couple of times. Once the staff was satisfied with the way things looked, they gave you the okay signal and allowed you to go back to the dressing room. You notice that when you got back this time around, the place was a bit more crowded with people and luggage and racks of clothes.

“Alright girls, let’s use the time we have left to get ready for the performance. Tonight is a big night, let’s make sure we leave a good impression!” Your manager said from the door, before heading out to make sure everything was ready. All of the crew and girls cheered in response. When he was out of the room, the eight of you walked over to where your stylists were and sat on your chairs to start getting ready.

The hours passed by rather fast. Before you knew it, it was already time to start the show. You gathered in a circle alongside the rest of the members and started stretching. You didn’t wanted for anybody to get hurt on your first performance. Consequently, once properly stretched, you went over the dance a couple of times to make sure there wouldn’t be any errors.

“Moonstruck, you girls will be up in twenty minutes. Please start making your way backstage.” A member of the staff called from the dressing room’s door right before you were about to go over the dance one last time.

“Got it.” JaeHee replied with a nod. “Okay girls, come on.” She said as she motioned for all of you to get closer together. “This is it! The day that we all have trained for so hard is finally here. Let’s go out there and give it our best, but also be careful. I don’t want any of you getting hurt. I’m so proud of you all, and I’m so proud to be your leader.”

The rest of you muttered a few ‘aw’s’ and ‘cute’ as you wrapped JaeHee into a group hug. With that, the eight of you finally started making your way backstage. As you arrived, the staff started wiring you all. Giving you mics and earpieces, helping you all to make sure they were put correctly and were properly attached. The moment they finished prepping you guys was the same moment you guys were going onstage.

“You girls ready?” A man asked. JaeHee looked at each girl for approval and nodded her head. He talked to through some sort of radio, and after a few minutes he gestured for you all to get onstage. JaeHee led the way, setting foot on the stage first. The rest of Moonstruck quickly followed and got in your corresponding positions. You could hear the crowd cheering as the introductory video played, your heart beating faster than ever. Before you knew it, the lights came on and the music started playing. Your body out of instinct started moving to the rhythm. The crowd’s cheering got louder as they finally were able to see Moonstruck and the surprise they had prepared for all Lunars.

During promotions all of the members, including yourself, had their hair colored either brown or black. However, a day before the debut stage all of you agreed to do something different and surprise your fans. This was the outcome and you could tell that Lunars liked it too.

“I’m no therapist but I promise you this,” You started singing. “I will listen, I will care. Hold my hand and I will go anywhere with you.”

You were giving it your all. Showing your best smile, doing all types of facials that went with the verse being sung, dancing like there was no tomorrow.

When the dance break started, you noticed the fan chants Lunars had come up with. Your eyes started getting full of tears, this moment was the best in your life so far.

“You’ve never left my mind since that day... could this be my First Love?” You sang the last verse and the music stopped, signaling that it was the end of your debut. The crowd’s cheering and clapping seemed to have intensified. A few tears managed to get past, making you cover your face with your hair so they wouldn’t notice. ‘Thank you, Lunars.’ You mouthed before getting off the stage.

“Bangtan Sonyeondan, you guys will be up in twenty minutes. Please start making your way backstage so we can start getting you guys wired.” A staff member informed Rap Monster. He quickly nodded and motioned for the guys to follow him.

“You guys will be up after Moonstruck.” A crew member told the boys as they were getting ready with all the necessary equipment.

“Hey, I like this song. It has a good tone and the lyrics are nice.” Jimin said to Taehyung as they waited near the stage entrance, ready to perform. Tae nodded and started bobbing his head, but before they could fully get into the song it stopped. It had already finished. As the girls were exiting, BTS slightly bowed and the girls returned the gesture. It was at that moment that one of the girls caught Jimin’s eye. Her face, she seemed so familiar but from where had he seen her before? When? Then it clicked, the girl from two years ago! Jimin quickly walked over to catch up with you.

You were too caught up in what just happened that you didn’t pay attention to anything else other than the way back to the dressing room. Before you could get very far, someone took a hold of your wrist. You quickly turned startled to see who it had been, but never did you expected for that person to be him. To be Jimin.

“You’re her, right?” He asked. “The girl I helped two years ago in that dark alley with the drunk man?”

“Jimin, what are you doing? We have to go onstage now!” Rap Monster called Jimin, tugging onto his arm.

Jimin just ignored him and asked again. “You’re her, am I right?”

Your eyes widened in disbelief, was this really happening? You gulped and slowly nodded your head, afraid that your voice would fail you if you talked.

“I knew it!” Jimin exclaimed with a smile. “Please, what is your name? I didn’t get to ask last time we saw each other.”

“Jimin we have to go on now!”

“I just need her name. I’m not leaving again without at least knowing that.” Jimin said with a firm voice, not taking his eyes off you.

“Y-Y/N, now go!” You quickly replied, finally realizing the whole situation and that if he didn’t leave now then it would cause problems not only for him but for you as well.

“Y/N.” He repeated with a smile.

You had never been a fan of your name. Not that you hated it, you just sometimes wondered why were you even named like that. However, the way it sounded coming from him kind of started making you like your name now. Like some sort of song or poem that was only for you to hear.

Jimin finally let go of your wrist sliding his hand through and entangling his fingers with yours. He gave you a tight squeeze then took off running onto the stage.

As soon as he was out of sight, your legs unbuckled, taking all of your strength to remain standing. ‘What the hell was that?’ You thought, holding on to the nearest wall.

You quickly snapped back to reality when you heard Scarlett’s voice. “Y/N, are you okay? I was looking for you!”

“Yes, yes. I’m okay, sorry I was just looking for my earring. I think I might’ve dropped it.” You quickly said, trying to cover the fact that you were really still backstage because of Jimin. Your hand immediately reaching for the other one, the one that held Jimin’s.

“Oh, really? Let me help you look for it.”

“No, no! It’s okay!” You quickly protested, trying to get out of there as soon as possible. “I’m sure that the stylists have spares or something.”

Scarlett eyed you for a moment suspiciously, sensing that you were hiding something. She could always somehow tell, like a sixth sense or something! However, she decided to just let it slide. For now...

Once her gaze was off you, you quickly reached over to your ear and pulled off the piece of jewelry and threw it in a nearby trashcan. You had to go through with this whole story now!

Back in the dressing rooms the girls and the whole staff were celebrating. You all had successfully completed your first debut stage with flying colors! Your mind went back to that moment onstage singing and dancing, replaying it over and over, forgetting about the Jimin inccindent. Now, all you had to do was wait for the award ceremony.

At the end of the show, all of the artists and groups that participated gathered onstage once more to announce the winner of the night. The walking from the dressing rooms to the stage made you realize how tired you really were. Your legs felt really heavy and your eyes could close at any moment, but regardless of all of that, nothing could beat what you had just experienced.

All of the sudden you felt a slight nudge on your right side and you lazily turned ready to scold Scarlett. Much to your surprise it hadn’t been her, your eyes widening at the sight of Jimin. You felt your face turning hot and turned your head faster than you ever had that it almost gave you whiplash to hide the most likely blush, causing for a small laugh to escape from his lips.

The hosts went ahead and thanked everyone for watching. They then proceeded to introduce the top two groups and consequently the winner, BTS. The crowd went wild and started cheering for the boys on their first win for this comeback. You clapped for them for a small moment before being asked to exit through the right hand side stage entrance. You and the rest of the members started doing as told, occasionally bowing to the other idols that were walking alongside all of you. Before completely exiting, you took one last look at the stage. A huge smile forming on your face, thankful for the experience and happy to finally see that all your hard work was paying off.

‘I need to call home.’ You said to yourself finally stepping off.

After reaching your dressing room, all of you started changing out of your performance clothes and into your regular clothes.

“Okay, now what is really going on?” Scarlett asked as she walked over to you, all ready to go back to the dorms. “Don’t think I believed that story about the missing earring. I saw you throwing it from the corner of my eye as we were walking back!”

“Shh, shh!” You said, quickly putting your hand on her mouth to stop her talking too loud, or from talking at all. “Fine, I’ll tell you. Actually the reason why took long back stage was be—“

“Y/N, can you please come with me for a moment?” Your manager interrupted, signaling for you to follow him outside the room.

“Yes, I’ll be there.” You turned to look at Scarlett and muttered ‘I’ll tell you in the dorms’ before stepping out. Scarlett only sighed and nodded, grabbing your belongings to look after them.

“You needed to talk with me?” You asked as you closed the door behind you.

“Yes, Y/N. You see, M Net wants to know if you want to participate on Hit The Stage?” Your manager asked.

“M-m-me?!”

1 | 2 | 3

Someday Masterlist

Main Masterlist

[heycoffeeatmidnight]

New York. Living room of Karlie's apartment.

"What do you want to do? It's freezing cold outside."

"Let's just stay here, drink our hot choco and cuddle the whole day." Karlie says, giving Taylor a cup of hot chocolate.

"I like that... Hmm, this tastes so good."

"You like it?"

"Like it? I love it!" Taylor takes another sip from the cup. "This is heaven."

"Well, don't drink it all. Leave some for me."

"Well, you should have made one for yourself, Karlie."

"I want us to share. It’s more romantic that way."

"I don't really feel like sharing, to be honest."

"Taylor!"

"I'm kidding. Here you go." Taylor says as she hands the cup back to Karlie.

Taylor's eyes wander around the room and one particular item catches her eyes.

"Karlie?"

"Mhm?"

"You haven't taken down your Christmas tree yet?"

"Babe, I was out the country, remember? I didn't have time."

"Excuses."

"I'm not making excuses! That's the truth."

"Well, since you mentioned about your travel. I just remembered - there’s something I wanted to ask you."

"Shoot."

"Remember when you were in Peru and I called you and Josh answered the phone? Where were you that night?"

Karlie is taken aback by the question. She puts the cup of hot chocolate on the table.She’s starting to feel a little nervous.

"I can't remember anymore."

"You're lying."

"Babe, why does it matter? It's in the past. Let's move on."

"Karlie?"

"Taylor?"

"C'mon tell me!"

"No!"

"Karlie, look if we're going to do this again. We have to be 100% honest with each other. Total truth. Can't keep secrets from each other. "  Taylor says looking at Karlie straight in the eye.

"You really want to know?"

"Yes."

"Ugh... fine! But promise you won't get mad."

"I won't!"

"No, you have to say it. Say 'I promise I won't get mad.'"

"I promise I won't get mad."

"Okay...So, um, I was drunk and I got a little crazy that night."

"A little crazy?"

"Yes, just a little."

"Oh my God... Did you sleep with him?"

"No!... Almost." Karlie says terrified of how Taylor would react but Taylor bursts out laughing instead.

"What the hell? Why are you laughing?"

"Because! You and Josh... I just can't imagine."

"Whatever, Taylor." Karlie throws a pillow at the singer’s direction.

"Why? How? How did it happen?"

"Because I was mad at you."

"Aww - you were so desperate." Taylor says, clearly making fun of Karlie.

"Stop it, Tay. It's not funny."

"It is very funny." Taylor says as she continues to laugh.

"Look, what if we did it and I got pregnant. Will you take me back?"

"Pregnant Karlie Kloss. Hmm, that would be quite a sight."

"Come on tell me, will you still love me?"

"Of course, I'd still love you."

"But will you love the baby as your own?"

"You know I love kids, right? But a baby Kushner? I don’t know.”

"Taylor!"

"Yes, of course I'll love your baby as my own.” Taylor says, smiling. “Wait, what if I got pregnant? Will you love my baby as your own?"

"Depends on who the father is... If that Joseph guy – maybe not."

"You're mean!"

"No, I’m kidding. Of course I will love your baby as my own – whoever the father is. Aww little Taylor. So cute. Come here.” Karlie leans in and gives Taylor a quick kiss on the lips.

"It's January, babe. Seriously, we need to take down your tree." Taylor says as she breaks the kiss.

"You're not letting this up, are you?"

"No."

"Okay, fine."

___

"Good God, Karlie! Why do you still have all these gifts here? You should send them out." Taylor says as she looks at all the unsent gifts under the Christmas tree.

"Yeah, I know. I just didn't have the time."

"You're always procrastinating."

"I do not. That's not true. I was really busy and I was traveling, too."

"Sounds procrastinating to me. Send these out today."

"Today? The weather's terrible."

"Okay then, end of the week. These should all be gone by the end of the week. No extension, young lady.”  

"Geez, you sound like my mom."

Taylor notices a gift that has a card on it that says "For Taylor.”

"Is this for me?"

"You're the only Taylor in my life so yes that's for you."

"Aww, you have a gift for me?"

"Yeah. I totally forgot about that."

"You bought me a Christmas gift.”

"Yeah, babe."

"Aww... But why?" Taylor asks.

"What do you mean why? I wanted to."

"But we were broken up."

"I know... but I wanted to give you something. Come on, open it!"

"No!"

"No?" Karlie says, confused. 

"I didn't buy you anything." Taylor says with a sad look on her face. 

"That's fine, babe. You didn't have to."

"No, but you bought me one. I feel bad... I need to give you something."

"Tay, this is not a competition. Don't worry about it. Seriously, you don't have to. I have my gift right here." Karlie says, gently tapping Taylor's nose.

"No, it's not the same."

"Tay, seriously it's not a big deal."

"Oh wait, I have an idea! Wanna hear it?"

"Pretty sure you're going to tell me anyway."

Taylor punches Karlie's arm.

"Ouch, I'm kidding. Go on. I wanna hear it."

"Let's recreate Christmas!"

"What?"

"Come on! I feel bad that we didn't get to spend Christmas and New Year together. Don't you feel bad? You still have your tree up anyway. Let's have a late Christmas slash New Year celebration! What do you think?"

"Um, sure. Whatever makes you happy, babe."

"You're not excited?" 

"I am. Of course, I am! See, I’m beaming with excitement.” Karlie says, grinning exaggeratedly. 

"Great! I'll cook dinner."

"What do I do?"

"Bake something."

"Okay, I can do that."

"But first, I need to buy you a gift."

"Tay. I told you, you don't have to."

"But I want to! Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents... and it's not fair that you got me something and I didn't."

"It's freezing cold outside. I won't allow you to go out under this horrible weather."

"Who says anything about going out? I’ll do it online. I need to borrow your laptop."

"Now?"

"Yes, Karlie, now."

"Ugh, you're so stubborn!"

____

Karlie's bedroom.

"How long are you going to do that? It's been an hour." Karlie says impatiently.

"No, it's not."

"Yes, it is. I have a timer."

"I want to give you something special. Aren't you happy I'm making an effort here?" Taylor says, looking seriously at the laptop monitor. 

"Well, I told you, you don't need me to buy anything."

"Almost done. Promise."

"You said that 20 minutes ago.'

"This time for real. I promise."

"Whatever." Karlie gets up from the bed and heads towards the door. 

“Hey! Where are you going?"

"Downstairs. I'm not wanted here."

Karlie leaves the room.

"I told you I'm almost done." Taylor shouts out.   

_____

Living room. Karlie is sitting on the couch, reading a book. 

Taylor enters the room, smiling.  

"I'm done! I ordered your gift and it will be delivered today."

Karlie ignores her.

"Karlie, I said I'm done. Your gift will be delivered today."

“’Kay.” Karlie responds curtly 

"Aww someone's upset. My girlfriend is upset. Hey, come on. I'm sorry it took longer than I expected. I really just wanted to find the right gift for you."

Karlie continues to ignore her.

"Karlie, don't be mad please."

"I'm reading, Taylor."

"Not anymore." Taylor grabs the book from Karlie.

"Taylor! Give me back my book. That's rude!"  Karlie says getting up from the couch.

"You have to get it from me."

“I’m stronger than you."

"Well, prove it." Taylor says.

Karlie tries to snatch the book from Taylor’s hands but Taylor won’t let go. 

“Let go, Taylor!”

“I won’t”

They get into a tussle and a tug-of-war over the book. Karlie wins. 

"God, you’re strong.” Taylor says, catching her breath. 

"I told you! You don't mess with one Karlie Kloss." Karlie says as she sinks back into the couch. 

"Are you still mad at me?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. If you can spend one hour ignoring me. I can do the same."

"Ah! So you're punishing me. I see what you're doing."

Karlie goes back to reading.

"You're really going to ignore me?"

"Yes."

"Even if I strip naked?" 

Karlie tries hard not to pay attention to her. 

"Karlie, I'm taking off my top... Karlie, babe, look. I took off my top." Taylor teases. 

Karlie ignores her and continues to read her book. She knows Taylor is teasing her. She didn't really take off her top.

"Okay, fine. You win. I'm sorry... I'm sorry I kept you waiting for an hour."

"More than an hour." 

Taylor sits beside Karlie and puts her head on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry. Don't be mad anymore."

How can I possibly be mad at you when you're being cute like this? Karlie thinks to herself but decides not to say anything. 

Taylor suddenly shifts her position to face Karlie. She climbs on her lap, straddles her legs on both sides and wraps her arms around Karlie’s neck.   

"What are you doing?" Karlie asks visibly surprised by this turn of event. 

"This whole ignoring me thing is really turning me on." Taylor says as she stares deeply into Karlie’s eyes.

"Taylor—"

"Shh..." Taylor says and soon her fingertip traces Karlie's lips. 

Karlie, still unsure of what’s happening, finds herself slowly parting her lips as Taylor brushes her fingertips lightly over her lower lip. She tries to suck her finger into her mouth but Taylor pulls away. Karlie’s body tightened with want. 

"Still ignoring me?" Taylor asks.

Karlie looks at her and smile.”You've got my full attention now." 

Taylor leans forward and kisses Karlie deeply into her mouth. Karlie reciprocates kiss for kiss.

(Note: I am glad that people continue to read this fic even though I haven’t updated it in ages! I am genuinely touched by your feedback and messages so I decided to update this story! I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it. I didn’t spend a lot of time proofreading this so I apologize! But thank you so much for reading my blog! I love Taylor and Karlie so much and wish them a happy ending IRL!) 

[dingdongsnogbox]

Bedtime Stories

Chapter: 2/?

Rating: M

Word Count: 1891

Description: When the Doctor shows up at Clara’s flat one Wednesday afternoon, he’s surprised to find the place empty. Deciding to wait for her to return home, he takes it upon himself to occupy his time by routing through her things. What happens when he stumbles upon a racy book stashed underneath Clara’s pillow?

Author’s Note: So apparently I wrote most of this a year ago and only just found it lying around on my computer... 20 minutes later and I’ve finished it off and now it’s here for anyone who’s still interested in reading this story. I think the award for the longest time taken to update a fanfic ever definitely goes to me...

The Doctor strides up to the TARDIS console purposefully and promptly pulls down on the leaver to send the ship into flight. He doesn’t go far; just takes her to drift in the vortex. Sort of like the equivalent of storming out of one’s own home, only to find one has nowhere to go and winding up hovering about outside uselessly. The Doctor has never been particularly good at storming off and thinks he’s done well to even dematerialise the TARDIS out of Clara’s flat.

“Well, I think I’ve certainly surpassed myself in terms of downright stupid ideas today, hey old girl?” He gazes up at the ceiling of the console room as he finally acknowledges the sheer idiocy of the situation he’s landed himself in. In response, he feels something distinctly resembling amusement tickle the edges of his mind from his ship. The Doctor rolls his eyes. “I should have known you’d be on her side. You women are always ganging up on me.” He remarks as he spins away from the console.

Now all he has to do is solve this mess he’s gotten himself into. There is of course the option of taking a quick trip into the distant future, finding an erotic novel and passing it off as something he’d written himself, but somehow the Doctor can’t quite bring himself to deceive Clara in such a way. Besides, anything written by a human is bound to be pure drivel anyway.

With a resigned sigh, he ponders his options and decides that to write a book, one must first conduct an extensive amount of research. Thankfully, research is an area he is particularly skilled in. Unthankfully, he does not fancy conducting extensive research into this particular area. No, that definitely won’t do. He’ll have to make do with researching existing books within the genre and go from there. He briefly ponders the thought of paying a visit to the library onboard the TARDIS, but dismisses the idea as quickly as it comes. Whilst there’s undoubtedly some literature with a hint of an erotic nature lying around in there, the Doctor likes to consider himself above keeping a collection of such books.

First stop: the nearest bookshop. Well… strictly speaking that could be any bookshop really what with the whole ship that travels anywhere in time and space thing and all, but some locations are easier to land accurately in than others. 21st century London is always an easy one and there’s bound to be no end of bookshops stocking inappropriate novels there. London bookshop it is.

When they land, the Doctor sticks his head out of the TARDIS doors to examine his surroundings. A dank alleyway greets him, and he promptly exits the ship to take a closer look at the street sign in order to remember where exactly he’s parked. It wouldn’t be the first time he forgot where he’d parked the TARDIS, and the idea of wandering around looking for the ship whilst carrying a collection of erotic fiction is far from an appealing one.

Once satisfied that he’s aware of where they are, he leaves the alleyway and strolls out onto a relatively busy street. Conveniently, almost directly opposite the alleyway sits a large, yet somewhat rundown bookshop. Perfect. With a smile, the Doctor makes a mental note to congratulate himself on his excellent piloting skills later.

The inside of the shop is brimming with wall-to-wall books of every genre. Each section is vaguely categorised by a faded sign above the shelves and the Doctor makes a beeline for the one which reads ‘romance’. There, he begins to scan the shelves, skimming the title of each book with a frown of concentration. Unfortunately, the titles seem to give him little clues as to the actual contents of the books. The Doctor is about to resign himself to taking out each one and reading the blurb in the hope of finding those which might be on the more er… exotic side when he catches sight of a sign which reads ‘erotica’ off towards the right. Bingo.

He doesn’t bother to read the titles of the books, simply starts to drag them off of the shelves one by one until half of the section is empty and he can no longer see where he’s walking from behind a precarious tower of inappropriate literature.

Miraculously, he manages to find his way to the checkout desk without falling over anything or bumping into anyone and promptly sets the pile of books down in front of him with a soft thud. The woman behind the counter eyes the collection with a raised eyebrow and slightly widened eyes, clearly alarmed by his choice of purchases.

“You want to buy all of these?” The young woman asks, voice laced with mild disbelief. The Doctor stares at her as though she possesses all of the brain capacity of a turnip. “Well I didn’t carry them all over here just for fun.” He answers dryly and the woman, clearly taken aback by the bluntness of his response, simply ducks her head and begins to scan and bag up the books. The Doctor frowns slightly and wonders if this has something to do with that being nice thing Clara is always babbling on about…

He’s in the middle of pondering over whether he ought to try to engage the woman in further conversation when she interrupts him to state how much his purchase totals to and he hands her over a wad of money without another word. He isn’t often in the habit of keeping money on his person, but he keeps an amount stashed away onboard the TARDIS for emergencies. Buying a bookshop’s entire collection of erotic literature is clearly one such an emergency. The woman behind the counter accepts the cash with some muttered thanks and the Doctor begins to gather up the numerous carrier bags of books that are now sat gathered on the counter in front of him. It’s a struggle but, somehow, he manages to hold all of them at once and hurries rapidly out the shop door and back towards the TARDIS.

Once inside the ship, he practically begs her to move the library as close as physically possible to the console room so that he doesn’t wind up hauling his ridiculous collection of carrier bags along miles and miles of corridors. The TARDIS, for a change, decides to be generous and he finds the door to the library off to the right, a couple of doors down from the console room.

Off to the left-hand side of the extensive room is a large wooden desk, and it’s here that the Doctor empties out the entire contents of his carrier bags in an unceremonious heap. There. Now all that’s left to do is go through the pile and try to figure out what on Earth he’s actually going to write about…

*******************************************************************************************

Two hours in and after reading the words ‘engorged member’ for what feels like the millionth time, the Doctor tosses yet another book over his shoulder into the growing pile of discarded novels behind him. “Humans. You’d think with all of the canoodling they get up to that they’d actually be capable of writing about it, but apparently, that’s too much to ask of a bunch of pudding-brains.” He remarks to himself with an exaggerated sigh.

The Doctor thinks to himself that if he has to read one more poorly written description of ham-fisted foreplay then he might actually select the largest of the novels in the pile and proceed to beat himself over the head with it. It rapidly becomes too much to bear and the Doctor swiftly pushes himself up from the desk.

“Well, you know what they say old girl. If you want something done properly, ask a Time Lord to do it for you.” He speaks to his ship with a grin and feels what seems distinctly like an eye roll in response. One of these days, somebody around here will actually appreciate his wit.

Deciding that it’s about time he starts attempting to write this dreadful book, the Doctor seeks out another desk free from pornographic clutter and seats himself at it with a stack of paper and a pen. He could have done the human thing and used a computer, but he’s a little old fashioned and finds that his superior writing speed hardly makes it an inconvenience to write the whole thing out by hand.

His pen moves to form the cursive lettering that reads ‘Chapter One’ at the top of the first sheet of paper, and then begins detailing the beginnings of his story about an enigmatic, scarily handsome Rockstar from outer space who happens upon a petite, bossy young woman who knows exactly how to put him in his place…

*******************************************************************************************

He’s been writing for some time, when the Doctor hits a mental block and freezes with pen on paper. Despite bragging to Clara about his extensive knowledge in the area, it has actually been a while since he last engaged in… relations with anyone and he finds himself stuck as to the correct response one might give to the situation his story is currently depicting. Frowning to himself, he tries to conjure up the words to describe the reaction he’s looking for and repeatedly comes up short. Blast.

Then an idea pops into his head and he’s jumping out of his seat and running out of the library before the rational part of his brain can catch up and explain to him exactly why said idea is one of the less intelligent ones he’s had.

Back in the console room, the Doctor plugs in the coordinates for Clara’s flat and sends the TARDIS into flight. Moments later, the ship has materialised back in her bedroom and the Doctor is striding out through the doors.

“Clara?” He calls out, his Scottish accent thick as he annunciates her name.

On cue, she appears from the living room with what appears to be a smug grin on her face. “Given up already, have you?” She teases with her arms folded across her chest.

“Not exactly.” He responds, eyeing her calculatingly.

“Well then, where is this master-,” her words die in her throat to be replaced with a sharp intake of air as the Doctor closes the distance between them, winding his arms around her waist and bringing his lips down to suck hard at the soft skin of her throat.

“Doctor-,” Clara manages to squeak out, the word tinged with a mixture of shock and a hint of arousal. In fact, the Doctor feels her go slightly weak in his arms and tilt her head back ever so slightly in encouragement, before she seems to catch herself and places her hands forcefully against his chest.

“What the hell are you doing?!” She exclaims, eyes wide in alarm.

Now, with his gaze on her face, the Doctor takes the time to note the pink flush that has crept over her face and neck and the way her breathing rate has substantially increased. He flashes her what can almost be described as a cheeky smirk and answers: “research, Clara.” And with that, he turns on his heel and walks straight back into the TARDIS, dematerialising and leaving a flabbergasted Clara Oswald in his wake.

[parkjmini]

Reminisce | 4

Park Jimin “I found myself falling more in love with you as I grew older.” You and Jimin were childhood best friends until you had to move away. As years passed and you both aged, the separation between your friendship deepen and you never heard from him again. More than a decade passed and you suddenly stumble upon the man who you never stopped thinking about. Word Count: 3,314 Italics = flashback (Y/F/N) = Your Full Name

Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | the end

thank you to everyone who reads my horrible writing )): im really sorry i haven’t been updating, my life has just been so hectic !! pls give me feedback bc im always looking to improve ((: this is NOT the last chapter !!

“Dad!” You yelled as the familiar man stepped out of his car. He looked tired, eyes heavy with dark circles that rimmed the bottom. His face sagged and his posture was bent. However, the sound of your voice instantly lit his sulky face.

“My dear!” He whispered as you quickly jumped onto him for a hug, like a small child would do. He laughed, hoarse and deep. He had grown older and weak, so he stumbled back to maintain his balance.

“Dad, I missed you!” You squealed, giddy and eager to see your parent after several years. 

“Honey, when did you get back?” He set you down and tried to take in your grown face.

You went on to explain how you were to be in town for the next couple of days. “Did you not hear my voicemail?”

He lightly knocked his knuckles against his temples and groaned, “I forgot to check my machine these past couple of days. I’m sorry, my love. Where are you staying?” 

“Dad, have you been well lately? I slept at Jimin’s apartment last night.” Your father looked behind your shoulder to see the cool Jimin leaning against his door frame, observing the daughter-father reunion. 

He smiled lightly, “I’ve been a little tired recently. You are staying for dinner tonight, right?” 

“Yes. I was planning on staying here now that you know I’m back—”

“–No, no, my dear. Your room is no longer here. I don’t have your bed anymore. You should go and stay with Jimin.” Your dad began walking towards your home. Confused, you followed after him.

“The last time I visited was six years ago and you got rid of my bed?” You were slightly offended that he gave away your bed, let alone demolished your entire childhood room.

“You were here six years ago?” Jimin suddenly appeared out of no where. You jumped at the sound of his voice and nodded. “Why didn’t you come say hi? Why didn’t you come and see me?”

Groaning, you were reminded by the painful memories of your shattering friendship. “Because we weren’t really.. friends.. anymore.. at that time.” A sugar coated explanation was all you could give, along with a sympathetic frown.

Jimin was taken aback and didn’t move from the doorway of your house. He was absolutely clueless. “What are you talking about?” 

“Nevermind. You don’t remember because it didn’t hurt you as much as it had hurt me.” You answered passive aggressively and tried to find your father in the big house.

“(Y/N), wait.” Jimin caught on to your wrist before you fled off. “Talk to me.”

“Jimin.. we can talk and talk, but you’d never understand how much I was hurting when I grew up without you.” Knowing that you were hurt would only hurt Jimin. Knowing that your pain was because of him made it even worse. Jimin never wanted to be the reason behind your painful sorrows. He merely wanted to be your happiness.

“I wanted to be there for you.” Jimin began to defend himself.

“But you weren’t, that was the thing.” You didn’t know where the sudden fuel of anger and sadness came from. Maybe he wasn’t allow to feel upset that you didn’t bother to see him when you came to visit in the past. 

“Why don’t you go see Jimin?” Your dad asked as you laid underneath your soft, cotton covers. 

You viciously shook your head, so hard that he was afraid your head would fall off. “I don’t want to see him.” 

“Why not, honey?” Your dad tried to be as comforting as your mother. The bed shifted due to his weight and his warm hand rested on your shoulder.

“Because we aren’t friends anymore.” 

“His graduation is today.” 

Cuddling closer against your window sill, you buried your head deeper into the mattress. “I don’t care.” Your dad hated those words and he decided that there was no point in pushing you anymore. He lacked persistence, contrasting your mom, who didn’t take no for an answer.

“Can you believe it? We’re graduating in a few hours.” A young girl’s voice traveled through your open window, into your room.

“Yeah. It’s crazy.” Jimin’s voice made you still in your blankets. The fact that he lived in the same neighborhood made it harder to ignore his existence. He was obviously walking past your house to get to his own.

“I’m going to miss you.” She said sadly. Jimin exhaled and there was a silence. You thought they had left and escaped into his house, so you peeked out your blinds. There he stood at the corner of your driveway, with a girl in front of him.

“Me too.” He had hesitated before saying it. You ducked quickly before either one of them saw. The obnoxious rattling noise of the blinds caught her attention.

“Did you hear that?” The girl asked. “I think it came from this house, that window.”

“This house? No. I know who lives here and no one lives in that room.” You heart was pounding so loud, you heard it in your ears.

“How do you know?”

“They’re a family friend of mine and I’ve been in that house.” 

“For what?”

“Are you done asking me all these useless questions?” Their footsteps picked up again.

“Jimin, you’re hiding something. I can tell.” Her voice faded and Jimin’s response was no longer audible. 

“Jimin, I don’t want to talk about this right now.” You trailed and looked behind you to see if your dad was still in sight.

Jimin shook his head, unable to let go of the topic, “we’ll talk later tonight, when we go back to my place. I mean, you still need a place to stay and I’m more than happy to offer my place.” 

You sat across from your father at your old dinner table. The once small square table use to have three filled chairs. Now, it seemed too big for only two people, let alone one. Your dad’s cooking tasted exactly the same and reminded you immensely of your childhood.  

Your house was practically empty since you and your mom moved out. It was also more dark and disheartening. Your dad completely let go after the divorce, but not enough where he was living in the streets. He also never remarried or had many friends.

You cleared your throat as you both ate in uncomfortable silence. “Why did you clear out my room?”

“I thought that you wouldn’t really need your childhood room anymore. It was too childish for a young woman like you are now.” He sipped his soup nonchalantly.

“I am barely a young woman right now. I’ll always be your little girl, Dad.” You sighed and he smiled lightly. 

“I know, my dear. However, you’re getting older now. You have a boyfriend and..”

“Boyfriend? Dad, I don’t have a boyfriend. Where did you get an impression that I had a boyfriend.” You were taken back at how your father thought you were with someone. You never mentioned anything about your dating life.

Your father stared back at you and raised his brow. His head tilted in confusion and he blinked back at you, not understanding what you meant. “Honey, what are you saying? I thought Jimin was your boyfriend.” 

“What?!” You stood up quickly. Shaking your head, you ignored any way your dad was trying to calm you down.

“I mean who else would have given you that mark on your neck–”

“Dad!” You had totally forgotten about the small mark Jimin left on your neck from this morning. You didn’t even remember which side it was on and proceeded to cover your entire neck. “We’re only friends, you know that!”

“Well, you staying over at his place and then showing up together. He practically chased you down. Now, you have this purple mark—”

“Dad! Seriously, it’s not what you think!” Your face turning a humiliating shade of red. Your father laughed and continued with his meal.

“Then I suppose you fell and hit your neck on something to get that bruise?” He was being sarcastic. That was the thing with your father — always witty and sarcastic. 

You sighed and remained silent. Anything else you would’ve said to defend yourself would have been used against you. You were already upset from the earlier conversation with Jimin, and now your own dad thinks you two are together. You didn’t want to go back to Jimin’s place so soon. He would’ve wanted to talk about the loss time, but talking about a time without him made you incredibly heartbroken. 

You texted Pilot Kim underneath the table. He responded almost immediately. You were going to take his offer for drinks to get your mind off of Jimin.

“Dad, I’m going out with someone.” You helped him put away the dishes after dinner. He peered over at you, an eyebrow raised. “No, not with Jimin. I’m going out with a coworker of mine. She wants someone to explore the city with and who else knows it best besides me?” You lied.

“Alright honey. You two girls be safe. I’m heading to bed anyways. I’ve got the early shift tomorrow morning.” He smiled and hugged you close. “I’m always thinking of you, dear.”

“I’m thinking of you too, Dad.” You returned a small smile before heading out to meet Pilot Kim.

He pulled up in a sleek black rental car. The headlights were blinding white as he pulled up to your sidewalk. You entered the car and the new car smell hit you unexpectedly. “Hello Pilot—”

“—Taehyung. (Y/N), just call me Taehyung.” He cut you off and ended his sentence with a grin. He wasn’t in uniform, so you felt strange seeing him in casual clothing. He looked ravishing. His patterned button up wasn’t buttoned all the way, his dress pants fit his long legs well. He was expensive.

“This is a uh– a fancy car.” You gulped. You were trying to make small talk, anything to fill the empty air.

He smirked and leaned back coolly. “Only the best for you.”

You turned to face him, confused. He shifted in his seat and cleared his throat. “So how was your day?” Taehyung changed the subject rather quickly.

You sighed, remembering all the events of the long day. “It was good. I haven’t seen my dad for a long time, so having dinner with him was really nice. What about yours?”

“Ah… I stayed indoors practically day, besides going out to eat. I had breakfast with Jen, lunch with Gabriella, and dinner with Kimberly.”

“And now you’re getting drinks with me.” You laugh uncomfortably. You really meant for it to be a joke, but you couldn’t help the way it flew out of your mouth.

Taehyung was very popular among the female crew members and pilots. He was a young, probably a year or two older than you, and handsome. Taehyung had a smaller frame, but his height made up for it. He was a fresh face that everyone wanted their hands on. Also, he was single.

You two have never really spoken much, considering you switch coworkers almost every flight. However, you’ve crossed paths enough to have minimal conversation. The talk surrounding him helped with building his character. He was funny, or so people said. He had great morals and a real down to earth guy.

Even though Taehyung was everyone’s dream, you didn’t understand the hype. He was undeniably gorgeous, a work of art, but there was something missing. He didn’t have his own ambitions. Taehyung wasn’t passionate about anything really. He reminded you of a lost boy who has yet to find himself.

“(Y/N), you were the first person all day that I invited out first. The others offered to take me out and I just went along with it.” Taehyung explained.

You shook you head. “You don’t need to explain. We’re not dating or anything. You don’t have to tell me excuses.” The car came to a stop and the neon lights of the club caught your attention.

It was a small bar and it wasn’t a busy night. Taehyung and you sat at a table. You were never big on drinking, so you had no clue what to get. You merely followed along to what your colleague got.

“You don’t drink much, do you?” Taehyung raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t. I don’t enjoy the taste of alcohol.” Your eyes couldn’t stop scanning the room, you didn’t want to make eye contact with him. Playing with your fingers, you two sat in stiff silence.

“Then why did you agree to meet with me?” He was asking difficult questions now.

You shrugged and sipped your bitter drink, “maybe because I wanted a friend.”

Taehyung sighed and leaned forward. There was a live band playing quiet jazz music. The beat was soft, something to sway to. “When will you realize you mean more than a friend to me?”

“Excuse me?” You weren’t sure if you’d heard him correctly. Right on cue, your phone buzzed with a text message from Jimin. He was wondering where you were at such a late hour. It didn’t occur to you to warn him that you didn’t need a ride back to his place.

Taehyung placed his hand on top of yours. Your head was ducked down at the device on your lap. “I like you, (Y/N). I want to spend more time with you.”

“I think you’re super cool.” Your eyebrows wrinkled together. Your table partner was scribbling compliments all over your notebook.

“You guys are so cute! Why don’t you just date each other already?” A girl across from you stated.

At your new school, people were nice. It was nothing like how it was back before you moved. You made a lot of new friends who loved your big hair and didn’t take advantage of your big heart. You were a little more outgoing than before. Eleven was a big transition in a child’s life. You were slowly becoming a preteen.

“We should. I mean I do like you, (Y/N).” The boy smiled boldly. Your friends squealed next to you and started slapping your shoulder to edge you to respond.

You were still very sensitive from Jimin abandoning you. A huge part of you didn’t want to let go of your childhood best friend. Your mind was telling you to lie to your table mate that you felt the same. Your heart, however, told you to stay true to who you felt for.

“I like you too.. but not in that way. We’re great friends. I’d like for us to stay that way.” You smiled halfheartedly.

Everyone paused at your reaction. You rejected him. It was a good thing he was an amazing sport about. “No problem. I still think you’re cool. I’ll have to like you from afar then.”

You chuckled, but it wasn’t funny. It was sad, honestly. You couldn’t ever like another guy because of Jimin. Jimin ruined every chance of a relationship for you. No one was ever going to be like him or live up to his standards. It needed to be him or no one. That was how you felt. And you felt that way for almost your whole life.

“Pilot Kim.” You addressed him formally again. You needed to be firm with him. Drawing your hand back, you stared him in the eye. “I feel it’s best if we were friends. If we were to be with each other, it would be inappropriate. You are my senior and I respect you. I think we shouldn’t cross that boundary. You’re a fine young man and you’ll find someone else.”

“Let me guess, you have a boyfriend already.” He sipped his drink and fell back into his seat. “He also just texted you, right? He was the guy you were with today, the voice I overheard on the phone.”

“He’s not my boyfriend. He’s only a friend. My— our — job makes it difficult for us to date, you know that.” You sounded more nervous than you intended.

Taehyung nodded and asked for the bill. “Maybe you should text him back.”

You replied to Jimin with a quick, vague message. He demanded for you to come back to his apartment. You rolled your eyes at the messages he was sending and muted your phone for the rest of the night.

As you were getting out of Taehyung’s car, his hand gently grabbed onto your forearm. You shifted around and he had a disappointed, but hopeful smile. “I know you said that you want to stay friends. I’m perfectly fine with that. I’m sorry if I made you feel uneasy or—”

“—Pilot Kim, it’s okay.” You patted his hand and he nodded, letting you go. Entering the elevator, you punched in the floor of Jimin’s apartment. Anticipation bubbled up your stomach. You’ve been mainly avoiding Jimin your entire night.

There was still a chance he was asleep. You prayed that he was in bed, so you didn’t have to speak or explain yourself. Opening the door, it was revealed an angry Jimin leaning against his dining table. The lights were a fluorescent yellow and the apartment was quiet, except from Jimin’s heavy breathing.

“Don’t.” You said as you took off your shoes and shut the door.

Jimin crossed his arms and got off his table. “My room. Now.” 

You groaned and followed him to his neat, dark bedroom. As you closed the door, Jimin was pressed closely against you. You scanned his face for any clue of it being a mistake. Any sign of embarrassment. 

He tilted his head and it was the scene from earlier all over again. His sweet, soft lips roughly pressed up against yours. His hands held onto your face and lifted your head off his door. Before you had the chance to kiss him back, he pulled away aggressively, leaving you in complete shock.

“You reek of alcohol.” He rolled his eyes and stood before you again, bold and towering. “Where were you and why weren’t you answering my messages?” 

“Who are you? My boyfriend?” Crossing your arms, you traced steps around the heated man. 

“Answer my questions.” 

“Fine. You want to know so badly, here it goes. I went out to get drinks with my coworker to avoid coming back to you.” You exploded at him, unsure where the sudden burst of rage came from. 

He exhaled sharply and said in a low voice, “now was that so hard to say?” 

“Don’t tempt me, Park Jimin.” You spat back, your words laced with venom.

“Why were you avoiding me?” He soften up. Lending out his hands, they touched your gracefully. Automatically, you unwind in his grip.

“Because I didn’t want to talk about the past. I didn’t want you to interrogate me about why I didn’t visit you when I came back. I don’t want to relive the pain of losing my best friend.. no, more… you were more than my best friend.” You were crying now. Tears spilling onto the floor. Jimin encapsulating you in his arms.

“I know, baby. I’m sorry.” You pushed him away the instant you heard that nickname.

“You don’t get to call me that.” You sniffed.

 “Why not?” He looked down at you with confusion.

“Because you’re not my boyfriend, Jimin! What don’t you understand?” You screamed and cried harder.

Jimin was back, holding you with such care. “What if I want to be?” 

“You don’t want that..” Your voice trailed, afraid of his next answer.

“Like you know what I want, babygirl.” Peering up, he had a delicate smile on his handsome face. “I want to be with you.” 

You sucked in your breath. Standing there, you contemplated whether you were drunk and imagining all of this. It was all too good to be true. 

[davidcarner]

Sarah vs The Life Unexpected Ch 11, Sub-Missions and Knives

A/N: Welcome back to the "Mollyverse".  Thank you all for the reviews and messages.  I apologize but the updates will be less frequent the next few weeks due to Christmas, family, and me playing Daddy Uber.  The next update will actually be the Christmas story, which has two more chapters to go.  Set back, and get ready, for Sub-Missions and Knives

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck, but I do have a butcher block of knives

Chuck eyes flew open. There was a terrible noise, and an elbow caught him in the face. Not hard, but enough to make his eyes water. He turned to see who had assaulted him and all he saw was a bare back and blonde hair flying. She turned around wielding a knife, which made Chuck freeze. Sarah saw Chuck, and stopped mid-turn. The sheet fell down to her waist, and Chuck's brain didn't know what to do. She was holding a knife, she was naked, and he was supposed to be a gentleman and not look. A grin started to cover Sarah's face as she thought she actually saw smoke coming out of his ears.

"Are you going to turn off that awful sound?" Sarah asked. Chuck wanted to speak, move, do anything, but his brain was shot. She grinned at him. "Guess I'll have to do it," and began to reach across him to turn off the alarm clock.

"Gah," he managed. Sarah got the alarm clock turned off, and slowly moved back, when two hands caught her just under her ribs. He began to slowly trace his fingers up her sides. "Two can play that game," he said into her ear. She thought her brain might shut off. He bent in to kiss her where her neck met her collar bone when they heard a voice.

"Molly, the door's shut, don't go in there," Emma said.

"Did you lock the door?" Sarah whispered, flying back under the covers. Chuck shrugged, trying to remember.

"At one point," he whispered back. "But then I opened it."

"I locked it at one point this morning."

"I know, I was there," he replied. She gave him a look. "Sorry, I opened it back, who shut it the third time?" Sarah shrugged.

"I have no idea," she admitted. The knock on the door came and the two shared a look. "Come in?" she said, not sure what to do. Emma opened the door carefully, noticed they were appropriate and stuck her head in, smiling.

"Chuck, Molly would like a word with you, when you have a minute. Sarah, Casey called, you have a meeting with the general this morning," with that she started to leave, paused, and turned back. "Sarah, it's not good form to murder someone else's alarm clock."

"She do that often?" Chuck asked, knowing he really shouldn't.

"We've gone through four," she said. "In the last six months." Chuck turned to look at her, she shrugged, innocently.

"Mommy, I need to talk to Daddy by himself!" Molly yelled.

"Would you like me to take the kids to school?" Emma asked, fighting the grin on her face.

"Naeiou," Sarah replied. "The alarm clock went off to go to work, and that's what we're going to do."

"I wasn't sure what it was for," she said, unable to resist and left. Chuck turned to Sarah.

"Did your mom just suggest…" he couldn't finish that sentence. Sarah nodded, grinned, and leaned over to kiss him. After a few seconds, Chuck pulled back, knowing that if he didn't they were going to be late. "Work," he croaked. Sarah leaned her forehead against his.

"Carina is going to bug me all day," Sarah said, trying to hold back a giggle.

"Great, I'm going to be the subject of gossip all day," Chuck said, not mad at all. Sarah hit him playfully in the chest.

"I guess I better get up, so you and Molly can have your talk," she said. She found his PJs and tossed them to him, as he tried to get dressed while giving her some privacy. "Really?" Chuck peaked over his shoulder, saw she had a robe on and turned toward her. She had an amused expression on her face.

"I'm trying to be respectful," Chuck replied. She walked over and kissed him.

"You're sweet," she said, heading for the door.

"Golly gee, ma'am, thanks for making me feel like I'm eight." Sarah turned and looked at him. Chuck got the feeling that she was a lion stalking her prey and he was fresh meet.

"Chuck," she said softly. "We both know I don't think your eight," and with that she walked out. Chuck gulped. Molly stuck her head in the room.

"Got a minute?" she asked.

"Just one, and then I need to get ready for work," he replied. Molly shut the door and came and sat down beside him on the bed.

"I'm really sorry," she said. Chuck was a little taken aback. "I pushed things too hard, and I want to make it better, but you know I'm going to want to be around you and Mommy at night, and Clara is too, so I had an idea if you'd like to hear it."

"Sure."

"I have a sub-mission for you."

"You may spend too much time with Casey," Chuck said, grinning.

"Listen, I'm serious. You can't get time here alone with her, but what about lunch? She has to eat, doesn't she? And, since Morgan was involved with my plan, and you know how good he is about picking out food, you can rope him in. Maybe just bring her lunch today, a picnic tomorrow, she loves chocolate eclairs, maybe one for breakfast one day."

"I like it, simple, yet thoughtful. How'd you get so smart?"

"People don't always notice a five-year old around. They say things and I just remember."

"Okay, lunch today?"

"Medium-rare cheeseburger, extra pickles," Molly said.

"You sure?" Molly looked almost insulted.

"Would I lead you wrong?" Chuck threw his head back and laughed at that. He pulled her in for a hug. "I owe you a video game night still. Don't think I've forgotten."

"Let's get Clara's party planned first," Molly replied.

"I've actually been thinking about that," Sarah said, coming into the bedroom. "Didn't mean to eavesdrop."

"Uh-huh," Molly said. She leaned over to Chuck. "She says that, but she always manages too." Chuck laughed at that as well.

"Well, how about I go get showered and dressed, while you two hash out the plans."

}o{

Chuck sat quietly in the vehicle on the way to work from preschool.

"You think Molly and Mrs. Wood will do anything but talk about us today?" Sarah asked, amused.

"I think she'd plan our wedding if we'd let her," Chuck said, not even thinking about the implications of what he'd just said. Sarah turned to look at him as it dawned on him. He just put his face in his hand.

"I finally get everyone to calm down about us, and then I go and say that," Chuck groaned. Sarah laughed and rubbed his shoulder.

"I know what you meant, and you're probably right," she agreed.

"Where are you going?" Chuck asked.

"Taking you to work, and getting my car."

"I thought we had a meeting this morning about Carmichael Industries?"

"I have to talk to the general first, Sweetie," Sarah replied.

"Okay, two things, one, don't you think as a company about to be taken over I should be there to represent Intersect Games so as not to throw suspicion about who Charles Carmichael is? Two, I'm totally fine with you calling me sweetie." Sarah made a turn in traffic.

"I kinda forgot about Intersect Games," Sarah admitted. Chuck tried to look hurt. "I'll make it up to you."

"Just don't tell Morgan, he won't be a sucker like me," Chuck said grinning. He pulled out his phone and sent a text. A few seconds and a ding later, he smiled. "I invited Morgan to come to the big meeting telling him it was all about financials. He begged out."

"It has nothing to do with financials," Sarah said.

"Sarah, if he comes to this meeting there is no telling what he will say, and there will be no acquisition, and then there will be no financials for Intersect Games," Chuck said seriously.

"I'm still shocked how two guys so smart are so bad at running a business," Sarah admitted, pulling into Burton Industries. Chuck got out and walked around the front of the vehicle. He looked at the building and Sarah stood there beside him. "What are we waiting for?" she whispered.

"Just steadying myself for whatever is going to happen in there," Chuck replied. "While I'm good with people, when it comes to my business, both professional and personal, it's been a while since I let anyone in." Sarah slipped her hand in his. He looked down at their hands and back up at her.

"Thanks for trusting me," she said, smiling.

"Always," he replied, and pulled up their hands, kissing hers.

"I'm here, this is no big deal," she said. "We make this cover, and you're safe."

"Who's the general?"

"Diane Beckman, NSA," she said. Chuck gulped and seemed to look a little pale.

"You sure she doesn't know who I am?"

"She knows who Chuck Bartowski is, but she doesn't know who Piranha is," she said, smiling. "And, I plan on keeping it that way." Chuck nodded.

"Let's do this," he said, and they walked inside together, holding hands.

}o{

Thirty minutes later, Chuck wanted to crawl under the table. Beckman had told them there was no reason the NSA should get involved and help them out. Sarah and Casey used every trick they knew and in the end, Beckman said they had nothing to offer unless they wanted to reenlist. Beckman signed off ending the hopes of Carmichael Industries. Sarah shook her head.

"She's mad at me for taking you," she said to Casey.

"I never thought she'd stoop that low," Casey replied.

"Word is the NSA and CIA have their hands full with rogue agents," Carina said. "She probably has no idea who to trust." Sarah looked at the flash drive that contained the encryption.

"The funny thing is, that drive could probably fix most of her problems," Sarah said.

"Which also means she really can't create a cover identity for Carmichael," Casey added. Chuck looked up.

"So let me get this right, all she could really do is look the other way if I made a cover identity, but she won't because she'll get nothing out of it?" Chuck asked. Sarah nodded.

"If Carina's right and they are facing rogue agents, she's desperate to even trust us to come back," Sarah added. Casey grunted.

"Not to toot my own horn, but she knows I'd never betray my country and I'd never work with someone who would," Casey said. Chuck's mind was racing. He knew how to fix this. He reached over and picked up the flash drive. Sarah watched him.

"What are you thinking?" she asked. Chuck grinned.

"You trust me?" Chuck asked.

"With my life," Sarah said softly. Chuck walked over and hit the screen reestablishing the link to Beckman, Casey's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. Beckman's screen came on, and she stared at the monitor.

"I thought I made myself perfectly clear!" Beckman said reaching to disconnect the call.

"Perfectly clear you don't have a clue of what's being offered to you," Chuck replied. Casey sucked in air. Sarah's eyes opened wide, and Carina just smiled.

"Whatever you did to that boy last night must have been something," Carina whispered to Sarah. Sarah couldn't help but grin.

"Do you know who you are talking to?" Beckman asked.

"Someone who's getting beat at every turn and is so paranoid she's refusing a saving hand," Chuck replied. Beckman studied him.

"You've got one minute." Chuck shrugged.

"You've got one minute," he countered. Beckman couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Listen, I have it on good authority you're battling rogue spies, personally I don't care, but this," he said holding up the flash drive. "Could fix many problems. This will stop 95% of those searching for information. Without the proper password, agents won't be able to access information. This is the first thing Carmichael Industries will market, and we're willing to let you have it for free, just to help us set up. If you do, then maybe we can help you. You get a lead on a certain site, our hacker can get in, get out, with the information you want."

"You have no one with that kind of skill," Beckman scoffed. Chuck rolled his eyes.

"We have many with those types of skills. I'm the worst of the bunch and I'm better than anyone you have. I swear I should just hang up," Chuck said turning toward the power button. He caught Casey's eyes and gave him a look that he hoped Casey would interpret.

"Wait, Chuck," Casey said, trying to figure this out. "This is our country we're talking about. She just doesn't understand." Chuck paused, nodded, and turned back to Beckman who was becoming very interested.

"Is your computer on the NSA network?" Chuck asked.

"Of course it is."

"And, you believe it is secure?"

"Absolutely." Chuck scoffed and turned to Sarah.

"How long?" he asked her, a twinkle in his eye.

"Ten minutes?" she replied. Chuck looked insulted.

"Five," Casey answered. Chuck nodded. He walked over and pulled out his laptop out of his bag.

"General, I'm going to hack your system in five minutes or less to prove to you how bad your security is. I expect full immunity from what I'm about to do." Beckman thought, and then answered with a sinister smile.

"If you're caught I'll disavow you, but if you can do it, full immunity," she replied. Chuck stared at her.

"Caught?" he asked. Beckman grinned.

"Scared, Bartowski?" she sneered. Chuck laughed.

"You can go tell your staff what's about to happen, and they'll never even know I was there." He turned to Sarah. "Will you start a timer?" Sarah pulled out her phone. "Go," he said, and his fingers began to fly. "General, are you're lights in the office connected to the internet?" he asked. Beckman started to answer when it suddenly got very dark in her office. Chuck just smiled. Sarah covered her mouth with her hand to keep the general from seeing her laugh. Beckman's printer started to print off "General Becky" in huge font. Chuck kept typing. "Ohhh, that's a big hole there. I'm gonna fix that, free of charge." Chuck typed some more. Beckman's computer monitor went black, and suddenly it said, Chuck – 1, Beckman – 0 on her monitor. Chuck stopped typing. Two minutes were left on the clock. Chuck sat there staring at her.

"Bartowski, fix it!" she yelled.

"Are you going to help us?"

"Who are you?"

"That's for you to figure out, General," he replied. "Now do we have a deal?"

"Deal," she said. Chuck looked at Casey, who nodded. Chuck hit enter, and everything in Beckman's office went back to normal. Chuck stood up. "I'll leave the rest of the negotiations to you and the Sarah," Chuck said. "Good day, General," and Chuck walked out of the conference room with out looking at anyone or saying a word. As soon as he rounded the corner out of sight, he quickly found a restroom. It was a few minutes before his stomach was empty, his nerves calm, and he felt back to normal. He washed his face, and rinsed his mouth out from the terrible taste.

"Nerves?" Casey asked. Chuck nearly jumped through the ceiling. He hadn't heard him come in or come up beside him. Chuck could only nod. "Good idea not drinking your thinking juice in front of her."

"What most don't know is it also helps keeps me calm," Chuck answered.

"Stomach settled?" Casey asked. Chuck shook his head.

"No, but it was empty, so… Casey I took on a General, what was I thinking?" Chuck asked.

"That you knew the only way to get this to work was to show her how wrong she was. It was stupid, moronic, and very brave. You were the only one who could save us, and you did. She'll never find out from me that you're Piranha, you have my word," he said, reaching his hand out. Chuck shook it. Casey noticed he was still a little unsteady.

"I just got us put on NSA missions didn't I?"

"Not exactly, a few maybe, but nothing you or Walker have to be in the field for. If you're behind the computer, and Sarah's running Ops, we should be fine."

"How good is Sarah in the field, Casey?" Casey looked at him, and decided if he could ask the question, then he could hear the answer.

"When she was in the field, she was one of the best. They called her the Enforcer, the Ice Queen. There was no one better, but Molly changed all of that. Molly helped her find her soul before she lost it, and Sarah helped Carina and I find ours. The spy business is a nasty, soul-sucking life, but we were the best. Now, we help everyday people, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but I love it. Know this, if someone tried to take you, Molly, Clara, or anyone Sarah loved…" Casey grunted a laugh. "I wouldn't like their odds of staying on this earth for long."

"Hey what are you two doing in there," Sarah yelled from the door.

"Getting my makeup on straight," Chuck answered.

"Bartowski, you're a moron, but you're alright," Casey said.

}o{

Chuck sat in his office reading the reviews of the game about to be released. He couldn't believe how high the scores the game was getting. He sat back, somewhat relived. He noticed movement around the door.

"What, Morgan," Chuck said. Morgan put his head in the door, smiled, glided to the chair in front of Chuck's desk, and sat there.

"I need details," Morgan said. Chuck just stared at him. "Come on, Chuck, you're glowing. Alex just raved at what you did to a NSA General."

"It's probably from throwing up from talking to Beckman," Chuck replied. Morgan remained unfazed.

"Chuck," he began, paused, took a deep breath, and decided to let him have it. "In the past nine years you haven't done one thing that required a risk. It took me five years to convince you to do this, and if hadn't been for that seed money you never would have agreed."

"It was the Awesomes," Chuck grumbled.

"Well, of course it was the Awesomes! Today you did something that was such a risk I hardly even recognized it as being from you, but then, I remembered. There was this guy, who would do anything for anyone, and I realized you haven't changed, you just finally let yourself be in a situation that could help other people."

"Morgan, I did it mostly for me," Chuck answered. Morgan put his hands on the desk and looked right at his friend.

"If this merger or whatever doesn't go through I have no job," Morgan said. Chuck sat quietly for a moment, uncomfortable, and finally nodded.

"If this game isn't a success the doors close," Morgan continued.

"We're getting amazing reviews," Chuck countered.

"Chuck, buddy, come on, you're good at this, but you, you my friend are made for more. Sarah Walker, has helped you find yourself, and as your best friend, I so approve. Why do you think I wanted it to happen so bad?" Chuck couldn't resist getting his buddy back for what he had done to him for the past several weeks where it came to Sarah.

"She knows," Chuck said, just watching his friend. Morgan looked around worried. He leaned in.

"Who?" he asked, his voice rising several octaves.

"Sarah."

"About, what?" his voice still many octaves too high.

"Project OMAHA," Chuck answered. Morgan went pale. "How you came up with the name." Morgan adjusted his shirt collar.

"You covered for me, right?" Chuck just looked at him.

"So far. I've been given a sub-mission," Chuck said softly. Morgan calmed and nodded.

"The general, right?" Chuck just looked at him. "Molly," he said softly, but insistently.

"Molly is behind everything?!" Chuck exclaimed. "This is too much!" Morgan tried to shush him.

"Look, that kid is scary. I'm sure Sarah's been training her." Chuck just looked at his friend. "How can I help? The sub-mission?" Chuck leaned in.

"Since my nights are filled by children, I need to try to use lunch to date her," Chuck said. Morgan nodded.

"See, she's good, isn't she? Picnic!" he said, snapping his fingers and pointing at Chuck. "That will take a day or so to organize. What about today?" Chuck leaned in.

"Funny you should ask," he said.

}o{

Sarah sat at her computer, working. Her stomach made a noise, but she didn't have time to go out and get anything right now. She loved her boyfriend, but she thought he would give her a stroke, heart attack, and some other physical aliment all at the same time with the stunt he pulled this morning. Beckman was in, Chuck would probably have to create the cover identity to be safe, but it was going to happen. Carmichael Industries would soon be a thing. Her stomach let her know that hunger was now a thing. She found herself sniffing at something delicious smelling, coming down the hallway. She looked up, almost thinking she could see the aroma in the air, when she saw her favorite site in the doorway, grinning, holding a bad that was emitting that smell.

"Hey, Beautiful," he said.

"Hey yourself," she said and then her stomach growled.

"Sounds like part of you is more excited to see me than other parts," Chuck said. "Mind if I come in?"

"Is the burger coming with you?"

"Well, I should hope so, it yours." Sarah just stared at him.

"I may eat, then lock that door and quench another hunger," Sarah said, grinning. Chuck gulped.

"Don't you have a lot of work to do?" Chuck asked, looking around nervously. Sarah laughed at him.

"Don't make me chase you down," she said, with a coy look on her face. Chuck walked over, sat down in the chair across from her grinning. He handed her the bag. She opened it, took one whiff and moaned.

"I think I'm jealous," he said, smiling. Sarah chuckled. "Do you have a knife?" Sarah reached down and pulled one out of her ankle hostler.

"Okay, that's impressive, a little intimidating, and I'm more turned on than I really should be," Sarah burst out laughing with that one. She cut the burger in half, took hers, and began to scarf it down. She was about three bites in, trying not to moan again, when she noticed Chuck not only had not touched his, but was trying not to laugh.

"Aren't you going to eat?" she asked when she had managed to finish chewing.

"You know, the way you're going to town on that, I'm afraid I'd lose a hand if you decided you wanted that other half," Chuck said. Sarah was nearly crying trying to hold back the laughter.

"Sorry, when I like something I go after it," she said, giving him a look as she bit into her burger. Chuck's ears turned red. "Okay, changing the subject, you nearly gave me a heart attack today with what you did."

"Sorry, it was the only way I could see us getting what we were after," Chuck said, shuffling in the chair.

"No, you don't understand. I get it, and it was the right move, it's just…"

"Sarah, that's me. That's the guy you brought out that's been trapped inside. I hope you like him." Sarah shook her head, grinning.

"Chuck, I love him. And, if he doesn't pick up his burger in the next five seconds, I'm going to eat his part too." Chuck grinned and motioned for her to take it. She reached down and started in on it.

"So tomorrow, I was thinking if you have a little time we could leave the office for lunch." Sarah nodded, still chewing. "Do you want me to leave the two of you alone?"

"Nope," she said, finishing off the burger. "I'm done with it." She gave him a look. "Now I need to go exercise."

"I think that's some sort of sexual harassment." Sarah leaned in.

"Isn't sexual harassment the unwanted advance?" Chuck thought for a second.

"Definitely not sexual harassment," he replied.

"You do know this will only get worse once we start working together?" Sarah asked. Chuck shook his head. "There is a supply closet down the hall."

"The one you caught Carina and Casey in?" he asked. She nodded. "No, thank you," Chuck said, shaking his head.

"There's one on your side of the building too. Seriously, you want a tour?"

"Not yet. Let's make sure it all actually happens first," Chuck replied. Sarah nodded.

"Then, I hate to be this way, but the sooner I get all of this done the sooner you can move in." Chuck stood up and started to leave. "Oh, speaking of moving in, Emma's been moving things in all day apparently."

"Oh?" Chuck replied. "I thought we were going to help her."

"Emma can be a little stubborn," Sarah said.

"Runs in the family," Chuck muttered. "Blood related or not."

"Hey," Sarah said, smiling. "I heard that."

"Love you," Chuck said retreating quickly.

"Love you. Thanks for lunch, see you in a few hours?" Chuck nodded, and headed back to work.

}o{

Sarah was just putting the final touch on the paperwork. Chuck would have to help her create the alias, but everything else was done. Her phone rang and she smiled seeing who it was.

"I was just about to call you," Sarah said.

"I need a big favor," Chuck said, nearly out of breath.

"Sure, what is it," she said straightening and preparing to take someone out.

"They want to interview us. Intersect Games. Me, Morgan. They want to interview us."

"Okay," she said, not sure of the emergency.

"I hate to ask this-"

"Chuck!" she cut in.

"Right, spiraling. Can you please take my vehicle and get the girls?" he asked.

"Okay, but what's the big favor?"

"That's the favor," he said confused. Sarah chuckled.

"Chuck, what am I going to do with you?"

"Love me forever?"

"Okay," she answered, a smile on her face. "Anything else?"

"No, Alex is taking care of the wardrobe. Sorry, we've been kinda using her in that department for a while."

"Okay, but going forward, I get some say in what you wear," she answered.

"She said you'd say that. Thank you, Sarah. I'll see you tonight. I love you."

"Love you, knock 'em dead."

}o{

Sarah collected the girls and started to the apartment. She and Emma had decided that they needed to continue to pack and bring a load over. She was thinking about how much her life had changed, and how much she loved it, when she saw Molly watching her and grinning.

"How was lunch?" she asked. Sarah smiled.

"He brought me a burger, medium-well, extra pickles." Molly made a "yes" fist pump. "He wants to do something tomorrow." Molly just smiled. "So, ma'am, what is your endgame?"

"You two married," Molly said, not one bit bashful. "You both deserve to be happy."

"He makes me happy, Molly."

"Me too," she said. "What about you, Clara?"

"Appy!"

"That poor guy doesn't have a chance," Sarah said softly. "Not that he minds."

"So about my baby brother," Molly began. Sarah rolled her eyes, but smiled. One day, there would be a baby, one day.

A/N: Hope you all enjoyed it! See you soon.

DC

[hard-satin]

Heart Monitor (6)

Masterlist

I was helping Scott carry the groceries to the car when he suddenly stopped tilting his nose into the air. I didn’t get the chance to ask him anything before he took off running a familiar growl sounding nearby.

  “Not this shit again.” I groaned as I slunk to the ground leaning my back against a support beam to wait this dumb training session out.

  I opened up a pickle jar from one of the bags, listening as dozens of car alarms went off in the distance. I wasn’t to much later that Scott came back up the ramp looking worse for wear.

  “How’s Derek doing?” I asked him.

  “You knew it was Derek? How?” Scott asked picking up the bags at my feet.

  “His growl. It’s very distinct. Like regular werewolf with a extra dose of sullen angst.” I told him walking to his car.

  “Wow, really?” Scott asked impressed.

  “No you idiot, I noticed his car when we pulled in and when you bolted I watched him chase after you.” I shock my head at him eating another pickle from the jar.

  “Oh.” He said popping the trunk.

  “Wait, you didn’t know it was Derek? And you just left me there?” I asked starting to get pissed.

  “If the alpha comes for me the best thing I can do for you is get as far away as possible.” Scott tried to reason. I scoffed at him still pissed that he left me behind. He tossed the grocery bags into the trunk he turned to me and held out his hands for the pickle jar.

  “No way. You left me for dead, I’m keeping the pickles. You should be lucky one of your friends is even still talking to you after the crap you pulled the other day. Consider these a kosher dill payment to me for being a dick.” I told him jumping into the passenger seat.

 -

  “Come on man you can’t give him the silent treatment forever. Especially with all the weird crap that’s been going on in our lives.” I tried to reason with Stiles as we took our seats in homeroom.

  “My dad got hurt because of him.” Stiles shot back sinking low in his seat.

  “No your dad got hurt because someone panicked and hit him. Besides your dad works in a dangerous field. You can’t make his safety Scotts responsibility. Scott is barly responsible enough to handle his own safety.” I tried to reason, but Stiles face hardened as soon as Scott walked in.

  “You still not talking to me?” Scott asked as he sat behind Stiles. Stiles ignored him. I snet shot a sympathetic smile, but we both knew how stubborn Stiles could be. It really only took Scott a couple more tries to break Stiles down though. He cracked when Scott mentioned he went to Derek for help.

 -

  “So he wants you to tap into your animal side to get angry?” Stiles asked Scott as we walked out of class.

  “Yeah.” Scott nodded.

  “Corrected me if I’m wrong here Scott but every time you do that you try to kill someone. That someone is usually Stiles or me!” I told Scott smacking the back of his head.

  “I know. That’s what he means when he says he doesn’t know if he can teach me. I’m supposed to see him again after work.” Scott moaned.

  “We’re not going to let that happen.” I said sharing a look with Stiles.

  “We only have until the end of the school day.” Stiles pointed out to me.

  “We can make it work.” I reassured him before turning to a very confused Scott.

  “What are you guys going to do?” He sounded a little scared, as he should be whenever it came to a plan Stiles and I cooked up.

  “We’re going to teach you to control your powers.” Stiles smiled at him in an unnerving way.

 -

  The three of us sat down for lunch Scott hiding behind his history book as soon as he spotted allison across the cafeteria.

  “Dude, I think the book’s making it more obvious.” Stiles pointed out.

  “Besides she’s reading anyway.” I reassured Scott stealing the apple from Stiles hand.

  “Do you guys have a plan yet?” Scott asked, reminding me I was supposed to be doing something.

  “Oh shit, I supposed to be breaking into coaches office right now.” I said standing and throwing my backpack over my shoulder. I took a bite of Stiles apple before tossing it back to him and racing from the cafeteria.

  I broke into his office and took his phone before running out to meet the boys on the lacrosse field.

  “Here put this on.” Stiles told Scott handing him a black band.

  “Isn’t this one of the heart rate monitors for the track team?” Scott asked taking the thing hesitantly.

  “Yeah I borrowed it.” Stiles told him.

  “Stole it.” Scott said looking at us both.

  “Temporarily misappropriated it. Coach uses it to monitor his heart rate while he jogs. You’re going to wear it for the rest of the day.” Stile instructed him taking coach's phone from my outstretched hand.

  “Isn’t that coach's phone?” Scott asked.

  “That I stole.” I said smirking at Scott as I grabbed my lacrosse stick from Stiles.

  I watched from across the field as the boys continued to talk and Stiles duct taped Scott's hands behind his back. WHen he was satisfied he walked back over to where I was standing in front of a pile of lacrosse balls. I tossed him his stick before scooping up a ball.

  We took turns pegging Scott with lacrosse balls. It was very therapeutic.

  “You know Stiles I think your aims getting better.” I told his as he nailed Scott in the face.

  “I was just thinking the same thing.” He laughed as I launched one into Scott's core.

  “I wonder why.” Scott groaned.

  Suddenly Scott's heart rate spiked. He collapsed to the grass ripping free of the duct tape. Stiles and I rushed to his side, watching in aw as he managed to get it under control. I let out a breath of relief before jogging over to clean up or mess. Our free period was ending in ten minutes.

 -

  Somehow we managed to make it to Econ just before the bell rang. I sat in my usual seat next to Scott, in front of Stiles.

  “Guys behind me.” Scott hissed at us. I looked over to see Allison about to sit in the seat. Stiles tried to jump in it but she was already there. NOthing we could do now. Stiles and I shared a nervous look before we turned to see how everything was going to play out.

  “Hey.” Allison said smiling at Scott.

  “Hey.” Scott said not really looking at her.

  “I feel like I haven’t seen you all day. When are you going to get your phone fixed I feel like I’m totally disconnected from you?” She asked him, his eyes widening in a panic.

  “Ugh, soon. Reall soon.” He said trying to reassure her.

  “I changed lab partners.” She told him with a grin.

  “To who?” He asked oblivious.

  “To you dummy. This way I can have you over to study.” She winked at him.

  “Oh.” I wanted to kill Scott with how awkward he was acting but all I could do was watch the horror unfold.

  “You don’t mind do you?” She asked noting the obvious lack of excitement in his voice.

  “No, I just don’t want to bring your grade down.” He covered.

  “Maybe I could bring your grade up.” She replied. I winced, that was checkmate. Scott couldn’t get out of it now. I looked over to Stiles whose pained expression no doubt mirrored my own before coach called my attention to the front.

  “Alright settle down. Let's start today off with a summary of last nights reading.” He said walking out from behind his desk.

  “Greenberg put your hand down everyone knows you did the reading. How about McCall.” Coach said stopping in front of Scott's desk.

  “Last nights reading?” Scott asked panicked.

  “No how about the reading of the gettysburg address.” Coach mocked.

  “What?” Scott asked confused.

  “That was sarcasm. Are you familiar with the term sarcasm McCall?” Coached asked. Scott looked back at Stiles and I.

  “Very.” Scott told him. Stiles high fived me.

  “Did you do the reading or not?” Coached asked him.

  “I think I forgot.” Scott admitted.

  “Nice work McCall. It’s not like you’re not already averaging a D in this class.” Coach reprimanded.

  “Seriously, you know I can’t keep you on the team with a D.” Coach leaned in and warned him. Scott nodded sadly.

  Stiles kicked the back of my chair. I turned to see Scott's heart rate rising on the phone. I leaned in to watch it rise as Coach started yelling at Scott. Just as it was getting dangerously high it started going down.

  “What the hell?” I looked at the screen.

  “Look.” Stiles told me pointing to Scott's hand wrapped in Allison.

  “She brought him back.” I marveled, looking at Stiles as a smile spread across both of our faces. Maybe this could work.

 -

  “It’s her.” Stiles told Scott as soon as we got out of class.

  “What do you mean?” Scott asked never quick on the update.

  “It’s Allison.” I clarified for my slower friend.

  “Remember when you told me about the night of the full moon? You were thinking about her right, about protecting her.” Stiles told him.

  “And remember the night of the first lacrosse game. You said you could hear her voice while you were on the field and that’s what brought you back so you could score.” I added.

  “And after the game in the locker room you didn’t kill her.” Stiles recalled.

  “At least not how you were trying to kill us. She brings you back is what I’m saying.” Stiles said finally getting to the point.

  “It’s not always true. Literally every time I’m touching her or kissing her…” Scott started.

  “No that’s not the same.” I cut him off.

  “When you’re doing that you’re just another hormonal teenager thinking about sex.” Stiles tried to explain. A weird smile crossed Scott's face.

  “You’re thinking about sex aren't you?” I asked him before looking at Stiles who had the same dumb expression on his face. I smacked them both on the back of the heads.

  “Focus!” I yelled at them bringing them back from their dirty thoughts.

  “Right, well back in the classroom when she was holding your hand, that was different. I don’t think she makes you weak, I think she actually gives you control.” Stiles explained coming back to earth.

  “Like an anchor.” I summed up.

  “Because I love her.” Scott put it all together. My eyes widened at his choice of words and I looked at Stiles who seemed just as taken aback.

  “Did I just say that?” Scott wondered aloud.

  “Yes, you just said that.” Stiles confirmed.

  “I love her.” Scott said again a dreamy look taking over his face.

  “That’s great now moving on.” Stiles tried to get Scott back on track.

  “No no no. I really love her. I’m totally in love with her.” Scott cut Stiles off in his wonderment.

  “And that’s beautiful, now before you go off and write a sonnet can we figure this out please because you obviously can't be around her all the time.” Stiles finally pulled him back in.

  “Yeah. How are we going to do that?” Scott asked.

  “I don’t know yet.” Stiles admitted spinning around. Scott looked at me I just shrugged having no ideas either. I looked at Stiles as he spun around with some flare and a familiar expression.

  “Oh no.” I said realising what was about to happen.

  “You have an idea don’t you?” Scott asked wary.

  “Yeah.” Stiles smiled.

  “Is this idea going to get me in trouble?” Scott asked.

  “Maybe.” Stiles admitted.

  “Yeah definitely. Come on.” Stiles said leading us outside to the parking lot. We went over to a group of seniors standing by a truck. Stiles set Scott up with his keys held up before he went and keyed the truck. Stiles grabbed my hand and pulled me to stand back with him away from Scott.

  “Hey hey hey. What do you think you’re doing to that truck bro?” Stiles yelled out gaining the attention of the seniors. I watched as the ran over to Scott and started to beat him up. I winced hiding my eyes in Stiles shirt at how painful it looked.

  Somehow Scott managed to keep from shifting. I felt a sense of pride and accomplishment, up until Mr. Harris came over and put all three of us in detention.

 -

  “Excuse me sir. I know it’s detention and all but I need to be at work, and I really don’t want to loose my job.” Scott asked Mr. Harris pointlessly as we sat at a lab station in the chemistry classroom. Mr. Harris just smirked at him before going back to grading papers.

  “You knew I would heal.” Scott said turning to Stiles.

  “Yup.” Stiles answered rolling his pencil between his fingers.

  “So you did that to help me learn.” Scott said.

  “Yup.” Stiles said again.

  “But partially to punish me.” Scott realised.

  “Yeah, well that part’s obvious.” Stiles laughed humorously.

  “Dude, you and Jamie are my bestfriends. I can’t have one of you being pissed at me.” Scott told him.

  “I’m not angry anymore. Look you have something Scott. Okay, whether you want it or not you can do things that nobody else can do. So that means you don’t have a choice anymore. It means you have to do something.” Stiles said looking at Scott for the first time since detention started.

  “I know. I will.” Scott said.

  “Alright. You three, get out of here.” Harris finally dismissed us. Scott raced to his bike to go to work. Stiles and I packed into the Jeep. I looked at Stiles.

  “What?” He asked noticing.

  “You totally pulled an uncle Ben on Scott back there. You gave him the whole “with great power comes great responsibility” speech.” I laughed out. He started laughing too.

  “Yeah I totally did. He got it though.” Stiles and I laughed the whole way home.

 -

  We were just pulling in when my phone rang. Scott’s caller I.D. showed up. I showed Stiles before clicking accept.

  “What’s up?” I asked.

  “Derek kidnapped my boss. We need to go to the school.” Scott's voice was ragged.

  “The school got it we’ll meet you there.” I said hanging up and turning to Stiles.

  “Take us back to the school.” I said explaining everything Scott told me as we drove.

 -

  Ten minutes later we were parked in the school parking lot listen to Scott’s insane plan, although I didn’t see any other options.

  “This is a terrible idea.” Stiles told him.

  “Yeah, I know.” Scott agreed.

  “But we’re still going to do it?” Stiles asked.

  “Can you two think of anything better?” Scott asked hopeful.

  “Well personally I’m a fan of ignoring a problem until eventually it just goes away.” Stiles said.

  “I like that idea much better.” I agreed turning to get back in the jeep and leave.

  “We can’t ignore this. Just make sure we can get inside.” Scott said, I groaned but rejoined the boys. Stiles grabbed the equipment we’d picked up on the way over and I went to scope the place out for any lingering teachers.

  I met them back by the doors to the school where I’d picked the lock to get us in. I tossed Stiles the flashlight before ushering the boys into the school. I sent one last glare Derek's way before following them inside. We strolled the familiar halls until we made it to the office. I bent down to pick the lock on that door too.

  “Okay one question. What are you going to do if the alpha doesn’t show up?” Stiles asked turning to Scott taking away my light. I slapped his thigh to get it back, shaking my head at the hyperactive boy. My beam of light bounced in time with his nervous leg but I made do. I opened the door and we shuffled inside.

  “I don’t know.” Scott admitted as stiles tossed me the flashlight. I made a point of shaking it while he set up the intercom equipment for Scott.

  “What are you going to do if he does show up?” I asked more concerned about that situation.

  “I don’t know.” Scott repeated the now intimately familiar sense of dread pooling in the pit of my stomach.

  “Great plan.” Stiles hissed as he flipped switches on the control board.

  “You said a wolf howls to signal his position to the rest of his pack.” Scott said.

  “Yeah but if you bring him here...” I started.

  “Does that make you part of his pack?” Stiles finished for me.

  “I hope not.” Scott confessed.

  “Yeah me too.” Stiles agreed handing Scott the mic.

  “Alright all you.” Stiles told him turning one final knob.

  Scott cleared his throat, took a deep breath, and let out the most pitiful howling noise I’ve ever heard in my life. I actually felt embarrassed for him.

  “Was that okay? I mean that was a howl right?” Scott asked looking from me to Stiles.

  “Technically.” Stiles confirmed.

  “Well what did it sound like to you?” Scott asked.

  “Like a cat being choked to death Scott.” Stiles admitted.

  “The good news is if the alpha heard that, he definitely doesn’t want you to be a part of his pack anymore.” I said trying to look on the bright side.

  “What do I do? How do I do this.” Scott started to panic.

  “Hey listen to me. You’re calling the alpha.” Stiles said rounding the table to stand behind Scott.

  “Alright, be a man. Be a werewolf.” He told him rubbing Scott shoulders as he pumped him up.

  “Not a teen wolf.” I added still trying to be helpful.

  “Be a werewolf.” Stiles said smacking Scotts back and coming to stand by me.

  He looked to me unsure. I held up my thumbs. This was going to work. It had to work. We both turned to watch Scott my hand finding Stiles hand and squeezing it for reassurance. Scott took another deep breath and let out an earth shaking roar.

  We celebrated as we walked back outside until we saw an angrier than usual Derek waiting for us.

  “I’m going to kill all of you.” He threatened.

  “Gosh buy me dinner first.” I told him jumping up to sit on the hood of the jeep. Derek gave me an odd look.

  “What, so you’re telling me murderous threats aren't your way of flirting?” I mocked causing Stiles to let out a small chuckle. He was silenced with another glare from Derek.

  “What the hell was that?” Derek asked turning away from me and focusing on Scott.

  “What are you trying to do? Attract the entire state to the school?” He asked.

  “Sorry I didn’t know it would be that loud.” Scott apologized.

  “Yeah it was loud, and awesome!” Stiles congratulated Scott again.

  “Shut up.” Derek spit at him, but his gaze was beyond the boys now. I turned to look at what he was my blood running cold as I saw something move in the shadows. I slid of the hood of the jeep finding my familiar place beside Scott and Stiles.

  “Don’t be such a sourwolf.” Stiles told him. I was too busy tracking the shadow that was circling us to pay much attention.

  “What’d you do with Deaton?” Scott asked noticing the empty car behind Derek.

  “What? I didn’t do anything to him.” Derek said looking from the empty car back to us. I screamed as the shadow barreled out of the darkness and impaled Derek. Blood poured from his mouth as the alpha hoisted him into the air. I grabbed onto the boy's shirts pulling them with me as I turned to run to the school. We ducked through the doors slamming them shut behind us.

[hyodo-juza]

The first one-shot request is finished! I know I responded to everyone who requested, but silly me forgot who requested what, so feel free remind me and I can tag you in my future posts/updates. This one is the AmaTaza request. You can also read it on AO3 and Fanfiction.net.

The electronic bell rang to alert Amari of the arrival of another customer, the familiar sound almost nothing but background noise as he blindly welcomed the shopper to the store while ringing up a newly bought chew toy for an elderly woman’s Pekingese. He smiled and bagged her purchase before she took it and left, her small dog aware of its new toy and bouncing alongside her.

Amari lifted his head up to scan the store for the new customer to see if he was correct, and sure enough, a head of unkempt obsidian hair was spotted between the ferret and bird aisle. A pigeon was seated on his shoulder, and it was obvious from its color and markings that it was different than the one that came in with him two weeks ago.

The man’s name was Tazaki, from what Amari could get out of him. He never disclosed just where he worked, but Tazaki would show up biweekly around the same time every visit to pick out a basketful of various bird toys and treats for his pets. Amari had mostly seen him with pigeons, but every now and then, a dove or a parakeet would accompany him during his shopping trip.

If Amari hadn’t known any better, he would have thought that Tazaki was spending all his paycheck on his birds. That didn’t stop him from worrying about the man’s finances, unfortunately.

Amari watched as Tazaki moved out from between the aisles and turned around to walk towards the checkout line, the cashier quickly averting his eyes and pretending to organize the box of dog treat samples in front of him to make it look like he wasn’t staring.

Soon enough, Tazaki was coming into his line with his basket crammed full of wooden chew kabobs, activity toys, and rope for his feathered friends to lounge on. It was the most he’d ever seen him buy in one shopping trip, but Amari wasn’t discouraged by it after working at PetSmart for so long.

The basket was unloaded and Amari began the process. “Good afternoon, how are you?” He had refrained from ever addressing Tazaki by his name because he thought it would have sounded too informal for his job and was against making Tazaki uncomfortable. The greeting, however, was mandatory. “Did you find everything you needed?”

“I did.” Tazaki’s bird waddled from one shoulder and began to maneuver around the dip of his neck, its feet avoiding the crease of his shirt collar and moving to his other shoulder. The action was adorable, but distracting. “I noticed that most of your bird products were on clearance today.”

“Oh.” Amari looked down at the toy block in his hand and slid it over the barcode scanner. He hoped that Tazaki didn’t see him fumbling with the package. “Our store is actually going to stop selling bird-related items by the end of the month.” His manager had explained it to him while he was going through their inventory earlier that week, but he never received answer as to why. “We will still be selling birds, though.”

“That’s unfortunate.” Tazaki’s voice didn’t sound any different to the situation, but from the way his face contorted, Amari knew that he didn’t take the news in a positive light.

“We’re selling them online, though. You can just log into our website and browse through the selection to have them ordered to your house.” Amari pressed the pack of millet spray to the scanner after it wouldn’t beep the first time, slowly growing frustrated at himself for not paying attention.

Tazaki’s bird flapped its wings a few times, jumping from his shoulder to test the surface before it launched and landed on Amari’s arm, its talons finding purchase, and it decided to chirp. Well, it was a chirping sound Amari had never heard before.

Amari was used to dogs circling around his feet while he worked. Cats even attempted to climb their way up his uniform when their owners weren’t looking, but Amari had never had a bird decide that his arm was a decent resting spot while he was in the middle of ringing up a customer.

“I’m so sorry,” Tazaki was quick to take the pigeon, his hand cupping around its wings and pulling it away from him, “I haven’t trained him enough to sit still yet.” The pigeon in question looked up at him and chirped again, wanting to flap its wings even in his hold. It looked restless, like it wanted to fly around instead.

“Have you clipped him yet?” Amari wasn’t an expert, but from what he could tell, most birds needed to be clipped if they were kept indoor to prevent injuries. It had flown some feet away, but that distance was normal and it was difficult to see if the feathers were trimmed at all.

“He’s only four weeks old, so I haven’t gotten the chance to do it yet.” Tazaki led the bird to climb its way up his arm and back onto his shoulder, its beak poking at the shell of Tazaki’s ear before it shifted its legs and huddled its wings together. “He’s learning to wean right now and he tends to get antsy if I stay in one place too long with him.” Tazaki smiled and gently rubbed his thumb and forefinger around the pigeon’s head, the bird leaning into the touch.

“That’s cute.” Amari watched how Tazaki handled the bird, his arm dropping momentarily and the bag of treats he was holding beeped against the scanner again, ringing up the product twice. Amari caught it when he heard it go off, the man looking down to see what had happened. He definitely wasn’t paying enough attention today. “I’m sorry, I’ll fix it.”

He hit the correct error key and it disappeared as quickly as it showed up, Amari bagging the item and making sure that his mistake wouldn’t happen twice. Simple blunders happened from time to time, but Tazaki’s presence at his register always made him slip up one way or another. It was embarrassing for a customer to see him like that. Amari took pride in being reliable and efficient, he even won employee of the month twice, so handling a single bird-loving patron shouldn’t have been as difficult as it was. Amari blamed it on the man’s charm.

The rest of the items didn’t give him a problem and Amari rung up his total, Tazaki swiping his card in the machine to complete the transaction. “Do you need any help carrying your bags?” There was always a lot when they were finished, but—

“No, thank you.”

—Tazaki said no every time. Amari hardly ever had a bagger at his station so he felt it was polite to offer his assistance to people who couldn’t carry heavy loads, like the elderly or disabled, but Tazaki was a customer that always bought too much. The balancing acts he would perform to take his purchases to his car was something Amari could never comprehend.

Watching the man tuck several bags of bird toys under his arms as the pigeon on his shoulder moved to the top of his head, Amari waved goodbye and turned to serve the next person in his line.

Tazaki came back into the store two weeks later with his paycheck cashed into his account and ready to be spent like always. He walked inside with his shoulder feeling rather bare without one of his birds sitting there, Tazaki glancing over to see that Amari was still working at the registers.

His arrival time was late compared to his usual schedule, so seeing the cashier there made him feel a bit more confident. It was probably the last time he would be stepping into the store for a long time, now that the supplies he needed were going to be sold online. With no other pets to care for, Tazaki wouldn’t have a reason to show up anymore.

He took the familiar path down the aisles and turned the corner, passing by a few cockatiels that were huddled in a group inside their cage, and Tazaki skimmed the shelves for what was left on sale. The clearance rack was nearly empty, save for a few toys left and bird seed.

Deciding that it wasn’t necessary to drain his account this time, Tazaki only took the food and headed towards check-out. He maneuvered around some shoppers and finally made it around Amari’s line just as he finished ringing up another customer. Tazaki placed the food on the counter and Amari went through his routine.

“Good evening, did you find—” Amari looked up as he took the food, having read what it was, and finally noticed Tazaki standing in front of him. His smile brightened. “It’s good to see you again. I thought you wouldn’t show up today.”

“I almost didn’t.” Tazaki admitted, reaching into his pocket to grab his wallet. “I was surprised to see that you were still working at this hour.” He had left work late and spent time at home deciding whether or not to bother driving to PetSmart on the off chance that his favorite cashier would be there when he arrived.

“My shift is about to end, actually.”

Tazaki pulled his card out and hoped. “When?”

Amari totaled the amount into the machine and Tazaki swiped the card like always. “In five minutes.” The transaction went through and Amari slid the bagged item towards the man with another smile.

Tazaki waited for Amari to speak, the two of them making awkward eye contact for another few seconds before Tazaki decided to break it. “You aren’t going to ask if I need any help with my bags?”

Amari looked taken aback by the question, the man looking between Tazaki and the single bag of food he purchased. “Well, I mean, this is the least you’ve ever gotten here. I just…” He trailed off when he saw the grin Tazaki had. Then he looked over towards the aisles to see if anyone else would be getting into his line. “I would love to help you carry it to your car.”

Amari went around the counter and grabbed the bag, allowing Tazaki to lead the way. He figured this was his way of telling him that it would probably be the last time they would see each other, so he would finally take Amari’s offer of help. The sun wasn’t quite setting yet, but the sky was beginning to darken, leaving the open air around them chilly from the dropping temperatures that came with nightfall.

There weren’t many cars left in the parking lot either, Amari spotting Tazaki’s car when he unlocked it, the headlights flashing and the trunk popping open. “No bird today?” Amari mentioned his lack of company as he handed him his bag, watching Tazaki.

“I left them at home today. I didn’t want to bring them someplace they weren’t allowed in.”

Amari looked at him funny. “PetSmart doesn’t have a policy against birds, you know. You’ve brought them in plenty of times before.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Tazaki shut the trunk door and turned to face Amari, the dark-haired man taking a moment to collect himself before asking, “Would you like to go out to dinner tonight?”

Tazaki held his breath as he watched Amari’s face slacken, like he was registering the question. Then his eyebrows furrowed together, and finally his mouth started moving. It took another couple of seconds for him to get his words out, though. “Did you stop here to buy bird seed just to ask me out on a date?”

Tazaki fiddled with the keys in his hands, but it was hard to keep himself from getting too nervous. He had seen Amari harmlessly flirting with other customers before, all female, but he wasn’t sure if his friendliness towards Tazaki possibly meant that Amari was interested in him, too. He took a risk and gambled on it, now that he could use his final visit as an excuse to leave if he was rejected.

Amari observed him from where he was standing, surprised to find that he had never seen Tazaki so troubled before. Through what small conversations they had, he seemed like the type that wouldn’t dwell too much on his problems. Though, he could imagine what he was going through, asking someone to dinner was nerve-racking. Calling him out on his effort wasn’t very kind of him, either. “Can you wait here for a few minutes? I need to clock out and change.”

The sound of relief was all too obvious from Tazaki, his kind smile returning to address Amari just like before. “I thought you would say no.”

Amari would have never said that to him. Even if he wasn’t interested, there was no way he would pass up the chance to know Tazaki better through dinner. “I’d be an idiot if I ever told you that.” Amari checked his watch for the time and excused himself so he could end his shift, Tazaki waiting by his car like he promised.

When the doors closed behind Amari, Tazaki finally felt safe to pull back his suit jacket and allow his pet some fresh air. It was the same baby pigeon that had taken a liking to Amari two weeks ago, Tazaki feeling as though it was a sign that a potential relationship would work. His birds were very shy towards most, but the fledgling’s behavior to the kind cashier was enough to strengthen his resolve and finally make his move.

He pulled out the treats he had bought from the store earlier that month, holding it out for the pigeon to take and chew on while he rubbed the top of his head. He would have to go back into hiding once Amari came out, Tazaki not ready to explain to the other just why he had him hiding in his jacket in the first place. That, and sneaking him into the restaurant would be difficult through any other means.

He was his perfect little wingman.

[justjoeyyy-blog-blog]

Day 30-35

6-13-17 Day 30: I was told that I wasn't approved to leave a week before my sign off date for my cousins wedding and papas birthday. My mom already bought my plane ticket and everything. My mom emailed the lady who denied the request so hopefully something can be changed. We're technically over staffed so there's no reason for it to not get approved. I would only be leaving a week early, that's it. I also went to st Nicholas (the resort) and laid out. It was so relaxing. And it feels good to wake up and not sleep all day. After work me and Rain went to the crew mess to see what food they had. We started walking and saw something weird from the side door. So we kept walking and sitting there was an entire pig completely cooked and cut open. It was terrifying. And it was stuffed with all of this weird stuff. I completely lost my appetite. Tomorrow is day at sea so it's gonna be a long day. And of course I'm still awake at 3am. It's hard when I don't get off until 1ish and I'm wide awake. 6-14-17 Day 31: sea days fucking suck. I started at the slide. We have 3 with only a worker at 2 of them. Some random worker comes up to me and just hands me a walkie talkie and then walks away. Doesn't say a word. I was switching through all of the channels until I finally heard a police signal. They were looking for a red mustang and were saying all of these codes. I was so confused. Finally I found a worker and asked him which station I should be on. I then had a parent come up to me complaining about how there wasn't an attendant on the little slide. He said there were tons of kids getting hurts as well as one of his. He was not happy and was putting it out on me. I apologized and said I would let someone know. And at this time I didn't know which channel we were supposed to use for the walkie talkie. The communication here is terrible. And the language barrier obviously doesn't help. Some girl came up to me and said you're the first American worker I've met! Which is true. We have a steward that comes and makes our beds everyday and changes the towels. For the past 4 days he's come in and made my bed as well as given us fresh towels but has not touched rains bed. We never see our steward so we haven't been able to ask him. It's so confusing yet so humorous at the same time. Our room looks so nice and then rains bed is all over the place because he hasn't touched it! We have this thing where guests can submit feedback and if they mention our name we get a shout out. If we get 10 shout outs we get a day off. I got 2 last week and 1 this week. It seriously feels so good that I was the reason someone had an amazing vacation. And that these guests went out of their way to recognize me and my hard work. A mom came in today and gave me and Alina gifts. They were rocks she had painted herself. They were so cool. She was Israeli too 😋 I met a family in camp today. They have 9 kids and another one that passed away. Their mom home schools them because they're moving to Honduras in September for a mission trip and are living there for a year. The oldest is 21 and the youngest is 1. It's so cool to get to know these families. And when the kids hug us goodbye and the parents thank us and truly mean it, it's means the world to me. I also met another family with 9 kids. It's crazy to me. And the youngest 2 were twins and were so cute yet so annoying. I miss my kids back at home so much. Typical kids are so annoying and have so much drama. My kids at home are exciting and bring something new to me everyday. There's actually a huge amount of kids who come on the boat who have autism but I don't always have them in my age group. Right now it's 3:03am. I went to crew bar after work. I met a new girl a few days ago from Tennessee. Her name is Candace. She sings in one of the bands. She's super nice and I love having another American around. Because she's a singer she has her own room. Today we got a list of boats and the positions they need. Rain and Alina are signing on to the breeze in September and October. That boat has a circle c position starting in November which is a huge possibility for me. I need to request it tomorrow before it's too late. I need to find somewhere to bring my laptop and eat where there's good wifi. Thankfully packages will come tomorrow too. I haven't been taking a few of my medications the past few days because I ran out and they didn't get here in time. Which is probably why I had a bladder spasm today and yesterday. NOT GOOD. Also got some paperwork today that said MR again. I've corrected them so many times and they can't get it right. Kinda like the Filipinos (I finally spelled it right) who don't know the difference between he and she and her and him. The notes they write to the parents are comical. "You child great. She love play with toy. The boy make a friend and has polite." No joke that's what they say. There's also tons of mistakes in the schedules we give out to guests which is super frustrating. This week my name wasn't on the schedules given out to the parents which sucks because they reference those when it comes to writing reviews. There was names of 2 girls who I've never even met...aka they were on the boat 2 months ago. If I see a mistake I just circle it and put it on our supervisors desk so she doesn't know who did it. Oops 😶 I want it to be tomorrow so I can sleep and get stuff done! I also forgot to write about what happened this morning. In the Kiera of my dead sleep I hear loud weird music. I sit up and realize it's coming from the announcements. The bridge (where the captains are) accidentally turned their awful music on and everyone who was in their cabins could hear it. It went on for a good hour as I smashed my head between the pillows. It was comical at first and then I was just flat out furious. 6-15-17 Day 32: today I got off in Long Beach by myself. I took an uber to a local outlet mall where I sat at Starbucks and got some stuff done with the wifi. We were given a list of positions needing to be filled for the rest of the year so I went and did some research on all the boats. I also set up my account on how to get paid from here. They give us a debit card that the money goes on. We can do direct deposit but it wasn't working for me :/ I also sent my dad a Father's Day gift card online. Then I went across the street and ate at California pizza kitchen. I got to face time my mom and update my phone and stuff. Then I learned there's a bus that I could've used for free that goes from the terminal to the outlets. Poop. I didn't know how to use it though so I just took an uber back too. I asked my supervisor about requesting a boat and she said I can't do it until I have my evaluation. When I asked her when my evaluation would be she said "before you leave" well no fucking shit before I leave. I told her the position I want is going to be taken by then and she didn't respond and just kept looking at her computer. She's such a shitty person it's like humorous. We have this other lady we work with who acts like she's our supervisor and she's not. I've literally never even had a conversation with her yet she thinks she can boss us all around. She confronted me about how I turned off the tv and how I didn't do it right. There was a sign saying to not turn off with a certain button and that's the one I turned it off with. Obviously if I would've saw it I wouldn't have touched it. It was a mistake lady...speaking of mistakes, so we are all required to write notes to the parents about their kids and how they've been doing (it's meant to help us get good ratings) well today I decided to read some and I was totally taken aback. These people do not know how to speak English. I felt embarrassed giving them out to the parents because the letters make absolutely no sense at all. It's so awkward. And one of the ladies wrote all the same things on all the cards and put a line where a name would be. Once she met the kids she went in and wrote their names on the line. Like obviously a parent is gonna know what that means, it means everyone is being given the same card and they're just going in and writing all the names down which isn't the point of them. Went to go pick up my packages today and my medication still isn't here. So I haven't been on 3 of my medications since Sunday. And my mom called Sunday and they said they would over night them here which obviously didn't happen. None of them are super serious but I've definitely been getting bladder spasms now that I'm off one of the medications. I'm also off my thyroid medicine as well as my medication that helps me stay awake during the day. I'll have to call my mom tomorrow and tell her but there's nothing she can do because we can't get mail until Sunday. 6-17-17 Day 34: I had no time to post yesterday. I've been so exhausted I sleep every chance I can. Even when I need to eat a meal or shower I've just been sleeping instead because it's so needed. There's been so much unnecessary drama around here it's crazy. Yesterday we had a mom come in asking to talk to "Ms Candy" because supposedly she called her daughter big and chubby. We apologized to the mom on behalf of ms candy (she wasn't there anymore) and explained to her that there's a language barrier and was probably the main reason behind the comment. The mom was understanding but that's hard for a 10 year old girl to hear. I can't believe our playlist cast is leaving tomorrow. I've gotten to know all 8 of them so well. It's very bittersweet. I'm excited to see how the new cast performs though. It's hard to imagine that anyone could possibly do any better than what we have now. I met a family yesterday who has 5 biological children and fosters 3 on top of that. And their youngest son has autism, so of course I'm already obsessed with them. It's crazy how many kids come on the boat who have autism. I love being able to interact with them. Everyone always asks me advice on how to work with them and make it a great experience for the child. I seriously talk about my kids back at home so much I feel like everyone is so sick of hearing it lol. I saw a shit ton of dolphins today. They were right next to the boat. I might get off tomorrow and go to the beach at Long Beach. I HAVE to get my hair cut it's like humorous how awful it looks. It's like I'm a human paintbrush and my hair is the bristles. Rain did my laundry with hers :p so blessed lol. I went to the candy store today on board. They have the cutest stuff there. They're starting to put them on all the ships. We have some people from the office on the boat. They told us that they have 4 new boats that they're working on. They said eventually they're gonna have a boat that sails to china. I'm actually really content on work at the moment. Yeah I'm really tired but moving in with Rain has helped a lot. It feels good to have someone I can go do stuff with and I conveniently always know where she is. There's obviously a lot of negatives about my work environment and my supervisor who has a stick up her fucking ass, but there's so many positives that come with it as well that make this experience so much fun. I worked night owls this whole week (10pm-1am) last pickup time is 1245 and the parents are told this every time. Yet we still are calling parents at 1 having to remind them that their children are in our care and they need to come pick them up. It's so irresponsible. And half the time the parents are wasted. Parents are also allowed to check out a phone but just return them before 10pm on the last night which never happens either. Tonight one of the late parents came in and literally just threw his trash on the ground. These poor kids are passed the fuck out, so tired, and their parents leave them there all night. I'm off now and I'm eating at crew mess alone. Which I'm okay with besides the stares. I've had a headache all day though so I needed to eat something. We have to be at a meeting tomorrow at 930 to meet with some people from the office. I seriously need to sleep in so badly but not sure when that's gonna happen. I start in circle c tomorrow. It's so weird switching back and forth. And being alone in there is hard as well. Especially during high count which is now. 6-19-17 Day 35: I finally got my haircut yesterday. Winslow picked me up. Got about 3-4 inches off. The lady charged me way too much though and she didn't even wash my hair. I was so mad. I didn't question it though because I was in a rush ugh. I started my week at circle c yesterday. No joke had 30-40 kids in there at one time it was not okay. One of the moms asked if I was alone and when I said yes I could tell she was worried for me. She told me I was doing a good job though which was nice. A lot of the kids think they're too cool for my club and it makes me so mad. Like then don't come if you think it's too babyish. I got to sleep in today 🙌🏾 I had a training at 130 that only lasted 30 minutes. Such a waste of time I could've been sleeping! It was an environment training. They train us on the weirdest things. Yesterday 2 of the people from the office came. They're the ones that hired me. I talked to one of them about not getting approved to leave for my cousins wedding and she's going to look more into it for me. She thinks the week I'm requesting to leave we'll actually be overstaffed because of an event on board so it may work in my favor! We got to talk to one of the ladies about issues we're having. She said Circle c is going to be getting an iPad that kids can request songs on. Right now we're using cds...and the most recent is from 2015. The office thought we had one this entire time...she was also confused as to why I was only here for 3 months and why I'm switching on and off from camp to circle c every week. Seems like the office doesn't know their shit. Even today when I signed in at my training it said my position was club O2. And the other day one of my papers said MR. So frustrating. It's 230 and I have work at 4. I'm gonna take a nap because I have nothing else to do and I'm tired af. Tonight I got to see the rock show with the new cast. Not. Good. They don't even come close to our old cast. It kinda made me so sad. People come and go here so fast it sucks. I have 2 brothers in my club. One of them has autism and the other one supposedly doesn't. The one who "doesn't" is out of control. He is constantly in my space and not listening to me. He asked me for just dance 16. I told him we didn't have it. He asked me at least 4 more times why we don't have it and if we have it. I told him no and then he asks if he can look in the office just to make sure we don't have it. I told him no and that they are not allowed in there in which he walked right in. There's also been numerous times where I've been talking to a parent and he'll come over and interrupt because he wants me to do something. I don't have a problem with having him in the club but I wish his parents would use a little common sense and supervise their kids more. They come and go as they please which is okay, but the mom never knows where they are and doesn't understand how their behavior towards me and the other kids is hard on everyone. At first the boys registered themselves so we didn't even know that one of them had a disability. On top of that I have tons of kids this cruise which makes it hard and I'm getting sick.