#I had an alarm for 8:30 but she’s been up since 7 I should hurry | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dirtykpopsnaps · 4 years ago

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Soulmates — Kim Taehyung (soulmate au)

Warnings: None

Contains: Cute soulmates!Tae and Y/N meeting each other

Requested: no

Words: 7, 395 (holy SHIT. I DID NOT EXPECT THIS TO BE SO LONG. But, uh...😳😅)

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The sunlight slowly makes it’s way into my room, spreading across the floor of my bedroom. The sound of my alarm is the first thing wake me up. Groaning softly, I pick up my phone and turn off the alarm, flopping back in bed. Sighing, I open my eyes and stare up at the ceiling. “Do I have to get up? Is work that important?” I ask myself. Finally, I let out another defeated sigh and climb out of bed, walking into the bathroom.

All around me, the house is quiet. I’m fairly sure that my family is asleep, other than one of my parents. I can hear someone down in the kitchen making breakfast. I go into the bathroom and close the door, turning toward the mirror. As soon as I catch sight of my reflection, my stomach drops and I groan loudly, dropping my face into my hands. “What. Is it. With. You. Dying. Your hair?!” I groan, pulling at my hair and cursing my soulmate. Normally, my hair is a nice, pretty Y/H/C. I like it like that. But, then...there’s my soulmate attachment.

You see, in this world, everyone has what is called a “soulmate attachment”. Some people see in black and white until they meet their soulmate. Other people see words that their soulmate writes on their skin. Some have the date that they’ll meet written at their wrist. Mine, on the other hand, is a hair color soulmate attachment. Since the day I was born, I’ve had a large stripe of hair that shows the color of my soulmate’s hair is. For a while, everything was normal. It was black and I liked it like that. Then, right around 2013 or 2014...it started changing every. other. month. At first, it was dirty blonde. That was okay. Then, it was a purpley-brown...I can deal with that. Then, one day, I woke up and it was bright. orange.

At this point, I should be used to it. My soulmate dyes his hair a lot, but...why such random colors? The weirdest day was when I woke up and, for whatever reason, it was half blonde, half pink. I nearly ripped the stripe of hair out. Now, at least the strip is a normal color. The strip of hair is a dark brown, verging slightly on black. I shake my head and sigh, pulling my fingers through my hair. “Just...Just why? I just wanna know why,” I sigh, deciding to ignore it and continue with my day.

Quickly, I go through my routine in the bathroom, then go back to my room. I pull on my work clothes, pulling my apron overtop of the plain t-shirt and work pants. The logo of the catering service I work for is splattered across the front of the apron. Once I’m ready, I head downstairs to grab some breakfast before I have to leave.

When I enter the kitchen, my mom looks over her shoulder and chuckles at me. “I see your soulmate is at it again,” she laughs. I roll my eyes, grabbing a plate from our cabinet.

“Ha ha, very funny. Yes. He dyed his hair again. And I swear I’m gonna murder him for putting me through this once I finally meet this guy,” I huff. Mom calmly tips some scrambled eggs onto my plate and I put my bread in the toaster. She just chuckles again, shaking her head.

“No, you won’t. You’ll be too in love as soon as you see him,” she smiles.

“Mhm, we’ll see how it plays out,” I say sarcastically.

I eat my breakfast calmly, thanking my soulmate silently for not dying his hair another strange color. My boss almost strangled me when I came into work with a stripe of bright blue hair about a year ago. I had to quickly explain that it was my soulmate attachment while trying to avoid his outstretched hands. I mean, there’s not much I can do about the fact that my soulmate dyes his hair weird colors. I’ve just gotta deal with it.

Calmly, I eat the food on my plate. When I’m finished, I drop my plate in the sink and hurriedly kiss my mom on the cheek. “Alright, I’m heading out. Tell Dad and Casey that I love them when they wake up,” I tell her, slipping on my work shoes.

“Will do, sweetheart. Have a good day. Hope this big job goes well!” She responds. I smile and thank her before grabbing my necessary things (ex: keys, phone, wallet, etc.), shoving them into my bag and hurrying out the door.

The drive into work is fairly easy. My work is located in a big building on Main Street and there’s literally no way to miss it. When I get there, I park in the employee’s lot out back and head inside. As always, the shop is very busy. Technically, I double as a caterer and baker. The bakery that I work at is very well known around our town and has won a bunch of awards. We’re always super busy, especially around holidays when the owner makes holiday themed snacks and treats. His peppermint peanut brittle is to *die* for.

I walk into the building and hang my bag on the hook, making sure that everything is there before I enter the bakery. I nod my head once and push open the double doors into the bakery. Already, workers are walking back and forth to give our orders. Several of the booths at the front of the shop are filled with chattering customers. At the cash register, the owner Eli (read like Ellie) turns to me. He smiles softly when he sees my hair. “I see you dyed your hair again,” he chuckles. I narrow my eyes and step up beside him to help with customers.

“The changing hair color is not my decision, El,” I remind him.

“Oh, I know. It’s just funny how frustrated it makes you,” he laughs. I roll my eyes and look at the customer before me.

The man before me is tall and lean with wide shoulders. His hair is hidden under a baseball cap, but I can just see the edges of sandy blonde-grey hair, cut short at the sides. He has a pair of dark sunglasses precariously perched on the edge of his nose. “How can I help you?” I ask sweetly, folding my hands.

“I’m here for a pick up for Kim? Should be a bunch of different bagels,” he tells me. He speaks perfect English, but there’s a slight accent to his voice that tells me he’s not from around here. I nod my head lightly and turn to look through the takeout orders.

Quickly, I’m able to find the large bag of bagels and hand it to him. “Also, I have a catering request set for today. Do I need to come pick that up, or...?” He trails off. I shake my head lightly.

“Oh, no, no. We’ll bring the catering to your event, but thank you for asking,” I smile. I carefully hand him the bag of bagels and make sure that he has a good hold on it before letting go. The man pays for the bagels and turns around, walking out onto the street silently. I watch him as he walks out, tilting my head to see him as he walks away. Eli comes turns to me and raises an eyebrow.

“Well, that was odd. It’s barely 8 in the morning and he was wearing sunglasses,” he points out.

“Yeah...that was a bit strange, but whatever. We need to work,” I say.

No customers are at my counter, so I begin filling the display case again. Eli has an odd way of forgetting to refill the display case at the end of the day. If I don’t do it, soon enough we won’t have a display of any of the baked goods or products that we have. When he sees me filling the case, Eli shoots me an apologetic smile and I just shake my head, laughing lightly.

For the most part, the morning is fairly normal. We get our regular customers coming in before work and even talk to some of them. I walk around the shop to clean off tables once customers leave. Eli and I have short conversations between customers, talking about random little things. Around 9:30, a few of the other workers come in. Eli pulls Garrett over and talks to him. “Okay, Garrett, you’re in charge for now. Y/N and I need to take some of the other workers and deliver to this catering gig, okay?” He says. Garrett nods his head and Eli shoots him a bright smile.

Soon after, Eli and I have gathered a small collection of the other workers, including some from the kitchen. Catering is always a big job, especially for our little bakery, and this was a *very* big catering job. As we all get into the delivery trucks, Eli explains that it’s for some sort of concert. A really popular group that’s been all around the world and have a stop here on their tour. However, it doesn’t fully settle in what he means until we pull up to the stadium where they’re playing. My jaw drops as I look around at everything. Although I’ve been to this stadium before for concerts, seeing it empty makes it seem so much bigger. Seats are scattered everywhere and rise up in a semi-circle around the center stage, which is also a lot bigger than I expected. All of it seems so ginormous.

As I look at the size of the stadium, Eli steps away. I see him walk up to a fidgety man holding a large list of some sort. He strikes up a short conversation with the man and, after a couple moments, the man gives him directions and points towards the large curtains hiding the backstage. Eli raises his hand in thanks and walks back over, leading me towards the catering trucks with a hand on my back. “So, what was that about?” I ask, looking up at him.

“Just asking where we should the baskets and plates. He said he wants them scattered around for the members of the group and the stagehands and such. Also said we should probably put a good amount of food in the dressing room,” he tells me. I nod my head, then a question pops into my mind.

“Hey, El? Who is this for? The stadium is so huge and I’m not even sure who we’re catering for,” I chuckle. He shoots me a kind smile.

“Like I said, they’re a pretty big group. B...B...B-something. I can’t quite remember. They’re a k-pop group,” he says. I nod my head lightly and we finally arrive back at the catering truck.

Without much talking between us, Eli and I begin to unpack the tables first. Obviously, we need the tables to be set up before we can start putting the food on them. The tables are foldable ones that you might use for a picnic, so Eli and I carry them back one by one. When we’re about to start setting them up, the man I saw Eli with comes backstage again. Eli explains that it’s the group’s manager. The manager directs us to set up the tables against a far wall that has minimal decorations. Eli and I start to set up the tables, making sure that they’re sturdy enough to hold all the food that will be placed on top.

After the tables, the tablesclothd are easy to put on. Just throw them over the tables and make sure that they hang nicely and you’re set. Finally, we start bringing in the food. From what I can see as we unpack the truck, it looks like these people ordered about everything that our shop makes, and several plates of each. There’s sandwiches and breads, bagels and rolls. There’s salads and fruit bowls, and even some of the sweets and confections that we’re known for. Slowly, we take back the plates one by one and set them on the tables.

After I’ve taken back about five plates and bowls of randomly assorted foods, Eli stops me from getting more. “Okay, Y/N, I want you to take these next foods back to the dressing room. Fair warning, you’re going to be taking back a lot of food. The manager said most of the food should be in the dressing room at the back of the stadium. There should be a sign on the door,” he tells me. Eli unpacks one of the large, catering carts and starts packing plates and bowls on top of it. When the cart can’t hold any more food and I’m worried I might not be able to push it, he stops and looks at me again. “You’ll still have to come back for more,” he says, biting his lip and looking at everything. I just wave him off lightly.

“I’ve got it, El. I can do this,” I reassure him.

Calmly, I ask directions to the dressing room and Eli points me in the right direction. Slowly as to make sure that nothing falls off of the cart, I make my way back to the dressing room. As I get further into the stadium, I see less and less people bustling around. I make my way down a corridor with posters of the groups that have played here hung up on the wall. At the very end of this hallway, a large door is closed and I can already hear talking behind it. On the door, a big sign reads “BTS”. Hmm...so, that’s their name.

Shrugging to myself, I twist the doorknob and open up the door. Inside, the room is even bigger than it looks from the outside. It’s absolutely *huge* and it’s a good thing that it is. The room is filled with racks of clothes, stacks of shoes, makeup chairs and vanity tables, and several other assortments of objects. Two couches are pressed against the wall and several people are seated atop them. All of the people in the room are guys, all apparently waiting for someone or something. “Can we help you?” Someone asks. I look up and instantly feel slightly more comforted for whatever reason. Standing up from the couch is the man from this morning, although he’s ditched his baseball cap and sunglasses.

For a few seconds, I just stare at him. “Uh, sorry, sorry. Catering?” I say, smiling nervously and gesturing to the cart. The man lets out a slight chuckle and nods his head.

“Um, yeah...I can see that,” he laughs. Looking around the room, I internally groan. There’s no tables set up back here. I shake my head at Eli’s forgetfulness and curse myself for not asking. “Is something wrong?” The man questions. I shake my head at him.

“Oh, no, just was a little dumb. I forgot to bring back some tables for the food and stuff, so...I’ll be back,” I say slowly.

Without hesitation, I turn back around and make my way back to the catering truck. Eli is still unpacking foods and he gives me a confused look when I come back with all the food still on the cart. “Eli...did you seriously forget to tell me that you hadn’t taken back tables yet?” I ask, pinching the bridge of my nose.

“Dang it, knew there was something I forgot,” he groans, snapping his fingers in annoyance. He starts pulling tables out of the truck again and I get another cart for the tables. When the cart is full, i put some tablecloths on top and push it back to the dressing room again.

This time, the walk to the dressing room doesn’t seem as long. I’m at the room again in no time and open the door, pushing the cart inside. All the boys are still gathered inside, but now there are a couple women, as well. Two of the men are seated in chairs and the women are applying makeup to their faces. I pay little attention to much else and start taking the tables off the cart. “Do you need some help?” Someone asks. I gasp loudly and throw my hands up, covering my face. Immediately after, I drop them and grab my heart.

“Oh, Lord, you just scared me half to death,” I laugh breathlessly, clutching at my chest. This new man is also fairly tall. Even with his t-shirt on, I can see bulging muscles all along his arms. I raise my eyebrows in surprise, but look up into his sweet, brown eyes again.

“Do you need some help?” He asks again, nodding towards the tables. I look at them then back up at him.

“I mean...it wouldn’t hurt, but aren’t you busy?” I ask in confusion. He shrugs off the question and takes some of the tables off of the cart.

“Hobi, Tae, some help?” The man asks.

Getting up from the couch, the two new men grumble softly. “You ask if she needs help and then expect us to help you, typical,” the one man, Tae, grumbles. The first man rolls his eyes lightly at them, but they all start helping me with the tables. I set up some of the tables and the help from the three men is very nice. Setting up all these tables by myself would have been interesting. When all the tables are set up, I set out the tablecloths and nod my head. “Okay, I will be back with the food cart in a second,” I tell them. The first man nods his head lightly and I shoot him a soft smile, leaving the room again.

Back and forth, I travel with the carts of food and confections. As soon as I entered the dressing room with the plates of sandwiches and fruit bowls, all the men got up and started grabbing food. I laugh lightly and make sure to remind myself to grab another few plates of sandwiches and maybe another bowl of fruit. I between my travels, I have small conversations with the group of men. They all seem rather nice and ask me random questions as I work, putting the food on the tables. I ask them a few questions in return. A little awkwardly, I do admit that I’ve never heard of them before, but they simply laugh off my awkwardness and say that it’s alright. “If you want to hear our music, all you have to do is look us up on YouTube,” Jimin, a man with light brown hair, tells me. I nod my head lightly at him.

“Alright. I need to go grab some more plates of food because, wow, you’ve already eaten most of the sandwiches and fruit, but I’ll be back. Why don’t you pick something for me to hear when I’m back?” I suggest. Jimin’s face lights up with an adorable smile.

“What do you wanna hear? We have a lot of music,” he says.

Leaning against the cart lightly, I look back at him. “Tell me some of the names,” I say.

“Well, there’s Life Goes On, Dynamite, Mikrokosmos, Boy With Luv,” he starts, listing off random names of different songs. Finally, I just decide on a random song that he mentioned.

“Why don’t you play...Idol? That sounds interesting,” I say. He nods his head once and immediately grabs his phone off the couch. I leave the room again and go back to the truck for more sandwich plates and fruit. Eli’s eyebrows shoot into his hairline when he sees me come back.

“More food?!” He asks in shock. I nod my head, giving him wide eyes.

“There’s seven of them, and they’ve eaten through most of the sandwiches and fruit,” I tell him. He immediately heads into the truck and gets me more plates and bowls. I put the plates and bowls onto the cart and take them back to the dressing room yet again.

When I arrive, I push open the door again and start putting the plates and bowls on the tables. Jimin jumps off the couch and trots over happily, holding his phone out to me. He taps on the video and it begins with the sounds of little bubbles. I giggle lightly at it and how adorable it seems. Jimin chuckles at my little giggle and leads me over to the couch. I sit on the floor in front of the couch and feel several of the members gather around me to watch.

To be honest, the video is very interesting. There’s lots of color and lots of things going on in the video. The music is a very upbeat and interesting song and I actually really like it. However, about a minute and a half through the song, my mouth goes completely dry. On the screen, the member Tae is playing around and singing and just having fun. However, it’s the color of his hair that made my mouth go dry. His hair is *half blonde, half pink*. Immediately I stop the video and stare up at them. “When was this? When did this video come out?” I ask, my voice shaking as my heart rate skyrockets. All of the members give me very confused looks, looking around at each other.

“Um...2018? Yeah, the later months of 2018,” Jimin nods, looking around at everyone else for confirmation. I stare down at the paused video, then up at them again.

“Has...has it seriously been that long?” I ask, my voice quiet in shock. They all give me slightly nervous looks.

“Been that long since...what?” Hobi asks.

“Who...who had the pink and blonde hair? Who is this?” I ask, pointing at the man on the paused screen, just to be sure that I’m right.

Slowly, Tae raises his hand, nervousness written all over his face. I look up at him in shock, almost too amazed to believe it. “I...wow...you’re...you’re my soulmate!” I say in amazement. Immediately, his eyebrows knit in confusion and they all look at me like I’m crazy. “No, no, I can prove it! Look, my hair! I have a hair color soulmate attachment,” I say, picking up the stripe of mismatch hair. All their eyes land on the stripe and they look between Tae and I in shock.

“And...you’re sure I’m your soulmate?” He asks, his voice soft and just as amazed as mine.

“I...how many people have blonde and pink hair at the same time?! But, my stripe of hair changes all the time. I started changing around 2013, maybe 2014 and every few months it changes colors,” I explain.

“What kind of colors has it been?” Namjoon, the man from the bakery this morning, asks calmly.

“Well...all sorts! It’s been purple, it’s been orange, it’s been this like minty green, it’s been blood red. Over a year ago, early April of 2019 I guess, I woke up and it was this bright blue!” I say, listing off just a few colors that it’s been. They all burst into laughter, watching as Tae’s face goes red and he joins their laughter.

“So, you don’t really dye your hair, do you?” He asks, moving aside his hair and letting a stripe of Y/H/C hair stick out a little further than the rest. I giggle lightly, smiling up at him widely.

“Well, honestly, I don’t have to! You dye your hair enough for both of us!” More fits of laughter follow this.

Then, a thought hits me and I lean back against the couch, laughing loudly. “Oh, my God, I’m so happy. I feel so...relieved,” I giggle.

“Relieved?” Tae laughs, his eyes lighting up with that bright smile.

“Yes, relieved! With how much you dye your hair, I was worried your hair was gonna be, like, completely dead! And, honestly, please rest up on the hair dying. You have no idea how many people have commented on it at my work,” I giggle. He throws his hand up in defense, laughing loudly.

“It’s not my fault, I swear! I have to do it for work and stuff,” he laughs. I shake my head at him, finally letting my laughter die down.

“Well, tell them to stop then! This thing has been a pain in the ass ever since you started dying your hair!” I say, pointing at the stripe again. Tae shakes his head at me, a large smile covering his face.

Suddenly, I hear a knock at the door. Namjoon walks over and opens it up, peering out. I hear some talking, then Namjoon pops his head back into the room. “Uh, Y/N? Someone’s here for you,” he says, looking back at me. He opens the door a little more and Eli sticks his head inside.

“Y/N, have you been here the whole time? I’ve been looking for you everywhere!” He exclaims. I blush lightly, still unable to wipe the smile from my face.

“Sorry, sir. They’ve been having a little moment,” Jimin chuckles, looking between Tae and I. Eli knits his eyebrows together and I smile over at Tae, then look back at my boss.

“So, uh, Eli...meet my soulmate,” I giggle, gesturing towards Tae.

Jokingly, Tae strikes a silly pose and Eli just stares at him in shock, then looks back at me. “Oh, you’re kidding,” he laughs, a smile stretching across his face. I shake my head, smiling back at him.

“Nope, this is my soulmate!” I giggle excitedly. Eli smiles at him and walks up to Tae, shaking his hand happily.

“You’re a very lucky man,” Eli chuckles. Tae smiles brightly, looking at me again.

“I bet I am,” he says. I feel another blush stretching across my cheeks and hide my face in my hands, giggling.

“Well, I’m sorry, but I need to take her back to work,” Eli explains. Tae’s smile drops and he pouts adorably at Eli.

“Already?” He asks, sadness creeping into his voice. Eli nods his head softly.

“Afraid so. We still have to get back to the bakery and work a little before locking up.” Tae hangs his head, but then gets up from the couch and smiles again.

“I’ll walk you out,” he suggests.

Calmly, I stand up from the floor and say goodbye to all of the boys. “Well, it’s not *really* goodbye. You’ll be seeing us a lot more,” Hobi points out, smiling cheekily. I nod my head lightly.

“That I will,” I giggle. I hug all of the boys goodbye, then we finally leave the dressing room and make our way back to the catering truck. As we walk down the hall, Tae calmly slips his hand into mine and intertwines our fingers. I giggle again, leaning into his side happily. Eli just shakes his head at us, but he’s unable to wipe the smile from his face.

When we get to the catering truck, Tae lets go of my hand and pulls out his phone. I pull out mine, as well, knowing exactly what he’s doing. Quickly, we exchange numbers, then I slip my phone back into my pocket. “So...are you doing anything tonight?” He asks, looking down at me. I shake my head lightly at him. To be honest, my ‘plans’ had been to sit inside at my house and watch a movie or two, maybe binge a show with my family. A huge smile lights up his face. “Well, why don’t you come back for the concert tonight? I can get you backstage afterward and we can hang out and talk,” he suggests.

“You...You can do that so last minute?” I ask in surprise. He just shrugs his shoulders lightly.

“I’m pretty sure I can. I mean, you’re my soulmate, there has to be an exception,” he explains. I nod my head at him happily. I feel like my heart is absolutely soaring and yet it’s still beating wildly inside my chest.

“I’d really like that, Tae. I’ll be there,” I tell him.

“Awesome! Can’t wait to see you tonight,” he smiles. He reaches out and squeezes my hand once more before I get into the catering truck again.

Eli drives out of the stadium parking lot and back towards the bakery. At a red light, he looks towards me. “So...fun day, huh?” He chuckles. I nod my head happily, my hands folded in my lap.

“Uh, yeah...you could call it that,” I giggle, tucking the stripe of dark hair behind my ear.

“But...if I recall correctly, I thought you always said you would murder him once you found your soulmate,” he jokes. I blush again, hiding my face and laughing loudly.

“Don’t hold me to my word, Eli. He’s too cute to kill. I couldn’t do it,” I giggle. The rest of the ride back to the bakery is filled with bits of conversation and laughter. Eli makes me relay the whole story to how I found out.

Finally, we make it back to the bakery. We park the truck out back and head inside to finish with customers and then lock up. For the last hour or so of work, my mind is so full that I can’t think of anything but Tae. My whole body feels like it’s floating and I can barely even process what’s going on around me. I’m just so...happy! Whenever any of my co-workers try to talk to me, I can’t focus on what they’re asking me. Eventually, Eli has to jump in and explain that I’m a little out of it and he asks them what’s up. I’m still working with customers as much as I can, but it’s almost like my body is on autopilot and doing everything on it’s own. All I can think is ‘Tae. Tae. Tae. Tae.’ and about the concert tonight.

As we close up the shop, I quickly send a message to my mom and tell her about the concert tonight. I don’t need to wait long for a message back from her.

From Mom❤️🥰: That’s great, sweetheart! And of course you can go! But, as soon as you get back from the concert, I want to hear all about it. And you had better get a picture with that man!

To Mom❤️🥰: You know I will, mom😊 Love you and thanks!

I slip my phone into my back pocket again and finish cleaning off the tables around the bakery. When I’m done, I throw the cleaning rag into our collection of rags that need to be washed and find Eli again. “Okay, I’m gonna head out, El,” I tell him. He nods his head and looks over at me.

“I expect to hear all about how the concert and everything goes,” he says, pointing a finger at me. I salute him jokingly and head into the back to grab my bag off the hook.

I head out the back door and get into my car, driving home. As I drive, I try to clear my mind of Tae and think as clearly as possible. I really don’t need to end up in the hospital on the day that I *finally* met my soulmate. Although the drive home has always seemed really short, it feels like it takes forever today. It’s hard to keep my mind focused on driving and I keep finding myself slipping back into thinking of Tae and what he looks like.

After what feels like an *eternity*, I finally get home and climb out of my car. It seems that the rest of my family is already home, so I call out that I’m back. However, I don’t wait for a response and immediately run up to my room and start looking through my closet. Of course, when I finally meet my soulmate, he sees me in my gross work apron, plain t-shirt, and work pants. I want to make a good impression on him and the first thing he sees me in is my goddamn *work clothes* Ugh. I shift through my closet, looking for anything that could make a really cute outfit for the concert. I want him to see my true style, so I decide on something that’s fairly simple. The outfit consists of a black and white striped t-shirt, ripped black jeans, plain white shoes, and a faded jean jacket. I pull the outfit on and look in the mirror, nodding happily at my reflection. My hair is a little messy, but there’s not much I can do about that. My hair is *always* messy.

Suddenly, I hear a soft buzz from my work pants. I grab my phone out of my pocket and a smile stretches across my face.

From Tae😊: The concert starts around 8. You should probably be here around 6:30 or 7.

To Tae😊: Okay, thanks for telling me! Can’t wait to see you again!

Quickly, I check the time and sigh in relief. It’s only 5:30, so I walk downstairs and search around the kitchen for some food for dinner. I haven’t eaten since this morning and I’m absolutely starving.

As I search for food, I hear someone come up behind me. “So...what’s he like?” My mom asks, her voice full of giddiness. I spin around and smile widely at her.

“He’s absolutely amazing! He’s so sweet and adorable and cute and I literally had such a nice time, yet I barely even spoke to him until right before I had to leave,” I laugh.

“Well, do you have a picture?!” She squeals. I shake my head lightly, then correct myself.

“I don’t have one of us together, but he’s a part of the group that we were catering for today, so I could definitely find a photo of him online,” I say.

Quickly, I whip out my phone and go to the search engine, searching up ‘Tae BTS’. My phone immediately floods with results and I go to the pictures, picking one that looks really good. I pick this picture

And turn my phone to my mom to show her. For a few seconds, she just looks at the picture, then she looks up at me in shock. “Oh, my gosh...” she says, her jaw hanging open.

“I know, right?! Isn’t he absolutely precious?!” I say excitedly, taking my phone back and putting it in my pocket. Mom pulls me into a big hug and squeals again.

“I’m so happy for you, sweetheart! This is amazing!” She says excitedly.

For the next hour or so, Mom and I talk excitedly about Tae. Since I have a bit of time, I tell her the story while I eat a small cup of mac and cheese. Yes, I know, not the greatest dinner, but it works, okay? She makes me tell her everything that happened and how exactly I knew he was my soulmate. I show her the music video of Idol and stop at the exact place that I had that day. She starts laughing as soon as she realizes what made me realize he was my soulmate. “Oh, my gosh, the pink and blonde hair,” she laughs. I smile, laughing along with her.

“Who knew that that hair color would be so helpful to me?” I giggle.

After a while, I check the time and nearly jump out of my seat. “Oh, I should be going! Tae said I should be there around 6:30,” I say. My mom hurried me out of the kitchen as I start grabbing my phone, keys, and license again. I shove the things into my bag from earlier and kiss Mom’s cheek lightly before I head out the door. On the drive to the stadium, my hands are shaking in excitement. It’s significantly harder to clear my mind again, but I’m able to make it to the stadium without a problem.

When I drive up, I’m not surprised to see the stadium entrances overflowing with fans. The atmosphere is so exciting and happy, and there’s chattering coming from every direction. As soon as I’m out of the car, I grab my bag and text Tae.

To Tae😊: What should I do? I’m here.

The response comes seconds later.

From Tae😊: I’ll send someone out to get you. Stand by the ticket checker and a security guard will come get and bring you to your seat.

Calmly, I read the message and walk towards the ticket checker’s booth. Just as I get to the booth, I see a large man dressed in all black come up to the booth, as well. He looks around for a few seconds before he spots me and gestures me forward. I come up to the booth and the guard shows the vendor my ticket. The vendor checks it and nods his head lightly, then the security guard ushers me forward. I��m shown into the stadium and taken through the crowds of people buying merchandise. I feel a bit upset that I can’t buy any myself, but then I’m reminded of why I’m here and my spirits soar again.

The guard leads me through the crowds of people and into the stadium seating. Slowly, we weave our way through the seats until we’re right at the edge of the stage. I have to crane my neck up to see the stage a bit, but I couldn’t care less. I thank the guard happily and sit down in the seat that the guard showed me. He nods his head once and walks backstage again. For a while, I just sit in my seat and wait as everyone slowly starts filing into their seats, as well. I feel my phone buzz and pick it up. It’s a message from Tae.

From Tae😊: Look at the left curtain😁

I lean to the side a bit so I can see the left curtain and smile widely when I see him poking his head out. He smiles widely at me and waves, and I return the gesture. However, as more people begin filling in the seats around me, I wave him off and he pops his head out of view again.

About half an hour later, everyone has filled their seats and we’re waiting for the concert to begin. To be honest...this has got to be one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to. There’s so much going on and everyone is having so much fun. True, I get some judgmental side glances from the people in the seats around me, mostly because I obviously don’t have money like they do, but I don’t care. The music is great, the energy is high, and everything is amazing. My spirit soars again when Tae comes on stage and immediately makes eye contact with me. He shoots me a bright, energetic smile and, throughout the concert, he points me out to the other members. I get little smiles and waves from each of them throughout the concert, though it’s obvious that they’re trying not to bring too much attention to me. I also can’t help giggling to myself when the other members have to keep telling Tae to focus on the concert and not on me.

When the concert finally comes to an end and everyone starts packing up their merchandise and things, I stay in my seat. Again, I get some judgmental looks from the people around me and they roll their eyes, scoffing. However, no one mentions my odd behavior and just lets me go. Soon enough, I’m the only person left in the area. A few moments later, the same security guard who brought me here comes out from backstage again and leads me backstage with him. I’m lead backstage and we weave between workers bustling around and cleaning up the stage. He walks me up to the dressing room and opens the door, gesturing me inside.

Calmly, I thank him and send him a soft smile before entering. As soon as I enter the room, I’m tackled by something that is very large and sweaty. I’m nearly knocked right off my feet and I scrunch up my nose at the offensive smell. I don’t even have to think about who this could be. “Taaaae,” I whine, pushing him off, “go take a shower. You smell gross.” He scoffs at me, leaning back and giving me a mocking offended look.

“I want to shower you in love and attention, and you tell me to go shower. Rude,” he pouts.

“You literally just did an almost two hour show. You were dancing and singing under very bright lights. You are sweaty and you smell disgusting. Go shower!” I giggle, pouting toward what I assume is the bathroom door. He sticks out his tongue at me childishly and I repeat the gesture. Finally, he just sighs and turns around, walking towards the bathroom.

“But, as soon as I get out, we’re talking and cuddling, got it?” He says, pointing a finger at me.

“Got it. Cuddles and talking,” I repeat.

Tae heads into the bathroom and a few moments later, I hear a shower turn on. There’s a soft sigh from across the room. “Great...now we have two of Tae to deal with,” one member, Yoongi, sighs defeatedly. The other members chuckle lightly. I flash him a sweet smile and he just rolls his eyes. “I can’t say ‘no’ to him, and if it that says anything, I probably won’t be able to say ‘no’ to you, either,” he frowns.

“Oh, give up the fake annoyance, grandpa. You know you already love her,” Jimin jokes, pushing Yoongi’s shoulder lightly.

“Just because she’s just as adorable as him doesn’t mean I already love her,” he stares, crossing his arms. Jimin gives him a skeptical look and Yoongi sighs lightly.

“Fine, yes, okay. She’s just as adorable as him, and I probably already adore her. Let me hate that I can’t say ‘no’ to them for five minutes.”

“...if it’s any help, you’re pretty adorable, too,” I say, smiling cheekily at him. He narrows his eyes at me, huffing.

Calmly, I sit down on the couch and strike up a conversation with the other members. It’s only about 15 minutes later or so that Tae comes out of the shower. He has just a towel wrapped around his hips and my eyes nearly pop out of my head. GodDAMN am I lucky. His muscles are sculpted to perfection and my jaw nearly falls to the ground. My soulmate is a fucking Greek god, holy shit. The whole room fills with fits of laughter and I hide my face in my hands as it starts heating up again. Peeking through my fingers, I watch as Tae pulls on some clothes from a bag against the wall. The clothes are a simple, plain white t-shirt and some plaid pajama pants. Like, that’s a normal outfit, but also...good God, my soulmate is too hot. The t-shirt clings to his arms deliciously and the pajama pants stretch over his thick thighs. My mind almost short circuits as I look at him.

Thankfully, my mind is pulled away from those thoughts as that same heavy weight lays on top of me again. I laugh loudly, trying to shift underneath himself and yet still unable to breath. “Tae, I literally can’t breathe,” I laugh. He shifts his body more into the couch instead of me and I sigh, wrapping my arm over his shoulder. His wet hair is laid against the top of my breast bone, but I couldn’t care less. I lightly scratch my nails up and down his back. On the other end of the couch, someone makes a gagging noise and Tae just kicks his long legs in the direction of the noise. A loud “ouch!” follows the action and I giggle lightly, resting my chin on his head and closing my eyes. And that is how I spend the first night with my soulmate. About half an hour later, we’re woken up to head to the hotel they’re staying at, but I send a message to my mom and tell her that I’m staying the night with Tae. I do make it clear that nothing will happen, though, just cuddles and sleeping. Thankfully, she allows me to stay and that is where I stay the night...wrapped in my soulmate’s arms.

#dirty kpop snaps #kpop fanfic #kim taehyung #bts taehyung #bts v #taehyung x reader #taehyung x y/n #taehyung x you #taehyung soulmate au #bts soulmate au #soulmate au #bts

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harryssunflowerkiwi · 4 years ago

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‘KIWI’ Part 1.

Pairing: Harry Styles x Female Reader

Synopsis: You’re a famous designer. You meet Harry at a party and he is obsessed, but you’re not going to give in so easily.

Word Count: 3.7K

Warnings: Not much for this part! Some sexual undertones.

A/N: hello loves! This is my first fanfic ever and I’m writing it on my phone so please bare with me. If there are any grammar or spelling mistakes I apologize, I will do my best! There will also likely be smut in the next part! And please keep in mind that this is PURE FICTION and is in no way an accurate depiction of Harry Styles! It’s just for entertainment purposes only :) So without further disclaimers, let’s get into part one of a multipart series called ‘KIWI’ very loosely based on Harry’s song. I hope you enjoy, please let me know what you think and be kind xox

🥝Outfits mentioned in this part 🥝

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SEPTEMBER 3rd 2020~

You woke up to the sound of ‘dreams’ by Fleetwood Mac blaring from your phone that sat on the glass night stand beside your bed indicating that it was indeed already 6:30AM and therefor the time for you to leave your oh-so comfortable bed. The sun was shining ever so slightly through the crack between the black silk curtains that hung over the large window directly across from your bed, stinging your barely awake eyes. With a bit of hesitation you rolled over to turn off the alarm and swung your bare feet over the side of the bed letting them touch the cold hardwood floor of your bedroom. You made your way to the on suit to pee and brush your teeth. As the icy mint of your toothpaste hit your tounge you looked in the large mirror above the sink, you look tired. Of course you look tired, you’ve been getting three hours of sleep every night for the past month. Your hair is disheveled, no doubt from whoever you had kicked out of your apartment the night before after yet another hookup. You didn’t regret it, of course, you never do. He was a nice guy. Well, he was a decent lay at the very least. And he seemed to enjoy himself too so there’s no harm.

Just as you finished washing your face you heard your phone go off again. “Of course” you thought as you slowly made your way back into your bedroom where you had lazily threw your phone back on your bed before going to bathroom. You picked it up and squinted your eyes slightly to make out the name of the person calling. ‘JEFF AZOFF’. You sighed lightly and pressed answer.

“Jeff It’s not even 7” you said in a somewhat faux dramatic tone.

“oh stop y/n I know you’ve been awake for a bit” he replied and you could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

“What do you want” you sat back down on your bed and placed your left hand under your chin.

“I’m throwing a party at our place tonight and there’s no party without you”. You thought for a minute, knowing you couldn’t actually say no to a party, especially one being thrown by one of your best friends and his fiancé.

After about 30 seconds of silence you signed dramatically and said “You’re absolutely right, I’ll be there at 10 but next time tell me ahead of time. You are aware I have a business to run”.

Most of the morning was spent working through some designs, yelling at people for doing their jobs incorrectly, finalizing some details for London fashion week, and drinking copious amounts of coffee. You stood up from your “desk” (which was really just your kitchen island) with a stretch and looked down at your phone that was sitting on the counter, it was 8:43PM. Deciding that you should probably start getting ready for Jeff’s party, you walked back through your bedroom and into your walk-in closet to pick an outfit. “Alexa play get ready playlist” you yelled through your apartment and shortly after ‘girls in the hood’ started playing through out your apartment at full volume. Fully aware that Jeff’s spontaneous parties are generally pretty casual, after about 10 minutes you landed on your favourite pair of black Levi’s, a baby t that says “nobody’s pussycat”, a pair of black Gucci boots and grabbed your new fuzzy yellow and blue jumper in case you got cold (and also to throw over your shoulders for a bit of colour). Walking back into your bathroom you decided to do your makeup, since you had been working from home today and hadn’t put any on yet. You ended up doing some simple makeup, to not clash with the bright colors on your jumper and let your hair fall in loose curls. By the time you were fully ready it was just past 9:30, which was perfect because Jeff’s place was about a 20 minute drive from your apartment. You put your boots on, grabbed your yellow tinted Gucci glasses, your phone and keys and headed out.

Harry had gotten a very similar from Jeff as you, but it had come the day before. He was excited for the party, it’s been awhile since he’s been out anywhere but the studio. He’s been working on his new album tirelessly. Writing songs this time round was becoming increasingly more difficult, he’s felt dry of inspiration which is partially what he’s hoping a party will help with. Being around some new people and some of his closest friends. Jeff told him he was inviting some of his mates that Harry was yet to meet, which hopefully meant new experience outside the realm of ex girlfriends and band mates. He told Jeff he wouldn’t make it till around 11PM considering he’d be in the studio until 9 and he’d need time to make it home to change and shower before heading over and London traffic was an absolute nightmare, especially on Friday’s. Once he was done at the studio it was half nine, he sighed heavily as he left the lofty studio feeling the heavy weight of the pressure to write new material.

Once Harry arrived to his flat he immediately dropped his keys into the white and blue ceramic bowl he keeps by the door and swiftly kicked off his worn out vans. He was tired, but determined to make some worthy memories if not only for the sake of his future albums. Hell, maybe even just to blow off some steam. He needed that, badly. After making his way up the long spiral shaped stained oak stairs he walked briskly into the bathroom right across from his bedroom. He took his phone out of the back pocket of the light brown sweats he was wearing and glanced at the time 10:03PM. He let out another light sigh before hopping into the large black tiled shower. After a very quick shower filled with worried thoughts of where his career will go if he can’t write music, he hurried himself into his walk in closet with just a blush pink towel wrapped loosely around his hips and his phone in his left hand. Since he was already running slightly behind schedule and Jeff didn’t mention this party being anything but a casual gathering, he grabbed a pair of light blue YSL trousers and a simple white button down blouse to pair with his oh so worn down white vans, simply not having time to fuss about picking a new pair of shoes to match.

By the time Harry arrived at Jeff and Glenne’s flat it was five minutes to eleven. When he pulled up there were already around 10 cars parked around the house, some of which he recognized of course. He made his way up to the large front door after thanking his driver and knocked loudly, his various rings making a light clinking noise against the wood. About thirty seconds later the heavy door swung open to reveal Glenne who smiled widely when she saw him. “H!” She shrieked and pulled him in for a quick hug as she pulled him into the warm house.

“How’re ya Glenne” he smiled back enthusiastically as they entered.

“Good, good!, come let’s find Jeff and get you a drink” she said over the somewhat loud music that ran throughout the house. As Glenne guided him through the farmiliar house he took a moment to observe the people around him as they passed, seeing plenty of people that he knew well, a few he had met on a few occasions similar to this one, and some whom he’s never met. All together there were around 20 people, from what he could tell in passing.

Once they made it through each room of the well decorated house and into the bar area near the kitchen and dining area, he immediately saw Jeff leaning against the wall directly across from the doorway to the area. He was talking to a couple he recognized as Cathrine and Fred, two of their mutual friends, both worked in the music industry (Catherine being a well established sound engineer and Fred being one of the best producers in London). As they approached Jeff looked up and smiled excitedly at Harry and quickly pulled him in for a warm embrace. “Good t’ see you” Harry said as he smiled against his shoulder.

“Good to see you too H, glad you came. Nice to see you outside of that studio” Jeff replied with a small chuckle as they pulled away.

You had been at the party a total of fifty minutes and managed to down 3 vodka martinis and a glass of champagne without hesitation. You have always been able to hold your liquor, even though you didn’t usually drink more than twice a week. Not that much, you thought. Currently you were sitting on one of the two bright red sofas that sat Jeff and Glenne’s living room. You sat back against the velvet upholstery and had your left leg swung over yours and Glenne’s mutual friend Kassandra (or kassie as you called her).

You felt good, great even. It had been over 9 months since you had last seen any of these people. You had been living back and forth between New York City and London basically your whole adult life and just got back to London three days ago after being away for the most of the year. You were overjoyed to be back. You and Kassie were the only ones sitting on the couch to the right of the room, with a few others scattered throughout the living room. Some were standing and giggling by the fireplace, sipping on something strong you assumed based on how loudly they were conversing. There was a slightly less intoxicated couple sitting on the couch opposite of Kassie and yourself. You knew them well enough, although last time you saw them they were nothing more that friends and now they are very clearly together romantically. You didn’t mind though, not at all. You didn’t mind the noise, the increasingly drunker strangers and friends that passed through, you didn’t even mind the already almost-blackout strangers who thought they knew you and engulfed you in a rather tight hug. You felt relaxed and at home, as you always did when around Jeff and Glenne.

After about fifteen minutes of Jeff chatting Harry’s ear off about how excited he and Glenne were to be getting married, Glenne grabbed Harry’s arm. “Oh my god! H, I haven’t even introduced you to everyone yet have I?” She asked enthusiastically.

“I don’t believe you ‘ave” he replied with a small chuckle as he ran his free hand through his rapidly growing curls.

Before he knew it Glenne was guiding him through the house introducing him to a few people he hadn’t met yet. As they made their way into the living room he saw two girls sipping on what looked like martinis sitting on one of the couches. The two women were partially intertwined. One of them stood out though, almost like she controlled the room without even speaking. Harry stared at her, barely listening to Glenne talking beside him. She was incredibly beautiful, he thought. Her eyes and hands were effortlessly working together to capture everyone’s attention without even speaking. She wore a confidence he hadn’t seen before, even with his vast experience with super models and other celebrities alike. She looked like a royal, even in casual attire. He stood there, in the doorway completely stunned and rather confused as to why on earth he had never met her before.

“Earth to H?” Glenne said as she overdramatically waved her left hand in front of his face.

“Oh, um.. sorry, what were ya sayin’?” He replied as he quickly moved his gaze away from the stunning girl and back to his friend.

“Nevermind, cmon I need to indroduce you to Y/N and Kassie.” She mumbled quickly as she pulled him by his hand towards the very girl he was gawking at just moments before.

In the middle of Kassie making a dad joke in classic Kassie form, you spot Glenne walking over to where you are sitting rather excitedly with someone you immediately recognize as Harry Styles. Of course you knew who he was, and that Jeff was his manager and friend but you never had the chance to actually meet him. With both your schedules being as intense and unpredictable as they were it just never happened. You were a fan of his music, he is a very talented man but you definitely didn’t consider yourself a “stan”.

As they approached, Glenne turned to Harry and said “H, this is kassie!” As she pointed at her.

“Kassie works for Universal. Kassie this is Harry” she continued.

“S’ nice to meet you, Kassie” Harry said with a polite smile as he bent over to shake her hand lightly.

“And this” Glenne started as she turned her attention onto you. “Is one of my best friends, y/n! She’s the designer for KIWI” she finished with a smirk and a quick pat on your knee.

“Designer and founder actually love” You said as you glanced at Harry.

You extended your right arm out for him to shake and said “lovely to meet you, Harry. I’m y/n”. He seemed nervous which made you smirk a little. You thought it was cute.

As you placed your much smaller hand in his large ring clad one he responded with “S’ lovely to meet you too y/n. Big fan of your work”. His hand was a little sweaty but very strong and the shake itself was demanding which you liked.

Harry didn’t like how nervous he was talking to you, he’s not usually so anxious to speak to beautiful women. But, something about your incredibly strong eye contact and the way you said his name made his knees want to give out. He hadn’t lied when he said he is a fan of yours, he genuinely is. He loves your designs. Your ability to create pieces he’d never seen before, pieces completely out of the norm yet so easily fashionable was astounding to him. He had even worn some of your designs on tour and for a few interviews.

You took a sip of the martini that you held delicately in your right hand with a small hum in appreciation for his compliment. “M’ a fan of yours also, fine line is great” you reply as you glance down at your glass to find it empty. Harry takes a moment to revel in the fact that you enjoyed his latest work, before seeing your empty glass.

“Let me get ya’ a drink” he blurted out, not wanting the conversation to end.

“Mm I’ll come with” you agreed with a smile. Harry grabbed your hand again to help you up off the couch and away from Kassie who was now giggling with Glenne about something.

Harry keeps your hand in his as he guides you towards the bar. Once the two of you approach the bar he reaches for the glass in your hand and asks “what would ye like?”. You move your glance away from his and over to the large bar.

“I think we should do shots” you say with a big smile that makes Harry’s heart beat just a bit quicker.

“Shots it is then, love” he says with a small chuckle as he puts your dirty glass down and grabs two clear glass shot glasses.

“What liquor are we thinkin’?” He asked as he looks over the options.

“Oooh tequila for sure” you say confidently as you point at the bottle of expensive tequila.

“Mmm great choice” he praises as he grabs the bottle and proceeds to pour you each a shot.

“Cheers” you smirk as you grab your shot glass and clink it against the one in his hand. You make eye contact again as you down the shots in sync. As you lower your now empty shot glasses you realize how close you are to him, only about a foot and a half. Being this close to him makes you realize how handsome he is, his eyes are incredibly green and his shoulders are perfectly wide. His chocolate coloured curls sat harmoniously atop his head, one piece falling in front of his face seemingly by accident but it looked as it is meant to be there.

As Harry brought his shot glass away from his mouth and felt the strong burning sensation of the tequila making its way down his throat he stared at you. You’re eyes ostensibly checking him out, or atleast that’s what he convinced himself you were doing. In fact the combination of the warmth he felt in his stomach from the strong liquor and the minimal proximity between you and him was making him feel slightly dizzy. You truly were the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. He wanted to know everything about you, where you were born, your passions, your worst fears, what makes you wet, what makes you angry, who you care about. Literally anything and everything you were willing to tell him he was more than happy to hear about.

“How’d you know Jeff and Glenne?” Harry finally asked. You smiled as you thought about how you met them.

“Jeff and I have been friends since collage, and I met G about a year after we graduated. I indroduced them actually” you explained as your smile grew at the fond memories.

“Jeff manages you right?” you asked as you turned back to the bar and started making yourself another gin martini. Harry nodded as he watched you

“yeah e’ does, but we’re great mates too. A’ve been since before he started managing meh” he said as he turned towards you a bit more

“s’ crazy we a’vent met before this” he continued as you finished making your drink.

“It is, a shame really” you smirked. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m off to powder room” you took another sip of your drink as you began to walk away.

Harry watched you walk away, shamelessly staring at your bum and god was it nice. He was stunned to be quite frank. He wasn’t completely sure what it was about you (other than the obvious of course) that made him so enamoured by you but he couldn’t help it. He ran his hands over his face and let out a huff. Looking around and taking in his surroundings properly for the first time since he laid eyes on you, he noticed less people were there. He decided he’d find Jeff so he could more subtly wait for you to return.

When you come out of the bathroom you look around and notice there are seemingly only a few people left at the party. You grab your phone out of the back pocket of your jeans to check the time, the screen illuminates and shows 1:37AM. You let out a small huff, put your phone back in your pocket and decide to go find Jeff. You walk down the hall from the bathroom and into the living room to find Jeff and Glenne sitting on the couch you were sat at earlier. Beside them was Kassie and sat on the couch directly adjacent from them was Harry and a man you’d never met before.

“Hi loves” you say as you strut over to sit next to the man you’d never met. “Don’t believe we’ve met, I’m y/n” you say confidently with a smile and extend your hand for him to shake, which he does.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Mitch. I’m Harry’s guitarist” he says with a slightly awkward smile.

“Oh lovely” you nod. “Y/n is the designer for KIWI, Mitch” Harry says as he tilts his head forward a bit to look at you over where Mitch is sitting in between the two of you. You giggle slightly at the sudden interruption.

“Oh! That’s sick. We all love your work” Mitch says with an even bigger smile as he looks at you again.

“Thank you” you reply as you smile back at him just as enthusiastically.

“H is pretty much obsessed really, pretty sure he bought out most of your fall collection” Mitch gushes as he nudges his head towards Harry slightly. Harry gives Mitch a bit of a menacing look as he feels his cheeks heat up.

“Mmm obsessed is he?” You smirk as you move your glance back to Harry and take a long sip of your drink.

“Anybody who isn’t would be ‘ave to be blind, love” Harry said as his lips turned up into a smile, showing off his infamous dimples.

Just as you were about to reply to Harry’s bold compliment you heard Kassie let out a loud yawn from across the other couch. You turned your attention towards her as she said “think I’m gonna head out guys, it’s getting late”. She got up and Jeff and Glenne did as well. Kassie gave Jeff a hug.

“Think I’ll be going also, I haven’t watered my cactus since yesterday” you giggled as you walked over to hug Glenne and say your goodbyes. As soon as you let go of your embrace you noticed Harry was stood directly beside you.

“I’ll walk you t’ the door” Harry insisted and you nodded, following him to the front door.

“Love you Jeff! Love you G!” You yelled behind you.

Once stood in the entry way with Harry he said “really was lovely t’ meet ya”. You smiled and gave him a short hug.

“was lovely to meet you too Harry, thanks for havin a shot with me”. You went to grab the door handle to leave but Harry stopped you by grabbing your wrist lightly.

“Do ya think I could get ya numba’?” He asked as your gaze met his yet again.

You hummed in faux thought “now where’s the fun in that, love” you replied with a smirk as you turned back around, releasing your wrist from his grasp, opened the door and left.

#solo harry #harry x reader #harry styles #fandom #fanfic #fanfiction #smut #oneshots #Harry #one direction #x reader #harry styles x reader #harry styles x y/n #harry styles x you #mitch rowland #fine line #series #harry styles x fem!reader

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acciomanorian · 4 years ago

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New Year’s Eve - Nessian

Here is part two of your present this year Sim @perseusannabeth. Sorry it’s so late, but I had some family things that happened on new years, and then moving for school, that I just wasn’t really in a writing mood. But I finally finished so I hope you love it!! It’s a Nessian fic, so I hope you really enjoy it!!

8:00 am, December 31, 2020

Nesta Archeron woke up with a start as her alarm clock blared in her ears. She was in no hurry to get up, instead choosing to lie in bed for some extra minutes, and warmth, had it not been for the insistent pounding on her door. Nesta threw off her comforter, and pulled on her Harvard Alumni sweatshirt, before pulling her hair into a messy bun and making her way to the door of her one bedroom apartment..

“Nesta!” The familiar voice calling through the door made Nesta smile, even if she did have to leave the warmth of her bed.

Nesta opened the door to find her best friend standing there, with a warm latte in one hand, and a bagel bag in the other. Of course, Cassian would know the exact things to get her out of bed and ready for the morning.

“Cassian, you do realize that it’s eight o’clock in the morning, and that not everybody has to work on New Year’s Eve?” Cassian only grinned, and held up the coffee cup, before pushing through the door and into Nesta’s morning.

1:30 pm, December 31, 2020

“Feyre, calm down… No, there is no reason to worry… Yes, your party is going to be fine. I’m bringing the alcohol, and Elain has the pizza pick up. Remember, there’s only gonna be the eight of us… Yes, nine if Mor brings her girlfriend. Oh wait, isn’t Amren going to Varian’s?... Okay, I’ve gotta go. Cass is banging on my door, again. Love you, bye.”

Nesta sighed as she finally disconnected the call with her sister. Feyre and her husband Rhys were hosting their annual New Year’s Eve get together this year, and Nesta’s little sister was stressing, hardcore. Nesta didn’t know why though, considering the pair had been hosting every year since they had gotten together.

A crash as something, or someone, heavy barged through the door. “Cassian! What the fuck? Did you just break my door?”

“Wouldn’t that be funny,” he laughed, his amber eyes shining. “But no. I did not. I did bring you a gift, however.” Cassian held up a small package in his hands, wrapped nicely with a red bow.

“A Christmas present. Cass, it’s New Years, not Christmas. Plus, you already gave me that.”

“What, I can’t give my best friend a present on New Year’s too? C’mon Nes, you know you want it.” Nesta grinned and grabbed the package out of his hands. She greedily ripped open the package, only to find the most unexpected object inside.

“A dildo?!” she asked incredulously, throwing the box on the counter as Cassian roared with laughter.

“Thought you would appreciate that,” Cass said between breaths, leaning onto the table to support himself.

“Yeah, real appreciation.” Turning towards her room, Nesta didn’t fight to hide the smile showing on her face, both at the absurdity of the gift, and at her best friend's utter recklessness. This was certainly turning out to be an interesting New Years.

4:30 pm, December 31, 2020

Nesta jumped a little at the site of Cassian laying on her couch, beer in one hand, book in the other. Of course she knew that he had stayed while she had gotten ready for Feyre’s party, but to find him reading, let alone it being the romance novel that she had kept on the table. Certainly was a surprise.

“Can we go yet?” Cassian groaned, getting up from his position, and placing the book back on the coffee table, cover side up, showing Nesta’s current favorite book, The Roommates.

“Yes, you oaf. Let’s go.” Cassian jumped up from the couch and rushed to the door, before remembering that he should let Nesta leave first. Ever the gentleman, she thought, a small smirk on her face.

It didn’t take long for the pair to reach Feyre and Rhys’ home, and Cassian was wearing a shit-eating grin as he waited for his brother-from-another-mother to open the door (as he liked to call Rhys and Azriel). Of course, with alcohol involved, the three would most likely be getting into a lot of trouble. It would be up to Nesta, Feyre, and Azriel’s girlfriend to keep them under control, at least until the new year.

The front door opened to a man, tan with violet eyes, a party hat on his head, which he promptly transferred to Nesta’s head. “Everyone’s here now, let's party!” Rhysand explained, pulling Cassian into the house, who grabbed Nesta’s arm and pulled her too.

It was a whirlwind of motion once Nesta and Cassian were already in the house, with Cass being pushed in the direction of the living room, and Az standing by the fireplace, nursing what appeared to be a whiskey, while Nesta was pulled from behind, into the kitchen, where all the women were sitting, gossiping over wine. From the looks of it, Feyre and Mor, the first to be here, were already on their second or third glass.

“Looks like I’ve got some catching up to do,” Nesta laughed, giving Elain a hug as she passed her, and then picking up her own wine glass. As Nesta was about to sit, she heard a roar from the living room, followed by what sounded like the word “present” in Cassian’s voice. “Bastard,” she muttered under her breath. At the stares she received from the women around her, Nesta went into the story of her New Year’s Eve gift from her idiotic best friend.

11:45 pm, December 31, 2020

Everyone was beginning to wind down now, watching as the Dick Clark New Year’s Eve show was awaiting the dropping of the ball. Feyre and Rhys were cuddling on a chair, whispering to each other, as were Mor and her girlfriend, Rita. Az was MIA, probably sleeping off the alcohol he’d dranken earlier due to his loss in beer pong. Elain was on the phone, probably talking to Lucien who was in the Army, and oversees. Meanwhile Nesta and Cassian were sitting on the couch, Nestas head resting on Cass’ shoulder as he hummed along to whatever song was playing on the tv.

Slowly the group watched the clock count down. Elain had gone off to wake Azriel up so that the group could celebrate together, and now they waited as the final minutes of 2020 came to a close.

Too tired to realize, Nesta didn’t notice the way Cass looked at her as she laid across his lap, the heat in his eyes. But as the clock reached one minute, Nesta began to imagine how it would feel to have Cassian’s lips on hers, wondering if he felt the same way about her.

11:59:10, December 31, 2020

“10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...Happy New Year!” The whole house erupted in celebration. Nesta was moved around in quick hugs, before finally finding herself face to face with Cassian.

“Happy New Year, Nes,” he said quietly, before closing the gap between them, his lips finding hers, in front of all their family and friends. Someone whistled, probably Rhys, before he was shushed and presumably pushed out of the room, if the tripping sound had anything to say.

Nesta breathed heavily when they finally parted, her cheeks reddening, but a smile upon her face. “Do you know how long I’ve waited to kiss you?” Cassian asked. Nesta just shook her head.

“Since the day I met you, when you pushed me out of your seat cause I was flirting with Feyre. “Nesta laughed, before pulling his face back to hers. Suddenly, she was excited about what the new year would bring.

Tag List: If you want to be added or removed just send me an ask!

@ireallyshouldsleeprn @theoceanfaewriter @snusbandxknifewife @starborn-faerie-queen @slightlyrebelliouswriter23 @clockworkgraystairs @illyrianwitchling @b00kworm @poeticbrownmermaid @misskillerdarkness @addies-invisible-life @jurdanhell @chococannolii @elephantinparis @graciebellabutterfly @augustintodarkness @briarspoet @niksfaythe @simping4bookboisngrls @perseusannabeth

#tusermonique #c: nesta archeron #c: cassian #t: fic #s:nessian #f: acotar #a: sarah j maas #secret snowflake 2020

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marvels-writings · 4 years ago

Text

Back & Forth (4)

Maria Hill Masterlist

Series Masterlist

| Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 |

A/N: Not sure where I’m heading with this but I think I like it

The rest of your day was uneventful. You forgot to eat dinner since more people got injured during training thanks to one of the suits malfunctioning.

After having a talk with Tony about improving the suits, you went into your room and flopped down on the bed, making a mental note to eat something for breakfast before falling asleep.

The next morning, you had forgotten to set up your alarm clock. Instead of waking up at 7:30 so, you would have enough time to eat and shower before training. You woke up at 8:47. Cursing, you got out of bed and took a shower. Quickly throwing on some workout clothes which consisted of a dark grey tank top and black leggings, tying your hair into a high ponytail, and walking towards the gym.

It was almost 9:05 when you finally got to the gym. Maria wore a navy blue sports bra and matching leggings. You hurried in, trying not to stare at her as you set your things down on one of the benches in the gym.

“Sorry I’m late, I forgot to set my alarm clock and then I didn’t have enough time to eat so shit is a little chaotic today,” You apologized, licking your lips nervously before standing in front of your S/O.

“Language,” Steve chided, you rolled your eyes.

Before you could say something sarcastic to him, Maria started guiding you through stretches. Then, she started guiding you through a thought out gym routine. You never had time to go to the gym, so you mostly stuck with dieting and going on jogs when you could. The strain of working out was more than you had expected.

The entire time, you were trying to avoid staring at Maria. The sports bra showed off her toned stomach and her arms. The brunette didn't seem to notice your staring. But everyone else in the gym noticed. You could tell by their knowing smirks and winks towards you.

“A little too much for you?” Maria teased when you were on your 8th rep of sit-ups.

You rolled your eyes and glared at her, determined to make it through. The rest of the workout was more straining than you thought it would be. Especially with Maria forcing you to push yourself during every single exercise. In the middle of it, your stomach let out a large growl, you poked it aggressively to try to get it to be quiet, even though you knew it wouldn’t do anything.

Maria frowned and asked you if you had eaten, voice laced with concern.

“Only breakfast, it’s not that bad,” You shrugged, sitting down on the bench and taking a sip of water.

“We didn’t see you at dinner yesterday,” Steve pointed out, you glared at him.

“Y/n,” Maria began, her tone stern as she crossed her arms across her chest.

You raised an eyebrow and fanned yourself with your tank top. Putting your water bottle down, you stood up.

“I was busy, there were injured people.” You defended, walking over to the jogging machine where Steve was.

Maria took your elbow and turned you around. Surprised, you faced her stern expression.

“You need to eat,” The brunette advised, you winced and pulled out of her hold.

“Later, you said to yourself, I need to train.” You argued, but Maria wasn’t having it.

“What you need to do is eat,” Maria scolded, you rolled your eyes.

“I’m used to it, can we just finish this?” You asked, almost pleading at this point.

Maria considered it but shook her head, leading you to the kitchen. You cursed under your breath, following the brunette towards the kitchen when an intern interrupted you.

“Ms. Strange, could I, um, could you help me with something?” She asked.

You turned to see a college student, no older than 23, with blonde hair, bright hazel eyes, slim features. She wore a black crop top and jeggings. You nodded and smiled, turning to Maria to ask.

“I’ll meet you in the kitchen,” You guided the intern over to your office, assuming she needed help with her term paper.

After an hour, the intern left from your office, happy after you had edited her final paper. Just when you were about to meet Maria in the kitchen, one of the students learning from Helen Cho started asking you questions about the regeneration cradle she had in the medical bay.

Before you could deny them, the student dragged you over to the medical bay. Cho had asked her to run the cradle on one of the officers injured yesterday. But the student, Sophie, knew if she did anything wrong she would be fired. So she asked you for help.

It would have been done sooner if Sophie would have stopped flirting with you. It wasn’t that she was unattractive, the opposite. But you could care less about her antics, she was older than most of the students Helen was teaching, which must be why she was trusted with the cradle.

Before you could respond to another question, Maria stood in the doorway almost glaring at you and Sophie. You shrugged, gesturing to Sophie, blaming her for your delayed meal. Your S/O instructed the student leave, you assured her you would finish the assignment since there wasn’t much left to do and you didn’t want to deal with her whining if Cho didn’t pass her.

“Jealous much?” You asked once Sophie had left to ask someone else for help.

Maria blushed, but she hid it well, clenching her jaw and sitting down next to the cradle. You started talking to her as you worked, stating the cradle should only take another 5 minutes before you could leave. The brunette was hesitant to answer, your interaction from yesterday still playing in her head.

Maria owed you an apology, but she couldn’t bring herself to go through with it. She had planned the apology in her room, planning to apologize once you were free. Biting her lip, she called your name once you were done with the assignment.

You hummed, filling out a form for the officer and glancing up at her.

“I, um, I’m sorry about what I said yesterday,” Maria apologized, looking down at the ground as she tried not to fidget.

“See, that wasn’t that hard,” You teased, the brunette looked up in confusion.

“Oh come on, anyone could see something was bothering you.” You laughed at her expression, leading her out of the medical bay and into the kitchen.

Maria frowned at how easily you read her, she was supposed to be one of the top agents at SHIELD, almost impossible to read. But somehow, you managed to do it effortlessly. Leading her into the kitchen, you started putting a pan on the stove and heating it, taking some eggs out of the fridge, and offering to make her some french toast.

“Depends, are you as good at cooking as you are punctual?” Maria asked, you laughed and cracked an egg into a small bowl.

“I’m better at cooking than being punctual,” You laughed, mixing the egg with a whisk.

“Guess being late runs in the Strange family,” Maria commented, but she noticed how you flinched when she said, family.

“Did I say something wrong?” She asked, scared she had hurt you again. You shook your head, waving her off.

“No you’re fine, I’m adopted, just thought you might want to know,” You began pouring the egg mixture on a few slices of bread.

Even though you were their family, the topic was still a bit sensitive. Your brother and your parents often got angry with you whenever you were insecure about this. But you couldn’t help it, especially when you saw comments on social media about how you just got lucky to be in a family of doctors.

“It didn’t say that on your file,” Maria muttered, you shrugged and put the bread on the pan.

“That would be my brother’s fault, it should say legally adopted but he took that out,” You explained, chuckling to yourself.

You changed the topic quickly, choosing to talk about anything else except for your family. Maria noticed but decided not to push you about it. She had already hurt you once, she didn’t want to do it again. After you finished making her french toast, you handed it to her and started making your own.

Playing some music on your phone, you smiled when your favorite song started playing through the room. You started humming while Maria was talking, dancing a little while cooking. The song was catchier and more descriptive of your situation than ever.

Pleasantly surprised at how the french toast had turned out, Maria started digging into it while you bantered about the students that had been pestering you all morning. When you started talking about Sophie and her flirting, Maria couldn’t help her anger.

Students weren’t supposed to go out with the Avengers, technically there wasn’t a rule. You could have if you wanted to, Maria didn’t understand her jealousy towards Sophie. You weren’t hers to start with, there was no reasonable explanation as to why she was jealous.

“Something wrong S/O?” You asked, sitting down next to her with your french toast.

“Hm? Nothing.” Maria answered, a little too quickly for her liking.

“If you say so,” You muttered, starting to eat.

Before you could start another conversation, Maria went to put her dishes into the dishwasher and changed the conversation.

“Is there anything you need to do for today?” Maria asked you shrugged while eating.

Clearing your throat, you browsed through your calendar in case there was anything important. Seeing as there was nothing but miscellaneous chores, you shook your head.

“Just need to get my suit,” You answered, “Why?”

“Well, I was going to suggest we train your powers, but it seems like there’s not much I can train there,” Maria answered, you laughed.

“Unless you want to take me to Kamar-Taj,” you joked, seeing the confusion on Maria’s face you waved her off.

“So it looks like I have a whole day with my S/O,” You joked, sliding off the barstool and putting your dishes into the dishwasher.

Maria clenched her jaw, trying to avoid the blush creeping onto her face. You giggled at her expression, leaning back against the counter.

“Not the entire day,” Tony commented from behind you, almost giving you a heart attack.

“When the hell did you get here?” You demanded, handheld over your heart. Maria cackled behind you, your face when you heard Tony behind you was hilarious.

“Just before you started flirting with Ms. Hill here,” Tony answered, a cocky smirk on his face

Before either of you could say anything in your defense, he waved you off.

“There’s a party later this week since Thor is coming back from Asgard, I want both of you to be there,” Tony instructed, you almost groaned.

“How does that have anything to do with today?” You asked, confused.

“Outfits? I can’t have both of you looking like this when you come there,” Tony explained, you rolled your eyes.

“What’s wrong with this?” You complained, Tony laughed and left both of you in the kitchen.

“Well, guess we’re going shopping together,” You commented, turning to face Maria.

The brunette clenched her jaw, unsure of what was to come. Maria followed you out of the kitchen and towards the bedrooms to get changed for the shopping trip.

| Part 5 |

Buy me a coffee?

A/N: Hope you like it too, tell me what you think!

Tag List: @capcarolsdanver, @versdan, @lesbian-girls-wayhaught, @lovebotlarson, @dhengkt, @5aftermidnight, @hstoria, @natasha-danvers, @veryfunnyal, @xxxtwilightaxelxxx , @ophelias-heart , @never-didbefore , @justarandomhumanhere, @the-most-unicorn-of-them-all , @thatssocamryn , @lesbian-x-blackwidow , @marvelbbyx , @wlw-imaginesss , @hcartbyheart , @summergeezburr , @imnotasuperhero let me know if you’d like to be in any of my tag lists!

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reidology · 4 years ago

Text

He Was A Skater Boy… (Chapter 5) (Hotch/Reid)

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner / Spencer Reid

Summary: The morning after, things finally happen.

Word Count: 1,594

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8

Chapter 5: Your hair looks sexy pushed back... (AO3)

There is a steady stream of cold air hitting the crook of his neck and a tank grounding him to the mattress. The comforting scent of Axe Body Spray and musky aftershave compels Spencer to keep his eyes shut and bask in the warm sun filtering in through the blinds. Since when was his bed this comfortable? When was the last time he’d felt so serene? No terrible thought-tempest brewing in his brain, no sharp iron coil in his gut, just the birds chirping outside and the incredibly soft warmth of the weight on top of him.

The weight on top of him.

The weight on top-?

He doesn’t own a weighted blanket, or a dog, so why does he feel hair tickling his chin? Damn, did he fall asleep in Penelope’s office again? That fuzzy orange blanket she covers him with always makes him sneeze! Wait- how did he get to Penelope’s office, he never even left Aaron’s place, he- Oh. Aaron.

Feeling around the bed, his hand lands on- yes, yes that is definitely a head. Aaron’s head probably, his hair is so soft, should he open his eyes? Groggily, Spencer opens one eye, nothing could have prepared him for the sight before him. The sight of Aaron beautifully draped over Spencer’s torso, gentle tufts of hair caressing the younger’s chin, one leg thrown over his hip, arms hugging his small waist. Aaron looked so delicate, so vulnerable, the opposite of the charismatic bravado he seemed to effortlessly carry. Here he was just a boy with nothing to prove and nothing to hide.

Spencer spent a little while staring down at the skater’s face, running his hand through the thick hair lining his chin. He began counting the man’s even breaths and mirroring them. To his immense relief, in this moment he felt insignificant. On any usual day this scenario would have him hyperventilating and desperately clawing for a way out, but with Aaron like this all he felt was content, he wanted to savor every piece of this puzzle. He noticed that Aaron was still in his oversized Columbia sweatshirt but was in his boxers, and his own shoes were missing from his feet. Aaron must have woken up in the night and decided to get them both more comfortable. He wondered if Aaron had consciously snuggled into him after getting back into bed, or if he had naturally gravitated toward Spencer’s heat after falling asleep.

A glance to his left towards the desk showed that it was 8:30 in the morning, if he wasn’t out the door in five minutes he would be late for his appointment with Penelope. But a little content sound came from the man sleeping on top of him which forced Spencer out of his worries. He was still completely wrapped inside snug dangly limbs, so any effort to move would surely disturb the peace. Instead, he decided to accept his predicament and doze off into an easy sleep, this time knowing the reason for his sweet dreams. Penelope wouldn't mind, she’d be proud.

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

The next time he opened his eyes, it was to the tender stroking of his collar bone by a big calloused thumb. When the rubbing stopped, he looked down to the culprit and couldn’t fight off a smile if a revolver was pressed to his head. Aaron’s glittering hazel eyes were staring up at him full of wonder and hope, a shy smile on his lips.

“Why’d you stop? That felt really nice.” His voice cracked and rasped. Aaron’s voice was low and gravelly when he replied, “Sorry. I was worried you’d freak out.”

“Freak out at having a super hot guy cuddle me? You must be out of your mind.”

“...”

It seemed the genius’s groggy sleep brain hadn’t yet fully woken up, causing him to say stupid embarrassing things. Fuck now he’s freaking out. His face turned impossibly red and he could feel his hands getting clammy, how does he get out of this how will he ever survive this- but his stare-down with the stained ceiling came to an abrupt stop when the other man’s body shifted. Suddenly his eyesight was full of an amused face hovering over his own flustered one.

“You think I’m hot?”

Fuck.

“No comment.” Spencer practically squawked.

“Hmm…” Aaron seemed to contemplate something in his mind for a few seconds before he brought his hand to Spencer’s cheek, who let out another startled sound. Aaron’s hand was large enough to cup his whole jaw and rub at his cheekbones, the warmth of the sensation was almost unbearable to Spencer. He was breathless and so so confused, his heart skipping like a record. But he wouldn’t dare speak and break this moment. Next thing he knew, Aaron’s healing hands reached his hairline and sunk into his soft wavy locks, rubbing at his temple. It was pure instinct to let his eyes flutter shut. Now Aaron was propped up on one elbow, one hand buried in the pale boy’s hair, legs entangled like they had been all night.

“Hmm…” It sounded like a question this time. Spencer reluctantly opened his eyes once more. Aaron’s gaze bore into his, nothing could be done to tear away from that captivating look. He gulped. “Do you know Mean Girls?”

Spencer blinked. Many times. His frontal lobe may have short-circuited and fried up because what?

“What?”

“Mean Girls. Have you seen it?” His tone was just as serious as before and his gaze didn’t falter. Spencer remained silent and confused. Nothing new for him, but this time it felt strange. Had he completely misread the situation? This was a new low, he will never live this down. Of course Aaron didn’t like him, dudes snuggle all the time and it’s just another bro thing that Spencer is completely blind to-

The hand in his hair continued to move from his forehead to his nape, “Because I think your hair looks sexy pushed back.”

“Huh?”

And then Aaron’s lips were pressed to his and time stopped. The kiss was sweet and chaste, Aaron pulled back, “I said-” But Spencer dragged him back down by the neck to reconnect their mouths. He could feel Aaron’s smile on his lips, he could smell Aaron’s scent through his nose, he could feel the sharp angle of his jawline under his palms and the soft skin under his nails. He could feel Aaron nipping and pulling at his bottom lip, tongue tentatively asking for access. He felt the vibrations of the soft groan he let out when Aaron’s hand snaked down his shirt and skimmed over a nipple. He felt Aaron’s gasp as their kiss deepened, as their tongues danced together.

When a warm hand slipped under his shirt to rest on his stomach, Spencer saw stars. Electric, thundering stars. His own hands explored Aaron’s toned chest through the sweatshirt, eliciting an encouraging groan from the man. Eventually they broke off for air and, panting, Aaron moved down to press smoldering kisses to Spencer’s jaw, nipping at his ear and continuing down his neck until he got to his collarbones. He had to pull at his shirt collar to gain better access, but it was so worth it to hear Spencer’s whining moan and feel his hands dig into his hair. Aaron kept leaving kisses up and down, marking up the crook of the younger man’s neck. The harder he bit, the louder the resulting moan, and he just couldn’t get enough of the boy’s delicious sounds.

Just as Spencer went to adjust his hips to Aaron’s, the shrill blaring of the alarm clock rang out. Spencer jumped upright, causing their heads to collide and knocking Aaron right off the bed.

“Ow fuck!” Aaron exclaimed from the floor.

“Argh! I’m sorry…” Spencer cradled his head, “are you alright?” He stood up off the bed to offer the fallen man a hand. Aaron winced as he let himself be pulled up, then switched off the offending alarm before replying, “God was I that bad?” He teased.

Spencer smiled coyly, “No... that wasn’t bad at all. But I am really, really late to my therapy appointment.”

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

Penelope was staring at him… studiously. He held his stuffed octopus tightly in his lap. He could play this game. Not the staring game, but the silence game. He fixated at a blank space behind her head and acted like everything was normal. Because, well, everything was normal, right? This is what Penelope meant when she said he needed to make more connections, right?

“When did you attend Columbia University?” She asked suspiciously, pointing her feathery pink pen at the sweatshirt he was wearing. Spencer had left in a hurry, laces left untied and jacket nowhere to be seen. Aaron had helpfully suggested he borrow his sweater, as a replacement for the jacket they clearly did not have time to search for.

“What do you mean?” Spencer’s expression feigned innocence, he toyed with a tentacle.

Penelope was unimpressed, she’d seen this act before. He always cracks, he can’t keep secrets, not when they’re his own.

“You get here half an hour late, wearing the sweater of a university you have absolutely no affiliation with, with hickeys all over you neck, Spencer! What is going on!”

A beat of silence and the teenager couldn’t keep the blush and timid grin off his face.

“I.. found a new hobby.”

Penelope gaped incredulously, which hey! way to have faith in your patients! but eventually smiled wide and excited. “Really? Well, what is it!”

“Skateboarding.”

#criminal minds #aaron hotchner #spencer reid #aaron hotchner x spencer reid #hotchreid #hotch x reid #hotch #reid #penelope garcia #skater boy #my fic

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bobasheebaby · 5 years ago

Text

125 How I Met Your Mother Prompts

More prompts this one is mega long but broken up by character. I think it’s a pretty good mix of funny and angsty. Break at 15.

Barney Stinson

1 “You know what NAME needs to do. He needs to stop being sad. When I get sad, I stop being sad, and be awesome instead. True story.”

2 “A lie is just a great story that someone ruined with the truth.”

3 “ It's going to be legen...wait for it...and I hope you're not lactose-intolerant cause the second half of that word is...dairy!”

4 “Suit up!”

5 “Believe it or not, I was not always as I am today.”

6 “I realized that I'm searching, searching for what I really want in life. And you know what? I have absolutely no idea what that is.”

7 “Every Halloween, I bring a spare costume, in case I strike out with the hottest boy/girl at the party. That way, I have a second chance to make a first impression.”

8 “Whatever you do in this life, it’s not legendary unless your friends are there to see it.”

9 “Three days. We wait three days to call a man/woman, because that's how long Jesus wants us to wait... True story.”

10 “There’s three rules of cheating: 1. It’s not cheating if you’re not the one who’s married. 2. It’s not cheating if his/her name has two adjacent vowels. 3. And it's not cheating if he’s/she’s from a different area code.”

11 “I peed in an alley which happened to have a church which I did not see because I was drunk.”

12 “I'm such a mess. Why do you even like me?” “I guess, because you're almost as messed up as I am.”

13 “In my body, where the shame gland should be, there is a second awesome gland. True story.”

14 “Do you have some puritanical hang up on prostitution? Dude, it’s the world’s oldest profession.”

15 “Here’s the mini-cherry on top of the regular cherry on top of the sundae of awesomeness that is my life.”

16 “God, it’s me, NAME. What up? I know we don’t talk much, but I know a lot of guys/girls call out your name because of me.”

17 “Okay, pep talk! You can do this, but to be more accurate, you probably can’t. You’re way out of practice and he’s/she’s way too hot for you. So, remember, it’s not about scoring. It’s about believing you can do it, even though you probably can’t. Go get ‘em, tiger!”

18 “De — wait for it — nied! Denied! We’re goin’ out tomorrow night.”

19 “Step six is called purg— wait for it. Keep waiting. Keep waiting for all of eternity only to discover that there’s no escape —atory.”

20 “I think tonight is going to be de — wait for it — lightful.”

21 “Ted, tonight is gonna be — wait for it — dary! Wait, no, that’s not it. How do I usually say it?”

22 “You watch, NAME, tonight is going to be legen— it’s the night we stole a camel! Which means it will be full of drama —dary.”

23 “I’m just gonna grab this star to put on top of the tree. It’s gonna be legend— wait for it —merry.”

24 “Haaaave you met NAME?”

25 “Challenge accepted!”

Robin Scherbatsky

26 “Oh, come on, ref! I haven't seen that much hooking go unpunished since my last trip to Vegas.“

27 “Just be yourself. Say something nice.” “Which one? I can't do both.”

28 “Before you know it, you'll be marrying a man/woman who once ate a vanilla-scented candle!” “That was on me. I shouldn't have left it in the kitchen. Though, it was lit. Man, he/she dumb.”

29 “Destined? Aren't you tired of waiting for destiny, NAME? Isn't it time to make your own destiny?“

30 “NAME was great.” “Exactly, and you threw it all away to chase after some hot piece of ass.” “You mean you?” “Thank you!”

31 “Oh, we're busting apple bags? I can bust apple bags.“

32 “NAME, I am not ready for them to find out about us.” “Then you're gonna have to stay in there for the entire trilogy. Don't worry, it's only 382 minutes.” “Nerd!”

33 “You know NAME? Been thinking about it. Guess it's kind of nice you're such a bad-ass.” “It's pretty bad-ass you're so nice, NAME.”

34 “14 seconds! And already some dingdong is stepping up, thinking he can get some of this broke off.”

35 “But timing is a bitch.”

36 “Well, maybe this isn't a breakup. Maybe this is two friends getting back together.“

37 “There's something between us. Maybe my head was saying, 'nip it in the bud', because my heart was saying something else ...”

38 “I just finished a seven-day cleanse.” “I thought you just started that yesterday.” “I finished early, okay?”

39 “NAME! I just had a great idea!” “Oh, do whatever you want to me, just don't wake me up.”

40 “Okay, I've missed you. Not in a 'we're gonna make out' way, not even in an 'I forgive you' way. Just in an 'I've missed you' way.”

41 “I may not love you the way you love me, but I do love you.”

42 “But ... umm.”

43 “Why am I constantly looking for reasons not to be happy?”

44 “Oh, that’s right. I’m alone.”

45 “I’m gonna give you summer teeth ... some’re here, some’re there.”

46 “You can’t run back to the past because it’s familiar.”

47 “Nobody asked you, NAME.”

48 “It’s one thing to not want something. It’s another to be told you can’t have it.”

49 "I am never going to have closure. Okay, closure doesn't exist."

50 “You are going to miss out on something great.”

Ted Mosby

51 "If you're not scared then you're not taking a chance. And if you're not taking a chance, then what the hell are you doing anyway?"

52 “You can ask the universe for signs all you want but ultimately we'll only see what we want to see...when we're ready to see it.”

53 "Nothing good happens after 2:00 am… when 2:00 am rolls around, just go home and go to sleep."

54 "The more you fight it, the worse it’s gonna get. It’s like when your car slides on ice, you steer into the skid."

55 "Sorry, Peter. We're grown ups now, we can't fly to Nevrland with you anymore."

56 "I wound up shame-eating the whole pizza. I woke up all greasy and sweaty. My sheets looked like what they wrap deli sandwiches in. Maybe I should join a gym. Do you go to a gym?"

57 "People make fun of the guy/girl who stays home every night doing nothing, but the truth is that guy/girl is a genius.”

58 “Love doesn't make sense! You can't logic your way into or out of it. Love is totally nonsensical. But we have to keep doing it or else we're lost and love is dead, and humanity should just pack it in. Because love is the best thing we do.”

59 “Everyone has an opinion on how long it takes to recover from a breakup.”

60 “There are a lot of little reasons why the big things in our lives happen.”

61 “There are two big days in any love story: the day you meet the guy/girl of your dreams and the day you marry him/her.”

62 ““I’m crazy about you. I think we should be together. What do you say?” “Yes. No. Maybe.” “Those are the three options.”

63 “The littlest thing can cause a ripple effect that changes your life.”

64 “It's kind of insane how much happened in just a day and a half.”

65 “Whether a gesture's charming or alarming, depends on how it's received.”

66 “Because sometimes even if you know how something's gonna end that doesn't mean you can't enjoy the ride.”

67 “Shouldn't we hold out for the person who doesn't just tolerate our little quirks but actually kinda likes them?”

68 “I used to be in such a hurry all the time. Everything was so urgent. Now I figured, if it's going to happen it'll happen when it happens. I'm not going anywhere, he’s/she's not going anywhere. What's the rush, right?”

69 “I think for the most part if you're really honest with yourself about what you want out of life, life gives it to you.”

70 “We spend so much effort trying to keep parts of our lives hidden, even from our closest friends, that in those rare times when we do open up, it's amazing how minor those secrets all end up being.”

71 “You may think your only choices are to swallow your anger or throw it in someone's face, but there's a third option: You can just let it go, and only when you do that is it really gone and you can move forward.”

72 “I'm sorry, when I'm excited I abbreviate words I shouldn't.”

73 “We gotta wait for the real thing, no matter how tough it gets.”

74 “When you believe in people, people come through.”

75 “If you love something, you can never let it go. Not even for a second. Or it's gone forever.“

76 “Hey ref! Check your voicemail, I think you've missed a few calls!“

77 “Turns out, when you projectile vomit on skates, you roll right into the spray.“

78 “NAME, if you asked a hundred people: 'Who's the worst person you could possibly date?' They'd all say 'your therapist', except the ones saying 'NAME'.”

79 “Sometimes our best decisions are the ones that don't make any sense at all.“

80 “We've always been a trio! We're right up there with Batman and Robin and Alfred. Romeo and Juliet and the apothecary. Salt and pepper and cumin.“

Lily Aldrin

81 “You guys dated before. That time counts. The clock doesn't reset to zero. It un-pauses from where you left off.”

82 “We struggle so hard to hold on to these things that we know are gonna disappear eventually. And that’s really noble.”

83 “You can’t just skip ahead to where you think your life should be.”

84 “I know it's a mistake, but there are certain things in life where you know it's a mistake but you don't really know it's a mistake because the only way to really know it's a mistake is to make the mistake and look back and say 'yep, that was a mistake.' So really, the bigger mistake would be to not make the mistake, because then you'd go your whole life not knowing if something is a mistake or not.”

85 “Yes, I'm in a rotten mood. No, I don't want to talk about it. Yes, this has booze in it. No, it's not my first.”

86 “The 'no more surprises'-thing is the best part of being married.”

87 “So, what do you want to do tonight? Drink ourselves blind, set a car on fire? Oh, watch a movie that doesn't start with a desk lamp jumping on top of a capital 'I'?”

88 “Baby, you're like 20 slutty chicks all rolled into one.” “Sweet-talk is not gonna change my mind!”

89 “So this is what you guys do? You invite other couples over for dinner, to judge them and feel superior?” “Oh, grow up, NAME, that's why any couple invites anyone over ever!”

90 “I think my soul just threw up a little bit.“

91 “Your heart's talking to you, NAME. Do you have the guts to listen to it?”

92 “I don't care if the dishes aren't done, okay? If you care, you do it.” “Great, then I don't care if you have an orgasm. If you care, you do it.”

93 “Who wants hot-wings?” “I'm in... or maybe we should just pour hot-sauce on NAME, since he's/she’s a total chicken.”

94 “I hate how you're always right.” “It's my best, and most annoying, trait.“

95 “Sex now, we'll do the foreplay after.“

96 “NAME check it! Three blond babies drinking bad-decision-juice at eight o'clock.”

97 “If you keep lying to me, if you keep cutting me out of decisions, if you keep using words like winning and losing when you talk about our marriage, you are going to lose me.”

98 “Why not just say goodbye to the bad things?”

99 “Say goodbye to all the times you felt lost, to all the times it was a no instead of a yes, to all the scrapes and bruises, to all the heartache.”

100 “Where’s the poop, NAME? Where’s the poop?”

Marshall Eriksen

101 “Hey I have given up peeing in the shower for you!”

102 “Why does he/she keep doing this? He meets them. He/She likes them way too much. He/She goes way too big too soon. He/She ends up blowing it. I can't take this any more. He's/She’s fallen in love so many times now.”

103 “Ow! Paper cut ... Death is all around us.”

104 “This is a pie chart describing my favorite bars. And this is a bar graph describing my favorite pies.”

105 “It's a little late but WHAT THE BALLS IS THIS?”

106 “Hey baby, it's me. Can you bail me out of jail? I thought I saw big foot in Central Park so I tackled him. But it turned out to be Russell Brand.”

107 “Being in a relationship is hard. And committing, making sacrifices it's hard. But if it's the right person, it's easy. Looking at that guy/girl, and knowing he’s/she's all you really want out of life, that should be the easiest thing in the world. And if it's not like that then he’s/she's not the one.”

108 “Here's the thing, NAME. I'm snuggly. You're not. Who wouldn't want to snuggle up next to this business on a Sunday morning? Wrapped in comfort and it's raining outside and there's muffins warming in the oven. I'm cuddly bitch. Deal with it.”

109 “He’s:She's never seen Star Wars?! NAME, the only people in the universe who haven't seen Star Wars are the characters in Star Wars. And that's cause they lived them, NAME! That's cause they lived the Star Wars.”

110 “Love died. The love that made you all believe in love, that's dead now.”

111 “I’ve never asked NAME to do anything ‘no questions asked’ because I never wanted to. He’s/She’s the love of my life. I never keep anything from him/her.”

112 “Happy Slapsgiving!”

113 “This is what I miss about being in a couple. I always had someone to go to concerts with, or farmer's market, or brunch. God, I miss brunch!” “Well, I guess you could - well, you could try going to brunch alone.” “Oh, you don't think I've tried?” [FLASHBACK] “Table for one.” “One... Couple?” “Um, no, just me.” “Really? For brunch?” “You're right. Who am I kidding?” [Leaves restaurant. End of Flashback] “Oh, the Popover Pantry! That place is great. Can we go get brunch tomorrow?” “Of course, sweetie.” “Can I go with you guys?” “Really? For brunch?”

114 “That’s life, you know. We never end up where you thought you wanted to be.”

115 “That cake. Best cake I ever had. Seriously, my stomach was like, ‘Hey bro, I don’t know what you’re eating cause I don’t have any eyes but it’s basically awesome, so keep sending it down Gullet Alley.’”

116 “Revenge fantasies never work out the way you want.”

117 “I’m a good boyfriend/girlfriend in my sleep.”

118 “You have to let me dance my own battles.”

119 “One good deed leads to another and another.”

120 “Look at us, riding around in a limo, eating hot dogs…it’s like we’re the president.”

121 “All hail beercules!”

122 “I don’t know what to do with my hands. What do I normally do with my hands?”

123 “Hey, baby.” “We hate NAME now. Get on board or the sexting stops.” “NAME’s a son of a bitch!”

124 “Are these chicken wings or angel wings? God, I love these things.”

125 “Oh, and you think you can step up to me? To me?!”

#how i met your mother prompts #how i met your mother quotes #writing prompts #dialogue prompts #drabble prompts #robin scherbatsky #ted mosby #barney stinson #marshall eriksen #lily aldrin #long post #read more

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shawnstoriesx · 5 years ago

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Old Times Pt 1

heylo! sorry for being so inactive i was a busy girl and i rlly just couldn’t figure out how to continue the fics i started so i just made a whole new one XD anywayz i will get back to those until then ! feedback would be greatly appreciated! thanks for sticking around i love youuuuuuuu

YN climbed out her bedroom window and onto the roof of her house, letting out a small groan when she heard loud yelling downstairs. So much for a peaceful evening.

With a pizza box clutched in one hand and a light blanket in the other, she rushed her way to the front of her house. At first glance, the trek from YN’s bedroom window would seem tricky but she’d grown used to it. Every Thursday night for the past 4 years, YN’s roof had been the designated hang out spot for her and her neighbor. YN could probably do this blindfolded. She quickly set down the blanket and pizza box before lying down on the blanket too, staring up at the setting sky. It was the day before her high school graduation and YN’s body was pounding with emotions. Her nerves were on edge. She couldn’t wait to graduate and was excited for the next chapter of her life but was also anxious about starting college and leaving all her friends behind. Or rather her friends were all leaving her. They’d all chosen out of state schools that were hundreds of miles away while YN had opted for a school that was just a 30 minute drive. At least she still had Shawn. Shawn was her neighbor and she’d been his first new friend when he moved here the summer before their freshmen year. They’d been good friends ever since and although they didn’t hang out at school, being part of different crowds, Shawn and YN talked almost every day, whether it be in person, through text, or by writing on paper and pressing it up to their bedroom windows which were directly across from each other. Shawn had opted to dorm to get the “whole college experience” so YN was comforted by the fact that he’d always be on campus. Perhaps they could even hang out together once school started. Speaking of which, YN checked her phone to see the time. 7:15 PM. Shawn was only 15 minutes late to their standing hangout so YN didn’t think much of it. This was their last hangout as high schoolers and probably their last in a while since they’d be away all summer. YN and her family were going on vacation the first half of summer and Shawn was going on a road trip with his friends for the last half so this was kind of an important one to YN and probably to Shawn too. He was probably just caught up at work and running a little late. YN went back to looking up at the sky and perusing her thoughts. Another 15 minutes passed and it was starting to get chilly. YN walked back to her bedroom window to quickly grab a jacket. Texting Shawn probably would be a good idea too. Walking back to her spot on the front of the roof, YN unlocked her phone and started to type a message when she heard noise coming from her neighbor’s front yard. Shawn’s front yard specifically. He’s here! YN steadily made her way to the front of her house but stopped midway upon hearing multiple voices from Shawn’s yard. “Thanks for the ride man. I’ve been meaning to get my bike fixed.” Shawn yelled out and then YN heard a car door shut. “No problem!” another voice called out while another one yelled “Hurry up and change! We’re already late to the bonfire.” Bonfire? YN quickly ducked down behind the peak of her roof and peered up into Shawn’s yard. There was a truck packed with 3 boys and after a few minutes, Shawn jogged out of his house in swim trunks and a backpack slung over his back. “Your parents cool with you going out with us?” “Yeah.” Shawn shrugged. “It’s not like I had anything else to do today.” YN stayed hidden behind her roof until she was sure that Shawn and his friends had left. She quietly walked back to where she had placed the pizza box and blanket earlier in the evening, picked everything up, and returned to her bedroom. It was just another hangout, YN thought. There really wasn’t anything special about it. They’d been doing this every week for the past 4 years so it should’ve lost its charm but YN couldn’t help but feel hurt. She pulled her blankets over her frame and shut her eyes. She’ll just call it an early night.

“YN! Honey! Do you have class today?”

YN groggily woke up to the sound of her mother calling from the kitchen downstairs. She let out a tired groan. She’d stayed up late last night to finish an essay but at least she got it done with. Sure she was feeling a bit sleep deprived but as soon as she submitted this essay in class, YN would finally be done with all of the finals from her first year of college.

She blindly reached around her bed to find her phone, letting out another frustrated groan when she heard it fall off her bed and onto the floor. YN tried to unlock her phone...but it wasn’t turning on.

YN cursed under her breath. She must’ve forgotten to charge it last night. YN plugged it into its charger and made her way to her restroom to get ready for school.

“YN! Aren’t you going to be late?”

Late? “What time is it Mom?”

“8:45.”

“FUCK! Why didn’t you wake me up earlier?” YN yelled. Her class started at 9 AM.

Her mother muttered something unintelligible as she scrambled to the sink and hastily brushed her teeth before running back to her room and haphazardly throwing on clothes she found lying around her room before flying down the stairs and running to her car.

YN started the engine and was backing out of her driveway when she noticed her mom running out of the doorway...with YN’s backpack in her arms.

“Thanks Mom.” YN said sheepishly as she rolled down her windows so that her mom could push the backpack in.

Her mom simply laughed, threw out a quick “Love you,” and walked back into the house.

***

45 minutes later, because of course the one time YN had woken up late all year was also the day there was an insane amount of traffic and congestion, YN pulled into the school parking lot and sprinted out and to her class.

YN arrived, out of breath, just as students were beginning to file out of the lecture hall. She’d made it just in time. She could sneak in right now and slip her essay into the pile and everything would be alright.

“YN!” a voice called and she looked up to see her friend Belinda walking over. “Where were you? I’ve been texting you nonstop!”

“Sorry!” YN gasped in between breaths. “My phone died so my alarm didn’t go off. But it’s all good.” YN let out a weak smile and raised the hand that was grasping onto her paper. “Got here just in time to.” But that smile quickly washed off her face when she noticed Belinda’s concerned look.

“YN. He collected the essays at the beginning of class.”

***

YN made her way to the front of the hall where she saw another student deep in conversation with the professor. She took in a deep breathe to calm herself down and prepared what she was going to say. If he just checked her grades on all the other assignments for this class, he’d see that she was a stellar student. Today was just a slight slip up.

“Can I help you?”

She snapped out of her thoughts and saw that the professor and the other student were looking at her. “Uhh...I came late.” YN stuttered, holding up her essay. Very eloquent YN.

“You too?” her professor sighed.

YN’s eyes glanced to the other student and she looked rather frustrated. That didn’t bode well.

“Look, I can’t accept your essays. They were due at the beginning of class and I have a strict no tolerance late work policy.” YN’s face must’ve visibly fallen because her professor quickly laughed. “But...I am in a good mood so you two ladies can collaborate on a presentation responding to the essay prompt. Record the presentation and send it to me by midnight Sunday. How does that sound?”

The two girls nodded their heads in agreement and relief before walking out together.

“How do you want to do this? I’m Zara by the way.”

YN muttered a small sigh of relief. Yes! A partner who would take charge and wouldn’t leave YN to do all the work. She flashed Zara a small smile. “I’m YN! And we should start today. Plan today, film Saturday, and edit Sunday.”

Zara frowned. “I can’t do tonight...I’m having an end of the year party at my place.” she responded simply.

“Oh.” YN deadpanned. So Zara was probably the type to push all the work on YN. “When does it start?”

“7 ish”

“Was this your last class?”

“No. I have class until 12.”

“Same here. Can we meet after 12 and we can finish when you need to get ready for your party?” YN mentally patted herself on the back. There was no way Zara could get out of this.

“Yeah fine.” sighed. “Give me your number. We can meet at my house.”

***

YN pulled into Zara’s driveway where she was quickly rushed into a small room cramped in the very back of the house by the host herself.

“Look I have people coming over later to help me set up so I’ll be in and out a lot to check on them.” Zara said matter of factly as she sat beside YN and pulled out her laptop.

An hour in, a loud commotion came from the front of the house and Zara sprung to her feet to open the door for her friends. YN continued working on the presentation and didn’t notice how long Zara had been away until she was halfway through making the slideshow presentation.

She could hear laughter coming from outside of the room so she figured that she’d slip out quickly to remind Zara they had a presentation to work on. YN creaked the door open and peaked through the crack. She could see people gathered in the kitchen and as soon as she opened the door, YN was met with the aroma of pizza. YN took a few quick breaths to muster up some courage and confidently walked out to confront Zara.

“Uh hey, Zara. I got about halfway done with the presentation but I kinda need your help on it so whenever you’re free.” YN said as she walked into the other girl’s kitchen.

The conversation halted and everyone in the room turned to stare at YN. Suddenly quite self-conscious, YN’s eyes darted away from the others’ gaze and onto the pizza box on the counter.

“Do you want some pizza YN?” a gentle voice asked. A voice that definitely wasn’t Zara’s. A voice that was definitely male.

YN looked up and her face dropped. Standing on the other side of the counter was Shawn Mendes. Her ex-neighbor and ex-friend. The one who bailed on their last hangout. The one she hadn’t spoken a single word to since before their graduation.

“I’m good. Thanks.” YN responded coldly before shifting her body to face Zara. She didn’t have to shift far though since Zara was standing beside Shawn. In fact, his arm was slung around her shoulders. Interesting.

“Just join me when you’re done and I’ll be out of your way.” And with that YN walked back to the room she was in earlier and worked on the presentation with newfound rigor and focus. She just wanted to get out of this place as soon as possible and if that meant finishing without Zara, then so be it.

***

She stayed focused on her laptop screen when YN heard the door creak open. “I’m about done with the presentation so we can wrap this up probably within the hour and-“

“Hi YN.”

YN stopped typing to look up at Shawn who had just closed the door behind him. Now that they were both crammed into this room, YN could see that he’d changed quite a bit since they last saw each other. His hair was longer and curlier. He’d bulked up quite a bit. And...was that a piercing in his ear?

“Zara said you came over as soon as both of you got out of class so I’m assuming you haven’t eaten lunch yet...so I brought you pizza.” Shawn brought a plate out from behind his back and offered it to YN. “It was pepperoni but I know you don’t like that so I picked off all the pepperoni for you.” he added with a smile.

YN stared blankly at the plate and boy in front of her. Once upon a time she probably would’ve appreciated the offer and the fact that Shawn remembered how she liked her pizza but that was the old YN. She’s since changed. “Thanks but I’m not very hungry.” She started typing away and that was the only noise that filled the room for several moments until YN noticed that Shawn was still standing there.

She mustered up a weak smile. “I’m fine. Honest. I don’t really like pizza anyways.”

Shawn’s brows furrowed. “But cheese pizza is your favorite.”

“It WAS my favorite. Things changed.” YN went back to typing, hoping that Shawn got the hint to leave her alone.

Instead, he took a seat beside her. “So…” Shawn started. “Haven’t talked to you in a while.”

YN secretly rolled her eyes and gave a curt nod.

“Probably since the summer. Move in day maybe?”

“Graduation.” she corrected him.

He let out what YN would’ve described as a nervous laugh. “Yeah right. We probably saw each other-“

“No. It was graduation.” she cut in firmly. Or rather it was a couple days before graduation. They hadn’t even spoken to each other during their ceremony. But who was keeping track...Certainly not YN.

“Damn.” he whispered softly.

Another beat of quiet passed.

“How’s life been?”

“Good.”

“Oh...that’s good to hear. Where do you live now?”

“Other side of town.” YN paused before adding “I’m planning on staying with my dad this summer though.”

YN instantly regretted saying that. Saying that she’d be back in her old house this summer. The house that was right next to Shawn’s. It was like she was hoping to get to see Shawn and hang out with him again and that was far from the truth. She wanted to stay as far away from him as possible.

She quickly shut her laptop and rushed to put her belongings back in her backpack. “Look I think I’m gonna head back now. Can you tell Zara that I’ll finish the last few slides at home and we’ll text to meet tomorrow to film.”

“Wait-you’re not staying for the party?”

YN let out a quick laugh and shook her head. “Not really my thing. And I don’t really know Zara so I’d feel weird.”

“You know me though.”

She flashed Shawn a weird look, trying to get a read on if Shawn was being serious or not. They haven’t exchanged a single word in the past year and he was acting as if nothing had changed between them. As if they were still friends and neighbors.

“I’m good.” she smiled. YN walked out, muttered her goodbyes to Zara and her other friends who were all laughing at some joke, and got into her car.

***

It was now Saturday morning and Zara was expected to come over any moment now. YN finished up the slides last night and they both agreed to film at YN’s house since Zara’s place was probably a mess from the party last night.

She’d just finished setting up the mic when she heard a car pull up in her driveway. YN peeked her head into the kitchen where her mother was cooking to announce that her partner was here and ask if she could open the door while YN ran to the restroom really quickly. When YN returned, she was shocked to see her mom and Zara sitting in the living room...with Shawn.

“YN! Oh great! You won’t believe who dropped Zara off. It’s been a while since I last saw you huh Shawn.”

She snapped out of her daze and sat beside her mom on the couch across from Zara and Shawn. “Yeah uh hi guys.”

“So do you guys see each other a lot at school?” her mother innocently asked.

“No. Not really.” YN answered in monotone.

“Yeah I guess we’ve just been busy. And it’s a big campus.” Shawn answered with a bit more inflection.

YN couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh, which pulled a frown from both her mom and Shawn.

“Anyways...I should get going. I just came to drop Zara off” he said before turning to Zara. “Text me when you’re about done.”

“Oh why don’t you stay and we can catch up Shawn! YN said the recording shouldn’t take more than an hour. It’ll save you the trip.”

Zara’s expression perked up at the suggestion and YN practically twisted her neck to shoot her mom a look that expressed “No. Why?”

“Uh if that’s fine with you that’d be great.” Shawn smiled.

“Great! I’ll get some snacks for you kids!” YN’s mom bustled out of the living room to grab whatever she could find in the kitchen, leaving YN, Shawn, and Zara alone.

After a couple seconds of the 3 of them just sitting there and staring at each other, Zara broke the silence. “So let’s hurry this up.”

YN and Zara worked quickly in another room while Shawn and her mom caught up in the living room. The loud laughter and conversation from the room did very little to distract the girls from recording. YN figured they were both eager to wrap up quickly and go on with their Saturday plans. After all, it was supposed to be summer break. Shawn and Zara were dressed to go to the beach or a pool party and YN had a date with her bed and Netflix.

“Okie I think that’s good. We just have to edit and then we’re done.” Zara declared confidently.

“Editing shouldn’t take too long either. Great job! How do you want editing to go? We can meet up or you edit one half and I edit the other half?”

“I don’t think we should split up the editing. It’ll just look and sound weird.”

YN nodded. “Good point. What time are you free tomorrow?”

Zara frowned. “The thing is...I’m not free tomorrow. I’m flying back home at 11 AM. And it’s a 6 hour flight.”

“Oh.” YN’s mind raced with ideas to work this out because there is no way in hell that she’d be editing this all by herself again. “Why don’t you just stay behind a bit. And we can edit together.”

“Shawn and I actually have plans.”

YN let out a frustrated sigh. She was really done with this and just wanted Shawn and Zara out of her house. “Fine. How about I finish editing today and then I’ll send it to you and you look over it before your flight?”

Her partner’s face instantly lit up at the suggestion. “Great! Look at us! Teamwork makes the dream work.” Zara picked up her laptop and made her way back to the living room with YN following in defeat.

“Done?” Shawn asked when he saw the two girls enter the room.

“Yep! YN just has to edit!” Zara answered excitedly as she slid into the seat beside Shawn.

Shawn flashed YN a smile to acknowledge her presence and noted her sullen expression. “Err Zara...are you editing too?”

“No. I have my flight tomorrow remember? YN is going to do it and then I’ll look over it before we turn it in. You wanna go now?”

He looked back at YN with concern. “Zara why don’t you stay and help edit for a while. We still got time and I’m still talking with Mrs…” Shawn’s eyes widened when he caught his mistake. “Sorry I mean Miss…”

YN’s mother simply laughed. “It’s alright Shawn! Just call me by my first name. We can skip all the formalities love.”

Shawn nodded and reverted his attention back to his girlfriend. “How does that sound?”

Zara shot Shawn a cold glare and begrudgingly got back up to help YN edit.

One hour later, the girls finished editing and decided to submit the assignment early just to get it over with. Zara returned to the living room with a smile, knowing that this time she and Shawn were definitely leaving.

“What are your plans for today?” YN’s mom inquired as she walked their guests to the door.

“We’re going to the beach today with some friends!” Zara responded with a smile.

“Oh that sounds nice! Have fun dears.” YN’s mom closed the door behind her and and then turned to YN.

“You going to ever tell me what happened between you and Shawn?” she asked with a raised brow.

“It’s nothing. We just stopped talking.”

“Mhm...well I hope you’re not busy today. I’m going to need you to run by the the farmer’s market to buy some food.”

#love triangle #double love triangle #is that a thing??#shawn mendes #shawn mendes fanfic #shawn mendes fanfiction #shawn mendes au #college au #shawn mendes angst #neighbors au #college!shawn #neighbor!shawn

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taeyongtime · 6 years ago

Text

finale of the longing heart

genre: rich kid!au x model!reader ⎮ angst ⎮ bittersweet fluff

group & member: NCT’s Taeyong

word count: ~18,500 words

↳ 🚨: alcohol-mention, mature theme, explicit language, slow burn, tons of pining. read at own discretion.

brief synopsis:

↳ “Why can’t you see that you’ve always had a piece of my heart from the very beginning?”

“He’s late.”

You look up from fiddling with the edge of the tablecloth and cough to ease the prickling tension at the dining table.

“Maybe he’s busy.”

“Sure, he is.” The following scoff is unrelenting, accompanied with a roll of the eyes at the empty seat to your left. “Every day he comes home drunk to no end and with a new girl hanging off his arms like a newly bought accessory from the jeweler’s down the street.

“You’ve barely touched any of your food. Not hungry?”

“I… I thought to wait for him first,” you answer, smiling weakly. “It’s what we do at home.”

“Just eat first, Y/N. Who cares if that loser brother of mine doesn’t come back for dinner?” A manicured finger taps against the table top, two more joining the impatient rhythm drumming onward. “It’s not the first time he’s called a no-show anyway.”

The doorbell rings the very moment the sharp words are spoken, and one of the maids on standby hurries to answer the door while you watch to see who had arrived.

“Eat,” comes the ushering again. “We’re way pass a suitable time to eat and you’ve been here since our afternoon tea at three.”

“If… If you insist.”

Silver fork in hand, you get ready to dig into the cooled carbonara pasta on your plate when a hiccup catches your attention.

“God, you look terrible,” laments the woman sitting at the head of the table upon hearing the impending footsteps. “And what a surprise. No accessory this time, little brother?”

The slump in the middle of the two maids who had carried him in shakes his head and giggles, a bubbling sound that offsets the flushed red of his cheeks and glazed look in his eyes.

You put down the utensil in your hand and nod in greeting, startled when he wiggles away from the maids and tumbles straight onto you.

“Cute!” He presses his face against yours and rubs aggressively, smiling as an arm loops around your shoulders.

“So cute!”

“Taeyong, you little…” His sister snaps her fingers at the two maids. “Get him upstairs and make sure he’s somewhat more sober before coming back down.”

“I’m sorry,” she turns to you with an exasperated sigh, “It’s rare enough that he comes home without any plus ones, but to return smelling of booze and…”

You shake your head before she could finish, waving it off with a light smile.

“I don’t mind.”

Midway through the second round of tea and light snacks after the dinner, one of the maids enters the parlor to inform your host that the Young Master has sobered up somewhat, but will be having dinner up in his room rather that in the company of his sister’s good friend. The excuse of ‘not wanting her to see me looking like shit’ is all too familiar to your ears as you stand up from your seat on the couch. Here it was, the signal for you to leave, and you weren’t ignorant enough to insist on staying when you had spent a large portion of your day in their family home already.

“I should be getting home now,” you say politely. “Thank you for having me over.”

“The pleasure is ours. And I’ll see you next week for Seoul Fashion Week?”

“… No guarantees, but I’ll let you know if I do end up going.”

—

“How was the dinner?”

You look up from your book and nod.

“Okay, I guess.”

“Did he even show up?”

Closing the book, you adjust the covers and extra cushion against your back, pausing before answering your brother.

“He was drunk as usual.”

“I really don’t understand why you still like him,” he scowls. “At this rate you’re not much different from an old toy that’s been tossed aside because the baby’s gone bored of it.”

“Sicheng, I’m trying to read.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” your brother adds before dropping the subject, not in the mood to continue when past arguments have always ended in the silent treatment. “When it all falls apart, you can’t say I didn’t try to convince you beforehand.”

“Okay, you little know-it-all. Have you decided what to wear for next week?”

“I have a set of clothes prepared already,” Sicheng says haughtily, unfazed by the change of subject. “You?”

“I’m not sure if I’ll even go. Maybe I’ll ask Ten to borrow some of his clothes if I do end up going.”

“You’re going to ask Ten for clothes? He’s notorious for not liking it when people ask to borrow his clothes.”

“Why not? In fact, I’ll ask him now.”

“God, you’re so…” Sicheng studies you closely as you reach for your phone and tap along the screen, putting it away after a mere thirty seconds of tapping and clicking.

“Well?”

“He’s grumpy but willing to lend me some clothes,” you say with a grin, “Heh.”

Sicheng rolls his eyes before tossing a thinning grin your way. “We have work tomorrow, in case you’ve forgotten.”

“When?”

“8am,” he says sharply, knuckles rapping against your bedroom door. “Not 9:00, not 8:30, but 8 sharp.”

“Okay,” you grumble, detesting early work calls. “I hear you.”

“I’ve already told your makeup and hair stylists about it, so you can’t use your staff as an excuse to sleep in.”

“Jeez, okay.”

“Also, I hear Ten’s going to be using that same set later, so you can ask him to confirm if he’ll even go to fashion week when you see him.”

“Since when did you become such a nagger? Doyoung must be rubbing off on you.”

Sicheng gives you his signature look of open-mouth, half-glowering glare of disbelief mixed with an awe at hearing what he deemed as the stupidest thing he’d ever heard.

“I am nothing like Doyoung.”

“One overbearing adult in this household is enough, and that adult is not going to be you or me.”

“Mom’s going to riot if she heard you comparing her to an amateur like Doyoung.”

“Oh sure,” you drawl. “As if the standards of an ex-supermodel are all that matter when even she can have her moments of being incorrect.”

“You know what I mean,” your brother finishes. “It’s both due to her influence and our own talent that we’re still employed and favored by designers and the public themselves. She gets more credit than you think.”

“Yeah, yeah. This is precisely why you’re the favorite in this family, Sicheng.”

Confirming the time of work with your brother one last time, the door swings shut again and you sigh deeply while running a hand through your uncombed hair. Clearly the world wasn’t sick of you just yet, the demand for your face in magazine spreads still as strong as ever even when you’d already been under the watch of the camera lens for the past six years and counting.

—

Traffic had been worse than usual, and now the two of you were nearly three hours late, frantic footsteps hurriedly making their way down the hall once you enter the front door to find the photographer who was to take your photos.

“I told you yesterday 8am.”

“My phone didn’t ring,” you hiss, the straps of your sandals biting into the space between your toes as you pick up the pace. “I had an alarm set for at least 7:30, I swear.”

The bickering halts as Sicheng nudges your elbow, bringing your attention to the head photographer clicking through his computer on set. Eyebrows furrowed and mouth tightened to a scowl… there was no getting out easy for this one with a three-hour tardy slip on the line.

“Finally,” he drawls, turning around to face you and Sicheng after taking a sip from the coffee cup next to the mousepad. “The wonder duo shows up right before we call for lunch.”

“There was traffic,” you explain, dipping your head low in apology. “We—”

“Enough, just get to hair and makeup. If I reprimand you two with anything more than a warning, your mother would certainly come for my head to be served on a plate, garnish and all.”

You quickly follow your manager to hair and makeup while Sicheng goes straight to the stylists for a fitting after the quick dismissal. Sometimes it worked in your advantage after all to be the daughter of an ex-supermodel who still had significant influence on the fashion industry.

Hair done and makeup complete, any lingering thoughts fade as you begin making your way out to the cameras, bumping into a figure you hadn’t been expecting to see this early in the day.

“Ten!” you exclaim in surprise, shooting him a warm smile when his eyes meet yours. “I wasn’t expecting to see you until later in the evening.”

“They moved me up when you and your brother were still missing,” Ten laughs, eyes curving to warm crescents. “I’m free now.”

Your lips purse to a pout and he snickers.

“I’ll talk to you later, sweetie. We have to set some ground rules if you’re going to borrow some of my clothes.”

“Alright. See you then.”

Sicheng meets with you ten minutes later and you eye the oversized tan coat he was wearing, not quite understanding why there was also a baseball cap sitting atop his head, hair slightly tousled underneath the headwear.

“A bit big, isn’t it?”

“That’s what I was given,” he retorts, sizing up the white crop top and corresponding tan wide leg pants on you. “And honestly I can say the same about your pants.”

“It’s what I was given.”

Rolling his eyes at you recycling his words, Sicheng pulls you after him and you nearly stumble from the wedge sandals on your feet failing to keep up with the hurried pace of his black sneakers.

“Stop walking so fast!”

“I have long legs and so do you. Keep up.”

The shoot goes by rather quickly, or at least it feels like it didn’t last very long as you face the camera with an arm on your brother’s shoulder. The natural chemistry between family is clear; you readjust your position to match with his in the next few shots, readily tilting your head when directed to and jumping on his back without further thought. Any other male model would have been scared off immediately, but this was your brother after all. The tightly closed eyes, open-mouthed grins and loud laughter echoing around the set all captured on the reel of film, you nearly didn’t hear the final “Cut!” before one of the photographer’s assistants holds up an okay sign to let you know the photoshoot had ended.

“Was… Was it okay?” you ask the photographer, leaning against Sicheng and still wheezing after an intense tickle session. Hopefully your performance had been more than enough to make up for missing the scheduled time to start the shoot.

“Sometimes I fail to believe you two are just siblings,” he comments, clicking through the photos on his computer and zooming in on a shot of Sicheng carrying you on his back. He then switches to one of you and your brother sitting side by side on the floor like dolls on display, gazes alluring at the overseeing lens of the flashing cameras. “Natural talent is something you both exhibited beautifully and now I see why word in the studios claims that your mother actually hadn’t left the industry at all.”

Sicheng mumbles a “thank you” at the elevated compliment and nudges your side, smiling slightly as you give him a thumbs-up in return. Having entered the fashion industry with your brother at the ripe age of fifteen, you certainly didn’t have fame and fortune handed to you right off the bat. Being children of a woman who had walked more catwalks than there were dresses designed per fashion season, the silver spoon that was your supermodel mother only raised expectations from the press and other notable figures in the industry, already labeling you and Sicheng as successors to your mother’s legacy in the fashion world the moment you had started walking on two feet rather than all fours. The lens became a common part of your childhood and even now at age 21 it was still everywhere, capturing moments of you frozen frame by frame to be edited and inserted into the next fashion magazine for the upcoming season’s new collections.

A few more comments are made before the two of you are released, your managers stepping up to discuss any lingering schedules while you grab onto Sicheng’s arm for extra support as you ease out of the wedge sandals constraining your aching feet. Taking them off, you hold the sandals by the straps and hum in delight, your toes cool on the floor’s hardwood tiles.

“If Mom were here she’d scold you until tomorrow for walking around barefoot,” Sicheng scoffs, already switching back to his usual prickliness. “Put the sandals back on.”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” you tell him, nose high in the air as your managers return, not paying attention to the conversation until feeling the nudge from your brother.

“Let’s go, we’re done here.”

“Wait, I was supposed to meet Ten!”

Grumbling, he follows you around to look for the model in question, and you spot Ten sitting down in front of the camera, head tilted at the prompting from the photographer before the camera begins to flash. You make a mental note of your colleague’s poses, taking in the way he held the bottle of cologne in his hands and the single spray at his long neck. Knowing better than to interrupt, you stand quietly but he gets up midway through a photo anyway, greeting you and Sicheng with a hearty wave.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt,” you begin sheepishly, bowing to the photographer who had called a five-minute break because of Ten. “I can just text you later instead?”

“Nah,” he smirks. “I’d rather talk to you in person, it’s been a while since we last saw each other.”

“Ten, only you have the nerve to get up in the middle of a shoot and the staff would still be okay with it.”

Ten laughs at Sicheng’s comment and brief catching up between the three of you takes place before one of the staff approaches with a black cat in his hands.

“A cat!” Your eyes shine in excitement. “I haven’t done a shoot with animals in forever!”

“It wasn’t warming up to me at first,” Ten explains. “Hopefully it’s feeling better after I did my other batch of photos earlier in the morning when you two weren’t here yet.”

Five minutes already up, the model excuses himself from the conversation as he returns to the set, lying still for the staff member to gently place the cat down by Ten’s left shoulder. The feline turns its head at the sound of the clicker behind the photographer and Ten’s eyes soften as he pets the animal’s head. Another quick pause and the cat is moved from the floor to a surface on higher ground, the model following suit. The slight tilt of his face, chin resting comfortably on the cat’s lithe body, even simple nods to the music playing in the background while gazing into the cameras leave you absolutely enamored at the entire process of the photoshoot. You still had so much to learn and improve on even though you were already not that bad yourself.

“And that’s a wrap, thank you!”

Ten thanks the photographer and the rest of the staff for their hard work, and he mouths for you to wait. Approaching the staff member in charge of the cat, he returns after a moment’s pause holding the feline, and you gasp as he gently places it into your arms.

“I figured you’d want to play with it after we were done.”

“I’ve always wanted a pet,” you say after holding it for a full fifteen minutes. “Figured it’d be nice to have another companion at home besides Sicheng.”

“Get one,” Ten encourages, offering the returned cat to your brother and shrugging when the latter politely shakes his head. “I think a cat suits you.”

“I don’t know if my mother would be open to the idea of—”

“Oh, it’s Taeyong!”

You turn abruptly at hearing the name, nervous as said person walks towards Ten. Sicheng tugs on your arm to go but you stand firm, wanting to at least say hi to Taeyong since he was here and all.

“Work?” Taeyong asks Ten, noticing your presence but forgoing the hello for the cat in Ten’s arms.

“Cute cat.”

“Work with the cat,” Ten corrects him, scratching the feline behind its ears. “Want to pet him?”

“Yes, please.”

“I have to get going,” you speak up, a sense of unease prickling down your back. “See you later, Ten.”

“Are you still borrowing some of my clothes?” Ten asks.

Taeyong finally looks at you and you find yourself tongue-tied, stammering a reply that sounds like a yes in your brain before nodding your head in confirmation.

“My sister wanted to know if you would be attending Seoul Fashion Week,” he begins, quirking an eyebrow in question. “Sounds like you’re going with Ten?”

The insinuation easy to pick up on, you shake your head before Ten can even speak and Sicheng interjects with a taut smile at Taeyong before pulling you aside and away from the fray.

“Sicheng, what the hell?”

“Just because you tell him no doesn’t mean he’ll offer to go with you,” your brother mutters. “I already overheard him asking Kang Miyeon if she’s free.”

The name of your senior strikes a chord and you force a hopeful smile. “At least that means he’ll go, right?”

“Get a grip! Taeyong’s in love with her, not you!”

“They already broke up,” you begin slowly, fingers unconsciously curling together into a fist. “The tabloids haven’t caught them together on camera as of late.”

“People are secretive! Especially someone like Taeyong who has face and knows he’ll get jumped the moment he gets caught with a dating scandal again!” Sicheng rolls his eyes and spins around to face you; you can tell he was trying his best to not lose his temper.

“Pull yourself out before you really get hurt this time.”

“I… I can’t just stop loving him when I’ve loved him for so long already, Sicheng. That’s just impossible.”

—

You’ve had your fair share of dating rumors with multiple celebrities along the path of forging your modeling career, the press honing in on every word you said and every tiny action you made when your first relationship with an actor when you were 18 had gone public. The daughter of an ex supermodel dating a rising young actor had been such a story, or at least it was until said guy was caught locking lips with a fellow model in your same management two days after he had proclaimed his undying love for you on your 19th birthday. Since then, you never went public with another relationship again, tired of the constant questions on how long things would last and what your mother thought of your rumors.

Of course, the press was not to be underestimated, their detective work always finding you when you thought you had it all under wraps. Just recently it was practically their goal in life to determine whether you were romantically involved or not with Lee Taeyong, one of the members of the playboy quartet currently wreaking havoc amongst the entire female population of the city with their dashingly good looks and wealthy upbringings after the man had showed up to an evening ball with you as his so-called “date” for the night.

Ten, another member of said grouping who also happened to be a close friend of yours, giggled like mad at finding out you harbored the same infatuation with Taeyong as did the numerous female readers who had read the magazine that had done the spread of the four “Golden Boys”, even offering a helpful word of advice to move on from Taeyong to spare yourself the rejection before even giving the confession. But love worked unpredictably and lowered its head to no one, hence the slap on the face only stung more when you found out he had only approached you to get closer to one of the fellow models signed under your company.

Miss Kang Miyeon, like many of the female models just entering the industry back then, looked up to your mother greatly and was no doubt nicer to you than she should have, warm smiles and offering tips on how to correct your walk and strike poses that were unique yet carried the elegance that was true to the name of what was ‘high fashion’. The two of you had gotten close enough to the point of sisterhood, but a sly sabotage at Sicheng from her end to win a spot on a catwalk your mother was also scheduled to walk on before her imminent retirement had cut the growing stalk that was your first friend outside of the family. Left to shreds, the budding friendship shrunk into an indifferent senior/junior separation at work. She had even cut off all ties with Taeyong, convinced he loved you more because of your elevated silver spoon in terms of modeling when she had to work from the bottom up.

Naturally, Taeyong hadn’t received the rejection well, and that was when you received the rejection for your unspoken confession, his signature deathly glare and furious growl crushing your heart into a million pieces of shattered glass. Of course, this hasn’t stopped you from trying to get back on his good graces and has never stopped you even when it would be better to simply move on to spare yourself any more misery at the lack of reciprocation for your feelings.

“Hey, are you ready?”

“Yes!” you call out, glancing over your reflection in the mirror one last time. Hair freshly washed and makeup lightly applied save the darker than usual eyeliner, you reach for the black Heich Blade jacket draped on your chair just as your brother walks in.

“Sicheng, you look great!”

Decked in a black Charm’s turtleneck, suspenders hooked on his leather jeans followed with a splash of color from a pair of forest green sneakers, he angles his round glasses down at the black tie-dye Saint Laurent shirt tucked within your black belted pencil skirt. A disapproving click of tongue follows the confirmation of the puppy socks on your feet while you put the black jacket over your shirt.

“What’s your concept, angst-ridden teenager who volunteers at animal shelters on Fridays?”

“These are Ten’s clothes, so I’m telling him you called him an angst-ridden teenager when we see him later.”

His fingers snap in confirmation. “I knew that shirt and jacket weren’t yours. Why can’t you wear your own clothes again?”

You ignore his question and gesture at the two pairs of shoes contending to be worn out. “Should I wear the combat boots or the heeled ankle ones?”

“You know Mom’s going to kill you if she knew you wore combat boots of all things at a fashion show.”

You groan at the disapproval, switching out your purple bedroom slippers to the pair of black ankle boots that had been mocking you since you woke up to get ready.

“Fine.”

“Ten’s going to say you look better than him in his own clothes,” Sicheng begins, heading downstairs and making sure you were out of the house first since you had a reputation of turning tail last minute. “He’ll either burn these after you return them to him or let you keep them.”

“I hope I can at least keep the jacket,” you giggle as the family driver opens the limousine door for you. “I like how snuggly this is and all my things fit in the pockets.”

Sicheng peeks into the front pocket and rolls his eyes at seeing the phone and wallet nestled safely within.

“Don’t get caught scrolling through your phone during the show.”

“They can’t catch me when I find myself a seat in the back.”

“No can do, we have front row. You know Mom would never arrange for us to be seated in the back when it comes to attending fashion shows.”

◇

At least twelve cameras flash in your faces the moment you and your brother step out of the limousine, accompanied by the bombardment of questions regarding your mother when the two of you make the way over to the red carpet.

“I hate this,” you mutter through gritted teeth, linking an arm around Sicheng.

“Tell me about it,” he replies, bowing after the final shots were taken. You pause for one last photo, holding tightly onto his arm as he weaves through the sea of bodies huddled around the inside of the show venue. Frequent stops are made to talk briefly with photographers you’ve worked with before, and models from other management companies walk up to you several times to give their greetings and start a conversation about your attendance after three years of playing hooky. Even representatives from your favorite brands stop by to offer a greeting, the most memorable being the rep from Charm’s who basically wouldn’t let Sicheng go once spotting your brother among the sea of attendees for today’s show.

“Hey, you look better in my clothes than I do.”

You turn around and giggle at the frown on Ten’s face.

“Love the look, by the way.”

“Tell me about it,” he says dramatically, adjusting the black tie at his collar. “There’s always pressure to look good because that’s how I get more jobs.”

“It’s not like you need it,” the figure to his right jokes. “You’re loaded.”

“Shut up, Doyoung. Some of us here actually can have fun making our hobbies our careers.”

“I never said I didn’t enjoy my job as a model,” Doyoung scowls, his lanky figure not at all pleased at the diss. “I could use more popularity from the jobs that you don’t take, you know.”

“I’ll put in a good word to all the photographers I deny since you like picking after my remains so much.”

Their bickering only amplifies the buzz around you, your head spinning at the overstimulation of the immediate environment.

“Three years since I was last here and it seems like each show only grows in numbers per year.”

You squeeze your brother’s fingers gently. “Thanks for not leaving me to attend this by myself.”

“You’re my sister,” he says rather pointedly. “Who else am I going to be there for if not you?”

“Aw, Sicheng.”

The lights dim and guests begin filing to their designated seats, you and Sicheng thankfully next to Doyoung and Ten at front row. A brief introduction starts off the first day of the week-long event and you watch keenly at the models making their ways down the catwalk. It’s all too familiar: the clicking heels, cameras and flashing lights while models sashayed down the stage in the outfit the stylist had given them, hurried returns backstage to change, not to mention chaos from last-minute touchups on hair and makeup. The front row seat becomes twice as enjoyable—legs crossed, jacket covering your lap as you fiddle with your phone underneath.

“You’re not very good at being discreet.”

“Shh,” you shush at hearing Ten’s chiding. “I’m just checking my messages.”

“Sure, sweetie. And I’m so excited to be here when I could be out dancing at the club.”

You blow a raspberry at Ten and try to focus on the models and the clothes they were showing, but it is difficult when you were more excited about returning to the mobile game still running on your phone. Fleeting gazes between overlooking the men and women who walked back and forth down the catwalk and what was underneath your jacket, you cross your arms and lean your head against Ten’s shoulder, his cough failing to edge you back to your side of the personal space bubble.

“Don’t get caught, then.”

He turns his head to speak softly to Doyoung, careful to not move too much in case you slip and hit your head. Thoughts to eavesdrop on their conversation flicker briefly in your mind but manners stop you in your tracks.

“No, I’m out of energy already?”

The outburst catches the attention of the guests down the line and some behind your row, and you quickly lock the screen. Hurriedly sitting up straight, you pretend as if nothing had happened just now and return your attention to the show.

“Told you so,” Ten mutters under his breath, nudging at your forearm. “Behave.”

Thankfully the runway show ends sooner than expected, giving you the opportunity to wiggle away from Ten and Doyoung, Sicheng already somewhere off on his own as you leave the audience seats and head for the bathroom. Sitting for such a long period had you fidgety and when you got anxious, you usually ended up needing to go to the bathroom almost immediately after.

Business completed, your path back to Ten and Doyoung comes to a halt when you hear two raised voices. An angry-looking Kang Miyeon brushes past you without notice and pushes you aside, nearly causing you to lose footing had the steady pair of outstretched hands not kept you upright.

“Are you alright?”

You turn around, at a loss for words at the prompted question.

A grunt and Taeyong removes his hands.

“I guess I did something I shouldn’t have.”

“Taeyong, wait!”

He stops and you panic.

“I… You came to Fashion Week with Miyeon?”

“Yeah. I saw you with Sicheng on the red carpet.”

Tongue-tied, you fumble for a new topic to continue the conversation when you hear footsteps clicking down the hall.

“What’s going on here?”

Sicheng walks towards you, his arm linking around the crook of yours.

“Don’t you have better things to do than get my sister in trouble?”

“Sicheng, he wasn’t—”

“Goodbye,” Taeyong snaps, barely sparing another glance at you as he pushes through Doyoung and Ten, the pair catching sight of Sicheng and apparently followed to gauge at the spilled tea.

“Yeah, hi, Taeyong,” Doyoung replies cheerily, a frown instantly forming on his face once Taeyong is out of sight.

“Y/N, I literally don’t know what you see in him, he’s the rudest motherf—”

Forgoing a response to Doyoung, you notice there’s an extra person standing behind them, eyeing Ten questioningly before he catches your gaze and pats the newcomer warmly on the back.

“Don’t think you’ve met Jaehyun yet, sweetie. Idiot practically sprinted over when I told him you were here today.”

“I mean, you’re so good in front of the camera,” Jaehyun stammers, sentences incoherent while avoids your gaze. “Not saying you’re usually bad because that’s obviously your job, but I think it’s very cool that you can be so good at… at being in pictures. Even if you aren’t working today.”

“Our mother would disown us if we couldn’t even take a decent mug shot,” Sicheng quips, unimpressed by the jumbled introduction. “It’s comes with being raised by a supermodel, mister Golden Boy.”

Jaehyun ducks his head, ears reddening at hearing the title from the magazine spread that had first labeled him with that term alongside Ten and Taeyong..

“By the way,” Ten butts in, sensing the budding tension between them and switching gears to another topic. “How’s your mother? I overhead Sicheng ranting to a Charm’s assistant that you two are going to attend the remainder of SFW?”

You glance at your brother in surprise.

“What? Since when?”

“Mom’s flying to France tomorrow but promised beforehand that she’d attend,” Sicheng answers in an explanatory manner. “So she tossed us out to the dogs to save her own trip from falling apart at the chase of paparazzi.”

“Why didn’t I find out earlier?”

“I forgot to tell you,” your brother shrugs. “Now you know.”

“You make it sound like your mother doesn’t care about you,” Jaehyun begins cautiously.

“My sister and I had to learn how to navigate the fashion world on our own since we were young,” Sicheng deadpans. “Having her name to use as a bonus point during our go-sees was already the best advantage we could ever get as rookies on the runway.”

“We all have our own stories, Jaehyun,” Ten fills in helpfully. “Sicheng’s not trying to snub you on purpose.”

“Sorry,” your brother mumbles after realizing he had perhaps stepped over the line. “Our family is complex and I don’t expect everyone to understand it from the get-go.”

“No worries,” Jaehyun nods. “I didn’t mean to offend.”

The conversation eventually dying down, Jaehyun finally meets your gaze head-on and smiles a dimpled smile that doesn’t quite mask his nervousness at talking with you.

“So, um… after the shows are all over… one of my friends is hosting a party at the end of the week and I was wondering if you’d like to come?”

Your mouth drops in surprise and Ten’s ears twitch at the mention of a party.

“What party?”

“Lucas crashed his dad’s yacht in the docks the other day and he’s… it’s so ridiculous, he’s hosting a farewell party for the totaled yacht.”

A snort leaves your mouth before you know it and Doyoung jumps in, eager to get in on a share of the pie.

“Listeners get an invite too, yeah?”

“Sure. Knowing Lucas, he won’t mind who shows up as long as somebody shows up.”

“I’d like to go,” you begin, looking at Sicheng. “Wanna go?”

“I’ll pass. I’m going to catch up on my games.”

You turn to Jaehyun, not sure how to phrase your impending question.

“Um, do you… do you know if…”

Ten coughs knowingly and asks your question without making it too obvious.

“The rest of the gang will be there too, I’m assuming?”

“Yeah…” Jaehyun begins counting off his fingers. “Me, you, Lucas, Taeyong, Mark’s a maybe, Johnny and Jungwoo have yet to RSVP but I’m sure they’ll end up saying yes…”

The answer more than satisfactory, you enthusiastically agree to show up at the farewell yacht party and ignore the quiet mumble of “shameless” from Sicheng, the thought of seeing Taeyong at the party happily bringing a skip to your step as you follow Ten around to talk to the designers preparing for this evening’s show.

—

The party was apparently invitation-only, but the host greets you with enthusiasm when you inform him that Jaehyun had told you about it. Yukhei (or Lucas as everyone called him) provided a bit of background for holding this party as he showed you around the enormous mansion that he called home, pumping a fist in the air to commemorate a year and two months with his father’s yacht before it died under his hands. The story more comical with his exaggerative reactions, you apologize for the crashed yacht on his behalf and he grins, deeming you cool enough to stay and exchanging numbers to invite you on future hangouts with him and the rest of the crew. As expected of the fourth Golden Boy in the quartet.

“Hey, hey, hey.”

You turn around at the base of the stairs connecting the upper and lower floors and smile widely.

“Johnny! How’s it going?”

Johnny takes your hand, kissing your fingers before breaking to a warm smile.

“Good. How’ve you been?”

“Alright. By the way, I didn’t see you at SFW.”

A tale of miscommunication between his manager and the travel agency had apparently delayed his return to Seoul, and Johnny excuses himself briefly before returning with two glasses of champagne, the bubbly beverage tickling your stomach as you down half the glass in one gulp.

“You’re not cold?” he asks, taking in the olive-green romper and your most comfortable pair of block heel sandals. “It’s a bit chilly today.”

“I’m good. If I need extra clothes, I’m sure Lucas will be more than willing to lend me a hoodie to wear.”

Johnny suggests moving to the living room rather than lingering on the stairs and you nod, plenty of people already present, ifferent threads of conversation exchanged between groups of twos and threes. House staff zip through each small group to serve champagne and other bite-sized snacks; those who weren’t talking lounged on the couches with red cups in their hands. A few recognizable faces here and there, but otherwise you didn’t know anyone else at this party besides the fellow model that was Johnny Seo.

“Where’s Ten? Jaehyun said he’ll be here.”

Johnny shrugs. “Maybe in the pool out back? I haven’t gotten to mingle since I just got here twenty minutes before you did.”

You make a pit stop at the kitchens before heading out to the pool, dropping off your emptied glass of champagne and picking up another one from the refreshments table. The red cups on the side would do well for a mixed concoction later, which you make a mental note of as you maneuver around the mansion. Upon careful observation, the layout reminded you quite a bit of the place your mother owned in Vegas. Only difference here is that there were more girls in the hallways and almost all the rooms on the upper floors were already occupied with those hooking up or inhaling fumes of questionable scents that you weren’t interested in at all. No sign of Ten inside, so you suppose Johnny was right in that Ten might be in the pool out back after all.

Pulling open the glass door that led to the pool, you spot Ten and Doyoung by the chaise lounge chairs scattered around the bleached waters. Doyoung is the first to notice you via the champagne glass in hand and he raises his own when you approach them.

“When are the two of you ever not together?”

Ten grins and you take a sip of your champagne after clinking glasses with the two of them, the conversation drifting from details regarding Ten being the one who can’t seem to stay away from Doyoung to Ten daring Doyoung to cannonball into the pool since he was already perfectly prepared for a lap around with his swim trunks and conveniently waterproof navy tee.

“The water’s cold,” he complains. “I’m not going in even if I got paid to do it.”

“Join him,” Ten smirks, gesturing for you to make a lap as well.

“I’m not dressed properly but I’ll keep you company on the edge if you’d like,” you tell Doyoung, who grudgingly gives in as he takes off his tee and throws it smack at Ten’s face before heading for the pool. Groaning in frustration, he slides into the cold water and shouts profanities, raising a fist at Ten for convincing him to do such a thing.

“Make a lap around,” Ten yells from his lounge chair, adding a circling motion with his index finger for emphasis. “You’ll get warmed up that way.”

You giggle at their banter and take off your sandals, placing them to your left as you sit and dip your feet into the water, wiggling your toes at the cooling sensation.

“By the way, have you seen Taeyong?”

“Oh, sorry sweetie, he’s not coming,” Ten answers. “Said he’s helping his sister with some marketing decisions for her clothing line. Something about her not liking the model he suggested, I think.”

“Miyeon?” you ask with a sigh.

“Who else?”

Not answering the proposed rhetorical question, you kick aimlessly and nearly fall in at the sudden tap on your shoulder.

“Hi there.”

You look up, scooting over to give Jaehyun space. He leans back, arms taut at the edge of the pool while his legs splash at the water.

“How’s the water?”

“Alright,” you shrug. “But I’m not dressed properly for a swim.”

“I’m not either, but clearly we’re still able to enjoy the pool, yeah?”

You smile, nodding in agreement.

“Yeah.”

He grins in return, reaching his arms into the pool and splashing up water your way. A mini water fight commences and after five minutes you find yourself pulled into the pool after Jaehyun, fully soaked from head-to-toe as he circles around you in delight.

“Jung Jaehyun, I hope you know I didn’t bring a change of clothes!”

“Then I guess we’re both going to have to walk around soaking wet.”

Rolling your eyes, you shake your head and head for the stepladder, pulling yourself out of the pool and squeezing water out of your hair while a towel drapes over your shoulders.

“Thought you might need this.”

You turn and open your arms, Ten squirming in distaste when you get water over his black tank top.

“Sometimes I’m too nice to you, sweetie.”

“You love me.”

Ten rolls his eyes and tosses another towel behind you, a soaked Jaehyun catching it with one hand.

“What happened to keeping Doyoung company by the pool?”

You smile awkwardly and Ten shakes his head. “Jaehyun distracted you, huh?”

“Knowing Doyoung, he’s found someone to chat up,” Jaehyun laughs, gesturing at the tall lanky figure sitting on a lounge chair on the opposite side of the pool. Engaged in an animated conversation with a girl in a navy bikini, it didn’t seem like he had regretted his decision to go for a swim as she pulls him up and they enter the water again.

“See?” Jaehyun reiterates. “He has a magnet to him.”

“You two should consider getting a change of clothes,” Ten suggests. “I’m heading in for another glass of champagne.”

“I actually have an extra set of clothes in my car,” Jaehyun offers. “How about it?”

You nod furiously, not wanting to remain in wet clothes.

“Yes, please.”

Weaving back inside and out to his white Ferrari parked two blocks away, he hands you a plain white tee when you reach his car, the dry shirt topped with a dark-green plaid button-up that was cut at the elbows, hemline likely long enough to cover your thighs.

“I only have one pair of jeans but I can call someone to bring you a pair of shorts or something?”

“That’s fine.”

He nods and unlocks the car so you can change inside.

“There’s a plastic bag in there somewhere for your wet dress, I’m sure.”

“Okay.”

The door closes and you quickly change out of your romper, careful to not drip too much water on the backseat while you look for a bag, Once you find one, you drop the wet garment inside and tie it shut. Pulling the clean shirt and plaid top over your chilled body, you note the sleeves stop at your forearms and the hem drops almost to your knees, almost but not quite there yet. As a model, you were taller than the average female, but still felt engulfed in Jaehyun’s clothes when he was only a few inches taller in height.

A knock sounds on the passenger side and you roll down the window, mumbling a thank you at the pair of shorts passed through and rolling the glass back up before changing into the bottoms that are just a bit loose.

“Do you maybe have a belt?” you ask curiously as you tuck the white tee into the shorts. “It’s a bit loose around my waist.”

“Should have one in the trunk,” Jaehyun replies, opening the trunk of his sports car. “Hold on.”

You wonder why he would have a belt of all things in his trunk, but gratefully take the given accessory as you loop it around your shorts and tighten the space around your waist.

“You look nice,” he speaks up, giving you a once-over. “Not saying you didn’t look nice in your own clothes, but you look…”

“What,” you probe on, noticing that he started to mumble. “Do I look ugly?”

“No, not at all,” he blurts. “You just… you look extra pretty wearing my clothes.”

“Oh.”

“Back to the pool or would you rather talk inside?” Jaehyun asks with a soft dimpled smile.

“Pool is fine,” you answer, feeling already much better after the disappointing news of Taeyong’s no-show. “Just don’t push me in this time.”

—

You don’t realize when you passed out, nose twitching at the smell of cigarette smoke drifting your way. The smoky scent is unpleasant to the nostrils as your eyes squint in the dimness of the room. Unable to make out anything in the first two seconds of consciousness, your arm grazes against the vibration of the mobile device that slipped out of your pocket, and you take a deep breath, forcing your eyes open to take the call.

“Hello? Oh, sorry, you’ve got the wrong number.”

Hanging up, you get up from the bed you were sleeping on and step out, head buzzing ferociously from the aftereffect of having consumed too much alcohol. It is 1am and the villa is void of human presence. The party must have ended earlier when you were knocked out, all the other guests already home at a reasonable hour to prepare for the following day’s work.

“N-No, not there…”

The sound of soft moans accompanied with low grunts catches your attention. Against your better judgment, you make your way out to investigate, only to find the man you had been wanting to see entangled with some girl you didn’t recognize. Lips locked, one hand trailing through her blonde pixie cut… you slowly back up until he shifts his gaze from her face to your presence from his peripheral. A smirk builds upon the corners of his mouth and the hand in her hair trails down from her head to her hips, squeezing roughly while keeping a firm eye on you while still touching her. His teasing yet provocative gaze irritating to watch, you end up bumping into the host himself in your attempt to get away.

“Hey, you’re still here.”

“I’m sorry,” you smile, flustered at being practically the only guest still here. “I passed out and didn’t realize everyone else had already left.”

“It’s cool. Do you need a ride home?”

“Um, no, I don’t think so, I’ll just—”

“I’ll take her home.”

A flash of a figure whizzes past and you flinch at the hand resting on your shoulder, recognizing the thin fingers at first glance.

“Taeyong, you don’t…”

“That alright with you, Lucas?” The grip on your shoulder tightens and you allow yourself a glance at his face. Stoic as usual, albeit the glow along his cheeks spoke otherwise.

“Of course,” Lucas nods, flamboyantly gesturing towards the front door. “Lovely having you over, miss Y/N, and please get home safely.”

Once goodbyes are exchanged, Taeyong mumbles for you to follow, leading the way towards the black Lamborghini Aventador parked right outside the mansion’s driveway.

“After you.”

You nod in thanks at the opened door on the passenger side; he closes the door after you before getting into the driver’s seat. Seat belt check and he is already out on the streets, the ride home thick with silence. Not that you didn’t know what to say, but you’re careful to not bring up any sensitive topics, namely the girl you had seen him kissing or even Miyeon.

“This is it, yeah?”

You look up and see the familiar gates of your home, slightly disappointed that your time in his car is already over.

“Yes.”

A curt nod and he unbuckles his seat belt, getting out to open the door for you and even offering a hand as you step out.

“Taeyong, I thought you weren’t going to come to the party.”

“Changed my mind.” He pauses, glancing at the extended sleeves of Jaehyun’s dark green plaid top.

“Isn’t that Jaehyun’s shirt?”

“He let me borrow his clothes after pushing me into the pool.”

Taeyong nods warily and places a hand on the ceiling of his vehicle as he gestures at the looming estate up ahead.

“Why…” You bite your lips, not sure where your boldness was coming from. “Why did you choose to drive me back?”

“I found you passed out next to Ten and Doyoung when I got here at around…. 9pm? Moved you upstairs to one of the guest bedrooms but didn’t know when you’d come to so I stayed after everyone else left.”

“But the girl… you and her in the kitchen…”

“It’s nothing to be concerned about,” he says dismissively, “I have no business with her other than temporary fun at the spur of the moment.”

“Are… Are you still mad at me for your breakup with Miyeon?”

His eyes narrow at the abrupt question and you laugh it off.

“I must be drunk; I don’t know what came over me to ask such a—”

“Not anymore.”

You pause, and he coughs into his sleeve.

“I don’t… I don’t hate you for it when she was the one who jumped to conclusions.”

Gasping, you clasp your hands together and he studies your face in amusement.

“You thought I was mad at you?”

“I… I thought that was why you kept giving me the cold shoulder! Because you were mad at me for causing the breakup between you and Miyeon!” Your giggles echoing in the silence of the night; what comes next is a surprise for you and Taeyong both as you lean forward to press your lips against his cheek.

“Thank you,” you whisper happily. “Thank you for not hating me.”

He dips his head low, eyes scanning over the dark green plaid top you were wearing.

“Good night, Y/N.”

You lift a hand goodbye, a growing smile playing along your lips as you return home for a well-deserved eight hours of sleep.

He never said he hated me, which I still have just as much of a chance as I did before.

Morning rolls in quicker than expected, and the first thing you see upon opening your eyes is a text message from none other than Taeyong himself, an invitation to his house for tea and maybe even dinner if you had the time.

“Don’t go.”

“Are you snooping through my phone again?” you ask, placing the black lace choker around your neck.

“He’s just using you to get back at her,” Sicheng scoffs as he picks through your closet. “Surely you know that?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Not in the mood to press on, your brother sighs and gives his two cents on what to wear to an afternoon tea, opting for you to go in a light blue off-the-shoulder chambray dress and beige espadrilles.

“Bring me back a cake if you can.”

You shake your head. “Only if you come with.”

“Then no thanks. Have fun and don’t come into my room when you get back; I’m gaming.”

—

“Hey, it’s you!”

“Oh… hello,” you say in surprise at seeing the eager grin on Lucas’ face. “Are you here for tea?”

“Yeah, man.” He opens the door wider and helps you take your bag. “Taeyong’s sister makes the best cakes.”

“Oh, it’s Y/N!”

You find yourself in the company of Ten and Jaehyun, Johnny with the promise of arriving a.s.a.p. after a photoshoot and one of Lucas’ friends in lieu of Doyoung. Jungwoo, he said his name was.

“You came,” the familiar voice says as tea and a platter of bite-sized sandwiches is placed down on the table.

“Taeyong, where’s the cake stand?” Ten asks. “I want cake.”

“We’re making it, have some patience.”

You take a seat wherever there’s room (conveniently next to Jaehyun), and light conversation makes it way around the circle, topics ranging from Lucas’ farewell yacht party last night to the earlier Seoul Fashion Week. All items you can chime in on as the guys enjoy their tea and sandwiches while the tower of cakes was still m.i.a.

“Oh, Jaehyun,” you speak up. “I forgot to bring the clothes you lent me, I’ll get those back to you as soon as possible.”

“It’s cool,” Jaehyun smiles. “I’m in no rush to get them back.”

“What’s this clothes exchange?” Lucas smirks. “Jaehyun let you borrow his clothes?”

“Idiot shoved her into the pool and she had to get a change of clothes,” Ten explains. “Nothing like the sort of things your dirty mind was assuming.”

Slightly disappointed, Lucas shrugs and Jungwoo nearly chokes on his sandwich when Lucas not-so-subtly extends the offer to give you an exchange of clothes without needing to shove you into a pool. The innuendo easy to pick up, you shift your focus onto the half-empty cup of tea on your saucer and reach for the teapot when Jaehyun beats you to it, offering a dimpled smile as he refills your cup.

“Thanks,” you mumble.

“No problem.”

“Cake! Cake!” Ten jumps up from his seat at the three-tier cake stand set down before him and grabs everything off the top tier, ignoring the scowls and murmurings of being a snob as he stuffs his face with the sweets he’d been craving for so long.

“Tart?”

You look up to the offered lemon tart and nod, mumbling thanks to Taeyong as he hands you a lemon tart along with a few of the strawberry macarons. One bite of each is enough to send you directly into pastry heaven, any concern about your calorie intake for the sake of dieting tossed out the window.

“It’s delicious, Taeyong.”

A rare smile lights up on his face, one you don’t see often.

“I made that myself.”

“Did you now?” Ten marvels, grabbing another off the stand while at it. “I didn’t know you bake.”

“I’m working on it as an aside to my usual hobby of cooking,” Taeyong says while nibbling at a walnut scone.

“Nope, this is dry. The tart’s fine though, I hope?”

“Yes,” you confirm, Ten following suit. “It’s perfect.”

He clasps his hands and gets up without another word, sprinkling confusion into the circle before returning with a red box and placing it before you.

“What’s this?” you ask curiously.

“Open it,” Jungwoo encourages. “I think it’s moving.”

“Moving?”

The doorbell rings as you ponder over the box and in walks Johnny and Taeyong’s ex.

“Bumped into Miyeon on my way here and extended the tea invitation,” Johnny informs the host and his guests. “Don’t mind, do you?”

“Not at all,” Taeyong says crisply, shooting a more-than-enthusiastic grin at Miyeon. The model barely glances his way, mumbling brief greetings before taking note of your presence.

“Oh, hello, Y/N. Didn’t know you’d be here.”

You put on the best smile you had and nod.

“The feeling is mutual, Miyeon.”

“Tea and cakes are for the taking,” Ten breaks in, no doubt sensing the sudden tension and attempting to shoo it away for the sake of camaraderie. “And these pastries, Taeyong made them himself.”

“Still lacking,” Taeyong smiles, turning your way again. “And you haven’t opened my gift yet.”

“Oh, right.” You reach for the ribbon at the top and pull it off, opening the lid to reveal a small black kitten that is the most adorable little thing, its copper eyes staring curiously up at you before letting out a single meow.

“This one,” Taeyong wiggles a finger at the black kitten, “Was the last in its litter at a family friend’s place and she reminded me of the one Ten was working with at his photoshoot. You were there too, I recall.”

“Yes.” You gently scoop up the kitten from her box and gently scratch at her ears, the little feline purring in delight at your soft touch.

“Is this kitten… is it really for me?”

“She’s yours if you want her.”

You loosen your hold and watch as she clambers over laps, stopping before Jaehyun and batting tiny paws at his fingers before jumping onto the table with the teapot and cakes.

“Sicheng is going to love her.”

“What a nice gift,” Miyeon smiles curtly. “You’re so kind, Taeyong.”

He eyes Miyeon and leans over to take your hand in his, grasping your fingers tightly.

“Anything for my girlfriend, you know. Whatever she wants, she will get without question.”

—

In your head, you told yourself Taeyong called you his girlfriend because he genuinely liked you.

No one had been expecting it. Even now, you find it hard to believe the change in status for yourself whenever you received lavish gifts and invitations to join him and his friends plus other big names out for dinner or other social gatherings. The press had eaten it up like starved dogs, rapidly flashing their cameras while drilling you about the story of how you’d gotten together and other probing details about your relationship with him. There were only so many ways to say how grateful you were at having your feelings returned and describe how happy you had become since then, hence you’d offer only the most minimum of details whenever the topic was brought up.

Sicheng openly confronted the lack of care for your feelings upon first hearing the news, but dropped it at seeing the eager look on your face at any mention of Taeyong; the contents of the moving box you’d brought home proved useful to distract him instead. The kitten (given the name Luna courtesy of his not-so-hidden love for Sailor Moon) served as the perfect distraction from words of encouragement to break things off and you loved the adorable midnight munchkin to pieces. You hadn’t thought Taeyong would remember you had been there when Ten brought over the cat during his work.

Of course, not everyone let the announcement of your new relationship go that easily, the biggest protestor coming from none other than Jaehyun, whom you still owed the set of clothes you had borrowed during Lucas’ yacht party.

◇

“Hey, didn’t know you’d be here.”

Jaehyun looks from up the reserved table at the seafood restaurant and nods curtly.

“Ten invited me.”

“And so I did,” comes the jolly voice that follows the tap on your shoulder. “Is Taeyong joining you, sweetie?”

“He said he’s busy,” you answer. “Next time, though.”

“Order anything you’d like,” Ten announces as he flips open the menu. “My treat.”

“Whatever’s the most expensive then, since you’re paying.”

Throughout the meal, you notice Jaehyun’s aloofness doesn’t go away for a second. Only offering one-word responses whenever you asked him questions and even ignoring you altogether for Ten, the latter strapped in the middle with nowhere to go as he juggled between the two of you for the sake of preventing a fight from breaking out.

“Thanks for treating,” you say when the party of three finishes up. “The shrimp was really good.”

“Jaehyun recommended this place, so I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

You glance at Jaehyun, who refuses to say a word until the outburst of Ten being late to an afternoon work call renders you losing the ride you had arrived with.

“Drive her back, will you? I’m going to be late for work at this rate.”

Silence resumes its hold and Ten waves goodbye without waiting for a reply, the awkwardness between you and Jaehyun prickling.

“Um… I can get back home myself if it’s too much trouble,” you speak up. “It’s really not a big deal.”

“I can drive you back,” he says crisply. “Come on.”

The valet brings forth Jaehyun’s white Ferrari after a moment’s notice and you get into the vehicle, nodding your thanks at his opening of the passenger side for you before he entered the driver’s seat and shifted gear, driving off with you in tow.

“So why the cold shoulder suddenly?”

“Not sure what you mean.” The car rolls to a stop at a red light and he turns to you with a rather forced smile. “I’m not being cold.”

“I thought we were friends, Jaehyun.”

The engine quiets down and Jaehyun scoffs.

“Friends don’t ignore genuine advice to wake up from the dream that is Taeyong actually liking you.”

“What is with—”

“He’s just using you to get back with Miyeon!” His hands slam down on the steering wheel, a heavy sigh echoing within the car. “Literally everyone knows he’s only using you to provoke her and it’s really—”

“They’re not together,” you intercept, voice lowered. “He told me so.”

“Men are liars, Y/N.”

“Are you saying you’re a liar then?”

Jaehyun glances at you with a pitied softness.

“I’m not as good as I want to be, but I’m trying.”

The light shifts to green and a revving engine takes off down the road, stopping once the gates of your mansion-sized home come into view.

“I hope you can find happiness with someone who genuinely cares about you, Y/N,” he finishes. “As a friend, I think that’s the least you deserve.”

—

Jaehyun’s words remain afloat in the sea of consciousness that is your fretting mind, and they don’t seem to relinquish their hold no matter how hard you try to dismiss it as pure paranoia. Every relationship has its ups and downs; it is simply a matter of willpower and active effort to communicate any troubles and work them out between the two of you. Taeyong wasn’t the most vocal person, but he still made efforts to make you happy with gifts and showed up to dates. You were happy when you got to spend time with him and made sure he knew it, mouth nearly aching from how widely you’d grin whenever he called and asked for you to go out with him. Surely he also felt the same with you if you were still together for so long.

But the nagging feeling always lingered in the back of your head, informing you that this was something too good to be true. That it wasn’t genuine, that you were only being used to get back at his ex… a part of your brain was so sure that this was all a hoax. Ongoing anxiety and paranoia had spun your feelings into a churning mess in your head that would eventually run rampage unless you rein it back into reality.

Which is why when you finally speak up about it one week after your three-month anniversary, you couldn’t fathom why you didn’t detect the burnt bits earlier when the entire pot had been bubbling incessantly the moment the course of things had been set into motion.

“Are you still in love with Kang Miyeon?”

Taeyong doesn’t look up from his phone, fingers tapping on the screen as the sales associate returns with two sets of suits. One a glen check while the other pinstripe, both are in the preferred shade of faded gray that he liked.

“Sir, perhaps these are more to your liking?”

A nod of approval at the sales associate’s question and he tucks his phone away without even sparing a second glance at the offered suits.

“I’ll take both.”

“Taeyong,” you persist. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“It’s an irrelevant one that doesn’t deserve an answer.”

The sales associate stands still, unsure of how to deal with the impending argument until Taeyong gestures for her to ring him up. Tilting his head to show thanks while grabbing the paper bags off the counter, he pulls you after him with his free hand, leaving the store only to enter the one next door for “a more comfortable pair of shoes than boring black heels”.

“Try these,” he says, picking up a pair of brogues from the women’s section. “They look more comfortable than the ones you have on.”

“I… Taeyong, can you listen to me for once?”

“Excuse me, a pair of these for the lady and an extra bag to pack the heels. She’ll be walking out in the new ones.”

“Would you please just stop being such an asshole and let me speak!”

The outburst captures all noise from inside the store and silence lingers before Taeyong turns to you, expressionless as he leads you to an empty chair and take the high heels off your feet. Easing the brogues out of the box, he carefully slips them on for you and offers a hand, which you take before twirling slowly once you’re up from the seat.

“Better than the heels?” he asks quietly. “I can still return them if they don’t fit.”

“They fit,” you mumble, “And they’re more comfortable than the heels.”

A nod and he takes your shoes, thanking the staff for their service as he walks out with you in tow. No words are exchanged until you exit the mall and reach his car, the Aventador waiting underneath the shade of a tree in the parking lot.

“Are you still in love with Miyeon?”

“Yes.”

He opens the door for you and you get in, already expectant of such an answer. The fact that there wasn’t even an inch of hesitation after you finished your words was more than enough to confirm.

“Then why did you say I was your girlfriend that time she came over for tea?”

“I needed leverage.” The car backs out of its parked space and revs off, the rest of the world a blur through the glass at its speed. “I told everyone you were my girlfriend because I wanted her to see that breaking up with me was her loss.”

The word “leverage” a harsher reality than you’d expected, an unpleasant sensation churns at your stomach, traveling upwards to your chest as your hands unconsciously curl into fists during the ride. Not daring to look at Taeyong while he was driving, you keep your head down and it remains in that posture until you feel the softest tap on your shoulder.

“Listen, I’m sorry if I caused any misunderstandings. I know I took you out a few times and now all my friends are sure we’re an item, but—”

A misunderstanding would be the least of your troubles if you hadn’t already invested so much time and emotion into a relationship that only proved false in the end.

“N-No worries.”

“Are you sure?” Taeyong makes a left turn and glances at the mirror before switching to the right lane. “I mean, I can make it up to you.”

“It’s fine,” you insist, voice hardening. “I really shouldn’t have expected much when you’d never explicitly said anything about making things official between us.”

Spotting your brother’s hunched figure by the foot of the steps leading up to your family mansion’s front doors, you wait for the vehicle to come to a full stop before reaching for the handle of the door on the passenger’s side, only to pause as Taeyong unbuckles his seatbelt and reaches towards the backseat, grabbing the bag that held the shoes he had bought for you.

“Here. I hope you like the shoes I got you.”

You step out of the vehicle without taking them and he follows behind, concern rolling off his shoulders in waves.

“Is everything alright?”

“I’m fine,” you say, forcing down the choked sobs that were threatening to spill any moment. “I just… I think I need to lie down.”

“Well, please take the shoes anyway. A token of my apology for not making things clear between us, if you will.”

He extends the shopping bag and you take it from him against your better judgment. A thin smile follows, the gesture revealing little about his true thoughts as per usual.

“Goodbye, Taeyong.”

Taking the cue to leave, he nods and hops back into his Lamborghini Aventador, engine revving as the black convertible speeds off into the distance. You don’t look back, and Sicheng stares in confusion at the sight of your figure approaching the gate.

“Luna, look who’s back early.”

Quick glances at the things in your hands and two fingers scratch behind the kitten’s right ear. “How was your date with Taeyong?”

The tears come rushing down your face like a waterfall, and Sicheng immediately helps you inside, placing Luna down and guiding you sit while he fishes a box of tissues from underneath the coffee table.

“What happened, why are you crying?”

You shake your head, heart aching at the reality of your utopia crumbling away from its high pedestal.

“I’m stupid.”

“What, no, you’re not stupid.”

“I’m stupid,” you repeat, sniffling through your tears. “I’m so stupid for realizing just now that everything was one-sided from the very beginning.”

—

You decide to stay away from Taeyong and the rest of his usual gang of friends, fearful of spontaneously breaking into tears at seeing any one of them when they reminded you of the one-sided love you had held onto for so long.

Jaehyun didn’t pry, only sending you a text promising that he was always available should you decide for company at any time of the day. Ten and Johnny were harder to avoid since you’d see them occasionally at studios and other sets for pictorials, so you gave a rather washed out lie of being busy with jobs as the primary reason for not hanging out. The same spiel was offered to Lucas whenever he offered invites to parties and casual drinks at the club. Only Sicheng knew why you were distancing yourself—as expected of your sibling—and you made him promise to keep quiet for your sake in case the others asked him about your sudden aloofness.

“Can you walk later?” he asks as he holds onto the dress for your final show of the fall season. “I can call in a sick day for you so management can find a replacement in time before eight.”

“I…” You yawn, fatigue coursing through your veins from having done three photoshoots since five am. “I can… I can do it.”

“Are you sure? Your eyes are droopy and I think it’ll be better for you to just take some time off rather than overwork as a coping mechanism for you-know-what.”

You shake your head, blowing your nose one last time and taking a deep breath.

“I… I’ll just rest now. It’s only seven, I can sneak in an hour of light sleep before doing the show.”

Sixty minutes pass in the blink of an eye and you now stare at your reflection in the mirror in the breakroom backstage of the runaway show you were scheduled for tonight, adjusting the sewn flowers by your shoulders. More red blossoms stitched at the bottom of the gown pool by your feet, the gradation from a nude coloration to blood-red a stunning sight to behold. The floral garment had walked down the runway in Toronto Fashion Week and was provided for the foliage theme of tonight’s show courtesy of your mother, who had pulled several strings to directly receive the piece from the designer himself. Although you weren’t too enthusiastic on the sheerness of the gown, you loved the way the red flowers adorned the bodice and added a blazing elegance to the nudity of the fabric, your stylist nearly weeping on the spot when the gown had been brought in for you to wear and her to work with. Pulling your hair up to let the flowers have room to shine, she then clips accessory pieces to your earlobes for added effect and touches up your eyes, giving you the okay before hurrying out to see when it is your turn to go.

“Y/N, they switched you from sixth to fourth! You’re up next!”

At the sound of the call, you shuffle out, heels clicking while you pick up the ends of the gown to not step on the fabric and tear a hole in the garment itself.

“Ten seconds, standby please!”

Poking your head out from the side, your eyes scan across those in the audience, catching Sicheng by the front with Ten and Johnny. Further down is Jaehyun and you manage to make momentary eye contact. He nods, offering a tiny wave before turning his head to the right at the arrival of Lucas and one more.

You freeze in place when you see Taeyong, blinking twice to make sure you weren’t seeing things.

What is he doing here?

You hear your name being called frantically and turn your attention back to the runway, apologizing for missing your cue. Taking a deep breath, you make your first steps down, lights flashing and camera shutters going off as you maintain your line of sight straight ahead. Audible murmurs of awe can be heard at the sheer gown you were wearing, the sewn-in red flowers swishing and swirling around your clicking heels. So far, so good. So far, so good.

Shifting a glance towards Sicheng’s side of the exhibition hall, you strike a pose and take your place at the center of the catwalk, lifting one end of the gown and preparing your final pose when your eyes catch Taeyong leaning in towards his left. A manicured hand covers her face, but you don’t even need to make a guess when there was only one woman in the world who can make him smile so genuinely like that.

What magic did she cast to get him to look at her and only her? What was it about her that made him never waver from her time and time again?

Mind blank, ears buzzing from the sound of frantically flashing cameras, reality becomes painful to perceive and you feel yourself wobbling in the black four-inch heels on your feet. Soft murmurs building with fear for your sudden show of imbalance, you shake your head and make your last mark on the runway, locking in eye contact with Taeyong as he studies you on the catwalk. Three seconds before he breaks the gaze to turn at Miyeon murmuring into his ear, smiling once more into whatever she had said to him.

That was perhaps when you’d finally had enough of this whole charade, the sharp intake of breath akin to a shrill scream on toppling off the runway. Consciousness slipping from your very reach, it is impossible to fathom that you had just fallen so cleanly off the catwalk you’d set foot on so many, many times before.

◇

“Oh, thank God she didn’t hit her head or damage anything too important.”

You blink your eyes open to the blinding white fluorescents above and wince at the aching pain by your right leg.

“Where…”

Sicheng quickly helps you sit up and rubs two fingers against his temple.

“The hospital. You fell off the runway.”

“Fell off?”

“I don’t know if it was the gown or what, but you fell off and—” He gestures at your completely bandaged right leg. “You were lucky Jaehyun was fast enough to break your fall.”

“Jaehyun… Jaehyun caught me?”

“Yup. He’s waiting outside with the rest of the gang right now.”

“Don’t let anyone in,” you blurt out. “It’s… embarrassing.”

“Mom was frantic when she heard about the fall. She threatened the paparazzi to leave or she’ll set their agencies on fire.”

A dry chuckle leaves your lips and you strain to move your legs, the left one just fine while the right one stung with an aching pain.

“Doctor said your right ankle is broken and there might be some other fractures from heavy force against the muscles,” Sicheng says as he offers you a glass of water, which you deny. “And Jaehyun told us he caught you before you hit your head but missed the timing of your legs toppling over the stage.

“Want me to tell him to come in? I think he’d like to know if he saved you from dying or not.”

“Alright.”

Your brother gets up and Jaehyun enters shortly after exchanging a quick nod with Sicheng, relief settling in his eyes when he sees you conscious and more-or-less in one piece.

“I heard you ran to save me,” you bring up, patting your right leg. “Thank you.”

“I’m only glad I was close enough from the runway,” he jokes, dimple carved into his left cheek. “Otherwise it would’ve been too late.”

“Is…”

“Taeyong was here for a bit before leaving to go home and report to his sister,” Jaehyun answers. “He offers his concerns and wishes you a speedy recovery.”

Your heart sinks at hearing the message and Jaehyun narrows his eyes.

“Don’t tell me you fell because of him.”

“No,” you lie, the memory of his intimacy with Miyeon a barb biting into your skin. “I think I just tripped on the gown. Believe it or not, these types of things happen to even the best of us.”

He drops the topic and eyes the glass of untouched water by the bedside table.

“You really should drink some water.”

“Fine, give it.” You grab the glass from him and take quiet sips, eventually finishing the entirety of the cup under Jaehyun’s supervision.

“Happy?”

“I’ll inform your mother that you’re awake and bring you some food. You’re probably hungry too.”

“Why… Why are you so nice to me?”

He smiles again, a tender gesture that hit too close for comfort.

“We’re friends and I care about you.”

“You… don’t have to be so kind when I had it coming.” The sniffles start up again and before long, trickling streams of tears drip onto the bedsheets. “I…”

Warm arms wrap around you securely and you rest your head against his neck, pouring out the feelings of agony and unrequited love for a man who had never once thought of you as anything more than a tool in his attempt to win back another woman’s heart.

“I loved him, Jaehyun,” you sob into his shoulder. “Why did I not see the signs earlier that he was only using me to win her back?”

◇

“How is she?”

Jaehyun looks up after closing the door behind him.

“You came back.”

Taeyong takes a step forward to enter the room but a firm hand stops him from advancing.

“She just fell asleep,” Jaehyun says quietly. “Leave her be.”

“I just want to see if she’s okay.”

The corners of his mouth twitch and Jaehyun jabs a finger at Taeyong’s shoulder, shoving the latter back.

“You are the last person allowed to say something like that after what happened to her.”

“What the hell is your problem?” Taeyong scowls. “I’m only—”

“My problem? You’re the one who took advantage of her feelings for your own selfish purposes!” Considering the location of the conversation, he lowers his volume before a nurse kicks them out from the hallway. “You treated her like one of your toys and now think you can swing by to ask how she’s doing after using her like that?”

“This is none of your business, Jaehyun.”

“It became my business when I saved her just in time after she fell off the runway. What were you doing back then, huh? Chatting it up with your ex?”

Taeyong falls silent and Jaehyun growls at the lack of a rebuttal.

“I figured.”

“Y/N is my friend too, Jaehyun.”

“If you considered her a friend, then you wouldn’t have manipulated her into thinking you and her were together just to get back with your ex! I know we’re friends and all, but you think you’re so great and almighty when you’re just a guy who can’t differentiate between people who are true to you with people who approach you just because of your background and looks. How is any of that fair to those around you, especially to those who love you?”

Taeyong purses his lips and Jaehyun crosses his arms.

“She genuinely loved you for you and you just trampled on her feelings like they were garbage.”

“I will come see her tomorrow to offer an apology.”

“No, you won't. You don’t have to give her false hope like that when she knows you’re not worth waiting for anymore.”

—

You spend the next six weeks and counting resting up in the hospital for the sake of your injured right leg, unable to walk and let alone work in any other events that had you in mind. Sicheng visited every single day along with Jaehyun and the two became fast friends because of it, juggling between keeping you company with getting to know each other better outside of the four white walls of the medical center. Ten occasionally dropped by amidst work and jokingly offered to keep your name alive if you ended up not being able to model anymore, but switched to a more serious tone the day he brought in the largest fruit basket you’d ever seen, giving his genuine conviction in a full recovery after your accident. Support from friends and family along with medical professionals guiding you every step of the way… the process was made more bearable and you found your leg growing stronger and able to withstand more weight with each consecutive day.

Taeyong didn’t visit much, but he was the last thing on your mind now, the puzzle pieces finally fitting into the picture of him never being interested in you that way at all.

“Look who I brought to visit you.”

You gasp and make grabbing motions at the cat in Jaehyun’s arms, now a little bigger but still as affectionate as it wiggled onto your lap.

“You’re not so small now, Luna!”

“She’s been eating more and growing quite a bit,” Jaehyun smiles. “And I snuck her in, so don’t tell the nurse you saw your cat today.”

The black feline purrs at the scratching behind her ears and you smile at the cuteness that is the midnight-colored Luna.

“Thank you for bringing her, Jaehyun.”

“How’s the leg? Easier to walk now, I hope?”

“I’ve been very diligently practicing with the staff,” you reply, patting the right-side of your hospital bed. “It’s only a matter of time before a full discharge, I think.”

“That’s great to hear and I’m happy for you.”

You pick up more to his words than what meets the eye and probe further until he cracks a dimpled smile.

“You seem happier now and I’m happy that you’re happy,” he says in earnest. “That’s all.”

“Do I?”

“You’re glowing brighter than ever before and it’s blinding.”

“Stop exaggerating,” you laugh, dismissing the cheesy words with a shake of your head. “I was never like that.”

“You were always the brightest star to me, especially so after what’s happened.

“I’ve said too much,” Jaehyun mumbles. “I gotta go.”

“Wait…”

He pauses midway of reaching for Luna, and you reluctantly hand over your cat, watching wistfully as he places her into the white carrying case he had brought her in.

“I just wanted to hold her a bit longer.”

“Maybe I can sneak her in again tomorrow.”

“I’ll hold you to that. And Jaehyun?”

“Yes?”

You take a deep breath and lean forward, dipping your head until your back is fully hunched over to show your sincerity.

“Thank you for visiting every day and giving me strength after my fall.”

“I won’t accept that because it’s what any decent human would do.

“Take care.”

You nod and give an extra wave to the carrying case as he leaves you to rest. Adjusting your position to lay down, you fold your hands over your stomach and gaze upwards at the ceiling.

“Am I imagining things or is Jaehyun even more weird than usual?”

As your thoughts simmer, the sharp vibration of your phone brings you back to reality. You reach over to pick up the call, puzzled at the sound of muffled speech through the other end of the line.

“Hello? Who is this?”

Buzzing and crackles tickle your ear and you’re halfway into hanging up when the high-pitched whine of your name stops you from pressing the button, an identifier for the unknown caller easily coming to mind when you’d been the subject of such whines so many times.

“Is this Taeyong?”

“BIIIINGO.” Slurred mumbling followed by another whine of your name keeps you on the line as you listen to the sound of clinking glasses mixed with low grunts—he was probably out drinking and had called you by mistake.

“I’m hanging up now.”

“No, don’t! Don’t hang up, don’t hang up…” A groan and his voice drops to a low mutter, bordering on raspy as his words become less structured.

“I need…. Sorry.”

“What?”

“Sorry,” he repeats, three bubbly giggles and a hiccup. “Sorry to say… I’m sad.”

You sigh, not in the mood to keep him entertained over a booty call.

“I’m not in the mood for this.”

The whining only persists. “Please don’t hang up, please… Head hurts. Eyes hurt.”

“Call someone to pick you up, then.”

“Heart hurts… no help for that.”

A bud of panic settles in but before you can ask for elaboration, you hear one last groan and the phone line goes dead. He probably hung up without knowing he had pressed the end call button.

“Someone will help him,” you mutter, putting your phone away and pushing down the creeping buds of sympathy to go find Taeyong. “I can’t run over to pick him up when I’m in no condition to even walk properly.”

—

The calls from Taeyong become a regular occurrence that you keep hidden from Sicheng and Jaehyun, knowing full well they’d threaten him with force if they knew he was still contacting you after six plus weeks of not even stopping by to visit you at the hospital. Each time you’d press the button to shut off the ringtone the moment your screen lit up with the notification, only to have it ring again immediately with an incoming call from none other than yours truly. It got to the point where you figured you had to tell him in person that you were done being the subject of his pestering when he had never cared about you in the first place, and that is the first thing on your agenda once you receive an official discharge from the hospital.

“You couldn’t have told me or Jaehyun about it earlier?”

You ignore the eyerolls from Sicheng. “The two of you would’ve gone up to Taeyong and given him hell when he had nothing to do with my injury.

“Sicheng, you know where he is, don’t you?”

The answer is muttered grudgingly, but nonetheless given after a moment’s pause.

“… If you want to see him, you can probably find him wasted away at Club Cherry.”

“It’s barely 10am,” you point out. “What’s he doing already drunk at ten in the morning?”

“Don’t know and personally don’t care. I’m calling Jaehyun so he can go with you in case Taeyong tries anything funny.”

Jaehyun shows up in ten minutes, pulling up the hospital entrance in his familiar white Ferrari and beaming when he sees you standing on your feet again after being bedridden for the past six weeks.

“You look amazing.”

You smile and he helps you into the passenger side while waving goodbye to Sicheng, who grunts and waves him off before pulling out his phone to call for a cab to pick him up and take him home.

“Have you been keeping in touch with Taeyong?” you ask Jaehyun first-thing.

“Not too much,” he answers. “Why?”

“I want you to take me to Club Cherry. He… I want to see him.”

“See him… Y/N, he’s not worth it.”

You cross your arms. “Either you take me there or I’ll call Johnny to take me there.”

“I’ll take you,” Jaehyun sighs heavily, shifting gear to set the vehicle into drive. “Maybe it’s good that you’re dealing with this now instead of dragging it out.”

You have half a mind to ask for clarification but keep quiet during the ride from the hospital to the nightclub that is a favorite socializing spot of their gang, letting Jaehyun take the lead as he hands his keys to the valet and greets the bouncer at the front entrance. Let in without speaking more than the two words that granted entry into the exclusive club, he holds the door open while you hobble in. As expected of the early hour, the club is empty save the two staff members wiping down tables and sweeping the floor respectively.

“Oh hey, Jaehyun!”

You follow Jaehyun towards the bartender, a youthful face sparked with relief and concern mixed in one as the two exchange handshakes.

“Who’s this?” he asks, warmly extending a hand over the counter.

“Mark, Y/N,” Jaehyun introduces. “Y/N, Mark. He works the bar here at Cherry but don’t be fooled. He actually owns the place.”

Mark shakes his head and laughs it off.

“No, no, my dad owns the club. I just work here part-time while attending university to earn some extra money.”

“Basically yours in a matter of time,” you speak up. “Yes?”

“I guess you can say that.”

Jaehyun gets straight to the point once the conversation drifts into more comfortable waters.

“Did Taeyong come in today?”

“Sure did,” Mark replies, pointing at the hall where the private rooms were. “Came here at nine sharp and hauled in an entire crate of champagne bottles behind him.”

A disapproving sigh leaves Jaehyun’s mouth and you give Mark a tiny nod of thanks before following Jaehyun towards the private rooms, entering the first one of the left and covering a hand over your mouth at the sight of empty champagne bottles littering the floor. The wooden crate they came in still holding three more bottles of the like, you hurriedly take the remaining bottles to turn in to Mark at the bar while Jaehyun approaches the slumped figure on the purple couch.

“God, he looks like shit.”

You place the three champagne bottles out of reach and take in the slumped figure hugging a bottle in his arms, pity rolling off your shoulder in waves as you extend a hesitant arm to take away the untouched champagne.

“I’ll do it,” Jaehyun mumbles, gesturing for you to step back. “Taeyong is a handful when he’s wasted like this.”

At hearing his name, said drunkard somehow lifts his head up and squints before emitting loud giggles at seeing your face.

“You finally came to see me!”

“I didn’t want to,” you mutter. “But it’s hard not to when you look like this.”

“WhatdoyoumeanI’mfine.” Taeyong brushes off Jaehyun’s arm and stands up rather crookedly, pouting when you duck behind Jaehyun.

“Why, why, why no hug?”

“Can I talk to him alone?” you ask Jaehyun.

“I don’t know,” the latter begins, eyes flickering with uncertainty. “I wouldn’t trust him to not—”

“Please,” you insist. “It won’t take long.”

Jaehyun gives in, making you promise to call him if you needed reinforcements. You laugh, hooking pinkies with him as a promise before turning back to a giggly and flushed Taeyong.

“Let’s get you somewhat sobered up first.”

“No, let’s talk!” He makes a grab for your arm and manages to pull you down to the couch. “Sit here, sit!”

Sensing you wouldn’t be having much say in getting him to do what you wanted, you give in to his request but leave an arm’s reach of distance in between, brushing it off when he closes in the gap in a matter of seconds.

“What do you want to talk about, Taeyong?”

His lips pout and a whine follows.

“I’m sad.”

“Why are you sad?”

“Because…” Furrowed eyebrows and a sniffle pave way for divulgence of detail kept under wraps since you’d last seen him six plus week ago.

“Because I hurt you.”

You refute his claim. “Let’s get someone to bring you home, I—”

“Miyeon’s dating someone else.”

The outburst catching you by surprise, you simply stare and Taeyong continues, voice dropping to a hollowness you didn’t think you’d ever hear coming from his mouth.

“She was just… keeping me hopeful in case he wanted to break up with her.”

You bite back the retort of how great it was to have a taste of his own medicine and nod to show you were listening.

“Mhm.”

“I was so mad, Y/N. I went to her company to clear things up since she stopped answering my calls and I found her making out with some rising actor who’s currently recording a historical drama. So mad.”

“… That…”

“You know what’s more stupid?” A bubble of laughter and he sits back on the couch, arm slung over his eyes. “After that, I realized what she was doing to me was basically me doing the same to you, and… and wow.

“You must hate me for being such an asshole,” he laughs, voice trembling as tears trickle down his reddened face. “A loser. I’m just a spoiled brat who… who can’t even treat people right and—”

“Stop.” You lean forward from your seat and wrap your arms around him. “You’re not a loser.”

He continues crying into your shoulder and you remain still, letting him get all his feelings out rather than continue drinking himself into oblivion.

“Don’t go,” he mumbles when you move your numb arms. “I’m so lonely here.”

“I actually came here to tell you to stop calling me,” you begin. “I…

“I came to visit you, did you know?”

You pause. “When?”

Taeyong hiccups and counts off on his fingers.

“One, two… five times. I never went when Sicheng or Jaehyun were there but I did go to see you at the hospital.”

“That…. That’s nice of you, but I can’t do this anymore.”

“Do… Do what?”

“I can’t do this anymore, Taeyong. I can’t keep holding on to this… whatever this is. I know you don’t like me and while I was hurt that you used me as leverage, now I know that I deserve better. I deserve to love and be loved by someone who cares about me, loves me, treats me as someone who is worth it and…

“That someone isn’t you. I thought it would be you but it was all just one-sided thinking from my part.”

“I know I treated you poorly before,” Taeyong rasps. “But don’t you think—”

“I think it’s time for me to move on,” you finish, letting go of him and standing up from your seat. “And I wish the same for you.”

“You won’t even give me a second chance?” His question echoes from the shell of a man broken, a man who had once offered his heart in its entirety only to have it returned in shattered pieces. “I… I wasn’t thinking properly, I…”

“You’re not sober.” Taking out your phone from your purse, you tap at the screen to send a text message. “I’ll contact your sister so she can come pick you up and bring you home.”

—

Work picks up once you re-enter the whirlwind that is the modeling industry, no doubt Sicheng and even your mother having played a significant part in getting you back in the favor of photographers and fashion designers to book you for photos and model new fashion lines for the upcoming season. No word of your fatal fall off the catwalk is mentioned by your colleagues, and even your manager takes care to keep your schedule less busy in case another incident occurs while you were on call for another job. It wasn’t that you didn’t appreciate more free time, but you wish you weren’t treated like a glass sculpture that could easily break with just one touch.

As you remain still while your makeup artist applies more eyeshadow on the lids, a sharp searing sensation pulses through your right leg and you wince, immediately garnering the attention of your manager and at least three other staff members who rush over to see if you were okay.

“I’m fine,” you say with a wave, “I can stand.”

“We can call it a day and resume tomorrow,” your manager tells you. “It’s not a problem.”

“I can stand,” you repeat with a slight roll of your eyes. “It was just a cramp.”

She backs off from pressing on about having you sit down and your makeup artist pulls up a chair for you to sit on, a gesture that only stoked the flames more as you refuse to sit while eyeliner works its magic to shaping your eyes into the sultry cat’s eye look today’s shoot called for.

“The dress is perfect.”

You turn around, smiling at the compliment. Ten whistles appreciatively at the black sleeveless velveteen dress that hugged close to your body, the coral pink flowers dotting the soft black fabric an unexpected splash of vibrancy that comes only second to the choker keyhole at your bosom.

“You like?”

“Sweetie, you look gorgeous. And that’s gorgeous with a capital G.”

“Why, thank you.”

You frown at seeing him still in casual clothes. “You’re not changed yet.”

“Ah, there was a change of my schedule, so I won’t be doing the photoshoot with you.”

A buzz and he reaches into the pockets of his trousers, beaming as he turns to you with a smile.

“My replacement just got here, so—”

“Jaehyun?” you ask out of curiosity. “He has a nice face for modeling.”

“He’s okay, but you’ll know why I decided to choose who I chose to replace me for this one.” Without saying anything more, he ushers you to head out towards the hotel room for your pictures, waving quickly before turning tail to do whatever it was that demanded his time instead of taking photos with you.

Two knocks on the door and you’re greeted by a face you hadn’t been expecting to see at all, a face that offers a soft smile and brings back the slightest of tugs in your heart as he moves aside to let you in.

“Hello, Taeyong.”

He nods in greeting and scans over your dress, line of sight stopping at your shoes.

“You’re wearing the shoes I got you.”

You bite your lip and nod slowly.

“It doesn't mean anything. I just wore them because I wasn’t told I had to wear a specific type for today and…

“They’re comfortable,” you finish with a whisper. “A lot better than boring black heels.”

“I know,” he murmurs in reply. “You told me so when I picked them out at the store for you.”

“Places, everybody!”

Taeyong gestures towards the ensemble of staff setting up the cameras and offers a hand. “May I?”

Unsure if it was a pity gesture after your fall, you stare at the outstretched hand and find yourself taking it, letting him guide you towards the photographers even though you were capable of walking there on your own.

—

Taeyong is more skilled than you give credit for, naturally photogenic in each shot taken of him on the leather couch in the hotel room. Something as mundane as the everyday couch becomes an instrument in his filling in for Ten, giving the professional model a run for his money with the string of praise trickling from the photographer’s encouraging lips. New poses are suggested and lighting adjusted to better fit the mood for his batch of photos, you find yourself staring longer than you liked and nearly miss the cue to enter had Taeyong not gotten up from the couch, waving his hand in your face to check if you were okay.

“I’m fine,” you dismiss, not looking him in the eyes. “Let’s get on with it.”

You follow the cue to move towards the bed and unconsciously flinch when Taeyong sits down on the other side. Toppling to the side, you nearly fall off until an arm reaches out and hooks around your waist.

“I got you.”

Mumbling thanks, you inch away but the photographer calls for you to move back towards Taeyong. A tiny sigh escapes your parted mouth as you place your head against his shoulder, one frame captured. Intimacy welcomed, you do your best to keep it professional as Taeyong slings an arm over your left shoulder. His head tips toward you and you close your eyes in return. Not having to look at his face made things a little bit easier, your choice in turning your face to the side and averting eye contact to your hands or any other part of the body a smart one during the entire shoot.

Individual shots follow the paired ones and you watch as he changes out of the black top and red pants to a velveteen blue blazer and similarly dark-colored shorts, looking dapper despite—if your eyes weren’t deceiving you—the lack of a shirt underneath the buttoned garment. His gaze distant as he sits against the top of the cabinet, you slip behind to the computers and find the assistant scrolling through Taeyong’s other individual shots. The screen displaying a plethora of samples, a whispered request to the fumbling assistant who is just as amazed at speaking with a model grants you control of the mouse in a matter of seconds. While she mumbles about how Taeyong’s face is perfect for this shoot, you focus on studying the pictures and see clearly why Taeyong had been chosen as a substitute for Ten. His face is sculpted in such a way that it radiated beauty from practically all angles, and the gaze is the cherry on top that seals the deal. Darkened are his eyes, but they channel such a sultry yet melancholic undertone to portray an enhanced depth to the edginess on the surface. Editing effects such as blurs only enhance the beauty emitting from the man and you almost want to ask if the assistant can send you a few of the files after the photoshoot is over.

“Y/N, can you come in, please?”

You nod and the photographer directs you to stand behind Taeyong, close enough that you are pressed against his back while placing your chin onto his shoulder.

“You look as stiff as a cardboard. Place your left hand on his thigh if it helps to make you relax.”

“Go ahead,” Taeyong murmurs, tilting his neck. “I don’t mind.”

You hesitantly place your fingers on his thigh and the touch is electrifying. You immediately shrink away but find your hand held in place by another. Taeyong doesn’t say anything as he holds your hand, and you take a deep breath before pulling yourself together, regaining the initial requested posture and powering through the remainder of the shoot.

“And that’s a wrap, thank you. Anything else we will pick up starting tomorrow morning.”

“Have some time for a drink?” Taeyong asks you after the cameras are packed away.

“N-Not really, I—”

The look of dejection on his face changes your mind and you look away at his beaming grin, a light that tugs at your heartstrings as he eagerly pulls you after him. Out of the room and towards the elevators, then up three floors until the lift stops at number 8. Opening to the makings of a dimly-lit but welcoming bar, Taeyong picks a seat towards the left side of the counter.

“Here.”

He gestures for you to sit next to him as two dry martinis are placed before him.

“Cheers?”

Fingers gripping the martini glass, a quiet “Cheers” and you down the drink in nearly one go, wincing at the burning sensation at the back of your throat.

“Is there somewhere you need to go?”

“Well…” You ask the bartender for water. “I didn’t…. I didn’t actually want to get a drink with you.”

“Why not?”

The glass of water you requested clinks next to your emptied martini, and you opt to take a large sip of the liquid, not answering his question.

“I guess I don’t deserve anything more when I was the one who treated you like a toy.” A bitter chuckle and he calls for two more dry martinis.

“You can go. I’ve put the drinks under my tab.”

“… No, I’ll stay. I won’t need any more drinks, but I can stay and keep you company, if you’d like.”

True to your word, you stay with him for the remainder of the night at the bar without any more drops of alcohol in your system. You listen to him talk and hold rather engaging conversations regarding just about anything: the weather, the modeling industry, his sister’s business endeavors, favorite drinks…

“You’re so easy to talk to,” Taeyong mumbles as his head knocks onto your shoulder. “Great, just great.”

“So I’ve been told,” you laugh, beckoning for the bartender to take your credit card to pay for half a bottle of scotch’s worth of shots. “Come on, let’s get you home.”

“Don’t want to.”

“Then where am I supposed to take you?”

“He has a room here,” the bartender speaks up. “He drank himself to oblivion the other night and I had someone bring him up to the 4th floor. First door on the right-hand side.”

You thank the bartender for the helpful tip and somehow manage to get Taeyong up. Making your way towards the elevator, you keep one arm steadily wrapped around his waist so he didn’t fall, trudging to the elevator and descending from the 8th floor to four levels below.

“Where’s your room key, Taeyong?”

He mumbles an inaudible answer and you sigh before reaching a hand into his blazer, fingers interlacing around a rectangular card that you swipe at the door handle before placing it between your teeth. After helping him inside, you spit out the key, making sure he can sit upright on his own before informing your manager that you were with Taeyong. The request to extend the news to Taeyong’s sister is added less she worry about her brother’s whereabouts and safety at one in the morning.

“I should probably change out of this dress.”

Remembering the bartender had said that Taeyong visited the bar last night, you figure he’d have spare clothes in the closet and open the wardrobe. Taking your pick from the hangers of gray, blue, and the occasional white, you settle on a simple white button-up with a hemline that just barely reaches past your fingertips. The black dress is all but discarded after you toss the garment onto the single chair by the window.

“You’re wearing my shirt.”

You turn around, pulling down the shirt to not flash anything inappropriate in his drunken state.

Taeyong sits at the corner of the bed, hands clasped together as he looks up at you.

“It’s cute,” he adds with a soft chuckle. “I like it.”

“You should take a shower,” you mumble, slinking behind the chair and taking refuge in the curtains. “You smell like booze.”

“Will you still be here after I shower?”

He takes your silence as a yes and gets up from the bed.

“Sit wherever you’d like. It’s cold by the window.”

You wait until he enters the bathroom to make a dash for the bed, pulling up the covers to cover up your bare legs as you make yourself comfortable. After standing for almost the whole day, it felt good to sit and rest your legs on a soft mattress, the sheer size of the room informing you that this floor can only be a luxury suite and higher since most of the doors you had passed in getting here were quite spaced apart.

“You can sleep there tonight.”

You break out of your thoughts and stare at the dripping wet hair and white bathrobe on the man who had booked this suite, not registering his words until he repeats it a second time.

“If I sleep here, then where will you sleep?”

“There’s a chair.” He pulls up another chair by the mahogany desk next to the television and moves it to your right side, sitting down cross-legged.

“You don’t need to do that for me.”

Moving the covers aside, you bend your legs and wince at the cramping sensation in your calves, a gesture that has Taeyong up on his feet in seconds.

“Are you okay, where does it hurt?”

“I’m fine,” you grumble. “It’s not like you were at fault for my fall off the catwalk.”

“Believe me, I would’ve done everything I could to prevent it from happening.”

Displeasure sinks its claws into your calves and you force yourself up, only be pushed back down by Taeyong.

“Sleep,” he orders. “You must be tired after a long day.”

“I… Why do you even care when I’ve always been a nobody to you?”

“You’re not a nobody to me.”

The depth of the sentence leaves a lasting echo in the room and you stare at him wide-eyed.

“You’re not a nobody to me,” he repeats. “I admit that I shouldn’t have used you to get back at Miyeon, but I never thought you were a nobody to me.”

“You… You never told me.”

“I…” A scoff and he sits onto the chair next to you, head tilted back. “How was I supposed to say I didn’t think you were a nobody to me without sounding like a creep?”

“I loved you,” you say quietly. “Did you know that, at least?”

“…Yes.” He fidgets with his fingers; you can practically see him picking through word by word in his brain for a suitable reply. “But I didn’t act on it because I wasn’t sure if you liked me for me or for my money. So many people have approached me simply because of my background and nothing was ever genuine.

“You can imagine what that does to someone, can’t you? As bad as it sounds, it was just easier to give the cold shoulder and keep at a distance rather than go through the cycle of false hopes at meeting people who didn’t care about my money or my social status. I hardened my heart so I wouldn’t ever be fed lies and fake compliments again, but that ended up hurting you when you always valued me for me and not the things that I had to my name.”

Hypotheticals race through your head, scenarios of what could have been a loving relationship with Taeyong that only create more prickling holes in your heart. As if you hadn’t finished hurting from all the years of unrequited love, now you were faced with another reality, the reality of a relationship that never came to fruition due to failure at communicating your feelings in a way that didn’t evoke misunderstanding in either party.

There was no one to attribute fault to and call blame on; the timing just never came at an appropriate time. And as others had told you before, it would’ve hurt less to have known nothing would ever happen the moment you had felt something more for a man like Taeyong.

Untouchable, out-of-your-league, perhaps you had only been in love with the idea of loving Taeyong, an intangible conception of emotions that had brought you in an endless loop around the park until today. Today marking the day you finally found the exit out of the seemingly endless maze, a day holding so much more meaning than intended as you take a deep breath and prepare to say your final goodbye to a love that had kept you in its chains for so many years.

“Hey, Taeyong?”

“Hmm?”

You reach your arms up and pull him close, pressing your lips against his cheek one last time—a kiss just as soft as the first but harboring hints of a melancholic farewell rather than hope for a chance to start fresh from square one.

#long post #nct #nct scenarios #taeyong #taeyong scenarios #nct fanfic #taeyong fanfic #nct angst #taeyong angst #rich kid!au

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blankdblank · 5 years ago

Text

Anaticula pt 41

Pt 1 - Pt 2 - Pt 3 - Pt 4 - Pt 5 - Pt 6 - Pt 7 - Pt 8 - Pt 9 - Pt 10 - Pt 11 - Pt 12 - Pt 13 - Pt 14 - Pt 15 - Pt 16 - Pt 17 - Pt 18 - Pt 19 - Pt 20 - Pt 21 - Pt 21b - Pt 22 - Pt 23 - Pt 24 - Pt 25 - Pt 26 - Pt 27 - Pt 28 - Pt 29 - Pt 30 - Pt 31 - Pt 33 - Pt 34 - Pt 35 - Pt 36 - Pt 37 - Pt 38 - Pt 39 - Pt 40 -

@himoverflowers, @wolfdragon0424

Heavily in the dark cool night you slammed hard into the dew coated grass groaning as you climbed up to your knees and all looked around. Harry spotted the cup off a few feet away then stood, “Where are we? Wait, I know this place.”

In your climb to your feet Cedric said, “We were supposed to go back to the school. Aren’t we supposed to go back to the school?!”

Looking around your mouth fell open and you glanced around seeing the familiar graveyard in Little Hangleton and distant Ghouls lurking about in the garden across the street. In a flick of your wand the Ghouls floated over to you and you formed a sharp nail on your thumb, “Give me your hands.” Harry and Cedric both neared you with worried looks at your darkening roots.

Offering his hand Cedric said, “Something wrong?”

“Yes.” With a slice he hissed then about gagged seeing the Ghoul under his hand giddily drink the blood you offered him before you moved his arm and it shot up into a double of him.

Open mouthed he stared and Harry cried out at his sliced hand asking at his share of blood, “Jaqi, what’s wrong?”

“Trust me. Just trust me.” The pair looked at you only to see you wave your wand at the pair shrinking them inside the vial from medicine for blisters you had gotten the night before you saved just in case. Once the stopper was secured again you pocketed it and tried to calm your racing mind and haggard breaths to focus on forming a plan.

Ghoul Cedric turned to look at the cup mumbling in a growl that steadily shifted to Cedric’s voice, “It’s got to be a portkey!”

Ghoul Harry kept mumbling from a groan to the proper voice, “We have to go. We shouldn’t be here.”

On your left you spotted Peter entering the graveyard from the Riddle estate not far from here who looked to you as you faked not noticing him to stroll around the angel headstone to close your eyes hearing Ghoul Harry say, “Who are you? What do you want?”

A shrill cry of, “Kill the spare!” Sounded out before a bright green flash made you flinch and cover your already closed eyes a moment.

Lost to the battle to remain aloof and stoic in this you ignored those haunting screams from your past that bubbled up again as Ghoul Harry began to shout, “No! Cedric!”

The shrill voice called out, “Do it! Now!”

Ghoul Harry was hexed up against the scythe wielding statue above Riddle’s grave grunting in his failed attempts to budge it as you stayed out of sight peeking out at the ceremony.

With a bone removed from the grave Peter recited in adding it into the giant bubbling cauldron, “Bone of the father...unwillingly given.” Raising his arm he sliced off his left hand with his wand, that fell into the same mixture. “Flesh of the servant...willingly sacrificed.”

Nearing Ghoul Harry he eyed his arm with the sleeve slid down revealing a barely noticeable mark of the blood double spell you had used on the Ghoul he kept blocked with his body for the few more moments it was visible in the new connection until it faded into the Ghoul’s skin. Slicing a decent sized cut through Ghoul Harry’s screams Peter drew the few blood droplets needed from his forearm he added to the cauldron, “And blood of the enemy... forcibly taken.”

Turning back to a bush out of sight he brought out the tiny frail body Riddle had been locked into and he said, “The Dark Lord shall rise...again.”

Peter dropped him into the mixture that bubbled and glowed bright green and exploded revealing a swirling mass of cloth coating the grey expanding body taking shape until Riddle stood smoothing his hands over his new noseless and hairless face with bright eyes searing out in his triumphant gaze.

“My wand, Wormtail. Hold out your arm.”

“Master. Thank you, Master.”

Peter bowed his head and passed him his wand extending his severed arm, only to retract it again, “The other arm, Wormtail.”

Revealing his Dark Mark Peter winced at the enchanted symbol darkening and beginning to squirm sending out the alarm. Plumes of smoke flew over the little town and slammed into the ground revealing the masked and hooded Death Eaters all trying to hide their fear.

“Welcome, my friends. Thirteen years it's been, and yet... here you stand before me as though it were only yesterday. I confess myself...disappointed. Not one of you tried to find me.”

A harsh grip of your hair from behind brought you out of the shadows and in a sharp whisper you heard Crabbe’s voice growling out, “You will pay dearly for getting my son expelled!”

A rough tug of your hair had your head flexing backwards in the pressing a cursed knife to your throat at his wife’s shrill whisper at your side in joining the circle, “Blood traitorous little Bitch!” Under your jacket you bit back your whimper at the sharp burn of whatever curse she dealt into your back making you want to scream at the spreading stabbing pain now pulsing around the wound.

Ghoul Harry cried out, “Jaqi!”

At that Riddle turned with wide eyes and hurried over to you with his wand moving the knife from your neck. Reaching out gnarling his fingers in front of Crabbe’s face just inches from yours revealing the sizzling skin on is hand at the near touch of your skin. In the removal of Crabbe’s mask that made him collapse releasing you Riddle hissed, “Crabbe!”

On your left he continued through the circle as you stepped out of Crabbe’s reach you rubbed your aching neck at another mask being removed and collapsed Death Eater, “Macnair!” Followed by “Goyle!”

In your glance at the one in the middle removing his mask you caught a moment of gathering courage from Lucius as Riddle turned to lock eyes with him, “Not even you, Lucius.”

Lucius bowed his head, “My Lord, had I detected any sign, a whisper of your whereabouts...”

Riddle, “There were signs, my slippery friend. And more than whispers.”

Lucius, “I assure you, my Lord, I have never renounced the old ways. The face I have been obliged to present each day since your absence... that is my true mask.”

Riddle’s eyes narrowed and in noticing your watch on Riddle’s wand Peter spoke up, “I returned..”

Riddle, “Out of fear, not loyalty.” Turning from Lucius who locked his eyes on you assessing your danger in this that was joined by more than a few others who Lucius had no doubt spoken to on your behalf wondering how this would play out, “Still, you have proved yourself useful these past few months, Wormtail.” His hand waved Peter closer and motioned for his severed arm he crafted a silver hand for.

Peter gasped and let out a relieved attempt at a chuckle, “Thank you, Master. Thank you.” Bowing his head again before Riddle turned to you tilting his wand to raise your chin inspecting it for any injuries.

Turning away from you with supposed disinterest to the Death Eaters he strolled past Ghoul Cedric’s dead body, “Such a handsome boy.”

Ghoul Harry shouted out, “Don’t touch him!”

“Harry.” Turning to look at the boy pinned to the statue while you stole a glance at Crabbe inching closer to you making you casually stroll behind Riddle’s back closer to Lucius, who inched away from his wife’s side to make room for you between them far away from Crabbe. “I'd almost forgotten you were here. Standing on the bones of my father. Yes.” Inching closer he just about hummed out in a teasing sigh, “I'd introduce you...but word has it you're almost as famous as me these days.”

In a circle in front of the boy he strolled tauntingly in a subtle check making certain of your location he was far more content with away from Crabbe still gripping that cursed knife, “The boy who lived. How lies have fed your legend, Harry. Shall I reveal what really happened that night 13 years ago? Shall I divulge how I truly lost my powers?”

He stopped and smirked at Ghoul Harry, “Yes, shall I?” He let out a laugh, “It was love.” Laughing again, “You see, when dear, sweet Lily Potter gave her life for her only son...she provided the ultimate protection. I could not touch him. It was old magic. Something I should have foreseen. But no matter, no matter. Things have changed.”

Lurching forward he extended a finger making Ghoul Harry squirm, “I can touch you...now.” At the wailing cry coming from Ghoul Harry Narcissa grabbed your hand behind your back giving it a squeeze reminding you not to interrupt or you would be next, not knowing that was a doppelganger. “Yes.”

Ghoul Harry panted as Riddle retracted his hand, “Astonishing what a few drops of your blood will do, eh, Harry?” A swish of his wand in a circle back in front of you as the statue released Ghoul Harry, “Pick up your wand, Potter. I said, pick it up! Get up! Get up!” From his knees Ghoul Harry picked up a stick in the grass you illusioned to look like Harry’s wand you had forgotten to borrow in hiding the real one, “You've been taught how to duel, I presume, yes? First, we bow to each other.”

Ghoul Harry glanced at you not following the order then looked back to Riddle, “Come on, now, Harry. The niceties must be observed. Dumbledore wouldn't want you to forget your manners, would he?”

A sharp curse shot at Ghoul Harry forcing him to bow at the waist bringing the clear blood mark on his wrist to your attention growing more evident at the spell’s effect waning at the attack and loss of Harry’s offered blood from the cut, “I said, bow.” The curse ended and Ghoul Harry panted, “That’s better. And now…”

Ghoul Harry pocketed his fake wand, “No.”

Riddle snarled out, “Crucio!” dropping him onto his back at the painful curse making you wet your lips trying to time things right, “Crucio!” After a pained wail Riddle circled him, “Attaboy, Harry. Your parents would be proud. Especially your filthy Muggle Mother.”

Ghoul Harry raised his wand growling out, “Expelliar…” Only to have his hand kicked back to the ground by Riddle in another circle around him.

Riddle, “I'm going to kill you, Harry Potter. I'm going to destroy you. After tonight, no one will ever again question my powers. After tonight, if they speak of you...they'll speak only of how you...begged for death. And I, being a merciful Lord...obliged. Get up!”

Ghoul Harry shot up and ran off behind a statue avoiding another curse from Riddle, “Don't you turn your back on me, Harry Potter! I want you to look at me when I kill you! I want to see the light leave your eyes!” In his continued hiding Riddle turned to you, “Have it your way. Your Cousin and I will have a long over due discussion of our own!”

Ghoul Harry peeked out and you stepped forward releasing Narcissa’s hand feigning an aloof expression keeping your eyes on his pretending you didn’t want to blow his alien balloon head of his off his shoulders right then and there, “Hello Uncle.”

A smirk eased across his lips and he hummed out, “How very brave of you. To speak of me so fondly after what I have done to your family.” After a moments pause in your next step he added, “What I, will, do.”

“I believe you had a question for me.”

“By the lack of fear in your eyes and absence of a key relative of yours not arriving when called I take it I can assume what your answer might be.”

In a smirk easing onto your lips the skin above his eye where a brow might be inched up, “Well you know what they say of those making assumptions.” You glanced at Ghoul Harry and sighed out in Parseltongue, “I had a few assumptions of my own of your return.”

“Oh really? Do tell.”

“I had assumed your attack on my Cousin would have a much greater audience, rather than tucked away in some empty corner of the world. With how the Ministry is no one would care if he died now.” His eyes narrowed at you fiercely in understanding, “Easily excused as another Tournament accidental death. And who would believe me? After all Fudge could just lock me away again.”

Exhaling lowly he stepped aside saying clearly, “We will discuss this later. Much planning to do, give my best to Regulus,”

You smirked up at him, “Someone had to run middle man between Dad and the great grandparents or he’d be here.”

“We will pick this up over the summer then. Enjoy your celebration. I trust you will share the details of the Tournament then.” Riddle aimed his wand at Ghoul Harry, “Obliviate!”

In your steps over to the Ghoul shaking his head your head turned to Crabbe, who gripped your arm swinging his other hand leaving a tiny slice on your neck. Your stagger away from him ended with a green flash flying over your arm and hitting him in the face ending the struggle. Screams came from his wife, who was halted with the Cruciatus curse as Riddle cried out, “Do nothing! They are mine to finish! When and where I choose!”

In a hurried pace you led Ghoul Harry over to Ghoul Cedric, summoning the cup to you cheers and music exploded around you as you knelt holding your throat in a rough cough feeling the slight nick spreading deeper into your neck.

“They did it!”

A few voices cried out, “Harry!”, “Cedric!” muddled with cries of your name. Coughing still you planted a hand on the ground only to see blood dripping on it under your black bangs in the darkening of your hair.

Ghoul Harry sniffled and doubled over onto Ghoul Cedric’s chest in another of your coughs trying to break the spell, Amos open mouthed saw Ghoul Cedric’s chest was still and raced over alongside Snape who saw a line of blood spreading on your raised hand, “Cedric!” Shoving Ghoul Harry away Amos raised his son’s double in his arms beginning to rock him repeating his name.

Dropped to his knees at your side Snape raised your head only to see the trail of blood from your mouth and nose in another cough, “Madame Pomfrey!” Gasps sounded and mouths were covered in the dying noise luring Barty and Alastor alongside Madame Pomfrey while Minerva got out of the stands along with your father. His hands covered your wound hoping the pressure might help, saying, “Hold on, just hold on!”

“For God's sake, Dumbledore, what's happened?” Fudge called out from the winner’s podium off to the side.

When Barty reached your side Ghoul Harry had started to shout, “He’s back! Voldemort’s back!”

Gasps sounded out and in a drop of your free hand you fumbled out the vial from your pocket you raised and pressed into Barty’s chest not able to see where his hands were, curiously he folded his hand around it and in your deliberate glances at the vial he raised it when you let it go asking, “What is this?” Tilting it in his hands he gasped and said, “Amos!”

Amos continued wailing, “Cedric! My Boy!”

Barty again shouted, “Amos!!”

Dumbledore knelt by Ghoul Harry’s side trying to calm him while Alastor glanced between the duo and then to the vial Barty tugged on the cork topper jammed from your fall, “We couldn’t leave him, not there!”

Dumbledore, “It’s alright Harry. It’s all right. He’s home, you both are.”

An Auror from above said, “Keep everybody in their seats. A boy has just been killed.”

Barty shouted back, “Oh would you just shut it!” Biting the cork he tugged free in muttering a loosening charm that had Harry and Cedric both flying out of the vial to land heavily in the grass silencing the crowd at Madame Pomfrey’s laying you back softly saying, “Just hold on. I’ve got you.”

In the real Harry and Cedric’s panting rise to their feet they looked around for a moment before Cedric moved to his father saying, “Dad. It’s me.” Looking between his dead double and his father he added, “That’s a Ghoul dad.”

Alastor reinforced that fact by breaking your spell with his extended wand as your father and uncle raced over behind your head eyeing your spreading wound at your bloody gurgling in trying to breathe. Up in the stands trembling in fear the Pears clung to each other teary eyed and helpless for what to do. A silvery gaze from you shared what the knife looked like with Snape who said, “It’s from a cursed blade.”

Madame Pomfrey glanced between them tearfully, “That reversing tonic takes days to brew.”

At the blurring of your view your father and uncle lowered to comfort you with soft whispers at Snape’s teary gaze as she moved back dabbing her cheeks in the quivering of her lip at being unable to help you. Boundaries were brought up around you to give you space urging on the shouts of the Weasleys, Cedric and Harry in their rush to you while Neville and Draco sat broken hearted on the steps at the Weasley’s feet a few feet in front of the frozen Pears.

Above Snape’s shoulder as he hunched forward still keeping hold on your wound you spotted the Ice Bird coming to a hover above you. Forcing your body to move you curled your leg up to push Snape back as your hands pushed your father and Regulus back into Remus’ chest at, for them, a source less screeching cry came at the beginning of a stream of ice and frost that shot out of the air at you.

On his feet Newt stood open mouthed as in the end of its icy attack at you, just for a moment, the mystical bird let itself be seen and then vanished in its leap into the sky. Above your icy cocoon a burst of white flames exploded from nowhere melting the ice revealing a hidden silvery flame from within coating your body, in the dying stream of flames the fur and crystal coated dragon coiled in the air above you visible for just a moment at your coughing rise to sit up, throat now fully healed. A grin eased onto its face in a tap of its forehead to yours before it vanished from their sight and took off. Two brief flashes had captured their appearances by Collin and Nigel. Hurrying forward again Sirius, Regulus, Remus and Snape neared you again all inspecting your throat.

A relieved wave of exhales shot through the crowds at your arm being slung over your father’s shoulders to be helped up to your feet for the now standing and still sniffling Madame Pomfrey who inspected your throat herself. Passing Harry and Cedric, who was still tightly clutched in his sobbing father’s arms you saw Dumbledore and Alastor move to speak with Harry, who kept shaking his head uncertain himself at having been put in that vial right after you landed folded the end of his sleeve around the cut on his hand. Behind you your family all hurried after you along with the Puff students all eager to be up to date on your status.

Straight to your usual bed in the Hospital Wing you were taken and at your knee planting on the middle of it you weakly said, “Mrs Crabbe, burned my back or something, could you do something, it really hurts.”

She nodded and guided the men to lay you on your side, “Of course my dear, on your side now. Where on your-,” in lifting your silver and green jersey her lips parted at the blue glowing veins covering your torso Snape and Remus had confirmed had spread through to your arms as Regulus checked your legs signaling a slow spreading poison explaining your weakness and trouble walking the last stretch. “That’s not a burn.” Still in your back was the tiny ring knife Alastor stepped forward to remove after having experience with them as she raced off to get the proper antidote for you he named for her.

Coming up through the doorway you spotted Dumbledore and then glanced to Snape saying, “I know Ghoul blood spells are frowned upon,”

Snape shook his head, “No one will fault you for choosing to save your cousin and Cedric.”

Dumbledore arrived and he asked, “Are you well enough to share what happened?”

You nodded, “We, were taken to Little Hangleton.”

Minerva, “Why would it take you there?”

“Because for the spell Riddle needed his father’s bones.” Parting her lips, “I had to hide them, but one good thing-,”

Dumbledore nodded at your weak grin and chuckle at the glowing veins spreading to your neck, “The blood he needed from Harry is tainted.” Chuckling again you bit your lip then clarified, “Ghoul blood.” A spoonful of knockout draught was given to you for Alastor to remove the blade and your eyes rolled back and you fell into a deep slumber at your swallow and release of the spoon.

Minerva looked to Dumbledore softly asking, “What does she mean? The tainted blood would affect him?”

Above your head Sir Nicholas chimed in making them all look up, “The use of any Ghoul blood in dark magic greatly weakens the receiver of it.”

Minerva, “So if he’s returned, it’s not to full power then?”

Dumbledore, “It would seem so. We will have to get a greater glimpse at what happened when she wakes.”

Sir Nicholas, “Many a Mad King was brought back or replaced with the use of Ghoul blood and fell to miserable ends.”

Snape sat back saying, “No need Headmaster. Miss Black shared the memory with me. It is a simple spell, dark, but simple. Blood magic to rebind Riddle’s soul into a new body, which thanks to the Ghoul blood is deformed. He has returned.”

Sirius, “Who cut Jaqi?”

Snape looked to him answering, “Crabbe, upon her release with the double of Harry.” Sirius’ eyes darkened, “And then Riddle killed him for it.” Parting Sirius’ lips, “It appears she convinced him to let them go.”

Dumbledore, “It appears?”

Snape looked to him, “She spoke in Parseltongue.”

Dumbledore nodded, “We can wait then, until she awakes.”

Harry was going to speak up only to go silent at Snape’s shake of his head making him move to the bed by yours beside the freshly released Cedric, for whom Amos was fetching some food leaving him under Flitwick’s protection.

Around you your family settled watching Alastor set aside the blade ring from your back into a silver bowl Remus passed him freeing Pomfrey to inject the antidote straight into your bloodstream by the wound. Instantly scabbing it over making the glowing blue veins of yours darken instantly signaling the spread had stopped and would slowly reverse itself over the long night ahead.

Now moved inside all the students and guests welcomed Harry and Cedric back, after the short food break under Amos’ insistence, for the welcome of the winning team through sharing news of your place in the Healing Wing. Reporters there however had picked up on Ghoul Harry’s statements and began asking questions Dumbledore was much too grateful to answer, much to Fudge’s ire at the speculation it stirred up.

“Cedric Diggory, Jaqi Black and Harry Potter were confronted by Lord Voldemort... The Ministry of Magic does not wish me to tell you this... It is my belief, however, that the truth is generally preferable to lies, and that any attempt to pretend that Miss Black’s throat was cut or the poisoned blade stabbed into her back was the result of an accident, or some sort of blunder of her own, is an insult to the memory of all harmed or murdered by him and his followers.”

With memories to confirm his return Fudge fled the school taking the Aurors with him not bothering to secure the ground or inspect it at all only urging Sirius and Regulus to your side joining Remus there ensuring you would not be taken again.

Through the night Harry and Cedric joined the others in taking up the free beds ensuring you didn’t sleep alone, including most of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and all of Hufflepuff who brought down spare bedrolls, blankets and pillows to do so. All while most of the Slythern students sent off flurries of letters home at what they had heard so far in a growing panic of their own for what was coming.

Sitting up Harry moved to the window where Snape was looking out, unable to hold the question in anymore, “Professor?”

Snape turned his head, “You should be sleeping Potter.” Still calming from the sight of you bleeding to death in front of him and ignoring the pain from your overly powerful kick protecting him from the ice attack.

“Professor, I speak Parseltongue.”

“Yes, and no doubt what she had to say to him you might not take comfort in knowing.”

Harry wet his lips and glanced at you, “What could she have possibly said to him to change his mind?”

Looking back up to Snape who answered after a sigh, “Most likely reminded him of his need for fear.”

Harry, “Fear, sir?”

Snape nodded, “A great deal of his power comes from inducing fear. As long as your death could be hushed up and claimed as some freak accident his assumed victory of you would be stolen.”

Harry, “So she bought me time then? So, he’ll just come to kill me again?”

Snape sighed and planted a hand on his shoulder, “Harry, she is bringing him out of the shadows.”

“He has a body now! He can-,”

“A body limited by the tainted blood used to bring him back.” Harry’s lips parted, “At the end of the memory he used a memory charm on that double of yours, if he searched your mind later and found out you knew what happened there he would know her falsehood and you would lose all the time she bought you for us to gather forces. Most likely signing her death warrant. You are not bait, she is not using you. However, your name is mentioned at first until she can lead him to a greater goal, in building that, in his distracted state we can bring him down. Focus on your studies, no doubt they will come after you, but not for long. The boy who lived will matter little when it all picks up speed. Now, off to bed.”

Harry paused in his step away and asked, “Are the Crabbes going to prison for trying to kill her?”

Snape flatly stated, “He killed them for hurting her.” Parting Harry’s lips, “Trust me Potter, she has a lot more sway over him than he realizes just yet. All she had to do was call him Uncle. Dark and difficult times lie ahead. Soon we must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy. But remember this, you have friends here. You are not alone. Now, bed.” Harry nodded and went back to his chosen spot and laid out removing his glasses and tried to sleep while Snape turned back to the window feeling his chest tighten at what was coming. Holding his gaze on the maze being disassembled by the lingering Aurors remaining for the pitiful excuse for the winners ceremony you had been robbed of rescheduled for the following day when you were cleared to get out of bed.

Under you on the bed your father sat up stroking your curls out of your face that always flung back again fully returned to their silvery blue shade at the effect of the antidote easing your pain, his heart still pounding at your bloody return. Regulus beside him softly reminded him of your minor victory over Riddle in slipping him Ghoul blood greatly hindering him ever returning fully to his former power and promising that his ability to have contact with Harry would wane when your Blood spell finally wore off fully. Leaving him with just the Ghoul blood, by then no doubt leaving his body slowly morphing more into a Ghoul like appearance himself taking his sanity and mental acuity with his looks. A greatly admired side effect of the twist you put on the dark magic spell, if you could just wait it out he would soon be powerless again, though how long would always be the question.

In the gathering of everyone at breakfast you held the sleeves of your favorite golden sweater to hide your glowing veins and with a grin at Cedric you joined him up on the raised Professors section at Dumbledore’s request.

“Now, as we were unable to do so last night, and I do believe that it was better to give us all a night to rest after the grueling three day finale to the Tournament. Now it is time to reward our victors! Both with 300 points collectively amongst their scores from the maze.” Cheers sounded with flashes from the remaining reporters photographing you and Cedric together. Split in half you both accepted 500 galleons of the 1000 galleon winners purse while the schools cheered you on.

Smaller prizes of Fwooper figurines were handed out to the remaining surviving contestants in order of their ranking by the proud Aurors in charge who had a full range of champions who survived. “With the 35 out of 70 points awarded to Durmstrang for making it to the final round of the maze challenge at 230 points Sebastian Krum and Harry Potter tied for second place.” The duo smiled for their picture that captured Sebastian’s hand moving to stroke your back in a widening smile with pride for your having survived and be standing post brutal attack.

Cheers continued as Dumbledore continued, “Viktor Krum with 199 points is our third place champion.” he said with a proud clap of his own to Viktor’s smiling flaunt of his fwooper figurine to his cheering school.

“Fleur Delacour with 197 points is our fourth place champion,” stirring up louder cheers from her classmates and Madame Maxime while the Pears clapped between stolen teary glances your way pretending they couldn’t see how much it seemed like your legs just wanted to give out after your ordeal.

“Vivi follows in fifth place at 174 points. Followed by Lukas with 160. Just leaving with a respectable 148 points Charlotte, who by a heart wrenching digit was short of closing the gap of those points in uncovering the significance of the combination used to free Vivi from her platform by the time limit. Very well done, had I the power I would award you House Points for such ingenuity.” Her smile widened through her sniffle in a fight against the tears from being so close to having advanced farther in the grueling maze that could have bumped them all up to a split hair score with that extra 35 points to make it past that first round elimination.

Pictures as a group were captured of your exhausted sore selves and then into the crowds you slipped to move this celebration onto the breakfast portion that was to follow with guests included to sit by their chosen victors in the green field tables were spread across for everyone to enjoy the beautiful morning outside in the open. A nice change to having been confined in the maze that didn’t even show the stars or moonlight once in your nights there.

Downing another helping of medicine from Madame Pomfrey sent through K you followed with a large glass of orange juice you hastily refilled after then giggled at Sebastian’s adding extra pancakes and sausages to your plate.

Sebastian, “You need your strength.”

You smirked at him, “Thank you.” In a glance across the table you caught the twins eyes and teased, “Maybe we shouldn’t camp anymore.” Their brows inched up in curious smirks and you said, “It seems when we do lately trouble ensues.”

The pair laughed and you all pretended that it wasn’t your last day together.

“I’m okay,” you said to Vivienne in her quivering lipped inhale of a stare your way when it was time for the visitors to leave. Again you embraced her and her eyes clenched in melting into the contact. “I swear I’m okay. Just one more summer and year left then I will have tons of time to come and visit and see everyone in that party you mentioned.” She nodded in the pull back and wiped her cheek at Ollivier’s stolen second bear hug you giggled and relaxed into. Perhaps you weren’t the closest but no one could say they didn’t cherish every moment they had with you. A feeling that stirred a sting knowing your mother never got to know them herself after their searching for so long for any trace of their little girl.

And when he pulled back he said, “We’re holding you to that. And we do look forward to hearing how you rank in your Quidditch tournament and House Cups as well. Thank you for those recording disks of the matches I know the Delacour’s especially would love to see their daughter’s efforts while she has been away, much like Charlotte and Vivi’s parents.”

“Fly safe. Maybe my owl might beat you home.” you said making the pair chuckle and reluctantly turn to head for the waiting car to take them to their waiting flight. Back to your father you turned and giggled at his rehash of a conversation of one of their old games the guys had brought up to fill their slot here until they had to leave as well.

Lunch brought with it the scores of the yearly Quidditch rankings with three houses matched in one single loss out of 11 games only divided by total year points being Hufflepuff, Durmstrang 1, Gryffindor for the top three.

Quidditch Cup Results

W L

Gryffindor 10 1 3rd

Hufflepuff 10 1 1st

Ravenclaw 7 4 5th

Slytherin 9 2 4th

Beaux 1 6 5 6th

Beaux 2 2 9 10th

Beaux 3 3 8 9th

Beaux 4 4 7 8th

Durm 1 10 1 2nd

Durm 2 1 10 11th

Durm 3 1 10 11th

Durm 4 5 6 7th

Dinner brought with it the celebration of the Academic and Quidditch Cups to be awarded, both handed over in the Hufflepuff decorated hall with banners in between for the houses in your visiting schools claiming those rites as well.

A final breakfast came and stolen away to an empty classroom a tight hug and lip lock from Sebastian ended with your hand in hand stroll behind Viktor and Hermione with a trail of other girls all sad to see the guys go. A final hug and kiss later and Sebastian softly whispered, “Please write me. For any reason. A year truly isn’t that long we can figure this out.” Pecking you on the nose, “Till then, my Firebird.”

With a giggle in his turn you said, “Do not be surprised if you get a Yeti in the mail.” Deeply he chuckled and stole a final glance at you before climbing up onto the plank propped down from the deck of the ship they all boarded. Arm in arm with Hermione you sighed watching the ship take off before it dipped under the surface of Black Lake signaling your turn away to go and say goodbye to the Beauxbaton girls.

Hermione, “Who was the blonde?” You glanced down at her, “In the bog, the one juggling daggers, you never mentioned him.”

“I didn’t?” She shook her head, “Wow. I could have sworn I did. When we get home I’ll show you the memory. Really odd, juggling daggers, handstands, flips. All to get your attention.”

“Really? Who was the brunette?”

“Well the blonde is Fi, brunette is Ki, I guessed they’re brothers and the latter is helping the mysterious and reckless Fi to woo you.”

Hermione quickly replied, “Oooh.” Giggling as you did, “I don’t think I would mind being wooed, Viktor wants to be friends. Sebastian?”

You nodded, “We still have a year left of school, and he’s got his whole summer packed with their baby sister. Plus with this nonsense with Riddle I doubt I’m the most favorable catch.”

“Oh psh.”

You giggled again, “I got stabbed, poisoned and had my throat cut by Death Eaters.”

“You’re resilient.” Making you giggle as she did, “No Damsels here. They have to be the Damsels.”

You nodded, “Might be nice, being the Hero for once instead of the Black Plague.”

Smirking up at you she said, “Well I would take the Black Plague over Fudge Fever any day.”

Making you laugh out, “Oh that is priceless. We should spread that around. See how he likes it.”

“Probably take it as an ego boots the old fool.”

Sirius, “They broke up?!”

Remus shrugged, “That’s what she said.”

Regulus, “I thought it was a break.”

Sirius, “It’s a whole year! He’s a professional athlete! As if he’s never going to find some tart to steal him away from my Pumpkin!”

Remus, “If it doesn’t work-,”

Sirius, “Honestly! She is an angel and he just, pfft!” blowing a smoke ring with his fingers, “He should have never let her go.”

Regulus, “If he doesn’t think he can be faithful or keep his eye from wandering best he tell her now.”

Sirius grunted and laid his head on the table, “Is it so much to want her to find her soulmate?!”

Remus, “Because it’s just that easy huh?” Sirius raised his head with a brow arched as well.

Regulus said, “She’s had two guys to date.”

Sirius raised a finger, “She did not, date, Charlie, who, might I add was too afraid to even say they were dating, to me or anyone. Sebastian spoke to me personally about dating her at the first task,”

Remus, “And no doubt with her Veela blood had your no dating rule be so well known she’d have had her heart broken twenty times by now and broken fifty more in turning boys away for having too many dates set had she taken after you fully disregarding your rule.”

Sirius sighed, “I just don’t want her to be upset.” Resting his chin in his palms.

Regulus, “It will all work out.” Sirius sighed again and lowered his head to the table grumbling to himself.

Pt 42

#Little Hangleton #Tom Riddle #Voldemort

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